Ah, that's surprising — I swear I've argued with Flying Squid before and never received any treatment like that.
Not to say it didn't happen, I'm just surprised. I was also mostly surprised at the 'he killed himself' comment, as I was under the impression he had decided to take a break from Lemmy (after a series of these events you're describing, I'm assuming).
Nah, fuck Thor — he could have been the YouTuber pushing for coverage of Stop Killing Games, instead he decided to double down on his stupid bullshit.
Reminder — he was a Blizzard employee for 7 years. I think that, plus his 'my shit doesn't stink and if you think it does, you're wrong and banned' attitude should give you all you need to know.
That's fair, I don't disagree with anything you've said — except for Tom Bombadil, I love the flavor he adds to the story.
able to write interesting 3-dimensional female characters
Yeah LotR is a sausage-fest — there is no defending that.
However, this is ultimately a matter of subjectivity, and I don't think I've referred to LotR as the greatest fantasy story. I don't think there can be a 'greatest' of any genre, no more than someone can be 'the greatest' at any sport, skill, or whatever else you can think of. 'Number 1 on the leaderboard' is an ephemeral position and impossible to guage accurately.
In other words, to me I would be more likely to call Harry Potter overrated than LotR, and it isn't like JKR didn't have LotR to pull from. A Song of Ice and Fire, again — very overrated. Despite Martin's attempts to seem like a modern day Tolkien (which he certainly is not).
I've heard a lot of people talk shit about Hillary over the years, never once has it been about her being a woman. I've heard some misogynistic things about Kamala, however — she kinda opened herself up to it by dating a man who directly influenced her career. A man 31 years her senior. However, any talk about that has always been massively overshadowed by Gaza, or whatever else they had people spinning about at the time (I feel like it's been years even though I know it hasn't).
Idk, I just don't buy 'Hillary/Kamala lost because woman'. Doesn't seem accurate.
I think that's a lot like saying modern orchestral music stands on the shoulders of classical composers but that isn't really accurate, is it? Moonlight Sonata is Moonlight Sonata. Many classic compositions are still utilized in modern media.
There's a difference with being disastisfied with certain aspects of a story and that story being overrated. Gandalf and Saruman's powers being vague was the point. Tom Bombadil is such a minor portion of the Shire, is that even something relevant to the narrative as a whole? Fantasy, specifically, has evolved over time through the introduction of power systems sure — does that make them inherently better than LotR?
Not every book is for every person. You simply cannot deny the level of effort that went into creating LotR on Tolkien's part, nor that it is held in very high regard to this day. The books simply are not overrated.
The older I get the more I understand why the concept of demons was something people could accept.
Idk, some people are just bad. A cousin, adopted but my uncle's adopted son nonetheless, is a good example of this. He's no longer with us, thank fucking god, but this little devil was bad from the moment I met him to the point he died at... idk I think it was 18 or 19 years old.
His parents got him a pet weasel. It 'disappeared'. I don't remember the specifics but it was pretty clear it didn't just run away. His brother would show up at the dining table with bruises around his neck. Just fucking evil shit like that. Ended up running away at 17 years old, died in an attempted robbery sometime after that (his memory is not something I try to keep alive).
Point is: there is such a thing as irredeemable. At least, in my eyes.
If you want to put a little note saying 'the movies are overrated' sure, we can have a debate about that. Fantasy films really aren't for everyone, and adapting LotR is definitely not an easy task.
If you genuinely mean the books as well, idk what to tell you. The history of the fantasy genre after LotR proves you're wrong.
Oh, don't get me wrong — my position has never been that UBI can't work under the right conditions.
My position is that UBI cannot work without very major changes first. I don't doubt that UBI can inject a lot of good into an individual's standard of living — without some kind of regulation associated with it, which requires those regulatory agencies to not be inherently corrupt, UBI seems impossible.
Oh I just assumed that every Conservative jerks off to kids