#to account for the differences between expected product and actual product

[quaranmine]

stares uneasily at the ibw outline document. i have to do housekeeping.

[nothorses]

this isn't @ anyone or any particular post, but. I do find myself questioning whether it's useful to distinguish "anti-masculism" from like... misogyny and patriarchy.

maybe it's just me, but narrowing the definition of "misogyny" to just describe contempt for women, specifically, has never felt super accurate to me; the overall system of oppression being described here isn't just about a dislike of women, it's a functioning system (patriarchy) relying on, and as a product of, systemitized misogyny. It's misogyny in a dominant role of power.

And that system (as it currently exists) also requires that gender roles are strictly followed and fulfilled, including by men. It requires no deviance; no queerness and no transness. It requires that women be babymakers and caretakers and sexual gratifiers, and it requires that men be protectors and dominant breadwinners, and seek out sex. (Among other things)

I think it's helpful to expand our understanding of misogyny to include the aspects of it that necessarily impact men; it's not just the toxic masculinity that hurts others, but the system that rewards and punishes conformity to misogynistic gender roles.

"Anti-masculism" feels like it's trying to describe an aspect of this; the way this system views masculinity as brutal and violent and monstrous, especially in relation to men of color, and as a corrupting force- particularly when in contact with (whoever patriarchy views as) women.

And these things exist, and happen, but (obv) so does a mirrored phenomena for femininity; are we calling that "misogyny", to the exclusion of attitudes toward masculinity? Because I don't think it's accurate- and tbh I think it's actively counterproductive- to define that by gendered expression rather than perceived gender.

I honestly think it does more to say that these are all a part of misogyny, and to identify contempt for certain expressions of masculinity as being inherently, necessarily intertwined with other parts of misogyny. Patriarchy relies on all of these things to function, and we need to get folks to understand that challenging these attitudes toward masculinity is, in fact, a crucial part of the fight against patriarchy.

I don't think it works to say "misogyny" is an umbrella term that enconpasses all of this, and that "anti-masculism" just falls under it, either; just practically speaking, I don't think it's helpful to differentiate this particular thing as separate from similar attitudes toward femininity. It's super easy to separate the word from that context (esp without a counterpart for femininity), and while I hate having to factor in optics, I do think there's a parallel here to "transmisandry" in the possible interpretation of the word to mean that men are oppressed/misogyny doesn't exist. Even if we know that's not the intent.

And I don't think it accounts for differences between how either of these manifest for cis vs. trans people, gender-conforming vs. GNC people, straight vs. queer people, white people vs. people of color, etc.; how and why it shows up is gonna be wildly different based on whether you're being presumed more masculine or feminine because of your race, size, or disability status, or whether you're being punished for not conforming to gender expectations one way or another- which will also look different for trans people who present more in line with what's expected of their AGAB vs. their actual gender.

Also- I'm saying this here because I'm open to discussion. I feel like I've read enough about it by this point to have an opinion, but I could absolutely be lacking some crucial info, insight, or perspective, and I want folks to engage with this as a mutual conversation.

[firstkanaphans]

Helloooo, can you tell us more about the differences you spotted in The Eclipse novel vs the show? How is Ayan, specifically? I read somewhere that he's way hornier haha

So, overall, the two are very similar. P'Golf and P'Yokee should be very proud of themselves because The Eclipse series is one of the best on-screen adaptations I've ever seen. P'Golf had tried to gain the rights to this story even prior to learning that GMMTV already owned it and you can see their passion for the source material in the final product.

The biggest difference between the novel and the series that I've found so far is that Thua isn't the one who outs Akk as gay—Jumnan, the leader of The World Remembers gang, does. And while that's still an incredibly shitty thing to do, Akk did literally try to murder him and his friends, so it's not like it was entirely unjustified.

Thua does, however, still out Akk as being the one behind the curse. He is a lot more manipulative in the novel and there is even some suggestion that he pursued his relationship with Kan simply to get more information on Akk.

As for Aye's horniness level, I would say it's about on par with the series. If anything, Akk is the one that's hornier, but that's to be expected since the majority of the novel is in his POV. Starting about halfway through the book, Akk literally cannot be in Aye's presence without popping a boner.

That being said, I've only got one chapter left to translate and the two of them still haven't actually kissed, so I'm very doubtful there's any kind of sex scene in the first book. (Which means I'm going to have to translate the second one, too 🫠). Despite that, there is one particularly memorable incident where Akk pins Aye against a wall and finds the whole situation so arousing that he comes fully clothed and completely untouched in the middle of the school hallway. Because that's just who he is as a person, apparently.

I've managed to procure a shiny new AO3 account in the past week, so my plan is to start posting my translation as soon as I finish. I didn't want to post it on my usual account because I know there's a chance it might get nuked. If for some reason the translation gets taken down before I can post the full thing, I can put it in a Google doc for you guys. It's really a great book and it has only enhanced my enjoyment of the series.

[conejita-canelita]

Sorry but one of the dumbest things I see fans get excited about is when they say how “iconic” Portia was for not abandoning her daughters to fuck off to the Americas with Cousin Jack as if it’s not the bare minimum for a mother to actually care for her kids, an expectation so low that the bar is in hell. Portia is a complex female character and I could write essays on how Portia is a very realistic and raw portrayal as a woman who is the product of her environment and a dysfunctional mother. I love that about her characterization and I think the dynamic between her relationship with Penelope is a great execution of that. But my issue with interpretations of her character comes when people take her complexities and pass them off as some sort of “girlboss”-isms when the point of showing the things that Portia does and thinks is to show how a lot of the time the people we love (in this case a mother) can and do hurt us deeply, and we can acknowledge that while also not excusing the pain they cause us. Violet and Portia are supposed to be foils of one another: a story of how tragedy, trauma, and circumstance affects each woman and her relationship to her kids, but different in how they deal with that. Where Violet is able to recognize and adapt herself to what it is each of her kids need (violet is also able to validate, take accountability, and apologize for the pain she caused when Edmund passed), Portia on the other hand is entirely ignorant of this at best and at worst actively dismissive of it.

Portia so often fails to adapt to provide what it is Penelope, her most sensitive daughter, actually needs from her. At her worst, she belittles and demeans her daughter for who she is at her core and it is so cruel and heartbreaking to watch. Even with her daughter at her happiest (engaged to the love of her life) Portia is still unable to do the bare minimum (keep her mouth shut) and finds ways to drag her daughter down. That’s why Penelope snapping at Portia by ep.4 is so sad to watch: it’s Penelope’s last straw, her last cry out in holding out any hope for a relationship with her mother that is meaningful and fulfilling to her.

[artsekey]

I'm not super into Lackadaisy, but I am super into animation, and...

How are they planning to finance an entire season with just 1,000,000?

(Everything below assumes that they're aiming for episodes that are comparable to the pilot & that they plan on fully financing the season with solely the donations on Backerkit. It's likely they have additional financing through merchandising, the pilot, and/or Iron Circus's other projects, but since that information is not available, I'll go off of what I know. Additionally, production management and budgeting are extremely project dependent, so the "averages" listed below may be far off what the PM on Lackadaisy's got quoted.)

[EDIT: It’s been brought to my attention that the episodes are 10-12 minutes long, which means it’s MUCH more doable than I was expecting! They budgeted for a lean (but doable!!!) production. Thank you to those who clarified! I’ll leave this post as-is for those interested, but read it knowing they’re considering roughly half the time I used to calculate everything below!]

Quick preface as to why I wanted to talk about this and Why I Feel I May Have Valuable Things To Say: I'm an indie filmmaker and professor of animation, production management, and VFX. I'm not trying to call out the company or the production because-- and I cannot say this enough-- I truly do not know what's happening on the back end. Every production is wildly different. Their original goal was 125,000, with 45% going to animation-- that includes rough, cleanup, & color. That means that for a ~27 minute animated episode, they've got $56,250. If we collect all facets of production together-- story, layout, animation, compositing, and editing-- we wind up with a grand total of $82,500. Even if we estimate at the lowest average production cost of $8,000 a minute, this budget would account for ~11 minutes of animation.

An animator's average hourly rate is ~$36. With the outlined budget, the Lackadaisy production would be able to afford ~1562 hours of animator manpower. Let's assume (for the sake of this discussion) they'll split that over at least four animators, leaving us with about 10 weeks of full-time work (~390 hrs per person) for four people.

Now this may seem like a lot of time, but as far as I can tell, the pilot was largely animated frame-by-frame without the use of 2D rigging. This means every frame needs to go through roughs, then cleanup, then color, then composite. Every frame you see on-screen has been worked over at least four times-- six if you count layout and story. Ten weeks is simply not enough time to finish 27 minutes of 2D animation.

Now, I know what you might be thinking; Artsekey, they never said their production period was ten weeks! And you're right! However, that's how much production time they can afford. Whether it's split over 20 weeks or a year, they only have enough money to pay their animators for 1562 hours of labor.... if they're paying them a competitive hourly wage. To be completely clear, I am not insinuating that they're low-balling their animators; there're a dozen unknown factors that play into this, such as:

The level of animator they're hiring (an apprentice animator may make ~$17-$23 an hour whereas an experienced pro may make ~$43-$45.)

Whether they're actually hiring animators as opposed to contracting animators (I assume their model is likely relying on the latter based on the fact that I'm seeing a lot of animators that worked on 1-3 shots). They may be doing single-sum deliverable based contracts rather than hourly.

The use of tools like EBsynth (which is listed among the programs they're using) and smart frame management (which they're definitely doing!). This can, if used properly, cut down on the number of in-betweens animators need to get done.

The amount of money the studio is planning to re-invest on their end. The goal on backerkit may just account for the additional funds the studio needs to enter production, meaning their budget may be far larger than what's listed. However, if this were the case, I'd hope they'd disclose it! If I were considering backing the project, knowing that the studio was going to be buying in would increase my faith in the fundraiser.

Obviously, the team loves animation. It shows through in the pilot, and I think that it's clear in their mission statement that they stand against the exploitation of animators. But... I also know that indie production is like trying to wring water out of a log. I'd personally like a more comprehensive breakdown of their expenditures not because I think there's anything suspicious happening behind the scenes, but because as someone who teaches production management for animation and who has an interest in indie production specifically, I'm wondering what choices they're making to stretch their funds.

And what about sound?

While I'm not an expert in audio design, I do live with a professional voice actress/audio engineer, and she had a few thoughts I'd like to share.

At their original goal, roughly ~12500 was set aside for:

Sound Design

Music Composition

Voice Acting

Now, I can only refer to my own experiences as an indie filmmaker regarding price, but the rate I received-- from friends-- for sound design was roughly ~325 per minute, and this was a very, very good deal for what I personally needed. The audio engineer can be responsible for collecting and/or recording foley, or the sound effects you hear in film. This can be expensive and time consuming. They're also responsible for editing all the foley, music, and voice acting together in a way that feels seamless. If we were going off the rate I was given (which was very reasonable given the amount of work that needed to be done), ~27 minutes of full foley, complex sound design, and mixing would run about ~8,000. This number could fluctuate significantly depending on whether they need the sound designers to create the foley, get some ADR in, or just mix the audio, but let's assume that Lackadaisy has a pre-existing foley library and that the price falls in a lower range of ~5,000.

Music's a complete wild-card. In my experience, most composers charge per-minute, and most of the indie composers I've worked with were at a rate of ~$100 per minute of music. That'll land at a nice $2,700.

Now where my friend got particularly heated was the rate for the voice actors. As a voice actress herself, she was floored that the budget for voice was so low-- particularly because the project's pilot pulled industry voices like ProZD. Obviously, the price for voice can vary wildly based on how many lines an actor has, their experience as a voice actor, their personal terms, ect. The cast for the pilot included 11 credited actors. I can't assume their rates or whether they charge a fee to even get in the booth (my roomate charges $100 flat at the start of a session), but if my other estimates are in the right ballpark, their goal budget accounts for roughly ~500 per VA (and it's extremely unlikely that it's divided equally for obvious (and logical) reasons). Honestly, for a full episode of animation, that's... about average. But average in the voice-acting community doesn't necessarily mean good. Voice actors are notoriously underpaid, and-- as previously mentioned-- bigger names with more lines are going to be taking in more of that pay-pool.

And, of course, the Production Managers.

I'm not going to speak on this for too long, but the original budget held 8750 for the admin team. I assume admin includes their PMs, director, and leads (if they have enough specialization to need leads). Assuming it's just one PM and one director, they're pulling in ~4375 a person. For the duration of the project. There's no way that prepro, production, and post would take less than 8 months. Of everyone involved in a production, these roles are on-board from start to end, and it's simply not enough! PM's are absolutely critical to success!

Not to mention the editor!

In animation, the editor is the director's right-hand man, and is working to edit the storyboards, reels, scratch music, and the final cut. This role is also on the production from pre-to-post, and their original budget allows for.... $2,500. What? If I go extremely low on the hourly for the editor, you maybe get one part-time weeks' worth of work for several edits of a 27 minute episode. With most everything else I've talked about, I've mentioned there's a lot of wiggle room because of all the factors I simply don't know, but in no universe is $2,500 enough for this editing job. (Even at the current budget of 1,000,000, $4,000 an episode is super low.)

But, hey! They've got more money now!

Of course, all of these concerns go out the window when you consider that the team's already raised a whopping $953,000 (as of 7/31/23) with the fundraiser only up for five days... right?

Well... It certainly alleviates some of the strain, but their stretch goals were scope increases! This means that once they reach their 1,000,000 stretch goal, they're adding on four additional ~27 minute episodes. This increases the budget-per-episode to 200,000 (yay!), but that still leaves the project with about $7,400 to spend per-minute... which, in the world of animation, isn't much!

All in all, I think that the original goal of 125,000 -- if there was going to be minimal investment from the company-- was completely insufficient, and it would have been irresponsible to try to produce a 27 minute long pilot with that budget. At the same time, I imagine the PM/Admin team could reasonably expect a strong outpouring of support from the fans based on past success and low-balled the original goal. Now that they're near 1,000,000, I think- and hope - they'll be able to swing it.

If anyone has any insight into the production of the pilot (either because you worked on it or know someone who does), please feel free to add context to this post! Again, I am not trying to call out Iron Circus. I'm fascinated by indie production and have been following the successes and failures of crowdfunded animation since it started picking up, and while the goal for Lackadaisy raised some concerns for me up-front, I think they're making strategic choices based on hard data (that we the public are not privvy to). They've already done it once, so they should be able to do it again!

[maxwell-grant]

So if Doc Savage took some potshots at superman with the world's fair goblin and the whiskers of hercules, how would you envision a shadow story where shots are taken at Batman and inspires the villain?

I think that would be an embarassing display of insecurity. I mean, if you want a story where The Shadow deals with an imitator/copycat, The Cobra and The Third Shadow are right there, and there's nothing about them that would be improved if they were intentionally taking shots at Batman. Whisker of Hercules and The World's Fair Goblin (which wasn't written by Lester Dent) aren't really about taking shots at Superman, but they are clearly doing it and from a place of criticizing Superman for breaking suspension of disbelief with his superpowers and persona / grievances Lester Dent and other writers had with the new guy making a splash. What's the angle with Batman? That he ripped off The Shadow? Well everybody was ripping off The Shadow in those days, what, is he gonna take shots at The Spider, The Black Bat, The Phantom Detective, The Green Lama, The Whisperer, The Moon Man, The Clock, The Crimson Avenger, and The Sandman next? Come on.

All Gibson ever really had to say about Batman was that he called him once a "clowned-up version of The Shadow", and that's not an unfair assessment by any means (40s-70s Batman was a much different guy than 80s-onwards Batman). And people who bring that up for inflammatory purposes tend to neglect that Gibson was writing comics all the time, including many many comics where he was making The Shadow a much more kid-friendly Golden Age superhero. I don't think they were great for the most part, but he clearly knew the limitations and what the audience for different mediums wanted. His last writing credit was a Batman prose story for Detective Comics #500 that was clearly just a Shadow story with a name swap. I don't think Batman is to blame for The Shadow's obscurity (quite the opposite in several ways), and I think it's unfair to pretend like Gibson was cheated or wronged by Batman's existence just because Batman eclipsed The Shadow in popularity. I'm not defending plagiarism, I'm just stating that by all accounts, Gibson didn't care at the time, and he didn't care later, he mostly did fine (a hell of a lot better than Bill Finger, for sure, if you wanna focus on someone who actually was viciously wronged and cheated out of his work here).

A thing I've come to realize recently is that there just isn't really much of a palatable or productive way for Batman and The Shadow to process this history between them. Same as how there's not much of anything Captain Marvel can do regarding the existence of Miracleman, or how the Charlton characters could only thrive the further they stepped away from the shadow of Watchmen and dumped it's baggage, or how there's never been a Superman x Doc Savage crossover and there's not a lot that you could even get out of it even if it happened unless you were willing to go for broke. With other characters within their settings that don't have such direct of a connection? Okay. With pastiches? Sure, go nuts. But with the real guys who have real images/reputations/histories/expectations to uphold and also an unmovable elephant in the room regarding their connection and why this crossover is happening? Something will have to give, and in this case, it's not going to be the blockbuster headliner who is the biggest and most beloved superhero on the planet. It's not going to be the guy who has company guidelines dictating the strict moral parameters by which he operates. It's not going to be the guy who is defined by the ways in which he isn't, and can't be, like The Shadow.

There is no version of this crossover written from a Shadow-centric perspective that has Batman look good, and there is no version of this co-signed by DC Comics that has The Shadow look good. O'Neil tried as much as he possibly could by having Batman go full deferential fanboy, and if that ever flied with 70s Batman (and it absolutely wouldn't past a couple of issues even then), it's utterly inconceivable with post-80s Batman. Orlando (and Snyder, however much input he had) had the right idea in Bruce's tension around the guy and refusal to, regardless of whether or not he was trained by him, to accept him, but that is not a Shadow who gets to have his own adventures, that is a Shadow who exists solely as a negative space cautionary tale for Batman.

You can't square Batman looking up / being okay working with a guy who shoots people dead with guns (they keep trying to solve that with Jason in the Batfamily and it doesn't work either), you can't really square Batman continuing to have a Rogues Gallery problem with The Shadow as a thing that exists long-term, and you can't patchwork The Shadow into Batman's history blind to the fact that Batman is much bigger and more popular than The Shadow and therefore he will inevitably box The Shadow into his narrative. There are a million better ways to tell a "Batman reckons with his no-kill rule / vigilantes that break his defining trait" and even that is already very very very tired ground (The Batman pulled a real miracle in making this feel fresh), and it's inherently going to be reductive to the not-Batman party in question if said party is not usually a villain/guy who exists to make Batman look better. Again, if you wanna dig deep into the history and the weeds and the differences with no regard for publisher demands or expectations and whatnot, that's what pastiches are for.

There isn't a "The Shadow deals with an imitator/someone influenced by him" story that wouldn't be dramatically better and more interesting with a character other than Batman in that role, hence why good versions of those stories exist and Walter Gibson did them. And The Grey Ghost and Zorro are pretty much the only two ways "Batman meets his inspiration/the guy that came before" as a concept ever worked, and it's not for nothing that they are both fictional characters in-universe (Sherlock Holmes in The Brave and the Bold gets a pass, it's Sherlock Holmes).

So as far as The Shadow/Batman's shared history goes, I'd just settle for it showing up once in a blue moon to make Batman's day worse on occasion and that's it. Just a little shank in the ribs and a laugh in the dark, to keep him on his toes every now and then.

[crazycookiemaniac]

hi can u give me dummy steps on how commissions work? What app do u use??? How does it link to ur bank account?? Can ppl see ur real identity when they pay?? What r the usual prices etc.... im in a bit of a bind, financially and i have quite a lot of time on my hands during my job where i can write i feel and i want to start commissions. Im technologically (and more importantly, w my bank) very incompetent iG pls help thamk you. Love ur work btw!!:)

Hello there! Let me try to help you:

First, make sure your clients can easily get in touch with you. For example, try to have the same username in different social media and allow your clients to request via any of them. In my case, I'm "crazycookiemaniac" on Tumblr, Twitter/X, Instagram, Gmail and I even made a website that's offline at the moment (though the website is completely optional. You don't need to go that far). You can also create a linktree and copy&paste the link on your social media bios so people know where to find you!

Second step is, decide how much you want to be paid for your work. This step is pretty hard because it depends on so many things, like how much time you spend working on your writing, what you're willing to write and what you aren't, how much in a bind you are and how much you actually want to earn with commissions.

Using my own case as an example, when I first started working on art commissions 12~13 years ago, my prices varied between $2 and $7 USD. Nowadays, I charge $70~$130 (per character, and charge almost the same prices for additional characters). Even now, I'm not sure if I'm charging correctly for my work, but I still get clients so I'm assuming it's fair enough. I also offer discounts every so often when I'm in need to earn more quickly. A tip I can give you is to look for how much people who offer similar work as you are charging and create your price sheet according to theirs. Reminder that you are allowed to charge extra if the requests are too difficult or something you're not used to doing often (NSFW, for example).

Third: How to accept payments. I personally use PayPal Business, because in this case people will only see my business name (CrazyCookieManiac Productions) instead of my real name. And one VERY important note: always send invoices. DO NOT allow people to transfer you money of their own accord, because if you do you won't be eligible for the seller protection and you might get scammed (happened to me a couple times). If you don't want to send invoices, you can open a ko-fi, link it to your paypal and allow people to pay you through there (it'll be like they're paying for a service, so you'll be eligible for seller protection).

Other important notes:

-> Make sure you're paid at least 50% before starting to work on a commission, especially if it's a new client. It reduces the chances of you being scammed.

-> Always ask your client if they have a deadline, or let them know in how long they can expect you to finish or deliver part of what they paid for. Communication is key for a successful commission!

-> Set an amount of times your client can ask for free edits. I'm saying this because it may happen that one of them asks for way too many edits and you might have other commissions to work on. Time is money!

-> If you can, come up with a FAQ (even if no one asked you anything lol). Write stuff about deadlines, permissions to use your work, what you're comfortable with working and not, if you can make exceptions or not, stuff like that!

And I think that's it? I'm sorry if this isn't perfect, I just wrote down how I usually deal with stuff. If there's anything else I can help you with, let me know!

[lihikainanea]

I know you have had a little writers block and not much time to write but in case this can inspire more tiger and Bill hear goes. So Bill is working on a movie that is a mess. He took the job because because he really loved the director, but lets so with rewrites and other politics that director quit. Bill was still in a contracted he could not easily get out out and he did not want to quit something he had already put work into.

Filming finally started back up with a new script and he was doing his best to make his character believable. But his neppo-baby co-star was not helping. Of course he was also considered a neppo-baby by the US press but he did not think he was not a brat like this woman. She wanted to change things in the script. She wanted special foods and no one could talk to her unless she was officially on set. He could not even get her to go over lines or how he could respectfully touch her during scenes since they were playing a couple.

He of course talked though things with Tiger as much as he thought he could but this was a very tough shoot. He would come home late and only get about 6 hours before having to be back on set.

His mind is wheeling one night when he has to do a love scene with this awful girl the next day. Tiger calms him enough for him to fall asleep. His brain has other ideas to fix the thoughts he has about the next day. He dreams of actually having an affair with awful girl. And the sex is just....he wakes in cold sweat. He was moaning in his sleep and he can not even look at Tiger. And boy does he not want to go to work that day either.

Ohhhhh I like this.

Look, I mean, with how many films actors do--every once in awhile, they must work with fellow castmates that they just hate. Abhor. Their hatred is so thinly veiled that it's incredibly palpable to the crew onset, but thankfully things rarely ever make it to the press because of NDAs and big ass scary lawyers and the like. But every once in awhile--we, the ever little-seeing public--we get wind of it. Think Don't Worry Darling. The drama surrounding that production, for the so many reasons it seems to entail, was just--unf, chef kiss to those of us that still love the thrill of a little celebrity drama.

And I'm sure Bill, in all of his perfectionist nature, was also hated on a few sets. His perfectionist nature. His insistence on trying the scene 100 different ways, for 100 different takes, until he was satisfied. Not everyone performs to that calibre nor do they hold themselves accountable to such lofty expectations as that big swedish talking tree, but that's just who he is. That's how he works.

But y'know, I'd even venture to say that it's quite rare that Bill actually likes his castmates and fellows actors he works with. That's not to say that he hates their guts--not at all. But rather he's just pretty...ambivalent about the whole thing. Neutral. He's the Switzerland of film sets. He's a pretty private person in general, a pretty guarded individual, and for him this is a job. Onscreen chemistry is far more important than actual chemistry in this line of work, and he's able to separate the two. He can have great onscreen chemistry with someone that he's not super friendly with, and he doesn't feel any inclination to add the to the inner workings of his closest social circle. Beers after a long day on set is one thing, the occasional celebratory dinner, gifts for the make up and costume crew. Getting to know everyone on a first name basis. But beyond that, Bill is more than happy to go back to his trailer between takes, or go back to his apartment at the end of the day, and cook dinner with tiger or have drinks with some of his friends who flew out to spend a few days with him.

And on that note, he's probably had to work with a lot of actors that he really doesn't like. People who either take themselves way too seriously (Bill thinks method acting is the most ridiculous fucking thing anyone could ever do), or the opposite--people who don't take this seriously at all. And if you call Bill a nepo baby to his face you'll likely be tackled violently from stage left by tiger--but it's also why he's ultra sensitive about those nepo baby actors who don't have any talent, and don't even have the work ethic to build it up.

It's still like pulling teeth to get Bill to admit that his laast name opened up a few doors for him, but he'll also be the first to admit that his initial acting jobs weren't....uh, they weren't great. But he worked at it, he honed his craft, he worked his ass off, and now nobody can say the opportunities he's gotten have been handed to him.

But y'know, the thought of nepotism--well, it doesn't really bother some people.

And maybe on a recent film set, Bill is living in his version of hell. His love interest in the film is a girl in her young to mid-twenties, the type who grew up with two famous parents and all of a sudden decided she wanted to act--so roles were handed to her. Bill's not quite sure how she even got the job given how their chemistry read went, with Bill nearly glaring daggers at her the whole time. She's just the type of person he can't stand. She's loud about everything. She comes with an entourage to everything. It's always over the top, all the time. She never learns her lines. She doesn't give him anything to work with in a scene, reciting her lines like a robot and not leaving anything to improv, natural reactions. She needs a million takes for one scene--not because she's a perfectionist--but because she forgot her lines, or didn't listen to the notes the director gave her. Bill is pretty convinced this entire film could have shot in half the time if she'd just be a little bit of a fucking professional about it.

The whole thing irks him at first, then just pisses him right the hell off shortly after. She's late for the call time, when the other actors are sitting in the transport car well before the ass crack of dawn waiting for her to come out her house. She comes into the makeup trailer blasting her music and yelling along with her entourage, while Bill is reviewing his scene changes and trying to get his head into his character for the day--they knock over his coffee, get in everyone's way, and just never shut the fuck up. Her friends--and her--are all filming all the time, and Bill spends most of his time between takes trying to dodge ending up on someone's instagram or tiktok.

But y'know, it's just so pitifully ironic that the only scene this girl is keen to rehearse--a little too keen, actually--are any of the kissing scenes, or the sex scenes. And with one scheduled in just a few days time, this little nepo baby has been all over Bill trying to find proper times--evenings, of course, with a little wine to loosen up--for them to uh, practice. Bill's gag reflex has been barely contained.

And like, tiger bears the brunt of his rants at the end of every filming day. Whether it's 2AM or 2AM or anywhere in between, he always FaceTimes her when he wraps the day and tiger always thinks that vein in his neck is real damn close to bursting.

"She just...she doesn't get it tiger," he rants, pausing to take a drag of his cigarette, "This is a fucking joke to her. This is my job, my profession, and it's a fucking joke to her."

"Has anyone told her?" she asks, "Maybe she needs to be called out on it."

"Her dad's studio is partially funding this one," Bill exhales, the camera shaking as he continues to walk.

"You're fucked then," tiger smiles sadly. Bill just makes a frustrated noise before continuing to rant for the next hour.

And like, maybe tiger goes to visit him on set right? And she's not it before, the whole rehearsing an upcoming steamy scene with him--but wait wait, I'm getting ahead of myself here.

So, tiger visits him on set and sees firsthand what a fucking nightmare this girl is. Tiger spends most of her time in his trailer but somehow, she still has to dodge what feels like a million cameras all linked to a hundred different kinds of social media, all from her entourage. They ain't shy about questions that are none of their damn business either--shit like who she is, how she knows Bill, what she's doing there.

"I'm his bodyguard," she cracks, except tiger is kind of scary when she's pissed off and she's not really blinking so suddenly the gaggle of girls don't really know what to think.

In any case, tiger can definitely see why Bill has been so pissed off lately. Everything is a joke to this girl, she doesn't take anything seriously, and suddenly she's just real excited about the scenes coming up in a few days.

"We should practice tonight!" she says gleefully, as both her and Bill are sitting in the makeup trailer getting all un-done after the day. Tiger quirks a brow from the back of the room where she's playing with one of the other actor's dogs.

"No thanks," Bill says immediately.

"You can come by, I'll get some wine, we can loosen up."

"No," he says again.

"We need to rehearse," she continues, "We need to practice."

"I've had enough practice."

And thankfully one of the make up artists--tiger makes a note to give her a big hug after--one of the make up artists sees every single hair on Bill's neck stand up.

"Bill, sorry--can you stop talking? It's getting the make up caught in the creases and making it hard to remove," she says kindly. Bill gives her a wide smile.

"Sure, sorry," he says softly.

And that's the end of that.

But like, look. It's plain as day. Bill is chainsmoking. He didn't sleep that night, he just rants and rants at how repulsed he is, and how much he's dreading the next 1.5 weeks worth of scenes. Tiger does her best to distract him--keeps his whisky glass full, hell she even gets him in the sauna and sucks his soul out from his dick just to try and get his mind off it. But the sun rises the next morning as much as we sometimes wish it wouldn't, and Bill has to go to work.

I'll be waiting for you in your trailer bud," tiger says reassuringly, "Remember, you can take as many breaks as you need."

But y'know, here's the thing. Bill is getting through it, because he's a goddamned professional. Is he having fun? No. Does he hate every second of it? Yes. But it's not that. It doesn't take him long to figure out that this girl...she's purposely fucking up the scenes, just so they have to do them again. And again. And again. The scene where he has to push her up again a wall, rip her shirt open, and kiss the hell out of her? Somehow, that scene took the entire day to shoot. 57 takes.

The actual sex scene, him on top of her, both of them wearing nothing but tiny little pasties? Somehow, that took two entire days to shoot. More than 100 takes.

On any set that Bill has been on, things like that could usually be shot in anywhere from 4-6 takes--maybe half a day, depending on lighting and equipment needs.

Bill was livid. He drew the line initially and demanded a closed set, after she brought her entire entourage to watch that day. It took a lot of negotiating, but Bill wasn't budging on it.

And every single day that Bill went to set and have to film that, when he'd get home--man, he took it out on tiger. The poor girl was ravaged. Bill just needed her, needed to completely wreck her, just to get the taste and feel and everything of that other pain in the ass as far away from him as possible.

But y'know, Bill's mind is a cruel place.

And maybe its triggered by something small. He has a long day on set so tiger goes shopping, and when he comes back to his rented apartment she has some stuff strewn everywhere and Bill spots a shirt on the bed. His blood boils.

"What the fuck is this?" he marches over to it, holding it up.

"It's....my new shirt?" tiger says cautiously, "I thought it was cute."

"Get rid of it tiger," he snaps. He grabs his lighter from his pocket, flicking it open and holding it to the shirt.

"Okay whoa," tiger jumps, grabbing the shirt from him, "Easy bud. What's going on."

"She has this shirt," he seethes, "I don't ever want to see it on you."

"Ah," tiger says, "Right. You won't see it again bud."

"Promise?" he puts the lighter away.

"Promise.

But it's enough to just...kickstart some part of Bill's brain that should have stayed dormant. And that night, he drifts off to sleep with tiger in his arms and his thumb in her mouth--except he dreams of her. And it's ~spicy~. A stupid ass, unreasonable sex dream that felt really good. Amazing sex, actually, and from the noises he was making tiger wasn't sure if he was in pain or having the time of his life but the piece of plywood digging in to her back gave her a small inclination.

That is, until he woke up and all but shoved her away with enough force that she almost went tumbling off the bed.

"Bill!" she shrieked, but he was already scratching at his skin and lightly smacking his own face.

"No no no no no," he muttered, "No no no god fuck no."

"Bud?"

His eyes snap to hers and they're wild, pupils huge, his hair sticking up all over the place and his chest heaving.

"You," he says, out of breath, "Here. Now."

"What--"

"Now."

And tiger doesn't have time to do anything before two long arms wrap around her waist and haul her up with force, slamming her into his chest.

"Fuck me," he growls into her neck.

"What?" tiger's still trying to get her wits about her because a second ago she was asleep and comfy and now this wild ass enraged beast has his hands all over her and she can't quite keep up.

A hard spank lands on her ass and she squeals a little, but then he has his fist balled in her hair and his teeth biting at her neck.

"Fuck me," he growls again, "Fuck me into next fucking week."

"Bill, what the hell is going--"

But then suddenly she's in the air, and then she's pinned under his body as he looms--big and scary and totally wild--above her.

"Tiger, I just had a dream about her," he snaps, "And now you need to get it the fuck out of my head so that I never have to see it again. So I'm only going to ask you one more time."

He yanks her head back, licking up her neck before biting down hard on her earlobe. His other hand cups her harshly through her panties and she gasps.

"Fuck me," he growls.

Tiger is all too happy to oblige.

[neverenoughmarauders]

What Jane Austen got right that we could learn from in our fanfics

Jane Austen's Emma is in many ways a gender reversed retelling of Pride and Prejudice. I won't go into the full analysis, you can find many accounts of it online.

What I love about it, is that Emma 'truly' answers the question: what if Pride and Prejudice was told from Darcy's POV but with the genders reversed. In other words, what makes the retelling so powerful is how Emma differs from Darcy nevertheless - because of the different expectations to women and men at the time. Without making it an English essay, let's just take one example: Emma never travels, she is confined to the place she grew up - Darcy is free to travel. The power of Jane's commentary of societal expectations becomes stronger because Jane allows there to be differences between the characters of Darcy and Emma - shaped by the expectations society has to them.

I think taking a character and changing it should carry some consequences. For example: lets say that we make Sirius a girl, and we make this a wolfstar story. Would Remus and Sirius question whether they did truly fancy each other - for example, would they worry that their feelings were just a product of a heteronormative society?.

My example may not be the best, but hopefully the point is made clear. In case it isn't - here's another example:

In my own story, I have Gideon, Fabian and Alice be friends not too dissimilar to Sirius and James. For Fabian and Alice they know they love each other platonically, because Fabian is gay and those are the 'rules'. Gideon and Alice, however, are straight, and thus they struggle to understand how they love each other. They love each other SO MUCH - so it must be romantic right?

This is actually me exploring how Sirius and James seriously co-dependent (my interpretation), 'never saw one without the other' (canon) relationship might have been different had they been opposite genders. In my canon-compliant story James is straight (and I even leave Sirius' sexuality open to interpretation because that's what it is in the source material). Their friendship/bromance remains just that. They can love each other as much as they want because there's no norms that says their love has to be romantic.

Look, I don't think I execute it as well as I'd want to - so this isn't a look at me I do it so well celebration post. I suppose I mostly throw it in there in case my first example was a bit poor.

My overarching point is this: let's look at Jane Austen and learn from her. I think she hit the nail on the head. Changing things carry consequences - and that's where the magic of the story happens.

[theultimatepumpkinpie]

Originally I was going to add this to the ask @autistictenno recieved about nyx & excal but honestly it deserves it's own post. So here's a little history lesson on Warframe and Digital Extremes for y'all.

A lot of the early concepts for Warframe actually came from DE's older game, Dark Sector. I never played it myself but I've read a bit about it and have been around Warframe since it was in closed beta. Basically Dark Sector had a lot of sci-fi stuff planned for it that got cut and the final product was a bit like resident evil and the story followed Hayden Tenno who becomes mutated as a result of the 'technocyte virus' (cough cough Warframe infestation). The general plot involves him trying to stop a scientist from spreading the virus to the whole world. A lot of stuff about him influenced everyone's favorite frame Excalibur. The final boss of the game, Nemesis, also influenced some stuff about Nyx. This is hinted at with the proto deluxe skins you can buy for them in the Warframe market.

Here's some image comparisons between Dark Sector and the proto skins in Warframe. Some of the images come from the dark sector wiki (https://darksector.fandom.com/wiki/Special:AllPages) The others from this review (http://einfogames.com/reviews/dark-sector/) which was published in 2012, just after warframe was announced but before the closed beta for it started.

Here we have Hayden Tenno and Nemesis

vs Excalibur and Nyx Proto skins (took screenshots of these myself)

Even the iconic glaive got a proto skin (though it doesn't look that much different from the regular one in warframe)

Before Dark Sector DE mainly only did work-for-hire contracts and struggled getting a publisher for Dark Sector which is why a bunch of stuff got cut. The game only received moderate reviews and DE once again ended up doing work-for-hire contracts, and the studio almost became bankrupt before quickly scrambling to get Warframe out the door. They struggled getting a publisher for that too and ended up just doing a closed and then (endless) open beta for the game themselves, the only thing that kept them afloat was the founders program. After awhile, they got their lucky break and the game made it big. Like REALLY big. Like 4 million (losers) users big. Now it's up to 31.6 million registered accounts and an average of 601k players per day. (Statistics by https://mmo-population.com/r/warframe/)

DE and Warframe have been through so much and changed so much through the years. It went from this tiny little game I didn't think much of into one of my favorite games of all time with more breadth and depth (and lore!) than I would have ever expected. And even though updates still often come with a lot of bugs, I really couldn't be more proud of how far they've come all these years. Seeing Steve give Rebecca the pink shorts as a way of passing the torch really touched my heart in a way I don't even know how to describe.

Top image of this section is from a review of closed beta in december 2012 (http://xkrieg.blogspot.com/2012/12/warframe-beta-impression.html) Bottom one is my own screenshot dated today, November 16, 2022 (click it to see full res, tumblr compression kind of sucks for images of that size)

[avese23]

Can’t deal with people who act all personally aggrieved that they can’t personalize the entire internet to their personal happy place. Especially people who then go out looking for things to get mad at

(This isn’t about people venting about trolls or harassment. It sucks. I’m sorry. Fuck bullies and bigots. This also isn’t about flash warnings, and anything that keeps people with epilepsy safe)

But like, it’s not other people’s job to read your mind and guess what hyperspecific trigger you have then manually tag everything for one person. I’ve seen people ask creators to tag images with the character their blog is about. Just block the blog. That’s not a safe blog for you.

It’s not other people’s job to explain that fucked up shit in fiction is not real. You’re not a child and we’re not your parents here to hold your hand and reassure you that the actor is only playing dead.

I think a good example of effective content warnings is Hazbin. They’re not gonna put one up every individual episode to tell you a show full of swearing and gore is gonna have swearing and gore. But episode 4 is more graphic than any other episode so it’s given a separate warning. Because someone signing up for the rest of the episodes might genuinely be taken aback by that one.

Or Hashtag Ruthless Productions always putting heavy topics in their politics section. Asking for a warning every episode would be silly when you can just skip the politics section. You know it’s gonna be venting and politics. So don’t be surprised when it’s about politics. But if they talk about dark topics that aren’t typically brought up in that fandom they do give warning. For instance most people wouldn’t expect a discussion about eating disorders when the hosts talk about the cult in Wayward Son. Or a spoiler for Star Trek in a podcast about Buffy. So *then* it makes sense.

It’s social kindness and being stewardess to recognize when you as a creator are putting out something unexpectedly and objectively shocking to people who didn’t consent to it. It’s not other people’s job however, to use common sense for you. Or to read your mind. Don’t click on a video about a movie and get mad at spoilers for that mobile. Don’t read the Bible and get mad about major character death (Christian’s don’t come after me with a ‘well actually’ I haven’t read it 😭)

Speaking of Christianity if you’re someone who gets mad at Christian’s being upset by goths wearing crosses (which is silly) but then get upset by what people are writing about your blorbos on ao3 you might wanna do some soul searching.

So no I don’t care about your DNI list. No I don’t care that you only want virgos to reblog your post about Home Depot. No I don’t care that you can’t tell the difference between an anime character and a person, between real life and a plot point, between internet drama and an actual crime. I find that dude from Friends ugly af to that point I cringe but I’m not gonna go harass fandom accounts or look up every bad thing the characters done and accuse blogs of being bad people. I don’t like a lot of ATLA ships and think both Zutara and Kataang are morally gross af but I’m not gonna say the writers or the fans are sympathizing with pedophilia or abuse. Cuz that’s ridiculous.

When I publish works I’m gonna make it clear what kind of story it is. And then I’m gonna step back and tell the fucking story. I’m not gonna pop up every other chapter to warn people that a gay character calls another gay character a fag affectionately. Or a character in a toxic relationship *shocker* is having a bad time. I’m not gonna tell people that the horror work has gore and a jump scare. It’s horror.

Cuz I’m not gonna infantilize my audience and trust that they can set their own boundaries when it comes to stories they want to consume. No one is forcing them.

Media isn’t sex you don’t have to check in with every escalation. Entertainment isn’t your textbook, Phillip Schuyler is allowed to have no sons. A character isn’t your child they’re allowed to wear what they want and go on dangerous ass quests.

It’s frustrating being told to choose between assholes who project their own privilege onto others and assholes who project their own trauma onto others. Nuance exists.

Now block me dear lord, you’re doing the inventor of the block button a disservice when you get off on being pissed off

[taintedtowers]

Hey! I have a question do you have an explanation for DOATK? My mutual reblogs it a lot and I'm honestly a bit curious because It reminds me of the kind of fun bullshit I do with my friends (Putting random characters/people in a very specific story scenario where they click or fight with others that they would not in normal circumstances ever know. From what I've seen that's kind of from an outside view what this is like?) and I want to learn more about it all. I have listened to a couple of your songs too, which make me all the more curious haha!

So, this explanation has gotten way longer than I expected- Everything's under the cut, 'aight? Though I'd like to clarify first, anon, I haven't made any music for Diary of a Tourney Kid. Everything but the credited guest art for later rounds & a specific victory theme for another tournament's character for a crossover (THE WARDS, to be specific) on the official DOATK accounts has been created by one anonymous creator of the whole tournament. Though, If you somehow found my Soundcloud and actually enjoyed more than my most recent track, I would be both flattered & surprised because holy HELL am I bad at keying, but that's offtopic LOL

Anyways... Diary of a Tourney Kid, or DOATK for short, is a music/mashup tournament hosted on Soundcloud. There are 16 characters, they have mashups, and the music they use in said mashups is determined by sourcelists- A bullet point list of genres, pieces of media, and even concepts or themes related to the character. All of these characters are thrown into a bracket, and matches happen every so often, usually in batches of whole rounds one after the other. During matches, you vote on the character you like the mashups/sourcelist of more! This repeats until a winner is decided. It's sorta like Tumblr tournaments, but with actual tangible rewards, either in the form of a grand takeover for the winner of the tourney as a whole or more tracks for your favorite down the line! Now, Diary of a Tourney Kid started with a simple enough story, with a bit of an... interesting presentation, to say the least, with a combination of Diary Of A Wimpy Kid, lined paper, and art for characters literally being doodles made with the default MS paint brush and then improperly bucket filled.

Pictured above to illustrate that point is the host of the tournament in lore, Greg Heffley from Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He has teamed up with W.D. Gaster of Undertale fame to trap people in his diary for a fight to the death in his own tournament, due to reasons that range from being French (The entire Eiffel Tower, yes, that is a contestant) to "Ruining EVERYTHING" (Adam Conover, who acts weirdly out of character early on? ...Long story for another time.) Now, to continue, I think it's about time to bring up where DOATK differs from other tournaments in terms of bracket. Instead of a double elimination tournament that was typical for it's size, with a winner's and loser's bracket, DOATK runs on a triple elimination bracket, with a 3rd (And final!) chance of making a comeback all the way to grands in what is known as the goner's bracket. Being in this bracket has a pretty steep price, though; Everyone who goes through it is experimented upon by W.D. Gaster, (who has, at the moment, basically left Greg Heffley for dead, leaving the diary the tournament takes place in bouncing between hosts each round) and turning the poor souls who lose twice into the "goners" said bracket is named after.

...And, as shown by contestant 14, Inugami Korone/THE CANINE, it isn't pretty. If a contestant loses in goners, they're dead for good. In general, DOATK sets itself apart from a lot of other tournaments with the generally darker tone of goners, an astonishingly high production value for the fact it is an anonymously run solo project, (There were entire FNF mods made for TWO matches!) and a really engaging story with genuine stakes and interesting characters. (Diary of a Tourney Kid has the unique honor of being the entire reason I have watched all 3 seasons of the TruTV educational comedy show Adam Ruins Everything, so, yeah... You can get pretty invested)

So, Yeah! That's DOATK. Lemme know if you have any more questions, I'd be happy to answer/infodump!

[jbaileyfansite]

Jonathan Bailey interview with the Evening Standard (2021)

There are worse places to conduct an interview than a park, and at least it’s only drizzling.

The only problem is that people won’t leave Jonathan Bailey alone. Which is to be expected, of course: he’s in Bridgerton, the most-watched original Netflix series in its history, viewed on 82 million accounts in a month since it dropped on Christmas Day. Wait. Did I say people? I meant dogs. They snaffle at his heels and rub against his legs while the humans remain impervious. This is because, devoid of his mutton chops and tailcoat, the 32-year-old actor looks a world away from Viscount Anthony Bridgerton, brother of Daphne; lover of Sienna; friend and foe of Simon, Duke of Hastings.

Today he’s dressed in a nylon jacket and sporting very different hair. ‘Bit of a spoiler for season two — I’ve had a light perm,’ he smiles.

And even if Bailey had spent the past two months in full regency costume, fame would have eluded him until lockdown eased and the usual signifiers — being hassled in restaurants, endless selfie requests — were back on the table. Until then it lies in wait, preserved in aspic.

Having spent lockdown thus far on the East Sussex coast staying home like the rest of us, Bailey admits the disconnect is confusing. ‘I feel like I’m being gaslit on a global scale,’ he laughs. ‘Even today, just meeting and talking to actual people who have seen the show feels weird. To me and all the British cast, it feels like Nasa. Netflix launched this spaceship, and you get launched into space. It’s a brilliantly traumatic thing to experience. The launch only happens once, and then it’s about tethering yourself and working it out. I think that might take a while.

‘The isolation of lockdown has been incredibly hard for everyone, but the isolation of feeling like you can’t inhabit the experience that other people are experiencing around you, while being locked down and not being able to see your friends…’ he tails off. ‘Presumably all it will take to shake it off is a big dinner, or even just having a few pints and going out.’

With a slew of TV parts under his belt (Broadchurch, Crashing, Chewing Gum, W1A) and an Olivier award for his role as Jamie in Company (2018), Bailey isn’t exactly an ingénue. But Bridgerton is one of those rare TV programmes that has bestowed fame on a global scale.

Produced by Shonda Rhimes and adapted from the historical novels of Julia Quinn, Netflix’s genre-busting costume drama reached the top 10 in 189 countries, thanks to a sharp script, lavish costumes and racially diverse cast that saw actors of colour inhabit the highest echelons of 19th-century society in a way that had never been seen on screen before. That this high society is presided over by a black woman, Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel), might be diversity divorced from any historical context, but the alternative — another costume drama inhabited by white people — has never felt more wrong.

Bailey auditioned for the part in 2018 while appearing in Company, sending off a tape to Rhimes’s production company, Shondaland. ‘I got offered the job on my 31st birthday, 25 April 2019,’ he recalls. Filming started in July 2019 and ended in March 2020, narrowly avoiding any impact from the pandemic. 

‘For me it feels like a lockdown anyway when I’m working, so it’s a long time since I can remember normal life.’ Has he been he a banana bread-baking stereotype over lockdowns? ‘I made more than banana bread,’ he laughs. ‘I started with banana bread but went on to cinnamon rolls, although they looked like turds — terrible. But I made amazing hot cross buns.’

The million dollar cliché: what did he learn about himself? ‘I feel more complicated than I thought I was,’ he says. ‘And then I’ve been affirmed by certain things. I did a lot of cycling between lockdowns, in Cornwall and around Italy last summer — pure recharge, pure perspective. Nature is so important. I know everyone’s saying that, and that some people can just keep going flat out, but I know I need to recharge. And I love a bath. I’ve had weeks where I’ve had a minimum of two a day.’ He suddenly looks horrified. ‘Actually, that’s awful. Don’t put that, ’cause it’s wasting water.’

Barely has ‘what did you miss the most?’ escaped from my lips and he exclaims, ‘Theatre! Not just theatre, but the possibility of theatre. But then, I’ve been watching really brilliant theatre creatives smashing it on TV instead.’ He points out that Bridgerton cast members Rosheuvel, Ruth Gemmell, Adjoa Andoh and Luke Thompson are all regulars on the stage. ‘We should be proud in Britain that there’s a massive crossover between theatre and TV. It’s not a semi-permeable membrane: it’s all one talent pool.’ 

Could the Government be doing more to support theatre? ‘Absolutely. It’s just the people who are making the decisions; if it had been someone who loves theatre, and understood the importance of it, this would never have happened. There are certain things in life where you go, “That’s a marker”, and the [2019] government campaign about Fatima having to retrain in cyber was one. That was a wound that will take a long time to heal. And the other marker of a moment is Ruth Sheen’s performance in It’s A Sin [the veteran actress had a cameo as a hospital visitor who took Keeley Hawes’ character to task in the final episode]. The last year hasn’t been about Christmas and Easter. It’s been about markers like those.’ 

Bailey has been described online as ‘openly gay’. I point out that no actors are ever described as ‘openly straight’, and he laughs. ‘I’d say I’m not openly gay. I’m just gay.’ Although he is wary of discussing his sexuality for the sake of it. ‘Then it becomes a commodity and a currency. I knew that I wanted to be visible about my sexuality, because in all the territories that Netflix goes out in, there might be a boy somewhere that goes, “Wait, what?” Which is what I didn’t have when I was young. All I know is that I’m happy to keep working really hard and if there are opportunities for representation, and to make that point, then that’s something I’ll always strive to do.’

Like just about everyone else, he loved It’s A Sin. ‘It was an incredible way to talk about an awful pandemic, and an absolute tragedy that so many people will be triggered by it. In Ruth Sheen’s character, you have a heterosexual woman who is mother to a gay son, challenging another mother. I found that rage incredible. The gay fantasy isn’t just hanging out in bars and meeting men. The gay fantasy is to have guardian angels of allyship.’

He’s hesitant to say whether he agrees with director Russell T Davies’ assertion that gay people should play gay roles. ‘It’s a big old conversation and one I’ve spoken to Russell about, and many other actors. But it’s really hard to give a sound bite to sum up.’

I tell him I don’t want a sound bite. ‘It’s about redressing the balance of access to roles. There just aren’t that many gay roles, so when straight actors go to take that space up, it’s eliminating the chance for other [gay actors].

‘We know there has been a history of needing to be closeted to succeed and be famous, especially in acting. And the idea of not being able to believe heterosexual relations and narrative, if you know one of the actors is gay… everyone should be able to play absolutely everything. But let’s blow away all the cobwebs, and one of the hang-ups and shadows of the past is that we need to be a lot more open to the idea of sexes playing different sides. There have been amazing performances by straight people playing gay and by gay people playing straight. It’s a moment to think about that, and I think Russell’s point was that there’s a vitality and a joy to It’s A Sin because he cast gay people in gay roles. That’s completely true. It’s not a bad thing to own your narrative.”

He is glad not to have received any flack for playing a straight role such as Viscount Anthony. ‘Bearing in mind the internet is a place where anyone can say anything, there hasn’t been anyone who’s had any animosity, or challenged it, so that’s good. Yes, I’m looking forward to gay actors playing gay parts, but for me it’s so important that everyone at home can see a bit of themselves on screen, to allow them to feel heard and seen, and also allow them to have aspirations.

‘Good actors can do anything, and there’ll be amazing writers who are willing to write for everyone. If there are people who don’t have access to creating their own TV shows or telling the stories they want to tell, then absolutely, everyone has to make space for them. That’s not just to do with gender or sexuality. It’s to do with race, religion and everything else.’ He pauses. ‘The idea that someone could read that and go, “God, that’s just a woke viewpoint,” I find really funny. It’s just basic sense, isn’t it?’

Another dog — this time a cockapoo — launches itself on Bailey mid-flow. ‘We have a family cockapoo. I looked after him in Lockdown 1,’ he says. ‘That was a real baptism of fire. He ate a sock. A full sock. It was a Muji sock. Stripy. And then it came up again three days later.’ What’s he called? ‘Benson, after the village I grew up in.’

His sounds an idyllic childhood. Brought up in Oxfordshire, he eschewed drama school for an Open University degree. Neither his parents nor three older sisters have anything to do with acting, but his interest was sparked as a child after watching a production of Oliver in the village hall. He joined the local drama club and also pootled around at the back of the class while one sister did ballet. ‘I wasn’t really invited, but I remember having Velcro trainers and just squeaking in the back and trying to do some pliés. I stopped dancing aged 12 because of the inevitable narrative — peer pressure. Ballet became a euphemism for something else.’

Was he the sort of kid who always got the lead in the school play? ‘I did play Jolly Roger in Jolly Roger,’ he smiles. ‘But then I was taken down a peg or two when I played a raindrop in Noah’s Ark. You win some, you lose some.’

With Bridgerton likely to run for many more seasons, and Viscount Anthony’s storyline taking centre stage in season two (now that sister Daphne is married off, the plot will focus on his own romantic life), Bailey’s newfound fame isn’t going to dissipate any time soon. He has mixed feelings. ‘You work and strive to be an actor and you can get better at it and enjoy it. But you can’t be good at fame or enjoy it. Some people do, some people don’t. It’s a different cocktail for everyone. There are suddenly opportunities available, which is brilliant, and I’m incredibly lucky. But then I realise this is when people say it’s about saying no, because what you say no to keeps you on the path.’

What also keeps him on the right path is the role itself. ‘Bridgerton is actually delivering on changing the bar, and the standard, of representation. Because of that, I’ve had amazing messages from people who have been able to talk about their sexuality, or people who have seen themselves or their children in the Duke of Hastings [storyline]. For me that’s the thing that’s always going to ground [the experience]. It’s a candyfloss juggernaut theme park ride — like multiple sensory overload.

‘So thank God for family. Thank God for friends.’

Source

[teenmomcentral]

She’s baaack!

Just weeks after Ashley Jones and her baby daddy Bar Smith reacted to the news that they had been fired-by-ghosting from Teen Mom: The Next Chapter, Ashley has confirmed that she will, indeed, be on the upcoming season after all. 

The @TeenMomFanz Instagram account was the first to report the news that, despite the show’s producers ghosting Ashley and Bar and not contacting them to film for the upcoming season, Ashley was recently contacted and will be appearing on the upcoming ‘Next Chapter’ season after all.

While Ashley will appear on the season, Bar will not…at least, as of press time.

“Bar not being on [‘Next Chapter’] is the result of a few different things, but a big part of it stems from what went down at Teen Mom Family Reunion [Season 3],” one source tells The Ashley.

As The Ashley told you back in September, Ashley and Bar were both flown to Colombia to film for the “couples therapy” version of ‘TMFR’ but both were booted before they even made it to the villa the other cast members were staying at.

“Ashley and Bar were in Colombia but were put back on a plane to go home before they could even join the group in the house,” the source told The Ashley at the time time.

Now, The Ashley can reveal more of what went down in Colombia to get Ashley and Bar sent home. (The Ashley is unsure if the incident will be covered when the show airs but she hears it “almost definitely” will be.) 

An altercation happened between Bar and Ashley while they were at the holding hotel,” a production source tells The Ashley. (The “holding hotel” is where cast members would stay until they were officially introduced into the cast villa, where the show was filming.)

The Ashley has heard varying accounts of what happened during the fight, with some sources saying things got physical, but The Ashley can’t 100 percent confirm that.

“The fight happened in front of some of the higher-up producers and that caused big problems [for Ashley and Bar],” the source said. “The producers didn’t want the violence that happened last season and, along with a few other things that went down, gave that as a reason to kick off Bar and Ashley.” 

That being said, The Ashley’s sources say it’s likely that Bar will end up coming back, even if the producers are “opting not to use his story at the moment.”

“It’s not a permanent ban, at least not at this point,” another source tells The Ashley. “Things change from week to week with this show.”

The Ashley can confirm that Ashley filming for the season will not affect Mackenzie McKee being added to the show.

“Mackenzie will still be featured on episodes this season,” the source said. “Nothing changes there.” 

Bar responded to a post on the @TeenMomFanz Instagram regarding him not being asked back.

“Thank y’all for holding me down,” he wrote in the post’s comment section. “Hopefully you’ll see me soon again. If not it was one hell of a run.”

Ashley also commented on the original post on Instagram announcing her return. She hinted that she was able to negotiate her pay with MTV.

“Ask for what you are worth,” she wrote. “Actually, demand it.”

The Ashley hears that the rest of the cast is basically finished filming for ‘Teen Mom: The Next Chapter,’ so Ashley’s parts will be much more-recent than the others’ parts. 

The next season of ‘Next Chapter’ will not air until after ‘Teen Mom Family Reunion’ Season 3 airs.

“Expect to see the trailer very soon because they have a tentative air date as mid-March for ‘Family Reunion’ to premiere,” The Ashley’s source tells her. 

Stay tuned…

[amukmuk]

Hi amukmuk, I'm very excited for the Chiss Ascendancy zine and would be willing to help mod, but I haven't worked in a zine before - what's the expected time commitment and actual tasks of the mods? I do have a busy schedule and wouldn't want to be forced to back out on you if I can't meet that commitment!

Heyo!

Full disclosure, I also have a crazy busy schedule so I plan to have long timeframes just so nobody feels like they have to crank something out in a week.

I've also separated out tasks below. Hopefully we'll have enough mods to do something like this!!

1. Social Media

In charge of posting informational and promotional material(s) to the zine's social media accounts, responding to asks/messages as well as keeping all pages up to date.

Should have experience and knowledge in posting on Tumblr/Instagram/Twitter as well as the common practice of tagging and etiquettes in Star Wars fandom spaces.

2. Shipping

Will survey the costs and suitability of plans for physical items and receive samples and final products from the manufacturers, repack for our buyers and then ship the packages.

Must have current residence in the USA.

Experience in shipping domestic and international packages from the USA is a huge asset.

Must have a printer.

You will work closely with Finance Mod.

3. Finance

Will receive and keep money from preorders and overstock sales in a bank account until it is donated. 

Will purchase all products and pay all site and transaction fees out of the money received (you will not be spending your own money up front) and will track all income and expenses and keep digital receipts accessible.

Must have a debit card, a credit card, a PayPal business account (or a PayPal that you are willing to upgrade to a business account), a valid billing address and a social security number from the country of your residence.

You will work closely with shipping mod.

4. Layout

Will design the layout for the zine, how many pages, size of pieces, word count etc.

Will be communicating with the other mods and contributors to reconfirm the suitability of pieces, do readjustments where necessary etc.

Will also work with Graphics Mod where necessary.

5. Writing

Will moderate writer applications and the progress of written pieces for the zine.

Must be open to checking out contributors' progress and help them stay on schedule.

Might also become a default second copy editor.

Will also work with Copy Editor where necessary.

6. Copy Editing

Will help writers with their written pieces and become their beta readers once their work is ready -- especially for the writers who do not have beta readers.

Must have experience in writing and editing fiction -- must have a strong grasp of spelling, grammar, pacing techniques etc.

Will work with Writing Mod where necessary.

7. Art

Will moderate art pieces from applications and the progress of art pieces for the zine.

Must be open to checking out contributors' progress and help them stay on schedule.

Must be polite when giving out suggestions/criticism (only when sought by the artist) -- help the artist focus on their strengths etc.

8. Discord Server

Will be moderating and supervising the zine server, answering questions from contributors, enforcing rules and regulations, mediating conflict between server members, bring up questions or attention on certain issues to mods where necessary. 

Must remain rational, objective and professional while communicating with contributors or while mediating conflicts -- regardless of differences in views/opinions.

Experience in moderating servers is a huge asset.

[healthcoach95]

How to Build Muscle at Home: Effective Bodyweight Workouts

In the quick-moving present-day way of life, the quest for actual wellness and muscle advancement has developed past the limits of customary rec center spaces. With the rising interest in helpful and open wellness arrangements, numerous people are going to locally established exercises as a feasible other option. This change in outlook isn't just determined by the worldwide well-being challenges yet in addition by the longing for an adaptable and customized way to deal with wellness.

Building muscle at home has turned into a well-known pattern, and one of the best strategies for getting forward momentum is through bodyweight exercises. These activities influence the obstruction of one's own body to advance muscle development, strength, and perseverance. The charm of locally situated muscle building lies in its adaptability, moderateness, and the capacity to coordinate flawlessly into everyday schedules.

This article expects to direct people on the excursion of building muscle at home through viable bodyweight exercises. We will investigate the basics of muscle improvement, the significance of a favorable home rec center climate, and dig into an extensive cluster of bodyweight works. Toward the finish of this aide, perusers will be outfitted with the information and inspiration to set out on a remunerating wellness venture inside the solace of their homes.

Setting the Establishment: Understanding Muscle Building

Laying out a vigorous comprehension of muscle building lays the preparation for an effective and manageable wellness venture. At its center, muscle building includes the hypertrophy of muscle strands, a cycle accomplished through deliberate preparation and variation. Separating between quick-jerk and slow-jerk muscle strands gives experiences into how designated activities can animate muscle development and strength advancement.

The foundation rule of muscle building is moderate over-burden, underscoring the need to ceaselessly test muscles with expanding obstruction. This rule is especially pertinent to bodyweight preparation at home, as it guides people in adjusting activities to guarantee continuous feeling and development without the requirement for outer loads.

Moreover, perceiving the significance of fitting exercises to individual wellness levels is crucial. Understanding one's ongoing degree of wellness takes into account the customization of schedules, advancing steady movement, and limiting the gamble of injury. This thorough comprehension of muscle advancement gives the information expected to plan compelling and customized locally situated bodyweight exercises, guaranteeing that people set out on their wellness process with lucidity and reason.

Establishing a Home Exercise Center Climate

Creating a powerful home exercise center climate is essential for an effective wellness venture. Using accessible space successfully includes a smart evaluation of the assigned region, whether it's an extra room, a corner in the living space, or an outside setting. Clearing mess guarantees a protected and centered exercise space, encouraging a climate helpful for actual work.

Picking fundamental gear for bodyweight exercises improves the adequacy of home preparation. Things, for example, practice mats, obstruction groups, and a draw-up bar are flexible devices that take care of different muscle gatherings. The essential situation of these components adds to a coordinated and productive exercise space.

Keeping up with inspiration is a critical part of a home rec center climate. Personalization through persuasive stylistic layouts, lively tones, or inspirational statements makes an elevating environment. Integrating music or diversion, alongside laying out a predictable exercise routine daily schedule, supports inspiration and discipline.

At last, a very well-planned home exercise center permits people to flawlessly coordinate wellness into their regular routines. Whether adjusting an extra room or using restricted space inventively, the objective is to cultivate a climate that upholds active work as well as moves people to seek after their wellness objectives inside the solace of their homes reliably.

Successful Bodyweight Activities for Muscle Building

Bodyweight practices offer a flexible and open means to develop muscle fortitude and definition without the requirement for conventional rec center hardware. Zeroing in on the chest area, push-up varieties like the norm, wide grasp, and precious stone push-ups draw in the chest, rear arm muscles, and shoulders, giving an establishment to chest area strength.

Pull-up varieties, including standard, jawline ups, and commando pull-ups, successfully focus on the back and biceps. These activities influence body weight for the opposition, advancing muscle development and improving generally speaking chest area improvement.

Lower body exercises integrate bodyweight squats, thrusts, and glute spans. Bodyweight squats give a central development example to the quadriceps and glutes, while rushes target leg muscles with varieties like forward and switch thrusts. Glute spans center around the hamstring and glute initiation, adding to a balanced lower body schedule.

Center reinforcing practices envelop board varieties, bike crunches, and leg raises. Boards connect with the whole center, while bike crunches target obliques and leg raises reinforce the lower stomach muscles.

Integrating these activities into a routine is considered a thorough, full-body exercise that difficulties muscles and invigorates development. The versatility of bodyweight practices makes them reasonable for all wellness levels, giving a functional and viable way to deal with muscle working at home or in a hurry.

Lower Body Exercises: Chiseling Strength and Soundness

Focusing on the lower body through deliberate exercises is fundamental for accomplishing general strength, steadiness, and stylish equilibrium. Bodyweight squats act as a fundamental activity, drawing in the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes. Varieties like gun squats and bounce squats increase the test, advancing muscle development and power advancement.

Thrusts offer a unique way to deal with lower body preparation. Forward rushes actuate the quadriceps and glutes, while invert jumps stress the hamstrings and glutes. The expansion of strolling rushes presents a useful part, improving both strength and dependability.

Glute scaffolds and hip pushes disconnect the glutes and hamstrings, giving a viable means to create and condition these muscle gatherings. Single-leg varieties, for example, single-leg glute spans, assist with tending to muscle uneven characters and further develop in general lower body balance.

Integrating calf raises focuses on the muscles of the lower leg, upgrading calf strength and definition. Side leg raises center around the external thighs, adding to a balanced lower body schedule.

By consolidating these activities into a complete lower body exercise, people can encourage muscle improvement, further develop useful development examples, and upgrade by and large lower body feel. Whether proceeded as a feature of a home exercise routine daily practice or coordinated into a more extensive wellness routine, designated lower body practices are vital to building areas of strength for a decent constitution.

Center Fortifying Activities: Building a Strong Groundwork

A vigorous center is indispensable to generally speaking strength, dependability, and useful wellness. Boards and their varieties stand as central activities for center commitment. Standard boards, sideboards, and board leg raises work the whole center, underlining steadiness and perseverance.

Bike crunches offer a powerful wind to conventional stomach muscle works, drawing in the obliques and advancing adaptability. Integrating slow bike crunches, switch bike crunches, and bike crunch turns gives a complete way to deal with a center turn of events.

Leg raises, whether performed resting or hanging, separate the lower stomach muscles. These activities add to further developed lower body control and definition. Adding scissor kicks to the routine further escalates the commitment of the lower abs.

Russian turns present rotational developments, focusing on the obliques and upgrading sidelong solidness. Hikers give a dynamic center commitment, joining cardiovascular advantages with stomach strength advancement.

The empty body hold is a difficult activity that draws in the whole center. By lying on their back and expanding their arms and legs off the ground, people enact the upper and lower muscular strength, as well as the lower back.

Integrating these center-reinforcing practices into a balanced wellness routine guides in accomplishing a conditioned midriff as well as upgrades by and large stance, balance, and utilitarian strength. Whether performed at home or in a rec center setting, serious areas of strength for an is the establishment for ideal actual execution and injury counteraction.

Planning a Viable Bodyweight Exercise Routine Everyday practice

Making a bodyweight gym routine requires an insightful way to deal with guarantee complete muscle commitment and nonstop movement. Start by organizing exercises to address different muscle bunches for a fair methodology. Chest area practices like push-ups, pull-ups, and plunges can be supplemented with lower-body exercises like squats, rushes, and glute spans.

Consolidate a blend of solidarity and perseverance activities to take special care of different wellness objectives. Incorporate focused energy practices like leap squats or hikers for cardiovascular advantages and calorie consumption. Offset these with isometric activities like boards to upgrade center solidness.

A legitimate warm-up is pivotal to setting up the body for the requests of the exercise. Incorporate dynamic stretches and light cardio to increment blood stream and adaptability. Following the exercise, a cool-down including static stretches further develops adaptability and helps in muscle recuperation.

Adjust the exercise routine given individual wellness levels and objectives. Increment the trouble bit by bit by changing the quantity of sets, reiterations, or consolidating progressed varieties of activities. Track progress utilizing an exercise diary to screen strength gains and distinguish regions for development.

Consistency is critical. Lay out a standard exercise timetable to fabricate a propensity, guaranteeing supported progress over the long haul. This customized and versatile way to deal with bodyweight preparation makes an establishment an effective and charming wellness venture.

Following Advancement and Changes: The Way to Fruitful Wellness

Checking progress is a vital part of any wellness venture, guaranteeing that endeavors yield substantial outcomes and giving bits of knowledge to important changes. Keeping a definite exercise diary fills in as an important device for following individual accomplishments, empowering a far-reaching outline of solidarity gains, perseverance upgrades, and by and large execution.

Consistently recording measurements like the number of redundancies, sets, and rest spans, alongside any changes or difficulties looked at during exercises, gives a reasonable picture of developing wellness levels. This authentic record supports recognizing examples, qualities, and regions that require centered consideration.

As progress unfurls, changes by the gym routine become important to successfully keep up with energy and challenge the body. Bit by bit expanding the force, consolidating progressed varieties of activities, or broadening the gym routine guarantees nonstop excitement of muscles and forestalls leveling.

Furthermore, remaining receptive to the body's signs is significant. Perceiving indications of weariness, irritation, or awkward nature prompts shrewd changes by forestalling injury and advancing ideal recuperation. This versatile way to deal with wellness upgrades' actual execution also keeps the exercise routine drawing in and persuading over the long haul, cultivating a supportable and satisfying wellness venture.

Nourishment Tips for Muscle Working at Home

Accomplishing muscle-building objectives at home isn't just reliant upon powerful exercises but additionally on a balanced and strong sustenance plan. Legitimate nourishment gives the fundamental structure blocks to muscle fix, development, and by and large recuperation.

Adjusted Diet: Guarantee a decent admission of macronutrients - proteins, starches, and fats. Proteins are especially significant for muscle amalgamation, and integrating fit sources like chicken, fish, beans, and tofu is fundamental.

Protein Admission: Consume a sufficient measure of protein to satisfy the expanded needs of muscle building. Incorporate protein-rich food varieties like eggs, dairy, vegetables, and protein supplements if important.

Hydration: Remain very much hydrated to help by and large well-being and ideal muscle capability. Water helps with processing, supplement assimilation, and the end of side effects from the body.

Pre and Post-Exercise Nourishment: Fuel your body before exercises with a mix of sugars and protein to give energy. After exercises, center around recharging glycogen stores and supporting muscle recuperation with a protein-rich bite or dinner.

Supplement Timing: Circulate dinners over the day to keep a consistent stock of supplements. This incorporates having more modest, adjusted dinners each 3-4 hours.

Nutrients and Minerals: Guarantee sufficient admission of nutrients and minerals, especially vitamin D, calcium, and magnesium, which assume fundamental parts in bone wellbeing and muscle capability.

By adjusting sustenance to your muscle-building objectives, you establish an ideal climate for development and recuperation, permitting your locally situated exercises to yield the most ideal outcomes.

Conquering Normal Difficulties in Locally Established Muscle Building

Leaving on a muscle-building venture at home accompanies its arrangement of difficulties, yet with key methodologies, these obstructions can be successfully tended to.

Restricted Space and Hardware: Adjust to bound spaces by zeroing in on bodyweight practices that require negligible gear. Investigate intelligent fixes, for example, using opposition groups, for a different gym routine daily practice.

Remaining Spurred in a Home Climate: Battle possible dullness by fluctuating your exercises, putting forth clear objectives, and making a persuading exercise space. Consolidating music, web recordings, or virtual wellness networks can add a component of energy.

Tending to Potential Muscle Uneven Characters: Focus on muscle-lopsided characteristics by integrating one-sided practices and guaranteeing adjusted exercises. Target more fragile regions with explicit activities to advance evenness and diminish the gamble of wounds.

Irregularity in Preparing: Lay out an organized daily practice and treat home exercises with similar responsibility as rec center meetings. Set explicit exercise times, make attainable objectives, and track progress to remain responsible.

Adjusting to Home Interruptions: Limit interruptions by picking a devoted exercise space away from family unsettling influences. Convey your exercise plan with relatives to establish a steady climate.

Keeping up with Moderate Overburden: Persistently challenge your muscles by continuously expanding the trouble of activities. Change reiterations, sets, or integrate progressed varieties to animate muscle development.

By proactively tending to these difficulties, people can establish a helpful climate for muscle working at home, cultivating consistency, inspiration, and in general outcome in their wellness tries.