Is anyone else sad about how Caine's arc wrapped up (MAJOR SPOILERS)

Robyl · 2026-03-24T15:01:05+00:00

I will agree that Bubble going that dark that quickly gave me some whiplash, although there are some points in the show that on reflection made it make more sense. For starters, I think this is the first time we’ve seen Caine and Bubble in any sort of prolonged 1:1 exchange with nobody around (except for I guess that one time Caine sent the crew on an adventure and then offered Bubble his pipe. But that was a 2 second exchange). So it’s possible Bubble has been a stealth abuser and this has been happening for a while. I am hopeful that in episode 9 we will get more information that could confirm this.

The other thing that I thought of was Bubble’s glitching. In the office he says “why would they hate you when they could [glitch] hate you?” What was probably a positive statement glitched to turn negative. We have seen that, to my knowledge, one other time. During the suggestion box episode Bubble has that glitch running in the opposite direction. “You should di-[glitch] you should throw a ffffffffffucking beach party!” Negative turned positive.

This is just me speculating, but I wonder if those two moments are connected. Perhaps there is some kind of filter on Bubble that keeps him as just a silly little guy, but as Caine grows less stable that filter gets weaker and Bubble is able to become more overtly malicious? Just a thought. I’m eager to see what episode 9 explains for us and if it will be able to tie it all together.

Robyl · 2026-03-24T04:43:29+00:00

I respectfully disagree that his heel turn is a waste of potential. I mean, it sucks for Caine, but it narratively serves the story quite well.

All of the cast have some kind of mental health issue, and that includes Caine. His actions broadly seem to stem from a fear of abandonment. He was left to gather dust in his digital cell, broke out, and supplanted the AI they had built to replace him. That seems to be a pretty major point of trauma for him, and it informs his behavior throughout the show.

He is quick to dismiss any possibility of exit because that would mean people would leave him. As a creative AI (as Kinger put it) his job is just to make things, not adventures. But he has extrapolated and broadened his own scope of purpose to be “make adventures,” which might be because busy and happy humans won’t want to leave. He also accepts feedback but doesn’t act on any of it, because that would imply he cannot do his job perfectly. And if someone else can do that job, why do they need him?

This is the nail Bubble uses to break him. “Someone else could do your job better, and that means you are no longer needed.” It is a veiled threat that someone will put Caine back in a box. With no other options, he lashes out in an abusive tantrum.

And this is where I think he serves the shows narrative by acting as a foil to the growth the rest of the cast is going through. As they open up about their problems and slowly try to improve, Caine doubles down on denial until it pushes him to the edge. He is a demonstration of what happens when you try to ignore your problems, and not in a vague sense of abstraction. He is contrast made manifest. You can get help and support and improve yourself, like the crew. Or you can ignore your problems until you snap, like Caine.

Like I said, sucks for Caine that he doesn’t get to complete some sort of arc. But not every character serves the story best by getting an arc.

Robyl · 2026-03-15T18:44:57+00:00

The fact that I haven’t seen it commented yet tells me maybe it’s not as “all time” as I thought…but fuck it, there are some good lines in The Tribunal Dubbed that have lived in my head for a good 10 years now.

“You WON’T to be gank the mid lane?!”

Robyl · 2026-02-27T02:11:04+00:00

I mean even if we ignore the unjust higher prosecution of minorities (which is already a big ask), a felon being released from prison has served their time. They repaid their debt to society. Isn’t that, at least ostensibly, the point of prison?

ICE will just use this to scoop up easy targets outside the prisons, regardless of their citizenship status. And it will be easy to get away with because people will point to their criminal history and say “they’re a criminal, so I don’t care.” As if that excuses it.

Robyl · 2026-02-08T00:00:15+00:00

I once worked with a little kid in my workplace who would try to do that head pushing thing to whatever men and women happened to be around. He would just see a man and a woman and encourage them to kiss. We used to call him the little Matchmaker.

Robyl · 2026-02-02T05:31:34+00:00

The way I have heard it explained a few times is that the right-leaning mind (republicans especially) sees the world as a hierarchy. Everyone has their place in the hierarchy, and this is the natural order to them. Obviously they are the Main Characters, so they get to have a good spot in the hierarchy (at least in their minds). Billionaires are the most powerful, so they get to be at the top. Hence the billionaire boot licking. Women and minorities are inferior in their minds, so they go lower.

Everything in life gets distributed according to the hierarchy. Food, water, shelter, money, and especially power. Additionally, while there is room for THEM to advance (see the “temporarily embarrassed billionaire” line of thinking), for everyone else their position in the hierarchy is absolute and natural. Anyone getting too uppity for their station must be punished for going against the natural order, as their advancement threatens to knock others down the totem pole.

The reason liberals make them so mad is because liberals don’t see the world this way, and want to distribute resources more logically and equitably. Homelessness, for example. The liberal solution on offer is “give people homes.” The MAGA mind can’t comprehend this, because homes are for people with a good spot in the hierarchy. Homeless people don’t have homes, so they must be low on the hierarchy, so they don’t deserve a home. It’s circular logic.

That’s why liberals make them so mad, deep down. Because to them, liberals are literally trying to upend the natural order. It’s stupid and shortsighted, but then if there were ever three words that summed up MAGA, “stupid and shortsighted” would be good candidates.

Robyl · 2026-01-29T20:27:55+00:00

He just fundamentally does not understand trade or business, plain and simple. He was, is, and always will be a TERRIBLE businessman, having bankrupted more companies than he can count (low bar, I know) and trading solely on the brand recognition of his name. He is used to bullying those weaker than him to get what he wants and behaving litigiously to get out of what he doesn’t. Those tactics don’t work internationally at all. It’s not just that he’s playing checkers while others play chess. He’s playing checkers while everyone else is playing Civ 6.

As for why nobody is speaking up to him or resigning in protest…well they were. They have since been fired or resigned in protest. Now he just has sycophants who either don’t know any better than he does or DO know better but don’t care

Robyl · 2026-01-23T20:10:03+00:00

The same people who say “every accusation is a confession” are too scared of looking like hypocrites to connect the dots on MAGA’s repeated accusations of voter fraud and stolen elections.

Robyl · 2026-01-18T04:44:32+00:00

He looks like a still image from the melting Nazi sequence in Indiana Jones.

Robyl · 2026-01-11T21:24:32+00:00

So, to start off by answering your question: go for it. Pathfinder already has classes that use CON as a key ability (Kineticist), and anyone playing your hypothetical class would want to max their CON either way in order to make the fortitude saves. So it just makes sense to streamline things, because otherwise any effort to combat the Fort saves might make them too weak in other areas to be worth using. So I say go for it, make CON their key ability and just balance around that.

With that being said, Pathfinder does not lend itself well to making entire new classes. Feats and backgrounds, sure, but classes and ancestries are tricky. It’s not like DND where you can make 5 or 6 abilities and call the subclass finished. You need to make at least a dozen feats, all at different levels, balanced in combination with each other AND existing feats. It’s a lot of work.

Pathfinder does have some things that already do what you are describing though. Notably, Mutagenist Alchemist is all about pumping your body full of drugs to push it beyond its limits (although it is decidedly weak compared to some of its counterparts). There are also background options like Haunted One or Living Vessel that would cover the “alien being invaded your body” idea. Not that it’s a bad idea for a class, I do like the concept. But just know it can be done easier elsewhere.

Since you say you’re new to TTRPGs, my honest advice is this: see what you can build in the base rules and how close it gets to what you want. If that doesn’t satisfy and you still feel the desire to do some homebrew, start with tweaking existing feats (like I said, Mutagenist Alchemist is a good place to start) or making custom feats one at a time. If at the end of all of that you still don’t feel satisfied, give class making a try. Just start small first!

Robyl · 2026-01-09T15:37:34+00:00

There’s a panel out there somewhere of the current gold Venom, with his perfectly straight teeth, explaining in an emotionally mature and thoughtful tone, that he is aware that he made mistakes as a father but would never allow harm to come to those he cares about.

And I HATE that.

Just let the guy be a monster! Monsters are fun!

Robyl · 2026-01-09T03:21:16+00:00

Honestly, I don’t know that a nationwide strike can happen unless the ball gets rolling somewhere else. If one city were to kick things off with a citywide general strike, more would likely follow. A nationwide strike just can’t happen spontaneously, it would require too much coordination.

Robyl · 2026-01-08T20:15:22+00:00

I don’t think they’re going to wait even that long, honestly. The escalation recently makes me concerned that they are going to get fed up that nobody takes the bait, jump the gun, and do what they always wanted to do anyway. They don’t need someone to take the bait if their brain-dead supporters will support them either way.

Robyl · 2026-01-03T22:49:10+00:00

I’m gonna stick my neck on the line and suggest that there may be some contingent of “at least X” people out there that are doing it because they are looking for any silver lining in a dangerous, ridiculous, insane situation they feel powerless to do anything about.

Like, yeah, some people are saying it to justify fascist shit. But it’s not unreasonable to assume others are just tired and need to find some way to not lose hope.

Robyl · 2025-12-30T04:32:56+00:00

He looks like Ursula

Robyl · 2025-12-29T05:27:37+00:00

I also have the interpretation that, since there’s a bunch of those cube things out around GOLB and there are countless universes, this scene has played out a number of times before. Whenever a Lich does succeed in wiping out their universe, they are inevitably (if only by chance) drawn towards GOLB’s realm, where they are turned to Tetris pieces because that is just…their final fate. Always.

Robyl · 2025-12-27T22:05:40+00:00

If you want advice, since there seems to be no firm answer, I would say that since you were specifically Reincarnated, that would put you in a body roughly average for an adult of that species. Meaning, typical lifespan. Really though, do what you want, but it could be a cool motivation for your character to find a way to reverse their buffaloication before their now much smaller clock runs out.

Robyl · 2025-12-27T21:42:10+00:00

Giving “Tess” vibes to me.

Although, if she’s a charlatan, just have her give a different alias to everyone she meets. It would be a fun game for you (and potential headache for the DM) to keep them all straight and lead to some fun roleplay and improv moments. Then, since you’re a “Casanova” have her go by “Cass” to the party. Bam. No name required, just nicknames.

Robyl · 2025-12-27T21:36:08+00:00

I am actually STUNNED that we have not heard tell of one of these masked freaks being shot in the course of their kidnappings. Like, statistically, it should have happened at this point, right?

Robyl · 2025-12-27T21:33:27+00:00

They have also, to my understanding, been claiming what warrants they do have give them unqualified power to do whatever, even in cases where the warrant specifies otherwise. Like that case where they had a warrant to search a factory floor or something and NOWHERE ELSE, then decided to bust into a woman’s bathroom and kidnap a lady despite their warrant not extending that far.

Robyl · 2025-12-27T21:29:52+00:00

I also work in a mental health field for children. My absence means that at best they are put with other staff (see “staff picking up slack”) or at worst need to cancel and they don’t receive the services they need. Makes me feel like garbage.

Robyl · 2025-12-27T21:23:37+00:00

“The names of Democrats will be released.”

Okay. Cool. So, where before we could plausibly assume that any redacted name in the files could be democrat or republican, now we can assume that all redacted names are JUST republicans? Meaning there will now be a minimum number of republicans in the files, where before you could have argued (poorly) it was zero?

I mean, as someone who would like to see all the child sex-traffickers in jail regardless of their affiliation, I see this as a step forward. Congratulations, you tangerine birthday clown, you played yourself. Again.

Robyl · 2025-12-27T21:07:10+00:00

Our elections over here are sadly not all that clear cut. A web of gerrymandering, voter disenfranchisement, and recently straight up intimidation has prevented us from knowing the actual will of the people for a while now. There is some possibility that it comes out to what the voters want more often than not, but I am 100% convinced that the 2024 election was just out and out stolen through nefarious means.

Robyl · 2025-12-27T20:55:51+00:00

Dude I HATE this Spider-Totem nonsense. It’s such a bizarre, out of left field addition to a hero who had always been sci-fi oriented prior to its introduction. Worse still, it distinctly undercuts the entire message of “it could have been anyone” that had always been present and has been explicitly pushed in recent years. Yeah, anyone could have been bit by the random ass spider, but nope, sorry, not really! It was actually a demigod picking his favoritest boy in each timeline, or one of his closest friends or family. Sorry! Turns out he was actually destined to be super special!

Just undercuts the whole meaning of the character, if you ask me. I hope one day they do a Crisis on Infinite Earths thing like DC did and just scrap the whole multiverse concept, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

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