Troutwaxer

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• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  "I am conversely not sad that Henry Kissinger has finally stopped living." The world is a much cleaner place today....
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  In terms of my writing career I'm thinking about simply posting online somewhere - the chances of making money are so remote that it might not be worth the trouble. Or maybe Amazon/something similar....
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  Not 'Belticon,' but 'Balticon.'...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  The president is also the Commander in Chief of the U.S. armed forces, and the "chief law-enforcement officer" of the United States, not to mention that 'holding an office' probably means he's an officer....
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  As someone who's driven around the Lost Angeles area for decades, "Old Man 10" is a punk-ass bitch and always has been! It's the "Fuck You Freeway," the one I always try to avoid. And yes, it must stay open...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  I did an Open Source version of the Torment Nexus, using python, sqlite and lighttpd, and it runs on my Raspberry Pi, but it's really slow with only 8 gigs, so my neighbors are moaning and not shrieking, which is...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  At the time IQ tests, at least in the U.S. were scoring Jews a little higher than everyone else. So if you think in terms of ESP = IQ the whole thing works... a little too well. (I don't know...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  They remember Heinlein's Libertarianism, but forget that his characters were always decent human beings (as 'decency' was defined at the time he was writing) with strong moral centers. I'd have to grant that the definition of "strong moral center" has...
• Commented on Do my Laundry
  OGH hasn't said much about that, but Lumley made it clear that the Cthonians were a powerful race, but not deities, and that they both served and were aligned with the Elder Gods....
• Commented on Do my Laundry
  Nyarlahotep doesn't love us, he just wants us for our tasty emotions. If Dagon and Hydra actually have some affection for their people then BLUE HADES is in much better shape than humanity... I think the 'happy' ending in the...
• Commented on Do my Laundry
  This sound like a place where, if the series is successful-enough, that you'd take on another writer who's got some "been a Christian" experience* and wants to collaborate with you. You'd lay out the action/adventure side of the plot and...
• Commented on Do my Laundry
  If you ever authorize a book of "Stories from the Laundryverse" I definitely want to play!...
• Commented on Do my Laundry
  I'm quite aware of the fuckery with Hunter, thanks. His 'crime' isn't being guilty of anything, it's making himself vulnerable to the accusation in such a fundamentally stupid fashion....
• Commented on Do my Laundry
  If you're looking to the real world for inspiration on the next Laundry Files book (or a New Management book) look no further than the whole Hunter Biden business. It's a really whacky tale of the son of an experienced...
• Commented on Do my Laundry
  "Stop. So you're saying the Russians have these, uh, Shoggoths, but we don't have any. And even those dumb Arab bastards in Baghdad are working on them. So you're saying we've got a, a Shoggoth gap? A strategic chink in...
• Commented on Do my Laundry
  "If Everyman is not Nyarlothotep, what about the Sleeper in the Pyramid et seq? Maybe Everyman really is the lesser evil?" Maybe Everyman is a lesser avatar of Nyarlahotep who's dedicated to bringing forth the greater avatar, but he still...
• Commented on A fistful of tropes
  Jimmy Buffet died. I wasn't into his music, but I really enjoyed his autobiography....
• Commented on A fistful of tropes
  Firefox on Ubuntu, I'm fine....
• Commented on A fistful of tropes
  When I was traveling in Indonesia in my youth someone defined tempeh as "not tofu yet." The description still amuses almost forty years later....
• Commented on A fistful of tropes
  So you're saying the Ghouls should come out of the tomb closet? Or Deep Ones ask to be recognized as a sentient species by the court, proving Lovecraft right, then go all-out against developers? First, Ruthanna Emrys's books are already...
• Commented on A fistful of tropes
  No. But I think Star Trek qualifies as Space Opera. (Wagon Train NOT In Space would be Horse Opera, right?)...
• Commented on A fistful of tropes
  "So I am personally waiting for some ragtag band of misfit science fiction writers to create those ordinary, mainstream stories about mundane people living on a mundane Earth that is mundanely solving all the climate crises in the doable, but...
• Commented on A fistful of tropes
  I think I'd characterize Star Trek as "Space Opera" rather than MilSF. It doesn't always involved warfare....
• Commented on A fistful of tropes
  Interesting question. It might. Or it might require sociopathy to go forward in certain ways, like "I'll push this technology really hard because it will make me lots of money." But that question would certainly be part of the fiction,...
• Commented on A fistful of tropes
  The interesting story might be this: Someone comes up with a method of both diagnosing and curing sociopathy. How does society look a hundred years later?...
• Commented on A fistful of tropes
  MAGA - Making Attorney's Get Attorneys... This is what happens when you let your boss pay for your attorney. Will it influence the outcome? Hard to tell, as charges were already fired and a U.S. Prosecutor usually won't file charges...
• Commented on A fistful of tropes
  You're right about the sample size of one, but Charlie isn't doing science. It's perfectly reasonable for a fiction writer to make the assumption that Earth is near the center of the "Bell Curve" for story purposes without feeling like...
• Commented on A fistful of tropes
  You're right about Illuminatus,* but on the subject of how aliens will look/behave I think it's most likely that Earth is near the center of the Bell curve in terms of how life evolves. That doesn't mean they'll be remotely...
• Commented on A fistful of tropes
  Hmmm... How about the "space-aliens are already among us, with unknown, and possibly hostile intentions" trope? I'm also a big fan of the Illuminatus trilogy. I'd love to see a good author do an 'updated' take on that, with all...
• Commented on A fistful of tropes
  My take on that is "Lincoln is not a lawyer, but an early economist, and can prove beyond the slightest shadow of any doubt that the South's economy is inferior to the North's. The civil war is avoided and slavery...