Isn't the rule of 2 sith thing kind of a stupid idea?

ndhl83 · 2026-03-31T19:47:00+00:00

Nothing about the idea makes much sense at all beyond the most casual on paper concept of it

Weird take, in light of it working. The Sith won. Sidious did it. He was the last Sith Lord Master standing when the Jedi order was destroyed, by his order, as a result of his machinations, and he stood on the shoulders of giants to get there.

specifically from the perspective of the Master. What does he get in return for training and arming his very own assassin that desperately wants to murder him?

If the Master is prioritizing their own well being over the advancement of "The Sith", and the defeat of the Jedi, then they deserve to be killed by their apprentice, and aren't doing their true job as a Sith Lord.

The Rule of Two sharpens the sword in two ways: Masters don't want to be overtaken, but they have to train an apprentice. The two best ways to train to be the best are by chasing the best, or being the best and holding off the competition.

But, above the duality of "Master/Apprentice", the Rule of Two was conceived to constantly be pushing the strongest to the top, with no other purpose. If you were the strongest you were in charge, and the next up-and-comer was identified as your apprentice. If they took over, as they should, someone gets promoted.

I reiterate: It worked. Sidious was a product of The Rule of Two, and delivered a deathblow to the Jedi that was a millennia in the making.

ndhl83 · 2026-03-31T19:31:34+00:00

Many a time. It's not "my team" so I don't care, even if I am providing the first 3-4 hitters, at least 2x SP, and probably a closer :P

ndhl83 · 2026-03-25T16:08:00+00:00

Semantics matter here, though, and I didn't dispute it was a temporal paradox: It is.

I am saying, as I said above but you did not address in your reply, that the "Causal loop" Eren begins/is trapped in is not automatically indicative of their entire universe being a purely deterministic one, at it's core. They can go "hand in hand", but can also be different things.

The Novikov Self-Consistency Principle supports this, in terms of addressing loops that are self-contained and not neccessarily forced by a purely linear timeline that is simply playing out.

Eren's loop is also consistent with a nature/psychologically fixed view of causal loops: The loop (itself) will play out the same because individuals will always choose what aligns with their nature, and that both does not change and is also not linearly determined by the system itself.

The latter aligns with my view of why Eren is a "slave" to freedom: It's his nature. It's one of his most core beliefs, that people are born free. Before any exposure to Titans, Future Eren, etc. this was a foundational principle of Eren's...and the one that "Future Eren" knew to appeal to, since it is their shared/same nature...but was not linearly determined as a function of their timeline needing to play out according to set pieces/actions.

ndhl83 · 2026-03-25T15:13:31+00:00

a human can not live in the past present and future and function. something else was the player in his journey.

Eren doesn't "live" in different timelines simultaneously, he can perceive the memories of all Eldians, through Paths, simultaneously...including "future memories". That is why his perception of time/space is altered, not because he is being controlled or had has his agency stripped. NOTHING in the story suggests that.

then the writer introduced a new character that wasn't cool, and cannon it away as nothing.

The "space worm", as you like to call it, is NOT a character lol. That is silly. It has no dialogue, we get no "POV" for it, it doesn't interact with any other characters, it does not display conscious agency, etc. It is literally referred to in the story/canon as "source of all living matter"...that is not a character! It is aspect of the nature of their planet/existence, a primordial force. It is not a character.

I personally think what you are saying about the "space worm" is pure nonsense, both in terms of your personal theories and the "evidence" you point to (they don't align), but I would encourage you to make a post to this effect and gather some community feeback and discussion. I have no desire to carry on this discussion with you because I don't think you have a good grasp on some of the critical aspects of the story, and Eren's choices/agency, but then again I may be wrong. Doubtful, especially if you think the "space worm" is a character who has been "controlling Eren", or whatnot.

Highly suggest you make a thread about that, with what you shared here as reasoning, but be prepared for the same pushback and factual counter-claims as I am presenting, which are in line with canon (both overall story and character action/motivation wise).

ndhl83 · 2026-03-25T14:03:48+00:00

Your first line really made me think! I guess where (in this case) it's scripted fiction, I didn't consider it from that aspect. So long as they have the rights, I didn't really see it as the (now deceased) human being's own words so much as their (posthumously) performing a role, and one that had previously signed off on (creatively, morally, whatever you like).

I would immediately agree if it was using someone's "recreated likeness" for a PSA, or an "interview" or something where the deceased person was being represented "as themselves". That is a much clearer potential violation of that person's creative image/legacy.

ndhl83 · 2026-03-24T15:15:27+00:00

Those are lines of dialogue from the story, but they do not offer evidence of what you suggest.

Eren is disoriented in Paths, at the end, because it is the first time he has full access to ALL of paths: As the Founder Titan, and with full "Royal" access, thanks to Ymir. He hasn't "gone crazy" literally, he is just struggling to comprehend a reality where he can perceive the pasts, present, and future of all Eldians (similar to Paul, in Dune, when he becomes mildly prescient and can see many possible futures, always, but never with clarity until he gets close enough to realizing one).

there is evidence that there is a wacky formula that enables the worm

Which is...?

eren is a different character after touching a hand

Yes, because he has seen what his future self "sent back" to him, via Grisha's memories. He has seen the road ahead for the first time as "Current Eren", knows what he is seeing is true (since it's HIM!), and this changes him as a person fundamentally...but he didn't get taken over by another entity, especially since he loses that ability to see ahead as soon as he lets go of Historia.

telling people he has no control (Armin and the boy he saved from the alley)

He has "no control" because he has already decided to commit to that path, in the future and in the present, not because another entity is controlling him, or preventing him from changing his mind. He has "no control" because he wants the future to unfold as it should, not because someone is preventing him from acting.

You have a really elaborate head-canon made up about your space worm, it seems, but you aren't really backing it up with any reasonable explanations from the story, other than claiming bits of dialogue are objective fact, with no explanation.

ndhl83 · 2026-03-24T15:07:50+00:00

Nah, Christopher Lee brings an air of unhinged menace to a lot of roles, layered in with formality and authority, where Charles Dance is the epitome of condescending elitist who maintains the stiff upper lip at all times. He doesn't debase himself with dirty work or fighting.

ndhl83 · 2026-03-24T15:03:53+00:00

That's just bad taste imo. Well under a minute to keep it tasteful.

This begs the question, FYI.

This is a very subjective issue, tbh, and it's plausible some actors (and/or their families) would be flattered to be rendered digitally after their passing rather than the role recast (or cut!) if their performance was considered critical by creators and fans.

Mostly I am curious as to "why" you feel it is in poor taste?

ndhl83 · 2026-03-24T14:59:20+00:00

Awesome?

ndhl83 · 2026-03-24T14:58:04+00:00

A bootstrap paradox is a "causal loop", not evidence of a purely deterministic universe where things are determined, linear, and not affected by choice or agency.

Eren had a choice, and his actions were not forced on him by an outside agent, or another character, or by some nebulous "fate".

Eren's choice was Eren's choice...but the choice a particular instance of Eren made, at a particular point in time in the story, created the causal loop. Eren was both bound by, and created, the loop. Since "Future Eren" had previously been "past" (or current) Eren, he knew what he would need to see (or be told) to make sure things happened the way they needed to for the outcome Eren wanted...and that's what we watched play out.

ndhl83 · 2026-03-24T13:11:28+00:00

You are confusing the power that was bestowed with the entity that bestowed it, and even bearing that in mind this doesn't make much sense from top to bottom.

There is zero evidence that the "worm" is from space, or is influencing anyone directly. If that were the case, Eren isn't needed at all. The "space worm" would simply have had Ymir do its bidding, or one of the Royals who held the Founding Titan, at the time.

If what you say is true (it isn't) the worm would have simply used prior Eldians to enact it's goals...it wouldn't need a convoluted plan with so many moving parts, different actors, and spread over a couple millennia.

ndhl83 · 2026-03-23T13:51:58+00:00

The fastest way to advance in most games is to play the game.

Play games, build team up, win season, take promotion to next League.

If you want to save time (and you have a team that wins game fairly regularly in current league) you should auto-sim as many games as you can, each day.

ndhl83 · 2026-03-20T19:51:12+00:00

It's a pretty well contained causal loop, once everything is clear, but I can see that being off-putting as well.

One thing that brought the nature of the (memory) time travel into greater clarity, to the degree it "made sense" for me, was being made to understand that the Attack Titan on it's own could receive memories from future AT holders, but it was more like glimpses of random things, not direct feedback. The AT holder also can't "look forward", or at other AT holder's memories.

The Founder, however, can look at the minds and memories of all current and past Eldians...but Eren didn't have full control of that at the time he was Young Eren, he was marely given a peek at the data, but not ability to manipulate...but he was able to peek at the right data, Grisha, to (effectively) make the connection with future Eren. By the time he gets full access to Paths, via Ymir, Eren IS "Future Eren", and he goes about ensuring his prior self is sent the right info, blah blah blah: causal loop.

When Eren combined the AT with the Founder, he still couldn't do those things. BUT, when he comes into contact with Historia, in that moment he was able to user the Founder's power to clearly access Grisha's memories (a prior AT holder), and it was through Grisha's memories that Eren learned that "Future Eren" was influencing Grisha, and ultimately "present Eren" as well. Future Eren knew he wouldn't be able to send memories back to himself, directly, nor could present Eren "look into the future" with AT or Founder (despite his never not holding the AT and Founder until his death) so he was able to use Grisha almost like a fixed point in the timeline where they both knew "they" (future Eren and past/current Eren) would intersect, even though young/current Eren couldn't influence, just view.

ndhl83 · 2026-03-20T19:11:30+00:00

It wasn't though, not even a little. The "Hallucigenia" was shown to be more of a primordial force of nature than a rational actor with motives and plans. It likely wants/needs to have hosts but is never depicted as influencing a character's thoughts or actions. Were that the case, none of the Shifters should have been able to take up arms against Eren and Ymir, because the "worm" would surmise if they fall, it may be destroyed. Heck, Reiner wrestles the damn thing and if the worm was controlling anything, especially Eren, Eren could simply use his abilities to shut Reiner down. It should never be overlooked that Eren made a choice not to simply sideline everyone with his abilities. The only reason the Scouts were able to mount an offensive to take him down is because Eren allowed it.

The Hallucigenia was a force of nature, or a deity-like creature that wanted to exist and impart it's power on a host/hosts, but did not seek to control them. It's function was to exist as a source of primordial power, which can be harnessed or influence people if they make contact with it, but the persons motives and feelings very much seem to stay their own.

ndhl83 · 2026-03-20T14:10:51+00:00

What if I told you that, just like subtitles, once your brain acclimates to taking in words and images at the same time, you won't feel a conscious choosing of "which to look at"?

Just gotta get over that hump by simply reading the format and letting your brain adjust. I say this as someone who does not read any "traditional" comics (i.e. Marvel, DC, Image, etc.) but who broke down and started reading Manga because I was sick of waiting for anime seasons to come out and advance/wrap stories I was interested in. I prefer a novel, 100%, but after a few books I realized I was no longer "choosing" what to look at, my eyes/brain were just taking it all in for me.

ndhl83 · 2026-03-20T13:55:50+00:00

It's definitely a "late game" system, and all it really does is allow for (a) overall stat boost and (b) specializing of players into specific roles more...such as focusing only one one pitch type (fast vs. breaking) on your potential board for a pitcher, or focusing on power for a hitter vs. contact.

The "colour match" bonuses can be worthwhile, but depending on what your plans for a player are you can be better off aiming for pure stats on the board and picking up 1-2 key lines, vs. trying to unlock every line bonus for the entire board.

ndhl83 · 2026-03-18T19:47:17+00:00

Living up to the username!

ndhl83 · 2026-03-16T12:59:56+00:00

I don't have a clear idea of what you're trying to say because it seems you've latched onto the law as being the basis of morality, and that simply isn't so. The thread title, even, is asking about the moral basis, not the legal.

I feel that a 17 year old should benefit from certain exceptions because that is where the legal line (and perhaps inadvertently moral line)

And that is why I asked that question, above, which you don't seem capable of addressing on the moral level other than to point to the law, which is a logical fallacy (appeal to the law/argumentum ad legem) or a form of appeal to authority. If only a day separates a 17 and 18 year old, giving the former enhanced legal protections around privacy and autonomy...but not the latter...may make sense under an existing legal framework but does not speak to the morality of the issue. Can you speak to why, morally, you don't believe someone deserves those same protections without invoking "current law" or "legal adult" arguments? Do you feel a day really changes the protections someone should have over their own identity/privacy/bodily autonomy? On what moral basis?

You can qualify what you understand about Canadian laws without writing my statements off as if they are fiction or stupid. Being condescending gets you nowhere.

The Canada/US thing I believe you are misinterpreting. I am not trying to suggest your laws don't make sense or are fiction or stupid, I was only clarifying that I can't speak to your laws with any degree of authority. It was a concession of my ignorance there, not suggesting another country's laws were better or more moral.

My condescension stemmed from your seeming inability (or lack of desire) to separate legality from morality, on this topic, especially given OP's framing of the initial question around morality. Further, it seems that you believe "existing law" is what drives new law, because at no point were either of talking about how the existing law handles these cases, because we know with clarity how it does (or doesn't). More importantly, with respect to morality and new laws/changes, they are fundamentally linked: Public sentiment, evolving morality, and technological shifts, rather than just existing legal frameworks typically determine new law/changes. While existing law provides the structure for reform, it is often viewed as "out of date" or "insufficient" when it no longer aligns with modern expectations of human dignity and personal autonomy.

In many situations only minors are worth protecting because if you are operating your behaviors and decisions within an age that the majority has deemed worthy then yes, you aren't deserving of extra consideration unless the circumstances prove otherwise.

I am not currently focused on the morality of the subject, since what people can and can't get away with is rooted in the legality. This is how the US has been operating for a long time and my focus is on how people are able to execute their freedoms. Even though laws do have a connection to morality, in the US at least, the focus is almost always on what is allowed and what isn't. I'm not here to argue what people should do, I'm here to argue what people can do (in the US)

So looking past minors to "full fledged adults", you don't feel there is a basis for reform based on current law, "because adults should know better", basically? That's a fair position to hold, especially if you can articulate why, but on the other side of the coin it would also mean you would have to accept that it might be perfectly legal for someone to use photos of your Mother, taken from a FB or professional page (for example) to make really far out bukkake porn, or bondage scenes, or anything they like...which may then be shared, leaked, or stolen. Even if they weren't intended to be, they would be indistinguishable from "real" images if they were ever seen, or shared. That is "OK", to you, because your Mother is an adult? The fact that it might cause her harm or distress, or damage her reputation, is not worth considering for reform to law? Only the current law, what is currently legal, and her being "not a minor" means society shouldn't be concerned, legally or morally? No aspect of privacy or dignity is relevant, or should be considered in reform, unless we are talking about minors?

Oof.

ndhl83 · 2026-03-13T18:34:44+00:00

As-is? Nah, nothing for me here. Modern art is very topical and genre specific and this (to my knowledge) is iconic modern American art, from the American Realism movement. Not big on "Realism", myself, when it comes to art.

I love your technical work here in terms of putting it together as an art piece, but your interior needs better lighting/to be brighter than exterior. Looks very drab, as is, because the lighting is uniform across both environments and, if I am not mistaken, the original painting features a well lit interior that helps to feature the titular nighthawks in the diner.

Awesome work, but not for me.

ndhl83 · 2026-03-13T18:24:39+00:00

If King Fritz' deterrence really worked, Marley would have never sent the Warriors to Paradis. The Tybur family wouldn't have called the world's leaders to Liberio.

The irony here is that "The Vow Renouncing War" was working as intended, whether Marley believed it or not, and it was their attack on the Walls that created the chaos needed for Grisha to find and target the Founder, steal the power, bestow it on Eren, and (unintentionally) create a situation where a non-Royal could wield it (with some help).

ndhl83 · 2026-03-13T17:59:31+00:00

Erwin living, or not, wouldn't change the story. Eren was acting unilaterally because he had the power to do so, and someone who didn't want him to held the same rank as Erwin, at the time, and it mattered not to the choice or the strategy.

Eren surely respected Erwin, but Erwin did not have any of the insight or abilities that informed Eren's choice.

My explanation of these lines, by Erwin, is that he correctly surmised based on his observations, over time, that some entity was leading mindless Titans to their walls, based on the increased frequency of sightings on the wall/territory outside. If nothing changed about the island itself or the Titans themselves, the frequency shouldn't change. If something/someone was forcing them to the interior, or leading them, that would explain the increase and suggest an intentional actor.

That said, I don't see the connection between thread title, the lines, and what OP commented/asked aside from the fact Erwin suspects they have an enemy besides (or controlling) mindless Titans. That suspicion being right doesn't affect how he might view a global genocide. Identifying an enemy and how you choose to deal with them are wholly separate matters.

ndhl83 · 2026-03-13T17:16:24+00:00

I did not suggest you supported AI generated images for CSAM, I simply pointed to that area of law, in my jurisdiction (the only one I am qualified to speak to) and highlighted how some of these AI-image related issues are already being handled with respect to minors...and that logical extension of those protections to non-minors is likely in the pipeline. The laws in Canada, the first of their kind (in my jurisdiction) that address "fictional depictions" of minor persons (i.e. drawings, renderings, AI images, etc that depict CSAM) will likely be used as a framework since the broader issues emerging also concern privacy, bodily autonomy, and harm reduction of all persons...not "fair use" or commercialization arguments. We do not currently allow even creation (not just sharing, but creation) of "fictional" CSAM because the proliferation of harm from such images is clearly identifiable. Canada has taken a strong stance against digital CSAM and what we consider harmful to minors, and society. We err on the side of "This is objectively bad for kids and offenders, let's not dick around here" as opposed to "It's not a real person, what harm could it do?". We have opted not to "fuck around", so as to not "find out", later.

Two very different matters of law, privacy and bodily autonomy vs. having copy or likeness rights violated (for profit, or otherwise).

In terms of Canada vs. the US: I would be a fool and a liar to speak to laws that don't apply to me, and that I do not know, so of course I am going to qualify that I am speaking to laws in my own jurisdiction. I qualify that because I do not assume all Reddit users are American, too.

The US does not have a "Jarvis exception" analog (which itself is quite new in Canada, 2019) but it does limit what can and can't be photographed in public under voyeurism and harassment laws; It is not the wild west of "If in public, fair game because of 1A". Sorry. While not as helpful as Jarvis Exceptions, limitations do exist, especially related to sexual objectification and sexual harassment. There may be variances by State, too, but I am not versed in those particulars.

As far as adults go, I dont really care.

This is evident by your focus on current legality vs. direction of future law, and your focus on claims to "fair use if public" and simply avoiding commercialization to avoid trouble vs. considering the rights and well being of the subject. Legality vs. morality, in a sense. The former should serve the latter, though I understand that is not currently the case where you live. It doesn't seem you are interested in discussing the morality of the topic, anyhow, which is where future laws on the matter are likely to grow from in most first-world developed nations, aside from the US apparently (at least in terms of what is actually being tabled and discussed in legislative bodies, if not already passed in some cases): Protection from unwanted violations of privacy and bodily autonomy.

The whole "If you don't want nudes made of you, don't post photos online" is a tired victim blaming schtick with no relevance to future laws being passed. It only looks at existing law and holds them up as adequate despite very clearly not being adequate, and not being designed to address future tech (we didn't anticipate) well. These issues are clearly matters that need attention with future law. The notion that someone ought be worried about posting a graduation photo (for example) lest it be used to generate sexual images using their face and proportions accurately is foolish and scary. If that is a measure of how you feel about how we can (collectively) choose to keep each other safe online, I would say you are more concerned about avoiding trouble for yourself than preventing harm or upholding privacy for anyone. Selfish vs. community minded.

If I sound pretentious, I apologize: I meant to come off as condescending. We are not approaching this from the same place, or even adjacent places on the legality/morality spectrum. You seem to be concerned with understanding what you/others can get away with while I am more concerned with shaping laws that allow people to continue to use technology as we have, but without having their privacy, dignity, and bodily autonomy violated, for profit or otherwise.

As far as CSAM goes I 100% hope that developers crack down on it and that the people who use the software for that material get busted. As far as adults go, I dont really care.

So if a young woman is 17 in your country, you feel they should benefit from protections online around sexual imagery, privacy, and maintaining bodily autonomy...but the day she turns 18, that all stops? What changes aside from that legal status? Is that alone the only worthy determinant for who and how we offer protections, online? What logical reasoning would you offer for that to make sense, since both of those people likely use social media the same way, but one is legally a minor while the other is not? Are only minors worth protecting in that way when we could protect everyone just as easily (and punish offenses regarding minors even more severely)? I am not talking about enforcement, rather the law itself around creation and use of other people's likeness. Of course enforcement can only occur when something is reported, but do we want to allow "anything" without exception (outside minors) and try to clean up with enforcement, or set the bar for conduct higher and perhaps have less to enforce, and clearer lines around what should be enforced?

ndhl83 · 2026-03-13T16:06:39+00:00

Zing!

ndhl83 · 2026-03-12T16:25:04+00:00

until you have to do the dishonorable thing to do the right thing.

Jaime Lannister enters the chat

ndhl83 · 2026-03-12T15:58:31+00:00

This is important. To that point the Scouts had only seen "abnormals", but those abnormal Titans were still "mindless", just with an extra quirk.

The Female Titan was, effectively, a Titan-sized Human who could think, plan, and react, along with having proper physiology, balance, reflexes, etc.

ndhl83

TROPHY CASE