Smartass Disclaimer

[Bramblethorn]

I heard Haldeman speak at a con once, and he said that The Forever War was originally a realistic novel about his experiences during the Vietnam war, but when he could not find a publisher for it, he rewrote it as science fiction, and not only got it published, but won the Hugo and Nebula for it.

Huh, that part I hadn't heard.

And they say genre fiction has no relevance to the real world...

 

[gunhilltrain]

I aim for impracticality.

Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War" makes more serious use of the twin paradox in fiction - it's a sci-fi story about soldiers who are doing a lot of high-speed travel, and so end up aging slower than their loved ones left behind. But in his case I think it was more of a metaphor for the alienation felt by soldiers returning from Vietnam, and less of an attempt to skirt Literotica rules.

Slight digression: the last American troops left Vietnam fifty years ago, I think this month. Then came a strange two-year interim period over there. When the North Vietnamese launched their offensive in 1975, they expected that it would take at least a year. I think it was all over in about three or four months. The reaction in America? Mostly indifference, that I remember.

Today one can buy made-in-Vietnam furniture a few blocks from me. Better trade than war, I suppose.

 

[AndersonsBiographer]

Well, science fiction is an entirely different matter. I'll have to check out that one; I haven't heard of it before.

It's a good story. It really is more a story about alienation rather than a story about aliens or war with aliens. It reminded me a lot of how I felt coming home to the United States after a long period of time spent living overseas.

I came back at about the worst point of the post-2008 financial crises. I was shocked to see New Orleans still in ruins from Katrina. And... I was just in time for the opioid epidemic.

I liked one comment in the book in particular: we were mostly-wrong about what we thought would get better, and mostly-right about what we thought would get worse.

 

[AndersonsBiographer]

Slight digression: the last American troops left Vietnam fifty years ago, I think this month. Then came a strange two-year interim period over there. When the North Vietnamese launched their offensive in 1975, they expected that it would take at least a year. I think it was all over in about three or four months. The reaction in America? Mostly indifference, that I remember.

Today one can buy made-in-Vietnam furniture a few blocks from me. Better trade than war, I suppose.

Vietnamese hold a fairly high opinion of Americans, they see the war as just a thing that happened a long time ago which they've largely forgiven us for, if they even think about it at all. Still a little sore towards the French and Chinese, though.

It's even a popular destination for American expats.

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36363537

 

[SimonDoom]

I posted this in another thread two months ago but since it's April 1 I figured it would be OK to redo it.

My personal smartass disclaimer:

Danger/warning: This story features young(ish) people who engage in, witness, recall, fantasize about, or are in the physical vicinity of sexual activity. If such stories bother/trigger/upset you or tend to prompt you to report the story to the Site Owner, then please do not read this story.

All characters in this story who engage in, witness, recall, fantasize about, or are within a quarter-mile radius of sexual activity are 18 or over. To the extent that their age is not explicitly stated, then as a condition of reading this story you must assume the character's 18th birthday occurred not less than 24 hours before the activity.

To the extent the character's behavior, circumstances, or level of schooling seem inconsistent, in your opinion, which you admit is subjective and non-authoritative and irrelevant to the story's meaning, with being 18 or over, as a condition of reading this story you are to assume the character has a learning or behavioral disability that caused them to be held back at least one year, or however many years are necessary to ensure that the character is, to your satisfaction, 18 or over.

To the extent any characters in this story are under the age of 18, you are to assume that none of these characters has engaged in, witnessed, recalled, fantasized about, or been within a quarter-mile radius of sexual activity of any kind. For these purposes, "sexual activity" is to be interpreted in the broadest possible sense, including but not limited to any activity you personally, or the Site owners, regard as "sexual."

If you proceed further and read the story, it will be assumed that you have read and agreed to all of the foregoing. Proceed at your risk.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Vietnamese hold a fairly high opinion of Americans, they see the war as just a thing that happened a long time ago which they've largely forgiven us for, if they even think about it at all. Still a little sore towards the French and Chinese, though.

It's even a popular destination for American expats.

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36363537

Yes, I've read some accounts of Americans who have been there, and it does seem like the Vietnamese have gotten over the war faster than we did perhaps. I thought this video was interesting because most Americans have no idea of what Hanoi looks like now. Like Chicago, but cleaner?

 

[alohadave]

Today one can buy made-in-Vietnam furniture a few blocks from me. Better trade than war, I suppose.

All my camera lenses were made in Vietnam. It's a popular country for things like that.

 

[ElectricBlue]

All my camera lenses were made in Vietnam. It's a popular country for things like that.

Some Marshall and Vox guitar amps are made in Vietnam. Not very British, but there you are.

 

[Voboy]

Be sure to watch it with subtitles. Nolan made the audio so quiet that you can barely hear any dialog.

I like Nolan. Just didn’t like that movie. Felt he was covering old ground in an uninteresting way.

Em

...wait a sec.

Are you guys thinking Big Lebowski is a Christopher Nolan movie?

It was the Coen brothers. To a tee.

 

[alohadave]

...wait a sec.

Are you guys thinking Big Lebowski is a Christopher Nolan movie?

It was the Coen brothers. To a tee.

Tenet was made by Nolan and the dialogue levels are nearly inaudible.

The Big Lebowski is a damn near perfect movie and shall not be besmirched.

 

[Voboy]

Tenet was made by Nolan and the dialogue levels are nearly inaudible.

The Big Lebowski is a damn near perfect movie and shall not be besmirched.

Got it.

 

[SimonDoom]

The Big Lebowski is a damn near perfect movie and shall not be besmirched.

The ashes on the ocean bluff scene. LOL.

 

[Seadog777]

Each forum or "board" has a moderator, although they don't intervene very often. About two weeks ago the one for AH removed some posts related to a "flame ware" that had broken out between two people. I know sirhugs over on Story Ideas pretty well.

Someone removed the posts from the misunderstanding that Emily and I had last week.
We made up and all is good now.

I'm happy that they did, because it got close to getting outta hand.

So KUDOS to whoever did that.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Someone removed the posts from the misunderstanding that Emily and I had last week.
We made up and all is good now.

I'm happy that they did, because it got close to getting outta hand.

So KUDOS to whoever did that.

Each forum has a moderator assigned to it, and I think they make the call. They don't intervene too often. I think I saw the posts you are referring to when scrolling through a thread, but then they were gone when I went back.