majestic

No, it's not, but it also wouldn't be very surprising if it really were. I know a bit or two about what I like to call voodoo (no offense meant to the actual religion). It makes ridiculing people who really believe in Astrology easier. if that sounds like a petty reason then that's because it is. A bit might be an understatement. I know enough Astrology to be able to interpret a radix chart. Not entirely by heart due to a lack of actually doing it. It's the same as every other way that is used to scam people out of their money. It's generic enough to make some things hit, and the rest is cold reading or people willingly giving you all sorts of information, because let's face it, if you actually got to an astrologer you're most likely already a believer. See, for instance, if I look at my natal chart, I'd see I have Mercury in the third house, and my third house ruler is the Sun (beause the house cusp is in Leo). Mercury also has a sextile with Saturn. One of the many ways to interpret this is to read it as someone who has an easy time learning and acquiring knowledge (which would entirely be true). The sextile with Saturn also means that it is easy for me to pick up new things and my thinking is goverend mostly by logic, not feelings (i.e. Saturn being a planet that stands for endings and new beginnings, destruction and creation - you can probably already see how that relates to Sailor Moon... ). So far for the fun part that's correct, however, once we come down to the Leo and the Sun thing it all really falls apart, because that is interpreted as someone who is born to be outgoing, communicative and a natural teacher, and someone who loves to talk about himself. It tells me I have an easy time to communicate with others and can easily insert myself into conversations, where I can shine with great eloquence to a point where I become the center of attention! Yay, isn't it great to be me then? I like talking about myself all right, can't deny that, but everything else I'm supposed to glean from this is flat out wrong. In real life, it takes an immense amount of effort for me to even attempt to join in a random conversation because I actively need to push myself to overcome my anxiety (both of talking to and meeting new people). I worked on that and it has gotten a bit better, but even something as simple as calling someone I don't know is still terrifying. The very thought makes my skin crawl, my blood pressure goes through the roof and my heart rate spikes. There were times when I was home alone and would have liked to order a pizza but couldn't because nobody else is around that would do the calling for me (well luckily online ordering fixed that, mostly), and when I do talk something eloquent is the last thing that comes out of my mouth. I could go into even more detail, but it's getting really late (could already call it early) and I need to get a little bit of sleep at least. The TL;DR from here is, it's hit and miss, and you just leave out whatever you think or know doesn't fit your client.

Good old Erdolf (if you don't like Erdolf you can susbstitute Bosporussian ). So the MAGA raid on the Capitol was really a ANTIFA false flag operation with overseas Kurdish support to... to what end then? Keeping the guy in office that let him attack the Kurds in the first place? Man... so many layers.

I was hoping to get to edit that out before anyone replied to it or read it, but hey, that's done and dusted. I posted that really quickly before going off to do my cardio, and it hit me then that this is potentially confusing for others. Still, at least it's a decent showcase what happens when I skip four steps in my brain and brabble something during a burst of excitement (sort of). It's one of the things that Naoko Takeuchi actually did check and make care to incorporate in a somewhat meaningful way (except for Rei, let's just say anime Rei is much closer to what an Aries is supposed to be than Crystal/Manga Rei would be). My train of thought was: Earlier talking about Age of Heroes -> Mythology -> Astrology being part of this + InsaneCommander talking about the age of Mamoru and the girls -> Birthdates of the girls -> Zodiac signs. Eh. So here's the answer, might as well finish what I started. Character name spoilers ahead. Random fun fact of the day, Tsukino Usagi literally means Moon Bunny. In Japanese folklore bunnies are on the moon in the same way it is made of cheese in Western culture. That was odd, yes. I'd chalk that up to fanservice, but the scene wasn't very really fanservice-y. Maybe it was both an attempt at fanservice and a way to showcase that the transformations aren't really lasting as long as they do on screen. Althoug that is constantly hinted at anyway, because whenever an episode doesn't need the padding in runtime, the transformations are either cut short or skipped completely. It's magic!

I don't think the anime ever states just how old he really is, but he's done with high school and in college, so anime Mamoru is at least 18. He is probably a bit older. Rei, Ami, and Usagi are all 14 during the first season. Or more specifically, they're all in second grade junior high, beause IIRC in the original Japanese version Usagi gave her age as "second grade junior high" which supposedly is a common way to express your age in Japan. The passage of time is incredibly wonky in the first anime. It runs for five seasons and features multiple summers and winters, but Usagi is 16 by the end of it. This has led to a fan theory of a sort of time reset somewhere between seasons. Manga Mamoru is in high school (16 to 18). So, yeah, Mamoru's increased age in the anime is a little creepy, but this is Japan, you know. Oh boy, if you're thinking too hard about this already, I'm REALLY looking forward to what you have to say about season 4. PS: Anyone wanna guess the girl's zodiac signs? No cheating by looking it up! edit: Mamoru is the only one who can transform without getting naked first.

Still sounds better than this creepy romance thing that's going on in Crystal right now. Usagi feels as if Mamoru's eyes consume her. Right. Not just his eyes my dear Usagi, not just his eyes. *snort* I hope that's just bad subtitling, but they do look genuine, not like a fan sub. edit: edit 2: edit: More tech upscaling. Naru is in a video rental shop where they have DVDs. Huh. So this definitely isn't '92 any more, which makes the lack of cell phones for the girls even weirder.

Hahaha. More first season Crystal (so okay for KP + Bartimaeus).

I said that before, but it's really easy to get me interested. The show had me with the time travel comeback gag in the pilot.

Oh, and I watched the first two episodes of Steven Universe. Now I want donuts and ice cream. Guess I better go and sleep that desire off.

@Amentepprobably. He's ancient and timeless, like the Lady of Pain.

What I meant was that if you're someone like me and don't know the distinction you might end up thinking that the first season has some sort of interesting plot. Which it doesn't. That reminds me a bit one of the bigger disappointments when people made me believe that Dark Souls (the first one) has this great, subtly told storyline. When I finally played the game, I... was positively thrilled to find out that it's about you being the chosen one and your character has literally zero motivation to do anything beyond: Here's an enemy, go beat him, because he is in the way and has loot. The only interesting thing about being the chosen one was that you were also an undead. And that felt more like cop-out explanation why you can die and resurrect over and over again (and why "humanity" is a stat). Granted the actual setting of Dark Souls was much more interesting than that of Sailor Moon, that's not hard. edit: Amazingly enough, in Crystal, where they have like 14 or so episodes for the entire first arc, they still waste all that time showing off the transformation sequences. Sigh. edit 2: edit 3. Silly manga fact of the day: Naoko Takeuchi originally wanted Ami to be a cyborg, but her editor shot the idea down really quickly.

I've also been trying to put my thoughts on Sailor Moon Sailor Stars and Sailor Moon as a whole into perspective. The problem here is simply because I loved the final season and I'd like to post about it, but I know from experience this is exactly the type of season that often gets hate from fans of the earlier ones, and I am not oblivious to the fact that it has a few glaring issues that can rightfully turn people away. In a way, Sailor Stars feels like watching the later seasons of How I Met Your Mother (although Sailor Moon is much better as a whole). Even started to watch some reviews on YouTube, but they all seem to be made from one extreme point of view: Either from pure hate (mostly because filler and changes from the holy grail that the source material apparently is, it is too campy, it is too comedic, Rei sucks in the anime because she doesn't hate men, you get my point here, I guess) to utter and unthinking adoration ("I promise you these villains have great arcs!"). If I had to pick one side then I'd have to let nostalgia take over and pick the extreme unthinking adoration, because that source material is... not very strong. I'm sorry. This probably really is because deep down inside I am a toxic male and just love the fanservice in my shojo anime. Or... whatever else the guy whose review I just watched would have said had I not shut it off prematurely*. Seriously. Sits there and claims the 90ies anime has no character development in the filler episodes to make them worthwhile. What? Tuned out after the first season, did you? But even in the first season. Geez. It has far, far more character development than the manga has. It just happens naturally. it is SHOWN to you, not TOLD. That's not to say that the anime doesn't suffer from pacing issues. I guess if you actually really cared about the storyline of the first season, then you'd be deep in the poopie when watching the original anime. Try as I might, I do not understand these people at all. The "storyline" of the first story arc in the manga is EVIL B*TCH QUEEN looking for Magical McGuffin, sends her four commanders to be brutally murder-death-killed by 14 year old girls who plow through them easily and without batting an eyelash or even a hint of second guessing. Spoilered for IC mostly: And it is even worse for side characters. The manga, like the anime, tells us that Naru is Usagi's best friend in the world, and then after Usagi finds some magical friends she ditches her like a hot potato, almost never to be seen again. Well how's that for love and friendship? Jesus, what was my point now? Yeah, I need some more time to figure things out before I post something more concrete on Sailor Stars. Or maybe I'll just wait for all of you to catch up. * Well, my fault, I guess. Should have known better than to check out a channel called Magical Unicorn. Guy's probably a fan of edit 2: edit 3:

Moar Crystal.

edit: The manga explains Usagi's crying as ultrasonic sound waves when it shatters glass and defeats enemies.

I'll see soon, I guess. At this pace the storyline reveal will happen in episode 4 or 5 (maybe 6?), and then I'll see just how much... Anyway, the second episode isn't playing fair, Ami joins the team. Can do no wrong with her, right? I mean... ❤️ Or maybe you can... Good job Crystal by updating the tech Ami works with but not taking care of putting the storyline in a different time. I wonder how that is going to continue. As you all might remember, Ami does study at this new energy collection scheme school Jadeite cooked up, right? The computers got a nice face lift. Ami sits in front of a sweet 16:9 LCD screen with a Windows 7/10 style task bar and is given the magic disk that should sap her energy, but only this time it is a compact disc (or DVD, BR, etc.). That's fine guys, really. Really... fine. Will the girls have mobile phones now? Why do they go to the arcade to play games when the rest of the computer technology got a boost to our current time? Am I overthinking this? Very strong contender for the best joke of the series. That's such a killer line for this situation.

I just watched the first episode of Sailor Moon Crystal. It's... uhm. Yeah. Honestly, please, stop using CGI and go back to a shoestring budget. This looks wrong, plus every scene feelts kind of flat, the framing is boring and the backgrounds are somewhat lifeless and lacking and detail. Maybe that'll get better, who knows. I'll try to explain one thing by comparing the original anime to what happens in Crystal (and the manga, more or less). In Crystal, Usagi doesn't forget her lunch and mindlessly runs down the street and steps on Luna's tail. She removes the band aid from her head after Luna scratches her. In the original anime she forgets her lunch, comes back for a funny scene, and then sees three kids torturing Luna and intervenes even though she's already late for school, and removes the band aid, no scratching. See, adding a scene like that to pad out the running time immediately also adds character development. We see Usagi help an innocent cat by chasing away three terrible kids, and forget her lunch. I'll leave you to decide what does a better job at showing us her personality, but... Oh, and Crystal has Usagi immediately develop a crush on Mamoru, because she monologues how her heart is still racing from seeing a snobby stranger in a tux on the street who insulted her. Oh, right. Mamoru's actually wearing a tuxedo in front of the jewelry store. Yeah. Just so you don't miss the hint that he's Tuxedo Mask. Beause, yeah. Uhm. You somehow could miss that, for some reason. Uhm. Yeah. Sigh. At least it's only 39 episodes.

You're drinking stuff that isn't vodka or beer.

Oh, and lest I forget to post this for the umpteenth time. I've read a bit throuh the manga by now, and Sailor Moon might just be one of rare instances of an adaptation elevating* the source material. If you ever stop and wonder why the villains in the anime are a little on the underdeveloped side, wonder no more. They all get like 20 pages (30 if they're lucky) and then die in the manga. To put that into perspective, chapters tend to have 45 or so pages (and that includes the title and an opening drawing), and an entire arc has between 11 and 13 chapters or so. So yeah, having villains with even less personality? Sure possible. Count your blessings, I'd say. *The other major one that comes to mind is Alan Rickman's Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies. Rowling even wrote the character in the later books with Alan Rickman's portrayal in mind because she thought that he did a better job at being Snape than her actual Snape did. So far the anime characters are all doing a better job at being actual characters than their manga counterparts. Not going to lie, I'm not looking forward to trying Sailor Moon Crystal. But try I will. From the clips I've checked out the problems there are more than just the art style and CGI used. The framing of the scenes is weird, there's a lack of attention to detail compared to the first anime, and all that probably on a better budget. Huh? How did that happen? edit: Naoko Takeuchi and J. K. Rowling share something else too. They've both managed to create endearing characters in a magical setting, but their storytelling and writing is a bit, let's say, lacking.

Ah, there's always a way. *cough*

Like what? I find the idea of a makeover interesting (particularily if I could keep my memories and knowledge intact) but being a kid today? Uhm. Not so sure about that.

I'd readily go back to school if that meant enjoying school life again, and perhaps doing it the way it should be done. Alas, since there's no such thing as time travel, I doubt that's possible, so thanks, but no thanks, I know what you mean. Sort of. I mean, not at all. I know the feeling, but the place where it's coming from is totally different I think.

Oh, so that's a new set of names. This is going to be super confusing in the future. So for the record: Tsukino Usagi - Sailor Moon Mizuno Ami - Sailor Mercury Hino Rei - Sailor Mars Luna - Usagi's cat Naru - Usagi's friend from school Umino - Nerd kid with the hypnotic glasses Sakurada Haruna - Usagi's teacher Chiba Mamoru - Tuxedo Kamen / Tuxedo Mask Plus various others, but we'll cross that bridge when and if you come to it. I had to snicker a lot watching this because I kept thinking how much @Bartimaeus would despise that anime. it liberally ticks off checkboxes from his "why I don't like anime" list from earlier in the thread. Oh, and @Bartimaeus turns out I was wrong, our Netflix has only the fourth season of Steven Universe available. My brain can't handle starting a show right in the middle, so I'll have to look into, uhm, how to watch the first season. Shucks.

I lost any interest in that the moment I started to earn my living as software developer. It's like some switch flipped in my mind. I can sit for hours upon hours and then some more tinkering at work, reading up on things, having interesting conversations with other developers, that's fine, but once I'm out of work mode, uhm... yeah. Count me out. Not doing any of that in my spare time. Don't get me wrong here, I love my job and wouldn't want to trade it for anything else, but the times where I sat at home happily hacking away for fun are gone. Not sure if they'll ever come back. Maybe if I ever switch jobs or after retiring. Heh.

I was once like that. Before the dark times. In years gone by I imagined myself as a frequent contributor to open source software, but that never happened. Another dream sacrificed at the altar of money. Eh. But I like moneys. Hm. At the current exchange rate that's some 1850€ per month net income. That makes you better paid than similar positions at the company I work at. Or at least... from what I know from 10 years ago. I doubt a lot has changed. Not sure how cost of living compares, but I know that our groceries are upwards of 25% more expensive than in Germany.

Self-empoyed software developer. I mean, he is. heh.

It's called exaggeration for effect, and shush, don't kill my point here. For that kind of money you could get a 120m² house with a lot less of a garden somewhere in suburbia here. Well, probably more (or for cheaper) if you move a bit further out, but close to Vienna? Have fun, good luck...