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Mauling Snarks (Worm) (Complete)

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Isnt my realname said:
Yeah, uhm, I still donut geddit. Can someone please try to explain the joke in a way that doesn't not make sense? Thank you.
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Sigh.
OK, lemme break it down for you: DC comics used to sublet it's characters to other publications. One of those was once a children's dictionary, you know the sort, where various different characters do different things to explain the meaning of words. For various reasons, the entry for the word "forty" became internet-famous and is now a meme in its own right. And Lex Luthor is still a very bad man.
 
arromdee said:
It's a meme.
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Mr_Rose said:
Sigh.
OK, lemme break it down for you: DC comics used to sublet it's characters to other publications. One of those was once a children's dictionary, you know the sort, where various different characters do different things to explain the meaning of words. For various reasons, the entry for the word "forty" became internet-famous and is now a meme in its own right. And Lex Luthor is still a very bad man.
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Ah, thank you both. So my take-away from this is that it isn't Lex Luther being mocked here, what's being mocked is someone's astoundingly stupid example/illustration for the word "forty", which stupid thing victimizes Luthor by way of making an example.
 
Isnt my realname said:
Ah, thank you both. So my take-away from this is that it isn't Lex Luther being mocked here, what's being mocked is someone's astoundingly stupid example/illustration for the word "forty", which stupid thing victimizes Luthor by way of making an example.
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Ironically enough, from what I heard, that part was later canonized in the actual comics. He really did once steal forty cakes.
 
chance of giving everyone lethal radiation poisioning aside, there are multiple federal agencies that would be very interested in where he planned to acquire the fissile material required. those agencies have to be working overtime in these comic book worlds.
 
eric1505 said:
chance of giving everyone lethal radiation poisioning aside, there are multiple federal agencies that would be very interested in where he planned to acquire the fissile material required. those agencies have to be working overtime in these comic book worlds.
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Eh, with the DC 'verse, not so much. It wasn't available at the corner hardware stores, but just about anyone who needed fissionables seemed to have an easy line of access to them. (And if nothing else, Kryptonite seemed to be a pretty reliable energy material, even if it caused other issues for certain individuals.)
 
Trufla said:
Eh, with the DC 'verse, not so much. It wasn't available at the corner hardware stores, but just about anyone who needed fissionables seemed to have an easy line of access to them. (And if nothing else, Kryptonite seemed to be a pretty reliable energy material, even if it caused other issues for certain individuals.)
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Notably in multiple universes it's alluded to be the cause of Lex Luthor's baldness.
 
Valdimarian said:
From what I found it was canonized in 2011.

theragingfanboy.wordpress.com

Lex Luthor Took Forty Cakes. And That’s Awesome.

If you’re into comic books and know your Internet memes, I’m almost certain that the following infamous excerpt from The Super Dictionary (July 1978) has come to your attention at one p…
theragingfanboy.wordpress.com theragingfanboy.wordpress.com

That's right, he stole 40 cakes as revenge for not being allowed to use fission in a school science fair.
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... and that's terrible. I'm just not sure which is more terrible, that backstory itself, or the fact that they decided to canonize it.
 
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Vyrexuviel said:
Interestingly enough, that urban myth about the over-enthusiastic boyscout who built a breeder reactor in his mom's shed?
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I can't see that link here. But David Hahn, the teen who is commonly reported in the media as building a breeder reactor did not build a breeder reactor. He created a neutron source, which is not that big a deal especially considering he ignored safety and stole materials. So there's a kernel of truth in the story but to describe it as a "breeder reactor" absolutely is an urban myth.

Jackson Oswalt and Taylor Wilson are teens who (separately) built fusion reactors (not a breeder reactor), but the reactors are a known design used by hobbyists, do not produce power, and require thousands of dollars to make.
 
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Wyrd said:
You seem to be missing words here. "wanted to" what? Cook? Keep the stuff? Mess with the nosy neighbors in the Tardis?
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No, there aren't any missing words there. What you're missing is the previous paragraph:

CmptrWz said:
There's a store in Empire territory that claims to carry a couple of them, I just have to decide if I go on my own, drag you along, or actually tell someone else in New Wave that I want to go and see how many of them object.
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Taylor is saying that Vicky would probably take Amy to the store if Amy said she wanted to go there, so long as she said it somewhere outside the Dallon house.

EDIT: As they say, Imp'd.
 
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CmptrWz said:
Taylor shrugged. "Vicky would probably go with you before telling anyone else, provided that you let her know you wanted to somewhere other than at home."
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Wyrd said:
You seem to be missing words here. "wanted to" what? Cook? Keep the stuff? Mess with the nosy neighbors in the Tardis?
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It's possible to write this so it's clearer to the reader without losing the sense of things, and reducing the contextual dependency. If this was my own writing, I'd probably write this as one of the following:
  • wanted to while somewhere
  • wanted to while you were somewhere
  • wanted to somewhere other thanwhile not at home
  • wanted to somewhere other thanwhen not at home
 
sdwood said:
Wait, she can't? Why is that, and/or when did it change?
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Seconding that. I distinctly recall her noticing nearby Doormaker portals in the early chapters (which was why she started wondering about the box-delivery snark in the first place).
Jacen1 said:
The Spider Pig mentioned in the chapter had me thinking of The Simpson's Movie instead of Spider-Ham. Which, frankly, is not a good thing; that movie isn't something I like thinking about.
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Pretty sure that (or the memetic song, at least) was the intended reference. "Spider-pig, spider-pig, does whatever a spider-pig does..."

I was not aware of any actual porcine versions of Spider-Man. Where was that one from - another Earth with a silly long number?
FaerieKnight79 said:
Anyone notice how often our discussion sidetracks onto the topic of food and recipes?
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To be fair, this usually happens when the chapter sidetracks onto the topic of food and/or recipes...
SpeedDaemon said:
It's possible to write this so it's clearer to the reader without losing the sense of things, and reducing the contextual dependency. If this was my own writing, I'd probably write this as one of the following:
  • wanted to while somewhere
  • wanted to while you were somewhere
  • wanted to somewhere other thanwhile not at home
  • wanted to somewhere other thanwhen not at home
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For what it's worth, I, personally, would've written "wanted to do that somewhere". The contextual dependency is still there (not that I see any reason to remove it), but at least it no longer looks like any words are missing.
 
january1may said:
Seconding that. I distinctly recall her noticing nearby Doormaker portals in the early chapters (which was why she started wondering about the box-delivery snark in the first place).
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I think the problem here is a combination of range and focus. When she noticed the Doormaker portals before, she was within twenty feet of them and still only caught a flicker of presence. Here, all we know about how far away the portal is is that it was near the bottom of a casino(which tend to have lots of floors), but just far enough above ground that he wasn't caught on any cameras and didn't hit the car below him. Since she's gotten so familiar with Scotty at this point, it's possible he simply failed to register on her consciously while she was focused on dealing with the capes still on top of the building.
 
january1may said:
Seconding that. I distinctly recall her noticing nearby Doormaker portals in the early chapters (which was why she started wondering about the box-delivery snark in the first place).
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The ability to perceive something does not automatically mean you'll notice it. You can see the screen in front of you, but you might not notice everything on it every time you look at it.
 
azoicennead said:
The ability to perceive something does not automatically mean you'll notice it. You can see the screen in front of you, but you might not notice everything on it every time you look at it.
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Plus, Taylor has interacted with the Door duo enough that she doesn't consider them a threat. In the middle of an active fight, a quick blip from a friendly is something she's more likely to have let slide, even if it did register on her overall Snark sensing radar. After all, they are doing spot deliveries all the time anyway.
 
I'm sorry, I just can't get over the fact that Lex Luthor really did steal 40 cakes. I mean, that's as many as four tens... And that's terrible. Almost as terrible as why he stole them.
 
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