ABC Monsters

I’ve been playing Monsterpocalypse on vassal a lot recently and happened to have lost a game to Zach, so allow me a moment to pontificate on the game.

When considering what rank to grade a monster, I examine several factors:

1. What do they need to work effectively?
2. How likely will 1 occur in a game?
3. What options does my opponent have to prevent 1?
4. What happens if my monster misses.

The phrase that Monpoc is “just a dice game” is partially true.  Since all 3 dice in the game have at least one blank side there is always a chance you can miss.  Even if you’re aiming for a 1, it is possible for you to miss.

Also, there are 2 terms I need to clarify: Build plan and Game plan.

Build plan is how you build your city & army.  Some counters you can only use during your build plan.  Example: The only true counter to a heavy blast monster is the ability cloak.  If you don’t put cloak in your army, you won’t be able to use it during the game.

Game plan is (obviously) how you play in game, regardless of map, army, etc.  Example: A monster dependent on power attacks anyone can screen against.

A monster that relies heavily on you having a good build plan gets a high rank for 2.  Likewise, a monster for whom your opponent has the best options during the build plan but not game plan also gets a high rank under 3.   On the opposite side, monsters which require top notch playing or have easy access prevention, get lower ranks.

A rank – These are the monsters which, once the army is assembled and the city laid, have a good chance for victory.  Their effectiveness is highly likely to occur and the only (or best) option your opponent has to fight it is having built an army designed to.  For them, #4 is like a ‘pause’: they won’t lose much ground in the race to victory.  Example: Mega Zor-Maxim.  With weapon master and beat back, he has a high chance of doing 3 damage with each attack.  Two attacks will kill most monster forms.  Add in the fact that this damage comes from ranged attacks, and even a miss only delays MZM’s end goal by one turn.

B rank – These monsters are most effective at hindering your opponent with a 50/50 chance of achieving their max effectiveness.  #3 is somewhat dependent on your enemy’s build plan but they still have options from their game plan.  A miss for them is like one step back.  Victory can be achieved, but each subsequent miss compounds the challenge.  Almost any monster with resilience falls under this category.  Resilience protects against super damage, which means if you face an opponent relying upon it to win the health race, you have an advantage.  However, if you face an opponent that doesn’t rely on it, one of your key victory components is useless.

C rank – It’s not that C monsters are bad, but they can never ever miss, it’s like losing two steps in the race.  Almost every army fielded will open up game plan options for #3.  As well as when considering #2, they’re effectiveness will either be difficult to pull off or easily disrupted by the opponent.  Examples would include many monsters that lean heavily on power attacks.  Such can be screened against, leaving only ’swat’ as an option to them (and it is usually much less effective than the other power attacks).

F rank – Off the top of my head, I don’t think the game currently has an F rank monster, but these are the monsters which depend on luck for victory.  If getting the wrong map, or seeing a specific building hit the field ends the game before it begins, you’re dealing with an F rank.

The best part about the game is that the ranks are very fluid.  When Monsterpocalypse first came out, Sky Sentinel was undoubtedly a C rank monster.  However,  the release of G-1 strike fighters bumped him up to an A rank.  So even if your current favorite monster is a low ranking one, don’t despair.  By next set he/she could be looking at a whole new rank!

(feel free to post monsters below and discuss what you think their rank should be)

The FF-Team

My first blog (some artifacts of which survive here) was based around the idea that criticism was easy, actually creating or fixing something is hard.  After Captain America #602, I got to thinking… what would be a comic that might actually appeal to conservatives…

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Two hundred and thirty-four years ago, an elite group of thinkers embarked on a grand experiment.  They eventually died.  However, their blood and sweat was bound into the foundations of their project and they would return when needed most.  Like now…

Roll Call

George Washington – Always ready with a plan, it’s his charisma and leadership that keeps the FF team together and forges their paths to victory.

Thomas “Faceman” Jefferson – Popular with the ladies, Tom has a silver tongue that gets him in almost anywhere, usually trouble.

Benjamin “Howling Mad” Franklin – Ben might be certifiably insane, but because of his great skill with machines, the team puts up with him… so far.

John “Bad Attitude” Hancock – The muscle of the group, John is always itching for a fight and woe to those who draw his ire.

Some scenes floating around in my noggin

[the FF team is watching a television]

Ben – Pardon me, but who is the negro there?

Civilian – Actually, um – sir, the word, negro, is considered rude.  And that, is Obama.  The president.

[the team gasps]

Tom – Well was he freed by his master or his ancestors?

Civilian – I don’t think either.  Slavery was abolished in this country over a century and half ago.

George – [laughing] We did it gents.  ‘The land of the free’… I love it when a dream comes together.

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[the team meeting with President Obama]

Tom – [looking at the paintings on the wall] So much has changed in this house and yet… the weight is still the same.

John – A bit too garish for my taste.

Obama – Sirs, it is a great honor to meet you.

George – [shaking Obama's hand] And it is our honor to meet today’s president.

Obama – Your arrival couldn’t be better timed.  I really need-

George – No.

Obama – What?

Tom – The people elected you.  Which means you must fulfill the duties we laid out for the office as you see fit.

George – We built this nation so men could find their own way, not ordered by others.  [the team starts to leave]  Obama, sir, do the best you can.  That’s all that can be asked of anyone.

Obama – But there’s so much disagreement and animosity in this country…

George – [laughs] It’s always been that way.  You should have seen the Philadelphia Convention.

Obama – I could use your advice.

George – Then seek it out.  [as the door is closing]  We left our words for that reason, Mr. President.

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[the FF team is standing over a battlefield]

John – [walking over and grabbing a crawling opponent] Do we kill this one?

George – No, leave him alive.  [grabbing the man's clothing, George draws him close]  We let him live so he can deliver a message to Bin Laden.  Tell him we’re coming., and he should turn himself in to the president, before we bring the fury of all Hell to his doorstep.

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Now I just need an artist and publisher.  Co-writer could be useful too…

Episode Review – the Song Remains the Same

“I take it all back, I love the devil.” -Dean

Anna seems to be dead – I’m sad.

I ended up being right about Michael (sort of) and… am sad.

Still, a monumental episode I’m going to have to re-watch before making a final review.  (especially as I was losing to Zach in the monpoc tournament while it was playing so I need to double check some details)

Nate Reads – 13 things that don’t make sense

Sometimes I wonder if Science needs Religion in order to survive.

Wait, let me explain.

On a bit of a whim, I picked up Michael Brooks’ 13 Things that don’t make sense and it is, really an awesome read (but that is my inner geek within speaking).  Brooks talks about the [currently] most baffling mysteries of our time in a simple and engaging way without getting bogged down in all the minutia that frequently erects barriers between PhD’s and the people outside their field.  Which is good because this book covers everything from physics to biology so if any field of science interests you, there should be at least 1 chapter you’ll want to read.

Each chapter is devoted to one of the aforementioned mysteries, opening with a selected protagonist which Brooks uses to give the readers a reference point in understanding not only what is being asked, but why it is asked in the first place.  However, the book isn’t pure fluff and there is a fair sized bibliography in the back from which you can delve deeper into the curiosities.  This isn’t to say that Brooks is purely objective in his writing, but he is very fair and makes an effort to present even positions he disagrees with in a fair light.  The only real exception is when funding comes up.  As you would expect of any scientist or science lover, he always thinks there should be more money for whatever project.  As an example, on page 104 he says, “Money, greed and ambition have continually thwarted the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.”  Of course, one could blame money, greed and ambition for almost any shortcoming in any field but they are a fact of life in our currently finite reality.  Thankfully, rants and anger like this are few in the book and usually short enough it’s no trouble to skip over, though readers might need to remain aware at efforts to manipulate their emotions (willingly or not on the part of the author).

However, there are two weak chapters and one can’t help but get the feeling that they were only included because “11 things that don’t make sense” just isn’t a sexy enough title.  Still, his chapter on “Free Will (11)” seems based upon a faulty premise.  In fact, if one has spent any time studying martial arts, meditation, or even classical religious thinkers (particularly Christian ones) almost nothing in the chapter will come as a surprise.  After finishing it, I was left with the impression of mathematicians trying to figure out the answer to 2 and 2 by studying the color blue.

The last and final chapter is on “Homeopathy” and you can tell that Brooks’ heart is not into the subject.  The whole chapter reads more like a sociological oddity than a scientific one.  There is a brief glimmer of interest when he talks a bit about Martin Chaplin’s studies on water (yes, plain water) but it is gone too fast.  This is the only chapter of the book I’d advise skipping all together just because of how poor it is compared to the others.

But what about this book made me think of symbiotic relationship between Science and Religion? (though this book blessedly stays far away from that thorn bush)

I think it was G.K. Chesterton who said, “Every person has a ‘God-shaped’ hole in  their heart.”  The point being that human beings have a need to worship something.  I think it can also be looked at from C.S. Lewis’ “first things first” principle in that, something must have the greatest importance to you.

To say that “science” (the concept at least) has become the “most-important-thing” for many people is surely not a controversial statement.  You see it when two sides of a very controversial topic debate each other.  Abortion proponents and opponents each fight viciously over who the “science” supports.  Search but a moment on “game” and “pick up artists” and you’ll find proponents of it along with their opponents slinging the term “anti-science” as if was the most hateful invective of all time.  Even as I watch this, I keep hearing echoes in the back of my mind.  Echoes of Catholics and Protestants arguing over who’s side God is on.  As I read message boards dealing with the unfolding ‘climategate‘ and seeing some of the sheer hatred some people display, I wonder if I’m the only one also hearing “burn the witch” repeated…

The fact is, 13 Things that don’t make sense is a heretical book.  Whatever certainty people might have had in a deity once, is now sought from science.  “All but the most esoteric questions have been answered!” goes the refrain.  Yet science cannot ever be certain less it cease to exist.  On page 2, Michael Brooks describes this very point:

I like to think of scientists as being on top of things, able to explain the world we live in, masters of their universe.  But maybe that’s just a comforting delusion.  …In science, being completely and utterly stuck can be a good thing: it often means a revolution is coming.

To be a true scientist is to be ever questioning.  (I think there’s a joke that goes, “Scientists are two-year olds that never grew up.”)  Yet the way I’ve seen many place an expectation on science and scientists that simply cannot be fulfilled by it and them.  There always seems to be the assumed demand for questions to stop and a straight answer given.

Does Science then need Religion to fulfill people’s desire for consistency?  Perhaps.  Perhaps only then can Science be allowed to be free and chaotic as it needs to be.  Perhaps when there are some questions people always know the answer to, they are less upset over constantly asking the rest.

I leave you with my favorite quote from the book. (page 4)

Scientists work with one set of ideas about how the world is.  Everything they do, be it experimental or theoretical work, is informed by, and framed within, that set of ideas.  There will be some evidence that doesn’t fit, however.  At first, that evidence will be ignored or sabotaged.  Eventually, though, the anomalies will pile up so high they simply cannot be ignored or sabotaged any longer.  Then comes crisis.

Crisis, [Thomas] Kuhn said, is soon followed by the paradigm shift in which everyone gains a radically new way of looking at the world.

We really should blow up the moon

Over the last two days, my average readership has jumped from a few dozen to the thousands.  (all over my captain america post)

While I am flattered (and now validated as a person) I feel the need to take this moment to thank the man who made it happen.

Frank J, this is for you.

(No, this isn’t a light post designed to get me off the hook so I can watch Lost tonight, what gave you that idea?)

Writing Talk – Verisimilitude

I thought I would use my last post complaining about Captain America #602 to launch into a greater talk about verisimilitude and what angers me most about when politics, sports, religion, or whatever invades places where it doesn’t belong.

For those too lazy to check: my complaint about Cap 602 was something like if there was an issue of Captain Britain where he decides to punch out the queen.  Seems after that, you should take the ‘Britain’ or ‘America’ out of your name.

This doesn’t mean you can’t let your personal beliefs influence your work.  Indeed, they will whether you intend them to or not, but there is a point where letting said beliefs become so overt that they distort your efforts and ruin your point and original work.

For another example, let’s look at a comic that I’ve grown tired of waiting for Linkara to review that angered me just as much as Captain America #602.  Not because of the politics, but the violating it did of the fictional universe it took place in.

The comic in question is JLA #83.

American Nightmare (title of this issue) was written by Joe Kelly who I will admit can be a good comic writer.  His story “What’s so funny about truth, justice and the American way” is one of the best Superman stories of all time in my opinion.  But sometimes his ambition outstrips his abilities and we get stories with plot holes, loose ends and other errors.  This issue is a showcase of his worst writing habits.

The short review is this: JLA #83 is a long editorial on the Iraq war debate of 2003.

The comic starts out with some narration and pictures of the JLA fighting some monsters.  Standard stuff really.  It all comes unhinged on page 3 where we learn we’re going to jettison the verisimilitude of the DC universe in favor of “topical” writing.

“–Exclusive video of the worst terror attack on England’s soil, narrowly averted by the JLA.”
Really?  Of everything that goes on in the DCU, this is the worst terror attack?  Apparently the Joker, Darkseid, or any other of the dozens of supervillains populating the universe have always avoided jolly good England.  Considering what went on in World War 3 (the JLA story in issues 34-41), one would think these monsters are small beans.  Oh, but it turns out that this attack has evidence linking it to another nation named Qurac.

No I’m not going to complain about the name, Qurac has a deep and rich history in the DCU.  What I will complain about is Wonder Woman’s line: “The device, and the biochemical compound it animated, bear all the traits of Professor Ivo’s work, Mister President.  The League is searching for him as we speak… but he has no connections to Qurac.”  Really?  What does the connection have to do with anything?  It’s like the story assumes Ivo has never sold his goods on the black market.  But the worst is that we have the growing of an interesting idea, that only serves to be squashed for a petty point.  Where do villains get a lot of their funding?  In the extremely excellent ‘tower of babel’ storyline (JLA #42-46), Ra’s al Ghul constructs a tower designed to keep the world from operating.  Where does he get funding for that?  Through the story, he also has a large contingent of henchmen and I’ve often been curious how villains keep finding these guys to work for them.  The idea that some countries might be providing funds or manpower to these maniacs as another level of international politics is a neat idea.  Maybe we’ll see it some day.

Instead we get a page of President Luthor (yes, Lex Luthor) making the ‘case’ for military action against Qurac.  To Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.  Um… why?  Wait, there is one panel showing a room full of people but who they are or what they are doing is not said.  I guess President Luthor wanted them there so Wonder Woman can say, “International Law and the UN Charter forbid unprovoked unilateral action against a sovereign nation.”  And?  The principles of law is fundamentally enforcement. (note: there is also a difference between morality and law,  the former is not at issue right now, just the latter)  If you break a law (say… speeding) there are clear rules and guidelines determining who levy penalties on you for breaking that law (state, county, federal, etc in America).  If any nation (USA, Qurac, England, whoever) breaks international law, who levies penalties on them?  Will it be Superman and/or Wonder Woman? (again: interesting idea, not really addressed here)  It also makes one wonder: Luthor shows a video of “…slaughtering dissidents within [Barat, Qurac's leader] own borders…” (not to be confused with Borat, which would have made this comic a lot better).  Is slaughtering dissidents against international law and the UN charter in the DCU?  If no, why not?  If yes, who’s levying penalties against Qurac?

Instead we finish the page with Luthor wondering about the merits of assassination (another complex and fascinating issue glossed over) and closing out asking the big 3 to “help me save lives”.

Next page we start to see the threads unravel.  The big 3 are on a hill, surveying Qurac and wondering what should be done.  Wonder Woman says, “Yes, Barat is the most horrific of dictators, but we cannot simply disregard international ethics to depose him.”  This gets even funnier when you realize that in JLA #61-64 (written by… JOE KELLY) Wonder Woman was all prepared to violate “international ethics” over a mother and child.  Or earlier in this very issue where the narration goes “We exist… because those with the power to stop injustice simply must.”  Um… isn’t the slaughtering of dissidents injustice?  So you must simply stop it but you can’t violate international ethics?  Are those ethics more important than saving lives?  Especially considering JLA #64 where Wonder Woman vows in the middle of a disaster, “Don’t make me a liar, boys.  No one dies today.”  Apparently lots of people get to die if it falls under the purview of “international ethics”.  Still, there’s Batman’s line “If Qurac’s not involved with Ivo, we throw it in Luthor’s face and stop this.”  Um… stop what?  The dissidents getting slaughtered?  Oh wait…

Next page Subtlety whimpers and begs Kelly to stop hurting it as Professor Ivo screams, “This is private land!  You have no authority here!  I am not your dog!”  Sorry, that’s just too funny when you’ve read JLA #5 (written by Morrison) where Ivo and Professor Morrow are having drinks as the JLA busts into their hideout.  Why didn’t Ivo scream “This is private land!” then?  I wonder if we went through most comics, how many times superheroes have invaded “private land”.  After all, in Alan Moore’s ‘the killing joke’ we are shown the Joker purchasing an abandoned amusement park which makes it his private land that Batman invades at the end.  Again, isn’t this a point that the JLA (and its members) violate regularly?

Oh but on the next page is the best line from Ivo himself: “under international law, if you are accusing me of crimes against humanity, I must be extradited and tried… until I am represented, I say nothing.”  First, where are you going to be extradited to?  Second, it seems like “crimes against humanity” would have a very different meaning in the DCU.  After all, the JLA series alone has had several instances of martians, ancient god weapons, demi-gods and more actually trying to destroy all of humanity.  Those martians punished at the end of JLA #4 (Morrison) didn’t get extradited and tried and they invaded the whole world and put it under mind control.  Somehow, that makes Ivo’s crime (even the part in England) seem more like a speeding ticket.  Heck, the martians returned in JLA #55-59 and almost suffocated all of humanity.  They got sent to the phantom zone without extradition or trial.

The next page is of a rush of people to buy supplies that the department of defense is advising people to pick up one of which is Lois Lane.

…

The wife of Superman is picking up olive oil to protect against napalm.

The WIFE of SUPERMAN.  At which point I scream that with your husband, you don’t need it and, with your husband, napalm is the LEAST of your worries.  I mean, remember how Lois stood twenty feet from Doomsday during the death of Superman event? (and really, Joe Kelly should)  That woman is scared about napalm?  That’s just stupid!

The next two pages are Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman going over the ‘evidence’ of Qurac in the Oval Office with President Luthor.  “UN Inspectors have no evidence of WMD’s in Qurac,” says WW.  “I still need hard evidence,” says Batman.

Batman.

The world’s greatest detective.  Who, in issue #5 (again) found out that a weapon they were fighting was “pentagon black ops at the highest security level… It took a little effort to acquire the data.”  Yet he doesn’t know whether some po dunk country has WMDs?  Or Superman, a guy that flies, has xray & telescopic visions can’t figure it out?  Or how about the Flash who checked out the location of some kids in a compound (that was probably on private property) in a few seconds?  When did he do this?  Oh it was JLA #80 WRITTEN BY JOE KELLY.  Apparently he can’t investigate Qurac in under a second. (it was at this point I nearly threw the comic across the room)

The next pages has Batman beating up some cops.

Yes, we’ve gone to assassinating Batman’s character now.

The rest of the comic devolves into nonsense with Luthor and Supes arguing over stupid stupid points that might be legitimate in our political debates but as I’ve pointed out above, fall apart the second you try fitting them into the DC universe.

And the kicker?  It was all a dream…

Too bad the comic isn’t.

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In conclusion: if you want to make a political/whatever point, feel free to create something making that point.  If, however, you are working with an established universe or self-contained project, sacrificing verisimilitude on the alter of “making a point” will only undermine your point and the universe itself.  You’ll end up doing neither well.

And seeing good stories and ideas sacrificed to serve petty aims saddens me more than almost anything else.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QuracQura

So what are you a captain of?

We all have our guilty pleasures.

Not a big deal, there might even be some health benefits to it in relation to stress and more.  I’d like to think a lot of this blog is devoted to savoring and enjoying guilty pleasures.

And one of my biggest guilty pleasures, is comics.

After a hard day at work, there’s nothing like stretching out and watching people with magical alien wish granting rings of different hues fighting zombies.  No politics, no religion, just plain fun.

Which isn’t to say that comics can’t discuss politics or religion, but at least usually with those, you know what to expect.  I know it might be good, but I don’t read Preacher because I’m not in the mood for religion.  Barack the Barbarian might be 8 kinds of awesome, but I get enough politics from the 24 hr news channels and the internets, I don’t need any more from my comics, thank-you-very-much.  Again, let me be clear that I have no problem with these comics existing, people are free to slake whatever thirst they have, but they are under no disguise or trickery to get me to read them.

Enter Captain America.

You know, the WW2 hero who died recently and just came back to life to fight a 20 ft tall Red Skull in front of the Lincoln memorial.  I had heard a lot of good things from Ed Brubaker.  I picked up some trades shortly before Cap’s death, read them, and then finished out Bru’s run because they were great.  Right up there with Geoff John’s Green Lantern series as what I want from a comic.

Then Brubaker had to go and not only insult me, but violate the core of what Captain America is all about in issue 602 “Two Americas part 1″.

Here are 3 consecutive pages from the comic to help you get a full context:
First Page
Second Page
Third Page

Savor the lines a moment:
“A grassroots anti-government army”
“…looks like some kind of anti-tax thing”
“I don’t exactly see a black man from harlem fitting in with a bunch of angry white folks…”

Of course they’re all being led by an insane man according to the comic, and Captain America is there to stop them.

First of all, the very idea that the tea-party movement is “whites only” is not true (but then, how many black people are in Boise Idaho in the first place?).  Second of all, let the full idea sink in: Captain America is going to fight an “anti-tax, anti-government” movement.

What’s next?  Captain French is going to fight wine makers?  Is Captain Britain going to beat up some… British stereotype?  Hey, I remember an anti-tax, anti-government from around the late 1700s.  They had some real rebels in there with names like Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Hancock, etc etc.  How about after this Cap beats up on today’s tea-party movement, he go back in time and beat up those protesters?

What’s even worse is seeing the reaction around the internet.  Some people are cheering at the thought of Cap beating up “tea-baggers”.  To demonstrate the problem with that, let’s suppose two comic fans are talking: Rick & Dan.

Dan: No way!  You’re a Green Lantern fan too?
Rick: Heck yeah!  Did you check out the latest Blackest Night?
Dan: Of course!  How kick ass was Mogo?
Rick: Beyond the ability of words to describe!

Now, let’s examine the scene again:

Dan: No way!  You’re a fan of Captain America?
Rick: Through thick and thin!
Dan: This latest issue is so great!  He totally beats up on some stupid tea-baggers.
Rick: What?
Dan: It’s so awesome.
Rick: I attended the last, local tea party.  Are you saying you’d like to see Captain America beat me up?

Way to divide people and ruin friendships Brubaker.

I’m not blaming Marvel editing.  I’m not even going to protest Marvel or advocate a boycott.  They are free to print whatever they want just as I am free to read or not read whatever they print.  However, some estimates put the attendance at the various tea parties at close to 300,000 people.  Are these people that would buy or read comics?  Who knows, but is it a wise business practice to alienate that many people (plus any sympathizers) and ENSURE that they won’t purchase your comic?

I thought I would almost never see a comic as stupid, verisimilitude violating or insulting as JLA #83,  but I was wrong.  Whatever you may be a Captain of, it is no longer America, sir.  You and Marvel will just have to do without one more fan.

Episode Review – Swap Meat

Now that’s the Supernatural we all know and love, right down to the punny title..  In fact, I can’t hardly pick which was the best line of the night, and this was his funniest outing since Bad Day at Black Rock.

Since we didn’t have one last week, let’s go ahead and grab two great lines from tonight:

“You little satanic bastard.”
“Totally lied – kid’s life sucked ass.”

(no score adjustment)

First of all, I’m so grateful that the show makers actually did this time what I complained about last week: they tied MotW in with the overall myth arc. In fact, in a lot of ways this episode came off as the way the Curious Case… should have.

It even shifted in tone perfectly, from gut busting laughter to seriousness.  The show did bring up an interesting theory though: so if Gary had gone and said ‘yes’ to Satan, could they have then switched Sam back into his old body and leave Lucifer in the body of a high schooler?  The mental image is funny anyway.  Though now we also know that Dean has the option of jumping to another body and then letting Michael take his over.  I mean… yeah it would suck to lose your body, but with this episode Dean has lost yet another excuse for denying Michael.  Now, more than ever I wish they’d let those two meet and talk (and PLEASE let Bruce Campbell play Michael).  I’ll even write the script if they asked me to!

Also, it was nice to see Dean hint as his longing for a normal life instead of stating it outright.  That should please some people.  More and more the show is using the brothers to mirror their parents and their attitudes.  Hey, what’s coming on next week…

Why I love Supernatural

A quote from Chesterson that explains exactly why I enjoy the show so much.

“Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”
— G.K. Chesterton

The 20 nerd commandments

Probably one of the greatest posts on Topless Robot of all time.

#3 is grossly understated and should be freakin’ carved in stone

3) Thou must revere the Nerd Girl, because she is as rare as the diamond and just as valuable. Thou shouldst not stark her just because she’s the only girl in your nerd circle, and if/when she turns down your advances, you will not spurn her because that’s just shitty. And Nerd Girls, thou must be careful, for thy power is great — and can be used for both good and ill.