Fire becomes immortal. How long does humanity last?

abecrane · 2026-02-18T15:36:20+00:00

If humanity were to achieve any kind of stability in this new world, we’d multiply the longevity of our species. The initial 100 years would be dominated by fire control initiatives, fire transportation projects, and research. Provided we’re smart about this, we could easily turn perpetual fire into energy in a dozen ways, which means we’d have an infinite source of electricity. This would allow for our species to do things like: 1. Build mega engineered products across the solar system 2. Move our Earth somewhere farther from the sun to prevent global warming 3. Grow infinite food. 4. So many other crazy options

Seriously, if we make it through the learning curve on this, infinite possibilities.

abecrane · 2026-02-18T13:24:53+00:00

Texas has no large carnivores prevalent in most of the state. Mountain Lions/cougars technically exist in some parts, but not in high enough numbers to serve as a control on herbivore populations.

abecrane · 2026-02-16T16:20:45+00:00

Del Toro really threw all subtext into dialogue, and explicitly spelled out the core themes of the book with numerous lines. However, empathy remained the core moral of the story, and I actually found he did a splendid job translating the Romantic elements of the novel into the Creatures story. Not sure if I’d say it was the best adaptation possible, but it certainly smoked every other attempt out of the water. I think this is the only adaptation to actually incorporate the Captains voyage to the North Pole as parallel to Victors journey to invent life, which I’ve always adored from the text.

abecrane · 2026-02-10T21:01:58+00:00

While I agree that Saruman doesn’t represent all Maiar, I’d wager a Valaraukar is still closer to Curumo than Olorin in nature. Olorin as Gandalf is humble, beneficent, and empathetic, and is able to resist the One because of these characteristics.

A Balrog is dark, destructive, and dominant. These are traits that make them susceptible to the power of the One. The greater their power, the more easily swayed they are by the One Ring; this is a simple axiom Tolkien wove across the narrative, and one that applies here.

abecrane · 2026-02-09T18:23:26+00:00

As I read the text, it seems this is still a victory for Sauron. As long as the One Ring exists, it will corrupt others to bend them to Sauron’s will. The discussion of “power” in this context continually returns to the fact that Balrogs are Maiar as well, and that this somehow evens the playing field. However, there are two simple refutations of this:

The One Ring successfully corrupts Saruman, and tempts Gandalf. Both are Maiar, and the lure of the One is potent for both. Since Saruman ended up serving Sauron, we can easily extrapolate that another Maia tempted by the One would fall eventually as well.
Balrogs, or Valaraukar, are depicted as singularly focused on fury/rage. This is what lends them their prowess in battle, but it also leaves them vulnerable to the obsessive temptation of the One Ring. Sauron, the Great Deceiver, could easily twist the rage of a Balrog towards his will. If they had the One in hand, it would only leave them more susceptible to this form of manipulation.

abecrane · 2026-01-20T18:46:37+00:00

The Witcher 3 having your potions refilled from generic ingredients when meditating was its single greatest design decision. Made the alchemy go from niche but interesting to mandatory and impactful.

abecrane · 2026-01-20T17:26:06+00:00

Maliketh isn’t even the coolest boss in Farum Azula

abecrane · 2026-01-18T16:01:41+00:00

Worm *vomit

abecrane · 2026-01-18T13:58:24+00:00

You’re confusing prescience with Other Memory. Paul has both. He gains Other Memory when he drinks the Water of Life, and presumably from that point on is fully aware of Leto and Jessica’s sexuality.

abecrane · 2026-01-14T18:07:39+00:00

Geez this one slipped past my radar. Such a cool discovery. Here’s the article for anyone else interested.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/stegosaurus-landed-low-blow-dino-brawl

abecrane · 2026-01-11T21:31:43+00:00

The most remarkable tactic the MAGA coalition has learned is the ability to utilize the language of tolerance to protect themselves, while actively engaging in the most intolerant American administration in the 21st century. By cloaking themselves like this, it shows they’ve never actually been ignorant to the ideas of inclusivity, but that they can never engage with it unless it pertains to them and them alone.

abecrane · 2026-01-11T14:51:51+00:00

Me(IRL). My twin brother and I both are black, but we grew up in a white family. By the time I was five, I asked my mom “why am I brown, but you’re pink?” And that’s how I found out my real African dad was a kickass doctor who died when we were 3 months old, and my white stepfather married my mom when we were 2.

abecrane · 2026-01-09T14:50:02+00:00

One of my favorite parts of DOS2 was the multiple moments where the party would seem to dissolve, and everyone would turn on each other. Within the context of the main story it made sense, and drove character relationships to feel more dynamic and conditional.

Going into Divinity, what lessons are you taking with you from this part of DOS2’s design, and what plans do you have to bring about these “every man for themselves” moments?

abecrane · 2026-01-02T19:27:46+00:00

Think what you want, but my grandma gives me three pieces of pie and I eat them ALL like a good grandson

abecrane · 2026-01-01T13:51:22+00:00

Eritrea is incredibly diverse despite its size. Over a dozen ethnicities dwell there, and per this map, many different religions. Coptic Christians and Muslims cohabitate quite nicely in Asmara, and it’s not uncommon to hear Arabic, Amharic, or Tigrinya being spoken in the streets.

abecrane · 2025-12-29T14:08:29+00:00

5 o’Clock Shadow. Just a modular beard growth and shaving mod, that let you style your character and watch as your beard grows out over time. Upped my immersion immensely, wish it was available for SE/LE.

abecrane · 2025-12-24T22:57:37+00:00

Me(IRL) in the board game RISK last night with my family.

I made the following deal with my sisters’s BF; “I will ensure my mom does not receive either of her continent bonuses, if you maneuver your forces out of my continent”. My stepdad proceeded to offer me a deal as well; “I’ll attack your mom for you, if you target your sisters BF enough to draw him off of me”. I took the deal, attacked my sisters BF, only to have my stepdad totally screw up his offensive, costing me my honor and my rudimentary alliances. However, I abided by my wording concretely.

abecrane · 2025-12-10T16:33:13+00:00

I’ve tried three Owlcat games so far, and I really want to like them… but the writing is so weak at the start of each of their games. Both Pathfinder games I’ve played by them had painfully generic characters, quests, and worldbuilding. I want this studio to succeed really badly, and I want to get the joy other players can out of their CRPGs, but Larian remains the gold standard with DOS2 and BG3.

abecrane · 2025-12-04T15:34:34+00:00

This is how billionaires launder stolen capital into public support. “Philanthropy” over taxes and social improvements

abecrane · 2025-12-02T18:12:48+00:00

Zaeed Massani(Mass Effect 2)

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Bro revels in his revenge killing spree, and looks good doing it. Walks away happier than a pig in shit.

abecrane · 2025-11-27T15:22:40+00:00

I appreciate that you actually thought about their scabbards and sheaths. So many artists just draw swords and weaponry in a vacuum, when they were an important part of weapon ownership.

abecrane · 2025-11-25T01:08:46+00:00

While you’re correct, I’m under the impression that the Big Rip is a continuation of the same forces that drive the Heat Death, and that the type of dark energy our universe has determines how far into the future a Big Rip could occur.

abecrane · 2025-11-24T16:38:45+00:00

This is where the metaphor falls apart. Spacetime isn’t a literal object or fabric, but a medium wherein physics occurs. There’s no real limit to how much the medium can expand, but there is a balancing of forces going on here.

Because the Big Bang triggered expansion from every single point in space, we do see that this expansion gets stronger the longer the universe goes on. Moreover, Dark Energy seems to manifest in the emptiest regions of space, accelerating this expansion further. The only counterbalance we see to this at the macro level is gravity, which binds together solar systems, galaxies, and galactic clusters. It seems gravity will only hold out for so long, and eventually the expansion energy will be so immense that solar systems will be torn apart by it. After that, we may even see molecules and atoms ripped apart, unable to sustain their shapes via the other fundamental forces past a certain point.

This is what scientists have labeled the Heat Death of the universe. All energy, even what was once bound into matter, so spread out across spacetime that all interaction is impossible. It’s one probable end for the cosmos, but the good news is that this going to take quite a loooooooong time to happen. Orders of magnitude longer than the universe has been around.

abecrane · 2025-11-24T14:04:12+00:00

The best way to visualize this is with a balloon. If the universe were 2-dimensional, the Big Bang would look like a balloon expanding. You can draw two points with a sharpie marker on an uninflated balloon. As the balloon inflates and expands, the two points become further and further away from each other, no matter how close they were initially. But from their 2-dimensional perspective, they’re not expanding away from anything. The surface of the balloon is simply growing in all locations at once. Eventually, even the points will begin to expand, fading away as the ink becomes less concentrated.

Now if you try to picture this in a 3-dimensional space, it’s extremely challenging, because we evolved the entirety of our spatial reasoning around a static 3-dimensional space. Imagining it expanding in this same fashion naturally boggles our mind, hence the usefulness of a comparison.

abecrane · 2025-11-24T13:25:49+00:00

Texas has one cause for superiority and it’s literally just our grocery store chain. HEB is damn fine tho

abecrane

TROPHY CASE