Nolgroth

I was having problems in creating a list of manoeuvre macros.  I have worked it through and produced a guidance document that might prove useful to others.
 
You can see that document here.

Superman is a reporter. He makes a reporter's salary. Can you afford everything you would like to have? Neither can I. The fact we don't have them is not indicative of us not wanting them. If Superman wanted those things he could take them, and no one could stop him. He doesn't.
 
You haven't addressed the other side of the coin -- Superman not destroying people who cause him grief. That point was graphically hammered home in the Authority clip I linked to. Without a level of moral conviction very few people could muster, Lex Luthor would have been a bloody smear on Clark's fist years ago. Superman makes moral choices that often cost him, because he considers them the right choices.
 
At base, though, we can identify with Clark Kent precisely because he's so human. He was raised on Earth. He thinks like us, he feels what we do. Yes, he's in many ways the best of humanity, but he's not an alien in the way his mind and heart work. He has doubts, he suffers pain, and he has made mistakes and done things he regrets and that haunt him. But he never stops trying to do what he believes to be the right thing and live up to his own impossibly high standards. "Elseworld" stories are full of the terrible things that happen when Superman loses sight of the things that hold him back from his worse instincts.
 
You may say that this isn't realistic, that because Superman doesn't have the same needs as us he won't feel the way we do. In the first place comics aren't supposed to be realistic -- they're supposed to be wish-fulfillment morality plays. Superman is us, only magnified to epic proportions. His stories aren't about an alien, they're about a human being placed in a position of unparalleled power, and of how he chooses to use that power for the common good, not his own benefit. That's a powerful parable.
 
In the second place, "realistically" all we can do is try to imagine how someone uniquely gifted from childhood with powers and abilities far beyond other humans, would react and develop. We may try to work out some logical progression based on our theories of what that would be like, but no one like that has ever existed, so it's impossible to truly know. All we have are theories with no experiential basis to test their validity.
 
For me, stories about a Superman I can relate to work just fine.

You can apply this same test to any fictional character of cosmic supernatural power using the same litmus test. Silver Surfer only saves Earth because he'd then be reduced to only liking (actually his list is vastly shorter... art created by a blind girl?). 
Liking those things is an indicator of his connection to humanity, and a subset of the broader interests he has. Similarly, his lack of enjoyment of brie (also canon) is a reflection of personal taste.
 
He also has been depicted as loving a number of terrestrial women. And activities. Is there a favorite food of Peter Parker? Maybe Spider Man is really a horrifying arachnid predator with no relation to humanity based on the absence of this relatable element?
 
The core concept is that Kal El of Krypton was adopted as a refugee, raised by Jonathan and Martha as Clark Kent, and instilled with his values/morality by his earthly parents (ma and pa). You can not like the story, but it's central to the concept (from it's earliest incarnation with clear overtones of moses in the river, commentary on the fascist ubermensch, and so forth by a couple Jewish guys who created him). It's been told and retold, but that's always there.
 
He also likes milk shakes. I can find other things if you want.

I had a feeling some people would bring up the collateral damage in that clip.
 
I admit it looks less than ideal out of context; but to be fair, the city was a war zone under attack from Darkseid's forces, and most civilians had already been evacuated from the vicinity, while the Justice League (and a bunch of supervillains who wanted to help) fought to contain the enemy.
 
But let's be honest: if you can't punch a villain through at least a few buildings, it wouldn't be a comic-book fight.

I know I walk an unpopular line, but I have this belief that people should feel uncomfortable with some things in life. It makes them realize that not everything out there is sanitized for their convenience. Homogenization is bad in my book. 
 
That said, racism bothers me because it makes zero sense. Two of my greatest personal role models have been black (I am white) and their wisdom has seen me through some pretty rough times. Literarily speaking, the character Dembe from Blacklist is one of my favorite characters ever. He rarely speaks his mind, but when he does he reveals wisdom and intelligence far beyond the role of Reddington's personal thug. There are many other characters of various ethnic backgrounds that I enjoy watching or reading about. If I allowed the cloud of racism to obscure such great characters or, in real life, the wisdom of my role models, then I would have deprived myself of many rewarding moments. Being a selfish punk, I like experiences that I feel reward me.

Seems to be getting a little warm in here.  We could probably all make a bit more effort to direct our responses to the points raised rather than the people raising them.

I remember when vampires and werewolves were something I looked forward to. Now they have way over-saturated the market. We need something new. I'm guessing cryptids will replace them.

I know I walk an unpopular line, but I have this belief that people should feel uncomfortable with some things in life. It makes them realize that not everything out there is sanitized for their convenience. Homogenization is bad in my book. 
 
That said, racism bothers me because it makes zero sense. Two of my greatest personal role models have been black (I am white) and their wisdom has seen me through some pretty rough times. Literarily speaking, the character Dembe from Blacklist is one of my favorite characters ever. He rarely speaks his mind, but when he does he reveals wisdom and intelligence far beyond the role of Reddington's personal thug. There are many other characters of various ethnic backgrounds that I enjoy watching or reading about. If I allowed the cloud of racism to obscure such great characters or, in real life, the wisdom of my role models, then I would have deprived myself of many rewarding moments. Being a selfish punk, I like experiences that I feel reward me.

Changes to a long-standing character don't bother me in principle. Times change, people's expectations change, it's fair for these characters to evolve with the times. I'm bothered by changes to the fundamental qualities of a character who has remained very popular literally for generations. There's a reason why that character appealed to people for so long.
 
Before he was ever given the MoS director's position, Zack Snyder was on record as not liking the character of Superman. IMO that should not be the person directing a movie about Superman. I liked Man of Steel, and I was willing to accept its somber tone as a path to Superman discovering who he really is and his purpose in life. I don't feel like my acceptance was rewarded in BvS. To me it looks like Snyder still doesn't like Superman.

I remember when vampires and werewolves were something I looked forward to. Now they have way over-saturated the market. We need something new. I'm guessing cryptids will replace them.

I miss when some vampires and werewolves were actual, y'know, monsters, to be feared and destroyed. Not tragic, misunderstood, angsty emo romantic fan-fic figures.

Perhaps this belongs in the other opinions thread, but WT actual F. This thug is being "immortalized on social media and youTube"? Are you kidding me? This is so disgusting that I cannot even find words. Chalk this one up on the "What's wrong with our society" board.
 
I think I am going to step away from this. Nice and slow. 

Some freak wrote a ballad about the poacher who murdered two game wardens when they caught him poaching. Iirc. I once heard a request for it ion the radio. I am surprised I did not have a stroke.

Granted. Doesn't make it right. She does not (nor any of the people you mentioned) deserve to be considered some sort of folk hero. They were criminal scum. 

Perhaps this belongs in the other opinions thread, but WT actual F. This thug is being "immortalized on social media and youTube"? Are you kidding me? This is so disgusting that I cannot even find words. Chalk this one up on the "What's wrong with our society" board.
 
I think I am going to step away from this. Nice and slow. 

Granted. Doesn't make it right. She does not (nor any of the people you mentioned) deserve to be considered some sort of folk hero. They were criminal scum. 

I know I walk an unpopular line, but I have this belief that people should feel uncomfortable with some things in life. It makes them realize that not everything out there is sanitized for their convenience. Homogenization is bad in my book. 
 
That said, racism bothers me because it makes zero sense. Two of my greatest personal role models have been black (I am white) and their wisdom has seen me through some pretty rough times. Literarily speaking, the character Dembe from Blacklist is one of my favorite characters ever. He rarely speaks his mind, but when he does he reveals wisdom and intelligence far beyond the role of Reddington's personal thug. There are many other characters of various ethnic backgrounds that I enjoy watching or reading about. If I allowed the cloud of racism to obscure such great characters or, in real life, the wisdom of my role models, then I would have deprived myself of many rewarding moments. Being a selfish punk, I like experiences that I feel reward me.

Great examples all. This reminds me of the GMs who complain that their players don't follow genre conventions. When we get in deeper, we discover the GM does not follow genre conventions.
 
Superman and Batman do not kill. And they prevail despite their refusal to kill. When the GM puts them in a situation where their refusal to kill guarantees they lose, the players stop building characters with Codes vs Killing, and the GM gets upset that THEY are not following genre conventions.
 
I read a great article on running an early Star Trek RPG which hit the nail on the head. When the opportunity to trade his life for that of a crew member arises, the Captain should have no hesitation in taking it. That's playing to the genre. But so is the ability of the Captain to turn his certain death into victory - the GM also has to follow genre conventions.

I think this is the most salient point of all.
 
We can't really talk about Superman as if he were a real person, because he's not. Everything he is and does is governed and constrained by the story that is written for him. It is meaningless to ask, "What would Superman do if given no choice but to kill an adversary?" because a competent writer (i.e., one who truly understands the character and the genre) would never put Superman in that position.
 
It reminds me of Star Trek, original series, in which Kirk looks like a genius most of the time because whenever he appears to be stuck having to choose between two truly awful options, the story (i.e., the writer) always manages to drum up a third option for him that saves the day. Saavik was spot on when she observed that Kirk had never faced a no-win scenario before, and she was in effect making a rather meta statement (as was Kirk with his retort about not believing in the no-win scenario) about the original series and the writing philosophy that drove it.
 
To my mind, a story in which Superman kills an enemy according to Machiavellian ethics is not a Superman story at all, but an ill-conceived distortion of one. Similarly, a story in which Batman kills/tortures criminals, or repeatedly brawls with Bane in futile contests of raw power, is not a Batman story at all, but a confused misappropriation of the character. I think that's why these movies fail: because they refuse to adhere to the accepted axioms of storytelling established for these characters.

Nothing new here.  A quick peek at Billy the Kid's wiki page shows that he has been a character, and often the title character, in 21 films.  He also is the subject of 10 songs, a Broadway play, many poems and other sundry media. 
 
Nor is Billy alone in this regard.  The very fact that in 2016 we can hear the names Bonnie and Clyde, Jessie James, or John Dillinger and not scratch our head and go "who?" is proof that they all got way more fame than there actions warranted.
 
So if people are immortalizing Gakirah Barnes, it is just part of a long traditions.

I know I walk an unpopular line, but I have this belief that people should feel uncomfortable with some things in life. It makes them realize that not everything out there is sanitized for their convenience. Homogenization is bad in my book. 
 
That said, racism bothers me because it makes zero sense. Two of my greatest personal role models have been black (I am white) and their wisdom has seen me through some pretty rough times. Literarily speaking, the character Dembe from Blacklist is one of my favorite characters ever. He rarely speaks his mind, but when he does he reveals wisdom and intelligence far beyond the role of Reddington's personal thug. There are many other characters of various ethnic backgrounds that I enjoy watching or reading about. If I allowed the cloud of racism to obscure such great characters or, in real life, the wisdom of my role models, then I would have deprived myself of many rewarding moments. Being a selfish punk, I like experiences that I feel reward me.

I know I walk an unpopular line, but I have this belief that people should feel uncomfortable with some things in life. It makes them realize that not everything out there is sanitized for their convenience. Homogenization is bad in my book. 
 
That said, racism bothers me because it makes zero sense. Two of my greatest personal role models have been black (I am white) and their wisdom has seen me through some pretty rough times. Literarily speaking, the character Dembe from Blacklist is one of my favorite characters ever. He rarely speaks his mind, but when he does he reveals wisdom and intelligence far beyond the role of Reddington's personal thug. There are many other characters of various ethnic backgrounds that I enjoy watching or reading about. If I allowed the cloud of racism to obscure such great characters or, in real life, the wisdom of my role models, then I would have deprived myself of many rewarding moments. Being a selfish punk, I like experiences that I feel reward me.

This election cycle has left me pounding my head against the desk more than once. 

It is my belief that Hawkeye and Black Widow, as portrayed in the MCU, owe more to their Ultimates incarnations than their traditional 616 incarnations. Unfortunately, Whedon either didn't understand how, or wasn't permitted, to give those two characters the same roles (within the team) and the same degree of badassery as in the Ultimates comic. The result is two characters that, by and large, don't really fit with the scope of power of the other Avengers.
 
And as the Avengers storyline continues to climb the power ladder, becoming more cosmic and universe-threatening, the degree to which these two characters are out of place (and indadequate) only grows. It isn't hard to see that stepping back from the trajectory of the Infinity Gauntlet story to tell a gritty, more gounded, dare I say small story like a BW film would, just isn't on anyone's priority list over at Marvel.
 
Maybe Black Widow needs to be a Netflix series, rather than a summer blockbuster.

Worth two in the bush