#soap box

[dd-is-my-guiltypleasure]

David Duchovny and Laverne Cox are set to lead 'Soapbox,' a satirical comedy from director Andrew Jay Cohen.

David Duchovny and Laverne Cox are set to lead 'Soapbox,' a satirical comedy from director Andrew Jay Cohen.

[zoeloveszelda]

I watched a video today of some guy ranking all the gimmicks from each Zelda game. It was overall well thought out, and I would definitely watch another of this creator's videos, though I had some quarrels. One in particular was that open-world wasn't considered a gimmick.

I know it's like, become just a medium of storytelling but it feels different in botw. Mainly because the story is just... kind of... not the point of botw? It's a really heartbreaking coming of age and I will forever love it but....

For me botw is amazing bc of the spirit of adventure that you actually feel when playing it. A game that is so vastly empty while simultaneously intricately detailed has a gimmick just in how immersive it is. I think this kind of open-experience game philosophy is tied to the open-world concept, and given that it was LoZ's first true open-world, I definitely think that makes it a gimmick.

[trinistaxmcnuggle]

A thing I think would really help us as a society is understanding The Flaw of Averages. They should teach this in school. Early and explicitly. Let me give an example:

"The average man is stronger than the average woman."

Seems reasonable on its face. gUEss wE bEttEr bAn trAns gIrls frOm spOrts!!! But there IS no average man or average woman. Those numbers are derived from real measurements of individuals. Many of which may be far from average. If we give each person a Strength Score for simplicity, from 1 to 20 (Cause DnD is great). Then say Male average is 11 and Female is 10. Probably 40%+ of individual females are stronger than "The Average Man".

Bottom Line: You can measure individuals to learn about the average of the group. But you can't use the average of the group to learn anything about any individual in it.

[wildecat1996]

I’m sorry but the way you dismiss it at just dark humour is so reckless, if it was a single incident fine but it’s not, breaking stuff and yelling at fans to come and fight him for giving him the weakest heckles is not the behaviour of someone who is mentally stable. Not to mention the 1000 yard stare in multiple games before the gun thing.

Like you say all the time you don’t watch the games most the time and you originally dismissed the gun thing as not happened because you blindly believed what someone else said so you’re not exactly a reliable observer. Not to mention you seem to be trying to be his friend after games or whatever, you’re clearly not able to be objective and see his behaviour for what is it, which is unstable. I’m not trying to have a go or anything but dismissing multiple instances of unstable behaviour as “a sick sense of humour” is just reckless and gross tbh.

Um. I NEVER said I don’t watch games. I watch literally every game unless I’m working, which I was that night. I am not making light of the situation. I am trying to make folks on here worry less.

Yes, he has mental health issues. He’s depressed and has anxiety. I have the same. And I know how I deal with things. And I know exactly what it’s like to be harassed when you are already feeling like shit about yourself. Hopefully none of you can relate. I wouldn’t want that for anyone.

Should he react to every person that chirps at him? Of course not. But please don’t forget that he is a person first and a player second. If this “fan” was giving him shit all game, something should have been done sooner. Security should have been notified so there was never an interaction. Imagine you were having a horrible week and someone came to your work and harassed you. Could you stay silent? Reacting does not make someone mentally unstable. It makes them human.

Before you judge someone, try putting yourself in their shoes.

[iamprchung]

I will die on this hill: Skinner and Scully should have been together.

The way their dynamic evolved over the series—it’s undeniable that there was something there.

Skinner was her anchor in a way that Mulder never could be. Where Mulder was the storm, Skinner was the harbor. He was the one who stood behind her, protected her, fought for her—even when it cost him. And let’s be real—he was in love with her. You could see it in the way he looked at her, the way he never crossed lines but was always there, unwavering.

Mulder and Scully? It was always chaos. Passionate, sure. But also unstable, exhausting, push and pull, never solid ground. With Skinner? It would have been stability without losing intensity—a slow, deep burn instead of a wildfire that consumes everything in its path.

The show left so much unspoken between them, but it was there—the tension, the moments where Skinner would risk everything for her. Not out of duty. Not because it was his job. Because it was her.

In an ideal world, this is how it should have gone. Scully and Skinner wouldn’t just burn hot—they would last.

[clockworkspider]

Your youth is never wasted. Whether you spent it fucking around or studying for a degree you no longer want, whether you spent the time partying or struggling with mental health issues, whether you were following the rules or getting in trouble.

There are better and worse decisions, and sometimes we regret our decisions when it doesn't turn out the way we expect, or when the sunk cost fallacy hits. But there is no definitive value to your time, a year at age 15 has 365 days just as a year will have in age 50. Your 15th year will be more formative than your 50th, but it's not made of gold.

Your youth are the years you learn how to be a person as well as what kind of person you wanna be. And sometimes that involves changing perspective. Sometimes that invalidates your previous way of life. But you lived those year, you had to live them to find out.

It's also never too late to do the things you wanted to do tomorrow. Party in your 50s, start a new degree at 40, find love after retirement.

[vintage-every-day]

1960s Soap Box Derby

[victusinveritas]

Found via The Anarchist Jew on Facebook (here's their substack because that's probably more informative).

Look, growing up in a family of Pinks, Reds, Fellow Travelers, and Catholic Leftists, the general vibe was always that Democrats are...sometimes the best we can do until we get to something further Left. The idea that you 'Scratch a Liberal and find a Fascist' was not something that was spread around, and I think it's misinformed rather than malicious. It's a catchphrase in times that depend entirely on soundbites. This phrase really only applies to those Liberals in politics at an elected level. Yeah, there you are likely to find someone warped by power (either party, and even honestly some folks in the Left when they get elected in anywhere) into something that has forgotten whatever values it once had and put a lust for more power and profit in the place where a bleeding heart once rested. Scratch a liberal (lowercase) and you will find someone who is Really Goddamn Wrong about half the time...but then the other half of the time you might share some broad common ground with them. Work from that common ground, even though it takes Fucking Time. Yeah, they should see the shit going on around them and realize on their fucking own that shit is bad and needs to be changed by more radical means then sitting in a legislative body voting on kickbacks for each other and manipulation of corn futures based on imports of soy from Finland (famous for its soy, of course), or whatever it is they do in those big halls of fucking government besides saying it is in fact a good idea to firebomb kids in a given country that Good People never go to anyway (I don't think it's much). Instead, when you scratch a liberal, see that you might be digging away out of the rough and uncertain rock of liberalism, towards the granite of a comrade. That said, this doesn't always work. Sometimes you really do scratch a liberal and realize wait the deeper I go the more this reeks of fascism and eeeeew what's this leaking out here, oh it's full-blown racism and white supremacy and what the hell you voted for Ron Paul you fucking shitbag? So, it's...a mixed bag, I guess.

[Note: You're welcome to disagree with me on any or all of this, I probably won't respond because either a) I'm feeling like a morally superior douchebag b) I just don't care (I don't know you, the internet isn't real, your negative opinion of me or my rants is...not my concern) or c) I'm busy, I have a life. ]