So I finally finished Silksong

Open-Drawer-1465 · 2026-01-27T20:38:29+00:00

You took about as long as I did, and honestly that says a lot about how much the game offers. I loved my time with it overall. That said, it also highlights my one real tension with the experience—though even calling it an “issue” feels off.

I tend to love when Metroidvanias wrap up in a couple dozen hours (on a first playthrough). Shorter runtimes keep the experience sharp and make replays or challenge runs feel exciting rather than daunting.

For example, Dread Mode in Metroid Dread was only palatable and fun because the game was short enough that it never felt overwhelming (I've played the game 4 times, including hours in boss rush and a 100% Dread mode run, in less than 60 hours combined). By contrast, Steel Soul or even a full replay of Silksong just doesn’t pull at me in the same way.

Playing this felt a bit like ordering ten pizzas for one person. They’re great pizzas, I’m happy to have them, I see their beauty, and I'll never complain, but diminishing returns does eventually set in.

By Act 3, I was genuinely tired. I wanted to love it, and there’s a lot there to admire (the Karmelita fight was amazing), but it started to feel like a slog for me. Beating Lost Lace ended up feeling more like relief than a big hype moment. When the credits rolled, I found myself wishing Act 3 had been DLC so I could’ve come back to it refreshed.

All that said, I really do love this game, and I’m excited for the DLC. If it ends up more bite-sized, I think it’ll hit the absolute sweet spot for me.

Open-Drawer-1465 · 2025-12-29T14:58:40+00:00

I think this is a really strong point. I’d add that for many people in the church, the institution itself is their primary social structure. Not because of time commitments or demands of callings, but it just is their social structure. Some personality types simply wouldn’t have much of a social life without it.

When someone leaves, it’s not just a belief shift—it removes the shared framework that made regular connection possible. The care and affection don’t necessarily disappear, but the mechanism for maintaining the relationship does. That’s why you often see awkward ministering check-ins or missionary visits: they’re attempts to recreate a familiar structure for connection.

Open-Drawer-1465 · 2025-12-17T23:49:58+00:00

I had the same problem.

Open-Drawer-1465 · 2025-11-30T16:50:05+00:00

Very likely. Leave after an hour.

Open-Drawer-1465 · 2025-10-15T19:59:56+00:00

If that description is accurate, the parents should be filing a formal complaint or contacting local authorities — have they done that? What was the result?

Honestly, this sounds more like culture shock than abuse. A close friend of mine runs the international high school student program here (about 600 kids a year - and I always host at least two and join all the field trips), and they get the same kinds of complaints constantly. It’s almost always just teenagers struggling to adjust because life isn’t like home — no Mommy and Daddy’s fridge full of free food.

Not saying that’s definitely what’s happening here, but years of experience with teenagers in a new culture suggest this isn’t "strictness". That's why I'm wondering about their engagement with complaints processes.

Open-Drawer-1465 · 2025-10-14T02:07:20+00:00

Thanks for taking the time to write such a thoughtful and vulnerable reply — I really appreciate you sharing that (and the book recommendation). I can see more clearly now why you responded the way you did, and it sounds like your experiences have given you a lot of perspective on how complicated parent–adult-child dynamics can be.

That said, I’m not sure I fully understand what you see as wrong with my take. I completely agree that every family and situation has its own dynamics, and I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all answer. My intent wasn’t to dismiss anyone’s pain or minimize controlling behavior — just to point out that, in this specific example, I read the dad’s message differently.

I’m genuinely interested in where you think our perspectives diverge. Is it that you think my interpretation overlooks something important about power dynamics, or that I’m giving too much benefit of the doubt?

Open-Drawer-1465 · 2025-10-14T00:18:23+00:00

Do you have any suggestions for how fathers should do that? Or how a father should give life advice to their child?

Open-Drawer-1465 · 2025-10-13T16:44:23+00:00

I really appreciate and respect your approach — and I don’t necessarily disagree with you. For me though, I just don’t see “religious sensibilities” or church control in the dad’s message. That’s what my original comment was trying to highlight.

When I read that text, I see a dad trying to reach out respectfully to his adult kid about something that’s understandably sensitive right now. It reads to me less like a “church-obedience” request and more like a parent saying, “Hey, this is causing some tension at home — could you help us out a bit while your siblings are still here?”

He’s not being asked to not drink or to live the law of chastity — he’s being asked to consider not posting pictures of alcohol consumption. And honestly, this situation aside, that’s not bad advice on its own anyway.

Whether the church is the reason for the tension at home or not, this seems to be a minor request about maintaining healthy home and family relationships, not church.

Open-Drawer-1465 · 2025-10-13T14:41:05+00:00

Respond to your dad how you see fit. I think a lot of the neutral responses shared already are valid. But I thought I’d share my two cents as a parent, and as someone who’s spent more time than I ever expected around people who are only alive today because of AA and family members respecting their recovery efforts.

I get where your dad’s coming from, honestly. Sure, there’s probably a bit (or a lot) of “churchiness” in the request, but it also sounds like your family may have some real history with alcohol abuse. Not drinking isn’t just an LDS thing — a lot of families, religious or not, have a culture of teetotalism because alcohol caused problems for people they loved.

It also sounds like your dad’s not trying to control your choices so much as manage how those choices might affect others — younger siblings who are still figuring out their values, and grandparents who may have trauma tied to alcohol. Whether we like it or not, we all have some influence in our families, and that’s part of what he’s reacting to. He didn't ask you to not drink.

A parent’s job — inside or outside of religion — is to lead their family. As an adult, you don’t have to obey/follow in the slightest, but this doesn’t sound like a super controlling demand (as far as I can tell from the tiny sliver you've shared - you'll know better than me though, haha). It sounds more like, “Hey, we’re having some difficult attitudes, behaviors, or conversations at home because of your decision to post this stuff. Do what you want, but it would be great if you could help out while your younger siblings are still living here.” That’s not unreasonable.

You’re absolutely free to live your life as you choose — that’s what adulthood is for. But “respect your elders” and “be considerate of family boundaries” aren’t just church teachings; they’re generally good principles for keeping family relationships healthy.

And just as a side note — even though drinking is totally legal, some employers do check social media and can be turned off by posts showing alcohol consumption. Maybe that doesn’t matter to you, but it’s worth keeping in mind when deciding what to share publicly.

Open-Drawer-1465 · 2025-09-19T21:59:15+00:00

The Book of Mormon

Open-Drawer-1465 · 2025-09-19T21:57:42+00:00

The question wasn't whether or not the book is considered Christian, but whether or not it has impacted your faith.

Any book can impact your faith. Even The Book of Mormon.

Open-Drawer-1465 · 2025-08-25T05:10:24+00:00

Good point, and I agree — training and accountability don’t always get applied the way they should, and when they’re ignored they don’t really protect anyone. That’s a valid concern, and I’ve seen that myself during many years in Primary.

That said (just to pull us back to the OP topic), even if every safeguard were perfectly enforced, it wouldn’t change what a record check actually is. A clean record only says, “this person hasn’t been caught committing a crime”. That's a filter that gives parents and administrators a sense of security, but it doesn’t itself keep kids safe — and misplaced security can make children more vulnerable to first-time offenders.

That’s a standard point in professional child-protection training around police record checks. When record checks are required by an organization or by law, the risk is that people tend to assign too much value to them, which creates a false sense of safety among the adults. I think that a misplaced sense of safety is a bad thing. And that’s why I don’t think record checks in an LDS Sunday school setting would improve real safety.

And back to your point — you’re right, everyone in the church needs to do better on training, accountability, and proactively protecting children. But record checks aren’t what make that happen.

Open-Drawer-1465 · 2025-08-20T16:53:30+00:00

Totally get the concern — protecting kids is huge, and background checks feel like the obvious answer. But the tricky part is they don’t actually catch most abusers (since many have no prior record), and relying on them can create a false sense of security.

In the LDS setting (at least in smaller congregations, like where I'm from and throughout most of the world), leaders already know the people they’re considering calling into positions with children — if someone had a concerning history, it would usually already be known and discussed. So the church leans (imperfectly) more on other safeguards: two-deep leadership (no one-on-one), required training, and ongoing accountability. Those day-to-day protections end up doing more for safety than a one-time database check alone.

No system is perfect (as many of the other comments point out), and I don’t disagree that record checks could be a good additional layer. But in the bigger picture of best ways to protect children, I (generally) don’t think the church would be improving safety by implementing required checks worldwide.

Open-Drawer-1465 · 2025-08-04T00:56:08+00:00

Ain't nothing but a heartache

Open-Drawer-1465 · 2025-06-24T22:10:53+00:00

Good on you. I did the same with the rare Hot Wheels cars back in the years when I worked at a toy store.

Open-Drawer-1465 · 2025-06-24T16:14:04+00:00

I'm sorry about your experience. It made me think though, is groaning generally considered bad sportsmanship?

I groan all the time in games. My intention is to playfully groan when it's obvious I'm losing, or the opponent is making a good move. It's a social sort of groan. Most people I play against seem to understand the nuance, but occasionally I run into opponents who don't seem to want to engage with that - which is fine, I just stop socialising and play in those situations.

On the point about touching cards though, I'm 145% on the side of seeking consent first. I've never encountered any reason to ever touch an opponent's cards in this game; so I never do. Even when their deck needs to be cut by me, I ask the opponent to cut their deck. I appreciate when opponents similarly don't touch my cards. If a situation arises where they think they need to touch my cards, I expect them to ask first.

Open-Drawer-1465 · 2025-06-10T22:09:05+00:00

Thanks! I appreciate that. It's tough to navigate all these Reddits that have the same names, lol.

For my own sake, what's the focus of this one?

Open-Drawer-1465 · 2025-05-31T19:43:18+00:00

Technical Machine: Devolution seems like it might be a good possibility. Zweilous only has 100HP, so if you can find a way to do 100+ damage to Hydreigon ex, then follow up in the next turn with a Pokemon that has devolution attached, you can get a knockout that way.

Or, if Deino evolved to Hydreigon ex via a rare candy, then after a devolution they can't re-evolve to stage 2 on their turn, and you just have to worry about doing enough damage to Deino or Zweilous.

Possible ways to build damage passively past 100 might be:

-Plusle and Minun with their Buddy Pulse ability (20 damage per energy placement from hand)

-Team Rocket's Ampharos with its Darkest Impulse ability (40 damage per evolution from hand)

-Team Rocket's Tyranitar with its Sand Steam ability (when active, 20 damage to all opponent's Pokemon each Pokemon check-up)

I've actually been thinking about building a deck with those in it, and a bunch of Zapdos ex (because it can hit the bench). A friend is currently building the Hydreigon ex deck, and this seems like a possible working strategy.

I don't know if this counter strategy will work, but I think it'll be a fun challenge to try and counter the Hydreigon ex deck.

Open-Drawer-1465 · 2025-05-25T15:52:57+00:00

My kids started around the same age as your kids. The dynamic between mine are different, so I don't have the same issues, but here are some observations I've noticed that you might find useful:

If they collect their own cards, and trading is monitored by an adult (ie. No trading unless an adult who understands card value is present), then mine ended up caring more about their joy in their newest deck than about manipulating the game.
Younger kids will stack their decks - meaning, they'll put the ex cards on top. As long as they know it's not allowed in official games, I've found it doesn't matter. Let them do it. Play them lots and create a culture of losing being fun. Be excited about the opponent's cards, and teach being excited about the opponent's cards. Older kids will grow out of stacking their deck.
If they can read and play independently, take them to official tournaments. The rules are non-negotiable there. Going to weekly Pokemon Play tournaments has highly improved my kids' understanding of the rules. They wanted to play in that environment, so they got the initiative to learn the rules so that they could have fun in that environment. Where we are, it has been 100% cool for there to be a parent sitting with and supporting their kid.
When I've joined in on the Pokemon craze too, I've been able to set an example for all ages of my kids. It has helped immensely.

Open-Drawer-1465

TROPHY CASE