Solethania

A Fun Fact For The Day

May 8, 2022 Rinsland

I found this years ago on reddit and saved it. So now I’m posting it here.

Barack Obama became President of the United States because People Magazine thought actor Garret Wang was attractive.

Here’s how it went down:

At the end of Voyager series 3, the writers wanted to introduce a new character, but because the budget only allowed for a certain number of main actors, they had to let one of them go. Originally this was going to be Harry Kim, played by Garrett Wang, who had been very vocal in his hate for the show. (This is why there’s a weird cliffhanger with him about to die that gets almost immediately overturned in series 4).
People Magazine then ran a list of the Hottest 50 Men which included Wang. Seeing he was popular, they decided to get rid of the character Kes, played by Jennifer Lien, whose character they thought they’d messed up a bit and run out of ideas.
Since Kes leaving left them with only two major female characters, they decided to make their new character female as well, leading to them making Seven of Nine, played by Jeri Ryan.
For filming, she had to move to California, which put strain on her already damaged relationship with Jack Ryan and led to their divorce. In 2004, the messy details of their divorce came out, forcing Jack Ryan to stand down from running for the position of Senator of Illinois, allowing a relatively new Barack Obama to win. Four years later, Obama became President of the US.

What WoW’s Dragonflight Trailer Lacks

April 20, 2022 Rinsland

Every World of Warcraft trailer has always been extremely hyped, leaving you with a sense of wonder and excitement, and a knowledge of what the game or expansion is bringing to the table. The Vanilla trailer showed off the the main conflict (”The tenuous pact between the Horde and the Alliance has all but evaporated, the drums of war, thunder once again”), the inhabitants, and was an invitation to explore and experience this world and its conflicts. Burning Crusade’s cinematic showed off the two new races as well as Outland areas, but it had a major high point with all Illidan (”You are not prepared!”) that really set up thematically the entire series and got people hyped for it. Oh my god we’re going to go through this Dark Portal and fight this demon looking dude and it looks epic!

And every trailer since had one or more epic moments people remembered that set the stage for the entire expansion in theme, tone, and story.

WotLK had Sindragosa bursting through the ice and flying through the canyon.
Cataclysm had Deathwing flying and destroying well known landmarks.
Mists of Pandaria had a great fight involving a human, an orc, and a new panda creature that ended with mists clearing away and panning down to an incredible Asian themed world below.
Warlords of Draenor had the reveal of Garrosh, changing important history.
Legion had the leaders of the Horde and the Alliance fighting together against a returned Burning Legion.
Battle for Azeroth had Anduin resurrecting his army
Shadowlands had Sylvanas destroying the Helm of Domination.

All these trailers were built around something we knew or were familiar with, usually pivotal characters. Except for the new Dragonflight cinematic. They attempted it with the Watcher guy pushing the tower back together, but they failed in that we did not know these watchers existed, or the tower existed until literally the cinematic happened. There was nothing familiar to latch onto and get excited about. No true emotional stakes, other than ‘we will not be able to return if this thing isn’t lit when we come back’. So what? They left, they’ve been gone 10,000 years, why is it so important they return? There was no drama, no ‘oomph’. The closest they get is the watcher falls and would die except a now returned dragon swoops in and saves him from the fall.

I think they could have done so much better, by having the watcher die and removing most of the voiceover. You watch him wake up, do his thing, get thrown off by the explosion and then shatter to the ground, and then the camera pans up to see the dragons start to appear out of the clouds. You see them fly over the shattered remains and it blacks out to the title. Doing such would add the gravitas and drive home the seriousness of his duty to restore the tower, even at the sacrifice of his own life. It would immediately cause the a lot of questions and desire to know more, like a trailer should. It would have be a truly epic moment that fit with the rest of the cinematics they have released over the years.

Essentially, what I am saying is I haven’t played World of Warcraft in years, and this trailer did absolutely nothing to make me think about returning. Wrath of the Lich King Classic on the other hand, and watching the old cinematics? Those made me think a bit.

Quote of the Day, 4-5-2022

April 5, 2022 Rinsland

“The hatred that men bear to privilege increases in proportion as privileges become fewer and less considerable, so that democratic passions would seem to burn most fiercely just when they have least fuel. I have already given the reason for this phenomenon. When all conditions are unequal, no inequality is so great as to offend the eye, whereas the slightest dissimilarity is odious in the midst of general uniformity; the more complete this uniformity is, the more insupportable the sight of such a difference becomes. Hence it is natural that the love of equality should constantly increase together with equality itself, and that it should grow by what it feeds on.” ~ Alexis de Tocqueville, 1840

The Book of Boba Fett Season 1

February 11, 2022 Rinsland

After watching the season, I found the show was best when… Boba Fett wasn’t actually in it. The Mando is what Boba should have been. Even Cad Bane was who Boba should have been.

Instead we got a dude who wanted to be a Crime Lord… who didn’t do any actual crime, and actively fought against actual criminals. If he wanted that, he should have just ran for mayor. The story would have made more sense if Boba had just ‘retired’ after his survival from the pit, claiming he was too old for his old life, and then got pulled back into things because

He’s well known, and
Local crime lords are nervous with him around, and didn’t leave him alone.

They could have actually had Cad Bane play a bigger and better role here, as an important part of Boba’s past coming back to haunt him. Then him having a crew of local misfits fighting for/with him would make a touch more sense. But fuck all that. He’s just gonna wander around aimlessly and claim he’s the new Daimyo, ruling the city with his whopping… 10-12 people?

Half of those people being the biggest world/immersion breaking characters since the hyperspace kamikaze in TLJ. You know who, the ‘mods’. These are a group of individuals who were too poor to afford water, but could easily afford cybernetic modifications and also keep them and their godawful vespa scooters absolutely spotless on Tatooine, the iconic desert planet with literal moisture farms to handle liquid needs. The Mod crew can fit great in Star Wars. They do not fit on Tatooine. The only way they could fit is if they were absurdly rich kids from say, Coruscant, slumming it up on the outer rim for grins and giggles. As is, their simple existence on the planet is too contradictory between what they look like, and what they claim.

Overall, I was pretty disappointed in the series, and the only saving grace was it turning into The Mandalorian Season 2.5 halfway through. Hopefully this is the last time we see this stupid planet in a while. Oh, wait. Obi Wan comes out in May. yay.

The Best Anime I watched in 2021

January 18, 2022 Rinsland

Koe no Katachi (A Silent Voice) [Anime and Manga]
The manga is a deeply emotional experience, and it has a single panel with Shouko, one of the major characters, laying on a bed that I consider one of the most heart wrenching moments in a manga I’ve ever experienced. It’s a story about bullying, redemption, friendship, and hardship. It’s very heavy, as it revolves around a deaf girl who spend a part of her youth being bullied. But told from the perspective of her bully. The movie will make people cry, but it’s just a cliffs’ notes version of the manga. Definitely one of the most impactful things I’ve read and seen in a very long time.

Arcane
This isn’t an anime, but it is in the same vein. And it’s unbelievable. No animated show that is based on a videogame like League of Legends, made by a first time television production team has any right to be as good as this is. The show is fantastic for those who have never played the League games, and absolutely unreal for those who have. You don’t have to know a single thing about the lore, or the world, or the characters to get the full impact of this show, as the stuff for the actual players is more window dressing or sprinkles on top of the icing of the cake. It’s deeply character driven, gorgeous and unique animation, fantastic soundtrack, and I really cannot recommend this enough.

86 – Eighty Six
This is a fantastic war story. It shows the war from two perspectives, one from a homogenous “utopian” republic and the other from the people forced to fight for them. The first season of this is brilliant, because there’s an undercurrent of mystery going on, and once it starts to unravel it starts to hit hard, and you start to notice things (especially in the end credits scenes) that suddenly make more sense, and build up a bit of dread as to what’s going to happen in the next episode. If this were just a single season it’d probably be one of the most incredible anime ever made. But it’s not, and so I think a lot of the emotional impact gets lost in the next season, even if it does still remain really good. I actually went out and bought all the Light Novels that were available that this was adapted from, that’s how much I enjoyed it.

Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou (Daily Lives of High School Boys)
This is a show about High School Boys being High School Boys. Think of the stereotype, crank the comedy, and you got this anime. It’s hilarious, fun, and even a little wholesome. There’s so much innocent fun here. It’s just a classic feel good anime.

Grand Blue Dreaming [Anime and Manga]
Grand Blue is ostensibly a diving manga. The main character Iori Kitahara lives with his uncle in a dive shop while he’s attending university. But it’s mostly a comedy slice of life drinking and party manga with a diving backdrop. And it’s absolutely hilarious. All the characters have some absolutely ridiculous attribute to them that gets played up into some side splitting scenarios. The sheer shenanigans Iori gets himself into had me rolling. This is probably my favorite Comedy Manga of of all time. The anime has proven to be completely faithful to the source material, and I really wish it has more than just the one season.

Manga Current Reads January 2022 Edition

January 10, 2022 Rinsland

DanDaDan
DanDaDan is weird. Really, really weird. In a WTF is going on I need more kind of way. I don’t really know where it’s going but I am really enjoying the characters. Momo Ayase believes in ghosts and supernatural, due to her grandmother (who is hilarious) being an exorcist. She does not believe in the existence aliens/ufos/etc. Ken Takakura is the exact opposite, he believes in aliens/ufos/etc, and does not believe in the existence of the supernatural. They challenge each other to visit a specific place that is ‘well known’ to (in Ken’s case) be a supernatural hotspot or (in Momo’s case) be an alien sighting spot. Turns out aliens exist, and the supernatural is real, and they wind up fighting for their lives. This manga goes from 0 to 100 really quick, with a fast pace, horror elements, and comedy wrapped into a coming-of-age adolescence story. I am really enjoying this one.

Oshi No Ko (“Favorite Girl” or “My Idol’s Child”)
This manga starts out extremely bizarrely, and really messed up. As in, a Japanese Idol singer comes in to this rural-ish doctor’s office about a pregnancy checkup, to avoid any PR complications should word get out that she’s pregnant. However, he’s a massive, massive fan of hers, and this is the first he’s heard of it. Turns out she’s going to have twins. Things happen, and the doctor gets murdered and reincarnated as one of the twins (keeping his memories, and his ability to speak and think like an adult even as a baby). Oh, and the other baby is also a major fan who also died and was reincarnated. Really. Freaking. Weird.

But after that bizarreness, the rest of the story is a scathing critique and look behind the scenes on Japanese Entertainment Culture as a whole, focusing primarily on Idols and Child Actors, but also dipping over into Theater Acting, Reality TV, and Manga. I am finding Oshi No Ko to be very thought provoking, occasionally heavy, and really really good.

Usotsuki Satsuki wa Shi ga Mieru (Liar Satsuiki Can See Death)
Satsuki Minazuki can see the illusion of a corpse 24 hours before a person dies. She spends her time trying to figure out the cause of death of the person, and then tries to save them before the death happens. Due to the way in which she goes about handling this, her classmates consider her to be a compulsive liar. It’s straight forward, and well written and drawn, and I’ve found it solidly entertaining.

Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute! (The Eminence in Shadow)
This is an isekai about a guy who wants to be the mysterious shadowy figure who is pulling the strings of power behind the scenes.

The thing is, he’s a chūnibyō, except his delusions actually turn out true, usually to his surprise. He says whatever sounds the most impressive at the time, and all the supporting characters take it completely at face value. And it’s hilarious. It spends a lot of time poking fun at the isekai genre, and because there is a lot to make fun of, it has yet to get old. Later chapters start to take the One Punch Man approach, and begin focusing on the side characters, which keeps the main character’s gimmick from growing old or stale.

I Bought My Dream Gun

January 5, 2022 Rinsland

I bought a Whitney Wolverine. It’s a .22LR pistol, and the first gun I’ve ever purchased for no other reason than ‘I want it’. They have one of the most unique and beautiful designs I’ve ever seen in a pistol and I was over the moon about finally being able to get my hands on one. This particular one is in near perfect shape, even though I am pretty sure the original owner’s idea of cleaning it was to dump a little more oil into it. Not that I can really blame them, because these little dudes are not exactly easy to take apart and put back together, and they’ve got a bunch of tiny parts to them.

If I could change one thing about the Wolverine though, I would get something not plastic for the grips.

Quote of the Day, 10-21-2021

October 21, 2021 Rinsland

“But the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.” ~John Stuart Mill

An Old Friend

October 4, 2021 Rinsland

Let me tell you about James.

James is probably the oldest close childhood friend I had, and probably one of the most influential. I’m pretty sure the first good friend I had that wasn’t a family friend (that is, my parents weren’t first friends of their parents). He introduced me to one of the greatest JRPGs ever made: Golden Sun. I bought a Gameboy advance just to finish the game, and I only ever owned three games on it: Golden Sun, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, and LotR the Two Towers. And yet I still consider that little handheld console to be one of my favorite purchases. It even it still works…barely.

He also introduced me to anime, starting with .hack//sign (still the best ‘stuck in mmo world’ anime, suck it SAO) and Hellsing. He was also a movie aficionado, especially where martial arts and action was concerned. He introduced me to Lethal Weapon, Jet Li, and Equilibrium. We watched Jet Li’s The One multiple times, because it was awesome. His collection of movies, and his movie trivia was unparalleled.

He’d come over, we’d play videogames and chat as nerdy adolescents do. We talked, argued and discussed everything, including girls (which added to my shock when he eventually came out as gay)

When I went to college we went mostly our separate ways, only keeping a minimal amount of contact until Facebook became a big thing (yes, I am old, and as I said, we knew each other from way, way back in the olden days). We reconnected through Facebook, and throughout the years you may have seen a few of our many jokes, discussions, debates, and arguments on the old wall, ranging from objectivity in art, to religion, to the “is Eragon\Twilight\etc” any good (he said yes, I said no) as stories.

In the past few years Discord became the hot new communications channel for nerds like us, and he dropped off Facebook. I eventually found my way onto his Discord server that was set up for his family and friends. That’s the latest place we’d hang out and post the memes, latest music interests, have discussions, etc. as one does on discord servers. Which finally brings us to the present.

On Saturday at 7pm, James killed himself.