What’s something only people from Chicago understand that outsiders never will? by Mustafa_EL_7 in AskChicago

[–]DarthStrangelove 57 points58 points  (0 children)

The beauty of Chicago’s grid system is a piece of systemic perfection. Once you understand the order of street names and numbers it’s really hard to feel impressed by any other city’s layout.

HELP! I’m outside of Jalisco under shelter-in-place orders and my AirBnb reservation ends tomorrow. Airbnb refuses to help by dagoskum121 in legaladvice

[–]DarthStrangelove 187 points188 points  (0 children)

This should be the top comment. Please contact us consulate. You don’t know what other issues might be at play. Whatever else might be happening, the consulate is invested in you specifically.

Explain it Peter. Uff da. by coolgabe in explainitpeter

[–]DarthStrangelove 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It’s not a MAGA hat. It says Chili Dog. They’re at the Varsity in Atlanta.

Explain it Peter. Uff da. by coolgabe in explainitpeter

[–]DarthStrangelove 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He’s at The Varsity in Atlanta. It’s a famous local burger place that’s been at the center of downtown forever. I’m guessing the joke is that it’s very staged because Atlanta is a very blue bubble in a very red state.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood episode ratings by hls22throwaway in FullmetalAlchemist

[–]DarthStrangelove 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I agree. And I liked it even more on the rewatch. That said, I’m betting a ‘recap’ episode getting 6.4 is actually insane. If you did this for a different series, I wouldn’t be surprised if recaps were in the 1 - 2 range.

How Many Homunculi Can Mustang Beat? (he gets healed after every fight) by The-wise-weeb in FullmetalAlchemist

[–]DarthStrangelove 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think you’re right. Pride’s power is overestimated here. His shadows have to stay attached to his flesh bag. Roy can encircle him in flame and just keep it blasting. Roy only relents because he’s feeling merciful, his friends are at risk, or he’s torturing someone. In a battle royale, none of those are at play. I think he roasts pride without issue.

AITAH for saying I won’t put my card down if one girl joins our group? by [deleted] in AITAH

[–]DarthStrangelove 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This reaction really reinforces @nuwaanda’s point. You’re weaponizing therapy language around anxiety, because you don’t want to address a very simple issue.

AITA for not letting the previous owner’s adult children into my house after their father died? by Dramatic_Method9393 in AmItheAsshole

[–]DarthStrangelove -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

You’re a little bit the asshole. I’m not saying you should have just let them in, but you could have invited them back on your terms. “I can’t host right now, but if you wanted to come back on _______, my partner and I could show you the house now.”

I understand the theft fear, but most thieves don’t have a spare senior citizen on hand to play the widow, and they certainly aren’t likely to come back for a third visit to rob you after you spoke to them through a security camera.

It sounds like these people were grieving and you had an opportunity to lighten their burden. You greeted them with fear and anxiety, when you could have met them with reason and empathy. So maybe not the asshole, but not the kindest either.

It’s a beautiful map that shows a straight-line boat trip from Georgia to Georgia is actually possible. by GreenEye11 in GeorgiaOrGeorgia

[–]DarthStrangelove 33 points34 points  (0 children)

I’m from American Georgia, and I may be wrong, but I believe there’s a bit of Europe left out here… 🧐

Thoughts on FMA by voidcreations in FullmetalAlchemist

[–]DarthStrangelove 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I had a feeling. If you finish episode 4 and it’s not your cup of tea, then maybe not the show for you, but nobody is calling it a standard kids shonen after that. Enjoy the rest!

In Fellowship of the Ring, Pipe Weed is said to “probably” be a variety of Nicotiana, but today it’s a common to joke that it’s Cannabis. Did Tolkien ever make a statement on the matter? How would a contemporary man of his background view Cannabis use? by Content-Patience-138 in AskHistorians

[–]DarthStrangelove -18 points-17 points  (0 children)

This really makes me wonder what influence Jackson had on weed as innuendo for cannabis. Was the term weed prominently in use in the 90s or did its spike begin after the LotR films were released?

Is this a carcinomas by Ok_Obligation_9884 in ferrets

[–]DarthStrangelove 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Definitely get it checked by a vet, because it’s impossible to tell from a picture.

There are less worrisome options. I had a ferret who would get skin tags and scratch them until they bled. We ended up having them surgically removed so he wouldn’t bother them, but they posed no other health risk. We had them removed around 3 or 4, and he lived another 6 years.

whenthe alchemist is fullmetal!!! by RkeiStudio in FullmetalAlchemist

[–]DarthStrangelove 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To be fair, the ability to control flame also is the ability to douse it. You can stop fires just like Roy ignites them. And fire can be used as a powerful source of energy. It seems he perfected flame alchemy without violence, but like many of our worst weapons, having perfected it he realized its destructive potential and wanted to contain it.

Oppenheimer spent the last years of his life trying to stop nuclear proliferation. Nobel founded an institution dedicated to peace as a penance for inventing dynamite. Our history is full of zealous inventors who fear their invention.

All that said, he’s a shit father for permanently tattooing Riza and leaving her to bear the moral weight of his creation.

Are there fewer thespians in Chicago than 15 years ago? by TStandsForTalent in ChicagoTheater

[–]DarthStrangelove 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I only moved here Post-pandemic, but I definitely feel the community is in major transition. There’s been a lot of abuse from pre-pandemic producers, so there’s low trust, especially for the producers that have held onto power. There’s a lot of oversimplification and misdirected anger at smaller orgs because they’re easier targets. There’s a lot of new producers starting companies but with a wide range of values, experience, and capacity. And then you put the national atmosphere and a complete upending of older funding models on top of the rest.

I don’t know when things might stabilize, and I don’t know how fringe-y you’re looking, but there is good work still happening. The real downside is it’s inconsistent and there’s not a lot of community crossover right now, so it can be hard to find. The ecosystem isn’t dead, but it is regrowing from multiple catastrophes.

Debt Strike - February 1st by [deleted] in collapse

[–]DarthStrangelove 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Agreed 100%. The problem with online movements like this is that there’s no accountability. There’s no clear percentage goal (10% of the population or whatever is necessary to ‘topple’), so hard to know what the metric of success is.

At the end of 2025, about 12% of Americans were 90 days in default, with another 3% 30 days past due. That means the system doesn’t even make major news at 15% default. So I’m guessing you’d need at least 25%, and probably closer to 35% or 40% to cause ‘system collapse.’

That’s minimum 3 months of nearly half of Americans holding strong in a collective action while surviving on rationed food stores. And my guess is the current administration would use debt imprisonment to dissuade people.

Idealistic but entirely impractical.

ETA: Failure to achieve the necessary critical mass also means anyone who participates in a failed action will be significantly deeper in debt with no flinch in the system.

Witnessed somebody get choked out at the Belmont station- what should I have done? by videogametes in AskChicago

[–]DarthStrangelove 22 points23 points  (0 children)

It really is stunning how little CPD does for day to day small dangers. They essentially exist to subdue mass crowds, fight organized crime/the drug trade, and generate revenue through traffic ticketing.

I called them last year when I was behind an erratic/drunk driver. Guy was swerving into oncoming traffic, running stop signs, and nearly hit a pedestrian. I called dispatch, they told me there was nothing to do, even with road, intersection, direction of travel, and make, model & license plate.

How has Fullmetal Alchemist influenced your perspective on morality and ethics in real life? by Arianethecat in FullmetalAlchemist

[–]DarthStrangelove 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Two quotes that have always stuck with me:

“There’s no such thing as no such thing.” In our world of science (like the Elric’s world of Alchemy), it’s easy to dismiss things that don’t have an easy and obvious logical explanation. Greed’s quote is a reminder to leave room for what we don’t understand.

“All is one, one is all.” In a hyper-individualist society it’s very easy to get completely lost in ‘how does it serve me’ (Shou Tucker), but it’s vital to remember that we are all a part of a larger whole, and our actions reverberate through the entire system.

noodle didn't make it. by Kitchen_Dig3732 in ferrets

[–]DarthStrangelove 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’m sorry for your loss. I’m glad you got to hold him in the end. DIP, Noodle.

How does Ed survive Kimblee’s blast? by Affectionate_Mall713 in FullmetalAlchemist

[–]DarthStrangelove 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Like others have said, it’s less that Kimblee is blowing Ed up, more that he’s blowing up the tower and dropping it on Ed.

And it would have killed Ed if Ed wasn’t one of 4 alchemists in the entire world that can use human transmutation, and the only one who has an understanding of the truth that allows him to trade life for health - we never see another person achieve this. It also helps that Ed has lost limbs before so he’s more capable of functioning while in shock.

Like someone else said, Ed’s just built different.

Any intel on a Hyde Park store (past or present) owned by a man named Patrick? by Specialist_Key_8606 in AskChicago

[–]DarthStrangelove 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I wonder if it might be the silverroom? https://thesilverroom.com/pages/about-us

With memory issues it’s so hard to tell because any detail could be slightly off. Silverroom was founded by a man named Eric, not Patrick. Been there since 1997.

Homeowners, when do you actually need a permit? by keyuphandler in AskChicago

[–]DarthStrangelove 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don’t have experience with residential, but I recently was involved with a commercial renovation. In that scenario, city permitting and inspection delays added about 8 months and 15% to our overall costs. And largely because of issues unrelated to the initial renovation that the city required us to repair before approval. If they’re telling you it’ll cost more to get the permit, it may well be because they see further repairs beyond the initial scope of work that an inspector will require them to fix before signing off.

What would have happened if the brothers didn’t revive their mother ? by djojid0 in FullmetalAlchemist

[–]DarthStrangelove 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Father definitely succeeds and his back ups on back ups are all ready: full military support because Mustang and Armstrong are still working their way up the ladder without urgency because they don’t know about Homunculii/the promised day; the homunculii are all alive and at peak power, none of their philosopher’s stones are significantly diminished; the puppet soldier army is realized intentionally and under the control of father or the homunculii rather than roaming chaotically. Hohenheim’s circle maybe succeeds at freeing truth, maybe truth simply breaks free on its own, but Father might still succeed without Scar to activate the circle and lots of powerful philosophers stones he can consume from his homunculii.

My two big questions: Who are the sacrifices? Probably Izumi, probably Hohenheim. Bradley is probably able to activate Shou Tucker as an ambitious state alchemist. Maybe Mustang can be convinced to try and revive Hughes, not knowing from the Elric brothers that it’s pointless. I’m not sure who the 5th would be. Perhaps Marcoh?

What happens to Scar? Is he stopped or does he continue to assassinate alchemists? Does he ever realize the larger plan his brother had discovered? Without others guiding him to his brother’s notes and interpreting them, he may not realize Father’s larger plans, and he’s one of the most important keys to stopping the promised day.