#when decided to make a serious fan project but there is a nuance...

[netmors]

When I really wanted my AU to be consistent with the canon timeline and events, but now I have more and more desire to give up on this attempt.

And not a single source can give me accurate data on the events in this space opera lol (even in the books themselves, which is sad).

The only thing that makes me happy is that I am finally happy with Eli's redesign ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆

[rottenpumpkin13]

I think CC had a huuuge problem with fleshing out Genesis and Angeal to be honest. I feel like the personalities they’ve been given by the fandom are mostly fanon and don’t have that much substantiation in canon because AG were both largely used as plot devices- which again I think is a big problem because it doesn’t make you feel or understand either of the characters or why they behave the way they do. By the end of CC I felt really bad for Sephiroth, was ambivalent toward Angeal but still felt a twinge of sadness because of how sad Zack was over him, and absolutely loathed Genesis. I’m still not Genesis’ biggest fan but the canon characterization has made him a bit more endearing, though when I go back to canon and see him I’m left disliking him all over again. Unless you really dig into CC lore you have no idea how Genesis felt about Sephiroth, it just comes off like he was always jealous of him and that the relationship was painfully one-sided with Sephiroth practically begging for his friendship. It doesn’t help that 80% of Genesis’ dialogue is Loveless quotes and the other 20% is him being angry and hateful. I guess it’s justified, but unlike with Sephiroth and Angeal you never see Genesis being anything but hateful. With the other two I found myself sympathizing and mourning the loss of the people they were prior to realizing the truth, but with Genesis I wished he’d just shut up and go away already. The training room scene also doesn’t help his case, because first it starts out with Genesis being cocky and wanting to take Sephiroth alone- despite Angeal’s warning- and then later on blasts his best friend in the face with a fire ball all while talking about being a hero. He purposefully escalates the fight, then when Sephiroth gets serious Genesis gets injured and crap really hits the fan- and all this could’ve been avoided if Genesis hadn’t had an inferiority complex the size of the moon. I also find it hard to excuse this whole sequence of events because this was prior to his degradation, and while it’s unclear whether it had started even before his injury, I’m going to say he was still mostly in his right state of mind and he still behaves like he has no care for his friends, even his childhood friend who was trying to keep the spar friendly and prevent it from turning into a fight to the death.

Sorry about the rant, but that other anon talking about Genesis also brought back my thoughts about him and I felt like sharing since I’ve never really written them out.

Canon vs fanon aside, there's a lot of context and nuance often lost when adapting Japanese dialogue to fit English contexts. My biggest gripe with the training room scene in english is how Genesis proclaims "The world needs a new hero" right before he fights Sephiroth, suggesting he wants to take Sephiroth's place/ be better than him. But then you look at translations like this one and that scene gains a whole new meaning. Genesis instead says "I too would like to become a hero." And rather than the cocky "That's no way to talk to a hero," before he blasts Angeal in the face with a fire ball, he states "All I want is to be a hero."

The training room scene is a lost cause, because it's easy to place the blame on any one of them, or on whoever decided to go in there that day, or even on the fight itself, but accidents happen. But in the end, no one is truly to blame because none of them asked for Jenova cells or to be part of the Jenova Project, and the truth is that if it hadn't been the training room incident, something else would have triggered the degradation, or the conflict as a whole, and they would have been doomed regardless.

And that's why Genesis is so angry, and why he's so desperate for the cure that he keeps reciting what (in his mind) is the answer to the cure. I guess the reason we never see him be anything but reactive to the situation he's in because when we're introduced to him, shit has already hit the fan. He's deserted already. The first scene we see in Crisis Core literally has Angeal answer the phone and get the news that Genesis left. The only crumb of pre-degradation Genesis we get is the training room scene which—as mentioned above—got mistranslated in English, so of course we're going to think Genesis was hot-headed and envious (which in all honesty he could've just as well have been).

It's easier to sympathize with Angeal and Sephiroth because everything that's happening is happening because Genesis revolted against Shinra, and I get that. But what makes me sympathize with Genesis (and this is coming from someone who used to hate him) is the degradation and his motives. He wants a cure. He wants to live, and it's hard to live when your body is working against you and literally degrading because of something completely out of your control. On top of that, the people after you, the organization you've always aspired to be a part of because of your childhood hero, your friends including that hero, are on the side of those who did this to you.

Don't know if this makes any sense because I'm literally trying not to fall asleep writing this out asfshsjska

[kazarinn]

Future subbing plans

When I first put Hurricane Touchdown out three years ago (goodness, has it really been that long already?!), I wasn't really planning to make fansubbing a regular thing, but after having worked on the Saint Tail project enough, I've started getting a little more used to it, so I decided to put a little more proper thought on what I want to do with it. This post will only be here, so my Tumblr followers can consider this to be an exclusive scoop ☺️

Regarding Hurricane Touchdown: As probably many of you know, Discotek Media recently announced an upcoming release of the first three Digimon movies, which, naturally, will include the Japanese version of Hurricane Touchdown. As is etiquette for fansubbers, I will be removing the download links for the Hudie release once that drops. However, I will be leaving the translation script file accessible to preserve the hard work done on it, and to leave it accessible for anyone who can't use the Discotek version for any reason (importation issues, region locks, etc.).

Raw script files can still be used with videos by putting them in the same folder as the video and giving them the same name, and the transcript is very easy to open with any standard text editor, so I think this will be a good compromise to keep the translation accessible and easy to reference. This is a workflow I started using with Saint Tail due to the unusual nature of its localization situation, but it's something I think I want to consider making use of going forward as well.

Regarding Saint Tail: Nothing really special to report here; I'll be releasing and revising sub scripts as usual until I've finished the series (I'm hoping to get it done by the end of the year). I haven't made a firm decision as to what will happen after that, but since it is a fact that the official release still has serious translation problems, I do think I want to do something to address that a little more aggressively once it's done.

Regarding Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning: Based on the US screenings of the movie, it seems that the official English subtitles for the Japanese version are actually a transcript of the English dub, but with Japanese names swapped in. Surprisingly, this isn't as much as a detriment to the translation as you'd think it might be (the English dub script seems to be surprisingly close to the Japanese script, rather unusually for Digimon standards), but nevertheless, this is extremely bad translation practice and offends me on a personal level. As such, if future releases turn out to still be using this translation, I am considering making my own subtitled script for it.

For the record, because of how close the English dub script is to the Japanese script, I don't think this is actually that much of a detriment to understanding the movie; in fact, I would argue that LAST EVOLUTION Kizuna's official English subtitles are far worse and mistranslated in a more dangerous way. A theoretical The Beginning fansub would be, at most, something that would be done to satisfy a personal pet peeve and to address some minor loss in nuance that isn't reflected in the dub script, especially in regards to the Chosen Child partnership lore it presents (something that I know can be quite a serious issue to a lot of Digimon fans). So I'm not going to make guarantees about whether I'm going to do it in the end, and I wouldn't get your hopes up if I were you, but I do at least want people to know that this is an issue and that I currently have this idea on the table. As with Hurricane Touchdown, if I do put this out, it probably would be in script-only form.

As a side note, I do plan on translating The Beginning-related material (interviews, etc.), but I would rather put them up at a time when a sufficiently large percentage of fans has actually seen the movie. If you're from a non-American country and your country will be having a screening in the near future, please reply to this post with the date so I can get a good idea of when people will be watching it ☺️

[onedismay]

15 questions for 15 friends

yay, got tagged by @dandenbo :D months ago but... i'm here

I can't think of 15 people but I'm tagging @noirchotic @skeknya @reikiajakoiranruohoja @messydiabolical @arts-butthound and if YOU want to do this thing too, do it.

ARE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?: A relative I never met ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?: Today and I already forgot why.

DO YOU HAVE KIDS?: Nope! Never wanted any.

WHAT SPORTS DO YOU PLAY/HAVE YOU PLAYED?: Only whatever I was forced to play as a kid, lmao. Never enjoyed any. Hate physical contact, hate getting hurt, hate consistently letting the team down. I was pretty good at Mass Effect 3's multiplayer at one point though? :D

DO YOU USE SARCASM?: Not much on the internet, I always worry people might think I'm being serious. I think I use sarcasm more when speaking Finnish.

WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?: Uhhh in real life it's whether they seem like a threat or not. I don't mean a literal, physical threat, necessarily, it's more of a general "is that person likely to make my day worse" thing. I have the brain of an anxious prey animal.

WHAT'S YOUR EYE COLOUR?: Blue

SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?: Eh, I don't need happy endings. Don't hate them either but I think bad/nuanced endings are more likely to leave a lasting impression on me. Also when it comes to scary movies, it's probably not a surprise that I really like well-designed monsters. Not a fan of jump scares though!

ANY TALENTS?: Behold my talents

WHERE WERE YOU BORN?: Finland

WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES?: Video games, art.

DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS?: Nah, I'm allergic to everything furry and generally worried I wouldn't be able to care for a pet well enough. But if someday I do decide to get pets, I'll probably go for a small aquarium.

HOW TALL ARE YOU?: 169cm or 5'7", i think. I have to google it every time. I hate inches. They're too imprecise. screw inches

FAVOURITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL?: I had a really cool and supportive art teacher in middle school so art was my favorite subject even though I was only really interested in one of the many topics we were taught (drawing). Also loved biology! Especially gene charts and cells and space stuff.

DREAM JOB?: I don't have one. The only work I've ever truly enjoyed is doing the occasional art commission. It's very rewarding to be able to illustrate a scene that previously only existed in someone else's head, and sort of make their idea real. I love getting to know people's characters through these types of projects.

[the1975attheirverybest]

"One thing about Matty is that he knows that we as fans love him." This is actually something I've been thinking about all year and I hope I won't be offending anybody (this isn't meant to attack you or any of your lovely followers/ anons) And this might just be me projecting/ being way too parasocial myself so apologies if this is too negative. I really don't mean to make anybody feel bad but I really wonder if Matty didn't experience some sort of disconnect with the fans this year. Fan culture/ concert etiquette has changed a lot. We already know that going viral on TikTok and thus becoming more famous has been hard on him. He's expressed nonstop that it bothers him that so many fans film during their entire gigs - AND keep trying to provoke some kind of reaction out of him so they can go viral. People have been following the band around and stalking him personally, he's even been doxxed. Then ofc he got this extreme amount of backlash when he went on the podcast and people screaming for him to apologize/ apologize the way they personally seemed best (not saying people's feelings and criticisms weren't valid but I think we can all agree that it was very intense and lacked nuance), then we got very extreme reactions to him dating TS. And while our fans were much kinder/ more supportive, there was a loud majority complaining that we would "lose him" now cause he surely wouldn't be allowed to behave a certain way/ a loud majority trying to trivailize what happened ("Oh well, they were never gonna last, they're too different"/ "Let's be real, it was just sex. They can't have possibly been in love") and I feel that's pretty patronizing? We actually don't know what he felt for her/ hoped for or how it affected him to be dropped so publicly/ unceremoniously. Next we had a lot of fans immediately side w/ Rina when she shamed him in front of his whole industry at a festival he's been hoping to headline his whole life, fueling the same discussions/ outcries for him to apologize (same disclamer as above), Malaysia after-math, fans constantly begging for more social media posts but then getting offended/ finding fault in his posts (same disclamer as above) and even accusing him of predatory behavior because he possibly interacted with underage fans... Fans making up all sorts of rumors about him on twitter "for fun", believing Deuxmoi, accusing him of being in a PR/ fake relationship, complaining about ticketing/ tour dates, getting all anxious and worked up before the start of SATVB, expressing dread instead of excitement for the new show and begging him to "shut up, stop your bits and just sing" (same disclamer as above) fans being rude/ talking over him while he's doing his speeches/ performance art (and I also think he's pretty disappointed that people aren't really "getting it"), fans being so weird and grabby that he decided he doesn't feel comfortable taking off his shirt any longer, constant complaining about his hair/ facial hair, constant complaining about how much he interacts with the audiences, fans having the audacity to complain that he was sick/ tired/ emotional during certain performances... the list goes on and on. Again, sorry if this is all very negative and probably too parasocial (and way too long) but I felt really disheartened at all the negativity and entitlement this year. It was a very hard year for him and whenever I go through a hard time I am much more sensitive/ tend to feel unloved if criticised (however justified). I really hope he still feels loved and like we're "getting him".

No you’re right. Idk I always wonder how he feels because there are moments when he seems to think that things aren’t as serious as they are (like the Twitter backlash) and times when he seems to know very well what the conversation within the fandom is.

I think he gets it. (Tempted to uno reverse his own words and say “he gets us.”) because as much as he’s seen stupid / toxic fan behavior he’s also seen real fandom. Like the Vienna show fans who held up “you are loved” signs and he thanked them for it. And then the fan who asked him “how are you? Like how are you, really??” And he said it was sweet but not to worry. And he always says “we love you guys and we’re still us, we’re still here” etc. and crying cuz he saw a fan cry. I think he experiences both extremes. And it must be a lot and confusing to process because yeah people love you but then there are those who do so for all the wrong reasons and how do you separate those and when do you engage or disengage. Which is why I don’t blame him when he gets a bit defensive or whatever. Bless him.

Not to be weird and start drama but I felt his presence in the room (tell me why I sound like I’m talking about a ghost) at the Baltimore show. Which he said was the best show they’d done. And I genuinely think it’s because we didn’t have that many phones out etc. he and I interacted a couple times so he definitely sees, appreciates, and engages with those fans who are genuinely there for the band and for the live show and not the tiktok discourse. He knows. It’s just a lot to process alongside all the other stuff. Must be hard.

[sneezemonster15]

Calling bullshit on the opinion that Kishimoto doesn't know how to write romance.

The reason why this entire shipping business on Naruto has been going on for over a decade and still going strong, making fans go absolutely mindless, about a story which is not even about romance, about things that are so effective and impactful that the fans feel completely consumed with it, to the extent where they have almost completely defined their life and philosophies on its basis, is because Kishimoto can write a good fucking romance. And that's what he did. That's the reason why ships are fighting with each other, because it's not just about Naruto the manga or Naruto the series, it's about how they imagine their own romance, it's a deep, profound feeling. That's why they have strong motivations and convictions that drive their insight into the story. That's why there is so much polarity in Naruto fandom. They are ready to jump to protect their ship at a moment's notice because that's how much it means to them.

Are you telling me that it just happened on its own? Just happy coincidences and random factors?

No.

A lot, a lot of thought goes behind closed doors of the studios. I know this because I work in the business. The reason why I was so astounded with Naruto's story because it was actually a brave story. A brave concept. In a shonen. Because I am ready to bet a million dollars I don't have on the fact that Kishimoto knew what he was doing. Anyone who enjoys poetry, or literature, or drama can, if not approve, appreciate Naruto and Sasuke's story. Because it's that deep. Because it's that impactful. Because it's that dark. Because it's that tragic. Because it's that tender. Because it's that painful.

Because it's so...

(Applause.)

Romantic.

These are all the ingredients of a well written romance. This is the reason why I don't care about other ships because I know that SNS is not random or a projection. It's mindfully and carefully and even tenderly written and developed.

Kishimoto's projection? Oh sure. It stands to reason that someone from his real life affected and inspired his favourite character through and through. He did say that he based some characters on certain people from his own life. And he did base Naruto on his own self, if partly. And the reason why I am able to surmise that he could have had a real crush on someone like Sasuke in real life, is because how clearly and insightfully written and contrasted the two characters are. So nuanced. They are like poetry, that's why I am so dazzled with them. Their story is so beautifully shaped by their characters and growth that it creates a clear impression of who they really are in the story. Soulmates. That's the whole crux of the story. They are written out to be this literally 'once in several lifetimes' pairing that finally broke the bonds of hate with bonds of love and changed the entire world and as a result, grew themselves. This is reflected in themselves what with Sasuke being propelled with hate and Naruto with love and coming together finally in a world that they made happen, for each other. And all of their parts and counterparts with which they think and move and function are so well in sync with each other that they lock together perfectly, like two pieces in a two piece puzzle box.

To say that this intricately and intelligently and tenderly written story is just like, an accident, my lord no!

No. The content that is finally syndicated on screens all over the world, especially with the type of response Naruto has enjoyed, and believe me when I say this, everything goes through many levels of scrutiny during production; to the extent of why would this camera angle work better than all the other angles, here's a flowchart and analysis of all of them and let's spend three days on deciding it while the producers are going crazy frustrated with fanatic creatives. This is a very common thing to happen in most serious studios.

Naruto stood out at the time it came out and reached a much larger audience for several reasons. But one of them was that it got the right exposure and was shown to critics outside of Japan, who could appreciate and admire it's cinematic beauty and this reached a different subset of audience. This extra effort is not consistent but it shines at so many places, because it's just good storytelling technically and aesthetically. And the reason why Naruto and Sasuke stand smack dab in the middle of that storytelling, is because Kishimoto told their story with so much feeling, it literally shows. The nuance is just crazy. Note that I am saying nuance and not subtext, even though it's there in heaps. But I want to make a distinction clearly. Like I can write pages and pages over it. Anyway, their story stands out because the nuances are so well defined and mindfully drawn by Kishi, that one can't help but wonder if Kishi actually experienced them. And they are just small things but still get a lot of exposure in the manga and anime. And because they are so small but clearly noticeable, it makes us stop in our tracks and think. And the thing is Kishimoto could have easily done without them and it would have made everything still seem undisturbed but he chose Not to. That kind of decision is a direct result of deep understanding, feeling and thinking in terms of forming a certain visual approach and meaning. The visual language Kishi has used to show their chemistry, their bond, their need for each other, is so tangible, like you could cut it with a knife, that it makes one feel something is right below the surface, simmering and about to explode, but you can't put your finger on what it exactly is. Until you start to think. And it takes some time.

You think that kind of writing is random? Are you out of your mind?

No, Kishi is a maniac. He pulled something that was not easy at all. He is a genius. He is also sadistic because he knows he didn't give us a resolution. Resolution is cathartic to viewers and the reason that nobody got any with Naruto and still not getting any from Boruto is making everyone go crazy. Fifteen years is a long time man. And I can bet my other non existent one million dollars on it. He owns a lot of rights over Naruto franchise, I don't think he can be cowed down to such an extent even by the studio. Kishi fought studios for a few significant scenes of Naruto and Sasuke, he is not unfeeling about them.

Maybe I am being a mere deductionist but more often than not, deduction is right. It's a valid form of acquiring knowledge. Sherlock is right more times than he is not.

Anyway, my point is, Kishi can write romance. Kishi can write very good romance. He could have chosen to remove some tropes and make Naruto and Sasuke either just brotherly or friendly. But he chose not to. A lot of people think that they are platonic. And I think I know why. But I don't. They are not platonic. They seem like they feel physically aware of each other, acutely so. they just don't know what it is. Maybe Sasuke does, Naruto doesn't. Kishi used also such common tropes to show this element, but just because it is in shonen and between two boys, y'all won't believe it. Don't you feel that palpable feeling, the simmering tension and emotion when they fight at the valley of the end both times? And it makes you think maybe it's just you, and what you are thinking can't be true because this is shonen and it would mean they are gay, let me tell you, no it's not you. It is Kishi. And it takes skill to write. Something like this is almost always used as a trope of unaddressed sexual tension in media. Pick any romantic drama of this genre, where 'hate turned to love' or 'two unlikely people who fall in love' and you would find it in almost every single one of them.

Why do you think Kishi designed it that way? You think with all the detail (action moves are literally inspired by real life martial arts, lighting, sound, editing, dialogues that sound like out of a Bronte novel), that was him just playing innocent?

No. No. No. And No!

He wrote SNS throughout Naruto and Shippuden and is still doing something of an extension of it that has made Boruto a weird and uncomfortable to watch family drama.

[gedankenspaziergang]

Diversmagazin Interview  Translation

Diversmagazin released an interview with director Sarah Blaßkiewitz and Head-Writer Jasmina Wesolowski today. Read it here in German.

Jasmina (she/her), DRUCK writer since season four and head writer since season six together with Jonas Lindt. In a writers Room with Paulina Lorenz and Raquel Kishori Dukpa (Jünglinge)

Sarah (she/her) director of the last four episodes from season six

I’m leaving out the general introductory questions.

Alicia: Can you talk about the writing process? And what’s the most important thing for you while writing and telling stories?

Jasmina: We especially wanted the profound exchange with young adults who represent our protagonists. For season six we had the challenge that we wanted to tell the lovestory of a Gambian-German girl and a Vietnamese-German girl, perspectives that aren’t represented in the writer’s room. That’s why we talked a lot to research partners, to make up for our lack of knowledge/ experience, but we also talked to the actors and actresses.

Alicia: Why do different directors work on DRUCK?

Sarah: We try to produce as much in real-time as possible. And of course, we have to pre-produce but still have to work [overlappingly]. While one director is already in the editing phase, the next one already starts to shoot. Another reason is of course, that this way, also in the writer’s room, there’s more space for diversity.

 Alicia: It’s similar to the writer’s room. You’re also dividing the writing of scenes between different people. … Are you working together with racism and LGBTQIA+ experts?

Jasmina: I think we all have blind spots and that it’s absolutely impossible to end up with a perfect result. It was an important first step, that the Jünglinge collective joined. They are big advocates for queer BIPoc representation in German media. They were always present for feedback loops and made all of us, crew, actors and actresses, participate in an anti-racism workshop. We were lucky to have the brilliant author and anti-racism trainer Arpana Berndt, who advised us on these topics. On top of that, we did a lot of research on different topics. I think now it should be the only way to produce movies and shows this way, with an intensive research phase. This way you don’t appropriate the stories of others and also don’t tell inauthentic stories or, in the worst case, use hurtful clichés/stereotypes. It was helpful and needed that Black perspectives were present also behind the camera – Sara as a director, but also in the social media team, make-up department or costume design. But we are also aware that more can be done.

Sarah: It’s important to me to highlight the make-up and costume design department. When I, an afro-German person, joined this project and met other afro-German women in those departments, who can relate to me, the character of Fatou and Ava, I was really glad. I can say from many years of experience that that’s not a given.

 Alicia: How about experts on LGBTQIA+ issues?

Jasmina: To talk a bit about the process: We were set on Fatou being a lesbian pretty early on, and that was already discussed in the earlier writer’s room, where that perspective wasn’t present yet. In the beginning, those were loose ideas, and we had to implement them with the casting. The casting team Raquel Kishori Dupka, Melek Yaparak and Angelika Buschina worked closely with the directors and contacted different institutions and specifically asked for actors and actresses who could be queer. At this age this is of course a super sensitive topic. You don’t want to force young people to [define themselves/come out]. It’s a huge challenge to handle that with care and it was extremely important that the Jünglinge collective was part of the casting process.

But also, apart from the casting process, we profited a lot from the queer people in the writer’s room in the cast.

Sarah: For my part I asked the authors and queer people “What would you like? What is nice? What hurts? What’s important? Or what have I never seen before?” And then I put those different experiences into the different scenes. On top you of course need common sense (?) to portray something that you haven’t experienced yourself.

 Jasmin: I just thought of a small really beautiful example: How Fatou was given these rainbow socks as a Christmas present. You immediately notice, that was the idea of a queer person who knows what non-queer parents give to their kids as gifts. The fans notice: Queer people were in the writer’s room. Or “Ah, these actresses know, what they’re doing.“ And those are the small things that make a difference.

 Alicia: For sure! In DRUCK you notice that queer people were part of this in really subtle ways, and that [resulted] in really nice fan-moments. I can confirm that.

Right now, the community is discussing the conflict between Mailin and Ava a lot. What role does that conflict play for you and what does it teach us?

 Sarah: I’m editing the last episodes right now, so I really feel it, also because you already see the reactions online.

For me, the conflict is important because it shows over a long period of time, that not everything is always only good or only bad. That it takes a lot of time, patience and confrontation to understand all nuances of that kind of conflict.

That Ava could be prevented to outright say what’s bothering her, because we’re talking about a really serious trauma of exclusion. How do you even tell people really personal stuff when you were bullied for years? And now we have that conflict, that seemingly takes forever, and you’re always asking yourself: “Why aren’t they talking to each other?” But it’s only in real time that you realize how hurtful this conflict is. How hurtful it is what they experience. What racism means, and also what it means to [deal] with that topic as a white  German girl. And I think it’s really important that everyone is going through that with this season. That takes time and sometimes hurts. And you don’t always understand Ava and you don’t always understand Mailin. When we really [dedicate ourselves to understand this conflict] then I think, we can experience what for example a person like me experienced their whole adolescence. I’m not saying I was bullied my whole adolescence, and maybe it wasn’t because of the color of my skin, but because of something else. But that went on for half a year. After being bullied in school for half a year you’re not up for school and your classmates anymore. And you don’t talk to them anymore. And if people realize that because of this season then I’m glad. I think it’s really touching that this conflict takes up so much space.

 Jasmina: I found it really interesting what you said about the nuances, because it was a real process for me to learn how many facets this conflict has. And especially that us white people, who grow up in a society with structural racism, have a particular idea about what racism means. And that’s not a detailed and uncritical perspective of that topic: As soon as you call me racist, I feel attacked and start defending myself.

The role that this conflict played for us was to show how incredibly exhausting it is as a Person of Color, to always have to deal with these problems and that there’s a kind of fatigue, that you don’t want to talk (or should want to talk) about certain topics anymore, especially if you have other things going on in your life on top of it.

On the other hand, we have Mailin, who has a strong desire to understand. She’s not aware of her privileges as a white girl. We want to take this journey together, when she starts to realize things and when she goes through different stages; until she understands, what it is really about. We also have an arc there that isn’t finished. Because in real life, you have to deal with some topics over and over again. We think it’s especially important to show that it’s not the job of Black people to explain racism to their white  friends. By now, they have all the resources to educate themselves and to talk with other white people about this topic, to unburden Black people.

 Alicia: That’s really interesting! The lovestory of Kieu My and Fatou is an important part of season six, which many queer young adults love. How is the relationship between Fatou and Kieu My representative for a generation?

Sarah: I can actually also see it in an older generation. When I send the cuddle clip of Kieu My and Fatou to my grandpa, he says “Wow, how amazing that a Viet-German and a Afro-German girl are lying in bed together, talk in German and are in a relationship.” This generation hopefully isn’t alone anymore, for example in the sense of: being the only Afro-German person in a small city. That changed and now we see it in that second and third generation. And that’s why it shows me something very real and beautiful.

 Alicia: Which scene are you really proud of and why?

Sarah: My favorite scene, and one I’m really proud of and that was really important concerning the pressure of school, was with the main character Fatou. It’s about a path of finding yourself from Fatou and a [Reinigungsmoment] with her brother. Two people, who know each other from the moment of their birth, are sitting together. When I read that scene I thought yes, I can relate, I can feel that, and when we shot that, a world opened for me. And that was partly because of the music, which was decided before we shot this scene. Then we shot it and it was fucking cold, but we shot it again and again but every time we really felt it like the first time. And when I now watch that scene while editing, it really is the perfect moment. Every facial expression is perfect, every reaction. And that’s that kind of truthful (?) moment you’re looking for as an actor, actress, director or author. When everything fits.

 (There’s a script for every social media part, What’s App Chats and ideas for social media stories. )

 Alicia: When can we expect the next season and what will it be about?

Jasmina: For now, DRUCK is finished and we have to wait how it will continue. Fingers are crossed and of course we’re hoping for a new season.

[Note by me: We‘re not gonna spiral, Jünglinge looked for more writers, Black writers, on facebook a while ago. Nothing is safe but they probably don’t want to make any promises]

[life-rewritten]

Giants of Thai BL AKA The MOST ANTICIPATED  THAI BL SHOWS FOR 2021

It's weird to think that the year 2020 has ended. This has been a journey in the past year, on the surface everywhere you looked it looked like there was no place to be happy and excited because of all the things that happened. It was suffocating at times, tiring at best, and it was just astonishing how many things could go wrong in only one year. That being said, one genre/demographic that grew even stronger this year, took some time to impress and improve on its tropes, its ideas and concepts and that's BL. Which also took some of us by surprise, for the ones who've been watching BL since the first oldies, to the new people who joined and also became in love with the genre and have stayed since then. BL has been an incredible, interesting journey, and I am so happy to say that it looks like 2021 isn't letting go of that energy. So to celebrate entering 2021, a year hopefully for a release from all the worries in 2020, a year to restart, refresh and keep getting better, here are the Giants of Thai Bl making their way in 2021. We have so many insane ones, from more mafia dramas to new unique non-university storylines, to og actors, and new powerful ones, to interesting pairings and new channels producing shows for 2021 to many many more countries joining the fight to be the top of our affections and energy. Thai BL is not going anywhere, and you know what that's perfectly fine with me.

GMMTV

I already did a whole squeal about the shows upcoming from GMMTV here: But after careful consideration here is my top 3 most anticipated: Enchante, Not Me, Bad Buddy. I know Enchante beat out ATOTS, but for me, I'm obsessed with the way the writer plans secrets and meta to unveil, and I keep repeating it's by Theory of Love director and production team. I'm so excited. I just hope they put in the same energy and effort they used in theory of love for this you have so many potential incredible actors that can take over this genre if you give them a good script and hard work. Hopefully, GMMTV intends to do so for not just their royal couple shows but also for rookie actors because Book and Force in this trailer? Looks fantastic.

Studio Wabi-sabi

When I hear about Studio Wabi-Sabi, you see two juxtaposed reactions from me, one you see anticipation and excitement from seeing my most loved actors off-screen; however, you also hear a groan from me. I'm sorry I didn't use to be this way, I used to be so ready to embrace every show directed and created by New Siwaj; in 2020, New was one of the directors I kept having headaches about because of all his shows in 2020? What exactly happened? Why did they flop so hard? Why was he so slow? I'm hoping that it's because he had too many projects to handle at the same time since fair enough LBC was filmed same time as GMMTV My gear and your gown and maybe that was too much to handle? But the reason why I like News choices usually are because they're emotional, impressive with their plot lines and have good character arcs and couples we end up falling in love with. He could be an iconic director because he has so much talent in his company, so I'm hoping he uses his lessons and grows and becomes better in 2021.  But Let's get to the shows announced so far for 2021 because they both have the potential to take over 2021. I said what I said.

Between Us

Genre:  Friends with benefits, Romance, Comedy, PTSD, Angst, 

Ahh, this is incredible. I'm so happy. Win and Team are from a great tv show already with Until We Meet Again and not going to lie, but seeing Buon as Win and Prem as Team? Perfection. Like guys I actually fell so hard for this couple despite their low screen time. Buon stole the scene each time he appeared, with his little smirks, and mischief, with flirty bad-boy energy and their relationship, was precisely what I live for passionate and full of chemistry. They're great, which is why it's so exciting to see that Between Us is getting its own show, the show based on these two love story in a parallel timeline to Until we meet again. I screamed. The book sounds interesting; we're getting some conversations about PTSD, some healing relationships, and angst and more passion.  I'm so excited about this since I first saw BuonPrem. I knew they were going to get known enough to bring their own show. And they deserve it, let's hope we get an interesting script that keeps us invested, enough opportunities for these two to have softer and profound moments whilst still holding on to their passion, and let the drama not be stale but addicting. Please New, don't let this show also be slow-paced, I'll lose it if another show is ruined by directing from you. 

Ratings: 4/5: BuonPrem, they leap off the screen, their chemistry is that great. From hearing about the plot I'm also excited to a more in-depth look into Team's insomnia and his past and psychological scars, and I'm hoping to see a deeper reason for why these two should be together.

Love Mechanics 2

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Angst, Drama, Friends with benefits, Unrequited love, 

That's the thing about Wabi-Sabi; they have amazing actors that steal our hearts away. This shows cast is no different, it's YinWar and it's a collab with Channel 3. Like What? It's everything. YinWar from Love Mechanics trended with millions of people obsessed and wanting the show to be extended and actually appropriately done. In came Channel 3 and we have this gem coming on April. No words. YinWar on screen is thrilling; War is just outstanding as Mark, his nuances, his glares, his looks of pain and longing, man I was absorbed into it. Although LM's writing is toxic and really left me feeling confused and uncomfortable with the details pushed aside, it was hard to ship VeeMark when Yin's character made terrible decisions and was awful even in the book. I'm the queen of analysing damaged flawed characters, and I don't run away from toxicity as long as there is a growth and change later on, as long as there's a good reason we needed to see that. For Vee's character, his actions were unnecessary for us to know about his character; they were just messy and upsetting. That's why I think seeing more depth for his actions and seeing Mark regress and also make mistakes like him will even out their relationship and make me feel more understanding about how these two flawed characters came to be and why they should be together.  Let's hope with funds from Channel 3, more effort and energy put into the show, it'll be great because with actors like War this show can be just as big as it was when it had errors. Maybe even better. 

Ratings 3.5/5 Love mechanics messy storyline makes me worried about this, but I think I might have a great time watching and analysing Mark's revenge after being heartbroken. The angst and drama of it all just sound interesting.

Channel 3

2020 brought a new surprise with Channel 3 deciding to invest in BLS. BLs have always been not on mainstream channels, so seeing Channel 3 in Thailand decide to make their own shows, a collab with other companies, and bring some directors and writers and actors known in the BL world already, shows they are serious. This may be because of the success of 2gether and other breakthroughs in 2019 taking over the scene. But I can see that Channel 3 did not come here to play, they are researching, looking for ways to make a great BL with the information provided on the past BLs and they want to make it big. And you know what with shows like GEN Y showing up last year, I want to believe that Channel 3 is a competition for GMMTV and others. They invest in funds and have longer minutes for their episodes, and they also pay attention to international fans by streaming on new places like Iquiyi and others. It's exciting. Channel 3 has already dipped their toes with Love Mechanics, and in 2021 they have even more shows to give us:

Teddy Bear Miracle

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Supernatural, Drama, Friends to Lovers, Fantasy,  Mystery, Lakorn

What a weird title for a show. What an odd premise. What a bizarre book. But you know what I'm so excited about this; this is meant to be a lakorn series that is BL. Like wow, it has a good cast, known faces in the Thai acting scene and a director/screenwriter who has won awards for his own script. That's even more exciting. But the best thing about this is that it's a fantasy and has supernatural themes, yep it's weird we're dealing with a magic system where teddy bears come to life, and other inanimate objects talk? But I'm so excited to see what this brings; we have a man transformed from a teddy bear with amnesia who's searching for his past and how he ended up as one and his owner who's not yet ready to let his comfort go. It's so interesting, with family history and drama and of course, a romance that will probably touch my heart. I'm excited for this zany, wacky and dramatic show. Normally, I shy away from the crazy because I don't like crack humour, and it just means a bunch of many irritating sound effects and editing choices. But I want to trust the whole team from Channel 3, from the behind the scenes the show looks great, the couple has chemistry, and I'm excited to delve into the mystery at play and see what this story is meant to become. So excited honestly.

Ratings: 4.1/5 The wacky magic system scares me not going to lie, but I have faith for some reason in Channel 3, so I think this might shock us all. I think we'll get good acting, and perhaps good directing too. The mystery might also make me want to analyse. We shall see.

Lovely Writer

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Angst, Drama, Acting/Writing Industry, Haters to Lovers,  

Did you say Kao and Up and P'Tee the director of TharnType the series? Sign me up I'm there; I've been screaming a bit since I heard about this series. From the first time, it was announced that Channel 3 was turning the book into a show, I was like this sounds unique again? And it has an interesting plot, I guess, and it's also going to have drama. I'm hopeful then. When I heard about the whole team and watched the trailer, I got into it even more. Lovely Writer sounds right up my alley, to be honest, we have this introverted writer who is determined to write a masterpiece and stop his company from making him produce BLs for the hype only for his next project to be a BL show which leads him to his new sneaky, sly, wolf in sheep's clothing roommate. Kao played his roommate from Until we meet again who won my heart as Korn and made me cry buckets. So, of course, I'm excited, Nubsib (Kao) may have some tricks up his sleeve to get next to Gene, but I think things will be more complicated than he thought, I'm ready to explore the world of the film industry and dating scandals that Gene and Sib will fall into the more they fall for each other. The angst and drama. Can't wait. Also, TharnType is one of my favourite series, and one of the reasons is because of Tee so... That's even more reason to see Gene and Sip's love story develop. Will it be as angsty, passionate and filled with plot twists? From what I hear maybe. 

Ratings: 4/5 I just think this is an excellent team for a BL backed by Channel 3 and also has an exciting plot filled with ups and downs. I'm excited to see what happens and from the behind the scenes they released in the new year I think it'll be right up my alley.

NADAO

It had to be mentioned that I'm still in shock that Nadao is investing more into BL's. I don't know why, it just feels too good to be true, after giving me show after show that's perfection and quality I'm starting to have high expectations and hope for more, despite my weary heart not wanting to trust that this is real. I'm dramatic, I know. Anyways Nadao has gifted me twice with two shows that have shocked me and made my jaw fall in awe. I'm just like wow, they really did that. Every single piece of work that comes from them is art. Every single script is exceptionally written. Every single show is acted beautifully, and every single director and producer makes me inspired by the way they create. This is when focusing on their BLs because Great Man Academy and I told sunset about you are masterpieces in their own way, they deserve to be praised and never forgotten. It's just incredible that with a company like Nadao, everything falls into place, even when we think it won't because of past experiences. Nadao has shown up and decided to create unique pieces each thoughtful. Deep and breathtaking. Why won't I be over the moon when 2021 announces that we're getting another part from them with I told sunset about you getting a sequel. You bet I haven't stopped screaming and looking at the time to hurry up, so we get to March 11. I'm serious.

ITSAY PART 2

Genre: Romance,  Angst, Drama, University, Coming of age

And that's because of what ITSAY was to us in 2020. It was something that can't be explained concisely. It was everything. To hear that we're getting the second part of the story of Oh and Teh, I feel like I am already preparing my heart and mind for another invasion, last time I was a mess because of this show, I was all over the place because of this show, and I was incredibly happy for a moment because of this show. To relive that again would be everything. It's slightly worrying that Teh and Oh finally getting together and fighting through the odds to stay together will run into more obstacles. Are you kidding me? After all, we went through to see them together?? It makes me worried, I have this real distrust for sequels of BLs, and it hasn't changed despite 2020 producing some okay follow-ups. Sequels never meet the expectation set; sequels are always reduced in quality because the focus is now on popularity and fame, sequels lose their integrity of the characters we've come to know and love and sequels hurt. They make me sometimes give up on a show that is my love, and it hurts. It's a painful realisation that I can't take away or forget the sequel events, so these characters are now ruined infinitely for me—looking at Together with me next chapter. It's scary. But Nadao hasn't failed yet, I mean it when I say their scripts are like works of art, I mean it when I say you can tell they put blood, sweat and tears to create their shows, why would ITSAY part 2 be any different? These two shows I mentioned before are coming together because the director of GMA is joining the team of ITSAY to produce whilst Boss becomes the producer. As long as he's there, I'm fine, as long as we still get hard work, energy, effort and thought put into it. I'm fine. Because it translates on screen, I'll try to lower my expectations, but I can't wait to see BilkinPP as TehOh again. I can't wait to fall in love with the show all over again. Let's hope we all end up satisfied. 

Ratings: 4.5/5 The being a sequel is what's deducting the 0.5. I can't come here and be a fool; I must guard my heart against disappointment somewhat, despite failing already to do so.

Other Affiliates

We have our other shows. These were a pleasant surprise. With all the growth of new BLs, it's starting to get crowded and saturated, but as much as it's hard to see which shows stand out above all the noise,  some make you see it. These shows are the ones that stand out for me out of the rest in 2021. I don't know what companies they're from, all I know is the information given to me and past experiences.

KinnPorsche

Genre: Romance, Mafia, Angst, Drama, Friends to Lovers, Haters to Lovers, Bodyguard trope

AHHH. Can you hear me AHH. Okay, I'll calm down. But no really, KinnPorsche is finally preparing for filming and the cast has been set and I'm screaming. KinnPorsche was the book in 2020 that was announced as the most coveted; I remember so many fandoms wanted their actors to be chosen as the main cast. The reason? Because this is meant to be the first Mafia/Crime BL. Yes, you heard us, no more universities and engineers we're doing bodyguards and spoilt gangsters. I'm... But just knowing this, you just know that the show will also have angst, angst angstttt for days, drama, and a romance that probably involves haters to lovers, passion, and character development. We're coming in with guns blazing, with many side couples that look just as good and interesting, and many actors that look perfect for their roles. I cannot wait for KinnPorsche, especially when one of my favourite actors is going to be in it as a second lead Jeff Satur! Have you seen the posters, the character introduction, who they're casting for the rest of the show? This looks amazing, it seems well put together, and the whole team looks determined and ready to give us a great show. I'm honestly so excited, but I've also heard things about the book that I will have to wait for the show to be a judge of before saying. All I can say is quality of a show also includes the themes in the script, we're trying to evolve past the toxic plots and ideas in BL, so I'm hoping if there is any we cut it real quick and change that part. It's the producers and directors' choice to keep parts in that could be edited or removed. I haven't read the book, so I'm going to be wary about it for now, but from the whole cast, teasers, and posters I really think this show could be a favourite if appropriately handled. 

Ratings: 4?/5 The question mark is for the rumours I've heard about the book. I can't lie that I want this show to be great and become one of my all-time favourites but with angst and violent personalities and passion comes leeways to toxicity and more and that's just not cute or needed.

My Engineer Season 2

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Angst, Drama, Friends to Lovers, Haters to Lovers, Unrequited love,  University,

Okay, this is it, folks. My Engineer came in 2020 and knocked our socks off; it's the most underrated great show in 2020 (apart from why r u) in my opinion. It was brilliantly constructed with enough screen time and plot for every couple of the show. My Engineer is a great show; it didn't make it to my favourites because I had issues with the main couple, but it was my most enjoyed when it came to the side couples. Because we had KingRam, TharaFong, and MekBoss. (Sorry to BohnDuen Fans). These were some of the most exciting, heartfelt, loving couples in 2020, KingRam was just chef kiss. And to hear that we're getting a sequel based on them? Well you know what I did, I screamed. I loved both KingRam and TharaFrong they were done so well, acted so well, and they made me laugh and laugh and then squeal and blush. They were too cute. The ending of my engineer left both these couples on a cliff hanger; we had a depressing bro zone with TharaFong as Fong came to realise his feelings, we had a wait what moment with Ram telling King he wasn't drunk when the kiss happened which is essentially a 'we need to deal with this new situation' text. And it's got me so excited to see what happens next. The first part of this was excitement. The second part is sigh, sequels. I told you didn't sequels are just urgh. I couldn't stop my excitement about KingRam, and I went to read the novel, and I usually don't mind it, but I don't think if the sequel is based on their story that I'd like them in season 2. And that's ridiculous because they're finally the main couple of season 2, and TalayPerth is impressive to see on screen. Sigh. I wasn't happy when reading the book; there are specific actions and choices made that just shifts the dynamic of the first season into the opposite. And I'm not particularly excited to relive those moments. Let's just say I still have high hopes for My engineer mostly cause I don't know what's happening to the other couples; I really hope there's a change in the script, maybe more information, more reasons for the characters to act the way they do, more depth? Because I want to like this show, I want it successful, but I'm not a clown I can't pretend it will be if it's based on the books. We'll see if I'm proved wrong. I hope I am.

Ratings: 3.5- Why did I read the book why?? I should have come into it blind I would have given it a 5/5 just for KingRam. Sigh

Love Stage 

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Gender Bender, Friends to Lovers, Childhood friends,  

This was a shock. Thailand has started to remake mangas from Japan, and it's all the most loved ones. In 2021 we already have Antique Bakery being remade by GMMTV (Read my GMMTV Giants of 2021) and now we have Love Stage which is also getting a Japanese Movie remake out in 2021. It's a great manga, anime and it's going to be a fun show. I enjoyed the characters, and I liked the storyline. But what I'm the most excited about when it comes to this is Kaownah and Turbo finally, after years of waiting have a new series. YES. Kaownah plays Long in TharnType our villain, and he was incredible in that. I heard he and Turbo were meant to be in the show My Umbrella, but it was cancelled and forgotten which was disappointing. These two are so cute, they're known for their fanservice and their chemistry and friendship. And I like them a lot. I can't wait to see Love Stage. I think they'll kill it. Can't wait to hear more about it let's hope this time it sticks and comes through on our screens. 

Ratings: 4/5 It's a fun storyline, and it has an excellent acting couple. I'm excited.

If 2021 already sounded brilliant because of GMMTV 2021, 2021 sounds even more exciting with these new shows; there's so many coming out, so many breaking stereotypes, so many unique plotlines, and so many great actors showing up. It's going to be a great year. I'm just glad BLs are growing, things are changing slowly, things are starting to have meaning and improve, international fans are being listened to, LGBT voices is also being listened to, we are getting there, not yet there but closer, every single time someone makes a choice to create a great plot and story that is more than just two guys making out, a show filled with heart, messages and essential representation with the good actors that also want the shows to mean something or are willing to put their all in it, every time someone chooses to make a good BL, you're paving the way for change and for the meaning of BL to change as well, for it just to be seen as something more in media. And that's needed for so many people who want shows like this to be respected and created for voices that need to be heard and displayed. Let’s see more with excellent quality in 2021.

[odogaronfang]

i’m gonna post (1) thing about the aloe cookie "discourse" and that’s it

it’s fine to have your own headcanons about what pronouns a character uses. 

but you can’t make public posts with the non-canonical sets of pronouns, because these posts have the possibility of reaching other people who don’t know you, your headcanons, or your intentions. 

if you have a headcanon that a character is trans and you want to change their canonical pronouns to a different set of pronouns- WHY are you doing that? what about this character is leading you to do that? examine yourself and your biases before you do this, ESPECIALLY if you intend to publicly post and spread content that includes that headcanon. if you want to hc a cookie as transfem, why? if you headcanon them as transmasc, why? what stereotypes are you embracing when you’re doing this (always in an extremely predictable pattern for cis people)? (trans people, projection is different- it’s fine to see yourself in a character and want them to be trans like you. that’s not what i’m talking about, you all are fine.)

this fandom is deeply transphobic and already has an issue with pronouns and with disrespecting nonbinary characters and fans. it also has a serious issue with lesbians that mostly stems from seamoon “discourse” ie fans who are not lesbians degrading and attacking lesbians over the ship and going out of their way to erase the ONE (1) remotely canon piece of lesbian rep we get in the game.

with regards to aloe, it’s true that pronouns don’t equal gender. the problem is that, again, this fandom is extremely transphobic and particularly terrible towards nb characters. the cis people in this fandom don’t give half a shit about the nuanced relationship between pronouns and gender UNTIL it serves them in some way, aka it gives them an excuse to misgender characters in a way that sounds Woke And Inclusive. if aloe’s pronouns are confirmed to be she/her and you insist that she needs to be called by he/him because you wanted her to be ~A Man~ then guess what? that’s transphobic! congratulations!

we spent a lot of time not knowing aloe’s pronouns: the proper thing to do would have been to use they/them as a placeholder- which several people did do- but many of you saw that she looked vaguely masc and arbitrarily assigned her incorrect pronouns. now it’s time to suck it up. if you’re going to continue using he/him privately, fine. i can’t stop you, but please block me and don’t interact with me or my content. but when you continue to misgender her on your very public posts and then have the audacity to attack the people who call you out on it (many of whom are nonbinary and/or gnc sapphics), you’re just being transphobic and an annoying piece of shit, full stop. 

how can we correct this problem? well, there’s a solution! use canon pronouns in your posts! if you make a post intended for a public audience, go by CONFIRMED, CANON pronouns. if they go by he/him, don’t change it. don’t change she/her. do NOT use they/them, it/its, or any other pronouns as an invitation to “decide for yourself” because that is NOT what they/its pronouns mean. if they use they/them, use ONLY they/them; use it/its for those who go by it/its. that’s the solution! super easy! because no matter how “well intentioned” your headcanons are, trans people like myself are going to see you misgender these characters and automatically assume the worst of you.

trans, gnc and sapphic people are invited to discuss/add on this post. cis people and ESPECIALLY cishet people, if you say anything you’re getting blocked.

[sokkathebluewolf]

I am chickened out from gladiator because it is this long and it keeps getting longer is it worth my time to read it ??

... Uh, well. I can’t help but wonder if you’re aware this blog is run by the actual author of the story in question? I don’t know if you expect me to give you a non-biased answer when I’ve considered the story was worth 8 years of my life xD as far as I’m concerned, it absolutely has been worth it, but I can’t speak for the whole wide world when it comes to that. If you want the opinions of readers, there’s probably other blogs run by people who have read the story and who might have critical opinions about it... that may be what you were looking for. If, however, you were deliberately hoping to get my opinion on my own story... well, yes, for me it’s clearly worth it xD Otherwise, I would’ve quit ages ago.

The story is indeed very long and it keeps getting longer, and it will keep getting longer because we’re not done yet and won’t be for a while :’D if you’re the type of reader who can’t stand it when they catch up to stories and have to wait for updates, well, feel free to give it a shot when I’m done writing it, I guess? It’ll be a while until then, but it’s up to you. If you don’t like reading really long stories, then it’s probably better for you if you don’t force yourself to read this one, I know not everyone is ready to dedicate that much time to reading something, especially if they have lots of things to do. Hence, if the length daunts you, that’s alright, it daunts me too and I’m responsible for it xD it’s fine if that deters you from reading it.

But as the way you phrased your question almost sounded like you’re challenging me to give you some sort of sales pitch to catch your attention, let’s see if I can pull it off:

Gladiator is a massive ATLA AU, not only in terms of story length but also scope: it’s a complete rewrite of the entirety of ATLA in a more mature setting, starting chapter 1 with the characters 5 years older than they were in canon. Aang’s adventures in saving the world did not take place here because of a simple enough reason: Katara didn’t accompany Sokka on his boat on the fateful day when they were meant to find Aang, which means the story as we’ve known it simply doesn’t take place. I’ve taken liberties here and there, added some changes from canon when I needed to do so, in order to ensure the story works, but the gist of the story is to set a stage where the Fire Nation marched onwards, practically unopposed, and conquered the Earth Kingdom with the power of Sozin’s Comet (just in case it needs to be clarified, without certain technological developments, Ozai’s wild plan to incinerate the whole world wouldn’t happen, and if Team Avatar isn’t assembled before the Comet shows up, said technological developments simply wouldn’t exist... :’D). I’ve had to figure out how many details would change, how much of the original story would or wouldn’t happen without Team Avatar’s involvement, I think most my choices have been solid, but it’ll be up to you to decide if you think they are or not if you read the story.

The worldbuilding of Gladiator, then, is preeeetty huge and complicated because of that starting point. There’s a lot of elements that are completely new (such as the Gladiator League and all its derivates), some OCs, some lore expansion, so you can definitely say it’s an ambitious project. In a sense, I’ve reset canon to zero, and at the same time I haven’t, which makes things complicated but, for me, really fun to develop. If you’re interested in seeing more of the Avatarverse explored, characters repurposed, with new dynamics and relationships, Gladiator may just be what you’ve been looking for :D

In my experience, the main reason why most people stumble into this fic (other than by sorting FF.net’s ATLA stories by review count and drawing blanks upon glimpsing a Sokkla story on the first page xD) is because they’ve been drawn into Sokkla, or they’re looking for stories centered around Azula or Sokka. Gladiator, evidently, features all three such elements because, obviously, those two are the protagonists and their relationship is the beating heart of the whole tale. I’ve been asked in the past who’s the real protagonist and I honestly still have no idea xD but anyways, if you’re interested in reading a story with a toooooon of Azula character development, even if it takes place across a long, long time, this story may just do the trick. I’ve done the best I could to keep her character as true to what I believed a young adult Azula might become, within the circumstances of this story. She has grown a LOT in 200 chapters, goes without saying (if she hadn’t, I’d be one heck of a failure of an author x’D), so if you’re interested in seeing a slow but effective growth arc for Azula, you’ll certainly find that in Gladiator. Same is true for Sokka, but I think most people who come to this fic for Sokka are interested in seeing him being a badass, which we have plenty of as well xD still, it’s also a long and slow process for Sokka to grow into a powerful warrior, neither him nor Azula start out in the story with all the answers, and they both bump into many hurdles as they navigate their complicated lives.

There’s a lot of humor in Gladiator, perhaps more than expected with a story that has that sort of dark premise, but it’s, on great measure, because Sokka and Azula are inevitably given to banter xD if you want to read a lot of banter between those two, well, you may not be bored in 200 chapters because, while the nature of their exchanges does vary as they both develop, their conversations are usually pretty spirited and they love trying to outsmart each other all the time.

If you are already a Sokkla shipper and the main reason you’re here is because you want more Sokkla goodness in your life... I’ll just say Gladiator has become a bit of a dream come true for me as a Sokkla shipper as well, because it’s the perfect space for me to work with virtually every idea I’ve ever had for these two. Yes, there’s drama and conflict here and there, if you’re not too given to angst there’s a few parts of the story that won’t sit so well with you, though if you love angst you’ll probably enjoy them plenty... yet what I’m most proud of, with this story, is having developed their relationship not only as best I could, but I’ve also attempted to defy typical storytelling structures for romance stories, where the lead couple can’t seem to have a stable relationship because “that would be boring”. Screw that, man: these two have been in a serious relationship together in-story by now for well over half the published chapters, and I’ve had the time of my life writing their dynamics as a couple while the plot continues to develop around them. This, however, is not everyone’s cup of tea, so if you aren’t all that given to seeing such traditional romance storytelling structures dismissed because I wanted to write my favorite ship dealing with all their external struggles while finding strength in the bond they share, Gladiator may not hold your attention long enough for you to devote yourself to reading it beyond chapter 100-ish. On the other hand, if this subversion of romance structure is what you’ve been looking for all your life, or if it’s what you always wanted and never knew you wanted it, or if you’re simply curious as to whether it works or not, Gladiator may suit your interests fairly well. Again, Sokkla is the absolute center of this story, both together and independently, so if you want to see a rewrite of ATLA with them at the core of just... everything? xD that’s absolutely what you’ll find here.

That being said, there’s things I guess you should mind about Gladiator: I have some relatively controversial takes about certain things, including interpretations of fan-favorite characters that some people have been known to take offense over. I, personally, believe my interpretations of those characters don’t deviate that much from canon or that, when they do, the setting itself explains why the deviation works as it does, but due to the fact that I work with a protagonist who was in a villainous role back in ATLA, her relationships with some characters can be more complicated than a lot of people seem to believe they should be. Hence, if you’re not particularly adverse to reading content that brings up big questions about the motivations of certain characters, or how they’d react if the story from ATLA hadn’t happened exactly as it did, you’ll have enough fun in Gladiator. If, however, you don’t particularly care to see anything that shows beloved characters in a not-so-flattering light, this story may not be for you (though, if you’re willing to humor me and allow my story to question your perception of those characters, feel free to try the story as well). 

There’s also a variety of dark themes and situations in Gladiator, something that any reader should be warned about in this day and age: I am 100% against violence for the sake of violence, to name one such subject, and I generally try to portray it with as much nuance as possible, but even if I feature my own characters criticizing their violent world and wanting to put an end to the strife caused by the Fire Nation, some of the violence in Gladiator may be a little too much for the readers who prefer the tone of the original ATLA. Hence, if that’s how it is for you, it’s another reason to approach the story with caution. I won’t pretend I’ve handled every theme and subject perfectly, but I’ve never wanted the darker moments to feel gratuitous in any way, so if you’re open to reading a darker take on the Avatarverse, this may work for you after all.

Alas! If you want to see Azula growing out of the toxic Fire Nation indoctrination, if you want to see Sokka gaining confidence and strength as a man and warrior, if you want to see a fleshed-out but still very much villainous Ozai, if you want to see Toph fulfilling her dreams of joining an all-out fighting league where she can beat people up for a living, if you want to see a myriad of secondary ATLA characters (like Song, or Shoji!) given new lives and even genuine protagonism, if you want to see Zuko discovering he’s allowed to just... be happy? xD Gladiator may prove interesting enough for you.

Furthermore, if you want to see Azula being true friends with Mai and Ty Lee, discovering a dragon, developing new firebending styles, confronting her misplaced beliefs about herself, rebelling subtly (and lately, not so subtly) against her father, growing into a great leader who could change the Fire Nation’s nefarious direction...  aaand if you want to see Sokka fighting creatively (sometimes with TWO swords!), navigating the dangerous waters of interacting with Fire Lord Ozai, staying true to his beliefs while also learning that the world is not as black-and-white as he was raised to think it was, understanding himself better and making the most of his potential as a quick learner, writing embarrassing haiku and being an unapologetic rebel who goes toe-to-toe with Heads of State just because he can... yep. Probably read it? xD

Lastly... if you want to see Sokka and Azula grow through their mistakes, learning to understand each other, fighting side by side, training together, dancing to no music, learning the underrated pleasure of proper communication in a relationship, sassing each other left and right, flirting in ridiculous ways, taunting each other in many regards, laughing at each other’s terrible jokes, protecting each other fiercely, challenging each other to a spicy ramen eating contest, discovering indirect bending, being highly inappropriate at times and places where they shouldn’t be, making long, dangerous yet fun journeys together, sneaking around to meet up when they’re not supposed to, standing by each other in their darkest moments, watching over the other when they’re sick/injured, being ready to sacrifice virtually anything for each other, and even defying and defeating even death to save each other...? Well, I don’t know if there’s any other stories where you might find all of this, but I can guarantee you’ll find it in Gladiator :)

If none of this is convincing enough... that’s a shame, but I understand. If it convinced you to give it a shot, however... I guess I’ll just hope you enjoy it enough to stick around! :) thanks for taking my story into consideration regardless of whatever you decide. Have a nice day!

[fantranslatorbychoice]

Oh glob, what have I gotten myself into? Just some long updates lol XD

Well, the year’s almost over, and it’s already the second half. The first half was too much and to be honest, I had to swim with the circumstances I am in right now so I had to put this passion non-profit project on hold, like seriously. But I did started translating the first few pages as early as December last year, as my very nice benefactor actually sent me the rest of the entire set of the Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi series after sending off the first 4 volumes. Probably read the entire thing first. But hey, free stuff is free so why complain. Plus my benefactor actually got the entire set for a steal, won’t say how much but in Amazon Japan, the last time I checked the whole set is roughly around $150 or a bit around that. and that’s just the first 7 volumes. Probably there’s an entire set now that’s about $200, as the final volume was released around August 2019.

Spoiler alert: the entire light novel series is made up of 10 volumes, so if you read it, the afterword by Yuuma-sensei specifically says that volume 10 is the final one, and Yuuma-sensei feels sad about it.

Yeah I highlighted that part in red, just in case many Kakuriyo fans still have some extreme hunger pangs or are unsure whether the novel series has ended. Here you go, straight from the horse’s mouth. Yuuma-sensei also has another Ayakashi light novel series, 浅草鬼嫁日記, roughly-translated to “Asakusa Wife from Hell Diaries”. Seems fun, they’re literally ogres - Oni living in the real world, like a reverse Kakuriyo thing. Who knows, maybe someday I can score that series too lol. The writer really likes Ayakashi, if it’s not that obvious yet 草 草 草 草  yeah I write kusa lol oml I should stop... But returning to the Kakuriyo series.. I won’t spoil what happened lol but I will probably make a commentary on that once I get the translations up and running.

Which leads me to my next announcement:

I PLAN TO UPLOAD THE DIRECT TRANSLATIONS OF JUST THE INTERMISSIONS/INTERLUDES ( 幕間 ) AND THE AFTERWORDS (あとがき) OF EACH VOLUME.

Chapter 5 is the only complete and full English Translation that I will be uploading here, and the rest will be summarized versions of the chapters plus my translation notes and commentaries.

Bummer, right?

Well, to be honest, after starting my initial translations I ran into several issues which made me feel sucker-punched and added to the stuff I’m worried about:

Issues regarding plagiarism (either my stuff getting plagiarized or potentially being accused of it)

Translating everything actually takes too long, even for me (I’ll explain that later)

More serious issues like possible DMCA-ish complaints (won’t want my hardwork just getting flagged and killed)

Personal stuff piling up and affecting my momentum

To be honest, when I received the books, I was so excited to work with them and upload as much as I can. But lots of things happened one after another, plus the worldwide issue that we have right now, so doing fun stuff wasn’t at the front of my priorities. So at the moment, I am mostly offline, by necessity, like connection is slower and with data cap, so I mostly do my translations with whatever hardcopies of dictionaries that I have on hand, offline. It’s good and all since I can put my skills to the test, but it can be expected that not all of the words are available in the books so I still have to hook on Jisho just to find the missing words I need. So my stuff pretty much looks like this:

I could just take pictures of these and upload them here but the maximum number of pics that tumblr allows is 15, and good glob I have more than 15 pages of translated material. Plus, as you can see above, some parts are untranslated and I had to find them in Jisho once I get online, so right now I have about 50% word-processed with the raw parts cooked, and I only have 12 raw pages remaining to be cooked and hashed lol

Which leads me to my next issues: my slowness (yeah I have to surrender on my slowness) and my fears regarding plagiarism.

I actually only started doing these translations in full blast around 2 months ago, and eventually I had to slow down so I won’t get bogged down since I also do other stuff. But I found out that ploughing through it can get quite draining. I started thinking that fan-subbing and scanlating were easier because aside from working digitally, these were also mostly done in teams so work time gets cut. Well, those were the days lol But for this one, aside from flying solo, I had to use all of my offline resources a lot, like doing everything by hand. It finally broke me about half-way and I had to step away from it, like reaaaaally step away from it. I thought I could finish 50+ pages in a span of a week. Well, I wasn’t exactly wrong there, but I also had other stuff to do, and if I just read it like I would any book without having to do anything, it’s a done deal. But having to translate stuff was draining, I felt frustrated so it broke me. I have to write each page by hand, leave out the words I can’t find or don’t know, and move on to the next page until my body stops working. Rinse and repeat until I could finish about 10 pages and get on with the typesetting and completing the missing parts. That takes a while so I just do my best to be patient.

Then the thoughts of plagiarism popped in and out, like I started thinking how to ensure that my stuff doesn’t get stolen and reposted elsewhere, or worse, getting my site shut down because fan translations are ambiguously illegal, like fansubs and scanlations, and I think those were what got me the most, so I just gave up midway. I’d say ambiguously illegal because if a series or title wasn’t licensed elsewhere then translating it is a fair game. But if it’s already released as a translated version by publishers, then releasing a translated version is like labelled as stealing, even if it’s non-profit. Of course profiteering is the worst, some steal what others work hard for, that they did for free, and sell them off. Scumbags to the bone smh I do my best to be within the fair use thing since I understand how much effort is made in creating content, so at present I have just decided to just put up the intermissions and the afterwords because aside from these being only a few pages long, it’s less likely to get whacked. Plus it’s easier for my psyche to just sum up each chapter and add some comments on it so it won’t be taken down, plus I wont’ be too-attached so even if some nutjobs repost it elsewhere because some people are just unempathetic like that, at least I won’t be as resentful. Plus the afterwords are just so cute, Yuuma-sensei gives off an adorable and relatable vibe, so I feel like aside from just showing off her stories, I think she needs to get signal-boosted too, so people would have an idea on who wrote this hunger-inducing light novel series lol.  I only started to pick up the whole thing again about a week ago, and I still wasn’t fast but at least I got to add at least 20 more pages translated, plus I started to type the first pages and add the missing words so at the very least, I felt some sort of achievement. It gave me some hope, and to be honest I have been doing this to maintain my sanity even for just a bit, so I guess I will do my best to bring Yuuma-sensei’s work out into the world. It’s a really good series, and it got animated into 2 seasons, plus the manga’s out, so that says a lot on how the series caught on. It can’t be denied that it’s a really engrossing series, so I don’t see any reason why this really good series should remain hidden. It probably has a lot of fans but aren’t being too attached into it because of language barriers, and even in my own way, I would like to bridge that gap. I mean, I may have slow internet that can only open mails in basic html but hey, this is the least I could do for the fandom. It’s not like I spew out doujin stuff or anything lol

OK, so summing up this long-ass update:

Chapter 5 - The Mysterious Capital Youto** - coming soon

Will just translate the intermissions and afterwords into English

English summaries of the chapters plus commentaries will be uploaded

Please don’t expect any fast uploads lol it’s not like I do ctrl+A into Google translate and slap it in here. Nothing against doing that but.. uhm, sometimes AI don’t get the nuances translated, and a lot gets lost in translation, so at best, anything done by some trash enthusiast, even noobs can still have some oomph in it that soulless beings can’t even top off. But hey, that’s just my opinion lol

So yeah, there you have it, a long update. Oh, and I changed the name of this blog because I have other raw stuff that I may be able to put here without any fear of being taken down because they’re in the public domain, so they’re all fair game since I don’t get any profit from them anyway and others may also appreciate them too. Hint: One is a series of Japanese classic  fantasy short stories, the other one is a set of instructional manuals on how to write kana and kanji in ballpen and brushpens. They’re a bit lighter so once I get Chapter 5 up I’ll do them as soon as I get rested.

See you all later and thank you for stumbling in this blog. xoxoxo

[queernuck]

To understand Jon Bois, to understand 17776, to understand a great deal of what makes his work so pivotal to understanding the metacultural impact of sporting subcultures, the reversal of his deconstructive approach, the re-insertion of the denatured moment into the movement-image, is necessary.

On November 30th, 2013, Auburn and Alabama met in the Iron Bowl, the traditional name for the rivalry matchup between the two schools. If you’re new to NCAA Football, you’ll notice that sometimes teams have small numbers in front of their names when you check a score. Sometimes, only one team has a number, other times they both do. The exact means by which these rankings are qualified is a complex weighing that involves “quality of wins” as well as the amount in which they are earned, meaning that a team that has not lost a game can be ranked below a team who has. This seems strange, until you take any kind of comparative look at the teams in question. The NCAA itself is not the body that awards the most widely recognized national championship status on college football teams, and the system by which teams are ranked involves both quantitative and qualitative measures, and as with any sport the quantitative measures at hand are effectively approximations of qualitative values, even moreso now that the top level of NCAA football is directed by the rankings of the CFP, or College Football Playoff system. But this was in 2013, in the final death rattles of the BCS, or Bowl Championship System, before Condoleezza Rice was deciding exactly how good NCAA Football teams were, the BCS involved a relatively complex series of polls and computer judgments in order to figure out exactly how good a team was.

Now, this is a system with a rule specifically dictating how Notre Dame should be handled if ranked in the Top 8 teams due to the Fighting Irish not belonging to any of the major subdivisions of top-flight NCAA Football for BCS purposes. It should not surprise you that, if Notre Dame as a school is being given a division of its own, a kind of monastic order of football warriors, it relies heavily on traditionalist and perhaps reactionary concepts of what a football school must be. These rankings skew heavily in favor of a relatively small handful of schools, with a few on the edge falling off or climbing back in every once in a while but with a core consisting of schools like Miami, Ohio State, Clemson, Penn State, USC, LSU, Texas, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma. And among these, Alabama has been the team to beat. 

While American soccer culture has a great deal to live up to, the sort of cradle-to-grave fanaticism that is ascribed to European Casuals is absolutely present in Alabama fans. A notable local news segment about a grade school teacher caught with heroin in his classroom featured a brief interview as he was entering a prison van, of only two words: Roll Tide. The rallying cry of Alabama’s football team, the Crimson Tide, “Roll Tide” is a kind of signifier of signifiers, varying contextually with a cultural nuance exceeded only by the likes of “shalom”. Alabama football has always been good, but the absolute absurdity of their recent success is difficult to explain without a season-by-season breakdown of their various bowl victories and current spot as national champion. The school has produced both NFL Stars and NFL Busts alike, and holds a special kind of singular status within the structure of the NCAA. Referring to the team by their full name is rarely necessary, almost as if it is profane or outright demonic. For most, most of the time, they are simply ‘Bama. 

Additionally, while the Crimson Tide hold far more of a share in Alabama’s culture, their rivals at Auburn are none too shabby when it comes to contesting just about anything. The Tigers, with their “War Eagle” chant (with a possibly acrophycal story attributing its origins to fans cheering on the Tigers as they marched down the field against Georgia while a previously-injured eagle found on a Civil War battlefield circled overhead) and famous walk from the campus to the stadium before games have their own culture, and as with many “second teams” certain singularities based around beating their usually-better rivals.

This is where a certain metacultural dynamic comes in, when a city or state or even nation takes on a “second team” which has neither the draw nor success of the first, which leads to a kind of strange Oedipal act of identification with the object of desire, of hatred, of so many different fantasies and fetishes. When mixed with structures of rivalry and identification developing from these rival oppositions, a kind of dual identification means that both teams are inevitably linked to one another. The Mets have their Yankees, the Islanders have their Rangers, the White Sox have their Cubs (or the Cubs have their White Sox), the Chargers and Raiders and Rams all have one another, as is the case in the NFC East, the Lakers have their Celtics, the Clippers have their Lakers, the Red Sox have their Yankees, the Orioles have their Yankees, the majority of the MLB has their Yankees, in fact. But putting that aside, the act of identification through ironic mirroring is a foundational part of what makes rivalry work in a metacultural sense. A rivalry as one-sided as, say, Steelers-Browns has often been generally takes place off the field, where scores can be settled in a fashion that can actually have even odds. Others are almost entirely cultural: the Yankees and Mets very rarely meet one another in any serious context, and the same is true of the Giants and Jets, and yet there is a foundational commitment to one or the other that comes with living in New York.

And Alabama was a team to define oneself against. Nick Saban, one of the best currently-active NCAA football coaches, the sort of name that gets mentioned as a Trotsky to Bill Belichick’s Stalin, was coaching a team that was then, and still is, almost impossibly good. With no time-outs left, Alabama was trying to win the game last-minute by taking long shots down the field, and after Saban insisted on a review following what seemed to be the expiration of the game clock and the start of a slow capitulation toward Overtime, it was found that the Crimson Tide indeed had a single second left on the clock, enough to run one play. After an embarrassing performance by their starting kicker, a freshman wearing 99 was sent out to attempt a field goal from 57 yards out.

In the NFL, within a certain range a field goal attempt is upwards of 90% probable to result in a completion. The 40s get a bit hairy, and the 50s see a dramatic drop. In college football, with kicking talent spread far thinner, breaking the 50 yard barrier is enough to secure a future spot in the NFL, not an easy feat for players who represent perhaps the most replaceable part of an NFL team other than the punter. The gulf between 4th-ranked Auburn and 1st-ranked Alabama was the only thing that could measure up to the distance Saban hoped his freshman could make up. 

He did not.

In 17776, Jon Bois takes a portion of this call, that of the “answered prayer” coming in the form of the Kick Six, to represent reversal, change, an absolutely transcendent sort of moment that stuns even half a decade later. Chris Davis, standing in his own end zone, caught the short kick and ran it back across the entire field for the game-winning touchdown.

When Bois wrote and created 17776, the Homestuck comparisons were likely anticipated, or at least not a surprise once they were made. Any multimedia project post-Homestuck will be compared to it, especially considering the success of both Homestuck itself (achieving the feat of publication in an era where webcomics getting books is a genuine rarity) and various related franchises (Undertale being given to the Pope) leading to a sort of hegemony over mixed-media internet presentations. For many, 17776 was about characters first, and football never. But Bois is a sportswriter, and his writing was executed in such a way that it allowed the audience to ignore that it was posing a fundamental question about the nature of football. In a sport where every play is made up of little traumas, of a kind of eternal death-drive, it takes the creation of football as a wilderness sport with ultramarathons breaking up plays and nanobots that allow human bodies to withstand tornadoes (after they have mysteriously stopped aging, no less) to maintain the spirit of football without dealing with the unfortunate realization that eventually, the ethical questions of football will be faced with an ability to diagnose Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, in living brains rather than dead ones. Eventually, the faith will die, Football’s AT&T Temple will fall, it will have its Vatican II and be forever transformed. But for now, prayers are answered.

That a moment like this was ever possible is only due to a long history of animosity and opposition that stretches back decades, but for most that history is unimportant. Bois is able to capture that by removing all image and instead restructuring the movement-image at hand with a shot of the sun cresting over the horizon. Another day, another prayer answered.

Watching the video, knowing what happens, it almost has an uncanny feeling to it, a hyperreal quality where there never could have been a completed field goal and the ball is in the end zone before Davis even catches it. The merits of Saban’s approach here sum up his desire for decisive victories, an important quality to maintain the status he keeps at Alabama. Its undoing by a kind of Anti-Oedipal Auburn, the one moment that could not have happened, stands for so much of what college football desires that it is perhaps the perfect play.

That sort of restructuring, the deconstructive reframing of a moment in order to extract a singularity of becoming, is at the center of Bois’ work. When he plays Madden in ways that make it look like a Bethesda game, when he is providing the accompaniment to a Chapo Trap House documentary about MMA fighting, when he is making satellites talk to each other, he is never writing about sports alone. But he is never not writing about sports in these cases, is never untrue or disingenuous in his approach. Just as genre fiction authors defend their craft, the depth of Bois’ work is neither because nor in spite of his subjects: rather, it consists of them.

[johnnymundano]

Class of 1999 (1990)

Directed by Mark L. Lester

Written by C. Courtney Joyner

Story by Mark L. Lester

Music by Michael Hoenig

Country: United States

Language: English

Running Time: 99 minutes

CAST

Bradley Gregg as Cody Culp

Traci Lind as Christie Langford

John P. Ryan as Mr. Hardin

Pam Grier as Miss Connors

Patrick Kilpatrick as Mr. Bryles

Stacy Keach as Dr. Robert "Bob" Forest

Malcolm McDowell as Dr. Miles Langford

Darren E. Burrows as Sonny

Joshua John Miller as Angel

Sharon Wyatt as Janice Culp

James Medina as Hector

Jason Oliver as Curt

Brent David Fraser as Flavio

Jill Gatsby as Dawn

Sean Hagerty as Reedy

And Rose McGowan as girl briefly glimpsed sat in a chair

Class of 1999 is one of those movies which were once set in the future but are now set in the past, which is always funny. It must certainly have tickled director Mark L. Lester since this is his second such movie, the first being Class of 1984 (1982). The intellectuals out there will have noticed both movies are also set in schools. Judging by the content of them I think we can infer Mark L. Lester has strong emotions about his schooldays. Negative emotions. Back in 1982 in the UK Class of 1984 upset a lot of people who decided what we could watch, and so it was not passed as uncut until 2005. Unfortunately by then I was busy self-destructing and by the time I surfaced as a functional human being DVD was passé, alas. I’m waiting for the Blu-Ray now so I still haven’t seen it, basically; but I will, I will. That cinematic bad boy sure sounds a lot harder and nastier than Class of 1999, which is the kind of goofy pulp schlock that video store chains were built on. “The year is 1999 and school’s out – FOREVER!” the tag line doesn’t run (but totally should, in howling electric lime green if possible).

Teens! Little shits! Always a problem, but particularly so in the ‘80s when feral gangs ran wild and committed heinous crimes, in fact just like they had since the teenager was invented (the 1920s) but sometimes it’s politically expedient for reactionary assholes to pretend it’s a new problem, and the ‘80s was particularly rich in reactionary assholes. So we were constantly being told that the kids weren’t alright. Movies like Class of 1984 probably helped feed the fires of hysteria and Class of 1999 seems like a kind of belated atonement for this. This time Lester seems to be mocking the ridiculous reactionary horseshit which turns troubled youth into a patsy for political and financial gain, and all the ridiculous reactionary bullshit solutions proposed which never actually address the root causes (because that would require thought, money and time) and hence do nothing to ameliorate the problem, but always end up making someone rich (usually , spookily enough, the someone sponsoring the reactionary assholes involved). You know, the kind of Twinkie® head who thinks the solution to school shootings is arming teachers. Shit, just cut straight to arming the kids as well and whoever walks out at home time wins. Televise it, monetise it, get some revenue streams going. Don’t piss about, people!

Class of 1999 certainly doesn’t piss about. By 1999, every reactionary asshole’s wet dream has come true;  all across America youth gangs with bandannas and guns have established free fire zones, where the police fear to tread and schools have begun shutting down. Obviously the problem must be the bandannas as it can’t be the guns, because what your latte drinking, book reading, cat grooming “Leftee” never gets is that no problem in America is ever down to guns; not even when it involve guns; especially not when removing guns would remove the problem. Because of the easy access to bandannas things are in such a state that the Department of Education is now the Department of Education and Defence (DED; geddit?). This rebranding allows for some real blue-skying and results in a joint project with MegaTech to take back the schools by piloting the introduction of android teachers. Mega-Tech, like any responsible corporation that probably doesn’t pay its taxes, decides to cut corners and use three military androids gathering dust due to the early end of a recent war. Things escalate quickly, and lessons are learned about simple solutions to complex problems and the evil fruits of a society which treats its kids as monsters and where bandannas are legal.

Miles Langford (Malcolm McDowell), the new principal at Seattle’s’ Kennedy High School, agrees to the use of his school for the initial introduction of the android educators. Langford is clearly a “progressive” (spit!) who wants the best for the kids (or “scum” to real, decent, working people) but is undone by his ambition; it’s a strangely nuanced performance in a remarkably (and deliberately) nuance free movie, but that’s the magic of Malcolm McDowell. Stacy Keach as MegaTech’s Dr Bob Forrest (Stacy Keach) doesn’t need nuance as he has decided to play his role in a white wig and white contacts, as an albino corporate asshole who remains perpetually unruffled no matter how bad things get. “The teachers are making hats out of the pupil’s internal organs.” a tech-head (probably a liberal who owns a book) might exclaim, only to have Dr Bob say “Wait, let’s see how things develop.” as he eats a banana. I’m not convinced Keach can actually see out of his white contact lenses but who gives a shit, it’s Stacy Keach! (The last time I saw Stacy Keach onscreen he was singing Elvis at a karaoke bar in Alexander Payne’s delightful Nebraska (2013). Stacy Keach, people!)

Dr Bob’s three androids are Mr. Hardin (John P. Ryan) for History, Ms Connors (Pam Grier) for Science and Mr. Bryles (Patrick Kilpatrick) for P.E. (and probably Geography; P.E. teachers always have to do Geography as well, in my experience; P.E. not actually being a real subject). Anyone who has wasted their eyes on the quirkier side of movies will already be excited by that list. John P. Ryan, whose jaw-popping performance in Runaway Train (1985) earned him a place in Movie Valhalla, is full-on here as a history teacher who prefers strategy to strangling but will strangle if pushed. Pam Grier should need no introduction and, despite returning to the screen here after illness, she is as lively a screen presence as ever, memorably taking an axe to the chest like it’s a gnat bouncing off her. And Patrick Kilpatrick’s name might not be known to you but he has probably died at the hands of your favourite ‘80s/’90s action star, probably as revenge for being a better actor than any of them. Basically, these three ‘droids rock. As does Bradley Gregg as Cody Culp, the youthful ex-gangbanger recently released from pokey who is caught between the gangs and the teachers like a pretzel in a car crusher. Gregg acts like he’s in a serious movie and his earnest solidity helps stop the comic book ridiculousness swamping everything. Which is no mean feat in a movie where an albino Stacy Keach eats a banana.

Obviously I was taken by the banana bit, but a lot more stuff happens in Class of 1999 than albino potassium ingestion. Unfortunately quite a lot of it involves the rival gangs who are not the most interesting part of the movie. But they do fight a lot so there is that. In fact they fight more than usual as the robo-teachers niftily set them against each other, before the kids “wise up” and take on the real enemy in a night time school siege, which swiftly descends into a slaughtertastic game of cat and mouse, or android and pupil, if you will. Despite its limitations, in 2018 Class of 1999 remains a fun film for teens, fans of films that mock reactionary assholes, people who wish The Terminator (1984) was set in a school, and, crucially, P.E. teachers who wish they could use a flamethrower on that kid who took the piss out of them for teaching Geography.

[ignissa]

During a flashback, eclipsia makes a brief comment (though a case of Ambiguous Syntax) that implies that her situation between her husband and monster lover was more complex than simply cheating on her husband and fleeing with a monster. Moon: I can't even decide which boy I like! Eclipsa: I know how you feel (I even heard a theory that the situation with tom star, and marco is a bit of a reversal of what happens with eclipsia. with tom being the royal *but demon) and marco not being royalty

This is a very good point. I feel like I’ve been much less harsh on Shastacan and much more forgiving of his actions than many other fans, mostly because I think it’s valuable to play devil’s advocate a bit in cases like these. We don’t know the nuances of the situation, so it doesn’t seem all that fair to demonise him right off the bat.

Although the way they’re presented in the box’s projection during the trial emphasises how different Eclipsa and Shastacan are visually (especially when it comes to their fashion choices), and the clip we see of him in Skooled demonstrates how different his personality, diction and temperament is from Eclipsa’s, we can’t rule out the idea that marriage and ruling the Butterfly Kingdom changed the two of them in some way. Perhaps younger Shastacan (who, it should be added, hadn’t yet been abandoned by his wife - we haven’t exactly seen him at his best) was more fun-loving, and younger Eclipsa was more serious?

So yes, while it’s fairly likely that they married for politics and power rather than love (as would fit nicely with the medieval setting the show draws influence from), it’s not impossible that there was affection between them at some point in time. Eclipsa was crowned Queen at a fairly young age, so I don’t think it was an arranged marriage (unless she was betrothed young). The “King Shastacan” that we the audience are introduced to is a man who has been left in charge of a Kingdom he cannot rightfully claim having been abandoned by his wife the rightful ruler, and left with another man’s child whose very existence threatens this position. As I’ve previously argued, we can’t look at his behaviour under these circumstances and confidently say this is how he always acted.

Indeed, Eclipsa may well have been genuinely conflicted between following the politically safe option or her heart, as she suggests to Moon. Of course, as with everything Eclipsa tells us, it’s also possible that she is lying, or at least bending the truth to garner more sympathy from Moon. Alternatively, if we look at the actual dialogue exchanged between the two of them, Eclipsa may not be specifically talking about romance:

Eclipsa:Well, it’s just you’re far too young to be queen, unless… Oh, no. Unless your mother – is she…?

Moon:[sniffles, nods]

Eclipsa:I see. I lost my mother, too, when I was not much older than you.

Moon:Ever since Mom… Um, since I became queen, everybody’s been looking to me to end the war and make all these big decisions, but I’m just a kid! I can’t decide the fate of Mewni! I can’t even decide which boy I like!

Eclipsa:I know how you feel. 

Eclipsa may be talking more about the struggles of becoming Queen at such a young age - people expecting you to know what to do, to make the right decisions under so much pressure, etc. Eclipsa is a lot like Star; imagine how Star would have felt if she had inherited the throne at the beginning of season two, around about the same time as Mr Candle Cares, where it is revealed that she is terrified of being forced to abandon her sense of self for the sake of the throne. I don’t think Eclipsa was happy in the position she was forced into, and I don’t think she had a support system to fall back on. It sorta adds a layer of bittersweetness to her interactions with Glossaryck, who would have been the only person entirely on her side throughout everything. The book and Glossaryck ended up in the hands of the new Royal Family, where he would have been forced to watch as future generations were lied to about Eclipsa and their own heritages. It’s a bit of a tangent, but I’ve previously theorised that Glossaryck wanted Eclipsa freed.

As for the parallels to the Marco/Star/Tom situation, I think there is one fairly major difference; it’s never been suggested that anyone in Mewni would disapprove of Star and Marco’s relationship. For instance, we’ve never encountered any racism towards people from other dimensions on the part of Mewmans, whereas Tom (despite Starfari introducing the idea that he is a “different type of monster”, at least politically) is still a victim of anti-monster sentiment. None of the middle class Mewmans who attended Star’s song day seemed worried at the idea of the princess being with some random person (and we know that the implication of the song got across, because both Tom and Higgs were under the impression that Star and Marco were dating). Star’s dad doesn’t seem upset about the idea that they might be dating in Camping Trip, and both he and Moon look on fondly at their awkward good-byes during Scent Of A Hoodie.

On the other end of things, I don’t think Star choosing Tom would be anywhere near as controversial as Eclipsa’s choice anyway. Firstly, Eclipsa was a married woman and a Queen - by running off with a monster she was not only breaking her wedding vows, but also demonstrating to her Kingdom that she wasn’t willing to fulfill her royal duties. Star and Tom dated (presumably for a good length of time) in the past; this was a relationship that was public knowledge and yet it’s not suggested to have been too controversial. Star even outright states in the guidebook that she feels political pressure to stay with Tom.

So yeah, I personally don’t get the impression that either choice would be too damaging to Star’s public image.

[bitcoinminershasrate]

Geforce GTX 1050 vs 1050 Ti GPU: Hashrate | Best Coins| Specs| Overclocking

Geforce GTX 1050 vs 1050 Ti GPU Mining: Hashrate | Overview| Profitability | Settings| Overclocking| Best coins to mine and Specs - Mining has become popular and profitable for a long time, in business it is worth thinking not only about the amount of earnings, but also about costs. Video cards are very expensive and besides, a lot of money is spent on power bills, so when choosing components, you should also make a bias towards low power consumption. The GTX 1050 Ti was once at the top of the charts for budget mining cards. But today this line of Nvidia graphics adapters is outdated and has almost exhausted its full potential. How to overclock a 1050 Ti video card for mining in order to build a more powerful farm will be written below. Graphics card specifications The NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1050 graphics card is one of the cheapest cards among the 10 series from NVIDIA. At the same time, it is able to cope with heavy loads and does not consume a lot of electricity . Also equipped with a good ventilation system, the video card is completely resistant to overheating and does not make a loud noise. The characteristics of the GeForce GTX 1050 do not correspond to the latest innovations, and three years ago, it was quite competitive even in the field of the newest and most powerful games. It is strongly discouraged to purchase such components as a mining farm even now, during the period of soaring prices for cryptocurrencies . The video card is only suitable for a budget gaming PC. Of course, launching mining on some algorithms is possible, but this will not bring real money. Unless the most profitable altcoins for this card will rise in price by another 3-4 times. But this is unlikely. Sooner or later, a new recession will come. Most likely, cryptocurrencies will not go down to the 2019 lows (although, who knows), but any correction will make such rigs unprofitable. Some blockchain projects will generally go broke and leave the market, while others will become more complex over time and weak GPUs will no longer cope. Which is better to choose, GeForce GTX 1050 or GTX 1050 Ti The lineup consisted of two video cards with one very important difference. But the funny thing is that these video cards are confused with each other, not only ordinary computer users, but even sales consultants of large electronics stores. They can sell a regular GTX 1050, for the price of a GTX 1050 TI, and vice versa.The GeForce 1050 Ti video card is still somehow suitable for mining, unlike its predecessor. In both versions, a new 14nm chipset was installed for the first time. Also, the architecture in the Ti version of the card is suitable for Pascal mining. The first version of the cards lacked good ventilation, which could provide stable and optimal heat dissipation, which prevents mining on a 1050 video card. But the GTX 1050 Ti, due to its performance and proper cooling of the processor, can work on a par with more expensive models of video cards. Also, the difference between the video cards of this series is the amount of virtual memory. For the Ti version, this is as much as 4 GB a year ago, such video accelerators could be used on Ethereum, but mining ETH at 1050 2 GB is no longer possible, like most other PoW cryptocurrencies. Coins with a DAG file less than 2GB can be counted on the fingers, and the profit from their production is minimal. The GTX 1050 Ti 4 GB graphics card has more mining potential.How many 1050 Ti mines per day and how much is spent on electricity can be found out by calculating the profit and finding out the cost of power supply in your region. More detailed information on this issue will be located below. Which video card to choose when buying, an overview of all models for mining at home Having decided that the TI version is most suitable for mining from this model line, you need to find out which of the companies engaged in the production of video cards can provide the best performance. To do this, we will consider in detail and compare models from different companies: GIGABYTE, ASUS, MSI and PALIT. Which video card to choose when buying, an overview of all models for mining at home The memory frequency of all video card manufacturers is almost the same, but the frequency characteristics differ greatly. Comparison of cooling systems Video cards also differ in the cooling system. So, for example, MSI  and Gigabyte graphics cards are equipped with high - quality fans and provide optimal cooling during loaded cards. Such cooling systems automatically suspend the operation of the fans when the video card does not heat up, which guarantees a long service life. But video cards from ASUS and Palit are equipped with simple fans that run constantly, which can fail at any time and lead to overheating of the GPU. Therefore, if you use the Gigabyte GTX 1050 Ti for mining, the video card will be able to constantly cool down, without harm to the fans. Buy a used video card with caution , as any disclosure has a resource of work. When mining, the video card works 24 hours a day at full load. Bench tests : GeForce GTX 1050 or GTX 1050 Ti To carry out the tests, a full-fledged system was assembled that corresponded to the cards. Performance tests were performed by running powerful games. For all data to be accurate, an SSD was installed. In fact, it turned out that the difference between all video cards is quite insignificant and amounts to 8 frames. Therefore, when choosing a manufacturer, it is worth relying on other indicators, for example, on the cooling system and the possibility of additional power and overclocking.https://www.youtube.com/embed/deYaESN-pIw?wmode=transparent&rel=0&feature=oembed When determining the possibility of earning cryptocurrency for each of the cards, Palit showed itself best of all, which is excellent for mining, but this is if you choose from those that have additional power. There are two fans installed on it and this is quite enough. The cost of the video card is about 12,000 rubles. Geforce GTX 1050 Ti mining, after overclocking, showed the following indicators: - Ethereum Classic - 14.5 Mh / s; - Veil-ProgPow - 6.5 Mh / s; - Ravencoin - 6.5 Mh / s; - Zclassic - 11.8 H / s; - Aion - 11.8 H / s; The memory overclocking of the two graphics processors is 800 MHz. The power limit is 77, and the core clock is +99. If you choose a card without additional power, then you should pay attention to the MSI GTX 1050 Ti 4GT OC, it is ideal for mining. Now it costs at least 14,490 rubles on the Yandex market , while the card is the most productive of the entire line. The price, given the high cost of mining cards, is not very high, but the income is also weak. What is better to mine with GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti, how to choose a coin GeForce GTX 1050 What can be mined at 1050 2 gb? Almost nothing. As already mentioned, coins with such a small DAG file and more or less serious income no longer exist in the current period. You will be able to mine digital currencies UBQ or DBIX, but the profitability will be almost zero. These coins are used by the outdated Innosilicon Asics miners, which, due to the small amount of memory, are no longer suitable for Ethereum mining. Although, if there is access to a free outlet and such a card, then why not. GeForce GTX 1050 Ti What is the best 1050 Ti mining for 2021? 1050 Ti is best for mining: - Zclassic (ZCL) - $ 1.01; - Zano (ZANO) - $ 0.88; - Vidulum (VDL) - $ 0.82; - HavenProtocol (XHV) - $ 0.80; - Ravencoin (RVN) - $ 0.77; - BitcoinGold (BTG) - $ 0.72; This is how much you can earn per day, excluding electricity costs, at the current rate of these cryptocurrencies. Indicators from the website of the WhatToMine online calculator are relevant as of 04/13/2021. The next day, the list of cryptocurrencies and the amount of profit may differ slightly. Choosing an algorithm, where to find a profitable coin To determine how much 1050 Ti 4 GB mining can bring, you can use the calculator on special sites. Based on the above, you can already roughly decide on the choice, but if this is not enough, then you can always use the service with an online profit calculator. There are a huge number of them on the net, but the most popular are Wattomine or Coincalculators. To calculate profitability, you will need to indicate the video card and the cost of light. Basically, it calculates the difference between income and costs.In any case, you can find out how many 1050 Ti mines per day even in a search engine, without calculating the profit, using a calculator. On average, the profit from one card is $ 0.50 per day. Please note that a farm with one low-power video card will not make a profit. After all, if you calculate the total consumption of all PC components, it turns out that you will spend all your mining earnings on paying electricity bills. How to overclock, programs and nuances Overclocking a video card is not so easy. Mining power and performance can sometimes be independent of each other. Can 1050 Ti be mineable for Ether? It is possible even if the consumption is limited to 75%. Less, only half of the hashrate of all the power. Due to this, heating is reduced and you can save several hundred rubles per month, on each GTX farm.Use MSI Afterburner to overclock video cards . The program is simple and easy to use, equipped with an intuitive interface. In order not to spoil the video card during overclocking, it is necessary to increase the memory and core frequencies gradually. Due to this, it will be possible to determine exactly what frequencies are available for the stable operation of this video card. The frequency of the cores on video cards can vary from 100-150 MHz, depending on the manufacturer. And from memory, up to a maximum of 999 MHz. Memory, like the frequency of cores, is very dependent on the chip manufacturer. Best of all, as it turned out, the Korean manufacturer Samsung coped with the production of chips.After overclocking the video card, you can try to combine the mining of the main cryptocurrency with another, less demanding one. Read the full article

[smokeybrand]

Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen

The rise of streaming has changed the entire landscape of movie making and i kind of love it. I wrote about how Netflix fundamentally shifted how films are made and distributed a while back so, if your curious on my take about that, you can search for that within this blog. This one isn’t about how the barrier to entry for film has been dramatically lowered but more about how these services have the ridiculous potential to right the wrongs forced upon fans and creators alike, by disingenuous studios. The Snyder Cut is a perfect example of this contradiction. For years, Warner Bros. refused to even entertain the idea of releasing Snyder’s cut of the film because Justice league was a financial flop. The ridiculous ting about that is the fact it failed because Warner made it fail.

In their hurry to compete with the MCU, they mandated the dark tone of Superman because Batman is their cash cow. We had just come of Nolan’s epic Dark Knight trilogy and, instead of understanding why that narrative tone fit for that character and finding one that aligns with Superman, they decided to just make an entire universe of brooding, violent, edgelord, nonsense and hired the guy who bright the most cynical comic book, ever, to the big screen, to do it. The Snyderverse exists because Batman made billions of dollars. lost in the hubris of “Why so serious” money, they turned Superman into Bat, Batman in to the f*cking Punisher, Wonder Woman into Girl Batman, though, that was rectified a little bit in 84 to abysmal results, Aquaman into Dude-Bro Wet Batman, Cyborg into Metal Emo Batman, and Flash into Speedster Spider-man. Warner chose to chase the superficial aesthetic in hope to cash in on that Nolan-adjacent tone, instead of actually building a world and it has crippled the DCEU to this day. That is until ATT came through with the biggest of dick energy.

ATT bought out Warner Media and HBO in an effort to compete with the juggernaut that is Disney and immediately forced the studio to release Snyder’s version of League. There has been an overwhelming amount of fan support for this clusterf*ck of a cinematic universe and, while i don’t particularly care for it because i don’t like how Snyder make’s movies, i recognize that there is a pretty large audience for this stuff. ATT recognized this, too, and since they needed content for their fledgling HBOmax streaming service, they basically forced WB to let Snyder have is due. This flew in the face of everything Warner was trying to do because they had already decided that the Snyderverse was a bust, even though they made it a point to craft the Snyderverse that way in the first place, to standout from the overly kiddy, overly commercial, laughably successful, MCU. They fired Snyder for doing the exact job they hired him to do and then gotbutt0hurt it didn’t work they way they wanted it to. That wasn’t Snyders fault. He delivered exactly what he pitched. Every film Zack Snyder has made, is some semblance of Watchmen. That’s the only movie he knows how to make. You can’t be mad that a man who noodles for catfish, comes home with a Gooch, even though halfway through you decided you wanted trout. ATT understood this, saw the potential duckets to be had, and let Snyder play in his edgelord, emo, universe to his heart’s content on WB’s dime and it paid off.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is four hours of bloated, unwieldy, brain-dead, spectacle, slathered in the worst kind of superficial pretension and grandiose self-indulgence. It’s so far up it’s own ass and i wouldn’t have it any other way. Zack Snyder was right. This thing’s ridiculous numbers prove that. This is his victory and and he deserves all of the shine. Now, i personally think that Zack Snyder is an awful filmmaker, but i am glad the Snyder Cut exists and i even more supportive of #RestoretheSnyderverse. I don’t care for his take on these characters but dude has a story he wants to tell and he deserves to tell it, especially after how dirty Warner did him him the first place. Listen, i cannot stress enough how much i think Snyder was the wrong choice to bring these characters to life but he had a plan and the studios wrecked it before throwing hum under the bus. Dude knew what he was doing and this version for the film proves that. Proof that Warner hates. They’ve already gone into over time distancing themselves from the project, the president of Warner Media going so far as to say this will be it for the Snyder verse. Nah. Not when it’s doing the numbers it is and ATT is running out of room to horde that cash. On the same day Warner released that statement about the Snyderverse being dead was released, someone leaked that ATT is trying to use HBOmax as an outlet to restore that laughably profitable Snyderverse. If these rumors are true, then the fact that HBOmax exists is how this version of the DCEU continues in direct competition with the Hamadaverse of films. Warner is, effectively, competing with itself at this point and i kind of love it, all thanks to streaming.

I love director’s cuts of films. They almost always come off better than the original, theatrical, release. Studios often butcher and rend a creator’s vision in order to maximize profits by fitting in the most viewing at a theater or alter key elements of a narrative that doesn’t jive with generic test audiences. I understand that the movie industry is a business but this is what happens when you monetize art. It’s absurd. This is why we have seven different versions of Blade Runner and three version of Highlander II. This is why Alien 3 is so f*cking garbage but the Assembly Cut is head-and-shoulder better. Kingdom of Heaven is a perfect example of how the corporate hatchet can ruin a film. Ridley Scott’s initial vision for that movie is three hours and some change long. There’s no way theaters can show enough screenings for that to turn a profit so Warner cut it down to two and a half hours with credits. If you have close to three and a half hours of storytelling but cut out a whole f*cking hour of it, your narrative isn’t going to make any f*cking sense but Warner didn’t care. They made the executive decision to ruin this movie and, for years, i hated this film. But then i saw the director’s cut, that three hour version. Kingdom of Heaven is f*cking brilliant when it’s told the way it was intended to be told. We had to wait for the home media release of the film to see that though because the business of film hobbled the artistic value of the vision. Streaming changes all of that.

Disney has a four hour, re-cut, version for Rise of Skywalker in the works to air exclusively on Disney+. That film is supposed to fix a lot of what Kathleen Kennedy broke with her abject disdain for the Star Wars universe and her ludicrously bloated ego. This wouldn’t have been a thing if not for Disney+, if not for streaming. Four hour epics can turn a profit if the audience is there and you aren’t beholden to the studio-theater system that has gimped film creators for decades. If Netflix was around when i was a kid, maybe Anderson’s intended version of Event Horizon could have been released there after the theatrical version had it’s run, instead of just being lost to time. Event Horizon is an example of how the wrong test audience can solicit a knee jerk hatchet to your film because suburban moms don’t care for satanic visuals and over-the-top gore. If Netflix was around, maybe Jennifer’s Body could have been a hit instead of a cult classic. Maybe the studio could have marketed the film like the director wanted instead of running on the notions that “Megan Fox hot” and selling her sex appeal to teenage boys, only for them to be disappointed when it’s more a nuanced tale of female relationships with underlying tones of feminist lesbianism. Jennifer’s Body was already one of my favorite films but when i saw the director’s cut, i was incensed. They massacred my girl because horny teenagers didn’t like the test screenings. The studios promised these dickbutt horndogs a film that didn’t exist and then got mad when the profits didn’t materialize. Dropping that sh*t on Netflix would have gone a long way to recoup some of them losses.

Now, not all studios are terrible. A24 and Neon are really great at letting their creators, create what they want, but they lack the level of major studio resources to do it. The same joint that brought you Ex Machina can’t afford to deliver the next Avatar or Marvel film but there’s no way Paramount releases something as risky as Under the Skin. Now that streaming exists, you can bypass all of that. Studios can make their more indie or experimental sh*t and drop it directly to the consumer, instead of trying to run it on a money pit imprint like Fox Searchlight. To take it a step further, you can go directly to a joint like Netflix or Amazon Studios, and bypass the bullsh*t studio system as a whole. Hell, you can even leverage that into getting your own sh*t, like the Avatar cats did to Nickelodeon. Paramount needs content for their streaming service, Avatar was shafted by Nickelodeon forcing them to take a run at Netflix but that proved to be a not so ideal partnership, so Paramount came back with a peace offering and now these cats have an entire studio to themselves, just to make more Aang stuff. I am absolutely in love with the leverage these streaming services have over the film industry now. It feels like we can get back to the Nineties where sh*t that might be more risky financially or alienating to large audiences, can still see the light of day. Creators can make the sh*t they want and still get their vision to the audience, even if the studios ruin their flick for theatrical profits.