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visualtaehyun · 2 months ago

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P'Den held a space on twt last week wherein he answered questions about the four shows he's currently involved in - Zomvivor, The Next Prince, Khemjira and Love Upon A Time - and shared stories from on set of the different shows, about the actors, about his work in general as well as his methods etc. Since I've kinda become a Domundi girlie and follow P'Den on twt, I thought I'd share what he talked about on here ✌

Disclaimer: not a native Thai speaker, still learning 🙏

He spoke Thai most of the time so I'm mostly translating here but some questions were answered in English and then summarized in Thai so those parts I tried to consolidate to a degree. This entire post is not a 1:1 transcription or translation but I tried to stick as close to his word choices as possible, while still writing from a third person perspective. Oh, and I also sorted everything into four parts according to which show he's talking about instead of following the space chronologically.

Cheers, have fun, and do feel free to ask me any follow-up questions!

(Full post under the cut for length.)

To keep things concise (oh the irony after that previous sentence 🤡), the four shows will be abbreviated as ZVV, TNP, KJR and LUAT from here on out.

🧟‍♂️ "Spoiler about SanNon please, Kru🤣" (San and Non are Zee and Nunew's characters)

He likes seeing people's guesses from the teaser and that there's been a bunch of people who got close to what actually happens in the script. Are we gonna see them fight? ZVV is about raw human instinct coming to light when faced with disaster. The disaster or monster is a representation of a crisis or of problems within society. ZVV is set at a university so, once there's a zombie outbreak, how do the students deal with the problem?

🧟‍♂️ "On the set of ZVV, were there actual ghosts?"

ZVV was filmed mostly on a university campus, though there are some scenes outside of that setting. [In comparison to the set of KJR] they didn't really have any ghost encounters on set. But people were still afraid sometimes because they often filmed at night. For example, they shot in a library that was closed for renovation so there hadn't been any people in there forever. Or sometimes they shot on campus at night and had to turn off all the lights to set up the lighting. The only ghost encounters where when he'd run into some the extras in the restrooms, especially when he'd be lost in thought, after the extras were already in full zombie makeup. In that case, he'd be screaming sometimes.

🧟‍♂️ Talking about workshops

Lots of animal exercises where everyone would get assigned a different animal, observe that animal's behavior, and then play as that animal. Some human behaviors are already associated with animals, like 'mischievous like a monkey' or 'furious like a tiger'. Taking those animalistic sides into ZVV made the actors open up to their own instincts.

🧟‍♂️ "Were there any challenges in filming ZVV? Like anything you'd say was hard to film?"

There was one scene, one sequence really with many small scenes, that took 3 Qs to film! It was a big scene with effects, action, filming with special equipment, rain that had to bet set up. Plus the amount of actors being almost the entire label, maybe 60-70 people in the scene in total. And Aof and Kla wanted it to be perfect as it's one of the major scenes in the show. It was tiring for the actors, too, of course. But they did it and can be really proud of the final product.

🧟‍♂️ "Development of ZeeNew's acting from ZVV to TNP"

He says they were already good to begin with, ZVV just required a bit of adjustment for them since P'Den is one for realism. Not just them but all the actors had to train 'physical' with Om and Fuang - using one's body, combat scenes, letting one's body respond to emotions, movement. His part was more focused on the script and the character's inner works. ZVV was also intentionally filmed like a movie, making the acting choices really authentic in those situations. Many times, he wouldn't give the actors any choices beforehand, unlike during filming a series usually goes, where he'd go over the blocking, choreography, cues etc. Instead they explained the situation the characters were in, told the actors where the camera(s) was/were, and how far they could go in terms of blocking - but the rest was left up to the actors to go free and explore their own choices. So for Zee and New, at the very beginning, they were used to being given choices or having choices thought-out ahead of time. But once they met with P'Den, he tried to have them be in the present moment as much as possible and make choices according to what their characters feel at the time. He could tell they weren't used to it, but used to getting more input, so he met them halfway at first, giving them some help but still encouraging them to find and explore by themselves. Once they started TNP, they were much more used to his method and developed to be actors that are more free. They'd still ask for his feedback on their own choices sometimes, even though P'Den says they already thought like their characters and understood them well.

🧟‍♂️ Air date

Coming in the 4th quarter of 2025, as announced. He implied again that it will be aired on Netflix. It's still in editing, considering the CG, but almost done. We'll see the Domundi boys in roles that they don't usually get to play or are a departure from previous ones, like getting to do action and dramatic scenes for some that routinely play comedic roles or trying out comedic scenes for those that come from drama. There are many flavors in this series.

👑 "Does TNP still have any surprises, wow moments, stuff to leave us stunned, something that fans would never see coming? Like something we'd never expect to see lol"

So many! TNP is just The Most in his life so far. Everyone's using every skill they have and still learning new things for the show. There are scenes from the novel and new scenes, there are many grand scenes and special situations. The actors had to learn horse riding, fencing, ballroom dancing. There are many surprises that weren't in the pilot and characters that haven't been introduced yet.

👑 "First impression after working with P'Zee and Nong Nunew ☺️ Thank you, Kru Den, for being so passionate about TNP!"

He first met ZNN for ZVV and is happy to have met them. From an outsider's perspective they look utterly perfect, he had no clue what their real selves would be like. Zee seemed mature and prudent and Nunew's the miracle child who can do anything. Once he got to know them though, both of them still seem really young. They have so much enthusiasm for work, ask a lot of questions, want their work to turn out well, are down to earth and easy to talk to. They're really lovely Nongs to him but really all of Domundi's actors that he's worked with are lovely. He's never felt troubled when working with any of them because they all take their responsibilities seriously. ZeeNew work so much, he sees that they're working every day, yet they always do their homework. He never has to tell them which scenes precede and follow the scene they're currently filming, never has to tell them what their character is doing or feeling. He only has to help remind them of certain points or suggesting choices and then lets them play, sometimes letting them suggest choices themselves for him to decide which one would be most fitting, especially for difficult scenes. For New, that would be scenes where he has to cry right from the start of a scene. Playing music or talking about his character's feelings gets him there. Similarly for Zee, talking about what his character's been through gets him there. He's really happy to be working with this label's kids.

👑 Talking about workshops

The emphasis was on interpreting the script and finding the private moments of the characters and what they're like in those moments, what they think, want, are lacking. When they're with other people, what mask do they need to wear, who do they need to appear to be? TNP is about personas we need to portray in the world. It's Khanin's journey of suddenly finding himself to be a prince who needs to compete in the tradition of fencing, so he has to conduct himself differently depending on the individual. What is he like with his friends, with Charan, when faced with the public? Same goes for the other characters. They also improvised situations that aren't in the script, like filling in the parentheses to understand the course of events.

👑 "If you had to choose three words to describe the first episode of TNP Series, which ones would you use?👀"

Emotional. Roller. Coaster.

The first episode is always the establishing one, the one that explains what a given series is gonna feel like. So of course the different flavors we'll see in the entire 14 episodes of TNP, are all gonna be there in the first EP. No need to be afraid that the first EP's gonna be plastered in exposition. We're getting all the flavors right off the bat. Whatever we assume must be in TNP, we'll get in appetizer format in EP 1. All crew members that got to watch it, and P'Aof too, said that EP 1 has the vibe of a foreign production, kinda like Heartstopper, kinda like Red, White & Royal Blue, kinda like Bridgerton. There are gonna be lots of emotions, twists and turns, a bit of romance, a bit of comedy, a bit of drama, action, royalty. It's an introductory episode with its own depth and style.

👑 More than one person asked about Itthi, a beloved character in the novels

P'Den asked P'Aof for permission earlier to address this. About Itt - TNP has a script advisor, Kru Aumm, who's a talented screenwriter known for Analog Squad, for example, and has worked as a script advisor for Netflix Thailand and GDH. P'Den has worked with her before. Though P'Den is the acting coach for TNP and thus has nothing to do with the script but he knows that Kru Aumm advised about Itt and Wetid. In order not to have the cast size get too big and because these characters have really similar functions (in the story), she advised to merge them into one person, who would serve both Wetid and Itt's purposes. This was also done to tighten up the script. Of course they didn't want to cut too much from the plot that would make the main plot go down. So both characters have been combined into one character, Wetid, that is played by Most Witsarut. His acting skills are great, he's a Directing and Acting graduate as well and P'Den already knew and has worked with him before. As Wetid he'll be fierce and Charan's helper in lots of instances related to the main plot. P'Den saw questions about Itt come up again and again, some people thinking we'd just have to wait to see him in the series, so he asked P'Aof if he may announce that there's no Itthi in the series but that he's been merged into one character with Wetid.

👑 Someone asked about the photo of ZNN napping and cuddling on set of TNP that P'Den shared on twt

It's obvious that, once they need to change scenes, different people would disperse all over the place to get dressed, get their hair and make-up done, and read their own scripts. But these two get together - helping each other memorizing lines, rehearsing by themselves so it'll be faster and easier once they're on set, playing with each other like we've seen in photos. If there's time to rest, they'll play around together, teasing each other back and forth. If they're tired, they'll hug or sit on each other's lap. Sometimes, if they're too lazy to walk onto the set, they'll carry each other onto set. You'd think P'Den would be used to it by now but he still isn't. There's always something new to observe. Most of the time, it's probably New trying to annoy Zee, Zee teasing him back, New acting sulky and then Zee making it up to him. And then they're cuddling (while lying down). It would go something like that. They play with, comfort, and take care of each other all the time. If New gets tired, Zee would get to him even before a crew member. Sometimes New gets water or tissues, for example, even before the crew could (for Zee). Sometimes they fight, just like any other people who are close to each other - same as P'Den and his boyfriend [legally wedded, actually 🙂‍↕️] sometimes tease each other or fight with each other for some spice in their relationship [his words, not mine 🤣 sounds familiar to zonzons, too, no?], and then hug it out, comfort each other, and call it a day.

(ZeeNuNew) are very professional. At first, he felt a lot of pressure to be working with them because they're already very successful and famous and he was afraid that he wouldn't get up to par with them. P'Den isn't the type of person who feels like he needs to prove himself, he just always does his job the best he can. So he studied the script and scenes extensively, prepared his own timeline for all the scenes and situations, in terms of how the relationships change and the characters grow and develop, so he'd have his own documents to refer back to when he's coaching them or when they have any questions.

The crew is amazing, too, everybody remembers the timeline of the story and helps with the continuity of acting, emotions, hair & make-up etc. Since everybody does their jobs to the best of their abilities and with lots of passion, he hopes that'll prove itself. Nothing is perfect, of course, like there still might be oversights or mistakes but everyone's trying really hard because they know we've been waiting for this for three years. P'Den understands (the frustration) because he himself is also a fan who's had to wait years for things he's a fan of. But they're all really trying to get it right for us.

👑 About the script + final words

There were lots of script adjustments from the novels, both to tighten up the plot and make it more intense as well as to add stuff to make it more fun. There are more scenes to show Khun Charan's and Khanin's skills, in terms of sports disciplines, action scenes, drama. But there's still lots of cute scenes like in the novels. Kru Aumm's team, from Netflix, was coordinating with the script writer all the time to make several instances more condensed while retaining Khanin and Charan's character growth without leaving anyone behind. We are definitely getting the issue of the royal houses vying (for the throne), family issues, issues related to trauma, some political issues that are gonna make it more modern to current day audiences that P'Den thinks we'll enjoy debating and analyzing for sure, various symbols [unsure if he means literal emblems and such or symbolism], beautiful luxurious costumes and locations with hidden meanings that we'll also likely enjoy analyzing.

👻 "Kru Den, which scene in KJR do you think has been the most difficult? Have you encountered a lot of obstacles while filming? I saw that during the latest Q it was raining too ㅜㅜ"

Filming's been going pretty smoothly since it's dry season, the weather's pretty cool, and there's barely any rain. If it is hot, there's always fans, AC units, cooling wipes on set. On Domundi sets there's never a need to worry about the well-being of the crew and actors. Three meals a day, another two that are snacks, and tasty beverages! [lmao] It's just been recently that nature's interfering, like the rain during the previous Q. Which scene does he think was the most difficult? There's been one day where he said it was the biggest and most tiring day since the start of filming, in terms of filming technique, the number of people in the scene, the difficulty and intensity of the scene. People can probably guess what scene it is since there aren't that many scenes in the novel with that large a number of people and that're this brutal.

👻 "For KJR, could you spoil if there's gonna be more exciting things from now on, be it about the cast, scenes or anything else? After announcing the casting of Granny Si, there haven't been any more surprises to get excited about. Could you maybe spoil a little bit more? 😣"

There's so much still! There are still many characters from the novel that haven't been announced so there's still many actors to get wowed by once the series is on air.

👻 Talking about workshops

A lot of improvisation exercises to find the relationships, backgrounds, connection to the past etc. until they could speak and think like their characters.

👻 "KengNamping, TleFirstOne, how is their acting to you, Kru Den?"

It's good he met them ever since the pilot so he got to know everyone's strong points and what they'd still needed to work on.

Keng, for example, comes from movies so he struggled a bit at first with the way series are filmed, since you have a lot of cuts and angles and need to keep playing them the same way to keep the continuity. Whereas in a movie you'd be more free in your acting. He got used to it after the pilot and the workshops. Keng's role doesn't allow him to express a lot. Paran isn't the type of person to show what he's feeling outwardly or immediately. He has a maturity and circumspection to him, a feeling of keeping everything, all his feelings, tucked away in a drawer. For him to outwardly show something, it has to be notable. So Keng's challenge is that he can't feel and express things in one layer, he has to keep it to himself and select how much he'll show. For example, other characters might shout at each other but Por Kru wouldn't do that. He uses his gaze, his deep piercing voice, but wouldn't yell loudly. But Keng does it really well, a little goes a long way. And Keng has a great sense of give-and-receive with his scene partner. Sometimes just seeing him sit with a scene partner, like Mae Nok Noi (the actress who plays Granny Si), just the two of them, there's no need to even be speaking and it's already just right.

Namping is like P'Den, personality-wise. It's like he has two modes: Playful all the time but once he walks onto the set, he's calm, concentrating, ready for rehearsal and blocking, remembers his lines right from the get go. He doesn't hold his script when he enters the set - none of the actors P'Den is working with do, actually. Everyone memorizes their lines at home and did their homework on the ride to work or in the dressing room so once they're on the set, everyone's quiet and ready for blocking, rehearsal, and filming. Namping is that way - in the dressing room he's still playing around but as soon as they're preparing to film, it's on! Cut, moving the camera - and he's back to his cheerful self. P'Den has never seen Namping be exhausted in the almost 20 Qs so far, he's always full of energy which gives the people around him more energy, too.

Tle is detail-oriented, always the first one to get on set, very diligent, open towards different choices. The role of Charnvit isn't easy. It has a nerdiness that's approachable, instead of completely absorbed in one field of interest. He's critical and believes in cause and effect and it's this rationality of his that helps the group. Tle executes that well. Tle also doesn't really play around once he's on set - worlds apart from First!

First is mischievous but once he has to focus, he is really determined. He'll suddenly turn into a school boy, gaze fixed on P'Den and always asking so many questions. People like to ask if Tle and First aren't just playing themselves but Jettana (FirstOne's role) actually has so many dimensions. First can do them all, be it serious parts, dramatic, loving his friends, fun, funny, action, mischievous etc. and not all of them are First's real self 100%.

👻 "Which of the locations for KJR do you think is the scariest, Kru Den?"

Yesterday's! (Q19)

👻 "P'Den, about KJR, would it be any differences about Khemjira's character between series and its book? Because Khem is too easy to cry in its book kaa."

Yes, there will be some differences. When it's understandable that Khem is emotional, sensitive, and feels like crying then he will be crying in the series. But they're not going for a weak Khem. It's good and touching in the novel because you get to feel with the character. When reading you connect via the words and your own imagination. But once it becomes visual on-screen, he thinks people don't like to see the main character cry that much without doing anything for themselves or others. So in the series Khem's gonna be a little tougher. He'll still be sensitive, emotional, naïve, reserved but he will try to survive, just like the title. He'll try to persevere and do things for himself and his friends more.

There are gonna be some side-stories to showcase Paran's ability in dealing with ghosts and supernatural beings in the village, his relationship with the people in the village, and beliefs around shamans. And also side-stories to showcase Khem's strong mind and will and his ability to survive - if he managed to survive 20 years of his life, without his mother, seeing ghosts all the time, enduring all that, then he must be a strong person, not a crybaby. What he will be crying about would be personal and because of his feelings for the other characters. Of course Khem won't turn into the Daughter of the Village Chief [a wild child tomboy female character] but he will be a bit stronger than in the novel.

👻 Final words

They're still going strong with filming. As he said before, there have been some additions and changes to the script so it's still intense but can be shot more realistically. There's interference with beliefs, the principle of karma and the wheel of dharma, saving each other, saving oneself, taking a life to survive in any way, surviving like you're the only one to survive or surviving like we help each other to go on. The message is gonna be concentrated on cases of wiping out ghosts and meeting villagers who can make us come to terms with something. Which is in line with P'Aof wanting to make series not just for entertainment purposes but also to discuss and bring up various issues.

Since the show is 12 episodes long, some parts of the special chapters are going to be mixed into the series as well as side-stories and events from past lives. We're going to see a lot of culture, history, and a thrilling romantic story.

⏳ "P'Kim shared that the scarf scene was improvised, now I wonder how often the boys improvised the scenes?Another one is the part where PhopKhun being intimate, was the awkwardness a deliberation or was it coz JJ was too shy?"

He isn't very keen on improvisation since every scene has to connect to the scene before and after, they can't allow all improvisations to make the cut since the emotions and relationships have to be consistent and some scenes require an agreed-upon sequence, like combat scenes. If there are improvised moments that were kept in the pilot it's because they discussed whether the actors' instincts during filming fit the scene, in which case he let it pass, or not, in which case they'd discuss if it could be adjusted in a fitting way. They mostly just follow the script as is standard practice, these kinds of instinctive choices can make the scene stand out and fit each actors' interpretations of their character. So it's about 90% following the script direction but actors are also free to add their own interpretations and encouraged to be in the moment.

The awkwardness between Phop and Nakhun was indeed deliberate. Some of the choices are of course JJ's, like the facial expressions, but it was scripted to be this way, it's not because JJ was actually too shy or anything. There are gonna be parts where Nakhun becomes more daring but since the pilot takes place at the very beginning of the story, Nakhun gets shy a lot with Phop.

⏳ "Tell us about LUAT please"

Regarding workshop, it's a lot about language. It's like acting in a Shakespeare piece because we're trying to speak an obsolete language. So the kids had to translate their scripts into modern day language and then they'd act out the scenes with modern language first, in order for them to understand the characters' feelings and wants within a given scene. All four understood their characters and scripts, everyone just had their own things to work on, e.g. Nong Tte speaks too fast sometimes, Net doesn't always enunciate clearly. Some things are habitual and just part of their speech patterns, so they'd be difficult to change within the 2 months they had between workshops and filming the pilot. Learning to speak a 2nd or 3rd language accurately and precisely takes time. The LUAT actors are gonna be working with a speech therapist/vocal coach soon.

⏳ "For LUAT, was there any scene that was hard for the crew or the actors?"

Since this was a pilot, they had 2 Qs of time to film it. And during Q1 they had to move (between?) 2 locations so they were tight on time for actual filming. The kids got very little chance to play several takes since they had to keep going. So for the pilot they rehearsed extensively beforehand, ever since the workshop, every single scene. What we see in the pilot, most if not all of it was shot in under three takes. Among those three takes, none of them were bad either, but they were different choices, in the sense of being less or more, or different options for editing later.

What was hard for the crew was the scene of them sitting and drinking together, half-way into the NC scene, on the terrace. It took almost an hour to set up the lighting because they hardly used any electrical lighting, it was mostly practical lighting, lighting up candles and lamps. Meaning the candles had to continue, they had to change them out after every cut, and the oil lamps had to continue, the fire had to be consistent. And the actions and feelings between the characters were difficult as well. It was almost half past midnight at the time so everyone was tired. He remembers this scene requiring a lot of time and effort.

Another difficult one was the lantern-floating scene. A Krathong will just follow the flow of water but they needed it to be in front of the camera to get a nice shot of the pretty candle light on the lotus pond. So an art team crew member on a rowboat had to keep rounding up the Krathongs in front of the camera. It had such a cute vibe, actually, seeing them row back and forth to collect the Krathongs. It was late at night then, too, the other Q's night. Since this was an outdoor scene in a waterfront pavilion without lights or electricity, the light had to be completely set up, which also took a lot of time for the crew. As for the actors, it was an intimate moment wherein the characters finally know their feelings but Klao still feels like there might come a day he won't be here anymore - both in the sense that someone might mean Klao harm and come to hurt him as well as in the sense that he might just warp back to the present at any moment. There's a bittersweetness to it that dampens the romance but doesn't make it sad either so the actors had to find the balance.

⏳ P'Den couldn't find the question anymore but it was: "For LUAT, I'd like to know about Tte's development and him working together with P'Kim - how is it?"

(La)Tte surprised P'Den with how little he speaks, like, he's really silent. He seems like a hard-to-approach manly man, at least from P'Den's perspective as a queer. But he's actually really lovely and diligent and P'Den only just found out that he went to law school. He also takes down every single word P'Den says! Whether it's serious or joking or whatever, he takes notes on everything, as if he's sitting in a lecture hall. Those lines that are an almost-rap at the beginning (of the pilot), where he says so much, were the first lines during workshop. He's really hard-working - during break on-set, P'Den would turn around and see Tte with his script jotting stuff down endlessly. He feels the pressure on him since the last pilot, he's read the comments and knows what he needs to work on so he's really trying to improve at all times. P'Den sees his determination.

As for Tte's chemistry with Kim - they like teasing each other. Tte likes teasing Kim and sometimes Kim will tease him back. For example, when they were shooting the present-day scenes. P'Den saw Tte teasing Kim a lot so that Kim would actually feel annoyed like Nong Pun. Which would come back around once they shot the past scenes. It's one kind of relationship that's really fun, where the Nong messes with/teases the Phi and the Phi gets all huffy.

Kim also surprised him. P'Den knew already what he was capable of but he delivered since the very first take. There's no nervousness because of the camera at all. It's like he's fully prepared. He's a new actor who's done his homework well so there's almost no need to coach him, it's just about helping him in making acting choices. Kim was really sensitive, emotional, about the pouring water part to the point it became another key scene that everyone was talking about. That came from Kim, the credit is almost entirely his for that. He found that (in him) himself.

⏳ "For LUAT, is that one important event still gonna happen?🥹🥹 and are Mae Wanna and Khun Pim part of the script?"

They're currently having script meetings for LUAT. They got a script writer who's previously written period pieces, like Royal Doctor, Thong Ek: The Herbal Master and Ruk Laek Pop. The fact that LUAT is a period piece is pretty straightforward but there might need to be adjustments in the way the story is told because, reading the novel, there is a lot of Nakhun just going about his daily life at times and lots of descriptions of characters' feelings. So they need to add the situations and actions of the characters in order for the audience to get the picture. And they can't just have the characters describe every circumstance in a voiceover or directly tell the audience. They might need to be expanded into situations (small scenes).

But that one really important event is definitely going to be there, otherwise it would become a different story, it wouldn't be LUAT anymore. Therefore, whatever is key to the story - finding his identity, trying to find out where the previous Klao disappeared to and what's going on, disguising himself to get into the opium house and the brothel, adjusting to life in the Ayutthaya period, slowly falling in love with P'Phop, gradually revealing how they could've been close before - all of that has to be there.

As for if Mae Wanna and Khun Pim are going to be in the script, they are catalysts in the relationship of P'Phop and Nakhun. They have their function, they make us see that P'Phop really doesn't care for anyone else aside from Nakhun, no matter if in the past or in this life. And that also makes Nakhun more confident in this man. So P'Den thinks the series script has to have them but he can't say how minor or big their parts are going to be since they're still in talks about the script.

⏳ Final words

More script meetings coming up! P'Den directed the pilot and is also going to be directing the full series. Next up, he'll be sending the kids to clinical speech training with a vocal coach who's a colleague of his at Chulalongkorn University from the faculty of Arts and who got his degree in the US. They'll be learning how to enunciate and pronounce ancient Thai speech more clearly and comfortably. As for the script, they'll try to keep the important or key parts as they are but the way of telling the story might be different, to make it a more modern interpretation, at a time where there are countless period pieces, to make this BL period piece stand out. It won't be just a comedy, that's for sure, it will still have its drama, suspense and thrill. P'Den says he likes series with many different flavors so he'll try to make it as well-rounded as possible.

---

Unrelated to any show but very interesting nonetheless:

"what brought you/inspired you into the world of acting, writing, and directing? how is teaching it like?"

A few more notes: 1) There was a question about what Ar Ning (the actor who plays the King in TNP) is like - I axed it cause I figured most folks on here have no clue who he is anyway 🥴 2) I've read the novels to KJR and TNP but not to LUAT, so I had no way of verifying my choice of name romanizations and my translations for some of the plot details in the question about Mae Wanna, Khun Pim, and the script. Apologies if I've made any mistakes 🙏 3) There were also some shorter questions about learning Thai, several instances of him speaking Spanish (which I can vaguely follow from having learned other Romance languages before but would never actually be able to translate), and some pointless questions I didn't include like "Is NuNew gonna sing an OST for TNP?" which- Duh.

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genericpuff · 2 years ago

Text

on the closure of MochaJump, and why we're our own worst enemies in this industry.

"MochaJump? What was that?" is probably your first question, and I'm gonna simply respond with, "Exactly."

MochaJump was a small startup platform made by /u/nunojay2 and a second site engineer (whose name I am not informed of) on reddit. It wasn't anything extraordinary, just a startup site that aimed to offer a more viable alternative to Webtoons and Tapas, with a focus on offering equal visibility to creators, focused recommendation algorithms, loosened restrictions on NSFW content, and bigger cuts for creators on their generated revenue.

Of course, such promises are a tall order, but the creator did their best to host regular discussions with creators in art and webtoon communities to get feedback on what creators really wanted out of their platforms, and they researched what they would need to make in order to keep the site afloat (it came out pretty low at $2 per user per month). Hopes were high and the site launched with a small but eager userbase.

It stayed small. The site shut down in November 2022, just 6 months after launching in May 2022.

Now, I'm not gonna sit here on some soapbox and blame anyone for the site closing down. I unfortunately didn't get much chance to use the site myself so there's surely more I could have done on my own part to help it gain traction. But this is a regular occurrence for start-ups like this, especially in an industry that's as notoriously unprofitable as webcomics. We've seen titans such as SmackJeeves and Inkblazers fall, and MochaJump was merely an infant by comparison.

But it makes me think of how we view and treat these startups as a whole. How we as readers and creators alike have become so trained to exclusively use corporate platforms like Webtoons and Tapas on the promise of "bigger gains". Unlike these bigger companies, platforms like MochaJump depend on building a strong userbase as quickly as possible, and need to find ways to generate revenue to keep things running, otherwise it's only a matter of time before they close down. They don't have a massive conglomerate like Naver or Kakao to pad their pockets through their failures. They don't have the money or reach to inject themselves into society through bus terminal ads and convention sponsorships. They don't have the investors to sink money into their platform until it becomes profitable in return.

So we don't use them. Readers don't use them because we don't see the point in using a platform that has no content... and thus creators don't use them because we don't see the point in publishing our content on a platform with no userbase. Creators seek a place that's "tight knit" and "easy to get seen", but will only post to places that come pre-loaded with massive audiences; because it's not enough anymore to have a couple hundred followers, we're in 2023 now, in the year of consumer bloat, where we expect to now pull in thousands if not millions to be considered a "success". And readers seek a place that offers high-quality high-amount content at the tip of their fingertips, but don't want to pay for the access to these works, and in the case of apps like WT, have given up in trying to support these creators through the platforms themselves because they know that those artists they want to support will likely never see a dime.

The fact of this problem is simple, yet many people seem to ignore it - we cannot expect to have a platform that is tight knit, profitable, and sustainable. These places do not exist, not so long as we continue to raise the bar on what makes a "successful" subscriber count, not so long as we continue to patronize platforms that exploit their artists and writers, and not so long as we keep chasing the dragon of "what these websites used to be". These platforms never used to 'be' anything, they merely existed in one point of time that is now long gone, when owning a smartphone was a luxury and not a need, when online video content wasn't being tethered together by ads, and when the Internet wasn't owned and entirely managed by the same three corporations, the likes of which we haven't seen since cable TV.

Platforms like Tapas and Webtoons are - besides unsustainable - unable to exist and profit in the way they do without undercutting someone along the way. Whether it's underpaying their creators, undercutting their communities, or underexposing the works that have been buried, someone will get the shit hand in the deal and that someone is usually ALWAYS someone who will rarely ever stand to gain anything in the long run from using these platforms despite their issues. The 1% got theirs, and the 10% are barely getting by, while the remaining 89% are pushing onwards, because they have faith in the systemic online enshittification that demands conformity to a single formula for "success".

We are our own worst enemies in this industry. Webcomics are one of the few online mediums that still truly belong to the people - anyone can make them, anyone can find joy in them, but we're letting platforms like Webtoons and Tapas and all the other massive corporate apps rob us of that joy and accessibility in the pursuit of "success" and profiting. Webtoons was never the sole way to profit off this medium and yet I still see people every day who underestimate the existence of legitimate publishing houses and self-publishing, who think that publishing on Webtoons and landing an Originals deal is the only way to find success in this industry. This is meant to be the era of creators, of self-starting and self-actualization, and yet we're still handing all of that control over to corporations that only seek to exploit our art, bodies, and labor, while convincing ourselves that this will somehow all be worth it. We stick with Webtoons, despite the numerous controversies it's been involved in and the lack of support it's given even its own hired creators. We stick with Tapas, despite the undercutting of its most core components such as its community and the outlier genres it used to be known for hosting. We find new ways to justify using platforms that are steadily going downhill - Patreon, Twitter/X, Youtube, Instagram, Facebook - because we've been convinced that these are the routes to success, so if we acknowledge their failures, then "success" can no longer exist.

Because we need to pay rent. Because we need to eat. Because we need to survive. Because it's a lot more complicated than just "stepping away". Because the startups just don't have any of the surface level potential for us to immediately identify and get on board with, so we don't give them a chance.

I realize this post got very existential and depressing. I've been creating comics for well over a decade now, largely unnoticed, and I've fallen victim to these same limiting mindsets that we have to stick to one way, one "formula" for success - a formula that changes with the wind and only works for those who get in on the ground floor. It's been slowly killing me from the very beginning, robbing me of my joy to create, of my reason to even do this in the first place - to tell and share stories with others, to express myself creatively, to live my life surrounded by art and stories and creations made by and for others. It's made me tired and miserable, and I can tell it's done the same to those who have shared that boat with me.

But there's one silver lining I can always be sure of, and it's one I was reminded of after realizing I was still in the MochaJump Discord, with one announcement post that I hadn't yet read.

Webcomics are one of the few online mediums that still truly belong to the people. Corporations are trying their hardest to take that power away. Let's not continue to let them.

If you want to help sustain, patronize, and contribute to the growth of sites that are still being operated by small teams (or even one man armies), please, consider checking out the following websites, some of which serve as platforms or publishers, others which operate as link directories for independent sites run by creators.

ComicFury GlobalComix TopWebcomics The Webcomic List The Webcomic Library Hiveworks SpiderForest SmackJeeves Archive Inkblot.art And whoever wants to use the GitHub source code used for MochaJump (RIP)

Let's do our part to decentralize webcomics again. We may not be able to leave the platforms that weakly sustain us, but we can still support those that strengthen and support us.

#also bonus: if you're willing to pay like $10/year for the domain name you can get free hosting on comicfury #essay post #decentralize the internet #decentralize webcomics #fuck webtoons #support small platforms #don't be a coward #use the sites that only net you 20 readers #it costs you literally nothing but a little extra time #i guarantee most of these sites come with more features and more supportive userbases than webtoons #webtoons doesn't even have a fucking TAGGING SYSTEM #why did we allow ourselves to be convinced that webtoons is setting some industry standard ?? they're PISS #WT is literally persephone #riding off daddy warbucks' money while being a big stinking failure of an entity who no one likes but still calls a hero #no wonder WT loves LO so much it's literally an autobiography at this point

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