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.

And it was a week which ranged from the announcement of the NEXT Harry Potter book to.... well, I WAS going to mention the death of SCOTUS Judge Antonin Scalia adding another wrinkle to an already complicated election year, but I'd rather mention John Boyega winning a BAFTA for "Rising Star"!

Comments

[doctor_spanky]

http://www.theonion.com/graphic/justice-scalia-dead-following-30-year-battle-socia-52356

John Boyega's also really good in Attack the Block

[astrakhan42]

That article title really sums up the whole situation beautifully.

[junipepper]

Damn. I was just coming to post that!

[janegray]

So I started watching this anime called Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!

It's basically pure, distilled, shameless fanservice. I'm not quite the target audience (I'm a too old to be interested in high school boys, even if they do make it a point to mention that 4 out of 5 of them are 18 years old), but I can't deny a certain kind of glee over a show that so utterly, completely and enthusiastically aims for the female gaze. With a love bazooka.

My only complaint is that one episode had the usual anime trope of gay people as fearsome sexual predators (the protagonists accidentally end up in a gay beach and are terrified of being molested). Fuck's sake. Why is that trope EVERYWHERE in Japanese media? Even Persona 4, a game with deep and carefully thought-out character archs dealing with sexuality and gender expression and considered by far one of the best stories about the topic, STILL had the usual "lol gay guys are scary" joke -_-.

Aside from that, I heard that the new episode of TF RiD will air on February 20th. I have zero interest in RiD (I tried giving it a chance, but I just couldn't care, nothing about it grabbed me. And I actively loathe the decision to literally make Optimus immortal eternal robot!Jesus first ever being created by Primus in the universe and whose spark was almost identical to Primus he is perfect even among gods and he died for their sins and reincarnated to lead us and die and be back eternal and perfect and HE WAS ALREADY THE FREAKING HERO OF THE UNIVERSE WHY DID THEY HAVE TO GO AND MAKE HIM LITERALLY A SAINT GAWD), but I'm hoping they'll bring back the Prime Decepticons and Knock Out.

[icon_uk]

Also not in the target group for "Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE", but I did watch it, and found myself more irked than engaged. Aside from the fun transformation sequences and their reaction to finding themselves in the magical girl mode, with mandatory exclamatory dialgoue and posing, there really is NOTHING happening with them as characters, none of them develop, or grow, or learn anything, which may be the point I suppose, but it's just.... dull storywise and characterwise.

Well, that and we get no indication what any of their individual abillities allow them to do. With the Sailor Scouts (or even the Saints of Athena) it's clear what their power derives from; fire, cold, water, lightning etc and what it can do when used as a solo attack, but that never happens in this show. I'm a geek, i like to know what characters can do.

TF:RID was... adequate as a series, it didn't do very much new or interesting, and the Decepticons are a lacklustre, random bunch.

I did like that Bumblebee was actually allowed to grow and become leader, whilst Optimus was busy doing... whatever he was doing with Micronus. (also that Strongarm is a female without being physically built any different from the males, so no techno-boobs or the like. Last time we had something like that was, I think Stryka on Beast Machines

[janegray]

I don't disagree with your criticism of LOVE, you definitely make excellent and undeniable points.

Still, while I wouldn't go so far as to say that the show engaged me, I did find it very entertaining :)

I would call it the McDonald's of anime. It would be a terrible long-term plan, but it makes for a fun weekend :)

[lb_lee]

Even Persona 4, a game with deep and carefully thought-out character archs dealing with sexuality and gender expression and considered by far one of the best stories about the topic, STILL had the usual "lol gay guys are scary" joke -_-.

Yeeeeah, it really saddened me. (Plus how Naoto got treated in the end, it was this weird kludge of shit.) Kanji and Naoto were always my favorites.

Might I offer this soothing fanart?

[pyrrhocorax]

That is a great fanart!

Have you ever watched 'Free!'?

[deh_tommy]

I think Optimus Prime as one of the original Primes was only ever something that came from the book 'The Covenant of Primus', and hasn't really been mentioned since. I think the Prime Autobots actually made an appearance in the Robots in Disguise series from IDW's tie in series.

Re: Have you ever watched 'Free!'?

[icon_uk]

Free! is a delightful anime, and not just because of the remarkably good looking characters (though that doesn't hurt). It's a well told series with some terrific character arcs.

The Original 12/13 Primes have shown up in more than one place and in more than one iteration. The first ones to mention them were IIRC the BotCon exclusive continuity, which created the notion of 12 legendary "First Transformers" each of whom was patterned after a sign of the Zodiac, for some reason.

That later became the 12 Primes, mentioned in "Revenge of the Fallen", and other places prior to the Chronicles of Primes.

Might be getting that mixed up though.

Re: Have you ever watched 'Free!'?

[janegray]

IIRC, while in RiD they haven't outright said that Optimus was one of the original Primes (and not just any one of the original Primes either, but the one whose spark "was the most like their progenitor Primus, its frequency nearly identical"), they have definitely been taking that info as canon (The Covenant of Primus is part of the Aligned Continuity, which includes Prime and RiD) and building upon it. So when Optimus is killed he just goes back to the Realm of the Primes as an eternal existance and can then come back to life.

As for Free!, I haven't watched it yet, but it's definitely in my to-watch list. A friend of mine has been recommending it very heartily, saying that it's not just fanservice but actually has very good writing. I got a Crunchyroll account so I'll watch it soon :)

Re: Have you ever watched 'Free!'?

[icon_uk]

If it's any incentive, Free! season 1gave us the amazing fanservice-y Ending theme of anything I can recall seeing ever

Nothing in this happens in the anime, not the visit to the fetish club (Check out the background there's at least one guy in a gimp mask) and certainly not the extended Arabian Nights style fantasy sequence. Suffice to say, this is the hour long loop version, and it proved very popular.... because of reasons

And Season 2 gave us this ridiculously cute number as the cast becoming what they wanted to be when they grew up, based on their ideas aged about five years old!

Re: Have you ever watched 'Free!'?

[janegray]

<3

[nightauditguy]

With the grim reaper doing extra work this year, makes you wonder if anyone will be left alive in the music industry by the time it's over.

[junipepper]

The Supremes just won't be the same without Scalia...

[icon_uk]

Rimshot!

:)

[venatosapiens]

Gravity Falls ended last night. I've been watching it for four years or so (curse you, ridiculous Disney scheduling) and while I'm sad to see it go, I'm happy that the series closed on its own terms and went out on a high note. I'm excited to see what the creators do next.

[janegray]

Gravity Falls is definitely on my to-watch list, I've heard nothing but praise about it.

[thezmage]

Yeah, I got a bit misty eyed last night watching it. The bit with the pictures in the credits was just perfect.

And Bill is gonna be in my top villains list for a long time. It's hard to be both threatening and hilarious at the same time, but he was spectacular at both

GLCOPRP GOOGWMJ FXZWG

[deh_tommy]

Do you know where one could listen to the song that plays during the fight with Bill's gang?

I'd be surprised if there actually is a Bill statue somewhere, and if that was installed before or after the episode aired.

[lissa_quon]

Oh lord I was not emotionally prepared for that ending. I'm so glad it ended on the note it did instead of the note it was leading to.

[dadcastellanos]

John Boyega's celebration snapchats were so great! I'm glad he won!

[lb_lee]

So, Zoe Quinn's throwing in the towel after solid years of harassment and legal hell.

:( I feel really bad for her, and totally understand why. It also makes me more aware myself of how easy it would be for me to be in her place. (One of my rapists to this day stalks me online and sends me harassment. I can't elude him without axing my entire fanbase, so I just have to conduct myself knowing every public post I make, he may read.) But god, what an ugly, awful thing.

In nicer news, I've gotten my roomie into Leverage, so we've been enjoying watching that together. It's total escapist fun for me.

[janegray]

Poor Zoe :(

[icon_uk]

How depressing. but given the toll it's taken I don't blame her for a moment.

[lb_lee]

Yeah. I mean, at some point, enough is enough, and she's taken far more shit than most folks could handle.

[md84]

That post was one of the saddest things I've ever read. Also one of the most enraging. The more I read about Gamergate, the more I start wondering if the misogynists of old who protested women getting the right to vote are being reborn.

[lb_lee]

It's not far off. I actually first heard of Gamergate by hanging out on a website that regularly mocks the new generation of the old misogyny, and... yeah, it's basically the same reactionary horseshit.

[commodus]

My Mum is still in the hosptial. She's getting better, I think. But I just miss her and want her to come back home.

[icon_uk]

Wishing her a speedy recovery and return home to her family!

[janegray]

I hope she gets better soon.

[lissa_quon]

Oh dang been there - hope she gets better and out of there soon.

[skemono]

Beware, I live!

Been gone for the past three, four months. Catching up on posts has been a bit of a slog.

Lego dimensions check in thread

[thezmage]

I beat story mode the other day, but I still haven't got all the available minikits. An Australian friend of mine who collects Legos but doesn't play videogames bought the Doctor Who, Cyberman, Wicked Witch of the West, and Marty McFly packs for the toys, and mailed me the discs, so I was able to beat the Back to the Future and Doctor Who level packs. Walmart has all the sets on sale right now, so the Scooby Doo and Simpsons level packs are on their way from Amazon (I love price matching)

So now all I think I'm missing is the Midway Gamer pack and Aquaman packs, and I'll have everything unlocked. I don't have a pole creating character (Sensei Wu might be my pick there, but I might not even need one, I hired a hero the last time that showed up. )

Apparently, through monkeying about on the Lego website, there's some hints for future sets. Harry Potter and the A-Team being big contenders. http://brickinquirer.com/2015/09/21/report-harry-potter-and-other-franchises-leaked-for-lego-dimensions-2/

Damn this is a dangerous game for my wallet.

[venatosapiens]

I'm about to wade into reporting a story on the pervasive, omnipresent issue of harassment of women working in comics. It's going to be very tough to get someone to take the story, but I'm holding out some hope that I can get it through. Wish me luck.

[lb_lee]

Oh wow, I can think of a few of my comics-making buddies who'd have things to say on that! Good luck!

[silverhammerman]

That's important work, best of luck with it.