site banner
PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1738 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for May 9, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

2
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Have they considered just pushing a few guided tungsten rods out an airlock before they finish decelerating?

My read is that they have, and there's a really strong taboo on orbital bombardment or other forms of weaponization of interstellar transport. The Succession Wars demonstrated that unrestrained conflict costs more than anyone can afford, so a huge part of the setting is finding ways to keep the violence to a survivable level.

Then actual wars start, and things go all Mad Max...

For those who haven't seen it:

Just when people thought mechs were about done, the charger showed up and punched them into the ground or died trying. I personally feel this crazy cycle kept Mach relevant in this era; it suggested that any Mech was potentially better than none, and if boldly piloted to near certain doom, it suggested that a Mech was a game changer in the right if crazy hands.

Because to some people, the rare few dreamers, those few charger Pilots, the 1 in 10,000, they don't see the world like we do. To them, well, the sky is the limit, and space is the place. They believe that anyone can be a real Warrior of the Wasteland, the ayatolla of rock and rolla, the cream of the crop, the hammer of Justice, the people's elbow, that your Noble Wasteland Mech Warrior can walk into the consecrated holy Battle of Mech Warfare like the third monkey on the plank up Noah's Arc and brother it's starting to rain...

Unleashed as such, the Charger is an assault Mech designed for getting in close and then reminding people that being beat to death with your own limbs is always a legitimate concern to have in a war zone. Without the encumbrance of weapons or any delicate anything to worry about, and being very fast and very big, the charger was in many ways almost perfect for this incredibly barbaric Age of War. The mech that was fast enough to chase down just about anything could absolutely, if the pilot were crazy enough, run around the battlefield punching things until they died or everything else did. It was a magic time to be alive in the inner spere, and by surviving long enough the Charger reminds studious Mech experts that survival isn't about being best but rather actually surviving.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats