#only to go PSYCHE and do the random twist and cliffhanger

[kurozu501]

i really want to know what the hell happened behind the scenes that they released the madoka rebellion movie in 2013 with a twist ending and cliffhanger clearly intended to set up a sequel and then just… did nothing. for a decade. the sequel is now finally slated to come out at the end of 2024, 11 years later. was the money from the pmmm gacha game really that good, that they just felt no need to continue the main anime? was there some kind of insane production difficulties going on with the team making this movie? did they have trouble convincing urobuchi to come back for it? whats the deal?

[whovianwatchingstartrek]

A Whovian Watches Star Trek for the First Time: Part 107 - The Emperor's Palace-Ship

Star Trek: Discovery - Season 1 Episode 12 - Vaulting Ambition

We open with Michael and Lorca being shuttled over to Emperor Georgiou. Unfortunately, the Shenzhou's information on the Defiant is heavily redacted, but it's likely that the full information is in the Imperial Palace, a ship called the Charon. I love the Charon's design, I love the scale of it, and how beautiful it is. Also, apparently Michael was raised by Emperor Georgiou, which makes sense given that she couldn't have been raised by Sarek here, and how Georgiou was her main mentor in Starfleet

Meanwhile on Discovery, Sylvia is resuming her treatment of Paul, who is once again interacting with his Empire Counterpart in the spore network. The Interactions with his other self are really fun, and the wild dreamscape of the spore network made for some nice visuals. Weird fucky dreamscapes are always fun, and this served a pretty good farewell between Paul and Dr Culbur. Our Paul however, wakes up at the same time as the other Paul. Unfortunately, the Empire's Paul has been doing his own experiments on the Spore Network, except he's actively killing it.

I wasn't to sure about Georgiou as the Emperor last episode, but her actress really sells it here. There is definitely a really creepy vibe in her dinner scene with Michael, where we also find out Kelpians are considered a delicacy in the Empire's Universe. That certainly brings a new layer to Saru's personal curiosity asking about them a while back. The scene really highlights the constant paranoia of this universe, with Georgiou being perfectly willing to execute her daughter on the mere suspicion of a plot to overthrow her.

Michael plays a really interesting gamble over telling Georgiou about the whole parallel universe situation, and uses Our Georgiou's rank badge as proof. This results in the immediate execution of everyone in the room except Georgiou, Michael and one shocked terrified assistant, which actually got a giggle out of me.

As all of this is going on, Ash is currently physically tearing himself apart over the conflict between the Human and Klingon parts of his Psyche. Discovery's Doctors do not know what to do with him, so we get a few scenes of Saru pleading with the Klingon Torturer to help, as she is the only one who understands the process that did this to him. At first she is reluctant, but after seeing the suffering in person, she finally admits there is one way to undo it. She begins the procedure, under armed watch

Apparently the way the Defiant moved between universes drove the entire crew mad to the point where they all killed eachother, meaning as a way back it's useless. Michael and the Emperor come to an uneasy bargain that she can go free in exchange for the schematics for Discovery's Spore Engine. No amount of negotiation however can convince the Emperor to let Lorca go.

In a scene where Lorca is being tortured, we get to see another absolutely brutal method that the Terran Empire has to execute people, as Lorca's loyalists are executed in front of him, the first one being an injection that burns away then explodes the victim.

Our final cliffhanger for the episode is the reveal that our Lorca and the Empire's Lorca are in fact one and the same, a twist I really didn't see coming, but kinda felt like it came a bit out of nowhere. We get flashbacks to certain "hints", but really they're just random details. I'm still interested to see where this goes though. It was an alright episode, with some great moments, but I wish we could do a bit more world. Maybe with a bit of fleshing out beyond this twist for me to accept it, but this definitely made Lorca a much less fascinating character for me, but we'll see if he can recapture it.

[alatismeni-theitsa]

anti LO anon opinions

(1) Whats up with LO giving some characters random american names? In few fastpass episodes was characters that have bame anna, larry and derek and in previous episodes there was characters with american names. Isnt that supposed to be greek mythological beings that should have greek names?

(2) Maybe it’s my aroace ass but why do I have a feeling the relationship of HxP in LO goes too fast? I feel uncomfortable seeing them so close because nothing really has happened to bind them that much so early.

(3) I’m going to rant for a second here.  I think the Kronos plot in LO is interesting but at the same time it’s also just so? Random? Like isn’t this supposed to be about Hades and Persephone? It have been over 150 episodes and they’ve only just now decided to do any basic romantic interactions, but there’s so many side plots that it just makes them seem so out of place?

It’s not great editing to jump from cutesy shipper moments to suddenly a new war is starting in the span of a few panels. The tonal shifts have to be built up, maybe split over a few episodes, but LO doesn’t put in the effort. It wants the stakes and writing of a deep epic but doesn’t put in the work to do so, so it ends up looking like shallow cliffhanger writing than actually planned.

Like you still have to deal with her murdering people (even if it was an accident), you now have to deal with Leto apparently being the real evil mastermind, redeeming (?) Apollo (🤢), Thetis trying to ruin Zeus’ marriage, Persephone being raped, her scholarship, her school work (?), Eros and psyche, semele and Dionysus, Daphne and Thanatos (gag), Minthe!, and now a whole new war all on top of the ACTUAL myth its popularity and readership is based off of.

For all we know Smythe does genuinely want to tell these other myths (the majority which have nothing to do with HxP to begin with) but just isn’t patient enough to just save them for a spin off series, so she shoves them all into this despite saying back in 2018 she was not going to do. Problem too is that doing that makes HxP, the actual selling point, completely minor in the grand scheme of it all. Who cares about Persephone cuddling her boss when they’re accidentally causing another war under their own noses? How are they good people at that point?

If Demeter or Zeus accidentally awoke a villain they’d be thrown in tartarus too, but we know Persephone will get off Scott-free for this and become queen with no push back. How is that fair? I will feel sympathy for her bad childhood and really bad two weeks on Olympus (good lord it’s only been like a month in comic and all of this is happening, what the hell) but why should we root for a character who is putting millions are risk and who we know won’t be punished or learn anything from it? From anyone not blinded by the rose-tinted glasses, Persephone and hades are villains as well, but because we get their POV we’re supposed to ignore that? No thanks.

Why isn’t the editing team cutting the fat, so to speak? You can’t write and market it off a singular myth and proceed to make it a b-plot because you got bored of it and don’t know how to get from point A to point B. There are a ton of super successful Webtoons that wrapped everything up strongly in less than 100 episodes, some with even less, but LO seems determined to be over 200+ at this rate with the actual plot/hook (HxP) being MAYBE 1/6th of the actual product, with everything else being unrelated side plots smythe found more interesting. Though I guess they do kinda matter in this case, it’s literally Persephone’s fault AGAIN she’s putting countless lives in danger, yet it still won’t be her fault somehow? It’s all just very stupid.

(4) What i find annoying about the LO marketing is they keep insisting it's this "global phenomenon" but that is only correct if you only go off the English speaking server. It was not received well in Korea, it doesn't even rank in the Latin American server, and only does ok in France, and it's not even on other Asian servers. I understand media tends to be very America-focused, but that seems to be twisting the truth. If they were honest True Beauty would be marketed as the "global hit", not LO.

(5) Whats up with LO giving some characters random american names? In few fastpass episodes was characters that have bame anna, larry and derek and in previous episodes there was characters with american names. Isnt that supposed to be greek mythological beings that should have greek names?

(6) what really makes me mad about LO is just that it has so much potential that isn't met. With a competent writer it could be a nuanced look into complex characters who aren't easily cut into black and white, and art wise, especially with the long strolling panels, it shows with a competent eye they can absolutely make something constantly visually strong, yet both genuinely good moments in either writing ad art are few & fair in between in over 150+ episodes. I'm sad over what could have been.

(7) I find it so weird that ppl are praising Rachel for giving Persephone stretch marks but the whole comic barely has diversity. There's only been a handful of plus sized women and I haven't seen any plus sized men so far (I could be wrong. Also, only one goddess is plus sized. Everyone else is skinny.). Nobody has kinky hair and a lot of the guys are extremely tall compared to the women.

[smartestcstudent]

Hi there. I’m embarrassed about the cliched nature of my problem which is probably why I’m airing it out on a random advice blog I just found rather than consulting a friend. But here goes. My husband and I aren’t getting along anymore. That’s not all that original. The twist is I think it’s our kids fault. I mean, not literally, but ever since we had them (boy and girl, ages 5 and 2) we have gradually enjoyed each other less and less. When they were babies everything was rosy, if overwhelming, of course. But lately it feels like once we get them both to sleep we’d rather zone out on TV than talk to one another. And if we do talk it seems like it turns into conflict, especially if the talk turns to the kids where we’ll butt heads, respectfully, but still butt them. I used to have a ball with this guy. We loved doing everything together. When we got married we were all gung ho to do the kids and white picket fence. Now everything with us just feels like it takes so much … effort. We’re like a real life Al and Peg Bundy. Is there anything to be done about this? Are we just going to be another predictably statistically dead marriage? - Laurie, 36, Madison, WI

Everything about our traditional mating patterns completely contradicts everything involved with our traditional notions of happily ever after. What do romantic relationships really consist of anyway? Spending time together. At first, spending fun time together. Going to drinks, dinner, movies, shows, museums, whatever it is that you like to spend your recreational time doing. Maybe the things you like in common. Maybe enjoying the contrasts in your interests. And on top of that hopefully really good naked time. Then once you’ve established that leisure-time bond you start doing the mundane things together. Shopping, cooking, familial obligations. Why? Because you’ve really gotten used to how this person’s presence makes the time pass quickly, so why not apply it to life’s drudgery to make it go easier. So you say, “hey, there’s a mind-blowing blowjob in it for you if you come sit at the DMV with me.” Sigh, young love.

Seeing as how you’ve successfully found someone you enjoy engaging with during leisure time, life’s drudgery and naked time, there’s clearly nothing left to do but lock that shit down with a ring and start replicating yourselves. And that’s where everything that formed the basis for your relationship becomes irrelevant. You’ve traded in a life of spending time with someone you enjoy to running a small business with them. Because the truth is that’s what having a family is like most of the time: logistics, budgeting, transportation, investment, board meetings about employees’ work and conduct. 90% of your time with one another will become about keeping the trains running on time and discussing how the train just got derailed. Leisure time? If you’re lucky, a couple hours a week. Naked time? If you’re lucky, a couple fleeting moments a month. Drudgery? Plenty and now your partner has become a part of it instead of just a helpful co-pilot.

Sorry to be so bleak in my evaluation of family. Obviously there are great rewards and pleasures in children and family life otherwise people wouldn’t keep doing it. But the realities of it often crash headlong into romanticized notions of a lifelong, loving relationship. Some relationships weather these realities better than others. Just because yours isn’t at the moment doesn’t mean you’re locked into a failed marriage. Kids are just one of many experiences over a lifetime that will change you and your relationship. The reason there’s always a round of applause when someone announces they’re having a 50th, 40th, 30th or even 20th wedding anniversary is that it’s a bit of a miracle for any relationship to survive all those experiences. My two cents would be for you to ride it out for the time being. Don’t try and force a reconnection. Acknowledge it, because it’s healthy to be open with one another about what’s going on. But don’t feel compelled to restart the fire out of panic that you’re losing one another. It might be just as good to give each other some space, let each other go out and hang out with other friends instead of each other all the time. After all, absence does make the heart grow fonder. And in time, if the viable connection is still there, you will find your way back each other in the new versions of yourself and your lives that exist now. And if you don’t, there’s no shame in calling it day on something that’s not working for you or your kids anymore. You didn’t fail, life just had its way with you.

Okay, so I have to vent here for a moment. Like most sane women on OKCupid, Match.com, Tinder, etc., I have a clear disclaimer in my profile that Trump voters are a no go with me. I’m pretty open-minded when it comes to dating people of all races, religions and have even dated a Republican in the past but getting involved with someone who thought it was okay to vote for that incompetent misogynist is just a bridge too far. ANYWAY, so I’m on a date with a charming fella recently. We’ve met for drinks for a feel-each-other-out session and everything is going well, better than these things usually go. Then towards the end, as we’re paying the check and I’m considering whether I’m going to give this guy my digits, he confesses that he’s a TRUMP VOTER. I mean, WTF. I’m so annoyed. And bewildered that this perfectly engaging and hot man is a MFing Trump voter. He represents something I clearly stand against and he basically lied to me by not being upfront with me. I can’t see him again...right?

On a related note, part of the reason I don’t want to date a Trump voter is because I hate thinking about him or being reminded he exists specifically because I want him to die. Literally. And I hate feeling like that about someone even someone as repugnant as him. I’ve hated people before. I hated Bush. But I never wished he or anyone else in the world would die. I just hate feeling that way about someone because it feels wrong. - Janine, 31, Oceanside, CA

Disclosing you’re a Trump voter when dating is a requirement on par with being up front with having a STD. Choices they made in the past have put people’s health at risk and it is fair for anyone dating them to know. Now, that said, is it fair to strike anyone who voted for Trump off your to-do list? It’s certainly fair to wonder about their judgment and what it says about them. The common assumption is that someone who voted for Trump is stupid. That’s probably reductive, but it’s certainly possible that they suffer from some kind of defect in ethics, morals or possibly common sense. But I’m not a big believer in evaluating people by the worst thing they ever did. Everyone makes mistakes. Just like how someone having an STD doesn’t mean they’re an irresponsible, disease-ridden degenerate, voting for Trump, as inexplicable as it may be, doesn’t guarantee this guy is a soulless misogynist. If everything else about him is agreeable and you want to give him a chance, I suggest asking him why he voted for Trump and whether he regrets his decision. A lot of people in this country made a big mistake last November. They got suckered by a con man. Give him a chance to reconcile with this because we’re all in this together whether we like it or not. If he can’t, or his answers don’t satisfy you, move on.

As for feeling guilt about wishing Trump dead, there’s nothing wrong with that. Your thoughts have no power. It would only be a problem if you felt motivated to act on those feelings. But wishing a repugnant, 70-year-old man who’s ruining the country would cease to exist is not an immoral feeling. I certainly wouldn’t want him to be assassinated. Murder always leaves a psychic stain no matter how much one may rationalize its justification. And lord knows Trump’s already going to leave plenty of psychic stains on this country without dying. But natural causes? Sure. Everyone has to die at some point so why can’t nature intervene and save us from this neverending disaster. Maybe I’m just a vengeful bastard, but I think the sweet relief of death is too generous for Trump. I’d rather he just had a debilitating stroke that left him making this face for the rest of his life.

Dude. This Alien: Covenant trailer is getting me psyched. But Prometheus blew mud. Am I a sucker if I go see this thing opening weekend? - Brad, 45, Tennesse

Back in the cinematic paleolithic age of the ‘70s when the original Alien was released, movies weren’t generally conceived as “franchises.” They weren’t set up from the get-go as trilogies or expanded universes and what have you. The filmmakers maybe left some wiggle room open to make more if it was successful, but they weren’t launching pads for properties that a studio could bilk ad infinitum. Even Star Wars, popularizer of the trilogy form, ended with no cliffhanger or indication there would be more. The “Episode IV” on the iconic opening crawl was added for the film’s re-release prior to The Empire Strikes Back’s release in 1981.

In the ‘80s though, sequels became big business. Movies still weren’t made with plans for future entries mapped out but anything that made a pretty penny would be green lit for another outing no matter how craptastic the plot drummed up to justify its existence. On the other hand, Jim Cameron’s Aliens is one of the greatest sequels of all time. It took one obvious question left over from the original - what laid all those leathery eggs the facehuggers popped out of - and mined it for all the suspense and action it could. It took the Xenomorph and simply multiplied it with a mama alien to battle and bring an end to the alien terror. It was an artistic, critical and commercial triumph that wrapped up the tale of Ellen Ripley and the Xenomorphs in satisfying conclusion. So clearly there had to be more.

The beginning of Alien 3 (yes nerds, I know the 3 is actually cubed but I’m way too lazy to figure out how to do that) set the tone for all the tortured, misbegotten sequels by crashing Ripley on a desolate prison planet and killing off the new characters from Aliens we’d come to love including Newt, the little girl to whom Ripley had become a mother figure. Good times. From then on each installment has been one grotesque mess after another, piling on an increasingly unnecessary mythology with decreasing results. Finally Ridley Scott decided to return to the thing he started with Prometheus, an Alien movie...with no aliens in it. It was a great looking movie that, as you eloquently put it, blew mud. That evaluation could honestly be applied to Ridley Scott’s entire career. Bizarrely, he’s been an A-list director for 40 years while only producing two great movies: Alien and Thelma & Louise. And no, Blade Runner shouldn’t be added to that list. It is the apotheosis Ridley Scott film in the sense that it is an amazing looking narrative clusterfuck and a complete bore. Nix on Gladiator as well. When the most memorable thing about a movie is that time the most detestable character on The Sopranos was obsessed with it, the movie wasn’t that great.

I get the appeal of Alien: Covenant. It’s got a fantastic cast. Who doesn’t want to hear Danny McBride mouth off at a Xenomorph? And yes, it looks fantastic with that iconic and still-terrifying-to-this-day alien drawing you in. Most likely though, it’s a hollow rehash of a tired franchise made by an overrated director. Proceed with caution.

Aural medication for the week: “Pure Comedy”

In need of advice? Send your questions to smartestcstudent@gmail.com

[neoraven]

What’s Joe Watching, 2/7/17

Hey, I've been keeping a running log of my TV watching habits. I kept meaning to put something together for all of these or ratings and reviews, but none of that happened. I'll put some comments, mini-reviews down there. And as soon as I watch 24, APB, and Emerald City, there will be a fresh new show power rankings.

Earlier The Good Place s1e11 'What's my motivation?' Superstore s2e11 'Rebranding' Kevin Can Wait s1e14 'Kevin vs. The Dutch Elm' The Odd Couple s3e11 'Batman v. The Penguin' Son of Zorn s1e10 'Radioactive Ex-Girlfriend'

MacGyver s1e13 'Large Blade' -This show started as a pretty toothless remake that had enough dorky MacGyver-isms and cast chemistry to skate on through. But right after the initial half season, they jettisoned the leader of their superspy organization as a spy to bring in a new authority type figure. The ratings and dismal Fridays ensure a few years of this, and I'm mildly interested to see how they play the new cast when it comes back from a long break.

Crazy Ex Girlfriend s2e10 'Will Scarsdale Like Josh?'

1/19/17 Lethal Weapon s1e12 'Brotherly Love' Timeless s1e11 'The World's Columbian Exposition' American Housewife s1e12 'Surprise'

1/20/17

The Good Place s1e12-13 'Mindy St. Claire', 'Michael's Gambit' -I feel like I have to rewatch this entire season to fully get or fully appreciate it. But I loved it, and I was going crazy during the finale. Not only were the twists extremely satisfying, but the show was still really funny throughout. I loved how the visit to the Medium Place deepened the lore of the show even if it brings up more questions than it answers.

Top Chef Charleston e8 'Restaurant Wars' Crazy Ex Girlfriend s2e11 "Josh is the man of my dreams, right?"

1/23/17 The Mick s1e4-5 "The Balloon" "The Fire" The Great Indoors s1e11 "Mason Blows Up"

Notorious s1e8-10 -Easily ranking as the worst of the Shondaland empire, Notorious likely has earned a spot as the only show to not get a renewal. I still wanted to finish it for completion's sake. The show burned through 3-4 main plots in 10 episodes, so you could never call it boring.

Hart of Dixie s1e1-2 -Why the hell did I start watching a random soapy hour long drama? I dunno. I love Rachel Bilson and Street from Friday Night Lights, and all the dumb Southern stuff associated with the show. And of course, all the drama. This is mostly background watching to be honest. But everyone's pretty. And the casting is great, especially Tim Matheson.

Bull s1e6 "Bedside Manner"

1/24/17 Hart of Dixie s1e3-7 Kevin Can Wait s1e15 "Choke Doubt"

1/25/17 Hart of Dixie s1e8-15

Friends s2e7-10 -Call this my second full run through the show. This is nearly the best string of episodes of the show. I'm psyched for the upcoming silly Superbowl two-parter.

1/26/17 Lethal Weapon s1e13 "Breaking the Seal" Hart of Dixie s1e16-17

1/28/17

Riverdale s1e1 "The River's Edge" -This show is so ridiculous and I love it.

1/29/17

Grey's Anatomy s13e10 "You Can Look (But You Can't Touch)" -Shout out to Grey's doing a bottle episode after a winter finale cliffhanger.

Timeless s1e12 "The Murder of Jesse James"

1/30/17

The Odd Couple s3e12-13 "The God Couple" "Conscious Odd Coupling" -Please don't cancel this show. They are going to totally cancel this show.

1/31/17 Crazy Ex Girlfriend s2e12 "Is Josh Free In Two Weeks?" Son of Zorn s1e11 "The Battle of Self-Acceptance" The Mick s1e6 "The Master"

2/1/17 Quarry s1e6-7 "His Deeds Were Scattered", "Carnival of Souls" Hart of Dixie s1e18-19 "Bachelorettes & Bullets", "Destiny & Denial"

2/2/17

Quarry s1e8 "Nuoc Cha Da Mon" -Holy shit this show is amazing. This last episode is one of the most powerful finales and single episodes I've seen in a while. Throughout watching this, I thought to myself that I didn't really need to see the big flashback that took up much of the running time. But I'm super happy to be completely wrong. Great finale, great show, I wish season 2 was out already.

Powerless s1e1 "Wayne or Lose" -Super cute show. I love Vanessa Hudgens as the nearly Leslie Knope-esque lead. Ron Funches and Danny Pudi have great timing together.

Riverdale s1e2 "A Touch of Evil"

Superstore s2e12 "Ladies' Lunch" -Dina cracks me right the fuck up.

The Mick s1e7 "The Country Club" Top Chef s14e10 "Shrimp Boats and Hat Ladies"

2/3/17

Training Day s1e1 "Apocalypse Now" -Firmly watching this as a car crash / so bad it's really bad territory. And for how Bill Paxton reads nearly every line like it's his last.

2/4/17

Crazy Ex Girlfriend s2e13 "Can Josh Take A Leap of Faith?" -One HELL of a season finale. I was basically gobsmacked. So great. I'll admit I had the tiniest of doubts about where this second season was going laughs and plot-wise, but this nailed it all down beautifully. The songs were always great, but this finale was also the funniest and most powerful episode to boot.

Santa Clarita Diet s1e1 "So Then A Bat Or A Monkey" -Feels weird to call a zombie horror show cute, but this show is cute. Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant really elevate two characters that could have been really boring and cliched. Victor Fresco's creative input is definitely felt by me as a veteran viewer of Andy Richter Controls The Universe and Better Off Ted.

Grey's Anatomy s13e11 "Jukebox Hero"

Superior Donuts s1e1 "Pilot" -One of the rockier comedy pilots of the year, but I think the cast and strength of the high concept can carry it until it finds a voice and makes the side characters less grating. Plus - Judd Hirsch and Katey Segal!

Santa Clarita Diet s1e2-3 "We Can't Kill People" "We Can Kill People" Friends s2e11 "The One With The Lesbian Wedding"

2/5/17 Santa Clarita Diet s1e4-5 "Farting Sex Tourist" "Man Eat Man"

Superbowl LI -Fuck the Patriots. The Halftime Show was mildly disappointing, no fault to Lady Gaga.

2/7/17 Santa Clarita Diet s1e6-7 "Attention to Detail" "Strange or Just Inconsiderate?" Kevin Can Wait s1e16 "The Back Out" Hart of Dixie s1e20 "The Race & Relationship"