Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[10ebbor10]

All I have to say is this: Soft sci-fi can go fuck itself. Except Doctor Who. Doctor who is the only soft sci-fi I can watch without wanting to find something to bash my head off of on the grounds that it would actually hurt less than watching Star Trek or anything like that.

I kinda find it fun to poke holes in space thingies. Also, Doctor Who is awesome. They know they're making soft sci-fi, and focus on keeping in line with their in universe rules* rather than trying to seem realistic.

*With exceptions, of course.

[Vorthon]

Yeah that's not conductive to the overall feel I want this thread to have at all.

Not that a lot that goes on in this thread is, but we can at least agree not to be hostile.

Sorry. Habit.

A habit that needs correcting, to be honest.

All I have to say is this: Soft sci-fi can go fuck itself. Except Doctor Who. Doctor who is the only soft sci-fi I can watch without wanting to find something to bash my head off of on the grounds that it would actually hurt less than watching Star Trek or anything like that.

Define "soft". There's a difference between authors that handwave everything because they're lazy and ones that do it because they're writing a story that happens to use SPEHSS as the backdrop to the drama (aka Space Opera).

For that matter, most of the classic Golden Age writers indulged in quite a bit of technobabble, though it usually tended to be internally consistent. See Asimov and his "positronic" brains.

In any case, it's a bit hostile to take a view that closeminded and extreme. :|

When I say soft, I mean stuff like rubber-forehead aliens and psychic powers. It just makes me facepalm for some reason.

[freeformschooler]

Speaking of soft Sci Fi, I finished watching S1 of Eureka. That show is excellent. It's like the Buffy the Vampire Slayer of sci-fi shows.

[Flying Dice]

Eh, it isn't really any more unbelievable than the absurdities that crop up in any other genre, even if it tends to be sillier. That aside, taking pleasure in the camp is 30% of enjoying speculative fiction. I don't watch Star Trek: ToS because it's a dramatic, well-researched masterpiece, but because it is fun to watch and lovingly mock. If you look hard enough at pretty much any sort of creative work you'll eventually find cracks and annoyances. Or tropes. The key is in not allowing things like that to spoil it; the day I stop enjoying something because it isn't serious enough is the day I re-examine my worldview. 

Speaking of soft Sci Fi, I finished watching S1 of Eureka. That show is excellent. It's like the Buffy the Vampire Slayer of sci-fi shows.

Is it worth it, then? I watched a few episodes but never really mustered the energy to finish it.

[freeformschooler]

Speaking of soft Sci Fi, I finished watching S1 of Eureka. That show is excellent. It's like the Buffy the Vampire Slayer of sci-fi shows.

Is it worth it, then? I watched a few episodes but never really mustered the energy to finish it.

Like I say, it's like the Buffy the Vampire Slayer of sci-fi shows. If you're watching it exclusively for the sci-fi, you're going to be disappointed. It's got a lot of "filler episodes" with varying quality, but they're all fun to watch because the show is just so dang funny. The end of Seasons 1 and part of S2 where

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

the Artifact dies without explanation, is transported into someone and later separated from them then NEVER MENTIONED AGAIN

is really damn stupid.

But I think the sci-fi silliness used as a backdrop for the characters to be themselves is really fun.

[Vorthon]

Eh, it isn't really any more unbelievable than the absurdities that crop up in any other genre, even if it tends to be sillier. That aside, taking pleasure in the camp is 30% of enjoying speculative fiction. I don't watch Star Trek: ToS because it's a dramatic, well-researched masterpiece, but because it is fun to watch and lovingly mock. If you look hard enough at pretty much any sort of creative work you'll eventually find cracks and annoyances. Or tropes. The key is in not allowing things like that to spoil it; the day I stop enjoying something because it isn't serious enough is the day I re-examine my worldview. 

Yes, but I like my genres to remain separated. I don't want what amounts to demihumans and magic in my sci-fi, anymore than I want to find liquorice in a cheeseburger.

[freeformschooler]

Yes, but I like my genres to remain separated. I don't want what amounts to demihumans and magic in my sci-fi, anymore than I want to find liquorice in a cheeseburger.

I think we can agree to disagree here because I know what's going in my next cheeseburger.

[Kedly]

Just beefed up my resume to reflect my OFA3 ticket and then stopped by work's office to tell everyone I passed my course, they bullied out of me that, yes, I will be looking for a better job... And my bosses were actually happy for me! O.o I love my job, it's going to be sad when I have to give them my two weeks notice. D= (yes I ended this with a sad face, but I still think it counts as a happy thing)

[Vorthon]

Yes, but I like my genres to remain separated. I don't want what amounts to demihumans and magic in my sci-fi, anymore than I want to find liquorice in a cheeseburger.

I think we can agree to disagree here because I know what's going in my next cheeseburger.

Are we talking that fruit-flavoured junk, or the stuff made with actual liquorice root?

[freeformschooler]

Yes, but I like my genres to remain separated. I don't want what amounts to demihumans and magic in my sci-fi, anymore than I want to find liquorice in a cheeseburger.

I think we can agree to disagree here because I know what's going in my next cheeseburger.

Are we talking that fruit-flavoured junk, or the stuff made with actual liquorice root?

The red ones. Just slices, though. It can't be any worse than what I do to my burgers at Fuddruckers... right?

I will remember to post results whenever I get the chance.

[Flying Dice]

Yes, but I like my genres to remain separated. I don't want what amounts to demihumans and magic in my sci-fi, anymore than I want to find liquorice in a cheeseburger.

I think we can agree to disagree here because I know what's going in my next cheeseburger.

Are we talking that fruit-flavoured junk, or the stuff made with actual liquorice root?

The red ones. Just slices, though. It can't be any worse than what I do to my burgers at Fuddruckers... right?

I will remember to post results whenever I get the chance.

Actually, a burger with black licorice sounds pretty good.

ALSO TORCHLIGHT 2 IN 6 DAYS.

[Vorthon]

Dammit now my analogy is falling apart.

[Nadaka]

Your colon may regret that meal.

[Something Evil]

Gotten into the second year at college, bought Don't Starve, and it turned out to be awesome as advertised, and hit the level cap in Fallen Earth.

[Flying Dice]

Your colon may regret that meal.

I find your lack of licorice disturbing.

...

You don't know the power of the black licorice!