#but not unwarranted

[mokeonn]

"But if college was free, then people would abuse that and get useless degrees" hell yeah I would! If I could go to college without debt I would make it my job to get a degree in every little thing that interested me. I'd get a doctorate in film studies. I'd have a bachelor's degree for every science I like. I'd try to learn at least 5 languages with varying results. I would learn something "useful" like coding and then follow it up with a ""useless"" degree like art history. I'd be the world record speed run holder for getting every degree possible.

But I can't afford college without going into massive debt, so instead I spent the last 5 years trying to figure out what I am passionate enough about to consider going into debt over, because unfortunately being passionate about everything is extremely expensive to pursue.

[nicktoonsunite]

[hislittleraincloud]

Wow, I didn't realize how much of an ahole you actually are, teacher boy.

There are a SHIT TON of young minds on here who we're supposed to be encouraging intellectual and artistic thought and growth, and here you fucking are, throwing pessimistic, discouraging bile all over their enthusiasm to learn new things.

I will have lived 50 years come next week, and learning is something that I've never stopped pursuing (I'm still learning more about various languages every day, as well as trying to learn more efficient ways to program AI). My passion is automatic, it's part of my core, but there are a lot of young minds that need help keeping their fire for learning burning. You're no goddamn help.

You're not fucking Wednesday Addams, so you can can the nihilistic attitude. You're a teacher! But you're actually a POS. I hope all the teacher crush girls who've crushed on you realized it fast.

Don't even dare respond to me with some kind of defense because I'll fucking eat you alive.

For a teacher, an educator/an 'academic', to fucking say this shit to young people is INDEFENSIBLE.

Teacher Crush Girls: This man is quite literally n0t it.

[what-am-i-doing-in-this-fandom]

Waiiit, is that FiddEmmaStan in my AU, who put this here???

[yashley]

vex & pike in c3e112

[cameoliob]

so i actually have mad indescribable beef with his OG pants from season 4 so i had to take matters into my own hands

[fishbloc]

Long overdue update for the Swaggon mod that I wanted to make but could never found the time or heart to. Please enjoy.

CHANGELOG: - fixed portrait to show scar instead of suki - fixed dialogue so scar actually says his dialogues now - removed additional festival dialogue bar one for each festival - added 20 new general dialogues to make up for removal

(mod link)

[spacechannel6]

New Spring haircut new Spring fit

[lesbinewren]

not lost on me that the conversation around white women voting for trump is “dumb bitches voting against their own rights, can’t trust them ever” while the narrative for white men is “oh no how can we get them back*? we must have hurt their feelings, we need to be nicer to them!”

*we never had them to begin with

[starscreamers]

this was so unnecessary of him.

[madamemiz]

i want to dissect this guy tbh

trying to figure out how to draw him

[stoshasaurus]

banshee-44, according to... well, me.

really the only things that irk me about his design are his colors and his outfit, primarily the latter. considering how filthy his workshop is, and how gruff and grumpy he seems, i'd expect to find this guy elbow deep in gun parts 24/7. he gives mechanic vibes ya know? dingy and covered in oil and grease and scraped up to hell from working with his hands for traveler-knows-how-many decades. those bright colors and swaddling clothes just don't suit his personality, i think. he gives "personable, tough-love bartender", if that makes sense. like you could lean on his counter late at night and get into those deep conversations, really talk about some serious stuff. ya know? ya know?!?!?!?!

also that thousand-yard stare. i know this guy's been through a lot, if anyone should space out it's him, but. damn.

anyway. i just think this version is more pleasing, idk about y'all. just though i'd share. i love banshee-44 regardless. love you banshee, 'preciate ya.

[starcurtain]

Some Evidence in Favor of Jade

One thing I've constantly seen in Jade hate posts is the idea that she's trapping good and innocent people like Aventurine and Topaz and chaining them down to the IPC.

But I actually think it's this act--choosing Aventurine and Topaz to be her proteges--that tells us a lot about whether Jade is a fundamentally bad person or not.

First, it's key to understand that Jade is in a significant position of power within the Stonehearts. When Diamond chooses not to appear, it's often Jade who goes in his place and acts as his voice. When it comes to making administrative decisions on who will get to join the Stonehearts, Jade had a direct hand in supporting Topaz's ascension (by accepting recommendations) and an even more direct role in Aventurine's ascension, choosing and testing him for the job herself.

So Jade is a character with enough power to have a strong say in who gets to become a leader in the IPC. She possesses enough authority and trust from Diamond to catapult a wanted murderer like Kakavasha straight up 45 ranks in the Star Rail universe's single most powerful corporate entity. She helps to decide who rules.

And who has she picked with that power?

Aventurine and Topaz are both good people. Although they'll do whatever is needed to advance the IPC's aims, they're both essentially kind-hearted and unwilling to put others at unnecessary risk. They both deeply value friendship and exhibit many of the other positive traits one associates with heroes--loyalty, generosity, gentleness, and honesty. Topaz takes a hit to her own reputation and rank to protect Belobog. Aventurine, infamous for high-stakes gambles, specifically spells out that he absolutely refuses to cheat his way to victory.

In an organization that is otherwise known for the literal colonization and extermination of civilizations--in an organization that puts wealth and material value above anything but their own god--in an organization with people like Obsidian who literally want to turn things into a bloodbath--Jade's top picks are both quintessentially good characters.

She is extracting value from them. She is profiting from their work for the IPC.

But Jade had the power to promote complete monsters into the Stonehearts. She could have picked heartless, profit-driven villains who would have forwarded the IPC's goals at the expense of the human element entirely. She could have promoted more evil into an already evil organization. But she did not. Jade chose to support two disadvantaged young people who had clawed their way up from the bottom while still maintaining their principles. At least two of the Ten Stonehearts are people the Trailblazer can associate with without extreme moral guilt, thanks in part to Jade.

The people that Jade chooses to throw her support behind mean something. Topaz and Aventurine's presence in the Stonehearts indicates that Jade is capable of not only recognizing goodness--but has actively chosen to elevate (at least relatively) moral people into positions of authority. This act, choosing to promote and support inherently decent human beings, speaks greatly to Jade's sense of who deserves power--and, from there, to her own sense of justice.

Just something worth thinking about, I feel.

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

Yay! It'll give me something to look forward to on Wednesdays again! Today was busy but I'm at my weekend finally so it's all uphill from here! 😂

Oh, I don't know how Denise was still standing after that look! This story is really getting me in the mood to try my hand at my own Beau series. 👀 I see you and raise you the vest/maroon sweater combo!

Omg yes Wednesday is unofficially Beau Arlen day! I think it was dubbed that because Big Sky aired on Wednesdays the last season? I always see more Beau stuff on that day. But I love that you unknowingly adopted it!

I feel like Thursday must be Dean’s and Friday must be Soldier Boy’s then? Anyways hope you’re having a good day today! Here’s Jensen doing his tongue thing for you if it’s not 😂

That's so awesome!! lol I love how we as a fandom have just decided this. ❤️ "Wednesday Beau Day" has a nice ring to it. It's official: one of the posting days for Take Me Home shall be Wednesdays!

And I would be on board with Thursday Dean Day and Friday Ben Day as well. 🤣

And thank you, friend, I'm actually having a pretty good day after a busy morning at work finally calmed down. I hope you're having a wonderful day as well!!

Love me those little laugh lines around his eyes in that gif. 💓💓 I see you and raise you a cowboy sheriff's wink:

[shorthaltsjester]

it is quite funny to me as someone who studies philosophy and has had to have the conversations that bh and ludinus have been having many times over and often with people who like ludinus do not have any reading comprehension and truly like. the notion of “this shouldn’t exist” is almost always one that comes up regardless of whether it’s a discussion on the metaphysics of a potential God(s) or divinity, high political powers, or vehicles of systemic oppression. and what anyone who cares about people more than their ideals (even, sometimes, ideals that started out being about people but quickly come to be about the ideals themselves) realizes very quickly in a philosophical discussion about what should and shouldn’t exist is that it does not matter if what you’ve decided ‘shouldn’t’ exist does in fact already exist. like that tends to be the difference between sociopolitical philosophy that actually has teeth and substance in the world — a willingness to engage with the world as it is, not as it should be. because you can have the perfect image of a just and wonderful future world, but if you do not at every step reckon with the unjust world from which you are aiming at that future, you’re doing nothing. ideals are helpful because they aim us toward goals and hopes, but they’re nothing without a reality that grounds them.

and so people like ludinus, who in the real world would play the role of a graduate student with critical thinking skills that make every professor he comes across question how he arrived at his level of study, they don’t have Wrong ideals, there’s obviously plenty of reasons why an exandria without gods might in fact be a better place for mortals (there are also many Many reasons why it would not). but ludinus has also chosen his ideals to weigh heavier than the mortals he claims to uphold them with. i think ashton is also interesting, because i think a lot of their positions have a fun fluctuation between being ideal focused and person focused, where sometimes they’re focused on how unfair life is in a very nihilistic position, and at other times they seem quite clear about how much ideals help no one if they’re not second to the desire to help others. and i think that made their role in the convo with ludinus in 102 especially interesting and irritating (but in a narratively fulfilling way). anyway, truly so fun watching ludinus argue with the amount of fallacies and undeserved confidence of like right wing first year students in an ethics class explaining how actually the ends justify the means and thanos had the right idea actually if it means no more starvation. get a grip old man.

[isawjamfirst]

the boys are alright