#Zilch Podcast

[thislovintime]

Photo 1 scanned from 16 magazine.

Q: “Are you happy being a Monkee [?]” Peter: “‘Happy’ is a word with many definitions and connotations. It’s also relative. In some ways, I’m always happy. In others, I’ll never be happy. Actually that word is one of the many examples of the inadequacies or faults of the English language. Chinese, for instance, has some tremendous number of words for love, each describing the exact kind of love: mother love, friendship love, physical love, mental love, puppy love, married love, teacher-student love, animal love and on and on. But there’s no one word for love, encompassing all these meanings. Anyway, to get back to the question, sometimes I’m happy being a Monkee and sometimes I’m not. This is my fault. Well, not really fault, but because of the way I am, not because of the show or the other boys or the people we work with. Being a Monkee is not an end, but a means to another end. What end, I don’t know.” - Flip, August 1967

“I’ve always been a clown. I did comedy-variety shows and minstrel shows in high school and college. On the Village stages all you could do is throw out a few one-liners; basically you’re up there to sing and pass the basket. This opened up a whole new area that I hadn’t been able to explore so fully before. I was hoping to base further experience on that and eventually expand, but that didn’t happen, which was disappointing. But my goal was always to wend my way merrily through life, playing my little banjo and my little guitar and singing my songs.” - Peter Tork, When The Music Mattered (1984) (x)

“In earthly human terms, nothing comes from nothing. There’s a lovely lady who was my mom’s best friend for years, is still happily living in La Jolla. Went to visit her recently and she said, ‘You know, that way you are, that kind of funny, experimental, off-beat... you’ve been that way since — I knew you when you were two, you were like that.’ And, so, where does it come from? You know, I can’t say I generated that, I didn’t create that, I’m not — that’s not my doing, and yet, whatever it was that came to the table through me, I’m the canal. So I get to watch it go on, and the same is true of everybody and everything.” - Peter Tork, interviewed by Ken Mills, Zilch podcast no. 67, 2016

[idkmanwtfishumanityanymore]

GOOOOOOOOOOOD EVENING DWELLERS OF TUMBLR AND TSBS FANS ALIKE! I JUST FINISHED COOKIN’ UP A NEW ESSAY. HOPE Y’ALL CAN TOLERATE HEAT, CAUSE THIS ONES GONNA BE SPICY

FIRST FUCKING OFF, USING THEM AS CLICKBAIT? AGAIN? REALLY? WOOOOOOOW GREAT TO SEE YOU’VE LEARNED NOTHING. GREAT TO SEE Y’ALL DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THE FANBASE.

SECOND OFF, OHOHOHOHO BOY. HOLD MY MENTOS GUM AND SPRITE, BECAUSE THIS IS GONNA GET FUCKING UGLY.

OKAY SO LIKE 2 MINTUES IN YOU’RE DRILLING IT INTO EVERYONE THAT THE TWINS ARE “IRREDEEMABLE”, WHEN AS I’VE SAID BEFORE, THEY FUCKING AREN’T. WE *SAW* THAT THEY COULD HAVE HAD ATLEAST A CHANCE WHEN THEY LIVED WITH FOXY AND FC.

AND YOU’RE SAYING THAT BLOODMOON HAVING A CODE WITHIN THEM THAT *MADE* THEM *NEED* TO KILL AND CONSUME BLOOD, WHICH IS ALREADY CANONICALLY ESTABLISHED SEVERAL *FUCKING* TIMES, IS A HEADCANON WE MADE UP???? WHAT???

OH AND DON’T EVEN GET ME *STARTED* ON ECLIPSES WHOLE “I made them to cause chaos” BULLSHIT. YOU MADE THEM, *FOR KILLING*. I IMPLORE ANYONE READING TO PULL UP THE RECEIPTS FOR THESE, BECAUSE THEY *FUCKING EXIST,* AND STITCHWRAITH HAD THE *GALL* TO SAY “THEY’LL ACCUSE US OF RETCONNING”, OF COURSE WE’LL SAY YOU’RE RETCONNING WHEN *LITERALLY* FUCKING *ARE.*

I’D HAVE REALLY THOUGHT YOU’D STOP BEING *DICKS* TO YOUR COMMUNITY AFTER WE COLLECTIVELY CAME TOGETHER TO PROTEST LAES BEING TERMINATED, BUT NOOOOOOOOOOO.

THIS WHOLE EPISODE WAS JUST THEM SHITTING ON US, EITHER BY SHITTING ON OUR THEORIES, OR JUST SHITTING ON US IN GENERAL, THEY WERE JUST BEING DICKS TO THEIR ENTIRE COMMUNITY, NOT *JUST* BLOODMOON DEFENDERS THIS TIME.

BACK TO THE BLOODMOON TOPIC THOUGH, ECLIPSE SWID THAT THIS PODCAST WAS OF “IRREDEEMABLE VILLAINS”, SO WHY THE *FUCK* IS HE THERE WHEN HE’S *HAD* A CANON REDEMPTION ARC? WHY IS STITCHWRAITH THERE WHEN THEY GOT A HINTED AT REDEMPTION OF SORTS BY SAVING FOXY AND FC?? WHY ARE 2 VILLAINS WHO’VE CANONICALLY HAD SOME FORM OF REDEEMING QUALITY, ON A PODCAST OF “IRREDEEMABLE VILLAINS”, BUT STILL SAY THAT BLOODMOON IS COMPLETELY IRREDEEMABLE?

PAIRING THEM WITH THE OTHER ACTUALLY REDEEMED OR SEMI-REDEEMABLE CHARACTERS JUST *PROVES OUR POINT.*

THE TWINS, COULD HAVE BEEN, REDEEMED. MUST I REMIND EVERYONE THAT BLOODY COMPLETELY *BROKE* INSIDE WHEN HIS BROTHER DIED? DOES ANYONE WHO CAN BE SO UTTERLY BROKEN AND NUMB FROM A LOSS, REALLY COUNT AS IRREDEEMABLE?

FROM WHAT I’VE RESEARCHED, (AND YES. I DO FUCKING RESEARCH ON THIS SHIT), IRREDEEMABLE MEANS THEY HAVE *ZERO* REDEEMING QUALITIES, NONE, NADA, ZILCH.

BEING UTTERLY AND COMPLETELY BROKEN OVER THE LOSS OF A LOVED ONE, IS NOT WHAT WOULD BE IN AN “IRREDEEMABLE VILLIAN”, BECAUSE HAVING ANY REDEEMING QUALITIES, *MAKES THEM REDEEMABLE.*

TELL ME, READERS, WHEN YOU THINK OF A COMPLETELY IRREDEEMABLE, DISGUSTING, HORRIBLE VILLAIN, DO YOU THINK OF;

A: Someone with no remorse, no sympathy or empathy, no attachment to anyone, and just a pure drive to torment and slaughter

OR

B: Someone who is completely and utterly SHATTERED by the loss of a loved one, to the point they begin to lose themself, lose the will to live, and actively TRY to die. Someone who can and DOES feel sympathy and empathy, but only for people they care about?

Me personally, from my research, A IS IRREDEEMABLE, AND B IS REDEEMABLE.

GUESS WHICH ONE IS FUCKING B???

BLOODMOON.

I WILL NOT BE SILENCED. I WILL NOT TOLERATE BEING TREATED (even if not PERSONALLY) LIKE I’M *CRAZY* FOR DEFENDING A CLEARLY REDEEMABLE CHARACTER.

I WILL NOT TOLERATE THEM BACKTRACKING AND RETCONNING PRE-ESTABLISHED LORE JUST TO FIT THEIR *OWN PREFERENCES*

while sure, some may argue; “These are *their* characters, *their* story, and *they’re* the ones in control of it, not us!”

THAT DOESN’T GIVE THEM THE RIGHT TO FLAT OUT CLAIM WE’RE MENTALLY UNSTABLE FOR DEFENDING A FICTIONAL CHARACTER WHO JUST SO HAPPENS TO BE A MURDER HOBO.

I, AND MANY OTHERS, ARE FUCKING *SICK* OF BEING CALLED CRAZY, UNSTABLE, MENTALLY DERANGED, INSANE, ETC, FOR DEFENDING A FICTIONAL CHARACTER, WHOSE WORST CRIME IS A BODY COUNT IN THE THOUSANDS.

PEOPLE DEFEND CHARACTERS WITH WORSE CRIMES ALL THE TIME, AND SURE THE FANBASE ITSELF CALLS THEM (rightfully, especially if they’re defending a character whose S/A’d people before) CRAZY, BUT DO THE CREATORS CALL THEM CRAZY? NO? BUT THE WRITERS HERE CAN CALL US DERANGED FOR DEFENDING A COMPLETELY FICTIONAL MURDERER?

THE MATH, ISN’T, MATHING.

THEY JUST DON’T WANT TO HAVE TO ADMIT THAT THEY DESTROYED A CHARACTER WITH POTENTIAL TO BE A BETTER PERSON, BECAUSE THEY COULD. BECAUSE THEY DON’T CARE HOW IT’LL AFFECT THEIR FANBASE. BECAUSE THEY DON’T CARE THAT PEOPLE WILL RIGHTFULLY BOYCOTT THEIR CHANNEL AND SCREW THEIR “BUSINESS”.

IT’S FURTHER PROVEN THAT THEY’RE JUST MAKING UP FOR THEIR MISTAKES AS SHITTY WRITERS, BY THROWING THE TWINS AT US IN THE MOST CLICKBAITY WAY POSSIBLE AND ESSENTIALLY SAYING; “HERE TAKE YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTER AND SHUT UP ALREADY”.

This concludes my… *calculating how long it took me to write this bc of how many breaks I had to take from being livid* overnight essay about the recent clickbait usage of BloodMoon and the writers “justification” of their actions via retconning. Eat up, feel free to add on, I’m gonna go fucking die now.

(For legal reasons, by die, I mean sleep because of how mentally draining this whole ordeal is and consistently will be until they fix their fuck ups or atleast admit to it.)

[shc2c]

The Mysterious Case of Sonic Movie 3 Marketing

An Op-Ed by Malzilla

Let me say this right off the bat, I am not an expert in marketing. I took Marketing classes in college for my business minor but most of it was pretty entry level but it gave me a solid foundation to understand most companies' marketing plans. Or at least try to see the method or goal behind the madness to get a scope of what they’re trying to do. But Paramount’s treatment of Sonic 3 is bizarre. We got toys, plushies etc out in stores before the first trailer. 

Sonic Movie 3 has me utterly baffled. Because here we are exactly four months/120 days (122 days at the time of this writing) and do far zip zilch nada. 

The last OFFICIAL news we got for the movie was back on Feb 2nd when the twitter released a little teaser showing the logo as well as some of the additional human cast members. Sure Jon Campea on his Podcast YT show announced that Keanu would play Shadow and was pretty much confirmed by official Hollywood outlets in April but no official word from Paramount has been given. They’ve been radio silent for months know, save for a few weeks in April to promote the Knuckles TV show

So why the wait? Some folks I have talked to may think there may be some internal stuff going on, but I doubt it. Yes Paramount is getting ready to merge with Skydance and some layoffs have happened but I don’t think that would affect much of the Sonic movie day to day. 

So here we are at four months till release and we’re all wondering “It’s go time right? RIGHT?” 

I would think so. And so has the rest of the Sonic Fandom. But alas we’re still waiting for the green light to go. So when is that green light coming? 

Soon.

I hope.

Honestly, I don’t know. But looking at two other films marketing that run some parallels to S3 as well as some key dates in the next  four months. I'm going to throw some ideas out there. 

First off let's look at the marketing on Sonic 2. Movie was released April 8th 2022, and its first official trailer was released on Dec 9th at the 2021 VGAs (it also had a poster released the day prior on the 8th). So right at the four month mark. They followed up with some TV spots and a special Pre Super Bowl TV spot in February AND then the final Trailer March 14th. So a fairly dense four month marketing campaign. 

The other film to look at is Spider-man No Way Home, which like Sonic 3 had a December release date. NWH after months of rumors and lack of promotion (sound familiar) debuted its first teaser trailer on August 23rd 2021; roughly four months prior to its Dec 17th release date. It also had another final trailer on Nov 16th; roughly one month prior. 

So if we look at both of them we see a very similar four month marketing campaign. So what does that mean for Sonic 3? Let's work backward from the release date till now. The following are dates of significance, IMO to both Paramount, Pop/Nerd/Game culture etc: 

Dec 20th - Release Date 

The Long Wait will be over and we all bask in the Living and Learning of it all 

Nov 28th - Thanksgiving - Possible 2nd Trailer.

Given that Paramount has put Sonic TV spots before Football games before, I would not be surprised if we got the 2nd Trailer during Half Time of the CBS game that airs in the morning of Thanksgiving. This also aligns with the roughly 1 month prior benchmark as seen with both S2 and NWH. 

NYCC Oct 17th-20th - TV Spots/Behind the Scenes/Movie Clip

While this date kinda is little too soon for a second trailer, it would be a great time to bring out the whole cast and do some promotion with the masses and maybe some TV spots or a small clip. 

Transformers One Release Sep 20th - PONR for First Trailer 

I think I can safely say that the absolute LATEST we can expect a trailer for Sonic 3 would nex month with the release of Transformers One. Paramount would have to be utterly brainless NOT to have a trailer for Sonic playing in front of their other Family Nerd Oriented IP.

Gamescom 2024 Oct 20h - 25th - Trailer Release 

Kinda funny how the Opening Night Ceremony for Gamescom just so happens to fall on both the four month till release mark AND a Tuesday (Paramount usually releases trailers on Tues/Thurs)? We KNOW SEGA will be there with more SonicXShadow Generations, but really the movies are more Paramount’s game than SEGAs so there is no guarantee it will be released. BUT Paramount has passed on both Summer Game Fest AND San Diego Comic Con. Everything seems aligned for a reveal on Tuesday. I guess we’ll know if we get a poster revealed  tomorrow. 

Now personally I would have started ramping up the marketing with SDCC. Because right now the two biggest competitors that Sonic 3 is going to have in Dec are Kraven and Mufassa. And both of these movies have had TWO trailers released for it.  With Kraven it makes sense since it was originally supposed to be released back in 2023 but then got pushed back 3 times. So I guess Sony thinks it can rack up a solid week one before the family holiday push. Mufassa on the other hand is going to be the big one to beat as family’s will no doubt flock to the much anticipated origin of Mufasa! That last part was sarcasm but this part is not: they need to get the word out to the casuals. I’ve talked to a lot of Non Sonic who are genuinely excited to see Keanu play Shadow. And the time is right to get them hooked. 

So in the end, I will say that I’m like Jon Snow and I “know nothing” but I do know we're getting to the point where it’s time for paramount to lace up its sneakers and get going. Whether it's this week or the next or maybe till the opening of Transformers One. But I would recommend Paramount not dilly dally. Sonic Fans are easily frustrated and can turn rabid quickly. 

[castielsfeatheredballs]

I love deep dives into fandom history, so I tried out the podcast @thisweekinfandomhistory; I listened to the episode about the Johnlock conspiracy and it was overall very interesting and informative. However, I don't think I will listen to any more episodes, due to the hosts taking several (imo) unwarranted potshots at the Reylo fandom throughout.

I do ship Reylo and used to be pretty active in the fandom, so obviously I took it personally, but since I was liking the content I tried to examine whether I was overreacting, and I don't think I was for the following reasons:

The host offhandedly mentioned that their gripes were that the fandom is 'racist and antisemitic'. Okay. Are there racist Reylos? Of course. It is (was?) a big fandom. Every big fandom has all kinds of people, and fans within then form their own groups. I was lucky enough to quickly find my people, the leftist Reylos. Reylos actually put me in touch with some of the most genuinely progressive people I know, in fandom and irl. As far as I saw, the Reylo fandom was also one of the few factions who were vocally pro Rose Tico in the cesspool that is Star Wars fandom.

I'm not trying to claim my experience it reflective of the whole fandom, but I am also not about to take these pretty serious claims at face value, especially since 1. I tried to look for a deep dive into the Reylo fandom in their playlist to see where they were coming from and found zilch (my sincere apologies if there is, I will listen to it) 2. The podcast hosts are seemingly MCU fans?? This perplexed me so much. They seem intelligent and aware of fandom dynamics, are in a big and honestly pretty problematic fandom themselves and can't grasp how ridiculous it is to say that 'x fandom AS A GROUP is...' uh, ok.

I'm a bit sad that I don't be able to listen to more episodes, since the topic is a genuine interest of mine, but I'm not in the mood for one of my passions to be randomly insulted without an actual well-constructed argument. Again, my experience within the Reylo fandom has been largely positive, and I found the self-policing even a bit overzealous whenever a fic or writer was called out due to problematic elements.

I did appreciate the hosts clarifying that they wouldn't go bother reylos--or other fandoms they dislike--by trolling the tag or sending anon hate etc. since sadly, that is never a given on the internet. That's just basic decency though, so I still don't feel, well, not-insulted.

Also, it annoyed me since the episode was on a completely different topic. Again, if it was an actual analysis of the Reylo fandom I would be down to listen to it and reflect on things I might have overlooked or excused. However, throwaway unrelated comments are not giving me any food for thought, they just read as insults.

I am also aware that not everything on the Internet is for me and that I can just stop listening, which I will. Not happily, because it seems like otherwise interesting content and very much in my ballpark. I guess something that annoyed me and prompted this rant instead of just closing the tab was, I personally tried really hard to internalize the thought that, no matter how much bad behaviour I see coming from a particular fraction of a fandom, there is likely a much larger portion of fans that are chill and doing their own thing, and you don't see them specifically because--if you are not in that fandom--the only people you see are the ones acting out of pocket and they're giving you a false impression of the whole fandom. That's the kind of approach I would like to see in any fandom analisys--deep dive, besides the fact that I took it personally this time.

[trulybetty]

oct' 21 x acorns

Prompt: acorns Pairing: tim rockford x f!reader Word Count: 724 Warnings: T+ mentions of crimes & a touch of spice. Summary: pretty proud of this one and it's use of the prompt 😋 tim knows the way to your heart is discussing the latest research for your podcast.

x. masterlist

“Acorns? You moving into squirrel crimes now sweetheart?”

“Ha ha,” you responded dryly,  “ACORNS, the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network.” He raised an eyebrow in interest, you weren’t sure if this was the result of learning what the acronym was for or if it had something to do with you starting the process of peeling off your t-shirt.

When you looked back at him, once the shirt was up and over your head, he was adjusting himself where he was sitting up against the headboard of the bed, his glasses now folded on top of the book he had been reading when you’d entered the room.

“So,” he began, a soft smile playing at his lips as he crossed his arms at his bare chest, “what’s caught your eye?” he asked.

You smiled back at him, a genuine one - he knew the way to your heart, true crime.

“So,” you started, turning to the dresser as you unhooked your bra, “so they were seeing an increase in reports on ACORNS, right? You've got your standard mix of fraud, identity theft, all the usual cybercrime stuff. Nothing to write home about right?”

“But?” Tim pressed, playing along.

“But what got me curious was a pattern of crimes that looked like random, disconnected incidents targeting average people. We're talking about everything from a cafe owner in Sydney to a retired nurse in Perth. And this has been going on for years.”

"Years?" Tim echoed, intrigued. "And they're just noticing this now?"

“Exactly!” you replied enthusiastically, tossing your bra into the laundry hamper and reaching into the dresser for one of Tim’s oversized shirts, what he wore when he actually had more than five minutes at home between cases. “The reports have only now been made public, and by the looks of it it’s taken them this long to even realize something might be off, and because it’s public knowledge, it’s caught the attention of the armchair detectives who are digging in, but no one can find a connection.”

Tim shifted in his seat again, tapping his fingers against his chest thoughtfully. “Not entirely strange though,” he said. “Cyber crimes are still relatively new. Many countries are sitting on data that they just don’t know what to do with besides selling it. Though, with any crime, patterns usually emerge sooner or later, someone slips up. Have they found anything that could point to a single culprit or group?”

“Nothing. Zilch. That's why it's so bizarre,” you said, shimming out of your jeans and kicking them off before walking over to sit beside him on the bed. “But here's where it gets interesting. When you compare these Australian cases to similar crimes reported in neighbouring countries like New Zealand or Indonesia, little patterns start to stand out.”

Tim raised an eyebrow, his attention fully piqued. “What kind of patterns are we talking about?”

You grinned, thrilled by his obvious interest. “Teeny tiny little anomalies,” you took his glasses and book and placed them on your bedside table, “Specific coding sequences, certain times of the day when the attacks occur, even certain types of targets that are more frequently hit in both regions. Individually, these little things don't really mean much. But when you start looking at them collectively and across borders, it’s like a constellation. You begin to see the outline of something much bigger.”

“Sounds like someone's running a long con,” Tim observed.

He uncrossed his arms as you swung your leg over to straddle his hips, your arms wrapping around his neck to rest on his broad shoulders.

“That's what I'm thinking too,” you said, your voice low as you leaned in to place a kiss on his lips.

Tim's hands slid up your sides, his fingers grazing the bare skin of your back under the t-shirt, “You really shouldn't have bothered.” he said, his voice low and husky.

You leaned in closer, your breath hot against his ear, “Bothered with what?” you whispered feigning cluelessness, trailing kisses down his neck.

“The shirt,” Tim replied, tilting his head back to grant you better access. “You're much better without it.”

You laughed softly, the sound sending shivers down his spine. “I needed something to wear.”

“Who said you needed to wear anything at all?” Tim countered, flipping you both over so he was on top of you.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Weren't Victoria Jackson and Bill Guthy the Republicans the Harkles were hanging out with?! Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm not sure, so I did some research on this.

Victoria Jackson is a makeup guru who got her start selling on QVC. Bill Guthy is her husband who owns a direct-to-consumer marketing company that represents several beauty/make-up brands, including Cindy Crawford's and JLo's, and the company is thought to be one of the first to successfully market celebrity influencers.. They owned the house where Meghan did her photoshoot for The Cut. Victoria and Bill have a daughter that died young from an autoimmune disease and now they run a charitable foundation to fundraise for research on that disease.

Victoria was also on the Archetypes podcast. She was a guest on the 'bitch' episode. (Which, can I just rant about that for a second? What the fuck is Meghan's deal pretending to be so offended by the word that she can only call it "the b word"?)

Supposedly Meghan and Victoria were introduced through Gloria Steinem. They were hanging out around the time that Meghan's PR was teasing a possible beauty brand/influencer deal so I think she was trying to get a deal with Victoria and Bill, which didn't work because six months later she signed with WME and we've heard zilche about them hanging out.

Further, I'm not sure that they're the Republicans that the other anon was asking about. Victoria is currently a cabinet member of the White House Historical Association's council/cabinet, which is traditionally a nonpartisan organization so they don't usually like to hire/staff with people in partisan politics. (They're the ones who do the annual White House Christmas ornaments, which commemorates the historical legacy of the White House and the presidency, never the current occupants of the White House - which was very surprising to learn.)

Beyond that, they do keep their political affiliation very quiet so if they are Republican, well...who's Meghan to care when they have a private jet that she can use?

It's also speculated that their home was used for the Oprah interview too. It seems pretty plausible to me. I bet we'll find out in Meghan's memoir, if she ever writes it.

There is another Victoria Jackson who is much more outspoken in her support for Trump. This Victoria Jackson is a former SNL star from the '90s. In addition to sharing the same name, the women share similar internet brands - SNL Victoria Jackson is on social media with handles victoriajacksonofficial and victoriajackson while Makeup Victoria Jackson's website is officialvictoriajackson - so that could be where the confusion is. It's an easy mistake to make; I've found several articles that did it too.

But long story short, I can't find a record of Victoria Jackson and Bill Guthy's political activisim so I can't say with any certainty that they're the Republicans that Meghan and Harry have been hanging out with.

[lugosis]

no poll yet bc i need to narrow it down and think some more but as i outline the podcast here are some name ideas. yes some of them are just song titles but if zilch can do it why can’t we? pretend all the song titles have something like “a monkees history podcast” attached

[mickgaydolenz]

Listing to Zilch! (The podcast) and they confirmed that coco would be on the tour with Mickey! :)

sorry i legit had to fucking post a reaction of my actual face to this news because i am tearing up i’m going to die j’m going to die i’m going to die i’mg hoginy to die i’m going to die

[literaticat]

An agent at a well-known agency posted a thread on Twitter today detailing what she was labeling “trends in publishing that will define 2023.”Essentially the thread sounded like there’s no point in a querying author even trying traditional pub because everything is more selective than ever before and even if they made it all the way to being published not only will they make zilch, they can count on publishing houses not optioning their future books. Is this just one agent’s opinion or true to what you know/are seeing? It was a very weird thread in my opinion because it sounded like agents shouldn’t have jobs by the end of the year should all of her “trends” come to fruition.

This is the thread I THINK you are talking about. Are you talking about a different thread? Because I didn't get that impression... at all. I fully intend to continue thriving, and I think the landscape is not changing that much for authors -- the agent is stating things that are already very much happening. And they aren't all BAD things? Let's go through the list:

Trade paperbacks will become more important that hardcovers - I mean, yeah, probably, they should do, this is a recession, we want people to buy books, let's not insist that everything always has to be a hardcover for Pete's sake -

List price on books will increase - this is already happening, and it should happen -- book prices have been pretty stable for literally like, DECADES, and at this point they paper and printing costs have gone up so much it is impossible for this NOT to happen.

S&S is still for sale and is profitable - somebody will buy it. Who? This is not a problem, it's just a fact / question?

Bestseller lists will become less useful -- well THANK F&$K if this one comes true, because right now they have a chokehold on the industry and it's disgusting.

Authors won't stick with publishers for more than one/two books - I don't know if I quite agree with that across the board -- but it is true that the days of the "house author" who only ever publishes with one place are pretty much finito. I would say this is not a terrible thing, though -- it basically means authors can be free agents and do what is best for THEM rather than feeling beholden to the whims of one publisher.

Unionization and labor rights will be ongoing conversations - um, that's a good thing. We want people in publishing to be paid fairly.

Newsletters and podcasts are the new Twitter -- sure. I mean, twitter is clearly not as useful as it once was. People will figure out other ways to get the word out about their books.

Power shift - she is describing authors (because of the "free agent"-ness as described in 5) being more willing to show receipts and less willing to put up with bullshit. That's, again, a good thing for authors, no?

BookTok will continue to be a good way to sell books and publishers will start to actually learn how to use it to their advantage. This is not a bad thing either?

So... yeah, I think we just have very different takeaways from this thread.

[thislovintime]

With Valerie Kairys Venet on the set of the TV show, and in 2016. (The last photo is a selfie taken by Peter - as Valerie recalled and shared on Facebook.)

Q: “What was it like having Peter Tork as a roommate [after the pilot episode]?” Valerie Kairys Venet: “Oh, god, it was wonderful. Are you kidding? We made him sing for his supper, my roommate and I. See, I had a roommate and so I called her up and I said, you know, I said, ‘...there’s this actor that I worked with and, you know, he’s from Connecticut and he doesn’t really have a place to stay here and until… you know, we just finished the pilot and, you know, he’s gonna wait for the pilot to be sold. Is it okay if he comes and stays with us?’ She’s an actress, too, you know, and she said, ‘Oh, yeah, sure, we’ll give him the downstairs.’ And I said, ‘Okay.’ So he had the couch in the downstairs, and we made him sing. (Laughs) He was wonderful. He really did enjoy it too, come on, you know. Peter has just been so dear to me and to my son. He’s a wonderful person and I love him dearly. I hope that they all hear me and they know how much I love them.” - Zilch Podcast, No. 20, 2014 “I just fell in love with those guys. They were all so sweet. […] Really the nicest guys in the world. I do consider them family, my TV brothers. I know they do love me and I love them very much. And it was so great on that set. And you’re right, they had so much pressure on them and everything. But every morning on the set, you know, you walk out to see what they’re lighting, get your coffee and whatever, see what they’re lighting or what they’re setting up there, and here comes Davy, big hug, big kiss, you know, ‘Good morning.’ And then, you know, more arms around me, oh, there’s Peter and, you know, ‘Good morning.’ And, you know, hug Micky, hug Michael. And that’s the way we were, my relationship with them: very loving, very loving. To this day. These guys are so, so much a part of my life. [...] And then [Peter] went to stay with Michael and Phyllis, and I took him over to Michael’s house after that. But that was wonderful because Peter was a fine musician, and he — I said, ‘Where’s your banjo?’ And he said, ‘Oh, I had to pawn it, I was broke.’ And I said, ‘Oh, no!’ I said, ‘We can’t have that.’ And so, you know, we went to the pawn shop and I got that out for him. That’s the first time I’m saying this, telling this story publicly. But bless his heart, I loved Peter so much. […] [Peter] was brilliant [as a musician]. He was also a teacher, he was a high school teacher. […] And the students loved him, and that’s something in high school, you know? That’s something in high school. He was such a good person.” - Valerie Kairys Venet, The Vintage Rock & Pop Shop, 89.1 WFDU FM, July 14, 2019 (Photo 3) “Pantages Theatre. The last time I saw Peter. Thank God we got to say ‘I love you.’” - Valerie Kairys Venet, Facebook, September 2019

[aimee-maroux]

Bluesky has already outed themselves as hostile towards sex workers and NSFW creators, avoid if you create anything that is sexy.

My account has been labelled as "sexually suggestive" or something, which is fair, but as everyone has to opt-in to see that kind of content, interactions have been zilch.

Friends who run a non-suggestive podcast also told me their engagement drops when they post for #PhallusThursday which for those who don't know is historical art from antiquity but with dicks.

Pillowfort is community-run as far as I know and probably the better Tumblr at the heart of it, but as someone who also depends on reach it's too small to depend on as of now. I do have an account though. 🙂

Mastodon is the only viable alternative for me so far but it takes time to build an audience if you didn't bring many friends over. It does have users who will complain to you that you're not using it the right way but just block and wave. All in all my personal experience has not worse than on Twitter where I had entitled users and annoying trolls but on Mastodon I have more tools to avoid them.

In my opinion, Mastodon is the only way to go simply because it doesn't belong to any single person or company and isn't driven by profit, which means that it's unlikely that porn will ever be banned wholesale. It is also a mature platform unlike Pillowfort, which I hope will grow in the future.

About algorithms, Mastodon doesn't have any, dunno about Pillowfort, but Bluesky has them.

As a twitter/tumblr user since 2010-2011, I believe I have sufficient grounds to say that currently we as a community are living through the scariest, shittiest time yet. This post isn’t trying to fearmonger, no I’m not leaving tumblr until it literally keels over, but I suggest that we don’t put all our eggs in one basket.

If twitter/tumblr stay usable, great! In the worse scenario, you’d have kept posting on a new platform and stayed ahead of the curve.

This post shares my personal experience with three potential “new”* fandom places, and is aimed to help fellow content creators. I’m an artist fully depending on internet to survive, my reasoning may not apply to you if you’re a hobbyist. Do your own research, it’s always healthy. * Pillowfort and mastodon have been around for 5+ years, bluesky is ~2 years old.

Discovering new people to follow kinda sucks on all three platforms, twitter and tumblr are eons ahead, but, given the recent chaos and uncertainty, I’m willing to be patient, keep posting on those, and feel safer than I would’ve otherwise been. More baskets good, one basket bad.

All three have poor visual customization, don’t expect custom tumblr themes.

This list starts with the least popular, but most human and easy to join, and what I personally trust the most. All three allow nsfw if labeled properly.

✦ Pillowfort is a barebones tumblr. Intuitive, cozy, but currently very, very small. Be patient with its clunkiness or lack of some features, it’s made by an AO3-like team. I’d personally love if the fandom crowd managed to redirect its attention to it instead of the sus bluesky.

Joining: is free, invite-only, but the waitlist is nearly instant.

Lurk around on their official tumblr: @/pillowfort-social

✦ Mastodon, for me personally, is impossible to explain directly. I’ll use several comparisons.

- Discord but all servers can interact. You’re still on a server curated by some human(s) that might tell you what you can and can’t post, BUT, if you don’t like that server’s policy, you can move to a new one while keeping your followers. - Email, users A and B may be registered on different domains, still they can talk. It’s a weird comparison, but fediverse (please I’m not explaining THAT but it’s a good thing) in general looks like another email story: unlike big sites that come and go, it might stand the test of time. - Someone compared mastodon’s structure to xiv’s dc and servers, if you look at its domain names that way, it might be easier to understand.

Depending on user, mastodon may feel gatekeepy/snowflakey. I haven’t spent enough time on there to form a proper opinion yet, but a warning’s due.

An actually good and hopeful thing about mastodon AND tumblr: the two might start interacting in future. Ever lamented that your fav asian artists don’t use tumblr? If they use misskey, or any other place on the fediverse, it might be possible to follow them directly from tumblr in future, and vice versa.

Joining: is free, however some servers close for new members sometimes, and have human moderators reviewing your request.

✦ Bluesky is a twitter without Musk: today’s average internet user reads this, drops everything and already looks to register there. It’s still sus, but people flock to it like crazy. Most likely to become the next big fandom place in my eyes, even if I’m not happy about that.

I personally have no good feelings about bluesky. Same as twitter, which I hated even before the 2018 tumblr exodus, yet the crowd decided to make it The New Fandom Place, and, grudgingly, I had to give up and also join them in 2022. During the year I haven’t stopped despising twitter, yet, I can’t deny that it helped me survive. I estimate half of my patrons, and, hell, even tumblr audience, comes from twitter. So, if bluesky ends up being the next hot shit, I’ll have to keep up because internet pays for my living.

Joining: is free but hell, invite-only, the waitlist is a lie, your best chance to join is a direct invite.

This’s all I’ve got to say for now. If you have a correction or an addition, replies/reblogs are welcome!

Screenshots of the current interfaces under the cut, you may spy on my profiles o/

Keep reading

[avandelay20]

Tech CEO says Australia ‘should be the richest country in the world’ in scathing assessment of policy failures

"

Australia “should be the richest country in the world” but instead is facing the “mother of all cost-of-living crises”.

Outspoken Freelancer chief executive Matt Barrie appeared on the Equity Mates podcast last week for a wide-ranging discussion covering the housing market, mass immigration, energy policy and cost-of-living.

“The country is f**ked,” Mr Barrie told host Bryce Leske.

“It’s not a functional society anymore. You need people to be able to afford to buy housing and shelter in order to have a functional society."

"In Sydney now the median house price is about $1.8 million, which is mathematically impossible for the average person to buy the average house.”

Mr Barrie said the cost of housing “cascades into everything”, including wages and grocery prices.

“We have blown the mother of all bubbles, which has led to the mother of all cost-of-living crises, which has led to huge problems in a deterioration of society, culture and values of this country, through running the mother of all mass immigration programs,” he said.

“And the politicians have a lot to answer for, because it’s not really working out for people coming into the country, either.”

Australia’s population has ballooned to 27.1 million people with 388,000 net overseas migrants entering in the first nine months of the 2023-24 financial year, according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) last month.

The latest numbers guarantee the government will blow well past the 395,000 forecast from this year’s budget, after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised to wind back immigration to “sustainable” levels.

A record number of more than one million migrants have entered Australia since Mr Albanese took power in 2022, with India recently overtaking China as the top source.

Mr Barrie argued that given the declining birthrates “there is actually no demand for additional housing in this country”.

“Zero. Nothing. Zilch,” he said.

“Which is pretty shocking I think to most people given the fact they’re probably hanging on for dear life trying to rent or pay their mortgage. The demand is entirely from a completely out-of-control, unhinged and uncalibrated mass immigration program. A mass immigration program where some months we bring 100,000 people into the country … where in a country of 26 million people, there are 2.4 million people on temporary visas.”

He accused Australia’s politicians on both sides of operating a long-running “Ponzi scheme”, where “house prices gently drift up and wages are gently suppressed” through immigration.

“Because the politicians don’t really know how to grow the economy and grow industry, or actually really do anything other than dig up raw materials out of the ground and ship them overseas,” he said.

“You’re running mass immigration into a country where there’s no jobs, other than working for the Ponzi or working for the NDIS.”

Almost one in three jobs created in the 12 months to February were linked to the $42 billion National Disability Insurance Scheme, research earlier this year found.

The federal government has sought to rein in the cost of the out-of-control scheme, which has been plagued with rorts and claims of inappropriate expenditure such as cuddle therapy, crystals, vapes, concert tickets and even African safari holidays.

“We’re in a situation right now where we should be the richest country in the world, and we were the richest country in the world in 1900,” Mr Barrie said.

“For a while, Australia was a great place to live and we had manufacturing, for example, as a substantial portion of the GDP of this country. We made cars, we made a bunch of different things. We had whole supply chains for various things. And then we went into this path of just easy relentless growth where it was just house prices drifting up and shipping iron ore, coal, gas and gold overseas.”

Mr Barrie then recited a litany of Australia’s vast natural resources.

Australia in summary:

1200 years of coal that we don't burn but export for other countries to burn (as if that helps the planet?)

56% of the world's iron ore exports

47% of the world's lithium production

28% of the world's uranium

20% of the world's gas exports

3rd in the world for production of cobalt

5th in the world for production of nickel

6th in the world for production of copper

3.46 people per square kilometer (plenty of land, no housing!)

However...

Australia is a country of 26 million people with 2.4 million people on temporary visas

Australian Manufacturing is 5.39% of GDP (formerly 19%)

Australia ranks 93rd in Harvard Economic Complexity Index e.g. we're a DUMB country useful for commodity export only

All because of INEPT GOVERNMENT POLICIES that protect the parasite class at the expense of EVERYONE ELSE

“[Australia should be] an energy and electronic and mechanical engineering superpower,” he said.

“We control 56 per cent of the world’s iron ore exports. You would think that we would be a steel superpower. We have cheap energy, we have abundant iron ore, and we [should] elaborately transform that to become an export powerhouse. We should be the richest country in the world, full stop. We have everything.”

Instead, he continued, “we have the greatest erosion of wealth in the developed world”.

“We have a cost-living-crisis that is the mother of all cost-of-living crises,” he said.

“We have house pricing that is astronomically expensive — it doesn’t make any sense anywhere in the world. A terrace house in Woollahra is the same price as a cruise ship. The root cause of this is the cost of land, and the root cause of that is mass immigration. We have the most expensive casual wages in the world but it’s not enough to live on because people need somewhere to live.”

At the same time, the country has an energy crisis “because we stupidly are going down” the path to renewables.

“We can’t burn coal, but every single thing we’re digging out of the ground is being burned by China, or is being burned by Japan,” he said.

“It’s all being shipped overseas and burned. We’re deluding ourselves by thinking that we are doing anything by not burning it here.”

Meanwhile, Australia is one of the world’s top three exporters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) alongside the US and Qatar, but now faces what industry bosses have branded the “bizarre” prospect of being forced to import gas from overseas in the face of skyrocketing energy bills.

“Now we’re actually going to import gas in the eastern seaboard, which is ludicrous, because we don’t have a gas reservation scheme,” Mr Barrie said.

“So we have a cost-of-living crisis caused by input costs. We have an energy crisis through very poor energy policy where we’ll export all the raw materials to build renewable generators, which are energy negative on the energy that’s consumed to get the materials out of the ground, which ship back to us and are unreliable. As a result, we can’t run a reliable manufacturing industry in this country.”

He noted manufacturing as a percentage of GDP in Australia had fallen from as high as 19 per cent to 5.39 per cent, “which is on par with Botswana, where you go see cheetahs, it’s on par with Liechtenstein, which is a financial haven”.

“It’s about one third of the OECD average,” he said.

“Literally, this country is going to hell on a hand basket. We are 93rd in the Harvard Economic Complexity index in terms of the complexity of things that we produce, how sophisticated they are, and how much people can replicate them.

Our economy in terms of sophistication and complexity is on par with Equatorial Guinea, where they don’t have a cinema in the entire country.”

He concluded, “It is all being caused by government policy, which can be turned around on a dime.”

[straightyuri]

zilch is one of my fantasy world characters who I think life would be better in a modern setting but also there's like a 30% chance she would end up as a story true crime podcasts talk about. pros: I think she could go to therapy and be okay. cons: she would try and rope rescent into double suicide with internet access first

[s1yfox14]

I realized a second ago that I am semi to almost fully anonymous on this platform and reblog so much shit that anything i say will most definitely be lost so i can just dump my thoughts here. Why didn't i think of this sooner.

some of the thoughts i've had today:

i should stop playing the 24 hour game of "what happened 24 hours ago" and "where will I be in 24 hours" the answer to both of those should be in bed and sleeping if I should be sleeping right now instead of letting the insomnia take over after getting into bed.

i was having a rough morning the other day but pretended i was fine when my friend asked me how i was doing. when i was clearly not fine but its okay im good at hiding it.

I also mayyyy have insulted another friend by acknoledging their presence after they had told me they wouldnt be coming to school but changed their mind. I was simply surprised. Good surprised. But words are hard and it probably definetely did not come across that way. anyways im still thinking about it.

I should also start asking my one friend's pronouns more often. Their pronouns change and I keep on forgetting to do so. and i also need to do more nice things instead of just letting others do nice things.

when i was tired the other day i made the decision to use my friends as a podcast while i half doze off, causing me to follow them around. it always felt like they were leaving semi-soon after i reentered the space (probably me exaggerating i have no feel for time whatsoever). I somehow feel like I shouldnt have done that. Even when I didnt say anything. Its probably just anxiety tho.

My friend said I remind them of a dandelion. I accepted what I believe was a compliment in the moment - they are always nice to me and wouldnt have a reason to randomly insult me as far as im aware. My brain decided that they meant I was a weed. I can't stop thinking about it and then thinking about how irrational that thought is before going back to thinking about the possibility of my friend hating me.

which makes zero sense.

i need to consistently use the medication I have been prescribed I'm really not good at that.

I am in pain more often than I should be as a child.

I have an exam tomorrow that I have done 0 null zilch no prep for and it will probably go horribly.

i didnt sleep well last night I wonder what will happen tonight.

was i annoying in that cat meet and greet i did today? probably but the cat got adopted so it doesnt matter.

that one woman has some odd spiritual beliefs but they seem to work out for her so props i guess.

im tired. and i should stop watching true crime.

I havent made my lunch for tomorrow. I should skip all my classes tomorrow. but also im excited for tomorrow.

one of my friends wished me good luck on my exam. another friend who had an exam today i wished good luch yesterday and they havent responded. a different friend said their exam yesterday went well.

i dont know what to do with any of this information.

[rosiewitchescottage]

Lost in Trans Nation with Dr. Miriam Grossman | The Lila Rose Podcast E45

A very important point here that Dr Grossman brings up.

A lot of the children and teens suddenly saying that they’re trans already are burdened by other conditions, often there’s Autism, mental illnesses etc.

And dammit. I might have very little medical knowledge myself. But I’m right with her when she says that what we should be doing is exploring what might be at the root of this gender confusion.

It might well turn out to be a genuine need to live as the opposite sex. So OK.

But there could also be plenty of other causes as well. What’s wrong with checking them out, and finding what each young person needs?

I might know zilch about Gender Dysphoria. But I do know what it’s like to have my brain go doo-lally from Anxiety.

At those times there’s no way on this earth that I know what’s going on in there. And I’m an otherwise healthy middle aged adult woman.

So why on earth would I condone the burdening of a confused and frightened child or teen, with determining the path of the rest of his/her life?

Ask questions, investigate the root of their confusions. Sort out what’s going on in their poor dear minds, and then go forward from there.

I’ll let Dr Grossman have the last words. (12:25)

 “When a person wants to assume a new identity. We have to ask 

‘why is that?’“

[daveinediting]

One of the advantages of living on the Hill is how quickly I could reach the different places I work. I mean who doesn't love a fast commute?

I'm reminded, however, that during the pandemic, one of the concerns about everyone working from home was that there's literally no separation between home life and work life. 

None. 

Zip. 

Zilch.

When you woke up in the morning, you were at work. When you went to bed at night, you were still at work.

One of the hacks, of course, was  creating a separation, a space, between home life and work life with a simulated commute. A faux going to work routine. It might be walking a particular route in the neighborhood before returning "home". It might be a bike ride. Anything, really, to cue our human minds that home was being left and work was being entered. Similarly (and in reverse) in the evening. Cueing the human body that work was over and home life was being re-entered.

What can I say? It was a hack that worked for some people. It helped flip the switch from OFF to ON to OFF when it came to our mental engagement with work. It conjured that mental bulwark between being fully engaged with our home life and being fully engaged with our work. Which is important simply on work/life balance grounds.

What I know beyond that, though, is that creativity doesn't flourish when you're full throttling your life. Even when your slipping between the work gears and the home gears. Creativity doesn't flourish without the time and space, the Zone that facilitates great creative work.

We all have to have time to think, is my point. You have to have time to flat line. You have to have time for your mind to wander without agenda.

You have to have time.

And peace.

And ease.

You have to indulge a certain Zen.

Especially when you're a Creative.

Don't get me wrong. Deadlines are deadlines, schedules are schedules, and work's gotta flow. And yes. Fast commutes feel essential to getting the work done as quickly as possible.

The fly in that ointment, of course, is that fast commutes don't help me recapture the mental space I need to re-energize the engine that resides in my brain. The engine that comes up with stuff on the fly as if someone else is coming up with that stuff for me. The engine that delivers the goods reliably unless...

I don't give it what it needs.

Time.

Peace.

Ease.

Especially when I'm continually tempted to occupy the gears in my head with podcasts and processing what I just heard on those podcasts.

So it turns out...

It turns out the extra distance I travel is a good thing. It's a helpful turn of events. It's not dreadfully more time on the road. The connections between the buses and light rail are tighter than I figured, thoroughly coordinated. So the overall travel time is less than I imagined even though there's a lot more miles to cover.

In the end, it's all about the specific experience that's shaped by this particular commute. It's about the Zone that's absolutely conjured by the demands, the logistics imposed by the commuting adventure that's now a regular part of my mornings and evenings. 

Not sure if what I enjoy about it has mostly to do with the warmth and sunshine and summer vibe.

I guess I'll find out. Eventually.

For now, though, I have to say this is working out pretty well. 

😊