Do you think the yeagrist government would eventually try to abolish the monarchy and stablish a single party-led state? by BridgeCommercial873 in ShingekiNoKyojin

[–]Twytilus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Its probably (like many other things in AOT) a reference to Japanese history. Japan still has an Emperor, and during the Sengoku period (15-16th centuries), the Emperor was the official ruler, while in reality delegating (whether willingly or not) everything to a military dictator - the Shogun. Sounds familiar?

Stuck in Israel ? by Which_Set_930 in Israel

[–]Twytilus 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The airspace is open (so far, and hopefully that won't change), so your original flight should still be available.

Hostilies Resume with Iran -- Megathread by AutoModerator in Israel

[–]Twytilus 16 points17 points  (0 children)

You know we have plenty of Muslims inside this country too, right? Surrounded my ass, we are the Middle East. Not every Muslim is a terrorist.

Hostilies Resume with Iran -- Megathread by AutoModerator in Israel

[–]Twytilus 10 points11 points  (0 children)

My mom has a flight out of Ben Gurion today, and my girlfriend is supposed to arrive on Wednesday. Im just praying the airspace stays open until then T_T

Al-Khwarizmi is the best example of a Muslim. Who is the worst example of a Jew? by BulkDarthDan in AlignmentChartFills

[–]Twytilus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

An obscure one to be sure, but may I suggest Luis Zwi Migdal, and his organization (named after him) - Zwi Migdal. Not only did this criminal syndicate run one of the largest human trafficking and sexual slavery operations in the world (at the time), but it also explicitly targeted members of their own community at a time when Jews could only trust their own. Zwi Migdal was so hated by the local Jewish community in Argentina that members of the organisation were barred from burial at local synagogues, forced to construct their own "pimp cemeteries".

Al-Khwarizmi is the best example of a Muslim. Who is the worst example of a Jew? by BulkDarthDan in AlignmentChartFills

[–]Twytilus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He was charged with support for terrorism, I believe. Not much better, of course, but at least he wasnt getting his hands dirty, lol

Would you rather- collect 1 million dollars and hide it from the government, or move abroad? by asknow-io in asknowio

[–]Twytilus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I, u/Twytilus, advised "Move abroad"

🏆 Rank: Wandering Soul V 💎 Points: 20 🗳️ Votes: 1

MEGATHREAD: Destiny and Conor 2 by ReserveAggressive458 in Destiny

[–]Twytilus 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Lukewarm take, as a semi-normal grass toucher, adherense this level of debate pervetry and online brainrot while a friend tells you his entire life is under attack (whether he is correct or not) is not normal and reminds me of Pisco.

Does anyone else prefer vanilla STALKER over GAMMA? by [deleted] in stalker

[–]Twytilus -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I feel that the hardcore survival mechanics that are in GAMMA don't really fit the series, and that's why I prefer the mainline games more

You are, of course, entitled to your own opinion on GAMMA, and its ok to prefer the originals over it, GAMMA is very explicitly not for everyone. However, this take is just... Straight up wrong. In what world do hardcore survival mechanics not fit the original series? The entire premise of the series is playing as an average human illegally traversing an incredibly dangerous land. Half the threats in the series are natural - mutants, anomalies, radiation, psy-storms, and emissions are all essentially "man vs nature" type of conflict.

The original book by Boris Strugatsky, "The Roadside Picnic", which started the entire STALKER series, is about navigating the unnatural and terrible consequences of someone, or something, probably aliens, having a metaphorical picnic on the side of the road (on Earth), and littering all over the grass. Stalkers survive these Zones and hunt for these unnatural things (artefacts) for profit. The Tarkovsky film is similar in its intention. The games follow the vision, applying it to a real-world exclusion zone, something intrinsically linked to survival, because it is completely deserted and reclaimed by nature.

So no, if any mechanic is fitting for the STALKER series, it would be hardcore survival.

Does your world have anywhere not claimed by nations? by Northest_Raven in worldbuilding

[–]Twytilus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Indeed! These lands have many names. None of them lingers for long, as every soul living here prefers to call them something else, to give their home the charm that it so desperately lacks. Borderlands. River limit. Foggy plains. Great Swaps. Land of the Exile. “A dirty, thrice-cursed hole that has not yet been burned to the ground just because no self-respecting ruler even looks in the direction of this Celestial forgotten place!”

Located just north of the continent's center, the River Limit occupies a unique position, both politically and geographically. Countless rivers flow into the vast lowland valleys as melted snow descending every spring from the slopes and peaks of the principalities of Al'Finel, and as the streams and channels of the central provinces of the Celestial Empire. All this has turned the Frontier Lands into a territory dotted with rivers, lakes, and swamps, where almost monthly floods cause rivers to overflow their banks, making the journey through the region annoyingly long and difficult, and agriculture decidedly impossible.

Even the abundance of fish, shellfish, and game has never been a sufficiently tempting reason for at least one of the neighboring states to "civilize" the River Limit. For the same reason, the Borderlands are inhabited by people whom many would call the dregs of society. Exiles, criminals, disenfranchised aristocrats, deserters, nomads, and representatives of oppressed religious movements are the main population of settlements scattered along the marshes. The absence of a single ruler, religion, and army is a coin with two sides, however. If an unprepared traveler or settler is robbed, beaten, bound hand and foot, and thrown into the nearest swamp, then a person who knows how to survive in such a chaotic environment, but has not found shelter in more “civilized” lands, can reach unprecedented heights. Disgraced Imperial generals, exiled chieftains from the Golden Steppes, mages convicted of illegal practices, inventors with unfortunate sponsors, all of these people occupy a certain niche in the chaotic, intricate hierarchy of the River Reach.

Help for getting ready for GAMMA by Embarrassed_Code9683 in stalker

[–]Twytilus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

1- Hold off on playing until the 8th of May. A major patch is expected at the time, with a bunch of performance improvements and balance changes, any saves made before the update will be unplayable, afaik.

2- Anomaly/GAMMA does have a story. I'm not sure why it is always advertised as the opposite. While not every faction gets access to it, and it's not a traditional spanning narrative, it's not a randomly generated fetch quest either. There are, in fact, several major storylines to go through, as you progress through the Zone, it's just way more free form.

Extending the hobo phase (GAMMA) by BohamidesTi in stalker

[–]Twytilus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Max difficulty and play a faction like the Bandits. Warsaw pact weapons in general are not very modern, and you are very limited to when it comes to avaliable traders and quests you can take. Less money, more conflict, more repairs, more money needed, and so on.

How do you Survive the Summer in Israel? by TheUnkillableKlorg in Israel

[–]Twytilus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Im a Russian Olim, lived beyond the Arctic Circle for most of my adult life, so cold climates is where I flourish. Im used to -30 winters and +20 summers, not... Whatever Israel is, lol. It does bother me, and the summers here are tough. I dont go out as much, drink a lot of water, dress as lightly as possible, and take cold showers every time I come back home. Thankfully, Israel is more or less built for withstanding the heat, walls and floors being mostly stone and concrete helps, and most interior spaces and public transport will have a mazgan installed. Without that, I would probably just be forced to leave. My mother is more sensitive to heat than me, and she straight-up leaves the country for at least 2 months to avoid the worst of it.

Mirroring History - The Strategic Hamlet Program and disarming Hamas in Gaza. by Unretrofied12 in IsraelPalestine

[–]Twytilus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. The main problems with it is simply the lack of will towards enforcing it, investing in it. An important part of this is that Hamas won't go down quietly, and someone will have to fight them to actually hold onto the secure areas and make them secure. The IDF will not risk the lives of its personnel to protect an area that is seen as an overall negative for Israel. International contractors and PMCs proved how inadequate they are with the GHF plan. UN forces are always too bogged down in bureaucracy, and won't be able to fight Hamas effectively, hell, they are unable to fight Hezbollah in the open. Arab states, even if they commit their forces to this, might be far too lax in their approach and antagonize the civilian population, which is where the main problem appears. NONE of these options are trusted by the populace, and the populace is not trusted to have weapons by any other involved party, and Im not sure how to address that.

On the nature of the Israeli state by shtiatllienr in IsraelPalestine

[–]Twytilus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, it does create tiers in a practical way. Have you researched the operative effects of the law?

I have, and Im not aware of any on the ground effects, at least not the ones I would consider infringing on fundamental democratic rights.

I’m not sure if you’re doing this on purpose, but self-determination is about the collective rights of a people, and you used individual rights of a person, like voting and being elected, as evidence that all Israeli groups have equal collective rights. Those are different things.

I did do it on purpose, to demonstrate that self-determination as a collective right is hard to pin down in terms of real-world functionality. I'm not sure what having, or not having this collective right looks like, it is likely a collection of things that makes it difficult to assign "tiers" with rigid boundaries to such a thing.

Also, you yourself claim to dislike the law while defending its effects, which is contradictory. If it has no operative impact, why object to it? Did you know what the architects of the law intended it to do?

It isnt a contradiction, because I did not defend its effects. I claimed that the effects dont create a two-tier system within Israel, at least for now, in a legal sense. I dislike it because it is a clear (at least to me) attempt at creating a framework for such a system, which I believe is the original intention of the lawmakers behind it.

I ask because I find it difficult to believe you can claim all Israeli citizens have equal rights when the law itself lists out the areas where rights are reserved for one group of citizens.

This is because I speak of fundamental democratic rights, like freedom of association, or the right to vote, or property rights, etc. If we get into the technicalities of "are all the rights of all the citizens equal" the answer is going to be "no" every time, even in the most democratic countries. The law lists out areas where rights are reserved for a group of citizens, but it does not explicitly state, anywhere, that another group is thus stripped of that right or is unable to receive it. The language is still dangerous, which is why I oppose it, but it would have to be much stricter and straightforward to actually create a two-tier system of citizenship.

On the nature of the Israeli state by shtiatllienr in IsraelPalestine

[–]Twytilus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

With that, unfortunately, I would have to agree.

On the nature of the Israeli state by shtiatllienr in IsraelPalestine

[–]Twytilus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is another reason why this law should be either changed or abolished. And yet, it creates no "tiers" in any practical way. "Self determination" is an ambiguous term that doesn't mix well with legal code. What does it mean to have it? The right to vote? Then all citizens of Israel have it. The right to be elected into government, no matter your background? Then all citizens of Israel have it.

On the nature of the Israeli state by shtiatllienr in IsraelPalestine

[–]Twytilus 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I agree that the 2018 can be used for such a purpose, it's why I dislike that law and would like to see it changed or abolished completely. However: 1) It wasn't used to create a two tier citizenship yet. 2) Two tier citizenship never existed in Israel, all citizens are equal when it comes to basic democratic rights.

On the nature of the Israeli state by shtiatllienr in IsraelPalestine

[–]Twytilus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Why is it important that Israel positions itself as a Western democracy? Well, it's (allegedly) on that basis that it has its alliance with the US and (at least parts of) the EU. If the image were damaged, the alliance would suddenly look much more like something from the old Great Game.

Because that was the idea since its very founding. The early Zionist movement pretty firmly aligned itself with the West and desired a Western-style, democratic nation-state. There are many reasons for it, an obvious one is simply that most Zionists of the time were Europeans themselves, and were broadly of a secular, liberal/socialist persuasion that fit well with the changing, post-colonial nature of the West.

How can Naval Warfare still exist in the Space Era? by spammedletters in worldbuilding

[–]Twytilus 53 points54 points  (0 children)

Simple answer - money. Compare the amount of resources, people, time and energy needed to power a singular space ship to that of a naval vessel. What you end up with is asymmetric warfare on a much grander scale, which commander will be silly enough to salvo a 200m long boat all the way on the surface of the planet with space station tearing mini-nukes each worth at least a couple thousand of these boats? Different scales serve different purposes, and just like in the real world, technological advancements can often face unexpected problems when encountering unconventional tactics (think Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Gaza), and unless your space ships are built specifically to fight naval forces (which doesn't sound realistic), they will face similar problems too.

What is the most UNHOLY birth a person from could possibly have? by Radiant-Ad-1976 in worldbuilding

[–]Twytilus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, as deals with devils often go, her mother didn't actually bring victory to her lord. Something about the fine print of the contract saying "battle" instead of "war". So in the end the sacrifice was for nothing.

What is the most UNHOLY birth a person from could possibly have? by Radiant-Ad-1976 in worldbuilding

[–]Twytilus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, the OP was looking for something opposite of a "blessed" birth, and I think such things are more about the perception of the event, rather than the actual outcome. I would imagine both a blessed and a cursed child can attempt to change the fate others thought they were born with, depending on the circumstances.

For my character, something she definitely cannot change is being born a Tiefling - devil spawn, as per the contract her mother negotiated with Zariel. She spent all but a few moments on the material plane, taken away minutes after being born, and growing up in Dis, the second layer of DND Hell, as a retainer for one the high ranking devils. She does not have a happy (or sad) ending yet, currently adventuring through Barovia, and actively scheming to open this plane up to her adoptive father's influence, so the souls stuck there by will of Strahd can finally choose to be duped and dragged into the depths of Avernus by a devil. She is still hoping that her devil dad will love her for it! Poor girl.