semi-stable 100 year old man

My name's Sydney and I'm terrible at writing these "about me" things. I'm 36 , Canadian, and have no idea what to do with my emotions. I like a lot of things and I tend to post about them.

[revvethasmythh]

ah but recent studies have shown that one wizard can make a baby in a day, so that's just gone and thrown the whole equation off

[balo-badartist]

wolf cub

[galileosballs]

Also, please do not listen to how people talk about cover letters on this site. Cover letters are important, and in many industries you can be damn sure they'll be read. And no, they're not 'fanfic about working in your office', or just re-stating the resume contents in a fancier guise. If you treat them like that, then of course they're not doing much for you. That makes you sound like a syncophantic windbag, and it's not doing anything else to help.

I was trained in the dark arts of the cover letter by my mother, who is a hiring manager. And her training has paid off: I've been consistently told my cover letters are excellent. Let me pass on the wisdom.

The job of a cover letter is to give a prospective employer strictly more information than is on the resume. This is where you take the resume contents and put them into context. You look at the job requirements (you are looking at the job requirements before applying, right?) and look at your resume and ask the question (in your head) "why would a person think this candidate would be good for this job?" and your cover letter is the answer to that question. If you don't answer that question, the hiring manager is going to have to do it themselves, and you have way more information to work with than they do.

This is especially important if you're moving from one industry to another, because then the relevant connections aren't obvious. It's also very important if you're overqualified, because then you can use the letter to say "I know it looks like this job would be too entry-level for me, but I'm interested to pursue it for reasons x, y, and z". You can also use this space to explain away something that might otherwise be disqualifying, like job-hopping or a long break in employment. The tone to strike here is always matter-of-fact and constrained to topic - don't go into detail about health stuff or personal tragedy, just tell them what they need to hear: that this period of your resume was affected by [bad thing] but that it's now in the past and you're looking forward to the next chapter. Remember, one of the things they're trying to learn is whether you'd be content in this role, or whether you'd be miserable and leave after 2 months, which would force them to do all the work of hiring again. You're trying to establish that you will fit right in and not cause problems. Knowing what drew you to this job in particular (and don't just say 'money', that's true for everyone) helps with that.

And the other mistake? Everyone writes cover letters that are too long. One page is fine. Two is the absolute maximum, and that's if you have a lot of specific things to say. It's a waste of your time and theirs to pad it out with fluff. Of my two most recent successful cover letters (i.e. jobs for which I was interviewed) one was 390 words and the other was 550. That's the length of this post. How long did it take me to write this post? About 15 minutes to write, 5 to proof and edit. That's how long you should be spending on a cover letter, maximum.

[depsidase]

[hunter-rodrigez]

It's always been "fittest" as in best fitting.

Interestingly enough, people only started to associate the word "fit" with the meaning of "athletic" or "healthy" after the phrase "survival of the fittest" was coined.

It also wasn't Darwin who came up with the phrase, but Herbert Spencer after reading Darwin's On the Origin of Species in 1864.

[aromanticduck]

Free service with ads: Well, if I'm not paying for it they have to foot the bill somehow.

Paid service with no ads: Well, if they're not funding it with ad revenue, they need to charge us something.

Paid service with ads: Well that's bullshit.

"We used to be a paid service without ads, but now we're putting ads in it! If you want the ad-free version you have to pay more for preeeeemium": Fuck you fuck you fuck you

[ikarons]

a thing about vivi that is always like. heartbreaking to me. that i feel is often overlooked in the fandom. is like... when she is supporting the circle system and arguing for reform over rebellion, when she's arguably conservative... she's Not arguing from being like. just too insulated from normal mage life to know how bad the circle system can be and Is. she's not pulling up the ladder behind her or arguing that everyone should just get good like her. she's arguing from essentially abject terror for the mage children, mage Tranquil, mages with no abilities that can be used to protect themselves or fight back, mages who are not ready and able to run off, become rebels and arm themselves, when inevitably the response to the rebellion from the chantry hits the weakest, most vulnerable, most Currently Still Easily Accessible circle mages the hardest. she doesn't think that mages should be in the torture basement forever because they deserve to suffer and suffering is what's best for them— she believes that if the circles fall, the people (the chantry, the templars, the nobility of every country under the orlesian chantry who rely on mage labour, the ordinary soldiers and civilians who have been raised to be Terrified Of Magic) will turn on her people. and they'll turn on her, no matter how well-behaved she's been! and When they do, she won't be able to protect the most vulnerable mages! she is trying to protect other mages the best way She knows how here!

she's The exemplary circle mage taking a permitted avenue to create a position of influence and Make something of herself, and it still isn't enough, and she's still forced to rely on wealthy and powerful patrons who don't fully see her as an equal person to them and can retract their patronage whenever they want, because a mage can Never be enough. and she knows it! probably better than anyone! she Knows she's always on the verge of losing everything she's built for herself! so yknow. yeah she's afraid, of templars and kings and queens and the chantry, of the Backlash the rebellion will provoke, and she's absolutely certain that the mage rebellion Can't Win, and when they are inevitably crushed, it will only be Worse For Everyone. that's not someone saying mages are Correctly placed under the templars' boots, that's someone saying If You Cause Trouble, All Our Most Vulnerable Will Be Killed. she's not entitled or disconnected from Normal Mages, she's terrified! & i think that often goes like. unacknowledged because. ok partly bc dai is constantly asking you not to sympathise with her and to instead be as suspicious of her as you can. but also because so much of her character is putting on a front and refusing to allow anyone to see her fear because so much of her influence comes from being able to control the narrative around her. you are falling for her bit!

anyway i do think even though it's obviously a real highlight of da that the characters have like firm opinions and beliefs that won't bend just to please the player it's kind of a heinous crime against me specifically that vivienne's perspective isn't allowed to evolve At All through questlines & the way the inquisitor can materially impact the political landscape esp wrt mages. given her everything

[dragongirlsweetie]

smalltalk is probably great if you've got your shit together but if you are a total fuckup of a person then seemingly innocuous questions end up forcing you to reveal information about yourself that you would have preferred people didn't know about you. i wish there was a socially acceptable way to decline a question about yourself that didn't require you to justify it somehow

[rimonoroni2]

my general opinion on what people should be "allowed" to portray and what topics they should be "allowed" to explore in fiction is that you can make whatever art with whatever themes you want but i'm also allowed to think the way you handled it was tasteless and should've been done differently. my negative opinion on your handling of sensitive topics is the price of admission for publicly showcasing your work. this is not a pro-censorship stance because i am not The Government

[rimonoroni2]

this is getting really popular so i’d like to add the important caveat that your criticism of a work is no more unassailable than the work itself. just as one is entitled to be critical of something someone else is entitled to disagree with that criticism. i add this because some of you pretend to give a fuck about thoughtful analysis and then when someone points out flaws in your argument you declare that all criticisms are valid. this is untrue. the status of a hater is no more sacred than that of a liker. get off your high horse and engage in the thoughtful discussion you pretend to believe in or perish by my blade

[mortuary9]

jester:3

[spiders-hth-is-an-outlier]

There's this notion that being able to stream professional theater shows will hurt the industry, because people won't go to the effort to support live theater anymore, and this is based on the anxieties of the film industry, but live theater isn't a film. The better analogy is sports.

Look me dead in the eye and tell me that people being able to sit at home and watch The Game -- the fandom that encourages, the ongoing investment over the years, the memories and traditions of Watching the Game with family and friends -- harms the ticket sales of real live go-to-the-stadium sports. Of course it doesn't. Of course all that *is the reason* that people care so much about sports they'll invest a small fortune on not only tickets but often travel costs to be part of it all in person. And the people who aren't doing that *can't* do that and weren't going to regardless, but their at-home participation and investment still boosts the profile of pro and NCAA sports as cultural institutions.

Maybe it's possible to fall in love with film and be immune to the romance of Going to the Cinema such that you'll just freely choose the same film in the comfort of your living room. It's not possible to fall in love with something that happens live and not want to be there to experience it. The consequences of procasts, for theater just like for sports, can only be A) more people motivated to make live theater part of their worlds, aka more money, when theaters everywhere could desperately use more money, or B) more love. Which is worth arguing for because reasons I assume I don't have to defend.

[miss-holloways]

Critical Role: Campaign Four Episode 31: Trick of the Light

[r2x2]

The Amnesty International report that JK Rowling is trying to censor through legal threats.

It can also be found on Google Drive here and on Bluesky here.

[cbarc]

Please save and share this info where possible. This report has since been removed by Amnesty International due to legal threats of libel from JK Rowling. This information is no longer easily accessible.

[bitter-sweet-cinnamon]

what’s this? clea with the steel chair (the best read on the situation and some really fucking good advice)

not only great advice for alicia, but also for the player. whatever you choose, it’s the right choice. live your life and enjoy it.

[brightwanderer]

Absolutely obsessed with Clea Dessendre, who is apparently busy with a completely different anime plot and needs everyone else to STOP LARPING and GET IT TOGETHER there's A WAR ON OKAY

[existennialmemes]

[scrolling social media] Who the fuck is Jimothy?

[a brief internet search later] Ahh yes, ok I understand. Jimothy is my religion now.

[catboyandroid]

Everyone say thank you to trans femmes for showing us a version of femininity born from joy and desire instead of just through coercion

Everyone say thank you to trans mascs for showing us a version of masculinity born from joy and desire instead of just through coercion

Everyone say thank you to all people outside of the cis gender binary for showing us a version of gender born from joy and desire instead of just through a simple frame work in which our oppressor have used to kill, erase, and censor us.

Thank you for showing us the existence of a history before and a future ahead.

[libanezink]

Jaheira, the High-Harper 🌸

finally sharing my piece for Baldur’s Gate Floral Zine 🌸