CptKrkIsClmbngThMntn

joined 4 years ago
[–] CptKrkIsClmbngThMntn@hexbear.net 18 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

I completely agree. It feels like a lot of them were added at some high crest of drama between Hexbear and another online space, and 90% of them aren't funny or interesting in any way outside that context.

Also, most of them feel really petty, like we're trying super hard to prove that we're laughing at their stupidity. It doesn't give the impression that we're above the nonsense; it gives the impression that we're desperate for people to think we are.

I find parenthesis are best when concept B is worth noting, but tangential to concept A, especially when the next few points are going to be back on the same track that A was on.

[–] CptKrkIsClmbngThMntn@hexbear.net 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I quite like my Kubuntu Focus. I found some people complaining about the durability of System76 chassis (apparently they're plastic) and that's why I didn't go with them.

Unimaginatively, she named the French girl Fleur Delacour (which means “flower of the court”) and her storyline is basically just being a pretty girl. The guy from eastern Europe is Viktor Krum. I guess the hard “k” sounds let us know where he’s from. The only two characters of Indian descent are twin sisters named Padma and Parvati Patil, generic names from the region they are supposed to be from. Seamus Finnegan is one of the few Irish characters, so of course, that is his name. He is known for his penchant for blowing things up and trying to turn water into alcohol as a child. I guess that is all Irish people are known for?

Rowling has been accused of antisemitism, so to combat that, she pointed out there was a Jewish wizard. One Jewish wizard around Harry’s age. In the whole of the UK. One (1). Named Anthony Goldstein. In her tweet to describe him, Rowling only said: “Anthony Goldstein, Ravenclaw, Jewish wizard.” Not you know, what he does or how he connects to the story or anything relevant other than that she put a Jewish wizard somewhere because he isn’t even in the movies and makes only minor appearances in the fifth and sixth books. She could have said something like: “Of course there are Jewish wizards! Everyone is welcome in the Wizarding World!” But that only occurred in the fanfiction version of the conversation.

The vast majority of Harry Potter characters are white. Any characters of color are regulated to side roles of no real consequence. At Hogwarts, the Black students are Lee Jordan, Angela Johnson, Dean Thomas, and Blaise Zabini. They kind of exist like seat fillers in Harry’s peripheral rather than being central characters. I guess that isn’t the worst. But then Rowling had to outdo herself and named the only Black adult character Kingsley Shacklebolt. Yes, his last name, the name of his pure-blood wizard family that came to England, is Shackle-Bolt.

Then there is Cho Chang. As the only East Asian character, she is probably the most racist and stereotypical character in the entire series. Her name is a combination of two common surnames from two entirely different Asian cultures. If you have any doubts about how much this character was wronged, check out the video of Rachel Rostad’s poem, “To JK Rowling, from Cho Chang.” The actress who played Cho, Katie Leung, spoke about racist attacks she faced from Harry Potter fans just for playing the character.

Sadly, there is a long history of Western culture co-opting Asian cultures and dehumanizing Asian women. Rowling continued that fetishization with Cho. She is introduced in the books as a love interest for Harry. She giggles a lot and is known for being cute. And she is in Ravenclaw, the house of all the smart kids. Only Harry can’t have her because she’s interested in a different basic white boy, Cedric Diggory. After Cedric dies, her character vacillates from crying all the time (understandable, as her boyfriend just died and Hogwarts doesn’t seem big on providing trauma counseling) or just being a placeholder for Harry to lust after (before eventually marrying a white girl who he notes “doesn’t cry”).

It Canada it's a bit of a contentious issue because Inuksuks are being put up constantly outside the Arctic areas they come from, and by people with no connection to Inuit or other northern traditions.

 

Took over from where I left off so not a true thru-hike in a way, but most people do this trail in many small segments over years. I managed to hike another 370ish kilometres (including side trails and to pickup spots) in eleven days, not including two adjacent rest days in the middle. I got to the most northern, rugged, and beautiful sections of the trail in the last few days which was well worth the just over 900k I put in.

I was far more supported this time, being followed with a car, and only did one night packing everything in and out. Did the full thing vegan of course. I'm in a much better mood having gotten it done and am already planning more endurance adventures. Would love to get into trail running and try to take some shorter ones at speed!

Feel free to ask me any questions about how I pulled it off, thru hikes, or endurance camping stuff in general!

Still free! We'll just have to fork Plasma to get the infinite errors back.

I liked Bradley Cooper but after watching American Sniper I can't see his face anymore without seeing the smug visage of imperialist murder.

Ahh maybe I misunderstood. I saw the post as a critique of people saying there's no ethical consumption under capitalism, so there's no point in trying to make any changes to what you or other people consume - it's all bad anyway so you might as well buy Israeli hummus or a new phone every year.

Those last two examples are of course hyperbole that I've never seen actual leftists use as examples, but I'm just trying to illustrate the sentiment. Of course individual action is folly but I'm still vegan for the micro-difference that makes, and like to use my positions of privilege to have as low a footprint as possible.

[–] CptKrkIsClmbngThMntn@hexbear.net 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Click Clack Moo. All about labour organizing, with a nice dose of animal rights.

[–] CptKrkIsClmbngThMntn@hexbear.net 9 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Of course sometimes that itself becomes a shield for criticism but that's a different can of worms.

I think that different can of worms is what this post is trying to address.

Ugh why couldn't Doug Ford have croaked when he swallowed one sadness

 
 

From this post (jdpon-don is taken).

 

Preface: I don't really "game".

A friend sent me a not-so-legal version of Disco Elysium a while ago and so far it seems to work fine on my Linux machine through wine. I'm hoping to play it alongside them as a way to spend time together, but obviously there's quite a few different decisions to make, starting from the character selection and continuing throughout the entire story. I'm not terribly experienced with the genre but I imagine that every choice I make, maybe even waiting an extra second before clicking something, is going to lead to different branches.

If we were to play this together (over video call and occasionally in the same room), would talking through our decisions and coordinating give us a similar enough path to be able to enjoy it together? Or alternatively, if we chose to go down different decision trees as we play, would we spoil crucial plot points for each other?

We could just as easily play an actual multiplayer game but we're both excited about this one, and I really want to have experienced it. Knowing me it's gonna be another five or ten years before I pick up another new game so I want to make this one count.

 

 

Every paragraph is just chefs-kiss

Bees, for those unschooled in entomology, are broken into three subsets: "Workers," who build the hive, prepare the honey, and clean each other; "Queens," who eat the honey and live in opulence; and "Wasps," who fight wars at the queen's behest and defend the hive from bears. If this sounds vaguely familiar, it should. It is nearly identical to the social structure that we as humans employ.

See how the worker bee corresponds fluidly to the human laborer. The queen, by contrast, could be mistaken for a member of our ruling class: Presidents, CEOs, publishers. The wasp is analogous to a soldier or boxer. Bears, in this case, can stand in for themselves, as they pose a grave threat to both species.

 

You cannot have Rwanda again because information would come out far more quickly about what is actually going on, and the public opinion would grow to the point where action would need to be taken.

agony-shivering

 

Inspired by a subthread in the post on sci-fi and fantasy tropes. A few books I've liked:

Iron Widow: a YA novel set in a fantasy version of medieval China. The main character has more than one love interest and from what I remember has a nice little spiel about resisting the social pressure to choose. I won't give any spoilers where it goes but I'm looking forward to the sequel this year.

Sing for the Coming of the Longest Night: a cute little winter soltice tale about two metamours that begrudgingly team up to go rescue their respective partner from a magical realm.

The Giddy Death of Gays and the Strange Demise of Straights: a bit of a chaotic story with a whirlwind cast of characters trying to make sense of all the heterodox ways that they love each other, amid a rising homophobic backlash. This one is a little rough around the edges as I believe it's self-published but has great showcasing of some unique kinds of connection. Set in Wales.

As for movies I haven't seen many, but Professor Marston and the Wonder Women is very cute, despite falling into some thruple tropes. Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice gets a shoutout for being a very well-made, early (1960’s) take on sexually open relationships.

What have you enjoyed?

 

I made it 546 kilometres in 19 days, with ~350 left to go. Idk if my water filter failed or there was a hygiene slipup, but I woke up Thursday feeling super fatigued and that quickly slipped into beaver fever symptoms (or some kind of infection/parasite).

Now I've spent the last few days recovering on the couch and picking up reading again. Still feels like a big achievement, but I had a bit of a short time window to finish the trail. Now I'll probably be too busy for the rest of the warmer season and have to wait until next year. sadness

 

I mean something like marketplace or kijiji, but not necessarily monetary. It's probably a ridiculous question but I'm curious if anybody's been exploring this space.

view more: next ›