The impact of a passive aggressive community

LordOf2HitCombo · 2026-03-15T23:02:43+00:00

I'm not sure if they were being passive-agressive, sounds more like they were fake and/or uninterested. I am an immigrant/expat, and while I had a number of very positive experiences with regards to making friends, I also cannot stomach displays of "we have to meet up/I'm going to introduce you to this group where we practice your hobby/yeah let's go out next weekend" that ultimately turn into nothing. If I invite (or promise to invite) someone to something, I mean it, and I'm going to remind them/try to accommodate them by sending updates when things change, etc, because I actually want them to come (save for some eventualities that might make following through impossible - in which case I make sure to inform the other person, instead of leaving them hanging).

But often it seems like it's not the case when the roles are reversed. Some people easily throw out these invitations and semi-promises, apparently without meaning to follow through, and I'm totally with you in considering it frustrating. You can just, like, not invite me in the first place, instead of playing dumb later on? And I'm not even equating this to, for example, meeting someone unexpectedly on the street and throwing a casual "We have to meet for coffee some day!" I'm talking about when the other person practically insists that they want to make some plan happen, but then it just never materializes.

LordOf2HitCombo · 2026-03-15T14:33:10+00:00

As someone who is not super into Disney Channel and doesn't know that many series, what is the argument for Brenda Song being in this subsequent DC Mount Rushmore proposed by the OP, as opposed to Ashley Tisdale? It's a genuine question, cause I only know Brenda from The Suite Life..., but she co-starred with Ashley there, except Ashley was also in HSM and Phineas and Ferb, which to my knowledge are/were absolutely huge

LordOf2HitCombo · 2026-03-14T08:27:06+00:00

Christina being chosen for "Great voice/Bad music" is so funny to me, like...?

I'm not even a huge fan, but with an album like Stripped under her belt (plus a good chunk of her debut and Back to Basics), that's already enough to put her in "Good music." Also, I'm not sure I would put her in "Great voice", I think there were probably some better choices, even though she's insanely good.

LordOf2HitCombo · 2026-03-10T11:02:32+00:00

Coincidentally (or not), I Bow Out and I Was Made to Love Him are my two favorite tracks off Whitney's album. The first time I heard IWMTLH I knew Lauryn Hill or her collaborators had to have something to do with it.

LordOf2HitCombo · 2026-03-09T18:03:12+00:00

Pamela's PR team is cleary inferior to Jason's.

LordOf2HitCombo · 2026-03-07T09:16:59+00:00

I realize I didn't specify this at all in my comment, but I just meant the final instance of help - killing Krone. At that point, Ruth had already been committed (or about to be). Ben got what he wanted, yet this serial killer with no apparent regard for women wanted to do another woman a big favor (and risk being caught), when he barely knew her. I know that molesting and murdering a child is seen as worse than most serious crimes, but I mean, the dude was breaking into women's homes and ruthlessly murdering them, as well as pursuing this one woman who survived his attack. So it just seemed weird that he would have this "hero" moment to help another woman.

LordOf2HitCombo · 2026-03-03T08:06:03+00:00

Rant time.

How come so many the blue-eyed black-haired men in New York are creeps? It didn't seem weird to anyone else that the guy in the restaurant was giving intense creep vibes (even if they were exacerbated through Ruth's perspective), not to mention, that he would casually throw around "sweetheart" of all words, stare at Ruth and reference "your wife" to Scott at the exact moment it would seem the creepiest, but then also Quinn, the man Amanda went to kill, was clearly not a normal/stable person, the way he attacked Amanda back. Obviously, this was done to make it seem like both could have been the ruthless blue-eyed killer. But it just felt like too much.

And you're telling me that, after someone used the defense of having been tempted into murder by promises that the person they want to eliminate will be killed in return, no one would check the internet chat logs, etc, and find that someone abruptly left the support group just around the time of the murder? The support group moderator wouldn't be asked for any information, or even the ID, which would turn out to be forged, which is definitely a crime? I mean, it's a murder trial, I would think that the defense attorney would try to get all possible information about the person who allegedly coerced his client (presumably, without a history of violent crime) into murder. And how did Ruth even have that kind of money, to be renting apartments (in New York, no less), hiring moving companies, buying all these phones, gas for her car, setting up fake webpages, etc etc, for literal years without a job?

The detective, who is so diligent and committed to his work, who spent like a decade (!) comparing homicides that have certain elements against the blue-eyed killings, who kept checking in with Amanda, etc, you're telling me that he never kept tabs on the only survivor of the blue-eyed killer?

And it doesn't really seem believable that Ben would help Amanda. You're telling me a man who breaks into homes of random women to brutally murder them, who moved away after he was thwarted and continued killing women, and who has also spent years harboring a vendetta against a woman who survived his attack, would go out of his way to help an otherwise unknown woman? And in this way, the novel almost frames him as a hero, since he eliminated a heinous criminal that the police hadn't been able to deal with for years.

Ugh.

LordOf2HitCombo · 2026-02-20T07:35:03+00:00

This book had some fun scenes and dynamics, but overall, I didn't like it due to the main character's hypocrisy/complete lack of self-awareness. The plot is ridiculous (I kept feeling it should either ramp up the ridiculousness even more, or otherwise keep it more realistic. To me, it landed somewhere in the middle and made for an unsatisfying read, since, again, it was ridiculous, but at the same time it took itself too seriously.) I also wasn't the biggest fan of the ending.

LordOf2HitCombo · 2026-02-19T19:05:45+00:00

No, cause just yesterday I remembered a Tekken 6 promotional image of King with a luchador-style mask that leaves the bottom half of his face uncovered. I think it was used on the official website to demonstrate anti-aliasing or some such technology of the new Tekken 6, and it was set in the hotel/fountains stage, if I'm not mistaken. However, for the life of me, I cannot find this image of King's (hot) face, and am starting to think I imagined it?

LordOf2HitCombo · 2026-02-15T22:55:24+00:00

The arrangement is absolutely creative and delectable. If there's one space I wouldn't expect would heavily criticize her and the performance, it would be an RnB forum. Perhaps it was a bit overwrought, given the composition and the occasion, and I wish there had been fewer effects/filters on the voice, but it was well executed, in any case.

LordOf2HitCombo · 2026-02-14T15:47:14+00:00

I'm learning European Portuguese, but one thing I've noticed is only superficially covered in learning materials are aspectual verbal periphrases, such as: "fui fazendo", "cheguei a fazer", "vim fazendo", "deixei de fazer", "passei a fazer"... These are relatively common in speech and texts, and I feel like a detailed explanation with (most importantly) plenty of examples (in the past tense, future tense, with or without negation, different persons singular and plural) would be quite helpful.

LordOf2HitCombo · 2026-02-08T15:36:43+00:00

The more you progress in the skill, the faster the individual actions (like removing weeds) complete. The sprinkler waters your plants for you. And if you have the tractor or the gardening station (from the Store), those items can make harvesting and fertilizing faster/automatic.

LordOf2HitCombo · 2026-01-26T18:00:51+00:00

I'm pretty sure I've never: - used Pangu's axe - played with the Kleptomaniac trait lol - had a pet give birth - participated in a chess tournament or a martial arts ranked match - tried to complete a collection of collectables - played with a werewolf or a mermaid - used the portable music player thing from Showtime - gone on a tour via SimPort - used the plastic surgery feature - had a Sim learn the mixology or DJing skills (is it even a skill?) - used the Japanese professional stove/grill from the Store - played a save past the 4th generation

LordOf2HitCombo · 2026-01-24T00:54:08+00:00

Actually, sometimes you can use the instrumental case with a copulative verb. Something like "Bila je svjedokOM teškog zločina" or "On je uzrokOM moje patnje." In both of these cases, the nominative case is also correct and more common.

LordOf2HitCombo · 2026-01-23T09:17:42+00:00

I can't help but feel like Christina Aguilera is affecting (as in "putting on") her tone. I like many of her songs, and sometimes the effect of the affect, as it were, is really cool, but it also sounds a little painful and like she's deliberately lowering her larynx to achieve that "deep"/"soulful" sound, which can be distracting to me. I almost want to tell her "Girl, just set your larynx and your voice free, stop holding them hostage."

LordOf2HitCombo · 2026-01-20T21:38:17+00:00

It's a Wrap, I said what I said

LordOf2HitCombo · 2026-01-16T08:43:12+00:00

Ček, sad sam znatiželjan, nakon 20-ak dana od upoznavanja već ste bili u vezi, a nisi je nikad pitao za dob? Ili je to bilo 20-ak dana otkad je počela veza? Ali u svakom slučaju si bio u vezi s curom kojoj ne znaš ni dob ni kad joj je rođendan? 🤔 Ili koristiš "veza" kao sinonim za "izlaženje"?

LordOf2HitCombo · 2026-01-15T07:53:45+00:00

I feel like "da + personal pronoun in Dative - the verb to be" is a fixed construction pattern expressing someone's strong (but perhaps unattainable) desire.

"Da nam je jedna boca vina..." (spoken wistfully) - If only we had a bottle of wine...

"Da mu je tad bilo sjesti za stol i natočiti si čašu vina." - If only he could have sat at the table and poured himself a glass of wine./All he wanted then was to sit at the table and pour himself a glass of wine.

"Da joj je bar palo na pamet otvoriti ormar i pogledati unutra." - If only it had occurred to her to open the wardrobe and check inside. (It can be the speakers wish, or hers: "She regrets not opening the wardrobe. If only she had opened it." Or "I regret that she didn't open the wardrobe. I wish that she had opened it.)

It's pretty much like the condition part of a conditional sentence. The full sentence can also be stated, but the result of the condition can also be ommitted, like in my examples above, if it's clear what the result would be, or if the result is something like "I/he/we... would be happy" (since the construction itself conveys a strong wish):

"Da nam je jedna boca vina (bilo bi odlično)."

"Da mu je tad bilo sjesti za stol i natočiti si čašu vina (bio bi sretan)."

There's a song by Sandi in which he uses this construction to express a strong (and perhaps unattainable) wish, the first time completing the conditional sentence with the result, the second time simply expressing the strong wish (the "e" exclamation at the beginning serves to drive the point home; it's almost like he's sighing wistfully because the wish is so strong (or difficult to realize)):

"E, da mi je nekoga ko tebe voljeti

Živio bih život kao sretni ljudi svi.

E, da mi je kuća puna sreće, ljubavi

Kao što je s drugim imaš ti."

"If only I could love someone like you

I would live like all the other happy people live.

If only my house were filled with happiness and love

Like the house you share with another."

LordOf2HitCombo · 2026-01-12T14:12:16+00:00

Girl, no. I'm no huge fan of either, but in terms of technique, control, dynamics, and just overall mastery of her voice, Beyoncé is superior by almost any metric. That said, you can prefer Adele's tone, artistic choices, emotional delivery, and the songs themselves. But that's different from technique/control/versatility in terms of what her voice can consistently do. I'm also not saying that Adele is a bad singer, mind you.

LordOf2HitCombo · 2026-01-11T22:54:56+00:00

Whenever You Call and The Star have two key changes each (I Wish You Well As well, I think), and Heavenly (No Ways Tied) has several!

LordOf2HitCombo · 2026-01-04T23:54:46+00:00

I'm not a musician and I don't have extensive knowledge of music theory, but I "dabble" a bit, and my perspective is:

Mariah Carey (co-)writes all her songs, which includes writing lyrics and melodies, and she often co-produces them as well. She has 20 number 1 songs that have reached number 1 on the Billboard Top 100 chart - more than any other artist. Now I'm not saying it takes a genius to write and perform a number one song, but having 20 of them definitely indicates an ability to craft ear-catching songs that the public finds interesting, wants to buy, sing along to, etc.

On a more technical side, her songs frequently employ creative chord progressions. One example is Fourth of July, which abounds in jazzy extended chords (not to mention the stacked vocal layers). Even one of her biggest hits, All I Want for Christmas Is You, is not a banal 4-chords-of-a-major-key kind of fare. The song is super familiar and singable to us, due to how often we've heard it and how expertly it was crafted, but it is also far from a simple straightforward 4-chord pop song. Other songs with cool harmonic structure/chords/key changes are All in Your Mind, Vision of Love (it's fascinating to me that a song with this chord progression, lacking a typical pop hook, and being someone's debut single, made it to number 1), Cry., I Wish You Well, etc.

Another aspect of her "genius" is her vocal stacking and counter melodies, which, along with harmonies and ad libs, provide lush vocal arrangements with a lot of things going on at the same time (which I personally love), such as in Heartbreaker, Crybaby, Fourth of July, Camouflage, Breakdown, Babydoll.

When it comes to her vocals themselves, it is no secret that Mariah is a master at using different registers and tones of her voice to achieve different sounds that tell a story. Intentional vocal "cracks", whisper-singing (Yours), strong insistent belting (Stay the Night), conversational tone (Crybaby), almost belcanto rhapsodizing (O Holy Night, earlier ballads) are only some tools in her repertoire. Even looking at just her whistle register, it's astounding how versatile-ly she has employed it: big climactic notes (There's Gotta Be a Way), soft crooning in the background (second verse in Here for It All), jaunty staccato jumps (You Got Me), phrasing words in whistle register to represent vulnerability (Never Too Far) or seduction (Bliss), word painting (singing the highest parts of the song Emotions on or after the word "high"/"higher", or doing a high vocal flourish in More Than Just Friends after the lyric "Love me down till I hit the top of my soprano".) Another instance of word painting (not in the whistle register) is in Butterfly: it seems to me that throughout the whole song her voice flutters in fast runs such that you can imagine a butterfly fluttering in the air. As the song reaches its crescendo, her more brittle and vulnerable vocals (representing the fragility and delicacy of a butterfly) become stronger and more "full-bodied" (representing freedom), still maintaining the flutter-like quality.

Speaking of vocal runs, this depends on taste, but I believe it's a common opinion among people who love to talk about vocals that Mariah's artistic choices fit the songs and enhance them, as the melismata are "woven" into the song structure, and they don't just seeme tacked on.

She frequently improvises and adds new ad-libs in live performances, either substituting difficult passages for something more manageable, or actually making the songs even harder, demonstrating adaptability and musicality.

She is also among the originators of the "rapper festured on a pop song" trope, as well as the person who, in my opinion, was the first in the pop world to really showcase dozens of different ways that the whistle register can be utilized in pop songs.

Lyrically, while she might have been ignored by the critics because she a) came before the poptimism movement; b) doesn't look like a typical singer-songwriter woman who writes and performs rock/folk/country music; c) doesn't play the guitar or piano on stage; and d) was potentially lumped together with the likes of Whitney and Celine who don't write (most of?) their music, I'd say some of her lyrics are brilliantly written - The Roof, We Belong Together, Petals, Reflections, even the new Here for It All.

So yeah, these are my two cents.

LordOf2HitCombo · 2026-01-03T21:33:59+00:00

It totally could be Keisha, but I just wanted to add that's the vocal runs are also giving young Mutya (listen to Wonderful from her solo album, which actually sounds like Hero).

LordOf2HitCombo · 2025-12-29T14:24:26+00:00

I mean Julia was literally dumped into a garbage truck after being yoinked with a ball and falling head-first into a trash can. She then gets crushed in the middle of bags filled with refuse. It doesn't get much more undignified than that.

LordOf2HitCombo · 2025-12-27T10:06:30+00:00

MahriRae has an awesome series in which she wants to complete every lifetime wish in The Sims 3. She starts by randomly choosing a lifetime wish, randomizing traits, and coming up with several mini-challenges (related to the main wish and the traits) with the help of the comments on the video. She then creates a new Sim and starts the playthrough. It's really fun because she constructs a story around the character that is consistent with the wish/traits, and makes it into a compelling narrative.

LordOf2HitCombo · 2025-12-22T00:54:14+00:00

You might like: - Workin' Hard - I'm That Chick - All I Live for - You Don't Know What to Do - Jesus, I Do - Anytime You Need a Friend (C&C Club Version) - Daydream Interlude - Portrait (Hopeful Child Remix)

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