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A History of the Silmarils in the Fifth Age

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Re: A History of the Silmarils in the Fifth Age

#51
post #8

I realize this article is a tongue-in-cheek fan theory. However, it does make me wonder what Tarantino was up to with Pulp Fiction. The Ezekiel "quote" always bugged me because even without looking it up, anyone who spent any amount of time in the Old Testament, could tell that it was fabricated. "Finder of lost children" is not an OT motif in general, and certainly not in Ezekiel. Obviously, Tarantino knew people wo…

It's entirely possible that the Bible in the Tarantinoverse is not the same Bible that we have.

That's an excellent point. In the same way that Tarantinoverse airlines don't bat an eyelid at passengers having a katana as carry-on.

Re: A History of the Silmarils in the Fifth Age

#53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Tarantino put mysteries into Pulp Fiction for the same reason Scott wrote this post -- the mind likes to make connections where there are none. Scott did this quite deliberately, to entertain us both on the meta-level and on the level. I suspect Tarantino added inexplicable elements so that we as the audience would be entertained by speculation. There's nothing underneath. If you want to see what happens when…

On the other hand there is X files. There really needs to be an "engineer plot" genre where plot stays consistent to a small set of made up axioms. "The Strain" made an attempt. It boggles the mind why not in a single one of the zombie stories out there nobody bothered to wonder where the zombies get the energy? The way most of them work it's like cold fusion landing in one's lap.

> There really needs to be an "engineer plot" genre where plot stays consistent to a small set of made up axioms.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagicAIsMagicA

Re: A History of the Silmarils in the Fifth Age

#54
post #8

I realize this article is a tongue-in-cheek fan theory. However, it does make me wonder what Tarantino was up to with Pulp Fiction. The Ezekiel "quote" always bugged me because even without looking it up, anyone who spent any amount of time in the Old Testament, could tell that it was fabricated. "Finder of lost children" is not an OT motif in general, and certainly not in Ezekiel. Obviously, Tarantino knew people wo…

Tarantino knew people would look it up and go "what the heck is this?"

This guy did a movie where a Jew kills Hitler. He has shown he has no interest in the question of "What really happened." Re-writing a small bit of the Bible is trivial compared to re-writing the most important event of the 20th Century. His focus is on being interesting and entertaining and he clearly feels that it is fine to put distance between himself and reality to achieve his goals.

Re: A History of the Silmarils in the Fifth Age

#55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Tarantino put mysteries into Pulp Fiction for the same reason Scott wrote this post -- the mind likes to make connections where there are none. Scott did this quite deliberately, to entertain us both on the meta-level and on the level. I suspect Tarantino added inexplicable elements so that we as the audience would be entertained by speculation. There's nothing underneath. If you want to see what happens when…

On the other hand there is X files. There really needs to be an "engineer plot" genre where plot stays consistent to a small set of made up axioms. "The Strain" made an attempt. It boggles the mind why not in a single one of the zombie stories out there nobody bothered to wonder where the zombies get the energy? The way most of them work it's like cold fusion landing in one's lap.

> It boggles the mind why not in a single one of the zombie stories out there nobody bothered to wonder where the zombies get the energy?

From brains. Duh. ;)

Re: A History of the Silmarils in the Fifth Age

#56
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think any adult Christian thinks that Santa is actually real, so there's nothing to reconciliate

Saint Nicholas was very real however, and had a mean right hook for heretics.

Of course, that's disputed. I tend to believe it, however, because the sources which relate the story also add the Nicolas was put in jail for it until he apologized for letting his zeal overcome him. It's not the sort of detail that fabricated accounts would be likely to include, but it's certainly what would have happened had Nicolas gotten a little slappy with Arius.

Re: A History of the Silmarils in the Fifth Age

#58
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand there is X files. There really needs to be an "engineer plot" genre where plot stays consistent to a small set of made up axioms. "The Strain" made an attempt. It boggles the mind why not in a single one of the zombie stories out there nobody bothered to wonder where the zombies get the energy? The way most of them work it's like cold fusion landing in one's lap.

People who love this genre hang out at https://www.reddit.com/r/rational They call it "rational fiction". There is quite some overlap with fan fiction, because people like to "fix" non-rational fiction. Eliezer Yudkowsky and his take on Harry Potter is the prime example. I can also recommend Alexander Wales who also made original fiction. Probably the oldest related work is A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court…

Alexander Wales' rationalist take on Superman, "The Metropolitan Man", is great.

Text: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10360716/1/The-Metropolitan-Man

Free audiobook: http://www.hpmorpodcast.com/?page_id=1705

Re: A History of the Silmarils in the Fifth Age

#59
> The movie Pulp Fiction centers around a mysterious briefcase. We’re never told exactly what’s inside

"Tarantino has admitted that there is no official explanation behind the briefcase’s contents, and that it was simply written into the screen play as an intriguing McGuffin."

I liked the soul theory better i.e. Marcelus's soul was in the briefcase and he sold it to the devil.

Re: A History of the Silmarils in the Fifth Age

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Tarantino put mysteries into Pulp Fiction for the same reason Scott wrote this post -- the mind likes to make connections where there are none. Scott did this quite deliberately, to entertain us both on the meta-level and on the level. I suspect Tarantino added inexplicable elements so that we as the audience would be entertained by speculation. There's nothing underneath. If you want to see what happens when…

On the other hand there is X files. There really needs to be an "engineer plot" genre where plot stays consistent to a small set of made up axioms. "The Strain" made an attempt. It boggles the mind why not in a single one of the zombie stories out there nobody bothered to wonder where the zombies get the energy? The way most of them work it's like cold fusion landing in one's lap.

In 28 days later the zombies all starve to death after six months or so. The hard part is just surviving that long without getting infected. Most zombies in fiction are implied to be supernatural though. So a scientific explanation is unnecessary.
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