Bay 12 Games Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  
Pages: 1 ... 7789 7790 [7791] 7792 7793 ... 11057

Author Topic: Things that made you go "WTF?" today o_O  (Read 14855375 times)

NJW2000

  • Bay Watcher
  • You know me. What do I know?
    • View Profile
Re: Things that made you go "WTF?" today o_O
« Reply #116850 on: January 19, 2017, 11:47:49 am »

Well, lots of books will convery opinions because the writers have opinions.

But it's pretty damn irritating when you're six books in and "it's a christian allegory motherfucker Christ is lord" suddeny appears.


As opposed to Narnia, which I'm still pissed about, in which it's obviously a Christian allegory from the start (6 yr old me was dumb though) and continues through to the fucking end.
And the teenage-going-on-adult girl who's the clever one doesn't get to go to magical talking animal Plato-ish heaven with the others when the antichrist comes, because she likes lipstick and clothes rather than a fucking magical kingdom.

Screw C.S. Lewis. Screw that guy.
Logged
One wheel short of a wagon

EnigmaticHat

  • Bay Watcher
  • I vibrate, I die, I vibrate again
    • View Profile
Re: Things that made you go "WTF?" today o_O
« Reply #116851 on: January 19, 2017, 11:54:45 am »

We should make some kind of anti-Christian fantasy novel to counter it!
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Logged
"T-take this non-euclidean geometry, h-humanity-baka. I m-made it, but not because I l-li-l-like you or anything! I just felt s-sorry for you, b-baka."
You misspelled seance.  Are possessing Draignean?  Are you actually a ghost in the shell? You have to tell us if you are, that's the rule

Eric Blank

  • Bay Watcher
  • *Remain calm*
    • View Profile
Re: Things that made you go "WTF?" today o_O
« Reply #116852 on: January 19, 2017, 12:08:09 pm »

Don't you hate it when you begin to read a novel and at some point it becomes a tract for whatever belief the author professes and wants to shove down your throat?

Yes. So much.

I stopped reading c.s. lewis and h.g. wells entirely because every goddamn book is a lecture on something or other
« Last Edit: January 19, 2017, 12:11:18 pm by Eric Blank »
Logged
I make Spellcrafts!
I have no idea where anything is. I have no idea what anything does. This is not merely a madhouse designed by a madman, but a madhouse designed by many madmen, each with an intense hatred for the previous madman's unique flavour of madness.

Rolan7

  • Bay Watcher
  • [GUE'VESA][BONECARN]
    • View Profile
Re: Things that made you go "WTF?" today o_O
« Reply #116853 on: January 19, 2017, 01:12:05 pm »

Don't you hate it when you begin to read a novel and at some point it becomes a tract for whatever belief the author professes and wants to shove down your throat?

Well it depends how outlanding the belief is. If I was reading some book and it turned out to by shilling for the Reptilian Conspiracy, that might make for good reading. Merely normal beliefs might be boring however, they really have to dial it up to 11. e.g. a novel by an anti-vaxxer would be better if the vaccines turn you into a zombie horde.
This is hardly the same thing, but I spent some time giggling at one of those sovereign citizen sites.  An article claiming that you don't have to have a driver's license to "travel by car", just to "drive".  And if you just explain that to the police, they have no right to arrest you!

Maybe it's cruel of me, but the comments were especially amusing.  And there were a lot, mostly along the lines of "Does this still apply if I'm a minor" or "I was speeding and/or drunk, and..."
Not to mention "Uh this didn't work.  Fucking pigs, why wouldn't they listen!", which was usually followed by advice like "Did you have a license plate?  Inspection records?  Gotta get rid of those too, or you're still consenting!"
http://freedom-articles.toolsforfreedom.com/how-to-drive-without-a-license/

I shouldn't have been laughing...  Some of these comments are probably real.  Pretty sure the article is.  Dangerous misinformation, and unfortunate dupes.
Logged
She/they
No justice: no peace.
Quote from: Fallen London, one Unthinkable Hope
This one didn't want to be who they was. On the Surface – it was a dull, unconsidered sadness. But everything changed. Which implied everything could change.

TD1

  • Bay Watcher
  • Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came
    • View Profile
Re: Things that made you go "WTF?" today o_O
« Reply #116854 on: January 19, 2017, 01:16:34 pm »

Don't you hate it when you begin to read a novel and at some point it becomes a tract for whatever belief the author professes and wants to shove down your throat?

Yes. So much.

I stopped reading c.s. lewis and h.g. wells entirely because every goddamn book is a lecture on something or other

If it's the point of the book, I don't mind - in fact, I very much so enjoyed C.S. Lewis' work and respect him greatly, despite our divergent opinions. He wrote a children's novel with the express purpose of a Christian twist, and as for Wells, his work was usually written as satire, or to highlight societal problems, for example as portrayed by the Eloi. This was their purpose - if, however, it's a fantasy novel that just shoves it at you without weaving it purposefully into the text, it is annoying.
Logged
Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination
  TD1 has claimed the title of Penblessed the Endless Fountain of Epics!
Sigtext!
Poetry Thread

Reelya

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Things that made you go "WTF?" today o_O
« Reply #116855 on: January 19, 2017, 01:17:55 pm »

Don't you hate it when you begin to read a novel and at some point it becomes a tract for whatever belief the author professes and wants to shove down your throat?

Depends on whether the novel is at all well written.  Almost every Heinlein novel either turns into or actually is an outright tract of some sort, but it usually is in harmony with the content of the novel itself, and you don't have to agree with the politics of it to like the novel.  Case in point, Starship Troopers, although he certainly wrote worse novels that got way more tract-y.

You can sort of gauge "is this Heinlein book worth reading?" by an inverse relationship with the number of pages it contains.

MetalSlimeHunt

  • Bay Watcher
  • Gerrymander Commander
    • View Profile
Re: Things that made you go "WTF?" today o_O
« Reply #116856 on: January 19, 2017, 01:25:41 pm »

This is hardly the same thing, but I spent some time giggling at one of those sovereign citizen sites.  An article claiming that you don't have to have a driver's license to "travel by car", just to "drive".  And if you just explain that to the police, they have no right to arrest you!

Maybe it's cruel of me, but the comments were especially amusing.  And there were a lot, mostly along the lines of "Does this still apply if I'm a minor" or "I was speeding and/or drunk, and..."
Not to mention "Uh this didn't work.  Fucking pigs, why wouldn't they listen!", which was usually followed by advice like "Did you have a license plate?  Inspection records?  Gotta get rid of those too, or you're still consenting!"
http://freedom-articles.toolsforfreedom.com/how-to-drive-without-a-license/

I shouldn't have been laughing...  Some of these comments are probably real.  Pretty sure the article is.  Dangerous misinformation, and unfortunate dupes.
My favorite version of this is "World Citizenship", in which a group of people who are pretty typically the pinnacle of anti-government and anti-globalization beliefs claim renouncement of their citizenship in favor of a self-proclaimed legal classification justified through the UN Declaration of Human Rights, i.e. the UN, i.e. the ultimate government and global organization that exists.

(In truth, a lot of world citizen-types are the left-wing mirror of sovereign citizens, but I have seen crossover more than once. Pseudolaw is so great, it's like theology for people born after the sail.)
Logged
Quote from: Thomas Paine
To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture.
Quote
No Gods, No Masters.

Yoink

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Things that made you go "WTF?" today o_O
« Reply #116857 on: January 19, 2017, 01:30:49 pm »

Don't you hate it when you begin to read a novel and at some point it becomes a tract for whatever belief the author professes and wants to shove down your throat?
I was reading a "verse novel" (woo new phrase learned, thanks Google!) a while ago that started off really nice before doing that.
Wasn't too surprising considering the title was something vaguely religious-sounding, but it was still disappointing given that the first half of the book was actually very good and the latter was... really, really dumb. Still, I enjoyed it while it lasted. Had some really juicy verse in there, some of which was quite quote-worthy and atmospheric.   
Logged
Booze is Life for Yoink

To deprive him of Drink is to steal divinity from God.
you need to reconsider your life
If there's any cause worth dying for, it's memes.

Karnewarrior

  • Bay Watcher
  • That guy who used to be here all the time
    • View Profile
Re: Things that made you go "WTF?" today o_O
« Reply #116858 on: January 19, 2017, 02:18:38 pm »

There are some decent tract novels; Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality comes to mind. The litmus test for those tends to be "Does the villain make sense and is he sympathetic as more than a strawman?"

Most of the time, if you believe in a ideology enough to write a tract about it, though, you don't like trying to think like the other side because you have to be PURE.

Remember folks, Purity is a weakness. Impurity is a virtue! Alloys can be far stronger than either of their component metals added together.
Logged
Thou art I, I art Thou.
The trust you have bestowed upon thy comrade is now reciprocated in turn.
Thou shall be blessed when calling upon personae of the Hangman Arcana.
May this tie bind thee to a brighter future!​
Ikusaba Quest! - Fistfighting space robots for the benefit of your familial bonds to Satan is passe, so you call Sherlock Holmes and ask her to pop by.

Neonivek

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Things that made you go "WTF?" today o_O
« Reply #116859 on: January 19, 2017, 02:57:10 pm »

Do not underestimate purity Karnewarrior. It just isn't as easy to pull off as someone who is flawed.

Purity is a lot like Happiness... In that being highly flawed and sad and depressing is an instant ticket to be considered serious and deep, regardless of actual content... While Happiness and Purity have to fight.
Logged

ChairmanPoo

  • Bay Watcher
  • Send in the clowns
    • View Profile
Re: Things that made you go "WTF?" today o_O
« Reply #116860 on: January 19, 2017, 03:13:46 pm »



Screw C.S. Lewis. Screw that guy.
Damn right.
Narnia is bad enough, but his other books are even worse.


Logged
Everyone sucks at everything. Until they don't. Not sucking is a product of time invested.

martinuzz

  • Bay Watcher
  • High dwarf
    • View Profile
Re: Things that made you go "WTF?" today o_O
« Reply #116861 on: January 19, 2017, 03:24:25 pm »

Don't you hate it when you begin to read a novel and at some point it becomes a tract for whatever belief the author professes and wants to shove down your throat?
I have that with nearly all modern US produced tv series (adding family drama and male bonding issues to every imaginable genre).
It's like sitting down, thinking 'hah, a new crime series! Let's watch it', and finding out it's just another soap opera unjustly named a crime series.
« Last Edit: January 19, 2017, 03:26:50 pm by martinuzz »
Logged
Friendly and polite reminder for optimists: Hope is a finite resource

We can ­disagree and still love each other, ­unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist - James Baldwin

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=73719.msg1830479#msg1830479

Neonivek

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Things that made you go "WTF?" today o_O
« Reply #116862 on: January 19, 2017, 03:30:22 pm »

Don't you hate it when you begin to read a novel and at some point it becomes a tract for whatever belief the author professes and wants to shove down your throat?
I have that with nearly all modern US produced tv series (adding family drama and male bonding issues to every imaginable genre).
It's like sitting down, thinking 'hah, a new crime series! Let's watch it', and finding out it's just another soap opera unjustly named a crime series.

I think it is personally the thing that is KILLING the quality of police procedural / law shows... The "Tract for whatever belief" part.

Because OHH BOY! do police procedural shows HATE the rule of law and petty things like warrants, just cause, and basic human rights.
Logged

martinuzz

  • Bay Watcher
  • High dwarf
    • View Profile
Re: Things that made you go "WTF?" today o_O
« Reply #116863 on: January 19, 2017, 03:34:27 pm »

For good crime series, you need to look to Scandinavia. There's one or two decent Dutch ones as well, but Danes and Swedes make the best crimis. UK also still does a decent job.
And yeah, what you said. The lack of respect for proper procedure and human rights in US crime series is appaling and worrisome.
Logged
Friendly and polite reminder for optimists: Hope is a finite resource

We can ­disagree and still love each other, ­unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist - James Baldwin

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=73719.msg1830479#msg1830479

TempAcc

  • Bay Watcher
  • [CASTE:SATAN]
    • View Profile
Re: Things that made you go "WTF?" today o_O
« Reply #116864 on: January 19, 2017, 03:35:08 pm »

Don't you hate it when you begin to read a novel and at some point it becomes a tract for whatever belief the author professes and wants to shove down your throat?
I have that with nearly all modern US produced tv series (adding family drama and male bonding issues to every imaginable genre).
It's like sitting down, thinking 'hah, a new crime series! Let's watch it', and finding out it's just another soap opera unjustly named a crime series.

Don't forget the magic technology of lossless video enhancement and other magical forensics, the dad figure (if the main character is young), the son/daughter figure (if the character is old) and the secks.
Logged
On normal internet forums, threads devolve from content into trolling. On Bay12, it's the other way around.
There is no God but TempAcc, and He is His own Prophet.
Pages: 1 ... 7789 7790 [7791] 7792 7793 ... 11057