Slightly off topic, but it just dawned on me that the youngest generation might not have as universal of a childhood compared to some before.

Like, everyone in school knew what SpongeBob was. Maybe you didn’t have a TV or you didn’t like watching it, but you knew the characters and the general gist of what happens in the show.

With kids on such giant platforms like YouTube, there’s so much variety, I wonder if the “brand recognition” will be as strong in 10 years.

That poor kid. I already was upset thinking about them having to see Mom get arrested. I didn’t even consider the fact that the youngest is probably blaming himself.

Did I miss anything?

Cops are usually chill and laid back, but they get tired of the monotony of their job sometimes and appreciate the use of erratic, unpredictable movement when interacting with them. They also like someone who is proactive, so instead of waiting for them to ask you for your licence and registration, just jump right out of your car as soon as they step out of theirs and pull your wallet out of your pocket as quickly as you can for them. You’ll never have an issue with the cops again after this.

We Americans are very paranoid about things we think are “too good to be true” (don’t know if that’s a phrase everywhere). This may be looking too deep into things, but I honestly think our country’s history of taking advantage of less informed peoples has influenced this - we know what happens when you take the bait, so it’s best to just accept the norm (ie paying your own metro fare) vs risk finding out what happens if they come back looking for what they “gave” you.

I actually sat and thought on this for a second. If someone walked up to me and tried to give me a $100 bill, I’d probably ask a few questions first, mainly, “what do you want?” If they seem genuine in that they just felt like being nice to someone (or even if I got the “social experiment” vibes), I’d probably take it, and ask if I could buy them something small with it (like, if this were outside the grocery store, ask if they wanted some snacks or a drink or something).

I think if I were in a group setting, someone approaching the group trying to give us a $100 bill would probably would be quickly closed out of the circle, and everyone would get quiet and look away until they left, at which point everyone would talk about that weird guy trying to sell us something.

I honestly love it when such profoundly misinformed statements are put forward with absolute authority like this.

a single history

You know that half the country went to war with the other half, right?

a single government

In California, you can order weed through an app and get it delivered to your front door. In Idaho, get pulled over after picking up for the month, you’re a felon.

a single language

Single official language sure. At my work I’m the only native English speaker and a majority of our customers are foreigners who speak little English.

This could vary depending on the situation, but as someone who works in healthcare in the US (pray for me), it doesn’t really matter if you’ve got proof of traveler’s insurance, unless I’m able to bill them directly and get a paid claim for it. In every case I’ve dealt with traveler’s insurance (admittedly not a ton, but these things are usually handled similarly across the industry), I’ve been instructed by the insuring company to bill the patient/ client, and that the client will be submitting a claim.

If it’s something relatively inexpensive like medication, you’ll probably be charged at the pharmacy, pay out of pocket and get reimbursed.

If, God forbid, you need to stay at a hospital, or dare to mention the word “ambulance”, you’ll be given a bill for $1 million, which you’ll forward to the insurance company. They’ll handle paying the hospital, then follow up with you on any kind of copay you’re meant to be left with.

That’s how I used to play guitar, too. I got a cheapo sound pedal with a bunch of effects and premade back beats. Try to play some songs that I know. Sound bad. Keep doing it until I get bored or it sounds kinda cool once. That’s enough for the week.

Am I ever gonna be anywhere close to decent? Nope. Do I care? Nope.

New title is much more indicative of your intent.

From your original comment I thought you meant just not recommended at all (ie no ads, never seen a comment or video online, etc) and was like… how would I have played the game if it wasn’t somehow recommended, how would I have heard of it?

I think you’re looking for smaller games that aren’t constantly being recommended online, which is much less restrictive, haha

The way I interpreted your title was “has not already been mentioned in this thread”. Every game ever made has been recommended, idk how you expect people to answer this lol

Favorite is a tough one to pick. There are many games that have genuinely shaped my life, some that I still play consistently, others that hold a dear place in my heart but I’ll likely never pick back up for various reasons.

Games that I play all the time and get the most value out of are not necessarily my favorite games. I’ve been playing the crap out of satisfactory since it’s 1.0 release, and it’s definitely up there, but it doesn’t evoke the same feelings I had when I played Skyrim for the first time, nor do I think it will create formative memories like the Halo, Sly Cooper, or Ratchet and Clank series did for me.

Well shit. I guess I don’t have an answer. Sorry.

Awesome highlighting.

Thank you! A bit of advice that has stuck in my head re: highlights is, always take it one step further than you think you need to; if you think the 3rd shade lighter looks good, 4 will look great, 5 will be too much.

I was happy at around layer 4 for the front, so I started bringing some bits to almost pure white. I don’t know if pure white was too bright, if I didn’t thin it enough, or if I started getting sloppy with my brush strokes, but those pure white spots were so distracting to me that I just skipped the last highlight on his back.

I wanted to challenge myself to not copy a premade color scheme, aiming to create my own to hone my eye. After this, I think it’s a little too early for me to try to make my own pallets entirely from scratch for all of my figures, but for random minis and throwaway figurines that I don’t have any attachment to, well, I think it looks better than it did in gray!

Your Pikachu example has me wanting to paint something in that color scheme, though. I’m picturing a dark golden brown cape with a bright gold fringe and yellow underside. Normal iron/ silver armor, but with yellow highlights, and a yellow skirt, some ruby red studs, a traces of black detailing here and there. He might even have a trident with electric arcs between the poky bits.

Thanks! Your comment painted a very vivid picture for me and I wanted to have fun with it.

I started painting models recently so that’s been keeping me busy.

Consume a shit ton of cannabis. Yeah.

Oh yup. Just checked out their Instagram, this is definitely the best one but the other comics are a good start (looks like they only started doing comics earlier this year). I hope they keep the art style consistent, its hilarious.

Thankfully they only placed tariffs on covfefe imports.

The price of rakes and yard vacuums would skyrocket.

Good thing I’ve got a great new source of income!

They would use leaves to pay wage slaves to harvest leaves.

Wage Slave: Please sir, my family is starving.

Corpo: Silence! You know the punishment for theft.

Wage Slave: But sir! In a single 14 hour shift, me and my coworkers bring in an average of 1.2 tons of dead leaves a day. It costs but a handful of leaves to feed my children, and a small paper bag to house them.

Corpo: Ah, so you know of your costs, yes. But you think not of the costs for those who would pay you. My costs are numerous, and if I am to pay you, and pay still more of your coworkers, they must first be met, and met in full.

WS: You are right, sir, of course. Forgive me, for I know not the burdens beared by those cursed with fortune.

C: Then allow me to educate you! Your coworkers and you bring to me 1.2 tons of leaves everyday. Every day! Do you know the cost of storing 1.2 tons of leaves?

WS: I have never had the leaves necessary to warrant storage, sir. What a burden this must be.

C: A burden, yes! And what’s more! If I am to leave my leaves unattended, who is to say the likes of you won’t come in the night to take what I have rightfully earned?

WS: Another thought a stranger to me, sir, for I have naught the possessions to fear theft, save for which I have thusly stolen from you.

C: Indeed! And lucky you should feel to be worry free of thievery! And finally. Why is it, do you think, that not everyone grows their own trees, farms their own leaves?

WS: This I do know, sir! This is the law of the land!

C: The law of the land, precisely. But the law does not avail itself cheaply to those who have; nay, for those burdened with the curse of fortune, justice is bought, and bought with deep pockets. For the cost of justice far exceeds the cost of storage, the cost of vigilance, even the cost of labor (which, as a laborer yourself, I need not remind you is exorbitantly high!).

WS: I have never thought to purchase a law before.

C: And it is my wish that you never shall. Great are the troubles of those forced into my position. This is why you must toil, why the days must grow longer and the suppers fewer and further in between, why those who have must always have, and those who don’t must never receive; lest you be faced with the ugly wrath of capitalism.

WS: Capitalism! Gods, anything but that!

C: So you see now, Wage Slave, why you must accept this punishment for reaching out to the forbidden fruit.

WS: Please, sir, a decade of unpaid labor is but a gift to someone like me, who was but this close to falling into the clutches of prosperity!

C: Go, then, and sow for me now what I shall later have you reap.

WS: May I sow the same field you have my children working?

C: No.

WS: Thank you!

Oh man! This guy is spicy. I’m in love with the red-to-yellow blends, especially on the sword inlay. Incredibly impressive. The purple gems are great eye-catchers too, well done

Oh, I actually love your idea of some sort of marking to indicate they’re of the same army. In the campaign I made these guys for, the orcs are being manipulated by a white dragon. It would’ve been so cool to have like a frosty blue-white slash going across their face or maybe like 3 white lines on the shields.

Brilliant advice. Thank you. If I ever get around to painting the fire orcs they might get a cool indicator because of you 😉

As long as you are putting in a little effort I find it doesn’t matter how things turn out. The guy I posted here has a face not even a mother could love, but I had fun painting under these constraints and I know I did about the best I could with what I had, so he’s awesome!

I’ll try to remember to snag pics of everyone’s creation.