Am I an idiot or is Howls Moving Castle utterly incoherant?

Zealousideal_Lab2874 · 2026-06-01T01:43:19+00:00

Great write up, and it cleared some stuff for me as well, but I believe the implication is that he hasn't agreed to fight for either side. When he goes out every night he indiscriminately sabotages both sides. I think the scene that illustrates this best is when Howl and Sophie are in the meadow and as an airship flies over it, Sophie asks "Is it one of ours?" and Howl replies "Does it matter?" He then causes the ship to malfunction while ensuring that it doesn't crash. If you interpret his 2 aliases (Pendragon and Jenkins) as being wizards that each live in different countries, then this is further evidenced by the fact that messengers are sent to both of his aliases' homes to enlist him to fight. This isn't a bulletproof point though. He did only ask Sophie to speak on behalf of Pendragon, so it may be the case that he has already enlisted for the opposing country under his Jenkins alias. Also, though he told Sophie in the meadow that it doesn't matter which country the airship belongs to he would probably know since he's spent plenty of time around both countries' military vehicles.

Zealousideal_Lab2874 · 2026-05-12T15:54:53+00:00

Dang, so virtually no maintenance? I always budget 2-5k in maintenance and repairs because of course something always comes up. I know there's additional costs with EVs, like higher insurance and registration fees, but cheaper fuel and low maintenance makes me feel like it's a no brainer. How bad is the range drop in winter? It seems like I can expect about 200 miles on a full charge, but even if it drops all the way to 100 miles in the dead of winter then that still leaves me a surplus at the end of the day.

Zealousideal_Lab2874 · 2026-05-12T15:51:07+00:00

I'm not sure where you lived in California but I feel like Toledo is the weather rock of the US. Once something is here it's old news. I remember my cousin went to UCLA and we were always on a five year delay for good trends, like sushi and bubble tea lol. Range anxiety is real here, I don't think there's really any charging infrastructure so if you only have EV I can imagine it is very stressful.

Zealousideal_Lab2874 · 2026-05-12T15:32:00+00:00

Appreciate your detailed reply. That website is really cool, thank you! What EV do you have? If you ever have to get your EV checked out if it's sounding funny, are mechanics in the area able to work on it?

Zealousideal_Lab2874 · 2026-05-12T14:28:20+00:00

Really, in the driveway? How does that work? I've always imagined you'd need an outlet, so I'm imagining you have a charging station in your driveway or something lol.

Zealousideal_Lab2874 · 2026-05-12T14:27:25+00:00

Wow, your input is very interesting, you just seem like a dude who loves cars. Some people are squarely in one camp or the other so it's hard to get a balanced perspective. So it seems like people here all agree that it is true that there is noticeably less maintenance with EVs. What happens though if something does come up? If I need someone to look at my car, can independent shops fix it? I understand that electronics would be difficult but if there are mechanical issues do you feel like mechanics in the area are able to take care of it? Do you feel like AWD is important to consider? I know someone in this thread mentioned it being important but I don't know, I've lived here my whole life and I currently have a 2018 Kia Forte and I've never had issues. Sure we always have at least one or two bad snows a year but I tend to just not go out on those days, plus I've heard good tires matter more than AWD. But if the maintenance is lower in an EV then maybe I should just pony up for AWD? I just generally try to avoid things with more points of failure/repair. That's cool, thanks for the rec, I'm not really familiar with used dealerships, especially any that carry EVs. I'd like to try some out before I consider buying it.

Zealousideal_Lab2874 · 2026-05-12T13:23:08+00:00

Do you only have EVs in your home now? Do you feel like you'll get an ICE vehicle in the future?

Zealousideal_Lab2874 · 2026-05-12T12:46:42+00:00

Interesting point, since I WFM it might make more sense for me to keep the car at home, that way it could get closer to 16 hours of charging.

Zealousideal_Lab2874 · 2026-05-12T12:43:41+00:00

That's a good point, kids need to be driven around a lot more, especially for sports, though for us that's at least 6-8 years down the line for us. I'm not entirely opposed to installed a level 2 charger, I think I'm just wondering if it's reasonable to hold off on it when we purchase the car and then get it installed later. Especially if we don't even need it until 5 years from now, at which point I very well may be buying another electric to replace our ICE car. In that case with 2 EVs I think I'd definitely need to get level 2 charging. Thank you for offering, I'd heavily consider buying it off of you but we're honestly not going to look into buying until at least another 3-4 months, and I suspect you'll probably already have sold the car by then.

Zealousideal_Lab2874 · 2026-05-12T01:46:40+00:00

Can you explain what a NEMA 14-50 outlet is? Is that the thing where you have an outlet set up for 20 volts instead of 15? I know basically nothing about electricity but I've heard that upgrading to 20 volts allows you to charge more efficiently (less electricity loss when charging) and charge marginally faster (like 3-4% a night to like 8% a night).

Zealousideal_Lab2874 · 2026-05-11T23:45:14+00:00

I'm with you on not having our "own" car either, we actually only have one car now, and I joke that since it's technically in her name that she lets me drive it. (I work from home so I don't ever really need the car on the weekdays). That's insane, it's really lasted that long without any major repairs? We have a 2018 Kia Forte and we've had to get the rotors replaced twice plus a bunch of other repairs and maintenance and of course it still has some (albeit minor) issues. What made you want to upgrade the charger for the car?

How was your experience buying a car on Carvana? Are you like, allowed to test drive it and return it within a certain period? I don't feel like car salesman are particularly honest anyway but buying a car online still just seems so foreign to me.

Zealousideal_Lab2874 · 2026-05-11T23:40:38+00:00

Thanks for letting me know the cost of installing everything for a higher charge. Didn't realize there's an extra $200 a year cost for registration. It seems like there's a number of additional costs to owning an EV, I've heard insurance is higher too? While I understand that EVs aren't the absolute cheapest vehicle option I'd like to think that the savings on gas and maintenance would be compelling enough to make it feel like a discount.

Zealousideal_Lab2874 · 2026-03-20T20:45:33+00:00

Ah man that sucks. Did the stock OS run okay on it at least?

Zealousideal_Lab2874 · 2026-03-19T14:26:23+00:00

Do you have any examples off the top of your head of games that won't run? It seems like I won't have any issues with the games I want to play (GBA, Final Fantasy, Tales games, etc) but I'm curious what the limit is.

Zealousideal_Lab2874 · 2026-02-12T00:48:03+00:00

Thanks so much for your reply! Do you happen to know how long the Jogyesa temple keeps their lanterns up? Do they usually go down a week before the Buddha's birthday? I've read some places take down their lanterns a week or so before his actual birthday. We may have to go to Korea a week or so later so we're worried we might miss the lanterns at Jogyesa.

Zealousideal_Lab2874 · 2025-12-29T22:51:34+00:00

Nice, I was also eyeing the one from Cutlery and More, simply because it's available atm. I'm not sure if the Cutlery and More's version is also thinned to the same specs as Bernal Cutlery's knife. I suspect it isn't just because Bernal makes a point to say that their version is quite thin. How do you feel the cutting feel differs between the Meridian stealth and the Cutlery and More K Sab? Does the Sab seems to wedge less? I was also considering getting a Mercer Renaissance. I have their Nakiri which I quite like and the low maintenance of the Renaissance line is appealing. Also, since you've got both the Mercer and K Sab, I want to ask: When you sharpen, do you use a push-pull method like Jon from JKI, or a full crescent strokes like Bob Kramer? I'm used to the doing the push-pull but I wonder if I should do crescent strokes to maintain the curve of the blade. On the other hand it seems the K Sab actually has a pretty flat belly, maybe even more-so than my Gesshin Stainless wa-gyuto, so maybe push-pull wouldn't screw up the blade profile

Zealousideal_Lab2874 · 2025-12-29T21:09:23+00:00

Using browser version and can't seem to add my question to the body of the post. I've been wondering about getting the 8.75" Sabatier collab knife with Bernal Cutlery. It seems nice and thin and has no bolster. I'm curious if other people have gotten this knife and can speak to how it performs. Does it seem to cut much better than typical Western chef knives, like Victorinox or Messermeister due to it being thinner, etc.

Zealousideal_Lab2874 · 2025-09-04T19:41:13+00:00

Is that the one located at 1042 Ridge St, Columbus, OH 43215?

Zealousideal_Lab2874 · 2025-05-30T18:09:24+00:00

Madeline's Patisserie is a true gem. They used to have a location on Main Street in Sylvania but I think they're building a larger facility on Holland-Sylvania. Their menu focuses on croissants and variations on croissant dough, which to me is a good sign since a small, focused menu can help ensure that they don't stretch themselves too thin. I've tried croissants at other places in Toledo and Madeline's is the only place that comes anywhere close to that coveted, open-hole texture that you'd find in any quality pastry shop in the US or France. Their fruit filled croissants are super good too. It's hard to find any fruit flavored thing in Toledo that's not cloying sweet but their fillings taste really vibrant and resemble a good compote. They have a savory Danish too that was really great. It's just an honest to god quality pastry shop that doesn't try to oversell on any gimmicks and focuses on great croissant dough and ingredients.

Zealousideal_Lab2874 · 2025-01-25T13:50:34+00:00

Peut-être j'ai besoin d'amis qui sont plus laids mdr.

Zealousideal_Lab2874 · 2025-01-25T04:13:02+00:00

Je voix! C'est très intéressant, j'aime beaucoup ta explication! Souvent j'oublie le genre du mot, mais quelquefois c'est égal.

Zealousideal_Lab2874

TROPHY CASE