The Return of Testing Chat Thread

[Glass Fort MacLeod]

I've never read it
probably never will
is it an eva fanfic that 'fixes' things by making shinji 'badass'?

Yes. In the end he turn into Tzeentchi, Rei turn into Reigle (Nurgle), Asuka turn into Asukhon (Korne), and Misato into what's-its-name (basically Slaanesh)


Also, I enjoyed reading TSW when it was coming out.



What can I say, I have horrible tastes in Fanfiction

No, you simply have different tastes in entertainment than other people and you know it. There's nothign wrong with that.

[Aaron]

It's all subjective right?

Something speaks to me, may not speak to you.

[Glass Fort MacLeod]

Well I wouldn't go so far to say its totally subjective, but there should be at least some latitude/tolerance of different tastes, views, approaches to fiction, etc. Fiction can be appreciated in lots of different ways (sometimes simultaenously) and its not a bad thing to be able to look beyond your comfort zone at something different (which can go alot of different ways depending on what your comfort zone is.)

I'm kind of in a state of reevaluating all those boundaries and perceptions aobut what does make good or bad sci fi, and how/why it can be enjoyed, but it hasn't really changed what those tastes actually are, I think. Rather, its just added to them (it gives me new ways to go back and look at something and appreciate it. Hell, even taking note of and admitting flaws can be kind of liberating, as long as it doesn't push too far into a black/white dynamic.)

[RogueIce]

MEANWHILE, IN THE WHITE HOUSE:

"Let me go, Barry. I can kill Hurricane Sandy."
"What? How, Joe?"
"Have you ever seen Independence Day?"

He's going to use a MacBook and infect the hurricane with a virus?

RE: Conquest

I'll be honest, I totally forgot about that part with Jaina and Picard. Yeah from the writing it looks like she was influencing his mind to do that, so uh... Still I don't get it and don't think it adds to the story at all, even in a sense of trying to "break down" Picard. That part could definately go, IMO.

And there was a rape scene in TSW? I don't remember anything about that, either.

Conquest might not be as bad as the Salvation War, but it fulfils the same basic area of being bad, but at the same time being widely regarded as good-quality fiction by a fairly large number of fans.

That I would agree with, and I'm sure part most of its popularity has nothing to do with who wrote it, no sir.

Still, rape scene aside, it was decent enough for a VS fic. Like Aaron said, way better than that Portal crap.

The only passable versus fiction I've read is Chucks.

I don't believe I have heard of this before, and would like to know more.

[F.J. Prefect, Esq]

hey ford i am watching wolf's rain

it is pretty great but the opening theme is a bummer

STRAY-AY

STRAY-AY-AY-EE-AY

[Bakustra]

Well I wouldn't go so far to say its totally subjective, but there should be at least some latitude/tolerance of different tastes, views, approaches to fiction, etc. Fiction can be appreciated in lots of different ways (sometimes simultaenously) and its not a bad thing to be able to look beyond your comfort zone at something different (which can go alot of different ways depending on what your comfort zone is.)

I'm kind of in a state of reevaluating all those boundaries and perceptions aobut what does make good or bad sci fi, and how/why it can be enjoyed, but it hasn't really changed what those tastes actually are, I think. Rather, its just added to them (it gives me new ways to go back and look at something and appreciate it. Hell, even taking note of and admitting flaws can be kind of liberating, as long as it doesn't push too far into a black/white dynamic.)

also, it's quite possible to enjoy something that is bad as a work of art. for example, i really enjoy john barnes' timeline wars series although it's a slightly more historically-aware and literate mary-sue story (main character is a bodyguard with most of a PhD in Art History who marries a swingin' sufi lady from a timeline where "fuckbuddies" has become a ritualized relationship, gets hit on by wilde and michelangelo, uses superguns and supergrenades, fights and kills his mirror-universe self onboard a crashing zeppelin, etc.). i'm not even sure why- i am unable to read clancy or ringo. my eyes just glaze off the page.

[adr]

And there was a rape scene in TSW?

the demons in hell

[Oxymoron]

It was more or less "shown" with one of the (deceased) soldier girl (the one which later get married to Julius Caesar ) that the Demons have the nasty habit of raping humans, to extract even more suffering from them (because apparently it please Satan or something), and also mostly for their own pleasure.

Ensue a vivid description, even if just implied, of barbed demon penises tearing up a woman's insides ; insides which then magically heals, ready for another go at it. On, and on, and on, for hundreds, thousands of years.


To be honest, what I enjoyed from TSW and The Big One weren't the stories themselves (because oh boy did it draaaaaaaaaaaaaag on, and the narrative style itself is... cringe-worthy), but the sheer military porn, and also what Stuart did of the "what-if" he started from.

[RedImperator]

Still, the inverse of Sturgeon's Law probably applies, and for every ten iterations of SMARMAGEDDON!!!!11!!!!1!?!£!?$!^$&$ you likely have something for which the act of reading isn't entirely like suffering toothache in prose form.

You're welcome.

[thejester]

Still, the inverse of Sturgeon's Law probably applies, and for every ten iterations of SMARMAGEDDON!!!!11!!!!1!?!£!?$!^$&$ you likely have something for which the act of reading isn't entirely like suffering toothache in prose form.

You're welcome.

when the fuck is that getting published

it's like the only internet fic I'll ever admit to commenting on and you took it away

[thejester]

Jaina smiled. "Now, Jean-Luc. Now you begin to see, don't you? Anger and aggression make you strong." She leaned across the table and gripped his hand tightly. "Lust makes you strong" she whispered, arching her back seductively.

Picard's reeled. All of the forbidden impulses and thoughts of the past few days returned now, intensified a hundredfold. His vision seemed to narrow so that she was all he could see- the rest of the room seemed to dissolve away into a fog in his mind. He began to feel feverish, as if his blood was boiling, and it was almost as if his conscious self were being submerged beneath his base instincts. Like an animal, he uncoiled from his seat, leapt upon her, threw her to the ground, and forced himself upon her.

i don't know if she is doing mind tricks or something on him though cause all the time he's like "'yes mister jaina' said picard, everything seemingly seemed to make unknown but large amounts of sense when she explained it"

however to say that it is tsw level horrible is a bit weird considering the rape in that one

I can't believe more has not been made of this

what the fuck

[Questor]

[Quote="RedImperator"][/quote]

I barely even remember it. You posted it in the late 90s, right?

[F.J. Prefect, Esq]

I can't believe more has not been made of this

what the fuck

I cannot adequately word what my reaction here is.

[Bakustra]

Still, the inverse of Sturgeon's Law probably applies, and for every ten iterations of SMARMAGEDDON!!!!11!!!!1!?!£!?$!^$&$ you likely have something for which the act of reading isn't entirely like suffering toothache in prose form.

You're welcome.

Red I only ever read part of one chapter but I will buy your book in hardcover when it finally gets published.

I can't believe more has not been made of this

what the fuck

I cannot adequately word what my reaction here is.

This is basically a taste of the unknowable for me- I look at that excerpt and I wonder why I didn't remember it, and then parts of my brain shut down, and I find myself looking away. It sure seems horrible from looking at the fringes though.

[adr]

god the humanist inheritance was so fucking good

even as a rough draft

[Zablorg]

wait didn't patrick stewart live in fear that he would actually lash out at women

i think it just adds a whole other layer of stuff

[Darksi4190]

Ok. Does anyone know what this fucking "Gangnam Style" meme is all about? I've been seeing it pop up everywhere like the goddamn plague. It's annoying as fuck and I have no idea what it is.

[Zablorg]

OPPAN GANGNAM STYLE


http://youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0

[joviwan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0

It's a song by PSY, a south korean pop artist.

ON REVIEW: Oh, there's Zabs with the link before me. Ah well.

[Nietzslime]

It's currently the most popular song in the world and has been for a couple months now.

[F.J. Prefect, Esq]

I remember when I first heard it through some friends who are big into Korean music

And being all 'heh it's pretty catchy and I see what he's doing there'

I thought it was going to be one of those things which confines itself to that particular sphere of my life

How naive the me of three months ago was

[thejester]

man I know we're not supposed to bitch about SDN blah blah blah

but mr friendly guy is easily the biggest fuckwit in the world

[Crazedwraith]

linka?

[Oxymoron]

preemptive

What's the matter with him this time ?



Anyway, the post-apo Odyssey got me thinking about tragedy, and more particularly the differing perspective between Ryan and me on "happy ending".

Thinking on the subject, I was reminded of the christian tradition of the Memento Morii, these works of arts designed to remind everyone of the fatality of death, seen as the great equalizer.

The man, let's call him Ulysse for originality's sake, is seeing the world dying. He is seeing what, by most definitions, could be considered as Doom's Day. Hope is scarce, and the only thing keeping him alive is the hope of seeing his family again, at least long enough to tell them he love them one last time.

During his travel back home, he stumble upon untold visions of horror and wonder ; his travel companions coming and going with the tides of adventure.

When he finally get back home, exhausted, at the brink of death, well... for all he knows, everyone else he always knew or cared about is dead. He is the last, the one man who managed to cheat the Grim Reaper long enough to achieve his quest.

It his not a sad death. It a happy death.

It is victory.

[Straha]

Well I wouldn't go so far to say its totally subjective, but there should be at least some latitude/tolerance of different tastes, views, approaches to fiction, etc. Fiction can be appreciated in lots of different ways (sometimes simultaenously) and its not a bad thing to be able to look beyond your comfort zone at something different (which can go alot of different ways depending on what your comfort zone is.)

I'm kind of in a state of reevaluating all those boundaries and perceptions aobut what does make good or bad sci fi, and how/why it can be enjoyed, but it hasn't really changed what those tastes actually are, I think. Rather, its just added to them (it gives me new ways to go back and look at something and appreciate it. Hell, even taking note of and admitting flaws can be kind of liberating, as long as it doesn't push too far into a black/white dynamic.)

also, it's quite possible to enjoy something that is bad as a work of art. for example, i really enjoy john barnes' timeline wars series although it's a slightly more historically-aware and literate mary-sue story (main character is a bodyguard with most of a PhD in Art History who marries a swingin' sufi lady from a timeline where "fuckbuddies" has become a ritualized relationship, gets hit on by wilde and michelangelo, uses superguns and supergrenades, fights and kills his mirror-universe self onboard a crashing zeppelin, etc.). i'm not even sure why- i am unable to read clancy or ringo. my eyes just glaze off the page.

I just mildly effort posted in reply to Junghalli in the TSBOI thread that started this tangent about this.

It's because Ringo and Clancy are hobbyists. Their works aren't fiction, per se, they're delivery vehicles for equipment manifests and Orders of Battle dressed up in hegemonic/patriotic cant. If you were to dissect the main sections of a Ringo book you could find and replace all the words and make it a alt-history on the Napoleonic wars without too much sweat. When you're not interesting in those laundry lists, however, it falls apart. It's got a niche market audience and when it gets into the hands of people who are interested in fiction it falls apart because there's nothing unique or at all interesting as fiction to add. It's just... words words words arranged in ways that are interesting for a certain obsessed group of people, just like the weird section of Youtube dedicated to various paternosters around the world. There's nothing bad about this obsession (well, maybe yes about the Milwank when it gets applied to real life) but it shouldn't be represented as anything more than a cultural curio.






Also, I feel mildly ashamed that I ended my post over there with semi-obvious trollbait. I know that setting hooks like that is wrong but oh do I love it so.