#how to get more subscribers 2018

[effemar]

Sorry for talking about Cornelius Hickey from hit series AMC’s The Terror (2018) again but I think it’s really overlooked how Hickey serves an additional narrative purpose in his existence as a metatextual threat.

Hickey in many ways is there to be an ideological contrast to the “good” characters in the show in a way that’s really interesting. All through the series there’s this conflict between morality and survival, or as Hickey puts it, “your morals and your practicals.” Assisted suicide, survival cannibalism, et cetera. But the point is, Hickey has already resolved that internal conflict. For a lot of the other characters, this is perhaps the first time they’ve been in a genuine survival situation, where they’ve had to confront what they’re willing to sacrifice for the sake of survival. But Hickey has already been there. From before they even set sail, the stakes have been life and death. He was willing to kill someone to be on this boat. Everything else is small potatoes. As he says to Billy in one of his first crucial scenes, “there are worse things than being lashed.”

Hickey is, in many ways, perfectly suited to the landscape they find themselves in. Other characters want to get back to England. Hickey wanted to get away from England. The principles that other people hold, relics from their homeland, are what Hickey was trying to escape. And he makes a point of calling these principles into question. What’s the difference, really, between a dog and any other creature you kill for food? What makes a lieutenant better than a caulker’s mate? It’s all in your head.

And it’s not just that he resents them, though he does. He actively thinks they’re dumb! He sees principles as a weakness in other people. It’s why he’s surprised when Mr. Goodsir sees through his attempt to gather information about Silna. He thinks ‘generous’ is a synonym for ‘stupid’. It’s why he’s amused when Irving recommends watercolors, when Billy tells him he’s going to be better and not have sex with him anymore. It’s silly to him.

And to some degree he's right. We, as a modern audience, snort when Irving tells Hickey he should stop being gay and do “climbing exercises” instead. The things that seem so morally relevant and important to them are completely arbitrary. The thing is, Hickey sees killing people the same way. Why is it okay to kill people in some circumstances and not others? Tozer shot Morfin, and it was okay then! Why is it only bad when he does it? When he’s about to be hanged, and Crozier makes a point to say he caused the deaths of women and children, and an officer, Hickey ROLLS HIS EYES. Because it doesn’t make a difference to him.

And this concept is emphasized very clearly by the plot, not just Hickey. When Hickey kidnaps Silna, we as an audience know Crozier was about to do essentially the same thing. “Bring her in for questioning” is politer than “kidnap”, but it’s not like it makes a difference to her. It’s just the principle of the thing.

To be clear, I don't think this makes Hickey himself secretly right or anything. Because despite what he tells himself, he does have morals. He isn't the free, enlightened being he thinks he is, who has shrugged off the burden of England's social mores. He carries those ideas with him. He does the same thing, fundamentally, as the people he derides. The English idea of the Arctic as a place to be explored and conquered, a tabula rasa where he can start anew, free of rules and morals, is an inaccurate one. It has consequences the same as any other place, and is subject to principles, even if they're not ones he recognizes. He completely disregards the Netsilik people as a source of help not only for his own selfish reasons, but because I think he truly subscribes to the English belief in their "savagery".

He has taken an idea and mistaken it for the truth. And that belief in his own lack of blind spots, the belief that he alone is able to see the world as it really is, is ultimately his downfall. It doesn't occur to him that the Tuunbaq is anything but a sophisticated tool, let alone something that has rules and principles beyond his comprehension. It doesn't occur to him that there might be consequences for his actions beyond the immediate. It doesn't occur to him that Mr. Goodsir would choose his principles over his own life, would choose to do something that has an impact beyond himself. For Hickey, those things are unimaginable.

Anyway character of all time. Monster that eats souls, rat king extraordinaire, guy with delusions of godhood, living manifestation of hubris. Cornelius Hickey you will ALWAYS be famous.

[captainpansparrow]

My thoughts on Watcher Entertainment

They messed up. Not by wanting to be paid for their content but by how they went about it. People have been supporting the Ghoul Boys since their early days on Buzzfeed Unsolved. When they launched their new solo YouTube channel they took a risk and luckily had it pay off when their fans followed them.

They started their channel on April 2019. Their channel as a whole does not produce enough content. With a total of 377 videos and 19 playlists their average upload rate is unsustainable for a third party subscription platform. Many of their content has not been updated in more than 2 months.

In comparison to Try Guys who started a year before them, 2018, and have over 850 videos. With twice a week upload and livestreams with subscriber participation.

They had the option to promote their Patreon. Create YouTube memberships with exclusive content. Ask for follower opinion and support to transition to this new platform instead they drop a bombshell and leave people wondering what they’re doing to be getting in return.

I do not agree to putting the blame solely on Steven Lim because they’re all adults who have a say in what they want their channel to produce and promote.

But with a staff of 25 people and new hires in their way it’s really disappointing to see them only being able to put out one video a week. Making this whole $6 third party subscription platform not worth it.

[sweet-evie]

IMAGINE Satoru and Suguru as fucking YouTubers, circa 2014-2018.

Ohmygod they would be SO entertaining, I swear. This AU lives in my head rent-free at the moment, so let me word-vomit about it.

It all started with Satoru... Things like this, of course it starts with Satoru.

Satoru gives me storytime YouTuber vibes. His channel started out that way. It's just him talking about how crazy his life is. But after he amassed a following, around 100K, he eventually became a variety sort of YouTuber.

Satoru does a LOT. His channel is INSANE. From food challenges, to trying weird food on camera, to going to haunted locations, to putting weird stuff in the microwave to see what will happen (his house is permanently in danger), to failed cooking videos, right down to trying random products he finds in online stores.

Trust me, it doesn't take him long to get to 10 Million subscribers. Probably 10 months or less. That face card ain't declining and he's always going to pull people left and right.

In the beginning, a lot of Satoru's traffic came from Instagram. It's just him looking so aesthetically pleasing, he's irresistible. His Twitter is a mess. Twitter is where he shitposts, and people know better than to take him seriously on Twitter. His Snapchat... Good lord, help the poor soul who's following him on there. It's random shenanigans that would have you questioning if Gojo is okay.

For the first two years of his YouTube career, Satoru has been doing this YouTuber thing solo.

And then his best friend, Suguru Geto, made his debut on his channel and it's OVER.

His fans fell in love with Suguru. Of course, they would. Tell me you wouldn't love him? (in an AU where Suguru is innocent and has never attempted to commit crimes against humanity).

Also, Suguru is deadass charming when he wants to be.

Satoru and Suguru = iconic comedic duo.

Satoru's views and engagement skyrocketed from the moment Suguru was introduced to his YT audience.

At first, Suguru kept all his social media accounts private, and Satoru was always careful and mindful about what appeared on camera.

Eventually, Satoru influenced Suguru to start his own YT channel.

Suguru Geto strikes me as the type who would have a niche YT channel. Like, he targets a specific audience. The opposite of Gojo's chaotic variety channel.

I kind of find it hard to pin down what sort of content Suguru would upload, but I'm leaning toward day-in-the-life vlogs, fitness, travel vlogs, and commentaries.

If you want serious, educational, aesthetic, and calm content, head over to Suguru's channel.

If you want unhinged shenanigans and pure chaos, Satoru Gojo is your guy.

Satoru promoting Suguru's channel after a failed cooking video be, like:

=OoOoO= =OoOoO= =OoOoO= =OoOoO=

"Well, it's whatever!" Satoru laughed, side-eyeing the messy slop on the countertop that he'd had the audacity to call a donut cake before the entire video devolved into him and Suguru flinging globs of cream cheese and chocolate frosting at each other across the kitchen.

"Who is going to finish all this?" Suguru lamented, eyes narrowing at the pile of food on Satoru's marble counters.

"What are you talking about? We're eating that!"

"Oh fuck no!"

"Yes!"

"No, Satoru."

"Yeeeesss!" Satoru cackled and flung an arm around Suguru's shoulders, bringing his friend into the frame for the special announcement he'd teased at the beginning of this video. "Now come here, it's time to tell them our surprise."

"Our surprise?"

Satoru laughed. "Well, your surprise, but you did this thanks to me~ You're welcome, by the way."

Releasing a deep sigh at the sound of Satoru crooning into his ear, Suguru shook his head. Satoru was more excited about the announcement than Suguru himself would ever be.

"Are you telling them?" Satoru asked, blinking at Suguru over the rims of his dark Versace sunglasses.

"Nah, you do it."

"Everyone, Suguru finally has a YouTube channel!" Satoru announced gleefully, the widest grin splitting his face as he wrestled Suguru into a headlock. A headlock that the latter had no problem prying himself away from. "After a whole year trying to convince his stubborn ass! And the first video is already up right?"

"Two videos, but yeah, they should go check it out if they want." Suguru nodded, flashing an easy smile at the camera, and towards millions of Satoru's lovestruck fans.

"Two! He's fast! Go check it out, guys. Suguru's channel is in the description below. It's the first one there. If you guys need something to help you relax or--"

"--To cleanse your palette after this madness."

"Hey! Rude! They love my cake videos!"

"That's not cake, Satoru."

Neither of them acknowledged the sloppy pile of donuts coated in multi-colored frosting, teetering on the brink of collapse in the background.

"But yeah! Suguru's channel is up right now. First two videos, go check it out! Subscribe, show him some love, give it a like. We had fun hangin' with you, we hope you had fun hangin' with us. And I'll see you guys tomorrow!"

=OoOoO= =OoOoO= =OoOoO= =OoOoO=

UGH! THEY'RE SO CUTE!

[gaslightgallows]

Please imagine a pithy title about fresh starts here.

(crossposted from Patreon)

Coming into 2024, I had big plans for how I was going to get back on track and get back to posting once a week and yeah, obviously, that hasn’t happened.

But what I have been doing is looking at my Patreon and at my own projects and figuring out some things I need to do differently. Last April, I changed my nom de plume because I wanted a fresh start. Now it’s time to give this entire Patreon project a refresh.

Here’s what’s happened so far:

Deleted my old A.F. Linley website and gave up the domain; the cost for hosting has risen by $200/year and I wasn’t using it as much as I thought I would back in 2018. Also I kept getting spam emails through the contact page.

Took down my Smashwords account; the single title I had managed to self-publish, a short story collection called Creeps, Ghouls and Jewels, had some serious formatting issues that it was not going to be worth the time/money to correct. Plus, I’m not happy with the changes that have come since Smashwords merged with Draft2Digital. (I’m considering moving to Payhip for future self-pubbed titles but that’s a discussion for a different post.)

I’m starting the process of taking down my Redbubble shop and....Okay, actually, I might have done that already? I just went to grab a link to the site in case anyone wanted to order a Moonicorns t-shirt before I deactivated but uh, it looks like it might’ve deactivated itself? Anyway, merch isn’t the right direction for me at this time, but I’ve still got all the actual designs and I really do like the “Finishing Things is Hard” logo, so I’m definitely going to hang onto that and slap that onto some stuff at a different print-on-demand site in the future.

Here’s what’s happening next:

New posting schedule: Starting in April, patrons will receive one short non-fiction post every week (500-1k words) and a piece of fiction every month (2-2.5k words). Oddments posts will continue to be free to read, but these take a decent amount of research and will be sporadic, basically happening around patron-only posts.

Revised patron tier perks: Getting rid of physical rewards and adding more digital ones. More details to come.

Current and long-time patrons: Thank you for sticking around while I get my shit together. I say that frequently. I mean it every single time.

Potential new patrons: Hello. I have just met you, and I love you. My name is Ethan, I live in a 200-year-old house and I’m writing a novel called The Lion’s Paw. It’s set in 1925 and is about an immortal queer disaster woman and what happens when 400+ years of terrible decisions catches up with her.

(I will neither confirm nor deny that she was inspired by H.G. Wells from Warehouse 13.) (Yes I will confirm it, she totally was.)

There are séances and ghostly possession and psychics, there is historical romance, and psychological horror, there are haunted houses and artists behaving badly and a lot of ladies making out.

I post about my writing process and all the weird little historical niches that pop up during my research. Frequent topics include: 

Spiritualism

Cryptids

Historical curiosities

Medical quackery

Weird tech

General oddball occurrences and serendipitous intersections of history, folklore, and culture

And sometimes when I’m really bored I write short fiction via random prompts.

If any of that appeals to you, please consider subscribing! I’d love to have you along for this journey and my caffeine habit needs all the support it can get.

=====

Banner photo by Ryan Snaadt on Unsplash.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

The only way Vancouver 2025 could reverse things for them is if they stayed out of the spotlight and exclusively forced coverage on the athletes. But that’s never going to happen - They began their PR campaign by saying they might bring the kids to Whistler right after they left Canada, making it a family affair rather than an event that highlights the veterans. I suspect this is also to pull in more big sponsors or get more money as the major contributors have left and wasn't there a rumor that 2000 vets walked out of IG as well? And IG also was asking for public donations. What a mess!

Exactly. Instead of getting out of the way, Harry and Meghan are just going to draw more attention to them by bringing the invisikids along.

Yeah, it’s a PR tactic and a marketing gamble, but it’s still all about them and what they can do for these poor military veterans who have no purpose in life now that they aren’t serving anymore. It’s toxic energy that more and more people are recognizing.

The rumor about 2,000 vets walking away from IG is a little bit of misnomer. It wasn’t a sudden walkout, like all of a sudden these 2,000 people just walked away en masse. It’s more like attrition over the course of time from 2018; 2,000 veterans had at least one interaction with Invictus Games - maybe they were athletes/competitors, maybe they were subscribers on some kind of newsletter or mailing list, maybe they donated - but are no longer connected to the charity (they don’t compete anymore, they unsubscribed, they don’t donate, etc.)

Some of them were probably polled about it, a few said it was because of The Harry and Meghan Show, and that’s how it turned into “all these people left because of Harry” but there’s no way they polled all 2,000 people to find out precisely why they haven’t had any return engagement.

The other issue with the 2,000-vet-walkout is that IG doesn’t have that many participants year to year. On average, they have 500 athletes at each games, so they don’t even have 2,000 veterans to stage a mass walkout with. So there’s a little bit of fudging of the details to make it more provocative and dangerous to Invictus Games’s image. Because they do have an image problem: it’s the Harry and Meghan Show. And for people as self-absorbed as the Sussexes are “2,000 people walked out on our last event because of you” is more powerful than “2,000 people stopped engaging with the charity in the last 6 years, which works out to about 330 people every year, because of you.”

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a huge problem. They’re losing ~330 contacts a year that they can’t replace - that’s incredibly dire straits for a small charity who can barely keep the lights on year to year to be in business.

What they’re trying to do with the rumor/fudging is trying to get IG’s attention to do something about their image problem. But they took the chicken’s way out by getting rid of the CEO, rather than the actual culprit.

[thinking-emoji]

wait you’re cooking. it wasn’t a hiatus (just a dapg hiatus) it just wasn’t the content everyone wanted/liked/were used to/whatever.

writing a book and pitching shows and preparing and going on tour is hard work. he was working he just… wasn’t like live streaming writing lol. also he was extremely depressed for a while. obviously that warrants a break.

but i do think you’re right about people just not liking it so they just kind of black it out. which like, if you don’t like something, fine. but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t doing anything. and also, like you said, covid fucked everyone’s sense of time so like. it feels like it’s been 50 billion years since 2018, not 6. which obviously doesn’t help.

Thank you! People in the notes of the post also pointed out how dnp had been doing A Lot of work in the mid 2010s (remember when we had 3 liveshows every week, including one on the BBC?), so it didn't help that phannies were unbelievably spoiled in terms of regular content. But I also don't think it's fair to dnp to expect them to never change the type of content they want to put out. Like, phannies keep saying they'd still love weekly livestreams where Dan just sits at his desk and yaps for an hour, and like. I'm sure he could do that. But I genuinely don't think he'd be more successful with it than with what he did do.

Like. Look at the other popular youtubers from the time of dnp's zenith. Zoella stopped posting. Marcus Butler stopped posting. Troye Sivan has fully pivoted towards music. Connor Franta gets 40k views on his videos. Tyler Oakley streams on twitch? For 60k subscribers, idk how many people he's usually got online in there? And like, the big guns? Shane Dawson? Pewdiepie? Should've quit! Jenna Marbles? Did quit!

I'm rambling on again but like. People need to understand that being a YouTuber from 2014 is not a long-term sustainable job. I honestly think it's almost a miracle that the phandom is still so committed and that they managed to keep their engagement so high (coming out at a time when most people expected their careers to be over probably helped a lot though. To be clear I don't think they came out in order to revive their careers, not at all, but I'm convinced it helped. A lot.)

But yeah what I was saying is. I get that phannies want the content they know and that they grew to love dnp for. So do I!!! But I think we're overestimating our stamina in watching the same thing for years and years and years without ever getting a taste of what it feels like to *miss* that thing. I don't know if the gaming channel return would have been as successful as it was if they both (especially Dan) hadn't disappointed us a little before. And like, I'm kinda sad for Dan bc I don't think that was his plan. I would love to like WAD! I would love to see the vod have millions of views! But unfortunately, I don't love it, and I don't want to click on it when I see it in my recommended, and it feels even more disrespectful to give it sympathy views. Because I want to have fun watching Dan and Phil. And I think we all do.

[secretlywritingstories]

SUBSCRIBE FOR COMFORT CONTENT | phan one shot

Summary:

Phil casually created an idea how to bring back the gaming channel, Dan stayed up too late writing a skit and now they've got to go pick up Dil's head. To rise again, you must first acknowledge that you died.

Tags: 2023!phan, domestic fluff, introspective Dan, the gaming channel LIVES! (essentially just me in my feels)

No warning apply

Read on AO3 or below

They had to do it. It was necessary. The end of an era.

In many ways leaving 2018 behind had meant closing a lot of Dan and Phil boxes. The Interactive Introverts tour finished up, gaming channel went on hiatus and Phil is not on fire was celebrated for the tenth and final time. They needed to create some distance from the "Dan and Phil" that were joined and the hip.

Well, online.

In real life, it was quite a different story. They still liked to live in each other’s pockets most of the time. It was a familiar habit that none of them were keen to break. In fact, they had only grown closer and stronger in the years that had passed.

They had come out, they had built their forever home, they were laying down the foundations for the future that they would have together. More than four years had gone by quickly and one thing from their past was still caught in limbo.

It was about time they did something about it.

“Are you ready?” Phil asked, looking over at Dan when as the car pulled up to the storage unit facility.

He was smiling, practically bouncing in his seat, and Dan’s heart squeezed so tenderly. Phil had been ready for this for longer than him. Dan had been the one that needed to pull the plug on the channel back in the day, and Phil had respected it, but he’d insisted on calling it a hiatus. So that they could eventually bring it back.

It hadn’t taken much for Dan to agree, even though he wasn’t sure what the future would bring. He didn’t like closing doors behind him, and the gaming channel had been something quite special. It had been a lot of work and taken a lot of their time and energy, but it had been worth it.

It was something fun that they did together, and that their community could enjoy and rejoice in it. He really hoped the excitement would still be there. He had faith in them but it was still scary.

“I’m ready,” Dan said with a nod, even as his breath felt caught in his throat.

Phil’s hand found his, low and out of sight of the driver, and he didn’t let go until they were climbing out of the car. They always found ways to gravitate towards each other, exist in the same space for the simple comfort of being near your person, but it was only in the last few years that holding hands publicly had been a thing.

They were still being subtle about it, but they did it now. Reach out and gasp, for a brief or a long moment. Before it had felt too gay, like it was going to out them, if anyone saw it.

Things were different now.

It was a bit of a walk down narrow hallways to get to their own storage unit. Dan hadn’t actually been here since they moved everything into it, and he was suddenly hit the with urge to turn tail and run.

It was a ridiculous thought. He should not be running away from his past. It wasn’t scary. Not exactly, but every token and letter in that storage unit held a little part of their history. They were bridging eras now bringing something from the past into the future.

Dan’s feet felt heavy but before he could get too lost in existential dread, Phil was grabbing his hand again and physically pulling him forward. It made Dan snort, but he let himself get pulled along easily. Sometimes, it was good to have Phil just act when Dan became immobilised like this.

The whole announcement had been Phil’s idea too. He’d clearly just been spitballing and messing around with some ideas for fun. It hadn’t been the first time that he’d talked about how they could bring the gaming channel back from hiatus, but it was the first time that Dan hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it.

It had haunted him for a couple of days until he was up late and writing an actual script for the skit that Phil had suggested. It was short and sweet, meant to be funny but also pull on your heartstrings just a little.

He had never quite mastered how to be a funny guy without some sentimentality.

Rather than telling Phil that he’d written the script, he’d just sent it to him on email. It was a cop out, but it was truly easier to just get his thoughts onto the page and then release them without needing to look into anyone’s eyes.

Though Phil had come charging in, midday the following day, with eyes shining so brightly. He didn’t even need to say anything, just stand there and look with his mouth open, phone in hand, presumably open on the email. Dan had nodded.

Yeah, it was time. The doomed hiatus should come to an end.

Still, it felt hard to unlock their unit and be met with so many of their old memorabilia that they hadn’t wanted to get rid of. They hadn’t wanted their new home overrun with all Dan and Phil stuff from their online careers, so it had felt like a good middle way to rent this place. To have it be somewhere safe and not too far away but not just hiding in the basement.

Or the closet.

They really didn’t want to be shoving anything back into that. It had taken years for Dan to fully crawl his way out and he was never going to let anyone put any part of him back into it again.

It thankfully wasn’t difficult to find Dil’s head. The papier-mâché monstrosity was hauntingly big. On more than on occasion, it had jumpscared Dan back when it had lived on top of their closet in the old gaming channel room.

“Come here, old fellow,” Phil said, pushing through boxes uncoordinated, with only his eyes set on his prize.

Dan followed, reaching out a hand to steady Phil’s hip as he went up on his toes to try to wiggle the head down with just his fingertips. When they’d tossed it on top of the selves, Dan hadn’t considered when they needed to get it down. It had been too hard to think about.

Phil got his fingers under the edge and pulled it down with a war cry and then leaned back too fast. He was balancing the head in his hand, and while it wasn’t heavy, it was quite big and awkward to hold onto.

“Fuck, Phil,” Dan cursed under his breath, as too much of Phil’s weight was suddenly falling into him. He tightened his hold on Phil’s hip and moved his other hand to grab his arm, just narrowly managing not to send the two of them falling into the boxes to their left.

“Oops,” Phil said innocently, and turned around to Dan with a big smile. “But look, I got it! Dil Howlter in all of his glory!”

It really was remarkable how well the head had held up after all of these years and all of the travelling that it had endured. It had been through the ringer, but it was still looking good.

Dan reached out towards Dil’s cheek, feeling the old paint under his fingertips. He touched it with softness, almost feeling an urge to whisper an apology to the obnoxious big head. It was stupid. Obviously, Dil Howlter had been alive and well in their old computer all of this time. He was a string of code and he couldn’t care less that Dan and Phil had abandoned playing with him and the little family that had grown around him.

But he knew there were others that had waited. It was no joke that him and Phil still got questions whether Dab and Evan ever would get the wedding they deserved. Their community hadn’t forgotten, and while they could always rewatch the old videos, this was the chance to show them something new.

To give into that urge to exist together on camera again, getting lost in games side by side, like they had done before.

“You hold him,” Phil said, practically showing Dil’s head into Dan’s chest. Phil acted like it was on a whim and turned around to look at another box, but Dan knew well enough that Phil had seen right through him. Seen that Dan just needed a moment to take it all in.

They were doing this. Peej, Sophie and Sean had all said yes. The church was rented. The make-up artist and sound guy booked. They were shooting it next week. No expense was spared. It was going to be a fun little video, but it was also an important one. All props except one had been collected.

Dan was holding the last piece.

He looked down into Dil’s soulless eyes, and it felt like something unfurled in his chest. It started slow and spread out, and suddenly, he was smiling. So widely that his face almost hurt. His body felt like it was buzzing and he kind of wanted to jump up and down as an outlet to this sudden surge of energy.

This was real. They were doing this. They were bringing it back.

“There you are,” Phil said, and suddenly, he was right back in Dan’s space, pulling the head from his hand, so he could get right up in Dan's space.

Phil’s hands touched his cheeks, with the same softness that Dan had reached out to touch Dil. Phil held onto him and made their eyes meet. Dan’s excitement kept bubbling in his chest, growing wildly when he could watch the giddiness in Phil’s eyes again. It had never left. He’d always had a much easier time with stuff like this, and yet, he was right there waiting for Dan to catch up.

He was always doing that. Letting Dan pump the breaks on things without a single complaint.

“Sorry, I took so long,” Dan said, his smile growing even wider. It felt like he was shaking, or maybe he was just buzzing. It was hard to tell. The emotions felt so big in his chest that he wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself.

No longer would this be the end of an era. It would be the beginning of a new one. He’d even gotten Phil on board with full-on swearing in the skit. It was going to be so good.

“We’re right on time,” Phil said, face moving close enough that his lips almost brushed against Dan’s as he spoke. “Always perfectly on time, Dan.”

Phil was much more of a man of action but he knew how Dan felt about words. He had gotten quite good at putting his affections into the shape where it would reach Dan the easiest. It was only on special occasions that Phil broke his own instincts to meet Dan’s. Moments like this.

Dan leaned forward, just enough to catch Phil’s lips against his. A familiar quick press against each other. He let out a shaky exhale as he pulled back, and flickered his eyes up to look at Phil again.

It was going to be a goddamn pleasure to be able to sit down next to him and goof off on camera while they had fun playing video games. He’d missed it, and it like he hadn’t quite realised how deeply until it was back within his grasp.

“Let’s go resurrect this bitch,” Dan said, leaning over to grab Dil’s head again.

[betweenlands]

on a more uplifting note, though -- if you miss that Sweet Spot from around 30 to 90 minutes of chill, interesting, well-paced series editing, i've gotta recommend Sir James Ender for hitting that exact sweet spot.

he's of a slightly older modded MCYT variety, like something you'd get from around the 2018-2020 eras -- laid-back, not prone to over-editing or over-acting, minimally character-focused and more focused on creating builds that themselves tell a story. a great "podcast" MCYTer, sure, but more than that i find the pacing of his videos is excellently tight to the point where i can comfortably watch the whole way through on a lunch break or something.

he also literally only has 48 subscribers right now, which... look, he may only have two videos out right now, but considering how good his stuff is already turning out, the fact that he's not only sub-1k but under fifty subscribers is frankly just criminal.

so yeah -- go check him out. subscribe, leave him comments, i'd love to see more people get on board :]

[mathysphere]

Caterpillar Cross Stitch recently launched their own subscription-based browser-based pattern maker, 'love it stitch it' (very cool and impressive! subscription model seems kinda sketchy, but I'll have to try the demo later)

there's also a connected, cross-stitch-specific pattern marketplace launching with it, though, which seems even more ambitious and intriguing--

(rambley thoughts after the break!)

the idea is that you make a design with the pattern software, and can then import it directly into the marketplace, right? that's clever. the subscription is way overpriced for the software, though (unless it ends up being better than WinStitch & PCStitch put together, which.......... may actually be possible*)

as someone who lives & breathes cross-stitch, I really dig the site's specific focus-- I like that each listing has built-in forms for sellers to list stitch count, stitched area, and type of pattern (black-and-white, color-and-symbols, etc), I like that PDFs are automatically stamped with the buyer's info, and I like that you can sort by, say, 'full coverage'.

also, it looks like their fees are less than etsy's! that's nice, too. a really good selling point, for buyers and designers both.

also also, you don't have to subscribe to the design program to sell patterns on the marketplace, though there is a discount for those who do.

the big problem: the marketplace is a ghost town right now. looks like there's 4 pages of listings, about 40 patterns per page, so ~160 patterns total. their instagram says they launched in May of last year; I don't have any frame of reference for how fast this sort of thing should get off the ground, but if I were them right now I'd probably be banging on the doors of every pattern designer I knew to try and get them on board.

Actually, it'd probably be smart to reach out to, say, mid-size designers-- people who are already selling patterns on etsy (and therefore have a catalog they could copy over), but don't already have their own dedicated shop website. heavily advertise the lower fees, and try to convince designers to direct people to the loveitstitchit listings. neither site has any exclusivity restrictions, so the sellers could keep the etsy ones up, too, and not miss out on the larger reach etsy has.

anyway, I'm definitely gonna keep an eye on this! it seems wicked ambitious, and I'll admit I'm not sure if I believe it'll get off the ground. it'd be nice if it did, though! And I'll have to try out the pattern designer once I'm done putzing around with the Amiga emulator.

*they are great programs and I do love them, but you can tell that PCStitch hasn't been updated since 2018. Conversely, you can also tell that WinStitch has been updated continuously since 1990.

[lilacmuffins]

"could you be my best friend?"

[oc-tober (day 6) - past]

did a little writing piece about april and kaia while they were still online bffs and not physically together or dating!! (title of this post is based on the song "online love" by conan gray, btw,,)

art below was commissioned by me from my best friend ever @muxhroom-marx-markiplier like two years ago, it's still my favorite drawing of them that i have on my computer!! (also shoutout he still does commissions and his art is wonderful go look at his post about that)

>> kaia hexum & april lang

i made these two in 2018 or something, back when i was forced to draw vocab word comics for my english class. they had this whole thing going on, and they were extremely in love with each other. they wear each others' colors because i only had like 4 colored pencils at my desk when i rushed through drawing the original comic,, then i kept them and used them for short story assignments and various other ELA things throughout middle school.

i love my girls, they've gone through so many cringe little phases of my life with me but they're still in love and that's what counts!! i don't give these two nearly enough attention as i should but shh it's ok i love them so so much still <33

little one-shot & prompts below the cut! lowkey the writing is not great but it's ok i wanted to get the idea out--

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

When Kaia was a child, her mom didn’t have a lot. After her dad died, they lived paycheck to paycheck, scraping up money for food and some nights not getting enough. Kaia always ate, though, and she was raised by the family Windows XP computer that sat in the living room. The thing was on its last legs, but it still ran YouTube and Skype. That’s how she met April, originally stumbling across a “Reading Tarot for Beginners” video. It looked like it had been filmed with a microwave, and the girl with red hair looked like she was 13 (a year older than her). Kaia loved the energy of the video, watching the girl’s face light up as she talked about her tarot cards (they looked custom ordered, with cats and oranges being a major aesthetic). She left a comment under the week-old video, one of only three. “XxApril_WitchxxX”, the YouTuber’s username, had a lot of cute videos without many subscribers. Only nine, not including Kaia. It was like fate when April responded to the comment and DMed Kaia, asking if she had a Skype account. The two of them talked about April’s videos, getting closer when April started to do “lets plays” along with her other content. Even when she couldn’t afford to play, Kaia would watch and commentate in voice chat, just to have her new friend’s company.

Eventually, they started to talk about more than videos too. Kaia talked a lot about her friend, Tove, and her mom. She started to learn coding, with her awful computer. She learned how to make games that she could watch April play, games that would stump her and she could get playfully mad at her friend as she refused to give her the solution to the puzzles. They continued to get closer and call often until they were 16, four years had passed in the blink of an eye. Ms. Hexum knew April almost as well as she knew her daughter, at this point. One night, at the dinner table, she sighed and shook her head.

“Kaia, sweetheart, I don’t think I’ll be able to afford to pay the internet bill anymore. It’s getting too expensive.” She spoke. Kaia stared at her mother for a moment, not knowing what to say. Her little part-time job couldn’t pay it either, and April’s parents weren’t being very generous anymore with their divorce on the horizon and their daughter “refusing to get a real job”.

“Wait, so… I-I won’t be able to call April anymore?” Kaia asked, her voice cracking. It seemed impossible after these four years, even overseas the two were inseparable. Kaia’s mom put her head in her hands, she wasn’t sure what to say. Kaia didn’t blame her, of course, she knew it was hard. Still, she pushed her dinner to her mom, mumbling something about how she could eat extra tonight and walked to her room so she could call April (the computer had been moved to her room three years ago, or something like that). The two talked for hours about what to do, if Kaia could afford a phone so they could at least use Discord to text each other, but it was no use. A few days later, they said their goodbyes and the internet was cut off. Kaia cried to Tove, she thought she’d never talk to April again. That one day she would move on, start her life and forget about her. It took two years for Kaia to save up to the point where she was able to buy a terrible phone. As soon as she got past setting it up and kind of learning how to use it, she spent hours desperately trying to find April’s current Discord account. Her mobile data hated it, and her bank account hated the international call fees even more.

“Kaia?” April’s voice came through the speaker, crackling and not quite right. She sounded relieved. “How are you calling me?”

“April, I’m coming to Florida in a month. I have a ticket, it cost so much money. Mom helped me save up.”  Kaia explained, rushing to get it all out. She was hearing her best friend’s voice again after so long, it made her want to cry. “I can’t stay on the phone for long, it costs more money.”  She sniffled and reached up to twist one of the curls of her now blue hair around her finger.

“Oh! A-A month? I’ll have to get everything ready then.” April laughed, sounding just as close to tears as Kaia was. “I’m so happy to hear your voice, you have no idea.” She added. Kaia hummed in agreement.

“We can still text a little too, between now and then. No calls though, we’ll be together soon.” The blue-haired girl explained. They chatted for only a little while longer, and before Kaia knew it, she was up late packing her few belongings into a purple suitcase. This was the start to a new era of her life, and she was so ready to have April be there as a part of it. Only a month until she could see her and give her the hug she’d wanted to for so long…

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Prompt List:

[kathanglangit]

okay here's how you design a fantasy weapon pls like and subscribe follow me for more tips-

Kidding- but this was sent to me by Dyl just a while ago and I just had to.

I do actually love seeing these wild designs, there's more imagination in them than you can beat out of a roomful of AI "artists".

Art by Peter Andrew Jones if I'm not mistaken.

I do wish there were more of them around, just over-the-top bullshit that doesn't take itself too seriously.

This one's from The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982). It's a sword with THREE blades. Two of them shoot out of the hilt as projectiles- I love it. I would never use it.

I set out posting my art online initially to design "practical fantasy weapons", and while I haven't abandoned the "practical" part myself, going nuts on weapon designs is still just really fun to do.

Saradomin Godsword from OldSchool Runescape and the newfangled RS3 version.

Doesn't have to be "practical". Depending on the context, the looks can be more important than the functionality.

Sanderson depicts shardblades in The Stormlight Archive as being ultralight to justify their size. Fun middleground, but not always necessary.

Art by Alex Allen.

There are weapons that will forever be iconic BECAUSE they went nuts with 'em.

Of course they also went nuts with the people using them, so there's internal consistency, but the point stands.

Guts' Dragonslayer, Berserk (1989-2021) by Kentaro Miura.

Cloud Strife's Buster Sword, Final Fantasy 7 (1997) by Square Enix, image from the 2020 Remake

Moonlight Greatsword, in one of its many iterations, this time as Ludwig's Holy Blade from Bloodborne (2015) in The Old Hunters DLC by From Software

Kratos' Blades of Chaos, God of War (2005), image from their iteration in God of War (2018) by Sony's Santa Monica Studio.

Just- don't pretend you could ever use them in the real world, yourself.

Actual martial artists can already hurt themselves using tried-and-tested weapons from history (i.e. there is someone to learn how they use them from), let alone the average untrained gamer with something out of fantasy.

Doesn't stop people from trying. Baltimore Knife and Sword are among the many blacksmiths who routinely produce real world versions of fictional weaponry (look up Man at Arms: Reforged on YouTube) and recently Digitally Twisted Outlaws (also on YouTube) started training with one such giant replica Dragonslayer, and dubbed their weapon-style the "Colossus Sword Form".

Bottom line, just have fun with it. Don't get too bogged down by what's consistent with real world usage, especially when the context is fictional.

[squid-in-the-tardis]

Back in October 2019, Nick Briggs (exec producer at Big Finish) confirmed and denied a bunch of things that they were planning at Big Finish.

Of course... 6 months later a lot of plans changed. I made a post about the original stuff back in the day, so lets see how much of it came to fruition!

Things that were "Definitely happening"

"A new series of Dalek Empire" - well, they made Dalek Universe! But.... that has the doctor, and it doesn't have the dalek empire vibe, which is all about what happens when the doctor isn't around to stop a dalek invasion. So no this hasn't happened.

"Charlotte Pollard Series 3" - No - Still delayed, still not released. But Charlotte has been in a couple of recent things, so its possible they've recorded it recently!

"UNIT" - ah yes, at the time the UNIT series had concluded with no news of if it was going to continue - it was in limbo, and peeps were concerned it was cancelled. After 2019, it came back for a storyline called "Nemesis", so yes this came back. Now that Nemesis is over, we are yet again in a limbo where we don't know if the series will continue.

"1st Doctor Adventures" - yes! We got more of these, now with Noonan in the role!

"3rd Doctor Adventures" - yes these are still being made

"Further Adventures of Lucie Miller" - No - nothing since the last set in July of 2019.

"Missy" - yes, series 2 and 3 were released and series 4 is coming out next year.

"Lost Stories" - yes, miraculously they somehow found more unfinished stories to turn into audio dramas.

"Eighth Doctor Adventures: Stranded" - yes, and 2019 was before the first ep of stranded came out but oh boy were there troubles for this series. The first 4 episodes were recorded before the pandemic, and then the remainder had to be delayed and shifted around in the schedule a lot. But they did release it!

"Classic Doctors, New Monsters" - yes, two new boxsets.

So 7 out of 10 of the Definitely Happening announcements came to fruition.

Things that were planned

"Both Alex Macqueen and Derek Jacobi as the Master" - yes, the war master series with Jacobi is still going on, but Macqueen has only appeared once: in 2021 with the boxset "Masterful"

"Narvin" - yes, has appeared in 2023's Gallifrey box set.

"Matt Smith knows that he can approach [...] to do stories [with Big Finish]" - Woops... This isn't really a planned thing, it's just a statement. Matt Smith has not joined the audio dramas yet.

"3rd Doctor Adventures with Liz Shaw" - yes this happened in a couple of the recent 3das.

"Jago appearances" - yes Jago has appeared in a couple of things, like the Paternoster Gang series.

"Jenny (the Doctor's Daughter)" - yes she came back for another boxset.

"Rose [Tyler]" - yes there's been 2 more boxsets with Rose.

"Davros" - yes he's come back a few times.

"Torchwood Series 7" - yes. This is referring to "The Story Continues", the audio continuation of Torchwood, with seasons set after the show. Series 5 was "Aliens Among Us" from 2017, Series 6 was "God Among Us" from 2018, and Series 7 was "Among Us" and finally came out in 2023. I'm not sure if they're planning to make a Series 8, I'm not really on the pulse of Torchwood - let me know!

"Re-arranging the Monthly Adventures" - yes. This is the one that fascinates me the most! Because at the time of my original post, we still didn't know what they meant by this. I remember at the time people mourning the Monthly Adventures (or "Main Range" as it was originally known), as that was how they got into the audios in the first place. I think the changes they made are much better - instead of having the 5th, 6th, and 7th doctors crammed into one range, they each have their own sections on the site. And all the Doctors feel on the same level now, and it's easier to get into. Plus: you can now just pre-order a single doctor's releases in a bundle, if you only want that doctor's stuff.

"Subscriber Short Trips" - Sort of. This is an interesting one, because with the end of the monthly adventures there aren't any subscriptions anymore. So the Subscriber Short Trips specifically are gone. Replacing them is something much more interesting in my opinion: the first boxset for each of the 5th, 6th, and 7th doctors each year has included a bonus 1 hour audiobook. I like this system because it makes it possible to get these audio books without having to specifically subscribe to a specific period of monthly audio books - with the subscriber short trips, you could only get them by subscribing! You couldn't get them by just buying something! Plus, I've liked the audio books I've heard so far.

"Constance Clarke" - Yes, she appeared in a few of the last Monthly Adventures before the range stopped, and also in the special boxset "The Eleven". She hasn't been seen for a while, though, as the 6th Doctor now has Hebe Harrison as a new companion, so they're focusing on her story arc.

"Vicki, Steven, and Dodo joining the First Doctor range" - Mostly - Dodo is the main companion in the recent 1das, Vicki is coming back in this month's boxset (January 2024), but Steven hasn't made an appearance yet.

So 10 out of 12 planned things did happen, with the other 2 being mostly as planned.

Things they had no plans to do

"A torchwood + cybermen story" - Nope.

"Class Volume 3" - Yes, they've done volumes 3 AND 4.

"Iris Wildthyme" - Sort of, she's been in some audiobooks but not in any proper dramas.

"Sarah Jane Adventures characters" - Yes, in the recent "Rani Takes on the World" series from 2023.

"Ace and Benny together" - No, I don't believe so.

"Raine" - Nope.

"David Tennant" - Yes he was in a lot of things over the pandemic.

"Multi-meddling monk story" - Yes, this happened in Missy series 3 in "Two Monks, One Mistress".

"The Rani" - No, as previously noted the Rani is still stuck in a tangle of Rights issues.

"Clara and (Lady) Me series" - Nope - was noted as a great idea back in 2019, but I'm sure that the actors are busy with other things.

"Frobisher" - Sadly no.

"Graceless" - Yes - the series didn't come back, but the main characters came back in "The Fifth Doctor Adventures: Wicked Sisters".

"Romana III" - Nope.

"Novel Adaptions" - No. This is one of the things that is very weird: fans vocally want more adaptions of the VNA novels from the 90s, and Big Finish want to make them. But.... Nick Briggs has said that they don't sell for some reason, despite being one of the most commonly asked for series. I doubt this will come back at all.

"New Series Lost Stories" - Nope.

"Shalka Doctor" - Nope.

"Mel and Glitz" - No, and sadly the actor for Glitz passed away in 2021, which makes this unlikely.

So 5 out of 17 things they had no plans for actually did end up happening.

Things they said Will Not Happen

"Lungbarrow adaption" - No of course not lol.

"Anniversary boxsets for 3rd/5th Doctor/the Master/etc" - Sort of - at the time, Nick said "Almost every year is an anniversary of something or someone now". But since then we've had an anniversary boxset for the Master, as well as a semi-special boxset for the 40th anniversary of the 5th doctor (albeit this was just a normal release that was a bit anniversary-like)

So one sort of out of 2 definitely not happening things.

Things they said "Just Imagine..."

(which means "we're not going to answer that right now for marketing reasons")

"More unbound" - Yes, the Doctor of War boxsets which came out in 2022.

"Marc Cory (from Mission to the Unknown)" - No, but the elements of Mission to the Unknown appeared in Dalek Universe (which is probably why they didn't talk about it).

"Eric Roberts and John Simm as The Master" - Yes! Roberts has his own little series called "Master!", and both of them showed up in the "Masterful" boxset in 2021. It was heavily implied in behind the scenes stuff that Simm is not planning to show up ever again, so that may be the only time we get a Simm audio.

"Class Series 2" - Sort of. This is referring to continuing the story of Class from after the end of the TV show, which they originally couldn't do for rights reasons. The 2023 drama "Secret Diary of a Rhodian Prince" was set after the TV show, but is so far the only episode to do so.

"More incarnations of the Master" - Yes, Milo Parker played the Master in "Masterful", but nothing otherwise.

"Lady Christina Volume 2" - Yes.

"New Earth Volume 2" - No.

"The Nine/Eleven/Twelve/more incarncations of the character" - Yes, in fact this character has appeared very frequently over the last few years and I'm starting to get sick of them.

"Delta and the Bannermen sequel" - No? I'm not sure what this was referring to, but neither Delta nor the Bannermen have returned.

"Jo meeting Missy" - Yes, this happened in "Masterful".

So 6 out of these 10 happened.

"I'll look into that"

"Availability of The Veiled Leopard and Sarah Jane Smith: Comeback" - Comeback is now available on the website, after many years out of print. The Veiled Leopard is not available on the big finish site in general, I think there's some complex issues there. They occasionally make it available for free as a bonus special thing for a special occasion, and you can also listen to it on their soundcloud page.

"Limited Edition Vinyls on the website" - When they did vinyls for the 9das, those were available on the website, so this did end up happening.

And that's it! Interesting to see how much changed (and how much didn't) between October 2019 and now.

[goldenpinof]

Why do you think dnp’s views have dropped so much lately? Its odd because the fandom is actually relatively alive atm

i'm not really good at analysing such things. not enough data, i guess.

i think the core phandom is alive (although, could be more alive, imo). but not everyone came back, and those who did... i feel like half of them looked at things for a month or two, and left again. we're not even on 2018 level, there's a lack of engagement within the phandom, and i don't think we will ever come back to at least 2018. there were changes made, in dnpg content. and i'm not sure if people like it, or are interested in it. i'm not talking about gay stuff, btw.

also, phandom grew up. it's hard to keep up with so much content. people have job, families, other hobbies. we kinda had to find other hobbies during the hiatus, you know. October-December were fun and, dare i say, nostalgic. spooky week and gamingmas — that's what we knew before the hiatus. there was some interest in "how is it now, 5 years later?" but after that... idk, i have my thoughts on why people aren't watching dnpg videos immediately, or why they are skipping some altogether. but i can't say that what i think is based on something solid. not enough data. and making polls, asking if people watch every video, how long it takes to watch a new video, do they participate in the phandom, etc. — i feel like tumblr isn't the right place because those who are the target audience for these questions aren't actually here 😂

anyway. my main point is. the core phandom is here, casual viewers stopped showing up, youtube algorithm doesn't bring new people at all (unless it's the actual gameplay like Poppy and It Takes Two, or generally popular video topics like TikTok compilations or react videos). dnpg clickbait titles work 50/50. i feel like, even the outsiders know what titles are clickbait and what aren't. to be fucking real with you, i think "Dan and Phil are BROTHERS?" is hilarious. i'd click on the video exactly because it's clickbaity and because i want to hear commentary on that. the lore is so deep, it's fucking exciting. but, do others find it the same as i do? do casual viewers even know? like, if not, then this title is just a game ad. and the video is so poorly edited that returning to it would be painful. speaking of ads. people might be tired of them. and if they see that the video is clearly an ad (Dragon City or Brothers) they don't even click on it. people seem also tired of the sims, which is interesting to me. is it because the wedding is done, so now it's boring? idk.

i'd love to see the stats on the TikTok video. it's so different from everything else. like, it's the least dnpg video ever. it's literally the ap video, but it performed better not only because of the algorithm but also because it's on dnpg. i wonder if it made anyone subscribe to dnpg. every time i go to the channel, i see this video and i'm like, "wow! you really are here, with almost 500k views, something that even 2024 sims videos can't get. good for you, mf."

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

The Bugle didn't do a proper new episode this week because apparently there's cricket on and Andy Zaltzman had to watch that instead of writing and recording, but they did put out a special "Ask Andy" episode, airing the first subscriber-only Ask Andy in the regular feed, to advertise the subscription program.

However, they recorded a special introduction to it, in which Andy reminded us that the voluntary subscription program is the reason why they can make The Bugle without flogging us mattresses or food delivery services, and have managed to keep it that way for almost all of their nearly 17-year run, aside from that brief period in 2018 when they partnered with Radiotopia and had to run ads.

Andy mentions in that introduction that he's glad they don't have to do those anymore, and that reminded me of just how bad those were. Obviously no podcaster wants to have to voice ads during their show, but most can do an okay job at sounding like they like this. Andy Zaltzman was by far the worst I've ever heard at it. When he had to voice those podcast ads for that brief and terrible time, his words were extolling the virtues of a toothpaste or whatever but his tone was that of a broken man. Through every syllable out of his mouth, I could hear the sound of his soul sinking through the floor. That might be the best way to advertise the subscriber system, actually. Just take it away for a few months and make Andy Zaltzman voice advertisements again, listeners will be lining up to stop it. No one with a soul, or any capacity for basic human pity, could listen to that and resist a way to help him never ever do that again.

Anyway, after discussing this for a bit, they then do one more new question before re-airing the first episode of the subscriber-only Ask Andy show (airing it in the main feed to try to convince people to subscribe, which I assume/hope is not a sign that subscriptions are dropping off and the podcast is in trouble, and is just an effort to capitalize on any new listeners who might arrive via that thing that's happening on TV tomorrow):

LET'S GO LET'S GO LET'S GO LET'S GO!!!

Let's do this! One more day! After 25 years working his way up a comedy career, Andy Zaltzman is finally getting to achieve his dream of a consistent, ten-episode starring role on a major network TV show forcing TV viewers on a mass international scale to look at cricket gear! Apparently that was his actual dream. Of course that was his actual dream.

[buff-electra-truther]

Stex Appreciation Month: Electra

Fav actor: Koffi Missah is the best overall.  I think the MJ/Prince train angle is the most effective characterization for Electra and he looks, acts, and sounds perfect for that approach.  It’s fun and recognizable in the cheap seats in a language you don’t know.  But it also has a lot of potential for depth, there’s a double entendre to be made about the government/big companies conspiring against electric trains for being too successful and certain tropes about electrical powers. 

Mykal Rand is basically impossible to beat aesthetically for me.  I cannot look away from the absurdity of how smooth and girly his face is combined with how cartoonishly ripped he is.  Even footage of him on tiny tour stages in beat up ill-fitting costumes is captivating. He’s just so extreme and maximalist yet alien looking.  

I’m surprisingly unpicky on Electra actors as long as they aren’t boring.  That’s the only real crime.  But I tend to prefer ones who have/could pull off Greaseball because I prefer a bolder, louder Electra (and basically require it post 2018 so I don’t forget he even exists with that borderline camoflouge costume)

Fav songs/scenes: Dinah’s Disco because I love watching him get shoved, a nice more intense version of AC/DC, anything involving No Comeback or its leitmotif.  Once again, What Time Is It? is a terrible song but purely redeemed because Mykal is hilarious in it.

Fav costumes: Broadway/Bochum toothpaste is a classic, but I’m also weirdly fond of Late London because I love the cartoony look (especially on Chris Copeland since he went all in on the makeup style to match)

Ships/Friendships: already went over how I view him and Greaseball the other day.

I like to look at pictures from the JPN/AUS tours out of context and think Electra looks cold and lonely and in need of a buddy and Caboose coaxes him into fun bad ideas

Headcanons: 

-I habitually call Electra “he” because it’s what canon does 90% of the time, but view the character as neutral (all of them really).  Electra and the Components are about the only ones smart enough to realize these forms are an illusion and there’s no reason to play by human paradigms, it would be equally stupid if they subscribed to blood type personalities too.  They are VERY smug about this but slowly the message is spreading.  

-I vary in what exact basis I’ll give him but see him as either irl, alternate timeline, or outright sci-fi Amtrak’s choice of successor to the GG1.  He isn’t weak or terribly delicate if the infrastructure works (unless you keep him as 40101 lol), he follows in their tracks of being a huge effortless machine that’ll run away with basically anything you stick on it.  If he actually played it clean, he’d probably dominate going uphill vs Greaseball and especially Rusty, he just doesn’t flaunt strength much in canon because it’s not relevant to the race.

-Electra is a  Fully Automated Bi Space Communist who wants to run catenaries across the Rocky Mountains and Siberia

-If you turn the dials and knobs Electra will morph like a game’s character slider just like how it’s simple to regear electric locos for passenger/freight use.  

Unpopular opinions:  lmao I think all my Electra preferences are moderately to very fandom unpopular.  I’m a contrarian who likes the character for fundamentally different reasons than most.  I’ve vaguely known of the character for years but didn’t really fall in love with him until recently when I saw those 2013 tour videos people either love or hate. Yeah they have the worst staging and costumes but I went “oh hell yeah finally a less problematic alternative to my blorbos Ganondorf and Velvet von Ragnar”.  I think those two names alone make it pretty clear why I like a bulkier, hotter natured, more affectionate and competent Electra than most.  I crave novelty and get bored by oversaturated things so I’m naturally drawn to androgynous characters that aren’t twinks or prettyboys so seeing Mykal vs the more typical tall skinny Electras really made me more interested in the character, even if I think there’s more interesting characterizations than his.  

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

Royal watchers who labeled Meghan Markle "Ozempic Meg" were on to something.

NOprah's WeightWatchers purchased obesity drug semaglutide and is directing clients to their own telemedicine company for prescriptions.

One of the controversial things about this drug, though, is that a lot of people who are trying to get it don't necessarily medically qualify for it and they just want it so that they can get skinny. How is Weight Watchers going to deal with that?

Weight Watchers has recently moved into the obesity drugs market with the purchase of semaglutide, which works by helping the pancreas release insulin to move sugar from the blood into body tissues, slowing down movement of food through the stomach and curbing appetite. Ozempic and Wegovy are brand names for semaglutide.

Ozempic is approved to treat Type 2 diabetes in adults while Wegovy is approved for weight loss in two groups: those 12 and older with obesity and adults who are overweight and also have least one weight-related health condition, such as high blood pressure or cholesterol.

for the longest time, its whole kind of reason for being is to help people control their eating and up their fitness, and now they are getting into a medical approach to it, and that is a big shift.

Ryan Knutson: Is it possible that these drugs could just be another fad?

Andrea Petersen: I haven't heard that from anybody I've talked to. I think people do believe that this is a significant scientific advance and that it marks a real shift in the treatment of obesity.

Ryan Knutson: Welcome to the Journal, our show about money, business, and power. I'm Ryan Knutson. It's Tuesday, March 14th. Coming up on the show how a new class of drugs is revolutionizing the weight loss industry. For decades, Weight Watchers was one of the most popular ways for people to lose weight. And they did it by pushing lifestyle changes. The company has weigh-ins, branded food, and a famous point system.

Andrea Petersen: What they've done is they've assigned a point value to many, many, many foods. I mean most foods that you can think of. And you are given a certain number of points that you can use each day. And so you decide how you're going to spend those points. And the goal is to stay within that number of points to sort of achieve your weight loss goals.

Ryan Knutson: How has Weight Watchers' business been doing in recent years?

Andrea Petersen: They have been struggling. It's been a sort of turbulent time at the company. So in 2018, Weight Watchers actually really shifted away from this tight focus on weight loss. They actually changed their name to WW. And they largely stopped using the word diet and they tried to refocus their mission as being sort of more broadly about wellness. They also launched and scaled back a number of initiatives. They tried kind of personalized diet plans that many members found pretty confusing and also harder for members to talk to each other and about their experience because everyone was sort of on a different plan and so the kind of community support and sharing recipes and tips and tricks was really not working as well. And also their stock price has really struggled, and their membership has been down. They just reported their fourth quarter earnings, and the number of subscribers slid to 3.5 million from 4.2 million in the year ago quarter.

When I look around this room, I can't help but wonder, is Ozempic right for me?

Andrea Petersen: A lot of celebrities started saying that everyone they know is on it. One of my colleagues did a story about how it was really the talk of the Hamptons over last summer. So it seems to have just really entered the cultural conversation.

Ryan Knutson: Andrea says that some people have been using the drugs who don't meet the FDA's guidelines for it.

Andrea Petersen: These drugs are not for people who need to lose 10 pounds. I mean, these are really, the clinical indication, the FDA approval for Wegovy, which is the drug for obesity, indicates that the drug's for people with a BMI of 30 or more, or a BMI of 27 or more, plus at least one weight related condition such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or type two diabetes.

Ryan Knutson: The CDC says a healthy BMI is between 18 to 24. The company that makes both these drugs, Novo Nordisk, said it complies with the law and doesn't condone off-label use. And that, "We trust that healthcare providers are evaluating a patient's individual needs in determining which, if any, medicine is right for that particular patient." This drug sounds revolutionary, but are there potential downsides?

Andrea Petersen: Well, I mean, there's definitely side effects. The most common side effects are things like nausea and vomiting. The FDA approval does note a potential increased risk of thyroid cancer. And then anytime there's a new drug on the market, sometimes it takes a while for us to know what some of the longer term side effects are. That's an issue with any medication. Sometimes you just don't know until things are on the market for several years.

Ryan Knutson: Despite the unknowns, a bunch of businesses have popped up to connect people with doctors who can prescribe the drugs.

Andrea Petersen: So we've seen this sort of story before. I actually covered Pfizer's Viagra back in the late '90s. I'm dating myself. And I remember you had online companies selling it. You had people who were doctors who were advertising home delivery services.

Ryan Knutson: And the same thing is happening now with Ozempic and Wegovy.

Andrea Petersen: I think anytime there is a drug that is meeting a demand, you get this sort of gold rush mentality. There's going to be people that are trying to meet that demand.

Ryan Knutson: After the break, Weight Watchers gets in on the gold rush. Last year, Weight Watchers got a new CEO, Sima Sistani.

Ryan Knutson: Sequence says it doesn't prescribe the medications to anyone who doesn't meet the FDA's BMI guidelines. Weight Watchers says offering access to the medications is a, "natural next step," and that it's in line with the company's focus on providing science backed weight loss programs.

Andrea Petersen: Talking to Gary Foster, who's the Chief Scientific Officer of Weight Watchers, he was saying that they plan to actually create specific programs for people who are on these medications. So specific sort of Weight Watchers plans, because when you lose this amount of weight, you tend to lose really important muscle mass as well. And there are things that you can do to help counteract that. And so he told me about an emphasis on strength training will be really important for folks on these drugs as well as consuming high protein foods. I mean, these can all sort of help counteract that potential loss of muscle mass. So what they were telling me is that they really see what Sequence offers as an adjunct to their existing services.

Ryan Knutson: One of the controversial things about this drug, though, is that a lot of people who are trying to get it don't necessarily medically qualify for it and they just want it so that they can get skinny. How is Weight Watchers going to deal with that?

Andrea Petersen: I mean, I asked this question. I said, "This is a kind of minefield to walk into." And they told me that they are going to follow the science. They're going to really adhere to the letter of what the clinical indications are. They were very explicit in saying that they do not have plans to offer this drug to people who don't qualify for it. When I talked to Dr. Foster, he said to me, "This is not a drug, we're not going to be prescribing this for people who want to lose 10 pounds before their high school reunion."

Ryan Knutson: Part of me is kind of surprised that these drugs have become so popular because I feel like as a society we have started to really move away from pushing weight loss and moved more toward a culture of body positivity.

Andrea Petersen: Well, I mean, that's the interesting tension. This is an interesting cultural moment in our discussion of weight loss. I mean, this also coincides with, we've had several years of the body positivity movement, that really tried to push back against the kind of shaming around people's bodies and people's weight. But at the same time, there's this really growing understanding that excess weight does have real health implications. And so companies who are in this sort of weight loss business have had to speak to both of these realities, and that can be a tricky thing to navigate.