Domino Quartz's Delightfully Quaint Random Banter Thread #248

[Bohandas]

Anybody else in range of this morning's northeast US earthquake?

I felt it, but I initially thought I was feeling something caused by the construction that's been going on near my house

You can? I didn't know that. I was under the impression that you couldn't.

IIRC I'm pretty sure that it can't happen for the vast majority of people, but sometimes can if you're one of the rare women born with a bicornuate uterus

So true.

I wonder how sophisticated a single-cell organism can get. Could social unicellular organisms exist? :O

Slime mold

[Bartmanhomer]

There was an earthquake in 2023 and 2011 that could have been felt in New York. Haven't you lived there all your life?

What news have you been watching? I don't recall any past earthquakes in New York City.

[DavidSh]

What news have you been watching? I don't recall any past earthquakes in New York City.

The 2011 Virginia earthquake was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake, more powerful than the recent earthquake in New Jersey, but also much further away from New York City. It did some damage to buildings in Washington, DC. I was in an office building in New Jersey at the time.
There wasn't the intense rattling that I felt last week, but I did feel a swaying motion that left me dizzy.

[Bartmanhomer]

The 2011 Virginia earthquake was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake, more powerful than the recent earthquake in New Jersey, but also much further away from New York City. It did some damage to buildings in Washington, DC. I was in an office building in New Jersey at the time.
There wasn't the intense rattling that I felt last week, but I did feel a swaying motion that left me dizzy.

I didn't feel it and I was living in New York City at the time. So yeah.

[Metastachydium]

Social flower, then.

Then why am I so lonely?! (Mostly just kidding there; it's Flowers Everywhere Season outside (which happens to include little tulips PRETTIER than yours!))

That's so funny. The UK is like the opposite of Iceland.

Yeah: uncool.

deadname

This is probably the first time I see this word and it sounds like a basic resource in some obscurer rite of dark magic. I suppose that's a feature, though.

[Peelee]

Did you intend to travel like that? Cuz I thought Birmingham and Richmond were relatively close.

For certain definitions of "relatively", sure.

For reals, though, yes, that was intentional, and i specifically phrase it like that because it sounds funny. Short version, i was going up to DC for a bit and typically see my friends (Al and Betty, why not) in Richmond when i do. A few weeks before i eas going to head up, Al offered a proposal - he typically works from home but had to be in San Diego for a bit for work, I'm guessing some meetings or stuff they wanted everyone physically at the headquarters for or something. Anyway, one of his friends, Carl, was considering buying a gaming table secondhand that was in California. Carl offered Al a pretty decent payment, plus all expenses, for Al to cancel his flight back and instead grab a U-Haul and cross-country the thing over the weekend. Al was amenable but didn't want to do it himself, and offered me half (plus all expenses) if I were to help him. So i flew to San Diego Thursday, we stayed the night, drove up to Los Angeles, grabbed everything, and made way too many Smokey and the Bandit references over the next three days. I made a profit off the trip i was planning to take already, plus some extra time in Virginia to chill with my friends, Carl got a very nice table for his gameplay nights, and Al gets to use that table for free whenever Carl hosts. And Al and I have stories about Texas being mean to us that we're going to tell for decades.

Fun trip!

I think this is really mean to Bartmanhomer.

How so? I remember feeling a minor earthquake from longer ago than that, seeing as it was a fairly unique experience for me, and my question was fairly neutral - he could well have said exactly what you did, that he wasn't present for it for some reason or didn't rmemeber or just didn't feel it.

Social flower, then.

Then why am I so lonely?!

Nobody claimed you were good at being social.

[Rater202]

I think that being a social organism is a prerequisite for being lonely.

Like, loneliness is negative feelings associated with being alone or emotionally distant from others. You need to care about social content or emotional connections before you can feel bad about not having it.

[Anonymouswizard]

This is probably the first time I see this word and it sounds like a basic resource in some obscurer rite of dark magic. I suppose that's a feature, though.

Nah, you're spot on. Deadnamers are like the necromancers of the truenamer world.

[Peelee]

Caught the second half of Invincible's season 2 yesterday. Still loving it, still wondering what spurred the change in Omniman, Allen the Alien is really doing his best to get the "my favorite character" title. And if it weren't for other characters also just being great, he'd win handily. Also, Rater, if you've seen/read, would Monster Girl's power be an acceptable method of immortality for you? It seems like it would, I'd think.

[Rater202]

Caught the second half of Invincible's season 2 yesterday. Still loving it, still wondering what spurred the change in Omniman, Allen the Alien is really doing his best to get the "my favorite character" title. And if it weren't for other characters also just being great, he'd win handily. Also, Rater, if you've seen/read, would Monster Girl's power be an acceptable method of immortality for you? It seems like it would, I'd think.

I don't know about the show, but the thing about the rejuvenation effect of her power in the comic is that it's uncontrollable and happens every time she enters her monster form and if over-used would eventually revert her into a baby. I could live with being permanently a preteen, but I wouldn't want to be stuck as a toddler or worse.

Maintaining the monster form seems to arrest aging while she's in it, but... The monster form has its own pros and cons and I wouldn't want to be stuck in it long-term.

Not to mention that whole thing about not being able to receive medical treatment due to her powers warping her physiology beyond the understanding of human science. I believe I've said before that while I want to lie forever that if the choice is being immortal or being stuck in a hospital bed being kept alive by machines my whole life I'd rather die and the odds of suffering a crippling or otherwise debilitating injury or illness that would render my quality of life so poor that living forever would lose it's appeal increases exponentially if I can't get proper medical treatment.

Now, there are means of immortality in Invicible that I'd be down with, but Not Monster Girl's.

[Peelee]

I don't know about the show, but the thing about the rejuvenation effect of her power in the comic is that it's uncontrollable and happens every time she enters her monster form and if over-used would eventually revert her into a baby. I could live with being permanently a preteen, but I wouldn't want to be stuck as a toddler or worse.

Maintaining the monster form seems to arrest aging while she's in it, but... The monster form has its own pros and cons and I wouldn't want to be stuck in it long-term.

Not to mention that whole thing about not being able to receive medical treatment due to her powers warping her physiology beyond the understanding of human science. I believe I've said before that while I want to lie forever that if the choice is being immortal or being stuck in a hospital bed being kept alive by machines my whole life I'd rather die and the odds of suffering a crippling or otherwise debilitating injury or illness that would render my quality of life so poor that living forever would lose it's appeal increases exponentially if I can't get proper medical treatment.

Now, there are means of immortality in Invicible that I'd be down with, but Not Monster Girl's.

From what I've seen of the property, along with discussions with IRL friends familiar with the comic and online discussions, Monster Girl can control her de-aging by simply not transforming. In a world where supervillains don't exist, you could dictate what age you perpetually live at, or age unnaturally and de-age as you wish. Also, transforming is supposed to grant enhanced healing and regenerative capabilities. In the show it's not uncomfortable so much as inconvenient to transform as she doesn't want to continue de-aging as rapidly as the training and combat has her do.

It's not ideal, but so far in the show it's the only form of immortality aside from Mauler cloning tech, (or Immortal's deal, which isn't really explained other than "he's immortal") which I know you object to. But it was neat to hear your thoughts on it!

[Rater202]

It's not ideal, but so far in the show it's the only form of immortality aside from Mauler cloning tech, (or Immortal's deal, which isn't really explained other than "he's immortal") which I know you object to. But it was neat to hear your thoughts on it!

Spoiler: Spoilers for Very End of the Comic

Show

Atom Eve's powers render her immortal in the comics: While she still ages normally, any fatal damage up to and including sickness or the ravages of age triggers a failsafe in her powers that rejuvenates her to her physical prime in terms of health, fitness, and youth.

Seriously in the epilog, she dies of old age and then immediately regenerates and rejuvenates to the prime of her youth.

It's far from my preferred method of immortality, but if I had to pick from Invincible the one where I'm guaranteed an indefinite life span and the ability to reclaim my health and youth as needed isn't a bad option.

[Bartmanhomer]

Just to be very clear Peelee, this is my very first time feeling an actual earthquake just recently.

[LaZodiac]

Hello humans, I hope you all enjoyed your Eclipse today.

I'm too far north to have gotten to see it v_v

Somewhat related; I had the realization, thinking about the eclipse, that... oh yeah right, eclipses don't, exist in the setting of my novels. Huh.

[Peelee]

Hello humans, I hope you all enjoyed your Eclipse today.

I'm too far north to have gotten to see it v_v

You can live vicariously through me! I think I really captured the magic and majesty of the eclipse.

[Rynjin]

Hello humans, I hope you all enjoyed your Eclipse today.

I'm too far north to have gotten to see it v_v

Somewhat related; I had the realization, thinking about the eclipse, that... oh yeah right, eclipses don't, exist in the setting of my novels. Huh.

As Hank Green pointed out recently, it'd almost be weirder if they did. The stacking layers of coincidences required to create a total solar eclipse are so ridiculously unlikely that they don't happen on most (any?) other planets we know of.

[TaiLiu]

Have you just described a sponge? I'm not sure how close to "single-cell" they are...

A quick search for "social unicellular organism" shows quite a few papers (I haven't gone in to detail) on the subject, so it is quite likey that they do...

Oh, cool.

IIRC I'm pretty sure that it can't happen for the vast majority of people, but sometimes can if you're one of the rare women born with a bicornuate uterus

Slime mold

Oh, neat.

Slime mold!

Then why am I so lonely?! (Mostly just kidding there; it's Flowers Everywhere Season outside (which happens to include little tulips PRETTIER than yours!))

Yeah: uncool.

This is probably the first time I see this word and it sounds like a basic resource in some obscurer rite of dark magic. I suppose that's a feature, though.

Wow! Do you have pictures?

And apparently getting uncooler with climate change.

I'm so used to this word that I just assume everyone knows it.

For certain definitions of "relatively", sure.

For reals, though, yes, that was intentional, and i specifically phrase it like that because it sounds funny. Short version, i was going up to DC for a bit and typically see my friends (Al and Betty, why not) in Richmond when i do. A few weeks before i eas going to head up, Al offered a proposal - he typically works from home but had to be in San Diego for a bit for work, I'm guessing some meetings or stuff they wanted everyone physically at the headquarters for or something. Anyway, one of his friends, Carl, was considering buying a gaming table secondhand that was in California. Carl offered Al a pretty decent payment, plus all expenses, for Al to cancel his flight back and instead grab a U-Haul and cross-country the thing over the weekend. Al was amenable but didn't want to do it himself, and offered me half (plus all expenses) if I were to help him. So i flew to San Diego Thursday, we stayed the night, drove up to Los Angeles, grabbed everything, and made way too many Smokey and the Bandit references over the next three days. I made a profit off the trip i was planning to take already, plus some extra time in Virginia to chill with my friends, Carl got a very nice table for his gameplay nights, and Al gets to use that table for free whenever Carl hosts. And Al and I have stories about Texas being mean to us that we're going to tell for decades.

Fun trip!

How so? I remember feeling a minor earthquake from longer ago than that, seeing as it was a fairly unique experience for me, and my question was fairly neutral - he could well have said exactly what you did, that he wasn't present for it for some reason or didn't rmemeber or just didn't feel it.

I think I just assume the southern US is much smaller than it actually is. I looked it up and Birmingham is closer to Dallas than Richmond.

I'm afraid of cars but I weren't that sounds like it would a lot of fun. I'm glad you had fun.

Oh, sorry. I used the wrong quote. I was referring to your comment calling Bartmanhomer melodramatic.

I think that being a social organism is a prerequisite for being lonely.

Like, loneliness is negative feelings associated with being alone or emotionally distant from others. You need to care about social content or emotional connections before you can feel bad about not having it.

Yeah. Snakes probably don't feel lonely.

Nah, you're spot on. Deadnamers are like the necromancers of the truenamer world.

Can they only affect trans people? :O

Hello humans, I hope you all enjoyed your Eclipse today.

I'm too far north to have gotten to see it v_v

Somewhat related; I had the realization, thinking about the eclipse, that... oh yeah right, eclipses don't, exist in the setting of my novels. Huh.

They don't? Why? Is it cuz the moon is too far away?

[Peelee]

I think I just assume the southern US is much smaller than it actually is. I looked it up and Birmingham is closer to Dallas than Richmond.

Generally, non-Americans think most of America is smaller than it is. Decades ago i had some cousins come to visit. My parents had plans to take them to New York City for a bit. One of the days, my cousins asked id they could go see DC for the day.

Really, that's doable, but you'd need to plan it out in advance to really see anything - it's about a 4 hour train ride if you go the economical route, 60-90 minutes by plane but that doesn't count for the security checkpoint time and the cost is a lot higher. They thought it would just be an hour or two drive, far but easily day-trippable spur of the moment.

And don't even get me started on Texas. We were lucky to go through the top hat (such a better name than panhandle). Texas is MASSIVE. It's bigger than France.

I'm afraid of cars but I weren't that sounds like it would a lot of fun. I'm glad you had fun.

If you're going to spend 3 and a half days in this, you'd best really like the other person in it with you. Fortunately, we're great friends, so it was great! Plus, now I've road tripped literally coast to coast, so bonus points there.

Oh, sorry. I used the wrong quote. I was referring to your comment calling Bartmanhomer melodramatic.

Imean, many other New Yorkers said it felt like a small bomb or a subway accident or a gas main or water main blowing, so "i thought it was the end of the world" does seem melodramatic to me.

They don't? Why? Is it cuz the moon is too far away?

At the very least, the size of the moon and the distance of both rhe sun from the planet and the moon from the planet lining up so that the sun and moon are both right about the same relative size is an insane coincidence. I think Earth is the only known planet to have that occur, but i could be wrong on that.

[DataNinja]

As Hank Green pointed out recently, it'd almost be weirder if they did. The stacking layers of coincidences required to create a total solar eclipse are so ridiculously unlikely that they don't happen on most (any?) other planets we know of.

Yeah, the fact that we live on the one planet - in the one timeframe (well, geologically speaking) - that can support total eclipses exactly, is pretty much the one thing that can make me go "okay, maybe we do live in a simulation/otherwise intelligently created universe." (I still think it's just staggering coincidence, but...)

...but also, other worlds in fiction can have eclipses, because it's just such a cool thing. :P

[Lord Raziere]

Hello humans, I hope you all enjoyed your Eclipse today.

I'm too far north to have gotten to see it v_v

Somewhat related; I had the realization, thinking about the eclipse, that... oh yeah right, eclipses don't, exist in the setting of my novels. Huh.

Eh, I'm in the american northwest, there was never a chance of me seeing it, and two, there was already an eclipse a few years ago I could see and kinda tried to and all it really did was make things look a little more orange where I was, so to me it wasn't a big deal.

Finally got back and surpassed my place in my Pokemon Rocket Edition playthrough, made a safety save so I don't destroy all my progress again, now faced with different problem of having to fight its version of Blaine in the middle of a lab full of exploding Koffing's and all his pokemon are about ten levels higher than mine, which seems to be the standard way some people make bosses difficult in pokemon fan games.

[ShadowShinobi]

Spoiler: Spoilers for Very End of the Comic

Show

Atom Eve's powers render her immortal in the comics: While she still ages normally, any fatal damage up to and including sickness or the ravages of age triggers a failsafe in her powers that rejuvenates her to her physical prime in terms of health, fitness, and youth.

Seriously in the epilog, she dies of old age and then immediately regenerates and rejuvenates to the prime of her youth.

It's far from my preferred method of immortality, but if I had to pick from Invincible the one where I'm guaranteed an indefinite life span and the ability to reclaim my health and youth as needed isn't a bad option.

So, Atom Eve is practically a Time Lord?

[LaZodiac]

You can live vicariously through me! I think I really captured the magic and majesty of the eclipse.

Hah, cute. My girlfriends sent me some real photos.

As Hank Green pointed out recently, it'd almost be weirder if they did. The stacking layers of coincidences required to create a total solar eclipse are so ridiculously unlikely that they don't happen on most (any?) other planets we know of.

I've heard Hank Green be mentioned once or twice across a long period of time as this like, person of import, but I've never heard of what he's actually done. So... who is he? What does he do?

Also, while it is statistically improbable for eclipses to happen; categorically they can and do, so it's not that unlikely.

They don't? Why? Is it cuz the moon is too far away?

I can't spoil the exaaact reason why, but I'll say it is because, due to the cosmology of the setting, it is fundamentally impossible for the sun and moon to overlap. They are always equidistant from each other. It's also why the moon has no phases, instead being a full sphere always.

[Peelee]

I've heard Hank Green be mentioned once or twice across a long period of time as this like, person of import, but I've never heard of what he's actually done. So... who is he? What does he do?

Educates people. He's really cool.

Also, while it is statistically improbable for eclipses to happen; categorically they can and do, so it's not that unlikely.

That's not how likelihood works. Like, you could say that while it is statistically improbable to win; categorically they can and do, so it's not that unlikely. But that's wrong, and it's still what, one in three hundred million chance for powerball? It's still unlikely.

[LaZodiac]

Educates people. He's really cool.

That's not how likelihood works. Like, you could say that while it is statistically improbable to win; categorically they can and do, so it's not that unlikely. But that's wrong, and it's still what, one in three hundred million chance for powerball? It's still unlikely.

Neat. About what? What has he done that I can experience in an actionable way.

Yes, that's all very factual in the real life, but that's not the purpose of what I was saying. What I was saying is, since it categorically IS true that eclipses exist and are real, it doesn't "break suspension of belief" to have eclipses in your media fiction.

[enderlord99]

Neat. About what?

Lots of things.

What has he done that I can experience in an actionable way.

Videos on the YouTube channels "SciShow" and "Crash Course" among many other projects. He has a brother named John who is also involved in some things.

[Peelee]

Neat. About what? What has he done that I can experience in an actionable way.

This is the first time I've heard that word in a non-legal manner, but still, I giggled at the thought that it can be read as if your first instinct was "Neat! How can I sue him?"

But here's a short one. Don't eat beef.

Yes, that's all very factual in the real life, but that's not the purpose of what I was saying. What I was saying is, since it categorically IS true that eclipses exist and are real, it doesn't "break suspension of belief" to have eclipses in your media fiction.

Oh, my bad. I thought you meant it wasn't unlikely in the real world. Yeah, i am 100% on board with the "eclipses are fine to have in fiction".

[LaZodiac]

Lots of things. Videos on the YouTube channels "SciShow" and "Crash Course" among many other projects. He has a brother named John who is also involved in some things.

Neat, never heard of those.

This is the first time I've heard that word in a non-legal manner, but still, I giggled at the thought that it can be read as if your first instinct was "Neat! How can I sue him?"

But here's a short one. Don't eat beef.

Oh, my bad. I thought you meant it wasn't unlikely in the real world. Yeah, i am 100% on board with the "eclipses are fine to have in fiction".

I've always heard the term actionable used in the way I did, where it's a word to say like... what is actually doable, you know?

Neat- I feel like he's being pedantic in that. Yes, technically, volcanoes are places where the magma is currently coming out, but the obvious intent is "we should put trash in magma to get rid of it" and for most laymen, "magma is located in volcanoes" is a perfectly reasonable statement. He's right that burning trash in magma would not be a good way to get rid of it though, so I feel like he should have led with that and not "well actually, if you put it into a volcano the volcano would blow it out" a statement that is perfectly reasonable. It makes him sound like an ******* and less trustworthy, imo. I also don't know get the "don't eat beef" part- I don't know if it's purely a health thing or because corporations pollute the environment to create it (which isn't in my control), but I think I will continue to eat meat that tastes good actually.

Yeah no problem.

[Peelee]

Neat- I feel like he's being pedantic in that. Yes, technically, volcanoes are places where the magma is currently coming out, but the obvious intent is "we should put trash in magma to get rid of it" and for most laymen, "magma is located in volcanoes" is a perfectly reasonable statement. He's right that burning trash in magma would not be a good way to get rid of it though, so I feel like he should have led with that and not "well actually, if you put it into a volcano the volcano would blow it out" a statement that is perfectly reasonable. It makes him sound like an ******* and less trustworthy, imo. I also don't know get the "don't eat beef" part- I don't know if it's purely a health thing or because corporations pollute the environment to create it (which isn't in my control), but I think I will continue to eat meat that tastes good actually.

Yeah no problem.

My read on that was he was trying to be funny, but decided he didn't like how it came across (and the major point he was making, also to be funny, came across like an afterthought) and that's why he then deleted it. The "don't eat beef" bit is because cattle farming creates a staggeringly large amount of greenhouse gases - I think the last number i read was somewhere around 20% of greenhouse gases globally.

[Form]

You can live vicariously through me! I think I really captured the magic and majesty of the eclipse.

Wow, you're right, amazing! It's fully eclipsed. I can't see the sun at all!

I can't spoil the exaaact reason why, but I'll say it is because, due to the cosmology of the setting, it is fundamentally impossible for the sun and moon to overlap. They are always equidistant from each other. It's also why the moon has no phases, instead being a full sphere always.

So it's orbiting in a direction parallel to the orbit of the planet and with its orbital plane perpendicular to the orbital plane of the planet around the star? Yeah, that is a very unusual orbit. Are we talking magic or more mundane reasons for that?

Celestial weirdness is always cool.

[LaZodiac]

My read on that was he was trying to be funny, but decided he didn't like how it came across (and the major point he was making, also to be funny, came across like an afterthought) and that's why he then deleted it. The "don't eat beef" bit is because cattle farming creates a staggeringly large amount of greenhouse gases - I think the last number i read was somewhere around 20% of greenhouse gases globally.

Entirely fair! Failed jokes are kind of a bad first impression of a comedian.

Aah, okay. Like I said, that's not fundamentally something I can fix. I will continue to eat beef but also continue to do everything I can to put thumbscrews on the executives responsible for that pollution to force them to fix that issue.

... man I want a hamburger now.

So it's orbiting in a direction parallel to the orbit of the planet and with its orbital plane perpendicular to the orbital plane of the planet around the star? Yeah, that is a very unusual orbit. Are we talking magic or more mundane reasons for that?

Celestial weirdness is always cool.

That's how people in universe explain it, yeah! Given the fact that the setting takes place on a pangaeic continent, there's no one on the other side of the world to claim otherwise.

The reality is a bit more complicated a bit more spoiler-y... but it's a world building detail so I can share it without potentially pre-empting future plot stuff: the sun and the moon (and all the stars) aren't actually like, orbital bodies in space. They're magical [things] for lack of a better term, stitched up in the sky, and the sky rotates around the planet.