• UlyssesT
      ·
      edit-2
      2 months ago

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      • InevitableSwing [none/use name]
        hexagon
        ·
        2 years ago

        cold piercing steely blue eyes

        Bad writing is its own peculiar genre. Authors never miss a chance to doggerel it up with stuff like that and also: strikingly attractive, piping hot coffee, barren wastelands, etc.

        I'm not lying when I say I'd love to read a story written by AI via the prompt "Write me a laughably bad 10,000 word sci-fi story with romance that includes as many bad tropes as possible." And if I howled and chuckled at the text - I'd give the AI nearly the same prompt but make it a 100,000 word novel.

        • UlyssesT
          ·
          edit-2
          2 months ago

          deleted by creator

          • InevitableSwing [none/use name]
            hexagon
            ·
            2 years ago

            people smirking

            Oh, man. That too!

            "She had to break eye contact with his piercing blue eyes. Meanwhile he took another sip of his piping hot coffee. He then smirked and chuckled."

            • UlyssesT
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              edit-2
              2 months ago

              deleted by creator

                • UlyssesT
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  2 months ago

                  deleted by creator

                  • InevitableSwing [none/use name]
                    hexagon
                    ·
                    2 years ago

                    I realize now my prompt needs some tweaking. I definitely want it old school. And the final comment is paramount.

                    “Write me a laughably bad 10,000 word sci-fi story. Add in some romance. Include as many bad tropes as possible. Don't use any sources newer than 1990. The key idea is to make it so-bad-it's-good."

          • UlyssesT
            ·
            edit-2
            2 months ago

            deleted by creator

          • InevitableSwing [none/use name]
            hexagon
            ·
            2 years ago

            No. Holy crap. Is it a parody? Or is it unironic? In any case - it looks truly great...

            "You make love well wench," Admitted Grignr as he reached for the vessel of potent wine his charge had been quaffing.

            Note to self: How is it that I entirely forgot about the word "quaff"? Shame on me! It's funny even by itself: quaff.

            • Wertheimer [any]
              ·
              2 years ago

              It was indeed unironic. Became a staple of fantasy conventions over the years. Back in the day I played a drinking game where we tried to read it aloud without laughing. The fun is lessened a bit when we learn that it was a 17-year-old's first attempt at a novel that somehow made it out into the world . . . but it did make it out into the world, and it does contain the line "You make love well wench" so I think it's fair game.

              • InevitableSwing [none/use name]
                hexagon
                ·
                2 years ago

                a 17-year-old’s first attempt at a novel that somehow made it out into the world

                Oh, that does take away most of the humor. I'm happy that nothing I did as a teenager exists in the digital world. I'd die of cringe.

                • Wertheimer [any]
                  ·
                  2 years ago

                  I first discovered it when I was around that age, and thought it was the funniest thing ever, but that was more than half a lifetime ago so now I cringe somewhat on Theis's behalf rather than in mockery of him. But he died in 2002 so now it's the property of humankind, right? It's a conundrum.

                  • InevitableSwing [none/use name]
                    hexagon
                    ·
                    2 years ago

                    But he died in 2002 so now it’s the property of humankind, right? It’s a conundrum.

                    I'll read it in a different way. I'll laugh at the text but not the author. I hate to think that in some alternate universe I wrote an equally awful sci-fi novel as a 17 year-old and everybody laughs at it.

    • Wertheimer [any]
      ·
      2 years ago

      How to tell you're in a soft science fiction novel: Something has gone terribly wrong with the earth’s orbit, but modern gender roles are still pretty much intact.

      https://the-toast.net/2015/01/28/tell-soft-science-fiction-novel/

      • InevitableSwing [none/use name]
        hexagon
        ·
        2 years ago

        The ship’s doctor has a drinking problem.

        I wonder how old that trope is. Could it go back all the way to the beginning of the the Age of Sail (~1500)?

        The true meaning of this silent, ancient ziggurat will at last be revealed, if you could just translate the pictograms.

        We've all been there.

        • FourteenEyes [he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          I legitimately love it when the ship's doctor has a drinking problem and/or is a crotchety asshole who hates his own life but is excessively worried about the health of the crew/captain

          Also yes the robot crew member should jerk it, and everybody should feel weird about it