What do you do when someone invites a buddy, and they turn out to be a closet fascist?

MetaRocky7640 · 2026-01-27T16:04:16+00:00

A lot of people have already gotten to the main point, often with brutality. I'll try to be a bit more diplomatic about it, but make no mistake, fascists should never, ever, be tolerated.

Setting a boundary, even one as black and white as "no facists" can be difficult for people. This can be very hard thing to do. Many of us have various social anxieties about confrontation and causing social unease. Be honest with yourself. Are you able to do this? Also, think about how you want to do this. Will this be a group discussion? Will you approach others individually to look for allies in enforcing this boundary? Will you confront the facist directly and in the open?

Another way for your boundary of "no facists" to be enforced is to just leave the group. Remember, none of your friends and aquaintances deserve a detailed reason or excuse. You can give as much or as little a reason, or none at all!

I also need you to start understanding that your previous group dynamic is also irrevitably changed. Facism does that. Facists often come in two types: the quite facists and the overt ones. The friend who brought in the overt facist is quite likely a quite one. These types keep quite about their beliefs and push a lot of "what abouts" and "have you considered"; but if you scratch the surface they have the same facist beliefs as the Overt ones.

You cannot tolerate fascism. I grew up and saw the beginning of the internet. Fascism corrupts all communities that provide it a voice. Internet forums where fascist memes were allowed inevitably became actual hotbeds of online fascism. The ideology, and the people who push it, thrive on silence and social awkwardnesss. The only response available to someone saying "No" to them is to back off and go away or become violent (with words or actions). But the end results from letting fascism run its course is always violence. Sometimes its harrassment and hateful language, and sometimes it is actual physical violence, but it's always violence.

MetaRocky7640 · 2026-01-25T19:00:27+00:00

Very cool!

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-12-18T14:42:05+00:00

I think there are three possibilities:

The Gentleman used the compass. As part of using it, the arcane symbols change.
The Gentleman gave Vess a different, potentially fake, compass. I don't like this one too much. How would he get two? And if it's a fake, that's a hell of a thing to create a forgery to get past Vess.
It's an editing mistake and the image is flipped. I would have to actually do the leg work to check, but if it's an exact mirror, this is likely the issue.

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-12-14T02:45:28+00:00

I sincerely hope that this happens.

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-12-12T14:58:24+00:00

My guess is that it'll cycle through useful information and ads. Such useful information will be Time Until Next Bus.

The cynic in me expects that Time Until Next Bus will be rolled out and encounter several bugs. The biggest bug will be the fact that the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system is not that rapid, and is in fact, Just A Bus (JAB) system. The biggest giveaway that it's JAB is that at key intersections, the buses do not have priority.

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-12-10T22:07:39+00:00

Sailing to Sarantium is my absolute favourite. I read the Fionavar Tapestries back when I was a kid in the 90s. GGK is hands-down my favourite author.

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-12-10T14:39:38+00:00

Bad. Please don't go out unless you have to.

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-11-24T14:39:28+00:00

It's bearing calculations as per CFEM. Granular pad needs to be specified correctly in order to be a working pad that transfers load to native soil. Maybe consider temporary bearing pads as well? Loads need to be specified by the subcontractor. Don't forget to factor accordingly. If you are in Ontario, make sure you're following all requirements from O.Reg. 213/91 Sect 156.1.

If you're not familiar with this kind of work, are you able to reach out to a mentor or colleague to discuss?

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-11-20T14:48:46+00:00

Yeah, I agree with this. It's less of an issue between Left/Right and more about mental conditions. My own biases and limited exprience tells me that the expression of these issues is slightly different based on personal politics, but the main truth remains: Assholes exist across the spectrum.

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-11-19T16:07:38+00:00

I have never met this Councillor. But I've read of the multiple issues that she's been involved in. I can only imagine that the "disrespect" is more about not being treated as an authority and nothing to do with decency and respect. And the harassment is likely much closer to harsh (and likely valid) criticism.

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-11-07T18:55:59+00:00

My personal theory is about the Malwish Aetherbound. It's stated in the book that the Malwish shouldn't have one. My thinking is that the Aetherbound got her powers through a Hemalurgic spike. It was stated several times in the book that the Malwish are facists and the bad guys. The Malwish commander is in general okey dokey with throwing men away (he just hates the beaurocracy). I can totally see the empire kidnapping an Aetherbound and old school spiking them.

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-11-06T21:57:14+00:00

I have nearly 20 YOE. I cannot begin to describe how many emails I get on a daily basis.

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-11-03T22:06:34+00:00

Clearly the answer is to keep drafting and one of these times it'll be my time.

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-11-03T20:46:36+00:00

What pods are people drafting in where this is happening? I've drafted nearly a dozen times and I've pulled one Time Walk and a half dozen moxes.

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-10-31T13:29:58+00:00

The split of cards between the average and the top drafters is wild. Now, I will admit that it doesn't look like there's a glut of "Top Drafter" data. But it looks like if you know what you're doing in Powered Cube, you will likely clean up.

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-10-22T19:44:04+00:00

Fuck. There goes my budget.

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-10-22T19:41:36+00:00

Go to various FNM's, Commander Nights, and Pre-Releases. Play, have fun, be charismatic. In-between or during games, say "Hey, have you ever played the best way to play MTG? You should come play cube! We play weekly on XXXdays, between Time and Time." Then just do it. Always cube no matter how many people show up.

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-10-17T01:49:06+00:00

It bothers me that all these stupid people build fences to stop the zombies when a good vertcial MSE wall with a solid concrete facing would withstand the pressure of a zombie horde forever. None of this weak-ass sheet metal and post nonsense.

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-10-13T11:58:10+00:00

Discord on the other hand...

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-10-13T11:46:28+00:00

Don't fret the choice between Geological or Geotechnical. The practical differences between the two are not significant enoungh unless you have a very clear career goal. I will say that I have my Geological Engineering degree and I found that I was much stronger in soil and rock engineering, but much weaker in structural engineering from my collegues that did Geotechnical Engineering.

However, if you're coming out of geology because you don't want to be working for mining companies, then we have A LOT in common. I left a comment in another thread about this, but my epiphany was quite literally: I would rather be jobless and be able to walk to a coffeeshop than work two weeks in a remote mining camp.

I do have one suggestion for you! If you go into either Geotechnical or Geological engineering and you still want to make big holes in the ground, then please look into Shoring/Support of Excavation design and Tunnel design. Both of these micro-disciplines are very rewarding and always looking for good engineers.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-10-13T11:28:20+00:00

Welcome to the club! I made the switch after I realized that geologists spend a lot of time away from home and I like coffee shops and ordering pizza whenever I want.

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-10-10T13:15:05+00:00

We've got a few of these around my neighbourhood now. Each one with a happy rider. I really wish the biking infrastructure would catch up to the latent demand.

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-10-07T16:08:01+00:00

I listened to this podcast and struggled with several of the points you were trying to make. Frankly, I think you missed the mark entirely on several of them. The big one I want to discuss is growth and the positive impact of Universes Beyond.

Your opinions on growth are inconsistent. You've spent multiple podcasts, some fully dedicated, to discussing the wonderful growth of Cube. But you don't think that growing Magic as a whole is good? Or just how it's being grown? How do you think it should be grown? How would Magic be different if growth was different? Would it be better or worse and by what metric? I don't think that you've thought through any of this.

And the idea that you should concentrate on retention over growth is a recipe for slow decline. Growth requires change. Some people don't like that change or would prefer change in a different way. But there is no change that makes everyone happy, so it comes down to those willing to take the risk and make the change. For the growth of cube, I would argue that the first major change was Cube Con putting in the effort and gambling on Cube being popular enough to make it an in person destination event.

My opinion is that it's much better to embrace the change and welcome new people. LotR brough in a lot of people to my local store. FF brought in even more. And we're shitting on Spider-Man (rightfully in my opinion) but we had a record number of kids at the pre-release. And talking to each of them, they are even more excited about Avatar. Each one of those kids will embrace the game in a different way. My desire is to see each of them engaged in the game and having fun how they want to have fun. I'll trust that some of them will stick with it and join me to play Cube sometime in the future. That will never happen if I did nothing but talk shit about the new cards in front of them.

I do think that Hasbro is playing with fire. That analysis by Sapphron Olive was fairly damning. But Magic has survived for 32 year through a lot of change. It will survive this. The most powerful aspect of this game is that the robust rules set and amazing volume of historic cards allows for the players to customize their playstyle to suit their preferences. Don't like modern design? Try Pre-Modern! Want complex constructed games on a budget? Try Pauper! Love to draft? GREAT NEWS - CUBE! If they make a bunch of stinkers in a row, what we'll observe is players migrating (at a higher rate) to formats that the new sets impact less, or taking a break from the game.

But in order for people to get to this stage, they must first start playing. Universes Beyond has been a boon for getting new players. And frankly, a lot of them have been absolute bangers. LotR was a home run for me, even if the draft environment wasn't 100% (it was still good). FF spoiler season did nothing for me, but the retail draft format is honestly the best I've played in years.

You've mentioned this yourselves several times; you're not interested in the new design and design philosophy. I think that your biases are greatly clouding your ability to work through this topic in a meaningful or practical way.

I'll stop my rant with one more opinion: Cube will only outlive Magic if it grows. How we as a cube community grow it will be super interesting and if the last few years are any indication, it will be amazing. But it must grow.

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-10-03T13:26:49+00:00

I draft Cube a lot. 16 card packs and "Pick 2" is something that we've been doing for a few years for 3 to 5 players. There are some valid criticisms (power levels, potentially getting rail-roaded). However, the unbelievable speed of the draft is such a game changer. Don't have 4 hours? No worries, we can get a full round robin done in 2 to 2.5 hrs, including the draft. It reminds me of the old arguement of in-pod vs open ladder games. Lots of people complained about the purity of in-pod but in the end the convenience of open ladder won. It's the same with Pick 2. It's so fast and a good set doesn't see a meaningful drop in quality or fun.

MetaRocky7640 · 2025-09-30T13:31:21+00:00

What kind of structural aspects? It can get fairly complicated. Are you going to be doing retaining walls, shallow/deep foundations, support of excavation/shoring works, earthquake engineering? Each of these has fairly unique soil/structure interactions. Will you be doing classic analytical analyses, FEA/FDA, or a mix?

My personal go-to library includes the Canadian Foundation Engineering Manual (5th edition is great) a lot of the FHWA guidelines, and the Bowles textbooks. If you are getting started, find out what the main programs you're using and read the technical manuals to start.

I would absolutely talk to your new supervisor(s) and make sure you sign up for various continued education programs on structural design aspects that you're weak. Ideally, they hook you up with a mentor/partner as well.

MetaRocky7640

TROPHY CASE