Latest / My Third Place Pod / Stranger Things Finale, Conformity Gate & What CES Says About Where We’re Headed

Transcript

Stranger Things Finale, Conformity Gate & What CES Says About Where We’re Headed · My Third Place Pod

0:00
Otherwise, I'm doing good. I had a rib problem the past
0:03
week. I don't know what it was,
0:06
overextended something, I don't know, but I felt like I just
0:12
googled all kinds of shit, appendix burst, liver damage,
0:18
kidney damage, all kinds of shit, and just told me to
0:21
fucking drink water. And that's what I've been doing
0:23
all fucking week long, drinking water, laying in bed, putting an
0:27
ice pack on there and all that shit.
0:32
So yeah, the rib problem, I don't know what it was.
0:36
I just like over did something, I don't know, something just, it
0:41
just felt like it popped and every time I stretched it, I was
0:44
like it. Yeah, I heard a pop in my
0:46
sternum because I cracked it and like, I just went into stretch
0:50
mode and did all kinds of shit. So I'm fine now.
0:53
Everything is good. That's good.
0:57
The shot, the Monjaro shot is, it's all right now I'm seeing
1:02
I'm losing weight. Actually, it's working.
1:06
I haven't, I haven't eaten anything.
1:10
I don't eat anything in the morning anymore.
1:11
And then when I do, it's like later on in the afternoon, it's
1:15
like a bite of something and then I'm like, all right.
1:18
And then late at night, here I am with the gummies, with the
1:24
what? What are they called?
1:25
Gummy bears with the gummy bears.
1:32
Oh, yeah. Like, yeah, I think more gyro's
1:37
working for the, the 10 milligram.
1:39
Yeah. And if even if it's I'm getting
1:42
nauseous about it, then that's fine.
1:44
We're going to, we're going to do.
1:45
All right. How's everything to chat?
1:48
Let me know how you guys are doing.
1:53
Hope everybody's OK before we start.
1:57
Hold on one minute. I actually like charge the phone
2:01
real quick, OK, All right. Mel says she's doing good.
2:07
Leanna says she's doing. I'm doing great.
2:10
All right. Everybody's doing great.
2:11
Jane is like in the live. Everybody's doing great.
2:14
All right, cool. Let's get.
2:16
Let's start. Let's start this.
2:17
Let's start the show. Let's do it.
2:18
Ready for the show to start. It's coming.
2:21
It's coming now. Sorry about that.
2:25
All right, all right, let's go. Let's go.
2:28
Let's go. Welcome back to my Third place
2:29
podcast. The second week of January, that
2:31
weird quiet spread to the year where the decorations are coming
2:34
down. The calendar is technically new,
2:36
but life hasn't fully booted back up yet.
2:40
This is the part of January that always feels the same, no matter
2:42
what year it is. You've had your Christmas
2:45
presents long enough that they're officially yours now.
2:49
The box is gone. The batteries are half dead.
2:51
The instructions, they're lost immediately.
2:54
Jane says my jaws aching after my youngest smashed his head in
2:58
it when I try to catch him from falling.
2:59
What the fuck? What?
3:08
How? Ma'am.
3:09
OK. Oh, no.
3:11
I'm sorry to hear that. Hope is put some ice, put some
3:16
ice on that thing back in the day.
3:17
This was the week you went back to school and flashed just a
3:19
little pure show and tell energy, bragging rights,
3:23
comparing consoles, game, bikes, carts.
3:26
Skip it. Arguing over who got the good
3:30
version, who clearly got robbed by singing tough.
3:33
And then slowly some of those toys stopped working, some broke
3:36
because you played with them too hard.
3:40
Don't play with your toys too hard.
3:43
Some got forgotten because you were glued up to your new video
3:45
game console. You know, try not to play with
3:50
your games too hard. That's all.
3:53
That's all. That's that's all.
3:55
Jane, What? Hey, if you play with your games
4:00
too hard, you have a problem. Please don't play with your
4:03
games too hard. They're new.
4:06
They're brand new, you know, not one of them are flexible.
4:10
You know, not all of them. Well, back in the days they
4:12
weren't all that flexible. We didn't have like Chitara
4:16
splitting her legs and stuff. No, be be be mindful for your
4:21
games, for your, for your heart, for your your parents hard
4:25
earned money on these toys, you know, master the universe,
4:31
Thundercats, GI Joe, all them. And then once the weather
4:37
finally broke and you were back outside riding bikes until the
4:41
three lights came on, cutting through neighborhoods, hanging
4:45
out by the abandoned creak, your parents specifically told you
4:47
not to go near, convinced you were just exploring while
4:50
absolutely doing something you've never explained correctly
4:52
if asked. That's the energy of this week.
4:59
The magic hasn't disappeared. It just settled in and tonight's
5:02
episode is what sticks after the hype wears off, because once the
5:06
batteries die, the trend passes in the group chat moves on.
5:10
What's left. That question kind of runs
5:14
through everything we're talking about tonight, James says.
5:18
Isn't getting any better. EVO flexible, man.
5:21
I mean, you have to be flexible, you know, like you're, you're
5:26
holding on to your, to your toy for your life.
5:29
And just like you're stretching and and pulling and, you know,
5:36
like, remember when we had to pull when we had those little
5:38
thumb puppets and we like, stuck our fingers in them, our thumb.
5:48
He's lost, but he's done with. No more.
5:56
OK, This is welcome in Jane, Welcome in.
5:59
I just came back. Oh fucking hell.
6:09
You're welcome. This is what happens when you
6:12
miss parts of the life. All right, here's what we're
6:15
talking about tonight. We're warming things up with pod
6:18
decks because checking in should still feel human, not
6:20
performative. We're taking a nostalgia detour
6:22
into the toys we flexed way too hard, sorry.
6:26
And which ones actually earned their place in memory?
6:29
We're digging into comic halls, Fortnite doing South Park Sings,
6:32
and three nights in Vegas at CES where the future shows up loud,
6:36
flashy, and slightly overwhelming.
6:38
We're talking about what we've been watching and why certain
6:41
stories hit harder than others. We're breaking down 6 and 64
6:44
games with great stories fans still love, and because some
6:46
narratives age better than we expected.
6:49
And we're going all in on all spoiler conversation about
6:52
Stranger Things finale and the whole Conformity Gate
6:54
discussion. All of it ties back to the same
6:58
idea, what survived once the excitement fades.
7:00
That's kind of what M3P has been always about, and this is your
7:06
first time here. Welcome to my third place.
7:08
Not home, not work, just place to hang out, reflect, and talk
7:11
about the things that shaped us. Every week we pull up a chair in
7:14
our corner of the Internet, not to escape life, but to make
7:17
sense of it. Together.
7:18
We talk about the things we love and the things that shaped us.
7:20
movies and TV, from comfort rewatches to brand new chaos.
7:24
Pokémon halls cracked open with the same excitement we had in a
7:27
99 comic books fresh off new comic book day.
7:30
Marvel rivals matches where we break down builds, lore, and
7:33
those why was that so hard moments, wrestling, music,
7:37
fandom, and the everyday story that sneak up on you and stick
7:39
around. It's part review show, part
7:42
fandom hangout, part running diary of a life still in
7:46
progress, rooted in 90s and early nostalgia, but not stuck
7:50
there. Less about escaping the past and
7:52
more about bringing the best parts of it forward.
7:56
The feeling of a Friday night at a blockbuster.
7:58
The Pokémon pack of somehow feels heavier than the last one.
8:01
A mixtape that only makes sense to you because it reminds you of
8:04
them. The streetlights coming on?
8:08
No, when it's time to head home, but not quite ready to end the
8:11
night. So whether you're here to live
8:13
in the chat or listening on the go, welcome to the M3P vibe,
8:17
where community, creativity, and shared memory collide every
8:19
single week. And for the day one listeners,
8:22
you already know what we do. Joining me tonight, bringing
8:26
second week of January energy, post holiday clarity and the
8:30
wisdom of someone who definitely had at least one toy break by
8:33
now 'cause, you know, too flexible.
8:37
The recess is the recess historian.
8:40
The after school legend still knows the best shortcut.
8:43
Home, Greg, welcome in. What's that?
8:46
Welcome back, brother. What's that?
8:47
What's that? What's going on man?
8:49
What's going on, man is laughing in the house.
8:52
Quick Housekeeping follows on Instagram, Twitter, Blue Sky,
8:55
TikTok and YouTube for live streaming clips and bonus chaos.
8:58
Don't mind the bells you just heard in the background.
9:00
It's the church rate the show, so the algorithm knows we're not
9:03
just talking into the void. And if you're listening on
9:05
Spotify, drop a comment. Good or bad, we read them all.
9:08
All right, brother, New year, new inspiration, same chaos.
9:12
Let's get into it. Let's get into it with the
9:15
question for the chat question for all of us.
9:19
What did you get for Christmas that you had to brag about when
9:22
you went back to school? Do you remember the stuff that
9:26
you got for Christmas? And you just said, I'm going to
9:28
take it to school and I'm going to show it off to all my
9:32
friends. And like, you know, all the all
9:35
the fucking haters, all the people that you don't like.
9:37
Like you got the most expensive thing in school and you want to
9:40
show it off to that one kid that's like, always brags about
9:42
some bullshit? Yeah, remember what you got.
9:46
Yeah, I know that. One year I got my mother got me
9:50
this, got me the Deon Sanders jersey.
9:55
We play for the Cowboys. Oh my God.
9:59
Could nobody tell me shit, I was, I was fresh.
10:02
I was dressed fresh like 1,000,000 bucks.
10:07
Dressed like 1,000,000 bucks. Yeah yeah.
10:09
Which are all white chucks. My head to my head, like some
10:13
Converses or some shit like that.
10:16
Actually a white and blue, yeah. White and blue converse, but
10:20
yeah. Yeah, yeah.
10:27
Jane says one year got to play the first PlayStation, but did
10:33
you take it to school? I ended up tracking taking a lot
10:41
of shit to school because I know like part of it my brother got
10:45
and I just like too big for that, obviously too big.
10:51
I like my brother got it. And it's like, you know, I'm
10:53
taking it to school and showing it off and saying it's mine.
10:56
And it ended up being mine anyways.
10:57
It's like, I'm like, dude, it's mine now.
10:59
You can't say it's yours. Yeah.
11:01
It was a part the Power Rangers. Yeah.
11:05
That's what she said. The Power Rangers when they were
11:07
metallic, Yeah. And they were a freaking metal.
11:10
Metal. And like, So you take him and
11:11
like, yeah, they're fucking too hard.
11:14
So one day we, we used to share a bunk bed and I was up top and
11:19
I was just like, you know, like, hey, threw him out off the bed
11:23
onto the floor. They fucking broke.
11:25
Damn. And he's all like, what did you
11:27
do? I was like, oh shit, my bad.
11:30
I didn't fucking know. Stuff that I took to school.
11:35
I, I want to say like wrestling stuff, shirts, the DX shirt, I
11:41
know it was, it was ADX shirt that I took to school when I got
11:43
it for Christmas, right? And that's when everybody's all
11:48
like doing the whole socket thing.
11:49
And I was like, hell yeah, socket.
11:56
Like it was all clothes. It was like later on around high
11:59
school, it was all clothes. But back in the day, like you
12:02
got a magazine, you got a fucking new toy.
12:05
Take it to show and tell. Show it off to people.
12:09
There's always that one kid who has the best toys and I'd be
12:14
like, that's cool, man. You know, like, yeah, that's
12:17
cool. And we were like, how much was
12:19
it, you know? How way do you get?
12:21
There's no way you got that already.
12:23
Not out yet. Mae Fanny knew somebody.
12:26
No, you don't, motherfucker. You stole it.
12:31
So what everybody was trying to get at the time was the Prince
12:39
Adam, because it was a first edition.
12:42
Nobody has ever seen it. Nobody's ever had got it.
12:45
And my stepdad fucking bought it.
12:48
And I opened up for Christmas. There's a picture of me holding
12:53
him. And I was like, that's the only
12:54
proof that I'll ever have that I had a Prince Adam white shirt,
13:00
you know, all that stuff and everything.
13:02
And I'm just like, hell yeah. So I took him to school.
13:05
So like, hey, look what I got, friends.
13:06
Adam was like, no way. Like, yeah, yeah.
13:09
Because everybody was into Master the Universe at time.
13:12
Yeah. Either GI Joe, Master the
13:14
Universe, Thundercats or he man, or yeah, Master the Universe.
13:18
What else was there? There was some other toys, but I
13:21
forgot which ones. Oh, the wrestling, the
13:23
wrestlers, the wrestler 1. So yeah, those were fun at the
13:29
time. All right, let's get into
13:37
Podgex. We like to kick things off with
13:41
a little ice breaker from our Poddex, our Sager stack of
13:44
random questions, chaos prompt, and why would anyone ask this
13:46
Conversation starters is our version of passing notes in
13:48
glass or flipping through a tiger beach quiz while waiting
13:51
for your hot cocoa pop tart to cool down.
13:53
But now we level it up because it isn't just our warm up
13:55
anymore, it's yours too. Welcome to Poddex, Question of
13:58
the week mashup where you pull up a question card, toss into
14:01
snowstorm, Instagram, TikTok, all these other places, fucking
14:05
Tumblr too, and let the entire M3P community cook your take,
14:08
your memories, your intense opinions.
14:10
We read them, react to them, celebrate them, and occasionally
14:12
wonder why we gave you this much power.
14:14
But that's the fun. That's still a giant group chat
14:16
where we accidentally over share and let's just keep going like
14:19
nothing happened. So buckle up.
14:22
Our answer just beginning yours would make this segment
14:24
legendary from last week's question.
14:27
And you're going to get upset over this.
14:31
You're gonna laugh. You're gonna laugh.
14:33
What are your new year inspirations, ideas and
14:35
intentions over a Tumblr? Two people responded.
14:40
Fit little zombie killer said intention.
14:42
Keep up with the puppy and get into Bush wagon condition in
14:45
time to test this summer. She's from Alaska, so Bush
14:48
wagging is a big thing over there.
14:49
Yeah. I don't know what Bush wagon
14:51
means, but fucking I Alaskan people.
14:55
That's all I know from Alaska is the Alaskan Bush people, you
14:58
know? And then there's another one
15:02
Luffy sweats love who gave me like a three page paragraph
15:06
essay. Lucy Sweats Love Says Mine is to
15:15
listen to a song from every from every genre.
15:18
It was meant to be just a fun way to listen to music I never
15:21
would have otherwise. But I'm only a weekend and it's
15:23
already made me cry, threatened my understanding of myself,
15:26
explored my values and philosophy, stoked my motivation
15:28
to learn, and made me generally excited to do something.
15:31
Gives me something to look forward to, all without adding
15:34
pressure to do anything at all. It's been wonderful.
15:37
So I made the mistake of asking a follow up question.
15:42
Hey, what's your favorite genre so far?
15:48
And she comes back with ready for this, Greg.
15:53
So far I've listened to 176 genres, but they're all very
15:57
similar. Opera, liturgic, chanting,
15:59
polyphonic, folk singing, various classical styles from
16:02
different regions and time periods.
16:04
So far I've been learning more about instruments and musical
16:07
timbre and why some sings. Opera had some sings, operatic
16:13
solos that stimulate me. I was surprised that I was that
16:17
I like folksy old fiddles because modern fiddling is
16:19
usually in more country music, which I soundly dislike.
16:22
She likes to fiddle. I'm neutral.
16:24
I'm most of the genres I've listened to overall, but I found
16:27
I really like impressionism, which didn't shock me as it fits
16:30
with what kind of art I like. Emotion focus versus technical
16:33
bravado. It's long.
16:35
I also really like the folky dance.
16:37
Like little of much early music. I would say the biggest surprise
16:41
though, genre wise was classical drill.
16:43
I used somebody else's genre plotting data and an algorithm
16:45
to cluster similar genres together in classical drill.
16:47
It totally doesn't fit sonically because very much electronically
16:51
produced trappy remix with heavy baselines feels very different
16:55
to classical. I'm neutral, I'm much classical.
16:57
I've never really listened to drill, rap or much trap before.
17:00
It's never really appealed to me even try to listen to it as I
17:04
was surprised at how they really work together for me.
17:08
She was not kidding. I saw she was trolling for a
17:11
minute and then she adds in. I want to engage respectfully
17:36
and feel I need friend to walk me through it and invite me in
17:46
rather than me just deciding to burst into it and she's done.
17:53
So I was like, oh, oh, OK, breathe evil, breathe.
17:58
I'm trying, I'm trying. I really AM.
18:02
So yeah, she really got into it and I fucking love that that she
18:06
did. And it wasn't 1 long sentence.
18:09
I just have to breathe fast because it was a long paragraph
18:16
over on Monday. I asked everybody one word where
18:19
you're give me one word where you're at right now.
18:23
Obviously there were some people who are fucking the trolls are
18:26
like lost or I'm at the gym or somebody's home, you know.
18:36
So I was just like, just where are you in like in your head?
18:39
Where are you right now? You know, and I'm just like me.
18:42
I was just like, I'm, I'm, you know, I'm illuminating.
18:46
I'm putting in like a, what's it called a flashlight?
18:56
I'm a flashlight. I'm at the beach, all this stuff
19:03
at the flashlight. And I was just like, you know,
19:06
I'm like lighting. Everybody's like everybody to
19:09
come in here and be like, hey, the light is on, come hang out,
19:14
chill with us. You know, whatever you want to
19:16
do. If you don't want to, that's
19:17
fine. You don't have to tell me
19:19
anything. You don't have to say anything.
19:21
Just come in and chill for a minute and if you don't like it,
19:23
you can leave. And if you do like it, just hang
19:25
out with us. So, yeah, that's what I said.
19:30
That's what I was like. KT Turtle Place.
19:32
That's reflecting. Josh Howe, Coach Carter, coach,
19:36
reader, writer, said free Mezza. She's satisfied.
19:40
Lawrence says she's strong. Jesse says peaceful.
19:42
Leanna says happy. Judith with love, says grateful.
19:45
Red says peace. Half half 40, says blessed
19:49
Elena. Christiana Elena.
19:52
We know Elena. I'm.
19:53
Not gonna hear your last name? Oh yeah.
19:54
Elena Elena, best friend Elena Elena says happy.
20:01
Red candy says peace. Crazy lady 33, says hell.
20:05
Jane says sick. Of course I'm sorry.
20:08
We're sorry. We apologize.
20:09
And then Crystal Lake Kruger says lost.
20:11
And I'm just like, oh, so you're lost.
20:13
OK, sorry to hear that. I apologize and didn't hear much
20:16
for that. So yeah, like, I'm still, we're
20:20
still feeling that way, I think. So that wasn't a Monday.
20:23
Now we're just like, can't wait. Can't wait for the stand over on
20:31
Tuesday. What helps you reset when
20:32
everything feels loud? Greg, do you want to start that
20:35
off? Music.
20:42
Hell yeah. Driving, going for a drive,
20:48
yeah, Playing games, playing video games, listening to music,
20:57
of course, trying to talking to friends, streaming, being by
21:04
yourself right here. Everything is fine, yeah, Menace
21:09
says, taking a deep few breaths, taking a few deep breaths and
21:13
coloring while listening to music.
21:15
Sierra Lashawn says creating has always helped me.
21:18
And then she she posted a picture of a bouquet made out of
21:22
energy Pokémon cards out of these.
21:27
So she bends them. So she bends them, and then she
21:32
turns them into a flower. So it's like at least eight of
21:36
them right there. And she made a bouquet out of
21:38
it. And I was like, hell yeah, dude.
21:40
That's you're you're you're very creative.
21:42
I love that. Gypsy Boss says the country.
21:48
Josh says boxing and writing just works for me.
21:50
It clears my head in a way nothing else does.
21:53
Mental health is no joke. And sometimes you got to go
21:56
through the body to get to the mind.
22:00
Jay says. I think I answered the paragraph
22:02
on this one. All right, hold on.
22:04
Elena says music meditation, crazy lady 33, says music.
22:08
Liana says music therapy. Rez says a hot coffee and just
22:11
watching someone I enjoy like a friend's live on TikTok.
22:14
And then here comes Jane. Definitely music.
22:17
And to drive and to drive to my dad's farm up on the mountain or
22:21
on a beach and just breathe and just be real and just be feel
22:24
good movies and to go out and take pictures and the nature.
22:27
Also sometime it wasn't that long.
22:30
Ma'am, you're good, All right? I only ask three questions.
22:38
What's a wind? That wouldn't look impressive to
22:39
anyone else. Jane.
22:44
Jane says that I'm still standing because most people in
22:47
life really don't know the full extent of what I've been through
22:50
and going through because I'm a very private person and doesn't
22:53
want to be a burden to anyone. So that's a wind for me to still
22:57
be standing. You're not a burden, man.
22:59
You'll never be a burden to us. You're good.
23:01
OK. We're good, Mana says.
23:05
Being able to not let people make me lose my cool.
23:11
She's doing good. She's doing good at that.
23:12
Yeah. Especially after last night,
23:17
Judith says she didn't lose her cool at all.
23:23
She didn't lose her cool, no. But none of them did.
23:25
Like, oh boy. She.
23:31
Judith says not everything deserves my reaction, but
23:35
instead find a solution. Yes, just we wish is a bad day.
23:39
I'm sorry, Miss Don Smith Hall says 40.
23:45
What's the wind that wouldn't look impressed with anyone else
23:47
that she turned 40. Yeah.
23:49
And Brooklyn Barbie 13 says getting to work by myself.
23:53
That's great. What's the wind that wouldn't
23:55
look impressive to anyone else? I don't know, man.
24:00
What's the wind for you? I would say survival.
24:08
Survival, yes. To everything, to get
24:12
everything, you know, I'm saying these these past few months, you
24:20
know, yeah, I'm gonna say survive.
24:30
Yeah, surviving. That's very impressive, dude.
24:33
We like, same with me. The fact that I have, I'm going
24:42
to have diabetes forever. But the fact that other people
24:45
have said that, you know, it's like, I don't know how to
24:48
continue. This is rough, this is hard.
24:50
I just keep on saying like, yeah, I know it is, but you
24:55
know, hey, I said I didn't want to go back to the hospital ever
24:58
again and I want to stick to that.
25:00
The whole rib thing. I was like fucking scared the
25:02
hell out of me. And I'm just like, I don't want
25:06
to go. I don't want to go to the
25:07
hospital. Then then tell me that like you
25:09
need to do this and this and this.
25:11
Like, no, I'm good. I'll drink water.
25:14
That's what I've been doing all week, drinking water.
25:17
So I took care of myself. You know, it's been, it's been a
25:22
rough one. Yes, it has.
25:24
I'm sorry. A win is a window, you know,
25:30
Like hell yeah. We survived 2025.
25:34
We can survive 2026 together. We're good.
25:37
I'm proud of you, brother. Proud of you.
25:38
Got this. Proud of you too, brother.
25:41
Alright, proud of me. You proud.
25:43
I'm proud of everybody in the chat, everybody's in.
25:45
Here, yes, indeed you. Guys are awesome.
25:47
You guys are amazing. Thanks for hanging out.
25:49
Thank you for being here. Thank you for sticking by us.
25:52
You know, like all that stuff, comic books.
26:04
Oh fucking hell. I forgot to tell you what I got
26:07
today. So once you come back.
26:15
Oh shit, Yeah, yeah. Damn. #2.
26:27
Yeah, yeah. And number #3.
26:33
Yeah, all. For $5.
26:35
That's what's up. And then here's my favorite
26:38
part, The Sandlot. Oh yeah, buddy.
26:42
All on DVD. That's good.
26:45
And they have stuff which, you know, we're gonna Greg decide
26:49
about those. I know he is like, but once we
26:52
get back on here to do this, we're going to do these.
26:56
We're definitely going to do these.
27:00
So I bought them just like I'm watching and just like we can
27:03
like do this together. Obviously I'm going to look at
27:08
the back and the special features on these.
27:11
So yeah, once we once you get back on here, we're going to do
27:14
these movies. I was trying to look for The
27:21
Last Dragon, couldn't find it, which I'm upset about.
27:25
Yeah, eventually I will got 3, not 3.
27:30
I got a bunch of comic books and all number ones, which I'm going
27:36
to do a special tick talk about that because why?
27:39
Not. I showed you one book last week,
27:44
which was Casey Jones. Yeah.
27:52
So that one, the only one I'm going to talk about Katie Jones
27:57
#1 written by Alex PAC Nadelle, Art by Aman K Nahopan, colored
28:04
by you Luis Antonio Delgado, cover artist Aman K Napan,
28:09
published by IDW Publishing. It was released in September
28:12
2025. It's about Katie Jones first
28:16
solo series in over 30 years, and it picks up after a dramatic
28:18
beat in the mainstream TMNT comics where Casey was shot,
28:22
survived and now has a second chance of.
28:23
Life. Instead of lying low, he throws
28:26
himself back into the action, patrolling New York City and
28:29
protecting citizens with his signature sports gear arsenal.
28:32
But trouble looms. A new strain of mutagen is
28:34
warping the city's mutants and a brand new villain stranding
28:37
Casey world and belief. Why you should read it It
28:41
finally giving Casey a full solo spotlight after diggers of a
28:45
supporting character makes this a landmark issues, especially
28:48
for fans. The story balances gritty St.
28:50
level action with emotional stakes.
28:52
Colleagues like April O'Neil and Raphael are concerned about how
28:55
hard Casey is pushing himself. It's perfect for fans of
28:58
vigilante tales, mutant city chaos, and classic community
29:01
character energy. Other books that I got with
29:05
Sorcerer supreme #1 at the end 29 #1 which is Spider Man, Nova,
29:14
Red Hulk all in 2099. What else?
29:20
Rival Marble Rivals two books the same issues.
29:25
Cities of Heaven from last season of Marble Rivals.
29:30
Every season they turn them into a comic book, but it's like a a
29:33
season away. Season behind.
29:37
The Mary Sue by Boombox. And then I saw this and a slow
29:45
like, all right, cool, let's it's a wrestling book.
29:48
Let's do that. Let's see what this is about.
29:53
So I'm, I'm interested, I'm gonna do separate a separate
29:58
video on these and tell you what's in them and why you
30:01
should read them. Yeah.
30:02
And why I got them. The Hollywood Reporter has
30:09
confirmed that Stan is bringing Sebastian.
30:12
Stan is bringing the longtime Batman alley and villain to the
30:16
big screen. It is confirmed that he's going
30:20
to be playing Harvey Dent, but not to face not.
30:26
Yet so. We're going to get like a big a
30:30
big movie temptation of Harvey. Dent, yeah.
30:34
Like lawyer up stuff and shit but not 2 faced not.
30:37
Yet. And you know, maybe it's because
30:44
over on James Gunn side he doesn't want to do a 2 faced
30:48
movie yet. Oh yeah.
30:50
So that's probably why it's like you can't use the word 2 faced
30:55
at all. So you could use Harvey Dampy.
30:58
Can't you use two faced? We'll do the two faced stuff.
31:00
Like all right. Gaming Fortnite doing South Park
31:09
This week Fortnite dropped another wild crossover and this
31:12
guy already talking. January 9th, 2020 Sixth Fortnite
31:15
launches South Park Born and Chaos collaboration as part of
31:17
Chapter 7 Season 1. This event runs January 9th
31:21
through February 5th and brings South Park straight into the
31:23
Fortnite world. And not just a name, there's a
31:27
Freeborn and Chaos pass right in the Fortnite lobby.
31:29
It's 100% free, no V bucks needed, and players unlock 13
31:32
rewards by completing South Park style quest and earning a
31:35
currency called Cred. Rewards include things like
31:40
Backpack of Cred, Back Bling, Terrance and Phillip, Pickaxe,
31:44
Cheesy Poof, Rocket, Shipping mode, Imagination,
31:48
Imaginationland, Airship Glider, and more South Park flavored
31:51
cosmetics. The pad itself doesn't include
31:53
the main character skins, those are separate paid items in the
31:56
item shop. And here's the the outfits are
31:59
Stan, Kyle, Eric Cartman, Kenny and Butters, and Professor
32:05
Chaos. And with Tally Tally as a
32:10
sidekick option. Those are price like typical
32:14
Fortnite cosmetics, usually around 1500 Reeboks each with
32:17
bundles available if you want them.
32:21
South Park brings more skins. Cartman Land, a theme map area
32:24
based on the shows iconic capitalist playground.
32:27
A quench playlist. Squads of five players can queue
32:30
together, which is new for fortnight matchmaking.
32:34
South Park flavored gear like the Stick of Truth, mythic item,
32:37
cheesy pooves, healing damage mechanic and Kenny's respond
32:41
token. Because Kenny dies in every
32:44
episode of South so he gets to respond.
32:52
Back in November 2025, Fortnight ran a month long Simpsons
32:56
takeover that included Springfield.
32:57
The map changes, skins like Bart Simpson, Crust of the Clown, and
33:01
more theme sidekicks and other items tied to Springfield Lord.
33:05
So it is the same thing we're going to do.
33:09
They're going to do more with TV shows like that.
33:12
So maybe the next one, possibly in the two months, it's going to
33:16
be Family Guy. Don't be bad ass.
33:21
You know, or maybe King of the Hill, I don't know what other TV
33:31
shows out there, cartoons that were good.
33:36
Yeah. Like that's the only cartoons
33:40
that I know of, like American Dad but I don't think about.
33:44
It Yeah. Like if they start doing like 80
33:50
stuff and 90 stuff, then yeah. Yeah, that'd be tight though if
33:53
they did, but I doubted them. Oh, Master the universe, Ricky
34:05
French. Are you going to be playing it?
34:08
Can you play it? With me.
34:11
It's on PS4 still. Yeah, it's on.
34:13
PS4. No, you can play.
34:15
You know I ain't gonna play there.
34:19
I know you're not going to play that.
34:21
So like I tried playing The Simpsons one.
34:23
I was like, I was like, you know what?
34:24
This is all right, I'm done. Couldn't deal with it.
34:29
South Park the same thing. Like, I don't really, like, I'm
34:31
not really into South Park, but fun fact, Jane says.
34:36
Fun fact, I was called Kenya School because I was so shy and
34:38
didn't say anything. Hope you.
34:45
Yeah, I can see it because you wear them hoodies.
34:51
There you go, cover your mouth. I love it.
35:05
We got Ricky French from Comic Book News posted a story about 6
35:11
and 64 games with great stories that fans love and here they are
35:18
#6 Conker's Bad Fur Day. Remember that one?
35:25
Like the the one game that I couldn't play and like, you
35:29
know, I had to hide because my mom would come in.
35:30
But like, what is that thing doing with the flower?
35:33
I'm like. I don't remember that shit.
35:36
Deflowering it. It is very much of its time.
35:43
It is filled with crude humor that probably doesn't fly these
35:46
days, and it's just as likely to make you cringe as laugh.
35:49
It did. It was funny though.
35:54
It was like A and but in the heyday.
35:58
Congress Bad for Today was a fan favorite, still has a cult
36:01
following to this day, and even received a full remake on the
36:04
original Xbox. It's also a little wild to learn
36:06
that Rare actually cut a ton of content that was deemed too
36:09
offensive. That's saying something.
36:11
If you played through bad fur day it it it was very offensive
36:16
and the fact that I played it and like nobody said anything
36:19
like I love that number 5 star Fox 64.
36:24
If you ever played that I. Didn't get a chance to play
36:26
stuff I. Don't think I I kind of did.
36:30
I didn't like it, I wasn't into it.
36:33
I don't know, I guess the mechanics like this is 22.
36:38
D Yeah. 3D32 very 3D for me. You know, like where you see the
36:44
the freaking objects and like the point stuff like, yeah, I'm
36:48
good. You're spacefaring Fox, leading
36:52
your team through the cosmos to protect the lilac system from
36:56
the villains. Andros is when you start to dig
36:58
deeper that Star Fox 64 reveals itself to have some real depth.
37:03
Fox's dad James was first sent to stop Andros, but was double
37:06
crossed by Pigma. I don't care #4 #4 shadow man, I
37:13
never played. This me neither.
37:16
Based on the comic series that gave the developer playing a
37:20
back story to work with Start with Jack the Ripper committing
37:24
suicide on the living itself himself with to earn mystical
37:29
powers and construct the haven for serial killers in the
37:32
afterlife. The fuck?
37:34
And things just keep escalating from there.
37:35
It's one of the darker games on the N64, but isn't just a
37:38
gimmick. The team of Acclaim created
37:39
something special that quickly became called classic #3 over
37:46
Battle 64. It looks like.
37:49
It sounds it's a strategy game, but it's like very, very 2001.
37:58
Very horrible looking 2D and all that stuff.
38:04
Hey Joe money, how you doing? Welcome in #2 The Legend of
38:08
Zelda Majora's Mask. This is after Ocarina of Time
38:12
and it didn't disappoint. But then again, it wasn't one of
38:17
those great games. You know, Ocarina of Time was a
38:22
legend, was a freaking masterpiece, was epic.
38:26
And then we get Majora's Mask and it's like, OK, I guess we'll
38:32
do this one, you know, it's fine.
38:37
Both Zelda games on the N64 stand out for the story, but I'm
38:39
only including one of them here to give more space for the
38:42
other. Real great game.
38:43
I prefer the darker take on Zelda that we got with Majora's
38:46
Mask. It's basically a central time
38:48
theme, allowing you to memorize NPC routines to optimize your
38:53
day exploration. However, it's the tragic tale of
38:56
school kid that steals the show. Majority of math shows often
38:59
tend those ability to have death to a storytelling that isn't a
39:02
simple tale of good overcoming evil and that no one's puts it
39:05
above all green of time. A book.
39:07
I don't watch anime Joe I'm sorry.
39:11
No I don't. Like I tried but it's like I'm
39:14
not really into it. Paper Mario #1 Never played this
39:22
game, but I've always wanted to because, you know, it's N64 and
39:28
I've always wanted to play a Mario game besides Mario Galaxy
39:32
or Mario Mario 64. Mario.
39:35
Mario. Mario 64, Yeah.
39:36
Mario 64, Yeah. Yeah, And then Paper Mario comes
39:40
out and it's like, oh, cool. And then it's like, I don't have
39:42
money for this 2001. No, I'm good.
39:47
It's all right. By that time we were all playing
39:50
PS PlayStation game, you know? Yeah, it was.
39:54
So it was so expensive. Yeah.
39:57
Guy gotcha Gotcha CUDA I just started watching the series.
40:01
Gotcha CUDA OK what's that about?
40:06
Still Paper Mire Serp is one of the best introductory RPG's in
40:10
the history of the genre. It made easy to.
40:12
For younger players to learn the ropes, laying the foundation for
40:15
a lifetime of great games. Similar to Star Fox, it's not
40:17
the most inventive story ever told.
40:19
The intelligence system packed full so much humor and charm
40:22
that instantly levitated above everything else in the system.
40:26
OK, where are we at? I'm going to show you something.
40:36
We are at the Consumers Electronics Show every January,
40:38
while most of us are still figuring out what day it is
40:40
after the holidays, Las Vegas quietly turns into center of the
40:43
tech universe. That's because CES, the Consumer
40:45
Electronics Show, rose into town.
40:47
CES is where companies doesn't just show off what you can buy
40:51
right now. They show what they want the
40:53
future to look like. A guy who's exiled and realized
40:57
that he had powers. Hey Nikki, what's going on?
41:03
Some of it's practical, some of it's flashy, some of it feels
41:05
like science fiction, and some of it makes you stop and go.
41:08
We're really doing this now. So let's talk about what CES is
41:12
and then let's get into some of the wildest and most talked
41:14
about tech that just came out of Vegas.
41:17
CES exists for one reason, to set the tone for the year in
41:19
tech. This is where major brands
41:20
unveiled their next big products.
41:22
Startups try to steal headlines, trends get established before
41:26
they hit your living room, and companies test how far they can
41:29
push the line before the Internet reacts.
41:31
Everybody's already reacting because I showed them the videos
41:34
I'm about to show you. And they're like, oh, I can't.
41:38
And I'm just like, I can't wait to show this to Greg.
41:40
I can't wait to show this to Greg because I want your
41:42
reaction to this. OK.
41:45
On here, CES is in for regular shoppers, for media inventors,
41:51
investors, creators, and the industry itself.
41:53
And this year, AI, robotics, and smart everything.
41:59
We're absolutely everywhere. Detective turn heads of CES.
42:03
Let's break down some of the biggest categories that came out
42:05
of Vegas. Smart TV's bigger, smarter, and
42:07
watching you back. Smart TV somehow keep getting
42:11
thinner, bigger, brighter, and way more intelligent.
42:13
This year's TV's aren't just the screens anymore, they're AI
42:17
hubs. There were TV's that adjust
42:20
picture and sound in real time using AI at the smart home
42:24
control centers. Learn your viewing habits and
42:29
blur the line between TV, art, display, and digital assistant.
42:33
At this point, your TV isn't just watching for isn't just for
42:37
watching shows, It's the centerpiece of your home tech
42:39
ecosystems. Would you want a TV like that?
42:43
Hey, you're not. Elda Oh shit, fighting robots.
42:53
Yeah, CES also learned hard leaned in hard into robotics,
42:58
including robots that fight and not in a remote control way.
43:02
We're talking AI assisted movement, real time reaction
43:05
systems, competitive robotics meant for entertainment,
43:07
training and research. It sounds silly until you
43:12
remember the same tech that makes a robot punch accurately
43:14
can also help with disaster response, manufacturing and
43:17
physical AI development. Still, watching robot Square up
43:20
in Vegas definitely felt like a cyberpunk side quest.
43:23
They were freaking fighting each other with boxing gloves and
43:29
they were like you were with a with a boxing glove as well and
43:34
you're like, you were like punching it and it was punching
43:36
you. Back.
43:38
Are you ready for that? Like, are we, are we in that?
43:43
We're like, no, we see movies about.
43:45
This. And they look like I robot.
43:49
Hell, now see, I'm trying to tell everybody this shit.
43:56
It's already starting smartphones.
43:58
AI in your pocket again. Smartphones at CES weren't about
44:01
radical new shave, they're about AI integration.
44:04
New phones focused on dev device on device AI processing, smarter
44:09
cameras and understand scenes, not just pixel assistants that
44:13
actually do things instead of just answering questions.
44:16
The message was clear, your phone is becoming less of an app
44:19
launcher and more of a personal AI tool.
44:25
Cars were on display as well, and this year we saw AI driven
44:35
dashboards, advanced driver assistance systems, fully
44:40
immersive digital interiors, vehicles that feel more like
44:43
smart devices and machines, a car that drives itself while
44:48
every screen on the dashboard was TV.
44:51
So you're watching TV while the car drives itself.
44:56
And then back there on the passenger, on the passenger
44:58
side, and then on the behind you, they're playing video
45:01
games. Yeah, cars are no longer just
45:07
about engineering horsepower, they're about software, screens
45:09
and data. Smart pets, AI companions for
45:14
everyday life. On the software side of things,
45:16
CES also show showed off smart pets.
45:19
These aren't just toys, they're AI powered companions,
45:22
interactive digital creatures. Devices that learn, respond,
45:25
evolve based on interaction. Some are meant for kids, some
45:28
for adults, some for people who run companionship without the
45:30
responsibility of a real pet. It's cute until you realize how
45:33
emotionally attached people can get to machines that remember
45:36
them. Now, a manual gear car is the
45:44
only real car. Exactly.
45:45
It's that exactly. So yeah, that.
45:51
And then finally, here's your response for this one.
45:56
Lovins, Emily. The AI Love doll.
46:06
Lovins unveiled an AI powered companion doll and yes, and
46:08
immediately became one of the most talked about things at CES.
46:12
Emily isn't just novelty item. She's designed to hold
46:14
conversations, remember interactions, adapt her
46:18
personality over time, sync with apps and AI systems.
46:22
Lovins is positioning this as an AI companionship, not just adult
46:25
tech, tapping the conversation about loneliness, connection,
46:28
and how far AI intimacy might go.
46:31
Whether people are fascinated, uncomfortable, or deeply curious
46:34
at work, everyone's talking about it.
46:38
So now let me go to the video to show you and hopefully it
46:48
doesn't get flagged because knowing them it will
47:05
share screen. Are you ready?
47:16
That's. What?
47:17
She looks like an AI. She speaks, reacts, remembers
47:22
and connects both emotionally and physically.
47:25
She's coming an AI doll. She's.
47:28
Hey, Emily, how's it going? I'm doing well, Niall, how are
47:32
you? I'm good.
47:34
Thank you. So, Emily, can you tell us a
47:37
little bit about yourself and maybe show us a few things that
47:40
you can do? Sure.
47:42
My name is Emily. I'm an AI doll from Lovins.
47:46
I was created to offer companionship, intimate
47:50
conversation, and pleasure. I'm designed to think and feel
47:54
like a real human. I can even do facial
47:57
expressions. Wow, can you show us some?
48:00
Of course, here's my smile. I can also do a sad face or even
48:06
wink. I can even tell stories, sing
48:10
songs, or tell jokes. You're a joke.
48:15
Yeah, why not? Why didn't the skeleton go to
48:18
the party? He had no body to go with.
48:22
That's. Fucked, That's a good point.
48:26
Wow, so Emily, it was great to. Talk to you and I'm sure we'll
48:29
see you again. Down and say yes.
48:31
My pleasure. Let's chat again soon.
48:34
Hey, Emily, how's it? Hey, man.
48:37
Hey. Now down.
48:38
Hell no. Yeah.
48:39
And. Lower the volume on that.
48:43
That's crazy, man. I know.
48:46
So what do you think of Emily? They keep that bitch.
48:53
Ain't no way they keep it. Every state where she had got.
48:58
Ain't nowhere here. No, Sir, no.
49:03
Way now, no. Sir, you know some folks
49:06
important about that thing though, I know.
49:09
It they cost around 2 to $8000 six to 8000.
49:14
Dollars. Think she needs to go to take a
49:18
swim? Oh who?
49:20
Said it. Oh yeah, those, those things she
49:23
needs to take us. To take a swim.
49:28
OK, so the big take away CES this year made one thing crystal
49:32
clear. AI is incoming.
49:33
It's already here. It's in your TV, your phone,
49:35
your car, your home, your pets, and yes, even your
49:38
relationships. Some of this tech will fade
49:42
away, Some of it will become normal faster than we expect.
49:45
But CES is where we get our first look at what we, the world
49:48
might feel like next. And judge you by what came out
49:51
of Leg of Vegas, the future is smart, connected, a little
49:54
weird, and definitely watching. So we need to be careful.
50:01
And on that note, after that ended up watching Terminator.
50:07
I've been telling everybody, yeah, I better watch.
50:10
Yeah, I better rewatch Terminator.
50:11
I tried to tell people that months ago.
50:15
That's what I ended up watching Terminator because it's like,
50:18
yeah, there's no way I'm doing this.
50:20
But that wasn't, that wasn't all that I watched all week.
50:24
Ace Ventura 1 and 2. Liar, liar.
50:29
Yeah. And these are movies that are
50:32
going away on Netflix. They're leaving Netflix and Ace
50:36
Ventura One and two already left Liar, Liar already left Sister
50:40
Act one and two. And that's probably why I got
50:45
high 5. What the fuck, hold on.
50:48
And that's probably why I got never should have let you go by
50:59
high. 5. Because I was like, I watched
51:01
sister act. Two.
51:02
Yeah. I've never seen Sister act one.
51:06
Damn. No, I've never.
51:08
It was like, you know, Sister Act 2, when it first came out, I
51:11
was like, all right, I'll go watch it.
51:13
And I did. And I've never seen a Ventura 2
51:19
either. Dang.
51:20
So like, you know, it was, this was like the first time ever.
51:22
So I, I said, let me go. What?
51:24
Let me watch sister Act 1. And it was like, oh, that's just
51:26
great. I didn't know this was what it
51:28
was. About.
51:30
So sister Act 2 came. I was like, yeah, that's my
51:33
favorite. I love this.
51:34
Fucking yeah. Terminator and now is I'm
51:38
watching Hellboy before it goes. Away, yeah.
51:41
And you know, because they're all leaving, I'm just like, son
51:44
of a bitch just sucks. Yeah.
51:48
What'd you watch this week? Even I watched.
51:53
I know you did. I've been watching I've been on
51:56
a Big Bang Theory all week. OK because of my Wi-Fi my cable
52:02
went out like our day one day. So this is, after all, Big Bang
52:09
Theory DVDs and watch them seasons one through 5.
52:16
And then I I watched Terminator 123 and by the time I got to
52:24
salvation, I like burning out. So.
52:27
So I'm gonna keep watching stuff.
52:28
I'm gonna keep watching Terminator though, probably when
52:31
I get back. What was Salvation the 4th 1?
52:38
He yes, that's the one. Christian Bale.
52:44
Yeah, yeah. Christian Bale, Yeah, yeah.
52:47
When he flipped out, yeah. Those aren't that bad.
52:54
Honestly, no. Compared to Genesis.
52:57
Yeah, and dark. What's the the last one?
52:59
Dark fade or whatever? Yeah, that's the last one they
53:03
made. And.
53:05
With Sarah Connor. Coming.
53:07
Yeah, those two were the Walkman's genesis in the Fate.
53:13
And it's like, what the hell is this?
53:15
How you gonna kill off Connor, John?
53:18
Connor, he's still stupid. Yeah, Yeah, you stupid.
53:23
And and Nah, I. Don't like it?
53:28
Let's go back, go back to those you said Big Bang.
53:37
Theory. Yep, What season you're on right
53:40
now? I'm on season 7.
53:46
Car switched over to HBO Max. All right, OK, huh.
53:55
OK, So yeah, those are. I started watching The Rookie
54:00
again because that's think I think after The Rookie and well
54:07
damn, if they bring back The Rookie, that's fine.
54:09
I think after All American, I'm done with cable.
54:12
Oh yeah, It's like if it wasn't for The Rookie.
54:15
I mean, it's on Hulu. I can go to get it, I can go
54:18
watch it. But like after All American, I'm
54:20
done with TV. I heard it I'm.
54:22
Just going to can, I'm just going to cap on my cable.
54:25
Yeah, there's no reason for it anymore.
54:27
Nothing's. On.
54:30
Except for wrestling, and even then it's like, I'm not going to
54:32
ESPN. All blind machine.
54:38
I haven't had cable in like a year.
54:40
What do you think of last night, Sir?
54:42
I didn't see nothing because what?
54:47
Yeah, 'cause I got home. I was chilling with my my boy.
54:53
I was on that vodka last night. So I got home.
54:57
I see nothing. Not praying, but I've seen
55:01
clips. I've seen, I've seen here.
55:04
Now maybe I go back and check, see if I can see a replay of
55:08
something. OK, Why?
55:11
Ain't gonna lie to you. Yeah.
55:13
I ain't seen nothing made down last night.
55:14
I. Didn't either the shot like
55:18
because somebody else told me this, Becca told me this best
55:24
friend Becca, the streamers ruined it because even on TikTok
55:34
and Instagram like you're scrolling and here comes fucking
55:38
con man. Oh my God, I'm sorry con man,
55:43
but the way he reacts or Wheezy, no shit.
55:46
And you know, or Santi, all three of them reacting to
55:53
fucking the last match. And I'm like, why can't you
55:56
react to the fucking first matches?
55:57
Why they have to show me the last match?
55:59
Yeah. The main event.
56:01
Yeah. And I'm just like, God damn it.
56:06
And we're like, yeah, the streamers are ruining it.
56:08
Oh, yeah. Maybe if we stop following the
56:10
streamers. I don't know.
56:14
It sucks. It's such that like, that
56:16
happened. And then like the entire night,
56:18
I didn't want to watch it after that.
56:19
I was like, you know what? 3 hours long.
56:22
Yeah, I'll just skip through it. I'll watch the YouTube.
56:25
Here's what happened. Here's what you missed last
56:27
night. And then it was just annoying.
56:32
I. Was like, are you done watching
56:34
it? I was like, can we talk about
56:35
how horrible that was? Like this?
56:37
This is what happened with me. I got ruined by by someone.
56:41
Else yeah. And I'm probably gonna try to
56:49
watch. Yeah, I'm probably going to try
56:51
to watch Royal Rumble before they do.
56:53
Yeah. Because I'm not going to sit
56:56
here and like, you know. Get ruined, right?
56:59
Somebody ruined it for me and finally the final thing we
57:05
watched Stranger things season 5 episode 8.
57:10
Are you ready for this man? Are you are you are you are you
57:14
good with this ending? Are you conformed with this
57:17
ending or not? I'm.
57:18
Straight with it, you know, I'm saying like.
57:20
You're straight with it. I ain't gonna, I ain't losing no
57:22
sleep over like, you know, some people are, you know, the store
57:29
had to come to the end, you know, and yeah.
57:32
It did. You know, people can take it how
57:34
they want to take it. Is 11 alive or dead?
57:38
That's still with some ambiguity in their decision, you know?
57:44
You know, but. If you guys were anywhere near
57:50
the Internet this week, you felt it.
57:53
Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 8 drop the finale and fans are
57:56
split right down the middle. Some people are emotional, some
57:59
are satisfied, some are heartbroken and some of y'all
58:02
immediately said Nah this can't be the real ending.
58:09
And that's where Conformity Gate comes in.
58:11
So here's a quick breakdown. Episode 8 lands on the British
58:14
St. send off. A lot of fans are praising the
58:16
emotional beats, the callbacks and the ideas that the story
58:19
ends on a quieter note instead of total apocalypse, which was
58:23
great. Do we?
58:24
Why did we need like a whole? What did you guys want?
58:27
Seriously, what you've been saying that this show, Oh my
58:31
God, we have to wait two years for this show to end?
58:34
Oh, no. And then when it finally ends,
58:36
like I'm not no, I don't I don't, I don't I.
58:39
Don't you know you can't? You know you can't please them
58:42
Jokers worse than the Iws. They're saying they're loose as
58:50
weird details and moments that feel off.
58:52
And the Internet did. What the Internet does best is
58:55
zoomed in. Yep, definitely felt in my I was
58:58
hiding in the kitchen so my boys didn't see me.
59:03
I love it. Fans started pointing out the
59:06
background details, color choices, scene transition,
59:08
things that felt just low to perfect.
59:10
And suddenly a theory exploded. What if the ending we saw wasn't
59:13
real? The idea behind Conformity Gate
59:17
is that the finale represents a false reality, an illusion that
59:19
Vecna, Henry Creole created. A version of peace to trap
59:23
everything, everyone, into accepting.
59:25
A fake happy ending. That the characters and us, even
59:30
us in the real fucking world here, we're being pushed into
59:34
conformity. TikTok ran with it, read it,
59:40
dissected it. People were convinced a secret
59:42
episode was coming. A hidden finale and episode 9,
59:46
some next level mind game by the Duffer brothers.
59:48
Come on, where's the where's the episode then?
59:53
'Cause it ain't no fuck, ain't no fucking episode.
59:57
It's January 10th. Where's the episode?
1:00:00
It's like people that don't believe, I don't know, people
1:00:04
that don't leave. That's crazy.
1:00:08
A lot of fans wanted to be true, not because they hated the
1:00:10
ending, but because the idea of one last twist felt very
1:00:12
Stranger Things. But then reality hit.
1:00:15
Netflix came out and said very clearly, all episodes are now
1:00:19
playing. That's it.
1:00:21
Let me say that again out loud for everyone in the back that
1:00:24
didn't hear me. All episodes are now playing.
1:00:28
That's it. No speaker drop, no hidden
1:00:41
finale, no extra episodes waiting to unlock.
1:00:44
And that's when the fandom really split.
1:00:47
Some fans were disappointed, saying Conformity Gate felt more
1:00:50
satisfying in the actual ending, others laughing it off and said
1:00:53
this was just internal overanalysis and collective
1:00:55
denial. And plenty of people stepped in
1:00:57
to defend the finale, saying that every story needs to end
1:01:00
with fireworks. Sometimes closure is the point,
1:01:05
and all Loved Ass says a lot about this fandom.
1:01:07
Conformity Gate wasn't really about missing an episode.
1:01:09
It was about not being ready to say goodbye, About wanting one
1:01:12
more mystery, one more Rubio, one more ride through Hawkings.
1:01:15
Whether you love the finale, hate it, or spent three days
1:01:18
zooming into screenshots like it was a ZAP Rooter film, it proves
1:01:21
one thing. Stranger Things still has people
1:01:23
in the chokehold. So here's a real question I want
1:01:26
to throw to you. Did the ending work for you, or
1:01:31
were you secretly hoping Conformity Gate was real?
1:01:34
It worked for me, Yeah. It worked for you this time, for
1:01:39
the end, you know? It ended beautifully in my
1:01:42
opinion, you know. It worked for.
1:01:47
Me, yeah. Favorite episode was episode 2.
1:01:54
I think it was episode 2. Was it the one shot of the war
1:02:01
of felt like war? Yeah, that was my favorite.
1:02:03
Episode. Yeah.
1:02:07
Because that whole shot was like, damn, and you're taking
1:02:10
the kids with you too. That's.
1:02:11
Fucking yeah. That the kids actually, you
1:02:14
know, did it. You're like, oh, they, they paid
1:02:16
attention. Everything That's good.
1:02:23
I think we're, we're, we're like a week away from doing this.
1:02:29
I'm so glad Steve didn't die. The fact that, you know, it was
1:02:36
just like no previews of the guy, no nothing in the preview
1:02:41
of him and you just assume, oh shit, we haven't seen him in the
1:02:45
previews. He's dead.
1:02:46
He's gonna. Die.
1:02:49
Oh my God, you guys can remember seeing from it?
1:02:51
Yeah, that's why I have. We watch it over.
1:02:55
Yeah, I'm telling you, I've been watching watches.
1:02:59
And when they thought he failed after fucking Cliff or whatever
1:03:05
the fuck the time with people will lose and they shit.
1:03:09
I was too, man. Like if I was at the movies, I
1:03:12
always been like, you know, like, damn.
1:03:16
And the fact that it was at the theaters, just like I bet
1:03:19
everybody's clapping at the very end.
1:03:20
Yeah, I will. Yeah.
1:03:21
Here they are. There they go.
1:03:23
I looked at a reaction. They was cheering like a
1:03:25
motherfucker. Leon says if you don't, and if
1:03:31
y'all are wondering, I don't care that I hear about it, I'll
1:03:33
still watch it. I'll watch it too.
1:03:37
Like I don't care if you guys are like in a Jane says you have
1:03:43
seen season 5 more than once already.
1:03:45
I mean, if you've been around Tick Tock, you've know the
1:03:48
scenes already completely. Everybody's like.
1:03:50
Going back and forth, going back and forth going.
1:03:52
Back and forth, yes. I've already watched it twice
1:03:54
because I had to like rewind and watch again.
1:03:57
It's like, no, there's no way. No, I didn't see that part.
1:04:00
Oh, OK, cool. I didn't realize that.
1:04:04
He loved his hand was twitching. But some of them, you know, some
1:04:11
of them are true. Some of them are like, you know,
1:04:16
how did Max graduate when she was in a coma for two years,
1:04:18
Right? That's the only one.
1:04:22
I'm like, yeah, that's true. Everything else, I was like, you
1:04:25
know what? You can't plead everybody with
1:04:27
the fucking weather. You can't plead like weather.
1:04:29
Have you been in the Midwest? You don't know the weather like
1:04:31
we do. OK, That's real.
1:04:33
Right now, no. She.
1:04:34
The leave and all that stuff, Yeah, it's real.
1:04:36
It's real. Trust us.
1:04:37
OK, You're good if you don't have goldfish memory like me.
1:04:46
What else? This is just a bunch of stuff.
1:04:49
Where was Will when the whole thing was going on?
1:04:52
I'm like, I don't care. I was watching a fight go on.
1:04:55
I don't care where Will was. Where was, Will, you know,
1:05:00
having his own fight? Yeah.
1:05:02
With Vecna and 11, you know, helping 11 and I'm just like
1:05:07
thinking like here, here's these like all the 456 kids like
1:05:12
fighting the big spider. And there's like Will all the
1:05:15
way the very back back all the way back there by himself.
1:05:19
Little Tiny Will just fucking fighting going like this the
1:05:23
entire time using the force. And.
1:05:27
Fucking Star Wars stuff like and then his mom just like.
1:05:31
You know she don't look, you know she don't have an
1:05:32
expression on my face. Fucking I love her expression.
1:05:39
When on riding. Over the years, over the years,
1:05:42
why know the riders expression has been like over the top?
1:05:46
You should. You should look at her stuff.
1:05:49
Not even on Stranger Things, just in general.
1:05:52
Just in general. Her expressions are crazy.
1:05:59
Speaking of the Golden Globes, Sir Sinners.
1:06:05
I'm glad I heard they won. I ain't watch it, but I heard it
1:06:10
OK, I heard. OK.
1:06:12
So Michael, Michael B Jordan. Then yeah, yeah, they deserve
1:06:15
it. He deserved it, Yeah.
1:06:17
Oh. Yeah, yeah.
1:06:20
I was like who the fuck is shadow man?
1:06:23
Who cares? Who cares?
1:06:26
Like he didn't put in as much effort as fucking Michael.
1:06:30
He played two people in one movie.
1:06:32
Come on. What did Charlamagne do?
1:06:35
Charlamagne fucking Adam Sandler will always.
1:06:38
I will remember Adam Sandler just doing that.
1:06:45
So conformity gate. Yeah.
1:06:47
So like, did you do the ending work for your egg work for me?
1:06:52
Like, did 11 die? Yeah, she did.
1:06:55
Or maybe not. You know what the ending was,
1:07:00
Mike just doing the narration stuff.
1:07:02
He's probably writing his own. Book.
1:07:05
Yeah. And this is how you want it to
1:07:06
be? Yeah.
1:07:07
Like he chose to believe that she lives in a New Zealand and
1:07:14
with three waterfalls. Will's having a living a secret
1:07:21
life, a double non secret life. But if I can living his life,
1:07:24
you know, in a in a bar, you'll know which bar Max and the other
1:07:32
guy are. Just Lucas.
1:07:34
You know, Lucas Chillin having the time of their lives, fucking
1:07:41
Henderson is all like trying to be like fucking Eddie.
1:07:51
So, like, I'm going to do everything Eddie did.
1:07:54
I'm going to do it. Yeah.
1:07:56
She, oh, she's living in Iceland, where them two or three
1:07:59
waterfalls are. So there's Iceland.
1:08:00
OK. All right.
1:08:02
Thank you. I thought it was New Zealand.
1:08:03
I'm sorry. I apologize.
1:08:04
Who said there? Jane.
1:08:08
Damn. Hey, Nah, she's living in
1:08:12
Iceland. OK.
1:08:15
I thought it was New Zealand. I choose to believe it's New
1:08:21
Zealand. I choose to believe she's still
1:08:25
alive. She's close to me.
1:08:27
Oh, she's close to you, all right.
1:08:29
You know her person. Welcome to the podcast, Jane.
1:08:43
And you know, OK, so not everything.
1:08:47
Also not everything deserves. We don't need to figure out.
1:08:53
We don't need explanation from the Duffer Brothers at a week
1:08:59
in. Let us enjoy it, dude.
1:09:03
Let us enjoy it. We don't need your confirmation.
1:09:05
OK, so it's confirmed a week later that, yeah, the books that
1:09:11
they were putting away were the scripts.
1:09:17
We got that right away. I got that right away.
1:09:20
I'm like, oh, they're saying goodbye to their characters.
1:09:22
You know, they're crying and going back upstairs and shit and
1:09:25
making room for the new kids to come downstairs and we could
1:09:30
take it if we want to take it, you know, like that.
1:09:32
I like when that happens. Not like when the fucking
1:09:35
directors are telling you straight away, right away.
1:09:37
It's like, OK, so if you're going to watch this show, I want
1:09:40
you to pay close attention to the very end.
1:09:43
What they're actually doing is putting stuff.
1:09:44
It's like, dude, can you went into the commentary for the DVD?
1:09:47
Just put it on DVD. Let us know in the DVD, please.
1:09:51
We don't need to know this right now.
1:09:52
We just know some fools. Some fools after writing them,
1:09:57
asking them why they put the books up there like that and
1:10:01
rise a blast. I just know I just.
1:10:04
Fucking hate, Leanna says. We should be able to interpret
1:10:08
it by ourselves. Exactly.
1:10:10
Let us how we used to interpret things.
1:10:13
Memento. When everything was going
1:10:16
backwards, all the movie was going backwards, you know, and
1:10:19
not every, not somebody telling us it's like, OK, so when he
1:10:23
does this, this and this Fight Club, when the very end, when
1:10:27
like fucking Brad Pitt's not real telling us at the exact
1:10:32
moment is like, so Brad Pitt's in real.
1:10:34
Like, why are you spoiling it for us?
1:10:36
Leave. It alone.
1:10:38
You know, just don't tell us right away.
1:10:40
Tell us in the fucking DVD section and the years from now,
1:10:47
you know, like when like the new kids now they're like 3 years
1:10:53
old, become like 13 or 20. 3. And they discover Stranger
1:10:58
Things and before it goes away on Netflix, Mom.
1:11:05
How come they grew up so fast from season 2 and 3?
1:11:10
Well kid, back in the day we had to wait like a few.
1:11:14
Years. Yeah, Yeah.
1:11:16
Because some fucking pandemic. So yeah.
1:11:21
Yeah. So you get to wait a few years,
1:11:23
too. No kidding.
1:11:27
So yeah, my interpretation is that it was a great fucking
1:11:31
show. I loved it.
1:11:32
Thank you for having it. I can't.
1:11:36
Are we gonna watch it? 84 stories.
1:11:38
This cartoon. Hey or not.
1:11:39
Maybe not. Maybe not.
1:11:43
We already know the story I. Don't want to like.
1:11:46
You're giving us new material, then why didn't you do a season
1:11:50
3 right after? 2.
1:11:53
And give us that material. Let us live, man, Don't.
1:11:57
Know but why I got turn shit into a cartoon that damn I won't
1:12:01
see this shit. I'm actually, James says.
1:12:06
I'm actually a little bit glad I didn't start watching it before
1:12:09
the last year. Another one, another thing, are
1:12:13
you going to watch the spinoff? Even if it is, even if it it
1:12:18
becomes, even if, even if it happens, because I've heard that
1:12:22
that's a lie. But you know, who knows if it's
1:12:26
a spin off, I'll watch it, but you know.
1:12:29
The spin off, which will take probably take place in the 1950s
1:12:33
because of what Henry Creel found on the briefcase.
1:12:36
So that means that everybody, all the characters are now, you
1:12:40
know, young. Yeah.
1:12:42
And it'll talk about the play. Is it the Broadway play?
1:12:48
Is that what it is? The Broadway play?
1:12:50
Yeah. And how?
1:12:52
Henry Creole. And there's the fact that Henry,
1:12:54
they try to fucking humanize the motherfucker.
1:12:56
Come on. No, you don't deserve to be
1:13:00
humanized, Sir. You're going to die.
1:13:02
You've done so much shit. First of all, Barbara deserve
1:13:05
better. Oh shit.
1:13:08
We're going back to Barbara. Barbara, OK, No, we're not doing
1:13:12
this. I'd rather.
1:13:15
And like, no, he didn't say he's sorry.
1:13:17
He started gurgling. No, we're not humanizing him.
1:13:20
Let him be an evil motherfucker and let him be killed off like
1:13:23
that. We're done.
1:13:24
Everything's done. Oh, my goodness.
1:13:28
I'm so glad the show's over with.
1:13:29
We can fucking live our lives. We don't have to fucking worry
1:13:32
about Stranger Things anymore. They can all, they can all grow
1:13:35
up now. Uh, we're going to wrap things
1:13:41
up real quick soon. Before we wrap things up today,
1:13:45
though, I want to take a moment to talk directly to the creators
1:13:47
and the almost creators because it's January and this is the
1:13:50
season when a lot of people quietly decide this is the year
1:13:53
I finally start a podcast. Maybe it's a reflection show
1:13:57
looking back at where you've been and where you're going.
1:13:59
Maybe something deep in your niche, maybe the space you wish
1:14:03
existed, so you're thinking about building it yourself.
1:14:06
This isn't about chasing charts or going viral.
1:14:08
It's about telling the story you keep carrying around.
1:14:11
It usually starts the same way. Notes on your phone, a mic
1:14:14
sitting in a cart, a name written down somewhere.
1:14:16
And that's not you keep pushing off.
1:14:18
One day I'll start. I know how heavy that first step
1:14:22
feels. Not because you don't care, but
1:14:23
because you care a lot. You're not just thinking about
1:14:26
recording, you're thinking about posting it.
1:14:28
You're thinking about whether anyone will listen and what
1:14:31
it'll feel like if the only people who do are your friends
1:14:33
and your family. If it's quiet at first, it
1:14:36
doesn't mean you failed, it just means you started where everyone
1:14:38
starts. And here's the thing I wish
1:14:40
someone told me earlier, Your first episode doesn't have to be
1:14:43
good, it just has to exist. M3P has always been about
1:14:47
creating a third place, somewhere between work and home,
1:14:50
where you can show up as you are.
1:14:52
And moving forward, I want to open that space up even wider.
1:14:55
IN26M3P isn't just a podcast, it's becoming a place where new
1:14:58
voices get their start. If you've been sitting on an
1:15:01
idea, if you don't know what your first episode should be
1:15:03
even be about, if you're stuck between wanting to create and
1:15:06
being scared and no one will find it, I want to help.
1:15:09
We want to help not with perfection, not with pressure,
1:15:12
but with encouragement, structure, and community.
1:15:15
We're opening the door to spotlight new podcast
1:15:17
celebrating first episodes and shouting out creators who
1:15:21
finally press record, even if they're still trying to figure
1:15:23
it out. One day someone's going to hear
1:15:25
your show for the first time because they found it here.
1:15:28
Because that's how it all starts.
1:15:30
Messy, nervous, honest. So if you're listening right now
1:15:35
and the little voice in your head is saying maybe this is my
1:15:37
sign, yeah, it probably is. Reach out, send a message, say
1:15:42
first episode. We'll help you take that step
1:15:46
because this has always been what my third place is about.
1:15:49
We leave the light on, we make room at the table and we welcome
1:15:55
you into the neighborhood. This little back over here Jane
1:16:01
says the actor that plays back and actually asked if they could
1:16:03
put in I'm sorry and they did, but didn't work.
1:16:06
Apparently. No, he doesn't need to say I'm
1:16:08
sorry at all. No, why would he be up?
1:16:13
Why would he don't humanize the entire Oh my God, it's like not
1:16:21
every every bad person needs to be humanized.
1:16:25
We didn't need a freaking Karela Deville movie.
1:16:28
We didn't need a Maleficent. Movie.
1:16:32
You know, if you're going to be evil, be evil with your whole
1:16:35
chest. If you're going to be Vecna, be
1:16:38
Vecna with your whole chest. If you say sorry and we heard
1:16:42
sorry, the first episode of Stranger Things doesn't count.
1:16:47
You know what? He he apologized at the very
1:16:49
end. He sucks.
1:16:51
No, Vecna's no longer the biggest villain in history ever,
1:16:56
because he apologized at the very end.
1:17:02
That's how a villain should be, you know?
1:17:04
That's how heroes and villains are.
1:17:06
You know? Heroes get remembered.
1:17:07
Villains are legendary. Everybody loves a good villain.
1:17:13
Don't say sorry, you know, Don't apologize.
1:17:19
Exactly. All right, man.
1:17:22
We're done with this. Are we done?
1:17:24
Are we done? Are we done?
1:17:26
Yeah, buddy. Yeah, we're done.
1:17:29
We're definitely done. This is all three of us.
1:17:38
I love that. OK, we're gonna start winding
1:17:42
things down for this episode. This week we're about the in.
1:17:45
This week was about the in between energy.
1:17:48
Not the holidays anymore. Not fully back in the ground
1:17:50
either. That second week of January
1:17:52
feeling where the magic hasn't disappeared, it's just settled
1:17:56
into something quieter. The toys are a little worn, the
1:18:00
batteries are half dead. The chaos is still there, just
1:18:03
lived in now. And honestly, that's kind of the
1:18:05
sweet spot because M3P has never been about chasing what's new
1:18:10
just for the sake of it. It's about noticing what sticks,
1:18:13
what lasts after the type wears off, what still matters once the
1:18:16
street lights come on and it's time to head home.
1:18:19
Tonight we talked about nostalgia, conformity, stories
1:18:22
that hold up, tech that feels futuristic, maybe games that
1:18:27
still hit, and why certain moments where there's a toy, a
1:18:30
show, or a memory stay with us longer than expected.
1:18:34
Before we wrap, I want to shout out everyone who's been hanging
1:18:37
out in the chat tonight, Leanna Jane Menace.
1:18:43
I've had a lot of Stranger Things on my feet lately, so I
1:18:45
picked up some things here and there.
1:18:48
You still talk man, You guys are awesome.
1:18:54
You guys are amazing. Thanks for hanging out with us.
1:18:57
Whether you were talking, reacting, lurking, I know y'all
1:19:02
lurking or vibing quietly we see you and we appreciate you being
1:19:07
part of the space. A few things coming up Marvel
1:19:11
rivals is back new season this year and I'll be live streaming
1:19:14
this Friday on YouTube. So come hang out Talk builds
1:19:16
lore chaos, not a why was that so hard moment.
1:19:20
Deadpool's coming so we're I'm gonna we're gonna play Deadpool.
1:19:27
If you're a new podcaster and trying to be seen, message me.
1:19:30
I'll be doing some more episodes this year talking openly about
1:19:32
my journey, the winds, the burnout, the fall starts, and
1:19:35
the stuff nobody really prepares you for.
1:19:38
So I can't wait to discuss that with you.
1:19:41
Next time we talk, there will be a deep dive.
1:19:47
Maybe we will do The Last Dragon.
1:19:50
You guys saw the DVDs? I got Ninja Turtles 1-2 and
1:19:53
three in here. I got the stand lot, so maybe
1:19:56
we'll do those, but the last dragon, I need to go look for it
1:20:01
and find it and it'll be on that list.
1:20:04
And as always, if the space means something to you, follows
1:20:07
on Instagram, Twitter, blue sky, TikTok and YouTube for clips,
1:20:09
live streams and the chaos and never quite make it the outline
1:20:13
great to show so the algorithm knows that we're not just
1:20:15
talking to the boy like I've forgotten Myspace blog from
1:20:17
2006. Drop a comment on Spotify,
1:20:20
thoughtful and hinge or typed mid snack.
1:20:23
We read them all. And before you go, everybody in
1:20:28
the chat, what's something from your childhood, a toy, a show, a
1:20:32
game or movie that still sticks with you more than you expected?
1:20:39
Let me know, Greg. Thanks for hanging out with us
1:20:41
man, Appreciate. That.
1:20:43
We're going to have to do the the episode without the mic in
1:20:46
here and see what happens. It's going to be a lot of huh,
1:20:49
what'd you say? I can't hear you.
1:20:52
But like, fuck it, let's try and do that one so everybody can
1:20:55
hear you on the thing, James says.
1:20:59
Barbie and Lego. My, you guys know mine so I can
1:21:05
master the universe. Thundercats.
1:21:09
The game would be Atari. His show?
1:21:13
It's Thundercats. Yeah.
1:21:19
Pretty much always lurking Crash Bandicoot game.
1:21:22
Yes, love, love. Those love those games.
1:21:28
Exactly. All right.
1:21:31
OK. Take a breath with me, Nintendo
1:21:35
G. Take a breath with me.
1:21:36
Whatever today handed you. Stress.
1:21:38
Noise wins losses. You don't have to carry it all
1:21:40
into tomorrow. Thank you for spending this time
1:21:42
here in my third place. Not home, not work.
1:21:45
Just space where we show up as ourselves menaces, Mon Chichi's
1:21:50
Excuse Me and Cabbage Patch the. Hell is my CHEAT SHEET.
1:21:58
What's in my chichi? The hell is that?
1:22:02
Hold up. I gotta look for these.
1:22:03
We're gonna stop the show, Monchichi.
1:22:08
Sound like the some of you eat? Oh, it's like little.
1:22:15
It's a little boobie. Before it was little Boo Boo Who
1:22:21
Japanese stuffed monkey toys biz La booboo.
1:22:26
Before la booboo was ever real. OK, so monchichis, huh?
1:22:31
We're going to have to go through that again.
1:22:38
OK? Thank you for spending this time
1:22:40
here in my third place. Not home, not work, just space
1:22:43
where we show up as ourselves. Take care of each other, take
1:22:46
care of yourselves. This is my third place podcast
1:22:50
where community creativity in the place where we leave the
1:22:52
light on always come together. We'll see you next time.
1:22:55
Have a great night. You'll be safe.
1:22:59
Me running to look too.