The Acolyte was by far the worst live action SW ever made

Vibrate.

I liked many things, but man did they fumble the ball in so many ways this season.

For example, explaining important backstory in a Broadway stage play accessible to only like .1% of your viewing audience. Not only this, but then making that backstory inconsistent with established lore. Hawkins was, according to Hopper, a boring town where nothing happened. But now there were those supernatural murders years ago. I guess he just forgot.

I have many more criticisms for the season, but I’ll limit this to the finale here on out. The main thing is, just be consistent.

One gripe is where were the other creatures in the Abyss? The Mind Flayer is supposed to be a hive mind, but there were no demogorgons, demodogs, bats, or other alien creatures. It just seemed like the MF was hanging out on this planet by itself.

Another is, why isn’t everyone under surveillance after they lost El? Are we supposed to believe the military just let everyone go and isn’t looking for any sign that she could be alive? They e done that in previous seasons, hell that was the point of using the radio station to deliver coded messages. Now they gave up? Ok.

A minor one: I’d have thought that with facing death Mrs Wheeler would finally either work on or leave her failing marriage, but there didn’t seem to be any character growth after all.

That said, I liked that they killed El and that her sacrifice had meaning. It felt earned. I really hope they don’t undo that. The talk with Mike and Hopper was great.

Not saying I disagree, but as someone who was once religious I’d say that in their minds it is exactly the point to serve the desperate and broken hearted. “It is the sick who need a doctor, not the well.” They genuinely believe they are helping by doing this, not trying to be deceptive.

No question on what they think about the Epstein files?

And if you have high density housing around it. There are rails that go barely used thanks to sprawl

I was thinking the s1 opening but this was great too, especially since this was pre streaming and everyone was coming up with theories by the week

EDIT: https://youtu.be/xrkFsSgp6MI

Reports now coming in that it was their son, Nick. Tragic

Lost

Love this show and the books, especially the audiobooks narrated perfectly by Jefferson Mays. If you haven’t checked out the books, you’re missing out on some of the best sci-fi in ages. I love that they are set in a very unique time period in the future that we don’t see a lot of: earth has colonized the solar system but interstellar travel is not possible. No warp drive or hyperspace. That means traveling from one planet to another can take months.

The show does such a great job of showing and explaining accurate space physics. No artificial gravity. You want gravity? Best we can do is engine-generated thrust.

All the characters have great arcs too. I was sad that the final three books were never adapted, but the way the books were written means that they can easily finish the series with a movie trilogy if they want.

James SA Corey started a new sci-fi series I am digging so far, The Captives War. VERY different from The Expanse but still fascinating

It’s not that they drool over war per se, but that they drool over any chance to make a profit. War just happens to be a great way to do that.

Free healthcare profits no one, at least monetarily, so it will never be a priority

The “sides” that the countries take is of secondary importance. Capital will benefit from any conflict, no matter what the stated sides are, and suffer minimally. That’s the true enemy

I recently went to one for the first time with my adolescent son. It was a blast!

We basically went in with the mentality of being curious and flexible. For example, we had the con schedule ahead of time and had highlighted some things we definitely wanted to do, but we left the door open for opportunities that might be more interesting.

The con had some things that were always accessible like an arcade with Japanese games, a board game library, etc. It also had things you had to sign up in advance for like if you wanted to do a DnD one shot. Some things you just had to show up on time for like hearing voice actor panels and some things you have to be on time AND pay extra for like autographs and photos with featured guests. I would say my biggest advice is to make a budget with some wiggle room and then stick to it. It’s very easy to overspend because there is a lot of cool merch.

Think ahead about food options. There was a vendor on site with limited options and some food trucks outside. But many attendees didn’t realize that showing your wrist and to restaurants in walking distance would get you discounts or free items. It pays to look at the convention program to see what deals are available. Bring a water bottle because they may not allow outside food or drinks, but most places will let you fill up at the water fountains.

Also think ahead about parking if your con isn’t near public transit. We had to pay something like $25 to park in a lot that was a block away because the on site parking was completely taken by the time we got there (an hour before the doors opened).

This year we just did a one day pass though the con itself is 3 days long. We did this because we had no idea what to expect and didn’t want to overcommit. We might do more next year but we will definitely do it again. If you do decide to do multiple days consider the extra costs for food, parking, merch, etc and plan accordingly.

Aside from that, I really wish we had cosplayed. We didn’t because my son was embarrassed to, but he regretted that when we got there and saw people of every age and gender in costumes of every level of quality. A cheap homemade costume will fit in as much as a pro cosplayer, especially if you put a spin on it like gender bending or a character in a different time period. Sometimes the intentionally terrible costumes were more popular than the super detailed ones!

The Mighty Nein

Saga is wonderful. Beautiful characters and relationships, epic worldbuilding, great writing. And Lying Cat.

Surprised no one is mentioning Watchmen yet but this one is the granddaddy of the deconstruction movement in comics and one of the first to truly explore graphic novels as a medium. Things like panel placement take on extra meaning and depth. Not to mention that there are mysteries that the book does not bother to hold your hand to explain. It really treats the reader as an adult.

The entire Absolute line is gold.

Haven’t read the others yet

Imagine a government holding corrupt officials accountable

Here’s the thing: This is total bullshit.

Chartering organizations like churches have the option to create a boys troop, a girl’s troop, or two separate. Completely at their discretion. If they want a boys only space they can have one. This is just macho posturing that is going to have a major effect on turning a lot of youth even more against this administration

No worries. Yes, “late” in this context is a synonym for dead

8 years, so literally the last time the big orange was in charge. We learn nothing

Headline already says “late wife”