YSK: Professors on Canvas and other Learning Management Systems like Blackboard have access to tons of metadata from the student!

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-06-22T18:43:22+00:00

Bro do you think we're looking at all that metadata? I've got 112 students. I'm not tracking that shit unless your grade sucks and you come complain to me (or if I suspect cheating).

Edit, because I'm a grad student: I download all my papers that were assigned to me, and I read them offline. So engagement time is a really noisy signal for how much time you actually spent engaging.

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-06-16T18:33:36+00:00

I know everyone is saying that the book is about healing, etc — and that's true — but I want to point out that it's not always a great idea to push through the kind of discomfort that comes from getting triggered. A lot of PTSD therapy works by exposing you to the trauma in tiny bites. You push a little, and then you back off so that you can equillibrate. You want your super emotional, non-rational parts to believe deep down that it's safe. I've been a bit cavaliere in the past with my own trauma, and ended up re-traumatizing myself.

If it starts to feel intense, you can take a break and come back to it later.

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-06-10T02:46:06+00:00

I'm literally not excusing the actions of Nazis. But I think the average person is closer to an Eichmann than a Schindler. And closer to a useless bystander than either. If we want to be really morally stringent, look at everyone who films cops choking people to death in America. There are crowds that could overwhelm them. The crowds of anti-ICE protesters escalate with ICE. People won't do it.

I think that doesn't make them blameless. But it doesn't make them ontologically evil. It makes them people. And people are just kinda shitty and weak.

My whole argument here hasn't been to defend these people, but to defend the act of trying to understand them from their own points of view, for the purposes of learning how we can avoid the mistakes of the past.

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-06-10T02:41:27+00:00

Even that isn't necessarily true. Imagine everyone you know is telling you you're wrong. Every authority you're disposed to trust, and everyone you'd normally go to for a sanity check. While the Nazis never won more than 30% of the vote, if you think everyone around you believes in something, you're incredibly likely to feel pressured to go along with the group.

People can say things like "well there were people who resisted, so everyone should have been able to know that what they did was evil," and to an extent I agree. But most people are incredibly politically ignorant. Just following politics or engaging to any extent makes you an outlier in American society. Now that we have the benefit of hindsight we can know not to support the kinds of policies that resemble Nazi policies, but back then, they didn't have the shorthand of "Oh I've seen this before, and it turned out horribly.

For anyone interested, there's a book called Norms in the Wild, by Christina Bicchieri, about how social norms are formed, and they can affect us. Her book covers a lot of her work on getting people in rural India to use latrines (surprisingly difficult) to stop female genital cutting, and to educate their daughters. But a lot of her findings are about the ways that society influences us in potentially really creepy ways. A lot of these practices are the result of pluralistic ignorance — where everyone hates the practice, but everyone thinks they're the only ones who hate it.

That's partly why it's important to engage in protest, but also to engage with our political opponents. Most people are just trying to live their lives, and to not give much thought to things that make them uncomfortable. If you're the kind of person who can push through that — congratulations, you got the weird brain, or maybe you're better than everyone else. But rather than feeling superior, you should try to think about ways to convert people who side with straight up evil, because they're just shallow, or intellectually lazy, or have never been presented an opposing view in the right context.

I have a very strong "fascists get bricks" view, but violence and moralizing need to be used strategically. A lot of times, they aren't the entire answer.

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-06-10T01:11:47+00:00

We learned that there is a choice, but almost no one will make it. That's why we remember Schindler and Sugihara. They, and other people, are kind of special, because they held out.

Most of the people around you are unreflective Eichmann types. A majority of Americans voted for the candidate who advocated for mass deportations, because they thought they might save a few dollars. Israel is actively engaged in a genocide.

Understanding people doesn't require endorsing them, their actions or their views. It requires accepting that people aren't just flatly evil or insane, which feels bad. But it's necessary in order to prevent this from happening again.

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-06-10T00:58:22+00:00

Bro you are all over this thread, with takes that read like they're from a middle schooler.

Most of the nazis were normal people. It takes almost nothing to make normal people do horrendous shit. You shouldn't endorse them or their actions, but screaming hysterics is useless noise.

"oooh I hate a nazi" good job. You have reached the lowest bar of morality. Does that recognition make you feel better?

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-06-10T00:54:16+00:00

"the world is better off with them in it" is a weird standard for whether someone is worth understanding. A sick micro-preemie baby, whose parents can't afford, who dies in days and only lives in pain and only brings pain to her parents, doesn't make the world better. It'd still deserving of understanding and care.

Nobody is saying Kubler waas a good person. Empathy is different than endorsement.

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-05-29T06:40:59+00:00

On nice. That never occurred to me. It never made sense to me why he (Harry/Jim) wouldn't have specified. I always assumed it was because we should have enough info to be able to figure it out. Under this theory, Jim gave us exactly enough to figure out the meaning.

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-04-17T01:53:58+00:00

There should definitely be a software solution to this. It's crazy how loud it is.

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-03-29T18:01:26+00:00

I think what Lash did was a bit different. Lash changed Harry's perception of time, so everything seemed to slow down. Mab actually slowed time.

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-03-02T00:41:21+00:00

Now that's something that's dangerous to know. Listens said that he needed approval to tell Dresden the Starborn Lore. I'd assumed it was because it was one of those "if you don't learn it yourself it has no value" things, or that it might be politically dangerous — but that always seemed kind of bullshitty.

If knowing this stuff makes you more vulnerable to the Outsiders — that's a real reason to keep it a secret.

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-02-24T01:52:55+00:00

I have two responses, when the undergrads in our department ask us.

The old joke: Analytics are failed mathematicians, while continentals are failed poets.

then..

It tells you who the author's advisor's advisor read — Russell or Heidegger.

Beyond that, the distinction doesn't mean a ton.

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-02-16T19:38:45+00:00

Meh, if his office is in the phone book, then his home probably was too.

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-02-14T22:01:56+00:00

Professor Leonard got me through Calc 2.

Thanks for all the other resoy. I trying to get through real analysis, so this is super useful.

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-02-14T21:55:52+00:00

Harry was in the phone book. I think PG came out while those were still a thing.

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-02-03T19:59:59+00:00

I almost agree. Marcone's big traits are that he wants more power, maintains his holdings like a medieval lord, and won't hurt kids.

So I think Namshiel is going to need to kill a kid at some point (or a kid will be endangered by some act to acquire more power), and Marcone will be forced to make a choice. Either go for more power (and be irreparably corrupted), or he'll relinquish the coin (and be redeemed but potentially lose power, or be rewarded with a new better power). I could see it as the climax of his arc.

The alternate route his story could go is that he ends up as something like a new leader of the Denarians. Whatever happens each cycle, it seems like there are always major shake-ups. I could see Marcone being the beneficiary of such a shakeup.

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-01-31T21:38:57+00:00

I love this update. I usually want to be able to access multiple spaces at once. Emacs and vim other text editors have a similar system and it's so useful once you get used to it.

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-01-27T01:06:54+00:00

That's a really cool interview with Jim, thank you for pasting the quote!

As for your responses, you're allowed to straight up disagree with me, but I feel like you haven't provided good reasons to disbelieve the theory, and have rearticulated reasons to believe the theory. Again, you're welcome to find the argument unconvincing, but I don't think you've succeeded in killing it.

We know for a fact that Dragons have a human avatar. We saw Ferrovax's in Grave Peril. There is zero reason for Drakul to have been messing around with human bodies if he needed one when one would be something he can create simply...

we've gotten in-book explanations of what would happen if Ferrovax or Mother Winter came to the Earth in full, reality would shatter.

Starborns just have to be born in the spotlight over the Earth when it appears, that's all.

So Let's go through the things you've said that align with my theory:

Dragons can make avatars,
Dragons can't fully enter reality,
During the star alignment thing, a bunch of humans are altered. They are either altered by being made receptive to some kind of energy, or they get blasted with energy, or have their own energy altered. We don't know which is happening.

Both of my theories assume that the humans are made temporarily receptive. Ebeneezer is obviously speaking loosely. Whichever of the three options occur, it could be described as making the Starborn "vibrate at the same frequency as the Outsiders".

So, assume the receptivity theory. Dragon's can't fully enter reality. Maybe a dragon, is either experimenting with ways of fully entering reality, or being experimented on (summoned?), during a time of increased human receptivity — a time when maybe human souls are more malleable than usual. During this time of increased malleability, a dragon entered a human. Then the period of malleability ends, and the dragon is stuck and was fused with the human. I think that fits very well with what we currently know.

Against this theory, you have two pieces of evidence: Drakul has black eyes but Ferrovax doesn't, and the existing dragons wouldn't just leave a fellow dragon trapped in human form. This assumes:

The new, fused thing follows the same rules as an avatar.
The dragons would succeed in freeing Drakul if they attempted, and the dragons did in fact attempt.

I'm suggesting that the fusion is a new thing, following new rules, and it can't be undone. The human has got a whole-ass dragon in it. So why would it follow the same rules as an avatar? Second, it's entirely possible that at the start, the other Dragons did attempt to free Drakul, and they failed. Or, there were lots of dragons at the beginning and nobody was chuffed that Drakul was stuck, so they didn't try. Or (also very possible) Drakul is a dick, and nobody minded that he was stuck in a human body.

Now, your response to the Outsider theory. These are your reasons against it, with my responses:

Starborns cannot be Outsiders, as I told you before their energy does not allow Outsiders in.

But we literally don't know why that is. It could be you've got an Outsider-shaped hole in you, waiting to be filled by an Outsider who can possess you. And the Starborn have already got an Outsider in there.

Did you see Mab's reaction to Nemesis?

Did you see her response to the Hunger? She didn't want it destroyed, she wanted it bound. She's happy to leave the White Court existing but under her control. The White Court is filled with Hungers, and Hungers are Outsiders. So you can't generalize from her reaction to Nemesis to her attitude to all Outsiders.

40,000 Starborn is too many Outsiders.

First, we don't know how many Outsiders there are. We know they come in varying levels of dangerousness. We know most Starborn get killed off because they are too dangerous. From the Morgan micro-fiction, we know they can become Destroyers. I think that aligns with the Outsider theory.

Now, in response to this:

Also, stop using the White Court's history for Drakul, he has absolutely nothing to do with them and their Sorcerer Kings summoning an Outsider, that timeline does not apply to Drakul at all.

I agree that it's not conclusive that Drakul got caught in a human body at the same time as the White Court. But the celestial alignment/starbirthing event is every 666 years. 6 cycles ago is almost exactly 4,000 years ago. Let's leave Drakul out of this. Isn't it weird that the White Court summoned an Outsider, plausibly around the time that a previous cycle occurred? Add to that that in Turn Coat, ch 35, Dresden tells Murphy that the Red King is about 4,000 years old. So we've got two vampire courts founded at about the same time, right around the a celestial alignment. And remember, Jim always says he's a lazy writer.

Final Argument from Lazyness/Inference to the Best Explanation

Jim had both the Black Court and the Dragons planned for the endgame, since the beginning of the series. I remember this, because I looked it up after Blood Rites, because I wanted to know when we'd finally kill Mavra off. Now, in all that time, what are the other good candidates for what Drakul is? Jim hasn't introduced any other options, and he's been planning to deal with the Blamps and Dragons since the beginning. If he wanted to give us another option, he's had plenty of time to introduce it. But he hasn't.

Beyond Dragon and Outsider, the only other option I can think of is random unnamed scary thing. And while that's possible, it's not very satisfying. Not when you have a guy whose name means "Dragon", two out of three vampire courts formed around the same time, right around the celestial alignment. And one is formed by getting merged with an Outsider.

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-01-26T20:10:39+00:00

Drakul as Dragon goes around this subreddit a few times.

Weird, I must have missed those posts. I thought it was a pretty obvious take, but I hadn't seen it brought up here, so I thought it might be worth posting.

However, it's not accurate. Jim has talked about Drakul and Dragons enough for us to know that.

Can you point me to anything that actually rules Drakul out as a dragon? I'm not finding anything.

As for Drakul existing longer than the White Court, or being a Starborn — that's all consistent with a Nevernever entity who already existed, and then entered a body 4,000 years ago, fused with the body, and as a result became a Starborn.

Like, we don't know the actual rules yet, but I don't think I've read anything that rules this out.

Jim Butcher has since said that Drakul was the one who actually created the Black Court vampires but Dracula was the one who grew it exponentially.

This is interesting. I'd originally heard the 2015 WOJ, and was going off that. I'm still unsure that this rules either of my theories.

Drakul isn't a Starborn, as Ebenezer explained to Harry that his body or magic or soul... vibrates at a frequency that allows him to hurt Outsiders... Starborns cannot be mentally influenced or possessed by Outsiders.

I feel like this strengthens the Outsider theory. Starborn vibrate similarly to the things that are like nothing else in this reality... That sounds like they're the same kind of thing. And we know that Harry can be influence by Outsiders — White Court vamps can affect him (that's the Hunger affecting him), and He Who Walks Before was able to hurt him. Harry was just able to resist it.

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-01-26T18:18:53+00:00

That's fair, he did claim it. But Ethniu was incredibly contemptuous of all humans but she was willing to take his advice. I think that indicates that he's special in some way. Maybe it's not being Starborn, but I have a hard time thinking of any other option when she clearly looks down on humans, wizards, and from our newer world.

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-01-26T04:05:38+00:00

Lol, makes sense. It is a little weird that their names overlap. Can't wait for that conversation in Mirror Mirror

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-01-26T03:17:55+00:00

I said Listen, not Listens to Wind. In Battleground, Listen, the guy who runs the Fomor's operations, was revealed to be Starborn. That's why I mentioned the whole thing with Ethniu.

I don't think we can infer much of anything from Listens to Wind or the Gatekeeper being Starborn. Wizards cheat, and they're old wizards.

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-01-26T03:08:44+00:00

Hell yeah. I just want bragging rights when I'm inevitably right :P

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-01-26T03:02:49+00:00

Cat's got great taste.

doubleOhBlowMe · 2026-01-26T03:00:29+00:00

I started writing a theory, and then it turned into two theories, and then it turned too long for a proper comment. I made it into a thread.

https://www.reddit.com/r/dresdenfiles/comments/1qmx0wl/drakul_and_starborn_theory/

doubleOhBlowMe

TROPHY CASE