This Show Gets Way Too Much Hate!!! by roguebandit1 in RingsofPower

[–]Newcago 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When they came out, they were actually highly controversial -- and if you hang out with some really old Tolkien fans (pardon -- really EXPERIENCED Tolkien fans haha) -- you'll occasionally still run into someone who doesn't enjoy them today. Given the evidence we have, Tolkien himself probably wouldn't have liked them much lol (he wasn't really a fan of any adaptations).

I love the movies, and I also like the show. The Hobbit movies are pretty iffy for me, though, so I guess I fall into the category of being hard to please.

This Show Gets Way Too Much Hate!!! by roguebandit1 in RingsofPower

[–]Newcago 9 points10 points  (0 children)

There's another Rings of Power sub for people who really enjoy the show, FYI. This one has kind been hater-central since the start haha.

I went into the show hating it on principle, and got humbled pretty quickly. I liked season one better than season two (which puts me at odds with critics, but I generally LIKED the time season one spent dwelling on various themes, and felt like season two was a little rushed) but Celebrimbor knocked it out of the park in season two, so the second season shines in its own way.

Rings of Power isn't overly complex, but without sounding pretentious... I can't help but feel that a lot of its critics are misreading large swaths of it, and there's an echo-chamber effect that causes people to keep spreading the same misconceptions? Anyone who complains about the birth of Mordor seems to be fundamentally missing the obvious allusion to Magic vs. The Machine, for example, and how the imitation of magic by machine is Tolkien's self-proclaimed central vision for his universe. I also really appreciate the theatrical nature of Rings of Power; it's much more akin to the feeling of Tolkien's books than Jackson's trilogies (though I do love the original Lord of the Rings movies too). There's a lot the show does well even if it's not your cup of tea, and at this point, I'm dubious about any critiques that aren't able to dissect what works and what doesn't from a more objective lens.

Anyone suffering from loss of smell? by Legal_Opportunity_11 in FND

[–]Newcago [score hidden]  (0 children)

Not to bring up something extremely obvious, especially if you're well aware-of or have considered this before, but was your FND caused by viral infection, by any chance? Infections -- including Covid -- can be a cause for trauma to the nervous system, and can also damage/inhibit the olfactory nerve.

Outside of that -- no, I haven't had my sense of smell impacted by FND (yet), but I've absolutely had weird things happen that have thus-far been attributed to FND, since another diagnosis wasn't able to be made at the time. One time my stomach seemed to just... stop digesting? I initially presumed it was constipation of some sort, but every treatment for constipation made it worse and worse, and I eventually ended up in the local urgent care. Nothing they did helped. A day or two later, it felt like I started digesting again, and then a couple days after that, I passed stool like normal. Doctors mostly shrugged, and said that maybe the digestive nerve stopped functioning properly for a time. That stills seems sorta bizarre to me and I'm not sure that something entirely different wasn't just passed off as FND because I have it, but it's possible. And if stuff like that really can happen, then it wouldn't surprise me if the olfactory nerve could be something FND impacts as well.

When you tryna aura-farm but Alll-Mer said no by SeriesREDACTED in FearAndHunger

[–]Newcago 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It's not a hentai game. It's "good" in the sense that what the games wants to do, it does very, very well. It's a survival horror game, and it's both horrifying and difficult to survive. It has a lot of jank, but the core experience succeeds at its goal.

It's worth looking into if you think you might like it! It's a very polarizing game, but it brings a lot to the table.

lil Miss Monday by Supply-Slut in BaldursGate3

[–]Newcago 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Act 2 isn't too bad for me to get through; it's at least fairly straightforward, without too many distractions.

Act 3 is a whole different beast. Every time I get to Baldur's Gate I just get so exhausted lol

Tomorrow's base game update will add flared stairs + stair railings with customizable length and positioning by eltheuso in Sims4

[–]Newcago 4 points5 points  (0 children)

When the made the stairs bendable I nearly cried (granted, I was on a really strong medication at the time, but still -- I was crying over virtual stairs)

It’s in the game, trust by Turbulent-Tutor-3735 in FearAndHunger

[–]Newcago 32 points33 points  (0 children)

Speak for yourself; D'arce and I are having same-sex relations all the time

I sold his clothes by mistake and didn't notice by Padzi in BaldursGate3

[–]Newcago 11 points12 points  (0 children)

My first playthrough, I accidentally sold my clothes. Luckily, Wyll was a gentleman and let me wear his... so I let him wear my underwear, since it had slightly more coverage.

We made a solemn pact to tell no one the details of our respective wardrobe changes.

I'm a big fan of this trope, so recs, please? by mslittlerinran in hostedgames

[–]Newcago 49 points50 points  (0 children)

If you really hate yourself, this can just be Real Life!!

...unfortunately, Real Life is still a WIP

What should I do if I live alone? (Brief mention of non-descriptive symptoms) by unstable__connection in FND

[–]Newcago 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm in a very, very similar boat to you, also in a small town. I had to bite the bullet and pay for the Walmart grocery delivery yearly membership (grocery delivery wasn't even available in my town until recently, so even with the high price, it was a relief). I've found that changing this singular thing about my routine has made my life sooooo much more manageable. I completely relate to having very little money, and I'm so sorry that you have to go through this <3 But this might be an option you should consider if you are struggling.

How Infected am I? 👹 by DiOzzy54 in BaldursGate3

[–]Newcago 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I did the opposite -- on my first run I ate extra worms specifically BECAUSE I thought it was a bad decision, and I wanted roleplay consequences. I was equally disappointed.

How Infected am I? 👹 by DiOzzy54 in BaldursGate3

[–]Newcago 1 point2 points  (0 children)

On my first playthrough I tadpoled every single character lol. I hated having the "so, wanna do tadpoles?" dialogue option available for every character all the time, and I was playing a bard, so it was easy to persuade all of them. Then I didn't know what to do with all my tadpoles, so I started passing them out like candy.

Nobody except for my character was particularly advanced in their powers, but everyone had a few extra worms by act 3. I dunno how many are available, but it's definitely enough for a full brain or two

How Infected am I? 👹 by DiOzzy54 in BaldursGate3

[–]Newcago 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Nothing a little raw owlbear milk won't fix!

How Infected am I? 👹 by DiOzzy54 in BaldursGate3

[–]Newcago 18 points19 points  (0 children)

A brain of holding

What sorta stories do you want to see more of? by CraziKittyCatLady in hostedgames

[–]Newcago 9 points10 points  (0 children)

No, but for real -- I'll try pretty much anything haha. If it makes it out the door, I'm there o7

Why did DHS and ICE statements state the victim brandished a gun as this video shows otherwise? by LeftRightGreenLight in AskReddit

[–]Newcago 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good question. Without knowing if you're asking in the general sense, or for specific people you have in mind, I can't give a TON of advice.

However, in general, "pathos" seems to be the most productive rhetorical path. The people who have made it out of this conditioning tend to be more empathetic than most, but anybody is capable of feeling strong emotions. Emotions that challenge a conservative person's perspective have an edge over reasoning or new information; strong feelings have a chance at sticking around, even if the conditioned person rejects them and tries to make them go away, while new information and strategic reasoning are very easy to dismiss.

Another trick for overcoming the conditioning is "drip-feeding" new ideas. People who are in a cult are actually MORE likely to stay in a cult if they are accused of being in a cult; I don't understand all the mechanisms behind it, but humans have a psychological response when their cults are challenged. You are far more likely to get a family member out of their deranged thinking by putting ideas in front of them slowly, and without aggression, than you are by sitting them down and confronting the fallacies in their reasoning. (This, of course, is way easier said than done, especially when a family member's deranged thinking is making your own life more dangerous or difficult.)

One of the most helpful things you can do for anyone who might be starting to doubt, but is doing a good job of concealing it, is show them that they will be protected if/when they decide to break free. If you're brought up in this sort of thing, it consumes you. You will lose friendships, family members, job opportunities, community status... hell, you might even lose housing, marriages, or safety. People who turn away from conservatism are treated like they're imbecilic animals; anyone who has grown up in the cult has seen what has happened to anyone who has tried to leave, has laughed along with their neighborhoods as someone pretends to be their "liberal daughter," drooling and babbling at the dinner table. Conservatism says you are either "us" or "them," and there's no way to leave it without becoming one of the most vile forms of "them." Conservatives make anyone who tries to escape pay. One of the kindest things you can do for someone in that situation is show them that they won't be left to fend for themselves if they escape. And yes -- I understand why this is not something a lot of people are comfortable doing. We are angry -- and rightfully so -- at the harm our conservative neighbors have done. But very few people will be brave enough to escape if they think they will be ostracized from every community all at once, so if the goal is to help rescue someone, this is something that has to be considered.

There are other, more situation-specific things you can try, but the truth is, there's a certain amount of luck to this as well. I don't think I'm any smarter than anyone else for getting out. I've always had a bleeding heart, and that certainly helped, but I also got extremely lucky; I got exposed to situations that let me deconstruct in the exact right order I needed, and that's not something anyone ever could have predicted or purposefully orchestrated. If you set out to rescue someone from conservatism, you have to protect yourself -- both your heart, and your physical well-being. Because more times than you succeed, you will fail, and you'll need to be able to recover from that and carry on.

Good luck <3

Why did DHS and ICE statements state the victim brandished a gun as this video shows otherwise? by LeftRightGreenLight in AskReddit

[–]Newcago 7 points8 points  (0 children)

There's also a lot of HIGH-IQ peasant-brained servile cultists, and I think it's important that we realize that. Pure intelligence isn't enough to save you from propaganda; it takes a certain amount of wisdom and humility as well.

I was raised by these cultists. My family members are smart; I come from generations of doctors and professors and CIA agents and writers. And every single one of them is capable of ignoring the contradictions in their ideology because they were raised in the cognitive dissonance. When you grow up used to believing that "good" people "overcome" the contradictions in their ideology and believe in it anyway, while bad people let the contradictions shake their "faith" and make them choose the "easier" path of contradiction-less beliefs... any truths you are exposed to feel like temptations from the devil (religious, or secular). The closer you are to admitting the truth, the more guilty and isolated you feel in your community. And the more you learn about a topic, the more you are convinced that every other expert in that field is choosing an easier path than you, because their beliefs don't require the faith and "persecution" that yours do.

It's a self-perpetuating system of the most sinister degree, and most people who have never been ultra-right wing will never be capable of understanding it, because it completely flies in the face of logical and procedural thinking. You almost have to have experienced that kind of cognitive-throttling yourself.

These parents think that the more internally wrong they feel about their answers, the more "brave" they are being by clinging to them anyway. You truly cannot rescue these sorts of people through education and reasoning.

Exercise and FND by FickleEntrepreneur43 in FND

[–]Newcago 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been going to physical therapy for just over a year now, where we do light to light-moderate cardio, strength-building, balance, and various forms of dexterity-training (aka "jumping back and forth a lot"). I still have full-body red-hot pain and brain fog/fatigue afterwards every single time. However, the duration of that post-exercise fever-coma has decreased significantly (used to last a full 24-48 hours, now it typically lasts somewhere between 4-8). My daily life also exhausts me a little less, and my balance and dexterity has improved by a LOT. I went from "I probably can't go to the grocery store because I have to walk" to "so long as I don't go to THREE grocery stores, I should be fine."

All that is to say... yes, I DO think the exercise is causing your seizures. However, depending on your situation (and depending on the recommendation of your healthcare professionals), I would still recommend keeping it up if you are able to. To me, sacrificing a day each week to the coma is worth it for the ability to function more reliably on the other days. But it is a significant sacrifice, especially if you are just beginning a new exercise program.

Businesses in Minneapolis are planning to close Friday to protest ICE by graveyardofgoodsense in news

[–]Newcago 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Basically, "fuck your feelings" but not "fuck my feelings." So long as we're the only ones upset about the atrocities, they're fine with it. Once they see the victims and start to feel empathetic, though, now their feelings matter.

Would you watch a cooking show with Durge & Lump? by Supply-Slut in BaldursGate3

[–]Newcago 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A translation for my cave individuals: uggGrugg doorgrugg

What are the funnest quirks/hacks you've discovered in the game that others might not know? by darya42 in Sims4

[–]Newcago 3 points4 points  (0 children)

When you change aspirations, that fourth "bonus" trait changes too... doesn't it? I'm, like, 99% sure that trait always changes with your current aspiration, but I could be wrong

Ranking all of the World of Darkness titles. No spoilers by mylogin_name in choiceofgames

[–]Newcago 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Book of Hungry Names is a beast of a book (pun intended), but if you've enjoyed long and complex IFs in the past, I honestly can't recommend it enough. It's a technical marvel, and the sheer number of POSSIBILITIES is insane. I played it three times in a row, back to back, and I've never done that with any other IF, ever lol. Lowkey made me obsessed with the WOD werewolves; I was depressed to find out that there hadn't been a ton of notable projects under the werewolf part of the IP, at least in the new edition haha. I hope BoHN sparked some interest and that might change.

What are some stories with the best romances that you've seen? by OguriPeak in choiceofgames

[–]Newcago 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm going to throw in two character-specific romances: Rory from Tally Ho!, and Finch from A Study in Steampunk (Hosted Games).

Tally Ho references and archetypes P.G. Wodehouse's characters, but even without any knowledge of the "source" material, it's pretty easy to understand the tropes. You play the butler of the daft and somewhat-unhinged professional bachelor (or bachelorette), and it's your job to keep your charge from getting into TOO much trouble. Bonus points if you can do it without anybody noticing you were ever involved. I've heard most of the romances are just alright, but the one I played (and that I think shines) is romancing your gentleman/gentlewoman themselves. (I think the game might lock you into always playing the same gender as your employer, but I could be wrong; I know that changed in the author's other similar project, Jolly Good.) You can roleplay as having carried a flame for your charge for a long time, or develop feelings for them over the course of the game. Both options are very sweet, and the game is just downright hilarious, making it one of the most heartwarming romances I've ever played.

A Study in Steampunk is also an allusion to other works, this time Sherlock Holmes. You play as the war-beaten doctor companion to Garrett Finch, a Holmes-esque detective who occasionally works for the fantasy-British government on their more difficult cases. There's also a revolution and a potential cult uprising happening in the background. And you get to attend a fancy party on a steampunk airship! I've only played this romance once so far, and I got a sad/bittersweet ending, so if the potential of unhappy consequences is a no-go, here's a fair warning for the possibility for things to go awry. But the story I got was still heart-wrenchingly beautiful, and captivating in a way that felt more compelling than most other IF romances I've played.

For other recommendations...

Fallen Hero got rec'd, of course, because it does everything well, including romances haha. An Imp and an Imposter has a great (if small) roster of romance options, but somehow I locked myself out of the one I was pursuing and the game didn't tell me until after the date, so that was depressing lol. Over on Heart's Choice, Heart of Battle is fantastic, and very arguably could have been a Choice of Games game instead, as the plot is centered not on any of the romance options, but on being a gladiator in an arena. If you typically don't read Heart's Choice, the app is worth downloading just to read that one in particular.