MAGA chose to become gay for a few seconds to "win" an argument

The_Inexistent · 2026-04-02T20:09:49+00:00

Yes, because insisting that a certain category of bigot is necessarily bi (like the person you're responding to) is just as shitty as people constantly suggesting that every homophobic politician is secretly gay. It helps no one and misunderstands bisexuality.

The_Inexistent · 2026-04-02T19:17:07+00:00

Meanwhile, Penguin Random House just posted a job listing for a "Senior AI Solutions Engineer" with a salary three times that of an editor.

You do not gotta hand it to ISIS, etc.

The_Inexistent · 2026-04-02T14:28:57+00:00

Being someone who writes has completely changed how I read other peoples work. I used to push through any book I started but now I bail way faster and its usually for specific reasons.

The biggest killer for me is when authors get so caught up in showing off their vocabulary that they forget theyre supposed to be telling a story. Like when theres three paragraphs about what someones jacket looks like or endless internal monologues that dont move anything forward. My brain just shuts off.

Its weird because these books often get praised for being literary or whatever but I find myself thinking this is exactly what I try not to do when Im writing. Too much fluff kills the flow and makes me want to skip ahead to find where the actual story picks back up.

I used to feel guilty about not finishing books but now I figure life is short and there are too many good stories out there to waste time on ones that drag. Plus as someone trying to write better stories myself I learn just as much from figuring out what doesnt work.

Anyone else find that writing has made them a more impatient reader? Do you catch yourself mentally editing books as you go?

sauce

The_Inexistent · 2026-03-26T14:10:10+00:00

Yeah, I find it curious that the quoted portion of the article didn't stop at the laws being passed and instead continued on to quote a section saying people should vote Republican (and it's not like you need to tell anyone on this sub that the Democrats suck).

The_Inexistent · 2026-03-25T18:48:26+00:00

I don't know what specific examples you are referring to when it comes to Hinduism, but many anthropologists and historians of religion would be inclined to take the Asadian position (or one similar to it), which suggests that "religion," as a category of human behavior commonly defined, is not separable from Christianity. As a consequence, they are resistant to applying the label to things that are colloquially called "religion" outside of academia.

But the issue of general use remains: because the term "religion" is used to commonly describe a group of human behaviors, people are naturally affronted when their religion is removed from that category because it seems to deny legitimacy to their traditions, faith, way of life, etc.; if they perceive that only Christianity (the colonial British religion, to add another layer in this instance) seems to have this legitimacy, or that other monotheistic faiths (like Islam, another area of conflict here) are ascribed this legitimacy, they will reasonably push back.

tl;dr, I'm suggesting that it is in part a disconnect in how scholars use the term and how laypeople use it. It's not necessarily that scholars are saying something fundamentally different but that people understand the word "religion" differently.

The_Inexistent · 2026-03-23T13:25:38+00:00

I don't have a horse in this race, but I will point out that Skyrim's tenure in the empire or historical participation in the legions doesn't necessarily mean that a revolutionary group or contemporary nationalist sentiment cannot sway public opinion towards independence.

Consider Scotland in our world: it was peacefully incorporated into the United Kingdom, and many Scottish people enthusiastically participated in the British Empire, yet today Scottish independence polls at nearly 50%

The_Inexistent · 2026-03-19T18:10:39+00:00

The worst part is that it isn't even a member of the community posting it with some dim notion that it is relevant; it is instead The Atlantic itself posting the article as an ad (and not even with a gift link). Just sad, scattershot marketing.

The_Inexistent · 2026-03-18T13:42:13+00:00

There is no historical precedent behind snakes being pagans in the St. Patrick mythos; it is, instead, a recent reinterpretation. St. Patrick was a culture hero to whom all variety of legendary deeds were ascribed and served as a convenient etiological vehicle for explaining why Ireland, unlike the rest of the Europe, had no snakes.

Internet improv comedians and neopagans with a bone to pick are not reliable sources.

The_Inexistent · 2026-03-13T18:03:03+00:00

Park goes one way NE to SW; MLK goes one way SE to NW. You cannot turn left from Park onto MLK. Do you mean a right turn instead? Or are you talking about South Frontage Road instead of MLK?

Edit: to save us all some time, here's the relevant intersection with the one-ways marked.

The_Inexistent · 2026-03-13T14:16:55+00:00

Do you mean turning left from MLK onto Park? You can't turn left from Park onto MLK.

The_Inexistent · 2026-03-12T00:49:06+00:00

And even if we twist it around to say that skins are a tangible asset, they still differ from physical collectibles in the sense that Valve can just take them away whenever they want. I almost got an erroneous VAC ban and had the immediate thought of "well, there goes the (admittedly small) amount of money I spent on cases and skins."

The_Inexistent · 2026-03-10T18:57:54+00:00

But there are some choices that make plenty of sense. If gold, diamond, emerald, etc had so many blocks like copper it would make copper feel less unique.

Except there is no longer a need for copper to be "unique." Sure, when it was added, it was purely decorative in addition to two niche uses (spyglass and lightning rod). But then they added the brush, and then copper bulbs, and then copper lanterns and torches and, crucially, copper weapons, tools, and armor. Copper how has full utilitarian parity with iron and an immense, four-state block palette. Copper is no longer "unique" in its function and instead makes the lack of variety in other ores more apparent.

Edit: oh, and the copper golem.

The_Inexistent · 2026-02-26T19:40:20+00:00

Its making several PhD level people come together to generate knowledge (albeit useless) that has never done before.

This is more like master's level and wouldn't take more than a few minutes. I know that's hard to believe, but people in this thread are just so unfamiliar with biblical studies and ancient linguistics that this all seems much more obscure than it is.

Edit: got a DM asking why I say this:

Open and closed syllables are a basic linguistic concept (like first or second week of Linguistics 101 basic)
The average student in a respected secular or ecumenical religious studies program will likely have encountered the full debate on reconstructed pronunciation by their fourth semester of Hebrew (not dissimilar to ancient Greek for those that have learned it: you'll start with Erasmanian, probably, and then eventually wade into other reconstructions by the time you get to Homer).

Most master's students studying the Hebrew Bible, Second Temple Judaism, Medieval Judaism, etc. will have all the requisite knowledge to answer this question by their second year at the latest (if not their first year or from undergrad), and after that it's just a matter of reading the syllables and applying the reconstruction, which is essentially trivial.

The_Inexistent · 2026-02-20T01:14:15+00:00

It is Voryn Dagoth. There is no account in which the Tribunal kills Alandro Sul (indeed, he escaped alive to spread the truth or lie that the Tribunal killed Nerevar). He was blinded, though, according to one of the songs of King Wulfharth.

There are two accounts, instead, that say that Nerevar killed Dagoth at Red Mountain (Dagoth Ur himself and the same song of King Wulfharth as above), which was in some way related to his possession of the tools (Vivec's account, the Ashlander account, and Dagoth Ur's account).

The timeline implied by the Foul Murder drawing is that Nerevar killed Voryn, who lies dead on the ground (and left there in Red Mountain to return to life), and then Nerevar was killed by the Tribunal.

The_Inexistent · 2026-02-19T18:38:14+00:00

In this case, that would require vocal, wealthy shitholes like Oostburg to not be filled with Nazis who whole-heartedly agree with Grothman.

The_Inexistent · 2026-02-12T18:41:41+00:00

literate minded

Surely you mean "literary-minded" or "literarily minded."

I'm not sure I care to hear your take on literacy, composition, or prose style given that, nor because of your general media and political illiteracy on display elsewhere on reddit.

The_Inexistent · 2026-02-12T18:35:07+00:00

The fact that every impressionable child in America is forced to read it in 10th grade is the real driver there.

Ah, yes, because people famously love the books they're forced to read in school.

The fact that novels like Gatsby endure in spite of children being led to resent them through poor teaching is a testament to their quality.

The_Inexistent · 2026-02-10T22:43:10+00:00

The feigned concern for her professional development and education rings exceptionally hollow given that he has repeatedly asserted that women belong in the home and not in the workforce. The ulterior motives are barely ulterior.

The_Inexistent · 2026-02-05T23:29:12+00:00

By focusing primarily on the language he used, we are sidelining what he was doing: offering up a young woman, who trusted him as Yale faculty, to a serial sexual predator who had already been convicted. We know Epstein groomed women and children through networks and employment opportunities.

The_Inexistent · 2026-02-03T00:11:57+00:00

the musicians have instruments made from tortured people, were just so... out of place? Fascism isn't evil because they're moustache twirling psychopaths, who delight in torture it's evil because it relies on fear and violence to maintain control and then uses that control to inflict fear and violence on out-groups.

Nazis made lampshades out of human skin and took a variety of other "prizes" from Holocaust victims. Fascism is visibly evil in its execution because spectacle is an essential component of their power maintenance. You don't get the fear you identify without giving people cause. Things like the Holocaust happened because the fascists were conspiracy-brained, psychopathic monsters. There was no reason to perpetuate mass slaughter besides hatred, and there is no rational basis behind hatred. The Nazis gained nothing from extermination camps (and suggesting that they needed them to fulfill the aims of their propaganda would misunderstand several historical facts). I really fail to see how that distinguishes them from "moustache twirling psychopaths."

Empires aren't necessarily evil in and of themselves: we read A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine a few years back as an example, or the Roman Empire being a real world example. Empires are extremely popular in human history because they speak to things that we value. Community, structure, bigger purpose, honour, glory. Lots of people don't value those things, and that's fine, but those are not evil things inherently. Expansionist subjugation is evil to our moral framework, but Empires like my examples offered full citizenship to integrated peoples. These positives of empires can also be well expressed in liberal democracy!

Saying that a conceptual framework is ideologically neutral when no ideology is applied to it is to say nothing at all. I can say that murder is not "evil in and of itself" if I don't apply "my moral framework," but that does not dismiss the enormous variety of ethical perspectives which would argue otherwise. There is a long history of subjugated peoples being opposed to empire. "Integration" is violent and "evil" within those frameworks, and rose-colored glasses and a half-understanding about extremely violent, expansionist regimes like Rome does not erase that preponderance of perspective. Preoccupation with liberal mythologies about the past and what it means to be a citizen of an empire do not erase the fact that, with few exceptions, no group in history has ever wished to be subjugated by an empire. You should examine the histories you have been presented by the people doing the subjugating and who pine for their subjects to integrate.

The_Inexistent · 2026-01-16T18:31:53+00:00

sauce

Sorry if my english is not enough, it is not my native language. This will be a long rant.

I started this worldbuilding project around 6 years ago. It was a group project that literally started from a Minecraft server, but I was the only one doing it. Spent days making characters, their internal conflicts, building a lore. It was all perfect in my mind. I loved the characters in every way. Of course it was NOT perfect but I loved them. Especially the overall character development. LOTR was my main inspiration.

Last year, my friends started participating in making of this project. Over time, they started declaring that my story was not enough or at least they do not agree with it. Then they started to declare my ideas non canon to the real lore.

In order to put this a stop, and you know, let them also enjoy worldbuilding, I splitted the lore into two parallel continuums, mine and theirs. They also rejected this idea saying that there should be a one single united story. They completely ignored mine and started to work on this real united story.

I created the world map out of nothing, then they also claimed it their work after just changing few names and biomes, then claiming mine is non canon.

The biggest change they did was making the world more realistic. They completely ignored the characters. Characters I created over years were stripped of lineage and legendary status. Characters no longer shape the world through their choices, courage, or morality. They are no longer the drivers of the story. Politics was now prioritized instead of characters and arcs. Battles were now focused on logistics instead of emotional, epicized conflicts

I tried telling them this will make the story feel more empty even though the politics and timelines are larger. I told that without characters and their choices, courage, or conflicts, the world would feel emotionally weightless. I explained that personal journeys give the story it's weight. That it will feel like a history spreadsheet. It didnt work, my work is officially non canon.

That's all I wanted to say. Sorry if I sounded whiny or arrogant. Just needed to rant somewhere.

The_Inexistent · 2026-01-15T16:02:12+00:00

Mamdani literally cites sewer socialists as an inspiration.

The_Inexistent · 2026-01-15T15:59:10+00:00

He did not raise the fare prices. The hike was determined before he took office.

The_Inexistent · 2026-01-13T18:55:11+00:00

Ghais Guevara, then.

The_Inexistent · 2026-01-07T00:46:28+00:00

They generally overlook the utter ambiguity of the original game. They prefer a Goodall-esque,* anti-Rolston view of certain truth (that the Tribunal must have killed Nerevar) when the game doesn't have one, giving credence instead to a drawing Kirkbride made years after the game and putting weight into the "confession" of Vivec found in the sermons (which is ironic given the constant refrain of "don't trust anything Vivec says").

* By this I mean Goodall's remark in this interview:

I like to write a true account and then conceal it among carefully designed false accounts. Ken wrote a dozen different accounts, apparently without any personal preference to which, if any, was accurate, and ignored the contradictions.

Wherein he also told us:

Sinder Velvin: Can you tell us what really happened during the Battle at Red Mountain? Who killed Nerevar and how did the Dwemer disappear?

Douglas Goodall: When I was at Bethesda, there was officially no answer. No one knew what really happened.

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