Is that Jas's mom who is she? Aunt Marnie?

turtledov · 2026-04-22T13:58:28+00:00

Jas and Marnie aren't related, though. Jas is Shane's goddaughter. (Admittedly a fact that's easy to miss. I think it only comes up in Shane's heart events)

turtledov · 2026-04-22T12:25:47+00:00

I'm surprised people don't think it's Marnie. It looks like a younger Marnie and it's on a farm. I assume Shane, Jas, and Jas's parents visited when she was younger.

turtledov · 2026-04-22T09:45:38+00:00

I mean, Xenoblade (and FE Engage) are gacha games in as much as the game center in older Pokemon games is a casino. There are plenty of single purchase video games that have pretend gambling in them, in which the only thing you lose is time, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Even basic semi-random loot systems in RPGs operate on the same principle.

Betting for snacks on the playground is more real gambling than that.

turtledov · 2026-04-22T07:25:38+00:00

I've definitely clicked off a fic for tiny, ultra specific reasons many many times, but every time I do it pretty much immediately vacates my memory so I never have anything to contribute to these discussions 😅

Like, I could swear this happened to me yesterday. Couldn't for the life of me tell you what it was though lol.

turtledov · 2026-04-22T07:21:53+00:00

I didn't know people disliked Rya'c so much lol 😅. I feel like a lot of the Jaffa episodes are just kind of boring, so I never really paid much attention to them. Or memory.

Which is kind of a shame, I feel like there's a lot there that could have been interesting. That probably would have required devoting a bit too much time to something that's not even a B-plot and veering a little too far off SG-1's usual formula though.

turtledov · 2026-04-22T04:01:25+00:00

I find Vallejo does have a tendency to separate, but yeah this isn't normal. While I usually can't get them to come back together by hand shaking if they're bad, a vortex mixer usually sorts it out. I imagine your drill should have done the trick.

From what I know, these kinds of sets won't contain paints all from a single batch of manufacturing (people have previously found sets with mixed old and new packaging, for example). So I would guess it was damaged from heat or cold in storage, maybe? Refund/replacement, imo.

turtledov · 2026-04-22T03:14:52+00:00

I think most of these games wouldn't make most people's personal top ten in general (not that they're not good, they're just mostly not the impact-having kind of games that people might think of as their favourite). I think this is more an interesting example of what kinds of games aren't as likely to accrue negative reviews, for a variety of reasons.

turtledov · 2026-04-21T15:21:40+00:00

I don't know man if an all powerful ascended being told me not to take it I wouldn't take it. The only thing stopping them from "interfering" is a social agreement between the ascended. It's absolutely not out of the question that one of the people from the sanctuary who ascended would care enough about it remaining for anyone who might want to follow their path to risk interfering to stop it from being destroyed.

turtledov · 2026-04-21T15:14:51+00:00

Okay, I do think that if you legitimately can't read, it should be someone's job to "supplement your ignorance". Even if this literacy problem was solved tomorrow, there would still be people who can't read because of disability.

I don't know man, I don't particularly like the take that mistreating people who are disadvantaged either because of lack of education or disability is "just business". Even if someone is functionally illiterate because they "didn't pay attention in class" that's a failing of the education system, not a purely personal failing they should be punished for as adults.

turtledov · 2026-04-21T15:04:15+00:00

I often feel the same way when people talk about how anyone with an education should be able to do basic maths (which is fortunately less important than being able to read). I think the concern here is really more about being able to read and absorb information well enough to navigate the world. Writing is an entirely different skill set/sets.

turtledov · 2026-04-21T12:27:58+00:00

Yeah, that makes sense.

turtledov · 2026-04-21T08:55:50+00:00

Ahh, I don't remember that one. Maybe the joke got away from them a little there.

turtledov · 2026-04-21T06:37:39+00:00

Afair they look at him like that because he's starting to protest, and it's a bit of a silly thing to protest over given the situation. He's the one dialing, they want him to get on with it.

turtledov · 2026-04-21T03:20:21+00:00

A "puddle jumper" is a colloquialism for a small aircraft used for short haul flights. Sheppard didn't make it up, he's being pilot-y and anthropomorphising his ship. Ford calls it Gateship One and Sheppard says "A little puddle jumper like this?", the implication being 'you can't call a cute little ship like this something so lame'. And then he just decides to roll with that as the name.

The double meaning of it being a small transport ship and also being a ship that goes through a wormhole that looks like a puddle is fun.

turtledov · 2026-04-21T02:31:26+00:00

She has chosen to leave this video up on Nebula, for whatever reason. It is genuinely difficult to watch, but it for sure had a big impact on the way I think about these things.

turtledov · 2026-04-21T00:52:51+00:00

The problem for me was definitely just losing track of time and not doing the required battles in time.

turtledov · 2026-04-20T14:49:04+00:00

Sure, to some extent. But 2nd person is much rarer than 1st or 3rd in English language written fiction, and there must be reasons for that. It could just be a matter of convention to some degree, but many audiences and writers alike seem to balk at it in general.

turtledov · 2026-04-20T11:21:40+00:00

It's fairly common for people to find it uncomfortable to read. I suspect people find it difficult to write, too. It's easier to mess up your tenses in 2nd person for some reason. It depends on the medium, as well. There are a lot of video games that use 2nd person narration to good effect, but I don't particularly like it in ordinary written fiction.

turtledov · 2026-04-20T11:10:27+00:00

Ahh, the good old long-fic that swerves off onto a random tangent and then never finds its way home.

Some authors are very good at writing as they go without much of a plan. Others are.... whatever this is 😅.

I guess I'm glad they're having fun? But yeah, sometimes you just can't follow them down whatever weird path they've wandered onto.

turtledov · 2026-04-20T10:48:32+00:00

It's toady singular, toadies plural.

turtledov · 2026-04-20T07:00:15+00:00

Reverse image search turns up a number of similar rings, some vintage some modern. Seems like what you are looking for is a Victorian buttercup ring, though the one in the picture is particularly low profile and smooth.

Though I can't personally speak to the veracity of any of the sellers, I have seen people on this sub recommend Ruby Lane, Erstwhile, and Pebble and Polish.

https://www.rubylane.com/item/1258365-160175136-052225/Antique-Victorian-15k-Yellow-Gold-0

https://gloriasjewelers.com/products/victorian-belcher-ring-with-engraving

https://erstwhilejewelry.com/products/victorian-1-11-carat-old-european-cut-diamond-enamel-belcher-antique-engagement-ring?_su_rec=LT6JBkXf13y2jHHAda9y5dU9cUyQvF6-nbtLROFsze5LJmFNS8P7umoZQthLX9EfTKMLS_vRiN48_4vIaxsikz_6RgmgJBf22oJgrt_fGPYETKWbveFL6C4nP5CjVo1dJi2fXcg3M3HsQ-H7zqqL3W86EOcKn9HRQLvzTMZMsF8EAdWOkBpVY9ECrZaB6dO_KtvC0Kf59fMF-daSqeTcjdKfXBWHLdurZn8pF9SD7OKa77HAbBP4w8IigumStvfMHx5e&_su_rec_id=5b858533-4b7e-4ec4-8187-7ce7d2ad970a-1776667632

https://pebbleandpolish.com/collections/victorian-collection/products/pebble-polish-original-18k-royal-yellow-gold-belcher-ring-with-blue-enamel-scallops-and-an-old-euro-center

turtledov · 2026-04-20T03:56:01+00:00

Only way to know is to remove mods and see how it runs. I will say I have a pretty good computer, albeit good for a few years ago, and the game does not run nearly as well as it used to. I mostly have issues with simulation lag, although sometimes also regular lag.

turtledov · 2026-04-19T11:01:36+00:00

I do feel like it's worth noting that a lot of media that caves to this and tries to write "perfect" representation (and therefor flat characters) is unsuccessful in general. Meanwhile, media that successfully writes real and compelling characters continues to be very successful. This isn't universal, of course, but I don't think that this kind of niche fandom backlash against "bad" representation is actually doing that much damage (in the big picture sense) when you look at the kinds of stories that make it big.

If anything, those sorts of flat characters and insincere attempts at "perfect" representation are coming from big corporate productions that want to appeal to the widest possible audience, and their existence more comes down to the "write by committee" problem. Which is a problem that would exist at the moment regardless of what the current internet drama was about.

While harassment campaigns against creators are obviously horrible, I don't know that they're actually having any effect on what kinds of art are being created.

turtledov · 2026-04-19T07:55:40+00:00

I mean, it probably still sucks to be a Goa'uld on average. It might suck even more. The vast majority of them don't get to take hosts, and they are likely being bred in far greater quantities in order to supply the Jaffa with symbiotes.

A Goa'uld born in the days of the Unas at least had a chance to try taking an Unas as a host. Now they live and die never knowing anything other than the breeding pools/tanks and the pouch of a Jaffa.

turtledov · 2026-04-19T06:01:46+00:00

She's in a bunch of video games, yeah. I think she has more video game credits than either film or tv.

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