#and if you can't find anything on youtube you can try dailymotion

[stellasolaris]

the youtube channel I was watching the 4kids dub on deleted everything 😢

Ah, I'm sorry to hear that!

[kinopioa]

It's fascinating seeing people go "I miss the wild west era of the internet" and then learn they were born in 2003

Like fuck off. By the time you're 6 it was dead. The cutoff is around 06/7, and even that's debateable to have ended earlier

If we're being brutally honest-

1993-1998: True Wild West. Not much could happen due to limited tech, but it was completely unmonitored. I'm honestly surprised to find archives of old chats on Google

1998: The Coppa act is established, further taking effect in 2000. This made people aware that kids can access the internet. Teens barely gave a shit, though it made corporations more aware of them, and how to consider them for a market. It also unfortunately promoted age fraud to access barred login sites

1999-2005/6: User oriented era. This is when a lot of custom sites, blogs, and forums popped up, as well as many image hosting sites that are sadly defunct now. Google being a popular search engine further encouraged discovering these user made sites. Contrary to popular belief, user sites were mostly made and "moderated" by edgy kids and teens, so you WILL see the opinion of a 14yr old. Incidentally, due to domains being expensive, a lot of these teen made forums and personal sites died extremely fast, ignoring raids, doxxing, and flamewars

Video sharing while possible also was really crappy for quality...except for

User created flash games and anims enabled a massive spread of content. Newgrounds was a popular hosting spot. Shame Flash died

Outside that, we least we got bbphp as a solid forum template be popularized after many other ones died. For those less tech savvy, in 2003

We got social media. This was the main goto till smartphones and Twitter got popularized after 2006, and still was going strong until mid 2010s. Despite older netiquette of being encouraged to not post anything indentifiable about yourself, many users expressed themselves with music tastes and eventual personal blogs

2005/6: YouTube is released, as well as Dailymotion. Bootlegged Newgrounds anims popped up for uploads, but also shared tv show clips

Fun thing, before mid 2010s, users can only upload at max 15min of video

Similarly around 2005, Reddit similarly sparked up. More modern image hosting sites spurred around 2007/8

~~~

But regardless, the public internet already changed massively after 2000. Web 2.0 was already a term from 1999 that described the change, with it being redefined for it occuring around 2004. I think one thing not noticed, the development of this tech mostly happened in the UK, due to general smaller population and faster telocommunication services compared to the US at the time. This similar impacted the type of audience that used this

I see people longing for a freer internet, and I agree online corporate control is shitty. But the dretches of humanity has severely stunted user diversity and interest, same with over prioritizing skill over general good collaboration and behavior. The modern tech bro absolutely not giving a shit for the userbase or societal problems and being very selfish can unfortunately be traced here. Same for rsmpant political misinformation being unmoderated, and early 90s fandom woes still having a negative impact on some franchises

I see dumbass self censoring like "unalive" on sites, and it's not even enforced. It's just stupid assumption that advertisors care so much

Which brings the question, why are we trying to heavily get into monetizing expression? I genuinely feel Ytube enabling users to do so is exactly why user content got obnoxious after 2013 when it got popular. Unfortunately it's way too late to undo that. Many rely on the monetizing

Though I find it funny when people ignore just...making their own site to bypass the censorship. bbphp again is open source, and there are many other online web creation tools. I can't even say the rise of tech illiteracy is why, tech illiterate people aren't the ones complaining of sites crapping out

Anyway, if you miss pre algorithm search engines results leading to you finding random shit, try this;

Unfortunately the reducing of child safe sites is another convo

[kattahj]

Another batch of QL or QL-adjacent reviews, plus a bonus extra!

Am I the Only One with Butterflies? (Minidrama, 7 x 5-10 min)

What's it about? Jung Ah has such a crush on her kind and helpful boss, Manager Lee. But how can she know if her boss feels the same?

Genre: Romantic drama

Watch if you enjoy: Pining. Workplace romance. Age gap. Insecure protagonist. Chatroom advice. No villains. Bitesized episodes. Minimal number of characters and settings. Ambiguous ending.

Gayer version of: Hmm, I can't think of anything where someone has a crush on their boss and it's as innocent as it's presented here.

Recommended? It barely has time to get started before it ends, but it's pretty cute, so sure! Especially since it has no fandom presence on AO3 and barely any on tumblr, and I think it deserves better than that.

Watched on: YouTube

Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY5PeW5o0GVychuvZOrOhdWt9sgnrnh92&si=gCj7CMBV_1-EGfAi

Club Friday: Love Bully (4 x 60 min)

What's it about? Rich girl Irene falls for bartender Night, which infuriates her CEO mother and makes some others in the company sense an opportunity.

Genre: Soapy drama

Watch if you enjoy: Couples that waste no time falling in love. Class issues. (Somewhat undermined by the poorer characters' ridiculously fancy house.) Smirking villains. Trans representation.

Gayer version of: Crazy Rich Asians

Recommended? Must a show be good? Is it not enough to watch two beautiful ladies fall in insta-love while soap villains conspire (badly) against them?

So no, but also yes.

Watched on: YouTube

Trailer: https://youtu.be/RocOPTziZ1c?si=_VL3nFNzb5dG7xTj

Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLESL0e438h4OWJmsV0KUFZTFAbbxF0rpg&si=PZcueqaBHTkmqeFp

Ghost Host, Ghost House (8 x 30 min, last ep double-length)

What's it about? Kevin is going on holiday with his relatives in Thailand. As a side project, he's also ghost hunting, and livestreams about it. But the ghosts may be closer than he thinks!

Genre: dramedy (more comedy to begin with, then more drama)

Watch if you enjoy: Nice ghosts and some not so nice ghosts. Ghost bureaucracy. Explorations of love and loss. Incredibly sweet boys in love. Romance that progresses at a realistic pace.

Gayer version of: The Canterville Ghost

Recommended? Yes! This was an unexpected gem. Heartfelt, funny, and sweet. Among my absolute favourites.

Watched on: GagaOoLala, but seems to also be available on youtube

Trailer (quite spoilery): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il0tMQA8BRg

My Stand-In (12 x 60 min)

What's it about? Joe works as a stuntman/stand-in, and he also feels as a stand-in in his romantic life, since his boyfriend would rather be with aomeone else. After a fatal accident, he finds himself as a third kind of stand-in: stuck in a stranger's body!

Genre: Melodrama

Watch if you enjoy: Heightened emotions. Slight supernatural tinge. Toxic romance (that improves somewhat with time). Both supportive and less supportive family. Sweet, sad, and soppy protagonist, who knows he's a fool returning to his folly but does it anyway.

Gayer version of: Heaven Can Wait as written by the Brontë sisters (not Anne)

Recommended? For the right kind of viewer, yes! Personally, I enjoyed it in a "sit back with popcorn" way, but was the most emotionally invested in Joe's relationship with his new "mom".

Watched on: Dailymotion 

Trailer: https://youtu.be/9lzKraOt4dk?si=4kRyaPr0IbzaKT0S

Fragrance of the First Flower (6 x 15-20 min)

What's it about? Yi Ming and Ting Ting were in love in high school. Now Yi Ming is married with a child, and trying to make the best of it, when Ting Ting suddenly comes back into her life.

Genre: low-key drama

Watch if you enjoy: Realistically messy relationships. (This is more of a general relationship drama than a downright GL.) Old flames and second chances. Multiple timelines. Heartbreak with a hopeful ending. No heroes, no villains.

Gayer version of: Maybe The Notebook? I feel like this is a common story, but I'm hard pressed to find examples!

Recommended? Maybe? I thought the acting was well done, but found it distracting (and sometimes confusing) when these clearly 30+ actresses were supposed to be teenagers. The storyline is compelling, though it's hard to sympathize with anyone.

Season 2 is in the works, and I plan to see it when it comes.

Note: The end titles are unusually long, so don't be surprised if the counter says 23 minutes and the ep ends at 16.

Watched on: GagaOOLala

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkdxhA-LZ2E

Wandee Goodday (12 x 50 min)

What's it about? Dr. Wandee just got rebuffed and called vanilla by the colleague he has a crush on. Determined to prove himself desirable, he hooks up with boxing champion Yoryak and asks him to be his fake boyfriend.

Genre: Romcom

Watch if you enjoy: Hijinks of both a sexual and platonic variety. Couple who deny being in love for far too long. Playing dress-up. Talking the issues out. Gayest boxing gym ever. Parental issues. Parentified big brother with the bestest boyfriend. Some asexual representation on the side. Occasional reminders to take the HPV vaccine.

Gayer version of: To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Recommended? The main storyline is kind of cute, with piles of romcom tropes in good and bad ways. The SECONDARY couple, however, I absolutely adored. They got 5-15 minutes per ep, and stole every scene they were in and then some.

Watched on: YouTube

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAC6UgVxles

BONUS REVIEW

The Warp Effect (Series, 12 x 45-60 min)

Not a QL (it has a mix of straight and queer pairings) but relevant to the subject because it has a lot of the same actors as Thai QLs, and the director has also made some QLs.

What's it about? Before she died, Alex's mother made him promise to stay a virgin until the time is right. Whenever Alex tries to break that promise, bad things happen. Like being thrown ten years into the future.

Genre: dramedy

Watch if you enjoy: Big friend groups. Mix of comedic and serious moments. Gay, lesbian, trans, nonbinary, and even kinky representation.

Somewhat gayer version of: 13 going on 30

Recommended? On the whole, yes. It's sympathetic, and I got quite involved in some of the characters' fates (mostly the ladies and my favourite enby, not so much the guys). The comedy doesn't always work for me, and as a cynical Gen X cusper, I thought at times that the show gets too Very Special Episode about its sex ed bits. (In Swedish terms, it's like it was co-produced by UR and RFSU.) But hey, in comparison to what we were told as teenagers, its lessons are pretty darn great, and it's also got Silvy Pavida looking (and acting) fantastic in a nonbinary role, so... :-)

Watched on: YouTube

Trailer: https://youtu.be/eBwCNO-XkaY?si=2rvyoEtxFruHZq2D

Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGbua6YlkQiIx1a-KrOMDNDoutnY1ZEmj&si=4ik9y6LC5t2owoBm

[ask-angelbeam19]

Hey Bea! ❤️ I have no idea what's going on because I can't see your channel anymore but I want you to know you need to stay strong. You're amazing at what you do. I seriously can't help but feel like when you get to a part in your series- something happens. Whether it's age restricted, channel deleted or the AI voices actor coming to you (which I won't get into because it not my business but I do find it a bit strange..). There's always something, and I find it strange. It could just be a coincidence that these things happen but they seem to be happening a lot, maybe not too soon but it definitely occurs. I have no idea what help I can personally do to lend you a hand but please stay strong. All your stories are amazing, your drive, your passion and overall aesthetic! I'm not sure if YouTube is a safe place to keep posting but hang in there! You could always try Dailymotion, your own site or even on here. There is nothing you can't do but just know I and a few others are here to support you and lend out a hand to you, whether it be a need for voice actors or anything, for free of course. Love you bea and stay strong! Don't let this defeat you queen! 💖

My channel is fine, just hidden for the time being. They were collectively reporting it for whatever reason. The voice actor is also kinda petty. I was in the wrong to use his voice, I set the videos to private, apologized and offered to pay for the sample he sent me a few months back. He said he’s not fine with me using his voice and I thought okay, that’s the end of the story, but no. He keeps sending fellow voice actors to attack me for using AI voices. Which is ridiculous! They’re all computer generated and weren’t cloned from actual humans. They’re all available on Elevenlabs voice directory. I have commercial rights to use them bcs I bought the Creator tier, which is 22 dollars/month. And Elevenlabs now has professional voice cloning too, users upload their own voice samples on Elevenlabs for people to use freely, and they get money after idk how many generated characters. The ridiculous part was one saying that I should use an actual cast. But why should I? I ticked off their community bcs I shown them that it can be done beautifully with computer generated voices. My series is a threat to the voice acting community. I feel like their time is numbered with these powerful AI tools. Last night I searched up a ton of other AI voice generated websites, and some sound just as realistic as the ones from Elevenlabs. Normally you can’t really copyright a voice, since many people have the same voices, or similar. I could’ve denied everything and the voice actor would have no way of proving it’s actually his voice, bcs let’s face it, he sounds nothing like Latham’s voice. But I owned up to it and messaged him to apologize. And with this I am done talking about this topic. As for why my story gets attacked… bcs I dare say I am the only sims 2 creator who actually has a solid plot with detailed world building, characters who actually have personalities, and they’re also very good looking imo. I’m also the only one who can build a channel from scratch and gain new subs and actual views. The others have the same sub counts for years and years. Idk where this unnecessary hate is coming from. Like sit down and work as hard as I do on my stories. Uploading a video every few years or months won’t gain new followers. It’s all about consistency. I can make an episode fast and still deliver the same quality content. And I know it’s not easy to attract viewers to sims 2 stories because sims 4 is trending now. That’s why you have to do something that stands out, something that attracts viewers from the sims 4 community as well. Like I know one series that is basically a mixture of Forsaken Souls and Infected, which makes it a cheap ripoff, and I should go on their channel and attack them for ripping off my stories, but they’re not even worth that. Too much effort on my part to waste on someone who doesn’t know how to make original content. Also viewers aren’t stupid. They know originality when they see it. I’m by no means claiming my stuff is 100% original, bcs it’s impossible. Everything has already been done is some form. I also get inspired by many things and stories, books and so on, but never another sims story for sure. Either way, right now I am taking a break from YouTube bcs it’s just so toxic and draining. But yeah, I lost a channel with 40k subs, it’s not like this drama is affecting me, ofc it makes me mad, but in a few days I won’t care. Yk what happens when people try to take me down? I try even harder to bring something new and exciting to the table. They don’t understand that the more they attack me to more I wanna do better. It’s doing quite the opposite of what they’re going for. Anyway, I’m still trying to figure out if I want to continue the story with AI voices or just return to subs. I haven’t decided yet. Although I already found a new AI voice for Latham ( and no, it’s not cloned from a human, just to make it clear.) I also dunno if I will continue to upload new videos to YouTube other than previews. I might look into making a website or just move to Patreon altogether. Thanks for the kind words ❤️❤️❤️

[protobrieile]

ok tech talk

i was reminded of the platform that is dailymotion recently and felt a wave of nostalgia for the days when i “wasn’t allowed to use youtube” so i found videos to watch there instead. anyway i went on the site and made a new account and here are some slightly surreal things i found.

so first things first i did not immediately figure out how to change my uploader name. i found later through their support that there is a distinction between "user" and "partner": both can upload videos, but only approved partners can create a branded channel.

(becoming a partner seems to be just a form for becoming an approved user)

secondly i was checking out the upload function, which was tucked into the account settings, but this was a block on the initial "choose a file" screen

which is incredibly interesting to me bc it indicates 1. there is expectancy for users to upload several videos at a time, and 2. this is a common enough pattern that there are "peak times" which slow down the servers. at first glance that feels wild to me however i would guess a good number of users here mainly upload to youtube but keep a backlog on dailymotion to catch more views. but also idk how true or prominent that is so in reality i'm just confused.

the next confusing thing i found, when testing an upload, is that i could only choose from private (which apparently is more similar to youtube's unlisted) or "password protected", in which I would assign a password to give to people who want to watch? idk this feels more private than their private but the moral of the story is there was no public option. i now suspect that has to do with partnership, and here is a different chart i found

(2 Go is supposed to be Gb lol) it seems like all the support subject address "uploads" as videos that partner accounts are able to upload publicly, and i can't really find anything regarding on why the account i set up 20 minutes ago could upload a video privately but not publicly so that's my best guess. also the little disclaimer under that chart implies that you are technically capable of uploading past your "limits" assigned there, but that whatever api will catch it later on and you'll get a warning or something. it might just be poorly worded but it's kinda hilarious to think they didn't actually implement an automatic check for this thing they're trying to enforce

anyway this was v interesting to me in part because of how Differently they handle these things compared to youtube's norm, and also bc i haven't dealt with dailymotion in a verrryyyy long time, and at that time it was significantly more comparable to youtube in terms of popularity & usage.

i just found that dailymotion is actually still the second most used video hosting platform in the world, and is probably only seen as "small" due to the first place (youtube) harboring nearly 50 times more monthly traffic than dailymotion. hmmmm