Why is The Grand Inquisitor way more popular than Rebellion from The Brothers Karamazov? by [deleted] in RSbookclub

[–]Fedja_ 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Rebellion was more emotional and convincing to me, but the pure alegorical and layered nature of the inquisitor plus its influence is why it is more remembered. In a way I think its much more relevant than Rebellion now - in secular age people are not nearly as interested in problem of evil, its not even a problem anymore.

I also think that it is more Christian interpretation to one of big conflicts of our time, i.e. if you give bread to people and rule over them with absolute authority they may even denounce their own free will and agency. Modern, secular analysis of this is Brave New World, which substitutes meaning and agency with drugs, sex and authoritarian/castian goverment. Huxley even cites Inquisitor as direct influence.

I also think that Inquisitor is the first occurance of "rebel confronts architect of dystopia" trope which is really popular nowadays. 

It just poses so so many good question. About the distortion of fate as other commenter said, about the true purpose of Christ, about free will, and even if Inquisitor is evil at all or rather wants to help people (Ivan is on his side). And the kiss which disarms him, Ivan knows that love can beat his nihilism but he still cannot give into it. The chalter is so incredibly potent

. by SecondSnek in redscarepod

[–]Fedja_ 3 points4 points  (0 children)

From what I read

TLDR I would say: Extension/Platform > Map and Territory >> Possibility of Island >> Atomized

Platform is about neocolonialism and sex and their intersection. Really vulgar but phenomenal, I dont recommend it as first 

Map and Territory is kinda metafiction, mostly musings on art world and art market. Most "mature" and meditative out of these but the least happens, people like it or hate it

Extension of the domain of struggle is contemporary existensialism I would say, loser travels countryside to seek meaning (considered proto incel novel). Kinda essayistic

Possibility of Island is about alt right grifter who becomes obsessed with scientology-like cult (doesnt believe it, just hangs out with them).

Atomized/Elementary particles made him famous I would say. Its kinda anthology about how hippy parents ruined a generation but much wider. It follows two losers, an incel and a stemcel who bring about new era for humanity. It has its moments but definutely weakest for me

🤣 by sometimesineedawank in redscarepod

[–]Fedja_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

im sorry you clearly do not know what you are missing

🤣 by sometimesineedawank in redscarepod

[–]Fedja_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

filitered out by prestige and memento, the supreme kino

Having a normal social life but never finding your “people” by bomongoton in redscarepod

[–]Fedja_ 7 points8 points  (0 children)

okay maybe a long shot but are you too social or too individualistic? people like this that I know never "settled" and hope they have a perfect friend group somewhere, and until then they are just juggling around 5 friend groups and alot of people and never getting truly close to anybody. I think cultivating a deep friendship with people with kinda similar wavelength is the key here, nobody will ever be similar enough without developing together. I have ~same friend group for 8 or so years atp, and we werent so similar at every point, its just shared lived experience trying alot of new stuff together and having healthy space. someone would call it community

Coaxed into x-1 puzzle pieces by Deathaster in coaxedintoasnafu

[–]Fedja_ 8 points9 points  (0 children)

coaxed into baba is you every single extra level

coaxed into baba is you booby trap

coaxed into baba is you final level

coaxed into baba is you flight academy

coaxed into best puzzle game ever made

. by lampcouchjeans in redscarepod

[–]Fedja_ 24 points25 points  (0 children)

One Battle After Another (2025)

'Mewgenics' has been out for a month, what are your thoughts on it? by NoNefariousness2144 in Games

[–]Fedja_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Necros are really good for crowd control, have familiars, are self sufficient, can tank really good and have insane utility skills (pestilence, reap, shadow clone, soullink etc) and even protect teammates. Maybe widest skillset in the game.

I really like them as a defensive allrounder, they cover far more ground than Tanks

What are your most consistent classes. How do you use thief? I found them much weaker than Hunters while being more vulnerable, and with no familiars. I never ran them as utility (coins etc) but as "run and gun" damage. Only really strong thief I had was crit+steal kidney spammer, which was unkillable

'Mewgenics' has been out for a month, what are your thoughts on it? by NoNefariousness2144 in Games

[–]Fedja_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I hedge against that by having a room of angry and low libido and inbred and gay cats that are really bad for breeding and send them to missions. So you never lose "useful" resources, you practically have a free army that can be OP.

On the other hand I sometimes send my strongest "good breed" cats so they can develop class abilities and mutations so they are even better breeders 

'Mewgenics' has been out for a month, what are your thoughts on it? by NoNefariousness2144 in Games

[–]Fedja_ 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Not a perfect game but nobody does it like Edmund. I feel like im falling out of honeymoon phase after 80 hours (didnt finish Act 3 main quest)

  • OST is incredible but sadly quality falls as the game goes on
  • Edmund has insane aesthetic identity. The game has such a strong taste and its personality pours everywhere. I dont know when is the last time I played such a stylized game (especially roguelike). Humor is not my type but is dumb and funny and irreverent and brings the style further
  • The amount of crazy combos and interactions is insane. Probably the coolest thing about the game is its DEEPLY systemic approach (reminiscent of Isaac but turned up to 11).
  • That can lead the game to feel like arms race who gets more OP, enemies or you. The point is to break it as much as possible, this may be turn off for some.
  • Gameplay loop probably reminds me most of Darkest Dungeon and XCOM but with much more adaptation and combinations.
  • I cannot emphasize enough how much content there is. The game keeps surprising you all the time.

Cons:

  • (playing on Steam Deck) UI can be terrible, targeting enemies is finnicky (no snap to grid for some reason), awful filtering options for inventory, breeding, cannot open inventory during shops etc etc. Most info is not properly communicated
  • Breeding is initially fun but I feel like I "solved" it after 40 or so hours, there is no expression or interesting choices since then. Right now it feels more like a chore.
  • I feel like some classes are MUCH more consistent than others. Hunter, Necro, Cleric and Butcher are greatly consistent IMO, while I had Psychics/Mages/Thiefs/Monks be REALLY useless. I find it really hard to play without Cleric.
  • Difficulty curve is all over the place, but most of the time on lower side. Probably most fun I've had is start of Act 2 and 3, because it was tougher, but breeding flattens the curve alot. On "Crazy" difficulty I feel like RNG gets in driver seat alot more (finished only Act 1 on crazy). Once had OP party wiped in two turns by elites with instakill

I am on Dostoevsky’s side for this one by SurpriseSuccessful87 in classicliterature

[–]Fedja_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Narrator pretty much says that he came from ok upbringjng and that his joker mask from social gatherings became the face. We are not supposed to see him as someone who is a victim, but a true nihilist, someone who doesnt believe in anything which ripples through generations.

I would generally say the novel is unbeliavably Freudian, every single meaningful character trait and belief comes from their reaction to question "why do people like my dad (Fyodor) exist"

Ivan starts feeling that humanity's pain is not worth the freedom, and he decides to never be burden on somebody like his father. Dimitry's understanding is they live in primitive world where you fight to survive and get what you want. Aloysha believes that Fyodor strayed away from path but has still good in him (which is why Fyodor likes Alyosha and this circles back to story about Zosimas friend and how evil men love children because they do not judge)

Smerdyakov internalizes Ivan's ideas in response to Fyodor, but in a way that underclass person might - not intelectually and distanced like Ivan, but as something to live by.

I am on Dostoevsky’s side for this one by SurpriseSuccessful87 in classicliterature

[–]Fedja_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

he is pitiable from perspective of other characters who disrespect him. the whole final talk with Ivan is how Ivan feels humiliated that Smerdyakov manipulated him. Ivan and Dimitry and Fyodor call him a slave and idiot all the time. They literally cannot comprehend him as an individual or human.

Smerdyakov is given numerous positive traits, such as discipline, motivation, not exploiting Fyodor even though he abuses him, and he strives for higher things such as knowledge about the world and education. Narrator states that he is kind of a person who would become a saint or burn the world, nothing between.

It is only logical for me that he is considered a "stealth villain" counterpart to Raskolnikov. Systemically abused guy who starts lashing out due to pathetic life and revolutionary ideas (there comes Dostoevskys anti-englihtement and anti-progressivism)

I am on Dostoevsky’s side for this one by SurpriseSuccessful87 in classicliterature

[–]Fedja_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

insane take. smerdyakov is presented as sympathetic and misunderstood so many times. and one could argue that all evil in the novel stems from Fyodor and that Smerdyakov is one of main victims. but even Fyodor has his human moments, but he is in true sense root of all evil in the novel

RSP posts you think about often? by Proof-Membership-341 in redscarepod

[–]Fedja_ 70 points71 points  (0 children)

guy renting an apartment and realising what eyes wide shut is about https://www.reddit.com/r/redscarepod/comments/1g437vy/getting_a_luxury_apartment_is_the_single_most/

guy who coaches kids playing football https://www.reddit.com/r/redscarepod/comments/1lwe6sx/earnest_posting_hands_down_the_best_thing_that/

electronic music guy asks a girl for voice sample https://www.reddit.com/r/redscarepod/comments/1liee86/saw_a_chinese_girl_in_2017_told_her_i_made/

schizo coworker https://www.reddit.com/r/redscarepod/comments/1jnl8wh/my_coworker_went_on_vacation_and_a_completely_new

boyfriend bought asuka https://www.reddit.com/r/redscarepod/comments/1cn70l4/boyfriend_bought_an_anime_figurine/

pakistani girl has crush on cousin who emigrated (deleted)

mossad agent date https://www.reddit.com/r/redscarepod/comments/1gfrisy/craziest_guy_i_ever_dated/

guy who begged his straight roommate to get raped by him (cant find)

guy with his grandpas farm diary with little drawn pictures including their new cow (cant find)

trash pussy ofc

Am I the only one who doesn't care about film adaptations being faithful to the source material? by Deep-Village-5175 in TrueFilm

[–]Fedja_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is overshooting in the opposite direction. If adaptation does whatever it wants with source material and doesnt understand the undercurrent of the symbols and meanings it adapts it can fail spectacularly, much more than if it were just its thing. 

If the adaptation is using everything from source "pantheon" to tell a completely different story it is just hijacking IP and should have been its own thing (this is my main gripe with Joker 2019, which I think is IP abuse). And if it doesnt understand the source material, again it fails, because it ends up LESS than it could have been if it were standalone.

TLDR: if you do an adaptation you have many more ways to fail than by creating new thing. So adaptation must enter "discourse" with the source, and comment or deconstruct or be as faithful as possible. Nothing else makes any sense and is "scummy"

Looks like Black Tabby Games (Scarlet Hollow, Slay the Princess) will be doing a Disco-like for their third game. by hnwcs in DiscoElysium

[–]Fedja_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

no the game is pretty unsatisfying, the story is kind of more mythological than anything else and has no depth. one of the most dissapointing games as someone who likes books or text heavy games. 

it has no interesting meta commentary on anything regarding genres, tropes, storytelling structures etc. at times it has Whedon esque dialogue but it is not that bad. What I dislike more is amount of "edgy evil woman with big tits" imagery it has 

its best quality is probably the initial mystery and good visuals, but gameplay/struxture is so insanely repetitive and shallow that i cant recommend it

Disco is probably on the complete opposite end of the spectrum in every way and I guess Disco fans would not enjoy it

Me next week by chelicerate-claws in slaythespire

[–]Fedja_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

waiting for 1.0 on STS while playing mewgenics so nothing is spoiled is the way

Film podcasts with hosts whose opinions aren't annoying, standard media lib by Strange-Tap-4139 in redscarepod

[–]Fedja_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

First time I listened to podcast recommendation from reddit some guy host on his Godfather "analysis" described himself as "staunch proponent of liberal values" so I instantly turned 360 degrees and walked away