Profile for Ash Lael

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The SpiderWebWorld in General
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Tuesday, October 31 2006 20:08 Profile Homepage #30
ET is most definitely Iraq. And TM is North Korea.

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
Personal Flair in Blades of Avernum
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Friday, October 27 2006 18:39 Profile Homepage #5
I wrote an article on this subject once that may or may not be of help.

Improving the Lines Of Communication

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
Don't touch that dial! in General
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Friday, October 20 2006 15:17 Profile Homepage #28
For me, Enough Rope, Thank God You're Here, and Spicks And Specks. Apart from those, I don't really care.

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
The Bad Get Polling! in Blades of Avernum
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Thursday, October 19 2006 17:18 Profile Homepage #60
quote:
Originally written by Emperor Tullegolar:

There you have it. Stalker is crappy at being evil, yet he won. That is why I challenge people's opinions.
Stalker isn't crappy at being evil. He massacres towns.

What makes him a comparitively complex character is the fact that he does this in the name of a greater good, and seems to actually believe his own rhetoric. He simply is okay with killing innocent people as long as he's killing his enemies at the same time. It's an understandable, though abhorrent, point of view. That makes him a fairly decent villain. Personally, I voted for him simply because of the lack of any real competition.

For reference, my favourite villain (or antagonist) of all time is Javert from Les Miserables. If you want to berate people for liking villains who aren't fundamentally malicious people, I'm a big target here. :P

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
Cheer up in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Thursday, October 19 2006 15:50 Profile Homepage #8
Does it have actual characters?

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
No Harm Done: The Question of Morality in General
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Saturday, October 14 2006 18:06 Profile Homepage #26
quote:
Originally written by The Almighty Do-er of Stuff:

Even if “impure” really has any meaning in this context, what person on Earth (besides Jesus of Nazareth, if you believe the church) goes through life without even once glancing at an attractive member of his preferred sex and thinking about sleeping with them, or wishing he could punch the jerk who was apparently in such a hurry that they had to roughly shove him aside? Apparently you can ask God to forgive you every time you commit the atrocious crime of being angry or lusty and thereby avoid eternal damnation, but then most people would be praying for the next five years just to catch up. I walked out that day and never looked back.[/i]"

The logical argument against the idea that naughty thoughts are wrong is that it doesn't hurt anyone. The Abrahamic religions seem to imply that the reason is that it offends God. However, I later argue that a person chooses to be offended (not in the original essay, but in my later post), so my logic seems to be consistent.
Again, "everyone does it" doesn't decide whether something is right or wrong, and no one actually believes that you'll need to pray for five years to catch up on your confessing, so that's a strawman. I think that by including these points you hurt the credibility of the rest of the essay.

I also disagree with the logic you ascribe to the Church, but for all I know that actually is what the Catholics believe. :P But I would like to discuss this point properly, by PM so we don't have 2 dozen people weighing in and so we don't completely derail the thread. Willing?

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
No Harm Done: The Question of Morality in General
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Saturday, October 14 2006 17:33 Profile Homepage #23
quote:
Originally written by The Almighty Do-er of Stuff:

While the church is consistant in this regard, it does not stand up to the logic in the paragraphs that follow, which you did not read. At any rate, the teacher did say we needed to pray for forgiveness every time we think "naughty thoughts."
Well, I've read them now. But like I said before, it was not those paragraphs that I sought to challenge. It simply seems to me that the points you raised in that first example are not logically valid ones (even if one teacher did say something stupid) - nor does it seem that they are necessary to the essay as a whole.

EDIT:
quote:
Originally written by The Almighty Do-er of Stuff:

EDIT 2: At any rate, Ash, what is it that makes thinking "naughty thoughts" wrong?
Note that I'm not actually arguing that they are wrong, at least not here. I'm simply saying those particular arguments seem ill-founded.

I'm quite tempted to answer your question properly, but I'm scared of a big argument. So I'll refrain for now.

[ Saturday, October 14, 2006 17:41: Message edited by: Ash Lael ]

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
No Harm Done: The Question of Morality in General
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Saturday, October 14 2006 16:49 Profile Homepage #21
I haven't read the whole article, but just a couple of quick points:

quote:
Originally written by The Almighty Do-er of Stuff:

However, one Tuesday night, there was a class in which the teacher showed up and began preaching about how it is apparently a Hell-worthy sin to think “naughty thoughts,” even if you don't act on them. It was among the most illogical concepts I had ever heard. What person on Earth (besides Jesus of Nazareth, if you believe the church) goes through life without even once glancing at an attractive member of his preferred sex and thinking about bedding them, or wishing he could punch the jerk who was apparently in such a hurry that they had to roughly shove him aside?
I should point out here that the fact that everyone does something does not automatically make it right. In fact, it's a vitally important part of Christian doctrine that "We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God". So that alone does not necessarily make it an illogical concept.

Further, in regard to "praying for forgiveness every time you do so", it isn't actually necessary to ask for forgiveness for every single sin individually. Even in Catholic theology, in confession, it's quite acceptable to repent for sins that have slipped your mind right at the moment. For those of a less legalistic theology, "forgive us our tresspasses, as we forgive those who tresspass against us" would cover the whole lot quite nicely. :)

Of course, this doesn't have much bearing on your main point (that such thoughts don't harm anyone else and therefore should not be considered "wrong"), and I'm not seeking to challenge that and I'm not wanting to start a debate. It just seems to me that you have a bit of a misunderstanding of what Christianity is all about, and I think that if you want to present a logically sound case you do need to properly understand the other side.

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
Physics conundrums in General
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Thursday, October 12 2006 13:15 Profile Homepage #31
quote:
Originally written by Student of Trinity:

1) How do airplanes really fly? The answer must be in terms of molecules bouncing off the wings, and not in terms of hydrodynamics! Lots of people know some pat answer about Bernoulli's principle. That's not what I want.
I don't know nearly enough about physics to answer this properly, but I like to think of planes as self-throwing machines. :)

[ Thursday, October 12, 2006 13:16: Message edited by: Ash Lael ]

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
I Am Engaged in General
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Sunday, October 8 2006 16:07 Profile Homepage #28
quote:
Originally written by saunders:

It appears our friend Arctic is now married, as well.
...what to?

And congrats, Alec. Hope you have lots of kids. :)

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
Happy Birthday!! in General
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Tuesday, October 3 2006 14:16 Profile Homepage #11
Happy birthday to the most aggresively friendly person on the boards!

:)

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
Preferred Story Types in Blades of Avernum
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Monday, October 2 2006 16:04 Profile Homepage #15
quote:
Originally written by Jumpin' Salmon:

Actually Thuryl, I got well past the 4 or 5 day limit. What bores me is the immense amount of land I have to cross to go from town to town in the poisoned land. BOORRRINNGGGGGG! Killing worms is no problem, but returning to the lich nest to rest up is agony. It makes me wish for something nice and compact like DwtD...

:)
You can rest immediately outside the tower without the poison harming you.

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
Sex! Yay! in General
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Tuesday, September 19 2006 22:09 Profile Homepage #31
Religion is what you believe, not what you say you believe at gunpoint.

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
The Spiderweb Art Movement. in General
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Tuesday, September 19 2006 21:14 Profile Homepage #34
quote:
Originally written by Zeviz:

Why do you think that Alec read
Everything posted on this thread?
This kind of "critical response"
Is very easy to pronounce.
Just use scripted auto-reply
"This stupid thread deserves to die."

Anyway, this reaches thread's goal,
Increasing our posting toll.
Since heated arguments are blood
Of posted messages great flood.

As for the poems on this thread,
I am not in mood to have read
The ones that talk of sadness, pain,
Or of love's sudden loss or gain.

To Infernal I'd say oookay...
That was quite weird, anyway...
Salmon's amusing little joke
Reminds me of things from elementary school, inserting which would break the flow.

Aran's piece also strangeness-filled
Seems full of anguish unconcealed.
And Khoth, your great poetic wit,
Should on great monuments be writ.

I think this is long enough post.
Enough time on it had been lost.
If you don't like it, that's too bad
It will not make me really sad.
I'm just amused by random rhymes,
And like this silliness sometimes.
:)
This is awesome. :)

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
Sex! Yay! in General
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Tuesday, September 19 2006 20:56 Profile Homepage #29
quote:
Originally written by Slarty:

Ash, I agree with your sentiments, but here's the rub. How likely would you have been to say the same thing, phrased the same positive way, if wz. As had instead said:

Sounds like a slippery slope towards "rehabilitating" heterosexuals to be gay...

Maybe you would have been equally likely to say it; I'm skeptical, but I could be wrong. However, because you are perceived by others (rightly or wrongly) as being overtly somewhat tolerant of but, in your heart, in opposition to homosexuality, people interpret it in a context.
Thanks for being polite, but don't worry, that perception is pretty much accurate. I consider homosexuality immoral and I don't apologise for that, nor have I made any attempt to hide it.

Would I have said the same thing? No. I don't believe the situations are analogous. There's no religion teaching that heterosexuality is a sin, and there are no heterosexual members of that religion who are presented with the very painful conflict between their sexual and religious identities. But there are gay Christians (and paedophile Christians for that matter), and I feel nothing but sympathy for these people, because they have a very hard road.

Gays who attempt to be "rehabilitated" do so of their own choice and out of their own faith. It's not an example of fundies oppressing gays, because the gays are the fundies. And I don't like seeing people treat it like it is such an example. I feel it's demeaning to my faith, painting us as oppressive bigots, and I feel it's unhelpful for those who are actually facing this struggle. That's why I said what I did.

quote:
Originally written by Slarty:

quote:
Originally written by Ash Lael:

Heck, this isn't even a hypothetical in terms of this community. We have a member who is gay, doesn't want to be gay, believes it is possible to change his sexuality, and fully intends to try. Whatever "slippery slope" ends with allowing him to do so, I'm all for it.
So, hypothetically speaking, suppose we have a member who is straight, doesn't want to be straight, believes it is possible to change his sexuality, and fully intends to try. You would be just as much behind him?
Personally, I would not be in favour of such a choice. But I would recognise that it's not my life, my choice, or any of my business, and keep my mouth shut.

quote:
Originally written by Slarty:

quote:
Originally written by Ash Lael:

It's not like anyone goes around kidnapping homosexuals and forcing them to become straight.
No. However, there are parents who force their teenage children to attend reparative therapy, sometimes even residentially. I have never heard of any parent forcing a straight child to attend therapy to turn gay.

There is an argument in favor of letting parents force such therapy, to be sure. We hold up freedom of religion, but allow parents to force religion on their children; why should sexuality be any different? That's a tough question if you ask me. Religion and sexuality are both social constructs that relate to critical human needs on an individual level that can be immensely painful when improperly addressed. (This is true even in an atheistic conception of things, where religion fills certain psychological needs rather than spiritual ones; and even in an antireligious conception, the argument is just that it doesn't fill them optimally, so the comparison holds.)
I would argue that it's impossible to force either religion or sexuality... you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. And given that, I would say it's misguided at best to try.

quote:
Originally written by Slarty:

But I digress. The point is that, whether or not you think it is good or reasonable for people who aren't straight to be pressured to change their sexuality, non-straight people are pressured in profuse ways, both overt and subtle, to change their sexuality, or at least its expression. Kidnapping and brainwashing are not the only ways to influence someone. Straight people do not face this kind of pressure to change their sexuality. So I'm not sure what you are getting at with the remark I quoted.
You're quite right, straight people usually don't face the same pressure to change (though as Kel points out, some girls do). But most people face other pressures of a similar nature all the time. I'm a fundamentalist Christian (and a creationist to boot!) in a society that's much less welcoming to that than the US. I get plenty of pressure on that front.

Anyway, it wasn't my intention to get into a proper debate... I really ought to learn to keep my mouth shut in these topics, but I was so sure that such an unobjectionable statement wouldn't end up chewing my time... how wrong I was. :)

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
Sex! Yay! in General
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Monday, September 18 2006 22:10 Profile Homepage #18
quote:
Originally written by Jumpin' Salmon:

quote:
Originally written by Ash Lael:

Whatever "slippery slope" ends with allowing him to do so, I'm all for it.

It's not like anyone goes around kidnapping homosexuals and forcing them to become straight.
FYI - I've yet to hear of any nefarious movement to kidnap heterosexuals and force them to become gay.

Just in case you were worrying about it; because given your attitude, and deep seated need to encourage heterosexuality, I felt you would be able to sleep better at night knowing that it is only homosexuals that are needlessly persecuted by legions of well meaning scripture cultists.

I eagerly await hearing from you that your encouragement to those wishing to explore the joys of heterosexuality extends across the brotherhood of man and embraces all those among the members of this forum who are deeply comfortable in their sexuality and feel no need to explore relations with a different sex, whichever might be their current fruit of choice.

:)
What the hell are you talking about?

The argument I have made is for people to be allowed to make their own decisions about their own sexuality - whether or not they embrace it, whose advice they listen to, whatever. Do you have a problem with this or something?

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
Sex! Yay! in General
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Monday, September 18 2006 20:39 Profile Homepage #14
quote:
Originally written by Drow:

... if they want to, I presume?
quote:
Originally written by Ash Lael:

If someone wants to change their sexual orientation, why not let them?
Heck, this isn't even a hypothetical in terms of this community. We have a member who is gay, doesn't want to be gay, believes it is possible to change his sexuality, and fully intends to try. Whatever "slippery slope" ends with allowing him to do so, I'm all for it.

It's not like anyone goes around kidnapping homosexuals and forcing them to become straight.

[ Monday, September 18, 2006 20:44: Message edited by: Ash Lael ]

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
Sex! Yay! in General
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Monday, September 18 2006 20:10 Profile Homepage #10
quote:
Originally written by wz. As:

quote:
Originally written by Jewels:

Tastebuds change, preferences change. Plesant/unplesant experiences can change preferences.
Sounds like a slippery slope towards "rehabilitating" homosexuals...
If someone wants to change their sexual orientation, why not let them?

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
Sex! Yay! in General
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Monday, September 18 2006 18:13 Profile Homepage #3
I would probably put a higher weighting on psychology than you're suggesting, but that's just a wild guess.

But regarding paedophilia, I actually have a lot of sympathy for those who suffer from it. I'm sure there are a lot of such people who are disgusted by their own sexual instincts and deathly afraid that they might one day act on them in a moment of weakness. And it's not a problem that you can really admit to anyone, even your very closest friends. Living like that would be hell.

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
How would you do it? in Avernum 4
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Wednesday, September 13 2006 15:14 Profile Homepage #84
quote:
Originally written by Emperor Tullegolar:

Ash Lael: You don't say? Roses of Reckoning sort of ruined that game for at the time, but... I'll start working my way through the scenarios you guys recommend this weekend. Forgive me for not being able to comment until then.
While there is in fact a RoR for BoE as well as BoA, I suspect you're thinking of the latter. BoE is a very different animal, with many more scenarios and a higher caliber of them.

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
How would you do it? in Avernum 4
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Wednesday, September 13 2006 14:56 Profile Homepage #82
quote:
Originally written by Emperor Tullegolar:

As for the games Ash Lael mentioned, I've not played a single one, interestingly enough, are they available for mac?
BoE sure as hell is.

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
How would you do it? in Avernum 4
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Tuesday, September 12 2006 21:55 Profile Homepage #66
Actually, it doesn't get all that much worse than Rentar. It does get much, much, much, much, much better, though.

For examples of great villains in games, I always like to point to System Shock 2. SHODAN, The Many, and Xerxes are all top-notch.

I also invite you to play my BoE scenario Revenge... I think I have a couple of above-average villains there.

[ Tuesday, September 12, 2006 21:57: Message edited by: Ash Lael ]

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
New Scenarios in Blades of Avernum
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Tuesday, September 12 2006 21:17 Profile Homepage #24
E:R is BoA. E:T is BoE.

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
How would you do it? in Avernum 4
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Monday, September 11 2006 21:36 Profile Homepage #36
Quick point: Many of the people who complain about Jeff's games have in fact made their own Blades scenarios. If you want to see how we would do things, you could, you know, play them.

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00
I think in General
Ash Lael
E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
 written Wednesday, September 6 2006 18:37 Profile Homepage #43
Looking through a hole in your spaceship and still having air isn't really a nitpicky point to get caught up on. It's not like space being a vacuum isn't common knowledge.

But really I'm only ragging on that because it's easy to point to as a nadir of stupidity. Quite aside from that, I saw no characters that felt remotely believable, the plotline was stupid, and as mentioned earlier, that camerawork is horrible. Admittedly I only saw something like 2 1/2 episodes, but if a show is genuinely good I'd expect to see at least a few good things in that time.

And I can't give it a second chance, because it got canned in Australia on account of terrible ratings. :)

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SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice.
Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00

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