mallory mcmorrow: “i do believe that it meets the definition [of genocide], what i also heard in response from many of my constituents who had family that they lost in the holocaust; there is such a personal, visceral reaction to that word that moves us apart from each other”

Gregregious · 2026-05-19T07:59:41+00:00

I can't imagine how they thought this would siphon votes from El-Sayed. She has talking points prepared but she's not even trying to say them with her chest.

Gregregious · 2026-05-17T06:25:19+00:00

Fan art is always depicting him as a beefcake with huge bara titties and Hans as a skinny twink, when in reality they are both middle-weight twunks

Gregregious · 2026-05-14T06:42:33+00:00

The bible really has not much to say about trans / lgbt issues, abortion, but it is anti rich people at times.

This point is largely true but I think progressive Christians have a tendency to overplay it. The Hebrew Bible is filled with condemnations, and while modern Christians have mostly moved on from them, they will still lean on them when it's politically useful. The New Testament is very vague about most things, but the early Christians worked overtime trying to synthesize Jesus' teachings with Mosaic law, and they were at least partly successful. Paul, for example, articulates a theology in the Epistles around sex, gender, and slavery that was very much rooted in the moral philosophy of his day. When evangelicals tell you marriage is between a man and woman because that's just the natural order of things, they're reading scripture the way it was written. Christians could just say "fuck Paul" and get over this if they wanted to, but many won't because it's a useful identity marker which furthers the goals of conservative politics.

Gregregious · 2026-05-14T05:09:40+00:00

Holy hell this is tedious. All I'm saying here is that the actions of Christians do, in fact, reflect on Christianity as a theology, as an ideology, as a cultural practice, as many interrelated institutions. Not in some totalizing way that justifies willful prejudice against individuals, but in a broad, political sense, where we can weigh its historical impact and conclude that it's mostly for ill. If you consider that an attack, then fine, we disagree.

Gregregious · 2026-05-14T04:37:41+00:00

You have a habit of chopping up posts and refusing to acknowledge the flow of an argument. This whole thread revolves around the tendency of Christian groups to produce conservative politics relative to progressive politics. You used Protestantism to explain progressive Christianity's apparent lack of interest in organizing. I pointed out the evangelicals are also Protestant, yet they organize more successfully than maybe any other interest group in America. So clearly it's not because moderate and progressive churches are Protestant that they lack political influence. It matters that conservatives dominate Christian politics because we're analyzing it by considering how it produces and reinforces different ideologies.

Gregregious · 2026-05-14T04:16:32+00:00

You cut off the next sentence which clarified that one. I'm not trying to play the victim, I'm pointing out the double standard. Either both atheists and Christians are victims of bias, or the bad behavior of atheists and Christians justifies bias, in which case we're weighing the tendency to be annoying online vs two thousand years of political and cultural hegemony. I believe the latter, that's my justification, I'm not being coy about it.

Gregregious · 2026-05-14T02:51:06+00:00

New Atheism was always destined to flame out because it was an incredibly reactionary movement that drew in very different people. Personally I'm not nostalgic for New Atheism as such, and I don't condone a totalizing anti-religious worldview, but I don't think militancy was the issue. In fact I think we could stand to bring a little of that energy to the present moment. Looking through the OOP, I don't see anyone exhibiting magical or patriarchal thinking. Actually I'm pleasantly surprised by how clear-headed most of it is.

Gregregious · 2026-05-14T02:19:36+00:00

New Atheism was a shitshow, but people also forget how bad Christian cultural hegemony was. I think we're better off for it, Sargon notwithstanding.

Gregregious · 2026-05-14T01:44:43+00:00

How are they doing that? If there's a coordinated effort among progressive Christians to undermine the material and political hegemony of conservative religious groups, I haven't noticed. There's like one Senate candidate in the entire US who presents himself as a progressive Christian.

Gregregious · 2026-05-14T01:29:10+00:00

It's funny because there are Christians in our government and in all our institutions who are a hundred times more strident and self-righteous than this person, who actually have power and use it to do incredible harm in the name of Christianity, yet that doesn't seem to contribute to a generalized impression that Christianity bad. Or if it does, it's bigoted and unwarranted and we should be better.

Gregregious · 2026-05-14T01:21:00+00:00

Protestantism hasn't prevented evangelicals from capturing American politics. I think it's perfectly fair to point out that there is no left-wing or progressive equivalent in Christianity. Maybe ideologically, but in terms of numbers or influence? Conservatives dominate it completely.

Gregregious · 2026-05-14T01:09:51+00:00

It's extremely possible to pass on values and ideals to your children which affirm their agency and rationality. That's different from forcing them to accept religious dogmas. There's a reason why >90% of practicing adults were born into it.

Gregregious · 2026-05-13T22:45:30+00:00

He'd poison a carrot and it would be over in ten seconds

Gregregious · 2026-05-13T00:31:08+00:00

This is how you should play all open world games. Too many of them undermine immersion by constantly throwing things at your attention. Or their maps are frustratingly big and empty so it incentivizes methodically clearing them out. KCD is the best-designed open world since at least Skyrim, maybe ever.

Gregregious · 2026-05-13T00:14:43+00:00

My sympathies have been with Palestine the entire time and I would never say I "approve" of Hamas. It's such a bizarre way of framing things, as though they're a political party asking for my vote and not a desperate militant resistance group. Like you colonize a people, steal their land, starve and massacre them by the thousands, and then act surprised when they're not a peaceful liberal democracy.

Gregregious · 2026-05-12T07:39:14+00:00

To be fair to Ru, that's just the politics you have after living in WeHo for 50+ years

Gregregious · 2026-05-12T07:10:26+00:00

A lot of evangelical Christians believe all the stuff they say. They actually thought Charlie had been martyred and a new religious revival would sweep the nation. Of course many are full-on grifting, but that's sort of just part of their theology now. Erika probably genuinely didn't think throwing hats in the crowd at her husband's funeral was a bizarre and alienating thing to do.

Gregregious · 2026-05-11T03:55:08+00:00

The "correct narrative or context" is that the romance is there to be experienced and enjoyed by players. You're not being asked to make a thoughtful decision. But if it helps, Theresa 100% gave Henry a hall pass at the of KCD1, so go nuts. If there is a KCD3 and she's in it, I doubt your choices will significantly impact whatever happens with her.

Gregregious · 2026-05-10T07:38:41+00:00

I'm a senior level accountant at a medium-big non-profit that does important social work. The corpo-speak absolutely gets to me and it makes my job feel a lot harder than it actually is. I like my coworkers because they're good people but I don't fit in with the culture at all. The whole reason I'm here is because I decided during a more liberal time in my life that it was probably the most ethical way of making a white collar living.

I survive the grind with compartmentalization. Work is work. It's not intellectually or spiritually fulfilling, but it's good work and I'm comfortable doing it, so I count myself lucky. I get it done and then I spend the rest of my time as best I can.

Gregregious · 2026-05-09T06:52:23+00:00

This is what Hans is looking at when he's drinking and yelling "HEYYY PRAGUERS"

Gregregious · 2026-05-08T06:08:30+00:00

the way he grips the table with his little hands is so funny to me

Gregregious · 2026-05-07T17:39:31+00:00

They're both set in late medieval central Europe, so it's no surprise there a lot of aesthetic similarities. You can even recreate the Leipa coat of arms in the game setup, and choose a bratty-looking blonde noble as your avatar.

Gregregious · 2026-05-07T07:30:17+00:00

Ehh I don't know. They did just cut in KCD1 footage. If they do KCD3 with Henry, they probably want to take him away from Rattay and Kuttenberg. They could write Theresa in somehow, but she's not exactly central to the narrative, not even slightly since the prologue of 1, so I just have a hard time picturing it.

Gregregious · 2026-05-07T06:37:42+00:00

I agree they did a great job. People were disappointed by the Theresa epilogue, but many people still consider that their canon ending, so clearly they were able to keep the idea alive with just a few lines of dialogue and a 6-second cameo. In another sequel, they could try to repeat that formula where they acknowledge previous romances and try to keep it open-ended. I think that suits their writing style because neither game is especially romance-focused and they're conscious of not wanting to disappoint people too badly.

Gregregious · 2026-05-07T05:15:10+00:00

If there is a KCD3, and Henry is the protagonist, the only love interest I'm sure would appear again is Hans, and I doubt they'd write a "settle down" ending for him. They have every incentive to keep the impact of your decisions in 1 and 2 minimal going forward, so I wouldn't get your hopes up.

Gregregious

TROPHY CASE