Mod Post: Off-Topic Tuesday

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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.

The International Tennis Federation has decided not to join the Woman's Tennis Association in suspending any tournaments in China over concerns about Peng Shuai. Their justification that they didn't want to "punish 1.4 billion people” has raised many an eyebrow.

I could go on with the real world/politics, but between Omicorn and... well, politicians in general, it's kind of disheartening all round on that one, so let's sidestep that here.

Michael Sheen has declared himself a not-for-profit actor. Good for him!


Matrix: Resurrections dropped a second trailer. I still find myself not caring about any Matrix beyond the quite enjoyable first one, but if such be your pleasure, enjoy!

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous dropped a new season, which I hadn't been expecting.

HasLabs's latest project, the Rancor from Return of the Jedi, became the first project to fail to reach it's funding target..

Doctor Who: Flux ended with a VERY (probably TOO) busy finale, which in my humble opinion actually managed to stick the landing: Most of the subplots were wrapped up in a satisfying manner (With a few left over for future dealings). We found an amusing new weakness for the Sontarans. You could see where this HAD to have been a longer story cut down, and which probably had much more Kate Stewart (and might have explained to us who the random bloke who sold her out was). Jodie Whittaker was on top form as she flirted with two unexpected guest stars. Bel and Vinder got their ending (and didn't appear to be what a lot of fans feared it would be, well not so far) and Dan got a bedroom.

Oh, and the New Years Day special got a name and a trailer.

Comments

[zachbeacon]

Finally got around to reading The Time-Traveling Caveman and am once again struck with that empty felling having (almost) no new Sir Terry Pratchett books to read. Well, I still have Father Christmas’s Fake Beard (this does seem the time to read that) and some of the really early stuff like Strata that I never see in print.

My initial takeaway from last week’s Young Justice was that not much happened but then I realized just how much I have to say. I had to watch it a second time to get my thoughts in some kind of order.

Its more speculation and commentary than actual spoilers but just in case ….

Url, n guveq fgbelyvar!
Jr svanyyl tbg gb frr nabgure frnfba bar punenpgre (Mrr!). Fgvyy ab fvta bs Ebpxrg.
Guvf unf orra ohttvat zr fvapr ynfg frnfba ohg vfa’g Genpv Guvegrra fhccbfrq gb or unys Nfvna? Fur ybbxf irel juvgr va guvf fubj.
(Nyfb, Yrebl vf n wrex)
Gurl’er ernyyl gryrtencuvat gung jr’er qhr sbe n arj Qbpgbe Sngr, uhu? Cbbe Xunyvq qbrfa’g unir n punapr.
Guvf vf na njrfbzr gnxr ba Znel’f cbjre frg gubhtu fbzr bs gur qvnybthr (naq gur snpg gung jr unira’g frra Pncgnva Zneiry fvapr ynfg frnfba) znxrf zr jbeel fbzrguvat unccrarq gb Ovyyl.
Qbrf QP guvax gurer’f n tvnag Inaqny Fnintr snaonfr bhg gurer? Fgbc gelvat gb znxr “srgpu” unccra! Gur bayl guvat tbbq nobhg uvz ner fbzr bs uvf qrprqragf naq guvf fubj unfa’g ernyyl qbar Fpnaqny nal snibef.
Abg hcfrg nobhg n Xynevba fcbgyvtug, gubhtu.
Avzhr! V trahvaryl pna’g gryy vs guvf Knanqh vf fhccbfrq gb or uhzna be abg.
Qbrf gur cerfrapr bs Synj naq Puvyq vzcyl gung jr’yy or frrvat Trzjbeyq (be ng yrnfg Nzrgulfg) fbba?
Jryy, vg gbbx avar rcvfbqrf ohg fbzrbar svanyyl abgvprq Ornfg Obl’f boivbhf qrcerffvba. Ubcrshyyl Oyhr Qrivy sbyybjf hc ba vg. Erzrzore gur svefg frnfba jura gur Yrnthr npghnyyl pnerq nobhg Gur Grnz’f zragny urnygu?
Un, Fgenatre chyyrq n Ongzna!
(V thrff grpuavpnyyl Ongzna unf orra chyyvat n Fgenatre)
Fb gur Yrtvba ner whfg gbhevfgf ng guvf cbvag, uhu? Znlor Cunagbz Tvey jrag ubzr jvgu Fhcreobl naq gur bgure gjb ner gnxvat fbzr crefbany gvzr.
(Npghnyyl, gur vzcyvpngvba gung gurl zvtug or vagrerfgrq va Tnesvryq engure guna Pbaare vf gur svefg erzbgryl perqvoyr rivqrapr Fhcreobl vf npghnyyl qrnq … abg gung V ohl vg)
I wonder if we’ll see Mister E. Aren’t they aligned with Order?

[dewinged]

In want to talk about the latest YJ episode also, because I am highly worried for one character. But I have no idea how to translate what you wrote.

[thezmage]

I pretty much agree to everything you have to say about YJ.

[scorntx]

According to t'internet, Mister E is not aligned with Order.

[tripodeca113]

Deep Space Nine part two

Vortex: Should Odo let a murderer go free, if he has a sad backstory?

Battle Lines: Sisko accidently kills the Kai (the Bajoran spiritual leader).

Sisko shows that he's willing to violate the Prime Directive for moral reasons. Thankfully the people involved are dicks, who refuse his help so manages to avoid a court martial.

Wait...there's something familiar about that guy, yes, it's Mike from Breaking Bad. His head is kind of lumpy so he makes a good alien.

The Storyteller: Sisko mediates a land dispute, O'Brien and Bashir have to save a village. Meanwhile Nog tries to get a girl to like him.

Progress: It's okay to forcibly remove people, if it benefits a larger amount of people, and the people will die if you do nothing....I suppose that's not technically wrong, but it's not the happiest message ever.

If Wishes Were Horses: Once again the day is threatened by the most dangerous force in the universe: IMAGINATION.
Odo tries to deal with an infestation of emus on the station.

The Forsaken: Odo is trapped in an elevator with Luxana Troi who recounts the time she fucked a Ferengii.

Dramatis Personae: Kira seduces Dax so she can seize control of the station.

We see that on Deep Space Nine, they fasten their cargo down, so that people don't get hurt by empty plastic barrels.

Duet: We'll that was grim. Especially since it's based on horrible things from real life.

In The Hands of The Prophets: As a form of protest, Keiko teaches historically inaccurate information about Earth's historical figures.

Who could the saboteur on the station be? Could it be Quark? Odo? Or maybe it's O'Brien's new assistant who never appeared before now?
Only a slow-motion leap can save the day.

I've been watching more of RWBY. It's kind of jarring when they say stuff like 'bastard'. Still considering what's going on with genlock, I guess it's not that bad...

Wow the story campaign for Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2017), is bad. I take back what I said about Star Wars Squadrons.
Play as the Empire...for about three missions before they defect, and then pretty much assimilate into the Rebels, who hold no grudge against them.

I kind of wish there was a game actually about being a part of the Empire. You'd be a grunt on some grey planet they'd be exploiting resources from. As civil liberty's gets eroded, you start cracking down hard on the population. In the end you get drafted to the frontlines and die.
I see no reason why Disney Lucasfilm won't make that game.

I watched the first seasons of Misfits. They sure have some funny words in Britain. The finale episode was a bit of a let-down.
I think one of them is that guy from game of Thrones, before he got typecast. Please don't tell me if I'm right, I need that finite brain space to remember Pokemon trivia.

I've decided to start writing content for my niche fan-pairing. So far my first story is about half done, but I fear the second half (where the fun happens), will be harder to write. Well write well anyway.

[owlbrigade1]

Battle Lines: Sisko accidently kills the Kai (the Bajoran spiritual leader).

She got better. Even for Star Trek this was the easiest example of walking off a case of death ever.

I love The Storyteller though. It sets the stage for Trek's greatest love affair, that of Miles and Julian. Even in this early episode the two actors have so much chemistry together, they really do.

And in Progress, Kira shows Picard what he should have done way back in Journey's End. If he had it would have prevented Star Trek Voyager and we'd all have been spared Neelix.

[wizardru]

It's kind of crazy that the same guy (Iwan Rheon) who plays the monster Ramsay Bolton in Game of Thrones is also the lovable naif in Vicious, filmed about the same time. I remember him from Misfits, but never saw much of that show. Finding out he played a member of Motley Crue in their biopic? Weird.

[deh_tommy]

If they did make that game, there’s probably be a lot of outcry of how Lucasfilm and Disney were deliberately catering to/promoting fascist/alt-right/exceptionalist/what have you values and any attempt at showing a villainous or flawed protagonist with any kind of nuance or sympathy or redeeming traits whatsoever or implying they’re anything but moustache twirling irredeemable demons is problematic, because places like Twitter can’t differentiate critique from endorsement even when the work is screaming “THIS IS A BAD THING” over and over.

The original Battlefront II (and I think a bit of the new one) take place from the perspective of the Empire.

[silverhammerman]

I love Duet, I think it's were DS9 really kicks into high gear and shows what it can really do and what you can expect from it going forward.

On the topic of Star Wars, I always thought that it was strange they never made an "Imperial Commando" sequel to the old squad shooter Republic Commando game. It's the kind of thing they're rather lightly broaching now with the Bad Batch series, but a game about doing missions at the birth of the Empire as it becomes more and more clear that you're actually the baddies would have been well in line with Republic Commando's somewhat skeptical take on the Republic.

[lordy_co]

Duet: We'll that was grim. Especially since it's based on horrible things from real life.

Ah yes, the "Okay, this isn't my parents' Star Trek" episode. That's when I realised Deep Space Nine would become my favourite of the Trek shows, despite it schewing most of the "living is being in constant flux" themes TNG had.

[leahandillyana]

International situation is turning dire. There’s a real possibility that the border disaster that makes any party involved look really bad was a smoke screen to take international attention away from prepared joint Russian-Belarussian invasion of Ukraine. That’s really alarming. In case it happens, I doubt Poland will treat Ukrainian refugees better than Belarussian ones. Polish governing party alongside Hungarian governing party and far right populist parties from France and Belgium created a new political bloc within European Parliament, with explicit goal of destroying the Union from within. Le Pen, leader of National Rally, has personal financial ties with Russian government and just stated that she considers Ukraine and Belarus to be within Russian sphere of influence and she won’t do a thing in case of invasion. What a charming new friend. Why did a fourth of Frenchmen vote for her. My mother, me and even my friend are having very bad prophetic dreams. I really hope it is just a result of stress we are all living in. Me and mother have to rely on sleeping aids, and those meds fuck up your dreams after long use. On the other hand, mother is a true prophet, in literal, supernatural sense, so I’m very worried. Let’s talk about less grim things.
I checked twitter for more Gen:Lock news, driven by a faint hope that they’ll go for “Kazu revived with memories missing” plot. But nope. Not only does the man stay truly dead, but also the episode features fan-favourite teen character committing suicide. Wow. They really want to make the franchise so toxic it won’t be revived for decades. What’s it with American takes on mecha genre all failing terribly? Every alternate reality Gundam anime looks like a freaking masterpiece when compared to Voltron, Gen:Lock and even Pacific Rift 2.
Given that this month has no more anime premieres interesting to me, I thing I can make an annual retrospective already. Surprisingly, in my opinion 2021 was an amazing year for anime and anime-style animation. I don’t remember when I have last watched so much! In a very short summary, here are:
• Anime movies I enjoyed: Sailor Moon Eternal movies; Nanoha movies (very old stuff, but I only watched them this summer); Evangelion 4.0 + 1.0; Hathaway’s Flash part 1; Revue Starlight movie; Free the Final Stroke part 1; The Dragon and the Freckled Princess.
• Anime series I enjoyed: Heaven’s Design Team; Cells at Work; The Promised Neverland s2; Moriarty the Patriot s1 + s2; Mewkledreamy Mix (I love Sanrio aesthetics, wouldn’t recommend to any adult who is not already a fan of this type of cuteness); Shadows House; Tokyo Revengers; Case Study of Vanitas; Magia Record s2; Yuuki Yuuna s3; Moon, Laika and the Vampire Princess; Muv Luv Alternative.
• Anime series I have mixed feelings about: Wonder Egg Priority (the ending was a disaster); Zombieland Saga s2 (only here for Yugiri’s backstory); My Next Life as a Villainess s2 (after the main plot was resolved in the first season there’s not much left to tell, and the humour became repetitive at this point); Great Jahy Won’t Be Defeated! (has funny moments but I lost my interest at some point); Higurashi Gou ans Sotsu (which not only overwrites the bittersweet ending of the original anime but also turns a well-loved protagonist into a villainess – furthermore, they spread a storyline that’d fit into a single movie into 50 freaking episodes, as long as the original Higurashi run); Blue Reflection Ray (more like a collection of random events than a story, but on the plus side it has a cast made of all lesbians – I’m not joking, it’s a yuri anime, with a lesbian archetype for every taste); Vixoss Diva Alive (a straight forward idol AU is a strange way to take a Madoka imitator dark’n’edgy magical girl series – and not a very interesting one, no matter how I liked the original series).
• Anime-style animation I enjoyed: Modaozushi (highly recommended!); Onyx Equinox (even more recommended!!); High Guardian Spice.
• Other animations I liked: Centaurworld; He-Man and the Masters of the Universe; Murder Drones pilot; Helluva Boss; the new My Little Pony movie.
• Animation that pissed me off: RWBY s8; Gen:Lock s2; Injustice movie (aka no nuance November the movie). Surprisingly, MOTU: Revelation is not in this category – the writing’s not THAT bad and the animation is gorgeous.
In late November I’ve read some retrospective on Batfam stories:
• All of Urban Legends. As an anthology, it’s… nice. Okay at worst, interestingly insightful at best. The authors clearly are interested in the characters they write rather than producing a story because they were paid to do so. THAT Tim story was actually pretty good. I’m just salty they broke him and Steph up, but thankfully it doesn’t seem to mean we will never see her again. Yay for Batgirls! Though was the series canceled? It’s not in December solicitations.
• I enjoyed Flatline’s backstory in Robin’s annual, but would prefer to read more on the other original characters instead of rehash of what was already said about Green Arrow and Ravager. The series remains a delightful manga.
• Tom Taylor’s Nightwing run focuses mostly on connections Dick has with various characters, which normally would be a plus, but barely anything happens in the title plotwise – the run honestly feels more like fanfiction than an official comic too me. The annual on the other hand has at least two different retcons, one regarding the 80s storylines, but another a very recent character development. I enjoy the story, it’s just all fluff, little action to me.
• Ghost Maker’s story from Batman backups and annual has interesting new characters, unique art style, and finally gives said character a backstory… yet the resolution in my opinion wastes most of these elements. Speaking of Batman, I lost track of what’s up with Poison Ivy. I think I’ll make a Batman + Catwoman + Harley Quinn retrospective to know what happened with her. Would be nice to have a new Gotham City Sirens title with the Gardener and Miracle Molly joining the original trio.
• Marvel continues to suck, but it seems to be less sucky in December than in November. I enjoyed the White Fox special, as I loved Agents of Atlas and would read anything they appear in. I also don’t think certain character was killed for real. Finally, I’m happy that Echo series retcons back a major characterization issue I had with Maya’s new role and seems to be addressing my other major issue next. Her new love interest is an interesting character by himself.
Now, I wanted to talk more about Muv Luv. I loved how the anime explicitly condemned American imperialism. I don’t remember any anime doing so in such an outright manner, and there are only a few manga I can remember that do so. Unfortunately, at the same time the anime refuses to take a similarly critical look at Japanese imperialism. Instead, it’s filled with nostalgia – the country is still called Empire of Japan, famous WW2 battleships that were sunk irl are still in operation in this universe, there’s a shogun who’s the biggest Yamato Nadeshiko I’ve seen in years… and that’s just the things that the gaijin me can point out. While the actual events of the Japanese imperialism are never discussed and despite dunking on American politics all of American characters who appear on screen being portrayed sympathetically, I’m honestly disturbed by the careless attitude towards own history of creators – especially since a few years ago they produced an anime set in the same franchise but in the 80s East Germany, showing surprising tack and knowledge when talking about the communist regime of the nation. There’s a spin-off written currently by a Chinese author in the very setting, so I’m not sure if what I’m pointing out is that much of a problem.
Yuuki Yuuna has a similar problem, though it’s probably less overt to foreign audience as the aesthetics are inspired by 12th century rather than 20th century. The very premise of the story is based on the presumption that Shinto is the only true religion, which is pretty xenophobic when to think of it, but one the other hand it’s a presumption that most believers of Abrahamic religions hold without question, so…. I don’t know. What’s also worthy of at least rising your eyebrows is the fact that overt nationalism is played for laughs a few times with the character of Togo. She’s a teen girl with a mindset of a samurai, rejecting all things foreign from foods to words, and shouting WW2 slogans like “strangthen the country, strengthen the military” - none of this makes any sense in a setting where the human world was reduced to one island, so there are no countries to speak of, not even Japan as we know it. These are just a few moments, but they make me feel uneasy.
Drop rates in Magia Record suck. I’ve been saving currency since the Halloween event ended for the Christmas event. I sacrificed an enormous amount of in-game currency and all I got was one new card. I mean, cards are useful, but come on, in either Nikki game that much diamonds in a gacha would let the player at least complete the secondary suit. I feel mildly grumpy about it.
I don’t like the celebrations of Christmas, but I am very, very glad to obtain various gifts as they will help me fill the seemingly bottomless abyss of expenses. Supermarket cupons are the best.
On a rare positive note, my mother bought me a med-in-sticker thing that finally helps me with my chronic pain. It feels amazing not to hurt all the time.
(I think I’ve turned into an old person before I even finished my university degree.)
Sorry for a very long post. These are things I wanted to share for a very long time.

[onsokumaru]

"Polish governing party alongside Hungarian governing party and far right populist parties from France and Belgium created a new political bloc within European Parliament, with explicit goal of destroying the Union from within. Le Pen, leader of National Rally, has personal financial ties with Russian government and just stated that she considers Ukraine and Belarus to be within Russian sphere of influence and she won’t do a thing in case of invasion."

It's crazy how everybody on the far right spectrum has their tongue litterally stuck on Putin's boots. And if it was only the far right...
France's major left party leader, Melenchon, pretends to be against Putin, but he hates USA and OTAN so much that he will defend the russian president at any time, even when he invades Ukrain.
The only people left who are not Putin's lapdogs and have a chance to win the next french election are the capitalist conservatives and the capitalist "liberals".
It's the old good Giant Douche or Turd Sandwich choice.

[zachbeacon]

Glad you're feeling better physically and I totally get being down on Christmas.

"It is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices."

-Dickens

[stefan1984]

I strongly doubt that Russia will invade the Ukraine. There is nothing for them to gain from such a move. At most they will increase the support for the separatists in the eastern parts. Maybe even send some heavy weapons, though that is unlikely as things stand now. What is more likely is that the Ukraine will attack the separatist with full force while NATO will look for any pretext to perform "punitive" actions against Russia. And the latter is what you should really worry about since those will force Russia to respond in kind. While I personally doubt that Putin will authorize more than eliminating the attacking forces, the USA and its allies will likely view any counter action as an excuse to go to a full military response.
So in short we have a lot of people in the west that want a war with Russia for a multitude of reasons while Putin would prefer for things to remain as they are.

[malurette]

I've just watched Jurassic World and while there may be quite a lot wrong in the movie and the whole franchise, what I hang my disbelief on is, why was the Indominus chick the wrong side up in its egg?

[scorntx]

I think Who managed to stick the landing, more or less.
(Though there were bits of the episode that felt rushed.)
First thoughts though:
Dan... you will die for that.
Writers, either say Yaz is as gay as we all know she is or don't. Stop dancing around it.
oooh, an ominous prophecy. Haven't had an ominous prophecy in ages. Love a bit of ominous.
Very upset about [CHARACTER].
Love the Doctor just having no time for the Grand Serpent.
(aside: It's weird that the opening credits list the producer. Who exactly is sitting there thinking "gosh, I like knowing who wrote and directed this, but what I really wanted to know was who produced it!"?)

Young Justice:
Yay! Mary Marve-... oh, for...
(I mean, some of that's because DC and its stupidity with the Captain Marvel trademark, but even so, I'm still tetchy.)
Oh. Great. That guy.
Hey, look. The current Doctor Fate. In an arc about Zatanna. Who's father has been playing meat-puppet for Nabu. Eh, probably coincidence.
An Amethyst reference? Golly. But will there be an actual Amethyst? Dare I get my hopes up?
So... when comic Vandal makes those stupid "I was every famous person in history even though I look and act nothing like them, and I did all these things even though you know I was either drunk or high or both!" claims, did the writers of Young Justice think, "yeah, this is a great idea. Let's play that completely straight!"


Just finished an intentionally crummy run on Mass Effect.
Gosh, how quickly you can get through by skipping so many sidequests.
... still managed to get through the Collector Base without a single fatality, even at half strength. (didn't have the heart to let the crew get liquified.)
And without killing the Virmire survivor. They still ended up not rejoining, so... technical victory?

Also doing some reading, apparently some new races were left out of Andromeda for budget reasons (okay, fair enough) and because... of consideration to cosplayers.
Yeeeah.
Because as is known, practicality stops cosplayers dead.
(I don't know what happens if one Googles "hanar costume", and I'm quite happy living in blissful ignorance.)

[iamrman]

Went shopping at M&S at the weekend because I wanted a caterpillar cake for my birthday.

In comics news, I have been re-reading the early issues of Lee and Kirny's Fantastic Four. I do like foimg nack amd readimg themfirst appearances of so many important characters. And Miracle Man.

I have also been re-reading PAD's Hulk run. I was intruiged to see what happened to Rick Jones next, so I decided to start on the Genis-Vell Captain Marvel. Early days yet as I have only read the first issue, but it is pretty good so far.

As for DC, I have just finished reading Geoff Johns's first run on the Flash. I have no further Flash trades to read, so I am going back to the early days of the Messner-Loebs/Laroque run.

At the moment though I am reading the O'Neill/Kitson Azrael run. Mmm, I love me some AzBats!

[onsokumaru]

" I decided to start on the Genis-Vell Captain Marvel. Early days yet as I have only read the first issue, but it is pretty good so far."

I hope you'll enjoy the first page of issue #6 as much as I did.

[onsokumaru]

This sunday, french mysoginic, racist, homophobic "politician" Eric Zemmour held a meeting.
It was interrupted by anti racist militants, who got beaten up by the pro-Zemmour thugs. There is even a video showing one of those punching a woman multiple times.
Will that sway people against Zemmour? Will he lose his supporters? Of course not. We're currently listening to lyrics and music that our american fellows already know very well.

[zachbeacon]

There’s a big Agatha Christie sale on Kindle today.

I didn’t get anything because money is kind of tight.

I got curious and wondered when it would finally be in the public domain.

Apparently, some of it already is as of this year.

Some “sale” ya got there, Amazon.

[tinygaylaura]

Perfidy!

[stubbleupdate]

I'm just about to finish Castlevania season 2, with one episode left.
Bits of it sound very Warren Ellis.

I'm surprised by how languid and tired all the voice actors sound, so the "I'm killing my boy" line , which had some a tual emotion behind it, stood out

Also, Netflix's content warning lists "violence, language, injury detail and sex" for most episodes. One of us is doing sex wrong, I think, because I can't see much of it in Castlevania.

[deh_tommy]

I haven’t seen the show yet, but I think there’s like two or three sex scenes in Season 3 or so?

[deh_tommy]

Dagnabbit, Chibnall... don’t get me wrong, the episode was fine for the most part, but like a lot of the stuff he’s written since he took over the more I think on that the worse that gets. Did we really need all those subplots if they just petre out, go nowhere or never get addressed? Was this story really worth taking up a whole series?

[tinygaylaura]

:(

I enjoyed it

I liked that the Sontarans were shown as being a proper truly evil threat in this season and that while there are things about them that are comical they're only comical to us, the audience, because we're watching the show and aren't part of what's happening...if you live in the universe where they exist they're actually awful

I liked the pay off to the story and the tease for what's to come

I also liked geting to see Thirteen be properly old school Doctor ruthless here

That is the Doctor

The Doctor is not the "I never would" hypocrite they became in the later seasons of the RTD show

The Doctor is absolutely the person who would hatch a plan where three entire army fleets of their arch foes would get utterly obliterated by a wave of anti-matter and then mock the person who made it all possible

That final exchange with the Sontarans where Thirteen reminds them that all of this is only possible because they created this situation had so much Rememberance of the Daleks energy

"Have pity on me!"

"I HAVE PITY FOR YOU"

[mazway_75]

Mentioned a bit back X-Men Elsewhen where John Byrne takes up x-Men where he and Claremont left off. Big turn is Magneto of an alternate reality recruited by Doom and yes, it's amazing seeing Byrne draw and write Doom again.

Funny bit of a reader asking how he writes Doom and Byrne answers "easy. I just take my natural ego and pompous attitude and crank it to 11."

[skjam]

My company is now desperate enough to bring a Philippines call center on to do some of our customer service, and I am helping train them.

Over at my blog, I start Read Women December with a weird western: http://www.skjam.com/2021/12/07/book-review-gabriels-road/

[zachbeacon]

Yeah, my employer used to outsource a lot of work to Manila and a lot of our inhouse people spent most of their time fixing their mistakes.

After that contract ended we spent all our time fixing each other's mistakes but at least it required less phone calls and meetings ...

...until Covid caused pretty much all the employees who don't physically have to be there to work from home.

[tinygaylaura]

With the Master due for a comeback in Doctor Who following the end of Flux I've finshed a rewatch of the Master stories and god you really can see the shift from the classic show to whatever the hell RTD thought he was writing to everything after

From Roger Delgado's effortless evil charm to Ainley's beautiful scenery chewing to...THAT...in RTD's stories

Even the campness of the Eric Robers Master was sublime compared to RTD forcing poor John Simm to prat about on the screen like a poor mans Jim Carrey in Batman Forever

Hell Dere Jacobi was such a better Master in less than twenty minutes of screen time that Big Finish brought him back for six box sets and some guest appearances

That's how good everyone was who came before Micheelle Gomez managed to restore some actual acting to the role and then we got the the beautiful Ainley goodneess of Sacha Dhawan in the role, the two of them managing to restore the Master to a villain that is actually fearsome and not a nitwit with all the gravitas of a Youtuber submitting their audition tape for why Warner Bros should cast them to play the Joker

I am sorry that the Master duo wound up getting so shortchanged by The Doctor Falls tho

End of the day the story should have kept them firmly as the villains in charge of the Cyber army. They could still have kept Twelve's beautiful "Where I stand is where I fall" speech in the story but reducing them to supporting roles meant that we didn't get nearly enough of Simm getting to play a proper version of the Master at last. What we did get showed that if RTD had written him as the Master and not as something that would make Jared Leto in Suicide Squad go "I'm not doing that" he would have been at the very least competent and commanding

And at the end of the day, the whole "Missy dies forever for reals" decision was awful

Because no one believed it would stick and yep sure enough two years later look whose back, back again

Chibnall's take on the Master is an example of how you don't need to reinvent the wheel to make a great car. Just take the concept that works, update it a little and give it a sleek professional finish that's sexy and powerful and there you go

I'm excited for what's coming with the "final" showdown between Thirteen and the Master and assuming the show gives the Master a bit of a rest following said showdown and assuming RTD is around for the long haul I hope he looks at the Chibnall stories and gets an idea of how to write the Master that isn't just "Here is the scenery...EAT IT...EAT IT...I WANT TO SEE YOUR MOTHERFUCKING TEETH MARKS IN IT JOHN SIMM!!!!!"

[icon_uk]

The Master is a fascinating character, and it's fair that each one we see is somewhat different, because that's what regeneration should do, as the balance between power hunger, control freakery, murderousness and insanity reach different balances in each case.

The Delgado Master was all about control. He wanted power so he could be in charge. What he'd do if he got it seemed less clear, but you always understood his desire. He'd be charming if convenient, but would still kill you without the slightest qualm, except perhaps Jo Grant, he genuinely seemed to be sort of impressed by Jo. He'd still do it, but you might believe he genuinely regretted it for at least a moment.

There's a wonderful "Behind the Sofa" in the recent classic Who Season 8 box set (an additional feature where they have actors and production people old and new watch classic episodes and provide a sort of reaction/reminiscing video) and it's Dhawan watching Delgado for what he admits is the first time (He purposely didn't watch earlier Masters). And he's just awestruck at Delgado's performance, and comments especially on just how STILL Delgado is; No non essential movements, gestures or expressions, nothing is wasted, but you can't take your eyes off him.

The "crispy" Master was about survival at ANY cost.

Ainley was Delgado turned up to 11, but with a more evident sadistic vibe.

Roberts was... well... Roberts.

Derek Jacobi is one of the most respected actors of his generation for a reason. His three minutes as the Master harked back to Ainley in terms of suppressed anger and control. (And Big Finish came in at just the right time for an actor heading into his 80's, with a juicy role that works well in audio. And, as the War Master he's allowed to do horrible things AND GET AWAY WITH IT. He can balance charm with horrific ruthlessness because he's having the time of his lives!)

I could see what they were doing with the first Simm appearance. More of a casually homicidal, nihilistic Master with a Joker-esque sense of humour, so Jim Carrey/Mark Hamill seem like perfectly reasonable models for that. Plus, given the difference in show format, they didn't have time for the sort of Master who benefitted from the long lingering stare. They needed someone more active and hyper than Delgado or Ainley had had to be, in order to move the plot along faster, especially when dealing with David Tennant.

As for Skeletor/Master Simm, well... umm... in that case I'm invokeing Thumper's Law... if you can't say something nice....

Gomez was taking the madness to remarkable new levels thanks to her being Michele Gomez. Though perhaps as a result, her plans seem less coherent than her predecessors.

There's a lovely exchange in Big Finish's "Masterful" when an aghast War Master finally realises what her master (sic) plan had been;

War Master (appalled) - You're UTTERLY insane!
Missy (matter of factly) - No, I'm just the only one who never pretended to be sane.

Which I think summarises her character nicely.

Dhawan I want to like more as the Master than I do. His "evil" bits are terrific, playing up a "frustrated little boy who doesn't understand why people don't want to play with him" vibe, coupled with utter disregard for life. It's when he tries to be funny that it just feels forced to me. I never feel that he really thinks what he's saying is funny, and the Master really should.

[lordy_co]

Some good news this week. I've found a new therapist, a psychoanalyst, and I'll have weekly appointments with her. She wants to focus on my childhod, she said, so maybe I'll be able to tell her some things I never managed to tell my old therapist despite years of treatment.

Another short story of mine was selected for an anthology, at the same publisher as the last one. I'm once again very happy since writing is pretty much my sole skill.

I started playing Stardew Valley again after some two years; even managed to find my old savefile so I didn't need to start a game from scratch. It's been helping me immensely to control my stress and anxiety.

My mother told me a Batman joke. it was rather dark so I'll not repeat it but I found it very amusing that she, of all people, did it XD

Bought some cool shirts with nerdy designs on them, including a "cute Chtulhu" one. I plan on wearing it on a concert I'll attend this week.

Also bought Junji Ito's Melting Classroom; two copies, one for me and another for a friend. My mother is a bit astonished that I'm spending a lot on Christmas gifts for my friends, but that's the best away I can find of showing them my affection.

Lastly, I want to share a song from the singer whose concert I'll attend on Friday. His name is Oswaldo Montenegro; he's a pretty good musician, but isn't one of the most famous unfortunately. I'll leave you with a acoustic version of his biggest hit, Bandolins. This version is a tad softer than the version he usually plays, and I think it's much better. He looked very good when this video was taken: unfortunately, the pandemic plus a case of depression hit him really hard on the last two years, and he looks much older nowadays. Still, a great musician and a great song, so I hope you'll enjoy it (-:

[stubbleupdate]

My mother told me a Batman joke. it was rather dark so I'll not repeat it but I found it very amusing that she, of all people, did it XD

Was it the one about What does Batman's mum say when it's time for his dinner?
Expecting you to say "dinner dinner dinner dinner dinner dinner dinner dinner Batman!", like the 60s TV show.
But then pll out the punchline of His mother was murdered in Crime alley in front of him when he was a boy, so his butler will have served him most of his meals in his life