[Non-political] News that makes you Laugh/Cry/Both...

Eikre · Post by **Eikre** » Mon May 09, 2016 7:33 pm

Mechalich wrote:Honestly, what the agency should have done is rebooted the whole selection process with a list of say ten pre-approved names and put those up for vote instead rather than simply decide on the (otherwise very appropriate) David Attenborough by fiat.

I find the name of the vessel satisfactory, on the condition that they also award Sir Attenborough with arms and tartan, naming him progenitor of Clan McBoatface.

Josh_Kablack · Post by **Josh_Kablack** » Mon May 09, 2016 7:44 pm

SlyJohnny wrote: The last two books of that trilogy really doubled down on the SJW bullshit, and they're really not worth reading (as much as it pains me to agree with the Puppies on ANYTHING).

The "SJW bullshit" has absolutely nothing to do with why the 2nd and 3rd books are so very inferior to the first. Instead the issues have to do with:

The main character's motivations in the sequels are far muddier than the millennia old desperate revenge gambit of the first book, making her far less compelling.
The interesting parts of the setting have already been established, making the world-building far less interesting.
The Aliens who were an alien and inscrutable background threat in the first book show up and are flat out better than you physics in what may be the slowest moving deus ex machina ever.

Those are far bigger issues than the politcal allegory subplots about how nobody cares that tea plantation workers are mistreated and the "migrants" aboard the space station don't actually get the rights accorded to the rest of the Radach.

Chamomile · Post by **Chamomile** » Mon May 09, 2016 8:09 pm

Eikre wrote:
Mechalich wrote:Honestly, what the agency should have done is rebooted the whole selection process with a list of say ten pre-approved names and put those up for vote instead rather than simply decide on the (otherwise very appropriate) David Attenborough by fiat.
I find the name of the vessel satisfactory, on the condition that they also award Sir Attenborough with arms and tartan, naming him progenitor of Clan McBoatface.

I know what my next CK2 runthrough is going to be about, now.

Leress · Post by **Leress** » Thu May 12, 2016 8:23 am

http://www.earthables.com/cave-will-blo ... 86027.html

Man spent 25 years creating cave carvings.

Longes · Post by **Longes** » Sun May 22, 2016 8:50 am

"Fruit Ninja" movie is being made.

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Sun May 22, 2016 1:55 pm

Josh_Kablack wrote:
SlyJohnny wrote: The last two books of that trilogy really doubled down on the SJW bullshit, and they're really not worth reading (as much as it pains me to agree with the Puppies on ANYTHING).
The "SJW bullshit" has absolutely nothing to do with why the 2nd and 3rd books are so very inferior to the first. Instead the issues have to do with:

The main character's motivations in the sequels are far muddier than the millennia old desperate revenge gambit of the first book, making her far less compelling.

The interesting parts of the setting have already been established, making the world-building far less interesting.

The Aliens who were an alien and inscrutable background threat in the first book show up and are flat out better than you physics in what may be the slowest moving deus ex machina ever.

Those are far bigger issues than the politcal allegory subplots about how nobody cares that tea plantation workers are mistreated and the "migrants" aboard the space station don't actually get the rights accorded to the rest of the Radach.

I agree with your listed reasons, but also found it anti-climatic that the genocidal warmongering tyrant antagonist was handily defeated by grass-roots activism.

The aliens, as you say, who were at first set up as an inscrutable distant threat apparently existed only to show up and legitimise Breq's attempts to set up a people's republic where AIs could cooexist with humans in a liberal utopia.

The shift in perspective away from the space empire to focus exclusively on the domestic problems of this tiny backwater tea-farming planet and it's space station were a bit dull, as well.

Also, I get that the human soldiers replacing the ancillarys weren't supposed to be elite forces, but the sheer number of times they asked for hugs kind of phased me, plus they kept taking "personal days" in the middle of developing combat situations and noone thought that this was odd or had any kind of a problem with it.

hyzmarca · Post by **hyzmarca** » Wed May 25, 2016 6:35 pm

Hulk Hogan is suing Gawker again, because losing more than their entire empire is worth once isn't enough.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Thu May 26, 2016 1:55 am

This is standard for a wrestling story line - you want a series of matches.

That said, if Gawker hasn't been properly tanked by the first one, I support any efforts to properly sink them this time around, even if the Hulkamania isn't their biggest victim. Rather, because he isn't - I'll cheer for him in fighting them on his own behalf even though he's a cock.

nockermensch · Post by **nockermensch** » Fri May 27, 2016 5:58 pm

Koumei wrote:This is standard for a wrestling story line - you want a series of matches.

That said, if Gawker hasn't been properly tanked by the first one, I support any efforts to properly sink them this time around, even if the Hulkamania isn't their biggest victim. Rather, because he isn't - I'll cheer for him in fighting them on his own behalf even though he's a cock.

Do you want wrestling plotlines? Because Hogan's lawsuit has been secretly funded by a billionaire who's also a Trump delegate.

Leress · Post by **Leress** » Fri May 27, 2016 6:25 pm

nockermensch wrote:
Koumei wrote:This is standard for a wrestling story line - you want a series of matches.

That said, if Gawker hasn't been properly tanked by the first one, I support any efforts to properly sink them this time around, even if the Hulkamania isn't their biggest victim. Rather, because he isn't - I'll cheer for him in fighting them on his own behalf even though he's a cock.
Do you want wrestling plotlines? Because Hogan's lawsuit has been secretly funded by a billionaire who's also a Trump delegate.

I think this is the more important bit then being a Trump delegate

the article wrote:Thiel, whose sexuality was outed in a 2007 Valleywag article, argued that he third-party funding was "less about revenge and more about specific deterrence." The venture capitalist, worth an estimated $2.7 billion, said he decided several years ago to covertly provide money to "victims" of stories posted on Gawker Media's properties. "I didn't really want to do anything," he told The New York Times, saying that he thought providing so-called third-party litigation funding "would do more harm to me than good." Thiel said he changed his mind when one of his friends convinced him that if he didn't step in to stop Gawker, nobody would.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Fri May 27, 2016 7:35 pm

I like that.
The bully that is gawker gets to feel how it is when somebody who is bigger than you has it out for you and simply helps your other victims.

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Fri May 27, 2016 8:40 pm

Leress wrote:I think this is the more important bit then being a Trump delegate
the article wrote:Thiel, whose sexuality was outed in a 2007 Valleywag article, argued that he third-party funding was "less about revenge and more about specific deterrence."

Stahlseele wrote:I like that.
The bully that is gawker gets to feel how it is when somebody who is bigger than you has it out for you and simply helps your other victims.

Who's helping Gawker's "other victims"? Do you think gay people would fare exceptionally well under Trump?

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Fri May 27, 2016 8:59 pm

Um, Thiel. He's been bankrolling lawsuits by other people who had highly private information such as their sexual orientation and homemade sex tapes publicly released by Gawker. He is also a Trump delegate.

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Fri May 27, 2016 9:47 pm

Yeah, the fact that Thiel is also a fascist shit stain is mostly irrelevant to this issue. He happens to have a giant pile of money and a justified mad hatred for Gawker. It's worrying that this case might end up being a test case for legal harassment of legit news organizations. But Gawker was never a legit news organization and clearly broke the law and the boundaries of common decency.

-Username17

Leress · Post by **Leress** » Fri May 27, 2016 9:51 pm

Starmaker, did you read the article?

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Sat May 28, 2016 12:37 pm

Leress wrote:Starmaker, did you read the article?

It's revenge. The problem with outing gay people isn't just the invasion of privacy, it's the high potential of ruining their lives. I live in Russia, where outing leads to career- and often actual murder. Gay people get catfished, spied upon, extorted and murdered, and none of it is prosecuted. Do you (or does Thiel) seriously think minorities would fare better under Trump? Because the more plausible future in Trumpistan is O'Queef messaging Thiel v.2 on LinkedIn telling him to pony up 1 bn or get pronounced gay even if he's actually straight.

Leress · Post by **Leress** » Sat May 28, 2016 3:04 pm

Starmaker that has fuck all to do with what is being talked about.

To answer your questions:
No.
Ask Theil yourself.

Since Trump is a very sue-happy kind of guy for even the slightest of perceived slights

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2016/03/14/you ... itigation/

he may extend this narcissism to everyone.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Wed Jun 01, 2016 1:14 pm

http://consequenceofsound.net/2016/05/u ... -the-mood/
Fuck Disney!
In the eye!
With a rusty spoon!
Sideways!

Kaelik · Post by **Kaelik** » Wed Jun 01, 2016 1:39 pm

The best part about them copying A New Hope was that it gave better odds of them copying Empire.

RIP the Dream.

Korwin · Post by **Korwin** » Wed Jun 01, 2016 1:44 pm

Kaelik wrote:The best part about them copying A New Hope was that it gave better odds of them copying Empire.

RIP the Dream.

Copying Empire strikes back is still likely. Rogue One plays apparently up to 10 minutes before 'A new Hope' timeline wise (according to the above article).

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Wed Jun 01, 2016 1:47 pm

Yeah, Rogue one is supposed to be the Agent that gave Leia the Deathstar Plans.

Shatner · Post by **Shatner** » Wed Jun 01, 2016 2:08 pm

Stahlseele wrote:Yeah, Rogue one is supposed to be the Agent that gave Leia the Deathstar Plans.

<snark>Which is just more flagrant whitewashing by Hollywood. This should be a vehicle for many bothan actors, not another human.</sarcasm>

Kaelik · Post by **Kaelik** » Wed Jun 01, 2016 2:08 pm

Korwin wrote:
Kaelik wrote:The best part about them copying A New Hope was that it gave better odds of them copying Empire.

RIP the Dream.
Copying Empire strikes back is still likely. Rogue One plays apparently up to 10 minutes before 'A new Hope' timeline wise (according to the above article).

If they are going to make a cluster of dead agents into a feel good movie, then how can I trust them to cut off Rei's arm?

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Wed Jun 01, 2016 3:52 pm

Shatner wrote:
Stahlseele wrote:Yeah, Rogue one is supposed to be the Agent that gave Leia the Deathstar Plans.
<snark>Which is just more flagrant whitewashing by Hollywood. This should be a vehicle for many bothan actors, not another human.</sarcasm>

i'd still watch that, if it were a grimdark star wars depicting the rise of the empire between the end of the 3rd prequel and the first star wars movie!
it would finally be not just space opera but for adults!
finally SHOW why vader is as hated and feared as he is for some reason.
and no, annie going emo does not count <.<
he did what the prophecy said and brought balance to the force by helping eradicate most of the jedi untill there were only 2 left. Yoda and Obi-Wan.
And him and Emps as the 2 sith.
Maybe show what happened to the cloning world they had used to make their armies of storm troopers to fight the droids with. Sadly, the first deathstar war already in construction and almost finished at the end of the 3rd prequel movie, so nothing about who and how and why would think that to be a good idea . .

Mechalich · Post by **Mechalich** » Wed Jun 01, 2016 5:21 pm

Stahlseele wrote:
Shatner wrote:
Stahlseele wrote:Yeah, Rogue one is supposed to be the Agent that gave Leia the Deathstar Plans.
<snark>Which is just more flagrant whitewashing by Hollywood. This should be a vehicle for many bothan actors, not another human.</sarcasm>
i'd still watch that, if it were a grimdark star wars depicting the rise of the empire between the end of the 3rd prequel and the first star wars movie!
it would finally be not just space opera but for adults!
finally SHOW why vader is as hated and feared as he is for some reason.
and no, annie going emo does not count <.<
he did what the prophecy said and brought balance to the force by helping eradicate most of the jedi untill there were only 2 left. Yoda and Obi-Wan.
And him and Emps as the 2 sith.
Maybe show what happened to the cloning world they had used to make their armies of storm troopers to fight the droids with. Sadly, the first deathstar war already in construction and almost finished at the end of the 3rd prequel movie, so nothing about who and how and why would think that to be a good idea . .

This has been done, in the comics. You can read the Dark Times series or several of the Vader stand-alones (Ghost Prison in particular is awesome, among the best EU works ever, though I'm biased because I wrote a fanfic centered around it). Some portions of both are very, very dark. Star Wars can go pretty dark effectively. Heck, doing a dark side playthrough of KOTOR or SWTOR will take you to a very dark place in short order.

However, Disney's flagship property during the Imperial Era is the Rebels cartoon series, which is very explicitly for children. They are trying, hard, to make the core audience younger by something like a full generation, so I can totally understand why they'd be leery of a movie that skews too dark.