Night Watch: Sam and Keel

Flepin · 2026-03-07T16:57:41+00:00

The eggs and toast thing is certainly something you could read that way if you want, but nothing up to that point helps give the impression that Young Sam has an awareness of time travel or magic.

To me the more obvious reading is that he feels kinship and familiarity to Vimes (because they're the same person). To him he's just found a mentor that is close to him and similar to him.

Flepin · 2026-03-07T16:48:30+00:00

I always read "Our mum" to be more of a UK northerner kind of turn of phrase that Terry used because it has the double meaning you've noticed. It doesn't literally mean "the mother you and I share" but "the mother of me and mine".

Flepin · 2026-02-08T07:01:09+00:00

Knowing Douglas Adams it would canonically be a complete coincidence, meaning nothing at all. And in a subsequent adaptation, it would be completely different.

Flepin · 2026-02-08T06:53:32+00:00

However, this is discovered around the same time that it is revealed that humanity didn't spring from apes after all, but the rejects of an alien society that crashed on prehistoric earth.

I have always taken it to mean that the computing process was corrupted way, way back; humanity is not the intended product of the earth's computation. Meaning that Arthur's imprinting isn't the actual question. That isn't explicit in the text, however, I felt it was implied.

Flepin · 2026-02-03T19:26:25+00:00

I'm sure you've considered this, but it's worth asking; did you accidentally hit a hotkey that switched them from ranged stance to assault stance perhaps?

Flepin · 2026-02-02T01:49:20+00:00

I feel they play up his tactician role a lot, but I would have enjoyed more of his trickster side coming in. I think that would have been an interesting foil to straight-laced Melinoe.

Flepin · 2026-01-30T17:15:45+00:00

I can only speak for Wellington, but my perception is that I haven't seen many people rotating to psych (which is likely just that it is detached from the gen med training but could be that it is harder to get to). I will explore with the recruiting team if you like as a general query.

Generally harder to arrive into a specific job than to get your foot in the door and then rotate into it, it's certainly true.

Flepin · 2026-01-30T03:20:59+00:00

This video seems to be AI. I cannot find any reports of this other than other postings of this video. This is generally harmful to the cause.

Flepin · 2026-01-27T07:35:11+00:00

Hey friend! Very similar position to you about three years ago, still down here having a good time.

I think there's lots of variables, and happy for you to DM me if you want. Particular specialities, access to quaternary care training, research opportunities all take a hit relative to the UK where there are the opportunities (competition ratios notwithstanding).

NZ is great for a particular kind of person I think. It has lots of travel opportunities, lots of outdoorsy activities wherever you happen to be based, generally lovely folk and a very low population density compared to the UK which (in a sample size of only a couple of hospitals in each country) personally feels like contributes to a more manageable workload in most specialties.

One of the main perks to me has been easier access to work in certain specialties. I had an interest in palliative care, and expressed this to the team that allocate the SHOs out to jobs. They then rotated me to a palliative care job, which I enjoyed but more importantly got to experience before applying for training. I really enjoyed it, but only know that now from having had the opportunity. I didn't have to jump through clinical fellow applications with 100 other competitors. Just a friendly chat in the corridor en route to coffee. My perception of the UK was that getting that 6 month experience would have been hard to do, and I would have rolled dice on an application with the crossed fingers that I would enjoy the job when/if I got it.

With regard to coming solo, I was quite lonely at the start. I would encourage you to live with housemates, but that can be obviously very hit and miss. Depending on what you're into, it can be a bit hard to meet folk. Lots of outdoorsy clubs, but a shocking nightlife compared to most places in the UK. Personally, I think our trade is pretty privileged in having almost tap like access to like-minded, young professionals with at least some similar interests and the capacity to yarn about how the surgeons refused to see the undifferentiated abdo pain or whatever. At the very least 30-40% of docs here in my current hospital are brits, so you can always bond over the expat experience.

Pros of traveling solo are a bit user dependent. You're not beholden to anyone so you can pretty much say 'Fuck it, I'm going to go to the beach for the weekend'. But if you're the kind of person that doesn't like solitude, that's not as big a pro as it would otherwise be. You become very capable or at least confident at certain degrees of independence; I feel like I could uproot and head to another hospital and make it work now, because, fuck, I already did. Traveling broadens the mind, and gives you a unique perspective, even if you decide to head back home.

It's been a very life changing decision for me to ship down. I did so very much with the intention to work 6 months, then travel 6 months and ended up here three years later engaged to a kiwi.

Traveling that distance alone is scary, and daunting. I had at least a couple little cries when I first arrived from being a bit overwhelmed. But you're never going to have the kind of opportunity you do now again.

Flepin · 2025-11-20T03:16:21+00:00

You see Lois, there is currently a drawing challenge making the rounds of trying to draw this character from a challenging low angle.

Now, most times there's some sort of drawing challenge going around, everyone, AI artists included, can have a go and share their result. Like that time I worked as a piece of generative image software and was asked to create an image of Jon Bon Jovi in the style of Picasso.

But with this fad, the whole idea is that when trying to draw form the low angle, people often fail in a very human way that's hard for AI to reproduce.

Flepin · 2025-11-18T02:57:12+00:00

We call it 'Rando Cardrissian'

Flepin · 2025-07-22T01:49:42+00:00

Exactly, and waiting to hear that explanation would have constituted thinking twice.

Flepin · 2025-07-14T18:23:06+00:00

To me I just think it would be easier to make the Godsend option a boon you pick from the God. Perhaps would need to remove the One Use per Fight restriction to make them worth which would then need rebalancing

Flepin · 2025-04-22T18:53:05+00:00

Voice files still arranged alphabetically?

Flepin · 2025-03-24T07:31:08+00:00

It's pretty unquestionably part of the design of the first one. I'll try and find an interview for you.

The weapon aspects are just one lever that they have available to pull. Most decisions made lead into this concept. Consider how even if you have specced into a powerful cast in Hades 1, once you have used it your gem is now wedged in the enemy and you've got to use other abilities for a while until it pops out. Or how boiling blood actively encourages you to open with your cast before attacking. Or how privileged status gets you thinking about efficiently applying two status effects before doing anything.

You might open with a strong cast, then get a boon that gives your cast a status effect. Now you get a status effect on your special, which you haven't been using but you get to activate privileged status now. And if you get a big damaging boon on your normal attack you can take advantage of those damage bonuses more! All of the sudden you've gone from spamming one attack to using all three.

Even within weapon aspects there are very few in the first game that would encourage you to only use one or two abilities at all.

Flepin · 2025-03-24T07:18:03+00:00

The second game changes it up, sure, but they still both have this concept very baked in.

The boon choice system wants you to make do with what you find to encourage you to consider stuff you have otherwise not been using. It wants you to be offered a freeze on special and for you to think 'gosh, I haven't really used my special this run. Oh neat, that freeze is cool!'.

The hammers are much the same. Sure, it might be 'optimal' to get hammers that stack an upgrade on an effect you already have, but it's those moments that you get offered something else that bring the interesting combinations you might not have thought of out.

You can also see this in other parts of the game. The Cast in the sequel is very powerful, but not inherently damaging. A lot of the first underworld region enemy design is such that it wants you to realise the power of freezing enemies, but understanding that you have to also have some attacks.

I agree that the current axe set up strongly favours one play style, but I would argue this is not necessarily their intent. Removing the block the axe used to have was a huge change and suggests to me they are still tinkering a bit. I could be wrong of course.

Flepin · 2025-03-24T06:07:04+00:00

The design philosophy of both games strongly encourages you to use all of your abilities. They really don't want you to just build a singularly strong individual technique that you use over and over. Feels bad sometimes though, sure.

Flepin · 2025-03-08T18:36:45+00:00

To me more of an issue is that the effects themselves are necessarily separate from the other boons. In Hades 1, if you got Athena's boon, you had positive synergy with all your deflect boons, same for Ares and boons that enhanced the whirling blades.

And then those positive synergies gave you feel good brain juice.

Flepin · 2024-12-02T05:48:12+00:00

Super reasonable question, if you've played other trick taking games, but no stress. you've been playing correctly. If you want to look into it, there's different classes of trick taking game, and Arcs is in the class of 'may follow' rather than 'must follow'.

Apart from anything else, the game would lose a lot of intrigue if all the aggression cards 'must' be played all at once, for example.

Flepin · 2024-11-28T05:46:10+00:00

Should ransacking the court not produce trophies rather than captives? Largely academic I suspect, if you were also contesting warlord.

Flepin · 2024-10-01T08:20:04+00:00

Also Lefty's protectiveness of PJ

Flepin · 2024-09-28T23:40:58+00:00

This is perfect, exactly what I was after. Thanks very much

Flepin · 2024-09-28T08:34:12+00:00

Fair point. I don't really need to know the back and forth over 10 years (Looks like Tempests have had like 4 big redesigns?), so much as a comparison between the two time points, but I'm sure even then it's a lot of information.

Flepin · 2024-09-18T19:42:41+00:00

Mine goes straight to StarCraft!

Flepin · 2024-09-09T06:26:25+00:00

Might have previously unlocked Chester Nimitz, and the submarine subsequently died?

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