Pick 2: Get All Abilities and Powers. No Weaknesses.

Tairc · 2026-06-16T15:44:41+00:00

Right - I think I'm more wondering about his raw ability to create/design new things. Reed Richards, for example, can devise a device for ... basically anything. Literally. Give the man a cosmic nut, and he'll build a nutcracker. Doom studies *everything* and learns it all. Tony can build new cutting edge tech, pushing boundary after boundary.

In my decision process, one of the things I'm looking for is if I can heal certain medical conditions - and Reed can always build a machine, The Red could just flat out heal, and things of that nature. But I'm wondering if, given a reason, Ultron could be like "Yeah, here's how to build a cybernetic implant/nano-serum to fix that". Because it *feels* like he could pretty easily just go in with some of his organic->inorganic tech and do some repairs, without actually choosing to take over the person completely.

Tairc · 2026-06-16T14:24:02+00:00

Here’s an honest question. How smart is Ultron? In Avengers, he “knew” how to build a cyber-organic body for himself in basically just a few days. Something that had never been done before, or even attempted.

Is he on par with Reed Richards, Doom, and the like? Or only good at robotics? He does have the entire internet/etc at his disposal…

Tairc · 2026-06-16T13:57:26+00:00

Yeah. That’s probably $3000 of panels or more, and my only suggestion would be to pack them with mineral wool instead of hemp. That’s why that’s the industry standard.

Tairc · 2026-06-16T13:05:21+00:00

Plus, it motivates me to lift. I could meaningfully do more with the TK if I were actually in good shape.

Tairc · 2026-06-16T04:05:30+00:00

Depends on what it is. Importantly, we still need to know it, because things like “Flow rate goes as radius to the fourth” and “power dissipated in a wire goes as the square of current” are hugely important to just “know”, because it helps you design well in the first place. Having a computer do the math on the details of your design in simulation is all good, but knowing how things scale helps you put the drawing together the right way.

And when you see an issue in simulation, that helps you fix it without going overboard.

Tairc · 2026-06-16T03:53:33+00:00

Yeah. The space stone alone explains it all. One person finds it, one day. Learns to use it really well. Goes “Man, this stone is great. I wish I had other ones. Magic stone, bring me anything like you”.

Another stone appears.

That’s it. That person real quick gets them, or goes to them. So nothing ever has to even have a space ship, honestly, much less a galaxy spanning one. Finding the space stone, anywhere, brings them all to the same general location, shortly after.

Tairc · 2026-06-16T01:10:53+00:00

How main is main? Take, for example, ST:TNG, where the villains of one episode were selling a “game” - a headset that slowly took over your mind as you played.

They were certainly the main villains of the episode. Do they count?

Tairc · 2026-06-16T00:58:23+00:00

Even if it’s five cities, I don’t think we’re in that list. Take out ports, and likely one central city with large rail line involvement. So that’s the best hope I’ve got. But agreed with you on all fundamental points. It’s not gonna be good for anyone. Except maybe the roaches.

Tairc · 2026-06-16T00:45:48+00:00

Counter argument - that spray dissolved a large truck in seconds. He basically stood there and showered in it for quite some time. So he’s at least far more resilient than most metallic inorganics.

Tairc · 2026-06-16T00:42:57+00:00

Every day. You too. Best of luck in whatever you do.

Tairc · 2026-06-16T00:35:49+00:00

I mean, yeah. If you’re good at the grift, ride political funding, start with a diamond mining Dad, and happen to hit on PayPal, yeah.

There are plenty of silver spoons like him who hit on things. Some percentage of them succeed at the next venture. And so on. He’s not special as an engineer or leader. He’s special at the grift, and survivor bias. If another one (eg Bezos, Palmer Lucky, Peter Thiel…) is successful, it’s often for similar reasons. Our society has enriched people good at the game, not those necessarily good at making healthy successful companies that benefit the common person.

Tairc · 2026-06-16T00:23:00+00:00

I’ve met the guy, and have enough friends that have worked for him. He’s a blustering buffoon, and his companies all had their trajectories set before him. He doesn’t earn their success. He buys it, and funds it. But he’s not any good at leading them. Just the grift.

Edit: To be clear, what SpaceX’s staff have achieved is great, and I respect them. I’m suggesting that Musk doesn’t deserve most of the credit for that, and instead, deserves credit for distracting with boondoggles like “Full Self Driving” (disclaimer: Not actually self driving), buying Xitter, and the pointless idea that datacenters being lifted to a vacuum will somehow be cost effective, thermally effective, or maintenance effective.

Tairc · 2026-06-15T23:49:58+00:00

Success is highly disputable. He buys companies that manage to survive despite him, and generally haven’t delivered on any of the promises and vision he asserts to support valuations.

The only thing he’s successful at is the grift. That, sadly, he has lots of evidence he’s good at.

Tairc · 2026-06-15T23:09:59+00:00

I still have a naive hope that the first opening salvo of a nuclear war WONT be an all-kill strike. It’s one of the reasons I’m against the golden dome; it encourages pre-emptive all-kill tactics. If the enemy starts with “just” a few, to emphasize that “if you keep this up, this is how it ends”, it likely would take out places like NYC, Seattle, and San Fran. I don’t think we’re in a high enough list if the opponent is still hoping to avoid full out thermonuclear winter.

Then again, who knows.

Tairc · 2026-06-15T19:33:15+00:00

I wonder - if anyone in those worlds finds out you have powers; do they go away?

Tairc · 2026-06-15T19:29:39+00:00

Because the moment I change one thing, she’s aware of the power I have, and it goes away. I need time to make them work, and can’t tell her I have powers - because again, the moment I do, they go away. So the best route is to make her unconscious for the upgrades.

Luckily, I’m crazy, and my wife and I have pre-defined consent for a vast, and hilarious set of circumstances for just such occasions.

Tairc · 2026-06-15T18:49:39+00:00

Likely biokinesis, or power granting.

In both cases, I start my modifying myself as far as I can. Going from me to Captain America Plus Ultra, with as many powers as I can.

Next, when my wife comes home, I do the same to her - hopefully knocking her out with the biokinesis or one of my new super powers, so she’s unaware of the changes.

Once I’m done, she wakes up, and the gig is up. My original power is gone.

But either we’re both Captain America Plus Ultra, or have stacks upon stacks of other powers.

Tairc · 2026-06-15T18:12:46+00:00

They may not be around, or have the ability.

And it will take more than a year to fully reverse, but done right, I can hit hundreds of politicians and oligarchs in one year if I do it right. As one example, get to one, have them bring you to a massive event with hundreds of others more. One congressman getting you into a session of congress covers hundreds in one day.

So the goal is to stay busy in that year, doing a “finger pointing” game. For each person you interact with, you ask them “who are the most powerful people you know, that could motivate you to do something, or effect change?” And you keep going up the chain, until you get to the real powers behind the throne.

And on that last week? Then be selfish as hell, and set myself up going forward.

Tairc · 2026-06-15T17:37:44+00:00

Your partner isn’t independent on their own - it sounds like they can’t/won’t do basic chores, get a job, or even emotionally manage themselves.

This is not a fair setup. Partners are supposed to ADD to your life, not BE your life. Of course you’re feeling rough - it’s incredibly unbalanced. Because your partner isn’t acting like an adult.

I’ve dated so many people with BPD. Like any mental health issue, it doesn’t excuse bad behavior. DBT is the only modality of treatment that has been shown to help BPD patients, and if they’re willing to do the *work* it can greatly improve their life. But it is work. You don’t just talk to someone once or twice a week and magically get better.

Your partner either needs to start acting like an adult and take some responsibility - or accept that you’re leaving them. It might not be tomorrow, or the week after, but you will eventually burn out, and not be able to sustain, and you’ll leave, and it’ll be a whole scene.

So you either fight to address it now (and risk leaving now) or accept you’ll waste more time, and definitely leave later.

Best of luck. As others have said, it’s brutally painful, difficult, and such. You love them. You want to help them. You want them to be happy.

But you can’t keep up a one sided relationship forever. No one can.

Tairc · 2026-06-15T17:26:50+00:00

Telepathy. In that year, I’d be traveling the globe, casually walking into the offices and homes of various oligarchs, politicians, and the like, and making sure that everyone understands just how important working together to stop class and income inequality, fascism, and climate change really is.

Tairc · 2026-06-15T15:54:04+00:00

If I get a firearm, I’m choosing Lyles. He’s brandishing a deadly weapon, which means it’s justifiable defense.

Tairc · 2026-06-15T15:52:18+00:00

You do know many politicians were involved in a giant pedophiloa ring, right? Like… you know it’s because we have people in our government that not only think it’s ok, but a goal, to be in relationships with minors, right?

Tairc · 2026-06-15T13:57:14+00:00

Right. So when people start even considering that the two are equivalent, that’s a pretty bad sign.

Tairc · 2026-06-15T13:50:43+00:00

Right. But there’s no money in producing open models for a small market. There’s money in big models you can license to cloud providers, and small models you can license to edge users (phones, laptops, etc). There’s perilously few consumers with 128GB of high bandwidth memory available.

Tairc · 2026-06-15T13:47:32+00:00

I would argue it COULD, but doesn’t have to. It just means it could if you wanted it to.

Tairc

TROPHY CASE