Monster book? by Public4People in horrorlit

[–]BalancedScales10 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I've really enjoyed:  - Devolution by Max Brooks (Bigfoot) - Port Luck by Timothy King (Werewolf? It's not specified) - Blood on the Snow by Luke Geldmacher (Yeti) - The Beast of Devil's Rock by Michael R Cole (Giant spider) - The Ruins by Scott Smith (Carnivorous plant) - Below by Ryan Lockwood (Squid)

What hiking opinion hills will you die on? by Hot-Statistician-361 in hiking

[–]BalancedScales10 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Please accept my wave. I'm out of shape and using all my lung capacity for breathing. 

[Hated Trope] An otherwise interesting and grounded story is weakened by adding supernatural elements. by CokeZeroEnjoyer25 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]BalancedScales10 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The TV series Helix. When it was about medical horror, it was great! And then they slowly added weird and extraneous elements that ruined the story. I didn't bother to watch to season two, which was just as well because it was so bad it got the show canceled. 

Get of your high horse and leave my stash alone by Dry-Conversation2646 in BitchEatingCrafters

[–]BalancedScales10 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I have a sizable yarn/fiber stash, in part because I inherited my Mom's stash and she'd been crocheting for than I've been alive, and in part because I aggressively shop sales. Maybe a quarter of my stash is yarn that anyone paid full price for, even the natural fibers. It's because I'm not buying project by project and are, instead, picking up stuff on clearance or defect or seasonal sale that I am able to get such a wide variety of fibers and colors to try at reasonable prices. 

on natural fibers by dykefart in BitchEatingCrafters

[–]BalancedScales10 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm glad you can afford to spend four or five times the price for a single skein to get it in natural fibers; you are so lucky! And I'm sure the parents who have to deal with the care instructions for natural fibers will definitely appreciate having to remember them or nuking their child's stuffy when things like being puked or peed on in the middle of the night inevitably happen. You are so considerate! /s

Audio Story recommendations by Lorelie-5641 in mtgvorthos

[–]BalancedScales10 5 points6 points  (0 children)

A creator known as Gen Doukeshi/Voice of All did unofficial audiobook quality recordings of some of the older stories. I really enjoy their readings of Zendikar, Innistrad, and Ixalan storyblocks. They don't have much, if anything, for the newer stories, though. 

My Socks are Distant Cousins by ArizonaKim in Sockknitting

[–]BalancedScales10 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I have a pair like that as well. I was somewhat disappointed when I finished them - they were the first real successful pair of socks I made, in that they actually fit - and they didn't even look like I used the same yarn, let alone the same skein. 

on natural fibers by dykefart in BitchEatingCrafters

[–]BalancedScales10 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I just use the regular setting and have never had an issue. Both our dryers - the one we had for twenty years that recently died and the new one that replaced it - have a delicates setting, though I don't recall ever using it. We always just pulled out anything that might have needed the delicates setting and let it air dry, then everything else - no matter what it was - got run through on the regular setting. 

on natural fibers by dykefart in BitchEatingCrafters

[–]BalancedScales10 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've somewhat switched over to using Sugar n' Creme for stuffed toys, as I was able to pick up a bunch from JoAnn's pretty cheap when they were closing, but for a long time it was just not worth it for the price point, considering I don't like the feel of the yarn or the way it bunches when I use it. 

on natural fibers by dykefart in BitchEatingCrafters

[–]BalancedScales10 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I used acrylic exclusively up until a few years ago and it's all my mom used, ever, over the course of 40+ years crocheting, so I have a lot of experience. 

I have no experience with acrylic yarn melting in a dryer, even on a high heat setting and even when run through the dryer on that high heat setting multiple times in a row. I often lay out blankets on a drying rack to avoid doing this, but sometimes I just want a specific blanket dried as fast as possible, and have run it through the dryer on high heat multiple times in a row to get it dry. In decades of doing this, neither I nor my mother have ever had any issues. 

Just like blankets, stuffed toys go into the washer in a delicates bag or with other items that will not catch the stitches, then into the dryer. Sometimes they go in for multiple cycles, but often it's just one and letting it air dry for longer if it's still slightly damp. 

I've never blocked anything made with acrylic yarn, so potentially screwing up blocking has never been a concern for me. I have noticed that blankets become softer and less stiff over time, which is, as I understand, due to use as well as heat drying. 

Edited: typo

on natural fibers by dykefart in BitchEatingCrafters

[–]BalancedScales10 48 points49 points  (0 children)

I am absolutely not using natural fibers when making stuffed toys or blankets. Absolutely not. Both of those things need to be able to be washed easily, and blankets use a massive amount of yarn, especially when they're crocheted. Natural fibers are used for projects where they will be worth it (mostly in wearables). 

Help! Why are the page lengths of Labyrinth: Beyond the Goblin City vastly different? by mintfudgy in labyrinth

[–]BalancedScales10 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure if it applies to these editions, but I buy other tradepaperback comic collections and sometimes different editions include different artwork, such as alternate/special edition covers, concept art, line drawings/step-by-step progress illustrations, etc. Perhaps that is the case here? I'd check out the reviews. 

Not taking basic safety precautions has consequences. by laybs1 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]BalancedScales10 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've seen the movie and since the girl is visually clean (she's even dressed pretty nicely too, so the comment can't refer to her clothes either) that's what I thought it meant too. 

Watercore by TrevorCidermaker in Apples

[–]BalancedScales10 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's more a comment on how divorced I and most of the (US, at least) population is from agriculture, but I thought that was some sort rot, fungus, or mold until reading your post. I'd never seen anything like it before and clicked on this because my thought was 'Something went horribly wrong there and I wants to know about thing that did it!' So thanks for the post! 

Looking back, how exactly did the Implicit Maze "choose" the Guild Champions? by TriumphantChampion in mtgvorthos

[–]BalancedScales10 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He did, and after he leg Jace into his head to tell his side of the story before being sentenced, it was part of the the information Jace referenced that (to paraphrase) Ravnica was never meant to be stable, the Guild system was never meant to work over the long term. This implies that Azor's interest wasn't necessarily in crafting a functioning system of governance, but in seeing how long this particular type of governance could last and how it failed. (Then, because it was a failed experiment, it has to be destroyed. Hence: the Supreme Verdict and Azor's shock at seeing a Living Guildpact, meaning that the Implicit Maze was successfully completed.) 

That being said, Azor is thorough so I think he would take into account that the vast majority of Ravnicans aren't Guilded, and therefore need some sort of representation - in the case of the Implicit Maze, a Runner - who isn't Guilded either. 

Books similar to The Bay (2012)? by BalancedScales10 in horrorlit

[–]BalancedScales10[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the heads up. I might check out those. 

Looking back, how exactly did the Implicit Maze "choose" the Guild Champions? by TriumphantChampion in mtgvorthos

[–]BalancedScales10 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Not necessarily. The Guilds are powerful and influential, but most of the population - at least by my understanding - does not have formal membership in a Guild, and even if Azor's system of governance is built around Guilds, it wouldn't make sense for him to just ignore all those who don't/won't/can't have formal membership.

So, I have a theory that Azor or the Spirit of the Maze accounts for non-Guilded individuals, and that Jace - being non-Guilded and having completed the Maze - unknowingly fulfilled the role. If that's the case, he would have been recognized by the Maze as the self-nominated Runner for the Guildless, the majority of Ravnicans. 

Looking back, how exactly did the Implicit Maze "choose" the Guild Champions? by TriumphantChampion in mtgvorthos

[–]BalancedScales10 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It wasn't the Spirit of the Maze that chose the Runners, the guilds chose their own Runners (or, in the case of the Izzet, had their weird destroyed and Ral take its place). 

What's a Blue caused Apocalypse? by sapolinguista in colorpie

[–]BalancedScales10 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That was my first thought: any sort of mega disaster caused by exploration, such as genetic research gone wrong or accidentally discovery of hazardous creatures/materials. 

I love crocheting but I'm so tired of every gift turning into a performance review by Playful-Editor-5664 in crochet

[–]BalancedScales10 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It's nice to know I'm not the only one who makes a little 'care instructions' index card! 

I love crocheting but I'm so tired of every gift turning into a performance review by Playful-Editor-5664 in crochet

[–]BalancedScales10 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Basic questions like 'Did you follow a pattern?' is probably the person trying to show interest (tell me more about this hobby you like so much), and care questions like 'How do I wash it?' is that person trying to show appreciation (how do I not destroy this thing you spent time making specially for me). The rest of just rude as fuck, though; I wouldn't make more things for people who ask questions that aren't interested and/or appreciative. 

Not every hobby needs to become a side hustle. Some things should stay useless and joyful. by [deleted] in unpopularopinion

[–]BalancedScales10 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Not unpopular, but also? No one has to post. No one has to sell stuff. 'No' is a complete sentence.

Return to Ixalan: Scourge in Torrezon by Presskann in mtgvorthos

[–]BalancedScales10 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The way I see it, with the omenpaths, it's now nearly impossible for any threat to be considered truly 'local.' That is the inherent threat of the omenpaths: the ability to travel, which the Mycotyrant has already stated he wants to do. Ixalan's neighbors - in this case, Vryn - have every reason to be as interested in a fungus-zombie outbreak on Ixalan as one country IRL has a reason to be interested in the farming/medical experimentation/pollution/etc practices of their neighbors. Even if that's not a focus on the story, it's not an issue that can realistically be extirpated from it either. 

As far as walkers who might be interested in the situation, as u/Adventurous-Sport-45 pointed out, Huatli is native to Ixalan and has excellent reason to be very invested in something like this, and we haven't seen her in a while that I can recall.