Mawd

The the only bus I can take to get to class under an hour was late by 25 minutes so now I've got less than half a lecture and a class disruption to look forward to. Maybe not so late after all. Yaay Ended up kind of on time for class which felt weird because I swear I usually get there later. Found out that the first bus didn't come because of a crash on the highway involving an 18 wheeler. Soo perspective, eh?

Revisiting the Omar Rodriuez-Lopez Group.

I think any team game where you can play for half an hour or more suffers from that dynamic. I see it in CS:GO or NS2 often enough. I think people are insulated from bad team mates in casual CS:GO but its life or death when you're in 5v5 Match Making. It's kind of similar with NS2 although you see more rages in public game modes than 6v6 comp. multiplayer.

What you said was already mixed into the conversation you were joining. As Deadpan already pointed out. I took the context you were responding to and elaborated. They don't have to be trying to deliberately be jerks. The point of this conversation is that its sensible to eliminate words that go further than specifically insulting the person you're talking to. It's not pedantry to say that someone shouldn't have to hear a part of their identity referenced as a slur. Look apparently you're focused on two people arguing at each other and using insults that don't have as much to do with the wider conversation at hand. The context here isn't just the two people having a fight. It's on the people around them that get mad or made to feel like shit because someone's describing someone as a 'spastic autist' or something like that. Someone stepping in and saying "cut that language the fuck out" is not giving a nitpicking pedantry lecture. I don't even have to escalate to swearing like that; based on the context I could come up with any number of short, single sentence ways to get someone to consider how they're talking. Most people realise that words like retard, spastic, and autist used as an accusatory pejorative are fucking wretched things to say. The point of lists of discriminatory words is that people understand that other parts of their language while not being seen as traditionally high on the insult scale are still discriminatory and can still get under people's skin. As to a word like douchebag, had you read earlier you may have seen me saying that I do still use it and am currently evaluating its worth because I find that an interesting consideration to make. Grandpa? Ha. This is about talking to fellow peers. If I have to do some sort of group exercise with someone using shitty language yes I will speak up. I don't really have to lecture them though. A simple "cut that shit out" will do fine. The two grandparents I knew both hated the Japanese. So yes I did at one point (while hosting a couple of cultural exchange students) "die on a hill" while lecturing them. Horrible people get called out too but I think that's a red herring to this conversation. At least in the context of this wider conversation you're talking about being reactive in terms of finding out what is and isn't okay to use. If you'd come up with a list of your 'borderline' words then sure we could maybe have a more fruitful discussion. But my impression within this context that those borderline words are at the least on that list above. In which case the approach is to see with how much one can get away with for how long while using arbitrarily picked list words. Being proactive about this means you can avoid causing the offence in the first place. Of course not everyone will call you out for it. But you may find that they still do treat you differently for the language you use. Its about being mindful of how words shape perceptions of the user and the receivers.

I don't hear politicians being called crazy as much as women. Or well anyone who lets out an extremely emotional reaction to something (when I hear it around women it usually means a guy did something super hurtful, didn't consider or own the effect at all and/or stirred some hateful pot a bit before calling her a bitch and telling anyone near how crazy she is). My point is that its continuously used to completely write someone off and its less often used to write off famous people than people you know IRL. I don't think people treat people described as crazy the same as those called stupid. I think 'crazy' assigns a bit more of a danger element. You guys is fine if its in the right context. Since high school I've been switching it up with gals, y'all, peeps, and just a general 'sup'. Keeps things fresh anyway.

Teach!

Scrubbing words that denigrate the mentally ill from my vocabulary or even just trying not to say 'fuck' and 'shit' all the time doesn't mean I'm walking on eggshells because I'm still a person who uses direct verbal confrontation. It's a challenge to use more colourful language. Trust me when I say I don't lose my conversational teeth when I stop calling people crazy. Megaspel, as an Australasian the word 'cunt' is not divorced from being a female slur. People are just as likely to call a woman a that as they are certain mates as they are people they don't like. It's use isn't even that widely accepted any more. It can be standard banter to call your mates a bunch of horrible shit but the 'fun' comes from the fact that those words still have meaning. Also plenty of words still hurt people around you. Words like stupid or moron may feel at least fifty years divorced from their contexts but plenty of people still feel shitty from other words. You're not always directly interacting with people who will be hurt by your language. As someone who has had a complicated relationship with the word 'faggot' or the use of 'gay' as a negative I know that using them frequently can hurt plenty of people on the sideline even if it's common to try and state that the words mean arsehole or 'dumb/shit' now. Plenty of the people affected by your language won't directly confront you over your use at the risk of drawing a target on themselves. Plus for the affected specifically it can be hard to differentiate someone who says retarded or faggot 'recreationally' from someone who sneers at those affected people. Brodie, yeah it's kind of privileged to use language that won't just offend one person but a whole bunch of marginalised people and to only hold yourself accountable for what you say when someone offended finally pulls you up for that. It's also not uncommon for the offended person to be told in the same conversation that they shouldn't even be mad because the word "doesn't mean that anymore". Despite the fact that clearly it fucking does because that's still part of the racy appeal of using the word. Basically it's expecting the offended person to wade into a potential quagmire of a discussion that could may well cause more hurt and also leave a stigma on them in order to receive an apology and the faint promise that next time will be different. Also 'remember for next time' is pretty self serving. I doubt you mean "I will not use that word again" as much as "I'll try not to say it around you" because you resent scattering eggshells even though one can still find a minefield when they use words that they already know can hurt people and have direct experience with that. Plenty of people don't want to deal with a potential asshole but they'll still feel hurt about it. So some person can still find a shitty mark on their day without the offender ever being pulled up for it. I don't have completely sanitised language. I can speak with intent to offend. But I will try to use language that doesn't contribute to marginalising minorities having known what its like to feel like an isolated and marginalised minority. -------------------- In other news we're having some trouble with our kitten who has been having a run of digestion problems leading to multiple accidents this week. One of the worst things is that as a long haired cat he's still got crumbs of things in his hair and has had to be quarantined to a single room to avoid tracking poop everywhere. It's getting me pretty frustrated that I can't interact with the kitten to the degree I want to because it's not clean. He had vaccinations yesterday so maybe that's what this new thing is. We've also put him on a diet of only biscuits.

Numpty can work fine. Have had a bad experience with an aggro person though. But they tend to react to any perceived slight. I suppose calling someone a 'fool' could supplant 'douche'. I didn't see it on the list. So it has that going for it at least.

What I'm about to say could be beside the point but it's not a strictly feminine related word. I'm not sure if that takes away from its impact. I know some people that do hold douche on the same level of offensive as 'bitch' because the word is often used in the same context. I use 'douche' now but it may well become another word I weed out. I suppose its another instance where a lack of consideration inoculates someone against the impact of the word they use. I still use it in the same way a lot of people can call their friends dicks without totally offending them. I'm not sure if I can fully weed out douche until I find a replacement for that form of expression. I have had and still have (to an extent/context) a very foul mouth. I'm working on it. I can deliver whole payloads of phrases without pausing to see if they're justified or worth the fight they cause. Mellowing my language out helps me avoid all sorts of trouble when I don't have the foresight to see it coming. Like tone arguments. Edit: I'm not sure I've deployed the last sentence correctly since I'm unfamiliar with the particular way people encounter tone arguments. I don't want to say "there's no place for harsh language" as much as "I hate derailing things because I've escalated my language without thinking and have caused what I wanted to say to fall aside in order to apologise to someone I've offended (or just opened a door for a particular kind of troll)." Oh and going back to the use of silly it's also a handy word to use when you want to call someone out for being mystifyingly absent minded. People are so used to harsher words that they don't get as defensive when you call an action 'silly' because it often doesn't register on their offence meter. It might be incredibly naive to hope that using a less offensive word leads to less of a knee jerk reaction, followed by an eventual consideration of the point I'm making. But it's what I like to think, and I think it works. I have had and still have (to an extent/context) a very foul mouth. I'm working on it. I can deliver whole payloads of phrases without pausing to see if they're justified or worth the fight they cause. Mellowing my language out helps me avoid all sorts of trouble. Like tone arguments.

Silly can tick people off because it trivialises the gravity or emotional weight of their actions I guess. It boils down to people not feeling you're taking something seriously; in some cases because its not typically a word you use when you get mad. But I'd rather use that word than something else. I'm usually a pretty calm person under pressure so I use language that reflects that. But some people just don't think you're being up front with them unless you use language they expect to hear. I tend to use it to describe my own actions at times usually when making a mistake without thinking. I notice that around some types of people they tend to try and make harsher words 'stick' which can make things hard when you just want to own a simple mistake and move on. My go to harsher words would be something like 'douche' even though I love the comeback "so what they're sanitary". For tame sounding ones words like inane and insipid can still have teeth provided its in their vocabulary.

Silly is a great word. One of my favourites. That list is really interesting.

No, please. Some things just have to be made.

I appreciate the concern! Well I tried to find a nurse but my campus removed the position from last year (supposedly with the understanding that a new doctor was setting up down the road but in the end that development turned into.. apartments .-. ). The shakes were just adrenaline, I have a rather testy swollen bump on my head right now but I haven't noticed any weird symptoms. I kept on top of eating today and only felt tired around the normal times of my hot summer day. On par with experiencing a surprising head injury we've had some potty trouble with our kitten. It's not his fault or anything we're pretty sure we've given him too much meat which his gut hasn't had much time to adjust to; plus he's like just over two months old which for me still feels early. But having to clean a big duvet in the heat wasn't my idea of a nice afternoon. >.< In happier news my systems analysis and design course is set to be my favourite thing this semester.

r00d

My head collided with a thick wooden window frame this morning but I barely didn't miss the bus but I did get a filthy look from the driver for making him open the doors again. I'm on time to the first lab of the year. Some cruisey thing where I set up a VM and maybe fiddle with DOS on it. But I feel shakey and have a slightly bleeding graze or something. GDC sounds fun but Lost Levels definitely sounds like the best thing about it to me. Anyway you're lucky you can fret about going and don't live half a world away

For people like myself the difference between free and $20 is huge. I'm super keen to try this out.

After a search for A House for Mister Biswas by V. S. Naipaul and a brief consideration of buying Barracuda by Christos Tsiolkas I decided to ask instead for a recommendation for novels that sit between Lorrie Moore and Alice Munro styles of writing. I ended up with recommendations for Kamila Shamsie, Jess Walter, Alice Walker, and Jennifer Egan. After some heartwrenching decisions, including a brief interlude where I considered Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch I decided to grab A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. It's been hard to put down. Yesssssss

Dwarf Fortress doesn't have to be violent A less violent version of that is Banished. Also for something completely abstract check out Antechamber.

I think itsamoose has a good point with looking at how Lords Management games deploy defensive abilities. I like the idea of a shadowstep where an illusion is placed at the initial point the player stands in while they are teleported backwards a short distance. The illusion could taunt, tank the hit, or simply be a cool afterimage for the player. I guess that's more of a thing for games with melee in them although there are still applications for a shooter. You could for example have an ability that freezes foes in a short area while making them immune from player damage to avoid a complete ez mode while still offering creative ways to dispose of them. I'm assuming its a 2D game. You might want to look at a game like Strider which does fun things with player abilities and defensive timing while keeping the main combat attacks the same throughout. You could also look at a game like Mark of The Ninja for manipulating AI in nonviolent ways. Even just the ability to do a double jump or something more like a wall grapple would be a good defensive ability. Having unlocked movement based abilities could also help with player exploration as parts of a level are made available. I'm shooting in the dark though; I never played Mega Man.

So the kitten finally appeared. He's the most timid cat I've ever met! But we're slowly trying to win him over with space and kindness.

I'm about 65 hours into the game but my completionist self has finally taken over and caused me to clear every existing territory there is before moving on to deal with

For Posterity!

Things are looking up. So that's nice. In light news I'm off to play in my pathfinder group, and later this weekend I'm competing in my niche video game for an Australasian states tournament.

I was thinking of posting it before as a related issue and your post reminded me to.I should have also mentioned that it's also related to gender identity as social construct. At least in the sense that someone can be brought up with female sex organs and encouraged/'corrected' into female behaviour and still reject that gender identity on their own.

For anyone thinking about how gender is determined by genitalia is determined by birth or boys have y, women have x. I'd urge you to look into John Money and David Reimer. ------------ This shin kicking argument is weird. I think the important thing to ask is whether you still live around those parts and whether the spectre of shin kicking affects how you comunicate with other minorities. Otherwise this sounds like a reason why you haven't in the past, not why you wouldn't now.