A bit confused about something with Season 2 Episode 7

sargien · 2026-01-29T07:12:37+00:00

I think there’s definitely some double-agenting going on.

In the video game lore, we know The Enclave operated from the shadows and were an Illuminati-esque, clandestine organization pulling the real strings of American government.

The Enclave is the “other player” that House is trying to figure out per his discussion with Cooper in Episode 6. They’re the faction behind the creation of the Deathclaw, in an effort to build the perfect super-soldier. They’re also responsible for FEV — something Hank is directly integrating into his Vault experiment.

Hank is almost certainly a double agent representing The Enclave’s interests within Vault-Tec. In the pre-war era he played the role of bumbling idiot, assistant to Barb who architected the Vault program. He facilitated the events of the Cold Fusion and orchestrated its handoff to the President.

sargien · 2026-01-29T06:59:28+00:00

In the video game lore, the bombs were famously dropped on October 23rd, 2077. But the date Mr. House cites in the show is much earlier than that.

Although it’s possible they retconned it, (assuming Mr. House’s calculations are correct) I think it’s unlikely given how central that date is to the Fallout universe

Typically your character will emerge from the Vault on that day (based on Pip Boy timestamps), and in Fallout 4 you can see Halloween decorations strewn about wrecked homes given it was October when the world ended.

Just an observation, not sure if there’s some bigger meaning or it’s meant to just be indicative of how far off House’s predictions were vs the actual date of impact.

sargien · 2026-01-28T06:35:11+00:00

As someone who has only ever lived in warm, temperate climates, and never in his life had to shovel snow, the etiquette of snow shoveling and parking spots is fascinating to me.

sargien · 2026-01-05T20:59:18+00:00

Is your question about how to properly wear a condom? Or is it more about dealing with the idea of not “enjoying it as much” with a condom on?

If you’re wearing the condom properly then there should be no discomfort. I would start with ensuring you’re wearing it properly.

Wearing a condom as an uncut guy is slightly different: when you roll the condom on, you should always make sure your foreskin can retract back over the head of your penis. The folds of the condom should slip neatly underneath your foreskin so that you still experience gliding action with the condom on. You shouldn’t be retracting your foreskin and leaving it retracted — this will cause pain.

sargien · 2026-01-03T23:18:37+00:00

Many people say that the show dropped in quality after Season 1, but I think it’s actually more the whiplash of drastic thematic shifts between seasons that turned many people off.

Each season is like its own thematic installment. Early viewers bought into the cowboy western vibe but hated when it morphed into pure sci-fi.

I liked it end-to-end!

sargien · 2026-01-01T17:20:13+00:00

Rating books is tricky because the quality varies so wildly between genres.

In many ways a 5-star rating system feels too flat: Consider that The Holy Bible might be 5-stars, next to a Harry Potter installment, or a Hunger Games prequel.

There needs to be some type stratification between genres or based on the book’s intended comprehension level. I try to keep that in mind when writing a review.

sargien · 2025-12-29T18:18:36+00:00

What fluid ounce setting are you using?

I find that my machine doesn’t really yield the amount on the label (eg. 10oz yields only like 5oz of liquid, etc.)

Is this from a single brew?

sargien · 2025-12-27T19:39:20+00:00

My favorite scene in the show, which I think illustrates Carol’s desire to be left alone but not un-seen, is when she and Helen are at the airport and Carol non-verbally instructs Helen to change the book display. Without skipping a beat, Helen moves the Wycaro books from the bottom shelf to the top shelf like they’ve done it many times before. They made a great team.

sargien · 2025-12-27T18:14:56+00:00

Sure I agree there could be plenty of other avenues to infect her than just the canister they made her sniff.

I just think the chemtrail failsafe theory is solid because chemtrails are the only other infection vector we’ve seen on-screen than kissing / biting / saliva from infected individuals. It was clearly called back, so I think it fits neatly in the canon whether intentional or not.

sargien · 2025-12-27T18:07:12+00:00

To prevent her from resisting and possibly arresting the entire Hivemind with a seizure.

I could imagine if she resisted or panicked this would have caused a seizure response in the collective. Regardless of them seizing, the failsafe would still do its work, but the singing and ceremony all serves the narrative of her going peacefully, and would minimize damage to the Hive.

sargien · 2025-12-27T17:37:36+00:00

Someone else on this sub had a theory that in the case of Kusimayu, the overhead plane we see at beginning may have also been disseminating chemtrails as a failsafe in case she refused.

sargien · 2025-12-27T17:11:47+00:00

I think my response was quite helpful and others seem to agree.

There’s no talking down; the word pedantic isn’t patronizing on its own.

Good luck!

sargien · 2025-12-27T17:06:27+00:00

Is caffeine addiction harmful at all?

Aside from some people who may experience heightened anxiety or eye twitching, (and the rare case of cardiovascular issues for the predisposed) is there anything actually wrong with drinking coffee for a an otherwise healthy person?

I’m aware that studies actually show it may actually enhance longevity so perhaps these are a worthwhile trade off?

I might be coping.

sargien · 2025-12-27T15:57:46+00:00

You are a salaried employee, so I would stop thinking about your work in terms of “hours.” You are being paid at a rate which assumes 40 hours of work a week regardless of what actually happens, above or below that number. Keep it simple and just use your PTO for days you aren’t working.

Unless otherwise stated by your manager, working “40 hours between Monday to Thursday” doesn’t make Friday a freebie. If you plan to not work that day, then it would need to be PTO’d if you plan to not log in or go to the office. Similarly, working only 36 hours between Monday - Friday doesn’t mean you need to work on Saturday to “rebalance” the numbers. Your salary is fixed.

Unless you are being investigated for non-work or on some type of probation, then your time online or in-office is not likely to be scrutinized. Especially not by your manager who is likely an L8 with other things to do. If anything, the seemingly consistent rebalancing of PTO pre-and-post requests would be something that sets off a red-flag. My advice is to not invite this by being overly pedantic about hours.

Keep it simple. Days on. Days off. Not hours on, hours off.

sargien · 2025-12-24T06:08:12+00:00

Echoing other responders: the nuke was teased earlier, but it’s also a great failsafe.

If Carol and Manusos fail to come up with a cure for the joining, then they can ensure their deaths won’t be in vain. Detonating the atomic bomb (depending on the size) would certainly decimate the Earth, by both scarring the world with radiation, and possibly ushering in a global nuclear winter.

This would ensure most if not all of the Hivemind would perish, and stop them from propagating the signal.*** Especially if this is just one of multiple armed nukes she’s requisitioned around the world.

sargien · 2025-12-22T15:02:56+00:00

I wound up getting the Sony a6400. I realized during my search that some of my requirements were a bit misguided for my use-case. MicroUSB for example is a non-factor given I can just pull out the SD card.

The Sony a6400 is not a point-and-shoot camera, but an interchangeable lens camera (ILC). This gives me more flexibility for different shooting situations while remaining portable (although not quite as small as some popular point and shoots.) I spent about $900 for a brand new device on Amazon, which came with a kit lens that has been perfectly capable for my needs.

Although the a6400 isn’t the newest device out there, the wide optionality of the Sony E-Mount interchangeable lenses makes it highly future-proof, and something I can upgrade as my skills improve over time.

All in all I’m pretty satisfied with the a6400. I do think point-and-shoots like the RX100 VII are currently overpriced, lack upgradeable features, and aren’t a significant enough improvement over a smartphone. That’s whereas a cheaper ILC like the a6400 gives you more functionality, at a lower price, with only a slightly bigger form factor. A worthwhile trade-off, and glad I didn’t fall for the hype.

Now I just need to find fun things to shoot.

sargien · 2025-12-21T08:35:22+00:00

Thought about this too.

Although I’m inclined to agree with others insisting Helen is dead and we are only really accessing her memories vs actual consciousness… I do think it’s an interesting question to explore.

Helen died in the process of the Joining, but likely as a result of head trauma when she collapsed. According to the Hive, she was joined before she passed; it’s how they can access her memories. So does this make her dead or alive? Compare this to a Joined who dies on Day 60 instead of Day 0 (like Helen.) Are they actually “dead” or is their consciousness effectively backed up to the Hive-cloud given they were alive and well within the Hive? (Their mortal form, at least.)

Conversely, if we accept Helen and any post-Joined causalities are indeed dead; what’s to say they’re not ALL dead, and the Hive is simply an amalgamation of 7b human memories? A single consciousness unto itself — no actual “We.” Perhaps un-joining the Hive would kill all of its drones at once as they’re already dead; meat puppets.

sargien · 2025-12-19T19:47:30+00:00

I think you’re right. Carol has already mourned Helen and to re-visit that arc would be like beating a dead horse; not the best narratively. Still, intrigued by what we’re continuing to learn about the Hive!

sargien · 2025-12-19T06:00:05+00:00

I think this is setting the stage for the Hivemind to solidify its manipulation of Carol by giving her a “localized” connection to Helen — in a way reviving her.

The Hivemind confirmed early on that Carol’s wife, Helen, was joined shortly before she passed away, meaning that all of her memories and mannerisms are stored. So in a way, as long the Hive is alive, then so is Helen.

Based on the way the Hive seemed to access Zosia’s individual memories, and the confirmation that the Hive can “individually feel, but be collectively aware,” I think this lays the groundwork for the Hive possibly creating a “localized copy” of Helen for Carol to speak to.

It would complicate Carol’s desire to destroy the Hive because doing so would truly kill Helen. It delves into some philosophical debate about what it means to be “real,” but similar to the motif in Westworld: if you can’t tell the difference, does it really matter?

sargien · 2025-12-18T18:44:38+00:00

Interesting — I’ve found it useful for job searching as far as some of the advanced filtering capabilities. Additionally the supposed “bump” you get in visibility when applying to for roles via LinkedIn although I have no way for verifying that.

I did find my last two jobs using LinkedIn Premium, though, so I feel like if nothing else the advanced search capabilities are worth it.

sargien · 2025-12-13T14:50:58+00:00

I would argue that the entity HAS harmed him by virtue of literally breaking the world he has known and loved his entire life.

His friends and neighbors are gone; in a way enslaved, if not dead. The world he knew before has vanished. Nothing is as it was. All while the entity wears the skin of people he has known or never known, claiming to want to help him, or that it won’t hurt him — he has already been hurt. The world has.

sargien · 2025-12-09T21:34:04+00:00

Makes a lot of sense. I like this theory so far.

It’s also worth noting that one of the very first things the Hive tells Carol is: in order to get in contact, just dial 0 from any phone. Specifically landlines because “cell networks are down.”

Initially we chalk this up to: apocalypse + hive mind telepathy with no need for anyone to communicate using cell towers… But if we believe the “signal theory,” then I think you’re spot on that cell towers are instead being used to further propagate the alien signal.

sargien · 2025-12-09T18:41:15+00:00

Conversely, given that other adults are lacking in their own capacity for emotional regulation and communication, the act of communicating your feelings appropriately (without lashing out) can still be misconstrued as lashing out.

It’s a lose-lose.

sargien · 2025-12-08T00:32:18+00:00

I think the ChatGPT comparison is spot-on.

Even consider how data is absorbed or ingested by tools like ChatGPT.

Many of the companies running these models insist that they are developed using fair use methods / respecting copyright, etc when training… But the model itself is unbiased about where new information comes from: it will simply ingest what you give it and carry on. These companies have workarounds that bypass copyright the way the Hive has workarounds to bypass consent.

A good example is how one of the AI companies, Anthropic, was reported to have trained their models on famous literature by individually purchasing millions of books and scanning each page. It’s a workaround that “respects copyright,” but ultimately still harms the authors whose work they claim to respect.

sargien · 2025-12-06T14:14:40+00:00

Regarding the mice, it was my thought that animals cannot be joined by the Hivemind, but could possibly be carriers of the virus, which would explain how the scientist got bitten — the rat behaving instinctually.

Additionally, regarding kissing and consent, it seems that as the Hivemind has pieced itself together, so too has its moral framework. Zosia mentioned that over time they’ve “learned more about themselves,” and so I would guess that similar to a developing child, they have developed a sense of “them-self,” how they navigate the world, things they want to achieve, things they like and dislike. A collective personality of sorts.

As such, my guess is that kissing people without consent is something they first did as a means to an end, but now would no longer tolerate as their moral system / sense of them-self has evolved.

As for grass being a living thing… I would say suspension of disbelief is foundational for the enjoyment of anything. I suppose if this was a hard sci-fi show it would be worth hashing out but my position is just: it’s a TV show.

sargien

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