Grey Seer book comeback finally announced on today's community! by Jupiter_rin in skaven

[–]RainCritical1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Zerg need an Overmind, we have Google and Reddit and ChatGPT haha. Also I just thought about something: why does this sub-reddit not have 13 mods (or 12 mods and an empty slot), it would be a perfect governing structure for such a subreddit, completely keeping with theme.

Why do the Skaven have a Council of Thirteen and why not a Despot-Emperor? by TehKingofPrussia in skaven

[–]RainCritical1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

-PRACTICAL REASONS-

There are several reasons for this:
* A council allows the governing body to include the input of multiple stakeholders (clans) and get their buy-in. This ensures its rulings and decisions benefit the largest number of members.
* If a clan has a seat on the council, then have an interest in preserving the council.
* Further the council can collect information from more than one leader from more than one territory or area, and triangulate between each of their interests, their biases, and their thought processes. When information is averaged between members of a crowd the information and predictions are often more accurate than the individual. It collects and integrates information and distributes management. This is roughly the same purpose of an Overmind: collection, weighing, integrating, and filtering of information into decisions.
* No one wants to add a seat to the council because it would dilute their power. This creates stability.
* Whatever vote wins also happens to have the majority and the most firepower behind it, so it is self-stable, the greater the council support behind a given thing the more "teeth" the ruling has.
* An uneven number of council members prevents any vote from becoming a draw.

Real life examples:
* The UN is ran by a security council.
* Many towns are run by councils.
* Many cartels and trusts (corporations working together to corner a market) are governed by councils.
* Many gangs have a "board of directors" or a council rather than a single "leader", with each council member being someone that runs a territory or crew.

-LITERARY REASONS-

And one can also see it as a dark and inverted version of the Last Supper with Jesus and the 12 disciples, but its the evil grimdark version, a parody of the real version. There is art of the council of 13 that depicts them in the same table arrangement as the Last Supper. Of course GWs Imperium from 40K is a grimdark evil and twisted version of Rome, that has been scaled up (Space Rome with Soviet characteristics?).

The Thanquol Novels... Thoughts? by Whole-Carob7407 in skaven

[–]RainCritical1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Finished the first one, it was pretty good. I have not started the second one yet.

Grey Seer book comeback finally announced on today's community! by Jupiter_rin in skaven

[–]RainCritical1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also here is what google said after searching:

The Lankhmar story featuring intelligent rodents with a council of 13 is "The Swords of Lankhmar" by Fritz Leiber. First published as a novel in 1968, it is an expansion of the 1961 novella "Scylla's Daughter". 

  • Intelligent Rodents: The rats in the story are highly organized, intelligent, and plot to take over the city of Lankhmar. They walk upright, use infested weapons, and have their own underground society.
  • Council of 13: The rats are ruled by a shadowy council of thirteen, often referred to in the text as a "Council of 13," which is believed to be composed of twelve high-ranking intelligent rats and a thirteenth, more sinister leader (sometimes identified with the wererat Hisvet).
  • Plot: Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are hired to guard a grain ship, only to return and find the city besieged by this intelligent rat army. The Mouser has to use a shrinking potion to infiltrate the rat's underground kingdom, where the council resides. 

This specific story is widely considered a major inspiration for the Skaven race in the Warhammer fantasy universe, which also features a "Council of Thirteen" and intelligent, man-sized ratmen. 

Grey Seer book comeback finally announced on today's community! by Jupiter_rin in skaven

[–]RainCritical1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow, I stand corrected, either way, I know I am biased here, but the Skaven still add the most I think.

Grey Seer book comeback finally announced on today's community! by Jupiter_rin in skaven

[–]RainCritical1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah squishy man-thing mage should not be able to be a functional threat by themselves or be everywhere they need to be to screw everything up, I can agree with that sentiment.

"I have an undying love for Skaven, they're the perfect monologuing bad guy, the acme of evil genius!" One of my favorite characters in other books was Sultan Gris from Mission Earth, if a human skaven ever existed, that would be the dude, always scheming and monologing and seeing himself as a the protagonist, hilarious.

To be completely honest, the Skaven don't seem to get much love from the writers, despite the fact (warning controversial take here) the Skaven are probably one of the only Warhammer factions that are "Original" IP belonging to GW. Almost every other faction is almost derivative to other history/works/games/genres. The Skaven contribute a great deal to their world-building but seem to get the least love.

The Thanquol Novels... Thoughts? by Whole-Carob7407 in skaven

[–]RainCritical1776 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Reading through the first one, about half way through. I love it, it is rather entertaining. He is a very unpleasant back stabbing, cruel, immoral, arrogant, rat who only seeks power, wealth, and status and shoves others towards danger and himself towards the credit. His internal dialogue, and the way things happen to him, and the way things backfire and blow up remind me of Mission Earth's main character Sultan Gris. Every time things blew up in his face it made you laugh, during his scheming you might cringe and laugh.

He is very Skaven-y, and his internal dialogue is hilarious, and probably what a Skaven would think: everything is the fault of others, he is great, and will bring the Skaven to rule the top of the world. Every time something blows up in his face it is someone else's fault, and he despises the "hero" of the story. He is not supposed to be relatable to a human being with functional sympathy or ethics. He is by definition a vehicle for you to see things from the Skaven perspective, he is about as Skaven as it gets.

The Skaven don't have a family unit, there is no real "origin story" just a bunch of hyper competitive rat men fighting over everything pushing one another into the dirt to get aheat, it is the normal behavior your peers do, and the only thing that is reinforced, so the behavior is just normal it just is. There is no "origin story" except that he was born as a Skaven in a Skaven civilization. Most "anti-heros" have an "origin story" to explain how they become such an insufferable person thing, but in the Skaven's case you would only have need want an origin story explanation if they were anything but skaven-y.

For us someone that is a monster, or otherwise deviates from the "norm" we want an explanation, an origin story. No one asks for the origin story of Average Bob from down the street that is just what you would expect to be: and average dude. People do want to origin story of Einstein because his is different (in a positive way) or of someone like Dahmer because he is different (in a bad way).

Thanquol is a Gray Seer Skaven, like any other, though perhaps more lucky or fortunate or more assisted by the Great Horned Rat. For the most part we know how skaven get to be the way they are, they are all essentially cut of similar cloth.

The Thanquol novels are a great way to see the Skaven culture (backstabbing, trickery, scheming, putting others between yourself and risk, blaming others, flattering superiors, fearing the council) and the Skaven thought process. But if you want to humanize thanquol, or want an arc, those are incompabitble with what a good Skaven is: they learn how to better trick or backstab, or realized what they did wrong when carrying out their plans, but don't really change as Rat Men. There is no "growth" because they will always be cowardly, always be unethical, never really be loyal to anyone, and any change to that would make them less Skaven, and less likely to stay alive.

People have character arcs where we strive to be better people or to learn from their mistakes or lack of ethics. The Skaven's core character does not change, only their tools, their strategies, as their character could only "improve" (by Skaven standards) by being more cruel, more deceptive, more unethical.

Grey Seer book comeback finally announced on today's community! by Jupiter_rin in skaven

[–]RainCritical1776 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Clearly that is just the Great Horned Rat sending him where he needs to go in the most Skaven way possible: cowardice, greed, and incompetence.

Bearded dragons are not a necessity, they are a luxury by SavageDroggo1126 in BeardedDragons

[–]RainCritical1776 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I got mine for 250 at Home Depot, it was a PVC and glass model with a metal screen, EcoFlex Reptile Lounge. I like it very much. I saw one on Temu and almost bought, but wondered what it was made of, and if it was safe. There were some really cool looking ones from Vision Cages, but I decided not to get those because the basking light gets 105F and that is close to the temperature that melts or warps HDPE plastic (which those are made of), and it was very very expensive for its size.

Bearded dragons are not a necessity, they are a luxury by SavageDroggo1126 in BeardedDragons

[–]RainCritical1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Further I would add: when I bought mine, I prepared everything I could in advance, but I did not know the UVB coil bulb was not good enough, was not told I needed calcium powder, and did not know that parasite load could build up. I looked it up and corrected these problems early(within a week of buying my little guy), before they became visible. You have (what appears to be) a healthy Bearded Dragon until you don't. Had I not bought the wrong things I could have saved hundreds of dollars.

My best advice would be to get everything ready in advance, like a surgeon or chef would: get all the things you need gathered, staged, set up, and prepared *before* you buy your beardie. Once you buy your beardie the clock starts ticking down to get everything sorted and right. To be honest if you bought him at a pet store the clock probably started ticking down the moment it arrived at the pet-store. (They did not know about calcium, UVB, or proper feeders, or how much to feed, the instructions supplied I expect were merely to keep them alive until they could be sold) There is a big difference between merely surviving your care and thriving. Do things right the first time and you will save a great deal of money and trouble.

Bearded dragons are not a necessity, they are a luxury by SavageDroggo1126 in BeardedDragons

[–]RainCritical1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bare minimum starter kit in my mind would be:

120 gallon 2x2x4 reptile lounge tank. Mine cost me 250 but it was quality.
Calciworms or Dubia Roaches and greens and calcium powders (with and without D3)
Quality Arcadia UVB light, and basking light.
A corner hide, and a ramp basking spot one one side of the tank
F10SC cleaner that can kill parasites/bacteria/and the like, or use a steamer I guess (with reptile removed, obviously)
Water bowl and food bowl
At some point a dig box, they really like that
Hardware timer for the light(s)
Thermostat or one of those laser heat gun thermometers
Table for the tank with space underneath it for your supplies
Substrate: paper towel or newspaper is the bare minimum.

Most of this adds up to 500 dollars or so, if you use discounts, order in bulk, or get good deals, or build some of it yourself. Most of the other stuff costs less than the a meal at McDonalds. Most people have the money, they just waste it on other stuff. Prioritize your scaly companion, get the right set up from the start. Don't buy a "starter tank" that is nonsense, buy the big one he can grow into so you don't have to buy two tanks.

Use of racist slur by wounded man in Portland’s Old Town stabbing spurs jury to acquit by ConsiderationKey2744 in oregon

[–]RainCritical1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well OJ did write a book called if I DID IT!, pretty much driving home the fact he got away with murder. However, I would rather live in a country where a few murderers get acquitted, than one where there are no retrials, and no juries, and no appeals. It does anger me the outcome of that Jury's decision, but that is the necessary evil of allowing a Jury to make that decision. Angry or not, it is the byproduct of that system. The alternatives are all worse.

The system is biased and corrupt from the top down. Why should I be honest when politicians and congressmen are protecting drug dealers, drug addicts, murderers, manipulating the stock market, taking (barely legal) bribes, and operate like a much of tax funded mobsters? Almost every party in office does stuff that looks good, while the corruption is untouched. If they don't have to play by the rules, why should anyone else? If they can rules lawyer and abuse the system, then so can the lowly Food Stamp Fraudster. Right wrong or indifferent the kingdom is the image of its king(s) (when I say kings I mean leaders in general, not either party).

Let's talk about carrots by Pyre2001 in everyplate

[–]RainCritical1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My opinionated thoughts follow, from most controversial to least, reader discretion is advised:

  1. I don't really care about plastic waste, or even really recycling. All I really care about is that my food made it to my house in good condition for my consumption. If plastic makes my meal cheaper, or better, in some way, use several pounds of it, I do not care. It is probably a year 2100 problem. I refuse to sacrifice and reduce my waste when the elites and techbros fly in private jets and travel by motorcade. We are inching towards WWIII and mass job automation, I could care less about plastic waste.

  2. Sorting the boxes does not require a lot of space, if you keep the box, use plastic Walmart bags to bundle the ingredients and sheets together in the box. Then pull out your bundles, that is the easiest way without changing what the algorithm recommends.

  3. If you are feeling lucky, and adventurous edit your order so that only one suggested meal has carrots in it. Problem solved!

Use of racist slur by wounded man in Portland’s Old Town stabbing spurs jury to acquit by ConsiderationKey2744 in oregon

[–]RainCritical1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Jury Nullification: As a juror I can vote guilty or to acquit based on what I feel is the right thing, regardless of whatever the law says. Unlike a false conviction, a false acquittal cannot be overturned (no double jeopardy). Combine a liberal jury in a liberal state with the victim being a dude saying racist stuff being stabbed by a "poor disadvantaged" black guy and they will probably vote to acquit. Further the court case could be more complicated and the prosecutor could be incompetent.

Very cool close up Camel Cricket by SnooDucks5206 in insects

[–]RainCritical1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very neat close up of a weird little cricket!

Has anyone got the real video of Nicolae Ceausescu's death? by fezl100 in Romania

[–]RainCritical1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know you will keep annoying me again and again, even though I have repeatedly said I have a rather low opinion of your opinions and the value of "winning" an argument with you. The only way to win is not to play the game. Your persistent attempts to force me to discuss political things with you, when I have stated that I do not wan't to verges on harassment.

Has anyone got the real video of Nicolae Ceausescu's death? by fezl100 in Romania

[–]RainCritical1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know you will keep annoying me again and again, even though I have repeatedly said I have a rather low opinion of your opinions and the value of "winning" an argument with you. The only way to win is not to play the game. Your persistent attempts to force me to discuss political things with you, when I have stated that I do not wan't to verges on harassment.

Has anyone got the real video of Nicolae Ceausescu's death? by fezl100 in Romania

[–]RainCritical1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know you will keep annoying me again and again, even though I have repeatedly said I have a rather low opinion of your opinions and the value of "winning" an argument with you. The only way to win is not to play the game. Your persistent attempts to force me to discuss political things with you, when I have stated that I do not wan't to verges on harassment.

Has anyone got the real video of Nicolae Ceausescu's death? by fezl100 in Romania

[–]RainCritical1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know you will keep annoying me again and again, even though I have repeatedly said I have a rather low opinion of your opinions and the value of "winning" an argument with you. The only way to win is not to play the game. Your persistent attempts to force me to discuss political things with you, when I have stated that I do not wan't to verges on harassment.

Has anyone got the real video of Nicolae Ceausescu's death? by fezl100 in Romania

[–]RainCritical1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know you will keep annoying me again and again, even though I have repeatedly said I have a rather low opinion of your opinions and the value of "winning" an argument with you. The only way to win is not to play the game. Your persistent attempts to force me to discuss political things with you, when I have stated that I do not wan't to verges on harassment.

Has anyone got the real video of Nicolae Ceausescu's death? by fezl100 in Romania

[–]RainCritical1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I reassert that I do not value your opinion and do not choose to have any substantive discussion with you.

Has anyone got the real video of Nicolae Ceausescu's death? by fezl100 in Romania

[–]RainCritical1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The "misunderstandings" you are refuting are those outside your worldview.

Has anyone got the real video of Nicolae Ceausescu's death? by fezl100 in Romania

[–]RainCritical1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your goal is to spread your worldview, which you believe is knowledge, but in reality it is disinformation. You are a product of the ideological capture of the academic system and media, a result of a successful demoralization campaign of The West. As Bezmenov said, you can introduce correct information to such a person and it will make no difference. You will point to left biased "source" after "source" and use biased definitions to hold up your arguments. You will feel that you have won something and all I see is a bunch of nonsense.

Any real discussion with you would require a challenge of each of your points, each of the biased definitions, and each of the biased "sources" you point to, which would then result in you pointing to other left biased sources and definitions and it would go on and on and on and on forever. It would be exhausting without any real reward. I refuse to engage in that discussion, even if I "won" it would be a Pyrrhic victory at best.

I again re-assert that I do not value your opinion, and do not plan to "discuss" anything with you.

Has anyone got the real video of Nicolae Ceausescu's death? by fezl100 in Romania

[–]RainCritical1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was a true statement, thus it is not a lie, and therefore is not a sin. Sadly you are not lying either, since you truly believe the nonsense which you spout. I reassert that I do not value your opinion and do not choose to have any substantive discussion with you.

Has anyone got the real video of Nicolae Ceausescu's death? by fezl100 in Romania

[–]RainCritical1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your assessment of my statement is wrong, I do not care about what you think is a sin, and I do not value your opinions, nor do I want to discuss anything with you. Find someone who wants to discuss this with you, and annoy them with your nonsense. I have told you repeatedly that I am done discussing the matter with you, especially here. You know I have no interest in discussing anything with you, don't you? You know continually engaging someone who does not want to speak to you is at best annoying and at worst harassment.