MrNoPro's recent activity

  1. Comment on Analyzing Frank Herbert's Dune from an architectural perspective in ~design

    MrNoPro
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    I wonder what she would think of Muad'dib's throne room from Dune Messiah

    I wonder what she would think of Muad'dib's throne room from Dune Messiah

    The passages through which she was being escorted grew larger by subtle stages—tricks of arching, graduated amplification of pillared supports, displacement of the triangular windows by larger, oblong shapes. Ahead of her, finally, loomed double doors centered in the far wall of a tall antechamber. She sensed that the doors were very large, and was forced to suppress a gasp as her trained awareness measured out the true proportions. The doorway stood at least eighty meters high, half that in width.

    As she approached with her escort, the doors swung inward—an immense and silent movement of hidden machinery. She recognized more Ixian handiwork. Through that towering doorway she marched with her guards into the Grand Reception Hall of the Emperor Paul Atreides—“Muad’dib, before whom all people are dwarfed.” Now, she saw the effect of that popular saying at work.

    As she advanced toward Paul on the distant throne, the Reverend Mother found herself more impressed by the architectural subtleties of her surroundings than she was by the immensities. The space was large: it could’ve housed the entire citadel of any ruler in human history. The open sweep of the room said much about hidden structural forces balanced with nicety. Trusses and supporting beams behind these walls and the faraway domed ceiling must surpass anything ever before attempted. Everything spoke of engineering genius.

    Without seeming to do so, the hall grew smaller at its far end, refusing to dwarf Paul on his throne centered on a dais. An untrained awareness, shocked by surrounding proportions, would see him at first as many times larger than his actual size. Colors played upon the unprotected psyche: Paul’s green throne had been cut from a single Hagar emerald. It suggested growing things and, out of the Fremen mythos, reflected the mourning color. It whispered that here sat he who could make you mourn—life and death in one symbol, a clever stress of opposites.

    Behind the throne, draperies cascaded in burnt orange, curried gold of Dune earth, and cinnamon flecks of melange. To a trained eye, the symbolism was obvious, but it contained hammer blows to beat down the uninitiated. Time played its role here. The Reverend Mother measured the minutes required to approach the Imperial Presence at her hobbling pace. You had time to be cowed. Any tendency toward resentment would be squeezed out of you by the unbridled power which focused down upon your person. You might start the long march toward that throne as a human of dignity, but you ended the march as a gnat.

    2 votes
  2. Comment on ‘Dune 2’ eyes push to 2024; Warner Bros. considers new dates for ‘Color Purple,’ ‘Aquaman 2’ in ~movies

    MrNoPro
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    Hasn't the DCEU died like... 5 times now? It's getting hard to keep track of.

    Hasn't the DCEU died like... 5 times now? It's getting hard to keep track of.

    1 vote
  3. Comment on How does everyone feel about immersive simulation games? Anyone have any sim recommendations that aren't Arkane? in ~games

    MrNoPro
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    Playing an early access version of Subnautica before any kind of story was added was probably the most lonely I've ever felt in a video game. The only voice line in game was the base saying...

    Playing an early access version of Subnautica before any kind of story was added was probably the most lonely I've ever felt in a video game. The only voice line in game was the base saying "welcome aboard, captain", otherwise there was no PDA talking to you about your cardio stats, no audiologs from other survivors, no Sunbeam coming to rescue you, no weird aliens trying to communicate. Just silence and the sounds of the ocean. It was peak immersion. Complete isolation on a horrible alien planet with no hope of rescue.

    3 votes
  4. Comment on Do you think there is anything from the past we should bring back? in ~talk

    MrNoPro
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    The Hindenburg burned like it did because it was filled with hydrogen. It was originally designed to use helium, but the U.S. had put restrictions on helium export and thus hydrogen was much...

    The Hindenburg burned like it did because it was filled with hydrogen. It was originally designed to use helium, but the U.S. had put restrictions on helium export and thus hydrogen was much cheaper and more obtainable.

    1 vote
  5. Comment on Chinese embassy to Denmark wants Jyllands-Posten to apologize for publishing a drawing that depicts China's flag with virus symbols instead of five stars in ~news

    MrNoPro
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    Denmark's prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, has made an official reply taking the side of Jyllands-Posten. "In Denmark we have freedom of speech". Meanwhile Jyllands-Posten's Twitter is being...

    Denmark's prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, has made an official reply taking the side of Jyllands-Posten. "In Denmark we have freedom of speech".

    Meanwhile Jyllands-Posten's Twitter is being flooded by Chinese spam from accounts created this month, posting several variations of the Danish flag poorly edited with badly translated text saying stuff like "dirty white pig, wild viking" and making fun of Denmark's quick defeat in WWII.
    It was discussed on the radio this morning, where the hosts mostly laughed at the shabby "meme-war" that Jyllands-Posten has dragged us into.

    2 votes
  6. Comment on What are you reading these days? #8 in ~books

    MrNoPro
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    I've recently been getting into the Warhammer 40k universe and books. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the books that I've read so far, as before reading them I mostly just thought of...

    I've recently been getting into the Warhammer 40k universe and books. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the books that I've read so far, as before reading them I mostly just thought of them as haphazard explanations of the tabletop rules. They're actually really good, good enough in my opinion to stand on their own even if you didn't just read them as a Warhammer fan.
    Just finished up the first book in the Horus Heresy series (out of 53!) and also the Path of the Dark Eldar series.
    I might start reading the Culture by Iain Banks afterwards.

    1 vote