Yeah premarin is red and was what was used in the 90s

In NV they’re very problematic. For the big picture fight they’re a lesser evil, but when you talk with Veronica and go through her quests and the DLC you see how they’re broken and stuck in the past, and they’re comfortable really fucking over their people. Veronica sees the greatness and the flaws, and she also sees how deep and damaging the flaws are.

In 3 they’re heroes. But I actually kinda like how they’re all over the place because it feels realistic. Yeah you will occasionally get the Lyons, out there being knights in shining armor here to protect everyone. And other times you’ll get all the other sides you see in different games. All that really matters to them is the isolation of old technology.

Yeah the point of them is that they’re ultimately grey. They’re blocked from doing the most good and to a reasonable degree from doing the most evil. But they’re self destructive no matter what and for every group of heroes you get from them, you get similar groups of villains. They’re knights in shining armor, some gallant and heroic and others self interested bullies, trying to keep everyone else from returning to an advanced society, but also trying to protect them from the evils of it.

The biggest thing is they can’t maintain any moral character from group to group or generation to generation. They’re too insulated, too ideologically bound (in a way completely separated from morality), too focused on their goals. They hate the Enclave, sure, but in part because both see themselves as what’s left of the government, they hate Caesar, but they also hate other grey factions like the NCR and the institute, and they can’t see the good of the railroad.

True, but you can taste the flavors in the fries and you should be consuming them consciously.

Some messages are really obvious and others are kinda subtle. I love Brooklyn 99, but I also acknowledge that it’s copaganda and have to watch out that I’m not letting it influence me out of positions I came to by thinking things through. In the same way that when I eat a bag of fries I have to watch out that I’m not eating myself unhealthy.

When I consume something that’s largely dumb fun, but has a pretty clear message I pick up the message. Fallout games (except 3) are openly telling you that the brotherhood of steel engage in dangerous ideological and organizational structures that lead to damage. But when my brain is off and I’m playing one of the games it just reads as “these guys have serious issues despite the good they sometimes do”.

Also scenes like when he’s ordering his son to drink more just because Hank told him it was a bit much. We’re seeing that Walter will hurt anyone, including his family, when his ego feels threatened.

Bojack isn’t just depressed. He’s almost certainly got CPTSD, possibly with a personality disorder (HPD feels right but I haven’t watched since the finale was new). His life sucks because he keeps giving in to his worse instincts and desires.

Hrs very relatable as someone who struggles with CPTSD, and had to learn how to do healthy and responsible things instead of just whatever my brain says.

But fundamentally as a character he represents the failure state of managing trauma. He keeps trying and he keeps failing harder and harder, but never seeks the real help he needs or learns to have a setback without spiraling out of control and hurting someone else, usually pretty bad. Hell, he keeps thinking that dependants will make him better and then damages them because of course they won’t.

Yeah, he’s the hardest to pin down of the 20th century masters of sci fi. LeGuinn wears her heart on her sleeve and while she explores ideas, she has a consistent direction. Herbert demands critical thinking (if the entire book is Paul terrified of the evil of him leading the jihad, what does it mean when he leads the jihad at the end). Asimov is out there exploring ideas, but you can figure him out (it’s been a long time since I’ve read him). And Clarke is pretty consistent in his distrust of those who desire power.

Yeah, it hits hard when Lucy Paraons says it because she was widowed for her husband’s opposition to the dictatorship of capital. When I was hungry and sleeping in my car I needed secure housing where I could do my homework and consistent access to food, not a gun. And plenty of homeless people would just hurt themselves or each other if armed.

Let every dirty, lousy tramp arm himself with a revolver or a knife, and lay in wait on the steps of the palaces of the rich and stab or shoot the owners as they come out. Let us kill them without mercy, and let it be a war of extermination.

• Lucy Parsons

People absolutely pull that shit with the brotherhood of steel

Yeah a lot of us noticed when we were in Afghanistan

Then there’s me who didn’t learn it, I just use it

Do brits pronounce dye and die differently?

I’m wise enough to know that Socrates knew nothing

LeGuinn is such a good test for sci fi nerds. Oh you insist everyone must read Herbert, Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, etc, but you’re not including her? Yeah the Left Hand of Darkness and the Dispossessed (and I’ll throw in a rec for The Day Before the Revolution) are just as foundational and iconic.

Like, I’ll concede Dune reads really good, but where LeGuinn doesn’t feel quite so smooth from the start once everything is unfolding her brilliance shines through and you’re left just thinking about what she’s communicating. Hell, if I dated men I’d want them all to read left hand just for the feminist understanding of it. The Dispossessed remains one of the best pieces of political fiction written. And then the day before is such a powerful look into the mind of an old woman.

Fundamentally LeGuinn is one of the great sci fi authors of the 20th century and imo she’s got better staying power than some of the others

Censoring the slurs or no?

Wild that hitchikers guide would be considered uncultured

Yeah, seriously, Melville is on that list. I haven’t heard anyone who actually read Moby Dick in modern day say that most people should.

Tbh if someone can’t discuss modern or less classical stories or philosophers well I take that as a sign that they don’t have the intelligence/well reading to understand/analyze something without relying on other people’s observations or to add their own thoughts to it.

What the hell is with that level of insecurity. My wife is smarter than me, it was pretty clear pretty quick, most people realize she’s smarter than them within a few hours of conversation. If you can’t handle dating someone smart you desperately need to get the fuck over yourself. But also you can just leave! Or find a constructive way to deal with those feelings! Sigh.

Like I get insecurity about academics, my life in early adulthood was rough and resulted in me leaving after my undergrad instead of staying to the minimum of a masters degree that was expected of me. But I can’t fucking imagine trying to deal with that by attempting to poke holes in a partner’s achievements.

Yeah getting nice and toasty