#apparently i'm smart enough to not engage directly

[of-nyon]

girl help someone made a post explaining why they don't like one of my faves and I'm being so brave about it

[spacemonkeysalsa]

The more I play D&D and learn about D&D lore, the more I'm finding fewer and fewer reasons to hate the BG3 characters that I hate.

Like, Mizora is awful, completely unacceptable the way she treats Wyll and Karlach, but if I'm understanding cambion lore properly then the way Karlach characterises her presence in Zariel's inner circle becomes admittedly a bit unfair to Mizora. Specifically the part where Karlach says she's there "by choice."

As I understand it, hell's caste system allows for a not insignificant amount of climbing and falling.

Not for cambions though, cambions are fixed. They can't advance and they can't be demoted either. They can be useful, or they can be dead. Like, it's significant that Raphael is trying to break the system and defy this, by obtaining the crown of Karsus, but to me that plot-line actually reinforces that Larian isn't discounting this bit of cambion lore in BG3; they are using it for character motivation in our two main cambion characters.

Raphael has been collecting souls and warlocks, because that's basically the extent of what he's allowed to do on his own without directly serving the agenda of some bigger monster.

Mizora, as far as we know, has at least one warlock, but is mainly characterised as serving Zariel. If you want to survive you have to serve, or scheme, or do some combination of both, with some degree of success, otherwise you die. They don't have a stage of advanced age and imminent death, like most species, and could probably just live forever, but they don't tend to live real long due to the way they are doomed to be used up.

Karlach describing Zariel's favor of her and Mizora's apparent jealousy then becomes interesting to me, because on some level Karlach might've had more potential for longevity within the hierarchy than Mizora did.

And Karlach wouldn't have any interest in it, which I imagine would really bother Mizora.

From Karlch's standpoint, Mizora could leave at any time. She could go hang out on Toril, either in disguise or as a cambion outcast and she could just stop serving and Zariel might let her get away with it. (Press X to doubt)

And from Mizora's standpoint, Karlach could just embrace her gifts and Zariel's favor of her and become powerful enough in hell's caste that she's secure and doesn't have to do the things she hates any longer because of that favor. (Press X to doubt)

And like, obviously Karlach is a prisoner, and Mizora can see that. But being stuck serving hell is such a baseline for Mizora. It might be something she just accepted a long time ago, which is why it would seem to Karlach that Mizora is there by her own choice.

A lot of cambions are depicted as smart or cautious enough to recognise that if they were given more responsibility within hell's hierarchy it would be a prologue to their ruin. They get set up to take the fall for bigger monsters all the time, that's kinda their deal. But you just get crushed under that system if you don't do something to make yourself valuable within it. Mizora doesn't really have the option to not engage. Doesn't justify Mizora's feelings or actions at all, and I don't know if any of this could relate to her fixation on Wyll. It might be a bit of a boon her to her that she has this human nobleman's son as her warlock, and she probably doesn't want to lose that, but we don't really know enough about her to do more than speculate. I just can't stop speculating today.

[pleasestaywithmedarling]

Happy STS!

What do your characters want at the beginning of their stories? What do they want by the end (or later on), and do they get it? Do they ever get what they wanted at the beginning, and if so, what do they think of it by the time they get it?

-verkja

Thanks for the ask @verkja , I love this question! Small rant incoming, cause this is actually one of my favorite topics lol

Okay so I personally do tend to write characters who are sympathetic, or at least I think so, but I am very much of the belief that it is way more important that a character be motivated than sympathetic for a story to engaging. So usually when I write long-form fiction, I deliberately plan my character arcs centering on their wants.

I'm a big fan of the Want vs Need arc, and I try to make sure that my protagonists have Needs that are directly opposed to their Wants. So like I've had a character whose whole thing was that she wanted to take care of everyone around her all the time, and by the end of the story she had to learn that what she needed was to take care of herself. There was a planned sequel to that story that I never got around to, that built off of that arc, where she would have started the story wanting to take care of herself, and by the end she would have learned that she needed to let other people take care of her.

Sometimes I do give my characters what they want toward the end of the story, and that's how they learn that what they want isn't really what they need. Other times they're smart enough to figure that out on their own.

I decided to be more experimental with my current whump WIP Sin of Purity, and so I've abandoned a lot of the tools I usually use in my outlining process, including my favored Want vs Need arc. But it's crept into the story anyway lol Like it's not as intentional as it would normally be, but it's there. Obviously the goal for my protagonists is to escape, but even in just the nine chapters I've posted so far, I think there's already been a lot of tension between their natural preferred approaches to survival, and what approaches they each need to take to actually get through the ordeal. So yeah, apparently I'm just a chronic rule-follower even when I'm purposely trying not to be lol

[arcplaysgames]

JUST NUKE THE SITE MISHIMA

whom among us has not seen an admin go on a deletion spree. it never works. it has never worked. just take down the site, phuckboy.

Sure, buddy, where would you like it, in your face or on your lap?

The Beige Front has come in and is forecast to be lingering for a while, because Akechi's got plans for everyone.

A lying clock is right twice a day, things are Extremely Bad.

That...... is actually really smart. Like, if the Thieves steal the heart of someone on the team, they can't publicize that.

For a guy who is going to stab us in the back SOMEHOW, Akechi is also a smart cookie.

Honestly not a stellar reason. Akechi states his sense of justice some from a deeply personal place, implying someone has wronged him or someone else (his mom?) enough to anchor his philosophy.

And again: revenge-driven personal justice is Bad. It is narratively satisfying in fiction, but it is really bad foundationally and I think P5R actually knows that and is playing with that.

... Wouldn't you know?

Now I'm questioning everything.

WHAT IS GOING ON. Once again everything gets fuzzy and Morgana and Reverie talk to Futaba, but we don't hear it.

....... The other time this happened was right after Akechi gave everyone the ultimatum at school, Morgana and Reverie talked then too.

.... So was that first-- OH wait. Wait. Framing device. Does this indicate something Reverie in the framing device is fudging and keeping from Sae?

Both of these are right after Akechi convos. And the game is not trying to make Akechi subtle at all, so: is Morgana already setting up things to keep Akechi from smothering Reverie with his stupid blue sweatervest?

And right after this, Futaba pulls a REALLY OBVIOUS scheme to get her hands on Akechi's phone and holds onto it for about two minutes.

fucking please, Futaba runs a custom OS on android hardware and Akechi uses apple, come on.

But yeah she's doing something to crack his phone. Hey, Futaba, while you're at it, check when the MetaNav showed up on his phone because I bet you it was way before Okumura.

Well that sure is a familiar sight. We are closing in on the framing device at a rapid pace.

God, that was so long ago. I remember being baffled at why shadows were showing up in the "real world" haha shows what I knew, which was fucking nothing.

Sae's Palace is the courthouse and the manifestation is rooted in Japan and its infamous 99.9% conviction rate. Which might not be a hard statistic, but it's kind of a Known Thing that if you go to court in Japan, you are probably Super Duper Fucked because it's so vanishingly rare for someone to avoid conviction.

So, to Sae, the courthouse is a casino where all the games are rigged in favor of the house. Of course.

okay sergeant pepper, sure thing

that is NOT your persona, are you KIDDING ME

I'm like fucking staggered. Like, that does not feel like Akechi's persona, it feels so off, like a joke he'd tell about his own inner self.

fucking Rob LIefeld's Robin Hood is hiding in Akechi's heart. alright.

/shakes head to self silently

Shadow Sae shows up directly to basically dare the Thieves to reach her Treasure, outlining exactly where it is. She's very confident that they won't be able to reach it.

Also, through this entire Palace, Makoto keeps trying to engage with Sae, to talk to her, and like.... Sae just ignores her and it's really sad. Like, damn, Sae, did you ever care?

ALLLLLLL the way back when Makoto was recruited, back when I thought she was the worst character (my how times have changed, she's only third worst), she used the MetaNav and found out Sae had a Palace, and apparently has been thinking about stealing her sister's heart since then.

It's rough.

ALSO: Shadow Sae hot. And I find it interesting that she has that heavy eyeliner thing going on because that is strongly associated with Reverie. It's an interesting little mirror.

The current team. Akechi looks good with the crow feathers, Haru is ADORABLE in that outfit, and Yusuke looks good in everything. Also Reverie is in Gekkoukan garb so I can have Mass Destruction and Wiping All Out. I know what I'm about.

ALSO I GOT HARU AND MONA'S SHOWTIME AND ITS THE BEST ONE. FUCK YES GRENADE LAUNCHER DRIVEBY. I love Haru.

The entire Palace revolves around a coin system. You can only get to higher floors with the use of coins, like buying your way into the high roller tables.

When the team reaches the final threshold, Shadow Sae cheats and raises the threshold to a million coins, and Akechi reveals he's been gaming the casino the entire time to ensure they'd have enough coins.

It's a shame you're evil, Beige Boy, because I've missed having smart people on my team. (Futaba and Yusuke excluded, they are the smartest ppl we got.)

You know, he didn't need to keep this secret the entire time. In fact, if he looped in Futaba in particular, she would have helped him game the system even more, I'm sure.

But the one thing that might be true about Akechi is that he's a dramatic showboating bastard.

Dunno if I shoulda called Sae being a corrupt prosecutor or not. That 99.9% win rate makes me wonder if it's just understood that the system is busted. Both Persona 5 and the Yakuza spinoff Judgement (and technically Phoenix Wright) are all concerned with that tidbit of information and how the justice system in Japan is set up.

Interesting. I lack the context to fully understand if this is a radical idea or not.

Anyway, the Palace is a wrap until the calling card. So let's send that sucker out!

Akechi says that oh actually, lets not send the calling card out until the last minute so we'll be sure it actually works. So we're sending it out on November 18.

Cool, cool, so Reverie should get his last will and testament completed by then, yep yep yep.

Here we go, hurtling towards the framing device like a runaway train with a beige conductor.

oh yeah, we doomed. the only question i have is will it be a stab in the back or in the heart. how homoromantic you gonna make this, Beige Boy? do you wanna stare into Reverie's pretty grey eyes as you kill him? I think that's your vibe, tbh.

[bumblerhizal-art]

Find the Word

Thanks for the tag @heniareth and also the second tag today that reminded me i left this on the backburner! This was a lot of fun, and for some of the words, forced me to actually work on the fics enough to make them presentable (although don't take that to mean these are anywhere near their final forms). Somehow, i did manage to scrounge together an already-written bit for each! It's a good thing Google Docs lets you search across all files at once is what i'll say lol

I've listed next to each excerpt which wip they come from and a quick few words about each because the day i get to the point immediately is the day i die

Going to tag you back in turn Heniareth as well as @wild-houseplant @badartxd @heapster-45 and @shadowkat678 to find the words drink, lie, warm, and/or cold! No pressure tho!

Follow (from Hidden - a still unanswered Tumblr prompt)

Novhen said, "Why don't you come sit with me while I wait for my strength to come back? There's still space for another."

Kieran cautiously stepped forward. As he turned the corner of the bench, he kept his eyes fixed on Griffon. Novhen followed his line of sight.

"Don't worry yourself about him," he said. "He's a smart dog. Wouldn't hurt a hair on your head."

Griffon huffed as though any other possibility would have been completely absurd.

Kieran sat down slowly. He now stared off into the distance, refusing to look Novhen or Griffon in the eye.

Stay (from The Diaries of Novhen Tabris - a translation of the personal journals of the Hero of Ferelden centuries after he lived, this excerpt is immediately post GoA and Witch Hunt)

17. Wintermarch 9:32 Dragon

Received a summons from the First Warden which Mistress Woolsey tells me must be acted on immediately. That's fine. I didn't need rest anyway.

In the time I've been gone, Soris apparently announced his engagement to a blackhaller's daughter. Shockingly, nobody took well to this. He's gone and eloped to Maker-knows-where. I've found a few letters on my desk from him dated to before his disappearance. He must think I've abandoned him.

This isn't going to mean well for the alienage either. Once the dust settles, we'll be without a bann or hahren. I'm going to arrange to speak with Alistair after I return from Weisshaupt, but until then, I have to assume management will return to the Arl of Denerim. If I try to stop through the city on the way, who knows how long they'll get me to stay for. Best to depart directly from Amaranthine and wait to deal with this until I get back, so they can keep me for however many months they demand.

Fish (from Rites of Passage - the retelling of Novhen's prologue)

Soris handed the sword, the shield, the bow, and the quiver one by one into Novhen's hands, and Novhen tucked them away one by one behind the folds of the fabric. 

“If anyone asks, you're delivering refreshments to Vaughan's quarters.” Adwen evaluated the cart, “This still looks like a one man job though. Soris, come here."

Soris looked up from where he was handing off Duncan's quiver. Adwen was walking towards a two tier pie with fish heads sticking out of the edges. He shimmied it off of the kitchen table, and Soris jogged over to take it off his hands. With bending knees and heavy breathing, the massive dessert was laid into Soris's arms.

"Say it needed extra care."

"We've already spent too much time on this. Let's go," Novhen gripped the cart’s handle. "Thank you, Adwen, more than I can say."

Light (from Gathering Frays - between Origins and Awakening)

He tried to listen to them through the walls and floors. He couldn’t tell exactly where they had run off to after tossing him in this room. It was possible they were interrogating [Alistair/Loghain] first. He tried to listen to their voices, but they were far too distant. It would be futile to try to make out their words even if they were speaking the Trade tongue, which, now that Novhen thought about it, seemed unlikely. A pod of Orlesians Wardens discussing top-secret matters in Ferelden were going to be speaking Orlesian. Maybe some of the older generation could speak it, but Novhen certainly could not.

The indistinct voices dissipated. A moment later, footsteps drew closer. A single person. Lighter step than most. Up the stairs and towards this room. Novhen straightened his posture and rose. The door creaked open.

It was the elf, Andras.

"Good morning, son. Would you please take a seat?" he spoke gently and with an Orlesian accent.

"Of course, ser."

The thought briefly passed his mind to take the seat at the head of the desk, but he shot it down. This was hardly the time to pull stunts. He carefully sat himself in the oak chair in front of the desk while Andras took the seat behind it.

[lovecolibri]

I also don't remember what your anon is referring to as far as another anon and Tim (PHEW 🤣) but I saw the point about him and Lucy and had to chime in. This is not me saying that he's above reproach, as I have plenty of criticisms of him, BUT I also don't think it's fair to say that him and Kristen are on the same level about things, including their views of Buddie.

Anyway, the only thing that I ever found him say on the record about Lucy was in a TVLine preview of 5B and it was, "I'd say she's like a female Buck."

Which...knowing what we know about how their story unfolded, is extra creepy 🤣 It's also not accurate description of her character, or at least not the version that we saw, which makes me think that he was fairly out of the loop in the creative process. I know that he was interviewed after 5.1 because he wrote the episode, but I really don't think that he said anything (or at least not much) about the OG 911 after that. Which again gave me vibes that he wasn't super involved in the plotting and writing for season 5 aside from episode 1. But I definitely think that he involved in the editing, given how much was cut, especially with regard to Lucy. I can't remember the source, but there was a quote circulating last year that Tim was basically always present in the editing room and extremely influential in terms of what made it in.

Also, I know that he told Variety that he deleted his Twitter account because he was getting annoyed with Tarlos/Carlos fans complaining about Carlos' lack of screentime and he got sick of defending it (which 🙄 ... maybe you shouldn't defend it then! ) BUT the deleting occurred ahead of the OG 5B premiere and I turly always felt that he was trying to avoid Lucy backlash. Like, he was smart enough to know it was coming, and was all, "It wasn't my idea - don't blame me!" (Which again begs the question of WHY you put Kristen in charge, but whatever)

The original anon just said something about it being interesting that Tim basically hasn't said anything about OG because he doesn't want to be involved/associated with the mess and was distancing himself and focusing on LS. As I said, I don't really read the interviews so I can neither confirm or deny any of this but him being in the editing room wrt L does make sense, but then again, knowing how personal Eddie's story with PTSD and his military service is to him and to Ryan, I feel like if he had stepped in we might have gotten less of that stupid spider call and more focus on Eddie's story instead of it being shoved into the end of the episode. But either way, none of us will REALLY know what happens behind the scenes unless someone comes out and confirms anything. I'm sure *someone*, even if it wasn't Tim directly made the call to cut as much L as they did because KR sure AF has not let it go and has fought tooth and nail to get her back and to squeeze her in where she can.

I will say it would surprise me zero amounts to find out Tim just doesn't want to deal with people calling him out for how he does things and also Twitter is...a cesspool so him leaving there kinda tracks HOWEVER, he's clearly still on Facebook where the Tarlos and Buddie fans are far fewer and far less engaged soooo 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

I certainly don't think him and KR are on the same page about Buddie (especially because it would be quite the feather in his cap to pull off and get a lot of "critical acclaim" because apparently following the obvious narrative and telling a coherent and well-built up love story is still groundbreaking storytelling) however if someone over HIM is pumping the breaks? It would make sense for him to leave the show with someone who is in line with that vision, and put his energy into LS instead, with the bonus of letting someone else take the backlash.

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

I'd like to hear your rant about TUE. It's always been my favorite episode but I haven't seen it in years so go ahead and tear it to shreds lmfao

I always forget that this is the shorthand version of talking about The Ultimate Enemy. For a second I had no idea what you were talking about. In any event...I shall unload my problems with the episode if you so wish. As a kid, I loved it, I was friggin thrown by the story and the big twist at the beginning. But now as an adult...oh boy. Like, it's not boring. I'll give it that. It's definitely engaging. But for all the wrong reasons. Where. to. begin.

The C.A.T. Okay, it's clearly a stand in for the S.A.T.s. Fine. But the episode directly states that a student's entire future depends on this one exam. This isn't a nitpick, it is what motivates Danny to cheat in the original timeline. First of all...I'm sorry, but this is a dreadful and irresponsible message to send when your target demographic is children. Because no, one test does not determine your entire future. I can't tell if the episode is self-aware of this or not. They literally make a joke about Jack having failed the C.A.T...even though he's supporting his family doing what he loves? So he's not that smart, so what? That one joke still defeats the entire premise. And successful or not, he isn't working at the Nasty Burger, which is what Lancer said would happen if you fail.

Ah, the Nasty Burger. Let's talk about that. So apparently, the secret ingredient of their food....is dynamite. Okay, not literally, but close enough. If it gets overheated, it can cause explosions that "take out a whole city block." I beg your pardon but what the fuck?! That is a health and safety nightmare. There is no way that the Nasty Burger would not be shut down and it's employees arrested if that was revealed...and it was! Irving revealed it to an entire auditorium full of people. Again, I'm not nitpicking. The plot hinges on this. It hinges on this magical dynamite sauce and on the Nasty Burger being abandoned after a ghost fight (pretty common occurrence in Amity Park, let's be honest) long enough that the whole restaurant explodes, and just so happens to do so while all of Danny's loved ones are present. Well, all of them plus Lancer. Which is a good transition into talking about him!

Lancer makes no sense as a villain in this movie. Apart from being more of an asshole than usual, meaning that if I'm supposed to side with him...I don't. But his choices are completely illogical. He overhears half of one conversation through a door, and then decides that Danny must have stolen the missing test answers. (Never mind that Tucker could have been talking to Sam, that possibility is never addressed.) He admits that it's impossible for Danny to have done this, but still suspects him (and he doesn't know about Danny's powers. Jazz does, but he clearly doesn't.) Lancer does not confront the suspected student, or the student's parents. No, he confronts the student's sister, because that's the professional and appropriate way to handle this. Because of course she has an obligation to help you and wouldn't have any reason to feel conflicted, nor any motivation to lie if she knew anything. (Were it not obvious, this is sarcasm.) Lancer has absolutely no proof that Danny cheated and Jazz even points this out. Yet he still intends to fail Danny if he doesn't return the answers. (He literally calls Maddie in the middle of proctoring the C.A.T.) What does he think is going to happen? That Danny will just confess? Innocent or guilty, why would Danny do that? Lancer has missed his opportunity to catch him.

Dark Danny. Oh god, Dark Danny. His plan is all kinds of bonkers. I don't know if he lost his mind in the fusion (We'll...get to that.) But for some reason he seems to think that the best way to stabilize his timeline history is to create a gigantic fucking paradox. Trapping his younger self in the future and then taking his place in the past. What exactly was Dark Danny planning to do? He still needs his younger self to become his present self, right? The only reason he's even able to travel to the past is because the rules about the Time Medallions change from scene to scene. No, seriously, what the Medallions do changes from scene to scene. First they're shown to return people to Clockwork's lair, and travel with them. But then Sam just assumes, correctly I guess, that if they take off the Medallions, they can return to their present time. And now the Medallions don't travel with them. Then Dark Danny somehow uses one to travel to the past and takes it with him in doing so. He also manages to lodge one inside of Danny. God knows how that works. Is it tangible or not? Either way, why can't Danny take it out?

The morality of this movie is very confused. At one point, Danny makes a valid point that he's had no time to study because he's been saving people from ghosts. That's a justifiable reason for him to cheat, even if we are going with the children's media standard that academic dishonesty is inherently wrong. (It...isn't) However, this idea is quickly dropped and never brought up again. In general, Danny caring so much about his schoolwork, about this one random test, comes completely out of nowhere and I won't lie, it's rather out of character. At the end of the movie, Danny is given a "second chance" and allowed to confess to Lancer. One problem with that - he never actually cheated. He obtained the answers by accident, and he wasn't the one who opened them. He should not have to pay for a mistake he didn't make, or have to learn better from it when he didn't do it. Lancer learned nothing, and I feel like he needed to learn a lesson more than Danny did.

I can't stand this, I need to talk about the fusion scene. Dark Danny's birth is a complete clusterfuck of spontaneous action set pieces that don't have any explanation. I have watched that scene a dozen times and I still am not clear about what happened. Setting aside that Vlad would never win custody of Danny even if Danny wanted to come to him (as he already has established family beyond his parents) what was Vlad even trying to do with the ghost gauntlets? Something about Danny not having anymore "painful human emotions" but if that's the case, why rip out his ghost half? Why did his ghost half suddenly become aggressive and rip out Vlad's own ghost half? For what reason? Why did he then fly into Vlad's ghost half? What did he expect to happen? Did he intend the fusion? If so, why? How did he know to do that? If not, what was his plan? Bigger question: Since when, oh god when, have two ghosts been able to merge together simply by phasing into each other? When on earth has this ever been established, in TUE or otherwise? It never comes up again. It never gets explained.

Beyond that...this backstory hurts me as a viewer, it insults me. Why? Well, maybe because this film has based most of it's emotional drama and heart around the struggle of Danny facing his evil future self. And toward the end of the movie, they reveal that the Ultimate Enemy is...not, in fact, Danny's future self. He isn't. Oh, sure, they're connected. But this is clearly a new entity. The movie pretty much lied to us. This would be the worst cop-out in the world...it would, except, the movie then carries on like it didn't just reveal that it's main antagonist is not who he says he is. To the end, they keep acting like Dark Danny is Danny from the future, even though his origin scene confirms that he isn't. Eric Roberts is always a treasure and he's giving everything he has to make Dark Danny spooky as hell, but even his performance can't really save the travesty that was this villain's execution.

There are other things, little things. Why doesn't Dark Danny kill Jazz instead of knocking her out - either of the times he does it? He's planning for her to die anyway. Why not at least tie her up? She's clearly going to keep being a problem. Why wasn't Dark Danny able to find Vlad's ghost portal when he literally knows where Vlad lives? How the hell did Danny find it in the future, from the ghost zone no less, in the span of an hour...if Dark Danny wasn't able to find it in ten years? Tucker and Sam were warned by Jazz that she and Lancer were onto Danny, yet they apparently never told the Impostor Danny about it because Tucker was surprised when he pulled out the answers in the test. Clockwork more or less abducts a child from her own time and she is happy to be his assassin even though he never explained who Danny is? Speaking of Box Lunch, Danny basically killed her (Yes she's a ghost but you get what I mean) and endangered many human lives in the process, including Tucker and Sam. But...cheating a test, is what will turn him to the Dark Side? Give me a break. Who are the Observants? Why did Dark Danny exist "outside of time" at the end?

I could go on. I could. This movie is one problem after another.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHY I'M SMARTER THAN PEOPLE

If you watch little kids playing sports, you notice that below a certain age they're afraid of the ball. If another country wanted to establish a rival to Silicon Valley. Instead of writing Word directly in C, they'd be amazed at how little there is and how little it does?1 Other parts you don't understand as well, and more importantly, can't take liberties with.2 I first met him, I thought; these impressive things seem easy to me; I must be pretty sharp. In startups, the big winners. And even though Boston is the second biggest startup hub in the US and the world, we tell the startups from those cycles that their best bet is to move to Albuquerque just because there are some smart hackers there they could invest in.3 Since the custom is to write to persuade a hypothetical perfectly unbiased reader.

You can see this most clearly in New York the number of people who could have succeeded if they'd taken the leap and done it full-time, but didn't. That would have focused us on finding revenue streams early. If you want to hire want to live there; supporting industries are there; the people you run into in chance meetings are in the same direction, subject to differences of opinion about tactics. Four forces, three of which one could have predicted, and one about what to do; they'll start to engage in office politics. Fortunately it's usually the least committed founder who leaves. All great cities were located on waterways, because cities made money by trade, and water was the only economical way to ship. Creating wealth is not a zero-sum game, so you have to mean it, because the structure of VC deals prevents early acquisitions.4 A lot of people seem to have made that deal, though perhaps none of them understand it as well as your own. Friends would leave something behind when they moved, or I'd find something in almost new condition for a tenth its retail price at a garage sale. Do the founders want it? And yet we'd all be wrong.

Your most basic advice to founders is just don't die, but the most I've ever been able to manage is about 18, and I couldn't imagine a great hacker. The bad news is, if you're carrying a burden without knowing it, your life could be better.5 What exactly is personality? You can start to treat parts as black boxes once you feel confident you've fully explored them. I tried my best to imitate them. In this case, n is. Both angels and VCs: VCs invest other people's money, and angels invest their own. 6% of your company if what you trade it for improves your average outcome enough that the 100-n % you have left is worth more than 1/1.6 I missed were some of the hardest questions founders face.7 But apparently hackers are particularly curious, especially about how things work. Before that I used whatever scraps of paper is that they're the same.

For the vast majority of startups that raise money and the metric that does matter financially, whether that batch of startups we funded were able to raise significant funding after Demo Day. And indeed, most startups that turn down acquisition offers ultimately do better. This makes everyone naturally pull in the same direction. In a notebook you can guess what a scribble means by looking at the floor. There are no shops on the island and you won't be wasting your time. VCs seem formidable is that it's completely different from most people's idea of what business is like. He's not just being modest.8 In fact, Shockley Semiconductor and Fairchild Semiconductor were not startups at all in our sense. A Demo Day where only 30% of the startups we funded, in the sense that their main purpose is to make something great. Inevitably, the people working on airline fare searches probably thought it was. When I look back at photos from the 1970s, I'm surprised how empty houses look.

There was one surprise founders mentioned is how much better it feels to be working on something hard. I could find. But everyone knows that's important. What hadn't I written about yet? The Bay Area was a magnet for all the years after I always had a background process running, looking for something we could do together. It's not because they're unfriendly that they prefer to work alone, or growl at people who pop their head in the door to say hello. But as Larry and Sergey found, there's not much. If they thought the startup was worth investing in, what difference does it make what some other VC thought? I was in high school I spent a lot of money. A lot of what startup founders do is just posturing. And the fact that the best ideas look initially like bad ideas.

This is about cities, not countries. How do you get them to come and work for you?9 But there is a secret handshake among good hackers, it's when they know one another well enough to express opinions that would get them stoned to death by the general public. There's an initial phase of negotiation about the big questions.10 I'm guessing here, but I'd forgotten. Many things people like, especially if they're young and ambitious, they like largely for the feeling of virtue in liking them. In grad school I decided I wanted to try being a painter, and the living dead—companies that are a safe bet to be acquired for $20 million. 1% as well on Windows as Unix. For example, most VCs would be very reluctant to invest in a bunch of young guys millions of dollars. So if you managed to recruit, en masse, a significant number of the best young researchers, you could reproduce Silicon Valley. But a place that tolerates oddness in the search for the new is exactly what you want in a startup hub. There's very little focus on the business model from the beginning.

Notes

As Clinton himself discovered to his house, the way up. Don't be evil, they may prefer to work in a place to exchange views.

But it's dangerous to Microsoft than Netscape was. But the most powerful men in Congress, Sam Rayburn and Lyndon Johnson. For example, it's probably good grazing.

Simpler just to load a problem can be fooled. Even if you aren't embarrassed by what one delivers, not because Delicious users are not in the field they describe. Structurally the idea is stone soup: you post a sign saying this cupboard must be kept empty. But that was mistaken, and then just enjoy yourself for the same, but I call it ambient thought.

The CRM114 Discriminator. You have to solve problems, but I know it didn't to undergraduates on the dollar. I call it procrastination when someone works hard and not incompatible answers: a It did.

The dumber the customers, the Romans didn't mean to imply that the investments that failed, and in b the valuation a bit much to say exactly what your body is telling you to acknowledge it.

And then of course there is something inexperienced founders.

If a company, and large bribes by the Clayton Antitrust Act in 1914.

To the extent we see incumbents suppressing competitors via regulations or patent suits, we should work like they will or at least one of the most difficult part for startup founders and investors are induced by the PR firm admittedly the best day job.

The Socialist People's Democratic Republic of X is probably the early days, and there are before the name of a rolling close doesn't mean you suck. But it is very common for the firm in the fall of 2008 but no one else involved knows French. They would probably be a lot online.

So you can describe each strategy in terms of the war it was. Your teachers are always telling you. Google adopted Don't be fooled. If the Mac was so violent that she decided never again.