#mediocracy

[barleysinger]

This is Barnaby Joyce; Australian politician... the member for Gina Rinehart. Proof that capitalism is not a meritocracy.

[apotato4u]

So, i was getting tested in bioinformatics, and asked for oral examination. Unlike the other subjects, they denied me the right, because apparently they haven't been sent any message from secretariat, to which I've clearly gave both a physical and digital copy of my assessment paper. Mentioning that in chemistry i was tested orally made them say that it's "unofficial", and they threaten to cut my chemistry grade. Not only they denied my right of oral examination, THEY ALSO GONNA CUT ME IN A SUBJECT I READ FOR WEEKS, MANAGED A 8/10 SCORE, AND NOW I HAVE TO STAY AND DO THE SAME THING AGAIN!???? I DIDN'T GIVE UP MY FREE TIME, SANITY AND SLEEP FOR THIS!!!! AND I CAN'T SUE THEM CAUSE THE COURT IN THIS FUCKING COUNTRY WILL TAKE YEARS JUST TO COMMENCE!!! I WAS THIS CLOSE TO GETTING PAID SCHOLARSHIP AND THIS IS THE THANKS I GET?????

You know what, i give up, this world doesn't need salvation, it needs to be fixed. THE 4RTH REICH SHALL DESCEND

[rwpohl]

other europe, tim roberts 1988

[adhddbt]

[vivispec]

god winter break could not come soon enough. to say life's been exhausting would be a VAST understatement.

hoping now that i can breathe for five fucking seconds I'll actually be able to write again. funny how my most productive coping mechanism is also the first to become inaccessible when i get stressed 💀

[glauxgardenofchaos]

It's like people have forgotten that anything written, was once written by somebody. And that somebody may have opinions on what their writing is used for.

AI do not write. They cleverly copy-paste stuff based on an algorithm, from enourmous datasets scraped off the internet and other places. So anything produced by them is automatically plagiarised. There is no originality in AI. Everything is stolen.

Do not feed the plagiarism machines.

(for the record, do NOT feed by fics to any kind of AI. DO NOT)

oh I wasn’t aware it was feeding the ai. I’ve inserted hundreds of fics into chatgpt for their continuation or for a different plot within the same context just for fun and out of curiosity… but I’ve never posted any of them…

Indeed, anything that is given to AI it can use later to draw from. That's why it doesn't matter if you post them or not as it has now access to those writers' texts without their permission.

~Mod L

[amarenacherriezzz]

I don't just want to be good, I want to be great

[tea-academy]

So the shit coworker I hate really screwed up. I had to give him a project to manage (it was 75% of the way finished, I had done everything up until that point) because I had other projects I could not do at the same time, and it's his JOB to assist me.

He fucked it up. Deadline in 3 hours, he was sitting around, twiddling his thumbs, barely any of it done. I had to put what I was working on on hold and spend hours out of my day to get it finished. I was fuming the entire time, because guys.

HE THOUGHT EVERYTHING WAS FINE. In no way, shape, or form did he seem to realize that he was responsible for finishing up the project and while everyone else scrambled around him to try to get it done, he was joking around. Doing impressions. Not hustling, not focusing, not contributing.

It confirmed what I already suspected, that he actually either does not care about this job or is too damn stupid to recognize that adults have to prioritize their time, and that he had wildly fucked up by not prioritizing the project he was responsible for. He wouldn't have started finishing it at all unless I told him to, which I did, which is 100% not my job!

This mediocre subpar, useless male coworker reminds me of the post that floats around radblr, about how being a good student holds women back in office / corporate workplace settings. The one where it outlines how men just attach themselves to projects to look more successful than they really are, taking undue credit and kissing their boss's ass, networking and making everything a bro's club.

That is 100% the behavior he's operating on, and it's 100% going to blow up in his face. Unlike a corporate setting, we're as super small business where we're basically all managers of our departments. We are supposed to be completely self-sufficient, and after two months of working here he can't grasp that.

He just sits here, laughing performatively at everything anyone says (with a super annoying higher than his natural voice laugh! It's so fucking fake), pretending to look busy on his computer, demonstrating his incompetence left and right.

I've already talked with my boss, and he agrees with me (though he's not as harsh I am), so I think he's going to be on the way out very soon. I am not letting this happen again -- next time around we're getting the first strongly motivated woman I can persuade my boss into hiring.

[rata-novus]

having a jewish wife, at least two trans friends (one of whom you employ) and still going “both sides are equally as bad, buuuuut if the [wizard] game looked fun i would still stream it”

[tinycurlyfry]

Thinking about how Buggy and Shanks parallel Zoro and Luffy but if Luffy dropped his ambitions. The agreement between Zoro and Luffy was that Zoro would follow Luffy, be his first mate, be his swordsman, the first member to join his crew and set sail to achieve Luffy’s dream of being Pirate King IF Luffy never got in the way of Zoro’s dream of being the Strongest Swordsman in the world.

Buggy and Shanks were “apprentices” to Roger (and really more or less they were his sons). They were learning from Roger and learning what being a pirate SHOULD BE. So as apprentices, it would go without saying (at least as far as Buggy is concerned) that that means they need to be the ones to carry Roger’s Legacy. That they should be the ones to get their captain’s treasure and carry out what he wanted for the world. We see it in what Buggy is CURRENTLY doing. That he wants to inspire people to achieve their dreams. Crocodile sees piracy as a business, and Mihawk sees his position as a power pirate as a means to live a peaceful, lazy life where no one would dare bother him. But they don’t have the  ROMANTICISM of a dream anymore. And all those years ago Buggy heard Shanks say he was no longer throwing himself into the romanticism of pirating and adventuring anymore. He’d be a pirate sure, but there was no drive, no DREAM behind it anymore. 

And then he asks Buggy to still be a part of his crew. I can only imagine what that request must have felt like to Buggy. For Shanks to tell him “I won’t be the pirate king you saw me as. I’m not seeking any dream. But come be a part of my mediocracy. Just settle for less, Buggy.”

Now of course, Shanks still went and became a HUGE big name pirate. One that achieved Emperor level. But in that moment? In that moment it felt like Shanks was asking Buggy to give up on his dream, settle for being a pirate simply to be a pirate, and betray what they had learned from Roger.

Luffy was never going to get in the way of Zoro’s dream. Zoro’s desire was Luffy’s desire and vice versa, because as they said themselves in the show- the pirate king shouldn’t have anything less than the best swordsman on his crew. But Buggy’s desire was not Shank’s desire. I’d argue it probably still isn’t! I know Shanks is now making his move for the One Piece, but I honestly don’t know that that is his true objective. I think he thinks his place is to BE THERE when the battle for the One Piece happens. He placed a bet on the new generation and he is going to be there to see that bet come to fruition.

And I think part of that conversation between Shanks and Buggy was how they were each grieving. They had both lost a captain, but also a father.

But Buggy has not given up. His own dream was rekindled this most recent chapter (yes partially because he believes Shanks finally wants to be pirate king too), but partially because he finds himself SURROUNDED by people who know longer believe in the child-like wonder of adventure and treasure and the DREAM of becoming PIRATE KING. I think Buggy HAD also given up down the line. I think we saw a Buggy who’d lost his way at the beginning of the series. I do think Buggy doesn’t have the... best morals... But whether it’s intentional or not Buggy is not who we saw at the beginning of the series and he’s rallying so many people under him, and giving them sanctuary, and honestly? Reaching a king’s status to so many people. 

But honestly? If Luffy suddenly went “You know what? I’m happy with what I’ve got here. I don’t need to be pirate king anymore. We don’t need to get the One Piece.” The Straw Hats would be SO LOST. Sure maybe they wouldn’t all get immediately angry or upset as Buggy had and asked “Well, what DO you want then?” But they are a crew made from the collection of DREAMS. And everyone’s dream is their own dreams. Zoro’s ambition became Luffy’s ambition, but that would never had happened if there was even a small chance that Luffy would be satisfied with anything that fell lower than reaching their dreams.

All this to say I’m proud of Buggy and support him as Leader of Cross Guild LMAO I hope he continues to fail upwards.

[thetraumaking]

The Accursed Crown

Other chapters

Chapter 10: In Name

Due to excitement, she had trouble sleeping.

After her unfortunate “accident” the whole day you were by her side, treating her as if she were glass. The treatment may have been targeted toward the weak but Azula’s excuse was simply research.

She was curious to see how you would react and she was also curious to know how it feels to receive such attention. While she herself is training and focusing on improvement, her brother Zuko is being pampered as if his life depended on it. She simply wanted to know what it was like being in his position. To know if that lifestyle was worth sabotaging his future and development.

She lay in her bed, awake.

Only getting up alongside the sun. Knowing you would be already awake by this time, she made her way to you.

Despite the lack of sleep, she was in a good mood. Her demeanor was calm and relaxed, as she walked through the patio. Her steps halted when she heard grunts from the training ground.

Deciding to investigate, she redirected to the field. When she found the source of the gasping, her eyes widened.

Azula could not describe what she was feeling. Nothing good that's for sure. There was a pain in her chest that she could not fully describe.

The sight before her made her jaw clench.

Zuko was there on her training ground, doing her training drills, and taking lessons from her mentor. Who does he think he is?

He is nothing but a fish swimming in a sea of mediocracy. How dare he waste your time on some useless fodder?

She’s a firebender but even then she never imagined she could feel her blood boil. She watches as her brother heaves, leaning on his knees, trying to catch his breath. You gaze at him, evaluating his performance.

Deciding to put a stop to this, she tugged at her bandages before marching in with her head held high. She had hoped to spend the remainder of the week with you.

Calling out to you, she showed you her bandaged hand, which was coming out undone. You handed the wooden sword to Zuko and walked to her. “How did this happen?” You ask while retying the gauze.

“It could be that I moved too much in my sleep, or you just didn’t do a good enough job bandaging it.” She huffed. “Also, didn’t you promise to make me breakfast? And why are you here with him?” she looked pointedly at Zuko.

“The Fire Lord ordered me to train Prince Zuko. He may not have started to fire bend but he should at least know some basic forms. As for breakfast, I thought you would have liked to sleep in a bit more so I conducted his highness’s training a bit early so I could have time to prepare.” Even when you’re finished retying the bandages, you still held her hand.

Seeing her attempt to draw your attention away from her brother was working, she continued on with the conversation.

“I am already used to waking up at this time so from now on, I want to train with you. I will be present in every training session you hold for him, so tell me a day prior before your meeting.”

She didn’t wait for you to respond and began pulling you back to the palace, away from Zuko. “I’m hungry, make me food.” She ordered, sparing a glance at the boy left behind.

Why must her quality time with you suffer because he’s weak? If he was the slightest bit more competent, this would not have happened. And why must her father and grandfather constantly interfere with her plans? Why do people always get in her way and try to steal you away from her?

She felt a comforting hand on her head, stopping her in her tracks. The tension seemed to melt away the moment you stepped closer, letting her lean her head on your middle.

“What caused this reaction?” You began combing her hair with your fingers, working through the knots. “Did your brother wrong you in some way?”

“He did.” She replied without missing a beat.

Of course he did. He tried to stand between you and her. She heard the stories from the servants about how it was you who used to attend to him before she was born. She also heard how he complained to his mother about how she was the one who took you away from him. She has even heard her father tell his council member how he believes that you are his daughter.

Her age does not fully reflect her maturity. She is young but she is not dumb. She has ears, she can hear the whispers that go around you. Her eyes can see the respectful, jealous, angry gaze of the servant that targets around you, the longing gaze of her mother, the admiration from her brother, and possession from both her father and grandfather.

Someone always tries to either harm or steal you away from her. She may not have authority now but in the future, she will.

She stood up and straightened her back. She will not show weakness. You will see and recognize her capabilities.

Pulling you by the hand, she walked forward towards the cooking area. Where you, as promised, made her breakfast.

It may not have tasted the best but… it was warm.

Till the day her hand made a full recovery, she has been spectating your and Zuko’s training sessions. Unlike her, he was making mistakes in every form. Elbow too low, fingers too spread out, chin too low, and stance unstable.

Anyone could tell which of the siblings were the most pampered.

She knows you would not have wasted your time on him if it was not a direct order from the Fire Lord. It seems as though everyone you have interacted with wants to take you away from her.

Ever since Zuko has started to train with her, his mother began to make an appearance. And she also seemed to have the intention of stealing your time. After every training session, Ursa would pull you aside to talk to you while Azula and Zuko would leave to get themselves cleaned.

Letting out a breath, Azula hugs her pillow. Not only do you return later than the previously agreed-upon time, but you come back to her half-dead as if your will has been sucked out. She’s curious as to what that woman had said to you.

Judging by how much Ursa involves herself with her son, you most likely have to do weekly reports of his development, similar to the ones you give to Azula’s father.

She couldn’t help but yawn. Her eyelids felt heavy.

Unlike the boy, she trains twice a day. One with him, where they focus on forms and physical strength. Second, where she works on her bending, guided by you and through your instructions.

Her fire output has greatly improved compared to her first time bending. You have told her to now focus on control and speed. And what better way than a good old spar?

You once said, that to be a leader, one must know and understand their people. Once she can identify what motivates a person and what their drive is, she’ll have an easier time leading them. While fear may be easier and faster, by doing things your way, they’ll be more loyal.

She does not need to like her brother, she simply needs to know how to read him.

Tomorrow would be her recovery day.

As she gets taken by sleep, she hopes there will be no interaction between you and Ursa, at least on her free day. Unlike her brother, Ursa has no power or authority, at least he’s a prince in name.

[auroracalisto]

day #15: angst - emotions around the holidays

victor zsasz x gn!reader, 1.2k words a/n: holidays are weird. i either love them or i hate everything about them. the older i get, the more i dislike it. possibly ooc victor, but you and vic are partners so he's gotta be good to you sometimes, right?

Have you ever felt like the world was going to crash around you? Like you'd truly invoke the mediocracies of the universe, and they'd finally grant you a chance to claim that the sky was truly falling around you (much like Chicken Little)?

Of course you do.

You're living it right now. There isn't a single present under your Christmas tree that hadn't frustrated you to no end. You only had the tree because Victor had insisted on it. In fact, he decorated it while you were asleep one night (you assume he had one of the Zsaszettes with him, though, because it was rather beautifully decorated—not that Zsasz was incapable).

It was just the holiday season in general.

You hated every minute of it. The cheery music, the happy smiles, Santa, the elves. Anything holiday related, anything at all, it angered you to no end.

Or maybe... maybe it wasn't truly anger, but just... frustration. Grief.

Anger that when you became an adult, the holidays didn't stay the same. Anger that when you finally had the money to buy gifts for people, they always fell flat. Someone always hated it, or you ended up regretting it the moment your bank account withdrew the money for said gift. Even making a gift didn't have the same effect anymore. It took so much time—time you didn't have.

And don't even get me started on the cooking and baking and cleaning after everything. It was like just having a Christmas tree sucked in all the dust, making everything impossible to actually clean. And cooking? Lord, if you had to cook for a party, you think you'd die.

It was so overwhelming, and it shouldn't be.

You should be able to go home, go to your family, and have a perfect little Christmas.

But you couldn't.

No.

You were an adult, in the big city, with nothing but your assassin boyfriend and your shitty apartment.

You couldn't go back to how Christmases used to be. You couldn't go back to Santa Claus coming down the chimney and the reindeer "leaving" glitter after eating the reindeer food you'd make for them in elementary school. The elves didn't have their magic. The season lost its magic.

The music was grating. The weather was cold and biting at your ankles.

Nothing was simple anymore, and it hurt. It genuinely frustrated you to no end. Not because it was Christmas, really, but because it was no longer the same.

You were all grown up, and you'd never be able to return to the Christmas you once had.

The sky may have truly been falling around you now, but no one would believe you.

You sat on your sofa, head resting in your hands as your elbows dug into the meat of your thighs. You looked towards the burning candle on your coffee table, blinking slowly.

You knew wishes wouldn't come true, but a part of you wished to go back.

As you remained stuck in your mind, Victor made his way over to you. He must have just gotten home—didn't make a lot of noise, either.

He placed a hand on your back as he plopped down beside of you. He hadn't even changed out of his gear. As you looked at him, you could see blood on his cheek and his gun still in the sling. You said nothing.

He frowned at you. "You alright?" he softly asked.

You shrugged. Were you? You didn't know.

What would you even tell him if he asked what was wrong with you?

He sighed and leaned back on the sofa cushions, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Bein' all mopey, huh? You could watch a movie. Get a milkshake. Have some spirits or somethin'."

"Nah," you softly said.

"Nah?"

"I don't feel like it."

He scoffed. "Don't feel like it? What's up with you, doll?"

You shrugged, again.

He stared you down for a moment before he rolled his eyes and leaned forward, pressing a chaste kiss to your lips. "I'm gonna go change. When I come back, you better be ready to watch a movie, yeah?"

You scrunched your nose. "Yeah."

But while he was gone, you only dug yourself into a deeper hole. One that you were afraid you wouldn't be able to bounce back from by the time he returned.

You curled up on the sofa, grabbing a blanket and wrapping it around yourself.

When he came back and saw you, he fought back a sigh. It had been a long day working with the Penguin, and he knew this would just make it longer. Whatever was up with you, he knew it wasn't anything good.

He walked back over to you, forcing you to move your legs so he could sit beside of you. When he sat down, he let your legs rest on top of his thighs.

"Talk to me," he said.

"There's nothing to talk about," you said.

He rolled his eyes. "Bullshit," he said. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

His eye twitched as he looked at you. "You're full of shit," he said, upper lip raising as he spoke. "Come on. Talk to me or I'll make you."

That you knew he would. You sighed softly and rubbed your eyes for a moment before you spoke.

"Do we have to celebrate Christmas?"

He stared you down. "What?"

"I don't want to celebrate it."

"Why not? I thought you liked Christmas. Kind of the whole reason I got you a tree."

You frowned deeply, fingers grabbing at the soft blanket still over top of you. You shrugged.

He said your name warily, narrowing his eyes.

"I just—I don't like it."

"You don't like Christmas?"

"No."

"You don't like Christmas, or are you just in one of your episodes where you hate everything?"

You grumbled under your breath. "No, I—"

"—it's not gonna be the same, you know."

You paused, glancing up at him.

He sighed. "It'll be different. You gotta make it how you want it to be now."

"What do you mean?"

"I know that look," he said. For an assassin boyfriend, he was being quite... nice tonight. He wasn't always this kind. "You hate it because it's different, don't you?"

You shrugged.

"It's different now. Doesn't mean it has to be bad."

You frowned once more. "But... I mean... I want it to be the same."

He raised a non-existent eyebrow. "It's not gonna be. You just gotta accept that and move on."

You looked away from him, glancing at the tree again.

"Make the most of what you have, now," Victor said, reaching forward and squeezing your thigh. "If you really want to skip it, we can, but I think we could figure out something else."

You gave a small nod. He had a point. Even if you hadn't told him everything, taking one step at a time would be best. You could figure it out in the long run—figure out how the rest of the holiday would make you feel as time went on.

"Now," Victor said. "Movie time."

"Victor," you said, groaning softly. "Nothing weird."

"Christmas Vacation."

You scrunched your nose. "I just said—"

"—yeah, well, get over yourself," he said, grabbing the remote. "Maybe it'll get you into the Christmas spirit."

"It won't," you defensively said.

He rolled his eyes. "Do I look like I fuckin' care?"

[mcytblrconfessions]

i love seeing asks answered that were clearly vying for a certain tag but didnt get it. theyre not even getting heckled theyre getting mediocracy

[unganseylike]

deep in htn bewilderment but i’d just like to comment the way ianthe describes her soup making process sounds like me. im always telling my roommates “oh i made really mediocre soup if u want”

if i finally start locked tomb will u guys promise to explain wtf is happening to me when i get confused

[asteldev]

Hello, from a Cosmic Chimera

I've had this account for a while and finally decided to put it to use, my name is Astel, I'm a transgender/genderfluid (MtF) Therian/Otherkin (still not sure which applies better) who produces various forms of art albeit with varying degrees of mediocracy. I haven't really used Tumblr before so bare with me for a second here.

Sooo yeah expect art/music/3D modelling posts pretty soon, for now, let's start off with my main character, the one I use to represent myself the most, Equinox, Cosmic Chimera/Eldritch Goddess

[internalloops]

Can someone please explain to me how, after the shitshow that was dragon age veilguard, with writing so abysmal and lackluster, 2 of the fucking writers (who where layoff by EA/Bioware ) are now the lead writers for ghost of yotei??

Did I miss something? Like why?

What happened to the ghost of tusimma's original writing team?

Why would Sucker Punch, after taking a long look at veilguards dumpster fire be like "yeah lets bring that mediocracy over here" ..

A game that only brought in 1.5million players...

Like I honestly can't find any info that isn't being written by bigots who throw tantrums when they see a female lead character. Is there a reasonable reason for this, and I'm freaking out for no reason or is another game that I have been anticipating about to get ruined.