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.

The intent of these posts is to chat and have some fun and, sure, vent a little as required. Reasoned debate is fine, as always, but if you have to ask if something is going over the line, think carefully before posting please.

Normal board rules about conduct and behaviour still apply, of course.

A truncated effort today because of... stuff, but I'm sure you'll cope.

The Olympics continue, with New Zealand putting forward the first transwoman weightlifter. There was the usual kerfuffle, though as at the same time cis female athletes with natural tesotosterone levels higher than the Olympic limits were being banned from some track events, but not others, it's all something of a mess, organisationally, never mind from the point of view of equality.

Finally caught up with "Luca", Pixar's recent release about amphibious sea monsters living off the cost of a heavily Ghibli-styled looking Italian coast. It is charming and beautiful and is utterly predictable from the word go, but I'll take it as comfort viewing

"Transformers: War for Cybertron: Kingdom" (The titles of these series were SO clumsy) brought the Netflix trilogy to an end. It was... serviceable enough, though it nice to see our first ever on-screen gayTransformer, as Blackarachnia was clearly more interested in Arcee and Airazor than any of the male Transformers, going so far as to give a blushing (but not resisting) Airazor a little peck on the cheek when she is rescued by the Maximal bird bot. (Hey, I'm the biggest classic BW Blackarachnia/Silverbolt shipper going (Though what would the children look like?) but this was a cute alternative)

Also found a couple of fun podcasts, both from Atypical Arists (the studo behind the Bright Sessions et al). "Look Up" is basically a ten episode, slow-burn, meet-cute between two frankly adorable idiot boys (One a bit neurotic, the other the disenfranchised broody type) trying to restablish a connection after years apart, with a desintation that is very clear to the listener if not the two of them very early on... at least I hope it is, because I've not finished yet. "In Strange Woods" is a drama about a bunch of kids, after a tragedy, aiming to learn survival skills from a local loner in the Minnestoa Forest. It's also, weirdly, a musical.

Comments

[zachbeacon]

Wishing ScarJo to best of luck in her lawsuit. I have some issues with some of the things she does but if she can't stand up to an employer who violates a contract so blatantly then what hope do the rest of us have?


This weekend some of the worst people on Twitter decided they would claim the late Sir Terry Pratchett as one of their own.

When his Good Omens co-writer told them that they were wrong, they claimed that he was just trying to appease the “woke” crowd…followed by a lot of nonsense where they intentionally misread the character of Wanda from Sandman because I guess the writer must believe everything the villain of the story says.

(At least its consistent because I’m pretty sure these are also the “You couldn’t make Blazing Saddles today” people.)

When his own daughter told the “Gender Critical” (why do we have a PC term for transphobes?) mob to fuck off they responded that she didn’t know what she was talking about.

(I guess they missed Equal Rites, Monstrous Regiment, and most of the Watch books)

The whole thing reminds me of similar exchanges between ComicsGate trolls and Darwyn Cooke’s widow a while back. Yeah, I think Marsha knew him better than you did, firstnamebunchofnumbers


In other entertainment news apparently Mineta from My Hero Academia is bisexual (or possibly gay).

Considering the tendency of fandoms to ship everyone with everyone else and ignore other character’s behavior, I find the level of denial (“it’s a translation error!”, “they meant ‘I feel for you’ in a platonic way”) hilarious.

Personally, it works for me, Mineta is the superhero equivalent of The Todd from Scrubs and look how that turned out.

*I REALLY don’t get why so many people think Bakugo – who spent years bullying the disabled kid – is “best boy”

[icon_uk]

Wow! You hit three points I would have added in had I had the time, so thanks for that!

And I agree with you on all three, I cannot see ANY redeeming features to Bakugo based on what I've seen so far.

I can sort of see some irritation with the Mineta reveal, that the first actual queer character they introduce is... the one who's a bit of a perverted lech renowned for ogling the girls.

[janegray]

I'm really irritated with how myopic many people are being about the ScarJo VS Disney fight.

"They both suck."

One of them is an individual who, however flawed and unlikeable she may be, is ultimately just minding her own business. And the other is a Corporation which is actively engaged in a long and ongoing campaign to screw over anybody they come in contact with. OF COURSE YOU ROOT FOR SCARJO! If she loses, it creates a precedent that says that Corporations are legally allowed to go back on their written word and openly defy their contracts to steal wages from anybody in their employ, which essentially means any creative ever because they own everything.

I swear, this attitude of only wanting to side with somebody "I'd have a beer with" rather than somebody who can get the damn job done is the termites in the workshop of progress.

[onsokumaru]

Concerning Mineta, he is definitely not implied as gay.
His words both in english and in japanese (horeta) are meant in a platonic way, as in "I admire you".

There would be more arguments in favor of Yaomomo or Sun Eater being gay, although I doubt anything canon will ever happen, Shonen Jump mangas being a bit conservative.

That said, If I had to ship a boy with Deku, Mineta would be way more suited than Barkugo who, while he is trying to change, still has an abusive attitude.

[blueprintstyles]

Olympics have been REAL weird when it comes to gender and trans equality. I liked the Transformers series, especially Starscream's character arc the last few episodes. I'm getting the vibe they're doing a movie to answer the remaining plot holes.

[tinygaylaura]

Whenever idiots say "You couldn't make Blazing Saddles today!" my reaction is "Congratulations that's the funniest thing you'll ever say"

Oh yes how could you possibly make a comedy that has jokes some people might find offensive

It's Always Sunny in Philladelphia, Archer, Venture Brothers, Deadpool, these things don't exist

Never mind that shows like Family Guy and South Park which literally set out to see just how many people they can piss off on a weekly basis just to go "Look how edgy we are" are still running

Whenever someone says "You couldn't make Blazing Saddles today!" all I hear in my head is "I'm a middle class white guy who is mad that he can't say the N word"

[werehawk]

Bob Iger seems to think Disney is not addressing things properly. https://www.cbr.com/disney-ex-ceo-bob-iger-studio-bungled-scarlett-johansson-black-widow-contract/

[tripodeca113]

Wow the second season finale of The Mandalorian was actually really disappointing. I was enjoying it. Our heroes are trapped, a squadron of Darktroopers are about to break in and kill them all. How are they going to get out of this one?

A creepy CGI Mark Hamill, will show up and kill them all with his lightsabre.
The most damming thing I can say, is that it seems like exactly the sort of scene JJ Abrams would have written.
And then it ends without providing any more wrap up.

The Mandalorian, you know who else used CGI to pretend people don't age? Rise Of Skywalker. I'm not saying your that bad, but you need to think about who you want to be.

The fact it ended with an advertisement for another show, also sucked. They were actually pretty conservative with Boba Fett in this season, but they ruined that here. It doesn't narratively or thematically follow from anything he did this season. Do you get to become the head of a crime syndicate, just because you shot the guy in charge? I don't think it works like that, or is Bib Fortuna just sitting around in an empty place with like five guys?

Also Bo-Katan says she can only gain the Darksabre if she beats the owner, but Sabine just gave it to her in Rebels.

Season 3 predictions:
"It's me Carl Weathers , Mando. Marshall Cara Dunne, is busy hunting down some outlaws so she can't be here to see you. Oh no now she is dead:

I finished Star Trek season three!

The Cloud Minders: The underclasses are revolting, because they've spent generations as slave labour, justified by the ruling elite who consider them primitive savages. But then McCoy says they are intellectually inferior, but only because they've spent generations working down in the mines, exposed to gases that stunt their intellect and mental abilities. That's a weird way to go about that message....

Turnabout Intruder: What the fuck was that? Scotty was seemingly the only competent person on board.

Started Star Trek The animated Series (or "The Animated Adventures of Gene Rodenberry's Star Trek" as no-one has ever called it). Where else will you see someone make a giant clone of Spock?

I'd like to thank Scooby Doo and Guess Who for showing that ventriloquism is a difficult talent to adapt to animation.

I saw another person complaining about Steven Universe not having Ruby and Sapphire's relationship be explicit enough. [mutter mutter] ungrateful [little so and so].

Disney is trying to cheat Scarlet Johansson out of money, via a loophole. Strangely some people seem to be siding with Disney.

The bisexual community is trying desperately to expel Mineta from My Hero Accademia. No one wants him.

[icon_uk]

As I understand it, Sabine had never been Mandal'Or or made claim to the title because she hadn't duelled for the Darksabre either, having found it amongst the Nightsisters of Dathomir, so her giving it to Bo Katan was accepted.

When Bo Katan took the Darksabre, she claimed the title of Mandal'Or on the basis that she held the Darksabre and thus reset the "battling for it" succession approach. (Sabine could theoretically have done that too, but didn't want to)

Moff Gideon usurped the title by claiming the DarkSabre when he ruled Mandalore after defeating Bo Katan.

Djin beat him in battle for it, thus claiming it according to the rules Bo Katan had re-enforced herself, so she can't take it from him without being a humungous hypocrite.

Or something. Mandalorean politics is weird.

[tinygaylaura]

" Do you get to become the head of a crime syndicate, just because you shot the guy in charge? I don't think it works like that"

In the Star Wars universe yes you do

[scorntx]

The Cloud Minders got an unscheduled rewrite to change the original intent of the story, which was supposed to end with Kirk patting himself on the back for another Brilliant Solution and McCoy pointing out things still sucked for the people being exploited.
But naw, dawg, actually it's just the hazardous working conditions. Work around that and it'll be fine. No need to do anything about the oppressive caste system on a cloud.

Turnabout Intruder... yii... there is no excusing that.
To paraphrase the TfWiki: "This was the last episode of Star Trek. Could you imagine if it was the last episode of Star Trek ever?"

The Animated Series veers wildly beyond ridiculously terrible, terribly ridiculous and just flat-out insane.
Probably why Paramount refused to even acknowledge it existed for years.

[leahandillyana]

I do try to be as laconic as possible in my comments, but a) the things I want to write about usually need a lot of context provided and b) I cannot at all talk about these things irl, so these comments partially double as venting for me.
On the 11th the parliament will vote on the law nationalizing media in Poland. I am waiting for the shoe to drop. Will public television be reduced to one channel? It all depends on whether the ruling party manages to successfully bribe an internal clique that doesn’t like the idea. To give an image of what national tv in Poland looks like, recently a guy was fired because he didn’t stop a live program when a foreign celebrity took out a rainbow flag and voiced her support for queer people. At the same time there’s an advertising campaign in favor of nationalization of the internet as in Russia and China. There’s a petition urging the government to censor the internet in Poland, so sooner or later a bill like this will appear. And gosh, this really looks bad. And yet the ruling party currently has the highest support in history of Polish democracy, with over 55% of Poles supporting it, in spite of a recent tax reform forcing everybody but the poorest ones to pay higher taxes. There’s also another serial killer on the loose in my province. I’ll leave it at that. There are more extremely sad and bothersome recent events happening to and around me, but I don’t want to focus on them. I desperately need some nice things in my life, so I’ll talk about nice things now.
I’ve read all of Given, and I cannot see why this manga is so popular. It’s basically a Hetalia doujinshi with serial numbers scratched off, with all characters having nation-tan analogues in terms of both personality and design. The art is also very typical of Hetalia doujinshi (rather than Hetalia itself). The story is not very deep, though I apreciate the running theme of „sometimes relationships end by no fault of either party, and it’s ok, you will find someone new in the future and can stay friends with your ex”. Perhaps the music in anime makes it great? Dunno, don’t feel like watching it. The author doesn’t seem to have an idea where to take the story.
I am more hopeful about two sequels of very good and popular yuri series, Bloom Into You and Citrus, which both are published in Poland. I’ve read the first volume of the Bloom Into You sequel and it’s so nice. It’s basically a series of vignettes that unlike the down to earth original contain plenty of fantastic elements.
I binged Wonder Egg Priority and I really, really wanted to like the series. It’s a love letter to Kunihiko Ikuhara, with the anime employing all the tropes and writing conventions the director is famous for. It also respectfully covers several taboo subjects like teen suicide, sexual harrassment, rape and transgenderism. And yet as the episodes go the downsides become more and more prominent. I still hoped for a satisfactory ending, but in the very last episode the series pulls several revelations out of nowhere, turning a very bittersweet ending into a purely downer one – especially my favourite character ends the series completely broken. To add insult to the injury, in the recent interview the writer admited that he basically bullshitted the final episode, as he didn’t think how to end his story when he started it. It leaves place for a continuation, but I don’t think people would be interested in watching it. Nowadays I see the series only mocked for its character designs (blatantly reused from the studio’s hit series The Promised Neverland) and very limited animation in the final episode. What a bummer. In addition to those triggers, the anime features extremely gruesome death scenes of pets that come out of nowhere, so please keep it in mind before watching.
On the other hand, second season of Magia Record premiered, and without spoilers, all I can say is that the developements of the first episode make me so happy. If you are into dark magical girls, watch Magia Record rather than the Wonder Egg disaster.
Turns out not!Sebastian will be the main antagonist in Shining Nikki (and there’s a long-time event where you can craft a suit inspired by Sad Bunny, mascot of Phantomhive company from Black Butler!). I finished all main story chapters avaible thus far and it ends on a very dark note. The creators really want to follow in the steps of Black Butler, huh?
I deeply enjoy the details of worldbuilding. Especially comparing Love and Shining, you can see how various elements developed in-universe. In Shining Zoey’s uniform is a game breaking item, in Love the uniform is basically crafted only for the completion prize. Lilith kingdom in Love used to be called Ninir in Shining, and was later renamed after its queen, whose Shining design incorporates most game-breaking items from Love, showing her lasting influence on the setting. It’s amazing how much thought was put into the game. Lots of respect.
In general, these two games are the dreams of 13 year old me becoming real. I fantasized about elaborate, baroque clothes and dramatic poses, flowers everywhere, flying feathers etc., but were unable to paint what I imagined. Still cannot. With Love and Shining Nikki, I can create those dramatic compositions (here’s one: https://leahandillyana.dreamwidth.org/84250.html). Hard to believe Shining premiered only a month ago. It deeply pleases my id.
BTW, one of my cats is named Sebastian. He loves hamburgers, but not for the meat – he keeps stealing the buns to eat and licking the sauce from the paper wrap.
I’ve read I am not Starfire, and ugh, it’s bad. The story is so condenscensing towards teen girls, if I didn’t know the author is a woman I’d say it was written by a very sexist man. Every preexisting character is wildly OOC even in context of this being an elseworld. And the main character is intentionally ugly. I cannot call her design anything else. I can think of a handful ways of designing a fat goth girl to be cute and pretty or cool and tough, but Mandy as she is… is simply unpleasant to look at. The plot is nearly nonexistent. I hope never to see this character and setting again.
Do you guys think it would be apropriate to make a post about what sworn brotherhood and sisterhood means in Chinese culture? I see a lot of Westerners in fandoms of Chinese games, novels and tv series grossly misinterpret this aspect of Chinese culture. It’s only very tangentially related to comics though.

[icon_uk]

Whilst you are entirely within your rights to not like "I am not Starfire" on it's merits, I do think in suggesting that the Mandy as a fat goth girl should have been depicted as "cute and pretty or cool and tough" you might be missing the point somewhat.

There's no reason she should be depicted as ANY of those thing because as the old saying goes "You doesn't owe anyone pretty".

She is who she is, and who she chooses to be, and more power to her for that. Her value is not in how she presents to the world.

[janegray]

I like Mariko Tamaki's writing about as much as I like stepping on LEGOs, but methinks you missed the point there. Mandy is intended to reject the social imperative that girls only have any worth when they are cute and cool. Her design is meant to be a "fuck you" to what girls are expected to look like even just to be acknowledged as human.


(Nevermind the fact that I personally think she does look cute and cool. I honestly dig her design. But narrative-wise, it's a pretty clear visual rejection of the "sugar&spice" status quo)

[iamrman]

I have been reading some Golden Age Archie. Those pre-Code comics didn't mess around! In one story, Archie and Jughead help Veronica prepare her dog for a pet show, but accidentally wash it with hair remover. In the end, Veronica goes after them with an axe!

In another story, hi-jinx leads to Betty and Veronica getting left behind in the rain. They later turn up at Archie’s house wielding boards with nails in them. I thought the Archie comics were supposed to be wholesome!

Elsewhere, I have been reading Mighty Avengers by Al Ewing. The first few issues were tie-ims to Infinity, to that meant the Avengers fighting the Big Purple Simp's edgelord children. As much as I dislike all that Infinity-related nonsense in general, it did lead to a pretty neat fight with Shuma-Gorath. Fhtagn!

Elsewhere, elsewhere, I have been re-reading Sandman. Nothing really to report there. The series is still awesome.

[tinygaylaura]

"The big purple simp's edgelord children"

Words I can never unread

[malurette]

The rats are eating the anti-slug iron-phosphate pellets like it's candy (or more likeky, food supplements). So of course I can't get rid of either pests! A whole week later my squashes are still in the "male" flowering phase and my baby cabbage has been mowed down to almost nothing.
[insert Distraught Cabbage Man from AtLA here]

[lilacsigil]

Oh no! Those anti-slug pellets worked reasonably well for me, but what worked MUCH BETTER was a colony of blue-tongue lizards randomly moving into my garden. I didn't see a single slug or snail from the start of Spring to the end of Autumn when they went off to nap for a few months. So if any good-sized lizards show up at your door, invite them in!

[tinygaylaura]

The Owl House went from being my favorite current Disney cartoon to being my favorite Disney cartoon of all time this week with them making Luz/Amity (Or Lumity as the kids call them) canon. I am so happy both personally and on a "This is a really huge deal for all the kids watching this series right now" way and it's made my whole week :)

I saw Suicide Squad this week and it was great stuff. Every bit as batshit as I hoped it would with a great cast and lots of fun moments and good plotting. Miles better than the first film in every single way.

Also saw Relic this week on Amazon Prime. I had heard it was very scary and it was but I didn't expect it to be so upsetting. I lost two grandparents to alzheimers so yeah this hit a bit too close to home. It was good but it was not good for my depression.

""Transformers: War for Cybertron: Kingdom" (The titles of these series were SO clumsy) brought the Netflix trilogy to an end. It was... serviceable enough, though it nice to see our first ever on-screen gayTransformer, as Blackarachnia was clearly more interested in Arcee and Airazor than any of the male Transformers, going so far as to give a blushing (but not resisting) Airazor a little peck on the cheek when she is rescued by the Maximal bird bot. (Hey, I'm the biggest classic BW Blackarachnia/Silverbolt shipper going (Though what would the children look like?) but this was a cute alternative) "

I loved this about the new season. I also thought it was the strongest of the three seasons on the whole as well. I thought the show had a fairly weak first season but two was an improvement and this was the best of the three in my opinion

[janegray]

Can I ask how gory SS was, please?

I'd like to watch it because I love Gunn's movies, but I have a very weak stomach for live-action violence. I couldn't even watch Harley Quinn because I saw a scene in the trailer where they break a guy's legs and it made me feel sick >_>

[janegray]

Does Starscream get a decent ending in War for Cybertron: Kingdom?

I've been avoiding any and all TF media in the past several years because I've grown so incredibly sick and tired of my favourite character always getting screwed over. Starscream always gets the shittiest endings, even as compared to other objectively worse villains. The IDW1 comics were the last straw.

I waited until Cyberverse ended to see if Screamer got a decent ending, was told he didn't, and ignored that series entirely. Likewise I haven't even touched the new Netflix series and won't unless I get confirmation that for once he gets a decent ending. Sooooo?

[deh_tommy]

What would you consider a decent ending for him? I can’t think of a single time his story’s ever really ended well (I guess there’s Robots in Disguise (2015) on account of him not dying). I don’t know how his story ends in the WFC Trilogy as I haven’t really been following that too closely.

[scorntx]

It has been over half a month since 'Freedom Day' in England, and so far the country has not been ruthlessly overrun by a horde of alien lobsters.
Oh, well.

Out of boredom, decided to watch the last episode of Kingdom.
It was about what I was expecting of it.
Which is to say, dull.
That said... Blackarachnia providing all the gay energy. YES PLEASE.
(One stop closer to the realisation of my Blackarachnia / Glowstrike fanfic...)
Minor note, for those who may or may not care: She's not the first gay Predacon in a licensed product. That goes to Beast War Uprising's Bazooka and Crazybolt (which, on an irritating note, did fall into the cliche of killing one of them... rassafrassa...)

While there was no Waspinator, given the end product, this might've actually been a good thing?
Especially given how they treated Megatron.
And Tigertron.
Also I just really hate having the G1 and Beast Wars cast alongside one another anyway.
KEEP YOUR PEANUT BUTTER OUT OF MY CHOCOLATE.


Oh, and the Beeb have made the announcement that Jodie Whittaker is actually definitely positively leaving the role of The Doctor in 2022.
'tis a shame.
It'd be nice if they replace her with a woman of colour. Or just a person of colour. C'mon, make racist heads explode...
Entirely ambivalent about Chibnall leaving at the same time. His writing's been pretty hit-and-miss, but never quite down to 'terrible' or 'awful' or 'make me wanna strangle whoever's nearest'.
Just have this horrible feeling whoever's next in the seat might cast a white dude to be safe.
Because obviously the problem with declining viewership is there wasn't a white dude as the main character(!) It's always the main actor's fault, no matter what.
"Too young! Too old! Too Glaswegian! Too Northern! Too symmetrical!"


Thinking of checking out some of the original 70s Ms. Marvel series, despite not being generally interested in Carol at the best of times (if we're talking Marvels, I prefer Monica).

[tinygaylaura]

Yeah my feelings about Chibnall leaving the show are less "It's a tragedy he's gone" and more "I worry who will replace him"

No hate meant toward Chibnall. Just that on the whole he hasn't really made a big impression on me.

I will say I thought both his stories for season twelve and the last new years special were great I thought. The casting of the new Master was a brilliant choice and I'll be GUTTED if we don't get a final showdown between Thirteen and the current Master before Jodie leaves

I loved the Timeless Child twist and thought that it was a great way to add something new to the shows mythology

[onsokumaru]

Watched Kaamelott on theaters last week.
It's the movie sequel of a popular early 2000s french tv series about a depressed King Arthur surrounded by idiots.
Fans have been waiting for it for 12 years. It was supposed to be out in summer 2020, but covid happened, so getting to see it was a blast. It was a nice compromise between the humoristic tone of the first seasons and the dark tone of the last ones.

Reading Rahan comics for the first time since I was a kid, and I enjoyed it more than I expected. It's the adventures of a blond caveman discovering the world and interacting with other members of the tribe of Those-Who-Walk-On-Two-Legs.
While the story have little more scientifical accuracy than the Flintstones, it is, in spirit, a plead for science. Rahan is always curious, he observes the nature and learns from it. When he meets fellows homo sapiens, he sometimes get taught new tricks from them, or sometimes challenges their old habbits and superstitions with reason and inventiveness. Rahan, always trying to make peace with other people and to share knowlege with them, is somehwat a french "Dr Stone".

[cyberghostface]

I read 'I Am Not Starfire' and thought it was decent. It's bizarre how controversial this was. To be blunt 90% of it was because the main character is fat. Some have tried to argue it's because the main character is unpleasant as if rebellious teens who fight with their parents aren't a staple of the coming of age genre.

[leahandillyana]

I didn't like it but I too think that the "controversy" is riddiculously overblown. Overall the comic is on par with the line.

[thezmage]

The Avatar the Last Airbender/Korra TTRPG has just launched on kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/magpiegames/avatar-legends-the-roleplaying-game

[lordy_co]

Hello! I think I should introduce myself. I've been lurking on this communisty for the past 5 or 6 years, and now finally decided to create an account and apply for membership. I'm a 21yo guy from Brazil who likes comics, and I've always liked how Scans-Daily is a multicultural spot for talking about comics.
So there it is! I don't really talk a lot so there's a good chance I'll still just follow most discussions instead of actively engaging with them, but I'm happy to be a part of the community now!

[janegray]

Howdy! <3

[melplayspersonal]

At work, a customer stole one of the sandbags we use to hold down some of our patio umbrella furniture. Amused, I texted my mother, who asked me "What's a sandbag?"

I admit to staring at my phone for a good, whole ten seconds trying to think of how to reply. If I even buy that, somehow, in the sixty years of my mother being alive on this earth, she's never seen or heard of what a sandbag is, one would think the name of the object gives away what it is.

My friend, the same one I keep mentioning on these posts, continues to be shocked by things we all knew about years ago. I swear, her reactions are the best. Today I introduced her to "My Horse Prince". To those who are curious, it was an app game where you play mini-clicker games to raise up your horse's racing speed to race other horses. Except this horse has the face of a hot guy.

Yes, really.

My friend's response - "The aliens will destroy us one day and I wont blame them."

Finally onto fandom things - while the Poe plush I mentioned before turned out to be a pattern to buy instead of the plush itself (boo), I did start to look up the items and clothes I'd need for a DT17 Magica cosplay, and I think it might be within my budget! Fingers crossed!

Oh, and if anyone is into Rifftrax, the dudes have been uploading a lot of their films and shorts on youtube for free lately! To those who don't know, these are the same folks behind Mystery Science Theater 3000, where they basically just watch films and make fun of them. Yesterday they uploaded "The Last Shark", the Italian Jaws rip-off, and it remains one of my favorites.

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO MY FRIEND! HE WAS IN THE BAD NEWS BEARS! NOBODY KNOWS IT WAS HIM, BUT IT WAS!"

[thezmage]

I can relate to your mother, sometimes you see a word that you've known your whole life but your brain just processes it differently into gibberish, especially when it's a compound word like sandbag.

I watched A Talking Cat!?! on the Rifftrax youtube channel recently, and I was driven to its tvtropes page to find out if it was going to end with the m/m couple that it looked like it was going to, where I found the following line that tickled me: "Chris actually has more chemistry with Trent than he does with his intended girlfriend. Perhaps more understandable when one takes into account that the director, David DeCoteau, does softcore gay erotica on the side. IN THE SAME HOUSE."

[lissa_quon]

Not much going on here - trying to do work - but my computer is a potato that keeps fighting me. I HAVE a replacement lied up just - its not in a way I can easily reach it right now. So thats...something.

I am trying to get work done for a Halloween event - and I guess rustle up a Winter Market again. Both requires planning - spoons - and getting stuff to and from the printers in a timely manner. Which is...great for my depression.

Texas sadly has thrown common sense to the wind and we are having a governor sponsored spike in covid. So back to lock down I go just as I was getting used to being able to go places. Maybe I'll get around to learning to make bread this time round. (I planted herbs and learned the way of stir fry and other things instead.)

In happier news a friend gave me Monster Hunter Rise and my hands are quickly forming into little lobster claws as I kill things so I can dress up my fake cat buddy.