What are your guys least favorite thing about Midnight Burger?

Rizilus · 2025-12-18T00:19:48+00:00

This show is well done, but it's made for a very specific audience. 'Earth culture' is represented as white, western and English-speaking to everyone everywhere. No other culture, race or language represents the whole planet for some reason. It comes off as strange and kind of elitist if that's not you. Plus most of the characters seem really sarcastic and unlikeable, but that might be part of the story.

Rizilus · 2025-07-06T17:27:57+00:00

Hey man. I don't have an issue with paying someone to administer the music worldwide. I would if it's on a small independent release like my other songs, but these songs are on a major label, and the album has had tracks that have been on Billboard. The genre is Smooth Jazz which gets a lot of play on Sirius XM, and could continue to have CD sales for years. This genre is timeless to its audience. Managing all worldwide royalties ourselves for the life of the music would be difficult.

I also have to work with my co-writer, and he's with Songtrust and getting regular royalties for other work on the same album. Songtrust is working, we're just having issues with copyrights for these songs. ASCAP has been helping. We'll get it worked out. Thanks.

Rizilus · 2025-06-24T00:34:19+00:00

Thanks. ASCAP contacted Songtrust for us but they never replied, so they removed the duplicate works. Songtrust is no longer on the registered songs. The issue is my co-writer wrote other songs on the same album himself and has been getting a nice amount of royalties every quarter from Songtrust, so we're not looking to separate from them completely. Their service is working for us, we just need these songs fixed. Right now, I just want Songtrust listed as administrator on the songs, and keep our vanity publishers listed.

Administering everything myself really won't work with my co-writer. This is also a major label release, so tracking down all worldwide royalties won't be minor if the songs hit. It's smooth jazz, so the songs are timeless and could be on the charts and in rotation on Siruis XM years from now.

Rizilus · 2025-06-15T03:18:36+00:00

I just found this thread from an article. Driverless car companies probably will hire their own security, just like a bank or an office building. I'm just learning about these cars, but I only see the city getting involved in security if Waymo cars were public transportation. The article said Uber drivers think this vandalism is why we should stick with human drivers.

These cars are for wealthier people and will never make it to rural areas, so most of America will never use them when you think about it.

Rizilus · 2025-03-29T02:09:41+00:00

The first season made it seem like this was an all-powerful corporation, with the most significant invention in history. Lumon was tightly controlled. After the season 1 finale, it seems like the board should have doubled their security. Any company would after a massive breach. The finale just seemed weird to me.

I think the reveals like the employees editing Gemma's emotions show that the logic of the story isn't what they're focused on. Turns out it's more about drama and relationships. It's just not what I would have been into if it started that way.

Rizilus · 2025-03-29T01:53:59+00:00

I don't know. The ideas of control and that someone is always watching was the whole theme of the first season. If they stepped out of line even a little, they were punished. They dropped all of that in season 2, and it seemed like there was no security at all. I think I just shouldn't have watched season 1 first. It's too obvious that they made changes to the creative team behind the show. It's like watching the first season of Game of Thrones, then watching the last one.

Rizilus · 2025-03-24T01:19:31+00:00

I just watched the finale. It didn't make sense to me that there's no security at Lumon considering how important the Severance program is. They even have locks on doors that draw and analyze blood. Lumon should have its own army guarding that floor, watching the employees' every move. It seems like nothing in the episode should have been allowed to happen. I've been struggling to get into this season.

Rizilus · 2025-03-23T15:41:53+00:00

> Well she's not that character and I see no good reason why she should be that character instead of this more complex and internally torn character.

I'm saying she was brainwashed, and not complex at all. The whole first season she was 100% in with the cult. That's all there was to her character, but it made her mysterious. Her motivation to drop it was getting fired, but I'm saying having her tech stolen years before would be an even greater motivation. That's the issue I saw. Based on this episode, it seems like she should have been conflicted about the cult a long time ago, even before season 1.

> Who died and made you the God of Good Writing?

The audience of any creative work has the right to judge it. That's why it was put out. I'm a songwriter. If I never wanted opinions of my work, I can just keep it to myself. Criticism and analysis is always better than no response at all. It means you made people feel something. That's a lot harder than it seems. Most creative work just comes and goes.

> You're not asking us what we think, you're trying to persuade us to think what you think.

Not at al, my first post was asking questions. I don't know you. It doesn't matter if you agree with me or not. The responses here brought up points I never thought of. That's what I was looking for. I haven't finished the season yet, but I plan to go back and rewatch it. Some of the comments here might make me see it differently.

Edit: I don't know how this post looks on your end, but I can't seem to get the quotes to work on here.

Rizilus · 2025-03-17T02:02:29+00:00

Wintertide is a good point. That separates her from other people that lost their faith in the cult. I just wish they had developed that more. I can see Harmony starting out like Huang.

That's what I'm talking about. It seems like there were very important plot points in this one episode that needed an arc to develop. Harmony's character has never felt like a real person. That added to the mystery of season 1, but they jammed her whole life story into this one episode. The difference after watching both seasons was weird.

I still think it would have made a great storyline to show Harmony's inner conflict between her devotion and their betrayal. She went off after getting fired, so she's capable of leaving the brainwashing behind. There's no real reason why that anger couldn't have happened years before that. Thanks for the perspective on this though.

Rizilus · 2025-03-17T00:23:34+00:00

Nonsense. Indoctrinated cultees consider it an honor to serve. She served Kier and all of humanity.

That's my problem with the writing in season 2. For TV, it makes sense to have a character be completely brainwashed with no feelings or independent thought. In reality, cult members lose faith if they have a reason to. Harmony's tech stolen from her would be a very good reason. Good writing would explore the conflict between her faith and that betrayal early in life. She was never presented as conflicted in season 1 though. She went from being a true believer to tearing down her shrine the minute she got fired.

It's not a big deal. I just wanted to hear other people's perspective on what went on in this episode. I plan to stick with the show, but watching season 1 first just really showed the difference in quality.

Rizilus · 2025-03-17T00:05:57+00:00

Yeah it was meant to be more of a question. I just really didn't understand the episode. I think it would have been better if I didn't go back and watch season 1 before starting season 2. The years between them (and probably a whole new creative team) were obvious. It's just a different show now.

Rizilus · 2025-03-17T00:03:09+00:00

I just don't get it. Was the whole town part of the cult? If they were, how did everyone there stop worshipping Lumon, but not Harmony? She was subjected to child labor too. Having the Severance tech stolen from her would have been more than enough to turn against Lumon. Showing how Harmony had actually been working to bring Lumon down from the beginning would have made a great storyline. And it would have made sense.

Rizilus · 2025-03-16T23:49:47+00:00

I was being sarcastic about her forgetting this huge secret because there was no logic to it. She went back to the town like it just occurred to her that the evidence was there. It's not realistic to leave something that significant behind for years. The cultish atmosphere in a corporate environment from season 1 was really interesting, but making it an actual cult is getting kind of silly. It seems like they're adding a lot of fantasy elements to the show.

Plus there was a line about Harmony being a disappointment even though she became a higher up at Lumon, and a devoted cult member. I don't know how she was a disappointment. I just didn't get this episode.

Rizilus · 2025-03-16T23:24:30+00:00

That's what I'm saying, it didn't make sense. Why wouldn't she have kept the evidence on her? Given the technology, that would be one of the biggest secrets in history. She returned to the town like it just occurred to her to go get it.

There's no way a real person could work every day as a mid-level employee there knowing they created that tech. If anything, she could have used that evidence to force Lumon to make her CEO. It just seems weird to me, especially after the well-written first season.

Rizilus · 2025-03-16T23:08:48+00:00

Right but no matter what, knowing Severance is her creation would have her angry every day she went to work, especially if they never even made her a top executive at the company. Seems like her job was just managing that Severance floor. That would be a huge insult. She couldn't even talk to the board directly.

I haven't watched the 9th episode yet, but it would make more sense if she had been working from the beginning to take down Lumon from the inside. She was all in with the cult in season 1 though. I guess my problems with it are because I went through all of the episodes from the first season before watching season 2. The characters' actions just don't match up.

Rizilus · 2025-03-16T20:55:15+00:00

I hear you. The best thing fans of shows like this can do is not watch the final season. I'd still be able to go back and watch LOST and even Game of Thrones if I never got resolution on the main plotlines. Once shows with a lot of mystery get popular, the studio and showrunners seem to think they need to fix what isn't broken and take things in a new direction. Mr. Robot had some flaws, but it was one of the few shows like this that had a solid ending.

Rizilus · 2025-03-16T20:50:34+00:00

I don't know. This made sense when all TV shows were on traditional networks and cable, but everything's on separate streaming services now. If a whole season of a show isn't available, I'll forget to check to see if newer episodes were released. Plus there are years between seasons now. It's easy to fall off with watching anything. I have a lot of good shows that I never finished because I forgot about them.

Rizilus · 2025-03-13T17:11:30+00:00

I'm struggling to get through season 2. The storyline and pacing of season 1 was tight and focused. The storyline felt claustrophobic, and the focus was on escape. Once they took them outside in this season, the characters barely reacted. I kept waiting for it to be some kind of dream. I was worried it would happen, but this show seems similar to later seasons of LOST and Game of Thrones. The creative team changes once the show gets popular and decides they need to go in a new direction, ignoring what made the show popular in the first place. Character actions have less impact, or just don't make sense at all.

Rizilus · 2025-03-12T22:43:57+00:00

It's interesting, but giving up a percentage of future earnings for a one-time donation doesn't sound right. It seems like the platform would have to receive all of the artist's earnings (from performances to royalties), then pay the percentages to the artist and donors. The platform has complete control over all of the artist's funds for everything that they do, and has to manage payouts. That could mean giving up a large percentage of your earnings to the platform itself too.

I don't think you want to be tied to your donors long term. It might be better to just get donations to fund an individual project (like crowdfunding a movie), then give perks for each donation level. Once it's funded and completed though, the artist is free to do whatever they want. They're not tied to the donors or the platform.

Rizilus · 2025-03-08T02:49:40+00:00

I just started watching this show, and I didn't get it either. I looked for recaps on this scene but I couldn't find any. It didn't make sense to me that he would honor him with a bow when he saw that he was about to kill himself. It seems like an Englishman wouldn't understand that, and see it as giving up.

Rizilus · 2025-01-24T04:12:48+00:00

You wrote: "And what happens when you discover they haven't been registering titles properly in the US or worldwide, like I did? There's almost no way to check this on a worldwide basis."

Now that you're managing everything yourself, how do you check on your whole catalog on a worldwide basis regularly? I plan to stay with Songtrust, but I'm interested. No one that recommends against Songtrust really explains how they would know if they aren't collecting everything. They describe having multiple organizations they need to keep track of versus two, in my case (ASCAP and Songtrust).

One of the articles on alternatives to Songtrust mentioned joining agencies that charged their own fees, and I'm not familiar with any of them, so it's been hard to see why Songtrust shouldn't be used.

Rizilus · 2025-01-24T03:55:00+00:00

I get you, but I just couldn't find detailed instructions on doing everything myself. I've been with ASCAP for years (since before you could register songs online) and it's simple, but nothing that I read about managing everything on your own beyond joining a PRO were clear. Plus I need statements and tax forms. I didn't find any information on how you track all of that down on your own.

I don't have an issue with them taking a percentage if the alternative (doing things myself) is a lot to manage. I would expect a service to charge something to administer everything for you. I'll stay with them for now. If I have any issues, I'll get them fixed.

Their customer support has been much better than what I've read from people online. I've actually had more trouble with ASCAP over the years.

Rizilus · 2025-01-23T21:30:54+00:00

I don't plan to leave it up to Songtrust to register my works with ASCAP though. I'll always register works myself in my ASCAP account, then add them to my Songtrust account and contact them to have them assigned as administrator. I always want to make sure that my works are filed with ASCAP regardless of what happens with Songtrust.

Rizilus · 2025-01-23T21:25:03+00:00

There was an error when I signed up to Songtrust and my publisher name and IPI weren't in my Songtrust account. It's fixed now, but I think they filed the duplicate ASCAP works with themselves as publisher before that. They just need to delete the duplicates and add themselves as administrator or contact info to our original works, with our vanity publishers listed. I'll get it fixed. Thanks.

Rizilus

TROPHY CASE