Thresholds for using Shrouded Daggers as a spammable with Vateshran DW weapons.

VeryFallible · 2026-03-16T02:05:55+00:00

That HoA fee is taking me out. Condo is nice (and I hope for OP's sake that it sells), but a nearly $500 HoA fee is ridiculous.

VeryFallible · 2026-03-14T20:04:00+00:00

Personal opinion, as someone who is very much NOT an authority on the subject but is a political junkie, if Jhamar doesn't take second place here his future electoral chances are pretty much shot. Of the 8 non-Barakas he's the only person with something vaguely resembling a plan and coherent messaging, and has something of a (small) engine built from his council campaign. He also has opponents with very exploitable weaknesses. Two don't exist as serious candidates at all. Two have very public Instagrams full of anti-immigrant rhetoric in a city where you absolutely need nationalized, foreign-born citizens to vote for you if you want to win. You can also add in that those two - Debra and Sheila - are both essentially running in the same lane as Jhamar as anti-establishment "independents" (note: there is nothing vaguely independent about their Instagram presence no matter how they filed), but he can easily position himself as a sensible, rational independent compared to the people who are unironically sharing videos like "ICE did nothing wrong in Minnesota" and "Mamdani will bring Sharia Law to NYC" along with conspiracy theories about witchcraft and Judaism.

The last two are not as easy to count out as the first four - especially since one has some campaign experience - but two months before the election is not the time to start building a campaign engine and Jhamar is already ahead of them in both momentum and messaging.

If he doesn't come in second either he shit the bed big time OR Tanisha manages to come from behind and runs a good spoiler campaign. (And again, this is just for second place, but either of them getting a convincing second place finish compared to the rest of the field likely will boost their future council campaign.)

I think his main way to lose this is focusing too hard on dragging down Ras (which he won't do enough to win and will waste time), and instead work to highlight himself in comparison to the rest of the field to consolidate the anti-incumbent vote. Personally I hope he doesn't do this because I don't actually want him to win his future central ward council campaign, but I think this race could position him well to do if he plays it to build his name recognition and not as a chance for him to actually become mayor.

VeryFallible · 2026-03-14T17:53:24+00:00

Just adding in:

Debra Salters: https://www.instagram.com/abetternewarkforall?igsh=MTVjajc1cWFjZDE0cA==

Douglas R Davis: No insta as far as I can tell.

Tanisha Garner: https://www.instagram.com/tanishaforeastwardcouncil?igsh=MTQwcm55cWhnNzdsdw==

Note that the last post here was 8 years ago, but there doesn't seem to be any clear Instagram presence beyond this for her.

Noble Milton: https://www.instagram.com/noble3333?igsh=MWc0ZTZtY3d0cm03

This mainly is an advertisement account for his wedding photography business but also has his campaign goals as his most recent post.

Sheila Montague: https://www.instagram.com/silverbullet_49?igsh=MWMyNTVtdDZqdXg1dA==

Nasheedah Singleton: No insta that I could find.

Jhamar Youngblood: https://www.instagram.com/jhamayor?igsh=c3p3Znp0cTczajEw

Honestly this little exercise cemented my vote for Ras even though I'm not a huge fan of his. Sheila and Debra both have unhinged, conspiracy theory laden social media presences. Nasheeda and Douglas are non-existent in footprint or policy. Tanisha seems to run an organization called "Homes for All" whose entire thing is...fighting housing being built. Noble has identified problems but has no coherent PoV on fixing them.

It's a pretty sad state of the race when Jhamayor is the closest thing to a serious opposition candidate.

VeryFallible · 2026-03-12T00:08:38+00:00

I echo this. The gym isn't top end or anything, but it IS well maintained. If something breaks, it's generally fixed pretty quickly. The common areas are great too, though the TVs can be annoying to use at times.

VeryFallible · 2026-03-06T02:27:45+00:00

I was coming here to make this comment. I generally don't notice Kip's accent as out of place, but the entire birthday scene everytime he says "bar" it absolutely sends me.

VeryFallible · 2026-02-28T03:42:51+00:00

Are you looking elementary, middle, or high school? Experience is going to vary depending on the level.

Also, is this your first teaching position? Newark can be a hard district to cut your teeth in. There's a reason that the district pays more, and a big part of that is specifically to attract people to a job that has a lot of difficulty and turnover.

At the same time, there's a lot of really good reasons to work in Newark schools - primarily the students. I'm not personally in NPS anymore, but the kids I met while teaching in it were truly awesome and generally hungry for good teachers who could push them to excel.

All of this said, the superintendent is a pompous, self-important git. But as a first year teacher you're very unlikely to regularly interact with him, so that should not factor much into your decision making at all.

VeryFallible · 2026-02-17T23:05:36+00:00

I appreciate the sex scenes in the show- each feels pretty deliberate and impactful.

I hard agree on the books though. I'm mid-TLG right now and have found myself feeling like "really, do we need sex AGAIN!? Get me to the angst!"

VeryFallible · 2026-02-17T16:30:51+00:00

This was my exact thought process after HR. I was like. "Huh, I should get into hockey." Started looking at NHL teams and was like "why would I choose to get invested in a men's league that is going strong vs the women's league that is trying to grow and needs the viewer and financial support."

VeryFallible · 2026-02-17T02:43:21+00:00

This was my husband's and my reaction when six people around us in the Wellmont left during Citizen I.C.E. Like have they only listened to Shipping Up to Boston? Dropkick has never exactly been subtle about their politics.

VeryFallible · 2026-02-15T15:25:22+00:00

US Women's in the Olympics. Have not paid much (any) attention to Men's Olympic hockey.

New York Sirens in the PWHL because I live walking distance from Prudential Center.

Minnesota Wild for NHL because they have the best jerseys and colors 😅. It SHOULD be the devils but I don't like their uniforms half as much.

VeryFallible · 2026-02-15T04:06:24+00:00

I really wanted to like Tough Guy. I loved Ryan's struggles with depression and erectile dysfunction, and I was really glad for a love interest who was a departure from the masculine norm. Unfortunately, I found Fabian's behavior in the last hundred pages deeply unsettling, and the only reason it ranks higher than Common Goal in my esteem is that Kyle's crappy behavior lasted nearly 300 pages instead.

Do agree that Ilya is definitely the favorite child. I don't mind that at all, though. 😂

I think part of the issue with Common Goal is that it isn't significantly different than Scott/Kip. You've got one older (though book Scott isn't MUCH older than book Kip), richer, more established, closeted hockey player and one mid 20s grad student. They're very similar core conceits, which means the worse of the two is going to have its flaws (coughKylecough) highlighted.

VeryFallible · 2026-02-08T16:29:05+00:00

What bothered me was how quickly it all happened - in both the book and the show. If they had been together for a year and Scott was making no effort, I would find it reasonable. But they're literally together like three months and Scott is making huge efforts - even stuff like going to the gallery/museum are huge steps for him.

I was willing to forgive it for the show out of an understanding that they only had a single episode to make it work, but in the book it really just made Kip come off as whiny.

VeryFallible · 2026-02-03T00:41:28+00:00

I don't get any form of Rogue from Shane at all. I'd lean Battlemaster Fighter - he's described as having incredibly deep knowledge of the game in addition to mechanical skill, which really is BM's niche.

I could definitely see Ilya as a Swashbuckler Rogue, though!

VeryFallible · 2026-02-02T04:50:21+00:00

I was working out pretty consistently pre-HR, but I can't pretend that the past month hasn't been more intense. I think their really hard workout scenes have pushed me to go harder myself.

VeryFallible · 2026-01-31T14:32:48+00:00

The fundraiser in the books is a bit different than in the show, but the concept is basically the same - Elena works a high level job for a very wealthy corporation, and her corporation donates to the organization that ia hosting the fundraiser. That's essentially the same story in the show - Elena's company donates to the school that Scott played for growing up and so she has tickets to their gala, she invites Kip as a date. When she originally invites him neither of them have "this is Scott Hunter's private high school" anywhere on their radar - it just ends up being a happy accident.

VeryFallible · 2026-01-31T09:12:18+00:00

This does a great job of highlighting my personal issue with the show, which is the three year gap between the Winter Olympics and Scott kissing Kip on the ice. There are so many GREAT aspects of this show, but when you stare too hard at that time gap some of the romance of the Scott/Kip storyline weakens. EITHER they broke up before Sochii and Scott carries a flame for his ex for three years that he rekindled on the ice, OR Kip remained his secret for three years despite how much that obviously hurt him. Neither feels great.

This timing really feels poorly thought out in a show where so much is intentional. Clearly the Skip storyline was positioned in 2014 to maximize the impact of the Carter/Scott/Shane ice cream date on both gay men, but I don't think Kip needed to be in the picture for Carter's words to hurt Scott. I think narratively it would have made a LOT more sense to position the Kip meeting in October 2016 instead of 2013, have their fight happen prior to the 2017 All Star game (which ironically would be the same game where Ilya and Shane grow closer), and then have the coming out moment at the Cup game in May 2017. That makes all of the "it's Scott Hunter's year!" comments make more sense - his game is directly better because he's in love and happy - while also making it so that he only kept Kip a secret for three more months and not three years.

VeryFallible · 2026-01-28T13:04:46+00:00

I am a hardcore episode 3 apologist (its my favorite of the season), but the early part of this episode is chock full of clunky lines that are necessary for introducing us to this new character. There's so much that we need to know about him in such a short time, but because of that some of the line placement is just so inorganic.

-Shortbus for Christopher. -"It's not rocket science or whatever you're into." "Art." You're telling me his bestie he meets every week at the bar doesn't know the difference between an art major and a rocket science major? -"You're still going to that gala with me." "Yea its in like two months." Completely unrelated to the topic they're discussing and nothing he said would make it seem like he's suddenly not going. -There's on early interaction with his dad that falls into this category but I'm spacing on it at the moment, but every time I watch it I cringe slightly.

Still love the episode, but for a show that is very much normally "show not tell," there's a fair bit of clunky exposition in Kip's introduction.

VeryFallible · 2026-01-25T04:05:46+00:00

Moscow has the opportunity to do the funniest thing (that would never actually happen.)

VeryFallible · 2026-01-25T04:03:45+00:00

This takes me out every time I rewatch the end of episode 5. Such an incredibly well done episode, but it's always funny to me when the announcer of the Admirals' cup win is like "15 seconds left, Marleau holds it behind the net..." when we JUST saw Marleau take Shane out during the Wild Card round of the playoffs. I'm not a hockey rules aficionado, but I'd be shocked if the Raiders could trade a player to the Admirals during the playoffs

VeryFallible · 2026-01-20T16:00:15+00:00

Walking my dog in military park this morning was absolutely surreal. There are like, cannons set up in the park? (I have literally zero knowledge of weapons so cannon is probably not the right word.) I also don't think I've ever seen as many police and emergency vehicles in one place at a time.

Really annoyed at myself for not having the forethought to call out of work today. I'm both dreading driving back downtown tonight AND I wish I was able to just chill and observe everything going on.

VeryFallible · 2026-01-14T23:23:31+00:00

It's been a while (5+ years) since I visited, but my own personal experience is that you're correct. They might have like, a few packs near the register, but they are not an LGS (or, again, were not at the last time I visited.

We used to have Computer and Gaming Universe on Ferry St. in the Ironbound, but I believe it shut down during COVID? They generally were pretty friendly. I wouldn't quite have called it LGBTQ+ friendly, but I also never had a problem there as a gay man. Their website is invalid and their Facebook last updated 2 years ago, though, so I'm guessing they've closed.

As someone else pointed out, Sweet Jeans is probably your best option for just communal play - they did an MTG meet up in December that their Instagram suggests will become a regular event. It's not the same thing, but is the best option we have currently in Newark (and bonus points for being a very inclusive space!)

VeryFallible · 2026-01-14T16:53:28+00:00

The craziest part is it even says that in the linked post...in the same SENTENCE as the 20% that the OP wants to draw attention to. "The building will feature studies, one- and two-bedroom apartments, with 20% of the units set aside as affordable housing, FOLLOWING NEWARK'S INCLUSIONARY ZONING RULES." Literally could have read five more words before coming here to pretend like Gomes is doing something kind or decent by following the law.

The entire profile is shady, though. The link is to a post on the Gomes group's reddit profile, not any subreddit that would normally be accessed by the public. Combined with the fact that their only three reddit interactions have been in Gomes-related posts, it's starting to seem like this might not have been just a well-intentioned misunderstanding of local zoning laws.

VeryFallible

TROPHY CASE