#But I'm not going to put any of that in the script

[misslavenderlady]

First off, thank you so much for the tag!!!

Second off, I can definitely see the heart you put into this! The people in this fandom are bursting with creativity and insightful ideas on a movie that came out 35+ years ago and I think that's so beautiful. Our ideas and insights and theories keep it going, which inspires even more people. I'm really proud of you for doing this.

I'll add some thoughts too, but please know I'm not trying to steal your thunder! You've just really inspired me 💜

Let me just say I do like Star. She was in no way written perfectly, but I chalk that up to limitations with movie time and the shit-ton of changes they made and stuff the cut out. That's definitely not her fault, nor is it that of her actress. In fact, Jami Gertz did fantastic with what few bits she was given to work with.

It's kind of interesting because she's both a very positive character for the era she comes from, but she's also limited by it too. Unlike a lot of the other female characters of the 80s, she's not a victim of any gender-related mistreatment. She's not harassed, assaulted or r*ped. It isn't even brought up. It's really not good that such a simple thing is considered progressive for a movie of that time, but it's still a nice palette cleanser after seeing so many gross characters look up skirts or try to grope some poor girls.

Yes, you do see that shrinking violet personality come in when David reels her in, but she isn't treated like an object for their desires. Honestly, I actually think her romance with Michael is very sweet. It may be brief and very sudden, but the passion Jami and Jason had going on irl definitely shows on camera. They're just very shy and cute and honestly, I find their sex scene to be one of the better ones I've seen in movies. I think I like their relationship because it plays on one of the few characteristics we see for her. She just wants to be normal again. She wants to be a girl in love with a sweet boy. The feelings she has for Michael are very real, and it's to a point where she trusts him to save her and Laddie.

Another thing I see in her is a sense of bravery that I don't think even she realizes she has. She's willing to warn Michael about the risk of the blood even at the consequences of David being mad at her, she sneaks away from the boys so she can talk to Michael and ask for help (that's no small task for anyone getting out of an abusive relationship), she insists that Laddie be saved first, even if Michael only has the strength to get one of them out, she gets in the faces of two vampire hunters and screams at them to protect Laddie from harm (seriously, she could have been killed), and she picks up a weapon to fight Max when she learns who he is.

It really is a shame that we don't see the Star we see in the book and certain cuts from the script. There's just so much more to her. She's a kind, playful spirit who keeps hope going strong. She encourages Laddie to hold on to his human memories, she adores Paul as her companion and a kindred spirit who understands her loneliness, and in a version of the script, she helps Michael get the killing blow in.

I know deep down she was only meant to be the love interest, but I see a spark in her that could have been more. And honestly? This movie would have been a bit more empty without her. When it comes to Michael, she's the shoulder angel to David's shoulder devil. The two of them in a quiet battle to get Michael to turn to their own side.

They could never make me hate you, queen 😩💜

Building a Better Star (aka, the Star Essay)

I like Star. I’m getting that shit out of the way right here at the beginning, just in case. I like Star, I like what she is, I think she deserves better writing. 

Also - these are my takes. These takes may not be your takes. We can have different takes.

Okay? Okay. Let’s go. 

For the purposes of this analysis and suggestion, I’m only going to be going off of movie canon Star, rather than book canon Star, because while they’re basically the same, there are a few background elements in the book that expand  on Star’s internal thoughts and relationships with the boys that you could only get from exposition in the book, and that’s not as available a source as the movie, so. 

Since I’m either posting this on tumblr for the four people who will read it, or filming myself talking about this like a normal person with normal hobbies, I won’t explain who canonically she is because that’s unnecessary for this audience of me and a discord server, but rather who she is as a character as presented.

The thing about The Lost Boys is that it exists as a double edged sword of characterization for all its characters. They’re all incredibly simple, and in that white space that’s left behind where deeper characterization would be put in other movies, here there’s just a void, leaving the audience to fill in the gaps however they see fit with whatever they can glean from the surrounding world. 

The vampires are the prime example of this - of all the characters, they get the least amount of dialogue and have the most void to fill in who they are as characters. Star is the runner up, having more character, but the same amount of void in her backstory. 

So who is Star? 

Star is The Girl of the group, a trope wherein you have a group of characters who make up the core of your main cast and usually they’re all male, with one or occasionally two exceptions being girls - if it’s two, one will be the ‘nerdy’ or otherwise ‘not strictly desirable by main male cast’ role, and the other will be The Girl, who is almost always the love interest of the main male, who, even though she’s more of a main character then the secondary girl, typically does less than them. As presented, Star fits this trope easily, as well as filling out the subtropes that it consists of. 

She’s soft-spoken, pretty, demure, stays out of most of the fights in the story, offers the protagonist advice but never tells him directly how to face the conflict of the story, offers support but never directly physically supports the protagonist. She’s an inciting incident all to herself, but never actually drives the plot forward except to be a shining prize on the mountaintop of the narrative that the protagonist must climb in order to claim. 

After being in the Lost Boys fandom for about two and a half-ish years now, there are some take-aways specific to Star that the fandom tends to play on the most. 

And I want to add in here, I do not have a problem with these traits being assigned to her. Star, like the rest of the cast, is a very malleable character. The void around her is just as vast as the other vampires, and this is fandom - we play with blorbos from our media like dolls. This entire thing is purely based on what I personally would like to see Star become, and since I’m a freak, I don’t just write fanfic, I also do this. Apparently. So take everything I’m saying with a giant grain of salt.

The traits that I most see attributed to Star are:

-She’s a shrinking violet, either unwilling or unable to interact directly with the conflict of the story

-She’s being held against her will to the point that leaving in any capacity is not only not an option, but would lead to physical harm/possibly death if she tried (ie, she’s an abused captive) 

-She cannot be held responsible for any bad decisions she’s made in the past or makes in the current story, or any bad turns the plot takes 

The first assertion is held up pretty well by the canon of the movie, and most of the fandom also agrees that it would have been nice if the movie actually did make Star a little less soft. There have been several outcries for Star to ‘vamp out’ like the Boys did, to at the very least give her a scary vampire face! Her tiny confrontation with Max at the end of the movie would have been a perfect space for that, but unfortunately, the movie has 80s-itis and being the female love interest and a victim in the plot, Star isn’t allowed to be aggressive in such a blatant manner. 

Star also hangs back whenever the Boys have presence on the screen. She’s never in the forefront, sharing the space, she’s in the background, watching them, only observing. The one time she directly contradicts them, ‘Leave him alone’ she’s told straight up to ‘chill out, girl’, and she doesn’t continue the conflict. When she does decide to try and be more forward with Michael, directly affecting things, she waits until there is no other persons of consequence around in order to do so. 

The second assertion of her being held against her will is a little trickier to pin down as a trait, but evidence of this is implied with how she contributes to the narrative - mainly, in asking Michael directly to save Laddie and her from the Boys, or at the very least, the situation she’s in. Though, it should be noted, that Star never makes a direct statement of what that situation is. She hedges that it’s being being driven to kill to sate the vampiric nature, but when taking scenes like David simply saying her name to get her to come to him, being told indirectly to back off when the Boys are hazing Michael, and backing away in a fearful manner when Michael is drinking the blood wine into consideration, there’s the darker notion that she’s being abused in other ways. 

Because the movie is meant to be a lighter flick, full of scary-yet-alluring vampire punk boys and over the top monster-hunting gore, billing it as a ‘horror-comedy’ excludes any deeper exploration or more explicit on-screen showing of verbal, emotional, or physical harm that Star may be experiencing. Doing so would take away from the fantastical and darkly whimsical nature of the story, grounding it too much, and making the Boys, though they be villains, into villains we wouldn’t love to hate.

Thus, the darker implications of what Star might be facing behind the scenes, when Michael isn’t around and before he came along, is left to the audience’s interpretation, as well as any ability Star has to struggle against them. The fandom frequently interprets as none, thanks to the plot of the movie being what it is. 

The third major assertion that the fandom tends to adopt is that Star is largely if not completely irresponsible for the missteps of other characters and for her own predicament. 

This given trait is the most difficult to back up with evidence directly from the canon as it relies heavily on filling in the blank spaces of Star and the other character’s backstories. Star is not responsible for Michael spotting her in the crowd at the concert or deciding to follow after her. Star technically didn’t tell Michael to accept David’s goading to race. Star told Michael she both didn’t know how to help him, and couldn’t explain it. Star is not responsible for Michael’s induction into the Boy’s gang because, well, she told him what he was drinking was blood. Star never directly acts to drive the plot forward until the beginning of the third act when she does admit to Michael that she needs his help, thus, cannot be held responsible even in part to Michael’s involvement. 

Lack or acceptance of Star’s responsibility for her own inability to leave the Boys is even harder to pin down, as we have no movie canon for what her life was like before meeting the Boys. The implication from the world around them is that Star is a runaway kid like many of the people seen in the opening sweep of Santa Carla, likely from a crappy home and was taken in by the Boys but soon got in over her head, but this is never directly confirmed. 

The idea that Star made a bad choice, and was not just manipulated and coerced after the ‘honeymoon’ period with the Boys is somewhat controversial as it paints Star in a less favorable light. She isn’t an innocent victim, but rather someone who made a bad call and refuses to acknowledge her own agency in that decision, instead placing any and all blame on the Boys. 

‘But what if she’s tried that already?’ Unfortunately, that lies entirely in the realm of off-screen possibilities that are not support by any canon. Star in the movie is never shown or implied to have tried escaping before, and in the book she merely has internal monologues about wanting to leave, not that she’s ever attempted it. 

Giving Star any one of these traits on their own isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Star is very much helpless in this situation - she’s in a den of immortal man-eating monsters while only being barely half of one herself, and refusing to take the option that would grant her more physical power to assert control in the situation, because the act required would be a shattering of her moral compass. Regardless of her involvement in how she got here, she deserves to be able to leave and make better choices. 

But giving Star all of these traits at once with nothing else to her flattens her completely. It does her, in my opinion, an incredible amount of injustice to absolve her of any kind of responsibility in her own problems and then rob her of any bravery to take a risk and change it herself.

And that’s not a good character. 

In order to build a better Star, we need to first accept a truth that might be a slightly hard pill to swallow: 

A good Star is not necessarily a protagonist. 

At least, not in the same way that Michael or Sam can be. Michael and Sam are protagonists in that they’re the heroes of the story. They face the main conflict head on and drive the plot forward with their actions, and are who we’re rooting for to win. We see them and their actions as ‘good’. They are absolved by the framing of blame in what is done to them. (Michael in getting in over his head with the Boys by ignoring the reservations and loose warnings of others, and Sam of murder with the fact that the Boys are man-eating monsters bent on getting back at them when one of their own is killed.)

If you make Star a protagonist in the same way, with her needing to be framed as ‘good’ in the story, but only keeping the character traits previously listed, then she’s a boring character. She becomes only nebulously ‘good’ just by virtue of not technically having done anything that could be considered ‘bad.’ Being counted as a heroine only by default. 

And that sucks. That puts her simultaneously on a pedestal where she can do no wrong, but is an empty shell that’s there to smile or cry and do nothing else. 

Often, when talking about female protagonists, antagonists, anti-heros and characters with grey morality or amorality, the added layer of them being women forces ten times the scrutiny on not just how they’re built as a character, but on their creators and why they’re choosing to build the character in the way they are. Any mistakes plot-pushing decisions made by the character aren’t as likely to be accepted as just the character acting in the story, but get traced back to the author. The audience constantly asks the question, ‘if it was a male character, would there be consequences for this act, or are you treating this character special because they’re a woman?’ 

In this case, it’s ‘Michael also fucks up, and yet is treated as a victim, deserving of sympathy and being saved by his brother rather than having to fight all on his own. Their situations are the same. Why not Star? The only difference between them is gender.’ 

This essay is not about whether or not Star is deserving of being saved, nor is it saying that she deserves being trapped in the situation that she’s in. But much like how Star reminds Michael that she did indeed tell him that it was blood in the bottle and he scoffed at her, Star deserves not to be a lifeless doll being acted upon, and a good female character deserves to not be a pretty, perfect Barbie doll that does no wrong and always looks pretty. 

So with the knowledge that a better Star cannot be purely a protagonist, how do we lower her from the boring pedestal? 

My suggestion: by inverting her three main traits

The first: If she’s billed as meek and demure and soft, then make her more aggressive and vulgar 

The second: If she seems to be kept at silent gunpoint, then give her more freedom to act

The third: Make her at least partly responsible for her own situation, regardless of whether or not she thinks she is 

The first revised trait is the most important in my opinion to building a better Star, as it will help direct and reinforce the second two. 

A large part of Star’s lack of presence in the movie is quite literally, a lack of physical presence. Star seems to hate even being near the vampires, and depending on what kind of story you wish to show her in, it could make sense. But chances are, if she’s given the shrinking violet trait, she’s been given the other two as well, and that makes a bad Star. She must be allowed to speak, and more than that - she must be allowed to show emotion. 

Let Star be angry. Let her be hurt in a way that’s not beautiful and languorous, a wilting agony of suffering in silence. And I’ll say it: Let Star say the Fuck word. As silly and simple as it may seem, such a small detail can transform a character. Star deserves to be as rough-edged and imperfect in her words and attitude as any of the rest of the Boys, possibly more if she’s in a situation that she hates! If she had the bravery to run away from home, then she should be afforded the bravery to be more than a pretty, silent, pure woman who doesn’t know what a cigarette is. 

The second revised trait is going to be the most fluid in interpretation because it relies the most on the author or artist or fan’s personal interpretation of what the relationship between Star and the Boys is really like. 

In the movie, Star seems to move with the Boys. She’s usually near them enough that they can keep an eye on her, as we see with David watching Star talking to Michael before the beach race. The only times we see Star distance herself physically is right after the bonfire, where she comes to the Emerson cabin to convince Michael to save her, or when she and Michael have sex. The first time, she seems desperate, like she may not have much time, and the second, she’s been left there on her own while the Boys go out and cavort, likely with the implication that she should stay where they can find her when they get back. 

Again, this is the trait that can be toyed with the most, but a good way to combat the feeling that she’s being held against her will is to give the notion that there are parts of being around the vampires that she likes. There are tiny hints of this in the movie, and the book expands on this. In the movie, there’s a moment during the race where Star seems to be enjoying herself while riding with David - at the very least, she’s enjoying the speed and thrill, if not the person she’s with. In the book, Star and Paul have the best relationship of any of the boys, with Paul trying to cheer her up and promising a ‘happily ever after’. To keep it from feeling like a full captive situation, give Star a reason to feel a bit conflicted over the pack. She’s there in the first place, after all. 

The third revised trait is going to be the most controversial, as it’s a hard thing to admit when people in real life do it. 

Admitting that sometimes, the problems we find ourselves dealing with, are our own fault. We make a bad call, we make a poorly informed decision or decide in the heat of the moment. Sometimes, we are lied to, but the lie is flimsy and we chose to swallow it because it’s what we wanted to hear at the time. I like to ask authors writing villains this - what’s worse and more compelling; a villain who lies, or a villain who tells the protagonist a truth they don’t want to hear? 

And, as backwards as it sounds, making Star partially responsible for her situation is giving her more agency in her story. It gives her a reasonable character flaw that she has to confront and defeat. 

Here is where I’m going to throw in an interesting observation about a specific scene that I think helps lend itself to this particular revised trait: the scene where she asks Michael for help directly. In canon, the scene goes about like this - Star comes to the cabin, Michael tells her that he knows about the vampires, and when he expresses that he thinks it’s basically done for him, Star tells him that it’s not, he’s not fully gone, and that she needs his help to save all three of them. Now, there’s something really, really interesting to me about this scene: Star is NOT a reliable narrator during it. At all. 

To say that she’s lying outright about everything would be untrue, but when you examine it, you realize that she’s being untruthful all the same. When Michael gets upset, accusing her of not caring about him because in his eyes she let this happen, she says that she DOES care about him, using physical touch to reinforce this. When she’s soundly rejected, by Michel slapping her hand away and demanding to know why she REALLY came, she very reluctantly tells him that she was hoping he’d help them. It’s her last answer, the last thing she wanted to say. Obviously hoping that the emotions would be enough to persuade him, rather than just saying that she needed help outright, which would be easier to say no to. 

Secondly, the WHY. Star states that Michael was ‘supposed to be her first, because it’s what David wanted’. When watching the scene, the delivery, the body language, and given the full context of the plot and how we’ve seen Star behave? We can only come to the conclusion that Star. Doesn’t. Know. That. 

Max’s ultimate goal is to get Lucy, and to get Lucy, he needs Michael and Sam to be on board, or at least BE vampires. Killing one of her children would hardly serve that goal. Given the ending fight, Max doesn’t give a dead rat’s ass about Star. And Star? She doesn’t even know Max exists. David telling Star to kill Michael to turn her into a vampire is not only pointless, but going expressly against Max’s wishes. We don’t know how much of Max’s plan David and the Boys know about, or given their personalities and implied relationship with him, even care about, but defying him in this instance doesn’t seem like the smartest thing to do. 

Not to mention - Star does like Michael. She hugs him at the end, she does give him a warning about the blood, albeit a weak one. She does attempt to fight Max in the end, even if she fails. As for her thoughts on David, those are more complicated. Whether the relationship is real, coerced, that she’s simply a pawn being used to tug Michael around or whether she and David did like each other at one time, is unknown, but it is clear that Star knows that David is interested in Michael, and doesn’t like it. So it would then be logical to assume, given this, that Star would assume, based on what she knows and has been able to observe, that she’d pain David in a worse light. Insinuating that it’s HIM who’s pulling the string, assuming what he wants and what his intentions are, even if she DOESN’T. KNOW. 

All this to conclude: Star is an unreliable narrator taking actions based on her own flawed assumptions. Which means she’s going to make mistakes, and miscalculate her position. She’s going to cast herself in a certain light, and like anyone, maybe not want to admit when that light is suddenly not a reflection of her best. 

So, how do I conclude this. 

Star is an interesting character, and I do enjoy her. If you managed to sit through this to get to here, and if there’s anything to take away from this, it’s that I enjoy Star and I want her to be a better…her. She deserves to cuss and spit, she deserves to be angry and sad at her predicament, she deserves to be loved as a whole person and not some untouchable angel. Let her fight. Let her bite. Let her bleed for her freedom and personhood.

Most importantly, if you allow the Boys room to be more than they are presented as on screen, then you can afford to give that to Star. 

Thank you for reading, if you did. 

@misslavenderlady (I almost forgot!)

[truly-sincerely]

One of the things I'm changing in Snakehead is how Alex gets involved.

In the book he sort of just happens to be in the area (after falling out of space off the Western coast of Australia) and the Australian Secret Service are like "hey that's a freebie, let's make him do a job for us even tho we have doubts about his credentials" and then whoops, there's an international incident happening in the area.

So what I'm gonna do is have Alex and the gang on vacation in Singapore because Kyra has turned 18, and is no longer technically a ward of the state but still too young to inherit her family's fortune. She can now hire a lawyer who can make sure her shit stays in escrow for her to inherit when she's 21. Or whatever, I'll figure out the legalese for Jack Starbright to pull out later.

Anyway, the fact that Alex is in Singapore right when SCORPIA is transporting a bomb thru Indonesia has SCORPIA convinced that he's onto them, so they arrange for Ash to keep him busy which ironically puts him onto them.

There's a meeting in the book after Alex (allegedly) destroys a building where SCORPIA exec Zeljan Kurst meets with Major Winston Yu in London to tell him to stop playing with his food and Yu declines to stop playing with his food. I'm putting the meeting at the top of ep2 before Alex does or does not destroy anything and it's gonna go something like this:

KURST: Regarding the Alex Rider situation.  YU: Alex Rider won't be a problem. KURST: You understand that he was involved in the failure of our last three operations? And now he's in Singapore. I do not believe in coincidences. YU: He is not, in fact, in Singapore. He is well on his way to Bangkok by now. And I'm telling you, he won't be a problem. I've got Laertes on it. My best agent. KURST: I believe this warrants additional resources. Our reputation is at stake. Send [code name, code name] or Cossack. Cossack worked on the operations that Rider thwarted. He would have a personal motivation.  YU: (scoffing) Cossack was Julia Rothman's agent, not mine. Let's not mix our peas and carrots. Laertes can handle this on his own. Besides, Cossack doesn't do personal motivation. [Cut to: Yassen listening in with a bug on the table]

Horowitz introduced the concept of code names by telling us that John Rider was called Hunter and Yassen Gregorovich is Cossack and then as far as I can tell, never brought up the concept of code names ever again.

In the book, Yu says he's got someone pulling Alex's strings but refuses to tell Kurst who--when the opportunity to give Ash a code name is right there so I'm correcting this. Now Yassen will have a code name to give to Alex and Kyra for who is coming after them.

I'm still trying to decide if I should spell out why Laertes is a particularly apt and also kind of cruel name to have given Ash, or if I should just leave it on the table for the Shakespeare/Alex Rider crossover fandom to analyze.

[quicksilversnails]

To my knowledge there hasn't been any thorough documentation of Slay the Princess' script/internal logic, which is a shame, because that would make tracking down specific lines/interactions a lot easier.

There's a few good reasons why this hasn't been done yet. Even if you decompile the game and open the various script files, all the dialogue is mixed in with the rest of the code, and organizing all the branching paths and dialogue variants is tricky…. but tbh I think it's doable?

So to demonstrate the concept, here's the script for the entire Wraith route. I chose Wraith because it's not too long or complicated of a chapter to begin with, but also has multiple voice combinations, and multiple ways to enter the route, so I could figure out how best to represent those variations (and also because I like her)

I generally kept the logical structure of the code while translating as much of the syntax as possible to be clear for a reader with no experience in reading/writing code. I also kept achievement/gallery unlocks as well as some cut lines of dialogue in there (pretty sure these got removed in the pacing patches made ~December 2023) because I thought ppl might find them interesting!

[bigbuffelves]

I hate to say it but I'm definitely not recruiting Astarion in future playthroughs. I like his character well enough but the amount of screentime he takes up compared to everyone else is really frustrating. I barely take him out of camp, have only got approval from the camp scenes, aren't romancing him, and the game still demands I talk to him constantly

and the thing is most of the time he's just repeating himself in different ways. yeah that's great for Astarion fans who want to hear him talk, but I'm sick of listening to the same talking points over and over because he told me this stuff already??

meanwhile the character I do take everywhere and do try to hoard approval of, has had like two scenes :///

I think people only call this game a masterpiece because they like Astarion. if you attach to any other characters your experience is very different, and also quite unsatisfying

[sherlock-is-ace]

.

[cosmic-kinglet]

Having my brain flooded with things that will bog down progression and, based on trends in engagement, would likely only be enjoyed by myself and a small portion of readers, despite being the sort of thing that stood at the base of the original fic

[majorbaby]

hrm

[anhydriite]

[stoneheart-paramour]

scribbling over a photo to get basic ideas down. the express of the sskies doesn't resemble the hsr version this closely, but i find this helpful just to feel out where the major components are gonna be located. i forgot to label all the pipes sticking out the side as "EXHAUST"... they'd be for venting the heat generated by the weapons firing

the Express has an impressive three sets of armaments, each of a different type. the Primary Armaments are the most heavy duty, firing extremely powerful ordinance at the cost of excessive heat generation. the Secondary Armaments are also considered "heavy" armaments, but they fire explosive pellets with a reduced range and medium heat generation. the Tertiary Armaments are the weakest, though they boast a high fire rate and low heat generation

standard operation requires a team of three gunners, either in the Bridge or the Gunnery deck, but the armaments can be operated by the pilot if necessary. it is only necessary for crew to operate on the Gunnery Deck if some component of the remote operation or auto-loading of the weapons breaks down. the three sets are not intended to be used concurrently due to the risk of overheating the engine

the Express also has side oriented thrusters for lateral movement, but this is only possible when no cars are hooked up to the engine. sideways dodging was deemed "impractical" during testing. when even a single car is hooked up to the engine, the side thrusters are physically disconnected from the engine to prevent accidental activation by the pilot

[ghostoffuturespast]

Sarah Akinterinwa

[ktempestbradford]

I have been on a Willy Wonkified journey today and I need y'all to come with me

It started so innocently. Scrolling Google News I come across this article on Ars Technica:

At first glance I thought what happened was parents saw AI-generated images of an event their kids were at and became concerned, then realized it was fake. The reality? Oh so much better.

On Saturday, event organizers shut down a Glasgow-based "Willy's Chocolate Experience" after customers complained that the unofficial Wonka-inspired event, which took place in a sparsely decorated venue, did not match the lush AI-generated images listed on its official website.... According to Sky News, police were called to the event, and "advice was given."

Thing is, the people who paid to go were obviously not expecting exactly this:

But I can see how they'd be a bit pissed upon arriving to this:

It gets worse.

"Tempest, how could it possibly--"

source of this video that also includes this charming description:

Made up a villain called The Unknown — 'an evil chocolate maker who lives in the walls'

There is already a meme.

Oh yes, the Wish.com Oompa Loompa:

Who has already done an interview!

As bad (and hilarious) as this all is, I got curious about the company that put on this event. Did they somehow overreach? Did the actors they hired back out at the last minute? (Or after they saw the script...) Oddly enough, it doesn't seem so!

Given what I found when poking around I'm legit surprised there was an event at all. Cuz this outfit seems to be 100% a scam.

The website for this specific event is here and it has many AI generated images on it, as stated. I don't think anyone who bought tickets looked very closely at these images, otherwise they might have been concerned about how much Catgacating their children would be exposed to.

Yes, Catgacating. You know, CATgacating!

I personally don't think anyone should serve exarserdray flavored lollipops in public spaces given how many people are allergic to it. And the sweet teats might not have been age appropriate.

Though the Twilight Tunnel looks pretty cool:

I'm not sure that Dim Tight Twdrding is safe. I've also been warned that Vivue Sounds are in that weird frequency range that makes you poop your pants upon hearing them.

Yes, Virginia, these folks used an AI image generator for everything on the website and used Chat GPT for some of the text! From the FAQ:

Q: I cannot go on the available days. Will you have more dates in the future? A: Should there be capacity when you arrive, then you will be able to enter without any problems. In the event that this is not the case, we may ask you to wait a bit.

Fear not, for this question is asked again a few lines down and the answer makes more sense.

Curious about the events company behind this disaster, I took myself over to the homepage of House of Illuminati and I was not disappointed.

I would 100% trust these people to plan my wedding.

This abomination of a website is a badly edited WordPress blog filled with AI art and just enough blog posts to make the casual viewer think that it's a legit business for about 0.0004 seconds.

Their attention to detail is stunning, from how they left up the default first post every WP blog gets to how they didn't bother changing the name on several images, thus revealing where they came from. Like this one:

With the lovely and compact filename "DALL·E-2024-01-30-09.50.54-Imagine-a-scene-where-fantasy-and-reality-merge-seamlessly.-In-the-foreground-a-grand-interactive-gala-is-taking-place-filled-with-elegant-guests-i.png"

"Concept.png" came from the same AI generator that gets text almost, but not quiiiiiite right:

There are a suspicious number of .webp images in the uploads, which makes me think they either stole them from other sites where AI "art" was uploaded or they didn't want to pay for the hi-res versions of some and just grabbed the preview image.

The real fun came when I noticed this filename: Before-and-After-Eventologists-Transformation-Edgbaston-Cricket-Ground-1024x1024-1.jpg and decided to do a Google image search. Friends, you will be shocked to hear that the image in question, found on this post touting how they can transform a boring warehouse into a fun event space, was stolen from this actual event planner.

Even better, this weirdly grainy image?

From a post that claims to be about the preparations for a "Willy Wonka" experience (we'll get to this in a minute), is not only NOT an actual image of anyone preparing anything for Illuminati's event, it is stolen from a YouTube thumbnail that's been chopped to remove the name of the company that actually made this. Here's the video.

If you actually read the blog posts they're all copypasta or some AI generated crap. To the point where this seems like not a real business at all. There's very specific business information at the bottom, but nothing else seems real.

As I said, I'm kinda surprised they put on an event at all. This has, "And then they ran off with all our money!" written all over it. I'm perplexed.

And also wondering when the copyright lawyers are gonna start calling, because...

This post explicitly says they're putting together a "Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory Experience" complete with golden tickets.

Somewhere along the line someone must have wised up, because the actual event was called "Willys Chocolate Experience" (note the lack of apostrophe) and the script they handed to the actors about 10 minutes before they were supposed to "perform" was about a "Willy McDuff" and his chocolate factory.

As I was going through this madness with friends in a chat, one pointed out that it took very little prompting to get the free Chat GPT to spit out an event description and such very similar to all this while avoiding copyrighted phrases. But he couldn't figure out where the McDuff came from since it wasn't the type of thing GPT would usually spit out...

Until he altered the prompt to include it would be happening in Glasgow, Scotland.

You cannot make this stuff up.

But truly, honestly, I do not even understand why they didn't take the money and run. Clearly this was all set up to be a scam. A lazy, AI generated scam.

Everything from the website to the event images to the copy to the "script" to the names of things was either stolen or AI generated (aka stolen). Hell, I'd be looking for some poor Japanese visitor wandering the streets of Glasgow, confused, after being jacked for his mascot costume.

HE LIVES IN THE WALLS, Y'ALL.

[pankiepoo]

idfk what im doing. thank u @fansblogs for helping with some dialogue editing

Transcript v

Suitcase: Fan?

Fan: Oh- H-Hey Suitcase!

Fan: So- how's it feel to be the season 2 winner, huh?

Suitcase: Heh, it feels… strange- yet… nice. But- are you alright?

Fan: Oh, I'm fine… all fine… except the fact that I'm- y'know, not real! Hah… I just… can't help thinking- was I just made to like the show? How am I even supposed to process that! I'm not sure how I didn't even notice- and I was… well- made to pay attention to the show… or so I thought.

Fan: Just- just look! Ha-ha, oh- an actual fan is ALSO a fan of the show! I mean- my- my first appearance was…. just a little gag. From how they(the viewers) viewed us- to what everyone else was made for- I had been right- we all were just some characters! Just… scripted, and, well- fake. But- but with this whole… "what's real" question, uh… you… did put on a very good speech.

Fan: I dunno. I just- well. I tried to keep the show from being practically- uh… everything? But, I still…

Suitcase: It's... still very important to you. I get that.

Fan: I- ...yeah.

Fan: Even if I know there's more... I'm still kind of- well... I'm still the biggest fan, right? Like- go ask Marshmallow and she's completely cutting ties with it! But- I can't give up the show like that. Would that be fake? To keep that purpose...?

Suitcase: Well... you've put a lot of time and effort into the show, and you still do.

Fan: O-Of course I do! I just- I don't know if that's just... some reflection of MePhone- a-and, y'know, as the #1 fan, that should be a dream come true, right? But- it's kind of... taking away any individuality to the point where I'm- I'm apparently just-

Fan: ...Something to be projected onto- like the egg... gosh, that's really making it hurt.

Suitcase: Even then- you've still built around that. You're more than that.

Fan: I- I know! But- MePhone left to- who knows where! Inanimate Insanity finally ended- and how am I supposed to deal with that?! If- If I was initially made to love the show- and- and there's no chance of continuation- then what do I do now?! I- I can't just- well, just... just...

Suitcase: I'm... sorry, Fan, but- you have to accept that the show... is over, and... that really isn't all you are... you know that.

Fan: I... I guess.

Test Tube: Fan! I need your help!

Fan: Oh- c-coming, Test Tube! See you, Suitcase!

Suitcase: Bye... Fan.

[txttletale]

Setting aside the copyright discourse for a minute, what do you think is the real, actual wrong with ai? From what I can tell you're anti genAI but in a more rational way rather than going on personal vibes. I've mostly seen defensive posts about ai so I'm curious what you think are the actual harms we should be advocating against

have talked about this here. in general i think the most pressing things that are actually worth caring wrt genAI about are labour issues, both in the training of these models and in how they (like any meaningful advance in technology) are integrated into workflows in a way that immiserates workers (for example, attempts to turn writing credits into 'editing credits' by having writers work with AI-generated scripts that the WGA managed to put an end to). & i think the way to fight these things is, as i often repeat, through industrial collective action and not through yelling at people for generating 'mcdonalds simpsons porn room' lol

when it comes to other types of AI, i think that their role in essentially automating war crimes and providing clumsy cover for what are fundamentally indiscriminate massacres is also obviously deeply evil, but has less to do with any actual feature of the technology itself and more to do with its marketing -- this is the "AI"-as-social-object vs. generative LLM distinction i think people are bad at making. like, i don't think that "we need to bomb this family home because the computer said so" is fundamentally different to its analog version, "we're renditioning you to a concentration camp because our chart said so". the important technology here is the imposition of the aesthetic of technocratic managerialism over nakedly arbitrary violence and cruelty, not anything that the AI is doing per se.

[poguehearted77]

Between The Lines

Summary-> It's the little things that go on behind the scenes between you and Drew that makes your chemistry electric.

Belongs to my: OBX Season 5: Payback for Maybank Series

These can be read in any order!

"Park place." Maddison narrates where Drew lands his dog piece across the monopoly board. "I'll buy it." He says but your hand is in his face, "Not so fast. I'm sure you would love to buy it if I didn't already have a hotel on it. You owe me $1500. Pay up." You show him your open palm, ready for lots and lots of cash.

"He's so cooked. Look at that pathetic stack of cash Drew has. I've got piggy banks with more than that." Jonathan's comments send the four of you erupting into a fit of laughter which eventually dies down to a patient silence. "Sometime today would be great." Madison clears her throat.

"Josh is coming!" Drew points, appealing to your gullibility and you all fell for it. By the time you realized he was bluffing, the board was tossed and the pieces were all out of place. He gets up and runs off as if he already knew you'd be hot on his heels.

Your outburts left JD and Madison alone to pick up the pieces, but not without an interesting conversation. "50 bucks they're together by the time we finish the season." Madison says it so casually as she reaches underneath the couch for the pieces.

"So I'm not crazy? You see it too?" He looks almost relieved. "Trust me, I've got a knack for these things." JD seems skeptical about the timeline of the bet. "I dunno, we finish filming in four months. That might be too soon, I say by the premiere."

The both of them look up to Carlacia who seemed to have been streaming live on her istagram. She enters the room mumbling something about getting winded by you and Drew sprinting past her.

Madison scoffs, "That's like nine months from now. They could get together and break up by then, but you know what-- If that's what you wanna bet, then be my guest." She holds out her hand and JD shakes on it. "You're on."

"We're ready for you guys." One of the assistants notifys them that it was time to head to the screening room where the weekly table reads were held.

Today would be your first look at the script for the second episode, and to say you were shocked was an understatement.

Script Summary:

Eventually the pogues put their trust in Piper and she gives them a fair exchange of some arms that they can handle, while she opts for her weapon of choice, a steel pipe.

"How do you think I got the name and the scar?" She says and it puts an odd sense of comfort among the group, minus a skeptical Rafe, to know you were confident enough in your skills that you didn't need a gun.

They beleived they were in good hands, until they realized they weren't. There was movement coming from the bushes and it made the pogues stand on guard, beckoning them to come out. Soon, the figures finally revealed themsleves. More mercenaries.

"Nicely, done Piper. It seems you can still make yourself useful after all." The red-headed woman speaks up, tossing you a pouch of money that you caught with one hand effortlessly.

"Never doubt my capabilities, it's insulting." You warn, tucking the pouch into the bag strapped across your back. The british woman continues, "Y'know, Mr. Finch could use your talents again. Once we're done tying up loose ends, we're headed back to home base in Lisbon."

Rafe is livid. He knew he couldn't trust you. It couldn't be by pure coincidence that the mercenaries popped up in the middle of this oasis when you were leading. "Lisbon? You told us Finch was here-" Kiara exclaims and Rafe interrupts.

"It was all a lie, from the very beginning. Mr. Alami, the merchant from Agapenta, he was working with you, wasn't he? You knew he'd send us to you, and now you got your sad little payout from these dipshits for bringing us to them." Rafe seethes.

"I'll neither confirm nor deny that claim, love the enthusiasm though." Your attitude remains unbothered throughout the ordeal until Pope demands, "What do you want from us? We don't have the crown! Groff took it." The red head shrugs casually, sharpening her blades as she approaches the group.

"Don't you worry, Groff will get what's coming to him. For now, it's time to repay the debt that is owed. You get blood on your hands, I get blood on mine." Your eyes bulge, "Hang on, you never said you wanted to kill them." You step in and the woman pays you no mind.

"Perhaps because It's none of your concern. You've got your cut, now's a good time as ever to leave. It's about to get messy." She retracts her hand, about to plunge the blade into Pope when she's knocked out cold by a flying piece of steel.

The group looks over to you in shock, fear, and a hint of gratitude, but there's no time to gush about it when there's suddenly a brawl that breaks out between the mercenaries and the pogues.

You all hardly take them out before escaping.

"Piper, what the hell?!" John B yells and his anger is heavily agreed on in the group, you take it on the chin before offering the most sincere apology you could come up with. They're unconvinced. "I deserve that. Everything you heard back there is true. Finch's Fortress is in Lisbon. If you find him, you'll find Groff," You trail off, reaching into your bag, handing Cleo the pouch of money you'd just gotten.

"Take this. It's more than enough to get you a boat big enough to get across the atlantic and even have some leftover for food for a few days. When you arrive on the coast of Cascais, you'll need to head north in-land."

There's silence.

A long silence, nervous glances between the pogues and Rafe's eyes roll. "You guys cannot seriously be considering trusting her. She almost had us killed! Am I the only one who cares about making it back home?"

"Just shut up, Rafe!" John B silences him, and Pope speaks up. "Listen, I don't know about you guys but Piper just saved my life when she didn't have to. We've already lost someone. Going after Groff could be a suicide missison for all we know. But we all know this isn't about our safety, it's about revenge. For JJ." His speech is moving, the expressions agree.

"For JJ." They all agree.

"To Lisbon we go." Cleo chimes, and the group moves on.

End of Script*

You had just finished reading the script and you were blown away. The cast never knows what to expect whenevfer a new script is dropped in front of them.

"Wait a minute... If the pogues are going to Lisbon in the next episode then," Madison trails off and the director ties in, "So are we. Pack your bags, flights are booked for Saturday morning at 5am, please do not miss these flights, we're not opposed to writing you out!" Josh jokes and there's excited and shock all around the table.

You knew that the last season of the show had implied that the pogues would be on their way to Lisbon but it never dawned on you that it would be so soon, even though it made sense.

"You ever been to Portugal?" Drew leans in, a soft whisper in your ear tickled your skin and made the hairs on the back of your neck at attention. "Never, have you?" He thinks about it, "If a layover counts then yes, yes I have." You're not sure if the joke was funny or if it just left the mouth of an incredibly attractive man, nonetheless, it made you giggle.

Madison kicks JD from under the table, jutting her chin towards the two of you giggling in secret and he rolls his eyes. "Patience." He says it calmly, but Madison is impatient, she knows she'll reign triumphant by the end of it all.

-

It’s a Friday night—or, more accurately, the early hours of Saturday morning. The world outside your accommodations complex is still cloaked in sleep, and you should be too. But no. The responsibility of making your flight in two hours has ripped you from the warmth of your bed. Groggy but determined, you scrambled to gather your belongings, knowing you wouldn’t be back.

After a last sweep of the room, you opened the door with a flicker of confidence—only to jump at the sight of a six-foot-two figure standing in your doorway.

“Drew! Oh my god, you scared me.” Your hand flew to your chest in a theatrical gesture, your pulse thrumming in your ears.

A small smile tugged at his lips, his eyes crinkling slightly. “Sorry. Just wanted to make sure you were actually up. Everyone else already left. There’s one driver still waiting downstairs.” His voice was smooth, annoyingly easy to listen to this early in the morning. Too easy.

“You sound oddly refreshed for 3 a.m.,” you quipped, your own voice still husky from sleep as you grabbed your suitcase.

“That’s the beauty of insomnia.” He shrugged, gesturing to his temples with a finger like it was some kind of genius life hack. “You can’t wake up tired if you never really sleep.”

The elevator dinged open, and the two of you stepped inside. The silence that settled was heavy, charged with something you couldn’t quite define. It hung there until you both spoke at once:

“So where are you—” “How did you—”

You broke into quiet laughter, and Drew’s mouth twitched with amusement. “You first,” he said, giving you a slight nod.

“How did you know I hadn’t already left with the others?” you asked, tilting your head curiously. For a moment, something flickered across his face—an emotion too quick to name—before a light blush dusted his cheeks. He masked it with an easy tone.

“I did some askin' around,” he replied, the answer short and almost vague. It was just enough to spark your teasing instincts.

“Ah,” you said with a smirk, “so you missed me?”

Instant regret settled within you. The elevator seemed too small, too still as Drew turned to look at you, his gaze steady and disarming. For a heartbeat, he didn’t respond, and your cheeks grew warm under his stare.

“You could say that,” he finally said, the ghost of a smirk curling the corner of his lips. His attention shifted to the elevator doors as they slid open, leaving you to wonder if you’d imagined the whole thing.

The ride to the airport was longer than expected thanks to roadwork that forced a detour. You should've been annoyed, but at some point, your head found its way to Drew’s shoulder, and your eyes fluttered shut. The fabric of his hoodie was soft against your temple, and his warmth lulled you into a half-dream state.

Drew didn’t dare move. The weight of your head against him was almost too perfect, and he fought the sudden urge to reach for your hand resting on your lap. Instead, he focused on the ticking clock in the back of his mind and the quiet hum of the car.

When you arrived, he sprang into action. “C’mon, we don’t have time to waste,” he murmured, grabbing your suitcase and his carry-on in one hand while ushering you toward the terminal with the other.

You barely had to lift a finger. Drew handled everything—tickets, baggage check, even navigating customs—with practiced efficiency, his jaw set and his movements quick. He wasn’t just organized; he was determined.

“Do you always walk as fast as a drill sergeant?” you teased as you reached the gate, breathing a little easier now.

He shot you a look, his lips twitching. “I'm not a huge fan of being late,” was all he said. But the way his eyes lingered on yours for half a second longer than necessary told you there was more to it than that.

Finally, you made it to your seats in first class. You settled across the aisle from Madelyn, who flashed you a bright smile.

“I was starting to think you two wouldn’t make it,” she teased, leaning toward you with a glint in her eye. There was an underlying subtext to her words but you were too tired to decipher it.

“Drew made sure that didn’t happen,” you replied with a soft laugh. The words were simple, but they carried a warmth you couldn’t quite suppress.

From behind your seat, Drew caught the sound of his name on your lips--and god did he love the way it sounds. He didn’t know what you’d said, but it didn’t matter. The fact that you were talking about him stirred something in his chest.

As the flight began, you glanced back once, meeting his gaze. He held it for a fraction of a moment before looking away, his expression unreadable.

And yet, for the rest of the flight, he couldn’t stop thinking about you. Couldn’t stop replaying the memory of the weight of your head on his shoulder—or wondering what it might feel like to hold your hand in his.

Taglist: @percysley, @lilithblackkk, @rafegf-real, @eternallovers65, @drsza, @wearemadeofstardust0, @cadhlabear, @thepopcultureaddict, @citr0us, @sabrina-carpenter-stan-account, @madi44444,

[bbokicidal]

Decadent & Dreamy | Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Allow him to indulge in that which is your elegance.

BangChan ☼ Smut ☼ Mentions of sex (PinV, oral, anal, etc.), Lingerie/Heels etc, Skinship ☼ The post that started it all

Chan | Lino | Changbin | Hyune | Jisung | Felix | Seungmin | Jeongin

Hot Fudge - A sexual fantasy of his

... I'm going to be the one to say it, I think he really wants to at least have you call him daddy just ONCE in bed. It doesn't have to be 'daddy dom baby girl' or whatever, he just wants to hear it come out of your mouth because it feeds his need to breed you and make you a mother above all else. He's not going to bring it up, though, out of fear of being incredibly embarrassed at the chance that you might reject the idea and shoot him down hard. He's worried you'll be disgusted by it so just.. be gentle with him, yeah? (Or he might not be so gentle with you.~)

Caramel Sauce - What he watches/listens to/indulges in to get off

Often indulging in videos rather than reading or just using his imagination, he takes the easy route and just uses certain easy-to-access websites. He likes videos that aren't poorly scripted but sometimes does watch those types because they're silly to him; Really though, he's here for the audio. He likes the visual but when he's close to tipping over the edge he just lays his phone against his chest and jerks his hips up into his hand until he makes a mess all over his stomach.

Strawberry Drizzle - Something non-sexual that turns him on

He loves when you touch him. A quick grab of his arm to slip by him, a little tap on his side to get his attention, a hand on his thigh to push his legs away so you have room on the couch. Gentle touches, really, are enough to make him eager to get at you. He just really, really loves the physical affection and even when it's not something suggestive it's still going to be enough to get him wiggly and teasing right away.

Chocolate Chips - If he's interested in threesomes/orgys

He's not too particularly interested to be honest, but if one of the guys asked him about you or if you'd be open to trying something out he probably wouldn't say no - specifically to Felix or Minho. He has had dreams about sharing you with the entire group though. ~

Peanuts - His favorite position

Chan's favorite position, hands down, is hitting it from behind. So doggystyle, I guess. That's the position that really allows him to hit it deep, hit it hard, hit it fast. If he's feeling really nasty then he'll probably put you in a mating press.

Candied Almonds - His favorite location to be intimate

He just prefers the bedroom for simplicity - he's just a simple guy like that. But he will NOT say no to you coming to pay him a visit in the studio. Why would he turn that down?? He'd be an idiot to say no to some head while he works!

Whipped Cream - What he prefers his partner to wear during intimacy

He doesn't really have a preference! Ultimately he wants you to be as comfortable as possible and that's all that matters to him. If you like lace? He loves it. You want to wear a more costume-esque outfit? Period, he'll go with the vibe. You wanna wear nothing? Even better, easy access.

Marshmallow Topping - Where he likes to be touched

Anywhere, he's so touch deprived all the time, which is why he's so clingy towards some of the members who are okay with physical touch. He likes to be held in any way possible, but he does sort of prefer just.. simple physical touch, like little backhugs or holding hands. God, he loves holding hands!! Please hold his hands while y'all have sex. <3333

Cherries - His favorite toys/If he likes using toys

He doesn't like using toys simply because he gets off on the knowledge that his cock, alone, is enough to make you squirt. I said what I said. (Unless it's like.. a cockring, then he might use it.)

Coconut Flakes - How he likes it (soft/rough/etc)

Honestly, he's a softer guy. But if you really, really need him and you've been begging for it or maybe teasing him all day, then he'll be rough. Chris seems like a needy guy but to be honest, if he's really desperate and you aren't around then he'll just jerk it to get off. He likes taking care of you and he likes making sure he's taking his time and hitting as deep as possible just to hear you whine, because then he knows he's doing something right.

Sprinkles - His favorite part of your body

Chris loooooves your thighs because they're perfect to knead when you sit together. He always has to have something on/in/around his hands because he's constantly moving, constantly fidgeting; And your thighs are so perfectly holdable, grabbable, squeezable.

Oreos - His favorite intimate act (oral/vaginal/etc)

He honestly just prefers sex; Vaginal, anal, oral, whatever the Hell you choose for the evening because he will answer your every beck and call. If you tell him to lay down and take it like a good boy he isn't going to argue, but if you ask him to completely ruin you and destroy you until you're shaking and crying - he'll happily do that, too. (He does love oral tho.)

M&Ms - An instant turn on for him

He loves when you wear heels. He knows it's probably not the best for you and you might end up feeling sore at the end of your date because of them - but by God, if you find a pair of platforms or something that you can walk in for hours and not feel horrible after, ugh. He loves a pretty lady who can confidently stride in heels. Don't ask me why, I just make the rules here.

Reeses Pieces - His favorite act of foreplay

Anything related to touching; Running his hands down your sides and feeling over your curves, when you push your fingers through his hair (which he REALLY loves because of how good his hair feels & looks recently) or when you feel over his body and grope at the muscle like it's oh-so-attractive to you. (Because it is, and it should be. Duh.)

Pretzels - What position he oftens takes in bed (top/bottom/vers)

Chan's a pretty verse guy. He's alright doing whatever to please you, to be honest, but he is absolutely a service top at heart. He gets off on knowing he's making you feel good and honestly if you came and he didn't, he'd be fine with it. (But he does, because he's sensitive.)

Graham Crackers - His favorite part of his own body

This pairs well with the strawberry drizzle because his favorite part is most of his body - other than his face. He's been loving his hair lately and has been styling it more up and out or up and back, slicking it, using product when allowed. He likes his arms because now he's strong enough to lift you with ease, he likes his torso because it's defined but not too much so and he still has softer sides that are holdable and warm. He likes his thighs because of the definition after a hard work out and recently, he's also taken a liking to his hands. He loves a lot of his body, which - we can really only be happy about. He's starting to love himself as much as we have loved him for years.

Sea Salt - A roleplay scenario he wants to try

He's not super big on roleplay scenarios but if he had to indulge in one, he'd probably do something related to... a certain video game he really, really likes. He'll just be himself and maybe you can dress up for him as one of his favorite pretty ladies. <3

Popping Pearls - How he sexts/If he sexts

He's honestly way too busy to even think about sexting. The most he's ever given you is a few sexually charged messages while he's out of the country for work and he misses you pretty bad; But he's above sending nudes. He doesn't think they're bad, he just thinks most dick pics are kind of ugly. (And he's right.) But if you ask nicely he will absolutely send you pics of him after working out and that's like.. basically a nude for us, is it not. LMAO

[theside-b]

For those who are not following or are simply passing by:

Yin and War are out on the field promoting Jack & Joker and Yin had some words for a few people and this man is out to settle the score:

He firmly denied some 'fans' allegations that he improvised romantic moments on the show — more specifically the head touching seeing in episode 6 — he stated that they are actors, and as such they follow the director and the script.

Not done with this he made it clear: stop projecting your delusions on them, him and War are friends and working partners.

They decided to go independent seeking artistic freedom, wanting to pursue stories without interference from studio and producers.

They actually got indebted making the show, having invested a sum close 40 million baht. They don't expect to see any financial return soon. (Yin actually sold his car to help fund the series).

Yin stated that one reason for going 'rogue' was to protect his relationship with War, neither of them wanted to make a product out of their connection — a stance similar to Daou and Offroad who have said multiple times that their relationship is not for sale.

When it came down to the characters of Jack and Joke they both said that the freedom extended to them as well. They didn't want to put labels or specific traits in them, like which would be the top or the bottom in bed, it could go either way, that fluidity was something they were looking for.

Yin was candid about the way people approached him since he started doing BL shows. His friends asked him what it was like to kiss a man and he understood that as offensive, "they never asked about it when I was acting with girls, why would that matter now?"

You guys can support them by streaming the show on IQIYI — they will need it (I'm not joking they have bills to pay).