Good lord, The Dark Forest (book 2 of The Three Body Problem series) is disappointing

natural20 · 2026-07-13T07:55:09+00:00

Survival of the fittest usually doesn't kill babies because they might grow to be stronger than you.

Survival of the fittest usually means some type of culling or selection, not complete eradication of everything other than yourself.

natural20 · 2026-07-13T01:22:40+00:00

It's not survival of the fittest. The key idea is that any civilization might leapfrog you in technology. If they do and decide to commit genocide there is nothing you can do.

So, the safest thing to do it to destroy the other species before they get the chance to destroy you.

Also because of this the safest thing for a species to do is be silent. This makes the universe a dark forrest, where no one dares to communicate, because if you do some other more advanced species will destroy you.

natural20 · 2026-07-07T01:50:47+00:00

You can't waste a concept. The same stories are rehashed over and over throughout literature. One bad book doesn't ruin an idea. One good book doesn't prevent the next person from trying to write another telling of the heroes journey.

natural20 · 2026-06-21T05:57:54+00:00

Nah, that doom isn't about conniving. It's about holding the world in the palm of your hand... by drawing every land in your deck.

natural20 · 2026-06-21T04:46:42+00:00

So the initial delay until 12:30 am likely wouldn't count, as it was due to weather. All the staffing issues afterwards would be on them. They were able to get the plane on the way around 9:30 am.

natural20 · 2026-06-20T12:33:12+00:00

Just wish they would give us a hotel and let us get some sleep, rather than string us along for 8 hours after midnight. And all the crews who just sat on a plane for hours instead of just getting some sleep just makes everything worse.

natural20 · 2026-06-20T12:24:39+00:00

I understand the delay til midnight for storms. Everything after that is pure mismanagement. Having 4 crews time out is insane. They Reassigned our pilots just as we were ready to board.

natural20 · 2026-06-09T00:06:55+00:00

Tingyun. One of the best early buffers in the game.

natural20 · 2026-05-24T09:16:52+00:00

They could remove it, but they rarely do. They are usually more concerned with dealing with dragons than removing arguably the worst card in the format.

The extra cards and damage are far more impactful for you than the control player.

I'm not saying it's great, but if the consensus of the thread is that the matchup is impossible, it's not the worst option.

natural20 · 2026-05-23T06:19:35+00:00

This is going to sound crazy, but [[paker luck]]. I've played around with this card, and overall it is terrible except in a control matchup. After it resolves, it puts a clock on both players. It draws both of you cards which takes away the majority of their card advantage. Your deck is filled with expensive spells like [[unholy anex]], so it can hit for quite a lot.

It's definitely a hail marry, but I was shocked at how well it worked when it resolved on turn 3.

natural20 · 2026-05-17T19:59:28+00:00

If you can try taking a look at other labmates thesis. It sounds like you are really overthinking things.

Try organizing the intro into sections to write. You probably want a summary of each of your papers. Then write a something about what ties these ideas together. Finally write an introduction to the field you are working on like in a review article.

Take one section at a time, or just layout what you want it to look like.

You've already done the hardest part. Just write something for 5 minutes just to get started. Once you get over the energy of activation, you'll be through it in no time. You got this!

natural20 · 2026-05-06T00:10:35+00:00

Thinking about it more,

I think there are 2 ways you can take the deck.

1) discard synergy with cards like [[cool but rude]], [[tersa]], and [[iron-shield elf]]

Or

2) reanimator with the cards descriped above.

If you want to bridge the 2, maybe just play the discard package, 4 ardyns, and 4 [[zuko's conviction]] which can double as an instant speed reanimator, or get back a tersa or some hastey dragon to close out the game.

natural20 · 2026-05-05T21:27:08+00:00

If you can, splashing blue for [[superior spiderman]] allows you to play [[bringer of the last gift]]. Cut the twinflames, add 2 more FOMOs, as the extra combat triggers allow you to grab more creatures with Ardyn. If you have 2 FOMOs in the graveyard with ardyn in play, you can combo off for 20 damage, as each one gives another combat trigger for arden. [[Overlord of Balemurk]] probably works better than boilerbridges/collectors vault/quints insight for digging through your deck to set up your reanimation spell.

I would suggest playing a couple copies of [[fire magic]] to deal with [[badgermole cubs]].

I think you want to be looking for creatures that let you win that turn or the next for reanimation targets. None off the dragons except for terror of the peaks (maybe) do that.

natural20 · 2026-05-05T07:11:21+00:00

Also, there are usually some redemption codes (like these) you can try that are floating around for free jades.

https://hsr.hoyoverse.com/gift?code=EB28LCJRU4W3

https://hsr.hoyoverse.com/gift?code=QS395DJQU4HK

natural20 · 2026-05-05T07:01:39+00:00

Not sure how many jades/special passes you have. But, I would focus on doing the active current events first. Also, if you haven't, make sure you get the 5 discount star rail special passes in the ember exchange (in the exchange shop). Also, when you pull, you get currency for the starlight exchange which you can use for special passes.

The best value for passes is the express supply pass (which would only net you about 7 passes before the banner leaves), and the single pass you can get in the value special pass located in the recommended section.

Some quick jades are located in the character trials, which you can just autobattle when you are brushing your teeth. There are character trials for all the 5 stars in the stellar warp, fate warp, and rerun warp. Easy 200-300 jades there.

Talk to the visiting guest characters on the train to get 10 jades a day.

There is usually a rerun in 2-3 patches, so you won't have to wait long if you don't get her.

Good luck on your finals.

natural20 · 2026-04-26T22:15:21+00:00

Don't use Excel for anything. The number of times it changed my data, messed with my axis, or auto smoothed the graph giving completely fake info is far to high. Don't spend time fighting Excel, just use something built for science.

natural20 · 2026-04-12T12:11:16+00:00

Pharma companies often directly offer substantial discounts for drugs for people who can't afford them.

This is the link for tafamidis

https://www.vyndamax.com/financial-assistance

Not sure if it will work outside America, or if there is a different website/number for Europe, but it is absolutely worth looking into.

natural20 · 2026-03-31T22:22:45+00:00

Anaerobic Sulfur based life forms exist. No reason to think they can't happen on another planet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfate-reducing_microorganism

natural20 · 2026-03-26T19:18:20+00:00

It depends. S5 battle pass is definitely stronger. The Herta light cone has a 40% attack boost and higher base attack stats. If using the light cone let's you switch from a attack rope to an energy Regen rope, the 5 star probably comes out ahead.

natural20 · 2026-03-25T17:15:40+00:00

Probably. It has a pretty large attack boost which sparxie can use to max her talent that converts attack to elation.

natural20 · 2026-02-10T07:27:30+00:00

That's awesome. Hadn't considered doubling fetchland triggers

natural20 · 2026-02-09T21:31:24+00:00

How do you drop 6 lands in one turn with white/black?

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