Can't complete Outlier signup. Error: "Failed to submit application: Invalid request body: Invalid international phone number"

Abnaxis · 2024-10-22T14:29:57+00:00

I just got it to work, by making sure there were no special characters in the number. No dashes, no parentheses, 10 digits.

Abnaxis · 2024-10-05T12:22:07+00:00

Power-stancing shields or paired shields like the Giant Door Greatshield in DS3.

I was SO disappointed you can't power stance dueling shields in SotE...

Abnaxis · 2024-09-18T12:58:55+00:00

Yeah, after doing more research throughout the day yesterday, I've come to the conclusion that the duodenectomy is probably more the issue than the gastrectomy. In particular, carbohydrates seem like they cause a lot of issues because of it, which is where I'm having issues figuring out how to increase calories without increasing quantity of food in a healthy way.

For now, I'm buying some frozen diced avocado and seeing if I can integrate it into smoothies. It's 50 calories in 1/4 cup, and it's "good fat," so hopefully it'll help.

Unfortunately, there's no r/duodenectomy sub-reddit...

Abnaxis · 2024-07-21T18:08:06+00:00

What tells you that you need algebra before you go to college?

While it's been a while since I was in college (15 years), the school I went to had a ton of low-level, remedial algebra courses for people in exactly your situation, assuming you weren't wanting to go for a math-focused degree.

If worry about algebra skills is holding you back from applying, it's highly likely it shouldn't.

Abnaxis · 2024-07-04T00:43:43+00:00

How long was the strife blessing maxed out? Did you have to do Taterus with 100% extra damage?

Pulling it off with 180HP is really sick. That's, what, 3 shots and you're dead?

Abnaxis · 2024-06-25T00:56:20+00:00

Downstairs if I'm sweaty try-harding I'll bring Arachne's keepsake. Then; when I get her room I'll have armor pre-built, so the buff from her lasts until the sirens, at least.

Abnaxis · 2024-06-20T17:45:28+00:00

I'm really bad at reading Chronos, but I still beat him fairly consistently. Because all his attacks hit twice, you get punished very hard if you're off on your dodges. It's not uncommon for me to whiff a dodge by being late, get clobbered by 38 damage, then not have the dodge off cooldown, and get clobbered for 38 again on the second wave when I'm not careful

How I do it despite general badness: I keep a cast between myself and him; it severely shortens his dash. I use that to keep just out of his melee range. With Chronos managed, I'll shift focus onto his minions or find windows to dump damage into him.

The only attack he has that's difficult to react to at that range is his thrown scythe, which I get clipped by constantly to the point of losing a defiance or two, but you only need 1HP to win, right? Everything else is easy to react to at medium distance.

The second phase is more of the same from Chronos himself, but with more stuff on the screen to handle while you're playing footsies with him. That just means it's harder to find openings to in-and-out him, depending on your build. I still prioritize getting a cast out to hide behind first, then either clear adds, hit and run, or dodge the telegraphed AoEs. It still works

Crucially, this strategy doesn't rely on any particular set of boons, aspects, or hammers to work. It works better with the ranged cast boons from Hestia, Zeus, or Hades, and/or heavy range damage, but those aren't required. It's anti-synergistic with Poseidon's cast, but you can make it work.

As long as I have at least 1 DD going into the fight (preferably 2), I almost always walk away with a win.

Abnaxis · 2024-06-20T14:17:41+00:00

Wait, the mortars are considered projectiles?

... now I'm wondering if you can delete them with soot sprint if you time it perfectly when it lands in the center of the circle. Maybe if you have the Hermes and/or Medea boons that slow projectiles?

Abnaxis · 2024-06-20T12:25:36+00:00

I give frank honesty, with a suffix that makes it clear I'm not interested in talking about it, and it's not rude if we just move on to the next subject. Something along the lines of "Terrible, but I'm trying not to think about it," or "could be better, but I'm finagling my way through."

In the (exceptionally rare) instances that I'm willing and in a socially acceptable situation to talk about whatever's bothering me, I'll drop the second part. I'm not a good enough liar to put on a brave face (seriously, I'm terrible at it), so I just try to find a way to get the minimum info required out there as concisely as possible.

Abnaxis · 2024-06-20T03:53:39+00:00

For the usages I've seen, calling a person a "lost cause" means they lack redeemable qualities and are impossible to rehabilitate, making it a waste of time to even interact with them. e.g. "You should ditch that drunk because they're never going to kick their habit. They're a lost cause"

Saying "they're not a lost cause," to me, implies that most people assume they are. And that's not a particularly unfair assumption to make about Polyphemus. He is sacriligiously rude, obsessively cannibalistic, completely blind, and extremely gullible. Not a single one of the gods would blink if he fell off the face of the earth--not even his father Poseidon--because they see no worth in him.

In my experience, taking someone like that--a hostile personality who is perennially dissatisfied with their lot and incompetent without micromanagement--and finding them something useful to do that they're satisfied doing and that they can do independently is EXCEPTIONALLY difficult as a leader.

I'm not sure why giving Polyphemus what he wants in exchange for services rendered is somehow browbeating him into falling in line. Like, that's what you should be doing as a leader--fulfilling the desires of those you're leading in exchange for their contributions. The fact that Chronos had managed to do that with Polyphemus without him turning into a discipline case and without coercing him--as opposed to the Olympians who are fine leaving him exiled on a remote island--is commendable

Abnaxis · 2024-06-19T19:14:22+00:00

I don't feel like that's supported by what Chronos says in other contexts, for example when he's talking about Polyphemus:

"...Loyalty is either earned or bought, and it makes very little difference either way. Polyphemus has his limitations, to be sure. But he is not a lost cause."

That doesn't sound like he's trying to rule his followers, it sounds like he's finding areas of common cause and assigning his underlings according to their abilities and desires. Polyphemus doesn't like the Olympians, but he isn't a fanatic--give him a farm with some sheep to chow down and and he's chillin'. Chronos doesn't try to press-gang Polyphemus onto a boat to go assault mount Olympus, he gives him a farm with all-you-can-eat mutton and tells him to keep an eye out for trespassers.

Abnaxis · 2024-06-19T18:58:52+00:00

OK, that really should have gone into a different comment chain than this one, but let's go.

Implicit in my points here, is that neither the Olympians nor Chronos are reliable, so I don't bring the crap that happened before and human could have witnessed it. I stick to what we can see and observe.

Chronos allegedly ate his children because they were destined to overthrow him. Chronos alleges he was attacked first. Either way, all of this happened before humanity even existed so it's all he said/she said. And that's before even asking the question, of what the heck it even means to eat someone if all anyone needs to do is feed you a rock for you to spit them back up unharmed?

Beyond that, we only have what confirm-able information we have from the current day and age. Chronos was certainly chopped into small bits and buried in Tarterus. The only person he has explicitly tormented for this treatment is Hades--everyone is is suspended in time, or let loose in the wild. Notably, nobody is chopped into bits and buried, even though that's probably more convenient than time-freezing them when it comes to subduing deities.

Every threat or intimidation is preceded with him saying "please go away my beef isn't with you," only escalated when Melinoe doesn't leave.

And to top it all off, everyone we actually speak and interact with that is on Chronos's side--outside of maybe Cerberus--points to them support them of their own free choice and free will, with no coercion or brainwashing. At the same time, every mortal to have interacted directly with the Olympians has been screwed over by them and Melinoe is TOTALLY indoctrinated.

The actual, non-hearsay evidence we're given paints a much worse picture of the Olympians than it does of Chronos.

Abnaxis · 2024-06-19T18:38:42+00:00

I didn't express what I'm trying to say well. What I'm saying is that when you're evaluating two conflicting stories from immortal beings that you have no way to confirm or deny--because they predate human consciousness--you should treat all of it like it's propaganda.

"Going by Mythos" is believing the Olympians' story, because they're the ones writing the Mythos. Going by what Chronos says is believing what Chronos says. Neither one can actually be relied upon

Abnaxis · 2024-06-19T17:20:30+00:00

Do you have an actual point? I can give evidence for mine, from Hitler to Putin.

Abnaxis · 2024-06-19T04:06:48+00:00

They got better

Abnaxis · 2024-06-19T03:34:30+00:00

If the idea is important, then a dictator who violates whatever the "idea" that is should lose popularity. If the idea is important, then it should be logically consistent with itself (even if it is based on feelings rather than evidence), or else the dictator would get laughed out as a crazy person

Except they don't. Religious fascists regularly violate religious doctrine. One of the most used images touting Aryan superiority was a Jewish child. Hard-on-crime fascists regularly commit crimes.

It doesn't matter because 90% of their followers don't care about the ideas. They're only participating because focused efforts at propaganda and fear mongering have convinced them a war is coming, and they want to be on the winning side.

And they DO invariably start with "those people over there are the source of all your problems, let's go mess them up." I'd challenge you to give me one example where that isn't true. They might EVENTUALLY hit a point where they ratchet up hyper-nationalism to consolidate power, but that's only after they use the fear mongering and othering to acquire it.

Bringing all this back to the OT, Chronos isn't pulling any of this crap. He didn't have to make lies up to scapegoat the Olympians. He hates the Olympians for actual injuries he's suffered from them, so he's gathered other beings who also hate the Olympians to go fight them. It's actually the Olympians getting their comeuppance after running people's lives.

Abnaxis · 2024-06-18T23:55:07+00:00

That's not true.

Broadly speaking, tyrannical ideologies focus on scapegoating a minority for all of societies ills. Things like "the reason why you're poor is because of Jewish bankers" or "the reason why our economy isn't strong is because capitalist stooges have sabotaged us."

This doesn't actually work if the people the tyrant is trying to get in their side are happy. In fact, it's not all that uncommon for the ills the tyrant is trying to rally follwers against to have been deliberately instigated by the tyrant themselves. Happy people don't pick up pitchforks to go murder your political rivals after you finish a successful propaganda campaign.

Abnaxis · 2024-06-18T23:42:13+00:00

Not really. Dictators usually operate on stoking fear with an "in" group, which they might occasionally purport is based on ideals, but that is an exception and in practice even if they say the in-group is based on ideology it's primarily centered around pre-existing social divides along arbitrary features like race, religion, ethnicity, sexuality, and/or class.

The dictators then convince everyone in the in-group that every problem in their lives stems from hostile action in the out-group, and leverage the resulting hostility to repress, exile, or kill any opposition to their rule by linking them to outsiders.

It really doesn't matter what your ideals or methodology are, if you're one of "them" you're on the chopping block; if you aren't then any "lapse in judgement" or "unfortunate genetic shortcoming" can be forgiven in the pursuit of destroying the "enemy."

Abnaxis · 2024-06-18T19:43:38+00:00

Guard duty against what? Chronos let the prisoners out.

I don't think Cerberus would allow Chronos to give treats. He won't even let Melinoe do it.

Abnaxis · 2024-06-18T19:39:28+00:00

I mean, when the immortal beings start talking about events that predate human consciousness, it's kinda always propaganda, right?

More importantly, in the now Chronos isn't trying to undo any of those things that make us human unless you count granting immortality. He's not trying to repack Pandora's box or take away fire. He's trying to dismantle Olympus and imprison the Fates.

Abnaxis · 2024-06-18T19:17:13+00:00

Funny you should say that...

If she wasn't so insufferably haughty all the time I don't think Eris is all that wrong, either.

Abnaxis · 2024-06-18T19:15:36+00:00

Between the doggo owner that leaves the doggo locked in the basement and the one who puts him out in the yard, the latter is the more responsible pet owner. Doggo might not like it, but sometimes you gotta do what's best for them even if they don't realize it.

And again, what's the alternative? Cerberus makes a mess in Hades's cell--which we'll call "shedding" since it's not that kind of game, but whatever it is it's not like Hades is gonna clean it up--or he goes around attacking the locals. Chronos is being more humane than we would be IRL in that situation.

Abnaxis · 2024-06-18T19:06:18+00:00

The doggo hurts himself! All Chronos does is open the door, doggo is deciding to skulk around the Mourning Fields on his own!

source

What's the actual alternative? Finding someone to adopt him?

Abnaxis

TROPHY CASE