Superweapon VII

Like Maul, Grievous only works for me as a piece of concept art.

I used to think I liked the Beatles. Then as I grew older and started listening to music other than what my parents listened to/was on the radio, I came to realize I really didn’t.

I don’t much care for '60s-'70s rock in general anymore. Except Gerry Rafferty; he’s the main exception.

Channel72 said:

G&G-Fan said:

Michael Corleone from The Godfather is a better young Darth Vader then the actual young Darth Vader.

The Prequels miss so much of the nuance that made Vader so great in the OT. His sadistic humor, his boldness, his cold, domineering presence, how calculating he was. In the Prequels, he’s a hot-head that flies off the handle. OT Vader got mad, but he wielded it like a blunt weapon. OT Vader is like Michael Corleone, but PT Anakin is like Sonny Corleone (at least in terms of temper; Sonny was never intolerably whiny). And that doesn’t mix. They’re two different characters.

If I wrote the Prequels I would have at least one scene where Anakin says “Impressive” and maybe another scene where he says “All too easy.”

I would have zero scenes where Anakin says “You will not take her from me!!!1!!”

Don’t forget the trademark belt grip.

TNG is overrated as is Gene Roddenberry’s vision.

That time Arnold Schwarzenegger saved The Oompa Loompas

Marooned Biker Scout said:

I really like the cover art for Lightsider, old style EU, as it should be!

It’s not bad, but it’s a collage. That Luke comes from the cover of a Dark Empire trade paperback, and that Kam comes from the New Essential Guide to Characters.

Servii said:

I get the disdain for a lot of larger EU projects though. Especially the entire Shadows of the Empire project, the disdain for that one I totally get. Prince Sex Pest and the Han Solo replacement don’t have much lasting appeal.

It’a funny you mention that, cause I’m actually rereading Shadows of the Empire right now. I read it over a decade ago, and the writing is a lot cornier than I remembered. The writing style is clearly oriented toward a younger reader, which makes the creepy Xizor scenes feel even more out-of-place and weird.

The best thing we got out of that whole MMP was all the cool artwork the Hildebrandt brothers did depicting scenes from the book. I love those.

I still don’t get why’d people get vitriolic about it, though. It’s non-canon and has no bearing on current Star Wars. It’s just something harmless that’s there for people to look back on and enjoy, if they want to.

I loved Shadows of the Empire when I read it in high school. All the SW material I’d consumed up to that point had been pretty chaste, so I was … interested … by the plot’s relatively heavy involvement of sex. I also really liked the insight into Vader’s character. But when I revisited the novel in my twenties, none of that wowed me anymore. I find it meh nowadays.

BedeHistory731 said:

As far as the dumbest EU stuff I can remember, it’s Death Troopers. Star Wars but a zombie movie! Han and Chewie showing up laughably kills all tension it ever had.

As far as zombies in SW go, Galaxy of Fear did it first and did it better.

All I can say is that a big chunk of my own antipathy towards the EU back in the day was fueled by supercilious EUphiles* who were adamant that the Expanded Universe was incontrovertibly canon. And I won’t deny that I experienced schadenfreude when those same people were forced to eat crow.

*They also tended to be diehard PT/SE apologists, which also fanned the flames of contempt.

I’m not a science buff, but I have at least a rudimentary understanding of biology and physics, and it does vex me immensely when I see sci-fi works blatantly disregard physical laws. Star Trek is a perfect exemplar of what I’m taking about, which is why I have an immense love/hate relationship with that franchise. And this came to colour my perception of Star Wars, too. But there’s a thread on this site which makes a strong case that SW was never meant to be viewed as sci-fi, but rather Surrealist fantasy.

https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Star-Wars-is-Surrealism-not-Science-Fiction-essay/id/82402

Viewed through that lens, the 2D space travel, human-piloted fighters, giant legged walkers, and other logically implausible elements SW is rife with don’t bother me so bad.

StarkillerAG said:

Superweapon VII said:

At least 99% of all modern mainstream musicians with any acclaim are overrated, IMO. Genuinely great modern music isn’t the stuff you’re likely to hear on the radio.

I definitely agree, especially in the last few years.

I saw a very interesting video, arguing that the rise of TikTok is what killed pop music. Ever since Old Town Road became a massive hit due to its popularity on the platform, record labels have been demanding that pretty much every song needs to be “danceable on TikTok”; with a trap beat, gimmicky lyrics, and a general feeling of generic-ness. Indie music is the only genre where you can escape producers demanding that artists pander to ADHD-addled teenagers.

Heh. As someone who felt mainstream music had already reached its nadir by 2010, the notion that it’s gotten even worse makes me giddy.

Men in Black: The Series is better than any of the movies. Yes, including the original.

At least 99% of all modern mainstream musicians with any acclaim are overrated, IMO. Genuinely great modern music isn’t the stuff you’re likely to hear on the radio.

I prefer to think the average person becomes part of a combined consciousness, which is actually the ideal state post-mortem. Lightsiders who retain their individuality are essentially bodhisattvas, while their darkside equivalents are ghosts trapped in a Sheolic quasi-existence.

The Crimson Empire trilogy was a letdown. Excellent first part; okay second part; pointless third part which only rehashed the “resurgent Empire” trope that had already been played out by the end of the '90s instead of realizing the trilogy’s raison d’être (the last of Palpatine’s Royal Guards seeking vengeance against Luke).

Hammer a square peg in a round hole hard enough, it’ll be sure to fit.

If SW hadn’t been any sort of hit, it wouldn’t have gotten any sequel, Splinter or otherwise.

But honestly, SW is a victim of its own success. Neither Forbidden Planet nor its fanbase have suffered for the lack of sequels, tie-ins, and miscellaneous consumerist crap.

The Fifth Element is the type of story I would’ve probably loved as a European comic book, but as a Hollywood film, it’s not my cup of tea.

Ah, DeviantArt. I miss the days when it was a (relatively) unbroken site not cluttered with AI imagery.

average stalinism™ moment

Spuffure said:

I think I might be a misogynist (or at least have sexist views) and I don’t know what to do and hate that I can’t change. This is what feeling ostracized as a child and having little female role models can do. Why? Why? Why? I’m such a joke.

I am a worthless person who hates everyone who doesn’t share the same identity as me. When I start to get a bit better, I fuck it all up.

We all have aspects to our psyche we could live without. That you’re able to recognize yours is an indication that that you’ve already changed and are capable of further change. Don’t give up on yourself and don’t hate yourself for being imperfect. We’re all works in progress.

StarkillerAG said:

I wish I could be part of a religion, but my conscience just won’t allow me to. My rationalist mode of thinking means that I find it almost impossible to accept something on blind faith. Why would you believe in one religion without evidence, when there are hundreds of other religions that have just as much of a basis in fact?

But more importantly, I find that the vast majority of religious teachings conflict drastically with my own moral and political views. This especially applies to matters of human sexuality. I’m a firm believer in the right to free sexual expression, including masturbation and pre-marital sex. But most religions, especially the Abrahamic ones, teach people to keep their natural urges bottled up inside. That’s an incredibly unhealthy mindset, in my opinion. And don’t get me started on how the Bible talks about homosexuality: let’s just say that, as a bisexual person, I do not like being referred to as an “abomination”.

As someone who was raised in a fundamentalist Christian cult, experienced a crisis of faith which led to agnosticism, and has since come to identify as perennialist (with various & sundry adjectives), I find this perspective both familiar and alien. That’s what makes it so difficult for me to discuss religion/spirituality with people who haven’t walked a similar path.

All I can really suggest is don’t presume inerrantist/exclusivist forms of religion are “true” religion. Seek out the perspectives of theological progressives. Since my background’s Christian, that’s the perspective I’m most familiar with. I highly recommend checking out The Bible for Normal People and Homebrewed Christianity podcasts, and Marcus Borg’s books Reading the Bible Again for the First Time and The God We Never Knew. I’m also a fan of the Let’s Talk Religion YouTube channel; he covers various religious perspectives, though has an especial fondness for Sufism.

Ahhh, the Nostalgia Critic. I liked him once upon a time.

So I watched Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. I’ve avoided STD & Picard like the plague, but I heard this show was a return to form, so I decided to give it a chance.

All I can say is if this is the best modern Trek can do in recapturing the spirit of old school Trek, the franchise truly needs to be staked, decapitated, cremated, and have its ashes dispersed far and wide.

5/10