Honestly I’ve always hated this. An early example of the awful trend where there has to be a “lore reason” for every little detail.

Star Trek aliens are mostly humanoids because its a human TV show telling stories that have to be relatable to humans and also has a limited budget. There is no need for a lore explanation.

At least in this case it’s a one off that’s never really referenced again.

Future Foundation is pretty much the definitive modern F4 story. Hickmens run as a whole is peak.

A problem with the F4 is that their golden age of stories was back in the Silver Age of Comic Books. They were a cornerstone a lot of the early world-building of the Marvel Universe. Their lasting legacy has been the characters and ideas these stories introduced to the Marvel universe: Dr Doom, Galactus, The Silver Surfer, Black Panther, The Negative Zone, ect. Marvel has long struggled to adapt the team to the modern era.

I haven’t seen the movie yet, but IMO the best F4 stories are ones where they aren’t so much a team of super heroes, but rather a team of scientist and explorers with super powers. They are better suited to telling sci-fi stories rather then traditional superhero stories.

No. You could argue the system that brought him to power is though.

A system that’s sole purpose is to empower a few kid diddling degenerates. A system that has been intentionally perpetuated by those who embody the worst aspects of human nature. Those who prostrate themselves at the alters of greed and power. Those whose actions are driving our whole species to destruction. The plots and gears of this system were well in motion before any of us were born, and the window to stop it before is destroys us all has passed. The system is biological life’s self-destructive nature made manifest.

In the end we are naught but mere animals. Like all other animals in a system where there are no natural predators and they are allowed propagate unrestrained, it will inevitably lead to the collapse of our ecosystem. We are just deer without hunters on a global scale. Cursed to be clever enough to realize we have brought about our own destruction, but not clever enough to stop it.

A Cosmic Doom has come for us all. The universe will go on without us.

This drop-off tracks with the brand. I say this as someone who likes the F4, they just don’t have a broad appeal with general audiences that other comic brands have. They’re a property that only comic nerds care about and always have been.

Edit: They also had to complete with Superman. The F4 have never been able to compete with Superman.

Are we counting old-school expansions as DLC? If so, then, aside from the infamous Horse Armor, the Elder Scrolls series seriously raised the bar for what to expect from RPG add-ons. Tribunal and Bloodmoon were massive expansions that set the standard early on.

Knights of the Nine might’ve been a bit weaker, but Shivering Isles is one of the GOAT expansions and is arguably better than the base game.

Skyrim kept the momentum going with Dawnguard and Dragonborn, both of which added tons of new content.

The series is straight-up GOATed when it comes to expansions that are actually expansive: new locations packed with quests, items, monsters, spells, etc. They take already huge games and somehow make them even bigger.

I adore BG3 but yeah. Viconia in particular felt like a big middle finger to fans of the original games. If they wanted to bring back an OG character to be irredeemably evil, Edwin is right there!

This. Expect to see feminist, environmentalist, Communism, and queer coded characters make a big comeback as movie villains. It’s the 80s all over again!

Reminder that there are video games in the MoMA

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_games_in_the_Museum_of_Modern_Art

The collection includes games like SimCity 2000, Dwarf Fortress, EVE online, and Minecraft.

Ren faires are just an anacronism stew. Maybe some take historical accuracy seriously, but I’ve been to quite a few and have yet to see one that does. My local one has everything from ancient greece to steampunk Victorians. There’s even a Wok themed after Imperial China where these guys would fit right in. You see more fantasy then historical costumes usually anyway.

It’s just a place for nerds and weirdos to vibe, buy trinkets, drink, eat fair food, and wear cool costumes.

As Mr Plinkett pointed out over a decade ago, Qui-Gon might as well have just beaten Watto up and stolen the ship part.

What I can never wrap my head around is if Qui-Gon being a dumbass is supposed to be some kind of intentional deconstruction of the Jedi, or if George is just a sloppy screenwriter with questionable ethics. The latter seems more likely, and is supported by Qui-Gon being a force ghost.

Trek is dead. It’s legacy will be what it inspires in us.

It’s also established that’s he’s an accelerationist. He’s intentionally baiting the Empire to crackdown more brutally on dissent in an effort to forment rebellion among the common people of the galaxy. He fears that if he does not do this, there will be a day when the Empires grip is too tight to escape.

“It will burn… Very brightly”

In the end, he was right. The Death Star vindicates his methods. Without Luthen laying the groundwork for the Rebel Alliance, the Galaxy would have been a boiling frog and the Death Star would have led to its brutal oppression for generations.

I do not mean to in anyway downplay how bad this is, or the danger this legislation presents to the American people, but I can’t help but wonder how much is this budget increase is going to just be pure pork?

There is no doubt this agency will be riddled with corruption, much like the rest of this administration. How much of this budget will go towards lining the pockets of Republicans and their donors? Contractors who overcharge and under deliver. Leadership skimming from the top. Take a look at the state of the Russian Military for an idea for where this might go.

What do I need to hide about myself?

The Billionaires are a bunch of Degenerate Morons who diddle children, much as the ruling class has always been. They’re funneling the world’s wealth upwards thinking capital will insulate them from the coming climate crisis they’re exasperating. How I wish I could be there when they realize that it won’t.

Community organizers and vocal opposition are at the top of the list Palentir is making right now. Scrub your social media and start taking your data privacy seriously if you aren’t already. Degoogle and take your opinions off Meta and Reddit at the very least.

They’re going to test the waters by going after some brown protestors first, but the end game is all political opponents and uncontrolled opposition.

I think (and hope) that one key difference here is that the US is much more divided politically and culturally then Nazi Germany was. At least right now, there is no way the US declares a war of aggression against a former Ally and doesn’t fall into Civil War. It will take a hell of a lot of internal suppression for that to change, the act of which will likely ignite the Civil War itself.

My hope is that the next few years will be less “What if the Nazi’s controlled the most powerful nation in history?” and more “What if Francisco Franco controlled the most powerful nation is history?”

Europe and China likely have time to prepare, and they really fucking need to. If they’re smart they’re already covertly looking into ways to arm and fund internal opposition in America.

DS9 has always had edge. It’s among the great works of Anti-Fascist media. Given the course history has taken since it aired, the show has aged like fine wine.

This made me look up the actual Predator code of Honor and I quote

"Unarmed and/or “innocent” beings may be hunted if they:

Are the specific objective of a hunt."

Sorry Op, you’re still screwed.

Jaws is objectively the best choice anyway. Just drive inland.

Yep. And the most prominent fascist power that wasn’t overthrown externally (Francoist Spain) lasted 40 years until it’s demogogue died. The reason it wasn’t a bigger problem for the world at large was that it was a politically isolated minor power.

The world hasn’t yet seen something like an (openly) fascist modern USA.