#because of higher res source material

[blorbo-of-the-people]

Zepoleon — part 1

[gothhabiba]

The 2023 Barbie film is a commercial. I’m sure it will be fun, funny, delightful, and engaging. I will watch it, and I’ll probably even dress up to go to the theater. Barbie is also a film made by Mattel using their intellectual property to promote their brand. Not only is there no large public criticism of this reality, there seems to be no spoken awareness of it at all. I’m sure most people know that Barbie is a brand, and most people are smart enough to know this and enjoy the film without immediately driving to Target to buy a new Barbie doll. After all, advertising is everywhere, and in our media landscape of dubiously disclosed User Generated Content and advertorials, at least Barbie is transparently related to its creator. But to passively accept this reality is to celebrate not women or icons or auteurs, but corporations and the idea of advertising itself. Public discourse around Barbie does not re-contextualize the toy or the brand, but in fact serves the actual, higher purpose of Barbie™: to teach us to love branding, marketing, and being consumers.

[...] The casting of Gerwig’s Barbie film shows that anyone can be a Barbie regardless of size, race, age, sexuality. Barbie is framed as universal, as accessible; after all, a Barbie doll is an inexpensive purchase and Barbiehood is a mindset. Gerwig’s Barbie is a film for adults, not children (as evidenced by its PG-13 rating, Kubrick references, and soundtrack), and yet it manages to achieve the same goals as its source material: developing brand loyalty to Barbie™ and reinforcing consumerism-as-identity as a modern and necessarily empowering phenomenon. Take, for example, “Barbiecore,” an 80s-inspired trend whose aesthetic includes not only hot pink but the idea of shopping itself. This is not Marx’s theory on spending money for enjoyment, nor can it even be critically described as commodity fetishism, because the objects themselves bear less semiotic value compared to the act of consumption and the identity of “consumer.”

[...] Part of the brilliance of the Barbie brand is its emphasis on having fun; critiquing Barbie’s feminism is seen as a dated, 90s position and the critic as deserving of a dated, 90s epithet: feminist killjoy. It’s just a movie! It’s just a toy! Life is so exhausting, can’t we just have fun? I’ve written extensively about how “feeling good” is not an apolitical experience and how the most mundane pop culture deserves the most scrutiny, so I won’t reiterate it here. But it is genuinely concerning to see not only the celebration of objects and consumer goods, but the friendly embrace of corporations themselves and the concept of intellectual property, marketing, and advertising. Are we so culturally starved that insurance commercials are the things that satiate our artistic needs?

— Charlie Squire, “Mattel, Malibu Stacy, and the Dialectics of the Barbie Polemic.” evil female (Substack), 2023.

[endgamelukola]

do you believe everything the media and photographs tell you to believe?

if so, this is a post that isn't for you.

[also, I went with the autocomplete in the image, which is why Nicola's name is spelled incorrectly in the search, jsyk]

I wanted to call out that the first three top stories links on Google have Nicola Coughlan linked to Jake Dunn. Each link is to a news source that has no credible source to rely on. Terms such as "rumored"; "seem to confirm" and "believed to be" are used. One of the stories claims to have reached out to Nicola's and Jake's teams for comment, but there's no mention of any responses.

I think it's interesting to note that while the first paragraph or so of each of these articles summarize what's been photographed of Jake and Nicola – which I would argue are moments between friends, much like her interactions with Luke Thompson, Jack Rooke, and Mark Peacock – but aren't able to state anything more in the articles. The articles then diverge into information and previously quoted material from Coughlan about her relationship with who? Luke Newton. Because that's the only relationship she's ever openly spoken about to media sources.

We can continue to split microscopic hairs, but Nicola has never directly answered the question of whether she's solely friends with Luke Newton. She cleverly walks around the question, in the hopes that many will just assume she's friends and nothing more. Which is what a lot of people are doing. And that's their prerogative to do so.

In doing further reading about PR practices, I ran across a post from The Chi Group that discussed a couple of ways that public figures work to combat misinformation about them without making explicit statements:

"Pinning Corrective Posts: Pinning a correction or accurate update to the top of a social media profile can ensure that followers see the correct information first."

Okay, so what does Nicola have pinned to her Instagram post? Her own achievements in the media spheres as of late, where she noticeably mentions Luke Newton, even when it isn't within an ideal context to do so. And as always, the Bridgerton Season 3 promo post. Nothing about relationships or anything hinting to a connection with Jake Dunn.

"Search engine optimization (SEO) is a powerful tool in ensuring that accurate information surfaces in search results, rather than misleading or false content. PR professionals can optimize their content by:

Using Relevant Keywords: Including keywords that users might search when looking for information on a topic can help ensure that accurate content appears in search results.

Publishing on Authoritative Websites: Contributing articles or guest blogs to reputable sites can boost the visibility and credibility of the accurate narrative.

Regularly Updating Content: Keeping web pages updated with the latest information ensures that search engines recognize the content as current and relevant, helping it rank higher."

So the SEO is pushing Jake and Nicola together here in regards to relationship searching, and where Luke Newton has scrubbed SEO information linking him to Antonia, Nicola hasn't done that. I don't think she feels the need when, as stated above, the articles can't seem to gather much about her and Jake Dunn in the first place and revert back to talking about her 'gorgeous' relationship with Luke Newton.

Re: publishing on authoratative websites. The first three sources are from People Magazine, Yahoo reposting an article from Glamour, and The Sun. I certainly don't turn to these outlets for authoritative news, and I hope you don't either.

Re: regularly updating content. Can you point me in the direction of any content published by Nicola Coughlan's social media accounts that provides the latest information about her and Jake Dunn?

I rest my case.

[regicidal-defenestration]

fRankenstein Tier List 2.0

Featuring all the adaptations, reimaginings, and "inspired by"s that's I've experienced so far and remembered about. Rankings are based on faithfulness to the original text, how much I enjoyed them, and my own capricious wills

Described and explained below the cut:

(F)rankenstein Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818 book) by Mary Shelley Arguably the best adaptation of any source material is the original thing itself, but I'm not a philosopher

It's (A)live!!!! Frankenstein from the Royal Ballet Follows the source material possibly too closely, leading to a dull first act, but more than makes up for it with an Insane finale. Steven McRae as the Creature was phenomenal

Young Frankenstein (1974 film) Fun film and really good parody. They gave Frankenstein bottom surgery

Frankenstein (2015 album) by the Mechanisms Banger lyrics great song I love it when two characters are trapped in a spiral of their own making

(B)ack from the grave The Monsters We Deserve (2018 book) by Marcus Sedgewick Read it in one sitting and it thoroughly rattled my brain. Takes both the plot and the physical book Frankenstein and makes it about the responsibilities (or lack thereof) of creation

Lisa Frankenstein (2024 film) 52% on Rotten Tomatoes because nobody understands camp. It's fun it's gothic it's romantic I cannot recommend it enough. Honestly the only reason it's not higher is that I have to at least pretend to think about how these follow the original book

(C) what's on the slab Rock Horrors both stage (1973) and screen (1975), as well as Re-Animator (1985 film) and Bride of Re-Animator (1990) Very much not adaptations but undeniably heavily influenced by. I'll call them both fun*, note the asterisk, if you've seen either you know the parts I refer to in each

Secret Abilities and the Diary of a Teenage Frankenstein (2018 album) by, funnily enough, Secret Abilities Not convinced anyone in this band can carry a tune but that's neither here nor there. I really liked the idea of a choose-your-own-adventure album and their songs are fun! SNITCHES GET STITCHES is a delightful song about loving someone so much you'd sew yourself together with them to never be parted.

Young Frankenstein (2007 musical) Not necessarily a good musical, nevertheless a fantastic night out to watch it

Un(D)ead Frankenstein (1931 film) Look okay okay I know how influential it is I know it's rich me, renowned bad taste haver, putting it so low, but in adaptation terms it's not good and in film enjoyment terms I didn't. They fucked up the Creature's legacy :(

Poor Things (1992 book) by Alasdair Gray I feel a bit bad putting this so low, because on a technical level it is very well done, I just feel entirely middling towards it

?, ? Frankissstein: A Love Story (2019 book) by Jeanette Winterson. Still haven't re-read it, still don't remember anything about it. Storygraph assures me I gave it 3 stars on 1 October 2019, which could _frank_ly (ha!) mean anything

[gffa]

Is melida/daan canon? sometimes people argue about how the jedi should not have gone to war, and then I remember that whole story and the debate about whether qui-gon shouldve stayed and fought- and it's really quite fascinating.

Hi! So, it depends on what you mean by "canon", as Star Wars has several different continuities and what is "canon" in one will not be "canon" in another, despite that they're both officially put out by Star Wars. 1. George Lucas continuity: The first six movies and seasons 1-6 of The Clone Wars. Nothing else is canon to Lucas' Star Wars, he has explicitly said dozens of times that the books, comics, games, etc. are their own world, but they're not canon to his Star Wars. 2. Legends continuity: Any books, novels, games that you can reasonably expect to be taken seriously (ie, not LEGO Star Wars or a mini-Flash game or what have you) that's pre-April 25, 2014 is in this continuity, unless something post-this date has a disclaimer in the back that says it was based on Legends continuity but wasn't ready for publication until later, but still counts as the Legends continuity. This is where the Melida/Daan events fall. 3. Disney continuity: Once Disney bought Star Wars and started putting out their own shows (Rebels, season 7 of The Clone Wars, The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, etc.) and movies (Rogue One, the sequel trilogy, Solo, etc.) and games and books and comics, they created a new continuity. This one is a bit tricky since they say it's all on a level playing field, but the truth is that the TV shows are higher "canon" than the books and games and such. (As a note: Fantasy Flight Games' reference books are generally not a source of canon material, they try to be canon-compliant, but the story group has said they're probably not to be trusted re: being hard canon.) So, to answer your question: It depends on the discussion you're having and what the agreed-upon continuity is. For me, while I dabble in all of the continuities, if I'm talking about the movies+TCW, then Melida/Daan is probably not canon. But if we're talking about the Lucasfilm era novels, then they are canon to that continuity and a lot of people occupy that space, that's the playground they're in, so those events are canon to them. And, honestly, it's hard for me to take those books 100% seriously, they were written when only one of the prequels movies was out, AOTC didn't even exist then, much less the expanding of the world that TCW did, as well as they were written to a very specific audience of young teens, who would want to read about other young teens being heroes, which means the adults basically had to get hit with the idiot stick and so I'm more interested in meeting them where they're at and what their aim was, in my view. They're great fun and people should go nuts with them if that's their jam, live your best fannish life! God knows, that's what I do on stuff I love! But they also occupy a very nebulous space on being "canon", because so much depends on what framework we're talking about!

[babyloniastreasure]

https://www.tumblr.com/thegoodthegrandandtheugly/737819072394412032

Looking at that confession as Urukian lover and Mahabros lover I am torn between

"those fights are dope this is gameplay adaptation you can't expect them to be historically accurate" and

"I also think the distance that Fate franchise put between Gil and Enkidu is ridiculous these two's PDA are downright insufferable in the epic also getting tired with Fate pointlessly chaining Karna Arjuna on the hip while refuse to explore their relationship with Kauravas and Pandavas seriously why did you make Duryodhana and Bhima summonable servants and still fujobaiting 2 brothers who geniunely hate each other before they get the whole murdery outta their system"

There is definitely a delicate balance between the way Fate depicts fights between certain characters and how those fights would have gone outside of Fate's characterization. Fate, however, tends to lean only on its own writing and very rarely takes the source material into account, which means we should probably keep our expectations low and remember that this is not going to be accurate to begin with

For that reason I don't have any strong feelings about how Gilgamesh and Enkidu's/Junao and Super Karna's fights were depicted. Like, I understand where the frustration comes from, because I'm a huge advocate for accuracy and wish Fate would be more accurate. I've rambled about inaccuracies re: The Epic of Gilgamesh and Fate many a time. But within Fate's own characterization, it makes WAY more sense for Gilgamesh and Enkidu to fight at long range than it would be for them to wrestle. Gilgamesh is an Archer who is big and flashy and likes to make a show out of his power. He can't very well do that when he's up close and personal with someone. He honed his technique and this is how he chooses to fight at his peak of power. Likewise, Enkidu is going to try and best Gilgamesh at his own game--which is a ranged battle. They are both dramatic show offs, constantly trying to best the other and gloriously as possible. But for them it's more like a game, it's admiration, its nostalgic. So they'll fight in a way that allows them to see the full power of the other and take all of that in as much as possible. You can see much more of your beloved in all of his glory when you're looking at him from a distance.

The same goes for Junao vs Karna fighting in melee rather than at range. It makes sense given the characterization and context. They want to kick each other's ass so very, very badly, and it's much more fulfilling to settle a lifelong grudge when you're right up in your opponent's face when you deal those heavy blows. When you're fighting that close to someone, there's tension, there's desperation, there's emotion. You feel your weapon crash against and cut through your opponent, you don't get that with ranged fights. It's deeper, its more satisfying, it's more devastating. Junao and Karna have deeply personal feelings and reasons for fighting each other, it's more fitting for them to demonstrate their resolve and prove their power while looking the other directly in the eye.

That face-to-face desperation also creates a higher risk because neither Junao NOR Karna are typically close-range combatants. Karna is mid range at best, but even still his style is typically getting in close to the enemy so they cant use ranged attacks against him. Considering this, if Karna is getting in close, Junao would have to retaliate at the same close range. And we know Arjuna/Junao is skilled with any manner of weapons and combat styles, so it's not exactly inaccurate for him to be able to fight Karna at close range anyway.

I suppose it's less about historical accuracy or artistic depiction, and more about looking at how the Fate characters fight and how they'd react to whoever made the first move in that fight. Because again, this is Fate. Neither the characters themselves nor their Fate-narratives are accurate. Why would they bother with historical accuracy now?

But perhaps I have read too much into it or missed the point altogether lmao

In my humble opinion, we as Fate fans need to stop comparing Fate's adaptation of heroes to their source material, because we only hurt ourselves by doing so. As unfortunate as that is

I do agree that Arjuna and Karna should stop being so attached at the hip though. I'd love nothing more than to see their relationships with other Mahabharata servants flourish independently of the other. We can only hope that one day Yudhishthira will become summonable and bring balance to Chaldea

[mirageofadesert]

C-Drama Review: Only For Love

Broadcast: Hunan TV, Mango TV, 2023, 36 Episodes Genre: Romance

My Rating 4.5/10

A drama that stays a bit too true to its source material, ultimately failing to translate the charm of the web novel into a TV adaption.

Acting: 6/10 World-building: 3/10 Production: 5/10 Storytelling: 4/10 Pacing: 4/10 Re-watch Value: 3/10 

Summary with minor spoilers

Zheng Shuyi (played by Bai Lu) is an ambitious reporter for a financial newspaper. In order to write another cover story, she wants to interview the well-known entrepreneur Shi Yan (played by Dylan Wang). The only distraction in her ambition comes in from of her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend, who is cheating on her with another woman. Zheng Shuyi vows revenge by focussing even more on her career - and seducing the rich uncle of her ex's new girlfriend. A series of misunderstandings lead to her inadvertently mistaking Shi Yan for him. And then there's Shi Yan's real niece Qin Shi Yue (played by Shen Yu Jie), who soon starts working as an intern at Zheng Shuyi newspaper under a secret identity. Follow their tangled love story through 36 episodes of misunderstandings, awkward car rides and boring business talk.

My review - spoilers ahead!

While I never have high expectations for modern cdramas, the combination of Bai Lu and Dylan Wang made me excited. There were quite a few scenes that made me giggle like a teenage girl, and some of the tension arced made me come back to the show every day. However, there are a lot of things wrong with this show.

The main problem is the failed attempt to transfer the charm ad humor of the web novel directly to the drama, without making adaption based on the different type of media. There were many scenes that had the typical web novel/manga elements - frozen characters, puppy eyes, awkward silence. As drawings, these are usually expressed with additional text or symbols. Since those kinds of edits are only done in variety shows, all we got were the character staring at each other or making awkward facial expressions. The show also failed to make use of music to deliver the meaning of these scenes.

This left us with a drama, that lacked chemistry between the leads ad made the acting feel wooden and boring. And that in a drama with the queen of chemistry!

On top of that, the show failed to have an interesting secondary plot. Nearly all the exciting scenes and awaited reveals were linked to the niece, who became my favorite character. The work-related scenes were incredible badly written. At times, it felt like they had just used place-holder lines instead of writing actual dialogue.

All of this contributed to a disappointing performance of every actor in the cast. I personally don't think that Dylan Wang's dubbing was an issue because of his higher voice, but I think the line delivery from the whole cast was not well done. It took away the little emotions the story allowed in the first place.

The first couple of episodes, I was waiting for the drama to switch tone, based on Bai Lu's usually choice in scripts. However, Only For Love stayed true to its storytelling style from the start to the unremarkable finish. It had its cute and funny moments, but overall it's the weakest drama I have seen Bai Lu star in so far. Maybe after all the angst, it was time for something light! I would recommend watching this Only For your Love for the actors!

[decepti-thots]

re: meta again (again) - about old fandoms with no/little new input - do you think that there's a point where even though there's kinda more time for meta, the fandom becomes a bit detached from the canon material, maybe partially?

also, you made a really interesting point with developing confidence in one's own taste - I think I (and many others) are used to being graded on media analysis in school, so you'd have to find the 'correct' angle instead of finding the angle that works for you. it feels like it should be obvious that it can be different but I did kinda need you to write it down to get it, so thank you :) also, thank you for the discussion in general - I have actually started to grab screenshots of the comic panels that I've been having thoughts about, but here comes the final boss of writing meta (to me): lack of time, haha

I think it can vary enormously depending on the fandom, honestly. Some fandoms are built up around folks who are there to do textual analysis and as a result, I find that you don't tend to get that kind of "canon drift", because constantly revisiting the text is a large part of the communal fandom experience. (Again I invoke the daddy of all Western acafandoms- book-Tolkien and especially Silmarillion fandom spaces tend to go this way.) They can wind up in their own recursive interpretive bubbles in other ways, mind, but it's in no way a sure thing. I do think fandoms where it is possible to remain engaged without needing to revisit the source material can be prone to it, though. Transformers fandom (including e.g. specifically IDW1 fandom) gives you a lot of avenues for creative fannish outlets that don't need you to revisit the canon material for reference, so it's very possible for fanon environments to... drift away. (I'm thinking of drift here in a way that's a little like semantic drift, honestly.)

I think the idea that it relates to experience with media analysis in school- and I assume you mean school and not higher education here?- is interesting. While my time before dropping out of university wasn't spent in a literature course (I studied linguistics), it was adjacent enough and I spent enough time trying to self-study in it academically that my default understanding of this stuff trends towards my experiences there rather than high school, where I feel like the "right vs wrong" dichotomy is at least less emphasized. But of course those bad educational settings where the idea of "right" analyses are taken for granted bc Teaching To The Test must loom large in most peoples' memories bc it's, you know, the default for most people- like they exist ofc. All I can say to that is that a majority of high school/etc experiences with "media analysis" are so far from what it looks like everywhere else that you deserve to feel comfortable punting it into the fucking sun. Not just in the sense that "academic analysis" doesn't do that in higher education environments (though it shouldn't! i swear to god it shouldn't be like that!!!) but also because so much exciting analysis of art is done fully outside academic environments. ...I just realised that my longstanding investment in artistic analysis of video games as a medium probably helps me here because it ranges from "academic analysis is rejected by the mainstream as Not What Real Games Are About so gamers hate it" to "academic analysis of video games has no room for most indie work and neither does pop culture so it has to exist independently without following convention so academics dismiss it", which means I'm just. Really used to analysis of non-prestigious media that is fully outside "the academy", haha. If you want to get comfortable analysing art when you haven't done it since high school handed you a stupid letter grade, peruse Critical Distance for media analysis that is largely divorced from the idea of consensus among Important People TM, genuinely; critical artistic analysis of video games is a great place to find intelligent, interesting work that ignores a lot of what is conventionally considered "obligatory" for Real Art Criticism TM. (video game crit is like, my default mileau, ngl.)

As for time, I personally write most of my work while doing time theft (this is why you see me on here less at the weekends), but regardless: recommended post on one (excellent) fandom-writer's process. also, take as long as you need. take months if you have to. it's good and fine. write three words a day. write one post a year. or post seven a day, whatever. i will say that folding meta-writing into my 'reading for fun' time helped me a lot, though- meta as an extension of re-reading for fun, rather than something in addition to it, was very helpful to me! don't re-read in addition to planning meta, basically; try and meld the two into one experience. you aren't doing an academia, and you can go off the cuff as you read! make meta into a liveblog, and get meta out of livetweets! same hat!!! etc. but also it's just fine to. take time. yknow.

[tomsawyee]

something in the last, like, year or so has completely killed any of my desire to ever interact with A Fandom ever again, and I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about it--

I used to have a notion that, even if my personal ways of interacting with the media I enjoy on a deeper level never aligned with the “mainstream” of a given fandom, I could still carve out a place to enjoy myself. But the more time I’ve spent in these spaces, the more absolutely convinced I am that they are, despite what they would adamantly insist, generally repellent to critical thinking. And I always knew this, a great deal of us always knew this, but I’ve just. Lost the ability to politely ignore it while I do my own thing, because those people inevitably find the things I make, anyway. And I still have to fucking listen to them. Because they are the majority. And as audiences churn, the core base never learns anything.

As the internet centralizes, actively contributing to this hobby community gets you labeled a Content Creator, and with that comes the mob expectation that you create content. For free. On demand. This exacerbates the perceived social divide between Creators and Consumers. People who don’t actually contribute to the body of work get this idea that they are being forced into an Out Group, when in reality, the In Groups are generally just people who care about the thing more than you and end up making friends because of it. This is particularly obvious in big fandoms. Creators are at the same time perceived as Fandom Elite while also being your unpaid court jesters.

And fandom is racist! It’s so fucking racist, and it hides it in pseudo-progressive, frequently queer language while constantly looping the same shitty excuses for whitewashing and ooc stereotyping and bending over backwards to cut POC out of the picture as much as humanly possible, REGARDLESS of what the original text says. So, so often, I go back into the source material thinking “Am I the one who remembers this the wrong way??” only to find that, no, the fandom presence for a given series will always default to distilling the text down to only its white people, then only its lighter skinned people. Characters of color are props to fandom. There is zero interest in the internal lives and humanity of people of color. Fandom would rather make a white protagonist Ambiguously Tan than pay half a mind to an actual character of color. And if you point it out, you get dogpiled by white queers self-righteously crytyping in your notes. Fandom friends and friendly acquaintances of color I meet are always the first people to burn out and leave, because being here is so consistently hostile. Of course AO3 is 70%+ white. Why the fuck would you willingly put yourself through this?

Despite this, we fancy ourselves a ‘progressive’ subculture because we allegedly care about things like ‘representation,’ a concept that has lost all meaning in a dozen different, equally infuriating ways. The delusions of a Higher Purpose, of fandom as political statement or even activism, are all the more embarrassing under this lens. The pervasive idea that fandom exists to “““fix”““ the silly, dumb “““regressive”““ source material by sanding down every single corner until it is the same featureless sphere that can be effortlessly slibbered down like every other cookie cutter re-imagining that came before it. The idea that professional writers are generally outclassed by fandom writers. Pestering creatives on the bird app worked for Glee, so now every time something happens that we don’t like, it becomes a social media moral crusade that is honestly embarrassing to be even tangentially associated with. I’m not here to change the scope of entertainment, or to keyboard warrior for some fictional characters produced by a multi-billion dollar media company that will never see me as anything but a demographic with a wallet. I’m here because a work made me feel creative. It’s not that deep.

(the more expensive the art is to make, the less likely it is to ever target “risky” smaller demographics! this is why TV and film and AAA games suck so much! if you want more textual queerness, read books!) (or listen to them!) (look up some webcomics!) (enormous media companies will NEVER be beacons of creative progress!)

So yeah I’ve come to accept that me and this world are just. Fundamentally incompatible. I’m never going to like it here, despite really, really trying for half my lifetime. I need to stop trying to carve out spaces for myself, because the percentage of people who legitimately care about critical and creative analysis of art and fiction is exponentially smaller than this community would have you think.

[rlyehtaxidermist]

arknights thoughts for new players: lord guards

taking a break from the rest of the vanguards to dig into the biggest class’s biggest subclass. apologies to myself and other frostleaf fans

Lords: A Little Bit of Everything

The Lord subclass, also called Ranged Guards from back before subclasses had names, are 2-block Guards who can launch slightly weaker ranged attacks in a narrowing cone in front of them. These ranged attacks take a small damage penalty, but are still useful for attacking enemies blocked by other allies or hitting aerial units.

Most Lords have skills that also give them additional effects, most commonly Arts damage but some also dip their toes into the crowd control pool. Higher-rarity Lords tend to be team anchors, serving a number of flexible roles and being a cornerstone for your strategies on many maps. They cover a wide variety of options, making investing in at least one highly recommended, and several have unique kits valuable even at the bleeding edge of endgame content.

Midnight: Mid Value

Midnight is worth raising if only because he’s cheap, and also one of the few Lords with on-demand access to Arts damage - . Melee Arts damage is a bit of a weird niche for a lot of content, but being able to do it at range makes him a viable counter for Defender-4 drones - which can be an Early Game Nuisance. Access to Arts damage helps offset the penalty to his ranged attacks, especially against early-game enemies that tend to have significantly lower RES than DEF.

His access to ranged attacks, arts damage, and low-cost Block 2 also make him a good Integrated Strategies pick, so you’ll want to level him up to E1Max eventually.

Frostleaf: Low Value

Frostleaf is unfortunately another one on the shortlist of “worst operators”. She trades Midnight’s access to Arts damage for access to the generally less useful Slow (and an unreliable Bind on S2). Without Arts damage to compensate for her poor base offenses, Frostleaf struggles to find a niche compared to Midnight in a general use team.

She does, however, offer several near-unique - if highly situational - tools. Contrary to her Slow tag, Frostleaf’s skills actually provide the rarer “reduces Movement Speed by x%” debuff, which stacks multiplicatively with Slow’s 80% speed reduction. (This means you should ignore any tierposter saying that a Decel Binder does her job better - they actually complement each other!)

Frostleaf is one of the more consistent sources of movement speed reduction, and the only source below 5☆ rarity. But this is a situational debuff outside slow-heavy maps, and one that new players are unlikely to need; unless you want to play with a large crowd-control kit, Midnight will do her job better.

Arene: High Value

Arene was added to the game later, and it shows: he slots right into the role of most higher-rarity Lord guards as anchors for your squad. S1 stops blocking to become a powerful physical DPS, while S2 is essentially a fusion of Midnight and Frostleaf’s strengths while sidestepping their weaknesses. As a dedicated Melee anti-drone unit, he can also cover areas that Marksman Snipers might struggle to reach.

He can fall behind Midnight as a solo lane holder due to his different attack priority sometimes making him ignore enemies in front of him, but neither of them are specialised in it - his strength is being put behind a Defender or another Guard and raining damage at range.

He also has a very valuable base skill, potentially reaching the largest byproduct bonus in the game at E1, which helps stretch out high-rarity materials a lot further.

Lappland: Extreme Value

You may be familiar with Lappland because of her memes, but you will soon be familiar with her for her gameplay. Her signature Silence effect fluctuates in late-game value depending on enemy composition, but absolutely shuts down a number of early-game enemies: in particular, she prevents the explosions of Infused Originium Slugs, which are often a roadblock for new players in Chapter 4, and the stun ability of Defense Crushers such as those in the last wave of Lungmen Downtown Annihilation.

She is the only Operator who offers a constant source of unconditional Silence - all others are either tied to specific skills, or specific classes of enemies. While her Silence can be somewhat unreliable at E1, only really working on enemies she kills herself, it has far more than 100% uptime at E2, making her an extremely strong contender for first E2 promotion.

Her skills are less valuable than her Silence in general, with S1′s Resist buff and S2′s Automatic trigger/Offensive Recovery combo both being a bit inconsistent - though as each of S2′s attacks apply Silence, it’s generally considered to be the stronger option.

Ayerscape: High Value

Unlike Frostleaf, Ayerscape’s S1 applies a genuine Slow effect, meaning it won’t stack with Decel Binders - but will stack with Frostleaf or other movement speed debuffers. It avoids Frostleaf’s other weaknesses by hitting multiple targets and dealing Arts damage, but its shorter duration makes him less of a crowd-control specialist and more of a DPS with a side of crowd control.

His real strength comes in his second skill, which is extremely strong when dealing with large crowds of enemies. His skill essentially makes him into an Ambusher Specialist that deals heavy Arts damage to blocked units near him. While this makes him very dependent on specific maps, generally involving open spaces or large numbers of enemies, he is extremely powerful with the right positioning. His Talent also slightly boosts the ASPD of himself and nearby allies, which is a rare buff that’s particularly powerful in the open, target-rich environments he specialises in.

Even without Lappland’s extremely fierce competition, Ayerscape doesn’t really have anything to edge him into the Extreme Value category, and he’s more expensive to raise than Arene. Outside of his specialty, he won’t really set himself apart from Arene, but he’s still a very powerful option in places where he can shine.

but speaking of shine...

SilverAsh: High Value

SilverAsh at E1 doesn’t honestly bring that much to the table. S1 is a generic ATK buff that’s nothing special in a subclass with Lappland, Ayerscape, and Arene. S2 is a mode-switch skill that drops his range to the three adjacent tiles only but gives him a large defense buff and passive regeneration, making it easier for him to operate with less support, but as the skill doesn’t boost his damage output at all he’ll still probably need an extra DPS.

But for all the mediocrity of his E1 self, his E2 promotion is extremely powerful. At E2, he gains his Eagle Eye passive, removing Stealth from all enemies in range, opening them up to attack from not only SilverAsh himself but any supporting DPS, and the meat and potatoes that made him the king of the early Arknights metagame: Truesilver Slash.

Truesilver Slash’s range boost enhances SilverAsh’s anti-stealth abilities, and at SL7 will hit 5 targets in a wide arc. While the skill drops his DEF, the range boost means that it works fine if a Defender is dropped in front of him, and the attack boost is enough to kill more fragile enemies before they even get close enough to attack. While its extremely long charge time of 90s means it’s unlikely SilverAsh will use the skill more than once or twice in a stage, it can essentially trivialise the time when it is up.

But you’ll note I called him king of the early metagame. While he’s still a major boon for early players, he’s not the endgame investment he used to be, for one big, spiky reason.

Thorns: Extreme Value, Major First E2 Contender

E1 Thorns is very similar to E1 SilverAsh. Like SilverAsh, his first skill is a flat ATK buff which struggles to compete with the more interesting options available to lower-rarity Lords, and his second skill is a unique defensive buff that tilts him towards a laneholder role.

Thorns S2 covers a lot of the weaknesses of SilverAsh S2. Instead of a range penalty, Thorns will stop attacking entirely, unless he gets hit - at which point he will retaliate by hitting 4 enemies in a slightly expanded range for his full - skill-boosted - ATK. While he doesn’t gain any regeneration, he’s less reliant on DPS support.

Much like SilverAsh though, Thorns’s strengths come into full focus at E2 - if you have him, I would say he’s the single best choice for first (6☆) E2. Instead of SilverAsh’s powerful - but situational - stealth cancel, Thorns gains passive regeneration if he hasn’t attacked for two seconds (the counter from S2 does not count as an attack). This allows him to solo lanehold much more effectively than any other Lord, even SilverAsh S2, as his regeneration is only reliant on occasional breaks in combat and comes with no penalties to range. And again like SilverAsh, a lot of what he does comes down to his third skill.

Destreza is an Offensive Recovery skill, so its charge speed is a bit less consistent than Truesilver Slash’s - though SL7 Destreza will charge faster than anything but M3 TSS in a target-rich environment. The range boosts are different, but neither is strictly better - TSS hits a wider area but Destreza hits further out. The ATK multiplier is smaller than SilverAsh’s, but it also comes with an ASPD boost. On its first activation, it’s competitive with Truesilver Slash, but the real strength is its second activation, which not only doubles the bonuses (making it much more competitive with TSS at the same skill level), but gains infinite duration.

There is a reason “just pull for Thorns lol” is a meme. Man’s broken.

[ceterisparibus116]

hello hello! i'm starting my undergrad in a few months double majoring in psych and govt/legal studies and i plan to go to law school in the future, so i was wondering: what are the best ways to prepare for the lsat early, and what did you do in undergrad that prepared you best for law school?

Ooh, I'm so excited for you! That sounds like an amazing double major, awesome choice!

Undergrad:

This is a great chance to practice discipline! In undergrad (especially general education classes), a lot of people coast by without really doing the readings. But law school involves a ton of readings each week. Okay...some people still don't do the readings, even in law school. ;) But it sounds like you're very committed and serious, so you seem like the kind of student who will want to do the readings (at least for the law school classes that matter to you) so that you can get the most out of class. A great way to practice that is to practice the discipline of reading in undergrad - even when no one else bothers.

And if you need another incentive to read: remember that the higher your GPA is, the more okay you'll be at getting into your desired law school even if your LSAT isn't stellar. So if you want to take the pressure off a little when it comes to taking the LSAT, prioritize that GPA!

Another great skill to practice in undergrad is speaking in class! If you're like most people will get so much more out of your law school classes if you're willing/confident enough to engage with the professor. Yes, that means asking or answering questions in front of a giant room full of people. But this is such a good skill to learn. (And it will make arguing in front of a judge or jury less scary in the long run, too.)

Related: take every change you get to practice public speaking! Join a speech and debate club or something similar!

And get used to going to your professors' office hours. Office hours are an amazing chance in law school to dig deeper into the material, and will sometimes result in internships, job offers, and the like. So use undergrad to get used to reaching out to your profs.

(Plus, you'll need letters of rec when you start applying to law school, so having some undergrad professors wrapped around your thumb won't hurt.)

And while I'm thinking of applications - try to be, for lack of better words, interesting and well-rounded. Your chosen majors are a fantastic start, since throwing psychology in will help you stand out from all the other government-and-political-science types. But you want to show law school admins that you're not just an academic nerd. Whatever other interests you have, see if you can find some way to make them official, like by joining a club (or starting your own). Ideally, this would also involve some sort of volunteering. Overall, this shows admin that you're someone who gives back to your academic institutions (which they'll interpret as you being the sort of person who'll make the law school better for everyone), and someone who gives back to society.

Another super random piece of advice that isn't specific to undergrad: hone your typing skills! Most law school exams (and the infamous bar exam) are timed tests. If you can type faster than your classmates, you will be at an advantage, and that matters when classes are graded on a curve.

LSAT:

Practice tests, practice tests, practice tests! The LSAT is a skills-based test, so reading a bunch about the test is a waste of time. I re commend reading about it enough that you can identify the categories of questions, and then moving on because you want to take a practice test asap. That will tell you where your weak spots are. Once you know your weak spots (...chances are, it's logic games, perhaps a specific category of logic games), then you can focus on practicing those questions.

I found YouTube to be a great source with logic games specifically, because the way to beat a logic game is by diagramming as accurately and efficiently as possible. I'm not a visual thinker, so the diagrams I came up with on my own usually weren't good enough. The experts on YouTube have already figured it out for me!

Aside from YouTube, the only other resource I used was books found at thrift stores. I stocked up on a ton of LSAT books, not to read them, but to use the practice tests at the end.

I can't stress this enough: you HAVE to actually PRACTICE the LSAT. You have to isolate in a room and set a timer and run through it like it's the real thing. Doing it in focused bursts might help you figure out how to answer a specific kind of question, but at the end of the day, the LSAT is also a test of mental endurance. You have to train your brain to focus (and focus hard) for the whole time. The only way to do that is practice like it's the real thing.

(If you're super hardcore, this means, as you get closer to the real thing, that you practice eating, drinking, and sleeping the way you would for the real exam, too. Like if the exam starts at 9 in the morning, you make sure you eat whatever you need to before that point, so you can start your practice exam at 9am too. Otherwise, your brain might get used to switching into high gear later in the day, and that's suboptimal.)

I was blessed in that a local law school actually offered free practice LSATs every October, which is great because it just feels a little more real than practicing at home. So if anywhere in your area offers something like that, do it! And if not, try to practice going somewhere to take your practice exams. Doing it in the comfort of your own home is just a little less nerve-wracking.

Other super random tip: get some sprigs of rosemary and sniff them periodically. You'll look weird, but it helps your brain stay awake.

[catsconflictscopicsandchamomile]

ok. sure.

actually, I (or, FAR more accurately, the activist spaces I work in) DO have a pre-determined, set and written-down plan to utilize voting & legislative power to help Palestine in a tangible way

its late asf, and I know I'm kicking a hornet's nest here, but this post is pissing me the FUCK off, and from Neil Gaiman no less, so here we go, I'll try to keep it brief and may come back with actual sources and organizing materials at a less 4 a.m. time

tldr, here's the current plan

keep calling out Biden at every turn, as president, DESPITE any veto risks, he does have the CLEAR MORAL OBLIGATION to both ATTEMPT further and more drastic action, and, in the event that he is vetoed, SPEAK on it. However, general callouts and rally chants aside, Biden is not the target here

the senators & reps ARE.

by picketing and protesting the offices & public events of senators and reps who support Israel or abstain from the issue, we are making sure that both the senators and their constituents CANNOT IGNORE their actions

"We won't vote democrat" isn't idealism or being somehow divorced from reality- it is a threat (loss of constituent/voter base, loss of political power) that politicians, regardless of whatever other beliefs they hold, will at least notice, and hopefully listen to. "We will not be voting for you, because you (supported/remained neutral on) a genocide" shows Senators & Representatives that 1) they are at risk of losing many voters/supporters, and 2) it is directly because of their actions/stances re: Palestine. This is why we want so many people to take this stance. The bigger the potential loss, the higher pressure to allow/create measures that will cause actual change (even if that change is only at the policy level)

Especially on local/state levels, third-party candidates are being more heavily endorsed than ever- and while the risk/progress balance on this will vary greatly based on an individual's state/district/city/etc, local-level changes like this are especially worth looking at imho.

While I PERSONALLY don't know what I will do ON voting day at a national level (the status of voting dem/republican(FUCK NO)/third party is a touchy and complex issue here, and many things may change before November) I know that I fully agree with and support the full-throated leverage of vote refusal as a pressure tactic on our senators and representatives, as well as president Biden.

Lastly, I understand that there will likely be some responses here calling me "privileged" or saying that as a white cis(?) woman, I won't be harmed by the consequences of my/our actions. I don't have an argument here except to say that not only do I fully see your point of view, but I'm actively concerned about it and constantly weighting this issue re: what decisions and beliefs I gravitate towards. I'm doing my best to think clearly and listen to diverse voices on the subject.

I can TELL you that these aren't ideas I had on my own, that they came from a larger community of activists in my city. I can TELL you I was at a march on Saturday, where the loudest voices for everything I described above came from BIPOC activists, and I can TELL you that a largely-nonwhite, fairly queer, and majority-female crowd cheered for them-- but I can't PROVE that to you, and I won't claim that I can, or that you're wrong or bad for not believing something a stranger online said in a pissed-off, totally unsourced reblog rant. However, IF you're going to make that specific argument, consider saving your time and energy, because I'm well aware and wrestling with it myself. These things aren't easy, if they were all easy decisions and cut-and-dry choices, it wouldn't be real work, and it wouldn't be real change.

gnight

I'm just going to leave this here, because this woman said what I've been trying to articulate for ages much more effectively and succinctly than I've been able to

[mathewmartin1]

7 Key Facts About Lithium - The Metal Powering Our Future

Lithium is becoming one of the most valuable elements of the modern age. Known for its role in energy storage, this lightweight metal is at the core of innovations in batteries, medicine, and even aerospace technology. Lithium is shaping industries and influencing sustainable energy solutions with its increasing demand and varied applications.

What is Lithium?

Lithium is a soft, silver-white metal that belongs to the alkali group on the periodic table. Its chemical symbol is Li, and it is the lightest metal and the least dense solid element. The metal's reactivity and electrochemical properties make it a sought-after resource in various industries.

Some notable characteristics of lithium include:

Atomic Number: 3

Melting Point: 180.5°C

Boiling Point: 1342°C

Because of its unique properties, lithium is indispensable in energy storage and many advanced technologies.

Why is Lithium Important?

The growing focus on renewable energy and electric vehicles has spotlighted lithium. Its ability to store energy efficiently makes it an essential component of rechargeable batteries, especially lithium-ion batteries, which power everything from smartphones to electric cars.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global demand for lithium is expected to increase 40 times by 2040. Its significance isn't just limited to batteries—it plays a crucial role in several fields, including:

Medical Applications: Used in treatments for mental health disorders like bipolar disorder.

Aerospace: Lightweight properties make it ideal for advanced materials.

Greener Technology: A key player in reducing carbon emissions.

The History of Lithium

Lithium, discovered in 1817 by Swedish chemist Johan August Arfvedson, was initially isolated from the mineral petalite. However, its full potential became apparent not until the mid-20th century, especially in medicine and battery technology.

By the 1970s, scientists recognized its importance in energy storage, developing the first commercial lithium-ion battery in 1991.

How is Lithium Mined?

Mining lithium involves extracting it from two primary sources:

Hard Rock Deposits: These deposits are found in regions like Australia.

Brine Pools: Salty water deposits, mainly in South America's "Lithium Triangle," which includes Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina.

Environmental Impact: While lithium mining is critical for green energy, it has raised concerns about water usage and land degradation. Innovations in sustainable mining practices aim to address these challenges.

Lithium in Batteries: Powering the World

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are at the heart of the modern technological revolution. They are used in:

Smartphones and laptops

Electric vehicles (EVs)

Grid energy storage systems

Compared to other battery types, lithium-ion batteries are:

Lighter and more compact

Longer-lasting with higher energy density

Faster to charge

Quote: "The transition to clean energy is impossible without advancements in lithium battery technology," says energy expert Dr. Sarah Lee.

Lithium's Role in Renewable Energy

Renewable energy sources like solar and wind are intermittent, meaning they don't consistently produce power. Lithium batteries solve this issue by storing excess energy for later use.

Some breakthroughs include:

Tesla's large-scale battery storage systems

Grid-level energy storage in California, powering over 15,000 homes

Fact: Studies show that lithium battery storage can improve grid efficiency by up to 30%.

Medical Applications of Lithium

Beyond energy, lithium has significant medical uses. It has been a lifesaver for patients with bipolar disorder by stabilizing mood swings. Low doses are also being studied for their potential to improve brain health and combat neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.

Despite its benefits, proper medical supervision is necessary when using lithium treatments, as imbalances can lead to side effects.

Global Lithium Reserves and Production

The significant players in lithium production include:

Australia: The top producer, accounting for nearly half of the world's lithium supply.

Chile and Argentina: Rich in brine deposits, collectively contributing around 40%.

China: A growing force in lithium mining and processing.

Current global reserves are estimated at 21 million metric tons, with ongoing exploration expanding these figures annually.

Challenges in the Lithium Industry

While demand for lithium is skyrocketing, several challenges remain:

Environmental Concerns: Excessive water use and habitat disruption.

Supply Chain: Meeting the demand while maintaining ethical sourcing.

Geopolitical Tensions: Competition between nations over lithium resources.

Developing recycling technologies and alternative extraction methods can mitigate these issues.

Future Prospects of Lithium

The future of lithium looks bright, especially as electric vehicles become mainstream. Innovations in battery recycling aim to create a circular economy where old batteries are repurposed to reduce reliance on mining.

Researchers are also exploring solid-state batteries that could outperform current lithium-ion models.

Fact: By 2030, it's estimated that 125 million electric vehicles will be on the road, most powered by lithium-based batteries.

Environmental Benefits of Lithium

Switching to lithium-powered technologies can significantly reduce carbon emissions. For example, electric vehicles produce up to 50% less CO2 over their lifespan than traditional gasoline cars.

Additionally, integrating lithium batteries into solar farms enables clean energy storage, reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

Lithium Alternatives: Are There Any?

While lithium dominates the battery market, researchers are exploring alternatives like sodium-ion and magnesium batteries. However, these technologies are still in their infancy and must match lithium's energy density or efficiency.

How Lithium is Shaping Everyday Life

Lithium is a silent yet indispensable part of daily life, powering everything from smartphones to enabling clean transportation. Its contributions to renewable energy and medical science highlight its versatility in building a sustainable future.

FAQs

What is lithium used for?

Lithium is used in rechargeable batteries, mental health treatments, aerospace materials, and renewable energy storage.

Why is lithium important for electric vehicles?

Lithium's high energy density makes it ideal for creating long-lasting and lightweight batteries for EVs.

How is lithium extracted?

Lithium is mined from hard rock deposits and brine pools. Significant sources include Australia and South America.

Is lithium environmentally friendly?

While lithium has benefits for clean energy, its mining process can cause environmental challenges like water depletion.

What are alternatives to lithium batteries?

Sodium-ion and magnesium batteries are being explored as alternatives, but they lack the efficiency of lithium.

Which countries lead in lithium production?

Australia, Chile, and Argentina are the largest producers, with China playing a significant role in processing.

Conclusion

Lithium is more than just a metal—it's a gateway to a cleaner, more sustainable future. Its pivotal role in battery technology and renewable energy makes it essential for combating climate change and advancing technology. However, addressing environmental concerns and supply chain challenges will be crucial as global demand soars.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Engineers smash rocks to see what occurs when top layer of an asteroid-like object is hit with extreme external force

Johns Hopkins engineers have uncovered new details about how granular materials such as sand and rock behave under extreme impacts—findings that could someday help protect the Earth from dangerous asteroids.

Using novel experimental techniques and advanced computer simulations, the team revealed that these materials can behave in unexpected ways when hit at high speeds, a finding that challenges traditional models. Their work appears in the Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids.

"Our study shows that different parts of a material, and even different grains of sand, can behave in very different ways during the same impact event," said team leader Ryan Hurley, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Johns Hopkins University's Whiting School of Engineering and a fellow at the Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute (HEMI).

"What we found has the potential to inform applications ranging from asteroid deflection to industrial processes like tablet manufacturing."

The team fired projectiles from a gas gun at velocities as high as 2 km/s into granular samples made of both aluminum and soda lime glass and observed the samples' behaviors in the first few microseconds after impact. Though experiments like this are commonly done onsite at HEMI on JHU's Baltimore campus, this particular one took place at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) in Chicago because it required the use of special X-ray facilities for visualizing the impact.

"If you go to the beach, you can only see the sand on the surface, but an X-ray can see what's going on underneath that," said Sohanjit Ghosh, a Ph.D. student of mechanical engineering and the paper's lead author.

"We combine X-ray images with numerical models that we've developed, and that makes the two-dimensional X-ray image into a three-dimensional process that gives us the full picture of what's happening, both in time and space."

The researchers found that, in addition to other chemical reactions, the heat created by intense compression leads to the grains fracturing, melting, and re-solidifying.

"It is interesting to see how grains interact differently with each other at different impact velocities," Ghosh said. "We found that when you go to higher and higher velocities, there's so much thermal energy transmitted the grains actually melt and then reform."

The team observed that different metallic materials exhibit distinct ways of dissipating energy during high-speed impacts. Materials such as aluminum absorb energy by the formation of defects and plasticity, while brittle materials like soda lime glass dissipate energy by fracturing and fragmenting.

The researchers say these findings could inform future missions similar to 2022's DART mission, which struck an asteroid, altering its trajectory.

"All asteroids have this layer of sand, called regolith, on top of them, and when you shoot them, it's the regolith that dissipates a lot of the impact energy," Ghosh said. "We can infer from the combination of such modeling and experiments how different materials in different environments and impact conditions will behave."

Ghosh said while the experiment's planning lasted several months, the actual physical experience was over in a literal blink of an eye.

"The timescales of the experiments are very short—several hundred nanoseconds," he said. "We prepare an entire experiment for a month and then it's over in a few microseconds."

Mohmad Thakur, an assistant research scientist at HEMI, was also a research team member.

[yzas-oc-blog]

Bradford's Foot Clan, part whatever: let's talk about R&D. My thoughts on: what do they do, in-house work vs outsourcing, inter-department workings, and department leadership.

The banner I used for the "R&D Hive Mind" when talking about the organization's departments showed people at computers, but realistically that would only be a small - and possibly more recent - part of it.

Things I think they would be concerned with re:outfitting their ninja:

Uniforms - so, like, good fabric, armor materials, both traditional and lightweight, materials for belts and harnesses, shapes of these things for efficiency of movement, ect.

Weapons? - traditional weapons would be a small-ish part of this - most swords, knives, ect would be standard issue. Mostly because, like... people out there already make them. There's places out in the world to source them from, and its not realistic to get something special for every rank-and-file foot soldier. The higher you get (and the more you cultivate contacts inside of R&D) the better chance you get at getting better quality stuff from the in-house department. All that being said, there is a small forging team in R&D, as well as a Foot-owned-and-run manufacturing facility in their portfolio for in-house creations.

Gear - Outside of weapons, there's all the other tools - things for breaking in to places, moving across environments, communication devices, ect.

Somewhere between weapon and gears is what we might call... chemical warfare. The poison powders the Foot use, smoke bombs, actual bombs, ect. The chemistry team. Also the source of division within R&D re: Stockman and the mutagen.

Tech tools - I said computers were a smaller part, but they would become more and more important, so making tools that any layperson can plug-and-go to collect digital information would probably be important.

It can take a bit to make your way up through the grunt-work levels, but if you can prove your worth and make your way to the higher level, you can join the other mad scientists at creating the new toys.

Once templates are made, a lot of work does end up going into mass-manufacturing through the Business division. The head of Finance is very interested in cost efficiency, and is also aware that Bradford doesn't really care about the members of the clan besides having an army to show shredder - so if the general quality of gear is less than it could be due to the mass-produced nature, well. That's just fine.

If you want the good stuff, you either need to make it high enough up the ranks to be able to demand it, or else cultivate personal contacts in R&D - usually through bartering and favors. Finance's stinginess usually means R&D doesn't get all the supplies they might like, either, and if you happen to steal some stuff on your own time, the clan will generally look the other way...

Of course, the trade off for this is you often get untested, experimental work, so it can be a high-risk, high-reward proposition.

While I call it a hive-mind - and it certainly looks that way to outsiders (and possibly insiders, too) - there does have to be someone to report up to the heads of the organization. So they question becomes - what does it take to be a good R&D leader, and what does it take to lead R&D in the Foot.

You have to have enough expertise in some area of development to gain the respect of the geniuses making up R&D. You have to be strong enough - possibly feared enough - to wrangle said geniuses into actually completing work so Finance doesn't tear the department apart from budgets and timelines being blown, and so Bradford doesn't try interfering (queen bee of the hive?). You have to have strong enough communication skills to mediate between the two departments.

Not sure what shape that character would/should take yet, but I think those aspects would have to be present.

[cheerfulomelette]

[Image ID]

Screenshots from the linked essay, Mattel, Malibu Stacy, and the Dialectics of the Barbie Polemic.

The Screenshots have highlighted certain sentences, which I've bolded in the hope that it comes across on screen readers.

Screenshot 1: The 2023 Barbie film is a commercial. I’m sure it will be fun, funny, delightful, and engaging. I will watch it, and I’ll probably even dress up to go to the theater. Barbie is also a film made by Mattel using their intellectual property to promote their brand. Not only is there no large public criticism of this reality, there seems to be no spoken awareness of it at all. I’m sure most people know that Barbie is a brand, and most people are smart enough to know this and enjoy the film without immediately driving to Target to buy a new Barbie doll. After all, advertising is everywhere, and in our media landscape of dubiously disclosed User Generated Content and advertorials, at least Barbie is transparently related to its creator. But to passively accept this reality is to celebrate not women or icons or auteurs, but corporations and the idea of advertising itself. Public discourse around Barbie does not re-contextualize the toy or the brand, but in fact serves the actual, higher purpose of Barbie™: to teach us to love branding, marketing, and being consumers.

Screenshot 2: The casting of Gerwig’s Barbie film shows that anyone can be a Barbie regardless of size, race, age, sexuality. Barbie is framed as universal, as accessible; after all, a Barbie doll is an inexpensive purchase and Barbiehood is a mindset. Gerwig’s Barbie is a film for adults, not children (as evidenced by its PG-13 rating, Kubrick references, and soundtrack), and yet it manages to achieve the same goals as its source material: developing brand loyalty to Barbie™ and reinforcing consumerism-as-identity as a modern and necessarily empowering phenomenon. Take, for example, “Barbiecore,” an 80s-inspired trend whose aesthetic includes not only hot pink but the idea of shopping itself. This is not Marx’s theory on spending money for enjoyment, nor can it even be critically described as commodity fetishism, because the objects themselves bear less semiotic value compared to the act of consumption and the identity of “consumer.”

Screenshot 3: “Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy” is a classic Simpsons episode because it is such a clear embodiment of the function of Lisa Simpson. She is positioned as fundamentally, politically correct. She is also positioned as condescending and just plain old annoying, which undermines her correctness. It is the same criticism faced by the Barbie Liberation Organization and the Barbie dissidents of the twentieth century. Part of the brilliance of the Barbie brand is its emphasis on having fun; critiquing Barbie’s feminism is seen as a dated, 90s position and the critic as deserving of a dated, 90s epithet: feminist killjoy. It’s just a movie! It’s just a toy! Life is so exhausting, can’t we just have fun? I’ve written extensively about how “feeling good” is not an apolitical experience and how the most mundane pop culture deserves the most scrutiny, so I won’t reiterate it here. But it is genuinely concerning to see not only the celebration of objects and consumer goods, but the friendly embrace of corporations themselves and the concept of intellectual property, marketing, and advertising. Are we so culturally starved that insurance commercials are the things that satiate our artistic needs?

[End image ID]

SPILLED.