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the expanse is ok but gets loving weird which detracts from the otherwise cool setting. i gave up after book 3
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Dec 5, 2018 18:34
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Just watch the TV show, IMO.
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Dec 5, 2018 18:34
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Yeah, the non-Ty half, Abraham, he has a knack for some good world-building and the occasional twist, but he gets really repetitive and samey after a book or two. He actually has a work eithic, though, and manages to tickle some nerd boners on the way, so I can't blame him (much like complete milquetoastman Sanderson, who I still don't get).
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Dec 5, 2018 21:17
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hobbesmaster posted:The weird thing about RP1 is that people have it really good reviews despite it being trash. It was fun. Sort of like Stranger Things or whatever. I thought it was odd, since it's like a YA book whose target market is 45 year old guys. But w/e. So you write about how its fun, and whatever, and you tell people to read it. And you reminisce about just how lovely Tomb of Horrors was, and PacMan or whatever. But then the next one comes out, and the "charm" of the first one is gone. You can't really go back and talk about how poo poo and hollow the first one was, so you just pound the second one to crap. I mean - are you gonna watch "Stranger Things II"
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Dec 5, 2018 21:27
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Stranger Things 2: Strangerer Doohickies
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Dec 5, 2018 21:47
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i feel like this is being a touch unfair to stranger things
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Dec 5, 2018 21:57
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Marijuana posted:i feel like this is being a touch unfair to stranger things Yeah stranger things has a plot other than "omg 80s! Find all the 80s stuff to win!!!!!"
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Dec 5, 2018 22:24
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Stranger Things has proper character development.
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Dec 5, 2018 22:31
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Ccs posted:Stranger Things has...character[s]...
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Dec 5, 2018 22:33
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the 80s stuff in stranger things is just a pastiche to make the setting conducive to the mysteries and actual story. it’s a device to combat how everything would be super easy to solve with a smartphone. it’s not really essential to the plot or characters or anything and is hammed up for fun and gimmick jokes. rp1 on the other hand is just jerking off to the 80s while pretending there’s a modicum of substance behind it. it’s like comparing synthwave to a tribute band in artistic value
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Dec 5, 2018 22:43
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TK-42-1 posted:the 80s stuff in stranger things is just a pastiche to make the setting conducive to the mysteries and actual story. it’s a device to combat how everything would be super easy to solve with a smartphone. it’s not really essential to the plot or characters or anything and is hammed up for fun and gimmick jokes. rp1 on the other hand is just jerking off to the 80s while pretending there’s a modicum of substance behind it. RP1 is a love letter to Ernest Cline’s childhood penned by Ernest Cline himself, for an audience consisting of one Ernest Cline. It just happened to resonate with so many 30 and 40-somethings because they had the exact same manufactured and focus tested childhood that toy and video game makers wanted people to have via their parents spending money on the things they were selling. That’s part of the double-twisted irony of why Armada failed, because it was centered around recreating a movie from Ernest Cline’s childhood that was actually rather obscure in its time and afterward, but resonated with him specifically, so when he did this thing that was actually in its deep sub-atomic nucleus a somewhat heartfelt attempt at creative expression, it face planted spectacularly because when Cline tried his usual trick of “Hey, remember The Last Star Fighter?” Everyone went “...No.” Also he’s a hack whose prose somehow got worse between RP1 and Armada.
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Dec 5, 2018 23:03
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A self-insert fanfic of a movie made for young boys to self-insert into is creative expression?
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Dec 6, 2018 00:18
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nine-gear crow posted:Cline tried his usual trick of “Hey, remember The Last Star Fighter?” Everyone went “...No.” Aw, I totally remember that movie. It was pretty poo poo though. Marijuana posted:i feel like this is being a touch unfair to stranger things Probably. But everyone is like "it's in the 80s! It's like.. a remix of all those great 80s movies like ET and Close Encounters and blah blah blah and it has dungeons and dragons!" I watched a bit, and felt it fumbling at my nostalgia and it just turned me off. TK-42-1 posted:the 80s stuff in stranger things is just a pastiche to make the setting conducive to the mysteries and actual story. it’s a device to combat how everything would be super easy to solve with a smartphone. it’s not really essential to the plot or characters or anything and is hammed up for fun and gimmick jokes. rp1 on the other hand is just jerking off to the 80s while pretending there’s a modicum of substance behind it. cuz the first one is ironic? Not sure I get the comparison. I hear what you are saying about how the period is just a setting and it has merits on it's own - I just haven't heard people praising the plot lines or amazing twists or anything. It felt like a sitcom - the same poo poo happens in every sitcom, it's the environment that makes it enjoyable. This just seemed like a new environment, ala the 70's show or whatever. I mean don't get me wrong - you like it, that's great. Would you watch another one that takes place in the same time frame with different characters? That is how I felt about RP1 at the end ( also keeping in mind I've been so loving saturated with 80's crap for the last decade ). I understand RP1 was a poo poo book that was all veneer, and that ST is probably more than that - but yeah. Stranger Things II would suck and no one would watch it.
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Dec 6, 2018 00:22
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LMAO, check out the nerd who didn't watch Stranger Things
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Dec 6, 2018 00:26
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Kavak posted:A self-insert fanfic of a movie made for young boys to self-insert into is creative expression? Anything can be creative self-expression. It just so happens that the self Cline has to express is an amalgamation of toys, video games, cartoons, movies, and advertisements from the 1980s. He’s a tragic product of peak capitalism.
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Dec 6, 2018 00:28
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kcroy posted:I mean don't get me wrong - you like it, that's great. Would you watch another one that takes place in the same time frame with different characters? That is how I felt about RP1 at the end ( also keeping in mind I've been so loving saturated with 80's crap for the last decade ). I understand RP1 was a poo poo book that was all veneer, and that ST is probably more than that - but yeah. Stranger Things II would suck and no one would watch it. Uh, stranger things season 3 drops in 2019. I assume you haven't watched any of it? I still need to watch season 2. Season 1 was so well contained.
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Dec 6, 2018 00:34
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hobbesmaster posted:Uh, stranger things season 3 drops in 2019. I assume you haven't watched any of it? I don't mean a second season, I mean after the storyline is over, a whole new one, set in the 80s!
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Dec 6, 2018 00:37
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I mean, setting a creepy/supernatural/etc TV show before ubiquitous cell phones just seems logical. X-files even ran into the "just call each other" issue without smartphones.
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Dec 6, 2018 00:38
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Even taking nostalgia into account, Ready Player One is just written like garbage. The dialogue is incredibly embarrassing. It reads like an actual 10 year old wrote the dialogue. That's why the good reviews baffle me. The same premise, written well, could be fine. Like Snow Crash is hardly an exemplary piece of literature but I feel like it did everything RP1 set out to do but far better
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Dec 6, 2018 01:22
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kcroy posted:Probably. But everyone is like "it's in the 80s! It's like.. a remix of all those great 80s movies like ET and Close Encounters and blah blah blah and it has dungeons and dragons!" I watched a bit, and felt it fumbling at my nostalgia and it just turned me off. I know I'm in the minority, but I found the ST kids annoying to the point I couldn't watch anymore. Aside from the kid with the lisp, the others had exactly one expression, which was to yell all their lines. It was really grating to me in the same way that Goonies is.
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Dec 6, 2018 02:45
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TommyGun85 posted:I know I'm in the minority, but I found the ST kids annoying to the point I couldn't watch anymore. Aside from the kid with the lisp, the others had exactly one expression, which was to yell all their lines. It was really grating to me in the same way that Goonies is. To be fair a lot of their lines were delivered under duress and were done pretty well. Kid actors are always stilted. It’s like complaining that Eleven was one note in her delivery. Lisp kid is by far the worst tho. For a number of reasons.
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Dec 6, 2018 02:50
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precision posted:Even taking nostalgia into account, Ready Player One is just written like garbage. The dialogue is incredibly embarrassing. It reads like an actual 10 year old wrote the dialogue. That's why the good reviews baffle me. There was a "let's brainstorm how to re-write RP1 into something good" thread that started up in this sub a few months ago spawned from the let's read thread of RP1, but it was ruined by the dink who loves to poo poo up this thread all the time and is on probation till the end of the year for Book Lording. It was an interesting read to say the least before it went off the rails.
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Dec 6, 2018 02:53
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kcroy posted:I don't mean a second season, I mean after the storyline is over, a whole new one, set in the 80s! Don't worry, the second season wasn't very good either.
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Dec 6, 2018 03:30
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TommyGun85 posted:I know I'm in the minority, but I found the ST kids annoying to the point I couldn't watch anymore. Aside from the kid with the lisp, the others had exactly one expression, which was to yell all their lines. It was really grating to me in the same way that Goonies is. Yes the kids were kids
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Dec 6, 2018 06:25
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kids suck /throw momma from the train voice
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Dec 6, 2018 07:13
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TK-42-1 posted:the expanse is ok but gets loving weird which detracts from the otherwise cool setting. i gave up after book 3 Book 3 and 4 were the lowest point of the series, 5 & 6 are basically one big book and one of my favorite.
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Dec 6, 2018 19:40
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hobbesmaster posted:Because Tolkein didn't publish it. Not only that, his son who did publish it admits openly that he shouldn't have, and it was a bad idea to publish it as-is given that it was unfinished and rough.
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Dec 7, 2018 03:15
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Liquid Communism posted:Not only that, his son who did publish it admits openly that he shouldn't have, and it was a bad idea to publish it as-is given that it was unfinished and rough. The Silmarillion is awesome and epic AF though, I'm glad it got published in whatever state. The Unfinished Tales books should never have seen the light of day though. They remain unfinished to me since I had to put the book down about 100 pages into how much some Numenorean king loved the sea more than his wife.
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Dec 7, 2018 16:36
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hobbesmaster posted:Yes the kids were kids Not emptyquoting. Don't get me wrong, ST is clearly nerdbait, but it does so with some style. It gets samey, but the parts that shine really shine. I don't trip over myself going 'it's just like _____ and I looooove it,' but it wears its influences smartly and I fuckin' love role-playing the most in life, so.
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Dec 8, 2018 07:18
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Gravity Cant Apple posted:The Silmarillion is awesome and epic AF though, I'm glad it got published in whatever state. It felt like I was reading the bible, or a dictionary. I think if I had been older, I would have enjoyed it. ( I mean I pored over the appendices in the Prince of Nothing series ). But I just took t LOTR at face value, and was never interested in going deeper. I read it a bunch of times, and the end of it was just so heart breaking as they all head off - the end of the third age, it was almost physically painful every time I would read it. Then I'd mope around a bit, and maybe pick up the Silmarillion and read a few pages and be like "gently caress this noise" and go listen to the Cure or whatever.
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Dec 9, 2018 00:36
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kcroy posted:It felt like I was reading the bible, or a dictionary. I think if I had been older, I would have enjoyed it. ( I mean I pored over the appendices in the Prince of Nothing series ). But I just took t LOTR at face value, and was never interested in going deeper. I read it a bunch of times, and the end of it was just so heart breaking as they all head off - the end of the third age, it was almost physically painful every time I would read it. Then I'd mope around a bit, and maybe pick up the Silmarillion and read a few pages and be like "gently caress this noise" and go listen to the Cure or whatever. it is exactly like the Bible even down to the somewhat badly translated romantic poetry bits that you could almost understand but then the descriptions were kinda weird
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Dec 9, 2018 03:38
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syscall girl posted:it is exactly like the Bible even down to the somewhat badly translated romantic poetry bits that you could almost understand but then the descriptions were kinda weird I picked it up in a bookstore once and read through the first few pages and yeah it's literally an "In the beginning... And [x] begat [x], who begat [x], who begat..." so I promptly tucked it back into the shelf and walked away. Apparently there's a few really good stories in it (Beren and Luthien) but it's like just, oh god find a good summary of them somewhere and then fill in the gaps with your imagination because reading it is just--ugh.
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Dec 9, 2018 05:32
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nine-gear crow posted:I picked it up in a bookstore once and read through the first few pages and yeah it's literally an "In the beginning... And [x] begat [x], who begat [x], who begat..." so I promptly tucked it back into the shelf and walked away. Apparently there's a few really good stories in it (Beren and Luthien) but it's like just, oh god find a good summary of them somewhere and then fill in the gaps with your imagination because reading it is just--ugh. yeah Beren and Luthien was a good lay  also much like asoiaf it made for some great calenders
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Dec 9, 2018 05:36
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syscall girl posted:yeah Beren and Luthien was a good lay 
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Dec 9, 2018 05:37
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The best non hobbit/lotr Tolkien book is the bestiary
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Dec 9, 2018 06:11
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Super-underrated Tolkien: A paperback I read when I was a kid that had two short stories/novellas, Farmer Giles of Ham and The Smith of Wooten-Major. I remember the latter moreso than the former, and it actually stuck with me for a while. Probably criminally underrated since I literally don't think I've ever encountered discussion of them online, but then I never delved too deeply into the fandom, lest I encounter a Balrog like Balin did when he delved too deep into Moria 
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Dec 9, 2018 08:14
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kaworu posted:Super-underrated Tolkien: A paperback I read when I was a kid that had two short stories/novellas, Farmer Giles of Ham and The Smith of Wooten-Major. I remember the latter moreso than the former, and it actually stuck with me for a while. Probably criminally underrated since I literally don't think I've ever encountered discussion of them online, but then I never delved too deeply into the fandom, lest I encounter a Balrog like Balin did when he delved too deep into Moria The former one, Farmer Giles is hilarious. The story starts out with a giant getting shot in the face by a blunderbuss and the comic consequences of this.
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Dec 9, 2018 08:29
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who'll publish their next book first grrm, jrr tolkien or hitler?
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Dec 9, 2018 10:23
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nine-gear crow posted:I picked it up in a bookstore once and read through the first few pages and yeah it's literally an "In the beginning... And [x] begat [x], who begat [x], who begat..." so I promptly tucked it back into the shelf and walked away. Apparently there's a few really good stories in it (Beren and Luthien) but it's like just, oh god find a good summary of them somewhere and then fill in the gaps with your imagination because reading it is just--ugh. Sounds like some poo poo I'm glad I didn't read, much like this Targaryen history book I didn't know was out.
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Dec 9, 2018 11:35
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Destro posted:Sounds like some poo poo I'm glad I didn't read, much like this Targaryen history book I didn't know was out. A book that took him five years to write, with two whole other people helping him, AND it’s only part 1 of 2 with the second one probably not coming out by GRRM’s own admission for another five years on top of that. The jokes write themselves at this point.
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Dec 9, 2018 13:14
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