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Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 16, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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What are some irl parallels to the pleasure of a horror game “save room”?

I’ve heard some pretty good things about a hit of heroin.

When I researched this some time ago, a lot of heroin users would describe the high as being tucked into a warm bed after a long day of walking in the rain.

Someone once asked me what falling in love for the first time felt like, and I described it as “what it feels like to use heroin.”

Never having taken any opioid, I was just guessing for rhetorical effect. But if that’s accurate, I wasn’t far off.

To be fair, though, “you’re my addition baby” is the province of love songs and fuck sonnets since the invention of modern pharmaceuticals, so it’s not like I invented it. I notice nobody has yet described their lover as their methamphetamine, although I’m fairly certain the sensation is similar. “I’d rot out my teeth because of my singular obsession with you and lack of dental care” isn’t, you know, exactly a Shakespeare sonnet, though maybe it kinda rhymes with 130.

(Did people before opium came to the west use alcohol as a reference point? “You’re like fine wine” doesn’t really parse as a romantic phrase to me, and the process of alcohol intoxication sounds more like a metaphor for a bad hookup, of which I’m sure the drink has been the cause of many, than it does a burgeoning romance. “It’s fun while it lasts but I’m throwing up in the morning.”)

“You’re like fine wine” doesn’t really parse as a romantic phrase to me, and the process of alcohol intoxication sounds more like a metaphor for a bad hookup, of which I’m sure the drink has been the cause of many, than it does a burgeoning romance. “It’s fun while it lasts but I’m throwing up in the morning.”)

The comedian Sam Morril had a bit where he said that sex in a relationship is like a baked salmon darne, where you feel nourished and satisfied afterwards, having eaten something that was healthy and good for you. Whereas casual sex is like a takeaway kebab or burger, where you are absolutely loving the experience in the moment, but then feel disgusted and ashamed of yourself immediately afterwards.

A good argument for making casual sex taboo again. Or at least informing people that it doesn't live up to the hype.

Well, speak for yourself.