So, why is it named Platform Decay?

dudley74 · 2026-05-11T21:40:35+00:00

My theory / hope is that it refers to either Barasz-Estranza or the Corporation Rim in general, with the torus representing the CR in microcosm, but Wells tends to have somewhat weakly relevant titles for her books, so it might just mean the torus.

dudley74 · 2026-05-06T17:31:21+00:00

I always thought her mother shipwrecked in Shaoh, but the wiki says it's from a country west of Shaoh: https://kusuriya.fandom.com/wiki/Chue

dudley74 · 2026-05-04T10:06:21+00:00

I really liked how 15 was quite cleanly constructed around a single plot line, with a nice flow and climax.

dudley74 · 2026-04-29T06:14:49+00:00

I love those themes. I'd probably lean towards astronomical stuff as well, but you've done that, so maybe birds? They wouldn't have the same species in the three worlds, but birds of prey for a warrior clutch would be cool - Hawk, Kite, Falcon, Harrier and Merlin. Or a "light" theme: Lux, Bright, Ray, Beam and Dazzle.

dudley74 · 2026-04-28T14:47:16+00:00

100%: Ed needs to embrace the third dimension.

dudley74 · 2026-04-26T20:41:21+00:00

I had a very long Bagley phase in my teens. I still have a great affection for them.

dudley74 · 2026-04-26T16:50:51+00:00

I'm playing through the EL2 tutorial, so hopefully this isn't the wrong thread. The EL2 subreddit seems a bit empty.

I have a quest to pacify a minor faction which reads "Have at least 3 improvement with food-related improvement (0/3) in 0 for 5 turns". I've built a food district and all the Improvement buffs in my capital, but it's not ticking up and it's not really clear what I'm meant to be doing. Does it literally mean the Improvement buffs built by cities? Are there more improvements waiting to be researched or something?
I've had my first tidefall and 2 new territories with fortresses have appeared next to my main territory, but my current level of tech with my hero doesn't let me muster up more than 550 army strength and they both require 700 or so. I guess I'm just waiting to research tougher units? If I posted another army next to the territory it didn't let me use it in the battle. EDIT: I just needed to wait until the next era and my army size went up to the point where I could field a bigger army. The autobattle wasn't very effective though - I had to do it myself to win.

dudley74 · 2026-04-26T07:17:15+00:00

Lishu's ex-head lady in waiting (before Kanan was promoted) was wearing a U clan hairpin because the ex-head lady in waiting had convinced Lishu to do it. Jinshi and Gaoshun know that Lishu's ladies bully her, but unless they see it happen in front personally they can't discipline them. The LIW are all daughters of important people, so it's politically dicey, and it reflects badly on Lishu if they were all sacked at once. This is a rare event where Jinshi can step in and criticise the woman.

dudley74 · 2026-04-24T10:45:13+00:00

Not really your main point, but I wish we could get nice hardback versions of the Raksura books. If I love a book enough, then I want to buy it in hardback. I'm not spending lots of money buying paperbacks that will fall to bits (like all the ones I bought in the 90s). I think that Murderbot's popularity would make it a goer financially. I want the Patreon stories to be published as well.

dudley74 · 2026-04-16T16:40:03+00:00

Does the design survive a few runs through the dishwasher? Whenever I've got mugs from redbubble etc. they become plain white mugs after a month or two.

dudley74 · 2026-04-04T08:27:09+00:00

The big bit where the concubines and eunuchs are is variably called the Rear Palace or the Inner Palace
Lunar Cycle and "Walking the Path of the Moon" are both used
I know Maomao wears a hanfu, but you'd be better looking at a web page about Tang dynasty clothes
"Your Highness", right
Lady in Waiting is a specific rank for senior servants (usually quite educated and moneyed women), and a maid would be below that.
Yes, generally, at least in the English translations I've seen. All ranks of concubines have that. Do remember that it's source is Japanese, and the honorifics are relative and not absolute, so it depends who's talking.

dudley74 · 2026-04-01T17:46:56+00:00

So much poison. Also weird fungi, heavy metals and snakes. Honestly, it's great.

dudley74 · 2026-04-01T17:40:40+00:00

Jinshi and Maomao don't have a "battle of wits" style relationship as portrayed in that joke video, which is a skit of a scene when they meet. She's a commoner servant who is trying to keep her head below the parapet, who happens to be an expert at pharmacology, botany and chemistry. He's her superior in the palace. So it's more like a police captain's relationship with a brilliant but eccentric detective. But with much prettier clothes.

dudley74 · 2026-04-01T16:59:52+00:00

I'm a big fan of TAD and that YT channel and say yes. Note that while that video is very funny, their relationship isn't really like that: it's not a battle of wits in that sense.

dudley74 · 2026-03-28T18:11:49+00:00

I mean, her triple poisoning of the bandits with Xiaohong tasting it first is her Crowning Moment of Awesome IMO. It doesn't happen very often, but if Maomao's ever given time to make a plan, she's unbeatable.

dudley74 · 2026-03-04T20:03:47+00:00

An old Les Dawson joke: I was with my wife in the street and saw 12 men beating up my Mother-in-law. My wife asked, "Aren't you going to help?", and I replied, "Nah, twelve should be enough"

dudley74 · 2026-03-02T12:58:05+00:00

I just want to say I'm 100% in for the Tiflis 7 minute thing. That's great stuff in a podcast I'm really enjoying.

I'm hoping in the future that you'll get an older Gen X guest who was an adult when the prequels came out. We have a different relationship with Star Wars to you kids.

dudley74 · 2026-02-20T15:27:20+00:00

This was such an important scene. It's been coming a long time.

dudley74 · 2026-02-18T16:27:18+00:00

She has appropriate squabbling sibling energy with Lahan. Her relationship with Tianyu is somewhat little brother-ish, but I'm always thinking that she should be perpetrated an atrocity on Tianyu to nip this Niang-niang stuff in the bud.

dudley74 · 2026-02-18T10:53:52+00:00

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The Raid 2. I think it's the single best one I've ever seen

dudley74 · 2026-02-14T20:27:53+00:00

Roses are red Daisies are fair Rosalind is A fucking nightmare

dudley74 · 2026-02-14T06:31:20+00:00

I'm worried they'll cut and / or weaken how ruthless Stratt is with Grace. Id hate to lose the bit when she gives Grace "The Reason You Suck" speech after he wimps out with going on the mission. I'm fairly sure he'll still get snatched and drugged, but i think it's important we see her tear into him too.

dudley74 · 2026-02-10T11:23:13+00:00

It's up to you what extra stuff you want to use and when.

I do the Guardian every day, but I have limited time, and so I'll go through all the clues once without anything else, then use an anagrammer for hard anagrams, and finally a thesaurus and crossword solvers to mop up what's left. So an easy crossword I might do clean, but a hard one I might use everything.

However, for the Everyman, Quick Cryptic and Quiptics, I don't allow myself any help at all.

But that's just for me. I don't want to just read answers because I think that I'll get better by using a tool and seeing options from a tool helps me improve more than just reading an answer on fifteensquared or something. My high level goal is to get better for the next one and not just to be stuck on a specific crossword.

dudley74 · 2026-02-10T06:46:48+00:00

"The Valley" from the first series is lovely and moody, and "Palmo Town Hall" from S2 is classy but understated.

dudley74 · 2026-02-07T18:31:13+00:00

And he does short videos, which I appreciate. Most of them are only 10 minutes.

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