#it's literally the bare minimum you could do

[taviokapudding]

For those that don't get why he's scared- lemme explain as someone who is working on my branding as a vtuber in the making. Sit down *hands you popcorn*

Ben Shapiro is so bad at being a CEO that I had to stop and look up what his company is because I genuinely did not know until now.

I have heard a lot of bs (I could do without) in regards to Ben Shapiro, but I have NEVER heard he's a CEO nor do I know what his company does.

And what doesn't help is "I Hear Everything" is the WORST name for a company and their website does a shit job explaining what they do. I'll link it so you all can see what I mean.

Putting aside the website, if I wasn't posting this- would most people know that "I Hear Everything" is a podcast and audio media distributor run by Ben Shapiro? No.

What is the point in having a CEO like him, constantly running around & ruining things like a headless chicken, if NOBODY CAN NAME YOUR COMPANY?

There's 2 major reasons to have CEOs but lemme clarify 1 thing first

I hate Elon Musk but everybody knows he the guy who bought Tesla & Twitter. Walt Disney is literally ashes but 100 years later people are pissed his company his shitting on his legacy. Donald Trump owns multiple businesses and has gone bankruot 6 times as a CEO long before he ran for president the first time around.

Whether we all like it or not, a rich (usually white male cis/presenting) eccentric weirdo running your company can be good or questionable but still effective marketing- doubly if you lack a mascot or want to run multiple companies. At some point macot CEOs usually hire people to help run it because they are too locked into whatever their hyperfixation and/or crimes are. They become a face, name, or symbol for marketing rather than a genuine CEO.

But overall mascot CEOs are not good CEOs- they can and will be replaced because they are not running their company as the priority. Disney's marketing of how they present their CEOs to the public is a fantastic example- they keep rehiring guys who wanna be the next Walt but when they're not, the real board of elites who run things use them as a scapegoat when in reality they are all complicit in their financial and business failures. It's a terrible business strategy long term and it's why they are struggling right now.

So what makes a good CEO? 2 major things.

1. Being financially and morally responsible for how your company is run

2. Maintaining good brand recognition and public relations

Most of you may not know his name but David Menashi is why AriZona Green Tea is everywhere. Bro locked in to focus on running his business and only earning what he needs btw- but is it a perfect business? No. Look it up- it's around 50% of employees dislike working there for various reasons from pay, racial discrimination, not enough breaks, and managers sucking. But when people quit their reasoning is never "I hate the CEO because he's an eccentric weirdo who only focuses on what he wants to do/hoards all earnings on themself/ has a whole boys club blah blah blah" you get with mascot CEOs.

Has there ever been a mascot CEO who could do the other 2 things?

Short answer- No.

Long answer: Because I include moral responsibility- most CEOs are going to some kind of hell for greed related decisions. Mr. Menashi is just barely skirting by as a normal CEO only if you ignore the 3 times he donated to Republicans. It's borderline impossible. But guys like Ford, Rockerfeller, and even Jobs understood that being a macot and at least doing point 2 was the bare minimum.

But if you can't do number 2 & be a mascot CEO- you shouldn't be a CEO at all.

Ben Shapiro does nothing for brand recognition and public relations for "I Hear Everything" co. I thought (and looking at the replies of his tweets & all the social commentary since he posted his thoughts) he was a mascot for only his podcast and nothing else.

And that is why he's scared- bro has made a living off creating enemies for himself via his podcast and could straight up die tomorrow with 0 impact on his company because he can't even mascot correctly. Like in the sea of CEOs he's the least deserving of the title from a business standpoint.

This is a good time to remind you that Ben Shapiro is a CEO himself

That explains the horror he has been expressing over the UHC shooting incident and the reaction to it by the working class

[thebaldursmouthgazette]

Sorry for barging into your evil playthrough post. I just want to add that I think the game very heavily thematizes what it means to lead and what it means to be a hero. A lot of the Solas - Rook dynamic hinges on these ideas too. I feel like the game would lose a ton of thematic depth with an evil protagonist. Even just with an uncaring rook, who has the same understanding of leadership as Solas.

Absolutely. The reason the game is so strong is that it contrasts rook with solas. And rook is just the bare minimum of trying their best, and their heroism puts solas to shame. It’s part of that complete deconstruction of Solas tortured hero self image that constitutes honestly about 90% of the game. Solas comes out of this whole thing looking absolutely terrible compared to rook who is, once again, literally just trying their best and not being a complete asshole. Thats one of the most important aspects of who rook is as a person.

This game would completely fall apart if rook were a bad person. And I think ANY game fitting in this place in the narrative would fail if the protagonist was a bad person. It’s a fundamental part of defeating solas that first we have to completely obliterate any sense that anything he is done is justified, justifiable, or in any way good. There is no game that could have a satisfying conclusion to Solas’ arc while having a protagonist that is not fundamentally a better person than Solas. Even if you like the guy, you need to address the harm he’s done and how he didn’t need to do any of it before you can push him to move forward.

And I think they set up why rook is a good person really well. Because by having rook recruited for a selfless act of good, and then spending a year devoted to the cause before we meet them, we have a game where it makes complete sense for our protagonist to be a good person, and not much sense at all for them to not be.

Rook is not the only other grey warden left alive in the whole country. They’re not the only person in the friend group who everyone gets along with, and later the person with the biggest and easiest to hang out in house (and also a dog). They’re not the guy who stumbled into the right room at the right time to end up with the only tool that can be used to save the world and also leads them to be mistaken for a religious prophet so now everyone’s kinda stuck with them even if they’re a bit of a dick.

They’re a person Varric chose, because of the good deeds they had already done, and who has spent a year already trying to save the world. They would not be here if they were not a good person.

[vidma-kazhe]

Useful idiots on the internet: Hurr durr you can't really expect people to do research on every russian artist before they reblog their work just to make sure they don't accidentally support genocidal war!

Me, who does exactly that and it takes like minutes:

[stellaclaw]

except that appledusks behavior isnt multi dimensional, its the absolute bare minimum to not be a total monster.

mapleshade crossed the river because she was desperate and panicking. and they would have made it across had it not been for the sudden wave- they were manging before that, so crossing was in the kits ability. what happened was a terrible accident, and one mapleshade clearly is horrified and grief stricken over. appledusks mourning begins and ends with ‘you killed my kits’ and having her thrown out. the next we see, hes happy with reedshine, whos pregnant.

feeling bad his kids died, not starting a fight with somebody whos clearly deranged and a capable fighter, and taking a hit for his pregnant wife are literally the most basic things he could do to not be an actual plot device. it doesnt make him deep.

as for nightcloud and crowfeather, bonefall and warriorsfireandwater have very good posts analyzing them better than i could ever put into words. needless to say, nightcloud is WAY overblown by the fandom- she does virtually nothing besides feel jealous and pull him away from leafpool, and thats after books and books of him mooning over leaf and emotionally and physically abusing his son to the point of his treatment being what drives breezepelt to the dark forest.

you are affording far more grace to these books than you should. at the end of the day, very very few characters in warriors are complex. before you ask, i would not call mapleshade and nightcloud complex either. the writers clearly want you to take a certain impression of them in mind, but fail to convey it- theyre badly written books all the way to the core!

you also should almost never take a characters sacrifice at face value in these books either. its funny that you mention tom, because he, too, is considered redeemed by the authors. because he died for his daughter, he deserves forgiveness, in kates own words! skystar also dies taking a bullet, and the characters talk about how this emphasizes how he was a good guy, actually, despite being probably the greatest monster of the series (seriously, go read bonefalls many posts analyzing the series. they are excellent). sandgorse is an absent husband and terrible father who dies heroically as well. and what of onestar, again a bad husband and father who- you guessed it!- dies protecting the clans. heroic deaths are used by the writers to redeem the shitty men of this series and make it so the audience feels like they cant criticize them, because look! they did a good thing!

what you really need to ask is why crowfeather is made complex by a woman he knew for 2 weeks being fridged. why is leafpool leaving him such a tragedy that makes him emotionally abusing her as punishment so suddenly compelling. why is nightcloud being “bitchy” suddenly a defense for his blatant abuse of his son? why is appledusk doing the absolute bare minimum suddenly enough to make him complex? do you feel the same way about nightcloud, who lost two of her children and had her husband become emotiomally absent during this traumatizing time, had to protect her omly living son from his abuse? for mapleshade, who thought she could bring peace through her love and paid the ultimate price for her naivety?

this is ramble-y but i think you get the point. op was not truly discussing how appledusk was one-dimensional, op was aiming to make the point that appledusk was a shitty guy with very little going for him and people worshipped the ground he walked on. and op is right and actually should have gone farther, because op is criticizing a wider trend in this fandom, in which the narrative and fandom bend over backwards to give extreme grace to male characters while female characters get ripped apart for any form of wrong-doing, and if nothing bad enough is present, facts are fabricated to demonize them for.

i think its just something to ruminate on. i advise reading more into the topic. i already heavily suggested bonefall, whos good at analyzing not just the writing itself, but the writing and fandom trends.

anyway if people are allowed to make excuses for bramblestar and fucking appledusk, I should also get to say that nightcloud did nothing wrong

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

weird hearing "were you a Theatre Kid" "were you a Sports Kid" "were you a Choir Kid" "were you a Dance Kid" bc no? i mean i did all of that and more but resented ever minute of it? actively avoided sticking with anything? i was a "In This Family After School Activities Are Mandatory Kid"

[vaggieslefteye]

HUSK, Hotel Bartender & Concierge | 1x04 - Masquerade

"Oh, I FORGOT — you're the wise-old bartender who's seen it all! Get the fuck over yourself and pour me a real drink."

[profnic]

Trolley 2024

You stand at a control panel. Coming down the tracks before you is a trolley. A big banner on the front of the trolley reads Election 2024. Where you stand with the control panel, there is a split in the track, right or left, red or blue. The lines still run nearly parallel to each other, and looking down the track, you see they join back up further down the way. The left track is slightly slower than the right one - perhaps. You wonder what the real difference is then, so you look closer.

Examining the tracks, you see that there are people tied to them. On the right side, you see some of your friends, family, and other people you care about - issues you care about. Abortion, birth control, trans rights, Queer rights, education, and others lost among the crowd. On the left side, you do not see anybody tied to the track, yet that side is shaded. People could be tied to that track, but it is hidden from view; the right side proudly displays the bodies on their tracks.

The answer seems obvious, then. But you decide to keep looking. You gaze down the tracks to where they rejoin and see the true horror. There are many bodies tied to this track, people you may know, but either way, the sheer volume is overwhelming. Palestine, the American war machine, homeless people, undocumented immigrants, good relations with China, banning fracking...and so many more. You know it will hit these people no matter what button you press.

How are you expected to choose a button? Maybe you should just ignore the buttons entirely. Run from the control panel. But as you look around, you see you are not the only one with a control panel. There are millions of others faced with the same choice. Don't they see the horror down the line? Don't they care?

Some avert their eyes while pressing their button. Some stare eagerly at the people on the tracks, awaiting their destruction. Many, though, walk up and simply press a button like they have hundreds of times before - no thought except it is the color they have always pressed. Millions of people out there are pressing their buttons. What choice did they make? What if they chose to run over your friends and family? What if pressing your button meant they didn't get run over?

Does the trolley know it might run people over? You look at the trolley coming toward you. Seated inside, you see the corporations relaxing. This ride will be good for them no matter what. Further down the line, where the trolley has already been, you see bodies. Uncountable bodies, run over by the trolley.

What about stopping the trolley? It is moving too fast to stop before the tracks split. Additionally, the tracks are defended by armed guards. It can only be stopped if you blow the trolley up and line up—doing so will be near impossible, though. And if you blow it up, who knows how many will die in the explosion or after?

You see some people walking away from their buttons. They will not press one. They try to get others to join them as well. You understand. It is so tempting to walk away. If you do not press a button then, when those people are run over, you will not feel like you participated. But those people where the tracks rejoin will be run over no matter what. You could avert some of the destruction with your choice.

Some people turn and walk away without looking back. Some people turn away but run to help those tied to the tracks. Some people press their button and walk away. Some people press their button and run to help people tied to the tracks.

Do you press a button?

More importantly, what do you do after?

[cathodic-clairvoyant]

Oh hi there transfem discussing her experience in the trans community i just had a quick question about your post

What does tme mean?

Oh okay i see i understand, thank you.

What does transmisogyny mean?

Ah I see, I get it.

What's a trans woman?

Oof scary. One last question.

What's a woman?

Thank you for being my own personal google (not like you had anything better to do right?) and derailing the point of your post for my own personal education. I will now add nothing of value to this post in return. Bye bye!

[the-kipsabian]

people sure do love consuming content but ignoring art huh

is it really that hard to click a kudos button (not the tumblr like button, seriously fuck that noise) if you reach the end of a fic, or writing two words ("loved/liked this") to encourage a writer?

also is it *really* that difficult to hit reblog on this site? be real with me for a second. is it?

yall are just bunch of consumers who are destroying any fun in making and sharing art cause yall are so conditioned to the quick-and-fast-blink-and-you-miss-it consumerism of modern social media content

CLICKING BUTTONS TO ENCOURAGE AND SHARE STUFF IS FREE. TYPING OUT TWO WORDS TO TELL SOMEONE YOU LIKED THEIR WORK ENOUGH TO FINISH READING IT IS FREE AND TAKES FIVE SECONDS MAX

you literally have no excuse. thats all

[hana-bobo-finch]

erm…..posting about an OC via a rushed shitpost was not on my 2025 bingo card!! 😂😂😂😂😂😂get it??? 😂😂😂because his name is bingo??(GETS SHOT)

these are all things he has done or has attempted to do so consider this the full intro post for that freak for now. he’s still too undercooked to fully introduce but damn I love him

[fivetrench]

One time someone reblogged that “tumblr is the worst place for people with moral ocd” post because I called them an asshole for complaining about Palestinians in their inbox begging for help because apparently the asks sounded too “guilt-trippy”.

[heartual]

had such a good experience with surgery today i can’t even fully explain

[icewindandboringhorror]

Everytime I face a new character limit on a website that didn't have them before/used to have really long ones... AUGHHhhh the modern social media world was not made for people like me (lovers of details, rambling, elaboration, thorough explanation, and nuance)

[pwurrz]

people are using the “learn to separate fiction and reality” to justify genshin’s and more specifically hoyoverse’s racism and whitewashing of african cultures and. well. i can’t say i’m even a little bit surprised.

[sunnyyflowerrs]

and when i say down with spotify

[coolspacequips]

Have been reading this sci-fi romance and like UGH u ever really wish a book was just at least a little better??? There's stuff in this that's interesting but also a lot about it that's so... Juvenile and kinda undercooked lol...... But it's so hard finding good romance bc for a lot of romance readers this is enough, except even then not really since they prolly didn't fuck nasty enough in this book for the ppl that just need the merest pretense to read smut (which is fine if that's what u like there's just an oversaturation of this, esp when you can have a light plot/heavy smut story with slightly better writing and internal world building without having to explain and describe the 'boring' parts 😅)