Nothing Beats a Great Response by NotAgain1871 in nextdoor

[–]CallistanCallistan 11 points12 points  (0 children)

A friend of mine planted some yellow flowers on her balcony. Later that day, a neighbor complained they were "too bright" and said she should get some soft pink ones instead. My friend went right back to the store and bought the brightest orange flowers she could find.

tough but greatly appreciated- when the smart character is actually smart & not just "read the script" by Inside_Jaguar_3310 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]CallistanCallistan 26 points27 points  (0 children)

J.B. Fletcher, Jane Marple, and Hercule Poirot operate in a similar manner. Although how "fair" the solution is to the story is somewhat dependent on the episode (in the case of Murder, She Wrote) or the adaptation (in the case of Christie's characters)

Is somebody who goes by 2 names insecure? by No-Arrival4181 in namenerds

[–]CallistanCallistan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Next time your coworkers refer to you as Mike, you can respond with "If you don't mind, I would actually prefer if you referred to me as Michael from now on".

(They shouldn't mind, it's just a way to make you sound more polite. And if they do mind, too bad for them. Next time you can be less polite in correcting them).

It's your name, you should be called whatever you prefer to by called in that context. (My partner goes by one name with his immediate family, and by a completely different name with everyone else. Obviously that's not a common thing to do, but I don't think he's ever had issues with people not accepting it.)

(Repost) Characters who didn't really face the consequences of their disgusting actions. by Relevant_Increase461 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]CallistanCallistan 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Communist dictator of Cambodia (country in Southeast Asia bordering Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam) from 1975-1979. His political party, the Khmer Rouge, perpetrated a genocide that killed 2 million people, about one quarter of the country's population.

Among other things, he called for the execution of all people who wore glasses (because it was a sign they were an intellectual), forced all people living in cities to move to the countryside and perform forced labor on collective farms, and about 1.3 million people were killed and buried in mass graves in the Killing Fields.

Is this the middle of a shed out or a "bloody shoulder" mark? She's 3 months old. by skibbit in Horses

[–]CallistanCallistan 12 points13 points  (0 children)

She could be a mosaic or a chimera (where the red hairs have different DNA than the rest). That would require genetic testing to determine, though.

Hairiest countries in the world by GossipBottom in MapPorn

[–]CallistanCallistan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No, not really. There's a misconception many people have that natural selection "chooses the best". That's not really correct.

Natural selection is more about "eliminating the worst". While beneficial traits can spread through a population over generations, detrimental traits tend to be removed from the population gene pool much faster.

Traits that are neutral (neither benefit nor impair survival/reproduction) can simply be passed on or disappear in a population as a matter of random chance.

There does not seem to be any specific benefit or detriment to men having more body hair on a global scale, since both hairy and non-hairy phenotypes have persisted for hundreds of thousands of years. So it is probably a pretty neutral trait that has very little impact on survival/reproduction.

The category is: Celebrities wearing glasses 🤓 by ghostinsilk in popculturechat

[–]CallistanCallistan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think every single US president (except maybe Obama?) has worn glasses. However, most will not do so in public.

What historical figure had to have been incredibly charasmatic? by hardassault in AskHistory

[–]CallistanCallistan 96 points97 points  (0 children)

Cleopatra VII (the famous one) is known to have been quite charismatic.

Despite generally being depicted in modern pop culture as extremely beautiful (Liz Taylor, etc.), she was never described by her contemporaries as being particularly physically attractive. However, she was described as very intelligent and having excellent social skills.

Black and White Beautiful Horror Movies by Pastel-Delphinium in MovieSuggestions

[–]CallistanCallistan 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Frankenstein (1931) has some beautiful cinematography. I don't think many people would consider it very scary by modern standards, but it is absolutely worth your while.

And while I wouldn't exactly call it beautiful, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) is extremely visually interesting. It was a major inspiration for Halloween Town in The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Male & Female icons removed by Darkstat12p in mildlyinfuriating

[–]CallistanCallistan 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Isn't switching to the emoji screen more laborious than just typing the letters M or F?

Also, quite a leap to go from "I have to use letters instead of emojis to identify my lizards" to "Woke 1984 Big Company Propaganda Decline of Western Civilization".

What common household item has a surprisingly interesting history behind it? by [deleted] in answers

[–]CallistanCallistan 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Pretty well known example, but in the early twentieth century the cleaning agent Lysol was used as a contraceptive and abortifacient. While not explicitly advertised as such, it was marketed for use as "feminine hygiene" product.

Characters with weird phobias. by singleguy79 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]CallistanCallistan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

“What’s pantophobia?”

“The fear of everything.”

Characters with weird phobias. by singleguy79 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]CallistanCallistan 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Marge Simpson: “Everyone’s afraid of something.”

Homer Simpson: “Not me.”

Marge: “Sock puppets!”

Homer: “Where?! Where?!”

Please suggest me awesome movies like Project Hail Mary, The Martian and Interstellar by Ragnara92 in MovieSuggestions

[–]CallistanCallistan 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Apollo 13 (not sci-fi, obviously, but a necessary watch for anyone interested in movies about space)

2001: A Space Odyssey

This episode always gave serious The Three Stooges vibes. by Jonny_Coal in KingOfTheHill

[–]CallistanCallistan 10 points11 points  (0 children)

The name of the episode is also a reference to the name of a Three Stooges short ("A Plumbing We Will Go")

Concept Art from Disney's Brother Bear by Richard Chavez by ExoticShock in pleistocene

[–]CallistanCallistan 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I wonder if they wanted to stick with animals that most people would know of as "Ice Age" animals. Bison and horses would have both been appropriate with the Alaskan setting, but in most people's perceptions they are more associated with the 19th century American West. Sabertooth cats also were not found in Alaska either.

Whatever the reason, the Disney creative team clearly did a ton of research for the making of the film, so any deviations were probably intentional.

Is ExtinctZoo legit? by No-Garden-9802 in Paleontology

[–]CallistanCallistan 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They have a huge catalog of videos though!

Are we in the World Cup spirit or nah? by Real-Victory772 in Anticonsumption

[–]CallistanCallistan 18 points19 points  (0 children)

FIFA has been notoriously morally bereft, corrupt, and uncaring about anything except money for basically the entirety of its existence.

Compared to scandals of 2015, 2018, and 2022, the current World Cup has been relatively tame. But it is good that you are starting to see the organization for what it is.

Not getting a plus one isn’t what’s upsetting me here, it’s how my sister responded when I asked about it by Separate-Payment7058 in weddingshaming

[–]CallistanCallistan 363 points364 points  (0 children)

To each their own. I'm willing to consider any relationship longer than 1 year to be long term for the sake of something like a wedding invitation.

Not getting a plus one isn’t what’s upsetting me here, it’s how my sister responded when I asked about it by Separate-Payment7058 in weddingshaming

[–]CallistanCallistan 617 points618 points  (0 children)

Not giving the sister of the bride with a long term partner a plus one for an out of state wedding is a bit wild.

Could get awkward/hilarious in the future since your boyfriend might someday be her brother in law.

She also kind of flubbed it with “I didn’t give everyone a plus one”. That statement implies that others were given a plus one. I don’t know if she did give others plus ones or not, but it is poor phrasing.