Starman2112's recent activity
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Comment on What change would make you quit Tildes? in ~tildes
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Comment on If you let AI do your writing, I will come to your house and kill you in ~tech
Starman2112 (edited )Link ParentThe reason that movie would have other storytelling virtues is because it would be written by a human with a story to tell. This is more like the difference between looking at real Olympic results...Seems to me this is like the difference between watching the Olympics and watching a movie where olympic athletes are characters. The movie is all fakery, but it may have other storytelling virtues.
The reason that movie would have other storytelling virtues is because it would be written by a human with a story to tell.
This is more like the difference between looking at real Olympic results tables and AI generated ones. An LLM could generate endless tables that superficially resemble real ones, but ultimately they do not reflect anything about the sports or players besides the overall structure of Olympic results tables.
Fiction authors are allowed to make stuff up and they do it all the time.
I have to assume that this in response to my "fake data" comment. My point wasn't that LLMs talk about things that don't actually happen, it was that their outputs are synthesized entirely from their training data, to make an approximation of what a human might write.
I desperately hope I don't have to explain how fictional stories can reflect the human condition.
Edit: changed "about reality" to "about the sports or players"
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Comment on If you let AI do your writing, I will come to your house and kill you in ~tech
Starman2112 Link ParentBecause it was written by a person with insight into the human condition. Sorry, did you think that the reason I called AI inhuman is because it produces text on a screen? You seem to...Moby Dick is also not human — it’s a bunch of paper and ink, yet it offers insight into the human condition. Why?
Because it was written by a person with insight into the human condition. Sorry, did you think that the reason I called AI inhuman is because it produces text on a screen?
You seem to misunderstand large language models on a fundamental level. The reason you can go to a library and learn about humanity is because you are directly reading works generated by humans. You cannot learn about the human condition from the output of an LLM trained on a library, because LLMs are not designed to understand the works they're trained on. They are designed to generate text that looks like the works they're trained on. That's it.
There is a reason why LLMs require human authors for training data, and that's because LLMs output fake data. It can superficially resemble real data, and maybe even accurately describe aspects of reality, but it is ultimately just generating text that looks real. If you try to train any generative AI on AI-generated works, you get model collapse, and your algorithm stops producing works that look real.
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Comment on If you let AI do your writing, I will come to your house and kill you in ~tech
Starman2112 Link ParentI hate to dogpile, but I haven't seen anyone bring this up yet. AI cannot offer insight into the human condition, because AI is not human. Everything written by it is innately inhuman. No matter...I hate to dogpile, but I haven't seen anyone bring this up yet.
It will be great when deep insight into the human condition can be turned like a tap.
AI cannot offer insight into the human condition, because AI is not human. Everything written by it is innately inhuman. No matter how good an AI gets at emulating the writing style of Charles Dickens, it cannot write an ending to The Mystery of Edwin Drood. If you ask a dozen copies of the same AI to finish the story, they will come up with a dozen entirely different endings. Not one of them would be the ending that Dickens had in mind.
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Comment on 'The Boys' has ended. What are your thoughts? in ~tv
Starman2112 LinkEverything I read about the show vindicates my decision to stop watching in season 4, after reading that one interview.There's a 5 min sequence of two new villains sniffing each other's asses because they're animal themed in the penultimate episode.
Everything I read about the show vindicates my decision to stop watching in season 4, after reading that one interview.
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Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
Starman2112 Link ParentFor sure. I didn't really find it frustrating, I enjoyed it the whole way through, it just kind of felt like there was a mystery that could be solved. It is definitely best to just take it as it...For sure. I didn't really find it frustrating, I enjoyed it the whole way through, it just kind of felt like there was a mystery that could be solved. It is definitely best to just take it as it comes. Kind of like Sonny Boy, Penguindrum, Kyousougiga, or Utena in that regard. Trying to make sense of the world as it's portrayed isn't conducive to understanding the story itself.
I'm not really sure why I said 7 back there. It's definitely better than Appleseed XIII, but I'm not sure it breaks into the 9 club. New revised score: 8/10
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Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
Starman2112 (edited )LinkI try to write something about every show I watch, but this year has been slow, and I don't have a lot to say. Here's a few micro reviews from the last couple months. Kowloon Generic Romance...I try to write something about every show I watch, but this year has been slow, and I don't have a lot to say. Here's a few micro reviews from the last couple months.
Kowloon Generic Romance
Kowloon Generic Romance was alright. I LOVED the animation. Big fan of colorful eyes. I thought I had called the twist, then learned a bit more and revised my hypothesis, then learned more and revised it again, and by the end, the actual reality of the story doesn't make a whole lot of sense. You don't get enough bread crumbs throughout the show to be able to predict the ending. I still liked it. 8/10.
Appleseed (1988–2015)
Appleseed was sick as hell. People hate on 3dcg, but I can get used to anything. Big fan, up until I finished with Appleseed XIII. It was OK, I just think watching it after Alpha hurt my rating of it a lot. And they ruined Briareos' face! Big downgrade in animation. XIII gets a 7, everything else gets an 8.
Onihei
Onihei was great. Hasegawa Heizo is my new favorite character. A cop who likes hiring thieves to work for him? Love him. Up there with Vash the Stampede. Show gets an 8. It's really good, but I prefer something with more of an overarching story.
Children of the Whales
Children of the Whales was... okay. I realize that many anime are more or less just advertisements for the manga they're adapting, but usually an anime at least has a complete self-contained story. It became clear around 8 episodes in that there was no way for the 12 episode cour to come to anything resembling a conclusion. It's effectively a prologue for the manga.
That isn't necessarily a bad thing. The same is true of Land of the Lustrous, and I consider that one of the better shows I've seen. But that's because it's very pretty, and it has a fantastic soundtrack, and it actually got me invested enough to read the manga.
6/10. Just watch Shinsekai Yori instead. Better show, more to think about, and it actually has an ending.
Next up: Slayers. One episode in, and I love it already. I'll be back to write about it here in a couple months, after I've watched the entire franchise
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Comment on How are we all feeling about piracy these days? in ~movies
Starman2112 Link ParentI think it's a little more complex. I mean, there's at least a little bit of a preservation angle with pirating. Whoever holds the license to your favorite show can edit, censor, or remove it from...I think it's a little more complex. I mean, there's at least a little bit of a preservation angle with pirating. Whoever holds the license to your favorite show can edit, censor, or remove it from their service entirely. A random guy with a VPN and qBittorrent can't edit it, and once other people get to seeding, there's no removing it from the internet.
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Comment on Interesting material types for fantasy resources/macguffins other than crystals or metals? in ~creative
Starman2112 Link ParentMore on the organic side, Hollow Knight's silk comes to mindMore on the organic side, Hollow Knight's silk comes to mind
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Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
Starman2112 LinkNo real spoilers, just compressing text Carole and Tuesday Carole and Tuesday was fun. I like the music a lot. I like that the songs were mostly in English, which made watching the dub a lot...No real spoilers, just compressing text
Carole and Tuesday
Carole and Tuesday was fun. I like the music a lot. I like that the songs were mostly in English, which made watching the dub a lot easier. Plus it's Bones so you know it's pretty. That's most of my notes about the show. It clearly wanted to say something about politics, but it really didn't. A superficial "conservative political positions are generally harmful to minorities." It had even less to say about the role of AI in creative work. Which I won't hold against it considering it came out in 2019; at that point even I was still optimistic about AI. Were it released today, I expect it would have a much harsher view on AI.
8/10, I only wish it took stronger stances on these subjects
Rant ahead. I liked one of these shows better than the other, and I'm gonna write about it
Kino's Journey (2003 and 2017)
Kino's Journey was really good. It's slow, it's quiet, it has a lot to say about the world and uses just the right amount of words to say it. It's almost as good as Mushishi in these regards.
The 2017 series was ostensibly higher quality, but I think 2003 just did everything better. Two things stick out in my mind:
Colosseum episodes, 2003 vs 2017
The colosseum is better in 2003. Seeing Kino actually have to fight offers tension. There's no doubt that she'll win, but will she manage to avoid killing her opponents? Also, giving the story time two episodes makes it easier to follow. I'm not sure I would have connected the dots re: who the swordsman is and why he's determined to win the tournament if I'd only watched 2017. Also, not seeing the lower classes in the country makes Kino's decision to end the tournaments feel a bit less meaningful.
2003's colosseum episodes highlight my favorite aspect of Kino's characterization: the contrast between her outward aloofness and the attachment she feels towards the places she visits and the people she meets. She doesn't outwardly react when a person gets killed in front of her, but she clearly makes a decision regarding how to end the tournaments at that point.
Tl;dr Using two episodes offers 2003 an opportunity to tell a better story
Spoilers for a certain episode late in the series
I think 2003's depiction of Kino's panic and despair over what happened to that one country is much stronger than 2017's sort of "oh well" energy. '03 further highlights that contrast between her outward presentation and her actual feelings. Hermes trying to comfort her makes a better story than him just kind of agreeing with her that she couldn't have helped them.
Also, putting her origin story before this episode made it hit harder. You knew how much '03 Kino identified with that young girl, and you don't get that in '17.
There's a million other small things I liked better in '03, but I'll leave it at that. That said, I liked both series a lot. '03 gets an easy 10/10 from me, and '17 gets an 8. I only wish Kino acted more like her '03 self.
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Comment on What radicalized you? in ~talk
Starman2112 (edited )LinkThe fact that since this thread was posted, somewhere around ten of my countrymen have died from diabetes. Roughly 100,000 people in the US die from diabetes every year. There's famously 525,600...The fact that since this thread was posted, somewhere around ten of my countrymen have died from diabetes. Roughly 100,000 people in the US die from diabetes every year. There's famously 525,600 minutes in a year, which means roughly one death every five minutes. Every single day, conservative politicians kill over 250 of my neighbors just in this particular way. It's a pretty useful statistic when you want to appeal to emotion, even if it is massive overestimate (some of these deaths would not be prevented by better access to healthcare)
Ten people who were alive when this thread was posted, and are dead now.
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Comment on What are you no longer a fan of? in ~talk
Starman2112 Link Parent+1000 for Ghost in the Shell, especially Standalone Complex+1000 for Ghost in the Shell, especially Standalone Complex
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Comment on What are you no longer a fan of? in ~talk
Starman2112 (edited )Link ParentAt the risk of being the kind of anime fan you find annoying, I actually keep a running list of shows that don't include the typical anime turnoffs. No sexualization of minors, and no incest A...At the risk of being the kind of anime fan you find annoying, I actually keep a running list of shows that don't include the typical anime turnoffs. No sexualization of minors, and no incest
A long list of titles
Bolded titles are my top recs. Series listed in chronological order of my seeing them:
Castlevania
Vivy: Fluorite Eyes Song
Belle
A Silent Voice
Baccano
Deca-dence
Trigun
Akudama Drive
ACCA: 13 Territory Inspection Dept.
Fullmetal Alchemist
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Mushishi
5 Centimeters Per Second
Afro Samurai
Your Lie In April
Nichijou
Odd Taxi
Cowboy Bebop
Canaan
Sk8 the Infinity
Supercrooks
Bocchi the Rock
House of Five Leaves
Weathering With You
Haibane Renmei
BNA
Redline
Planetes
Witch Hunter Robin
Noir
Wolf's Rain
Boogiepop Phantom
Boogiepop And Others
Ghost In The Shell (1995 movie and Standalone Complex)
Niea_7
Serial Experiments Lain
Megalo Box
Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto
Bubblegum Crisis
Ergo Proxy
Read Or Die (OVA and The TV)
Madlax
Moribito
Xam'd: Lost Memories
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Kyousougiga
Orb: On the Movements of the Earth
Cyberpunk Edgerunners
Sonny Boy
Kiki's Delivery Service
Sora no Manimani
Apocalypse Hotel
Death Note
Carole and Tuesday
Kino's Journey (2003)
I'm not insisting that anyone watch these, but if anyone wants to try and find anime that isn't gross, this list is a good place to start
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Comment on What are you no longer a fan of? in ~talk
Starman2112 Link ParentI remember thinking he was so cool for selling roofing torches on the internet. The facade started eroding for me around the time he called a rescue diver a pedophile for not accepting a useless...I remember thinking he was so cool for selling roofing torches on the internet. The facade started eroding for me around the time he called a rescue diver a pedophile for not accepting a useless submarine for a diving rescue
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Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
Starman2112 (edited )LinkBeen putting this off because I didn't want to have to write about FLCL. FLCL and sequels Started the year off with FLCL. The first season was weird and confusing and I sorta liked it. Everything...Been putting this off because I didn't want to have to write about FLCL.
FLCL and sequels
Started the year off with FLCL. The first season was weird and confusing and I sorta liked it. Everything else was weird and confusing and I hated it. I gave it a solid chance on account of how much I liked the poorly recieved sequel series to Last Exile and the extremely polarizing Eureka Seven movies, but it just never gets better or more interesting. If anything, it gets more confusing even as the animation style gets less surreal throughout the seasons (Grunge notwithstanding). The music remains solid throughout. I've been fond of The Pillows for years, before I ever knew their association with FLCL, and watching this series hasn't affected that at all.
I can see how the original series influenced animation across the industry when it first came out. Confusing as the show is, it is absolutely gorgeous. It earns the first show a 7/10 from me. Progressive was the only sequel series I really paid attention to. 6.5. By Alternative, I was ready to watch something else. 5/10.
Grunge and Shoegaze threatened my four and a half year daily watching streak more than anything else ever has. It took real effort to stay awake through these shows, let alone working up the desire to turn it on every day in the first place. Grunge gets a 3/10 from me because of how hard it is to look at, and Shoegaze gets a N/A from me because I genuinely slept through most of it.
I so rarely regret putting a show on my list, but this series actually damaged my interest in anime while I was watching.
So I didn't like FLCL after the first season. I needed something to get me back into anime, fast.
Death Note
I liked Death Note. It got me back into anime fast. I couldn't possibly have guessed where the show would end up. Sad to see my favorite character dead, infurating seeing everyone ignore the timing of his death, but the show was entertaining all the way through. It seems a lot of people really don't like the show after the 25th episode, but I really liked Mello and Near. Obviously they aren't as cool as L, but I think they offer Light interesting challenges anyway.
Besides the fact that I liked the latter half of the series, there isn't really a lot I can say that hasn't been said already. I liked the OST a lot. L's theme SLAPS. Basically all of the background music rules. 9/10, though I'm not really sure what they could have done differently to earn that last point. It just isn't quite good enough for me to give it a 10.
I like anime again! Next up is Carole and Tuesday. I'm only a few episodes in, but if Death Note hadn't reinforced my daily watching streak, this would have. It's delightful. Plus I prefer dubs, so the songs being in English helps my viewing experience tremendously.
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Comment on I made a word game in ~games
Starman2112 Link ParentSame. I'm driving myself crazy trying to figure it out. It takes no less than two moves to get the O and P into position, leaving 4 moves total to get D and R. Looking at it further, I've...Same. I'm driving myself crazy trying to figure it out. It takes no less than two moves to get the O and P into position, leaving 4 moves total to get D and R.
Looking at it further, I've confirmed it is a bug. I went through every possible move to get the D and R into position, and there isn't a single one that takes less than five moves. I wish I had known this before spending 1,878 moves testing it. The site didn't even let me submit that score...
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Comment on List animals until failure in ~games
Starman2112 Link ParentGirrafe > Giraffe Armadillo Cat Dog Phidippus audax (my favorite animal) I wanted to save the more common ones for when I was panicking later, and ended up panicking right at the start. I got 122...Girrafe > Giraffe
Armadillo
Cat
Dog
Phidippus audax (my favorite animal)I wanted to save the more common ones for when I was panicking later, and ended up panicking right at the start. I got 122 though, so I'm happy with that
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Comment on What’s a point that you think many people missed? in ~talk
Starman2112 Link ParentI'm sure it isn't new to you, but Jacob Geller made a fantastic video about Spec Ops a while ago. Highly recommend to anyone who played the game and didn't get itI'm sure it isn't new to you, but Jacob Geller made a fantastic video about Spec Ops a while ago. Highly recommend to anyone who played the game and didn't get it
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Comment on What video games would you say have the best stories? Feel free to suggest more than one. in ~games
Starman2112 Link Parent+1 for 1000xResist and Nier: Automata. I'm not usually one for visual novels, but 1000xResist is still one of my favorite games I've ever played. You can tell that the devs were big fans of...+1 for 1000xResist and Nier: Automata. I'm not usually one for visual novels, but 1000xResist is still one of my favorite games I've ever played. You can tell that the devs were big fans of Nier:Automata, which itself was probably going to be my personal pick for this thread. Happy to see both of these titles in here
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Comment on Anime: Your personal year in review for 2025 in ~anime
Starman2112 (edited )LinkI was going to write about this in one of the August threads after I watched Apocalypse Hotel, but I couldn't really think of a review for it. Apocalypse Hotel is a show about a hotel in Tokyo...I was going to write about this in one of the August threads after I watched Apocalypse Hotel, but I couldn't really think of a review for it. Apocalypse Hotel is a show about a hotel in Tokyo maintained and operated by robots after humanity flees Earth due to an airborne pathogen. What a strange and delightful show. I don't have a lot of notes. 10/10, no flaws, on the rewatch pile. After Apocalypse Hotel, I started my yearly Raildex rewatch, and haven't had anything to say. I don't hate Index quite as much as I did last year, but I still adore Railgun seasons 2 and 3 as much as ever.
What I do want to write about is what a good year it's been. I consider most of the shows I've watched in the last year to be among my favorites. The only "duds" were Eat-Man and Elfen Lied. But like, Key the Metal Idol, Bubblegum Crisis, Ergo Proxy, Read or Die, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Xam'd, Kyousougiga, Orb, Eureka Seven, Edgerunners, Sonny Boy, Kurau, Black Lagoon, Penguindrum, Apocalypse Hotel, all amazing shows. The biggest standout is Orb: On the Movements of the Earth. Usually it's hard for me to think of something to write about, but with Orb, it's hard for me to stop writing. It fills me with many thoughts and feelings, more so than any other show.
A list of every show I watched in the last year, and my comment reviewing it (where applicable)
Nausicaa
Kiki's Delivery Service
Black Lagoon
Apocalypse Hotel
It may look like I give most shows absurdly high ratings, but that's only because I mostly watch absurdly good shows.
... Or maybe my ratings aren't actually useful, maybe I'm too forgiving. You can pretty safely ignore my ratings if you want, and focus only on the thoughts I put on the page.
I don't reckon anything would, save for heavy AI integration or it becoming a nazi bar. Hell, I've stuck with both Reddit and Lemmy for years now. Even if the people here suddenly got very rude and argumentative, I would probably just enjoy arguing with them.