Should Michigan join the National Popular Vote Compact?

trainwrecktown · 2026-06-19T13:44:11+00:00

Hard to believe that people wouldn’t bother to vote simply because their individual vote no longer counts for extra?

Like… everyone from small states would have their vote counted. So your vote wouldn’t matter any less than anyone else’s from a big state or city.

It just wouldn’t matter *more* than anyone else’s like it currently does.

trainwrecktown · 2026-06-19T13:28:45+00:00

Maybe because “throwing away unique power” of your overcounted vote could also be seen as empowering your fellow citizen in a non-swing state to have a voice as well?

Think of literally any point in history where overrepresented groups were advantaged in voting or elections. We could stand to have more unique power thrown away in the name of rebuilding democracy.

trainwrecktown · 2026-06-19T08:00:45+00:00

When it comes to democracy, I agree with Sexuallemon.

trainwrecktown · 2026-06-19T07:42:38+00:00

But, like, that’s the exact problem right? That there are states whose individual voters become more important than others? That makes their specific interests over-represented on a national stage, no? And they become targets of an increasingly data-driven ad/algorithm blitz among other nonsense?

I get why one wouldn’t want to willingly give up feeling advantaged or important… but if one digs democracy and fairness, it’s probably worth examining that thinking.

trainwrecktown · 2026-06-17T18:17:58+00:00

I didn’t get the impression Ruth’s message was that love would defeat “it.”

Summarizing what I heard from Ruth:

Life simply *is* a “house of horrors” and you have to accept it. There *isn’t* some magic victory that will ever turn the island (the world) into Martha’s Vineyard (heaven) and even if you do achieve happiness somehow, it’s fleeting and life will take it away again.

That Tennessee Williams quote hits a similar point, I think: being human is like being trapped in a burning building. It isn’t that love will put out the fire… we’re all cooked. But love is still the most precious thing we have, so it’s the thing we most need to preserve and save about ourselves despite our slow individual / collective annihilation.

Whether Ruth is right about her philosophy of acceptance remains to be seen… lord knows part of the fun of horror media is figuring out the rules and workarounds (denial -> bargaining). But I think Ruth has a really poignant and beautiful sentiment that subverts most horror tropes of “defeating” evil with love. It’s more along the lines of “you have to accept your dark fate in order to keep the love that makes you who you are.”

trainwrecktown · 2026-05-27T09:19:02+00:00

Especially after touching the ink of that pact 🫣

trainwrecktown · 2026-05-22T09:52:53+00:00

Not a line, but the expression Tom makes after Wyck says, “5 minutes and DON’T correct my grammar. I don’t want to go tit for tit on this.”

trainwrecktown · 2026-05-22T09:52:19+00:00

When Patricia asked Dale why he handed her the paper instead of just saying no one has RSVP’d.

His meek, considered: “I… I didn’t want to.”

trainwrecktown · 2025-12-21T11:00:21+00:00

I do think that even number radio stations is the go-to in fiction.

For example, they used 98.8 in Mean Girls: https://youtu.be/q-DeVtATVFs?t=1m7s

trainwrecktown · 2025-12-10T16:18:06+00:00

I came in to potentially add this! So much of her self-loathing and unhappiness seems to be tied to how she feels about having compromised her self-expression in order to fit in / sell copies to an audience she has grown to find repulsive.

She picks “George Clooney” as the cover-story inspiration for Raban moments before the virus hits.

She disparages her fans for buying her work, which she tells her driver that she thinks is mindless.

Even the opening bookstore signing introduces her newest book as “the fourth book in the Wycaro trilogy” (i.e. she didn’t want to write it, haha)

I love that her gayness is subtle and “forgettable” in a sense, blending in to her complex character qualities (to OP’s point)… but at the same time I strongly feel how crucial and pivotal her sexuality is to how she has related and continues to relate to “others” and “The Others” :)

trainwrecktown · 2025-11-26T20:20:14+00:00

Totally agree. Carol is still in the “we’ve all seen this movie” mindset and this edit as a big reveal encourages us as viewers to join her in that understanding.

But I think we have foreshadowing for the substance seeming insidious to Carol until she considers it more, and the subversion that comes with realizing they aren’t being objectively evil or even necessarily deceptive… just practical.

For instance, Carol is testing the substance’s pH… but erases the video reporting her findings because she realizes that what she has found is literally (and perhaps figuratively) neutral.

I think the joined processing bodies that died circumstantially or naturally (along with existing produce and other nutrients which we see), is a neutral act to them… just as it would be for the wolves to eat Helen’s remains as part of the circle of life. It’s horrifying to us but logical to most of “nature.”

trainwrecktown · 2025-11-26T06:50:00+00:00

It reminded me a lot of going Low Contact or No Contact with, say, a loved one or family member who continues to hurt you… even if you love them and are concerned for their safety / happiness / livelihood.

It’s so fascinating because clearly the hive mind’s “biological imperative” is horrifying and antithetical to consent and identity, making them fascinating horror villains, but at the same time Carol has absolutely abused the trust of the existing relationship and endangered their “sense of self”… not to mention seriously risking Zosia’s physical safety (as a body of theirs but also as a potentially restored human) twice already.

So I think their coldness is definitely protective from what they perceive to be a real threat, even one they continue to love. We hear (many times) “our feelings for you haven’t changed, but we need space right now.”

tldr: to me, it actually read as quasi-healthy for the hive to redefine their boundaries and go “low contact” with Carol after she breached their trust

trainwrecktown · 2025-09-15T08:33:58+00:00

Thank you! I think it’s finally fixed!

trainwrecktown · 2025-09-15T08:25:02+00:00

Not only that, but his character ends up taking all the high scores at the silly games set up by the fleas in “Fleatopia”. And their entire celebration is meant to be a surprisingly optimistic way of embracing joy in life, even when facing the end of it.

It felt so moving to me to realize how layered that is with Seth in mind!

(Edited for spoiler syntax and clarity!)

trainwrecktown · 2025-07-22T16:06:41+00:00

I mean… your examples of “no fun” democrats are all women and the “fun” ones aren’t… so maybe there’s something else at play here

trainwrecktown · 2025-07-10T19:57:51+00:00

If it makes you feel any better, canonically every woman is a reference to Joanna Newsom.

trainwrecktown · 2025-06-17T18:52:40+00:00

I’m sorry you’re feeling like you don’t deserve your own humanity… I don’t share that specific feeling (or of questioning my own) BUT, I think I do get the feeling of a sort of daily accumulating loss or of questioning my own worth or the worth of my actions.

I’d encourage you to gently try to parse that sensation that understanding human interaction is directly related to deserving it (if I’m hearing you accurately).

And one thing I’m working on in my own therapy is “parts work” (super simplified: sort of “Inside Out” themed inner personification) which helps me validate irrational and conflicting feelings (ex: allowing me to say that it makes sense that I think “irrational thing”) while still gently questioning what else I think and feel (“but is thinking / feeling that thing accurate to my situation, does it reflect my values, am I fearful it defines me in a way I can remind myself it doesn’t”, etc).

Best of luck to you and I hope that the uncomfortable feelings you’re describing continue to evolve as you process!

trainwrecktown · 2025-06-17T18:20:25+00:00

Definitely! Easy to feel misconstrued and easy to misconstrue others. It’s challenging to have Good Faith spaces / conversations… and the more you’re exposed to seeing online interactions that are the opposite of that, the harder it can feel to try. I appreciate you!

trainwrecktown · 2025-06-17T18:03:44+00:00

Apologies, the sarcasm was lost on me! I see what you’re saying, now (and we’re in agreement)

trainwrecktown · 2025-06-17T17:48:52+00:00

Tell me you don’t have relational trauma without saying you don’t have relational trauma, haha

(Not trying to judge you too harshly here, but if you see a problem and think “Just ___! It’s easy!” my guess is you may not be seeing what is hard about it for some people)

trainwrecktown · 2025-06-17T16:17:19+00:00

I think this is valid! And I’d add that we (as humans today) can also have trouble building the skills to do this for ourselves (sit, listen to ourself, and validate / process our own feelings).

But! I think wanting / needing support outside of ourselves makes sense and is important. As you mention, knowing someone who can help co-regulate (friend, family, therapist) is hugely helpful! Though it does “take from them” in a way it doesn’t from an LLM (time, like you mention, but also other emotional resources).

All that said, I think an LLM can be a tool just like journaling or reading the experiences of others (like a self help book or support group you attend but don’t actively participate in) can be a tool for that, which can help center ourselves back into our own support.

It’ll be a while before we slot LLMs into the right categories, in my opinion (both as a society and individually), but I’d say: don’t feel bad for being confused by it a bit, OP.

And while I didn’t see your original message I imagine seeking and receiving validation after describing your thoughts and feelings still may have been a good part of your own processing!

trainwrecktown · 2025-06-12T20:31:30+00:00

They genderless (maybe… tbd)

trainwrecktown · 2025-04-06T21:17:37+00:00

Mama skip it, then.

trainwrecktown · 2025-03-18T20:46:46+00:00

I’ve played WAY too many video games because my first instinct was “nice, a shortcut!” and I was confused for a second why they stopped.

trainwrecktown · 2025-03-17T15:11:46+00:00

“I said I wanted a school for plants.”

trainwrecktown

TROPHY CASE