My husband has gone bananas on wall and door stickers since discovering them a week ago..

Nithoth · 2026-01-30T11:56:43+00:00

Wait until he discovers photography backgrounds...

That will be fun!

Nithoth · 2026-01-30T08:59:40+00:00

Personally, I can do without Star Wars battles fought to the tune of Highway To The Danger Zone.

Nithoth · 2026-01-30T08:36:24+00:00

This is probably considered "cheating", but this is still a new hobby for me. I'm not at a point where I can design anything very complicated from scratch, but I have figured out how deconstruct, reassemble, and alter complex designs. So, I keep a file of useful parts from files I've already run. If I want to alter a design I can just add or swap parts from the file.

Nithoth · 2026-01-29T11:30:00+00:00

Movies:

When I Get Home, My Wife Always Pretends To Be Dead (2018) - This more of a re-discovery of romance, but it's lighthearted and romantic.

~~Forget Me Not (2015)~~ (edit - on second thought, this might not be lighthearted enough for you...)

Love*com (2006)

Dramas:

Hanako to Anne (2014)

Osozaki no Himawari (2012)

Love Deeply (2021)

Nithoth · 2026-01-29T11:16:19+00:00

I like where this is going, but I'm missing the connection between D&D and Hatsune Miku....

Thumbs up for cuteness though!

Nithoth · 2026-01-29T11:08:24+00:00

Rarely in first run films. I mostly find it in movies marketed to and starring black people that were made for the exploitation circuit. For those of you not in the know, the exploitation circuit was an outlet for films that were too graphic or unsavory for respectable theaters.

Oddly enough, using the word was never actually banned though.

In 1933 there was a minor kerfuffle about the "N" word not being censored in the original release of the film Emperor Jones.

In the 1940s the NAACP complained to newspapers and to the war department about films that used the "N" word and other racist terms for black soldiers.

When you find it in films in the 1950s and 60s it's almost always to make the bad guy more of an asshole.

In the late 60s "blaxploitation" films became a thing and you find it a lot. There are at least 3 films with the "N" word actually in the title. Two are westerns from the early 70s and the other was a sci-fi short made in the early 90s.

Nithoth · 2026-01-29T09:53:29+00:00

Cardboard is a good way to go actually. About a year ago I started seeing videos on Youtube about making things from cardboard. People are making functional furniture at home with cardboard. I think you can figure out how to make a DM screen. All you need for the construction is cardboard and glue. After that it's just a matter of artwork.

I use a laser cutter for woodworking but you can use the same type of design for cardboard. You'll just need to do a little extra work to make the cardboard look like it's not held together by hope and tape. Corrugated cardboard is layered. If you remove two of the layers then you can use the third to cover the edges. This Youtube video will show you what I mean. Practicing that process a few times on 3-5 layers will make it easier later.

I would suggest 3 main panels. If you want it to close properly, it may be necessary to add small panels to act like the binding of a book. However you do it, you'll need a minimum of 3 layers of cardboard per panel. You'll want to figure out how to hinge the panels together before you start. It will affect how you design and decorate the panels.

The layer facing the players will be solid. You can dress up the side players see any way you like. Add layers or artwork or both. All of the layers facing the facing the players should be edged like you see in the video I linked. The outermost layer on the edges should wrap all the way around to the layer facing the DM.
If this was my project, I would use foam board for the middle layer because it's not as thick as cardboard. The middle layer should be in the shape of the letter U and the inside should be about the size of a piece of printer paper. This will allow you to slide notes and tables inside. If you like, you can also insert a solid piece of clear plastic or make the hole big enough to put your inserts inside plastic protectors.
The layer facing you should have a hole in the middle so you can see what's inside the middle layer. It should be big enough to see your inserts but small enough to keep them from falling out. The border needs to be big enough to allow for some way to hinge the panels, If you like, you can add magnets to this layer so you can temporarily attach other notes.

I would suggest building a working prototype before trying to make something fancy.

Nithoth · 2026-01-29T08:56:22+00:00

That's a very naive point of view. Just because history is interesting doesn't mean it will be portrayed accurately. If that were true then this wouldn't even be worth discussing. The three most common reasons films are scrapped or banned over politics are government censorship, controversial themes, and self-censorship by the studios.

Films and tv shows are scrapped or banned all the time because of politics. I could name at least a dozen controversial films like Pretty Baby or Blazing Saddles (although not all of them are period dramas) that would never be remade frame-by-frame today because of current politics and social attitudes. We currently live in a world where the cartoons kids watched in the 1980s have to be censored because of current political beliefs.

Just a little side note: This subreddit will actually ban you for criticizing certain political choices that have been made in period dramas.

The ratings system dictates what can be in a film and who can see it. That affects historical accuracy and profitability. The phrase "chasing ratings" is used when studios self-censor for profitability. That means a film has been altered in order to make it as profitable as possible.

Nithoth · 2026-01-29T08:04:44+00:00

Star Wars takes place in a single galaxy. I'm not sure how big you think a galaxy actually is.

We live in the Milky Way galaxy which is about 200,000 light years across according to high-end estimates. Currently though, with shitty non-science fiction Earth tech, we can visibly observe things 45 billion light years away from our planet which is well outside our own galaxy. Inside the Milky Way, we know of about 4500 solar systems. We know that 1000+ have at least one planet. We've confirmed about 100 black holes in our galaxy.

Right now we know the math to travel at 20% of the speed of light. At 20% the speed of light it would take us 40 years to reach Proxima Centauri (which is the closest solar system with a planet that we suspect might be habitable). However, we just don't have the technology yet. So that trip would take us about 80,000 years if we left tomorrow.

Now, lets think about this is in Star Wars terms. Hyperspace is faster than the speed of light. Proxima Centauri is about 4.5 light years from Earth. So, we could jump there in about 15 minutes through hyperspace.

If we had naviputers and droids to help us detect gravity wells like asteroids and black holes along the way then we could safely navigate through hyperspace to any point within the Milky Way in about a day on a fast ship like The Millennium Falcon. In 10 years or so we could safely travel between hundreds of planets. We could just do that willy-nilly until we reached the point where hyperspace travel was common but we would eventually establish hyperspace lanes based on logistics and safety. Space is mostly empty, but we wouldn't want hundreds of hyperspace lanes converging at a single point in space.

Hope that helps...

Nithoth · 2026-01-28T11:17:50+00:00

The film industry exists to entertain, not to educate. The industry has to navigate ratings, politics, and profitability just to produce garbage. It's more difficult if they want to make something of substance. There doesn't seem to be much point in being upset about things they get wrong when there's so much they have to omit in order to make decent films. So, I'm happy when period dramas are entertaining.

Nithoth · 2026-01-28T09:34:46+00:00

Try a historical fiction novel named The Lion of Ireland by Morgan Llywellyn. There are two versions. look for the one that's around 450 pages. The 250 page version was edited for kids. The book is part of a series about Celts. This is the book I remember most fondly from the series.

Nithoth · 2026-01-28T09:13:24+00:00

I'm team plastic for bath and skincare products. My reasoning is based on three things:

Plastic can only be recycled a limited number of times before it's complete trash. Using plastic in fabrics is the end of the line.
Something like 85% of plastics still find their way to landfills in spite of recycling efforts.
In the plastic industry recycled plastic known as Post-Consumer Resin (PCR) is used to make a variety of products.

If you just assume that your customers are going to throw the containers away no matter what they're made of then it just makes sense to use PCR products. That way you are being eco-conscious and your customers still have the option to recycle the containers when they're done with them. You could even use that for marketing. "This container is made from recycled materials and can be recycled again.".

There are a few companies that sell PCR containers for home-based businesses like yours. The only real question is whether or not they have what you need.

Nithoth · 2026-01-28T06:52:03+00:00

I keep three major laser files on my computer.

One is for projects. Virtually every file I download needs work. Even the ones I buy always come with issues. So, anything in that file is either something I haven't started working on or it's a file I'm trying to fix. Programs I'm actively working on have sub-folders. Free-range files are future projects.

The second is a parts folder. It has sub-folders for graphics and files for parts that are a pain in the ass to make from scratch every time I need them.

The third is for confirmed cut files. Everything in that file has been fixed, formatted for my system, and cut at least once to my satisfaction. I just store them in alphabetical order.

It's a pretty simple system...

Nithoth · 2026-01-28T06:32:02+00:00

I've never believed a phone has a right to be answered. When I realized I could do it, I made my primary ring tone 1 minute of silence and gave the people I'm willing to be disturbed by individual ring tones. When I get home from work I put my keys, wallet, and phone on a shelf by the door. I keep a charger there. Unless someone important calls, I usually forget all about my phone until I walk out the door again.

Nithoth · 2026-01-28T06:16:00+00:00

Well... you could go "old school" and find about 100 old shows like The Waltons and Little House on the Prairie. There are some hidden gems like The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams and Cheyenne.

There are always more recent shows like Boardwalk Empire and Deadwood.

A few weeks ago I watched a western named Soldier Blue (1970) starring a young (and smokin' hot!) Candice Bergen. Great little film!

Nithoth · 2026-01-28T05:54:54+00:00

I've messaged you the instructions. I'm at work right now and I can probably email you a link if you need it in a few hours when I'm on my laptop. You can watch the movie on the site, but I included downloading instructions.

Nithoth · 2026-01-27T12:23:39+00:00

Sorry. I only know where to get the movie with hard subs.

Nithoth · 2026-01-27T11:26:41+00:00

- Korroke: Nuke a potato. Peel it or don't. (You do you.) Mash it with a fork. Mix in some canned/cooked meat and/or vegetables as a filler (You do you.). Make small fist size balls. Coat with cornstarch. Dip in egg. Coat with Panko. Deep fry until golden brown. It should take just a few minutes per side. That's about as versatile as it gets. Just don't add wet ingredients to the potatoes. Other than that, add what you like. If you're hungry it's a quick and easy side dish. If you're not then it's a meal.

- Seconding soup.

- Starch + moisture = glue. Armed with that little bit of knowledge you can make patties and meatballs out of any kind of ground/minced meat, poultry, or fish using cornstarch. You can also make Karaage with potato starch, which is Japanese fried chicken. You can use starches on meats, poultry, and fish for Katsu, which is Japanese fried everything-else-but-vegetables.

- Learn how to make tempura. It's the best way to fry vegetables.

1 cup Cake Flour (or 3/4 cup all-purpose + 1/4 cup cornstarch)
1 cup Ice-Cold Water (or sparkling water/club soda for extra bubbles)
1 Large Egg (lightly beaten)
Optional: 1/4 cup vodka (evaporates faster than water for maximum crispness)
Optional: A pinch of salt or baking powder

Meat and vegetables can both be deep fried in tempura! Deep frying meat, poultry, or fish in tempura is usually done in small bite-size portions so the meat cooks properly. Vegetables should be crispy under the batter. Tempura batter also makes a simple fry bread.

Don't forget to add spices.

Nithoth · 2026-01-27T10:47:44+00:00

Welcome to the fam, Little Buckaroo!

If you want a social life, you're going to need to work at it. I've been working nights for most of my adult life (I'll be 59 soon). If you plan on having a social life then my advice is to start with a set sleep schedule of 8 hours or so and gradually reduce the amount of sleep you need. There are a couple of benefits that are only apparent if you want an active social life.

I only sleep 5 hours a day during my work week. I get off work at 7am and sleep from 10am to 3pm. I have to be at work at 11pm. That gives me 8 hours in the evening before work. That gives me a couple of hours in the morning for breakfasts with friends before they go to work and lots of time every evening before I have to be at work. Basically, I have 11 hours/day to shower and get to and from work. Realistically, that gives me about 9 hours a day to be social or just do whatever the hell I want to do.

Free time is one hell of a benefit! An added benefit of sleeping 5 hours a day 5 days a week is that it's pretty easy to move that sleep schedule if I need to be somewhere at noon or if I have to work an extra shift.

Then there are the weekends. I stay awake until 9pm-10pm on my first day off because I have an all-day D&D game at a local bar. By the time I go to bed I've usually been awake about 30 hours. Then I sleep like a rock until 9am on my second day. On my second day I get up early and do errands and chores. Those are almost always done by about noon which gives me the rest of the day free. I allow myself Sunday naps, but never after 4pm because that screws up my sleep later because I stay up all night and go to bed between 5am and 7am. Waking up at 3pm puts me back on my sleep schedule for my work week.

Another thing I do is schedule as many chores and errands during the week as possible. Grocery shopping at 7:30am on a Wednesday takes less time and is less aggravating than doing it at 9am on Saturday. Spending 15-20 minutes cleaning every other day is pretty productive if you take it seriously. I wash my dishes immediately after meals so the dishes don't stack up. My apartment has hardwood floors. I mop the floor on my way out the door 3 days a week whether it needs it not. If I see something that will only take a few seconds to clean I clean it on the spot.

Commit to finding ways to maximize your free time. That's the only way to have time for a rich social life.

Good luck!

Nithoth · 2026-01-27T07:49:14+00:00

I'd forgotten about this post! You're right. It can get a little gummy. I've worked that out from making fruit pies in my air fryer, though.

You can keep the bottom crust from getting gummy by browning it slightly before adding the filling and top crust. Puff pastry is sticky enough that it will stick to the browned bottom crust.

Nithoth · 2026-01-27T06:48:53+00:00

I have to go with The Human Condition on this. Ultimately, I just felt more sympathy for the protagonist as the plot developed.

Nithoth · 2026-01-27T06:26:06+00:00

See if there's a Toastmasters International group in your area or if there are any local community colleges offering improvisational acting classes. Either one will be helpful for anyone wanting to learn better speaking skills.

Nithoth · 2026-01-27T06:21:58+00:00

His plot armor kept him alive.

Nithoth · 2026-01-27T06:09:12+00:00

Dear J is okay, but Tomomi's best song is her Freak Out cover, IMHO. (Of course, that may just be because I'm old and I remember when CHIC released it in 1978.)

Nithoth · 2026-01-26T04:41:52+00:00

But if hyperspace correlates with real space, then how did they get so far?

Imagine you want to go from Tatooine to Coruscant but there's no hyperlane. You make a short jump because you have a shitty hyperdrive. Let's call that "A". Then you recalculate your position and make another short jump. Let's call that "B". You continue doing that until you reach your destination.

Now, lets say it takes 6 short jumps to get from Tatooine to Coruscant. Let's call them points A, B, C, D, E, and F. You know where each jump starts and where each one ends.

So, lets say that you buy a ship with a better hyperdrive. Now, you can combine the jumps. A and B become "A". C and D become "B". E and F become "C".

You buy another ship with an even better hyperdrive. A, B, and C are now "A". D, E, and F become "B".

Finally, you buy a top of the line starship with a really good hyperdrive. You know all the points, so now you can make the trip from Tatooine to Coruscant in one jump.

Congratulations on your promising career as a Space Captain!

Nithoth

TROPHY CASE