Bartimaeus

Cardcaptor Sakura, episodes 69 and 70:

Midnight Detective: Nightwalker, episode 1. I have literally no clue why I have this, I don't remember ever seeing or even thinking about this before. It's the...not exactly terrible, but definitely mediocre late 90s version of City Hunter (an investigative "cool" action guy is the main character, and he's even kind of perverted just like the MC from City Hunter albeit in a different manner due to his vampirism)...but with demons and stuff. Even though it's not terrible, you probably shouldn't watch it - I'm not going to. I really can't figure out why I have this in the first place...but having actually watched an episode, it's a problem I no longer have to deal with. I AM A DREAMER, HISOMU PAWAA...I mean, Cardcaptor Sakura, episode 68. Two episodes and a movie left.

I got my first set of shots pretty early - about as early as one could get for someone not in one of the at-risk groups in my state, because the first shot I got was actually intended for a local nursing home, but they had a surplus they either had to use right then or throw away, and that's how I got mine. Yesterday was literally the first day the general public could get their booster in this particular area as well, . I didn't have any reaction at all except for a sore arm/shoulder for the first one, while the second one was pretty much like having the flu for one day, but then it was over the next. This one feels pretty similar so far, guess I'll see how long it lasts. Everything hurts right now - I can't even lay down because my back has been spasming, and nevermind the chronic pain in my shoulders and neck. I finally just caved about fifteen minutes ago and used an ibuprofen, hurting too much. @The unvaccinated: Yeah, I feel you, but not sure on the legality of that. Would require actual triages to determine on individual cases, and that's probably too much work for how many sick there are.

It does seem that you are disproportionately punished for being on top of things and telling the truth. Got my third shot yesterday at about noon. Not feeling so hot right now: switching between chills and hot flashes (I had to Google whether men are allowed to use this, and it turns out you can, so don't @ me) because of a fever, and bad body aches plus a headache. My niece (7) got her first shot a few weeks back, and she had flu-like symptoms for three days plus other lingering stuff for maybe a week after, which is probably the worst (non-allergic) reaction I've heard of someone I personally know having. And that was her first shot...she's getting the second one in just a few days, which is usually worse than the first. Could, uh, be interesting.

Midnight Mass:

Spoiler alert:

I thought InsaneCommander previously said in here that he had seen the main series and The End of Evangelion, but not Rebuild. Then again, I am arguing with your perfect memory... But besides that, agreed, . (e): Science can't yet explain how @majestic didn't remember this conversation. Thoughts and prayers for everyone involved. Cards: Once I watch the rest of the show and movie, I'll have to look up to see if any did not ever find a use.

Holy crap, just about everything about that is gosh-awful. Don't know who can sit through such a travesty of uncanny valley, phony/unnatural, and just plain old obnoxious. I know this is a lousy anime game so all that is unfortunately simply a staple of the style, but it always blows my mind that this is what they're deliberately going for whenever I'm subjected to it.

Fun Evangelion fact I came across randomly: Asuka was originally intended to be the protagonist of the show, and it was only by the meddling of one storyboard artist Yoshiyuki Sadamoto who was working with Anno that complained that since it's a mech show about performing critical world-saving missions, it should naturally be a boy protagonist since a girl wouldn't really care about piloting a robot or doing well at an important job. He had also apparently worked with Anno on his previous projects and later admitted to being tired of girl protagonists, which spurred him to complain about it. Apparently, this argument was convincing enough for Anno to change the entire design of the show, consequently leading to the creation of Shinji...who was instead designed after the titular character of Nadia, . And how is it, then, that Asuka ended up being a lot more "traditionally masculine" than Shinji, right down to the exact detail regarding how much they cared about their jobs - did Anno do that specifically to troll this artist? Cardcaptor Sakura, episode 67:

Giants won the 2011 Super Bowl with a 9-7 record and a negative point differential... It was always my hope that some garbage 7-9 team would fall backwards into the playoffs and win the Super Bowl, but I guess I'll have to settle for 8-9.

For some reason, I don't ever remember you mentioning being a Packers fan. Yeah...between Rodgers breathing in his own fumes too much, the refereeing issue that the NFL appears to just want to get worse, the stupid schedule and playoff changes, the absurd commercial time, and probably other issues I can't think off the top of my head...it's not a good product. I deliberately pirate almost all of my NFL games these days in order to not support the NFL at this point, even though I have access to local Fox, CBS, and NBC channels so I could watch them legitimately...but I pretty much only watch Packers games at this point, and heck, I didn't even watch today's game at all. I've always maintained that I am a player-first guy. I'm not fanatically loyal to the team above else, I recognize that each player is his own person with different desires and ambitions and struggles and... But for that same reason, when I'm no longer connecting with the players, I'm not connecting with the team as much either, .

What's been the final straw for you? I haven't really been feeling it myself as of late, but probably more related to Rodgers being an antivax moron than anything else.

I thought I remembered scientists actually finding (or creating?) a non-carbon-based microbe, but it turns out the time I had heard about this occurring was, firstly, overstated to begin with (the actual claim by those whom "discovered" it wasn't that it was not carbon-based but rather that it could substitute phosphorous with arsenic, of all things, as a valid substitute to sustain itself/growth), and secondly, it was later tested by others and consequently debunked. Thanks for nothing, GFAJ-1.

Packers now hold the tiebreakers for the rest of the season against the Cardinals, Buccaneers, and Rams (...as well as a resurgent 49ers, if they're able to rattle off a few wins against their divisional opponents)...but not the Cowboys. But the Cowboys are currently 1.5 games behind and seem too inconsistent to likely pose a challenge for the top seed, so what really matters is that the Packers finish with record tied for the best in the conference. We have vs. Bears, @Ravens, vs. Browns, vs. Vikings, @Lions to finish the season. I like the odds to finish at 13-4. However, the Cardinals only have 2 losses and have @Bears, vs. Rams, @Lions, vs. Colts, @Cowboys, and vs. Seahawks to finish the season, and I'd say it's about equally likely they finish at either 14-3 or 13-4, probably more likely the latter assuming Kyler Murray returns next week. I have no clue who is going to win MVP. I genuinely don't think anybody really stands out this year. I think the closest right now are Brady, Rodgers, and Murray. Murray has been out too many weeks, but maybe with the lack of strong competition, he still has a chance if he gets back and continues to play great. Brady has kind of great numbers but too many dad-gummed turnovers and some head-scratching plays that have lead directly to bad losses. Rodgers won last year (which usually depresses any possible campaign for a repeat unless they're head and shoulders above the competition) and while his numbers and efficiency are good, they would not normally even be a Second Team All-Pro kind of year most years over the last decade...but this does not appear to be most years, because he's been the most efficient QB this year outside of Murray. I really don't know how this is going to end - kind of weak cases all around. @Amentep Your Falcons are still tied for the 7th seed with the Vikings... Weird year for the NFC and AFC, which have the opposite problems these two conferences usually have. NFC for the past 15-20 years or so have been a dogfight with lots of instability and lack of consistent top seeds (Packers and Seahawks have been the closest thing to "stability" over that time, I think, but they've by no means dominated their divisions like Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and Patrick Mahomes generally have in the AFC), while the AFC was always very top-heavy with the same teams competing for the top seeds. This year, it's been the opposite with just a very few teams vying for the crown in the NFC while the top seeded team in the AFC has changed more times than I could count and it could go to just about anyone. With the Titans losing to the Patriots, Ravens are now at the top of the AFC, and Patriots are #2 right now!

IIRC, my first and only playthrough took me just a little over 40 hours, but I did and got everything except for the howlongtobeat places a "completionist" run at 70 hours, "main + extras" at 43 hours, and a "main story only" at 29 hours, and overall average at 45 hours. So 40-50 seems about right to me unless you were doing as little as possible, especially since the other person I asked was in late 40s as well. I got really, really bored of parrying, running around, and having kind of poor weapon damage on the exact same weapon the entire game. There was a critical lack of variety in attacks and in how you could approach or fight bosses. Worse, the game does almost nothing to reward you for exploring because there are literally almost no items except for worthless consumables to pick up, so going out of your way to explore really just makes you find more incredibly dull regular enemies or annoying bosses to fight. The entire game flow of Sekiro did not feel rewarding or satisfying to me, and I should've made the correct decision of simply speeding through it as fast as possible.

All of his girlfriends, past and present AFAIK, have been absolute quacks. There's a reason he associates with them. Yeah, he's a dummy, and he's just the type to keep poking the bear and then be like "y garbage media say bad headlines about me???".

Samurai Champloo, episode 20. Well, no way I could've predicted that...I guess outside of the one masked guy saying something in passing. Bastard show. Episode 21.

Correct. If the game had been half as long as it was, it probably would've left a much more positive final impression. A game that forces you into pretty much exactly one play-style the entire game from beginning to end with endless humanoid mini/bosses that all play out so similarly in a 40-50 hour-long game...the last ten hours or so of the game I just wanted it to be over because I couldn't stand the dull repetition any longer.

Yeah, that was pretty wack reading that right after I wrote it. Lmao, who in their right mind would ever think I would've tolerated that? ...Not you, as it turns out. Yeah, I'm definitely not ever learning Japanese. Not that I would ever have a reason to...

It was especially poignant for me, given my family history of alcohol abuse and consequent hatred of irresponsible users of alcohol. It's kind of an inverted situation, though, because by deliberately starting out that way, you're supposed to at least gain an initial distaste for that main character right off the bat.... And I didn't even get to the bad parts, you say...truly, I was spared a terrible fate. Wikipedia tells me that's a "mere" 46 characters... Good luck!

The three people I personally know, as well as myself, that have played and beat Sekiro all had a "it's different from Dark Souls but it's great" reaction to the first 5-10 hours. May that continue to be true for you for the rest of the game...

If you enjoy the quality and quantity of dialogue, that should be enough to at least enjoy the rest of the show...I think. The general reception seems to either be "I would have loved EVEN MORE dialogue" or "I'm falling asleep because there's too much dialogue". I was, obviously, in the former camp. Not really spoilers, more thoughts on you vs. me approaching the show:

1. What was the awful bit of dialogue and animation at the end? ...That doesn't really matter, but boy was that a terrible way to end the video. 2. Does anyone know any information about whether the controller part of the Steam Deck is easily repairable/replaceable? I have no faith in controllers anymore, all of them break so quickly, so it would seem folly to invest in a device where the controller is literally directly married to it. ESPECIALLY given that it's Valve, who abandons much of their hardware anyways.

Yeah, that sounds like it would have been a better way to start off the series: doing something normal instead of getting smashed with character exposition, . Yeah, that one was more InsaneCommander's fault, IIRC, since he said "I'm going to post spoilery gifs until you watch it!", so I just figured screw it, just on the off-hand chance I even sort of like it, I guess I should try one episode to get it over with. Samurai Champloo, episode 17. Not sure why Fuu screamed so incredibly loudly at a barely seen shadow, given everything else she's seen by this point. What did she think she saw that would warrant that? Otherwise, pretty good episode (although the way the Okuru scene ended was a little...much). Episode 18. "Being able to read one [Japanese letter] is more than enough." @majestic would beg to differ, I think. As would the teacher beating the crap out of Mugen every time he reads something wrong. That's one way to motivate someone to learn Japanese. Episode 19. This guy feels like he came out of JoJo's.