Yeah, that’s a decent way to put it. Or a lack of a reasonable amount of empathy.

Edit: libertarians are Prosperity Gospel paladins with wisdom as their dump stat.

I’ll disagree, slightly. They can also be:

• starting from flawed premises (aka “The world is a just place” or “a just god exists”)
• Inexperienced edgelords
• Arguing in bad faith (or just “I’ve got mine, so fuck you”)

I say this as someone who flirted with libertarianism in my early 20’s due mostly to a conservative religious upbringing. I’m not super smart, but I flatter myself to say that I’m above average intelligence and education, and there was still a brief time in my life when libertarianism served like a valid ideology. It took actually reading some objectivist philosophy and simultaneously reexamining and then rejecting my religious background before the flaws became evident.

Maybe it’s because I’ve become a pretty outspoken anti-theist, but after growing up and being exposed to better theological and philosophical arguments, I’ve come to the conclusion that Lewis is an overrated hack.

And yes, the Silent Planet books were absolute torture to get through.

It’s not that they “no longer have the ability.” Most people have never been able to comprehend things on that time scale when it’s happening in real-time. It’s only after the fact that people are able to look back and see clear signs and the early groundwork being laid.

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Exactly. I think we actually “started” just by giving them coloring pages of cartoony fantasy creatures and characters and then making up stories about goblins and dragons on our morning walks, which in turn got them excited about their characters and miniatures and rolling dice

You can start when they’re as little as 4 and have decent results. I started with mine when they were 5 and 3 with Hero Kids and by the time they hit 6 and 8, they’d graduated to Pathfinder 2 (edit: albeit with a great deal of help/handholding)

10/10, would indoctrinate children with gateway drugs games again

I’ve only ever heard it used in pulpy adventure stories/comics like Howard’s Conan world (some of which do admittedly have some if that implicit racism common to fiction from that time). Has it become more explicitly neo-Nazi?

Y’all got any more of them x3 jokers?

There’s always a relevant xkcd

God, I spent so much time I didn’t have playing KSP.

On the plus side, I did learn the basics of rocket science, so it wasn’t a total waste of time…

Not to mention “barley in middle school”

I don’t know about you, but I think that’s pretty good for a cereal crop.

It’s actually not (just) the acidity. Pineapples and several other tropical fruits have an enzyme called papain that breaks down peptide bonds in a rather unique way, to the point that the texture of the meat can become quite off-putting if the enzyme is not used properly

Edit: acidic or not, it’s definitely best not to put any sensitive parts of your anatomy in pineapple juice

I believe that’s a cantaloupe.

I think they do better at different things. I think DC does better at graphic novels and self-contained stories, but Marvel does better at ongoing stories and handling continuity (or handwaving it away).

If you haven’t read it yet, Invincible is great.

Lemire and Ellis’s runs in Moon Knight are amazing.

You also might really like Black Hammer, which is like a deconstruction/reimagining of the Silver Age Justice League (I think it’s Dark Horse, but it might be Vertigo). In general, I tend to like more high brow/pretentious stuff and the art, the characters, and the plot are all spectacular.

Edit: plus Hellboy, obviously. Mignola’s art and love for pulpy, over-the-top monsters and plots are just phenomenal, IMHO. Nothing like Lovecraftian horrors and world-shattering battles to make for great comics

Edit 2: you mentioned Silver Surfer, so I’m also assuming you’ve already read Hickman’s run on Fantastic Four and FF. If not, start there. It’s one of my favorite Marvel runs of all time

Neither. All the best stuff is creator-owned these days, if you ask me. Image and Dark Horse are the biggest and best “third party candidates,” but Boom and Dynamite have some good stuff, too.

Honestly, find an author that you like and follow them, not the characters. Mignola, Lemire, Hickman, Faction or Gillen can write absolutely anything and make it compelling, and there are a ton of other interesting, unique authors out there these days.

If you want specific series or arcs, HMU with a few examples of what you like and I’m sure I can throw out a few suggestions (and if I can’t, someone else can)

Thanks! I knew I recognized the guy and the quote, but I couldn’t place it until you gave me the Banksy quote. Thierry is a real piece of work.

On a Saturday morning, no less.

Anyone who’s ever abused ketamine or DXM knows that dissociating from reality is relaxing.

After all, have you seen reality lately?