Mod Post - Off Topic Tuesday

[icon_uk]

In the comments to these weekly posts (and only these posts), it's your chance to go as off topic as you like. Talk about non-comics stuff, thread derail, and just generally chat amongst yourselves.

The devastating effects of Hurricane Irma have been widely covered, though the full scale of the dmaage is still being

At the same time, there has also been catastrophic flooding due to monsoons in India, Nepal and Bangladesh, with over 1200 dead reported and what infrastructure there was in outlying areas.

More news is coming out about the Colin Trevorrow's firing from Star Wars Episode IX, and it seems that the director, whose last two directorial efforts were the less than well received Jurassic World and The Book of Henry may have managed to piss off just about everyone with his... well, they keep saying "confident" but you know they mean "arrogant".

In the UK, the Government won it's first vote for it's EU Repeal Bill, which hands unprecedented powers to Government Ministers to change laws without reference to Parliament, as part of the infinitely expanding snafu which is Brexit. Even Jeremy Corbyn seems to stirring on this one.

In the US, Ted Cruz appears to have "liked" a hardcore porn Twitter post, Back in the day this would have ended a pplitical career, and Ted Cruz would probably have been one of the ones insisting thatit did, let's see what happens (or doesn't) here, shall we?

The iPhone X:10 is apparnetly set to be a major upgrade (Have they really only been around for 10 years?)

The Doctor Who Experience at Cardiff closed it's doors for the last time as their lease is up. It seems likely it will become a touring exhibition, but Peter Capaldi had a farewell for it.

In related news, the BBC has confirmed that it is not renewing "Class" the Doctor Who spinoff that it never seemed that interested in, which is a shame, as whilst it's not perfect, certainly had potential, and some interesting character beats.

The critics reviews for Seth MacFarlane's new not-Star-Trek-spoof "The Orville" have been... pretty much overwhelmingly negative, I'm posting a link to the only positive one I could find out of kindness more than anything., though in fairness that's never stopped McFarlane from flogging a dead horse for waaaaay longer than anyone would ever have predicted (Family Guy is starting season 16 for pities sake and American Dad is on 14)

Comments

[the_phantom]

I doubt much will happen with Ted.

Much like in the UK with MP Naz Shah who shared and liked a post saying that the
Rotherham sex abuse victims should “shut their mouths"

Source: http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/844850/Naz-Shah-Jeremy-Corbyn-Rotherham-tweet-sex-victims-shut-mouths-diversity

[janegray]

While defending Ted Cruz makes me simultanously vomit in my mouth and crave alcohol and question and fear the circumstances that caused me to sink so low in my life... Is it really fair to compare watching porn with attacking rape survivors IRL?

The president of the USA bragged about sexually assaulting women and even forcing his way into a teenager's changing room. GOP politicians as a whole seem unable to go for any length of time without making shitty comments about rape survivors, "she wasn't raped because she got pregant, and you can't get pregnant when you are raped!" being only one of the most shameful ones. And, routinely, they get found out harrassing women by sending them dick pics.

Meanwhile Cruz watched a fictional work where adult actors are paid to consensually have sex, and accidentally liked it in public.

Just... seems like getting angry at somebody for jaywalking after the rest of his group has been setting orphanages on fire.

[lissa_quon]

Yea...I'm sort of unphased by Cruz' porn thing. It's not even particularly shocking porn.

I mean Texas is probably/should have a field day with it, considering this area's laws and rules about adult material. But after everything else that's gone down this is pretty 'meh'.

[thezmage]

I haven't watched it to verify for myself, but I was told it was incest porn.

[locuatico]

Well, I think the issue comes down to, apparently, a pretty sizable of Ted Cruz's supporters think porn is a sin and probably would blame rape survivors anyways.

[icon_uk]

In and of itself, the porn is not much, as you say, it's consensual actors... it's the sheer hypocrisy of it that makes me ill. If a Democrat had been found with that, he's have been at the front of the mob, sharpening the pitchfork tines.

[janegray]

Good point.

Either way...

[velador]

There is really no way to spin big damage against Ted out of this, since he doesn't manage his Twitter account personally.
So even if they don't say his account was hacked (well, this probably would be the first thing to do if one were a political enemy hacking a religious opponent's account), the worst case scenario for the Cruz Campaign would be admitting that they employ horny interns as social media manager, in which case, well, big shrug.

[scorntx]

Interesting news from Hascon, regarding the next TF toyline.
A Dinobot combiner!
And even more astounding... a female Dinobot.
oh and we get to see what the new optimus primal looks like that's cool too I guess.
DINOBOTS.

Also, turns out fandom speculation was right: The voyager class toys are combiners. Which is pretty neat.

[kamino_neko]

There's been a female Dinobot for at least a few months in the comics. Strangely, not the one we got a toy of. Her name is Strafe, and she's clearly based on the movie character of that name, albeit earthbound.

[scorntx]

I am aware of Strafe.
Female Dinobot toy, I mean.

-and she's clearly based on the movie character of that name-
More like they just have the same name and a few similar aspects.
(Of course, any comparison would easier if the movie Dinobots actually had any actual character to them.)

-for at least a few months-
Dinobot Strafe (as opposed t' Strafe the Technobot, mercifully avoiding another Dent situation) first showed up 2015.
So, a teeny bit more'n a few months.

... and even then, technically, she's not the first either.
Apparently Slash from AOE was meant to be a gal, too, according to Hasbro.

But look, there's a G1-styled female Dinobot who actually turns into a proper dinosaur.
(Well, okay, not proper because it's designed to be more like an 80s conception of a raptor but... the point broadly stands!)

[kamino_neko]

-and she's clearly based on the movie character of that name-
More like they just have the same name and a few similar aspects.

She has two heads and is called Strafe, despite that not making a whole lot of sense for a non-flier. There's really not a lot of chance of coincidence in there.

[spider_man6]

A shame Class wasn't continued. I really need to finish the rest of season one now.
I'm pretty sure Jurassic World was favorably received, at least in my view.
Also, just got Descender vol 1, and man is it good. I'm addicted to Image paperbacks now.

[icon_uk]

Maybe letting my own dislike for JW through a little there. I found the plot clunky, the children dislikeable, and the adults both mind-bogglingly dumb, and/or REALLY dislikeable.

[janegray]

My biggest issue with JW is that they killed off 3/4 of the raptor squad.

Literally *THE* single biggest draw to the movie was that this time the raptor are on your side, which I'm pretty sure was the dream of every kid who ever watched the original movie.

And they go and kill off all of them but one?

I have no doubt that Blue will be back in future movies, but she really should have been in a pack with her sisters.

(Also was extremely unhappy that the death of the secretary was so drawn out. Deaths in JP are supposed to be quick. They are memorable because they are so intense, but they usually only last a few seconds. What happened to her felt too much like torture porn).

[icon_uk]

I listened to the "Talk with Superheroes" on the movie, and I have rarely agreed so consistently with a review.

The kids have VIP tickets and then have to queue?

The older kid seems weirdly uninterested in going to what would be (for some benighted reason) the most envied holiday destination on the planet.

How did this place get certified after the LAST three movies?

The weaponising of dinosaurs leading so quickly to the Indomius Rex is absurd, they'd have been working small, portable, efficient stealth pack hunters like, say... the JW take on Velociraptors... and they don't even seem to be aware of the abilities they've bred into it, like it's sudden invisibility power.

etc etc

[janegray]

Those are all valid and logical reasons.

But every time I saw the raptor pack run alongside the protagonist on a motorbike, my inner 8-year-old took complete control of all my cerebral activities and kept them in stasis as she squealed in glee.

It felt a lot like that scene in Ratatouille where the critic has a taste of the soup and a flashback of his childhood days.

The movie was SUCH a powerful concentrate of nostalgia and childhood dreams, literally all they had to do to make me love it was keeping the raptor pack around.

[long_silence]

Wasn't that secretary the very first female human to die in the Jurassic Park franchise?

[janegray]

IIRC, yeah, she was. Technically the first, as we are told that the little girl in the intro of the second movie doesn't die. Somehow. She did get jumped by a pack of piranha-like dinos though, and she was completely quiet when her mother came calling for her, so best case scenario she was gruesomely wounded.

However, given that the lack of female deaths was a direct result of the lack of female characters period, I don't feel that's a score in favour of women. The ratio of female characters to male characters in the franchise is like 1:10, and three of those few female characters are children (and JP doesn't kill children), so statistically female deaths are going to be very rare.

[riddler13]

Fortunately for me, Atlanta was not hit as bad as expected. Sure, we had no power all afternoon, and a poor bloke was killed by a falling tree to his home, but no major catastrophes.

[janegray]

So, since the Robots in Disguise cartoon is still failing to draw my interest in any way, and the only reason I’m even bothering to keep up with it is that I keep waiting for Starscream and Soundwave to show up again (Wheeljack and Knock Out would be awesome too, but at this point hoping that they’ll be back feels a lot like hoping you’ll meet Santa) I’ve been rewatching a bit of Transformers Prime.

Goddamn I love Airachnid. I love her so much I still liked her even after she killed Breakdown, whom I also loved (killing off Breakdown was SUCH a waste, he was awesome).

She gets some of the best villain lines. And the delivery! The lines wouldn’t be half as good without her shamelessly troll voice acting and her body language. Both the voice actress and the animators did a fantastic job.

Context: the hero Arcee sneaked into Airachnid’s ship and found glass tubes full of heads and other body parts of aliens.

Arcee: I got a look at your souvenir case.

Airachnid: You mean my trophies. I collect endangered species. Of course they aren’t really endangered. Until they meet me.

Context: Arcee is going through PTSD because her beloved partners have been brutally murdered one after the other. Airachnid herself cut up Tailgate to pieces. Cliffjumper was stabbed, turned into a zombie, and his corpse was torn in half.

Airachnid: You sure have trouble hanging on to your partners don’t you? We both know what happened to Tailgate. But I recently picked up some Decepticon radio chatter regarding the passing of Cliffjumper. At some point you really have to ask yourself Arcee, is it them or is it me?

Goddamn she is such an evil bastard and she knows it and basks in it :D

It *kills me* that they turned her into a pathetic joke in the Japanese dub.

In the Japanese dub of Prime, Airachnid’s personality is completely different from her US interpretation. In the dub, she is a bubbly, giggling, high-strung chatterbox that is obsessed with collecting the heads of “handsome boys” as trophies rather than endangered creatures. Played up as something of a female Pepe Le Pew, she constantly swoons over Jack, calling him her “hunk,” her “darling,” her “cutie Jack-chan” and various other lovey-dovey remarks as she amorously pursues him (even going so far as to sing love songs to him, mid-chase). When she finally catches Jack near the end of “Predatory”, she even proposes marriage to him. [] Whenever Airachnid fires her webbing, she shouts “Sticky-Sticky Attack!”

FFS

[astrakhan42]

If Hasbro could manage to distribute their toys worth a damn, they might be able to build up an audience for their shows. >has seen TLK Nitro all of ONCE in stores

[icon_uk]

Gina (VA for Airachnid) Torres for the eternal win!

[janegray]

Do you think there is any chance, any chance at all, she might be back in the RiD cartoon?

[q99]

Extremely minimal, she does not fit the tone.

[icon_uk]

They would have to do some explaining since she's now an Insecticon vampire queen on the moon of Cybertron, because that was an idea that went nowhere, alas.

[deh_tommy]

I hope so. I think they used her design for an unnamed and unrelated Deception in Season 2, so that would be weird if they went to the effort of constructing a character model that just so happens to look like Airachnid without ever introducing her in the show proper.

[spider_man6]

Prime is like the BTAS of Transformers tv shows. A good meter mark.
By the way, Soundwave did appear in MTMTE, and I'm pretty sure Starscream bit the dust in Predacons Rising.

[janegray]

Yeah. I know that there are many vocal TF fans who hate Prime, and I can certainly see its many flaws... First and foremost, the sudden random dropping of interesting characters and plot threads (I'm still salty we never got to see what the deal was with Breakdown and the Wreckers). Also Miko and Raf were extremely, extremely bad human characters, and Smokescreen annoyed the hell out of me. And Starscream was played too much as buttmonkey and comic relief, so that people got the impression that he was an ineffectual clown even when he actually had a pretty decent track record of accomplishing things.

But I really think that overall it has way too many merits to dismiss it. Knock Out, Breakdown and Airachnid were fantastic characters. Agent Fowler was an excellent human character, and I actually liked Jack most of the time. The Prime take on Soundwave was my favourite in the entire franchise, and I greatly enjoyed their take on Shockwave and Wheeljack. Silas was an interesting antagonist. The dialogues were, most of the time, really good, and they even managed to turn a recurring joke into a gutpunch ("We needed that"). The animation in the third Season was stunning. And the plot of the episodes ranged from insane in a good way (Starscream unleashes the zombie Apocapypse!) to moving (Arcee has to move on after the death of her partners), with plenty of fresh ideas (while I would have much preferred it if they had kept Breakdown alive, using his corpse as some kind of EVA mech was a great twist). They even brought the franchise in a brand new direction when they came up with a portrayal of Starscream that actually developed past the usual treachery and became loyal to Megatron.

The "Optimus is literally Jesus" thing was immensely, deeply, profoundly idiotic, and pretty much killed my love for the character. But The Covenant of Primus came out after TFP finished its run, so I blame it rather than the cartoon itself.

Thankfully, a semi-recent episode of the new cartoon revealed that Starscream survived the encounter with the Predacons :) *cough*like I'd be saying for years*cough*

[ozaline]

I didn't mind the humans in Prime, honestly, though it's been a while.

[icon_uk]

Not sure I'd say Prime filled that role, that would seem to be Transformers: Animated IMHO, which features examples from every previous take of the series, but keeps the small cast of Beast Warsm si guves each some quality time.

[nightauditguy]

The last few Lego Dimensions packs come out today. Powerpuff Girls Beetlejuice, and Teen Titans.

[informationgeek]

So has anyone heard about the disaster with Pewdiepie, him saying the n-word? Well I decided to comment about it on my Facebook and me oh my, did I get a response:

Stupid Beta Cuck, words can kill, but they can only kill Marxist idiocy like you. Can't stand the heat get out of the Oven buddy, you put yourself in there by listening to the lies your "Teachers", who only spent all day indoctrinating instead of teaching, told you. The truth is the truth and truth is that you are a Beta who is "Offended" by words, even if the context isn't there. Go on, complain more, every time some tard like you attack "Evil Huitey", the Alt-Right grows in rank and file. Go on, keep it up, you are gaining me more members than I could ever dream of.


Okay folks, get out your Buzzword Bingo Cards! Did anyone get a bingo? If he tossed in an SJW in there, I totally could of had it!

[speedingtortoise]

I am genuinely baffled as to how these kinds of people exist.

[janegray]

I'm trying to decipher that paragraph and... just...

[icon_uk]

In the words of Arthur Dent (referring to the Vogons)

"I wish I had a daughter, so I could forbid her to marry him"

[cainofdreaming]

The amount of irony crammed into that indoctrination bit is simply overwhelming.

[q99]

-
The critics reviews for Seth MacFarlane's new not-Star-Trek-spoof "The Orville" have been... pretty much overwhelmingly negative, I'm posting a link to the only positive one I could find out of kindness more than anything., though in fairness that's never stopped McFarlane from flogging a dead horse for waaaaay longer than anyone would ever have predicted (Family Guy is starting season 16 for pities sake and American Dad is on 14)-

That's kinda a shame. I mean, I'm not a MacFarlane fan, but more successful space opera leads to more space opera.

Looking through a few reviews, it seems like it can't decide between being trek-with-numbers-filed-off (which I'd be down for!) and a comedy (with.. a style of humor I'm not fond of).

[shadwing]

And that's the problem, Fox marketed it as a Situational Comedy with Trek Trappings while Seth seemed to be going for Next Generation 2.0 and the two concepts while they can mesh well (see Galaxy Quest) are not gelling here.

The Next Gen Fans, and some of Seth's fanbase are eating it up, but it remains to be seen if they have enough of draw to keep a show with very high production values afloat in the ratings.

Add to the fact that it's on Fox with doesn't have a really good track record with shows like this, they either get dumped after one season (TOO MANY TO COUNT), or 'tinkered with' usually by removing anything that seemed to charm the fans (See Sleepy Hollow)

Well I wish it luck...but not holding out hope.

[stubbleupdate]

http://www.cincinnati.com/pages/interactives/seven-days-of-heroin-epidemic-cincinnati/

Have we all seen the week of heroin report that came from 60 reporters and photographers investigating the Heroin epidemic in Cincinnati?

[spider_man6]

Anyone hear? J.J Abrams is directing Star Wars XI.
Seems okay.

[shadadukal]

I think it's "just okay". Not terribly exciting IMO but I understand why Lucasfilm went with someone they know they can work with at this point.

[shadadukal]

I started a new job last week after months of unemployment. But so far I'm not liking it much. So I'm scared either way it goes. If I quit during trial period, it's financially bad. If I stay, this will make my depression worse (treatment only goes so far). And so many other factors to consider. So I'm super lost and confused.

[laughing_tree]

So sorry to hear that. I hope it all works out well for you in the end.

[icon_uk]

Sorry that it's not working out as you hoped. Is there someone you can talk this over with?

[shadadukal]

My shrink advised to anyway. She upped my meds too, which should help give me a better handle over my feelings

[dr_archeville]

It breaks September box office records, offering Hollywood a much-needed jolt. (TX's Alamo Drafthouse had a clowns-only showing this weekend.)

The lawsuit over the famous monkey selfie has been settled: 25 percent of future revenues the image generates will go to protect Naruto and other macaques on Tangkoko Reserve.

[cyberghostface]

As a Stephen King fan, it's about time. Hopefully now we start getting more good SK film adaptations. Especially after that mess of a Dark Tower film.

[scelestus]

Seriously. I had very little hope Dark Tower was going to be good, and my wife liked it (she hasn't read the books), but for me? Aside from an odd liking of Matthew McConaughey's Man in Black (yeah, I can't explain it either), I thought it was a waste of time with occasional moments of good stuff.

LOVED It, though. Looking forward to the next one. What else could they do, movie-wise, for King? The Stand? That'd have to be two films at least. And only of McConaughey plays Flagg.

[cyberghostface]

I think Eyes of the Dragon could be a good movie although it's something that would probably take people off guard.

[joetuss]

IT was awesome, I didn't want it to end,and chapter 2 can't get here soon enough. I would like to see Salems Lot remade. Lord knows the Vampire horror genre could use a good shot in the arm.

[scorntx]

And more TF news I kinda forgot to mention because still geeking out about Slash...

IDW has announced they're finally bringing Unicron into the story.

Honestly, not really sure how to feel about that.
But IDW have been on a pretty good roll with Transformers for the last six years (barring the odd wiggle), maybe they'll do fine with this concept.

[icon_uk]

So, will Unicron be Earth do you think?

[scorntx]

Really hoping not.
And it doesn't look like it.

[kamino_neko]

I hope so. Borrowing that would be the only way to make Unicron work.

[bj_l]

$10 says Unicorn will be introduced during the next Revolution crossover, rather than a Transformers specific plot instead Transformers title.

[scorntx]

See, I'm thinking the end of First Strike will probably do that.

[bj_l]

You know, with the way they've been managing the properties lately, you're probably right they'd reveal Unicorn in, ultimately, a GI Joe mini.

[cyberghostface]

Well, Jurassic World was more or less on par with The Force Awakens; a soft reboot of the original film designed to be safe as possible for general audiences and heavily relying on nostalgia.

[bj_l]

If you lump American Dad in with Family Guy purely because of Macfarlane I question if you've ever seen the show. For a start it's really funny and deserves to be on for as long as it wants. And Macfarlane has never been very involved with it beyond voice acting.

[icon_uk]

You can certainly question it, but you'd be very wrong. I have seen both, and dislike them both for different reasons.

I lump them together because he created both of them, directed the first episodes of both of them, owns the production company which makes both of them, and provides principle voices for both of them.

[bj_l]

And what are those reasons regarding American Dad?

[icon_uk]

That's a rather passive aggresive way of asking, but okay.

Simply, put I deeply dislike the characters. Stan the comedy right-wing nutjob who never properly gets called on his privilege and power derived from his job, Fran is another comedy wife who is an enabling doormat, Roger is a Paul Lynde soundalike (have we not moved beyond that?)... the list goes on.

[bj_l]

You've... not actually seen much more than the pilot, have you?

[icon_uk]

I have no idea why this is such a big deal for you, but if it helps, yes I have seen a lot more than that, many different episodes, many different seasons, and I stand by my dislike for it.

[bj_l]

Look, I know at scans_daily anything other than 'total agreement and fawning' isconsidered passive aggressive and argumentative, but I am genuinely trying to ask you about a show you didn't seem to have much knowledge about (Especially since so much of the show *is* Stan getting called out on his ridiculous politics and behaviours, for example.). Discussion not allowed when questioning longtime S_D member, got it.

[icon_uk]

You've been a member here long enough to know that polite debate and discussion are not just accepted, they are encouraged.

Question all you like, I have no issue with that whatsoever, but I do take issue with was your suggestion that because I hadn't reached the same POV as yourself I can;t have been watching the program I was watching. I have watched it and reached a different set of conclusion to you, that's how it foes.

You are correct, that there are numerous occasions where Stan has bad behaviour pointed out to him, but they have absolutely no long term impact to him as a character, he's exactly the same at the start of every episode. (Ditto Roger, even moreso given the shit he pulls).

Every lesson learned is unlearned before the next episode starts. It's true of many sitcoms, and I dislike that in principle, but in this case I don't find the -com worth the eternal reset of the sit-.

Frankly, the only way I can even hazard a guess as to what season I'm watching is usually what stage Haley's relationship with Jeff is at, or the remote possibility that the golden turd plotline will show up.

[skjam]

I have a review of Defenders comics up at my blog! http://www.skjam.com/2017/09/11/comic-book-review-essential-defenders-vol-6/

Also, due to my having to move again, I have reopened my Gofundme, see this post for details: http://www.skjam.com/2017/09/05/open-thread-housing-situation-update/

[dustbunny105]

People referring to the porn clip that the Cruz account liked as "hardcore" is bewildering.

[lissa_quon]

Considering he is a rep from Texas, where dildos are contraband, sodomy was only recently unbanned in the last like 20 years, and there's a church on every block the fact it's even porn is eye brow raising enough.

(Still not bonkers as Oklahoma where "hardcore" porn showing penetration is banned from sale, beer is watered down, and folks under 21 are generally not allowed anywhere near a place that serves liquor. )

[dustbunny105]

Oh, yeah, I get why it's A Thing in general. Still weird to me that people are calling it hardcore. Makes me a) think a lot of people don't actually know anything about the clip and b) wonder how many people are assuming the clip is legit hardcore porn based on hearsay.

[kamino_neko]

What in the world is your definition of hardcore pornography?

[dustbunny105]

Well, huh. Google tells me that my definition is incorrect. I've gone for over a decade now understanding it to refer to porn on the rougher and kinkier end of the spectrum... My mistake!