Lurker > Maniac64

Alright, time to cover Mordins mission. We learn his former teammate has been taken by a rival clan so we head over to get him. First thing we find is a Urdnot scout who has been expiramented on. Mordin does NOT approve of using living people as test subjects. This guy was in rough shape but said he wanted to stay because he was told he was helping cure the genophage. He viewed this as his chance to make a real difference. We talk him out of sacrificing himself as a lab rat and he goes to get treated and visit the Lady camp.

As we search more we find dead humans who were also clearly test subjects. Apparently humans make good lab rats because they are more genetically diverse than other species. The game makes a point of saying this isn't about the racial differences we focus on but instead the difference in physical and mental capabilities between individuals. Basically humans have a wider range on the pathetic to exceptional scale. Shep is clearly on the far end of exceptional. Mordin declares the methods inhumane and says who would never consider them acceptable. Mordin does hate that this is all happening because of the virus he helped create but he still believes it was the best choice. We learn a lot more about how he views his work in the genophage. For our Shep we stuck to neutral responses, not picking a side on that issue unless it was a chance to get more info.

We meet the head of Clan Weyrloc And the dude starts to monolgue about his grand plans for after the genophage is cured and he runs the Krogan. A Renegade interrupt pops up and we take it, shooting a pipe. Clan leader mocks us before we then shoot the gas and ignite it. This kills the dude instantly i believe. That will teach him to monolgue around Shepard. This planet really makes it clear why it is great that ME has two separate meters for morality rather than a sliding scale. It gives you more freedom to do stuff like this without hurting your paragon score.

We finally find the scientist and it turns out he isn't a captive at all. He wants to work with the Krogan to reverse the genophage. He feels extremely guilty for what they did and thinks it was wrong. It's a great confrontation between this guy and Mordin as they discuss and debate what was done. It gets heated and Mordin is ready to kill him but we stop talk him down. We then decide to save the data in case we find we need it later. Not making any decision right now but Mordin agrees that is the practical solution.

This was a great mission. Mordin is amazing and so is the genophage storyline.

Our inflation was lower than most of the developed world's. So that really shouldn't be viewed as a Biden failure. Yes, higher prices suck but it would have been worse without Biden's actions.

Also Trump is promising trade wars that will almost certainly make even more stuff more expensive.

So voting for Trump because of global inflation making things more expensive when his own promises would make that worse seems foolish.

Not just minus RWBY.

A lot of properties were bought by the creators and went independent.

But even if the site is just a living archive that keeps the videos available to watch I will be happy.

Also I don't think Burnie and Ashley really care about how much the brand is worth. They don't want it to be what it was at the end.

At best they are probably hoping to follow in SMOSH's footsteps and just make fun new content with whatever audience is still there.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

RWBY won't be there though, they got bought separately, it's owned by VIZ now. Wonder how much brand power they still have without it...

This is true. No Gen:Lock either for whatever that is worth.

All the properties that got bought by the creators and went independent are also not part of this. Stinky Dragon, Regulation, Red Web, 100% Eat, etc. I think Regulation (Gavin) also owns the Achievement Hunter/Let's Play archives and channel (they at least own the Let's Play channel and youtube archive.)

It will definitely be a much weaker and smaller brand but I can't imagine Burnie and Ashley want it to be anywhere near the size it was before it shut down. Assuming they plan to do anything with it beyond keep the site up.

If nothing else it likely means all the archives and content still under the brand will be put back up and open for everyone to watch. Maybe they will work out quick deals with past employees who went indy to put their old stuff back up as well.

Cody11533 posted...

RIP Rooster Teeth

@Cody11533 Or not...

https://roosterteeth.com/

bwburke94 posted...

Yes, but what the hell was she thinking in Volume 9?

Based on Volume 10 she was well on her way to a mental breakdown at that point.

Oh man Series 7 cast really is one of if not the best.

I will say I personally liked Russell, pretty sure my wife did as well. We watched his comedy news show for a little while. Overall I don't really have any strong memories of rhe Series 6 cast.

We are on Series 17 and it is not starting strong cast wise, though there have been some great tasks which helps make up for it.

Series 16 reminded me that I want a Loser of Losers Season between 5 of the worst contestants. Because Lucy might be the biggest ditz in the whole series and would be a good choice for it.

Seanchan posted...

diversity, equity, inclusion, gender, pronouns, transgender, non-binary, sogi

I am no longer allowed to use those terms at work. If we don't remove those terms from documents they will be permanently deleted. I now have to go through literally hundreds of documents to "sanitize" them so we don't lose them. Insanity.

We have to review all the grants we are receiving at the hospital where I work to check for words like that. Because apparently if the Grant contains any of thw wrong words it will be automatically cancelled. This includes Grants we were already rewarded and haven't fully spent/received the funds.

Forceful_Dragon posted...

Our health secretary is an anti vaxxer
Our energy secretary has a background in oil

What other backwards appointments do we have?

Intelligence is a Russian asset

Ah I had that result flipped. Ok that works then

ZeroSignal posted...

Gable leaves to learn how to combat Lucha Libre,

Didn't he just beat Penta on his debut? Doesn't seem like he has a big issue fighting luchadores.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind - 10
Castle in the Sky - 10
My Neighbor Totoro - 8
Kikis Delivery Service - 8
Porco Rosso - 9
Princess Mononoke - 9
Spirited Away - 7
Howls Moving Castle - 9

changmas posted...

yes but not in the spirit of the question. Only specific things directly tied to my life / belongings (slept on my own specific mattress more times than anyone else, etc.). Once you start to generalize it then theres almost definitely no way

This

Yes

Metal_DK posted...

I wonder if any students do things like throw frisbees or footballs at the campus open fields anymore. That was already dwindling 15 years ago

Just wanted to chime in on this since my wife works at a college (small private liberal arts school in Iowa)

She says she sees it quite a bit when the weather is nice. Students there mostly are throwing footballs and kicking a soccer ball. Also apparently there is an area where students set up a net and play volleyball a lot. She says not a lot of frisbee though.

Astro's playroom is the first thing I think of.

I wish they would make a cheap dlc bundle for Sims 3. I have that one and a few DLC but getting them all still costs hundreds of dollars.

Somehow I never realized how insane RFK Jr's statement of "if I had a time machine the one thing I would want to do is stop my kids from getting vaccinated" is.

The man would rather unvax his kids, who had no major negative side effects, than save any of his murdered relatives. Save my dad from assassination? Nah, I'd rather make my kids less healthy.

Here's what I'm watching right now

Blue Box
Terrified Teacher
Apothecary Diaries
Sakamoto Days
Honey Lemon Soda

And we are going through 7th Time Loop, but that isn't currently airing.

Because I wrote it up and it's long, here are my thoughts on Jack.

Jack - Oh Jack, you poor girl. You giant knot of pain and trauma. Jack is a perfect example of a redeemable villain, and I do love those. On the surface Jack is a vicious, murderous, psychopath who would fit in well in Arkham Asylum. You literally start off by breaking her out of prison and she tries to kill everyone. Of course vicious psychos can be fun characters! Jack really shines, however, when you get beneath the surface. There is so much pain and trauma that have made her who she is, and you see signs early on that she actually could change. That she isn't actually happy with how she is. She states in an early conversation that she doesn't enjoy killing, she just views each person she kills as one less person who could kill her. What a sad outlook. She joined a cult at one point when she was looking for purpose and a place to belong, but since they were a cult they actually just took advantage of people and she killed them and left. Another story is of her having a couple friends she basically become a throuple with, then they betrayed her after a big score and she killed them. Except if you push it turns out they didn't betray her, or even show they might betray her, Jack just assumed they were going to betray her so she betrayed and killed then first. It's sad and dark and tragic. Jack is lonely but won't accept it can be any other way, because it would push against her world view and then maybe she would have to take a harder look at how she has lived. Thag maybe there could be more than survival, short term pleasure, and revenge.

This of course comes to a head with her loyalty mission, where Jack is forced to learn that her childhood wasn't the way she imagined. That she wasn't the only victim, that the other children didn't hate and spurn her, that she could have helped them when she escaped. That they were all victims and in some ways Jack actually had it better. But she was a sad, traumatized child so of course she didn't realize any of that at the time. She was raised to hate and kill and not bond with anyone. This mission puts clear cracks in her cold armor and is such a great way to begin her path to redemption. She can show mercy and start to really move on from her past trauma, begin to heal for the first time in her life.

Jacks relationship with Shep is great as well and follows a similar path. She initially is threatening and keeping her distance as usual. This is just a business arrangement to her. As you start to get to know her and show actual genuine kindness to her it really confuses her and makes her paranoid about your intentions. I love when where she says noone has ever cared to get to know her like this so she doesnt know how to feel about it or how to handle it. Then she ends with fuck you. And thank you. That's Jack in a nutshell.

I hope she gets her full redemption in game 3.

Isquen posted...

Not so ridiculous as you would think, though I'm speaking through the viewpoint of someone who is not a "visibly oppressed" by being very much a cis-male but am a noncamp bi. I have gotten full-on hateful stares even eating in a restaurant alone within the past month and if I didnt have my best friends of fifteen years and a local LGBTQ+ community organization having my back I'd probably be in a somehow darker place. Dead, that is, not maga-koolaid'd.

But then I'm also not young, am I?

That sucks. I'm a late 30s cis-white male and the worst treatment I ever remember was a guy said "What's up cracker?" When I walked into a KFC in a black neighborhood. I said "not much" and he went back to his conversation. Definitely never noticed any hateful stares. Also at least a couple situations where people were cautious around me because they didn't know how i would react to or treat them.

Now I have had some people find out I was Christian and then assume I was hateful and would condemn them as dirty sinners. Those people definitely didn't like me at first.

Next week is real bad for me but I can write some write-ups after that

I feel like aliens get too much credit for being not human. I love sci-fi so just being alien isn't worth much for me, and too often writers use that as a crutch to not actually develop the character or give them depth beyond their species.

For instance Grunt felt like the most generic Krogan to ever Krogan. He barely even has a character outside of being a Krogan, and what depth he does have from being Podborn is just a weaker/less developed version of Miranda's depth. (Side note: I really wanted a conversation between these two about what it means to be the "perfect version" of their species. Sad it didn't happen. Maybe in ME3.)

At least with Samara she has interesting stuff related to her alien job.

And Zaeed just gets hurt a lot by being DLC. Especially since he was the first (I think) dossier and loyalty mission we did which means he basically did nothing after the early part of the game. Yeah he has a good voice, is good in battle, has a few interesting stories. But I honestly do forget about him at times. He is a crazy Merc and has potential to be better but he didn't get to show it in this game.

I think we got all the Legion convos thanks to having all the DLC left. He stopped giving new stuff by the end of arrival. He was still probably the toughest to rank.

Leonhart4 posted...

We were doing well with the top 4!

It gets kinda rough after that

Is it just Liara and the ME1 humans or are there others that you disagree with?

I probably like Kasumi more than most. If she wasn't DLC and therefore had more she would probably be in the great tier lol.

Please tell me Grunt isn't super popular?

Let's start with this. Mass Effect Squad Tier rankings (plus Joker and EDI)

The Best:
Mordin

Great:
Wrex
Joker
Thane

Good:
Jack
Tali
Kaidan
Kasumi
Garrus
Ashley

Okay:
Miranda
EDI
Legion
Liara

Forgettable:
Zaeed
Samara
Grunt

Bad:
Jacob

I think I've decided to do a completely separate post on the Genophage cause I have a bunch to say on that.

So what I need to write and post still:
Mordin Loyalty Mission
Getting Legion/Legion Loyalty Mission
Suicide Mission
Shadow Broker
Overlord
Arrival
Genophage discussion
Overall thoughts
New character ranking and thoughts

Man that is a lot lol. Wish I wasn't so busy this week and next week.

Oh yes, it was amazing. Was shocked when he started singing.

KamikazePotato posted...

The only way to significantly raise replacement level would essentially be to make women second-class citizens again.

I think you could also do things that make raising a kid cheaper and easier. More parental leave and flexible hours at workplaces. Affordable day care options. Affordable health care (for the kids and especially for the mom), food programs and free activities for kids. Strong public school options. Lots of free or cheap support for both the kids and parents.

That is the kind of incentive I think would actually work in making people want to have kids more. Or at least be more effective than a tax credit.

foolm0r0n posted...

And also greatly reduce the amount of children being born the next few years.

I can't imagine most people are looking into their potential tax filing status when deciding whether or not to have a kid.

Speaking of, now is a really fun time to be adopting internationally and applying to USCIS...

red_sox_777 posted...

The emails were a huge deal. Absolutely a huge deal.

Which is hilarious in hindsight since Trump and his team did the same thingg repeatedly and she doing the same thing right now.

Forceful_Dragon posted...

And did they every fix the definition that biological sex was assigned at conception? Because if so we're all still women anyways.

Not that I've heard!

Metal_DK posted...

I actually think a woman republican would benefit from vote splitting in a primary

I agree, I just typed that wrong.

I think they would need a lot of vote splitting to get the nomination.

Mr_Lasastryke posted...

yeah, no way a woman wins a presidential election. that was already clear in 2016 but 2024 made it even more clear.

I think a Republican woman could definitely win, but I don't think a woman could win the Republican primary with a lot of people staying in to split the vote.

Edit: I meant to say without a split vote

Yeah I started watching between seasons 1 and 2 and watched the rest live. It was a great time.

One of those shows I was sad to see end but also felt that it told the story it wanted to and left feeling satisfied.

Hell yeah The Good Place finale.

Man what a great show that was, and it managed to pull of a fantastic finale. Something most shows don't manage imo.

Getting spoiled on Michaels Gambit is actually what made me want to watch the show. I wasn't that interested in it before despite liking Kristen Bell. That info made me want to watch. Honestly I'm glad I was spoiled because I feel like I enjoyed the season more knowing than I would have going in blind.

If you went in blind and haven't rewatched season 1 I fully recommend it.

That is true. We have found taskmaster is a show we are better off not binging.

We actually just started season 17 yesterday.

The jungle

I mean I was the top of the list last time (unless i missed one) and he did no rankings, hence my comment this time.

Surely this time

DLC as well. Finished with Arrival, which was definitely the right choice.

hombad46 posted...

Same here. The Statue of Liberty being an angel is so stupid. You cannot convince me there was even a single millisecond that no one was looking at THE STATUE OF LIBERTY

100% agreement

Yeah, can't argue with that one.

Mass effect 2 beaten!

Probably will take me a while to get through all thr stuff I need to talk about lol

Bitto posted...

Any scene done in a car where the driver looks away from the road, especially for just talking to their passengers.

This

Two great epsidoes full kf nostalgia for me

Kenri posted...

It's easy for me to say since I don't work a government job but I wish more of these people would just not comply.

Like, just don't do it then? This kind of garbage can be successfully circumvented if enough people just say "no".

Then they get fired and someone else still fires everyone else.

The top of the chain is Hegseth and Republicans who will not say no and are happy for an excuse to fire all the non-loyal people and replace then with loyalists.

And plenty of other people aren't in a position where they can afford ton lose their job and their health insurance

Only 2 chapters left until How Do We Realtionship is gone.....

Never tried that one. Lucky for me I guess.

My wife found a new anime called "Honey Lemon Soda" that we are trying. It's cute so far.

Random question: are there any sports series where the MC is a goalie?

UshiromiyaEva posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/270352de.jpg

I hope it's a good one. I've really enjoyed the series and wish it got more time, but I'll be happy as long as it gets a good ending.

Farmers don't fear government retaliation

possibly in the next couple weeks for produce that are being harvested now.

Oh I looked at the nominees from the awards show that ran in 2019 rather than the ones that came out in 2019.

Yeah Hulk doesn't stand a chance in that year. Frozen 2, Klaus, How to Train Your Dragon 3, Toy Story 4 all are that year. Lots of good performances by big names.