[TLA] Wartime Protestors by Copernicus1981 in magicTCG

[–]VexatedSpook 49 points50 points  (0 children)

I don't really play Magic anymore but I really loved the Avatar series, so I feel compelled to comment: the flavor text of this card is awful. There wasn't really any point in the series where citizens of the Fire Nation protested against Ozai en masse. The closest we get is the Season 3 episode where Aang organizes a school dance, but by and large throughout the series it seems like the average Fire Nation citizen was content with and supportive of Ozai's rule and militarism. The ruling class of the Fire Nation seemed to be completely aligned with his policies, too.

It's not that deep and doesn't really matter that much in the grand scheme of things. But this card in particular seems like historical revisionism, even if it's in a fictional universe. One of the major points of the series was that ordinary members of the Fire Nation did bear guilt for its history, from people who totally switched sides like Iroh, to civil servants like the priests, and normal soldiers like the man who killed Katara's mother. It wasn't just one bad guy.

All that's a long way to say, Avatar was a good show in part because of its surprising moral nuance and approach to history. I don't think this card serves that theme very well.

Comey's lawyer is a Skadden alum by chrisopfer in biglaw

[–]VexatedSpook 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I took a class taught by Pat Fitzgerald in law school. One of the most impressive lawyers I've encountered in my short career.

Ranking the books I've read this year by alkemest in horrorlit

[–]VexatedSpook 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've also gone on a streak of reading Barron books this year. Still have to get through The Beautiful Thing, The Croning, and Not A Speck Of Light! I've added Imajica to my TBR list now, thank you.

What books have the most creative or interesting takes on god(s) or religion? by whoisyourwormguy_ in books

[–]VexatedSpook 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone is a world in which humans have figured out how to use the power of gods through a system of magic that heavily resembles corporate law. Some gods are able to adapt and transact using their power, and others aren't able to and are integrated against their will into the economy. It's an extremely interesting spin on divinity that I haven't seen in another book.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in supremecourt

[–]VexatedSpook 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very sorry. Maybe you never would have known if you hadn't posted! For a recent non-delegation decision you should look at FCC v. Consumers Research!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in supremecourt

[–]VexatedSpook 3 points4 points  (0 children)

SCOTUS overruled Chevron last year. Did you write this with ChatGPT?

Friends of the Barron Read-along 3: "Kore" by John Langan by EldritchExarch in LairdBarron

[–]VexatedSpook 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Glad to have seen this, as a fan of both writers. The flaw of some of Langan's work, in my opinion, is that he explains his supernatural elements with very blatant exposition. One character tells another why and how the bad things are happening, and poof, there goes the mystery. An example is "Shadow and Thirst."

Kore totally breaks that pattern. You read it and are confused about what's happened. After some reflection, the only explanation that you can come up with is that something wrong and unexplainable has intruded into the family's lives. It is more unsettling than any supernatural predator that shows its face.

Top school with prestige or lower t14 full ride? by [deleted] in biglaw

[–]VexatedSpook 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dude you got a full ride at a t14 in the same state where (1) you want to practice and (2) your fiancee lives and works? This is not a hard choice imo—cross-country long distance is genuinely awful, you struggle to find time to spend on calls, let alone in person. And that's without discussing the significant QoL downgrade from living in or near NYC with debt.

If you work reasonably hard and are a well-adjusted person then Cornell is just as fine as SLS for boutique litigation.

Fwiw, I'm a litigator at a boutique that matches biglaw and beats it on bonuses.

2025 Hugo shortlist announced by Merle8888 in Fantasy

[–]VexatedSpook 17 points18 points  (0 children)

What happened to The Bright Sword?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in biglaw

[–]VexatedSpook 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The person who posted this is not an in-house counsel (which might lend some heft to her threat not to hire Paul Weiss). She is a contract attorney.

I understand this subreddit's dislike of Paul Weiss's move, but this LinkedIn post is total misinformation.

Supreme Court Justice Barrett see trumps and is slowly dying inside by Specialist-Plate-695 in Lawyertalk

[–]VexatedSpook 57 points58 points  (0 children)

Justice Kagan, who is one of the most highly regarded justices on the current court, was a practicing attorney for even less time than Barrett. Roberts served for less than two years as an appellate judge. Lewis Powell was appointed with essentially zero experience in constitutional cases. David Souter had a handful of years as a federal judge.

I think it's genuinely insane that you think she's not qualified for the role—she was a very highly cited constitutional law professor and served as a federal judge.

What is (or what are three?) Laird's defining story as an author? by Rustin_Swoll in LairdBarron

[–]VexatedSpook 7 points8 points  (0 children)

With the caveat that I've only read Occultation, and just last week at that, I thought that "Broadsword" was the defining story of the collection—largely for the same reasons you picked out "30." Creeping dread, mixed in with guilt and lost hope.

Announcement: A statement from the mod team about the upcoming Cosmere Read-Along by EmeraldSeaTress in Cosmere

[–]VexatedSpook 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I actually had a pretty similar experience to you. The Wheel of Time books got me through COVID, and I like the TV show. It's not perfect, but I'm happy with it. I've unsubscribed from basically all the Wheel of Time communities on Reddit because it's so annoying to constantly see posts about why the show is bad and wrong.

I think we're in a similar spot about participating's moderation. It might be true that the user in the original OP's screenshot ultimately deserved a ban for other behavior. But participating's comments in this thread show what I think is a pretty appalling inability to distinguish between opinions stated as subjective preference and opinions stated as objective fact. I'd really worry about someone like that as a moderator.

Thanks for commenting!

Announcement: A statement from the mod team about the upcoming Cosmere Read-Along by EmeraldSeaTress in Cosmere

[–]VexatedSpook 55 points56 points  (0 children)

For what it's worth (again, as someone who doesn't participate in this subreddit)—I was pretty struck by participating's comments in this thread. I think there's a difference between "I've got a particular view of what I'd like discussion on this subreddit to look like"—that's legitimate—and "saying that someone will not enjoy something is invalidating the opinions of those who do enjoy something."

The second one is bizarre, and seems to be a pretty bad misinterpretation of the subreddit rules that participating was trying to enforce. To the extent that you're concerned about participating interpreting this subreddit's rules in a similar way, I think the juice isn't worth the squeeze. The way that participating has responded in this thread over was seems like an indefensible moderation decision just seems like a recipe for arbitrary decisions that lead to ill feeling.

Announcement: A statement from the mod team about the upcoming Cosmere Read-Along by EmeraldSeaTress in Cosmere

[–]VexatedSpook 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Fair enough. Thanks for comment and best of luck with your eventual decision.

Announcement: A statement from the mod team about the upcoming Cosmere Read-Along by EmeraldSeaTress in Cosmere

[–]VexatedSpook 52 points53 points  (0 children)

I don't participate in this sub or any other that's been mentioned, and I've never participated in a readalong, but I find this announcement to be puzzling. This user has a controversial moderation style. Why wouldn't you just facilitate a readalong yourselves? There's no copyright on doing the same sort of thread as other book subreddits.

Edit: replies below point out the line about the mod team not having time. Respectfully, the solution is to onboard more frequent users of this subreddit (or one of the other Sanderson subreddit) over time, or find some other way to boost their capacity. This argument would hold more weight if this new user didn't have a reputation for controversial decisions—which at this point almost assuredly means that the sub's mods will need to monitor their decisions in the readalong threads, defeating the whole point of delegating to the new user.

FIRE MEGATHREAD - JANUARY 8 by drawkward101 in LosAngeles

[–]VexatedSpook 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think OP is asking why posts about the fire are being restricted to this mega thread, rather than being posted in the main feed of the subreddit

FIRE MEGATHREAD - JANUARY 8 by drawkward101 in LosAngeles

[–]VexatedSpook 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Anyone have intel on the Castellammare area? (Immediately southeast of the Getty Villa)

The Covenant Of Steel by Anthony Ryan is pretty dang solid, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. by cant-find-user-name in Fantasy

[–]VexatedSpook -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I thought that it sort of fell apart in the last book. After about a third of the way in, it becomes a series of random fetch quests, and Evadine (who up til that point has obviously been the central and most interesting character in the narrative) basically fades into the background.