Don't shoot the messenger, but... check the date.This is a great thing to wake up to. Welcome back, ZMWe've missed you much.
Hiya.
- Thread starter ZenMonkey
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You read a webcomic named "Anime Club" and I'M the nerd?
It's not really a pretentious thing, it's really gotten to the point where you need to separate Space Operas and "pulp fantasies in space!" from real science fiction. Star Wars isn't science fiction, Star Trek is. It's not necessarily bad to not be science fiction, but when authors like Asimov and Clarke himself speak up against the term "Sci-Fi", it's hard to argue with them.
It's like pop and rock. It's ok to like both, and arguing which is better is subjective and stupid, but you don't go around calling them the same thing, even if the roots could be the same.
It's not really a pretentious thing, it's really gotten to the point where you need to separate Space Operas and "pulp fantasies in space!" from real science fiction. Star Wars isn't science fiction, Star Trek is. It's not necessarily bad to not be science fiction, but when authors like Asimov and Clarke himself speak up against the term "Sci-Fi", it's hard to argue with them.
It's like pop and rock. It's ok to like both, and arguing which is better is subjective and stupid, but you don't go around calling them the same thing, even if the roots could be the same.
GasBandit
Staff member
You, sir, are worse than Hitler.
On the other hand, Babylon 5 isn't Star Wars, and if it isn't science fiction, I don't think most Trek should count either.
BananaHands
Staff member
my favorite science fiction is the hobbit
GasBandit
Staff member
Also, if you haven't read "Anime Club" you need to. Don't worry, there isn't a lot to catch up on.[DOUBLEPOST=1357768558][/DOUBLEPOST]
Garibaldi, however, is so genre savvy a computer simulation of his personality outsmarted its programmer and caused a nuclear first strike.
Pfft, shapeshifting's so passe in the B5verse that they have technology to make it a consumer item.
Garibaldi, however, is so genre savvy a computer simulation of his personality outsmarted its programmer and caused a nuclear first strike.
Yes, in his universe he's a high level badass, in Odo's he's one as well.
Are we going to compare B5 and Trek tech now?
GasBandit
Staff member
Garibaldi sleeps under a gigantic poster of Daffy Duck.
Odo sleeps in a bucket.
Q.
E.
D.
Mofo.
Gun Show and Achewood are the only webcomics that don't completely fucking suck always
But then he'd stop being funny!
Perry Bible Fellowship is the best absurdist web-comic of all time. OF ALL TIME.
He's more the Chris Elliott of Halforums. I'll let you sort out what that means.
Wait, retracted, Perry Bible Fellowship owns
...owned
For someone who "champions" political correctness, you sure like to use generalizations. *looks at his username*
it's not my fault that Achewood is one of the good ones and Penny Arcade goes around with its pants down to its ankles, talking in its ghetto slang, listening to rap music and gangbanging
You're dealing in absolutes anyway, Sith. You said those two were the ONLY webcomics that didn't "completely fucking suck always". Those are 2 generalizations right there. Nice logic. You should jump down your own throat with sentences like that.
I like Science Fiction and SciFi, but lately I've been rather disappointed with SyFy.
And I believe Star Trek is generally regarded as "Science Fantasy."
Wait, lemme see if I can dig up a graphic I posted on this subject a loooooong time ago...
…nuts, can't find it (we can't look up our uploaded graphics any more? Aww…), I'll repost it here when I get back home, but it was regarding the Silistra series
--Patrick
What? By whom? If stuff like The Inner Light, Measure of a Man, Chain of Command etc aren't science fiction, then nothing is.
New one just went up today.
It is great that they came back from that long hiatus. How long was it, seems like years.
Unfortunately that's a pretty subjective measure. Knowing what we know now, Edgar Rice Burroughs would not be considered science fiction. The atmosphere on nearby planets is not human compatible, and there aren't creatures on those planets.
But he is certainly considered an early pioneer of science fiction, and you'll be hard pressed to find any serious science fiction organization claim otherwise.
But he is certainly considered an early pioneer of science fiction, and you'll be hard pressed to find any serious science fiction organization claim otherwise.
Here's the graphic (It's pretty big):
EDIT: Shrunk it a bit more, it was WAY too big.
Incidentally, "The Inner Light" is my favorite episode in all of Trekdom.
I'm pretty sure this is a subjective thing, but I know authors like Larry Niven, Hal Clement, and others call what they do "hard" SF (which is what I see meant by "Science Fiction" as opposed to "SciFi" above), meaning that everything that they write is based on Science as it was known at the time of writing (or at least a best effort). Star Trek, in particular, has often been called out because they play fast and loose with Physics, especially as it applies to transporters, communication, genetics, etc. That is to say, in Trek, Nature often bows to the plot device of the moment. It makes great stories, certainly, but it lacks accuracy...even to itself. That is, even if you assume the laws of Physics actually are different in the Trek universe, they will up and violate their very own rules in another episode. So long as it's not too glaring, it doesn't ruin the immersion, but there have certainly been some eye rollers. I know that Arthur C. Clarke is quoted as saying, "Any sufficiently advanced techn0logy is indistinguishable from Magic," but there's a lot of the Trek universe that seems to operate purely on Faith and/or Whimsy. Again, doesn't stop me from enjoying it, just frays a little at the edges.
--Patrick
No, I've always seen Hard SF as, well, a really rigorous subset of SF, but making then all "soft" SF "SciFi" is unfair. There's a reason the term Hard SF exists.
Reducing Star Trek to "Science Fantasy" because it doesn't go deeply into technicalities (this would make ANY Hard SF series become bogged down with long, technical explanations. Hard SF is almost exclusively written because of this, it's not very compatible with the pacing of television or movies) is taking it too far.
Besides, I've truly never, ever heard it being referred to as a "Fantasy". Wikipedia, which has TONS of pages on the discussion for terms like these goes with "Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise", whereas something that is DEFINITELY not SF like Star Wars goes with "Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise"
Calling Star Trek fantasy is almost insulting
Reducing Star Trek to "Science Fantasy" because it doesn't go deeply into technicalities (this would make ANY Hard SF series become bogged down with long, technical explanations. Hard SF is almost exclusively written because of this, it's not very compatible with the pacing of television or movies) is taking it too far.
Besides, I've truly never, ever heard it being referred to as a "Fantasy". Wikipedia, which has TONS of pages on the discussion for terms like these goes with "Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise", whereas something that is DEFINITELY not SF like Star Wars goes with "Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise"
Calling Star Trek fantasy is almost insulting
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