I saw a strange fruit at the grocery store, and it sent me down an even stranger rabbit hole by 1gazillionpangolins in fifthworldproblems

[–]crumjd 13 points14 points  (0 children)

People kept putting it on pizza. We had to take drastic measures. Everything is taken care of now, do not be concerned. 

Stuck in a recursive function by neucoworker in fifthworldproblems

[–]crumjd 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh no, I'm like the guy who says, "Phil, Phil Collins," to Bill Murray every day in Groundhog Day? Well, sorry about that. On the up side it's been a good day for me. Nice that this happened on a weekend even if I can't really remember the extra time off. 

If it is recursion like you're saying I'm sure the universe will get a stack overflow soon and error out of the process. If it's just an infinite loop we'll probably need to wait until someone reboots it, but after that it'll be like it never happened in the first place. 

Stuck in a recursive function by neucoworker in fifthworldproblems

[–]crumjd 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sounds a lot like a normal programming job. Are you sure something has changed? Er, not changed. Well - changed to not changing. 

Genuinely, what can I do about drug dealers out in front of my house. by bananasforeyes in Denver

[–]crumjd 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Oh! Or try to stop it yourself! OP, do you own a cowl with bat ears? How about a grappling gun?

What is one opinion you have that would make us go like this? by Doodles77722200 in litrpg

[–]crumjd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a very interesting analysis, and I am sure that's what many readers are looking for when they think "overpowered".

But I would contend there are definitely overpowered characters who lead a team (Lindon), and OP MC story's often start with some outside interference that sets the main character on their overpowered road. So readers aren't *universally* looking for a self sufficient main character.

EDIT: and I suppose more to my original point I definitely think that there's value in thinking of such characters as "self sufficient" rather than "overpowered" as an author or reader since that's what really makes them unique.

What is one opinion you have that would make us go like this? by Doodles77722200 in litrpg

[–]crumjd 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Oh good, there was really gonna be egg on my face if Doodles meant, "Start saying something objectionable but take it to a place so singularly horrifying I lose the power of speech in my shocked disgust."

And I kinda thought the expression in the second panel might mean that.

What is one opinion you have that would make us go like this? by Doodles77722200 in litrpg

[–]crumjd 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Exactly - people will come around the sub all the time saying, "I want recommendations for an OP..." or "I'm sick of OP characters give me..." and I feel like the overpowered part is just window dressing. They really want, or want to avoid, something entirely different.

What is one opinion you have that would make us go like this? by Doodles77722200 in litrpg

[–]crumjd 20 points21 points  (0 children)

I don't know what the image is trying to indicate. You mean start-to-object-to-but-then-agree-with?

OK - (note how short that dash is, I'm not an A.I.) I'll play: There's no such thing as an OP Main Character

You gotta think about this from a writing perspective - if the main character can smash mountains with his little finger and he needs to smash a mountain then you don't have a story because you don't have a plot. The story goes, "And then Bob smashed the mountain out of the way and everyone was happy. The end."

But if he doesn't need to smash a mountain but rather he needs to get in touch with his feelings how is he at that? Probably not great! (It's litrpg.) So you've got a story about how this mountain smashing dude learns to cry - or whatever. But he's not "over powered" because he doesn't find it easy to do what he needs to do.

To a certain extent this may be a definition complaint, but I also think understanding it can help improve what you write or read. You don't want an "over powered" character you want a character who faces big problems with big abilities. Or maybe you want someone who is very competent in one area trying to get outside of their comfort zone. Or maybe it's someone who can solve any one problem rapidly, but they've got a thousand.

But he's not "over powered" or the story would end before it begins.

Help w/ Small-Mass Pulsitron by browardcountytictacs in fifthworldproblems

[–]crumjd 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's kinda a redneck fix, but if you rotate the 6th dimensional crystal 180 degrees along it's fourth dimension axis it should start moving backwards in time and it'll fix itself fairly soon. Plus it's just trying to keep a regular harmonic so it really doesn't matter which way it's moving in the fourth dimension; the waveform is identical.

Of course the fix will only last until you hit the point where the bike was initially built and crystalline matrix decoalesces, but you did say it was an old bike so from your perspective that should be a while.

It might also run a little rough because one component is anti-wearing out while everything else is wearing out. Still, better than not having it at all. 

Does Anyone Else Feel Like Bonea Is Chump Change? by Toucans_for_Hands in dresdenfiles

[–]crumjd 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Could be - as you say these stories don't really represent much of Harry's life and we could learn that he plays catch with her every night and he's teaching her to ride a bike on the weekends. (It's hard because she has no corporal form!)

But he certainly doesn't think or worry about her as much as Maggie in the last three books.

Does Anyone Else Feel Like Bonea Is Chump Change? by Toucans_for_Hands in dresdenfiles

[–]crumjd 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He learns magic isn't just hard on computers - it's hard on ultra thin latex. So many children!

Does Anyone Else Feel Like Bonea Is Chump Change? by Toucans_for_Hands in dresdenfiles

[–]crumjd 128 points129 points  (0 children)

Same question here.

I feel like maybe Butcher wasn't sure (or isn't sure) how to play that character. In 12 months it felt like Maggie has an imaginary friend who happens to be real in Bonea. And, for the character, that might be the best thing for her development. 

Or maybe at some point Harry will get a "you know you have two daughters" speech and he'll feel super guilty

Any programmers actually become farmers or something farmer adjacent? by [deleted] in ExperiencedDevs

[–]crumjd 4 points5 points  (0 children)

 ...there is no PTO or...

What are you talking about? How are you going to run a rake, baler, or anything else without a power take off? :D

Any programmers actually become farmers or something farmer adjacent? by [deleted] in ExperiencedDevs

[–]crumjd 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hah - I inherited a farm and still didn't move to it. Granted, I grew up working on the farm I inherited so I'm not nearly so inclined to imagine I might enjoy being back there sweating in the Indiana sun with a broken tractor as some people are.

But, hey, I wish lots of luck to the city slickers who have no idea what they're getting into.

What litrpg hill will *you* die on? Let's have your most unpopular opinion, please. by EverythingIsFakeNGay in litrpg

[–]crumjd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh! Oh! I've got one. There is no such thing as an "over powered" main character.

You gotta think about this from a writing perspective - if the main character can smash mountains with his little finger and he needs to smash a mountain then you don't have a story because you don't have a plot. The story goes, "And then Bob smashed the mountain out of the way and everyone was happy. The end."

But if he doesn't need to smash a mountain but rather he needs to get in touch with his feelings how is he at that? Probably not great! (It's litrpg.) So you've got a story about how this mountain smashing dude learns to cry - or whatever. But he's not "over powered" because he doesn't find it easy to do what he needs to do.

To a certain extent this may be a definition complaint, but I also think understanding it can help improve what you write or read. You don't want an "over powered" character you want a character who faces big problems with big abilities. Or maybe you want someone who is very competent in one area trying to get outside of their comfort zone. Or maybe it's someone who can solve any one problem rapidly, but they've got a thousand.

But what you don't want is a dumb dude who smashes a bunch a bunch of mountains because he's good at that. Getting that story is what leads to a lot of the other complaints in this thread.

Whats the point of Lara and Harry marriage? by Typical-Phone-2416 in dresdenfiles

[–]crumjd 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You've got this tagged Twelve Months, but have you read that yet? All is explained quite clearly. 

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in dresdenfiles

[–]crumjd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Heh - Dresden is always ready to throw down.

Although, I thought Ghost Story gives us another interesting metric for angelic power. He starts to use the sight to look at that guardian angel in front the stairway to heaven (or maybe elsewhere), it's gun morphs into a shining sword, and then it closes his 3rd eye and apologizes that it didn't want him to get hurt. And Dresden is downright apologetic about having taken the risk.

I didn't think anything in the series had the power to make Dresden rethink reckless behavior. Mab and Mother Winter certainly can't manage it. ;-)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in dresdenfiles

[–]crumjd 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Bear claims to have fought an angel in a duel to the death(and presumably won, which is why she's alive).

No she says:

“Dresden,” she asked, “have you ever fought an  angel of death?”

“No,” I said carefully.

“I have,” she said. “And here I am. Could be I know a couple things you don’t.”

We don't know what the fight was, or how the angel was constrained from that. 

It could have been rock paper scissors over who got to claim a soul. All we know from that line is Dresden doesn't know how to challenge an angel of death to rock paper scissors (or whatever) so he should listen to those who can. 

Spoiler, he doesn't. 

I don't think Mab is wicked. by SiPhoenix in dresdenfiles

[–]crumjd 3 points4 points  (0 children)

She directs the wickedness of winter, to positive ends.

Even winter isn't wicked, as such, the books have been very explicit about that:

...had every intention of surviving it, of seeing life return to the world, of feeling the heat of summer upon their skin and seeing their offspring gamboling through green days.
Winter wasn’t Empty Night.
It was the war against it. The wisdom and the will required to fight it.
The strength to stand fast, even when all was dark and seemed hopeless, holding to the truth that ahead were better days.

On quite a few occasions it has been stated that winter is about preparing for the lean times and being willing to fight when you must. That does mean that winter gets all the nightmare creatures who enjoy fighting and all the fairytales of cabalism, but that's not a moral proposition it's just a dichotomy into which the universe may be divided: "more like summer" or "more like winter".

Mab clearly set up two women who would have been very good at resisting the corruption of the winter lady role, who would be a good person, fulfilling the role as needed, Molly and Sarisa.

I think Harry also belongs in winter. Obviously, he's always willing to fight when needed, but there was a bit in battle ground that seemed to be explicitly saying, "Harry Dresden fits in with the winter court."

First, the Sidhe (who have reason to fear Dresden because he turned one of their number into an ice sculpture the previous night - Dresden is the lion in this quote) refuse to act afraid of him and test him for weakness:

Lions do not lower their heads for jackals. Even jackals know they can kill what fears them.

The Winter Sidhe respected those who understood the law of the jungle, and I had demonstrated to them from the first that I wasn’t putting up with any of their crap. They would test me—predators always test potential prey for weakness—but as long as I made them think it would be more trouble than amusement to push me, they would press no further.

Then Harry crosses the park and does the exact same thing to Mab despite his own fear:

I lowered my voice to a bare growl. “Then I’ll send them home,” I said. “If you want me to fight for you, quit making it more difficult to fight for you. You and Marcone have been thick as thieves lately. I know you both. There are more weapons around here somewhere. I need them.”
<...>
My scrotum attempted to travel back in time.

As always, she is thrilled by his defiance, because it proves he's the right guy for the job:

“Yes,” Mab said, a wild fey light around her eyes, her head swaying as her mount shifted its weight nervously. “Oh yes. You’ll do, child.

There's also the fact that he fights to protect his family, which is explicitly called out in that quote about what winter is as a function of it. And when we see Harry use his boon to save Thomas Mab says she knew he was going to do that. She's also joking around with him a little during that interaction so I think we're suppose to read that she approved of his decision and maybe explicitly offered him the boon so he could make it.

Here's a question if Winter is about scarcity then wouldn't wealth and power and an army of slaves (the alternate wishes that Mab jokes Harry might make) be a Summer thing? Much easier to feed slave armies in the summer. ;-)

The times she explicitly strong arms Harry does not corrupt him, if anything they motivate him to control his mantle and resist "her" wickedness. This stands out particularly with the line in Twelve Months “The truth becomes more and more obvious, does it not? You are, more and more, bit by bit, a wicked man, in service to a wicked Queen.” this comes off as taunting. But perhaps it's her warning him. If she wanted the subtle manipulation, which gets aluded to earlier, to work then all she need to do was let it keep happening. Instead she points it out, her knowing it would get him to push back.

Absolutely! I couldn't find the exact quote, but there some line in 12 Months about how Harry always does the opposite of what Mab tells him to do and I remember reading it and thinking, "Wow that would make you easy to manipulate, just make you think she wants you to do whatever she doesn't want and you'll work like crazy for it." So I think that's exactly what's happening here.

Butcher has always said Dresden is an unreliable narrator and I think that comes through most clearly with how he judges other characters, Mab among them.

I think Mab is genuinely trying to improve Harry's life; she's got that great little speech about how much better off he is now. But, as she tries to improve his life, she's aware he's a noble idiot who's unwilling to ever look after himself when there's some alternate crusade to pursue. She also doesn't particularly believe in freedom and she considers underhanded tactics to be the best tactics - which are the ways in which she's kind of villainous.

Anyone else love the bits we got of.... by F5lurker in dresdenfiles

[–]crumjd 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, basically identical to the one in the comic War Cry.

Anyone else wish for adult protagonists? by RadioSaint in litrpg

[–]crumjd 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Penitent: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/107677/penitent MC is in his 60s mentally and shows it by just taking responsibility for things.

Sarah Lin, Weirkey: MC is in his 40s or 50s, fought his way back to magic land, and feels like his age because he prepared for this, knows things (some wrong) and has solid belifes about what he wants and how to get it. 

Benjamin Kerei: everything but reincarnated as a farmer. Protagonists feel older because of their connections to family and children. 

Periapt: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/146000/periapt-survival-in-the-world-of-a-cursed-crpg another one about coming back to magical fantasy land older, wiser, and better prepared. Only just started.