Princejvstin

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• Commented on The Fumes of Mordor & Other World Building Models
  I'd love to visit Hawaii some day. The strange and unusual environments would be inspirational for any writer--or photographer for that matter. It is a pity you don't have a "community" there though....
• Commented on The last refuge of scoundrels
  I've tried to keep my tongue civil and get along after Thatcher's death. I'm not British, and I'm a conflict-averse, friendly sort of guy. But...Christ in Crinoline, this is abhorrent....
• Commented on New Guest Blogger: Linda Nagata
  Hi Linda. I'm delighted you will be guest-blogging here....
• Commented on The map is not the territory.
  I think that these ideas might be an explanation for Fermi's Paradox, if there ARE intelligent aliens to be had. We simply are not currently equipped to detect, sense and realize where the aliens are. Hmm, there's an idea--building an...
• Commented on Project Stargate
  Fascinating. The push for an edge, especially in a cold war, leads governments down some very strange paths. Roleplaying games, for me, like Day after Ragnarok (Germans use the Midgard Serpent. Everyone uses the byproducts after the Allies nuke and...
• Commented on Political failure modes and the beige dictatorship
  Nothing lasts forever, not even this beige dictatorship. However, this in the short run is probably going to be only long enough until something upsets the applecart. My money is on a catastrophic global warming-oriented event. The reset buttons on...
• Commented on Women in SF and Fantasy
  n the other hand, I don't feel right just plunking down a modern point of view into a historic setting. It feels like a lie, and I hate that kind of lie. What about when it is done in Secondary...
• Commented on Fang Fuckers: some reflections (in a mirror)
  The new RPG Night's Black Agents marries vampires with the Ronin-esque Spy drama, having former intelligence operatives in Europe discover the existence of vampires pulling the strings. The GM is encouraged to pick and choose the kind of vampires on...
• Commented on Unbreakable (part 1)
  Invulnerable characters are dull. Characters that take the licking, have some self doubts but keep on coming--that's the character you want. Example: Truman in the Truman Show. "Is that the best you can do? You're going to have to kill...
• Commented on Big Guns[1]
  It's pie in the sky, and won't happen, but in the wake of this, I've come to the conclusion that the Second Amendment needs to be repealed. Without it there, effective gun legislation has better than a snowball's chance in...
• Commented on Haunted
  Most of the horror I like is the Lovecraftian, reality bending variety. (Yes, this means I do like a certain set of novels from Mr. Stross. None of you are surprised by this...)...
• Commented on The Algebraic Properties of Equality in SF
  That's a great example....
• Commented on Snowflakes, or Oh, No! Not Again!
  [4] Which is why I enjoyed the film Defending Your Life so much. I think the movie has flaws but it does have some interesting ideas....
• Commented on Always Look on the Bright Side of... SF
  Fantasy abides, SF is more ephemeral a genre, I think. And this reminds me of an SF story I can't remember the title or author of, where SF has a resurgence, of sorts, because the world has collapsed....
• Commented on Science & Technology, Working Together
  Why is SF currently ascendant over Fantasy? That's a PHD-thesis level topic. I've a couple of theories and thoughts, but I am not sure which of them are even close to the mark. Fantasy is older than SF. Fantasy abides....
• Commented on E Ticket*
  My gateways were Asimov, and Bradbury, Zelazny, Tolkien, and a lot of the classics, thanks to my older brother. For a while, after Zelazny and Tolkien, I didn't touch fantasy (after a bad case of Shannara), but then got lured...
• Commented on The Importance of Being Geek
  Regarding writing, RPGs taught me a great deal about story pacing, characters, and dialog. When you have immediate feedback from players, it's easy to see when you're boring them. They start chatting with one another. They text their friends. You...
• Commented on Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!
  So, I'm wondering just how bad an anti-hero we can get away with? Something that author Mark Lawrence has been dealing with his protagonist of Jorg. He has gotten some very decidedly strong defenders and detractors for his character....
• Commented on Of Blood and Honey, And Blue Skies from Pain
  Not a free pass, but doing the best you can is all you can do. The research you have put into the Troubles and talked to people who were caught in them was as much as any reader could expect...
• Commented on Zoom-Zoom
  Hi Stina! Glad to see you here. I can confirm for readers that haven't tried her books that there are some really good "set pieces" in her two books with her protagonist behind the wheel....