How productive it was depends entirely on the whiners, who may or may not choose to act more maturely in the future, but I would say at the very least it was a fairly satisfying 60 seconds of my time.

Grow up, professor, and everyone else whining about the reviewer week after week. Is it really so fucking painful to read opinions that are different from your own? One reviewer already left, and you know what, there are no guarantees that you'd find the next one any more comforting.

Excellent work, fueled_by_effigy. Wasn't going to buy it anyway but now I'm REALLY not going to buy it!

To me it seems that the one thing that could save the game, or at least make it worth trying, would be exciting, challenging battles. I've watched some walkthrough videos, and like you say, it's a game who developers are remarkably shameless about not even attempting anything new or original. Saying that it's bland…

Right. The form imposes severe limits. A game has to move in a brisk pace and even more importantly it has to send constant clear signals to the player as to what it is she is doing and what her goals are. Not just in romance, in everything.

The girlfriend is completely empty, like a placeholder. There's a lack of economy in having characters that you don't know what to do with, which leads to a lot of dead air and eventually to a forced, unsatisfying resolution.

His show Ponderland was quite funny.

Regarding sex, there's one other subtle thing that Farscape reverses. The typical american show has fairly stuck up, basically asexual characters who somehow suddenly explode in weird spastic copulation; Farscape has lots of touching, licking, kissing, close proximity, an almost constant presence of sexuality, but it…

I agree with everything you said. The show's approach to sexuality is both open and mature.

It's wonderful. Crichton is overwhelmed from the start, and going crazy evolves from a simple coping mechanism into the only way to survive impossible situations. It ends up being a problem solving tool. There are so many cases where he just locks up a part of his brain in order to be able to respond to the insanity…

It's clear what you're saying: you're the urban Sartre, I'm the sunbathing Camus. But what we really need - and what the show needs - is the feminine excluded third: the sensible Beauvoir. That would break the deadlock.

Not at all.

Sam is perfect in every way.

To be honest I don't even recall what the Sex Gaze theory was - and it's best left that way. I wasn't trolling, exactly, but I had to air my grievances in some manner. It's just funny how most of the women act the same, look the same, and want to fuck Dean. Perhaps that led to the God theory. It has an obvious…

It's just a bit of personal fun. I'm aware of what you're saying. Perhaps the real difference is simply that I have a weaker attitude toward my ideas than you do. At least I didn't bring back the Dean Winchester Sex Gaze theory, at least not in its full (highly questionable) glory.

It's not an easy classification, it's an acknowledgement of a painful reality; I fully recognise that an abusive relationship has all kinds of complexities and layers and is not necessarily loveless.

It's not a believable fantasy if there is no tragedy to indulge in. You can't be a hero otherwise. It's not really even an enjoyable fantasy without it. It's not enjoyment in any simple sense, it's the enjoyment of identifying with a particular role.

I should add that there is a truth behind Dean calling Sam a 'bitch' in this episode. The truth is that Sam is a bitch - he's Dean's bitch. A son suffering under an abusive father, a woman in an abusive relationship - there is no difference. That is the typical Dean Winchester relationship, whether people like to…

The punch is not bleak in itself - it's bleak because it's normalised, which is why most people didn't pause to think about it for a second. It's Dean asserting the kind of paternal authority he knows: Sam ran away, stole the car, and Dean punished him. Formally, it's a father and son relationship, at that moment. And…

I admit I haven't read Zack's review yet. But one thing TV shows often do is have the main character, who the audience is supposed to identify with, have both tough and soft sides, doubts and weaknesses, and then outsource excess masculinity to another character, who the audience is supposed to admire but not fully…