I haven't read Astro City in years and I am still haunted by that one issue where a guy's wife was ret-conned out of existence by a crossover event, so he spent his life longing for her although he didn't even know what it was that was missing from it.
As a white guy, something that caught my attention a lot lately was when I was reading the Falcon and the Winter Soldier subreddit - and it's not a spoiler or anything so I won't hide it behind tags here.
But it was a thread in which a black woman was posting being ecstatic about Bucky hitting on Sam's sister, who is black woman herself and not paler skinned, mixed heritage, straight-haired or in any way a more... streamlined potential romantic interest.
I had never realized it before but apparently that is pretty rare, especially for one of MCU's premier single hot dudes to show interest in someone like her.
So yes, the racial diversity seems to absolutely be important even in our shows about guys with vibranium arms who are also former Cold War weapons and WW2 veterans. All they need to do sometimes is look at a black girl and go hey, how you doin'?. It's the small things as much as the big ones.
And it's good that Marvel is finally addressing these sorts of issues, a la Falcon as the new Cap and inclusion of Isiah Bradley.
You mean Black Falcon.
@warma-sheen said in Good TV:
Unless it stretches suspension of disbelief... you're already coping very well with people shooting energy beams out of their hands, y'all. Do you really draw the line at them also being Asian?
I know it is rhetorical, but it shouldn't surprise anyone that some people are this shallow. Race/gender identity is a big, complex thing, but the answer is definitely - yes. That's over the line for a lot of people. And by a huge margin.
When it comes down to it, if I'm a fan I usually don't want changes in general for their own sake. Not including Tom Bombadil in Fellowship made sense; he didn't serve the narrative but took a long time to introduce.
Changes also need to serve the story, and they have to fit the setting; if your long secluded fantasy town has the racial diversity of NYC then make that be part of your plot. It can be a single line ("there used to be a trade route nearby a long time ago"); done.
And basically when you switch things around, make it interesting. Don't just do it for the novelty factor. Add something to your story.
To me that's the difference between Ben Reilly and Miles Morales. If you take a character I care about - like Peter Parker - away then give me something more than "lol, here's another dude going by the same moniker". Miles was really well done; Ben was shit on a stick.
I haven't read the books, so I didn't realize that was a studio change! Huh. It certainly adds a ton more depth to her character that wouldn't have really been there otherwise, and gives us that fun moment I mentioned, so...wow, props to Netflix, and screw the haters!
Sometimes hating on casting choices is just borderline (?) racist because it makes no sense. The example I have in mind is Starfire being played by a black woman, there was so much bitching before the show started.
I mean technically speaking she should be orange, but otherwise who cares? She's not from Earth!
@wizz At least one of your concerns was addressed by the author. She was addressing Alina's race in an interview - since she was described as a blonde white woman in the books but mixed race in the show - and attributed the lack of diversity to her own shortcomings as a young author when she first wrote them.
I feel many other tropes could probably be explained the same way.
Also it's hilarious people online are still butthurt about white characters being race switched. Unless it stretches suspension of disbelief... you're already coping very well with people shooting energy beams out of their hands, y'all. Do you really draw the line at them also being Asian?
Anyone watching Shadow and Bone? It's pretty good, but I never finished the books so I don't know how it compares or if the fanbase likes the adaptation.
I didn't love The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's finale. It wasn't bad, but it was less 'show, don't tell' and more 'give speeches'.
Let's see where they go with it. Apparently there are follow-up movies in the making.
@kk said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:
Instead of talking about forced surgery or taking children away from undesirables who don't meet the state's idea of an upper class perfect home, I would rather look at increased support for high risk families and parents, such as increased programs and assistance for young parents, improvised parents, single parents and etc. I would also like to look at increased support for children who are in the foster system.
Agreed. It seems many countries are much more intent on protecting fetuses from abortions than caring for and supporting them once they are actually born.
I suppose it's the cheaper option.
@coin said in Are there any high fantasy MU*s?:
@arkandel said in Are there any high fantasy MU*s?:
Not to advocate for this specific setting but The Traitor Son novels by Miles Cameron reversed the trope of man versus nature very well.
Typically the fires of industry threaten the natural balance, forests are chopped down and magic fades from the world. In these books nature is a badass not too fond of humans and their cities, so civilization is shrinking; gryphons attack settlements, exotic creatures are pushing desperate communities back behind their walls, and humankind may well be an endangered species.
This could make for an interesting setting to base a game (or campaign
) on.
Question.
Did the humans perhaps expand aggressively into nature, threatening the natural balance, chopping down forests, and that's why nature's like, "lulz no"?
In the novels it was... more complicated than that. No, but also yes.
In a game or campaign that could be an interesting origin to explore though.
Not to advocate for this specific setting but The Traitor Son novels by Miles Cameron reversed the trope of man versus nature very well.
Typically the fires of industry threaten the natural balance, forests are chopped down and magic fades from the world. In these books nature is a badass not too fond of humans and their cities, so civilization is shrinking; gryphons attack settlements, exotic creatures are pushing desperate communities back behind their walls, and humankind may well be an endangered species.
This could make for an interesting setting to base a game (or campaign ) on.
@greenflashlight said in Any Sonic games in development?:
@ominous said in Any Sonic games in development?:
You have the issue of the Sonic IP being slightly radioactive. The Sonic fandom is known for its...interesting membership.
Maybe don't read this at work.
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click to show
What the what?
@testament said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:
I'm down three pounds from I started working out two weeks ago.
Yay for small victories.
That's like one third of my ENTIRE DOG. And she hogs so much of the bed.
Three pounds is a lot!
@ganymede said in Battling FOMO (any game):
how would you ever relax?
I think there are also byproducts of this kind of anxiety.
For example wanting to 'play a needed role' to the point of sometimes being defensive when others roll into the same niche. Hint: It's not types of roles which are needed, it's players.
Or trying to play someone who's good at everything 'to fit into plots'. While it's true some STs do create plots not everyone will fit in, not fitting in can be a blast, and the right kind of player - once again - trumps all else.
I'm late to this thread. But IMHO a lot of FOMO doesn't have as much to do with the game itself (although it's certainly been known to happen) as much as it does with players feeling socially insecure about being left out.
What certainly doesn't help is how that same kind of insecurity leads others to over-promote themselves. Seeing them openly brag about their amazing RP the day before and pat each other in the back over public channels when you have been sitting on your thumbs looking to do something - anything at all - can have that effect.
We finally moved houses. It was tiresome as fuck but it's such a cultural shock to be out of a major city and into suburbia.
This whole area is strictly residential without a 7/11 in sight, and there are multiple large parks within a ten-minute walk from my house, yet I can also drive for literally under five minutes to entire city blocks' worth of big box stores - restaurants, Home Depots, you name it.
But what did it is a large garage that can host a home gym. It's not heated so I'll need to get some space heaters for the winter for sure, and it will cost... more than I care to think about to buy all the gear. But in the long run it will save money (at a conservative estimate that's after 4 years' worth of memberships, mind you ), and... it's available. Unlike actual gyms in the midst of pandemic lockdowns.
The cats on the other hand, for some reason, seem to be surprisingly okay with this. And the dogs really like the much larger yard, especially the puppy when she gets the zoomies.
@buttercup said in Good TV:
So far The Falcon and the Winter Soldier feels sidekick melodrama level to me.
I can totally see that! For me what made the difference is how cleverly it was written to present the villains' point of view well.
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There are a lot of scenes drawing humor from the buddy-cop movie tropes for sure but for me it's the other stuff that's interesting since the movies kinda glossed over all of it.
