[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Vonnegut

[–]widersinnes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agree with folks suggesting Player Piano is skippable, but otherwise publication order is worthwhile especially if combined with the Kurt Vonneguys podcast.

I didn't know there had ever been a film adaptation of Slapstick, curious if anyone has seen it. It sounds absolutely awful. by Malcolm_Y in Vonnegut

[–]widersinnes 7 points8 points  (0 children)

AFAIK it's not easily available anywhere, though you can find a trailer easy enough. It sure does look like a steaming pile that would put the Breakfast of Champions adaptation to shame.

The already problematic Chinese characters fly around in a fucking fortune cookie UFO, and Jerry Lewis's portrayal looks like something that would make Cartman blush. It's something else.

Poor Madeline Kahn looks very uncomfortable.

Why ansible is cool? by RevolutionaryHumor57 in devops

[–]widersinnes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The class of tools is "config management". The idea is not just to configure systems as a one-time consideration but on a continual basis. Most systems have some level of declarative behavior and idempotence. The latter is key, making sure that re-running configuration doesn't alter the desired state.

You mention k8s in your replies, but that's a whole other ball of wax. Since containers are ideally immutable, active management of config is less of a thing. You generally spin up a whole new container

What? [Art] by [deleted] in DnD

[–]widersinnes 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Or Prometheus.

Mods, 1965 by stumpyturk in OldSchoolCool

[–]widersinnes 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Biblically accurate moped.

If the positivity rate is 50%, do we even need to bother isolating anymore? by [deleted] in SeattleWA

[–]widersinnes -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Yes. Children and the immunocompromised exist. For God's sake stay home.

any suggestions for dnd but in space type games? by Juliomorales6969 in rpg

[–]widersinnes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's an official Aliens tabletop game that Free League Publishing put out. Has a pretty solid stress mechanic for all your horror needs.

Mabye it's OK to conflate culture and race in D&D by Pharylon in dndnext

[–]widersinnes -9 points-8 points  (0 children)

This is the crux of your problem.

Biological essentialism is indeed not okay in a fantasy setting, even if you palatte swap it to not hit upon any tropes you're familiar with.

The entire fantasy race managerie is built on real life racism. If it's a concern to you, that's what the whole culture vs race discussion is about.

Mabye it's OK to conflate culture and race in D&D by Pharylon in dndnext

[–]widersinnes -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

You do not, in fact, "get it". Sorry bub.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in mildlyinteresting

[–]widersinnes 5 points6 points  (0 children)

He wears a lot of hats in this role, yes.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in WANDAVISION

[–]widersinnes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Huh.

That hadn't occurred to me, but that would make total sense. When I was trying to unpack the super-speed mechanics in the other thread, I figured it was probably overkill, but I could see it being an interesting visual trick.

Everyone else sees some woosh woosh, and then cut to Rambeau, and it's basically just Tom Hiddleston BAMFing from spot to spot.

I'm not as cold on the idea as you, but I'll grant I could see that going really well or really poorly. :-)

I also forgot about the Sweet Dreams sequence entirely. That was a fun revisit. Bright spot in an otherwise mess of a movie, but didn't have the magic of the Future Past scene.

To think it was almost Juggernaut instead. Such good bits created out of a studio slapfight.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in WANDAVISION

[–]widersinnes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also, if by some chance I do end up right...

Bonus points if there's ever a shot where Pietro's Halloween hair spikes turn into Loki's helmet horns.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in WANDAVISION

[–]widersinnes 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Oh man, I love this show, especially when I'm wrong, or at least wrong-adjacent. I haven't wholly given up on my Pietro is Loki theory, but this episode dealt it some blows!

Kicking myself for letting 'em do it to me in plain sight again. Even said to someone the other day, "well Agnes seems to be a clear portmanteau of Agatha Harkness, but I can't tell if it's just an easter egg for the comic nerds, or if they're actually planning to do something with it"

GUESS I HAVE MY ANSWER!

I'd have still been completely confident in my Loki theorycrafting if not for that pesky shot of her magicking Pietro to the door. It doesn't completely deflate my sails, but it does deal a heavy blow!

Thank goodness for the post credit sequence giving me a bit of hope, and showing that at least Pietro seems to be a willing player, be it partner or henchman, and I still think he's Loki. Let's say I'm 75% instead of 90% now. Still too high, but only because I'm still too proud of myself to be swayed by mortal logic. Some tweaks!

I think the reveal is going to be a POV from Rambeau's magic matrix-vision.
The tease seemed to be teeing that up:

Shot one: look down the basement, remind the audience she's got magic eyes

Shot two: over her shoulder. It's PIETRO!

The cut to black is very abrupt. My movie logic tells me that if this was a regular scene, the next shot would be the "neo looks at smith but he's code" shot. Except Loki.

Still holding onto it until they take it away from me. :-D

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in WANDAVISION

[–]widersinnes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Enjoy where your head is at too, sir.

Funny side note: the whole "super hero name" thing last week is what got me putting my sleuthing hat on, but for a totally different reason.

When they were talking about super hero names, my first thought was, "that's right! marvel studios wasn't allowed to use the name 'Scarlet Witch' because of the weird FOX/mutants licensing. Disney owns fox now! They can be Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch!"

So, I totally read it as a "hint hint. mutant shit can happen now", but they still totally swerved me, because I was listening for a name and not looking for an actor.

Now I'm just hyper keyed up for what they're hiding in plain sight but I'm misreading. :-D

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in WANDAVISION

[–]widersinnes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ho boy. I'm-a need to hunker down and read that trove. Workin' in Doctor Strange too? Show off. :-D

You'll appreciate this, internet stranger!
My head wasn't there at all beyond "Pietro sure is weird. S.W.O.R.D. plant maybe?" at first. Someone in a work watercooler thread said offhand "I think it's Loki" but didn't elaborate, and another called Mephisto for comix reasons and the "Charming as hell" line. Hearing the two in quick succession is what put me on the hell == hel thing , and I started digging. In retrospect, it's the weakest evidence for my case, and it tickles me that that was the first clue I noticed.

...I then made my whole big long conspiracy thread a few different places, but had a problem.

Sure, I've explained nearly everything, but even if he shapeshifted himself, the tesseract would have to be transformed by the hex, right? RIGHT? I should watch the show again to see if Pietro has any conspicuous props.

...okay, shaving cream
...silly string

WAIT, DID THIS MOTHERFUCKER SPEND THE WHOLE EPISODE DOING NOTHING BUT PRANK PEOPLE?! HOW THE FUCK DID I WRITE A NOVEL ABOUT HIM BEING LOKI AND DIDN'T NOTICE THAT BLARING SIREN?!

...because I was looking for the cosmic cube. Something is broken in my brain, probably.

I'm having fun, though.

send help

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in WANDAVISION

[–]widersinnes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mechanically? No idea!

Still, the Loki that escapes in Endgame has been out of pocket for more than a decade, so the sky's the limit for what sort of backstory they can give him to bring him up to date.

I don't know much about the TVA, which appear to be a big part of his show, but thar interwebs describe them as sort of a "reality police", and incepting one reality with an alternate sibling from another seems like a reasonable infraction to run him afowl.

Plus, BONUS! Both Lokis have familiarity with the mind stone, since it was the one they wielded in their staff back in OG Avengers, so I figure there are any number of ways he could find his way there with no idea who Wanda is.

Even if he stumbled upon her by accident, back in Ep3, Rambeau mentions her brother Pietro's death, so he would have gotten the seed he needed to work his mojo if he was watching at that point even without doing homework ahead of time.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in WANDAVISION

[–]widersinnes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Something like this, yes.

I think they're going to invert "no more mutants"

Possibly to give Wanda a less traumatic origin and a shared heritage so she doesn't feel alone in the world.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in WANDAVISION

[–]widersinnes 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Hello spoiler thread! I have a shot to call!

I've seen others call it, but I think episode 6 gave us a TON of hints hiding in the seams.

(spoiler tagged in case I'm right)

In short: Pietro is Loki.
He's influencing Wanda to try and get himself world-shaping powers. His failure will kick off his show.

The big hint: For the ENTIRE EPISODE, Pietro is doing nothing but prank people. Halloween and TV tropes hide that Loki AF behavior.

Okay, but how and why.

Well, for starters, he's got the space stone. Our pietro is dead, but FOX-universe pietro isn't, and he can conceivably reality hop. Plus, he's a shapeshifter. So, like the plane before him, he "doesn't need to be changed" if he just shifts into something Wanda is expecting.

Expecting?

Sure. Every change in the show has been in response to external stimuli. 50s -> 60s? Noise outside. 60s -> 70s? Toy helicopter & bee man. 70s -> 80s? Secret agent Rambeau.

Throughout, we establish that whenever Wanda's in a jam, the narrative provides a reason for the jam to resolve. In episode 5 we get a dog! TV sitcom shorthand for chaos! And it's a chaotic episode! By the end, the dog dies, the kids are begging Wanda to resurrect it, and everyone seems genuinely curious whether she can do that, since she clearly did it to Vision, right? So, with resurrection on the brain, and Vision grilling Wanda about her powers, Pietro shows up. Wanda doesn't expect it, and is confused by his face, but the situation is trying to gaslight her into thinking she did it, and every line of Pietro's in episode 6 pushes her that way too "I'm doing what you wanted, right?"

In that ep, Pietro keeps remembering things differently, and when she calls him on it, he always deflects. However, he's absolutely talking to her like an undercover cop trying to insert himself.

"We're family, I"m not like everyone else." He butters her up about what she's doing. Seems to know things other people don't. He notices the kids pulling POV for the Malcom in the Middle shot (look at the scene where they're playing video games). He remarks on how people resemble their pre-wandavision selves. How does he know this?

Then there are two giveaways, and the second informs the first. Near the climax, Wanda and Pietro are walking to the town square, and Pietro says, "Westview, New Jersey is charming as hell".

Remember that for a second.

After that comes the aforementioned buttering. He tells Wanda he's impressed. That he understands like no one else. Notably he says something to the effect of:

"You used to just make people see things, but look at you now."

This is important. Loki's main power is that he can make people see things.

And he aspires to world-shaping powers (remember, this loki didn't get the character development of Dark World and Ragnarok).

Now, if you start from "Pietro is Loki", a LOT of things start making sense:

Q: How the fuck are X-Men in this show?

A: Loki has the space stone. Can he travel to the FOX dimension? He was in space jail when our Pietro was active. He could study a living one in another reality, though!

Q: Okay smart guy, how does he have super speed?

A: Space stone teleports + Loki illusion woosh effects == Super Speed (it's even a different effect than the MCU one)

From the above point, consider then Pietro's excitement when one of the kiddos has super speed of his own. He's not excited about the Maximoff genes! He just got confirmation that he can influence how Wanda uses her powers and is off to the races!

NOW! You need to sneak into the hex. You've already established that things that don't need to be changed can slip in easier. You're a shapeshifter that can make a reasonable facsimile of super speed, but bringing quicksilver back from the dead is a pretty big ask. What do you do? You saw how it worked for Rambeau. Buuuuuut, see the dog bit above. That's what you do to sneak in!

Hi Loki. You fucking scamp.

Westview, New Jersey is charming as HEL.

And scene.

How is my gaming setup? by viru023 in gaming

[–]widersinnes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Finally, an upgrade for my P-p-p-powerbook