TV Series Thread

[Hydra009]

I haven't even seen the episode yet but FUCK. JAX.

[Hydra009]

I've finished the episode and FUCK. JAX.

He made me legit angry, and I'm not the kind of person who gets angry easily.  I can laugh off normal villain characters who I dunno want to rule the galaxy or possess the one ring or crush Batman's head with a really large rock or something.  That's sufficiently out of my everyday experience that I don't really get emotionally invested.  But a bully and asshole friend?  That gets my goat and then some because I've known people like that.  I still know a couple people like that.  And spoiler alert: there's no redemption arc for these people.

Cards on the table, in IRL I'm very much like Ragatha and Gangle, though probably the most like Ragatha.  And I'm always trying to look after people, be there for people, be strong for people, even when I'm not strong myself.  Because I'm not strong.  I've been known to always be there to help out other people - whether it's my brother or coworkers or family members and even when I'm exhausted, I'm there to help.  (To underscore the point, I literally had to stop typing in order to help someone just now, an elderly neighbor) Just these past few months I've dealt with some dire situations and I'm terrified that I won't be able to deal with it properly and I'll let people down and they'll hate me for it.  I people please because I want everyone to like me - and that's 90% of reason I crack jokes and share funny memes.  Because me at my 100% authentic self isn't something that a lot of people would like (not much different from Ragatha on the stupid sauce)  And also because I have to be strong for everyone else but I don't have anyone to turn to when I'm not okay, so even as I make sure other people are okay, I'm not okay and no one's there for me and I just have to somehow cope.

I also frequently have to deal with people who are not great people in some kind of way - bullies don't disappear as you age, they just get more and more powerful and cause more and more suffering.  They cause nothing but trouble.  And I fervently wish they would just die already and leave everyone else alone.  I understand that sort of repressed vindictive anger isn't healthy and it's not good to hold anger in your heart, but at this point, it's the furnace that keeps my blood warm.  I had an asshole assistant manager and I can't describe the sheer joy I experienced when she finally took a long vacation.  At work, there was no bickering, no drama, no frowny faces - I won't say there were no problems, but like 90% of the problems vanished overnight.  It was like paradise on earth for a solid two weeks - I wish it could last forever.  And in a just world, it would.

For some weird reason, I genuinely, sincerely care about other people - even people halfway across the world that I'll never meet and I wish we all could live peaceful and quiet lives.  I mean that.  I despise and don't understand Jax's self-centeredness and lack of empathy to other people.  It's inhuman.  Scratch that, I hate it precisely because it's human.  That's what humanity started out as and how lots of humans still are and the world is a horrible place precisely because it's just humans behaving in human ways.  We need to be better.  We need to be stronger, for each other's sake.

[Hydra009]

Also, cards on the table, my twin brother sympathizes with Jax and actually shares his perspective in some ways.  :/

He often maintains that there's no such thing as a wrong opinion, but imho he has one right there.  Someday, maybe he'll be on here to explain - because like Lucy Ricardo, he has some spainin' to do!

[Nobody]

Opinions are like assholes: everybody has one, and they all stink.

[Hydra009]

My brother maintains that it's a video game so you can just go wild without consequences.  I argue that abstraction is a very real consequence and therefore people should take that into account for everything they do - being an asshole isn't just harmless fun, it's an act of violence in this world.  I guess the real world too, come to think of it.

He hates Ragatha's fakeness but imho this is kinda overblown - being upbeat and supportive when you're also scared isn't really being dishonest.  At least, not malicious.  Neither is a fake-it-till-you-make-it mentality.  For some people, that's just how they get from point A to point B.  And yes, she sometimes thinks negative thoughts about the others, especially Jax, but normally keeps it to herself.  Everyone does this.  And given their situation, it's important that she keep that to herself instead of talking without a filter, which is likely to serious harm someone, like we saw during the fast food episode.

[Nobody]

Turn that frown upside down! 🤣

[Nobody]

I've just this morning come across a series called Stalled Trek, a spoof (or parody) of, well, you know.
The first episode I watched was called Amutt Time, about "Mr. Spott" getting horny and needing to go to his home planet, Vulcanine to get married. It was hilarious!
But the next episode I watched was even better! It's title is The City on the Edge of Foreclosure. 🤣

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I've just this morning come across a series called Stalled Trek, a spoof (or parody) of, well, you know. 🤣

Where?

[Nobody]

YouTube.

[Hydra009]

This is episode 4 of Hired Steel.  I strongly recommend watching the previous 3 before this, but I'm not a cop.

Our heroes' umm heroic assault on an otherwise mostly peaceful bandit base takes a turn.  Before, they're calling shots and dishing it out.  Now, the hunter becomes the hunted.  Prepare to face an enemy as powerful as possible, as impenetrable as possible, and as fear-inspiring as conceivable!

[Hydra009]

An interesting lore video I found (great understanding of Trek and useful for worldbuilding in general)

My favored tactic is unsurprisingly, the Federation's MO. They make the most efficient use of use of available opportunities to achieve their aim of safeguarding and expanding the Federation.

During peacetime, they boldly go - explore strange new worlds to gather new resources/ technology or at least counter potential hazards, seek out new life to build relationships with other powers to pave the way for eventual alliance and assimilation into the Federation, and go where no man has gone before to improve their knowledge/understanding of the galaxy.

During wartime, they call upon their allies and retool their vast industrial base for war production.  If the enemy can't destroy them quickly, their war production can drown almost any foe (the Dominion and Borg are the exceptions).

Even though the TV shows emphasize a very "Great Man" view of history, another view is that the Federation's internal stability, alliance system, and huge science/engineering prowess pretty much decides the outcomes of most wars before the first phaser has been fired.

[Cassia]

An interesting lore video I found (great understanding of Trek and useful for worldbuilding in general)


My favored tactic is unsurprisingly, the Federation's MO. They make the most efficient use of use of available opportunities to achieve their aim of safeguarding and expanding the Federation.

During peacetime, they boldly go - explore strange new worlds to gather new resources/ technology or at least counter potential hazards, seek out new life to build relationships with other powers to pave the way for eventual alliance and assimilation into the Federation, and go where no man has gone before to improve their knowledge/understanding of the galaxy.

During wartime, they call upon their allies and retool their vast industrial base for war production.  If the enemy can't destroy them quickly, their war production can drown almost any foe (the Dominion and Borg are the exceptions).

Even though the TV shows emphasize a very "Great Man" view of history, another view is that the Federation's internal stability, alliance system, and huge science/engineering prowess pretty much decides the outcomes of most wars before the first phaser has been fired.

I always thought the Romulans were the scariest. Probably because I was studying ancient Rome when I first started seeing episodes with them. But yeah, The Borg is AI.

[Hydra009]

The Romulans are scary because they're so enigmatic - so you never know what to expect.  They've definitely read their Sun Tzu.  But they're so isolationist and deceitful/scheming that they spin their wheels more often than not.  In peacetime, they squander their time squabbling while other races grow their power.  In war, they rarely if ever take the initiative - so they're rarely in control of the situation.  They're like Japan during their isolationist period.

The Borg are scary because they're just so damned implacable.  They take a lickin' and keep on tickin'.  And the implications of transwarp technology are huge - the Borg can muster and invade very quickly and with little/no warning.  And they can do it all with a shocking single-mindedness.  It's almost impossible to defend your territory against rapidly deployed and overwhelming forces.  The Federation is lucky that the Trek writers nerfed the hell out of the Borg, because otherwise, they could mass at any point in the alpha quadrant and steamroll over almost any resistance.

[Nobody]

The Romulans weren't all bad, at least they allowed women to be starship captains.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The Romulans weren't all bad, at least they allowed women to be starship captains.

[cliché]How many of their ships crashed?[/cliché]