#drake watches netflix last airbender

[tobiasdrake]

*deep breath* Okay. Here we go.

I don't think the Netflix Avatar show likes women very much. It's a great show for fans of Aang, Sokka, Zuko, and Iroh specifically. All four of those characters get a ton of great material. In fact, it's super great for Sokka stans, because the show takes him ultra-seriously and can't go five minutes without one character or another (usually a woman) praising him.

But the way it handles its female cast is troublesome.

Katara

So, all three of the main trio got some changes made to their stories. They changed Aang's story so that he wasn't running away from his responsibilities; He was just clearing his head and somehow accidentallied himself into a tsunami. Whoopsy-dooodle. Aang did nothing wrong.

They changed Sokka's story so that him being a leader of his people and a great guardian warrior is treated with complete seriousness. Multiple times, characters stop to talk about how brave and noble Sokka is for taking on such an intense responsibility, and tell him to his face what a great warrior and a wonderful leader he is. Also his misogyny is erased.

And they changed Katara's story so that she directly got her mom killed because she sucks at waterbending.

Katara tries to waterbend to attack the Fire Nation soldier but couldn't manage it, provoking the soldier to start actively searching for her and forcing her mom to fake a waterbending attack and draw his fire. They changed Katara's story so that her bad decision making fucking got her mom killed.

This is treated with the same level of severity as "Sokka was bullied by mean kids and also his dad doesn't think he's good enough to be a leader."

"I hoped Sokka would do better but not everyone is meant to have people's lives in their hands," Sokka's dad says of him.

Yeah, you're right, that's totally comparable to watching your mom get barbecued because you tried to waterbend in a situation you shouldn't have and then failed.

In fact, they give Sokka's greatest trauma more weight because it gets examined again with Yue next episode, while Katara actively getting her mom killed isn't brought up again at all. We get traumatized glimpses of it throughout the season leading up to the reveal, but after this scene in episode 5, it never comes up again.

But to be fair, Katara was a child. An event this significant would surely have motivated her, driving her to become the great waterbender she is now, right?

No! Katara sucks at waterbending and needs men who aren't even waterbenders to teach her how to waterbend. She requires instruction from Aang in episode 1 to learn how to waterbend, then from Jet in episode 3 to learn how to waterbend better.

And unlike the show, her relationship with Aang isn't a give-and-take; Katara doesn't teach Aang a single goddamn thing. He never learns to waterbend. She is a strictly a pupil throughout the whole season. Though she at least gets officially labeled a master in episode 8, so there's that.

In any case, the whole traumatic memory thing isn't even the only time she's directly compared with Sokka. Episodes 3 and 4 see Katara and Sokka bicker over whose morally dubious side character is better. Sokka likes the Mechanist and Katara likes Jet.

Ultimately, Katara is forced to eat crow when Jet turns out to be the worst, while Sokka is vindicated when the Mechanist sees the error of his ways and reforms. But not before two separate arguments where Sokka calls Katara childish and accuses her of acting like a little girl.

Arguments ultimately resolved when Katara apologizes to Sokka for not adequately respecting his very serious and ultra important role as village protector and leader. Gives him a whole speech about how great and glorious he is. And Sokka... appreciates Katara learning to respect him properly, I guess, because he never offers any similar sentiments back to her.

The show just... They need you to know how important Sokka is, okay? It's very important that you respect Sokka.

Suki

Suki suffers tremendously from that whole "Sokka's misogyny was removed" thing. Y'know, because they need something else to do with that episode. The show is deeply aware that Suki is Sokka's love interest, so they just do that right off the bat. Suki falls madly in love with him from the moment they meet, and spends the entire episode making goo-goo eyes and trying to get him to Notice Me Senpai.

They still do the "Suki Trains Sokka" stuff. But Sokka is a serious, dignified manly man worthy of the deepest respect now, so of course they don't make him wear the Kyoshi uniform. Instead, the main purpose of his training is to allow them to flirt some more. It's less martial arts training and more an excuse to grope each other and near-kiss.

Suki's just a waifu now. She still fights real good, but all of the stuff that made her relationship with Sokka interesting has been erased.

Yue

Yue, similarly, leaps straight to shipping from the word go. They write out her fiance, Hahn, by having Yue briefly meet Sokka earlier in the season. She spends one minute talking to him in the Spirit World about Spirit World lore; In that time, she falls so desperately, madly, unfathomably in love with him that she breaks off her marriage to Hahn and devotes herself to waiting for him to one day come to her.

"Never have I known such joys as that time you let me explain the spirit bear Hei Bei to you. Truly, we are destined to be together for life."

Like with Suki, they go out of their way to have Yue and Sokka already be a ship from the word 'go' so they don't have to spend time developing any kind of meaningful attraction.

They just. They really want you to know that Sokka is the manliest and most desirable man ever to walk this earth. It is very important that you understand how great he is. Women hurl themselves into his arms with zero effort whatsoever, because he's just so goddamn irresistible.

Fortunately, Hahn is super okay with this turn of events. He's the most chill guy ever, he gets along perfectly well with Sokka, and he completely supports Yue's right to dump him! In the famously misogynistic Northern Water Tribe, no less! What a swell guy. Aren't men swell?

June

June gets hit with that "rewritten as hollow waifu" stick too, but her eyes are set on Iroh. They rewrote June to be super attracted and flirty towards the man who was her unwanted sexual harasser in the source material. So that's fun.

Also, she barely does anything. Zuko hires her to find Aang, she succeeds, and then she fucks right off out of the show - But she manages to find time to express how unbelievably sexy Iroh is twice during that time.

She seriously just dropped into the show to flirt with Iroh and leave. She is unbelievably inconsequential.

Kyoshi

And then there's Kyoshi. They really want you to hate Kyoshi. She's constantly shot from below, as if looking down on Aang and the audience. Her voice takes on a demonic echoing reverb at one point as she's screaming at Aang that "THE AVATAR MUST BE A MERCILESS WARRIOR!!!"

She despises Aang, calling him a coward for running away from his responsibilities - Which, I remind you, is no longer a plot point because they unwrote that flaw from his character. So she's just a complete and utter asshole, shot from the asshole angle, yelling violently at him with asshole sound effects. They want you to despise this woman.

Azula

Awkwardly, they do not seem to want you to despise Azula.

There's a lot to be said for how Ozai treats Azula in the original show. The way the favoritism he shows her is every bit as cruel and manipulative as the unfavoritism that he shows Zuko. Ozai does not love Azula. He loves the reflection of himself he sees in her eyes, and his encouragement urges her to polish herself to ensure his reflection always shines through.

This is not that. The show instead erases the favoritism entirely. Ozai doesn't really care one way or another about either of his kids. He plays them against each other, bragging openly to Azula about how great Zuko is and unpleasably writing Azula off as weak and useless.

They've rewritten the dynamic between abusive father and his two abused kids in order to take Azula's pride away. Reimagining her from a gifted prodigy who excels at imitating the toxic behaviors of a father who doesn't truly care for her, to a put-upon overachiever tearing herself in knots to live up to the standards of her unpleasable father.

This results in a truly wild portrayal of Azula as insecure and jealous of Ozai's seemingly love for Zuko. Here, she is simply a browbeaten child constantly complaining to her friends about how mean her father is and conspiring to get one up over Daddy's Golden Child Zuko.

Which she fails at, because she backs Zhao. Zuko deftly defeats her without even realizing they're in competition.

Conclusion

The season ends well for some of these women. It ends promising that maybe we'll see Katara teaching Aang some day. It ends with Zhao bragging that Ozai just used Zuko to train Azula so maybe we'll see the more confident and misguidedly proud Azula some day. Yue becomes the moon like she's supposed to. June's still out there so maybe she'll get to do something again some day.

Katara gets to fight Pakku and lose, but she looks pretty cool. She gets to fight Zuko and lose, but she looks pretty cool. Azula learns to lightningbend because she's just so mad about Ozai's contempt for her and favoritism for Zuko, which isn't how you lightningbend.

But promises of future content fall flat when the content that exists is so underwhelming. This season made its feelings on these characters pretty evident, and it's unwise to expect better material from creators who've disappointed you with the material they already made.

The women of Netflix Avatar simply do not get to shine, outside of superficial moments like the "Women of Northern Water Tribe demand the right to fight and then fuck off and don't do anything for the entire rest of the episode" bit.

"In the midst of battle, we demand that you stop being sexist and give us permission to fight! This is a way better idea than convincing you to teach us to fight before the battle begins."

The characters of this show feel as if they've been reimagined to glorify the boys at the expense of the girls. The boys are treated with a great amount of care. They're dignified and made important movers of the plot, with their rough edges sanded off. While the girls are molded around them.

[shhhhsh]

About Tim’s New Story….

I just really hope they address Tim’s mental health. Like, DC just been ditching really good plot lines in favor of being “woke” or pandering. Just look at all the live action shows.

Now I’m not saying they can’t make Tim queer/bi/gay, but (as someone pointed out to me) Tim’s previous story writer was bi and he still chose to write Tim as straight & in a healthy romantic relationship with Stephanie Brown. I’ve seen several people who identify as queer/bi say that to have Tim go “ ooooh I’ve fooled myself into thinking I was straight, but now I’m freeeee” sends the message that Tim’s previous relationship failed b/c he was with a woman and not because of Tim’s poor mental and emotional health.

To go back to my previous statement; by him not writing Tim as bi tells me that he didn’t want or care for Tim to be bi, but instead saw Tim as, or preferred him to be, straight. The writer had free control to write Tim how ever he wanted and yet he chose to keep Tim straight. And he actually liked & wanted Tim/Steph. Again, I’m not saying Tim can’t be queer/bi, I’m just saying I find the motivations for this possible change very fishy. Almost as if the new writer is trying to get brownie points for pandering to a portion of the fans.

I think this way b/c in every other media where a character is revealed to be LGBTQ they just did it. They didn’t beat around the bush or do any queer coding/baiting. They either announced it, just made the character that way right out the gate, or just dropped the bomb w/out warning (as seen in Netflix’s Voltron, Amazon Prime’s Invincible, and Nickelodeon’s Legend of Korra respectfully).

DC currently has a bad habit changing things to be “woke” and bragging about it or shoving it in our faces. DC is becoming the “pick me girl” of superhero media. If you want to do it, just do it. Again I just get the “look at me, look at me” & “carrot on the stick” vibes from them now. If you truly feel in your heart to do something you would just do it without the need for recognition or to be so dramatic about it.

Now what I much rather see & think it’s a natural progression for Tim:

I personally believe that if Jason, Dick, & Damian can get a story that attempts to give them character development beyond romantic relationships (romance was more of a B-plot to the character driven A-plot anyway) I think they can give it to Tim as well.

I know that the Bat-Family all struggle with some form of mental health problems (most commonly paranoia and PTSD). However, I would like to point out that trauma is was what brought the others into the vigilante lifestyle, while Tim & Barbara became traumatized because of the vigilante lifestyle. Yet, Barbara was shown overcoming her trauma and using it as motivation to get better. Tim is yet to have this moment.

We all know that Tim struggles with depression, self-esteem, and suicidal tendencies. I mean heck, him becoming Red Robin only happens because of Tim’s degrading mental health. I hate to say it, but Tim is very psychologically broken and has been show to get so depressed that he can’t even get out of bed some times. To my knowledge, Tim is the only one in the Bat-Fam that struggles in his head with the idea of not being needed, useful, or forgotten when in reality that is furthest from the truth (Steph, Jason, & Damian also feel like the black sheep periodically, but that is because they have been presented with real evidence that would lead them to logically believe this. I.e being actually forgotten or dismissed for past mistakes despite great efforts to better themselves).

While yes, Dick did Tim dirty by replacing him without having a proper conversation first, the motivation was because he saw Tim as his equal and not Damian. He thought highly of Tim, but Tim couldn’t see that over his offense. Tim is so beat down by life that he see’s everything with negative lenses. Everyone came to check on Tim’s mental health but Tim took it as an insult instead.

And even though now Tim has reached some form of “peace” in his life, that only happens because the people he lost came back (Bruce, Conner, Bart, Cassie, etc). Tim never fully learned to handle grief, to handle his emotions, instead he represses them. Again in the Red Robin run, the main reason he doesn’t believe in any form of God is because he can’t logically justify the pain he has gone through. He is hurting and doesn’t know how to deal with that. In his original Robin run, when he tried talking someone out of committing suicide……the words and comfort he gave….that wasn’t something that was just inside Tim, this is something that was told to Tim. This is followed by him calling Dick to get the same pep-talk he just regurgitated to someone else.

In short: Tim is hurting. Deeply. And having been someone who’s emotional & mental sanity was pushed to the brink and attempted to jump off several times, I think it’s really sad that DC just ignores it. Now as someone who’s gotten the help they needed & now helps other people who struggle with the same issues as myself & Tim, I think that they’re going to say a lot of Tim’s problems come from him not being “aware” of his own sexuality, which is just sad.

In the story in question, Barbara talks about Tim not having a solid identity. People are more than their sexuality. People are capable of making future decisions for themselves without it hindering on their sexuality. If Tim was real, I would brake down his struggle as so:

Tim refuses to go to college and do something more with his life because he cannot see anything beyond his current circumstance. And the only reason why Tim cannot see anything beyond his circumstance is because he has no internal sense of purpose, identity, and acceptance beyond the cape & cowl. And when Tim finally found that in being Robin, Tim held onto it as a lifeline. There’s a reason why everyone says Tim is basically Bruce 2.0: it’s because he is Robin/Red Robin/Drake & Tim is the mask. At a young age, he did not grow up having these things instilled into him due to his parents neglecting him at a very important age in his development. Tim raised himself, and for a lack of better terms; an idiot cannot teach themselves to be smarter, an idiot becomes smarter by learning from the intelligent. A child can’t teach themselves to be an adult, they have to learn from others to grow & better themselves.

Now a parent doesn’t necessarily have to sit down and give a lesson about how to be an individual, but children learn how to live life by watching their parents. A good example of this is the rest of the Bat-Fam; they all grew up with some form of parental figures that taught them how to behave (for better or worse). Of course children have their own personalities, which is why two kids can go through the same type of trauma but come out differently, but it is a battle of nature vs nurture. Steph, Jason, Cass, & Damian grew up in abusive/unstable homes, while Dick, Barbara, & Bruce grew up in loving homes, but their personalities & character dictated how they responded to trauma. They took what life gave them and decided what to leave or take.

Tim had nothing to work with & is basically playing catch-up with the rest of his peers.

In a weird sense, Tim is like Zuko from The Last Airbender: only living to serve their father’s purpose. Anything outside of that they don’t know what to do. They’ve been trained to be something externally without been given a chance to figure out who they are internally.

Again you are not your sexuality, your sexuality does not determine who you are as a person. When a person struggles through life, it is due to the conditions of thier soul. Everything starts internally and shows it’s self externally.

I want to make that very clear because I am truly scared that in DC’s attempt to claim “clout” they are missing the bigger picture. Tim doesn’t have identity problems simply because he “doesn’t know” he likes boys, but because DC never gave him is own identity to begin with. Robin was never his own identity, Red Robin was never his, & Drake was his first attempt to make his own but he quickly gave it up so that he can be Robin once again. What is Tim going to do once Damian gets back? Is Damian going to get his own identity before Tim? Or is Tim just going to go back to one of his old identities?

I would like for Tim to personally move on from being a vigilante and rejoin civilian society for a while. Go to college, do something for himself and only for himself. Give Tim the self-discovery story, let him heal, and grown to be his own person. Besides you can never have a functional romantic relationship if you are not a functional individual. Self love > romantic love.

[gotmilk5101520]

Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia Watch Episode 15 Mudslinging

“The term "mudslinging" means to direct unjust insults and accusations with the intention of damaging the reputation of an opponent” Ah, so it’s what Donald Trump does everyday.

Hey, isn’t this the place in the opening where Jim and the others were standing and posing all badass and Claire jumps on that crystal like she’s Super Mario? Or like she jumped J- Never mind.

“Gunmar the Vicious”

“Gunmar the Skullcrusher”

“Gunmar!” Couldn’t they make a silhouette of Gunmar instead of showing part of his face?”

“Ow!” Bedhead Jim.

Mood.

“Give me an A!’ “A!”

“Give me an R!” “R!”

“Give me a C!” “C!”

“This is taking way too long”

“Give me an adia!” “Eh”

“What’s that spell?”

That spells Arc-adia.

“And his eye is glowing”

“And then, the dream just keeps reminding me that i’m completely way out of my league”

“Right?”

“Tobes”

“Who is that masked mole? You ever wonder?”

“You didn’t hear a word i said just then, did you?”

“Sure, i did”

“You had no problems sneaking into the Darklands when it was to save Claire’s brother, but now that Kanjigar says you’ve got to face Gunmar, you’re having nightmares about him and are freaking out that’ you’re way out of your league”

“I can multi-task, Jimbo” I can multi-task too. I can multi-task between ships.

“It’s Bill Erinstein“

“Bill moved to Wisconsin. This is someone else’s artistry”

“Someone with feminine wiles”

“What? What feminine wiles?”

“How do you even know that it’s a girl under there?”

“Uh, trust me, dude. I know woman, and that is all woman under there”

Toby is a furry confirm.

Get someone, who would look lovingly at you from across the stands like they’re Marinette and Adrien, like how Jim and Claire look lovingly at each other from across the stands like they’re Marinette and Adrien.

“Eli Pepperjack!”

“I have friends!” “No you don’t!” Then why is he a nominee if doesn’t have friends?

“Now that the play’s over, you can focus on your training full time”

“And finally, Jim Lake Junior!”

“What?” Because we need to replace the Romeo and Juliet sub plot with something to make everything harder for you.

“Our nominees will compete in a series of challenges to win your vote”

“Each nominee will propose a theme for the dance”

“I like disco!”

“I’ve got to boogie!”

“That is all” And no one did disco.

“Besides, there’s no way to kill Gunmar”

“He’s invincible”

“No, he’s not!”

“So far as we know”

“What do you know?” Okay, Mulan’s Ghost Family.

“Jim”

“Did you see my father?”

“I did”

“Did he speak of me?”

“Yeah. He wished the Soothscryer could let you in”

“But, you know, the rules are the rules”

“It’s all right, Trollhunter”

“You don’t have to lie to protect my feelings” *Cries in Troll*

“How long’s he been like this?”

“Long time”

“Maybe you should switch to decaf” Can trolls drink coffee, and like it, like ghouls in Tokyo Ghoul?

“This is the last surviving copy of his work!”

“This is the key!”

“And i’m going to burn”

*Gasp in Troll*

“Burn, baby, burn!” Yep, Blinky is the crazy one.

It was too quiet.

“This village....”

“It’s called Arcadia Oaks” “It’s on fire?” Well, it is in California.

“In this town, there is a boy”

“And this boy fancies a girl”

“A girl whose brother is being held in the Darklands”

“If the boy saves the child from the changeling nursery, he’ll want to save them all”

“And it’s my job to watch over my half-breed brethren and not let that happen” And said half-breed brethren don’t care and payed the price for not caring.

“But how could a fleshbag even contemplate such a feat?”

“This boy is the Trollhunter”

“It’s a long story. Just watch the first 13 episodes to be caught up”

“You’re afraid of a fleshbag child”

“I am not. He just shows up in my dreams as of late. Then again, his mother also shows up in my dreams too. Which is when he shows up”

“I have my own fears” “Like what?” “I fear a girl taking my staff” “Why would you be afraid of a girl taking your staff? What could she do with it? And why a girl?”

“I’m back, bitches”

“Mom, could you-?”

“Claire, could you change your baby brother’s diaper, please?”

“He’s not a baby”

“And he’s not my brother” Claire’s just about this close to tossing his ass out the window.

“This isn’t fair”

“It’s no day at the beach for me either, love bug”

“I can’t believe i have to pretend you’re my brother”

“It’s... It’s cruel”

“What’s this? Don’t... Don’t do that, seriously. Please don’t cry”

“Forget the jo-jos. Just a plain burger”

“Enrique...”

“I get it. You miss your brother”

“But i assure you, he’s perfectly fine”

“He’s trapped in the Darklands”

”How can that be fine?”

“I’ll show ya”

That’s gross. And Claire’s seen The Last Airbender and Dragon Ball Evolution and Netflix’s Winx Club and every live action remakes of Disney movies.

“Your brother is what’s known as my familiar”

“Changelings share a certain bond with them. It’s good for this little trick”

“Enrique...”

“Mi hermanito”

“I suppose this arrangement has been rather hard on you”

“I’m going to get you back”

“I’m going to find you”

“And i’ll bring you home”

*Cries in Troll again*

“Ah, Mr. Strickler” Wait, isn’t that- Oh, no.

“I hear Coach Lawrence was having a tizzy of a time teaching my class”

“Your class? Look, you can’t just drop off the face of the Earth and expect your job back”

“Actually, it’s not my job i’m here for”

“What is this?”

“WH- AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!’ So, what happens when someone gets caught by the Antramonstrum? Is it messy?

“And now, for my next trick...”

“The vanishing sock!”

“Mm! Tasty trick” It disappeared in Aaarrrgghh’s mouth.

“Hey, Mom. I’m home”

“Where have you been?”

“Just studying at the library with Claire and Tobes”

“The library closed three hours ago. Where have you been?”

“I don’t know, Mom. We took the long way home”

“I have been worried sick, and that’s the best lie you can come up with?”

“Okay, sorry! Call off the search parties!”

“I’m obviously home!”

This part is really sad and painful to watch. And the fact we don’t go in the house to see, but instead, watch from the outside and see through the windows. That’s why there were scenes with Claire and NotEnrique, and with Toby and Aaarrrgghh. It showed how Toby and Aaarrrgghh are having fun with magic trick. While Claire and NotEnrique are starting to bond for real. But here? Jim and his mom? It shows how they are being torn apart cause of Jim’s secret.

“Jim, this is what you’re wearing?”

“I wear this every day, Tobes. What else would i be wearing?” See? Jim understands he’s in a cartoon, so he has to wear the same thing everyday.

Wait you can that with the Shadow Staff? Damn Claire, you’ve been holding back.

“Where am i supposed to find a costume?”

“And what am i suppose to be?”

“Ladybug? Chat Noir?”

“Why do i care about this so much?” Mood.

“Let’s take a blast to the past!”

“Back to ancient times!”

“The 1980s!” Just forget Ronald Reagan exists.

“Okay, if you’re gonna play dirty-” Good one Jimbo.

Goal!

“Oh, no! The costume!”

Oooh. Right in the mud.

“Okay, this is gonna work”

“Oh, my gosh! It worked!” Is Toby secretly a wizard that we don’t know about?

“Here to present his theme”

“Mole Mania!”

This is gonna be like that random girl from Drake and Josh that runs up to them giggling and runs off and Drake and Josh asks “Who is she?”

“There has been a sudden departure”

“I have heard word the Principal Levit has taken an indefinite leave of absence”

“We wish him well” Yeah. “Well” in a fart cloud’s stomach.

“But he sent an e-mail recommending an interim replacement”

“Which we all support”

“Please welcome Principal Strickler!”

“Yeah! Whoo-hoo!”

“What is he doing here?”

“I thought you said he would be a fool to ever come back”

“I’m very glad to be back and excited to get started”

“But let it be known”

“With me in charge, things are going to change. From here on out, teachers can date a students parent. So long as the parent is single” “Why that son of a-” “Steve! I’m going to be your new father!” “NO!”

This episode was done dirty! Right i’ll show myself out.

Roaming Fees are the results of capitalism.

[helpingyouloveyourself]

Using Shows to Get Through the Day

I am one of those people that cannot be left with their thoughts too long because no matter what, my thoughts will devolve into something self-deprecating. The goal here is to just get through those days where you feel like you can’t survive. You can and you will, and you will thank yourself for being courageous and carrying on through the storm when you get through it. I know it seems impossible, but you can do this. So; what I do is I usually leave my Hulu/Netflix/Youtube on with something pleasant. Here are some of my top picks:

Comedians Comedians are good for making you at least smile. There are a lot of bad comedians, but also a lot of good comedians. You’d be surprised at the effectiveness a good comedian can have on a down trodden soul.

Here is my personal favorites list: 1. John Mulaney

2. Gabriel Iglesias (Fluffy)  

3. Jim Gaffigan

4. Beth Stelling

5. Trevor Noah 

6.  Iliza Shlesinger

7. Tig Notaro

8. Jim Jefferies (Disclaimer: Not all of his stuff is funny, but the funny stuff is worth it in my opinion)

9. Jeff Dunham (Personally not a fan, but he makes a lot of people happy)

TV Series

Sometimes, in order to keep my head from running my anxiety “tape recorder”, I just leave TV shows running and.binge while you function. Also a good way to catch up on those series you’ve been meaning to watch.

Here are some wholesome/light hearted shows:

1. Friends

2. Family Guy, American Dad, Cleveland Show

3. Brooklynn-Nine-Nine

4. Scrubs

5. Parks and Rec

6. Whose Line is it Anyways

7. One Punch Man

8. Drake and Josh

9. The IT Crowd

10. Reba

11. Bob Ross

12. Nailed It!

13. Worst Cooks in America

14. The Office (Am currently watching, hated the first season, but it got better)

15. Avatar the Last Airbender

Vines

Vines have gotten me through some of the worst days I have had in years. Just hop on Youtube and look up vine compilations. They help. They are a way of absorbing your attention span if you just need to not think for awhile in order to calm down. 

Youtube

If you can’t afford Netflix and Hulu and still would like to try this approach, here are some things available on Youtube.

1. Markiplier game play throughs

2. Vines

3. Whose Line is it Anyways Clips 

4. Bob Ross

5. Firebringer

6. Hamilton - full musical (not the best quality, but still the play and its a good one)

7. The Book of Mormon - full musical (also not the best quality, but again worth the watch

Good luck my friend, and keep surviving. Each day you make it through is another day you are closer to getting through your storm, and as always, message me anytime.

[didhs-random-things]

Tagged by @wasting-time-again you know me already lololol  xDDD @mariogolmez, wanna do it again?  :D  Relationship Status: forever alone

Favourite Colour :all shades of blue, green and peach

Lipstick or Chapstick: let’s say chapstick

Last song I listened to:  Led Zeppelin - Immigrant song because of Thor

Last Movie watched: currently The punisher /netflix

Top 3 shows: Avatar: The last airbender, White collar, 10th kingdom

Top 3 bands: Eluveititie, Imagine dragons, Fleetwood mac Top 3 characters: Nathan Drake, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Nikolai Lanstov (Grishaverse) @aonoanimeniac

[dontdowhatisayandnobodygetshurt]

I was tagged by @connerkennt!!! Thank you so much angel!!!! 🌷🌷🌷

favorite colors: The happiest yellow colour you can find and pour into my depressed soul and navy blue.

last song listened to: Every Breath You Take, I’ve had it stuck in my head all morning and idk whether I should be worried?? XD

favorite song: Right now it’s either the mashup I found of Thunder and Sunflower, or Gengis Khan because it’s a bop but the lyrics remind me of Mars lmao

favorite musician/singer: Probably Mystery Skulls atm!!

last film watched: Klaus. (ALSO WHEN WAS SOMEBODY GONNA TELL ME HOMECOMING AND SHAZAM! ARE ON NETFLIX??????? AND A NEW JOHN MULANEY SPECIAL??)

last tv show watched: Avatar: The Last Airbender. I go through binges on Netflix then leave it alone for months oop.

favorite tv show: Sense8!! Always!! Feels like home.

favorite oc: I love all my OCs for different reasons but my favourite’s always June. They were the first one and they’re just so tiny and bitter and insufferable, I love them so much.

sweet, savory, or spicy: I like all of them but spicy stuff doesn’t agree with my stomach so I either don’t eat it or suffer a stomach ache for a few days. XD

sparkling water, coffee or tea: Tea tea tea tEa TEa TeA TEA if I could I would have a cup of tea in my hands all day every day babey

pets: 8. Ria (German Shepherd), Granger (whippet), Maude (tiny little weird-ass mutt), Haymitch (black chicken), Effie (pale brown chicken), Cinna (darker brown chicken), Peeta (drake), Katniss (duck).

I tag whoever wants to do this!! I’m sorry I’m terrible at tagging people but if I tag some people but not others I feel awful but I also don’t wanna tag everybody I know and make a huge list so if you wanna do this I tag you don’t you dARE scroll away punk!!

[jelzorz]

oh my gosh i got tagged in something! What a pleasant surprise, thanks @chiarosekuro

Relationship Status: I am in relationship and have been in one for almost 5 years now good god, how Joash puts up with me, we will never know

Favourite Colour: All blues are good blues except when it’s a New South Wales rugby team No one here gets that joke but whatever

Lipstick or Chapstick: I don’t really have a preference?

Last song I listened to: Born to Run - American Authors

Last movie I watched: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban so what if I’ve seen it a million times you’re not the boss of me

Top 3 Fictional Characters: WOW okay decision time. Prince Zuko from Avatar: the Last Airbender (No one does a redemption arc like Zuko does); Nathan Drake from Uncharted (Nate just gets me); and Riza Hawkeye (First of her name; aide to Colonel Roy Mustang; the one true queen of all she surveys. I wish there was a less dorky way to say how much I love Riza Hawkeye as a character but this is legit the best way to sum it up).

Top 3 Ships: Aruani (do not get me started), Hiccstrid (the one ship that doesn’t hurt me), and Royai (the one true ship - the ship I will ship 80 years from now with the same fervour)

Books I’m reading: LOL my entire life is scientific papers right now, but I am part way through  Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari, American Gods by Neil Gaiman, and Trollhunters by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus (also a fantastic series on Netflix)

I hear I’m supposed to tag people but I’m hella lazy so I guess I’m just gonna go for my default tags @annieleonhardt  @askladarmin @nakamatoo @lyssala @princesshowlett24601 (hope you’re okay over there with all the attacks and stuff Tegan!) and idk anyone else who wants to do it i guess

[ezekialmcadams]

2018 In Review

So, another year has passed.

ANYONE else felt this year just flew by like a rocket? I remember when I was a kid, my parents or other adults always spoke of the furious passage of time as an adult, but, HOLY FIRE ROASTED TROUTS!, it felt that I sneezed and I’m already at the end of the year. It didn’t help that this year was a garbage fire.

I was pretty disappointed in myself this year. I set some pretty lofty goals, and unfortunately, I fell short on every single one.

BOOKS

I only read SIX BOOKS out of my 100 book Challenge on Goodreads. Some might think this was a big undertaking but I’m a pretty voracious reader, and last year I exceeded my list reading sixty books. So excluding comics and graphic novels,

This is what I read

1)End of an Era by Robert J. Sawyer

2)A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline D’Engel

3)Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolfe

4)Twin Peaks: A Final Dossier by Mark Frost

5)The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

I had a few books that I’m still reading

Congo by Michael Crichton

Red Raptor by Robert T. Bakker

Sphere by Michael Crichton

The Serpent’s Secret by Sayantani DasGupta

Firebrand (Steeplejack Series) by A.J. Hartley

What Happened by Hilary Rodham Clinton

Aquaman: 75 Year Celebration by DC Comics

Green Arrow: 75 Year History by DC Comics

Ghostbusters: Ultimate Visual History by Daniel Wallace

I’m pretty disappointed in myself in not reading as much, but, honestly, I just didn’t have the energy this year. Every time I would start reading, my mind would wander with e5ith anxious thoughts or life stuff and I LOVE reading and don’t really want to sleepwalk through reading. I want to enjoy and be immersed into whatever reading, so instead I put the books down :(

Next year, I’ll hopefully do better.

TV

I had a very overwhelming list of TV series that I either wanted to watch for work, entertainment or just to keep up with Peak TV and pop culture.I planned to watch all of my unwatched series on Netflix, so I could write an article on the overwhelming dump of Netflix original content. I fell short. Here is a list of all the tv, from everything I was watching weekly, to the series I had started but haven’t finished, unwatched series, upcoming series I’m interested in and everything I finished.

  2018 in TV            

MONDAY

Manifest (Eight episodes left)

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee

Queen Sugar: Season 2 (Fourteen episodes left)

UnREAL: Season 4 (Nine episodes left)

THURSDAY

The Good Place: Season 3 (Three episodes left)

Murphy Brown: Season 11 (Three episodes left)

FRIDAY

SUNDAY

Escape at Dannemora (Three episodes left)

STARTED BUT HAVEN’T FINISHED

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (Seven episodes left)

Snowfall (Nine episodes left)

I’m Dying Up Here (Nine episodes left)

Top of the Lake: Season 2 (Five episodes left)

Anne with an E (Six episodes left)

This Is Us (Seventeen episodes left)

The Handmaid’s Tale (Nine episodes left)

The Mist: Season 1 (Nine episodes left)

Guerilla: Miniseries (Five episodes left)

Jamestown (Seven episodes left)

Ghosted (Eight episodes left)

The Mayor (Ten episodes left)

Alias Grace (Five episodes left)

Tin Star (Nine episodes left)

Hard Sun (Five episodes left)

Britannia (Eight episodes left)

The Deuce (Seven episodes left)

Everything Sucks (Nine episodes left)

Altered Carbon (Nine episodes left)

Dark (Nine episodes left)

Mosaic (Five episodes left)

Rise AKA Drama High (Nine episodes left)

The Crossing (Six episodes left)

The Looming Tower (Nine episodes left)

The Terror (Nine episodes left)

Into the Badlands (Two Seasons left)

Killing Eve (Seven episodes left)

Marco Polo (Seven episodes left)

White Famous (Nine episodes left)

Reverie (Five episodes left)

Sharp Objects (Six episodes left)

The Outpost (Nine episodes left)

Cloak and Dagger (Nine episodes left)

Who is America (Six episodes left)

Bobcat Goldthait’s Misfts and Monsters (Seven episodes left)

Sacred Lies (Two episodes left)

Strange Angel (Nine episodes left)

Succession (Nine episodes left)

Insatiable (Twelve episodes left)

Kidding (Nine episodes left)

$1 (Nine episodes left)

The Purge (Nine episodes left)

Jack Ryan (Nine episodes left)

The First (Seven episodes left)

Into The Dark (Eleven episodes left)

God Friended Me (Sixteen episodes left)

Tell Me A Story (Nine episodes left)

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (Ten episodes left)

The Kominsky Method (Six episodes left)

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Season 2 (Six episodes left)

Titans (Eleven episodes left)

Dirty John (Six episodes left)

NightFlyers (Nine episodes left)

Preacher: Season 3 (Nine episodes left)

In Search Of (2018) (Nine episodes left)

Absentia (Nine episodes left)

Yellowstone (Eight episodes left)

UNWATCHED TV SHOWS

Daredevil: Season 1 & 2 (Netflix)

Sense8 (Netflix)

Narcos (Netflix)

Love (Netflix)

Haters Back Off (Netflix)

The Crown (Netflix)

Ronja The Robber’s Daughter (Amazon)

GirlBOSS (Netflix)

Dear White People (Netflix)

The Keepers (Netflix)

Outcast: Season 2 (Cinemax)

Gypsy (Netflix)

Friends From College (Netflix)

Ozark (Netflix)

Mr. Mercedes (Audience)

Atypical (Netflix)

The Disappearance (CTV)

Mindhunter (Netflix)

Frankie Drake Mysteries (CBC)

Godless (Netflix)

The Indian Detective (CTV) - Nov 23 2017

Greenhouse Academy (Netflix)

Grace and Frankie: Season 4 (Netflix)

The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Season 4 Part 1 (Netflix)

Lost in Space (Netflix)

Stranger Things: Season 2 (Netflix)

Jessica Jones: Season 2 (Netflix)

The Rain (Netflix) - May 4 2018

Impulse (YouTube Premimum) - June 6 2018

The Hollow (Netflix) - June 8 2018

Treehouse Detectives  (Netflix) - June 8 2018

Two Sentence Horror Stories (Stage13) - Oct 2017

Queen Sugar: Season 3

The Dragon Prince (Netflix) - Sept 14 2018

Origin (YouTube Premium) - Nov 14 2018

Queen America (Facebook Watch) - Nov 21 2018

UPCOMING

Carnival Row (Amazon) - 2019

They Can’t Kill Us All (AMC)

Heist 88 (FX)

Blood and Treasure (CBS) - 2019

The Underground Railroad (Amazon)

Messiah (Netflix) - 2019

Kaos (Netflix)

Away - Mars Drama (Netflix)

Lovecraft Country (HBO) - 2019

Motherland (Freeform)

See (Apple)

Northern Rescue (CBC Gem/Netflix) - March 1 2019

Search Party: Season 3 - 2019

Are You Sleeping? (Apple)

NOS4A2 (AMC)

Another Life (Netflix)

Gen: LOCK (Rooster Teeth) - 2019

Diablo Animated Series (Netflix)

Avatar Last Airbender Live Action (Netflix)

The I-Land (Netflix)

October Faction (Netflix)

Warrior Nun (Netflix)

Hamelins (Netflix) - 2019

Sunshine Scouts (Netflix)  

The Passage (Fox)

Dark Cargo (YouTube Premium)

Barkskins (Nat Geo) - 2019

The Outsider (HBO) - 2019

Coroner (CBC) - Jan 6 2019

Cavendish (CBC) - Jan 8 2019

Unspeakable (Limited Series) (CBC) - Jan 9 2019

Deadly Class (SyFy) - Jan 16 2019

Black Monday (Showtime) - Jan 20 2019

Street Legal 2019 Revival (CBC) - March 4 2019

Diggstown (CBC) - March 6 2019

FINISHED

Ghost Wars: Season 1 - Finished Jan 7 2018

Van Helsing: Season 2 - Finished Jan 8 2018

Marvel’s Runaways: Season 1 - Finished Jan 9 2018

American Vandal: Season 1 - Finished Jan 24 2018

The Good Place: Season 2 - Finished Feb 1 2018

One Day at A Time: Season 1 - Finished Feb 10 2018

Star Trek: Discovery: Season 1 - Finished Feb 11 2018

One Day At A Time: Season 2 - Finished Feb 21 2018

SeaQuest DSV:Season 1 - Finished March 11 2018

Channel Zero: Butcher’s Block: Season 3 - Finished March 17 2018

Gargoyles: Season 1 - Finished March 30 2018

Max Headroom Pilot - April 3 2018

Prey Pilot - April 3 2018

Karen Sisco Pilot - April 4 2018

Wolf Lake Pilot - April 4 2018

The Magicians: Season 3 - Finished April 6 2018

Santa Clarita Diet: Season 2 - Finished April 24 2018

Black Lightning: Season 1 - Finished May 17 2018

Timeless; Season 2 - Finished May 19 2018

UnREAL: Season 3 - Finished May 19 2018

Superstition: Season 1 - Finished May 20 2018

Sien AKA The Deep: Season 1 - Finished May 23 2018

iZombie: Season 4 - Finished May 29 2018

The Americans: Season 6 - Finished May 31` 2019

Legion: Season 2 - Finished June 18 2018

Supergirl: Season 3 - Finished June 19 2018

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season 3 - Finished June 24 2018

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season 3 - Finished June 24 2018

Star Trek: Voyager: Season 3 - Finished June 24 2018

Westworld: Season 2 - Finished June 24 2017

The Expanse: Season 3 - Finished July 15 2018

Star Trek: The Next Generation:  Season 4 - Finished Aug 10 2018

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season 4 - Finished Aug 10 2018

Star Trek: Voyager: Season 4 - Finished Aug 10 2018

Clarissa Explains It All Pilot - Aug 12 2018

Orange Is The New Black: Season 6 - Finished Aug 26 2018

Big Mouth: Season 1 - Finished Aug 31 2018

Cobra Kai: Season 1 - Finished Sept 2 2018

The Path: Season 3 - Finished Sept 6 2018

Freakish: Season 2 - Finished Sept 8 2018

SMILF: Season 1 - Finished Sept 9 2018

Castle Rock: Season 1 - Finished Sept 13 2018

Barry: Season 1 - Finished Sept 20 2018

Lodge 49: Season 1 - Finished Sept 21 2018

American Vandal: Season 2 - Finished Sept 22 2018

13 Reasons Why: Season 1 - Finished Sept 26 2018

Wynonna Earp: Season 3 - Finished Sept 30 2018

13 Reasons Why: Season 2 - Finished Oct 5 2018

The Haunting of Hill House: Season 1 - Finished Oct 13 2018

Light As a Feather: Season 1 - Finished Oct 14 2018

A Discovery of Witches: Season 1 - Finished Nov 5 2018

YOU: Season 1 - Finished Nov 12 2018

Lore: Season 2 - Finished Nov 12 2018

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Season 1 - Finished Nov 23 2018

Castlevania: Season 2 - Finished Nov 28 2018

Doctor Who: Season 11 - Finished Dec 11 2018

Preacher: Season 2 - Finished Dec 15 2018

VIDEO GAMES

This year, I intended to play more videogames, and while I finished Firewatch, which turned out to be one of my favourite games of the last decade and a great first person adventure game to boot, I again, bought many games I never finished including Stardew Valley, The Adventures of Willy Beamish, Inherit the Earth, Lighthouse: The Dark Being and Bioshock.

Many other games including personal faves, Maniac Mansion, Grim Fandango, Curse of Monkey Island, Escape from Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge: Remastered Edition I bought but either haven’t had the time or interest to replay.

Others such as Shivers, Ecco The Dolphin, The Dagger of Amon Ra: A Laura Bow Mystery, and Broken Sword, I just didn’t have the energy to start.

I’m hoping next year to at least finish five games.

EZEKIEL CONFRONTS CHALLNGE

If you’ve been following me on social media, you know this year, I really want to dig down and confront fears or personal biases on things I deemed embarrassing or nerdy such as conventions, D&D, Magic:TG, WOW (World of Warcraft) and rewatching all of the Star Trek series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager, as well as watching series such as SeaQuest:DSV, Battlestar Galactica and Babylon 5 for the first time.

Ezekiel Watches Star Trek

I really ENJOYED rewatching Star Trek. It was such a big part of my early childhood watching TNG  with my parents and I LOVED DS9 and enjoyed Voyager, so getting to go back was such a delight and reignited my love for these series and made me want to proudly wear them as a source of pride rather then a blemish of embarrassment., I’m sad I wasn’t able to watch all seven series of each of the three series, but I’m halfway done  Season 5 on TNG, DS9 and Voyager that hopefully I can finish all series by the end of Jan 2019.

Ezekiel Watches SeaQuest, Battlestar and Babylon 5

I never watched SeaQuest DSV as a kid, despite my LOVE of the ocean and exploration, again due to embarrassment and wanting to be cool. I’ve watched the first season, there are three in total, and despite a few problematic areas *cough* poorly written female characters *cough* I really liked the potential of the series and a few of the characters.

With both Battlesar and Babylon 5, I only watched the Pilots of both series and while I enjoyed them, I didn’t have nearly enough a sample to know if I’ll enjoy them. Hoping to watch more of each as well as finish the last two seasons of SeaQuest next year.

Ezekiel Plays WOW

I’ve never played WOW (or had any interest). For a decade, my two younger siblings have tried to bully me into playing but it wasn’t until my friend, Kelly, started playing with her husband, that I wanted to share something that had become important to her. I don’t know I’d continue if Kelly stopped playing but so far I’m enjoying myself. I didn’t expect to enjoy (mainly it’s Kelly), she’s an EXCELLENT guide and is very good with going slow with me and teaching me about the world and its rules and not making me feel stupid or a burden.

PERSONAL GOALS

This year was my hard, my debut novel that was supposed to get published this past November, had an issue with my publisher and now its release is TBA, I feel like a failure, and my main priority of 2019 is getting the novel that I’ve worked on for five years PUBLISHED!

I wanted to lose twenty five pounds and start working out more to feel better, less sluggish and work on my mental health.. In this area, I succeeded, lost the weight I needed, and walked 3 km every day from May to late September. I need to work out more but I don’t feel as bad that didn’t happen.

I didn’t write as much as I wanted both for work and personal. I didn’t have as much published pieces as I’ve had in previous years. A lot of it was that my mental health was low throughout the year, and I had too many days off due to feeling depleted and exhausted .

I also didn’t work on the short stories much that I want to compile in a short story anthology that I want to self publish on Amazon and E Book. Again, I just need to push myself and write every day like I used to.

That being said, I’m really excited to go into the New Year and do better :)

BEST OF 2018

Two awesome things happened this year, I got my cat, Cheriden that was a rescue from my friend’s parent’s acreage, and he’s honestly the best part of my life right now. I had a cat, Sneaky, who was a tabby, when I was little but I’ve always wanted an animal that was a companion, that would come for snuggles and follow me around.  Cheriden was made for me, sometimes he’s too needy but he’s improved the quality of my life so much.

in 2005, I found a website, Isle of Coloden that was run by Kelly, who seemed just as weird as me and I admired her for her openness when blogging was such a new thing for me, I always thought she was a cool, and pathetic as it sounds, wanted to be her friend..  Last December, my ex, suggested I tell her how much she helped me through a difficult time in my life, when I had lost my girlfriend, I was initially reluctant but I did and Kelly and I started  chatting, she is now a co-host on my pod, Pop! Fishbowl, has helped me with WOW and I’m so glad to have such a caring, unique, opinionated person in my life.

For Christmas, she surprised me and bought me the first two seasons of Disney’s Gargoyles (Pretty much the complete series IGNORE Season 3!!!), which was such a delightful, thoughtful gift that came during a very tumultuous stressful week

and today I was again surprised to see I always made her best of 2018 list :) Shut up, I’m not smiling, YOU ARE! :) XD

TO 2019, AND BEYOND

Going into the New Year, I want to get my book published, figure out my two book deal so I get started on the next two that make up the trilogy, continue walking/working out both physically and mentally, finish my tv list, read at least 50 books and try to get short stories published in journals/magazines as well as play five video games.

In regards onto my website, Culture Gecko, I want to work on more local pieces in both Saskatoon and my other home, Vancouver. Interview local art7ist7s, business owners, report on news and current events. 

Fingers crossed, you guys!

[weirdmageddon]

maybe we can settle it with this....if you had these (or knew about them) during their prime and it was before your teenage years youre part of that sub-generation of gen z. in a gen z kid’s teenage years they will experience the subsequent sub-generation of gen z

if you dont remember 9/11 youre gen z. this includes not being old enough to remember or not being born yet. so gen z would start at the end of 1999

proto-gen z: gamecube/gba. pokemon games were rse, frlg, pmd rescue team. smash game was melee. big zelda game was wind waker. windows 98 – xp transition. i dont know enough about this generation’s culture beyond Fucking Original Spongebob and probably for music avril lavigne and green day. but this is where the “cryptid” 1995–1998 generation falls. the reason youre confused is because youre the true cusp of millenial and gen z. your early childhood was on the millenial side before gen z because you remember 9/11, but your preteen and teen years fell under early gen z. you can side with whichever you feel closer to

early gen z: wii/ds/dsi. pokemon games were dppt, hgss, bw, pmd explorers of t/d/s. smash game was brawl. big zelda game was twilight princess. flipnote studio and flipnote hatena culture. probably had a 3rd gen ipod touch that ran ios 3 or 4. windows xp – 7 transition. nick jr was noggin. shows were spongebob, invader zim, fairly odd parents, my life as a teenage robot, jimmy neutron, danny phantom, drake & josh, avatar the last airbender, flapjack, chowder, icarly, penguins of madagascar, regular show. hannah montana, high school musical, camp rock, glee. may have used vhs but mainly dvds. rented movies from blockbuster. listened to music on cd player or ipod. school trends were the cheese touch and hating justin beaver. on youtube (broadcast yourself), smosh, nigahiga and fred. classic era of youtube poops. had to watch anime in 3 parts. silly bandz collections. typically had some real-life friends and talked through pictochat in close range or over the landline house phone or flip phone from far away. american pop is owned by taylor swift, rihanna, 3oh!3, lady gaga, kanye west, flo rida, katy perry, beyonce, the black eyed peas, ke$ha

core gen z: 3ds/wii u. pokemon games were bw2, xy, oras, mystery dungeon gti and super. smash game was sm4sh. big zelda game was skyward sword. miiverse culture. probably had an iphone 5 or 6 that ran ios 8. windows 7 – 8/10 transition. cartoons were adventure time, the amazing world of gumball, gravity falls, rick and morty, steven universe, over the garden wall. watches movies & shows on netflix. probably heard of homestuck and tried to read it. frozen everywhere. school trends were gangnam style, harlem shake, twerking, and vine. the beginning of youtube gaming celebrities: pewdiepie, cryaotic, and markiplier, and the explosion of minecraft, fnaf, indie horror games, etc. angry birds and flappy bird apps. twitch.tv takes off. talked to friends through skype. american pop owned by macklemore, justin timberlake, bruno mars, ed sheeran, miley cyrus, the weekend, nicki minaj, ariana grande, iggy azalea

late gen z: switch. pokemon games include sm, usum, lets go, and the upcoming 2019 title. smash game is ultimate. big zelda game is breath of the wild. almost certainly has an iphone 8 or X than runs ios 12. the summer of pokemon go. a noticable recession in quality cartoons/kids shows. youtube driven into late stage capitalism and celebrity drama. civil unrest of unprecedented levels and absurd memes to cope. fastest memes in the west haw yee. school trends are dabbing, t-posing, fortnite dancing, megalovania, and tik tok. talks to friends through discord. american pop owned by drake, tøp, the chainsmokers, bts, dj khaled, cardi b, post malone, morally questionable soundcloud rappers with tattoos on their faces and clown hair

is this accurate? tell me what you think cause this took me a while. if this is the case then im early gen z

ppl say the cutoff for early gen z is 2001 and core gen z is usually starts at 2003-2004 so where does that leave me born in mid-2002?

there should be more qualitative measures to find this out rather than relying on years. like grouping gen z by what they grew up with or remember, and if still using years not having it be black/white fullstop. gen z is like no other generation in that technology evolved so fast it outsped the growth of human aging so theyre divided into sub-generations (early, core, and late)

[joseph-joestar-plz-twerk-4-me]

eyy i was tagged by @lancekoganee, @lovelylangst, and @fictionismynationality for the 92 truths thing so here it issss

LAST… [1] drink: dr pepper [2] phone call: uh well the last like 5 people to call me were spam numbers but the last i actually talked on was with my sister [3] text message: bff callie [4] song you listened to: just one yesterday by fall out boy [5] time you cried: a few hours ago when i remembered my characters name in the demi episode game that i played a year and a half ago was “whipe dat azz”

HAVE YOU EVER… [6] dated someone twice: unfortunately yes [7] been cheated on: no [8] kissed someone and regretted it: no [9] lost someone special: ?? im not sure bc there’s a lot of people who used to be special but the friendship either imploded or slowly died sooo [10] been depressed: no [11] gotten drunk and thrown up: no lol i am rather pure for my age lmao

LIST 3 FAVOURITE COLORS: [12] dark green [13] pastel pink [14] that blue that looks really good in velvet

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU… [15] made new friends: yeah! [16] fallen out of love: yes? im not sure if it was love to begin w sooo [17] laughed until you cried: bruh i did like 3 hours ago lol [18] found out someone was talking about you: yeah apparently im “famous” at best buy bc my coworker (who also works there) was telling his coworkers about shenanigans him and i get into  [19] met someone who changed you: yee [20] found out who your true friends are: yeah. ive cut out a lot of people but its for the better [21] kissed someone on your facebook list: not currently lol (my current bf isnt my friend on facebook lmao)

GENERAL… [22] how many of your facebook friends do you know in real life: most of them tbh, but i need to go through and clean out my friends list [23] do you have any pets: 3 cats and a doggo [24] do you want to change your name: nah but a nickname would be cool [25] what did you do for your last birthday: i didnt work  i saw Fantastic Beasts in the morn and had lunch w my bf, then hung out w my friends and had dinner w them and the fam, went home and played sims [26] what time did you wake up: 7-730ish am [27] what were you doing at midnight last night: coming home from work/starting precal hw [28] name something you cannot wait for: obviously voltron season 3 but i also want to jsut get thru the next few weeks bc work is going to be a   n i g h t m a r e  and i want my suffering to be over asap [29] when was the last time you saw your mother: 2 hours ago [30] what is one thing you wish you could change about your life: honestly i would go back in time and tell little middle school me to try out for region (bc i honestly believe if i had just had a year or two more expirience auditioning, then i wouldve made the all state choir) and then go to junior yr me and say “stop being an angry ho and   c a l m   d o w n   . i wish i could go back a year from today and tell myself that the management position is not worth it. to find another job while i can. (however, i use my job as motivation to do well in school: “do well, keep up my gpa, get my degree. i dont want to be at the movie theater forever”) [31] what are you listening to right now: my klance playlist (death of a bachelor is currently playing) [32] have you ever talked to a person named tom: ive talked to a tommy and someone whos last name is toms [33] something that is getting on your nerves: anything customer related/ “can an available manager come to the stand for an employee purchase” [34] most visited website: college homepage, math hw website, tumblr, gmail, netflix (recently made my friend watch voltron every MWF after out speech class lol) [35] elementary: my awkward acne/glasses/pre-braces/braces phase. also i wore training bras for 3 yrs bc i was so uncomfortable w my boobs that i couldnt tell my mom i needed an actual bra [36] high school: i can look at pictures and tell by my smile where i lost my childish innocence (halfway thru junior yr)  [37] college: community rn, but i plan on transfering to tamu and getting at least a bachelors in environmental science. i have to research into carriers to see if a masters/phd is worth it, but that is something im interested in [38] hair color: blonde when clean [39] long or short hair: the question of the century. i look good w a lob, but i also love braiding hair sooo [40] do you have a crush on someone: i mean i have a crush on my bf lance [41] what do you like about yourself: i guess im funny. i can sing the whole danny phantom theme song  [42] piercings: triples in each ear, helix and double forward helix in my right ear (planning on getting a faux snug in my left ear eventually. id like a nose ring, but work wont let me. i maybe want a belly button ring, if i decide to work out for it lol as if) [43]blood type: i dunno, but looking at it makes me queasy so [44] nickname: maycakers, big titty t, mak [45] relationship status: long term relationship (idk how many months now but its over 2 yrs so) [46] zodiac sign: scorpio [47] pronouns: she/her.  [48] fav tv show: voltron, avatar the last airbender (im laughing i typed “airbeder” at firs), the office, drake and josh [49] tattoos: never (ill stick w piercings) [50] right or left hand: right 

FIRST… [51] surgery: does having a wart dug out of my toe count [52] piercing: the standard single pair when i was 6 [53] best friend: aaliyah but once we got to middle school we didnt have classes together and i didnt see her much in highschool (i heard about her bc she broke a lot of sports records. shes gonna be an olympian in 2020 y’all. i can feel it) [54] sport: does drill team count [55] vacation: we went to the state capitol w my grandparents  [56] pair of trainers: wtf are trainers

RIGHT NOW… [57] eating: nothing bc my stomach is currently revolting [58] drinking: grape powerade [59] i’m about to: take a nap gd im tired [60] listening to: euphoria by loreen [61] waiting for: sleep to take me [62] want: my period back ache to stop [63] get married: i want to get married so bad i want to be super domestic and have a bb and that kid is gonna recycle EVERYTHING and i will love them [64] career: ecologist? environmental researcher? environmental biologist? agricultural reformer? idk i just want to do something w the environment 

WHICH IS BETTER… [65] hugs or kisses: hugs  [66] lips or eyes: eyes are pretty [67] shorter or taller: taller bc then ur head is in their chest when u hug. or u have to get on tippy toes to kiss. yes. [68] older or younger: older older older [70] nice arms or nice stomach: yknow stomaches are nice and all but u cant see them bc shirts. u can see arms tho ohmy [71] sensitive or loud: idk im loud so  [72] hook up or relationship: relationship ftw. hook ups sound...really gross to me (my ace ass cant fathom hookups lol) [73] troublemaker or hesitant: hesitant

HAVE YOU EVER… [74] kissed a stranger? ew no [75] drank hard liquor? the only thing ive ever drank ever is a shot of cherry sake (i spit that back out it was gross) and a shot of goldschlager (which cleared sinuses i didnt know i had and made me reaaaalllly giggly) [76] lost glasses/contact lenses? lmao all the time [77] turned someone down: yeah  [78] sex on first date? no [79] broken someone’s heart? yes  [80] had your own heart broken? not really? i felt sad both times i broke up w my ex but i knew it was for the best [81] been arrested? no but ive had someone threaten me w calling the cops [82] cried when someone died? my granny, cat, hamster [83] fallen for a friend? i mean my bf was my friend before we dated so i guess

DO YOU BELIEVE IN… [84] yourself? tbh i am super confident in my schoolwork and just... not at all at work [85] miracles? yeah but sometimes they fail me [86] love at first sight? no  [87] Santa Claus? rip [88] kiss on the first date? ehhh [89] angels? maybe

OTHER… [90] current best friend’s name: CALLIE [91] eye color: blue [92] favorite movie: oh fuq i love tangled and anastasia 

i dont know 20 people or whatever so imma tag @pierce-the-llama, @marcoandthebodts (you sent me one of these like 55245 years ago and i shall do it now lol), @connors-sweet-ass, and @justklance if y’all want to 

[mugiwara-lucy]

So what non manga/anime books/shows do you read/watch? I know Full House XD but anything else?

Hey, can’t go wrong with classic shows like Full House, ESPECIALLY with its sequel Fuller House XP

But I do watch other shows:

Non-Anime Live Action Shows: Zoey 101, Drake & Josh, Family Matters, Supernatural, Rizzoli & Isles, CSI Miami, Seinfield, Frasier,  Greek, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Unfabulous, The Amanda Show, Malcolm in the Middle, Gilmore Girls and its sequel series on Netflix, The Series of Unfortunate Events series on Netflix, Victorious, The Flash, Gotham, Boy Meets World, Girl Meets World, Saved by the Bell, The George Lopez Show and TONS of other shows, haha.

Non-Anime Animated Shows: Danny Phantom, Invader Zim, TMNT (ESPECIALLY the 2003 version since I grew up on that and I enjoy the 2012 version also), Kim Possible, Totally Spies Ben 10/Alien Force/Ultimate Alien/Omniverse, Jackie Chan Adventures, American Dragon Jake Long, Xiaolin Showndown, Fairly Oddparents (Before the newest stuff which isn’t as good as the old ones), Spongebob Squarepants (PRE-Movie cuz the post movie content isn’t as good as the old stuff XP Then again, the movie was intended to be the finale of the series), Code Lyoko, Steven Universe, Chowder, Misadventures of Flapjack, Justice League/Unlimited, Codename Kids Next Door, Batman Beyond, Samurai Jack (Which is coming back March 11th!), Ed Edd n Eddy, Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Looney Tunes ESPECIALLY Baby Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry (ALONG with them as kids), Scooby Doo/What’s New Scooby Doo/Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated/A Pup named Scooby Doo, Avatar the Last Airbender/Legend of Korra, Legos Ninjago, Regular Show, The Total Drama series, Megas XLR, Static Shock, Family Guy, The Simpsons, King of the Hill, My Little Pony: Friendship is magic, Dora the Explorer/Dora and Friends, Paw Patrol and MANY OTHERS XP

But yeah, it’s a lot as you can see XP

[tobiasdrake]

Azula was always an overachiever tying herself into knots trying to please her father & meet his impossible standards of perfection. That was always the implication of her situation, wasn't it? It wasn't shown outright because there were almost no scenes between Azula & Ozai. The live action just made it more explicit, which was apparently necessary because the fandom still seems to struggle with the idea Azula was even abused

The fandom does struggle with the idea Azula was abused. I agree with that. But the reason it struggles with it is because people have a hard time seeing favoritism as abusive to the favorite. Azula is the golden child. The apple of her father's eye. And people miss that this dynamic is as harmful to Azula as it is to Zuko.

Azula in the show was characterized as a prodigy - specifically, in the field of embodying Ozai's values and belief system, which is what he wants from his children. He doesn't care about them as people, but instead wants to mold them into reflections of himself - And he gets on well with Azula, because she goes out of her way to be that reflection.

Azula is a child seeking to emulate her father. Every toxic behavior she has is something she learned from watching Ozai. She domineers and controls the people she loves because that's how she learned to love from watching Ozai. She's pro-fascism and even pro-genocide because those are the values she learned from watching Ozai.

She is her father's dutiful daughter. A child clomping around in her father's shoes, committing atrocities to unify her family and earn those little dopamine hits of a thumbs-up from Daddy.

There's a lot of engaging subtleties to Azula's character, such as the way she gives Zuko the credit for killing Avatar so that her brother can come home, but also holds it over him because domineering and controlling people is how she's been taught to treat the people she cares about.

Or the way she opens up about feeling rejected and unloved by Ursa, but stops to snarkily self-deprecate in the middle. "My own mother thought I was a monster. She was right, of course, but it still hurt." This is a child who has so thoroughly emulated her father's fascistic belief system that she can't even allow herself to be vulnerable when expressing her vulnerabilities, and instead abuses herself as a defense mechanism.

Azula is the contrast to Zuko. Zuko demonstrates what fascistic parenting does to children who struggle to live up to their toxic values, while Azula demonstrates what it does to children who excel. But both of these kids are victims of abuse.

This is something the fandom has a hard time wrapping their heads around because it's something the cartoon had a hard time wrapping its head around. Because it contradicts what the cartoon wanted from Azula: A cool, charismatic and funny supervillain who does sinister things while delivering wicked lines. That was her principle role, and it's what much of the fandom wants from her.

The original cartoon was far from perfect, and one of its flaws is that it eagerly portrayed Zuko as a complex and nuanced figure but refused to treat Azula to the same level of care and sympathy. Zuko's trauma is thoroughly examined while Azula's is simply used as window dressing for villainy. In that regard, I don't disagree with the idea that she should be more fully explored in adaptation.

But this ain't it. Rewriting Azula to be victimized in the same way as Zuko isn't a more thorough exploration of her abuse. It overwrites her abuse with Zuko's abuse. Reimagining Azula as an abuse victim is, in and of itself, a failure to recognize that Azula was already an abuse victim.

Instead, what they accomplished with this change is taking her confidence away. Taking her pride away. Taking her exceptionalism away. And taking her own unique experiences with their mutually abusive father away.

They didn't make Azula's trauma more explicit. They erased it and replaced it with Zuko's.

[djetan9282]

You fuckers keep tagging me

And I am actually okay with it. Thanks @d-manaceattorney for sending me this.

Rules: tag nine people you want to get to know better

Relationship Status: Single as I’ve been in my whole damn life

Lipstick or Chapstick: Neither, I always hated feeling chapstick and I always hated lipstick on girls for the most part.

Last Song I listened to: Linkin Park’s New Divide - Call me cheesy, but a part of me ironically likes this song and thinks of it as one of the few good things in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I’m a sucker for Transformers, what can I say?

Movie I watched: Not sure what to really put in here, but I CAN say that I think the last movie I sat down and enjoyed was when I saw Batman Forever airing on HBO or something. I like the serious Batman portrayal like the next guy, but I figured a little cheese wouldn’t hurt. Missed the beginning, though, but I was there for most of it.

Three TV shows: Double dipping here, and not counting anime. For cartoons, Star Wars Rebels, Star vs the Forces of Evil, and Avatar: the Last Airbender. For Live-action, Daredevil (Netflix), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Drake and Josh. Though for most of these, I haven’t seen in a while, and in Daredevil’s and Agents’ case, I only saw one season. I enjoyed it, though.

Three characters: First coming to mind are Sora (MY SON), Aqua (MY QUEEN, I WANT TO MARRY HER) and Labrys (my robot girlfriend who deserves more love)

Ships: Not many ships, but I do support IraMako in KLK (nothing against RyuMako, just preferred IraMako more), and back in the day, I remember my vehemence against Zutara stemmed from my Kataang roots, back when the original Avatar aired on TV.

Tag: I surprisingly feel like I got a good few mutuals here. Which is good. Not sure who the fuck to tag though, but I will tag some of my good buddies: @nui-the-super-lesbian @soralink64 @marionettes-musings @a-dolphin-cubed @emilytheespeon @aragakiminako @soloremix @thatonedreameater @raritananon

Wait holy shit, I actually have 9 people tagged. Damn. Thank you all. If I didn’t tag you, feel free to participate too. Take care, doods.

[thatsnotcanonpodcasts]

Comets, He-Man & DayZ

Welcome back for another amazing episode from the Nerds, it is full of fun stuff, amazing science, and some crazy stuff. We hope as always that you enjoy it and perhaps by accident or intentionally learn something cool. I remember when I found out about chemistry, It was a long, long way from here, I was old enough to want it but younger than I wanted to be, Suddenly my mission was clear… All about chemistry. OK, I know that is the song Chemistry by Semisonic, but it relates to our first topic from Buck, which is all about chemistry and producing oxygen on Mars, Comets, and interplanetary space travel. That’s right we are one step closer to science fiction becoming reality once more. Honestly, where would the world be without science, science fiction, or Nerds to think up the impossible dreams? Although we must apologise for the zombie apocalypse resulting from the advancements in technology; otherwise known as reality television, social media, or just uncontrollable gaming. But, all that aside scientist have found a way to change carbon-dioxide (CO2) into beautiful oxygen (O2). That’s right, you heard us correctly, and it doesn’t involve a chemical scrubber like those currently used on submarines. No, this alters the very nature of the chemical bonds on a molecular level in a whole new way.

By the power of Greyskull, someone has the power. That’s right folks, He-Man is coming back to our screens in the near future it seems. DJ has brought us news that a new extension to the story of He-Man is in the works, he says it is an anime, but we aren’t sold. But it is exciting that it appears to not be a rebirth or re-imagining. But then again that is those weirdos over at Disney doing all the remakes, except for the unfortunate incident with She-Ra. Whoever is responsible for that fiasco is a greater villain than Skeletor and Hordak combined. Seriously, it was traumatic to see what had happened there. With the contentiousness of is it going to be able to claim the title of an anime aside, He-Man is looking promising.

Next we have the Professor bringing us news about the censorship of a few games in Australia and the impact that is having on the world. Now we normally don’t agree with a lot of the issues in censorship, or Material Ratings as they are referred to, but this time there is some merit. This topic is one in which the Nerds have a heated debate, and Buck really gets fired up, DJ gets angry and the Professor needs a whip and chair to keep them apart. So if you feel strongly about the topic of censorship this might be a poignant topic for you. We apologise if we offend anyone during this section (I know we don’t normally, but hey). Let us know what you think on the matter, is Buck an old fart that needs to be exhibited in a museum, is the DJ taking the matter too light, is it somewhere in between (like the Professor).

As always we have the games played this week, which is looking interesting. Also the weekly shout outs, remembrances, birthdays, and events of interest. As always stay safe, look out for each other and stay hydrated.

EPISODE NOTES:

Comet chemistry - https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/comet-inspires-chemistry-making-breathable-oxygen-mars

He-Man Anime - https://comicbook.com/anime/2019/08/19/he-man-anime-synopsis-kevin-smith-netflix/

DayZ Banned in Australia - https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/08/dayz-pc-ps4-xbox-one-banned-completely-australia/

Games currently playing

Buck

– Dungeons and Dragons - https://dnd.wizards.com/

Professor

- https://store.steampowered.com/app/861540/Dicey_Dungeons/

DJ – Mortal Kombat 11

- https://www.mortalkombat.com/

Other topics discussed

Chemistry – Semisonic

Published on Oct 7, 2009

Music video by Semisonic performing Chemistry. (C) 2001 Geffen Records

Category Music Song CHEMISTRY

Writers

Dan Wilson

Licensed to YouTube by

LatinAutor - Warner Chappell, PEDL, LatinAutor, ASCAP, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA - UBEM, Warner Chappell, LatinAutor - PeerMusic, and 5 Music Rights Societies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgCVR2pjXc0

Rihanna feat. Drake – Work (2016 song)

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL1UzIK-flA

Comet

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet

Total Recall (1990 film)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Recall_(1990_film)

Climate Change in China

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_in_China

Carbon Dioxide scrubber

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide_scrubber

Solar Impulse (Swiss long-range experimental solar-powered aircraft project)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Impulse

Canadian company sells bottled air to China

- https://edition.cnn.com/2015/12/15/asia/china-canadian-company-selling-clean-air/index.html

Most expensive bottle of water

- https://alvinology.com/2008/04/15/worlds-most-expensive-bottled-water/

Oxygen bars

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_bar

He-Man – What’s Up

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjVugzSR7HA

More details about He-Man

- https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/kevin-smith-creating-new-he-man-animated-series/

- https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/08/18/masters-of-the-universe-revelation-kevin-smith-netflix-to-continue-original-animated-series/

Western Anime TV shows

- Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005 series) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar:_The_Last_Airbender

- Teen Titans (2003 series) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teen_Titans_(TV_series)

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018 series)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She-Ra_and_the_Princesses_of_Power

Comparison of She-Ra in the 1985 series and her 2018 redesign

- https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1c/She-Ra_comparison.png

- https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5qOlZ2u2Duk/W_IqVYCvmpI/AAAAAAADlPQ/eYUrEFWP1vcr0ljMgVFsJZ-sLeASo2GDwCLcBGAs/s1600/shera-shera.jpg

Netflix fires Kids & Family Executives

- https://deadline.com/2019/08/netflix-layoffs-executives-kids-family-1202687407/

Netflix market value drops

- https://www.forbes.com/sites/noahkirsch/2019/07/24/as-growth-slows-netflix-market-value-drops-26-billion-in-a-week/

Acorn TV (American subscription streaming service)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_TV

- https://acorn.tv/

Reasons why Netflix are cancelling its original programs

- https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/08/20/4-reasons-netflix-cancels-its-original-programs.aspx

Game of Thrones creator: End of Game of Thrones on TV was a liberation

- https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/aug/17/george-rr-martin-game-thrones-writer-end-of-show-was-liberation

Game of thrones book ending will be different to the show ending – Geroge R Martin

- https://people.com/tv/george-rr-martin-game-of-thrones-books-end-differently-show/

Anime reboots to TV series

- Ghost in the Shell : Stand Along Complex (2002 series) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_in_the_Shell:_Stand_Alone_Complex

- Appleseed - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appleseed_(manga)#Anime

Samurai Jack (2001 TV Series)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai_Jack

Fallout 3 (2008 game)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallout_3

Joy Pill (We Happy Few game item)

- https://we-happy-few.fandom.com/wiki/Joy

Lisa Simpson taking happy pills

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxkDytaDI0w

Banned video games in Australia

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_video_games_in_Australia

Banned movies

- Tender Loving Care (1998 Interactive movie) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tender_Loving_Care_(video_game)

- Nymphomaniac (2013 movie) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymphomaniac_(film)

Other banned movies

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_films

Noddy the TV series banned

- https://www.independent.co.uk/news/the-truth-about-how-noddy-was-framed-1256823.html

Bill Henson (controversial art photographer)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Henson

Michael Atkinson (former Australian politician opposed to R18+ for games)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Atkinson

Mortal Kombat 11 new content

- New character: Nightwolf - https://mortalkombat.fandom.com/wiki/Nightwolf

- Kombat Pack Roster Reveal Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRjbIuJWtlg

Disney vs Sony standoff

- https://deadline.com/2019/08/kevin-feige-spider-man-franchise-exit-disney-sony-dispute-avengers-endgame-captain-america-winter-soldier-tom-rothman-bob-iger-1202672545/

Future Disney princesses

- Sarah Connor (Terminator character) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Connor_(Terminator)

- Ellen Ripley (Alien character) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Ripley

The Humour Experiment (TNC Podcast)

- https://thatsnotcanon.com/thehumourexperiment

Shoutouts

19 Aug 1692 – Salem witch trials: In Salem, Province of Massachusetts Bay, five people, one woman and four men, including a clergyman, are executed after being convicted of witchcraft. More than 200 people were accused, 19 of whom were found guilty and executed byhanging (14 women and 5 men). One other man, Giles Corey, was crushed to death for refusing to plead, and at least five people died in jail. It was the deadliest witch hunt in the history of colonial North America. Despite being generally known as the Salem witch trials, the preliminary hearings in 1692 were conducted in several towns: Salem Village (now Danvers), Salem Town, Ipswich, and Andover. The most infamous trials were conducted by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 in Salem Town. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch_trials

19 Aug 1953 – Cold War: The CIA and MI6 help to overthrow the government of Mohammad Mosaddegh in Iran and reinstate the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi the last Shah of Iran. While the coup is at times referred to in the West as Operation Ajax after its CIA cryptonym, in Iran it is referred to as the 28 Mordad 1332 Coup d'état, after its date on the Iranian calendar. Mosaddegh was imprisoned for three years, then put under house arrest until his death and was buried in his own home so as to prevent a political furore. In 2013, the U.S. government formally acknowledged the U.S. role in the coup, as a part of its foreign policy initiatives. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat

19 Aug 1967 - Beatles' "All You Need is Love" single goes #1. In a statement to Melody Maker magazine, Brian Epstein, the band's manager, said of "All You Need Is Love": "It was an inspired song and they really wanted to give the world a message. The nice thing about it is that it cannot be misinterpreted. It is a clear message saying that love is everything." Lennon later attributed the song's simple lyrical statements to his liking of slogans and television advertising. He likened the song to a propaganda piece, adding: "I'm a revolutionary artist. My art is dedicated to change." - https://www.stereogum.com/2018942/the-number-ones-the-beatles-all-you-need-is-love/franchises/the-number-ones/

19 Aug 2013 – The Dhamara Ghat train accident kills at least 37 people in the Indian state of Bihar. At least 37 people were killed and 24 were injured. The accident triggered a protest by passengers who beat the driver unconscious, attacked staff and torched two coaches of the train. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhamara_Ghat_train_accident

Remembrances

12 Aug 2019 - Danny Cohen, a distinguished computer scientist who helped develop the first digital visual flight simulator for pilot training, early digital voice conferencing and cloud computing. Cohen was a graduate student at Harvard University in the late 1960s when he helped develop the first computerized flight simulation system on a general-use computer. The design re-created aircraft flight and the landscape it travelled above. He was involved in the ARPAnet project and helped develop various fundamental applications for the Internet. Cohen is probably best known for his 1980 paper "On Holy Wars and a Plea for Peace" which adopted the terminology of endianness for computing (a term borrowed from Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels). He died from Parkinson's disease at the age of 81 in Palo Alto, California. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Cohen_(computer_scientist)

19 Aug 1662 - Blaise Pascal, French mathematician,physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic theologian. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen. Pascal's earliest work was in the natural and applied sciences where he made important contributions to the study of fluids, and clarified the concepts of pressure and vacuum by generalising the work of Evangelista Torricelli. Pascal also wrote in defence of the scientific method. Pascal was an important mathematician, helping create two major new areas of research: he wrote a significant treatise on the subject of projective geometry at the age of 16, and later corresponded with Pierre de Fermat on probability theory, strongly influencing the development of modern economics and social science. Following Galileo Galilei and Torricelli, in 1647, he rebutted Aristotle's followers who insisted that nature abhors a vacuum. Pascal's results caused many disputes before being accepted. He died from stomach cancer at the age of 39 in Paris. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaise_Pascal

19 Aug 1822 - Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre, French mathematician and astronomer. He was also director of the Paris Observatory, and author of well-known books on the history of astronomy like the Histoire de l'astronomie from ancient times to the 18th century. Delambre was one of the first astronomers to derive astronomical equations from analytical formulas, was the author of Delambre's Analogies. He was a knight (chevalier) of the Order of Saint Michael and of the Légion d'honneur. His name is also one of the 72 names inscribed on the Eiffel tower. The crater Delambre on the Moon is named after him. He died at the age of 72 in Paris. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Baptiste_Joseph_Delambre

19 Aug 1977 - Groucho Marx, American comedian, writer, stage, film, radio, and television star. A master of quick wit, he is widely considered one of America's greatest comedians. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born. He also had a successful solo career, most notably as the host of the radio and television game show You Bet Your Life. His distinctive appearance, carried over from his days in vaudeville, included quirks such as an exaggerated stooped posture, spectacles, cigar, and a thick greasepaint moustache and eyebrows. These exaggerated features resulted in the creation of one of the most recognizable and ubiquitous novelty disguises, known as Groucho glasses: a one-piece mask consisting of horn-rimmed glasses, a large plastic nose, bushy eyebrows and moustache. He died from pneumonia at the age of 86 at the age of 86 in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles,California. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groucho_Marx

19 Aug 1994 - Linus Pauling, American chemist,biochemist,peace activist, author, educator, and husband of American human rights activist Ava Helen Pauling. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific topics. New Scientist called him one of the 20 greatest scientists of all time, and as of 2000, he was rated the 16th most important scientist in history. Pauling was one of the founders of the fields of quantum chemistry and molecular biology. Pauling also worked on the structures of biological molecules, and showed the importance of the alpha helix and beta sheet in protein secondary structure. His discoveries inspired the work of James Watson,Francis Crick, and Rosalind Franklin on the structure of DNA, which in turn made it possible for geneticists to crack the DNA code of all organisms. In his later years he promoted nuclear disarmament, as well as orthomolecular medicine, megavitamin therapy, and dietary supplements. For his scientific work, Pauling was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954. For his peace activism, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962. He is one of four individuals to have won more than one Nobel Prize (the others being Marie Curie,John Bardeen and Frederick Sanger). He died from prostate cancer at the age of 93 in Big Sur, California - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Pauling

Famous birthdays

19 Aug 1871 – Orville Wright, one half of the Wright Brothers who were two American aviation pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flying the world's first successful airplane. They made the first controlled, sustained flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft with the Wright Flyer on December 17, 1903, four miles south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. In 1904–05, the brothers developed their flying machine into the first practical fixed-wing aircraft, the Wright Flyer III. Although not the first to build experimental aircraft, the Wright brothers were the first to invent aircraft controls that made fixed-wing powered flight possible. The brothers' breakthrough was their creation of a three-axis control system, which enabled the pilot to steer the aircraft effectively and to maintain its equilibrium. This method remains standard on fixed-wing aircraft of all kinds. He was born in Dayton, Ohio - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers

19 Aug 1921 – Gene Roddenberry, American television screenwriter,producer and creator of the original Star Trek television series, and its first spin-off The Next Generation. Roddenberry flew 89 combat missions in the Army Air Forces during World War II, and worked as a commercial pilot after the war. Later, he followed in his father's footsteps and joined the Los Angeles Police Department, where he also began to write scripts for television. As a freelance writer, Roddenberry wrote scripts for Highway Patrol, Have Gun–Will Travel, and other series, before creating and producing his own television series The Lieutenant. In 1964, Roddenberry created Star Trek, which premiered in 1966 and ran for three seasons before being cancelled. He then worked on other projects, including a string of failed television pilots. The syndication of Star Trek led to its growing popularity; this, in turn, resulted in the Star Trek feature films, on which Roddenberry continued to produce and consult. In 1985, he became the first TV writer with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and he was later inducted by both the Science Fiction Hall of Fame and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame. Years after his death, Roddenberry was one of the first humans to have his ashes carried into earth orbit. The popularity of the Star Trek universe and films has inspired films, books, comic books, video games, and fan films set in the Star Trek universe. He was born in El Paso, Texas. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Roddenberry

19 Aug 1944 – Charles Wang, American businessman and philanthropist who was a co-founder and CEO of Computer Associates International, Inc. (later renamed to CA Technologies). Wang grew Computer Associates into one of the country's largest software vendors. Wang authored two books to help executives master technology: Techno Vision and Techno Vision II. He was a minority owner (and past majority owner) of the NHL's New York Islanders ice hockey team and their AHL affiliate, an investor in numerous businesses, and benefactor to charities including Smile Train, the World Childhood Foundation, the Islanders Children's Foundation and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, among others. He was born in Shanghai. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wang

19 Aug 1967 - Satya Nadella, engineer and Indian American business executive. He currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Microsoft, succeeding Steve Ballmer in 2014. He led a giant round of layoffs and flattened the organization (getting rid of middle managers). Before becoming chief executive, he was the Executive Vice President of Microsoft's Cloud and Enterprise Group, responsible for building and running the company's computing platforms. His tenure has emphasized openness to working with companies and technologies with which Microsoft also competes, including Apple Inc.,IBM and Dropbox. Under Nadella Microsoft revised its mission statement to "empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more". In comparison to founder Bill Gates's "a PC on every desk and in every home, running Microsoft software", Nadella says that it is an enduring mission, rather than a temporal goal. His key goal has been transforming Microsoft’s corporate culture into one that values continual learning and growth. Nadella's leadership of Microsoft included a series of high-profile acquisitions of other companies, to redirect Microsoft's focus. His first major acquisition was of Mojang, a Swedish game company best known for the popular freeform computer building game Minecraft, in late 2014, for $2.5 billion. He followed that by purchasing Xamarin and LinkedIn in 2016, then GitHub in 2018. He was born Hyderabad, Telangana. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satya_Nadella

Events of interest

19 Aug 1887 - Dmitri Mendeleev makes a solo ascent by balloon to an altitude of 11,500 feet (3.5 km) above Klin, Russia to observe an eclipse. - https://www.wired.com/2009/08/dayintech-0819/

19 Aug 1940 – First flight of the B-25 Mitchell medium bomber. Named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in every theatre of World War II, and after the war ended, many remained in service, operating across four decades. Produced in numerous variants, nearly 10,000 B-25s were built. These included a few limited models such as the F-10 reconnaissance aircraft, the AT-24 crew trainers, and the United States Marine Corps' PBJ-1 patrol bomber. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_B-25_Mitchell

19 Aug 1964 – Syncom 3, the first geostationary communication satellite, was launched. The satellite, in orbit near the International Date Line, had the addition of a wideband channel for television and was used to telecast the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo to the United States. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syncom

Intro

Artist – Goblins from Mars

Song Title – Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)

Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJ

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Netflix vs Stan, Foxtel Now and Amazon Prime: Australian streaming services compared

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Netflix vs Stan, Foxtel Now and Amazon Prime: Australian streaming services compared

UPDATE: Stan has raised the price of its Premium package, which will now set you back $17 a few months- that& apos; s a$ 2 increase from the tier& apos; s original $15 monthly fee. Updated article below.

Now that streaming media has become a mainstay in Australian homes, Aussies have plenty of options to choose from when it comes to get their home amusement fix.

When blended, Netflix, Stan , Amazon Prime Video and Foxtel Now offer an enormous range of content that can be instantly streamed into your home. However, if you can only afford one subscription service, narrowing down a definitive choice can be harder than it seems.

As each service brings with it a unique range of television shows and movies aimed at different segments of the streaming audience , not to mention differing price points, device compatibility and streaming qualities, we& apos; ve taken it upon ourselves bring you an in-depth guide to what you can expect from Australia& apos; s four major SVOD platforms.

With the constantly evolving nature of each service discussed in this guide, we will endeavour to keep you updated on any significant changes and updates that may occur to these streaming giants in the future.

Here& apos; s how the Australian streaming situation stacks up in 2019.

The best VPN for Netflix 2019 Price

Probably the best thing about having so many streaming alternatives to choose from, is that it forces-out each service to be priced competitively.

Netflix offers the cheapest river of the main three, with a single creek in standard definition at $9.99, which, if we& apos; re is sincere, isn& apos; t especially good value, but may appeal to those who live alone and have a poor quality internet connection.

Thankfully, for $13.99 a month you can get a dual-stream subscription that offers HD streaming quality.

If 4K rivers are what you& apos; re after, you& apos; ll need to subscribe to Netflix& apos; s premium package, which costs $17.99 a few months and allows you to watch the service on four devices simultaneously. This is probably the most ideal subscription for families with differing tastes in proves and movies.

Though Netflix is obviously run off of how it& apos; s priced overseas, Stan has chosen to come out at the low , no-nonsense cost of $10 a few months. That& apos; s for everything the service has to offer at a maximum resolution of 1080 p.

If you want to make use of your 4K TV though, you can upgrade to a Premium Stan subscription for the new cost of $17 a few months, which is a slight increase from its original $15 monthly fee.

So far, Stan has a steadily growing 4K content lineup, including demonstrates like Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad, Preacher and Wolf Creek, and movies like Ghostbusters, Taxi Driver, Arrival and Sam Raimi& apos; s Spider-Man trilogy.

These kinds of costs cut straight to the point- once you& apos; ve tested the service& apos; s 30 day trial, you& apos; re either on board with forking over a tenner( or an extra fiver) each month, or you& apos; re not.

Undercutting Netflix& apos; s pricing substantially, Amazon has a special introductory offer that grants new subscribers access to the service for a monthly fee $4.99 for the first six months, after which it will renew at US $6.99 each month after that.

Foxtel Now is different in that it offers a number of different content packs( split into Starter packs and Premium packs) so the user can tailor their subscription to their viewing habits.

The minimum cost for Foxtel Now has been increased to $ 25 per month, which includes the Pop and Lifestyle packs.

You& apos; ll probably have to sign up to at least a couple of packs to get a decent selection of indicates overall. As we& apos; ve already mentioned, Lifestyle and Pop are now bundled together, while the individual Kids and Doco packages have been scrapped wholly — if you want that content back, you& apos; ll have to pony up for the $104 All Packs bundle.

Thankfully, the Drama package is still around, and is still priced at $15 per month( though you& apos; ll get$ 5 off when you sign up ).

The Movies pack will still define you back $20 a month and the Sport package remains unchanged at $29 per month. Seeing as you& apos; re obligated to sign up to the Pop and Lifestyle packs, the minimum expense for watching sports on Foxtel Now has been raised to $54 per month.

Devices

For many people, the rulings of which streaming service to sign up for may come down to the devices they own.

Netflix has the biggest global reach and has been around the longest, which is why it can be streamed on the largest number of devices.

The Netflix app is available on a wide range of smart TVs from manufacturers like Samsung, Sony, LG, Panasonic, Philips and Hisense, though you should check your television model to see if the service is supported. Stan is available on all current Samsung smart TVs, Sony smart-alecky TVs( running Android TV) and all LG smart-alecky TVs operating WebOS software.

Stan is also streaming on Hisense smart TVs from 2015 onwards, and we& apos; re considering the app pop up on more and more manufacturers defines. Basically, if you buy a new smart TV locally, chances are that it will play Stan.

At launch, Amazon Prime Video merely offered its service in Australia through computer browsers, however, the Amazon Prime app has now appeared on a number of 4K smart TVs, including models from Sony, Samung, LG and more. Before settling on Prime, you should check and see if you smart Tv has an app for it.

If your smart-alecky TV is of the 4K/ UHD variety, opportunities are that its Netflix app supportings 4K streaming. You can also get a 4K Netflix stream for the latest wave of Ultra HD Blu-ray players, such as the Panasonic DMP-UB9 00 and the Samsung UBD-K8 500. Microsoft& apos; s newest console, the Xbox One S, also offers 4K playback.

The Apple TV also supports Netflix and has features built around service, such as the ability to use Siri to search for titles by voice, which places Netflix titles appear alongside iTunes listings. A Stan app is also available for Apple TV, but Amazon won& apos; t allow its app on Apple TV or Chromecast for business reasons. With that said, you should be able to showing Amazon Prime Video on your Apple TV through AirPlay. So far, Siri functionality is only available to Netflix.

Netflix, Stan and Amazon Prime Video are all available on iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, though some older Android models may not be compatible.

When it comes to game consoles, Netflix has the biggest reach, with apps for Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox One S, PS3, PS4 and the Nintendo Wii U. Stan has most of the consoles covered but absences support for Xbox 360 and Wii U.

It& apos; s also possible to watch Amazon Prime Video on home gaming consoles, including the Xbox One and PS4, and you can also watch the service utilize Amazon& apos; s Fire TV Stick.

Netflix and Stan are also available on Fetch TV, which is quite handy for the hundreds of thousands of Australians currently subscribed to Fetch.

If you don& apos; t have any of the TV-connected devices listed above and still want to watch Netflix and Stan on your television, the two services can also be streamed to a Google Chromecast, which ostensibly provides regular TVs with smart-alecky Tv functionality( so long as you have a smartphone or tablet to stream from ). That said, Amazon Prime Video is not supported on Chromecast.

Foxtel Now was working on iOS and Android devices, Chromecast and Chromecast Ultra, PC and Mac and the newly-released Foxtel Now streaming box. Eventually, you can also watch Netflix and Stan on the Roku 2-powered Telstra TV media streaming box.

Kids content

When it comes to children demonstrates and movies, each service has its own strengths and weaknesses.

Stan has a wide selection of children-friendly shows that mostly stem from its partnerships with Turner Broadcasting( the Cartoon Network ), the ABC and Viacom.

And , now that Stan is Disney& apos; s new home for streaming content in Australia, subscribers now have access to an enormous library of classic movies from Disney and Pixar, such as the Toy Story trilogy, Finding Nemo, Frozen, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid and more, along with a wide selection of Disney Channel TV shows.

Cartoon Network favourites like Adventure Time, Ben 10, Regular Show, The Powerpuff Girls, Cow and Chicken, Generator Rex and Ed, Edd, n Eddy are all ready to stream on Stan.

Likewise, classic ABC titles like The Wiggles, Dorothy the Dinosaur, Guess How Much I Love You and Justine Clarke, as well as overseas titles like Octonauts, Angelina Ballerina, Bob the Builder, Thomas and Friends, Fireman Sam, Sesame Street and Mister Maker are available to stream on the app, and its Viacom deal brings with it a large range of indicates from Nickelodeon and Nick Jr, like Avatar: The Last Airbender; Octonauts, Ni Hao, Kai-Lan, Bubble Guppies, and popular live-action shows like iCarly, VICTORiOUS, and Drake& Josh.

Like the rest of Amazon Prime Video& apos; s content library, its Kids selection is quite sparse at present. You& apos; ll find a number of Amazon Original kids shows you& apos; ve probably never heard of, like Wishenpoof !, Tumble Leaf and Just Add Magic, alongside some tried-and-true children movies classics, like The Little Rascals, Casper, Spy Kids and Babe.

Animation fans will be happy to know that Netflix has also rendered some original depicts based on classic DreamWorks properties, including Puss in Boots and How to Train Your Dragon.

Deals with other big children& apos; s program distributors Saban, DHX Media and Hasbro Studios have also provided Netflix with numerous incarnations of Power Rangers and My Little Pony.

Special mention should also be given to inclusion of the classic Aussie kid& apos; s present, Round the Twist, on both Netflix and Stan& apos; s respective catalogues.

Foxtel Now offers plenty of kids presents and channels hosting a large number of Nickelodeon and Disney programs, though the only way to access them now is via its exceedingly pricey All Packs bundle, which& apos; ll define you back $104 per month.

TV indicates

A wide and varied range of television reveals are available on Netflix, Stan and Amazon Prime Video, thanks to individual bargains between each of the SVOD services and their content partners. Because of this, each service should have something for everyone in your family.

While there& apos; s a lot of crossover when it comes to the availability of presents on each platform, perhaps the most important deciding factor comes down to the exclusives and original shows available on each service.

Netflix is without question the leader in this regard, with a large, global slate of original shows that are, for the best part, available in every one of its territories around the world. And if you want to access your own catalogue from abroad, then you should look to download the best Netflix VPN from our guide.

The service has achieved huge success with its diverse lineup, which includes award-winning presents House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, long-form superhero proves like Marvel& apos; s Daredevil and Jessica Jones, internationally-targeted depicts like Narcos, animated sitcoms such as BoJack Horseman and F is For Family, comedies like Fuller House, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Master of None, and countless stand up comedy specials, to name but a small selection from its rapidly-expanding library.

On top of this, TV series like Stranger Things, Black Mirror, Making A Murderer, Mindhunter and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina have also observed crossover appeal with mainstream audiences.

Though Stan is only available in Australia, it has already begun creating its own original content, having produced the improvised slapstick series No Activity, the Tv spin-offs of Wolf Creek and Romper Stomper, as well as the comedy series Plonk.

Stan is notable for also having a large range of exclusive presents in its stable, with big hitters like the Twin Peaks revival, Better Call Saul Mozart in the Jungle, Transparent, Power, UnReal, Community, Lost Girl, Dig, Ash vs Evil Dead, Angie Tribeca and 11.22.63 tied to the service for the entire life of each series.

On top of this, Stan is the only service in Australia offering both the complete series& apos; of US sitcom classics Seinfeld and Friend, which are huge gets for the service. If it ever manages to secure The Simpsons( as unlikely as that may be ), it& apos; ll have the holy trifecta on offer.

Stan also fast-tracks new episodes of its exclusive presents as soon as they air overseas, a practise that both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have since adopted with such reveals as Riverdale and American Gods.

As the newest service to make Australian coasts, Amazon Prime Video doesn& apos; t currently have a huge TV content library on offer, then again, that probably runs a long way to explaining why the subscription cost is so cheap.

Most people considering a Prime subscription are probably looking to watch The Grand Tour, the new automobile fanatic indicate from the team behind the beloved series, Top Gear. If that& apos; s what you& apos; re after, you& apos; ll happy to know that every available episode of the series is available on Amazon Prime Video in HDR, with new episodes arriving weekly.

Aside from that, other exclusive draw cards include American Gods, a hyped new demonstrate based on the immensely popular Neil Gaiman novel of the same name, Jean-Claude Van Johnson, which stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as a snoop version of himself, The Tick, a comedic superhero series resurgence, The Man in the High Castle, which posits a world in which the Nazis won World War II, and The Terror, a horror anthology series based on a best-selling book.

Unlike the competition, Foxtel Now lets you also watch live television broadcasts, essentially giving you the regular Foxtel experience over the internet. Aside from this, most of the packages on offer, such as Drama and Pop( which have loads of HBO content split across them ), are mostly filled with television shows. Fans of reality TV will get a real kick out of the selection here.

Movies

As with most SVOD services, the titles available on Netflix, Stan and Presto change occasionally according to content licensing agreements. That said, each service has a pretty decent collect of movies aimed at slightly different audiences.

When it first launched, Australian Netflix had a much smaller content offering than its US counterpart. However, its focus on Original content over licensed material has attained that issue largely irrelevant, with a huge selection of quality demonstrates and movies now available.

Netflix Original movies like Bird Box, Bright and the critically acclaimed Roma have found much larger audiences on the streaming service than they likely would have if released through traditional channels, while unusual movie experimentations like The Ballad of Buster Scruggs might never have been stimulated without today& apos; s streaming model of distribution.

Amazon Prime Video offers a number of classic older movies, though not many recent blockbusters are currently available to stream. Its recent Amazon Original film The Neon Demon, for instance, is currently geo-restricted.

Still, fans of B-grade cinema, including straight-to-video& apos; 90 s martial art movies,& apos; 80 s horror movies and sleazy grindhouse flicks will find plenty to love on Amazon Prime Video. In fact, it blows all of the other services out of the water in this regard, with a instead big back catalogue of these various kinds of films.

As was mentioned earlier, you& apos; ll need a Movies package to watch feature film through Foxtel Now, though that will set you back $20 per month on top of a $10 Starter pack. Many of the movies are new releases, proving much of the content you& apos ;d is expecting on live Foxtel.

Stan& apos; s astonishing partnership with Disney has given the service a huge leg up over the competition when it comes to licensed content, with access to a wide selection of Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm movies on offer.

It also provides a reasonably big selection of Roadshow Entertainment titles, though previously available movies like Mad Max: Fury Road have since dropped off the service. Thankfully, huge franchises like The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix are present and accounted for.

A content deal with MGM also provides Stan with a large back catalogue of classic movies, including the entire James Bond series in glorious 4K quality, along with The Silence of the Lambs, When Harry Met Sally and a huge selection of Woody Allen films.

Stan has always been the leading streaming service when it comes to art cinemas and world cinema, including access to cinemas from over 45 countries in more than 70 languages, but now you can count mainstream blockbusters among its many licensing accomplishments.

Streaming quality

All three services offer HD streams( unless you& apos; re subscribed to Netflix& apos; s lowest tier ), however, Netflix is unquestionably the leader when it comes to streaming quality, as it offers the most 4K HDR content( top pricing tier only) of any of the services listed here.

Netflix Originals, with some exceptions, are generally available in 4K streaming quality. The service has also started streaming HDR( high-dynamic-range) and Dolby Vision content for many of its original reveals and movies.

The service has an adaptive bit rate that adjusts itself based on the quality of your internet connection. It should be noted that, even if you have a blazing fast connection, Netflix will occasionally fail to reach full resolving during primetime hours due to congestion.

Stan also use adaptive bit rate technology, however it also offers users the ability to select the streaming quality of its proves( where available ). The Ultra setting offers full 4K resolving, though you& apos; ll need to subscribe to the Premium package to see the profits of the the Ultra HD upgrade.

Unlike its competitors, Stan allows users to select the quality of their creeks on smart devices, media devices and smart TVs. Simply select the cog icon and choose between Low, Medium and High quality streams. This is especially handy if you& apos; re having buffering problems or if you& apos; re streaming off mobile data.

With Netflix adding offline viewing to its subscription cost, allowing using to download a selection of demonstrates and movies to their devices for viewing outside of Wi-Fi networks, the service immediately increased its overall value.

Thankfully, Stan has followed suit, and now allows subscribers to download the vast majority of its content. This stimulates its $10 monthly cost point even more of a bargain than it already was.

Amazon Prime Video also offers 4K HDR content, though with the varying quality of the presents and movies on offer, it& apos; s a little tricky to know what& apos; s available in SD, HD or Ultra HD until you start watching it. Original presents are, for the most part, available in 4K.

Foxtel Now is said to offer HD streams, but the quality is a mixed bag. Often blurry or with overly saturated colourings, the picture quality here is a far cry from what Netflix, Stan and Amazon Prime Video are offering. This really changes on a show-by-show basis. Game of Thrones looks pretty clean, though.

Verdict

Though each service has its own strengths and weaknesses, Netflix is unquestionably the win when it comes to device compatibility, original content and creek quality.

Its library of Netflix Original continues to grow and maintain a generally high level of quality, with the service creating the kind of content that devotes HBO a run for its money when it comes to premium programming.

When you ignore its standard definition pricing alternative( and we ignore it fairly hard around these proportions ), Stan& apos; s flat $10 subscription fee is definitely more appealing for people who want access to a HD stream, but when you consider how many original reveals Netflix makes, a couple of extra bucks a month is hardly a deal-breaker.

It& apos; s great that Amazon Prime Video has attained its route to Australia, and while it still has a long way to go in terms of growing its content library and list of compatible devices, it continues to add new content constantly, filling out the content selection with a number of gems.

On the plus side, the service is quite inexpensive at the moment, so if you want to try it out for yourself anyway, you can do so without violating the budget.

We love the sheer sum of content available on Foxtel Now( it truly does leave the competition in the dust in this regard ), though get a decent selection up will hurt your wallet in the long run.

Still, when all is said and done, there& apos; s no denying that Netflix truly is the king of streaming media in Australia.

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Read more: techradar.com

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Netflix vs Stan, Foxtel Now and Amazon Prime: Australian streaming services compared

http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=24696 Netflix vs Stan, Foxtel Now and Amazon Prime: Australian streaming services compared - http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=24696 Now that streaming media has become a mainstay in Australian homes, Aussies have plenty of options to choose from when it comes to getting their home entertainment fix.When combined, Netflix, Stan, Amazon Prime Video and Foxtel Now offer an enormous range of content that can be instantly streamed into your home. However, if you can only afford one subscription service, narrowing down a definitive choice can be harder than it seems.As each service brings with it a unique range of television shows and movies aimed at different segments of the streaming audience, not to mention differing price points, device compatibility and streaming qualities, we've taken it upon ourselves bring you an in-depth guide to what you can expect from Australia's four major SVOD platforms.With the constantly evolving nature of each service discussed in this guide, we will endeavour to keep you updated on any significant changes and updates that may occur to these streaming giants in the future.Here's how the Australian streaming situation stacks up in 2018. Price Probably the best thing about having so many streaming options to choose from, is that it forces each service to be priced competitively.Netflix offers the cheapest stream of the main three, with a single stream in standard definition at $8.99, which, if we're being honest, isn't particularly good value, but may appeal to those who live alone and have a poor quality internet connection.Thankfully, for $11.99 a month you can get a dual-stream subscription that offers HD streaming quality.If 4K streams are what you're after, you'll need to subscribe to Netflix's premium package, which costs $14.99 a month and allows you to watch the service on four devices simultaneously. This is probably the most ideal subscription for families with differing tastes in shows and movies.Though Netflix is obviously working off of how it's priced overseas, Stan has chosen to come out at the low, no-nonsense price of $10 a month. That's for everything the service has to offer at a maximum resolution of 1080p. If you want to make use of your 4K TV though, you can upgrade to a Premium Stan subscription for $15 a month. So far, Stan has nine of its exclusive shows available to stream at 4K quality, including the likes of Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad, Preacher and Wolf Creek. These kinds of prices cut straight to the point – once you've tested the service's 30 day trial, you're either on board with forking over a tenner (or an extra fiver)  each month, or you're not.Undercutting Netflix's pricing substantially, Amazon has a special introductory offer that grants new subscribers access to the service for a monthly fee $4.99 for the first six months, after which it will renew at US$6.99 each month after that.Foxtel Now is different in that it offers a number of different content packs (split into Starter packs and Premium packs) so the user can tailor their subscription to their viewing habits.The Starter packs kick off at $10 per month, but you'll probably have to sign up to at least a couple of them to get a decent selection of shows overall. Lifestyle, Doco and Kids packages cost $10 each per month, and the Drama and Pop options (both of which offer Game of Thrones) are priced at $15 per month.Premium packs are where it starts to get pricey, with the Movies pack costing $20 a month and the Sports package costing $29 monthly fee. Both of these packs can only be obtained in addition to a Starter package, meaning your minimum cost for Sports is $39. Devices For many people, the decision of which streaming service to sign up for may come down to the devices they own.Netflix has the biggest global reach and has been around the longest, which is why it can be streamed on the largest number of devices.The Netflix app is available on a wide range of smart TVs from manufacturers like Samsung, Sony, LG, Panasonic, Philips and Hisense, though you should check your television model to see if the service is supported. Stan is available on all current Samsung smart TVs, Sony smart TVs (running Android TV) and all LG smart TVs running WebOS software. Stan is also streaming on Hisense smart TVs from 2015 onwards, and we're seeing the app pop up on more and more manufacturers sets. Basically, if you buy a new smart TV locally, chances are that it will play Stan. At launch, Amazon Prime Video only offered its service in Australia through computer browsers, however, the Amazon Prime app has now appeared on a number of 4K smart TVs, including models from Sony, Samung, LG and more. Before settling on Prime, you should check and see if you smart TV has an app for it.If your smart TV is of the 4K/UHD variety, chances are that its Netflix app supports 4K streaming. You can also get a 4K Netflix stream for the latest wave of Ultra HD Blu-ray players, such as the Panasonic DMP-UB900 and the Samsung UBD-K8500. Microsoft's newest console, the Xbox One S, also offers 4K playback.The Apple TV also supports Netflix and has features built around service, such as the ability to use Siri to search for titles by voice, which places Netflix titles appear alongside iTunes listings. A Stan app is also available for Apple TV, but Amazon won't allow its app on Apple TV or Chromecast for business reasons. With that said, you should be able to display Amazon Prime Video on your Apple TV through AirPlay. So far, Siri functionality is only available to Netflix.Netflix, Stan and Amazon Prime Video are all available on iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, though some older Android models may not be compatible.When it comes to game consoles, Netflix has the biggest reach, with apps for Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox One S, PS3, PS4 and the Nintendo Wii U. Stan has most of the consoles covered but lacks support for Xbox 360 and Wii U. It's also possible to watch Amazon Prime Video on home gaming consoles, including the Xbox One and PS4, and you can also watch the service using Amazon's Fire TV Stick.Netflix and Stan are also available on Fetch TV, which is quite handy for the hundreds of thousands of Australians currently subscribed to Fetch.If you don't have any of the TV-connected devices listed above and still want to watch Netflix and Stan on your television, the two services can also be streamed to a Google Chromecast, which ostensibly provides regular TVs with smart TV functionality (so long as you have a smartphone or tablet to stream from). That said, Amazon Prime Video is not supported on Chromecast.Foxtel Now works on iOS and Android devices, Chromecast and Chromecast Ultra, PC and Mac and the newly-released Foxtel Now streaming box. Finally, you can also watch Netflix and Stan on the Roku 2-powered Telstra TV media streaming box. Kids content When it comes to kids shows and movies, each service has its own strengths and weaknesses.Stan has a wide selection of children-friendly shows that mostly stem from its partnerships with Turner Broadcasting (the Cartoon Network), the ABC and Viacom.Cartoon Network favourites like Adventure Time, Ben 10, Regular Show, The Powerpuff Girls, Cow and Chicken, Generator Rex and Ed, Edd, n Eddy are all ready to stream on Stan.Likewise, classic ABC titles like The Wiggles, Dorothy the Dinosaur, Guess How Much I Love You and Justine Clarke, as well as overseas titles like Octonauts, Angelina Ballerina, Bob the Builder, Thomas and Friends, Fireman Sam, Sesame Street and Mister Maker are available to stream on the app, and its Viacom deal brings with it a large range of shows from Nickelodeon and Nick Jr, like Avatar: The Last Airbender; Octonauts, Ni Hao, Kai-Lan, Bubble Guppies, and popular live-action shows like iCarly, VICTORiOUS, and Drake & Josh.Like the rest of Amazon Prime Video's content library, its Kids selection is quite sparse at present. You'll find a number of Amazon Original kids shows you've probably never heard of, like Wishenpoof!, Tumble Leaf and Just Add Magic, alongside some tried-and-true kids movies classics, like The Little Rascals, Casper, Spy Kids and Babe.Netflix also has a wide-ranging partnership with Walt Disney, bringing with it films and TV shows from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm.Animation fans will be happy to know that Netflix has also produced some original shows based on classic DreamWorks properties, including Puss in Boots and How to Train Your Dragon.Deals with other big children's program distributors Saban, DHX Media and Hasbro Studios have also provided Netflix with numerous incarnations of Power Rangers and My Little Pony.Special mention should also be given to inclusion of the classic Aussie kid's show, Round the Twist, on both Netflix and Stan's respective catalogues.Depending on the packages you acquire, Foxtel Now offers plenty of kids shows and channels hosting a large number of Nickelodeon and Disney programs.  TV shows A wide and varied range of television shows are available on Netflix, Stan and Amazon Prime Video, thanks to individual deals between each of the SVOD services and their content partners. Because of this, each service should have something for everyone in your family.While there's a lot of crossover when it comes to the availability of shows on each platform, perhaps the most important deciding factor comes down to the exclusives and original shows available on each service.Netflix is without question the leader in this regard, with a large, global slate of original shows that are, for the most part, available in every one of its territories around the world.The service has achieved huge success with its diverse lineup, which includes award-winning shows House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, long-form superhero shows like Marvel's Daredevil and Jessica Jones, internationally-targeted shows like Narcos, animated sitcoms such as BoJack Horseman and F is For Family, comedies like Fuller House, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Master of None, and countless stand up comedy specials, to name but a small selection from its rapidly-expanding library.Though Stan is only available in Australia, it has already begun creating its own original content, having produced the improvised comedy series No Activity, the TV spin-offs of Wolf Creek and Romper Stomper, as well as the comedy series Plonk.Stan is notable for also having a large range of exclusive shows in its stable, with big hitters like the Twin Peaks revival, Better Call Saul Mozart in the Jungle, Transparent, Power, UnReal, Community, Lost Girl, Dig, Ash vs Evil Dead, Angie Tribeca and 11.22.63 tied to the service for the entire life of each series. On top of this, Stan is the only service in Australia offering both the complete series' of US sitcom classics Seinfeld and Friends.  Stan also fast-tracks new episodes of its exclusive shows as soon as they air overseas, a practise that both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have since adopted with such shows as Riverdale and American Gods.As the newest service to hit Australian shores, Amazon Prime Video doesn't currently have a huge TV content library on offer, then again, that probably goes a long way to explaining why the subscription price is so cheap. Most people considering a Prime subscription are probably looking to watch The Grand Tour, the new car enthusiast show from the team behind the beloved series, Top Gear. If that's what you're after, you'll happy to know that every available episode of the series is available on Amazon Prime Video in HDR, with new episodes arriving weekly. Aside from that, other exclusive draw cards include American Gods, a hyped new show based on the immensely popular Neil Gaiman novel of the same name, Jean-Claude Van Johnson, which stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as a spy version of himself, The Tick, a comedic superhero series revival, The Man in the High Castle, which posits a world in which the Nazis won World War II, and The Terror, a horror anthology series based on a best-selling book. Unlike the competition, Foxtel Now lets you also watch live television broadcasts, essentially giving you the regular Foxtel experience over the internet. Aside from this, most of the packages on offer, such as Drama and Pop (which have loads of HBO content split across them), are mostly filled with television shows. Fans of reality TV will get a real kick out of the selection here. Movies As with most SVOD services, the titles available on Netflix, Stan and Presto change occasionally according to content licensing agreements. That said, each service has a pretty decent collection of films aimed at slightly different audiences.Despite what people will tell you about Australian Netflix compared to its US version, the local service has a pretty impressive lineup of blockbuster titles which focus on quality over quantity.Netflix's aforementioned partnership with Disney also extends to movies, with titles such as Marvel's Captain America: Civil War and Ant-Man ready to stream, as well as animated films like Zootopia and Inside Out.Netflix has also started acquiring and creating its own films under its Netflix Originals banner, with titles like Beasts of No Nation, Ridiculous 6 and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2: Sword of Destiny already available to stream.Amazon Prime Video offers a number of classic older films, including Pulp Fiction, Scarface, Jurassic Park, Scream, Serenity, American Pie and more, though nothing too recent is currently available to stream. Its recent Amazon Original film The Neon Demon, for instance, is currently geo-restricted.Still, fans of B-grade cinema, including straight-to-video '90s martial arts movies, '80s horror movies and sleazy grindhouse flicks will find plenty to love on Amazon Prime Video. In fact, it blows all of the other services out of the water in this regard, with a rather big selection of these kinds of films. As was mentioned earlier, you'll need a Movies package to watch feature films through Foxtel Now, though that will set you back $20 per month on top of a $10 Starter pack. Many of the movies are new releases, showing much of the content you'd expect to see on live Foxtel. Unfortunately, Stan doesn't provide access to any Disney content at all, which does feel like a pretty big hole in its otherwise impressive lineup.It does however, provide a big selection of Roadshow Entertainment titles, including huge films like Mad Max: Fury Road, The LEGO Movie, The Hunger Games series, Edge of Tomorrow, The Matrix trilogy, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and more.A content deal with MGM also provides Stan with a large back catalogue of classic films, including the entire James Bond series (minus the most recent addition, Spectre), The Silence of the Lambs, When Harry Met Sally and a huge selection of Woody Allen films.While Netflix's movie library is more mainstream in nature, Stan is easily the leading streaming service when it comes to art films and world cinema, with its SBS World Movies partnership providing access to films from over 45 countries in more than 70 languages. Streaming quality All three services offer HD streams (unless you're subscribed to Netflix's lowest tier), however, Netflix is unquestionably the leader when it comes to streaming quality, as it offers the most 4K HDR content (top pricing tier only) of any of the services listed here.Netflix Originals, with some exceptions, are generally available in 4K streaming quality. The service has also started streaming HDR (high-dynamic-range) and Dolby Vision content for many of its original shows and movies.The service has an adaptive bit rate that adjusts itself based on the quality of your internet connection. It should be noted that, even if you have a blazing fast connection, Netflix will occasionally fail to reach full resolution during primetime hours due to congestion.Stan also uses adaptive bit rate technology, however it also offers users the ability to select the streaming quality of its shows (where available). The Ultra setting offers full 4K resolution, though you'll need to subscribe to the Premium package to see the benefits of the Ultra HD upgrade.Unlike its competitors, Stan allows users to select the quality of their streams on smart devices, media devices and smart TVs. Simply select the cog icon and choose between Low, Medium and High quality streams. This is especially handy if you're having buffering problems or if you're streaming off mobile data.With Netflix adding offline viewing to its subscription price, allowing using to download a selection of shows and movies to their devices for viewing outside of Wi-Fi networks, the service immediately increased its overall value. Thankfully, Stan has followed suit, and now allows subscribers to download the vast majority of its content. This makes its $10 monthly price point even more of a bargain than it already was. Amazon Prime Video also offers 4K HDR content, though with the varying quality of the shows and movies on offer, it's a little tricky to know what's available in SD, HD or Ultra HD until you start watching it. Original shows are, for the most part, available in 4K. Foxtel Now is said to offer HD streams, but the quality is a mixed bag. Often blurry or with overly saturated colours, the picture quality here is a far cry from what Netflix, Stan and Amazon Prime Video are offering. This really changes on a show-by-show basis. Game of Thrones looks pretty clean, though. Verdict Though each service has its own strengths and weaknesses, Netflix is unquestionably the winner when it comes to device compatibility, original content and stream quality.Its library of Netflix Originals continues to grow and maintain a generally high level of quality, with the service producing the kind of content that gives HBO a run for its money when it comes to premium programming.When you ignore its standard definition pricing option (and we ignore it pretty hard around these parts), Stan's flat $10 subscription fee is definitely more appealing for people who want access to a HD stream, but when you consider how many original shows Netflix produces, a couple of extra bucks a month is hardly a deal-breaker.It's great that Amazon Prime Video has made its way to Australia, and while it still has a long way to go in terms of growing its content library and list of compatible devices, it continues to add new content constantly, filling out the content selection with a number of gems. On the plus side, the service is quite inexpensive at the moment, so if you want to try it out for yourself anyway, you can do so without breaking the budget. We love the sheer amount of content available on Foxtel Now (it really does leave the competition in the dust in this regard), though getting a decent selection up will hurt your wallet in the long run. Still, when all is said and done, there's no denying that Netflix truly is the king of streaming media in Australia. 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