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I read Player of Games first and I must admit that when it described the main character accessing the genetically engineered cheat code UI in his brain to dose himself up on space drugs so he could do better at a space board game I was 100% sold e: 
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Nov 25, 2021 20:53
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I would quite like a job as a planet designer I admit, like capability brown except bigger and worse. I never quite got the conceit that everyone just offs themselves after a few hundred years though, for one thing I think my brain would just get full and start overwriting the old memories so it seems unlikely I would get bored.
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Nov 25, 2021 20:57
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The only good TNG episodes are the ones with Q in them, especially the one where the other Qs kick him out.
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Nov 25, 2021 21:10
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feedmegin posted:Yes. When has a Star Trek show's 1st season not sucked? They get a lot less Rick and Morty later on. Can confirm. I wouldn't say I'm a Trekkie (never seen a single episode of TOS, only about half a dozen episodes of DS9) but I did watch TNG and Voyager when they were on telly and enjoyed them. I get about 20% of the jokes and references in Lower Decks...but am a big enough nerd that I enjoy going on the internet after each episode to learn all the references that I either knew were references but didn't know or the things that I didn't even know were refences. Lower Decks started 'meh' and got better wktb each episode in S1, ended on a high (an episode with, I think, a proper 'TNG-esque' feel to it), took a bit of a dip in the early eps of S2 and then just relentlessly improved before finishing on a run of episodes that I at least would class as 'Good Trek'. My gf has got into Discovery but I just can't see what's so compelling about it, despite several attempts to get into it too. I think Lower Decks has that optimistic premise that we all like about 'proper' Star Trek but which seems missing from many of the other recent series. Yes, it's a comedy (but they quickly seem to get into the groove of 'having fun with Trek rather than making fun of Trek'), it's following the Z-tier Starfleet crew and they're not perfect (indeed, very flawed) but they're good people and generally helping each other get better.
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Nov 25, 2021 21:13
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Lower Decks is solid, but the pilot episode is hard work on first viewing because it's so manic and shouty and filled with endless "heyguysrememberthisStarTrekthinghuh?" not-really-jokes, and also Mariner is so in-yer-face obnoxious. Thankfully it calms the gently caress down pretty quickly, and each new episode improves on the last until you reach the genuinely fantastic finale. The goofy comedy in which nobody really gets hurt out of nowhere hits you with a truly shocking yet weirdly beautiful starship destruction and total crew kill. And things just keep escalating from there. Weirdly, the second season follows the same ramp in quality, the first couple of episodes being  and ending with two really great ones.
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Nov 25, 2021 21:15
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The best Star Trek is apparently The Orville once you get about halfway through the first season.
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Nov 25, 2021 21:25
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I was going to say, presumably lower decks owes its existence to the success of the Orville.
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Nov 25, 2021 21:25
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OwlFancier posted:I would quite like a job as a planet designer I admit, like capability brown except bigger and worse. Now, I'm not Banks greatest fan or anything, but… There's a book (tangentially) about one of those guys who decided to just keep living. It's a bit wild. Not coincidentally, it's also the book where someone decides to graft as many penises as possible onto his body to have sex with as many people as possible at the same time. (And goes into detail into how despite several additional hearts it's hard to keep them erect) The books are generally  as gently caress because there are trillions of people just out of frame having an eternal party, while the protagonist is literally getting decapitated or perforated in botched missions. I think they are still broadly optimistic though.
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Nov 25, 2021 21:27
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Lower Decks could definitely be a bit less breathlessly enamoured with its own references and I'd like it to dial down the comedy a touch more in otherwise more serious moments, but it's easily closer to classic Trek than Discovery or Picard. The training episode where Boimler keeps speedrunning the Borg cube to get a perfect score is incredible.
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Nov 25, 2021 21:29
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Antigravitas posted:Now, I'm not Banks greatest fan or anything, but… I mean this is a general theme among speculative fiction authors, they all, seemingly invariably, operate under the belief that the only thing people can be interested in long term is loving or murdering. There's never anybody who like, spends thousands of years getting very very good at carpentry and being happy with it.
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Nov 25, 2021 21:36
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If dick technology like that existed I'd spend my time training in rhythmic gymnastics so that I could follow glinner around.
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Nov 25, 2021 21:43
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OwlFancier posted:I mean this is a general theme among speculative fiction authors, they all, seemingly invariably, operate under the belief that the only thing people can be interested in long term is loving or murdering. I dunno, I’m sure I’ve read background characters like that. The long-lived Banks character mentioned is really into sound and meditation. Maybe it’s harder to write an exciting adventure story around an expert carpenter? If I was going to live for 1000s of years I’d definitely get really good at carpentry, it looks really satisfying. Oh, one of the characters in The Good Place tv show becomes a carpenter in the afterlife.
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Nov 25, 2021 21:44
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I would have myself turned into a fascinus. Which is far, far more funny than it sounds.
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Nov 25, 2021 21:45
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Mainly Babylon 5 & Farscape for me, some Trek has it's place as well.
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Nov 25, 2021 21:46
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Oh, dude who refuses to die just spends years in the body of a whale just to see what it's like and seems generally pretty happy. But it's hard to craft a story around someone who is just happy with no conflict. Pretty much all stories involve some kind of conflict that gets resolved in the end. And I very much reject the notion that Banks was one of those authors. 
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Nov 25, 2021 21:47
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All I'm saying is I would probably read a book that is like, yotsuba but about an immortal carpenter. I guess that's just bob ross though.
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Nov 25, 2021 21:50
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killerwhat posted:Maybe it’s harder to write an exciting adventure story around an expert carpenter? Well the book about that bloke from Galilee sold pretty well.
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Nov 25, 2021 22:01
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They should make a Redwall book that's just Oops All Descriptions Of Food. Chill literature, chilliterature.
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Nov 25, 2021 22:07
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Redwall is mad racist tho
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Nov 25, 2021 22:14
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Mundane speculative historical fiction: Henry VIII, slice of wife.
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Nov 25, 2021 22:14
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Doctor_Fruitbat posted:Lower Decks could definitely be a bit less breathlessly enamoured with its own references and I'd like it to dial down the comedy a touch more in otherwise more serious moments, but it's easily closer to classic Trek than Discovery or Picard. The training episode where Boimler keeps speedrunning the Borg cube to get a perfect score is incredible. This post is exactly what I came to post. Also VOY was way better rewatching as an adult than when I was a cynical teenager TNG obsessive. Its often really dumb but more often fun than not. DS9 is obviously unimpeachable except for Run Along Home
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Nov 25, 2021 22:15
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Redwall dinners are not racist though. Alternative response: typical liberal london metropolitan elite attitude
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Nov 25, 2021 22:15
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Personally I loved pretty much every episode of Lower Decks and it’s the only one of the new shows that feels like it gets what Star Trek was about. It does go a little overboard on references, but they’re seldom necessary to understand what’s going on. And even though she’s only in one episode (so far) T’Lyn is probably the best character from a Star Trek show since The Doctor.
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Nov 25, 2021 22:21
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Failed Imagineer posted:DS9 is obviously unimpeachable except for Run Along Home Profit and Lace.
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Nov 25, 2021 22:23
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josh04 posted:Profit and Lace. That is at least entertaining in a "how the gently caress did this get made" way
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Nov 25, 2021 22:37
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Oh yeah, the moth-eaten cat doctor of course continues a fine tradition of Star Trek doctors, she's great.
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Nov 25, 2021 22:45
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https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1463983419495526403?t=rqnmOYNw_EqHCBI0AXG_xA&s=19 Very weird to see the Gov actually acting as fast as possible for once (the data about this variant only came out in the last couple of days but it paints a pretty horrific picture). Too bad we're done with regional/national lockdowns, it's gonna be a wild winter.
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Nov 25, 2021 22:46
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goddamnedtwisto posted:Well the book about that bloke from Galilee sold pretty well. He was more of a brickie.
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Nov 25, 2021 22:51
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blunt posted:Very weird to see the Gov actually acting as fast as possible for once (the data about this variant only came out in the last couple of days but it paints a pretty horrific picture). They delayed the India one due to trying to do a trade deal at the time wasnt it?
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Nov 25, 2021 22:57
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Very easy IMO to imagine the government banning people from africa from entering the country.
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Nov 25, 2021 23:05
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Yeah I bet Johnson wrote a whole protocol on dealing with diseased Africans trying to get into the country for the Telegraph in 2005. It's the only thing he's ever planned in advance.
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Nov 25, 2021 23:12
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as someone on the vulnerable list this poo poo is horrible because it seems like everything has been handled in just the right kind of poo poo way that speedruns the virus to be more lethal and then bam, one day a variant hits you and your vaccine does nothing and its 3x more deadly now to healthy people never mind us sickly types not a virologist through so i guess i'm just going to hope that we're close to the maximum lethality else the future of humanity is much less people but everyone is strong and healthy at least, good luck with the climate change you fucks
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Nov 25, 2021 23:32
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Everyone's strong and healthy except the ones with long Covid and irreparable organ damage.
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Nov 25, 2021 23:38
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i actually think things are about as least bad in this country, covid wise, as we could hope.
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Nov 25, 2021 23:40
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NotJustANumber99 posted:i actually think things are about as least bad in this country, covid wise, as we could hope. Lucky that's a static thing that could not deteriorate in any way whatsoever. Also, never hope
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Nov 25, 2021 23:47
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No.10 is still filled with eugenicist believing Ayn Rand fans. Even our current 'minister for health' (aka ex US banker) has been on record to say he reads Atlas Shrugged once a year, and that it's had a major impact on him. They already tried to kill as many elderly and vulnerable people in the first wave, and they were hardly secretive about their initial 'herd immunity' strategy. So yeah, as someone already hosed up from the first wave and with a damaged immune system, thank gently caress for weed  ... It's a good coping mechanism. Carpe Diem and all that....
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Nov 25, 2021 23:47
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Many African countries have woeful vaccination rates (which is in itself a disgrace), so there's no good data on how effective the current vaccines are. They all work in slightly different ways so if the virus can evade one, another may still be very effective. It's concerning but not cause for panic yet. I think compliance with masks and social distancing has stabilized - the people still doing it now will continue, anyone who was going to stop probably has by now. Even if lockdowns and mask mandates were introduced they would be ignored by a large segment of the population, and I'm including the politician authorising them in that, which is a large reason why they would be ignored.
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Nov 25, 2021 23:49
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I think a few of the stores near me have started asking people to mask, rates seem to be slightly on the up in that respect.
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Nov 25, 2021 23:53
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i never stopped masking up, mainly so i can twirl my (imaginary covered up) I told you all so moustache when we all have to start doing it again
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Nov 25, 2021 23:56
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fuctifino posted:No.10 is still filled with eugenicist believing Ayn Rand fans. Even our current 'minister for health' (aka ex US banker) has been on record to say he reads Atlas Shrugged once a year, and that it's had a major impact on him. Normal morality book.
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Nov 25, 2021 23:58
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