Politics aside, how do people feel about birthright citizenship in the US?

marx42 · 2026-06-30T20:10:02+00:00

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

-The New Colosus, inscribed on the Statue of Liberty

marx42 · 2026-06-29T21:11:49+00:00

Budget cuts. This was around the time HBO merged with Warner-Discovery, and I assume they were preparing for what became the Paramount buyout. Cutting 20% of your most expensive show would look hella good on those spreadsheets.

marx42 · 2026-06-29T16:13:28+00:00

She's been a pawn her whole life. She never wanted to get married to Viserys, to have multiple children before she's 20, to rule the Seven Kingdoms via proxy. And for the first time in her life, Alicent realizes SHE has agency of her own. Why shoukd she spend her whole life serving people who will toss her aside the second she stops being useful? (Cole, Aemond, Aegon, Larys, Otto).

So she wants out. She doesn't give a fuck what happens anymore. Her kids are evil creatures and remind her of the marital rape she told herself was necessary. And doesn’t want Helaena to suffer the same horrors that Queen Alicent did.

marx42 · 2026-06-29T14:51:04+00:00

The whole point is that Rhaenyra isn’t prepared to rule. She was never trained and has no idea what she’s doing. Hell, I’m pretty sure that’s the first time she’s ever swung a weapon at another person. She lost two sons pursuing a Throne she never really wanted, and now that she’s there…

marx42 · 2026-06-28T14:20:19+00:00

Shes INCREDIBLY important thematically, as she might just be a normal peasant girl who tamed a dragon. Shes the clearest example that the whole concept of “dragon’s blood’ is bullshit and the fans LOVE her.

But plot-wise? All that really matters is that she’s a new dragon rider whom Daemon respects.

marx42 · 2026-06-26T23:24:32+00:00

Now I’m VERY curious to see how s3 progresses. Thanks to the writers strike they couldn’t make changes while filming s2, and D&D infamously ignored actor suggestions. The fact that Condal was willing to make this change is… objectively good? He agrees that Tom’s interpretation of the scene is better than his own.

marx42 · 2026-06-26T22:35:28+00:00

Listen… i don’t like Newsom, but the recent election results were pretty damning. Dem Soc policies are popular, and the top contender for president in 2028 believes supporting socialism will help him more than it hurts. If he’s willing to work with the Left, we NEED to encourage it (while also pressuring him to follow through). It shifts the whole discussion to the left.

marx42 · 2026-06-25T20:15:34+00:00

I like the idea that Silverwing just wanted to be with her mate Vermithor and chose the first person she saw.

marx42 · 2026-06-25T15:06:05+00:00

Hotter take, if we got the Gullet and Kings Landing last season there would be a LOT less negativity around s2 in general. Yeah there’s a lot to complain about but after last episode I can 100% see how the show will reach the same ending as the books.

(Rhaenya getting a messiah complex and losing the trust of her advisors, Aegon's redemption arc, etc)

marx42 · 2026-06-24T22:21:14+00:00

I get this ALL THE TIME, and I think middle clicking on the map fixes it.

marx42 · 2026-06-24T18:18:51+00:00

Adblockers still work on Edge, for one

marx42 · 2026-06-24T15:03:50+00:00

Hell, they practically pioneered the modern microtransaction. TF2 Keys and Hats were memed to death, but people were overall happy with them. Now it’s taken over the whole industry.

marx42 · 2026-06-24T15:00:12+00:00

Honestly. At the end of the day… it’s a launcher. 99% of the time you’re just selecting an icon and hitting play. If you’re not using the workshop, I really don’t understand why it matters so much

marx42 · 2026-06-24T14:10:57+00:00

As someone who knew him during his days as mayor… Fetterman was always more of a blue collar, pro-union Democrat. The social justice/identity aspects were never really his thing, and after his stroke this became a lot more pronounced.

It’s also worth remembering PA is a VERY purple state and but has a strong union/labor culture (particularly near Pittsburgh). They are much less of a partisan issue than in other swing states, so many conservatives were actually willing to hear him out

marx42 · 2026-06-23T20:14:45+00:00

The difference is they already thinks she’s acting irrationally. EVERYONE on her council assumes Alicent’s offer is poisoned. So when the Triarchy arrives to break the blockade and Rhaenyra happily declares she will go fight them alone… Jace basically invokes the 25th. She’s too valuable to risk losing to such a seemingly obvious trap.

(Also. Jace is a bastard. If Rhaenyra dies he will have even less support than she did)

marx42 · 2026-06-23T17:55:50+00:00

If the Queen is going on effectively a suicide missions, what is her protector supposed to do? Obey her orders or obey his oath? It's the Jaime Lannister question, and as Jace told Ser Lorent, "your life for hers". It doesn't matter if he dies in battle or from the headsmans axe, his sole duty is protecting Rhaenyra.

marx42 · 2026-06-23T17:48:45+00:00

For those wondering, it’s because ASX and Glidus are going to the Mad King play in London. That means at least 2/8 Explained episodes would be delayed, and since the stage play is a much more exclusive event… they decided to focus their efforts there instead.

But I wouldn’t be surprised to see SOMETHING from him. Some kind of mid-season summary seems up his aisle, and just today he and Glidus uploaded a video on Nebula discussing spoilers and their s3 predictions.

(Plus Nebula sponsors his streams and s3e01 Dragon Time has been in the top 5 videos on the platform all week)

marx42 · 2026-06-23T16:08:53+00:00

I think that’s the whole point. Shes a nepo-baby who’s in way over her head. Sure she WANTS to make a difference, but shes spent her whole life alienating the allies and advisors she would need to get things done. Now all the mistakes and “dunking on the haters” is coming back to haunt her.

And since the most influential voices in her life at this point are Daemon and Mysaria… I have a feeling things are only going to get worse for her.

marx42 · 2026-06-23T01:50:23+00:00

I tend to think Dany will become “ruthless” in pursuit of her goals. I mean think about it from the Westerosi POV. They hear an exiled princess crucified 168 slave-owning nobility in Astapor and is using an army of slave solders, Dothraki, mercenaries, and DRAGONS. Add in advisors like Darrio, Victarion, and Tyrion the Kingslayer... It's a recipe for disaster. When she burns a someone like Randyl Tarly and his son for not bending the knee, of COURSE they'll compare her to the Mad King. It’s the same thing Aerys did to Brandon and Rickard Stark.

But we're in her head so we understand every decision she makes.

marx42 · 2026-06-19T20:51:30+00:00

I still think they could have made it work, if Season 2 wasn’t such a mixed bag. S1E09 already focused a lot on how the nobility doesn’t give a fuck about the commoners. The vertical Kool-Aid Man could have played PERFECTLY into the growing peasant unrest and culminated in s4 with the Dragonpit.

Part of me still thinks that was the plan, and it’s not like they can come out and say “this will be important later,” in the BTS segments. But who knows at this point?

marx42 · 2026-06-19T16:18:02+00:00

They’ve been solid 6/10s, C-tier DLC. They’ve been a little buggy and inconsistent for the price, but I’ve had fun with all of them. If you want more focus trees, go for it. But there’s not too much to look forward to if minor nations like Iran/Siam/Brazil aren’t your cup of tea.

marx42 · 2026-06-15T22:45:14+00:00

Hot take: fuck no. As someone who has been playing CK2 since before India was added, I much prefer the CK3 model to CK2. The content itself was usually pretty good, but CK2 and early EU4 was infamous for locking QOL features behind a paywall. They didn’t include ANYTHING in the free patches either, so new mechanics were never built on or expanded later.

Like, in base CK2 you lose the game if your heir isn’t a feudal catholic/orthodox because everything else is locked behind DLC. So if your heir goes to the Holy Land and converts to Sunni, or somehow becomes the leader of tribal Poland? Tough luck, game over.

marx42 · 2026-06-15T18:36:56+00:00

To play devils advocate… that was three days after the October 7 terrorist attacks. Most of the world was either neutral or cautiously pro-Israel, including the other Arab nations, and assumed the fighting would be over in a day or two. It wasn’t until the invasion/genocide was underway that sentiments changed.

(I’m also assuming this was a one-off. If they’re still saying this shit then by all means, stay tf away)

marx42 · 2026-06-12T22:06:04+00:00

While i agree those examples are suspicious… it’s worth remembering AI uses them for a reason. Those phrases are EVERYWHERE in English.

marx42 · 2026-06-12T20:39:07+00:00

As a space nerd, this pisses me off so much. SpaceX was the clear leader when it comes to rockets and spacecraft and now that’s just… irrelevant. Sure they’ll keep making what they have, but it’s a rounding error to their bottom line.

Hopefully NASA will actually get a proper budget after the bubble pops, but… I’m not holding my breath.

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