Pieces of entertainment that made you want to punch someone.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 12:12 am

Kenneth Grant.

Hicks · Post by **Hicks** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 6:28 am

I know Maj; that book is simply the most egregiously infuriating example of padding I have been exposed to, excluding 4e D&D. 4e D&D was less infuriating and more saddening.

MGuy · Post by **MGuy** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 1:40 pm

name_here wrote:I am honestly baffled by your entire post. I mean, he gets into fights with magic/psychic people and his power is to negate any and all supernatural bullshit. That's not uselessly specific, it's an unstoppable superweapon. Granted, the anime leaves out the explanation in the novels for why no one escapes with magical flight (basically, dispelling flight magic is really, really easy)

Likewise, the difference between Espers and Magic Users is pretty obvious; Magic Users have rune cards and chants and magic circles and crap while Espers just think things and they happen. I suppose Kanzaki (girl with the razor wires and positively ridiculous outfit) makes the issue slightly confusing because she uses no spells until her fight with Archangel Gabriel on account of being a huge badass.

It is because it only works from his hand and seems to undo some spells sometimes and not others at other times (consider that the doctor that patches him up with his power). Otherwise he has to 'touch' the magic with that hand specifically and directly at that. He can't just get rid of ambient magic even if you KNOW that there is ambient magic in the area (making it more bullshit specific). It otherwise affords no special resistance to anything else the magic does or any protection anywhere on his body including the hand we're talking about because while it dispels magic it touches it specifically does not then undo the environmental effects of that magic (which is completely ignored to allow him to not be completely dead in the first episode). It is very stoppable by harming him anywhere on his body or simply chopping off the damn hand or beating him up in a mundane way since he is just a kid and is not particularly well trained at martial combat. There is no fucking reason anyone should lose to this kid since his super bullshit power works on such a narrow scale and leaves the rest of his body open (and arguably the hand itself). This is doubly true since he has no special training to use it and triple true when you realize that it is super easy to avoid falling prey to it. The only way he ever wins is a HUGE idiot ball people have to fucking cut up and snort in order to not fuck this kid up.

The difference between magic users and Espers is very thin because not all of them even use runes or any shit to use their magic. Fire dude can throw fire at will. He only needs the runes for his summon. Girl with sword only needs her sword until aforementioned fight and don't even get me started on that goddamn episode because that is the worst fucking one I saw. Index's inside defense mode just fucking activates. If the only difference between Espers and magic users is that magic users have a thing they carry while Espers don't, consider me unimpressed.

Honestly before this show I'd watch most anime all the way through after I start them but this came after a slew of absolute failures (Vampire Knight, Gundam Seed, Tales of the Abyss) and was just the straw that broke the camel's back. It didn't just drop the ball for me it slammed it into the ground and nailed it there.

Edit: Now I should also reiterate that the whole world has to shit on itself constantly for him to function. In the very first episode it specifically states that this kid is very unlucky so not only is he at a disadvantage in any confrontation for the aforementioned reasons but it should be worse because the show fucking tells you that the universe is out to get him.

Concise Locket · Post by **Concise Locket** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 1:40 pm

Dan Simmons, who was apparently kidnapped and replaced by Glenn Beck when writing Flashback... and everything else post-9/11.

The anime adaptation of Planetes.

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 3:04 pm

MGuy wrote:It is because it only works from his hand and seems to undo some spells sometimes and not others at other times (consider that the doctor that patches him up with his power).

The doctor does not have any supernatural powers, or at least none we've seen. He's just really, really good at his job and has Academy City superscience.

Otherwise he has to 'touch' the magic with that hand specifically and directly at that. He can't just get rid of ambient magic even if you KNOW that there is ambient magic in the area (making it more bullshit specific). It otherwise affords no special resistance to anything else the magic does or any protection anywhere on his body including the hand we're talking about because while it dispels magic it touches it specifically does not then undo the environmental effects of that magic (which is completely ignored to allow him to not be completely dead in the first episode).

It generally does block ambient magic, it's just that some stuff is continuously powered. Attacks only work if the portion that hits him is not in any way supernatural, otherwise they violently disperse.

It is very stoppable by harming him anywhere on his body or simply chopping off the damn hand or beating him up in a mundane way since he is just a kid and is not particularly well trained at martial combat.

And most of his opponents are not terribly skilled at fisticuffs, and the ones who are do in fact kick his ass.

There is no fucking reason anyone should lose to this kid since his super bullshit power works on such a narrow scale and leaves the rest of his body open (and arguably the hand itself). This is doubly true since he has no special training to use it and triple true when you realize that it is super easy to avoid falling prey to it. The only way he ever wins is a HUGE idiot ball people have to fucking cut up and snort in order to not fuck this kid up.

Uh, pretty much no one actually knows that. All they can tell is that he inexplicably counters their powers.

The difference between magic users and Espers is very thin because not all of them even use runes or any shit to use their magic. Fire dude can throw fire at will. He only needs the runes for his summon. Girl with sword only needs her sword until aforementioned fight and don't even get me started on that goddamn episode because that is the worst fucking one I saw. Index's inside defense mode just fucking activates. If the only difference between Espers and magic users is that magic users have a thing they carry while Espers don't, consider me unimpressed.

Fire guy holds a rune card in his hand when throwing fireballs. Kanzaki actually drew her sword in that fight, and as previously mentioned did not cast spells in earlier fights. Yes, yes, her thing with the wires is ludicrously impossible for ordinary humans; she isn't one. Index's defense mode is based off runic tattoos. And that's far from the only difference, it's just the one that makes it possible to instantly tell which category someone falls under. Espers have a single power and apply it in all sorts of ways, while magic users have a bunch of relatively narrow spells, although generally they do specialize. Fights with Espers are generally a relatively straightforward affair while fights with magic users frequently require figuring out an exploitable weakness in their spell.

MGuy · Post by **MGuy** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 4:09 pm

name_here wrote:
MGuy wrote:It is because it only works from his hand and seems to undo some spells sometimes and not others at other times (consider that the doctor that patches him up with his power).
The doctor does not have any supernatural powers, or at least none we've seen. He's just really, really good at his job and has Academy City superscience.

Ahh I was misinformed. Someone had told me something about him being able to distort natural laws in order to heal people.

Otherwise he has to 'touch' the magic with that hand specifically and directly at that. He can't just get rid of ambient magic even if you KNOW that there is ambient magic in the area (making it more bullshit specific). It otherwise affords no special resistance to anything else the magic does or any protection anywhere on his body including the hand we're talking about because while it dispels magic it touches it specifically does not then undo the environmental effects of that magic (which is completely ignored to allow him to not be completely dead in the first episode).
It generally does block ambient magic, it's just that some stuff is continuously powered. Attacks only work if the portion that hits him is not in any way supernatural, otherwise they violently disperse.

He was unaffected by flames that weren't directed at his hand (they did try to make me believe he was in danger but seriously he was surrounded by flames and got out fine), I've seen his hand completely negate the forward momentum of the white haired kid for no reason, and despite him touching all kinds of crap in at least 2 "all magic zones" he was in it, did not effect the environment not even just to distort what was going on or anything that would've made sense considering how his power is supposed to work. Now if you're going to claim that continuously powered stuff isn't effected (cause reasons) how the hell did he break past white haired fucker's anti everything defense and why was he able to hold off Flame guy's summon at all when it directed a continuous stream of flames at his hand?

It is very stoppable by harming him anywhere on his body or simply chopping off the damn hand or beating him up in a mundane way since he is just a kid and is not particularly well trained at martial combat.
And most of his opponents are not terribly skilled at fisticuffs, and the ones who are do in fact kick his ass.

You don't need to be terribly skilled to be a full grown adult vs a kid or otherwise bigger/ stronger/ tougher than him (since the anime does tell you he really is nothing special in any fashion). The flame guy shows up and straight up showed that he was easily able to beat the kid but left without doing that because his summon didn't work. Though I assume he didn't want her that bad anyway considering how their idiotic encounter went down.

There is no fucking reason anyone should lose to this kid since his super bullshit power works on such a narrow scale and leaves the rest of his body open (and arguably the hand itself). This is doubly true since he has no special training to use it and triple true when you realize that it is super easy to avoid falling prey to it. The only way he ever wins is a HUGE idiot ball people have to fucking cut up and snort in order to not fuck this kid up.
Uh, pretty much no one actually knows that. All they can tell is that he inexplicably counters their powers.

They can SEE it. It's not like he makes/can make any effort to actually fucking hide it. Even if they don't know 'why' it works anyone with eyes can see how he uses it. I mean fuck 3 people (which is almost every major fight I was able to see in the short time I watched it) figure it out DURING their fights with him.

The difference between magic users and Espers is very thin because not all of them even use runes or any shit to use their magic. Fire dude can throw fire at will. He only needs the runes for his summon. Girl with sword only needs her sword until aforementioned fight and don't even get me started on that goddamn episode because that is the worst fucking one I saw. Index's inside defense mode just fucking activates. If the only difference between Espers and magic users is that magic users have a thing they carry while Espers don't, consider me unimpressed.
Fire guy holds a rune card in his hand when throwing fireballs. Kanzaki actually drew her sword in that fight, and as previously mentioned did not cast spells in earlier fights. Yes, yes, her thing with the wires is ludicrously impossible for ordinary humans; she isn't one. Index's defense mode is based off runic tattoos. And that's far from the only difference, it's just the one that makes it possible to instantly tell which category someone falls under. Espers have a single power and apply it in all sorts of ways, while magic users have a bunch of relatively narrow spells, although generally they do specialize. Fights with Espers are generally a relatively straightforward affair while fights with magic users frequently require figuring out an exploitable weakness in their spell.

I'm going to assume that the distinctions are made more evident further in the series. As I said the use of bells and whistles to do your magic mojo vs not having them and still doing magic mojo (cause reasons) is not impressive. Even if they do eventually start making the two truly unique (by maybe allowing the casters to at some point seem like they aren't single trick ponies) it would only make the series marginally less shitty. Like smoothing out the shit in the shit sandwich.

Mask_De_H · Post by **Mask_De_H** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 4:25 pm

Ancient History wrote:Back on topic: Perdido Street Station.

Second. I want to kick China Mielville's fucking head in on principle now, but this started the seething, irrational hatred. It's just so affected and pretentious, like making your stock characters Slaads and birdmen and Thri-kreen in a fourth grader's Social Studies paper on Victorian England somehow qualifies for genius.

My contribution: the Worm serial. Anything that bugs you about adding to its TVTropes page is bad news.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 4:51 pm

Mask_De_H wrote:Anything that bugs you about adding to its TVTropes page is bad news.

Some tropers scrubbing the TvTropes page on Rationalwiki ignited all of my old hate and rage. But then I realized that the people who think that TvTropes is still relevant are pretty much the same people who make 'the cake is a lie' jokes and think Break.com or YTMND is the height of wit. So that makes me feel better.

K · Post by K » Tue Oct 29, 2013 5:59 pm

Mask_De_H wrote:
Ancient History wrote:Back on topic: Perdido Street Station.
Second. I want to kick China Mielville's fucking head in on principle now, but this started the seething, irrational hatred. It's just so affected and pretentious, like making your stock characters Slaads and birdmen and Thri-kreen in a fourth grader's Social Studies paper on Victorian England somehow qualifies for genius.

.

There is some alternative universe where China Meilville is the greatest RPG flavor text writer in the world and not a miserable excuse for a novel writer.

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 8:42 pm

MGuy wrote: He was unaffected by flames that weren't directed at his hand (they did try to make me believe he was in danger but seriously he was surrounded by flames and got out fine), I've seen his hand completely negate the forward momentum of the white haired kid for no reason, and despite him touching all kinds of crap in at least 2 "all magic zones" he was in it, did not effect the environment not even just to distort what was going on or anything that would've made sense considering how his power is supposed to work. Now if you're going to claim that continuously powered stuff isn't effected (cause reasons) how the hell did he break past white haired fucker's anti everything defense and why was he able to hold off Flame guy's summon at all when it directed a continuous stream of flames at his hand?

Supernatural powers straight-up do not work on his right hand. Most of them are instantly negated, but if they're not negated then his hand stops them in place. If that contradicts an explanation given in the show, then the explanation is wrong, which makes sense because no one who appeared in any of the episodes you watched has the slightest goddamn clue.

You don't need to be terribly skilled to be a full grown adult vs a kid or otherwise bigger/ stronger/ tougher than him (since the anime does tell you he really is nothing special in any fashion).

Well, firstly, he pretty much is physically an adult, so it's not like a random guy off the street holds an overwhelming physical advantage. Secondly, he is a mildly experienced street brawler, giving him an advantage over people who rely exclusively on supernatural powers or enchanted weapons once he disables them. When he gets into fights with people who can beat him in a physical confrontation, he loses the fight.

They can SEE it. It's not like he makes/can make any effort to actually fucking hide it. Even if they don't know 'why' it works anyone with eyes can see how he uses it. I mean fuck 3 people (which is almost every major fight I was able to see in the short time I watched it) figure it out DURING their fights with him.

Well, generally people figure out that he's got some ability that negates their powers but not its limitations. Certainly, the Espers don't, and only one character I can think of specifically realized it wasn't full-body, and did in fact cut off his right arm.

I'm going to assume that the distinctions are made more evident further in the series. As I said the use of bells and whistles to do your magic mojo vs not having them and still doing magic mojo (cause reasons) is not impressive. Even if they do eventually start making the two truly unique (by maybe allowing the casters to at some point seem like they aren't single trick ponies) it would only make the series marginally less shitty. Like smoothing out the shit in the shit sandwich.

The distinctions do indeed become more clear. At the same time, arguably the most important distinction is basically that Espers are on one team and magic users are generally on the other.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Wed Oct 30, 2013 2:07 am

Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai!

When I read "it's an ero-anime about female pro-wrestling. Mostly it's fan service in the form of submission holds. And shower scenes" I was "I AM ALL OVER THIS"

It's basically ryona material though. Their intention is for the eroticism to be in the character's pain and screams. Also if you're going to write something based on pro wrestling, learn how it fucking works. Grabbing the rope means they have to break the hold even if they drag you away from it, and the key to escaping a Boston Crab is not "to raise your body and crawl forward", it's "to not let them turn you over right at the start".

But even putting wrestling stuff aside, and the fact that the author doesn't seem to realise that they actually use scripts and stuff*, it could have been good if it were "sexy stretching and advanced cuddling techniques: the anime", but in the end it's like what I imagine watching a rape would be like.

So perhaps not a punch in the face. It would probably be appropriate that the author of the original manga upon which this is based (and who seriously believes pro wrestling is real) be hit in the head with a "steel" fold-up chair, then locked in a Boston Crab. Because poetic justice.

*Even in Japan puroresu. No really.

K · Post by K » Wed Oct 30, 2013 6:10 am

Is an iPhone entertainment enough to punch?

I just spend six hours trying to figure out why my PC can't see my iPhone to complete the update that has been bugging me for months. Luckily, my old PC could restore my phone to working order so that I could do the update through wi-fi.

ckafrica · Post by **ckafrica** » Wed Oct 30, 2013 8:53 am

Orson Scott Card's Empire (2006). I had gotten to expect not too much by then. Days of Speaker for the Dead and Pastwatch were long gone but most of his stuff was still readable. This is the worst piece of detritus I've sat through in a long time.

Let me ruin it for you

a George Soros clone funds a revolution to kill against a George Bush clone and only good christian soldiers can stop him

nockermensch · Post by **nockermensch** » Wed Oct 30, 2013 6:29 pm

The Dreamers' trilogy.
Just read the reviews. Apart from an occasional troll or shill giving it anything better than 1 star, the consensus is clear. This is pain and boredom made into book form.

To make it slightly worse for me, I got the books as a well-meaning gift from someone who knows that I like fantasy stories, so there were some awkward moments at the obligatory "did you enjoy the books?" question.

Also, regarding OP:
>2013
>still reading Goblins

That's the real tragedy here.

Mask_De_H · Post by **Mask_De_H** » Wed Oct 30, 2013 7:16 pm

Nerdy nitpick about wrasslin, Koumei: the ref is supposed to issue a standing five count and warn the wrestler performing to break the hold if the person in the hold makes the ropes. The wrestler performing the hold can ignore the ref and drag the victim back into the center of the ring. Used to be Daniel Bryan's shtick on the Indies.

Wrasslin Waifus is basically an anime about the hazing they give real starting out wrestlers in puro (young boys), only they're girls to appeal to the ryona/ecchi crowd. The asshole shootfighter making a newbie tap to a half-Boston Crab is almost an institution.

JonSetanta · Post by **JonSetanta** » Wed Oct 30, 2013 8:40 pm

The Doom movie.

After half a life of playing the game series it gets shoveled into something about.... a space virus.

Not a single demon in the entire flick.

They had the budget to do much better.

Meikle641 · Post by **Meikle641** » Wed Oct 30, 2013 10:03 pm

I liked the Doom movie, even if the virus part was stupid. I went in expecting space marines shooting monsters, and that's what I got. The FPS sequence was what made it.

Corsair114 · Post by **Corsair114** » Wed Oct 30, 2013 11:09 pm

Terry Goodkind's Wizard's First Rule.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Wed Oct 30, 2013 11:43 pm

I'll say it. Hunger Games. Both the book (never could bring myself to read the sequels) and the movie.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Thu Oct 31, 2013 12:26 am

I didn't read the Hunger Games, and I didn't exactly watch it so much as hear it in the background, and it's somewhere between stupid and annoying. But not infuriating. Maybe my senses are deadened by my sister also watching the Twilight movies, and constantly watching Big Bang Theory and Friends.

Meikle641 wrote:I liked the Doom movie, even if the virus part was stupid. I went in expecting space marines shooting monsters, and that's what I got. The FPS sequence was what made it.

The Doom movie was hilarious. Game->Movie transitions are usually shite, but sometimes they're funny in the process so it's totally worth it. Mortal Kombat, Silent Hill and Resident Evil were decent, Doom and Street Fighter were fucking hilarious.

Having the guns actually hovering in place was perfect.

That said, the first two Doom novels are well worth reading, and although the demons are monsters from space, it's a big invasion force that seems close enough to the games that it's all good. The Mormons are shown to be the last bastion of hope against the demons, but they're also completely mental and stupid, so it's not pro-Mormon propaganda or anything. The third book starts to break away from the others and just isn't as good. I haven't read the fourth one, but apparently it goes all Matrix and ruins the series.

Chamomile · Post by **Chamomile** » Thu Oct 31, 2013 12:30 am

Funnily enough it was Catching Fire that had that effect on me. Hunger Games had a terrible slump in the middle, but it finished alright and had a compelling premise (though I'm aware it's not an original one). Catching Fire then abandoned that premise to have the main character moon over her love interests, observe a growing rebellion without interacting with it, and then participate in an extremely abbreviated Hunger Games that lasted like 10% of the book. I never finished the trilogy.

Ironically, the movies looks like they might be the opposite. The first one was pretty terrible (Peacekeepers looked like Space Balls, shakycam everywhere), but the second one looks like they've at least turned the Peacekeepers into storm troopers. Which is laying it on a bit thick, but they are at least threatening now. It doesn't look great, but it might be decent.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Thu Oct 31, 2013 1:19 am

Koumei wrote: Maybe my senses are deadened by my sister also watching the Twilight movies,

Stop feeling sorry for yourself, you whiner. It's not that bad.

and constantly watching Big Bang Theory and Friends.

Oh. Ew. I take back what I said earlier. I am truley sorry for your lots.

Archmage Joda · Post by **Archmage Joda** » Thu Oct 31, 2013 7:37 am

Koumei wrote:I didn't read the Hunger Games, and I didn't exactly watch it so much as hear it in the background, and it's somewhere between stupid and annoying. But not infuriating. Maybe my senses are deadened by my sister also watching the Twilight movies, and constantly watching Big Bang Theory and Friends.

Welp, you've found me my contribution to this thread. I hate hate hate HATE friggin' Big Bang Theory. It's like most of the worst stereotypes about people with even remotely nerdy interests, all wrapped up in incredibly annoying packages. It's as though every single line ever uttered by a character in that show is specifically designed to piss me off and grate on my nerves. And what's worse, several of my friends actually like that exercise in irritation.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Thu Oct 31, 2013 7:53 am

I'll attribute this to my tastes changing as I, you know, grew up, but I can't stand the Drizzt books any more. I stopped reading them when 4th edition came in and Forgotten Realms was being made to conform to the new shit. Specifically, the 'world of darkness, points of light' shit.

But Drizzt hadn't been fun for years, and I was mainly hanging in for the Enteri-and-Jarlaxle books to finish up.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Thu Oct 31, 2013 9:36 am

Archmage Joda wrote: Welp, you've found me my contribution to this thread. I hate hate hate HATE friggin' Big Bang Theory. It's like most of the worst stereotypes about people with even remotely nerdy interests, all wrapped up in incredibly annoying packages. It's as though every single line ever uttered by a character in that show is specifically designed to piss me off and grate on my nerves. And what's worse, several of my friends actually like that exercise in irritation.

Actually yes, that show is on my shitlist as well. Almost all the jokes boil down to "We are nerds!", "Penny is dumb!" or "Sheldon doesn't understand human interaction!" Whether we're talking "what intelligent people are like", "what people with nerdy hobbies are like", "what females are like", probably "what males are like" for that matter, or fucking anything else, they don't know what they're doing (or are deliberately getting it wrong for "comedy").

All of this while still conforming to the standards of shitty American sit-coms (indeed, thanks to the double bombardment, I notice when so many of the "jokes" appear in both. "It's not a date, we're just going out for dinner and not having sex." "Sounds like all the dates I've been on")