Value Subtracted @ ValueSubtracted @startrek.website

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Fair enough, I don't want to try too hard to change anyone's mind on issues like this, because I completely respect the perspective.

What I can say is that the admin team of this instance has zero tolerance (if I could make it less than zero, I would) for any kind of harassing behaviour.

I've also been reasonably pleased with the way Lemmy's tools have expanded and evolved over the past couple of years, so I would never write anything off for the future.

And in more extreme cases of cross-instance abuse...there's more behind-the-scenes communication between instance admins than you may think!

Gibson told us: "[Ruby's] mission is to take down Conrad. Whether she completes that mission or not, is to be told.

"However, I think after giving him that mercy in episode 4, taking down the Shreek instead of him, it's almost like an extra stab at the heart that he's just created this fake world where he is the king. It's like seeing your ex be Prime Minister or something! It would just be horrific.

Okay, I think this is fun. It's always nice when the characters have slightly different motivations, which could put them at cross-purposes with each other.

That's very unfortunate to hear - I agree that there it probably a different core philosophy between Lemmy and Mastodon (I can't speak to other platforms), where Lemmy is considered more of a "public bulletin board" where all content can be read by anyone, and most measures against harassement or other bad behaviour is left to the mod/admin teams (insert long rant about small instances being a good thing here).

This is the first I've heard of blocked users being able to vote on stuff, though.

The book must be about Peter Cushing.

Yeah, the issue as I understand it is that there's no content warning system built into ActivityPub, so each platform has made their own implementation.

Schrödinger’s Gallifrey pendulum is swinging back to “alive”…

Honestly a very solid motivation, I'm not mad about it.

Very confused on the issue of whether Omega even has a body, though...

I've found the best way to handle federating spoilers is to keep the title spoiler-free, and put them in the body of a text post - that at least requires a clickthrough from Mastodon.

I've never experimented with the NSFW tag due to complaints from lemmy users who want to filter out porn and gore, but don't care if they see spoilers.

I don't think a perfect solution exists.

More than an omen, an identical lineage might be engineered to similar effects — in which case we are uncomfortably close to the magical thinking of eugenics.

I would guess that it wouldn't work, though - the laws of magic would probably insist on it being genuine happenstance.

I unfortunately don't think we'll see the Rani applying the actual scientific method to what she's doing - her experimentation seems to be done, and she's moved on to application.

I think she's retained her sense of purpose, though, which sets her apart from the more chaotic Master.

That was very good, yes.

If "they" is Disney, the worst they can do is decline to renew their distribution deal (which, granted, is worth a lot of money).

A full cancellation would be a BBC decision, and I just don't think they're prepared to do that.

though I guess not overtly racist

I was shocked, too.

Not sure why he wished for giant skeleton monsters

I was wondering about that - since they're only sort-of "there," I wonder if they're a creation of the Rani's. In "Unleashed" they talked about how the bones of the bone palace are largely based on birds...they played it off as simply being designed that way because they look cool, but...is there some significance?

Another thing about Conrad: they did an interesting job portraying him as a victim in his own right, with Mrs. Flood still serving as his jailor, and, sort of creepily, as a mother figure.

I think the word "shuttle" could plausibly be applied to long-range, low-capacity transports - maybe even something as large as the USS Raven.

Is the Federation even adhering to the warp five speed limit anymore?

I just assume they've fixed that issue.

That's what I thought - just wanted to be clear!

According to most calculators I can see online, we're looking at about a month at warp 5, or around 15 days at warp 6. I think a traditional "shuttle" wouldn't be up to the task - you'd want a vessel with bunks and space to walk around, at the very least.

Let's see, "Arc of Infinity" and "Remembrance of the Daleks" are both four-parters - I should be able to manage that.

I don't think this is exactly what you meant, but it's worth pointing out that this is the first unionized contract in the VFX industry, specifically - hopefully more will follow.

At this point, I think if anything brings down Gatwa's Doctor, it'll be scheduling - it looks like an extended break between seasons is all-but-inevitable at this point, and he may simply move on.

This was a pretty informative episode of Unleashed. I'm especially impressed by how involved Ncuti Gatwa was in the creative process - apparently, including the Rani was something he was pushing for. Given that he's also lobbied for the inclusion of Anansi, he seems to be pretty invested in the show.

The amount of thought that was put into the encampment set - almost all of which goes completely unacknowledged in the show - is also very impressive.

And hey, new logo!

I thought there was going to be more of a payoff to the surname Zufall (“coincidence”), which seems to contradict the wish granting thing we got.

Oh, interesting - I didn't realize that was the translation. I guess that ties in to "The Church on Ruby Road" and how luck and coincidences can affect reality, in this case leading to Desidirum. A bit of a deep cut that I barely remembered.

The bone beasts were an impressive visual, but I’m not sure what purpose they served other than spectacle?

That's sort of my issue with episodes of this nature in general - we know it's not real, it will (probably) be undone by the end of the season, so a lot of it is just there to be weird.

I was not sold on Rogue’s love letter from hell

Me neither, though I was not as high on "Rogue" as many people were last year. Hopefully it's leading to a more significant return soon, and doesn't fizzle out like the Captain Jack cameo during the Chibnall run, though I'm sure that one imploded for very different reasons.

Fuck off Conrad, have another pink fat sandwich for the road.

I really did enjoy the ways in which Conrad's shitty worldview infested this world. I'm sure the Rani was all too happy to let that happen, fostering doubts in those whose lives were less than ideal.

The undercurrent that questioning dominant narratives can crack their grasp on reality is more powerful and relevant than it felt at a first viewing.

Agreed - this is one of those episodes that throws some really compelling ideas out there, without really slowing down to examine them.

And it’s of course very RTD to place one of the perspectives through cracks in (normative) reality with the marginalised dispossessed

The line about Ruby walking past their encampment every day and ignoring it was...not subtle (and that's a good thing - I'm over subtlety).

Omega

Another classic thing that I'm aware of, but will have to do some homework on.

On the whole, I'm with you. It was a decent episode, I was entertained, but by its nature it's mostly an exercise in table-setting for the big finale.

"Young Adult"