wobster109

[wobster109]

@/smoooooody: 기억 척자 기대된다

[wobster109]

Roasted chicken, ginger, daikon, shiitake mushroom soup with lime, cilantro, broccoli sprouts, and rice noodles

[wobster109]

Driving my girl to work on our tandem bicycle. Takes me 15 minutes to drop her off and 45 minutes to get back home

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See, here's the thing: if you have an IT company - or even internal IT - you need to have a process for onboarding employees that you follow every single time.

The person calling me to request a password reset for a specific computer could well be a new employee.

But her info isn't in our system, her info isn't in *their* system, the two site contacts we have don't know her name, and even though she's calling in on a number that we can use to reach the correct office, phone numbers are easy to spoof and she gave us a different number as a callback.

The reason we aren't getting your user signed on in a timely manner is because your user is indistinguishable from a social engineering attack and you are a medical office.

[wobster109]

On the surface, the story of Rota Fortunae is simple. Gentle, innocent Aventurine risks his life to bring his dear companion to safety, and is killed by big bad Sunday for his trouble.

Is that really the whole story though? Is Aventurine as guileless as he seems? What are android Aventurine’s true motives? To seek an answer, let’s look back at canon.

In Penacony’s storyline, Aventurine gambles his life to plant the jade cornerstone in Sunday’s domain, the dreamscape. Through the jade cornerstone, the IPC is able to gather intel on the Family from within.

Let’s map that onto Rota Fortunae —>

Android Aventurine risks his life to infiltrate the human sanctuary, run by Sunday. He chooses to ally with Ratio for his intelligence: Ratio will certainly be helpful in finding its hidden location. He succeeds in finding the sanctuary, providing his faction (the androids) with the location and an inside look.

It’s a possibility! Now, do I really think that’s his goal? I don’t know… and neither does anyone. He is, in every world, a brilliant and complicated schemer.

Ratio is simpler, in this and every world, like the mundanite he is. All he wants in life is right in front of him—

He has a bit loftier goals in canon: spreading knowledge, curing ignorance, etc. But even there, he can’t help himself, and so we get him randomly popping up on Aven’s social media like a fanboy, or saying “tell me if you can’t hold on” right there in the dreamscape, putting the whole mission at risk!

I can’t say if Rota Fortunae is a triumph or a tragedy for Aventurine, but it’s definitely a tragedy for Ratio. Maybe the next life will be kinder.

[wobster109]

Small problem

[wobster109]

Dr Ratio and Aventurine in Rota Fortunae, by Megane98, Unnämed/Lucien

[wobster109]

Oh this is delightful! Love the analysis!

In the words of Ratio- I’m overinterpreting. However: I’m an English major and overinterpreting is my job. I think that their usernames in this event are another nod to the happy prince!

I’m not sure who originally pointed out the allusion to the happy prince (I think it was on Twitter and I do not use Twitter 😞) but! Look that up if you aren’t already familiar. Intentional parallels have been drawn to aventurine being the happy prince (the golden statue with the lead heart and eyes of sapphire) and ratio being the sparrow who helps carry out the prince’s requests delivering 3 stones (in the book, 2 sapphires and a ruby, in the game, aventurine topaz and jade.) anyways- one detail of the happy prince that has been irrelevant thus far in game is that the swallow, prior to falling in love with the prince, was in love with a reed.

The username “a thinking reed” felt fairly out of place until I remembered the happy prince, and I feel as if this could be a reference. I’m not sure what the reed would represent if the sparrow was ratio- nous and the genius society? Himself? Either way, it is presumably something he had to ��fall out of love with” in order to move on and grow closer to aventurine. On that note, if we are drawing parallels with the happy prince, aventurine’s username “the golden touch” also adds up- the prince was a statue who was gilded in gold.

I am aware this is SUCH a stretch, but I mean… it’s interesting, right?

[wobster109]

When people join self-improvement or even hobbyist communities, there are some absolutely critical skills of fundamental skepticism they need when going in. I think most people who get into these communities aren't aware of these.

And just, as a fundamental few:

Does this person stand to gain financially from the thing they're trying to sell you on?

Is the business model of this whole community one of artificial competitiveness? Is there a pressure around never lapsing, or never straying from the model being sold to you?

Are the claims made in this community becoming bolder and bolder deviations from standard information?

These are absolutely rife in fitness, nutrition, and financial-advice communities and they often receive very little scrutiny except among those who already "got out." Because from the outside, seeing someone get into fitness is a good thing, good for them, glad to see it, look at that dedication, happy for them. Same on the other categories, and probably numerous others I haven't seen.

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Does this person stand to gain financially from the thing they're trying to sell you on?

If the answer is yes, that does NOT mean "immediately abort", it means keep that in mind when you're interacting with their content.

This nutrition influencer has given you some great recipes for free, and now they're promoting a "really fantastic" brand that they have an affiliate link with? Their motivation isn't to be your friend and helpfully clue you in on a great product. It's to make money off you.

You really like this fitness influencer's work outs, but she gets MORE interaction and MORE viewers the skinnier she gets? She CLAIMS she's been losing weight naturally with healthy eating and exercise, and she's still full of energy, and You Can Too. This is not your friend. This is not someone who knows you. This is someone under large financial and social pressure to do everything she can to put out her best appearance and her happiest appearance, and your attention and belief in the appearance is where the money and clout come from. You really need to remember this in the same way you remember to look both ways before crossing the street. You can cross a street and you can follow a fitness account, but protect yourself when doing it.

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Is the business model of this whole community one of artificial competitiveness? Is there a pressure around never lapsing, or never straying from the model being sold to you?

Communities stay strong if they retain people. There are a lot of fine and positive ways to retain people, but it's often easier to retain people by instilling them with a sense that they must be here. They should feel bad if they lapse or if their attention drifts. What they were before was inadequate. Everyone outside this community is inadequate. Do you want to go back to inadequate?

Is that financial subreddit that taught you valuable lessons about 401k's, index funds, and budgeting also quietly pressuring you to always do more? Are the top posts from extremist examples of people living in destitution so they can show the most extreme screenshot, and curate the envy of everyone else who ought to be ashamed of not doing as well as them?

Is that fitness community that got you into jogging also putting you in the mind that the truest and best people exercise 7 days a week? Never miss a metric? Never compromise on their dedication?

Is that person who "cut out all sugar and feels amazing" informing you that you should never have another cupcake in your life? And if you DO it's because you're BAD and DON'T WORRY, you'll get RIGHT back on the horse after. Shame will motivate you to come right back, and stay with the community, and never leave.

As long as you stay, the community grows. As long as you stay, the ad sponsors and the endorsed products and the influencers can benefit more and more. And sometimes, there's perhaps not even a malicious force behind it. It can happen from evolutionary pressures. The communities that survive are the ones that retain people. A community that trips accidentally into a model of pressuring people to stay is one which retains people and thrives.

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Are the claims made in this community becoming bolder and bolder deviations from standard information?

You joined because you wanted to learn to cook for yourself. And this community has been helpful! You know how to make some delicious things. You've tried vegetables you've never tried before. And maybe you needed some convincing that brussel sprouts can be yummy, but what do you know, turns out you like them roasted.

But what else is being said? What things are being said with more and more frequency? Is it that "humans don't actually need any sugar, and it's a poison being sold to us?" Is it that "seed oils are toxic for you"? Is it that "pasteurization is bad"? Is the raw fruitarian convincing you that cavemen lived exclusively off fruit and you can too?

They'll have sources sometimes. Check them. Are they cherry-picked? Are they from an insular echo-chamber? Why isn't the mainstream literature aware of this? And if the answer has anything to do with "because mainstream wants to TRICK YOU and you're actually BAD for ASKING" then don't engage. Disregard. Take the recipes if you must but apply your skeptical filter to all the parts that are snake oil.

Sometimes it's that another community is only a stone's throw away. That person with a great financial portfolio has only good things to say about crypto, and what they're saying is making sense (average person [not smart] [poor] [bad money skills] laughs at crypto, but you're smarter. you're on the in-track). That amazing bodybuilder is pulling the hottest dates, and he says it's about male-confidence, and he says there are good support guides on becoming a respectable masculine man, and all you need to do is reclaim your masculinity in a society that wants to steal it from you.

In any place like this, come up for air. Come up for air FREQUENTLY. Talk to regular people and engage in academic literature outside this circle. Conspiracy thinking wins if you draw all your information from the entity trying to sell you on the conspiracy.

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And I hope this is clear but my message is not "never join a community." My message is know danger when you see it. Recognize when you're being used or pressured. Don't fall for conspiracy thinking. Protect yourself. You can use a gas stove to cook meals but don't touch the flame and don't burn your house down. You can cross the street but recognize the signs of a car coming down the street.

And I'm making this point because so many people just don't know. ...Because getting into fitness is "good" and "self-improvement"! So is nutrition. So if financial responsibility. People walk into it and the extremism can make them feel accomplished, and admired, and like they're a part of something, and maybe even like a proper self-punishment for their own inadequacies. And people on the outside won't save you because "Wow! He spends 3 hours at the gym every day! I wish I was that dedicated." is a common attitude, and will push you deeper into what has its claws in you.

Everything I'm saying is not because I'm so much smarter and so much holier-than-thou for knowing this when others don't--I'm saying this because I was in it. I fell for it. Not all the examples above, of course. But I recognize the machine in them. It is highly appealing to run farther and fast longer and overload your class schedule when you don't feel good enough and want to prove something, and so many communities will sell you on the idea this IS an accomplishment. Then once you do, you have to do it forever. Or else you'll go back to not being good enough. And since fitness is "good", and weight-loss and good grades, no one can save you but you.

The answer was not to give up on the hobbies I was doing. I cook for myself most nights. I run and bike as regular parts of my routine. I like new recipes and I like half-marathons. But these are just positive additions to my life and they do not define my worth. If I miss a work-out it's whatever. If I order take-out it's whatever. I fundamentally do not care about the influencer with the washboard abs, and if I try a work-out from her, I have no loyalty to it. If the new recipe I try mentions "clean eating" I'll roll my eyes and just figure out if the recipe seems good. If the recipe is botching itself to avoid certain scare-words I will simply find something else.

There is absolutely a reasonable place for challenging yourself and trying things outside your comfort zone. The internet is full of resources to do so much more than you currently know how to do. And if that community is an oven, recognize it's an oven. Wear oven mitts. If it's actively on fire, leave. You're the only one protecting you. Stay safe.

[wobster109]

the most terrifying part of wreck-it ralph was definitely the arcade owner hooking up every single machine to the same power strip

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draw your fave wrestler like this

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Not a want but a need

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Honestly, part of why it irritates me when people act performatively shocked at the homophobia in 2000s media is it wasn't just media. "Can you believe this aired in 2008" buddy, in 2008 I was having shit thrown at me from moving cars for having long hair, and you wanna get worked up about sitcoms?

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Very relieved to see this. The idea that we could “fight racism” by throwing the works of people from other cultures off of AO3, for not holding western values… it didn’t sit right with me. To be an ally to PoC, you’ve got to fight for them as they are. Not just the ones you deem to be “good” because they hold the same, sufficiently-American values as you.

Maybe I'm just not seeing it, but I'm surprised there isn't more drama over that the update OTW put out has explicitly rejected adding a Racism, Hate Speech or Slavery warning. I think their reasons for doing so are really good and well-articulated (the first two in particular always seemed like non-starters to me, because what counts as either of those varies so much from person to person and culture to culture in a way that what constitutes, say, "non-con" doesn't). But I'm surprised I'm not seeing more fuss raised on here by the Stop OTW Racism or whatever they're called group. Maybe I've just blocked enough but I know I still follow some people who supported that.

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Around 300 people changed their works titles on AO3 during that campaign. It was a decent number of big names in very specific circles, but in the wider sphere of fandom, it was basically no one. More people were casually interested in EOTWR, of course, but the kinds of highly invested people who are going to have a big reaction to the update would probably have been willing to also change a couple of work titles temporarily.

I'm sure there's a reaction somewhere that I'm not seeing, but there's no reason to suppose it will be massive in the context of fandom overall.

[wobster109]