TL/DR, in the style of an isekai title: Obviously Cobbled Together From Footage Intended For More Episodes, The Contractual-Obligation Season That Would Have Been Merely Bad Was Reduced To A Steaming Pile Of Crap.

Longer review: the most entertaining characters from the earlier seasons, Klaus, Five, and Dad, are forced to play against their strengths, making room for Diego’s other family’s Indian soap-opera drama and El Page’s increasingly-hard-to-swallow cosplay. Seriously, she’s so focused on “acting like a stereotypical male” that she often forgets to act the character, and she looks and sounds awful; it is distracting in every one of her scenes.

With only six episodes to set up and dispose of an even-bigger-than-ever-before catastrophe, the story is a complete mess. Characters and plot points are placed on the board at random, then removed without any inconvenient “story advancement” or “character growth”. And the ending is a classic down-in-flames.

Verdict: I feel sorry for the actors who tried hard to make it work. Not for the writers or director; someone wrote this self-indulgent garbage, and someone put it on screen. For instance, 90% of the character development for completely-new-characters Gene and Jean is their country dance scene set to Cher’s “Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves”, and the rest is the fact that their names are Gene and Jean.

Level 2 Cheat Boy

The only thing that really counts as a twist here is that Our Cheating Hero was summoned from one fantasy world to another. The fact that his ridiculous powers don’t appear until he kills a few slimes and levels up, not so much, and him being completely obtuse about being over-powered is just annoying.

FYI, he’s not a harem lord, he’s a harem landlord; once he acquires the more-than-telegraphed wolf-waifu, everyone else is just a housemate. And all but three of the female characters on the cast page eventually move in, find their own mates, and start producing offspring. That’s not in the first episode; I read ahead.

(not Our Wolf Waifu but a plausible stand-in)

Konosuba 3

Season two was kinda dull, to the point that I only vaguely recall something about Aqua’s church town. The Megumin spinoff was kinda stupid, and I stopped watching after the rubberband fight with the spider. As for the movie, I think I watched it, but can’t swear to it; something something Megumin’s home town.

So you could say my expectations for this were… low. It still failed to meet them; it spends the first several minutes on lots of unfunny posing and EVEN MORE SHOUTING, and I just gave up. Let me know if there’s a bunch of scenes featuring Darkness, Wiz, and Chris; I could watch those bits.

(did any of the anime ever expose Chris’ secret?)

Gate manga, volumes 10-12

Released at the end of March, finally.

(Rory Mercury is once again relevant)

Amazon Fallout, episode 1

The entire season is available, but the first episode runs for 75 minutes, so I’m only watching one today.

TL/DR: Vault Dweller searches Wasteland for Daddy; yup, that’s a Fallout main plot, all right. Except for that one time when it was Shauuuuun!.

Bad news: magic pronouns survived the apocalypse. Gratuitously.

Dear Amazon,

Creepy juxtaposition is creepy:

(the number of adult coloring books in the same recommendation list was creepy in a different way…)

Next season’s anime?

Frieren? Potion Loli? Jailbait Witch and Loli-mom? S-rank Daddy’s Girl? Shy Supergirl? Shut-in Vampire General and Her Lesbian Maid?

Decisions, decisions…

ST:SNW, episode 10

Triple whiplash! With a season-ending cliffhanger on top! Guest starring…

Verdict: I like the OG fan-service.

(Purah’s an engineer; close enough)

Across The Spider-Verse, part 1

The spider has landed on Amazon. It lacks the magic of the first one, in part because it leaves the main story unfinished until sometime next year when the Hollywood strike is over and they have actors again. There are about half a dozen story arcs running in parallel, and only one of them has a real payoff in this movie (Gwen’s).

So maybe by next Christmas there will be a trilogy worth marathoning. Hopefully with a lot more Peni in the third part. Or Miles’ hot mom in a bikini, I’m easy.

(what do you mean, “that’s not the spider-woman I was thinking of”?; in related news, finally there’s some fan-art coming out for this show…)

Dungeon Drops, episode 6

I was doubly traumatized right away, first as Crunchyroll decided to play the dub, second as the animators loaded a revolver wrong. I don’t even want to talk about muzzle control, which Our Pistol-Packing S-Drop Hero has no concept of. Speaking of trauma, Our Perfect Loli Wife has started talking to herself as the true scope of Ryota’s logic-defying powers starts to sink in, with him developing new magic bullets and two-gun combos that cement his OP status.

Meanwhile, Our Carrot-Crazed Bunnygirl has been demoted from fan-service to comic relief, as we introduce Our Fiery Beauty, just in time for… another cliffhanger. Did I miss a memo about this week?

Verdict: in case you were wondering if there would ever be any significant fan-service, the fact that Our Busty Gourmet responded to the taste of Ryota’s watermelons by imagining herself at the beach fully dressed should give you your answer. On a final trauma note, as soon as the episode finished, Crunchyroll started playing it again in English. Sigh.

(…but not for this one, so here’s some Rory Mercury)

Good Omens fallback plan

Neil Gaiman, possibly reading the Amazon-original-budget-cut writing on the wall, has announced that he’ll finish the story in print if Amazon doesn’t buy the other half of season 2. Not sure that would help.

Another subreddit returns

r/functionalprint is back under new management, after someone petitioned the admins due to it being abandoned by the previous mods. It was immediately flooded with decent content.

(TIL that chicken shredders are A Thing, and all I could think of when I saw it was a thousand stoners upgrading their “herb grinders”. duuuude)

Apple iRony

Gruber at Daring Fireball linked to this article about designers living in a bubble.

Weak grip

Altamont Company is the officially recommended third-party grip maker for Smith & Wesson revolvers. I ordered a set of custom-made grips for my 25-2. Four weeks later, they arrived and didn’t fit the frame. They mounted correctly, but didn’t follow the curve of the exposed backstrap.

I sent them a picture, and they sent out a replacement set, along with a shipping label to return the old ones. Four weeks later, those arrived, and were exactly the same wrong shape. I sent back both sets, and got a full refund Friday.

Apparently they’ve never made grips for a vintage 25-2 before, and the frame is not quite the same shape as current production N-frame revolvers. Sigh; guess I’m stuck with the rubber Pachmayr grips it has now, until I find someone who can do the job properly.

Dungeon Drops, episode 5

In which everything happens all at once, with Our Heroic Hero starting on another stat boost, gaining an easier bullet-farming method from the idol princess and her manager, impressing the most powerful adventuring team in the city, and rescuing a damsel in distress with the help of Our Definitely-A-Little-Girl Perfect Wife and Our Enlightened-Self-Interest Service Bunny. In the middle of all that, they found time for a flashback to fill in Emily’s backstory.

Verdict: they’re streamlining things a bit to keep the story moving, in a good way; for instance, I don’t think anyone will really miss Ryota’s homosexual panic when he initially thinks The Hot Guy is hitting on him.

(as usual, bunnygirl is unrelated to a show with no decent fan-art)

ST:SNW, season 2 episode 9

Remember last week when I said please don’t do the double whiplash and put the musical episode right after the Klingon War PTSD? Yeah, they did that. There are occasional flashes of humor buried under contrivance, mixed with three different troubled romances, but what really struck me was that most of the actors just stopped doing anything when it was their turn to sing.

Verdict: On a scale of 1 to Once More With Feeling, I give it about a 3. It doesn’t have the staging, the choreography, the songwriting talent, or quite frankly the credibility to pull this off.

(unrelated, but Beelzebub wins in this costume exchange)

Good Omens 2

I’m having trouble getting motivated to watch more of this. I get through a few minutes and then go do something else.

Witcher 3, episodes 6-8

6

The Big Messy Battle That Brings Almost Everyone To One Location And Kills Off About Half Of Them (but not the hot chicks).

7

Remember when Geralt got poisoned in the first season and most of an episode was spent with him delirious and talking to people who might or might not be there? Yeah, it’s Ciri’s turn.

8

Oh, look! A whole bunch of new characters and plotlines to try to get everyone to come back next season and give the new lead actor a chance!

The Little Prints

A friend of mine recently bought a Mossberg 590S shotgun and a Nightstick flashlight/laser-sight replacement forend. Very nice, and my shoulder is sore today from trying it out with Federal Shorty slugs (which are relatively gentle compared to standard slugs).

There’s one problem: the Nightstick is wobblier than the factory forearm; apparently the 590S has a narrower barrel contour than other compatible models. Fortunately, mounting it required inserting the supplied cylindrical spacer, so I quickly knocked together a new one with ears that extend to the barrel, eliminating the wobble. And my X1C bundle included a roll of PAHT-CF, so I finally had an easy print to try out in a sturdy high-temperature material.

Update: I sent email to Nightstick when we ran into this over the weekend, and they called me first thing in the morning Monday to assure me that the forend-wobble will not cause any problems. Nice folks, so I didn't tell him that I fixed it. 😁

(PLA prototype, because we installed the good one before I got a picture…)

The other little problem-solver I printed this week was a set of spacers for some kitchen drawer inserts. The nice adjustable bamboo inserts I brought from the old house were about 2.6 inches shorter than the drawers at the new house. Initially, I just stuffed some stiff foam blocks in the back, but over time the foam started to compress, and eventually the inserts were loose again.

I looked at the drawers, then at the 3D printer, and half an hour later the drawers were firmly held in place.

(good use for the tail-end of a roll of 3-year-old PLA)

(problem-solving maid is unrelated)

A Girl And Her Boxxo, episode 5

Two small side stories quickly disposed of this week, as Our DFC Mad Engineer and Our Easygoing Magic Box help out Our Annoying Little Rich Girl, and are then joined by Our Tasty Heroine in a battle against bland chain food.

Verdict: both halves are fun-but-rushed. They’re eager to get back to the main story, but with only three novels worth of material to work from, why race through it?

Good Omens 2, episodes 1-4

I was warned in advance that this is just a half-season that sets up another season (thanks, Pixy!) that may get filmed if the strikers (including Neil Gaiman) go back to work and someone still wants to throw money at this series. Not terrible so far, but I just have no investment in the lesbians, the graverobbers, or the Nazis. Or Jim MacGuffin, really. The lead actors are doing their best with the material they’re being given, it’s just not as good as the previous material.

Verdict: what it really needs is something we haven’t got any of down here any more: Terry Pratchett. On his own, Gaiman just can’t deliver the same caliber of magic.

Well okay then!

The Amazon order that I placed last Monday that they lost on Tuesday and finally offered a refund for on Sunday that takes 3-5 business days to process? I went back to the product page and they offered same-day delivery. Which is interesting only because the lost one shipped from California and they now have a bunch of them in a warehouse 15 minutes from my house.

Ouch!

A few days ago, the young cashier at Jungle Jim’s undermined my good mood by automatically giving me the senior-citizen discount.

(how you know your international market is really international)

Dungeon Drops, episode 4

Officially, Our Perfect Wife’s character design puts her at eight years old, but mentally she’s sophisticated enough to briefly misinterpret Our S-Dropping Hero’s gift of a necklace as a romantic gesture, while he remains completely oblivious and was just being practical (“hey, it improves your loot drops”).

Of course, he can’t spot the obvious feelings of Our Recently-Rescued Receptionist, either, even when she moves in for the kill. Meanwhile, a chance encounter with a sexy foodie significantly boosts his rep, and a quick rescue mission leads to looting a la carte cart. Bunnygirl Eve just shows up for dinner this week, as they spent their time in carrot-free dungeons.

Fun fact: Eric the foodie was a guy in the light novels, but was upgraded for the manga.

Verdict: wholesome wish-fulfillment in a fantasy world; this week they even added a cute blonde princess who works hard for the money.

(cute blonde princess is unrelated)

ST:SNW, season 2 episodes 7-8

It’s a twofer this week, as the anticipated-by-some crossover with the animated Lower Decks series was released at Comic-Con.

7

If their goal was to convince me to never, ever watch Lower Decks, then it can be considered a complete success. Fortunately the regular cast kept it from being a complete disaster.

8

War. War never changes. No, wait, that’s from Fallout; this is more of a PTSD piece that expands on M’Benga’s backstory (which, to be fair, was basically nonexistent in the old animated Trek). The awkward transition from the hijinks in the previous episode made for a case of whiplash. In a good way, although there were some bits that don’t hold up through a trip to the fridge.

Verdict: please don’t do the musical next week; double whiplash is no fun.

HeisenPrime

Dear Amazon, if you know you lost the package on Tuesday, don’t make me wait until Saturday to apply for a refund and reorder the silly thing in the hopes that you’ll actually deliver it next week sometime.

Also, what’s up with silently canceling my pre-order of the Spiderverse 2 movie?

(admittedly, there was that one they lost in January of this year that finally turned up in May…)

Dungeon Drops, episode 3

In which Our Hero’s Reward arrives with a bang, Our Perfect Wife has a dark side, Our Service Bunny comes to the rescue, Our Busty Receptionist gets stood up receptionist-zoned again, and again, and Our Heroes save the day with the power of power-leveling. The days are just packed.

Verdict: Emily is not only the perfect wife, she’s also Hoihoi-san.

(service-with-a-smile bunnies are unrelated)

Reminder: Sunday is NieR day!

The final four episodes are being released all at once. Fingers crossed for 2B-service.

ST:SNW, season 2 episodes 5-6

So, the reason that Captain Pike is frequently absent this season turns out to be Anson Mount’s paternity leave.

Anyway, I couldn’t make it through episode 5; they just kept piling on the cringe. Remember how in the original Star Trek, T’pring was a stone-cold bitch, while so far in this show she’s been an awesome sexy Vulcan fiancée? Yeah, apparently even alien girls turn into their mothers, and T’pring’s mom put the final nail in the coffin for me. Yes, she’s supposed to be like that; no, I don’t want to watch her humiliate every man within reach.

As for episode 6, while it picks up a few threads in the ongoing romances and feuds, the main focus is on introducing Uhura to Kirk and starting to build friendship and trust that would come in handy if they were ever to, y’know, serve together on the Enterprise. Ending the episode by introducing Kirk to Spock for the first time was icing on the cake.

Verdict: a decent recovery from episode 5, with Pike really demonstrating his faith in Uhura’s judgment.

(unrelated, but how often does Sukabu post new stuff these days?)

Work In Progress

One of the annoying little flaws with the S&W CSX as a carry gun is that the 12-round extended magazine is A) still too short to get my pinky on and B) comes with a loose-fitting spacer that simply does not stay put that also C) has no texturing on the front or sides to improve your grip. My short-term fix was gaffer tape, which neatly solved B and C, but still left my pinky unable to really contribute to my grip.

So I decided to 3D-print a replacement. Making a tighter spacer is easy, and with some cleverness to handle the unsupported overhangs, could even be done in TPU. But as I got into it, including checking out this pinky extension baseplate, I decided to just make my own baseplate from scratch. Among other things, the linked design only fits correctly on the original 10-round magazine.

After making working models for both, I decided to strip it down to the bare minimum, so I could freely shape the exterior to match the frame and build back up in multiple variations. In OpenSCAD, of course, although now that my sister’s in charge of global events for Autodesk…

Fun fact: one of my 12-round mags loads the last round really tightly; naturally, it’s the one I chose to do my early testing with, and that’s an hour of my life I want back.

Next up, adding the pinky extension and the tail (as seen in the factory spacer).

(this is my first time trying out fuzzy skin in Bambu Studio (forked from PrusaSlicer); I like it for this application, although I really wish you could choose the surface to apply it to rather than having to generate modifier objects to toggle it on and off)

Sigh, public shooting ranges…

I was at the local indoor range, and the first thing that annoyed me was that they put me next to a guy who was shooting a .308 rifle with a compensator. Fortunately he left just as I finished setting up, because the pressure wave was rather intense. (his shots were decently grouped, but given that he was shooting at only 25 yards, from the bench, they ought to be!)

The second was more sad than annoying. Young guy in the next lane with a spiffy gun-case backback that held five semi-automatic pistols. None of which he could shoot a recognizable group with at 7 yards. By comparison, I was embarrassed to have a target with some holes outside the 4-inch Shoot-N-C paster at that distance. (my excuse is that I hadn’t shot my Walther PPK/S in about ten years, and I can no longer see its front sight at all; also, it really hates flat-nosed bullets)

The real annoyance, though, was just how poorly S&B .22 LR works in my Sig P322. I knew it was crap ammo when I bought it back during Obama’s first term, but this was the first time I’d seen the stuff not only fail to feed, but bend the bullet nearly 45 degrees. It must be pure lead.

Speaking of annoyances,

I finally broke down and called the 800 number for “Cold War Patriots” and asked them to stop spamming my (physical) mailbox with solicitations for benefits that I am not eligible for, given that I’ve never worked in any relevant industry. They must have bought the cheapest mailing list in the business.

(mind you, I’m not convinced that they’re actually in the health-care business rather than the insurance-fraud business, but in either case they’re sending their solicitations to the wrong guy; it’s like when AARP started trying to get me to join their Democrat PAC senior citizen org when I turned 30)

Dungeon Drops, episode 2

In which A Wild Bunnygirl Appears. Repeatedly. Also a boss-monster and a giant gorilla. And a great big shining spoiler drops, which we don’t get to see until next episode. Meanwhile, I swear that most of the animation budget went into Emily’s cooking.

Verdict: this is an unpretentious, inoffensive isekai that doesn’t pretend to be anything more than escapist fantasy. In a good way.

(my dungeon drops cheesecake)

ST:SNW, season 2 episode 5

I… think I’ll finish watching this one later. Secondhand embarrassment is always difficult for me.

(vaguely related, since anything related to Spock getting emotional is… corn-y)

I read this wrong the first time…

As part of my move last year, I signed up for USPS Informed Delivery, which means that I get email listing what mail and packages will be arriving today. I’m not always entirely awake when I see the email, so the headline on this morning’s flyer from Kroger looked like something for zombies or cannibals:

Witcher 3, episode 5

Hey, I’ve got a great idea for a cliffhanger half-season ending! Let’s loop through the same scenes again and again, with slightly different dialogue and point of view, forcing the viewers to assemble the actual events!

Not appearing: Our Sleeping Beauty and Our Well-Fucked Bard.

Verdict: I was wondering when spoiler was going to turn out to be an evil manipulator. Everyone else is.

(Kiki is a Witcher’s kryptonite)

Another Dumb Gun Storage Idea

So, you’re driving around with your legally-carried concealed handgun, and you need to enter a location that prohibits carry (post office, UPS/Fedex depot, church, dentist, country club, sports bar, Ikea, etc), so you need to unholster and secure the weapon in your vehicle.

Never mind that doing this at your destination is about as sensible as a Silicon Valley engineer conspicuously putting an expensive laptop into the trunk of their car outside of a restaurant (I can’t count the number that were reported stolen to me…), let’s talk about where you’re going to put it:

• in the glovebox? vaguely lockable, but everyone looks there.

• in the trunk, assuming your car has one? ditto, and just as conspicuous as the laptop.

• in a locking vault that’s at least secured to the car by a security cable? the usual solution, one that I’m not entirely comfortable with.

• inside the driver’s headrest? oh, very subtle; unless all your windows are tinted black, you’ve just flashed your piece to everyone nearby while pointing it at your passengers.

(by the way, that list of prohibited locations is everything I’ve run into since moving back to Ohio)

Looking for tips?

The UN “Human Rights” Council is investigating a Japanese talent agency over its history of sexually assaulting young male idols. I’m sure that many Hollywood execs will read their report with one hand in their pants.

(now, as for the abuses at the female idol factories, I don’t think there’s been an agency-wide exposé yet)