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 among yourselves.

Japan's Emperor Akihito has now abdicated from the Chrysanthemum Throne, ending the Heisei Era. He will be succeeded by his son Naruhito on 1st May, ushering in the Reiwa Era.

After a couple of weeks of blessed peace, the Brexit omni-shambles is lurching into motion again, with the interesting notion that Labour Leader Jeremey Corbyn might actually have to get off the damn fence and take a stance as to whether he supports a second referendum or not, as campaigning for both local elections, and the Euro elections is starting to take place. Labour is as split on this as the Conservatives, and it may lead to both of them losing a lot of seats, unfortunately possibly to the likes of more radical Right Wing groups.

Rod Rosenstein, the US Deputy Attorney General who initiated the Mueller Enquiry has, to the surprise of nobody, announced his resignation.

In Norway, a beluga whale seemingly trained for espionage by the Russians, has been found after it apparently escaped. I'm not sure if this is news or the premise of a new video game franchise, but I'm here for it in either event.

Season 2 of She-Ra dropped on Netflix (Though at only seven episodes, it's a little on the short side as a season), and is as delightful as the first, with an overarcing plot, Eternia getting a name check, flirtatious sexual tension between pretty much EVERYONE and even the villains, monstrous though their aims may be, being mostly cheerfully inept (Kyle strikes me as someone who left looking for a summer internship to the last possible moment, and is now regretting his choices). Special mention though for the episode when we get to discover Bow's secret past and are introduced to his Dad's, who are shown to be as loving and affectionate as any married couple I've ever seen, and I can't recall ever seeing that in a show like this before.

Oh, and this came out today, the first trailer for the "live action" Sonic the Hedgehog movie.. Enjoy!

Comments

[cainofdreaming]

In Norway, a beluga whale seemingly trained for espionage by the Russians, has been found after it apparently escaped. I'm not sure if this is news or the premise of a new video game franchise, but I'm here for it in either event.

What, did they waterboard it into confessing it was a spy whale?

"Confess or we'll pour more water on your face! Confess now!"

[owlbrigade1]

Given that it was Norway that found it, I assume they were delighted to have the excuse to have it executed for espionage.

[gnarll]

Well, I am glad this whale decided to come in from the cold and defect to us in Norway. I can't say I blame the whales, relations between us has not been ideal, historically. You take the allies you can get I guess. And in this case it was the Russians.

Not that the whales are totally blameless. The way Orcas treat Penguins is a big part of why we have Penguins join our armed forces. Its the allies you can get. I had an officer in my regiment of the Penguin persuasion, as I remember.

[icon_uk]

That might be Sir Nils Olav, who lives in my homeland (well, Edinburgh Zoo) and is Colonel in Chief of the King's Guard!



(It might have been another serving penguin of course, shouldn't presume it was an officer)

[gnarll]

It was indeed him:) Although he was just a captain back then. I believe his wages are paid to the zoo and goes to pay for the upkeep of the penguins. I have heard that during the financial crash, they sent a bean-counter up to see if anything could be cut, and it had to be explained to him many times that one of the penguins paid for the penguin exhibit.

[scorntx]

The one major problem I had with She-Ra season 2 is...
It's too damn short. There's no way that's the full season.
(Is this what it was like to watch Voltron?)

Well, that and the continuing exclusion of Netossa and Spinerella.
(Watching the other characters at working, coming to the conclusion they're left out because they know what they're doing...)
And the idea that Glimmer is wrong to be angry at Frosta for being an impetuous idiot.

But apart from that, everything was good.
Scorpia continues to be great.
Mermista is great.
Pretty much all of "Roll With It" is great.
Bow's dads are great. And it's just nice to have parents in this show who aren't evil, terrible or just dead.
Speaking of awful parents, That Bit with Catra is heartbreaking on so many levels.

[icon_uk]

(Is this what it was like to watch Voltron?)

Episode wise, pretty much, though the plentiful textual gay representation is a lot more satisfying than teasing sexual tension with pretty much no onscreen payoff. (To say the least)

[owlbrigade1]

Yeah it feels like it is setting up some really big things, then it just ends. Don't get me wrong, what we did get, I loved. Catra struggling with supply chain logistics (an underexamined part of the workings of all evil empires, if you ask me. I mean, where is Darth Vader's office where he has to spend days working out all the supplies for the Executor and the support fleet movements, not to mention the reports from the Inquisitors), Bow's dads. Oh, I loved Bow's dads so much. And the whole of Episode 4 which was a love letter to the previous iteration of the Franchise. But, just when it seemed to be picking up steam, it stopped.

I'm hoping there is another dozen episodes for broadcast later in the year. It is a chronic problem with Netflix series, they just do not seem to have a handle on season length. 22-26 episodes is what is needed, and if the season plot won't fill that then a bunch of standalone episode of the weeks can easily fill the gap.

[zachbeacon]

"supply chain logistics"

Having fantastic characters deal with the mundane realities of life will always be a favorite trope of mine.

"Oh, look the heavy metal band is going grocery shopping"

I suspect it has a lot to do with my childhood love of Spider-Man. Going to "work" while sick and having to do your laundry have been part of the character since the Stan Lee days. Sure, being able to swing across the city and throw cars is cool but you still have to pay rent.

[dewinged]

Sort of like Voltron; a bit light on the 'entitled fans sending death threats' in comparison.

The season was way too short, the art felt off in the first couple of episodes, and...where's the rest of the Horde? Add some characters, people!

Bow's dads, Lance and George, were so adorkable I was cracking up.

And is Shadow Weaver going off to form her own 'side?' in this conflict? Anything to keep Lorraine Toussiant is fine by me.

[janegray]

Also unlike Voltron in that the showrunners seem to be competent, and capable of feeling empathy.

Not to excuse the terrible, toxic, cruel fandom and their terrible, toxic, cruel actions. But also not a fan of whitewashing the showrunners' own many, many, many faults.

[malurette]

Now I want a Sea-Ra AU/spin-off complete with trained spy beluga whales.
(For the honour of Grey Whales, sparkle, sparkle, dolphin, more sparkles, you get it, but also with more spying!)

[icon_uk]

Oh god, I'd forgotten "Sea-Ra"'s completely deadpan transformation description!! :D

[skjam]

Easter weekend, I went to Minicon 54, and now there's a con report at my blog! http://www.skjam.com/2019/04/28/open-thread-minicon-54/

Long story short, consider volunteering at your next fan-run convention.

[zachbeacon]

Re She Ra:
So they seem to have taken the Voltron route with extremely short seasons.
So the lesbian subtext is just text now, huh?
Also, love Bow’s dads.
The opening credits give me hope that Entrapta will be rejoining the Princess Alliance soon. Catra clearly feels threatened by her so I could see her trying to rid herself of a rival… again.

Re Doom Patrol:
It just hit me that the last several episodes of DP kind of remind me of the last third of Titans (only, y’know, good). You have a lot of character stories (some of which are taking place in someone’s head or flashbacks or both) overlapping at once. The difference is that – while I thought Titans was spinning its wheels the moment that Starfire attacked Raven – Doom Patrol has used it as a way to really examine their characters while moving the story along.

[icon_uk]

The past few DP episodes have been brilliant.

A much better representation of the "Going Underground" story than I'd have expected, though I suspect the odd trigger warning in advance would have been a good idea as I know it was a bit too intense for some people (and I don't blame them one iota)

The Beard Hunter (And yup, him using his power kicked my gag reflex into seriously high gear... I mean, "look away and scramble for the remote to fast forward through it" high gear) was funnier and grosser than I'd expected.

The characters are so much better defined than Titans, that we have the possibility of any two characters interacting and being completely different in a plausible way, so Jane and Cliff, Rita and Vic, Rita and Cliff, and Larry with... well, his other self for the most part, though I thought his meeting with Ed was absolutely beautiful.

All this and Timothy Dalton showing up again with some relevant backstory.

[zachbeacon]

Also, it took much longer than I'd like to admit to realize Scorpia is voiced by the same woman who plays the HR person on Super Store.

[krait]

Wow, to think I will have lived through three Eras... As long as I survive through tomorrow, anyway. :D May Naruhito enjoy a peaceful reign, with a minimum of Naruto jokes.

Though what's with abdicating and having no Emperor for a day before putting the new guy on? That seems unusual, but possibly I just read too much Terry Pratchett. (The only thing faster than the speed of light is the speed of monarchy.) :D

[icon_uk]

Well it's getting a little difficult to find anyone who's lived through four Era's, since Hirohito ruled from 1926 to 1989, so you'd need to be 93 or over. Even Queen Elizabeth II only scrapes in by 8 days for that one!

The old Emperor is now Daijō Tennō/Jōkō, or Emperor Emeritus, so he can notionally exert influence though he won't, and presumably is on standby until the ceremony tomorrow.

[informationgeek]

The Sonic Trailer finally dropped.

......
._.
:\
:/

Yeah. Detective Pikachu can't come soon enough.

[mastermahan]

Welp. James Marsden screaming in horror and shooting Sonic certainly sums up my reaction.

[bruinsfan]

Did he learn nothing from starring in Hop?!?

[janegray]

I know you shouln't judge things just from a trailer, but... damn. That thing is ugly >_>

If Sonic can say "Gotta Go Fast", there's no excuse for Joker not to say "We live in a society"

[deh_tommy]

This could just be my Sonic fanboys am blinding me, but, to be completely honest... this doesn't actually look half-bad (in my opinion at least). The CGI could use some work, but that's nowhere near what I feared.

[informationgeek]

So I worked opening weekend for Avengers at my theater.

Let me tell you... that was insanity. However, I worked with a team the entire time, so it was manageable... sort of.

Monday though, I was alone. I sold both tickets and food at the same time, since Mondays are usually slow. The theater was predicting 300 people maybe showing up... but we got hit with 700 before the end of my shift and I dealt with most of it by myself at time. I don't know what they were thinking.

So, reminder to people, please be nice to those who work at theaters during big movie openings.

[icon_uk]

I went on Friday morning, being off work for other reasons. The cinema has 5 screens all showing nothing BUT Avengers Endgame (I think one was showing one screening of Dumbo in the evening)

To my immense surprise there were, I think 8 people in the whole cinema, and that's including me. So that was nice! :)

[owlbrigade1]

A smile, and a please and a thank you, is something that should be expected of customers just as much -if not moreso- as from staff. My grandmother always raised me to say please and thank you to people in what we now call the service industry, and it flat out kinda horrifies me that so many people don't teach their kids that.

Shall do.

[sisterofbloomerjunior]

I remember working at a theater when "Batman" in 1989 was the summer blockbuster, so you have my sympathy.

[flint_marko]

"I can't recall ever seeing that in a show like this before."

Nickelodeon's Loud House also features a gay couple who are the fathers of the main character's best friend.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_and_Harold_McBride

[icon_uk]

Ah thanks. Not a show I have access to, but nice to know She-Ra isn't completely isolated in that front

[flint_marko]

In other news, the alt-right's attempt to smear Buttigieg as a sexual predator blew up in their faces.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/far-right-smear-merchants-jacob-wohl-and-jack-burkman-try-to-slime-pete-buttigieg-with-bogus-sex-assault-claim

[zachbeacon]

Why is Wohl not in jail yet? He does this kind of thing all the time.

[thezmage]

Star vs the Forces of Evil has seemingly gone back to Earth, and Marco’s ex-girlfriend is gay

[gadz00ks]

Oh good, someone mentioned Star Vs.

And yes, Jackie seems to have a French girlfriend, although they're going the ambiguous route of never explicitly mentioning it and we're to infer it from holding hands while skateboarding (and suggestive dialogue like "I discovered something about myself").

I kind of hope she's bisexual though, but that's more a personal bias and I don't know how'd they would ever reveal that on the Disney Channel.

Still if you've been upset with season 4, the last 8 or so episodes starting with Globgor's introduction have been much better than the rest of the season. And it seems there's still plenty more to go until the finale.

But speaking of LGBT reps, Bow's dads really are a triumph as gay couples aren't represented too much this explicitly in children's media (not that it's a competition). The Loud House really is the only other one I can think of.

[thezmage]

I would rule out bisexual because the “discovering something” line comes immediately after laughing at Marco taking responsibility for the breakup. And the Disney Channel is actually a little more lgbt friendly than you might think. I understand they have an out gay character on the live action tween sitcom Andi Mack

[gadz00ks]

Well, again it's a personal bias since I'm bisexual and want to see more people like me.

And that wasn't meant as too harsh a dig on the Disney Channel, as they're improving. Maybe not as fast as I'd like but I'd rather foster progress. More that showing a minor side character that hasn't made an appearance since early season 3 is explicitly bisexual in the show itself without Jackie just saying "I'm bisexual" is a pretty tall order for any piece of media.

Tween sitcoms would be my blindspot as I never have and probably never will have any interest in them. But if true, good for them.

[laughing_tree]

Can someone help me identify a one-shot web comic I read ages ago? It's about Prometheus from Greek god, chained to his rock and tortured. The comic shows that he despaired about his fate for the longest time, but not anymore. These days, he's still chained and tortured, but every time he looks up in the sky, he can see planes and satellites, and he knows that his gift of fire to mankind paid off.

I could have sworn it was by Scott McCloud, but I checked his website and couldn't find anything that matched.

[sisterofbloomerjunior]

So I've been watching "Vento Aureo" through Tubi on my television. Some of the stands are more gruesome, but I'm liking the show so far.

[sisterofbloomerjunior]

I also attempted that "screen detox" that's occurring this week, but I was too curious about things in the book of speeches I was reading to continue the detox.

[tripodeca113]

I finished reading Kings of The Wyld. Had some pacing issues, but the emotional moments worked well/

I also started reading The Finder. It's weird.

I was feeling down, but I feel better now.

[gadz00ks]

The Tony Award nominees have come out and it looks like Hadestown is the new hotness with 14 nominations. Which if you haven't listened to the soundtrack yet, you owe it to yourself (try listening to "Why We Build the Wall" and then remind yourself it was written in 2010).

Other musical stand-outs are Tootsie, Beetlejuice, and The Prom (about a lesbian couple that create their own prom after the school forbids them from attending).

Sadly, Be More Chill only gets one nomination for best original score. You'll always be my guilty pleasure.

Updates on Sonic Movie

[silverzeo]

The backlash from Sonic's appearance in the trailer seem to have the director making the announcement that he will "#FixitFast"

https://twitter.com/Nintendeal/status/1124072670688051200

Also, Big the Cat got a new theme song for new Sonic Team Racing game...

Re: Updates on Sonic Movie

[icon_uk]

It does suggest that this thing has got within six months of it's release date, with associated marketing and promotion already underway, and NO ONE working on it in any capacity, looked at the title character and thought "That's a bit shit, isn't it?"