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Comments
can you link me the two tabletop threads?
Here's the other: https://itjustbugsme.com/forums/discussion/12220/tabletop-gaming-thread
Interestingly enough, both were founded within a few months of each other, so it's not like the earlier had enough time to become long forgotten.
I think MCX helps me think of cool new builds (this makes sense, I swear), and distributes special bricks in a novel way when compared to LEGO. I found that when I was collecting LEGO, I had a lot of like... objectively bad, unusable special bricks (in fact, the only reason I probably managed to actually quit Friends last year was because the 2019H2 sets were full of specialized Technic bricks). MCX has much less of that.
Also, ever since I found out that the majority of LEGO fan sites are so in deep with LEGO that even mentioning off brand things like MCX or COBI in a positive way is basically banned, the contrarian in me has been winning.
Related, I've wanted to build this in MCX for a while now. Not in the 10" doll scale, because that's a madness even I can't summon up. Still, I know that'll be practically impossible, especially without the MCX Inventions Wheels pack, which is basically impossible to get anywhere. So that's wonderful.
Anyways I'll leave this declaration here so I'm bound to actually try and achieve it... somehow!
When the quarintine started I thought I'd be using the extra time to practice useful stuff, and I did for a while but I haven't done much of anything these past days. It's like a repeat of university breaks where you tell yourself you'll study for the next semester and then do a terrible job at it. I need to be more diligent and disciplined and determined and dedicated.
Also I have some nice fabric textures saved on my drive and I can't for the life of me remember/find out where I got them from (reverse Google Image search doesn't work for general things like that).
The first novel in the Shopaholic series has a perfect description of this, which I think I discussed before in the context of being a conscious consumer.
When you start a thing, the enthusiasm you feel for it makes you feel like you'll do it continuously, forever. However, that's not a feeling that lasts very long, and most of what comes next is your own determination. Forever.
I think, to be honest, that's what happened with me and LEGO. I had a very strong dedication to Friends, which kind of scared me. I mean, in a way, it was a bad thing too.. Building takes up a lot of time and requires a lot of thought for something that can never be honestly original since you're using somebody else's IP.
But I had real enthusiasm, and I managed to keep my determination going for about 9 months. That's something I've missed.
Sometimes I get the impression I'm into 3D modeling to satisfy some constructive craving I'd otherwise fill with something like LEGOs.
But whatever elements combined to make Friends really got that bit of my brain moving on overdrive. I mean, I dare say I was (am?) passionate about it, which is why I'm trying to fill the hole with limited exposure to MCX.
Most of my effort went into collecting CDs and DVDs and Blu-rays and it was like that for years. However, now I'm starting to feel like I'm waning on that front...
I think being serious about LEGO changed me very significantly. It made me consider the physical more importantly than I had before. But by making me appreciate the tangible so much, I lost that mental block that allowed me to collect so many things without really questioning why I was doing it. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that, but once the box is opened there isn't much you can do about it.
I'd still say 3D modelling is better than something like LEGO, since you create your own original designs and can gain recognition for your work (and potentially a real career, though that's much harder).
Edit: I men both in terms of 3D modeling and programming.
On a similar note, I've been reading through some of my old posts on here. Mainly things from before 2018 and such. It's really embarrassing. I once accused How to Get Away with Murder of "accidental (????) racism". In fact, I accused a lot of things of "[insert adjective here] racism" basically as a casual aside.
Or I guess it seems more like you going through a backlash phase to your own past self's opinion-spouting. I want to describe this as a fear of cooties but that would probably be an unfriendly tone that I don't really want this post to have. Sorry.
Incidentally though, IJBM: I can't freely post my political opinions on here without preparing myself for a long-winded political discussion, possibly with other people taking control of the conversation to focus on a topic that isn't a priority for me (and that I don't think ought to be a priority anyway) and making hay of it in a way that I'm not keen on engaging with but would feel obliged to reply to.
Edit: well, actually, I think this much is postable: the US response to coronavirus makes clear that there are problems with the healthcare system in the US.
Edit: whelp I should probably move this to the US politics thread but then I'm not sure my post will make sense
Edit: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA whatever
> OP posts Naruto-related opinion
> person B responds with confusion
> person C tells person B to lurk moar
> I quote agreement with person B and disagreement with person C
> OP expresses agreement with person C at me
> I declare that I have already lurked enough
how to throw one's (otherwise absolutely useless) MAL weight around
...
...
See also:
I mean, I am obviously very opinionated and I like to express that, but in the past I did a lot of things without thinking them through. Take just spouting "racism" at things like TV shows that already ride the whole Social Justice train. It's irresponsible to do so.
In all honesty, I take a lot of things better if they're coming from GMH rather than others, though there are times even when that gets pushed. I will say, for arguments sake, that if you state whatever here I'll try and look at it more objectively.
In all honesty, I've said before (circa 2015-2018) things along the lines of "If I weren't gay, I'd be a conservative". This was a misunderstanding of the situation, where I didn't already agree with certain things (like charging everybody with racism or homophobia, even if I was also doing it constantly, didn't say I wasn't/am not a hypocrite) but I kept perpetuating them because that was what was done. That was what was normal.
Then I started reading certain things via certain sources and things began to crack for me. I tried to fill those cracks and re-align with the "correct" positions on issues, most obviously through my short-lived subscription to the New York Times, which funnily enough was what exacerbated the whole situation. I guess it taught me that you can't "force" yourself to have certain opinions.
I'll have to take responsibility for some of this. To be honest, I find that there are many prevailing opinions on the internet (and IRL) that nobody pushes against. If I see such a post on here (compared to other places) I'll push back knowing I won't be hounded by people who want to shout me down rather than argue honestly. So uh... look forward to more!
Though I get the impression those dots are trying to tell me why it's not that simple. What can I say, there's a certain point after which it's a civic duty for me to get involved in these arguments about socialism.
Unless you meant other stuff, then *shrug*
I tried really really hard (read: 4m of willpower whilst I was watching a YouTube video) not to do this but here goes!
There are two arguments for this actually:
Discourse-based: Asking somebody for their pronouns or providing yours is ceding ground to Transgenderism 2.0 Ideology (or I mean, to be simpler, Gender Ideology, but for me that's way too simple since it doesn't fully trace the development of these things).
You're basically accepting that human males can be anything other than "he" and human females can be anything other than "she". I mean, of course both can be "they" if in plural, or before you discover their sex.
The only exceptions I'll accept are if an adult human of either sex wants to be addressed by a pronoun of the opposite sex (in which case you're treating a person as one of the opposite sex), but they must be the one to prompt it*. Most likely, it'll be obvious from their dress, mannerisms, and such*.
1*To this obviously I'll be asked "but don't you want to make people feel comfortable?" which is like.... Oh yes, real life social situations sure are known for how comfortable they are.
2*To this, obviously I'll be asked "but you're stereotyping!" to which I say: that's cause stereotypes are actually great shorthand for things in real life.
Of course, this isn't an internet issue, because then there's just lots of tomfoolery that matters to no-one.
So when I say I didn't want to give wattpad my protagonist pronouns, I mean I would have been living to ideals not my own in order to get ahead (thus very slightly furthering already entrenched social issues).
There's also the Feminist take on this, but that one is couched in a lot of discourse I'm not sure I agree with anymore.
In fact, nowadays I question frequently if I'm still a feminist at all. Maybe the MRAs got to me.
And this is why conflating everything to a single axis of political opinion is stupid.
> I kept perpetuating them because that was what was done. That was what was normal.
And now you meet me who does things because that's just what I do, while social trends and I mix about as well as a snapping turtle and human beauty contests.
> So uh... look forward to more!
I'll buckle in, then.
Basically, there's the "culture war" stuff, then there's economic stuff, then there's other issues.
The first one seems to be your wheelhouse as far as arguing on the internet goes, though it's uncommon for me to get directly involved in that.
The second one has a chance of setting off you and/or Stormtroper, though I actually only knew about the second one when I saw Stormtroper in a room with people who label themselves socialists, which basically means as long as I keep it away from labels and discuss actual policy, and keep the focus on contexts I know well (i.e. the United States, or geographic levels more local to myself), I think we can probably have a decent conversation without devolving into the strange territory of arguing about the merits of particular philosophical approaches to policymaking.
Side comment on racism: I think a lot of people on both sides of this conflict portray the issues as a lot simpler as they are. For example, one can conceptualize racism as having a bias against someone on the basis of race, but as a practical matter it's actually not at all clear to tell to what extent any given action, or especially any given policy, is or isn't a manifestation of this concept. Separately from this, there are a bunch of arguments about the wording of things, but I feel that they often end up being a little superficial and missing the actual weight of the issue.
[10:00:10]
YEP
> ceding ground to Transgenderism 2.0 Ideology
And ideological turf war is something I definitely do not have a high opinion of.
Also, it's not like people check each others' genitalia before referring to each other anyway.
Anyhow since it's about specifying your protag's gender my guess is that it's really not much different from allowing someone to go "I want to watch an anime series with a female protagonist" for example. In any case I don't see how this is a hill worth dying on. However, this is IJBM, which is where we gripe about hills not worth dying on.
> I question frequently if I'm still a feminist at all.
I never picked up that label myself, nor have I gotten involved in enough internet arguing on this topic to get labeled by others, but I think at some point I decided that the label wasn't important (except maybe as a label of strategic convenience) if what I actually care about is the policy angle rather than the social display angle.
Also apologies @Stormtroper for talking about you without @'ing you, but then apology made meaningless because you ninja'd what I'd say in my mention of you anyway.
Well, I think it's important. In this case, it's like being asked which of the Holy Trinity I feel best represents the salvation I'll receive (or similar), despite not being a Christian. Western Culture weeded out that sort of forced belief ages ago, and I'm not going to go along with allowing a different sort of forced belief to fester.
Honestly I'd like to be known for the second more than the first, but I enjoy the first a lot. I have a strong history in it, and I love to hate-read op-eds I disagree with.
If you don't want to argue the culture wars, this sort of thinking festers.
We are not going to argue about racism as it was defined in culture pre-2010 versus the concepts of structural/systemic racism right now.
We could do it later, sometime when I get over the feeling that discussing this as we are would basically get us labelled racists by those outside the forum if it were ever found.
Though I'm betting you know where I'd fall on this debate anyways.
Well of course you didn't, feminism is a hyper-involved part of the culture wars! Gender Studies was literally born of Women's Studies (many would say robbing it of it's place in the canon), and the majority of what was born of Intersectionality (which, ultimately, ate feminism) was couched in the language of Women's Studies.
For me, calling yourself a feminist was to align with a set of ideals (one that, frankly, makes very little sense in the pop culture aspect) and a set of people who fought for certain things. The first wave was Women's Suffrage (which was funnily enough a whole bunch of conservative women), then came the Second Wave (which was all about redefining social roles, full emancipation, worker's rights, etc) which is what I always kind of saw as the cool ideal (even though I knew about the weird things like women only communes).
Then came Third Wave, a very confused set of ideas that ultimately seemed to just be "You Go Girl!" over and over (it's more complex than this, which is why I said "very confused", I think a lot of it had to do with the commercialization of it). Now there's Fourth Wave, which is a very serious Intersectional nightmare driven by unending grievance that builds assaults of language on the mildest of annoyances.
I guess the main difference between me and you, GMH, is that I believe in this whole "fighting the sociology fight", and you're like "eh, the 'sociology fight' ".
Which frequently makes me go "What is wrong with you GMH THE SOCIOLOGY FIGHT IS IMPORTANT!!!!"
This is tangential, but for some reason I recalled that scene from Oldboy with the hammer and the elevator. I hope Storm won't mind.
The other day, I had a realization that I would probably agree with most, if not all, of baseline feminist claims while not really being keen on applying the label to myself.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's okay to yield a little bit, slippery slopes are an insidious reality no matter what people say, but it's still possible to avoid them.
btw, what's exactly that pronoun entry for? Is it for something technical (like activity info here) or it's just to provide info? If it's the latter my snide reaction would be something like "why not just read the work if you want to know something that specific?". ikr, that's why I've taken the habit of refreshing Recent Discussions on another tab before posting.
That's also how I know there's like a thousand stuff this post is not addressing, you people post fast. I'll get to it soon.
Could I know what those are?
> > And this is why conflating everything to a single axis of political opinion is stupid.
> If you don't want to argue the culture wars, this sort of thinking festers.
I'm not sure if you're implying that this sort of thinking is a bad thing, but if you are, then I definitely disagree with you.
> Which frequently makes me go "What is wrong with you GMH THE SOCIOLOGY FIGHT IS IMPORTANT!!!!"
no it's not, it's just ideological poo-flinging
(i'm not sure how to indicate that my flippancy of attitude is facetious but my opinion is genuine)
@Stormtroper
> over something inconsequential
I think fourteenwings's point is that he considers it to be consequential. I'm not sure there's any way to argue against that; it just sorta exists as a designation.
> btw, what's exactly that pronoun entry for? Is it for something technical (like activity info here) or it's just to provide info? If it's the latter my snide reaction would be something like "why not just read the work if you want to know something that specific?".
Seems to be about protag's gender. I can understand someone wanting to know this as a listed attribute, as some sort of genre-like information regarding the content.
Well, now that I've been thinking I don't feel it sounds particularly woke. You know, like, don't assume a woman enjoys you patting her behind, nothing wrong with women working or voting. Women are people, not, like, stupid or what. Think when writing a female character. Try to consider female perspective or conditions when it may be relevant for your decision. Stuff like that.
It's like, the worldview presented by the feminists tends to be closer to me than that of the anti-feminists. Feminist stupidity occurs when one of them tries too hard, but not because of the premise itself. Perhaps it's because by now it had long since passed into the mainstream, but with all the alt-righties and the self-styled "men's rights activists" of the notorious kind, I feel like I'm already making a statement.
tl;dr nothing special, but on average I prefer feminists to their opponents.
And yes people can get stupid loud about this on the internet, but people can get stupid loud about anything on the internet, particularly on platforms where something devolves into a contest to rack up an agreement or broadcast count as opposed to a meaningful sit-down discussion.
Hmmmhh... alright, I guess it's up to wings to decide where the limits of his commitment is. I do mind but that's because thinking about that scene makes me feel for my teeth. *shudders*
We may be thinking about different scenes.
Mind you, I do still find many of their claims somewhat far-fetched, as in, I wouldn't go that far with them or they are just silly to my ears. Also, the term "rape culture" still sounds to me like it was about saying "thank you" and "goodbye". But, to quote that Native American parable, there are two wolves inside of me, and the one that hates rightie shit seems to be a bit better fed than the one who is anti-systemically misanthropic. Generally speaking, I imagine I'd prefer a world run by feminists than one run by alt-righties, as much as I can envision either.
Here's a cap.
It does indeed seem to be about avoiding listing the protagonist's gender. Now that I check a bit more, it seems it only allows "he", "she" and "they" anyways. Turns out wattpad is only slightly less "trans-exclusionary" than I am.
Realistically, this is wattpad, so all the stories that aren't boy's love or translations of Chinese cultivation LNs have female protagonists anyways.
I think this is running a large gamut with lot of positions in-between, but I understand the reasoning.
I guess my main qualm with feminism as it stands in fourth wave is that "equality of opportunity" was replaced with "equity of outcome, or better, immediately*". This is what resulted in everybody railing at the invisible sexism perpetrated by "The Patriarchy" (it's always weird to see this when like, a lot of these people have dads and brothers and husbands).
*You have no idea how many op-eds I've read where the subtitle is "[Thing that is happening], and why it exposes [Geographical location, usually America]'s sexism (the premise of which is not going to be questioned)".
I don't even know how I would use those slider bars. I could maybe answer them if they only had three choices each...