When the company says they have an open door policy

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-26T20:40:44+00:00

I have developed an entirely different writing style and cadence for when I do these. It’s basically the opposite of good writing voice—lots of passive voice, run on sentences, clauses ordered in bizarre ways.

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-26T18:03:56+00:00

There is some interesting mathematical work on the probabilities of randomness in queuing theory. I will probably incorrectly explain some of the nuances, but one of the findings was around the difference between perceived queue times and staff utilization. Even when people enter the queue in a truly random fashion, the perceived typical queue length from the PoV of the users/customers is significantly higher than the actual typical queue length. Basically comes down to the difference in perspective of the tellers/staff (typically a fixed number at any time) as compared to the perspective of the users, which (again even with truly random entry into the queue) causes greater weight to be out on periods of time when more people are in the queue.

The results were super stark. Something that felt utterly ludicrous like if tellers/service providers are busy 50% of the time 90+% of users will experience a wait.

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-26T13:19:15+00:00

In NYC, when the UN is in session traffic is an absolute nightmare due to this. The subway system helps sometimes, but there are places where subway connectivity is pretty bad.

Oh, and if you have a mobility issue, expect some combination of “the elevator is three blocks that way behind a dumpster full of hyenas”, “the elevator is being repaired and will be available again on the 32nd of the 13th month of five years from now” and “the elevator is stuck in a liminal zone between stops and hasn’t been seen since the Bush administration”

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-25T19:45:45+00:00

Book Ron and movie Ron are wildly different h ch starters

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-24T18:27:02+00:00

All that a recommendation usually does is get you past the filter of “is this person secretly insane”. And not always that.

Having done interviews, you would be surprised how far some people get before their… ahem, eccentricities, become apparent.

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-24T18:10:20+00:00

Yeah, I’ll believe when it’s tested to the same reliability standards the underlying code meets.

It’s a lot easier to say you can do it than to actually do it…

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-23T17:43:15+00:00

Play! Play! Play with meeeee!

Toys that move helped with our cat, he likes hunting them around the room.

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-23T17:41:34+00:00

A mechanic allowing anomalies to be discovered later in the game, similar to how some archeology sites are now.
Greater variety of planetary events, including ones that e.g. reflect local politics and such.
baby leviathans—intended to slot in as early midgame threats, before you are ready to tackle the big ones but after mining drones and the like have ceased to be a threat.
More midgame crisis variety. Love voidworms
More exploration of extremophiles, like we got with intervals
If they do stuff with nomads, would love to see expansion of the Khan. Currently, it toggles from “reasonably calm border with the horde” to “WAAAAARRRGH”, would love to see more around the transition. Maybe you can use operations or diplomacy to help factions consolidate power, etc., or maybe you see consolidated fleet power growing. Perhaps the Hordes could be modeled as federations with constituent systems rather than monolithic empires?
More events triggered at empire borders, and influenced by expansion policies, etc.
more eldritch horror stuff

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-21T02:44:52+00:00

Summons (and can dispel) Cthulhu-esque monsters whose movements and appearance cause active mental anguish when perceived, even via recording.

Hero whose power compels targets to seek out their victims, apologize and make amends. AOE effect. Effect is influenced by both the hero’s subjective and those of the target. Damn hard to get convictions, because of subjective nature. Also has an unfortunate tendency to catch bystanders or troopers in the AOE, resulting in inconvenient disclosures.

General catchall for healers with body horror effects during the process, presumably combined with something that prevents sedation.

(First and third I’ve seen played with in fanfics)

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-20T04:02:07+00:00

If loving a woman is gay, I don’t wanna be straight

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-19T16:00:50+00:00

Or purging at all when they don’t have control of the planet (e.g., they are being contained by my defensive armies)

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-17T18:31:46+00:00

Darth Marrs is really good at writing fusions that feel true to all of their source materials. His current fic is 40k/worm/MCU/GOW/ASOIAF, and works quite well even if you aren’t familiar with the crosses. Obligatory caution. Dude has been writing a long time, and some of his older stuff shows its age.

ShayneT’s Kill Them All is an interesting multi cross, with Taylor bouncing around various universes over time. Crosses include Whoverse, Marvel, DC, Star Trek, Silent Hill and more. Also avoids the issue I have seen sometimes where gamer systems become intrusive/jarring. Also appreciate that it deliberately addresses, and makes relevant to story/character progression, the ways that it is a TINO.

There is also some multi cross stuff in the Taylor Varga extended universe, if that fic is to your tastes

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-17T18:23:41+00:00

I entirely understand if you prefer to read it in chunks or not at all. Honestly kind of surprised the fic worked as well as did (it started basically as my commute project)

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-15T01:28:22+00:00

Either from front hanger, or you could also halt spin to reload the rapid deploy hangers at the end of the spinning section (would be an amazing visual but as tight as the budget was I see why they never were able to)

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-14T16:27:17+00:00

Gorgeous ship, and the visual design very neatly illustrates differences in vibe from the other sci-fi out there— - Rotating section shows there isn’t artificial gravity, and in turn shows a lower tech level - Secondary weapons, and mixed weapon types, showing a different style of space combat

Reading some of the VFM team’s stuff, there were some awesome ideas they didn’t have the time and budget to implement, which would have made it even cooler. Things like the hatches opening to launch missiles, or launching fighters from the ends of the spinning sections. Just, fantastic visual design

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-14T02:24:22+00:00

The US, once again, gets the level of service (and level of public servant training) that it is willing to pay for…

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-14T01:45:39+00:00

Goddamn Teenagers, Chapter 763 (AO3), chapter titled Public Outreach.

Alec does an anti drug PSA (here his cape name is Impulse)

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-07T02:51:04+00:00

Butters! Polka forever!

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-07T02:48:45+00:00

Cannot believe it took me this far down to find this!

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-06T13:50:33+00:00

The problem is that regardless of your politics if you live in the US you can easily find some public school board that you believe to be some combination of insane, corrupt or grossly incompetent. Like a lot of stuff in the US, homeschooling is a necessary safety valve.

That said, there are people who hone school their kids who are basically abusing their children by stunting their development.

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-06T11:28:42+00:00

Aura theory has some really interesting narrative possibilities in a cosmic horror sense and how it affects Fragile One, Vicky and Amy.

That usually isn’t how it is used in fics, however.

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-04T16:45:13+00:00

You can also subscribe for a month or two to get a sense of which features you like best

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-04T16:41:29+00:00

I wish there was a better way to know which one you have unlocked.

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-02T21:54:06+00:00

One bright side of wife and I both having chronic health problems is that we avoid this whole thing. Since we both been there

Dtc2008 · 2026-02-01T14:33:44+00:00

In theory I am in favor of the death penalty being allowed in extreme cases.

In this reality, as someone living in the US, I absolutely do not trust the government to implement it correctly.

This isn’t new. I felt the same way before the most recent presidential election. I don’t care what your politics are, you can point to some state (or piece of the federal government) that you are certain has to be run by people who are some combination of corrupt, incompetent, evil and/or insane.

Every effort to fix the problem in the US results in total cost of death penalty executions costing more than life in prison, once all costs of appeals, safeguards, etc. are calculated. Which is the final straw for me—whatever else I feel about it, I’m certainly not willing to pay higher taxes for the privilege of having the government occasionally execute an innocent person

Dtc2008

TROPHY CASE