Posts made by Auspice

My issue with cancel culture is what it prevents.

Yes, well-established people haven't seen themselves made destitute, cool.

What about the authors who can't find a publisher because something is considered 'risky' (we listed a few authors earlier in the thread whose work got pulled and was only later found to not be remotely what the naysayers said it was)?

The scriptwriters and directors who can't find a studio to take their project? If Taika Waititi wasn't really popular rn, JoJo would not have happened. If the same exact film had been proposed by a 'no name,' it'd have never happened. And JoJo almost didn't because even before it was out, Taika was weathering accusations of being anti-Semitic just based on the material of the film.

My worry of cancel culture isn't 'oh no someone I like might be ruined.' It's 'oh no, we're seeing fewer new artists.' Publishers and studios won't touch something that might be 'risky' (this is why it took so long for LGBT material to be more common place for YA: traditionally it got boycotted and didn't sell... THANKFULLY that has changed).

Art is about being able to present your view of the world. And yes, sometimes it is a shitty view and someone is a shitty person.

Other times it's stuff like JoJo Rabbit where difficult material is taken and shown through a different lens, but might in its elevator pitch not be seen as being as rich as it truly is.

@Ghost said in General Video Game Thread:

@Roz said in General Video Game Thread:

The Final Fantasy 7 remake got delayed, too.

You made me frown.

This sucks. Was planning to set time aside for Cpunk and ff7, too. Ugh. I get wanting to have a finished product but it's like they're dangling it

you know the development cycle man.
'We're good to go on the 10th.'
'Oh wait, shit, we had a red light situation. Push that back to the 20th.'
'So we fixed that issue but the leadership wants us to add this feature so make it the 10th of next month.'
and so on.

I'd like the games sooner, but having been in IT as long as I have: I'm not remotely surprised. It is, unfortunately, a drawback of Agile development structures.

(There's a flowchart somewhere that details the pros/cons of different styles and that's sort of the big one with Agile.)

@Ghost said in General Video Game Thread:

<train of disappointed expletives about CPunk being pushed back 6 months to September.>

good. More time for me to be financially stable enough to pre-order.

@Kestrel said in Separating Art From Artist:

he seems to only like casting one kind of woman and that's "thin enough to be anorexic".

but then Firefly and Morena Baccarin who is neither of those things (anorexic thin or white) and same with Gina Torres.

I think the reason people labeled him a misogynist is that in his wife's article after the infidelity, she called him a fake feminist. And #believeher sort of extended into just taking her at her word (and not considering the fact that she was very, understandably, upset, and people say unkind things when upset).

I still like Whedon. I do agree that his quality has deteriorated and I think he'd be best served to work with someone to write things (Avengers still stands as partly being so great because of scenes like everyone sitting around trying to pick up the hammer: something that gave us this insight into who the characters are vs. just CINEMATIC HEROICS).

But.
He's an example of 'cancel culture' actively hurting someone. Like I said: I've seen people be pissy about people still liking his works, refusing to reject him, etc.

But I see his works as being the sum of their parts. I didn't love Buffy or Firefly because of him. I loved them because of the stories that the actors brought to life.

Nathan Fillion, for example, is a glorious human being. I have a friend who is friends with him and he is everything you'd hope. He does shit like support really legit charities (like charity:water as opposed to some ego-charity like so many actors) and when Molly C. Quinn wanted to go to comic con (to experience it as a geek and cosplay!) while still fairly young, but also super popular because of Castle, he stepped up to accompany her to make sure she stayed safe and had a good time.

like fuck you I'm not rejecting a show Joss Whedon wrote when there's actors like that on it.

@Ghost psst: I find it best to just not reply at all when I've made the decision to bow out of a convo.

Don't give bait. Don't take bait.

Steven Moffat.

I was actually surprised to see him spoken highly of in another part of the boards because I have spent years seeing people pan him and everything he does. Comments of 'I like everything Dr. Who EXCEPT the Moffat seasons.'

He is a sexist dickwad. And while I don't personally like Dr. Who, I know many people who do, it's very popular, and you have the likes of David Tennant on seasons Moffat wrote and Tennant is a really great guy. But absolutely you can find people who think everything Moffat did should be written off (as evidenced by me being surprised at seeing people speak highly of his work!).

Joss Whedon.

I have personally met plenty of people who have decided they now hate Buffy and Firefly and Dollhouse because of what he turned out to be. Shows that had strong female characters (one of which was a p important show for many geek girls growing up to see 'omg female character who kicks ass and is independent and...'), have actors who were and continue to be great... it is not hard to find people who sneer and scowl and get angry at you for still liking them.

'But Joss Whedon...' yes, he turned out to be a piece of shit for how he treated his ex-wife. But those shows weren't a solo act. And even a broken clock is right twice a day. So he turned out to be a piece of shit. But he (along with others! that's the important part!) made some good things.

@Derp said in Separating Art From Artist:

@Auspice said in Separating Art From Artist:

fanny packs

TACTICAL BELT POUCH tyvm. Hrmph.

What you think you look like:

What you actually look like:

@Ganymede said in Separating Art From Artist:

Or a hairstyle from the 80s.
Or fashion from the 80s.

<side eye at the rise in mullets and fanny packs IRL>

@Ganymede said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

But for all of those brains, she also neglects to set appointments to check her electrolyte levels periodically, and that neglect has put her into the hospital at least twice in the past two years

And unfortunately, the new hippy definition of 'self-care' would support her behavior. 'Oh you get stressed out by doing this? Then don't do it! Do something relaxing and fun! #treatyoself'

It's why I get an eye-tic when I see it used in like, corporate context. No. Self-care is doing the bullshit. I'm failing self-care IRL rn because that pain in my chest has gotten worse and the steam when I take a shower isn't helping anymore but haha no doctor appt yet because I'm stressed about could it be bad? could it be something I just have to suffer through and would end up spending money I NEED to be told #dealwithit? BOTH ARE UNAPPEALING OUTCOMES. But it's worse and I should go but I'm not

and the 'new' meaning of self-care would support me doing this. It'd be like 'oh don't fret over that just go home and have a bubble bath'

@Ghost said in RL things I love:

@Auspice Oooh good point about the lettering. I hadn't thought of that. I also know of some comic artists who still work physical, and I think that's great.

TBH I'm trying to move over to digital because I like being able to control layers and work through them without the risk of erasing and smudging, but 100% props to people doing it physical.

An Apple Pencil is absolutely on my list of things I Want so that I can doodle more. I'm bad at the drawing thing, so I just waste paper and get angry.

@Ghost said in RL things I love:

It made me think about how back in the day comic book artists, graphic artists, etc were basically contracted to draw something and then securely transport what was likely the original copy of the work to their employer. These days there are drawing tablets where your mistakes are eraseable. I'm not saying the older artists were more talented, but the risk of destruction of their work (and/or needed rework) was much higher.

I have some insight here:
For one, many comic artists do still prefer to work in a physical format. As someone who spent a semester in art school and has dabbled with tablets... pencil/paper has better tactile feedback. I can see the merits of a tablet, but it is still quite common for something to be drawn physically and then scanned in to be worked on in Adobe.

The biggest hit in comics has been lettering. Lettering used to be a whole career in and of itself. Nowadays, however, artists (and/or the writer) are expected to do lettering themselves. This is why, in my WRITING degree program, I had to learn how to do comic lettering.

I enjoyed it, but our prof said for most people... it's their least favorite few weeks of the whole program.

But there just isn't work in lettering anymore. There are people who get freelance gigs doing it here and there for the odd artist/writer team that doesn't enjoy it, but it isn't the career it was.

Same could be said for inking, but I think that was often someone who was striving to be an artist in a sort of not-internship-but-still-prove-yourself-to-us role.

Some of us hate writing descs (hi, me!) but I know some people love to write them.

So I figured... maybe there can be a thread where the former group can openly request help from the latter.

I'll start: I need someone willing to do... 4? descs, maybe? On NOLA, I'd like to have actual rooms for the St. Louis Cathedral. An interior is a MUST, but an exterior would be p. cool as well. I'd also like one (or more) of the Old Ursuline Convent, since it's due to be the Lance hangout.

If this is something that strikes your fancy, let me know? I've been unable to get the right words to do these descs for weeks now.

A large (very large) part of why I am going to miss working at WF once my contract is up end of this month (plz renew again plz plz plz plz plz) is the culture.

There is a lot of stress, but the majority of the time I'd categorize it as productive stress. Yes you have big projects and looming deadlines, but you also have people who are happy to step in and help. You have people who readily collaborate with each other. And if you get hit with a terrible bout of the flu in the middle of a huge deadline (me, this was me) and have to take days off........ no one gets upset. All I heard, even, when I got back, was well-wishes.

WF acknowledges that the job can be stressful, so they do whatever is needed to mitigate it. From freedom to take time off to the policy that went in this past summer to allow dogs at the office (it's such a small thing, but f'real, being able to sit down and play with someone's puppy when you're feeling overwhelmed is SO good) to simply encouraging a cooperative, supportive environment.

I look back at my past jobs, like the one where I was so sick I could barely keep my feet, but was told that they needed people so I'd be written up if I left. Or the one where the bus was insanely late one day and instead of my usual 15min early, I was almost an hour late and I got told I was being written up and I should 'plan better' in the future.

@silverfox Like the spoon theory, 'self-care' began as a good concept and got warped. Badly.

Self care is doing what needs to be done for your greater good. Sometimes it means doing very hard things that must be done because they're in your best interest. Unfortunately, it's been twisted to mean 'Fuck everyone I'm doing something selfish for me!' and has been used to enable people to actually be worse to themselves and others. 'I'm not gonna make that important phone call cuz self-care'. And because it's so buzz word-y, many industries are using it as a means to avoid actual assistance to their employees.

ETA: and I'm,also not saying that things like a bubble bath and a night off are never self-care. I mean they aren't the end all be all of it. In MU examples: taking a night off from that person stressing you out might help. For that night. Talking to them (or staff if it's egregious) would be hard, but would solve the issue going forward.

Tonight's effort. The longer box. Done until next week!
Back to the HP one tomorrow.

@Ominous said in The Work Thread:

@Auspice said in The Work Thread:

(p.s. Australia is more than just koalas.)

Indeed. It is kangaroos, boomerangs, didgeridoos, and THE MANIFESTATION OF DEATH ITSELF IN THE FORM OF ITS WILDLIFE!

See this informative and factual piece: https://www.cracked.com/funny-163-australia/

My opinion? Let it burn. Unless that will cause the wildlife to swim to our shores. In which case, someone do something to stop the fires!!

but Australia has the cute possum while North America got the horrifying one

@surreality said in The Crafting Thread:

@Auspice Ha! That's priceless. I like the fabric, too.

The fabric is my mousepad. It's this: https://www.n3art.com/collections/mouse-pads/products/transitus-mouse-pad

I have the same pattern in a deskmat.

They're really well-made and the guy who makes them is local here in Austin. Highly recommend.

I picked up this pin the other day to make into a needle minder. Can't wait to have it on my work.

@Snackness said in The Crafting Thread:

@Auspice I meant the demon-summoning one! Though I do like a challenge.

Ah! That one is: https://www.etsy.com/listing/676918702/please-dont-summon-demons-in-the?ref=shop_home_feat_2&pro=1