OOTS #1234 - The Discussion Thread

[Ruck]

Better than making the joke first but not executing it properly so nobody caught it

I got it, and the execution was fine; maybe subtlety doesn't play as well on the forums. And, also, the thread moves too fast for me to comment on time.

[Fyraltari]

Huh. I'm not used to Western animation that doesn't make my brain queasy, let alone actually makes it perk up. In the absence of knowing what they're saying, it seems interesting... but would I be disillusioned if I managed to find a translation?

Wakfu is probably the best animated show France ever produced (though I have a soft spot for Code Lyoko). It's not perfect of course (season 2 has a serious pacing issue, it doesn't always recap stuff that happened in other parts of the franchise that are important to the plot, and some episodes are a bit meh, but nothing really groan-worthy. Okay, the ugliness pageant is groan-worthy.), but the animation is gorgeous (really showcases what Flash, of all softwares, can do) and the character work is great. Especially for the main villain of season 1, he's great. I really recommend it.

The show is on Netflix (I think), but I was told the English dub of the first two seasons is quite bad. It's been renewed for a fourth (and final) season but no release date has been announced yet.

[Jasdoif]

Well, the good news is that you don't have to live with the rest of my homebrew. Because you can just be reamimated in numerous different ways!

That's, well, reassuring, but I'd rather, you know, live?

Well, if you're going to be picky about it....

Sounds familiar....

Ah, with a big enough lab, they can just get a slice and heal on a loop during that time.

See, the slicing part itself is precisely the type of thing I want to avoid.

Well now you're just being picky about it. What's wrong, you yellow?

[Metastachydium]

A disturbing pattern is emerging!

[arimareiji]

Wakfu is probably the best animated show France ever produced (though I have a soft spot for Code Lyoko). It's not perfect of course (season 2 has a serious pacing issue, it doesn't always recap stuff that happened in other parts of the franchise that are important to the plot, and some episodes are a bit meh, but nothing really groan-worthy. Okay, the ugliness pageant is groan-worthy.), but the animation is gorgeous (really showcases what Flash, of all softwares, can do) and the character work is great. Especially for the main villain of season 1, he's great. I really recommend it.

The show is on Netflix (I think), but I was told the English dub of the first two seasons is quite bad. It's been renewed for a fourth (and final) season but no release date has been announced yet.

Thank you for all of the info; I'll try to find a sub and get back to you by PM one of these days when I finish it. (^_^)b Not surprised the English dub is bad, US voice acting is still the red-headed stepchild of an industry that relies on pretty faces and body language to sell stories.
_{(Princess Mononoke was painful or a lot of reasons, not the least of which was "hiring big names who have always been able to sell movies with their looks, but they have no idea how to emote with their voice because they've always relied on facial expressions, photogenicity, and gestures".)}

[Fyraltari]

Thank you for all of the info; I'll try to find a sub and get back to you by PM one of these days when I finish it.

Cool! I should probably mention that there are three special episodes between season 2 and 3 that are essential to the plot of season 3, so be careful not to accidentally skip them

(^_^)b Not surprised the English dub is bad, US voice acting is still the red-headed stepchild of an industry that relies on pretty faces and body language to sell stories.
_{(Princess Mononoke was painful or a lot of reasons, not the least of which was "hiring big names who have always been able to sell movies with their looks, but they have no idea how to emote with their voice because they've always relied on facial expressions, photogenicity, and gestures".)}

Apprently the dub for season 3 is way better, don't know if they've redubbed the previous seasons.

[Peelee]

Sounds familiar....

Clearly that is a quality joke, which works as a response to a variety of statements!

For reals, though, yes. I will absolutely reuse jokes if I think they're good. After enough times, it changes from "being lazy" to "running gag" and is seen as a positive.

[Fyraltari]

Clearly that is a quality joke, which works as a response to a variety of statements!

For reals, though, yes. I will absolutely reuse jokes if I think they're good. After enough times, it changes from "being lazy" to "running gag" and is seen as a positive.

A running gag quickly becomes tiresome if you don't shake it up after a while, however.

[Peelee]

A running gag quickly becomes tiresome if you don't shake it up after a while, however.

Well if you're going to be picky about it...

[Ionathus]

Thank you for all of the info; I'll try to find a sub and get back to you by PM one of these days when I finish it. (^_^)b Not surprised the English dub is bad, US voice acting is still the red-headed stepchild of an industry that relies on pretty faces and body language to sell stories.
_{(Princess Mononoke was painful or a lot of reasons, not the least of which was "hiring big names who have always been able to sell movies with their looks, but they have no idea how to emote with their voice because they've always relied on facial expressions, photogenicity, and gestures".)}

True story, I once met a young Belgian man whose English was perfect because – I kid you not – growing up, he absolutely hated the Dutch voice actors who dubbed Scooby Doo and learned English specifically so he could watch the original version. Apparently there are only literally 2 good Dutch VA talents. This isn't a rebuttal or anything, just a fun story.

[bunsen_h]

I was wondering when I'd get that. Also I love that you went into more depth on it than I was expecting!

There's a complication that I hadn't considered: helical handedness. If you're going up against a monster like a tove --

-- you need to have a weapon of the correct chirality. If you try to hit a left-hand-thread tove with a left-hand-thread weapon, you're going to be at a penalty to hit and damage, and there's a chance for the monster to "grapple" your weapon without harm by engaging with it.

[danielxcutter]

There's a complication that I hadn't considered: helical handedness. If you're going up against a monster like a tove --

-- you need to have a weapon of the correct chirality. If you try to hit a left-hand-thread tove with a left-hand-thread weapon, you're going to be at a penalty to hit and damage, and there's a chance for the monster to "grapple" your weapon without harm by engaging with it.

...The hell is that?

[halfeye]

A running gag quickly becomes tiresome if you don't shake it up after a while, however.

Repeat until funny.

Rhubarb, rhubarb.

[arimareiji]

...The hell is that?

I'm not sure, but the link is to Wikimedia Commons and they had the courtesy to name the file Jabberwocky_creatures.jpg. My guess from context would be that the thing with the corkscrew tail is a tove.

[bunsen_h]

I'm not sure, but the link is to Wikimedia Commons and they had the courtesy to name the file Jabberwocky_creatures.jpg. My guess from context would be that the thing with the corkscrew tail is a tove.

Yes. That's an illustration by John Tenniel of a tove, from Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky".

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gymbol in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

According to Humpty Dumpty (in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), they're "something like badgers—they’re something like lizards—and they’re something like corkscrews". "Slithy" is a portmanteau of "lithe" and "slimy".

That poem is the origin of the "vorpal sword".

[Ionathus]

Yes. That's an illustration by John Tenniel of a tove, from Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky".

According to Humpty Dumpty (in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), they're "something like badgers—they’re something like lizards—and they’re something like corkscrews". "Slithy" is a portmanteau of "lithe" and "slimy".

That poem is the origin of the "vorpal sword".

And the word "chortle!"

[Peelee]

There's a complication that I hadn't considered: helical handedness.

A chemist who forgot chirality?! For shame!

[bunsen_h]

A chemist who forgot chirality?! For shame!

Even worse, one aspect of my doctoral project was looking at some of the angles involved in certain kinds of chiral molecules, which involved them flipping back and forth.

The problem here was going to the trouble of digging out the non-chemical-jargon way of describing the problem with the toves. It would have been easier to grab my thesis off the bookshelf than to rummage around on the net for stuff like "left-hand-thread".

Some of the guys in my old D&D group had large collections of swords stashed in Bags of Holding, so they could grab whichever one was most useful at the moment. I can easily imagine a conversation like:

DM: "You see a group of toves, two large and three small."

Billy: "Are they left-hand-thread or right-hand-thread?"

DM: "Do a spot check."

Billy: "Um... 14."

DM: "They look like right-hand-thread toves."

Billy: "Okay! I pull out my +3 right-hand-thread sword of slaying toves."

DM: "Is it a right-hand-thread sword? Or a sword for slaying right-hand-thread toves?"

Billy: "Uhhhm... I don't know. Does it make a difference?"

DM: "Yup. Roll a D20. Roll high."

[arimareiji]

I'd disagree. Halberds are not that long and they can absolutely be used out of formation (unlike many kinds of spears that are an absolute liability once there is no formation around). Granted, I have no knowledge of their being used in duels, but I fail to see why they couldn't be: they are extremely versatile and they hit hard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afqhBODc_8U
^ Likely to be of interest to anyone wrt spears vs swords, ran across it today.

My impression from it is that one-on-one, a spearman has a big advantage unless the swordsman has a large shield and knows how to use it -- or unless the spearman is also trying to use a shield, which is just disastrous. Between that and watching the group fights trying to simulate army combat (but the spear/shield wielders were pretty inept), I feel like I understand better how conscript units could be butchered if they broke formation.

---

Cool! I should probably mention that there are three special episodes between season 2 and 3 that are essential to the plot of season 3, so be careful not to accidentally skip them

Apprently the dub for season 3 is way better, don't know if they've redubbed the previous seasons.

Thank you all the more, and my apologies for somehow missing this. I've got a link up and queued for when I make the time, hopefully sooner rather than later.

---

True story, I once met a young Belgian man whose English was perfect because – I kid you not – growing up, he absolutely hated the Dutch voice actors who dubbed Scooby Doo and learned English specifically so he could watch the original version. Apparently there are only literally 2 good Dutch VA talents. This isn't a rebuttal or anything, just a fun story.

It is interesting, both standalone and to show it's not just Hollywood. (^_^)b

[Worldsong]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afqhBODc_8U
^ Likely to be of interest to anyone wrt spears vs swords, ran across it today.

My impression from it is that one-on-one, a spearman has a big advantage unless the swordsman has a large shield and knows how to use it -- or unless the spearman is also trying to use a shield, which is just disastrous. Between that and watching the group fights trying to simulate army combat (but the spear/shield wielders were pretty inept), I feel like I understand better how conscript units could be butchered if they broke formation.

Funny enough that video is part of the reason I rate spears so highly. Of course, it's between amateur combatants rather than experienced soldiers, but even so, the advantages of a spear are pretty clear. Not that swords are bad, spears are just... really damn good.

On the other hand I'm happy the guy with the messer got a point. I like messers.

[georgie_leech]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afqhBODc_8U
^ Likely to be of interest to anyone wrt spears vs swords, ran across it today.

My impression from it is that one-on-one, a spearman has a big advantage unless the swordsman has a large shield and knows how to use it -- or unless the spearman is also trying to use a shield, which is just disastrous. Between that and watching the group fights trying to simulate army combat (but the spear/shield wielders were pretty inept), I feel like I understand better how conscript units could be butchered if they broke formation.

Oh yeah, spear and shield is definitely formation-fighting only. With only one hand on it you lose all that delicious leverage, and doing anything beyond a simple forward stab is gonna be slow and unwieldy.

Also I liked how the rondel dagger guy was like "rargh I'm a berserker feeble spears do not hurt me!" But then white managed to come out on top anyway after a brief bout of wrestling for the dagger.