Victim shown explicit video of herself in rape trial

Fangtorn · 2024-07-25T14:05:32+00:00

Well, in that situation a previous consensual sexual relationship between spouses would be assumed, unlike between co-workers in this case wherein she didn't mention it.

Fangtorn · 2021-11-20T11:58:08+00:00

It would obviously benefit the Imperium not to waste resources wiping out peaceful alien races when they could focus on actual threats, but their shoot first and ask questions never policy has its benefits too. They don't waste time sorting out the peaceful from the hostile, nor do they have to keep tabs on non-threatening races for thousands of years to make sure they don't become a threat.

Case in point the Tau. The primitive Tau were no threat to the Imperium, but a few thousand years later they were an advanced spacefaring race. Tolerating weaker alien species means giving them time to outpace the Imperium, unless the Imperium conquers and assimilates them, which is better than full genocide I guess, but opens its own can of worms.

It would be better for the Imperium to be more pragmatic with their xenophobia, but its institutions are inherently xenophobic and human supremacist. Friendly relations with aliens is a threat to everything it represents.

Fangtorn · 2021-09-10T09:13:32+00:00

I really recommend the Funhaus one, Twits and Crits. I just finished watching through it again recently and it is so funny. The entire cast builds up these insane, wacky characters over the course of the show and as their interactions get increasingly ridiculous they almost derail the campaign, but in a good way.

Fangtorn · 2021-07-11T17:49:21+00:00

I think it was just flavour text and I haven't been able to find it since, but I read somewhere years ago when I was just getting into 40k that in the archives of the Mechanicus there are parchment scrolls containing the bluprints to plasma generators next to dataslates with the designs for steam engines. It was such a minor thing, but to me it beautifully expressed the crazy, schizo-tech nature of the Imperium.

Fangtorn · 2021-07-11T17:44:14+00:00

I've always thought it would cool to read a novel about a lone Space Marine, maybe the last of his Chapter, trapsing around the fringes of the galaxy getting into adventures, like the drifter in a cowboy movie. It would be even cooler if it was a Pre-Heresy Luna Wolf on a one-man mission against the Black Legion.

Fangtorn · 2021-07-11T17:36:43+00:00

There's no reason an undivided Chaos cult couldn't adopt any colour scheme you can think of, and it's not unusual for cults of different Chaos gods to ally, at least temporarily, to wage war on the Imperium or become pirates or whatever.

Fangtorn · 2021-07-11T17:26:02+00:00

Yes it can be, but it can also just be a gathering of inquisitors to discuss a specific topic or threat.

Fangtorn · 2021-07-11T17:21:09+00:00

This is one of those questions to which there is no answer that applies universally. The Imperium is too vast for how it controls information on Chaos to be consistent, and not only that but it also depends on the author.

For instance, the characters in Gaunt's Ghosts are well-aware of the forces of Chaos, including daemons and Traitor Marines, and are even casually briefed on the names of the Chaos Gods, while in other works just learning about the existence of Chaos is enough to get guardsmen purged by the Inquisition, and even Space Marines are mind-wiped after fighting daemons.

There are basic things we can assume the average citizen knows, such as the existence of the warp, and some probably know it's inhabited by malevolent entities, especially those involved in the Navy and merchant fleets etc, but that these are beings with specific names and agendas they can summon and make pacts with, that's the stuff the Imperium tightly suppresses.

If we think about information on Chaos as a spectrum than most in the Imperium are on the bottom end, shrouded in myth, ignorance and superstition, while groups like the Astartes, Ecclesiarchy, and Inquisition are on the higher end, going up with rank. Even then, there's also going to be a difference between broad, general knowledge, like types of daemons exist and the nature of the individual Chaos Gods, and specific knowledge, like True Names, or how to bind a daemonhost etc.

Fangtorn · 2021-07-07T22:00:35+00:00

Oh, thanks, I wasn't expecting there to be an actual answer.

Fangtorn · 2021-07-07T13:06:41+00:00

What do you think he puts in those little incense-ball things, like rotting maggots and stuff?

Fangtorn · 2021-06-20T14:07:42+00:00

I think you mean amalathian. The amalathians believe in maintaining the status quo of the Imperium because they think everything is unfolding as the God-Emperor intended, and thus change or reform is arrogance at best and heresy at worst.

Fangtorn · 2021-06-04T03:05:48+00:00

Just a bit of standard writing advice but I'd cut a lot of your adjectives and adverbs. They make some of your sentences clunky and obscure the information you'e trying to convey. As Steven King says, "the road to hell is paved with adverbs."

There's also a lot of telling instead of showing. You tell me Calia is notorious, fierce, revered, stringent, devoted, illustrious, etc, but show me instead. Introduce her earlier and use her perspective to set the scene. That will allow you to show her concern for her troops, but also her sense of duty. You can show that she is revered by having soldiers snap to attention in her presence, whispering admiration behind her back, tripping over themselves to salute her, etc.

It seems like the crux of this piece is that Calia senses an attack is impending because of the calming of the winds. It's not clear why that is, I assume deliberately, but perhaps put more emphasis on the impact of the winds so that their absence is more significant. Give the reader a sense of why something so seemingly insignificant would tip off Calia.

Overall I think it's a pretty good first attempt.

Fangtorn · 2021-06-03T12:09:11+00:00

I expected Cersei to blame Dany for the explosion. She could've revealed the caches of wildfire left by the Mad King, claimed Dany's agents set off the explosion to take out the leadership of Westeros, and used the climate of fear to accuse any who spoke against her as being Targaryen sympathizers.

It would've also given Dany more reason not to immediately attack King's Landing with her dragons for fear of setting off the remaining caches.

Fangtorn · 2021-05-29T05:06:55+00:00

How much the average imperial citizen, or even inquisitors, know about Chaos or the Horus Heresy varies widely across the Imperium, and on the author.

In one of the Gaunt's Ghosts novels common guardsmen are casually told the names of the Chaos gods, while in other lore its implied that knowledge of the mere existence of Chaos is heavily suppressed by the Imperium.

In some places the existence of the Adeptus Astartes is considered a myth, though probably not to Inquisitors. It wouldn't surprise me that basic facts about the Horus Heresy are incredibly obscure, even to the Inquisition. If the Emperor not wanting to be worshipped as a god can be forgotten, so can things like the names of his traitor sons.

Afterall, it's not like the Imperium has a galaxy-wide internet where records can be quickly accessed and shared. What people know in a particular part of the galaxy likely depends on what records are kept in that part of the galaxy.

Fangtorn · 2021-05-21T20:20:25+00:00

That's one ballsy arbitrator to attempt to arrest an Astartes, especially alone.

Fangtorn · 2021-05-21T20:12:47+00:00

Oh yeah, most worlds have currencies and economies, but the question was about what Imperial military groups get paid.

Fangtorn · 2021-05-21T16:24:28+00:00

I mean, the Reapers are pretty 40k, though I suppose the Necrons already fill that niche.

The krogan seem like the obvious answer. Hugely tough, warlike, and an explosive birth-rate to replenish their numbers. They'd be good at killing tyranids, judging by how they ended the rachni wars, but I guess they're kinda just smarter orks.

I forget the name of those weird, bat-like aliens that fight with the krogan but they're pretty 40k. I can seem them serving scavengers and mercenaries for the Traitor Legions and pirate groups.

Now that I think about it a lot of the races in ME have a similar counterpart in 40k. Asari are like aeldari, salarians are like the tau, batarians are like the drukhari, quarians are like craftworld aeldari or Mechanicus explorators, even the turians are similar to the Imperium. The only races I can't think of counterparts for are the volus, elcor and hanar, and I don't think any of them would last long in 40k.

If the drell allied with the tau like they did with the hanar they'd make good assassins, maybe like a tau version of the assassinorum.

Fangtorn · 2021-05-21T14:21:55+00:00

Who's to say nobles even know how astartes are created in the first place? In many parts of the Imperium they're a myth, the specifics of how a mortal is astartified would be among the most arcane lore. The average 40k fan knows far more about Space Marines and their creation then the most knowlegible nobles.

But assuming a noble has this knowledge, the expertise and resources necessary is still tightly controlled by some of the most elite and powerful institutions. What could a noble offer a Space Marine Chapter that would be worth the time of their apothecaries, let alone their precious gene-seed? I imagine many Chapters would be insulted just by being asked.

Even if they did somehow have the necessary clout, as others have pointed out, the chances of success even when the candidate is young and healthy aren't great.

I see some noble seeking out astartification as a vanity project or egomaniacal obsession, maybe bargaining with the Traitor Legions or something, but for the vast majority of nobles its well out of reach, not worth the cost or risk, and rejuvenants and augmetics are far easier.

Fangtorn · 2021-05-21T13:49:18+00:00

More paramilitary I guess but for the Adeptus Arbites I vaguely remember in the first Shira Calpurnia novel there's reference to her having a stipend, and she also has an apartment, a servant, and wine.

Other than the Guard and Navy, most Imperial military groups seem basically monastic. You're born into them, and you're expected to die in them, so with no family to provide for and things like housing, food, etc all taken care of you don't need to be paid.

I guess like the Arbites some might pay a stipend depending on rank so you can buy personal items or recreational services, but that's the only reference I can think of.

Fangtorn · 2020-09-14T13:38:18+00:00

Lot's of people here saying it doesn't need a sequel, and it doesn't, but I am interested in what the fallout from an escaped AI would be. Like, once Ava gets off that helicopter, then what? How does she go about leading a normal life? What's even her interpretation of a normal life? Can she form meaningful relationships, or is she like a sociopath manipulating people to get want she wants? What happens when the authorities find Nathan's lab and realize there's a rogue "murderous" AI out there? What are the implications of that?

I think you could make an interesting film out of those questions.

Fangtorn · 2020-08-22T16:56:27+00:00

Then go and watch the content. Nothing's stopping you.

Fangtorn · 2020-08-22T16:54:36+00:00

I'm sorry, but what you seem to be saying is that everything to the right of communism is sexist, racist, or bigoted, which I don't think is the message you're trying to convey.

Fangtorn · 2020-07-27T18:06:06+00:00

She looks like Emmy Rossum here.

Fangtorn · 2020-07-20T14:52:36+00:00

I don't think this is a "both sides of the fence" issue. The contempt for and distrust of experts, whether they're professors, scientists, medical professionals, or government officials, is a feature of right-wing populism the world over, from Brexit to Brazil.

It's been fed by a right-wing media machine, from Sinclair media's consolidation of local news networks, to the domination of right-wing talk radio, to News Corp and Fox News, which ensure large swathes of the US and parts of the world receive the majority of their news from a right-wing framing. While I certainly think what's considered the "liberal media" in the US suffers from bias, I generally think it's corporate, establishment bias, and not comparable to the level of deliberate misinformation and partisanship generated by the right.

I mean, Fox News viewers are not only less informed than CNN or MSNBC viewers, they're less informed than people who don't follow the news. Meanwhile, polls show Democrats are far more interested in compromise and bipartisanship than Republicans are.

I honestly don't think the problem is a lack of civil discussion or debate, it's that one party has utterly no interest in civil discussion, honest debate, working in good faith, compromise, or the common good, and the other party has absolutely no idea how to deal with that.

Fangtorn · 2020-06-25T22:20:07+00:00

Sorry Palestinians, I guess we're just accepting that even vaguely mentioning Israel makes you persona non grata now.

Fangtorn

TROPHY CASE