Hermit

Bravely, bold, Sir Alt-Knight
Rode forth for Congress seat.
He was not afraid to lie,
Oh, brave Sir Alt-Knight!
 
He was not at all afraid
To fill up the air with s***
Brave, brave, brave,
Brave Sir Alt-Knight!
 
He was not the least bit scared
To act just like a Troll,
Or to have his name besmirched,
Or his sanity questioned!
 
To have the electorate split
And all logic burned away.
And the truth all hacked and mangled,
Brave Sir Alt-Knight!

Who knows?  She might be flattered by the life-size Holly Combs body pillow you have.  Or the cardboard cutout that you sit at the dining table when you eat.  Or your collection of 2,000+ photos where you pasted her face atop the people you're actually in the pictures with.  Or...
 
Nah, never mind.  You'd be busted for sure.
 
(Though the one where you pasted your face onto Cap, and her face onto Black Widow, is actually pretty nicely done.)

(Jerkass has a point, banging on the 4th wall, yes, I am aware that all my attempts can be broken into tropes. I've learned to live with it)
 
There was a long stretch of silence at the Ambassador's question.
 
It was Arctic Fox who broke it, "Well, looks like we don't get the short cut to the cure for cancer. Having this thrown in our faces by a superior culture, I now completely understand why over a century ago some islanders ate smug missionaries." And she shot La'Vesh a look that could curdle milk.
"Ah," Despite his diplomatic training, La'Vesh seemed at a loss for words himself there, before clearing his throat once more and saying "I have given you only the slightest problem of it. Some of you would qualify as genetic offshoots of your species. In the wrong hands this could lead to an arms race of genetic coding for superwarriors, or the extermination of superhuman potential."
 
"Like the lady said," Pinprick piped up, "You already sold us. Don't rub it in."
 
"Wait," I said, something about the talk of 'missionaries' rang a bell, "What if you were to cure a limited number of humans, covertly. As you probably know, we have a lot of religions on our world. I'm a believer in one of them."
 
"Ah, are you of the Church of Ceiling cat then?" La'Vesh inquired.
 
"I…what?" I blinked, "No."
 
"I was joking. A little humor to ease what might have to be a negative response to whatever request you're trying to make," he explained.
 
"Oh we don't use humor around here," Tornado said straight faced.
 
"Not to ease things anyway," Pinprick added.
 
It was my turn to ahem, "What I'm trying to say is, if you were to allow us to use the cure on a limited amount of people, it's entirely possible that people would assume a supernatural agency was responsible but disagree on the details enough that eventually it would pass. You'd hardly break any prime directive at all, and no one outside of us would know there is a 'cure' that we passed up."
 
One of the troopers spoke up, "With respect, Ambassador, they have given up much and  did, in a sense, save our lives by their surrender."
He frowned, angelic face falling into cautious consideration, "How limited?"
 
"One hospital" I said.
 
They others on the team looked over at me. Lady Obsidian nodded, "I think I see what you're getting at, but better lay it out for us so we're all on the same page."
 
The plan was approved by everyone, well, almost everyone. When Doctor Bench came out of the mystical realm he'd been stored in he was livid. Furious, and no amount of trying to convince him otherwise would work.
 
"You decided, all of you decided? You got to decide the fate of millions!" He accused.
 
"To keep the cure, we would have had to kill them," I said, and not for the first time, "And even then, you could beat there would be serious talk of other attempts in even greater numbers. Doctor, the Hyadesians are dedicated to preventing this particular version of the cure to us and…" I took a breath, "For good reason. And no, they won't grant us an alternative treatment worldwide but they're willing…"
 
"I don't give a damn," The man was almost shaking, "You, each and everyone of you here, is playing GOD with the lives of your fellow human beings, and we don't even get a seat at the table."
 
Lady Obsidian tilted her head, "Doctor Bench, please. You know far better than any of us as the dangers that they bring up. Gene Editing and splicing are already in our world, the Fumian solution would lead to something akin to giving every set of radicals with an agenda a biological weapon like the world has never seen. It would be blankets and small pox all over again, and on a scale that …"
 
"Oh, please don't lecture me, Doctor Vernon! I am well aware of the risks, but unlike you, I have faith in my fellow human beings to take their lumps and move on! Perhaps you've spent too much time in that suit, but we mere mortals are more robust than you think, and maybe we're more enlightened than you and these aliens think. Thousands of people should not die each day because you're worried we might not be perfect!"  His finger pointed at Lady Obsidian with an accusing jab at the end of each sentence.
Pinprick scowled, "Careful now." I could tell Pinprick agreed with a lot of his points, the look of annoyance and flashes of guilt on his diminutive face were giveaways. But no one talked to the Lady in front of Pinprick like that.
 
Lady Obsidian took a cleansing breath, and said "Perhaps I am too cynical.  It is a danger in my line of work. But we still get to the point where a group of dedicated soldiers were killing themselves to save us from this. And even if they lost, a whole nother army might have come in and this time been less fussy about who died. You think I should have just let them destroy themselves then and risk an intergalactic invasion? It wasn't that long ago we stopped an undersea one."
 
"You should have let them die, yes! You should have looked after your own!" Doctor Bench snapped.
 
"My own? Mmm" Lady Obsidian shook her head, "I think we're done here, Doctor. Mabel will see you out."
 
"I'll never forgive you for this," Bench hissed, and stormed towards the exits as Mabel lit the way "I hope one day your pretentious little Valhalla burns! We don't need gods like you!"
 
"Jerkass had some points," Tornado muttered.
 
"Don't I know it," Lady Obsidian's fists clenched "Everything he said had…. Well, my retirement just got bumped a year closer."
"Don't even joke" I told her with a smile.
 
She didn't respond.
 
"Am I the only one smelling the stink of future supervillain on Doctor Bench there?" Pinprick asked.
 
'Come on, man," I said, "He's a healer."
 
"Just me then," Pinprick muttered.

I'm not surprised the Germans were involved in this.

All that guy needs is someone following him clapping coconuts together while singing of his 'bravery' and the picture is complete. 

Fie! What base knavery is this? That a man should beat his own breast and boast of his aggression and proclaim the beam in his eye gives him vast prowess to judge others? What unknightly behavior that he should forsake the chivarlic virtues of humility, temperance, and fortitude and instead, like a drunkard lurching for fermented swill, seek to claim a crown. Meanwhile, the townsfolk do quake in fear or outrage at his ignoble behavior. Miloth! the man lacks the genteel spirit required of those who would offer to guide a people, ALL the people about, and not just the select few he would favor.  Were he to set one foot in Camelot, even Sir Kay, a bit of a brute himself, would not deign sup with the like, and Arthur would weep to see that an odious weed had arisen claiming to be a flower of knighthood. Fie and Fie again! I clear the dust from my heels and will have no truck with him!
 
 

“Hey thanks for taking care of that for me”

Not helping settle the puritans nerves there!

"How are you looking for wine tastings this month?"

Not helping settle the puritans nerves there!

By God, NASA needs a next gen shuttle named Danza!

Zis male - How Batroc the Leaper refers to the guy behind the counter at the DMV who he's about to kick in the face.  

It is entirely possible for something to not be meant as offensive, and still be experienced that way.
 
Lucius Alexander
 
The palindromedary has  a Y? chromosome and a Y-not? chromosome.

First, you have one of the Duke's quotes under my Handle? Not sure if you realize that. 
 
And...
It'll probably require more brain power than I can muster at this time to go into why and I think it'll quickly end in a 'agree to disagree' . But...and this will be a sloppy response and in no particular order
 
I didn't vote for it.;)  IMO The word isn't an evolution, it's a construct. A construct that serves a valuable purpose within the Trans community, I am sure, but non-trans weren't given much say over its use. In short, while trying to promote their own agency over their own identity, some in the transcommunity  (I'm going to assume with no malice) denied the same to others. 
 
In the short few years since the term has spread out beyond it's academic confines, it has been used rather hatefully. One could argue this is the nature of the internet, but it seems at least half the time, it is used in a derogatory and yes, dehumanizing fashion. I've given my opinion on how the term White Privilege has been used not to encourage multiple views on open discourse, but rather to shut it down.  I don't expect everyone to agree, but there it is. And in my opinion, increasingly 'cis' is used in  similar fashion. In fact, those who oppose it, I've noticed, are often lumped in with transphobics even if they try to call other people by their preferred terms. Again, this is mostly the internet, and the internet is pretty much a Jerkwad magnification device that leaves perfectly nice majorities of any group ignored, but I'm afraid those hateful few do ruin the term for me. Perception is not reality, but it sure has its impact.
 
I also just like the sound of 'non-trans' better. No seriously, Cis sounds like a reptile hiss of a snake cultist about to sacrifice some hapless victim in a Conan comic book.  
 
 
 
 
As for the White  label? Ah, not my favorite. if I had my druthers I'd be Peachy! As in Peachy keen. Larry Bird is Clear!  but White has history and honestly, white people pretty much embraced in mass. They chose it largely for themselves (though I recognize an argument could be made that they did it to claim a false sense of superiority over the 'others' more than anything else.) over time. But hey, white is a term that's been around for the  last few centuries. Cis? Cis doesn't have the weight of history behind it as white or even straight does (Yes, we can now go into how brief time really is, humanity itself a blip in Earth's timeline etc but the fact is, relative between the terms, Cis doesn't have the same level of agency granted by the named nor the history)
 
 
Now, understand, I'm the same guy who said even Nazis have the right to free speech in the Political thread (Though if we go into THAT again I'll need to take this over to the political thread). so while I may not like the term Cis being applied to me I will fight for your right to use it. I try to use terms others prefer for themselves more or less, and hope others do the same for me.  But if folks use labels on me I feel don't apply or even don't like after I've told them, they shouldn't be surprised when I don't answer to it and give their statement attached to it less weight if I think about it at all. Because then clearly they're not talking to me, they're talking about me, and expect me to nod along. 
 
All IMO, YMMV
 
 
 

I think the cis- prefix certainly has a place in an academic discussion, especially as relates to gender studies. It's good to be precise in certain contexts. The main problem I have with the term's insertion into everyday vernacular is that it's not necessary in almost every case that it's used. Most of the time I've seen it used in conversation or debate, it comes off as an attempt on the part of the user to elevate themselves above the unenlightened. Kind of like when a fresh college grad runs around asking everyone in their family "did you know?" (or one in my family that still does it ten or more years post-grad) when the answer is inevitably, "Yes, I've known that since I was in grade* school."
 
I haven't seen the episode, and I don't intend to, since the show looks bad in many other aspects. But, being human, and this being the internet, I'm going to voice an opinion: Dr. Device gave a pretty good rationalization for the use of the word possibly being in context. However, having seen several interviews with show runners and the actresses, I'm fairly certain that the use was simply a case of ham-fisted attempt at virtue signaling. I say this because the interviews indicated that this was a show that would be broadcast from atop a soapbox. Which is OK. It's just not a style I prefer. 
 
 
*note the "e", I did indeed mean "grade" and not "grad."
 
 

Judith Light might be more apt name. 

It is one thing to be in a minority and demand respect.
 
It is another to be in any group and demand it while refusing to give it.
 
I totally believe-- and have seen, as have we all-- people happily pretend that they didn't know this was extremely offensive to people who have no interest in participating in the ten-thousand-genders discussion.  The evidence is pretty much everywhere someone tries to use the flavor-of-the-month terms outside of their preferred sounding boards.  the vast majority of traditional males and traditional females-- and yes; despite all attempts to yell it out of existence, hetero-orientation is in terms of mathematics alone the norm; historically and in sheer volume it is the "traditional" norm. An ever-increasing population points to that.
 
Traditional people of any kind-- even if they are just traditionally goofballs, do not want or need new terms created specifically to bring them into a conversation they want no part of.  No one-- absolutely no one using this term does not know that.  It's rather like when I hear the young guys at the factory talk about "huntin' up some females."  They won't say women.  They won't say girls.  The won't say ladies.  The trendy thing now-- "females."  Don't use any word that might humanize them.  It makes the rest of the conversation a prolonged rape fantasy.  Frankly, I find that offensive.  I don't know who wouldn't.  But clearly the young men hunting females aren't bothered by it, nor are the "females" they manage to capture.
 
Not men.  Not women.  Not straight men and women.  Instead, "cis-gender."  Dehumanize them.  Make them simple specimens; use words that have no meaning to _them_.  That's certainly the best way to open a dialogue.  There is absolutely no way being dehumanized can possibly offend them.
 
Does it bother me?  Nope.  Like most people, I ignore most of what I have no interest in.  It makes more sense than getting worked up about it.   Why am I even here in something I have no interest in either way?  A question was asked.(and it's always _that_ question: "how could you possibly be offended by a word we made up and decided to apply to you without regard to how you felt about it or what your preferences might be, even though we make such a hyper-dramatic deal about our own?"  This has to be the silliest question ever.  Why don't we ask an African American why the N-word bothers him.  It's the same principal.  But in all likelihood, you already knew that, too.)  Now it's answered.  Again.  Just like it is in who-knows-how-many-hundreds-ore-possibly-thousands of places on the internet.
 
I know return you to your regularly scheduled baiting of each other.
 
(I kid, of course.  This board has an unusually high percentage of decent human beings   However, I do have to get back to ignoring you, because my humor gets more and more raucous, and I don't really need a bannination.  Not about the answer itself: I'm not kidding about that.  The general saracsm, though, is just trying to come off all smarmy.  That's the teasing. ) 
 
You folks have fun.  I'm going back to the gaming.

The original had Shannen Doherty, Alyssa Milano, and Holly Marie Combs.  All were veteran actresses with talent.  The current cast shows all the talent as any cast on a movie played on TBD.

As a cisgendered male human, I'd like to offer my cultured opinion that Doherty, Milano, and Combs were (and are) hot, and I will judge this totally unnecessary reboot on similar grounds.  *grunt*  *scratch*

After careful consideration of my dwindling reserve of SAN points, I have decided that I am not going to look at that link.

There is an assassin on board for entire seasons..he is moon faced and kills joy.
 
 

If the eyes were easily removed and didn't damage the statue at all, it was funny.
 
If it damaged the statue or we had to pay government workers for a couple of hours of work to restore the statue, I don't find that part to be funny at all.
 
It's like when CLOWN put that huge dashed line across the state of Florida with the words "Cut Here". That was mildly funny until a passing alien ship followed the instructions and cut Florida in half.

The one good thing about the movie, is whether you agree or not, you can see both sides of the argument - unlike the travesty that was the Civil War in the comics.

Housemate's Mother wants to drive to Krogers to get cookies NOW.
Nevermind that she's been told by her physical therapist she shouldn't drive, the selfish B*tch is willing to risk others because she currently has the impulse control of a five year old and the empathy of a sociopath.
 
I exaggerate, but not by much
 
 

Folks (And I do mean more than one, not trying to single ANYONE person out, but this seems a good thread to bring it up...again)
 
Only in referring to cancer (the medical condition, not the poster) And COVID (In the Coronavirus thread) are we supposed to use a certain F word on these boards. The Admins have in the past reminded folks that while we tend towards older demographics we want this to be a family friendly board over all. SO...  I mention this now and then, and yet still if I do a search, folks ignore it..a lot.
 
So far my options appear to be...
Start issuing warnings and infractions
Clear them up only to have them happen again
a mix of above
Or... entertain myself in how I edit the F word because it really gets tedious.
 
So if you start seeing comments like "I really fluttershyed up at work today" where you thought more standard language was. Now you know why. 
 
And if I start to think folks are doing this deliberately just to see how fun it could be, I'll consider that making more work for me, surrender, and just go straight to the warnings or more likely infactions.
 
I am getting too fuzzylumpkin old for this Snugglypoo