expressive peregrine falcons
(photos by sdwildgene)
Thespian falcon.
#to fly or not to fly—that is the question #whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the gusts and winds of outrageous fortune #or to take wing against a sea of fish and by opposing eat them
TO FLY - TO SWEEP,
NO MORE; AND BY A SWEEP TO SAY WE END
THE HEARTACHE AND THE THOUSAND NATURAL FLOCKS
THAT FISH IS HEIR TO: ‘TIS A CONSUMMATION
DEVOUTLY TO BE WISHED. TO FLY, TO SWEEP;
TO SWEEP, PERCHANCE TO DREAM - AY, THERE’S THE GRUB:
FOR IN THAT SWEEP OF DEATH WHAT STREAMS MAY COMEwhen we have molted off these mortal feathers,
must give us pause. there’s the respect
that makes calamity of so long meals.
for who would bear the winters and famines of time?
th’poacher’s wrong, the large bird’s contumely,
the pangs of despised love, the daylight’s delay,
the insolence of prey, and the spurns that
patient merit of th’unworthy take,
when he himself might his quietus make
with a bare bird claw? who would fardels bear
to squawk and caw under a weary life,
but that the dread of something after food,
the unrelenting hunger, from whose clutches
no hunter returns, puzzles the will.
and makes us rather bear those ills we have
than fly to others we know not of?
thus hunger does make fools of us all.
[snip for length]
So, hey, just a thought, maybe a few of you guys could stand to take that clunky, lazy, tritely misogynistic ‘crying like a little girl’ analogy and cram it. Crying is not shameful, it’s not weak, and it’s sure as hell…
Okay: In the role playing game known as The Real World, “Straight White Male” is the lowest difficulty setting there is.
This means that the default behaviors for almost all the non-player characters in the game are easier on you than they would be otherwise. The default barriers for completions of quests are lower. Your leveling-up thresholds come more quickly. You automatically gain entry to some parts of the map that others have to work for. The game is easier to play, automatically, and when you need help, by default it’s easier to get.
Now, once you’ve selected the “Straight White Male” difficulty setting, you still have to create a character, and how many points you get to start — and how they are apportioned — will make a difference. Initially the computer will tell you how many points you get and how they are divided up. If you start with 25 points, and your dump stat is wealth, well, then you may be kind of screwed. If you start with 250 points and your dump stat is charisma, well, then you’re probably fine. Be aware the computer makes it difficult to start with more than 30 points; people on higher difficulty settings generally start with even fewer than that.
As the game progresses, your goal is to gain points, apportion them wisely, and level up. If you start with fewer points and fewer of them in critical stat categories, or choose poorly regarding the skills you decide to level up on, then the game will still be difficult for you. But because you’re playing on the “Straight White Male” setting, gaining points and leveling up will still by default be easier, all other things being equal, than for another player using a higher difficulty setting.
Likewise, it’s certainly possible someone playing at a higher difficulty setting is progressing more quickly than you are, because they had more points initially given to them by the computer and/or their highest stats are wealth, intelligence and constitution and/or simply because they play the game better than you do. It doesn’t change the fact you are still playing on the lowest difficulty setting.
You can lose playing on the lowest difficulty setting. The lowest difficulty setting is still the easiest setting to win on. The player who plays on the “Gay Minority Female” setting? Hardcore.
| — | John Scalzi tells it like it is. (Go and read the whole essay, then read the comments.) |
It seems like on Tumblr you can’t reblog an answer to a question from someone’s ask box (or at least I’m too old to figure out how), so I’m reposting this from my good friend, Korra Book 2 director, and cantankerous old fart, Colin Heck. The screengrab below is from me, another cantankerous old fart. Now excuse me while I go email Warpaint:
Dear Warpaint,
I can’t wait for your new album. I hear Flood is producing it. My body is not ready. I have too many feels. I know you are still working on the album, but please send me all the chords and lyrics right now. MUST. HAVE. NOW. K, thanks.
Lurv,
Bryan XD
blah blah blah LIN BEI FONG’S FATHER IS AZULA
CAAAAAAAAANOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNN
Men Can Stop Rape’s new College Bystander Intervention campaign.
Actual good anti rape campaign posters! They don’t shame victims, they ask people to examine their own actions and inactions and protect their friends. And not in a gross excuse for chivalry either, just as people keeping people safe.
I like this.
Yep I agree. I also like how it’s not tying a man taking action around rape to some imaginary alpha male/hypermasculine sort of thing. Like a real man would do such and such.
Hey look! It’s an anti-rape campaign based on being a decent human being! In all seriousness, this is marvelous. I bolded the above for emphasis.
