Pisha

I wish I loved anything as much as the writer loves quotation marks. So the "anti-imperialists" oppose the "Western world", namely the "US", due to "Marcyist" "Campism". Wow, you really wouldn't want to write this sentence without those scare quotes!

Not a new observation by any means, but people on Reddit are so mean for no reason. Sometimes, I ask questions about various hobbies because you can't always google everything and I inevitably get rebuked for having the temerity to not already know the answer. Sure, I'm also frequently upset about people online, but I don't go and let them know about it – that's just rude.

I need some geopolitical information on Western Sahara. From a quick read, it seems like a simple colonial situation where Morocco acts as a Western proxy against the nationalist Polisario Front. But there's obviously some other complex factors, like the ambiguous position of the non-Western superpowers. Any informed opinions?

Once again reminding everyone that Politico was bought by Axel Springer three years ago, a German right-wing tabloid company that has support for the USA and Israel as its stated core values. Even if they have nominal editorial independence, they know what their employer wants to hear.

Content warning: Physical health (negative)

I'm undergoing a root canal treatment at the moment and it's really painful, all in all. I've had the 3rd of 5 appointments today, my painkiller has worn off and I can only take one more today, so I'm just suffering mild, but absolutely constant and insistent pain. The worst is when I get a sort of nauseating flashback to the moment when the dentist bored into my nerve. Like, that's not just a feeling of pain, there's also the deep discomfort of getting a hole made in your skull. And I've never been good at distracting myself, so I'm really hoping everything just clears up by tomorrow.

I've got a question for all of you: What's the best way to run a leftist reading group? And where to start? For context, this is going to be a small number of young people who do not habitually read, so my academic instincts are useless here. Someone suggested reading during the meeting, which is maybe more approachable but I don't see how would this work logistically (do we read out loud? Do we wait for the slowest reader to finish and then talk?). And I need to suggest a text. Presumably, people would get intimated by Capital, so something introductory with short chapters might be better. Any ideas?

Thinking back on it, it was very strange that the "Interview with the Vampire" TV series included both anti-Communism and apologia for Nazi collaborators in the same season. I feel like that's not something you really have to add in an adaptation.

Well-meaning people keep asking me my pronouns. I am taking this as a sign to once again change my gender presentation and start actually dressing femme and not just androgynous. Now I only have to learn about fashion and maybe then I'll be a bit happier

I've always wondered why people were so ready to convert. Like, if I was some ancient Roman and some guy came up to me offering a new god that's even better than the old ones and much easier to worship, I wouldn't just immediately fall for it. It just seems like a scam.

It's not this one, is it?

My favorite memory of the two Pathfinder games, and I mean this unironically, is doing that infamous quest in Kingmaker right near the start where you have to fight swarms. Level 1 combat against enemies immune to weapon damage – you have to actually consider your options and possibly accept turning down the difficulty. That interplay of character options and enemy immunities is, in my opinion, the core gameplay of CRPGs.