Ironik

Oh look, I didn't.

Just stop, man. ST is full of wrongheadedness, but it is NOT fascist.

How can you possibly use that as evidence that ST is fascist? I mean come on, the MAIN CHARACTER is Filipino and his love interest is Hispanic and his best friend is, too, while the two major mouthpiece/authority figures are a French-American and a Chinese dude.

Boom, item one eliminated. Item four doesn't really apply. Besides, Heinlein stated he based that society on Switzerland, which isn't what? Fascist.

One can even see that Heinlein was picking up on the incipient -- and now in full swing -- cultural shifts of political correctness and the "everyone gets a ribbon" mentality seen in schools these days. The fact that 95% of kids cheat on major exams nowadays rather proves Heinlein's point about the US and what happened to it.

As I said already, I disagree with Heinlein's assertions. Still doesn't make the book fascist.

Now go read The Forever War by Joe Haldeman as the antidote and let it go.

Still not fascism.

Go look for yourself: www.dictionary.com

I disbelieve that, sorry. Someone once ran the numbers and showed that there were only a couple specific builds that could solo a GM. All of them use pets, whether inherent or temp. I want to take my Blaster to Monster Island and punch one in the face without dying instantly. No one can do that.

Totally. That dog is made of rubber.

Every once in a while my character will spin around in a circle or jump up and down for no apparent reason. Well, there you go.

Yes. He's wrong. Clearly he needs a dictionary, because his definition of fascism bears no relation to reality.

He also makes specious side comments like "uniforms are not commonly worn by general government workers." Well, no, not in OUR world, but Heinlein's writing science fiction. It's no different from many other sci-fi tales from Star Trek to, well, name a random dozen. Plus, most jobs may not have uniforms the way soldiers, police, firefighters, EMS, park rangers, doctors, nurses, priests, nuns, restaurants, animal shelters, cable companies, yard maintenance companies... oh yeah, almost every job requires a uniform, and those who don't expressly define "acceptable dress." It's actually rare to find a job that doesn't have some sort of required outfit. Look at IBM when Heinlein was writing, for example.

But clothes don't make the political ideology. He makes a whole host of other selective and incorrect assumptions, sometimes even ignoring human behavior altogether.

One can disagree with Heinlein's idea if you want, that's fine. I disagree with his proposal myself. What you can't do is call it something it isn't. It's not fascism or socialism or communism, it's merely a form of representative democracy that differs from the American version in one important particular: you only get to participate in the franchise if you serve for at least two years, and everyone can serve if they want to.

Since Heinlein was on record for being anti-draft, saying something to the effect that a country whose citizens can't be bothered to volunteer to defend it doesn't deserve to exist, you can see how he got to the society he created in Starship Troopers. Heinlein was wrong about a whole host of things in his life, but if you're going to disagree with this particular version of wrongness, then call it the right thing. It's not fascism.

You need someone who is either a huge fan of the original material or someone invested in protecting the IP. Look at how badly the Alien, Predator and Terminator franchises went off the rails.

Anyone who thinks Starship Troopers is fascist doesn't own a dictionary. Or was awake during history class.

Castiel is safe. He isn't black or female or wear a mullet.

That's one of the dumbest things I've read on here in a long time.


Look at how ubiquitous the Clockwork chest piece has become. We've found ways to use it far and away beyond what it's "intended" and <shudder> "pure" design is. I used it to great effect on my Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon-inspired toon Starina of the Star Rangers. Why limit these pieces to just a dyed-in-the-wool, one-person's-idea of what Steampunk looks like? Maybe someone can come up with an entirely different way to utilize the parts.

I think "purity" in this instance is kind of a silly thing to insist on. It's not just that this is a video game about superheroes and that all-encompassing genre. Steampunk as a genre is only about 20-25 years old. The name itself is derived from "cyberpunk," which is less than 30 years old itself. (It also gave rise to "splatterpunk", the horror version of the "punk rock" meme, but splatterpunk was never well-defined the way both cyber- an steampunk were, so it's faded away.)

If you look at films and TV series which are retroactively considered steampunk, you get things like 20,000 Leagues, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Wild Wild West (TV series) and the like. Newer examples often cited are Gilliam's work The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen and Time Bandits. Yes, there are a lot of browns and tand in those, but also plenty of color. Island at the Top of the World is another, and the main airship in that was bright red. Anyone who's read The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen knows that it's filled with just as many vibrantly-colored outfits as subdued ones.

Perusing various books on the Steampunk subculture on Amazon reveals plenty of items and devices which are red, gold, green, blue and turquoise. I just think it's a bit silly to restrict the palette to only a single interpretation of something that is not particularly well-defined and is still in flux.

You're a wee little puppet man!

Some of it. But just as much is quite colorful. Two classic examples of steampunk are Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. They both have their brass and leather aspects, but they likewise have a ton of color. It's rather silly to limit bright colors to just a few items and not all of the items. Heck, even just allowing the hair under the hats to be something besides black and letting us color the wings would go a long way toward personalizing the things.