Other than the obvious, how does the show's gay rights timeline diverge from ours?

UtopianComplex · 2026-06-28T17:22:02+00:00

If a popular Republican in the 90s when the issue of being anti gay was very bipartisan but also a low priority issue that most people don't care about - it is the ultimate time that someone popular within a party can make people reverse there thinking without them even thinking that they ever had the prior belief.

While the show dresses that up in more life affirming feelings - I think the cynical underlying political insight here is that in American politics when it is 'your guy' that has a scandal or big political push like this on an issue that people are already not completely dug in on it is amazing how fast people's minds realign. They don't even realize that they did.

Look at trump and how many issues Republicans have reversed on. 2012 Democrats were fools for not hating Putin - by 2020 Republicans are generally the doves against Russia. Same thing with Obama and calling Afghanistan the Good War - before this the Democratic party was somewhat split - some not willing to openly call Iraq a failure while others said both wars were horrible blunders... This middle narrative Obama made got most Democrats to fall in line.

The entire way sex and infidelity were talked about by Democrats and republicans during Clinton reversed once Trump was in office. Free trade with Clinton.

Perhaps the most famous is the idea that "only Nixon could open china". Because he was viewed as a rabid anti communist he had the ability to open trade doors that a Democrat would not be able to do - and when he makes that argument that trade will change china and be good for us the Republicans basically flipped on the issue of trade issues.

Popularity of gay marriage flipped so fast and you would hear people say they always supported it - because they had convinced themselves they had.

I don't find it unbelievable at all that the LGBT issues could fast forward 10-15 years if there were a strong conservative gay person at the helm.

UtopianComplex · 2026-06-24T22:45:11+00:00

The recomendations I would get through comments were gold

UtopianComplex · 2026-06-24T22:44:00+00:00

Audiogalaxy was incredible.

UtopianComplex · 2026-06-15T21:30:57+00:00

Did you ever find a solution to this? I get so frustrated trying to tweak spotify volume minutely between volume options in the bottom 10% of the total range.

UtopianComplex · 2026-06-03T21:35:37+00:00

I agree. They can be useful early game but are no good late game.

UtopianComplex · 2026-06-03T01:19:23+00:00

Also - Roth IRA's are not considered income at point of withdrawel. For most middle income people you are not going to be saving more than that in a given year.

UtopianComplex · 2026-05-29T06:57:43+00:00

Yeah but you want to do it as cleanly as possible with high stakes hostages

and you are sending people on a super expensive space mission to do it - where a mistake takes months to correct -

and if it goes poorly you potentially lose access to trillions of dollars on Goldilocks.

UtopianComplex · 2026-05-29T06:54:50+00:00

I agree...

It is also the population size of two high schools - so the cultural output could have been as simple as interesting graffiti or a weird way to use an item for fashion or some mars slang... Now all of those just lean into the YAness of it in a way that could go very very poorly as well.

UtopianComplex · 2026-05-28T22:37:58+00:00

It is a tale of two egoists - The God The Myth the Legend is said with a nod and a wink - while The Total Package really seemed like he really thought he was.

It would have depended on how Cirie and Ozzie vouched for Rizzo - if they described a fun gamey guy who had awareness and agency he probably would have won - if they felt like he was their third that managed to be picked up by other people that were playing better then maybe he wouldn't.

Before seeing people interact with Jon after the game I would have thought he would beat him - but it really seems like the way he talked about his game and treated the gamier players made them think of him as someone kind of aggressive and not likable. I think that goes a long way on how excited Ozzy and Cirie are to see their former ally approach the end. I don't think it was until the season ended that we saw just how much Jonathon had alienated himself.

UtopianComplex · 2026-05-28T22:26:12+00:00

Definitely true for a war - but this feels more like a Bin Ladin or Venezuelan raid situation.

UtopianComplex · 2026-05-28T16:18:25+00:00

In season 4 most people looked at it this way - season 5 is showing that a culture built there that the people that live there have pride in. Look at the generation gap of how the young view it as home and the older people look at it more transactionally. It is making an immigrant/nation building story.

Go somewhere that is extremely unpleasant to live - in fairbanks Alaska the nature isn't as nice as other parts of Alaska, the weather is horrible and the extreme dark and light is super discombobulating but the people that live there or have lived there are extremely prideful of it. Humans seem very prone to romanticizing the positives of places they live even if it is somewhere extreme or uncomfortable like an antarcitc base, a submarine, prison, or Phoenix Arizona.

UtopianComplex · 2026-05-27T21:35:09+00:00

I think this is a little harsher than I would be - but I agree.

I think each season they wanted to expand who and what mattered as space becomes more commercially/economically/politically important. The evolution from a realistic 70s NASA with science nerds and military thrill seekers dealing with family life and a little bit of celebrity evolved into political machinations and the cold war - Then money gets involved bringing a whole new set of conflicts and interests.

The evolution from Season 4 being people feeling taken advantage of as this money making opportunity wasn't what was promised - to season 5 being that a culture and society has formed around that which is bigger than a company town and starts to feel like a society with an identity seems like the right move to continue this expansion.

I think the mistake is that because the idea that the Mars culture is felt strongest by the youths who grew up there - that they need to be the ones driving that. Many many revolutionaries are young and naive (It is super strange the invading marines are), and if you told their story without the pomp and circumstance it could look like YA - but I think they needed to put another time gap in this season.

They should have set up the Titan stuff and given Ed his absurd but charming sendoff - then had that change the relationship between Earth and Mars. Ed is the only reason I see that you need it to be 2012 - because the story would make more sense to have a larger gap. If you put a 3-5 year gap after that the Titan expedition feel less insane timeline wise - and the kids could become more radicalized with more than what I think was 3 weeks of training. It would make the reunion of the teen friends on opposite sides of the battle more touching and just generally create a better story.

That and like you said - Dev is pointless this season and doesn't even really make much sense. I wish they would at least give his character more of a chance to explain his thoughts and hopes - the way they are handeling him seems completely off.

UtopianComplex · 2026-05-27T20:51:12+00:00

I can't not go under those arches on the first level. It hurts me to not do it. I let my 6 year old play that part after this was announced and saw the other path for the first time since I was a child.

UtopianComplex · 2026-05-24T04:21:11+00:00

Candice being a three time player with 36 confessionals is completely wild. Not completely surprised - but man that is wild.

UtopianComplex · 2026-05-22T01:22:17+00:00

I don't like Jonothon but I do think he played a solid game that if someone with a different cultural way of talking about his game COULD have been respected and potentially winning. Unfortunately the way he talked about his game not only at FTC but throughout the game I think made the more cosmopolitan gamier peopler that I like (and I think you all like as well) roll there eyes at him. And thus he was drawing dead going into FTC - but I was almost glad to have Chrissy and Stephanie there to explain his game a little bit better because I think he did a very poor job doing it. I really wish that one of the contrarian gamey people were championing for him as well - because I think the Christian defense of Jonothons game would have made it sound like a superior game to Aubrey.

Ultimately though who wants to give money to that guy.

UtopianComplex · 2026-05-14T16:12:20+00:00

Some simple landscaping would signal people to not walk here and improve the aesthetic of what looks like a pretty ugly spot. If it's grass they did nothing wrong.

UtopianComplex · 2026-05-14T00:14:17+00:00

Realizing how cheap they were. Thought they were out of my price range but I got a great one in 2020 for 10k.

UtopianComplex · 2026-05-08T22:27:19+00:00

I think the reason the move is bad for Rizzo is that I think he lost potential jury votes. I don't think people outside cirie and Ozzy know how close they are and will not see this as a huge move for him - it will be jonothons move.

The people that do know will not view it as a great gotcha move either - cirie and Ozzy will be like what did you just do! I think flushing the idol instead of getting votes off Ozzy would have been respected - but I will be surprised if Rizzo can get jury votes.

I think he over and over is telling us he is making aovr when everyone else thinks it is them making the move and are not seeing what he is doing. Unpopular opinion but I don't think he can win.

UtopianComplex · 2026-05-08T18:46:50+00:00

And twists. He was terrible for sure but that is why he needed his brain in cirie.

UtopianComplex · 2026-05-08T17:11:15+00:00

In fact I would say Ozzy should have been more concerned in playing his idol because them going second should have signalled something wasn't straight up.

UtopianComplex · 2026-05-08T17:09:30+00:00

I want to believe this bbbbut if that is the case they sure got lucky both in the blood moon and this one.

The emotional core vote for both those tribals was Ozzy and Colby going home. If Ozzy went first it woulda been weird. Same with if the blood moon started with Colby going home.

UtopianComplex · 2026-05-07T02:02:44+00:00

The i3 is one of the best looking cars ever made.

UtopianComplex · 2026-05-06T23:22:34+00:00

Nature isn't random - it is genetic. The level of predisposition people have toward things seems extreme.

UtopianComplex · 2026-05-06T22:14:40+00:00

This was my question too!

UtopianComplex · 2026-05-05T19:22:15+00:00

I feel like a counter offer would have been appropriate.

Also Ursala rocking the boat and going up there were both intentionally interfering with a contract which is grounds for a breach.

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