you're going to need more than two space marines tho

announcing ILÚVATAR, my multi-billion dollar company which will specialize in the dismantling of all other idiotically tolkien-named entities, that they shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite

A tiny teacup Pomeranian / Yorkie mix contemplates the future glumly while wearing a soft harness and purple fleece.

Some tiny bun rarely wants to go on a walk.

The First WORLD FENCING LEAGUE is happening April 25th!!! I'M GEEKING!!!

Japanese engineers developed this "Sword Tip Visualisation" tracking technology specifically for this event that will make it so much easier for the average person to see what's going on!

I MUST WATCH THIS ENTIRE TOURNAMENT

A great deal of the reason why things aren’t so very much worse right now is because there is almost no overlap in the Venn Diagram that represents Trump’s Stooges Trying To Do Evil Shit in one circle and People Who Know How To Do Shit in the other circle.

World War II being dated from the Hitler’s invasion of Poland is a historical choice. Maybe even a defensible one, if what you care about most is the activation of western alliances. But total war was being waged in East Asia well before 1939.

People without connections to China or Korea have a tendency to forget how poisonous the memory of Imperial Japan is in those countries + their diasporas. Korea was under the boot from 1910 to 1945. Japan held Manchuko from 1932, and invaded China in 1937 after the Marco Polo bridge incident.

South Korea is doing quote-post diplomacy President Lee drew a parallel between occupied Korea and Palestine

Thr South Korean president criticized Israel, Israel got super mad about the mention of the Holocaust, and not the far worse reference. The president compared them to imperial Japan, which is like the worst thing a Korean can call anyone or anything www.theverge.com/policy/91358...

@aftermath.site @remapradio.bsky.social
@kotaku.com

It used to be @polygon.com + Waypoint, but y’know. Layoffs.

The book is better when Jehane is around.

“He’s the nuclear bombs, and the kids with no moms, and I’m fearful that he’s inside meeee…” All-timer.

Having the lyrics to “American Jesus” run through my head today for some reason. Can’t imagine why.

I did it 30 years ago. In retrospect, it was a bit of a weird experience.

Me, an atheist: Your holiness I stand ready to join the crusade against these heretics

BREAKING: Following the American threat of an “Avignon Papacy,” Robert Kennedy has begun a Diet of Worms

I would simply threaten the Catholic Church with the power of the sword, a problem it has never previously confronted.

"i could probably pilot a ship through the straight of hormuz" -next big thing 80% of men secretly believe about themselves

Best Star Trek crew. Wrong answers only.

what do we want?

OBJECT PERMANENCE

when do we want it?

WHEN DO WE WANT WHAT

A picture of Janet and Bad Janet from the tv show The Good Place. Janet has been drawn over to look like a Craftworld Eldar and Bad Janet looks like a Dark Eldar / Drukhari. Drukhari Bad Janet is farting contemptuously. Thank you to @caitlinroseboyle.com who made this for me.

We finally figured out the Eldar / Dark Eldar distinction in Warhammer 40k.

You're not going to believe this but it's a man wearing Roman armour, walking a black lamb on a lead. You don't need to know this but the lamb is called Emily.

Sometimes your working day gives you more joy than you could ever have hoped for.

But a preference for authors who “show their work” / don’t use certain “unrealistic” tropes (FTL, etc) is ultimately an aesthetic one. Just because the deus ex machinae actually come from machines or scientists doesn’t make them any better or worse than if they’re literal magic.

Many other examples. Audiences who notice will often forgive because they want the story to go where it goes. A lack of forgiveness can be a failure of craft - the author didn’t set things up enough - or an aesthetic preference on the reader / viewer’s part.

To unpack that, “realism” would probably have Grace and Rocky’s ships annihilated by space dust and everyone’s cells annihilated by gamma rays (yes, I know, magic astrophage - but is the crew BEHIND the fuel tanks? How does that work?) en route or on the return voyage, because space is hostile AF.

Even if you accept the movie’s multiple necessary nova (the Astrophage + Rocky + the solution), there are multiple other opportunities for suspension of disbelief to fail. Whether or not it does is more a question of aesthetic preference (e.g. near-C travel okay, FTL not) vs “realism”.

Watched Project Hail Mary. Enjoyed it a lot! Good movie, well crafted, and a perfect exemplar of how “Hard SF” is more of an aesthetic than a meaningful genre distinction. (Truly obnoxious genre wars nerdery follows.) 1/n

For real. We eventually got people to back off having endless offer popups when they logged in, but… it took a while, let’s say.

At guess, having worked in mobile games: some product person is being judged by their ability to move some specific metric, and that metric is not retention / customers satisfaction.

Me: No kings!

King In Yellow: (8 feet tall, lurching in corner of room) You talking about me?

Me: Nah man, you’re cool

Stop worrying about what YA books to let your kids read and let them sort it out with V C Andrews and cocaine era Stephen King as God intended