Lurker > Inviso

Digimon Tamers

Konosuba

Best case scenario: Trump being indicted really rallies his base in the primaries, because they assume "This is just political persecution because the Dems hate him!" and then in the general election, enough rational people turn out to ensure we don't have a criminal for a president.

Worst case scenario: Keep the first clause, but then Dem voters either get complacent because Trump is a criminal, or they find some reason to not be enthusiastic about the party, and Trump wins on the cultlike fanaticism of the GOP.

Gonna guess Young Frankenstein for the final bet of the game.

Digimon Tamers

Baccano!

SirChris posted...

it's really an easy two part question

"Are you anti abortion? Okay, do you support a robust social safety net?"

If they answer both yes I can buy they are genuine enough, even if its still an issue.

I just want to comment on this that I still wouldn't necessarily trust someone to be arguing in good faith if they answered yes to both of these. The statement "I want to break/eliminate X, and fix it with Y" sounds reasonable, until you realize that it's very easy to get rid of X, and a much more complicated process to fix it with Y...one that might not ever occur to make up for the removal of X. It's like how the GOP LOVED to say they'd repeal and replace the ACA, which SOUNDS reasonable; get rid of something bad and replace it with something better. But then you realize they had no plan beyond the "repeal" portion of that statement.

Haruhi

Trading for Haruhi, auto.

Underleveled posted...

There was no way this was ever gonna happen. This has only happened twice in Survivor history - the Outcast two-parter in Pearl Islands, and the penultimate episode/finale in Exile Island. No way would it happen on just a random-ass episode.

Don't forget the 41 merge.

This episode was almost entirely character-based and it was the most interesting episode of the season thus far.

Still guessing Galaxy Quest.

Oh my fucking GOD. YES!

Carolyn is literally carrying this season on her back!

...how are these two being SO open about this shit in front of Carolyn?

I hope we get a second medevac SO bad.

This episode has had some decent personalization and character development (prior to the unnecessary advantage island twist that's coming after the commercial), but so help me if Carolyn winds up getting voted out for five in a row.

GOD I don't need to see a repeat of Matthew's injury! >_<

Digimon Tamers

Kenshin

MartinFF7 posted...

Auto for Kenshin

For Haruhi please.

Haruhi

The thing that bugs me about all of this is...42 was actually a really solid season. The show got a lot of memorable characters out of it (I'd argue that 6/7 of the final 7 are legitimate All-Star contenders, plus Tori and Rocksroy are solid casting choices as well), and yet two seasons later, they've reverted to not trusting their cast again, and instead forcing dozens of advantages into the game at any given time.

Digimon Tamers

Baccano!

Haruhi

Trading for Haruhi, auto.

Cody11533 posted...

Is the draft order randomized? And is it serpentine?

Yes, although Scare gets first pick as his reward from the previous draft.

I mean, I definitely agree that the game has evolved to a point where players are more willing to make big moves of their own volition, because that's what the show has emphasized for many years now. I don't like the producers throwing in countless idols and extra votes and idol nullifiers and KiPs and whatnot, because it seems the intent is to make it "This person has a thing! Better target them for a big move!" And then either someone gets blindsided with an idol, and someone plays an idol and someone else gets blindsided. And the problem with this is that it has started to reduce personality and make everyone feel interchangeable. It's no longer "We need to vote out this PERSON because they are a threat" and more "We need to flush this IDOL because it is a threat."

foolm0r0n posted...

The players do blindsides, not Jeff. Any player who does a modicum of research will learn that blindsides are the optimal way to play the game, and especially to win the million.

It doesn't make sense to long for the era when players were voting on emotion and not game theory. It's long gone.

I'm not saying blindsides as a strategy are bad. I'm saying production wants the AUDIENCE to be blindsided and surprised far too often (and every tribal council needs to end with some shocking vote that becomes a water cooler moment), and the end result is a bunch of disjointed final results that often carry little emotional weight. I'm just particularly worried, because it feels like their response to an unsatisfying ending to 43 is "let's throw in countless advantages so players are FORCED to make big moves each and every episode, and we won't get a final 3 like that group of duds again!"

foolm0r0n posted...

It doesn't pay off though. There's always lots of stinkers in the cast, especially now that everyone is a gamebot superfan. You can't just hope that personalities and drama will magically come out. You don't get genuine psychos like Coach or Carolyn every season.

With the advantages you guarantee that there's SOME drama to latch onto at least. Can you really say the birdcage was worse for getting to know people than sitting around the fire eating coconuts?

And again, you're talking about premerge with 18 people. Do you really need to to intimately love all 18 people in a season, instead of just the 10 post merge ones? It's greedy and unrealistic. 3-4 strong storylines a season is pretty good.

We don't get to love the 10 post-merge players either though, because by the time the post-merge rolls around, you have 12-13 people all crammed into a single episode, making and breaking alliances for reasons we never get shown because the game moves too fast.

The pre-merge/tribal portion of the game SHOULD be when the players are more intimate, and when we get to see them in that tribal setting, we get to know them as characters. We learn about what makes them tick and that informs the post-merge, as things heat up. But instead, the show is so concerned with bolstering the two portions of each episode that Jeff is involved with: "MAKE THE CHALLENGES BIGGER AND HARDER!" or "EVERY TRIBAL COUNCIL NEEDS TO END WITH A BLINDSIDE!" that we end up with just a series of twists and advantages that take precedence over actual character development.

Seriously, last season SUCKED, but they tried their hardest to develop the cast instead of focusing on advantages. It just happened that 43's cast was dull as dishwasher. This feels like the producers were unhappy with 43 and are determined to make sure it's as chaotic and "exciting" as possible.

Digimon Tamers

Baccano!

I stand by my comment that the first half is amazing and accurate, but the movie tanks once they feel the need to inject an actual plot and actual conflict into it in the second half/final third.

Digimon Tamers

Cody11533 posted...

Random thought I had today, does DC have any animal-led series? Which major hero is closest to Data 7?

Animal Man was Data's friend, and Data even lived with him for a long time.

Phantom

Haruhi

(Trading for Haruhi, auto.)

I just think Austin Powers does a great job of parodying the inanities of the classic James Bond movies, before they got all serious and started trying to rip off the Bourne franchise.

I'm really disappointed, honestly. This feels like a fun and interesting cast (especially compared to last season's bullshit), and aside from Carolyn, they're largely getting drowned out by the advantages.

Sarah got an advantage from shipwheel island in episode 1, darkx. And then she got voted out with it and a fake idol in her pocket.

Well, it sucks that we lost our fourth woman in a row...but I also don't give a shit about Sarah.

UGHHHHH.

You're going to align Matthew and Carson? Of ALL people?

In terms of hiding fake idols...

Carolyn's weird Red X > Danny's goofy fake idol hunt > Matthew being a dick to Jaime.

Digimon Tamers

Beastars

Sticking with Sorry to Bother You.

Pepper and Tali think Roz'etta smells lovely.

Beastars

Trading for Haruhi, auto.

Haruhi