#that comes with a million caveats but i do still mean that

[spectralpooch]

idk how to put this nicely but im sick of seeing pretty trans people in media and i wish culturally we were at a point where there was room for regular/"ugly" looking people. the way cishet white guys get to be successful performers even though theyre not conventionally attractive bc theyre funny or charismatic

i firmly believe that everyone is beautiful bc beauty is subjective and emotional and smth we create through perception and interpretation. but there are conventions of beauty that western culture elevates

the trans people that are allowed mainstream success are the ones who pass for cis. bc in a lot of ways the idea of what "cis"/"cis passing" looks like = gender conforming = "attractive". that's why when cis people are like "omg, i'd never know you were trans" or "you're a prettier woman than me!" the underlying assumption there is that trans = ugly, and trans people are inherently unattractive. BUT! if they try hard enough (spend enough money on surgery and hormones and makeup and clothes. and also just naturally look fem/masc enough because of course the real trans people are the ones who pretty much passed before doing any sort of medical transitioning anyway :) and it was soooo obvious all along who their "true self" was!) then those lucky few get the honorary title of cis* in everything but the actual meaning of the word. the "you tried" star that makes cis people feel sooooo good to pass out.

i know its a much broader issue of like any social "minority" having to meet the standards of the "majority" to get any sort of acceptance. but i'm pressed abt this specifically rn

[what-even-is-thiss]

I think New Vegas and the original fallout team in general have some major and consistent issues with their writing that a lot of people just like skip over. And me pointing that out isn’t me saying the games are bad. Media is a product of the time it’s made in. They write like typical head in the sand don’t know when they’re being offensive 90s era tv writers a lot of the time.

But also this is one of those media franchises where if you criticize certain things about it even a little bit you need to put in five million caveats so the fanboys don’t come crawling out of your walls.

You can see almost everyone online who criticizes Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout New Vegas attempting to put up a shield preemptively because the people who prefer those games ooohhhhh baby baby you can feel their fingers reaching for the comment section before you’ve finished your sentence.

But I can’t shut up about the things I notice about the media I consume. I’m a queer writer with an English degree. I’ve been trained to notice things and I think there’s a lot of things out there worth discussing and critiquing even when it comes to media that most people agree is generally good.

Your favorite work of art is not immune to perpetuating biases whether on purpose or by accident. New Vegas for example has a serious noble savage problem. All of these games have issues when it comes to their “low intelligence” dialogue options. Yes they can be funny but the biases within them are also worth looking at. Why do you find them to be funny? Is this game actually truly doing a good job of humanizing the enemy? Is this game accidentally advocating for eugenics? Is this game advocating for torture? What assumptions are the writers making here?

Pretty much everything out there that you’ll ever read, watch, or play has some form of issue with it. Likely my own work has issues in it that I don’t see.

Even if something is good, even if something is timeless, revolutionary, something you’re proud of, in love with, it’s still worth looking at closely. Sometimes you don’t realize when you’re being manipulated. Sometimes you don’t realize what assumptions you just accept as fact.

Critique doesn’t mean condemnation. It’s a part of a healthy media diet. It’s fine to just enjoy things but someone digging deep into the problems with the things you enjoy doesn’t mean that you need to defend those problems or that you’re being attacked. You have every right to turn off your brain when consuming art. But just because that’s how you choose to go about it doesn’t mean it’s not that deep.

[thealogie]

Gotta preface it with ‘I’m not from the US, so obviously don’t understand lots about how election results affect everyday life of people living there’. Also, if I suddenly, still being myself, became a US citizen with a right to vote, I can’t imagine voting for Trump. Saying all that, I don’t think labelling half of the country, tens of millions of people, genuinely evil is very productive or even mentally honest.

I am from the part of the world, which suffered from both republican and democrat US administrations, and lately most of the geopolitical games resulting in tons of blood, have been played, obviously, by democrats. I have to say that I find their utter hypocrisy deeply disgusting. At least your republicans, how I see it, don’t even mask being monsters, they say it like it is. When two negotiating sides state their goals outright, it is possible to come to an agreement at least marginally better than when one side is always being two(3,4,5)-faced, making a point to wrap their actual goals (if they even know them) in pretty words about democracy while double-crossing their negotiation partner even before the ink has dried.

I know that you’re from Iran and are aware of how deeply destructive US foreign policies can be, increasingly so since the start of this century. With one caveat that Trump seems to be especially hostile to Iran, and a democrat would’ve been marginally better when it comes to the US policy regarding Iran. It’s not the same for all parts of the world though, so we might not all be unbiased observers here.

I know that foreign policy doesn’t decide US elections, I only wrote this longwinded nonsense to say that maybe there are solid reasons for half of the US to prefer Trump and reject the democrats, like for the rest of the world there are reasons for either. Economic, political, whatever. Maybe liberals should look into these reasons before dismissing millions of people as genuinely evil, like Hillary did in her time. Idk about you, but when she called half of the country ‘deplorables’ or whatever, no one I know and no one I read (not from US) felt sympathetic. It just sounded incredibly entitled and delusional, and plain dumb. And it looks like since Hillary democrats haven’t learned or even attempted to learn anything, it’s still ‘half of our nation is broken and evil and we can’t do anything about it’. But it’s not how people work, in my opinion. Yes, they might not care about minorities first, they might care about themselves first, but doesn’t it mean that politicians should identify their problems and offer solutions? Isn’t it how it works? Dehumanazing Trump supporters will only radicalize them more, isn’t it what in fact happened, and how it always works with people in general?

Idk about life inside the US, like I said, but how I see it, the only ones to blame here are democrats and liberals in general. If people in the world, and I’m sure inside the US, will see that they finally start addressing the problems instead of hiding behind empty rhetoric, if the level of hypocrisy and delusional entitlement decreases at least to some degree, the support for right-wing populists will also decrease, I’m sure of it. Because most people are not ‘genuinely evil’, but they become embittered and cruel when their concerns are continuously dismissed, things start to fester resulting in ugly political outcomes. I mean, I know you know all this, sorry for being so boring and longwinded. It’s just that I usually like your takes (I came for MASH and stayed for the neighbors as well), including political ones, but here I got a bit of a whiplash, sorry.

I appreciate this thoughtful note. You don’t have to like my takes for us to be on friendly terms. And to be clear I do forever and always blame democrats and liberals for not energizing the people who agree with them.

But as you say you don’t live here and so there’s no way for me to convey to you without asking you to spend months reading right wing political accounts here and talking to people here that a sizable number of the people who support this man are genuinely bad people and want me and people like me out of this country.

This comes from hundreds of personal encounters over the past 8 years and spending the past three months reading dozens and dozens of pieces of reporting that are like “I went to talk to voters in a small town, here’s what they had to say.” And the things you hear are: purge this country of immigrants, make America a dominating force in the world again, get us back to traditional values where women are popping out babies…oh yeah and also the economy would be better under him.

Like idk what you want me to call sexist, homophobic, white supremacists but I think they are evil. And I think it used to be that the Republican Party was more polite about all of these beliefs so I could understand people being disaffected and voting for them for reasons other than hating other humans but now we’re just saying the quiet part out loud and there’s no plausible deniability

[sharpen-your-hatchet]

What I Feel; What I Do; What I Want || Wenclair fic - Chapter 3

Description: "Frankly, all her life, she has felt separation between what she feels, what she does, and what she actually wants. Being royalty means there's often little room for opinion and desire [...]; Enid wonders how it'll feel to have her ingrained sense of duty be pitted against her unshackled curiosity. "

Six months past her 19th birthday - Enid, princess of The Kingdom of Nevermore, is allowed the chance to travel and explore the world as she sees fit. Unfortunately, it comes with a little caveat... in the form of some unwelcome company for protection. Cue Wednesday Addams, the only knight deemed worthy, and who is now Enid's personal thorn in her side.

Can they work together despite their differences? Or maybe fate has an entirely different plan for them altogether...

Pairing: Wednesday Addams / Enid Sinclair

Rating: Teens & Up

Word Count: 9,896

Click Here To Read On AO3 or read below!

x-x-x-x-x-x

A few days have passed, and Enid finds herself on her fifth day of travelling, already feeling a million miles from the person she was at the start. Emotionally; physically – in such a short amount of time, everything feels different.

They’re in the hills now, having passed through a number of trading posts, stables, and inns. The journey has been unlike anything she’s experienced… challenging, and yet freeing and somehow easy to adapt to. Admittedly, she misses some of the luxuries of her castle home – her clothing, the magnificent kitchen and its staff, not to mention the feel of crawling into her own bed each night. These have all been replaced with the same hand-washed travel outfit, basic but homely cooking, and whatever bunk, cot, or hammock they can find.

It’s different. But she kind of likes it.

It’s helped immensely by all she’s discovering as they pass through these places. It is hard to feel hard done by when you are seeing and learning such amazing things. Mostly, it’s the stories, and the unrecorded local history; Enid’s writing hand aches at the end of each day, but still she eagerly writes on. There’s just so much the world needs to hear! Most intriguing is the myths and legends – inn patrons and stable workers recounting the versions of these stories that have been passed down to them. The most reoccurring story is generally the same, with some mysterious figure of legend stopping an evil force, therefore allowing the land of Nevermore to flourish, but with a vaguely ominous warning that the evil will return. It seems silly in some respects – ancient heroes and demonic evils - but Enid is fascinated by how such a story has come to exist within the hearts and minds of everyone. She writes down each retelling, noting the slight differences. She hopes that with some time she can tie the whole legend together into a cohesive story with explained deviances. This is the kind of thing she had been yearning for the whole time she waited for this journey.

Though perhaps the most curious part of this journey so far has been her companion. Five days in and she and Wednesday have (much to Enid’s behest) barely even begun to know each other. Admittedly, Enid has been challenging the little knight, trying to push her buttons and see what makes her tick… but she’s impossible to figure out! It is evident that Wednesday cares not for this travelling, or Enid herself in fact – yet, she continues to be endlessly dutiful. It is perplexing to say the least. Enid feels a strange fondness for Wednesday, not that she would say as much. Though, she does wish it was shared. All she can drag out of the knight at the moment is sighs, glares, and the occasional unamused comment. She just wishes there was a modicum of excitement so she could share her passion.

Alas, Wednesday seems intent on not getting any closer. It’s mildly upsetting but Enid is determined to not let it hurt her too much… she already cares too greatly for her parents approval, so vying for Wednesday’s at the same time seems a little excessive. Not that she can help herself sometimes.

Like now. She and Wednesday are travelling through a rocky pass, uphill towards the lakes and rivers that are the source of all other water in the kingdom. It is the home of the sirens, and is their first major stop! Enid is practically bursting with excitement!! Even better, along the route there are small alcoves with huge carved tablets, recounting local history and even more legends to write down.

As they travel, Enid stops them along the way. She sketches the tablets and summarises their words with an upbeat fervour. Wednesday remains on her horse, keeping a look out, seeming entirely disengaged.

Enid turns to her and waves her hand. Wednesday glances over, raising an eyebrow as if to ask ‘what do you want?’. Enid then turns back to the tablet she is copying down, tapping her quill against the page of her notebook as she thinks. Wednesday might not care but Enid’s planning to talk, regardless.

“Do you believe in the legends?” Enid asks as she scribbles down some more words. “Seems amazing that everyone knows the story… like it can’t be coincidence.”

She turns back to Wednesday, seeing now that her raised brow has returned to a scowl. Wednesday thinks the question is ridiculous, certainly. Enid doesn’t see why. Considering the number of magical creatures and beings that exist within the kingdom, people believing in ancient legends doesn’t seem too far-fetched, even if the stories themselves are pretty separated from reality… Though, perhaps she is naive to think Wednesday would have any sort of belief that isn’t rooted logic and proof. Sigh. Enid would love some common ground.

“They’re just stories.” Wednesday replies, voice devoid of emotion. Enid knows she shouldn’t be disappointed by the answer… but she kind of still is. Any kind of thought, feeling, or opinion that places Wednesday outside of the dark little box she’s placed herself into would be extremely welcome, but she remains consistently stoic and unfeeling. Even if they’ve only known each other for five days, Enid feels as though she may never get to see anything else from the knight.

Enid knows she can’t let it get to her… So she returns to her notebook; keeps excitedly writing, and smiles to herself as she thinks upon the way her father would recount the ‘stories of old’ to her as a child.

“I think there’s some truth in them.” she muses as she walks closer and presses her hand against the carved rock of the tablet monument. The stone is cold to the touch, soothing the new callouses that have grown on Enid’s hands. It feels familiar under her hand, like the stone brick the royal castle is built from. It’s oddly comforting, and in a way, reaffirms Enid’s belief. The feeling of the stone connects her to home, as the words carved upon it connect her to history. There has to be truth in them – there just has to be! And there’s only more out there to learn. They need to get to the Siren's Domain and find out more. Enid quickly finishes writing, and returns to her horse.

“You ought to have more belief.” She chides as she takes the reigns from Wednesday and climbs onto Sol.

Wednesday simply looks at her, before slowly directing Nero to continue on the trail. Enid follows soon after, taking a final glance at the carved rock as it disappears from sight upon moving uphill. From then on they travel quietly but quickly; Enid decidedly keeping her excitement at bay. Though, it is hard the hide the grin that she finds sprawling across her face as the elegance of the Siren's Domain begins to appear.

Despite this being their first major stop, Enid cannot deny this is the one she’s looked most forward to. From the crystal clear waters, to the beautifully carved stonework that creates the buildings and platforms for visitors – The Siren's Domain is a treat for the eyes. Previously she had only seen it through paintings and sketches, so watching it come into view is beyond breathtaking. Oh, she cannot wait to meet and talk with the locals.

Enid glances at Wednesday. Her expression is unchanged, locked in her permanent scowl. Typical.

They draw closer, and Enid realises now she should probably face the reality of why she’s actually here. She’s been avoiding the truth since they set off, but with the domain in sight, she has to face the reality – the very reason she was allowed this adventure in the first place. Her werewolf powers... Or, more accurately, lack thereof.

As much as she wants to ignore the whole thing and simply travel, learn, and write to her hearts’ content… she has to uphold her duty. Which means at least fulfilling all the various tasks listed to her by her parents prior to setting off. She could - of course - simply not do them, but considering Wednesday’s loyalties, she suspects that it would be hard to hide upon their eventual return to the castle. Not to mention she may still lack her ability to shift and the shame that would bring is too embarrassing to even imagine… So really, she has little choice. Fortunately this first task seems simple - she needs to locate the royal pool and partake in a ritual with the ancient waters within Which seems easy enough. The siren royalty are amicable allies, so they should be more than welcoming.

Enid and Wednesday pass a few more tablet monuments during the final stretch of the journey. A mix of excited and concerned over what’s to come, Enid lets herself write down the engraved words slower than before, giving her time to mentally chew over it. It doesn’t seem difficult, but it weighs on her nonetheless…

Wednesday, unaware of this, seems particularly impatient now. She stares at the Siren's Domain in the distance with a subtle tension in her jaw. Her hands are tight around the reigns of her horse, eyes stuck on her one focal point in the distance. Enid wishes she could know what was going through her head… but she doubts she’d get an answer even if she did ask.

Enid finishes her notes and scrambles back onto her horse. She takes a deep breath and sets herself to continue.

“Are we ready?” She asks – mostly to herself, if anything.

Wednesday looks at her, eyes narrowing slightly. Right, of course… obviously, she is ready.

Fortunately, the last of the journey is short and it takes a little over ten minutes to exit the rocky pass and cross into the lightly forested clearing that leads into the lakes, waterfalls, and rivers that make up the domain. There’s a narrow but ornate bridge built of stone above the water that leads into the centre of the lake, allowing walking visitors to easily enter. It’s all rather elegant and reminds Enid of home… Though she’s unsure if that’s a good thing.

They leave their horses at the small stables before the bridge, and then start the journey on foot into the domain itself. It’s a difficult place to describe – though, this does not stop Enid trying. She pauses about midway on the bridge, scribbling again in her notebook, making sure to exaggerate her awe at both the craftsmanship of the domain and how fascinating it is to see sirens freely swimming through the waters. It’s amazing, getting to see them in their home!

Though it would seem the sentiment is not shared. Glancing behind her, it’s hard to not notice the distaste on Wednesday’s face. Surprisingly, it is different look from her regular scowl, but not by much.

“Not a fan of the Siren’s Domain?” Enid queries.

“I don’t trust sirens.” comes Wednesday’s blunt response.

Enid rolls her eyes. “You don’t trust anyone.”

She says it in a good natured tone, but the sharpening of Wednesday’s glare tells her that she’s best to not say any more. Not that it would change anything since Wednesday has no option to follow her anyway. “But the sirens here are nice. They’re our allies.”

Wednesday seems unconvinced, but keeps any snarky comment to herself. Good, as Enid wants to focus on enjoying her time before duty calls.

They traverse the bridge, approaching the small town of stone buildings that cover an island in the middle of the lake. Each building is unique in size and shape, some partially built into existing hills, others shaped as to allow easy passage back into the water. The buildings are beautiful and sophisticated, but practical – which makes sense, sirens are known for their air of elegance and very much care about keeping up appearances. Though, it also makes sense the number of buildings is relatively small, seeing as sirens much prefer the water.

When they finally enter, Enid feels excitement flutter in her chest; her minor angst melting against its warmth. They’re here! They’re finally here!! She gets to explore and talk to the locals, and try their dishes, and sleep in one of their strange water beds. Oh there’s just so many things she wants to do!

She takes a few steps into the town, taking it all in. This is definitely more thrilling than nerve-wracking. Enid grins, turning back to Wednesday.

“Isn’t it amazing here?”

Wednesday doesn’t answer; glancing away, she shoots a suspicious look at any sirens and other townsfolk that pass them. She then pulls out something from one of the pouches on her uniform – a neatly folded paper. Opening it, she reads briefly, her brow twitching ever so slightly. Then she slots it back away. Her eyes swivel back over. Then they dart to the building in the middle of the domain… tothe building that leads underground to the fountain that houses the ancient waters. Without another word, she begins to march over.

Of course. Her parents gave Wednesday a list. Suddenly, Enid isn’t so excited any more.

“Wednesday!” Enid calls out as she follows after her. “Hey, let’s no-”

Wednesday stops and turns back, one eyebrow quirked upwards. Her head tilts slightly as if warning Enid to not test her.

Enid, however, does not appreciate this attempt to intimidate her. As knights go, Wednesday is definitely a little scary, but Enid knows better – knows they’re stuck together, and that ultimately, Wednesday can’t push her luck too far.

Enid takes a breath, then smiles.

“We’re not going to the ancient waters yet.”

A frustrated expression twitches onto Wednesday’s face, but it’s gone almost immediately. She opens her mouth, poised to release a scathing remark when-

“You must be Princess Enid.”

Enid is miraculously saved by the appearance of an unknown saviour. Turning to the doorway of the middle building, there now stands a proud looking siren with piercing pale eyes and dazzling dark skin that shimmers in the daylight. She smiles at Enid.

“And you must be-” the siren pauses upon looking at Wednesday, frowning slightly as her eyes drag up and down the knight’s form. “Wednesday, was it? The Prince Consort did send a letter.”

It dawns on Enid now who their new friend is, and whilst it is not unwelcome company, it is – to put it lightly – an inconvenient meeting. The person standing before them is Bianca. Enid recognises her from a portrait that hangs in the meeting room of the castle. She is essentially the princess of the Siren’s Domain, though, the actual siren term is different and escapes Enid’s memory. Unfortunately, with Bianca here it means she is now truly is stuck committing to the ritual, lest she wish to upset the schedule of the siren royalty… and considering their ally ties, and general etiquette, Enid very much does wish to cause an issue. The disgrace alone would measure up to the disgrace brought on by Enid not doing the ritual in the first place. Ugh. Sometimes Enid wishes there wasn’t so many rules. So much for the excitement, after all… it will have to wait. Just like all her dreams do.

Enid pulls her smile wider and does a slight curtsey.

“Bianca, heir to the siren throne,” She acknowledges. “It is a pleasure to finally meet.”

Wednesday does not curtsey despite a subtle nudge. Enid notices that Wednesday’s jaw is tensing, metaphorically chewing on those words she was unable to say.

“An honour.” She says stiffly. It seems Wednesday did not intend to speak to Bianca herself, and her distaste is as subtle as a rock through glass.

Considering her attitude, Enid doesn’t think Wednesday deserves much mercy, but she’s willing to offer it so that no one ends up on the wrong end of a blade – of which she knows Wednesday has many.

“Wednesday,” Enid chimes sweetly. “Could you get our rooms prepared at the inn? I’ll be perfectly safe with Bianca here.”

Wednesday looks at Enid; blinks once, then twice. There’s an air of suspicion in her glance, but seemingly an unwillingness to question a free reason to disengage. She nods, shuffling her sword and gear, before heading towards the inn.

Bianca watches Wednesday walk off with a tight smile.

“She seems… interesting.”

“Interesting is the right word,” Enid agrees.

“So then,” Bianca continues, clasping her hands together. “I hear you’re partaking in one of our ancient water rituals for your werewolf powers, correct?”

Enid feels her stomach tighten at the mention. It really does feel too soon… she hasn’t gotten to witness enough yet! Why can’t she just have some fun before getting down to business?!

“Yes, I’m looking forward to it.” She lies.

The conversation that follows is a whirlwind of information that Enid barely has time to process. It feels like a history lesson at first – things Enid has heard during her school studies as a child, before it leads into a more personal tale, that recounts how her family and Bianca’s came to be allies. All the while Bianca takes her on a small loop of the domain. Unfortunately, with there being no stops in this quick tour, Enid does not have even a moment to get personal enjoyment… instead, she feels ferried around and paraded; very much the opposite of what she had wanted out of all of this. It is however mercifully short, and she and Bianca end up back at the entrance of the middle building not much time later. The efficiency is almost ruthless, though it is reflective of what she expected from a high ranking siren such as Bianca. Perhaps she would respect it more if the circumstances were different.

Regardless, it seems as though the time for the water ritual to begin is soon to be upon her.

Enid smiles as much as she can, despite the way her heart falters. She knows she’ll have some time later but it certainly feels as though – even with this being her adventure – somehow her parents and her ‘duty’ still find ways to surpass her own wants.

“Well… are you ready?” Bianca asks. She extends her hand towards the doorway, inviting Enid inside.

Ah well. Better just grin and bare it. It’ll be just fine.

Enid pulls a smile onto her face.

“Of course.”

She takes one last look around before heading inside, knowing it’ll be a couple hours at the least until she emerges again. The ancient water ritual culminates in bathing, but there’s some other important steps prior – changing into the ritual clothing, some minor ‘soul opening’ magic, etc. It’s quite the process so she’s heard. Hopefully it will not be boring, at least.

As she takes one final glance around, Enid notices something. A pair of eyes trained on her. Intense; unwavering, and locked in a glare that feels like a promise… Of what, exactly? Enid isn’t sure. Protection, maybe. She cannot help feel struck by the way Wednesday watches her like a hawk, vigilant despite being told she doesn’t need to be…

How strange…

But with no time to think on it, the moment passes. Enid’s eyes pull away from Wednesday’s, and the knight is all but forgotten as Enid is lead away to fulfil her duties.

[runwayrunway]

No. 36 - Riyadh Air

No, they are not changing their name to Saudi Arabian Airways, but there is a new development on the Saudi Arabian flag carrier front.

That's right, Saudia is dead, sayonara you w-

No. That isn't true, that was a joke. But what isn't a joke is that Riyadh Air is a planned second flag carrier for Saudi Arabia.

That's mostly a joke. Other countries have multiple flag carriers, though that comes with a couple caveats. Usually when this happens one is full-service and international while the other is domestic and/or low cost. The UAE has two flag carriers, but one is Dubai's and the other is Abu Dhabi's, which feels like an important distinction.

Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, just has decided they want to operate a second airline instead of doing the normal thing and putting all their resources into one really good airline. I don't understand it. The plan is to keep Saudia based in Jeddah while Riyadh Air is based in Riyadh...again, plenty of airlines have multiple hubs, so I don't see the point. They claim to be the first "digital-native airline", which is shaped like words yet means nothing (also, take that up with David Neeleman and Breeze). They've nabbed Etihad's old CEO and bought a bunch of 787s, and the stated goal is to become the largest carrier in the Gulf region at an unprecedented blistering pace in order to increase tourism. Given Emirates's numbers...well, it's probably still more likely to happen than a startup airline operating exclusively A380s managing to turn a profit, but that's not saying much.

Anyway, they've got a livery! Apparently this is the first of two, so expect a follow-up post when the second one drops, but for now there's plenty to talk about as is.

Unlike many - nay, most - of the subjects I cover, Riyadh Air has made me do absolutely zero research. You do get modern liveries like jetBlue and Lufthansa with little style guides to weakly attempt to back up their relatively mundane graphic design choices and things like condor and Icelandair's lovely little webpages, but Riyadh Air has done them all at least one if not several better by not only explaining in detail where they got their inspiration but also giving me a high-res 3D model of their airplane that I can rotate and zoom in and out on.

Take care; my computer is fairly underpowered and I do have an absurd number of tabs open most of the time, but this did crash my browser multiple times. Even just opening the main page of their website makes my CPU sound like it's spooling up for takeoff.

Okay. First I want to discuss the logo. They've got a video up on their thought process. I had transcribed it, but it looks better in motion, and thankfully they've stopped making it autoplay (presumably because, as I mentioned, this website absolutely guzzles processor as is) and in the process made it possible for me to simply left-click it off their website and into this post. Don't worry about it killing your browser. It's a normal video in a normal tumblr post without a 100 million dollar website chugging along in the background.

(I've taken some screenshots in case anyone does have trouble with the video.)

Now this is how you design a logo. The airplane window thing feels, in retrospect, so obvious I can't believe nobody had done it yet. I think it pairs gorgeously with the R, and I love that they chose to take inspiration from Arabic calligraphy, which is not only a massive point of pride for cultures which utilize the script but also just generally gorgeous. (It looks a bit like a stretched backwards hamza to me.) The shape of the bird's wing is the part I have the most trouble actually connecting to what I'm seeing, but sure, I'll give it to them. What the heck. This logo is nice.

I mentioned when discussing China Airlines that very few airlines use lavender as a primary color. Well, here's one that does! They actually discuss this on their website as well:

Inspired by the lavender blossoms that carpet Saudi Arabia, we've chosen this color because it symbolizes Saudi generosity and its authentic hospitality.

And this is, again, pretty fantastic. This is a thoughtful choice which isn't lazy or arbitrary. It has the potential to really pack a visual punch, and it does the thing I love when flag carriers do - references a feature of its home nation.

An upside to the fact that the livery page takes eons for my computer to chew on is that I get shown this lovely loading screen, which demonstrates the fantastic combination of blues and purples which make up the full scheme of this airline's colors. I love the combination of these colors. Light saturated colors are rare enough, but to see extremely dark blues and purples together like this is a rare delight. It definitely has the potential to get eyestrainy, but if done well it could look absolutely breathtaking.

But will it be done well? After all, a good idea isn't always well-implemented - see condor - and China Airlines's livery fails for me because it's barely got any lavender! So does Riyadh Air fall into the same pit? Let's check the browser-destroying 3D model they've lovingly provided us.

I love that 3D model, by the way. Instead of looking for a bunch of pictures of airplanes that happen to be in the correct lighting and at the right angle to demonstrate the exact thing I'm attempting to discuss I can just...zoom in while putting the plane at the specific angle I want. Normally I actually try not to rely too heavily on things like style guides because a piece of flat-colored concept art isn't actually going to communicate how a plane looks in motion and with light on it, but this is a really really robust model. Sure, it's not quite as maneuverable as I'd like it to be, it's still not a perfect representation of real life, but it's really well made. It even sways side to side a bit and if you zoom in close enough you can see they bothered to model the external sensors and the engines are even turning! Don't worry about the fact that if you zoom in even further you can tell the engines are just a fan suspended floating in a cowling. They even added ambient engine sounds. This model is so cool it legitimately took me several minutes of turning it around and muttering "wow..." under my breath before I realized the environment it was sitting in was just some very stretched and crunchy jpgs.

Mmm, those reflections.

To be honest, I also just enjoyed playing with this thing. It's almost like having a real model plane, but doesn't cost more money than I have! But enough of that.

So they definitely didn't chicken out when it came to the lavender. This plane is as purple as a Breeze Airways plane is blue (it is very purple). It's not just a purple tube, though. Even from a distance you can see that there's added detail here.

I love the wordmark, first off. They've really committed to the billboard look with this gigantic text in both English and Arabic. I love it. With such an overwhelming main body color it feels prudent to make sure the name is as visible as possible so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle.

And with this gigantic, recognizable logo plastered on the bottom you'd be able to identify it just as well from below (and this is zoomed out as far as the website let me!). In fact, the depth of the design really shines best from below. That's not necessarily a good thing, because your plane does have to be parked sometimes, but it's not a dealbreaker either. I just need to say that this is probably my favorite design for an engine nacelle, ever. It's gorgeous, and you can see in the first picture how well it flows into the main design. They don't go together quite as well from the bottom, and from below the plane does look a bit rear-heavy and the wordmark peering in is a bit awkward, but none of those ruin it. I would be stunned if I saw this fly overhead.

The website provides a few details about the design if you zoom in and click little black dots. It took me ages to realize this. It's neither intuitive nor accessible and I truly despise it, so I've taken the liberty of transcribing the bits that matter.

You can turn this plane in any which way you'd like, zoom in and out, and the details on the bottom never stop being beautiful and coherent. It truly does remind me of calligraphy. As they describe it:

Rooted in our Heritage The controlled, smooth linear profiles make up our signature "Canopy Twist". A perfect balance of our rich local culture and our modern global outlook, connecting the city of Riyadh to the world.

I love the name 'Canopy Twist', to be honest. And I love the design, too. My one criticism of it is the colors. They already have an established secondary shade of purple. That they used the text color for the highlights makes sense, but why couldn't they have used their lavender instead of a third shade of purple? In the quantity used for the underside it feels disconnected from the rest of the livery and they could have fixed that very easily by just...using their already existing secondary shade of purple? I think it would make for a very nice bridge to the tail as well, and it just feels like a colossal missed opportunity.

You may have noticed that the bulk of the fuselage body is a color a bit darker than what might conventionally be considered 'lavender'. This, too, is noted.

Indigo Livery Inspired by the ever-changing colors that paint the sky from dusk till dawn. A symbol of tranquility, harmony and integrity.

(This color is obviously purple, not indigo, but I will not belabor that point.)

I love the description, the idea of the transition between dusk and dawn. Much like the window as a basis for a logo, this makes me go "why in the world has nobody thought of that before? That's brilliant!"

It makes me think a bit more could have been done in the details. Maybe the canopy twist could be a gradient, like the gradient of the sky while the sun is rising? Just a thought.

And ultimately it's the canopy twist that is my only real sticking point with this livery. It is beautiful and unique and well-designed and it is simply a color that sticks out like a sore thumb. It's the only warm thing creeping into a design otherwise full of beautiful cool tones, it has gorgeous flow within itself but breaks up the feeling of consistency through the airframe as a whole, and I just...I really wish it were lavender.

If that's my main issue you can do a lot worse. And overall I do like the Riyadh Air livery. If that one detail was changed, this would easily be an A. This review would be all but uncritical. Except for the fact that it could use a bit of canopy twist up top, too (maybe just a tiny bit on the top of the nose, flowing in the same direction) in order to make the plane feel less rear-heavy (though it already beats out the vast majority of liveries in that sense), the issue with the color is my only big criticism. But it's the main detail of the design, isn't it?

It's wild. So much of the time my reviews are "good details, bad when you step back". But this is the opposite. Fantastic, but there's that one detail that sticks with you. And the details by and large are far from bad too. I mentioned the nacelles, and I think it very elegantly transitions the tail into the body. It would be more elegant if the design on the body was the same lavender, though!

A few more nitpicks: the centering of the logo on the tailfin is a little strange, the tail would look better if it had a bit of a gradient to make it less matte-seeming, and the combined effect of those is very luxury-hotel-towel-monogram. Okay. I'm done complaining.

So it falls short of being one of the best I've ever reviewed, but I still really, really like it. The calligraphy inspiration creates these elegant sweeping lines that are perfectly at home on the 787. The deep purple looks luxurious despite the fact that Riyadh Air doesn't plan to offer first class. It's eyecatching. It's stylish.

And, now that I've covered all this, let's look at the colors in person! That's right, they've already had a plane delivered in full Riyadh Air colors.

The deep purple with the lighter canopy twist, combined with the tiny white dots of the various probes and such, make this plane look like an animal camouflaging itself against the night sky in a place untouched by light pollution. The light lavender contrasts sharply in this particular image, sharply enough that it feels like a slice cut out of the plane.

This continues to be an issue from other angles and in other lightings, but the cool-toned light makes this purple look like true indigo and the blueish cast improves the look, giving an almost fluorescent appearance to the transition between the twist and the tail. The way the light reflects off the dark paint makes it look rippling and shifting and alive in a way it never could off white.

In shadow, the plane looks as dark as a city sky. In light, the vibrant purple of a fresh eggplant. This paint job adapts wonderfully to its environment. Much like Vietnam Airlines's, each light brings out a unique beauty.

And sometimes, the tail, detached though it may look, does so in the way a shining arm of a spiral galaxy neatly transitions into the black expanse around it.

Riyadh Air's planes range from ultraviolet to supervoid, but they are never lost in their environment. The principles behind the design remain consistent, and beautiful, and alone in a sky full of planes which refuse to embrace the dark skies they fly in on red-eye journeys.

Ultimately, I think Riyadh Air's livery feels a bit overdesigned. They added one color too many, and a few decisions feel like they don't belong together in the same picture. Just think about the amount of colors here, the balance of major features, and think about Vietnam Airlines, and you'll see what I mean. I'm not a fan of minimalism, but sometimes the only way to keep a story straight is to minimize loose ends. A secret becomes exponentially more likely to be exposed with each new person who learns it.

But before I looked closer, before I zoomed in and out on a little 3D model while my computer screamed, I saw this livery for the first time and my jaw hit the floor. And the average person isn't going to think about this the way I do. Ultimately, my critical eye is usually something I defer to, but I can't argue with the fact that this livery is going to be to someone else what China Airlines is to me. And, like China Airlines, when they come back and look closer at it they'll notice it wasn't as perfect as they thought, but...we've come so far, if this is someone's China Airlines. And as much as I nitpick at details the package counts, too. If you asked me why China Airlines got a C- instead of a D+, my honest reason would be...it struck me enough that I singled it out to begin with, even though that started to fall apart when I looked closer.

Why am I giving Riyadh Air an A- instead of a B+? Because this plane will stun people 5,000 feet below it, and they'll think to themselves that it's the prettiest plane they've ever seen.

[boxingcleverrr]

I feel like more people need to understand what your average boomer conservative voter is actually like?

My mom and dad are 75 and 72, respectively. Both white, dad grew up poor, mom low-middle, didn't become upper middle class until my teens.

My parents are incredibly nice people. They'll accept anyone at face value, help anyone who asks, etc. They're Christian, and call themselves conservative, but believe in personal liberties, cause Murica. They think consenting adults should be allowed to marry any other consenting adult they want, practice any religion they want, do whatever they want to their bodies (with one big caveat). They've got a lot still to learn about institutionalized racism before I'd call them anti-racist, but they're certainly anti-racism, and raised us to never put up with racism if we saw it. They support common sense gun reform, even as far as saying "Oh, that could work here" when I explained Australia's gun laws. They're even favorable to the idea UBI.

They're super supportive of my lesbian aunt running for governor of California, and vacation with her and her wife once a year. They don't really understand what being nonbinary means yet, but they grasp the concept of respecting and believing someone when they tell you who they are and have been getting their grandkids' pronouns right!

All in all, knowing that 30 years ago they were in an evangelical cult, they're good people who have good core values, have come around from a lot of bad thinking, and can still learn, if at a glacial pace.

They're still gonna vote Red.

Probably not for Trump. But still.

Because their two big issues overshadow all others: They're anti-choice, and pro-militarism.

You can't even START a WHISPER of a conversation with my mom about reproductive rights: it's all murder, the end. We all know why - she regrets the abortion she was pressured into having as a young woman, firmly believes all women do, and that trauma shell is waaaaay too thick to crack. It would involve facing things she just can't, that's a whole other post. But yeah, no, that is one issue I do not see changing before she dies.

The militarism is easier to explain, they're cold war kids who think if the military lost even $50 today we'd all be speaking Russian by Monday.

And this whole post, I'm sure, describes MILLIONS of Republican voters. They're not all Trump-worshipping assholes who would like you dead.

My mother didn't even know who Marjorie Taylor Greene was, when I mentioned her in passing. Later that day she was like, "Oh wow I looked her up, she's annoying huh?" They BARELY watch the news, aside from big updates on Gaza and the local nightly news.

But they NEVER miss an election. Because they gotta keep the baby murdering down, and America big and strong, with the most bombs. They don't let themselves think deeply about who voting that way hurts, because they're not looking.

Just...please vote. Like that one post says, if you can't bring yourself to vote for the president, PLEASE fill the rest of that ballot with the people local to you who will be making a difference IMMEDIATELY. DO MORE THAN VOTE. But vote. Cause these very nice people who break my heart, and countless like them, definitely will.

[lordfrezon]

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

10/10

There’s a million things I can say about this game, and they’re all good.

But if you need a single reason why this game rocks, it’s because it lets the player have as much fun as they can.

TotK, like BotW before it, gives the player a massive array of tools and ways to interact with the game.  You have weapons and armor, sure, but you also have an array of powers that let you move and change the game world in different cool ways.  But the obvious stand out here is the Zonai Devices, a ton of physics devices that the game lets you craft into weapons, vehicles, utility devices, and much more.  If you’ve seen anything about the game, you’ve definitely seen some of the War Crime Machines people have made, and those are great, but you can also make efficient hovercraft, boxes that let you jump higher, and much more.  Plus, one of your powers lets you replicate devices you’ve made in the past, so you can always have your favorites close at hand.  And if you don’t have the exact parts, the power replicates them using a rather common resource.

The world you interact with remains absolutely fantastic.  A massive open world featuring all sorts of enemies, locations, treasures, and everything else you’d want to find in a RPG.  Like its predecessor, like Skyrim, like Elden Ring, you always want to be exploring so you can find that next new thing.  Whether it’s a new armor piece, a stronger weapon, or just more crafting materials, there’s always something to find and always something worth discovering.

There’s also a story here, far more visible and present in the game than that of BotW.  No spoilers here, but there’s a lot of excellent setups and payoffs, and everything that happens in the game is contextualized through various cutscenes and dialogue options.  While some of it might get repetitive, it’s still solid, and the characters don’t overstay their welcomes. 

Two minor nitpicks have to be brought up.  The weapon durability and rain from BotW reappear, both doing their best to annoy the hell out of you.  While rain remains the most antagonistic feature to your exploration, TotK does a lot to make weapon durability mean something by including a very cool crafting system, where you combine materials you’ve found with your weapons to make them stronger.  It encourages seeking out different types of enemies to obtain different classes of weapon, and while there are a few clear superior options, there’s no real mistakes in how you can fuse your weapons either.  Was it worth having degrading weapons?  Probably not, but it’s defensible in ways that the system in BotW wasn’t. 

One last major gripe is that Nintendo is a garbage company when it comes to everything surrounding copyright, IP law, treatment of workers, basically everything that plagues capitalism, so I can’t recommend buying the game without caveats.  That said, if you’re a fan of a certain Japanese lemon (wink wink) the game runs perfectly well and costs much, much less. 

I put a ridiculous amount of time into this game, and found that none of it was wasted.  I would highly recommend it to pretty much anyone.

Now to be disappointed by Starfield.

[faithfromanewperspective]

a letter to my (new) boss (i'll never send)

it's important for me to process this here so. i know i've got that work 24/7 in my veins and i know i've got that need in me to change this city and to change the world. make this city nurturing, and feed the whole world and i can't help but constantly feel i'm getting distracted from it and traumatised from that distraction, being forced to do stuff that felt off course. what is on course? do i still remember it? what is the dream? why do i keep feeling caught up in other people's dreams, and dare i say, their idols? a vision of myself i cannot be?

i keep thinking it's like gender dysphoria and but actually. actually it is it's like. i'm sick of my whole life being told to climb up these ladders yknow? this whole structure that was constructed by the patriachy and isn't my gender at all. empowerment of women or whatever shouldn't mean we have to be that. should mean we get to be valued for who we are, whatever that is, instead of being forced into this box that some people won't even acknowledge the existence of (and that is the invalidating, repeatedly traumatising thing).

and that's why i love working in this field that facilitates the change of the industry. but to be bridging this gap requires sacrificing who i really am and the true iteration of the vision i have and i'm stretching myself, pretending what's hurtful isn't hurtful but still trying to steer the whole world away from what's normalised and in there, i feel so lost. I fought to do this project because it felt like finding myself. and it has been, to some extent. but what it has done is opened up floodgates. made me have to face things that are easier left unsaid. it's led me to face the dysphoria that has stayed under the surface for so long.

and i've realised who i am, and also realised, i don't think anyone realises and in some ways it's for the best because i can almost guarantee that in a lot of ways people are not going to like it. the right people will. in fact, i can think of a few who will. i'm almost feeling like i can bring it to the table. almost. but my art is always going to be a reflection of who i am. yes, even linkedin articles. even this bougie course. it's all kind of terrifying, really, because i belong precisely because i don't belong. it's that disparity that's keeping me employed and the way i call everyone else into line because the perspective i bring is outside of the boxes we can see when the boxes are moving too far out of what might be broadly acceptable, encroaching on and stepping on the feet of the invisible and vulnerable, or worse. i speak for the trees. i speak for the punks and the addicts and those who are oblivious to the whole grind. how i sometimes wish i could be.

but i once watercolour painted a wall hanging for an old friend and creative muse that said 'learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist' and that's kind of how i've lived my entire life.

i find it ironic, sometimes, when people look at the have-nots of various backgrounds with different stories who often seem not to be trying under capitalism and think they feel entitled to things without working for them. i know people who think that to various degrees with various caveats and i don't even fight them anymore. no, i intend to do something so much greater. because i've figured it out

i've figured out that I'm the imaginary picture they have of these people they know nothing about, but the other way around. i have this core, and i mean CORE belief that's as fundemental to me as gender (and i get emotional thinking about it, like i don't think it's going to change, self destructive as it is, it's baked into me like DNA and at almost 23 my brain is nearly finished developing. it's stuck) that I'm put here on earth to work hard and provide for everyone else. i've memeposted about it but it's true. i've tortured myself over the lack of success I've had here and come back a million times to the fact that i don't have to, i'm held safe by supernatural hands from that one time a god put on DNA and became a meat suit and made some enemies who then killed it and called it a victory.

i know i don't need to for me and i know i don't need to prove anything and i know i know i know but the strongest sense of gender euphoria i've ever felt is when i fully surrender to both that and this feeling i have that iwanttoiwanttoiwantto. i feel like it's my role in the diversity and it's the big dream i've had since i was an age i could count on my fingers and toes without thumbs. social role or gender, right? this is incorporating some of the themes of womanhood and going global with them, provisioning and nurturing, and i don't care about logistics or what is fair i won't let anyone take this away from me, even though i see in their eyes they often want to try.

it's not even necessarily feminine. it could be masculine if you like. the opposite of toxic masculinity i guess? i know i get gender envy from some who embody this idea. but it's me and i know that and it might be a belief, a dumb one i will admit it, in that i need freedom to live it out. but it goes deeper than that.

and i have to say i've approached this with an attitude of utmost surrender. i have no way of guaranteeing this is going to work but i know i feel good when i'm following the same intuition that lit this passion in me and i know things go wrong when i try to suppress it. i know in order to be my best me i have to be fully me.

and i feel like i need to get comfortable and confident in these shoes before i expose myself too much to things that freeze the flow state of my brain and have power over me that they try to use to mold me into someone i'm not. someone who makes better financial decisions or hangs out with better people or has a more reliable sleep schedule or whose concept of equity isn't so complicated or who can enjoy hedonist things a little.

but don't you get it? it's when i get this out of my system at the same rate it goes in that i'm happiest. least self-destructive. i can celebrate with whatever joys i please within a liberated liberator's moral code and i can actually be present in the moment instead of trying to stem a tide that might give me that fulfilment i've been chasing for my whole life. i'm hesitant to say it's God talking to me except for the fact that i should relax. i don't know for sure, no one does, but what if it is? what if sometimes the counterintuitive best thing to do is just let me be deranged? because when i'm liberated this is as deranged as i get. just trust me, please.

and when you trust me i'll show up to those corporate events in a classy dress and block heels and i'll charm those investors or whatever they are (i won't let them know that i've forgotten their role as soon as they said it) and I'll have them seeing just a seed of my perspective, the one i've collected from thousands of stories i've sought out and will continue to until i represent millions. billions. i'll negotiate and cut to the heart of it in meetings, just let me grow and i can learn to do that. i know my skillset. i'll do admin organisational stuff and make a system for it. i'll finish my drinks and complete your jokes, don't you see who i could be? don't you see who i am? i'm the same me when i work in impact investing as when i work in special education and when i work in conservation and when i work in consulting and i work in urban design and i work in manufacturing and i work in hairdressing and when i'm a mother. i'll defeat your systems and i'll climb ladders horizontally like the monkey bars i slayed on as a child and i'll do it classily. i promise. i'll spend my whole life giving and i'll have fun doing it.

that's the dream isn't it?

[thosearentcrimes]

In the 1970s and 80s there was a chain of electronics stores in the New York media market that became quite famous for its over-the-top commercials. They hadn't invented that style of ad (which, as far as I can tell, rose and fell with the independent or small chain retail market), consisting of a very excited "insane" guy with a catchphrase about prices (His Prices Are INSAAAAANE!), but they flooded the Tri-State area airwaves with it.

I'm not really talking about this company because of their advertising, except in the sense that I am familiar with this company because my father told me the story of the ads once, while mentioning that he got some suspiciously cheap but good electronics there. You see, Crazy Eddie, named after primary ringleader Eddie Antar, was also a criminal enterprise and a fraud. According to one of the participants, Sam E. "Sammy" Antar, whose detailed and presumably highly misleading account of the case is available on his amazingly-named website White Collar Fraud, it had always been engaging in fraudulent accounting.

From its humble beginnings as a private company, profits were skimmed and employees were paid under the table, allowing the Antar family to, ah, manage their tax obligations. My understanding is that neither of these practices is or was particularly uncommon in the world of brick-and-mortar retail.

Now, as Crazy Eddie expanded, it became less and less reasonable to engage in petty fraud at that scale. What they had to do next was stop committing tax fraud. Not only would that allow them to avoid getting caught doing tax fraud, by progressively skimming less of the profit they would be able to appear to achieve an impressive rate of growth. This was all in preparation for the smart bit of the scheme, going public.

This is how it works. Stocks trade speculatively at a significant multiple of earnings. This means that if you control and own most of a company, if you can dump your own money into your company and then sell a significant amount of your stock, you can still easily come out well ahead. Soon, the Antars were painstakingly laundering money they had sucked out of Crazy Eddie while it was privately held back into the company past the not particularly vigilant auditors in order to look good to the financial markets.

Eventually the scheme started falling apart socially and financially, and the company suffered a hostile takeover from a competitor who subsequently found that there was $40 million less inventory than advertised. Caveat Emptor, I guess. Eddie Antar tried to flee to Israel but was extradited, upon later getting out of prison he tried to start another electronics retailer called Crazy Eddie, which surprisingly didn't work. Sammy Antar turned state's evidence and is now a fed-lite.

Why am I saying all this, why am I pointing out this particular case? Well, obviously it's because I think there are a lot of modern-day Antars running around making a lot of money, and presumably a lot of their CFOs are also going to flip and reinvent themselves as forensic auditors once they get caught. I assume most startups are somewhat more legal than anything Crazy Eddie did, but many of the market principles remain the same. In fact, corporate lawyers have developed more and more ways to do the same things the Antars did legitimately.

It is ironic that stealing from their own company was worthwhile for the Antars so long as the company was a serious business for them, albeit one that they were operating in a criminal manner, while pumping money into their company was only the correct thing to do once they were divesting themselves of ownership. Obviously this is just how tax evasion and pump and dumps work, but I find it contrasts interestingly with the capitalist dogma that ownership makes for better stewards of the property, still used as the primary political argument for privatization even though capitalist firms are also run managerially.

Ultimately, my takeaway is that the Antars were basically your regular shady retail guys, until they spotted an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of Shareholder Value Maximization. My other takeaway is if you get something cheap because someone is fucking the shareholders, mind your own business probably.

[saintguard]

I had some big ol' hyperfixation this weekend that actually got me to write some stuff (and lose some sleep, because apparently the best time to have ideas is in the middle of the night).

This kinda midnight revelation-style of creativity has happened before, when I ended up writing a whole fan rewrite of the Legend of Korra at 3am on my phone. It's kinda wild and remarkably coherent, but I'll leave that for some other time.

This weekend's hyperfixation that I'm going to focus on came out of two places:

Some worldbuilding I'd done on a stream back in August 2022 using some of the campaign/worldbuilding guidelines from Beam Saber by Austin Ramsey (it's a wonderful game, highly recommend it). I'd created two settings in it, one of which was a manufactured war between megacorporations taglined as "Imagine if the Tour de France/Formula 1 was mech battles". The other, which is actually important for this, takes place in an unnamed region on an unnamed planet with an overall cold climate, currently split between three factions who are all trying to get their hands on some old (and sealed) super-technology. The region has the incredibly unlucky distinction of being the place with heaviest indication of said super-tech, so these three offworld factions rushed in to try finding the tech first, sovereignty and the concerns of the millions of people living there be damned.

I've been trying to get myself back into drawing lately, and I had the idea for a scene that turned into a short (at this point just sketched out) comic. It goes something like this: Pilot: "Again, why are we doing this?" Handler: "To keep us going another day, Mai." Pilot, watching a battle unfold in front of them from their obscured position: "...right."

My brain turned out to be very fond of this idea, to the point where I started thinking of scenes and characters for a whole comic. I ended up with a page of notes on my phone and another page on a doc on my computer. I'm fairly pleased with that, after being so creatively burnt out this year.

Here are some highlights from those notes:

I've come up with eight characters, but only two of them are named: Mai-Lin, aka Mai, a local mech pilot and our protagonist, and Kestrel, a Vraskan mech pilot who might be a lab experiment (the Vraskan State is one of the offworld factions, a military dictatorship ala Starship Troopers).

That comic I was sketching out would actually function at the beginning of the comic, with Mai and her squad third-partying a fight between the Vraskans and the UFL (different faction, a stratified democracy).

The cold climate means lots of cold weather clothing, including greatcoats for the Vraskans and a whole variety for the UFL. Not too decided on what the local fashion is yet.

One of the main throughlines would be Mai and Kestrel continuing to encounter each other, with Mai trying to break Kestrel's programming. They kiss at some point. Is it a good idea? Who knows!

I wrote not one, but two separate flashbacks for Kestrel. I'm really starting to understand the writer thing of "I love this character! I'm going to have absolutely terrible things happen to them."

Outlines of a few other scenes, with the highlight being just before a diplomatic summit. Kestrel's CO, a violent, domineering sort in a violent, domineering society, is accompanying a Vraskan diplomat who's also a military officer. The CO makes a comment about how much of a waste of time this whole summit is, to which the diplomat shows their full displeasure, culminating with “Your rank may be higher, but I outrank you. Are we understood?”

I love all of this, with one caveat - I don't know if I can deliver on my own promise. I can see in my mind's eye what all this stuff should look like, but I'm not sure if I could put pencil to paper and actually make it happen. Still, it's nice to gush about it, especially after all this time of feeling creatively empty.

[okwrites]

PUBLISHING - A Nutshell

Okay so there's so much to the publishing industry, and there's a lot of pros and cons with every single part of it. Here's the three I know the most about.

TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING: This is what people usually think of. Submitting to agents*, editors, etc, then waiting 1-2 years for the book to come out, etc. CONS: Stupid hard to find agents and editors to pick stuff up, takes a long time to come out, can't really negotiate your contracts too much, you're one of a thousand authors on the books, smaller royalties up front. Big publishers are always looking for a way to keep their rights and make a buck off you, so you have to be careful. PROS: Ends up in bookstores a lot faster/more often, you just have to write the book you don't have to do all the extra steps. You usually get some marketing help. You can get advances!

SMALL PRESS PUBLISHING: Somewhere between. Still takes a year or more to get a book to print, but they can get into bookstores more easily, they understand the importance of audiobooks and e-books, they do some legwork at conventions. CONS: You have to pick up some of the marketing, you're still waiting a long time for stuff to come out. Usually can't afford advances. PROS: You get a more personal connection with your publisher and editor, you get to do more conventions (which I think are fun).

INDIE PUBLISHING: Self-publishing is a viable market, and it's got some really solid legs. The only issue is that you are one of a million people in a sea of Amazon books, trying to make a dollar. Algorithms run best with rapid releases, which typically means you need to churn out books so fast it's hard to keep up with, or you'll drop off the map. CONS: You have to do everything. You are the editor, the marketing department, the cover artist, the map designer, the writer, everything. Or you pay up front costs to get them. You're one of hundreds, requires a lot of social media, so if you JUST want to write, this one is probably not your friend. Oh, and literally anyone can publish anything, so you're battling preconceptions that it's for people who can't get published trad, or write badly, or are derivative, etc. PROS: You get to keep ALL the profit. You can print hardcovers and paperbacks through various companies, you can set your schedule, you can rapid release as much as you want, you get complete creative control. You can make and market whatever you want to go with your books. You can get audiobooks and e-books, you can just do e-books, it's got SO much freedom.

*Gonna make another post about agents later with more detail, just want to caveat - you don't NEED an agent, but if you're going to play ball with the big houses in trad publishing, they can help keep you from losing your rights forever.

Oh and there's no such thing as an 'indie press', they're a small press publisher trying to appeal to people who want to self-publish.

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

Title: In Praise of Shadows

Author: Jeff Vandermeer

Rating: 2/5 stars

[epistemic status: mostly a review of a short story and a novella. I'm not sure that I can rate both of them, because the story in particular is just kind of OK. Still, that's what I'll do.]

I'm just going to sum up my experiences with this book. Keep in mind that if I had to rate a thing I wouldn't be going in with all these caveats, but then again I don't have a coherent set of criteria for rating such a thing. I'm just taking stuff I liked or hated about it and trying to make an order out of it.

Anyway, the title refers to two different kinds of entities: shadows, and books. I don't really need to explain the distinction between the two, but let me just say that if you know what you're doing, a book will be more than a shadow -- that is, if you're using the book in a more sophisticated way than I did, but if you're not then you should feel free to take the book for what it is.

I loved the writing

This book was just so fun to read. One of the things I appreciated most about it is the sense that Vandermeer wanted to tell a story which was worth telling (even though he was doing so in a way that was almost definitely inadvisable), and he seemed to realize that if he didn't tell this story, someone else would. Thus he could let it have all the strange, off-putting qualities he wanted to explore, because he knew that someone would come along and try to make sense of it anyway.

I mean, Vandermeer is really good at building up a story in your head. Take his novel Annihilation, which was a huge nerdoutrage for people who liked science fiction (to say the least). But that story started out as one of his short stories and then ended up being a novel. Vandermeer has no such compunctions: he is good at building up a scene in your head by piling up little details that you might not have thought about at all. Here's a snippet of one such scene from a story called "The Other Mother":

As it turns out, there were a lot of people who did not know about the Other Mother. It didn't matter that I had a degree in biology. All the people who came into contact with her regarded her with the same bafflement they might show if they had met someone who wore mismatched socks, a bathrobe, and a fur coat into the grocery store, walked over to the fish section, and said, "I want to see something really unusual."

This is just one short scene, but it works so well because, just for an instant, we feel like we're inside a strange, complicated, alien mind. And we do this with all sorts of things in the story. (It's just one of a million things that Vandermeer does really well: his stories are full of little details like this, and it makes them a lot richer).

Now, the story itself is pretty different from Annihilation. The characters are less likeable, less likeable per se, less weird, less "real" -- but they're still recognizable as people, and they seem plausible in a way that the characters in Annihilation never did. This is because the story is so good at making you feel in control of the things in the story -- there's a sense that all these little scenes are coming together to make sense, to give you a story with a shape that you can understand.

A lot of that comes from the way the characters think -- they're not necessarily "right" in any way, but they come across as genuinely strange in the ways that Vandermeer wants you to find them weird. Take the two characters in "Other Mother": they talk like this:

They're in the wrong room.

Marybeth's voice was pitched an octave lower than usual, but the words were as loud and clear as any I'd heard from her since high school.

There's a certain amount of awkwardness in correcting someone's pronunciation. One has to try to ignore the fact that one is making a fool of oneself by trying to be a linguist.

"I'm not in the right room," I said.

They looked at me blankly. The woman's eyes were as dark as her son's, and her brow was a line of heavy shadow. Her face was a study in shadow, and in spite of myself I felt a chill steal over me.

"No," I said. "We're in the right room. Right... room."

There's not a word here that you wouldn't expect from a human being.

The story as a whole has its dark spots. I didn't really care for "The Drowned Girl," for instance, and this was one reason that I didn't really like the book itself, or rather, why I didn't like reading it and found it hard to focus. But the story is always moving forward, and it's moving in this direction despite the bleakness. It's very much in the vein of a lot of Vandermeer's earlier work, so if that stuff gives you pause, the book itself won't: you will just have a sense of unease in the story, which you can overcome by getting past it. (I'll talk more about the book once I'm finished, because I don't feel up to rating it).

One of the oddest (and, I suppose, most effective) things is the way Vandermeer makes you forget that there is a plot. I mean, I suppose there is one, but I've read far too many stories where there isn't really a plot but the characters feel like there is one. The characters talk about how the story is moving, but then it isn't actually moving there. But the plot is there, because it's in the characters. And it's not hard to feel like the characters are in control of it, because they come across as genuinely, plausibly strange. It's like a magic spell, which, in the end, the reader is powerless to resist.

A very small example here, but an example that stands out: one of the main characters is "Katharine" and her "family." Her father is a physicist with some sort of odd reputation. He is very old fashioned in the way that he thinks of the world around him, but he is also an honest person, and he doesn't really talk much about that world. Instead, he talks about something he called the breathplay, which involves getting a bunch of very drunk people to try and kiss each other.

It was a strange experience. The sensation was not sexual. It was

[nickgerlich]

Meat And Potatoes

Trying to meet the needs and wants of diners is no small task. As in all things, those needs and wants change over time. Stir in some inflation, and you find changing habits simply based on money. And then factor in that, as you get older, your likelihood of becoming a grumpy old man or woman becomes alarmingly high. You don’t even realize it has happened, until someone points it out to you. Change can be unsettling.

I have made it my mission in life—or what remains of it—not to become that grumpy old man. Wish me luck. Lots of it.

With Baby Boomers, the most storied of generational cohorts in the US, and now all 60 years of age or older, it means there are a lot of potentially grumpy people among us. That amounts to some 76.4 million of the 78 million that were born between 1946 and 1964. We also hold 51.8% of all wealth in the country, and if our kids and grandkids are nice, we’ll leave it to them.

On paper, Boomers are still a very lucrative market segment, but generally speaking, as people age, they spend a lot less, except perhaps on travel. And that is only to a point, because if you live long enough, you will eventually reach the age after which travel becomes challenging.

But dining out—you were waiting for me to circle back, weren’t you?—is something that older people still do, albeit with some caveats. Older folks tend to eat dinner earlier, shy away from driving after dark, and go in for comfort foods. They are easier on aging digestive tracts, and, perhaps most importantly, have a nostalgic value, harking back to a very different time free from all of the uncomfortable changes our seniors have had to deal with. Change, as we have discussed, can be hard, and especially when you are old.

We are thus left with chains that target Boomers with a lot of the things they find most palatable, from Denny’s to Applebees, IHOP, and Cracker Barrel. Each has had to scramble of late to tread water, thanks to inflation hitting their target demo pretty hard.

And then there’s Perkins Restaurant and Bakery, the chain with about 300 restaurants that unabashedly targets Boomers, and is now undergoing a significant makeover to try to keep them coming. It’s no small task trying to maintain relevance, especially when the writing is on the wall that the Boomer generation is going to die off sooner than later.

Cracker Barrel can speak to this challenge. It is the king of comfort foods, a roadside staple that attracts older travelers like flies to honey. They caused a major kerfuffle about a year ago when they added alcohol to the menu, as well as a faux meat sausage patty from Impossible. Cracker Barrel was trying to increase its reach to younger customers, but its core customers came unglued. You would have thought the end times were drawing nigh with all that woke talk.

This finds Perkins trying to move carefully, retaining the look and feel of a bakery inside (the glass case with baked goodies makes for great restaurant theatre), but also doubling down on proven meat-and-potatoes items their aging customer base craves. None of that fancy talk, like tofu stir fries, glazed Brussels sprouts, and foreign spices. No siree, they’re trying to give people what they’ve been giving them for years, in a refreshed space, and at value pricing.

The company is adapting its name to Perkins American Food Co., about as red, white, and blue as you could get without draping yourself in the flag. It’s a mash-up of traditional foods, but in a modern setting.

It is at this point we must discuss the viability of this strategy, because while it makes sense for now, we have to wonder about its long-term value. If Gen-Xers become predictably “old” like their Boomer predecessors, then this may be a strategy for the ages. But if there is a break with tradition that finds people aging but not acting like it, then it will one day be doomed.

Then there’s the matter of younger customers not even having Perkins on their radar at all, unless they are dining with their aging family members. I remember my ex-father-in-law loving Perkins, as did my parents. But I would never go there of my own volition, and that is true today as well, because I despise American comfort food. I really do think I should have been born in southeast Asia, because that is my preferred sustenance. You can keep your meat loaf and mashed potatoes. Give me a bowl of green curry with lots of heat.

I give Perkins credit, though, for knowing its target market, even if the dynamics of that may change in the long run. Double down on what your target wants, and you will likely do well. Try to be all things to all people, and you will likely wind up being nothing to everyone.

Here’s to understanding consumer behavior, as well as knowing who you are, what you aren’t, and who you serve. It takes brains, resilience, and restraint to do all of that, a medley that is about as far from comfort food as you could get.

Dr “What’s For Dinner?” Gerlich

Audio Blog

[lotus-tower]

WHY WON'T TUMBLR LET ME POST A READMORE

not really well read enough in philosophy Or dnd history to truly understand everything it draws from but i think dnd's conception as good and evil as natural forces in the universe is so fascinating from both a pure worldbuilding perspective and a game design perspective. but in a way that is severely undercut by how it tries to apply that onto realistic human morality

like, the idea of gameified moral alignments is genuinely interesting to me because rather than being an effective shorthand storytelling tool (which i don't think it really is), what you end up with is a cosmology heavily mired in futility due to being shaped by the demands of ceaseless gameplay. good can never truly defeat evil, but "balance" is not the goal like in a, say, taoist sense. instead the good guys should still strive to defeat evil, but there will always be more monsters and enemies to defeat, because if there weren't there would be no more adventure to be had. because dnd operates on "enemy" logic where if an entity is evil-aligned, you can kill them without thinking twice about it, whether they're an amorphous monster or just like, a normal human bandit.

the way it appropriates eastern and other non-western mythologies and mixes everything up in a blender for its cosmology is also interesting because its mixture of apocalyptic vs cyclical also feels like it's only tenable because of game utility. bad guys are always biding their time until they can unleash something that would presumably Destroy the World. but if it's not relevant to your specific story or campaign, that day will literally never come. but if you do want to roleplay through that crisis, there are a million apocalypses to choose from.

dnd lore feels like it's constantly aggressively chasing itself into a corner for no reason with regards to wanting mindless, one-dimensionally evil enemies who are evil because they're born evil, yet also wanting fleshed out villains because bad guys are cool and there will always be people drawn to the evil races. this leads to just frankly hilariously nonsensical lore for races like the drow. you can read their wiki page and actively Feel the writers adding caveats and then going 'but they're still evil' and then new caveats and then 'uhhh but still Evil' over and over. enough people have talked about the actual racial dynamics in fantasy race design, but i'm weirdly interested in the underlying philosophical issue as well.

the alignment system is simultaneously something meant to showcase your guys' character development and make it feel visible and codified, in a game that is all about, y'know, roleplaying and acting out the fantasy of your guy Doing Stuff, and something that imposes a significant level of determinism to the whole setting. lawful evil isn't just a label to describe a type of sentient creature. instead it becomes a cosmological force of its own, or like an element. creatures have to be predisposed to a certain alignment, or how could that alignment be a tangible thing in the cosmos? there HAS to be straight-up evil races because there is a straight up evil plane. lawful evil people automatically go to the lawful evil afterlife when they die. everything is neatly categorized taxonomically, with even the 'world tree' type cosmological structure resembling a taxonomic tree. i think it quickly becomes obvious how futile it is to think of something like "defeating evil" when you look at a cosmological tree like that. that wouldn't mean just fighting against designated bad guys. it would mean destroying entire planes of existence, including... afterlives? how would that even work?

but you still DO need to fight against designated bad guys. that's what the whole game is built around. you need a clear divide between "civilization" and the "savage" so that you can have random monsters to kill out in the wilderness, "monster" itself being its own special category that is separate from flora or fauna, you need to preserve that sense of undefinable chaos so that there are just random beings you can kill with impunity without needing to work in some kind of narrative about it. even for obviously irrevocably evil enemies like devils, there's a distinction made between them (who you can reason and bargain with) and demons, who are mindless because something something chaos. lawful forces exist for interesting interactions you can have with them, and chaotic forces exist so you can just have enemies hellbent on destruction for absolutely no reason. you need a clear divide between "good" and "evil" for the same reason. player characters become the only characters possessed of full freedom of will, so that players can act out any fantasy they want. but that same fantasy would be weakened if they felt constrained in what kind of violence they can dish out.

and, you know, why are good and evil dragons colour-coded? isn't that super silly? well obviously it's to make obvious at a glance what npcs are enemies and what aren't. it makes perfect sense from a practical game design standpoint. like, you can try to justify it however you like in-universe, but the fact remains that making all of a certain Type of creature uniformly enemies is the most standard RPG thing ever.

but what does it mean for your characters' free will to only be able to be exercised in a setting where they're the only ones that have it? what does it mean for a person's relationship to god, knowing that that god is more static, less capable of change, less containing of possibility? it's not that gods can't change alignment at all, but it's so much more unlikely than a person. "only humans (as in, sentient playable races etc etc.) have free will" is another standard theme in fantasy and religious thought. and my personal art. i guess. but in dnd this isn't a theme that's explored, it's just the playground set up for the players to have fun in.

what does it mean to be an ardent crusader for good, to fight against "evil"? if that evil is just a force in the universe? is it exhausting, knowing your life's work will never get to the root cause, that there will always be more evil? does it mean you just have an infinite number of enemies to slaughter mercilessly? do you spin it into a "but someone has to do the work to hold the monsters at bay this generation" thing?

there's a lot more you could say about law vs chaos but i don't want to get into that lol

[collapsedsquid]

Is this “Fascism?“

The far right populist movements increasing in power across the “west“ can be difficult to describe, inchoate, self-contradictory.  So was classical fascism.  Thus endless arguments can be had on whether these are fascist, generally focused on questions like “How serious a threat is this?“ or “Is some sort of ‘popular front’ warranted and to what degree?“  I want to take a different tack on this.  I should say that this is US-focused but I think those ideas have penetrated parallel, France or German far-right movements don’t look too different.

Fascism was borne out of global industrialized total war.  No we live in global post-industrial cold war.   The ‘socialism“ in “national socialism” can be a misleading word but it does speak to the desire to mass mobilization, not just to win national power but then against the world.  Now we live in a world of mass de-mobilization, no national pride is worth paying a cent more for gasoline.  While classical fascism was the misbegotten stepchild of 19th century nationalism, the current far-right is the misbegotten step-child of 20th century libertarianism. Perhaps it is a betrayal of that spirit in the same way that classical fascism was a betrayal of 1848, but I argue that it still remains and is important. 

So no mass mobilization, rooted in libertarianism, what does this mean? Classical fascist movements can be thought of as a desire to manage exploitation, people need to be organized, into the factory, into the army base, and eventually yes into the work/death camp.”  In a world of global industrial total war this mobilization was believed necessary by those elites who held power, even if they do not wish war others might against them.  And this mobilization was contested by the labor movement, both in the form of brief insurrections but also the day-to-day labor activism that the movements did that were seen to hamper this.

Now though, moving people into factories is no longer a concern of the elite, instead the opposite is causing issues. The labor movement is no longer seen to pose a threat to either the political order or narrow profit. Instead the current issues of the elite are those of exclusion, not exploitation. Non-citizens excluded from the nation, homeless excluded from nice neighborhoods, those that are thought obnoxious excluded from “society”.

“The misery of being exploited by capitalists is nothing compared to the misery of not being exploited all.”  It can really fucking suck to be unemployed.  The menace of underemployment can strike as well, I posit that for many different measures of “exploitation,“ the most exploited are not the worst off in society.  Working in a car factory is less miserable, and more productive, and more highly compensated than working as a migrant farm laborer.  Don’t really need that many car-makers though.  We got people queuing up to both work in car factories and get permission to cross the border to do farm-work though.

So now it’s all about exclusion, all sorts of people need to be kept in their place, prevented from interfering with Good Society.  Here is where the libertarianism comes in. Libertarianism has managed to appeal to a great many people who wish to escape different types of “interference.“  Some wish to escape the drug war.  Some are ticked off about the IRS.  For some, environmental regulation is something to be destroyed, for some who long for a world of caveat emptor it’s consumer protections against scams.  And for many, the interference they wished to escape was the imposition of desegregation.

Some within that movement had their own broad vision of the future of liberty though, rather than the million niggling offenses.  The masses, who demand regulation, labor codes, welfare states, these masses are aggressors, intruder on your private property just like an intruder sneaking into your house, who can and should be met with lethal force.  What happens to those who depend on the welfare states?  Perhaps with this withering away they will find it in themselves to become productive members of society.  Or maybe they will not, perhaps they are merely unworthy parasites deserving only to be purged.

There is a book from a libertarian position written in the 90s that posits this, “The Sovereign Individual,“ still beloved of some libertarians.  It describes this process of state breakdown as the inevitable result of the post-industrial information economy.  The world of nation-states will break apart and people will live in wealthy private enclosed communities.  Or, at least, the survivors will, those that aren’t viewed as productive, perhaps because of their culture or ethnicity may not make it.  This is turned into a eschatological prophecy for some, the market’s punishment and redemption for turning away from the gold standard.  In the 90s, this felt like something that would take care of itself.  The regulatory and welfare state and then maybe the nation-state itself would wither away, forced to by the pressure of markets. After the great financial crisis and years of QE failing to cause hyperinflation, this process no longer looks as inevitable.  Perhaps it must be forced.

Classical fascism was about mass discipline, this was thought necessary to preserve private property and national dignity, to protect them against the world. The miserable no longer need to be forced into the factory, but kept out from the community.  “State power“ needed to be seized, now state power is a bit more ambiguous, perhaps state power can be dispensed with, replaced with private communities, warlords, sheriffs to keep out the undesirables. If you can’t seize legitimate power with a coup, maybe you just destroy legitimacy itself.  Instead of mass national expansion, you merely secure key resources and execute potential threats.  The death camp can be inverted, instead you have fortress for the elect and a free-fire zone outside.

Post-foucaltian weirdos could see the imposition of mask and vaccine mandates as fascism, these are measures of exploitation, not exclusion, there is no desire to keep the body of the nation healthy, this is not nationalist but post-nationalist. The nation need not be preserved, only deviants kept out.

So what should we expect?  Not sure really. I think the main upshot here is a better view of what power is attempting to be seized here. 

[botanyshitposts]

is that why you think mammals have more than two sexes

idk if this was supposed to be like, a bizarre transphobic jab, but partially, actually. in biology very, very few things actually occur in binary groups; i prefer to imagine biological sex, as well as gender, by imagining two overlapping bell curves. there’s an average that we expect from gender and sex matching up at birth because most people will fall within the first quartile of the curves where all the most average genes were turned on and all the non-genetic factors surrounding that turn out in an average expected way, and there are more people who still are just as male or female but have different genes turned on and off or whatnot and wouldnt check every single box if like, The Chromosome Police showed up and made them do a cheek swab or whatever, and there are people who are intersex, which covers a wide range of different expressions of the genome.

but! we don’t have The Chromosome Police and we don’t need them, because we have gender to do this for us, which is something that has much more to do with a mix of genetic and sociological factors. in my opinion, gender makes it so that even if you’re a cis man who doesnt have like, idk penis gene #435 on the Y chromosome, youre still a man, and even if youre a woman who doesnt have vagina gene #874 turned on, youre still a woman. hell, some people go their entire lives without knowing that they have full extra chromosomes. it just....it just doesnt matter.

to expand on this, my theory is that gender serves the function of convenience more than like, a law or whatever; we have a system where there are usually a small set of things that happen as a result of a wide range of thousands of different things that turn off and on during development, and a lot of different moving parts are going on in that department that help mitigate disaster if one deletes itself or whatever, and not all those things are guaranteed to turn on or off, and as a result we’ve developed a system where regardless of whats in your pants- because anything could be there, honestly, evolution works in systems and as a result doesnt know or care- there’s a social thing that functions differently on another level thats more elastic, so no matter if you’re a woman who was born with one singular penis gene turned on or a woman who had a lot of them turn on, you both can kind of be in the same clump of ‘people who are this’. not ‘people who look like this’ or ‘people who do this thing’ or ‘people who have x combinations of chromosomes’, but ‘people who, for whatever multitude of reasons and results or relationships with themselves, are this way or another way or are existing successfully in some distant combination of ways’, and having those people around- if we follow this theory- apparently was not at all disastrous enough for evolution to pump the breaks and start killing people who never activated Penis And Vagina Gene #1456. in fact, trans people have been around as long as humans have, and that includes nonbinary people, intersex people, and cis people with different gender expressions. ancient societies had us around, there are just as many of us now as there always was, and biology just. it does not care.

think of all the things that go into a person. there is a whole lot of stuff that we do not understand. there are so many things that could change, or differ from individual to individual, and having a lot of moving parts like this with millions of different viable combinations of biological and environmental things works, because it means that the entire system doesnt break like a fucking twig if both a penis and a vagina gene turn on at the same time, or if little grog in the forest grows up hunting mammoths with his 8 moms and no dads in a nomadic tribe in prehistoric france. it also means that even if someone ends up as another combination, they dont immediately collapse into a heap of dust! great system, for the most part.

now, this is all contentious. first of all, this is my own set of theories on why this exists, and second of all i have complex feelings about the science surrounding this itself; as a biologist im fascinated, but as a trans queer person it’s terrifying. the reason this is is because there are two groups of people who want to learn things like this: people who actually want to study the details of human sex and gender, and people who want to find The Ultimate Queer Gene to ‘fix’ us forever, which like. as ive covered before. egregious moral, ethical, and basic human rights reasons aside. not something that actually would improve us as a species even if we did go to the farthest ends of the bell curves i mentioned and manage to transform the entire human race into two massive homogeneous supermale and superfemale groups with only the the most Epic And Extreme big dick and boob genes selected for (or, if were going off TERF logic, femurs of a bizarrely specific length or like, a skull shape or smth, you can see where this goes very quickly).

like. this shit is complicated. it is. sometimes, things in biology- especially when it comes to real people of our own species- are best left as enigmas, you know what im saying. but in the meantime, we can take estimates, we can say ‘we can make an educated guess about the biological sex of a skeleton by looking at their pelvis’, but we cant say ‘all cis women have femurs of exactly x cm, which is absolutely a normal and not creepy thing to obsess over’, and we cant say ‘all human beings are either male or female and that looks one of two ways’, because as we know from intersex people and all the other caveats in this subject, this is not true.

we can say with confidence that most human beings have a gender that matches what is average for their biological sex (which doesnt always define itself as the exact same set of characteristics to begin with) but not always, and most human beings have have a gender which falls vaguely under the umbrella of two vaguely defined existences, but not always, and most women have a femur length between x and x cm long, but women come in all shapes and sizes and therefore it isnt a good way to define what being a living breathing person of a particular circumstance means or looks like, holy shit, etc, and we can use this knowledge to make educated guesses about the world, but we can also use knowledge of what isn’t the majority of people to make educated guesses about what those guesses mean, and what roles they play (and hopefully will get some more rights in the meantime).

so yeah like. most people are one of two biological sexes, but its more complicated than ‘peepis or vagornio’, you feel.