WideningGyro [any]

Ew, reddit is leaking

Whatever site that is really knows their audience. Not only is Yasuke, famously a real human being who actually lived and was black, “originally depicted as a black man”, the mod also apparently turns him into an “authentic Japanese character”. Which is apparently a more fitting description for whatever generic Japanese dude the modders think up than an actual historical figure. Christ.

A Mexican taxi driver once told me that “gringo” came from “green go” as well, but his explanation was that once you get your green card, you go. He definitely joking, of course, but interesting that there are two versions of the “green go” etymology.

Community did it first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z906aLyP5fg

Wasn’t he also accused of being behind the Lockerbie bombing?

“supporting and being complicit in genocide isn’t sufficient to be Hitler. That Hitler requires a desire to be a dictator as well.”

Such a chef’s kiss of smug, willful ignorance. Like, this person knows Hitler is shorthand for ‘terrible person’, here, and not literal. So why suddenly be overly literal and pedantic about what characterizes a “Hitler”? Oh right, because Trump wants to be dictator! Meaning the entire point could have been expressed by typing “yes Biden genocide, but no because Trump”

a notably right-wing fascist state masking as socialist just like the Nazis did

You’re doing a bit, right? Please say you’re doing a bit

being “a communist but still arrogant and inventing wildly.”

I feel personally attacked!

No but seriously, as someone who followed a path which was roughly militant online atheist -> lib debate fetishist -> arrogant communist with nothing but cursory knowledge, I really sympathize with having to work to not fall back into past bad habits. I often find myself furiously typing long comments, then stopping and asking “do I even know this?” or “what am I trying to achieve here?” and then deleting it in shame.

You don’t think the Israelis lash out and nuke someone in that scenario? I can’t recall the exact source (and too lazy to go searching rn), but I seem to recall someone here mentioning that a retired Israeli military official said in his memoirs (huge grain of salt, obviously) that in the event of perceived “betrayal” of Israel, the nukes might be pointed at the West.

Saw a TV show the other day where a Cuban refugee is sick and someone goes “They had to flee. No way to get treatment in Cuba.” and I’m just like, Cuba? The country with one of the world’s best healthcare systems? The one that educates the most doctors per capita? That Cuba?

But sure, flee to the US, where penniless immigrants tend to have access to excellent care, I’m sure.

I start to think and then I sink into the paper, like I was ink / when I’m writing I’m trapped in between the lines / I escape - when I finish the rhyme

Ooh, didn’t know he wrote one on Stalin. Reading “Liberalism: A Counter-History” right now, and he goes hard

Saddam’s army was one of the most powerful in the world

By what metrics?

Coming from the person who defended generational racism because one bad thing happened once.

I have a close friend who was kidnapped and kept as a fucking slave by a gang once. That gang’s ethnic makeup? Romani. It’s a horrible story and I hate the people who subjected my friend to that shit and gave him PTSD with a burning passion and hope they die in a ditch. And yet, when talking about the extreme racism Romani people face, I don’t decide to defend it because a handful of horrible people did something horrible to my friend. It’s not that fucking hard to separate general systems of oppression from individuals and their actions. You even acknowledged how extremely limited your knowledge of Romani people is, and yet still chose to defend racism.

I have it on scalp and behind the ears as well. Only thing that has really worked for me so far has been a steroid solution (liquid hydrocortisone) that my partner applies (it’s not easy to apply it effectively yourself IMO). I try to only use it when the outbreaks are the worst becase A) corticosteroids are actually really shit for you in the long run and B) you build a tolerance to it really fast. One time I had a bad outbreak on my scalp, and we dutifully applied the solution every day for like a week, completely clearing it. Aaaaand the next day, it started growing back. Fuck that shit.

I truly believe that stuff like diet and and lifestyle makes a difference (although as my very no-bullshit dermatologist said “feel free to try, but there’s no evidence”), I haven’t been able to connect my rashes to any food, drink, sleep patterns etc.

Next level treatments are just stronger ways of suppressing the immune system, like biologics and metothrexate (a literal chemotherapy drug, but at much lower doses of course). I’m too scared of the side effects of those drugs, even when I have a bad outbreak so I try to do the “safe” stuff like moisturizing, using a salt water solution before showers (literally just salt water on the skin for 10-20 minutes), getting sunlight when available, taking vitamin D and trying to eat healthy (kind of). Sometimes I feel like maybe those things make a slight difference, and at others I feel like its a complete waste of time.

To give a bit of hope, my father in law had it all throughout his youth and then one day his rash cleared up and just never came back. He is now 70. He has no idea why it happened. Fucking autoimmune diseases…

Archolos is very good - it adds a lot while sticking close to the OG Gothic experience. My biggest objection to it is that as of right now it is only available with Polish voices, and I miss the crappy EN voice acting of the originals :( but that’s hardly fair given the amount of work that went into it. If you have the time, and love Gothic 1-2, you should definitely give it a shot.

I played Risen 1 and 2 a long time ago and recall them scratching some of the same itch, albeit not quite as good. Just saw there was a third entry which I never played

Piranha Bytes Gothic and Gothic 2 are some of the best RPGs ever produced in my view. The atmosphere, the sense of progression and danger, the way every single item and enemy is curated and placed in the world with care and thought, the way the game doesn’t hold your hand and characters actually behave like human beings - including the player. All wonderful.

Unfortunately, the graphics were ugly as shit for 2001-02 and the combat is unbelievably janky. A large part of the game’s difficulty curve comes from how fiddly and frustrating the combat is. So, it is really hard to recommend.

IIRC, alcohol makes you piss out nicotine faster, so the connection between alcohol and smoking is not just social, but literal.

Yeah, it was one of those blessed moments that make me go “wait, this is reddit, why on earth am I engaging with these losers?” and my mental health is better for it

There is something to be said for being openly and unashamedly dumb. I feel like us Europeans have this holier-than-thou superiority complex while still being dumb and horrible as shit. But then again, could also be my bias speaking. I would still rather live here than in the US for material reasons.