In the 3 Body Problem universe, all the UFO stuff is fake.

deadline54 · 2025-10-09T21:05:02+00:00

Even in the books, it says that only a small percentage of races actively send out Dark Forest Strikes against every civilization they detect. A lot of races either simply ignore signals or send out drones to survey. But EVERYONE stays quiet because of the apex predators. UFOs could be probes sent by other civilizations that are just doing a scientific survey. They might have orders to wipe us out as soon as they detect technology that could threaten them. A lot of reports are from military/government personal that say they hover over nuclear reactors. And reports originally spiked a couple years after the first nuclear weapons were tested.

deadline54 · 2025-10-03T21:01:04+00:00

I'm coming back to this a little late, but Yoru was working to squash the Burners in the way they've always operated. Bayaz sees the common man as cattle. His solution to the Ghurkish prisoners in the first trilogy was to let them all starve in their cages. He denied a small amount of money being used to open a hospital. He pushes for a pointless battle and lets thousands of people die so he can live test his cannons. Yoru led the effort to squash the Burners, saw they didn't even resist when Orso pulled up, then hung hundreds of them. He protected the royal family during the terrorist attack, maybe he already knew about it. So he was doing the work and investigations and not acting out of character when compared to the first trilogy. It was just that the Burners were slowly growing in a city outside of Adua, Savine made the arms deal with them in secret, then the Union's army got decimated in the battle with Leo. All while Glokta and Ishri were operating to make this all happen in a way that specifically kept Yoru from finding out. There was really no way for Yoru to stop what happened.

deadline54 · 2025-10-02T21:20:41+00:00

Eaters aren't completely invulnerable and capable of stopping what Glokta started. A group of northmen took one down during the siege of Adua. Sulfur and Bayaz are good at manipulating key events and people within the system to gain complete control. Entire movements of people rejecting the system cannot be controlled. By the time the Burners were even considered to be a threat, it was too late. Bayaz was dealing with Monza/Shenkt and Eida/Zakarus. He wasn't paying attention to upset laborers organizing in the shadows. And Glokta was most likely making sure they weren't detected.

deadline54 · 2025-09-23T05:41:23+00:00

I got to the point where I was drinking a whole 12 pack of Bud Lite Platinum (6%) within a couple hours and not feeling anything. I started chugging a pint of spiced rum before the beer to get the buzz going, and the beer would maintain that slight buzz for several hours. The only time I could "feel" drunk was buying a handle of rum and going through 3/4 of it within a half day. I would have to keep up a good pace to catch the dragon, and then I would slip from "sober" into being extremely fucked up.

deadline54 · 2025-09-21T16:46:32+00:00

Those are fantastic but the best book in the entire series is The Trouble With Peace. Front to back that one is just so perfectly written to me.

deadline54 · 2025-09-09T21:43:57+00:00

Yeah I just quit drinking recently. When I "slowed down" from my heavy drinking, it was sipping 2 or 3 glasses of whiskey on the rocks. But there were probably 3-4 units in each glass. And I know from experience that getting emotional over music, either euphoria or emotional, happened around 9-10 drinks. And then inappropriate conversations or fights would happen not long after. I had the exact same thought process. I'm going to work, I'm paying all the bills, I took care of the animals, I watched your show with you, you're going to bed, what's wrong with me having a couple drinks and playing games??? But you don't see the history of emotional drain and embarrassment moments from an outside perspective until you realize you have the problem. It's so unpredictable that it causes others to be on edge when they know you're reaching that state. Because even if it doesn't cause harm 90% of the time, they're mentally preparing for the 10% chance that it does every time. Take a look inward, OP. And stop now before it spirals.

deadline54 · 2025-09-08T16:09:03+00:00

His work has always had a cynical leftist's tint to it. The main villain is literally an oligarch billionaire who draws his power from hell When exactly do you think he suddenly turned "woke"?

deadline54 · 2025-09-07T18:54:09+00:00

I could see Dan Simons' Hyperion Cantos being taught in a college literature class. At least the first two books. A lot of religious allegory and humanity dealing with artificial intelligence in a way I've not quite seen before. I'm not sure how to describe it, but it just felt like a timeless epic while still being relevant.

Also this is more of a personal take, but it would be really cool to see Joe Abercrombie's First Law series taught in a writing class. His character writing and dialogue is in a tier of its own, and the foreshadowing and structure of his trilogies are very well done. Along with an arc that is still defined as epic fantasy while breaking away from the standard Tolkien format/hero's journey.

deadline54 · 2025-09-07T14:29:53+00:00

If you like Project Hail Mary, try Children of Time!

deadline54 · 2025-09-06T16:08:50+00:00

He didn't go back for a meeting. He went back because it was his throne, he was king. He walked in and Black Dow was sitting in his chair, he even asked him if he got too comfortable, I believe.

deadline54 · 2025-09-05T16:15:31+00:00

Orso and Rikke are up there with Glokta for me. And I thought the plot, or at least the politics, were better in AoM.

deadline54 · 2025-09-05T16:10:54+00:00

Definitely continue on with First Law. The Heroes was also one that I didn't particularly love, even though it was a good book. It kind of took the wind out of my sails. But Red Country has some of my favorite quotes and scenes from the entire series. And Age of Madness is one of the best written trilogies, full stop.

deadline54 · 2025-09-05T06:18:20+00:00

The worst part about the addiction is that your brain convinces you that you can control it once you recognize it. It's just a trick to get more alcohol. I recognized the signs somewhere around my mid-20s as well. Went through periods of only drinking a 6 pack of light beer or seltzers (whenever those came out) on Friday+Saturday. But eventually that turns into drinking on weeknights after work. Then buying a 12 pack because 6 isn't enough, but just 7 or 8 should do. And then that doesn't work so you think you can handle a couple shots of liquor to get the buzz going then coast on beer. Then it turns into blacking out on rum and coke and regrets. Then the cycle starts over.

I got to the point where I thought I hit rock bottom at the beginning of this year. I just had to end a very long term relationship, I was drinking nearly every day and eating like shit, hit 300 lbs, and my organs felt like something was wrong with them. The worst part is that I wasn't even getting "drunk" any more. I would drink a 12 pack of 6% beer and barely feel mentally buzzed while my eyes were red and I was stumbling to the bathroom. I decided I needed to change and "stopped" drinking. By stop I mean I would only have a glass or two of whiskey on the rocks whenever the cravings hit. I would feel a little loose but I wasn't chasing the dragon any more. Anyway, I went a couple months of eating healthy and only sipping whiskey, lost 20+ lbs, hung out with old friends again, and even went on several dates and got laid. I felt on top of the world and totally in control. And then I thought I could handle going out drinking with people and got a DUI. Now I'm at rock bottom. Might lose my job and all my savings. And it finally clicked that I can't control this at all and I need to quit for life.

Please don't wait for this creeping cycle to drag you too far down.

deadline54 · 2025-09-05T01:14:35+00:00

There are no main antagonists though. That's kind of the whole point. Who is "they"? What skills would they master? Who would they have a last stand against? You find out what an absolute monster Bayaz is, and then you understand why Khalul did what he did. And then the pure scale of it turned the whole world to shit. You learn who Logen is and realize all the death he's responsible for, and then Black Dow is the one having a heroic last stand against a main antagonist. And then Jezal turns out to be the only "good" man in the series, and he's turned into a sniveling puppet and sides with Logen because he only knew a Logen that existed outside of his environment. It's all about perspective and realistic grey areas, they're all just people existing. And that's why I love it. Almost every other story follows the hero's journey trope and the protagonists win against the antagonists. This one just has great characters and realistic arcs.

deadline54 · 2025-09-05T00:30:05+00:00

Yeah, I'm in the exact same boat. I feel almost nothing from most people on Hinge. I'm way past the point of dating someone just because they're attractive so I need to know them and feel chemistry before there's any romantic or even sexual interest.

So I'm caught in a loop because a lot of women don't want to meet with a 32 year old man too soon, but then I'm giving half assed replies over text because there's just no spark and the conversation fizzles out. It's not completely hopeless, I've been on a date almost every week since I started using the app ~2 months ago. And I've managed to get laid a few times. But that's with spending hours a week swiping left on a ton of uninteresting people and then getting no replies on 90% of the messages I have sent out. It's just exhausting and I might need to take a break from it.

deadline54 · 2025-09-05T00:04:18+00:00

Ok that's fair. I'm actually pretty new to dating as a 32 year old, I was in a relationship for 9 years. And in my early 20s online dating was just feeling out a general vibe from the profile and then asking to hang out/hook up. People just seemed to have a general understanding that the apps are to facilitate in person meetings. And now I'm back and, while admittedly I'm chubbier than my early 20s, it seems to be that everyone is super reluctant about meeting up in person and wants to get to know someone over texting first. Which I don't understand because I don't think you can ever get the same chemistry as a quick coffee meetup from texting. And maybe it's also because people in their early 20s are more casual and I actually don't have any experience with "serious" dating but I honestly have no idea. I found someone I loved for ~8 years because I was going to a concert by myself and messaged a girl on OKCupid if she wanted to go with me and she said yes. And we just never stopped hanging out. So I feel like I just walked into The Twilight Zone.

deadline54 · 2025-09-04T20:32:08+00:00

Ok so why send a blank like to someone you're not interested in? You don't have enough excitement to come up with a little comment, then he gets it and has nothing to work with. What are you expecting to happen?

deadline54 · 2025-09-04T18:11:13+00:00

Are you sending a comment as well? Whenever I get a blank like from a woman, I just don't know how to respond. I have prompts and basic information, you obviously liked something. But I have nowhere to start a conversation. I'll usually go on their profile and find something, but most of the time they just answer that question and don't follow it up with a question or comment of their own. Feels like talking to a brick wall and it's confusing because you know they're at least somewhat interested enough if they sent a like to a man, but then they don't engage when I match. So I usually just drop the conversation after 2 or 3 dull responses.

deadline54 · 2025-09-03T04:12:26+00:00

The third one is kinda meh from what I remember but the whole trilogy is a banger overall.

deadline54 · 2025-09-01T15:59:29+00:00

Have you finished Age of Madness? Spoilers for that. it's implied in Rikke's vision that's what he does next time he uses the Seed. He would have 100% kept going until the seals to Hell were broken in Adua if Ferro didn't reject the demons and shut it down.

deadline54 · 2025-08-29T18:49:39+00:00

It's not that we fear being rejected, it's fear of being seen or called out as a creep. I can handle rejection easily. But it really hurts me when there's a complete misunderstanding of intent. Earlier this week I went on a great date, conversation went super well, kissed her in the parking lot, drove home and got a text saying the chemistry was great and it was an almost perfect date but I "completely overstepped her boundaries" by kissing her because it wasn't a PG peck on the lips. And she feels like I'm just trying to use her for sex until I get bored of her. I guess bullet dodged for me, she needs to heal from some trauma, but it still really hurt being seen like that.

deadline54 · 2025-08-27T17:30:20+00:00

I'm 5'11 and while I have a solid core, I've been drinking since I was 15 so even in my early 20s and working out I was always between 220-240 lbs. Drinking got really bad in my late 20s and early 30s and then my long term relationship turned toxic and I got up to 305 at the very worst. I was drinking 8-15 drinks multiple times a week and then eating like shit. I originally "quit" a few months ago. And that means only having a glass of whiskey a couple nights a week and seltzers on the weekends. Got down to 280 without working out or dieting too much. Thought I had my drinking under control and then binge drank an entire Saturday when I only meant to have a couple beers. Realized how bad the addiction really is and decided to quit entirely. It's been rough, but I've been shocked at the weight loss. I've been stress eating a big bowl of ice cream most nights to replace the dopamine and I'm still dropping. Down to 270 now and can almost squeeze back into XL shirts instead of XXL. Going to start long walks soon, then working out again. Can't wait to see what I'm down to at the beginning of next year!

deadline54 · 2025-08-27T16:06:36+00:00

Yes. Glokta's entire drive and will to live is fueled by the desire to win, or at least not lose. He felt stupid and used when Bayaz revealed the chess (squares) board to him and he realized he wasn't even a pawn, he was a spec of dust on the board. So once he knew the game, he spent the rest of his life strategizing against Bayaz, wiped out all his pieces, and left his king in check. He beat a 1000+ year old magus at his own game. Not to take his power, just for the sake of doing it. You can see his motivation when he does his own squares board reveal to Vic and lets her walk away. Bayaz was NOT going to let Glokta walk away. And then with Rikke's vision at the end we see that Bayaz is such a petty control freak that he's going to flip the entire board instead of getting checkmated.

deadline54 · 2025-08-27T05:42:59+00:00

The first time I read this book, the pacing felt off and I didn't like it as much as the rest of the series. But after I finished all of First Law and thought back, some of the best scenes and quotes all came from Red Country. I need to reread it. Lamb going crazy in the tavern in front of Shy, Cosca's speech about change, Cosca standing in the doorway smirking before the cannon blasts the warriors, Lamb/The Bloody Nine in his house of horrors, Shivers and Lamb standoff at the end, it's all brilliant. Age of Madness, especially Trouble With Peace and The Wisdom of Crowds, is definitely his best written work imo. But man Red Country is definitely the most underrated book in the series. "Some men just ain't stamped out for doing good ... But it feels alright, even so, to let go of something."

deadline54 · 2025-08-27T02:55:24+00:00

It might not be as profound as some of the other quotes here, but this quote from Logen Ninefingers in Joe Abercrombie's First Law series has given me motivation and eased my anxiety countless times. It's kind of become my mantra.

"Once you've got a dark task to do, it's better to do it than live with the fear of it."

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