#but that was literally just the consequences of your choices

[muttthecowcatridesagain]

Yes this is all true. HOWEVER, as someone who does sew - fabric quality and fabric sources were drastically affected by the pandemic. And as far as I'm aware have not fully recovered (and may never fully recover).

Most of the fabric for the entire world is produced in china. Especially for more uncommon fabric types, if something happens to the factories (or in some cases factory singular) that make them, it affects the supply for the entire world. There are certain fabrics that have become much more difficult to source due to this reason. For instance, I've had a particularly difficult time sourcing gobelin (or tapestry) fabric. You see the same 3-4 patterns of tapestry fabric used for anything new recently because those are literally the only patterns being produced in that fabric period. And this is just one example.

Even Joann's mentioned above closed many of their stores in the last year. I don't really have a real fabric store anywhere in my area anymore outside of the local quilting shops. But the fact of the matter is that plain cotton, especially quilting cotton, does not look good for many clothes. Making thoughtful fabric choices when hand making clothes can make the difference between something looking amateur vs professional. For most clothes, quilting cotton does not do the trick imo

The other factor in this is that a downstream consequence of making most of the textiles for the whole world in just a few places is that certain textile techniques and individual fabric types are gradually lost over time. This has already happened to many fabrics and will continue to happen as the majority of the world's population relies on buying clothes rather than making their own.

And there's not really a good solution to any of these things.

In summary, if you have decided to make your own clothes, try to source used/second hand fabrics. There are many available if you look for them and are normally going to be higher in quality in general given all the above reasons. Obviously, this isn't a strategy that will last forever, but in recent years this has been my preference at least. I'm still hopeful that quality will slightly increase again as everyone gradually recovers from the pandemic

so many articles about Fast Fashion, not enough articles about what the hell is happening to the quality of clothes

Like okay. People own more pieces of clothing nowadays and they wear them a lesser number of times before throwing them out. BUT.

Why do we pretend like this is pure vanity or careless wastefulness, rather than forced by the qualities of the clothes themselves?

The other day, I was going through boxes of old clothes in the basement in search of fabric to practice sewing on. The difference in quality of the fabrics themselves is shocking! The worn-out old jeans from twenty years ago are MUCH thicker and tougher than anything more recent. My old baby clothes are made as sturdy as my work clothes from today.

In the past couple years, I have had entire seams rip out of clothes on the first wash. That's not normal!

Polyester blend shirts that feel cozy and soft when they are new, become scratchy and rough after 20 washes or so. I am trying to avoid polyester, but it gets harder and harder; the other day i couldn't find a single pack of crew socks that was 100% cotton. SOCKS!

Also, pilling is out of control. The newest pants I bought developed pills within a single day of walking around campus with a backpack.

These companies are trying to frog-boil us but touching clothes from twenty years ago, the useless crap of today would stick out like a sore thumb...

[binomech]

european history's narrative about the middle ages is literally that the world was a paradise of knowledge and science before religion cast the whole continent into darkness, destroying historical record and rejecting experimentation in favor of dogma. the enlightenment period that the french revolution got the moniker because it was meant to be a light to both uncover old findings and lead the way into a transparent, shining future. science would be the key to fixing the miseries of the dark ages, from forced labor to illness.

now, the thing is that enlightenment and all it's science paved the way for a more brutal, global colonialism, industrialization as a process that cemented the power of capitalism all over the continent and its colonies. all that knowledge that once meant to free us had shackled most of the world. i am thinking about jayce blinded by the light: trusting hextech to be a light and a tool to guarantee a better future suddenly getting overwhelmed by all the dire consequences his discovery resulted in. war, pestilence, famine, death. he paved the way for the horsemen because he believed in the inherent goodness of mankind, just like the revolutionaries did -- but that belief was rooted in catholic essentialism of the soul and narratives of original sin.

you had this and your humanity tainted it, give up on science because you're playing god and people will pay the price. in many ways this references the rune wars in shurima and azir ascending as xerath, a slave, gets consumed by magical energy and turns to a villain, which is the narrative that piltover holds about magic until they can use it for profit. jayce is blinded by the monster he created.

but he still reaches out because he believes that knowledge isn't inherently evil. he's a scientist and he knows for a fact it can be used for good from his own personal experience. there is always a choice, and they are choosing to do harm, but he doesn't have to follow suit.

[what-eats-owls]

It matters how you do it

I finished Dragon Age: The Veilguard and had some big feelings about it. Spoilers for basically everything under the cut, and frankly, it won't make sense unless you've finished the game anyway.

First of all: I had a blast with this game. I didn't find Act 1 slow, I did find Act 2 a bit of a whack-a-mole, and then Act 3 kicks you in the kidney (complementary) while insisting it's for your own good.

I've seen some recurring complaints: that it lacks depth/edge/darkness, that it abandons previous lore, that the previous choices don't matter. I don't entirely disagree. To me, it felt like a massive Dragon Age 4 game that pivoted to a different, tighter game after complaints about bloat in Inquisition. The key is that when editing down, there's such a thing as trying to trim the fat and taking a chunk of the roast with it.

I enjoy the concept of Lucanis's character, and the voice actor sold the hell out of him, but the storyline felt like being taken to a museum and allowed to see one (1) beautiful unfinished sculpture. Why did Spite, specifically, work? We know the spirit of Justice became Vengeance by abomination, we knew Solas was Wisdom before he became Pride, so what was Spite before, and why wasn't that tied to Lucanis's own personal arc? (Doubly so if you romance him!)

Similarly, Harding was a delight, and her greenhouse was such a lovely little haven. I would have loved to see more explanation of the connection between plants and the titans, and how Harding's own personal struggles with rage connected to that of the titans. She has every reason to be angry and scared, and the game tells us she pushed that away—but we don't actually see her toxic positivity manifest to that degree, until she abruptly has an angry clone.

On the flip side, I loved the other five character quests, and I felt they had solid, poignant arcs that delivered. I also adored their interactions with the codex—if anything, I wanted to see more of that type of interaction on the screen. You have to fill in a lot of the character work for Rook yourself; Rook has all these interesting potential backgrounds, but I think starting the game playing through those, a la Origins, would have gone miles towards establishing more personal stakes up front and made for a stronger start.

So that's all my nitpicking. But let's talk about the bigger theme: It matters how you do it.

In the first Fade conversation with Solas, he gets so mad when Rook refuses to let him DARVO them about the consequences of his botched ritual. This makes way more sense when you understand he's literally imprisoned by his own regrets, and he needs Rook to have that same kind of regret in order to take his place. His entire arc is about rationalizing binary choices and shitty actions that hurt others in the name of a hypothetical greater good that he wants.

Solas can't engineer every binary choice Rook's forced into, but he uses Varric to maximize Rook's regret. He is trying to quite literally mold Rook into him, and the game is great at presenting this both as a coldblooded manipulation and a broken plea for validation—if you let it. You don't have to give Solas a moment of consideration; you don't have to take time to view his memories, or kill his demons, or listen to those scraps of Mythal still holding onto the good in him. You don't have to do any of it.

But you can. And in the end, it matters.

It matters because for every companion, you can encourage them to either be more nurturing/compassionate or destructive/closed off versions of themselves, and that is frequently tied to continuing or breaking from a cycle. (The exception is either Neve or, presumably, Lucanis, who are forced into the Hardened version depending on which city you save.) These aren't presented as morally opposing choices, just who you want them to be. You can see how the Grey Wardens fucked up bad with griffons and decide they have a better place. You can help Emmrich face his fear by finding deeper meaning in life instead of indefinitely postponing death. You can help them do things differently.

So when you get to the final choice in the game, you may have two options: physically force Solas into saving the Veil, or trick him into it. The kind of binary choice Solas has molded you into making by pelting you with cruelty and manipulation.

Or, if you've taken the time, you can get him to understand he's wrong. You bring out the people who saw the best in him and speak to what he's had to endure, even as you're showing him there's another way. You reach him not as Pride, but as Wisdom. And he goes willingly.

Ultimately, I think DA2 and Inquisition grappled with big questions of oppression and violence, faith and authority. It makes sense for those games to delve into harder, uglier subject matter, and ask you to make binary calls.

But my read of Veilguard is that, at its core, it's about how those decisions are meant to trap you in regret at best, and numb you to rationalizing cruelty at worst. It's why the companion who loses their home city becomes colder, more isolated, in response—more like Solas.

That's why it offers you a third way at the very end, but only if you've worked for it. A better way is possible, yet it has to be more than words. You have to understand where the pain comes from, what maintains and is being maintained by the current cycle. Then, and only then, can you break it.

I can't wait to play it again.

P.S. Utterly obsessed with the Trevisan fish merchant.

[viciouslyrobotic]

Except it isn't! Shockingly, the internet doesn't revolve around just what you specific come across! That literally isn't whats being discussed here and no one said you have to tolerate bigotry AT ALL. You are injecting what you want to into a discussion that is not about cowtowing to people who feel entitled to their misogyny and bigotry without facing consequence. Also, the screenshot you're showing is some rando admitting that yes, equality is the morally correct choice, and he also has to reconcile that he's seen as scum of the earth regardless.

Are you knew here? Do you know what rehabilitation is? Because I damn well don't think people that claim to be reformed but have no action to show for it have actually been "reformed" and have argued with plenty "reformed" alt righters who curiously still attack all the same marginalized people they were already attacking but now (mis)use feminist language to do so now so this screenshot proves nothing to me beyond what it says. He went down the pipeline and also is admitting he's contending with being seen as scum for "immutable traits" while course correcting himself. What immutable traits? You don't have to unpack his feelings of guilt for him, but you also don't need to weaponize them to feel justified in your actions.

You're defensive for a reason, I get it, been there. At the same time that man needs a therapist and community so he doesn't go back to fascism and we, AND ESPECIALLY HIMSELF, can hold him accountable for his past actions while, again, course correcting as we would for any other ally. There are plenty of legitimately reformed alt righters, stop weaponizing the ones that aren't to justify yourself. Stop weaponizing peoples genders to justify yourself.

Idk I feel like "Men are responsible for their own actions, women aren't to blame for men being misogynistic" and "You do not have to tolerate bigotry from others, call them out on that shit" and "People may be less likely to become radicalized if they receive kindness and compassion" don't have to contradict each other

[vampire-dove]

I love Armand. I'll be an Armand defender until I die. If he has no apologists, I am dead. HOWEVER. "I was forced to watch" was literally just "well well well if it isn't the consequences of my own actions"

[that-sarcastic-writer]

This is a scary time to be anything other than a straight white male. As a Latina, I’m fucking terrified. I’m scared for my lgbt friends, I’m scared for my disabled friends. I’m scared for my mom who works in education. I’m scared for my future as a student on financial aid. I’m scared.

[rynnthefangirl]

“What would you have me do mother?”

“Do simply what is needed of you. Nothing.”

While I agree Alicent gagged him here, if you all had let him do nothing like he WANTED you would not even be in this situation AT ALL.

[imminent-danger-came]

Part of me, deep deep down, wonders if we still may have a scene of MK on his knees versus his friends a la 4x07

[sydmarch]

slay the princess extremely good game

[spider-man-2o99]

this idea that some ppl seem 2 have of miguel being an insanely jealous/possessive person is so funny 2 me because i just cannot even fathom where it came from in the slightest, lol, like... one of his Whole Things is respecting individual autonomy, y/k-? nevermind he also just. canonically doesn't fucking act that way,.,. yeah, obviously people can draw different wrong conclusions from the source material but, like, that Does Require at least skimmin' the source material... .

[vagueiish]

what exactly is one supposed to do about accepting things you can't control when the thing you can't control is a person who is actively fucking over many people, including children?

[literary-vandal]

back on my bullshit reading the twilight saga for the fanfic and i feel a crit analysis a-brewin and i kEP THE FUCKMEYER HANDLE JUST IN CASE THIS EVER HAPPENED BOYS WE'RE BACK AT IT AGAIN-

[apollo-zero-one]

Man I can't believe I had the chance to go to a performing arts school up through middle school and I fuckin quit after 6 months just because I got bullied. BRO YOUR HOMEWORK WAS POETRY!! YOU HAD TO PRACTICE DANCING TO COTTON EYE JOE AS YOUR BIG UNIT TEST. GYM CLASS HAD A CIRCUS UNIT!! YOU HAD A WHOLE DAILY CLASS ON IMPROV!!! YOU FOOL!! YOU ABSOLUTE IMBICILE!! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN A YOUTUBER!!! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN ONE OF THOSE TWEENAGERS GETTING LOADED BY MAKING SHITTY YOUTUBE SHORTS IN 2008-14!! But noooOoooOOOoo little miss Noellie (who WANTED TO GO!! who worked SO HARD and sent in an application essay and did an INTERVIEW to get in!!) couldn't handle disruptive classmates or little scuffles and petty grudges and general Attitude of the other students and cried to mommy to put her back in public school. I am EATING MY HAIR over what Could Have Been. I COULD BE SOMEONE'S ANNOYING YOUTUBER!! I could be a DISGRACED DISNEY CHANNEL STAR!! I could be an America's Got Talent winner! A mild to moderately successful comedian! I could be making short films!! But no no no precious thin skinned baby me heard a few new cus words and watched a teacher get heckled and begged to give up The Dream in favor of?? Quiet math tests?? I am such a fucking quitter I quit everything the second it gets too hard I always take the out as soon as it's offered what's my fucking damage.....

[jewishbarbies]

absolutely wild that people shit on blake lively for the plantation wedding but don’t give a fraction of the smoke to ryan, the groom at that wedding. ryan is untouchable in the conversation. yet also while we’re shitting on blake (rightfully so), NO ONE considers the implications of their family being so close to taylor, who’s been accused of being racist (also rightfully so) multiple times over the years. it’s almost like ignorant blondes flock together and misogyny trumps racism when a man is conventionally attractive.

[rubberbandballqueen]

since i just rb'd a poll abt high school grades now's probably a good time to drop one of my many million-dollar ideas for how to run a high school classroom, which is that i think that at the start of a quarter/semester kids should be asked if they want hw to count towards their grades or not bc i was So Fucking Bad at submitting hw in high school, but my test scores were really good, so i'd rather have not had hw count towards my grades. but obviously there are a good number of kids who are either bad at taking tests or anxious abt their grades dropping and are diligent abt turning in hw, so letting hw count towards their grades would give them some padding in that situation.

[gothamcityneedsme]

listening to the me:a ost for work and tbh it is incredible how much me:a is an improvement on the 'bioware open world game' formula. like i still think its weaker but in comparison to da:i, me:a is infinitely more playable and feels more full of an actual soul.

Like. I have 100%-ed both games. I will NEVER 100% da:i again, and honestly im not sure if i would even *play* it again. meanwhile i, 1000%, would replay me:a, and i could even see myself doing everything in it again. The grind isnt unbearable, gives you time to hear other party convos, and lots of the sidequests have memorable characters and concepts