
Tacticslion |

The thing I've gathered from The Almighty Johnsons is that being a god is basically like having drug-fueled super-powers and split-personality, including the addiction and compulsion to do stuff with your drug-fueled super-powers and split-personality.
It... really explains a lot.
This keeps being true.
It's like watching addicts to substances that have no negative physical side-effects trying to choose whether or not they want to be addicts.
EDIT: Sigh. Right, naturally. Re-clothed.

Ambrosia Slaad |
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Looks like tropical depression 9 will miss us here in Sanibel Island/Lee County (except for plenty of rain) but it looks like it'll strengthen into tropical storm Hermine and smack into the Florida panhandle Thursday morning.
Hope you and yours stay safe, GreenTeaGamer (and anyone else in the projected cone).

thegreenteagamer |
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What is your party even trying to do other than planning everybody else's downfall?
At first it was stop some gaijin drugs from getting in a Hare clan city (other clans sent by the emperor to spite the Hare whilest all trying to get the credit for the win) - now apparently the kolat are after us since they were behind the drugs. So...stop the kolat?

Sharoth |
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Looks like tropical depression 9 will miss us here in Sanibel Island/Lee County (except for plenty of rain) but it looks like it'll strengthen into tropical storm Hermine and smack into the Florida panhandle Thursday morning.
Hope you and yours stay safe, GreenTeaGamer (and anyone else in the projected cone).
It might also drop some rain in Savannah as it heads back out to sea.

thegreenteagamer |
4 people marked this as a favorite. |

Looks like tropical depression 9 will miss us here in Sanibel Island/Lee County (except for plenty of rain) but it looks like it'll strengthen into tropical storm Hermine and smack into the Florida panhandle Thursday morning.
Hope you and yours stay safe, GreenTeaGamer (and anyone else in the projected cone).
In true Floridian fashion this is how you prepare for hurricanes:
Tropical Depression: F$&* off. Call me when it has a name.
Tropical Storm: I will carry an umbrella around.
Category 1 Hurricane: Most businesses don't even close. Everyone I know has to work. This is stupid and boring. Better get a book or two from the library to wait it out.
Category 2: I guess I'll go to my in-laws a few miles up the road. They live on a hill. Less likely to get flooded. They have better food. Still no real cause for alarm.
Category 3: This is my line. Time to get the f%&$ out of town. Also quit my job if they dare ask me to come in (it has happened).
Category 4: I left town a long time ago. If you didn't you deserve what you get.
Category 5: I will not be returning. Gonna cash in my insurance on the house and move to...I dunno maybe Arizona? My wife hates the cold and I hate this damn humidity.

Tacticslion |

I used to.
But I'm familiar with how hot it is to be close to fire, how uncomfortable being too close rapid combustion events (explosions) - even if it's only small ones), and it's really not pleasant.
Also, explosions are expensive, yo.
Unless I get reality-altering insta-rebuilding powers (and, preferably, the ability to make sure that anyone that was harmed or killed was un-harmed and un-killed in the good way - not in the zombie way, but in the real raised from the day way), I'll stick to boring explosion-free life; thanks.

captain yesterday |
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I thought I was going to die in an explosion, once.
I was trying to dig out these three clonal rooted holly trees between these two houses that were next to the gas line. So I notice a faint smell of gas, so I say "I think I smell gas" and then I look up out of the hole, and my coworker is standing over the hole, lighting a cigarette, saying "I don't smell anything" another coworker comes over smoking a cigarette "what do you smell now"
Thankfully, I didn't hit the gas line.
And that was my best and worst birthday ever.
Best because I lived. worst, because for a minute there I thought I'd die before my daughter was born

lynora |
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Took the kidlet to the park so he could play. He's currently wading in the creek. Funny observation: The little kids get in and they splash and throw pebbles and play pretend. The older boys get in and start rearranging the boulders to build a better dam. Every single one. It's like they're all trying to play mine craft in real life. :D

lynora |
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And apparently while we are away hilarity ensues at home. First a bat got in and threats were trying to kill it. And then when my husband finally got the bat out a bird flew in. The cats are even more determined to kill it. I'm basically getting a string of hilarious texts that are probably going to end in a gruesome mess that I will have to clean up when I get home...

![]() |
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Took the kidlet to the park so he could play. He's currently wading in the creek. Funny observation: The little kids get in and they splash and throw pebbles and play pretend. The older boys get in and start rearranging the boulders to build a better dam. Every single one. It's like they're all trying to play mine craft in real life. :D
Or they were fathered by beavers.

captain yesterday |
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We have a Claire's Boutique section at work, all last week this manager tells the new guy "just put everything on the floor in this cart, and I'll put it away tomorrow"
So, all week the cart is filled with all this small random s*##, and Sunday night rolls around, and at 7:40 (we close at 8) this other manager tells the new guy "we can't leave until you empty this cart" " but what's her face said she'd put it away" he said, weakly, "she left at 7:00, put it away"
Of course, I had plenty of other stuff I busied myself with until he was done.

Tacticslion |

Nobody's Home!
I got
some
character
references
... I doubt your party has anything to worry about! :D
Unrelated: saving this for research purposes...
EDIT: Also...

NobodysHome |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

Nobody's Home!
I got
some
character
references... I doubt your party has anything to worry about! :D
Unrelated: saving this for research purposes...
EDIT: Also...
LOL. I like 'em. But somehow I still like her original art. Of course, considering I saw it in the store, grabbed it, bought it, and make a PC out of it, that's probably saying something about the picture "grabbing" me.
And FWIW Del had her second straight excellent week, and the other players are beginning to see through her background. The place we were in helped immensely, as she raced to a chained and mutilated prisoner and called her "sister" instead of "m'lady" and said, "I have such scars, too!"
Kind of gives away the game. But it worked beautifully because it fused in seamlessly with the AP. And it made the other players all kinds of curious. In a good way.
As the captain put it, "Once we're back on board ship, I'll have some questions for you..."

Aranna |

Tacticslion |

Two spoilers.
The first is more of a broad overview of the ending.
The second is more of specific back-and-forths.
(Admission - I might not get to the second, if I forget.)
Quickly, though: this... is a really good ending (but felt a tad rushed, though I suspect it's only for reasons of a single characterization).
I loved Dawn and Ty's story - in the end, I think, their story is worth the price of admission, and if the show had been about them, I'd have been fine with it (I'm fine that it wasn't, too - it's solid as-is). Sad, painful, beautiful, touching - it's a solid piece of interaction.
I wish we'd seen more of why Hana had made the choice she'd made - I wanted to understand her psychology more. As it was, I just didn't see or understand the final "reveal" of how things sussed out other than a combination "drama!" and "story conventions!" colliding - I wanted to delve into her and get to know her a little better. I think, in the end, this was the part that felt rushed. We know she made her choice, but we are not told why she made her choice.
One element left un-examined (which was very surprising, considering they examined so much) is how Stacey dealt with things at the end, as well. Also, only tangentially related to the end, I'd have loved it if the Maori pantheon could have showed up again, either just hanging around in the show in general, or at the ending itself, to see how everything interacted.
I am confused and uncertain why - other than "he's afforded main character status" (which, to be frank, may well be exactly why, even within the context of the Norse myths*), Axl was chosen instead of Mike. In this case, it felt like they had to have her choose Axl for <STORY>, even thought for <CHARACTER> it made sense to choose Mike. That said, there may be some more compelling or comprehensible reason - I'm unsure. And that's the problem. We're not really given enough time to bond with or know her as either Hana or Frigg - it's neat in the sense that it grants us this "Other" and "Mysterious" vibe, but it also hampers the whole "here's a relationship to build upon" concept - not just for the characters in the story, but for us as an audience.
I really want to know how Stacey handled owning a cycling company where no one remembered she owned it. Also, if the Maori pantheon remembered the former hosts of the Norse gods... used to be Norse gods. And if they were jerks about it! ... or not.
Also, though never stated in the series at all, Axl is totally going to get back together with Gaia and their going to have Axl-Gaia babies, and it'll be the best thing. Canon. YES. IT. IS. >:I
* "HE'S ODIN, SUCKAH. SHUT IT." (Though, to be fair, Odin often got his own comeuppance. Though, to be fair, so did Axl. So, I'unno.)
Solid show, in may regards. A bit dodgy in others. Definitely culture shock in terms of what is and isn't acceptable general behavior. Excellent drama. Several missteps in characterization - one major one - and two rather terribly dumb plot moments (only one of which, to me, is rage-inducing, but that's because it represents a deep-seated sense character-betrayal), both of which are actually turned into very intelligently-written bits of character development (in subsequent episodes).

Freehold DM |
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Two spoilers.
The first is more of a broad overview of the ending.
The second is more of specific back-and-forths.
(Admission - I might not get to the second, if I forget.)
Quickly, though: this... is a really good ending (but felt a tad rushed, though I suspect it's only for reasons of a single characterization).
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **...
interesting, tactics. Very interesting.
The end of the show made me want to put my fist through a wall, myself, but that was a fair review.

Tacticslion |

Tacticslion wrote:Two spoilers.
The first is more of a broad overview of the ending.
The second is more of specific back-and-forths.
(Admission - I might not get to the second, if I forget.)
Quickly, though: this... is a really good ending (but felt a tad rushed, though I suspect it's only for reasons of a single characterization).
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **...
interesting, tactics. Very interesting.
The end of the show made me want to put my fist through a wall, myself, but that was a fair review.
I can understand that - I think that, for me, I'd copped on to the show's ways quite some time back. (Also, binge watching it probably helps quite a bit get a better sense of how things are shaping up, going, though it does distort the sense of the flow of time.)
To me, the ending was how it had to be. Frankly the show couldn't really have done anything other than what it did.
Here's the thing, though - every major twist: every weird surprise, unpleasant plot-twist, or stupid and jarring plot-thing that occurred? Laid down pretty early on in the show.
God-incarnations causing the folks to go nutbars? We watched it happen to, well, several people in the show. As I pointed out, having god-powers seems kind of like being on a drug-fueled super-powered high. Highly mentally addictive with no negative physical side-effects. We watched peoples' personalities shift, even moment to moment when god-side v. mortal-side gets involved, and it often felt natural to the character. I don't think we ever saw anything as extreme as, say, Gaia's (incredibly stupid/frustrating) "M'lord?" at the end of S2, but it was there with Eva-Hel (the difference between the normal 'emo'-style butcher girl and genuinely insane hatefuldead), Ty-Hod (a sudden mein of a hard, proud coldness), Mike-Ullr (gambling addict or super-rage), Axl-Odin (barbarian-like rage-strength and voice-of-authority), Anders-Bragi (though, uh, it seems there wasn't much distance, there, honestly), and so on.
How the Ga functioned and its ultimate result? We saw it with Ty, earlier. So when all the gods lost their powers and everyone else lost their memories... it's exactly the same thing that happened before. But really, the idea of the mortals losing their godly powers, while kind of lame... also really couldn't have been anything else. Either the show would have:
1) shown them ruling all of reality (and that would have felt very oddly wish-fulfillment-y, and not in-keeping with the themes, tones, or nature of The Almighty Johnsons at all; it would have been disconcordent, at best)
2) shown them vanishing and leaving it a mystery (and that would have been... well... left us hanging; it's a different rage-inducing ending, depending on your preferences)
3) shown Axl/them all dying (too bleak even and especially for this show)
4) shown them never finding Frigg (bah! sucks)
5) shown them keeping the (or some of the) powers [my preferred ending, combined with below, but okay]
6) shown the memories left intact (doesn't fit with the lore the show had made for itself, previously) [my preferred ending, combined with above, but okay]
7) the one we got
The reason it was number seven is because that is the one that actually fits with literally everything the show has ever given us. Everything - from the very beginning onward.
Of course, you know... it's not entirely clear that everything's gone forever. It may well be that at some point or another, one of them gets their powers back like Hod did, causing a memory restoration as what happened with Dawn. For all we know, that's actually what occurred (or something similar to it) with the original gods from way back when in the first place.
Fact is - we actually don't know who or what the Norse gods actually are. Are they gods? We're left to presume so, yes. Their human hosts certainly do. But, uh... why? Because they stories - that have, to date, been 100% wrong, except about who should be banging/get married to whom - tell them so? Because they have ever-vague powers? What is Asgard? What happens to the mortal Johnsons after they die? Are there souls? The the actual heck?
Also, Axl's life, in the end... isn't in a great place, thanks to Odin and his Frigg Quest, but he's in a good place to start getting there.
He's a suck Builder, and that's literally all he's got to show for his time in university. While he did have a lot of fun, it wasn't like he was out partying all the time, either - he was out dealing with life or death situations, trying to help convince people not to kill themselves, and muddle through a family so twisted, so convoluted, and so messed up that no one could untangle that mess easily, while dealing with depression to avoid killing himself, too. He's happy, for the moment, with his Pizza job and his family, and his wife-who's-banging/in-love-with his oldest brother (who's also kind of like his father). They may or may not happily get divorced - who knows? He might have a great life. But he's got a lot a head of him, and he's behind by a bit.
That said, with giants not out to kill him, and the pressure of "all your family is going to die if something happens to you" no longer over his head, and all that other stuff... it seems like he, at least, is in a better place to begin to turn all that around and do what he wants. Gaia now has the ability to be herself and make her own decisions.
Also: deeply, and sincerely, they really, really, really need to talk to the Maori guys. Not only to finish that amazing game that I want to play, but also to mention and explain what, exactly, happened to them when they did, in fact, reunite their godly elements together once again at full power.

Tacticslion |

Strager things?
Vhoops!
Why does autocorrect not function when I want it to work?
Have you considered interspersing some Bob's Burgers in with your binge watching. :-)
Yes!
I just:
- a) know little about the premise.
- b) don't know if it's on Netflix.
- c) didn't have it on my cue (at least in part, this is related to not knowing whether or not it is on Netflix), so when I turned stuff on today, didn't see it in front of my face, meaning it didn't come up.
... hence it's not happened at all, yet.

Tacticslion |

I binge-watched the entire series in three days.
Nothing compared to how quickly you watch things, though :P
I have: a house, a toddler, and stuff to pick up everywhere.
That is all.
Also, I'll be doing, like, four other things (computer, dishes, food, and/or gaming stuff) at the same time, soooooo... I'm pretty sure my experiences are rather... hm... diluted compared to most sane people.
Even when I'm at other peoples' houses I have a hard time doing nothing but watching stuff. I end up fiddling with something no matter how good other stuff is.

NobodysHome |
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Ugh. For me, Stranger Things was watching a well-written 3-hour movie unfold over... a 16-hour TV season!
I just don't have time for a pace THAT lethargic.
The kids watched the rest of the season for us (thank goodness for critics with plenty of free time) and they said it was "Pretty Good".
They're usually fair judges of my taste, so I gave the rest of it a "Pass".
Not because it's bad, but because it's glacial.