Favorite Tolkien character whether books or movies?
Very very hard question. I mean, like, this is grab a big stemless snifter of whiskey and load your pipe and sit down awhile.
My friends call me ‘Frodo’ because I have furry feet and seem impervious to the cut of blade, arrow, or spear (although, dang they can hurt you without cutting you). Plus my boyfriend in college’s nickname was “Strider” … so … Frodo, I guess? But since I was dating someone who role-played as Aragorn then let’s go with Aragorn as my favorite.
Favorite pokemon generation?
I’m a fan of Pokémon, but that’s more because I was in Tokyo for so long I expect to see a giant Pachinko Pokémon flyer with the song blaring out of speakers every time I turn a street corner.
@Background Pony #0B34
@malphigus
I recall a survey from almost a decade ago, but honestly can’t remember specifics. There’s been nothing recent, as far as I can recall.
I remember that. I think it was more about why we are fans, or how we became fans, and what our favorite pony was and stuff like that. There was another one way back when pony was still allowed on /b/ where some psychologist was trying to decode why watching the show helped people correct undesirable behaviors or rely less on meds. Lots of folks with depression were showing up who’d gotten off their meds because of the show.
I think
Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell did a good job explaining why this might be happening - loneliness. Loneliness is a purely subjective personal experience - if you feel lonely you are lonely. But more than just being a personal issue, it is an actual physical illness that is deeply tied to many of the problems that people have today. It’s a bodily function like hunger. Loneliness makes you pay attention to your social needs, because it’s a part of how we evolved to survive.
Something about My Little Pony Friendship is Magic provided a virtual group of friends - not just the ponies themselves, but the community that grew around them.
That was an interesting study. I wish I could find it now.
How are you mods enjoying MYM Chapter 2? Find it interesting?
I’ll be very honest - I haven’t watched it much. I am a little worried that it will “not work” for me. I don’t want to find out that I don’t like it.
That said, I really enjoyed the movie. A lot. I bought a copy of it just to send Hasbro a thumbs up so they’ll make more.
But the shows themselves? Not much.
I think I will like it though, because I am super loving the fanwork that is coming out of it. The palettes (with a couple exceptions) are bright and clever and just as well composed as FiM was, and I am really a fan of pic related.
Have you ever read any short stories and do you have any favorites?
My favorite short story of all time is still
The Puppet Masters by Robert A. Heinlein from 1951. There was also a movie made from the book.
The story is allegorical of the second “Red Scare” in America, laden with tons of paranoia, fear, and suspicion because anyone around you could be mind controlled. Anyone.
It reaches a point in the story where everyone has to walk around naked, but even that didn’t work because the aliens were able to hide in something as small as a purse or a backpack or a briefcase.
Today it is, in fact, a proper novel. But it was originally serialized in
Galaxy Science Fiction, and that’s where I first encountered it - reading the old moldering copies my parents had in the attic.
So, for me, my memory of the story is that it’s a short story. Somehow in my brain, I remember “holding” this book and it was only, like, at most 25 to 40 pages.
But that’s just because I’m remembering the zine I read it in.
I feel kind of the same way about
Deathworld. The first book is not a long book, but the story goes on and on and on. It’s a rip-roaring read.
Right now I’m reading
Perry Rhodan. It’s a serialized story which was ostensibly an inspiration in the original Star Wars - tons of ships fighting each other in space, vast empires doing battle; some good, some evil.
By issue 31 they were coming out two books a month, and each one of them reads exactly like you’re watching a Buck Rogers serial - every chapter starts with a summary of what the story is about this time, and they always end with a cliffhanger and a paragraph telling you how many more short stories you have to read to get to the next battle or something like that.
They are not stellar. But they are pretty gosh darned good, and can fill the time if you’re waiting for your car to get new tires on it.
I picked up a hundred of them at my local Half Price Books for only … well, not much money. So I’m all set for the winter I think.
What short stories have you read lately, or which do you prefer?