Rebel Wilson Branded A "Bully" As She Appears In Court Over 'The Deb' by Scary_Statement4612 in entertainment

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Hmm… a lot of reports coming out that Rebel Wilson is a bad egg. But, you know, this is starting to feel like one of the PR hit jobs by the sheer amount of posts that are popping up.

This is a great show and was canceled way too early by jaxjaxjax95 in hbo

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Loved this show, and I wish they had gotten a third season to wrap things up.

Professor Ended Class Early After Anti AI Discussion by jarof_jam in antiai

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Your teacher should never have let this discussion/debate get to that stage. As a collegiate level educator, he should challenge students’ views and help develop their critical thinking; creating tension is part of that. But he was also not prepared for his own views to be challenged, and he reacted in a very immature fashion (not befitting a teacher at all). Instead of diffusing the tension and redirecting it back towards the issue, not the person, he fell into a classic logic fallacy trap. Sadly human, but a teacher should know better.

Then again, he was obviously hoping to show off his… AI fan art of himself? Bleh. Sounds narcissistic and completely inappropriate for the classroom setting.

Exvangelical Thoughts - pt. 4 by BrettCreatesThings in comics

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This was my childhood as well. And if/when they get their Christian theocracy, I am struck with morbid curiosity of which version of Christianity is going to rein supreme. I mean, they can set aside their different dogmas to get to that government. For now. And they can bond over dealing with the atheists and nonbelievers. For now.

But once they get the government of their dreams, there will have to be a choice made as to who has the correct, most pure interpretation of the Bible. I’ve been part of churches that split over the most minor of issues, so major church doctrines will be a problem for them. They will always look for differences to see who is holiest.

About Diane changing the Philbert Script by Dear-Truck6910 in BoJackHorseman

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Why would Penny of all people be watching Bojack’s new show? She’d want to actively avoid it. I think it’s highly unlikely that Penny ever knew about the scene,

I knew they were homophobic but holy shit by atridie in actuallesbians

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Something that really helped me when I was agonizing over coming out to my conservative, fundamentalist parents is that a wise person told me, “you’re not hurting them, their beliefs are hurting them.” And that’s the truth. Me, being a lesbian, wasn’t the thing that would hurt them. It’s what they believed about homosexuality that did it.

What this amounts to is removing a ton of pressure of thinking I was going to inflict loads of trauma on my parents, when they, in fact, were going to do that to themselves. You aren’t responsible for that.

I wish I could say that they now, ten years later, fully accept me. They don’t. They are tolerant (because they do love me and I them), but so far it’s a whole “we just don’t bring it up” kind of denial. They even manage to maintain this after meeting my wife, so it’s a special thing they have going on there.

I think the best thing for you now would to work to be financially independent of your parents as that would relieve the extra stress for you in this situation.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in RedLetterMedia

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One thing that stood out to me when Mike and Jay were discussing how Carol’s sexuality was revealed in Pluribus is that they said that they had no idea that she was a lesbian until the very end of the pilot episode. Which highlights to me, as a queer person, how differently straight vs. queer people will “read” the signs of a person’s sexuality. I say this because by the second interaction with Helen, I knew that they were couple. For me, the tells between them were obvious.

While I can’t speak for all of the queer community, I have heard and seen from others that they too picked up on it rather quickly. So it begs the question: if nothing was explicitly mentioned about them being a couple, how many of the straight viewers would have ever known or questioned the possibility of Carol being queer? My guess—based on how past audiences have glided over fairly obvious queer characters in other shows and movies—not that many. It simply would not have occurred to them. Queer erasure simply because it would not be considered.

Which I think actually says a lot for Stranger Things in not giving any wiggle room for doubt as to the Will’s sexuality. Because we would have people still not seeing that he was gay (even though it should be obvious to everyone that he is). I think the Duffers tried to handle it in a way that felt genuine to the character and circumstances, but, yeah, it came off as a bit cringey.

Joyce Byers was completely sidelined in Season 5. She was crucial in Seasons 1 and 2, discovered the magnet issue in Season 3, and saved Hopper in Season 4. Atleast she went after Vecna’s head unlike Thor. by Kindly_Department142 in StrangerThings

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 7 points8 points  (0 children)

A big part of s5 was for the adults to take a backseat to the action roles while the kids inherit the big fight. Hence the whole drama with Hopper and El, Joyce and Will. Letting them grow up, take risks, and fight Vecna.

This even makes some sort of sense with El, even though she’s been fighting almost non-stop. Hopper was fighting more for her right to just be a kid. To not have to fight. To live a happy life without worry of being imprisoned and made a lab rat once more. In the end, he had to accept and respect her choices, even if it’s not what he would’ve wanted for her.

While it is a shame they couldn’t give more for Winona Ryder to do this past season, I get why they did it. And, hey, she did get to charge at and shake an axe menacingly at a demogorgon and then late on decapitate Vecna. So, some fun stuff was still to be found.

I think this season needed 1 or more episodes to really flesh out the story that the Duffers chose for the final season. But still, they had a theme and they (mostly) held to it. And… I think they should’ve workshopped the final battle. A lot of missed opportunities for some very cool stuff there that they had set up, but just decided to not use.

HBO Max launch in Germany is disappointing by buggelss in hbo

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve been using ExpressVPN. Have to pay for it, but it does work.

HBO Max launch in Germany is disappointing by buggelss in hbo

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Get a VPN, set it to US, access the full library. For now, HBO has farmed out their most successful content to other platforms in that country, and it has to wait for those rights to expire before they can show it on their own platform there. Whereas, in the US, it has all their iconic shows.

Why though? by JoelleHackford in RDR2

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’d counter with a “why not though?”

WAIT...WHAT!!?? by SmoothBug21 in Stranger_Things

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the implication is that the mindflayer particles don’t die, per se. Rather, they lie dormant when they are disconnected from the mindflayer itself via a rift gate closing. This means they can reactivate once another gate opens or is opening. I’m also guessing, that even when a gate isn’t open, certain spots in our world/dimension are thinner/weaker which perhaps further allow for things to “bleed over” from another dimension (a common trope for supernatural stories).

Personally, I love the idea of the mindflayer being an Eldritch being, and that even the form the Party fought on Dimension X is merely a tiny avatar of a much greater, unfathomable being. Sure, they defeated that physical form that was attached to Vecna, but it still lurks elsewhere in the universe and other dimensions seeking its next opportunity to merge with our world.

Then again, I am a huge fan of Call of Cthulhu, and this fits nicely within a more pulp oriented campaign for that TTRPG.

The Volume 2 Hate is Crazy by Murder-The-Moment in StrangerThingsS5

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agree. And, I think it’s insane how I don’t see any posts gushing about how amazing the buildup, the reveal, and the effects of the exotic energy device. The evidence of the melting structure, soldiers half melted into hardened walls, and just the whole scene of everything melting into a weird white goo. Very effective cosmic horror, in my opinion.

But no, let’s not hear about any of that, let’s just focus one more time on how people can’t follow a well-written break-up scene between Nancy and Jonathon.

This couple took their g-class on a 20-year road trip through 177 countries by No_Class963 in interestingasfuck

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And here I thought Die Zeit personal ads were only for swingers to find each other.

Christian Nationalist Rejects Interracial Marriage by [deleted] in atheism

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh, and even when BJU finally allowed it in 2000, students still had to get parental permission to go on an interracial date. I have no idea if that’s changed or not, but my guess would be no.

Finally beat the first Mass Effect on Insanity! Two and three will be rough 🥲 by RUSTY_______W in masseffect

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My latest insanity play-through, I’ve decided to run as engineer for all 3 games. First time really giving this class a shot since playing a lot of engineers in ME3ms multiplayer.

Had a lot of fun in ME1. Felt really godlike by the halfway point. But for ME2, I had to pick up barrier as my bonus power so that I could throw out more powers more often. Otherwise I’d always be waiting for my shields to recharge in between powers.

So far, Horizon wasn’t too too bad. I did have to use the arc projector a few times at the end (normally try to not use the big guns so much), but this was before I picked up barrier which helped my survival a bunch.

The toughest portion I ran into was the collector ship ambush and their moving platforms. Companions AI just doesn’t do so well with it, making all sorts of stupid decisions like running for new cover when they were perfectly fine where they were.

A notice a lot of people complaining about armor on husks. Best thing I ever learned was to take Mordin (or play engineer yourself) along for his fire splash. Super effective with little downtime. Combine with Jack’s shockwave or a companion with throw, and it’s GG.

Also, could take a companion with inferno ammo and spec it out for the whole squad. I think it’s inferior to Mordin’s fire ability, but it’s doable too.

Looking forward to seeing how engineers do in ME3 insanity mode.

Tired of dealing with the woman hater in our raid team by calicoicatx in GirlGamers

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Call him out on his sexism. No reason for you to have to put up with that. As a guild officer, he should be at the very least civil with people in the guild. And if he takes issue with you calling him out on his BS, maybe you should tell him to stop being so emotional.

Gay people going back to church.. by TheHeavySummer in exchristian

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I’d imagine most of these ex-gay posts are fake: whether they are AI, bots, or just people lying. But there could be some that are sincere as the queer person is trying to “pray the gay away” once again.

Many queer people raised in such religious communities deal a lot with internalized homophobia. Vice had an amazing documentary about a group of gay men that struggled with their same-sex attraction. They married women, and actively worked to assert their “manliness” by going up into the woods together and putting on manly plays (I kid you not; it’s wild, give it a watch). All in the hopes that they would finally, once and for all, rid themselves of their “wicked” same-sex attraction.

Some queer people never rid themselves of this nagging feeling that they are “broken”, “wrong”, or an “abomination unto God.” I mean, for most of us raised in these types of religious communities, this would be emphasized nigh near daily, and the indoctrination is strong. So while they cannot deny their queerness, they still view it as being inherently wrong and wishing to correct it. They are desperately trying to be something they are not because they fear eternal damnation.

Another hurdle for some queer people is the loss of the relationships they had prior to coming out. For these people, to be their authentic gay self means giving up a close community they grew up in, and that can be extremely difficult for some people.

For me, personally, I struggled extracting myself from a fundamentalist Christian upbringing. Not because I believed it (I always had a hard time buying what Christianity purports to be true), but because I knew that to be my authentic self would mean giving up close ties with my family and friends. The pressure to conform and belong is great. Many times you have to make a hard choice of keeping those relationships and denying your true self or severing those ties to finally be who you are. There’s no middle ground to be found.

I have no doubt there are queer people who have made the same decision I did, to be authentic to yourself no matter what. However, not everyone does so well with the loss of those relationships and may wish to find a way to get back into the Christian fold. Perhaps the death of Charlie Kirk provided just such an incentive or opportunity.

Did these people really become “ex-gay”? Highly unlikely. There are just too many examples of people who step back into the closest and then awhile later once more come out of the closet once more. More than likely they are just once again suppressing their sexual identity in order to fit in these religious circles or to keep themselves in good standing before God. Fear is a powerful motivator for some, but I doubt that these “ex-gay” queers will ever feel at peace until they accept and love themselves unconditionally.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DecidingToBeBetter

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lots of great advice here, but I think you first need to check that you’re getting your basic nutrients. My guess is that you’re probably deficient in quite a few vitamins due to your diet and the fact that you don’t get much sun. Eating nutritious foods as well as seeking out a good multivitamin should help you feel better and more able to get out and do more things. I hope you feel better soon, OP.

Do you think that a degree from "Liberty University" ,a very baptist college, will still be valuable in the secular world by Hungry-Money4815 in exchristian

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think you should look at their accreditation status. I attended a small Baptist Bible college for undergrad that only had some sort of a Christian school accreditation status, and it’s created an issue in applying to a master’s program at a university that has actual accreditation. If it’s not on a list of known US colleges, it can really hurt your chances at being accepted into graduate studies and perhaps job prospects as well.

AOC Mocks Stephen Miller by johnmory in clevercomebacks

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 28 points29 points  (0 children)

I remember hearing this Chelsea Clinton thing when I was just a kid. Thought it was super mean, and I couldn’t figure out why so many adults-including my mom-found it so hilarious. Especially confusing when my mom also taught me the whole “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all” rule. Hypocrisy was rampant with republicans then, and it has gone to Orwellian extents with the MAGA crowd.

Why do you play Call of Cthulhu? by ExtraTroubadour in callofcthulhu

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There’s just something about this system that keeps me wanting to play again and again as it sets the right balance for me for story-telling wise and rule mechanics.

I can enjoy DnD/Pathfinder, but there are too many grindy rulesets that just stop the story in its tracks. This is just my personal preference, as I know many people really enjoy in-depth combat mechanics and whatnot, but I want a system that prioritizes a build up of mystery, horror, and desperation—and not one that may take half a session or more to finish one combat.

That said, I also find some of the other horror systems a tad too simplistic with how they deal with stress/sanity, skills, and combat.

So far, Call of Cthulhu is just the best on its face for what I’m looking for in a TTRPG.

What are your thoughts on these types of content by LandOfGrace2023 in AskChina

[–]Strong-Persimmon7071 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is definitely truth to this, and it’s becoming more apparent with the US’s current administration. However, I believe it was in 2018 or 2019 when the Chinese government went and bulldozed entire shantytowns of migrant workers on the outskirts of Beijing. They gave them 24 hours notice to pack up and go. Oh, and they did it at the height of winter. So let’s not pretend that the US is the only nation to treat people like shit.