All Questions
3,411
questions
30
votes
2
answers
127
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RIP James Earl Jones, a voice that will live forever
James Earl Jones, the prolific film, TV and theater actor whose resonant, unmistakable baritone was most widely known as the voice of “Star Wars” villain Darth Vader, died Monday morning at his home ...
- 61.3k
9
votes
2
answers
65
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How to use the [character-motivation] tag correctly?
To give some context, I suggested to add the character-motivation tag to this question Why does the Doctor celebrate Christmas?, however the suggestion has been rejected.
I'm OK with that and I'm ...
- 1,122
9
votes
3
answers
154
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The definition of Science Fiction and Fantasy in the FAQ
I saw the following comment on a recently closed question:
This question doesn't appears to be about Science Fiction or Fantasy, as defined in the FAQ.
The story, as described in the question, ...
- 169k
-11
votes
1
answer
96
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Vigilante activity at this forum
About 10 years ago I discovered Mathematics Stack Exchange on the internet. I liked the forum and I joined, in order to help answer math questions by students. This has worked quite well, and over ...
- 101
11
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0
answers
136
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RIP Charles Ingrid
Charles Ingrid, probably best known for the "Sand Wars" series (with their attention-grabbing Vincent Di Fate covers), passed away July 29th.
Ingrid, whose legal name was Rhondi A. Vilott ...
- 138k
-5
votes
2
answers
159
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Is it appropriate for a high-rep user to roll-back an edit that a low-rep OP made to defend their question?
If a high-rep user rolls-back an edit that a low-rep OP made to defend their question, would this not cause the community to see that the question was up for review, but not see any apparent change to ...
- 417
0
votes
1
answer
85
views
Why is there a bounty delay?
Why is there a delay of two days (or whatever it is) before you can offer a bounty on a question? If someone is that eager to get a question answered, why not let him do it?
- 573
10
votes
0
answers
111
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Shelley Duvall, star of The Shining, Faerie Tale Theatre, and Popeye, has passed at 75
The Rolling Stone article indicates that she's believed to have died from complications from her diabetes.
Shelley Duvall, the intrepid, Texas-born movie star whose wide-eyed, winsome presence was a ...
- 233k
8
votes
0
answers
113
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Benji Gregory, star of ALF, has passed
Benji Gregory Hertzberg, who played Brian Tanner in ALF, has died, found dead in his car along with his service dog, apparently from heat stroke, on June 13th.
Gregory portrayed Brian on all four ...
- 233k
12
votes
3
answers
269
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Is the game Settlers of Catan on-topic?
I recently saw the question How big is the sun (in the world of Catan)? which plays into something I long believed: that Catan was another world. That would make the game SFF-nal. But Wikipedia says ...
- 52.7k
9
votes
2
answers
342
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Why was the answer by the author (of the work) in a story-id question converted to a comment?
In the question Short story involving time dilation and a girl growing up while her astronaut mother explores other planets, the work has been positively identified (by the asker) as "Deuda ...
- 24k
8
votes
0
answers
83
views
Any reason the site starts to talk in Russian to me?
Today, I had the message in my inbox that I've earned a new privilege. The message was followed by "Узнайте больше об этом в Справке.", which LibreTranslate translates to "Find out more ...
- 2,752
2
votes
1
answer
34
views
Is there anywhere I can change the color theme of the scifi.se site?
Recently (Last month or two?) on the SF&F SE the font of the tags changed to what appears to be bold black.
For me with my old eyes, their close proximity to the light blue font of the questions ...
- 13k
24
votes
1
answer
168
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RIP Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland has just died aged 88, after a seven-decade career in film and television, starring in films ranging from The Dirty Dozen (1967) to Invasion of the Bodysnatchers (1978) to the US ...
Rand al'ThorMod
- 135k
6
votes
1
answer
159
views
Multiple Neverending Stories?
We have an accepted answer for the first film, an accepted answer for the second film, and an accepted answer for the TV series (which is the dupe target for another question about the series, ...
- 233k
3
votes
3
answers
102
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Is this historical fiction question on topic? [duplicate]
YA or children's book about the Trojan war, focusing heavily on Helen, where a "magic" stone of Troy was important
I've read The Luck of Troy; there are precisely zero fantasy elements ...
- 11.2k
5
votes
1
answer
79
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I can't see the link to the ranks below the points in my profile anymore
Before, in my profile below the points the user has in this SE, I could see a link to the rankings. This still happens in other SEs but it doesnt happen here anymore. Is it a bug? How can I see SciFi ...
- 5,811
16
votes
1
answer
133
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Roger Corman, legendary (B movie) filmmaker, has died
Roger Corman, low-budget filmmaker who launched many careers, dies at 98
Roger Corman, a low-budget but resourceful Hollywood filmmaker who churned out dozens of laughably ridiculous and ridiculously ...
- 233k
28
votes
0
answers
191
views
Bernard Hill (King Théoden) has died, aged 79. Hail the victorious dead!
Bernard Hill, best known for his roles in Titanic and Lord of the Rings, has died aged 79.
Hill's other roles in his decades-long career include the 1976 BBC TV series I, Claudius, an appearance in ...
- 26.4k
7
votes
0
answers
83
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Ray Chan, Marvel art director, has died
Ray Chan, Art Director and Production Designer for Marvel Films, Dies at 56
Ray Chan, the art director and production designer for Marvel Studios who contributed to Guardians of the Galaxy, three ...
- 233k
3
votes
2
answers
199
views
Where are all the Wheel of Time questions?
According to a hasty google, the word counts of the below popular fantasy series are as follows:
Series
Word count (main books only)
Harry Potter
1,084,170
LOTR
481,103
The Wheel of Time
4,410,036 ...
- 2,471
3
votes
1
answer
138
views
Would this question be ok?
I'm trying to track down a list of "important" science fictions works that I got off the Internet back in mid-late 80s. I remember some details about the list and am hoping that maybe ...
- 9,730
9
votes
3
answers
286
views
How should we tag questions about the TV series "3 Body Problem"?
At the moment there is a tag, 3-body-problem, being used for the Netflix adaption of The Three Body Problem.
We have an existing tag, the-three-body-problem, that is being used for the book series. ...
- 17.9k
9
votes
1
answer
142
views
Changing the dupe target
Long ago I answered this identification question, call it A. Some time later John Rennie answered another question, call it B, which was closed as a duplicate of A. Just now I answered yet another ...
- 169k
2
votes
1
answer
105
views
Is this a constrained list question?
'Hidden' non white characters in Heinleins work. So racists would identify with them before learning their race
I currently have a kneejerk vote in that this is a "list or recommendation&...
- 233k
7
votes
0
answers
97
views
In Memoriam: Joe Flaherty
Joe Flaherty Dead: ‘Freaks & Geeks’ Star Dies at 82
Joe Flaherty died at 82 years old, late on Monday, April 1. The comedic actor had starred in tons of classic movies and shows throughout the ...
- 4,291
12
votes
2
answers
200
views
Do we really need separate tags for the first and second parts of Villeneuve's "Dune"? [duplicate]
Right now we have dune-2021 and dune-2024 for Dune: Part 1 and Dune: Part 2 respectively. Since the parts belong together, and aren't standalone works, I don't believe they deserve separate tags. (...
- 138k
13
votes
0
answers
106
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In Memoriam: Louis Gossett Jr
One of the great character actors of the past half century has passes away. While he had many memorable roles, my favorite was as one of the three main characters in Enemy Mine.
...
- 99.1k
33
votes
0
answers
191
views
In Memoriam: Vernor Vinge
Vernor Vinge, father of the tech singularity, has died at age 79
On Wednesday, author David Brin announced that Vernor Vinge, sci-fi author, former professor, and father of the technological ...
- 233k
18
votes
1
answer
380
views
Why are we punishing simple questions for "not doing research"?
I ran across this Hot Network Question about Dune, and why the Dune universe folks don't use guns. As someone who never read the books, and has seen the Lynch movie (which also apparently never read ...
- 52.7k
14
votes
0
answers
150
views
In Memoriam: Brian Stableford
Brian Stableford, prolific author of over 70 novels (per Wikipedia) recently passed away on February 25th.
I first discovered him with his 1982 novel Journey to the Center. (In the trademark DAW ...
- 138k
24
votes
1
answer
210
views
In Memoriam: Akira Toriyama
Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball, died on March 1st, 2024, from an acute subdural hematoma. I can't say that I ever got terribly into Dragon Ball, but he had a huge impact on shonen anime.
- 233k
2
votes
1
answer
301
views
How did I lose a point of rep in this situation?
On Feb 14 20:01:40Z, this question was asked. At Feb 14 20:08:11Z someone posted a comment asking when the OP saw it. During those 6-7 minutes, I happened to be looking and found a possible answer ...
- 1,066
1
vote
1
answer
180
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“Minor mistakes” rule for editing
What counts as a “minor mistake” for the entry
To correct minor mistakes or add updates as the post ages
in the editing guidelines?
I’ve been trying to improve this answer, which is in general good ...
- 1,123
16
votes
0
answers
122
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In Memoriam: Christopher Priest
Christopher Priest has died. Among other things, he was the author of The Prestige. He actually wrote back to me about my question about whether the body was always dead after the transfer.
- 233k
24
votes
1
answer
148
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In Memoriam: Carl Weathers
Dead at 76, peacefully in his sleep on February 1st, 2024.
Perhaps best known for his breakout role of Apollo Creed in the Rocky films, he was of course also Dillon in Predator and Greef Karga in The ...
- 233k
-2
votes
1
answer
72
views
How should a closed question that is a duplicate be updated to point at the duplicate?
This closed question Valérios itching cutscene Evil Within, appears to be a duplicate of this question What is happening during this flashback scene from The Evil Within?.
Both questions are ...
- 5,937
11
votes
0
answers
139
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In Memoriam: Gary Graham
Gary Graham has died at the age of 73 on Monday 22 January 2024 of a cardiac arrest.
Know for his roles as Soval in Star Trek: Enterprise and Detective Matthew "Matt" Sikes in the Alien ...
- 5,937
5
votes
2
answers
178
views
What is the correct way to thank an editor?
I'm French.
While I consider myself fully bilingual in comprehension (reading/listening), I'm less good with production (writing/speaking), especially with grammar (due to bad learning process).
When ...
- 2,255
11
votes
0
answers
75
views
2023: a year in moderation
It’s that time of the year again! As we wave goodbye to last year and welcome the new one, we have a tradition of sharing moderation stats for the preceding calendar year.
As most of you here might be ...
- 2,180
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0
answers
193
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In Memoriam: David Drake
David Drake, one of the most prominent mil-sf authors, died December 10th, 2023. His rise to prominence came with the Hammer's Slammers series of futuristic war stories, mostly short stories ...
- 138k
11
votes
3
answers
191
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In Memoriam: Peter Schickele
Peter Schickele died at home at the age of 88. While most people were familiar with him as the ostensible chronicler of P.D.Q. Bach's compositions, he also composed the score for science fiction film ...
- 233k
8
votes
2
answers
169
views
Should Duplicate Story ID questions be answered or commented?
Is there a best practice for obvious duplicate story ID questions?
Specifically is it better to link the duplicate in a comment or provide an answer with that link and the corroborating details?
The ...
- 19.8k
20
votes
1
answer
206
views
Should we "enable a banner to warn about [our] policy on AI-generated content"?
A post on main meta is stating "Sites can now request to enable a banner to warn about their policy on AI-generated content", so given that it seems to be general consensus on SFF that we ...
- 61.3k
16
votes
1
answer
224
views
And the Best New User of 2023 is
As a way to celebrate the New Year and lasting contributions to the site by new users I am continuing this honorary post based on a simple premise...
The user with the highest rank in the yearly ...
- 61.3k
13
votes
3
answers
255
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Should I answer my own question if someone answered in the comments several months ago and still haven't responded to the request to post an answer?
A few months ago, I had written an identification question, to which someone gave a very possible answer in the comments, so I asked them if they could write an actual answer.
To this day, they haven'...
- 7,803
7
votes
1
answer
175
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Resolution of Duplicates in the Enderverse
This originally came up in association with Sci fi book where humanoid aliens murder a researcher by killing him and cutting him open, where the answer was determined to be Speaker For The Dead. My ...
- 233k
3
votes
1
answer
101
views
Why was this question reopened when it is clearly asking to identify more than one work?
This question: What are these classic 80's action movies? was closed as "Needs more focus" and then subsequently reopened.
This was surprising to me. It's demonstrably asking to identify ...
- 17.9k
13
votes
4
answers
221
views
Is it good practice to add a better answer to a story-identification question that already has a correct (although brief/lacking) answer
I saw this new question which happens to be about a book from my favourite author. I immediately recognised it and knew exactly what OP's remembered details referred to within the context of the book.
...
- 369
4
votes
1
answer
77
views
When to ask on SF&F and when to ask on Arqade? [duplicate]
I have a question about Fallout 3 and I don't know if I should ask it on SF&F or Arqade.
The question is
Why does Moira insists on you getting a mine from Minefield?
Should this question be on ...
- 575