2025-W21 EOW Report

Anti-Goal Cycling

• Talked to Cat about the first two scenes of prj:WAITE on Saturday morning. So… the slowness, as I talked through it, seems sensible ultimately. The first two scenes is where I’m developing and building the world, refining the arc, figuring out where the pieces are. This is purely a hypothesis of course, but I would assume scenes three onwards would be more clear in direction once I’ve laid down the foundation, so to speak. Most of the themes and concepts I wanted to get across got across I think. I also found myself repeating a lot that “I don’t care if people pick up on all the stuff” and that’s true, as long as the diehards and über-curious go down the same rabbit holes I did and try to suss everything out. Them “working” at it, is their reward for digging. That’s literally the definition of Easter Eggs. If people want to read it purely for the story that’s fine. But for the people who want to unearth the hidden gems, they can too.
• prj:MUSIC remains on hold. I really should at least review the feedback. They’re turning stale at this point.
• I’m almost done my second read of The Cheese and the Worms.

Four Thousand Weeks

• Fairly straightforward week. Eldest’s final exams after a barrage of them this entire month. Client A’s “issue” was out this week, so low key. Some pending responsibilities the moment software is not an issue. Welcoming new folks. Need to do some capacity planning. Was really tired on Thursday after some bad soup.
• Wednesday was when E.B. Games called? Picked up Hawkman, Jay Garrick Flash, Spectre, and Brainiac… was ready to shell out over $100, but was then told that three of them were $9.99 because they were about to get a huge shipment of McFarlane toys in and they’re “clearing out” the old stock and I am just ecstatic with my luck and timing. So there’s that. Eldest asked me what I was getting on the way to the mall and I told him his father is a child buying toys. Small joys, y’know? So now on display in one of my Kallax partitions is the entire original JSA membership minus Wesley Dodds Sandman (which comes out this summer) and Atom. But do I really care for the Atom? I don’t care for his Golden Age uniform really. And the next iteration is his godson that shows up in Black Adam. The blue spandex with the atomic symbol on the chest is OK I guess. I dunno. With that said, it was getting a little horrible and I’ve blocked EB Games, McFarlane Toys, and Amazon on both phone and desktop via Freedom. NO MORE SHOPPING.
• Finally finished layout of the special issue for Client B. Was basically re-creating the layout JB originally did back in 2020. It’s a lot more fancier with more elements, and also, he was using a smaller font. So now, I’m trying to keep the brand consistent but… wait a minute, I said a few months ago I was going to stop talking about work in this journal. So I’m done. It’s almost 1AM the night of this publication and I’m just tired. Had an Americano this morning to write, then two more coffees at brunch. Good night.

Story Introspection

• Read a review on “The Price” and they were annoyed with how hammed up the childhood scene was, and how Ellie’s teenage rebellion was forced and dramatic, and how the bookend line of “hope you do better” was schmaultzy… and I’m like, logically, I agree with you, but emotionally, I was still deeply affected by Joel’s love for his adopted daughter, and I dunno. Did I get won over by the earlier episodes of this season and now I’m on cruise control? I think I do that a lot. If the first few episodes or issues of an arc, like fucking nails it, and I’m immersed and invested, I can be quite forgiving. Like you really have to do something super out-of-character to throw me out. But if from the get-go, you’re not serious and flippant about your world building and character-integrity, I am suspect and every little thing pisses me off. Another thought I had was the fact that I don’t know if I can watch this episode (at least on the first go round) with as critical eye as the person who wrote the review. Maybe this person watched it more than once. Wish I could find that review again. It had a lot of “correct points” logically, but I just don’t think I would’ve picked up on them. Maybe if I watched it a second time?
• Finally started Andor S2. Hurray, Ben Mendelsohn is back as Orson Krennic, a favorite villain of mine. And does it go hard with him gathering a secret group to plan genocide. The scene is horrifying because you realize that these things are, yes, planned. There’s a planet, it’s got a resource you need, and you want to mine it, and the people there are just in the way. I mean. FUCK.
• I am still so very, very mad about Superman Unlimited. Eight pages I read already on Free Comic Book Day. Eleven pages of EXPOSITION. What in the actual fuck. EX-PO-SI-TION. Just recounting history. And not fresh takes on history. Literally history ANY FAN could catch up on themselves or figure out. What in the actual fuck. This is a case of where even if the story picks up in issue two, I’ve lost all trust already and I’m looking for an exit. Just fuck up one more time even if a little and I’m out. There is an implicit promise to all storytelling. I give you my time (and money), you tell me a good story WELL, and this was broken.
• Love, Death and Robots S4 favorites: 400 Boys, How Zeke Got Religion, For He Can Creep. I like serious. That’s not surprising to anyone. So I found all the cute, funny Scalzi stuff… I mean, it was entertaining, but not looking for that. And what the hell was with David Fincher’s piece? Literally a music video for Red Hot Chili Peppers… but with marionette strings? That was… not a strong opener. Shouldn’t have been inside the LDR anthology at all even. It’s not a story.
• Fabula Ultima TTRPG sesh was another prep one. There’s a lot of front-end fees with this system. We’ve built a world, we’ve built a history, religion, different nations, empires, and leagues. We’ve created characters with backstory and origins. That’s TWO prep sessions. About seven or eight hours of building together before we get into story proper. Not complaining, I’m enjoying the process. Just saying that I’ve never played a TTRPG this way.

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