Jaycifer

Jean Claude the bard. My favorite litrpg series, The Completionist Chronicles, has a character named Jaxon who has his charisma stat so far below his others that the game system morphs the words he hears into different sentences, and he is the most off putting and creepy guy most people meet. Luke Daniels does a good job conveying that, so I thought what if he was actually charismatic but talked like he wasn’t?

So Jean Claude was a speech bard that literally could not roll lower than a 17 on his persuasion and deception checks, was lawful evil and wanted power but was basically useless in a head on fight, was jealous of his pro-athlete little brother wizard, was the only mage in the party with a magic license and a part of the mage institute everyone else was rebelling against, and to top it all off his best friend was a guy who had no friends that he would cast friends on whenever they saw each other so Jean Claude could get some magic practice and the other guy could feel like he had a friend.

Maybe not silly by design, but I chuckle at the juxtaposition of his character’s abilities and personality every time.

Oh no, I hope they don’t rearrange it into one of the other 3-4 layouts every grocery store uses! I can walk into a Target or Walmart for the first time, check if the electronics section is in a front corner or the back of the store, and based on that I can track down anything in the grocery section to within an aisle without even looking at the signage because they all use the same design principles.

Dedicated grocery stores can mix it up a little since they have more than one line of aisles and a wall of refrigerated space, but generally they fall into similar patterns as well.

What do you think “historical thing” means?

Exactly what I was going to say. The comic is only a couple days old, and I don’t know where the artist lives but here in the Twin Cities there has been smoke from Canadian wildfires around this time for several years straight now. I had to postpone my tennis plans today because of it. My older coworker this morning told me it used to never be like this. The office custodians closed the outside air dampers because the smoke was leaking inside.

I hadn’t heard of Solaris, but looking at it the map system seems similar, except Sins has 3D models for everything and different planet types yield different benefits.

To be honest I’m in the middle of a big Sins kick, so I have it on my brain a lot and that may have been why I recommended it. The original game (and its standalone expansion, Rebellion) had insta-hit weapons, but the sequel has missiles that exist as entities that can be shot down by PD fire. Not a lot of micro though, a lot of decision making is whether to invest the limited resources currently available into your economy, research, or expanding your fleet, deciding how to build up your fleet and upgrade ships, and deploying your fleet strategically. Capital ships do have abilities that are set to autocast, which isn’t always the most efficient thing, so there’s some micro to be had there if you turn it off, but not to the level you’re describing. It’s not so much a build X to kill Y as it is building X will complement Y such that the whole fleet is more capable.

I like it because the three major factions feel and play so distinct from one another, it can be thrilling when I’m attacked while my main fleet is halfway across the map and it’s a race to throw together defenses to fend off the enemy while reinforcements come, and when the particle effects start flying it is really pretty.

Have you looked into Sins of a Solar Empire II? It’s in space, but it has a slower sense of progression than some RTS games I’ve played. With the setups I use (each player gets their own star system) it often takes me 20 minutes or more before I encounter another player.

The misinformation is the part where you’re pushing a false narrative that using the term organic in any way other than being organism-derived (or however you prefer to define it) is inherently misleading and wrong. Unless you want to argue that a word can’t have two meanings, in which case good luck arguing that point. Unlike the word “literally” it’s pretty easy for a layperson to tell which definition is being used based on context. “There is organic material in this sample” is clearly referring to the only definition you’ll accept. Saying “this tomato I bought is organic” is pretty easy to understand that the tomato in question is more similar to a naturally occurring tomato than one that has undergone alterations, even if the person saying that doesn’t know the specifics. Why not that word? If the term the USDA used was “natural” you’d be telling me right now that if it wasn’t natural it wouldn’t be food.

I do think the term “organic” should be split into at least four different terms to cover all the major qualifications (GMO-free, synthetic pesticide free, sustainable, free range for animals but actually defined) to be called organic, but that’s different than saying that it’s inherently misleading as a term or that it would be misleading on purpose. What purpose? To make more money? It’s more expensive to grow produce that meets the requirements to be called organic. If there was legitimately no difference between organic-labeled and non-organic-labeled food you might have a point, but there is.

This is blatant misinformation. Most food labels like “free range” mean whatever the labeler wants it to mean, as long as there is some definition available on the label (or a very small printed link to a website with the definition). The organic label, as far as I can tell, is the only one with a precise definition and requirements outlined by the USDA.

For crops this means a lack of certain pesticides/chemicals used, regenerative techniques for the fields, and no GMOs. For animals it requires certain living conditions and a diet of nearly entirely organic food.

Source: I wanted to understand what food labels and “organic” food means a year or two ago and spent a few hours reading the laws provided by the USDA. Turns out they also have a basic outline of the requirements: https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/news/blog/organic-101-what-usda-organic-label-means

Sorry, I think I meant to reply to the same comment you did. I’ve been running on just a few hours of sleep the past few days.

This is blatant misinformation. Most food labels like “free range” mean whatever the labeler wants it to mean, as long as there is some definition available on the label (or a very small printed link to a website with the definition). The organic label, as far as I can tell, is the only one with a precise definition and requirements outlined by the USDA.

For crops this means a lack of certain pesticides/chemicals used, regenerative techniques for the fields, and no GMOs. For animals it requires certain living conditions and a diet of nearly entirely organic food.

Source: I wanted to understand what food labels and “organic” food means a year or two ago and spent a few hours reading the laws provided by the USDA. Turns out they also have a basic outline of the requirements: https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/news/blog/organic-101-what-usda-organic-label-means

It can be handy in the short term. After a few days of greasy festival food my gerd was acting up (it was worth it), so I got some alkaline water to sip on the long drive home, and it helped keep things a little calmer. Long term though there’s no reason for it.

Hey man, I just want more iron plates. It’s not my fault the bugs decided to live on top of the iron ore!

Sometimes Factorio.

You gotta warn someone before sending them down a TV Tropes rabbit hole!

After managing a gas station and car wash, my dad advised me to never use a touch free car wash because the only way to fully clean with that method is to use the acidic cleaning agents.

Pfft, Americans don’t have accents. I should know, I’ve lived here my whole life! /s

This silly line has probably done more damage to how people treat English than anyone realizes.

This is the article that got me into mechanical watches. I can’t afford a super expensive one, but I got my second last fall and it not only has a chronograph function but also has radioactive tritium tubes in the hands and time notches so it glows in the dark under its own power!

Cass County, ND. Just take a quarter of that State away, give it Clay County.

I put my partner in a hypnotic trance, crossdressed as a witch, “brewed” an aphrodisiac potion, fed it to them and then myself, cast a “spell” to freeze them in place, then fucked them with a tentacle that I “summoned,” but I can’t be kinky because I’m not a fan of applying lipshit. I’m glad you know what you like, but I think it’s good to recognize that kinks are by definition often very specific, and there are therefore so many different meanings a person can have when they describe themself as kinky. If someone tells you they’re kinky and the first thing you do isn’t clarify what kinks they have, that’s a communication issue, not something to shame them for. You don’t even know if they’re into shaming at that point!