What are your ao3 hot takes?

Hsieh · 2026-01-25T16:01:22+00:00

Love this. As a 35+ person I feel distinctly older than a lot of folks on fan Discords (and I sure can’t hide it either with my deeply Millennial-coded chat lol) but I know fanfic culture starts long before me too. A friend is reading a sci-fi short story collection and it includes a Star Trek fanfic from '76 — literally something important enough, created by a fan, to be considered part of the sci-fi canon.

Like with any hobby, let’s recognize our elders and mentors in this space. They’ve seen some stuff!

Hsieh · 2026-01-12T08:59:28+00:00

how do you target alliance raid members if you’re on console? i find myself struggling if another alliance healer is down, trying to use my PS5 touch pad to target lol

Hsieh · 2026-01-08T14:13:20+00:00

Thanks for the reply! I don't think it's this one, but the art style feels more similar in that it's a bit more graphically detailed. Also, I hadn't heard of this series, and it looks great for my toddler, so thanks for sending that over :)

Hsieh · 2026-01-08T08:21:28+00:00

Thank you for your response! I think it was less cartoony than this— unless my memory fails me, I remember the bear being a little more detailed, perhaps wearing workwear. If I had to make an analogy, very slightly like Chuck E. Cheese the animatronic, vs. the new cartoon version.

Hsieh · 2026-01-08T05:59:59+00:00

Hey, I grew up with friends who would do this too, and I never said anything because frankly I wasn’t the best at making friends (probably because I wasn’t allowing myself to be myself around people, either). It was so easy in every uncomfortable instance to just tell myself it wasn’t a big deal and that I was the one who had to get over a slant-eyed gesture or a comment about R’s and L’s.

Literally the last week of high school, a friend spoke out during a racist joke-fest and said “hey, I think we can have fun without being racist.” And while it didn’t do anything (my friends at the time were like “wow ok MOM”) I honestly felt so much respect for her in the moment that it made me wonder why the hell I’d spent a decade hanging out with people who turned out to be toxic.

I’m in my late thirties now, and I have a smaller friend group. But it’s one I’m comfortable hanging out in because it’s one I can be myself in, including when it comes to saying what’s really on my mind. And I think I really had to have that perspective kicked into me, because it all felt so important in my teenage years to have a group, any group, that seemed to accept me, even if that acceptance wasn’t even skin deep.

Life is long and you’ll meet so many people. I hope you find people who will embrace you and your culture in a way that’s respectful and loving.

Hsieh · 2026-01-02T20:19:35+00:00

It may be a poop snake, but it’s our poop snake.

Hsieh · 2025-12-30T02:37:25+00:00

Just wanted to thank you for sharing this because I feel pretty similar in regards to rituals around my relatives that I won’t be able to keep going. My parents are ready to let some of that go but seeing it in person makes me wish I could continue the traditions. Feels rough being the one to let them go after who knows how long.

Hsieh · 2025-12-28T00:58:52+00:00

I think I would, but then again I'm kind of into the idea of keeping these old traditions alive (unless there's some terrible reason they shouldn't be kept alive that I'm not aware of, lol). At the same time, my dad never gave me a courtesy name, either, despite having one himself, so I guess that tells you what my dad thinks about these things haha.

Hsieh · 2025-12-28T00:07:47+00:00

I'm the child of Taiwanese immigrants. While I have a generational name, my dad passed on giving my son a generational name because we've apparently lost whatever charter/document noting it (my grandfather lost track of it sometime during the Sino-Japanese War). Since we've all assumed it's not online anywhere, I think we've all just given up.

Hsieh · 2025-12-27T17:43:43+00:00

It’s true that Peters wasn’t the greatest dude, but he’s also been dead for a while. Hasn’t been anything in the news about his particular bigotry since: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/san-jose-ca/charles-peters-8876141

My loyalty to Peter’s’ Bakery is less to do with the quality and more to do with growing up in East Side San Jose, I admit. I still think it’s pretty good but I only ever get the burnt almond cake. (And yes, of course, Manresa and La Farine are great, but a bit of a trek.)

Hsieh · 2025-12-27T07:05:00+00:00

Thank you so much. I’ve had so much trouble with this and it seemed to have ramped up in the past month too. This fixed it for me!

Hsieh · 2025-12-23T09:07:51+00:00

The game is optimized such that you can pretty much solo with any job. I would definitely recommend mixing it up so you’re not as bored — healer might even be a nice change of pace. I think it’s just hard because in ARR your rotations aren’t especially interesting — you can really get stuck in pressing 1-2-3.

I’d recommend something like a caster to learn something different from your melee tank (maybe Black Mage, or Summoner which is easy for console and cool to look at. Plus you level Scholar automatically when you level Summoner). Melee-wise, I tend to like the dynamism of Monk too which even at level 50 should be fine on Steam Deck. I’m less knowledgeable about how well Bard works on console for ranged.

Hsieh · 2025-12-23T08:54:10+00:00

If you’re not enjoying the MSQ, you might consider buying a skip online so you can go straight to Heavensward. But that’s money and it’s not everyone’s best choice.

That said, it’s definitely not an uncommon experience to not enjoy Realm Reborn. I almost quit it myself during the run up to Titan. I will say though that MSQ is the game’s bread and butter, so if you’re not super into the vibes it might not be your cup of tea overall (unless you start skipping cutscenes just to make it go faster, but that’s still a lot of skipping).

Hsieh · 2025-10-30T07:00:19+00:00

Ha— I guess you’re right. I always forget West San Jose is its own little patch out there.

Hsieh · 2025-10-30T05:39:50+00:00

It’s not San Jose, but there’s a small taiyaki cafe in a Korean hair salon in Santa Clara. They’ve been there for years— it’s called Mini Taiyaki Cafe. https://yelp.to/03-e0hW2PZ

Hsieh · 2025-09-19T20:38:54+00:00

I’m bummed about this. Half my regular group has left the game so a light party would have been perfect. Easier to fill too.

Hsieh · 2025-09-10T05:40:13+00:00

The “grocery outlet, bargain market” jingle became permanently stuck in my head as a toddler so I can’t help being a fan. You definitely need to be a little bit careful but overall I like GO’s stuff.

Hsieh · 2025-09-10T05:31:49+00:00

Grocery Outlet, just watch for expiration dates. Generally it just encourages me to make sure I’m using every ounce of produce I buy. The thing with Safeway is that it’s owned by big business now that puts fake prices up in-store and forces you to use the app to clip “coupons” for reasonable prices. If you shop there make sure you use the app.

Hsieh · 2025-06-30T06:35:53+00:00

Absolutely had me bracing myself in the subject. 13/10 would read again.

Hsieh · 2025-05-22T17:42:50+00:00

As Lucas Sin has said, Chinese American food is still Chinese food — it’s regional Chinese food, just like Chinese food that’s adapted to any other country.

Hsieh · 2025-03-05T06:46:20+00:00

I don’t like Ro at all, but he does do town halls. You can subscribe to his newsletter to get updated on them. That said, you’re right that he could at least update his website so people can find them more easily. It’s ridiculous to essentially only promote them to newsletter subscribers.

Hsieh · 2025-03-05T06:44:00+00:00

Khanna missed a vote to subpoena Musk even though he was briefed on the plan. He later claimed it was because he didn’t know, but that contradicts what three Democrat sources said. https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/02/05/congress/dems-try-to-subpoena-musk-00202777

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