liciatalks

[liciatalks]

Some clarification on my ramblings about show, series etc

I do not have problem with sex or sexual moments in the entertainment I consume.

I have a problem with with it when it's forced in, makes no sense for the story or it a checkbox on a list.

The scene between John and the human covenant prisoner, not necessary. It wasn't relevant to the plot and it was out of character for the characters. It was a cheap it because the writers didn't know how to write an actual connection.

The Fall Of The House Of Usher, on Netflix, completely necessary. It was relevant to the plot, it was relevant to the characters, and it wasn't lazy writing. It never felt forced or was there to check a box.

I know I complain a lot about sexual things in entertainment but only because it does seem that a lot of adult oriented entertainment forces moments in were there wouldn't be a moment. You can make things for adults that don't evolve around one aspect of being an adult.

Emotional scene hit harder and are remember longer than emotionless scene do.

No one remembers the sex but they remember the longing looks, the caring acts and soft touches.

[liciatalks]

I'm rewatching 'Bones', never got to finish the series

I understand why boomers think technology is so magical thing. The early 2000s really had people thinking we good zoom in on grainy video and it would be super clear. Or we had holographic projectors.

WHY IS EVERY EPISODE HAVE SOME KIND OF SEXUAL INNUENDO OR SEXUAL ACT. This isn't just a Bones thing, a lot of early 2000s show had that.

At first I didn't notice, and thought it was a couple of moments here and there but then, with everything repetitive, I notice it every episode.

Some it is relevant to the story, I don't mind those, others though ... they felt very force. Like two characters in a cold opening that aren't relevant to the episode and neither is their comments/acts.

I think the writers and show runners weren't getting laid lol

[liciatalks]

The writers of Halo Evolution really did say "Don't get attached to anyone"

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So far I think 'Dirt' is my favorite short story.

Listening to Halo Evolutions, it's weird when a character has the same name as you.

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Listening to Halo Evolutions, it's weird when a character has the same name as you.

[liciatalks]

Final have a paper guillotine!

Next on the list is book board, book cloth and backing paper.

Which is all far cheaper than a guillotine.

[liciatalks]

Photoshop recently raised their prices, so naturally I cancelled because no I'm not paying more for a service that forces AI and every time it updates it erases my settings and tools.

But I still need Photoshop, so I downloaded a cracked version from the seven seas, like the millennial I am.

THE CRACK VERSION RUNS SMOOTHER THAN THE GENUINE VERSION!!

I have had speed problems with my laptop to the point it would demotivate me from using it, only to find out if was MF Photoshop the whole time

They had the audacity to raise prices

[liciatalks]

Review of 'Murderbot' series on Apple TV+

First, my thoughts.

On it's own as a series, really good.

There was a lot of funny moments. I love Sanctuary Moon bits, they were just what I thought the show would be.

Everything didn't look over futuristic or cyberpunk.

Characters deviated from their book counterparts but they were all still enjoyable. Murderbot was still a little awkward goober.

I did enjoy there was more moments for MB and the crew to build a connection.

7/10 it wasn't a perfect adaption but the heart of the story was there. Will watch again, waiting for season 2.

I'm looking forward to ART

Now on to my long review, keep in mind I still liked the show. Since Martha Wells' was consulting producer this might be how she always invison the show.

First off. What was with all the sex or nudity? We got full front nudity of MB. We had members of the crew, which isn't far the book, but odd there was a focus on it. The new character who kept making comments and moves on MB*. Then there was the local fauna on the drop ship. Like the book did have comments on sex, either about MB disinterest in it or human thought that they had the same parts as a sex bot, but it was not so in your face.

I'm just going to assume this is the streaming/adult series treatment that most shows get. If it's for adult we must have sex or nudity.

*Leebeebee!!! Dufuk was up with her character, why did they need her to sexual harass MB at every point. She was weirder than Gurathin. She felt like a stand in for every fan that can't stop thinking about MB in a sexual way.

The Crew.

I'm not sure if this was what the author has always invison for the Preservation Aux crew or if it was a streaming or show runner take over, either way felt off. I'll circle back around to this.

I might have interpet the book wrong but why do they act like a bunch of crunchy hippies?

I always just got the vibe they were just a bunch of scientist, researchers, professional in their fields. Thought Preservation Alliance was just a community that ran on facts and putting people first. Socialist? In the show the are very much crunchy Hippies, give you they were still researchers, but crunchy.

MB even calls them hippies.

At one point they had to make a decision so they held hands in a circle and ... hummed.

Now, separating them from book selves they were great characters but when comparing them to the books they do feel like different people.

Except for Ratthi, that's a good Ratthi.

Mensah. Was a good leader...when she was allowed to be leader. At the beginng of it felt like the crew was debating ever little decsion she made, even ones that were not up to debate. In the books she asked for input when needed but over all had last say, like a leader should be. You could believe book Mensah was a planet(s) elected leader. Show Mensah at the beginning felt more like a Mom to the group. Now later on she was seen more as the leader she meant to be. We also get to see her panic attacks earlier on then in the books and MB helping her coping with them. MB and her relationship is really good in the show, and it's great we also get to see this develop earlier on.

Gurathin was creepy, and him sniffing Mensah's pillow was not needed. We could have him admire her without him going to that level. I never thought he was weird in the book I just thought of him as the grumpy overly cautious character. The sniffing the pillow was not needed. (He was giving creepy assistant from Halo series vibe) Him being a corpate spy was a nice addition. It fits with the cautious grumpy personality.

Pin-Lee I liked their character in the show but other than the Throuple contract, they never really gave the vibe they were a Legal Counsel let alone one that would scare Corpate Rim lawyers . Them angrly telling the company that they were going to sue them, but felt more like a kid throwing out words that an threat. They were cute with Arada though classic grumpy with sunshine.

There was a Throuple subplot, Pin-Lee Arada and Ratthi, was odd but wasn't distracting. It is what it is. The strangest thing was it being treated as a contract and not just an organic thing between three people.

I felt the book did a better job with the meeting between GrayCris , MB and Mensah. In the show MB makes a plan to go in its own and later Mensah comes to save it. MB was goofy in the show during this meeting and the beacon. While the show MB has it where MB try a LOT of different things from the shows it watch. Something it does in the book but not for every plan. The show sorta doesn't fully show that, despite what MB thinks, it is good at it's job, not the best, but it's good.

The rest of the Crew, Arada and Bharadwaj seems to be closes to their book counter parts.

The forced Hippy personality might have did more damage to the characters than anything. It made them seem like children than adults with specialized jobs.

The crudeness of the SecUnit factory workers was a little extreme and GrayCris felt more like children show villains that an actually threat.

===

Now circling back to WHY the crew might have been changed from who they were in the books, to the series.

Lets be clear while the ideas that the crew hold are not bad, the way the show runner portray them is. It might not have been their intent, it came off mocking. It all felt like what people on Facebook THOUGHT people who believe in fairness, freedom and rights of all, acted like. Who hasn't been to a consertive family members house and they called you a liberal hippie.

Honestly they might have changed it for the higher ups in Apple TV+ it might not been. Maybe the wanted to lay into stereotypes to sell the show.

Either way for them to show an anti-capitalist groups as a bunch of fish out of water crunchy hippie that you can't take seriously in this current political climate probably wasn't the best move.

If I was to rate the show comparing them to the books 5/10 not terrible but not great

[liciatalks]

Destiny, Defining the Self

Destiny really loves to explore concepts that other stories might take a shortcut with. One concept in question is the concept identity of ones self.

In Destiny 2 we have three Guardians who are aware of who the one before them the Guardian and three different outlooks on the ideal.

Ana Bray, Crow, and Ikora Rey

Ana Bray the Guardian who knew who she was from an ID. She has never separated the Ana Bray of the past or the Ana Bray of now. To her they are one and the same. She is Elise's sister, she is Clovis' grand daughter. The memories might not be fully there, but she knows.

Crow. The Guardian that remembers his past but separate Crow from the Prince. He anknowleges the past and tries to fix the the mistakes but he is Crow and Uldren is Uldren. He accepts parts, his sister wanting to part of his life for one but he is Crow. It's like a person that has got past a bad point in their life and they're on the other side.

Ikora Rey the Guardian who treats the her before she was risen as seprate person. That was not her, that was another woman. Their stories, achievements everything are their own.

Ana Bray is and always has been Ana Bray. Crow was once Uldren but he is no longer. Ikora Rey might have the same body as Dr. Davis but she is not her.

Three Guardians, three different ways of looking at the self before risen and none of them are treated as wrong.

Destiny doesn't try to twist anything, try and tell you which is correct. They just are.

We also see this in an sense with non Guardians, the Exos.

Everytime Exos are rebooted a number is added and they lose a little bit more of the one before.

Just like with Guardians some have separated their selves from those before while other did not. But again none is treated as the wrong anwser.

In the end it does seem that the message is,

Only you can define who you are.

[liciatalks]

Ooo. We finally have a description.

I wonder if we are going to get a name for the weapon? I've just been calling her Wendy.

I need to jump back on my Halo read through. I'm now on Evolution

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I feel like I have to explain this every time I say I like pink.

Pastel pinks are pretty just not my favorite

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I have my tablet setting where I can stand while working on Art, GAME CHANGER.

Feels great to work on something again.

Especially since I've been paying for Photoshop

[liciatalks]

I have finished Halo: Contact Harvest

I demand justice for Lighter Than Some! They just wanted to make peace even made gifts. Killed only to protect and didn't even mean to do that.

Finding out the Brute chopper was original a plow makes so much sense.

Over all loved getting back story on Avery Johnson, where his cigar habit came from. Him going from by the book trainer to a little more smooth around the edges was great to see.

Mac and Sif was cute. I like that Mac entertains the little ones with westerns. I also found it funny Sif held a grudge toward him.

Learning more about the Covenant culture(s) was also interesting. With all of San'Shyuum in fighting, manipulation and deceit, I'm surprise they have lasted this long.

The next on my list is Halo Evolution which I think is an anthology series.

[liciatalks]

I'm now starting Halo: Contact Harvest. I'm pretty sure I was supposed to listen to this first then Halo: The Cole Protocol but I goofed up.

My library continues to have odd timing on my audiobook holds where they all become available at the same time.

Different news. I'm 300% of my 2025 reading goal. I initially wanted to hit a goal of 12 books,thinking if I missed a month I could catch up. So I'm proud I have exceeded that by 24 books ✧⁠◝⁠(⁠⁰⁠▿⁠⁰⁠)⁠◜⁠✧

I track my reading on StoryGraph

[liciatalks]

Another Halo book down

This time I finished reading/listening to Halo: Cole Protocol

I enjoyed the book, and was nice to hear what Keyes and Thel 'Vadam was up to before the events of Halo CE.

Side note I had to remember that Thel 'Vadam was The Arbiter actually name. I kept thinking I knew this character.

I was half way through when I had to restart the book. My brain was not latching on to anything the first time through. Problem between the pov switching and my own brain. On second run my brain kept details far better.

I like Gray team, it's always nice to meet new Spartans and teams. They have a familial feel to there team but slightly different from Blue Team. Blue Team gives siblings from stable house two parents, while Gray team give siblings of single parent still good home just a little more feral lol.

Over all it was fun and had a lot of great world building.It's not my top Halo book in the series but wasn't the worst. Would listen to again.

...

Side Note:

Why did Paramount not adapt this book!? (I know why, but WHY)

This book has EVERYTHING the show was trying to touch on but fumbled.

It has Spartans. No they're not the ones you get in the games but they are still Spartan IIs. This team open up discussions on how much the general public know about Spartans. They also give you insight on the Spartan program it's self. The kidnapping, the training, the leaders and the Spartans and how much they know about it.

The UNSC, this book brings up just how much the UNSC control things. To civilian travel and communication to just hire much even it's own soldiers don't know how bad things are getting. And Jacob Keyes is a great character to follow through that. He's a soldier but he's one that still wants to do right.

The covenant species world building. You get a lot of it here the species hierarchy. The cult like following of the prophet. Finding out even the Prophets don't communicate everything.

The Outer vs Inner colonies conflict. How each other think about each other and dynamics between them. At one point it's brought up that food was grown on a outer colony world and shipped to and inner colony world.

The Rubble! The show tried to introduce it but mixed with other stories. It was much more than what the show did with it.

Pre covenant technologies. Sometimes hinting at something is enough. Learning that the technology the covenant uses isn't their own gives a nice mystery on where they came from.

The really fumbled the ball with the series, when they had a great jumping point for T.V viewers into the Halo universe right here. No it wouldn't have featured the Master Chief and the majority of the game characters but it would have set up the world for them.

...

Done with my rambling. Good book, would have been a great tv series. Would read again.

On to the next book!

[liciatalks]

Some pictures I took at work.

[liciatalks]

This little guy is so adorable. I need Ziggy now.