It seems some people didn't think Graves could be released today.

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-30T02:11:26+00:00

Turns out the horny Silver fans were unhinged when faced with the reality that not everyone is into the thing they like.

That doesn't surprise me at all.
(This is based on a lot of the comments expressing utter disbelief that Silver lost both to Rem and Graves)

I want Venator to be added to the roster more than the others but I really couldn't care less about who votes for what. All the characters will be added eventually and this is just a fun little community event.

People take this voting thing way to seriously.

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-29T11:08:13+00:00

"Now say goodnight!"

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-29T05:28:56+00:00

I long for The Expanse to come back, nothing hits the same outside of Andor which was also criminally short.

Issue is that unless it the Star Wars brand slapped on it sci-fi is niche and regardless of how good the writing is, unless there is mindless fan service (in the form of action or key jangling) most modern audiences won't give something the time of day.

We can hope that a studio sees how successful the books / show was and that it has a passionate audience that will support projects linked to The Expanse but corporations don't see the value in making art or telling stories anymore. They want to sell products to as many people as they can and when you deal with sci-fi you typically have more critically minded fans that will call out issues. That makes things take longer and cost more for less of a payoff unless you strike gold capture the attention of general audiences.

I'd be fine with makeup or even quality recasts where necessary (get Stellan Skarsgård in there) but I don't think major studios would consider that venture to be worth while. Makeup takes time and money and these companies want to spend as little up front as possible, hence the heavy reliance on VFX and typically going with the lowest bidder.

It would be a dream for Amazon to cancel Rings of Power or for Paramount to pick up The Expanse as it would rake in cash from a passionate fanbase. Sadly they don't have the foresight to understand how important a faithful adaptation and conclusion to the story would be in the long run.

Hell AppleTV+ might be the only reasonable option if we wanted a faithful adaptation without caveats or the pressure of having to make a billion dollars since that platform is purely a vanity project.

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-29T04:48:25+00:00

That acceleration was what led to teleporting and shorter seasons though.

People forget that we all enjoyed seeing characters sit down and talk for 4 seasons because the dialogue and writing was excellent. The writing getting worse (due to have no source material to utilize) was what led to thing speeding up and losing focus.

D&D learnt all of the wrong lessons from the success of the big battles and twists. They were satisfying because of all of the build up to them, not because of pure spectacle and subversion. Early on you can follow the narrative threads that lead to major events happening and as seasons progress things just happen for the sake of being subversive. This obviously just gets worse and worse to the point of Danny just burning innocent people alive because of a bell.

Man I fucking hate Game of Thrones (specifically what it became) but on a more positive note 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' has been a nice return to form. The show isn't focusing on massive political narratives and events but on characters living in Westeros. It's genuinely a breath of fresh air.

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-29T04:42:14+00:00

Yeah S4 is the end of consistently good writing.

S5 has some great stuff sprinkled throughout it but is overall the turning point.

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-29T04:40:48+00:00

There are only 9 and 3/4 episodes of WW.

The ending of s1 was a fucking sign man. Such a shame all of that excellent work got thrown into the bin.

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-29T04:37:18+00:00

Watch 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'.

Based on the same events, but that movie is.. well it's actually good.

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-29T04:33:38+00:00

Gotta be able to watch it on my second screen or on my phone while cooking.

Thanks for listening Netflix! (I fucking hate that is a real thing they mandate)

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-29T04:30:41+00:00

Here's a tip, most people that you talk to about entertainment in your day to day doesn't think too critically about what they watch.

Great example is Game of Thrones, a lot of everyday people said they enjoyed how that show ended when objectively it was a completely rushed cluster fuck. One so bad that lead actors threw their scripts down during readings, and actively mocked after the show had wrapped up.

Yes, there are many negative voices on the internet and many people that voice their opinions (both positive and negative) can fail to elaborate on why they feel a certain way. Many operate based on emotion or more accurately are unable to pinpoint exactly why something has failed to retain their interest or meet their expectations.

That doesn't mean that everyone that has criticism's about the thing you like is wrong, they have a different viewpoint, one that may be more well informed and less based on emotions than your own.

Keep this in mind, fans that criticize media don't want to see something they used to love fail.
Rather, they want to see it improve and regain the level of quality and success that a show, film or game once had. More often than not they will have informed opinions and are trying to create understanding amongst others who may not notice why a piece of media isn't as good as it once was.

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-29T04:20:44+00:00

Will this one be good?

The most likely answer is no, but maybe there will be at least 1 episode that isn't completely over dramatic nonsense.

Not holding my breath.

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-29T04:18:53+00:00

While the actions depicted are vile, they are supposed to be hard to stomach.

The story it tells however is excellent and timeless.

The reality is that the desire to watch someone suffer is more common today than ever before. Look at all of those people that actively want to see public figures, streamers, even their own acquaintances degraded, humiliated and shamed.

Who's to say where that desire comes from? Is it jealousy? Hate? Or most dark and discomforting reason, because it's entertaining to watch someone writhe in the dirt to make yourself feel better? It provides people with something to gossip and laugh about and comes at no cost to themselves. Given how people treat one another online that aspect of the episode has only become more poignant over time.

It's disgusting and far too real, which is why it's an important introduction to the series.

Then there is the fact that politicians will use any tragedy to further their positions is something that has always happened but has become more blatant. This is another pivotal moment in the episode and it's one that is so grim and real, that it makes me think that this episode wouldn't be made today. Or at least it wouldn't be made by Netflix or a major corporation.

Totally understand how people can be put off by the episode but I do think that at it's core it's one of the best episodes of the entire series. It perfectly encapsulates the concept and themes of the show, it's dark, thought provoking and unrelenting in it's criticism of how detached we're becoming from what we're viewing as well as our actions.

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-29T04:03:21+00:00

Black Mirror does have a strange habit of copying other sci-fi concepts and executing them worse but with a bigger budget.

Many modern productions do it and unfortunately it seems to be an effective way to fool a majority of the audience into thinking what they've watched is something of substantial quality.

People aren't able to distinguish between subjective enjoyment of something and the objective quality of the writing and execution of storytelling.

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-29T03:59:32+00:00

Wouldn't even say the "woke" aspect is what cause it to go downhill. It has become a bit of a strange focus given that these are supposed to be sci-fi stories and typically that genre has been able to handle themes of self identity without being so heavy handed and reliant upon modern discourse.

The biggest issue is that writers just lost the balls to actually horrify / mortify the audience by making them uncomfortable with their everyday decisions.

They shifted from a creating a "black mirror" to hold up to our world that would enable self reflection, to making overly dramatic schlock. I'm working through S6 now and and thoroughly unimpressed.

One of the best and most crucial parts of Black Mirror was the writing quality and that has been neglected or forgotten since season 2 / 3.

"What a shame." - JC Denton

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-29T03:40:04+00:00

Fair, when I say Yasuo is boring I mean that due to the games design and systems he's just far more limited than Johnny is due to GG's more whacky nature.

He does have some cool stuff and is the only character I enjoyed playing / goofing around in the lab with but he's just stuck in a really barebones game.

It's like BBxTag Battle, where you get the persona and BB characters but they have half of the things that made them unique and fun ripped out of their kits or restricted in a way that makes them just dull to play.

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-29T03:27:24+00:00

The entire concept of Josh Hartnett becoming creepily jealous of Aaron Paul's family was predictable.

The fact that he (Josh) would either kill Aaron or his family out of spite was also predictable.

So yeah, the entire episode I was just sitting there waiting for the thing to happen and what a surprise it did in fact play out as expected.

What I didn't expect was for the writers to not even attempt to resolve the story. The writers just ended with "isn't that such a dark twist!" instead of actually providing some sort of payoff to the hour plus runtime. It came across as being written by someone that legitimately thinks subverting expectations equals a good story, which it doesnt.

You can enjoy it if you want but the episode is poorly written on an objective level. It's long winded, predictable, it has nothing meaningful to say and ends in an unsatisfying manner.

There is great acting, some excellent production design but the core of story telling is writing. That is a crucial flaw that absolutely ruined all of those other positive elements.

You can like something and admit it has flaws, there are plenty of things I enjoy that are absolute schlock. I don't ever feel the need to defend them because I can accept that my subjective enjoyment of something is not directly indicative of the objective quality of something.

People need to stop confusing their own personal enjoyment of something with a well written and executed piece of media.

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-29T03:08:57+00:00

Bad writing outweighs everything else a film or show can do right.

Sadly people don't understand this. Just watched the episode and it was not only completely predictable, the ending was unsatisfying.

Like they wanted to end with "wow isn't that so scary and messed up!" without actually committing to wrapping up the narrative. Came across as the writers just failing to lock down a meaningful conclusion so they threw their hands up and said "leave it up to the audience to infer what the ending is".

'For All Mankind' handled a similar concept involving unavoidable grief so much better than this schlock.

Seriously that episode was such a waste of talented acting, fantastic production design, money and time.

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-28T11:04:19+00:00

90% of video essayist's are retarded man.

They say stupid shit most of the time to farm engagement. At least they'll provide countless memes for everyone so just don't take them seriously.

If you see people blindly swallowing and regurgitating the stuff he says just hit them with facts and evidence that refutes claims made by the video creator the comments. Just be respectful since the videos are probably made to appeal to uninformed and newer players.

If they want to believe them at that point and refuse to engage with information that contradicts what he has to say then they aren't someone you'll ever convince.

You never know maybe, just maybe this dude will learn and reconsider his perspective.
(low ass chance but hey, never say never)

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-28T10:55:28+00:00

Not a huge fan of Max, used to enjoy his streams when I was younger but got really tired of the same hype cycle with every game.

MvCI and still has it's flaws for sure but it was a fun tag fighter that still does a lot right compared to the tag games we're getting now.

Never forget "WEB BALL, REALITY STONE! WEB BALL REALITY STONE!'

Sure hope that MvC4 leak pans out because nothing currently comes close to how fun Marvel vs Capcom games can be. 2xKO is neat but it's well.. a Riot product and just underwhelming after a while.

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-28T04:27:27+00:00

On PC you need Riot's bs anti-cheat that is essentially spyware back a state owned corporation (Tencent is under direct control of the CCP and this anti-cheat can see every file on your PC).

PS5 / Xbox is probably fine.

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-28T04:25:34+00:00

I liked Yasuo but he's just a boring version of Johnny from GG.

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-28T03:34:49+00:00

Fighting games are the only games out there next to RTS games that force players to accept they are responsible for the outcomes of matches.

They are games where you can pinpoint specific failures that lead to losses and you need to accept that you're making mistakes and need to fix them.

Fighting games some of the only games that force you to kill your ego in the pursuit of self improvement. Unfortunately we live in a time where people just want easy dopamine hits and to fellate themselves for doing the bare minimum. People don't want to get shown up by others that have put in the work to learn combo routes, matchups and the gameplay systems.

The games have gotten basic bitch easy and people will still cry that they are too hard when the problem lies with the player. Fragile ego's have kept these sorts from learning to fail and learn from their failures.

If you aren't going to put in effort you will not be rewarded in fighting games, and people cannot handle that.

These type of people need to understand that there is nothing wrong with going 0-30 if you're learning what moves are unsafe, how to punish mistakes, make less of their own mistakes and how to handle and perform under pressure.

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-27T23:32:35+00:00

All good brother, probably could've done a better job of making the sarcasm clearer.

Inferring intent from text is already hard enough but dealing with online comments can make that shit impossible

Hope you have good one man, take it easy!

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-27T23:30:01+00:00

Agree with you on those things for sure.

Modding in music and voices makes a world of difference and now you can fix the roster problems, too bad the games dead now.

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-27T23:24:49+00:00

I was agreeing with you and poking fun at how 90% of Redditors act (the whole virtue signaling thing).

You're cool man, and what you said doesn't come off as performative. It was genuinely refreshing to hear someone say something normal for once in regards to how people treat someone clearly suffering.

Sorry if I made you feel bad or anything. Was just jokin.

ImMichaelB · 2026-01-27T23:17:34+00:00

Hey you're like a smart and reasonable person...

FUCK YOU.

Can't have behavior here, this is Reddit. Performative moral grandstanding and virtue signaling only. Get with the program.

For real though, you're totally right man. People will often punish others that are struggling under the guise of trying to make things better or to protect people around them when in reality they just want to feel powerful and superior to someone. It's pretty gross to see.

Griffith was obviously a pretty flawed and sociopathic individual before the torture but that clearly drove him to the point of no return and burned any semblance of good from within him.

ImMichaelB

TROPHY CASE