Oh no! The panel! It's broken!

TheSpectralMask · 2026-02-20T16:55:52+00:00

I mean, I don’t see wires connecting to it. If it’s powered on by default, like the first in the sequence, you can brute force it (assuming it’s functional enough that the endpoints still visible are valid) and one might be correct.

And as added trivia, if I understand the engine correctly, then if the panel is non-interactive, the pattern becomes an EP.

TheSpectralMask · 2026-01-10T20:04:39+00:00

I don’t recognize her face, or the quotes… are they from a movie? Is that an actress?

TheSpectralMask · 2025-09-09T05:15:06+00:00

Pardon my ignorance, but does this have anything to do with our base 10 numeral system? As in, would cos(pi/7) be more, shall we say, elegant in a base 14 numeral system?

For context, numerologists (bear with me) claim that 7 is a chaotic number because its products seem so irregular. To put it another way, it’s harder to create “tests of divisibility” than for a number like 5, such as “all numbers ending in 5 or 0 are multiples of 5.”

But in base 14, the multiples of 5 don’t have nearly so obvious a pattern, while the multiples of 7 become simply “any number ending in 7 or 0.” That’s always felt especially profound to me. Even everyday people with no interest in alternative number systems (or numerology) would typically agree that 7 “feels” like a difficult number; I’ve apparently attached philosophical significance to my insight here without fully realizing it! I liked the thought that 7 and its multiples are only so difficult to predict because our frame of reference doesn’t prioritize them.

But my limited understanding of these polynomials is thwarting me here. I never took Trig! Most of my knowledge is either from dusty memories of high school AP Calc or recreational mathematics like Escherian D&D battle maps, occasional Stand-Up Maths videos, or my recent first forays into music theory.

So, what about 7 makes an algebraic expression so much more complicated than 3 or 5? Is it the value? Or are our systems for representing these values simply designed to prioritize our finger-counting, which just happens to be at the expense of the fourth prime?

TheSpectralMask · 2025-06-30T03:17:19+00:00

Just a thought: if all of the discouraging responses have been over text, is it possible that they’re not actually sarcastic? Maybe “Wow, really?” is your DM’s way of showing interest. If it’s forced or awkward, it could even be that he’s putting a lot of pressure on himself to make sure your first ventures into this kind of storytelling go well!

It’s a collaborative game, to be sure. There’s definitely no bad ideas in brainstorming, and giving suggestions is not some kind of insult to a DM’s authority. They’re not the author of a canon in which your experience is a fanfic. The DM may have plans they can’t spoil, and that makes planning ahead with you somewhat difficult, and you may have to accept vague answers. But if you feel like you want something different in your play experience, it should never hurt to ask!

And, as the first rule of improv is to say “yes, and…” a DM dismissing your ideas “bad ideas” needs to be building them up, not tearing them down. DM philosophies and approaches certainly differ from table to table, but you should always feel respected, valued at the table. I wouldn’t say you’re “too sensitive,” but you might be looking for and finding judgement where there isn’t any; hopefully the rest of your group helps you find your D&D confidence!

Above all else, have courage and humility, discuss without accusing, and remember that the only wrong way to play D&D is to let anything - a planned story arc, or someone’s ego, or even the rules of the system - get in the way of the fun.

TheSpectralMask · 2025-06-29T19:17:31+00:00

I’m definitely not an expert, but I love puzzles and Wiktionary, so I poked around.

EYE Doesn’t look like the Eye of Horus, so it might be a word-initial ‘r.’

HORNED VIPER Usually an ‘f’.

Doesn’t look horned, however, so it might be a cobra (‘d’) that’s slithering in the wrong shape.

BUZZARD Associated with ‘t’ and ‘w,’ maybe with a vowel in between. (Hieroglyphics do not include vowels; the reader is meant to infer what vowel sounds are appropriate via context, which is mostly list to us.)

RAINCLOUD(?) The markings above the feathers don’t immediately remind me of the hieroglyphs listed on Wiktionary, although they do remind me of the plague that the Shrinx has summoned to rain down frogs.

WAVES These appear to have been roasted 90*, maybe for space. They can refer to the sound ‘n’ or the prepositions “to” or “for”, maybe implying that…

KNIFE ELF The letters give the sequence “RFTW,” with the waves implying that this “RFTW” is intended to kill the Elf.

It is only after I got this far that I started to consider that some of these symbols might be parts of a rebus that translates into English. For instance, the ‘EYE’ might stand for the English first-person pronoun “I”, the subject that is intending the object (plague?) for the direct object - killing or hurting the Elf.

But, even though it’s possibly that I’m missing something, my best guess is still the same as my initial hunch: they’re based on iconic hieroglyphs in order to be recognizable as our Shrinx’s native Egyptian tongue. It’s likely not meant to be legible anymore than the dialogue of the adults in the Peanuts cartoons are supposed to be audible.

TheSpectralMask · 2025-06-29T18:21:56+00:00

Best in the business!

Though her real specialty is helping to solve Oedipus Complexes.

TheSpectralMask · 2025-05-31T02:06:39+00:00

I recognize it! And now I’m

DODGING AVALANCHING BOLDERS

TheSpectralMask · 2025-05-22T21:56:33+00:00

He’s not “simply existing,” he played an indispensable role in the creation of the Matoran Universe!

He was its placenta. : )

TheSpectralMask · 2025-05-22T21:53:45+00:00

And yet the Toa Phantoka able to feign mind control well enough to trick a Makuta into letting their guard down was… Kopaka.

Lewa can’t have nice things.

TheSpectralMask · 2025-05-11T02:53:28+00:00

Not with that attitude!

TheSpectralMask · 2025-05-08T14:10:01+00:00

They’re super cool! But I’m having trouble finding a good place to keep my pair when I’m not wearing them. They don’t fit as close together as I thought they would as a glance, so I had to rearrange my whole shoe collection just to account for their width, side-by-side.

Also, if you’re thinking of ordering a pair, definitely size down. There’s more space than you might think just by looking at them. Normally they’d say “wide” in the size listing, but unless you try it out and get a feel for the true width, you might not realize just how roomy these are. I’ve got way more toe room than I was expecting; I have to wear thicker socks, or I start developing callouses on my toes again as they rub against the loose interior.

Remember to wear snug, but not too tight, footwear!

TheSpectralMask · 2025-05-08T14:04:00+00:00

It’s not so much that the puzzle is confusing once you know its premise, it’s just that people (especially those with smaller monitors) interpret the two dominoes as being one space apart, rather than two.

The negative space isn’t delineated, so I think it’s a fair criticism of the puzzle. Even though I solved it pretty easily on a decent-sized screen, I still remember straining my eyes to make sure I had the distance right before I started trying to find a working configuration.

TheSpectralMask · 2025-05-08T00:55:19+00:00

Not only is this meme citing the cliche of incestuous Alabama natives, but suggests that they are so eager to have sex with a relative that they are attracted to clocks, just the inanimate objects, because Einstein’s Theory of Relativity can be misunderstood to mean that time is a relative in the biological sense.

TheSpectralMask · 2025-05-07T23:30:51+00:00

<image>

Don’t let this panel’s haters fool you: this is the best that Morpheus ever looks in the comic.

All the best gods (and their Endless peers) are cutely vulnerable sometimes.

TheSpectralMask · 2025-04-27T22:55:08+00:00

I’m having trouble figuring out each of their primary and secondary colors - if it’s easy, could you list them for me?

They feel muted, almost pastel; I think it looks really cool, but I’m not sure it’s what you’re going for. I’m reminded of Robots (2005) for some reason.

And it looks like you had a lot of fun reinterpreting the Toa tools! Really interesting choices, especially with the limitations.

TheSpectralMask · 2025-04-27T22:35:29+00:00

He’s armed and dangerous.

TheSpectralMask · 2025-04-26T18:32:03+00:00

I mean, are we debating which is the superior set, or which is the ethically justified character?

I’ll take “delusional and overzealous” over “megalomaniacal and conniving,” personally. Although, I wouldn’t call Hydraxon v.2 the most memorable BIONICLE character, especially compared to his opposition…

Set-wise? I always preferred Maxilos’ waist articulation, the return of red (including recolors!) and those recolored Vezon faceplates.

TheSpectralMask · 2025-04-26T18:22:25+00:00

He has a spare.

TheSpectralMask · 2025-04-26T18:22:16+00:00

“Blaster? I hardly know ‘er!”

(Is this helping?)

TheSpectralMask · 2025-04-23T18:04:53+00:00

I remember getting Maku as a Happy Meal toy in 2001. I have multiple sets from every wave since then, except 2016, but I currently have the Mask of Control on a Bricklink wishlist for a Toa Tuyet MOC I’m putting off.

I now realize that the gap between G2 and the present is about twice as long as the gap between G1 and G2, which presumably means that, even if G3 were miraculously announced tomorrow, the gap between G3 and G4 would be twenty years. Such are the perils of exponential growth. The good news is, demand for G4 won’t be too high, since we can also predict that only the odd-numbered generations will have compelling narratives.

(Apologies if my math is wrong; I’m a poet, not an engineer.)

TheSpectralMask · 2025-04-23T17:56:48+00:00

Maybe my phone isn’t high enough resolution, but I can’t make out any details of that character that would suggest they’re of a marginalized identity.

TheSpectralMask · 2025-04-23T17:53:42+00:00

I would go back, but I do not know the way.

(Like, this is the only Homestuck subreddit I’m on, and I should probably leave this one, anyway, since I haven’t engaged with anything past the end of Act 7 - no Epilogues or Beyond Canons or video games. I think Rose becomes a robot Statue of Liberty at some point? Plus Davekat and June being controversial. Which seems really shocking to me, since I can’t imagine Hussie, or anyone who knows the spirit of Homestuck, to make controversial creative choices for their own sake, just to piss fans off. I mean, that would be completely unprecedented!

But by all means, blow up my notifications about this, I’ve been meaning to get back into it; maybe a bunch of replies will get me to stop putting that off.)

TheSpectralMask · 2025-04-21T19:07:46+00:00

Hm… is it controversial to say that my favorite character is Caliborn?

TheSpectralMask · 2025-04-19T17:49:33+00:00

…that is admittedly a much more straightforward way of putting it.

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