#fuck streaming but i also want to actually be able to support the show in some fucking way

[flibbertygigget]

ugh my vpn stopped working on iplayer, i'm seriously considering getting the lowest (ads, bleh) tier of netflix JUST for doctor who

[certified-bi]

Okay all my thoughts because some people have been saying that not supporting this change is not supporting artist and creators and as an artist fuck that.

1. Audiences owe you nothing. You have to convince them to engage with your creation not the other way around. This is something both the nonprofit theatre I work with recognizes and huge companies realize. It's just part of life. There are so many talented people in the world making amazing art, videos, music, writings, and on and on, and there's only so much time in the day. I'm not saying you shouldn't know your worth, just that being flippant about how little you care about those who can't pay isn't a good move. On that note...

2. PR is everything. If you haven't made a visible effort to push patreon, channel memberships or other avenues of making money, don't be suprised that your creation that was previously accessible to those without extra cash and to those who can't support foreign subscriptions due either to conversions or because it simply doesn't work, being made private isn't popular. There's a big leap from "We want to have more artistic control" to "We can't afford to make our content accessible to most of our audience," and people are smart enough to see this. You either have to make budget cuts or give into sponsors. This isn't unique to Watcher, it's part of literally every production from broadway, to Hollywood, to YouTube. Unless you can fund it yourself or get viewers to pay(which given how many are already strapped for cash...) that's life.

Not to mention they simply do not have enough followers to make the switch to a paid only site(dropping the first epsiode only on YouTube isn't going to draw people in, they're just going to say "oh why start if I'm not going to see the rest" and not watch) especially not one that is buggy and a security risk. Even if the switch had been supported its not going to end well. The only reason services like nebula and dropout work is because of the large amount of series and creators and the fact those creators still are partly on YouTube so new people are drawn in.

3. As for the price, 6 dollars a month is a not a good starting price for only their content and that's as someone who pays for nebula. I'd be paying the same amount for a fraction of the access to others work. Actually it'd be twice as much. And before someone says "it's only a coffee-" that's for you. Not everyone has your lifestyle. And with every other patreon and subscription service that says the same thing, it all adds up and I simply don't think 60 dollars for 48 videos a year on a subscription basis where you don't get to keep the videos if your situation changes, some of which don't appeal to every viewer is a good move. If you were able to buy physical copies of your favorite series they've made that'd be different, but that's not what this is.

4. I do believe that the employees deserve a livable wage. I also did not hire them. It is not on the viewers that they hired more people than they could afford to. They can charge that much if they want to to try and balance this out. They also shouldn't be suprised if not many can or will sign up. They also don't have to be based in L.A. L.A has ridiculous costs associated with it, and quite honestly it doesn't really add much to the content. I'm not saying they need to move to the middle of nowhere Kansas. Simply that living and basing your studio in a super expensive city and then being suprised money is tight is just weird.

5. Something that occurs to me is that they might get more views if their playlists were better set up. Only some series are given playlists. It'd be easier to find all of the series and binge them if they didn't just show off their more popular shows. Honestly the only draw the streaming site has to me is that the series are actually labeled well.

Do I think the weird ass energy towards Steven is necessary? No. He's not the only one at the company and they're all adults. I actually liked grocery run and homemade, and like to see them back. The parascoial attachment to Ryan and Shane is annoying in people's criticisms, but that doesn't make them completely wrong. If you're going to brand yourself as the anti capalist underdogs you can't get away with being dismissive of your poorer fans. The dissonance is what is causing this backlash and makes you look like hypocrites. I definitely think Steven is turning into the fall guy which is fucked up, his statement and the fact dish granted is one of those shows that make people uncomfortable about wealth flexs doesn't help matters.

[karvviie]

omg tell us more about your grif+locus thoughts

OKAY PREPARE YOURSELF. i wrote this all down and did not expect it to be so long. so other than it being a fun yapper/listener dynamic, i think that them being friends could actually be very good for each other.

tldr: Grif and Locus have great potential to have a close friendship that is beneficial to both of their senses of self-worth. They have seen each other at their worst/most vulnerable, and despite this, they show kindness and compassion towards one another. As a result, this can allow them to be emotionally open when communicating, thus forming a healthy friendship that proves to them that they are worthy of being treated with care and forgiveness.

my full explanation under the cut:

sorry guys i really could have worded all this better but i can’t be fucked rn and i wrote it stream of consciousness style. i am too tired to go back and proofread it.

btw i am also ignoring the fact that season 15 was retconned.

ok so. It has been established that grif has low self-esteem. he considers himself as the “hateglue,” and feels extremely guilty for quitting the team. he probably has some attachment issues and problems with feeling unwanted and not being worthy of being cared for (implied by o’malley about his family life)

and locus. he’s got so many problems. mentally and just in general. everyone knew him as the absolute worst version of himself and now he’s trying to seek redemption and atone for all the horrible things he’s done. but locus is doing this all by himself, he has no allies or anyone left that he can call a friend. He probably hasn’t had a healthy relationship with anybody in a long time.

IN COMES GRIF! grif interacts with locus when he’s at a very low point. he has no inhibitions, nothing to repress his thoughts and emotions in the presence of another person. he very quickly accepts locus’s change of heart and opens up to him. They do not insult each other or have any ulterior motives. which is already a big change of pace.

Grif initially knew locus as a horrible person, and experienced first hand his many crimes. despite this, he shows enthusiasm and support when told that locus wants to redeem himself.

Locus, on the other hand, despite how inexperienced he is in making friends and being kind and caring, shows compassion and concern towards grif, listening to his inane rambling and accomodating to his needs (allowing grif to bring his volleyballs on the ship).

Grif is exactly what Locus needs in a companion at this point in time, someone who is honest with him, doesn’t have any ulterior motives and accepts his past mistakes while also encouraging him to be a better person.

Locus has found a real friend, after years of an extremely toxic partnership. grif is somebody that he can also demonstrate care and compassion towards, further aiding him in his journey to being redeemed.

In addition, Grif finally has someone that he can be completely honest around. Someone who has accepted him at his lowest and validated his needs, regardless of how absurd they were.

to sort of quote my recent post, locus is showing grif that he is worth the mess. he is not a burden, he is not there just for people to hate. he is just as worthy as anyone else of care and compassion, even at his lowest.

On the other hand, grif is also showing locus that he is worthy of forgiveness, and that there is someone who is able to look past his wrongdoings and treat him as someone to be trusted and appreciated, no matter how unforgivable locus thinks himself to be.

their first interaction being the way that it was really makes their dynamic work, because they begin their partnership without anything to hide from each other. this opens up so many avenues for them to continue having a very emotionally open and honest friendship, since grif has already shown his vulnerable side to locus, and grif already knows how locus used to be and trusts him despite of it.

now i want to compare grif and simmons to grif and locus.

grif and simmons have a long history together. they are attached at the hip and have watched each other grow as people over the years. they know each other better than anyone else.

HOWEVER, they are both very emotionally repressed people. they avoid showing emotional vulnerability, and struggle to even admit that they enjoy each other’s company.

While it is obvious that they are much closer than grif and locus, they are held back by their inability to be vulnerable and deeply communicate their feelings to each other.

grif and locus don’t have this barrier, as a result of the circumstances of how they met. unlike grif’s relationship with simmons, they don’t have a whole history together of being emotionally repressed that determines how they’re used to interacting with one another.

I really think that grif and locus are the exact type of person that the other needed at the time that they meet. They could be each other’s confidant, the one person that they can trust to be fully accepting, in which they don’t need to feel unashamed about being vulnerable around.

[quillyfied]

Happy Halloween and Happy Ghostfuckers, time to dig into the chest cavity of this episode and not come back out until the next! Another banger of an episode; someone in the Helluva Boss tag called it the Truth Seekers of season 2, and I am so inclined to agree, actually. Equal parts reaction and analysis, and 100% spoilers, like, did that even need to be said?

First: MILLIE MY BELOVED. After a season and a half (over five whole years) of some pretty lukewarm development and attention, having this episode start off with Millie being her happy cheerful self is already such a breath of fresh air, especially given the relentless nonstop personal drama Blitzo and Stolas have been part of for the last couple of episodes. It’s great that this episode is starting after a brief time skip, too; feels more natural for an audience that has had three months to process it all. Watching Millie step right into emotional support is amazing, too, for reasons that have been hinted at before; Happy Campers was so good for her and Moxxie’s characters and I’m prepared to fight about it. Having one of the few women in the cast be relegated to “emotional backbone” doesn’t feel as bad when she’s already expressed insecurity about her importance in life, shown that being an unbelievable badass doesn’t always give her the kind of attention she wants, and isn’t afraid to knock the people in her life down a peg when they aren’t supporting her back. Yes that was just from Happy Campers, and this episode reinforces that with further excellent context. But sshh. We’ll get to that later. Time to watch Loona and Moxxie breaking down because they’re sick of Blitzo’s shit but not to the point of leaving him yet (because they love him too shsshhhshshsh).

Interesting that after a few weeks of moping, NOW is when Blitzo is starting to ramp up his destructive behaviors; what tiny glimpses we were allowed to get in the mission shorts showed a Blitzo that was coping but seemed to be holding it together (you’ll pry the idea that Blitzo’s inability to work the crystal in Mission: Antarctica is directly related to his confidence, not his skill, out of my cold dead rotten hands). This sudden left turn into emptying IMP’s bank accounts and forcing Moxxie and Loona to act out his grief with him appears…new. Maybe lying around eating ice cream and cheese (bro) like a sad sack while watching human television isn’t a new behavior, but the Blitzo-level catastrophic destruction masquerading as retail therapy reads to me as a sudden snap, maybe due to the proximity of a certain lunar cycle. It’s certainly looking on par with running three rings to Wrath and maxing out someone else’s credit cards on shitty horse riding lessons (something that, based on the vague timeline I’ve been able to wrangle out of this godforsaken show, Millie wouldn’t have been present for, though to be fair it’s not like Blitzo ever really has a measured emotional response to anything).

(Viv, if you’re listening, consider this a brief cosmic request for Secretary Stolas to help poor Moxxie with this paperwork. Please. PLEASE. PLEEEEASE.)

I love too that Millie’s approach as default team Emotional Intelligence isn’t to meddle, either, because that also shows maturity on her part; letting the grown ass adults around her handle their shit while still being sweet to them is such a good and necessary component of the IMP team. Hang on having another Millie Feelings Moment while trying to have some sort of chronology here.

…it’s entirely purposeful that Bethany Ghostfucker has Charlie’s hair, right? Because they share a voice actress? Which means…Blitzo has now cosplayed some reference of Charlie…THE STREAMS THEY ARE CROSSING.

I also love how nOTHING could have prepared me for realizing that Blitzo’s outfit in this episode is a cosplay. Of a HUMAN. WHO FUCKS GHOSTS. I don’t know why I am so surprised at how literal the title is; this show continues to both sicken and delight me XD (raunchy humor isn’t my thing and Blitzo was definitely pushing it for me this episode, but also…it’s so nicely balanced with the real emotional breakdowns that I can’t even be mad about it)

Anyway, back to Millie and her Emotional Genius: very glad that she realizes what Blitzo is going through requires a little more babying than usual, and VERY glad that she and Blitzo already have an established system for when he needs to be babied and she doesn’t initially cave to it (I will be buying that magnet, thanks Spindlehorse). I also love how Millie encourages Loona to step up and help Moxxie (who also desperately needs some help, but Millie really can’t focus on him right now because she needs to focus on the root of the problem, which is Blitzo), essentially through begging but also just by being her usual kind self. And that quiet little moment of Millie using Loona’s name for maybe the first time ever is just…mwah. Chef’s kiss. No notes.

Sidetracking again to wonder why the subject of ghosts is just now coming up when Blitzo literally has an alert light labeled “Ghost.” Like. I feel like Blitzo believing in ghosts while Millie staunchly does not is such a good dynamic to play with, but also why is this the first that it’s being addressed. XD Okay, I get it, throwaway gag from the first episode that is becoming relevant now and maybe didn’t have that much thought put into it when it was first made, but I can dream. Or pick relentlessly at tiny details while completely missing the bigger picture. It’s fine. I’m fine.

What I’m not fine with is how Blitzo can completely trash the van in nearly the same way two episodes in a row (assuming that IMP going on the run is happening in Mastermind, which is far from a given, but phwoar would it be maximum emotional impact, to have an episode showing IMP finally moving into their shitty office and how much it means to them, only to have it ripped out from under them the next episode LOLOLOLOL). I’m mostly irritable that my prediction was untrue :P Although I am glad that the prediction that this hotel guy was Leviathan was disproven, because let’s be honest, that would make no sense. Some rando infestor demon, though? Totally on point. Also makes sense why he “falls” for Blitzo’s bullshit disguise; he knows they’re imps because he’s also a demon. Something new to play with. Though it’s interesting that even when Rolando goes rooting through Blitzo’s head, he still doesn’t seem to know either of their real names. Informational blind spot? Would make sense, with how the fight goes down, but later. Later.

Side note to wheeze with relief because when I first watched this episode, it was without subtitles, and I thought Igor was wheezing Blitzo’s name. Him saying “bitch” makes more sense actually. That’s fine. It was much creepier thinking he was saying Blitzo’s name actually XD

Listen. Listen. We know that Blitzo sort of self-medicates with sex and sexual humor. We know that he’s loaded his confidence eggs into the competent at sex basket, because his competence at emotions has a body count (literal). Much like how it was painful to watch Blitzo operating at maximum asshole behavior at the beginning of Apology Tour what with his relentless insistence at returning his relationship with Stolas to safter, sexier ground…watching Blitzo try to distract himself with a sexually charged silly new hobby is equally painful. Because for him, sex is surface level, because anything deeper is dangerous (lord above please ignore the innuendo IGNORE IT). If sex happens to come with emotional attachment, he ruthlessly severs it. But Blitzo being horny isn’t the problem, it’s his disregard for the people that get caught up in his horniness (and he certainly knows how to weaponize his raunchy humor and sexual charisma when it suits him). The Scooby Doo antics are hysterical, but watching Millie start to buckle under the strain of indulging Blitzo is as fascinating as it is inevitable. We already know Millie doesn’t have infinite patience even for Moxxie. So to watch her reach her limit with Blitzo when she might be the only person in IMP whom we have never seen snap at him…delicious. Absolutely the best. And GOOD ON HER for snapping at him for cutting her off, which is a thing he does all the time with everyone ever but rarely gets called on (because he’s waltzed off at that point usually).

And, as I dearly hoped, it’s Millie that starts to really get through to Blitzo, not by being gentle, exactly, but by being her refreshing blunt-not-bludgeoning self. She gives Blitzo the reaming he deserves, but doesn’t belittle him about it; she just points out that his behavior is harmful, draws a boundary, and leaves. Exactly what Blitzo needs…though his brain is certainly going to fuck with him about it first, because lol rejection-sensitive dysphoria being exacerbated by fucked up haunted trauma illusions is a BITCH.

When the gif for this episode dropped and it was Blitzo sliding down a ventilation shaft, I never saw a single other person remark on the dark liquid in the corner of the gif sliding down the shaft after him. I didn’t say anything about it either, just noted it and freaked out quietly every time the gif passed me by. NOW KNOWING THE CONTEXT OF THE DARK SLIDING LIQUID MAKES IT WORSE. I already suspected it was blood (Hellborn blood to be exact). I did not suspect that it would be THAT MUCH BLOOD. Though it’s interesting that Blitzo doesn’t recognize it as such, never calls it that, never seems to realize it. So. Maybe it isn’t blood (spoiler: it’s not blood, I am just dumb and didn’t realize what it is until a third viewing, good job me), but it sure as hell resembles Hellborn blood enough that I have the heebie jeebs. And the visuals are just SO CREEPY—Blitzo is practically drowning in it as he’s dumped into a waking nightmare, and like. Blitzo is an assassin by trade now, and we know IMP did a lot of in-Hell contracts before switching to corner the Sinner market, so there would ostensibly be a lot of Hellborn blood on his hands, but he doesn’t care about that. A job’s a job. The blood he feels guilty about…well…we know, okay, I won’t insult y’all’s intelligence by rehashing it, because it’s about to be made real damn obvious anyway.

THE HAUNTED MILLIES BEING ALL THE TIMES SHE COULD HAVE DIED IN PREVIOUS JOBS THOUGH. Bless the people smart enough to pick that up and throw that spaghetti at the wall because folks it STICKS, it’s so obvious and SO GOOD. And SUCH a neat little insight into Blitzo’s head, too: he cares SO MUCH about his employees, his family, and it does actually haunt him, how many close calls they’ve had. It does occur to him that his actions affect others. It’s just never bothered him, certainly not to this degree. I fully blame Apology Tour and Verosika for getting him started on considering how his actions have consequences for other people, how he “hurts other people’s fee-fees” but also routinely leads his team into dangerous situations where his mistakes could cost them all. And these phantom (lol f-word) versions of Millie not only driving this home through the visuals, but saying the quiet part out loud, asking Blitzo if he realizes this about himself? If he’s ever loved someone without hurting them? FUCK.

I said so many times I wanted Blitzo broken in half; I have FEASTED, friends, because Blitzo’s issues are bigger than Stolas and if he doesn’t address them, he won’t ever be happy with himself, let alone with anyone else, romantic or platonic. ALSO, feast upon the intersecting themes between Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel, because “you think you can change?” immediately put me in mind of “addict trash like you doesn’t change,” which…I believe whole-heartedly is something that Val said to Angel, maybe even said in that moment, but the framing of it and Angel’s character arc made it so clear to me that Val’s words had become Angel’s own. Except Angel started proving him wrong. He started struggling, however small and desperately and weakly, to change who he was, to become someone he actually liked instead of what everyone else wanted and liked. Blitzo is in the same boat. Because both of these shows are so much about how hard it can be to become a better version of yourself, especially in a world that’s set against you being that person, that will hurt you for daring to be better, to be different, to be YOURSELF. What Blitzo is going through right now is the emotional beat-down that every person who has ever wanted to self-improve despite (or maybe even because of) trauma or mental illness puts themself through. If you’ve ever been this mean to yourself and driven yourself to a sobbing panic attack, clap your hands (clap clap).

And then the low blow. The tearjerker. The cry-maker.

Teenage Blitzo running to his mother. Calling out for Mama. Telling her about the scary dream he was having. AND SHE COMFORTS HIM. She never turns on him, she’s never angry, she never even flinches as she’s burning alive in front of him. Ghosts aren’t real (sad) and we aren’t ever going to meet Tilla except through other people’s eyes, most likely Blitzo’s, but that double-edged knife of knowing that Blitzo both was so loved and loved so hard back, only to be the one who got her killed…we’ve known as an audience for a while now that this is the biggest burden on Blitzo’s soul, the one thing he may never forgive himself for and can’t conceive of anyone else forgiving, because it’s what’s Fundamentally Wrong with him: he makes everyone’s lives worse. How can he love when he is so completely destruction incarnate? How can he reach out to Moxxie, to Millie, to Loona, to Stolas, to Fizz, when the person dearest to him crumbled to ash in his hands and it’s his own fault?

How can Millie look at him and tell him he’s wrong, that he made her life better?

Fuck hang on cry break FUCK I forgot to remove my eye makeup before doing this lolololol

Okay. Pivoting to scrutinizing this flashback, because the first thing that is immediately apparent to me (besides how hot Millie and Blitzo are DAMN) is how much older and more tired Millie looks. Millie in particular. We’ve become accustomed to Millie looking a certain way, so the new look is certainly exciting, but it’s the expression that’s really the kicker here. She looks hardened and badass, but so, so tired. She’s tired of just being the muscle. She’s tired of scraping by for a buck, and fewer of them than she deserves. My theory that Wrath is saturated with imps of a similar skill set is correct; my theory that Helluva Boss isn’t going to address the class/race issues they’re drawing on in any meaningful way might yet be disproven. Because Millie doesn’t have horrific family trauma. What she has is what every imp has: systemic oppression and its accompanying insecurities. We got hints of this back in Happy Campers, when she was so thrilled to be the center of attention and important and liked, and NOT for how well she kills people. Now it has further context, and is why Millie being the Emotional Support of the team is so important to her as a character: she never thought she could be anything else. She never let herself believe she could be anything but someone’s underpaid goon that was going to die an early death and be as meaningless as everyone told her she was. Until Blitzo and IMP carved out a space for themselves and moved to THE TOP RING IN HELL. The one where Lucifer lives, the one where the Goetia seem to congregate, the one ring that, despite being a flaming hellhole (lol) that is full of weird dead humans and is constantly being beset by angels at least once a year, is considered the one place imps can’t make their mark. Gosh this episode is so important for making so much of that thinly-veiled subtext all throughout Helluva Boss into text, for underlining Striker’s compliment to Blitzo for making a name for himself by owning his own business, for saying EXPLICTLY AND OUT LOUD that imps aren’t even good enough for the shittiest, most moth-eaten office in Pride.

I’m still not holding my breath on Helluva Boss actually solving anything socially within itself, because that seems like a tall order. But it is no longer too much to ask for Stolas to grapple with some pretty heavy questions about his behavior and his preconceived notions, his internal biases and the ways he has hurt Blitzo in return. SECRETARY STOLAS PLEEEEEASE, I AM BEGGING.

Anyway. Time to drool over the fight choreography, first of this fight between Millie and Blitzo, because it’s GORGEOUS. They have what I was hoping so hard for them to have: fighting as a love language XD Blitzo and Millie understand each other on a pretty instinctual, almost primal level; their fight is a dance, not just because they’re both good at it. It’s an extension of their friendship, or what will become their friendship. Their bodies are their most basic communication tool, Millie often through touch and snuggles, and Blitzo through either fighting or fucking, depending on what’s needed. They both have killer instinct, which Moxxie’s anxiety often chokes out within himself and which Loona hasn’t really had the chance to hone.

I also love that moment before Blitzo tips the pool table, the whole “reputation is everything” “Oh yeah? So what’s your reputation?” Because. BECAUSE!! Millie is an exceptional assassin, but in this fight in particular, she is so different from how she is in the rest of the show. She’s a proper Wrathian imp assassin, angry and hard and relentless. Compare that to the beginning of Ozzie’s, when she scuttles into frame holding an axe in her teeth and screeches about how she’s still so jazzed up, clearly amped and so much more joyful than she is during this flashback. Again, said it at least twice, will say it once more: she looks so exhausted, like she’s burning herself out just to make it. And she isn’t a unique case in that regard by any means. It’s working for Blitzo that makes her unique, that gives her joy in her work instead of making her rely on how other people see her. Sinners already don’t care about her or her feelings; her next meal isn’t contingent on appearing as hardened and badass as possible, it’s on a Sinner having a grudge, which is an exclusive meal ticket that only Blitzo could have weaseled them into.

I also want to point out that this fight between Blitzo and Millie? Pretty well mirrored by the fight between Millie and Rolando!Blitzo. The way Millie blocks him with her forearm, the way she slams him into the wall—those are things Blitzo did to her, back during their first fight. Granted, Millie getting the coolest anime punch-stop of all time is something that’s all hers, because Millie is so special and had no idea until she found a new life. She is the happiest imp there ever was and she kicks no less ass for it.

(WHERE IS MY TIMELINE, IMP WAS AROUND FOR A YEAR BEFORE THEY GOT THE BOOK AND THE OFFICE. Unsure of how long after meeting Loona and Moxxie this meeting with Millie takes place, and this does scramble around the timeline of how long Blitzo had the book before Stolas calls to make the arrangement, and where does Moxxie and Millie’s marriage fit into this? They’ve only been married a year, so probably started dating pretty soon after meeting…still have no idea on when Stolas and Blitzo’s first time happened and how long after that was Loo Loo Land. I will tie myself into knots over this, must stop now.)

Anyway. Putting the fights to bed for the moment, gotta get in on those good good BFF snuggles, which will go immediately into Blitzo’s Trauma: The Movie. After Rolando does the honor of driving home the point that yeah, imps have it real fuckin’ bad in Hell canonically and textually and said out loud and everything, thanks for asking.

…oh. Right. Rolando dissolves into black goo. Blitzo wasn’t crawling through a tunnel of blood. It was a tunnel of Rolando. That’s somehow worse. Ah well. My point about Blitzo’s regrets and visually looking like he’s wading through Hellborn blood stands.

Small detail that’s standing out to me in this episode: how much Blitzo is holding his chest during the Rolando fight. Wondering if he’s cupping the pendant he almost lost, or if he’s injured in the chest pretty badly. Which is SO IRONIC if true, because. Y’know. Feelings. His are hurting.

Gosh this fight with Rolando is so scary, though. We’ve never seen infestor demons before (unless you count the Glam sisters, but they weren’t in their element, so to speak), and the power differential between Rolando and Blitzo and Millie is pretty stark. Different from the fight between Striker and Millie and Moxxie, Striker overwhelms with skill. Rolando is overwhelming with power. Don’t you just hate it when higher-class demons have special powers that reinforce the hierarchy? Bullshit. Anyway. THE FIGHT TAKING PLACE NEAR THE POOL IS SO GOOD. Because why wouldn’t an Envy demon have the water advantage? They’re literally fish people. And it’s TENSE OKAY.

BUT NOT AS TENSE AS BLITZO’S TRAUMA: THE MOVIE IS ABOUT TO BE.

I find it particularly significant that Rolando licks up the scarred side of Blitzo’s neck and then says a few minutes later that Blitzo’s level of insecurity is “intoxicating.” Yeah I imagine he’s super tasty to demons who feed on that kind of thing. See previous horrific trauma hallucination. Which I now have reason to believe wasn’t based entirely in reality; we already know all the Millies didn’t die that way, and now a snapshot of Blitzo finding the pendant in the wreckage. He didn’t watch his mom burn to death, not the way he was forced to watch in this episode. Goddamn. Rolando is an asshole, huh?

The Cash backslap really took me aback, actually, not just because Blitzo flinches away from it. The stills show that Cash does it while holding Blitzo’s still-burned wrist in his other hand, so this is really soon after the fire; one has to wonder if Cash did it because Blitzo caused his mother’s death, or if it’s just for the circus. Hard to get a read on Cash, no idea what his attitude towards Tilla is besides a gleeful willingness to use her to manipulate his son. I suppose I’m also shocked because I never really doubted that Cash probably hit Blitzo at least a little, but…a backhand, to me, reads of casual violence, something that’s done without much thinking about it. The way Stella reared back to backhand Stolas and we know by her shocked expression that he’s never caught her wrist to avoid the impact before. Terrible comparison, by the way, and by terrible I mean great but causing me emotional distress. I hadn’t suspected that Cash was likely just as physically abusive as he was emotionally abusive towards Blitzo. Nice to have the confirmation. I hate it here.

Okay, because I haven’t seen the screenshots anywhere yet: first scene of Millie and Moxxie is from Murder Family when Moxxie unties them. Second…I don’t know, actually, and I’m embarrassed to admit that. Maybe Truth Seekers? I could make the argument for Exes and Oohs if Moxxie was in a wedding dress, but I’m not sure. Any of the many times Blitzo has intruded on their time together, I suppose. And, fun fact: the shots that are playing in Blitzo’s eyes when Rolando forces Blitzo’s eyes open are the ones of Fizz and Verosika in Ozzie’s again. In case that was information you wanted. It’s also upsetting that Loona in LA is part of the reel of Blitzo Thinking Everyone Hates Him, because the fight in Spring Broken at least makes sense to flashback to. Though I do keep forgetting, constantly and with an insistence that infuriates me, that Loona and Blitzo were also having a fight during Seeing Stars and when she kicks him off of her at the end, it’s while Blitzo is apologizing for threatening to replace her.

I find it very interesting that there’s a split-second of Barb that cuts in when the Stolas part of the reel plays; it’s so fast, but right after Blitzo pulls away from Stolas’ hand in Ozzie’s, there’s a second shot of Barb as she’s yelling at him in Happy Campers. Significance? Probably that their separation hurts him just as much as his current one with Stolas, he’s just had more time to try and get used to it. Or represses it more.

Oh hey. Blitzo in his head is back in uniform, crystal and all. Nice. I didn’t even realize it. (…Crystal and all. Like it’s become part of his self-image already. HMMM.)

So interesting that Rolando chooses the most obvious pressure points to try and get to Millie…without realizing that coming out of Blitzo’s mouth, it completely robs them of power BECAUSE of their heart to heart. Millie already knows in her core that Blitzo rejects that image of her, because it’s an image of himself that he also rejects and he refuses to let her wallow in it. Their friendship is built on, well, building each other up in that way. Why in fuck would Millie listen to this asshole wax on and on about how she’s a lowborn inbred hick (what the fuck dude) when he’s currently possessing the guy who helped her break that image of herself? Like. Come on, asshole, use your brain, not your bigotry. But I guess that’s also the point of this episode, showing with explicit clarity that IMP is special because of all the anti-imp sentiment they’ve had to wade through and dismantle within themselves, so why would a supposedly “superior” demon think he had to hit any harder or more precise than that? Also. Though. The careless way Rolando is just throwing around Blitzo’s body is pretty sickening.

Special moment of silence for how Millie knows that Blitzo can take a beating that few others can and uses that to expel Rolando. I’m not crying. It’s fine.

“You’re dead, Bethany!” This is. Such a weird thing to say. Especially when you just went on a pleasure cruise through this guy’s deepest darkest fears. You can pull out what haunts him in the night, but not his name?? Counterpoint: he didn’t CARE to pull out Blitzo’s name. Because he’s an imp.

The knocking Rolando into the pool thing was hysterical, though. Such an anticlimax. Right before the electrocution and the eye-popping and all. Lol.

“FUCK hotels!” Says the man who was casually cosplaying an aspect of the princess of Hell who runs a hotel. I love these shows. I love the casual interplay between them. A crossover one day would be the best thing ever.

“I’ve never had a real friend that I didn’t want to fuck.” That is such a blisteringly honest thing for Blitzo to say that I don’t think he expected it to come out of his own mouth. And I love that Millie knows it has nothing to do with her and everything to do with Blitzo, and how Blitzo feels about Stolas. I just don’t think Blitzo realized he felt that way until he said it out loud.

And wrapping this all up with a nice bow with some Loona and Moxxie character growth, where she ACTUALLY takes care of him instead of leaving him to his own devices! Giving half a shit prevents arson, folks, love to see it.

This had the exact structure of Truth Seekers that got me hooked on this show in the first place: cutting the raunchy humor (which is hit or miss with me, usually don’t like it overmuch) with really deep, complex, and honest character moments. The way Blitzo mentors both Moxxie and Millie in different ways while still relying on them is just so satisfying. Even more satisfying is seeing Blitzo change from a one-note loud pervert into a complicated guy who has real feelings about other people and doesn’t actively want to hurt the people he cares about because he DOES CARE. He’s a fuckup, and he’s trying, and it’s so, so, SO good.

I’m sure I have forgotten to wax eloquent about something or other, but it’s almost four hours later and definitely almost five thousand words into this thing, so I’m gonna cut myself off here. Toodles! See you all in November for Mastermind, which is gonna be FINE I’m sure!!

[lowkeyrobin]

Curious about MCYT with a partner that's usually calm and collected, suddenly being super angry at someone bothering them, maybe almost fighting the person brothering them? (Btw i really love your writing, it's super fun to read!!)

ooooo okay !! I see the vision, hopefully I pulled it off LMAO ; also thank you so much!! that means so much to me, I feel like my writings really corny and dumb sometimes and too boring so thank you, it means a lot to me 🫶🫶🫶

MCYT ; fire in the twilight

includes ; tommyinnit, ranboo, badlinu, nihachu, & quackity

warnings ; language, talk about SA/perverts/men being weird

masterlist

TOMMYINNIT

you're a very calm person

but when you get mad you get maddddd

he's surprised you haven't beaten the shit out of him yet

someone was being kinda weird at a meet and greet at vidcon and you were already stressed and overstimulated from taking pictures with everyone and signing merch and youtooz (guys should I try buying the slimecicle plushie? I don't wanna support a bad company but he's so cute :()

someone took a picture of you stretching where your shirt lifted a bit and showed off your midsection

Tommy saw and immediately called them out while you were taking a solo pic w a fan

when you heard him you just froze and nearly yelled

"Hey, please delete that. out of your trash too, seriously"

"Dude, fucking delete that shit. that's not okay, actually."

you end up nearly beating the shit out of the person....

then comes the Twitch apology 😭😭

you nearly went into a spiral explaining that it's never okay to take photos of ppl without them knowing, no matter when or where

he feels really bad for you but you're able to sit down and calm down to your usual self 🫶🫶🫶

RANBOO

you were getting fed up with how people were treating you and them online and just kinda lost it on stream

your chat was filled with assholes wondering where people were and why you hadn't publicly talked to them in over 12 hours and what your plans with everything were etc etc

"Dude, please stop. all of you. for weeks this has been going on, stop putting me and ranboo on these pedestals and expecting shit from us. seriously, it's horrible for both of us and our health. if you wanna see Tubbo or Tommy, go watch them! they're both live right now. Seriously, it's not funny and it's not gonna make us pump out more content and do what you want. we're people too, we get sad and burned out and tired. eventually content creation gets unfun and you won't get what you want. behave yourselves and do better. we don't owe you anything"

ranboo literally tears up a bit because he was watching the stream in the other room and could hear you, and you were visibly tearing up

you could feel your hands shaking and you just kind of ended the stream because you were so worked up and didn't wanna do it anymore

he immediately wrapped you in a hug because you were just so angry

gave you a pillow to punch and left you be for a while

you're usually very calm but your emotions exploded when you were bottling it up too much

they understood that but their heart bled for you after that, especially w all the hate that came from it :/

FREDDIE BADLINU

people were throwing things at you on stage during Tommy's live show

you played it off as jokes and were fine with jt because they were doing it sneakily in a fun way, roses, kandi bracelets, plushies etc, until someone threw their bra at you

"Okay, can we not?" You scrunch your eyebrows, looking into the crowd as you throw the bra back into the crowd. "That's fucked, don't ever do that again, learn event etiquette. never throw your bras on a fucking stage, it's weird and disgusting"

Freddie looks over at you, standing next to Tommy, giving you a "Holy shit are you okay?" look while also looking for the culprit trying to get their bra back

Tommy instantly stopped the show to reprimand the person

meanwhile Freddie was whispering to you to make sure you were okay

you were pissed but put your big kid pants on and continued the show

you apologized on Twitter after the show because you were really loud and kind of humiliated the people but you were justified with the situation

the people (and the girl who owned the bra) apologized and the situation was over

Freddie feels so bad bc you're so calm and laid back but ppl always have to test your limits :(

NIKI NIHACHU

people were filming you two out in public and taking pictures and you kinda lost it that they weren't listening to niki, telling them to kindly stop

"can you stop taking pictures? she's uncomfortable, please stop." you speak in a stern voice

the fans just like stare at you in shock because you're usually very calm and chill and you basically yelled at them (you reprimanded them because one it's the law two you both didn't want to be disturbed on your walk)

you're in a miserable mood the whole way home because yk how twitters gonna act when they see that

you quickly make a statement before any video leaks or anything, addressing the situation and apologizing to the strangers

ppl got ur back tho and showed support considering they were filming you on a nice walk without consent

she feels so bad seeing you get upset about it and feels like it's her fault

lots of reassuring her that it's never her fault and you're always happy to defend her and you don't mind getting a little loud to defend her

ALEX QUACKITY

you got really upset with someone harassing a bunch of creators during the qsmp Brazil meetup

"Dude, leave them alone. they don't want to take a picture with you and they don't owe you anything! you're being creepy to all those women right now, do you not realize that or something?"

you were furious seeing that many on your friends, even while on a trip, couldn't just not be harassed by men

the weirdo scurried off but you were literally this close to fighting the fucker

you were seething dude, like, shaking because you were so astonished someone could actually be that pushy and that much of a dick over a picture

Alex wrapped you in a tight hug and just squeezed you until you calmed down while the poor people who were harassed had reassured you that they were okay and that they appreciated and thanked you for standing up for them

Alex genuinley apologizes because the way you reacted just proved to him that you definitely are calm and laid back but when you got angry, you got angry

he feels so bad because you had to stand up for your friends and watch them be harassed and shit

[pixiecaps]

I don't watch Ironmouse's streams but your clips got me intrigued. Does Connor go around doing IRL streams for her because she's immunocompromised and can't travel? If so that is incredibly sweet. I knew at the Streamer Awards he's usually in charge of her vtuber tablet so she can be there but I didn't know it ran deeper

yeah exactly that!

i’ll try to summarize it so about three years ago i’d say connor and mousey did their first stream together just regular gaming etc. and they got along very well! and as they became friends he obviously became more aware of mouseys situation with her condition and he started doing irl streams for her to show her around places since she cant go outside. he usually plans stuff around what she wants to see and do so hes done irl streams around japan, san francisco, a sailor moon museum!!, usually they do christmas streams where he takes her to see the lights and all the festivities (these are my favorites), he once took her to a flower garden she really wanted to see, an aquarium which was a very visually pretty stream, and now this is the second time hes taking mousey to disneyland and showing her the rides. for all these streams he usually gets some type of permission to tour and stream it like the sailor moon one was crazy they got the museum privately opened for only them that day for that stream. and usually in these streams mousey will ask for connor to buy her many things that he then ships to her so over the years shes collected many souvenirs from all these places

and over those three years shes also been able to attend events like the streamer awards and twitchcons where connor is usually in charge of her tablet. its always safe to assume that if mousey is there then connor will be as well

he also started doing annual cyclothons that are irl charity streams where he cycles around japan for so fucking long raising money for the Immune Deficiency Foundation to support mousey and her condition. this year he actually raised a million!! which was crazy. and mousey is always there as well virtually watching on her own stream cheering him on :)

outside of all that irl content they stream together a lot! and support each others content like connor has his own character in mouseys demon lore and even made a song with her (which if you didnt know mousey does music) its all very sweet. i highly recommend watching any content they make together

[kay-claire]

What really gets me with the whole watcher thing is that like, there are ways for them to have made this decision without it going so horribly wrong. Like they could have said "hey we want to be more independent and not rely on platforms like Patreon and YouTube as heavily as we currently do. So moving forward we will be moving all our Patreon content over to our new streaming platform. Content will be posted there a week/month earlier than YouTube, and we will still be posting our regular content on YouTube, but we hope that you will consider joining our new streaming platform in the future." and THEN, after a few months, they could have said "We're planning to make brand new shows that will be exclusive to our new platform, and we'll share the pilots of those shows on YouTube, but after that the rest of the episodes will only be available on that platform. All your favourite Watcher shows will still continue to be made and posted to YouTube, but reminder that they're available earlier on our streaming platform." Or something like that, that could have been a gradual change. People would have still probably been like "lol no" but they wouldn't be unsubscribing in droves.

Asking people to pay $6 a month for a new platform that doesn't have any content on it currently, and they only put out 1 video a week?? This was never going to work. People are willing to spend $5 on Patreon a month to support their favourite creators, but there's a big difference between supporting someone's Patreon and paying for a product they used to be able to get for free.

(Also why the fuck was the announcement video 14 minutes long?? I skipped to the very end to just see the actual announcement, did anyone even watch the whole sob story?)

[rubra-wav]

If I don’t ask now, I won’t remember later ANYWAYS

I am just itching for hurt/no comfort for no reason(well there is a reason, I just spent the last hour reading Lucifer x reader angst) I really want just any character of your choosing romantic angst no comfort and maybe a breakup because why not

-🦋anon :3

Lucifer x reader : Twice divorced

A/N I've been itching to write Lucifer more so it's also gonna be about him. Hope you're ready to watch this man fall apart :)(bro watch ME fall apart writing this)

Also new banner (happy happy happy)

Cw: Angst no comfort, gn!reader, both parties are suffering, they don't actually get divorced they just kinda. Agree to separate for a bit?

- You'd been together with Lucifer for a short time before getting married.

- You guessed that was the main mistake.

- It's unfortunate to say, but you underestimated your own ability to properly keep yourself happy and secure in helping him unravel everything.

- 4 months into your marriage, Lilith showed up and shit absolutely hit the fan. Lucifer locked himself away upon her showing up again under the guise of 'not putting it onto you'

- This frankly broke you.

- You'd spent 2 years knowing Lucifer and helping him, and all that was undone in what seemed like 10 minutes of her showing up, spewing some nonsense about how you should get out before he burnt out again like after falling and took you with him.

- It was undeniably her fault. You didn't blame Lucifer.

- But you weren't some unmoving, unemotional wall of a person.

- It hurt so fucking badly being treated like you couldn't handle your own husband by him after his ex showed up.

- You knew you had to get out, or you would go insane.

- You walked to Lucifer's door, suitcase wheels loudly dragging on the floor.

- Lucifer opened the door before you even had the chance to knock on it, hand suspended mid-knock as his panicked expression was revealed.

- He'd heard the familiar sound before from Lilith.

- You watched Lucifers red eyes look down at the suitcase, wide eyes recognising his worst fear being confirmed.

- "Oh.." He simply said quietly.

- You felt your own heart aching at his reaction, as if he was expecting it, but forced yourself to continue. "... Yeah." You said hesitantly.

- The silence beat between you two, and you grit your teeth, a hard lump formed in your throat, and you fought against crying.

- Lucifer let out a soft chuckle filled with no kind of happiness, smiling at you with tears streaming down his face. "You know... I really thought this would be different. I.." he trailed off with a loud hiccup. "I'm sorry." He mumbled.

- You hummed, fighting to find words to say as you blinked hard.

- "I do love you, Lulu. This. This doesn't change that and I don't think anything will." You said very truthfully, voice shaking.

- Lucifer looked back at you in surprise, hope on his face.

- "But, I also love me too. And I think to love me as well I need to distance myself from this until you're somewhat over.. whatever this is." You gestured to his depression storm of a room and then to his messy, unkempt appearance.

- Lucifer wanted to get you to stay. But he couldn't bring himself to.

- It became obvious in that moment how he'd hurt you in his relapse, and he didn't want to hurt you even more by convincing you to be around him.

- It would be wrong to expect you to be able to support him while he couldn't do the same for you at all.

- He gulped loudly and slowly nodded despite the painful emptiness that he could feel consuming him even more.

- "I'm sorry, (name)." He apologised again, "I..." There was so much he wanted to say, but he couldn't put it into words.

- Another moment of silence passed as you waited for him to finish his sentence.

- "Just leave." It came out harsh, and he internally screamed at himself to not, but he couldn't stop himself. "Do as she said, and leave before I hurt you anymore." Lucifer's voice trembled, but anger made itself clear regardless.

- His mind raced in a mess of negativity that he just couldn't think clearly through.

- You felt your stomach drop, hurt hitting through you. Part of you wanted to bite back, but you were just exhausted already from this exchange.

- Wordlessly, you turned away from him, knuckles white from where you were clutching your suitcase hard.

- You barely felt in the moment as you made your way to the heavy front door of Lucifer's estate, spirits at rockbottom.

- You hesitated in front of it, thinking you were making a mistake doing this, then remembered the way his tear filled eyes glared at you as if daring you to fulfill his expectations.

- All he could see was Lilith in you. It was like you didn't even exist.

- Click. Thud.

- The loud sound of the door closing and you taking all the warmth you brought to his home with it.

- Lucifer sat down in the doorway of his room, staring blankly ahead, thoughts an absolute mess.

- He laughed, before letting out a loud shuddering sob as he leaned up against the door frame, hugging his knees to his chest and burying his face in them.

- "How do I somehow manage to ruin everything good?"

Ow 💀

[darlington-v]

going through tumblr for posts supporting shubble and what she went through, when it is mostly people talking about whether or not it was wilbur. like not many are actually talking about shubble or the shit she went through or how brave she is for talking about it, so i want to.

before i start, i'm not going to shy away from the fact that she is talking about wilbur. i as a third-party am able to call him out right where shubble isn't at liberty to. i'm not going to talk about him, though, which is the point. i want to focus on shubble.

that being said, the shit wilbur put them through was horrific. i really wish shubble the absolute best and i really think that she is so endlessly brave for going on stream to talk about this when they wouldn't know how the public would have reacted, and to share such a place of vulnerability to an audience. that's so hard and so scary, especially up against a public figure.

she said she felt like the bravest person in the world by telling her story, and she absolutely was.

shubble said that when she realized she was being abused she was so angry at herself. and when she talked about how it was just a slow incline of it getting worse and worse, it's so... i dont know shubble but i feel so deeply for her. because she wasn't stupid. she was choosing to believe the best in someone, over and over again and it is despicable for it to be exploited but it is nothing to be ashamed or feel stupid about. and i think her telling her story is just more evident of how big of a person, how courageous they are because like... them telling her story WILL help people. it helped me. it helped reassure me of my own experiences and it just really helped reinstate that like.

it's not crazy to be nice to someone, it's not crazy or bad to believe in the best in someone. and at the end of it, when you've been exploited, it's not your fault. and you're not wrong for prioritizing yourself and choosing yourself over them when you do leave. even if it feels small because it didn't feel violent enough, it didn't feel close enough to the image of abuse you had in your head. you're not crazy for choosing to leave a place or a person who hurts you.

wilbur soot hurt shubble repeatedly, he bit her to the point where she was bruising and he did it in front of their fucking friends. he showed the bruises off to their friends. it got to the point where he was biting her every fucking day, multiple times a day, and hurting her on purpose.

he took advantage of shubble and her kindness. he made her feel like she had to lie about what she was going through, was fine with keeping the relationship as bad as it was because of his own choices to not rise above and actually meet not just her emotionally, but his own emotions, and she was able to put herself above all of that and get out.

i'm really glad she's okay now, that she's had the opportunity to heal, and feels safe enough to talk about this and warn others not only of wilbur but also of how abuse can look in ways you don't expect it to.

here's an archive link to the vod. it's literally just 30 minutes long and i think it's a very important watch, theres a lot of really dangerous behavior from wilbur that she talks about that's important to know about. not only because it's important information about this individual, but it is important to know what abuse looks like and how it can feel so minor when you're in the middle of it until it gets to a breaking point.

i'm glad shubble had friends and resources who helped her feel like her experiences werent less than, were very real, because it helps solidify it not just for herself but also to everyone she can reach out to by talking about this.

[malachiexists13]

//tw: mention of abuse, talk of manipulation, the wilbur situation

Wilbur's apology was such bullshit, but you know what's also bullshit? Some people's complete and utter lack of awareness about what a MANIPULATOR is. Manipulators lie, they gaslight and deceive you into believing them. And it fucks you up so badly that you struggle to remember details or even trust your own gut about a person. That is what Wilbur Soot has done to Shelby and so many others.

Just because a CC hasn't spoken out against Wilbur yet, doesn't mean they support his actions. Wilbur has been lying and manipulating people for YEARS. Shelby said it took her ten months of therapy just to even realize what happened to her was abuse. And you expect CCs who were close to Wilbur to speak up in less than an hour after his shitty apology?

Content Creators are people too, and I feel like too many of us forget that. And they were likely manipulated by Wilbur just like Shelby was. Possibly even on stream where viewers took it as a 'bit'. If you want to drop the MCYT community, do it. Go find something else to watch. But there is no need to shit on and think the worst of creators before you walk out the door. They are still people, and they thought Wilbur was their friend. We don't know what happens behind the scenes so we have no right to judge.

I did not watch Shelby's stream or her VOD, but from what I've heard, Shelby said Wilbur's friends were mostly unaware and not to attack them. I've even seen screenshots of her liking tweets that also say to not attack people associated with Wilbur. They are NOT her abuser, Wilbur is. Give them time before you start attacking them, as they were likely very affected by Wilbur's behavior too. Tommy, for example, was 15 when he met Wilbur. He was a CHILD. It's been almost five years. And he had just gotten surgery barely a week before Shelby told her story. Not to mention, his tour coming up. Assuming Tommy would side with an abuser all because he's yet to talk about the situation shows how much of an asshole YOU are.

And don't push people to tell their story either. You are not owed ANYTHING. Let people speak up when they're ready to. Shelby is already so brave by being able to tell her story. Show some respect by letting others who may have been hurt too have time to process before you hound and harass them.

Have some empathy, treat CCs like actual people, and be patient. Assuming the worst of everyone in life will get you nowhere. It costs you nothing to be patient and understanding.

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

Do you think something snapped in the dynamic between army and taehyung? It's kinda crazy to me seeing so many people openly admit that they don't want him there~ some of the people I follow on social media are very close to coming out as jikook ot2 but I have also seen actual ot7 armys say that even though they'd like to see content from different subunits within bts they don't feel like V was a necessary addition to the show. Many jikookers who used to swear they loved all members and they were nothing like taekookers were openly shading V on main and, even though from most of them I don't see the absolute malice and disgust taekookers have to talk about jimin, it is now pretty obvious that they can't stand V at all. I'm not actually mad about this, I think it would be healthy for army to move into a mindset where it's acceptable not to like everything they do or not loving all members. I mean, I've always been a fan of bands where I love some members and I don't know or actually don't give a fuck about others lmao so getting into kpop and seeing that not loving every member of a group as if they were your children was treated as a crime against humanity was kind of insane to me, but yeah, seeing this sudden change has been interesting

I think V has become one of the most divisive members. His solo music wasn't very impactful, either in terms of popularity or artistry, and most of the content he released was variety with non-members and photoshoots, which isn't necessarily the content fans want. On top of that, there's the whole Jennie thing, him working with MHJ, and even people judging him for some of his Wooga squad friends. I think the other members' solo ventures resonated more with Army, so he probably isn't as talked about anymore.

And of course Taekookers hating Jimin would create resentment among Jikookers, staining their opinion on V. Since Jungkook and V hung out so much in chapter 2 while Jikook's bond was constantly questioned, a lot of Jikookers are angry at V, even though it's not his fault. However, V dropping a pic with JK when Muse came out and AYS got announced, without acknowledging Muse at all, made a lot of Jikookers pretty mad, as they interpreted V's post as an attack against Jimin and Jikook. And that's not even the first time Jikookers accused V of not supporting Jimin or fueling Taekookers. If it weren't for Taekookers, Jikookers wouldn't even be upset about any of this... This is what happens in fandoms...

But I haven't seen the same treatment towards V from non-Jikookers though, even if V, imo, doesn't have the same standing in the fandom as before. I think his path in chapter 2 diverged from what the other members chose to do, in terms of priorities, which kind of separated him from BTS and the fandom a bit. He's still well loved though.

And being OT7 to me has always meant appreciating the group as a whole and respecting each member and dynamic individually. I love BTS and each member as family, but I've never felt the same about all of them. Jungkook is the only member I have true devotion for. I love, defend, keep up with, and appreciate the others members, but without the same drive. I'm also a lot more interested in Jimin than the other 5 members, and while I love Jin as much as Jimin, the content he releases isn't for me, so I'm not looking that forward to it (just the album and performances + Run Jin to a lesser extent). This is all personal taste. Love and loving someone to the point of being able to stream their music all day are two different things. Love is a spectrum, and we don't love or need any two people the same.

The fandom is very OT7 because Armys know there are many solos, shippers, and people who hate one of the members. BTS are strong as seven, as a group, so Army can't let the fandom fracture. It would lead to worse results for BTS and make the fandom more toxic and unruly. Armys need to be organized, focused, and share the same goals. They also like to cover all bases and ensure BTS don't have any weak links. Moreover, OT7 is part of BTS's branding and something BTS themselves are very committed to, and Army always defend BTS's interests. Promoting OT7 is strategic in many ways. It's also a way for fans to recognize like minded fans. But no one is truly OT7 in the sense of treating and loving all seven members the same. That's practically impossible.

[wutlaikalikes]

a blog of an unfortunately frustrating night…

for your sanity just scroll past, also tldr.

After the Unrailed gang unveiled their official name of Unplan from a karaoke collab on Rikka's channel, I got up to get ready for bed but as always I did check twitter for a bit before bathing. The first I read is the graduation notice of Vesper and Magni. I was hoping all this time that it's just an extended suspension. When Vesper was first suspended he didn't come back right away so I was just waiting.

I was fucking annoyed cause I’m still elated from Unplan's new original song. Sure they waited for the collab to be over but their song is going to be released an hour after the collab! I can't imagine what Unplan is feeling at the moment, their hard work that they have planned for months only to be overshadowed by this devastating news. Seriously, holostars management/hololive pr team, impeccable timing as always. I still haven't forgotten what the management/pr team did during Uyu's 3D stream.

please stream, comment and support their song

【MV】superior stars ／ unplan 【アルランディス×影山シエン×律可×花咲みやび】

I couldn't help but be mad. I was thinking when they come back I won’t be that person that would demand why they were suspended, I would just welcome them back! But as soon as i saw the announcement, I can’t help but want to know what the f*** happened!!

Then I suddenly remembered the cover, the 21 Stars song cover. And as soon as I posted that, another announcement that they'll delay the release.

I know they'll remove them from the song. I get it, legal rights stuff. but it doesn't hurt to ask.

I was just annoyed at this point because I know regardless of what I say or post on the internet, I can't do anything!! I actually wrote a letter that I was gonna turn into art and post tomorrow but I guess I'll just show the draft here…

I was sitting in two waiting rooms last night, Axel's announcement video and Unplan's song release.

I was calming myself before I said anything stupid. I just started to scroll and scroll on twitter. Somehow knowing that there are others like me, who are frustrated about this situation, calms me. I wasn't crying. I think the reason i wasnt is because I know where to follow them. Yes, I’m talking about the past life of Vesper and active account of Magni. Honestly, I’m kinda following prof’s account and saw a post that he won’t be streaming and has some things to finish. I already felt bad about it but I was just hoping for the best.

What made me sad were three posts. Posts from their senpai; Astel, Rio and Oga. Sure Astel and Rio managed to collab with Vesper and Magni but Oga didn't have his chance. I know Oga and Vesper collaborated during Aruran's telephone game but that is Aruran’s stream. The difference is that Rio and Magni, Vesper and Astel with Altare, were able to bond somehow through a game for an hour. I can imagine a drawing collab with Oga, Gamma, Iofi and Magni, with Iofi as a translator.

Astel said he wasn't feeling well but still he sang for Vesper and Magni to thank them for being part of Holostars. And as always stated his desire for Kira to come back, I want Kira back too.

【Sing】TY / アステル

I just want to express more of my frustrations over this timing.

I kinda can already tell something was wrong when Holostars Rust season 2 was suddenly announced last week. Temma was very vague about it when he was planning season 2, so I was quite surprised about last week's announcement. Sure, management paid for season 2's trophy and got us hyped by releasing a highlight video, but all this feels like bribery, even a distraction from what is about to happen.

Tempus announced that they won’t be streaming which is understandable. I wouldn’t want them to be on stream with emotional Vesties, Magmites, Tempuras and Starlights. But I also don’t like this start for Holostars Rust season 2. But the JP boys are still going to stream so I hope you can support them. Let's help them make this event another success!

At this point, I’m just annoyed. I wanted to know what happened and if there was anything that I could have done to prevent this graduation. I know most Vesties and Magmites feel that they weren’t able to show enough love and support to have them stay. But honestly, regardless of how vague that announcement is, I can’t blame anyone for thinking that something happened behind the scenes. Vesper and Magni are excited to be part of Holostars. Vesper even went off script during his debut to say how happy he is to be part of Holostars.

My wish is that Vesper and Magni’s archive will stay intact. Regardless though, I will make time to save Vesper’s cover of Shinigami and Magni’s original song Copium. As much as I want to save Magni and Rio’s Human Fall Flat stream and Vesper’s Project Zomboid streams, I don’t have a lot of time and memory space. I also wish that they keep their Minecraft builds, unlike what they did to Kaoru’s build which they removed from the JP server. I can just hope at this point.

I can’t stress this enough, support your oshi as best you can. You don’t really need to spend money simply sharing their streams and posts, making drawings and memes, commenting on their videos and interacting on chat helps. The algorithm is a crazy thing, your interactions leave impressions on their posts that actually help boost them up.

For those who are in the Holostars community because of Vesper and Magni, we won’t hold it against you if you decide to leave. It’s your time to spend and not ours to control but you are welcome to stay and you are always welcome to come back.

I wish nothing but success for Vesper and Magni. I’ll miss them for sure.

[eddwardtheseventhspacewizard]

I ranted a shit ton so summery: Updates are supposed to be free, fuck corps, yo ho ho, use that cash to support smaller groups and individual artists and the people actually working on the games you enjoy, and basic needs should be free btw.

I put my rant under the cut so I don’t accidentally eat someone’s dash

I got really into Cult of The Lamb last month and an update recently came out. Before it came out I kept seeing people asking “how much will it cost”Like bestie, it’s an UPDATE. Updates are supposed to be free. If it’s not it’s dlc. I saw articles talking about how “crazy” it is that they’re giving us a “free update” like updates are supposed to be free! What world are you all from!!?? What games, what companies have done this to you!?!? Who tricked you into thinking dlcs and updates are the same?!?! Who is making you pay for everything??!! I was talking to my mom the other day and she plays the sims 4. She hasn’t been able to play for a year so now there’s a ton of packs and stuff. She was agonizing over what she wanted because “I already see over a hundred dollars of stuff I want!”. I have all the sims 4 content. You know why? I don’t respect EA. The internet is a marvelous thing with some smart people. People who also don’t respect EA. I’m not necessarily saying we should all become pirates but when companies get stupid and expect people to pay for stuff that should be pretty basic like seasons in a fucking life simulator I stop caring. I haven’t bought shit for the sims but I have payed for all the cosmetic packs in Cult of The Lamb. It’s almost like when you do good with your thing and don’t make basic shit and set it for 30 bucks people actually respect you. I’ve seen lots of other people say they’ve also bought all the packs for Cult of Them Lamb even if they don’t use them. Why? They like the game and the creators and want to support them. Hey, while I’m talking about piracy I’m gonna mention the bullshitery that is streaming services. I’m not fucking paying for three subscriptions to watch My Little Pony but you know what I will do? Find it online. Maybe if the whole show was in one spot I wouldn’t have turned to pirates. Maybe if companies didn’t try to get every penny from me I’d give them a few dollars. Maybe I respect smaller groups and individuals more than companies because I’ve personally seen them have a better track record with morality. Maybe it’s just that companies aren’t people and I don’t humanize them but I will do so with small teams. Idk, capitalism sucks the joy out of live and everyone deserves food, shelter, water, clothes, healthcare, and to fucking live. I wouldn’t be so mad about dumb ass prices on fun things if the things people literally need to live weren’t so damn expensive. Call me crazy but I don’t think things people will die without should have a price on them.

it really is unbelievable that gamers aren't the most anticapitalist demographic ever. like imagine if mobile game devs had their needs met and could make actual videogames instead of brainless filler between ads for other games that are also brainless filler between ads. imagine if games didn't need to be shoved out the door a year before they're ready filled with microtransactions because shareholders wanna see a line go up. imagine if studios were owned and run by the people making the games and not business bros who have never touched a videogame. how is this not an automatically won battle

[punisheddonjuan]

How I ditched streaming services and learned to love Linux: A step-by-step guide to building your very own personal media streaming server (V2.0: REVISED AND EXPANDED EDITION)

This is a revised, corrected and expanded version of my tutorial on setting up a personal media server that previously appeared on my old blog (donjuan-auxenfers). I expect that that post is still making the rounds (hopefully with my addendum on modifying group share permissions in Ubuntu to circumvent 0x8007003B "Unexpected Network Error" messages in Windows 10/11 when transferring files) but I have no way of checking. Anyway this new revised version of the tutorial corrects one or two small errors I discovered when rereading what I wrote, adds links to all products mentioned and is just more polished generally. I also expanded it a bit, pointing more adventurous users toward programs such as Sonarr/Radarr/Lidarr and Overseerr which can be used for automating user requests and media collection.

So then, what is this tutorial? This is a tutorial on how to build and set up your own personal media server using Ubuntu as an operating system and Plex (or Jellyfin) to not only manage your media, but to also stream that media to your devices both at home and abroad anywhere in the world where you have an internet connection. This is a tutorial about how building a personal media server and stuffing it full of films, television shows and music that you acquired through indiscriminate and voracious media piracy legal methods such as ripping your own physical media to disk, you’ll be free to completely ditch paid streaming services. No more will you have to pay for Disney+, Netflix, HBOMAX, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Peacock, CBS All Access, Paramount+, Crave or any other streaming service that is not named the Criterion Channel (which is actually good). If you want to watch your favourite films and television shows, you’ll have your own custom service that only features things that you want to see, and where you have control over your own files and how they’re delivered to you. And for music fans out there, both Jellyfin and Plex support music streaming, meaning you can even ditch music streaming services. Goodbye Spotify, Youtube Music, Tidal and Apple Music, welcome back unreasonably large MP3 (or FLAC) collections.

On the hardware front, I’m going to offer a few options catered towards various budgets and media library sizes. The cost of getting a media server up and running using this guide will cost you anywhere from $450 CAD/$325 USD at the entry level to $1500 CAD/$1100 USD at the high end. My own server was priced closer to the higher figure, with much of that cost being storage. If that seems excessive, consider for a moment, maybe you have a roommate, a close friend, or a family member who would be willing to chip in a few bucks towards your little project provided they get a share of the bounty. This is how my server was funded. It might also be worth thinking about cost over time, how much you spend yearly on subscriptions vs. a one time cost of setting up a server. Additionally there's just the joy of being able to scream "fuck you" at all those show cancelling, movie deleting, hedge fund vampire CEOs who run the studios through denying them your money. Drive a stake through David Zaslav's heart.

On the software side I will walk you step-by-step through installing Ubuntu as your server's operating system, configuring your storage as a RAIDz array with ZFS, sharing your zpool to Windows with Samba, running a remote connection between your server and your Windows PC, and then a little about started with Plex/Jellyfin. Every terminal command you will need to input will be provided, and I even share a custom #bash script that will make used vs. available drive space on your server display correctly in Windows.

If you have a different preferred flavour of Linux (Arch, Manjaro, Redhat, Fedora, Mint, OpenSUSE, CentOS, Slackware etc. et. al.) and are aching to tell me off for being basic and using Ubuntu, this tutorial is not for you. The sort of person with a preferred Linux distro is the sort of person who can do this sort of thing in their sleep. Also I don't care. This tutorial is intended for the average home computer user. This is also why we’re not using a more exotic home server solution like running everything through Docker Containers and managing it through a dashboard like Homarr or Heimdall. While such solutions are fantastic and can be very easy to maintain once you have it all set up, wrapping your brain around Docker is a whole thing in and of itself. If you do follow this tutorial and had fun putting everything together, then I would encourage you to return in a year’s time, do your research and set up everything with Docker Containers.

Lastly, this is a tutorial aimed at Windows users. Although I was a daily user of OS X for many years (roughly 2008-2023) and I've dabbled quite a bit with various Linux distributions (mostly Ubuntu and Manjaro), my primary OS these days is Windows 11. Many things in this tutorial will still be applicable to Mac users, but others (e.g. setting up shares) you will have to look up for yourself. I doubt it would be difficult to do so.

Nothing in this tutorial will require feats of computing expertise. All you will need is a basic computer literacy (i.e. an understanding of what a filesystem and directory are, and a degree of comfort in the settings menu) and a willingness to learn a thing or two. While this guide may look overwhelming at first glance, it is only because I want to be as thorough as possible. I want you to understand exactly what it is you're doing, I don't want you to just blindly follow steps. If you half-way know what you’re doing, you will be much better prepared if you ever need to troubleshoot.

Honestly, once you have all the hardware ready it shouldn't take more than an afternoon or two to get everything up and running.

(This tutorial is just shy of seven thousand words long so the rest is under the cut.)

Step One: Choosing Your Hardware

Linux is a light weight operating system, depending on the distribution there's close to no bloat. There are recent distributions available at this very moment that will run perfectly fine on a fourteen year old i3 with 4GB of RAM. Moreover, running Plex or Jellyfin isn’t resource intensive in 90% of use cases. All this is to say, we don’t require an expensive or powerful computer. This means that there are several options available: 1) use an old computer you already have sitting around but aren't using 2) buy a used workstation from eBay, or what I believe to be the best option, 3) order an N100 Mini-PC from AliExpress or Amazon.

Note: If you already have an old PC sitting around that you’ve decided to use, fantastic, move on to the next step.

When weighing your options, keep a few things in mind: the number of people you expect to be streaming simultaneously at any one time, the resolution and bitrate of your media library (4k video takes a lot more processing power than 1080p) and most importantly, how many of those clients are going to be transcoding at any one time. Transcoding is what happens when the playback device does not natively support direct playback of the source file. This can happen for a number of reasons, such as the playback device's native resolution being lower than the file's internal resolution, or because the source file was encoded in a video codec unsupported by the playback device.

Ideally we want any transcoding to be performed by hardware. This means we should be looking for a computer with an Intel processor with Quick Sync. Quick Sync is a dedicated core on the CPU die designed specifically for video encoding and decoding. This specialized hardware makes for highly efficient transcoding both in terms of processing overhead and power draw. Without these Quick Sync cores, transcoding must be brute forced through software. This takes up much more of a CPU’s processing power and requires much more energy. But not all Quick Sync cores are created equal and you need to keep this in mind if you've decided either to use an old computer or to shop for a used workstation on eBay

Any Intel processor from second generation Core (Sandy Bridge circa 2011) onward has Quick Sync cores. It's not until 6th gen (Skylake), however, that the cores support the H.265 HEVC codec. Intel’s 10th gen (Comet Lake) processors introduce support for 10bit HEVC and HDR tone mapping. And the recent 12th gen (Alder Lake) processors brought with them hardware AV1 decoding. As an example, while an 8th gen (Kaby Lake) i5-8500 will be able to hardware transcode a H.265 encoded file, it will fall back to software transcoding if given a 10bit H.265 file. If you’ve decided to use that old PC or to look on eBay for an old Dell Optiplex keep this in mind.

Note 1: The price of old workstations varies wildly and fluctuates frequently. If you get lucky and go shopping shortly after a workplace has liquidated a large number of their workstations you can find deals for as low as $100 on a barebones system, but generally an i5-8500 workstation with 16gb RAM will cost you somewhere in the area of $260 CAD/$200 USD.

Note 2: The AMD equivalent to Quick Sync is called Video Core Next, and while it's fine, it's not as efficient and not as mature a technology. It was only introduced with the first generation Ryzen CPUs and it only got decent with their newest CPUs, we want something cheap.

Alternatively you could forgo having to keep track of what generation of CPU is equipped with Quick Sync cores that feature support for which codecs, and just buy an N100 mini-PC. For around the same price or less of a used workstation you can pick up a mini-PC with an Intel N100 processor. The N100 is a four-core processor based on the 12th gen Alder Lake architecture and comes equipped with the latest revision of the Quick Sync cores. These little processors offer astounding hardware transcoding capabilities for their size and power draw. Otherwise they perform equivalent to an i5-6500, which isn't a terrible CPU. A friend of mine uses an N100 machine as a dedicated retro emulation gaming system and it does everything up to 6th generation consoles just fine. The N100 is also a remarkably efficient chip, it sips power. In fact, the difference between running one of these and an old workstation could work out to hundreds of dollars a year in energy bills depending on where you live.

You can find these Mini-PCs all over Amazon or for a little cheaper on AliExpress. They range in price from $170 CAD/$125 USD for a no name N100 with 8GB RAM to $280 CAD/$200 USD for a Beelink S12 Pro with 16GB RAM. The brand doesn't really matter, they're all coming from the same three factories in Shenzen, go for whichever one fits your budget or has features you want. 8GB RAM should be enough, Linux is lightweight and Plex only calls for 2GB RAM. 16GB RAM might result in a slightly snappier experience, especially with ZFS. A 256GB SSD is more than enough for what we need as a boot drive, but going for a bigger drive might allow you to get away with things like creating preview thumbnails for Plex, but it’s up to you and your budget.

The Mini-PC I wound up buying was a Firebat AK2 Plus with 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD. It looks like this:

Note: Be forewarned that if you decide to order a Mini-PC from AliExpress, note the type of power adapter it ships with. The mini-PC I bought came with an EU power adapter and I had to supply my own North American power supply. Thankfully this is a minor issue as a barrel plug 30W/12V/2.5A power adapters are plentiful and can be had for $10.

Step Two: Choosing Your Storage

Storage is the most important part of our build. It is also the most expensive. Thankfully it’s also the most easily upgrade-able down the line.

For people with a smaller media collection (4TB to 8TB), a more limited budget, or who will only ever have two simultaneous streams running, I would say that the most economical course of action would be to buy a USB 3.0 8TB external HDD. Something like this one from Western Digital or this one from Seagate. One of these external drives will cost you in the area of $200 CAD/$140 USD. Down the line you could add a second external drive or replace it with a multi-drive RAIDz set up such as detailed below.

If a single external drive the path for you, move on to step three.

For people with larger media libraries (12TB+), who prefer media in 4k, or care who about data redundancy, the answer is a RAID array featuring multiple HDDs in an enclosure.

Note: If you are using an old PC or used workstatiom as your server and have the room for at least three 3.5" drives, and as many open SATA ports on your mother board you won't need an enclosure, just install the drives into the case. If your old computer is a laptop or doesn’t have room for more internal drives, then I would suggest an enclosure.

The minimum number of drives needed to run a RAIDz array is three, and seeing as RAIDz is what we will be using, you should be looking for an enclosure with three to five bays. I think that four disks makes for a good compromise for a home server. Regardless of whether you go for a three, four, or five bay enclosure, do be aware that in a RAIDz array the space equivalent of one of the drives will be dedicated to parity at a ratio expressed by the equation 1 − 1/n i.e. in a four bay enclosure equipped with four 12TB drives, if we configured our drives in a RAIDz1 array we would be left with a total of 36TB of usable space (48TB raw size). The reason for why we might sacrifice storage space in such a manner will be explained in the next section.

A four bay enclosure will cost somewhere in the area of $200 CDN/$140 USD. You don't need anything fancy, we don't need anything with hardware RAID controls (RAIDz is done entirely in software) or even USB-C. An enclosure with USB 3.0 will perform perfectly fine. Don’t worry too much about USB speed bottlenecks. A mechanical HDD will be limited by the speed of its mechanism long before before it will be limited by the speed of a USB connection. I've seen decent looking enclosures from TerraMaster, Yottamaster, Mediasonic and Sabrent.

When it comes to selecting the drives, as of this writing, the best value (dollar per gigabyte) are those in the range of 12TB to 20TB. I settled on 12TB drives myself. If 12TB to 20TB drives are out of your budget, go with what you can afford, or look into refurbished drives. I'm not sold on the idea of refurbished drives but many people swear by them.

When shopping for harddrives, search for drives designed specifically for NAS use. Drives designed for NAS use typically have better vibration dampening and are designed to be active 24/7. They will also often make use of CMR (conventional magnetic recording) as opposed to SMR (shingled magnetic recording). This nets them a sizable read/write performance bump over typical desktop drives. Seagate Ironwolf and Toshiba NAS are both well regarded brands when it comes to NAS drives. I would avoid Western Digital Red drives at this time. WD Reds were a go to recommendation up until earlier this year when it was revealed that they feature firmware that will throw up false SMART warnings telling you to replace the drive at the three year mark quite often when there is nothing at all wrong with that drive. It will likely even be good for another six, seven, or more years.

Step Three: Installing Linux

For this step you will need a USB thumbdrive of at least 6GB in capacity, an .ISO of Ubuntu, and a way to make that thumbdrive bootable media.

First download a copy of Ubuntu desktop (for best performance we could download the Server release, but for new Linux users I would recommend against the server release. The server release is strictly command line interface only, and having a GUI is very helpful for most people. Not many people are wholly comfortable doing everything through the command line, I'm certainly not one of them, and I grew up with DOS 6.0. 22.04.3 Jammy Jellyfish is the current Long Term Service release, this is the one to get.

Download the .ISO and then download and install balenaEtcher on your Windows PC. BalenaEtcher is an easy to use program for creating bootable media, you simply insert your thumbdrive, select the .ISO you just downloaded, and it will create a bootable installation media for you.

Once you've made a bootable media and you've got your Mini-PC (or you old PC/used workstation) in front of you, hook it directly into your router with an ethernet cable, and then plug in the HDD enclosure, a monitor, a mouse and a keyboard. Now turn that sucker on and hit whatever key gets you into the BIOS (typically ESC, DEL or F2). If you’re using a Mini-PC check to make sure that the P1 and P2 power limits are set correctly, my N100's P1 limit was set at 10W, a full 20W under the chip's power limit. Also make sure that the RAM is running at the advertised speed. My Mini-PC’s RAM was set at 2333Mhz out of the box when it should have been 3200Mhz. Once you’ve done that, key over to the boot order and place the USB drive first in the boot order. Then save the BIOS settings and restart.

After you restart you’ll be greeted by Ubuntu's installation screen. Installing Ubuntu is really straight forward, select the "minimal" installation option, as we won't need anything on this computer except for a browser (Ubuntu comes preinstalled with Firefox) and Plex Media Server/Jellyfin Media Server. Also remember to delete and reformat that Windows partition! We don't need it.

Step Four: Installing ZFS and Setting Up the RAIDz Array

Note: If you opted for just a single external HDD skip this step and move onto setting up a Samba share.

Once Ubuntu is installed it's time to configure our storage by installing ZFS to build our RAIDz array. ZFS is a "next-gen" file system that is both massively flexible and massively complex. It's capable of snapshot backup, self healing error correction, ZFS pools can be configured with drives operating in a supplemental manner alongside the storage vdev (e.g. fast cache, dedicated secondary intent log, hot swap spares etc.). It's also a file system very amenable to fine tuning. Block and sector size are adjustable to use case and you're afforded the option of different methods of inline compression. If you'd like a very detailed overview and explanation of its various features and tips on tuning a ZFS array check out these articles from Ars Technica. For now we're going to ignore all these features and keep it simple, we're going to pull our drives together into a single vdev running in RAIDz which will be the entirety of our zpool, no fancy cache drive or SLOG.

Open up the terminal and type the following commands:

sudo apt update

then

sudo apt install zfsutils-linux

This will install the ZFS utility. Verify that it's installed with the following command:

zfs --version

Now, it's time to check that the HDDs we have in the enclosure are healthy, running, and recognized. We also want to find out their device IDs and take note of them:

sudo fdisk -1

Note: You might be wondering why some of these commands require "sudo" in front of them while others don't. "Sudo" is short for "super user do”. When and where "sudo" is used has to do with the way permissions are set up in Linux. Only the "root" user has the access level to perform certain tasks in Linux. As a matter of security and safety regular user accounts are kept separate from the "root" user. It's not advised (or even possible) to boot into Linux as "root" with most modern distributions. Instead by using "sudo" our regular user account is temporarily given the power to do otherwise forbidden things. Don't worry about it too much at this stage, but if you want to know more check out this introduction.

If everything is working you should get a list of the various drives detected along with their device IDs which will look like this: /dev/sdc. You can also check the device IDs of the drives by opening the disk utility app. Jot these IDs down as we'll need them for our next step, creating our RAIDz array.

RAIDz is similar to RAID-5 in that instead of striping your data over multiple disks, exchanging redundancy for speed and available space (RAID-0), or mirroring your data writing by two copies of every piece (RAID-1), it instead writes parity blocks across the disks in addition to striping, this provides a balance of speed, redundancy and available space. If a single drive fails, the parity blocks on the working drives can be used to reconstruct the entire array as soon as a replacement drive is added.

Additionally, RAIDz improves over some of the common RAID-5 flaws. It's more resilient and capable of self healing, as it is capable of automatically checking for errors against a checksum. It's more forgiving in this way, and it's likely that you'll be able to detect when a drive is dying well before it fails. A RAIDz array can survive the loss of any one drive.

Note: While RAIDz is indeed resilient, if a second drive fails during the rebuild, you're fucked. Always keep backups of things you can't afford to lose. This tutorial, however, is not about proper data safety.

To create the pool, use the following command:

sudo zpool create "zpoolnamehere" raidz "device IDs of drives we're putting in the pool"

For example, let's creatively name our zpool "mypool". This poil will consist of four drives which have the device IDs: sdb, sdc, sdd, and sde. The resulting command will look like this:

sudo zpool create mypool raidz /dev/sdb /dev/sdc /dev/sdd /dev/sde

If as an example you bought five HDDs and decided you wanted more redundancy dedicating two drive to this purpose, we would modify the command to "raidz2" and the command would look something like the following:

sudo zpool create mypool raidz2 /dev/sdb /dev/sdc /dev/sdd /dev/sde /dev/sdf

An array configured like this is known as RAIDz2 and is able to survive two disk failures.

Once the zpool has been created, we can check its status with the command:

zpool status

Or more concisely with:

zpool list

The nice thing about ZFS as a file system is that a pool is ready to go immediately after creation. If we were to set up a traditional RAID-5 array using mbam, we'd have to sit through a potentially hours long process of reformatting and partitioning the drives. Instead we're ready to go right out the gates.

The zpool should be automatically mounted to the filesystem after creation, check on that with the following:

df -hT | grep zfs

Note: If your computer ever loses power suddenly, say in event of a power outage, you may have to re-import your pool. In most cases, ZFS will automatically import and mount your pool, but if it doesn’t and you can't see your array, simply open the terminal and type sudo zpool import -a.

By default a zpool is mounted at /"zpoolname". The pool should be under our ownership but let's make sure with the following command:

sudo chown -R "yourlinuxusername" /"zpoolname"

Note: Changing file and folder ownership with "chown" and file and folder permissions with "chmod" are essential commands for much of the admin work in Linux, but we won't be dealing with them extensively in this guide. If you'd like a deeper tutorial and explanation you can check out these two guides: chown and chmod.

You can access the zpool file system through the GUI by opening the file manager (the Ubuntu default file manager is called Nautilus) and clicking on "Other Locations" on the sidebar, then entering the Ubuntu file system and looking for a folder with your pool's name. Bookmark the folder on the sidebar for easy access.

Your storage pool is now ready to go. Assuming that we already have some files on our Windows PC we want to copy to over, we're going to need to install and configure Samba to make the pool accessible in Windows.

Step Five: Setting Up Samba/Sharing

Samba is what's going to let us share the zpool with Windows and allow us to write to it from our Windows machine. First let's install Samba with the following commands:

sudo apt-get update

then

sudo apt-get install samba

Next create a password for Samba.

sudo smbpswd -a "yourlinuxusername"

It will then prompt you to create a password. Just reuse your Ubuntu user password for simplicity's sake.

Note: if you're using just a single external drive replace the zpool location in the following commands with wherever it is your external drive is mounted, for more information see this guide on mounting an external drive in Ubuntu.

After you've created a password we're going to create a shareable folder in our pool with this command

mkdir /"zpoolname"/"foldername"

Now we're going to open the smb.conf file and make that folder shareable. Enter the following command.

sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf

This will open the .conf file in nano, the terminal text editor program. Now at the end of smb.conf add the following entry:

["foldername"]

path = /"zpoolname"/"foldername"

available = yes

valid users = "yourlinuxusername"

read only = no

writable = yes

browseable = yes

guest ok = no

Ensure that there are no line breaks between the lines and that there's a space on both sides of the equals sign. Our next step is to allow Samba traffic through the firewall:

sudo ufw allow samba

Finally restart the Samba service:

sudo systemctl restart smbd

At this point we'll be able to access to the pool, browse its contents, and read and write to it from Windows. But there's one more thing left to do, Windows doesn't natively support the ZFS file systems and will read the used/available/total space in the pool incorrectly. Windows will read available space as total drive space, and all used space as null. This leads to Windows only displaying a dwindling amount of "available" space as the drives are filled. We can fix this! Functionally this doesn't actually matter, we can still write and read to and from the disk, it just makes it difficult to tell at a glance the proportion of used/available space, so this is an optional step but one I recommend (this step is also unnecessary if you're just using a single external drive). What we're going to do is write a little shell script in #bash. Open nano with the terminal with the command:

nano

Now insert the following code:

#!/bin/bash CUR_PATH=`pwd` ZFS_CHECK_OUTPUT=$(zfs get type $CUR_PATH 2>&1 > /dev/null) > /dev/null if [[ $ZFS_CHECK_OUTPUT == *not\ a\ ZFS* ]] then IS_ZFS=false else IS_ZFS=true fi if [[ $IS_ZFS = false ]] then df $CUR_PATH | tail -1 | awk '{print $2" "$4}' else USED=$((`zfs get -o value -Hp used $CUR_PATH` / 1024)) > /dev/null AVAIL=$((`zfs get -o value -Hp available $CUR_PATH` / 1024)) > /dev/null TOTAL=$(($USED+$AVAIL)) > /dev/null echo $TOTAL $AVAIL fi

Save the script as "dfree.sh" to /home/"yourlinuxusername" then change the ownership of the file to make it executable with this command:

sudo chmod 774 dfree.sh

Now open smb.conf with sudo again:

sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf

Now add this entry to the top of the configuration file to direct Samba to use the results of our script when Windows asks for a reading on the pool's used/available/total drive space:

[global]

dfree command = home/"yourlinuxusername"/dfree.sh

Save the changes to smb.conf and then restart Samba again with the terminal:

sudo systemctl restart smbd

Now there’s one more thing we need to do to fully set up the Samba share, and that’s to modify a hidden group permission. In the terminal window type the following command:

usermod -a -G sambashare “yourlinuxusername”

Then restart samba again:

sudo systemctl restart smbd

If we don’t do this last step, everything will appear to work fine, and you will even be able to see and map the drive from Windows and even begin transferring files, but you'd soon run into a lot of frustration. As every ten minutes or so a file would fail to transfer and you would get a window announcing “0x8007003B Unexpected Network Error”. This window would require your manual input to continue the transfer with the file next in the queue. And at the end it would reattempt to transfer whichever files failed the first time around. 99% of the time they’ll go through that second try, but this is still all a major pain in the ass. Especially if you’ve got a lot of data to transfer or you want to step away from the computer for a while.

It turns out samba can act a little weirdly with the higher read/write speeds of RAIDz arrays and transfers from Windows, and will intermittently crash and restart itself if this group option isn’t changed. Inputting the above command will prevent you from ever seeing that window.

The last thing we're going to do before switching over to our Windows PC is grab the IP address of our Linux machine. Enter the following command:

hostname -I

This will spit out this computer's IP address on the local network (it will look something like 192.168.0.x), write it down. It might be a good idea once you're done here to go into your router settings and reserving that IP for your Linux system in the DHCP settings. Check the manual for your specific model router on how to access its settings, typically it can be accessed by opening a browser and typing http:\\192.168.0.1 in the address bar, but your router may be different.

Okay we’re done with our Linux computer for now. Get on over to your Windows PC, open File Explorer, right click on Network and click "Map network drive". Select Z: as the drive letter (you don't want to map the network drive to a letter you could conceivably be using for other purposes) and enter the IP of your Linux machine and location of the share like so: \\"LINUXCOMPUTERLOCALIPADDRESSGOESHERE"\"zpoolnamegoeshere"\. Windows will then ask you for your username and password, enter the ones you set earlier in Samba and you're good. If you've done everything right it should look something like this:

You can now start moving media over from Windows to the share folder. It's a good idea to have a hard line running to all machines. Moving files over Wi-Fi is going to be tortuously slow, the only thing that’s going to make the transfer time tolerable (hours instead of days) is a solid wired connection between both machines and your router.

Step Six: Setting Up Remote Desktop Access to Your Server

After the server is up and going, you’ll want to be able to access it remotely from Windows. Barring serious maintenance/updates, this is how you'll access it most of the time. On your Linux system open the terminal and enter:

sudo apt install xrdp

Then:

sudo systemctl enable xrdp

Once it's finished installing, open “Settings” on the sidebar and turn off "automatic login" in the User category. Then log out of your account. Attempting to remotely connect to your Linux computer while you’re logged in will result in a black screen!

Now get back on your Windows PC, open search and look for "RDP". A program called "Remote Desktop Connection" should pop up, open this program as an administrator by right-clicking and selecting “run as an administrator”. You’ll be greeted with a window. In the field marked “Computer” type in the IP address of your Linux computer. Press connect and you'll be greeted with a new window and prompt asking for your username and password. Enter your Ubuntu username and password here.

If everything went right, you’ll be logged into your Linux computer. If the performance is sluggish, adjust the display options. Lowering the resolution and colour depth do a lot to make the interface feel snappier.

Remote access is how we're going to be using our Linux system from now, barring edge cases like needing to get into the BIOS or upgrading to a new version of Ubuntu. Everything else from performing maintenance like a monthly zpool scrub to checking zpool status and updating software can all be done remotely.

This is how my server lives its life now, happily humming and chirping away on the floor next to the couch in a corner of the living room.

Step Seven: Plex Media Server/Jellyfin

Okay we’ve got all the ground work finished and our server is almost up and running. We’ve got Ubuntu up and running, our storage array is primed, we’ve set up remote connections and sharing, and maybe we’ve moved over some of favourite movies and TV shows.

Now we need to decide on the media server software to use which will stream our media to us and organize our library. For most people I’d recommend Plex. It just works 99% of the time. That said, Jellyfin has a lot to recommend it by too, even if it is rougher around the edges. Some people run both simultaneously, it’s not that big of an extra strain. I do recommend doing a little bit of your own research into the features each platform offers, but as a quick run down, consider some of the following points:

Plex is closed source and is funded through PlexPass purchases while Jellyfin is open source and entirely user driven. This means a number of things: for one, Plex requires you to purchase a “PlexPass” (purchased as a one time lifetime fee $159.99 CDN/$120 USD or paid for on a monthly or yearly subscription basis) in order to access to certain features, like hardware transcoding (and we want hardware transcoding) or automated intro/credits detection and skipping. jellyfish features for free. On the other hand, Plex supports a lot more devices than Jellyfin and updates more frequently. That said Jellyfin's Android/iOS apps are completely free, while the Plex Android/iOS apps must be activated for a one time cost of $6 CDN/$5 USD. But that $6 fee gets you a mobile app that is much more functional and features a unified UI across Android and iOS platforms, the Plex mobile apps are simply a more polished experience. The Jellyfin apps are a bit of a mess and the iOS and Android versions are very different from each other.

Jellyfin’s actual media player itself is more fully featured than Plex's, but on the other hand Jellyfin's UI, library customization and automatic media tagging really pale in comparison to Plex. Streaming your music library is free through both Jellyfin and Plex, but Plex offers the PlexAmp app for dedicated music streaming which boasts a number of fantastic features, unfortunately some of those fantastic features require a PlexPass. If your internet is down, Jellyfin can still do local streaming, while Plex can fail to play files. Jellyfin has a slew of neat niche features like support for Comic Book libraries with the .cbz/.cbt file types, but then Plex offers some free ad-supported TV and films, they even have a free channel that plays nothing but Classic Doctor Who.

Ultimately it's up to you, I settled on Plex because although some features are pay-walled, it just works. It's more reliable and easier to use, and a one-time fee is much easier to swallow than a subscription. I do also need to mention that Jellyfin does take a little extra bit of tinkering to get going in Ubuntu, you’ll have to set up process permissions, so if you're more tolerant to tinkering, Jellyfin might be up your alley and I’ll trust that you can follow their installation and configuration guide. For everyone else, I recommend Plex.

So pick your poison: Plex or Jellyfin.

Note: The easiest way to download and install either of these packages in Ubuntu is through Snap Store.

After you've installed one (or both), opening either app will launch a browser window into the browser version of the app allowing you to set all the options server side.

The process of adding creating media libraries is essentially the same in both Plex and Jellyfin. You create a separate libraries for Television, Movies, and Music and add the folders which contain the respective types of media to their respective libraries. The only difficult or time consuming aspect is ensuring that your files and folders follow the appropriate naming conventions:

Plex naming guide for Movies

Plex naming guide for Television

Jellyfin follows the same naming rules but I find their media scanner to be a lot less accurate and forgiving than Plex. Once you've selected the folders to be scanned the service will scan your files, tagging everything and adding metadata. Although I find do find Plex more accurate, it can still erroneously tag some things and you might have to manually clean up some tags in a large library. (When I initially created my library it tagged the 1963-1989 Doctor Who as some Korean soap opera and I needed to manually select the correct match after which everything was tagged normally.) It can also be a bit testy with anime (especially OVAs) be sure to check TVDB to ensure that you have your files and folders structured and named correctly. If something is not showing up at all, double check the name.

Once that's done, organizing and customizing your library is easy. You can set up collections, grouping items together to fit a theme or collect together all the entries in a franchise. You can make playlists, and add custom artwork to entries. It's fun setting up collections with posters to match, there are even several websites dedicated to help you do this like PosterDB. As an example, below are two collections in my library, one collecting all the entries in a franchise, the other follows a theme.

My Star Trek collection, featuring all eleven television series, and thirteen films.

My Best of the Worst collection, featuring sixty-nine films previously showcased on RedLetterMedia’s Best of the Worst. They’re all absolutely terrible and I love them.

As for settings, ensure you've got Remote Access going, it should work automatically and be sure to set your upload speed after running a speed test. In the library settings set the database cache to 2000MB to ensure a snappier and more responsive browsing experience, and then check that playback quality is set to original/maximum. If you’re severely bandwidth limited on your upload and have remote users, you might want to limit the remote stream bitrate to something more reasonable, just as a note of comparison Netflix’s 1080p bitrate is approximately 5Mbps, although almost anyone watching through a chromium based browser is streaming at 720p and 3mbps. Other than that you should be good to go. For actually playing your files, there's a Plex app for just about every platform imaginable. I mostly watch television and films on my laptop using the Windows Plex app, but I also use the Android app which can broadcast to the chromecast connected to the TV. Both are fully functional and easy to navigate, and I can also attest to the OS X version being equally functional.

Part Eight: Finding Media

Now, this is not really a piracy tutorial, there are plenty of those out there. But if you’re unaware, BitTorrent is free and pretty easy to use, just pick a client (qBittorrent is the best) and go find some public trackers to peruse. Just know now that all the best trackers are private and invite only, and that they can be exceptionally difficult to get into. I’m already on a few, and even then, some of the best ones are wholly out of my reach.

If you decide to take the left hand path and turn to Usenet you’ll have to pay. First you’ll need to sign up with a provider like Newshosting or EasyNews for access to Usenet itself, and then to actually find anything you’re going to need to sign up with an indexer like NZBGeek or NZBFinder. There are dozens of indexers, and many people cross post between them, but for more obscure media it’s worth checking multiple. You’ll also need a binary downloader like SABnzbd. That caveat aside, Usenet is faster, bigger, older, less traceable than BitTorrent, and altogether slicker. I honestly prefer it, and I'm kicking myself for taking this long to start using it because I was scared off by the price. I’ve found so many things on Usenet that I had sought in vain elsewhere for years, like a 2010 Italian film about a massacre perpetrated by the SS that played the festival circuit but never received a home media release; some absolute hero uploaded a rip of a festival screener DVD to Usenet, that sort of thing. Anyway, figure out the rest of this shit on your own and remember to use protection, get yourself behind a VPN, use a SOCKS5 proxy with your BitTorrent client, etc.

On the legal side of things, if you’re around my age, you (or your family) probably have a big pile of DVDs and Blu-Rays sitting around unwatched and half forgotten. Why not do a bit of amateur media preservation, rip them and upload them to your server for easier access? (Your tools for this are going to be Handbrake to do the ripping and AnyDVD to break any encryption.) I went to the trouble of ripping all my SCTV DVDs (five box sets worth) because none of it is on streaming nor could it be found on any pirate source I tried. I’m glad I did, forty years on it’s still one of the funniest shows to ever be on TV.

Part Nine/Epilogue: Sonarr/Radarr/Lidarr and Overseerr

There are a lot of ways to automate your server for better functionality or to add features you and other users might find useful. Sonarr, Radarr, and Lidarr are a part of a suite of “Servarr” services (there’s also Readarr for books and Whisparr for adult content) that allow you to automate the collection of new episodes of TV shows (Sonarr), new movie releases (Radarr) and music releases (Lidarr). They hook in to your BitTorrent client or Usenet binary newsgroup downloader and crawl your preferred Torrent trackers and Usenet indexers, alerting you to new releases and automatically grabbing them. You can also use these services to manually search for new media, and even replace/upgrade your existing media with better quality uploads. They’re really a little tricky to set up on a bare metal Ubuntu install (ideally you should be running them in Docker Containers), and I won’t be providing a step by step on installing and running them, I’m simply making you aware of their existence.

The other bit of kit I want to make you aware of is Overseerr which is a program that scans your Plex media library and will serve recommendations based on what you like. It also allows you and your users to request specific media. It can even be integrated with Sonarr/Radarr/Lidarr so that fulfilling those requests is fully automated.

And you're done. It really wasn't all that hard. Enjoy your media. Enjoy the control you have over that media. And be safe in the knowledge that no hedgefund CEO motherfucker who hates the movies but who is somehow in control of a major studio will be able to disappear anything in your library as a tax write-off.

[mass-convergence]

Ok after watching Strange Aeon’s video on Tumblr Live … I can say I’m honestly not shocked that Tumblr took a feature that I think most people would be actually really supportive of and manage to fuck it up lmao.

But glad to know it’s not some weird like data harvesting scam (i never bought into that narrative anyway but good to have confirmation) or like some kind of NSFW thing. Legit like they could have made this feature so much more well received if they just didn’t put random thumbnails that literally look like the porn bots we’ve been locked in mortal combat with for like over a decade now.

And also if they made it able to be hidden from your dash. I don’t mind the icon or anything tbh. Sometimes I accidentally click on it but whatever.

Like fuck, I’d probably use a feature like Tumblr Live and stream on it. I’ve wanted to show gaming or myself drawing but the roll out was enough of a shit show that the majority of users hate it on principle at this point lol.

I do wish that we didn’t base the value of things on how much profit they could make but also I recognize that’s the internet we live on rn and in a lot of cases you just have to play by that rule set. The fact that this website is still up is kind of incredible tbh.

[lostgirl1428]

I’m. Fucking. Annoyed

—-

Now correct me if I’m wrong but the writers are on strike due to concerns with AI and unfair wages correct?

The actors are on strike due to conflicts with streaming services, and also concerns over AI…right? I could be totally wrong but I’m boutta rant about AI regardless, otherwise I’ll stay in my lane here.

Technology is developing so much faster than our society and economy is able to adapt to it.

I won’t bore you with the shit pretty much everyone already knows; which is basically that Capitalism and an AI/Technology based work force do NOT mesh well.

We expected this to happen with modern work force jobs. Technology replacing people. Don’t get me wrong though, technology is GREAT, it’s efficient, amazing, but also FUCKING TERRIFYING, especially for a capitalist society (and don’t even get me started with how much I despise capitalism 🤦🏻‍♀️)

It was only a matter of time before AI and technology effected the arts. Writing with AI was unfortunately, not a surprise, but it also brings up a lot of questions about plagiarism laws for starters. Also studios don’t realize you cannot replace the human component that is the creativity of these writers. AI is sloppy as hell with being able to project emotion. Is it cheaper? Sure. But big studios like Disney make more than enough money to pay their writers fair wages and stop threatening to replace them with artificial bullshit.

Idk where the fuck I was going with this. I’m just ANGRY.

Point is the arts, all of them; preforming arts, fine arts, film & photography, etc. Cannot be replaced by AI, it’s such a human based field. Fuck if it weren’t already hard enough for writers and artists to begin with. It needs to be recognized that creatives cannot be replaced.

And maybe I’m being petty because I’m impatient as fuck and want more Marvel content, but I’m not impatient to the point where I wouldn’t be supporting this strike through and through. All artists should be standing behind this. That goes for the fans and movie/tv lovers too.

I mean shit, you’d think people have made it loud and clear that we’re sick of seeing recycled shit over and over again. I haven’t seen an original movie in AGES. The only movies and tv shows I even watch anymore and comic based, and even then ITS RECYCLED MATERIAL. Don’t get me wrong, I fucking love it; for the most part I mean, I will still throw a fit over certain comparisons to the comics.

But genuine question, when’s the last time you saw a DECENT movie that wasn’t a reboot, sequel, or based on history or any other already existing materials? Because I can’t think of a damn one, and lets be clear, that’s of not fault of the writers. This is all on the big studios. There are PLENTY of writers out there coming out with original content that never unfortunately will never get green lit.

Studios think money first. If there’s a preexisting audience, they’ll make money, no matter how shitty the film ends up being.

IDK HOW THIS RANT ENDED UP HERE….but I’m annoyed. Feel free to bitch about the threats of AI and corporate America on creative industry with me.

I want to make it clear though that my problem will always remain with the higher ups and corporate America, the big studios are the ones at fault here and no one else.

Also note I said BIG studios. From my understanding there are some well known and indie studios out there that actually give a fuck and are doing right by their creative teams, those are not being targeted in the current strike.

I’m not going to proof read this, fuck it. Consider it a journal entry or some shit…it’s a rant, feel free to join in!