Or they could just not bring back literally the most boring villain possible.

And I want to be very clear that I’m not saying the Emperor is the most boring villain in cinema history, even though he is. I’m saying he’s the most boring villain possible.

When he was introduced in the original trilogy he was a nameless old man in a robe. Defining characteristics? None. Voice? Evil. Face? Evil. Motivation? Evil. Outfit? Featureless robe, black because he’s evil.

The best part about The Last Jedi was that they were fixing the downgrade that RotJ made of replacing the most badass movie villain of all time with – I can’t stress this enough – the most boring villain possible. TLJ killed the Emperor stand-in and set Kylo Ren up as the real villain. That was exciting.

But then they let fan forums write the third movie, and somehow, the Emperor came back.

It’s hard to find the balance between letting the joke breathe versus making it too obvious. I’m not sure I hit that balance this time, but it seemed less funny any other way I could think to say it.

That’s true.

With a T9 phone, I used to be able to send a complete text message without ever taking my eyes off the road.

Now that I’ve got a touchscreen I’m swerving all over the place every time I try to text. It’s way less safe.

Or just stop after the first sentence.

Have you tried saying, “Please don’t ask me that anymore”?

That will address the exact problem without being rude, without offending him, and without opening it up for more questions. You don’t owe him an explanation, so don’t leave an opening for one. Just say: “Please don’t ask me that anymore.”

If he asks why, you say, “Doesn’t matter. Please don’t ask me that anymore.”

If he offers an explanation for why he’s asking you that, you say, “Ok. Please don’t ask me that anymore.”

Neat and easy. No unintended consequences.

Obviously I don’t know what your finances are like, but is it possible she’s just enjoying herself and considers it a hobby? Comparing it to other games, $100/month can seem ridiculous, but comparing it to other hobbies, it might not be that bad.

I used to be unwilling to spend any amount on a mobile game until I thought about how much I used to spend playing Magic: the Gathering. Sometimes hobbies cost money.

whose cat is this

I think this all the time. I have trouble being in the moment, but my life right now is possibly the best it’ll ever be. So it’s important that I take the time to be grateful for how things are right now.

Easily my favorite saint.

American-style hotdog

What other kind of hot dog is there? That’s just a hot dog.

On the one hand, I find idle browsing on Lemmy to be a lot more enjoyable than reddit. I see more stuff that I’ve never seen before, and I see less unfunny, uninteresting stuff.

On the other hand: I drew a comic and posted it to what is basically the only Lemmy comic group. I wanted to give Lemmy an honest chance, so that was the only place I shared it. I figured it’d be a nice change of pace since the group is almost entirely reposts from reddit.

My comic started to get some traction, and then the only mod in the only Lemmy comic group removed it for profanity. The profanity in question was the word “balls”.

A few days later I mentioned this story on reddit. Someone asked to see the comic, so I posted it to r/comics, and a few hours later it hit the front page of r/all.

So in my opinion, Lemmy suffers from a lot of the same problems as reddit (like petty tyrant mods), and some of those problems are exacerbated by its small size.

“customers are shopping more with Kroger now than ever because we are fighting inflation and providing great value.”

I call shenanigans. I don’t always pay close attention to the prices of all the things I buy, but one thing I do pay attention on is soda. (Probably because it’s bad for me, so I give myself additional justification to buy it or not.)

And amidst all this “inflation”, and all the talk about lowering prices back down to reasonable levels Kroger’s price just on soda just jumped 25%.

Years ago I used to get a 12-pack for $5, and sometimes there’d be a 3-for-$12 deal. When COVID hit, it was 3-for-$15. Post-COVID, $7 a box. When they raised it to $8, I stopped buying it unless it’s on sale or if my wife specifically requests it, and then I only buy one.

Then I went to Kroger a few weeks ago, and the only way to get a price under $8/box was to sign up for something on their app and sell them my personal information. So I decided not to buy from Kroger anymore.

This week my wife specifically requested a box, I was in Kroger anyway, and now it’s $10/box or 3-for-$8. Fuck that. They hit their limit with me, and there are no circumstances in which I’m paying that much for soda.

My person was like a disembodied arm. Like if pushing the ball off the table were a game on the Wii, which I guess would mean it was in first person.

As someone who owns a car and is married to a handicapped person, I’m pretty happy about parking minimums where I live.

Thank you. I agree about many comics straining to find humor. That’s why I don’t make very many comics.

Past me is absolutely furious that I don’t have one ready. We switched to a pagoda style fountain a few years ago, so the best I can do is this low quality picture of him from 14 years ago as a kitten.

Bucky’s little sister passed last year, and although she was overall a much stranger cat, she drank from the waterfall part of the fountain. Sometimes Bucky would get in uncomfortably close and stare at her mouth while she was drinking. It’s hard not to imagine him unable to see the water, thinking, “What are you even doing?? There’s nothing there!”

Sorry for your loss. I hear it’s supposed to get easier, but personally I’m still waiting.

Fun fact: I almost embarrassed myself and wrote “geckering”, but my wife corrected me at the last second.

Geckering is how monkeys laugh. Foxes gekker.

Then I won’t do that. Thanks for pointing that out.