#hypotheticals

[danshive]

YOU! Are granted the power to suddenly own ONE video game franchise, and to hire the best people who have ever worked on it (and/or anyone else you want in on it).

What video game franchise are you rescuing--er, acquiring?

[paperclips37]

So Mel has a full shutdown panic attack after the deposition.

No one is able to reach her.

Trinity who clocked Mel's attitude shift that morning pre and post Langdons arrival.

Begrudgingly. Annoyed. Grumpily. Furiously. She stomps over to Langdon. He fully expects to have his head ripped off. And is willing to take it.

Her jaw tenses. She spits something out that he can't make out. Trinity growls.

"Mel is having a panic attack in the staff room. Think she needs you."

Frank jumps to his feet, without thinking places a hand on her shoulders. "Thank you Doctor Santos".

And he's gone.

Trinity has to admit to herself that's he's not all bad.

But she'll never say it out loud.

Ever.

[charl0ttan]

what if there's was a creature or aminal of somekind

we salute

[incognitopolls]

Are you autistic? Do impossible/improbable hypothetical scenarios and "what-if"s cause you distress?

I'm autistic; yes, often

I'm autistic; sometimes

I'm autistic; no, not really

Not autistic; yes, often

Not autistic; sometimes

Not autistic; no, not really

Not sure if autistic; yes, often

Not sure if autistic; sometimes

Not sure if autistic; no, not really

Other/it's complicated

Voting ended onDec 19, 2025

Anon is autistic and wants to know if how they feel about impossible or difficult "what-if" questions is "normal" or if it's something other autistic people experience.

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We ask your questions anonymously so you don’t have to! Submissions are open on the 1st and 15th of the month.

[canadiancryptid]

That stupid button question is everywhere. I thought it was just on twitter, but its escaped containment. Now everybody is arguing about red vs blue and most of them aren't even doing it right.

Any argument that frames one option as the default or functionally removes a button misses the point entirely. Both options are a choice you have to make, thats what makes the question interesting. Red isn't just a murder button, nor is blue a suicide button. While its true that everybody would be safe if the results were 100% on one side or the other, that would never happen, so the option isn't really worth entertaining. The anonymity is key, any version where you can see the group sizes or communicate with others while making your choice doesn't work. The original post for the version going around doesn't say "only people who can understand the question", it says everyone.

Choosing blue isn't stupid, its having empathy and believing altruistim will win out despite everything. Wanting to ensure your own survival by pressing red isn't inherently morally wrong, but I've seen more than a few arguments in its favor that certainly are.

I'm losing my mind. Nuance is dead and nobody knows how to argue something without taking the ship and rebuilding it into a horse. Sure, its still made of the same planks, but its not the same thing anymore and I'm going to question why you felt the need to change it into something else.

[turtle-paced]

Do you think that if Tyrion hadn’t been framed for Joffrey murder then Varys would have eventually murdered him? Varys needed the Lannisters as incompetent and cruel as possible to make Aegon seem appealing and Tyrion being the most competent of the Lannisters makes him a liability.

I doubt it would have been option one, or option two. It would have been a numbered option though. Probably option three or option four.

Varys can see as well as anyone else in the Red Keep that Tyrion is unpopular. Not just with the general population of King's Landing but within his own family. In ASoS Tyrion is marginalised politically within the regime; the danger for Varys would be that Tywin held his nose long enough to make good use of Tyrion as Master of Coin. Especially if Tywin came to that conclusion because he has to ship Cersei off somewhere she can't do much damage, and he needs at least one kid to be present and competent.

But Varys is also aware of Tyrion's relationship with Shae. That relationship is a very convenient lever to keep Tyrion distracted and, if needed, it could be revealed for whatever political consequences to Tyrion (and whatever other consequences to Shae, none of which are going to be fair, some of which could be lethal).

Varys knows Tyrion's got severely mixed feelings about his family and identified him as a potential recruit. Giving Tyrion the Ser Barristan treatment has got to be the preferred option even if Joffrey wasn't murdered when he was. Next best after recruiting him is disgracing Tyrion and getting him sent away; he can be recruited or used later in life that way, and in the short term he won't be there managing the accounts for the Lannisters.

Murder wasn't option one even with Ned, who is absolutely not a recruitment prospect at all. Varys isn't out there killing people because he thinks it's fun. He kills people because he believes he needs to, and he has a pretty high bar for that assessment. Hell, Varys even ships Gendry, Robert's bastard son, a young man of fighting age, out of the city to get him out of Cersei's range. So with all that in mind, with Tyrion, I think Varys would prefer to try a few other options before setting the little birds on him.

[creekwyrm]

being immortal and an artist would be so horrible actually. paintbrushes that didnt fail you for decade after decade begin to break down and the bristles come loose but you cant let it go until its literally unusable because it's the only brush that makes you paint like 'you' in whatever esoteric way that is that you cant describe. but the wood and fibre continues to rot in your hand. chisels and blades wear away to nothing from centuries of carving and sharpening but you cant wield any other like you could that one, feel clumsy and novice with the replacement in your hands after so many years of muscle memory for a tool that doesnt behave like this wretched modern counterpart. the recipe for your favourite clay becomes lost to time and try as you might anything else you try never wields as well, shapes as well, glazes as well, and your floors are painted in frustration and cast-aside failures. of pigments made with plants that have long since been extinct, material deposits that simply dry up, the innately mortal nature of anything designed to be used, of the canvases and wood and stone and ceramic of your centuries of work, your masterpieces, succumbing to time just as anything else is bound to. of those stupid fucking treasure hunters taking your paintings from the crumbling, ancient place you call home while you're not around and displaying them in museums on another god damn continent and having to fight the government for literal decades throwing gold deposits to the sea in travel and legal fees before you can get your hands back on them