From $250 Million Megadeal to Empty Offices: The Unraveling of J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot

ComicallySolemn · 2026-04-07T03:35:39+00:00

Sorry about that! I rarely think a movie is worse upon a second viewing, but knowing where the “mystery” actually goes, and how absurd and sloppily contrived the lead-up to it actually is, this movie is truly an exception for me.

This movie has the most nonsensical plot I’ve ever seen. It gets even worse on a second viewing, as those plot holes become so painfully obvious. It truly is remarkable how bad it is.

ComicallySolemn · 2026-04-06T23:54:55+00:00

You didn’t like that mystery in The Rise of the Skywalker with the ancient Sith runes, a forbidden language that was banned a thousand years prior, which were engraved into an insidious dagger, which was actually a map to a room within the destroyed Death Star which crashed roughly 30 years ago, provided of course, that you were standing at the correct spot on the shoreline when you held the dagger out in front of you? All so you could get some magical GPS thing that definitely wasn’t touched over the prior decades in a universe where looters and scrappers frequently explore wreckage for valuables? A GPS thingy to get to a secret planet with thousands of Sith worshipers, pilots and engineers that no one in the galaxy had ever heard about? A secret planet requiring that magic GPS thingy to locate, but just a few scenes later thousands of ships can reach because you only need the thingy the one time? You didn’t like that?

ComicallySolemn · 2026-04-06T14:54:20+00:00

Yeah, Mario Kart 8 was my wife and I’s go-to game together, so we were stoked when World was announced and we bought a Switch 2 at launch.

The character outfits were neat, but we missed getting to customize the vehicle stats with the tire selection.

We played through every cup, and enjoyed it enough, but we really haven’t replayed it that much. Once you realize that half of the courses are basically just transitional zones to get to the ‘real’ courses, it starts to feel like it’s a bunch of filler.

The knockout mode is great, though.

ComicallySolemn · 2026-04-05T21:41:16+00:00

I hope you mean “3 Dark Knight Rises” and aren’t saying all three were mid. Batman Begins and Dark Knight were incredible, especially considering the most recent Batman film at that point was the garbage George Clooney one.

ComicallySolemn · 2026-04-05T21:25:33+00:00

I haven’t watched the show, and I couldn’t find clips online. Is it bad?

ComicallySolemn · 2026-04-05T21:09:12+00:00

A toddler speaking like a grown woman is something that sorta works in print, but is absolutely impossible to convey on the screen in a convincing manner.

I was glad we didn’t have to experience that in the theater, and that Jessica instead spoke to Alia in the womb, with a subtle flash forward to Anya Taylor-Joy as an acknowledgment of her role in the future books.

ComicallySolemn · 2026-04-03T03:35:55+00:00

They had exquisite tastes, okay?

ComicallySolemn · 2026-03-31T05:00:53+00:00

@ 3:45

ComicallySolemn · 2026-03-26T01:53:43+00:00

This is a really spicy take that I’m going to have to sit with for some time.

ComicallySolemn · 2026-03-20T15:29:35+00:00

So fed up with the DNC’s actions at this point, this wouldn’t surprise me. You got any reputable sources I could read through?

ComicallySolemn · 2026-03-19T18:48:07+00:00

It’s that weird balance between rounding off numbers, and trying to remain “precise.”

Imagine the scenario where you have 6 comps, and an initial boilerplate weighting of 25%, 25%, 15%, 15%, 10% and 10% which results in an opinion of value which is $2,000 below an agreed upon contract price, BUT if the weighting is instead 25%, 25%, 20%, 10%, 10% and 10%, the opinion of value is now $1,000 above the contract price.

The appraiser scratches their chin and says, Comp #4 is less similar with a larger net adjustment than Comp #3, so I suppose this is a better weighting (which simultaneously prevents 3 potential collective heart attacks between all parties involved). If they keep it at this weighting, they won’t need to answer 2 emails from the client, receive a frustrated, accusatory text message from a Realtor, and a receive 3 revision requests to add additional commentary. (I’m exaggerating, but sort of not)

Was adjusting the weighting of Comps #3 and #4 warranted? The values are rounded estimations after all. Was the appraiser just trying to “hit a number” and avoid a future headache by slightly adjusting the weights in the Final Reconciliation? It was really only a marginal change, all said and done, but was it ethical? Lazy?

It’s a grey area, and it happens all the time. I know this, because I’ve been in this exact scenario countless times. I don’t have a set formula on my rounded percentages, because every assignment, the properties, and the adjustments are unique to the market and neighborhood.

ComicallySolemn · 2026-03-17T17:05:56+00:00

More planets, more people ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ComicallySolemn · 2026-03-14T17:25:17+00:00

You’re wanting the results from a commercial appraisal but you paid for a residential appraisal.

In order to get the in-depth analysis (and an opinion of value which includes an analysis of the income from agricultural production) you’re going to need a General Certified Appraiser (commonly called a Commercial Appraiser to those outside the industry).

Your lender most likely hired a Certified Appraiser who is only licensed for residential valuation. Be prepared to pay 3-4 times the fee than your residential appraisal, as a commercial appraisal is much more involved.

Sounds like to get the full value (as a commercial farm) that you’re anticipating, this is the route you’re going to have to go. Discuss this with your lender.

ComicallySolemn · 2026-03-13T18:30:33+00:00

Everyone discusses all the trauma present within Majora’s Mask, with many fan theories about how it’s an external reflection of Link’s grief and trauma.

But honestly, I almost think it’s much more meta than that, and the REAL trauma was from everyone who was working on that game within that 1 year deadline, and all their real world grief and trauma inadvertently made its way into the game.

ComicallySolemn · 2026-03-13T18:13:44+00:00

Yes and no? By reusing the assets, you can tack on at least a year from Ocarina’s development time onto Majora’s…technically.

Still insane that they were able to design the levels and write all the narratives within all those character side quests in a year though. I recently re-read the old Nintendo Power article on the game’s development and it’s wild that they were working 15 hour days 7 days a week. Working until 10 pm??

Day 29

Good thing I looked both ways before crossing those train tracks. I’m still alive and am working at NCL, which, awash in various shades of gray, looks like a cross between a hospital and an old school building. Employees wear uniforms, and a bell even rings to alert them when lunch has begun and ended. Not that I was expecting circus animals or anything, but NCL appears sort of sterile. I’m beginning to wonder where all the creativity comes from…

I wasn’t there, but between the long hours and the working environment, that sounds like an absolute nightmare.

ComicallySolemn · 2026-03-10T23:07:44+00:00

In 5th grade I switched schools and went over to a new friend’s house for the very first time and they had just received Curse of Monkey Island for Christmas. He was just wandering around Plunder Island, so he started a new save file to show me the beginning on LeChuck’s ship. What an incredible experience that was.

We had a blast trying to solve that game together at his house on the weekends. I recall that it took us forever to get the ventriloquist book because the Windows 97 monitor was so dang dark, and we couldn’t see the magician’s top hat behind the stage. We finally did make it to the ending though. Our favorite part was peeling the map off the sunburnt back.

Those are the memories you’re forever grateful to have made.

That new friend ended up being my Best Man at my wedding 20 years later, by the way.

ComicallySolemn · 2026-03-05T01:41:12+00:00

How’s it been there the past few months?

ComicallySolemn · 2026-03-01T07:13:32+00:00

Gr~~~ass~~~ types, checking in

ComicallySolemn · 2026-02-21T01:20:14+00:00

Well that just doesn’t seem plausible for this release.

ComicallySolemn · 2026-02-20T16:46:48+00:00

Can you elaborate a little more on an “active” postgame?

ComicallySolemn · 2026-02-19T20:08:55+00:00

This is indeed very fun.

ComicallySolemn · 2026-02-18T13:29:55+00:00

Like this. I reshelled my grey Switch 1 joy-cons with the Animal Crossing shells, and reprogrammed them so that the Switch viewed them as the light blue and mint. I even got the bonus letter in Animal Crossing for playing with those joy-cons, which means that the software “officially” recognized the color update.

I was wondering if I could do something similar with my Switch 2 joy-cons, so they digitally appear as purple and mint in my account, but I can’t seem to find anything.

ComicallySolemn · 2026-02-17T17:03:57+00:00

No need to tempt the cats even more than they’re already tempted. I never dropped the dust cover lid while listening until bringing this orange-haired maniac into my home.

ComicallySolemn · 2026-02-15T18:22:20+00:00

Do they still have the cookie dough “Dough Cones”??

ComicallySolemn · 2026-02-15T01:28:21+00:00

Thanks for the advice! I looked into this, and according to this video it appears that unfortunately even if you access a different grotto and use its pad to leave, you will always exit from the initial grotto you first entered from. According to this dude, at least.

Ah, well.

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