when all distance is dorkness

Du würdest keine Stunde in der Anstalt überleben, in der sie mich aufgezogen haben

If I got sent into the pre-cellphone past:

Non-redstone trying to redstone: the magic of the glowing red ores is one of the great mysteries of the world that few have mastered. But with careful study, observation, and practice I too may be able to harness its powers

Literally anyone trying to use an armor stand: Cleo is a witch and if I touch their spell book I will die or be haunted for the rest of my days by the aftershocks of magic I will never comprehend

Whitby Goth Festival 28-30 October 2022

i thought this was the front side of the tshirt at first and it became x100 funnier

A surprisingly helpful bit of social maneuvering I've figured out from trial and error: Throughout your life, you are going to need things from people. Often, it's going to be on a deadline. And when that deadline passes, you generally want to know what's going on. So, you need to ask them.

There are two kinds of people, broadly, in this situation. The Shameless will tell you what the holdup is, with absolutely no regard for if the reason is "good enough". This is actually very helpful, because you get the real reason immediately, and can start working on a solution.

The Ashamed is trickier. People who are Ashamed are people who were often told they were giving excuses when they were trying to explain, and they'll often avoid you until they solve the problem on their own. This causes them and you a lot of stress, and often takes a lot longer to solve.

Long term, the strategy for dealing with people who are Ashamed is to provide a supportive environment where they're comfortable sharing any problems they're having with getting things done. But, there's a way to at least partially short-circuit that:

Provide an explanation for them.

One example might be "Hey Susan, I noticed that I don't have your report yet. Are you busy with other projects?" The readymade explanation signals that you're willing to accept an explanation, which is the big anxiety point.

Sometimes, you still won't get an honest answer- especially if the honest answer isn't "good enough" by the standards of the person who traumatized them. But, I've found that it often at least gets you a lie that lets you give them some slack or work around the problem.

Let's say that Susan has actually completely forgotten that she needed to do the report. She's horrified at herself, and completely unwilling to admit the real problem. But, she can now safely reply with "Sorry Jennifer, I've been swamped, and it got lost in the mix. I can have it to you in two days. Does that work?"

From there, so long as Susan gave an estimate for when she can actually do it, she and Jennifer can hash out a solution.

It's not a perfect solution, but it works astonishingly well for how small of a change it is.

huh! i've been doing this sometimes but i hadn't thought about why it worked. i like the analysis.

received a new friend to aid me and my suffering

if you were curious about his species, he's a this thing

If you wanted to know more about what that thing is, it’s a dragon from a 1270 bestiary!

This is gold this, absolute gold, the most over the top melodramatic hysterical ridiculous thing I’ve ever read

This is actually so interesting to read- it’s from 2012 but its full of the same anxieties, even some of the same phrasing that many of the guardian’s later pieces on transness use. really hammers home how much of the terfism that emerged in the late 10s was middle class mothers angry at a loss of control over their adult children- whether that be their bodies or their friends or their opinions- and making that everyone’s problem because they have the power to do so

Must I put up the illusion of pretending there was ever a fair chance, one iota of mercy, one singular atom of the possibility that Kira would ever get away? To this end, Death shall catch Kira and survive, without a shadow of a doubt. One would better wonder as to the indelible movement of an ant in an inked spiral than the fruitless endeavor of competing against Death, I believe. Nonetheless, we must press onward, mustn't we?

Welcome MerMay!

🎨 Annie Stegg

I will say, things have never run smoother than with Lord Vetinari around. I'm almost sad to see him go... Well, regardless, it seems that Lord Havelock Vetinari could catch Kira and survive, quite handily as well. ...I mentioned being sad to see him go, but it was rather difficult to see him even enter or leave, sometimes. A man with a cane has no business being so skilled in stealth and camouflage - it's as if he's a trained assassin, or something. I must be imagining it...

Vetinari putting Light in charge of the sewers is the most beautiful plot I can imagine

the problem with autism is sometimes you want to do something (brave) but you need someone to gently walk you through each step so you know what will happen. and people don’t like doing that

i had to phone a taxi today, scary

every time i see this post i think of that person who posted on reddit that they wanted to go to subway for the first time but they were scared they would say the wrong thing so someone gave them step by step instructions for the entire process and what all the choices would be and when they would ask what question and i just think

someone will

someone out there will see you and say "yes. the world is scary. but let me hold your hand and show you how to do it anyways"

everyone needs that someone, and everyone can be that someone

The subreddit r/explainlikeimscared is a surprisingly good resource for this. People are always very kind and thorough from what I've seen, and I spend a decent amount of time there giving walkthroughs and answering questions when I know the process.