Grumpy Dragon Lady

like without government intervention, strawberry jam would have wood in it. like it's a thing. food companies realized that they could use less of the expensive strawberries as ingredients and just use wood. there are laws you cannot legally call it strawberry jam if you do this. you have to call it a strawberry product or spread. food companies are always trying to get that shit through. they have lobby groups pushing that all the time

it is more expensive to put metal detectors in a food processing plant. companies want to cut costs. it is a legal requirement in a lot of countries to have them. so it forces companies to install them.

also to do routine inspections. that is a government requirement. so are building codes. a lot of codes are the bare minimum. like some companies will exceed the code and have more protections but a lot don't. like if it is not in the code, they don't do it. so that's why having governing bodies that regulate building safety, worker safety, food safety and product safety are crucial. because without them, your employer will not see the need to have exit doors with quick release handles, or do routine fire sprinkler inspections or have road salt for the sidewalks. some of it is basic fucking stuff.

companies when left alone do not regulate themselves. it's been historically untrue. companies want to give you a product that is cheap for them to make and that they can sell at the highest price so they can get the most profit. for everyone who loves capitalism, that's what it is. the free market will not self-regulate. if you don't have anti-monopoly laws and anti-wage theft laws and workers' protections, the open market will not fix that organically.

and it's fucked up! because circumstances aligned that just as gen z grew up and lost their innocence, so too did the places they frequented fall into disrepair; what more poignant metaphor could you find for dead decadence than having the excesses of your childhood literally fall apart as you grew up? and its so interesting, because it''s not quite the same fear as the dark forest full of monsters that preceded the liminal spaces movement; humanity has long moved past being seriously threatened by packs of wolves or stray bears, and so the mythology around them stagnates. but that level of industrialization, the building of ever-bigger buildings, the stripping of human imperfection in favor of mass-production, the pervasive sense of not fitting into a world that was supposed to be promised to you? that has shaped the concept of a "liminal space" in a facinating way. i think that's why the liminal spaces movement is dominated by man-made locations- to the point where even when set outside, the focus is specifically on an artificial element of the landscape. the mass-production, the sameness of modern architecture- it's expressed by exaggerating it, stretching what would be in reality large but walkable buildings into expansive labyrinths with no rhyme or reason to their construction- which, of course, is the point; that instead of there being no reason for it's existence, like a dark forest, there is a theoretical purpose that these buildings are fulfilling- one that is entirely exclusive of you. it's an expression of decadence a level above dead rich people haunting their own hoarded wealth; a building built entirely for it's own sake, built until it encompasses the entire world, where humanity has been entirely excised. to a generation that now worries more about the seemingly unknowable whims of corporations, dead decadence no longer means old castles and dilapidated manors where one rich man lived and died- it means empty suburbs where no one lives, grungy shopping malls with every booth shuttered, playgrounds and arcades left to rot at the will of an ambiguous gestalt for reasons strange and opaque.

I would say that recreating the characterisation, mood and general vibes of an existing work of fiction is in fact a skill in and of itself that's acquired via practice. A common compliment delivered to fanfiction writers is how well they have captured the spirit of the original work. Inexperienced fanfiction writers fail to do this.

When creating an original character you can, ultimately, say anything about them and now it's canon bcos you created them and you said so. conversely, well, if you are covering a well known song and start playing the wrong notes people will notice immediately.

In addition: a lot of fanfiction, IMO, is in actuality a form of metafictional literary analysis. a story where two characters sit down and talk about their feelings about a canonical event? literary analysis, which is of course a skill. Sometimes fanfiction is bad bcos the writer is not good at interpreting texts.

He's incredibly competent in this movie, using all his old knowledge and new (mostly practical) to his advantage. Want to surprise him in the elevator? No, bitch, you can't, because your army boots with your suit will sow seeds of doubt. Want to hide a Nazi bunker? Steve knows military etiquette better than you.

He rocks. HE DESTROYED JET WITH ONLY HIS SHIELD. He's a one-man army that works perfectly in a team.

He's adapted to the modern world and ready to move on. He's not hysterically clinging to the past. He makes new friends (Sam) and considers potential relationships on his own ("Kate").

He's not afraid to speak up and to tell someone off, he stands his ground, he's SASSY.

I wanted to buy this print but last I checked on his site it was sold out. Here’s his shop though:

Also Triangle is one of my favorites