Nona the Ninth was like you are loved. whatever happens next, we did it it's done you can't take loved away. you were loved once and so you will always be loved. you were changed once and so you will always be changed. and let this cradle you, let this be your lifeline, let this tie you down when you feel like you're falling apart.
and then The Unwanted Guest came and was like.... love changes you. people change you. we change each other, just by existing right now together we rub against each other we bleed we mingle. we leave pieces of ourselves behind. you are the sum of the people who have changed you and sometimes you don't get to choose sometimes you don't want it to have been them. and you can try to run away from that, from them, but they will chase you they will haunt you they ARE you.
if this is the wind up move. i am fucking terrified of the horrors of love
I beat Lost Lace!!!! It took literal weeks but I did it! In the end, I didnt try to cheese it or use Architects I just did it with my normal build and learned all the attacks. Got a 100% too. I'm so happy!
Nolan decided to cut out the "Nobody" scene from the cyclops encounter, which is crazy to me. Its such an important part of the story for so many reasons!
First of all, the Nobody idea is one of Odysseus' most famous tricks and it really portrays his best qualities. He is cautious and canny, and so he does not use his name, instead names himself Nobody. Then, that caution pays off when it lets them escape the other cyclopses.
I haven't seen the movie, do I don't know what happens, but him not naming himself implies there was very little conversation between Odysseus and Polyphemus. Odysseus is famous for his ability and willingness to talk his way out of a situation. He tried to reason with Ployphemus and it didn't work, so he tricked him with the wine and the sheep.
Then the scene also shows his biggest flaw, his pride. Once he gets to the ship, he taunts Polyphemus several times, causing him to throw rocks and it nearly destroys the shop. Then he reveals his name, even knowing Polyphemus is the son of Poesiden. If he had left without revealing his name at all, Poesiden would have never known it was Odysseus that hurt his son. So Odysseus' cleverness wins the day, then his pride makes him loose everything, which is a recurring theme in the poem! He has to overcome that pride to get home again!
Saw Supergirl. Liked it. I now know why a bunch of men gave it bad reviews lol.
The plot was a bit messy, and some things at the end were left in the air. But it was still a good movie.
(Minor spoilers for Supergirl 2026)
Not only did this superhero movie feature not one, but TWO female leads, it focused heavily on emotional themes. Any superhero movie with a woman will automatically get bad reviews, so an extra female lead who was not for sexy, ass kicking purposes was bound to get some hate.
Jason Momoa was in the movie, but he was limited to a few scenes involving big weapons and space bikes, and it felt like the writers threw him in there to give male watchers something to point at and gush how manly and cool he was. I am guessing this was a way to introduce his character for later films, but honestly he was not necessary. In fact, if the writers removed Lobo from the movie entirely, and used that absence to add some more details about the plot, tied up loose ends and let Ruthye take a bit more active role in the final fight instead of him, it would have been an excellent movie about women helping women. Which I guess was the point of having him in the movie at all, I guess.
This movie was about grief, and trauma, and moving on past terrible things. The bad guys traffic young girls to become brides for their male only race. The antagonist is a guy who kills for sport but also breaks into people's homes, takes their food and eats it in front of them, something that feels very personal and violating, especially because the writers didn't make a big deal of it, it was just something I picked up on while watching. A subtle sort of dominance and cruelty and humiliation I don't think most men will comprehend.
The movie is about a young girl not learning to kick ass and take names, but learning how to live despite the terrible things that happen to her. Ruthye mostly stays in the sidelines and watches Kara fight, which felt very real. She's 13. She is watching horrible things happen and Kara did her best to keep this little girl from becoming a killer at her age and keep her safe. Ruthye did have some very good scenes that felt realistic for her skill set. I hated the "don't kill him you'll lose your soul bit" until the very end, were I was pleasantly suprised by Kara. Then I loved that whole arc in retrospect. It wasn't about not getting revenge, it was about keeping a little girl from killing people and enduring more trauma.
I wish there was more focus on the trafficked girls, and the trauma they went through, and what happened to them after Kara saved them. It felt unfinished and I feel like if the movie focused more on that, it would have tipped the scale from good to great. But then the male audience would've hated it more. So.
I feel like if I became a vampire nothing about me would change.. but I wouldn't be a European vampire I'd be closer to like a Krasue, where I'm sort of just a floating head with my organs flapping around beneath me like tentacles and I digest the blood of man because I simply hate them
we have dandelions EVERYWHERE, they are basically our State Weed, it is absolutely impossible that my mom has never interacted with a dandelion before, this requires further investigation
So after extensive interrogation I have an update:
my mom is in fact aware that dandelions exist. she temporarily forgot the name and there was some miscommunication.
the truth is actually weirder
sheās aware dandelions look like this
she is familiar with this flower. she knows the name of this flower. she declines to believe, however, that these are also dandelions
she does not believe these are the same plant. I tried to explain, and she thought I was either misinformed or lying. so I asked her what exactly did she think the yellow ones were called?
she answered, with complete confidence: Daffodils.
ābuttercupsā is a name applied to MANY flowers. in my part of the south it was this one:
imo thereās correct identifications of dandelions, daffodils, easter lilies and marigolds in this thread, but buttercups are simply impossible to agree on and the only solution is for everyone to post pictures of their local buttercups
Reasons why the Schemers Table was so good, and why the Seekers and Soldiers Tables fell flat:
First, I want to make things clear that I liked all the tables, they each had their ups and downs, and this post is not a criticism of CR4, Brennan or any player. This is my personal opinion. And when I mention one player being good at something, I am not implying that the other players are not good at that thing. Absolutely no criticisms to anyone, I am just bring up some factors that effected the tables and how they were portrayed. (This is going to be a very long analysis)
1. The Schemers Table had the perfect group of players. First, it was a little smaller, so each Schemer got a bit more screen time than the Soldiers. Second, three of the players are from CR and worked really well together from the start, while Luis is both an amazing DnD player and super good at improv so he was able to fit in really well. Liam has always been the clever DnD player, he was the reason CR started in the first place, and he plays very well and very cleverly. His characters are fairly straightforward, but he uses them really well. He learns all the rules and figures out the loopholes and really knows how to make a moment shine. Think of Vax becoming the Raven Queen's Champion, of Caleb presenting the Beacon to the Queen, and now, Hal carefully creating a play to start a rebellion.
Taliesin is amazing at creating really interesting and deep characters. He is just so good at character creation. Percy and Mollymauk are some of the most beloved characters in CR. Taliesin is so good at making characters and interacting with other players and the world, and making the gameplay interesting. Bolaire is a genius character and can add so many interesting logistics to the game. He can literally be picked up and carried anywhere, and put on anybody.
I don't know Luis, but from what I have seen of Azune, he is also brilliant at character creation and his acting and improv is stunning. He really brings so so much to the table. The whole thing with Azune changing his appearance slightly to make targets more accepting of him, more comfortable, and how that stems from him being a child soldier who was abandoned...! So good.
Marisha is really good at working with teams, and holding people together and keeping everyone on track in the story. She is a clever player who has some really good moments of insight. Her being there to keep everything on track and moving really helped the plot and pacing of the Schemers. I think Liam is also good at this, and depriving the other tables of Liam and Marisha's "stay on track" vines definitely showed.
So combined, these four worked so well together, were already very familiar with playing together with the addition of a great improv guy. They are all really clever players which fit the vibe of Schemers really well, and they stayed on track and didn't really get distracted from their goals.
2. Location. The Schemers Table stayed in one city, in the place we have already gotten the lore of and are more familiar with. The Seekers and Soldiers were either in the middle of nowhere or in a new city or place that introduced a ton of new lore and descriptions very quickly. It was a lot for the audience to handle, and for the players too, when combined with a new world, new characters and new magic rules. It made things that much more confusing and hard to keep up with, especially when the audience and players would start to get used to a new place, then they would move again. Also, less travel time in the Schemers Table gave them more time to focus on story, characters and action.
Now, I did really enjoy learning about the new world we have been given, and I especially loved the Endless Night. I adore the overarching theme of "The gods were cruel, so we rose up and killed them, but it left catastrophic changes in the society, the magic, the land itself and even the afterlife." The empire of the Sun God falling to darkness and monsters after his death is sooo cool. But there was so much information. Players had to focus on all the new lore and descriptions and implications instead of focusing on player interaction and plot. While the Schemers didn't have to deal with the added information and could instead turn more attention to the story and the character development. And the audience didn't have to split their attention either.
3. Goals. The Schemers had a clearly defined goal of causing unrest and figuring out what the Sundered Houses are up to in Dol-Makjar. They were also given a lot more time in each episode to meet and plan their actions in advance, as part of their play style.
The Soldiers did have a clear goal of finding Cid and Casimir, but they weren't really given a lot of time to plan and had to figure out stuff on the fly. Which is fine, but it made things a little messy. Also, different players had different goals, which is something both Seekers and Soldiers dealt with. The Schemers had one goal that they all worked together on, with nothing else getting in the way. In Soldiers, Thimble was focused entirely on revenge, Teor wanted to find his brother, Wic wanted to figure out his purpose and faith, Tyranny wanted to find her purpose, and Kattigan was searching for his family's killer. They have a goal but they are pulled in different directions.
Seekers is really where the problem with clear goals was an issue. The Seekers were trying to figure out what is going on with the Stone of Nightsong and the Tachonis. They were also looking for Taisha's son. But they didn't have a clear direction to go and were kind of wandering around blindly, hoping to stumble on a clue. Which is how a lot of DnD happens, but with this new world, lore and magic, with so much that is unknown, it didn't work out as well. Again, everyone had very different goals that are just barely aligned. Taisha wanted to find her son. Octis wanted to figure out what the hell happened to him and what his family planned to do to him and why. Julien wanted revenge for his father. Vaelus wanted o resurrect her goddess? Find her family? I honestly don't know what Vaelus wants, and I don't thing she does either.
Not having a clear path really hurt the Seekers. They kept going over what they knew and figured out, which was annoying, but I think it was because the players had no idea what to do next and were hoping going over everything would jog Brennan into revealing something or giving them hints. And then anything small they learned was lost in all the new information about the location they were in and lore and backstories, which were cool but not really important to the plot at that moment.
So, in the end, the Schemes table was more cohesive with a great roster of players that worked really well together, took place in a more familiar location, and had a clearly defined goal. They worked together to reach that goal without getting distracted, side tracked or overwhelmed. It was easier for the audience to understand what was going on and the Schemers were given more opportunities to pick and choose plots and directions. That is why I think Schemers was the most liked Table of the three, while most fans agreed that the other Tables fell a little flat.
I live in a very touristy beach town, and I really don't mind the tourists that much. Like yeah, it gets crowded in the summer, the traffic sucks, everything is more expensive... But I do enjoy being able to live in a place people regularly pay money and take time off work to go to.
However. I have a hobby of collecting teeny tiny pieces of sea glass. The problem is the best beach to collect the tiny pieces is located in the most campy, touristy place in town. Complete with a guy who draws cartoon portraits (who I am now causal acquaintances with)
My local friends thing I'm crazy for willingly going to the worst Tourist Area for fun, and the tourists think I'm crazy for digging through the sand and getting soaked for no discernible reason. Or me darting in and out of waves like a madwoman. Or me wearing tennis shoes in the water (which is the way to go trust me)
As a society we have benefited so much from successful public health measures that we now have the privilege of declaring that we must not need them anymore
Bitch before enriched flour, neural tube defects like spina bifida were far more common. Even now, spina bifida clinicians and researchers are begging to have salt and maize fortified to reach groups that donāt use as much flour. Before iodized salt, the United States had a fucking GOITER BELT. Eleven years after the introduction of fluoridated water, a city in Michigan found the rate of dental caries among school children dropped a staggering 60%ā in an era where tooth decay regularly fucking killed people
Iām literally not even going to start on vaccines, which are among the most successful and robustly studied public health measures in world history
You might say āoh well today we all have access to vitamins and toothpastes and dentists so we donāt need those things in our food suppliesā and boy do white people on social media loooove to fucking say that. But hereās the thing: no, people donāt all have easy access to those things. Thatās privilege talking yet again
This also applies to all environmental regulations, safety regulations for things like food, workplaces, buildings, ect, and unions and workplace protections!
The Cuyahoga River in Cleveland was so polluted by industries on its banks it caught fire 14 times. The last time helped spur the founding of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other environmental protection acts.
Air pollution used to be so bad guys. People died of respitory problems just from living in major cities. The rivers and groundwater were filled with toxic metals and chemicals. Do yourself a favor and look up Hinkely, CA. Its a small town that was decimated by a PG&E power plant that leaked hexovalent chromium in the ground water and caused generations of cancer and fertility issues.
Environmental regulations were created because people died. Food safety regulations were created to stop businesses from putting sawdust in bread to save money, stopped them from mixing spoiled milk with chalk.
All those OSHA trainings? Every workplace safety training is a thing because people got hurt or died. Because corporations cut safety standards to save money and didn't care if their workers got hurt. Unions were created so businesses couldn't make their employees work 12 hour days or overtime with no pay. Everything we have someone else had to fight for.
The government sets regulations to help people. To help the public. Because that is what governments are for. The regulations we have are written in blood, the result of people dying and then other people standing up and fighting for those regulations the big corporations are trying to convince you are unnecessary and hurting the economy.
Why do you think Republicans and their donors push so hard for unregulated government? Why do they push so hard to lower regulations "for the economy" Because those regulations get in the way of them saving money at the cost of hurting people. Time has made people forget the tragedies of the past. And large corporations have convinced people that regulations are governement interference and that is a bad thing. No! We want the government to interfere and stop businesses from hurting people! Thats a good thing!
Look up the history of environmental law in your country. Look up the history of food safety and unions and how we got to where we are today. Don't forget what a world without government interference looks like.
I really wish Leonide had lived. I understand that her death raised the stakes and made Murderbot accept her request. But I wish she had lived solely for the interactions she would have had with Murderbot and the Mensah Family during the book. Her corporate ideals clashing with Preservation values, she and Murderbot snarking back and forth and she grapples with the fact that it is a rouge SecUnit and that it has a personality.
Leonide's reaction to Murderbot's everything: from its clever ideas, insane hacking skills, lack of actual murder and the way it recruits other bots into the cause to how it cares so so much about helping humans, would have been amazing. Leonide's world view rapidly expanding during the book because of this grumpy media-obsessed SecUnit, combined with these tough but kind Preservationers, would have been so, so good.
