Didn’t go into so much detail with most people of faith I’ve met, but I know for a fact mum read both the Old and New Testaments and decided she didn’t* (still getting used to it…) want to have anything to do with the Church’s interpretations, because they focused on essentially anything other than empathy and being human.

On the other hand, grandma wasn’t that big on the Bible, but went to church weekly (for as long as she could). She was also domineering, aggressive, two-faced, and manipulative. Also loved to visit the village witch (no, I’m not joking), which was… kinda’ contradictory if one asks me, but nobody did, so that’s that…

From my purely anecdotal experience, the people who actually want to follow Jesus’s teachings don’t go to church. Says a lot.

Jeesus, I would have immediately exited the call/room/building without saying a thing.

Oh, great! Wonderful!

So, we’ll get to buy a doll which’ll need to be hooked up to a couple of car batteries to have it spew nonsense at our kids?

Edit: or will they go with the less nonsensical but even creepier method of just making the dolls a sender/receiver which talks to a central server? Wouldn’t it be cool to know that your child’s every word may be recorded (and most certainly used) by a huge Corp?❤️

Thank you kindly!

Well, even so, you still did not dismiss any amount of hope for humanity from within me:P Also, that’s a downright classy pun!:)))

Yep! Dead within three seconds, I chortled=))) I pictured that screaming seagull clip=))))

Dunno, seemed to be handling the banter just fine! Even made me want to join in and keep it going, I’m generally not that participative:))

Hey, maybe! But if laughing at ostriches was caused by a concussion, then I don’t wanna be… uuh… right?

Hahaaa, I mostly dated women older than me, means I still have a shot!

You and me both! Got pecked pretty hard in the forehead by one at a petting zoo when I was about 12, my only reaction was to start laughing.

Edit: no offence to either Gigantochicken, Woody Woodpecker’s great-great-great-great-grandma, or ostriches, love all of those doofuses!❤️

I still picture dinosaurs as the old designs in my head, purely by choice. I fully accept they are inaccurate, and will always say “yes, dinosaurs had feathers” if asked, but… like… I mean… how am I supposed to take Gigantochicken seriously? If I’d be sent to the past and end up being chased by one of the Woody Woodpecker lookin’ ones, I’d die laughing my ass off.

HA! Demonstrably untrue if the interaction is of any indication, there’s at least one person who’d enjoy themselves: me!😈

Exactly! Thank you! Yes, I realised I’ve focused too much on Pessimism (guess I’d make for a good defence lawyer! or a poor one, food for thought…) and not the big picture.

Yes! It’s about reasonably establishing the risks and actually setting safeguards in place, whereas optimism should be allowed to roam free and dream stuff up! One tempers/uplifts the other!

Warning for crummy poetics: and in the synnergy of the two, Reality is born!:)))

Well, hey, fully valid that I may be biased in a similar way, but in reverse, having been surrounded mostly by people who refuse to see The Darkness even if it’s actively slapping them… In either case, I agree with you, it takes a balance between them, as always!

You’ve actually expressed my point way better than I have, so I guess that bias is at least present in the direction from which I approach expressing the idea:-?

But… but… the story makes no sense that way! The plot… the character drama, the arcs, none of it works without you!

I need a Xanax… I need to talk to the Producer… I need the Producer to bring me a Xanax and a body bag, because you’ve MURDERED my vision!

…what? No! How… why… what?!=)))))

C’moon, you were supposed to be the main character! Like, obviously!=))) The public doesn’t want to see someone unboxing the gift, they wanna know who sent it, why, and how it got there!

Dammit, I’m having flashbacks to the first time someone asked me if I’d still love them were they a worm, the deer in the headlights is strong with me=)))

Now this is an elevator pitch I’d turn into a two-parter! Y’know? Add lotsa’ drama, the premise is thus, yes, but imagine the people who would do that, how much there’d be to dig and explore there!

Oh, and it’s all played cheerful and upbeat! Heartbreaking moments, juuust heartbreaking! But leaves you with a warm smile and love for humanity at the end!

Hmm, fair point:-? I think you had it the first time, a trebuchet would cover the distance if the payload weighs as much as a book:-? Just have to make it aerodynamic!