Posts made by Auspice

@Aria

I gave up months ago for similar reasons. It's a PITA. Everyone's like 'Just pay up front and bill your insurance for reimbursement.'

Yes, because I have $300+ just floating around to pay for each appointment.

@Arkandel said in Superhero movies:

Come back from the dead, thread!

The idea of a united cinematic DCU seems dead now.

and that article reminded me how angry I am about the BoP movie.

Thanks, Ark. :<

@Sparks

I know this feel. I went from a week-long bout of the flu into a sinus- and ear-infection. Thankfully I've still been able to eat...ish, but all I've wanted to do is sleep. And sleep.

...and sleep. I've missed work and raids in Destiny 2 with my clan. But boy oh boy have I gotten ahead on binge watching TV in bed!

@Lotherio said in Favicon:

@Arkandel said in Favicon:

@Roz You guys live in the future now. You're welcome.

What, my tabs have little pictures on them, what magic is this?

For the love of all that is holy....

can this flu be over? I've been sick since Tuesday.
I don't know the last time I was sick this long.
Today is the longest I've been conscious since it fully set in on Wednesday and I've only been awake five hours.

@Ghost said in Good TV:

Just want to say that these shows are my shows right now, and they're awesome:

• Brooklyn Nine-Nine
• Orville
• Deadly Class
• The Magicians
• True Detective

Watch this stuff.

On 'recently discovered good TV' front, I just began binging AP Bio this week.

I fucking love Glenn Howerton and Patton Oswalt.

@BobGoblin

Here's the issue:
Netflix is losing money. Netflix has cancelled shows that are popular, but too expensive to produce because they just can't justify it.

If too many networks pull out to go to their own playground, Netflix may find itself backed into a corner. Without IPs and without the revenue to produce the high-quality content people want to see, they're going to have to do something. That something might be a model like Hulu has which is pay X cost for ads or X+ for no ads... which could lure some of those networks back to their side. Do they want to? No.

TV is in a golden era in many ways. There's so much more for the content creators. But at the same time, the major networks are seeing that change. That core of their revenue (ads) falling away from them. And they are terrified of change. I think we'd all gladly suffer (smart) product placement over ads, for example. Shit, movies already do it and unless it's just shoddily done, we go on our merry way.

@Arkandel said in Good TV:

@Auspice What I'm worried will happen is we'll revert back to basically the exact same setup as cable, but streamed. Obviously no one will pay for 4-5 different subscriptions and switch between Netflix, HBO, Disney, Amazon, etc... so it will come down to whatever compromises the market will tolerate in exchange for affordable, usable bundling.

It's possible. Hulu is already close to that, to be honest. You have your base Hulu and then you can add-on others like HBO, etc. So we may well see exactly that happen. Netflix may need to do something along those lines someday.

I have a bigger fear: Prime and Netflix, right now, are ad-free. Hulu isn't (unless you pay more). Ad revenue is the thing most networks salivate over. Most of them still have ads (and a ridiculous number thereof) on their own services. I'd be almost willing to go with a 'bundled' streaming service where it's a single platform and I get to pick which networks I'm pulling from because you know what? Movies would all be collected in one place at-fucking-last. But the ads. The ads would be the problem.

@Arkandel said in Good TV:

@Auspice I find a lot of the criticism leveraged against Netflix is because of things they are literally not allowed to do although they'd love to. For example in Canada a common one is "it doesn't give me the same selection as in the US unless I use a VPN".

Do you think they don't want to?

Pretty much. It's legality shit.
I worked (briefly; contract my company had) for a live streaming service and they had a Canadian package. We frequently had complaints of 'Why don't you have <channel/show/event>?!' and we had to explain: 'Because <network> won't legally allow us to air it in Canada.'

Netflix isn't just gonna throw away money. They know what people wanna see. But so do those networks. And those networks want to try to force people back in front of live TV (ads), onto their streaming services (direct revenue/ads), onto partnered services (like Hulu+add ons or Prime+add ons).

I think eventually it'll all condense back down because people aren't going to pay for a whole bunch of separate services and the networks will realize that. But right now it's that splinter point where they see how popular/big streaming is, they all want in, and they think the 'in' is making their own vs. working with the guys that know wtf they're doing already.

@deadculture said in Good TV:

@Auspice Netflix would rather give us shitty B-movies than quality series and once the subscriptions start dropping, they'll find out why stripping themselves of good content was a mistake.

What Coin said.

Netflix would probably happily keep making the shows, but Disney is the one pulling the plug here. They know how successful they are and want them on their own streaming service.

I think that's the real issue Netflix has right now. It has done a damn good job. Maybe too good. So the networks are pulling back and keeping the content behind their own paywalls. Almost all of them have their own service now.

Picking back up a hobby from your youth... and being better at it.

When I was a kid (10-12 years old, roughly), I began carrying a deck of cards everywhere. I taught myself some basics of what is now (maybe it was then & I just didn't know it) called cardistry. Just various flourishes and other tricks. Essentially, I was on the path to teaching myself sleight of hand. No books, no nothing. Just fumbling my way through doing neat things without a teacher.

I sort of fell off because you can only get so far. Esp. when you have smaller hands. But I kept to keeping a deck of cards on hand at p. much all times (every bag I carry is likely guaranteed to have one in it) and I collect cards.

Recently, I began watching a YouTuber who is a magician, does cardistry, and solves puzzles (the puzzles are why I began watching :P). He sometimes does tutorials on his channel. Which got me into other tutorials. Which got me back into things. And in just a few days, I'm doing more than I ever did. I found, through tips, tricks, etc... how to be able to cut the deck single-handed. I would have, years ago, sworn it impossible for me to do.

And yet I can sit here and as of tonight, do it again and again. Not perfect. Not quickly. But I'm doing it. I know I'll never be as good as some of these kids out there, but... it's fun and it's a skill I'm thrilled not only to return to, but to improve.

@Thenomain said in Good TV:

Jessica Jones and Punisher canceled.

Alas.

We knew it was coming.

But the down side is that we'll either never see them again, or we'll see them with their legs cut out from under them so they can be appropriately PG-ized for the Disney streaming service.

Both are depressing AF.

The other shows (Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Daredevil) can all be transferred over decently. Those two? Not so much.

@Testament said in General Video Game Thread:

and for the most part, Destiny 2(for it's own idiotic faults)

And D2, since Bungie was given back control (they got story and directional control back before Activision got the official boot), vastly improved. It probably hurt the Anthem release more since Anthem wanted to be this whole 'We're the counter to Destiny!' ...even tho they aren't the same thing. They just wanted that playerbase.

I will say some of my D2 clan is playing Anthem, but some of them are also playing Apex.

I didn't get a chance to actually play Anthem during the beta due to all the bugs. I just got to wander around the town area, interact with people, but goddamn I felt underwhelmed by it. Mostly because.... shit. Look, I know Bioware has their reasons for using the same engine. Okay. I've had that discussion countless times. It doesn't make me any less disappointed that they're using the same engine. That the game looks three years old already. Maybe the Javelins look better and in combat they look better (again: I didn't get that far thanks to the 'eternal loading screen bug'), but oh god the town/people look like an old game and that's not what I really want out of something that just launched Q1 2019.

Also, the menu fucking pissed me off.
Fuck that menu system.

@Ghost

I am super sick of shitty apartment ownership myself. In my case, it's just a complete lack of fucks given. Raise rent, but fuck if they'll actually fulfill your maintenance requests. Raise the cost of the machines in the laundry room, but most of them are broken.

Like, y'know what? I'd be fine with either if shit would actually get fixed/replaced, but don't take all the extra money and just let everything get worse. If I could even think about home ownership, this is when it'd happen.

@Testament

Good for you on your adoption. And cats are a lot more social than people think! Many do prefer to be the solo cat in the home, but they see us as their fam. And many others (like my Ike) really do need other critters around to feel 'right.'

A companion kitty can also do wonders for a cat's later years. It gives them social comfort, helps encourage them to exercise (just like humans need to continue to exercise into their later years, so do kitties; even if it's just getting up and walking around after their companion).

When I got AJ, I was actually looking for a slightly older kitty myself. I still swear he tricked me at the adoption agency by being all sweet and cuddly and falling asleep in my hair, then turning into a hell beast later.

@Ganymede said in Heroes & Villains MUX:

@Auspice said in Heroes & Villains MUX:

I have a copy of the core book I can share.

Please.

I just need some examples to work with, is all. That's how I learn best/fastest.

PM on the way!

Random kitty moment:

Ike is usually a very very good kitty. Like, she is the goodest. Just well-behaved and perfection.

But today, as I was refilling the jar of kitty treats, she got up under my hand and shoved her face in to begin chowing down as if it was just cat food (their bowls are full, mind you, so she knew exactly what she was doing).

As I scooped her up to pull her away, she just sat up in my arms and began purring because she was so proud of herself.

That brat.

@Goldfish said in Heroes & Villains MUX:

And I just learned about digital comics through my local library so, I'll have move frames of reference.

Oh, good! I was gonna suggest you check if you have Hoopla through your library. I just maxed out my 10 monthly borrows this week.

I think Hoopla is the best damn thing for comic fans. I can't afford to buy comics (nor do I have the space to have so many), but man Hoopla. It lets me just dive in any/everywhere.

...also I think at this point, maybe @Arkandel or @Ganymede should find a split point for this to become a H&V Disc thread.

@Ghost

Oooh, I forgot about that one. Yes, penance.

Daredevil is best at beating himself up. Almost too good. Man was kind of a whiny bastard this last season. GET OUT OF THE BASEMENT, MATT.

Ahem.

The person he hates most, often, is himself.

Knowing the comics is good, but generally just to inform how the character would handle a situation. Not so much for 'well in issue ### of run....'

@Goldfish

I found the sheet you needed that was mentioned on channel (I thought Breakout was a separate book...! Apparently not). I can toss that your way in a PM here shortly.

As for playing a canon character... the fun part about comic chars (and why they're the only canon chars I play)... they vary so much that the important part is finding the core of who they are are and stick to that.

What is the core of, say, Peter Parker? He lost his uncle. He is the bastion of hope. He is the man of quips. He's pretty g-d smart.

From there? Pretty flexible.

Daredevil? All right. He lost his vision in a chemical spill. It was through intensive training, mostly, that he became more. And not just the intensive training, but because he has that much willpower. Daredevil isn't a mutant or anything. So you have to imagine a man who was put through that much training (thanks, Stick!) and has that sort of willpower. The willpower to hone his senses and to put up with the sort of physical abuse he does.

That's how I play comic characters. I find the very core of their beings. The truth at the center of them. And then from there... I shape my own version of them around those truths.