#But it feels like by now things are so out of proportion that everybody can say that at the very least the fighting should stop ASAP

[july-19th-club]

he would tell you that in this case violence is necessary, to protect yourself, your ship, your crew...violence is the logical response to this situation. for everyone else. if you can't trust yourself yet, then trust me. one hologram and one sociopath - we'll have to do. and i do think they should have had a long and fraught relationship about it

[vamptastic]

Ik it's a fairly small action compared to some other synagogues but during the seder my rabbi made mention of the palestinian death toll and said some stuff relating welcoming the stranger to the need for peace in israel. Which considering everything to this point that he has shown to the congregation has been stuff about returning the hostages from israeli sources, including a lot of videos by IDF soldiers (it's mostly songs, nothing overtly horrible, but it does bug me), is nice. I mean ideally we would be fully advocating for a ceasefire but it's a step up from before, and from the chabad in the area which has always been kind of insane politically.

[pupyuj]

7th member and g!p wonyoung where rumors run around a lot that you and wonyoung don't get along well because you really can't look each in the eye and doesn't interact that much but in reality, you can't look at her in the eye because you're too shy after she fucked your brains out last night and you won't interact that much on cam because wony know that she'll just end up getting a boner and might just consider bending you over right there and then 🥰🥰🥰

sndbdjcncdk i love getting g!p wony asks it's my favorite thing 😩😩😩 it's so obvious that i got way too into this i'm sorry i'm an ive girl through and through .

ya'll know i love giving these things a little backstory and some build-up so... it was just supposed to be a cute little hook-up between you and your favorite dorm mate 😳 the two of you have just come home from a party, giggling and whispering flirty things to each other while you stumbled inside your shared dorm... hands touching and groping anywhere and passing it off as a joke but the next thing you knew you were making out on the couch with wony on top 😵‍💫 she was grinding and humping, needing relief for her cock bcs she has stared at you all night and wanted nothing more but to fuck you, not at all giving a damn about the consequences 🫣 needless to say, you absolutely did get fucked very good, too good maybe, on that couch (and in her bed right after)! you fell asleep in peace thinking that everything will be fine the next morning.. but oh, no they weren't 😬

suddenly you couldn't talk to each other like normal friends 😭 only a few words were shared between the two of you since that night, and you only looked at each other when it was absolutely necessary 😭😭 ofc the fans would notice it very quickly bcs all of your habits around each other have changed :( you used to sit very close to each other all the time, but now you're on opposite sides when the group is doing a live or smth 💔 on top of all that, you stopped talking about each other on fancafes, bubble, etc... it was a bit heartbreaking actually, it was like witnessing a friendship breakup in real time 😭😭 no selfies tgt, no random moments of each other on your individual instas, no reports of a 2 am convenience store run... oh, the (y/n) x wonyoung shippers were in the trenches during this time 😩 (annyeongz shooters can relate—)

and then it gets to a point where it was blown out of proportion online 😬 articles being made, think pieces being written about the current state of your friendship... there was a viral clip of you seemingly side-eyeing wonyoung and acting like a bitch behind her back... which your fans fought everybody to hell for bcs they knew you loved her more than anything 🥹🥹

it was yujin who took notice of this.. thing between you guys ofc and cornered the two of you one day, telling you to get your act together and sort your problems out bcs it was affecting the group dynamic too 💔 apparently jiwon was feeling guilty bcs it was now her that you took to those midnight strolls, and rei always felt like she was 'homewrecking' whenever wonyoung was affectionate with her and not you 😭😭😭 coming home after getting scolded by your leader, the two of you sitting on that very same couch where you fucked, awkward and silent...

"i miss you." it was her that broke the silence. that was really all it took for you to jump in her arms and hug her tightly :(( wony was your best friend, the one who knows all your secrets, the one who remembers every single funny moment in your childhood and reminds you of it to cheer you up, the one who always wiped your tears away when you cried — it hurt to not get along with her 💔💔 "we don't have to make that whole thing be such a bad thing... we can just laugh about it, and... and—" wonyoung looks at you, at your soft smile while you cupped her cheeks in your hands, at your lips (she remembers hoe you kissed her that night), at your body and the way you looked like you belong right on her lap... "and we can just do it again.. and again... over and over..." she says boldly. well that certainly caught you off guard, but who were you to say no?

the two of you were really just supposed to talk, but now wony has you bent over the couch, her hips slapping against your ass while her dick slammed deeper and deeper by the second inside you... your cunt fit perfectly around her cock, it was an almost hypnotizing feeling fucking you 😵‍💫 wony thrusting faster, getting bursts of energy every time you moaned her name... then she's right up in your ear, "w-we... we won't need to leave the dorm when we're bored anymore... we can just fuck.. all the time... does that sound appealing enough, baby?" she was asking.

you nodded, "yes, y-yes, wonyoung... ahh.. mhmm..! i'll always be ready for you... just say the word.. or better yet, just f-fucking... shitshit... just grab me and fuck me... i love your cock.. i love it..." you were convinced that there wasn't a better feeling in the world that getting fucked by your gorgeous best friend, and there really wasn't!

shdbfjfksf wony turning you around so she could look at your face while she pounded into you :((( you were so pretty to her, she will never regret fucking you that night 🤤🤤 deliberately clenching around her cock, smiling at the way it only made her pound you faster — you can't get enough of each other 😵‍💫 kissing as you both came, feeling absolutely at bliss while her cum filled up your cunt... she definitely breeded you all night, she had to make up for lost time! 😉 filled you up on her bed, the showers, on her bed again after showering, even when you slept she was fucking into you... just dumping all of her seed in you bcs she missed you so muchhh :((( and yeah you get your revenge bcs when wony woke up the next morning and she looked down, you winked at her with her cock deep down your throat... and then you rode her until she was a drooling, babbling mess...

sorry did i mention that you guys are just fucking insane? right after that, you were cockwarming her while the two of you had breakfast, then wony was feeling you up impatiently while you washed the dishes, then you were fucking on the couch again while the morning news was on... and you ended up getting ten missed calls from yujin that entire morning bcs wony got very, very busy spilling every drop of her cum inside your pussy AND YET....... it was never enough 🥵🥵🥵

did you ever get off her cock that whole day? probably not... but hey, it did wonders for your friendship!

fans now see that the two of you were closer than ever! back to being jokey around each other, wony now always had an arm wrapped around your waist and you were always combing her hair with your fingers bcs you knew it eased her, and ofc you grew more affectionate towards each other! maybe a bit too much.. but it was wayyy better than when you pretended like the other didn't exist 🤭🤭

see, what they all don't know is after that very fun and loud live at the practice room, wony fucked you to hell in one of those secluded rooms in the company building, making you see the stars while you came all over her cock 😵‍💫 yeah that hook-up was a blessing alright...

[marshmallowprotection]

i'd love to hear your interpretation of the day 8 call ("You don't give up do you?") on Saeyoung's route! that has to be my favorite call, especially the end lolol

I mean, if anything, this is a representation that goes against the idea that Saeyoung "suddenly becomes a big meanie in his route and he's not playing games with me anymore, he's such a jerk! The time we've spent with him in the apartment is awful because he isn't the silly guy on the game previews!"

I really don't care for people who talk about him that way. If you only value him because he's silly, then you don't actually value him at all as a person. That's why you drive right into the bad ending, figuratively and literally. If you don't value his emotions and allow him to come to terms with what just happened to him, then you don't like Saeyoung.

Saeyoung just realized he sold his life away for NOTHING. Rika and V promised him that Saeran would be safe, and now he's just learned it was a lie. It was all a lie. His brother isn't safe, he's suffering in horrible ways that Saeyoung can't even begin to imagine because every time he closes his eyes, he wants throw up at the thought of Saeran being forced to learn how to hack and hurt others.

He traded his autonomy away to give his brother a chance at a free life, and not even a perfectly free life, a life that could be as free as he could have been given the circumstances. Saeyoung did it because thought the sacrifice would be worth it and threw away everything for nothing. It was for nothing because his brother has no nothing but misery. 

Can you imagine what it must feel like to sacrifice everything and realize it was for nothing? Do you think anybody in his position will be silly and goofy? No. That's not even the entirety of his being. He is not just some guy who likes to play pranks on people. The RFA is his family, and he’s accepted they’ll be the only family he’ll ever have because he can’t be with Saeran. So, he looks over them and does all kinds of things to lift their spirits. 

He got Yoosung into LOLOL. 

He runs Twitter bots for Zen. 

He hangs out with Jaehee and lets her vent about work. 

He’s aware that Elizabeth’s collar has SENSITIVE INFORMATION on it, and is constantly pressing Jumin to up his security. 

Sure, he plays around and pokes fun at everybody, and yes, that’s a part of who he is. But, if you only believe he's a silly prankster, then you have spent no time reflecting on why he's wearing a mask and settling it in the first place.

Saeyoung Choi is a multifaceted person and he isn’t just a joke. He's a compassionate man who will do anything and everything to take care of the people he loves, he loves going out for drives, he loves working on robotics, he can make up a story on the spot about the stars, he loves cosplay and cross-dressing, he loves so many things and he could spend three hours explaining his love of language and linguistics to you if you ASKED.

He is serious and if he's trying to piece together a plan, he's going to have a contingency ready for his contingency. He's ready for anything you throw at him. He can hold a conversation at length about any subject you throw at him and he will enjoy it far more than you think he will. 

He's stubborn to a fault. He can be clingy and paranoid at his worst. Sometimes his anger gets the better of him and he says things without thinking. But, that's what makes him human, with all his faults, flaws, and aspirations. There is so much more to him than being a jokester and if you don't understand that, you're not paying attention to what's happening during your time in the apartment. 

All of this is to say that it's not okay that he's mean to you in the apartment, but a lot of people tend to blow what he's doing out of proportion. If you are actively calling him throughout the day and listening to what he says, it is so obvious that he is lying through his teeth. He may be the best liar in the world when it comes to his work in the agency, but when it comes to you, he is the worst liar I have ever seen in my entire life.

He cannot hide how much he cares about you. When he thinks you're not eating he goes out of his way to make sure he orders every kind of sandwich imaginable just in case you have a picky palette. When you leave the apartment to get something for him, he gets upset with you, not because he's angry with you, but because he hates that you're not thinking of your safety when his brother could have really hurt you even if it hurts him to admit that. 

And, you know what happens in this phone call? He sees you crying and he immediately folds. It doesn't matter how frustrated he is with the fact that his life is built on a lie, he still wants to comfort you because you make him happy no matter how afraid he is to admit that.

When it comes down to it, he's just afraid of letting you into his life because the last time he had somebody close to him that he would do anything for, they suffered. He just watched what happened to his brother all because he cared about him and thought he could trust his brother with people who didn't give him a reason not to trust them. 

The only reason he tries to push you away is because he's afraid of you getting hurt like his brother. He can't stomach what happened to his brother as it is, but the thought of watching another person he loves suffering isn't something he can stand. If you work with him and give him the space he needs, then he'll apologize to you and realize that he can't live his life this way forever.

He can't deny himself happiness for the rest of his life just because he's afraid to make a leap. This call shows he can't lie about anything when it comes to you no matter how hard he tries. He could lie to the rest of the world but he could never lie to you. 

My favorite part is the way his voice trembles near the end of the phone call and he asks you if it's okay to Hold Your Hand despite everything. 

[atdoop]

still waiting on the news post they said they're gonna release that clarifies things, but with these new artfight rules i'm probably not going to be able to participate now. basically they have new rules disallowing a lot of fetish art, specifically calling out "overly exaggerated proportions" and art that has "extreme emphasis on certain parts of the body". a lot of people have correctly pointed out that trying to moderate stuff like this is basically impossible and that they should just, you know, improve their reporting and filtering features or something.

it's getting real fucking annoying how every site is trying to sanitize itself of anything remotely weird or sexual. instead of letting people tag and and filter stuff themselves or mark their pages as 18+ only places they're punishing everybody who genuinely wants to follow the rules and prevent minors from seeing their art.

their filtering rules are so self contradictory and vague it's infuriating. nudity and gore is okay if you filter them, "non suggestive collars and harnesses" are fine, but "overly exaggerated proportions" are not allowed??? how do you draw the line??

anyway, i really hope they walk this back or something. people have been talking about it a lot lately in regards to other sites but i'm pretty much of the opinion that trying to ban nsfw art from art sites is pointless and harmful, especially when you start getting into vague definitions of fetish art, which can be literally anything. selfishly, i wish these sites just wouldn't allow minors at all.

also, on a personal note, i think this has been particularly frustrating to me because how i draw is an extension of my self identity. i'm drawing how i WANT to look, leech is ME!!! and i imagine a lot of people who draw stuff like i do feel similarly!! i was really really looking forward to artfight and i'm so bummed now. sorry if this is incoherent i have a lot of thoughts about it

[gunmetal-ring]

anon again. i'm sorry that i keep coming to you with this depressing messages but you seem like one of the few sane ppl in this fandom and i appreciate your honesty.

truth is im feeling really disillusioned with hellcheer lately. we don't have a lot of "canon" content so after a while, it gets tiring going thru the same 2 scenes over and over again (especially when one of them involves chrissy's death). ive been relying on fandom but it seems like it's slowed down. fics arent updated as frequently, not a lot of new artwork.

heck, even joe and grace have moved on. joe's career is taking off. grace is leaving acting. it just feels like everything that happened last summer has come to an end :(

Aw anon thats okay. Ty for thinking of my feelings though 💓 (and also im flattered that you think im sane lmao)

Unfortunately its the way things go, especially with small ships, especially especially in a fandom as hostile as this one is. People come together and build community and share their love for characters and then g(r)o(w) their separate ways again.

But not everybody does! You and me, for example. And ive got plenty of hellcheer mutuals that seem perfectly content to draw, write, and rb their little hearts out.

I for one am absolutely astounded that theres even a fandom for hellcheer, let alone one with such talent and breadth and depth of love! Our characters had 2 scenes. Our girl was killed just as it all began. Our boy died with her name on his lips. In all likelihood we will never see them together on our screens again.

But somehow. Those ~10 minutes managed to foster an entire community of people and keep us engaged and in love w the characters for almost a year at this point! With no dangling promises or false hope or anything! Like we all know the score and we still go hard for hellcheer. Incredible.

Idk maybe it's just bc ive only had brainworms like this for 2 other ships and 1 of them is even smaller and the other one is a clusterfuck of unimaginable proportions, so im a little biased in terms of community/fandom, but im just like... idk. I think its really incredible thats all. And a testament to the very real power and truth of hellcheer 🥰

All i can say anon is that the best way to keep a fandom/ship going is engagement. Likes on tumblr and kudos on ao3 are great. But whats even better and more motivating (and i say this as a fic writer/meme shitposter so im speaking the total truth lol) is reblogs and comments. Tell people how much you love their work and how much it means to you, it goes a very long way. And on the flip side of that - stay out of the infighting. All it does is sap your mental energy and the fandom infighting bullshit is a major contributor to why people leave. The negativity and bitterness warp your perspective and make it really hard to remember what we're here for - it's not anti-st*ddie or anti-qu*nn stans or anti-anti-hellcheer or what the fuck ever. We're here for hellcheer!

Sorry my $0.02 is now $2.00 bc i ramble lol its a fatal flaw of mine. Anyway im sorry if this is annoyingly positive or dismissive but im in a strangely upbeat mood rn so there you have it

[bestworstcase]

I feel like (different anon) half of the fandom doesn’t even care about Salem in the sense that regardless of what Her goal is? To be fair in my corner I’ve seen more individual character hatred rather than “this plot doesn’t make sense” hatred. Or ppl just saying the plot sucks without offering why they think so which is the majority of rwby “criticism”. But Salem being the key to the end of the show has been very well telegraphed since the end of volume 3. She started as this faceless monster, a creature to hate, the one who killed their headmaster and plunged the world into war. Then we learned that Oz was also keeping secrets and outright lying, so that knocked him off of the Trusted Adult pedestal (tho he has always been kinda shady but in terms of story formula that’s what I mean). Volume 6??? The Lost Fable?? Still so amazing. Salem very literally gets humanized in the eyes of our characters. She still did all of those awful things but she’s a Person now rather than an Entity. Those moments of confrontation (Ironwood’s office with Ruby, Yang while in the whale, Oscar.” We get to see her talking to her Evil Guy Crew. We see her have emotions.

AND THEN THE BROTHER GODS once thought of as entities much like how Salem was seen by the cast in the beginning. Yes they are still gods but not in the sense that at least I was thinking. They came From somewhere. And yes Salem was the first to discover they were fallible but knowing what V9 told us helped me put it into perspective

So the last arch being about fully learning what Salem wants and then, probably possibly, deciding how to help alongside with it. I think ppl get upset bc they view that as “oh yeah all the ppl she killed and lives she ruined don’t matter she’s our bestie mow” kind of Joining with Salem. When im seeing it as a more Neo agreeing to work with Cinder type deal. If Salem wants to stop the gods, get revenge, make them humble, and the gods return and want to wipe out remnant For Good, I’d say that’s a common goal our kids can get behind.

rwby is a cool show with cool villains and I enjoy it a lot and also your thoughts about it sorry this is so long

the thing with salem and the, like, common fandom interpretation of her and where her arc is headed is that. at least since v9 it’s less about resistance to the idea that the final confrontation being team rwby vs the gods as it is the way folks assume salem fits into that, namely that most of the fandom still takes completely at face value the idea that she’s selfish, arrogant, and needs to learn her lesson about the value of life and death. so you get these wild takes that the gods were assholes who punished her out of proportion for what she did, paired with this implicit idea that salem does actually deserve this punishment because she Still RefusesTo Learn Her Lesson, and thus she needs to be redeemed by team rwby proving her wrong somehow.

but like

salem did nothing wrong. praying to the gods was not wrong, reacting emotionally when they were cruel to her was not wrong, recognizing their fallibility and unworthiness was not wrong, rallying people against them was not wrong, vowing to keep fighting after they massacred everybody was not wrong, cursing them after they left and blaming them for ending the world was not wrong, jumping into the pool of grimm was not wrong, BEING grimm is not wrong, rejecting the divine mandate after ozma hid it from her for years was not wrong. frankly continuing to be a thorn in his side since then is, i would argue, also not wrong, because she’s made herself the immovable obstacle preventing him from summoning his genocidal god back to remnant to kill everyone again; it is laughably obvious that the ultimatum is not a game humanity can win. and then factoring in the part where ozma is obsessed with finding a way to destroy her, what else is she supposed to do besides live in exile. and of course if you close off every other door except violent rebellion you are eventually going to invite violent rebellion. 

so like. Salem Is Right, and seems to be taking what she considers the path of minimal destruction (the grimm held beacon but pull out of vale within a few days; her plan for haven was nearly bloodless and left mistral untouched; she made no move to attack mantle and began her siege with a grace period for her to leave in peace if the relics were surrendered), which means that she’s likely willing to negotiate methods if other less destructive paths are opened to her. her villain -> hero arc can’t turn on team rwby persuading her that she’s wrong, because fundamentally her position is “the genocidal divine tyrants do not deserve our obedience and we can and must defy them” which is, um, correct. but if they adopt that position themselves and then negotiate How i think they’ll find she’s a lot more reasonable than they’ve been led to believe, and i do not think the wider fandom is prepared for that whatsoever

[heymeowmao]

2023.11.07 - https://weibo.com/l/wblive/p/show/1022:2321324965501234446524

LYN: Hallo everybody, good evening. I am Modern Brothers Liu Yuning. Welcome! LYN: Long time no see, long time no see.

C: It’s so early! LYN: Are you not home yet? In that case… what do you want me to do? Let me pause and then start again when you get home. We really want to provide the customer service mentality, here. A customer’s satisfaction is always the priority. Let me stream when you get home then, okay?

C: Monthly streamer. LYN: Stop provoking me. You mean to say that I only stream once a month, right? 

C: How long have you been streaming? LYN: I just now turned it on. So that fact that you were able to come immediately means that you are my good friend. It’s like if I opened a restaurant- as soon as I open the doors for the night, and you are the first person in. You are my first customer. - C: Why can’t I see the comments? LYN: If you can’t see them that means that you’re lagging. Exit the stream then come back in. - C: I’m also the first to be seated! LYN: Yes, yes. I’m sure that those of you who came in right when I started the stream all pay attention to me very closely. You watch everything I do- so as soon as I started the stream, you came in. That means you are very indulgent of me. 

C: Are you in Hengdian? LYN: … What do you think? You can tell by my background that I’m in Hengdian. Or else, this is all fake? 

C: You’ve turned into a monthly streamer. LYN: I mean… there’s a reason behind that, you know?? How could I turn into a monthly streamer just randomly. There has to be a reason- I have work, so I started streaming less. But as soon as I have time, I will come to stream! Don’t worry. Therefore, stop pushing me. I don’t stream for a reason, it’s just that sometimes I can’t tell you what that reason is. C: Why? LYN: I can’t tell you. Otherwise people will accuse me of having a big mouth. I should say less. C: Who said that about you?? LYN: There are people who say- a proportion of people- who say that I- I don’t dare to take up the label myself, but some people are calling me a living “insider”. Everything I say is particularly thrilling. But being a “living insider” means that I can more easily take the heat for things I say. So from now on I want to be a “dead insider.” Okay? Less problems are better than more. C: Nonsense!! // You’re not “dead”!! LYN: It’s okay! It’s like I’m trying to comfort children- “pei pei pei (knock on wood!!)” 

C: No! Ning-ge, you are the person in my heart. LYN: Oh, you don’t need to be so polite. You should date or marry when you need to, don’t wait for me. Be someone better- be the “woman that even LYN can’t have.” [t/n: his fans who get married call themselves that.] Thank you.

C: The Dalian accent is too strong. LYN: I’m from Dandong. I can speak Standard Mandarin, but when I’m streaming I just want to make it feel more alive, so I use my hometown dialect. But I CAN speak Mandarin, because I use it when I’m acting. For example if I’m in a guzhuang drama… there’s no way I can just be speaking in my Dongbei dialect throughout, right? I still have to use Standard. LYN: For example, if someone came over, I should say, “Who goes there? State your name.”, but if I were to use my Dongbei dialect, it’d be more like, “Who’s there? Who’re you?” That doesn’t work. So I normally do speak Standard, but for my stream I like to use my accent to sound friendlier/closer to you and a little more humorous. - /starts reciting tongue-twisters/ LYN: Not only can I speak putonghua, I can also recite tongue-twisters. :) 

C: It’s snowing in Dongbei. LYN: Yes, I’ve seen. The weather’s gotten cooler, so- especially those from the South- remember to keep warm. You can catch a cold too easily. Now that it’s cold out, you should go out wearing a face mask. Don’t get sick. LYN: Hengdian hasn’t snowed yet. It’s still okay- around 20C- pretty hot. I mean warm, not hot! XD

C: I’m from Guangdong, it’s so hot! LYN: It’s so curious, isn’t it. South (warm) vs North (cold). C: In Shanghai it can drop to the tens in a single day. LYN: Wow. Then, remember to keep warm. Please don’t get sick.

C: Ning-ge, did you purposely leave some stubble behind? LYN: WhAT?! I shaved before I started streaming! Am I so manly, now? I JUST shaved and now someone is saying I purposely left some stubble. I guess it’s pretty apparent? I washed my face and shaved before this stream. Most of the time I’m shooting a drama, so when I don’t have any activities for the day I don’t shave- so I can look more manly. But now you’re saying I left it there purposely. Now what? I guess I can only look into getting it waxed. I’ll look for a painless hair removal and get it waxed. 

C: I’m suspect this is a recording. LYN: There’s no need. I’ve already said- the charm of a live stream is that there is on- and off-line simultaneous interaction. If I had recorded one and am uploading, I don’t think it would be very meaningful. 

C: What’s up with your hair? LYN: I’m wearing a wig.

---------- Promo Time

LYN: Why wasn’t I playing any of my recent OSTs up until now? Because I was waiting for people to come into the stream. That’s right. You are now listening to the tv drama Wonderland of Love’s ending song called 如果爱记得 (If Love Still Remembers) sung by Modern Brothers Liu Yuning. 

bgm: 如果爱记得 (If Love Still Remembers) [Wonderland of Love OST]

LYN: This drama is actually very good- I turned it on yesterday to watch some. It’s not bad. The actors are cool and the plot is good. These two actors are so good-looking… It’s has a good plot, with good-looking actors- I watched an episode yesterday. You can support it, if you have the time. It’s called Wonderland of Love. If you have nothing to watch, you can watch this because… I sang the OST. LYN: Also if you look carefully in the credits, there’s also a character called Mu Xianhe. That’s my cameo. :) It’s rare that I would cameo in a drama- I’d do it for my good friends. So for this drama, I made an appearance. Three scenes total. I’ll probably only show up in the later few episodes. But the roster is really respecting me by adding me into the credits. In this case I’ve acted in it, got credited for participating, and sung a song for this drama, which is not bad at all.

C: Which episode? LYN: I don’t even know. Nearer to the ending. 30 something. I’m not too clear on it. C: Do you have three minutes? LYN: Aiyoo, of course~! How could you ask me to cameo, but give me less than three minutes of screentime? Of course I have more than that! Let me think- three scenes, plus music, plus slow-motion, plus other people’s lines… let me calculate. I should have at least… 8 minutes worth. LYN: At the time someone had recommended me some OST work, for which I was thankful for. Then later they asked me if I wanted to cameo. I said… “It’s not impossible.” So they found a role for me to cameo in. But my main question was whether or not this cameo’d role would have any interaction with the main leads or not. Did I have direct scenes with JT or XK? I didn’t want to go and just act with other supporting actors- then what would be the meaning in me making an appearance? Just to be a background character?? I mean- it’s not that I would be against the thought, but the meaning would not be a impactful. But they clarified that my scenes would be directly with the leads, so I agreed. I haven’t collaborated with either of them before, so we can consider this a fleeting collab. It’s likely that I won’t get another chance, so I just wanted to know how it felt.

C: Commission. LYN: There’s usually no pay for cameos. Usually it’s friends cameoing in other friends’ projects, so how much money do you think is appropriate? Do you think it would be proper for me to go and ASK for 2000RMB? Or do you think I would say, “Since I have three scenes I’ll give you a little bit of a discount and only ask for 1500RMB?” It’s not worth it. It’s such a big project- an S-tier- they’re not lacking in the funds, so it’s not like they can’t afford to. But I can’t really do anything with that money, so I might as well not accept payment and do it as a favor. I didn’t ask for money- I went for free. But they gave me an OST to sing, right? I was paid for that. Not a little amount, either. The jianghu isn’t about fighting and killing, the jianghu is about people and relationships, right?

LYN: Anyway, this song is called If Love Still Remembers. It’s another song I really like. 

-- 如果爱记得 (If Love Still Remembers) [Wonderland of Love OST]

C: It sounds sad. LYN: /sigh/ It’s all about the heart-wrenching break-up. The feelings are a must.

LYN: Honestly OSTs, album songs, and live performances are all different. For a live performances, what you want to focus more on is the atmosphere/mood. You want the audience to feel what you’re feeling, so you will need to put “fuller” feelings into it. But when you’re singing OSTs, comparatively, you should be holding back. Not too much, but more than in a live performance. Why? Because you need to understand that the function of the OST is to act as a foil to the plot of the drama, and not serve to take the focus away. You can’t be too aggressive with it, otherwise you would be stealing attention away from the plot- the actor’s lines or their feelings. That’s why whenever I sing OSTs, I will restrain myself just the slightest bit. Of course, that’s not to mean that I don’t sing with any emotions at all. For albums, it depends on individual preference/attitude, and that’s a whole other story. 

C: How are you so knowledgeable? LYN: If you have nothing else to compliment me with, you don’t have to force it. What “knowledge” could I have? This is something that anyone with a brain can figure out.

C: How come there’s a little breathy croaking sound? LYN: /clears his throat/ My voice is a little uncomfortable today. And… don’t you think that speaking like this… is very magnetic? // For any new friends who are coming in, please don’t think that I’m greasy and I’m making this voice on purpose. I’m not- my throat hurts. - /starts singing with ~feeling~/

LYN: It’s so sad- it makes me want to cry. So- if you don’t have anything to watch these days, please check out Wonderland of Love. I did watch it. I rarely have the time to watch dramas, but it so happens that I had the time. I watched all the episodes that came out- not in their entirety, but I watched here and there. I wanted to take the opportunity to learn something. Because as a new actor there are many things  I need to learn. The last time I streamed I said something along the lines of “for young actors like me” and by “young” I didn’t mean that I was young IN AGE, rather that in this industry I count as a rookie. So my job now is to learn more, think more, and see more. That way I will be able to grow. 

-----

C: Have you watched Romance on the Farm? LYN: That’s my good friend’s drama, how could I NOT watch it? What is a friend? If it’s a friend, then I have to take a look. I really did watch it, though. I don’t have very many friends in this industry, but for the ones I do have, I always check out their dramas. LYN: Honestly though, I can’t watch the whole thing. I don’t watch from beginning to end, but I always check it out.

C: Have you watched Mysterious Lotus Casebook? LYN: Of course. I watched it, how could I not. Also- it’s such a great drama, how could I miss it? Why do I say it’s great? Because first of all, I sang the OST. By that I mean: it’s not good BECAUSE I sang the OST, but rather it’s good SO I sang the OST. I’M benefitting from this situation. LYN: On the day it aired actually I was watching it with- one of the main leads. We were having a meal together, so we watched it. That got me thinking- when my drama airs, I should invite a bunch of friends over to my house. I’ll get some food and some beer, and we can watch the broadcast together. I can do it. // I’ll invest in a color tv- a 45 inch color tv. Then call all my friends over and make a night out of it. 

-

C: We are also friends. / Ning-ge, didn’t you say that your fans are also your friends? Then, we are going too. LYN: Eh… I know we are far apart (distance), but our hearts are together. It’s not important where you watch me from. We’re friends, aren’t we? Your house is my house, right? So you can watch at home, and it will equal to you watching in my home. LYN: I know I said “your house is my house”, but I was just being polite. If you want to survive in this society, you have to learn to discern when people are saying things to be polite. They’re not actually being serious. It’s just out of politeness, don’t take it seriously. Someone asked me, “Is my mother your mother?” We’re just making friends. I’m not here to take someone on as my godmother. We’re just making friends, OKAY?? - /Daimi barking/ LYN: See? Daimi doesn’t even want to hear it. As for your mother, I can only call her “Auntie.” Anything else is unwarranted. “Auntie” or “Sis” is okay. 

LYN: There’s a downside- despite the fact that I am a new actor, it does not change the fact that I AM acting- which is, that when I watch dramas it’s difficult for me to get invested in the story. It’s hard for me to feel what the leads are. Why? Because I just objectively want to see how the actors are executing the scene. How did they act the scene? Was it realistic? Why did they decide to lift their glass at that exact moment? Why did they look at the other person right then? I want to analyze and pick apart their performance. Then sometimes I make some predictions- I want to predict what their next move will be. Sometimes I guess right, sometimes wrong. If I don’t guess right, then I learn something. If I do, then I won’t act like that in the future.

LYN: So when I’m watching dramas most of the time I do it to learn, to see how other people are acting, how they design the scene, and if there is anything particularly challenging. I’m just starting to learn this industry, though I’ve been filming dramas for four years- now I have just a tiny bit of understanding towards acting. Very little- I don’t dare to say that I know how to act. But through what little understanding I gained in the past four years, sometimes I am very accurate with what I’m seeing. Like if an actor remembered their lines or not. If they’re familiar with their lines- I can tell. Or whether they were in character, or if they were still thinking about their lines. Are they thinking about what to say next? Is there some real emotion behind their eyes? Those are all things you can tell by looking. LYN: It’s not to say that I am professional. It’s just because I also act, so through observation I can figure out what’s going on. It does suck though, because due to that it’s difficult to become invested in the plot. - /acts it out himself to show us the process. says he likes it when he guesses correctly. XD/ LYN: You can imagine- throughout the whole drama I’m just sitting here guessing how they’ll execute what comes next.

C: Do you act like that, too? LYN: What do you mean? It’s not definite- there’s no right and wrong way to acting. Just like with this- /picks up the glass/ drinking and then looking to the side- isn’t wrong. It’s not wrong. It has nothing to do with acting incorrectly or badly. I’m just guessing what their next move will be. It’s like Rock-Paper-Scissors. You’re not wrong if you play rock/paper/scissors. You can play what you want, but the point is to guess what your opponent will play. I’m just playing.

LYN: What other drama came out recently that I sang for? There’s none, right? I only had the mission of promoting Wonderland of Love today? I guess there’s also Dragon’s Roar. It’s a character song I sang for NiShuiPan. That’s also a nice song. I’ll play the video for you later when I need to go break up a fight. Don’t worry. 

-

C: Ning-ge, is your clothes 1 layer, or two, or three? LYN: It’s just one. It’s a fake double-layer. Stop staring at my clothes. 

-

C: Ning-ge, the MV was too cool! LYN: It was so strange, that day. I don’t know what happened, but I was in a pretty good condition that day. Inexplicably, we filmed it and it came out looking quite nice! At least I thought so. I don’t know why my face was so thin, that day. I don’t know what I did- but I came out looking nicely on the camera. It’s all good. As long as you like it. 

LYN: That’s why I think it’s better if I’m thinner, so I’ve started to lose weight. I’ll be joining a drama crew and starting filming again soon, so I’ll start with adjusting what I eat. I didn’t really eat today. I only had some Purple Seaweed and Egg Drop Soup, a box of Chinese crepes, one large order of fries, a cup of hot chocolate… and a chicken wrap… plus a bunch of chicken wings… and a fried drumstick. I only ate that much- the whole day. I’m really hungry. C: Wow, that’s so little! /sarcastic/ LYN: No, seriously though, I need to start watching my weight. So that I can look good on camera.

C: Are you working out? LYN: Not with a whole routine, but these days I’ve been doing some training for my back. It’s good for men to train their back, at least. It helps with posture, too. For guzhuang dramas, their requirements for posture/physicality are a little higher. For modern dramas, on the other hand, it’s all about acting naturally- you can’t keep straight posture the whole time. You may just sit there casually, and it’s all okay because it doesn’t matter. But for guzhuang dramas you have to have some rigidity- so I have to train. C: Your posture is very good already. LYN: It’s just average. I’ve seen the post-filming editing for a few dramas. But it’s not as if in 500 scenes, you can be stiff for all of them- there’s no way I can do that. I’m guessing there are a few scenes here and there where my condition is not the greatest, but for the most part it’s good. So I want to thank all those people online who were critical that my posture wasn’t great. Sincerely. Because they’re the ones who made me realize that this is very important. LYN: When I was acting before, I didn’t pay attention to a lot of things- because I didn’t understand, then. You all know I jumped into this blind. That’s why I was unprofessional. I didn’t have any demands for my hair or makeup- it used to be that I would accept whatever the stylists put on me. I thought that an actor should adhere to the role, so I just silently did the work I was asked to do. In reality things like hair/makeup, clothing, and posture are all very important. I want to thank those people who were criticizing me, because honestly they were right. I realized that, and start trying to improve myself. That’s why posture is one thing that’s not a big problem for me, now. It’s because I had that realization.

LYN: Truthfully speaking, if the people around you only compliment you- because my fans all love me very much, so they think I’m handsome no matter what I do. Even if it’s a lie, they’ll be able to tell it to me. It’s because their feelings toward me are different. On the other hand, people who don’t like you are often times more capable of pointing out your faults. For example, “You’re ugly.” That’s okay too, because the truth is that I’m not very handsome. That just means I have to be more aware. For example when I was shooting a drama I was looking really fat/swollen, then starting from the next drama I started a routine of using guasha on my face each morning. Friends, when I get the chance I’ll shoot a vlog on how to use guasha to reduce swelling for you. - /describes the whole process/ LYN: I used to get into hair and makeup half asleep, and just let the artists do what they want. I was in a daze. But now I’m so energetic! Because I’ve been busy taking care of my face. I start right when they’re applying the wig. It’s a good thing. If no one every told me I was ugly, I would have never known. It’s not as if I suddenly look better, but I at least have to hold myself to higher expectations. C: Drawing a “pie” again. // You only do it two times a week, don’t you? LYN: No- I was doing it every day. C: What uses does it have? LYN: Reduce swelling, for one. And two- it makes your skin look nicer. Your tendons, too- for example the double chin. You rub the neck tendon here, and here (on the collarbone)- so that they can relax/loosen. You press them like this. A lot of actors are super into skincare/maintenance. Gao Weiguang gifted me with a muscle scraper. I don’t know if you know what it is… it’s like… a piece of metal- you use it to scrape your tendons/ligaments to relax them. Then your posture will be a bit better. He gave it to me on set one day, and I started using it immediately to rub at this part just under my collarbone. I went home that night and took off my clothes to shower- it was just a ring of red. LYN: 筋膜刀. Muscle scraper. It’s not like what you’re thinking- /makes a cutting motion/. You can look it up. I just can’t discuss anything too fashionable with you. You know what a fascia gun (massage gun) is, right? You use it to relax your muscles? The fascia “knife” is just a piece of metal and you use it to scrape yourself. Have you never had guasha done before??? Friends, you should go out to find a massage parlor and get some guasha done. Look around- there are lots of those places around. If I wanted to be a beauty blogger or share my life with you, you wouldn’t get it! D: 

-----

LYN: Someone keeps spamming, asking when I’m going to hold my concert. Stop spamming. If you were REALLY my fan, you would know why I’m not holding my concert yet. Stop pretending that you care. If you were my fan, you would know when I plan to hold it. Stop repeatedly asking. C: Why aren’t you holding it? LYN: Because I can’t get my tickets to sell! Are you satisfied with that answer? I’m not holding my concert because I can’t sell my tickets. Now I don’t want to hold it, because it will look embarrassing. Other people have a concert and can sell-out in 0.5/1/3 seconds. I can’t sell out, so I’m not holding a concert. Are you satisfied with that answer?? LYN: That’s a joke. I’m not holding my concert because my schedule this year is too full. I don’t have the time to hold a concert. Do you think it’s as simple as making an announcement, going one day and coming back the next? It needs preparation! Even just rehearsals can take up to half a month. A concert isn’t a joke like choosing some songs, grabbing a mic, and singing like you’re in a KTV. You need to design the stage and everything else. Rehearsals only- without all the equipment and stage settings, even though they don’t need my supervision- are so complicated. As the person singing, rehearsals for me take half a month. I’ve run out of time, this year. All of it is dedicated to filming. The most important thing is that I haven’t released my album yet. I have enough OSTs to hold a concert, but I was hoping I could hold my concert after I’ve released my second album. Then, everything will be lined up.

LYN: Stop spamming! It effects other people’s view. You’re all customers, here. Why are you spamming??? This is like if you go to a restaurant to have a meal and you take off your shoes as soon as you’re seated. Do you get what I mean? It’s not against the rules but other people find it annoying. Okay? Stop spamming. Thank you. C: The customer is here. It’s my first time watching. LYN: Ah. What we want is returning customers. If it’s your first time here- I’m sure for a lot of you, it is- please subscribe to my weibo. I am Modern Brothers Liu Yuning. If you come once, we’re friends. If you come a second time, then we are good friends. LYN: So, welcome to all the new friends and please subscribe to my weibo. I haven’t started filming with the new crew yet, so if I have time I will come to stream more often. Wait- Wow… somehow I’m digging my own grave. I’m willing to stream, though! It’s just that sometimes… I am unable to.

LYN: How about I sing a song? I haven’t sung in a long time. Let me sing two. Even though my throat is uncomfortable, I can still manage two small songs. How does that sound? You can just listen for entertainment. /thinking/ I won’t be singing Dragon’s Roar today. How about this- wait for me a second. Let me use the restroom and then I will come back to sing for you. Since you like it so much, I’ll play you the video. 

----- break #1 [t/n: Plays the mv with comments on. There are SO MANY. I’ve seen people describe it as looking like a virus. This one’s actually better than others I have seen- in which the whole screen is covered in text the whole time.]

LYN: /giggles/ We have a Sanitation Committee, here. Every time I use the restroom and come back someone asks me if I’ve washed my hands or not. I need to shake my hands to prove that I’ve washed them. 

C: Ning-ge, did you “like” your own video? LYN: Usually I “insert coins”. Any video that’s related to me, I will invest in. 

LYN: Let me sing a song! I have’t been able to sing lately, so let me find one or two to sing for you. C: 雪落下的声音 (The Sound of Falling Snow) LYN: Okay. It’s been snowing recently, too. In that case, let me gift this wonder to you. I hope you like it. / Let me find some shades. Listen for entertainment. I just want to say again: they way I sing during my streams is not representative of my working ability. I don’t want to mess it up here and have it affect my OST work later. Alright? The focus here is to be “happy”. This is a gift to all my good friends in the stream. LYN: Hold on. We need to create the mood. Wait a sec. /sets up his mic stand and grabs his guitar/ C: Hand-sync. LYN: What nonsense are you saying?!? This is called “performing”! What do you mean “hand-sync”??? It’s fine as long as I don’t lip-sync, isn’t it? Let me raise the chair higher, otherwise you can’t see my guitar. Ok. Let’s go. C: The guitar strap is broken? LYN: No- this is just the string- I can’t talk about anything fashionable with you.

LYN: /hand-syncs/ Doesn’t it look like I’m playing? :) -- 雪落下的声音 (The Sound of Falling Snow)

-- 黑夜一束光 (Praying)

C: You’re not singing anymore? LYN: No, I’m going to switch it up. Whatever you want to hear. It’s weird, because before when I sang in my streams, people would end up leaving. Now I don’t want to sing because I’m afraid it will affect my dream as a singer. I want to be a singer, but whenever I sing people leave. I can’t take it. It’s a blow. 

-- 落了白 

LYN: What should I sing…? 笑红尘 (Laughing at the Mundane World). I do have the accompaniment, but I… I’ll sing it for you next time. I keep forgetting to download it. It’s a bit of a hassle to look.

C: 摩登爱情 (Modern Love) LYN: I think I sang that once before, right? It’s this song, right? I’ll sing it, but I think I forgot most of it. Just listen for entertainment. LYN: Let me make some adjustments. /radio effect/ Hello? Welcome all my radio listeners, good evening. This is Modern Brothers Liu Yuning Radio. Welcome and thank you for tuning in by your phone. The hard part about this song is that you start singing as soon as it starts! - /trying to get the timing right/

-- 摩登爱情 (Modern Love)

LYN: It’s been a long time since I last sang this song. Did I only sing it once before? This will be my second time. I remember I had learned it that day (the first time). Listen just for fun! C: It sounds good~ LYN: I sing just averagely. 

LYN: Let me think… how about one of MBY-laoshi’s songs? Let me see if there’s a track. … Oh? There’s not! … There’s no track!! D: … If that’s the case, then there’s no helping it. - /looking for the track on a different app./ LYN: It has it! Let’s do it. I really like this song. I even heard it in concert, and I really liked it. So after I got home, now I will often listen to this song. It’s called… -- 平凡的一天 (Ordinary Day) LYN: !! There are no lyrics? No matter how much of a fan of his I am, I still can’t remember the lyrics! Don’t do this to me. What is this?? There aren’t- /sighs/. I can’t even remember the lyrics to my OWN songs, let alone his! Hold on, let me change a song. Let me see if this song has lyrics. If it doesn’t, then I give up. -- 给你给我 (Give You Give Me) LYN: There’s not. /gives it a try/ /sighs/ I’m not singing it. I don’t have the lyrics prepared. /sigh/ Let’s forget it.

- /arguing with fans about a track which LYN says is not there and fans say is/ LYN: I told you that track wasn’t available, but you’re insisting it is. Are you the singer here, or am I? I know better than you do! - /video is frozen/ LYN: You just had to insist- you made me look through two different sites for nothing! Forget it. I’ll forgive you. LYN: … LYN: Great, now it’s frozen. /sigh/ You just had to make me look. Now the video’s frozen. I’m going to blame everything on you making me look. LYN: Now what. We’re done for. - /troubleshooting/ LYN: I don’t think I can save it. If it keeps on like this then I can’t keep streaming. The camera’s broken. Let me plug it back in and see if I can save it. Hold on. ~ we are now experiencing technical difficulties ~ LYN: /sigh/ Thank you. I was busy trying to fix it and none of you left. Since none of you left, I’m sure you are all my family. Nice. // I’m surprised I was even able to get it back. C: Time to upgrade your tech. LYN: OMG, I’m already using the best there is. C: There’s an echo. LYN: ? Is there? Oh no. // There’s not? Maybe there was a little bit, when the program started up again. LYN: You still hear it?? / Oh, it’s clear now? Okay.  

C: Change your equipment? LYN: Friends, no! I have the best. All that I have is very expensive equipment. Let’s not change it. This time was the camera- the other time my computer was aliens (t/n: Alienware?). It’s very expensive. C: Then you haven’t streamed in too long, so it’s out of date. LYN: Stop calling me out. - C: That sweater looks like something my mom would wear. LYN: … I don’t think I’m wearing the same thing as your mom. This is men’s clothing.  - C: You have to use streaming equipment often. LYN: Reasonable. I’ll do my best to use it more often. But I can’t just stream every day. I should still do some work. C: Stream 800 times in one day.

LYN: How about I take this camera and aim it at my bed. We’ll do a “daily-life livestream”- you can see me when I’m on my bed and playing with my phone. It’ll be like a security camera, what do you think? /sarcastic/ “Okay”? You must be a pervert! LY: I really can change it, though. Because I’ve seen that some new ones were released, so I was thinking I should get a new set. 

-----

C: You’re trending. LYN: What number? Please don’t trick me, friends. /looking it up/ /checking the comments/ Oh, I see it. LYN: It’s in the Entertainment tab. That’s enough. C: Since you’re trending today, are you going to change your outfit? LYN: There’s no need to. It’s not any high-ranking topic, so I will not change today. 

C: Ning-ge, was Lingyin Temple fun? LYN: People nowadays… can’t have any secrets. I was in Hangzhou a while back, right? The day before I was supposed to leave- I hadn’t much travelled around Hangzhou, only a very long time ago- but I went to visit Lingyin Temple. I guess people there took pictures of me and posted it online. After that there were people looking up, “What blessing does Lingyin Temple offer?” and the answer is “marriage”. The temple’s specialty is fortunes for marriage. So now my fans are thinking that I went to pray for marriage blessings. I guess that’s fine? LYN: But the reason is: 1. I just went to look, and 2. It’s almost time to start filming again. Actors like to pray at temples before the start- to ask that everything goes peacefully and smoothly. I just went to sightsee.

C: I want to see Dragon’s Roar. LYN: You came too late, I played it already. I won’t be singing it today because my voice is a little hoarse. I don’t think I can handle such a hard song. I played the video earlier. You can just watch it for entertainment. 

----- break #2

LYN: I’m back. /shakes his hands to prove he washed them/ Are you satisfied now?? C: You’re trending at #37 on main now. LYN: Friends! How could I be trending on #37 on main?? I don’t believe it. How could I be worthy? C: 38. LYN: Really? It’s 38? See- I only just said a few words and dropped a rank!

LYN: Anyway, thank you. The only reason I am able to be trending is because of all of you in the stream. You upvote the “LYN Livestream” topic and open it for a wider audience. I'm thankful to you because it’s all due to your efforts. Thank you all for viewing. Today we’ll gift a bowl of malatang out. We’ll do an event today- we’ll randomly gift someone a bowl of malatang at the end of the stream. We’ll be like those market influencers and do a “3, 2, 1- screenshot.” Whoever’s first will win a bowl of malatang. I’ll buy takeout for you- if it’s within 20RMB. // Is 20 not enough? 30, then! C: I don’t believe it. LYN: That’s your choice. In any case- we’ll do it and it’s on you to contact my studio to collect your 30RMB bowl of malatang. C: Add a cup of milk tea, too. LYN: Your demands are too much.

C: Transfer me 50RMB. LYN: We’re raffling off money now?? Those of you who watch my stream have a chance to win a red envelope for up to 50RMB??

C: Ning-ge, I’m an international fan. I live overseas now. LYN: ? Is that so? What you mean is that if I order takeout for you, it would be difficult for you to receive it? XD You’re outside of the delivery area? Uh… You’re overthinking it. The problem is- out of so many people in the stream, how are you so confident you will be the winner? Let’s say that you are- can’t I just wire you 30RMB and call it a day?

- /comment asking about a variety show/ LYN: It’s… in the works. But for a lot of projects- for example I was supposed to have recording for a variety show in November. But they are no longer recording. Things just happen. The fact of it is I did not attend any filming, so now we just wait. If I go, great! If I don’t, then we just wait until we hear something. It’s unpredictable.

C: Can you gift a concert ticket to those watching your stream? LYN: Uh… that’s a little difficult. My fans all know that I am not the type to be hungry for wealth, right? I don’t do any business deals and I don’t do marketing- or if I have, only very little. So… my stream is also free, where the main focus is “keeping you company.”You can’t exect me to keep you company (for free) but ALSO expect to take something away from it. This type of “star-chasing” is a little TOO comfortable. LYN: Let’s say I do raffle a ticket. Which pricing tier should I give you? A front-row seat? Let’s say it’s worth 1680RMB. I think… that’s a little too generous. I tfeel like I’m losing in this deal. Let’s say I give you a row in the very back- worth 360-380RMB- the ones in the far back balcony. Then it will look like I’m stingy. So it’s not an easy thing to give. If front- my heart hurts. If back- it looks like I’m stingy. In that case, I won’t give it at all. I won’t offend anyone.

C: LYN, you’re trending. LYN: I know. My fans  already told me. It’s not for anything terrible. It’s just the normal “LYN Livestream.” The normal ones don’t usually reach any high ranks. We want to stick to the principle of “good things don’t leave the house, but bad things are spread thousands of miles.” When I’ve had high ranking topics it was never for anything good. LYN: I really hope that one day I can be trending high in the ranks for a product or work that people really like. I’ll just keep working hard (until that day). LYN: Thanks again to everyone who is keeping me company in this stream tonight. 

C: Being popular because people love to hate you is still being popular. LYN: I’ll… pass. I don’t want to be popular for that, because I’m already going through it. I’ve never won. From the moment I’ve debuted, I was already considered popular because people hate me. It’s not something I wanted for myself, rather something people made me popular for.

LYN: The path I’ve been on has always been the “people love to hate me” one; but it was never my intention. The first time it happened was when I was on “I Am a Singer”-  boy, people loved to hate me, then. This happened four years ago and I remember it to this day. I remember I was trending at #2. “LYN Challenge Failed”- I remember clicking in and every comment was one cursing at me. Well- let’s not be so harsh- they were all very equitable, saying, “He’s just a viral singer, what right does he have to be on Singer?” “Who does he think he is?” “He’s not worthy.” etc. 80% of passersby were all saying I had no right to be on Singer, and that I only got there because my fans voted me in. LYN: Friends- here’s the problem. When the show was first starting I already received a call from the show, telling me to go to Changsha to audition. I passed. Then I figure that the production crew thought it would be strange for someone like me to be announced officially, so they found a different way to announce my participation. But in the end I wound up carrying that burden. LYN: But it’s better now. For the most part people won’t complain that I am not worthy to be a singer, anymore. It took me five years for that to happen, though. Now people are saying that I am not worthy to be an actor. I want to tell them to give me five more years. I’ll see if I can make it happen- just like I made you admit that I was a singer. I’ll work hard. That’s why, don’t blame me for streaming less. I’m trying to keep my momentum. Since I’ve chosen to go into acting, I want to do it well. I want to do well so that one day I can gain some accreditation. 

C: When was the second time? LYN: What’s it to you?? I already told you the first, why would you ask about the second?? Are you rubbing salt in my wounds? Have you never heard of that song, “Don’t let yesterday pour salt into your wounds”? You’ve never heard it? ~ /sings/ ~ I’m already hurt, and you’re rubbing salt in my wounds. Get out of here! LYN: You’ve never heard it!? Do you not listen to songs?? I’ll find it for you. I can’t believe you’ve never heard of it! -- 别在伤口洒盐 (Don’t Sprinkle Salt on the Wound) LYN: Is there anything wrong with it? No! The focus is the expression “pouring salt in the wound”! I wasn’t tricking you this time. C: Ning-ge, I was born after the 00’s. LYN: What’s wrong with that- do you not listen to this song? Pay attention to the lyrics- // What’s wrong with it?? 

----- /Oldies Jukebox w/ LYN/

C: I just got in and it feels so old. LYN: ?! How old are you, tell me. What you’re telling me is this song is aged. What do you normally listen to?? You must only listen to the latest releases? You think this song is old??? C: 16 // 19 // 23 // 18. LYN: Do 18 years olds not listen to this song? You really haven’t? This song was really popular back in the day. I can’t believe you’ve never heard it. /shakes his head/ LYN: Maybe it’s because I’m a singer, so I’ve encountered more songs than you have. I used to sing in a bar, so I probably heard a lot more songs. You think this is old??? C: It sounds like something from my mom’s era. LYN: Then I’m probably about as old as your mom. // What year was this song released? I actually don’t know… You must have heard this one, though? -- 我可以抱你吗? LYN: This one came out around the same time. C: It feels even older. LYN: No way! Now I’m starting to doubt myself… When I was in the bar- Let me tell you, I can sing a number of old songs. - /starts running through songs trying to find an “old” one people recognize/

-- 驼铃 -- 江山无限 (LYN: Have you heard this one? If you haven’t, there’s no excuse.)

LYN: I can sing anything.

C: Journey to the West. LYN: Which version do you want? -- 通天大道宽又阔

-- 青城山下白素贞 C: You really must have come back from travelling to Hangzhou. [t/n: I guess these are the types of sings you’d hear there]

-- 新鸳鸯蝴蝶梦 LYN: I’ve seen people complimenting my singing lately, saying that I really have that sense of the “jianghu” when I sing. It’s because I grew up on these songs. These songs crafted my understanding of music. Do you get it? [t/n: I grew up on these songs, too! LYN: 1990, me: 1991.] -- 刀剑如梦

-- 你爱我像谁 (LYN: What about this one?) LYN: That’s about enough. Unless you want to hear? Then I’ll keep looking for old songs for you.

C: 江山. LYN: Which one is that? Oh, you’ve stumped me. There are very few old songs that I haven’t heard before. / I really haven’t heard this one before. But it does remind me of a different song. -- 大侠霍元甲 LYN: This song is great, isn’t it? C: You learned it just now. LYN: I’ve HEARD them, but never sang them before. I’ve heard them all, though.

LYN: The songs you’re requesting… C: This suits you so well. LYN: ?? Why does it suit me??? -- 梅花三弄 LYN: How do you figure this song suits me? 

-- 逍遥游 -- 问情

LYN: Very few people- in my stream- have heard this song, huh? This is a very popular, very good song, though. But many of you- I asked earlier how old you were, and the 14 and 16 year-olds are already in a daze. C: I’ve heard it. LYN: I’m sure you have. But the 16-17 years olds are lost. LYN: When I was little I loved listening to OSTs. That’s why when I grew up I was able to become an OST singer. Everything has a reason, friends. The reason why I am a prolific OST singer now is because I liked to listen to OSTs when I was little. -- 追梦人 (Dream Chaser)

LYN: There’s an even older one. This one- friends, if you call your mother and father over to listen to this song, they would know it.  -- 渴望

C: Play something I haven’t heard before. LYN: You’ve heard all of these? It’s very easy to play something you haven’t heard before- I’ll just play a Modern Brothers Liu Yuning song. I’m sure you’ve never heard it. Have you heard it? -- 狂風襲來 (Fierce Wind is Raging) [West Out of the Yumen OST] LYN: You haven’t, have you? / Hold on, let me grab a bottle of water. LYN: You haven’t heard it, huh? C: I’ve heard it 800 times already. LYN: My fans have definitely heard it.

C: Did you grab herbal medicine? LYN: /laughs/ Yes- I’m getting shanghuo.

----- LYN's Biggest Anti is Himself

C: 心太软. LYN: As soon as you said this title, I get the feeling you don’t pay attention to me very much. Em... you must not pay close attention to me.

- /plays the Our Song S1 version w/ Richie Ren/ LYN: Look at this- who’s that little fool on the side? Who does he look like? The fool. Look at this- he’s even nodding his head. // Look at how uncomfortable this looks- if you’re singing, then sing, Whya re you pretending to be sad. Just stop singing. // Now he’s pretending to be cute, even nodding his head! I can’t stand him!! Stop pretending you’re cute!! If you’re singing, then sing. What are you putting on an act for?? I can’t stand him. // Look at this kid- face full of oil. Did he not know to blot before he came on stage?! Oh my goodness… It’s like he ate 2kg of pork head-meat before coming on stage. Look at the reflection off the oil from his face. As an artist he has no sense of image-control. // His hair looks like it’s been licked by a donkey, what’s he doing?!? Oh my god. Oily face and greasy hair. /shakes his head/ // He’s singing “Are you tired?” and you’re over here pursing your lips and nodding, like “Yes.” Stop acting cute. It’s so off-putting. What’s it to you?!? This singer sure knows how to put on an act. // Okay, let’s stop watching. I can’t take any more. I get annoyed anytime I see LYN. 

LYN: Let me tell you- if I ever get the chance to be an uploader that just makes fun of everyone, I’d be great at it. But right now I only make fun of LYN. If I try it with anyone else I’d be torn apart. I can only and only dare to make fun of LYN. I’m really accurate at seeing all the little tricks and intentions. 

LYN: Let me find another stage for you. -- 烟花易冷 (Our Song ver. w/ Xiao Gui) LYN: Today we will be commenting on Singer LYN’s hair/makeup and outfit. // He looks a lot more energetic today. Visibly not as greasy. His hair and the shape looks pretty light. His clothes- I have to comment- why does he keep wearing such long clothes?? What’s he trying to do, fly? Paired with the slim-legged pants, it’s like a pair of chopsticks wrapped up in a napkin. Friends- take a look at his slim legged pants. Look at them- like a pair of chopsticks on the stage. // Let’s change the video- he (Xiao Gui) is too cool and I’m being overpowered. 

LYN: Let’s see if there’s anything else we can comment on. Let’s take another look at this guy (LYN). What works does he have and what exactly has he been singing? What does he even do?? -- 女儿国 (Our Song S3 ver w. Shan Yichun) LYN: Tsk. Again, I can’t stand him. Why are you closing your eyes when singing, are you sleepy?? If you’re sleepy then go home and sleep. If you’re on stage, can’t you sing nicely for everybody? What are you closing your eyes for?? You’re pretending to be so enchanted with yourself?? What are you doing- just singing a song, right?? If you’re sleepy then just go home and sleep. I can’t stand this, I really can’t. Pretending to be so invested in the song… 🙄 Just sing it. What are you acting for?? It’s so insincere. C: He’s acting as Tang San(zang). It’s right for him to close his eyes. LYN: I can’t believe you’re making excuses for him (LYN)!! Let’s say this IS the Kingdom of Women and he’s Tang San (a monk)- so he should close his eyes- see nothing and ask nothing. // He doesn’t respect the stage at all. If he really wanted to act, then he should look the part. He should have shaved his head. Put a wig cap on. What’s he acting for?? That’s why it comes across as fake. LYN: I can’t take any more of this. Let’s just leave it at this. 

C: Ning-ge, you shut up! LYN: I’m wearing these glasses, aren’t I? Let me just pretend to be an anti-fan. C: You can’t diss my idol. LYN: Okay, okay. I’m just playing. Don’t be so serious.

C: What are your comments on the Dragon’s Roar MV? LYN: Let’s not. For that song… LYN actually didn’t sing terribly. As a pure passerby, seeing that MV I thought: 1) LYN’s singing is not bad and the MV was also shot well. The whole production, editing, and everything was done very well. It’s something good. The Dragon’s Roar MV is not bad. I can’t find any point to nitpick. If we can’t find anything, then we switch a place. There’s always something we can comment on. But we never compliment the good things. C: Let’s see the MV again.

LYN: What’s there to see about it?? You can go watch it yourself. Maybe later when my drama airs I can watch an episode with you. Or maybe not, as there might be some copyright issues.

-----

C: Ning-ge, do you have a song called 别来无恙? LYN: You don’t need to cue me. There is a song called 别来无恙, and it’s one I really like. But there’s a problem- this song can only be listened to. I can’t really sing it. It’s SO hard to sing. When I was recording it, it made me nearly pass away. -- 别来无恙

LYN: Thank you. I never really dared to sing this song. Because when I was recording it I hard a hard enough time. But I can modestly say that I have improved myself since the time of recording. If you had me record the song again, I’m sure I can do much better than I did before. 

C: LYN. Why does your hair look like your dog’s? LYN: You don’t think you’re complimenting me, do you? You don’t think that was very humorous and that I’d find you cute, do you?

LYN: Honestly, friends, let me share. I think one of the hardest songs I’ve ever sung was 别来无恙, but there’s one that’s even harder. It’s one that I have not dared to sing live ever since it was recorded. - /typing/ C: 琉璃 (Liu Li/Colored Glass). LYN: It’s not 琉璃. Actually, that song’s okay. LYN: Was it this one? Yes. It’s this one. This is the hardest song I’ve ever recorded. -- 造化 (Zao Hua/Destiny/Creating Change) [MDZS Donghua - Wei Wuxian Character Song] LYN: This song is the hardest- when I heard the demo I was dazed. This is one of the songs to date that  I will never sing live. It’s not that I CAN’T sing it, I can do it if I force it, but I’m very likely to break. When you have time, you can listen to it carefully, with your headphones. The nuances would be a lot clearer that way. 

LYN: ! Someone’s throwing money at me! C: One billion. Will you sing it? LYN: At this moment. You throw one billion to my face and ask me if I’ll sing this song or not? … I just want to ask- what are you trying to prove? Are you trying to prove that I am someone who does things that are purely profit-seeking, or… what? Tell me. If you REALLY gave me one billion to sing this song, I definitely would. There’s no one who wouldn’t accept that amount of money. You don’t even need one billion- if you transferred me one thousand right now, I would sing it. If you transferred me 200, I would sing a part for you right now. Okay? You don’t need one billion, 200 is enough. I can sing it for you acapella, too.

LYN: You want me to open my WeChat friend code? Then, scan me. C: Come on, I can do it. LYN: If I really put my QR code up, I’m sure that there would be a flood of people scanning it. But it would be a scam code that sucks all the money from your bank accounts. Friends. Can you grow a sense of awareness for scams? You have to be wary of these electronic scams! If you really scanned a scam code, it would take all the money from your bank card. How can you go around scanning random codes you see on the internet?? Don’t do it. C: I don’t have money in my card. LYN: Then what are you trying to scan me for?? XD No, what I mean is- weren’t you going to send me 200? I would only sing for you if you transferred me 200. Ifd you have no money, then why would you try to scan me at all?! C: Come on, I want to test your skills. Let’s see if you can really empty my account. LYN: Let me tell you- a lot of scammers target people exactly like you. People who think they would never be scammed, but also want to test the scammers. 

-----

C: Ning-ge, my ID is “Melancholy Handsome Boy” (you yu de xiao shuai). Add me. LYN: A person’s ID can tell you a lot about them; you can examine what type of personality they are likely to have. “Melancholy Handsome Boy”... means that this person… let’s say something nice first. There’s a 70% chance this person is male. Let’s think about why they chose this name: first, this must be a man with a story. He’s “melancholy”, so I’m sure this is a quiet type of handsome guy. You must have heard of this person called “小帅 (Xiao Shuai)”, right? Have you ever scrolled across videos that say, “This man’s name is Xiao Shuai.” or “Watch carefully- this man known as “Xiao Shuai”...” This is exactly who we’re talking about. You will always hear about him in other people’s stories. “Melancholy Handsome Boy”- it’s him. This must be a reflective, quiet handsome young man with a story. It must be him. LYN: /flips/ Honestly, though. I’m so old that I can tell what type of person this is just by their name. “Melancholy Handsome Boy”?? You must be pretending to be melancholy. Let me tell you- this type of person doesn’t have a sense of self. Due to this, they would want to explicitly tell people- “Look. I am very melancholy. Look at me.” But actually they are a very chaotic person, who doesn’t have many thoughts. Really. If you call yourself “melancholy”, that mean that you aren’t at all. People love to emphasize what they lack, hence the “xiao shuai.” They know they look just average, so they call themselves “handsome.” I’m sure they don’t look all that handsome at all. If you were very confident in your looks, you’d call yourself “Melancholy Big Handsome Guy”. But by calling yourself “Melancholy Handsome Boyi”, it means that they are only a little bit (xiao) handsome (shuai). [t/n: this is a pun. semantics.] Therefore, I won’t be adding you as a friend, okay? LYN: Friend, don’t be angry. I’ve said the good and the bad. I’m not saying I know which kind you are, but I have a feeling you are the former.

C: Ning-ge, I’m called “Da Mei (Big Beautiful)”. LYN: Da Mei is very good. It sounds appropriate. You can call yourself whatever you want, you don’t need to tell me! It’s not as if I am here collecting 3-5RMB to tell a fortune based off your internet ID. There are people like that- you can create an ID and they will calculate for you whether the name is fortuitous or not, and what fates it can bring to you. There are people like that! It’s not a job I can take on. C: Sounds like you have a lot of experience. LYN: I don’t have experience. LYN: A long time ago- many, many years ago- when I was 15 or 16, my web ID was “Bing Ruo Han”. Friends. The “bing” as in “refrigerator” (冰 = ice). “Ruo” as in “as/seem” (若). “Han” as in “frigid cold” (寒). That was my web name (= cold as ice). Wasn’t it non-mainstream? I’m sure that all the girls back then would see my name and be charmed by me. Was that not a good name? LYN: !! Not the “ruo” as in “weak”!! (弱) C: Ning-ge, if you’re “bing ruo han” (冰若寒), then I am “ai ru huo” (爱如火/Love Like Fire). LYN: Wow, we have couple names. That’s amazing. LYN: Another thing people liked to do was use “mu rong X X” and “shang guan X X”. I don’t know if I’ve called out anyone in my stream? Did you like to use that naming convention when you were younger? Or, “ou yang X X.” - [t/n: more examples of names, but they’re difficult to translate :p] - [t/n: some Northeastern slang, which is even more difficult to translate than the names are. Something about the metal part of a hoe. Farming tools, idk.]

LYN: /laughs/ Do we ever talk about anything normal in my stream? We’re talking nonsense, now. Do you like it better when I have a point and discussion to make, or when I am just blindly chatting? Could you tell me which type of content you prefer? Which style do you like, and in the future I will try to develop more in that direction. C: Either is good. // It’s all good. LYN: If it’s my fans I’m sure the answer is “Anything, as long as you stream more often.” (Putting words into his fans��� mouth:) “Don’t say anything, Ning-ge. As long as you stream, we like it. As long as you are here. Don’t say anything. Just turn the camera on like a security cam, and we would be satisfied.” C: I like it when you sing. LYN: Okay. If there are so many people who like it when I sing, then you have to remember to buy my concert tickets in 2024. 

----------- Album/Concert Talk

C: Your album..? LYN: I recently went back to Beijing and… recorded another (1) song! It’s sounds very nice. I like it. The songs on my album this time around- I have no pursuits. I don’t care about any particular musical concept, or how well it is produced, or- no, that’s not what I meant- I only mean that I care for two things: 1. the song sounds good, and 2. I like it. That’s it. There’s nothing fancy. I just have to think they sound good, and like them myself. 

LYN: Fall in Love was supposed to be the first track of this album to be released. But we couldn’t keep up with the release of the rest of the songs. So then we decided Fall in Love would be a single instead. The overall feeling of the album should be like Fall in Love, though. Something that makes you happy and comfortable. Something that makes you relax. C: Ning-ge, it’s your own investment, so whatever you say goes.

LYN: That’s true, but my albums are provided to you at no cost, after all. I might release some vinyls, but that’s not definite. You know I released vinyls, right? Its not to make profit, though. C: Are there student discounts for your concert? LYN: … … You might now understand concerts very well. There is always a collaborating party. Usually- and I don’t know how other people work, but this is how I work- I don’t have a lot of say in it, actually. Its not as if it were my restaurant, and I told you that you could have a meal on me. Even though it’s my concert, I don’t have a say. I am only the performer. If it were my restaurant, I could let you eat there for free. But for the concert, I have no say in whether there will be student discounts or not. There are industry rules for pricing. But the 5RMB discount coupon still counts. Of course, there is no way the system will let you apply the coupon at the time of purchase. So you will have to buy the ticket at full price first. Then, at the concert I will have staff at the doors checking for coupons and they will transfer you the 5RMB. Either that or I’ll go to the bank and ask them for 5RMB bills and then just give you a bill as you go. 

LYN: There have been many people holding concerts lately. Rather, the whole year. All singers have pretty much held a concert this year. But I haven’t because 1. My album isn’t complete yet, 2. all my time is tied up in dramas, and 3. I want to be rebellious. I don’t want to hold mine when everyone else is holding theirs. I’d rather hold mine stably next year. 

C: Can you go overseas? LYN: To me, I don’t believ I’e reached the levels of other very amazing singers. For my concerts, the large majority- 70%- is my fans. The other 30% is people who’ve watched my drama, heard my songs, or people who have time to kill on the weekend and want to watch a concert. Even if I do hold one overseas, I don’t think it would have much meaning. Because my market has not crossed the seas yet. My music is not yet international. The only thing holding a concert overseas would do is make my local fans buy a flight ticket and go overseas to watch me. What’s the meaning in that? I’d rather they save some money to reserve a better hotel room here and watch me in concert. 

C: You have a lot of fans overseas, though. LYN: Don’t trick me. I know myself- I know that I don’t have very many overseas fans. I HAVE them, sure. But not many. I don’t think you all would fill up a whole concert venue, would you? I’m sure that all my overseas fans together would not fill up a venue. I can’t think too highly of myself, and say that I’m “international.” It’s easy to subscribe to my weibo, but as for the number of people who would actually come out to watch me in concert, that’s about 1 in 100. Let’s say I have 10k fans. 1% of them- so only 1k fans. That’s about enough. Really- the people who would willing spend money to watch a concert is only about 1%. So.. I’m not thinking about that right now.

LYN: Acting and Singing go hand-in-hand, so I’ll wait until my drama airs first. Then I’ll have a better time selling my concert tickets. Right? Doesn’t it make sense? There’s nothing wrong with the logic. I’ll wait until my dramas air, and then I’ll have an easier time selling tickets. Nowadays when dramas are super popular and they do a post-airing fan-meeting, the tickets always sell out, don’t they? If a bunch of actors can sell out a fanmeet/concert, then that goes to show if my drama does well then people would buy tickets to my concert. I’ve thought it through: I should film more dramas so that my concert tickets sell well. C: I’m afraid I won’t be able to get a ticket. LYN: Please do not have the misconception that I am very popular. You will definitely get a ticket, trust me. Because if I hold a concert tour next year, there will be 2,000 stops. You tell me if you’ll be able to get a ticket or not. 6am, 12pm, 8pm, 12am, 3am. I’ll do five in a day, all year. 2,000 concerts. There are 365 days in a year, with 5 showings a day… 1825 showings. That’s enough. C: You’re not going to sleep? LYN: /laughs/

LYN: Anyways, I’m sure you’ll get one. Don’t make it seem as if my tickets are hard to come by. Don’t let me have that misconception, otherwise I’ll just keep adding showings. 

LYN: I was planning on 10 stops for next year. Any more than that is unnecessary. C: Which 10? LYN: The main cities, mostly. Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Xi’an, Dalian- the big places.  C: Shenzhen. LYN: If I hold one in Shenzhen, then the people in Guangzhou can come to it, too. Likewise if I hold one in Guangzhou, the friends in Shenzhen can attend it. Depends on distance. C: Qingdao. LYN: It’s not impossible, Qingdao would be okay. It doesn’t matter where I go, the more important thing is whether the venue is available and aligns with my timing or not. For example, if I want to reserve Shanghai, but they’re booked for the month, or next three months. Then, I can’t go there. It’s that simple. There’s no predicting this, so you can stop trying to guess. C: Can you do two showings in Wuhan? LYN: It’s possible. But the first stop is probably not going to be Wuhan. Many of my friends are very good, and the thing that touches me is that at the time- three years ago- I held my first concert tour. The start of the pandemic was right around when I was supposed to go to Wuhan. The tickets were all already sold. To this day many of you have not returned those tickets. I’ve even told you, you can return them. But you’ve told me that you don’t want to return them, that you’re afraid you won’t be able to buy another one later. So- it’s been four years- So this time I will definitely make that stop up to you. There’s no way I would just take your money for that showing and not sing anything for you. I will definitely make it up to you. I’ll make it up to you, but the first stop is not likely to be Wuhan. Don’t worry, though. I will return that stop to you.

LYN: We’ll continue on, slow and steady today and tomorrow I’ll hold my concert. It’s a must, as a singer. I’ll pretty much be a fan-meeting. It’s been so long since I had a concert. It’ll be good to hold one again.  

C: Lao-da, it’s too far. I won’t ve able to go. LYN: Find a stop closer to you. I’ll be all around the country. Just find a closer stop to attend. LYN: I get worked up just thinking about the concert… /sigh/

C: Ning-ge, when are you going to advise the neighbors to stop fighting. LYN: I already did. They made up. LYN: How long have I been streaming for? I think I started at 7:40p… right now it’s /calculating/… I’ve been streaming for almost four hours?? Then… I’ll stream until 10p. LYN: Let me play you a video while I use the restroom. Wait for me.

--- break #3 C: I can recite that whole video now. LYN: Amazing. I also want to thank everyone who has been editing these videos for me. 

C: When do we get the malatang?! LYN: You can’t eat something different, like xiao long bao or??? Maybe some porridge? Is that not okay? I can’t believe you still remember. I thought I was going to be able to save 30 RMB. C: I want to eat jumbo shrimp! LYN: Keep dreaming! LYN: How about we do this… let’s not give any prizes today. I don’t have any spare change. In the next stream I’ll pick two winners- I’ll be nice. I don’t have any spare change today. I’ll save up. C: If you don’t want to give us takeout, then you can give an autograph too. LYN: /laughs/ Artists’ autographs are all really hard to get. But here you want to replace a 30RMB order of xiao long bao for one of mine?! Oh my goodness~ Is that how it is?? My autograph is only worth 30RMB- two baskets of xiao long bao??? One bowl of rice noodles? /sigh/ - C: Ning-ge, you said you don’t have change right? I do. I can break it for you. LYN: Do you mean to say that I hand you 100RMB, and you give me back 70? - C: Ning-ge, if it’s a personalized autograph, you can add 50 cents. LYN: Hold that thought. I think we should forget about the autograph. I really don’t think my autograph is worth very much. I’m not some big celebrity or anything, whose autograph is very valuable. I just don’t want to.. overflow the market? Because sometimes when a drama airs or I have collaborations or I go on a variety show, they’ll make me sign a set of photos, to help with promotions. If fans are able to attain them in that way, there is more of a sense of interaction/participation. That’s why I personally won’t just give out autographs. They’re better saved for events, so that fans can have a sense of collecting for completionism's sake.

----- Daimi Time!

C: Ning-ge, could I have Daimi’s autograph? LYN: Wh- You want me to prepare a bunch of photos of Daimi, then grab her paw and stamp it on there? Take an inkpad, and press her paw into it, then stamp it on the photo? 

LYN: Daimi’s probably sleeping. Do you want to see her? I can just call her over. LYN: Daimi, come here. Some friends want to see you. Come here, quick. No need to be shy. Your fans want to see you. LYN: She hasn’t had a bath lately, but she still looks like this. Kind of silly. 

C: The two of you match in color so well. LYN: :) - /Daimi tries to move/ LYN: Hm? Sit a while, sit. Accompany your ge a little as he streams.

C: Have Daimi sing us a song. LYN: Sing something. - /moves the mic to her level/ LYN: Sing. Come on. If you bark, it’d be okay too. Bark! - /messes with her to try to get her to make a sound. she does not./ LYN: My dog really doesn’t have any special talents.

LYN: … I’m going to say my spell now… Watch carefully now, friends. See how her whole mood changes. LYN: Want… a… sausage? /chants/ You want one? Want one? - /gets excited, so she gets excited in turn/ LYN: You want one or not? - /now she’s impatient/ LYN: I’ll give you one in a bit. Hold on! Okay, okay! I’ll give you one. LYN: You can go now. I’ll give you one after the stream. 

C: She wouldn’t bite you, would she? LYN: No.

- /looks down at her/ LYN: Wait! LYN: … She’s already had four sticks today. I give her dog food, but she doesn’t really eat it. So I give her the sausages… but that’s why she’s fat. 

-----

LYN: It’s about time. If you have not yet subscribed to my weibo, please do so. I am Modern Brothers Liu Yuning. Thanks for keeping me company tonight. I just want to say again- the drama Wonderland of Love is currently airing. I’ve watched it, and really think it’s a good watch. So, if you want to watch a drama you can check it out. It’s not bad. In the first episode, there are some fight scenes which were shot prettily. You can go support the drama. C: I don’t have membership. LYN: ?? Watch if you want to. I’m only here to promote the drama, but you can watch it if you want. What do you mean by telling me you don’t have a membership? You want me to buy a membership for you? If that’s what you meant, then I think you can… watch if you want. (It’s not my problem.) It’s not a drama I acted in, anyway. I’m only recommending it, but if you want me to pay money into it then there’s no way. C: You cameo’d. LYN: I did cameo, but the problem is… I wasn’t paid for it. XD LYN: I can’t just pay for your membership. It’s not worth it. Friends. (Spare me.) Thank you. I beg you. // I cameo’d for three scenes. I said it earlier- about eight minutes worth. - /thinking about it…/ LYN: Wait- I only acted in three scenes, for about eight minutes total. You don’t think anyone would think I added scenes for myself because of this, do you? Do you think they would? Now I’m worried. I afraid and don’t want people to think I accept roles in dramas then find a way to add scenes for myself. I was originally supposed to cameo for one scene, but I ended up having three. I… got added scenes. LYN: I don’t think it was three scenes. Let me think! Four scenes! If I remember correctly, it should be four scenes. Not more than five. C: Eight minutes turned into eighteen. LYN: Honestly, I don’t know about that. It’s only four- it should only be four scenes. I still remember the lines… but I’ll reenact them for you if I get the chance to later. 

LYN: I’ll log off when I hit 4000. We’ll play a starting contest; the tortoise stares at the mung bean. For the next five minutes, we won’t say anything, just stare at each other like this. /stares into the camera/ The last time I used this expression, someone replied, “I choose the mung bean.” Why do you have to be so sensitive about all these online rumors? Why do you care so much?? If you can’t even take that expression, then let me tell you, there’s no way you can be a celebrity. You wouldn’t be able to handle all the pressure that comes from online talk about you. You’d have a breakdown. You can’t be an artist. You have to be able to bear it. Do you understand? LYN: Also, I say that “A tortoise stares at a mung bean, and it suits the eye.” Do you think that’s a good expression? By “mung bean” I mean “mung bean fly.” [t/n: ?? I don’t really get it.] It’s not the simple mung bean- the one in the popsicles- that we’re talking about. The way I understand this expression, it’s meant to refer to the mung bean fly. It’s just an expression, not a literal description.

----- Welcome to Bikini Bottom🍍

C: Liu-ge! Do you know… is Patrick Star in Spongebob a man or a woman? LYN: People who call me “Liu-ge” are generally not my fans. If you’re in my stream and calling me “Liu-ge”, then you’re likely not my fan. My fans call me “Xiao Ning” or “Ning-ge”. If you call me “Liu-ge” you are likely distant from me. They asked me a question: “Liu-ge. Is Patrick Star in Spongebob a man or a woman?” LYN: … LYN: Em… I don’t think I could keep up if we want to discuss the genetics of marine life. But, even if we want to start from a viewers perspective, all things have a model for basis. Do you get what I’m trying to say? A novel is a novel, a manhwa is a manhwa, but after being converted to video format there are bound to be changes. You should understand that concept by now, after watching so many drama adaptations. You don’t need to think about whether Patrick is male or female- it really doesn’t matter. However, in the animation, we can see that they are male-presenting. Because Patrick only wears shorts. If the character were female, there’s no way it would appear just wearing shorts in the animation. Patrick would be like Sandy- with her helmet and bikini. The original thing is one thing, the animation is another. Do you get it?

C: Is Spongebob male or female? LYN: Spongebob!? First of all, let’s not think about whether a sea sponge is male or female. In the animation, they must be male because when they go to the beach to play, they only wear shorts. You can tell from what they’re wearing! What does he wear when he goes to Bikini Bottom to swim? If it’s a bikini, then they’re female. If they’re wearing shorts, then they’re male. 

C: What about Squidward? LYN: /laughs/ Why are we discussing this? He must be a male because he’s called “Squid-BRO” (章鱼哥)! [t/n: technically a zhang yu is an octopus though…] He’s not called “Squid-SIS”! He’s called “ge”, so he must be a male! What logic are you operating on?? 

C: What about Mr. Krabs? [“crab-boss” in chinese] LYN: Mr. Krabs has to be male, because his daughter calls him “Dad”! He has a daughter, and she calls him “dad”, so he must be male. It’s not like she calls him “Mom.” You- LYN: Friends, if you can’t even understand Spongebob, then all these dramas must be a challenge for you. You can’t even tell male and female apart?? C: If Mr. Krabs is a male, then is his daughter male or female? LYN: /laughs/ LYN: How about this- I’ll set up a sign in my stream. One that reads, people with an IQ below 30 may not enter. This place doesn’t suit you. We discuss high-education topics here. We’re talking bout biology. We even have to distinguish if living characters in an animation are male or female. Is Mr. Krabs’ daughter male or female? How about you stand in front of an elementary school tomorrow and stop the kids as they pass by. Stop them on their way out of school and say, “Hey. Let me ask you a question. If you answer right, I’ll give you a candy.” Ask them, “Is Mr. Krabs’ daughter male or female?” Let me tell you- if this kid is five years old you’re going to confuse them. If they’re seven, they won’t be able to come up with an answer…. As if! 

C: What about Plankton? LYN: Let’s not worry about whether plankton have gender. Look at this- as an actor, I’m already starting to interpret character profiles. I don’t know if a plankton has gender, but in the animation, Plankton is male. Why? Even though he doesn’t wear any shorts- doesn’t wear any clothes, for that matter- we have to understand this character through its relation with other characters. His voice is very thick and rough; it sounds manly, so we will lean towards male. Secondly, he has a wife, who is a computer. From these two points, Plankton is likely a male. No arguments there, right? C: Is Plankton’s wife male or female? LYN: Now you’ve hit the nail on the head. Plankton’s wife is a computer. Computers count as AI. If you want it to be male, it can be. If you want it to be female, it can. That’s your own choice. It depends on what type of voice you give it, I suppose. Let’s not touch AI and computing topics, though. Truthfully, I did not learn computer science in high school. In high school I was learning how to be a cook. Computer Science is a different discipline. You can find someone who studies it and ask them if Plankton’s wife is male or female. 

C: What did I walk in on. I don’t understand what you’re talking about. LYN: It’s not important. The last twenty minutes or so was just complete nonsense. It doesn’t make a difference in your life whether you heard the last twenty minutes or not. In the four hours that I’ve streamed, most of it is nonsense. You’re listening, but you’re also not. These four hours have just served to help you pass the time.

C: What about Gary? (In Chinese, the character is called “Xiao Wuo” for “Little Snail”) LYN: The snail? Gary SHOULD BE male. Why? Because if I am remembering correctly, there was an episode where he had a crush on a girl snail. I don’t remember if there was an episode like that? I think there was, but I could have also imagined it just now. I remember there was an episode, he saw a girl snail and was really happy about it. I think that’s what happened. 

C: Why is Mr. Krabs’ daughter a whale? LYN: …  I don’t know. I don’t watch every episode. I don’t know the canon, but it could be- the way I see it, since it is an animation after all- from a certain perspective, they would have to promote kindness. It could be- this is what I think- she was adopted. Or he, designated her as his daughter. There might be some terrible backstory of the elimination of marine life. Do you get what I’m saying? Maybe her parents were killed by humans and then Pearl was adopted by Mr. Krabs. Even though he’s greedy for money, he is still someone with a lot of love. At least, that’s what I think. When you watch dramas, you can’t only see what’s on the surface. Why is he a crab, and she a whale? You have to think about what they’re trying to teach you through the story behind the characters. The thing Spongebob is trying to tell you is that if there are no business transactions (for greed), then there is no hurt/harm. That’s the moral they took many episodes to tell us. 

C: I want to eat crab now… LYN: Okay, later I’ll probably order some.. Krabby patties. /laughs at himself/ Krabby patties, plus two bullfrogs. [t/n: ???]

C: Ning-ge, what’s the Krabby Patty secret? LYN: The secret is.. HOW WOULD I KNOW??? Quit with your nonsense.

-----

LYN: There are people advertising for me. “Welcome to LYN’s livestream. If you’re here, you can subscribe.” You can subscribe to my weibo, if you want. I’m Modern Brothers Liu Yuning. When I have time to stream, you can come watch. It’s not shameful to follow me. You can watch for entertainment. Let me play a song. It’s about time. LYN: Thank you for all of your company and support today. It’s because of you that I was able to get a trending topic, so I’m happy about that. I see that many of you are watching my stream for the first time- I’m sure that you think I’m not quite sane, but this is how I usually am. I just hope that if you come in, you can stay until the end. Thanks to those of you who were here from the start of the stream and have stayed these four hours until the end. I’m happy that you stayed. Thank you. 

C: Ning-ge, please say, “Goodnight Princess.” LYN: /laughs/ … /sighs/ LYN: Out of bounds. LYN: Rest early.

LYN: I hope you had a wonderful and relaxing night. It was great to have you and I hope you enjoyed yourself. I’ll see you again in the next stream. Goodnight everyone.

[brazenautomaton]

I'd like you to type up your idea about the star wars hotel.

okay so basically it has to be a hotel containing an experience, not an immersive experience confined to a hotel. the story has to be a value-add. unfortunately the app is going to be important.

there needs to be a star wars story happening -- multiple stories! -- but you're not the star. you're IN a star wars story, not creating it. the hotel is primarily a star wars cruise ship themed hotel that has some additional star wars activities you can do in the day, like the asteroid field or the lightsaber training (and I'll be real with you the way the lightsaber training apparently worked was legit genius, in round 3 aiming the lasers at your lightsaber so it feels like you're predicting them)

but your whole day isn't scheduled. it is assumed you go to the parks for most of the day. the cruise ship of course will stop at a different "port of call" every day, with a "docking bay" for shuttle service to different "planets" aka the different parks. you have different uniforms and signage for the people in the shuttle service every day, nothing extensive, just make it look like "oh, this is a different port we landed at." so you can go to other parks besides galaxy's edge. the magic kingdom is obviously a lush luxury planet. the world of pandora is, you know, that. ah, typhoon lagoon, you mean Typh Lagos IV? I hear the climate is like Kamino, but much more temperate!

but you hide little bits of star warsy things in each park, kind of like the Kim Possible event she described. we'll get back to that. you don't have all the guests' time scheduled, but you DO want them back earlier than most, because you still have events going on, story-related or not. you have the dinner theater with the star wars singers and so on. plot events happen in the afternoon and evening.

the exception to this is you set aside exactly two days of the week to be plot days where guests are expected to be on the ship all day. you set these on Saturday (most crowded day, keeps one hotel of guests out of the park) and Wednesday (least crowded day, encourages people to come in midweek to visit on Tuesday and Thursday when you normally have less customers). The length of stay isn't the same fixed duration for everyone, instead, you have a set of storylines that run for seven days but don't all pay off at the same time.

You need more stories with less cast involvement. Basically, you can't do the thing where you act like each group of guests is a different timeline where they're doing the things. It's one set of events everyone is around for. There's not multiple Chewie escapes per day that can misalign, there's one Chewie escape on this one day.

The audience participation has a bigger proportion come from cooperating with each other. That thing where everybody got the notes at dinner and Jenny thought they'd have to work together to figure them out -- actually do that, because the time they're doing that is time they're doing a star wars experience but you aren't having to pay a cast member to run it. you take the idea of the scanning cargo and do something with it, make it a bunch of scavenger hunts to do star wars things. if you're going to Typh Lagos IV, the resistance contact needs you to meet a few people on that planet and check in. hey, these people are situated all around the major attractions in the park so you'll travel to all of them! they're normal employees of typhoon lagoon doing employee things, but they have little scripts or instructions about how to interact with guests where they're secretly star wars guys with star wars things! doing all that cargo scanning isn't just for the sake of scanning, the smuggler wants someone to tag the boxes that have spice in them so his guy can pick them up later. now it's a mission! it's a mission where you get rewarded kind of like the Kim Possible thing, little souvenirs or tchotchkes left by the maid service with a little "thanks for the job well done ;-)" message!

[rangespacer]

i've been picking away at this meta for days now, wondering why i couldn't seem to write, and i think it boils down to me blowing it way out of proportion in my mind. i don't usually participate in events, so i was making it out to be this whole Thing that had to be polished and coherent, when that's not how i operate and is also frankly not in the spirit of blosc. and so, instead, for @warpolomewdarkmatter 's blosctober, i present my stream-of-consciousness rambling.

on sadness, and grieving something that's still alive, and having to pick up the pieces of your life and reevaluate who you are. on having your foundations rocked in your thirties, and still being able to find something new. on infinite potential, and how things might come back around, with a bit of patience and understanding, though never in the same way. on sitting with loss. on new beginnings.

i'll open this by saying that blosc is a piece of media for children. sometimes it teaches kids about right and wrong but mostly it's for entertainment. like the ratio isn't even in education's favour it's majority whacky shit, and must a cartoon be educational all the time to be fun? i didn't think so, and i still don't. blosc also spawns from a franchise that used to be well known for being something that both children and adults can enjoy, with parts of the content specifically geared towards adults. while i don't think the themes i read into blosc now were ever intended to be there, i'm enjoying returning to it as an adult and seeing how i can apply what i've learned in the last two decades to it, and what it gives me in return. my general approach to media is that as long as it makes sense with what's presented in the piece, you're good. even if it contradicts someone else's reading. even if it contradicts your own! and right now, meeting it halfway from where i'm at, i'm thinking about how life goes on after a change that feels like it should be the end of the world, and coming to terms with the fact that you're going to have to keep grieving and growing for the rest of your life and it will feel fresh, every time, but will also bring joy.

what i was trying to get at in my meta, in far too many words, is how the series is bookended (maybe not perfectly, depending on how you order the episodes, but generally) by buzz losing warp, and by the two of them reaching, at the very least, a cordial acceptance of the way things are. i read more into that, i'm sure a lot of people on here do, but i'm going to keep my language neutral because i really want to dig at what the show is presenting us, factually. that said buzz and warps' romance is real to me, so sorry for the divorce and congrats on maybe getting remarried. regardless of how you read it, this is indisputable: blosc opens ( or is prequeled -- prequeled? preceded? prequeled, i'll mint that ) by establishing what buzz's life has been for the past two decades, then tearing it apart. he has, to the best of our knowledge, been partnered with warp since they were in the academy. we see how well they work together, communicating without words, enjoying each other's presence, relying wholly on one another.

this is key to me, because the show will go on to establish buzz as being fully capable of working independently, especially in episodes like lone ranger, haunted moon, and shiv katall. and i do think he's always been like this. it was the writer's intention that buzz be the most static, the most 'perfect', the ideal towards which everybody else was striving ( or the thing to destroy, and i have so, so much to say about how buzz represents star command to a detrimental degree to both himself and the alliance, but that's another post ); simultaneously, they go out of their way to show that buzz is not perfect. he has flaws, he's egotistical, prideful, at times even unreliable in some very specific, very interesting ways that we'll get back to. but i say all this because i often think about what it must have been like for buzz to have lived twenty years with warp, what deficits warp was covering, how intimately they must have known one another, and how his presence could have been taken for granted. this is some extrapolation on my part, though we do see them to continue to work well together over the course of the series, and one of zurg's goals with 'agent z' was to have someone who knew buzz well enough to defeat him. given that zurg has known buzz for at least as long as warp has ( i think of their teamwork in war and peace and war and their intuitive understanding of one another in stress test and the main event ), that's saying something. my point is, twenty years represents the majority of my life. unless you believe buzz is over forty ( he could be! but i don't think so ), it's the majority of his life. and when you meet someone young, especially in a learning environment, you grow around them like a vine. there are grooves in buzz's personality in the shape of warp. sorry that was two steps over the homosexual line and i don't know how to gracefully extract myself from this paragraph. two trucks having sex. okay moving on.

what i'm driving at is that i believe there are ways buzz, perfect ranger, recipient of the order of galactic merit first class, representative of star command at 99% efficiency when riding solo, came to rely on warp that even he didn't know. it just happened. twenty years. teenagers to well-established adults. you'd know them like you knew your right hand ( you'd blow your right arm off to extricate yourself from them ). and then warp was gone. and while the violence of that loss is not negligible when considering buzz's response, understand that it would have been violence unto buzz either way, because that was a part of him. consider the sudden feeling of vulnerability, on top of the grief. you were one half of a whole, so you, by definition, are lesser now. you'll never be as good as you were with them. you wonder how much of your partnership was just them, or the thing that was greater than the sum of your combined parts. that's two out of three on it not having been just you, which is what you're left with.

blosc loves to be genre fiction, does not matter what genre, and it dabbles in noir more than once, and more broadly police fiction -- buddy cops without the humour. it gives maltese falcon. rush hour. eddie valiant at the bar. he was your partner and you're supposed to do something about it. hector kills patroclus and it's achilles' undoing. buzz has made-to-order cop backstory, and what holds this trope together in every incarnation, to me, is the depth of feeling. you cannot shrug this off and shed a single tear. you have to get pathetic with it. cry, lose your job, lose your other friends, spiral into alcoholism and debt; the loss of the partner precipitates absolute upheaval in the survivor's life.

how could a replacement compare? even if they could do everything your partner could do on paper, they don't know you. they'll never know you like that, not even if you spend twenty years together, because the person you are now is not the person you were when you first met your original partner twenty years before. this isn't inference at this point, it's not even analysis, this is textual to the film. again, genre. none of this is new. but damn if it's not done well. but what i think the movie misses, because it's busy making its actual point and not the point i want it to make, is the chance to more directly address the death of buzz's sense of self. if you have spent your adult developmental years shaped by someone, if you owe a great percentage of who you are to them, and then they're ripped away, what's left? it's barbie and ken. it's buzz and warp. in the same way there is no 'just warp', there is no 'just buzz'. it doesn't matter that buzz is the one casting the shadow that rangers like ty live in. there can only be comparison with multiple individuals. the inverse is true: for buzz to be great, someone has to be less great ( let's not say 'bad', zurg has that covered, or 'incompetent', because no ranger is, not even the rookies ). i don't think buzz ever viewed warp as lesser. that doesn't even seem to be an issue on their radar, ever, not like it is with buzz and ty. but my point is buzz's partnership with warp made him shine. what was the deciding factor in that splendour? would buzz shine alone? ( yes. ) would buzz ever shine as brightly without warp? well...

so you've lost your spouse partner. you're at least in your thirties and the routine of your life for as long as you have been an adult is gone. blown to bits. cosmic dust. you launched an empty casket into space and the pictures you picked for the memorial show you as secondary to your spouse friend. it centers them and their achievements entirely. the love you felt was all-encompassing. and now you want to be alone, to grieve, to come to terms with what happened, and to get a sense of where you stand in an unfamiliar galaxy. it's a shame, then, that life goes on. there are patrols to do and taxes to file and hyper death rays to address, and the universe cannot sit and wait for you to do things like process the greatest upheaval of your adult life. you're out of your partnered era and into... what?

you were a student and then you were someone's equal, so maybe now you should be someone's teacher! that's reasonable. that's a natural progression. there's a rookie ripe for you! she's young but she's the best in her class, smart as a whip, and she has a lot in common with you ( she always knows best! she's two times too clever for the rules she enforces ), so why not take her? no, you're still grieving. no partners. what about this guy? he's wanted to be a ranger for forever, he has passion, he's been studying up, and he idolises you! would that work? no. no partners! okay, fine, a robot, then, if you can't handle a person. the robot is just like you, the robot will idolise you, will you take this? and because the robot cannot die, sure, okay. and you open the door a crack to being a teacher. and when you and the three newbies are the only people left in the universe, no, for real, you step up, you take control, and you see what they have to offer and you appreciate it.

SIMULTANEOUSLY. you discover that the partner you've been trying to find time to grieve is not actually dead. and we veer back into hard analysis territory here, because that's another emotional undercurrent that i wish had been delved into more. i mean, there are layers to that shit. the initial grief of having to bury someone you loved. the guilt of feeling that it was your fault, that they died so you could live, in part because there is an insane person who is obsessed with you ( again, meta for another day ). and now they're alive, and the circumstances of that revelation do not soothe the grief, they transform it. there's the immediate, the obvious: the pain that comes with any betrayal, especially that of your best friend leaving you for your worst enemy. the confusion over being left to deal with all of that initial grief -- how could they do that to you, didn't they know how much it would hurt? that's rhetorical, they know you better than anybody else, they knew exactly how much it would hurt, and they did it anyways. and they seem to be happy about it. now there's anger, and disbelief, and on top of it all you still feel lost. but you still have a job to do, so you fight, and you win. you save the day. you positive-mental-attitude the universe back to normalcy despite the emotional turmoil because it needs to get done and for all your flaws you have a heart of pure gold.

and that should put a cap on that situation! but... it doesn't. because the story doesn't end there. there's a whole series to get through. so what we've seen is the death of the old status quo and the establishment of the new. zurg is still there, buzz is still the pride of star command, but now he's got three kids and warp is on the other side.

i'm struggling to put to words the feeling that that evokes in me. i think it's relatable to anyone who's lost a best friend, not to death, but to time. they're gone, but they're still there. close enough to touch, but you can't. and you know them, but they're a stranger to you. you know the way they speak ( just like they know the way you speak - 'to infinity... and beyond : /' ), how they move, how they think. you know them, but there's a new side to them, one you don't recognise. and it's sickening, in a way, because it shouldn't be there. i had this whole multi-paragraph passage planned in the original version of this post, about The Gaze as a concept, and ego( -death ) and perception and all that fun philosophical nonsense. but i am not a philosopher, and we don't have time for all that, so i'll boil it down to what's relevant. we cannot ever fully know another person because we are hamstrung by our own limited point of view. there is no way to completely bridge the gap between the totality of what somebody else is, and what we perceive them to be. and i don't even mean this in a chiding, reductive way, this isn't something we do out of malice. the fact of the matter is, we cannot live inside another person's brain the way we live inside our own. the best we can do is acknowledge that they are as nuanced as we are, and that we'll never grasp all of them because we just can't. again, such is existing via comparison, such is being individual organisms.

buzz knew warp really, really, really well, but even if warp hadn't been lying, the warp in buzz's head and the warp that exists in reality are two very different things. it's not buzz's fault, it's not even a matter of fault, it just is. buzz could only ever take all that data gathered via observation and make predictions about what warp would do next. twenty years offered up a lot of data, but the issue is, warp is a person. people can change. people can act unpredictably. people can even act willingly against their own nature. as we cannot control other people's actions, there's nothing we can do about this, and that can be maddening. when a loved one suddenly acts 'unlike themselves', the sudden shift can have a dizzying effect. you think, 'where am i,' and 'who are they,' and try to reorient yourself. but anyone can act any way, anytime. i think of one bad day, or the breaking point. you would, if you were hungry enough. you would, if you were tired enough. we are flexible creatures. what was in warp was in warp for a long time, but it didn't fully show until he let it. and buzz's feeling of vertigo is completely understandable.

and then buzz tries to cope. he swings wildly between being angry with warp, missing warp, and deluding himself into thinking that this is just a phase, that the 'old warp', the 'real' warp, will come back. think of how he exhausts the list of evil clones and mind control before even approaching considering that warp just, y'know, did that. and even past that, he thinks warp is going to come back. he wants it sooo bad. up until their very last episode together ( ancient evil ) he wants it, and booster gets to spell that out for xr and the audience. but... this is wrong. i did not go into all of the above to crank my own hog, i wanted to make a point: buzz is seething sick because his image of warp does not line up with the reality of warp, and that's a major shortcoming that he's going to have to buck by the end of their mutual arc. because, morality and the idea of objective good aside, warp is not brainwashed, and he isn't being coerced. this is a choice he made with a clear head and time to consider the pros and cons. he says as much repeatedly, and buzz does not want to hear it. he's understandable! he's relatable! but he's also unfair here. he loves warp very much -- i'll even argue that he loves parts of warp that warp himself doesn't want to acknowledge -- but this is who warp is, and as long as buzz keeps rejecting that, they aren't going to be able to move past the break.

and buzz isn't the only one fucking up. oh, warp wants so badly to put star command behind him. he wants it to have been a front. he wants to be Thee Bad Boy, and sure, he's good at being bad, but on the scale of evil motivation in this show where zurg and nos-4-a2 and evilyear exist, warp's really boils down to, 'i want as much money as possible as quickly as possible so i can enjoy myself as soon as possible.' and is he willing to do fucked up shit to accomplish that? oh, yes. but post-movie, he never does anything quite as bad as the unimind. his goal isn't to cause pain, he's just willing to do that to get what he wants. splitting hairs? yeah, maybe, but there is a substantial difference between a sadist and someone without many qualms. and here's the thing. as much as buzz's perception of warp is a construct, it isn't a baseless one. buzz is insane! and we love him for it! but his understanding of who warp is is based off of observation, he's not pulling the veneer of nobility out of his ass. warp did the job for twenty years. and he dealt with zurg behind the scenes, sold weapons, sold information, but he also earned the order of galactic merit second class and the bronze cluster. he had buzz, who worked with him on a daily basis, convinced that he was not just good, but dedicated to the galactic alliance. there were positive, tangible results of his actions as a space ranger, and by my count, harm and help do not cancel each other out barring specific circumstances. you cannot unrescue that cat from that tree. you cannot unhelp that old lady across the street. 'you can't take it back, your actions have consequences' applies to the good as well as the bad, and isn't that a blessed relief.

and our actions make up who we are. so as much as warp wants to pretend that he has always been bad to the bone, we know that that isn't true. and buzz knows that that isn't true. so buzz has one half of the picture and refuses to see the other, and the same for warp on the opposite side. and their progression throughout the series, especially from tag team to ancient evil, is, to me, them slowly coming to terms with what they have become -- and more importantly, growing to understand one another better and in ways that their partnership in star command could not have allowed. yes, buzz has lost his routine, and some comfort with it, but he has gained a truer, fuller understanding of who warp is, and that in and of itself is rewarding. buzz didn't not know warp, but he also didn't have all the facts; there was a lie at the core of their relationship, and they couldn't be completely honest with one another so long as warp was a ranger, because warp just doesn't want to be part of star command. ( and good for him! good for him! ) if warp had stayed for buzz's sake, he would have been betraying himself, and even if they'd been happy, i think they're better off with everything out in the open. i think their relationship is stronger and more genuine for it.

buzz spends the series struggling with his rookies ( and maybe i'll make a different post, because this one is already too long, about buzz as a teacher and how that's a learning experience for him too ), but, eventually, he gets it down -- or he's on the road to getting it down. he isn't the buzz he was with warp, he's a different buzz, but not a worse buzz. not lesser. can buzz shine as brightly without warp? yes! differently. it will never be the same, but that doesn't mean it won't be good. and in the end, in ancient evil, when buzz literally gets 'old warp' and it's horrible and nearly kills him and their victory is reliant on letting warp be his sneaky self to steal the youth back from natron, they come back together. and it's good. it's real good.

man. i don't know. the older you get the more you will grieve experiences. we were too young to know, before. we learn how to deal with death, and then we learn how to deal with not-death, with the loss of someone who's still around, but they're not a part of your life anymore. maybe a relationship will change and you will grieve the empty space where someone used to be. and maybe they'll come back into your life and create a different space for themselves, and you will simultaneously mourn the old and celebrate the new. you'll make room to feel both at once and accept the contradiction. it's a feeling i've had as i've gotten older, nostalgic grief, and i'm starting to come to terms with the fact that i will keep feeling it, and keep changing. that i will grow accustomed to something and it might last twenty years but it won't last forever. that i will be uprooted at some point and that it will be painful and that i will survive it. i watched blosc when i was a child and i came back to it and i'm glad i can still get something from it. i'm glad the children's show has an adult protagonist who's going through some sort of quarter- / mid-life crisis. i'm glad it told the gayest love story of our time for no reason. i'm glad this tag is still active. i'm glad this post is over.

[arabian-batboy]

in your opinion, which stans of the Batkids are the most toxic?

Short answer: All of them, when a character has hundreds of thousands of fans online, then there bound to be a portion of them that is toxic. They might be a small percentage of the over-all fanbase, but their toxicity makes them appear larger in numbers than they really are, but for the most part there’s really not a huge margin between how toxic different fans of the Batkids can be.

Long answer: I have been in the fandom for a couple of years now and I have interacted with my fair share of people across the fandom, so based on my own personal experience, from most toxic to least toxic, they are:

1- Tim’s stans:

To be fair, when Tim’s fans are cool, they’re REALLY cool and very fun to interact with or talk about comics. Unfortunately though, cool Tim’s fans that don't take themselves seriously are hidden gems and a huge amount of them are very very very obnoxious and their shortcoming is that they view Tim through main-character-lenses where everything has to be centered around him and everyone else is a secondary character.

The biggest reason that makes them #1 in my ranking is that they have a serious issue with thinking that Tim is simultaneously the best character to exist while also being the most oppressed character to exist, even though he’s definitely neither of those things and its just really annoying to hear someone go on about how their favorite character is so perfect and better than everyone at everything, while also crying about how their favorite character doesn’t get any love and are constantly mistreated (especially when in reality they actually get more love from DC than anyone in Gotham beside Batman & Harley)

2- Dick’s stans:

If you asked me this question a couple of years ago, they would have definitely been way lower in the list, but I don’t know what happened in recently years that made Dick’s fans so overly-defense and hostile. I understand that fanon Dick has done more damage than any other fanon interpretation of any Batkids, but attacking everyone who make the smallest light-hearted joke about Dick isn’t it.

There’s also those who are so desperate to portray Nightwing as an A-class superhero who’s a master at everything he does and is a total loner edgelord who doesn’t need anyone or has anything fun or cheerful about him and...... just stop, what you’re doing isn’t that much better than fanon portraying Dick as overly-bubbly and I know you think it makes Dick sounds cool, but in reality you just make him sound like a discount Batman.

3- Cassandra’s stans:

They’re very similar to Dick’s fans in that they used to be chill, but in recent years they decided to make their dissatisfaction of DC’s treatment of Cassandra to be everybody’s problem, which includes them popping up to anyone who’s makes the smallest complaint about how their favorite character is currently being treated to yell: “YOU THINK THEY HAVE IT BAD??? LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED TO CASSANDRA!!!” even if the character they’re talking about literally has ZERO things to do with Cassandra’s character.

Basically their anger is always misdirected and rarely has any positive results or discussions coming from it.

4- Damian’s stans:

I’m a Damian’s fan myself, so I might be biased, but its honestly hard to judge them because I feel like Damian’s fanbase has the most “variety” of any Batkid’s fanbase and it reached a point where some groups stan completely different versions of the same character with each group being toxic in their own special way, so I decided to put them in the middle.

I’m not gonna talk about each of them, but I feel like what all of them have in common is that they tend to over-react to things, even if they are in the right about something, they usually end up pushing too far in the other direction to the point where it blows out of proportion (but to be fair, if you leave them alone, they generally will not bother you)

5- Barbara’s stans:

Lets talk about the elephant in the room from the get-go.........almost all toxic Barbara’s stans are DickBabs shippers, I don’t know why that is and I don’t think everyone who ship them is inherently toxic, but boy are they a loud minority.

If we’re just judging Oracle’s fans then they would probably be the lowest in the list, but stans of Batgirl!Barbara and DickBabs shippers really pumped them up, especially during TT’s run of Nightwing.

6- Jason’s stans:

You know what, I never noticed this before I sat down and wrote this list, but have you noticed how most Jason’s stans are surprisingly very chill? There might be some inner-fighting going on between them, but for the most part they usually stay in their lane and don’t bother anyone unless you came for them first.

7- Duke’s stans:

Again, for the most part they are very chill and usually have great takes for all characters equally, but I feel that just like Dick’s fans, their frustration about Duke’s treatment can get the best out of them and sometimes they might go off on someone who didn’t deserve it because they didn’t like what they were saying.

8- Stephanie’s stans:

I don’t have much to say about them, but I mean come on, when was the last time you saw a Stephanie’s fan-account picking fights with other fans or insulting other characters? I personally haven’t seen one do such a thing before and while similar to Cassandra’s fans, they might give you a sob-story about Stephanie’s treatment, I feel like they’re much better about directing their frustration to DC instead of random people online or other fictional characters.

[duckapus]

Ever since Wario got that package he's been getting tons of ideas for making WarioWare more successful, with his VR game idea as just the start. And at first it's great! They're doing better than ever, and some of the ideas even help him and Waluigi get their finances in order and move into a freaking penthouse! So things are looking up.

Except...

Except some of the ideas don't feel like his own.

Except he's gradually becoming colder and more businesslike.

Except he keeps Conveniently Forgetting to take off his Meta Glove when he's not using it.

Because the arm is programed similarly to SMG4's old demonic keyboard, but it's far more subtle and insidious since it's not dealing with a sleep-deprived perfectionist already in the midst of a complete mental breakdown.

And it's so subtle that even as Wario realizes that something's wrong with him, he doesn't figure out what until it's too late and he's a prisoner in his own mind.

Now it's-a Metario Time, and he activates a similar program in the replica Meta Gloves to forcibly hijack the minds of the WarioWare crew, Waluigi, and new hires Amy and Mira, then leads the resulting Army in an assault on the Showgrounds, which is the big cliffhanger before what I'm calling WAHtfiWare.

Speaking of which, the format is that Tari manages to convince Metario to settle things with a gaming competition, with both of them using their unique abilities to pull their respective Crews into a WarioWare game. The transition screen between challenges is a fighting game-style character select, with the SMG4 Crew's side being blue, Metario's side being purple, and the real Wario trapped in a TV in the middle. The actual challenge skits are much shorter than usual, both because they're supposed to represent Microgames and because there are a lot of characters and if we went with the standard format we wouldn't be able to use them all even if we included some 2v2-or-more-challenges.

To differentiate him from the real Wario, Metario wears the same suit and bowler hat as the TV Adware guy and his Meta Glove, which looks just like Tari's arm but refitted to Wario's proportions, purple glowy bits instead of blue, and Wario's signature blue "W" on the back of the hand instead of Tari's wing emblem thing. The rest of the WarioWare crew also have Meta Gloves fitted to their proportions, and their eyes glow the same purple as the glowy bits when they're under Metario's control.

Just before the climax song starts, the Crew discovers that they can break Metario's control by getting rid of the Meta Arms when they manage to do so to Waluigi, Amy and Mira. Then during the song they gradually manage to free all the WarioWare employees (coincidentally in reverse order of their debuts Because Thematics) while Metario transforms his in-game sprite (because keep in mind that with how his and Tari's special power works their bodies are still in the real world unlike everyone else), and near the end Wario finally breaks free of the TV and gets to lay an extremely satisfying smackdown on the asshole program that stole his body.

In the aftermath, it turns out that Metario's ideas weren't actually as good for the company in the long term as he thought they were, because as good as the program was it was still working with Wario's brain, so a lot of the extra revenue they got has to go into damage control and the Wario Bros can't actually afford their penthouse. But when they think they're going to have to go back to living on the side of the road, the two Crews have a surprise for them.

Apparently the initial WarioWare VR concept, the one idea that was genuinely All Wario before the Meta Arm had any influence, was the one that actually properly worked, and between the sales from that and everybody deciding to pitch in something of their own, they managed to put in a down payment on a house for the brothers. It's not particularly big or fancy, in fact it's just a 3D version of Wario's dinky little run-down shack from the actual WarioWare games, complete with the big dumb "W" sign on the roof.

And as far as the two of them are concerned, it's perfect. Better than the stupid penthouse even. Because for once in their lives they've finally got somewhere that feels like home, given to them by the first people beyond each-other who've ever felt like family.

[things-about-cars-in-posts]

thoughts on 4WS? everybody and their mom knows the prelude,but would you be interested in talking about some of the other interesting vehicles with stuff like this?

or maybe other methods of decreasing turn radius?

I love the “everybody and their mom knows the Prelude”. Truly the embodiment of the silicate chemistry XKCD.

But sure! I can’t really say much about 4WS beyond “It’s when the rear tires steer opposite to the fronts to decrease turn radius at low speeds or when they steer with the fronts to increase stability at high speeds, and it really helps make cars be and feel more agile, which is why you see it on the new Range Rover and why you will probably see it in many other cars now that they are all ballooning out of proportion. Cool! Don’t park too close to curbs tho or your rear end will kick out into them and curb your wheels”, so let’s move on to… less orthodox ways to decrease turn radius.

You’d included a GIF of the Rivian “tank turn” which they were going to include in their models only to then not, but I took the liberty to place it next to a GIF of the BYD YangWang U8 showing it off at the latest and incredibly exciting Japan Mobility Salon [for some reason this post is stuck on the old editor so pretend that link is blue] to offer suitable accompaniment

(start at 1:36 if it doesn’t do so automatically)

Hope this will do in lieu of commentary because all I could offer is a demonstration of how many times I can type “what the fuck” in a row. Oh and if that wasn’t enough they also showed one do this.

I am genuinely pretty sure I came up with such a wheel design and then thought “no, this is stupid and absurd, forget I thought that” and then BYD was like “lol, lmao, rotfl even”.

But if you have wheels that don’t make you fear a robot uprising and surfaces that grip too hard to permit that Tchaikovskian bullshit, what are you to do?

Well, turn radius is a function of steering angle and wheelbase, so you can just alter those! Now, one would think the distance between the centers of your wheels would be pretty tough to alter, and indeed, it is. Well, it is pretty tough to alter without getting a wall involved and giving you more problems than you solved, if you know what I’m saying. Let alone to alter it reversibly. But some have done it! Enter Rinspeed, Swiss Porsche tuner turned concept car maker whose staying afloat I genuinely cannot explain, and more specifically its early-00s concept the Presto, a concept car that, once you realize you cannot for the life of you find four people willing to get near that horrendous front let alone in the thing, has the ability to cut your losses and accordionize itself.

“Yahchoo!”

Nice, Ron. And sure, the windshield is borderline nominal, the doors were sacrificed to the gimmick altar so one assumes you must get in Hazzard-style without even having a roof to paint something racist on, and it’s probably illegal in many fun new ways, but at least it’s gotta be a TON of fun.

You know what I suddenly feel like we should move on to something else. How about this thing?

“The Mk1 Golf?”Almost - as seen by the five bolt wheels, different bumpers and barely visible side vents, while this was an ordinary Mk1 Golf, Italo-Swiss tuning house Sbarro took care of that problem by shoving a Porsche 3.3L behind the front seats (what is this, Renault? [again, please record yourself saying “that link is blue” and play that recording back repeatedly over a spinning spiral GIF]). But the thing is, Franco Sbarro saw the whole ordeal and thought “Ah, but the engine that we put right in front of a massive trunk lid is going to need accessing at some point. I must think of the most rational way to accomplish that”, and then made the car fucking open in two. What is it with Switzerland and cars doing this shit.

So yeah. If you were willing to spend an absolute fortune to make your Volkswagen Golf a positive deathtrap, you could, through an incredible and unimaginably dodgy feat of engineering, shorten your wheelbase by a measure I measured at comfortably under two inches. Now, I cannot think that makes much difference in turning radius, but hey, I’ve seen masculinities built and shattered over less.

Fortunately, the wheelbase is just one of the determining factors of turning radius, and the other, steering angle, is a pretty popular thing to increase through aftermarket components because it’s very important in drifting: as explained in this brilliant-as-always article from Speedhunters, since drifting consists of holding your car at a big angle relative to where you’re going, if you want to maintain that big angle you kind of need the front wheels to be able to be at a big angle relative to where the car is pointing.

Unfortunately, your steering wheel doesn’t stop turning just because it feels you got to turn it long enough already - it stops because the wheels are about to hit something. So in serious drift cars the front wheels have to be pushed outwards to keep them from encountering car as they turn. But of course, there is an alternative to pushing the wheels out - pushing the wheel wells in! That, in fact, is the technique employed by the personal driftcar of world champion Piotr Więcek…

….no, not the 800hp S15, I said the one he drives for fun.

Perfection. Indeed, since the last generation Twingo shares its platform with the Smart Forfour which itself shares bits and bobs with the historically rear-engined Smart Fortwo, the engine is in the rear, meaning the front wheels have nothing in between to stop them from turning outrageously wide, making its turning circle great for city driving, city parking, and apparently tandem drifting with an 800hp S15.

But I cannot talk about ways to facilitate street parking without talking about the first thing I ever received by email, in January 2011, or more than twelve years ago (yeah I know, sorry): a video of this car.

Apparently, it was an idea that had existed since the 50s, too!

I find this to be a really clever idea - you already need to bring the spare tire around anyway, and you already have a shaft spinning in that direction because that’s what connects the engine to the differential! Unfortunately though, nowadays most cars -especially the space-conscious ones- are front wheel drive, which would make implementing what already was a packaging nightmare to begin with take up even more space, probably to the point of being counterproductive. Unless perhaps you put the spare in front of the engine and redesigned the differential to *spends the next six months thinking about this*

[bafflement]

Deaged Oz AU - The Experiment

"Are you really sure about this?" Oz sounded highly dubious even as Ozymandias tried to reassure him.

"We need to know if it would work as a defence against Salem, child. Besides, this way we are doing it in a controlled environment, around those that would help you if the worst happened. Not that I think it would, but that remains an unfortunate possibility none the less." Ozymandias sounded defensive, but there was an odd note of worry to his mental tone that made Oz wary, too. What they were attempting had never been done before, after all. What if it went wrong?

"And you're sure you can reverse this?" Oz asked out loud, voice echoing in the empty room.

"Yes. That much, I'm very certain of. There are a lot of interesting theories concerning... never mind, child. I'll tell you later, but whatever happens, you will be just fine. If this doesn't work, then we'll just have to hope that Salem only sees what most people do when they meet you. No offence, Tip, but... you are a rather small child currently, after all."

Oz pulled a face at that. but couldn't deny the accuracy of the statement. People tended to find him cute, of all things. it was highly embarrassing. At least Nora had more or less stopped calling him 'little cute boy Oz'? Even if everybody still called him pocketsized... though at least that was a nickname Qrow had given him, so it was rather more acceptable.

"So, you want this to happen in the same room as the others, correct?" Oz asked, already moving towards the door. The others barely glanced up as he entered, though he was aware he looked nervous as he sat in a chair at the table and cleared his throat pointedly.

"What's up, pocketsized?" Qrow asked, looking up lazily. A lot of that laziness vanished, though, when he noticed just how worried Oz looked and he shot to his feet, looking alarmed. That managed to stir up the rest, several half rising, Ruby making an abortive reach for her weapon as she did so. Oz winced but made a negating motion with his head, which settled most of the kids back down. Oscar, however, didn't seem to want to sit and was already moving to lay a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"I'm fine, Oscar. There's merely something Ozymandias wishes to attempt, which was felt to best occur around company. He is attempting to remove himself enough that I am merely Tip, in case it works as a shield against Salem."

"Yeah, no, pocketsized. That doesn't fill me with confidence. Besides, how do we know we'll get Tip? We might get Winter... and either way, you won't know any of us."

"Apparently I should? He's taking most, not all. Enough to convince her that I'm not Ozpin, but not enough to damage anything. I think."

"I'm hearing a lot of doubts, there, Oz. Hey, can I talk to Ozymandias a second?"

Oz's eyes flashed, ceding control to Ozymandias, who found themselves being snarled at by a very protective Qrow, much to his confusion.

"Listen to me, king or not. If what you're attempting hurts Oz in any way, I will find a way to make you regret it."

Ozymandias blinked Oz's amber eyes, looking almost impressed. "i will endeavor not to harm the child, child." Qrow glared at him for the comment, but Ozymandias sighed. "You are a child, to me. All of you are. So very young, to bear my war..."

The eyes flashed gold again and Oz was back, still looking rather impressed with Qrow. His eyes and smile were very soft as he looked at him, though, making the kids feel like they might be intruding on something. It wasn't a good feeling, but at least it passed quickly as Oz got a highly focused look on his face again, eyes suddenly far away.

"Now, child? I need you to let go, go to sleep." There was a soft looking bed in the meeting place in Oz's mind, looking inviting to the boy. He looked down, blinking as he saw adult proportions, before shrugging and doing as he was told. He could feel himself relaxing almost instantly, blinking sleepily up at Ozymandias for a moment before his eyelids got too heavy to keep open. Ozymandias hovered, gazing down at the sleeping form, first Ozpin, then briefly... worryingly... Tip, then flickering back to the headmaster. He just hoped that flickering wasn't indicative of any problems out there.

The boy's eyes shot open and he stared around at the room, looking terrified as he did so. His eyes seemed to pass over most of them without truly seeing them, but locked on to Weiss with a startled cry of relief.

"Willow! I... where, where are we?" Weiss couldn't quite supress the flinch at his words. So, not Tip, then...

"... Winter? It's alright, you're safe here. Something happened, but we'll fix it. Nobody is going to hurt you, I won't let them."

"You... you're not Willow, are you? Where am I?" He was visibly starting to panic now, trembling from shock as much as from anything else, eyes wide and terrified.

"Ozymandias, now would be a good time to stop..." Qrow growled, making, brothers, Winter Schnee flinch. The boy's eyes met his briefly and there was the barest flicker of recognition before it faded.

"... Qrow?" He sounded fragile, hopeful, for a second, before shrinking further in the chair, making himself as small as possible, still trembling. He seemed to derive some comfort from Oscar's presence at least, even if nobody was entirely sure he'd actually noticed it yet.

"Yeah, pocketsized. It's me." There was no recognition now, though, whatever it was Ozymandias had been trying to accomplish had obviously gone very, very wrong.

"... Tip?" Oscar ventured, tentatively, and the boy stared at him as though only seeing his presence now he'd spoken.

"I'm... Winter, I... who are you? Where am I? Please?"

"I'm... I'm Oscar. I'm your brother, or at least I usually am? You don't remember me, do you?"

Winter just shook his head, looking overwhelmed. Oscar held his arms out to the younger boy, but Winter didn't take him up on the offer of the hug, still glancing at Weiss who'd also come over to join them.

"You're not Willow. But you look like Willow... what?"

"You, you are in the future, Winter. We're trying to fix things, but you will be alright. I'm Weiss, I'm your niece, Willow's daughter. I'm pleased to meet you, uncle." Her smile was tremulous but her eyes were genuine. After all, she never thought she'd ever meet the version of her little uncle that had been truly Winter.

In Oz's mind, Ozpin flickered again, first Tip, then Ozpin, then Tip... Ozymandias groaned. Whatever was going on, it was time to wake them up. The experiment had obviously gone very wrong somewhere. He reached out and shook the thin shoulder, blinking as it bulked up in his hand. The man in the bed flinched and shot upright, screaming. Outside, Winter screamed, too, then collapsed into sobs as Ozpin got up. His mind felt like a jumbled mess, disorganised scraps of thoughts fighting to make themselves heard amongst the sea.

He was Tip. He was Winter. He was Ozpin, Ozymandias, Ozaryn...Ozma... so many others. He was lost in the storm of memories and felt things start to click into place. Whatever else had happened, the merge was certainly far nearer completion now.

He waited, hoping that he'd be Tip again. That was all he could do.

Finally, the storm settled. Tip blinked around at the shocked looks on the other's faces, eyes aching from tears, throat sore from sobbing.

"My... apologies, my friends. I do believe that was a failed experiment." Oscar hugged him fiercely at that, Weiss laying one trembling hand on his hair. Qrow looked vaguely homicidal and Tip flinched.

"Let me talk to him, pocketsized."

"Not if you plan to scream at him, Qrow. To an extent, this worked. I wasn't Oz, I was someone else."

"You were Winter, pocketsized. That was... terrifying. No, the experiment failed. He doesn't get to do that to you again." Tip rooted in his bag for a second, finding his teddy bear and cradling it, looking lost and young and so very fragile and Qrow sighed. "That's not fair, Oz... you don't get to guilt me like that. Listen, I promise not to yell at him, but I really do need to talk to Ozymandias, okay?"

Tip nodded, eyes flashing gold.

"Never. Again." Qrow growled out, though at least Ozymandias looked apologetic.

"No. The experiment was, in certain areas, a success, but no. We'll find another way."

[skekpen]

I’ve been told that I do a better job than most westerners at drawing stuff that has the “anime aesthetic”. I can tell you how I do it.

everybody already knows this, but of course first you have to practice drawing things with realistic anatomy and proportions and perspective and all that before you can draw anime/cartoons/stylized things that look good. read "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards for help with this. practice drawing from life/photos alongside drawing for fun. I spend about 10 minutes per day doing exercises and studies. the rest I spend drawing bullshit that I want to draw.

okay so,

Don’t try to draw something that looks like anime. Don’t think that way. Instead, try to draw a human being with as few lines as you possibly can, while still capturing everything you want your viewers to see. Then you pick and choose features you want to enlarge/emphasize or shrink/minimize. with anime, it's usually facial features that get distorted and stylized the most. there's a lot of stylized neoteny in anime, even in the ones that aren't trying to look cute.

for example - eyes are pretty, and they show a shitload of emotion. so you’ll probably want to draw big, expressive eyes that follow the visual logic of anatomically correct eyes.

another example - you can’t show much emotion or movement with a nose normally, so you might want to draw just the bare minimum to show the shape of the nose (I often just draw the shadow cast by the nose and none of the nose itself - something I picked up from late 80s anime)

now with this in mind, don't try to go for a generic "anime" look. that doesn't actually exist, and I think this is where a lot of people get tripped up and end up drawing that weird kind of "western pseudo-anime" for lack of a better term. find individual anime/manga artists you like, and see how they stylize things. try drawing like they do, and see what feels good. keep what works, and discard what does not. you'll eventually end up with a concoction of things you've stolen from other artists and then warped to your own tastes, which is what is known as "finding your style".

some artists I copy stylistic elements from are Masamune Shirow (Ghost in the Shell), Satoshi Urushihara (Plastic Little), Kamome Shirahama (Witch Hat Atelier), Toshihiro Kawamoto (character designer for Cowboy Bebop and Golden Boy), Ikuko Itoh (character designer for the Sailor Moon anime), and Kentaro Miura (Berserk). I've tried drawing all kinds of shit in their individual styles, I've traced and studied drawings of theirs so I could pick out how they constructed things.

I also do this with people who don't draw anime. Artists like Alphonse Mucha, Bill Watterson, Mœbius, and Alan Moore were as much of an influence on me as any manga artist. if you don't get inspiration from outside the artistic circle you are creating within, you'll never be able to construct a very unique voice for yourself. you may or may not give a shit about that, but I recommend that you do give some shits about it.

remember - you are not drawing anime. you are drawing stylized people/objects that you are warping to look most visually appealing to you. you just happen to think anime looks cool, so you're going to naturally gravitate in that direction. don't try to draw anime. try to draw something that looks cool, or cute, or scary, or badass, or whatever. and show it in a way that makes sense to you. it will probably take a few months of hard practice before you can do this well enough that other people will see what you are trying to show them, but it will eventually happen.

[magicalhideoutengineer]

"With Pickett, it has always been a little bit more difficult because he is literally a little stick man. These pictures are from the beginning of the film, where he takes the button from Newt’s coat and then chases it. We thought it would be funnier if he doesn’t notice Newt at all at first – and then suddenly he does notice him, but carries on for a bit. Again, we are relating to the sorts of things that domestic animals do that we all see.

“The most difficult thing is to work out how to make those moments really sing. With Pickett, it’s almost like the Gromit effect – those simple poses and expressions that replicate what we see as humans in each other, which get across those emotions – that he’s really cross or he’s really happy. Everybody loves those moments because you really get his connection with Newt.”

“As the guardians of the French Ministry, the Matagots had to have a bit more menace. We went through quite a journey with the design of them. Because they are more ‘familiars’ than beasts, initially we had them posed on two legs – almost human-like but cat-like at the same time.

“But again, we went back to nature. We started looking at bald cats, and how evil they can look. And then we added the slow gait of a prowling tiger. Then we started playing around with the proportions, so that they’ve got greater limb length and more human-like front legs so it just feels a little bit more uncomfortable. And then obviously the glowing blue eyes, so they have have a bit more sense of threat – we initially tried them with more realistic eyes, but they just looked bizarre.

“The idea of them turning into real black cats came to us quite early in preproduction. We had a wonderful artist who had the idea of what they would look like when they come out of the magical boundaries of the Ministry and how they would appear in the real world. That idea actually did make the cut. It’s a good example of where we are given the freedom by David and Jo to play and come up with stuff, which makes these films – and we’re going into the third one now – such a collaborative experience. It’s not a bad job!”