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JimieWhales she/bitch An educated, strictly organic, ortho molecular aware patriotic princess 27d ago (rdrama.net) Edited 27d ago 704 thread views #263459

EFFORTPOST @Grue made the mistake of asking me why Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life sucked so now you all have to suffer, too. [Spoilers]

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deep breath

Spoilers for a 20 year old TV series & TW for special interest 'tism...

The creator/showrunner/lead writer of Gilmore Girls was Amy Sherman-Palladino (ASP), and she's the main person responsible for the unique cozy vibe and fast-paced, reference-heavy dialogue of the original series. She's also something of a crazy control freak who had a very particular predefined arc in mind for the show, one that would highlight the parallels between Rory and her mother and grandmother, Emily (the 3rd Gilmore Girl). For years fans heard about the mysterious "final 4 words" that she already knew would end the series. She's like the opposite of the GoT showrunners who had no idea how the frick they were going to wrap up the ending.

ASP may be a stubborn b-word but she's a good writer with strong hat game

Except... ASP was forced out after the penultimate sixth season of the original run in a contract dispute with the network, the details of which have always been hazy. Toward the end of the sixth season, ASP added a bunch of zany plots (e.g. Lorelai throwing herself at Rory's deadbeat dad, Christopher) that almost seemed like a vindictive attempt to sabotage the show on her way out the door. The new show runners dumped into the thick of it for the seventh season did their best to tie up all the bizarre loose ends, and in doing so they moved away from the predestined fatalism of ASP's original arc - the theme of which could be loosely summed up as "no matter how you try to run away from it, you always grow up to be your mother." :marseyitneverbegan:

Spoiled douchbag boyfriend, meet spoiled douchebag dad

For example, ASP always had in mind that Rory's rich, spoiled boyfriend, Logan, would be "her Christopher," a dissolute playboy who toys with her heart, knocks her up, and ultimately abandons her - but during the final season without ASP, the writers moved away from that storyline: Logan becomes estranged from his wealthy family, he has to stand on his own two feet, he exhibits personal growth. By the end of the series, he's ready to commit; he doesn't abandon Rory, he wants to marry her, but she decides she's not ready to settle down so young. The original series ends with Rory Gilmore, a promising young journ*list heading off to Iowa to cover the long-shot presidential campaign of a promising young Senator named Barack Obama.

The seventh season is divisive among fans for a few reasons (the hasty resolution of many of ASP's S6 landmine plots, the dialogue feels kind of off, some new characters are sloppily introduced late in the game) but I think most people enjoyed seeing Logan grow up a bit and the way his relationship with Rory matured. Most people liked the ending, and thought it was fitting to have Rory choose herself and her career over a man. There's a little bit of added millennial nostalgia/wish-fulfillment and serendipity to see Rory climbing onto the Obama campaign bus when we know he's going to win that race. As viewers, we figure Rory is off to a great start with a bright future ahead of her covering a landmark campaign up close.

Go get 'em, Ace!

Then, eight years later, Netflix gave ASP an assload of money to make A Year in the Life and she used it to take a giant shit all over Season Seven. She basically returned to Stars Hollow with the intent to settle old scores and give Gilmore Girls the ending that she knew it had to have: even if it didn't make a darn lick of sense almost a decade later. She has claimed that she has never watched S7, that she doesn't even really consider it canon. She said she had an assistant watch it and take notes for her. In AYITL, she kept one baby born in S7, and threw out almost everything else, determined to tell her version of what season 7 should have been.

Netflix: Buying your childhood to wear as a four-piece skinsuit

Lorelai and Luke (her main love interest/will-they-won't-they) act like newlyweds wrestling with the decision about whether to have kids, even though they've been married for the better part of a decade and Lorelai is pushing 50. Rory is broke, directionless and struggling like a new college grad, not like a woman in her 30s with access to a multimillion dollar trust fund. Logan is instantly back to being a useless frickboi: engaged to a beautiful woman we never see, but carrying on an affair with Rory.

The only good storyline in AYITL centers on Emily coming to terms with the loss of her husband, Richard (Rory's grandfather) and that story was forced on ASP by the real-life death of the actor Edward Herrmann. She had to actually write a new, age-appropriate story for Emily instead of dusting off whatever she wanted to do for S7, and it's so much better for it.

Poor Ed's brain cancer is the real MVP of AYITL

There's a bunch of other minor shit that sucks in AYITL: fat-shaming that feels very early-2000s and out of step with modern culture, lazily retconning certain characters to be gay for added diversity, an unfunny retread of the "Ann? Her?" gag from Arrested Development. But the main reason A Year In The Life is terrible is that ASP was too stubborn to incorporate any of the stories that other writers had given to her characters, so instead of a thoughtful extrapolation of how these characters might have lived and grown or changed over almost ten years, she did S7: ASP's Version. It's 2016, not 2007, but no one has changed at all or learned anything in the meantime.

A Year in the Life ends with the famous "final four words" that ASP had always preordained, even if they no longer make any goddarn sense from a narrative perspective:

"Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm pregnant."

Barely 32 years old and having a bastard with this dude!

Thank you for coming to my TED talk, as a reward for your patience, enjoy this spot-on Mad TV parody:

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Unfunnyandundramatic un/funny Live, Love, Laugh 1mo ago (twitter.com) 2,418 thread views #261506 spent 275 currency on pings

EFFORTPOST White artist draws beautiful Latinx WOAHJACK from BRAZIL , chuddy black girls commit a lookism

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Fabrico r/drama :marseyeldritch:

My profile and flair color is 28bca3 :!marseycatcus:

1mo ago (text post) Edited 1mo ago 3,035 thread views #260395

EFFORTPOST Fallout TV show season 1 has dropped, it sucks. Unmarked spoilers inside.

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So the show has released, and as expected by anyone with a brain, it sucks. However it seems to have sucked more than anyone could have predicted. This might legitimately darn Bethesda lmao.

First, here is a comment from this thread explaining how they absolutely butchered world building (this show is canon btw):

So, in summary, if I understand correctly, these are the major changes:

- Shady Sands got cratered in 2277

- NCR vertibird downed on the strip

- The Strip barricades are gone

- Vault Tec seemed to have caused the Great War

- The Boneyard is no longer a thing

- Shady Sands is in place of the Boneyard

- NCR Rangers are gone

- Aradesh is no longer the founder of Shady Sands (more speculatory)

- Somehow the Brotherhood seemed to have overran the NCR in 2277

What I can't believe is that they actually retconned the original two Fallout games and that nobody won New Vegas. Even more egregious is the lore change with the BoS-NCR war, which retcons THE ENTIRETY OF F:NV. This has to be a new timeline at this point.

TL:DR is they literally retconned the 3 games they didn't make, and then replaced the factions from those games with very special factions they made from the 2 games they developed themselves. This is like a bad fanfiction lol.

People predicably, are mad. Some seethe:

Jesus. I genuinely can't believe I was actually letting myself be excited for the future of this franchise before this release. Completely retconning the original games is genuinely fricking so sad man.

When is it said aradesh is no longer the founder of shady sands?

Also when do we see the ncr vertibird crashed on the strip?

It's never said by Moldaver, but it seems to be implied that she founded Shady Sands in addition to being the remaining NCR leader. This is speculation, and it probably shouldn't be listed as an actual change.

Vertibird: https://i.imgur.com/a/5ygLxmK

So even though it's been established that Shady Sands is in an entirely different state of the new california Republic from the boneyard, they just slapped it right into los angeles, and then they nuked it, why???

What even is a Shady Sands? Has anyone else wondered why they named the first game Fallout 3 by the way? Wacky Bethesda xD

That's not a nuke crater, that's a "Borg scooped up the settlement" crater. This is dumb.

I knee it.

I just knew it.

I prayed it wasnt the case but at any opportunity they had, Bethesda tried to retcon New Vegas and now their efforts... went nuclear.

Hate it. HATE IT. HATE IT.

New Vegas is the Canon version of events. Not some Amazon show.

I fricking knew Todd would frick it over to create their version of Fallout artificially. I fricking hate it. I was fine with a scenario where the NCR loses in Vegas, but to just extensively rewrite the lore of Fallout 1, 2, and New Vegas to jerk off the BoS even more? Fricking dead to me.

Says you, but Bethesda owns the franchise and this is the direction they took. They entirely retconned the fallout games they did not make, and they've succeeded. Next season they'll go and show New Vegas as a dead husk bereft of anything that made it special. Enjoy!

Also, they do not care anymore. They are owned by Microsoft now and exist to make xbox and live games.

Look, I am very good at that. My Canon Star Wars are the old Comic books with sea dragons and Jaxxon the green rabbit. I literally ignored anything that came after that.

So I will need to ignore Bethesda to keep the correct Canon? Boo f#₪#^ hoo. They didnt get even a passable game out in the last 12 years!

I walked the Divide for the NCR, I can ignore Bethesda for them as well.

Haven't watched the show yet as I sail the high seas but this ending sounds very, very annoying. Seems like the show starts off well though but if what I'm seeing here is the case I'll be pretty fricking ticked that they essentially made the West the same as the East in terms of development and that they made NV mean nothing.

NV was entirely retconned. The casinos are literally husks and the city is dead. NCR died when Shady Sands (located in the wrong place) was blown up by one guy.

Christ alive 🤦🏿‍♂️. They should've atleast had some obsidian writers and lorekeepers there to keep things consistent. This is just laziness. I'm not one of those people who thinks Bethesda despises obsidian but like cmon.

It's not laziness. It was a deliberate choice.

Resetting to a status quo of “muh wasteland” absolutely is laziness

Its funny because there is a meme that Bethesda is spite driven because obsidian made a better fallout game than bethesda and the metacritic score 83, 85 thing FNV being retconned is funny knowing the meme

I hate it all.

The NCR was written out as a society entirely. The writers I guess just learned about shady sands and went 'oh its the capital so if we blow it up then the NCR will collapse.'

The NCR was such a good faction, it was the only one that actually grew, that had a familiar functioning postwar society. And what did they do? They nuked them out of existence to show off the brotherhood and a dead, empty New Vegas.

Why, why would they do this.. they could have made it right after the nuking not decades after. They pissed all over the legacy of my favourite game.

I blame Lonesome Road and Chris Avellone.

I can't hold him responsible for this, he had enough sense to know how big the NCR was and how the game world worked. That's why Ulysses wanted to destroy the Long 15 and block them from reaching the Mojave.

To me, Fallout stood apart for being a post-post-apocalyptic story. Just nuking the NCR not only strips away one of the most interesting aspects of the setting but does it, to my eyes, entirely unnecessarily. If you wanted to tell a wasteland story, you could have:

Set it between Fallout 1 and 2, or even before Fallout 1

Set it in one of the vast regions of America that are untouched by the games thus far

But no. Fricking why?

I knew this would happen the moment I've heard the name Todd Howard.

It really feels like they asked BETHESDA for the lore, and they said 'oh well you got the Brotherhood of Steel who have this big airship and vertibirds and huge machine guns that can only be wielded in power armor.'

then went 'oh there's this group called the NCR, I think they're from shady sands or something, you can blow them up for shock value it'll be fine. There's also this big place called New Vegas you can turn into a dump too who cares lmao.'

"heh heh heh that'll teach 'em to like obsidian's game more than ours*

Honestly I am becoming one of those people more and more by the minute, especially if their plans for New Vegas next season are what they seem to be.

somehow palpatine returned

So what did house predict then if it was vault tec who dropped the bombs. So Mr house knew the nukes where coming and still couldn't shoot them down or get the plat chip

Also it says shady shands fell in 2277 but new vegas is set in 2281 ?

I guess NV is just entirely retconned in the show? NV is dead, empty. The only places that exist are a half dozen towns outside of the city itself. The casinos are gutted entirely aside from the Lucky 38 which I guess House lives in still? He would be waking up just as the NCR was probing into NV, Caesar's Legion would be on it's way as well. Big MT is still abducting people.. The Brotherhod wouldn't have lost at Helios One but also now have infinite energy so why would they even care?

The entirity of FNV was fought over a dam, water and power.. Now the BOS has infinite clean and renewable fusion.. the NCR doesn't exist either.

So they're using the facade of 1, 2 and NV as a backdrop for more BoS shenanigans from Bethesda's mainline games.

Maaaaan

This is what I was afraid of. A good show based in world building that I think is fundamentally uninteresting.

I'm probably just gonna separate it out as its own thing in my head, no matter how canon Todd says it is.

This is what everyone paying attention was afraid of, but they got shot down as alarmist for daring to suggest the brilliant creative minds behind Starfield might provide a shite backdrop for worldbuilding.

He was in a meeting to know exactly when it would happen and was wrong.. somehow.

Did he not read the memo?

Fallout new vegas mr house : I was able to almost accurately predict a nuclear war and I have set the pieces for my rise to power after I come back online

Tv show Mr House : Shieeeeeeeet I ain't reading all that I'm just gonna pretend I read this

To everyone saying the NCR is totally collapsed.

I highly doubt it. It seems after Shady Sands was nuked the NCR was a bit scrappy but pulling itself together to keep everything afloat, with the BOS destroying the HQ and the view of the NCR leader using the Cold Fusion to power the entire city at once, it shows the civilians of the NCR are still existing at least throughout the entire ruins in some way.

I imagine next season, we're gonna see the BoS biting way more than it can Chew, and something with New Vegas as well, and with the father constantly mentioning something about "Meeting your Creators." How much you wanna bet Mr House is technically still alive? Just New Vegas went into dormancy??

Im excited to see potentially the NCR Regrouping or like Scrappy NCR rebels, and Desert Rangers in the Mojave. I highly doubt the NCR is done and over with from what we saw.

Whatever your opinions on it, retconning NV out of the timeline (which is exactly what they've done) frickin sucks.

Yeah.. But at least it isn't like a straight full on they don't even exist kind of retcon. Seems more like a soft reboot

Hello fellow spoiler fiends who went straight to the end and saw the New Vegas tease. Also, from what I gathered skipping around, the MC's father was a Vault Tec guy who nuked Shady Sands because her mother went there and was having a great time (missed a bunch of dialogue skipping through so that might not be right). The Brotherhood has cold fusion now and the guy in charge seems like a peepee so presumably they will butt up against whoever is now in charge of House's technology.

Dude wtf happened to the NCR? Didn't they say they had most of California pretty much colonized? I'm only on episode 4 but complete radio silence while it takes place near the boneyard and dayglow??

Episode 8 covers it.

It's not pretty.

About 5 years after New Vegas, Lucy's Mom left vault 33 to see if life was back on the surface, taking Lucy and her brother with her, and made her way to Shady Sands, which teleported to LA at some point. Her dad, who was a Vault-Tec executive came after them, stole the kids back, and use Vault-Tec's secret supply of nuclear weapons (The ones they launched to start the great war) to destroy the NCR, as they were a competitor to Vault-Tec.

Also, the ending credits show a destroyed New Vegas, with empty streets full of shattered Secuiritrons and a destroyed NCR Vertibird.

I also wanted to mention this specific comment, because I found it funny:

They also technically retconned FO4 since Kellogg mentions the NCR election.

Note that I'm not cherry picking comments here, basically everyone hates this garbage. Of course the critics love it, but the actual Fallout fans think it's terrible.

As one of the comments already mentioned, they really shouldn't have set this in the West Coast. They should have set it somewhere new for numerous reasons:

New factions and threats to add a sense of tension and mystery as the viewer wouldn't know anything more than the main character
Avoid having to retcon or step on the toes of the games
Keep it in a region that is less advanced so you can have your apocalypse fantasy
Set the show up as a prequel for Fallout 5, building hype for it even if it's years away.

Expect this thread to be updated as more seethe is posted, this is developing drama. In a few hours we will probably see the hitpieces from journ*lists calling the haters bigots, so keep an eye out for that.

Edit: here are more threads with tons of seethe in them:

https://old.reddit.com/r/Fotv/comments/1bt7fzx/fallout_spoiler_master_thread/?sort=controversial

https://old.reddit.com/r/Fallout/comments/1c17tyn/spoilers_about_the_ncr/?sort=controversial

https://old.reddit.com/r/Fallout/comments/1c17mrr/discussion_about_the_ncr_in_the_tv_show/?sort=controversial

:marseycope: dear god this one is maximum cope: https://old.reddit.com/r/Fotv/comments/1c185mn/my_theories_for_season_2_and_possible/?sort=controversial

https://old.reddit.com/r/Fotv/comments/1c15tey/so_does_the_show_take_place_in_an_alternate/?sort=controversial

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/h/peakpoors

ihatecoffee cof/fee 27d ago (youtube.com) 1,039 thread views #263399

EFFORTPOST Based r-slur cheating his way through a BS in Biotech with a flat 2.0 doing 26 credit hours this semester

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Isaac, Houston, TX

Career:

2022 - working as Sales Rep at a Tile store, making 3-4k a month while going to school full time
- Left job to focus on classes because he was having issues
Doing UberEats/Doordash, also getting money from his father
- "If I need some I'll ask and he might send it"
- He stopped doing the gig stuff because he injured his knee timestamp
  - Can't do regular Uber because his car does not qualify
  - Has a 2012 Corolla - later clarifies that it's above the miles limit
  - "My knee hurts when I drive"
    - He drove 3 hours over to Caleb, driving 3 hours back later.
    - Something to his meniscus
Costco opening nextdoor - planning on getting a job there
Was a Solar Salesman at the beginning of this semester but the company closed down?

Education:

Studying Biotech (undergrad)
4th year but with credits he is a junior, will be finishing in 5 years
- Had some issues during COVID, didn't pass a lot of classes - trying to make up for that now
2.0 GPA overall
- "Yeah I just got to 2.0 last semester" timestamp
"Yeah I passed one class... in COVID" timestamp
Failed Intro to Biotechnology class timestamp
- "I was passing that class up until the final"
- Failed "Fundamentals of Chemistry"
"Why'd you pick this major" timestamp
- He thought it sounded interesting
- "So what's your career path"
  - "What do you mean my career path?"
"A 2.0 is good though" timestamp
He's taking 26 credits this semester
- "You can't do that"
  - "Can't do that at one college"
- "I've learned a few new techniques this semester so I'm dialed in" timestamp
  - 'Like what?"
    - "ummmmm"
  - He's just taking adderall l timestamp
Payments to "StudyPool" timestamp
- Website where you "get help" on your assignments
- "I would never cheat" - this site is definitely cheating
- Looks like it's a per assignment basis - lots of these
- $360 last month (allegedly splits with his friend)
NBS Facts timestamp
- $30 payment, he says he doesn't know what that is

Finances

Put his all tuition on his credit cards timestamp
- An Apple card specifically
- "I haven't missed a payment"
Spending a lot on eating out/misc bullshit
Self-rated a 5/10 in finances timestamp
Credit Card 1 ($14'715) timestamp
- $548 minimum payment
Should he consolidate his debt timestamp
- If he could actually control himself yes
Missed payment timestamp
- He says he doesn't have any but there's $40 in late fees - he paid it a day late but confused this with the concept of a missed payment
Reasoning for putting tuition on the CC timestamp
- thought his dad would help pay it off
- Dad had purchased a house but needed help with the down-payment - $15'000
  - Father is letting him live there rent free and considers this repayment? Not sure if I followed this right
Coinbase and Robinhood timestamp
- Invested in crypto?
- Coinbase - $3'666 in 2021, down to $60 today
- Robinhood - $6'006, down to $6?

Miscellaneous

Oracle ad placement
There's some sort of on-boarding video now timestamp
- He didn't bother watching it
Girlfriend gets time to talk timestamp
- Didn't know how much debt he's in
- "I think he's nervous he's not usually like this"
- "He gets defensive when we argue so I think that's what he was doing with you"
- Thinking about marrying him, wouldn't until he's out of debt
- Guy's dad doesn't actually give him that much money
Guy applied to show through Insta

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Impassionata they/them EFFECTIVE ANTAGONISM MANIFESTO INCOMING 24d ago (text post) 916 thread views #264272

EFFORTPOST "Shiri's Slippers" | How One Essay Bricked the Political Minds of the SFBA Rationalist Cult

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Evening all.

I don't know how I feel about inhabiting this place. But I do know I can use it to draft.

Shiri's Slippers

Long time readers will know of my grudge with Scott Alexander, high priest of the SFBA Rationalist Cult. Previously it was suggested that we begin a bombing run of their spaces but I called a 'hold.' Honestly there's no time like the present.

Ultimately my problem with these people is that the demand the status of seriousness without being willing to do the work to be serious. In forums like /r/theschism or themotte, the topics of the day have been, bizarrely, subtracted out of the conversation.

The most important political conversation happening today is about the Supreme Court ruling on the immunity which a President enjoys.

You won't see this talked about.

See I used to think that Scott Alexander's "You Are Still Calling Wolf" was the most damaging piece Scott ever wrote. For his own reputation. For the political damage it did to the brains of his followers.

Scott Alexander doesn't think of himself as a cult leader of course, even though his followers do, and have regular struggle sessions about this fact. See this hilarious exchange in which a twitter thread praises Scott Alexander for not being a prophet.

Now I can't assume everyone has familiarity with the spiritual mechanisms Scott Alexander has engaged with. To recap: Scott Alexander self-consciously wrote Unsong to imitate schizophrenic individuals attempting to write a holy text. Scott Alexander copied the prophet motion without, apparently, understanding what it meant that he did this for his followers.

Then his followers didn't do this either.

The other very very funny recurrence at work here is the SFBA Rationalist Cult's founder, whose work included a number of overtly spiritual calls, led to an early incident in the cult history where they linked hands and sang "We are not a cult." To this day SFBA Rationalist Cultists, when they gather, engage in praise of the founder under an ambiguous amount of irony. And as you all know at this point: in a post-ironic world, all expression is genuine. (I'm referring here to the Valentine's Day musical that some postrats put on as a dating show.)

So these people all have this habitual denial of their spiritual connection. They Think They're Atheists, and atheists can't be in a cult. And if it is a cult, they think it's a benign one, a harmless one, if they're pressed. But secretly, they believe they are an elevated specimen of human thinker, and this was accomplished with Shiri's Slippers.

I thought they were a harmless cult when I first encountered them. The most devastating review of the founder's work was always: what's novel in it isn't good, and what's good in it isn't novel. The SFBA Rationalist Cult literally bricked a bunch of minds in the 2010s and we're only still figuring this out.

Because the consequences of Scott Alexander's foray into politics were that he was one of the foremost beacons of fascism denialism. These people all had a grudge against the academy. They think they're better than schooling. But then they create their own forms and fall down dead wrong.

It turns out that the fools at the academy are better equipped.

There's this crackpot tinge of resentment against the fools at the academy for rejecting their founder's bad writing as bad writing. This is one of the things that make them less a harmless cult and more a destructive torment nexus of incompetence. It's not a coincidence that these people developed idiot confidence and SBF is now under arrest for Big Fraud. They're all frauds. They can't even function as a cult because of their bizarre denial complex around their cultishness.

The consequentialist argument against the utility of the SFBA Rationalist Cult goes something like:

The consequences of Scott Alexander's writing is an island of people separated from mainstream intellectual politics. They're really alone out there.

Fascism

At this point I think it's more important than ever to drag Scott Alexander's flock kicking and screaming into accepting that they were wrong about the fascism. That doesn't mean that I need them to immediately endorse the use of the term 'fascism.'

If there's one thing that I wish they understood, it's that whatever it is that Trumpism represented, the people who were warning of the danger Trump faced were not overreacting. The wolf was real. This incompetence and waste of energy in our politics is an authoritarian bound now by legal processes. They seemed to think that Trump could never succeed at instituting a fascistic purge, and that therefore the people who were warning of Trump's desire to implement a fascist purge were overreacting.

Whether or not the wolf can succeed is somewhat independent of whether or not the wolf exists.

But the real bad wrong turn that Scott Alexander took was writing "Shiri's Scissors."

Shiri's Scissors

Scott postulated a class of controversial statement that caused irrational behavior in people, dividing them from one another. And I was confused by this at first because I was at this point understanding that these people coin phrases as if by instinct. What Scott Alexander was pointing to with "Shiri's Scissors" was the mere word

CONTROVERSIAL.

This is what made Shiri's Scissors an unnecessary concept and bad writing. Controversial topics have always existed.

And I tried to take this up with someone in Scott Alexander's circle and they resisted my notion that it was a pointless concept.

Only now do I understand that there's an alchemical process at work in Shiri's Scissors: it allows people to view controversy as enabling irrational behavior and therefore discarding them.

Instead of controversy being an invitation to dispute, a marker around discourse's present topics of conversation, Shiri's Scissor allowed these cultists to subtract themselves from discourse.

Controversial topics have always existed. Concepts which justified disregarding people who reacted to controversial topics have not.

With Shiri's Scissors

Scott Alexander Cut The Cord

TETHERING

His Cult

To Political Reality

Whether or not you want to use the term fascist, the gathering of physical forces armed with actual weapons to assault the Capitol on 1/6 was an act of war which is exactly the kind of thing the leftists have been warning about. But Scott Alexander and his flock aren't tuned into the Supreme Court hearing today on the most important subject of most thinking minds.

They put Shiri's Slippers on and just walked away. Right off of the map (IN POLITICS THE TERRITORY IS THE MAP IS THE TERRITORY) into a domain of their own making, still bitter at the fact that other people dared find their intellectual contribution bad.

See Shiri's Scissors/Slippers, as a concept, create a reality in which there's just these bizarre artifacts in discourse which are incomprehensible. It makes discourse not just unnecessary but impossible because it contains within it the assumption of the unreasonable (AND THEREFORE, TO THESE BRICKED CULTISTS, INCOMPREHENSIBLE) nature of those with which they interacted with politically.

Postscripts

Cult Takes on Christian Nationalism

An interesting sampling of the topics du jour of these spaces. Both TheMotte and TheSchism platformed this curious bit of "rationality" around the decrease in Christian Nationalism by raw percent. I don't think it's a stretch to say that this is motivated reasoning: these people want to believe that fears of a Christian theocracy are overstated. TheMotte, and TheSchism.

It's not within their capacity to understand that a threatened minority might resort to fascism, the fascism might drive people away from the church, and that Christian Nationalism can still be a very real threat. These are the people who have said nothing about the Trump Supreme Court case.

Cult Takes on Lab Leak Origins for Coronavirus

Now I will admit that I'm more willing to believe that COVID came from zoonosis than I was before engaging this material. But I want to share some reading I've done in Blood Money, a book about Chinese mindsets and tactics in dealing with the US as an adversary.

Roughly, the Wuhan lab was built with the help of French scientists. Then the Chinese government kicked the French scientists out.

It was always a possible black site.

Scott Alexander's coverage of his cult's perfect thinking about perfect thinking about viruses is one of the worst things Scott Alexander wrote, but not the most damaging.

As mentioned earlier, the DEFUSE grant was rejected. Further, the grant said that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was responsible for finding the viruses, and the University of North Carolina would do all the gain-of-function research. This was a reasonable division of labor, since UNC was actually good at gain-of-function research, and WIV mostly wasn't. They had done a few very simple gain-of-function projects before, but weren't really set up for this particular proposal and were happy to leave it for their American colleagues.

Even if WIV did try to create COVID, they couldn't have. As Yuri said, COVID looks like BANAL-52 plus a furin cleavage site. But WIV didn't have BANAL-52. It wasn't discovered until after the COVID pandemic started, when scientists scoured the area for potential COVID relatives. WIV had a more distant COVID relative, RATG-13. But you can't create COVID from RATG-13; they're too different. You would need BANAL-52, or some as-yet-undiscovered extremely close relative. WIV had neither.

Are we sure they had neither? Yes. Remember, WIV's whole job was looking for new coronaviruses. They published lists of which ones they had found pretty regularly. They published their last list in mid-2019, just a few months before the pandemic. Although lab leak proponents claimed these lists showed weird discrepancies, this was just their inability to keep names consistent, and all the lists showed basically the same viruses (plus a few extra on the later ones, as they kept discovering more). The lists didn't include BANAL-52 or any other suitable COVID relatives - only RATG-13, which isn't close enough to work.

Could they have been keeping their discovery of BANAL-52 secret? No. Pre-pandemic, there was nothing interesting about it; our understanding of virology wasn't good enough to point this out as a potential pandemic candidate. WIV did its gain-of-function research openly and proudly (before the pandemic, gain-of-function wasn't as unpopular as it is now) so it's not like they wanted to keep it secret because they might gain-of-function it later. Their lists very clearly showed they had no virus they could create COVID from, and they had no reason to hide it if they did.

If there's one thing I want you to understand, it's this:

These people have almost no ability to understand deception.

The notion that China lies about the purposes of the lab just doesn't enter the picture.

Are you sure the Chinese would not use US science to create a virus that then escaped?

And then lie about it?

We're not going to know the truth. China may never reveal what it knows. But these people are not very good at finding the truth because they're not very good at understanding lies.

And these are the people who believe that AI can be 'aligned.'

They fundamentally don't understand humans. They don't understand deception.

They refuse to see the wolf of the present political era. They have deliberately chosen to walk away from mainstream politics with their Magic Stupid Slippers.

This is what a truly dangerous cult looks like. Most dangerous cults self-destruct. The bad ones are those that get big enough to confuse a large enough number of people.

POV: You're Scott Alexander and you're tired at people yelling at you about the fascism your side missed.

There's also a pattern I want to discourage, where one side will come up with some new trivial finding, or re-dredge up and re-package something that everyone already everyone else had already considered, then release it as THE SMOKING GUN! Then they release another SMOKING GUN!, and another, and after five or six SMOKING GUNS, they say their opponents are stubborn and refuse to yield to evidence, since they've obstinately ignored every single SMOKING GUN! without changing their probability even a little bit.

I've saved the chaser. This is how Scott chose to close his coverage.

But fifth, if the coronavirus' story is a comedy, all of this - Rootclaim, the debate, the $100K - is a tragedy. Saar got $100 million, decided to devote a big part of his life to improving human reasoning, and came up with a really elegant system. He was so confident in his system, and in the power of open discussion, that he risked his money and reputation on an accept-all-comers debate offer . Then some rando who nobody had ever heard of accepted the challenge, turned out to be some kind of weird debate savant, and won, turning what should have been Rootclaim's moment of triumph into a bitter defeat. Totally new kind of human suffering, worthy of Shakespeare.

I look forward to the movie, especially seeing who plays the dashing young blogger who helped the participants meet.

POV: You're the high priest of a cult of reason, worshiping a false god of perfect information, perfectly understood. These people don't just believe that salvation is possible through brainthinking alone, they believe that they have achieved salvation and are enlightened by their own intelligence.

Even as they stand in proud ignorance of contemporary politics.

:#marseyheavymetal:

166

RWBY Gambol/Shroud Chapose was a good admin :marseysummerrose:

1mo ago (text post) 1,926 thread views #256689

EFFORTPOST For anyone who wasn't aware, our old r/Drama subreddit has come back to life as a normie confession and advice sub

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Some of these posts might be bait of course :marseybaitretard: since obviously some of us dramanauts are still unbanned on Reddit and running around in the old sub.

But I don't know some of these seem pretty real. Let's go see what the normie squatters have done with our former neurodivergent goonboy mansion :marseyneat:

https://old.reddit.com/r/Drama/comments/1bm7hq7/entitled_father/?sort=controversial

My father has MANY kids with multiple women (which is rich coming from a man that calls women whres and slts). He never married and none of his children has his last name. He's just realizing this and is begging all of us to change our last name to his so we can “pass down” HIS last name. First off, I'm a woman who might get married one day and take my husband's name so that wouldn't even make sense to go through all this trouble and money to change it just to change it to a new last name especially as an adult. Second, he never raised me. Why would I change MY last name just so he can have his name passed down? Apparently the sons didn't want to do it either. Who can blame them. He should have thought about it before getting multiple women pregnant and leaving them without even child support…

… I really just don't understand what's wrong with him. I'm just tired of it.

Choice replies:

tell him to show some bussy and be gone

What's your Dads contact info?

I've been needing my bussy bred for awhile now. He seems like the perfect candidate.

Ok not gonna lie that "my parents should have raised me better" was chefs kiss perfect! I admire you for your quick wit and humor

But we also have,

tell him to suck ur peepee. my mom is the same way, left for 7 years, comes back and assumes all is well. people shouldnt have access to semen.

By /u/ewsalemm who's been primarily posting in /r/cd_collectors, /r/teenagers, and /r/drugs. A real reply? In our subreddit? :marseyshook:

OP of the post /u/starrblacc is posting in /r/trueoffmychest and /r/askreddit and frequently mentions not having parents and growing up as a poor @Sphereserf3232 relative :marseycherokee:

My gpa dying in a four wheeler accident and my mom and gma ODing

My mom OD'd a year ago and I had a dream that she was alive and I didn't realize I was dreaming and that I thought that I somehow went back in time so I warned her not to take any meds bc she will die.

When I was in foster care, the woman made a 13 year old foster kid cook for us.

Mine is a cultural thing (Native American). I was raised by my grandparents and they were strict about my hair. I wasn't allowed to cut it. Only trim. When my mom cut it, it caused a fight between my mom and gma. To this day I have it long to my tailbone and only trim it. I started putting it up in a satin cap and scarf bc it gets in the way. Hair is our pride.

Are real people using our subreddit to post about their silly Reddit lives? :marseypearlclutch: OUR SUBREDDIT?!

Let's go through a few more of these and look at the OP accounts that at least might be real

https://old.reddit.com/r/Drama/comments/1bkjlg3/they_called_the_cops_on_me_after_i_left_a_review/?sort=controversial

So this one had a write up already but I didn't realize it came from our sub :marseyfortykeks:

I thought that was the joke for revitalizing the sub. I had to check a few profiles to see that it is not a joke. I'm guessing zoomers are looking up "drama" and reddit and finding this sub somehow.

If only they sorted by top, all time and see what it really was,

Zoomers don't know their history :marseyzoomer:

I would file a complaint with the police department because this is not something they should have gotten involved in. Just keep posting everything they do on social media. Let them destroy themselves

Girl just hire a personal injury attorney and sue them for damages, and harassment/intimidation by engaging actual law enforcement to become The Hair Police to intimidate you into removing your posts.

I read through both posts. I've never gotten hair extensions and really don't know anything about them - but holy heck, even I can tell it shouldn't look like that!

Why did they call the cops on you, though? I'm very confused about why they are wasting police resources on a civil dispute. Is there something more to it that I missed?

If these are normal comments then how do these normies find our sub anyway? Is it just because we have such a classic name?

/u/Hot_Door7211 has been posting about this for awhile too. Dramatards don't usually ( :marseypenny: ) have that kind of patience for larping

https://old.reddit.com/r/Drama/comments/1bi5u2f/life_event/?sort=controversial

Okay so I'll start from the beginning I'm female (18), My best friend at the time let's just call her Nicole (17) at that time I recently had a break up so I decided tinder would be a good try and soon found a male 22 let's call him Cam.He would often come get me to go back to his house a sneaky link type of thing…

… I completely cut off communication blocked Nicole on everything.Then a few months later I'm with my boyfriend and Nicole decided she wants to get her friends I don't even know to call me and text me.Saying things such as calling me a hoe,fat,r-slurred saying when she see me she will beat my butt.Keep in mind in 3 months I'll be 19 and she will be a minor still.Nicole says if I do fight her she won't press charges but I know that's a lie.So how am I the butthole in this situation.

This one seems foid coded and the youngins are about that r-slurred :marseyhmm: The account has only made this post

https://old.reddit.com/r/Drama/comments/1bg010w/my_23_yo_sister_keeps_stealing_my_sht_and_thinks/?sort=controversial

So. I am thirteen. A female who generally enjoys kpop and music. My sister (let's call her Yuna) is going on twenty-three who also typically enjoys kpop and others. Im pretty sure she has selective speaking. She's a highschool dropout. She has diabetes and she'd been diagnosed with autism recently and i know i cant hate her for it—but it is infuriating. (P.S, we are an Asian-American household)…

… In summary, my sister is living carelessly, worklessly, rent free in my parents' house with the chore of doing nothing but eating the house out of food, stealing everyone's sh!t, not sharing anything with my elderly grandma, and only going out with me and my family for food. Only labor she's doing is taking out the weekly trash. She gets the biggest room in the house, too—WITH a walk-in closet.

Please give me some advice 😭🙏 (Yes, i used a kpop idol's name to replace my sisters even though i absolutely LOVE itzy Yuna.)

Some of us are calling bait

Changbin's, hyunjin's, felix's, and seungmin's are the most adorable to me. Jeongin's has an earthy(?) vibe for whatever reason or whatever that even means. Chan legitimately surrendered and i absolutely RESPECT. Jisung fits so cutely it's actually nauseating. Maybe im biased. idk. But something about (hana)_doolsetnet IS SO CUTEEE. lino's is actually pretty random idk where he got that from 💀

literally all of the freeze and fight or escape album. PLUS NO RULES AND GBGB

P1H NEVER disappoints in live singing.

But this seems to be a real K-pop brain :marseybrain:

https://old.reddit.com/r/Drama/comments/1beqsvi/lol_office_drama_caught_my_very_religious_uncle/?sort=controversial

Hi guys, don't know where to talk about this. But I work with my family members at this third party trading company. I've been working here for 2 years , and since day 1 I've been very suspicious about my uncle. He's always going to this particular secretary in my office. She's like 34 and he's already 50. Worst part is that he's the boss of my building where I work at. If I'm not mistaken, it is against company policy to most companies for management to have something with a regular employee especially if you work under them. Everyday he visits her desk about 7-8 times during the entire 10 hour shift. He brings her food, always gives her snacks. For some reason they always tend to bump into each other at the break room or the hallways. It would be very coincidental. There would be times that I would be in the break room when she's there. He would randomly come in and always chit chats with her. When my other manager is absent and not in her office room , they tend to hide there but obviously leave the door open. My uncle has 3 kids, owns his home and has a great wife. This woman has been divorced and is known in my job for pretty much screwing everyone. Everytime I pass by them, she's always caressing his chest , back or arm. I had reported all this to my boss but she keeps saying that she knows my uncle , that she knows my uncle loves his wife deeply. I said yeah sure deep enough that he's constantly wanting to touch another woman's hand right in front of a person who has close ties with the family. The girl basically does nothing at the office, it's mostly me and 3 other girls doing her Job. The secretary ends up getting a promotion as supervisor. My uncle and my boss are basically the decision makers . So I had told my boss if this continues I will report this to HR and directly to his wife. I also said I am also convinced that her promotion was rigged because of a certain influence. I need advice on what to do. Though I had this talk with my boss, they continue doing the same thing.

OP /u/DeliriousMofo has also been commenting "hmu" a lot on /r/bigboobsgw :coomerface:

https://old.reddit.com/r/Drama/comments/1bb53mf/idk_what_to_do/?sort=controversial

my boyfriend of 6 months (25m) and i (19f) caught him cheating if thats what you would call it im not sure but he was streaming on twitch a couple of nights ago with one of his girl friends playing league of legends and he got a message from our dealer and called me to see if i would be interested etc etc when we ended the phone call i said i love you and he said yeah love ya and the call ended i went and joined his stream and heard the girl say “aw thats cute” he said its not like that and hes just a people pleaser and she agreed that she was the same she liled to help each other out ive got video proof of it because i had a friend screen record it and send it to me that was in the chat aswell i messaged him asking what he meant by that and he said “ugh nothing goodnight” today i went to go see him and confront him about it and told him i have the proof and he said no i thought she said druggie when she actually laughed about him saying its not like that thats why he apparently said im just a people pleaser… i dont know if you would classify this as cheating but all my friends agreed with me and said he was 100% flirting any advice on what i should do to not feel sad about this or what this is?

OP /u/Far-Cat7261 has posted this same thing in /r/help, /r/helpme, /r/helpmecope, and /r/cheatersconfronted

Choice comment,

This makes no fricking sense. You should upper decker him anyway just to be safe tho

https://old.reddit.com/r/Drama/comments/1ba2mz8/drama_in_a_small_town/?sort=controversial

Be patient with me here, I sure lack a talent in storytelling. This happened about 4 years ago and now that my mom is no longer at her current job I feel I can post about this incident. To give you some of a background, I live in a somewhat small town. My family has lived here for years. It is one of those towns where growing up I had to be on my best behavior because everyone knows everyone. One time I was picked up by some friends who were egging before picking me up and by the time I got home my mom had already had 3 phone calls from people telling on me that I was in the car that was egging. Everyone knows everyone and everyone is related to everyone. My grandma was very involved in the community and everyone calls her grandma. My mom is also very involved in the community and I swear she knows everyone. She also was on the school board and President at the time of the event that I am about to share…

… Talk about small town drama. This mayor is still the current mayor. Constantly, we see her breaking rules and she continues to create conflicts of interest for herself. Were we the buttholes in this situation? Should we just forget it and move on? Do we have the right to be mad still?

OP /u/lsha052513 has posted this same story in /r/smalltownstories, /r/AITAH, and /r/entitledpeople. Has otherwise been a Redditor for eight years and posts a lot in /r/LittlePeopleBigWorld

Choice comment,

Your mind is diseased. Pick a dandelion and hold it in your mouth until you feel the urge to urinate. Then, swallow the dandelion and urinate on the spot from which it was picked.

https://old.reddit.com/r/Drama/comments/1b0qjsm/how_can_we_reduce_backstage_drama_in_musicals/?sort=controversial

I'm currently involved in a musical production, and we've been facing some backstage drama that's been causing tensions among the cast and crew. It all started with a simple comment that got twisted into rumors and escalated into unnecessary conflict. I believe that clear communication and strategies for conflict resolution are crucial in preventing such situations.

I'm reaching out to you all for advice and tips: Have you been in a similar situation in a musical or theatrical production? How did you and your team handle backstage drama effectively? Do you have any strategies or best practices to share that can help reduce conflicts and promote a positive environment backstage?

I'm looking for insights, personal experiences, or any advice you may have on fostering a harmonious and drama-free environment behind the scenes of a production.

Your input and suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts and helping our musical production run smoothly and harmoniously.

OP /u/JediWilliam has been a Redditor for four years and posts in /r/neurodivergentadults.

Choice comment thread,

OP: Just to clarify, when you use the word orgy, are you being humorous or does it mean something else that what I think it does?

Just an FYI you are in the wrong sub for this kind of advice/ question

OP: What's sub should I be in?

You're in the right place for orgy content. Bussy, am I right?

https://old.reddit.com/r/Drama/comments/1ay7vtm/aitah_for_refusing_to_give_my_friend_my_best/?sort=controversial

My best friend recently broke up with his 5-month girlfriend (let's call her X) cause he found out she was cheating. Recently his ex's best friend contacted him accusing him of cheating on X from the beginning and she claimed that her best friend never cheated on him. Looking at this I got pissed and told him to block her cause what's over is over and there is no use in flipping the pages. He refused and told me that he wanted to prove his innocence and also wanted to prove her disloyalty...

... He called me an AH and stopped talking to me.

AITAH??

OP deleted the account. Choice comments,

AITA Posting on the drama sub...it's so over.

We were still reeling from the shock of colonization a month ago

nta hes not entitled to that information and honestly sounds like obsessive behavior

Normal comment? :marseyclueless:

INFO - Does your best friend have a breedable boykitty?

OP chose to respond to this one :marseythonk:

https://old.reddit.com/r/Drama/comments/1b8fhfi/college_roommate_drama/?sort=controversial

I am a freshman in college, trying to figure out my roommate situation. I will use fake names to keep it confidential. I have a verbal agreement to room with Bob and Joe. After we made the verbal agreement, Joe started to act differently, especially after he got his girlfriend Mary. Bob and I have decided that rooming with Joe is going to cause a big headache throughout the year, because Joe and Mary have problems all the time. The plot thickens due to my girlfriend being Mary's roommate next year, so I feel like I will screw everything up if I tell Joe that I don't wanna room with him anymore. What should I do? Joe also has bad hygiene. It would be fine if Joe had his own room, but we do not want to get screwed over in a triple room, because Joe has Mary sleep over ALL THE TIME.

OP /u/drewevansss has been a Redditor for four years and posted this same story in /advice and /college. Otherwise posts in /r/askreddit and /r/oldschoolcool.

Choice comments,

They fear your powers - that's why Joe “smells”; he is giving out anxiety/stress pheromones.

Just play it cool for now and write every interaction and observation in a notebook. Add runes for extra effect. Give it to them after you all graduate.

They will read the words and fondly remember the good times — or they may launch an attack.

In the event of the latter, you are free to use your powers wisely. Just make sure that Mary stays besties with your girlfriend to avoid this.

Alternatively, get some febreeze and spritz it on Joe.

To which OP replies,

Should I tell Joe that Bob and I don't wanna room with you anymore?

Going back it seems like the sub was partially reborn a month back when text posts started showing up again. Initially we were the ones making posts again like with Lapp's Taco Bell Insider Information and a Lawlz post but it also didn't take long at all for what might have been the first normal post to appear.

https://old.reddit.com/r/Drama/comments/1arik9j/whats_this_guys_problem/?sort=controversial

So there's a dude at work who I would run into every now and then and we'd always say “what's up” and give a fist bump. We also go to the same gym and we'd happen to see each other there as well. As of several months ago he started dating a girl who works with us and ever since he started dating her, he seems to have gotten colder and saltier towards me. Almost as if he thinks I'm after his girl or something. I had the same scenario happen with one of my friends but we settled it and I made it clear I wasn't trying to steal his girlfriend (they broke up a few months later lol). Now whenever we cross paths or run into each other, all I get is a mean mug and a stare. Like, why are people so insecure? Is it something to do with me? I hate when this happens but it seems to happen every so often.

OP /u/Visible_Ad_2990 has been a Redditor for three years and posts in places like /r/veteransaffairs, /r/invisalign, and /r/phenotypes. Did this man start rDrama's second life as a normie sub? Otherwise it might have been this post but it's a little r-slurred

Choice comment,

Dating a foid made him realize he actually likes bussy, and he is only mean to you cause he has a crush on you.

OP responded to the normal seeming comment

Do you have contact with either of these significant others? Maybe friendly interactions were misinterpreted as desire and ticked off the boyfriends?

OR

are you good looking? Maybe they are insecure with having you around if their girlfriend mentioned you being handsome.

OP: I haven't said a word to his girl minus work-related small talk that lasted no longer than 5 minutes.

That could be it. Some guys get weird and territorial even if their relationship is completely unthreatened if someone is around they deem a threat.

OP: Makes sense. Makes it even worse when it's in the workplace.

Anyway maybe I've fallen entirely for bait and/or maybe I'm a little :marseyslowpoke: here but I just wanted to do a thread for anyone who wasn't aware our once thriving Minoan subreddit has been taken over by disgusting Grecian normies. :marseymedusa: They're like pioneer species arriving at a newly born volcanic island, or in this case more like hardy roaches returning to the site of a nuclear test :marseynukegoggles:

It'd be funny if the subreddit took off again as a normie drama sub only for the admiggers to see the uptick in traffic and reflexively hit the ban button :marseyban: