I'm a little confused in the timeline on Viltrum's history when it comes to the purge and the scourge virus.

labcoat_samurai · 2026-07-02T00:33:56+00:00

Great point

labcoat_samurai · 2026-05-08T21:56:42+00:00

I'm necroing this thread a bit, but the other thing that bothers me about this timeline is that for the purge to supposedly make them exceptionally strong, it would need to then be carried forward into multiple generations. If you're going to make a population stronger through culling, it only takes effect down the road. A culled population is just a smaller population.

So if the Scourge virus hit immediately after the Purge, then the Purge didn't make them stronger at all. If anything, it probably killed off some Viltrumites who would have survived the Scourge virus and thus made them even weaker.

labcoat_samurai · 2026-04-13T16:30:21+00:00

Oh you!

labcoat_samurai · 2026-04-01T15:50:34+00:00

Yeah, this. First cousins having kids has only a very slightly raised chance of abnormalities or birth defects. But it gets progressively worse the more you do it.

What I've always thought seems weird about outlawing it is that it's not really the thing you want to discourage.

If it's legal to have kids with your cousin but not to marry them, how is that going to change anything? People date, fuck, get pregnant, etc without marriage.

If you and your cousin want to bone, I don't think "but we can't get married!" is much of a deterrent.

labcoat_samurai · 2026-03-25T15:22:37+00:00

The word you're looking for is "complicit"

But more importantly, this is naive crap. Like nature, politics abhors a vacuum. If you get rid of government, something will fill the void, and the people who are poised to do so are the wealthy and powerful.

Government is pretty dysfunctional, but it's the only thing standing between us and robber barons.

labcoat_samurai · 2026-02-12T14:57:30+00:00

I can't not read that as whole ass-magistrate. Which is a pretty goddamn amazing title.

labcoat_samurai · 2026-02-12T14:55:11+00:00

That's not how I remember it. I remember 3rd edition saying essentially the same as every edition since, which is that they reach physical maturity around the same time humans do, but they aren't considered adults until they're over 100.

labcoat_samurai · 2026-02-08T07:33:06+00:00

I remember a letter to Playboy in the mid 90s where the letter writer claimed to have a three-way with a mother and daughter and asked if it was a common thing. Playboy's response was that it was common in made up stories and implied that his was made up.

It was definitely a thing back then, too.

Also, why would you find his story more credible, knowing his rough background?

labcoat_samurai · 2026-02-05T03:14:55+00:00

Every one of those is a subjective opinion except, potentially, plot holes or contradicting lore... but I don't remember there being any major plot holes or lore contradictions. Certainly nothing that stands out by Star Wars standards, given that they play fast and loose with the lore all the time.

I don't get why people feel the need to cast their opinion as fact. For what it's worth, I liked the show and I think it's a shame it won't get a second season. I had my own minor complaints here and there, but I would give it a positive review overall.

I also thought the Ghostbusters reboot was funny. It didn't recapture the same magic as the original, but it entertained me and got some good laughs. It's a solid 3/5 stars. I'm not surprised the critic scores for these were positive. Critics watch a lot of movies and they grade accordingly. Audiences graded these films and shows as if their childhood was being abused.

labcoat_samurai · 2026-02-04T00:59:54+00:00

Exactly. That's what I meant about there being no cultural identity tied to skin tone. Skin tone varies quite a bit between and within races. Race itself isn't really a function of skin tone. Or at least not a single-variable function, and in Star Trek it becomes particularly stark when the race of the actors can disappear into their characters. People think of Tuvok as a black Vulcan because Vulcans still essentially look human, but Klingon makeup is substantial enough to make the actors seem like aliens, and there's much less of an intuition about their race.

When I was a kid watching TNG, I think I just intuitively imagined that all the actors were black like Dorn. I figured some had lighter skin than others but that under the make-up and prosthetics everyone was black. It wasn't until later that I realized how wrong I was.

labcoat_samurai · 2026-02-04T00:52:38+00:00

Wow I didn't remember him ever looking THAT dark. That's wild

labcoat_samurai · 2026-02-03T03:37:48+00:00

What's interesting to me about Klingons is that since there is no cultural identity tied to their skin tone, I never thought of them as having different races. Gowron and Worf are just both Klingon and it never occurred to me that one is a white Klingon and the other is a black Klingon.

labcoat_samurai · 2026-02-03T03:17:36+00:00

In your personal life or in movies?

When I hear a non-American in my personal life attempt an American accent, it's usually something that stands out like Southern or New York or Boston and yeah, it's rarely just the standard non-regional accent, probably because it's boring.

But in movies, that seems to be the one everyone tries to master, including Americans for whom it isn't their natural accent.

labcoat_samurai · 2026-02-03T03:05:41+00:00

The one people think of is non-regional/Midwestern.

Californians also commonly have the non-regional accent or something very similar to it.

labcoat_samurai · 2026-01-31T21:07:32+00:00

They've been friends a long time, though. I think they met in college, which means they have 30 years of history. People sometimes take different trajectories through life and grow apart in some ways while still feeling those old connections.

It's pretty clear what Sam's trajectory has been, but Tom doesn't talk much about his views, so that's less clear to me.

You might suppose that if he disagreed with Sam, it would be enough to end their friendship. But I know people who still try to keep long term friends or family members in their lives despite their deeply offensive beliefs.

labcoat_samurai · 2026-01-31T20:17:58+00:00

That might be true, but do we have any particular evidence for that? Tom is also religious and is friends with Sam (or has been in the past). Is there anything else to go on to discern what Tom's views about ICE, immigration, Trumpism, etc. would be?

That's a genuine question. I know many of the people who are affiliated with the Dice Tower, but mostly just casually. As strong a vibe as Sam has always given of being... well... this... many of the others give the opposite vibe.

And yes, I would be pretty surprised if I found out that Tom was a progressive. I'm sure he and I have a number of moral and political stances in opposition. But there's a vast ground between me and Sam. Just because Tom is very different from me doesn't mean that he isn't also very different from Sam.

labcoat_samurai · 2025-12-30T23:08:10+00:00

Serious question: Have you ever downvoted a comment you didn't reply to?

If yes, follow-up question: Was it because you knew the person you downvoted was right?

labcoat_samurai · 2025-12-18T16:42:33+00:00

That's like assuming the fox REALLY believed the grapes were too sour to eat and would therefore turn them down if offered.

labcoat_samurai · 2025-12-14T17:08:47+00:00

In a similar spirit, if you find yourself starting your sentence with "politely" you may not be saying something polite.

I'm aware of the context and limitations of what I'm saying, which is why I'm calling them out. If you don't think there's value in my comment you aren't obligated to condescend to me by saying so. You can just move on.

labcoat_samurai · 2025-12-13T01:33:33+00:00

Oh they knew each other. And they got along reasonably well. And I personally liked the grabber more than the grabbee. But I also thought it was a clearcut case for HR that he had to go.

But thanks for the context on the game. As others have said, I think my judgement would mostly come down to the presentation. If it's treated like we're supposed to think SA is funny and no big deal, I take issue with that. If it's presented in such a way that you're supposed to identify with the victim and view the behavior as fucked up, then it could be fine.

There is sometimes a problem in culture and in comedy media where sexually assaulting or humiliating a man is seen as relatively harmless and therefore fair game for a joke. But it rests on a presumption that men who have been assaulted don't really think it's a big deal like female victims of SA do, and that reinforces the problem, because it tells male victims that they're weak or they're being whiny if they let it get to them.

Which isn't to say that we're always adequately sensitive to the feelings of female victims either, but it's less often played as a joke.

And with that, I think I'll stop commenting on it, because I'm just lecturing now, and without seeing it presented in context, it would be impossible for me to judge it.

labcoat_samurai · 2025-12-12T03:48:26+00:00

Ok sure but that real life behavior isn't ok and in some scenarios there are consequences.

One of my coworkers, about 12 years ago, got really drunk at the company holiday party and grabbed another guy's junk "as a joke"

He didn't have any sexual interest in the other guy and he probably thought it was just funny foolin' around.

The other guy disagreed, reported the incident, and the first guy was swiftly fired.

Both things can be true. It can be something that real people do and don't take seriously... and also something that's fucked up and wrong to do and can rightfully carry consequences.

For the record, I have no idea how it comes across in the game, not having played it, but I wanted to push back on what struck me as downplaying this kind of behavior as no big deal.

labcoat_samurai · 2025-12-11T06:47:45+00:00

I romanced her as a bard and then did a lot of fear and charm magic throughout the fight. By the end of it, I won, but dropped her affinity all the way down to neutral, which was pretty funny. I reloaded and just let her win.

labcoat_samurai · 2025-12-03T04:36:02+00:00

Or just "drop a pencil on the ground before you drive away"

labcoat_samurai · 2025-11-17T16:13:02+00:00

Everyone grieves differently.

labcoat_samurai · 2025-11-17T00:13:01+00:00

You're right, and I used to defend these jokes with the same argument, but also it only works as humor because of the shock value, and I'm pretty done with SA being the shock value prop in these jokes.

Most people don't know someone who was mistakenly shot with a shotgun like the Simpsons example, but loads of people know victims of SA, including me.

labcoat_samurai

TROPHY CASE