#also i recorded audio of the panel we had with the actors and i might post it :3

[pealeii]

les mis us tour on november 21, 2024 !!

javert (nick rehberger) said “no 😒” so snootily

the valjean (nick cartell) was INCREDIBLE. his “FLIIIGHT” note in the prologue was an inSANE high belt. and he did it while twirling around?? like WOAH.

the bishop (randy jeter) said “my friend :) you left so early” so gently

the factory girl who fought fantine was genuinely great??? like when she said “sleeping around” she made a little gesture and got all up in her face about it

before fantine died, valjean and her hugged 🥺

the thernadiers were GREAT. we had a panel with the actor of marius (jake david smith) and thernadier (matt crowle) and thernadier said he had a newer take on the character that he described as more of a jester, and you could tell! he really leaned into the physicality. i liked it

when madame did the sign of the cross thernadier just like. flopped his hands vaguely around

stars was fucking incredible. like WHAT. such a stoic javert…and a RICH voice. absolutely gorgeous rendition

javert and gavroche had this little moment after javert cleared everyone away where they just looked at each other like “ok……..respect.”

KYLE ADAMS GRANTAIRE IS BETTER THAN I COULD EVER IMAGINE

during red&black grantaire kissed combeferre on the head and later sat on his lap. he was also just SO CUNTYY. he crossed his legs in the most CUNTY way and just traipsed around and messed around with people and SERVED

when grantaire said “let’s give them a a screwing they’ll never forget” he empasized screwing like “let’s give them a screwing 😏💅 they’ll never forget”

ALSO!!!!! his and gavroche’s friendship was amazing !!!! like they would hug all the time 🥺🥺🥺 they had so many little moments. after grantaire’s verse in drink with me gavroche came over and hugged him on the legss!!! 💔💔😫😫 and when gavroche died (holy shit) grantaire ran over and hugged him and tried to wake him like WTFFF 💥💥💥💥💔💔💔

OKAYYY OH MY GOSH eponine (mya rena hunter) was amazing!!!!!!!! her on my own gave me CHILLS WOAHAHAH SHE WAS INCREDIBLE!!

AND MARIUS AND COSETTE WERE SO SWEET <3333 THEYRE DYNAMIC WAS EVERYTHING. like the cosette (delaney guyer) was SO short it was adorable. also her voice was naturally high and i really enjoyed it

marius was great. when he said “marius pontmercy” in heart full of love he bowed to cosette so goofily 😂

ALSO A LITTLE FALL OF RAIN!!!!!!!!!!! WTF!!! It was done so intimately—marius and eponine were so close to each other in their own corner and the whole stage was dim except a spotlight on them, and they sang so softly to each other it was like you were leaning into this conversation between just the two of them it was 💔💔💔💔💔💔😭😭😭😭

also during that song at one point gavroche tried to come over but grantaire pulled him back

and bring him home holy shiT. he started so quiet and gentle, but then his voice just SOARED as he got into it. just WOAH.

also!! when valjean read marius’ letter he stopped at the “well” when marius is writing about how cosette loves him as well. so like “love me as…well 🤨” SOO funny. bc he’s always so *valjean* and serious yknow but that break was so good

JAVERT’S SOLILOQUY. HOLY SHIT. he did my FAV thing of screaming the first two lines which 10000/10💥💥💥💥💥💥 and when he jumped, the set just like UNRAVELED around him (like how he himself was unraveling!!!) and he stayed suspended in midair while being moved back

at the end when valjean dies, he had the same candlesticks that the bishop gave him set up!!

[luxshine]

Smallish update because I’ve seen some missunderstandigns going on.

Ok, so yesterday was a day. 

I am still reeling of a lot of it, which is why I have not been able to do a transcription of the panel (although the ones I’ve reblogged, made by other people, are very accurate and their only “fault” is not being in my head to know why I had some troubles translating Guillermo’s long answers as he spoke too quickly and too passionately so I had to paraphrase rather than translate literally as I did with the shorter answers, and at some points, I admit my short term memory may have failed me)

I am trying to get the panel off the facebook page to put it on my youtube (With permission from Harlecon’s organizer, Harleyquinnarts, whom you should all follow in Instagram and follow Harlecon on facebook because she’s amazing and made this possible by giving us the space to have the panel. BTW, I have heard that there IS a version already on youtube? If it is, please, please, please, put a link back to Harlecon on it, yes? These small cons deserve all our support)

I am ALSO trying to contact Adrian Fogarty, the dubbing director (NOT the translator, as some people are mis-reporting) who is, in the end, the one who has the answers as to where the hell the “Me too” came from.

Which is the missreporting I;ve seen going around, and which I need to adress.

During the panel, Mr. Rojas went from talking about the “Original” Script to the “DUB” Original Script without making it obvious that there was a different. Understand, for MOST actors, when they talk about the Original Script, they’re NOT talking about the Original English Script. They don’t get that. They get the Original TRANSLATED script, which can be then FURTHER changed by them or the director in order to fit cadence, and lip sync. 

And yes, we come again to my old nemesis, lip sync.

So he said that the original script said “Me Too”, as a reply to Cas’s “I love you”, and THEN Alejandro Fogarty, who has a TON of experience adapting on the fly, and is a very respected dubbing director, changed it to “And I you,Cas” because it fit better Dean’s lip movements.

This DOESN’T mean that Fogarty ADDED the Me Too. IT WAS on the Original DUB Script that Guillermo was reading.

He said that Dean didn’t reciprocate Castiel’s words too, but that was AFTER he said he didn’t HEAR what Dean originally said (Which, granted, could be him misremembering as he admitted he had a bad short term memory). This is not to say that he lied when he said Dean didn’t reciprocate, but that that’ts the reason why two different versions of what he said may be running around. This was when I said that then we had to ask Fogarty about the origin of the dub script “Me Too” as he’d probably be the one who knows.

He also said that while it was a surprise, that the writers had been very subtle creating the story between Dean and Castiel, and that it made SENSE. 

There are a few things I could say here about voice actor culture, but I won’t as it could muddy the issue and I want to wait until I finish the transcription.

What he corrected from my previous assumptions was that there was no Warner Bros quality control. They finish dubbing, then send it to air and as far as HE knows, there’s no WB exec checking the files. He admitted he might be wrong on that, but it’s more probable that he’s right. So IF the “Me too” was added, there would be no final check to stop it. HOWEVER, there has been no request to RE-Dub the line, so we can assume that, now that the horse is out of the barn, WB and CW don’t really care that, in Mexico and LataM, Dean Winchester is bisexual, canonically.

Which brings us back to the REAL question: Where did that Me Too came from?

Now, I want to make clear this I DON’T BELIEVE THERE’S A BIG CW CONSPIRACY TO KEEP DEAN STRAIGHT. What I do believe is that, due to a bunch of mismanagement of the series, PR, confusion of what their demography is, old-boys club mentality AND good ol’ network censorship, they may have ended up accidentally creating the ILLUSION of one.

And to be honest, I preffer to know the ACTUAL truth, which could very well be a rogue dub director (Which, if you check my previous posts, was a possibility I raised, that if there HAD been a rogue dub translator, the director HAD to be on it too), or a different audio version sent from the US.

I’ve seen script captures from the Original English Script that were leaked, and there Dean doesn’t reply ANYTHING. Not “Me too”, not “Don’t do this, CAs”. HE just goes 404,File not found, Being Loved by an angel, doesn’t compute.

So we know that DEan’s answer in english was Ad libbed by Jensen. 

However, we also know that Jensen had to re-record some lines. 

So he could’ve ad-libbed again, something different (Either by choice, or by the director’s request. I frankly don’t know nor care. I just assume that there were two different readings and the “wrong” one was sent to the Latam Translator. Wrong here to mean “not the one that aired in the US”)

And the only way we’re going to get closer to which was it, is asking the dub director, which is what I am trying to do. And I do hope that by now, you trust me enough to know that, IF the answer was “Oh, yeah, we decided that it was more logical” , I’ll tell you straight (Or, you know, organize another panel so that you hear it from the horse’s mouth just as I did with Guillermo Rojas)

Also, yes, Guillermo didn’t say the words “I ship Destiel” or “I am a Heller”. However, he DID say that the ending of the arc of Dean and Castiel having a love story was the closing of the series, that Dean reciprocating Cas’s feelings made it make sense and that it was beautiful. So he is a heller, in spirit if not in name.

ETA: I had to fix Adrian Fogarty’s name as someone pointed out I wrote “Alejandro Fogarty” and this proves that I need at least a week of sleep as this show has broken my brain.

[milarvela]

By his own admission, John Barrowman has always been notorious in showbusiness circles. 'I'm known for my jokes, my sense of fun, my high jinks,' he says.

But those 'high jinks' have come back to haunt him recently as a result of serious allegations against his former Doctor Who co-star Noel Clarke.

John's role as Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who began in 2005 and the character was given his own spin-off series, the far more adult Torchwood, a year later.

It launched a hugely successful career for John on both stage and screen, taking in leading roles in West End musicals, big-budget US TV shows such as superhero series Arrow, and homegrown light entertainment favourites like All Star Musicals and most recently Dancing On Ice, where he's one of the judges. He was by anyone's measure a family-friendly favourite.

Then a couple of months ago the sky fell in. Following accusations of sexual harassment against Noel Clarke, who played Mickey Smith – the boyfriend of Billie Piper's character Rose – in Doctor Who from 2005 until 2010, historic footage emerged on YouTube of a sci-fi convention, Chicago Tardis, in 2014, released by The Guardian newspaper which had investigated Clarke's behaviour on the Doctor Who set.

In an interview in front of a live audience, Clarke is seen regaling fellow cast members Annette Badland and Camille Coduri with tales of John's behaviour on the set of Doctor Who, exposing himself 'every five seconds'. Clarke then jokes with the audience not to do this at their workplace or they might go to prison.

The allegations levelled against Clarke are extremely serious. At least 20 women have come forward to accuse him of sexual harassment and bullying, 'inappropriate touching and groping' and secretly filming naked auditions before sharing the videos without consent.

He denies all the allegations, but BAFTA has since suspended the Outstanding Contribution award it bestowed on him just weeks earlier, and the BBC has shelved any future projects he was working on with them.

Now John's behaviour on the sets of both Doctor Who and Torchwood has come under scrutiny once again. The furore has led to a video of Captain Jack Harkness being expunged from the current immersive Doctor Who theatre show Time Fracture, a planned Torchwood audio production featuring John and former Doctor Who lead David Tennant being scrapped and doubt about whether he will be invited back to the Dancing On Ice panel.

ITV will announce the line-up for the next series in September. John immediately issued an apology following the emergence of the video back in May, but today he's decided to speak exclusively and candidly to Weekend to give his side of the story.

'The moment has come to set the record straight,' he says from the Palm Springs, California, home he shares with his husband Scott Gill. 'This is the first time – and the last – I will address this subject. And then I plan to draw a thick black line under it.'

Firstly he says it's important to set the scene. On the set of Torchwood, which followed a team of alien hunters and explored themes of sexuality and corruption, he had what might be called a 'relaxed' attitude to nudity, and would wander around in an open robe. But it's claimed that he was well known for flashing and mooning at cast and crew alike on both the Doctor Who and Torchwood sets.

As Captain Jack Harkness I was the star of Torchwood, so I felt it was down to me to lead the company and keep them entertained,' he explains. 'When I was doing a nude scene or a love scene it was clear in the script I'd be naked and everyone would have known about that at least 48 hours in advance. So I'd be waiting in my trailer wearing just a robe with a sock over my "parts". Then, if I were standing waiting to film a scene where I needed to be nude and someone came into view, I'd make a joke to put them and myself at ease. My actions were simply designed to defuse any potential awkwardness among the cast and crew.

'I've never been someone who's embarrassed about his body so it didn't bother me if anyone saw me naked,' he adds. 'The motivation for what I'd call my "tomfoolery" was to maintain a jokey atmosphere. There was absolutely nothing sexual about my actions and nor have I ever been accused of that.' Whether this sort of behaviour would defuse any awkwardness, or actually foster it, is debatable.

WHY I'VE GONE INTO THERAPY

This scandal has clearly not left John unscathed. 'It was upsetting my mental health,' he tells me. 'My husband Scott suggested I talk to somebody. I won't discuss what I've said in therapy sessions – that's a matter of doctor/patient confidentiality – but I don't mind admitting it's helped me a great deal.

'It's made me aware that despite how much cancel culture may talk about respecting people's mental health, too often they don't respect the mental health of the people they're trying to cancel. So I needed to understand what was happening, which is why I went to speak to somebody.'

Has he had more than one session? 'Yes. It's a conversation that's still going on,' he says with a wry laugh. 'Seriously, whatever the situation, if you feel you need to reach out to someone it's very important to keep talking.'

'If what happened had taken place in the changing rooms after a rugby match it would be regarded as no more than a prank,' he continues. 'On the other hand, it's never going to happen in an accountant's office or a supermarket. But my job is not a regular nine-to-five, we're a family working long hours and in close proximity to each other.' Again, one has to bear in mind that a rugby changing room would be an all-male environment. There were many women in the cast and crew of the TV shows.

'In the theatre quick costume changes happen in the wings all the time, with everyone stripping off to get into their new outfits in time for the next scene,' he says. 'Girls might be braless, boys only in jockstraps. That's just how it is and no one gives it a second thought. But I accept that my behaviour at the time could have caused offence.'

Although John's recollection is that no one complained at the time, and he says that no one has complained since, at one point he was called in for a private conversation with Julie Gardner, an executive producer on Doctor Who and Torchwood. She has confirmed to The Guardian that she did receive a complaint.

'My antics had come to her attention and she told me I should rein in my behaviour,' he recalls. 'In blunt terms, she had just two words of advice: "Grow up!" That struck a chord. I did as I was told and my behaviour changed overnight. I'd still be full of jokes and fun, but no more naked pranks. I can see now my actions were pretty juvenile but this was a different time and it's something I would not do today.'

When these rumours were swirling back in 2008, it's also said John exposed himself during a Radio 1 interview in which his behaviour was being discussed. He denies this today.

'I was being goaded by the presenters about my reported behaviour on the Doctor Who set. I went along with it but I didn't actually do anything inappropriate in the studio. What would have been the point, it was on the radio? Still, it created such a stir that the following day I decided to make a full public apology and get on with my life.'

And that might have been that, but for the accusations against Noel Clarke coming to light. 'It seems to me that I've become collateral damage to a much bigger story,' says John.

Given his and Clarke's high profiles and the severity of the allegations against Clarke, this is hardly surprising. Has he spoken to his former co-star since the balloon went up?

'I have not.' Does he plan to? 'I do not. But listen, I'm not trying to cast myself in the role of victim here.' That said, he clearly resents these stories re-emerging, although he has had messages of support.

'In fact many members of the cast and crew have been in touch since this latest storm blew up giving me their support,' he insists. 'I won't name them because I don't want anyone to find themselves in the firing line.'

However, Gareth David-Lloyd, who played bisexual Jack Harkness's lover Ianto Jones in Torchwood, has chosen to go public about working with John. 'In my experience John's behaviour on set was always meant to entertain, make people laugh and keep their spirits and energy high on what were sometimes very long working days,' he said.

'It may be because we were so close as a cast that professional lines were sometimes blurred in the excitement. I was too inexperienced to know any different but we were always laughing. The John I knew on set would never have behaved in a way he thought was affecting someone negatively. From what I know of him, that is not his nature. He was a whirlwind of positive energy, always very generous, kind and a wonderfully supportive lead actor.'

In the weeks following this new public scrutiny John has had time to reflect, and has come to the conclusion there are two issues. One is the aftermath of the #MeToo movement; the other is cancel culture.

'I'm a supporter of #MeToo because no person should ever feel that in order to succeed in their career they can be coerced into doing something sexual against their will.

'My problem with cancel culture, on the other hand, is that it can take the form of intolerance and prejudice. It's a culture with no shades of grey. There's no leeway for forgiveness or room for recognising any change in someone's behaviour. Cancel culture tends to talk at you or past you or through you, rather than listen to you. Dialogue is extremely rare.'

He sounds upset now. 'Look, I'm in a good place,' he insists. 'I've got a great husband, a great family, a great "fan family" around me. But I've found it difficult. And yes, some of the things that were being said have been hurtful.

'Scott and I would go to bed on a Saturday night dreading the stories in the Sunday papers. And then I'd wake up to lies. One newspaper printed as fact that I'd been dropped as a judge by Dancing On Ice. Well, apart from the fact that the new panel isn't decided until the autumn, no one from ITV had spoken to me or my agent about this latest upset.'

Ashley Banjo, leader of dance troupe Diversity and a fellow Dancing On Ice judge, has only worked with John for the past couple of years so did not know him during the time of the behaviour he's now being scrutinised for, but has publicly spoken out in support.

'I've told John I'd readily work with him again,' said Ashley. 'He's always fun on Dancing On Ice and he's been very respectful and considerate. I'd like to see him come back. The impression I get from this story is it's something small and historic, something blown out of proportion. What I'm not a supporter of in regard to cancel culture is when the speed of allegation is much faster than the speed of investigation. Before I make a judgment I want to see and understand the facts.'

There has been outrage on Twitter, with many users pointing out that John's 'tomfoolery' could be regarded as indecent exposure, and that the fact it happened among work colleagues is no excuse. 'You don't do that in work. You don't do it full stop. If you did it in the city centre you'd be arrested,' posted one user.

So does he regret the way he behaved? 'You can't wind the clock back,' he says.

'They were different times, which is why I wouldn't do now what I did then. I've acknowledged that by the way my behaviour has changed. The trouble is that certain cancel culture enthusiasts are not allowing me to acknowledge it. I've always believed that the reason I was put on this planet was to bring joy to people, make them laugh. How I do that has evolved over the years. I'm still using humour, just in a different way than might have been the case ten or 20 years ago.'

Now, he says, he wants to move on, both personally and professionally. Many years ago he bought a house for his parents down the street from where he lives with Scott.

'They're getting on now and I've been their primary carer throughout the pandemic, doing their shopping, getting their prescriptions from the pharmacy and so on. My mother broke her pelvis at one stage but she's on the mend now. I'm just thankful I can keep an eye on her and my father. I'm thankful too to the scientists for coming up with the means by which we can combat Covid via vaccinations, and the healthcare workers for administering them and looking after us so selflessly. We owe them a great debt of gratitude.'

What about professionally? 'Well, I'm at the early stages of putting together a show full of anecdotes and songs that will tour throughout the UK when restrictions are finally lifted. As far as I'm concerned, it's back to business as usual.'

But it remains to be seen later this year with the announcement of the line-up for Dancing On Ice whether John's career too might be put on ice.

***

I can see now my actions were pretty juvenile but this was a different time and it's something I would not do today.'

Well, to be blunt, he’s too old to be doing it anyway, people would just roll they eyes at a pathetic old lech instead of maybe giggling at a younger man’s adorable/innocent/whatever tomfoolery.

'In fact many members of the cast and crew have been in touch since this latest storm blew up giving me their support,' he insists. 'I won't name them because I don't want anyone to find themselves in the firing line.'

I think he should name them. Just for fun. Come on! Because I doubt there have been (m)any. If this story teaches anything, it’s that whatever you say/do can come back to haunt your celebrity status years later in most unexpected ways. Or maybe he was always the intended main course, Noel Clarke only the appetiser...

[zak-animation]

Mystery Box: An Introduction to Animatics

In this week’s animatic masterclass, we were introduced to the idea of an animatic as a way to plan our animations. Whilst we had the opportunity to create our own animatic, I first wanted to delve into the use of animatics in the industry of animation, looking at a few examples and the purpose they serve in the production of an animated sequence. This isn’t in response to any points from Helen herself, who simply gave us the task and how to produce it in the given software, but instead, this post is an opportunity for me to develop my own independent research into the use of animatics in animation.

What is an Animatic? Last week, we explored the idea of storyboards, and how these hand-drawn frames can show the stages of a scene in rough camera placements. Here, issues with the story can be fixed easily, and allow the director/s to tell if the story is clear and works as a visual narrative. However, storyboards cannot tell us the timing or pacing of the sequence. To do that, editors and artists take the storyboard panels and translate them into an animatic.

In its most basic form, an animatic is a collection of static storyboards edited together into a sequence. Using an editing package, we are able to put the storyboards into a timeline and see how the timing works for the animation, even adding cuts and camera movements which are often timed to any dialogue or music that will be used in the final product.

Similar to storyboards, animatics are used to bridge the gap between an idea and a finished animation. We need to see how it might feel, and ‘get more of a grasp’ of the scene. In contrast to storyboards, animatics are very particular to animation. They are a way to layout the timing, pacing and the visuals of the entire thing without having to create it in animation. Animatics are used to get the flow of camera work, pacing and characters interactions. Typically, the sketches in animatics are rough and instead focus on timing and pacing, rather than appealing illustrations.

Industry Practices In an illuminating video revealing the entire CG animation pipeline at Dreamworks Studios, lead editor Nick Fletcher explains the process in a way better than I ever could, simply because it’s his job to create animatics for Dreamworks’ feature films. 

‘We take the storyboard panels and build a sequence out of those. Some times, we don’t have any dialogue, so we record ourselves doing the voices. We add a little music, sound effects and whatever is needed to fully tell the story. Try to make it as polished as possible so that the storyboard reel [or animatic] becomes a sort of foundation for the movie.’ 

Nick Fletcher, Editor and Animatic Creator for Dreamworks

In this early stage, the actors haven’t yet recorded their performances, so the editors effectively produce a rough pass as a way to present a preliminary vision of the film to directors, producers and executives, who will then green light the project to the next stage if they like what they see.

Interestingly, the inclusion of sound is a characteristic of almost every animatic I’ve come across, whether it be for a feature film animation or fan-made short on Youtube. Sound is a key part of producing an exciting and engaging animated film, and it’s not something that I want to disregard for this project either. When filming my own reference, I had the opportunity to verbally act out the performance and as such, I’ve essentially already got a rough audio track for my animatic, if I choose to include it. Despite the fact that sound isn’t mentioned in the brief, I feel like it could only be a good idea to include this aspect as a way to again push the limitations of this assignment and produce a piece of work that is of an industry standard: this is something that I want to consider when creating my own animatic.

With animatics, the drawings are often loose and sketchy: the focus is on telling the story and simply working out the timing and pacing of the sequence. A common industry practice of both storyboards and animatics is the use of spot colours or shading to simply separate the background and foreground, rendering the main characters in a shade of grey different to the background and foreground elements to direct the eye to the most important information and focal points of the shot. In my own animatic, I plan to produce a sketched version using simple line work and develop upon this by adding a grey tonal value to each of the elements as a way to evidence an understanding of key industry practices.

One final aspect to consider when creating an animatic is the program itself. After doing a little bit of digging online, I’ve found that the industry standard for animatic production is a combination of Adobe Photoshop to draw the frames and to sequence them using After Effects or Premiere Pro, both of which allow us to add cinematic touches and camera movements in this early stage. Already, I’ve had the opportunity to explore the use of virtual cameras within After Effects, and I can see the potential for more complex shot types and camera movements to be created simply using this technique of changing 2D illustrations into 3D flat objects that a virtual camera can then move around to give the illusion of depth.

Into the Spider-Verse: A Cinematic Approach This idea of a cinematic approach to animatics, making use of more complex shots even at this early stage in production, can be seen in Alberto Mielgo’s initial animatics for the massively successful Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Mielgo created the tests using the Adobe Creative Cloud suite, drawing with pencil and digitally in Photoshop, and compositing the sketches in After Effects before doing any final editing in Premiere.

The shots are intensely cinematic, presenting a new vision of a hand-drawn, 3D world. This example represents a more complex approach to an animatic, as Mielgo presents an inherently cinematic, hand-drawn 3D world. Through panning virtual cameras and zooms through converted 2D illustrations, the audience is able to get a sense of the scale of the film and the city of Brooklyn. Looking at these animatics, there’s a clear understanding of editing and cinematography here, with a mix of blurred lenses, fades and cuts that outline the overall look and feel of the final film.

Here, Mielgo was creating key moments and shot compositions that the final film still adheres to, with his initial animatics playing a key role in establishing the film’s stylistic visual language and a new, snappy approach to animation. The idea to use comic book panels, illustrated onomatopoeia and an experimental approach to composition was the work of Mielgo’s early development in the project, and within these, we can see how an animatic can be used to plan out the action not only in terms of layout and timing, but also the visual language of the film and even more editing elements such as how to cut a shot.

Gorilliaz: Animatics in Music Videos Animatics can also be found outside of the realm of animated feature films, however. For example, we can take a look at an animatic from the legendary animated band Gorillaz, an experiment blending animation and a genre-bending array of musical tastes that has become a world-wide hit since they first dropped their debut single in 2001, with ‘Clint Eastwood’. The song and music video are one and the same, each working to build off the other, and exemplifies the band’s use of mixing musical styles: combining hip hop, electronic and dubstep influences to defy musical genre, and instead embrace storytelling.

In the animatic for ‘Clint Eastwood’, we can see how the creators were able to pre-visualise their sequence by moving the camera around the 2D illustrations, which instantly gives the flat designs a sense of depth and cinematic charm. The slow arcing motion of each of the band members is shown clearly in the animatic, a shot that is now iconic to the band itself. It’s important to note that for the more complex moves, still images of the characters are used to act as visual place holders for the animation. With this example, the focus is on getting that smooth arcing camera movement, and focusing on each singular band member, and as such are represented with still frames. This is a common industry practice, and as such, animatics typically have little actual animation. Rather than a series of frames to create the illusion of movement, an animatic presents the action across a series of storyboarded panels that convey the motion through rough drawings.

Something interesting to note about this particular animatic is the varied use of mediums that creates a very tactical effect that hammers home to the audience that these sequences are created by hand. In a music video, one important element is the use of lip-synching early on - and as such, the animatic presents a nearly fully-animated lip-sync, animated traditionally on paper. This allows the animators a more considered and polished visualisation of the sequence to work from, and since it is a focal point of the video, it seems natural to want to develop upon this early on in the project.

Looking at the animatic, we can see how the creators have used a mix of near-fully animated sequences and moving still images to convey the story of the video. With more complex shots including detailed landscapes and multiple characters, only a handful of frames are shown - but it’s enough for the directors and creators to work from. In these more dynamic compositions, the characters are rendered with simple stick-figure bodies, taking the focus away from staying on model and more on sketching the shot and timing correct.

Additionally, the animatic also uses a range of camera effects to give the illusion of depth to these 2D characters, using a shaky cam to demonstrate a character jumping and slamming down onto the ground or arcing pan-up movements that evoke a real sense of cinematic composition and camera work - going beyond the traditional animation approach. It was quite interesting to see how the editors would recycle animations and shots for the video, allowing creators to save time using cycle animations for certain shots. Comparing these animatics to the final shots demonstrates how crucial and helpful the animatic is to a project like this: despite the colours, final polish and smooth animation, the sequence has effectively stayed to the initial compositions and camera movements outlined in the animatic.

Summary In this post, I’ve been able to explore the use of animatics in the animation industry, taking the time to delve into some examples that I personally find inspiring and exciting, and how these ultimately outline the final feature. As an animator, creating an animatic is interestingly something that I’ve never actually done before. However, I can really see a benefit and the purpose of doing so - and with this, my next move is to take the ideas that I’ve found here and apply them in my own creative practice: developing my own animatic based on my final storyboard.

References

Into the Spider-Verse Storyboards. (2019). Alberto Mielgo. https://vimeo.com/311716775. 

Clint Eastwood (Animatic). (2010). Gorillaz.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPC0n_ml4kc Clint Eastwood. (2001). Gorillaz.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V_xRb0x9aw

What is an Animatic? (2014). Pluralsight Creative.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sE5ox9kkUg

CGI Dreamworks Animation Studio Pipeline. (2016). CGMeetup. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru0tQRJ4qKs&t=249s

[verdigrisprowl]

Jan 7 Dancitron Movie Night - Gotham s2 e10-13

They talked about body cameras. Gotham could use some.

Today NoodlesAtNight 7:36 pm *Soundwave has everything set up already, but is not parked on his couch. For some reason, Earth's signal is a little weak today. Must be some objects getting in the way. He's tinkering quietly beneath one of the floor panels in front of the video wall.* NoodlesAtNight 7:59 pm ((get whatever you need, we're starting in approximately 10-15)) SCProwl 8:00 pm *maneuvers through the furniture toward the front of the room where Soundwave is fiddling* Is something wrong with it? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:00 pm *enter dragon! she's got plenty of snacks for everyone! totally didn't overcompensate for missing last movie night! the previous sentence is a lie!* Hello, Soundwave, everyone! NoodlesAtNight 8:01 pm *Soundwave looks up at his timeline's Prowl for a moment, pings her hello, and returns to messing with the equipment.* [[He is running diagnostics. The feed is slightly glitchy tonight and he is trying to determine whether it is on his end or Earth's.]] Today NoodlesAtNight 8:01 pm *A feeler lifts over his shoulder to wave at the dragon.* [[You could singlehandedly feed the minicon complex's inhabitants for a night, dragon. That is, for the record, a compliment.]] SCProwl 8:02 pm *nods in greeting to the dragon and then returns the ping* Is there anything I can assist you with or is this an issue you can solve more easily on your own? NoodlesAtNight 8:03 pm *Considers.* [[Are you capable of testing a signal array if it has an inbuilt readout with port?]] Boomtank 8:03 pm -wanders in, before making his way towards the front- Um... What's wrong? SCProwl 8:04 pm I am, yes. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:04 pm That's a compliment I'll bear with pride. *goes to put everything on the Designated Snack Counter* NoodlesAtNight 8:04 pm [[Minor feed glitches.]] *Soundwave sends Prowl some coordinates. Hop to bridging, miss.* [[Attempting to identify the source of the problem.]] verdigrisprowl 8:05 pm *appears* opatoes 8:05 pm /Smokescreen's coming in and is quickly making a leap for the couch! He's missed a couple nights and it's great to be back!/ Soundwave, everyone, hey! What'd I miss? SCProwl 8:05 pm *will do just that* Swervester 8:05 pm [oozes himself over a couch] Boomtank 8:05 pm Ah. Do you need help? Or was that what Prowl just got to? NoodlesAtNight 8:06 pm ((in other words: i'm stealing a few minutes to finish eating real quick and rabbit is being slightly glitchy audio quality wise tonight))

[[Here - take over testing, would you? He should catch Smokescreen up.]] *Pings Prowl and Swerve hello* verdigrisprowl 8:06 pm *pings hello back* Boomtank 8:06 pm Alright then. -and is going to do just that- NoodlesAtNight 8:08 pm ((@Smokey mun - http://slenderwave.tumblr.com/private/181594024362/tumblr_pkmh7dHzQT1rj4udt

http://slenderwave.tumblr.com/private/181619172547/tumblr_pko2wcgjT11rj4udt )) ((episode data for 4-9)) NoodlesAtNight 8:09 pm ((five minutes get what you want and get settled!)) NoodlesAtNight 8:10 pm *And he's transferred that data now. Time to check on what Blaster and Prowl have got.* Swervester 8:10 pm [pings hi back] Swervester 8:11 pm //excellent my dinner finished cooking in time SCProwl 8:11 pm @SW: [[Everything is in working order here. The problem is not on our end.]] Boomtank 8:12 pm Nothing wrong here. Think it might be Earth having the problem. opatoes 8:12 pm Thank you, Soundwave! I wanna say I'm all caught up, now, but trying to put it all together's a bit weird. I'm sure I'll be fine once I see it, though! NoodlesAtNight 8:13 pm [[Hm. That's three votes for Earth. Earth it is. Thank you - just place the floor plate back where it goes, please. It will self-lock.]]

*He heads over to Prowl and takes his seat. Join him?* SCProwl 8:13 pm *will take that bridge back now* Boomtank 8:14 pm -and scrambling out of the floor, and shoving the plate back in place- There we go. NoodlesAtNight 8:14 pm GOTHAM S2 10-12 (13?)// Violence, blood, death, excessive police force, foul language, the usual. Drill to the head. Poor depictions of mental illness, psychiatric abuse. The most disgusting body horror scene in the entire SERIES. Lung failure and coughing up blood throughout 12/13. Eye gore. I'll try to remember in time to notify for these last few.)) opatoes 8:14 pm ((SADZXCBN i set my macaroni for 73 minutes by accident and i'm glad i caught it before it was gonna be a problem NoodlesAtNight 8:14 pm ((oh my god)) Boomtank 8:14 pm ((holy shit SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:15 pm ((oshit)) verdigrisprowl 8:15 pm *does, of course, join Soundwave* NoodlesAtNight 8:15 pm *Soundwave brings a whole medium-sized plate of snacks over to himself with the help of his feelers and gives Prowl's shoulder a quick bunt while everyone's settling in.* opatoes 8:15 pm ... Wait, did someone die NoodlesAtNight 8:15 pm *He's ready to watch.* opatoes 8:16 pm I mean, I guess someone died 'cause they're not just lugging around a living person's body in a coffin, but what NoodlesAtNight 8:16 pm [[Yes. Officer Gordon chose not to kill a cannibal hitman he had already defeated. They later killed another officer.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:17 pm *the dragon is never going to be able to stop feeling warm and fuzzy about Soundwave appreciating the snacks. it's nice to feel appreciated as a cook.* opatoes 8:17 pm Guess that cannibal guy wanted some bacon? ... 'Cause, you know. Cops. Goats. NoodlesAtNight 8:18 pm [[...Goats?]] verdigrisprowl 8:18 pm "Become a murderer," she says, like he isn't already a murderer. opatoes 8:18 pm ... Isn't that what humans call cops? frag i thought that said galvatron for a klik MedicalMurdersaurus 8:18 pm *FLIPS AND ROLLS INTO THE ROOM* HI NoodlesAtNight 8:18 pm [[Hello, Swoop. Sit down.]] Swervester 8:18 pm She has a lot of faith that the mayor's going to do the thing. This entire town is corrupt what makes her think the guy's not going to get off? MedicalMurdersaurus 8:19 pm *scampers around* Bird NoodlesAtNight 8:19 pm [[No Bird tonight, Swoop. She is taking care of an errand.]] MedicalMurdersaurus 8:19 pm Why? NoodlesAtNight 8:20 pm [[...Because that is one of her duties.]] MedicalMurdersaurus 8:21 pm Dumb >: verdigrisprowl 8:21 pm Oh, he survived. ... But the good one didn't. Boomtank 8:21 pm -huffs and settles into his seat- This...isn't going to end well SCProwl 8:22 pm Unfortunately. NoodlesAtNight 8:22 pm [[The bitten one?]] MedicalMurdersaurus 8:22 pm *hops up to sit on the back of a sofa* verdigrisprowl 8:22 pm I meant the other captain. verdigrisprowl 8:23 pm The one who had the job about a day. NoodlesAtNight 8:23 pm [[Ah. Yes, most unfortunate. He thinks he would have liked to see what she might have done in office.]] MedicalMurdersaurus 8:23 pm What movie? verdigrisprowl 8:23 pm Same. NoodlesAtNight 8:24 pm [[Gotham, Swoop. The Batman as a youngling.]] opatoes 8:24 pm I almost forgot Bruce sometimes went to school MedicalMurdersaurus 8:24 pm Me Swoop like Batman : > MedicalMurdersaurus 8:25 pm Us watch cartoon Batman! NoodlesAtNight 8:26 pm [[Perhaps another time.]] Boomtank 8:26 pm ..... SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:26 pm Honestly, I'm surprised that his docent still takes him there. It seems like he would be in danger there. opatoes 8:26 pm Oh man, I love those old Batman cartoons, Swoop NoodlesAtNight 8:26 pm [[You may not have figured this out yet despite attending for months and months, but generally speaking, he shows what he has scheduled, not what someone suddenly asks him to put on.]] Swervester 8:26 pm Should he be able to move like that after being tabbed SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:27 pm ...Why. Why did he pull the knife out. That's a good way to bleed to death. MedicalMurdersaurus 8:27 pm You Soundwave boring Boomtank 8:27 pm HOLY-! NoodlesAtNight 8:27 pm [[...He doesn't think they were concerned about bleeding to death.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:27 pm ...Ah. Well, I guess he doesn't have to worry about that. opatoes 8:27 pm There's this one ancient one from like... 1992? It's fun! MedicalMurdersaurus 8:27 pm kehehHEHEHH opatoes 8:27 pm Also, Also, Soundwave, what do you have scheduled after this? Or is it a surprise? verdigrisprowl 8:27 pm ... There's a Batman cartoon? NoodlesAtNight 8:27 pm [[There are several.]] Boomtank 8:27 pm He's...very dead. MedicalMurdersaurus 8:27 pm YAH! It pretty cool. NoodlesAtNight 8:28 pm [[Hm. After we wrap the second batch of documentaries, we will see Over The Hedge, Venom, and Rampage.]] verdigrisprowl 8:28 pm *glances at Soundwave* Are any of them good? *by Soundwave's standards, not Swoop's.* MedicalMurdersaurus 8:28 pm YAH! SCProwl 8:28 pm What are those about? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:29 pm Speaking of getting /kidnapped/... NoodlesAtNight 8:29 pm *Soundwave considers the question.* [[At least two. One a little more than the other, or so Rumble tells him.]] Swervester 8:29 pm [squints] How fake is that kidnappiong verdigrisprowl 8:29 pm Very fake. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:29 pm Extremely. NoodlesAtNight 8:30 pm [[She's really very sensible, this Lee human.]] opatoes 8:30 pm sewer monks Boomtank 8:30 pm ...... Boomtank 8:31 pm Well, it works MedicalMurdersaurus 8:31 pm What sewer is? Swervester 8:31 pm Humans living in sewers is weird. opatoes 8:31 pm ... teenage mutant ninja sewer monks Swervester 8:31 pm Seems unhygenic. MedicalMurdersaurus 8:31 pm OH! Ninja Turtles thing : > NoodlesAtNight 8:32 pm [[....What.]] opatoes 8:32 pm Wh. Boomtank 8:32 pm It is...but it works verdigrisprowl 8:32 pm It'd be a believable lie if he were a believable liar. Boomtank 8:33 pm If it's anything like the tunnels SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:33 pm He doesn't have to be. No one ever pays attention to him- almost as if they're worried that he'll start talking to them. verdigrisprowl 8:33 pm Hff. opatoes 8:33 pm Scream as loud as you can and burst his eardrums NoodlesAtNight 8:33 pm ((interesting fact: tom the knife's actor really has got a glasgow smile. poor guy got jumped outside a bar once years ago)) MedicalMurdersaurus 8:34 pm ((damn)) verdigrisprowl 8:34 pm ((sad, but useful for a character actor I guess)) MedicalMurdersaurus 8:34 pm SMACK! Keheh NoodlesAtNight 8:34 pm ((ye)) Boomtank 8:34 pm ((yikes SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:34 pm ((ouch)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:35 pm ((those get infected super easily too, IIRC. glad he didn't lose his face, I suppose)) NoodlesAtNight 8:35 pm ((same)) verdigrisprowl 8:35 pm ((yeah)) verdigrisprowl 8:36 pm Ah. So the kidnapping IS real. NoodlesAtNight 8:36 pm [[Oh dear.]] Swervester 8:36 pm Huh. MedicalMurdersaurus 8:36 pm Dead? Swervester 8:36 pm I really thought she was in on it based on past behavior. verdigrisprowl 8:37 pm It was certainly a possibility. NoodlesAtNight 8:37 pm [[So did he. It seemed rather convenient at the time.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:37 pm She might have been in on it but not aware that they were going to kill her in it. I doubt that her uncle wouldn't consider her expendable. Boomtank 8:38 pm ..... NoodlesAtNight 8:38 pm [[He thinks you are right. He already threatened to kill his own sister.]] verdigrisprowl 8:38 pm Primus, these are such foul excuses for cops. NoodlesAtNight 8:39 pm [[You'll hear no arguments from him.]] verdigrisprowl 8:39 pm If they can't torture information out of someone then they don't know how to get information. Swervester 8:40 pm That name's familiar verdigrisprowl 8:40 pm I don't believe her. NoodlesAtNight 8:40 pm [[Why is that?]] Swervester 8:40 pm ... verdigrisprowl 8:40 pm Oh! Swervester 8:40 pm Huh. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:40 pm Oho! NoodlesAtNight 8:40 pm [[She has n-- ....]] verdigrisprowl 8:40 pm Hah! Primus! SCProwl 8:40 pm Clever. Boomtank 8:41 pm HAH! Swervester 8:41 pm I was totally right. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:41 pm Sneaky Cat-human. opatoes 8:41 pm Don't a lot of people end up lying when they're getting tortured Swervester 8:41 pm I had a weird hunch that Bruce was fine and it wasn't wrong. NoodlesAtNight 8:41 pm [[What a sharp little feline.]]

[[That they do, Smokescreen.]] [[You have a good instinct, Swerve.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:41 pm Yes. Torture is not an effective way of gaining information. MedicalMurdersaurus 8:42 pm *flops backwards off the sofa and onto the ground* verdigrisprowl 8:42 pm Torture doesn't work. Boomtank 8:43 pm ..... verdigrisprowl 8:43 pm Torture produces answers, but not truthful answers. MedicalMurdersaurus 8:43 pm *sprawls out, limbs everywhere* Boomtank 8:43 pm You are screwed girl NoodlesAtNight 8:44 pm [[Hardening his spa-- heart, already, he sees.]] Swervester 8:44 pm OH. Clever? MedicalMurdersaurus 8:44 pm ((lovin that batman voice, gordon)) Swervester 8:44 pm //that monk's voice is weirdly deep SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:44 pm ...That's going to give him an infection. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:45 pm Who knows what's been on that knife. Boomtank 8:45 pm -facepalms- NoodlesAtNight 8:45 pm *Soundwave keeps quiet about what does and doesn't produce answers. Certain parties in here don't need to be reminded about the Patch.* MedicalMurdersaurus 8:45 pm boooooooooooooooooooring Swervester 8:45 pm Aw he was getting him to talk too. verdigrisprowl 8:45 pm Nice of him to actually give a blessing, though. NoodlesAtNight 8:45 pm [[...Why do you say that?]] *Actual curious look.* Swervester 8:45 pm .... Alfred please. verdigrisprowl 8:46 pm ... Because it's nice. I kind of thought he was going to spit on his forehead. opatoes 8:46 pm ... Why does anybody stay in this town, anyway? NoodlesAtNight 8:46 pm [[Oh. Yes, that - that is nicer than spitting, he will agree to that.]] MedicalMurdersaurus 8:46 pm *pops up for the fight scene* Boomtank 8:46 pm Alfred Swervester 8:46 pm Just shoot Alfred. It's self defense. NoodlesAtNight 8:46 pm [[Likely for the same reasons mechs stayed in Kaon, Blaster City, Slaughter City, Yuss... you cannot afford to leave.]] Boomtank 8:47 pm Alfred the hell. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:47 pm She did exactly that. opatoes 8:47 pm True... verdigrisprowl 8:47 pm Is Yuss that bad? MedicalMurdersaurus 8:47 pm Me Swoop want to fight in an elevator :V opatoes 8:47 pm I wish I could throw weapons like that SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:47 pm Speaking of infections... Ew. Boomtank 8:47 pm Whoops SCProwl 8:48 pm I could teach you if you'd like. NoodlesAtNight 8:48 pm [[It WAS a nice place. A lovely place, in fact. Then the Acid Wastes spread and reached th-- did he say--!]] opatoes 8:48 pm That'd be amazing, Prowl! Swervester 8:48 pm Ugh, I was right that he'd lie on stand. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:48 pm *WHOO* verdigrisprowl 8:49 pm Hm. Who got to the mayor? MedicalMurdersaurus 8:49 pm ((stick up for penguin, gordon)) NoodlesAtNight 8:49 pm [[Someone got to him. How did they let that happen? Was no one watching him?]] MedicalMurdersaurus 8:49 pm *flops back onto the ground like he was shot* Boomtank 8:49 pm ........... What just happened opatoes 8:49 pm Seriously Boomtank 8:49 pm Are you NoodlesAtNight 8:49 pm [[And elevators are terrible places for fights.]] Especially if you have unusually long and awkward limbs. Boomtank 8:50 pm ugh NoodlesAtNight 8:50 pm *Mumble.* [[Punch him.]] SCProwl 8:50 pm Perhaps Galavan's people? He did have officers loyal to him, yes? Swervester 8:50 pm Gordon! verdigrisprowl 8:50 pm *HUFF* NoodlesAtNight 8:50 pm *Mumble.* [[Thank you.]] opatoes 8:50 pm Gordon no Swervester 8:50 pm As satisfying as that was, he should not have done that Boomtank 8:50 pm -snorts- verdigrisprowl 8:50 pm No, he should not. Boomtank 8:51 pm I feel like doing that some days NoodlesAtNight 8:51 pm [[Galavan does, yes. He had hoped Barnes would have managed to pick better guards for the mayor.]] Swervester 8:51 pm [makes vague noise] Wasn't Malone one of the early gang people. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:51 pm ...Ah, young love. NoodlesAtNight 8:51 pm [[That was Maroni.]] SCProwl 8:51 pm ((baby batcat <3 Swervester 8:52 pm Oh. Okay. MedicalMurdersaurus 8:52 pm *could melt under the weight of his disappointment in this show not being all fight scenes* verdigrisprowl 8:52 pm If she asks for permission first, she's not stealing the car, is it? NoodlesAtNight 8:52 pm @P: [[He is glad you do not steal cars when he compliments you. For one thing, he isn't a car anymore.]] *Soundwave would like to see that happen to Swoop. Then they'd know exactly what it takes to beat a Dinobot.* verdigrisprowl 8:53 pm @S «I don't know what I'd do with a car.» NoodlesAtNight 8:53 pm @P: [[Use it in your human holoform mode?]] MedicalMurdersaurus 8:53 pm *lifts his head up just some in the hope gore is coming* verdigrisprowl 8:53 pm @S «I'd use myself.» Swervester 8:53 pm Maybe he should start wearing personal hidden cameras or something, he'd get so much evidence that way NoodlesAtNight 8:54 pm @P: [[Then he has no idea.]] *Amusement ping.* [[...That is /brilliant,/ Swerve.]] Boomtank 8:54 pm A lot Swervester 8:55 pm Like if he was recording right now????? verdigrisprowl 8:55 pm Should be standard for police, really. I've been reading up on it. MedicalMurdersaurus 8:55 pm *flops back so hard his helm makes a loud THUNK on the floor* NoodlesAtNight 8:55 pm [[Oh? What does the reading say?]] *Absolutely interested in spying for better work.* Boomtank 8:55 pm Ouch MedicalMurdersaurus 8:55 pm *HEARS PAIN!* Swervester 8:55 pm I assume they took his gun and that's why he didn't do something smarter like SHOOT HIM MedicalMurdersaurus 8:55 pm *rolls onto his tummy and watches with his chin in his hands* Kehehhehh Him suck NoodlesAtNight 8:56 pm [[Hm. Quite a lot to this Galavan fleshling beneath the surface. And of course they would have taken his gun.]] Boomtank 8:56 pm Yikes.... Boomtank 8:57 pm More yikes SpecsTheSpectralDragon 8:57 pm ...Penguin human. He's unconscious. NoodlesAtNight 8:57 pm [[Jim could have worse 'friends' than the Penguin. Better ones. But also worse.]] MedicalMurdersaurus 8:57 pm Fight fight fight! Boomtank 8:57 pm Bruce, run NoodlesAtNight 8:58 pm [[Is a garbage heap really the best hiding place with an open wound?]] Boomtank 8:58 pm Annnnd that's infected now Swervester 8:58 pm Was he unconcious in the truck? Don't human garbage trucks crush trash before it gets that far??? verdigrisprowl 8:58 pm The reading says, in most societies, it's not a bad idea. Swervester 8:58 pm ... Was he down there this whole time. SCProwl 8:59 pm I suppose my visor could double as a camera. If one doesn't mind seeing the entire EM spectrum all at once. MedicalMurdersaurus 8:59 pm ((this show has such EXCELLENT suits)) SCProwl 8:59 pm ((i have a lot of feelings about the suits in this show tbh Boomtank 8:59 pm That'd hurt verdigrisprowl 8:59 pm I'd kind of like to use it here, but I can't make too many changes at once before people rebel. NoodlesAtNight 9:00 pm [[And they are allowed to use the video captured as evidence?]]

[[Well, you should pin it for later. He thinks it could be interesting - in both directions. Imagine how many more pages you could fill in your reports when firing the corrupt.]] MedicalMurdersaurus 9:00 pm Everyone talk dumb. Them FIGHT now! verdigrisprowl 9:01 pm That's half the point. The other half is to get concrete evidence to use when judging accusations of enforcer misconduct. Boomtank 9:01 pm ....yeah, no NoodlesAtNight 9:01 pm *As he'd hoped. He's already on board with this personal video thing. So much.* Swervester 9:01 pm Ed is this smart. MedicalMurdersaurus 9:01 pm ((gay)) NoodlesAtNight 9:02 pm ((heh)) opatoes 9:02 pm rip ed SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:02 pm No, it's a terrible idea. Ed's going to get in so much trouble. NoodlesAtNight 9:03 pm ((i love that shot ;; )) verdigrisprowl 9:03 pm ... Plus, people tend to behave better when they know they're on camera. SCProwl 9:03 pm Perhaps we could introduce it here in Praxus. Our population is small enough that they may more easily adjust. NoodlesAtNight 9:03 pm [[Yes. Yes, they do.]] *The tiniest smile.*

[[You would be willing to try that?]] *To his own timeline's Prowl.* MedicalMurdersaurus 9:05 pm *slowly rolls like a childish log around the floor* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:05 pm Goddess, what a useless human. Swervester 9:05 pm Is she actually his niece? verdigrisprowl 9:06 pm Let me know how it goes. I've seen such systems on other worlds, but not on a Cybertron. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:06 pm I hope not. SCProwl 9:06 pm I'd like to look at what you've been reading, Captain, but I want to ensure this new police force doesn't become what it was before the war. MedicalMurdersaurus 9:06 pm *rooooooolll roooooooooooollll* NoodlesAtNight 9:06 pm [[Swoop, for Primus' sake, go run laps outside if you need something to do.]] SCProwl 9:07 pm I sincerely doubt Silver is going to succeed here. MedicalMurdersaurus 9:07 pm Me Swoop don't waaaaaannnttt to laps! opatoes 9:08 pm there's my house verdigrisprowl 9:09 pm ... There were a couple of citystates that used cameras before the war, but exclusively to the enforcers' benefit. Footage was suppressed and destroyed if it wasn't to the enforcers' advantage. So I hardly count it as the same system. Swervester 9:09 pm Oh my god officer lady. verdigrisprowl 9:10 pm Why does he think he knows Gym better than she does? She's known Gym longer than him. Swervester 9:10 pm I expected bats verdigrisprowl 9:11 pm He's scared of bats. MedicalMurdersaurus 9:11 pm *kicks his foot up and holds onto it * *is now an asymmetrical lump* verdigrisprowl 9:12 pm She's not. Boomtank 9:13 pm What verdigrisprowl 9:13 pm she's saying that to get him to stay. Boomtank 9:13 pm Oh verdigrisprowl 9:13 pm Or leave, rather. SCProwl 9:13 pm Steps would have to be taken to ensure something like that didn't happen then. *contemplating the idea somewhat, debating pros and cons and possible scenarios* verdigrisprowl 9:13 pm Stay with her, not stay in Gotham. Boomtank 9:13 pm Makes sense NoodlesAtNight 9:13 pm ((sorry had to run off briefly, back)) MedicalMurdersaurus 9:14 pm *rolls onto his back, gets his hands and feet under him and -- TA DA-- he is now a bridge* verdigrisprowl 9:14 pm The most obvious solution would be to make all the footage public, all the time; however, that would mean that a great many people's very traumatic, very private moments were up for public consumption at all time. verdigrisprowl 9:15 pm The next best solution, I think, would be to ensure that the enforcers aren't the ones that hold the footage. Keep it in the hands of an independent department that doesn't answer to the police. NoodlesAtNight 9:15 pm *Perks.* Swervester 9:15 pm Wow. NoodlesAtNight 9:15 pm [[Corrupt enforcers would count as an internal threat to be monitored.]] *Casually.* [[Another department would work.]] Boomtank 9:15 pm Buuut Jim really should have just told her he's trying to...save...Bruce? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:16 pm *Welp. She's dead.* verdigrisprowl 9:16 pm Why did the guard just hand the gun over without question. Boomtank 9:16 pm That's not good. Swervester 9:16 pm How the hell did he find out so fast? verdigrisprowl 9:16 pm ... Does Gym know for sure yet that he's the Son of Gotham? Boomtank 9:16 pm Gunshots are loud. MedicalMurdersaurus 9:16 pm *walk upside down on his hands and feet over to a chair and climbs to perch on it* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:16 pm I assume there's cameras in the cell. NoodlesAtNight 9:16 pm [[Because she is a Dumas. Likely they have been trained to respond to whatever they are told.]] verdigrisprowl 9:16 pm I'm thinking this is part of her performance to re-seduce Brace. verdigrisprowl 9:17 pm Turn his own game against him: act like she's been captured along with him. MedicalMurdersaurus 9:18 pm *leeeeeeeeans back until he can get the chair popped up onto two legs and balances that way* NoodlesAtNight 9:18 pm [[At least he is willing to go the roundabout route to get it done.]] *Stretches a feeler over and firmly pushes the chair back onto all four legs.* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:19 pm *goodness, the riddling human is very /visibly/ eavesdropping and no one is- ah, there we go.* NoodlesAtNight 9:19 pm ((it's windows, not with us, captioner)) verdigrisprowl 9:19 pm He couldn't help himself. Boomtank 9:19 pm Uh...oh....dear. Ed. MedicalMurdersaurus 9:19 pm *SQUEAKS as he gets plopped back down* MedicalMurdersaurus 9:20 pm ((Riddler/Penguin/Gordon/Lee)) ((I need it)) NoodlesAtNight 9:20 pm ((i'd ship it)) Boomtank 9:20 pm .... Swervester 9:20 pm She knows. Boomtank 9:20 pm Jim. Jim you idiot. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:21 pm ((H E A L T H Y P O L Y A M O R Y)) verdigrisprowl 9:21 pm ((Lee deserves better than that many concentrated self-destructive tendencies.)) NoodlesAtNight 9:21 pm ((true)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:21 pm ((but yes puff is right)) SCProwl 9:21 pm ((I ship Lee/no one that exists on this show rn NoodlesAtNight 9:21 pm ((lee as vanessa/deadpool)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:21 pm ((lmaoooooo valid)) Swervester 9:21 pm Look pretty well makeup'd to me, girl MedicalMurdersaurus 9:21 pm ((lee/deadpool)) verdigrisprowl 9:21 pm ((riddler/penguin/gordon/vanessa)) Swervester 9:22 pm //i must look terrible she says, looking like a model NoodlesAtNight 9:22 pm ((omg)) [[You are being too obvious, child.]] Boomtank 9:23 pm .....eeeesh verdigrisprowl 9:23 pm She might get her kiss just for telling him the truth. Solely to save her life. MedicalMurdersaurus 9:24 pm *leans forward in the chair slowly until he tips over, roll roll rolling to a new spot* MedicalMurdersaurus 9:25 pm ((look at all these people coming out for bruce)) NoodlesAtNight 9:25 pm [[Fox is having one pit of an interesting day.]] Boomtank 9:25 pm He's a kind person, he'd...wow verdigrisprowl 9:25 pm He's the only sensible person in the room. NoodlesAtNight 9:26 pm [[Of course he is. Lee drove off.]] *And that's something of a shame, because they could really use two sensible people right now.* Boomtank 9:26 pm A menagerie of animals verdigrisprowl 9:26 pm ((Fox/Lee. Only Sensible People)) NoodlesAtNight 9:26 pm ((lmao)) Swervester 9:26 pm Ah NoodlesAtNight 9:26 pm [[That is kind of him.]] verdigrisprowl 9:26 pm As I said. Swervester 9:27 pm He's too nice. Boomtank 9:27 pm It is. SCProwl 9:27 pm ((but fox needs to be Bruce's other dad with Alfred tho? verdigrisprowl 9:27 pm ((Alfred and Fox can split custody)) Boomtank 9:28 pm Annnnd this isn't going...Cat. Cat what are you doing? Oh. That. NoodlesAtNight 9:28 pm [[Clearing a way in.]] *Ahh, the days of when his minicons would do that for him.* ((bullock reminds me of that scene in kung fu panda 2 where he's like MY WORST ENEMY! .... STAIRS. )) SCProwl 9:29 pm ((me too, bullock, me too Boomtank 9:29 pm ((Stairs. The enemy of all out of shape people Swervester 9:29 pm //mood NoodlesAtNight 9:30 pm [[Ah. She is dead.]] verdigrisprowl 9:30 pm Huh. She legitimately saved his life. Swervester 9:30 pm Should Fox sound so ominous opatoes 9:30 pm pppphffhfh Boomtank 9:31 pm Bullock opatoes 9:31 pm nice SCProwl 9:31 pm ((Tabby <3 NoodlesAtNight 9:31 pm ((good tabby <3 )) Swervester 9:31 pm Huh. verdigrisprowl 9:31 pm God, I would have been so confused if I'd been given that crime scene to examine. Swervester 9:31 pm She's a good woman ally I guess NoodlesAtNight 9:31 pm [[Which one? The sacrifice scene?]] opatoes 9:32 pm Can she do that again Boomtank 9:32 pm -hides face- Swervester 9:32 pm Did Silver even know how to use that MedicalMurdersaurus 9:32 pm KEHEHH PUSH SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:32 pm What the... NoodlesAtNight 9:32 pm [[She did. Her parachute deployed.]] MedicalMurdersaurus 9:32 pm Me Swoop want to push out a window : > Swervester 9:32 pm Oh. verdigrisprowl 9:32 pm Yes. Trying to make sense of the body that appeared to have fallen to the ground mid-jump. opatoes 9:32 pm shoot him Boomtank 9:33 pm Jim, no MedicalMurdersaurus 9:33 pm Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:33 pm On the one hand... But on the other. NoodlesAtNight 9:33 pm [[A heavy gust of wind from above?]] verdigrisprowl 9:33 pm Put your damn gun down, Gym. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:34 pm Hello, Penguin. Swervester 9:34 pm God opatoes 9:34 pm oswald even has a fluffy coat like a penguin now MedicalMurdersaurus 9:34 pm Why him a penguin? Swervester 9:34 pm Wait what child Boomtank 9:34 pm ..... SCProwl 9:34 pm Lee is carrying. NoodlesAtNight 9:34 pm [[Lee is bearing human spawn, Swerve.]] Swervester 9:34 pm What since when verdigrisprowl 9:34 pm I'm still not convinced. Swervester 9:35 pm Did I miss that Boomtank 9:35 pm -not going to say he'd turn this over to Penguin, but he would- NoodlesAtNight 9:35 pm [[She told Jim she was.]] Swervester 9:35 pm I don't recall that. Maybe it was one I missed verdigrisprowl 9:35 pm *sighs* NoodlesAtNight 9:35 pm [[It was earlier tonight, at Nygma's.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:35 pm *oh, the dragon would have committed a murder in a heartbeat. Penguin wouldn't have even needed to bring up the child.* Swervester 9:35 pm Oh. NoodlesAtNight 9:35 pm *Shakes his head. Damn it, Jim.* Swervester 9:35 pm t have been when I got that call, I tuned out for a bit. That'swhy I don't remember it. MedicalMurdersaurus 9:36 pm : > SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:36 pm Goddess' fangs, Penguin. Boomtank 9:36 pm ............ NoodlesAtNight 9:36 pm [[How far he has fallen.]] *Vent.* Boomtank 9:36 pm Jim. opatoes 9:36 pm ... Man, this reads like some kinda phoenix wright case MedicalMurdersaurus 9:36 pm Aww, that a boring dead : < Boomtank 9:37 pm Jim, you didn't. SCProwl 9:37 pm Appalling. Swervester 9:37 pm So much for clearing corruption verdigrisprowl 9:37 pm Indeed. opatoes 9:37 pm Ji, verdigrisprowl 9:37 pm Sure, it's over—until the next guy. opatoes 9:37 pm Jim Boomtank 9:37 pm ...... verdigrisprowl 9:38 pm Or until the evidence surfaces. NoodlesAtNight 9:38 pm [[And it will only be easier, now. It only ever gets easier.]] Boomtank 9:38 pm Yeah... opatoes 9:38 pm Uh MedicalMurdersaurus 9:38 pm KEHEHHEHHEHHH verdigrisprowl 9:38 pm Or until somebody charges him with something. Boomtank 9:38 pm Um...how? NoodlesAtNight 9:39 pm *Tilts his helm. What's this, then?* Boomtank 9:39 pm What. Oh yikes NoodlesAtNight 9:40 pm [[Oh - a trial?]] *Leans forward* verdigrisprowl 9:40 pm Not a trial, yet. NoodlesAtNight 9:41 pm ((i've been debating, and personally i'd like to do this, but i'll take votes -- this is part 1 of a good 2 parter; do y'all want the extra ep tonight or to keep it split?)) MedicalMurdersaurus 9:41 pm ((extra!)) Boomtank 9:41 pm ((extraaaaa! SCProwl 9:42 pm ((i'm good with extra ep because these episodes are great SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:42 pm ((extra ep works for me)) verdigrisprowl 9:42 pm ((sure)) NoodlesAtNight 9:42 pm ((cool! she said, winking obnoxiously)) MedicalMurdersaurus 9:42 pm Soundwave NoodlesAtNight 9:43 pm [[Yes?]] SCProwl 9:43 pm Ugh. verdigrisprowl 9:43 pm Ugh. NoodlesAtNight 9:43 pm [[And if this is not a trial - is this an internal affairs business?]] MedicalMurdersaurus 9:43 pm You fight Me Swoop : > NoodlesAtNight 9:43 pm [[...Why are you both ughing his name.]] verdigrisprowl 9:43 pm No, the show. NoodlesAtNight 9:43 pm [[No, Swoop.]] *Pause.* [[At least, not right now.]] SCProwl 9:43 pm *gesture at the screen* MedicalMurdersaurus 9:43 pm Fight later? :V NoodlesAtNight 9:43 pm [[He will consider it.]] MedicalMurdersaurus 9:44 pm Yay : > Boomtank 9:44 pm Well that's an insult Swervester 9:44 pm OH, they don't trust Jim anymore? NoodlesAtNight 9:44 pm ((i'm SO MAD that we likely don't get to get a twoface outta him)) ((dumb other show hiring him away)) SCProwl 9:44 pm ((*shakes fist at other show* MedicalMurdersaurus 9:44 pm KAHA! Drill to the FACE! NoodlesAtNight 9:44 pm *He'll have to send that clip to Frenzy. Frenzy would like that.* verdigrisprowl 9:45 pm Interesting new attachment. NoodlesAtNight 9:45 pm [[Personally, he is disappointed. He was promised a tiny chainsaw.]]

*Looks to Swerve* [[Would you?]] NoodlesAtNight 9:46 pm [][][]Like a sad bear.[][][] Boomtank 9:47 pm ....... SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:47 pm ...I wonder how they got it to spin. NoodlesAtNight 9:47 pm ((..........well damn it now I'M wondering)) MedicalMurdersaurus 9:48 pm WHOA! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:48 pm ((seriously, like- HOLY FUCK)) Boomtank 9:48 pm ..... verdigrisprowl 9:48 pm ... Him versus flamethrower girl. Boomtank 9:48 pm That's....that's a new one SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:48 pm ((but yeah wasn't there supposed to be /wrist/ and stuff back in there? how'd they hitch the electronics up? you can do some funky things with nerves, but still.)) MedicalMurdersaurus 9:48 pm Flamethrower girl?????? :V NoodlesAtNight 9:48 pm [[Oh. Oh, he'd like to see that.]] *Nodding at Prowl.* NoodlesAtNight 9:49 pm ((yeah i... i have no idea how that would work. i mean, galavan's rich enough to do the nerve thing i guess? but idk)) opatoes 9:49 pm let it go NoodlesAtNight 9:49 pm [[Don't you /dare/.]] opatoes 9:49 pm But Soundwave... SCProwl 9:49 pm Dare what? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:49 pm ((also, with the monkey experiment along those lines, they had to teach the monkey to think about certain cues before they wired him up. you don't need to do that with humans, but still.)) MedicalMurdersaurus 9:50 pm Me Swoop don't like being cold Boomtank 9:51 pm ....? NoodlesAtNight 9:51 pm [[...He wonders if Nygma will attack Harvey.]] verdigrisprowl 9:51 pm At least he's pretending to be polite now. Boomtank 9:51 pm Let it go? NoodlesAtNight 9:51 pm @SCP: [[A song that he could not move two inches without hearing for the better part of an Earth year. He likes music, and enjoys repetition, but it was difficult to find anything else via his usual channels.]] NoodlesAtNight 9:52 pm [[Jim is in trouble now.]] *Scoots forward.* SCProwl 9:52 pm @SW: [[Ah, yes, that would be annoying.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:52 pm Oh no. opatoes 9:52 pm ((dangit smokey wants to be like "humans really did just need to let it go")) MedicalMurdersaurus 9:53 pm *climbs onto the nearest couch and curls up* NoodlesAtNight 9:53 pm ((SUCH SASS)) MedicalMurdersaurus 9:53 pm *completely ignoring personal space* Boomtank 9:53 pm Oh dear. verdigrisprowl 9:53 pm Penguin won't sell him out. Boomtank 9:54 pm Penguin wants to take the credit. NoodlesAtNight 9:54 pm [[With a debt that size waiting there for him if he covers? No criminal being of good sense would.]] SCProwl 9:54 pm They probably corroborated their stories before the ni--*sighs* verdigrisprowl 9:54 pm Penguin's going to protect his "friend." Boomtank 9:54 pm True MedicalMurdersaurus 9:54 pm ((Gordon is worth more on the force and also Penguin is gay for him and wouldn't want to ruin his life)) Boomtank 9:54 pm ((HAH SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:55 pm I feel as though this has gone long past "friend" and into "asset," just like with the riddling human. MedicalMurdersaurus 9:55 pm *looks around for pillows* verdigrisprowl 9:55 pm He gains nothing and loses a huge advantage if he sells Gym out. Plus, he IS now in custody. He could use a friend on the force. ... Since when has "friend" been anything BUT a code word for "asset"? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:55 pm Alright, fair enough. MedicalMurdersaurus 9:55 pm Me Swoop and Her Bird are FRIENDS! :v verdigrisprowl 9:55 pm *case in point.* NoodlesAtNight 9:55 pm [[It hasn't. It only appears that way to those who do not think to make good and consensual use of their friends when the opportunity strikes.]] NoodlesAtNight 9:56 pm [[And who are not willing to acknowledge the reverse.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:56 pm ...Does he intend to freeze her? verdigrisprowl 9:56 pm The way Penguin uses it, I mean. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:56 pm Ah. opatoes 9:56 pm OH. Ohhhh. Oh. NoodlesAtNight 9:56 pm [[Ah. That is a different kind of 'asset'. But you are still correct.]] opatoes 9:56 pm I know who this is now NoodlesAtNight 9:56 pm [[...He didn't tell her.]] verdigrisprowl 9:57 pm In general, good friends are also assets. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:57 pm Why would he? She'd refuse to let him freeze her if she knew, surely. verdigrisprowl 9:57 pm In Penguin's case, friends are /only/ assets. Swervester 9:57 pm //what did i miss in the last ten minutes i had to clean up Cat Accident SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:57 pm ((there's a man freezing people to save his wife)) ((par for the course)) verdigrisprowl 9:58 pm ((penguin got arrested, in the interrogation room backed up jim's alibi)) Swervester 9:58 pm //is there a sensible reason for freezing lmao verdigrisprowl 9:58 pm ((i almost spelled it "gym," im too used to prowl's confusion)) Swervester 9:58 pm //lmao NoodlesAtNight 9:58 pm ((cryogenics. preserving her until science finds a cure for her disease)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:58 pm Is there a reason that he isn't working with proper lighting? Surely he needs to be able to see things? Swervester 9:58 pm //ah Boomtank 9:58 pm ........... Swervester 9:58 pm //so all the victims are him perfecting it i assume? NoodlesAtNight 9:58 pm ((yeah)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:58 pm ((yup)) verdigrisprowl 9:59 pm Maybe he doesn't like bright lights. Boomtank 9:59 pm What.... SpecsTheSpectralDragon 9:59 pm ...I don't believe I'd call him insane. verdigrisprowl 10:00 pm But he claimed insanity. Arkham is a sieve. He's clever. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:00 pm Fair enough. Boomtank 10:00 pm ...... Sounds terrifying, no thanks verdigrisprowl 10:01 pm Someone's about to die. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:01 pm It's not ineffective. Some creatures are able to undergo it without ill effects. MedicalMurdersaurus 10:01 pm ((he looks so tiny and scawny)) MedicalMurdersaurus 10:02 pm !! *is inspired* *stands on the sofa* *bounces* opatoes 10:02 pm Uh oh NoodlesAtNight 10:02 pm ((if you are easily disturbed by body horror, DO NOT WATCH THIS SCENE I AM NOT KIDDING)) verdigrisprowl 10:03 pm Well, if he didn't plan on killing anybody, why did he bother with the boast? ((... what kind)) NoodlesAtNight 10:03 pm ((what ice does when it's hot.)) Boomtank 10:03 pm Um.... SCProwl 10:03 pm ((what snowmen do in summer Boomtank 10:03 pm Is....is...oh verdigrisprowl 10:03 pm ((oh, that's exciting)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:03 pm Hm. MedicalMurdersaurus 10:03 pm *erupts in laughter and flops back down* Him GOO NoodlesAtNight 10:04 pm ((all right y'all are safe now)) Swervester 10:04 pm Is she NoodlesAtNight 10:04 pm ((except for nora being a coughy bloody mess)) Swervester 10:04 pm Oh boy. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:04 pm ((thank u sounds <3)) Well, that looks bad. Lungs should not be full of blood. Boomtank 10:04 pm That...was nasty... verdigrisprowl 10:04 pm ... Maybe he should freeze her first and THEN continue experimenting on other prisoners. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:05 pm It's not the reviving that's the only problem. He doesn't know how to freeze her so that she /can/ be revived. NoodlesAtNight 10:05 pm [[And if he does it wrong? He is talking about formulas. He has to perfect it.]] Swervester 10:05 pm Hm. Poor lady. verdigrisprowl 10:05 pm Why's he scolding her? She's got blood on her face. HE should keep track of her prescriptions. Swervester 10:06 pm He didn't even look at the bottle, how the fuck does he know if it has one He has to at least check the info on the bottle to know that. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:06 pm The organic creatures I know of that can be revived have antifreeze in the blood. Boomtank 10:06 pm ((and this is true, I don't like how the pharmacist is being portrayed Swervester 10:06 pm Also he's not a kook for wanting medication for his dying wife sir NoodlesAtNight 10:07 pm ((tbh i've encountered some shitty pharmacists so i'm just like "ah. one of you." )) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:07 pm ((also, man, I've had that interaction before about my own medication. "I literally just called my doctor, she said she gave you guys a refill order for six iterations." "yes but we can't refill this because it doesn't have a refill order.")) MedicalMurdersaurus 10:07 pm ((what is this actor's name? I feel like he's been in a lot of other stuff. Unless I'm mistaking him for someone else.)) Boomtank 10:07 pm ((can't refill without refills on the prescription, it's law SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:07 pm ((anyways fuuuuuuuuuuck american healthcare)) Boomtank 10:07 pm ((and yes to that Swervester 10:08 pm //also tho he should have at LEAST looked up the name like. you can't just take an empty bottle and say that, you have to actually check the file for the patient to know that info lmao Boomtank 10:08 pm ((and yeah, he did that improperly Swervester 10:08 pm //i say this as someone who gets monthly refills on medications, at least one of which requires a refill order verdigrisprowl 10:08 pm ((sometimes it's displayed on the bottle?? mine always have how many refills are left displayed on the bottle)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:08 pm ((I'm gonna be real here, I don't feel bad for the pharmacy guy getting frozen to death.)) MedicalMurdersaurus 10:08 pm DEAD SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:08 pm ((also yeah, mine do too)) Boomtank 10:08 pm !!!!!!! NoodlesAtNight 10:09 pm ((i don't think we're SUPPOSED to feel bad about it)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:09 pm ((so it clearly says "x refills left" and they /still/ make my doctors send a new one each. fucking. time.)) Swervester 10:09 pm //yeah. but he didn't even look at the bottle, but some sorts of meds have to actually be looked up on the computer to know, and if he's doing tat then that's likely one of them you'd need to actually look up to check lmao SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:09 pm ((shrieking)) Boomtank 10:09 pm ((true, if he did that /properly/ he'd probably not be in trouble verdigrisprowl 10:09 pm ((and if this is a place that needs paper scripts rather than keeping prescriptions on computer file, which seems likely given the deliberate mess of anachronism in the show)) Swervester 10:09 pm //i'm lucky that i get my meds refilled from the pharmacy across the hall from my psych tho and one of the guys working there also works in my doc's office so they just run back and forth when they need refill orders lmao NoodlesAtNight 10:09 pm ((like i think we're supposed to feel sorry for victor and nora that this jackass is in charge)) Boomtank 10:10 pm ((yup, so the pharmacist was an asshat Swervester 10:10 pm //yes lmao MedicalMurdersaurus 10:10 pm *reaches out to hold someone's hand, anyone's hand, just a hand* Swervester 10:11 pm //is that uh. what's his face NoodlesAtNight 10:11 pm ((yes it's the guy from law and order and jurassic park)) Swervester 10:11 pm //ok i was right lmao SCProwl 10:11 pm ((he's so goooood Boomtank 10:11 pm ((looks familiar verdigrisprowl 10:12 pm ((i have very little doubt that her prescription had run out and had no refills. but the pharmacist is clearly intended to be a jackass, regardless of her prescription.)) NoodlesAtNight 10:12 pm [[For Primus' sake, man, install a ramp.]] MedicalMurdersaurus 10:12 pm *WANTS TO HOLD HANDS SOMEONE HOLD HIS HAND* Swervester 10:12 pm [does Swoop want his hand] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:12 pm *no. no handholding for the fire-breathing toddler.* Swervester 10:12 pm [can he TRUST Swoop with his hand] Boomtank 10:12 pm Oh no NoodlesAtNight 10:12 pm [[Oh. Oh dear.]] Boomtank 10:12 pm Oooooh no Swervester 10:12 pm Uh oh Boomtank 10:12 pm She's...oh MedicalMurdersaurus 10:12 pm *takes Swerve's hand and remains, as always, untrustworthy* : > SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:12 pm ((tbh I support freezing asshat pharmacists)) Swervester 10:12 pm OH so she didn't know. I thought she might. NoodlesAtNight 10:13 pm [[No. She thought they were mice.]] Swervester 10:13 pm Oh boy. SCProwl 10:13 pm ((BD Wong is such a delight, Gotham does some stellar perfect casting sometimes Swervester 10:13 pm [squinting slightly at Swoop just in case] verdigrisprowl 10:13 pm ... Why doesn't he experiment on mice? MedicalMurdersaurus 10:13 pm *chirps* SCProwl 10:13 pm Too small? Swervester 10:13 pm Good question SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:13 pm ((wait, hugo strange is fucking... uh. Henry Wu?)) NoodlesAtNight 10:13 pm ((YEP)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:14 pm ((god I am so fucking faceblind)) NoodlesAtNight 10:14 pm [[Mice have different systems from humans. It would be like trying to perfect a treatment for Cybertronians on sheepicron.]] Boomtank 10:14 pm ((OH SCProwl 10:14 pm ((and also Li Shang SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:14 pm ((I didn't even recognize dr alan grant in event horizon lmao)) Swervester 10:14 pm //i recognized him but the lighting and lack of hair made it take me a minute lmao verdigrisprowl 10:14 pm He could at least get close, BEFORE he starts killing people. Swervester 10:14 pm Oh, and she doesn't have her medicine! Boomtank 10:14 pm Oh no. Swervester 10:14 pm Does she? NoodlesAtNight 10:14 pm [[Now that he agrees with.]] [[And no. No, she does not.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:14 pm Yeah, they should get her her medicine. Or else she'll die. NoodlesAtNight 10:14 pm ((eye horror coming)) verdigrisprowl 10:15 pm I mean—disclaimer, any amount of murder is bad—but better if he only needs four or five human test subjects instead of dozens. SCProwl 10:15 pm *shudders* Boomtank 10:15 pm ................. NoodlesAtNight 10:15 pm ((eye horror over)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:15 pm ((EESH)) MedicalMurdersaurus 10:15 pm *uses his new hand buddy as a cuddle buddy* Swervester 10:15 pm she is cooperating??? verdigrisprowl 10:15 pm Oh shut the hell up, she is cooperating. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:15 pm She's sick and she is cooperating. Goddess eat them both. verdigrisprowl 10:16 pm Did they bring her meds? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:16 pm Doesn't look like it. Swervester 10:16 pm It didn't seem like it. NoodlesAtNight 10:16 pm [[She is a loyal mate even now. He sees why the Victor human does not want to lose her.]] MedicalMurdersaurus 10:16 pm *climbs into Swerve's lap* SCProwl 10:16 pm *runs hand over visor and sighs* Swervester 10:16 pm [allows this] Boomtank 10:16 pm /wow/ SCProwl 10:16 pm Really, Bullock? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:16 pm ...Er. Aren't humans supposed to have red lips? NoodlesAtNight 10:17 pm [[Human lips are only red when they have sufficient oxygen.]] *pause.* [[Knock Out learned this when tampering with Silas. He learned it from Knock Out.]] Boomtank 10:17 pm Oh no Swervester 10:17 pm Oh. He even gave himself up for her. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:17 pm So, the purple lips that Miss Nora has are a /bad/ thing, then. NoodlesAtNight 10:17 pm [[Very bad.]] MedicalMurdersaurus 10:17 pm *puts his chin on Swerve's head* NoodlesAtNight 10:18 pm [[...Are there - are there normally many humans confessing to crimes they did not perform?]] Swervester 10:18 pm [squints at Swoop] opatoes 10:18 pm Maybe a bunch of humans are all freezing other humans MedicalMurdersaurus 10:18 pm *can't see the squinting from here* : > verdigrisprowl 10:18 pm Yes. NoodlesAtNight 10:18 pm ((i love ed's reaction)) Boomtank 10:18 pm Oh... SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:18 pm ((ed is valid)) NoodlesAtNight 10:18 pm [[Oh - it worked!]] SCProwl 10:18 pm *laughs quietly at Ed's "Huh"* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:18 pm Well, he's alive. NoodlesAtNight 10:19 pm *Glancing at amica-Prowl.* [[Why? They would be put away for murder.]] verdigrisprowl 10:19 pm You get fed in prison. Swervester 10:19 pm Free bed. Boomtank 10:19 pm ((love that reaction. Just 'Huh. Dead body vanished' NoodlesAtNight 10:19 pm [[He knows /that/ - but for a crime with a death sentence?]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:20 pm Starving is a death sentence, too. MedicalMurdersaurus 10:20 pm ((I would argue this diagnosis so much for Penguin. I don't buy it at all.)) NoodlesAtNight 10:20 pm [[Hm. True.]] verdigrisprowl 10:20 pm Death row takes forever. NoodlesAtNight 10:20 pm *Twitch. Young lady arsonist? So this is--* SCProwl 10:20 pm ((agreed about penguin MedicalMurdersaurus 10:20 pm *lets go of Swerve's hand so he can wrap his arms around the other bot and lean his birby weight on him* NoodlesAtNight 10:20 pm *Oh. Oh. He gets it.* Swervester 10:20 pm Arsonist? Swervester 10:21 pm [accepting because he is in fact a baby dino] NoodlesAtNight 10:21 pm [[The one who set herself on fire by accident. The one who they said died, but was taken to a research facility.]] *Point.* [[/That/ facility. Indian Hill.]] Swervester 10:22 pm OH. I think I forgot who she was so I'll have to refresh my memory later. Boomtank 10:22 pm That....is /worrying/ SCProwl 10:23 pm I sincerely hope he's using the new formula so these people are still alive. Swervester 10:23 pm //rtgg it is prolly weird that i really wanna push them over and see if they smash NoodlesAtNight 10:23 pm [[So does he.]] MedicalMurdersaurus 10:23 pm *is the bittest baby in the room* NoodlesAtNight 10:23 pm ((if it is then i'm weird too)) Swervester 10:23 pm //lmao Swervester 10:23 pm [pats Swoop. is he calm???] NoodlesAtNight 10:23 pm ((*throws notes at puff on discord*)) Boomtank 10:24 pm ((hey the one they hit smashed nicely verdigrisprowl 10:24 pm ((o/)) MedicalMurdersaurus 10:24 pm *is the calmest a dino can be* SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:24 pm I would assume that, since he seems to intend to freeze his wife, he'd use the new formula. NoodlesAtNight 10:25 pm [[That is true. There might not be enough time or open space available to switch cartridges and avoid hitting her with the old formula.]] Swervester 10:25 pm //rABBIT SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:25 pm Exactly. And what if the old formula contaminates the new one? Swervester 10:26 pm [excellent. pats Swoop and gives him a snack for good behavior[ MedicalMurdersaurus 10:26 pm *takes the snack and holds it* : > NoodlesAtNight 10:26 pm ((table flip)) Boomtank 10:27 pm ((too nice of a table to flip Swervester 10:27 pm I mean, her refusal to betray him aside, she's an innocent in this whole matter, do they even have a legal right to hold her? She doesn't even know where he is, even if she isn't willing to betray him. MedicalMurdersaurus 10:27 pm *pats the snack on Swerve's cheek like a kid feeding a toy doll* Swervester 10:27 pm [rolls his eyes behind visor] Swervester 10:28 pm The least bad would actually be letting her go, because he a) won't attack them and b) then yiou'd be less a dick SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:28 pm *snrk* She's got him. verdigrisprowl 10:29 pm They think she does. She stopped saying "I don't know" and started saying "I'm not telling you." MedicalMurdersaurus 10:29 pm *makes fake eating noises on Swerve's behalf* verdigrisprowl 10:29 pm Buuut, it is very fragile evidence to hold her on indefinitely. Swervester 10:29 pm The problem is they didn't believe her even when she was telling the truth, which is dumb. [grumbles] Swervester 10:30 pm [thanks Swoop] MedicalMurdersaurus 10:30 pm WHOA verdigrisprowl 10:30 pm Ooh. NoodlesAtNight 10:30 pm [[/Primus./]] Swervester 10:31 pm That's strong. verdigrisprowl 10:31 pm Impressive technology. NoodlesAtNight 10:31 pm *Turns his hand over for Prowl.* SCProwl 10:31 pm Oh, that's interesting. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:31 pm ...Goddess... *and that's said with reverent awe. that was a damn cool ice thing.* MedicalMurdersaurus 10:31 pm ((aaaaaand we're about caught up to where I've watched on my own now. Poor Penguin... )) opatoes 10:32 pm Why are they putting him in a vr thing NoodlesAtNight 10:32 pm ((flashing lights like mad in a few seonds)) verdigrisprowl 10:32 pm *grimacing* MedicalMurdersaurus 10:32 pm What them do? NoodlesAtNight 10:32 pm ((flashing lights done)) MedicalMurdersaurus 10:32 pm goose NoodlesAtNight 10:33 pm [[They hurt him.]] MedicalMurdersaurus 10:33 pm why Swervester 10:34 pm //this is the actual worst place to put nora man NoodlesAtNight 10:34 pm ((that scene is sadder still when you realize he was so ostracized as a kid he literally does not know the rules to duck duck goose)) Swervester 10:34 pm //tbh verdigrisprowl 10:34 pm ((i was just thinking)) MedicalMurdersaurus 10:34 pm ((I want to rescue baby penguin)) verdigrisprowl 10:35 pm Oh, seriously? NoodlesAtNight 10:35 pm [[They did say some time back that was where she would be going.]] MedicalMurdersaurus 10:36 pm ((gordon don't be a dick)) NoodlesAtNight 10:36 pm ((in gordon's very very very limited defense, he has no idea what hugo's doing in there. nobody does)) ((and yet: he is still an ass for that)) verdigrisprowl 10:37 pm If nothing else, there should be rules against leaving doctors alone in rooms with people who tried to kill them. Boomtank 10:37 pm ....what did I miss? I was talking to... Swervester 10:37 pm Prolly NoodlesAtNight 10:37 pm [[There should be.]] Boomtank 10:37 pm ....huh NoodlesAtNight 10:38 pm [[They are taking Nora to Arkham to serve as a trap for Victor because they cannot lock down a whole hospital. Barbara Kean is there as well, but in a coma. Penguin is being put through mental torture and Jim refuses to believe it.]] *At Blaster.* MedicalMurdersaurus 10:38 pm *takes Swerve's hand and puts it on his helm* *Swoop's helm* Swervester 10:39 pm [pats] MedicalMurdersaurus 10:39 pm *chirps* : > SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:39 pm Docent, you asked the question. What- oh. Swervester 10:39 pm Hello Swoop. MedicalMurdersaurus 10:39 pm hi SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:39 pm *hm. is this good docentry or bad docentry?* Swervester 10:39 pm You good? SCProwl 10:39 pm *both?* MedicalMurdersaurus 10:39 pm Sleepy NoodlesAtNight 10:39 pm *...He's inclined to believe it is good. If the youngling is determined to see the killer die, at least it stops the youngling from being responsible for it.* Boomtank 10:39 pm Ah. Thanks Soundwave. verdigrisprowl 10:40 pm *mutters* No one ever believes people under psychiatric hold. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:41 pm It's comforting to dismiss anyone who doesn't have a "normal" brain. Boomtank 10:41 pm .....? verdigrisprowl 10:41 pm *scowls* NoodlesAtNight 10:41 pm *Glance at Prowl. Then the screen.* [[He should have at least asked for more details. He knows perfectly well the Penguin has his senses.]] [[And even if he did not - he should still ask.]] verdigrisprowl 10:41 pm Oh. She actually is pregnant. Boomtank 10:42 pm Oh dear verdigrisprowl 10:42 pm Where did he get THAT thing? Boomtank 10:42 pm Holy.... MedicalMurdersaurus 10:43 pm ((that dude would be in an UNREAL amount of pain)) SCProwl 10:43 pm Are they going to call a medic for the driver or just leave him there? MedicalMurdersaurus 10:43 pm OH YEAH Swervester 10:43 pm Space suit MedicalMurdersaurus 10:43 pm *giggles to himself* Boomtank 10:43 pm ((oh those arms are /gone/ Swervester 10:44 pm [pats Swoop] Maybe you should sleep SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:44 pm ((yeah, I would /not/ want to be the driver)) Boomtank 10:44 pm !!!!! verdigrisprowl 10:44 pm I hope he's using the non-fatal formula. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:44 pm ((like, I definitely get - why is there an icicle growing out of his eye)) NoodlesAtNight 10:44 pm ((did that skip for everyone or just me)) verdigrisprowl 10:44 pm ((fine here)) Swervester 10:44 pm //fne here Swervester 10:44 pm Is the doctor purposelly letting him through NoodlesAtNight 10:45 pm ((and it's not growing out, it's a shard that exploded from the source like shrapnel)) Swervester 10:45 pm Since he wants his tech MedicalMurdersaurus 10:45 pm *yaaaaaaaaaaaawwwns* NoodlesAtNight 10:45 pm [[Naturally.]] verdigrisprowl 10:45 pm Yes, he's said he's interested in his cryogenic research. Boomtank 10:45 pm Oh.... Swervester 10:45 pm So much for Gordon's plan, it really doesn't work if the guy in control of all the defenses lets the suspect through verdigrisprowl 10:46 pm That's an electric chair. Is it going to zap him? Is it on? MedicalMurdersaurus 10:46 pm ((his mouth is ON that microphone. It's not sounding that clear.)) Swervester 10:46 pm I don't trust it NoodlesAtNight 10:46 pm [[No, it won't. It is the chair they placed the Penguin in, he thinks.]] Swervester 10:46 pm Oh. I guess it isn't on MedicalMurdersaurus 10:46 pm *rests his head on Swerve* verdigrisprowl 10:46 pm Yes, and Penguin got zapped something awful. NoodlesAtNight 10:46 pm This message has been removed. This message has been removed. ((god damn it)) NoodlesAtNight 10:47 pm [[By the headset.]] Swervester 10:47 pm [pets Swoop. he is the dino whisperer] verdigrisprowl 10:47 pm Ah. MedicalMurdersaurus 10:47 pm *is whispered* zzzzz verdigrisprowl 10:47 pm ... You know what, I think I'd just let him take her. NoodlesAtNight 10:47 pm [[Agreed.]] Swervester 10:47 pm Same. NoodlesAtNight 10:47 pm [[Especially now that he has said that. Go with him, let him do that, and take him in.]] Swervester 10:47 pm HE'S OFFERING TO GIVE HIMSELF UP IF THEY JUST LET HIM TAKE HER WHERE SHE CAN GET HELP AND BE SAFE, just let him do it???? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:48 pm ((RIOT)) Boomtank 10:48 pm ..... NoodlesAtNight 10:48 pm ((SORRY)) MedicalMurdersaurus 10:48 pm *perks up at the yelling and then realizes no one is getting killed so he lays back down* Swervester 10:48 pm Jim's got a real issue about Needing To Be Right sometimes opatoes 10:48 pm That's like how he gets into half the messes he gets into SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:48 pm No one's bitten him on the snout for running his mouth before, and it shows. Swervester 10:49 pm I mean, all the others are damn well fine doing the thing as long as he gives himself up and doesn't hurt anyone else, just go with it Jim. It's the easiest way to save lives. NoodlesAtNight 10:49 pm [[That cannot be good. Not in any way.]] Boomtank 10:49 pm Jim Swervester 10:49 pm If he'd been willing to compromise then Victor might have let him come along to feel better about it. Boomtank 10:51 pm Jim you moron Swervester 10:51 pm Naturally Jim's going to fuck eerything up and create himself yet another enemy because he just had to be right and not compromise? Boomtank 10:52 pm -facepalms- verdigrisprowl 10:52 pm That waste of time is going to be fatal. opatoes 10:52 pm Wait, specs, did you ever get bit on the nose for running your mouth? What's that even like Boomtank 10:52 pm Maybe she wants it to be... Swervester 10:52 pm Oh I see. She sent him away to give Lee time to escape? NoodlesAtNight 10:52 pm [[...Oh.]] Swervester 10:52 pm Oh. Oh no. opatoes 10:53 pm Uh oh Swervester 10:53 pm That's going to kill her, she did that on purpose verdigrisprowl 10:53 pm ... No one will know as long as she's frozen. Boomtank 10:53 pm .......kinda hate my guess was right verdigrisprowl 10:53 pm Unless they look at the canister, she's going to remain frozen for how many years, and then when they finally try to wake her up, THEN she'll die. Swervester 10:53 pm But why did she do that? Does she not want to be revived without him being there when she wakes up in the future, or because she's just tired and doesn't want to keep going? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:54 pm Not a hard bite, but yes, one of my docents did it when I was younger. It feels really unpleasant, honestly. Like having one's mouth forcibly closed. verdigrisprowl 10:54 pm She's already said she doesn't want to be revived without him. Swervester 10:54 pm Oh no. opatoes 10:54 pm He could use that freeze gun for making really awesome ice cream but no NoodlesAtNight 10:54 pm *HUFF* *And there's Smokescreen breaking the tension.* Swervester 10:55 pm [snorts] opatoes 10:55 pm /That's his job!/ SCProwl 10:55 pm His job is to make ice cream? opatoes 10:55 pm Well, no- but I bet he could've made some amazing homemade ice cream with that slag. And slushies. Boomtank 10:55 pm /BRUCE/ Boomtank 10:56 pm Bruce, no verdigrisprowl 10:56 pm ((he looks so grownup)) ((he looks, like, nine years old)) SCProwl 10:56 pm ((lol NoodlesAtNight 10:56 pm ((PFFHFHFHA)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:56 pm Cat human, keep him away from any guns. MedicalMurdersaurus 10:56 pm ((no gunplay if we can help it)) opatoes 10:57 pm She's giving him the cold shoulder... SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:57 pm *wheezes* Swervester 10:57 pm OH no. SCProwl 10:57 pm ((his voice is actually really dropping hard in the newest episodes Swervester 10:57 pm Tell him she asked you for water, Lee. NoodlesAtNight 10:58 pm *Bows his helm just a touch. This cannot end in anything /but/ sadness, he thinks.* opatoes 10:58 pm ... He's not going to do that is he verdigrisprowl 10:58 pm He's going to freeze himself? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:58 pm *oof. poor everyone.* verdigrisprowl 10:58 pm Either that or go on a murder spree in grief. Swervester 10:58 pm [covers face] verdigrisprowl 10:58 pm More likely freeze himself. ... Probably get it wrong and survive. Swervester 10:59 pm .... SpecsTheSpectralDragon 10:59 pm I don't think he'll be surviving that. Boomtank 10:59 pm . . . verdigrisprowl 10:59 pm People who die in strange ways tend to survive in this show. Self-immolation, defenestration... Ah. He's probably still alive. verdigrisprowl 11:00 pm He "died" in Arkham. NoodlesAtNight 11:00 pm [[Like the arsonist "died", he expects.]] SpecsTheSpectralDragon 11:00 pm I guess he is. Go- Oh, Gym human, no. SCProwl 11:00 pm Likely in Indian Hills now. Swervester 11:00 pm Did he just BLAME Lee for his shitty decisions? SpecsTheSpectralDragon 11:00 pm *covers her eyes with her tail* Stupid, stupid, stupid. NoodlesAtNight 11:00 pm [[Fool. He throws away everything he has with this nonsense.]] verdigrisprowl 11:01 pm *scowls.* NoodlesAtNight 11:01 pm *Is at least pleased to see that Penguin fights.* Boomtank 11:01 pm He's not thinking NoodlesAtNight 11:01 pm *Perhaps they won't manage to break him before he gets to them.* verdigrisprowl 11:01 pm What did I say. opatoes 11:01 pm He looks like some old 2000s pop star SpecsTheSpectralDragon 11:01 pm ...Did he somehow manage to undergo albinism by being frozen? Boomtank 11:01 pm Oh wow verdigrisprowl 11:02 pm ... Penguin is supposed to be a good manipulator. SpecsTheSpectralDragon 11:02 pm Okay, albinism is the least of his worries. verdigrisprowl 11:02 pm Why the hell is he fighting instead of convincing them that their "therapy" worked? NoodlesAtNight 11:03 pm [[Perhaps it has not occurred to him yet. Or he does not know how.]] opatoes 11:03 pm ... couldn't he just walk out SpecsTheSpectralDragon 11:03 pm I suspect that door is locked. NoodlesAtNight 11:03 pm [[Hugo did say he can spot a liar.]] opatoes 11:03 pm Uh MedicalMurdersaurus 11:03 pm zzzzzzzzzzz verdigrisprowl 11:03 pm Penguin hasn't tested that claim yet. Boomtank 11:03 pm What.... SpecsTheSpectralDragon 11:03 pm ((did one of those dudes have three nipples)) NoodlesAtNight 11:04 pm ((nah it's a bullet hole i think)) Boomtank 11:04 pm Okay, what? NoodlesAtNight 11:04 pm ((or else a mole. but jim DID shoot galavan)) SpecsTheSpectralDragon 11:04 pm ((it wouldn't be the weirdest place for a nipple, but given the milieu, bullet hole is more believable.)) *the dragon stretches* I should head off. Goodnight, Soundwave, everyone. opatoes 11:05 pm Hey! Be nice to frumble! NoodlesAtNight 11:05 pm [[Goodnight, dragon.]] ((time marker: 11:25)) opatoes 11:05 pm Night night, Specs! SpecsTheSpectralDragon 11:05 pm ((lmao get rekt skywarp)) opatoes 11:05 pm ... Are all Decepticons seriously just like this SCProwl 11:05 pm ((i love soundwave just watching them like "gj dudes" SCProwl 11:06 pm Many Autobots are like that too. opatoes 11:06 pm That's true! Swervester 11:06 pm I think I better head out Bar's opening soon and I need to set up. Swoop, I gotta get up. NoodlesAtNight 11:06 pm [[Goodnight, Swerve.]] verdigrisprowl 11:06 pm ((i like how 1) the twins can just fuckin knock skywarp over with a flying leap, and 2) thundercracker can just pick them up and the threat is over)) opatoes 11:06 pm Oooh- Ooh, Swerve. Should I go with you to help out with bar stuff? verdigrisprowl 11:06 pm Evening. Swervester 11:06 pm //lmzo MedicalMurdersaurus 11:06 pm *perks up at the music* ? Swervester 11:06 pm Nah, I'm good Smokey. It's Blue's shift with me tonight so. Swervester 11:07 pm [nudges Swoop off so he can go] LAter guys. opatoes 11:07 pm Aw, okay! You sure you don't need any extra bouncers? NoodlesAtNight 11:07 pm ((also, for those who may not have noticed: fish and jerome were also in those tubes)) ((plus one rando)) MedicalMurdersaurus 11:07 pm *slides off swerve straight onto the floor* ((fiiiiiiiiiish)) SCProwl 11:07 pm ((fish <3 opatoes 11:08 pm But yeah- Thanks for having us, Soundwave! /He's going to drop by the bar and grab a couple drinks for the road!/ NoodlesAtNight 11:08 pm [[Quite welcome. Do return next week.]] MedicalMurdersaurus 11:08 pm *gets up and starts to shuffle off towards Laserbeak's room* NoodlesAtNight 11:09 pm *...He'll allow it. As long as Swoop goes right to her room, and only to her room.* opatoes 11:09 pm I'll do my best! You missed me, huh? MedicalMurdersaurus 11:09 pm *doesn't care about anyone else's room and goes to take a nap in there* NoodlesAtNight 11:10 pm [[You do have that book with you half the time.]] *That's a yes. Don't mind him.* opatoes 11:11 pm I guess so! But I didn't bring it with me tonight. Guess you're hoping for it next week? NoodlesAtNight 11:11 pm [[Only if you want to bring it.]] SCProwl 11:11 pm *pings everyone goodnight and leaves because i'm exausted and need to lay down now* verdigrisprowl 11:12 pm *farewell ping to alternate* Boomtank 11:12 pm -pings one back in return- opatoes 11:12 pm I'll definitely think about it. We can always have a sleepover and read it together, you know. NoodlesAtNight 11:12 pm [[...Yyyyyyes, he supposes that is an option.]] *Like hell would he actually sleep though.* Boomtank 11:12 pm Anyway, that's good night for me too. Thanks for the show. opatoes 11:13 pm Perfect! Maybe we could play a couple games, too, between processing everything in there? NoodlesAtNight 11:13 pm [[Goodnight, Blaster. You are welcome.]] [[And we will see.]] opatoes 11:13 pm Fair enough! Looking forward to it, though, Soundwave. Night night, Soundwave, Blaster. Boomtank 11:14 pm -waves and is out for the night- NoodlesAtNight 11:14 pm [[Goodnight.]] NoodlesAtNight 11:15 pm *Turn to Prowl.* [[You are holding up?]] verdigrisprowl 11:16 pm Hm? Yes. Should I not be? NoodlesAtNight 11:18 pm [[If he is honest, he wasn't sure. But if you are fine, then that is that.]] *Pops the last of his snacks into his mouth.* [[You were right about Jim carrying on. He hopes that is as far as it will go.]] verdigrisprowl 11:19 pm *not sure what to do with that, but leans on Soundwave.* I doubt it. Not until there are real consequences that he acknowledges are his own fault, and maybe not even then. NoodlesAtNight 11:21 pm *Whatever he pleases, really. Soundwave was just checking on whether or not that had set off Prowl's hatred of either mind doctors or mental tortures and invasions.*

[[In that case, it is good that the Bruce human retains his kindness, however deep below the surface.]] [[At least one of them will be good for the city in the future.]] verdigrisprowl 11:21 pm *oh, well, yes, it definitely did that.* He's plotting his first murder. NoodlesAtNight 11:22 pm [[Alfred agreed to perform it in his place. Voluntarily. He will not get the chance to fall that way.]] verdigrisprowl 11:23 pm Doesn't matter, he wants to. And that says something. NoodlesAtNight 11:24 pm [[Perhaps. He allowed Silver to live twice, though.]] verdigrisprowl 11:25 pm Gym's allowed Penguin to live quite a few times, too. I don't take that as a testament to his moral fiber. NoodlesAtNight 11:26 pm *Tap tap on chin.* [[Hm. You have a point there.]] [[...There's always Lee.]] verdigrisprowl 11:27 pm Of course he's allowed her to live, he likes her and she's never set her foot down. NoodlesAtNight 11:28 pm *Leaning back* [[Are you suggesting Jim would kill Lee for putting her foot down?]] verdigrisprowl 11:28 pm ... Not /yet./ And if it did happen it would be in a fit of violence during an argument, not premeditated. NoodlesAtNight 11:29 pm *Resumes how he was sitting, but staring up at the ceiling.* [[Primus. He hopes not. Gotham has too few voices of reason as it is.]] [[They really could use those cameras.]] verdigrisprowl 11:31 pm Hmm. ... You know what, time and again, has been the biggest thing hampering such cameras' effectiveness? NoodlesAtNight 11:32 pm *Turns to look at Prowl again.* [[...Sufficient memory space?]] *Human storage spaces are so small. Laughably tiny. They can fit, what, a few whole days on one device?* verdigrisprowl 11:33 pm Enforcers turning them off before confronting a suspect and pretending they'd malfunctioned. NoodlesAtNight 11:33 pm *His upper lip curls slightly in a "what, really" kind of expression.* [[What idiot makes the on and off switch controllable by the wearer?]] verdigrisprowl 11:35 pm Someone very trusting. NoodlesAtNight 11:35 pm [[Sync it to their life signs and keep the activation and deactivation controls in a secure facility. Then they will run as long as they are on the mech - and if they cannot detect a life sign, then either the mech is dead or has taken it off. Both cases merit investigation.]] NoodlesAtNight 11:36 pm [[...Have it installed into the frame so it will require obvious self-injury to remove it.]] verdigrisprowl 11:37 pm Installing it in the frame IS an idea, but too... easy to abuse. verdigrisprowl 11:38 pm What if, say, Starscream got hold of the ability to activate it? What if he started spying through the cameras while the officers were off-duty? verdigrisprowl 11:39 pm Here's the thing about creating new systems like this: you've got to assume that, someday, you're going to be in a terrible accident, and somebody you hate is going to take over your position. verdigrisprowl 11:40 pm In the expectation that that idiot is going to have your job someday, you've got to ensure that the system you've left in place for him is very easy to use for its correct intended purpose, and very difficult to abuse for corrupt purposes. NoodlesAtNight 11:41 pm *Hmm. That's a good point. He wouldn't want Starscream to get his claws on it. ... Providing Prowl really did mean Starscream, and wasn't covering up an implication that Soundwave was the one who would spy while they were off-duty.* *He'd like to think Prowl wouldn't be like that toward him, though.* verdigrisprowl 11:41 pm *Starscream was a euphemism for "anyone untrustworthy and/or literally Starscream himself," not for "Soundwave."* NoodlesAtNight 11:44 pm [[Perhaps a facility that would shut itself down on removal of its guard and force a full replacement and reset?]] *Frown.* [[No. Then the corrupt mechs would terminate anyone they didn't like and enjoy the freedom in the interval between guards.]] [[Hm. This is more difficult than he thought.]] NoodlesAtNight 11:45 pm *Huff.* [[Give it to your alternate. If she has lived THIS long, she will probably live at least another 100 million.]] verdigrisprowl 11:45 pm I have ideas. For another day, though. Being able to implement them on my Cybertron is still a ways off. NoodlesAtNight 11:46 pm *That's not serious. He's just blowing off some frustration over an idea that's So Good, but so Troublesome.*

[[Of course. As you said -- too many changes at once. ... But he would like to see them /some/ day.]] *Preferably sooner rather than later.* [[Besides, your force is small enough we can keep our optics on them fairly well at the IIII.]] verdigrisprowl 11:47 pm Mm. Painfully small. I've cut three people so far and we're feeling the loss of every one of them. verdigrisprowl 11:48 pm ... Well, okay. Only of two of them. Fuse was dead weight. NoodlesAtNight 11:48 pm [[What would you propose to fix that?]] verdigrisprowl 11:50 pm *shrugs* More hires. That's slow work. NoodlesAtNight 11:51 pm [[Particularly with very few new bots available.]] *Frowning harder. That damn population problem again.* NoodlesAtNight 11:54 pm [[So many problems. If he had known there would be this many when taking his oath, he would have asked Primus for a how-to manual.]] verdigrisprowl 11:54 pm This one isn't your problem. NoodlesAtNight 11:55 pm [[Related to it. But even if it weren't - he is allowed to be frustrated by the overall complexity of mending a society.]] NoodlesAtNight 11:57 pm *Gets up to start cleaning. He supposes he'll have a lot to think about this evening. Might as well ponder it all now.* verdigrisprowl 11:58 pm *gets up to help clean. he's been allowed to do it twice now and he's not about to lose that privilege.* NoodlesAtNight 11:58 pm [[Thank you.]] verdigrisprowl 11:59 pm You're welcome. ... *oh so very casually* I've still got half of that bottle you gave me left. Today NoodlesAtNight 12:00 am *Drops the cube he was picking up.* [[Oh.]] *He'll just as casually fetch a broom and dustpan with his feelers.* [[He did wonder about that.]] NoodlesAtNight 12:01 am [[...Were you considering breaking into it again?]] verdigrisprowl 12:02 am If you think that might be fun. I /was/ testing out its strength for tonight. NoodlesAtNight 12:04 am [[Oh, yes. Yes, he thinks that would be - it would be very fun. It is always very fun.]] *Pause.* [[You aren't going to play a game with the datanet if he encourages it, correct? That is not the goal this time? He enjoyed that, but--]] *But he'd like to get laid, is where he's going with this.* verdigrisprowl 12:05 am No. I'm going to interface with you. NoodlesAtNight 12:06 am *And he drops the broom. His imagination is very active tonight.* [[Good! Good.]] verdigrisprowl 12:07 am *he NEARLY maintains a poker face, but his shoulders are trembling.* NoodlesAtNight 12:08 am [[...Maybe he will try it the other way around one day. You always seem to enjoy it, yourself...]] *That's a thought for later.* [[Go on up. He will - get this swept up in a moment and follow you.]] verdigrisprowl 12:08 am I'm helping you finish clean. NoodlesAtNight 12:09 am [[Damn the cleaning. It's technically Buzzsaw's duty tonight.]] [[He can take five minutes away from his paintings.]] verdigrisprowl 12:10 am *Eager, was he.* Then I'd better get started on the bottle. NoodlesAtNight 12:10 am *JUST A LITTLE.* NoodlesAtNight 12:11 am [[Good. And he'll get sweeping.]] *The fastest job of it ever, in fact, and then he'll practically cart Prowl up there like a bag of rocks.* verdigrisprowl 12:12 am *and like a bag of rocks he goes*

[recentanimenews]

Ogata's Voice Actor like's Golden Kamuy Because Both Humans and Animals Get Skinned!

Golden Kamuy's official website is releasing a series of interviews with cast and staff over the course of the Spring season, which we're translating and brining directly to you! They started things off with the character designer, Ken'Ichi Onuki, followed by animal designer, Ryo Sumiyoshi, the art director, Atsushi Morikawa, firearm designer Koji Watanabe, prop designer Shinya Asanuma, composer Kenichiro Suehiro, and director Hitoshi Nanba.

But they didn't stop there! They interviewed Kamikaze Boy from MAN WITH A MISSION about Golden Kamuy's opening theme, "Winding Road" and THE SIXTH LIE, the creator/performers of the ending theme "Hibana"! They're making their way through the voice cast, starting with Chikahiro Kobayashi and Haruka Shiraishi, the voice actors behind Sugimoto and Asirpa, Hochu Otsuka, the voice of Lt. Tsurumi, Jouji Nakata, the voice of Toshizo Hijikata, and now Kenjiro Tsuda, tho voice of the cold-hearted Hyakunosuke Ogata!

  Tell us what you thought of the original manga.

It was a big, energetic story, with a lot of unique types of characters and a really dense plot. It doesn’t feel like a modern story somehow, which actually makes it more interesting. All of the expressions in it are so powerful, and it just has this incredible sense of passion in it. I think one of the reasons for that power is that it’s set in old Japan, not the modern era, and in the Hokkaido frontier.

What was it that left the biggest impact on you?

The strong characters, I think. Tsurumi especially is incredible [laughs]. The hero, Sugimoto, is covered in scars, and I think that appearance contributes to making his character what it is. Also, it’s a story about ripping off people’s skin in order to find gold nuggets, so the story itself packs a punch. The people in it are like wild beasts. They kill and skin lots of animals, and they’re willing to do that with humans, too. Maybe taking off a human’s skin isn’t that much different than taking off a bear’s pelt if you’re trying to survive in the Hokkaido wastes. It’s a tough story to read, but it’s really interesting. I think the fact that a lot of the unnecessary humanism you’d see in another manga has been removed is what makes this one so great.

Tell me how you felt when you got the role.

The character and the story both seemed really interesting, so I was very happy. I was so excited, saying, “Oh, wow! This looks so fun!”

What was your impression of Ogata?

He’s a very cold, unemotional character. He never lets his emotions surface. Of course, there are a lot of emotions he’s feeling underneath, but they never surface in a way you can see. It feels like when he’s talking to you, he’s not really communicating anything at all. Compared to conversations with normal people, it’s just a little more low temperature, you could say.

You mean when he talks, it’s hard to tell how much real emotion he’s putting into it, right?

Correct. There’s a scene in episode 9 where he talks with Tanigaki, but it’s hard to understand what he’s actually feeling [laughs]. In that scene, Tanigaki can’t figure what position he’s speaking from. As the story continues, you start to understand where he fits in, but at the start it’s really hard to tell the difference between the lies and what he really thinks. That mysterious aspect of his nature is what makes him so attractive, I think. And his cold character makes him the perfect sniper, which I also thought was kind of neat. But he also likes to lead people on, which makes him a really intersting character.

  When he comes back in episode 9, what did you think of him?

I thought it fit the character very well. Tanigaki comes back home to Huci’s house, where he’s been staying, and Ogata is there. But he doesn’t know why he’s there or what he wants. Then Ogata leaves without doing anything, but it’s actually a feint, and he tries to snipe Tanigaki from outside [laughs]. I thought it was a really wonderful scene.

When you first read the manga, did you think Ogata would be this big of a character?

Not at all. The first time I read the manga, he felt like somebody whose role in the story was to give the heroes someone to defeat [laughs]. He falls off the cliff in the battle with Sugimoto, and then doesn’t come back for a long time. In episode 9, he comes back after a long absence, and I think anime viewers were in for a big surprise.

Did Director (Hitoshi) Nanba and Audio Director (Jin) Aketagawa give you any special instructions with regard to the role?

They mostly let me do my thing, I think. He’s normally just a very cold, calm character. But when you read the manga, every panel his expression changes, and sometimes he actually looks kind of happy. For those lines, I consulted with the director, and we decided to keep these nuances. For episode 2, I was a little too expressive, and he gave me some advice to tone it down.  For a character like Ogata, balance is everything. He’s not the type to just go all in one direction. He’s kind of delicate. But that doesn’t mean that he’s extremely on edge, either. He’s a human being too, so it’s interesting as to when he has feelings, which means that the question is how you play out those feelings on top of his base character.

Are you the type who comes up with a plan for the role before you start recording?

I do come up with a basic idea, but not much more. I think when you’re actually recording the lines, they need to fit in with the other dialogue around them, which is why the director makes those decisions from an overall standpoint. Sometimes, even if it might seem just fine to play a certain scene unemotionally, if you look at the flow of the overall story, it’s better to be more dynamic. In that sense, I try to leave a lot of blank space in my acting.  

There’s a lot of really famous people on the cast. Tell us what it was like at the studio.

The story’s pretty tense, but it was very relaxed at the recording studio. The atmosphere was great. All the older actors seemed to be having a lot of fun, and the main stars, (Chikahiro) Kobayashi and (Haruka) Shiraishi, were cheerful and down-to-earth in a way that really spread to the rest of the cast.

Are there any scenes or lines that you thought really got at the core of who Ogata is?

He hasn’t had a lot of screen time yet, but I’d say the line in episode 9, which was in bold in the original manga: “Time to go Tanigaki hunting.” From Ogata’s perspective, trying to kill Tanigaki is the same as a hunt. When I played the role, I wanted his cold, cruel nature to really come across. In episode 9, he talks a lot more than he did before, right? During his first appearance, he barely had any dialogue. When I was recording episode 9, that felt like the first episode to me.

I think we should all keep an eye on Ogata as the story proceeds. Let’s end with a message for the fans.

Thank you for watching Golden Kamuy. I finally got to come back to the story as Ogata, and run my hand through my hair and look really cool onscreen [laughs]. I’ll do my best to live up to everybody’s expectations, and hopefully go a little beyond them, as I act out Ogata’s character. This is a fun, vast, and brutal story, and I hope you’ll watch it till the end.

---

Peter Fobian is an Associate Features Editor for Crunchyroll, author of Monthly Mangaka Spotlight, writer for Anime Academy, and contributor at Anime Feminist. You can follow him on Twitter @PeterFobian.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[kiteroid]

did you see min grifting again using the spanish voice actor's interview? the actor said the director added dean's reciprocation and now she and the interview woman are trying to drag it out even more

Yes, unfortunately, I did see that. I’m still tracking down the info on this, but here’s a rundown of what I’ve got so far:

luxshine, who arranged this panel, is in occamshipper’s/POLOL’s periphery (for how long? who knows. as long as she’s been useful prob). Here’s an excerpt of some relevant bits from the panel:

ADA (TRANSLATOR): Yes – [switching to Spanish to ask Guillermo] You’re breaking the Internet one more time. They’re asking whether the original script said something about Dean’s feelings for Cas–

GUILLERMO: No, never [Shaking his head]

ADA (TRANSLATOR): –or was it all added by the director, by [Adrian] Fogarty?

GUILLERMO: [Spanish] No, no, no, so the script, the original script we never had any indication that would tell you he was in love or that he reciprocated or that he knew, no, not at all. Really that phrase is what wrapped up the entire series.

(from this post. emphasis OP’s)

tl;dr There was no reciprocation from Dean in the original script. Adrian Fogarty (the dubbing director) added it in because he felt it fit the story.  Straightforward, right?

Well, straightforward = yes. What people wanted to hear = no. 

So, luxshine (and occamshipper) is on a mission to contact Adrian Fogarty to get the right (read: desired) answer. In the panel, Guillermo mentioned the “original script” had “yo también” in it that was then changed to “y yo a ti” to better match the character’s lip movements. 

INTERVIEWER “Do you know what Dean said in the original script before Fogarty got his hands on it?”

“Yes, of course. It made allusions to that. (Fogarty) made the right translation. It said and so do I or me too or something like that. It said it in the (original) script.

(from this post)

He didn’t specify which script was “the original script”, but seeing as he specifically mentioned the original script “never had any indication that would tell you he was in love or that he reciprocated or that he knew”, you can logically assume he was talking about their translation of the script, not the OG Dabb script.

luxshine wants you to know this isn’t about proving some big CW conspiracy (it just looks like a conspiracy, she says), but she is speculating wildly that there could possibly be an audio version where Jensen ad-libbed a “Me too” out there as the original-original script also doesn’t include a textual “Me too.” If you want to believe, this might sound plausible enough, but remember: Misha already pointed toward a rogue translation as an explanation (and was called a liar) + we know Jensen’s reactions were cut; he’s never said lines were cut. 

As for “Me too” audio rumor, the same transcript I quoted above has this bit directly after:

INTERVIEWER: “When you heard the english version while you recorded yours, did you hear Dean say I love you too?”

MEMO: “No. If I would have, I would have taken the earphone out and gone what the fuck? *laughs*”

(emphasis mine)

But how could a dubbing director fundamentally change the meaning of a scene? Lack of quality control:

INTERVIEWER “Do you know if Supernatural has a quality review for the dubbing through Warner Bros?” MEMO: “I would be lying to you if I said yes, but I have been working for WB (LatAM) for many years as both an actor and director. And there is some specific material where they do have “filters”, but with something like supernatural I doubt it. I would assume the one left in charge of all decisions was our director (Fogarty).”

With all that, we can say the quest to prove there is audio of Jensen ad-libbing a “Me too” somewhere is a doomed one. Plus, she’s already conceded that the original-original script had no reciprocity. Then why are they dragging his out?

I don’t want to speculate too much about luxshine’s side of things, but I’m pretty sure occamshipper is clinging to this because 1) not having this conspiracy means she’s not relevant anymore, and 2) she doesn’t want to admit to being wrong. If she admits she was wrong about this people might start looking at her other unfulfilled promises. 

Speaking of unfulfilled promises: Mexican Destiel is dead! Long live Brazilian Destiel!

[love-takes-work]

Sorta-Transcript from online fan Q&A with Shelby Rabara, Deedee Magno Hall, and Michaela Dietz

Anyone can watch this online Q&A with the above voice actors, but if you don’t want to watch/can’t listen to audio, I made this sorta-transcript. Meaning I did not transcribe the exact words in most cases, but I wrote down the questions and the basic idea of how they answered. Enjoy! 

Shelby Rabara (voice of Peridot) was the Livestream host for fan questions! Deedee Magno Hall (Pearl) and Michaela Dietz (Amethyst) were giving answers, but usually Shelby gave her answer too.

Shelby read fan questions.

1. Favorite episode and why?

Deedee: “Steven and the Stevens”: she likes the song, because it reminds her of the movie That Thing You Do.

Michaela: Is it a cop-out to say all of them? Ha. “Tiger Millionaire” is great because Zach's performance is great and wrestling's cool.

Shelby: “Lion 3: Straight to Video.” Because it's emotional.

2. What character that you don't voice do you relate to most?

Deedee: Amethyst.

Michaela: Really??

Deedee: Because I like to eat. I like to eat FOOD.

Michaela: You don't like to eat stacks of garbage and moldy burritos?

Michaela: Steven. He has a good head on his shoulders.

Deedee: And you also have a very good heart like him!

Shelby: I relate to Connie. She is level-headed and uses logic and makes the correct choice.

Michaela: She's bright and assertive and so are you.

Shelby: Are you having fun here?

Michaela and Deedee: YES! We just had a great panel and cosplay!

3. If your characters were human, what jobs would they have?

Deedee: Pearl would work in a Laundromat because she's really good at folding clothes and I think either that or maybe she might be in the cleaning business because she likes to organize. She's tidy.

Michaela: I need the Pearl method in my home. Amethyst would be a camp counselor. She would be the wacky counselor who's getting too into the games.

Shelby: I'd want Amethyst as a counselor.

4. If you were a Gem, what would your gem weapon be and why?

Deedee: Because I'm a mom, I would want to have a healing blanket to heal them.

Michaela: The power of a bad joke. "Orange ya glad I didn't say banana?" So powerful.

Shelby: I would wanna read people's minds. Can I use that? Is that like Garnet's third eye?

Deedee: Similar but not.

5. How do you get into character when you perform voice-overs?

Michaela: I have an evolved routine. I wake up. And that's what I do. I'm so close to Amethyst! I wake up, I talk, it's acting.

Deedee: That comes so easy to you! I have to wake up early, and warm up, especially if it's a singing episode. No coffee with cream. I have to drink water to avoid sticky saliva. Green apples!

Shelby: I noticed that you ate green apples!

Deedee: I wish I didn't have to do that! But green apples help lubricate and get rid of mucus.

Michaela: Or a potato chip. Not a weird flavor.

Shelby: I'm gonna try those things next time I'm in the booth with you guys.

6. What's your favorite Fusion?

Michaela and Deedee: [Start singing "Giant Woman"]

Deedee: Though I do like Sardonyx.

Michaela: Every time a new Fusion appears I like that one. I'm crushing on Smoky Quartz.

Shelby: I like Stevonnie. That's an aesthetic I haven't seen in cartoons. It's Steven and Connie mashed together!

Michaela: Says young cosplayers remind her of Stevonnie with the maturity they exude. Stumbles over calling Stevonnie a "young woman" and then acknowledges they're a nonbinary Fusion. Says that easy confidence is so attractive.

Deedee: AJ is a perfect voice for Stevonnie. She killed it at the panel, and the singing with Estelle with Rebecca playing was amazing. What a great Fusion they are.

7. Give your best impression of another character.

Michaela: muhmuhmuh! [Onion voice]

Deedee: I'm nervous doing this in front of you. "YOU CLODS!" [Peridot voice]

Shelby: YOU'RE GONNA TAKE MY JOB AWAY!

Deedee and Michaela: NO YOU'RE THE BEST!

Shelby: Let's just fawn over each other.

8. How long does it take to record an episode?

Michaela: Depends on how many lines we have. Could be an hour, could be four hours.

Deedee: We get in at 9, could be wrapped up by 1.

Michaela: An episode takes ten months from the idea to on the TV.

Deedee: Like a baby. It IS a baby.

9. What celebrity would you like to see appear on the show?

Michaela: Rebecca Sugar. And T-Pain. He's a big Steven Universe fan.

Deedee: I just want to meet him and sing with him: Bruno Mars.

Shelby: I would wanna see Adele. Adele should voice a character. And she's funny. And she loves herself.

Michaela: Loving who you are is so on-brand!

10. Who's the best Steven Universe villain?

Deedee: Can I say Peridot? She started out as a villain and then changed for good. [Michaela helped express this and they say they Giant Womaned that.]

11. What would your fusion dance be?

Deedee and Michaela do a fusion dance with Shelby providing beatboxing.

Michaela: Actually that's how we greet each other on the street.

Deedee: I was nervous. Dancing in front of you makes me nervous because you're a pro dancer.

Shelby: Imagine us in a booth together! Our work isn't even work.

Michaela: People probably see us and ask if we had too much ginger ale. Too many vegetables.

Deedee: YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY VEGETABLES. Fruits and vegetables. Also, hydrate. Drink lots of water.

12. What are your favorite memories from recording?

Deedee: We're still making more memories! The efforts! When we crack up over making effort noises.

Michaela: Do you hear that? It's an earthquake!

[All three make noises like they're losing their balance.]

Michaela: When we get together it's always a great time, like a mini family reunion. Recently AJ was there, Estelle was there, you [Deedee] were there, Paz was there . . . I think Zach wasn't there? Toks was there! [Nanefua's voice actor.] We had a reunion. We're so close!

13. What has been the most difficult scene to record?

Deedee: There are many re-dos. For me, the really wordy Pearl lines, 'cause I don't speak like that normally. The intricate dialogue that Pearl says is tough for me.

Michaela: You execute them flawlessly.

Deedee: Take after take after take.

Michaela: During Amethyst's angrier self-expression phases, it was hard to scream a lot and vary it so it didn't all sound the same. Very challenging.

Shelby: We're our own biggest critic. When we have long runs, we have to think so quickly. Finding the levels is important, trying to hit them emotionally.

Deedee: It's so helpful to have Rebecca, Kent, Matt, and Ben in the booth giving specifics to us on how to execute our lines.

Michaela: You both are so good at taking the text and making it feel like your own. I learn the most from watching other actors.

Deedee: We go to school every sesh!

14. Tell the fans what your favorite line is.

Deedee: OH MY GOODNESS.

Michaela: CHAIRS!

Deedee: I like saying everybody's names. "STEVEN!" "AMETHYST!" "~GARNET!" [The “Steven” read sounds fearful, the “Amethyst” read sounds angry, and the “Garnet” read sounds almost pleading.]

Shelby: Mine's definitely "Clod."

Shelby: On Sunday, Cartoon Network they're filming a music video for "Stronger Than You" with Estelle!

[The VAs sing a line from "Stronger Than You."]

Michaela: But we're not really stronger than YOU because you guys are really strong.

Deedee: Really strong. Stay strong! In the real way.

Shelby: YES.

[whimsicallyenchantedrose]

Colin O’Donoghue and Lana Parilla Panel--OUAT Chicago 6/10/17

[Note:  I made an audio recording of the Colin and Lana panel, the Colin panel, and the Rebecca Mader panel.  The sound quality isn’t at all good, so rather than post it somewhere, I decided to make a transcript.  These transcripts take a while to make, so it’ll probably be another day or two before I finish the Colin panel and the Bex panel.]

Lana:  Welcome to Chicago. [gestures to Colin] For us, to us.  Welcome Colin.

Colin:  Thanks for having me.  Welcome to Chicago.

Lana:  It’s such a pleasure, such an honor to have you here. How’s everyone doing? [crowd cheers]  I see a wicked witch and Robin…

Fans [from crowd]:  I love you! You’re gorgeous!

Lana:  Thank you so much!  Anything else?  [crowd laughs, cheers, starts cheering for Colin] Colin, you’re gorgeous.

Colin:  Thank you.  I know.

Fan [from crowd]: Your accent’s sexy!

Colin: [points at fan]  Thank you very much.  Oh, it’s cosplay day.

Lana:  It is!

Colin:  A lot of great costumes here today.

Lana:  I should have dressed up as you.

Colin:  I should have dressed up as you.

Lana:  So, I’m starting on this side. [To Colin] Am I blocking you?

Colin: No.

Fan:  Both Killian and Regina have had such extraordinary lives, and you’ve gotten to portray so many awesome moments on screen.  Is there a moment in your lives in the past, present or future that you’ve really thought about, that you wish you could have performed?

Lana:  So like, individually?

Fan:  Individually.

Colin:  I would like to know more about Hook’s mother, because I don’t know who that is.  I think that would be fun.  I also kind of, I want to know what went on between the Evil Queen and Hook.  We were told there was a little bit of a…

Lana:  Yeah, there was a little bit…

Colin:  A little bit of a thing.

Lana:  Chemistry.

Colin:  That would be fun.

Lana:  That would be very interesting for everyone, including us.

Colin:  That’s my answer.  What about you?

Lana:  I would like…[laughs] oh my god…we’ve seen so much of her life.  I wish we could see Henry when he was like five.  I would like to see their relationship when he was growing up in his formative years.  I would like to have seen Regina then, a bit, growing up with him and see that time of his life, but I don’t know how you accomplish that because he’s like 17 and taller than I am.  You’d have to, like, cast another Henry, a baby Henry.  Well, not a baby, a toddler.  That could be cool.  I’d like to see more of that.  In the future, I’d like to see a new love interest.

Fan [from audience]:  I volunteer!

Lana:  You volunteer?  Pitch the story.  Thanks, I’m flattered.  I’d like to see who she hooks up with. [looks teasingly at Colin]  That was just right there for me.  Anyway, it could happen.  [Looks to next questioner.]  Hi!

Fans:  If the opportunity came for you to be on Dancing With the Stars, would you take it?

Lana:  Yes.  I would take it to get my butt back in shape.  Just…oh I love to dance.  Colin, would you?

Colin:  I broke my foot dancing, so...

Lana:  So no?

Colin:  I think no.  No one wants to see me fall on my ass.  [crowd assures him they would] I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

Fan:  Thank you so much for coming.  My question is for Colin, and I feel like the old Hook situation needs to be addressed. I was wondering, if Old Hook had his own spin off TV show, what would it be called, and what would the plot be?

Colin:  It would be called “Old Hook”, and I’m sure, yeah, maybe it would be a reality TV show.  I don’t know. Maybe he’d go around different bars and, sort of, judge their rum, drinks.  So I think that would be…or maybe it would be…I’d like to see…have you guys ever seen that show “First Dates”, where people go and like, have dinner. I’d like to see Old Hook on that. That’s what I’d like to see, so maybe that’d be it.  He’s fun, he’s fun.  Who knows? We might see more of Old Hook. You never know.

Lana:  Maybe he hooks up with the old hag?

Fan:  If you could bring a prop home that wasn’t related to your character, what would you bring home?

Lana: ???  I heard “If you could bring a pom-pom���”

Colin:  If you could bring a prop home, not one of yours, what would it be?

Lana: That wasn’t one of my characters’?

Colin:  Yeah.

Lana:  Rumple’s dagger.

Colin:  That’s a good one.  Uh…

Lana:  You can say Rumple’s dagger.

Colin: No, no.

Lana:  But I already took it.

[Crowd shouts suggestions.]

Colin:  I would take the Evil Queen’s mirror.  Um…

Lana:  You can have it.

Colin:  Thank you.

Lana:  You’re welcome.

Colin:  Yeah, I would like black Excalibur.  There was one of those that was black, but I think that actually was one of my props, so I can’t really do that, so I’ll take the mirror. Oh!  No!  You know what I would take?  I would take your black Mercedes.

Lana:  That beats the dagger for sure.  Ok.  There goes my car.

Fan:  I was wondering, if you guys could bring back any villain from any of the seasons who would it be and why?

Lana:  I would bring…

[Fans shout out names]

Colin: Cora?  But we’re answering the questions.

Lana: [to the fan]  If you were answering the question who would you want?  Let me guess…I would want to bring back…maybe Cora?

Colin:  Cora was good ‘cause Barb was great.

Lana: Barb was great.

Colin:  Well, everybody was great.

Lana:  Bring my mom back.  That’s always…comforting.

Colin:  I think, yeah, Peter Pan was really…

Lana:  Pan was great.

Colin:  It was good because it was such a great twist on the story, and Robbie was great.

Lana:  Elizabeth Mitchell’s fun.

Colin: Yeah

Fan [from crowd]: What about Hades?

Colin:  They’re all great, but we’re answering the questions, alright?

Fan:  Me and my husband are actually spending our honeymoon here, so my question is not OUAT related, but what is the best piece of marriage advice or couple advice you could give us?

Crowd:  Awww!

Lana:  Uh…just spend time communicating as much as possible. About everything you can.

Colin:  One of the best pieces of advice I got was…I’m gonna say this and then it’s gonna be on the Internet and I’ll get in trouble with my wife, but…even if you have an argument or whatever, always say “I love you” at the end of the night.

Crowd:  Awwww!

Colin:  Even if you’re having a fight, just say it under your breath.

Fan:  I can do that.

Colin:  But yeah, that was the best piece of advice I got.  And it’s great, because I got a big “aww!”, so they think I’m awesome.

Lana:  And I think also what you’re saying is “Don’t go to bed angry”…

Colin:  Yeah, don’t go to bed angry, cause that’s the worst.

Lana:…which is great advice.

Fan:  Thank you guys so much.

Lana: Congratulations.

Colin:  Hey, we could go on tour and have, like, a proper…

Lana:  Like morning show.  Lana likes the water and cayenne pepper, and..

Colin:  And Colin likes the whis…er…coffee.

Lana:  He likes it black.  Like my heart.

Fan [from crowd]: Mayor Mills could have a morning show!

Lana:  Mayor Mills!

Fan:  First of all, I love you both.  And second, have you guys played any pranks on the cast, and if so, what was your favorite one?

Lana:  Colin plays pranks all the time.  [Looks at Colin]  I don’t know, I just made that up.  Actually, kind of.  I feel like you do.  I feel like you and Josh pull pranks all the time.

Colin:  Josh pulls pranks, but I can’t really…

Lana:  The guys usually…it’s like a guy thing.  Guys play pranks.

Colin:  One thing I really remember is, he had a fart machine in Neverland and he hid it behind…because Neverland was mostly a set, and we were on that set for four months, five months.  It was like a forest, and he put it behind different trees, and you go by, it was like [fart noise]  That’s the one that I remember most.  The majority of the other ones I’ve blanked out of my mind.

Lana:  We kind of like, try to trip each other up when it’s each other’s coverage and stuff.

Colin:  I don’t do that.

Lana: [sarcasm]  Colin never does that.  Colin’s notorious for doing that to all of us.

Colin: Nope.

Lana: But then he hates when it’s done to him.

Colin:  You’d never get me.

Lana:  I mean, I’ve stolen Rebecca’s dog.  That was a payback, really.

Fan:  Hi.  This question is for Colin.  In the season 5 episode, you did the flashback where you got to see your father again and you thought that he was supposed to be dead, I was kind of wondering, like, how do you approach that scene?  What kind of headspace do you think Killian was in?  Did you discuss it with the actor that played your father?  How did you kind of approach that?

Colin:  Yeah, with Adam, who I thought was great as Papa Hook. It was…it’s hard to explain…I guess, look, it’s part of our job to get into headspaces when you have scenes to do, so without him, I think Hook, he felt so abandoned by his father, that he was in a great darkness.  That’s one of the things, Hook, I think he always blamed his dad for everything that happened after that, so.  It’s kind of complicated to explain my headspace, but you sort of have go into a scene and look for places within yourself and then try to connect it to your character, if that makes sense.  And that’s sort of what I did.  But it was good to get the storyline.  I always think it’s good to get to see other sides of our characters, you know what I mean? Stuff you don’t expect like their home life or what they’re like as kids, and that kind of stuff, so that was fun to play.  Thank you.

Fan:  So, we were both wondering, since you both are really good singers, could each of you sing part of your favorite song?

Lana:  Colin, would you sing my favorite song?

Colin:  What’s your favorite song?

Lana:  Welcome to the Jungle.

Colin: [sings first line of Welcome to the Jungle]

Lana:  Well, that’s pretty good.  That’s really not my favorite song, but it was a good way to start our morning.

Colin:  Well now you have to sing my favorite song.

Lana:  Okay, what is it, God help me?

Colin:  I think it would be…

Fan [from crowd]:  Box of Rain!

Colin:  What is it?

Fan [from crowd]:  Box of Rain!

Lana:  Oh god, that song.  I love that song, but that’s such a slow song!

Colin:  Born to be Wild?

Lana: [sings] Born to be Wild!  Oh man!  I didn’t do it in front of the camera, but you got the audio.

Fan: Thank you!

Fan:  This question’s for Colin.  I wanted to know what older brother Liam would think of Killian’s turn to piracy after his death.

Colin:  I think that he would be disappointed in Killian, but I think that he would understand the reasons for him doing it.  I mean, we saw later on in the Underworld where Liam kind of, you know, he sort of turned a little bit, so I think that he would understand.

Fan (me! *squeals!*): This question is for Colin.  I’m always interested in seeing Hook try to figure out the modern world, so my question would be what are some things that Hook likes the most about modern conveniences, or whatever, and what does he think he’ll never figure out?

Colin: I think Hook probably loves beer taps the most, and the fact that he can get cold beer, and I think what he’d never…I mean an iPhone is very difficult for Hook to use, because he has to hold it in his hand, so I mean, he must go through like a hundred of them a week, so I think that’s probably what he can’t quite figure out. That’s why he has the crappy little flip phone.

Fan (me): Thank you!

Colin: Thanks.

Fan:  Hi!  So this question is for Lana  When Robin Hood died, were you actually crying, or was it just acting?

Lana: So, it was acting, however, I did cry on Sean’s last day, pretty heavily.  I miss working with him every day, because he’s pretty fun and awesome to have around.  So Lana was really sad, and I think there was a little bit of Lana that cried the day that he died, but that wasn’t his last day, so that’s why I didn’t necessarily…Lana didn’t cry, on the day that he died, Lana actually cried on Sean’s last day. And that was the scene in the tunnel before he died.  Does that make sense?  So yes I cried!  So it wasn’t acting…then.

Colin:  But in the scene it was?

Lana: In the scene it was. She’s so cute [about the fan].  I got my answer but I’m just gonna stand here.  I like your tee-shirt, thank you.

Fan:  Okay, so Lana.  You posted, in December, you posted on Instagram right before Christmas, an evil panda [couldn’t hear what she said here]. You took a picture of it.

Lana: Yes.

Fan:  I made it.

Lana:  Oh you did?  Thank you so much; it’s so cute!

Fan:  This is for both of you.  If any of you had the fate to be the savior or the Dark One or the Evil Queen and you knew you had to pick one, would either of you be the savior and why?

Lana: ???  If I had the fate…?  If I had to be the Evil Queen…well I am the Evil Queen.

Colin:  No, if you could pick to be the Savior other than the Evil Queen.

Lana:  Oh!  Other than the Evil Queen, would I choose to be the savior and why?  Yeah, I think she would probably choose to be the savior. I would say that because Regina has had that inner struggle, always trying to do the right thing and she’s conflicted with this darkness.  But inside, in her core, she really wants to be good, so I think she’d probably find that if she could be the savior that would be a good way.  Me?  I like being the Evil Queen.  I always have a great time playing the Evil Queen, so, if I had the choice, I would wanna stay as Regina, playing her part.  I wouldn’t want to be any other character.

Colin:  I like being the Evil Queen, too.  I guess this version of Hook would be the savior, but I think my favorite was being the Dark One Hook.  Well, my favorite was being old, fat Hook.

Lana:  My favorite was you as the Dark One, too.  I liked that.

Colin:  Yeah, it was great fun.

Lana: It was great.  I remember our scene on the dock.

Colin:  That’s right.  They only ever let me do things like that for one episode.  I was only old, fat Hook for one scene.

Lana:  Maybe you’re the Dark One in season 7.

Colin:  Maybe I am.

Fan:  Hi, I love you both so much.  My question is, if your character had just one episode to do whatever they wanted, what would they do?

Lana:  Sleep.

Colin:  You didn’t pick mine, but I can’t say what I was gonna say.

Fan [in crowd]: Pancakes!

Colin:  I guess I’d spend the entire episode drinking.

Fan [in crowd]:  You can’t say that either!

Colin:  I can say that!  Look, people who watch the show know that Hook likes rum.

Fan [in crowd]:  You can’t drink all day, Colin.

Colin:  You don’t know what it’s like to be Irish.

Lana: [to someone in the crowd]  Did you say you’d make us tacos?  

Colin:  A lot happens on that day.

Lana: On your day off you can make us tacos.  Yeah, I like sleeping.  I’m really jealous of people under sleeping curses, because it’s like, why can’t Regina just fall into a deep sleep?

Colin: Josh and Ginny can.

Lana:  For like half the season!  I know!

Colin:  How many scenes do you have Josh?  Two.

Lana:  And I’m sleeping.  Great!  I have seven monologs.

Fan:  Also, my friends Ella and Meriam say hi.

Lana: Hi!  Ella and Mary?

Fan: Meriam.

Lana: Meriam.

Colin:  Get it right, Lana.

Fan:  Hello, this question is for Lana.  Regina came a long way since she was the Evil Queen, if there was one thing that could bring her back to the dark side, what would it be? Also, can I have a hug?

Lana: Let me give you a hug, and then I can’t remember your question.

Fan: [repeats question]

Lana:  I think if Henry died.  [Lana gives fan a hug]

Colin:  Can I get a hug? [Lana gives Colin a hug]

Fan:  My question’s for Lana.  So, season 1 we got to explore the relationship between Daniel and Regina a little bit.  I was wondering how they first professed their love to each other.  We didn’t see a lot of their relationship development, we saw when they were, like, together in one episode.

Lana:  How did it happen?

Fan:  Yeah, like how did they first say “I love you” to each other.

Lana:  I would imagine they were riding on horses by a creek somewhere and there were unicorns and rainbows  [Colin mimes getting sick.] and Captain Hook lurking behind some tree.

Colin:  That’s what I do.

Lana:  This is now becoming a different kind of show.  I look at their relationship like my first boyfriend when I was 13, right?  It’s that sort of puppy love, get those feelings for the first time.  I see that’s what their relationship was like.  I think he really, sort of, he was just a normal kind of guy.  He didn’t live in a palace, he wasn’t royalty, and I think she really liked that, because her mother was grooming her so much to be who she didn’t want to be.  So she was really, sort of, trying to escape that. He was like, her ticket out.  I think the “I love you” probably happened in the first couple months, and he…taught her how to ride a horse.

Fan:  Hi!  My question is for the both of you.  Once Upon a Time is a show that likes to take fairy tales, put them on a set and provide plot twists, so what’s been your favorite plot twist?

Colin:  I did really like what they did with Peter Pan, just cause Robbie was great.  He was great as an evil, sort of, Pan.  I thought that was a really good twist on that story.  I also thought what they did with Frozen was really good, how they managed to introduce something…I remember when we first heard we were doing it, and I thought “I don’t know how they’re going to make this work in Once Upon a time”. But they managed to make it work, so that’s one thing that Adam and Eddy are really great at.  They’re great at making these stories sort of weave in and out of the life of our people, I guess.

Lana:  In all the stories we’ve read, we never knew that the Evil Queen and the Wicked Witch were sisters and I thought that was pretty cool.  I also love working with Rebecca, so there’s that.  In terms of a plot twist, I’d probably go with what you [Colin] said, because I think Peter Pan, that kind of thing was a real surprise.  That was probably one of the better plot twists of the last six years on Once.

Colin:  It was a difficult season to do, too because we were on that set for months.  A lot of people don’t know but there was muck everywhere and they had this smoke machine, and it blew up dust.  You’d leave work with this…

Lana: Giant black smokestack…

Colin: Snot.  And right there when you leave the forest, it was raining on us.

Lana: It was a fun season.

Colin:  It was good, it was good.

Lana:  Bad for my hair.  It was a good story, but you know, one thing I could appreciate about having Neverland on stage was that we were inside, but most of the time we were outside during that season.  It’s hard working in the rain when its negative seven and rainy and snow on your face. And that’s it?  Well we can’t end on that note!  We’ve gotta end on another note.  Can we end with one more question?  Does she have one?  Do you have a question?  Can we do two and then wrap it up?  I’m sorry; I’m just trying to be fair.

Fan:  This is sort of a large question, so do with it what you will.

Lana:  This could be our two.

Fan:  What advice would you give to shy people with large aspirations?

Colin:  Why’d ya keep that till the end?

Lana:  I would say just keep putting yourself out there.  I mean I was, I was terrified to sit out on stage.  I remember during [didn’t catch this], during some panel we had with about four hundred journalists, TCA’s?  Thank you.  And I remember sitting on stage, that was the first time I ever did anything like this, and I was shy to be in front of a lot of people.  Not necessarily because I was on my own, but to be in front of a lot of people.  I was terrified to just be myself.  What am I gonna say?  Am I gonna sound dumb?  Or whatever. And I remember running off stage, it was like someone asking me a question.  I think I answered it “I don’t know”, and then I pretended to not feel well and left, and I went upstairs and bawled.  And I was like “this sucks”.  I don’t know how I’m gonna do this.  I just thought, the only way to overcome it is to just do it, and so I kept putting myself in positions like, I’d come out and sing a song even though I was terrified to sing.  I was like, just keep doing the thing you’re terrified to do and eventually you’ll pull through and it won’t be as hard.  And you may discover something really cool about yourself too.

Colin:  Belief and perseverance, is that what you’re saying?

Lana:  Yeah.  Belief and perseverance.

Colin:  Like, we became actors so that we could play other people, so technically we’re not being ourselves. So, even something like this is really nerve wracking the first time you do this.  And, I mean you guys are also fans of the show, so it’s a fantastic environment to be a part of, but it’s still really nerve wracking. We’re just regular people who happen to have fallen in love with a career that puts you in front of people like this. But it’s exactly as Lana said. You have to overcome your fear of standing on stage and being yourself, as opposed to being a character, because it’s easy to say lines that somebody else has written for you, but it’s very difficult to, sort of, I find difficulty being yourself, like Lana said.

Lana:  I agree with him, and this was nerve wracking.  I remember my first stunt doing conventions and coming on stage and seeing all of you.  It was like oh my god, you know, and then the more you do it, the easier it becomes and then you start to sort of figure out that “oh wait a minute, this is now where”…you start to feel it in your body differently.  Like “Oh, this is what this feels like, and now I know what it’s going to feel like the next time.  It doesn’t become so nerve wracking.  Yeah, just keep putting yourself out there like you did today.

[agl03]

Mark tweeted a lot tonight, know your gonna get a flood. Can't find the links but Iain, Jed and Mo have all said basically the opposite of this. Iain at C2E2 and the marvel podcast, Jed and Mo in some of the post ep interviews.

Hi Anon!

HERE Is my response to Mark’s tweets from last night and HERE is another meta that might help.   And yes a lot of what Mark said goes against what Iain, Jed, and Mo have all said in interviews.  Even better we have videos and audio of a lot of those interviews.  AKA we have the receipts….a lot of them.

Mark was great last night in respects of giving hope to the Fitzsimmons fandom.  He’s been on set and read the scripts, so he knows what happened and likely gave away more than he should have.  However, we use that same argument with his take on Fitz.  He’s on set and he sees the eps but he’s not a writer and he’s not Iain.   

We know from Iain that they had the “sit down” with him before they went into this arc.   

I do also think Marks responses really confirms that they didn’t consider the deeper issues we have been discussing over the last few weeks.  

Here are just a few of the interviews they’ve done:  

Iain’s Podcast

Wondercon Iain and Lil 1

Wondercon Iain and Lil 2

C2E2 Panel

There is darkness and light in everyone.   We all have that potential.  Like Fitz said with what he creates, he himself is the same way.  Its how you CHOOSE to use it.   In the Framework FITZ DID NOT HAVE A CHOICE.  I will shout that from the rooftops.  His path was set by AIDA because she needed him to finish Looking Glass for him.  She manipulated him, his life, his father, that world, and removed people from his life.  Fitz’s core traits were twisted to meet AIDA’s endgame.  That is NOT the result of simply changing a single regret of simply because his father was in his life.

Now back in the Real World Fitz has the ability to choose again.  And he will choose to do the right thing.   No one freak out if it LOOKS like he’s helping her though in order to trick her, he’s done it before so I won’t be  surprised if he does it again.  For the record I’m still voting for hostage from hell Fitz.  

Yes Mark works for the show but at the same time he is not a writer or an actor.  In many ways he’s a fan just like us and he will have his own take on the story.   

[luxshine]

Y yo a ti, Cas -segunda parte. Because of course Mexican Cas pulled us out of despair and can throw us back in.

Ok, so the last 24 hours have been a bit of a rollercoaster and now I have another post to write about how dubbing is made. Because I love Misha a lot, and I respect him but… the whole rouge translator thing just doesn’t jive with reality.

Now, first of all I want to make a disclaimer: I do not believe that there’s a conspiracy to keep Dean closeted and away from Castiel. That makes absolutely no sense, no matter how you slice it. Among other things, conspiracy implies intent, and I really doubt the CW, Warner Bros and everyone involved in the marketing choices cares that much. At most, I think that there was a misunderstanding of marketing/PR and now people are doubling down on trying to pretend it didn’t happen. But a conspiracy? Nope. This isn’t THAT important, and it would require a LOT of people involved to make things work.

Which is precisely why the rouge translator thing doesn’t work. Because you would need a conspiracy to MAKE Destiel canon in order for it to be real.

Second: As I write this, I still don’t have an answer from the voice actors. But rest assured, WHEN they reply (or we can organize a panel so YOU guys can ask directly), I will tell you the absolute truth. If I am wrong with my assumptions, and it WAS a rouge translator, I will let you know, and I will admit I was wrong. And if it was from the audio (say, a Jensen adlib) or the actual script? I will also let you know.

Third: I don’t doubt that Misha REALLY believes the rogue translator thing, if it was told to him by TPTB. There’s no reason to believe he knows how dubbing works in Mexico, nor how many people check the final product. Or that he even watched the episode, instead of believing it was a fan clip. Also, I respect him immensely and I don’t want any hate send his way.

That said, let’s go into how dubbing works, again.

For the sake of argument, I will start with the idea that yes, there was a “Rogue translator” who decided that THIS was the perfect moment to make Destiel canon. Not, say, Season 8 when he could have translated an “I need you” from Dean into an “I love you” when the god tablet thing happened, not in season 12, or during the purgatory prayers. No, the best moment was two episodes before the finale, when he had to know that Cas was not coming back. 

And yes, the translator knew Cas was not coming back because when we translate series, we get them in packages of 5 episodes or more at the time. So they must have had 15x16 to 15x21 (The interview special) all together. So they knew that this was Cas’s exit from the series.

Now, in my previous post I said how in the old times, we used vhs tapes and paper copies of the shooting scripts (when they were available that was not always). Now a days, we get the video file and a word document (if we’re lucky. If not, we make the word file). Translate everything. Go through it AGAIN to make sure the lip sync matches and that we don’t have huge speeches when there’s a small window of time to say the speech because of the language differences. Check that we didn’t accidentally used a slang word that only Mexico would understand. If the show is not PG-13, make sure our swearwords are not too bad or too localized. THEN we send it to the studio, which prints about four copies of the script and hands it,and the video, to the Dub director.

The dub director then goes and re-watches every episode, while checking the script. Some directors don’t speak the language, so they’re just checking cadence, time, and the damned lip sync. (And if you, as a translator, don’t match the lip sync? You are either back to training or out of a word if you get too many strikes). So sure, you could slip a change of line there, IF the director doesn’t speak German, or Japanese, or Hindi.

But almost every single dub director speaks English. So a change from “Don’t do this, Cas” to “And I, you, Cas” would be noticed then and there, and changed to the right line. Which means that, for the rogue translator thing to work, we’d have to add also a rogue dub director.

And honestly, do you see a professional dub director with more than 15 years of experience (because you don’t give a series to a newbie, and Supernatural had the same dub director for all it’s run) risking his job for ONE line?

Anyway, in the times before the plague dub actors were called in groups to the study to record, in order to save audio tracks. So, for example, all the Inner Senshi would record together when doing Sailor Moon, and I assume in Supernatural, Sam and Dean’s lines would also be recorded together, while Dean and Cas might have been or not. Depending on times and so on. So you’d had at least 3 people in the studio: Dean’s VA, the dub director and the sound technician. ALL of them checking what was being said, what was in the script, and listening to the original audio.

Some actors would also make corrections to the script there, making some lines easier to read, and, again, checking those damn lip letters (Can you tell I HATE the lip letter thing?) . I remember fondly the VA for Sailor Jupiter, Araceli de Leon (RIP), who was known as “The Corrector”, since she would go through ALL the scripts for everyone with a red pen. The day I handed a script she didn’t find any corrections, I was jumping out of joy. So if 15x18 was recorded AT the dubbing studio? Someone who knew English could’ve caught the difference between the “Don’t do this” and the “And I you”, making it harder for our rogue translator to go unnoticed.

But let’s say it was recorded post-quarantine, when voice actors work alone at home, in their own private sound studios. I have no idea if they would have the director at hand through zoom, but I assume so. In any case, the VA would STILL have the original audio to know how the lines were said, and after 4 years of dubbing Dean Winchester, I will assume that the VA knows at the very least a little bit of English so if his script said “And I, you Cas” but he heard Jensen say “Don’t do it, Cas”, he would’ve made a correction there.

That’s now two people who would have to ignore the rouge translator’s actions, and even help them, in order for this theory to work.

And then the audio goes back to the director, who checks it again, makes sure it is lip synced and well acted, and sent to the audio technician who mixes it all, and now we have a THIRD person who could’ve said “Hey… uhm… this line? Is not what it says in the original” and by this time, we’d have to have a conspiracy to keep that “And I, you, Cas” in the final product.

Which brings me to person number four: Once the dubbing is done? It’s reviewed by the client (In this case, WB Latam), who gives the final say and CAN ask for redubs if necessary.

Story time. When I was doing this for a living, I got a series that had the WEIRDEST line ever. A line that made me triple check I was hearing things right (because it was a damn adlib that I couldn’t check with the script)

It was: “I’ve been listening to jazz even since I was a sperm swimming in my father’s testicles”.

So yeah.

I was a pro, so I didn’t censor it or change it and send it as it was to the director. Who OF COURSE called me and asked “Are you 100% sure that’s the line?” (This was in Japanese, and he didn’t speak Japanese. He trusted me). And I said “yeah, but if you need to change it, we can find another way to say “I’ve been a Jazz fan since before I was born”. “ He, Jack bless him, said “Nah. If that’s the original, let’s keep the original”.

The client was NOT amused and we had to change it in the final product.

Now, this was a throw away line by a secondary character that never appeared again in the series, in a small scene that probably only I remember. And the client still said “Nope, change that”. I’d like to believe that a line that changes the relationship between two main characters would have the same, if not more, scrutiny from TPTB.

Which makes now four people who would have had to either ignore the actions of the rogue translator, or actively participate in a conspiracy to make Destiel Latam canon.

Which, I dunno about you, sounds like way too much effort for something that was going to last for exactly one second before Cas got sucked into the Empty.

Someone made a mistake? Probably. But I am more willing to bet it was whoever sent the master video file to the studio than the dub studio, if that line wasn’t supposed to be there.

[anne-louise-fortune]

A Creative Life - Year Two, Month One

Look, look, I’m a day early!

I started the New Year in Aberdeen, staying up way too late and putting the world to rights. My friends ‘P’ and ‘C’ moved up to Scotland for P’s work in mid-2015, and are making a life for themselves up there, but a group of us made the (long, very long) journey to the East Coast of Scotland for Hogmanay. It was epically awesome, and just what I needed after three solid weeks of being ill. Thanks to the mingling of visiting and visited people over December, I have so far infected Cambridgeshire, Merseyside, two separate parts of Scotland and possibly Tyneside. Sharing is caring!

Anyway – creative stuff:

A TV company contacted me about my availability for the next few months, which was pleasing to know that they’ll hire me again. A brief period of lawyering to pay the mortgage is putting a bit of a spanner in the works with my timetable, but that all clears up shortly. When the lawyering is done I will direct my attentions to the TV job sites, but given where I’m now going, I’m going to be much more focused in terms of the TV roles I apply for.

Writing is… ongoing. I wrote a fic! First time this year I’ve posted something, and it’s had some really nice comments. Other fic continues to be worked on. The idea mentioned last month generated thanks to @phrynesboudoir continues to fizzle along in the back of my brain as I think about how to develop it; the radio play for @rithebard is about half way through its first draft. A plethora of ideas are on my ‘to be written ASAP’ list. One of the people I spent Hogmanay with gave me *another* idea, which I’m going to try to develop as well.

Theatre. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin:

If you follow me on Instagram you’ll know that I spent the first full weekend of the year in London. I went because I have been wanting to apply to a Directors Network run by the Young Vic, and as part of the application process they want you to talk about a show you’ve seen at their theatre. So I went to see ‘Once in a Lifetime’, being advertised heavily off the back of it being Harry Enfield’s first stage role. He was quite good, but his part wasn’t as big as it had been made out to be in the publicity. The theatre itself was really lovely – all warm and intimate and with comfy bench seating. I was on the back row in the second gallery – a row of seats so out of the way that they had to send an usher to personally escort me so that I didn’t get lost! The audience was younger and more ethnically diverse than I think I have ever seen before in a theatre space. I also discovered both a second hand theatre bookshop with its own tiny performance space in the back *and* a tapas restaurant directly across the road. My bank account wept.

From there I headed to Southwark Playhouse, which has taken over what appears to be the bottom couple of floors of a late 60’s office building near Elephant & Castle tube station. The bar sold tea! Which given that by now it was raining, dark and windy, was greatly appreciated. I saw The Tempest, adapted to a 90 minute, straight through running time, with only 5 people in the cast, and one of those was a musician who didn’t have any lines. There was tripling of actors into roles, with the demarcation achieved with minimal on-stage costume changes. This was excellent. I really enjoyed it, the music was very cleverly used to create atmosphere even before the show began, and it was once again a really intimate space with, once again, bench seating. Here, they’d made the audience a part of the action, by having the cast sit and perform on the seating banks, and by the way the seating had been arranged in the space. I’m explaining this badly, but trust me; it was very cleverly done, and as ever, has given me some ideas to nick for my own practice.

After an evening on @ashbless sofa in Tooting (it’s very comfy), I meandered back to central London and wandered around The National Gallery for a bit before I headed to Kings Cross Theatre to see the last performance of The Railway Children – the play of the film of the book. This owed more to the film than the book, and the huge number of scenes meant that they had to be really creative in the staging. This was so well done, and the set moving guys got a well-deserved standing ovation at the end. This production also features a full size, genuine steam train that they’ve borrowed from the National Railway Museum in York. As a theatre experience went, this was the least satisfying of the weekend. I was on the back row once more, and the seat was the least comfortable of the three (with the most expensive ticket price). The building was a temporary marquee erected for the run of the show, and there was insufficient seating in the foyer area, where everything was over-priced. Good show though – and I cried at the end. I am also fairly sure that as I meandered back towards the tube, I walked past Lin Manuel Miranda, whose show In The Heights was showing in the same theatre later in the evening.

I had an interview for a Technical Director role for a show going into development. I got the role and will have three days’ work (at this point) at the end of March.

@edfortune and I went to Edinburgh, where we had managed to acquire press night tickets to Picnic at Hanging Rock. It was excellent; truly excellent. We spent the journey back to his brother’s house on the train debating reasons why we might not want to give it a ‘ten out of ten’ in the review we were going to write. In the end, we couldn’t come up with anything, and it was awarded those rare full marks when we wrote it up. It’s unclear whether this is going to tour anywhere else, but if it does I strongly recommend it.

The following weekend Ed and I headed back to London to see a recording of Citation Needed at the YouTube Space in London. We are now plotting how we get to the point where we can use the studio spaces they have there. We followed this up with a trip to The National Gallery, weaving our way through the edge of the Women’s March on London as we crossed the top of Trafalgar Square. We were at the gallery to see the Australian Impressionists exhibition. There was some truly outstanding art, and at least one moment of ‘I’ve stood on that street; I can tell you exactly where that’s been painted from’ about one of the Melbourne street scenes. Neither of these things are really theatre, but it provides you with a consecutive narrative…

I’ve been to a CPD session about devising theatre, which came in very handy earlier today when I had an interview at the same theatre about an opportunity to spend a week devising a piece of theatre for 6 – 11 year olds. My friend Carmen and myself are trying to see whether we can put together something Brexit related, and how we’d do that. We’ll find out by the end of the week whether we’ve got it. The interview felt really good; I knew two of the three people on the panel fairly well, as I’ve been going to the programme of events they run for emerging theatre makers for the last year. I think I met the third person at the recent-ish Christmas Do.

I’ve also spent much of this month getting out of bed at 2.45 am on Monday and Tuesday mornings to rehearse for Terror by Night Train which was broadcast on Sherri’s Playhouse last night. It’s been a lot of fun, and as its audio work I’ve done it all in my pyjamas!

I am also waiting to hear back about another opportunity at a local theatre, and from the Young Vic as I actually have submitted my application to join their Directors Network.

So ‘theatre’ continues to move along nicely. Now I just need more hours in the day to fit in all the stuff I need to do!

Oh, and I think I Have Found My Thing. More on that in a separate post. Perhaps...

[holytheoristtastemaker]

A (mild) defense of Zoom Inc.'s troubles Let me start by quoting Citizenlab's report: For those using Zoom to keep in touch with friends, hold social events, or organize courses or lectures that they might otherwise hold in a public or semi-public venue, our findings should not necessarily be concerning. For those who have no choice but to use Zoom, including in contexts where secrets may be shared, we speculate that the browser plugin may have some marginally better security properties, as data transmission occurs over TLS. Unfortunately a few hours later, on the same day, the web client was put under maintenance and thus disabled for the time being, hopefully not for long. update: the web client has been restored, multiple sources confirmed. Please enable join from your browser as a default setting. Zoom probably didn't anticipate going from 0 to 100 (actually + 1126% of increased usage according to some estimates) in the span of a few weeks and the fact that their network hasn't melted down and rendered all calls impossible to make is a testament to the quality of the underlying technology. As we all can imagine there are challenges in scaling that big that fast, but most of the problems that have been identified up until now don't really have much to do with scalability or reliability per se, but with questionable software design choices and bad privacy or marketing decisions made by the company. To be fair, sometimes shortcuts seem a great idea when you're in the heat of the moment and have a booming product, but the more people use it, the higher the likelihood that these shortcuts will come back to haunt it. Also, Zoom devs are humans and like all humans, sometimes they just make bad decisions without malice. What worries me is how the company management, also entirely human AFAIK 😃, decided to handle the response, more on that later. Last but not least: the media piled up on them quite extensively and some security flaws (except maybe "zoombombing") aren't an inherent problem for those meetings that would otherwise be held in public if we weren't quarantined even though the extent of the problem with user generated content is that its severity differs case by case and here there would be millions of cases (each Zoom call) to analyze. Zoom is used by everyone: individuals, institutions, therapists, teachers, doctors, religious and secular organizations, goverment officials and even heads of state. Zoom, as of April 1st 2020, halted all feature development and vowed to fix privacy and security issues over the following 90 days. What went wrong is also a cautionary tale about the importance of implementing secure practices and caring about users privacy from day one because at the scale they are now it's quite understandable they are trying to put out fires left and right. What is or was wrong it with TLDR; Zoom has numerous known security holes. Some of those have since been fixed, some haven't. The company also made (and in some cases, still makes) questionable decisions related to privacy. (I'm going to use the past tense where I reasonably verified the issue has been fixed) Zoom has a security issue in its "waiting room" feature. The issue is currently unknown as the security researchers correctly disclosed it only to Zoom Inc. granting them time to get it fixed lest it gets in the hands of malicious actors. Security researchers are advising people to use passwords and not the waiting room feature. Recordings are easily findable on the web: Zoom saves recordings with a guessable name pattern, thus it's quite trivial to find them if they are uploaded to the open web. Search engines are literally built to find public data on the web. Again, "security through obscurity" is not a good practice if the content is sensible, and it was: the Washington Post was able to watch other people's therapy sessions and elementary school online classes by scanning the web (!!!!!). The ID of a meeting room is numeric, which means that people can guess it (manually or with scripts) and thus, being openness the default, people can hijack meetings, thus "zoombombing". The meeting ID has 9 to 11 digits, not even "obscured". Security researchers did actually find meetings and with scripts had up to 14% of a success rate guessing correct meetings URLs. Recurring Zoom meetings links can be found: they also contain info of the meeting organizer and whatever info the organizers disclosed as topic or description. Security researchers found meetings of large banks, government contractors and other companies. Screensharing by any participant is on by default, which means that people can stream whatever they want without oversight. Very handy for private and regulated meetings, not great if meetings rooms are open by default. File transfer is on by default: don't think this needs explaining in an app where a meeting is public. You can literally send to dozens or hundreds of people malware hoping at least one of them will click on it. The app has too many settings: I went through the configuration panel on both the app and the web version (before it was disabled) and I didn't understand half of the options and got bored after a few minutes (minutes!!!). As we all know as creators of sofware the default matters (most users don't even look at apps settings), and by default you should respect the user's privacy and be secure, otherwise hell can break loose when enough people come knocking with the receipts. The company lied about being end to end encrypted, that's it. They said they use end to end encryption (e2e) but they don't. They also own decryption keys for what is encrypted on the wire, which is definitely not *end to end encryption. *FYI: true end to end encryption means that only the participants in a communication exchange can actually see the data in the clear. Not the company providing the service, not any goverment, not anyone except who's invited. Zoom uses weakish encryption: even though the service is not e2e encrypted, calls don't travel in the clear on the transport network. They are encrypted using a central encrypting server which holds the keys. The issue is that they use a single AES 128 bit key in ECB mode which is definitely deprecated and has security holes. Security researchers were able to decrypt video and audio frames from "encrypted" calls. Zoom encryption and security protocols are not independently audited, which means that they most certainly contain flaws. We all know how hard is to pull off encryption done correctly, I can't imagine how hard it is to do it with video, audio, text and generic media. "Roll your own encryption" is 99.99% of the time a bad idea, it's monumentally bad in this instance. As Bruce Scheiner wrote: I'm okay with AES-128, but using ECB (electronic codebook) mode indicates that there is no one at the company who knows anything about cryptography. Zoom encryption keys are occasionally on servers under the jurisdiction of the Chinese goverment: under Chinese law the goverment of China can require companies to disclose their encryption keys and tools for oversight. This has happened also if all participants were outside the country. Likely a data routing problem (Zoom tries to keep calls local to the participants) but not reassuring nonetheless. Also makes me thing of sci fi scenario in which governments or attackers decrypt all of these calls and use facial recognition to create mass surveillance tools. 👀 The company sent data to Facebook unbeknownst to users: this is probably quite common in apps that embed the Facebook SDK without tweaking it (and it only applied to the iOS app which might mean it was truly unintentional), but it's not great anyway. Facebook already knows a lot about users (both those using it and those who don't). It has been fixed since discovery. Zoom's privacy policy was all encompassing. Basically it stated that all personal data (including recordings, chats and uploaded files) could be shared with third parties. It has been since amended. Zoom allowed hosts to monitor participant's attention. This is 1984-the-book kind of stuff 😱. It was removed since discovery, on April 1st. The app bypassed the usual installation process. This was probably done to be friendler to the user in the very common scenario in which a user gets a link, doesn't have the app on their computer and wants to be in the videocall as fast as possible. It's exactly what malware does. It has been fixed since the discovery. Zoom shares your contact info to everyone within certain email domains. What happened was that thousands of users whose emails belonged to a Dutch email provider where pooled together and their personal info shared with each other. The app let Windows users click on anything resembling a link. Basically you could automatically open a file on a shared drive sending your network credentials to an attacker. It has been fixed. Zoom sent your contact data to Linkedin. In some situations, if they could match you to a Linkedin Profile somehow, they did, without telling you and sharing your Linkedin data to other people. This feature has since been removed on April 1st. 0 day vulnerabilities leading to hardware take over were discovered. The likelihood of those happening was very low (the vulnerability window span the length of the installation process and just that). Fixed as well on April 1st. Records of private messages with the host are available in the export. This is not a huge problem in theory as the export doesn't contain private messages between other participants than those with the host. Zoom tracks lots of data about its users and has many third party trackers on its website. This to me feels like a very intentional choice. Part of those were amended when the new privacy policy was published the other day. What has happened in the "aftermath" So far: Privacy and advocacy groups started to notice Class actions are starting to mount The US government and the FBI have started to notice 👀 NASA, SpaceX and other companies moved away from Zoom New York City has banned Zoom from its schools Conclusions I'm sure you've noticed how this article doesn't talk at all about alternatives. The question of alternatives really depends on what the users requirements are and if the entire globe is your users, then it's hard to evaluate on the spot. It also takes a lot of time to evaluate all options and I think it'll take a few days before deeply researched articles about pros and cons of the alternatives start to appear. You also need a group of people distributed all over the world for thorough testing of each app. Let's also not forget that we mostly felt okay with Zoom until tens of millions of people started using it overnight and it got on experts's radars. Alternatives might be just as flawed, simply less popular right now. Trust in the company is important so I do understand why regular people are rushing to find alternatives. I'm also not a tech columnist nor a security expert, so I can't claim "X is better than Zoom for everything and for everyone". I'll see if I can find a reasonably well done comparison of alternatives in the next few days with what I think should be generic requirements: great video and audio call performance, secure by default with indipendently reviewed encryption and protocols, and absolutely no adtech on all of this sensible data (which wouldn't be possible anyway if they had e2e, though technically you can still sell metadata about users...). Echoing other people's sentiments I read online: Apple is sitting on a gold mine if they open Facetime, get it audited and make sure their e2e encryption has no "backdoors". I'm leaving last a long list of links, with some excerpts, which is what I've read to write this summary. Media (and other sources) coverage (in chronological order) Although there are past issues (like the "open web server" debacle from 2019), I've focused only on recent media coverage from March-April 2020. 20200317 - (Techcrunch) - Beware of ‘ZoomBombing’: screensharing filth to video calls 20200326 - (Motherboard, Vice) - Zoom iOS App Sends Data to Facebook Even if You Don’t Have a Facebook Account 20200330 - (Doc Searls, digital privacy expert) - Zoom’s new privacy policy: There will be no need for Zoom to disambiguate services and websites if neither is involved with adtech at all. And Zoom will be in a much better position to trumpet their commitment to privacy. That said, this privacy policy rewrite is a big help. So thank you, Zoom, for listening. 20200331 - (Motherboard, Vice) - Zoom Faces Class Action Lawsuit for Sharing Data with Facebook 20200401 - (Motherboard, Vice) - Zoom is Leaking Peoples' Email Addresses and Photos to Strangers: "I was shocked by this! I subscribed (with an alias, fortunately) and I saw 995 people unknown to me with their names, images and mail addresses." "I just had a look at the free for private use version of Zoom and registered with my private email. I now got 1000 names, email addresses and even pictures of people in the company Directory. Is this intentional?" 20200401 - (webrtcH4cKS, WebRTC technologists) - Does your video call have End-to-End Encryption? Probably not...: So yes, Zoom does not have end-to-end encryption. Quite often, WebRTC doesn’t either – not yet at least. If you are using a WebRTC service check their terms of service and privacy policy and make sure that you understand what they are saying about this. Hopefully we will see this change soon as WebRTC Insertable Streams matures. 20200402 - (Fight for the future, digital rights group) - New campaign calls for Zoom to (actually) implement end to end encryption to keep people safe: Digital rights group Fight for the Future, known for organizing massive online protests for net neutrality and Internet privacy, has launched a new campaign calling for video conferencing service Zoom to implement default end-to-end encryption on all video, audio, and chat content. 20200402 - (Steven Bellovin, security researcher and professor) - Zoom Security: The Good, the Bad, and the Business Model: There is, though, a class of problems that worries me: security shortcuts in the name of convenience or usability. Consider the first widely known flaw in Zoom: a design decision that allowed “any website to forcibly join a user to a Zoom call, with their video camera activated, without the user's permission.” Why did it work that way? It was intended as a feature I'm optimistic that things are heading in the right direction. Still, it's the shortcuts that worry me the most. Those aren't just problems that they can fix, they make me fear for the attitudes of the development team towards security. I'm not convinced that they get it—and that's bad. Fixing that is going to require a CISO office with real power, as well as enough education to make sure that the CISO doesn't have to exercise that power very often. They also need a privacy officer, again with real power; many of their older design decisions seriously impact privacy. 20200402 - (Krebs on Security, security expert) - ‘War Dialing’ Tool Exposes Zoom’s Password Problems: according to data gathered by a new automated Zoom meeting discovery tool dubbed “zWarDial,” a crazy number of meetings at major corporations are not being protected by a password. Lo said zWarDial evades Zoom’s attempts to block automated meeting scans by routing the searches through multiple proxies in Tor, a free and open-source software that lets users browse the Web anonymously. “Having a password enabled on the meeting is the only thing that defeats it,” he said. Lo shared the output of one day’s worth of zWarDial scanning, which revealed information about nearly 2,400 upcoming or recurring Zoom meetings. That information included the link needed to join each meeting; the date and time of the meeting; the name of the meeting organizer; and any information supplied by the meeting organizer about the topic of the meeting. 20200402 - (Reuters) - Elon Musk's SpaceX bans Zoom over privacy concerns -memo: In an email dated March 28, SpaceX told employees that all access to Zoom had been disabled with immediate effect. 20200403 - (NYTimes) - ‘Zoombombing’ Becomes a Dangerous Organized Effort: Zoom raiders often employ shocking imagery, racial epithets and profanity to derail video conferences. Harassers have begun to leverage every feature of Zoom’s platform for abuse. They have used the app’s custom background feature to project a GIF of a person drinking to participants in an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, and its annotation feature to write racist messages in a meeting of the American Jewish Committee in Paris. The frequency and reach of the incidents on Zoom prompted the F.B.I. to issue a warning on Tuesday, singling out the app 20200403 - (TidBITS) - Every Zoom Security and Privacy Flaw So Far, and What You Can Do to Protect Yourself: As detailed as this article is, I fear that this list of problems and choices will be far from the last we hear about Zoom’s security and privacy troubles. In fact, while writing and editing this article over the last 48 hours, we had to add six additional exploits, design-choice errors, and privacy concerns. Zoom has gone into what’s known as “technical debt.” The company’s developers made a lot of poor decisions in the past, which are likely difficult and costly to fix. The longer it takes Zoom to address the core problems, the harder and more costly future fixes will be, as additional code is built upon that weak foundation. 20200403 - (Washington Post) - Thousands of Zoom video calls left exposed on open Web: Videos viewed by The Washington Post included one-on-one therapy sessions; a training orientation for workers doing telehealth calls that included people’s names and phone numbers; small-business meetings that included private company financial statements; and elementary school classes, in which children’s faces, voices and personal details were exposed. 20200403 - (Citizenlab) - Move Fast & Roll Your Own Crypto: A Quick Look at the Confidentiality of Zoom Meetings: Until a few weeks ago, it would have been uncommon for high stakes business negotiations, high level diplomacy, political strategy conferences, and cabinet meetings to be conducted over platforms whose security properties are unknown. Zoom has not publicly disclosed information such as statistics of requests for data by governments, and what Zoom has done in response to these requests. Zoom’s policies concerning notifications to users over breaches or the handing-over of data to governments are also unknown During our analysis, we also identified a security issue with Zoom’s Waiting Room feature. Assessing that the issue presented a risk to users, we have initiated a responsible vulnerability disclosure process with Zoom. We are not currently providing public information about the issue to prevent it from being abused. As a result of these troubling security issues, we discourage the use of Zoom at this time for use cases that require strong privacy and confidentiality For those who have no choice but to use Zoom, including in contexts where secrets may be shared, we speculate that the browser plugin may have some marginally better security properties, as data transmission occurs over TLS. In the meantime, we advise Zoom users who desire confidentiality to not use Zoom Waiting Rooms. Instead, we encourage users to use Zoom’s password feature, which appears to offer a higher level of confidentiality than waiting rooms 20200403 - (Politico) - Multiple state AGs looking into Zoom’s privacy practices 20200403 - (Bruce Scheiner, legendary security researcher) - Security and Privacy Implications of Zoom: Privacy first: Zoom spies on its users for personal profit. It seems to have cleaned this up somewhat since everyone started paying attention, but it still does it. I'm sure lots more of these bad security decisions, sloppy coding mistakes, and random software vulnerabilities are coming. But it gets worse. Zoom's encryption is awful. First, the company claims that it offers end-to-end encryption, but it doesn't. It only provides link encryption, which means everything is unencrypted on the company's servers. 20200404 - (Steven Bellovin, security researcher and professor) - Zoom Cryptography and Authentication Problems: When companies roll their own crypto, I expect it to have flaws. I don't expect those flaws to be errors I'd find unacceptable in an introductory undergraduate class, but that's what happened here. 20200404 - (Chalkbeat, organization related to American schools) - NYC forbids schools from using Zoom for remote learning due to privacy and security concerns: Instead, the guidance says, schools should switch to Microsoft Teams “as soon as possible,” which the education department suggests has similar functionality and is more secure. 20200404 - (Techcrunch) - Zoom admits some calls were routed through China by mistake: Zoom said in February that “rapidly added capacity” to its Chinese regions to handle demand was also put on an international whitelist of backup data centers, which meant non-Chinese users were in some cases connected to Chinese servers when data centers in other regions were unavailable

http://damianfallon.blogspot.com/2020/04/a-semi-technical-explainer-of-all-known.html

[tradeshowguy]

NAB Show 2019: A View from the Tradeshow Floor

Having never attended the National Association of Broadcasters Show in Las Vegas, I did not have a full grasp of the scope and size of the show. And once I was walking the floor earlier this week, it still took a few hours to fully comprehend how freaking big it is. There are nearly 2 million square feet of exhibiting space in 13 halls separable by movable walls.

Over 90,000 attendees showed up along with over 1600 exhibitors to see the latest in video and audio tech in all its glory: broadcast and cable TV, sports, podcasting, radio, lighting, cloud services and much more. It was all there. And it was overwhelming.

The biggest takeaways? As an old radio guy who started his career by playing single 45s on a turntable, I can safely say: we’ve come a long way (mentioning those 45s to the 20 and 30-something folks staffing the booths also was a good way to bring forth those puzzled looks along with a hesitant chuckle – yeah, I know I’m old).

Video is huge, as are the gigantic video walls, which seemed to adorn nearly one out of three booths. Quality is impressive. Cameras are going up in quality as the price creeps down. Seeing and playing with 8K cameras showed attendees what the working video world will be working with soon if they aren’t already.

Audio production, and in particular, the production of audio in conjunction with video, is a really big deal. Avid’s booth featured a large screen displaying how they mixed the music that was a part of the Oscar-winning Bohemian Rhapsody. Also there were the Oscar winners, who sat on a panel discussing the process.

Visitors also could partake in training on a large scale: Adobe, Avid, DaVinci Resolve and many others were doing full-on all-show-hours in-depth training on their latest products.

From an exhibit standpoint, I also saw something I’d never seen before: many video camera and monitor manufacturers built set and had them populated with stand-in actors. The idea was to give visitors a chance to put their hands on the various cameras and zoom and pan and see how everything worked under conditions that replicated what they’d find on an actual set.

I also saw at least three stationary cars equipped with cameras to film actors as they drove. One exhibitor went even further: behind the car there was a large video image of a road as if the car was moving. On the right and left were more screens with similar images. And for the coup de grace, a large video panel suspended over the entire car which simulated the movement of the sky, reflections of streetlights and more. An actor need only sit in the car and everything else is captured in one take, with little post-shoot work needed.

How to film a scene in a car to make it appear it’s really moving.

Lots of international exhibitors, including Europe and China, Korea and Canada among the more prominent. It seems pretty common that exhibits from China and Korea will set up exhibits with walls that enclose much of the space. I don’t see that as much from US exhibitors, so my hunch is it’s a bit of a cultural thing. I also don’t think humor passes easily from culture to culture. One exhibitor from China had a McLaren automobile on display (wasn’t really sure of the purpose, but it certainly looked sharp). As I was talking to one of the reps, I joked that maybe they should raffle off the car at the end of the show. All I got in return was confused look. Hey, I thought it was funny!

Exhibits were impressive from the big companies, and many of the smaller companies also had a good look. Although as in any show, you always see the smaller companies in the 10x10s around the edges of the main floor struggling to be seen or to even have something worth seeing. The most impressive things seen in the smaller booths were the company’s product lit up with LED, or something moving that catches the eye.

Esports had its own section, showing off gamers and gaming. We know that gaming has become a multi-billion dollar industry and if you search for esports competition, you’ll find a lot. There were panels and competitions taking place in the section, but frankly, since I’m not a gamer, it didn’t hold my interest that long. However, my 18-year old son probably could have spent all of the show in this area and it wouldn’t have been enough!

They’ve got their eyes on you!

The tech that supports radio, tv, cable and Internet was also displayed throughout the halls. Not being a tech guy, much of this was over my head, but impressive nonetheless: network, audio, video controllers; studio design and audio and video production boards, facility infrastructure, transmitters, processors, automation software, captioning AI, streaming, scheduling, logging, transcription…you name it, somebody was here promoting it.

I talked to well over a hundred people about the show, how it worked for them, how it helped create leads, sell their products. Most told me it was a great show for them. Several said this show in particular was the one show that gave them most of their good leads for the year for them to follow up on.

But not everyone agreed. One woman I spoke with said she’d been coming to the show for thirty years, and it’s not the show it used to be. One comment she made totally threw me. She said the “little Sony” booth wasn’t impressive at all. My jaw dropped because I’d been at the Sony booth (probably around 10,000 square feet) earlier in the show and determined it to be one of the top exhibits there, going so far as to walk through the booth for a minute or two shooting video to capture it all. But no, she said, “Sony used to take up a third of the hall!” She said that the networks (CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS) don’t send the people they used to, and the few they do send spend all their time behind closed doors in meetings, and don’t get out and mingle on the show floor like they used to. So her market wasn’t there to the extent they used to be. I found her perspective fascinating: no matter how much evidence you see to support one view, there’s always another view that’s just as valid.

I caught a couple of events on the main stage: opening day, NAB President/CEO Gordon Smith (and former Oregon senator) gave a keynote and ended by awarding MASH actor Alan Alda the NAM Distinguished Award. Alan sat for about 15 minutes after the award to chat about his career. I also caught the next morning’s panel, Tales from the White House Beat, featuring Smith chatting with ABC’s Cecilia Vega, NBC’s Hallie Jackson, CBS’s Steven Portnoy and PBS’s Yamiche Alcindor as they shared stories and insight into covering the Trump administration.

Cecilia Vega, Steven Portnoy, Hallie Jackson and Yamiche Alcindor with Gordon Smith

I was invited as a blogger which made me a member of the media, so I felt a bit of kinship with these professional journalists. I’ve been in radio news teams, hosted talk shows and been behind the microphone for decades, and it was great to hear the stories they told.

Lastly, a shout out to these folks: Josh at Time Lapse Cameras, Kent at Sharp Electronics and Suzy at FeiyuTech for their time and information. They reached out and invited me to check out their latest. Time Lapse Cameras has, as you might imagine, some great little affordable time lapse cameras which can be used to record any number of things from construction to exhibit setup and dismantle. Sharp showed off their new 8K cameras which are out later this year, and FeiyuTech demonstrated a new action camera, the Ricco, along with a handful of three-axis gimbals and other assorted goods for the video camera market. All good stuff and thanks for having me!

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[podcastcoach]

Simple Works - New Apple Stats - and One Size Does Not Fit All

This weekend I had "Christmas" with most of my family as my brother goes to Florida for Christmas with his in-laws. We bought my nieces and nephews who are ages 8 and under some of the toys we grew up playing. I noticed that these games are often very simplistic.  What does this have to do with podcasting? Becuase sometimes we make things harder than they need to be.

  Because Of My Podcast - I'm Getting to Talk to Some Very Cool People Darryl E. McCullough

Darryl hosts the Full Circle Podcast and helped launch National Podcast Power conference. Daryl has met actors, authors, politicians, YouTube Stars and more. If you want to get doors opened, start a podcast today.

Keeping Simple Is Sometimes All You Need

I spent the weekend playing with my great-nieces and nephew. We brought out some classc board games.

Battling Tops

My entire family ended up playing this game by the end of the day.  What makes it a great game is that it is easy to learn and the action is fast and furious. The tops come out the gate very fast and often one or two of the tops go flying out of the arena. You pull a "string" (now a plastic tie with teeth) and the tops go into what amounts to a bowl and bounce off each other. The last one in the bowl spinning wins. Simple.

Checkers

This is another game that takes very little skill, and you get to the action fairly quickly. It takes some thought and strategy.

Hide and Go Seek

This game requires the ability to count to ten Mississippi. There is suspense, and tension as you wait to see if you can get home without being caught. Here again, it requires a good hiding spot and strategy to determine when you would try to "go home."

I love helping people understand the best path to get to your podcast going in the right direction. There are times when people ask a question and they expect a simple answer, but the absolute truth about podcasting is there are very few absolute truths. The other thing I want to talk about today is letting your personality shine.

So many people make podcasting harder than it is. Don't get me wrong there is still a learning curve, but some time we make the curve much higher than it needs to be.

Sometimes Too Much Technology Can Take the Fun Out of Things

I do a show called "Ask the Podcast Coach" and at one point I had a cohost located in another state, a phone line coming in (with a screen where I could put people on hold and see my callers), and I had a chat room. I streamed it live on Google Hangouts (now YouTube live), as well as mixlr.com and spreaker.com When I started the show I needed eight arms to start everything.

My co-host and I Jim Collison (from theaverageguy.tv) noticed that most of our questions come in via chat. We still offer the ability to join the Google Hangout, but I would say 98% of our questions come in via chat. We also stream the show via Google Hangout and based on audience feedback, only stream via mixlr.com (for those who want an audio only).

Simple Can Work and Sound Great

My friend Cale Nelson from the Modern Christian Men show (and previously Ham Radio 360) got an email from a listener. In it, they said, " You have always sounded great! Better than some national broadcasts/podcasts."

So what equipment does Cale Use? Did he spend thousands of dollars?

He is using an  ATR2100 Microphone, Yamaha MG12XU Mixer, Zoom H2n Digital Recorder. Record Locally to Zoom, then Edit in Audacity.

Bernie The Cat Wishes Everyone Happy Holidays

13:44 Bernie from the Bernie the Cat Show stops by to wish everyone Happy Holidays.

New Statistics From Apple inside PodcastsConnect. Apple.com

14:45 See Video 

https://youtu.be/VmSDwb3iU9s

New Stats From Blubrry and Libsyn

20:28 Libsyn.com  launched a new stats interface that works on your phone. The backend of the stats system now provides IAB compliant (once the IAB launches their certification) stats.

Blubrry Statistics just got better, with the introduction of regional reporting for Canada, UK, and Brazil. More Information

Get a free month of Service at Libsyn.com or Blubrry.com using the coupon code sopfree.

Where You Can Find Me In Person

22:41

February 8 -10 Orlando Florida  Podfest.us I will be speaking on AI and Podcasting and I will be Roasted.

February 28 - March 2 in San Diego California Social Media Marketing World Speaking on Podcast Monetization

  What Podcast is the Easiest Show To Create?

26:48

There are a number of formats you can choose from when creating a podcast.

You can do a show with just you (a monologue)

You can do a show with a co-host

You can do a show with a panel

Looking at the above list, one might think a solo show would be the easiest. Why? No scheduling conflicts, no arguments over the direction of the show. You have total control. So what is the problem? You need to be comfortable talking to the wall. It takes a little confidence to pull this off. Michael Hyatt is one of my favorite authors. I read his book Platform every January to kick of my year. Michael has publicly stated that he is not comfortable doing a solo show.

So then doing a show with a co-host is easier? This sounds true up front. You don't have to do all the work, and there is another person to help promote the show.

But you now have the occasional challenge of scheduling conflicts. The more people you have, the harder it is to get everyone together. The solution is to pick a time when everyone knows you will be recording and make a commitment to that time. This is easier said than done, especially when multiple time zones are included, and multiple life configurations are included (kids, jobs, etc).

So again, it depends.

Taking Phone Calls

I think we all grew up listening to radio shows who take phone calls and we want to recreate that scenario. So how do you take phone calls. The answer? It depends. If you are doing a solo show, you can get a Google Voice Number or a Toll-Free Number at Podcastvoicemail.com and plug the phone into a mixer using your headphone jack. Then you can talk into your microphone that goes into the mixer, you plug the phone into the mixer, and send the mix of you and the phone out to a service like Mixlr.com Send the same output into a portable recorder like a Zoom H1.

But what if you have a co-host? What if you want a phone screener? Then things get way more complicated including two mix-minus setups that I won't even attempt to explain it here (it would be something we could do some consulting on).

The bottom line is, "It depends"

Sometimes You Have to Jump In

I bought myself a new 55" TV for Christmas. I brought it home, and went to put it on my old TV stand, and it was too big. I had to buy a bigger stand. Then I went to plug it into my sound bar, and you guessed it. Even though both the TV and the soundbar were from the same company, I needed to go buy a new cable to plug in.

Some things you only learn things by doing them.

If you want to avoid making the common podcast mistakes when it comes to planning your show, purchasing gear, promoting your show, I urge you to sign up for the School of Podcasting or join the Podcasting in Six Weeks Course which is starting on January 6th.

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[andreaklunder]

044: Elsie Escobar: Break patterns, Shift the narrative

"It was, for me, a self-help tool. It was a way in which I experienced a very deep transformation in who I was as a woman -- as a person." ~Elsie Escobar, on podcasting

  How do we, as content creators, begin to break the patterns and shift the narrative? It might not be what you think…

  Elsie Escobar is one of my podcasting idols. Actor, yoga teacher, podcast producer & advocate (you can see why we connect with each other so well), her original podcast, Elsie's Yoga Class was one of the first I ever listened to -- before I even really knew what a podcast was!

  Now, after listening to her for years and working one on one with Elsie through her E-League mentoring program, I have a whole new appreciation for the question, "What else is possible?" because for Elsie (and for me), podcasting is about so much more than downloads, sponsors and statistics.

  And no matter what kind of content you are creating in the world, through social media, a blog, a podcast, videos, workshops, your business, your art, etc, YOU have the option to follow the pack or carve a whole new path to shift the conversation.

  Find out how, listen now...

"Go to the things that YOU really resonate with because that’s the conversation we need to have, and THEN you frame it on your point of view because that’s going to start to break patterns." ~Elsie Escobar, on media consumption and creation  

  Connect with Elsie

ElsieEscobar.com

Instagram Twitter

E-League Podcast Mentoring 

The Panel at Podcast Movement

She Podcasts

Libsyn's The Feed Podcast

Elsie’s Yoga Kula

My favorite mediation episodes include:

Ep 83: 25 Minute Meditation Finding Your Center In Difficult Situations

Episode 62: Yoga Nidra Yourself Out! a 65 min Deep Meditative Relaxation

Episode 61: Chill the Body Out! a 13 minute Full Body Yogic Relaxation

  Connect with Andrea

Facebook

Instagram

Chicago Women's Creative Collective

  Resources & Links

The Creative Impostor Magic page! Get a special gift from Andrea here.

  Elizabeth Tuckwell's Art With Intention Creative Jumpstart

  Kelly Covert's podcast interview with MOI on In Her Voice

  Who's Your Mama podcast with Corrine Mockler

  Support the Creative Impostor

Andrea's Patreon Page -- where you can support the show, get cool gifts from me and can become an active participant in the creative community!

  Free Audio Book & 30 day trial membership with Audible.com (support The Creative Impostor when you sign up!)

"The impact that [podcasting] had in my life — in my actual life, not in my business — but in my ability to become a better human was so huge that I was like 'Everybody needs to get behind the mic.' It’ll do things. It’ll do stuff to you." ~Elsie Escobar

  About Elsie

I WORK IN THE CROSS-SECTION OF TECHNOLOGY, DIGITAL MEDIA & HOLISTIC LIVING WITH A HEAVY BIAS ON PODCAST STRATEGY AND CREATIVE USE OF AUDIO.

As a podcaster since 2006, I was one of the first female indiepodcasters using audio to teach yoga. Elsie’s Yoga Class has now been downloaded over 4 million times!

I'm currently the only female pundit in the podcasting space with expert insight into indie podcasters’ impact, influence, and power.

My obsession for podcasting got me a job working with Libsyn, the leading podcast host and distribution network created in 2004. I've been there since 2007 and have had the pleasure of working with hundreds of podcasters, sharing tools for better production, educating them in the fast moving podcasting space, as well as cultivating a strongly engaged community through The Feed: The Official Libsyn podcast which I both co-host and produce. The Feed’s sole focus is keeping people podcasting. I also co-run the largest community for women in podcasting with a corresponding podcast (of course) called She Podcasts. Our sole mission is to empower women to continue to share their voices while creating a safe community of podcasting education and support.

My biggest differentiator in the podcasting industry?

I’m a die-hard podcast junkie who lives, breathes and works the medium, and has since 2006. I've pulsed with the space and grown from someone that had NO IDEA what a digital recorder was or how to record anything to someone that currently offers advice to thousands of people a month.

  I have the unique perspective and expertise of a podcast listener, independent podcast producer, and podcasting industry analyst/personality.

  I know the heart and soul of podcasters and podcasting well beyond iTunes and public media.

  "CAN we reach and start to actually vibrate at a different level, to take that conversation, that dialogue, to a different place, to be able to offer... another option for self-development that is NOT based on a visual medium… that is NOT based on the way that somebody looks.” ~Elsie Escobar, on the potential of podcasting

This episode was mixed by Edwin R. Ruiz of Mondo Machine. The Creative Impostor theme music was created by JoVia Armstrong.

I'd LOVE to hear from you!

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  Check out this episode!