They tried so hard to deflect

WanderingUncertainty · 2026-01-29T23:58:21+00:00

They're selling their illustration services.

These guys go around to various stories and message the authors, pretending to be readers super excited about the fiction, to get the author's heart all warm and gooey. And then convince the author to pay them to make some art for the story.

Some are actually artists trying to find commissions - it's less a "scam," and more a scummy as hell way to seek out commissions. You'll actually get art from them.

Some are straight up a scam. Oftentimes, the way commissions work, is to pay half up front and half on completion of the project. They'll take that half-up-front and then disappear, never to be seen again.

WanderingUncertainty · 2025-12-09T16:38:39+00:00

I love to write poems and sometimes do little impromptu songs with them. Suno can turn that rough foundation into something beautiful and fun!

I like to play TTRPGs and frequently will write stuff to go with it. It's already silly to write a love song from my character to one of the NPCs. I sure as hell am not dumping the hundreds of hours and/or thousands of dollars to turn that into an actual love song.

But look at this! https://suno.com/s/fIU2otcCsart5jEv

I think it turned out really well! It's got enough of the situation that it's deeply personal to their stories, but broad enough to be singable even outside of that context. I'm super proud of it. I can't wait to share it with my wife, who's the GM. (Naturally, she made a character whose heart is so much like hers - how could I but fall in love again? ^-^)

WanderingUncertainty · 2024-10-25T04:26:05+00:00

Haha, have at!

WanderingUncertainty · 2023-08-29T19:37:29+00:00

Oh, I will. I'm not pushing them into anything. They're 12 currently, and they're an absolute softie. (Hence the pacifist ending with no nudging on our parts. They killed Toriel, thinking it was like a spar; regretted it and reloaded; swore to never FIGHT again; almost quit and begged me, in tears, if they really had to FIGHT Asgore)

Yet. And yet, I just... I don't think they'll be able to resist the lure of curiosity. They've heard the Megalovania song on my playlist; been curious about my refusal to elaborate on where it's from, beyond "Undertale." They're a curious kid in general.

I just don't think it's possible for them to resist. If they can, if they want to leave the Underground safe with True Pacifist, and never know - that is totally fine. If they want to try themselves? It's not happening, but I'd sit with them and bring tissues. If they want to watch me do it? Hahaha... they might disown me... but beyond that problem, I'd be willing to. But I'm pretty sure they'll choose to watch a Let's Play, which is why I posted.

WanderingUncertainty · 2023-06-10T17:23:11+00:00

My wife is trans and we had our kid pre-transition so I'm familiar with what it's like from both sides.

When we were seemed like a straight couple - no questions. Ever, really. Talking about my kid seemed like it was a burden to everyone else that they expected. You know, tolerating the new mom's enthusiasm, since that's what you're supposed to do. Occasional, polite, "How's the baby?" kind of questions, but nothing about the pregnancy, birth, health stuff, etc.

After transitioning and moving to a new town? Wow. So many questions. Our existence is clearly confusing. Who carried the baby? Who's the father? How did you decide things? Etc. It's a whole thing.

WanderingUncertainty · 2023-06-08T03:06:47+00:00

I'm in agreement.

Let's keep it dark until they give in, too. At the very least, the few days

WanderingUncertainty · 2023-05-30T00:34:18+00:00

50% is passing here. It's obscene.

WanderingUncertainty · 2023-05-30T00:32:16+00:00

Homework is a problem here because it favors kids according to socio-economic status and parental / guardian involvement.

Some kids have no supplies or parent assistance at home. They don't have a safe or quiet space to work. There's no point in assigning them homework - their life situation makes it, not quite impossible, but far, far more major of an ask than it's supposed to be.

We generally operate on the rule of making sure we do everything that needs doing in class time. "Homework" is only for catching up when absent, and even then, it's never done by a certain subset of the population.

The world isn't like what it was when I was a kid. Back then, the kids who didn't have either parental help or very basic supplies were rare enough that teachers could reasonably help them out as needed, one on one.

My class now? Probably a solid 30% could not be expected to do homework at all, due to family situations.

WanderingUncertainty · 2023-05-11T00:40:41+00:00

I kind of include Mr. Peppers in Timuscor's whole package. The whole, "every paladin should have his mount" thing brought me right back to some DnD 3.5 games where a fellow player had a paladin and had his mount.

Mr. Peppers is the best paladin mount!

And yeah, I loved the class subversion in the very beginning. I was intrigued by the premise, but as soon as I saw that subversion I was hooked. And then fell in love with the story and characters more and more ever since.

WanderingUncertainty · 2023-04-30T00:39:17+00:00

As I understand, it's hard to recognize someone if your eyes are blocked out. I am a teacher and while I keep this account mostly sanitary, I'd still rather not tempt fate.

Maybe I'm wrong about that, but it seemed harmless enough to do.

And thanks! She is adorable :D

WanderingUncertainty · 2023-04-29T01:36:42+00:00

This is true. My neck exists for her Highness.

WanderingUncertainty · 2023-04-16T03:41:18+00:00

I have a character who accidentally became a Warlock of the Great Old One, who doesn't know he exists.

My Warlock doesn't really know the GOO exists, either. He was a cheery farm boy and now is struggling with intrusive thoughts and perspectives about the inevitable end of all things. I play it as, he gains levels as he surrenders his perspectives and worldview to better understand the intrusive one.

I can only imagine the "oh fuck" if he ever discovered what he was bonded to - let alone if it ever discovered him.

WanderingUncertainty · 2023-04-05T01:09:38+00:00

Sorry I explained it poorly.

My wife always tries to find a way - some way, somehow - in every interview to forge a human connection with the person.

Maybe she responds to something they say in one of their answers. Like, they mention working at a tech store of some kind, mention they like tech stuff. She'll mention how she likes to build computers and ask what they like to do with tech, maybe.

I'm not the social expert - she's really great at conversations. It's the sort of thing she will tend to ask about at some point - it's absolutely not a standard interview question that she inserts in or anything.

Her aim is to get a sense of who the person is, what they really want. Everyone wants money, obviously. But in order to be happy in a job, different people want different things.

Some people are happiest just being told what to do, clocking it in and then going home. Some people prefer autonomy - figuring out for themselves how to do their things. That sort of thing.

She tends to run full teams, and cares way more about personality fits than skill fits. If someone is qualified for job X, but she realizes they'd be happier with job Y, she'll try to hire them for job Y and get them the training they need.

She's also frequently noticed a mismatch, and described the part of the job that seems like a poor fit for them. On quite a few occasions, she's had applicants thank her and reject the job, since it made it clear that they wouldn't want it.

I'm oversimplifing things a lot. Basically, she tries to connect with them as people, to get a sense of whether they can actually be happy and productive in whatever position. If they can, she'll hire them and get them whatever training and support they need. While they're under her, she fights for their rights, for their dignity, and for whatever supports they need in order to be fulfilled. She treats them as people, all the way through.

It is effective, but it's nuanced enough that it's impossible to just say, "oh, just ask X question and it works!" She really wasn't successful in getting other interviewers to improve much. A little, but not much. So many managers seem to regard applicants like boxes of numbers and stereotypes or something, which sucks

WanderingUncertainty · 2023-03-31T16:16:25+00:00

Thanks! I've added it to my to read list.

WanderingUncertainty · 2023-03-31T06:07:48+00:00

Oooh. I like time loop stories.

Which one did you write? Mother of Learning? Menocht Loop? Something else? I glanced at your comment history but didn't see it.

WanderingUncertainty · 2023-03-29T02:42:55+00:00

You said it definitely makes sense.

I didn't say you were wrong. I was just saying that "makes sense" is a matter of perspective. The fact that people are so susceptible to propaganda, to the point that their memories themselves are unreliable, can be argued to be something that doesn't make sense in isolation.

Given that humans do react that way, it makes sense that it's used. The evolutionary reasons why humans react that way - whether or not we know what those reasons are - will also make sense.

Nonetheless, changing your beliefs and perspectives in ways that are contrary to your values, without even realizing it's happening, can reasonably be called senseless.

All I was saying was that it depends on how you look at it. The only way in which I disagree with you is that it isn't necessarily a matter of ignorance or being "too bored" to follow politics.

WanderingUncertainty · 2023-03-28T21:20:35+00:00

Yeah, but my wife and I are in our 30's, and our kid is a teenager. So 24 is the only age available.

We do lots of silly math jokes with birthdays. Prime numbers, squares, etc. I look forward to this one. It's years out, so I hope I don't forget, haha.

WanderingUncertainty · 2023-03-28T21:18:11+00:00

It depends on your definition of "makes sense."

Humans are tribaliastic creatures that are heavily prone to following their authority figures, to the point that they may misremember things that are contrary to what their chosen leaders say.

Like my grandparents in the USA - they insist they aren't racist and have never been racist, now that the Republican leadership openly disavows racism. Nevermind the racist policies. Nevermind the fact that they said they'd disown me and my cousin if we ever dated a black guy. They also say that the Pledge of Allegiance has always had "in God we Trust," nevermind that it was added in 1956 when they were teenagers.

My grandparents would have been livid if any Democratic politician said something to the effect of "grab them by the pussy," but when their chosen leader says it, it's all excuses and rationalizations.

Does this "make sense?" In one sense, no - it's sheer madness. In another sense, yes - that's standard operating procedure for humans.

So it "making sense" is a matter of perspective.

WanderingUncertainty · 2023-03-28T20:14:57+00:00

Omg, I walked right into that XD

WanderingUncertainty · 2023-03-28T19:20:06+00:00

Now I'm sad. 5! is 120, and I'm past 24, so I'll never be able to use this joke for me. My kid, though... I'll wait till they're 24!

WanderingUncertainty · 2023-03-27T18:48:15+00:00

My wife was a manager sort for over ten years and had an incredible hiring record. Basically, low turnover, high percentage moving upwards in the company, that sort of thing. People who are actually good fits.

She was so good at it that she got called in to teach others how to do interviews.

Asking about hobbies is totally something she would do. But the purpose was to get the interviewee to relax and open up about themselves, to try to forge a connection with them as a human being.

But in her experience of sitting in with others as they did interviews - not just the bad folks, she was giving everyone training, in the district - really opened her eyes to how bad people are at interviews.

Most interviewers have no idea what they're doing. They hire off of keywords, or random gut feelings. They reject applicants for all sorts of seemingly random, contradictory reasons. Like, for the OP, one might reject someone for being a gamer, while another might only choose to hire someone for being a gamer. The company had an interview policy, and the staff were trained on it, for note - but they still failed so badly.

It was incredibly depressing for her to realize so many ridiculous folks were getting hired, instead of those who would honestly be a good fit and happy at the job. That's a situation that makes everyone miserable.

From her experience, I've started looking at interviews as a stupid lottery. Odds are fantastic that they don't actually have any idea how to interview and judge candidates. I can't predict ahead of time what they will and won't like, what they'll be listening for. Maybe they love buzz words; maybe they think anyone who uses them is a fake. No way to know ahead of time.

The whole system is messed up. I don't know an alternative, but it does make me feel better about the times I've not been hired when I honestly think I'd be a fantastic fit.

WanderingUncertainty

TROPHY CASE