#how to get 1000 subs on youtube

[luna792]

Get $500 Fast

[teambyler]

My video "A LAWYER'S EVIDENCE that Mike and Will become a romantic pair in Stranger Things" is out!

Many of you have followed me ( @teambyler ) or read my essays analyzing Byler (I've linked some of the most-shared ones below). I am actually also a LAWYER who has a YouTube channel called RONALD OFF THE RECORD, and I just released my big video on Byler! (I also have another YouTube channel with 45K subscribers that I mention in the video)

I'm prepared to put my professional reputation as a lawyer on the line to comment on a piece of science fiction, because goddammit this is important to me! It is not "delusional" to think Will and Mike will become a couple, and there is nothing wrong with you if want it to happen! This is a video essay I've been planning for at least SIX MONTHS, and I put a lot of work into it. Please share, and please leave comments. Enjoy! =D

0:00 Why this video 1:38 Hate for Byler on the internet 10:16 Case for Mileven 15:21 Case for Byler: Starting premises 17:56 If Will were a girl… 25:30 The evidence! 29:05 EXHIBIT A: The Snow Ball 31:34 B: Mike's reactions to El and Will being upset 34:21 C: Season 3 ending montage 39:16 D: Airport reunion 47:51 E: Rink-O-Mania argument 51:28 F: Heteronormativity, audience expectations 58:25 G: Throwing away the letter 59:55 H: 2nd heart-to-heart scene 1:05:43 I: Mike can't say he loves El 1:13:27 J: Platonic reunion 1:15:12 K: Will's role convincing Mike to say "I love you" 1:20:08 L: Effect of the "love confession" on El 1:39:54 M: The Painting Lie 1:43:22 Honorable mentions 1:45:27 Non-diegetic evidence 2:01:23 Actor statements 2:07:01 Season 5 information 2:10:34 NOT how you write an unrequited love story 2:16:07 Why Byler SHOULD happen (queerbaiting, etc.) 2:28:21 A more powerful story 2:35:45 A personal note

I'm now making this my new pinned post, so I'll list a few of my posts here for people to check out.

ADDITIONS: -28:00 On "We should normalize same-sex friends being affectionate, they don't have to be gay," I should have been clearer. HOMOPHOBIA is the reason for that stigma. Straight friends feeling like they can be affectionate in our society HAS to include normalizing LGBT+ people. -1:16:55 I should've said this more clearly: Will reminded Mike that who HE is, HIS unique qualities, make him worthy of love and make El love him, not dumb luck. And Will of course could convey that because Will loves the actual nerd MIke and everything he is. -1:17:06 Mike making El "not feel like a mistake" doesn't fit El, because she says that Mike looks at her "like I'm a monster, too". Nor did she "push you away because she was afraid of losing you". That's Will, not El. Mike felt love because Will was describing himself. -1:52:36 I forgot to mention that, in the original Nina opera, Nina's lover is ALIVE and DOES return. The Duffers changed the story so that Nina's lover does NOT return, to further suggest Mike won't return! -2:35:22 I'm kicking myself for not being more specific about Mike and Will being heroes in more than one way: I think the theme of bullying from s1 will return, with Will (and also Mike) having to face bullying for being boyfriends in Hawkins.

EDIT: I hit 1000 subs, only to discover THIS VIDEO CANNOT BE MONETIZED. ='( I think I put over 100 hours of work in this video, and this isn't sustainable for me unless I get support. This also means I can't make public videos with the same quality -- using show clips and music makes a stronger impact. I've considered deleting and reposting an edit, but that would losing all the wonderful comments and CUTTING OUT THE LAST SCENE. ='( ='( ='( NO. FUCKING. WAY.

So this is what'll happen: future videos NOT use clips and music to the same extent, except versions I post on my Patreon. And I need Patrons because I don't make money as a social-justice lawyer, and rely on that plus YouTube ads. Here's the Patreon link! (Any future video will be clipped, with the full version on Patreon) https://www.patreon.com/c/theruleslawyer

Some other @teambyler posts:

Mike was saying "I love you" to Will

Questions to ask if ever you have Byler doubt

How the Duffers have set Will up to have a happy ending in Season 5

The most heartbreaking way Byler can culminate (and how I predict it will) (I know this is less likely than an "escape from Camazotz" possession scenario, but I still want this to happen =D )

How the Duffers likely will make the general audience AWARE of Byler and CHEER for Byler

-teambyler

[grimrester]

i am really so sorry to continue harping on about the watcher entertainment streaming service. but this kind of stuff (internet content as a business & marketing it as such) is truly my obsession, and i think i will implode if i don't talk about some of the takes i'm seeing.

i'd like to emphasize again i don't have strong feelings about watcher either way. i like ghost files, i watch mystery files sometimes, i watched worth it back in the buzzfeed days. i don't watch any of their shows religiously.

anyway, here's the main things i keep seeing crop up and my thoughts on each:

"watcher has 25 employees they have to pay, and employing people in this economy is good, so we should be banding together to pay them."

employing people is good if you currently have the capacity to pay them. i checked watcher's linkedin page, and many of their employees were hired within the last year or two. if they hired people they cannot pay with the business model they had before, something is seriously wrong with their internal bookkeeping/decision making. it means they either didn't know they couldn't pay these people long term, or they did know and were content with risking newly hired employees' livelihoods on a huge content pivot in the next year.

of note is that none of their employees' titles have anything to do with managing the finances of the company. they are the size of a small business but have no one aside from the figureheads of the company in charge of their finances.

this is the kind of company decision making that leads to downsizing and layoffs, which can be devastating. but you know what's worse than laying off a portion of your staff? laying off everyone because your business is going under.

"not everyone can afford the subscription, but those who can should pay it to support the watcher team."

no. $6/month for a couple hours of content (depending on what shows you actively watch and the natural fluctuation of their release schedule) is a fundamentally bad value. i can pay that much for a few movies on amazon. i can pay that much for dropout, if i want to support a smaller business instead.

and to be totally frank, even if people do sign up, i don't think they'd get enough to compete with the amount they get through patreon/sponsorships. and the fact that they didn't know how many of their subscribers would realistically sign up is a bad sign.

a pretty good conversion rate of free to paid subscribers of a service or content is 3% (usually accomplished through a free trial). given the very poor reception of the announcement, let's say about 1% of their 3 mil youtube subs pay for their service. that's 30k people paying for their new platform. that's $180k a month in their pocket.

(they currently only have 12k subs on patreon so we are being generous here.)

a sponsorship deal (based on my googling, i have less direct experience with this) is anywhere from $10-50 per 1000 views. they've gotten about 1 mil views on their last few videos. 3 mil subs is nothing to shake a stick at, but let's say they're on the lower end of the payscale at $25 per 1000 views. that's $25k a video, $100k a month if they release 1 video a week. their lowest patreon tier is 5 bucks, so even if all their subs are at that tier, that's another $60k, so $160k total. it's entirely likely they're bringing in much more than that when you factor in merch, adsence, etc.

did anyone on their team crunch numbers on how many people would need to sub to make the switch worth it? did anyone do market research on how many people they could convert to paid users? because if not, if they really didn't have a game plan for this, the subscription service was always doomed to fail.

"this was their only option to continue making the content they want to make, with the production value they want."

i watched their announcement video. a key point in that video is that they have done sponsored videos and that's what used to pay for their content, but they did not like the amount of creative control the sponsor had over the content.

look, i get that's no fun. we'd all love creatives to be able to make whatever they want. but when you are a small business with a team of employees relying on you, you have to think about making money, sometimes at the cost of creative liberties.

and they had so many other options to make money for the projects they want to make without jumping to a subscription platform.

they could have started actually promoting their patreon, and maybe done some restructuring of the tiers. why not a highly produced, special series just for patreon members? or a special high-budget episode of each series, while the main series is lower budget?

bite the bullet and continue taking sponsorship deals on some less-produced shows, while axing sponsorships from the ones the crew feels more passionate about.

schedule larger, blowout-production shows only when they can be afforded. this is what Notorious Amongus Guy streamer jerma does. he saves up for big productions like his baseball or dollhouse streams, so he can really get creative with them.

they had other options and they've tried very little, especially when you compare them to other content house business at similar scales. try guys and good mythical morning both put out significant content with significant staff, and have had to diversify their income streams with auxiliary products, shows with widely varied levels of production, etc. but it seems to be working for them. watcher has merch and that's about it, and seems to only want to increase the production quality of ALL their shows.

really, all this just boils down to a terrible business decision. it's hard to say if the watcher team is working with a consultant or anyone outside of their team, but they certainly don't have anyone internally who is experienced with running a business like this. to me, it seems very much like they got in a room together and did some extremely optimistic income ballparking with no research behind it.

and that might have been fine for three dudes running a channel alone, but if they're a business, they have to start making decisions like one.

[cats-artbag]

SwapOut/Webcomic/Twitch PSA!

Hi everyone 👋🏻 Zk here >< or Cats, for older followers

So I've been getting back into doing SwapOut again, but I would like to appeal to everyone who reads and loves the comic. Much love to all of you who's still sticking around 🙏🏻💙 But something has also always been bothering me throughout this journey.

As many of us know, we artists do these comics for free (especially fan comics), starting them out of love and taking a LOT of time and energy out of our lives to continue making them.

And it's amazing how many of you come from translations or comic dubs on Youtube, which are also very well-done and take a lot of effort to make, much love to them too. There is a difference, however.

Monetization.

And I'm not asking for pity! I'm appealing for understanding.

Because some comic dubbers on Youtube are able to earn ad revenue from the videos they upload. From the beginning, we artists have given them the permission to dub our works. But we don't receive anything from it, nor do we usually charge them for using our art (against our better judgement).

We let them use our comic pages in their monetized videos for free. And occasionally these videos receive thousands and millions of views, which I imagine gives a decent amount of ad revenue, while the artists themselves don't usually earn anything from their own artwork, nor do we ever want to put it behind a paywall of any kind. (we like reading free comics too so don't worry x|)

... But doing full-colored comic pages for free eventually gets hard to sustain without any income from it, even more so when we need to give our time and energy to other jobs to earn money for a living instead. We legitimately keep going on our comics purely out of love. Truly, we would LOVE to do our own art for a living. There's things like Patreon but it's only feasible if we're also able to produce bonus content or show BTS, and only people willing to spend money for them can help us, and not readers who aren't able to.

And we understand that not everyone can afford to support us monetarily. And that's okay!

But if you love these comics and want to really help us to keep going, there ARE ways you can easily support us for free!

For example, affiliates on Twitch (like myself) are able to earn ad revenue very early on (they must have at least 50 followers, quite a requirement, but still easier to obtain than Youtube's 1000 subscribers).

(my Youtube, btw. not much rn but drop a subscribe?)

But simply put, if the vast majority of readers from the yt numbers visit and stay for ads on the artists' Twitch streams (remember to have adblocker disabled for the site, if any), they'll be making an actual, physical contribution to the artist themselves, at no cost whatsoever. We earn up to 55% from any ads that run on our stream, so the more viewers, the better!

(this is my twitch on average 8 viewers, with a 3 hour stream. again, the more the better!)

(ofc you can also buy subs to watch ad-free and supports me directly, but i'm typing all this to share the free ways people can support their fave creators ✨)

And even if that doesn't work out, I'd be happy enough to see most of you there 🙏🏻💙 I've been treating my streams as work, so I'm striving not to break the streak.

So drop a follow on my Twitch, and catch the streams when you can! They're great if you need company or background noise, and also great for co-working~

Currently streaming WEEKLY, Mondays, Wednesdays (SwapOut) and Saturdays, 10.30AM EST

(art by @cupcakepaints)

>> twitch.tv/zkcats <<

Anyway thanks for listening to my Ted talk, please share this around for others as well >< 🙏🏻 Artists, make this a reblog chain or something! Promo your stuff!

And apologies for the essay, I wasn't expecting to type this much sdghsgh this itself is not an ad for Twitch or whatev, I'm just a little frustrated with needing to juggle all this.

I was also considering hosting SwapOut somewhere that could get ad revenue, but I wasn't sure where until I realized I can probably earn that from my Tapas now (i think?? sdfhgh up to 70% ad revenue there but i haven't seen any yet) So maybe I'll post there a day earlier than here or something? We'll see. Go subscribe there! Check it out! Reread it! Help ME help YOU!

... Much appreciated ><

[rigelmejo]

Here is how I've studied Chinese over the past 4-5 years.

Note: I cram studied a lot of hanzi, words, and grammar in the first year. I got a lot of 'review' by reading graded readers in Pleco app and just looking up words over and over until I learned them, and watching cdramas with english and chinese subtitles and looking up words in Pleco or Google Translate as I got curious. This is what worked best for me, because I cannot stick to something like anki long term - if you can stick to anki long term, then doing something like that regularly may have good results. I prefer to learn by doing what I want to do - which for me, was read.

I also started trying to read and watch shows in just chinese in the first year - which in retrospect was probably harder than I needed to do. After 2 years, I started mostly following Heavenly Path Notion Site's recommended materials (graded readers, easier novels for native speakers etc) and my life got much easier as I started reading Easier stuff more often, and harder stuff less often. I highly recommend beginners check out all the resources linked on Heavenly Path, especially in their Reading Guide and Listening Guide. I did a mix of extensive reading (reading easy stuff where I could guess unknown words from context - I might just read with a TTS to hear the word pronounced), and intensive reading (looking up every unknown word/most unknown words for it's translation in Pleco or Readibu app).

For Hanzi, and Reading:

Read about how hanzi work. I read all the articles I linked on this post about learning hanzi. It will help you in the future to know radicals exist, and to know what mnemonics are since a lot of learning resources recommend them for learning hanzi. I did not memorize radicals, but I did get a basic familiarity with the fact they exist and read over a chart of them once. Later as I studied hanzi, I learned the radicals more in the context of the hanzi they're in.

Downloaded Pleco app, and Google Translate, started looking up a word or phrase whenever I was curious, when I was watching cdramas. If you're watching shows, it's pretty easy to see chinese hard subs on many shows on youtube, and just look up a word or two when you feel curious.

I used this book, I just read through it in like 3 months, aiming for basic familiarity not memorization. Learning Chinese Characters: (HSK Levels 1-3) A Revolutionary New Way to Learn the 800 Most Basic Chinese Characters; Includes All Characters for the AP & HSK 1-3 Exams. I love this book, I credit this book to giving me a decent foundation in hanzi, the mnemonic stories in the book worked well for me, as did the example words. This book is often cheaply used, and can be found free in many libraries and elibraries.

Because I'm a lot, I kept trying to read parallel text webnovels on mtlnovel.com (it has a parallel text chinese/english option if you're logged in). I read some MoDu and some ZhenHun, and it was very hard. In retrospect I would have probably spent my time better with more graded readers, and easier webnovels after lol. I also kept trying to read chinese webnovels with Pleco's click-translate feature. It wasn't bad, I think it helped me a lot, but I did this all from month 1 onward. And it would probably have been easier to wait until I had built more of a foundation to do this.

I used a 2000 Common Word Ben Whatley memrise course which no longer exists, and cram studied 1000 words in a week then reviewed the next 2 weeks, then read some graded readers, and then the next month cram studied 1000 words and then reviewed the next 2 weeks, then read some more. I did reading as most of my actual reviews, because I don't like anki decks and I can't focus on them for more than a few weeks (as my study patterns show lol). I would recommend someone use the Spoonfed Chinese Anki deck if trying to emulate what I did, or ideally any common words chinese deck with audio and hanzi, and ideally in sentence examples. I'd recommend if you're cram studying words to just do 1000-3000, because you'll run into those common words a LOT if you're also reading and watching shows and looking stuff up. So you'll get lots of review of those 3000 words even if you stop using anki, since you'll keep running into those words. After the 3000 most common, it might be more useful to prioritize studying words as you come across them in reading/watching, and either keep looking them up until you remember them or put those in anki (if you like anki).

I started reading Graded Readers in Pleco app, with click-translations. Mostly Mandarin Companion graded readers with 300 unique hanzi or less, then 500 unique hanzi or less, because it was good review in the context of reading for everything I'd just studied over the past few months. I suggest checking out Heavenly Path Notion Site's Reading Guide whenever you'd like to start reading, a lot of good tips in there and a lot of resources I used too (like Pleco app and Readibu app).

I used this book as reference, Tuttle Learning Chinese Characters: A Revolutionary New Way to Learn and Remember the 800 Most Basic Chinese Characters Original by Matthews, Alison, Matthews, Laurence (2007) Paperback. I've flipped through it a few times, never fully read all of it, but another person may find use in it. I liked it as a reference. This book is also easy to find cheap used, or in libraries and elibraries free.

I went through about half of the following anki deck, just cram studying 1500 hanzi cards in a couple weeks, doing a week of review, and then 'reviewing' by reading stuff in chinese and looking words up again and again. It's a great anki deck for studying hanzi.

*Mnemonics - 3018 Simplified Chinese Hanzi deck (I recommend this deck, if I had to go back and do it again)

*Mnemonics - 3035 Traditional Chinese Hanzi (I recommend this deck, if I had to go back and do it again)

 *Mnemonics - 4143 Traditional AND Simplified Chinese Hanzi (combines the 2 decks above)

After learning around 1500 hanzi through a combination of reading the books I linked, reading graded readers, and using the anki deck I linked, I just kept reading and looking up words I didn't know that seemed important to the overall meaning of the thing I was reading. Just looking up words, again and again, until I remembered them. Which was usually 2-20 times. I started reading manhua, then webnovels, again see Heavenly Path Notion Site for their recommendations on reading material at different difficulty levels. I was also reading cdrama subtitles, usually with both chinese and english subtitles on, but once in a while I tried to watch a show with just chinese subtitles. I'd look up 1 word every 5 minutes or so, to let myself look up key words that seemed important, but not stop constantly.

Yes, my study consisted of a LOT of 'cram study for basic familiarity of something' then read and watch, and look things I was basically familiar with over and over until they stick and I learn them.

For Grammar:

I read through this grammar guide website's HSK Grammar lessons in like 1 month, not to memorize just to get a basic familiarity. I wanted an idea of the grammar I'd be seeing later, and an idea of what to look up more information about if I got confused later. https://www.hskcourse.com/hsk-grammar-exercises/. I did this in the first few months.

I looked up grammar points later, as I'd read graded readers or watch shows, on this website All Set Learning Chinese Grammar Wiki. I found the explanations on this site helpful. I kept doing this, and still do this if any grammar point in particular is confusing me.

If you want to use anki to study grammar, these decks cover similar material: *Chinese Grammar Wiki Study Deck(if looking for a full grammar guide I recommend this one, which so far has been the most well formatted version and links to the AllSetLearning Grammar points so you can easily do background reading when needed). Ole’s Chinese Grammar Wiki A1, Chinese Grammar Wiki A2, Chinese Grammar Wiki B1, Chinese Grammar Wiki B2 (all adapted from AllSet Learning’s Chinese Grammar Wiki site)

For tones:

I went through the Pinyin Pronunciation Guide and tone trainer on this website dong-chinese.com in a month. Then again a few months later, went through it again.

I also used these:

Maorma.net Minimal Pair Test (I used this in the past, focusing on minimal pairs might help?)

Yoyo Chinese Tone Pairs Chart (may help)

Yoyo Pinyin Chart (has sound for each tone, this may help)

Basically I used everything on under my 'tones' tag. Feel free to browse for more resources. Mostly it was a lot of youtube videos, and explanations. I looked up videos on youtube about tone sandhi, tone pairs, actual tone pronunciation etc. I really liked Grace Mandarin Chinese's channel, and recently I've found Julesy's videos very useful like this one about pronunciation.

For Listening:

So I really HEAVILY focused on learning to read. As you can see above. I have only started focusing on listening more as of this year. If I could go back and give myself advice? I'd suggest to past me to listen to graded reader AUDIO a few times, before and after I read something. To listen to audiobook audio, or at least Microsoft Edge Read Aloud to webnovel pages I'm reading, or at least Pleco Dictation audio, MORE. I barely listened to audio when I read. 3 years in, I finally started reading along to audiobooks or listening to TTS when reading - to get my reading speed to become faster. It did make my reading speed closer to speaking speed, and it also helped my listening skills a lot. I wish I'd done more listening overall, any time I'd read things. Or before/after reading things.

I would also have told past me to Please check out some podcasts for learners, and practice listening earlier. And to try watching a cdrama, just once in a while, with no subs including no chinese subs. Because I can watch cdramas now, but I have to rely on chinese subs. If it's JUST audio it feels 4 times harder to me, and that might not be true right now if I had just... listened more in the last 4 years.

Now? I am watching comprehensible input chinese lessons on youtube (I have them linked here), I've been listening to learner podcasts so the language is easier than stuff I'd read (also linked there as the podcasts listed on some posts), and I've been posting about everything I've been listening to on the tag chinese listening experiment. Which has mostly been audiobooks of stuff I've read before in chinese and english, because as established, I read way more than I listen. So listening to stuff I have read before, is easier than listening to something brand new. It's going okay. Progress in listening skills are steady so the study plan is working out I guess.

For Speaking:

I've done very little to practice this. I still need to work a LOT on it. I used Tandem and Hellotalk for a while to speak with language partners - and using language exchange apps and websites is probably a good plan if you like talking to people. I used a putonghua pronunciation trainer app that is 1. no longer accessible on US app store and 2. no longer has any of the free 'grade your pronunciation' resources I used it for originally. I like as alternatives the apps: ChinesePronunciation Trainer (super simple free setup to shadow and compare your recording to the original), and Ka Learn Chinese Tones (which I've been playing with but I'm not sure about yet).

I plan to shadow audio eventually, and then talk to people more again. I will try speaking again after I've gotten a lot more listening practice in, maybe my speaking will be better. Or it'll still suck. Who knows.

Writing:

Haha... hahahaaaaaaa..... one day I'll practice... In all seriousness, I practice this when I message people on language exchange apps and sites. When I plan to work on this more, I'll probably do a combination of write some journals and message people more again.

I can type pretty fine, because you can type with pinyin and I know what the hanzi I mean looks like so I can select it. I cannot write by hand. I used to be able to write ni hao and xie xie and wo. Now I'm not confident I could do that from memory ;-;

Below the cut is a list of some things I read and listened to over the years, with commentary that is totally cool to skip entirely (I was rambling). I think I picked harder stuff than I needed to at first, and I'd really suggest beginners check Heavenly Path's recommendations for beginners, instead of whatever I was doing (which was sometimes super difficult for me).

Stuff I read:

Mandarin Companion Sherlock Holmes

Pleco Graded Reader Butterfly Lovers

Mandarin Companion Journey to the Center of the Earth

小王子 (extensively read, doable but I probably should have picked something easier, I was really excited to extensively read my first story and it really built reading stamina)

天涯客 (intensively read 20 chapters)

真魂 (intensively read 20 chapters, did listening reading method with same 20 chapters, must have reread the first 20 chapters at least 4 times, also listened to the first 20 audiobook chapters 3-6 times each so I'm very familiar with the words in them, I basically kept engaging until future chapters in this book were 95% comprehensible or more so I could extensively read my print copy)

寒舍 a dmbj fanfic (intensively read 60 chapters)

镇魂 (extensively read the first 30 chapters of my print copy, and the extras)

秃秃大王 (intensively read, but it was close to my reading level so I was only looking up maybe 5 words or less per 100 words. REALLY recommend this story. Easiest thing I read that wasn't a graded reader)

大林和小林 (intensively read, 95%+ comprehensible I was just looking up any basic words I still didn't know, same author as the novel above, probably the BEST novels for beginners to read after graded readers, I found them recommended on Heavenly Path Notionsite)

笑猫日记 1 (intensively read, but it was near my reading level so I was looking up 5 words or less per 100 words, learned a lot of chengyu from this)

笑猫日记 2 (extensively read, extensive reading built up my readind speed and stamina)

寒舍 a dmbj fanfic (extensively read all 110 chapters, probably 95% comprehensible or more especially since I'd learned a lot of words in the early chapters from the first time I read it. Part of the time I listened to Edge's TTS as I read. Built up reading speed by listening as I read. Longest thing I had read and finished at that point, at over 100k words)

盗墓笔记1 (intensively read but it was close to my reading level so probably 92% or more words I already knew, first non-fanfiction I finished reading that was over 40k words)

盗墓笔记2 (extensively read except for a few specific artifact words of things they found in the tomb, first non-fanfiction novel I finished by extensively reading that was over 40k words)

盗墓笔记重启 manhua (extensively read all of it, super easy to read, very funny if you're into dmbj)

19天 (extensively read maybe 50 chapters? Cute, funny, super simple to read)

他们的故事 manhua (extensively read maybe 15 chapters, also very funny and cute and simple to read)

破云 manhua (extensively read 1st volume, I got a print copy, its a bit hard I mean even my copy has chinese definitions of some of the legal/crime terms at the bottom of the pages lol. It's doable to follow, probably because I'm used to crime mystery stories. I also watched the voiced version on bilibili so a little listening practice)

吞海 manhua (extensively read a few chapters, I could follow just like 破云, but I can't quite handle reading the books extensively)

烈火浇愁 manhua (extensively read 5 chapters, the historical bits were harder, the rest was fine. I felt comfortable extensively reading pretty much any manhua by this point. I'd love to read the novel version but I'm certain 烈火浇愁 and 残次品 are beyond my reading ability as of 3/2025, priest's novel 默读 which is a regular modern setting only became possible to extensively read 12/2024. So I don't think I could handle a sci fi setting yet).

半夜衣寒 dmbj fanfic by 夏灬安兰 (extensively read, I just really like this person's writing style, and their writing is easier than priest for me to read and just perfect for me? I really enjoy their plots. This author's fanfics are who I credit for getting used to grammar in long sentences and getting used to "intuitively" understanding it, and for starting to do those kind of reading inferences of what is implied but not explicitly stated. Such as picking up character moods from physical descriptions, rather than words about their mood, and picking up hints about the ghost cases that hint things about characters in the stories as parallels. And I picked up familiarity with a ton of common adjectives and 4 hanzi descriptives from this author).

If anyone were going to copy what I did, my suggestion would be: check out Heavenly Path's reading recommendations list, pick novels in gradually increasing difficulty. Their easiest recommendations are extremely doable if you've been using graded readers for a while, and know around 1000 hanzi/HSK4 vocabulary. I think I struggled with a lot of material that was more difficult than it needed to be, at times. On the other hand? I feel that me frequently switching between intensively reading something somewhat above my reading level, and extensively reading something at my reading level or slightly above my reading level, helped me increase both my comfortable reading level and my reading stamina/speed. I think a mix of harder and easier material definitely helped me push through plateaus and onto more difficult novels I wanted to read, and it's still the strategy I use to work up to harder reading material. I would also recommend: listen while you read SOMETIMES. READ without audio sometimes (to practice reading skills), read with audio sometimes (to match pronunciation to words and push reading speed up closer to speaking speed), and listen to audio without text sometimes (build listening only skills). I did a bit of all 3 activities, but I speny the majority of my time reading without audio... and now I have to work harder on my listening skills to fix the large dfference between reading and listening skills.

Stuff I listened to:

Lazy Chinese (perfect for beginners, also any other Comorehensible Input Lessons youtube channels, see Comprehensible Input Wiki for more channels)

Peppa Pig (doable for beginners)

Maomi Chinese (easiest podcast I've found)

Astroboy Chinese dub (I have a lot of reading skills, cartoons for 5-10 years old are perfect for me)

Tea Time Chinese (intermediate podcast, doable for me)

Talk to Me in Chinese (intermediate podcast, doable ish for me)

Dashu Mandarin (advanced podcast, I don't quite understand it yet)

The Untamed condensed audio

Guardian condensed audio

Ice Fantasy condensed audio

镇魂 audiobook (I'm familiar with the plot, so it's doable, I am waiting to continue listening until I finish 默读)

默读 audiobook (I sure love working on difficult stuff I'm into lol, because I'm familiar with the plot it's doable)

HP audiobooks (they're on the easier end and I'm familiar with the plot, I'm going to keep going and see how much I get from it)

Twilight audiobooks (they're on the easier end and I'm familiar with the plot, I'm going to keep going and see how much I get from it)

SCI audiobook (I'm only 2 hours in, hoping it'll be doable soon)

撒野 (I'm only 1 hour in)

[delyth-thomas-art]

Tired Webcomic Creator Noises

Gags … ah yes lets make art into mindless content spat out by Ai cos we've been literally killing creators with inhumane workloads to spit out as many episodes as possible for mindless consumption.

I make my comics with passion and love of the craft! I have a degree in Comics, I spent years...years learning, practising, experimenting, adapting. I recall the days where you may get a page a week, or a few at the start of the month back in the 2000s era of self hosted webcomics and smackjeeves. (Rant below)

I've had to learn how the whole scrolling format worked to adapt to where all the readers had gone to, having been taught the traditional print page formats. And now cos its suddenly a massive money maker for these few hosts and they've pushed creators to the brink with the sheer volume they want pumped out that of course they want to use AI.

But it will speed up colouring! I have multiple tools available by the software I use and made by the wonderful people who love creating that colouring isn't that much of a chore, Its my fav part honestly. And its also a job sector within comics, colourists are skilled artists and this is another way to trim the fat, to pocket more money and keep churning out the 5th millionth villainess story.

Yes I am in most views a tiny creator, I haven't even broken their 1000 sub goal to even try applying for ad rev in the near 5 ish years on webtoon. But what I make I love, I spend hours researching folklore, scripting, drafting the whole kabudle like many other creators. And other than the kind supporters on my Patreon and Ko-fi I don't make much from the hours, days, weeks I pour into what I make. But at least I know its made with my own hands. That its made with love as corny as that sounds.

Ai is creeping its tentacles into everything, now ethically trained ai tools to help smaller creators would be fine. Most creators already rely on 3d tools to speed up things like backgrounds for webcomics. But when we don't know what its trained on, and is marketed wholesale as something anyone can use to make "content" is where it gets insidious. I am all for anyone with the desire to create and tell a story to go out there and do so, whether a beginner or a master. Part of the joy of a long running webcomic is seeing the artist grow both artistically and literary. But with ai it will be all one homogenous style, a copy of what ever is the hot thing. We already have amazon stuffed to the teeth with ai generated books, videos, merch and more all to be sold in some get rich quick manner. (need I point at the Willy's Wonderland incident). Youtube videos being spat out by faceless accounts stealing and regurgitating content at the speed no human video making team can easily match without cutting out quality or fact checking.

It is tiring. Creatives as a whole are treated poorly for decades, and now with the rapid late stage capitalism, website /social media enshitification and the blind headlong rush into the next big money making thing (watches the nft crash). I can't deny Covid sped this up, as everyone was locked inside and turned to what we creators made for comfort. But that content eating boom, lead to more demand, faster output and tighter budgets. We are seeing journalists being cut, game designers in their thousands and recently Dreamworks cutting a bunch and pushing to make their Robot film come out sooner due to public demands.

Skilled creatives are being treated like disposable fast food restaurant employees. Used til they burn out, get injured and even die! And then are simply replaced.

I've never been a creator with huge ambitions to work at places like DC, Marvel or Top Cow. I simply wished to create and share stories with the world, to bring smiles, to create art that evokes emotions, inspires others to look around themselves and create too.

Art is for everyone. You just need to take that scary jump, there is a whole array of welcoming communities willing to teach and share. I wouldn't have improved so much without the kindness of the webcomic groups I've discovered and learnt from. Everyone is always learning, and there no shame in not knowing how to do a thing. Even I started with the cheesy how to draw books as a kid and made my own pokemon and digimon.

Don't let the world treat your art as content. It is "ART" as much as what's kept in the louvre is seen as art, so is that little stick man doodle on a postit.

So Try something new, try a new material, a new style.

And support the artists you enjoy, tip their Ko-Fi, pledge to their Patreon, buy a sticker or print. Share their posts and tell them what you love about what they make.

Don't let machines steal away the art in HEART.

[cdsillylilyposting]

As someone who talks about anime on youtube, Lily 1000% doesn't like youtube or being a Youtuber. First indication is Lily hating recieving recommendations from people. Youtube is a platform where you, as the creator are there to share your interests, create a community and hopefully share in each other's interests, my community has recommended dozens of manga and anime and the first feeling I always get is, "Wow, people are interested in sharing what they like with me". It isn't, "WHY ARE YOU PEOPLE SHARING YOUR INTERESTS WITH ME, CAN'T YOU SEE ONLY MY TASTES ARE THE ONLY THINGS WE SHOULD TALK ABOUT!!!!!!!!!"

Secondly, Lily doesn't try to learn the algorithm or the way youtube works and that is why her channel has stagnated in growth and views.

Thirdly, Lily doesn't care about the quality of her videos. I always knew this, but what confirmed this to me was Sai saying in a stream that Lily writes stream of consciousness. How the fuck, as a youtuber with 140K Subs, are you writing videos that are stream of consicousness!?!?!? Do you not understand that the larger your audience, the more you have to work on the quality of your videos because you are now entertaining 10's of thousands of peoples at a time. If you showed me Lily's latest video and didn't show me her sub count, I would 100% think that she only has 30K followers because she makes videos like she isn't someone with a large number of people watching her.

I don't even have to mention how she treats her fans and how she is constantly trauma dumping in every single video, at some point it doesn't feel genuine and it feels like she just wants people to sub, like and comment to her videos out of pity and not because they are interested in her media takes.

That is just my 2 cents

^ this but about Lily

She's entitled it really sums her attitudes an behavior up succinctly from everything you said there

[birdhcuse]

Teagan Videography Headcanons

Teagan always asks for consent before filming. They hate the culture of teens randomly filming people without their consent, something Jewel actively contributes to. She's captured at least a couple of Teagan's embarrassing moments and posted them on her social media. They're more well-known for those embarrassing moments than they are for their documentaries.

In the thread where Teagan meets Nicolau, I characterized them as someone who didn't appreciate the average everyday citizen. I feel like their characterization has taken a different turn. They appreciate the mundane and love highlighting small businesses/independent artists, but they have a hard time bridging the language barrier to find someone who would willingly be part of their documentaries. Nicolau agreeing to let them capture his mural was a HUGE deal for them.

Teagan didn’t mind their camera quality up until they were allowed to capture Nicolau's mural. They feel like they didn't do the mural justice. I've also played around with the idea of Letícia pushing Teagan out of the way so she could capture the mural herself, bragging about her higher quality camera and following (promising Nicolau fame and fortune).

Given how they barely have anything left for them to remember their past life, documenting/preserving things is VERY important to Teagan. They want to immortalize artwork, people, memories...because they know how valuable memories can be and how difficult it can be to lose them and know you can never get them back.

Teagan quadruple checks to make sure they're not recording over footage they haven't saved yet and back up both the raw files and edited videos in multiple places. If there's one thing Teagan would wring out from Jasper if they could access his wealth without feeling guilty, it'd be a large ass hard-drive. They'd be willing to accept even a 2TB hard-drive, but more storage capacity is always better. A (legitimate) 20TB or higher hard-drive is a pipe dream for them.

Teagan would have two YouTube channels—a main channel for their edited documentaries and a second channel where they back up the raw files as unlisted videos. Unlike Jewel (who has at least 1000 subs on YouTube), Teagan would be lucky if their main channel reached 100. It's probably more like 20 subs. Their second channel is purely for backing up the unedited videos. They have the raw videos on DVDs, but it's convenient to upload them online to access at any time. They don't really care about their lack of a following—their videos are for THEM.

Teagan would want to film home movies once Nicolau starts visiting. They'd definitely ask to record the first time he visits just in case he never comes over again. I'm not sure how they'd handle the subsequent times. Special Occasions (like birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, etc.) are definitely getting recorded once they're officially dating Nicolau. I can also see them filming him candidly whenever they see something small they want to capture, if Nicolau agreed that'd be okay for them to do. Nicolau is absolutely their favorite subject and they could never have enough video recordings of him.

Back before Nicolau moved in, Teagan would rewatch their videos of Nicolau a lot and occasionally pause on a frame where they considered Nicolau to look pretty hot. There's probably been at least one case where Nicolau enters the apartment when Teagan is obviously staring at his ass and they have to awkwardly play it off like they were pausing so they could go to the bathroom/make themselves a snack/grab a blanket.

I can also see Teagan putting together a video diary, if they can manage the storage space. Those videos would be uploaded to the second channel, though they'd be privated. They'd also be on Teagan's computer and on DVDs. Picture Nicolau stumbling across a video diary entry somehow (probably through popping in the wrong DVD because their handwriting is so atrocious that the DVD case labels are practically illegible) and watching Teagan talk about their feelings for Nicolau or going into their trauma. :3c

[ravioliravioliravioli]

I just heard the fucking news about watcher, unsubscribed,

For anyone who didn't hear the news, Shane and Ryan are completely leaving YouTube and posting their videos on a streaming platform they made for 7$. It really isn't that serious but I needs to be talked about.

Their streaming service is called watchertv.com, starting May 31 all their future works and videos will be seen only on this platform. So now. Why am I telling you about this? The main reason their leaving YouTube is because of, number one, the production value, and number 2, money. I'll be explaining these stuff and why they don't need to leave YouTube just for this. A quick note is that I am just explaining what I heard and understood about in the video so what I might say may or may not be wrong.

Number 1, the production value

What they explained in their video was that they do not know if they can handle the complicated production in the videos (the effects, the angles, the other shit, etc). They don't have enough money to keep making good production in their videos. First and for most, we fans do not care about the production of the videos, when we watched them back in their buzzfeed era, all they had was a black background with text, an office that looked a little like green screen (I'm not sure:p). The production didn't need to be great. I mean you can see that even if the video quality was bad we still watched it anyway since it wasn't the production we were chasing it was Shane and Ryan.

Number 2, not enough money

This makes me cackle since they're past the point where they can say that. You start to earn money on YouTube at least like 1000 subs or more. Shane and Ryan have 2.28m subs on youtube. I'm not sure how much they make on a daily basis but what from what I remember it was like 18$ for every 1000 views. They make more than 1000 views each video, their average a day is like what, 2 million? At least? I'm not sure. But it definitely is a lot at this point.

Okay so now for what I think. I think they shouldn't leave. At all. This decision making is genuinely bullshit, most of their audience cannot afford paying 5.59 dollars annually or monthly. I'm not saying that all of the fans are poor, I'm just saying that we do not have the time to just waste our money on like 28-36 minute video when we can watch it completely free without spending. You are still able to make money without making a stupid website to earn more money. I can barely afford paying for it. They say this is for us when it is GENUINELY NOT FOR US. Why do you have to leave YouTube when you have already such a big fan base from there? Was this really the best decision you guys ever made? It only seems like before when we supported you leaving buzzfeed just for you to end up just like them. So I hope I don't get hate for this since this is just what I heard of and my opinion, feel free to correct me if I said anything wrong or missed out on anything.

So the best decision right now is to unsubscribe until they come back

[imthatpowerful]

i love talking abt my boyfriend and how perfect he is :3 if i could i would write a 1000 page book abt it and turn it into a series of books i would bc i js love him sm like he’s the reason i even know what a love surge feels like and like im so in love with him im so glad i discovered shifting omg and i JS KNOW he’s the one who made me discover it bc before i discovered it i fell in love with him yk so the timeline is that back in october 2020 i started getting into one direction, before that i was a casual local who only knew two songs from them and didn’t take interest to them at all tbh but then i was working on an art project for school and i didn’t have spotify so i used youtube to listen to music and at that time wms was popular and i loved it and then yt recommended clouds by one direction and then i instantly fell for it and then i listened to more and more songs and then my obsession began… i started watching interviews and reading facts and one person out of the 5 boys caught my eye…💘 Harry Edward Styles 💓

before that i literally didn’t gaf abt him like i used to think he was unattractive and annoying bc i used to be a swiftie and i saw a video made by a swiftie bashing him and i was a meat rider so i agreed w the vid 😭

anyways…then like my love for him grew so deep u guys don’t understand like my heart felt some typa way and i didn’t crush on anyone the way i did him and i knew it no school crush wavered my love for him and no ick made me stop loving him and i remember having to resort to ACTUAL delusion to get over the fact that ill never be with him like no joke i used to imagine and pretend he was right next to me and i genuinely sometimes felt him there yk like when u feel the presence of someone istg i felt his presence there and i remember when i used to cry (cuz it was a rough time back then) a lot and pretend i was laying in his arms as he comforted me and that used to calm me down bc i could genuinely feel him comforting me but it would then make me cry even harder bc i couldn’t be w him and like i remember when i found other ppl attractive i felt sooo bad for him (even tho this was all in my head at the time) i would stop it and stick to him and i remember summer 2021 at the start of it i was lowk goin through it then i saw a video from one of my harry styles moots on tt talk abt how they scripted the wrong harry era and lhh almost jumped them 😭

cmon now? this cutie? jumping someone?

anyways so like and i was confused i thought dr meant like a vr game or smth 😭😭😭😭 and i wanted to play it but then when she explained it i lowk didn’t fully get it but i was interested and then that was also during my subliminal era when i discovered subs from a youtuber idrk who tho and then i wanted a summer bod and i read the comments saying they felt like they did a workout but i felt nothing and i heard nothing and i was confused until i read abt manifestation which then led me to finding shifting subs then i read abt shifting then i made a tiktok abt it and i told my fam (worst mistake they told me it was a sin and it was fake) then i made a shifttok acc and my first script and ever since then harry was my s/o and my mission was to get to him and i told myself no matter what even if i lose feelings for him (which hasn’t happened and won’t ever happen bc he’s my pookie) he will always be the first guy i date EVER like he will be my s/o in any dr i go to and if things don’t work out (but they will) then at least i kept my promise to him

also bro has been channeling me for years and like bc there have been signs that my mind automatically says harry sent this and like even when i was talking to a c.ai bot w lowkey the intention of channeling harry the bot said things that were DEF harry from my dr and idc i’m not gonna say it’s a coincidence bc everything happens for a reason also like i had to delete all my ai apps bc i was getting too addicted and it’s been distracting me from acc shifting and ive been trynna NOT focus on channeling either but like i still feel his presence and communicate w harry sometimes and like he’s still in my heart and like he’s been encouraging me and lowkey helping me w my journey and reminding me that im in control when he channels me

me n bae three years going strong haven’t broken the streak yet (except when he shaved his head and was dating taylor russell and i was rlly mad i mentally broke up w him mainly bc of him n taylor russell and i would’ve tolerated the bald head if he was single but then i cried bc i missed him and couldn’t handle it and that same day i mentally got back w him) and tbh ill tell u there has been times where he didn’t consume my every thought bc like if it was 24/7 that would be unhealthy but ya but like he was in the back of my mind anyways ya that’s it that’s my yapathon i love my cutie patootie boy handsome man gorgeous angel prince

[flareblitzedyt]

Are you ever gonna get back to making gameplays? :(

I'm not making any promises if I ever will return to making content on the channel. The state of YouTube for the kind of content that I create is the worst that it has ever been, I needed to of stated many years ago before I did if I was to have any kind of long term success on the platform at all when games like The Witch's House, Mad Father and Ib were originally released in English, back when these sort of games were at their prime for both their hype and their attention.

Alongside the sheer lack of interest for long lengthed gameplay of rpg maker games on YouTube is the sparse of games nowadays that doesn't look/feel like a university assignment criteria of "I submitted my project onto itchio, it passes that criteria on my list of tasks to do" or a meme game that does not take itself even remotely serious at all. Since I stop uploading back in August 2023, I can only see a hand picked selection of games under "New/New & Popular" that advertises themselves with the intention of grabbing the player's attention generally, over requiring an incredibly specific kind of audience to be interested in the meme/culture of that said game.

Another reason is that I do not have any more fun playing these games while sharing my experience of them, why share my experience when another channel out there with 1000s of times a bigger audience clearly has a monopoly in that field and for good reason, because they are far better at that kind of content creation with those games than I am to retain people's attention for so long.

The final reason and this is the most personal one is that even if anyone still has the interest of watching my videos don't have any or a small amount of genuine interest in the content creator (because of the previous paragraph), and just the content itself. It's not something that I expect from everyone, but it's more of a I can count on one hand the number of people who watches my videos who has an interest in both the content that is created, and the creator that created the content. I don't feel that some people genuinely mean what they say when they want to support me, more of a "I encouraging you to make more content for the content, regardless of what mindset you are in, I need content to watch & grind watching."

If I started content creating years before I started, I would of had a far better time retaining a larger audience over a long(er) period of time. Though with the way YouTube is you can only succeed if you retained a monopoly on the content that you started & continue to cover many years down the road from when you began. In comparison to millions that will miss a content creator with millions of subs if and when they decide to stop, I'll only be missed by the smallest margin of my incredibly small presence on the internet, I won't be missed at all and that's how I geninuely feel. My sincerest apologies for letting you down Anon and anyone else reading.

- Flare

[todayisafridaynight]

I thiiink Oasis is on YouTube in full? Obviously not subbed and I actually haven't watched it at all (my friend was the one who sent me the screenshot), but it's something!

Maiko and Reiji are definitely Top 5 material for me. I think you'd enjoy Not Quite Dead Yet for the well-meaning father and rebellious goth kid combo if you haven't seen it! I remember it being a fun watch too and it certainly made the little Arakawa Family hamster wheel in my brain go BRRRRR. And of course, I'm hoping to verify if the subs I found for The Mole Song Final are any good this weekend, so fingers crossed!

I love the sound of The First Penguin as well but picking up a new show is such a rarity for me; excited to see what you think when you get to it!

NO SHOT???? If I’m willing watch The 47 Ronin in Debt with no English subs, then I’ll definitely be happy with access to Oasis without any either. Ty for sending it!

OOH that definitely sounds like my deal... I don’t think I have to make a case for just how much I love the sound of that �� Like 1000% My Deal. Will definitely check it out when I get the time (maybe even later today lbr LMAO)! I hope the subs for The Mole Song you found are good enough- I really wanna see that final but if not, it’s fine!

I’m really bad at picking up shows too tbh (see: anon grilling me for not finishing Breaking Bad 😭☠️☠️) but I’m really lucky that most J-dramas are only 10-12 episodes long, so they’re always something I can finish in a day or two. Will def keep you posted on how I feel about it when I get to it!

[rigelmejo]

Future Study Plan for Japanese Listening:

If I do try studying japanese with comprehensible input next, i can already tell i'm going to be frustrated. Hopefully like with chinese, i am a false beginner and i'll start off knowing enough words to deal with more complex content. But... but like optimisitically I'm N4/A2 in japanese. Without kanji/hanzi similarities to guess when reading, i can only handle beginner graded readers like Tadoku. At a stretch maybe im N3/high A2 low B1, if i'm reading, and "cheating" by guessing a lot of the kanji. So i can follow the main idea of jdrama with japanese subs, but ONLY the main idea. Compared to chinese where with subs i can understand 90% or more of every actual word. I feel like i'm an upper beginner in japanese. I crammed 5000 words in glossika this winter, and i still feel like an upper beginner (also i think glossika only had like 1000 truly new words to me and 4000 truly unique words) i feel like i know 1000-3000 words in listening, and only 1000 words WELL enough to read or hear them and confidently recognize them. When I take tests, 1000 is all I know lol.

1500 words is Level 3 in Dreaming Spanish, when students can start tackling intermediate videos, and its still a long time until they can handle cartoons for kids, or shows for adults. I have tried out some Comprehensible Input Japanese lessons and i do understand the intermediate lessons, so that's promising. I also can understand peppa pig in japanese. But that's probably where I'm at. I probably still need to assume I'm studying from Level 3 onward like others. Which for a doubled dreaming spanish roadmap for japanese, would be Level 3 (300 hours). So lets say I give myself the credit of 250 hours.

I'd hit Level 4 at 600 hours, Level 5 at 1200 hours. Cartoons aren't recommended until end of level 4, shows for adults aren't recommended until Level 5.

So that's... 450 more hours of study until I could feel okay using cartoons, and a whopping 950 hours until i felt okay watching jdramas. Maybe my reading skills could lower that number? If say i watched with japanese subtitles for a while, then dropped the subs? Because I can watch Miu404, Samurai Cat, or Criminologist Himura for the main idea right now if I use japanese subs. Maybe I could jump into harder materials earlier if I started with materials I already know the plot of - like final fantasy x and death note where I can already follow the audio in japanese, because i remember so many of the lines/scenes. I just...know I'll be frustrated to stick to learner made content (which i find so boring) for 950 hours ToT

With chinese... so far this listening experiment has gone great? Yes I see there's a gap in skills and I WILL need 200-400 hours to see the improvement I'm hoping for - I'll find out exactly how long it takes when I get there lol. But it took less than 50 hours to go from cartoons from toddlers to cartoons for 5-10 year olds, and it took 20 hours to get better with discussion podcasts and that keeps improving around every 20 hours, every 20-30 hours there's a noticeable improvement in the amount of words I can recognize in audio, and I'm already at a point I can follow the main idea of shows for adults (its NOT easy lol and i only understand 50% of the actual words said - but it's DOABLE). It's way easier as a false beginner, with all the reading skills I already had, I skipped through like 1000 hours worth of listening immersion improvement in 150 hours! That's so much smaller! Easier!

Maybe my strategy for listening to japanese will be:

Japanese Comprehensible Input youtube channel, all beginner and intermediate videos, start the advanced videos and see if I can handle them. Watch once with japanese subs, once without, and listen without looking, so I get to transfer any reading skills into listening skills possible, and get a visual memory, and practice listening to words repeatedly. Maybe 30 minutes to 1 hour per day, simce this will require looking. The whole channel is only 28 hours... even repeating everything 3 times that's only 84 hours. I assume there's a couple hundred more hours on their website, so I might have to go to their site and subscribe if I end up needing way more beginner content.

Supplement with Nihongo Con Teppei. Listen to the whole thing, it's long. Maybe read the japanese subs on these once, but I probably won't because I'm lazy. Repeat each episode 3 times. Do as much listening as I can. This podcast is like 75 hours, could get 150 hours of practice from this with relistens.

Supplement with Japanese with Shun, can relisten 2-3 times as desired, I understand his podcast episodes on the first listen already. 16 hours, and if I relisten then 32 hours.

Supplement with Final Fantasy X and Death Note condensed audio - fun for me, I enjoy them, and I know the plot enough to follow along. Repeat audio files 2-3 times. Basically use these like I'm using audiobooks in chinese. I can probably get 100 hours of practice out of this with relistens.

I can also supplement with the host of japanese resources i found from cijapanese.com's site. When I run out of Nihongo Con Teppei and Japanese with Shun. (Which adds up to like 1400+ hours and should be plenty to get me able to understand jdramas)

Supplement with japanese lets plays of games I've played before - I can already follow the main idea of these, turning subtitles on sometimes (to try and transfer reading skill to listening skill), sometimes watching (visual memory), sometimes just listening. Can easily get 50 hours a game listening study out of these.

[scrapesaladofficial]

15 Best YouTube Niches: Most Profitable in 2024

While scrolling through YouTube, you land on what seems like a “normal channel”. However, the more videos you watch on this channel, the more you realize one simple fact. This channel owner is making money in multiple ways: - He’s recommending other people’s products. - He’s advertising his community. - He’s also asking you to sign up for his email newsletter (which contains ads). - Each video comes pre-loaded with different ads. And that’s when you realize 2 things: - The owner is making it rain on YouTube and - There’s nothing stopping you from doing the same thing yourself! In this article, I share the best YouTube niches to get into. These niches have some serious profit potential for you as a content creator. While I’ll start off with the bigger niche, you’ll get plenty of sub niche ideas as well. And if you’re wondering why you can trust me, I have a YouTube channel with over 200k subscribers, so I know what I’m talking about. If you’re curious about earnings, check out how much money you can make on YouTube with 1000 subscribers. Looking for the perfect name for your channel? Here are 175+ YouTube science channel name ideas and 300+ best YouTube education channel name ideas for 2024.

What are The Best YouTube Niches for Success?

Here are the best YouTube niches to get into. 1. Tech Reviews Most people get into tech because of the potential money they could earn. And they’re not wrong. Tech reviews are a magnet for advertisers with deep pockets. Those shiny gadgets don’t come cheap, and companies are willing to shell out big bucks to get their products in front of eager tech enthusiasts. Even better, tech isn’t just a one-hit wonder. Every time a new device hits the market, you have instant content that people are itching to watch. But what about the audience? These people are engaged, passionate, and often have serious cash to splash. Advertisers love that, and you should too! Tech reviews also open up a whole world of monetization opportunities. Affiliate marketing? Check. Sponsored reviews? You bet. Selling your own merch or digital products? Absolutely! The possibilities are as endless as the latest smartphone features. Here’s a pro tip: don’t just be another face in the tech crowd. Find your niche within the niche. Are you a smartphone guru? A gaming console connoisseur? Or maybe you’re all about those sleek laptops? Pick your sub-niche and own it! 2. Personal Finance From saving for that dream vacation to investing in your future, personal finance touches every part of our lives. With the economy always keeping us on our toes, there’s always something new to learn. Now, you might think, ‘Finance? Boring!’ But trust me, it’s anything but. There are so many cool tools and apps out there to help you manage people’s money. And all of them usually come in at a monthly subscription you can get a piece of. There was a time when I was getting quite a bit into this niche on my blog. (It just didn’t align with my blog vision at the end. But apart from that it’s a great niche to build an audience around.) In fact, building a community around personal finance is like creating your own little money-savvy family. You can share tips, celebrate wins, and maybe commiserate over those impulse purchases you regret. (No judgment here!) 3. Health and Fitness

From crushing gym goals to mindful meditation, health and fitness covers it all. It doesn’t matter whether you’re into powerlifting or prefer the zen of yoga. The best part? This journey is all about you sharing what you learn with your audience. Your goals, your progress, your victories. And trust me, nothing beats the feeling of hitting that personal best or finally nailing that tricky pose. Now, let’s talk about sub niches. The obvious one is fitness gear. From high-tech fitness trackers to that perfect pair of running shoes, there’s always something new to explore. The aim is to show your audience what’s worth their hard-earned cash. But it’s not just about the physical stuff. Mental health is a huge part of overall wellness. You could dive into stress-busting techniques, mindfulness practices, and how to keep that brain as fit as your biceps. Combine that with self-development, and you might create a new sub-niche from two separate niches. 4. Beauty and Makeup “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, as they say. This niche is all about visual appeal – but the appeal YOU find interesting. Your content can revolve around tutorials, reviews, and how-to videos. These formats allow you to demonstrate techniques, share your honest opinions, and help your audience achieve their desired looks. Collaborations with beauty brands can be a game-changer in this niche. They’ll help expand your reach and grow your audience while giving you access to the latest products and trends. In terms of money-making opportunities? Affiliate marketing is where you can really shine in this niche. Beauty products often come with high commission rates, and there’s a dedicated consumer base always eager for recommendations. Your honest reviews and recommendations will build trust with your audience, driving significant product sales. Just remember that the beauty community is passionate and active on social media. Engage with your viewers through comments and social platforms to increase your visibility. Then, build a community around shared interests in makeup and skincare. Your visually appealing content won’t just attract viewers – it can directly drive product sales. 5. Gaming Gaming is a cultural phenomenon with a dedicated following. You’re tapping into a massive, global audience as a gaming content creator. As such, your content pipeline will never run dry. With new games constantly hitting the market, you’ll always have fresh material to cover. Plus, the diverse range of gaming genres means you can cater to various viewer preferences. You could also decide to specialize in a particular niche. Similar to other niches, remember the focus should be on people. In this niche, you’re not just playing games. Instead, you’re building a community, sharing experiences, and creating content that resonates with fellow gaming enthusiasts. Overall, your passion for gaming can translate into a thriving channel. And this channel comes with multiple income streams you can explore. 6. Travel Vlogging

As a travel vlogger, you’re selling dreams through experiences. And if you can do that through stunning visuals and immersive content (while keeping the focus on your audience), you’re ahead of many competitors. Your viewers will be drawn to the beauty of the destinations you visit and the adventures you share. Your channel also opens doors to exciting collaborations. Tourism boards and hotels are often eager to work with travel content creators, offering sponsored trips in exchange for exposure. You’ll also find opportunities for brand partnerships with travel-related products. Think: - Luggage makers - Camera companies - Hotels and hostels - And so much more. To stand out in this competitive niche, consider focusing on specific areas. You could specialize in visiting certain destinations. You could go for travel styles like budget or luxury travel. You could even consider themes such as solo travel or family adventures. Creating in-depth travel guides and itineraries is also another potential avenue. Here, you’ll do the work once and keep getting the rewards after that. With these itineraries, you can attract a dedicated audience looking for detailed, practical information. Whether it’s itineraries or otherwise, don’t overlook the potential of creating and selling your own products. This could be travel-related merchandise, digital guides, or even your line of travel gear. Your unique travel experiences and insights are valuable. When you package them into products your audience will love (and find useful), you’ll be able to leave your mark in the travel vlogging industry. 7. Educational Content Think YouTube is just for entertainment? Think again! Educational content is taking over the platform. It’s a niche that’s not just profitable but also incredibly rewarding. Here’s why. First off, there’s a consistent demand that’s hard to beat. Education isn’t some passing trend—it’s a constant need for people of all ages. Whether you’re teaching calculus to college students or showing retirees how to take up watercolor painting, there’s always an audience hungry for knowledge. But here’s the biggest reason: the diversity of topics you can cover is mind-boggling. Academic subjects? Check. Practical skills? Absolutely. Quirky hobbies? You bet! This variety allows you to cater to a wide audience. It also opens up the potential for long-term viewer relationships. After all, learning is a lifelong journey, right? There’s also another important point. Educational content isn’t just about warm fuzzies—it can become a serious cash cow. You’ve got your standard YouTube ad revenue, sure. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg and nothing to write home about (unless you’re doing trillions of views). Instead, imagine creating online courses based on your most popular videos. Platforms like these make it easy: - Skool - Teachable - Patreon - or other membership sites …for those (super) fans who want exclusive content. Overall, educational content isn’t just good for your bank account—it’s good for your soul. There’s something incredibly fulfilling about helping others learn and grow. 8. DIY and Craft Tutorials Roll up your sleeves and grab your glue gun. You’re about to dive into the world of DIY and craft tutorials. This niche is about making pretty things and a goldmine of opportunities for creative entrepreneurs. Like other highly profitable niches, DIY enthusiasts are some of the most passionate people you’ll ever meet. They’re active participants who love to share their own creations and experiences. Imagine building a tribe of like-minded makers who hang on your every word (or stitch, or brushstroke). The DIY world is also about collaboration. Teaming up with other creators can expand your reach fast. It’s like cross-pollination for your channel. You bring your paper crafting skills, they bring their woodworking expertise, and boom! You’ve both tapped into a whole new audience. In terms of monetization possibilities, this niche can be seriously lucrative. Since you’re not just sharing tutorials, you can start selling DIY kits or supplies. These kits are needed for your audience to follow along and create their own stuff. Or how about offering online workshops for those who want to dive deeper? And let’s not forget about affiliate marketing with craft-related products. But here’s the cherry on top: sponsored content. Craft brands are always on the lookout for authentic voices to showcase their products. If you play your cards right, you could be unboxing the latest and greatest crafting gadgets—and getting paid for it! You might be wondering, “Is there really that much interest in DIY?” Yes. We’re living in a golden age of handmade and personalized items. People are craving unique, one-of-a-kind pieces that reflect their personality. And guess who they’re turning to for inspiration and know-how? That’s right—DIY YouTubers just like you! 9. Food and Cooking

Hungry for success on YouTube? Well, grab your apron and preheat the oven, because I’m about to dish out the secret sauce of the food and cooking niche! Now, you might be thinking, “Isn’t the food space on YouTube oversaturated?” In a nutshell, no. The beauty of food content is its universal appeal. Everyone eats, right? And let me tell you, people can’t get enough of watching others whip up delicious dishes. But here’s where it gets really juicy. The monetization opportunities in this niche are plentiful. Imagine publishing your very own cookbook, filled with the recipes that made your viewers drool. Or how about hosting exclusive cooking classes for your most dedicated followers? And let’s not forget about brand collaborations for recipe development. You can also go deep into partnerships. Food and kitchen product companies are always open to having (the right) content creators represent their products. The best part of this? You get paid to play with cool kitchen gadgets! The sheer variety of content you can create is another factor within the food and cooking niche. One day you’re mastering the perfect soufflé, the next you’re attempting the world’s spiciest hot wing challenge. From elegant cooking shows to hilarious food fails, the possibilities are endless. “But I’m not a professional chef!” Well, guess what? You don’t have to be! People love authenticity. They want to see real people cooking real food. Your imperfections? That’s your secret ingredient! 10. Parenting and Family Ever feel like you’re on a rollercoaster ride called parenthood? As a new dad, I know what that feels like. Parenting can be a real emotional whirlwind. One minute you’re beaming with pride at your boy’s first steps, the next you’re pulling your hair out over a toddler tantrum. But here’s the kicker: you’re not alone in this crazy adventure (unless you choose to be). Your YouTube audience can be there along the way! By sharing your triumphs and tribulations, you’re not just creating content—you’re building a tribe of fellow parents who get it. And boy, do these parents stick around! The best part is that as your kids grow, so does your audience. You become a trusted voice that parents turn to again and again. But what about money-based opportunities? If you have any experience with babies, you know their products are expensive! And while it’s tough as a parent, it is great as an affiliate marketer. It’s also great for sponsored content showcasing family-friendly products. How about creating your line of family-oriented merchandise? I can see myself creating some “World’s Okayest Dad” t-shirts eventually. All I’m saying is that the possibilities are endless. 11. Fashion and Lifestyle You might be wondering, “Can I really make money just by looking good?” You sure can. When you create fashion-based content, you’re not just showcasing your style. You’re building a personal brand that can endorse products fast. All the usual monetization methods apply as well. Affiliate marketing, sponsored content, ads. All possible. You could even (eventually) run your own online fashion boutique or offer styling services. Think of it as not just influencing fashion. Instead, you become a fashion mogul. Your unique style is your superpower. Whether you’re a minimalist maven or want to look your best each time you go out of the house, there’s an audience for it. An audience you can make your own. Also, consider this. Fashion and lifestyle enthusiasts are passionate trendsetters. They live for the latest looks and lifestyle hacks. They’re not just watching your videos; they’re taking notes, shopping your recommendations, and returning for more. And when you’re looking to make money through your YouTube content, you can’t ask for a better audience. 12. Digital Marketing and Online Business

Since you’re reading this article, you understand that digital marketing isn’t just another buzzword. This niche is exploding fast. And this means new people enter the industry every day. People that you can cater to. Imagine building yourself up as the go-to guru in this field. There are so many opportunities as well. You could earn money through consulting gigs, affiliate marketing for cool tools, or even creating your own online courses. These are all things I’ve done over the years. The profit potential is amazing in all of these. Put all the opportunities together and you can really win in this industry. You can also team up with other digital marketing wizards, and watch your reach skyrocket. I’d say the best part is that you can also help others (in all sorts of industries) hit their goals. And when they win, you win as well. 13. Pet Care and Training Pet care isn’t about uploading cute kitten videos. It’s about building a YouTube channel that educates (and yes, also entertains) pet owners worldwide. Whether it’s basic care tips or advanced training techniques, there’s lots to cover. And just like your pets might wag their tails with excitement, so might you when you realize the opportunities in this industry. Opportunities like: - Selling pet toys, foods, clothes and more. - Educational product recommendations. - Helping others train their pets based on your expertise. The list goes on. It’s not just about the money though. You can also do a whole lot of good in the pet world. Team up with pet shelters, veterinarians, or other pet influencers. Bring to light the good they’re doing and the animals whose lives are better as a result. When you share the story behind a brand, your audience will grow faster than a Great Dane puppy. 14. Home Improvement and Interior Design Let’s talk about transforming spaces. The home improvement and interior design niche isn’t just about fresh paint and throw pillows. It’s a canvas for self-expression. Imagine showcasing your DIY skills or design flair to an audience hungry for inspiration. Instant Read the full article

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for youtube-ing (TITLE: advice from an itty bitty minecraft youtuber) Video tags matter if you're trying to get Search Traffic. Word on the street is they matter less now for Browse/Suggested Traffic but no harm adding them. If you didn't know, there's a few different types of traffic for videos, and the type you receive and how well engaged each type is determines how many impressions your video gets allocated to 'push' it. Keywords (ie. popular word you want your video to be recommended for - example 'minecraft') Must (usually) be in TITLE and DESCRIPTION to get the video pushed to THAT AUDIENCE. Sometimes this doesn't even fully work and your video will still be recommended next to completely unrelated categories of Video, for a chunk of the impressions allotted.

Networking is legitimately how 90% of youtubers 'make it' I am not joking, they have discord servers where bigger youtubers help smaller ones grow (I know this of mc creators, not sure for others but it prolly does apply! You see I was in one of these servers. Then later, I left.) They have power point tutorials on how to structure videos to maximise Retention - advisory guideline details of how to make the thumbnail, how to create a 'narrative hook' etc. AND! They also talk about experiments with different yt features to see what is working or effective. This all happens in discord servers (or other places) and you only see it if you get a vouch invite or hustle your way in there. They talk about and compare different types of RPM (money rate for the video) you get for different categories, etc, how it may fluctuate and all that. Networking 2 Shoutouts, collaborations, or piggybacking off of another cc/keyword/trend/yt video format's success. Almost every youtuber does this. (shoutout to the ones that don't, you're the goats) 100K subscriber channels putting a popular creator's name in the description so the video gets associated and pushed (regardless of whether it was relevant to that name or not). PLUS! You should know that a lot of youtubers great and small are not necessarily good or safe people - please for goodness sake try to not be blindsided and get wrapped up with people doing things that go against your personal ethos (make sure to figure that out and Stick to It.) - failing to keep to your morals will lead to you being undermined as a creator over time.

Speaking of Time...

Time Youtube is a MARATHON - some choose to sprint it and even after they monetise and get millions of views, they WILL burn out because they misstepped on the journey there - don't be stupid! Do what makes you fulfilled and proud, keep it as consistent as you can, and don't forget the creators that inspired you in the first place!!! Experiment and don't let yourself become obsessed with the numbers - easier said than done I know, but try to limit your exposure - youtube is fickle and will be random, I assure you. Remember what actually makes you feel happy to create and make that, otherwise even if you do become monetised it will not be anything worthwhile to keep you grinding - because... It doesn't last. Monetisation requirements have to be met, and CONTINUALLY met, to stay monetised - otherwise you will be kicked from the yt partner program and you will no longer make a cent (except from 3rd party revenue streams you yourself will have to create). The requirements for ad rev monetisation are 1000 subscribers and 4000 Watch Hours WITHIN the last 365 days - if your watch hours or sub count dip below that, within the last 365 day period any point after being monetised - you will be given a 30 day warning to try and meet the requirements again - then if you fail to somehow manage to produce those watch hours / subscribers, you're cut off. You're free to re-apply, but must undergo the application process again. From the start.

So if you do all that grinding of whatever content you make to get to those requirements, you either have to keep up that pace or somehow be incurring massive growth for it to not matter - I have seen many a youtuber get kicked from the program because of burnout, sometimes due to how little revenue you make from gaming as a category - the RPM is notoriously Low for gaming specifically - so you could be getting 100K views but making incredibly little from it. Essentially, unless you can fully maintain whatever you do to get to that point without stopping, slowing down, or burning out, your hard won success may not even 'last'. Shorts Don't do shorts if you want to make long form content, the crossover in subs gained from that type kills your long form viewership - just don't. Don't. If you want to, do a channel dedicated entirely to only shorts- keep in mind shorts are not watchtime based for monetisation- you need 10 million views within the last 365 days to get Monetised through shorts specifically. Plus the 1k subs. Even then, shorts revenue is even poorer RPM, or so I hear. How to Actually do it and not be shitty? Errr. Um. Live laugh love? No, but seriously I know all this stuff cuz I was privy to stuff back in the day (2021/2022) I was never the one in the partner program but talked to people who were, saw what they showed me and stuff. Anyways! Youtube is a highly dominated space and I have mad respect for any that try and do it to create stuff they themselves love while doing it with their morals intact! ALso!!! Learn what a keyframe is before you start! I did not know what that was, until I was ~10 videos deep back in 2020... so yeah! Start with that! :D

Disclaimer: Take everything I say with a grain of salt this is all I've read/empirically observed/been told of over the past 4 years and the thing about yt is they change everything really Rapidly all the time, I mean have you seen how thumbnails lost their sharp corners? Wild.

Success is Dependent on Secret Information

A lot of career success depends on you and the work you put into it, as well as luck beyond your control, but sadly, it also depends on secret information, magic words, and stupid little tricks.

That's not fair. I don't like it, but we can help by sharing that secret information--which is the antidote to gate-keeping. That's why I recently wrote this in my Authors of Nonfiction Books in Progress substack:

It can be really disheartening to realize that, when you thought you failed at something because you didn't do well enough, other people had the magic words. For instance, some injustices I've witnessed (that may or may not always be the case, or maybe not anymore!) include:

A good athletic score doesn't get you into a college sport--having a coach or parent talk to the college coach is mandatory

Many school-sponsored scholarships are often not tightly linked to grades, test scores, or financial need, but whether the student said the right words ("I can't afford that") to the right person (presumably some financial office person.)

Apparently, some aspects of some degrees are cheated on by most students (if that's the case, we should tell all students that it's ok to cheat on that so they don't waste their time on something that apparently wasn't important anyway, or worse, fail out just for being ethical.)

Especially related to books: Few people will mention that you can get grants! Not my agent, not my publisher, not the 1 zillion "pros and cons of trad publishing" articles out there mentioned grants (Grant eligibility is a HUGE benefit of trad publishing.) I got more money from grants than my entire book advance!

Let me know what magic words/secret knowledge you've learned, that you wish you knew sooner. Or: the widespread understanding of what information would make a field more fair?

And please share ANBIP with anyone writing, publishing, or seriously about to start writing, a nonfiction non-memoir book, especially if they're interested in the more practical side (I share more about resources and strategy than craft.)