Use more words: own your part of clear communication

Life would be so much easier if people just took more responsibility for making their message clear.

In any conversation, there are two people.  One person is trying to convey information, and the other is supposed to be trying to receive it.  

A lot of people use a few words, and then get pissy when the other person doesn't understand.  That's a simple case of "use more words" - the speaker has a responsibility to say enough to make information transfer happen. The speaker has a responsibility to not get pissy when the recipient can't read his, or her, or FYU, mind.

The more common point of communication conflict is that the recipient isn't actually listening. This is a common joke, which isn't actually funny, that "People just stand around waiting for their turn to talk."  When someone isn't actually paying attention to what is being said, there is no communication.  People pick fights with the noise in their heads, and take it out on the people around them.

This is another common point of communication conflict.  If someone asks a question, usually that person is looking for information.  However, I know people who "ask questions" as a way of expressing their anger and frustration. They're not really looking for information, they're just pushing the blame onto their target.  For example, "Didn't it ever occur to you that was so stupid!" isn't really looking for information, it's saying "I think that was really stupid," without bothering to own the emotion itself.

To clarify, if I think you did something stupid, then that's just it - *I* own the thought that you did something stupid. The appropriate way for me to express that is to say "I think you did something stupid."  The "passive aggressive" way for me to express it is to say "Didn't it ever occur to you that was so stupid!" - I'm pushing the blame for the thought in my head onto you.  Which, when you think about it, is kind of a shitty thing to do.

So, to recap, 

• As speaker, you have to use enough words to pass along enough information that your recipient can understand what you are trying to say;
• As information recipient, you have to actually be paying attention and putting effort into understanding what the speaker is trying to convey. You can't just sit around waiting for your turn to talk;
• If you ask a question, put some thought into it, to make sure you 1) get the information you are looking for, 2) aren't just being a "passive aggressive" jerk.

(Finally, go ahead, be a smartass and pretend you don't understand anything I've written.  Oh, ha ha.  I'm going to ignore obvious taunts and trolls - I just don't have the energy for games right now. If you really want clarification, just say so. Thanks.)

Kevin Spacey

I had drafted a post about what Kevin Spacey actually said.  That is, what he said, and not what people have decided he said.

Then, I realized about 97% of readers would pick fights with the noise in their own heads, and take that out on me (because people are selfish that way), while only about 3% actually read what I wrote.

In other words, 97% of people whose eyeballs saw that I had written something, would waste their time - and my energy - by shouting at me for something that was their own fault, anyway.

This post is about how much human selfishness and stupidity annoys me.

(And for the slow thinkers in the room, I'll spell this out now, before someone tries to make hay where there isn't any. Sexual assault is wrong. Sexually assaulting minors is absolutely wrong. Hell had a special place for anyone who preys on children.  This blog post isn't about sexual assault. I certainly don't forgive the act of harming a minor, and being drunk makes it worse, not better.)

Cthulu at the Bar

Yeah, I feels

Musical Monday - Toto - Africa (metal cover)

Toto - Africa (metal cover by Leo Moracchioli feat. Rabea & Hannah)

Leo Morcchioli does some fun vids, and has some fun interpretations.  The reinterpretation of "Africa" is fun.  The second half of the video is fun, too.

I really like Hannah's voice. She has her own channel, and is fun to watch.

Rabea makes the best faces, and is obviously a brilliant guitarist.

Musical Monday - Hellgate London

We girls always get the worst armor, but she does have the most badass moves in the whole vid, and looks like she has some kind of story, so there's at least that.

    

As I piece together, this is a fan vid.  Besides, tomorrow is Halloween, so something with demons getting their heads blown off seems appropriate :-)

Fiction Friday - Death Ray Eyes - Ketut Ece Van Middlesworth

Background & Origin: She had a hard youth, being yanked from her home by social services, then running away to the Big City in her early teens, after getting fed up being bounced around foster homes.  Her superstrength emerged shortly before she ran away - feeling that sense of power gave her the idea she could survive. She managed to survive, falling in with organized crime as an enforcer and aid women in positions of control.

She has the following siblings:

• A younger half-sister that she still keeps in touch with, but they're not particularly close. Her sister  doesn't know she is now a supervillain;
• A younger sister that she has lost touch with.  Every once in a while, she makes noises about finding this sister, but hasn't put any real effort into it.

She has experienced the following important events:

• She found that she has an older sister that you never knew she had;
• She fell in love and thought about marriage;
• She made a friend, a surrogate parent who offers advice, perhaps too much advice. They are an important figure both locally and beyond the immediate area;
• Her relationship choices were sub-par, and she found yourself two-timing a steady partner. They found out and broke up;
• An incapacitating accident left her laid up for several months;
• She was involved in several casual relationships, each lasting a month or more, but none become serious

Combat Tactics:  Generally, she just punches people, because it is effective.  She has no problem using her “death ray vision” on especially dangerous foes, or even just to make a point about how powerful and badass she is.

Personality Traits: inspirational, courageous, adventurous,

Appearance:  She favors steampunk fashion, dark and comfortable. She wears her hair long and flowing.

Powers:  She has superhuman strength and endurance. She can generate an unrevealed energy as beams from her eyes that is lethal to all life forms and damaging even to non-organic material.

She carries a steel shield that she calls her “Steam Shield.”

Notes:  Model unknown.  Character by I.A. Riley, August, 2017.

The powers were all random, but I decided I wanted her to have a ranged attack, and then I just went a bit mods happy with the Death Touch.

(model unknown)

Ketut Ece Van Middlesworth - Mighty Protectors

Strength 29 (Carrying Capacity 3840 lbs., Basic HTH d6+d8)

Endurance 19 (Save 12, Heal 2.8)

Agility 16 (Save 11)

Intelligence 18 (Save 12)

Cool 18 (Save 12, Initiative d8+1)

Hit Points 26

Power 82

Physical Defense 1

Mental Defense  2

Move 21

Inventing Points 9

Wealth d6

Luck 10-

Weight x lbs.

Total Cost 100 + 65 - 15 = 150

Powers

Death Vision: Death Touch: Damage d6 Entropy, Range 7”, PR=5, Modifiers:  Range (ST/4”), Armor Piercing 3, Reduced PR (30 CP)

Heightened Attack:  Damage +4 with Death Touch (10 CP)

Heightened Endurance: EN +9, IN +6 (included above)

Heightened Strength: ST +15 (included above)

Wealth: d6 Wealth roll (2.5 CP)

Gear

Armored Costume: Adaptation: High Temperatures, Low Temperatures, Armor: Kinetic 1, Energy 2, Biochemical 1, Entropy 2, Modifiers:  Multifunction Gear (15 CP)

Steam Shield: Shield:  Physical Defense +4, Breakpoint x (7.5 CP)

Weaknesses

TBD (-15 CP)

Combat Summary:

Initiative: d8+1 (avg 5.5)

Unarmed: Attack 14-, Damage d6+d8 OR 2d6+1 (both avg 8)

Death Vision: Attack 14-, Damage d6+4 OR d12+1 (both avg 7.5)

Boilerplate

Document Copyright (C) 2017 by I.A. Riley. All rights reserved.  Portions Copyright others; no attempt is made to infringe upon their rights.

Mighty Protectors and the Monkey House Games logo are trademarks owned by Monkey House Games, ©2017 Monkey House Games. All rights reserved. Made in the U.S.A.

Random backstory generator - http://www.pbegames.com/lifepath/  .

Random name generator - http://www.behindthename.com/random/ .

Random job  generator - http://writingexercises.co.uk/random-job-generator.php .

Random personality trait generator - http://writingexercises.co.uk/random-character-traits-generator.php .

Random height/weight generator - http://tower.newcenturycomputers.net/hwcalc.html .

(see also http://www.healthchecksystems.com/heightweightchart.htm )

It's a Gun, Not a Condom 10: Fear is not Freedom

Daphne Sylk wrote:

This is an exact example of the curse of 'ideals'. Ideals put thinking in a box, only what's inside the box is acceptable. That eventually collides with rationality. Unfortunately, rationality is only partial at best, emotions drive the human mind and emotions create ideals.

The idea of guns as a pillar of freedom is exactly wrong.

A man carrying a weapon for 'protection' isn't free, only scared, otherwise he wouldn't feel the need for protection. Fear is not freedom.

Guns are not protection, particularly considering the number of accidents and suicides. Most trained cops miss targets more than they hit, and that from six feet or less. The average paper popping citizen is more of a menace than a source of protection.

Imagine, if you will, that all the people at the concert in Vegas had been armed. How would that have changed what the shooter did? It wouldn't, those poor people didn't even know where the shots were coming from.

That's why strict regulation is required, because people constantly do things not in their own best interest and certainly not in the best interests of society. If people were remotely rational they wouldn't get so fat, fail tests, take harmful drugs, drive too fast, smoke, gamble, but they do. You can't get most people to make a sensible trip to the dentist once a year.

Since rational self interest is an oxymoron, society has to have rules in place that penalize irrationality. In the case of America, the society is too sick to grasp that their delusional 'ideal' of freedom is killing them.