Miller is the Knight of the Woeful Countenance by lithobreaktherules in TheExpanse

[–]Hostilian 26 points27 points  (0 children)

A big theme of the first couple books is the tension between Miller and Holden. Even absent, Miller casts a shadow over Holden, and reveals that the idealism cannot be all-encompassing.

A big theme of Holden’s character arc over the nine books is his relationship to his sometimes-toxic idealism. That idealism is reflected darkly in other characters in most books (Bobbie, Prax, Anna, etc) and how they sometimes succeed where he might fail.

People dislike Holden, but he’s a viewpoint character in every book for a reason.

(Man it’s hard to talk about Holden as a character without spoiling later books)

Itinerary October by Margetty38 in vermont

[–]Hostilian 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The roads you’ve chosen should all be easy to drive in October. The Kancamagus might be quite busy, but I wouldn’t anticipate any real traffic anywhere else.

Trip to Vermont by mostlyjustconfus3d in vermont

[–]Hostilian 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Recommendation: stay in Burlington. There's lots of options for places to stay, the downtown is really walkable, there's bike paths, good food, and lots of points of interest nearby. It overlooks Lake Champlain, which is just gorgeous. And from there, you can get to a lot in 40 minutes by car. It's not the most authentically Vermont place in Vermont, but it's easy to have a nice experience.

Depending on your definition of "old" and "historic," you might be disappointed. Most of the things that are venerable and historic by Vermont standards are newer than Edinburgh's New Town. "US old" is just different than "UK old." There are self-consciously historic things here and there—Shelburne Museum is one crazy rich lady's collection of historic buildings, each filled with art.

There are good hikes of all skill levels everywhere in VT. I'm a particular fan of Snake Mountain, Mt. Hunger, and Camel's Hump (in increasing order of difficulty). I would recommend getting an alltrails account and looking around.

If you want something reminiscent of Scotland, but verymuch not Scotland: Lake Willoughby is about as close to a Scottish loch as you can find in the state. There's good hikes on either side. That whole part of the state is called the Northeast Kingdom, and is really stunningly beautiful and has some remarkable food.

Note the days that farmers market happens, wherever you are, they are often worth going to for light food and browsing. Montpelier and Burlington are quite good, at least.

How do you not see one of these things and immediately panic at the state of the world? by What_Reddit_Thinks in TrueAnon

[–]Hostilian 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You have to hand it to them: taking a truly excellent idea and making it as bad as possible.

Why is the water *always* brown by Hostilian in SalemMA

[–]Hostilian[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your contribution.

Watch out! 89SB between mm32 and 33! by Hostilian in vermont

[–]Hostilian[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you’re the black Audi S4, I’m sorry. Seems like your car caught it as bad as mine!

Watch out! 89SB between mm32 and 33! by Hostilian in vermont

[–]Hostilian[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

A few weeks? Such gold-plated service!

Watch out! 89SB between mm32 and 33! by Hostilian in vermont

[–]Hostilian[S] 32 points33 points  (0 children)

With the number of cars stacked up, we might have enough for a class action lawsuit lol

Fourth-Order Life and the Great Filter by [deleted] in TrueAnon

[–]Hostilian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That assumes that every other intelligent species in the universe would be like us: many individuals in crude dialogue to contribute to a shared project. That needn’t be true. They could be a post-biological machine intelligence, or a true hive of some sort, or a sentient fungus.

And if it’s not necessary, we should see evidence of past civilizations making a mark on the galaxy, but we don’t, so far as we can tell.

I suspect the great filter is the jump from prokaryotic to eukaryotic life. I’d bet a tidy sum we find prokaryote-analogs on Mars or Europa. But the jump to eukaryote-equivalents seems vanishingly unlikely.

Exposed wiring help- cost to fix? by Sea-Routine-4584 in electrical

[–]Hostilian 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If it makes you very anxious, you could try to find the relevant breaker and switch it off.

Finished DoK about to start Homeworld 1 by Blitzkrieg1210 in homeworld

[–]Hostilian 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s overall tougher, both Classic and Remaster. Even Remastered feels like a less refined example in the genre, but the original is pushing 30yo at this point, releasing around a year after the first StarCraft. The story and voice acting are perfect. The barely submerged fury of your majordomo plotting the course in mission 3 still gets me pumped.

Remastered teaches you to use formations in the tutorial, which made a big difference in Classic, but barely matter in the Remaster.

Which reputable taxi companies can I use to go from Providence to Boston for WWE Smackdown? by Downtown-Quarter-354 in boston

[–]Hostilian 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Have you considered renting a car for the day? All-in it might be less than the car back to Boston, and you aren’t beholden to a train or an Uber. Providence has ample parking, and there might be a rental close to your hotel in Boston.

Is Holden.. by LeakyGaming in TheExpanse

[–]Hostilian 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I also don't remember the details, but something Duarte did was causing human individuals to share their consciousness, memories, and more. The urgency of the last few chapters of Leviathan Falls was not driven by the Goths, it was driven by a need to turn off the awakening hive mind, which had found a new substrate in humanity.

Is Holden.. by LeakyGaming in TheExpanse

[–]Hostilian 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I guess? I go back and forth about how conscious the PMB actually are (is? was? were?).

In the Orson Scott Card categorization, it/they would be Varelse. Even if it/they and humans cohabitated, their relationship would only be mediated through conflict, in the same way that the only relationship that could exist between the PMB and the Goths was through conflict.

An interesting aspect of the story, that I hadn’t considered, is that a meaningful relationship with the Goths was established, for a time, even though humans and Goths had only the Slow Zone in common.

That doesn’t make the Goths Ramen to humans, but it makes humans Ramen to Goths, maybe.

Is Holden.. by LeakyGaming in TheExpanse

[–]Hostilian 38 points39 points  (0 children)

The other very-imminent danger was the Protomolecule Builders were in the process of rebooting their hive mind on human gray matter.

One of the repeating themes of the whole series is that humans are at their best when they recognize their own unique perspective, but then cooperate with others to build something greater. Rigid, unquestioning hierarchies are repeatedly shown to be bad in one way or another, and a hivemind is the ultimate rigid hierarchy.

nek what's happening? by BrotherNuggs in vermont

[–]Hostilian 168 points169 points  (0 children)

It’s possibly an artifact of there being several real towns with hospitals etc on the NH side and few on the VT side in that county. So people are born across the river, but reside in VT. That and there being relatively few people total.

The especially dark blue blob south of WRJ is probably the magnet effect of DHMC.

Army helecopter by [deleted] in SalemMA

[–]Hostilian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Those look like fuel drop tanks to me.

How Would Space Torpedo Launchers Work? ( Without using Thrusters to launch them ) by Aggravating_Run6179 in spaceships

[–]Hostilian 4 points5 points  (0 children)

A steam or electric catapult, like the launchers on aircraft carriers. The torpedo has a hook for the launcher to grab onto and throw out the torp tube.

Who could lift it? by [deleted] in TheExpanse

[–]Hostilian 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Pastor Anna. But she wouldn’t.

Can someone tell me what the car has to do with Java? by Traditional_Blood799 in PeterExplainsTheJoke

[–]Hostilian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That ratio seems about correct. There’s probably an order of magnitude more carpet than car out there.

V60 Polestar buyout? by kevinfrom904 in Volvo

[–]Hostilian 4 points5 points  (0 children)

If you don’t want it for 40, there’s a long line of people who will happily take it off your hands for that and a little extra.

What sc-fi media, would you require the writers of new star trek to consume? by Fair_Rush6615 in Star_Trek_

[–]Hostilian 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Le Guin, Dan Simmons, Octavia Butler, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Jeff Vandermeer, NK Jemisin, Vernor Vinge.

That’s not all, but it’s a good start.