Thread "Happy 2023! General Discussion Thread" in forum "Comic Talk and General Discussion *"

Posted at 9:07AM, Jul. 13, 2023

InkyMoondrop wrote:
That word means absolutely nothing in today's day and age. It's used for age gap romances, sometimes even for 20 year olds who think a 17 year old looks hot.

This unfortunately reminds me of something that transpired between a couple of mutuals of mine well over a decade ago (I'm hesitant to call them friends in hindsight).

Let's just call them "Dante" and "Persophone" for the sake of identifying them but not by their real names. At the time, Dante was about 19-21 or so, and Persophone was 15 (I was also 19-20 at the time). Somehow or other, Dante and Persophone ended up falling for each other, but I foresaw messiness with such a romance, but the age difference was only part of the problem: after knowing him for some time, I came to realize what a manipulator Dante could be - a bit of a cunny and craft fox you might say, and even though Persophone was mosty smart and wise for her age, she clearly was still rather impressionable. Sure enough, I gradually began to see how Persophone was changing, and basically becoming a mirror image of Dante, which greatly concerned me . . . I'm not saying Dante was a bad guy persay, because he did have some good qualities about him, but he was very toxic, and considering he also studied psychology and stuff, he loved playing mind games with people - he'd even try to pull my wool cap over my eyes a time or two. I even tried to talk to Persophone about this at least once and address my concerns for her (apparently Dante even felt threatened that I was trying to vie for Persophone's affection, but that was hardly the case) but her explanation to me was she felt that she met her match in Dante, saying that she "could see a lot of herself in him." It only got worse from there, and eventually, Persophone became just as toxic and manipulative as Dante to the point that I severed ties with both of them. I don't even know how long they remained together, or if they even remained together at all, but frankly, I didn't really care anymore.

But as far as their age difference was concerned, and I do remember addressing my concerns about their relationship being a pedophilic one to another friend of mine (who had been in a similar relationship with such an age gap once before), whose opinion on the matter was as long as Persophone consented, it wasn't morally pedophilic (legally was still a different matter, obviously). Dante was at least smart enough to not let his relationship with Perosphone evolve into a sexual one, but I don't think that quelled any sort of desires that either of them may have had at the time.

Either way, I'm on the fence about age differences and gaps between romantic partners, and not just because I too was once upon a time in love with a woman who was over three years older than I was. On the one hand, I can see the whole "age is just a number" argument, but on the other hand, even I think that the wider the age gap is (say over five years or so), the more problematic it could be - and yes, this is especially true of instances where one party may be over 18 (if only barely), while the other party is still under the legal age of consent. There's a good Storybooth video about this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKPZ7h_0ekU

Posted at 10:07AM, Jul. 13, 2023

Either way, I'm on the fence about age differences and gaps between romantic partners, and not just because I too was once upon a time in love with a woman who was over three years older than I was. On the one hand, I can see the whole "age is just a number" argument, but on the other hand, even I think that the wider the age gap is (say over five years or so), the more problematic it could be - and yes, this is especially true of instances where one party may be over 18 (if only barely), while the other party is still under the legal age of consent.

I don't know what morally pedophilic means, I generally think such age gap romances you described, or ones where one party if about twice the other's age are a bad idea, because even though it's not unprecedented that two people with different ages being emotionally mature enough to handle such relationships and be together in harmony without toxicity, it's the exception, not the rule. There are significant cognitive differences, significant differences in lifestyle choices, etc and even two consenting adults struggle to make a relationship work in healthy ways sometimes. I did know people who were in a relationship with a significant age gap and it worked out, at least for the 7-8 years I've talked to them, but I'd argue, that from the older party, if the other is technically still a minor, there is always a huge moral responsibility that comes with this and that can't be negated by "she consented". Many if not most people are simply not equipped to handle heavy responsibilities even with their peers of age.

About Ozone's post… I think soliciting nudes from a minor is immoral, regardless of someone being a pedophile or not, because it rewards behaviour and strengtens a culture where minors use their bodies to get attention in place of other ways to get it and I think that society going towards the idea that such or revenge porn or celeb leaks or child porn or whatever are harmless - is not a good direction. The more we lose our respect for other people's right to their privacy and bodily autonomy the less safe the world is going to be for our children to grow up. And I'm saying that as someone who could literally not care any less about what kind of fiction people jerk off to in the privacy of their homes, because as long as it doesn't harm anyone, your kink or fetish is none of my business.

Posted at 11:07AM, Jul. 13, 2023

Ugh. If there's one disservice I can think of the internet doing, it's widening the exposure to some of the weirdest and most abstract fetishes I have ever known, with deviantART perhaps being the biggest offender for such; I really wish I never learned what vore is, and to think that people get off to that . . . yeah, I can just imagine THE MUPPET SHOW being like porn for these guys, considering there was so much of characters eating other characters.

But, I digress, that's not exactly what we're discussing.

Unfortunately, part of the problem is that many contemporaries within our modern society are trying to normalize a lot of this morally questionable and reprehensible notions because they feel it shouldn't be demonized or have so much taboo placed upon it - some are even going so far as to compare it to the normalization of LGBTQ+ rights in recent years, which is quite a false equivalence if you ask me - and I know friends of mine in the LGBTQ+ community do not appreciate having such pedophiles and other sexual deviants trying to lump themselves into such a spectrum, but there are some out there who very much try to excuse their perversion as legitimate sexual identities . . . as a matter of fact, IIRC, there was actually an SVU episode about that very thing: a pedophile who was on trial for having a "consentual" relationship with a teenage girl actually tried to justify his attraction to underaged girls as a legitimate sexual orientation that should be normalized and not demonized like homosexuality. I'm also deeply disturbed when you look at the social media profiles of promiment young stars and content creators, and see comments from people who admit that they're thirsty for these young people despite being grown-ass adults.

But generally speaking, all of this just goes to show how much we've fallen as a civilized society.

Posted at 12:07PM, Jul. 13, 2023

Unfortunately, part of the problem is that many contemporaries within our modern society are trying to normalize a lot of this morally questionable and reprehensible notions because they feel it shouldn't be demonized or have so much taboo placed upon it - some are even going so far as to compare it to the normalization of LGBTQ+ rights in recent years, which is quite a false equivalence if you ask me - and I know friends of mine in the LGBTQ+ community do not appreciate having such pedophiles and other sexual deviants trying to lump themselves into such a spectrum, but there are some out there who very much try to excuse their perversion as legitimate sexual identities . . . as a matter of fact, IIRC, there was actually an SVU episode about that very thing: a pedophile who was on trial for having a "consentual" relationship with a teenage girl actually tried to justify his attraction to underaged girls as a legitimate sexual orientation that should be normalized and not demonized like homosexuality. I'm also deeply disturbed when you look at the social media profiles of promiment young stars and content creators, and see comments from people who admit that they're thirsty for these young people despite being grown-ass adults.

But generally speaking, all of this just goes to show how much we've fallen as a civilized society.

I don't find thoughts and emotions morally questionable, so if anyone wants to normalize not getting beaten to death for merely existing, my personal disgust makes no difference in the matter and I follow the live and let live rule, especially since I personally hate crowd mentality. If anyone wants to normalize harming, exploiting others in any way, I do have a problem with that individual, but based on actions, really. I want my future kids to grow up in a world where actions have consequences but whatever they turn out as psychosexually and whatever they fantasize about should not be enough for them to be treated as monsters. I know that's a radical stance, but I live in a country where the government applies your logic to oppress LGBT people and technically ban books with LGBT characters for anyone under 18+. I've seen plenty of harm what disgust, fearmongering and stigmatization can do in the name of "protecting the children", so the point I subscribe to is that whatever fetishes, kinks or preferences people have, it's their business and if they harm anyone with their actions it's not just their business anymore. But I like to separate fiction from reality and individual from group when I meditate on these things. In any case, I don't think taboos help anyone. Some things should be accepted, like LGBT identites and some things should be at least medically researched by professionals and treated if necessary to reduce and prevent harm. Stigma and taboos hurt both causes, just like it hurts teenagers who feel different from the rest in any way and without support they are more likely to harm or kill themselves. As I said, where I live, that support is getting reduced to zero day by day.

Posted at 1:07PM, Jul. 13, 2023

Oh yeah, and people leaving creepy, sexually pumped up comments publicly under other people's pictures and videos bothers me as well. I could never get behind this thing, 100% not my cup of tea and is just generally offputting. Especially disturbing when it's a minor's content, but regardless of age, it's too much for someone like me. (except for like… commenting on plymayer's content, but obviously reading an adult comic on the Duck is not the same thing as going around on facebook and displaying arousal at someone's casual Sunday pilates photos.)

Posted at 3:07PM, Jul. 13, 2023

InkyMoondrop wrote:
I want my future kids to grow up in a world where actions have consequences

This. Right here. That's yet another problem in many cases, and something that some people admit that they don't even think about until it's too late; case in point: STDs, "accidental" pregnancies", etc.

I live in a country where the government applies your logic to oppress LGBT people and technically ban books with LGBT characters for anyone under 18+. I've seen plenty of harm what disgust, fearmongering and stigmatization can do in the name of "protecting the children"

That is exactly what the fanatical rightwing of our political system has actively been doing for the past several years, and a lot of it is even at state level . . . I'm sure you've heard a lot about what Governor Ron DeSantis has been doing to the state of Florida, where the basic concept is if you don't have white skin, don't speak perfect English without an accent, don't subscribe to Christianity, aren't wealthy, don't conform to gender norms, and aren't heterosexual, then you basically have no human rights whatsoever. Drag is now completely illegal in my state, so I guess that means I can't watch M*A*S*H anymore because of Corporal Klinger running around in dresses to get a discharge from the Army.

so the point I subscribe to is that whatever fetishes, kinks or preferences people have, it's their business and if they harm anyone with their actions it's not just their business anymore.

I can definitely go along with that, although if some could have their way, they would police even what people think in private to cure them of impure thoughts.

Oh yeah, and people leaving creepy, sexually pumped up comments publicly under other people's pictures and videos bothers me as well. I could never get behind this thing, 100% not my cup of tea and is just generally offputting. Especially disturbing when it's a minor's content, but regardless of age, it's too much for someone like me.

The most disturbing one I can remember was on YouTube years ago, somebody had posted a cute little video of their young daughter dancing - nothing wrong with that, but sure enough, there were a bunch of lewd comments from grown men expressing their thoughts about the girl and her dancing. Of course, there were others who were responding and condemning their comments as inappropriate and immoral, but there was one guy in particular who said something to the effect of that there was nothing wrong with expressing attraction to children, and likening it to picking fruit just before its ripened. No seriously, that's what they said. Then again, I've also heard some people likening pre-marital sex to test driving a car before purchasing. Once again, kind of false equivalence, but I suppose people are going to justify such thoughts and opinions how they can.

Posted at 3:07PM, Jul. 13, 2023

Of course, there were others who were responding and condemning their comments as inappropriate and immoral, but there was one guy in particular who said something to the effect of that there was nothing wrong with expressing attraction to children, and likening it to picking fruit just before its ripened. No seriously, that's what they said.

Yeah, some people stand by the notion that there's nothing wrong with making sexual advances on a child. And they're fucking unhinged.

Posted at 9:07AM, Jul. 14, 2023

I will say this though, there's one huge age gap trend that you'll see from time to time, particularly in Hollywood, that I do find highly questionable for both parties involved.

You'll have a man who's well into his 70s or even 80s, he'll have been married to the same woman for a vast majority of their lives, the wife dies, but then just a couple of years later, the man will have hooked up with another woman who's no older than her early 30s. Just . . . why?

Posted at 11:07AM, Jul. 14, 2023

J_Scarbrough wrote:

You'll have a man who's well into his 70s or even 80s, he'll have been married to the same woman for a vast majority of their lives, the wife dies, but then just a couple of years later, the man will have hooked up with another woman who's no older than her early 30s. Just . . . why?

There's a reason why such a young wife is called "a trophy". Someone has the money and power and can get a trophy: some hot young piece to spend his twilight years with. It's a prize to hang on your arm or have lounging around the pool. Like you won the lottery but you look like an idiot.

I should mention that my wife of thirty years is nearly five years older than I am. But some relationship between her with me 13 and her 18 just isn't conceivable or even imaginable. Twenty-eight and thirty-three is something else entirely.

Posted at 1:07PM, Jul. 15, 2023

Getting back to the topic of Seth Rogen's TMNT movie, I do have to admit that the overall art style and production design is really incredible, and its perhaps one of the more visually pleasing incarnations of the franchise since the 2003 series, but the more behind-the-scenes stuff I see, the more questions it raises from me, like. . . .

Did April O'Neil really need to be race-lifted?
Do we have to keep handing over voice-acting gigs to former SNL castmembers on silver platters?
With how woke Hollywood is these days in that characters of a certain race/ethnicity must be portrayed by actors of the same race/ethnicity, is there going to be any backlash over Jackie Chan voicing Splinter because he's Chinese while Splinter is Japanese, or will he get a free pass because at least it's all Asian?
When is Paul Rugg ever going to get more love than Paul Rudd?

Posted at 4:07PM, Jul. 15, 2023

J_Scarbrough wrote:

Will he get a free pass because at least it's all Asian?

Rogen should be granted a forever pass from all of Asia after everything endured from The Interview.

Posted at 9:07AM, Jul. 16, 2023

Wow, there was some deep discussion here. Unusually for me I can't follow it XD

——–

Today was horrid. I had a migraine I couldn't shift! I had to use my last rizatriptan wafer and it didn't work. So I had to go for the emergency Pelexia I put aside from my Hernia operation. :(
I had only one left because I gave the other I was saving to my mum when she had server back pain.
I absolutely loathe opiates so it was a desperate thing for me to need that. I've kept that in reserve for almost 2 years. It actually worked though.

-The reason I don't like opiates isn't the crap scare-monger stuff: They're not going to ever kill me because I'm very well aware of dosages and that is very, very easy to manage. There are no addiction issues what-so-ever either for me with any opiate painkiller I've ever used.

The reason I hate them is because they can make me feel horribly apathetic, depressed and grumpy with everyone the next day. It's the worst feeling. They also give you constipation, and opiates are terrible for managing pain in the long term because the body adapts to them so fast. They're only useful once in a while. Basically they're crap for a migraine sufferer.
Good in an emergency like this but generally to be avoided!

They gave me Pelxia when I was taken to the hospital for my riding accident a few weeks ago too. It barely even touched the pain at all. It was useless in that instance.

Posted at 8:07PM, Jul. 16, 2023

Getting back to the topic of my preference to Hitler's Testicle Us over L fucking I Us in comic fonts, I've found an example that perfectly illustrates my preference:

I know it's supposed to say Netflix, but with that kerning, it almost looks like it's Netfux.

EDIT: Okay, I guess you can't hotlink from the site, so here's the direct link to the comic page. . . .
https://www.webcomicsfeed.com/comic/update/pomos-bar-grill/38531

Posted at 2:07AM, Jul. 17, 2023

The joke works better if it did say Netfux instead of inviting copyright whatever by using Netflix not that it's funny to begin with.
Can't anyone do funny as opposed to eye roll/forehead slap or should I just go back to 1940s radio shows?
And what's with No Country for Old Men? For such a critically acclaimed Oscar winning movie its narrative ducked any attempt at conclusion. Why did I spend two hours watching such great acting to just leave everything so ambiguous and unsatisfied? I was really drawn into a novel and it's like the writer didn't bother to write the last three chapters of the book.

Posted at 12:07PM, Jul. 18, 2023

With all the terrible, terrible things aside that it caused, I sometimes miss the COVID-times of being unemployed. Not that I could afford to be unemployed, I need money and all, but having several months to myself not having to do anything and just digging myself into creative work 24/7… That was so good. Now, I'm stressed out if BD will have to go on a hiatus from October, because I couldn't even manage to start making the new chapter yet and I've got almost 3x the usual workload, I have to take extra shifts, because a co-worker of mine called in sick twice now after his 10 days of vacation (and my employers won't find any good replacement either, no matter how hard they look, they're lucky if someone comes in to work and sleeps through it), so I'm basically just going home to sleep, so I could function. I can only pray my gf won't leave me if I spend weeks in October just sitting in front of the computer non-stop instead of spending time with her, and all because the pre-agreed schedule can't be maintained. Because reliability is rewarded with extra workload from those who don't even give a shit and with a burnout (which will happen in a few weeks to another co-worker of mine, who's taking 5 shifts a week, day and night for the same reason. Yeah, I think he'll quit before the end of summer). And I'll be the one ending up with the guilt if I prioritize my creative work over my partner. It's a lose-lose situation. But going somewhere else, working for even less, something I have to learn, under uncertain circumstances… that'd be too much stress.

Posted at 8:07PM, Jul. 18, 2023

Here in America at least, the American workforce is blaming COVID for making people lazy and not wanting to work, thus apparently causing the workforce as a whole to suffer. . . .

But there's the thing, American workers have been suffering for decades because of the American workforce. Why? Because the American workforce treats workers like absolute shit, and the lower you are on the corporate ladder, the shittier you're treated . . . and not only that, but the pay is shit for a lot of jobs too; while CEOs and other white collar workers continue to get huge pay raises and make tremendous profits, the average joe is barely able to survive paycheck to paycheck. The powers that be want to not only exploit their workers, but pay them as little as possible, which is one of the mains why immigrants are "stealing our jobs": it's not even that they're stealing our jobs at all, it's that they're willingly taking the shit jobs that everyday Americans don't want.

So when COVID forced so many people to start working from home, of course those people didn't want to go back to work outside of their house: why would they want to deal with shitty people in-person day in and day out and be degraded and treated like mules from their supervisors, when they can remain in the comfort of their home?

Posted at 8:07PM, Jul. 18, 2023

Okay, this is absolutely hilarious! I wasn't even aware of it, but apparently me and a friend of mine were featured in not one, not two, but three news articles (and maybe more) because of something we tweeted about THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL!

https://www.fatherly.com/news/disney-change-muppet-christmas-carol

https://doyouremember.com/157966/disney-backlash-erasing-part-of-the-muppet-christmas-carol

https://www.disneydining.com/our-faces-will-melt-and-our-heads-will-explode-disney-erases-parts-of-classic-holiday-movie-some-fans-are-furious-bb1/

I'm actually even laughing over the fact that one of these articles actually took a quote from my tweet and used it as part of their headline!

Posted at 11:07PM, Jul. 21, 2023

J_Scarbrough wrote:
COVID forced so many people to start working from home…

I miss CoVid-19 times. That was a really interesting period.
It was crap too for a lot of reasons but it was special and unusual. I Loved social distancing in public, that was the best! Love wearing masks everywhere. Lockdowns were cool. Walking around in the middle of a work day in almost abandoned city streets was surreal! And you gave any other walkers a wide berth, like you were in some post-apocalyptic future world… complete with masks or a scarf over your face… That was JUST like how we imagined the future in the 1980s, it was awesome ^_^

Of course we had it very easy here in Perth Western Australia, our lockdowns didn't last long because we had almost zero CoVid cases. All the cases were isolated in hotel and home quarantine and while it was running rampant across the globe all over the place I think we had only about 5 or 6 local transmissions despite over two and a half million people living here…

Then all the isolation and lock-downs ended. :(
And people actually started to get the damn illness, including me.
But I think it was worth it. By that time we knew what we were dealing with, we were all vaccinated so spread was slow (I never gave my CoVid to anyone else), hospitals weren't overwhelmed, we had zero deaths…

Posted at 8:07AM, Jul. 22, 2023

That's exactly the reason why COVID was so rampant and widespread here in America, because our politicians and such refused to comply with lockdowns, quarantines, and even mask mandates - they claimed it was because all of these notions infringed on our Constitutional rights and freedoms, but what it really was was they didn't want businesses to shut down, nor for people to stop working, and as a result, people were walking around spreading the virus, infecting each other, and basically killing each other. It also didn't help that the dictator we had at the time who pretended to be our President kept insisting outrageous claims that ranged from the virus all being nothing more than a liberal hoax (something that the right still claims to this day), to the virus magically disappearing like a miracle in the spring when the weather warmed up, to pushing fish tank cleaning solutions as the end-all antidote for the virus (and yes, an elderly couple actually ingested the stuff because he said it was safe - the both were hospitalized for it, and the husband actually died from it).

It was very frustrating for the medical profession and scientific community here, because here they were fighting a battle to save lives from a very serious and fatal virus, but it was the politicians who knew nothing about science who kept overriding them and insisting that it was nothing to get people to stay in business and keep working as if nothing was happening - that's exactly why our country had the highest rate of spreading and the highest death rates than any other in the world.

There was but a small handful of politicians who took the virus seriously enough, but they too refused to comply with lockdowns or mask mandates, because their propaganda was herd immunity, in that we should all make each other sick to see who can build up a resistance to the virus. Even so, some of these politicians also propagated that the eldery in our country would have been willing to sacrifice their lives anyway.

Posted at 4:07AM, Jul. 23, 2023

You're not talking about the Northeastern US or the west coast. Here there was tital lock down except for essential workers. It was just like Australia. Vaccine mandates for public employees. But they sacrificed those in nursing homes because they knew they could contain the spread within the homes and that with enough proper care. No. They were careless. Different world here in the strongly blue states. I was an essential worker. We had to report every little transmission. Isolate and test repeatedly. I was finally exposed because of a co-worker who had gotten it in a doctor's office because you can only do so much to contain a virus without total PPE suits.
There was also a very nasty variant of the flu going around at the time. COVID19 was bad but that flu was worse and it lingered for a month. Had to go crazy with the Listerine to keep going after the isolation. Actually pulled a muscle in my side from all the coughing.
The USA is a different world up here in the blue states. Sorry you have to suffer in a red state but you want people doing everything and even more and it still not being effective just come live in the socialist paradises we have up here.
And according to all the political belief tests to see where you stand, I'm a classic liberal but as Ed Koch used to say "a liberal with sanity "
The population is too dense for the isolation to be truly effective in the USA. Short of completely stopping all infrastructure there wasn't any way to totally isolate in the US. But at least it finally ended my addiction to talk radio amd I discovered jazz. Best thing ever.
But then what do I know, my sister was deeply involved in the state government amd my wife in hospital administration and I actually had to enforce protocols as a security guard. It's not like I wasn't right in the middle of what was going on as opposed to just watching it on TV.

And I got a cool tee-shirt for being an essential worker too! Wow. Been there, done that and a tee-shirt.

Posted at 7:07PM, Jul. 23, 2023

Sounds like you guys really suffered!

My work shut down for a couple of months and I burned through my long service leave. I had nothing to but hang out with my girlfriend all day and night… which was a bit too much for our relationship in the end!

The shortages in the shops were quite weird though… I'd never seen the lake. The issues with CoVid cause many rolling shortages. But even afterwards there were even more shortages of all sorts of other stuff.
Perth is a very isolated capital city, thousands of kilometres away from the rest of the capitals in this country, which are all relatively close to each other. This means that it's much easier to isolate us and the entire state from things like CoVid, but we're also prone to shortages when it comes to supply lines.

Posted at 8:07AM, Jul. 24, 2023

bravo1102 wrote:
You're not talking about the Northeastern US or the west coast.

True. I speak of what the experience was like down here in the southeast, where the red politicians rule with an iron fist. My state's governor, Bill Lee (who is gradually turning more and more into DeSantis Lite) wouldn't stand for the lockdowns or business closings, and began insisting that everything reopen and go back to normal as early as May of 2020. You know what happened? By Christmas that year, our state became the world's new COVID epicenter. . . .

After all, this is the party that puts politics and especially profit over people, and with businesses being closed and people staying at home, that was a tremendous no-no for Lee.

The only strange thing right now is for whatever reason, there's one specific KFC restaurant in my town that still hasn't reopened its indoor dining area post-COVID yet; it's still drive-thru or pick-up only.

Posted at 5:07PM, Jul. 24, 2023

HAHAHA! Twitter changed its logo to an X
How embarrassing ^_^

Posted at 5:07PM, Jul. 24, 2023

Because that's what Elongate is rebranding Twitter as: X.

Also apparently he's limiting and restricting the number of DMs that non-verified users can have in their inboxes. It's like he's regressing the platform back into an early 2000s message forum.

Posted at 6:07PM, Jul. 24, 2023

J_Scarbrough wrote:
Because that's what Elongate is rebranding Twitter as: X.

Also apparently he's limiting and restricting the number of DMs that non-verified users can have in their inboxes. It's like he's regressing the platform back into an early 2000s message forum.

I'm never not surprised by how badly high profile, big budget systems and apps are programmed- ie extreme lack of ability, terrible UX.

E.G. Facebook has never been good but in the beginning it was soooooo shiz. Even I could've designed and program better stuff with way more abilities and better UX. I'm not bragging or yapping with that either- at the time I was good enough to program that I could have easily done better that early Facebook.

Twitter has also never been very good XD