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

After a defeat, earlier in the year the EU has approved the first stages of Article's 11 and 13, controversial measures which would have, potentially, a significant impact on any sharing of copyright material. There are many more step to go before it becomes law, but this is one for everyone to keep an eye on. The US may have lost internet neutrality, but this put repsonsibility on the web hosts to police copyright rather than the original licence holders.

Brexit was memorably, if unfortunately, described by as Vince Cable of the Liberal Democrats as "the orgasmic spasm of exteremists" perhaps the only line of his speech that anyone will remember. The fact that the only robustly anti-Brexit party hasn't managed to make any headway as the process sinks into a mire of claim and counterclaim on both sides, does not speak well for their political future.

POTUS, and professional Stretch Armstrong body double, 45 has launched another salvo in the ongoing trade war with China, and warned of more if China retaliated. To the surprise of no one, China has retaliated.

Also, worth noting that at a recent rally, three who was standing behind Trump (and thus visible on the TV screens) and were not looking impressed, was ushered out and replaced by apparently more acceptable faces... MID SPEECH! The young man was apparently taken and questioned for some time before being released. Nooooo... that's not worrying behaviour AT ALL!

The Phillipines and China meanwhile are also suffering from natural coatastrophe as Tropical Storm Mangkhut cuts a swathe across them, with phenomenal quantities of rain falling

The US has also suffered as Hurricane Florence struck North and South Carolina, leading to at least 23 deaths

Elon Musk, has announced that the first person to travel on the SpaceX "moon loop" in 2023 will be Japanese billionaire and online fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa.

The first season of The Dragon Prince, the new series from the creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, arrived on Netflix. Only eight episodes, but they managed a LOT of very solid worldbuilding and despite the two male leads (plus amphibian) reminding me of the two male leads (plus amphibian) from "Over the Garden Wall" the whole thing is very engaging, with some nuanced villains, some outright villains, some nuanced heroes, some true heroes etc etc.

It might be an idea to avoid spoilers since it's only been out a few days, but it not spoiling anything to note that General Amaya, a deaf character who communicates only through sign languange (ASL I believe) is a very positive step. In a nice touch (which I think is consistent), she is frequently accompanised by an intepreter, but if he's not around, then she only has subtitles if she's communicating with someone who also knows sign language.

A somewhat abbreciated list today due to work commitments, but that should just encourage you to post what we've missed!

Comments

[informationgeek]

So, while I haven't been able to play it due to a lack of a PS4, I gotta say that after watching a let's play of Spider-Man, I love it. The story and characters were just perfect and really worked almost perfectly.

Despite all the flash, action, and emotional highs & lows, my favorite scene and most memorable moment comes down to that simple scene of Peter and Otto talking in the lab after Otto reveals something about himself. It just works and hits so well with me, putting so much context into every phone call he made up until then.

[commodus]

I've been seeing a lot of good buzz about The Dragon Prince, I mean, I know the animation style isn't everyone's cup of tea, but the way I see it if the story is good enough you can overlook it. Plus, I really like the design of the Elves, they kind of have a bit of an Elder Scrolls vibe to them you know?

[owlbrigade1]

I've watched a bit of it, and it is okay-ish. The animation is fine, except for the animation on the annoying kid and his sidekick pet (and by that I mean they animated an annoying kid with a sidekick pet in the first place) and the two main protagonists are basically a team up between Hiccup from How to Train your Dragon and Merida from Brave, which is a little peculiar in accent processing terms. I'll finish the season, and probably give the first half of S2 a go, but it needs to step up its game on plot and character interaction.

[obsidianwolf]

Personally, over all I liked it and think it is a good if a bit generic fantasy series.

That said the first few episodes are really inconsistent in quality IMO. There are scenes like the one between Callum and his step father that are just brilliant and scenes that at best are okay for a kids a cartoon.

It is also really obvious folks who worked on Avatar The last Airbender worked on this and at times it is a bit too obvious. I'm hoping if the show gets additional seasons that the writing will find more of its own voice instead of Avatar au fanfic which it reminds me off at times.

[cygnia]

In more teeth-grinding news...

https://slate.com/culture/2018/09/bryan-singer-red-sonja-movie-controversy.html

[silverhammerman]

Definitely one of those situations where I find myself asking why this dude of all people is getting another shot when, even aside from the various controversies surrounding him, he hasn't produced anything actually good in the past ten years.

[malurette]

Yuletide nominations end in two days; for years I stood very far apart from fic exchanges because of a bad first experience in them and suddenly I feel myself very much tempted to participate just to try and boost oh ever so slightly the chances of my newest fandom getting a few more fics.

[owlbrigade1]

Nobody has forgiven the Lib Dems in general, and Vince Cable in particular, for laying the groundwork for Brexit in the first place by jumping into bed in unseemly haste with the Tories for a sniff of power. Maybe if the Lib Dems stopped trying to claim that had been the right move, and trying to pretend they were not a part in one of the most vicious and despicable governments since the Act of Union then they would have made more head way.

As it stands, it seems like the Lib Dems are still trying to get back into government, still trying to enable the Tories by allying with Labour malcontents (to form this mythical new centrist party, which is exactly what happened to enable Thatcher to remain in power in the 1980s) and will probably still dump whatever cherished anti-brexit political position (like they did on tuition fees and opposition to welfare cuts and austerity) they promote the very instant that they get that power too.

The only serious anti-Brexit party in the UK is the Scottish National Party.

[mister_terrific]

The first season of The Dragon Prince, the new series from the creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, arrived on Netflix.

Actually, not quite. Aaron Ehasz was co-executive producer and lead writer for Avatar, nor was he a part of Korra. Giancarlo Volpe wrote for Avatar. They are not the creators.

That would be Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, who as fate would have it had a little announcement of their own today:

https://io9.gizmodo.com/avatar-the-last-airbender-is-being-reborn-as-a-netflix-1829139229

[janegray]

Oh. My. God.

PleasebegoodPleasebegoodPleasebegood

[janegray]

I FINALLY got to see The Incredibles 2, which of effin' course my country got three months after everybody else.

Loved it. Awesome movie, with a lot of heart and fantastic action scenes :D

*SPOILERS (just in case there are other Italians here since presumably everybody else in the universe who was interested in the movie watched it three months ago and no I'll not stop being salty about this)*

I'm just annoyed that, since the villain is pretty obviously queer-coded and conventionally attractive, 90% of Fandom is stanning her as "awesome lesbian icon." She is a really despicable person who victim blames good people for their inability to help, throws innocents under the bus like they mean nothing, claims to be acting out of love for her family but doesn't hestitate to abandon her brother to a violent death when he rejects her plans, and her speeches are a more obnoxious version than "you darn kids and your kindles and internets and videogames!!!111" She is an awesome villain of the "love to hate her and can't wait for the heroes to kick her ass" variety, but Fandom acts like she is awesome period.

[dr_archeville]

Me & mine made it through Florence pretty well.

Me & my mother are up in Roxbro, in the northern central part of the state, we had a few roads flood for a couple of hours and we lost cable/internet for a few hours yesterday.

My sister & her kids are in Little Washington, near the coast. They stayed home, intending to wait it out. They lost power Friday but it was back Saturday, and they lost a few shingles from their roof, but are otherwise fine.

The effects aren't over yet, there's still lots of flooding, and will be more flooding as the rains that hit the mountains in the west of the state flow down into the Piedmont area.

[icon_uk]

Glad to hear it that things are okay with you and yours!

[locuatico]

The Bleach movie is on Netflix and....... It is FAR better than I had expected.
Like, it's not a before/after in terms of manga adaptions, but the acting is decent-to-good. The dialogue is believable. The action is decent. The story isn't a mess because of trying to cram as much of the manga as possible into a 2 hours movie nor is it something that barely resembles the source material.

[janegray]

Really? I had been avoiding it, but if you say it's good I may give it a try.

[icon_uk]

I actually am just watching it right now, spooky coincidence!

[scorntx]

My tentative excitement for Assassin's Creed: Odyssey has raised slightly thanks to the announcement of some DLC. Especially the second one, about what happened to Atlantis. Can't wait to learn what happened there.
(I kid, but I do like exploration of The Lore, and backstory. So it sounds like it might be delightful nonsense.)

Also, given how short the time between the release of Origins and Ody has been, and given there was part of the Aegean in Origins, I'm wondering just how long they've been working on it...

[stubbleupdate]

Also, Evie Frye is in it.

Man, I wish I could play Twindicate for the first time again

[onsokumaru]

I recently had the pleasure of discovering Peepoodo by Balak (Lastman co creator)
It's a series of short cartoons about the sex life of talking animals.
It's hilarous, absolutely not SFW (even outside of the USA), definitely not in good taste and it's also quite educative.

Also the main character is voiced by Goku/Gohan/Goten/Videl's french voice actor.

[stubbleupdate]

If we were villains is a decent murder mystery. My book group loved it.

Next on my "this sounds amazing" to read list is Summerland

In 1938, death is no longer feared but exploited.

Since the discovery of the afterlife, the British Empire has extended its reach into Summerland, a metropolis for the recently deceased.

But Britain isn't the only contender for power in this life and the next. The Soviets have spies in Summerland, and the technology to build their own god.

When SIS agent Rachel White gets a lead on one of the Soviet moles, blowing the whistle puts her hard-earned career at risk. The spy has friends in high places, and she will have to go rogue to bring him in.

[skjam]

I reviewed the audiobook of "If We Were Villains" http://www.skjam.com/2017/05/26/audio-review-if-we-were-villains/ thanks to Tumblr.

[tripodeca113]

The first twelve episodes of Young Justice Outsiders are finished. I'm guessing that they'll air the first thirteen weekly,go on hiatus, then air the second half. Also I assume it'll start early next year.

[zachbeacon]

A friend just sent me this...

https://www.thisisinsider.com/bert-and-ernie-gay-2018-9


That may have been the worst kept secret in show business.

[icon_uk]

It's also a wildly exagerrated claim based on the guys actual comments.

"I used excertps from my life as a gay man sharing an apaprtment with my boyfriend when writing Bert and Ernie" is NOT the same as saying "Bert and Ernie are a gay couple".

The various comments since then, including from Frank Oz, haven't really helped.

[thezmage]

Anybody but me subscribed to DC Universe?

The browsing is crap, as is the comics selection. A few surprises on there like Human Target and the 1980s era Spirit pilot.

Until the new stuff comes out I don’t think it’s worth more than $5 a month, and that’s only if you don’t have most of its shows purchased digitally already. Especially if you’ve already seen all of their DTV movies before. But rewatching some old Teen Titans is pretty good. I forgot how much I loved Haunted

[lego_joker]

I hear they got HD of all three seasons of Lynda Carter Wonder Woman, so it might be worth checking out just on that account...

[skjam]

I've been involved in a Traveling Book Project, where x number of people choose a favorite book to be read and annotated by each other in a circle. It's had a few shipping bumps--we've never yet started a reading period on time. And my semi-random circle is a bit heavy on the young adult fans. But the latest entry isn't bad.

http://www.skjam.com/2018/09/12/book-review-code-name-verity/

Hooray! Bojack Horseman is back!

[deh_tommy]

I wasn't sure why, but over the past few seasons or so I've started to dislike Diane more and more despite still [rooting?] for Bojack, and for the longest time I couldn't put my finger on why.

Was that because she was a jerk at times? I guess, but lots of the other characters aren't exactly saintly/have done worse things yet I can still enjoy their escapades for the most part. Was that because she was a woman? Not really, since I rather liked watching the other female characters on the show. Was that because of what happened with Mr. Peanutbutter? Maybe, but they were both at fault there. Bojack's guilty of a lot of the same sins, yet I can still like him. Then I think I realised why.

Diane has essentially become Bojack.

She runs away from her problems instead of facing them, she's cynical and spiteful, she's always right/has to be right and everyone else is wrong, and the few times she has self-awareness of her behaviour she feels bad but then goes back to the same problems as before as if simply feeling bad is enough. Bojack at least tries to be good (or at least better than he is), but Diane seems to lack his self-awareness. Which is a heartbreaking, too, because pre-Season 3 she was the mature and responsible foil to Bojack's irresponsible and petty behaviour.

Plus, there's the stuff she actually does in Season 5 that sends her spiralling down even worse, which is worrying and really sad to see.

[zachbeacon]

I've been thinking about how the Brett Kavanaugh thing highlights the divide between politics and the rest of the world.

Imagine you went in for a job interview after only submitting some of the required paperwork at the absolute last minute. Now imagine you were rude to the interviewers and refused to answer their questions about how you would preform your duties. Finally, imagine the background check raised some giant red flags.

Congratulations, welcome to the team.