IIIIIIIIII's recent activity
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Comment on Why I am pursuing a life, professionally and personally, of Christian Virtue in ~humanities
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Comment on TV Tuesdays Free Talk in ~tv
IIIIIIIIII Link ParentI think I'd reverse SNW and LD in my rankings. The only reason is I've just done a SNW rewatch and it can be tonally weird sometimes. I think the common term is 'Marvelisation', where people are...I think I'd reverse SNW and LD in my rankings.
The only reason is I've just done a SNW rewatch and it can be tonally weird sometimes. I think the common term is 'Marvelisation', where people are cracking wise and winking at the camera while they're about to die. Never saw it on TNG, so the idea that bridge crew would be joking in 21st century quips in an emergency rubs me the wrong way a little.
I don't think even LD did this. Screaming and swearing, yes, but not Whedonisms.
But I still love SNW and I think Season 2 is twice as good as season one. It's just such a shame with live action TV shows that there are multiple years between seasons (although to be fair this time was writer's strike/actor's strike impacted).
Really looking forward to Season 3, the cliffhanger of Season 2 was really well done, and each bridge crew character has now had enough A-stories that I genuinely care about their welfare.
Anyway, I'm just rambling because I'll miss Lower Decks so much. My favourite Star Trek since TNG ended :(
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Comment on Why I am pursuing a life, professionally and personally, of Christian Virtue in ~humanities
IIIIIIIIII Link ParentIt just skipped over the Schism :( I should have read the fine print better, it's a history of the church in the Latin West. It's a bummer, I was hoping to learn more about your church through...It just skipped over the Schism :(
I should have read the fine print better, it's a history of the church in the Latin West. It's a bummer, I was hoping to learn more about your church through reading this
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Comment on Why I am pursuing a life, professionally and personally, of Christian Virtue in ~humanities
IIIIIIIIII Link ParentI'm in the 1040's in my book, you just spoiled the Great Schism for me! šI'm in the 1040's in my book, you just spoiled the Great Schism for me! š
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Comment on Why I am pursuing a life, professionally and personally, of Christian Virtue in ~humanities
IIIIIIIIII Link ParentThat's useful, thanks. I even did a search to find a primary source for it before I used it - but turns out that wasn't true. Post edited to remove incorrect attribution.That's useful, thanks. I even did a search to find a primary source for it before I used it - but turns out that wasn't true. Post edited to remove incorrect attribution.
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Comment on Why I am pursuing a life, professionally and personally, of Christian Virtue in ~humanities
IIIIIIIIII (edited )LinkThis is the thesis of the history book Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind. Have you read it? I was very very scepitcal of the thesis going in, but I think the author makes a pretty...Iām discovering that a lot of the way I think about the existence of the world is really Christian in nature. Most intellectuals since the 18th century or so would point to Plato, or more recently, to chaos as the proper way to order a mind. But in practice, most people are espousing a neo-Platonist Christian kind of justice and morality.
This is the thesis of the history book Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind. Have you read it? I was very very scepitcal of the thesis going in, but I think the author makes a pretty compelling argument that what I would classify as secular, humanist thought was only made possible by centuries of Christian scholarship.
My own personal opinion is everything was going okay with Christianity until the reforms around 1000 that codified a separate, celibate priesthood, and made up a bunch of stuff that wasn't in the Gospels (which, themselves, were cobbled together oral histories). Up until then, Christianity seemed to be a choose-your-own-path belief system centred around Jesus's teachings.
I know it's hackneyed, but this sentiment rings true for me: "I like your Christ, but not your Christianity. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." That's why I really love it when I meet and make friends with a follower of Jesus who is actually a nice person, and tries to act in a Christ-like manner.
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Comment on Have you ever seen your own imagination of a book's world eerily brought to life on screen? in ~books
IIIIIIIIII Link ParentOh man, I used to watch that DVD box set on repeaaaat when I was a kid. One of my first big crushes was Hornblower's French girl in The Frogs and the Lobsters. It used to make me so mad that the...Oh man, I used to watch that DVD box set on repeaaaat when I was a kid. One of my first big crushes was Hornblower's French girl in The Frogs and the Lobsters. It used to make me so mad that the frigate they used for the Indefatigable was from the wrong century. I'd read the series first, and I was so sad when they cancelled it just as the books get good! Hornblower as a frigate captain onwards is awesome :(
I started with the whole Hornblower series, bounced off of Master and Commander (book one) because Jack was a bad guy in my head. I think he sleeps with Admiral Harte's wife in the first book? That was enough for sixteen year old me to condemn him as an asshole I didn't want to read about.
Now I've re-read Patrick O'Brian five or six times but I still have... issues with the series. I much prefer Hornblower for more realistic plots, better knowledge of sailing, and the characters.
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Comment on "Shower thoughts" and other things to ponder in ~talk
IIIIIIIIII Link ParentThis is a twist on @UniquelyGeneric's post, but: Friends of mine and I have a game that keeps us endlessly discussing it. Chocolate Bread Coffee You only get to keep two. The other is eternally...This is a twist on @UniquelyGeneric's post, but:
Friends of mine and I have a game that keeps us endlessly discussing it.
Chocolate
Bread
CoffeeYou only get to keep two. The other is eternally banned.
We've played variations with people who are gluten intolerant or just not into those three things, and you just sub in whatever are your three can't-live-withouts.
I still change my mind on this almost every week
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Comment on Have you ever seen your own imagination of a book's world eerily brought to life on screen? in ~books
IIIIIIIIII Link ParentI am very very glad I saw Peter Weir's Master and Commander before I read the whole series. The depiction of the strain on spars, heavy weather, life aboard ship, and especially combat... it's all...I am very very glad I saw Peter Weir's Master and Commander before I read the whole series. The depiction of the strain on spars, heavy weather, life aboard ship, and especially combat... it's all so much more vivid in the books because of that film.
I'm so glad they went to so much trouble to get it as 'right' as possible.
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Comment on Have you ever seen your own imagination of a book's world eerily brought to life on screen? in ~books
IIIIIIIIII Link ParentJust to clarify for you and @cfabbro, I didn't love the movie. I was just like 'Maaan that's what I think a shuttle would be like', 'that's what the abandoned GrayCris station was like!', etc....Just to clarify for you and @cfabbro, I didn't love the movie. I was just like 'Maaan that's what I think a shuttle would be like', 'that's what the abandoned GrayCris station was like!', etc.
Movie was fine, but I just kept going nuts over the production design.
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Have you ever seen your own imagination of a book's world eerily brought to life on screen?
This sounds like a bit of a hyper-specific question, but it's happened twice this year. The first one is kinda easily explained. The FX adaptation of Say Nothing was great. One of the things that...
This sounds like a bit of a hyper-specific question, but it's happened twice this year.
The first one is kinda easily explained. The FX adaptation of Say Nothing was great. One of the things that really stood out to me and some friends was the sense of 'having been here before' - especially some of the specific locations like Divis Flats that reappear. I suppose that's just a question of good production design, but it felt like someone did a brain scan and projected exactly what I was imagining. Which also just means Patrick Radden Keefe is a very, very good author.
The second one is a bit stranger. When I went and saw Alien: Romulus, it was (and I am not kidding) exactly as I had imagined the Corporation Rim from The Murderbot Diaries. And I suppose corporation indentured servitude isn't a scarce topic in science fiction, but again, it was like the production designer did an fMRI of my brain while reading those books. It was eerily similar, to the point where I half-jokingly kept expecting a Murderbot monologue to overlay the stupid humans ignoring good security practice.
It was so jarring that I was going to ping a bunch of Tilders I know have read the series and say 'Did this happen to you too?!'
This doesn't always happen, which is why these two made me go 'oh shit'. As a counterpoint, netiher the 1980 or 2024 adaptation of Shogun were anything like what I was imagining in my head. The earlier one looked very cheap, this year's one was beautiful but... just not what goes through my head when reading that book. To be clear, I don't mean character descriptions or other specific details, I mean the broader... feel? The world, I suppose.
Has this ever happened to you? Either with an adaptation of a book, an unrelated screen work that makes you do Leo Pointing At the TV, or - even weirder - a real world location?
Alternatively, and this is a tangent, am I an outlier in imagining books so that I can 'recognise' them when I see them on screen? I know there's a lot of discussion between whether you hear your own voice when you read. Do other people have an internal cinematographer?
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Comment on TV Tuesdays Free Talk in ~tv
IIIIIIIIII Link ParentIt's gotta be one of my favourite Trek episodes, of any show, ever. I really really hope they stick the landing. I have high confidence. I'll miss it a lot.It's gotta be one of my favourite Trek episodes, of any show, ever.
I really really hope they stick the landing. I have high confidence. I'll miss it a lot.
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Comment on What have you spent "too much time" trying to fix or streamline? in ~talk
IIIIIIIIII Link ParentNo, thank you! That was very interesting and I read every word It's amazing to me that the Tacoma and Hilux don't share a common platform. I would have thought that if Toyota sold a global Hilux...No, thank you! That was very interesting and I read every word
It's amazing to me that the Tacoma and Hilux don't share a common platform. I would have thought that if Toyota sold a global Hilux and Ford sold a global Ranger they'd fly off the shelves. Less curb weight, easier to move in and out of job sites.
Those were the two biggest concers here when Ford and GM stopped production of the Falcon and Commodore utilities (utes).
My theory is that there is still a market for such a truck in the US, but the automakers collude to not sell such a truck in order to force people to buy more expensive models
I think this is true here also. In the past two years, a lot of people have started importing Kei trucks from Japan to use on farms, for electrical, plumbing, plastering. I even saw an HVAC owner-operated business driving around a Kei truck yesterday. People are definitely starting to rebel against having to pay $100,000+ for a vehicle that should be affordable, reliable, and be able to take a beating.
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Comment on The Witcher IV | Cinematic reveal trailer in ~games
IIIIIIIIII Link ParentI think you're right. I'm seeing a fair few posts on Threads/Bluesky about great masses of people being mad about Ciri being the protagonist, and not looking 'feminine' enough, etc. I'm not seeing...I think you're right. I'm seeing a fair few posts on Threads/Bluesky about great masses of people being mad about Ciri being the protagonist, and not looking 'feminine' enough, etc.
I'm not seeing the actual outrage - I think my filters work. But I'd guess the outrage is by created by monetized YouTubers who make profit from it, as you said.
Anyone who had played TW3 shouldn't be that surprised at Ciri being the protagonist. In my last save in the game, she's having a break from being a witcher at Corvo Bianco, after dragging a garkain's head into my villa.
I'm a little disappointed because I think the background for the other schools (especially Cat) is so cool, and the tease of the Lynx amulet set me up for an entirely new playable character. But I totally get wanting to continue the story with her at the center. She's at Corvo Bianco because she's my favourite character in the game, and I am so beyond excited to kill that last Crone as Ciri in this trilogy.
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Comment on The Witcher IV | Cinematic reveal trailer in ~games
IIIIIIIIII Link ParentThat is very enlightening, and scary. Thanks for that perspective, it's clear from this thread that (relative to other gaming communities), I seem to be off the mark with Witcher fans. To answer...As someone who plays a lot of video games, in general I found the Witcher fanbase to be a lot less misogynistic than others I've been in. The series has several strong female characters (both in writing and in power), and while people have individual favorites they tend not to hate women as a group. In a lot of other communities (League of Legends, CoD, most competitive games tbh), women are verbally degraded to their faces just for existing in the same space. I never saw any of that in TW3 groups.
That is very enlightening, and scary. Thanks for that perspective, it's clear from this thread that (relative to other gaming communities), I seem to be off the mark with Witcher fans.
To answer the point made by @creesch - I may be hyperfocusing on the misogyny I've seen on the main Witcher sub and The Witcher 3 sub, but relative to my experience in other online communities, it seemed like a lot. To hear that it's not a lot relative to other games is very sad.
And I'm not sure what the specific cognitive bias is called, but extreme stuff sticks in my mind more than regular stuff. On the main Witcher sub, I remember a lot of highly upvoted posts using gendered insults in the titles. On the TW3 sub, I do remember a lot of posts calling women in the games 'this bitch', 'whore', etc. Not even antagonists - a lot of it was referring to Triss, or greyer characters like Anna Henrietta or Keira Metz.
ANYWAY! I'll cede the point and say that my experiences and what stuck out to me seems to be entirely at odds with everyone else here, and (even though I'm disapointed it's not an original character), I'm excited for TW4.
Video games really aren't generally for me, so I'm sorry if I misinterpreted anyone's favorite thing.
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Comment on The Witcher IV | Cinematic reveal trailer in ~games
IIIIIIIIII Link ParentI'm seeing almost an entire thread of To be fair though, it does seem like they're not angry about a woman being the protagonist. It seems more confusion about the lore change I should clarify...I'm seeing almost an entire thread of
'she shouldn't be able to drink witcher potions/she's too powerful to be a witcher!'
To be fair though, it does seem like they're not angry about a woman being the protagonist. It seems more confusion about the lore change
I should clarify that, in my limited experience (I don't play many video games), The Witcher fans seemed the most misogynistic of the fan bases I browse. Granted, a lot of this was hate directed at the women who acted in and wrote the Netflix show. The subreddit dedicated to TW3 as a game is far more chill in that regard than the franchise-wide subreddit.
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Comment on The Witcher IV | Cinematic reveal trailer in ~games
IIIIIIIIII (edited )Link ParentI must have been unlucky and run into the bad threads then, that's good to hear Edit: They seem pretty mad - as others have said, mostly about 'what does this mean for canon, she is not supposed...I must have been unlucky and run into the bad threads then, that's good to hear
Edit: They seem pretty mad - as others have said, mostly about 'what does this mean for canon, she is not supposed to be able to do that/she's too powerful'
Edit edit: This IGN article goes into some depth about the lore changes that people seem to be mad about. Seems like the writers already consider Ciri to be a witcher, citing the books, and whilst they talk about the Trial of the Grasses, they don't go into detail about whether Ciri's undergone it or not.
From only playing the game, I would have thought her super-awesome magical bloodline would make surviving it a trivial thing. But also that same super awesome magical bloodline would make fighting monsters a trivial thing, because she fought off The White Frost and won (in my save). I'm really interested to see where they go with this.
I think it'd be cool if she 'spent' all of her magical-juice on saving the world, and now she's just a slightly-magical person who can do signs, do little spells - that lightning seemed new - and drink potions.
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Comment on The Witcher IV | Cinematic reveal trailer in ~games
IIIIIIIIII LinkI kinda wish it was a non-Ciri sequel, just with an original character and a new witcher school. Regardless, I think that the Witcher fan base will hate a woman as a protagonist. I think they'll...I kinda wish it was a non-Ciri sequel, just with an original character and a new witcher school.
Regardless, I think that the Witcher fan base will hate a woman as a protagonist. I think they'll hide behind 'she shouldn't be able to drink witcher potions/she's too powerful to be a witcher!'
The Witcher writers are good enough to figure this out, but my experience of the fan base is that they are extremely misogynistic and will use 'canon' as a shield.
I'll play it, but I'm less excited than the idea of a clean slate with cameos from TW3 characters.
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Comment on What have you spent "too much time" trying to fix or streamline? in ~talk
IIIIIIIIII Link ParentYeah for sure. Out of interest, what made you go with the F-150 over a Tundra? We only have the Ranger in my country, and it's popular, but mostly with real estate agents etc. People who need a...Yeah for sure. Out of interest, what made you go with the F-150 over a Tundra?
We only have the Ranger in my country, and it's popular, but mostly with real estate agents etc. People who need a truck usually go for the Hilux. It's Toyota's midsize worldwide offering - I don't know why you guys get the Tacoma instead. The Tacomas I've driven in the US have been basically the same, and are awesome.
I don't really know much about the full-size American truck scene, but my limited impressions from travel are:
- F150 - Used by craftspeople and people in trades. I imagine the spare parts market must be huge.
- Dodge RAM - Driven exclusively by idiots. Often given a ride height mod for unknown reasons. (People have begun to import them into my country, colouring this impression).
- GMC Sierra - Rarely seen, like an rare subspecies of rhino.
- Chevy Silverado - The also-ran. Why does GM have so many brands. Confusing.
- Toyota Tundra - A really big, slightly beefier Tacoma. Seems like basically a Land Cruiser with a tray, which is why I would lean towards it.
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Comment on What have you spent "too much time" trying to fix or streamline? in ~talk
IIIIIIIIII Link ParentOh man. I really feel this one. I think part of the 'Why the fuck am I even bothering?' feeling I get comes from the tech change. A 2003 Tacoma is firmly in the (theoretically) internal combustion...Oh man. I really feel this one.
I think part of the 'Why the fuck am I even bothering?' feeling I get comes from the tech change. A 2003 Tacoma is firmly in the (theoretically) internal combustion engine truck that could (theoretically) last half a century. If the dealer hadn't have screwed you over.
I have a newer car - 2010s - and it's right on the edge of things being locked down with software and needing DRM diagnosis tools from the dealer. Not quite, but on the edge, and that's why I bought it.
But every time I spend hours and hours fiddling with it or diagnosing an issue that only I care about (IE a small rattle noise from the engine bay), I think... why am I bothering? Maybe I should just sell it and buy an EV, like everyone in my state seems to be doing. Maybe I should go halfway and get a hybrid, so at least some of these skills I'm building will be useful.
Every time I work on my gas engined car with all the mechanical complexity involved in the chassis, suspension, differential drive system and gearbox, it feels like I'm chipping away at flint hand knives while the neighbours are all happily using bronze
It's an... interesting book. I wouldn't say wonderful, because now I'm at the bit where various popes are playing kingmaker, and they've just done a 'crusade' against European heretics.
These heretics seemed like pretty nice people, and their 'heresy' was primarily invented by the pope. Who ordered a crusade that caused the deaths of between 300,000 and 1 million people.
And from reading other sources, the 'heresy' seems to be almost entirely manufactured - at least the part about 'They believe in two Gods, one good and one evil, and it descended from Darius's Persian Empire.' I mean, I might just be a bit suspicious of these popes... but it seems incredibly unlikely, and awfully convenient, that everyone who refused to acknowledge Rome also believed in an Evil Persian God who was also Satan.
Anyway, your church seems like the OG Christians and these 'Catholics' are protesting a bit too much for my liking. If they're so Universal, they wouldn't have to keep saying it, and killing people who disagree.
I will definitely check out that podcast. I'm really really interested in the early Christians. Before I read this book, I thought Paul was one of Jesus's IRL friends, and not an internet friend. Paul talks about Jesus like American boys talk about their high school girlfriends in Canada. I am learning a lot that they skipped over in church.