#Entertainment WordPress Theme

[douqi7s]

About

I translate and subtitle things from Chinese to English (mainly baihe/GL), write original fiction, and make the occasional fanvid (do people still say fanvid).

This post will be regularly updated with things I've perpetrated done.

Where Else You Can Find Me

Twitter: douqi7s

Wordpress (translations, original fiction, random bits and pieces): douqi.blog

YouTube (subtitles for webdramas, short films and audio dramas): douqi7s

Translations

Purely by Accident, a baihe novel by Leng Qian Shan (main story complete)

Couple of Mirrors, a (mostly) text translation of the manhua based on the drama of the same name (complete)

Couple of Mirrors Novel Extra, a translation of the extra written for the Couple of Mirrors novelisation (complete)

For smaller translation projects, see this page.

Subtitling Projects

Purely by Accident, a baihe audio drama based on the novel of the same name (ongoing)

Legend of Yunqian, a GL xianxia mini webdrama (complete)

Legend of Yunze (Season 1, Season 2 and Special), a GL xianxia mini webdrama (complete)

Led Astray by Love, a GL historical/transmigration mini webdrama (complete)

The Vampires, a GL vampire-themed mini webdrama (complete)

A Practical Guide to Being a Superstar's Assistant, a GL entertainment industry mini webdrama (complete)

Ye-Mu (aka Wicked Wealthy Women), a soap opera-style mini webdrama (complete)

Ye-Mu 2, a soap opera-style mini webdrama (complete)

A Flower for Three Lifetimes, a xianxia mini webdrama (complete)

Nü Er Hong, a wuxia mini webdrama (complete)

The Calabash Siblings, a mini webdrama based on the animated series of the same title (complete)

Various GL MVs

Various GL short films

Original Fiction

What If They Had a War, and Nobody Came?, a GL wuxia/historical short story

Editorial Work

I have provided or am currently providing editorial support for the following projects:

Reading the Remnants, a translation of the baihe novel Wen Guan by Qi Xiao Huang Shu (ongoing)

Exploring an Empty Tomb, a translation of the baihe novel Tan Xu Ling by Jun Sola (ongoing)

Burn, a translation of the baihe novel Shao by Chu Dao (ongoing)

Mosquito Bite, a translation of the baihe short story Wenzi Bao by Agent3144 (complete)

Drowning Sorrows in Raging Fire, a translation of the danmei manhua Lie Huo Jiao Chou, based on the novel of the same title by priest (ongoing)

第九宫的吉迪恩, a translation of the science fiction novel Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (complete)

第九宫的哈罗, a translation of the science fiction novel Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (complete)

第九宫的诺娜, a translation of the science fiction novel Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (complete)

赛克斯博士的神秘研究, a translation of the science fiction short story The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex by Tamsyn Muir (complete)

尚未发送, a translation of the science fiction short story As Yet Unsent by Tamsyn Muir (complete)

Curation and Recommendations

List of recommended baihe novels

List of Chinese GL short films

last updated: 10 August 2024

[realjdobypr]

The Fresh Prince of Bel Air: Relive the Iconic Series

As one of the most-watched family sitcoms of its era, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air captivated audiences with its iconic cast and relatable themes. The talented cast and crew went on to work on other essential television and film projects, further solidifying the show’s impact on pop culture. The Zones’ commitment to engaging and informative content on entertainment and cultural discussions makes…

[dragonsaffron]

A Proper Introduction

This post has been sitting in my drafts for literal months at this point, but in response to the impending collapse of Twitter, I figured it was time to finally make a post about my writing so that I could start advertising on this platform.

So, hello, my name is Saffron (though some call me Becca). I am a autistic trans lesbian polyamorous dragonkin (she/they), and I’m a writer. As of right now, the bulk of my writing is available for free online. My main projects are my web novels, which I typically write two of at any given time, releasing chapters every other week on a regular schedule. The publicly available chapters of my novels are available in three places: you can read them on my Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/saffrondragon), on my wordpress page (https://beccawritesbooks.wordpress.com/) or on Scribblehub (https://www.scribblehub.com/profile/9163/saffrondragon/). Warning: Scribblehub is a free story hosting website, so although it has better support structures (bookmarking, ratings, etc) it is also full of weird hentai.

Like I said before, I have a Patreon. As of right now, there are two main benefits to being a patron of mine: at the lowest tier, you get early access to chapters of my books, usually between two and four chapters ahead of the free version depending on how well the writing is going at that time. There’s also a higher tier, which gives access to a collection of short stories I’ve written for Patreon (some of them smutty, others not), and the ability to vote on which short stories I will write next.

And now we get to the reason why I’ve been procrastinating writing this post for so long: now I have to try to summarize all of my various works! The Selene Series: Marcus Farrier is a physics graduate student who gets isekai’d to Selene, a steampunk world where humanity evolved to only have one sex. There, Marcus takes up the name “Emma”, and rapidly gets caught up in the chaotic and deadly politics of Selene, and begins having some revelations about their past, their gender, and how they got to Selene in the first place. The Selene series is actually my longest-running writing project, with four years and two-and-three-quarter books under my belt out of a planned four in total. Currently on hiatus, but I will return to it someday.

The Earthborn Emissary: Alex Sierra is living a normal life, with their girlfriend Miri and their best friend Quinn, until the day they fall ill, go into a coma, and wake up to discover that they’ve just emerged from their chrysalis. Alex is actually an Emissary, an insectoid alien from a species that has been driven to the brink of extinction by a genocide; now, their adoptive parents are going to have to take them into space in search of the other members of their species. My longest single book so far, and the closest thing I’ve come to writing what I would consider to be a “YA” novel. My most popular book, though I don’t quite know why. Currently completed, though I may write a sequel someday. The Chained Flame: My most recent and personal favorite of my novels. It’s a loosely-plotted dark fantasy story telling the life of Lindír, prince of the kingdom of Hvalheim, who was cursed at birth to have the body of a dragon. After growing up in the castle dungeons, Lindír finally finds his freedom, and ends up travelling the North as a wandering entertainer, a savage raider, a royal champion, and more. A very tragic book dealing heavily with the theme of traumatic upbringings. Also features a dragon protagonist who does not at any point become human, nor does he particularly want to. In-progress as of the writing of this post, but barely a week away from completion. I also have a couple of short stories posted, as well as two erotic Locked Tomb fanfics on my AO3 account. I generally post new chapters of my novels every second week, Selene updating on Thursdays and Chained Flame updating on Mondays. 

So yeah, that’s what I do for a living! I’ll probably start making announcement posts for new chapters, both in public and on Patreon, as well as any Patreon exclusives, votes, or anything else writing-related that I’m doing. Indeed, I might be making some more posts later today, so keep an eye out for that. Thank you in advance to anyone who spreads the word, and extra thank you to anyone who actually goes the extra mile and starts supporting me. To all of my followers who aren’t interested in my writing, you can block the “becca writes books” tag, which will cover all of my writing-related posts.

[anwhitebooks]

Lessons in Chemistry: Thoughtful and entertaining

June 6, 2024 Spoiler-Free Review If you like literary fiction about women-in-STEM with quirky storytelling and autistic-coded main characters, you’ll probably like Lessons in Chemistry. While on the whole humorous and enjoyable, there are some heavier themes presented throughout. Click here for content warnings. What’s Lessons in Chemistry about? Set in the 1960s, this story follows…

[dorkyparksdad]

New Details for Universal Orlando’s Epic Universe Theme Park

Exciting news for theme park fans and enthusiasts! Universal Orlando Resort has announced new official details for the upcoming Epic Universe theme park. The entertainment company has revealed the first official look at one of five new lands slated to open as part of its Universal Epic Universe park, and confirmed the themes of three additional lands. Yesterday, NBCUniversal gave teaser…

[jcmarchi]

10+ Excellent Web Design Tools & Resources to Use in 2024 - Web Design Ledger

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10+ Excellent Web Design Tools & Resources to Use in 2024 - Web Design Ledger

It’s a New Year, but one thing hasn’t changed. The number of web design resources and tools just keeps on increasing. That’s a good thing. But it does make it that much more difficult to find a theme, plugin, or resource you really have a need for if you are to stay abreast of or leapfrog the competition.

We are in a position to make your search easier. Much easier in fact. We reviewed and tested web design tools & resources we believe many users, designers, and developers have a genuine need for. The types we believe to be essential, and that you will see in our final list of 15 are:

website builders for building landing pages and multiple-page websites quickly, easily, and without any need for coding.

WordPress plugins that can incorporate potentially game-changing functionalities, that are challenging to design, into websites.

WordPress themes for building complex and high-conversion rate websites and online stores.

Vector illustrations that can give a website a whimsical or entertaining aspect.

font identifiers to identify and provide access information to a “must have” font or fonts.

A majority of the web design resources and tools in the following list have a free or trial version:

What are a few of the important attributes these Excellent Web Design Tools & Resources for Designers and Agencies share?

They look premium. There is something about a top tool or resource that makes you wish you had acquired it a long time ago, e.g., how enjoyable it is to use.

They are intuitive. From signing up, to downloading, using, cancelling, and anything in between, everything needed is placed precisely where it should be.

They add real value. They facilitate getting more and higher paid assignments by helping you deliver web design projects faster, making your final deliverables more attractive, or both.

15 best web design Tools & Resources for Designers and Agencies

To help you in your research, we’ve included top features, customer average grade on non-biased platforms such as Trustpilot, Capterra or WordPress.org, and client feedback.

Ready? Then let’s get started. 

1. Brizy Builder™

Brizy is the best website builder for Agencies, Designers, and anyone else in need of a White Label solution.

Brizy’s top feature is without a doubt its 100% customizable White Label solution that allows its users to add their own branding, including the builder name, builder logo, domain URL, support link, about link, and project subdomain.

Brizy Builder’s library of demo/template/prebuilt websites is also highly popular with its users. Soulful and Cuisine is one of the 5 most downloaded pre-built websites. It is attractive and inspirational, and while it provides an ideal foundation for a restaurant or bistro, the layout can be used for other service-oriented website types as well.

There’s more to like as well. New users quickly become aware of Brizy’s intuitiveness, and their ability to edit any type of content in place. Many competing builders force their users to create their content in a disjointed sidebar. That’s not the case with Brizy.

Customer Average Grade: 4.6/5 on Trustpilot

Client Feedback: “I am amazed by my experience with Brizy. The tool is easy to use, and the support is one of the best I have ever experienced. Fast replies and my contact really went the extra mile in helping me solve my problem. I can only recommend Brizy to everyone who’s looking to build their own website”!

Instant Support Materials:  Documentation, Brizy Academy, Useful Blog Posts and YouTube videos

View the Builder 

2. Trafft – Booking Software

 The Best Free Scheduling Online Software Solution for Business Owners.

Flexibility is always important when selecting a theme or plugin. The top feature of this software solution is the ability to operate in a wide range of languages because of its powerful Multilingual Notifications System.

This user favorite:

facilitates the effective management of appointments and events using email, SMS and/or WhatsApp messages.

keeps users informed about the status of appointments or events.

offers custom notifications that enable users to tailor alerts for specific services or events.

The library of prebuilt websites also plays a significant role in making working with Trafft a pleasant experience. The Career Mastery Coaching prebuilt website illustrates what an effective event booking system might look like.

Key features users notice once they start using Trafft include easy backend and frontend interface navigation and the power the customization options bring to the table.

Web developers and digital design agencies can be expected to be more than pleased to discover that Trafft offers a White Label option.

Customer Average Grade: 5 stars on Capterra

Client Feedback:  “ I love that Trafft has so much included – and that you can customize literally everything, including the email & SMS notification wording (which is a big deal for me since I like communications to be in my brand voice).”

Support Materials:  Trafft’s ticketing system. Support manual, YouTube videos, social media, and email.

View the Booking Solution

3. wpDataTables -The Best Tables & Charts WordPress Table Plugin

 wpDataTables offers an ideal solution for businesses and individuals who need to create tables and charts.

The wpDataTable plugin’s top feature, its Multiple Database Connections capability, represents a data management breakthrough by empowering every table to become a data hub that can pull information from different databases or servers.

By simplifying data management tasks, wpDataTables allows its users to create custom, responsive, easily editable tables and charts with ease.  A bookseller could probably put this Responsive Catalog Table with Books to good use.

Features new wpDataTables users will discover include:

an abundance of useful functionality wrapped in an intuitive package.

the ability to adroitly manage complicated data structures.

wpDataTables also supports separate connections for working with specialized database systems and features chart engines for displaying data for marketing, financial, and environmental uses.

Customer Average Grade: 4.5/5 pm WprdPress.org

Client Feedback: “WpDataTables is an excellent WordPress Plugin. What you are able to accomplish with this plugin is nothing short of amazing. Their support is even better! Highly, highly recommend using this product and supporting this company.

I have tried different utilities for creating charts out of a series of CSV files I use for weather data, but it has been a hassle until I discovered wpDataTables which does exactly what I need. Very user friendly and versatile. And it also understands that there are other standards for date, decimal, and time apart from the Americas.”

Instant Support Materials:  Support manual, the Facebook community, and YouTube videos

View wpDataTables

4. Uncode – Creative & WooCommerce WordPress Theme

Uncode is the #1 WordPress and WooCommerce theme for creatives, professional designers, and agencies looking for an ideal solution for any project.

While Uncode’s ensemble of website building tools and options would seem to more than justify its popularity, most of its users say the demo library is its #1 feature. The demos not only exhibit exceptional attention to detail but have proven to be excellent sources of inspiration as well.

Uncode’s classic Web Experiences is one of the 5 most downloaded  demos. Just imagine what you could do with it.

New users are impressed with the value inherent in Uncode’s demos and wireframes, the level of customization, and the top-notch customer support.

Uncode’s principal users are:

Agencies and Freelancers, because of the multitude of options that cover the needs of every customer or client.

Shop creators, who can easily make effective use of Uncode’s advanced WooCommerce features.

Customer Average Grade: 4.89/5

Client Feedback: “I have used Uncode on 6+ websites now, and it’s absolutely my go-to theme! The features, quality, and customer support are outstanding. The developers do an incredible job of keeping the theme up to date and stable, constantly implementing new features and optimizing the theme. A solid product with great documentation and responsive support team. Kudos!”

Instant Support Materials:  Support manual, Facebook groups, YouTube videos

Purchase the Theme

5. LayerSlider – Best WordPress Slider Builder Plugin

 LayerSlider, the top-rated WordPress slider plugin, empowers web designers to effortlessly enhance websites and make them truly shine.

LayerSlider’s scroll effect has emerged as its top feature. You can find it prominently displayed in the recent batch of full-size hero scene and whole website templates. Scroll through the Flavor Factory pre-built web page and see how easy it can be to use LayerSlider to help capture and engage visitors.

LayerSlider easily accommodates a range of uses, from creating simple sliders or slideshows to sprucing up your site with captivating animated content.

Newer users appreciate:

LayerSlider’s customizable interface that suggests the plugin was created specifically for their use only.

easy access to millions of stock photos and videos plus other integrated online services.

the Project Editor that ensures that what you need is right where you need it.

LayerSlider also really shines when there is a need to create content for marketing purposes. Marketers are impressed with the mind-blowing effects that can be incorporated into their popups and banners.

Client Feedback: “A fantastic slider plugin with regular updates to make sure compatibility is never a problem. Keep up the amazing work!”

Support Materials:  Product manual, In-editor help, support tickets, and email.

Preview LayerSlider

6. Amelia – WordPress Booking Plugin for Appointments and Events

 Amelia is the best WordPress plugin for Agencies and Businesses in need of a streamlined booking solution.

The automated notifications system is Amelia’s top feature. Users could tell you how easy it was to categorize and position appointments as pending, approved, cancelled, rejected, or rescheduled. Special notices such as upcoming events or birthday congratulations can also be forwarded via the notifications system to assist clients and enhance their loyalty.

Amelia offers a number of templates that can be customized to help businesses grow. Yoga Studio is a notable example of how a template can be put to use to advertise a business.

Those new to Amelia could tell you about:

the ease of navigation they discovered, the innovativeness exhibited in the backend and frontend interfaces, and its functionality and user-friendly design.

the value its transparent pricing policy offers.

the extent of the customization options.

The Amelia plugin offers an ideal booking solution for service-oriented businesses including those specializing in ticket sales and/or events. Programming agencies and developers could also profit from having Amelia in their design toolkits.

Customer Average Grade: 4.8 on Capterra

Client Feedback: “Great plugin, I have tested similar, but Amelia seems to be the best for my site, I have many customers through the site, and everybody is satisfied with this appointment system. Sometimes there are a few bugs but quickly corrected through regular updates. Globally very good notation.”

Instant Support Materials:  YouTube videos, Discord Group, and Support Manual

View Amelia

7. WhatFontIs

The most powerful and  accurate free font identifier.

This tool’s top feature is its accuracy. WhatFontis users have a 90%+ chance of finding whatever free or licensed font they want identified.

No other system can claim that accuracy, and most of them charge a fee for whatever service they provide. It is worth noting that the ability of WhatFontis to identify a given font correctly can be compromised if the quality of the submitted image is subpar, and that is what accounts for some of the roughly 10% of missed identifications.

WhatFontis can do what it does best in part because of its database of 990K+ free and commercial fonts. This is nearly 5 times as many fonts as that attributed to the nearest competitor.

Whether the goal is to identify a specific font sent by a client, or simply because it is attractive, a customer wants to know what it is and where to find it. A search can be conducted for a font regardless of its publisher, producer, or foundry.

The process is as easy as can be.

Upload a clean font image.

In response, an AI-powered search engine identifies the font and as many as 60 close neighbors.

Links are provided that show where a free font can be downloaded or where a commercial font can be purchased.

Note: Cursive font letters must be separated before being submitted.

Client Feedback: “I came across this website courtesy Google search, used their services successfully; and today I find out it’s on product hunt! If you are ‘driven’ by the need to discover what font ‘that person/ company’ uses, then this should be your go-to solution site. For most of us it would be a once in a blue moon need, except for the professionals.”

Types of Instant Support Materials: User Forum

View WhatFontis

8. Slider Revolution – More than just a WordPress Slider

 Slider Revolution is the best WordPress plugin for Designers, Web Developers and anyone seeking a way to create jaw-dropping animated sliders.

This plugin’s top feature is the ability it gives to its users to visually create stunning animated effects for WordPress.

The Slider Revolution plugin is not limited to creating sliders. It can be used to:

create stunning home pages that immediately engage its visitors.

create portfolios that will be viewed a second, or third, time because of the method of presentation.

design eye-catching sections anywhere on a website.

A stroll through Slider Revolution’s library of 250+ templates may be all that’s necessary if you need a little inspiration to get started. These templates have been 100% optimized for different screen configurations and feature special effects you won’t see on most websites. The Woodworking Website template for example, makes clever use of the hover effect to highlight both text and images. The layout itself can be used for a wide variety of website types or niches.

The Slider Revolution plugin is tailor made for individual web designers and developers, web shops, and small agencies.

Customer Average Grade: 4.6/5 on Trustpilot

Client Feedback: “I absolutely love the Slider Revolution. It does wonders for my projects. I am super excited about all of the templates that are ready for use. Their support has been incredible”.

Instant Support Materials:  Support Manual, YouTube videos

View the Plugin

9. Getillustrations – Creative Stock Illustrations Library

The best resource for designers who are looking for top quality illustrations with terrific attention to detail.

Getillustrations’ top feature is three things in one; 21,500+ vector illustrations, free updates for one year, and new illustrations added every week. In other words, once you get started, good things keep coming your way!

You will have 40+ nicely arranged categories to select from. Most categories have several hundred illustrations, a few have more than 1,000.

These illustrations appeal to clients ranging from students and businesses to designers and developers. You’ll find pencil and basic ink illustrations, several 3D illustration categories, and fitness, logistics, and ecology illustrations to name but a few, and since they are exclusive to Getillustrations you will have an edge over those using other stock illustration resources.

You can purchase illustrations by the pack if you choose to. The Motion Illustrations pack is one of the larger ones with 1,090 vector web illustrations at latest count .These Motion illustrations feature a diverse range of themes, each of which makes a statement.

Client Feedback: “I really like the different styles available in this library. I used it to illustrate some of my blog posts. Since you get vector files, you can also recolor them to have them match your brand and product identity!”

Support Materials:  Vector stock illustrations in .Ai .Figma .PNG and .SVG

View Getillustrations Offerings

10. Mobirise AI Website Builder

The best tool for creating and downloading full page websites using prompt commands only.

The Mobirise AI website builder is a revolutionary tool that uses intelligent algorithms to generate beautiful websites. Its top feature enables its user to generate a website using a single prompt.

The super-intuitive single prompt interface makes Mobirise AI an ideal choice for anyone looking for a simplistic yet efficient design approach.

Describe in detail what your site is all about, and this AI website builder will take your data and through the use of intelligent algorithms auto-generate a basic layout.

Once that is accomplished you can use prompts to customize style, colors, fonts, etc., and edit pre-generated content to suit your needs.

When you have the beautiful, optimized for Google and mobile devices website you want you can launch it with a single prompt.

Note: Even though Mobirise AI does much of the work, you retain full ownership of your website.

Client Feedback: “The AI website builder was astonishingly intuitive. What I appreciated the most was the seamless drag-and-drop interface which allowed me to position elements anywhere on my site. The AI’s design recommendations saved me hours of second-guessing my layout choices. Not to mention, the automatic SEO feature was a godsend–it optimized my site without me having to learn the complex ins and outs.”

Instant Support Materials:  Support Manual, User Forum, YouTube Videos

View the AI Website Builder

11. XStore – Best WooCommerce WordPress Theme

XStore is the best WooCommerce theme for anyone looking to quickly build a high-converting online store.

XStore is obviously tailored for use by shop owners and prospective shop owners who seek an online presence. While the selection of ready-made stores (pre-built websites) has always been highly popular, the recently introduced selection of Sales Booster features has emerged as the top favorite.

New users soon come to appreciate the Builders Panel and the intuitive XStore Control Panel, both of which give them the store-building and customization flexibility needed to create the custom store they envision.

They also like the solid start XStore’s pre-built websites make possible. The layout of the Marseille prebuilt website is an excellent example of why it’s possible for a novice to get a store up in running in a few hours.

XStore doesn’t stop there. Its users have instant access to the powerful family of Single Product, Checkout, Cart, Archive Products, and 404 Page Builders; all favorites of shop owners.

Customer Average Grade: 4.87/5

Client Feedback: “I love this theme! There’s a wider learning curve to go through before getting a hang of the features, but the overall versatility and aesthetic factor is excellent.”

Instant Support Materials:  Support Manual, YouTube videos

Buy the Theme

12. Blocksy – Premium WooCommerce WordPress theme

Blocksy is the best free WordPress theme for building attractive, lightweight websites in 2024.

There doesn’t appear to be much about Blocksy that its users don’t love. Consequently, when it comes to identifying this premium WooCommerce WordPress theme’s top feature, there’ s a 4-way tie.

Blocksy’s footer and header builders are super-user friendly.

Gutenberg support ensures top performance.

Developers love the advanced hooks and display conditions.

Everyone appreciates seamless WooCommerce integration together with its associated features.

And on top of it all, Blocksy is free!

Several of the things new users quickly recognize is that Blocksy:

uses the latest web technologies.

provides exceptional performance.

integrates easily with the most popular plugins.

Cosmetic is a beautiful, meticulously crafted starter site with a pleasant design that lets products take center stage. While centered on beauty products, its layout can be used for a wide variety of website niches. Cosmetic is one of the 5 most commonly used starter sites.

Customer Average Grade: 5/5 on WordPress.org

Client Feedback: “Blocksy is fast and light, responsive and beautiful. Blocksy has nothing superfluous and has everything you need. I love Blocksy, and Blocksy loves me.”

Instant Support Materials:  A readily accessible Documentation Section, Support Manual, YouTube videos. Facebook Group

View Blocksy 

13. Total WordPress Theme

 Total is the best WordPress theme for web designers and developers seeking the flexibility required to design from-scratch.

Total’s top feature is its seemingly unlimited flexibility. Its assortment of design tools and options makes it a Swiss Army knife of website design and is one reason its name is so appropriate. A well-deserved reputation for amazing support also tends to set Total apart.

Not long after becoming acquainted with Total, its users could tell you about a number of things they discovered and like including the fact that:

Total has settings for everything, tons of page building options, a font manager, custom post types, and more.

Total is speed optimized.

Total provides dynamic templates for posts and archives.

Total’s pre-built website collection is another favorite. Synergy’s minimalistic design lends itself to a wide range of uses and is one of the 5 most widely used pre-built websites.

Total is tailored for beginners, developers, and DIYers. Advanced designers like Total as well, and for all intents and purposes, anyone else will too.

Customer Average Grade: 4.86/5

Client Feedback: “I have been using Total for several years now for several (10+) websites. Out of the box it’s already a great theme and very well documented. Some websites required specific functionality and so far, there was nothing I couldn’t provide. If I can’t figure it out myself, support is always willing to help. I don’t need another theme anymore.”

Instant Support Materials: Support Manual

View the Theme

14. Essential Grid – WordPress Gallery Plugin

Essential Grid is the best WordPress Gallery Plugin for businesses who want to capture visitors’ attention with breathtaking galleries.

Essential Grid is the best WordPress Gallery Plugin for anyone who wants to create a unique, attention-getting gallery.

Essential Grid’s library of 50+ unique grid skins is its top feature and is what this WordPress gallery plugin is all about. Why these skins are such a favorite is easy to see. Most web designers and developers would not want to have to take the time to create a gallery from scratch and the grid skins offer an excellent alternative approach.

In addition to making it easier to create a gallery layout you want, it’s also possible you’ll come across a grid skin layout you haven’t even thought possible and can’t wait to put into use.  The YouTube Playlist layout for example shows how the hover effect can transform a seemingly run-of-the-mill gallery into a real attention getter.

Essential Grid’s users will tell you how much of a time saver this plugin can be, and how effective it is at helping them organize their content streams.

Customer Average Grade: 4.7/5 on Trustpilot

Client Feedback: “I have to say that the level of support I received is definitely one of the best I have ever experienced. Big thumbs up!”

Instant Support Materials:   Support manual and YouTube videos

View Essential Grid 

15. WoodMart – WordPress WooCommerce Theme

WoodMart is the best WooCommerce theme for niche ecommerce design.

Just a glance at the WoodMart website is enough to grab your attention. Woodmart’s top feature, super-realism, pops right out at you. The custom layouts for shop, cart, and checkout pages are so well done that it’s easy to forget where you are and start window shopping.

There is plenty more to about WoodMart too, for example:

A multiplicity of available design options.

Easy customization to fit the brand.

The time-saving Theme Settings Search and Theme Settings Performance Optimization features.

Widely used “Frequently Bought Together”, “Dynamic Discounts”, and social integrations options.

WoodMart also has a White Label option.

Finding the most popular demos isn’t easy since most of them enjoy lots of usage.  WoodMart Organic Baby Clothes is one of the 5 most downloaded demos.

Customer Average Grade: 4.93/5

Client Feedback: “This theme is perfect. It has all the options you can imagine and tooltips to help you understand what you are about to change. It’s fast out of the box and makes a great use of Elementor. Great responsive design.”

Instant Support Materials:  Support Manual and YouTube Videos

View the Theme

*******

Do you see one or more web design resources and tools you would like to add to your toolkit? It would certainly be easier than having to sift through hundreds on your own. That is why we did the vetting process for you. You still will want to preview those that interest you and try them out if possible. The free ones are of course for the taking.

What will you be looking for? These 15 excellent web design tools & resources have several characteristics in common. Characteristics that are necessary to be considered as “best-in-class”. Those characteristics are as follows.

Plugins, themes, and resources are easy to install or set up and are user friendly.

They give your website an edge in terms of design, functionality, or visitor appeal; or all three.

Customer support is friendly, fast, and competent.

They allow you to test the product for free. Or give you enough information to ensure that won’t end up feeling like the product you purchased is markedly different from the one you saw advertised.

Check out any or all of the 15 best web design tools and resources you believe you could put to good use.  Test them out if you can and either add them to your toolkit or write them off.

Are you done? Not really. Since there are many new web design tools & resources coming into the marketplace every day, some of which might offer greater opportunities, your search will never really end.

[toadwithbooks]

20 Classic Books Worth Rereading

Classic books have inspired countless readers and continue to captivate and entertain. They offer a glimpse into different eras and cultures, and provide insights into the human experience that are still relevant today. Here are 20 classic books that are worth rereading as an adult: “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee: This classic novel explores themes of racial injustice and moral courage…

[screenhub]

'1408' is a Forgotten Horror Gem - ScreenHub Entertainment

I have always had an odd fascination with horror stories where the villain is not an imposing slasher or a monstrous beast, but rather a place. The idea of a malevolent intelligence simply existing in a space is a fairly rare theme in film. Some notable examples are Poltergeist and Event Horizon, and one more that seems to have been forgotten over the years. The film title is a simple number,…

[samsdisneydiary]

Jazzy Holidays at The Hollywood Brown Derby | inside Hollywood Brown Derby during Jollywood Nights

Step into a shimmering holiday scene with dapper décor and themed celebrations—at Hollywood Studios Jollywood Nights, a brand new special ticket event at Walt Disney World Hollywood studios. The event, which premiered in 2023 includes themed entertainment all around Hollywood studios, including “Jazzy Holidays at The Hollywood Brown Derby. During the event, the iconic restaurant transforms into…

[noisynutcrusade]

In the rooms "Mary and the Spirit of Midnight" the cartoon by Enzo d'Alò: "The cultural value of women through four generations of women".

The interview by Fulvia Caprara “It was the right time to talk about female value in this film of mine” says director Enzo d’Alò, regarding his new cartoon “Mary and the Midnight Spirit” already in theaters. Based on the novel by Roddy Doyle, Enzo d’Alò moves and entertains by talking about classic and extremely current themes: the value of the family, the testimony of grandparents, the power of…

[hollywoodhandle]

SAG-AFTRA Strike Impacts, 'Superman: Legacy' & More: Entertainment News Recap

Here’s your weekly Entertainment News Recap with the top five stories you might have missed this week! Amazon Cancels A League of Their Own and The Peripheral (THR) – Amazon has canceled the queer-themed reboot of Penny Marshall’s 1992 film A League of Their Own. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Sources say Sony Pictures Television, which produces the show, plans to shop League with the…

[mdabdurrajjakmia]

#_What_is_the_purpose_of_this_website?

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Social Networking Social media platforms grease commerce and communication between individualities, enabling them to connect, partake content, and communicate in colorful ways.

Blogging Blogs are platforms where individualities or groups can partake their studies, opinions, and moxie on specific motifs.

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News and Media News websites give current events, papers, vids, and other forms of news and media content.

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Portfolio individualities in creative fields, similar as artists, contrivers, and shutterbugs, frequently use websites to show their work.

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[i-shen-blog]

Is blogging still relevant in the age of TikToks and Instagram?

Today, we will be analyzing if blogging is still relevant in the age of TikToks and Instagram and also discuss the reason behind the facts after investigating.

Blog

Blogging started to become a commonplace business digital tactic ten years ago. Before then, blogs about politics, travel, food, and technology were mushrooming everywhere and serving as trustworthy resources for guidance and specialized knowledge. It turned out to be a potent approach to show up in search results and in front of a crowd that was already interested. Additionally, it was a very efficient tool for businesses to demonstrate their expertise and to share expert opinions.

Instagram

Instagram started to be used alongside blogs. Most bloggers did want to use it as a way to promote blogs, like on Twitter. But with Instagram not allowing clickable links in captions, that never seemed to happen successfully. You can use the phrase ‘link is in the bio’ but it’s just not the same as clicking a link there and then.

Now Instagram has turned into something that feels like an unstoppable force and now we hear of Instagrammers, Influencers and content creators more than words like bloggers, vloggers or YouTubers. Instagram feeds are no longer snapshots of peoples Sunday roast, but highly curated images, many have images that look like they are straight out of a magazine. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, I am often guilty of getting lost in a beautiful Instagram feed.

TikTok

In 2019, TikTok was the most downloaded app from Apple’s iOS app store? TikTok seems to have come out of nowhere and is everywhere. It has even infiltrated Instagram – every other food post I see is of a ‘TikTok recipe’ such as baked oats or feta pasta. Not to mention Instagram Reels – which seem to be a rip off of TikTok. Growth is hard on Instagram, but the way in which TikTok works means that anyone can go viral, even if you don’t have thousands of followers.

Why has these newer platforms become popular? is Blogging dead?

Joining Instagram and TikTok is simple. You simply sign up and you are ready to start publishing. You don’t need to mess around with a DNS server, buy a domain, pay a host then install WordPress. You don’t need to find a theme and fidget with widgets. Now, it’s a lot more mobile-based. We want to quickly scroll, consume and move onto the next thing. This is why Instagram is the go-to for looking at beautiful photos and TikTok is the best place to get short, entertaining videos.

Nothing has changed since then.

Despite the overwhelming presence of newer social media platforms, blogging is still a powerful tool for marketing. It's actually turbocharged. According to a recent Data Box survey titled "The Shift in Your Content Marketing Mix: 25 Marketers On What's Changed in 2 Years," 68% of marketers now regard blogging to be more successful than it was two years prior as blogging is about building relationships.

It’s about playing the long game.

To conclude, if you Take time to write your posts. Talk to your customers and build conversations. The everyday consumer is smart and has a limited amount of time. They make informed choices, not only about what they want to buy, but what they want to read. It’s only by offering your reader something truly valuable, that you’ll get the conversation started.

Your blog should always aim to answer the questions your audience has. How consumers find your content will undoubtedly evolve, but what they’re looking for probably won’t. We still need the same information we did 5 years ago, but we’re just using different methods to find it. Creating high-quality, original content will go a long way to getting results from blogging.

[historyhermann]

Booming LGBTQ Representation in Animation in 2021 [Part 2]

Continued from part 1

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs, my History Hermann WordPress blog on Jan. 15, 2023, and Wayback Machine. This was the seventh article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on January 5, 2022.

Other streaming platforms, like Paramount+ had animated series with LGBTQ characters. For example, the Rugrats reboot, a gay single mother named Betty DeVille, voiced by openly queer actress Natalie Morales, is a character. More prominent, however, is Star Trek: Lower Decks, fulfilling on Mike McMahan’s commitment to explore the identity of Beckett Mariner, who is voiced by Tawny Newsome. In the episode “We’ll Always Have Tom Paris,” Mariner tells Tendi, “I’m always dating bad boys, bad girls, bad gender non-binary babes, ruthless alien masterminds, bad bynars,” with a reviewer saying that Mariner affirms that “she is essentially pansexual.” In another episode she reveals she spent time on a space station and notes one of the nature preserves they are going to is where she went on a date, not specifying whether the date was male or female. She also calls Boimler, her male friend and colleague, her “number one.” Andy Billups (voiced by Paul Scheer), the ship’s chief engineer, is implied to be asexual as he has no interest, in the episode “Where Pleasant Fountains Lie,”of sleeping with the male or the female guard, and he is not shown participating in any sex acts in the “Naked Time” simulator in the show’s following episode. Whether the series follows up on this in an expected third season is anyone’s guess. At the same time, Star Trek Prodigy, also on Paramount+  includes Zero, who is a Medusan, with Medusans as genderless aliens who use they/them pronouns.

Hulu and Peacock also featured LGBTQ characters. In March, the series creators of Solar Opposites, Justin Roiland and Mike McMahan confirmed that Korvo and Terry are a romantic couple in a committed relationship. Another Hulu series has two LGBTQ characters, one of whom is bisexual (Melissa Tartleton) and another which is gay (Gary Garoldson). Furthermore, in the a Pride-themed episode of the children’s animation, Madagascar: A Little Wild, an okapi named Odee Elliott appears, who is non-binary. Odee is voiced by Iris Menas who said the episode’s biggest takeway is “acceptance and love and celebration” while GLAAD’s director of entertainment media, Jeremy Blacklow, said the episode comes at a time that “LGBTQ inclusion in kids and family programming is rapidly growing,” and stated that  DreamWorks Animation is partners with GLAAD to “ensure that all families are represented on-screen.”

A late comer is the Crunchyroll coming-of-age series High Guardian Spice, created by a trans man, Raye Rodriguez, who was a character designer for Shadi Petosky’s Danger & Eggs animated series. This series featured trans and lesbian characters, with one of the trans characters voiced by Rodriguez himself! The other character, Snapdragon “Snap”, was voiced by a trans woman, and is on the road to transitioning to being a trans woman by the end of the series. The lesbian characters included two cousins of Sage, one of the story’s protagonists. They are named Aloe and Anise, her wife. The person who voiced Anise is a lesbian actress and she voiced two other characters in the show, meaning that those characters could be arguably lesbian coded. Furthermore, Sage showed an attraction to Snap and her friend Rosemary, meaning that she is presumably a lesbian, and  Rose may be as well. Thyme, one of the show’s other protagonists, shows an attraction to a mermaid in one episode, while her roommate Parsley is very close with her. At the same time, another voice actor is openly gay and a person who voices a character named “Slime Boy” is ambiguously queer.

At the same time, terrestrial broadcast networks had their share of LGBTQ characters. This included gay men Crispin Cienfuegos and Ham Tobin in The Great North, voiced by Julio Torres and Pauli Rust respectfully, an implied lesbian woman named Frankie (voiced by Naomi McDonald) in Cartoon Network’s Elliott from Earth, and a queer man named Jerry Smith. Craig of the Creek, another Cartoon Network animated series currently airing features non-binary, lesbian, gay, and agender characters. Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues & You! featured an alphabet song which featured multiple Pride flags, Jessie Juwono, a supervising director of the now-ended Big Hero 6: The Series, confirmed Globby and Felony Carl, as a gay couple, and storyboarder Sam King said, two days after the series finale of Disney’s DuckTales, that she would permit fans to “assume I think every character except, like, Lunaris, is LGBTQIA+ in some shape or another.” On the other hand, Nickelodeon’s still-airing The Loud House features lesbian, gay, and bisexual characters. Another series, Tuca & Bertie,  the new season of which began airing on Adult Swim in June 2021, on Netflix for season 1, featured various LGBTQ characters as well. This included a bisexual Toucan named Tuca, and a female seagull, Kara, who is a former love interest of Tuca.

The ongoing Cartoon Network series, Victor and Valentino, features a character who is implied to be a lesbian: Xochi Jalapeno, voiced by Cristina Vee. As I wrote in November 2020, she has a clear romantic interest in another woman, Amabel, and her lesbianism is “heavily implied by her never showing romantic feelings for male characters and often blushing when she is around Amabel.” Sadly, in May of 2021, it was announced that The Venture Bros was ending. The series featured various LGBTQ characters such as the openly gay Colonel Horace Gentleman, a lesbian character named Virginia “Ginnie” Dunne, and a gay couple: The Alchemist and Shore Leave. Luckily, it was later announced the series would have a direct-to-video film continuation at some point.

Some shows aired on actual television channels and on broadcast networks. One such show was Final Space, with the show’s final season premiering on Adult Swim first, then later HBO Max and Netflix (for international broadcasts), from March 2021 to June 2021. The show’s cancellation was confirmed by show creator Olan Rogers. Final Space had previously aired on TBS. In December of 2020, I wrote that “if rumors are true, then the third season of Final Space will have LGBTQ characters” and that turned out to be be true! This was manifested in a humanoid alien by the name of Ash Graven voiced by Ashly Burch. She had previously voiced a bisexual woman in OK K.O.!: Let’s Be Heroes named Enid, a non-binary Gem woman in Steven Universe named Rutile Twins, a lesbian woman named Laney in The Loud House, and currently voices Molly McGee, a Thai-American protagonist of the series, The Ghost and Molly McGee.

In Final Space, however, Ash was shown to be a lesbian character in the eighth episode of the show’s final season, as she holds hands with a genderless being, Evra, voiced by a biracial queer actress, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and she had previously hated a man who had rejected her in a previous season. In a podcast about the episode, Rogers confirmed that Ash was lesbian and noted that his co-writer, David Sacks, pushed for an episode about Ash, while he had wanted to do another character. He also stated, at the time, that if the show were to have another season he would expand on the relationship between Ash and Evra. Sadly, he never got the chance to do this due to the show’s cancellation. The show also included recurring LGBTQ characters like Clarence Polkawitz (voiced by Conan O’Brien), a selfish man, as bisexual, and the gender-flipping possibly genderfluid Tribore Menendez (voiced by Rogers), while Rogers himself said that he would have pushed for Little Cato as a gay character in another season.

Other examples of shows airing on television and streaming platforms were Duncanville and HouseBroken, which aired on Hulu and FOX. Duncanville features a recurring genderfluid character named Mia Abarra (voiced by Rashida Jones), a kiss between one of the protagonists, Annie, and another woman, Sandra, and features background characters mentioning they are in gay relationships in several episodes in the show’s newest season. LGBTQ characters were throughout HouseBroken, whether a gay trans male cat named Chico, a bisexual mixed-breed terrier Diablo, and the owners of Tabitha, Stelios and Brett, as a same-sex couple. In November, in an episode of The Simpsons, a FOX series which has been running since 1989, Smithers was shown with a new boyfriend who was named Michael de Graaf.

More prominent is The Owl House, the first half of the second season which aired on the Disney Channel from June to August, then was added to Disney+ later. While it is aimed at pre-teens, the series is a “deep story with a simple premise” as one reviewer described it. A second season canonized the semi-canon feelings between a bisexual Afro-Dominican/Afro-Latina young woman named Luz Noceda (voiced by Sarah-Nicole Robles) and a lesbian young woman named Amity Blight, which fans dubbed “Lumity.” It also introduced a new non-binary character named Raine Whispers, voiced by Avi Roque, a non-binary actor, and confirmed that Eda Clawthorne (voiced by Wendie Malick) is queer because she had feelings for Raine, who she previously dated before breaking up, and previously noted she had ex-boyfriends. Furthermore, Mae Whitman, who voices Amity, came out as pansexual. The way forward for The Owl House beyond Season 3 is uncertain, as showrunner Dana Terrace stated in early October. Unlike previous Disney shows, which featured LGBTQ actors who generally did not voice LGBTQ characters, The Owl House features LGBTQ actors voicing LGBTQ characters, such as Mae Whitman. [6] Another currently airing Disney series, Big City Greens, featured two gay characters: Alexander and Terry.

Other Disney shows seemed to feature LGBTQ characters as well. In one episode of Amphibia there were two women who were coded based on the bisexual and pansexual flags, according to the show’s art director, named Jess and Ally. The latter was voiced by Latina comedian Melissa Villaseñor who is of Mexican descent. In another episode, a man was shown proposing to another man. As Jade King pointed out, there is a possibility of confirmed representation between two of the show’s protagonists, Anne Boonchuy and Marcy Wang, while there is “chemistry between Yunan and Olivia…teasing…a full relationship between the two.” There was even an episode which a song by Rebecca Sugar, creator of Steven Universe, was shown.

In two episodes of The Ghost and Molly McGee, a lesbian character named Ms. Roop, who is voiced by Jane Lynch, a lesbian woman, is shown. In the episode “Mazel Tov, Libby!”, she is slow-dancing with a woman and in the next episode she is shown to be a lesbian. The woman she dancing with is her wife, Pam. Samantha C. King, a director for the show, said that Roop is a “lesbian who always talks about her wife” and added that Pam and Roop aren’t the only LGBTQ characters, but that there will be “more significant rep later on.” Others have even argued that Molly McGee herself is bisexual, claiming that during a musical sequence in one episode, a bi flag-colored sticker can be seen on Molly’s motorcycle helmet, but this is only a unconfirmed theory. One of the show’s creators, Bob Roth, one of the show’s creators stated as much, urging fans to let the representation “unfold naturally.”

One indie animation put many of the series on streaming platforms and broadcast television to shame. Helluva Boss, at the head of the indie animation boom, continued to air on YouTube. Apart from the established LGBTQ characters like Blitzo (pansexual), Moxxie (bisexual), and Stolas (gay or bisexual), voiced by the openly gay Brandon Rogers, Richard Steven Horvitz, and Bryce Pinkham respectfully, the episode “The Harvest Moon Festival” introduced a trans female character named Sallie May (Millie’s sister), who is voiced by a trans woman, Morgana Ignis. Even two male-presenting characters, Blitzo and Stolas shared a kiss at the end of the episode “Truth Seekers.” The series can be described as having a tenor of morbid humor and being “unlike any other animated series, indie or mainstream, that has ever been created or has appeared on any platform,” unique in its own way. The series also featured, in the next-to-last episode of the show’s first season, Blitzo and Stolas going on a date together, although it did not work out for either of them, as Stolas can’t spell out why exactly he loves Blitzo, with both leaving each other behind. This series is prominent in the indie animation scene and one of the few queer female-led series, unlike other series which have wonderful representation but are not headed by queer people.

Otherwise, My Life is Worth Living, a series which is meant to use “relatable teen stories to teach suicide prevention strategies.” It includes stories which cover “LGBTQ+ issues, substance abuse, sexual abuse, and physical injury” and has aired on YouTube since September 2021. LGBTQ characters include Scott, a public speaker revealed to be gay in Dante’s Story and Dante, a high school football player who has struggled to come out. On October 11, the newest episode of Nico Colaleo’s series, Ollie & Scoops, premiered on YouTube. In the episode before that, which aired on October 22 of 2020, it centered on the history of a teacher, Binnie, who is “anxious and nervous to tell another teacher, Wendy, that she likes her,” with Colaleo promising that there will more of both characters in future episodes.

Many anime led the way when it came to representation. For instance, the original net animation, Assault Lily Bouquet: Fruits, based on Assault Lily Bouquet, had homoerotic focus, while the ongoing series My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! featured a bisexual harem of men and women who pin after the protagonist, Catarina Claus. In 2021 five series with LGBTQ characters began. High-Rise Invasion featured two protagonists who begin as a friends but become romantically involved with one another, while Otherside Picnic centered on two women who have feelings for each other. In the latter case, however, their feelings are only implied as they never kiss or even directly say they love each other, leading some critics to say that they can’t think of the show as anything more than “just another generic supernatural anime.”

Trans characters appeared in So I’m A Spider, So What? and Wonder Egg Priority. A non-binary character appeared in the series, Blue Period, who is misgendered and mocked by her classmates, and yuri content was present in both Sailor Moon Eternal movies, with two lesbian characters having a role: Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus. The series Komi Can’t Communicate includes a character with an ambiguous gender and another character, a woman, who is infatuated with the series protagonist. Some reviewers pointed to yuri coding in other series, like Vlad Love, Blue Reflection Ray, Kiniro Mosaic, Vivy, YuYuYu, Zombieland Saga: Revenge,  and Battle Athletes, while noting the final season of Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon S, calling the latter the “one of the most ridiculous and entertaining yuri-ish anime…in some time.” There are also implied yuri tensions between the protagonists of The Aquatope on White Sand with one reviewer for Anime News Network saying that they are considering the series “to be a yuri series” and calling it “yuri-coded right from the start,” while another saying they are setting their “yuri expectations…fairly low” for the show, but are still planning on watching it anyway.

January of this year will see the premiere of the new season of Princess Connect! Re:Dive, along with Luminous Witches and Love Live Superstar!, all of which may have yuri subtext. In early February 2022, The Legend of Vox Machina, an adult animated fantasy series based on a Critical Role campaign, will begin airing on Amazon Prime. It will include two bisexual siblings (Vex’ahlia “Vex” de Rolo and Vax’ildan “Vax” Vessar), and two queer characters (Keyleth of the Air Ashari  and Scanlan Shorthalt).

There are a number of animated series with LGBTQ representation that are either scheduled to air or presumed to air in 2022. This includes the reboot series The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, which will have an interracial gay couple (Barry and Randall Leibowitz-Jenkins), part 4 of Disenchantment, and the fourth season of The Dragon Prince. The latter show has featured supporting characters who are gay, non-binary, and lesbian. Arcane may also be coming back for another season sometime in 2022, although the exact date is not currently known, as will, presumably, Volume 9 of RWBY.

It is also expected that Dead End: Paranormal Park, previously named DeadEndia, will premiere sometime this year as well, after it was pushed back from its original premiere of October of 2021. Dead End: Paranormal Park, when it premieres, will break barriers with a trans male protagonist, Barney, with series creator Hamish Steele hoping it would get “more trans creators getting their chance to tell their stories” while hinting at other LGBTQ characters in the show apart from Barney. Steele also, in a thread on Twitter, described overt trans representation as important to him for a number of reasons, but due to the show being a UK production since UK broadcasters had rejected his previous trans storylines, and hoped that the series can be “one production taking a clear stand against the normalisation of transphobia in this country [the UK],” with the series having, in his words, “multiple trans cast and crew.” Hopefully the series will continue to increase positive queer representation in kids animation.

There are indie animations in development which will likely begin or continue this year. This may include new episodes of Nico Colaleo’s series, Ollie & Scoops, the premiere of S.A.L.E.M.: The Secret Archive of Legends, Enchantments, and Monsters, [7] and a new season of Hazbin Hotel on A24. Colaleo has already stated this, saying there would be “much more” Ollie & Scoops, while Hazbin fans were annoyed at much of the pilot cast not returning in the animated series which seems all but guaranteed to premiere this year.

HBO Max’s Lumberjanes, an animated adaption of the comic of the same name which ended in December 2020, will likely not air this year, but it is possible the litany of indie animations will air. This will not include Rain: The Animated Series as it was cancelled in September 2021 before the series premiere in a re-upload of one the show’s animations for unspecified reasons. The creators of the indie series, The Descendants, said they will pitch their series this year, with the show creator declaring that people need to create their dreams.

However, there are indie series moving forward, with no sign of cancellation. Indigo, with its development presumed after a previous cancellation, Wild Card, which has an openly bisexual protagonist, Jack, based on the show’s bisexual creator, Alex Bahrawy and Sheepish, with a non-binary protagonist, are only a few of many indie series with LGBTQ protagonists which are currently in development. [8] Wild Card seems to be moving closer and closer toward premiering the pilot, at least, as does Far Fetched Show.

I hope that Mika A. Epstein of LezWatch.TV is right in arguing that in terms of representation, this year, “things will get better” and fandoms will develop as ways to express the love people have “for a story or a movie of a TV show,” with shows which take risks, are daring, an tell diverse stories of various types.

© 2022-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Notes

[1] This was also clear in GLAAD’s 2020-2021 “Where We Are on TV” report (counting characters which premiered on primetime cable TV from June 2020 to May 2021) which noted characters in BoJack Horseman (since cancelled), The Owl House (p. 15, 40), Carmen Sandiego (p. 19), Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (p. 19, 40), Steven Universe Future (p. 40), DuckTales (p. 40), She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (p. 40), Harley Quinn (p. 42), Young Justice (p. 42). Let’s not forget that as Mike A. Epstein of LezWatch.TV pointed out, “while GLAAD does look into some international shows, it’s very skewed American.”

[2] 2021 was the fourth year of the awards show. In 2020, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power won for the “Outstanding Animated Series” category (the runner-up was BoJack Horseman and other nominees were: The Owl House, Steven Universe Future, Harley Quinn, and Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts). Also She-Ra was nominated for the “Best TV Episode With LGBTQ+ Themes” category, for the episode “Heart Part 2” while Adora and Catra in the same show won the “Fan Favorite Couple” award. In 2019, Steven Universe‘s episode “Reunited” was nominated for “Outstanding Individual Episode with LGBTQ+ Themes” and She-Ra won “Outstanding Animated Series” category (runner-up was Steven Universe and other nominees were: Love, Death & Robots, Bojack Horseman, Adventure Time, and Tuca & Bertie). In 2018, Rebecca Sugar, the showrunner of Steven Universe, was a runner-up for the “Outstanding LGBTQ+ Director / Producer / Showrunner” category, Steven Universe was one of the nominees for the “Most Groundbreaking Representation” category, and Steven Universe won the “Outstanding Animated Series” category (runner up was Adventure Time and other nominees were: Danger & Eggs and Loud House).

[3] Apart from these series, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Recorded by Arizal (implied that future story could have LGBTQ characters), and Onyx Equinox (with bisexual characters) ended in 2020. The hinted Astur’s Rebellion series by Sara Eissa was posed in 2020, but likely will not return. Additionally, the third “season” (as Peacock called it) of Cleopatra in Space, as I wrote about in December 2020, aired on Peacock on January 24, but had no more rep than the two moms of Akila which appeared in “School Break” which aired in November 2020.

[4] The other series are produced by a smattering of companies like Shadow Machine (Final Space; Tuca & Bertie), SpindleHorse Toons (Helluva Boss), Liden Films and Felix Film (Otherside Picnic), TNK (Redo of Healer), Millepensee (So I’m a Spider, So What?), The ULULU Company and Rough Draft Studios (Disenchantment), Zero-G, Inc. (High-Rise Invasion), Skybound Entertainment (Invincible), Asahi Broadcasting Corporation (My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!), P.A. Works (Aquatope on the White Sand), and Titmouse (Star Trek: Lower Decks).

[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIjX9rGvUmk, at 41:40-44:24). A few months later, an animator for the show said that they were “given explicit directions” to make Le Chevre and El Topo, in their scenes together, “romantic and intimate.” (https://scepterno.tumblr.com/post/642230247631323136/wait-i-can-finally-talk-about-how-i-was-given). This confirmed what GLAAD said in their report: “…Netflix includes queer characters in the animated series Carmen Sandiego” (p. 19)

[6] Other LGBTQ actors who did not voice LGBTQ characters include Matt Lucas as Benny in Romeo and Juliet, Rosie O’Donnell as Terk in Tarzan, Joshua Rush as Bunga in Timon & Pumbaa, Jane Lynch as Sergeant Calhoun in Wreck-It Ralph, Harvey Guillén as Funny in Mickey Mouse Funhouse, Auliʻi Cravalho as Moana in Moana, David Hyde Pierce as Francis in A Bug’s Life, Raven-Symoné as Monique in Kim Possible, Jack Dylan Grazer as Alberto in Luca, Sara Ramirez as Queen Miranda in Sofia the First, Graham Norton as Moonwind in Soul, Miley Cyrus as Penny in Bolt, Billy Eichner as Timon in The Lion King (2019 remake), Nathan Lane as Timon in The Lion King, Ellen DeGeneres as Dory in Finding Dory, Jonathan Groff as Kristoff in the Frozen films, Patti Harrison as Chief of Tail in Raya and the Last Dragon, Sean Hayes as Terri Perry in Monsters University, Alyson Stoner as Isabella in Phineas & Ferb, and David Ogden Stiers and Ian McKellen as Cogsworth.

[7] In this series, Salem, protagonist, is non-binary and pan, while Oliver is gay, and Petra is asexual.

[8] Others include Dirt: The Series, Romancing Roslyn Cherry, Howdy Cloudboy, Gadzooks and the Cryptoid Kids (a series by two gay men with LGBTQ themes), Roads to Rome, Succubus Cop, Starmakers, Cabiria Intermezzo, and Long Way From Del’Arte.

[dorkyparksdad]

Pixar Fest at Disneyland Resort 2024

Pixar Fest is returning to Disneyland Resort! The event, which runs from April 26th through August 4th, celebrates friendship and beyond with colorful décor, themed entertainment and more. This festival is highlighted by heartwarming entertainment featuring favorite Pixar stories. An all-new daytime parade “Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration!” will debut at Disney California Adventure…

[thequeereview]

Nimona NY premiere exclusive Interviews: creator, cast & filmmakers on their determination for the Netflix animated movie to be seen

Based on The New York Times best-selling graphic novel by ND Stevenson, directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane’s Nimona is a relentlessly entertaining, beautifully crafted animated feature with a big heart which lands globally on Netflix on Friday, June 30th. With a touching queer love story, powerful themes of acceptance and being seen, and a voice cast that features Chloë Grace Moretz, Riz Ahmed,…