The PPC Posting Board - Latest posts

So, I don't know if anyone else here plays Blood Bowl, but they absolutely should. Imagine Warhammer Fantasy - the old-school Warhammer Fantasy that revelled in its own ridiculousness and wasn't wall-to-wall grimderp - was somehow crossbred with American football; that's the game of Blood Bowl, and it is absolutely hilarious, at least to me. As such, I have taken it upon myself at the behest of nobody the Blood Bowl League to put together a PPC roster! It's as follows:-

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0-16 Generic Agent | MA6 ST3 AG3 AV7 | Dodge, Fend | Normal: G | Double: ASP | 60,000 Gold
0-4 DBS Exorcist | MA6 ST3 AG4 AV7 | Fend, Wrestle | Normal: GA | Double: SP | 90,000 Gold
0-4 DMS Assassin | MA7 ST3 AG4 AV7 | Dauntless, Fend | Normal: GS | Double: AP | 100,000 Gold
0-2 DoSAT Technician | MA6 ST3 AG3 AV7 | Bombardier, Pass, Accurate, Secret Weapon | Normal: GA | Double: SP | 110,000 Gold
0-2 ESAS Operative | MA6 ST3 AG4 AG8 | Block, Pro, Stab | Normal: GAP | Double: S | 120,000 Gold

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I absolutely welcome any and all criticism and input from my fellow Boarders. =]

1. So, I guess even though you know they are fans by definition, you don't feel they are fans or true fans?
   I'm wondering, what do you do with people who fall under the categories "fan", "true fan" or "not a fan"? How do you treat them?
   
   2. I genuinely believe you are as left-leaning as you say even if you used language that rang alarm bells around here.
   Like others here have said, you're going to keep raising doubt if you keep announcing it while using the same lingo you use around your right-leaning friends here.
   When people say, "show don't tell" when talking about you saying you're progressive, they mean let your actions here speak for themselves.
   For example, don't mention who you voted for unless you're asked.
   As for the lingo, don't use it here, where mostly (I think) left-leaning people hang around; that lingo should be reserved for hanging out with your right-leaning friends.
   
   3. I guess I could take that answer as no, you don't mind politics in media as long as it's done sensibly?
   So, what if they tried the same political commentary that has been shown in Star Trek: Discovery but the writers didn't publicly announce the Klingons were Trump supporters and took care to wrap the political commentary in layers of allegory and sci-fi metaphor like you said?
   
   4. So from your perspective, the writers of Star Trek: Discovery put no love or respect for the Star Trek series when writing the show. That's an understandable view.
   The complaints about the bad characterization, bad writing, poorly inserted politics, the writers being jerks, and disrespect for the source material are valid, but I get the feeling that phrases like "PC gasoline line" is going to imply to others on the board here that the PC is a problem.
   When describing something that happened, it's usually not necessary to use descriptions like "PC", and it would be a bad idea (and a bad habit) to use them like that.
   I'm glad that you aren't trying to keep people out of the Star Trek community, it's just that the way you described the Trek fandom as something you felt "privileged to be a part of" and was an "exclusive" group sounded exclusionary to the others here. I'm guessing you meant that you felt special to be part of the Star Trek fandom, but the way you phrased it sounded like "you like Discovery? Get out of my fandom" or "you need to watch x, y, and z to be part of the fandom" to the others.
   On a minor point, you missed a swear word after the words "argumentative, abrasive".
   
   5. When I asked this question, I was wondering if the reason why you claimed "femnazis" to be your least favourite nazi is because "femnazis" are the only nazis you've ever encountered (not because you believe they're genuinely worse than the genociding nazis).
   People are going to find that suspicious that you dislike neo-nazis less than what you called "femnazis".
   I'm guessing some of the reasons you dislike neo-nazis less is because the one you met acted (maybe marginally) more tolerable than the "femnazis"; to your knowledge, haven't tried to interfere with the shows you love, and are justifiably hated by mostly everyone?
   Still, would it be correct to say that even though "femnazis" are your least favourite kind of nazis, that it doesn't mean you consider "femnazis" to be worse than the nazis that commit genocide?

Sounds simple enough. Thanks.

Yeah, no Silent Voice, Your Name, Eva, or Miyazaki here (although definitely watch those if you haven't).

What I will recommend is the slightly-less well known you'd-swear-it's-Ghibli-but-it-isn't film, The Boy and the Beast. It's a charming coming-of-age story about a boy who runs away from home and lives with a bad-tempered-but-well-meaning bear in a kingdom of animals. It's adorable, heart-warming, and tear-jerking to watch our to protagonists grow together as they develop into truly admirable people. But what you expect from the director of Wolf Children? I truly can't recommend it enough.

For you film historians, I can suggest The Hidden Fortress, an adventure film and period drama that heavily influenced both the plot and narrativr structure of Star Wars. A lot of people like it, but I could never get into it.

Although, there is a non-Japanese Star Wars influence that I do entirely recommend: The 1927 silent film Wings. It's about World War 1 pilots, and is as grim as you'd expect in some ways, although it runs the gamut in terms of themes. For years, it was the yardstick by which all other films about planes were measured, and it is notable for its impressive (for the time) aerial combat shots (which are where it influenced Star Wars). But even on a plotting level this film impresses—It wasn't the first winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture for nothing. It's resonant and memorable, and utterly captivating, even to the fidgety child with a short attention span I was when I first saw it. If you ever get a chance to see this film, take it. And if you ever get a chance to watch it with live instrumentation (as intended), definitely take it. The same applies to Metropolis or A Trip to the Moon, but those films are better known—especially a trip to the the Moon because everyone's seen Hugo, right? Go watch Hugo if you haven't.

Returning to Japan, we have the Zatoichi series. Which... you have probably never heard of if you don't live in Japan. I hadn't. Basically, it turns out that Japan has its own James Bond equivalent (in terms of iconic status, legacy, and sheer number of films). And he's a blind swordmaster who's also a master Shogi player, professional masseur, archer, and... basically, he's ludicrously competent. You get the idea. Between 1962 and 1989, he was featured in no less than 26 films, in which he wandered around Edo-period Japan being awesome, fighting people, and just generally... thwarting, while making women fall in love with him so he can ignore their propositions and return to the road on time for the next adventure. Because it's that kind of film series.

Look, it's not exactly high art, but it's a lot of fun. Well, the first one was. I can't vouch for the rest personally.

And since we're on the subject of Samurai films, you can also go watch Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon if you haven't yet. But you probably have.

Yes, I know, CTHD isn't a Samurai movie, and it's not set in Japan, but it is good, and so I remembered it.

First of all, you need to get Permission before you start publishing your own PPC stories. The PPC Wiki contains more information on what getting Permission means, exactly - basically, it's about you being able to integrate into the community and showing that you understand the PPC universe and can write good stories in it.

The Permission process also covers the next two steps for writing a PPC story: having at least one agent character you're planning to work with, and choosing a badfic for your first mission. If you've got these, you can dissect the badfic however you like - if you read enough missions, you'll see the basics of the process. Before you publish, you'll need to find at least one beta reader who looks at it and helps you edit and polish it, although I personally recommend having multiple betas for your first mission, if not for later ones. The general policy is that we don't post drafts of missions or unbeta'd stuff on the Board, only finished stories.

This is the gist of it, but if you hang out with us PPCers long enough, you'll see in more detail how it works. It's not at all complicated, just have patience until you get Permission. :)

Looks like I've managed to accidentally imply that a man wearing lipstick and nail polish is a mind-scarring sight, which isn't exactly the best thing I could have said. I actually have no problem with that sort of thing, I was just trying to say that I was kind of taken aback when I saw Sir Derek Jacobi's costumes in Revengers Tragedy. The costuming choices in that movie are very... creative.

I've read some of the PPC stories and I'm thinking about trying to write some of my own, so how does the process work?

I'll keep the descriptions shorter, because I have plenty of good finds.

* Diabolique - a taut, high-tension French thriller about two women conspiring to murder their abuser... but then the corpse vanishes, and strange things start to happen.

* Viy - a Russian adaptation of Gogol's short story of the same name, this is a quaint but surprisingly scary folk horror movie about a monk asked to pray over the dead body of a witch.

* Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession - a very silly and very strange Russian comedy about a scientist accidentally inventing time travel and bringing a grouchy Russian czar into the present day, and the shenanigans that ensue because of this.

* Possibly in Michigan - this one is a short film about two women and their stalker, but it's incredibly unsettling, surreal and dreamlike. Basically, it doesn't get more art house than this.

* Bitch - pardon the language, but it's literally the title of the movie. It's a strange and quirky drama about a stressed and frustrated housewife who one day snaps mentally and assumes the personality of a vicious dog, and about the way her family reacts to this bizarre situation. I love this movie to bits, honestly.

* Cat City - one of the best Hungarian animated movies ever made (if not THE best), this movie is a spy thriller-comedy about a planet where cats and mice are at war, and a high-profile mouse secret agent sent to retrieve plans for a weapon that could alter the course of the conflict. It's weird, dark, occasionally morbid and incredibly funny. It's a staple of my childhood, although I have no idea how anyone could let a child watch this.

* Control (Kontroll) - another 'Best Hungarian Movie' contender, this one is a social drama-black comedy-thriller about quirky metro ticket inspectors and a serial killer murdering metro passengers. Also, this is easily the most Eastern European movie I've ever seen, and I'm saying that as a compliment.

* Mädchen in Uniform - this one is just a lovely little drama from 1931 about a sensitive girl who falls for her teacher at an all-female boarding school. It is a bit... strange to watch because of the age difference issues, but this was the first big screen movie to portray female homosexuality in a sympathetic manner.

* Perfect Blue - basically, anything by Satoshi Kon tends to be a masterpiece, but this movie is my favorite. It is a dark, surreal, bloody and incredibly tense animated thriller about a singer-turned-actress' psyche crumbling under the strain of trying to build a career while being threatened by a creepy stalker. Be warned that it's a very messed up movie, but also an incredible experience.

* Revengers Tragedy - the very obscure adaptation of an already obscure Elizabethan revenge tragedy, this movie is about an unhinged man seeking revenge for the death of his beloved on a very screwed-up family; except it's set in modern times, with very trippy visuals, absolutely bonkers costumes (if you don't want to be scarred for life by seeing Derek Jacobi wearing lipstick, nail polish and cleavage-flaunting robes, you might want to avoid this one) and a great cast.

I could also mention must-see cinema nerd classics like Oldboy, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Plan 9 from Outer Space and such, or some films on the more disturbing side, but I'm not sure if I want to put the latter on the Board. The above movies are definitely great watches, though.

I can't even count anymore how many times you've broken the Board's no-swearing rule. I get that you're passionate about your views, but do kindly watch your language.

There's really no excuse for flagrant and repeated defiance of that rule when you've been told to stop.

1. Yes and no. Yes, by definition they are fans if they watch it and like it. The no part comes in if they watched it, then decided it was representative of all Star Trek. Discovery is the oddball series, to put it ~extremely mildly.
   
   2. No, I am genuinely left-leaning. I tend to be more centerist, but I lean towards the progressive side of politics. In the last three or four national elections (I honestly forget how many we’ve had in the last decade: we Aussies seem to go through PM’s like a fat kid through a sweet shop) I have consistsntly supported the Australian Labour Party, as opposed to the Liberals, who actually aren’t “Liberals” for some reason.
   
   3. I never had a problem with politics in sci fi until Disvovery started bashing people around the head with it. To put it simply, Star Trek- and sci-fi for that matter- has ususlly had the common decency and sense to wrap any political commentary in layers of allegory and sci-fi metaphor. Discovery’s writers took the Klingons, and immediately announced to the public that from this day forwards, the Klingons were trump supporters. They lost my respect immediately after they used science fiction to target a group of people that -despite my lack of agreement with their views- really don’t deserve it more thsn anyone else.
   
   4. No. What I’m trying to do is make sure that people have seen Star Trek for whst it is. Discovery is Star Trek made by and for people who don’t like Star Trek. It’s a story about unlikable people who somehow managed to become starfleet officers (despite being argumentative, abrasive assholes who can’t ever stock bickering like children with each other) fighting a war that started because a Canon-Sue by the name of Burnham did a reaaly stupid thing. Before being aquitted for absolutely no readin but “Sue”. It’s a story which takes everything we know and love about the Star Trek universe, douses it with PC gasoline, and tosses a lit match on it. All I want is people to at least watch TNG before they watch this, and get a feel for what Star Trek is meant to be.
   
   5. Yes, actually. One of my collegues st work- this guy who I will only refer to as “Lucas”, is a neo-nazi. He isn’t my favourite collegue, I can tell you that. Last week, he started mouthing off about the Christchurch Mosque shootings, and I had to restrainmyself from socking the guy in the face.
   

What you want doesn't always happen. She said that not listening to her is what's hurting her. There has been acknowledgment of hurt, but I don't see trying to make reparations.

A lot of you people sound the same, too.

I do have some vague memories of watching Highlander, but something about the story didn't quite match what I was looking for at the time - maybe I should give it another chance.

I will definitely watch Highlander 2 sometime, though. I have severe trainwreck syndrome, so I'm always up for a nice and terrible movie. And I did hear that the Highlander sequels are quite... interesting.

Reign of Fire actually sounds really good, in the "let's turn off our inner film snob and watch something fun" kind of way. I quite like cheesy fantasy, especially with dragons, so I'll definitely check this one out.

Honestly, I'm not a very highbrow kind of movie buff (like I said, I tend more towards genre stuff and I love me some cinematic ham and cheese), but I do like obscure, complex movies as well, and these sound quite fascinating. I also have some film nerd recs if you or anyone else is interested, but I put together my first rec list in more of a "nerd cinema" than a "cinema nerd" way, if that makes any sense.

You missed the part where he explicitly acknowledged the hurt by saying "knowing that such interaction will cause Bramandin more hurt in the future" (emphasis added) and also "We do not want to hurt her."

Failing to acknowledge that sort of thing looks a lot like willful ignorance, and is exactly why we get so frustrated dealing with zBram. She may have mental health issues that make reading comprehension difficult for her, but what's your excuse? Assuming, of course, that you are not her, lying to us and pretending to be someone else in order to harass us yet again. You sure do sound exactly like her, you know.

~Neshomeh

I do feel that my understanding of other people, and the reasons for their emotions and actions, has been helped greatly by all the fiction I've consumed over my life. Since I've never been very emotionally complex myself, being able to read the internal thoughts of characters through narration has helped me to understand real people much better, and developed my ability to empathize.

Another aspect of this, of course, is hearing other fans' interpretations of things, and discovering even more points of view. Being only a single human, my view of the world is inherently limited, so learning how other people experience that same world gives me a broader view of it, and a deeper understanding. That's why variety is so critical within a fandom; it lets everyone within that fandom share a broader understanding of it, and of the real world truths that canon can teach us.

And that aspect ties into your other point about politics in fiction, which I wasn't initially planning to go into, but the conversation has segued me there. I've never liked the argument that fiction shouldn't be made political. Politics is composed of people, and fiction is created by people. Fiction isn't just plain entertainment to be sucked down our eyeballs; fiction is a message communicated to us by the creator, even after the creator is long dead—their own views of humanity and the world, more new perspectives for us to understand and learn. Lost wasn't just an action mystery about characters trapped on an island; it was Cartlon Cuse and Damon Lindelof examining the weaknesses of humanity through the eyes of characters trapped in their own fears and pride. The original Star Trek wasn't just science fiction; it was Gene Roddenberry communicating his dreams for humanity's cultural development through the medium of science fiction. And just as our favorite creators share their views with us through their medium, we can learn even more from the views of our fellow fans, even if we don't agree with everything we learn.

—doctorlit and his philosophical view of consuming fiction

I saw where she said that she had a wishlist where she understood she wasn't going to get everything, and you decided to give her nothing and say that she wasn't going to compromise.

It seems that not having the hurt acknowledged is still bothering her.

So I'll state it even more basically:

It would be wrong of this community to continue interacting with Bramandin, knowing that such interaction will cause Bramandin more hurt in the future. We do not want to hurt her.

Can you at least acknowledge this? That we have a logical, human reason for shutting her out beyond rule-breaking?

—doctorlit