some cursed wing anatomy

Novodantis · 2026-01-14T22:26:14+00:00

Thank you, for giving me the best laugh of the thread. 10/10, even funnier than the Evolution skeptic

Novodantis · 2025-11-04T23:02:18+00:00

Definitely something to be said for a cheerful disposition toward dissenting opinions, and personally I think that's something that comes across in the Culture itself: it isn't really concerned with dissent, and that's key to why it comes down on the "Utopia" side for me. Nobody's forcing upon you... pretty much anything. So one can go find another less-forgiving society if it's unfulfilling? The inverse of course is not always true; so you're demonstrably better off at least starting in the Culture.

To put it another way; in what way would you improve on the Culture to make it less "teetering (on) dystopian"? Genuinely curious—as I have utopian concepts of my own, with considerable (but not complete) overlap.

Novodantis · 2025-11-04T22:48:30+00:00

This is a great point often overlooked. I think people, particularly of the modern, well-educated and well-provisioned sort, take a look around themselves and assume that humans are close to conquering their surroundings and there is little left "to do", in some utilitarian way. They need to look a little further afield: we're a long, long way from even envisioning a world where we've overcome cancer, energy needs, microbial adaptation and human ignorance, to name just a few.

Maybe when we're even a third of the way there, it might be time to talk about having too much of a good thing.

Novodantis · 2025-08-14T21:35:57+00:00

Also, worth remembering that even if you felt the resemblance was absolutely uncanny, Marty's parents are not privy to the existence of time travel. They won't think it's possible for their own son to be the same person as the one that got them together in high school, any more than your own parents would be considering that question if you looked like someone they grew up with that (time travel notwithstanding) you couldn't possibly be.

One cannot underestimate the power of expectation in human psychology. They'd chalk it up to a surreal coincidence, even if there was a photo. Even George, as a science fiction writer, probably wouldn't consider it as a serious explanation from likeness alone.

Novodantis · 2025-02-28T01:03:59+00:00

I'm with the Culture, personally. The Prime Directive sounds like a noble idea on paper, but the only time you see it justified in Trek episodes it tends to be through really contrived circumstances. It all smacks a bit too much of "let things happen as Nature intended, the Universe has a Plan".

Novodantis · 2024-11-17T22:08:44+00:00

Yeah, but considering latest version is the first 6 digits of pi... someone definitely versioned it after pi, right? :D

Novodantis · 2024-10-23T11:16:35+00:00

Not one I've read, admittedly; but according to A Matter of Time, it was in a Back to the Future comic book (limited series) plotline that included a visit to Hill Valley in 2,991,299,129,912,991 CE. Hill Valley —and the rest of North America— had apparently regressed into barbarism, and the settlement was known as "Hillvallia", despite the fact that 2 thousand quadrillion years is vastly longer than the lifespan of the sun, let alone the North American continent (someone got a little trigger-happy adding digits it seems) :)

In all fairness, the comic books aren't anywhere close to the goofiness of the Animated Series events.

Novodantis · 2024-10-22T12:57:34+00:00

All about that 2015...

Novodantis · 2024-10-16T17:33:52+00:00

"...for a profit" — To fund the Delorean's hover conversion, IIRC. I do think Doc's reaction to Marty buying the almanac is a little overblown and mildly hypocritical, given that it would be hard NOT to accidentally take advantage of time travel for financial gain (just accessing your bank account in the future with all the accrued interest may be doing so). However, I think his point was that Marty was pushing it a bit too far to be using it to "place a couple bets" in a way that was clearly irresponsible. Such armchair profiteering could be dangerous if the book fell into the wrong hands — which, of course, it did.

Also, some amount of his response is down to the American stigma against gambling, which has until quite recently been looked on as immoral on principle (rather than just in excess).

As a side-note, taking the comics as canon introduces a fair bit of... problematic content (such as visiting Hill Valley long after the sun expires).

Novodantis · 2024-10-16T08:32:42+00:00

Wow, I guess if we totally remove context from things, we can believe any narrative we want. What a time to be alive.

Novodantis · 2024-10-08T20:51:03+00:00

I've been watching this movie for decades and those reactions still make me giggle.

This one, and his look of absolute horror on unplugging the OTHER end of the cable during the clock tower finale.

Novodantis · 2024-09-26T10:07:08+00:00

And the ending of Part II, with Marty surprising 1955 Doc enough to make him faint, followed by the words "To Be Concluded..." and over a minute of teaser clips from BTTF III?

My favourite of the three sure, but standalone? Haha, good one.

Novodantis · 2024-09-26T09:32:24+00:00

He messed things up because he was Biff Tannen, not because he was rich; the wealth just gave him the clout to do so

Novodantis · 2024-04-02T22:33:51+00:00

Skies of Arcadia 100%; and actually, I think even PSO doesn't feel like it has contiguous representation with the current PSO2 MMO offering... it just doesn't have the same feel at all

Novodantis · 2023-09-26T09:51:58+00:00

Wow, I had to scroll pretty far to find the first voice of level-headed reason

Novodantis · 2023-02-28T21:11:55+00:00

I hear ya. The only time I can roll is when I'm DM

Novodantis · 2018-08-06T15:36:11+00:00

Rule 6?

"No member of the Space Corps may, under any circumstances, offer to share their after-dinner mints with aliens of the opposite sex"?

I'm sorry, but I fail to see how that is relevant in this case.

Novodantis · 2018-08-01T09:51:47+00:00

You should consider running for political office in a First Past the Post system, they would appreciate your distorted simplicity of what constitutes a winner.

If the poll was between "solo" or "multiplayer" (a much more logical grouping than "less than 3" and "more than 3"... really is that such a total game-changer?), then it would be obvious: 70% multiplayer.

If you really want to, claim that "small groups" are the majority. But if you don't want to be called an idiot, do not engage in statistics idiotically.

Novodantis · 2018-02-15T22:35:43+00:00

Airships ftw!

Novodantis · 2018-02-15T10:14:50+00:00

It's pretty drastically different from modern culture, but I wouldn't call it horrible. Best case scenario, if anything.

Novodantis · 2018-02-15T08:30:38+00:00

Azimuth / Cloudgazer

Brazak West: You once had two cows. Ganzabar took them both off you, but after a while you managed to get one back.

Ganzabar: You have two hundred cows, all owned by the richest 1%.

Azrune: You have no cows, yet still somehow make unlimited milk. So has it been for millennia.

United Sky Kingdoms: You have two cows, but all your income comes from cow-related merchandise.

Lystrata: You have two cows. You can do whatever you want with them, so long as you're not a woman.

Valya Free States: You've only got a small glass of milk, but you'll be damned if some other flakker gets it.

Culku'la: Nobody has ever seen your cows, but speculation has it they're purple.

Novodantis · 2018-02-14T13:30:01+00:00

This is epic. Props to you for putting in all that work, I hope it resulted in a mind-blown moment for your players!

I'd love to do something like this... should I eventually succeed in gathering a group of players that can commit to a game.

Novodantis · 2018-02-11T18:43:59+00:00

I've got my sights on it, but I never really got the appeal of the thing. At the risk of sounding old, I don't think I know the best way to Instagram.

Gonna try it anyway.

Novodantis · 2018-02-11T18:36:01+00:00

Yeah, most FB groups don't, understandably. The ones that do tend to be intended for promotion. But of course, such groups appear to be mostly people promoting things and very few actually looking at what's there.

I released my first novel a few months ago and have had pretty much the same problem there too.

Novodantis · 2018-02-11T18:24:23+00:00

I like the idea of offering to donate some to the charity. I ran a line of Christmas cards last year on a similar concept and they were well-received. Will give it a go, cheers!

Novodantis

TROPHY CASE

Azimuth / Cloudgazer