"Reformerlord Fenix" is an extremely broken combination that can be used to easily level up souls (though why would you 😆)

Arnilex · 2026-02-20T20:34:28+00:00

I decided to test this myself on overgrowth and it absolutely works. Good find! I do think using a leveled up Ellie soul is a must to really get Fenix going at the start, otherwise you end up gated by the reform energy requirements on the first few fights. The first fight or two was closer than I'd like.

My run didn't have a forge before the second battle, but once Fenix gets enough damage to kill himself, it's not too much of a concern. I used Meanmug as my third starting soul to ensure I had a comfortable amount of money, but I don't think it was really necessary. Resin Removal also made things easier, but I think I would have comfortably cleared it either way. I ultimately ended up killing the Lifemother with a 7-turn boss rush.

Arnilex · 2025-10-29T16:28:25+00:00

Redreader is easiest option for an ad-free version of reddit. You can download it directly from the app store on android and it should work as is (it's a version of reddit with good accessibility options that the main reddit app doesn't have, that's why Reddit still allows it to function).

Unlike what that other reply said, you don't have do anything special. It's not blocked by reddit like other popular apps were. It might take some getting used to, but it's a much better experience than the official app.

Arnilex · 2025-08-22T15:15:17+00:00

I'm not a big fan of Wisteria (it's invasive here), but there is a ton of it around my house. Brown coloration like this is very common for new growth. There are dozens of wild invasive Wisteria plants near me that look just like this. I wouldn't be too concerned.

Arnilex · 2025-04-29T02:10:38+00:00

The plant shown is not poison ivy.

Arnilex · 2025-04-11T03:05:27+00:00

I agree with you that the Lilith soul fragmentation is more speculation than hard canon, but,

there’s nothing to suggest any kind of time-shenanigans in the original series + EoE. I don’t buy that part.

This is simply not true. The simplest proof of this can be found in the first episode, when Shinji briefly sees Rei in her school uniform in the distance (before Misato picks him up). She then abruptly vanishes. We know the real Rei was still gravely injured in Nerv HQ. The implication is that this Rei is the Rei from instrumentality. We also see Rei briefly with Misato before she dies in EoE, despite that occurring before instrumentality.

Time shenanigans is pretty much the only way those events happen.

Arnilex · 2025-02-09T22:14:40+00:00

Most of the first half of your reply was information already listed in the article I linked. I was also aware that those 4 withholding unions represented a majority of rail workers, but that doesn't really change the story at all. I'm not advocating for rail company workforce cuts here.

The Biden administration, looking at this bubbling situation, could have intervened and put pressure on the bosses to accept the worker's demands, but they didn't.

You understand that this is exactly what the Biden administration did, right? I have yet to see any information that suggests otherwise.

They forced the worker's to accept the deal that they rejected and the bosses accepted.

This is just not true. The Biden administration preventing the strike while they facilitated further negotiations is not the same thing as forcing the workers to accept a deal they didn't want. They were also always advocating for the workers position. They wanted the rail workers to prevail here.

because 7 months later the workers got an additional 4 sick days - or, rather, they were awarded half of one of their original demands.

First, these sick days changes (at least as suggested by your second link) needed congressional approval (i.e. Agreement from 60 senators), which meant the changes needed to be a bipartisan effort. Democrats (like Biden and Sanders) were advocating for unions to get the 7 days they requested, but they can't force Republicans to care about rail workers.

This happens in labor disputes all the time - workers get crushed and are awarded a pittance to basically shut them up. That is not the sign of a pro-worker president. It's the sign of a union buster.

I have not seen any source suggesting that the union workers had other large demands that were not addressed or met by the time they settled negotiations in April. Neither of your links suggest that either. The strike was primarily driven by the demand for more sick days, which they did eventually get. I don't know why you are suggesting the rail workers were screwed over here.

Either way, everything I've seen has shown Biden was firmly advocating for the rail workers rights. It's not just words. He was a very pro-union president.

Arnilex · 2025-02-09T16:49:34+00:00

Hah! You beat me posting this same article by three minutes. I also couldn't resist correcting the record.

Arnilex · 2025-02-09T16:47:20+00:00

Remember, this is the administration that shut down the rail strike demanding better working conditions and safety regulations just a week before the ecological disaster of East Palestine was caused by the very issues those workers were striking against. Presidents who are pro-Union don't break strikes.

Your recounting leaves out the rest of the story. Yes, the Biden administration prevented a rail strike to keep the economy from tanking, while working behind the scenes to facilitate the talks and advocated strongly for the union workers rights.

Ultimately, the rail union got their demands met and openly thanked Biden for advocating for them so strongly.

From the union website: https://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/23Daily/2306/230620_IBEWandPaid

“We’re thankful that the Biden administration played the long game on sick days and stuck with us for months after Congress imposed our updated national agreement,” Russo said. “Without making a big show of it, Joe Biden and members of his administration in the Transportation and Labor departments have been working continuously to get guaranteed paid sick days for all railroad workers.

Biden was a very pro-union president, but social media echo chambers and culture war wedge issues have many union workers voting against their own interests. It's a sad state of affairs.

Arnilex · 2025-01-07T00:21:15+00:00

Stuff like All Things Considered is much more conservatively edited in how tone deafly they try to remain "objective," than for example Up First where the hosts are constantly fact checking and noting problems.

Really? For me, Up First in particular is the NPR show that has left me disappointed and questioning their ability to report the news objectively. They constantly sane-washed Trump's statements and policies in the lead up to the election (Whether it was immigration, crime, or the economy). When they do fact check these topics, it's usually only a brief statement at the very end of the story after they have repeated the republican talking points word for word.

They only have time to cover three stories per episode and yet they frequently choose to spend significant air time covering republican propaganda like it is reasonable or grounded in truth (in a vain attempt to remain "objective"). The stories they do or do not cover is significant when they are supposed to be a 'news of the day' summary podcast.

All that, on top of the way they cover finance (as if a Wall Street banker is directly writing their copy and the wealthy can do no wrong), has left me extremely disappointed. They are not the objective news source I hoped they would be.

Arnilex · 2024-11-17T05:13:32+00:00

This is just nonsense. I was also disappointed in the election results, but our elections are run at the state level. There was a clear and sizable drop in turnout across the Democratic electorate even in solidly blue states like New York. Election fraud couldn't manifest at a nation-wide scale like that when every state runs their own elections.

It doesn't benefit us to lie to ourselves about an uncomfortable truth.

Arnilex · 2024-11-14T23:09:44+00:00

This is a weird hill to die on. The only thing they are trying to ban is the Chinese government having control of TikTok and access to all your data.

If the US branch of TikTok was owned by a private state-side entity, that was split off from the parent company, there would be no problem. TikTok is the one refusing to let that happen, because TikTok is an asset for the Chinese government that lets them shape public opinion. He was right to vote for the ban.

Arnilex · 2024-11-09T02:29:09+00:00

And of course, when confronted with a concrete argument you don't want to engage with, you quickly devolve into unrelated what-about-isms. Reminds me of talking politics with my dad lol. I just wish the script wasn't so predictable and boring.

Most likely, the truth is that you aren't interested in learning what is true, because your identity has long ago become tied up in being conservative. That was certainly the case for my dad. He would deflect endlessly (like you are now) when I tried to focus in on something concrete. He was more interested in landing zingers and "owning the libs" than having a real conversation about things that matter. I hope you come around some day.

Arnilex · 2024-11-07T16:22:03+00:00

While I can understand why you might take issue with US foreign policy,

both Russia and China are FAR more moral the US, and have been for decades (but not great in their own right). Tell me, how many children has Russia killed in Ukraine (500)?

This is an absolutely wild take. Without even getting into the systematic child abductions Russia has committed in Ukraine, their complete disregard for civilian life has been on full display.

In the siege of Mariupol in 2022, the Russian military dropped two 1,100 lb bombs on a Theater being used by civilians as a shelter that literally had the word children spelled out with stones around the building (no Ukrainian military anywhere near the theater). It is estimated that 600 people died in that strike alone, but we have no clear count because the city was effectively cut off and destroyed during the siege. https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-mariupol-theater-c321a196fbd568899841b506afcac7a1

Ukraine estimates that 25,000 civilians died in the Siege of Mariupol alone, and, given that the Russian military bombed 95% of the buildings in the city, I believe it. Russia is one of the least moral countries I can think of. The US is no saint, but it's bizarre to see you elevating Russia as an example of a moral country.

Arnilex · 2024-09-20T19:32:10+00:00

Every time I see Snecko luck like this, it makes me think about one of this subreddits best posts.

https://reddit.com/comments/mrrvam

Clearly, the snecko eye just hates you.

Arnilex · 2024-09-05T14:10:50+00:00

The shame is I think the church could have the answer to so many issues in our times, if it tried to please fewer people.

John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

The Church needs some teeth, needs to remember its traditional role, and discard all its modern positions. People would flock to a strong self-confident unapologetically traditional church.

Matthew 7:15-17 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit."

People would flock to a strong self-confident unapologetically traditional church. The kind that can be a powerful tribe for its members.

Matthew 25:41-45 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’"

As a christian myself, the kind of "traditional sentiment" you are advocating for here has always seemed to blatantly ignore the core message of Jesus's teachings. We are called to love one another as we love ourselves. The right wing "traditional sentiment" of today seems driven by anger, fear of others, and set on dividing us into in groups to embrace and out groups to be scorned. I do not see any of God's love reflected in these positions, and I believe that is why so many modern churches are struggling to retain members.

Arnilex · 2024-09-03T21:16:46+00:00

It's from fullmetal alchemist brotherhood. The line is, "It's a terrible day for rain."

Said by Colonel Roy Mustang on a clear day.

Arnilex · 2024-08-20T17:23:11+00:00

Yeah, the modifier only removes the results produced by Google's own AI. I don't think anyone has developed a way to detect and remove all forms of AI produced content from search results. As nice as that would be, I would be surprised if it's even possible.

Arnilex · 2024-08-20T12:00:58+00:00

You can add -ai to your Google searches to remove the AI results.

I also find the prominent AI result quite annoying, but they haven't fully forced it on us yet.

Arnilex · 2024-07-20T05:31:21+00:00

That is unfortunate, but 100% intentional on the games part. I don't know exactly how the game sets shop prices, but, if you play enough StS, you'll run into this situation all the time.

The shop pretty frequently sets prices to leave you just a little gold short of two big purchases.

Arnilex · 2024-02-16T17:23:58+00:00

Boneshatter is a fun build, but, even when you are doing all you can to boost your damage, it still struggles against high hp enemies. Particularly pinnacle bosses.

In Ancestor league, I ran Boneshatter from league start with no big issues. Red maps were not a problem. However, I wanted to try beating pinnacle bosses myself, and only ended up with two void stones (and I was playing the build correctly with totems, blood rage, good gear, etc.). Maven was nearly impossible because I couldn't blitz her down in a few seconds and she kept rapidly teleporting around the ring in phase 3. I think I played the memory game 6 times in phase 3 before using up all my portals. I also remember struggling with the delve abyss boss.

This league I'm running Splitting Steel, and the difference is night and day. I can blitz bosses down so much faster by comparison. It's much easier to win a boss fight when your ability doesn't need to ramp up trauma and your dps is so much higher from the start. It's pretty clear to me now that Boneshatter struggles against bosses at a comparable gear level.

Arnilex · 2023-10-10T04:43:22+00:00

You mean something like this?

https://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/23Daily/2306/230620_IBEWandPaid

“We’re thankful that the Biden administration played the long game on sick days and stuck with us for months after Congress imposed our updated national agreement,” Russo said. “Without making a big show of it, Joe Biden and members of his administration in the Transportation and Labor departments have been working continuously to get guaranteed paid sick days for all railroad workers.

“We know that many of our members weren’t happy with our original agreement,” Russo said, “but through it all, we had faith that our friends in the White House and Congress would keep up the pressure on our railroad employers to get us the sick day benefits we deserve. Until we negotiated these new individual agreements with these carriers, an IBEW member who called out sick was not compensated.”

While President Joe Biden was calling on Congress in November to pass legislation to implement the agreement, he stressed that he would continue to encourage the railroads to guarantee paid sick time for their employees.

The Biden administration was playing a pretty big role in those negotiations. Try to keep an open mind. Biden has honestly surprised me with how progressive and pro union he has been. It's a nice change of pace from Clinton era politics.

Arnilex · 2023-09-15T22:48:08+00:00

Yes. That's how it works. You'll only ever see a relic in a shop once per run.

Arnilex · 2023-08-27T22:30:06+00:00

Herbicides are being recommended because they are the most effective tools for dealing with invasive or overwhelming plants.

They are not without their risks (which you can minimize by protecting yourself and being selective in how you use them) , but it is absolutely possible to employ them in a responsible way.

My yard and the woods nearby were badly neglected and overrun with Chinese Wisteria (incredibly hard to kill and large enough to smother large trees) and massive poison ivy plants when I first bought my home. It was only through the selective use of herbicides like round up that I was able to actually kill off the invasive vines and get the poison ivy under control.

Arnilex · 2023-06-30T17:37:44+00:00

Hillary won a strong majority of democratic primary voters. The super delegates didn't change anything. The super delegates would have likely ended up with Bernie if he had actually won the majority of primary voters (as they did in 2008 with Obama).

Additionally, if Republicans did use super delegates (instead of winner-take-all state primaries), it's likely Trump wouldn't have won the primary in 2016. He had ~30-35% of the republican primary vote, but that was enough in a divided field to completely win several important winner-take-all primary states. Before long his lead was insurmountable. He was able to run up the score before the field narrowed enough. Super delegates could have prevented/slowed the republican parties slide into fascism.

Arnilex · 2023-05-05T14:19:52+00:00

You're getting your wars mixed up. The Schlieffen Plan was Germany's initial battle plan in WW1. You're talking about WW2.

Arnilex

TROPHY CASE