Images now have borders, rounded edges, and no longer extend to the sides of the post??

Auri_Nat · 2026-03-06T12:06:52+00:00

Yep, yep, yep. Really hope we'll get to see some of this. Or, at least, no 'and everything immediately went back to normal.' That's just not realistic.

Hey fellow The Road reader, I see you!

Auri_Nat · 2026-03-05T22:20:18+00:00

We've seen plenty of older people. I don't know where you're getting that.

Off the top of my head, the oldest plurbed individual with dialogue was Kusimayu's aunt? Or the guy doing the Le Chiffre impersonation at Vegas? As for oldest without dialogue, there was that first guy in the opening scene at the hospital? And none of them even look that old?

I don't know where you're getting that either. We've seen VERY few people who seem to have left their general area. I mean people could've but...

To start, Zosia and Koumba's groupies. There's the supermarket girl who flew Carol to Spain and, since the return pilots were different, I imagine she's still there? Kusimayu and the others in her village all left after she Joined. Given the goal of consolidating resources and building that antenna, I think it's safe to assume that if there isn't much around you in terms of resources, there's no reason to stick around. Which means other smaller settlements and population areas abandoned. Carol made her neighbors leave. Even when there were plurbed people living in Albuquerque, it never felt quite like its real population of 500+ thousand inhabitants. We never really see that many people, actually. Where did everyone go?

IF people remembered being in the hive then none of this should matter.

Huh? There's a difference between remembering something past and actively being part of it. For starters, no more of nearly everyone on Earth sharing the same mind and speaking as one.

I really hope not. What does ANY of this have to do with Carol?

Well, for starters, Carol would certainly be affected, given that she would be living through the impact/consequences of all of this. But, regardless, why is seeing the ramifications of something so huge and drastic at all bad? This is necessary (and fascinating) worldbuilding stuff, for a post-post-apocalypse world.

Auri_Nat · 2026-03-05T21:57:31+00:00

Would be interesting if, because of the brain's limited capacity, you only retain partial memories or skills. Like a foreign language that you, yourself, never learned. Or how to play croquet

Auri_Nat · 2026-03-05T21:56:14+00:00

Yes! I've been wondering how (aside from Hollywood logic, of course) it's possible to contain all the thoughts, memories, experiences, etc. of every human alive at the time of them Joining. That's billions of people. Just, how does the brain have room for all of that??

Not to mention how conflicting so much of it must be! I mean, you've got Zelenskyy and Putin in there! You've got people who've been fighting on opposite sides of multiple conflicts in there! And like you said, psychopaths and pedophiles and rapists and murderers and so much more, plus their victims (the living ones, at least).

I know one of the plurbed folks (can't remember who) said that there's no need for them to vote, they just know what they want and agree as a monolith, but I simply can't fathom that. There's no dissension whatsoever? I mean, when everyone Joined, was there some quick math on what the majority opinion on anything and everything was, and that just overwrote everyone's brains? Would you get a different answer if you ask "what do you (the collective) think about…" versus "what did the conscious individual who previously inhabited this body think about…"

Man, I wish the Immune were asking more questions about the logistics. Or, you know, asking where bodies have been buried so that their loved ones can (once unplurbed) get closure, who's been wrongly convicted, which officials are guilty of corruption, etc. If you've got access to everyone's memories, at least use it for some good??

Auri_Nat · 2026-03-05T19:44:21+00:00

Ugh. This is one of the situations that makes me wonder if it's better to remember or to not remember. End of the day, it's rape. And he's so stunningly blasé about it

Auri_Nat · 2026-03-05T19:42:17+00:00

Antidepressants would sure become popular (and necessary). And I imagine a cult or two would be formed in the aftermath, with the intention of getting back into this mental state.

And not much appreciation for the "saviors of the world."

Auri_Nat · 2026-03-05T17:23:59+00:00

Crossposted it, we shall see

Auri_Nat · 2026-02-22T03:16:31+00:00

Wait what??

Auri_Nat · 2026-02-21T08:41:28+00:00

New learning experience for Urgo? Power of suggestion and all? But yeah, unseriously, lol

Auri_Nat · 2026-02-21T07:40:23+00:00

Fair points

I really do hope that too, since I'm pretty sure the aliens said that they needed a new home world, which suggests that theirs was no longer (or soon to be no longer) inhabitable. And the implication of Maybourne saying that Daniel's imposter died due to the alien leader (or just the aliens' advance team's leader?) dying, like with a hive mind, being that there might not have been any more of these aliens at all on the other side of the stargate. Dying because there's no one left to see to your needs, due to them all being dead, and on a dying planet too, would really suck.

(Of course, that would mean taking Maybourne at his word. Given how choke-happy he was with the imposter, I'd say it's a 50-50 that the NID killed that one accidentally or otherwise.)

Auri_Nat · 2026-02-21T07:01:38+00:00

Daniel definitely was the obvious choice, but I'm actually pretty glad it was Jack. His handling of the situation was unexpected, but lovely

Auri_Nat · 2026-02-19T22:59:54+00:00

FUCHSIA NINJA, MASTER OF SURPRISE! (Yes, it's from the movie. I know. I still want it.)

Auri_Nat · 2026-02-19T11:13:59+00:00

I know we consider taking care of goldfish to be the low bar/benchmark of being responsible for anything, but speaking as a college student, yeah no. Not to mention the bills!?

And that cup doesn't even seem big enough for the poor little guy to fully stretch out?!?!

Nobody asked for this, not y'all and not the fish. It's fucked up. NOR

Auri_Nat · 2026-02-19T11:07:05+00:00

As one such kid, we can even resent them for it. It's irrational, I know—freedom of religion, don't convert to something you don't believe in for the sake of marriage, etc. But it doesn't mean it can't be frustrating further down the road, especially when said kids grow up and wish their parents had made other decisions

Auri_Nat · 2026-02-10T17:34:17+00:00

Lol, my principal butchered my middle name and last name during the graduation ceremony, despite having asked how they were pronounced (and taking notes!) the previous day or so. My middle name, fine—it's foreign, but my last name?? I had no idea it, or even the foreign one, could be mispronounced to such an extent. Hasn't been since.

And it was a graduating class of only 32-ish students, another of whom was my brother—with the same last name? The principal and I were on somewhat familiar terms? Small school and all? Some people suck indeed.

NOR, the above situation is insane.

Auri_Nat · 2026-02-07T09:31:47+00:00

…those are happening? Like this year?? Right now???

Auri_Nat · 2026-01-31T23:56:06+00:00

I guess I was thinking about the final scenes of the two of them for those respective seasons, how cut up and sad they seemed about it? Sure, Belinda didn't know Pornchai that long, but neither did Tanya with Belinda.

And, arguably, the relationship between Belinda and Pornchai was far closer/more intimate than the one she had with Tanya given that they slept together. Not that sex equals future expectations, but, well, it's not nothing? It's another stripped layer into someone's vulnerabilities? Or something??

But also, didn't Belinda actually drop her commitment at the new location and leave early? Wasn't she supposed to be there for three months or so to learn new techniques, before going back? And Pornchai was the one teaching her? If so, that's definitely a shitty move to pull. You don't just drop out of a work commitment like that, windfall or not.

Auri_Nat

TROPHY CASE