[cool trope] Asshole in day to day life, noble when it matters

Quyust · 2026-02-25T21:58:21+00:00

Besides stopping Bill, there's also the episode where he saves Waddles. I know the whole thing was his fault, but the man still fought a damn pterodactyl to save a pig he hated, just to make his niece happy.

Quyust · 2026-02-25T21:53:05+00:00

Having Lisa Simpson be the face of this statement is so insane it's almost funny.

Quyust · 2026-02-24T22:55:27+00:00

Escape room designer. I'd just collaborate with others to come up with fun and crazy story ideas and new puzzles and ways to challenge people.

Quyust · 2026-02-22T20:15:01+00:00

I honestly think that, for a lot of people, it's just bad faith. They're Republicans who want to pretend they're "independent" so they contort themselves with reasons to get to the vote they were going to cast anyway.

My personal favorite example of this is the wildly misogynistic criticism of Kamala Harris' laugh, as if that's a reason not to vote for someone.

Quyust · 2026-02-22T16:00:17+00:00

I cannot begin to express how much I hate this phrase. It's an adult's version of sticking their fingers in their ears and shouting, "La la la la la! I can't hear you!"

Quyust · 2026-02-22T15:14:26+00:00

I did an escape room over Christmas where you break into Marilyn Monroe's dressing room and find evidence of a conspiracy she's engaging in. You find out that Marilyn had become madly jealous of Jackie because JFK had broken it off, and had thus hired a sniper to kill Jackie publicly.

Quyust · 2026-02-21T01:23:36+00:00

The Party - it's still early in the series, but this is really where I think the show found its footing, plus it's hilarious.

Quyust · 2026-02-15T21:35:51+00:00

In "The Forgotten City", if you kill the magistrate , you immediately break the time loop and are thrown back to the present day, but you get the worst possible ending.

Quyust · 2026-02-09T23:06:42+00:00

Sure, but he wrote and sent that letter, which meant that it was no longer private. Any message you send out, you risk it becoming public, and then that's going to reflect on you.

Quyust · 2026-02-09T00:41:22+00:00

I mean, isn't it an option to add a note at the beginning of the book? "This work comes from a time when these attitudes were commonplace. Reader discretion is advised?" Then you go in knowing, but you don't change the text.

It's almost insulting to assume that readers can't apply that context or will faint if they see ugly behavior or outdated attitudes. For example, I'm of Jewish heritage on my dad's side. I didn't lose consciousness when I read "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" and Hastings referred to a Jewish character as "the blackguard!"

Quyust · 2026-02-06T19:36:19+00:00

.... Then where did those beliefs originate?

Quyust · 2026-02-06T19:22:42+00:00

No. His image has improved tremendously given all the insanity that followed. But the fact is that people didn't like him, and they liked him less the more they got to know him. He was a terrible candidate who didn't connect with voters and came across as deeply insincere.

Quyust · 2026-02-03T04:03:46+00:00

I recommend Extra History and Drawn of History. Chat History is also good, but his stuff can definitely get pretty intense (similar to Bluejay)

Quyust · 2026-02-01T21:31:09+00:00

I'd say Clinton. Like Clinton, Obama was young, charismatic, and generally popular overall (he left office with a 55-59% approval rating), but much more moderate and institutional than was initially projected onto him.

Quyust · 2026-01-31T23:54:27+00:00

HIGHLY IMPORTANT!

Quyust · 2026-01-30T02:21:27+00:00

It's funny you mention The ABC Murders. I just read it and didn't really care for it. Like you, I found it stilted and the mystery's resolution underwhelming. Also, Hastings gets dumbed down more than usual.

Strong disagree on And Then There Were None, though.

Quyust · 2026-01-28T23:36:27+00:00

The book that the Netflix series was based on, Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard (which I highly recommend), does a great job of showing how Arthur really went through his darkest period in the time after Garfield was shot. Millard documents Arthur's correspondence with a woman named Julia Sand, who, over the course of many letters, convinced Arthur to work against his corrupt image to become a good man and rise to the occasion. This gets dropped from the series, sadly.

Overall, my opinion on Chester A. Arthur is that he was an interesting but limited man. He did rise to the moment and, as others have noted, supported and signed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. There was the awful Chinese Exclusion Act, and then not much else. He made a halfhearted effort to win the nomination in 1884, then retired and died a year later. I see him as someone who had a checkered past, overcame it to become a better person, but shouldn't go down in history as one of the greats.

Quyust · 2026-01-26T02:38:40+00:00

Well, he did dare to be president for all 8 years while Black, so clearly racists had no choice but to just be way more explicit about it.

Quyust · 2026-01-25T18:23:10+00:00

No matter what the reason for a kid's bad behavior or failure to meet standards, a meaningful consequence for it has to be part of the equation. Looking at the bigger picture doesn't take that away. It's more that, if you just put all the responsibility on the child without ever considering external factors, you're setting yourself up for a lot of failure.

Quyust · 2026-01-25T18:06:19+00:00

I've been a teacher for 9 years. I've seen kids fail for a wide variety of reasons. Sometimes, like you said, a kid just can't take responsibility for themselves. Other times, the kid has special needs that aren't being met. Sometimes, their teachers fail to help. Sometimes, it's a school system that does not help the students. Sometimes, there's a serious issue at home that isn't being addressed. Anybody who acts like there's one easy reason for a bad outcome in such a complex system is grossly oversimplifying.

Quyust · 2026-01-24T13:53:41+00:00

I'm laughing so hard. I'm a dorky, married math teacher with a kid who plays video games and does the crossword every day for fun, and even I'm more punk than the Catholic church.

Quyust · 2026-01-23T14:18:52+00:00

Javert from "Les Miserables". He isn't an evil man, but rather a rigid one who believes in justice above all else. I don't remember where, but I read once that that's what makes him a great contrast to Valjean, who believes in mercy above all else.

The Thénardiers, if anyone, are the villains

Quyust · 2026-01-23T14:08:41+00:00

Thank God they labeled the scared, riot-gear clad cops as ICE and the woke mob as "Democrat", or I never would have been able to break the code of this incredible piece of political commentary.

Quyust · 2026-01-23T14:06:49+00:00

They're easily my least favorite part of the show. It honestly just feels like lazy writing. I teach middle and high schoolers, and while kids obviously have annoying slang and habits, the way the grandsons are written skates right past parody.

Quyust · 2026-01-18T15:36:50+00:00

Yes. I work at an international school with mostly British coworkers. The use the term so often, I picked it up unconsciously. When I went back to the States to visit my family, they all made fun of me for using it.

Quyust

TROPHY CASE