#I still have like 90 episodes to record today

[thatoneluckybee]

“‘Coz I’m strong like Bubba!” AWWW??

Lily is the best sister and rest in pieces Ben Clark

[kissmetwicekissmedeadly]

MIDNIGHT CINDERELLA MEMORIAL POST

The Midnight Cinderella app will be closed on Monday August 26th, 2024 (5 PM JST). The English version was actively updated from 2014 to 2021 when Cybird announced the ceasing of operations for MidCin, but the app remained accessible until today. I'm sure I'm not the only one who mourns the loss of it even after all these years of discontinuation, so I wanted to put together a post to properly say goodbye to it. Trying my best not to make it all too sappy - I'd rather look at it as a show that reached its final episode. Some things might be left unresolved but in the end, you remember the cast and the emotions they made you feel more than the actual plot. Nowadays there arguably may be better titles by Cybird out there, but for me, the simplicity of MidCin was what made the details so memorable.

1. VIDEO - POV: You're playing Midnight Cinderella (for 10 minutes)

The 10-minute version (without sound) is accessible via the link above (opens in Google Docs) This one I was really excited about recording! It's just your normal day playing midcin, I'm sure many will find it nostalgic and comforting. You log in, claim your daily bonus (I used the chance to do a present box reveal, 90+ items, many of which you might recognize from route grace checks), play the garden gacha (in my case, I used up all the points I had accumulated, 7800 which equals 39 solos), do your princess lessons, change your avatar, greet your friends, read 1/5 of today's free story parts, check the ranking and your stats, look at your memories directory. The video has no sound, as the game wouldn't let me turn it on (you will see me try to do so throughout the video...) but later on I got it to work so I recorded a one-minute video (the one imported above) of me replenishing stamina just for those iconic sound effects that you either loved or absolutely couldn't stand the volume of, haha.

2. A Midnight Cinderella playlist (spotify link)

While I wasn't there for the early days of midcin, the songs I associated with the game almost always captured this very specifically nostalgic 90s-10s period, you'll see what I mean. Many of those are taken from 8track playlists dedicated to Midnight Cinderella, and if I'm not mistaken you can still look at what is left of them if you search them up. Others are just my very random interpretations of the route stories and the characters.

3. Fic recommendations

We have a lovely community of creatives and there are still so many works left behind which you can check out on the tags! But especially for fics I wanted to list some that truly touched me during the years (all links open in ao3) -

i'm on fire and its NSFW bonus scene bloodstream by a deleted user - words are not enough for this one. It's like it meant more than Nico's whole route for me at one point, and the songs are forever in my heart as Nico songs...

MidCin Works by DBMidCin (SoftSen) - ALL of these. This is my go-to collection of writings for midcin when I start to miss the game, it has a little bit of everything. The headcanon of Giles teaching his girls French for instance is one of the things I still remember reading like it was yesterday!

Bedroom Etiquette (NSFW) by RubyLeeRay - Because this is the dream. Doing something forbidden with your tutor Giles is the ultimate fantasy, I swear. I just love it.

And of course, many, many more. There are currently 166 works on the midcin tag in Ao3, and I'm sure there are a lot of hidden gems here on tumblr as well! Reminder that writers LOVE it when you interact with their old works, it's not weird, you shouldn't hesitate doing so if you find yourself enjoying any of them! <3

4. My own humble collection of MidCin writings on my writing blog @xxsycamore!

Maid, Butler, Chamberlain (NSFW) - Nico x MC with Giles joining them

Grabbles: 💋 Demand for a kiss, right here, right now (GILES); 👔 Stealing their clothes to cuddle when you miss them (BYRON); more coming soon as there are still some in my askbox and I plan on including midcin in future short writings request openings too.

Shared Moments (NSFW) - Nico x Reader - Secret relationship

Ice-cold heat (NSFW) - Byron x Reader - Temperature play

Double the Surprise - Alyn and Leo birthday fic

Leo Crawford having a misadventure with a cat (ao3 link) - crack fic featuring most of the suitors

5. Out of context Midnight Cinderella screenshots

This is a sideblog of mine dedicated to posting out-of-context funny screenshots that I took while playing the routes - @oocmidcin . If you have some of your own that are not on there, you're free to submit them and add to the archive!

6. The perfect MidCin song - The Moon Will Sing by The Crane Wives

When I first discovered this song back in 2020 I dreamed of making it into a midcin music video with simplistic art and animations... It ended up being just something you daydream in detail about while in the car, but that's alright. I could at least share my vision with you! Disclaimer, this is just an interpretation and obviously it can't fit all characters ideally - In the brackets, I explain how the lyric is related to them and usually it reveals their backstories. Some of the details I've already forgotten, sorry if it's inaccurate.)

Tell me once again

I could have been anyone, anyone else

Before you made the choice for me

(Giles - his family making the choice for him since birth and later disowning him once he failed to become a knight due to his illness)

My feet knew the path

We walked in the dark, in the dark

I never gave a single thought to where it might lead

(Nico - wandering the streets with his mother once they were thrown out of Stein castle because she was a commoner having an affair with Byron's father, the King)

All those empty rooms

We could have been anywhere, anywhere else

Instead I made a bed with apathy

(Robert - the empty rooms of the once flourishing palace of the country that Robert ruled and led to demise, nowadays becoming a mere court painter)

My heart knew the weight

Ten years' worth of dust and neglect

We made our peace with weariness and let it be

(Leo - the years in which Alyn didn't speak to him, after the death of their parents)

The moon will sing a song for me

I loved you like the sun

Bore the shadows that you made

With no light of my own

(Albert - loyally standing in king Byron's shadow)

Name your courage now

We could have had anything, anything else

Instead you hoarded all that's left of me

(Sid - his relationship with his fiance that he agreed upon just to find out more about his parents by getting close to her father)

Swallowing your doubt

Like swords to the pit of my belly

I want to feel the fire that you kept from me

(Alyn - searching for answers about the murder of his family and the fire that burnt down their home)

I shine only with the light you gave me

(I could have been anyone, anyone)

(Louis - being a nobody and MC being his sun)

7. It goes on

I went to read what I could of chapter 4 of Rayvis' route, using my last two chapter tickets as well, thinking it won't make me cry. And then I'm hit with those familiar things.

So let's close this with a word about the things that never change in the universe of Midnight Cinderella.

Stumbling down the grand staircase and right into the arms of somebody. Escaping the palace at midnight with Nico's help. Sitting at breakfast with Giles giving you your schedule for the day. Nico's teasing little smile as he accompanies you everywhere and listens to your relationship troubles. The way he's just a little suspicious at times. Finding Robert painting in the garden of Wysteria palace. Going to the room of your chosen suitor for the first time and meeting a pet there. Leo teaching you history and politics in his office. Dance lessons with Louis. Needing those dance lessons because King Byron is coming to Wysteria and a ball is going to take place. The bureaucrats being unhappy with you as a princess elect, no matter what. Galloping on a horse with Alyn who just protected you from an enemy attack. Getting information from a certain flirty merchant at a bar. Albert bickering with Nico, Sid teasing Louis. Being introduced to Archduke Herneit at Stein castle. King Byron appreciating the night sky. The sight of your yellow and orange princess elect room where on the large bed with its blue bedframe and tall see-through canopy you lie awake and think about the events of the day and how would a wise future Queen of Wysteria deal with the current situation. But ultimately you fall asleep, hearing the melancholically beautiful sounds of a violin coming from somewhere deep within your dream, and leave it all to the following day.

Thank you for everything, Midnight Cinderella!

08/26/2024

[hotwaterandmilk]

I'm seeing "Wedding Peach was unsuccessful" trotted out on Twitter again and it's honestly kind of funny to me. You can dislike the series, but you're rewriting history if you suggest it was a massive commercial flop/astronomical failure — it simply wasn't.

The Wedding Peach TV series maintained viewership throughout its run which is why it aired an entire year's worth of episodes (the full length it was intended to run) and didn't get cancelled like Nurse Angel Ririka SOS, for example.

I'm not going to pretend it did Sailor Moon numbers, dear god, it absolutely didn't get close hence why it wrapped as it did. I would suggest looking back now, that it was the definition of a mid-performing title for the time period. It sold toys decently but not outrageously, it got viewers but not an outstanding number, and it garnered a small but dedicated fanbase of male otaku. All of which is par for the course when it comes to a mid title in 1995.

Wedding Peach DX was produced because the TV series LD sales were decent enough to warrant it. Children were not buying LD box sets at this time, adult fans were and it was this interest that justified the creation of the four DX episodes as direct-to-video releases. If a series doesn't sell well they don't make more episodes, let alone higher quality deluxe episodes specifically for the home video market (and thus for older audiences with spending power).

It is very important to point out that Wedding Peach DX had NO INVOLVEMENT from the original creative team. Tomita Sukehiro and Yazawa Nao did not contribute to its creation, Tadano Kazuko didn't provide designs. Yuyama Kunihiko was the driving force behind the production of the DX episodes and he served as both director and writer for all four episodes (bringing on Wedding Peach animator and soon-to-be frequent Pokémon collaborator, Ichiishi Sayuri to serve as character designer).

What inspired these to be fanservice dreck to the level they ended up being is honestly beyond me. I mean the otaku market definitely wanted more episodes featuring the characters (and more songs featuring the seiyuu, if you want to see how keen otaku were for FURIL please see this post) but part of what they liked about the characters at the time was their (barfbarfbarf) perceived purity and innocence. The DX including panty shots and swimsuits kind of threw them for a loop. Even now, if you look at discussions about the DX among otaku there's a bit of a divide in opinion.

The DX episode sales were (as far as I can tell based on magazines from the time) also mid, but enough to cover four episodes. Three and four don't seem to have sold as well as one and two, but again the stats from the time aren't comprehensive. I think the fact that there weren't any after episode four says it all, honestly. OVA episodes are expensive to produce and it was extremely common for them to stop immediately if the sales weren't there. DX didn't justify its existence beyond those four episodes and Yuyama moved onto a far more successful project in Pokémon.

On that topic, I think it's important to note that Wedding Peach was OLM's first television series (albeit a coproduction with KSS). If it and the studio's adaptation of Mojacko hadn't made some level of profit it would have been quite difficult for them to adapt Pokémon. Neither Mojacko nor Wedding Peach set records with their viewership or sales numbers, but they both did "OK". It was in Pokémon however, that that OLM truly found a successful property with the series still running today. Sometimes you've got to have a few runs at producing things before you find success. Wedding Peach was one of these early runs, a project where a lot of people cut their teeth but one that didn't justify its own continuation beyond a certain point. Just a very standard media mix from the mid-90s, in other words.

Wedding Peach is a problematic title with indifference through to outright objection to representing love outside of heterosexual romance. Looking back now it feels like an absolute dinosaur on so many levels. Between the anime's fatphobic episode and Momoko dropping some gender essentialism, I'm not surprised people want to relegate it to the dustbin of history.

However, I think it is very telling that Tomita Sukehiro, when presented with the opportunity to tell a similar story in the modern day, chose to represent not just queer love, but platonic and familial love in Wedding Apple. While he can't undo the regressive and cringy elements of the original series, as a creator he has progressed and I'd like to think we can all continue to improve our outlooks and output as we grow.

Disliking Wedding Peach in the modern day is completely understandable. I'm not going to pretend anyone should watch it in 2024 without knowing that it is a camp, cheaply made relic of a time when heterosexuality was considered magic. However, just because it pandered to all the worst things trending at the time doesn't mean it didn't sell enough products or hold enough viewers to justify its production. It did, it just wasn't a strong enough property to go beyond that and that's representative of mediocrity rather than mind blowing commercial failure imho.

[originalleftist]

For some happier news, today has been a truly glorious day to be a Star Trek Fan (spoilers)!

First, we have the long-awaited trailer for the final season of Lower Decks, along with a premier date of October 24th!

More Jennifer? Yay!

Jennifer and Mariner having adventures together! YAY!

Ma'ah and an Enterprise decontamination chamber gag? Predictable, but fun!

Moopsy cameo!

Alternate universe episode?

This looks so fun!

And repeated hints that this isn't the end for these characters' stories- I really hope they're not just teasing us here!

Then, there's the trailer for Section 31:

I'll admit, this one doesn't look like quite as much my thing, superficially "darker and edgier" than I like my Star Trek, but paired with a rather MCU-style comedic tone which... can work, but is a tough balancing act to pull off.

That said, Michelle Yeoh is an acclaimed actor- in fact, unless I'm mistaken, this will be the first time a Star Trek project is starring an Academy Award winner! Also, I appreciate that the franchise is branching out and exploring new tones, new premises, and new settings within the Star Trek universe. And speaking of which...

The first-ever live-action Star Trek comedy has been announced.

It will be co-written by Justin Simien and Lower Decks star Tawny Newsome (who is also a writer on the upcoming Starfleet Academy series), along with Kurtzman. Notably, it will NOT be set on a Starfleet ship or station or following a Starfleet crew, but "will follow a cast of Federation outsiders, serving customers on a resort world, who discover that their daily exploits are actually being recorded and broadcast to the entire quadrant."

This might sound like a strange departure to a lot of people, and I'm sure Starfleet will get involved as the show progresses, but honestly I'm kind of thrilled by this. Its exploring parts of the Star Trek universe we haven't seen before (the time period will also make it likely our first real look at the post-Picard era), the resort premise fits well for a comedic/sit-com type show, the secret broadcast gives it a suitable sci-fi twist with potential for social commentary, and the premise will also be well-suited to lots of guest appearances by other Trek characters.

Given the comedic tone, time period, and Newsome's involvement, I think appearances by Lower Decks characters are very likely, and if so this may be the closest thing to a follow up to Lower Decks that we get, at least in the short term.

And all of that is more than enough to be thrilled by, but there's at least one more new project to look forward to, and that's the limited time crossover event between the Lower Decks and Doctor Who mobile games!

Seeing Mariner and the Doctor in the same shot fulfills a need I didn't know I had. And makes me REALLY wish Tawny Newsome could guest star on Doctor Who.

So, there you have it. I honestly don't know what more to say except that any doubts I might have had about the future of Star Trek, or Paramount's commitment to continuing the franchise, are resolved. I still want a Legacy series with Jeri Ryan as Captain Seven, but honestly it's hard to think of a better time to be a Star Trek fan, certainly since the 90s.

Star Trek is boldly going where it has not gone before!

[pigeonrobespierre]

Soo today I decided to look further into whathever happened to the I Giacobini screenplay - buckle in, I did my best to include as much info as I could find!!

"I Giacobini" (the jacobins) is an Italian screenplay from 1962 based on Federico Zardi's homonymous drama and it is, as of today, a lost media.

The cause for the disappearance of the screenplay from the RAI (Italian national public broadcasting company) archives is either reconduced to the lack of care for the preservation of medias at the time or to the theory which believes the cause to be due to political circumstances.

According to Wikipedia (eh):

...while Italy was in the hands of the Democrazia Cristiana, RAI for the first time broadcast to the public a screenplay «practically entirely aligned with the left and in which Robespierre doesn't come off as a bloody monster but rather like a Che Guevara of reason»

The Democrazia Cristiana or DC (Christian Democracy) was a centrist christian democratic political party in Italy.

The screenplay became largely appreciated by the public, as well as receiving praises from Palmiro Togliatti, exponent of the PCI (Italian communist party) - which happens to be one of the DC 's political opponents at the time.

(source)

Palmiro Togliatti on "Rinascita" wrote that television was bringing a change, since «for the first time it brought a representation of the French revolution inside Italian households»

I went ahead and looked through the archives of Rinascita but found this.

Here I found Togliatti's comment on the screenplay - the below image is a section of it:

The screenplay I Giacobini can be considered an important event of national culture. [...] What matters is that for some weeks a few billions of Italians, have seen and have had in front of their minds a revolution, have been brought to think about about it and to discuss it, seeing it as a political, social and human conflict.

It's then necessary to understand the political contexts of the time both within and outside of Italy:

(source)

...In 1962, under the threat of the cold war, a few months before the Cuban Missile Crisis, a screenplay remarked positively by the leader of a communist party in a NATO country could've raised any kind of reaction.

Thus, the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the screenplay is believed to be caused by some archivist involved with the democristian party.

While this is widely believed to be the reasoning behind it there's not much clear evidence and it's likely impossible to investigate since so much time has passed.

About the screenplay: it was broadcast in 6 episodes, of 90 minutes each, between 11th March - 15th April of 1962 (with a rerun in 1963 after which the tapes disappeared).

It originally featured La Marseillaise, La Carmagnole and Ça ira as well as 4 songs produced for the theater play by Gino Negri.

Audio Recording

In 2012 a man came forward with a (illegally) recorded copy of the audio from the screenplay and sent it over to the Rai archives. The studio managed to recover and digitalize the audios of the six episodes - sadly the video recording is still missing.

Funnily enough, the archive page on which the audios were supposedly made public is gone as of today - but I have found YouTube uploads here: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Also here's a doc that wast broadcast on Italian television on the 11th March of 2012, in honor of the 50 years since the first run of the screenplay - (it's in Italian, if anyone's interested I'll gladly sub it/provide a translation)

In short - bless that viewer for pirating the audio in 1962 and lots of hate to whoever lost the tapes..

Maybe I Giacobini was the friends we made along the way 🍊

[datclassicrockfan42]

Who are the monkees?

YESSSSSSSSSSSS

DEAR LORD YES

(Sorry I don’t get this question very often)

Anyways, allow me to introduce you to The Monkees

They were a 60s rock band with a TV show(like the Aquabats). Originally created to make money and sell records but after a rebellion from their music producer, they truly(at least in my eyes) became a true band. Unfortunately a lot of factors caused the bands decline in popularity and their dissolvement. They did get back together in the 80’s and 90’s with a little surge in popularity, and thoughout the 2000s and 2010s they continued to tour. Currently the last remaining Monkee(Micky) is doing shows to honor the band these years.(this is definitely a cliff notes version bc(well I kinda lost my Monkee Autism for MCR autism and there’s no way I can fit the entire story into a single post, we can keep talking about this through dm through)

Now for the members. This group consists of four members. Davy, Micky, Peter, and Mike

Here’s a photo

The first member is Davy Jones.(Bottom Right)Short, British, and babyfaced. He’s basically the “Paul McCartney” of the group, the one that all the girls love(at least when the show first aired). In the band lineup, he does vocals, tambourine, and maracas(usually has like fifty maracas) In the show, he’s the group’s hopeless romantic. Always going after a girl and falling in love. However that whole “Davy falls in love and now it’s our problem” is much more of a season one plot line than season two(not to say doesn’t happen there too.)

Next is Micky Dolenz.(Top left). The bands…(for really lack of a better term here) wild card. He’s very energetic and comedic. In the band he’s the drummer but also does vocals most of the time. In the show, he’s wild, chaotic, and the jokester of the group.

Next is Peter Tork( bottom right). Sweet, sensitive Peter. Look at him isn’t he cute? In the band, he’s the bassist, but also plays a multitude of instruments. In the show he was the dummy. The butt of the joke all the time. His shy, awkward(auto fill suggested knees here, and I’m questioning everything), personality and lack of social skills was a constant joke during the series. Actual Peter is pretty intellectual.

Last but certainly not least(especially on this blog) is Mike(top right, in the green wool hat) the second Michael in my life(Mikey was the first). Ah Michael Nesmith. Where to start? Stoic, quiet,aloof, but a total goof sometimes.(starting to sound familiar here)He has what this website calls…autism swag. Usually wearing a little hat(okay now that I type this here I’m starting to realize the similarities between the two Michaels in my life), this Texan is the “serious one.” The dad of group basically. In the band he plays guitar and actually wrote a few songs(oh we’re gonna talk about this). In the show, he was basically the voice of reason. Not really focused on that much,but he had his moments. I should mention that he got rid of the hat around season two, but you can still identify him by his massive sideburns.

Look at these

Look at the size of them

NOW THE SHOW AND MUSIC.

The show: The show aired from 1966-1968 with two seasons. They also had two tv specials and one hella trippy movie. Currently a lot of the episodes have been taken off YT(damn copyright) but we have archive.com and many drive folders containing these episodes. Episode plots can go from “guys Davy’s in love again and now it’s our problem” to “Crap we can’t pay the rent” to “crap we gotta save America from spies”. And season two only gets weirder. Each episode usually contains two ��romps” which are basically music videos that showcase songs(like I said made to sell records)

(I do gotta warn you tho. This show was made in the 60s…so some of the content is not actually…politically correct according to today’s standards. So yea just be prepared for that)

Episodes I’d personally recommend for beginners are

Season 1 Ep 8: don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. A simple episode. Displays each of the characters personally traits pretty well. Has good songs.

Season 1 ep 23: Captain Crocodilez a pretty funny episode. Got a lot of that typical Monkee rapid fire random humor(which is kinda Aquabatsish). Some good romps and I find this ep quite enjoyable

Season one ep 12: I’ve got a little song here. This is a Mike focused episode and is a little bit sadder than the majority of eps, but is overall good. It’s got the bands superhero personas, the Monkeemen. Good songs too.

Season two episode 16: fairytale. An iconic episode.(so sometimes the guys would dress up in drag to make their schemes work and there’s lots of that in this episode) it’s a bit more off the walls(which is normal in season two) but still overall a good episode.

Here’s the link for the archive(kinda bad quality but pretty accessible)

Edit: so i checked and something is wrong with the link….so yea

Ummm if yall want I can dm you a link to one of the drives

NOW FOR MUSIC

(Buckle up)

So the group(in the tv show years) released(holy shit) 9 albums.

The Monkees(a classic album of songs from the show) notable tracks include Last train to Clarksville, Saturday’s child, Sweet Young Thing, and Papa Gene’s blues

More of the Monkees(another classic, once again full of songs from the show) notable tracks include Mary,Mary , I’m not your stepping stone, the kind of girl I could love, and(you probably know this one) I’m a believer(yep the song from shrek was a Monkees song)

However, these albums were made with little to no creative control. Opting for studio musicans and writers than the actual guys themselves(who were all pretty good musicans) but after some rebellion, the producer getting fired, and a hole in a hotel wall(before the producer got fired,(guess who did this one lol). The band was able to play their own instruments.

Which brings us to an era which I personally consider the bands finest:

Headquarters: a masterpiece with the group playing almost of all their own instruments. Notable tracks include: Sunny Girlfriend, for Pete’s sake, and Randy Scouse Git

Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones(thats actually all the members zodiac signs, expect Davy’s bc him and Mike are both Capricorns and they actually share a birthday(Dec 30): this is their psychedelic album(hey it’s 1967 everyone’s doing it) Notable tracks here include: Pleasant Valley Sunday, Love is only sleeping, Star Collector and the door into summer.

The Birds, The Bees, and The Monkees: another classic👌. Notable tracks here include: Daydream Believer, Tapioca Tundra, and Dream World.

We then have the HEAD(that trippy movie i was talking about(that’s a little advanced tho, stick to the show for now) soundtrack: notable tracks here include: Porpoise Song, As we go along, circle sky, and daddy’s song.

Now for some mythbustijg bc oh boy

They didn’t play their own instruments: actually a lot of the guys were originally musicians before the show(Mike and Peter were folk singers, and Davy worked in broadway(not an instrument but still cool to know). We kinda already debunked this one though so let’s move on to the next:

They didn’t write their own songs: kinda true. The studio did bring in some studio writers to write songs, but the guys actually wrote some songs themselves(mainly Mike, but the others did too)

Ok well I’ve been typing for quite a while now and my hands tried soo ima leave this here. DM me if you want any more info(I have a master degree in the history of Micheal Nesmith with a minor in the band and show history)

[threebooksoneplot]

love this podcast so much! this is probably a bit of a nuts ask but i just wanted to let you guys know that you've genuinely helped me in real life- I was approached by two Mormon missionaries today (i live in the UK so it was Unexpected to say the least) and for the entirety of the conversation I was remembering how you mentioned on one of your episodes (99% sure it was you guys) about how being on missionary is most Mormons' first experience of the wider world so you should do your best to be polite etc. all the context you gave genuinely helped me navigate the conversation so much lmao, you guys are entertaining AND educational 10/10

oh wow!! daaaamn, good for you!

and yeah, that sounds like something we would say. I (G) can't seem to dig up receipts right now but the tl;dr is that oftentimes, door-to-door evangelism of the kind mormon missionaries and jehovah's witnesses engage in is less effective at converting people, but highly effective at reinforcing to the group's members that all outsiders are Cruel And Sinful and therefore you should never leave The Church because that's where the only good and kind people are.

but also, like, 90% of the time the reason I (G) try to be kind to mormon missionaries is because they're like 20 and have never been allowed the simple joy of a macchiato (but must try to fill that void with vile concoctions of dr pepper, gummy worms, and half 'n half, apparently.)

also, let the record show that "being kind" does not mean showing any interest whatsoever in converting to mormonism, or leading them on to that effect! but it costs $0 to wish them a nice day and be a shining example of how wearing spaghetti straps does not in fact lead to sacrificing live goats to satan.

anyway. we're proud of you, anon! glad you like the ole podcast 🤠

—G

yeah this is awesome to hear!! and even to add onto this, that sort of advice is pretty good to utilize just in general when talking to people from these ultra-conservative, super-sheltered (and yes, usually religious) upbringings. like G said, you don't need to lie to them and make them believe that "oh yeah totally i'm absolutely going to see you this sunday and I sure will consider changing the entirety of my belief system/morals!" but, yknow, just be kind. it's good to do even for Normal Regular people you see on the street. but this isn't sesame street so I won't start that brand of schoolyard lecture.

semi-related, but a little tangential: my super-strict catholic high school used to invite mormon missionaries to come and 'speak with' specific religious classes (usually the TrulyCatholic bitches took these) every year. and every year we heard about how "lol the ridiculous mormons keep coming and being nice to us to try and talk about their religion as if we're EVER going to change our minds and believe in their FAKE and WRONG version of christianity?? isn't it so stupid that they're so patient and kind to us even as sister catherine anne stands back and lets us bully—I mean, debate these guys? anyways I wonder when the morons—I mean, mormons, will stop coming back. 😌💅"

and to this day I still think about those guys! because I never understood their willingness to come back every year, and I could not fathom why they were consistently so nice. learning more about mormonism through this podcast has really helped my ex-catholic ass look at the outside world and be like "oh, we were the assholes. I mean, I knew that already, but shit." and tbh i'm sure they honestly loved coming to my school, because nothing will solidify your own stance/opinion on a group of 'outsiders' than a mob of privileged ravenous catholic teenagers. anyways, let that be a refrain for you on your new day-to-day: don't be like the catholics, be kind. amen 🙏

—shannon

[zedxspacess]

I typically don’t follow ongoing podcasts run by wrestlers/people in the business bc they’re usually not that great. My exceptions are interviews with favs/wrestlers I’m curious about, for educational purposes. I like revisiting old Art of Wrestling stuff bc I think they’re pretty historically valuable as a snapshot of the times when they’re recorded, even if a lot of stuff hasn’t aged too well.

But today I listened to Tony Shiavone’s podcast bc he did an episode on the Joe vs Kobashi ROH show. Shiavone’s reactions to roh shows are super interesting to me bc he knows nothing about that era of wrestling since he was out of the business at the time, despite a large chunk of his coworkers being roh alumni and how the history of roh is so important in aew. The only pre-aew roh matches he’s watched was Cody vs Dalton Castle, some Bryan-Nigel matches, and now the Joe vs Kobashi show.

Him not knowing basic things like how important Christopher Daniels was to indie wrestling or Nigel and Bryan having a legendary rivalry is such a stark contrast to how intimately he knows all about American wrestling in the 80s-90s. He’ll drop personal anecdotes and great insight about Flair or JR or [insert any wrestler in Jim Crockett or WCW], but then mention about how he had to talk with CD or Nigel to go “oh my gosh, I didn’t know this history about you, can you tell me all about it?”, the veteran now a student. When Eddie Kingston was on, he had to educate Shiavone all about 90s All Japan. It’s fun hearing him learn things in real time and react to seeing his coworkers in that context. His reaction to seeing a young Claudio and Jay Lethal with different hair, how young guys like Bryan and Roddy look, the excitement in his voice when he learns he’ll be watching a Nigel match bc he respects/enjoys him so much as a commentator and friend. Him picking up on how there’s no commentary in Joe vs Kobashi, and telling a story of how in the Jim Crockett stadium shows he was told to not talk too much in the broadcast bc they wanted to emphasize the matches themselves.

Tho it’s still not a great episode bc a lot of his podcast is generally just shooting the shit and talking about random bs while watching wrestling, but the parts where he does comment on the show are what’s interesting to me. And occasionally he’ll drop nuggets of fun stuff in current aew, like how Samoa Joe doesn’t have to be wrangled unlike most wrestlers or how he tried to convince Nigel to dye his hair blonde again before Grand Slam.

[shebeafancyflapjack]

Need to talk a bit about how important Bangel was as a ship to me when I was a tween. Because even though I prefer Spuffy and Fuffy now, and find Angel's early character to be a little dull and flat, theirs was still the first ship I remember being truly feral over. I recorded my first viewing of Becoming Pt 2 and wore the VHS out rewatching that episode.

And I think a huge part of that hyperfix, despite me not really being attracted to "boys" without fully understanding why at the time, was how much Angel was a part of the whole "flipped gender roles" the show was going for. Because back in the 90s, or hell even nowadays, the only male characters who were constantly needing to be rescued were scrawny nerd guys or fragile old men. And if a woman was a hero she was mostly rescuing either other, usually more petite, women - or kids. Angel was a very feared and powerful vampire, but the show brilliantly laid out the reason for why he's not the hero of the show in the first episode.

"Because I'm afraid."

Courage is typically seen as a "masculine" trait, particularly in the context of battle, yet it's Buffy - the sixteen year old cheerleader - who is braver than the two hundred year old vampire. To quote my favorite Doctor; "Courage isn't a matter of not being frightened. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway." Buffy is still afraid but she doesn't let that fear hold her back like Angel does. Also I think the fact Angel is humble enough to admit this to someone who is still a stranger at this point is pretty damn attractive. Hell, just the fact that he never complains about feeling emasculated or sidelined by Buffy constantly rescuing him or taking the lead in fights is Very Sexy, and I say that as a lesbian. It's one thing him and Spike have in common, these two are both proud simps for their queen (Spike probably a little more) and to this day I still don't see enough of Strong Man Saved By Even Stronger Girlfriend than I would like and why mlw ships rarely do anything for me because this show altered my brain chemistry so much. I will never not swoon at Buffy saying "No one hurts my boyfriend!" in What's My Line. Seriously, how often do you get to see the girl be the Protective Alpha in a mlw ship?! Not enough. Also I think it's telling how the least popular Buffy ships were involving the guys who did seem to take issue with the whole "not being man enough to be her equal" thing....*clears throat*

But as well as the fact he's the one being saved, he also owes most of his growth to her. When people say "Angel couldn't have existed without Buffy" it's true in both the meta sense but also who Angel was between S1 and S3. He starts off as someone too crippled by fear and guilt to act and cleaves to Buffy as his chance of redemption, starts to get more involved with the Scoobies only to eventually be trapped in his own body (and then Hell), then ends basically flying the coop to his own adventures. Even though Angel starts off as a mysterious guide and support role, in a way he ends up being her protégé because he learns how to be a hero from watching her. I truly believe she's what inspires him to stop lurking in the shadows and Do Something, which eventually leads to him getting his own show where he can be a more traditional hero (sometimes to the level of missing the whole point about gender roles of the OG show but we'll leave that for another rant).

Honestly imagine the reactions if they made a show like Buffy today, considering the vitriol haters have for something like the Barbie movie, or any female Marvel / Star Wars character just existing.

[lycanlovingvampyre]

TMA Liveshow Relisten

Activity on my first listen: cutting the jasmine and Buddleja in my garden.

ALEX: "The audio in today’s episode was recorded at our first Magnus liveshow as part of the London Podcast Festival Presents audio drama event in 2019." First (?) Magnus liveshow? Just curious, were there more than one shows? I only ever saw content from this on.

ALEX: "The events take place prior to the first episode of The Magnus Archives, and can be considered canon." Canon you say, eh? So does this mean, occasionally, The Magnus Archives actually IS a workplace comedy???

JON: "Right. Well, I’m sure I can figure it out, I was – (shaky inhale) – thinking of, uh – digitising some of the more commonly accessed statements and then – some – general… (trails off) …archiving." Everybody always asks "What is archiving?", but nobody asks "How is archiving...?" xD (plus it’s a show called “Archives” and nobody actually knows what that means in a workplace environment XD Comedy at its finest xD)

I love how with the laughs and how the actors actually... pause for laughter this actually feels like a 90s sitcom!

ROSIE: "Miss Robinson was getting… on, a little bit- and it must have been very hard for her. Did, um. Did you ever meet her at all?" JON: "Erm – not really; a few times – I don’t think she liked me much." [[SCATTERED LAUGHTER]] ROSIE: (audible grimace) "…No." So is it true, what the Stranger was leading on. Gertrude would have been so disappointed to see Jon become the new Archivist and how that's going.

JON: "I mean, there were a lot of rumors, floating around Research, obviously. According to them, she  (sensationalizing) ‘died at this very desk.’" Always the curious one, always asking one too many questions.

[IMMEDIATELY, HE REACHES FOR A GLASS OF WATER, DRINKS IT, THEN PUTS THE GLASS DOWN WITH A HEAVY, CONTENTED SIGH.] [[AUDIENCE LAUGHTER]] Apparently drinking water was funny? xDD

MARTIN: "Hey, sorry; you haven’t seen a dog, have you?" I love that we get to see that scene! It has been already established in the launch trailer (the one with the vigilo audio opperior whisper) where Jon says "I swear, if he’s brought another dog in here, I’m going to peel him." after calling out for Martin.

JON: "I’m s– Sorry, what?" MARTIN: "Um – Uh, a dog, a-a Spaniel, I think." JON: "In – In general, or?…" And that was the last time, Jon said anything not laced with contempt to Martin for about a year!

It's so funny how extremely anxious Martin is here. Because when we meet him for the first time in MAG 22 he doesn't sound THAT intimidated by Jon at all. Still, I guess it's pretty stressful already fucking up on the first day of your new position.

JON: "So I’m your boss." [PAUSE.] MARTIN: "I mean, I guess." [SMALL HEH.] [[SLIGHT LAUGHTER]] JON: "Which means that technically – (small, smug *heh*) – I have the power to – dismiss you, if this dog situation is not resolved immediately." [SLIGHT LAUGHTER]] MARTIN: "I mean, yeah, probably." [HE GIVES A SMALL LAUGH.] [[LAUGHTER]] Martin is just too deep in the gay headspace to realize that this has a subtext.

JON: "Well that’s – (exhale) not ideal." I mean, I kinda get it... He took a job he knows he's not qualified for. He asked the person to move down to the Archives with him who actually is qualified for this Job and is constantly overshadowed by her. He takes the job over from someone who mysteriously disappeared or died with the possibility that she had been the victim of a crime. The Archives are in an absolute state of chaos and he realizes he probably bit off more than he can chew. He gets that creepy feeling of being watched. And then, someone who at least seems less qualified than him (he later learns that Martin also might be more qualified and then again later learns that Martin is indeed super not-qualified at all...) has been assigned as his assistant without him knowing anything about it and that very person let a dog into the Archives! I'd probably be on the verge of a breakdown (without being an asshole though, most likely I’d beg the others to help me.)

So the statement of MAG 2 takes longer than the ambiance track xD

TIM: (coming into view) "Right, yeah. Oh! The Gillespie statement! That’s a proper weird one, right?" Ah, the old Tim energy!

TIM: "Oh, uh, yes, uh – mm. Hypothetically –" [[LAUGHTER]] TIM (CONT’D): "What would you say, if I said that there was a…" [HE TRAILS OFF. THE ARCHIVIST SIGHS.] TIM (CONT’D): "Dog." [[UPROAR OF LAUGHTER]] TIM (CONT’D): "Situation. In the Archives." Seriously, I'm pretty pleased with the amount of jokes there are in TMA, there are sooo many good ones. But I surely wouldn't mind something like these three scenes every once in a while as bonus! So I hope this stuff keeps coming occasionally in Protocol. These three scenes here are such a gem!

JON: "I would ask if it was getting worse?" TIM: (relaxing) "Okay, alright, cool, so, right –" Tim be like "Okay considering Jon's grumpy worksona, this is going pretty well so far!!"

JON: "Tim." TIM: "Hypothetically –" JON: "Tim!" TIM: "I – Yeah, yeah, there’s a dog situation in the Archives. There’s a – there’s a mess –" Tim gave up, he knows that Jon knows, no way to salvage this xD

JON: "Come on, let’s – (inhale) Let’s deal with this before it escalates." I love how they all went to hunt that dog down together xD Right after the pack dynamic domain episode!

TIM: "Oh, recording equipment, um – (blows air through teeth) Oh! Yeah, the – I think there are some old tape recorders in the storage." [BRIEF PAUSE.] JON: "That could work." You know, that is not sooooo out-of-this-world-ish... Just 2 weeks ago I came into the office fully bracing myself that I had to use the tape recorder that day because there was a big maintenance the week before (that was actually the reason I even showed up at all. Usually I’d stay in home office). System shutdown for several hours. Turns out, no one wants to use the bloody tape recorders anymore, so god knows what they did during maintenance.

Magnus outro song starts. Everybody sitting on nails like "Say the line, Alex!" Alex: "The Magnus Archives is a podcast distributed by Rusty Quill and licensed under..."

@a-mag-a-day

[iviarellereads]

The Murderbot Diaries - Compulsory(1) (Wired Magazine)

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Murderbot Diaries, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

In which we go back in ti-i-ime.

First published in Wired in 2018, shortly after Exit Strategy, this prequel story is still free to read as it once was... with a note. Today, we cover the original version, and tomorrow, we'll be reading the expanded one that just came out through Subterranean Press for something like $1 as of time of writing, to compare and contrast, and if I remember after part 2 goes up, this text will be edited to a direct link. All aboard!

Murderbot's thought about killing humans since it hacked its governor module, but then it found the entertainment feeds. So, what's the hurry? It can kill them after this series ends.

And honestly, even the humans here think about killing each other. MB hates mines, everything to do with them,(2) but the humans hate mines even more. It predicts a 53% chance of a human-initiated massacre before the contract ends, then witnesses some name calling, and tracks that up a bit.

It's watching episode 44 of Sanctuary Moon while the humans talk about flow rates. One of them, Sekai, says SecUnits creep her out. MB can't argue that: even it doesn't like SecUnits. It doesn't react, though. Nearly all its attention is on its show, to the point that it misses the humans' actions until it hears a yell.

Running its recordings back, Asa knocked Sekai off the platform, seemingly accidentally. It tracks Sekai's fall, which looks painful. Because of where she lands, she's about 90 seconds away from dropping her in the collectors on the way to the incinerator.

You might think that rescuing her would be its job, but no. MB's job is to prevent workers from stealing company property, prevent workers from injuring or killing management, and prevent workers from harming one another. Rescue is up to safety bots.

HubSystem's alert tells it to stay in position. The nearest safety bot for rescue is 200 meters out, and will arrive just in time to retrieve a smoldering lump. Asa is horrified, Elane is sobbing. MB could ignore them, but it likes the human in peril on the show in this episode and doesn't want to watch her die yet, while Sekai is a human it's technically responsible for, and will be really dead sooner.

Having free will after so long under strict controls sometimes make MB do things it doesn't understand.(3) Before it thinks too hard about it, it jumps off the platform, landing next to Sekai. HubSystem tries to fry it via its governor module, but joke's on HubSystem.

MB tells Sekai to clip her harness to it, and as it climbs, it works on hacking HubSystem to show that the rescue was its idea. The supervisors are confused, but it all worked out. Better a fine for almost clogging the collectors than dead.

Elane makes to pull Sekai away, but she comes back and thanks MB. MB worries for a moment that she can see through its visor, and its performance drops 3% at the thought. Asa tells her SecUnits can't talk, but she says no, she heard it.

Back at my guard station, I started the episode again. Maybe somebody would save the colony solicitor’s bodyguard too.(4)

=====

(1) How do we think the title relates to the content? The novellas, so far, have been fairly straightforward. All Systems Red, like a classic red alert, everything is not good. Artificial Condition, a state that is made up and thus conditional and dependent on perception rather than reality, like the fear Tapan felt. Rogue Protocol, going rogue, or seeming to. Exit Strategy, needing to find the exit with Mensah. Compulsory, I think, is a fascinating turnabout on that, because it's not an obvious one to me. I think it calls back to the perceived dichotomy between its assigned behaviour (stay in place) and what it feels driven to do (save the human). It feels compelled to move, even though not-helping is literally the compulsory/assigned action. (2) How much do you think it remembered about the incident, when this is set? (3) I think it's only just starting to understand its impulses to help during the novellas, myself. (4) Do you think this was the first time Murderbot wanted to save a human consciously? Or, perhaps, the first time it started processing and learning good behaviour from its serials? Or, do you think this is just an ordinary day for it?

[wgc-productions]

YESSSSSS ask meme! 4, 8, 9, 17!

Yay!

4. Is there a specific episode that was especially fun to work on?

For me "fun" can mean two things when it comes to making art. It can mean that everyone was at the top of their game, because watching people be good at what they do is such a pleasure to me. If we are going with this understanding then Small Victories 207 (which comes out today) is the one. It's one of the few episodes where the very first time the cast did it it was perfect. Loved that.

The other meaning is that me and the SV team just had a blast making it regardless of performance. And I think that is kind of harder to get a lock on because we record three episodes a night and they all sort of blend together. I will say, though, that, for this season, 205 was fun to record because Cody Smith was there and I just get a real kick out of what he does with Aaron. Plus 205 is my favorite episode this season and it was great seeing it turn out so well.

8. Pick a character from your show and put together an outfit you think they’d wear.

I'm going to pick Marisol because she has protagonist privilege.

I'mma be honest, I haven't really thought about this, but I think because Marisol (in my mind) is rocking serious "teenage boy or queer woman" realness she is probably dressing like Whoopi in the late 80s/early 90s. Like so:

9. If your show was a different genre what genre would it be and how would the plot change?

This could just be because I'm in my Buffy bag right now, but I think Small Victories could work as a low-fantasy slice of life series. It's already got that magical realism edge anyway with the Host and The Stranger, but I think if we leaned into it and made Marisol an wizard who had real trouble coping with a difficult past and abused her magic powers and is trying to figure out how to live in the world without using her magic because she is afraid of what she is capable of it could be very interesting.

It would be a little more monster-of-the week though to meet the demands of the genre. She would probably have to pick up some sort of detective/fixer-esque job in order to fit into the conventions and each week she would tackle some new mystery while struggling with her ability to manage her powers and atone for the messed up stuff she did when she was sick off magic.

And of course we could still have the rest of the cast. Nina would be the child of a pair of high mages but instead of following their path to rule over others she decides to move away and help teach advanced magics to people who advanced magic is kept from, which would rain down the ire from the higher ups thought her parents choose to protect her from it.

Nina is drawn to Marisol because Marisol is a skilled wizard despite the lack of training. The two find that they in fact really do like each other and they grow to love one another, but after Marisol snaps she disappears and Nina is left confused and hurt. The series could start with that distance, but Nina can be wrapped up in cases because she has useful skills and a heart tuned into justice. As time goes on their bond develops and becomes more complex.

Oliver could be a wizard too, but I think it'd be fun if there were other species so the world could be richer. Ollie could be an elf or troll or something like that and instead of going to college he instead is expected to, as all people in his culture are expected to do, become more integrated with their specific culture, which would explain the sort of distance he and Wizard Marisol would have.

Aaron would still be the boyfriend, but instead of a "Drug Dealer" he is a practitioner of more serious dark magics that he and Marisol used to indulge in. He handles the magic fine, but Marisol has trouble keeping anchored while using it, and so their bond is severely strained when she stops using magic altogether. He would still be a pianist though, cause I think that's a fun fact.

And all four of them could be a team and solve the mysteries and there would probably be overarching plot lines that betray some greater conspiracy in the world.

I will say, though, this would probably have some different things to say about addiction because Magic would be apart of her and suppressing parts of yourself due to fear is not a message I would want to put out in the world.

You know I've never thought about this before, but the more I write it I think that would be fun in a fanfic AU kind of way. But also I like the idea of a wizard detective. It just feels fun. Who knows maybe I'll flesh out this idea over on the WGC Patreon. I want to practice working on longer shows anyway.

17. What’s something that inspired your show?

Okay, back when I was a teen there was this webseries called Carmilla that came out. And I loved it very very much. And then the production company (KindaTV) dropped this other show called Barbelle which is a semi-whimsical webseries about a musical duo, Barbelle, that is made up of this couple (Alice and Veronica). However, by the time the series starts they are broken up because of a lot of reasons, but a very big chip on Alice's shoulder is the fact that Veronica has very serious problems with drugs and alcohol.

It has two seasons, and the ending of the show is pretty melancholy I'll be honest, but when I was watching this show back in 2017 it struck a pretty deep chord. It was just such good writing and so compelling.

I hadn't been watching it when I started writing Small Victories in March 2019, but when I think about it now I can definitely see that some of the things I was/am doing in SV were influenced by Barbelle.

[bvannn]

Weekly Update January 5, 2024

I’m still recovering slowly. I never mentioned this because I want to be as vague as I can about my big congenital medical issue, but the surgery last week removed some tissue that affects my endocrine system, and now that it’s gone I’m having some problems with my mood. I have a medicine that corrects it, but I need to wait another week and a half to get my dosage adjusted, so all next week I’m going to be volatile which sucks. Stomach has seemingly gotten better though so hopefully that pain was just caused by those cysts and nothing else was wrong. Sorry if I ramble on a bit too much tonight, I am loopy because of the endocrine stuff so I might go on too long. Anyway artstuffs.

I got a music project done. It was for Mav, and it was pretty small but I stayed up all night working on it. Working on it I discovered a big set of plugins that I got somewhere that look to be automatically doing some of that balancing I was worried about. I still need to double check what exactly it can do, since I’d like a widener plugin, but I don’t want to stack my brain over it if I already have one. I have a few ideas floating around for the next song thing, I’m a bit hesitant on continuing that vocal one I haven’t finished because I watched a bunch of videos today in the bad lyrics of the Wish soundtrack, and the lady kept bringing up cadence and pentameter which are concepts I know about but can’t hear. Like, pentameter is supposed to be the natural inflection a syllable has, but like whenever I hear it, I just hear the inflection of the vocalist. I think I’m overthinking it, since she used a writing scheme to explain it and I think the vocaloid software uses that same writing scheme so maybe I can learn through practice? Or I can just write lyrics that match the melody and call it good as long as the flow sounds natural because of subconscious understanding, like how I figured out how to do harmonies. Whatever. Music theory is hard but my stupid will and brute force is harder.

Other instrumental things I’ve been kinda thinking about include a little Zelda medley that I already recorded the melodies and stuff for, instrumental themes for my OCs because of course. And then I kinda want to just do a big fat medley that goes on for like an hour-ish because I love those kinds of medleys they’re great for car rides and stuff. And the final two I’m thinking about would be for animation memes: either an arcade beat-em-up style boss fight sounding theme, or a cover of a 90s pop-punk-rock (idk what genre) song. I think that one would be cool because I could use it as promotional stuff for a comic.

Oh yeah that O’Malley comic! I actually did good thumbnail work on that this week! I was going to do more today but mood and sleep schedule were wonky, plus I had a meeting this morning, so good chance I’ll put it off until tomorrow. But either way, chipping away at it, trying to watch more movies so I can get better at understanding shot comp, watched Kill Bill part 1 last night and wasn’t expecting it to be like, the best fucking movie ever? Like why does everyone talk about it like ‘eh it’s pretty good’ like no that shit was *Phenomenal*! Hoping part 2 lives up to the first, planning to watch it maybe tomorrow night? Definitely before I go back to uni. Anyway pitch comic is coming along nice, after it’s drawn I can either work on the rest of that story or a pitch for the secondary story I’ve been working on, depending on demand. Right now leaning towards series, since I have general synopsies for a couple more general ‘episodes’.

Also only done like one general drawing for comsheet practice hehehe it’s fine I can try others as time comes and is appropriate. Also did epithet stuff but not as much as I’d like. My original plan tonight was to work on TTRPG stuff but maybe I’ll do writing or thumbnailing instead. Or maybe both.

TRGA: got shot 1-4 done enough. Also got Jon tweened for 1-5. I need to clean him up and do his face and stuff. Tonight maybe if I’m having trouble focusing on the other stuff I’ll clean him up, I think I want to go back to that ‘one significant development a day’ schedule I was on for a bit, but pushed a bit further since I have better strategies now. I’ve also started the ‘every time I sit down and open clip studio I’m going to draw one (1) prop’ strategy so hopefully props won’t be as bad in the future either (even the ones I can’t just recycle). Tomorrow if I’m doing better I’ll try to get 1-5 Jon’s face done (and clean him up too if I don’t tonight) and maybe do another drawing. Maybe more epithet TTRPG stuff maybe not.

I’m trying to get my priorities back in order. 1) TRGA 2) Comic work 3) fix your commissions 4) other projects. Inspiration is fickle though so I’m really all over the place. My mood being volatilized is also not helping but I’ll keep going until my brain explodes. For now I’m able to plan out enough with time for sleep and stuff. I don’t know what’s exactly going to happen when classes start but I am taking *fewer* credits than normal so theoretically that means more time.

[charissekenion]

Usually the process for this newsletter goes one of two ways; the first way is ultra-planned and I’ll be sure to divide the content into different sections. The second way is I’ll just wake up with inspiration and write it down like a stream of consciousness.

This week though, I made several notes on things I wanted to talk about - Doja Cat AT Schiaparelli! Mikayla Noguiera’s allegedly fake lashes! I started writing the newsletter last night but was feeling tired so I just left it on draft. However, once I got into bed last night I decided that I would probably leave the newsletter until next week, because I knew there were several tasks on my list for today and I love a Friday admin tidy up. IYKYK.

The subject of the TikTok (and accompanying podcast) is ‘90s model Jenny Shimizu, a self-proclaimed ‘gay Japanese car mechanic with short hair and tattoos’ who went on to inspire a generation of Asian and queer women who felt completely unseen by fashion, beauty and media.

The response so far has been over 1million views, over 22,000 saves and over 1,200 comments. This is a record for a small creator like me; I’ve been consistently posting (as in a couple of videos per week) since September 2022 but I really just joined TikTok to find a different audience. Instagram has been a dry and dusty desert for a while now, and I’ve intentionally been spending less time over there. For me TikTok has this sense of opportunity to find others that like similar things. I have never thought of it in a financial sense or ever really cared about accruing followers. Instead it feels like a place where I get to do what I want; which is often to talk about makeup, moments in beauty, people who have made a mark on me.

Occasionally something will inspire me and also be newsworthy, such as Doja Cat at Schiaparelli covered in red Swarovski crystals. Before this Jenny video, that video was my most popular - but even if it hadn’t been, I still would have made it. And if Jenny only reached 10 people, and ONE of them told me ‘yes, Jenny was the only person who helped me feel seen’, then I would be so happy.

Someone interviewed me the other day as part of a podcast prep and they asked me about my purpose and why I do what I do. Honestly, it might sound corny but I really do see beauty in everything/everyone and I’m curious about it and I think I want others to feel curious too. So when I make a video, it’s actually for me, in the sense that, I enjoy sharing the information or story.

The comments on this video are 99.9% positive - which is a first, and of course, could absolutely change - and they are split between love and desire. There are a lot of women in the comments talking about how Jenny was their obsession back in the ‘90s, how they discovered her in teen drama Foxfire and wish she’d actually married Angelina Jolie (full info in the TikTok if you’re intrigued!).

But the most important comments are from young Asian women who hadn’t seen Jenny before. To see people saying ‘thank you’ on a video means more than anything. Many of those thank yous have been women who are simply happy to be reminded of Jenny’s existence. A comment from producermama reads: ‘I remember having 0 beauty role models as an Asian woman and adored Jenny. I buzzed my hair in 1989 BC of her and loved it.’ Pinkorchid wrote: ‘Being Asian, she was an idol to me.’ These comments are the reason I make videos and why I’m sharing this ramble today. I hope it inspires you to create things you truly feel, without worrying about The Algorithm. Until then, listen to the Jenny Shimizu episode of BeautyMe, or check out my TikTok!

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMYL1UQsY/

[barbwritesstuff]

Top 5 TV series!

I forgot I put that 'top five' thing into my queue and wasn't sure what prompted this message until I scrolled back through my blog.

Thanks for the ask, anon! I hope you're ready for some unpopular (and very dated) picks.*

5. Art Attack

Look, I was a lonely kid. For much of my childhood it was just me and my brother... and this very keen British man who taught me how to turn scrap paper, paint, and foil into my own spaceship cockpit. Ideas from this show allowed me to decorate my room as a kid, got me through high school art class, and saved my arse several times when I was a kindergarten teacher in South Korea.

One of the best informational programmes ever made. They should bring it back.

4. Air Crash Investigation

I'm sorry. I know it's cheap. I know it's tacky. I know all that. But I love this show. I love learning about and solving mysteries that aren't murders (sorry Sherlock), and the terrible acting makes it so much better. I can't watch this show with people, because I always try to guess the cause of the crash before the end of the episode and yell it out... and I don't know anything about planes to I'm usually very wrong.

Example:

Me: "It's the bulkhead! Check the bulkhead, you fools!"

Voice over: "The investigators check the bulkhead, but find nothing."

Me: "Yes! Because it's clearly the wings, like I've been saying all along."

3. Justice League Animated Series

I got into this series really late. I'd just moved out of home for the first time to go to film school and was having a hard time making friends. I don't know how it happened, but I somehow ended up watching the entirety of the DC Animated Universe during that time, which is impressive, because internet was expensive and terrible where I was living, so I had to go to the library, download episodes, and walk the 45 minutes home carrying my massive old laptop. It was a feat, but it was worth it. This show did what the Avengers couldn't, made me love superheroes.

2. Yu-Gi-Oh!

When I was 12 I was the best Yugioh player in my school. Sure, it wasn't a big school, and not everyone was into the game, but it was still a big deal for me, especially as I was also the only girl who played. The game has since evolved way beyond my skill level, but at the time, I was a god among mortals. 12 year old mortals, but still. I got up early every morning to see the latest episode, and then I went to school ready to d-d-d-d-duel.

Xena: Warrior Princess

I'm sorry. This show is just so nostalgic for me. For a while, I grew up on a farm with no actual TV signal, but we did have old VHS recordings of Xena and I watched it religiously. Lucy Lawless is amazing and this show is forever the best thing to come out of the 90s (and I say that while also, myself, being a product of the 90s). It has:

Monsters

Magic

Mayhem

Queer Love (not explicitly stated, but this wasn't queerbaiting, this was censorship, they were a couple by the mid point of the series, they just couldn't say it, so instead they made a lot of unsubtle sex jokes and came up with obscure reasons why they always had to kiss to save the world).

Aotearoa (New Zealand is the most beautiful place on the planet, I'm sorry if you disagree, you are wrong).

Tonal whiplash (not just between episodes, but sometimes in the same episode, and it was wild)

One very horny vampire episode

Xena can sometimes fly without any explanation

They met an early reincarnation of Jesus and he was a conman living in India?

You know that scene where Character A gets hurt and Character B goes absolutely feral? This.

Leather bikinis and ninja kicks except it's ancient Greece, maybe

The musical episode was the best episode

They fight on ladders a lot and I just think that's neat

*Disclaimer: I am into more modern and normal things but I'm in a nostalgic mood, so these are the things you get to hear about today.

[cyanide-latte]

Got to thinking again today about pirating media and how many people make it about a moral quandary and how we here on Tumblr tend to be very gung-ho about pirating and this time in particular it boiled down to what I think the root is of why I'm largely okay with it.*

(*please take note, this post is about pirating platform-exclusive movies and shows. I do not support or condone piracy of books, comics/graphic novels or manga unless literally no other option is available to you. I've been a teen who had no choice but to read awful scanlations for manga growing up because I wasn't able to or allowed to purchase physical copies or even borrow them from the library. So I know that struggle, and I'm sympathetic to a degree. But please support your libraries, ask the librarians to teach you how to use the system, and use it to help support authors and artists before it is a legal and free way that actually helps. If you are in a situation where you have literally no choice for now, I recommend being responsible and trying to either buy the physical books when you can to help make things up or use a library when you are finally able to and borrow the materials, in order to still show support.)

This is probably my age showing but when I was a kid, we recorded shit on the VCR all the time. Buying actual movies was still something we did when we could, but in the 90s, stuff on VHS could get as high as $40 [USD] sometimes. Not all of them were, but the prices tended to be high enough we couldn't really afford to buy them ourselves; those had to be asked for as Christmas or birthday gifts, and even that wasn't a guarantee we'd open a rectangular gift to find a brand-new clamshell of the newest Disney movie.

But you know what we could afford to get? Blank video tapes. Depending on the brand and the length of the tape strip, they could cost as little as $3.99, and you could often get multiple blank tapes for a decent price. (I vaguely recall a half-dozen pack of tapes for maybe $25? We got a few of those when I was around 7 or 8 y.o.) And we would use that "Record" function on the VCR. We caught movies on the TV way less often than we would have liked because without a TVGuide or knowing someone who kept up with movie showtimes on various channels, you were kind of at the mercy of fate and fortune. Plus, we rarely tried to record a TV run of a movie if it was one we knew we REALLY wanted to buy on VHS.

Ah but shows! Shows we could generally depend on. You learned what channel(s) it played on and when, and you'd time it so you could record your episode(s), commercials included, and stop recording at the end of it. Presto! I could watch my episodes of Batman the Animated Series or Wishbone whenever I wanted. I'd have it forever (well, for as long as the tape can last anyway) even if the show went off the air and it didn't get any real VHS release. Lots of shows did get VHS releases, but they were limited to maybe three random episodes per tape, and were not usually for regular sale at most retailers; they were on the shelves of rental video stores and we couldn't keep them.

Until we got a special VCR that allowed us to record a copy of a tape onto one of our blanks. Again, not an endeavor we really did with movies, but when the family decided we were going to move in the future and wouldn't be sure we'd have a Blockbuster or Hollywood Video or Family Video wherever we were moving to, there'd be a burst of going to the nearest rental chain and carefully picking the tapes we knew we loved and wanted to be able to watch again, renting them for a couple of days, and putting that copy/record VCR to work before returning the proper copy back to the video store. Or if some friends had a movie and we wouldn't see them again, there was often an offer to record copies of their tapes. Didn't happen often but it was a handy solution to the desire to have access to the media in the long-term, and it wasn't looked down on as far as I can ever remember, because everyone recorded stuff on blank tapes and none of those people had no major moral crises about making copies in order to have the movies/shows they loved.

Now, when DVDs came out, things got a little bit different. DVD players and DVDs were expensive at the start, so the cost of all VHS tapes gradually started dropping. As with pretty much anything, pirating DVDs took off before long and soon just about every DVD had that in-your-face message about piracy, reminding you that copying and selling bootleg DVDs was illegal and "piracy isn't a victimless crime". I only vaguely recall being annoyed with DVD piracy, because what bootlegs I tended to see were extremely bad quality, and it was more annoyance at the idea that you could be swindled out of your money for something of barely-watchable quality. (I was 10 at the time and had not ever yet had to face the idea I could one day fall victim to being swindled myself, cut me just a little bit of slack there.) But to me it didn't really seem any different than what everyone I knew or ever interacted with did with VHS tapes. Selling the bootlegs to make your own profit, that I did eventually get; a chunk of a movie or show's success soon came to depend on DVD sales, and for a while I was very anti-piracy in that regard. But I never saw an issue with like, making DVD copies to trade with friends if we were able to do that.

Now it's 2022 and we are so inundated with streaming platforms left-right-and-center, I don't have regular TV channels or cable or satellite. I use a streaming platform to find what I want to watch, or a pirating site if what I want to watch isn't available otherwise. I also have a very large DVD and Blu-ray collection, and I use them regularly. And, the more and more so many streaming platforms release "exclusive" movies or shows that you won't be able to watch anywhere else and that they have no intent of making physical releases of? The more and more I find myself reverting to the mindset I had as a kid, wanting to make a copy of that Swan Princess tape we could only find at Blockbuster but couldn't afford to constantly rent. It isn't that I don't want to support the movies or shows themselves, or the people who pour themselves into making something I love. I want to support them in any way I can, including watching it on the platform if I have access to said platform.

But sometimes those platforms just...quietly remove the titles they've carried. Sometimes they jack their prices too high and I can't afford to keep paying that fee month after month because it stacks over time. Most often, I want to collect the media physically so I have the opportunity to revisit it in the future whenever I want, especially if I have a friend who has never seen it or even had access to it before. Physical media is wonderful, and there's something special about owning it. It's the same kind of special magic that it's always been about when I was 10 and could hold a freshly recorded VHS tape with episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess on it and know it was mine now for keeps.

This has already been quite a lengthy ramble and it's very colored by a sense of nostalgia, but for once I think that nostalgia really has come in handy for explaining why my outlook on something like pirating shows and movies is the way it is. I don't like this platform-exclusive direction; it's more or less just another paywall that can prevent entire swathes of potential audiences from connecting with movies and shows, and at this point, it's becoming almost too much for me to keep up with. So no, I have no moral quandary about cancelling subscriptions at some point and pirating episodes and movies and burning them onto a physical copy for keeps, and any reservations I used to have about buying bootlegs? Gone. I've seen blu-ray bootleg releases of platform-exclusive media that are much higher and more accessible quality than some official stuff, especially the made-on-demand stuff. At this point, I gotta respect the hustle and I can't complain about someone who burns a DVD better than I could.

Yo ho ho, y'all.