#i hope it blows up in their faces

[pynkhues]

Hi I was wondering what your thoughts are about the WGA going on strike? Would like to know what you think the effect that would have on media and what that actually means when writers going strike.

I unequivocally support the strike, anon.

To say that the negotiations between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) have broken down would be to imply that they ever got anywhere at all. Pretty much all of WGA’s proposals have been met with rejections and no counter offers, effectively resulting in AMPTP forcing the WGA’s hand. You can read the summary of the negotiations here if you’re interested, but in essence, it boils down to five factors:

Increasing wages and base residuals

Establishing viewership-based residuals and transparency around audience

Preserving the writers room through minimum staffing + more secure contracts as opposed to freelancing

Every staffed writer to get pension and healthcare

Regulating use of AI, ensuring AI can’t write or rewrite literary material, can’t be used as source material, and MBA-covered material can’t be used to train AI.

Pretty much all of these were either outright refused by the AMPTP or seriously lowballed, which not only hugely devalues the writing industry as a whole, but is outright insulting when you see the producers and CEOs of these major corporations taking pay packets of between $40-$230million while writing residuals have dropped so much as to not even cover a writer’s monthly rent for an apartment anymore.

For some context on that, and those five factors I summarized above, I’d highly recommend watching this:

So, how did we get here?

This is partially answered in the above video, but ultimately the erosion of the writers room and writing residuals comes from streaming. The ways in which corporations make money off TV shows and movies has drastically changed, particularly around international sales (which I talked about a bit here) and re-runs, as international streamers have effectively killed both. What this means is that sales which used to lead to backend payments bolstering network profits, advertising sales and residuals for the creatives are all diluted.

This dilution is then obscured by corporations such as Netflix and Amazon Prime being deliberately vague about viewership, subscribers and more, creating a new industry culture that utilizes lack of transparency to ensure corporations make bank, while the creatives involved in various shows see increasingly less of the backend profits of their work.

This devalues creative talent, particularly writers. It’s company over content, it’s brand over story, and it’s profits over people.

A quick note on auteur TV

This is neither here nor there for the strike in particular (and really feels like a whole other post), but I do think that the focus on auteur-driven TV from streamers has also had a huge impact on dividing and conquering writers, and making certain writers complicit in the system that devalues their artform as a whole.

The streaming wars saw a huge uptick in auteur driven shows, as snapping up creative talent effectively took Hollywood back to the old studio system (which is fascinating in and of itself), but while these writers got big deals (The Duffer Brothers reportedly got a nine-figure deal) it saw budget reduce for writers rooms generally. There’s notorious industry gossip about the Duffers’ making their writers assistant redundant and replacing her with an unpaid intern, for instance, a story that’s becoming increasingly less and less surprising with auteur showrunners. The diminishment of junior roles in the writers room has a huge tap-on effect to the industry at large, limiting career pathways, creative experience, and flattening the writing ecosystem.

While it's about snapping up creative talent, I also do think it's about these corporations having something they can point to to show they're not the only ones making serious money, but showrunners like the Duffers' are red herrings, and often not paying it forwards to the industry they're treated as giants in. Again - whole other post though, haha.

 So what happens now?

Kind of a lot of things, actually. Late night’s shutting down, as is SNL, and all shows that were still actively writing will cease production. Yelllowjackets, Abbott Elementary, Big Mouth, Good Omens and more have been stopped, and we’ll likely see pretty much everything else stop too in the coming weeks, especially if crews go on strike in solidarity, which is looking like a real possibility. I also imagine AMPTP will probably want the strike to go for 45 days themselves, because that’s when the force majeure parts of existing deals activate, meaning they can cancel development on shows and movies they’d previously greenlit and effectively scrap their development slates and start over.

The Directors Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild are about to go into negotiations with AMPTP as well (the WGA deadline was 1 May, DGA and SAG-AFTRAs is 30 June), and given the hardline the AMPTP took with writers, it seems like the directors and actors are poised to strike too, which would have a lot of implications.

Matthew Belloni, a longstanding, very legit entertainment journalist, posited three potential outcomes in his newsletter this week after talking to industry insiders. He said:

If there is a strike, here are three different scenarios for how it could play out, based on conversations I’ve had this week with labor veterans:

1. The July Scenario: If both the DGA and SAG-AFTRA make deals at the end of June, the writers will find themselves on a lonely island and will likely settle. 2. The September Scenario: The fall broadcast schedule is impacted, the movie pipeline begins to suffer, the Emmys are threatened, and the companies feel they have made their cost cuts over the summer and can justify giving a little to make a deal. 3. The December Scenario: Everyone, including the streamers, begins to run out of scripted programs, the substitutes and unscripted fare aren’t generating equivalent viewership, and people start canceling subscriptions. Both sides panic, get together, and make a deal.

Here’s hoping for either the September or December scenario at this point, as they’re what’s going to give the writers leverage in negotiating, but yeah – it does mean we’re in for the long haul.

In the meantime, I think the media landscape is going to be a lot of unscripted shows and probably a lot of foreign imports. We're just going to have to wait and see.

[hesbianyaoi]

thank goodness for bsd wan and the existence of teacher dazai. where would i be without you

based on a real-life conversation that happened with me and my students when i was a kindergarten teacher. very small children are some of the most ruthless and funny people i've ever met. it's an absolutely lawless land in the classroom (they were very sweet though!)

[theblacktiecacti]

jay went to clown school. let’s talk about that

[mollysunder]

The funniest thing about Jayce is that while yes, he's juggling other peoples' interests/loyalties, he's only sort of malleable and mostly kind of uncontrollable. People can tell Jayce something and he will in fact listen to it, absorb the new information, but it's a genuine gamble to guess what he does with that information.

Heimerdinger tells him exactly how to avoid punishment for his trial and Jayce DOESN'T do it. Jayce decides to defend himself and the merit of his work. The Medardas want hextech weapons (for varying reasons), Viktor says no, meanwhile Jayce already has blueprints laminated and framed in his room.

Jayce didn't ask to be a Councilor, but he immediately throws himself into rooting out corruption. When Mel tells him he's gonna need to play ball to stay alive politically, Jayce goes, "Ball is life". Then Jayce manages to amass enough political capital to kick off HEIMERDINGER of all people.

Second to Jinx, Jayce is the character that asserts the most agency in the cast. People really try to pull Jayce in this and that direction, but his character, his morals, just who he really is pushes at any supposed binary others try to place him in. The choices he makes always align with his core, and it inevitably puts others in a position to accept the consequences of bringing up the issue to him in the first place.

[archersartcorner]

Back in Far Harbor gang… I get they probably didn’t want to extend a cutscene where the player had no control out too long, but I do wish in the Acadia meeting that you can eavesdrop on they brought up Nick 😭 but they do Not so here’s me making up scenarios. The Usual. 😏

[supercalime]

BoBs before 07x06:

What if we drunkenly cheated on our partners (and we were both boys)?

BoBs after 07x07:

No… Don’t cheat, ur so sexy aha

[palossssssand]

Reconciliation

Old dome squadmates Trito and Kinoga get together at Trito’s place to catch up after years apart and a meeting by chance on the surface.

⚠️Warning for suggestive content below + implied chest trauma

After several weeks of chipping away at this, the comic is finally done! Very happy to have rendered a full 7 pages of oc stuff. Please give it a read!!

read the full 7 page comic on twitter! <-please do not click if you are a minor and view at your own discretion, this link contains explicit 18+ content. Thank you!

For the lore, includes stuff from splatoon Octo Expansion: Trito and Kinoga were a part of an octarian military squad living in the domes, Kinoga being their squad leader that many looked up to and admired. There were 6 of them who considered each other to be their closest friends. Upon hearing about the tests from Kamabo Co. and the allure of the Promised Land, Kinoga wished to seek it out in order to find a better life for their squadmates. A difficult decision, since it meant leaving them all behind, promising to come back and take them there.

Kinoga enters the metro trials and soon realizes that the Promised Land isn’t what they expected, their hope crumbling when they encounter one of their sanitized squadmates Agara, who followed suit to the metros soon after. Kinoga narrowly escapes, eventually making a break for the surface, carrying the shame of unwilling to return for their squadmates with them (it’s justified, of course, there might not be an easy way in, they might get caught again, Agara is gone)

Trito enters the Metro not too long after Kinoga does, wanting to catch up to them, and an accident that occurs in a test early on results in Trito’s near sanitization, giving him his scar. Terrified, and realizing what happens to his fellow octolings, Trito is unable to return to his squadmates, not wanting to break the news of their loved ones’ untimely fates. He hides away on the Metro until the events of OE happen and Agent 8 dismantles Kamabo, opening an opportunity to escape to the surface. Unwilling to face the possibilities of going back, Trito takes his chance to leave, starting a new life and feeling that it’s for the best if he doesn’t acknowledge it, though he missed his friends dearly.

Years later, Trito and Kinoga run into each other on the streets of Splatsville by chance, and the implications of them both being on the surface and alive hit them, having to carry the burden of leaving their loved ones behind and finding out the truth, knowing the other felt exactly the same, not knowing the fate of their squadmates and not wanting to think about the possibility of them being gone. They have a tearful reunion about it, and set up a meet later, to sit down and really talk, and get into a brief argument when the topic of returning to the domes comes up. Trito’s in disbelief that Kinoga never went back down to check on the rest of their squad, wanting them to have been a better person than him, who was too cowardly to do so. Eventually they do reconcile, and end up at Trito’s place to hook up, where the above comic takes place :]

[ghostlightfic]

Things Are Occurring.

[lotus-pear]

THE NEW BSD CHAPTER?????? HELLO?????? EHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK FYODOR

[kennyomegasweave]

As someone who genuinely loves the terrible relationship between Captain & Keen and also an unrepentant member of the Captain fanclub, not in spite of him being a terrible person, but because he's a terrible person, I feel so absolutely vindicated by the fact that it's confirmed the boy did actually fall in love with Keen and that still changed absolutely nothing about his behaviors. I knew the whole time he was catching real feelings and I knew it was also going to end TERRIBLY because that wasn't going to make him be a good person to Keen, or anyone else, anyway.

I love rank ass bitches staying rank even when they're in love. I love rank ass bitches staying rank to the person they're in love with, especially when that person knew they were a rank ass bitch the whole time. Love doesn't make someone a good person and it's not always a positive force.

[nilesmoon]

Path to Freedom: an Amprule First Note analysis thingy

Due to popular demand (of my 3 friends), I've decided to type up another break down of an amprule illustration!!! yippee!!!!

Once again let's start simple!! the light composition!! There is a clear light/shadow duality happening in this illustration so here's a neat chart I made to show it:

Now you might notice the red/green tint I added, as well as how Chungsung is in the light meanwhile Dongha is in the dark. So let's break down the components of each side.

Dongha is surrounded by shadows. The shadows likely show how he feels trapped in the Yeon family. The paintings that surround him add even more pressure because he has the Yeon family name to live up to.

He is looked down by the paintings behind him (it's only Chungsung who's looking up at him) meanwhile Dongha doesn't look at anyone, he fears that he has failed the family (his father). He seems to be considering his choices between the two paths he could take.

What are his two paths exactly? Well, they're shown through the doors! The door next to him and the door below him.

The door next to him will possibly take him deeper into the mansion. The path is pitch-black and the darkness will make him feel even more lost. This path will probably keep him trapped in the mansion forever.

The door below him is lit up and will possibly lead him to the exit. The path is lit up and it all seems good, but there is yet another painting in the way. His fight for freedom won't be easy but we already know that he is determined to take that step forward.

The physical locations of the doors could also mean something. The one that leads inside the mansion is higher up, it means that if Dongha wants to keep his social status he's gonna have to give up his freedom. But if he wants to become free he'll have to "lower" himself and possibly lose his status. (It is worth pointing out how the positions of the characters show their imbalance as well.)

Now, everything I've mentioned to this point has been focusing on Dongha's struggles, so where's Chungsung in all of this?

I've talked about the role colors play in Amprule art in my previous post. Chungsung's red contrasts with the Yeon family green and gives Dongha a place to Be. There is no red in this illustration, Chungsung is as trapped in the family as Dongha is.

Just with the way he's positioned shows us that he is leaning toward the idea of freedom (is it his freedom, does he want Dongha to be free, or is it just his willingness to be a tool for Dongha's freedom). And if we take account of the light = freedom & shadow = restraint meanings, the light is practically shining upon him.

But at the end of the day, he is still only a butler and he is waiting for Dongha to make a decision. His loyalty to Dongha is not something to question, we all know that Chungsung will stand by his side no matter which path he chooses. However, if Dongha chooses to go deeper into the mansion he might end up being separated from Chungsung and their distance would become even bigger.

"To me Amprule means freedom." is something Dongha says to Hajun in the Showdown Aftermath drama track. Dongha forming Amprule is not only him choosing his freedom but choosing to get closer to Chungsung as well. Though I suppose neither of them are aware of how they've been closing the gap.

Considering how this is a bit of a "prequel to Amprule" type of image it gives us a decent look into just how suffocating their lives in the Yeon family were. They still haven't made it to equal footing, but we know that they're slowly getting there and setting themselves free.

[navree]

i lied, anime prince slade wilson is not the craziest version of deathstroke to have ever been created, CHIBI anime prince slade wilson is now the craziest version of deathstroke the literal terminator to have ever been created

[australet789]

I have SO much to say about Jaiden's decision but I 100% agree with her and whatever the Cucuruchos are doing

I dont care, specially i dont care what Cellbit says about them

Because that has been the whole mindset of the islanders so far and it only have caused more problems than fixes

Because we have the best example of what happens when you don't agree with Cellbit's ideas

Foolish

Foolish since the very beggining was pro-Federation. He wanted to play around, because he is an inmortal god that has lived many lives and has seen everything. The Feds gave him a family and love he always wanted. But he was always VERY honest about his feelings, he always says how he liked the Federation and how he wanted to be Cucurucho's friend (mostly because he wanted a cloud and a gun).

And what did they do to him?

Beat him up

Treat him like a fool, like the dumb guy, the poor "omg he is so stupid we should help him see the truth with torture". He was left behind in The Nether, only to be attacked by everyone else when he managed to come back thanks to Philza

And everyone, including Cellbit, went to kick him in the balls. The only one who stopped them, was Roier. Roier who is Cellbit's husband but mostly, Foolish's adopted son.

Foolish is technically Cellbit's family and what did he do? He so supposedly care to the ones he is family with? He decided his believes were more important and added into the bullying

So now, look at Jaiden

Jaiden who is practically alone. Jaiden whose only friends are Roier and Foolish and we know how much Cellbit doesn't care if they care about someone else, if that person betrays him, he wont take a double look to see if there's something else going with with that someone.

Jaiden, who was spyed and mistrusted because of how much she loved Cucurucho, because she managed to see they were individuals apart from The Federation, like Walter Bob was. Fucked up individuals, but their own people in the end

I understand her lying. I understand wanting to hide into Cucurucho's side because nobody else is doing it. Because she was honest all the time and the only ones who appreciated that honesty, apart for Foolish, were the Cucuruchos

Cellbit has trauma, im not denying that. Cucurucho has fucked him up, but Jaiden has trauma too and she tried to be honest with everyone about it, only for the rest to laugh in her face

So now she is becoming like Cellbit. She is going to mistrust everyone. If all the fucking island only cares about what Cellbit needs to tell about The Feds, because he is sooooo reliable, he is the smart one, he is the only solving the riddles, he is the hero! Then she is going to do the opposite and switch sides completly to defend the ones she loves. And right now, she loves the Cucuruchos. Always have loved them since her past life.

And fuck everyone, but specially Cellbit (said by her character, mind you), if he thinks otherwise.

She is tired of being in the shadow of someone else biased opinion

And if she is wrong? Then so be it, everyone always believed she was wrong in the first place.

She, has nothing to lose anymore

[all-inmoderation]

rewatching the fourth episode "Happy Progress Day" and realizing that it was Ekko under that Firelight owl mask is just,,, holy shit.

Ekko was the one who screamed "No!" when Jinx shot that pink-haired girl she mistook for Vi.

Did that pink-haired girl remind Ekko of Vi, too? Maybe that's why he liked her. Vi was dead and gone, but here's this girl with the same rosy-hued hair, the same heart and grit as Vi, willing to fight alongside him against Silco and Jinx for taking away his family. For taking Vi away. For taking Powder away.

[marsconer]

i hate the ship wars. mostly bc i don’t see either of them. like katara doesn’t seem that interested in either of them. let my girl live.

[r-truth]

what if this storyline somehow SOMEHOW ends with damian and truth teaming up