June 2013
Just Back From Seeing Man of Steel
“He has Michelle Bachman eyes”
—My sister in regards to dear Mr. Shannon.
(I mean sure, Robin and Leslie’s breakup was fairly depressing, but it was caused by using Cadbury Cream eggs as cereal in order to induce a sugar-high black-out during which Robin could legislate world peace.)
i don’t see your point tv tropes…
My favorite thing about writing Shortpacked! is reaching these extremely dark and sad moments via the most ridiculous means.
don't be a dick
If a big part of your enjoyment of a thing on TV or movies is nitpicking it to death, that’s cool.
… but shitting all over the people who enjoyed the same thing without nitpicking it to death is really not cool.
I have a sincere question because I need help figuring something out. I like Mike Krahulik's work. I like what he's done as part of Penny Arcade for things like Child's Play. I go to PAX every year, and buy their merch, and participate in their kickstarters. But it's hard to reconcile the hurt I feel as a trans person and a survivor of sexual assault with how badly Krahulik has handled being called out for saying ignorant things about people like me. Sorry, I have to post a second ask to finish.
I don’t even know what these things are that he’s done.
But what I would say is that I imagine Mike Krahulik is a good person. Perhaps he is tone deaf on certain things right now (in situations, again, I am not privvy to, so I am speaking only on your accusations), but if he is a good person, then there is always room for change. It can be hard to admit you’re wrong. Everyone is stubborn about being wrong. And if he’s saying wrongheaded things, then there’s always that possibility for education after maybe being confronted with it a few more times, and he’s given it more thought.
(For example, Patton Oswalt recently came around on “rape jokes.”)
Everyone has an area (or areas) to which they’re blind and they hurt people. Whether the blindspots of others colors our perceptions of them depends on us individually on a case-by-case basis, and it’s up to us as individuals to decide how much is too much. I don’t think I could ever condemn someone else for finding an individual distasteful for having a toxic or hurtful opinion. I don’t think I can tell you how to feel about him, in other words! I’m not going to say those things he said don’t matter to you, because obviously, they do. All I can tell you is my philosophy on how I look at people, all of us flawed.
And I can also tell you that it’s hardest when the best people have those troubling areas. If they were a jerk all around, it’d be way easier to make a decision.
What do you have against Deaths Head II?
The Nineties.
I have read in places that Dumbing of Age is autobiographical. Who exactly is supposed to represent you? or is each character a different part of yourself?
Joyce might be the most autobiographical, as we have similar upbringings. She’s a lot more outgoing and social than I am, though.
David, I'm just curious--why do you call AA groups recruitment camps for Jesus? I'll admit, I've never gone specifically to an AA meeting, but I am familiar with the meetings and literature of one of the similarly-patterned offshoots. I was surprised to hear your statement because my understanding is that the groups/meetings/literature let every member find their own "higher power", be it a god, the group, or a better version of themselves.
Casting yourself as helpless and hopeless is a handicapped effort from the start. Sure, there are ways to liberally misconstrue the original intent into less harmful directions, but it’s best to just, you know, not start from that faulty foundation to begin with, yes?
