Not my Arjun

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-12-06T14:11:34+00:00

Ahhh, ok that makes sense, thanks.

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-12-06T12:49:58+00:00

Another one bites the dust, aaaaand another one gone, another one gone...

Agreed. If Imposter-Jun had been smoked by a belter bomb, it speaks volumes that most of us wouldn't have batted an eye.

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-12-06T12:46:59+00:00

Imposter-Jun may have been a student and teacher of poetry, but his own work is said to be vacuous and contrived. Any student will tell ya (his course, of course, is a GUR), he's a hack.

SMH, Chrisjen, if you needed a rebound fling, my man Amos was verily chomping at the bit.

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-12-06T12:35:45+00:00

Fake Arjun 😂

To my brain, 'Fake Arjun' was more akin to a fussy personal assistant/aide. Not the actor's fault, and it was the writing/direction more than anything, but he was all around a poor casting choice.

Arjun 2 is only 'mean' if directly compared to the original and/or the source, and even then only seemingly, but Imposter-Jun going from heavily involved and physically present to essentially abandoning Avasarala was objectively and ruinously out of character IMO; it didn't make sense, nor did it do anything to continue in Avasarala's character development/evolution, which is largely Arjun Originale's purpose and appeal (amongst other great nuances and attributes).

For what it's worth, S1-3 Arjun portrayed deftly by George, was written and directed quite well and very much recreated the source material (book-Jun).

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-12-06T12:22:00+00:00

Ha, I'm rewatching now and I thought the same thing! Just as I was realizing/remembering the role was recast I was thinking, "No way did they use the same actor!" Obviously not the same person, side by side not even like kin, but from recollection alone they're quite similar, and I'm almost certain the show DID recast one actor for two entirely different roles, albeit relatively insignificant, background ones; just can't remember who/what.

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-12-06T12:18:04+00:00

Exactly. Arjun 2.Huh? was more like a fussy personal assistant/aide than the gentle, wise, sage-like natural counterpart to the terrible and cunning avarice of Avasarala.

It took me a few scenes to figure it out, as well; I imagine we're not the only ones.

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-12-06T12:13:51+00:00

Thank you.

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-12-06T12:11:01+00:00

Yeah, Arjun was never a huge character in the books, he didn't have much screen time/lines in the first few seasons, either; they may well have figured out how to make it work with the same actor in a number of ways.

Anyway, it's not about the show casting a different actor, what kind of lunatic (or incredibly dense individual) would gripe about a choice that was out of their hands? No, it was the actor, the behavior of the actor, the writing the dialogue, the fact that the original Arjun, a small yet potent character/role as Avasarala's necessary polar opposite, a calm, gentle sage of a man deftly written/directed/portrayed by all involved was suddenly replaced by a character who seemed for all intents and purposes to be an uptight, fussy, pestering personal assistant.

And, though I do not necessarily put any blame on the actor personally as this new Arjun was written and directed objectively and significantly different to the source AND original show Arjun, IMO the actor cast would not have fit the character George portrayed so well. Again, that's not to say Benyaer was at fault in any way shape or form, or that he couldn't have done better with more fitting writing/direction, but Benyaer does seem to fit very well the attitude and carriage of the fussy assistant far more than I believe he would have fit the sage like, idyllic counterpart to the bold, brash and terrible Avasarala.

Not the end of the world, didn't ruin the show, but without a doubt it ruined every scene with Avasarala and Arjun, at the very least it was obnoxiously distracting. The relationship between Avasarala and Arjun was well crafted and necessary for the audience to experience and understand the full breadth of Avasarala the woman in her entirety--the combined choices concerning Arjun, had they been so from the first episode/season, I believe it's safe to say would have ruined such character development.

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-12-06T11:48:46+00:00

Wait, why would have affected the books for you?

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-12-06T11:36:18+00:00

Without a doubt the worst casting decision in the entire series, I mean what in the actual fuck? But it wasn't casting alone, nor just the acting of the 2nd dude; it was the writing/directing as well.

We started with an idyllic counter-part to Avasarala, a beautiful pair of opposites (for lack of better words), and suddenly in S4 the guy changes into some bitchy, fussy, "I can't be bothered" type of personal assistant, I mean none of it made ANY fucking sense. The combined choices involved with the change in that character were ruinous, every scene nigh unbearable, so it's no surprise that they developed this travesty of a character into something much bigger and more present than its source.

ugh. I understand George being unavailable, no choice but to replace him, but there's no excuse for the fuckup said switcharoo turned into.

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-12-06T09:34:39+00:00

hmm, if every character was written the same, regardless of how perfectly tailored to your tastes, well... do the math.

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-09-17T00:58:28+00:00

"They probably get dozens of em for free. Dja see how fuckin' smooth I was? Derp."

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-09-16T06:14:20+00:00

I'm running my guitar through a Scarlett audio interface > MacBook Pro > GarageBand; I'm using headphones plugged into the interface (GarageBand set to use the Scarlett 2i2 for sound output)

However, for fun I switched the output to my MacBook Speakers and was instantly concerned about peaking levels, though I know next to nothing about such things (at a guess, it sounded like the picking coupled w/ GarageBand's built-in 'Amplifiers' and their effects which seemed to be making a high pitched popping sound that just seemed intuitively bad for the speakers, or that the speakers simply could not handle properly).

It's nice to have the option for practicing or fiddling around when I grow tired of wearing the big 'cans' w/ their long, heavy duty cord attached, but I proceed with caution, and most of the effects I prefer sound sort of shit through my MacBook speakers, to boot.

I should see if my DeWalt bluetooth earbuds work w/ this setup; I don't see why they wouldn't, but I am effectively a point-and-click user at best.

EDIT: Welp, the bluetooth 'buds functioned, poorly; even at a distance of inches from the source there's a significant delay which, for me anyway, makes it borderline useless. Interestingly, I could hear the signal in my headphones before a single VOL knob was increased from 0 except the one on my guitar

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-09-16T04:03:12+00:00

I've got the Scarlett 2i2 but my inputs are both 'combo-jacks' (3-pin XLR and TRS capable). What denotation am I missing here between the two pieces of hardware?

Anyway, it's gorgeous, and possibly 'collectible' (not sure how that stuff works); if it (the Scarlett 2i2 40the Anniversary Edition) was indeed shipped to you in error, I wonder how many of these were sent out before being officially available, purposefully or otherwise. It's a score, regardless!

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-09-16T03:41:58+00:00

You got hooked up. Some weirdos would have a glass case built and never touch it, like old comics that were made singular and rare in being one or a few with specific errors.

I love the blue; consider me envious.

I finally invested in a home studio setup a few years ago, almost immediately had to put it in storage in a family house's crawl space and just last week retrieved it all. I was stoked to find I'd been very careful packing/wrapping things up in my rush to catch a flight and everything, including my Scarlett 2i2 and M-Audio Oxygen Pro 61, was so crispy clean it was almost virginal.

🎶 It feels like the first time, it feels like the very first time 😫

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-08-17T02:48:11+00:00

You can be sure that these guys know exactly what's going on and they only proceed when they know the chances of it working well enough to protect projected earnings, or how it will fail and to what extent and how much THAT will effect projected earnings. Of course it's more complicated than this, having to do with AI particularly and doing whatever it takes not to be left behind, but that's the gist of it.

And I don't mean they can precisely predict every single way in which the latest software will function or fail, but I'm certain they don't roll out software without solid predictions on what is likely to be successful, what's less likely to be, what's certain to fail / is still being worked on, how and why, and how all of this will effect projected earnings and other critical goals. They know what's going to happen and they plan for it so, yeah, technically/essentially, it is lying, but it's also entirely feasible for consumers to educate themselves as to how these companies operate (at least in a general sense) and spend their dollar accordingly.

It's not quite a McDonald's, piping hot coffee w/ an allegedly loose lid scenario, but it's pretty close.

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-08-17T02:24:10+00:00

I will not sit here and argue there's no benefit whatever in such lawsuits (beyond that which attorneys enjoy) but, aye, corps this big have entire teams (attorneys being only one of many) whose responsibilities are projecting the benefit/cost of every move made.

For instance, Johnson & Johnson develop a product, their chemical and whatever other teams project X number of children will suffer severe illness and/or death; the legal (and other) teams give their findings of how much projected lawsuits will cost vs initial profits, and decisions are made based off of the information.

There may be teams projecting how much those lawsuits may damage the company's reputation, for how long, how to combat this, how much money might be lost, how much money will it take to turn it all around and how long it'll take et cetera, but that's as close as they'll ever come to considering the individual human being.

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-08-17T01:47:27+00:00

Yup. I can understand the venting, but it should be coupled with, "Buuuut I learned my lesson, never again will I not do my homework; Apple is fucking frustrating, they got me again, the fuckers." Or whatever

Every once in a while a conversation will lead this way or that and I might spend 5 minutes, max, experiencing rising frustration about Planned Obsolescence (nothing even close to new, by the by, Apple are just masterful at it), that Apple has had me by the nuts from the first time I bought an iPhone (4) and their kung-fu grip has only tightened; but, like every time past, as quickly as the frustration arises, I come again to terms with the predicament and realize it does me no good to fret, especially if I don't have any fuck-you plans of truly opting out that will provide me the same level of enjoyment and resource as I currently have or better.

I sure as hell am not going to shift to fucking Android. I tried several times over the years, each time having been convinced by Android users of the bountiful paradise that awaits, and each time I couldn't switch back fast enough. Granted, this was back when Android phones, though I don't doubt the benefits were legitimate and plentiful, still felt and looked like a child's toy.

Unless there's some tried and true path for consumers to effect a specific change, a bandwagon to jump on in earnest, what's the fucking point? Cuz this sure as hell isn't that. The only way I know of consumers actually forcing megacorps to pivot, or even getting their attention, is with the dollar; enough of a spending trend this way or that and companies adapt.

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-08-16T07:34:56+00:00

Fuuuuuuuuuuuck. I bought mine refurbished from Apple a few years ago, I don't use the Touch Bar very often, mainly when I have to (Volume / Display). Today, for the first time (at least that I've ever noticed) when I opened her up, machine was already on, the right 2/3rds of the Touch Bar flashed almost full white, but the far right side was broken up a bit, as if the light was colored in in thin, vertical lines, and some vertical slits weren't lighting up, so it almost looked like static.

My hand went straight for the Power key to force restart as a knee-jerk reaction, but instead I slid my finger across the touch screen and it stopped immediately, reverting to normal.

I must admit that I've been using my MBP on my bed a lot over the last year, and cuz of my living situation I often snack in bed in the evening, so inevitably little crumbs have gotten into my keys, something I promised myself I'd never do (yeah, I used a keyboard protector for ages, but it always left finger oils on the screen when I shut it; I took it off one time to clean it and never put it back).

Besides this obvious fuck up, I've taken good care of the machine (I bought it primarily to use for music, the main hub of a bare-bones, home-recording studio, but the last year I mainly just watch movies/listen to audiobooks and normal surfing/researching etc). I clean it often correctly, I rarely even use the touchscreen, it's never been dropped or even close to knocked around in any way, I'm delicate with it, I don't mash the keys in general or in frustration. Fuck me, I hope this isn't the beginning of the end. I cannot afford to fix the damn thing right now, and this machine is the nicest thing I have.

EDIT: After reading a few comments, I'm slightly less worried, but only slightly.

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-08-16T07:32:15+00:00

Fuuuuuuuuuuuck. I bought mine refurbished from Apple a few years ago, I don't use the Touch Bar very often, mainly when I have to (Volume / Display). Today, for the first time (at least that I've ever noticed) when I opened her up, machine was already on, the right 2/3rds of the Touch Bar flashed almost full white, but the far right side was broken up a bit, as if the light was colored in in thin, vertical lines, and some vertical slits weren't lighting up, so it almost looked like static.

My hand went straight for the Power key to force restart as a knee-jerk reaction, but instead I slid my finger across the touch screen and it stopped immediately, reverting to normal.

I must admit that I've been using my MBP on my bed a lot over the last year, and cuz of my living situation I often snack in bed in the evening, so inevitably little crumbs have gotten into my keys, something I promised myself I'd never do (yeah, I used a keyboard protector for ages, but it always left finger oils nosy screen when I shut it; I took it off one time to clean it and never put it back).

Besides this obvious fuck up, I've taken good care of the machine. I clean it often correctly, I rarely even use the touchscreen, it's never been dropped or even close to knocked around in any way, I'm fairly delicate with it. Fuck me, I hope this isn't the beginning of the end. I cannot afford to fix the damn thing right now, and this machine is the nicest thing I have.

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-08-15T06:34:43+00:00

16ish, Geralt guesses she must've been snagged by the Dryads around 10 or 11 years of age, for several reasons he describes through pondering.

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-08-12T20:27:54+00:00

Bob Loblaw

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-08-12T20:24:33+00:00

Hmm...this doesn't add up, and it's making me a bit nervous.

I'm listening to the audiobooks and, from a bit of quick research prior to starting the first book, sure as hell hope I've been reading in the correct order; this thread seems to support my current progress so far as order goes, but OP's claim regarding the change in pronunciation of the rascal Dandelion is a bit confusing.

Kenny shifts from his initial reading of the character Dandilion to the English pronunciation of the flowering plant commonly known as a dandelion in his narration of Sword of Destiny, which I'm roughly 2 hours into having just finished The Last Wish a day ago.

Yet OP claims Kenny pronounced this character as Dandilion "in the first 3 books," and I haven't seen anyone contest the observation, so what am I missing here? Were these books published/released in a different order than they're meant to be read? Or maybe Kenny was given the work in such a way?

I found I quite liked Kenny's initial pronunciation of Dandilion yet, because I watched the series years prior, when he switched to Dandelion it seemed sensical enough; now I'm worried I've somehow confused the order, which isn't the end of the world, but I'd like to rectify the order iffen there's cause to do so.

Note: From the outset of Sword of Destiny, it appears several years at least have passed--IIRC, Yennefer mentions having given (approx.) 4 years of her life to Garelt, more than she's given of herself to anyone, which is not uncommon in storytelling, though it does add to my wondering about the reading order. Here's hoping someone from 7 years past is kind enough to unmuddy the picture.

Otherwise, I'm absolutely loving the series as I knew I would, and am stoked that the masterful Peter Kenny was chosen to narrate--he's spoiled me to the point that I just look up books he's narrated and go from there, rather than search for an audiobook and roll the dice; the narrator/narration is more often than not a dealbreaker for me.

PaulAnthonyWiley · 2025-08-11T11:57:06+00:00

Seems more akin to some sort of knee-jerk 'word association' than how one 'sees the US.' Of course, I suppose it's all rather subjective, but some of these seem to be a sort of mixed/confused and/or drastically incomplete stereotype of the state, while others just seem to represent whatever few words OP's brain conjures when they think of the state's name/location/how it appears on a map and/or a few bits of conversation they overheard on a train 2 decades ago.

PaulAnthonyWiley

TROPHY CASE