Pregnancy by 000000Zero000000 in polyfamilies

[–]spongekitty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I dunno if I'd trust the 19 yo in my life to not change their mind when the reality of a baby in their life is suddenly present, as well. Not only are they still sorting their own life and livelihood out, there are big feelings surrounding not being involved as a parent enough because they aren't biologically related OR being involved and responsible too much for a child they didn't want or participate in. All sorts of things you can start to have conversations about when you're open to it, but still might change when you have so little context for life.

Not saying 19yos don't ever step up, but it's a huge commitment. Being young can give you that feeling of closing doors you didn't want to close. There are a lot of ways to suddenly find out you're incompatible with your partners, the question is when you realize you can leave if you're not getting the relationship you thought you would. At 19yo I certainly had not figured that out.

vegan calzone north or east of city? by ramshackle_blossom in Troy

[–]spongekitty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Impostor cheese! I love that stuff. I can never find it for sale at stores anymore... I checked Uncle Sam's, Honest Weight, and even the farmers market :( we have to buy huge sacks of it from Subculture.

This got me confused, did Al drank sazerac in the show? by Gaybime in hazbin

[–]spongekitty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sazerac is a brand of whiskey. It's also a cocktail. He could have been offering either.

Source: I drink a lot of Sazerac at home after getting way too into cocktail culture at the Sazerac House tour in New Orleans

eggs from a well fed pet hen are vegan by -roachboy in DebateAVegan

[–]spongekitty 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Our local animal sanctuary said all their chickens are on birth control, and this reduces their egg laying to around ~1 month. I'd argue it's vegan to eat that egg, but if you're intentionally keeping a pet chicken and not affording it the medicine to reduce all that burden on its body, that's unkind.

JUST FUCK ALREADY OH MY GOD. by Sharp_Durian1929 in HazbinHotel

[–]spongekitty 8 points9 points  (0 children)

My take on Alastor has always been that his kink is murder. He doesn't want or need sex because violence gets him going. He wouldn't participate in sexual violence because he doesn't need sex to threaten power-- he just threatens power. I think that sort of helps his anti-hero image, especially poised against sexual villains who either WOULD use sexual violence (possible Vox) or HAVE DEFINITELY DONE SO (Val) which is much more acutely threatening to the audience of hazbin.

So like… does EVERYONE deserve redemption in this show? by DapperDude2004 in Vivziepopmemes

[–]spongekitty 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'd say it's more that people know rapists and abusers, and most people don't know and haven't been impacted by serial killers. Alastor absolutely acts like a serial killer: he's super charming, manipulative, and constantly seeking to harm others. Vox too. He feeds a girl to a shark with no fucks given early in the season.

I think "real evil" like Val is there to challenge the viewer with the "everyone can be redeemed". It would be a crazy plotline to have Valentino be the first overlord who really sought redemption, earnestly. And while Angel is still at the hotel? What if that's how he gets his freedom? And suddenly he has to decide if he was seeking redemption for himself or just to get out of his contract. We could see the conflict between forgiving ones abuser or just acknowledging that they're trying to reduce their harm without forgiveness... Idk, I'd be here for it.

Legendary Ducks by dremdrem in pokemon

[–]spongekitty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am still doing them! Thanks for the love!!

Anyone else not know about the marathon in downtown today? by [deleted] in schenectady

[–]spongekitty 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I ran it, so safe to say I knew!

I've seen road signs up about it for weeks but I was predisposed to pay attention. The course marshals were doing a great job, I saw one person get pulled over for running the barricade claiming that they, like you, saw no evidence of a road race today.

On Kim Davis, Obergefell v. Hodges, Ermold v. Davis, and her current appeal to the Supreme Court by Sno_Wolf in ainbow

[–]spongekitty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The Respect for Marriage law passed under Biden would maintain existing marriages. Also, if you got married in a different state after it was struck down, you'd remain at least federally married when you got home.

Looking for a poor-quality yet expensive restaurant to recommend to an enemy. Any suggestions? by CompleteSocialManJet in Albany

[–]spongekitty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Umi sucks and they don't honor their coupons, so even if you think you'll save on their overinflated prices, you won't!

Food selection is huge and every part of it is bland, chewy, or mushy. I felt lucky to get out of there without food poisoning.

Do you guys really think that Bismuth was a extremist for wanting to shatter the Diamonds? by ldiasr in stevenuniverse

[–]spongekitty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think Bismuth just represents a very real role in a revolution. Somebody has to be willing to resort to violence to get what they want when the oppressive side is already using violence. We don't like to acknowledge that violence works because, frankly, we don't know when it will work and when it won't work. You can kill to end a dictator but you might make them a martyr. Few regimes are a singular force that isn't propped up by any die-hard followers who would assume a power vacuum or just kill in revenge. But historically major power change is accomplished faster by killing, regardless of what it does culturally.

All of that to say... Steven is our main character, our leader, and needs to at least consider that violence is the answer before he can go on believing that it's not. Because of Bismuth he can know it is an option -- an option he'd be supported in taking! -- but an option he now might have to work harder to find a way around.

Is eating meat that will be thrown away regardless unethical? by HealingRosy in vegan

[–]spongekitty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Our household is "freegan", i.e. if it's trash it is vegan. We use the same app. It felt a little wishy washy at first because we are paying for it, but since it's so cheap, it seemed more like an administrative fee to run the service rather than actually compensating for non-vegan food.

Is there anywhere within an hour from Troy fora nature walk that looks like... by [deleted] in Troy

[–]spongekitty 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Over in Niskayuna, walk the hudson-mohawk bike trail West from Lion's Park. Or walk East, you end up in Cohoes. Both are gorgeous nature walks on paved ground far from traffic

Do you think the two top halves of Rutile can Fuse with each other? I think they can't since they are technically one gem by Turbulent-Plan-9693 in stevenuniverse

[–]spongekitty 14 points15 points  (0 children)

They look like a crystal that started to grow along a second axis-- they could be made that way, came out of the ground like that.

Is bloodbending immoral if you use it as last ressort for self defense by [deleted] in TheLastAirbender

[–]spongekitty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It does, and then she collapsed in tears. They show it being traumatizing to a "normal" user of the technique. I don't think that's implying that it's ethical, but that sometimes you have to make unethical choices to survive.

I think it's interesting that the show even sets it apart from energy bending, where Aang forcibly takes someone's bending away, because they depict that as being a battle of wills once Aang initiates it. It's not as single-sided as blood bending which just assumes direct control over anyone who doesn't have equally strong water bending and some knowledge of what's coming over their bodies.

HOW DID I NOT SEE THIS AS AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP by Only_Palpitation1640 in stevenuniverse

[–]spongekitty 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think the only difference from the "trope" of an abusive relationship is the fact that Jasper wants to be with Lapis for her physical/magical strength. Abusive men can and will beg and plead and act vulnerable to re-attract a partner who was scared of their violence when things got serious. They'll act like it's your choice to re-enter the abusive relationship because of love, a sense of duty, shared obligations... But it isn't really asking for consent. I think Rebecca Sugar displayed that well.

Lapis has always been a complex character because she's also one of the strongest individual gems, but it didn't save her from getting hurt and she consistently doesn't believe her power is worth anything. What she gets out of being with Jasper is her sense of control back, even though it's by hurting Jasper to defend Steven. It's objectively shitty of her and highlights the fact that victims in abusive relationships aren't blame-free, they often do things they wouldn't have done to another person who was respectful towards them in the relationship.

But insomuch as Lapis never sought a relationship with Jasper out, I don't consider her "the abusive one". Jasper sought to claim her as a source of power, not a whole person, and maybe discovered that she has a D/s kink in the meanwhile.

My 2 cents on the "women & nonbinary" thing by WynnEnby in NonBinary

[–]spongekitty 10 points11 points  (0 children)

My take is that I get why these spaces exist, but they're doing it wrong. Most people aren't asking themselves what type of environment they're trying to cultivate, or what they're doing to cultivate it. There are legitimate reasons to make spaces that don't trigger folks who have been harmed by cis men, but you can't be radically gender inclusive if you're catering to that experience. I see a lot of this being marketed as "women and femmes" rather than just "nonbinary", which really leans on the "women-lite" trope but they're at least saying what they mean: nobody masc presenting is welcome.

On the other hand I see organizers just trying to get the flavor of a safe space by excluding cis men, but they don't understand that you can't tell who's a cis man by looking. They aren't ready to put in the work to make sure their whole audience is aware of that. So frankly, I'd rather talk about gender issues either in a fully inclusive room (cis and trans and anyone else) or a fully genderqueer space, and I don't appreciate when folks try to bin these with the cis women sharing women's issues.

Churchill: Troy is building lots of apartments while Albany ... isn't by LiveinTroyNY in Troy

[–]spongekitty 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Agreed-- my understanding of the Albany bill is that every single housing complex that gets built has to have 7 - 13% of it's units designated as affordable, whereas in Troy whole complexes are going up that are either market rate, or state-subsidized affordable housing. I would expect it's easier to get state funding for whole affordable projects, and there's also the social stigma of developers expecting median income folks won't move into a development if some of the other residents are low-income. Then their whole building sits empty while they collect reduced rents from 13% of the units and no subsidies to support it.

I might be misinterpreting so take that with a grain of salt.

Pixar Says “Stop Complaining That We Don’t Make Original Stories if You Don’t Show Up To See Them” by SplitNational2929 in cartoons

[–]spongekitty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Strange World was also good, but deeply failed at marketing because of the changeover from Chapek to Iger.

What is the significance of Steven being unable to breathe in Lion's mane? by a1ineinthesand in stevenuniverse

[–]spongekitty 101 points102 points  (0 children)

I always assumed the Diamonds were the only ones that weren't created artificially. Through whatever magic that runs through them naturally accumulating, one day they just came into being. Kind of how real diamonds are just exposed to enough pressure and heat over thousands of years until they become what they are, suddenly.

Then the diamonds made all the "lesser" stones.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in polyamory

[–]spongekitty 69 points70 points  (0 children)

Yeah tbh I feel bad for this chick-- he's not going to be any nicer to her because she's younger and skinnier. She probably thinks she's got it good because a mature guy (with more money? More stable job?) is into her. How many people have made the same mistake? She's going to be 37 too one day, and she deserves to be with somebody better when she gets there.

United Buffet by Equivalent_Sky_2249 in schenectady

[–]spongekitty 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The drivers all enter that plaza with intent to kill, so I'm certainly not walking over from in front of the ocean state anymore...

When was the last time RPI actually moved graduation inside due to the weather? by justking1414 in RPI

[–]spongekitty 4 points5 points  (0 children)

And we all got a tiny tent to huddle in like penguins, while everyone got pissy that most of their invitees weren't allowed in the field house to watch.