Rater's Ridiculously Rambunctious Random Ranter #229

[Lord Raziere]

Also character arcs. I think the biggest hurdle is realizing the characters are the most interesting part of the setting, and the structure is about their changes more than the plot. Even 40K books are basically divided into good character driven ones and bad setting driven ones.

*snaps fingers, points*

Thats a good idea. I should think about that too. figuring out goals and how they get there and grow because of it are always the most important part of characters

[Tvtyrant]

*snaps fingers, points*

Thats a good idea. I should think about that too. figuring out goals and how they get there and grow because of it are always the most important part of characters

You son of a gun I'm in!

[Bartmanhomer]

Well, I finally got a new smartphone on Sunday. It's an LG smartphone. I got my old contracts and apps to transfer from my old phone to my new phone.

[Rater202]

And this is why I never got into American comics, they feel like they expect me to know random bits of lore from another series six years ago because they're now going to build a plot around how Iron Monger's suit is actually an AI with Swedish citizenship now working as a warehouse security guard.

On the other hand I can understand the appeal, I was the kid in 2005 who was annoyed that Doctor Who hadn't brought back the Cybermen yet.

Actually, no.

All of this stuff is from the last two years and the only series you need to know to understand this stuff is Venom Vol 4. (Though Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 5 and the Silver Surfer: Black miniseries also help.)

And, you know, the Event Spin-Offs. (Though some of Absolute Carnage's Spin-Offs are... There was clearly a breakdown in communications between Donny Cates and Saladin Ahmed. Absolute Carnage: Miles Morales contradicted scenes from the main Absolute Carnage Mini-Series, Carnage's behavior made absolutely no sense in the context of the main event, and per Cates he wasn't informed that Ahmed depicted Miles as taking control of his offshoot of the Carage Symbiote until it was too late for Cates to change the next bit of the main storyline to compensate. So, basically, it amounts to nothing.)

[Peelee]

And this is why I never got into American comics, they feel like they expect me to know random bits of lore from another series six years ago because they're now going to build a plot around how Iron Monger's suit is actually an AI with Swedish citizenship now working as a warehouse security guard.

That's part* of why I generally dislike the MCU. It feels like I have to watch previous movies as homework.

*there are various other reasons, for anyone wishing to try to refute this to get me to say "oh how wrong I was, let me embrace the MCU now!"

[Rater202]

That's part* of why I generally dislike the MCU. It feels like I have to watch previous movies as homework.

*there are various other reasons, for anyone wishing to try to refute this to get me to say "oh how wrong I was, let me embrace the MCU now!"

I'm kind of salty about how they handle Spider-Man. Like, Homecoming and Far From Home are good movies...

But let's review Spider-Man's MCU History.

First appearance(Vie Retcon): A Kid wearing an Iron Man Mask in the Iron Man movies.(Via a retcon.)

A Kid that Iron Man found and decided to mentor and give Swag to in Civil War.

His own first solo movie has him using the Swag Tony gave him, has Tony take it away, and then Spider-Man earns it back by cleaning up one of Tony's messes.

Infinity War: He gets shoved in the fridge to fuel Tony's character development in Endgame.

After his ressurection in Endgame, we get his next solo movie where PEter is mourning tony's passing, and comes into his own and becomes his own man... By cleaning up another of Tony's Messes with resources given to him by Stark's company. Now, Vulture, as an old man who got laughed at and screwed over when he presented his flight suit to his employers, could work as an Iron Man problem... But Mysterio's a stretch.

Spider-Man 3: Title Pending but probably has the Word Home In it apparently has Peter teaming up with Doctor Strange, so hopefully it will have nothing to do with Iron Man, but right now you could replace Peter Parker with an OC and have him fighting crime as Iron Lad and you'd lose nothing.

[Anonymouswizard]

That's part* of why I generally dislike the MCU. It feels like I have to watch previous movies as homework.

*there are various other reasons, for anyone wishing to try to refute this to get me to say "oh how wrong I was, let me embrace the MCU now!"

Oh, I totally agree. I'm starting to think the BBC's idea of continuity in Doctor Who is the right way to go for longer series. In short, while everything is canonical, stories in the primary medium (here TV episodes) are written with the idea that you don't have to have seen anything more than about three years old to understand it. On the downside it means that some things more reliant on continuity have been left out (such as explaining why the Doctor said they were half-human), on the upside there's no need to watch a Patrick Troughton episode just to understand what's going on in a Matt Smith one.

I think I missed most of the Phase Two MCU films, and had trouble following some Phase Three films because of it. And now that apparently the TV shows are going to be a major part as well and might be required viewing for films? Well that's another twenty hours of slog just to understand a film I'm watching in order to understand another film, I've stopped watching them at all.

Shared universes are great. Shared universes that are too interconnected become impossible to get into or keep up with. Imagine if to keep up with Doctor Who you didn't just have to watch ten hour long episodes a year, but also listen to the twelve main range Big Finish audio dramas and get the biannual big novel. That's what I feel like the MCU and Marvel and DC comics in general are.

[Bartmanhomer]

Is there a Doctor Who comic book by any chance?

[Insane Jeenyus]

So, its been a long minute since I have been on the thread, sorry about tha if any one missed me. If no one missed me, Sorry about that.

I see the obvious new title and the slightly less obvious new Avi for Data Ninja.
when did you get the gnew gnifty Avitar?

[DataNinja]

So, its been a long minute since I have been on the thread, sorry about tha if any one missed me. If no one missed me, Sorry about that.

I see the obvious new title and the slightly less obvious new Avi for Data Ninja.
when did you get the gnew gnifty Avitar?

Well, glad to know that your fall off the cliff thread was only temporary.

And I've only had it for a week. It's just for spooky season. Then I'll switch back to... something.

[factotum]

I've annoyed people before by pointing out the bad worldbuilding in Harry Potter, people handwaving it instead of tying to come up with explanations is what made me fall out of love with the series back in 2013.

I never really fell *into* love with the series, primarily for the same reason. I mean, I really like books which are nominally set on Earth but where there's all sorts of spooky mysterious stuff beyond the stuff we know, so Harry Potter should have been an absolute shoo-in for me, but nothing in it really made any sense, especially not the actions of any of the adults.

[Fyraltari]

Is there a Doctor Who comic book by any chance?

I think there are several? I keep hearing about a serie in Titan Comics for example.

[BisectedBrioche]

And this is why I never got into American comics, they feel like they expect me to know random bits of lore from another series six years ago because they're now going to build a plot around how Iron Monger's suit is actually an AI with Swedish citizenship now working as a warehouse security guard.

On theother hand I can understand the appeal, I was the kid in 2005 who was annoyed that Doctor Who hadn't brought back the Cybermen yet.



I've annoyed people before by pointing out the bad worldbuilding in Harry Potter, people handwaving it instead of tying to come up with explanations is what made me fall out of love with the series back in 2013.

Hey, there's worse ways to go off the series.

[Anonymouswizard]

Is there a Doctor Who comic book by any chance?

Doctor Who Magazine has been running a comic strip stove the 60s, which was the first place where Daleks flew (which they've been able to do since they stopped being bound to their cities, budget permitting). Plus a few American comic books which aren't as important.

Hey, there's worse ways to go off the series.

The only problem is that it stops me from joining righteous protests.

[LaZodiac]

I'm kind of salty about how they handle Spider-Man. Like, Homecoming and Far From Home are good movies...

But let's review Spider-Man's MCU History.

First appearance(Vie Retcon): A Kid wearing an Iron Man Mask in the Iron Man movies.(Via a retcon.)

A Kid that Iron Man found and decided to mentor and give Swag to in Civil War.

His own first solo movie has him using the Swag Tony gave him, has Tony take it away, and then Spider-Man earns it back by cleaning up one of Tony's messes.

Infinity War: He gets shoved in the fridge to fuel Tony's character development in Endgame.

After his ressurection in Endgame, we get his next solo movie where PEter is mourning tony's passing, and comes into his own and becomes his own man... By cleaning up another of Tony's Messes with resources given to him by Stark's company. Now, Vulture, as an old man who got laughed at and screwed over when he presented his flight suit to his employers, could work as an Iron Man problem... But Mysterio's a stretch.

Spider-Man 3: Title Pending but probably has the Word Home In it apparently has Peter teaming up with Doctor Strange, so hopefully it will have nothing to do with Iron Man, but right now you could replace Peter Parker with an OC and have him fighting crime as Iron Lad and you'd lose nothing.

Do you have a source for the iron man mask kid because I've never heard of that.

I don't mind Spider-man being presented as a sort of successor to Iron-Man. I do argue that Vulture is not actually Stark's mess- Vulture began what he was doing because of Stark doing a responsible thing and taking over cleaning up the wreckage, but that had the unfortunate (and legitimately bad) effect of putting common folk out of a job. I don't know what you're talking about with him getting laughed out of the room by his flying suit, that's just not part of the film unless I'm COMPLETELY blanking on it. Vulture still comes off as a very personal villain to Spider-man.

Mysterio being an absolute goober who blames Stark for his being a dip**** is honestly one of my favorite parts of that film. Mysterio is a privileged upper-class dude who thinks he is a genius, and when he got laughed at he decided to go full evil. I think the sheer pettiness of it makes him work as a character, and it's a fun contrast to Vulture who is legitimately a working class guy who got screwed over.

They have confirmed Spider-man 3 is going to have home in the title somewhere, so you can rest easy on that . Given the send off they had in Far From Home, I'm pretty confident there won't be any Iron Man stuff in this third film.

I think there is something that'd be missing if you had him as "Iron Lad" or what have you. Spider-man has a very distinct down to earth personality that serves as an interesting contrast between his mentor- and having Stark as his mentor makes sense with the universe they've made. I don't think it even really cheapens the character, all of his initial tech is his own handiwork and Stark's designs just build on it. He is giving him resources that he would never be able to obtain himself and I think that's cool.

Also if you had Iron Man's successor just be Iron Man, that'd mean the set up of Shuri's school in America wouldn't be allowed to make Iron Heart, which I'm still pretty sure it'll do (especially now that Chadwick is gone).

[BisectedBrioche]

Doctor Who Magazine has been running a comic strip stove the 60s, which was the first place where Daleks flew (which they've been able to do since they stopped being bound to their cities, budget permitting). Plus a few American comic books which aren't as important.



The only problem is that it stops me from joining righteous protests.

Could you put that in stupid? I used up all my clever streaming The Witness.

[Rater202]

In middle school, we had one of those really oppressive dress codes where you weren't allowed to wear certain combinations of colors becuase it might be gang colors and girls weren't allowed to have bare shoulders.

And yet, a kid was able to walk in every day wearing a shirt with a naked woman on the front. She was posed so you couldn't see her chest or groin but you got a clear look at her buttocks and the woman was posed in a way that made it clear she wasn't wearing a stitch and that was clearly meant for titillation.

So... The girls couldn't show any skin that wasn't on their face or arms below the shoulders. And nobody could wear solid red shirts with black denim shorts and a yellow headband(made-up example) but this one kid could walk in with softcore pornography on his chest. Never once did a member of staff comment on it.

[Anonymouswizard]

Ha, you can that a strict dress code? We had a choice between the maroon polo shirt or the maroon polo shirt, with the optional maroon fleece for winter (unfortunately the school stopped the old blazer+tie uniforms the year I started).

Honestly it wasn't that bad. There were complaints, mainly based around the hypothesis that school uniforms made us have worse fashion sense, but most people didn't care. I remember it not being normal to change after school, instead wearing your uniform the entire day.

Honestly the main thing I remember at school is that it was impossible to find other nerds because everybody was busy playing football.

[Rater202]

So, is there anyone here who doesn't think eternal youth and vitality would be awesome?

I'm not saying perfect immortality, just "you are young and healthy forever and will not dye of old age or natural causes."

Cause... I'm not even thirty yet and I've already got really bad arthritis(or at least I'm assuming it's early-onset arthritis. I'm a big guy but I don't think I'm big enough for my weight alone to cause this much damage to my knees and some days I think it's spreading into my arms) and I watched my great grandmother be destroyed by dementia(well, dementia and five strokes. I don't recall how closely they were related.)

Getting old is gonna suck and I'm scared of what might happen once I get to be "old" old, I'd take eternal youth in a heartbeat.

[Mystic Muse]

Eternal life is a hell no.

Eternal youth would be a hell yes.

[DataNinja]

So, is there anyone here who doesn't think eternal youth and vitality would be awesome?

To be honest... I'd hate it. Like, sure, knowing you wouldn't get sick or whatever is great. Your first lifetime would be great.

Except you outlive everyone you care about. Who cares about you. It's hard enough as it is, but you see them grow old and die even as you were the same age. Sure, you may be around, but the world moves on without you. I'd just be lonely, knowing that I'd last, but nothing - and nobody - that I'd care about would ever persist with me.

[Rater202]

To be honest... I'd hate it. Like, sure, knowing you wouldn't get sick or whatever is great. Your first lifetime would be great.

Except you outlive everyone you care about. Who cares about you. It's hard enough as it is, but you see them grow old and die even as you were the same age. Sure, you may be around, but the world moves on without you. I'd just be lonely, knowing that I'd last, but nothing - and nobody - that I'd care about would ever persist with me.

I mean, that's gonna happen regardless. The world will move on past you regardless of what you do and the only way to not see all your friends die is for you to die before the last of them. The only way to avoid seeing them grow old is to die young.

It's gonna happen regardless. You being eternally youthful doesn't change anything... Except you'll be in better shape and, when the pain fades, you'll have time to maybe make new friends. Or ensure that your friends aren't forgotten.

Most of the downsides people list against eternal youth or immortality are things that could have happened to you, or else will happen to you, anyway.

If I became perfectly immortal right now, my odds of being trapped in a cave in and not being discovered for a decade is exactly the same. The only difference is I'd be alive and able to recover when I got discovered instead of a decayed corpse.

[enderlord99]

Most of the downsides people list against eternal youth or immortality are things that could have happened to you, or else will happen to you, anyway.

If I became perfectly immortal right now, my odds of being trapped in a cave in and not being discovered for a decade is exactly the same. The only difference is I'd be alive and able to recover when I got discovered instead of a decayed corpse.

That's an interesting perspective.

[DataNinja]

I mean, that's gonna happen regardless. The world will move on past you regardless of what you do and the only way to not see all your friends die is for you to die before the last of them. The only way to avoid seeing them grow old is to die young.

It's gonna happen regardless. You being eternally youthful doesn't change anything... Except you'll be in better shape and, when the pain fades, you'll have time to maybe make new friends. Or ensure that your friends aren't forgotten.

Most of the downsides people list against eternal youth or immortality are things that could have happened to you, or else will happen to you, anyway.

If I became perfectly immortal right now, my odds of being trapped in a cave in and not being discovered for a decade is exactly the same. The only difference is I'd be alive and able to recover when I got discovered instead of a decayed corpse.

Sure, but it won't linger on forever, building up as generation after generation of people pass on. Not growing older with a person you might love. Seeing the places that you love change beyond recognition again and again.

That may be something you would like... but I don't think that I could handle it. I'm poor with change. With abandonment. You asked if anyone thought it wouldn't be awesome. And that's my answer.

[Anonymouswizard]

Why do people always assume immortality only applies to one person?

Bring on the infinite lifespans! Bring on the infinite healthspans! Even if I'm the only one who's immortal at first it's surely only a matter of decades to millennia until everybody else has the option.

It's not like we're even taking away the ability to die. Barring accidents and potentially diseases what we're doing is removing the strict(ish) deadline and letting you die at a time of your choosing. There's many ethical arguments we shouldn't get into, but the potential to live forever does not have to mean the reality of living forever should you not want to.

Now the biggest problems we have to solve are things like dementias, but I can see no reason why everybody being eternally young should be impossible. Some animals seem to manage it. And I could waffle on about this all day but I'll end up going places I shouldn't.

[Peelee]

If be good with eternal youth until I die. Don't need immortality.

[Bartmanhomer]

Oh, man. Last night was great at Youtubeland. I just made 570 to 600 subscribers because a friend of mine shared one of my videos on Instagram and Snapchat. All of a sudden I just gain so many subscribers very quickly.

[DataNinja]

Why do people always assume immortality only applies to one person?

Bring on the infinite lifespans! Bring on the infinite healthspans! Even if I'm the only one who's immortal at first it's surely only a matter of decades to millennia until everybody else has the option.

It's not like we're even taking away the ability to die. Barring accidents and potentially diseases what we're doing is removing the strict(ish) deadline and letting you die at a time of your choosing. There's many ethical arguments we shouldn't get into, but the potential to live forever does not have to mean the reality of living forever should you not want to.

Now the biggest problems we have to solve are things like dementias, but I can see no reason why everybody being eternally young should be impossible. Some animals seem to manage it. And I could waffle on about this all day but I'll end up going places I shouldn't.

I mean... I really wouldn't think it'd be all that great if it applied to everyone, either. Because... to be frank, past a point, it tends to be difficult for people to fully change. I feel that if everyone was immortal, there would be a lot of stagnancy. No hurry, no nothing, as the people who really wanted power would take it and grasp it and try and never, ever let go.

[Rater202]

Sure, but it won't linger on forever, building up as generation after generation of people pass on. Not growing older with a person you might love. Seeing the places that you love change beyond recognition again and again.

All that's gonna happen whether you get old or not. The only way to not see that happen is to die first.

[Peelee]

I mean... I really wouldn't think it'd be all that great if it applied to everyone, either. Because... to be frank, past a point, it tends to be difficult for people to fully change. I feel that if everyone was immortal, there would be a lot of stagnancy. No hurry, no nothing, as the people who really wanted power would take it and grasp it and try and never, ever let go.

Like science, society advances one funeral at a time.