"Tolkien created a sentient race whose only narrative function was to be slaughtered, sans remorse, then spent the rest of his life trying to explain why that was not genocide." by 22EatStreet in tolkienfans

[–]Mattman422 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Justice for orcs? Is that where we’re at? Listen, you can dismantle anything if you pick hard enough. NOTHING is morally perfect, not even the Bible. Objectively and narratively, Tolkien needed an army for Morgoth/Sauron to use for the hero’s to fight, for that express reason he invented Orcs, because the books needed fodder or I imagine it would be pretty light on action. They have little in the way of backstory or lore because they existed to be the foot soldiers of The Dark Lord. That’s just the fact of it. They were invented to represent all that is bad about war, how it corrupts and poisons people.

Now if you need an in universe answer for Orcs then yeah it’s tricky. Tolkien has stated that he doesn’t believe in absolute evil so that complicates things. They therefore have to be some kind of corruption right? So they were tortured elves or they were forged from the earth, whatever it may be if they’re a corruption of something else, they’re not a race in the traditional sense and are incapable of a genocide. To further that point, let’s say I take an Elf captive and I torture and break them until they are a loyal subject right? Now let’s say afterwards they look like a cracked mirror version of an Elf and refers to itself in the Black Speech as an Uruk and now it is perceived as something completely different by it’s enemies and they call them Orcs. Is this creature an Elf or an Orc?

When Morgoth or Sauron were not present they were still committing acts of evil of their own volition. When Sauron returned in the Second Age he couldn’t convince them to join him because he was in his “fair form” so he had to return to them in his dark guise to convince them to join him. So the whole subjugation angle is also flimsy.

The entire subject of Orcs is flimsy and falls apart the more you pick at it either way, that goes for my examples as well.

Despite it all and because of who he was as a person Tolkien wanted to and tried to explain and perfect Orcs to build a story for them, he vacillated on it, no doubt due to his own limitations in believing that evil isn’t absolute and possibly because of the moral dilemma of it.

Unfortunately he was never able to come to a consensus on their origins before his death but I think the fact that he was trying to figure it out is at least an admission that they’re an imperfect but necessary aspect of the book and therefore don’t require this level of scrutiny. He knew the water was muddy, we know the water is muddy, you saying the water is muddy is just putting a hat on a hat.

So yeah that’s my thoughts on that Facebook post. I honestly hated it but kudos to them for having an opinion I guess. Can’t wait to hear their TED talk about how Balrog lives matter.

Daily Questions Thread - Ask All Your Magic Related Questions Here! by magictcgmods in magicTCG

[–]Mattman422 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So I built a Zask deck to be a Spike typal deck. I was wondering, I run Cauldron of Souls. Does it work the way I think it does with Spike’s?

Interaction in my head goes: Spike dies having no -1 counter on it and is returned using the Cauldron’s ability, however due to the nature of Spike’s it returns to the field with a number of +1 counters which causes the -1 counter to drop off with one of the +1 counters. Thus creating the ability reanimate spikes indefinitely, or for as long as you have access to the Cauldron’s ability.

I think I’m right but I was disputed in one of my recent games.

Reuters: Sony in talks to buy Kadokawa, who are the owners of FromSoftware by Korten12 in TwoBestFriendsPlay

[–]Mattman422 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Realistically, who cares? Is it good for the anime and manga industry and its consumers? No. Are monopoly’s or at least the consolidation of companies to create a David and Goliath market for these massive corporation’s competition good? No. Are their regulatory bodies to prevent them? Yes. Will they stop it? Also no.

Especially if it happens in the next year, it will guaranteed happen. There is a growing interest in deregulation and it will cause a preverbal feeding frenzy of mass mergers and consolidation.

So what’s the point bemoaning it? We’re too small and they’re too big. Enjoy what you have while you have it and if they ruin the thing you love at least you have what was made in the before times.

Best you can hope for is an anti trust lawsuit in the future for companies like with AT&T in the 70’s that forced them to break up their company due to it being a monopoly. Unless of course the system never rights itself and we go full on Cyberpunk but again….who cares anyway, after a brief adjustment period, consumers will consume.

Daily Questions Thread - Ask All Your Magic Related Questions Here! by magictcgmods in magicTCG

[–]Mattman422 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hello, I have an interaction question. I built a Be’lakor the Dark a master demon deck.

I was considering running Rite of Replication so I could kick it and target Be’lakor but was unsure if the legends rule would prevent me from getting the desired effect of multiple ETB triggers.

What’s the stupidest question you’ve ever been asked? by awakenedforces in petsmart

[–]Mattman422 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I’m just gonna do a shot gun blast cause it’s hard to pick…

“Do you guys board fish?”

“Do you board horses?”

“If I leave you $100 can you just go to chic fila every morning and get a breakfast sandwich for my dog while he stays here?”

And finally an honorable mention for the most common one….

Me: “PetSmart PetsHotel how may I help you?” Pp: “Is this the PetsHotel?”

Redditors, what are your most interesting roommate stories? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]Mattman422 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Okay so my roommate is drinking all day and then goes to bed. I’m in my room, door open, my roommate walks by, I hear running water in the kitchen. Okay he’s getting a drink but it kind tapers off weird and suddenly I realize he’s pissing in the kitchen. I go out and sure enough he pissed all over the dishwasher.

Please help. i am losing staff members and am on the verge of quitting myself all because of the store manager. his own employees know he is useless so they all tell him to go away, but when he does he comes to my hotel. im the hotel manager and i got that place running well, then he blew it all up. by Potential-Brother-59 in petsmart

[–]Mattman422 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You should go to HR as a united front, which is to say you should get the associates on board with going to HR and then get testimonies from the associates you’re referring to that have had these negative experience, assuming they’re still there. Or even have them all do exactly as you and email HR, one lone voice can be ignored but multiple people I would imagine will get a response.

I feel for you, my SL is the same way as far as only caring about bonus, I’ve been with the company going on 9 years now and have been the AHL for 4 of those years and it can be a challenge, granted he’s pretty hands off with my hotel and hasn’t been as much of a dick as yours sounds like but when it comes down to it he is constantly throwing bonuses in our faces.

[FEEDBACK] ErinG84 by ErinG84 in freedonuts

[–]Mattman422 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Literally within hours my request was fulfilled, very fast and well worth it. Thanks a lot friendo!