#like youtube channels that put out short films and its a whole team of people that work on them and theyre all friends not hired actors

[alchemiclee]

ah. I haven't listened to this song in years. I stopped listening to it because I wanted to make a music video for it. but I needed my friends to help me. I asked them multiple times and they would never help. I was very upset about it so I had to stop listening to the song. I even have an entire script written out for almost every part of the song. I was so proud of my ideas and excited to make the video. but I couldn't get what I needed because no one I was friends with are creative minds who understand or share my passion for creating. we aren't friends anymore, but I never found any better replacements.

I have to throw away so many ideas because people won't help me and i cant physically do them alone. making short films/mvs especially. it's been a lifelong passion I never got to do (unless you count my gta rp videos. but I can't do those anymore because gta rp is kinda toxic and the people are hard to work with. but that's the closest i've gotten) it's extremely upsetting. I don't know how people get whole teams for stuff. and I don't mean rich people that can hire anyone. I mean those people that can get a group of friends who share the same creativity and passion and do cool stuff together. they are so lucky.

I don't remember any of the ideas I had now even reading what I noted down. so I don't think I could make this video now. all my ideas fade away and never get made. that's so sad. now i'm having the same issue with making a firefly video with if I can stop one heart from breaking. I write a script (and even drew panel sketches) but I can't get even one person to help me shoot it. I can't move the camera and be in the shot at the same time. so I haven't listened to the song in a while since it makes me sad to think about the dying ideas. ugh. why is this how my life always goes?

sorry for the rant. lee is very sad and frustrated 😞

[tarosin]

the great adventures of y/n tommy wilbur and george - the water olympics

requested:yes/no

part 9 to the great adventures series

warnings: cursing, a suicide joke (the one george made in the vlog)

you were currently sat in your bedroom editing a video for your youtube channel however someone had different plans as you heard your parents talking to someone telling them you were in your room and that they could go straight up

“Y/N ITS ME CAN I COME IN”

you laughed before getting up placing your laptop on your desk before opening your door letting your friend inside.

“what is it with people randomly showing up where I live”

“ill have you know I asked your parents”

“Pfft yeah okay Tommy sure you did. anyway I’m glad you’re here editing was beginning to make me want to throw my laptop”

“you are honestly so dramatic pass us your laptop I’ll edit for you if you let me stay the night as it’s about to rain”

“you brought a backpack with you...you clearly planned on staying the night anyway but yes it’s a deal”

Tommy laughed before sitting on your bed waiting for you to bring the laptop over and sit next to him keeping him entertained as he edits for you. it was around late afternoon when he finished editing the video and you spent the entire time telling him about your merch plans and getting the sizes and items he’s going to want as you were planning on sending him some when you’ve agreed on a final design and products

“all done I want full credit for editing”

“hey I edited like a whole 3 minutes of the video..fine fine just stop staring at me like that”

the two of you realised it was a little late and neither of you wanted to cook anything so decided to go to a local restaurant. a few hours later you arrived back home it was pretty late now so your parents had gone to bed so you had to keep reminding each other not to yell, once in your room the pair of you collapsed onto your bed, you rolled over to face Tommy

“So why are you actually here huh, what’s going on in that mind of yours”

“I know it’s short notice but tomorrow afternoon would you like to go to this inflatable water course with me will and George”

“I don’t have anything else to do so I’d be more than happy to come with you guys what time do we need to be awake, we may as well set an alarm now in case we fall asleep as I tend to sleep in really late”

“I’ve got it don’t worry about it”

Tommy set an alarm as you logged into Disney plus so you and Tommy could watch tv for a while before deciding on sleeping arrangements, you put on the good dinosaur and instantly regret that decision as you began ranting to Tommy about how the films depressing. soon enough the pair of you fell asleep.

at 9 am Tommy's alarm went off waking the pair of you up

“y/n get up we’re going to a lake”

“Okay okay I’m up”

Tommy went to the bathroom to get ready so you could get ready in your room a few minutes later you both made your way downstairs grabbing a snack you could eat whilst you waited for your taxi to arrive. the pair of you arrived at the lake first, George arrived next and that’s when you noticed Wilbur show up and George beginning to record what’s happening

“Tommy is he wearing a suit?” you tilted your head to the left as Wilbur stepped out of the car

“it worked George”

“Why are you wearing a suit?”

“for the meal”

“we’re not doing the restaurant”

your eyes widened and you tried to hide your laughter as Tommy said he couldn’t change as he only hired three wetsuits, you all made your way to get your wetsuits, Wilbur reluctantly following you all as soon as you all stepped in several people began to stare at you all

“they’re staring at me because I’m wearing a suit”

George laughed before telling him it could also be because your hair was awfully similar to a highlight. you lightly hit his shoulder before rolling your eyes

“rude”

you laughed as you went away to get changed returning a few moments later

“I’m ready boys oh they gave will a life jacket”

“Why do you sound so disappointed”

“you not a fan of drowning then?”

“no, I’m not!”

Tommy grabbed your hand and ran towards the water before jumping in taking you down with him

“TOMMY I HATE YOU”

“HELP ME”

“NO SUFFER”

soon enough will and George made it onto the inflatable, Tommy tried to film his intro however the fact you and George were jumping in the background made it rather difficult. Tommy ran to Wilbur who pushed him into the water

“HA GET FUCKED”

you made your way across but saw Tommy in the water making you laugh which made you fall in the water too

“well hello again y/n”

“Hello Tommy funny seeing you here”

George managed to help you up whilst Wilbur pretended to help Tommy up before walking away. Tommy just held onto the inflatable whilst looking at you

“fine”

you reached your hand out and helped him back up onto the inflatable.

you made your way across the bridge Wilbur not far behind you so he could push Tommy off of the bridge into the water, he did but fell with him, you fell over laughing as George went to help Wilbur but ended up falling in himself. you George and Tommy ran to a high point of the course which will wanted you all successfully defended it and even managed to push will into the water. you and George weren’t the best at this course you had fallen three times and George fell twice

“look at them both”

Tommy turned around to see you and George in the water again as the pair of you fell once back on the inflatable you both made your way back to the others however George slipped and grabbed your arm trying to stay up ultimately dragging you down with him

“When is it my turn to be happy”

you all made your way to the canopy without falling, well that was until Tommy decided to lean on it causing it to fall into the water taking Tommy with it

“bye tom”

“he’s stuck save him”

“Nah this is funny”

Wilbur ended up helping him by making it so he could actually climb onto the inflatable

“you’re embarrassing us in front of the lifeguards”

you made your way across the course this time you didn’t fall as much as you did earlier on in the day, Wilbur went to push Tommy into the water again however this time you and George decided to get payback and attempted to side tackle him so he fell into the water

“bye will”

will finally got back onto the inflatable and pulled you aside

“We should form an alliance...I wouldn’t leave you behind”

“deal”

“When I say meet you there you start running the course I'll make sure you don’t fall”

“understood let’s do this”

you got ready to go as will told Tommy and George that the truces weren’t working and there was only one way to settle it

“meet you there”

you started running across the course you were doing surprisingly well, Wilbur only had to prevent you from falling once and that was because you lost balance over one obstacle

“I've got you! keep going”

eventually, you both turned around to see that Tommy and George finally set off and were making their way to you both

“we’re team weak..strong every day of the week”

you managed to contain your laughter as George fell as soon as Tommy said that

“we’ll be team pussy”

soon enough they caught up you and will went to push Tommy into the water however George snuck up behind you both and pushed you into the water

“ah yes water my good friend we meet again”

will helped you up first then you helped him up will noticed George fell and went to push him in the water whilst you made your way to Tommy

“I call this the leg turrent”

“you plan on doing this forever heh?”

you helped George back up whilst Wilbur tackled Tommy further down the course

“oh Tommy is still on the floor”

“what have you done to him”

you made your way to Tommy with George only to hear Tommy yell about the art of deception followed by a splash and Tommy's laughter. George got up to go get the drinks but fell again then stood up slowly turning to face you all

“that was called comedy.. I'll go get the drinks kills myself”

“the hydration is good”

“ah thanks, George you see I’ve personally been spending the majority of my time in the water”

Tommy ran over to you all then fell into the water making you all laugh followed by Wilbur telling him to complete the line about how many people are and are not subscribed to his vlog channel

“When did George fall into the water”

“How are you guys feeling for a race”

“I’m down”

“right you and George are going to run that way around, y/n and I will run this way and we’ll meet at the nub we fought for”

“winner gets to launch the other of that big floppy thing”

“GO”

Tommy and George ran off before you two however you and will made it to the nub before the others, mainly because neither of you fell and worked together.

“come across Tommy we will let you have the win if you make it across that”

Tommy ran at the bridge however he fell three quarters over the bridge

“oh fucking hell”

“he tried”

you and will helped Tommy up however George ran over

“George you’re ruining the moment” Wilbur pushed him over the edge into the water

“bye again George”

“let’s go back to the nub”

“I think me and y/n technically won”

“friends?”

“friends”

Tommy decided to shake hands with will and made you go over to him so he could give you a hug you stood with will filming Tommy for the outro you waved bye to Tommy as he fell a rather long distance into the water, once will stopped recording he pushed you into the water from the same height

“WILL I'M GOING TO KILL YOU”

once you all dried off and got ready you and Tommy made your way back to yours as it was late you agreed Tommy may as well stay the night again, the pair of you spent the night playing games together and arguing about who won the game you missed spending time with just Tommy and he missed spending time with you so you were both incredibly thankful he decided to come over to yours a few days earlier than expected.

taglist:

@l0ver0fj0y @etheriaaly @xx-smiley-xx @hawarun @kylobensgirl @cawcaw-pretty-thing @reverse-iak @renleicrashed @c1loudee

[13lov]

lucy (m)

pairing: pornstar!taehyung, tattooed!taehyung x pornstar!reader

genre: pornstar au, humor, smut, light f2l, angst if you squint.

word count: 8,305

summary: after reading a few more titles of the videos you’ve uploaded, taehyung has come to the conclusion that you’re the hottest fucking dumbass he’s ever seen and so desperately wants to fuck.

warning(s): smut (masturbation, sex toys, unprotected sex, fingering, creampies ; mention of: face fucking, squirting, gxg), !ENDGAME SPOILERS!.

a/n: inspired by that video of taehyung with the fake tattoos…good lord… sorry i posted this later than i said i would, some stuff came up :( not proofread so i apologize for mistakes.

With one final thrust into the petite girl beneath him, Taehyung was fast to pull his dick completely out of her with the sigh of relief. Sure, he sighed because it was in the script, but he would’ve done it even if it weren’t apart of the porno.

He flopped on the bed, right next to the girl who was playing the role of his horny step-sister. He visualized the script in his head, and waited a few seconds before turning to his co-star and saying, “I gave you what you wanted, now, can I have my skateboard back?”

“AND CUT!” the director yells, standing up from his chair across the room. Taehyung’s manager, Seokjin, enters the set with a bathrobe in one hand and water bottle in the other and hands Tae both. “Everyone did a great job today! Remember to report back here tomorrow at two for the promo shoot, got it?!” the director asks, and everyone confirms they’ll be there.

Taehyung stands up from the messy bed to put on his bathrobe while his former co-star, Rosie, covers herself in the sheets. ‘If you’re so fucking shy, why are you doing porn?’Taehyung thinks to himself, annoyed.

“You did really good, I enjoyed it. And, you’re an amazing actor. Not many stars are good at acting, but you are.” Rosie compliments sweetly and Taehyung feels bad for what he originally thought of her.

“Thanks,” is all he can say to her because (1) he can’t compliment her back because it would be a lie and there’s no need for that, (2) he’s not interested in talking to her, and (3) he’s ready to head back to his trailer and take a shower. “See you tomorrow,” he adds, because he doesn’t want to seem like one of those stuck-up pornstars he hates so badly.

He then leaves the rented airbnb home and takes the quick walk to his trailer with Jin right by his side. “What’d you think?” Taehyung asks.

Seokjin makes a face as he thinks of an answer. “It was…decent. Not your best.”

Tae scoffed, offended, “It wasn’t my porn, I’m only here to get her some clout. You think I enjoy wasting my time with newbies when I could be with a professional? Hell no!” his rant goes on as he approaches his white trailer, opening the door and holding it so Jin can walk in first (because he’s polite like that).

“Then why film with newbies when you hate it so much? Oh wait, because their team is willing to pay big money for the number one pornstar on ‘nexxxtdoor.com’. That’s why.” Seokjin stated once he entered the trailer and sat on the white couch, Taehyung following shortly behind.

Jin was right, Tae was the number one star on the number one porn site in the country. Maybe people were drawn to his blonde mullet that was usually accompanied by one of his many headbands, or maybe it was the floral tattoos decorated nicely across his neck that drove people crazy. But it was probably just the plain old fact that Taehyung was hot, had a pretty dick, and knew how to use it.

“You’re damn right about that,” Tae says, stripping himself of his bathrobe and little clothing. He doesn’t bother to lock to door of the trailer or even cover himself up in front of Seokjin; everyone had already seen him naked, all boundaries have burned down.

“God, I’m so hot,” Jin says suddenly, and Taehyung looks over to see his manager has moved to stand directly in front of the mirror above the couch, looking directly at his reflection. “Maybe I should start doing porn just to give you a run for your money.”

“Ha!” Taehyung laughs, walking to the standing shower and turning on the hot water. “As gorgeous as you are, I’m a pretty tough guy to beat. Aren’t those two guys still fighting for second place? What are their names?” Taehyung snaps his fingers as tried to remember the names of the two porn stars fighting for second place like a bunch of losers.

“Suga, and uh, that Jimin guy. But they actually dropped a few places…” Seokjin’s tone changed, he seemed nervous.

“Oh, yeah?” Tae asked, stepping into the hot shower, “Have people finally gotten bored of them?” He grabs the white bar of soap from its appropriate holder and begins to cleanse himself, starting off with his neck and shoulders.

“Not exactly, people still like them, there’s just this…uh…”

“Spit it out, Jin.” Taehyung demands, moving the bar of soap down to his chest and belly. Small, white bubbles form at the surface but are quickly washed away with the water pouring down from the shower head.

“There’s this new girl who’s going viral really quick; she’s number two.” Jin admits with a nervous cough.

“A girl,” Taehyung repeats, “I like girls. She must be pretty good if she’s growing so quickly.” It’s true; (Taehyung does indeed like girls) it took Tae two years to become number one on nexxxtdoor, so whoever was able to pass stars as good as Jimin and Suga in such a short amount of time had to be fucking amazing.

“She sure is…something. Her name is ‘Lucy Fer’; look her up when you get home. But, yeah, I’m off to go pick up your next script; see you later.” Jin leaved without another word, and Taehyung is still in the shower.

“Lucy Fer…” he repeats in a whisper, “Lucy Fer…”

Taehyung does as he’s told later that night and types in the name of his possible nemesis on nexxtdoor.com. He clicks the little arrow and the search results pop up in a matter of seconds; your channel popping up in full display.

LUCY FER  ✓ @lucy_fer im basically a youtuber that taker her clothes off hehe </3 4.7M Subscribers | 192 Videos | Joined 1 Year Ago

Taehyung is confused by your biography, but decides he’ll find out what you mean after looking at some of your videos. And, just by the titles alone, he can see why so many people enjoy watching you:

FUCKING MYSELF WITH A DILDO WHILE I THINK ABOUT MY FUCKBOY EX :( 1,343,400 views

FAILED MATH CLASS BUT I STILL KNOW HOW TO SQRT **NOT CLICKBAIT** 3,473,621 views

ex bf fucks my face while frank ocean plays in my airpod$!!# (ft. namjoooooon) 2,372,084 views

After reading a few more titles of the videos you’ve uploaded, Taehyung has come to the conclusion that you’re the hottest fucking dumbass he’s ever seen and so desperately wants to fuck.

It’s weird for him to feel desperate for the girl literally coming for his career, especially when he hadn’t even seen you in action yet. And for that reason, he doesn’t like you. Does he think you’re hot? Yes. Does he want to fuck you? Of course. Does he dislike you? Actually, yes, but only becaus you’re

He sighed, straightening up in his desk chair as he kept his eyes on the illuminated screen in front of him. Curiosity got the best of him and soon enough, he was scrolling past all of your videos until he gets to your very first one:

GIRL GETS SUPER WET AFTER FEELING APPRECIATED 15,192,604 views

He notices that in every thumbnail, you’re wearing a pair of red devil horns and when you’re very rarely accompanied by someone else, they’re also wearing their own set of horns, identical to yours. Even in your display picture, it’s an up-close photo of you, your hair is down and it’s dripping wet, the devil horns are on full display, and your tongue is stuck out with a lit lighter dangerously close to it.

You’re the devil. Satan. Lucifer. Lucy Fer and oh, he finally understands your stage name.

He smiles lightly and shakes his head in realization. Taehyung’s about to close the laptop and call it a night - he has a long day tomorrow - but, he decides just watching oneof videos wouldn’t hurt. I mean, you are his competition, right? He has to see why you’re so popular.

Taehyung scrolls for a few seconds before clicking on a video titled “masturbating and crying about how broke i am (ft. namjoon aka my ex bf lol)“.

The video buffers quickly, taking Taehyung by surprise. For some reason he pauses it, grabs his laptop whole, and makes his way over to his king-sized bed. He tells himself it’s because he’s going to fall asleep afterwards, but he knows that he’s retreated to the bed for other reasons.

Once he’s in a comfortable position with the Macbook in front of him, Tae finally hits the triangle-shaped button and the video plays.

Your bed and pillows are the only thing in the frame at first, then you step in and sit on the edge of the bed. You’re wearing a red skater skirt that’s a tad bit short, a lacy, black bralette, and your signature devil horns.

You stare at the camera in silence for awhile and Taehyung wonders when you’re finally gonna get down to business. That’s when the camera suddenly zooms in on your face, on the single tear that comes from your left eye and makes its way down your cheek.

"Oh,” Tae says, shocked. He wasn’t actually expecting you to cry, though the title said you would.

The camera zooms from out of your face and goes back to the full body shot of you on the bed. “Why the fuck am I so broke?” you ask, there’s a smile on your face, but another tear slips from your eyes. Taehyung then decides for himself that you are a fucking maniac.

With the way the video is edited, Tae feels like he’s watching one of those popular YouTubers; like Emma Chamberlin or Antonia Garza. Your bio had described you perfectly: you truly were just a YouTuber who took her clothes off, and everyone (including Taehyung) loved it. It was a great idea on your part, since literally no one else made homemade porn the way you did.

With you, it felt so natural and relatable and not at all like the washed-up pornstars that came before you. Your viewers loved you, and they were so attached to you. Though you considered yourself to be just another lost, twenty-three year old, your viewers thought you were perfect because of how honest you are. Being so close to them, you didn’t even mind when they called you Y/N, your real name.

Even at times when you weren’t uploading videos or going live on nexxxtdoor, you held a PG-13 rated Instagram live that allowed you to speak to your supporters on a less intense platform.

You were thankful for them, and they were thankful for you.

In the screen in front of him, Taehyung watches and listens as you talk about your card getting declined at Starbucks as you unclasp your bra. You pull the black straps down slowly until they completely fall off your arms, your boobs spilling out nicely. Your nipples are hard because of how cold it is in your apartment, but you let the people watching think it’s because you’re horny.

Though only the top half of your body is bare, Taehyung still admires you. Many of the girls had had worked with had fake boobs or a fake ass for the most part, not that it was a bad thing, it was just nice to see something he wasn’t used to.

You’re complaining again, this time about how you received a parking ticket that morning and you have no clue how you’re gonna pay for it with the amount of student debt you’re in. With a sigh, you wipe away another pathetic tear before turning on all fours with your ass in view of the camera; the black thong underneath your skirt hardly hiding anything.  

Your hand reaches under your pillow and pulls out a white vibrator. It looks dull and worn out, but no one really expecting you to have a top of the line one that costs $100.

“The police officer that gave me the ticket was pretty hot, though,” you say whilst getting into your original position on the bed. Taehyung then pauses the video, not because you’ve done anything wrong, but because he’s now realizing his hand had slipped past his pajama pants and he had began to palm himself through his boxers.

He can’t jerk off to the enemy, it’d only give you more power. But, he can follow the enemy on Instagram.

So he does exactly that.

lucy_fer is live…come watch!

The little banner pops up on Taehyung’s screen, staying for a few seconds before disappearing in his notifications tab. He considers the tempting invitation as he stares at the YouTube video that had been playing before being interrupted.

Sure, it was just an Instagram live and it wouldn’t be that big of a deal if he watched. But, what if you thought otherwise? What if you thought he was only watching just so he could scope out his competition?

“Screw it,” Tae mumbled before pulling down his notifications bar and clicking on the Instagram banner. It loaded within a few seconds and soon enough, Taehyung’s presence had been announced in the stream.

k.taehyung has joined.

But your face was turned elsewhere, talking to someone who was out of view of the camera. Secretly, Tae was hoping you’d turn back in time to acknowledge that fact that he was watching. And, much to his luck, you turned back towards the camera just as his was going away.

“Three hundred already?” you asked, watching the view count go up. “You guys must be bored.”

nam_joonie yep. why dont u take that shirt off and put on a show.

You read your ex-boyfriend’s comment with a sigh, leaning back on your couch as more comments from new viewers filled the screen. “You all know Namjoon,” you said to the viewers, grabbing the cup filled with water that stood on the coffee table next to your propped up phone. “I apologize that my ex is such a perv.” You took a sip of your drink as you roommate, Jennie, leaned into the frame to read a comment that caught her interest.

pinkszn.lisa girl fuck your ex, kim taehyung is here

Once Jennie read the comment out loud the water in your mouth was done for with the way you had begun to cough it up in shock.

You had heard of Taehyung, of course, and it was a surprise enough when he followed you on Instagram a few hours ago. He was intimating, to say the least, with his tattoos and blonde mullet and headbands and…wow. In fact, he was so intimidating, you hadn’t even watched any of his pornos. You knew he was good at his craft and didn’t need to watch any of his stuff to prove it.

When you were able to finally catch your breath, you turned to Jennie, shaking your head in shock. “Stop lying,” you choked out.

Seeing this as a second opportunity from hod himself to make his presence known, Taehyung typed out a comment.

k.taehyung hi hahaha

Rainbow hearts continued to fill up the screen as you read Tae’s comment whith wide eyes. He was actually here, watching you awkwardly get choked up over him.

“Taehyung!” you said suddenly, probably a little too excited. You cleared your throat as a way to calm down, “I…we…” nervously, you looked towards Jennie with a desperate facial expression that yelled ‘help me’.

“Why don’t you…guest him?” Jennie suggested.

“Oh, yes! Can I guest you, Taehyung?” You asked hopefully, though you already had requested for him to join before he could process what was going on. Sitting up on his couch, he looked down at the floor where his housemates Jungkook and Hoseok were sat in front of the television watching whatever sports game was on.

Of course Taehyung could afford to live alone, but these truly were his best friends.

“I’m about to go live. Try not to talk too much.” he said.

“That was a terrible pass,” Jeongguk said to Hoseok, clearly ignoring Taehyung’s request as he kept his eye on the basketball game. “I could pass better than that.”

Hoseok shakes his head, grabbing a few pieces of buttery popcorn that sat in the bowl on his lap. “You can’t even play basketball that good.”

“My point exactly! I could pass better than Williamson and I’m not even good at basketball; that’s tragic.”

With an eyeroll, Taehyung accepts the request to appear in your stream and gets himself in position with his phone camera, taking off his thick, clear glasses only momentarily to properly capture his face in the frame. Seconds later, the stream connect and he appears on the bottom half of the screen with you on top.

You open your mouth in shock once Taehyung is on screen then bring an arm to cover your eyes. “Woah, Taehyung! No shirt?!”

“Woah, Y/N, no bra?” he fired back, pointing out the obvious fact that your nipples were clearly hard under the thin, white shirt you wore. To anyone watching, they could easily mistake the two of you for lifelong friends with the way you were comfortable enough to joke around like this.

Or maybe it was just cheesy pornstar humor.

Slowly, you brought your forearm down from your eyes and got a good luck at Taehyung. He was indeed topless, flower tattoos on full display along with the gold chain that hung loosely around neck. He was a gorgeous sight, to say the least, and it’s no wonder why so many people enjoyed seeing him preform such filthy acts on his partners; never the same person twice, but always getting them to cum more than once.

You then realize this is your first time getting at good look at Tae’s face, other than the few Instagram photos you skimmed through when he followed you the day before. You also then realize you’d been staring at him in awkward silence since you brought your arm away.

You clear your throat, “touché. It’s nice to, like, see you for the first time.”

Taehyung raises a brow, had you never watched any of his stuff? He wants to ask, but also doesn’t want to seem cocky; it’s not like you were obligated to watch his pornos.

He decides to ask, the curiosity is killing him.

“I’m guessing that means you haven’t seen my stuff…” he says.

Now you’re embarrassed and wish you could go back in time and never make that comment about seeing him for thee first time. But you can’t, all you can do is shake your head and say, “I’m sorry, I don’t watch porn.”

“You’re the second most watched pornstar in the country and you don’t even watch porn?” he asks, confused.

You realize how stupid you sound and become embarrassed again. “Wait, no! Not like that, I mean. I watch my own stuff and I have some friends who do porn and I watch them…but that’s for support. I don’t get off to them or anything. Not because I can’t! I just…don’t want to…masturbate to my friends.”

It’s silent as Taehyung tries to take in what you said.

nam_joonie suddenly im not bored anymore

Although you and Namjoon have been broken up for quite some time now, he still knew when you were nervous about something, and that’s exactly what you were now.

You pretend you hadn’t seen Namjoon’s comment the same way to choose to ignore Jennie’s silent laughter fit. “I know who you are, though, Kim Taehyung,“ you nod as if you’re trying to reassure him while Jennie tries her best not to pass out from second-hand embarrassment.

Tae tilts his head up when he chuckles and you’re given an even better view of his neck and the tattoos that accompany it. If given the opportunity, any person would love to leave little purple bruises up and down his throat. But not you (you weren’t like other girls (and boys for that matter)), too afraid to mess with the beautiful artwork that Taehyung truly was.

And on top of that, everything about him was cute and sexy at the same and it nearly made your head explode. For example: the fact that he had neck tattoos was sexy, and the fact that they were flowers and butterflies made it cute. His blonde mullet was sexy, and the baby pink headband he usually wore underneath it was cute.

Then there was his smile. The smirk was sexy, but his boxy smile is what made your heart flutter. You were beyond nervous.

“I love your tattoos,” you compliment, “do you have anymore?”

“Mmhm!” he hums excitedly and it seems like the butterflies on his neck have made their way down to your belly. He holds his left hand up, showing off yet another butterfly tattoo – a blue one. “And I have one one each thigh of a bird.”

nam_joonie omg taehyung ur tattoos are so hot ugh the sexual tension between u two is killing me just fuck one of her holes already!!!

Namjoon isn’t the only one commenting, but it’s the only comment your eyes let you see. Taehyung sees it to and wonders if your ex boyfriend’s bitter jealousy would be a problem in whatever relationship he’s trying to form with you.

“Maybe I will,” Taehyung says with a smirk and no context at all, but everyone had seen Namjoon’s comment – made it hard to miss with it being so long. If you had water in your mouth, you’d be choking on it. And Jennie, who was off to your side, had her jaw slacked open at Tae’s straightforward and risky reply.

user1 we-

user2 TEA !

user3 and i oop-

…And more twitter slang flood the chat. You and Taehyung stay on live for another half hour, Namjoon doesn’t comment again so you assume he left after what Taehyung said. The rest of the broadcast goes well, consisting of you and Tae joking and talking and flirting with Jennie occasionally making fun of you or one of his roommates yelling about the basketball game.

It’s nice talking to Taehyung, it’s like he’s managed to become your friend in the short amount of time you’ve talked to him. When he listens to you speak, he pays attention and doesn’t interrupt you. And when you interrupt him when he’s speaking, he doesn’t mind because he likes seeing you get so excited. He’s literally the perfect boy.

So perfect that you want to keep talking to him forever, even when your eyelids get heavy and demand sleep. Jennie has already taken a shower and would be heading to bed soon, and any other day you’d be following her footsteps by getting ready to sleep.

“You’re tired,” Taehyung says when you yawn for the third time in a row.

You bring you index finger and thumb together, creating little space between them. “Just a tad bit.”

“Then sleep, don’t you have class in the morning?”

You nod, “I’m probably gonna drop out anyway, but yeah I do.”

"Then sleep,” he repeats so kindly it makes you want to close your eyes right there just to please him. He’s taken his glasses off now (making a show of it when he did so) and you’re able to look into his eyes better.

“I’ll go to bed if you do,” you challenge.

Taehyung isn’t sleepy, but he should be going to bed anyway so he’s not tired for tomorrow’s early shooting. “Yeah, I’m filming tomorrow, I need to go to bed.”

There’s something about Tae saying he has to film tomorrow that makes your heart drop. It’s like, in the short amount of time you’ve known him, you forgot he was the most watched pornstar and mistook him for an everyday boy who had a normal job and a normal life that could sustain a normal relationship. But you should know by now, nothing in your life is normal, and you and Taehyung had the same career in completely different aspects.

“Okay,” you sigh, “goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Y/N.” he says before leaving the broadcast. He would’ve stayed on longer if his job wasn’t so demanding.

He waits a minute, and you’re finally done with your livestream. Then he waits, and waits, and waits until…

lucy_fer sent you a direct message.

It’s your phone number, along with a message.

lucy_fer / 1 min ago send nudes pls

Taehyung knows you’re joking, but considers sending a dick pic just to make you squirm. But he doesn’t, instead, he saves your number and sends a text of his own.

imessage today at 11:37 pm

no u

Withing the next few weeks, a friendship blossoms between you and Taehyung. You text everday now, and neither of you could be

You’ve uploaded more videos (to which Tae has jerked himself off to), and Taehyung has kept his title as number one and has starred in more films of his own (in which you was only to support because, again, you don’t watch porn).

It’s when he’s in his trailer with Seokjin getting ready to film another boring horny stepbrother when he get’s a text from you.

imessage today at 12:22 pm

i want to see u

in real life tho

like…i wanna meet u in real life

The last thing he texted you was a Jeongguk being stupid a few hours ago, so your lack of being able to respond quickly in this situation gave away the fact that this was something you had been thinking about a lot. He’s not too sure what to say in this sense. Yes, he’s your friend and wants to meet up with you, but what if something happens and changing the dynamic of your friendship? He cares for you the way a friend should (and probably a little more), and feels like you’re one of the few people who actually understand him. He definitely doesn’t want to lose you like Namjoon has.

He responds:

hmm, what prompted ur sudden interest in wanting to see me?

You’re quick to reply:

rmr a little while ago we talked about filming something together? u can come up here for a weekend, we could hang out and film something

taehyung:

so u only want me for my body?? i see how it is…

you:

oh quit it

so, what do u say? u can stay at my place

He tells you he’s going to think about it, but already knows he’s going to say yes. It’s all he can think about twenty minutes later when he’s fucking some redhead deep into the mattress. The sound of your girlish moans and gasps play so vividly in his mind, if he tries hard enough, he can pretend your sounds are coming from the girl’s mouth and you’rethe one he’s balls deep in.

And if he tries hard enough, he can pretend the little tuffs of the girl’s red hair that form against the pillow are your red devil horns.

And when he does try hard enough, he has to stop himself from cumming right then and there by distracting himself with other thoughts. He can’t think of you, of course – you’re the one who got him into this predicament in the first place.

Taehyung opens his eyes, trying his best to momentarily erase you from his mind. He looks down at the girl beneath him and is met with closed eyes and parted lips; her tongue was only slightly visible and was bit down on to stifle load moans.

The expression on her face is awkward, amateur almost, and Taehyung can’t stand it. He thrusts deeper, earning a high pitched moan from the girl and follows suit with a low groan.

He’s bored. Extremely bored. Then his mind drifts back to you, and he smiles because he’ll be seeing you in a few days. And for once, in a very long time, he’s excited for something. So excited that his boxy smile pays a visit and he has to bury his face in his co-star’s shoulder to cover it up.

Friday comes around rather quickly, and Taehyung finds himself halfway out of the front door with a duffel bag in his hand, saying goodbye to his roommates.

“No people, no parties, no dancing, no loud music, and Yeontan is the only animal allowed in this house. If I get a complaint from the neighbors, I swear–” Taehyung’s infamous exit speech is cut off by Jeongguk clasping a hand on his shoulder.

“Relax, hyung,” he says a little too calmly for Taehyung’s comfort, “nothing bad is gonna happen, don’t worry.”

The sound of tiny nails scraping against the wooden floor has made Tae forget what he was saying, only being able to focus on the beautiful dog running up to him.

He drops the bag, bending down to pet the fur and say goodbye to his faithful companion. “Please remember to take care of Yeontan; he’s very needy.”

“We will, I promise.” Hoseok says and Taehyung stands upright once again.

“It’s not you I’m worried about,” he adjusts the bag on his shoulder, “Gguk is the one that concerns me.”

Jeongguk scoffs, fake offended, “Me?! Why me?!”

“That time you went two days without food and didn’t even realize it.”

“That–I–it was for a gaming tournament! Plus, I drank Red Bull and that gave me all the energy i needed.” he tries to redeem himself, but it doesn’t work.

“Please just take care of my fucking dog,” is the last thing Taehyung says along with ‘goodbye’ before leaving his house.

The drive to your apartment is nearly two hours away, and Taehyung can hardly believe he’s going out of his way to hang out with a friend then have sex with her. It’s ridiculous yet so exciting. So…new.

You’re outside your apartment building when Taehyung arrives, heart beating out of both of your chest. He doesn’t leave the car, since the two of you agreed you’d go out in the city before coming back to your place, but you can already see he’s a lot taller in person. And a lot hotter, if that was possible.

You jog up to his Range Rover, the best looking car in the parking lot, and slide into his passenger seat. Before Taehyung is able to get a word in, you’ve already engulfed him into a tight hug. He’s thrown off his game by your sudden forwardness, but he doesn’t let it phase him. Instead, his arms find comfort around your waist, embarrassing you so tight and completely as if you’d melt away if he let go.

Then, you’re pushing him off of you, as if nothing happened.

“I can’t believe I’m here, with you, in your car. I bet so many of your fans would die to be in this position,” you run your fingers through your hair as a method to calm your nerves.

“And many other positions…” he jokes with a small smirk, handing you his phone so you can put in the address to the place you’re having lunch at.

“Touché,” you reply, and minutes later you’re on your way to a whole-in-the-wall cute, little restaurant. It’s mostly empty, so neither of you are recognized.

Taehyung picks a little table in the far corner by the window; just enough room for the both of you. He pulls out your chair, because he’s polite like that, before setting down your tray of food on the table and sitting down on his own seat.

“It’s raining,” you whisper, chin in the palm of your hand as you stare out the window.

Taehyung had started to place your food in front of you, but stops when he hears you speak. He looks up at you, and the only word he can use to describe you in this exact moment is ‘pretty’. Pretty, pretty, pretty.

He gulps, glancing out the window to see it had indeed began to rain. “Yeah,” is all he can say, because there’s not much you can say when you’re being taunted.

The sky is teasing him, as though it was saying, “ha ha, I can cry and you can’t”, because Tae is so at peace being here with you, he could actually cry. He’s happy for once, and wishes he didn’t have to hide it.

“It’ll be dark by the time the movie’s over,” Taehyung says while handing you your sandwich, “are we going straight to your place afterwards?”

“We can, I mean, it’s Friday and you don’t leave until Monday morning; we have the whole weekend to explore.”

Tae nods out of excitement but doesn’t show it. He’s been looking forward to filming with you and is happy you’re ready to do so as soon as possible. Now, he’ll just have to find a way to stop thinking or talking about it.

“So about the video we’re making today,” he takes a sip out of his lemonade.

“Oh yeah, I was gonna have my manager email yours to sort out some details, then I remembered I don’t have a manager–”

“Wait,” Tae raises a hand to silence you, “you don’t have a manager? Why not?”

Embarrassed, you slump back in your seat and shrug. “I dunno, I felt like I didn’t need one until now, honestly. All of my videos are filmed and edited by me and on the rare occasion I have someone to film with, they’re people I know personally; not big time…pornstars.” you whisper the last part because although the restaurant is mostly empty, you’re still in public.

“I’m literally just a YouTuber that takes her clothes off,” you continue.

“Even YouTuber’s have managers, don’t they?” he points out.

Before you can respond, your phone starts to vibrate on the table. “It’s Jennie,” you say, “do you mind if I…?” you hold your phone up with pleading eyes, claiming the call could be important. Taehyung says it’s fine and takes a bite out of his own sandwich while you accept the call.

“Yeah?…Oh, okay!…Can you tidy up before you go?…I know, but still…Great, have fun…Oh, shut up…Thank you, I love you…Alright bye,” Is all Taehyung hears from your forty-second conversation before setting your phone back down.

“That was my roommate, she just left for the weekend, so me and you have the apartment to ourselves.”

“You have a roommate?” Taehyung asks.

“Yeah, Jennie.”

“Does she know you do porn?”

“Mmhm, she was in my video before. I think I titled it: Pussy Is God.”

“Knowing you, you probably replaced the S’s with dollar signs.”

You smile, “You know me pretty well, don’t you?”

And he does know you pretty well. Just like he knows when the two of you are exiting the restaurant, you make sweater paws with your hands because you’re cold. So he holds your hand and let’s your fingers intertwine the entire walk to his car and tells himself it’s just platonic hand holding.

And when you’re in the theater watching Endgame, he feels your body tremble as you watch Iron Man take his final breath. You don’t cry, but Taehyung let’s the tear he was holding in fall from his eye. He doesn’t think you saw it, but you do, and later on he let’s you assume it’s the movie that made him cry. But really, it was you.

You had brought Kim Taehyung to tears.

Because when he’s with you, he isn’t thinking about his job or stress, or anything. Your presence had captured him and tricked him into thinking he, being the person he is, could handle being in a relationship; a serious one at that.

And that’s exactly what he was afraid of.

“Just admit it, you big baby. We basically went on a date.” You say hours later as you lead Taehyung into your apartment.

“Oh, you think so?” Taehyung asks as you flick on the light switch.

“Well, we had lunch, held hands, saw a movie, and we’re about to have sex so…yeah, I think it’s safe to say we went on a date.”

Upon entering your apartment, Taehyung notes it’s as small as you said it would be, but didn’t expect for there to be so many new, expensive appliances. Seriously, your fridge, flat screen television, and microwave all look so out of place in your crappy apartment. He assumes your porn money as started rolling in, but doesn’t ask.

“You wanna film now?” Taehyung asks, slipping off his shoes when you notices you doing the same.

“Why wait?” You ask with a devilish smirk, “I’m gonna change, but please, make yourself at home.”

You’re in your room getting dressed in your usual skirt, bra, and devil horns (and even a little bit of makeup because…fuck it) while Taehyung takes time to prepare himself with a mini prep talk while he waits.

“I’m ready if you are,” you call from your doorframe. Taehyung’s dick already feels like it’s stirring in his pants, so he tries his best not to look at you when he enters your room and sits on the edge of your bed, directly in front of your only camera.

“Are you ready?” you ask, a finger on the ‘record’ button.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he replies.

You press record and sit down next to him.

“It’d be so funny if I just put in, like, clips of our first livestream together when you said you would fuck one of my holes,” you laugh, and Taehyung is amazed at how comfortable you became in a matter of seconds. You truly were a natural at this, and it put him at ease.

“Please don’t do that,” he replies, shaking his head.

“Im gonna do it, but, anyway…! I’m here with Kim Taehyung! And I have a gift for him!” You lean over to your bedside drawer to retrieve your gift for him, Tae lets out a desperate sigh when he gets a clear view of your ass.

“Usually, I have my co-star for the evening wear complimentary devil horns, right? But, for you, I went out and got you your own pair. They don’t look much different than mine or any other pair, but these are special…because they’re yours.” you pull the headband from behind your back and gently place it in his hands and watch as he stares at them for a moment.

Although they’re the same style of the ones of the ones usually featured in your videos, they’re different in some way. Newer. Cleaner. His to keep.

He stares at them in silence, making you nervous by the second, and you make a mental note to edit awkward Wii music in at this part. “..so do you like it, or…?”

Instead of responding, he moves his tattooed-hand up to his hair and removes his baby blue headband in a swift motion; replacing it with his new gifts. Out of his duffel bag, he pulls out a light pink supreme headband (similar to his infamous one) and gives it to you, claiming he also brought you a gift.

And for the sake of the porno (and because you like him so much without realization), you take off your devil horns and replace them with the headband he’s given you.

When Taehyung stares at you, he feels like his looking at his heart in human form. He can’t look away and sure as hell doesn’t want to. But, he’s not in love. He’s in lust and in like and all the things that come with having a crush because Jesus Christ he has the biggest, fattest crush on you, Y/N.

“Do I look like you?” you ask.

“Nope, you look way better,” he compliments.

You wave your hand in a motion that says, ‘as if’. He isn’t used to working without a script, but is too shy to ask how you plan on getting things started. And, like you read his mind, you instruct him to lay back on the bed, and he does so.

"What, are you gonna top me?” Taehyung asks with a cocky smile and a raised brow, elbows holding himself up as he watches you crawl over him until your faces are centimeters apart.

“You’d make such a cute, little bottom,” your lips brush against his with every word you speak, and yet, you’re still not kissing. “But no, just relax.” You might as well had been speaking a foreign language Taehyung had no knowledge of because he had no clue what you were saying; too distract by the fact that your lips were literally on his and you weren’t even kissing, though you both so badly want to.

“Kiss me, pussy,” is what you want to say to him, but you don’t. Your lips place delicate kisses down his neck, so soft and subtly and almost nonexistent, not wanting to cover up his tattoos with hickeys.

Your hands make their way down to his jeans until you’re undoing his belt and sliding it off with ease. With his elbows hosting himself up again, Taehyung watches you pull his jeans down all the way to his ankles until they’ve met the same fate as his Gucci belt. When you hook a finger on the waistband of his boxers, he stops you with a question.

“What’re you doing?” he slurs, and regrets asking such a dumb question because he already knows damn well what you’re gonna do.

“Gonna suck you off; is that okay?”

It’s more than okay, honestly. It’s just, Taehyung is a giver. His fans pay to watch him give and give and give until they’re watching his cum drip out of someone’s swollen cunt; he definitely wasn’t used to being on the receiving end of sex and couldn’t even remember the last time he’d gotten a proper blowjob.

He doesn’t respond verbally, only giving a light nod and running his tongue across his top lip.

Getting the answer you were hoping for, you tug off Taehyung’s boxers with a single finger, his cock springing free and laying flat against his abdomen. Precum leaks from his reddening tip and you can’t help but gasp at the euphoric sight. Taehyung smiles in delight when the soft noise leaves your mouth, and suddenly, he’d confident again.

Your hand makes it’s way to grab a hold of Tae’s cock, using the pad of your thumb to smear the seeping precum along his tip. He let’s out a moan of pleasure, already obsessed with the feeling of your small hand wrapped around his ever-hardening member.

Starting off with slow strokes, you lower your head until you’re inches away from his dick. You’re not even doing much, yet Taehyung feels like he could cum right now just by the way you’re looking at him; so dark and lustful and sinful, like the she-devil you truly were.

Without warning, your tongue presses itself alongside Tae’s tip, peppering the sides with small kitten licks. “Shit,” he mutters, eyes tightly shut. If he thought your hands were good, your tongue nearly sent him into overdrive.

The little kitten lick only last for a few seconds longer, and then your mouth is completely around him. He’s big around you, and it’ll take a bit of work if you plan on getting him to the back of your throat.

You pull your mouth away from with a pop, your free hand stroking off parts of him your mouth couldn’t reach quite yet. He’s still propped up on his elbows, watching as you get him off.

Your mouth is wrapped around him once again, and soon enough, his eyes are back to being shut as he takes in the warm feeling of your mouth. Taehyung fights the urge to buck his hips once you’re finally able to allow him deeper in your mouth, his tip hitting the back of your throat as you fight off your gag reflex.

He even fights thee urge once you’ve gotten used to the feeling and began to slowly bob your head. He grabs a fistful of your hair tightly, earning a pleasing groan from you that vibrates around his dick. Pulling only a slight bit harder on your hair gets another reaction out of you, this time causing your left hand to work your way down into your panties.

The sight alone makes Taehyung want to replace your fingers with his own; watching his tattooed-hand disappearing into your underwear until his fingers are circling around your clit, slipping his fingers between your slick folds until they’re completely covered. He’d bring his fingers up to your mouth and whisper “taste yourself, baby, taste how wet you are for me,” then his fingers would be in your mouth, licking your juices clean. And he’d bring his hand back down to your cunt, calling you his good girl while we thrusts his fingers in and out of you.

But that can’t happen, at least not tonight while you were recording and, oh fuck…he was so caught up, Taehyung forgot this whole thing was being filmed.

“Shit, fuck, stop it,” he instructs, knowing he’d release right then and there if you kept this up.

“Something wrong?” you ask, your big doe eyes peering up at him with your mouth glistening with his precum. You looked so innocent yet so sinful and it drove Taehyung so crazy.

He’s taking his shit off, leaving him completely naked and you follow suit. “I shouldn’t be selfish,” he says when you’re leaning over him, hardening nipples brushing against his own chest. “You need to get off too, right?”

You grin with a nod before finally kissing him. It’s not a cute, first kiss you’d imagined it being, but it was something. Sloppy, messy, and horny.

When he tries to lift you up to lay you on your back, you stop him by pulling away from his lips and harshly grabbing his shoulder blade. “I’m going to top.”

Taehyung chuckles because he thinks your joking, and when he realizes you’re being serious, he shakes his head. “Absolutely not,” his dominant side had slowly began to show.

“That’s what you think,” you say, and reach down to grab his cock. He decides there’s no point in fighting you on this since your mind is made up and admits defeat by replacing your hand with his and rubbing his tip against your folds.

Your grip onto his shoulders to steady yourself, eyes closed while you let him tease your entrance. His tip lazily brushes circles on your cunt, and you can’t help but a let out a high-pitched whine when he’s finally inside of you.

His thrusts are slow at first, giving you time to stretch out around him. “Okay,” you sigh, once you’re finally ready for harder, deeper thrusts.

“You wanted to top so badly,” he says, “you do all the work.”

You let out a laugh but deiced it’s fair, so you rock your hips against his, grabbing his thighs to hold onto in the process. You’ve just started, but the feeling of Taehyung finally inside of you after all these weeks already has the both of you moaning, thankful your roommate was out of town.

Your head is thrown back now as you keep the steady pace, hair sticking to the sweat on your back while Tae keeps a firm grip on your waist. His eyes are still closed in fear of releasing right then and there if he opened his eyes to see the sight of you on top of him.

“Taehyung…I–I–” you’re barely able to talk, so close to your climax you can hardly get a word out.

“You wanna come?” he asks, fingers moving down to massage your clit, adding all the more reason for you to orgasm.

“Please,” you whine, although it’s not like Taehyung has told you to ask for permission to come, this is just you in your natural state. And he loves it.

“Then come,” he says, and your orgasm rips through you, the type that has your eyes rolling back and body shaking. Tae can’t help but do the same moments later, the feeling of your cum dripping around him a little too much to handle. The inside of your walls are splattered white, but you don’t mind much; at least you’re on the pill.

The two of you pant as you come down from your highs, both exhausted at this point. And you, being yourself, reach down to give Taehyung a high-five, to which he accepts with a laugh.

“That was fun,” you say, just now rising off of him and trying your best not to groan at the feeling of emptiness.

“Yeah,” he agrees, “you’re good at your job.”

You accept and return the compliment before turning off the camera and excusing yourself in the bathroom.

Alone with his thoughts, Taehyung flops backwards on your bed and recall what has just happened. He’s scared, he feels like you’ve trapped him in your heart, like a caged animal. He knows he shouldn’t have feelings for him, but he can’t help himself; you were absolutely perfect in his eyes.

When you enter the room again and lay down next to him, he thinks about how little he cares about anything other than you. He doesn’t care if his career doesn’t allow it, what his friends will say, or what his fans will say. He only wants you.

“Y/N?” he calls softly, turning his head to look at you.

“Yes?”

“Will you be my girlfriend?”

[sugamoonv]

Birthday Bash

Hiya! Can I please request a Soulmate!BTS OT7 x Soulmate!American YouTuber!female reader imagine where it’s the reader’s birthday (she’s a year younger than Jungkook so she’s turning 21) and the boys decide to surprise her when she comes home (she lives with the boys in their fancy apartment/dorm) from filming a YouTube video with her friends (She makes funny Kpop videos like ByronVids and JRE) + Y/n and the boys have a huge cuddle fest and movie night + lots of kisses between all of them!

Word Count: 3,753

Warnings: Jimin’s lowkey an alcoholic, talks of smut

A.N: I had a lot of fun writing this, so I hope you enjoy!!!!!

You walked past the dance studio that was blasting music to your own studio, a cup of coffee in one hand and the bag Hoseok had gifted you containing your laptop, chargers, phone, and other small necessities slung across your body. BigHit had allowed you to turn one of the spare rooms in the building where a lot of BTS’s choreographers worked and where their music studios were, into your filming studio for your Youtube channel. The only price was that they got a portion of your revenue.

You had come to Korea for a collaboration with another Youtube Creator and the universe had smiled on you because BTS just so happened to be back home at the same time. At first, you were surprised when the ink from the soulmate mark began spreading outwards from your shoulder, but after a few days, decided to pay no mind to it. When you met the other Youtuber and saw another soulmate mark on their hand, one not matching your own, you made the impulse decision to stay in Korea until you found your soulmate. You had simply told your follower base that you wanted to stay in the country for vacation and they had been wholly supportive, most of them screaming at you through the comments that you should make fancam videos since you were so close to many of the large k-pop groups you followed. Especially BTS.

Then as the days went by, your soulmate mark kept growing larger and larger to the point where you knew that it wasn’t meant for one single person. People’s marks were usually hideable since monogamy was the standard. But yours’ had stretched out so that you were having to wear long sleeve shirts in your videos and in public in case anyone saw you because finding your soulmate, or soulmates was a very intimate thing in your eyes and not something you wanted to be broadcasted to your audience, no matter how amazing they were.

Then it seemed the universe especially favored you one day when you had been scouting Youtube for fancam videos on BTS for your own content and saw that Jimin had slipped in hiding their soulmate mark. All of their marks were usually hidden, but dedicated fans knew that they were all soulmates. But what made you pause the video and stare at the screen for hours in disbelief was seeing that there was a new portion of Jimin’s soulmate mark on his ribs that matched exactly to a section of yours.

Long story short, after calling in a countless amount of favors, upping your visibility in the BTS fandom, and then searching out for the boys themselves, you had eventually met and realized that your mark was made for all of them. The first few months had been a whirlwind, between adjusting to a relationship with seven people, working hard to keep said relationship on the down-low from your follower base, ARMY, and the media, and then making the move from America all the way to Korea to be with your soulmates.

Eventually, you had dedicated a whole video to where you revealed your soulmate mark and told the story of you all finding each other, something that was common amongst Youtubers that had found their other half/halves. Then Jungkook and Jimin kept purposefully doing less and less to hide their soulmate marks whenever they lifted their shirts, Namjoon would always awkwardly avoid questions from the media so it was obvious to ARMY that one of the boys at least found another soulmate, and then when there were two songs dedicated to you on their new album (one for the rap line and another for the vocal line), ARMYs had deduced that their OT7 was now to become an OT8. A few months of everyone guessing, the Run producers had filmed you and Taehyung napping together during an episode and your relationship was cast into the public light.

You had gone to Korea when you were 19, single and only a few thousand followers to your channel, and now you were about to celebrate your 21st birthday with millions subscribed to you and seven extremely loving, and thoughtful boyfriends.

You set your bag on your desk, smiling to yourself. This morning, Jimin had snuck into bed with you and Hoseok and so you woke up to some very pleasant sensations. Hoseok, the grouch he is in the morning, of course, grumbled in annoyance when you woke him up, unable to stay quiet, and had left the room to let you and Jimin finish.

You were pleasantly surprised to find that everyone was up when you and Jimin left your room, some more awake and in a pleasant mood than others. You usually avoided Hoseok and Jimin in the morning since they were always grumpy when waking up. You never woke Yoongi up yourself but he always woke up fairly quickly, and Jungkook and Taehyung would sleepily stumble around, usually into someone’s arm, until they were awake. And that was the case as Jungkook was swaying in his seat, eyes closed as he drifted in and out of sleep, and once he heard you come in, slowly stood and dragged his feet over to you then wrapped his arms around your waist and buried his head into your chest. Taehyung was already clinging onto Yoongi since Namjoon disliked cuddling when tired and Yoongi had a high tolerance for you all.

Jin was manning the stove while Hoseok cut fruit, eyebrows scrunched and hair fluffed in every direction. Before you lay an arrangement of all your favorite breakfast foods from America that Jin had learned to make, with more on the way. Namjoon was already snacking on some bacon when you had come into the kitchen.

You all had to reluctantly leave the breakfast feast to go to work, no matter how much Taehyung whined that you should have the day off. Your boys had gone to the filming location for their music video and you had gone to your studio.

You turn on your computers and switch on the studio lights before unpacking your bag and hooking your laptop to one of the desktop computers. They had been a gift from Yoongi a few months into your relationship along with the editing software installed on it. Hoseok had paid for the expensive lighting much to your disapproval and Namjoon and Taehyung had teamed up in decorating your studio.

You had decided that for your birthday, you would do something easy and make a reaction video for the BTS Run episodes. You really had no use watching them since they all acted like crackheads enough around you without any cameras running. But your audience loved to see you make fun of your boyfriends and the antics they got themselves in to.

You were halfway through voicing a thought when the door to your studio opened and in walks your friend from the studio down the hall, holding a small cake and they begin to sing to you, steadily growing louder.

You look at the camera, deadpan, “It seems we have a visitor for today’s video.

Your friend places the cake in front of you then puts their face directly in front of the camera lens before pulling a chair next to yours and sitting. You continue staring at the camera the same way for another minute before the both of you break composure and laugh.

Your friend slaps their thighs, “What is happening here on this very day? Are we watching the boyfs?”

You hum. “The more...I watch them, the more….I’m tempted to lock them in their rooms. Because they are idiots. My soulmates are a bunch of idiots and they need to be STOPPED.”

A couple hours, a full cake, and a surprise catered lunch thanks to your boyfriend later, you finish the video. Your friend had to leave a quarter of the way through to go back to work and once you're wrapped up filming, you spent the rest of the day editing and now that the video was uploaded, you were glad to get to go back home. Your back aches from sitting all day and your wrist were tired from all the minute movements needed to work on the computer. You swore you were going to have carpal tunnel by the time you turned 30.

Excitement bubbled in your chest when you opened the door to your shared apartment and heard the voices of the boys within. Most days, their job required for them to work sporadic, long hours so they must have begged at least a dozen people to let them off early.

Jungkook was walking past you from the laundry room with a basket of folded clothes. That was the shared chore he designated to himself. He paused in front of you with wide eyes, “Y/N! You’re home early.”

“Y/N’s home?!” you heard Namjoon shout from another room. How excited he got over mundane things never failed to make your heart double its original size.

Namjoon suddenly appeared in the living room where you and Jungkook were standing, bouncing on his feet and his eyes scrunched with a barely contained smile that showcased his dimples.

“Hey, baby,” you walk to him, throwing your bag onto the couch on the way, “you look really happy,” you giggle.

Namjoon fully smiles and steps closer to you. Each of your hands are on the other’s hips. He dips his head down so his nose bumps into yours. “We had a really good day shooting and now you’re here with me.” Namjoon gently presses his lips to yours. “I missed you.” He nudges his head into the crook of your neck and rubs his hands up to the middle of your back and pulls you into a hug. “Did you get our present?”

“Mmm, you mean the lunch you sent me?” Namjoon nods. “I did. Who’s idea was that exactly?” you questioned with a slight tilt of your voice.

“All of ours.” You feel his lips move as he mumbles into your neck.

You pull away from the hug and begin to walk into the kitchen where you can hear Jimin, Taehyung, and Yoongi are. “Okay,” you teasingly smirk, “I’ll be sure to say thank you to Hobi for lunch.”

Namjoon gasps and watches you walk away with his mouth wide open.

Your eyes widen once you walk into the kitchen. Covering a majority of the counter surface are bottles of various alcohols. Jimin has a fairly large bottle in his hand and looks to be struggling to open it. Taehyung is somewhat hunched over as he closely watches Jimin’s hands work the corkscrew. Yoongi is sitting at the island, looking at his phone, completely unbothered to what the two younger men standing next to him are doing.

“Are we opening up a bar or something,” you draw the attention of the three men to you and Yoongi chortles.

Jimin sets the bottle back on the counter where Taehyung picks it up and resumes trying to take out the corkscrew, and he walks over to you with a smile so big his eyes are nearly closed. “No,” he giggles. He quickly pecks your cheek then leans back onto the counter. He’s situated between you and Yoongi. “It’s your twenty-first birthday. You can finally drink with us.”

You belly-laugh at his teasing. You both know full well that no one cared about the legal drinking age set by your home country. You’ve had many nights where you’ve gotten tipsy or drunk with them. And sometimes those nights ended with messy sex, other times, they’ve ended with you or one of the boys hunched over the toilet or a trash can and someone else rubbing circles into their back.

One of your fondest memories was from one night when you all had a little bit too much to drink and Jin had come up with the brilliant idea to play hide and seek tag. Yoongi had forgotten to hide in his drunken state and spent the whole night running from Jimin. Hoseok had passed out on the couch after looking for everyone twenty minutes into the game but fortunately, Namjoon had gotten confused and thought that he was “it” so you weren’t hiding for no reason. Jin and Taehyung had combined their brilliant minds together and tagged teamed. Namjoon found them first because they were unable to contain their laughter. You were forced to call off the game when Jungkook, in an attempt to get away from Namjoon, had crawled over the railing of the balcony in the apartment and hung there, remaining stubborn that so long as Namjoon was going to be waiting for him, he wasn’t budging. It took Jimin eleven minutes to talk Jungkook back over the railing.

“Jimin! You weren’t supposed to get this much!” Jungkook exclaimed as he walked into the kitchen, looking as surprised as you were to see all the alcohol.

“Relax. You know he’ll eventually drink it all,” Yoongi mutters. In the background, you hear Taehyung cheer as the corkscrew finally comes free from the bottle with a pop.

You suddenly stumble back as a pair of arms pull you into a chest. Hoseok makes smooching noises and coos into your neck. You squirm in his arms with a smile on your face, “Hello to you too.”

You arch your neck to look behind Hoseok to see Jin placing a few bags down in the living room. You know for sure that the bags are meant for you with a Victoria’s Secret bag peeking out behind some of the other brand names. There was most likely a piece chosen by each member within the bag.

“Oooh, what did you get?” Taehyung cutely runs over to Jin.

Jin slaps Taehyung’s arm when he starts ruffling through the bags. “Aish! You already know! Go away!”

Jungkook, who was busy wrestling the open bottle of wine away from Jimin, turns around at Jin yelling. “Jin! You weren’t supposed to let her see!” Jungkook stomps over the bags, ripping the one Taehyung is holding from his hands and loads them onto his arms before marching to his bedroom. Jimin and Yoongi laugh after him with full glasses of wine.

Namjoon comes behind Jin and wraps his arms around him and rests his chin on Jin’s shoulder as the older man angrily huffs. You wiggle out of Hoseok’s grasp and walk over to them to sandwich Jin in between you and Namjoon. You peer up at him, eyes squinted in happiness.

“Jungkook’s lucky it’s your birthday because any other day, I would have slapped him for talking to me like that,” Jin grumbles.

You and Namjoon laugh. Everyone knows that most of Jin’s threats were harmless.

Jungkook walks back towards you which causes Jin to leave for the kitchen, where he begins to prepare food for dinner with a pout on his face. Jungkook runs a hand through his hair, exposing his forehead and you feel a fluttering inside your chest at the sight.

“Alright, Namjoon, I need you to take Y/N somewhere other than here for at least two hours. Hoseok, you’re in charge of the banners, Taehyung, you’re in charge of the…” Jungkook skeptically glances at you, “special decorations. Jimin! Enough with the alcohol!”

Jimin, not being able to find the wine that has already been opened, has opted into opening a bottle of champagne and was in the midst of pouring himself a glass as Yoongi polishes the rest of his wine off.

You gently guide Jungkook around so he’s facing you. “Jungkook, calm down. There’s no reason to get this stressed over me,” you comfort him.

Jungkook runs his fingers through his hair again and you notice the slight movement of his jaw as he grinds his teeth together. “No,” he whines, “This day is important and I had this whole party planned but then you came home early, so we didn’t have time to prepare everything.” He looks at you with Bambi eyes, “Give me an hour to set up your party.”

Your eyes flicker around his face before you rise on your tiptoes to mold your lips to his. Jungkook sighs into the kiss and you feel the tension leave his shoulders underneath your palms.

You lower yourself flat on your feet and peer up at Jungkook with admiration. “I don’t doubt for a second that you probably had this elaborate celebration planned for me- but to be honest, I think I would rather just spend my birthday with all of you. No expectations, no one bothering us, none of us worrying about stupid stuff. Just us, a couple of movies, lots and lots of food, and” you glance over Jungkook’s shoulder to Jimin, who’s watching with a loving smile and behind him, close to Jin, Taehyung, who slightly gags after taking a sip of whatever drink is in his cup, “a copious amount of alcohol.”

The corners of Jungkook’s lips tilt up. “I’m sorry.”

You kiss along his jaw until you get to his lips, where you lay a few kisses. “You have nothing to be sorry for,” you kiss him again, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Alright,” you smile up at Jungkook before lifting his arm over your head and walking over to Jin, “Let’s bake this cake!” You slap Jin’s ass and he jumps, facing you, an angry blush overtaking his face as you smirk at him and the other’s laugh.

“Yoongi,” you whine.

Yoongi has been trailing his lips up and down your neck for the last forty minutes. His face red due to the alcohol in his system.

“You’re so beautiful. I love you so much-”

You hug Yoongi to you to cut him off. Twice already has he gone off on a drunken ramble where he continuously praises you. And no matter how much the words that leave his lips fill your heart with so much love, you know if you were to let him go off again it would only get the man cuddled into your other side started. Jimin was notorious for his need for praise and when he was drunk, he refused to quiet down until someone complimented him and when in private situations, a praised Jimin became a horny Jimin. And with how squished you all were on the couch if any two people began anything, then everybody else would be dragged into it. Well except for maybe Taehyung, who began dozing off halfway through the third movie.

Yoongi finally found his way to your lips and ignored your weak protests and pressed his lips onto yours. His hand came up to cup your cheek to hold you steady and his teeth lightly nibbled on your lower lip before he ran his tongue in their wake. You pulled away from him with a small pop when you felt a sudden weight on your lap.

Jungkook had taken it upon himself to move from his spot on the floor in front of you to your’s, Jimin’s, Yoongi’s, Namjoon’s, and Hoseok’s laps collectively. Namjoon reflexively grabbed onto Jungkook’s feet and the second Jungkook laid his head on Hoseok’s thighs, Hoseok leaned down and gave the younger a quick kiss.

Leaning on Namjoon, Jin rubbed his eyes tiredly before releasing a yawn. “I’m tired so I’m going to bed.” Getting bored of the movie yourself, you spoke up saying you were going to join him.

“Jagiya, nooo,” Jimin pouted at you and reached out with his hands once you maneuvered yourself from the pile of bodies and were standing in front of the couch waiting for Jin. You breathed out a laugh and leaned over Jungkook to kiss the pink-haired man.

“Are we going to bed?” Taehyung’s sleep riddled voice is probably two-three octaves lower than his normal pitch. His hair has been messed up and his face is now puffy. Something you find incredibly endearing as he slowly sits up and looks at you in question with barely opened eyes.

You quietly giggle and to your side, you hear Namjoon mumble, “How cute.” Taehyung takes your outstretched hands and allows you to guide him. Jin is already walking to his room with one of the many blankets wrapped around him.

“Are we sleeping in Jin’s bed tonight?” Taehyung stumbles into your side.

“Mhmm.”

Your eyes rake over the five boys left on the couch. “Are you guys going to be okay out here?”

“No,” Yoongi wriggles from underneath Jungkook until he’s off the couch and he greedily grabs your hand, “I’m going to bed too.”

“We’ll be fine,” Hoseok reassures you as Jimin shifts so he’s laying next to Jungkook, arms wrapped around his torso and legs wrapped around his hips. You intertwine your fingers with Hoseok’s using your free hand and bend over to quickly meet his lips.

Namjoon stands to meet you. “Happy birthday, baby.” You smile into the kiss and Namjoon gently squeezes your sides. He gives you another kiss, this one shorter but just as sweet.

Namjoon sits back down next to Hoseok and rests his arm on the back of Hoseok’s shoulders as you lead Taehyung and Yoongi to Jin’s room you. By the time you all enter, Jin has brushed his teeth and is changed into his pajamas. At seeing you with company, he breathes out a laugh and walks to his closet to pull out a couple more pillows and throws them on the bed. After you all complete your bedtime routine, you squeeze yourself under the covers and curl into Jin’s side. Yoongi slides into bed after you and shuffles so his chest is completely pressed to your back and you’re sandwiched between the two of them. Taehyung grabs one of the extra pillows and hugs it to his chest before falling onto the bed, his back against Yoongi’s.

You breathe into Jin’s neck, content and warm. “I’m gonna’ have to make a post or video to upload for my birthday, tomorrow,” you drowsily murmur.

“It’s a good thing you’re going to be filming then because the actual surprise Jungkook planned was for tomorrow. He knew you would be expecting him to do something today,” Jin responds back.

You do little to contain your smile in the dark room. “I know. We’re soulmates and he’s an idiot, there’s not a lot him or any of you can hide from me.”

Tags: @kpopgirlbtssvt @detectivebourbon @omgsuperstarg

[duhragonball]

Review: Unabridged Episode 1

I can’t remember how long it’s been since I last wrote about Team Four Star, but the short version is that they officially ended Dragon Ball Z Abridged, a little over a year after the final episode was published.   At one time, they seemed to think they could tackle the Buu Saga, but eventually it became clear that creative burnout was just too big a hurdle to overcome.   More importantly, they’d have to end DBZA eventually whether they finished the Buu Saga or not.    Somewhere along the way, TFS decided to focus on their future, which lay in producing original content.     There have been earlier examples of this, but I think it’s safe to say Unabridged is their flagship for 2020.  

I’d like to compare Team Four Star to some other media entity, but I can’t think of anything that fits.    In a way, they’re kind of victims of their own success.   They got tons of fans thanks to DBZA, and they managed to make enough money to turn their fan production into an actual business, but they can’t monetize DBZA, since they don’t own the source material.    So the trick is to somehow convince that audience to stick around for their other acts.    And those acts really can’t have anything to do with DBZ.    What else does that audience want?    Well, hopefully, a pastiche of The Office, because that’s what we’re getting. 

Unabridged is a mockumentary set in the offices of Team Four Star.    Stephan Kosecz plays... Stephan Kosecz, their newest hire, who is immediately disturbed by the camera crew filming his experience.   He meets the other members of the team, and they’re all outrageous characters.   Scott Frerichs is drunk on the job, Nick Landis is mercurial and disconnected from reality, Chris Zito is some kind of deranged lunatic, and so on.   

It’s soon revealed that Nick hired a camera crew to film a docuseries about them, and he paid them in advance, so they’re stuck with it whether they like it or not.    Scott pleads for the team to make a good impression, which leads Grant Smith and Kirran Somerlade to brainstorm ways to be impressive.  They settle on taking a picture of themselves and then going around asking people if they like it.    Stephan considers quitting on his first day, but changes his mind after he sees how grateful Grant and Kirran are for his support.  

I think the idea here is that this is supposed to be the Office turned up to eleven.    Zito is way crazier than Dwight Schrute, Nick is far more self-absorbed than Michael Scott, and Stephan is more over this than Jim Halpert.    And it fits for the style of comedy that TFS is known for.   The gags work, and there’s plenty more that can be done with the characters in future episodes.    It’s a solid way to kill sixteen minutes while I eat a meal, and that’s basically all I ask from a YouTube channel.  

But the bigger question, I think, is whether this series accomplishes what TFS needs for their future.    It’s certainly a good start.    From what I understand, they plan to release subsequent episodes on a weekly schedule, which is a welcome change from the chaotic timetables of their past few years.   Since about 2017, the unofficial slogan of TFS seems to have been “We’re working on a lot of cool stuff for you guys, and we can’t wait to show it to you!”   There’s been a lot of overpromising and underdelivering with TFS.    I feel a little guilty saying that, but they’ve admitted it themselves, so I think it’s a fair statement.   “Hey, we’re working on this, whoops that’s taking longer than we thought it would, it’ll have to be postponed, hey, sorry gang it’s taking even longer than we thought aaaand now we’re not doing the thing at all, so we can focus on this other thing that starts the whole cycle over again.”    That’s pretty much been the TFS experience for the last few years.  

The main thrill of Unabridged is that they actually got it done.   I feel like they’ve been hyping this thing forever, and now it’s finally a real video that you can watch instead of wonder about.   From here on, they can proudly state that they’ve made a series that’s completely their own.    No anime footage, no video game footage, No DCMA takedown bullshit.   Just their own guys making their own show that they wrote and produced themselves.   

Having said that, I’m not convinced that this was the project they needed to be investing all this time and energy into.  Maybe there’s a huge crossover between DBZ fans and Office fans.  If so, then they’re smart to take advantage of it.   Otherwise, it looks a lot like they couldn’t figure out anything better and settled on making a show about themselves.   It’s a very recursive concept.   This isn’t Steve Carell playing Michael Scott, a regional manager for a fictional company.    This is Scott Frerichs playing himself in the actual TFS building that he’s really the CEO of.   The implication here is that he’s doing a character, but it’s probably an exaggeration of the real person, maybe?   I don’t think KaiserNeko is drunk all the time, but it’s not like I know the guy.  

I don’t mean to be a killjoy, but I find the whole concept kind of irritating.   TFS is a real-world business that's producing a show about a fictionalized version of itself... making... a documentary about... itself.   This is navel-gazing, right?   I’m pretty sure that’s what this is.  

Let me put it like this.    Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the Fantastic Four.   It was a big hit, and they occasionally appeared in their own comics as sort of a side gag.    Now, imagine if, for whatever reason, Stan and Jack couldn’t do Marvel Superheroes anymore, and they had to make a comic about something else instead, so they decided to just make a comic book about themselves just sort of hanging out.   In the late 60′s, there might have been an audience loyal enough to their past work that they’d stick around for that.    Hell, Lee and Kirby could probably even find a way to make it successful, but they’d probably also be savvy enough to find a stronger idea. 

That’s kind of where TFS is these days, and I don’t know what the solution is, but I don’t think it lies in filming themselves bantering back and forth.   These days that’s all they make anymore.   There’s the TalkCast PodShow, where you can listen to them talk about whether they liked the Sonic the Hedgehog movie, or DBCember, where you can listen to them talk about whether the Fusion Technique is cooler than the Special Beam Cannon.   I’m just having trouble seeing the point of Unabridged.    Like, this is the one where Grant and Kirran goof around on camera, as opposed to the Pokemon Nuzlocke videos, where they goof around on camera and also a game of Pokemon is happening.

Personally, I think the future of TFS lies more in the direction of shows like Fist Master, which represents TFS’ first foray into original animation.    The first episode looks a little rough, like a NewGrounds video from 2006, but that’s not the point.    It’s a fantasy action story with super powers and larger-than-life characters, featuring a lot of the same voice actors from other TFS projects.    Sound familiar?    The problem with Fist Master is that the first episode came out like 18 months ago, and maybe we’ll get to see Episode 2 sometime in 2020.    That’s not exactly a winning formula.   

Nonetheless, I feel like that’s the sort of basket TFS needs to be putting more eggs into.    If Fist Master is too complex to produce on a monthly basis, then maybe get some artists to make some simpler assets and do something with a lot more talking, and all the action happens off-screen.    Kind of like Sealab 2021.    Or hell, just do some audio-only sketches.   I feel like the big disconnect here is that TFS’s biggest asset is its voice acting talent, and yet they keep killing themselves trying to make video.    Meanwhile I’m one of these guys who wishes the YouTube app would play while the screen is off, because I just want stuff to listen to while I’m at work.    If they did an audio-only show about TJ and the Wombat, I’d be lining up to hear it.  

All that said, Unabridged looks like it got about 110,000 views in the past 12 hours, and that sounds like a big enough number to justify the hype, so maybe it’s a better idea than I’m giving it credit for.    It doesn’t have to be all things to all people, just so long as it keeps TFS afloat long enough for them to find their footing for their next project, and the next one after that.  

[moviesandmania]

IT: Chapter Two will be released by Warner Bros. in the USA on Digital on November 19th 2019 and on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital combo (the one to get!), Blu-ray + DVD + Digital combo and Special Edition DVD on December 10th. Content options vary in other regions but they should be released around the same time.

Special features:

Audio commentary with director Andy Muschietti

Pennywise Lives Again!

This Meeting of the Losers Club Has Officially Begun

Finding the Deadlights

The Summers of IT: Chapter One, You’ll Float Too

The Summers of IT: Chapter Two, IT Ends

Here’s our previous coverage of the movie with stacks of reviews:

IT: Chapter Two is a 2019 American supernatural horror feature film directed by Andy Muschietti (Mama) from a screenplay Gary Dauberman (The Nun; Annabelle; Within; Wolves at the Door; et al), based on the novel by Stephen King. Seth Grahame-Smith and Barbara Muschietti produced.

Bill Skarsgård returns as Pennywise the clown, with Jessica Chastain (Crimson Peak; Mama) as adult Beverly, Bill Hader (The Skeleton Twins) as Richie, James McAvoy as Bill, James Ransone (Sinister; Sinister 2) as Eddie, Isaiah Mustafa (Shadowrunner: The Mortal Instruments) as Mike Hanlon, Andy Bean (Allegiant) as Stanley, Jay Ryan (Mary Kills People) as the adult Ben Hanscom.

Plot:

Twenty-seven years later, the members of the Loser’s Club have grown up and moved away, until a devastating phone call brings them back…

Reviews:

“The group dynamics of the (very good) cast propel the film as each Losers Club member faces down his or her personal demons. (Chastain especially gives the material a lift.) Taking each storyline at a time, all accompanied by flashbacks, gives each character some depth, even as the crowded film — at nearly three-hours long — verges on turning into a clown car.” Jake Coyle, Associated Press

“The whole film is going damn near overboard, for better and worse. It’s easy to admire Muschietti’s film for its excess and imagination. It’s easy to watch and enjoy it as a fright flick. It’s just harder to connect with the adult versions of these characters than it should be, and it’s harder to take this story seriously than it was before.” William Bibbiani, Bloody Disgusting

” …each scene begins relatively innocently before exploding into a waking nightmare that preys on the worst fears and repressed memories of each of the Losers. All good stuff, but more often than not, director Muschietti and the first-rate special effects team deliver gross-out visuals in favor of truly chilling and tense psychological terror. I mean, the Losers have to deal with a lot of arachnid-inspired imagery.” Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times

“The devotion that Dauberman and Muschietti exhibit towards the Losers is palpable from start to finish, and despite some pitfalls in the film’s pacing, overall what they’ve managed to achieve with their collaborative efforts on IT Chapter Two is nothing short of monumental, and I think they’ve crafted something very special with these two films.” Heather Wixson, Daily Dead

“A psychologically merciless sequel, everything here is as it should be: deeper, scarier, funnier. Muschietti, in particular, has stepped up, skilfully guiding us through a rollicking funhouse. It is obscenely entertaining.” Alex Godfrey, Empire

” …even if Chapter One was example enough, there are no diminishing returns when it comes to shock value. Any time Pennywise feeds on life there is genuine sadness over the loss (the naivety and insecurities of his child victims contrasted with Bill Skarsgård’s master manipulator tendencies ensure it so), whether it’s a character we are attached to or someone newly introduced. ” Richard Kodjer, Flickering Myth

“The terror of Pennywise is best glimpsed fleetingly. See the clown too many times, and he becomes a familiar joke. But also letting the air out of things is Muschietti’s penchant for CGI scares, where practical effects would be far more effective. The movie’s many monstrosities – a crawling eyeball! a giant spider! an insect with the head of a human infant! – don’t inspire fear.” Barry Hertz, The Globe and Mail

” …Chapter Two seems to consist of an indefinite number of big, scary set pieces, featuring interchangeable snaggle-toothed creatures, or occasionally gigantic, fairground-sized monsters lurching grotesquely up out of nowhere. The scenes deliver reasonably efficient scares, but with the tension level repeatedly and disconcertingly reset afterwards to zero…” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

“Muschietti’s faithful adaptation, with all its creative and creepy set pieces, can’t justify that ass-numbing run time; especially not when the characters are just doing a lot of the same things they did in the first movie. They run into cobwebbed houses, stare down nightmarish visions and get tangled up with a clown that can morph into all kinds of silly, gigantic creatures. It’s all so easily forgettable.” Radheyan Simonpillai, Now Toronto

“Chapter Two is darker than the first, Bill’s attempt to deal with the guilt of losing his little brother by saving another ending in a brutal bit of bloodshed. Yet there are really only a couple of scary jolts, too many scary CGI puppets repeating themselves, too many effects beholden to Carpenter’s The Thing. McAvoy feels miscast here, perhaps a first for the actor.  Chastain, Ransone and Hader do a great job updating their childhood counterparts…” Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews

“Maybe it’s just that an evil clown terrorizing kids is intrinsically scarier than one going after adults. Or maybe it’s that the filmmakers, apparently believing this themselves, put the majority of their focus on a series of digitally created monstrosities. Whatever the case, It: Chapter Two, though ultimately satisfying, doesn’t get at the deep-seated creeps its predecessor did.” Michael Gingold, Rue Morgue

“IT: Chapter Two never really depicts the way dewy sentimentality can curdle into pain and regret or considers whether the other side of middle age offers a way of letting go of the past. Its monster only occasionally embodies the otherworldly fearfulness that leads the characters to speak of it in hushed tones. But at least Muschietti is trying for something epic and intimidating…” Keith Phipps, The Verge

” …when the filmmakers don’t force the story to fit into strict parameters and just let the story flow with these characters that we love, IT Chapter Two can be just as effective and emotional as the first film. For fans of the novel, you shouldn’t miss this because much of what we love about the book makes its way to the screen, even if it can’t completely hit every high point. IT Chapter Two is clunky, too long, and not as scary as it could have been, but when it hits, it really hits.” Alan Cerny, Vital Thrills

“Real trauma is given the same consideration as a literal funhouse of horrors, which cheapens what the characters and audience are put through.” Alan Silberman, Washington Post

“What stands out in It Chapter Two is not the clearly labored-over insect effects but that moment with Mrs Kersh and the scene of Pennywise as Beverly’s father — both reliant on actors rather than technical wizardry. The human eye can tell that there is not much in effects but effects themselves with a story like this about evil. But an actor like Gregson or Skarsgård can channel evil for us because they are human…” Dan Callahan, The Wrap

NB. Scroll further down past the trailers for YouTube reviews

The New Line Cinema production is obviously the sequel to the smash-hit horror movie IT (2017) which took a whopping $700,381,748 at the box office worldwide against a reported budget of $35 million.

Controversy:

As reported by 9news, some parents in Australia say that giant billboards of Pennywise’s face have been giving their young children nightmares.

“It just totally freaks them out,” Brisbane mother Kellie told the Australian news outlet, speaking about her kids’ reaction to the billboards. Her daughter Piper added: “I get really scared because it’s hard to go to bed when you have a scary picture in your mind. Before I go to bed, I have to check the whole room. And when I finally go to bed I will wake up after a nightmare.”

Another mother also told 9news that her child is terrified by the imagery. “Some people do enjoy going to horror movies and that’s fine and that’s their choice, and I understand that but we’re not choosing to see this poster,” said Jane, who issued a complaint with Ad Standards. The latter body has confirmed that the ads don’t break any of their rules. [Source: Bloody Disgusting]

Production:

Filming on IT: Chapter 2 officially began on June 20 in Toronto with a release date of September 6, 2019.

Background:

IT: Chapter Two clocks in at a whopping 169 minutes.

“A movie is very different when you’re writing the script and you’re building a story compared to what the final product is,” director Andy Muschietti told Digital Spy and other press.

“At the beginning, when you’re writing and building the beats of the story, everything that you put in there seems very essential to the story. However, when you have the movie finally edited and it’s 4 hours long, you realise that some of the events and some of the beats can be easily lifted but the essence of the story remains intact.

“You cannot deliver a 4-hour movie because people will start to feel uncomfortable – no matter what they see – but we ended up having a movie that is 2 hours and 45 minutes, and the pacing is very good. “Nobody who’s seen the movie has had any complaint.”

Cast and characters:

Jack Dylan Grazer … Young Eddie

James McAvoy … Bill Denbrough

Jessica Chastain … Beverly Marsh

Bill Skarsgård … Pennywise

Sophia Lillis … Young Beverly

Finn Wolfhard … Young Richie

Bill Hader … Richie Tozier

Jaeden Martell … Young Bill

Jay Ryan … Ben Hanscom

Kate Corbett … Dean’s Mom

Javier Botet

Xavier Dolan … Adrian Mellon

James Ransone … Eddie Kaspbrak

Owen Teague … Patrick Hockstetter

Jess Weixler … Audra Phillips

Jake Weary … John ‘Webby’ Garton

Nicholas Hamilton … Young Henry

Wyatt Oleff … Young Stanley

Isaiah Mustafa … Mike Hanlon

Jeremy Ray Taylor … Young Ben

Jackson Robert Scott … Georgie Denborough (rumored)

Teach Grant … Henry Bowers

Andy Bean … Stanley Uris

Chosen Jacobs … Young Mike

Stephen Bogaert … Mr. Marsh

Logan Thompson … Victor Criss

Taylor Frey … Don Hagarty

Ryan Kiera Armstrong … Victoria

Janet Porter … Richie’s Mother

Jake Sim … Belch Huggins

Amanda Zhou … Waitress

Kelly Van der Burg … Victoria’s Mom

Angela Thompson … Comedy Show Patron

Will Beinbrink … Tom Rogan

Ari Cohen … Rabbi Uris

Lyla Elliott … Dead Young Girl

Angelica Alejandro … Asian Waitress

Rob Ramsay … Meaner Nurse

Divan Meyer … Audience Member

Erik Junnola … Bully

Anthony Ulc … Joe The Butcher

Martavius Gayles … Paramedic

Connor Smith … Carny

Shannon Widdis … Cheerleader #1

John Connon … John Koontz

Elena Khan … Derry townsperson

Chris Jiggins … Paramedic

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Image credits: Brooke Palmer / Warner Bros. Entertainment

Jump forward four minutes for review:

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IT: Chapter Two released on 4K Ultra-HD, Blu-ray, DVD, Digital soon – invite Pennywise into your home! IT: Chapter Two will be released by Warner Bros. in the USA on Digital on November 19th 2019 and on…

[theliterarywolf]

So, Let’s Talk ‘Love Death and Robots (Episodes 10-18)

Hey guys, I finally decided to finish off my write-up on Netflix's Love Death and Robots, even though I hope that anyone who wanted to give the show a chance has by now. If you need a bit more coaxing, I covered the first 9 episodes here (you can also find my rating system explained there) and I go over the last 9 episodes here.

Oh, also... I know that there's the whole 'Netflix arranges to episode order based on your sexual orientation' thing going on. Even though I think that's kind of bunk because I don't recall Netflix sending me an email to ask 'Hey, so... can we know if you're straight or not?'

I’m going by the episodic order on my first and second viewings.

Let's get started.

Episode 10 – Shape-Shifters

I know people have been making the jokes of 'Lol, who was the closeted gay Republican furry who wrote this short~?” But, God, can... Can we please get more domestic supernatural pieces like this?

Homoerotic subtext or not, watching this story reminded me of one of my grievances whenever I try to wade through the muck and the mire that is the Kindle Store: that being, in regards to MLM writing, you're either a cowboy or a werewolf.

And no one does anything unique with writing gay cowboys or gay werewolves. It's always 'I'm a closeted, homophobic son of a bitch who needs my heart melted by the northern newcomer and their high-falutin' ways' or 'we're werewolves so we have to live by A/B/O-Omegaverse rules, I guess???'

The execution of this story, the melding of fantasy and the real world is something that I like to see in media but, more than often, is shat out into a mess of awkward writing and characters. I'm looking at you, Bright.

Did it Have a Robot – Yes? Or No?

No, this is more of a fantasy, horror, military-drama combo that does wonders.

Could this Stand Its Own as a Feature Film/TV Series?

I mean, with Teen Wolf gone and Supernatural on its way out, I think a fully-developed series leading up to the short that we get here, talking about the main two characters growing up as werewolves and how the world treats them would have a great place in prime-time.

Episode 11 – Helping Hand

127 Hours, eat your fucking heart out! I felt more from this one short about suffering and sacrificing for the sheer essence of surviving the insurmountable than I did with the whole of 127 Hours. Which is kind of bad considering how the latter is based on an actual true story.

Did it Have a Robot – Yes? Or No?

The main reason the main character has to do what she does is because she's doing maintenance on a space-station.

Could this Stand Its Own as a Feature Film/TV Series?

I think this stands better on its own as is.

Episode 12 – Fish Night

(No Gif for this one. Pity...)

Allow me a second.

…

Okay.

If you've ever watched something like Disney's Fantasia or James Cameron's Avatar (Disclaimer – If anyone tries to insinuate that I would ever put Avatar on the same level as any Disney film in terms of quality/re-watchability, I will slap you), you get the sentiments of: 'this exists to be a very, fancy, elegant tech-demo. I know I shouldn't think about story, but I am, and all I see is a very fancy tech-demo'.

That's the notion one gets with Fish Night. Another 2D addition to LDaR, the story of two business men stranded in a desert and the beauty of the natural world of past and present is visually stunning but, as soon as that night falls, you're going to know exactly what is happening for the rest of the story.

But it sure is pretty, though!

Did it Have a Robot – Yes? Or No?

Nope. It was just really pretty.

Could this Stand Its Own as a Feature Film/TV Series?

Nope. It's just really pretty.

Episode 13 – Lucky 13

The second of the stories in LDaR that has a 'last-stand' tilt, even though it doesn't kick in until the end. However, before that, I really enjoy what is another story with a legitimately strong female character, who also happens to be a woman of color, who comes up from the adversity of being a novice pilot and being given an airship with the most unfortunate of reputations to manage.

The relationship between the main character and the ship 'Lucky 13' is really what makes this story stand out.

Which... is ultimately bad for the story that rounds out the collection. But, that will come later.

Did it Have a Robot – Yes? Or No?

The characters are essentially space-marines and they drive around in airships, what more do you need?

Could this Stand Its Own as a Feature Film/TV Series?

Maybe a feature film. But it would have to devote every minute of a film's run-time to developing the universe and personalities of the human characters.

Episode 14 – Zima Blue

Admittedly, this one managed to keep me in suspense until the focus of the story first made himself visible. After that, we're taken on a minute trip through the phenomena of true talent, existentialism, and the concept of joy and self.

And... that's all I will say on that one.

Did it Have a Robot – Yes? Or No?

Ooh, does this one have a robot...

Could this Stand Its Own as a Feature Film/TV Series?

You know, this one is a bit tricky. Maybe not a feature-length film but not pulled out into a TV series either. A thirty-minute short film, perhaps, would let the setting and artwork shine more.

Episode 15 – Blindspot

(No Gif again...)

You know, I keep forgetting that this one exists. It's not even that it was bad, it just...

Okay, so I watch a review channel on YouTube from time to time called “Double Toasted” and, even though I don't agree with about 75% of their stance on LDaR, what they said about this one was pretty spot on.

It's reminiscent of the classic Saturday Morning Cartoons of the 80s... Just with more swearing and death.

Because, yeah, this story follows a team of multi-colored androids driving EXTREME! vehicles while trying to steal a secret computer-chip from a carrier convoy. And all of the androids represent a common character trope seen in those sorts of cartoons: the Cool Dude leader, the brawny idiot, the smart-talking girl, and the green-behind-the-ears junior character.

I actually liked the animation to this one but story-wise it really is just your EXTREME! Saturday Morning cartoon with cursing and violence.

Did it Have a Robot – Yes? Or No?

Yeah, the entire cast.

Could this Stand Its Own as a Feature Film/TV Series?

Maybe a TV series... Ooh, especially if it was done by someone like Christy Karacas (Superjail! and BallMasterz: 9009)

Episode 16 – Ice Age

(I should probably come to the conclusion that no one on this site cared enough about these last few shorts...)

Okay, this one I feel cheated in order to be included in here because it honestly feels so out of place. You get to follow a new, quirky couple moving into their first place together and, whoa-oh! They find an old freezer and decide to look inside to decide whether or not they should keep it!

… And, inside, is a micro-ecosystem that shows the entire past, present, and future of the human-race before blazing out in a fluorescent heat-death in front of their eyes.

All while said quirky couple makes commentary on what they're seeing.

I still don't know what animation was used for a good portion of the freezer-scenes. Was it CG combined with scaled-down camera or what?

Did it Have a Robot – Yes? Or No?

Tech... nically...

Could this Stand Its Own as a Feature Film/TV Series?

Oh, honey, no... A feature-length film of this would be on the same level of all of those ironic romcoms we got in that painful period of the early 2000s and a TV series of this would be canceled after three episodes.

Episode 17 – Alternate Histories

Look, I get where people come from with Alternate Histories: 'this one was goofy', 'it ran a bit too long', 'fake news'. And, honestly, when the title first showed up on my screen, I was cringing because I was sure they were going to spend 8 or 10 minutes of talking about a certain annoying pumpkin man.

However, I actually had fun with this one. Yeah, it seems like the flow and writing seems more like it would be at home on something like Robot Chicken at times, but I still liked it.

Besides, we get to watch a little Cartoon Hitler being killed over and over and over. What's not to like?

Did it Have a Robot – Yes? Or No?

The Alternate History software in of itself is reminiscent to your 'what-if' tropes in science fiction. Just condensed and split apart into a few different scenarios.

Could this Stand Its Own as a Feature Film/TV Series?

I couldn't see a full film or series of this working but maybe, like I said, if an entire episode of something like Robot Chicken was just dedicated to making up a dozen different ways to kill Hitler, that would be pretty interesting to watch.

Episode 18 – The Secret War

This, I feel, is the true casualty of LDaR. Not because it's bad on a technical level, it's actually visually stunning. Not because it's bad on a story-telling level, the writing is actually solid.

No, the main fault of The Secret War... Is that it is the last story in LDaR.

That it's the THIRD 'Last-Stand' story we've seen in an anthology of 18 different stories. I can understand the team behind LDaR wanting to have something like this be its finisher because, as I said, the art direction and writing behind it are really worthy of some fine cinema.

But it would have been better for everyone involved if they had swapped this one's position with something like Zima Blue or Lucky 13. By this point in watching the series, you're kind of reflecting on the darker stories but appreciating the lighter ones as well. So you'd want something with a little bit of hope to finish things off with.

And, trust me: those who know me know that I'm a proponent of 'more dark stories in media/not everything needs a happy ending'. This one just needed to be earlier in the anthology because, oof, I just was not able to get invested in the characters and their struggle. You know that it's not going to end well, you're just watching characters march towards their deaths.

And, again, this would have been fine... Had it been episode 6 or 8. But, no, this is how we decide to end off this cavalcade of high-concept art.

Think back to Night on Bald Mountain from the Original Fantasia. Yes, the initial orgy of horror and fright from Chernabog and his minions is a decadent display but a lot of its weight and impact would have been lost if the film just ended with that. That's why having the brief ending of the Ave Maria segment works: to keep things balanced so that everything in Fantasia can be appreciated in checks and balances.

LDaR unfortunately didn't have that foresight. So, what should have been a feast feels more like a push to get through.

Did it Have a Robot – Yes? Or No?

No, this was one of the fantasy/horror pieces.

Could this Stand Its Own as a Feature Film/TV Series?

Honestly, I'm not sure. Maybe a feature-length film just so that the universe and characters can present themselves on their own, rather than having to bear the weight of being the big finisher to the impact of 17 other stories. But it would still be a risk.

So, those are my thoughts on Love Death and Robots. Personally, I would LOVE for there to be a season 2 of this with more writers involved so we can get an overall more distinct portfolio of writing approaches (as well as maybe serve as a springboard for up-and-coming writers, hm..?)

I do acknowledge the risk of making something like this a yearly thing (many critics of Black Mirror insist that the series' recent low-points are due to the writers having to constantly come back and try to one-up their poignancy), but I think the risks would be dealt with if, again, more writers were allow to join in.

Oh well, feel free to tell me how you felt and what your personal favorites were. Thanks for reading and have a good one!

[husberttee]

A Long Ass Guide To VAV

VAV – Very Awesome Voice

Soooo since there were some people who did like my idea of making a guide like this I thought ‘cool let’s do it!‘ I hope this can help people finde out about them and maybe motivate some of you do give them a listen and some love!

Ok so first some general facts;

They had their debut in 2015 with 6 members under AQ Entertainment, which is now A-Team Entertainment. I’d like to point out here, that this company provides ENGLISH SUBTITLES for us (!!!!) which is pretty damn awesome.The group underwent (is that a word) a couple of lineup changes which I will explain further when I come to the members individually. A Fun facts: they have a pretty big spanish following and were guests on a shit ton of youtube channels

Fanclub: Vampz (debut concept was vampires and werewolves and priests and. Yeeeh.Their debut was actually on Halloween. Supposedly there even was a whole ass webcomic but I never saw any of that, sadly.)

We’ll get to the number one most important part now

THE MEMBERS (in order of age)

1.       St. Van – The Leader

Real Name: Lee Geumhyuk

91 liner

Main vocal (POWER vocal) / Leader

A father

Probably speaks better Mandarin than Jacob / lived more than 10 years in China

Loves Jacob; votes Jacob by default

tries hard and gets dragged for it by the younger members

it was revealed that he likes to watch girl group dances (he said it’s because he needs to learn them to be able to show something at fanmeetings and such. Yeah sure bro me too.)

hear someone laughing in the back? That’s him.

roommates with Baron

embarrassed. Generally.

Completely demolished ACE birthday cake with the help of ZeHan once

Likes cars

can drink a lot of water??

Has sleeve-like tattoo on his shoulder/upper arm

2.       Baron

Real Name: Choi Chunghyeob

92 liner

Vocal

Fake Maknae 0.1 // he’s very cute

somewhat speaks english

Known for serenading a male fan with ‘I need a boy’

Super pretty // sweet voice // very good and underrated dancer // funny --> Real idol material right here

Apparently has ‘apple hips’ which are ‘popular’ among the members. Whatever that may mean…

Likes photography and making films

Plays games first thing in the morning

Talkative

A sunshine // scammed the company into giving him an extra allowance of 1000won in a game and spend it to buy fruit for the members

there’s a 26 second long video of him brushing his teeth on A-Teams official youtube channel (these hoes deleted it)

3.       ACE

Real Name: Jang Wooyoung

92 liner

Vocal

A Mom // currently raising Ayno and Jacob

Probably dating Ziu atm

asks members for reactions when he does things

Practices phonation /articulation in his sleep (super noisy, even people in nearby rooms can hear him)

Talks a lot

Wears sunglasses in the pool aka. will fight you in the pool while wearing sunglasses (swag is better than actually seeing your surroundings)

‘I look thinner with my clothes on’ kinda person // he’s ripped

Really likes sport and working out

The groups elected MC

He always seems to know what he’s doing

Covered Winners ‘Fool’ and it’s amazing his vocals are super beautiful

Mullet

4.       Ayno

Real Name: Noh Yoonho

 96 liner

rapper

Participated in the survival show No.Mercy in which Monsta X was formed, but got eliminated in the final rounds

Joined the group as a new member early 2017

Voted to be the cutest by VAV

Fake Maknae 0.2

Part time grill master (Roasts his members)

*Looks at the camera like he is on the office*

Skilled dancer

Writes his own rap

First reaction after seeing Jacob cry was to lie himself horizontal on his lap as a form of comfort or idk that’s the kinda friend he is

in charge of meme

his ideal type is ACE, apparentely

released a mixtape

5.       Jacob

Real Name: Zhang Peng

96 liner

Sub-Rapper / sub-vocal

Chinese

Quite introverted // worries his members cause they want to share his hard times but they feel like they can’t. What a family T-T

Manly manTM

Had a complete mental breakdown once with ugly sobbing and all after receiving a video letter from VAV

Voted himself visual of the group

Nickname ‘Cob’

Sassy af since he’s started to talk more

Idk but I think he’s rich he always wears expensive looking clothes

In charge of abs and keeping a straight face at all times // has super cute smile actually

‘I stream ‘Venus’ as soon as I get up in the morning’

Accidentally made out with ZeHan at pops in seoul

Got featured in the song ‘Trouble’ by former member XIAO

6.       Lou

Real Name: Kim Hosung

96 liner

rapper

member since 2017

Very confident

Super deep voice

Can speak english

Not having any of anyone’s shit (pls let ur members live)

Maybe a bit mean

Pretends to be manly

Majors in acting

Finds  lot of Joy in making fun of Ziu

Gets lots of affection in return that he absolutely really DOESN’T WANT

His most precious possession is the refrigerator

According to him his closest celebrity friend is James Bond

‘which place would you like to visit where you have never been?’ ‘my house’

7.       Ziu

Real Name: Park Heejun

97 liner

Vocal // I love his vocals byE

joined together with Ayno and Lou in 2017

No homo? Yes homo. (no video goes by without him trying to kiss at least ONE of his members)

King of being fake touched and overreaction

Always gets exposed

Raids the dorm refrigerator at around 5/6AM

Eats while being asleep

Suffers a lot from the maknae position

Ended up being my bias somehow

Cucumber anti

a cheerful fella

_______________________________________

Former / Members on hiatus under the cut further down ~ ____________________________________

That was it so far, but...!

They also have a kind of reality show which is called What’S Up? VAV and it’s very fun so I defintely recomment watching it!! Here is a season 2 playlist

Sadly A-Team deleted / put most videos pre-Venus era on private. Their newer Malaysia Videos are really funny though!!!

______________________________________________

MVs

At first I’d like to point out that their earlier songs had quite low production and it’s noticable sometimes. People found that parts of the songs sounded ‘off’. However, they improved every comeback a lot and as they changed producers for Venus they seriously stepped up their game. They have improved SO MUCH, are still getting better and really work hard!!

Debut - Under The Moonlight

Brotherhood (this mv was so fanfiction worthy actually)

No Doubt

Recollection (the FeelsTM)

Here I Am (winter song jacob no lines still good)

Venus / Dance With Me

Flower (this one is my favourite look at that aesthetic and the song was so good wow)

Middle Of The Night / ABC (a bob)

She’s Mine (a super bob)

Spotlight & Gorgeous (two MVs but kind of a package deal cause they’re basically one comeback)

Give it to me

Senorita

So In Love

Thrilla Killa (this one? slaps.)

I’m Sorry

Give me more' (Feat. De La Ghetto & Play-N-Skillz) (I sometimes watch this ONLY for St.Vans sleeve tattoo)

POISON (MOST RECENT!!! WATCH DIS!! ITS AWESOME!!)

Thanks for making it until here and Please stan VAV

Former Members / Hiatus

I will keep these short since the post is already long AS FUCK and while these members DO appear in many of their past videos (Ateam deleted most of the videos :/), ‘advertising’ them here wouldn’t do much good since you’re not going to see them with the group from now on

Xiao

Chen Xiao

Rapper

89 liner

Went on hiatus in 2016 (it was said he has to take care of his sick father)

He once appeared in a VAV video after he left and spend a day with them; the reunion was very heart warming

he made his solo debut with

Bubblegum

and

Share Ya

his song

Trouble

feat. Jacob

ZeHan

Lee Seungmin

Vocal

94 liner

Left to pursue a career as an actor

Was my bias why must u do dis to me

GyeoUl

Jung Un

Vocal

95 liner

Left to pursue a career as producer

[andranikolayi]

Gxrls Can’t Mix - misogyny and discrimination in the electronic music world

originally appeared online in Romanian for Revista Cutra

A brief note about this translation

I initially wrote this text in July for Romanian intersectional feminist mag CUTRA and they published it mid September. The focus was supposed to be on events that did take place locally, however, this summer there’s been a constant stream of tweets from female-identified and enby djs/producers about their horrendous Boiler Room experiences.

I wanted to shine a light on that and the endemic kind of sexism that boiler room is constantly facilitating and refuses to take any responsibility towards, as well as share some of the horrors from the Romania scene that nobody wants to talk about because we still live in a very homophobic, racist and sexist environment. As a local queer artist myself, I do believe it is our duty to speak up on these issues even if it may negatively affect our social/professional life. The local community leaders do know what they need to do in order to create safer, more inclusive spaces yet prefer to use a superficially woke discourse that looks good online, yet they would never take direct action or present an unpopular opinion.

Having spoken to Ceci after their Boiler Room and their scary bad experience (including receiving multiple death threats), it became increasingly clear that this text needed to exist in the world. Also running into Lakuti last week in Berlin and hearing how traumatized she still is after her experience playing in Romania, I was all the more motivated to translate it into English and make this available for everyone.

It may be sprawling at times, but I think it’s important to present a translation of the original published material, as it appears on the CUTRA website. Please keep in mind that CUTRA is not a music/dj-specific publication so certain aspects of the industry come with very ELI5 explanations.

First I thought she was just messing with us, but now i m starting to think that this girl doesn’t know what she’s doing

This is boring room not boiler room

Are they trying to put us to bed and broadcasting Schumann resonances?

She would have been better at spinning pizzas than records

Go back to the kitchen!

 These are just a select few from the over 2000 comments of the very first Boiler Room live stream taking place in Romania. Said comments appeared on the initial Facebook live post. The event took place in July 2016. At the time of writing this article [na – july 2019], all the comments are still publicly visible on their page.

I could probably write a thesis on misogyny in electronic music, but for this particular piece I’d like to focus on the following question: why do we saying that gxrls can’t mix?

I would also like to ask the follow up questions: should we be surprised that colleagues from the Romanian club industry would say that a female-identified person is a sick DJ but „a little too homely” to play a certain club? Or that another person I used to consider a close friend would tell me during a b2b set that because he just took some MDMA I looked like „a juicy piece of meat” to him? Or how when Electronic Beats Romania did their first feature on local producer Admina and they didn’t even know who to contact from the magazine to moderate the deluge of hateful comments? Or how nobody even bats an eye at the way industry men here always tend to grab you by the lower waist when talking to you in the club as if it were the most natural thing in the world? Try to explicitly say something and you would be instantly labelled an „unchill bitch”.

The answer is a resounding yes. We should be surprised, as well as angry and concerned enough to start actively doing something about this.

Miss I’s Boiler Room

 On July 6th, 2016, the promoters behind the Interval event and festival series put together the very first Boiler Room in Romania. For those of you less familiar with the club world, Boiler Room is a platform that organizes events specifically designed to broadcast a live video stream of the club experience. Think DJs mixing or musicians doing live sets, while also making a point in filming the audience and their reactions to the music. Since its inception in 2010, Boiler Room has become a global phenomenon, with immense pull in the industry. The project is equally revered and reviled to the point that there are parody YouTube channels (see People of Boiler Room). For most artists, being on Boiler Room is a make or break moment, sort of like a calling card highlighting your skill as a DJ.

Promoters, fellow DJs, agents and ravers all follow Boiler Room religiously. The platform’s increased popularity and growing volume of videos produced per week may have slightly decreased its influence due to sheer oversaturation, being on BR is still the highlight of many up-and-coming artists’ career. Unlike a mix, the BR videos don’t just physically show off your mixing skills, but they also document the audience’s reaction in real time. Oh, and as a DJ you only get 60 minutes to give it your best. Or, as with Miss I in the following example, you’ve just been asked to open the very first BR broadcast ever from your country. Miss I is one of the most beloved local female DJs, also responsible for opening the first vinyl only record store in Romania and highly appreciated in the minimal/deep house scene, so you know there’s gonna be eyeballs. But no pressure, u do u grrrrl.

For every Boiler Room event, the broadcast is livestreaming on their website and Facebook page. Reading the live reactions on the chatroom and Facebook comments is intricately related to the experience. On that humid summer afternoon in a rooftop garden in Rahova, the comments that started pouring just a few minutes into her set were absolutely shocking. The level and volume of vitriol had greatly surpassed the BR staff’s expectations. About 40 minutes in, the host publicly posted a call out comment.

However, while researching this article, I was surprised to discover that most of said harmful and sexist comments were still up online. There were no attempts on behalf of the BR team to warn or ban users. Hell, there was no moderation. But maybe there should have been.

The Boiler Room Effect

Part I - San Francisco Pride, 2019

This story took place in 2016. We could easily justify what had happened by claiming we don’t like to talk about gender politics at the club or how, generally speaking, the Eurominimal/tech-house scene the event was catering to is notoriously populated by aggro cishet bros who worship Villalobos. Unfortunately (surprise surprise!), this has not been the first, nor the last online scandal Boiler Room has been responsible for.

During the writing process for this material, initially meant to focus mainly on Romanian issues, I started paying attention to the comments on recent BR livestreams. This process, coupled with the increased number of artist friends talking about the backlash in the comments following their BR streams I was seeing on Twitter lead me to believe in the dire necessity of live moderators for the entire BR social media. These comments are not just mean spirited or unfunny trolling, they can be incredibly harmful and have a lasting negative effect.

On June 1st 2019, Boiler Room organized a Pride-related event in San Francisco where an artist I not only appreciate but happen to occasionally work with made their debut. Ceci aka CCL is a DJ, producer, co-founder of queer collective TUF and [at the time of publishing] agent working for Discwoman, an NYC-based talent agency created to boost womxn and non-binary artists. CCL identifies as non-binary and uses only they/them pronouns. Being AFAB and feminine presenting, they are often misgendered due to their presentation, even after clearly stating their preferences.

In the beginning of the video, the host does use their correct pronouns, but most people in the comments were still referring to them by using she/her pronouns. This might seem like a minor inconvenience compared to the bulk of the discourse happening below the stream, mostly comprised of people complaining about the music, ranging from how weird the selection is, whether or not that sound is a faulty cable and how bad their technical skills were. Later Ceci confessed they even received actual death threats. All this was happening at a Pride-related event in one of the gayest cities in the world and with a line-up specifically tailored for the occasion.

Being misgendered is always a bad experience, but when it happens during what is supposed to be a career-defining moment, the effect is even more traumatic. Besides, a torrent of sexist and negative comments cannot have a positive effect on anyone, regardless of their gender or sexual identity. Especially with BR, this only seems to happen when female-identified or non-binary artists are concerned. In CCL’s case, the misgendering may have not been the most atrocious part of the online response, however we do need to start implementing such habits as not assuming one’s gender or choice of pronouns. It may seem like a small step, but it does make a world of difference.

What Boiler Room continuously refuse to do is acknowledge the influence it carries in the industry and the responsibility that comes with that. BR could have avoided causing a lot of damage by simply adding a little blurb about the artist’s preferred pronouns in the description of the Facebook live video, for the users tuning in later or not familiar with their work.

It’s this kind of thoughtfulness and concern for the actual scenes they feature that is consistently lacking from their approach.

Part II - The Sherelle Incident

 In March 2019, a different incident took over both the online and offline music discourse – for approximately two whole weeks, all you could see on Techno Twitter were reactions to Sherelle’s Boiler Room. In short, there was clip of a POC female-identified DJ from the UK playing bass and jungle to a packed room going totally berserk until someone from the audience touches the CDJs and the music stops. This unwanted intervention coming from an unidentified hand created a meme-worthy WTF reaction. To nobody’s surprise, this snipped was the one Boiler Room chose to use as their preview advertising her set online. All of a sudden, her startled face in the clip was all anyone could think of, not the incredible atmosphere she created. Yewande Adeniran  wrote a thoughtful piece on the implications and how said “accident” took the discourse away from a moment that was supposed to be just about Sherelle and her skills as a DJ.

Following the incident, the Twitter community managed to ID the person who caused the hubbub, who turned out to be infamous UK DJ Riz la Teef, who was also playing the event. Online, he’s been bombarded with accusations of racism and misogyny to the point of having to delete his account. However, a wave of reputed DJs and producers jumped to his defense and justified his action. Keeping in mind that most of what we call Techno Twitter is comprised of people from/who live in North American, their argument was that his unwarranted intrusion was in fact a very common practice from the UK grime/bass culture. 

Known as a wheel up or to turn up, it consists on moving the jog (the little CDJ wheelie thingie) to rewind the track playing and increase the hype. It’s traditionally considered a sign of appreciation and supposed to be very flattering when your friends/fellow DJs perform it. Think of it as a hands-on rewind. Only in this case his attempt failed and the only thing he managed to accomplish was create a whole lot of confusion. Plus, they were friends and earlier in the clip you can see him come say hi and hug her. In true Internet fashion, think pieces from major publications followed, educating the poor American kids on the wheel up, as well as photos with the two hugging and making peace, telling everyone it’s time to chill out. As for Sherelle’s part, I’m actually curious what else was she supposed to do than say something along the lines of “OK, fine, let’s move on”? It’s already hard enough to break through in the industry as a queer black woman, the last thing you want to do is be that unchill bitch who can’t take a joke.

Our Daily Misogyny

Going back the shitty things that happened in Romania chapter, I want to talk about an incident that happened in October 2016 at a Queer Night party in Guesthouse. To give you a little context, Queer Night is a series of queer parties, the first of its kind, co-run by local choreographer/dancer Paul Dunca and DJ/singer Cosima von Bulowe for over a decade. Guesthouse is a club mainly associated with the Rominimal/tech-house cult, with a pretty cishet, homophobic audience. However, they occasionally host the odd underground event, like DJ Stingray or Lena Willikens. This particular event was a collaborative effort between Queer Night and the Interval (the people responsible for the Romanian Boiler Rooms – na) curatorial teams, who invited queer womxn DJ couple Lakuti and Tama Sumo to do an extended back to back set. Lerato Khathi aka Lakuti is an incredibly talented DJ from South Africa, who also runs the label and talent agency Uzuri and Tama Sumo has an extensive DJ career and also books for Panoramabar.

As Lerato was mixing, a guy standing in front of the booth reaches towards the turntables and touches the record that was playing and the music glitches. Lerato simply froze for a second but continues to carry on mixing. A few minutes later, said guy suddenly appears behind the booth (access to the booth and the backstage area requires a separate bracelet) and tries to get her attention and starts touching her. In that moment, Tama rushes in and extracts the person from the booth. In spite of his highly inappropriate conduct at event that promotes safe spaces, the security staff refused to kick him out of the club for a fuzzy array of reasons – friends with the owner, being a “house regulars” and my favorite “he didn’t beat up anyone” line. Considering the organizers’ credo and position as community leaders, they could have done more than simply trying to minimize the incident.

The rest of the night went well and their set was lovely, but talking to them the next morning, the entire experience didn’t sound like just a minor incident of a someone being an asshole: Lerato confessed that even though she traveled and played all across the globe, she’s never experienced anything remotely similar.

I’d love to be able to say that these stories are just rare occurrences. Unfortunately, being in the music industry reflects a much more grim reality of endemic sexism. Let me suggest a little exercise – take for example any Boiler Room video on Youtube where there are female-identified performers and within the first dozen comments you might something along the lines of “she can’t mix”, “great selection but her technique is lacking” or “X guy did this so much better in the ‘90s”.

Perhaps we all know by now that commenting on a womxn’s appearance is a no-no. Yet I still constantly hear various industry men making comments that womxn like Peggy Gou or Jayda G only got where they are now just because they’re hot. (How come nobody calls out Marcel Dettman for looking like a model I ask you?). Unlike jabs at someone’s looks which are easy to dismiss as harmful, commenting on someone’s “skill” and “technique” are seemly OK because they refer to an objective (they say) variable, easy to judge and quantify. I ask you this – doesn’t this all sound terribly familiar? Perhaps using the same arguments as those right wing Youtube personalities that post videos with titles such as „X DESTROYS feminists with FACTS and LOGIC”?

Consequences of the systemic sexism are starting to pop up everywhere, from Resident Advisor closing down their comments section due to the amount of harassment related to their recent focus on female artists to the petition against Giegling’s Konstantin. For a quick reminder, German DJ Konstantin used a bunch of “biological determinism” arguments in an interview trying to explain why he believes women don’t have the right kind of brain for mixing. In 2018, Konstantin was booked to perform at three major parties during Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE), a key annual gathering for the electronic music industry. A petition signed by thousands of fellow DJs, music journalists and electronic music artists circulated online to have him blackballed due to his comments and half-assed apology that followed. Unfortunately, the only result was the ADE organizers offering him even more exposure by inviting him to talk about his actions on a live panel.

This kind of discourse is very dangerous, as by accepting and normalizing it we’re offering it unwarranted legitimacy to the point that opinions such as Konstantin’s start being reiterated by the press. After this year’s Movement festival in Detroit (the birthplace of techno), a journalist in a local newspaper writing a piece on the women’s rising visibility in electronic music, cited a “veteran DJ” who claimed women lack the technical capabilities to mix and rely on laptops and software in order to do their job. Despite this not being the author’s argument, he chose to offer a platform to a blatantly misogynistic opinion. These positions are not just wrong and should be called out for their obvious sexism, but perpetuating them in the press further increases their destructive power. The more we will continue to validate them, the more present they will become.

And still, why do we keep saying gxrls can’t mix?

Are girls really all lacking in the rhythm department? Commenting on one’s ability to mix is still one of the most widespread forms of criticism that AFAB and female-identified persons get. Why is it so widespread?

Through mixing, the art that defines the modern dance music DJ, most people understand creating a story through a continuous body of variegated music but particularly having no pause between the tracks. When industry people talk about mixing, they usually refer to beatmatching, which is usually means blending two or more tracks, often of different tempos or keys. The overall tempo of the DJ’s mix can remain constant or experience subtle increases across their set. This style of mixing, using long transitions, no tempo changes and working within the same musical subgenre throughout is particularly appreciated in Eurominimal and tech-house, which is also the most lucrative part of the industry in places like France, Germany and Romania. As many talented DJs have proven over the years, from legends like Larry Lavan or David Mancuso and their cosmic or loft deeply personal, eclectic styles, the perfect blends same tempo school is by no means the only “right” way to think about a dancefloor.

At a time when dance music has exploded into a multi-billion dollar industry, the “perfect mix” paradigm became the dominant style. In this climate, to be a DJ is synonymous with knowing how to mix, otherwise you don’t exist. Or at least that’s the androcentric perspective. And once you frame things like this, the comments on womxn’s “technical skills” stem from the same sexist pool as saying womxn are not good at math/science/driving or other “men’s” activities. After all, they’re just being objective, right? “Oh my god it’s not like I said she was fat or something!”

Mixing is a learned skill that requires practice to be perfected. The portion of the population who is encouraged to learn skills that involve music and technology, who is not discriminated against and has access to often costly equipment (be it controllers, CDJs or turntables) is overwhelmingly cis, straight and male. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the “I don’t have a mix online/nowhere to practice because my ex bf had all the equipment” story. Or gxrls saying they never learned how to mix because they didn’t have access to equipment. Or the supportive “nice guy” story who invites you over to “teach you how to mix” but quickly loses his interest once you reject his sexual advances.

It’s refreshing to see groups like Room 4 Resistance, No Shade or Discwoman not only organizing events, but also putting together free mixing workshops for womxn and non-binary people. People are also trying to change things in Romania, with groups like Corp. or Queer Night trying to tilt the gender imbalance locally, only unfortunately their efforts are lacking the infrastructure, institutional support and ideological consistency.

 Where to Now?

 We’re in 2019. DJs like The Black Madona, Josey Rebelle or Octo Octa and Eris Drew are some of the most in-demand people in the circuit. They all approach the dancefloor differently and bring unique views of what a DJ set can be. Yet straight white boys are feeling threatened by their success and are constantly looking for arguments to delegitimize their success. “Yeah, but this person is getting booked everywhere just because it’s cool to be trans now” – as if anyone would go through the intense process of forever altering your body just because queer is “in”! “Oh if I had tits I would get more gigs” – another male DJ I used to call a friend told me when I started playing more in Bucharest. I’ve heard phrases like “but why do women only book other women?” or “how can the super talented boys ever breakthrough in this environment if women are getting all the attention?” more times than I can recount.

Straight white boys need to shut the fuck up! For decades, the vast majority of people in charge of running/booking clubs were straight white men who would only book other straight white men. Yes, there we certainly do see more womxn in line ups, but just as female:pressure cares to remind us periodically, the percentage is still predominantly male. The healthiest path towards building a more diverse and inclusive music world is not having the old gatekeepers trying to educate themselves and perform acts of tokenism, but make space for marginalized people in decision-making positions, because nobody could make more informed, coherent and inspired choices than a person who is deeply involved in the community. Just see Discwoman’s Frankie miracle work over at Bossa Nova Civic in NYC. And it is very likely that with the right people running the show, incidents of abuse and harassment will diminish as well.

Womxn have been so used to be touched without consent and constantly harassed that we’ve been programmed to dismiss such indiscretions as minor inconveniences, something that “comes with the territory”. In order to see an improvement of this state of affairs we have to become more radical in our attitudes against sexism and discrimination. We absolutely need to learn to speak up whenever we encounter misogyny, racism, homo and transphobia and, most importantly, believe womxn when they come forward with a story of abuse of boundaries crossing because whenever we brush it off with things like “he was drunk”, “it was just a joke” or “there are two sides to every story”, we become complicit and contribute to this toxic culture.

The good news is that we can all contribute to changing things. And no, you don’t have to go to a march or join an organization if you want to help out. Change starts in your own immediate community by simply calling out your friends when they say something sexist, not supporting the known abusers and problematic people in the industry and just coming out to see one of the local womxn artists.

We will continue to play, to defend the DJ booth as sometimes the only safe space we might have at the club, to record our music however we can and become ten times better than all male DJs who told us we don’t know, we can’t or we “don’t have the necessary biological conformation”. But, most importantly, we’ll keep making people dance.

images, in order of appearance

queer night at apollo 111, 2017

miss i boiler room, 2016

edited screengrab from comments in the miss i boiler room facebook stream

crowd at miss i boiler room, 2016

ccl at rewire, 2019

all photos courtesy of the author

[httpgyeomie]

youtube fandom blog questions: multiples of 3, please and thank you☺️😊

Hey thank you this was really fun and got me thinking a lot!!! 😊

3) Do you watch any Youtubers you think are underrated?

ooooh i feel like maybe Hazel Hayes (Chewing Sand) is underrated she’s amazing she’s a really good channel if you like films as she makes short films but she’s so sassy and sarcastic i love her humour but she’s also hit some topics in videos such as women in film and she’s even interviewed some actors but she asks questions you actually want to know i feel like she’s really underrated.

6) What’s your favorite series from (pick Youtuber)?

I think i’m going to go with Jacksepticeye’s series of Overwatch i’m fucking obsessed with Overwatch i play the game (i actually just reached level 100!!!!) but i love seeing jack play competitive something i haven’t yet done as i’m terrified but i like seeing him play it with his friends and generally seeing the game through how someone else plays i also like finding new tricks from the series

9) Have you made any friends in a Youtuber’s fandom?

I actually have i made a friend in the jacksepticeye fandom last year i wish i could make more honestly i feel like i irritate people when i go one another rant about things dan and phil have done i mean i have friends who watch youtubers or i’ve made friends with from other fandoms like music or tv who watch the same youtubers. 

12) If (Youtuber) and (Youtuber) got in a fight, who do you think would win?

hmmm i don’t know how to answer this one with no set youtubers to pick i’m gonna skip cause i don’t know who to put against each other. 

15) What fictional Youtuber personality/character/creature do you like the most?

 I really like Jacksepticeye’s anti character it was something the fans made up after markipliers Dark came around and i love what jack did with it he took what the fandom saw or made and created it into his videos he made it a whole community thing and he just slipped anti into different horror series he did around halloween and the editing his editor Robin did was incredible if your a fan of effects you should check out some of the videos the way he did it was incredible!!!

18) What Youtuber got you interested in YouTube?

Probably Jacksgap it was one of the first channels my friend introduced me to and i remember branching off from that channel and finding more people like marcus butler, alfie deyes and zoella etc i found just generally more british youtubers after that.

 21) Do you have a favorite fan-art of a Youtuber you’ve done one for?

I’ve never done fan art but i love seeing jacksepticeye fan art he reblogs a lot on tumblr and there’s a until dawn one i remember seeing and it was gorgeous. 

24) What Youtuber intro do you like the most?

I really like the Wongfu productions intro they have just their logo on their main channel videos which i love but on their second channel ‘more wong fu’ i love that one as its Ted saying More! and then they have a nice logo for their lunch break its lame as there’s so many good intros but i do like their logos that the Wong Fu team have made up and for wong fu weekends an old series they had a little jingle they put effort into the intros for the different series they have and i love that.

[theonyxpath]

This Thursday we are saying bye to the Deluxe M20 Technocracy Reloaded Kickstarter! It’s been a great campaign, and our Kickstarter concierge, James, has been the epitome of good humor and helpfulness. Which is really not surprising since that has been how he has handled all of our KSs since he came aboard.

As of this writing, we’re over $167,000 and at 2022 backers! We’ve achieved 20+ Stretch Goals, which I go into more detail on in the Kickstarter section in the Blurbs! below, but I’m super excited about the TR Players’ Companion project that has been created with sections on:

Constructs and Symposiums (and then expanded by a later SG)

Digital Web 3.0 and the expanded Digital Web 3.0.2.

Technomancers’ Toybox 20 and the Q-Division bonus section

Unlikely Allies 1, 2, & 3

Mission Statement short scenarios

This, to me, is one of the magic bonuses of Kickstarters. Previously, we tabled the idea of a separate Digital Web 3.0 book as not fitting into our schedule – but now, thanks to this KS, we can really focus on the best of the best ideas for its section, there are equally awesome other sections, and backers get the PDF for free.

If you recall, we had to cancel the last Kickstarter, which was for our new fantasy-genre game Legendlore because of the impact of Covid-19. Which is a phrase you’re going to hear a few more times in the blog today. We didn’t want Legendlore sitting fallow for too long though, so we’ve tweaked the KS and are looking to restart it next Tuesday, June the 2nd at 2pm EDT! Cross with us once more to The Realm!

The thing is, we’ve never before cancelled a Kickstarter, and we’re not completely sure how we should restart it. Not the mechanical Kickstarter process – that we have down! – but things like how best to communicate with our backers from the first attempt, and what effect will seeing our promo stuff again have on possible new backers.

One decision we made was based on the fact that like almost all of our Kickstarters these days, the text for Legendlore was finished before we went to the Kickstarter. Since we had started providing our backers with that text in sections when I made the call to cancel, we just sent backers the rest of the full text. It seemed only fair, and something like a thank you for their support.

That means that just going through that same reveal process isn’t likely to be much fun for those folks who stepped up to support us the first time. We clearly need to be able to find other ways to make the KS interesting and fun for those folks, and if we have to make those adjustments anyway, why deliver the text in stages at all?

So we took the text, made it all into a PDF, and we’re putting it up for free on DTRPG this Wednesday! That way, if you’re interested, and maybe missed the first KS, you’ll have almost a full week to read through the text and see if it sounds interesting enough to back! (Narrator’s Voice: It is.)

Also Actual Plays are coming! Keep an eye out this week and then into the KS month for Actual Plays of Legendlore on our Twitch streams, along with some surprise DMs that are extremely excited to run the game!

Let The Streets Run Red art by Niko Pope

Meanwhile, I’m going to take this opportunity to give you another problem we’ve encountered that can be blamed on the impact of Covid-19. It seems like over a month ago that I ordered the PoD proof for Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed for Mage: The Awakening 2e. It seems that the package has been lost, and because USPS‘s system is all wonky due to restrictions and manpower issues due to the pandemic, no one was able to warn us or even find where the package is.

Grrr.

Supposedly, a solution has been arrived at, so soooon MtA2e fans!

TC: Aeon Jumpstart art by Aaron Riley

That’s more of a single-product disruption, but across our happy little industry, convention after convention have cancelled for this year because of the, say it with me, impact of Covid-19. That effects a lot of companies who rely on them as sales venues, and even more now that Gen Con itself has cancelled for 2020. Yikes! So, to the blog reader who posted that I hadn’t updated the Convention Schedule below… well, I was blocking that out because it’s just too sad. It’s no schedule at all.

For us, cons aren’t about the sales, it’s that we enjoy meeting with folks face to face. We enjoy answering questions, spreading the word about who we are and what we do, and demoing our game lines. It’s good business, and it’s fun.

CofD: Contagion Chronicle art by Luis Sanz

Fortunately, virtual cons do allow a lot of what we value in conventions to happen, as our crew who have sat in on panels and games have reported back to the team. And if you checked out some of the comments when I mused about us doing a virtual con a few weeks ago in this blog, they brought up the fact that some of our community can’t make it to cons, so a virtual meeting is actually better than a location they can’t get to.

Hmmm.

Finally, just want to mention that we are doing our next round of Developer Town Halls again next week, so once again, if you have any questions I will pass them on to our developers: the keepers of our-

Many Worlds, One Path!

Blurbs!

Kickstarter!

With only a couple of days left, the M20 Technocracy Reloaded Kickstarter has passed 2000 backer operatives, is over 400% funded, and has achieved a massive TWENTY Stretch Goals consisting of a Storytellers Screen unlock, an unlock of more original Mage PDFs, Backers’ Exclusive T-Shirt, Wallpaper, 2 Novellas, a Jumpstart with Starter Characters, and building the Technocracy Reloaded Player’s Companion PDF:

Constructs and Symposiums (and then expanded by a later SG)

Digital Web 3.0 and the expanded Digital Web 3.0.2.

Technomancers’ Toybox 20 and the Q-Division bonus section

Unlikely Allies 1, 2, & 3

Mission Statement short scenarios

Highlights of M20 Technocracy Reloaded include:

An Operative’s Handbook that provides a detailed overview of life in the Technocratic Union, describing the organization of the Union, the Conventions, and the roles that sympathizers, extraordinary citizens, and Enlightened Operatives play in the overall structure of the Technocracy.

An examination of Technocratic initiatives on a global scale.

Devices, procedures, and hypertech used by the Technocratic Union that explores the Enlightened Science, allowing operatives to apply similar effects in the field, if they have sufficient understanding of the principles that allow these gadgets to function.

A comprehensive list of citizens, cyborgs, operatives, progenitor creations, and allies to use as NPCs.

Storyteller support that explores story seeds and metaplot to shape a chronicle for their needs.

Next Kickstarter: Next week, on Tuesday, June 2nd at 2pm Eastern US time, return with us to The Realm of Legendlore!

Grab your friends and escape to another world!

You’ve found an enchanted portal — a transition point — between worlds. The portal, called a Crossing, takes you to a world you thought only existed in novels and films: a magical land where dragons roam the skies, orcs and hobgoblins terrorize weary travelers, and unicorns prance through the forest. It is a world where humans join other peoples such as elves, trolls, dwarves, changelings, and the dreaded creatures who steal the night. It is a world of fantasy — of imagination.

It is the Realm.

It is Legendlore.

Onyx Path Media!

Once More Unto The Breach with more exciting Scion Actual Play with the Terrific Trio!

As always, this Friday’s Onyx Pathcast will be on Podbean or your favorite podcast venue! https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

The Technocracy are back for another lesson on Tuesday, May 26th at 9 PM EDT on the Onyx Path Publishing Twitch Channel. twitch.tv/theonyxpath

Watch the stream. Learn. Apply what you learn. Form Consensus.

Red Moon Roleplaying continue their actual play of Technocracy Reloaded right here: https://youtu.be/Ejadz0UxAqE Tune in to this one for unusual and alarming Paradox effects!

Come tune in to our Twitch channel for a schedule including:

Vampire: The Masquerade – Chicago by Night Noir

Behind the Screen: Chronicles of Darkness

Pugmire – Paws & Claws

Changeling: The Lost – Littlebrook Reunion

Changeling: The Dreaming – The Last Faerie Tale

Mage: The Awakening – Occultists Anonymous

Scarred Lands – Purge of the Serpentholds

Dark Eras Werewolf: The Forsaken – Fractured Territories

Get watching for some fantastic insight into how to run these wonderful games

You can subscribe to our channel over on twitch.tv/theonyxpath to catch up with any episodes you missed!

Come take a look at our YouTube channel, youtube.com/user/theonyxpath, where you can find a whole load of videos of actual plays, dissections of our games, and more, including:

Onyx Path News: https://youtu.be/5V13ybdnSeA

Changeling: The Dreaming – The Last Faerie Tale: https://youtu.be/XzsGiAD28HQ

Scarred Lands: Purge of the Serpentholds: https://youtu.be/DeqXI6yHRc0

Mage: The Ascension – Technocracy Reloaded: https://youtu.be/JPjV53Pnykg

Hunter: The Vigil – Hometown Heroes: https://youtu.be/b9dH7c1e6N0

Changeling: The Lost – Littlebrook Reunion: https://youtu.be/foWnoLCl0RI

Vampire: The Masquerade – Blood City Chicago by Night: https://youtu.be/apfUcZvnKGU

Chronicles of Darkness – Seattle by Streetlight: https://youtu.be/POpwhdnZVZw

Subscribe to our channel and click the bell icon if you want to be notified whenever new news videos and uploads come online!

The 307 RPG Podcast released an episode all to do with the Archetypes in They Came from Beneath the Sea!:  https://307rpg.com/?p=282

The Botch Pit have released a wonderful new guide for Geist: The Sin-Eaters right here. Do give them a like and a subscribe: https://youtu.be/LzjngqtuQW8

Vorpal Tales commenced an actual play of They Came from Beneath the Sea! over on their Twitch channel! Find them here: https://twitch.tv/vorpaltales

Utility Muffin Labs, home of the 25 Years of Vampire: The Masquerade podcast, have released a glowing review of The Chicago Folios right here: https://utilitymuffinlabs.com/25-years-of-vampire-the-masquerade?author=51a88e2ee4b035d1810e13fe

The Story Told Podcast continue with the third episode of their Demon: The Descent series right here: https://thestorytold.libsyn.com/the-aggregate-choir-file-3 In our penultimate episode of Demon, the Unbound try to get to the root of the God-Machine’s plan in East Berlin…  

Occultists Anonymous are back with their amazing Mage: The Awakening series:

Episode 100: Reaching Beyond  We return to the Rookery cabal after 6 months have passed. Songbird has traveled deep into the Astral Realm, while new problems start to plague the Rookery, and the search for the Fifth Grimoire continues. https://youtu.be/974GF7SyCTE

Episode 101: New Mysteries Atratus investigates the oddly empty graveyards and cemeteries in Jersey City. Songbird goes to speak with her mentor, Hadramiel, about making a new Dominion and they come up with a terrible idea. Wyrd keeps an eye on most of Manhattan from her new command center. https://youtu.be/IdDC0LvOIDU

Please check these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games! We’d love to feature you!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost Second Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And now Scion Origin and Scion Hero and Trinity Continuum Core and Trinity Continuum: Aeon are available to order!

As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This week, we’re doing something really different! The text only PDF for Legendlore crosses into our world via DriveThruRPG on Wednesday!

With the Kickstarter restarting next Tuesday, download and read this PDF beforehand and you too can be transported to The Realm through Legendlore!

Also on Wednesday, we offer Part 3 of Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad, for the Scarred Lands on DTRPG!

Conventions!

Though dates are subject to change due to the current COVID-19 outbreak, here’s what’s left of our current list of upcoming conventions (and really, we’re just waiting for this last one to be cancelled even though it’s Nov/Dec). Instead, keep an eye out here for the virtual conventions we’re going to be involved with:

PAX Unplugged: https://unplugged.paxsite.com/

And now, the new project status updates!

Development Status from Eddy Webb! (Projects in bold have changed status since last week.):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep.)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Adversaries of the Righteous (Exalted 3rd Edition)

The Clades Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)

The Devoted Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)

Saints and Monsters (Scion 2nd Edition)

Wild Hunt (Scion 2nd Edition)

Dead Man’s Rust (Scarred Lands)

Trinity Continuum: Anima

Redlines

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Hundred Devil’s Night Parade (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Novas Worldwide (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Exalted Essence Edition (Exalted 3rd Edition)

M20 Rich Bastard’s Guide To Magick (Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary)

V5 The Faithful Undead (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

V5 Trails of Ash and Bone (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

V5 Forbidden Religions (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Second Draft

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Dearly Bleak – Novella (Deviant: The Renegades)

Mission Statements (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)

Under Alien Suns (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Development

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Assassins (Trinity Continuum Core)

Manuscript Approval

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Post-Approval Development

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Editing

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

TC: Aberrant Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

LARP Rules (Scion 2nd Edition)

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

The Book of Lasting Death (Mummy: The Curse 2e)

They Came From Beyond the Grave! (They Came From!)

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Post-Editing Development

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Indexing

Art Direction from Mike Chaney!

In Art Direction

Scion Titanomachy

Tales of Aquatic Terror

WoD Ghost Hunters – KS final art: One more piece coming in still.

Aberrant – Almost all AD’d, finally. Some amazing comic art. Signing off on sketches.

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Mummy 2

Deviant – Dividing up among current artists.

Legendlore – Creating text preview PDF.

Technocracy Reloaded (KS)

Cults of the Blood God – Rolling along.

Scion: Dragon – Waiting on art notes.

Masks of the Mythos – Waiting on art notes.

Scion: Demigod – Reviewing art notes.

They Came From Beyond the Grave! (KS) – Waiting for sketches.

In Layout

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad

Vigil Watch

TC Aeon Terra Firma – Over to Josh.

V5 Let the Streets Run Red – Working on it.

Pugmire Adventure

Proofing

Trinity Aeon Jumpstart – New artist taking care of finishing missing art.

TCFBTS Heroic Land Dwellers – Inputting backer errata.

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate – Gathering Backer PDF errata.

Scion Companion – Just waiting for one tweaked piece.

Contagion Chronicle – Corrections with Josh.

Cavaliers of Mars: City of the Towered Tombs

Magic Item Decks (Scarred Lands)

Yugman’s Guide Support Decks (Scarred Lands)

At Press

Night Horrors : Nameless and Accursed – PoD proof on the way. See the story about this above.

TCFBTS Screen and Booklet

They Came from Beneath the Sea!

Creature Collection 5e – Prepping PoD.

Pirates of Pugmire – Errata input.

Pirates of Pugmire Screen

Duke Rollo Book – Prepping PoD.

Buried Bones: Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire) – Prepping Advance PDF.

Yugman’s Guide to Scarred Lands PDF #3 on sales Weds on DTRPG.

Legendlore text only PDF free on DTRPG on Weds.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Today in the US is Memorial Day, the holiday set aside to remember those who gave their lives for our country. As always, as I sit to write this on a Monday – as the holiday is always on the last Monday in May – I wonder at the fact that none of my friends in the armed services paid that ultimate price. Nor any family members going back several generations. They did their service, and they came home. Today is the day for those who did not.

[jurassicparkpodcast]

Our Jurassic Journey - A Documentary on Jurassic Explorer | INTERVIEW with Michael Pearce!

Fans of Jurassic World and its video game incarnations may remember our look at Jurassic Explorer, a fantastic three-dimensional game which lets fans get explore the world of a functioning Jurassic World park from a first-person perspective. Before you read today’s piece, we recommend you check out our other feature on the game, where we chatted to the Game’s lead developer, Michael Pearce.

Today we are breaking down an upcoming project tied into Jurassic Explorer, known as ‘Our Jurassic Journey’ – a behind the scenes documentary which will explore the creation of Jurassic Explorer. Ahead of the documentary’s debut in December, we wanted to catch up with Michael again to discuss more about what goes into creating a project of truly ‘Jurassic’ proportions. Check out the interview below:

Hi Michael – thanks for sitting down with us again! It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were chatting about Jurassic Explorer. I heard you and your team have been making a Documentary. So, what is 'Our Jurassic Journey'?

It's good to be back here, Tom! Last time we talked was just before we released Season 2 of our fan game, "Jurassic Explorer", which was more than a year ago now. Since that time our team has been hard at work making a Documentary which will explore the three-year journey our development team took to make Jurassic Explorer. We call this Documentary “Our Jurassic Journey: A Documentary on Jurassic Explorer".

What inspired you to make a documentary about the journey behind Jurassic Explorer?

There were a lot of little things, but I’d say there's two main reasons. Since we released Season 1, the project really blew up and got noticed by many members of the community. Having all those ideas and having the opportunity to expand on the game with Season 2 was a dream come true. By that time, we had learned so much about game development, art, music and our own abilities, and we wanted to share that process with everyone. I think people don't understand what really goes into fan projects behind-the-scenes, and how valuable those skills can be as game developers.

Our Documentary isn’t exclusively about Jurassic Explorer however, and this is the other reason I wanted to make a documentary. My brother and I have been making games since we were young (5 & 7 years old), and as we've grown up it's been a consistent thing we've both pursued. With both of us now entering the industry, I wanted to highlight our journey into employment within our dream sector too, and how we've progressed and gotten to where we are by working together.

How long can we expect the Documentary to be? Is it a short film? Something more?

Our Jurassic Journey will be roughly an hour and twenty minutes long. It’s feature-film length, purely because we had a lot to say and many things to cover.

This Documentary explores much more than just our fan project. It looks at game development all around the world, and follows us on that journey together. We always aimed to make it feel enjoyable to both those who have and haven't heard about Jurassic explorer before.

What was the biggest thing the process of working on Jurassic Explorer taught you?

So, as a game developer, it’s a unique industry. It's something that can be taught in schools, but it’s not as straight forward as getting taught other jobs. I think something a ton of upcoming developers are missing these days are the practical skills you learn when not only being in a development team, but by making a game together whilst directing and guiding the team yourself. Those three major skills become incredibly important when you make a game yourself.

There's a lot of programmers, artists and designers out there who have the theory down but can't find a team to work with, or can't quite complete a full game. It happens all the time, as it’s not easy to find a team or find the opportunity to complete a game.

So, I’d say my biggest takeaway from working on Jurassic Explorer is working on a game, completing it, and directing all of it as a lead dev. Learning all the intricacies of that process along the way was also beneficial. Those practical skills are incredibly valuable and I wouldn't have been able to gain them without the amazing team we've formed together.

Where do you hope to go in the future, now Jurassic Explorer is under your belt?

We dive into what’s next for me and the team in the Documentary, so I don't want to give too much away. I will say that there's a ton of opportunities out there that we're working towards.

We have many ideas and lots of experience that I think will hopefully continue to impress people, and put smiles on people’s faces. With JE we really identified both our skills and our own unique style as a team. I hope that all our future games can capture the same mood and feelings that JE prompted in the audiences who experienced the project

More than anything, I hope people will continue to follow us through our next journey.

Let’s talk about the team – how did you assemble a group of people who wanted to work on this project?

It began in 2015 when I made a (looking back at it, terrible!) 3D Model of the Innovation Centre from JW. It was never supposed to be anything more than that, and I simply did it as a fun learning experience. But, as I shared it online, it gained traction, and people wanted more. So, I made more.

I expanded from the Innovation Centre, eventually forming the whole park, and over time I found our first team member, Andreas Strom.

For about a year we worked on that early project (Back then, simply called "Jurassic World 3D Project") and released three versions to the public which got coverage across YouTube and social media.

After that, we restarted the project from the ground up to build it in new and better software, and alongside three other new team members (Bernard, Zack and River), we began work on Jurassic Explorer.

From day one we knew it was a project we could learn from, and we knew it was an opportunity to grow and develop our talents as a team.

The rest is history!

What did everyone who got involved contribute to the project?

We have a team of 6 members.  The core team consisting of Bernard, River and I.

I am the lead developer and 3D Environment Artist. My job is to not only lead the project and decide what is happening and how, but to also make all the art for the games. I also have been involved in directing and editing the accompanying films, too!

Bernard is our Music Composer, and is incredibly talented. All our melodies, musical pieces and anything you hear in both the games and the film will have been composed by him. I've worked very closely with Bernard on each piece produced, and have even been lucky enough to write out some melodies for the game too.

River is our General Programmer and will play a very important role in the next journey we undertake.

Andreas is our Character Artist which means he makes all the Dinosaurs and other organic visuals in our games.

Zack handled all the AI Programming in Jurassic Explorer and brought the dinosaurs who appeared in the game to life.

Lastly, we also had some help from my brother Brandon with programming.  You may know Brandon from the famous Minecraft Mod - 'The Aether'.

One member of the team found a very cool job after JE – can you tell us a little more about that?

I can't mention anything specific until after the Documentary is released. But, I will say it really puts into perspective how valuable projects like this can be. It's not just making something that gets you to where you want to go, but it’s keeping at it and persisting throughout the trials and tribulations that projects can face. You must make it your everything. You can’t just give up.

This whole journey for all of us has been amazing and the opportunities we're finding because of what we've learned along the way are both special, and extremely exciting!

I hope you're excited to find out more when the documentary releases.

Lastly, what is next for the Dimensional Digital Team?

 A lot! We're not going anywhere, and this is just the start of another journey we're taking.

Creating this Documentary has been incredible for us, and has taught us so much. I've never done something like this before, so making a feature length film which allowed us to express ourselves this way has been amazing.

I hope that you all continue to follow our journey in the future.

Where can everyone follow up if they want to learn more?

Our Jurassic Journey : A Documentary On Jurassic Explorer will release in December this year, An official date will be coming very soon. Look forward to the first trailer on the film coming November 28th too! We currently have a info page on our Fluminus website (Which Fluminus btw ties directly into the film so be sure to watch to find out!) and will be posted to all of our social media and YouTube channels.

For the time being, and for discussion after, people are free to join our Fluminus Discord server to talk everything Our Jurassic Journey and more.

Big thanks to Michael for taking the time to talk about ‘Our Jurassic Journey: A Documentary on Jurassic Explorer’.

You can watch an EXCLUSIVE sneak peek of the documentary here:

The Documentary will release worldwide in December, and will be available on the Fluminus Social Media and YouTube channels, which can be found by visiting the Fluminus Website.

Fluminus welcome people to also join their Discord to discuss the project in the build-up to its release: https://discord.gg/7F3mKrz

Written by: Tom Fishenden

[solutionarygrowth-blog]

How brands are injecting creativity into digital

It can be tempting to see digital as a highly measurable, metric-driven environment that does not require the flair and emotion of above-the-line advertising.

However, while counting clicks, impressions and views can help marketers gauge effectiveness, injecting creativity into digital can take an advert from noise on a web page to thumb-stopping content in three seconds flat.

Pizza Hut sales and marketing director Beverley D’Cruz argues that just because digital is highly measurable doesn’t mean it should be boring or mundane. It is crucial for the pizza delivery giant to stand out in digital given 80% of its business comes from consumers interacting with the brand online. For Pizza Hut, telling a strong story makes a difference, but the story must add value to people’s lives.

“As much as digital is a measurable space, it is a space where consumers are coming to be engaged and entertained in lives that are so busy and so stressed,” D’Cruz points out.

“I use my phone as a mechanism for stress relief from everything else happening in the world. So, yes it’s a mechanism to drive a sale, but it’s also a mechanism to engage the customer.”

A poor story can’t be helped in any channel, no matter the spend that’s put behind it.

Zoe Harris, GoCompare

There is, for example, creativity in the way marketers use a channel like programmatic to deliver a targeted experience for consumers. Creativity is not just about aesthetics, but about reaching the right people at the right time, with the right message, agrees Zoe Harris, CMO of GoCompare parent company, GoCo Group.

While there are certain channel-specific things to take into account and technical acumen needed in digital, Harris believes all these considerations should come second to a great creative idea.

“A poor story can’t be helped in any channel, no matter the spend that’s put behind it,” she states. “Working in tandem with an effective above-the-line campaign is where digital can work at its best, providing a consistent and identifiable message wherever people come into contact with it.”

Whatever the creative might be, D’Cruz urges marketers to remember that digital is not a “world of robots” and behind every programmatic ad is a real customer waiting to be engaged. This thinking was applied to the launch of Pizza Hut’s digital-only campaign ‘Now that’s delivering’ at the beginning of the year, aimed at highlighting the brand’s distinctive tone of voice.

The tongue-in-cheek ad, which takes a swipe at rival Domino’s, was designed to drive awareness about Pizza Hut’s delivery service, loyalty scheme and speed guarantee.

The combination of clarity, simplicity and humour struck a cord with consumers. D’Cruz says she was “amazed” by the response, especially the fact 3.9 million people watched the 90-second YouTube video to the end.

“If you don’t have an idea, it’s not going to sell,” D’Cruz states. “The creative idea was that we’re taking our gloves off to our competitors, having a bit of fun, being a bit irreverent and tongue-in-cheek, and people responded.”

READ MORE: Pizza Hut looks to own the pizza delivery space and ‘have some fun’ as it takes swipe at rival

Not only is there plenty of room for creativity in digital marketing, it is essential if you want to stand out in an increasingly crowded market, adds Matt Stockbridge, growth analytics manager at Mondelēz International.

“Destinations for digital marketing are growing by the day, and the sophistication of what you can buy on a single platform and how you buy it is also increasing,” he notes. “Everyone has these choices to get their message across and with the cost of entry so low, it’s a much more even playing field.”

Stockbridge defines creativity in digital as something that gets people talking. He singles out Oreo’s biscuit-themed recreation of the Game of Thrones title sequence designed to celebrate the start of the final TV series. On YouTube alone, the #GameOfCookies video has been viewed more than 900,000 times since it went live on 2 April.

Stockbridge is convinced digital is a brand building and storytelling channel, especially because so many brands now start life online. However, if your brand is not a digital native, it could be a good idea to build a network of advocates.

“You need to invest time, effort and money in building relationships with enough people so that eventually you have hundreds, or maybe thousands, of advocates who will keep your story going and also defend your brand on your behalf,” he advises.

Thumb-stopping content

On mobile it takes something special to stop consumers scrolling past your ad. That’s why Carly O’Brien, Shop Direct’s customer management and performance marketing director, believes that despite having the same fundamentals as all creative, there are two big differences when it comes to digital.

“Digital marketing needs to capture a customer’s attention in a smaller window of time and a smaller format. A TV ad lasts 30 seconds. On social we’ve got just seconds to inspire the customer. That’s a huge test, but we rise to it by constantly challenging our creative thinking,” O’Brien explains.

Our primary objective is landing the conversion to sale, so the creativity lies largely in the thinking to find the audiences, dissecting their behaviour and understanding the right message.

Iain Neal, Ikea

“Digital has also removed the shackles of traditional media through things like gamification, tilt motion, filters and AR. Innovation helps us be more creative.”

This creativity came to the fore at Christmas when Shop Direct’s marketing, buying and creative teams collaborated on a Facebook Messenger chatbot featuring Elsie, the main character from the Very.co.uk festive campaign.

The chatbot featured a combination of 255 product choices overlaid with more than 50 different conversational user interfaces, enabling the customer to discover a range of toys or ask Elsie to suggest a present. Shoppers could then click through from the platform to complete their purchase.

While TV was once the “hero of storytelling”, O’Brien believes digital makes the experience more immersive through gamification, interaction and targeted content designed to fit the customer’s channel of choice.

Elsie, the character featured in the Very Facebook Messenger chatbot.

At furniture giant Ikea, digital marketing plays a role across the entire spectrum, from brand building through to shorter-term, commercially-driven activity. Iain Neal, one-to-one marketing leader at Ikea UK and Ireland, believes this application of creativity across the whole spectrum of marketing enables Ikea to deliver effective results as a wider business.

“At the performance end, our primary objective is landing the conversion to sale, so the creativity lies largely in the thinking to find the audiences, dissecting their behaviour and understanding exactly the right message and the time and place to serve it,” he explains.

“For brand activity in digital, we are looking to ensure that every interaction capitalises on its full value, deepening the relationship we have with customers, so that ultimately we can legitimately sell them into other product areas than they’re currently buying into or new collections and collaborations when they launch.”

Ikea’s latest campaign, designed by Proximity London, used creativity to break down the barriers to sustainable living. Based on the Swedish philosophy of ‘lagom’, meaning using not too much or too little, the content series on social and email offered consumers tips on how to give existing Ikea products a new lease of life.

Consumers were targeted based on their levels of engagement with Ikea’s sustainability initiatives, previous communications and purchase of products with sustainability elements. The messages were then tailored so they were relevant for the consumer, with a view to growing their long-term value to the business.

Effectiveness matters

When it comes to testing the effectiveness of creativity in digital it is crucial to analyse the positive and negative drivers, Stockbridge advises. However, while benchmarks, trends and baselines can help make better decisions, he is clear there is no algorithm or formula for creativity.

O’Brien suggests it is a good idea to have an ‘always-on’ testing framework, which accounts for creative changes, such as replacing a creative overlay or website skeleton known as the wireframe.

“Even in paid search where there is arguably less scope for creative excellence than other channels, it is important to constantly test copy variants and extensions,” she explains. “The incremental benefits of creative testing in performance marketing add up over time.”

Ikea’s Lagom campaign is encouraging consumers to overcome the barriers to sustainability.

While programmatic metrics help Shop Direct measure cost-effectiveness, optimise performance and form short-term campaign objectives, the company believes it is important to measure all activity to better understand the role programmatic plays in brand building.

“In this sense, programmatic metrics give context rather than a measure of success or failure, and insight from other campaign areas should help to influence the creative and strategic direction for programmatic,” O’Brien adds.

While it depends on the channel and campaign objectives, GoCompare’s Zoe Harris believes effectiveness ultimately comes down to whether the creative drives traffic to the site and this traffic converts, with minimal cannibalisation of other channels, as well as providing a good return on ad spend.

“There are instances where we are happy with engagement and positive sentiment but this activity, too, is sales-focused, it just happens further up the funnel,” Harris adds.

For Pizza Hut’s Beverley D’Cruz everything comes down to the fact that if you can’t measure something, it’s not successful. The fact 3.9 million people watched the campaign film signifies engagement, which for Pizza Hut is a key measure of success. Effectiveness then must be linked back to sales, driving impressions and creating revenue, as well as helping the brand maintain its distinctive tone of voice.

D’Cruz uses attribution studies to understand how different channels perform and how many sales a piece of work has driven, compared to other pieces of creative run throughout the year. She then works with her agency to “codify” the campaign and decide how it can be extended over the next 12 to 18 months.

Success, for Pizza Hut at least, is being able to take the creative idea from digital and extend it to everything on the brand from paid search to content marketing. To make that happen, the creative idea must be strong enough to go the distance.

The post How brands are injecting creativity into digital appeared first on Marketing Week.

This content was originally published here.

[nrip]

The World's Best Public Health Social Media Campaigns

Social media has gone from strength to strength in terms of user numbers. Current statistics show that 2271 million people use Facebook, 326 million Twitter, 1000 million Instagram and 287 million use Snapchat. As a result, public health campaigns increasingly compete for people’s attention and seek to influence their behaviour through these social media channels. But this requires continually adapting to trends.

Indeed, Edison Research and Triton Digital’s report, The Infinite Dial 2018, an annual research series on how we use social media, podcasts, and online audio services, argued that the year 2018 might have been “the year that social media changed forever.” Detailing unexpected trends in social media usage, it adds: “In a complex and conflicted world, the relative escapism offered by thumbing through photos on Instagram, or creating the ultimate wish list on Pinterest, may be a welcome respite from the snark of Twitter or the sales pitches on LinkedIn.”

While not limited to, recent trends that have impacted public health social media campaigns include:

Short video and live streaming, with all the main channels competing for your eyeballs and scrolling time by pushing video and live content, prioritising it over many other types of posts.  

Facebook advertising has grabbed the headlines with its Orwellian micro-targeting ability!  

Instagram and Snapchat have certainly become the social media of choice for young people.

The dominance of mobile with people seemingly addicted to scrolling and where photos and video are the ‘opioid of choice’.

Social messaging has also become one of the stars of the show, leading some people to say social messaging has taken over social media

Taking in the shifts in the ever-changing social media landscape, here are some of the best public health campaigns across the globe.

BEST PUBLIC HEALTH SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS

Organ Donation Wales

Organ Donation Wales now have an excellent track record in encouraging people to talk more about the importance of organ donation.  They also made the brave decision to hijack people’s coffee orders in a very clever way of highlighting the problem caused by families overriding the wishes of their loved ones.

Matt Damon Surprises People with ‘The Wait for Water’

In this example, Matt Damon does a great job bringing people’s attention to the fact that women in the developing world have to wait up to six hours collecting water each day. Matt Damon and his foundation Water.org joined Stella Artois for “The Wait for Water,” showing what happens when unsuspecting restaurant customers are told water won’t be available for up to six hours.

#Loveyourcervix

  Public Health Wales

  ✔@PublicHealthW

    Today we launch the #loveyourcervix campaign. Women that attend for cervical screening when they are first invited aged 25 are more likely to attend in the future, significantly reducing their risk of developing cervical cancer. #loveyourcervix

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12:30 PM - Mar 12, 2019

  245 people are talking about this

  Twitter Ads info and privacy

  Another one from Public Health Wales who ran a  #loveyourcervix campaign. They wanted to counter the embarrassment young women may have over the appearance of their vulva which is one of the main reasons young women give for not having cervical screening. The #loveyourcervix campaign aimed to promote body positivity and remind women “that smear takers have seen hundreds of vulvas!”  Women that attend for cervical screening when they are first invited aged 25 are more likely to attend in the future, significantly reducing their risk of developing cervical cancer.

Man Therapy

This campaign from Colorado, in the USA, is aimed at men aged 24-54 who account for the most suicides. To encourage men to seek mental health help, the Colorado Office of Suicide Prevention and the Carson J Spencer Foundation wanted to counter the myth that strong men don’t need to reach out for help.  The campaign features a fictional character named Rich Mahogany, who provides “manly mental health tips” in humorous videos.

Sehat Ka Batua (The Health Purse)

Did you know that to protect their money women in rural India put their purse or “Batua” inside their blouses?  Well, in this great example from India, Mahindra Rise partnered with Cancer Patients Aid Association to use this habit as a reminder to protect them from breast cancer.  The last time we checked their Youtube video had been watched almost 750,000 times. This campaign was also shortlisted at Cannes Lion for Change 2018

#FCKHIV

MTV | #FCKHIV from Creative Awards on Vimeo.

On #WorldAidsDay MTV ran this campaign to encourage young people to get tested for HIV – they wanted to make this topic relevant again. Their clever campaign encouraged people to change the finger they usually get tested on and share it. They had 1.2 million impressions in 5 hours and became the number one trending topic in nine minutes! Even better Tested was the most used word on the day.

#HereForYou – Instagram

Find Your Support Community on Instagram from Instagram on Vimeo.

Mental health has become a popular topic for social media campaigns, as more and more people want to get involved  in tackling the stigma associated with talking about mental health. In this popular example a one-minute campaign video featured three Instagram users talking about their past struggles with eating disorders, depression and suicidal thoughts. The campaign used its flagship hashtag #HereForYou for the campaign – one that was already commonly used by Instagram users.

UOKM8

LADbible Group – UOKM8? Case Study from LADbible Group on Vimeo.

Sticking with mental health, this three month campaign from TheLADBible Group called UOKM8 was aimed at raising awareness of mental health issues among men. It was inspired by the fact that suicide is the biggest killer of British men under 45.  By partnering up with other a range of charities the campaign reached over 38 million young people and drove 823k engagements.

NICE turns to Snapchat

In 2017 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence allegedly became the first major public health body to adopt Snapchat, in a bid to connect with young people.  NICE’s communications team shared several ‘snap facts’ throughout the day – using pictures and emojis – to explain how easily infections are spread and how quickly drug resistance develops.  Others have followed, like Public Health England’s campaign which used Snapchat Filters and Promoted Stories to encourage young people to use condoms and Leeds NHS mental health campaign which also used Snapchat filters.  We expect to see more and more examples of health campaigns using Snapchat to reach its younger audience.

World Water Day

According to the United Nations, billions of people are still living without safe water – their households, schools, workplaces, farms and factories struggling to survive and thrive.  In this example, World Water Day 2019 used a whole range of social media channels to encourage people to promote the fact that access to safe water is a human right. It underpins public health and is critical to sustainable development and a stable and prosperous world. The campaign organisers provided a range of social media resourcesto help people get involved  and challenge the status quo in global society, where so many people are living without safe water.  This included sharable materials like videos, animations and collection of cards and guides.

LESSONS FROM CORPORATE AND SOCIAL CHANGE SECTORS

In 2015, four authors from the Sydney School of Public Health and Cancer Council NSW published a detailed study on the lessons the public health sector could draw from nine public health social media campaigns by the corporate and the social change sector.

As the authors note, while there is a great deal of enthusiasm and interest in using social media for public health communications, “few research studies have examined its success in promoting and adopting protective health behaviours”. Their study aimed to address this gap by taking a close look at the social media campaigns of three corporates – IKEA, Cadbury, and Smirnoff – and six social change organisations – Burnett Institute, World Lung Foundation, the New Zealand health Sponsorship Council, Smokefree South West UK, the Queensland Association of Health Communities, and the New York Alliance for Donation.

While not all of the health-related campaigns remain online, outlined below are some of the  campaigns that incorporated findings into the planning and delivery of effective public health social media campaigns.

Burnett Institute FaceSpace

The Burnett Institute’s sexual health campaign, FaceSpace, features on the project’s YouTube channel, Being Brendo. It is part of a series of short films about a variety of health issues that confront gay men. (Please note, there is a language warning on this. It may not be suitable for office viewing.)

The Burnett Institute established the FaceSpace project to examine whether social networking sites could be used successfully to deliver health promotion messages:

During 2009 and 2010, we implemented a novel health promotion intervention using social networking sites – “The FaceSpace Project”. This pilot intervention trialled the delivery of sexual health promotion via social networking sites to two key at-risk groups: young people aged 16-29 years, and men who have sex with men (MSM).

The project concept was to use fictional characters to interact and post content (primarily videos) on various social networking sites, with sexual health promotion messages embedded within some of these postings. The young people’s arm was developed and implemented first, with learning’s from this arm applied to the development of the MSM arm.

FaceSpace is a great example of using humor, narrative and character as part of a successful social media for public health campaign.

World Lung Foundation PackHead

The World Lung Foundation released an application on Facebook that allowed users to add rotten teeth, throat tumors, bleeding brains and other smoking-related illnesses to their profile pictures or pictures of friends. Users placed the altered images on a generic pack of cigarettes and shared them. The application, named PackHead, was intended to raise awareness and support for graphic package warnings, which are more effective at communicating the harms of smoking than standard text.

Smoke-Free Alexandria

The Egyptian Ministry of Health, in coordination with World Lung Foundation, launched a two-stage “Smoke-Free Alexandria” media campaign, stretching a small campaign budget by using innovative tactics to attract additional media interest and attention.

In order to avoid expensive Ramadan-priced mainstream media, they launched perhaps Egypt’s first Facebook ad campaign for public health. The campaign, starting at the beginning of smoke-free legislation enforcement and messaged to publicise the high level of public support for the law, saw wide coverage in newspapers and online media.

The advertisements achieved an astonishing 11.5 million impressions and more than 5,000 “friends” in under ten days—all for a cost of only USD$3,500.

Chew On This

The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare’s (MOHFW) Tobacco Control Programme launched a nationwide television, radio and YouTube campaign called “Surgeon.” The campaign featured cancer patients at Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital’s neck and throat cancer ward and highlighted the devastating consequences of smokeless tobacco to warn against its use. The campaign was produced in association with World Lung Foundation (WLF) and the Bloomberg Initiative to reduce Tobacco use.

The campaign video shows cancer surgeon Dr. Prashant Pawar as he conducts his rounds in one of the busiest head, neck and throat cancer wards in the world. The viewer sees the horrifying effects of mouth cancers caused by chewing tobacco as the surgeon consults with his patients – some as young as 18-years-old.

New Zealand Health Sponsorship Council Online Anti-Smoking Games

The New Zealand Health Sponsorship Council created a series of online games targeted at younger children to discourage the uptake of smoking. The games were distributed for free via a number of online gaming sites. These included:

KissOff

Butthead Bash

Along similar lines is Interactive Biopsy. Another great interactive feature, this from OxyGen in Australia, that lets you play doctor with a tobacco victim. Use a scalpel, syringe or tweezers to take body samples and see why this tobacco user may have died. This is definitely for older kids and inappropriate for elementary school-aged children.

oxygen.org.au/games/InteractiveBiopsy

These types of games fall into a category of educational games called “serious games”.

Smokefree South West UK Be Smoke-Free

Smokefree South West was commissioned by eleven public health teams based in local authorities across the south-west of England. The project aimed to deliver an evidence-based programme to create a smoke-free future for children by making tobacco use less desirable and accessible as well as accelerating a reduction in the smoking rate across the region.

Smokefree South West runs a wide range of campaigns to encourage individuals to quit smoking but also influence public policy by encouraging local authorities to adopt smoke-free homes, hospitals, and public area policies.

Smokefree South West makes great use of all social media channels including Facebook and Twitter.

[theconservativebrief]

After more than eight years of shenanigans involving candy people, alternate universes, vampires, nearly 3,000 wiki pages’ worth of lore, some highly unusual exclamations (“Mathematical!”), and bacon pancakes, Cartoon Network’s beloved Adventure Time is coming to a close.

Since its debut in 2010, the series has evolved into one of the most popular and influential programs in the channel’s history. Despite being first and foremost a kids’ show, it built a sizable fan base among older audiences and gained mounting psychological and even philosophical weight over its 10-season run. The September 3 series finale marks the end of an era in imagining new storytelling possibilities, not just for cartoons but for TV in general.

Adventure Time spans nearly 300 11-minute episodes involving hundreds of distinct characters — so it’s no easy feat to describe. But in brief, it takes place 1,000 years after a nuclear apocalypse known as the “Mushroom War” warps the Earth into a fantasy landscape; its main setting, the Land of Ooo, is populated by offbeat creatures and people made of candy, fire, or “lumpy space,” among other things.

A young boy named Finn (Jeremy Shada) is apparently the last human being on the planet, and he and his foster brother/best friend — a shape-shifting dog named Jake (John DiMaggio) — have taken it upon themselves to be as helpful around Ooo as possible. They lend their treasure-hunting, monster-fighting, errand-running prowess to their many friends and neighbors, and along the way, the complex backstory of Adventure Time’s characters and their world is unspooled.

That supremely odd summary belies the fact that Adventure Time has sneakily persisted as one of the most critically acclaimed shows of the 2010s. When considering the recent “Golden Age” of TV, few would rank it alongside the likes of Breaking Bad, Mad Men, or Game of Thrones. And yet it has received high praise from sources as wide-ranging as the A.V. Club, the New Yorker, NPR, and this very site.

In addition to being aimed at kids, Adventure Time lies at the intersection of multiple artistic categories that often struggle to attract serious critical consideration — namely, animation, fantasy, and short-form episodic TV (which for a long time was mainly the playground of experimental Adult Swim shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force). Still, it has won over many critics. And though its erratic airing schedule has led to a decline in viewership and prestige in its later years, it has maintained a consistent standard of quality nonetheless.

With its series finale now on the horizon, let’s take a look back at the brilliance of Adventure Time, both as a singular achievement and as a show that has left a lasting impact on the TV landscape.

Adventure Time began as a short film made for Nicktoons. After the short leaked online and subsequently went viral, creator Pendleton Ward was able to successfully pitch it to Cartoon Network as a series. Produced in 2006, it exemplifies the “random” style of internet humor of that time, pioneered by the likes of Homestar Runner, eBaum’s World, and Newgrounds.

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In just under seven minutes, a boy and his dog fight an ice-powered, princess-abducting king, with a brief dream excursion to Mars for a pep talk from Abraham Lincoln, before ultimately running off to confront some ninjas who have stolen an old man’s diamonds (ninjas were to internet comedy in the mid-2000s what bacon would be to it in the early 2010s). Millions of people loved it when it hit (the then-young) YouTube, and the short was eventually nominated for an Annie Award.

Once Adventure Time the show made its Cartoon Network debut, it found instant success and regularly drew millions of viewers per episode for many years. Examining the phenomenon, critics have often cited the show’s broad appeal for both kids and adults as a big reason for its popularity.

Cartoons have long embraced an anything-goes sensibility, but Adventure Time took the approach to a new level. Every single episode would pack its brief running time with strange new characters, places, and ideas: A vampire who drinks the color red. A pack of sentient balloons eager to die. An imaginative robot that “switches places” with its reflection. And to fit within the 11-minute runtime of each episode, it all came at the audience at a breathless pace.

Animated shorts are as old as television itself, but Adventure Time spurred a revival of the format, especially on Cartoon Network. The show also led the way in turning “random” humor and world-building from a niche interest into what is now practically an industry standard, not just for animated series aimed at kids but for adult-oriented ones as well. Shows like BoJack Horseman and Rick and Morty demonstrate a common willingness to indulge the strange, an instinct that Adventure Time arguably introduced to the mainstream.

It didn’t stop there. Even as Adventure Time told bizarre tales of trickster gods from Mars and penguins that turned out to be world-threatening alien abominations, it worked hard to incorporate them into its complicated backstory and world, maintaining dense continuity through multiple long-running story arcs. In the grand tradition of prestige TV, it featured overarching plots about Finn’s search for his birth parents, or the recurring threat of the fearsome undead sorcerer the Lich. And yet it also made time for many standalone episodes, sometimes ultimately folding them into the larger picture, with major characters like Marceline the Vampire Queen being introduced in apparent one-off installments.

Adventure Time’s penchant for experimentation was both admirable and skillfully executed. The show didn’t hesitate to hand over multiple episodes to guest directors simply to riff on a different animation style. It occasionally adopted an idiosyncratic airing schedule, where several new episodes would drop over the course of a single week and then months would go by with nothing new. While the inconsistency sometimes hurt Adventure Time’s ratings, the show’s creative team used the “episode bomb” approach to produce several miniseries that featured some of its most ambitious ideas and set pieces.

Despite the show’s overall comedic tone, it handled its biggest ideas with gravitas and sincere emotion. And for all the manic energy it could indulge, Adventure Time never hesitated to slow down for a scene or two, or even a whole episode. American animation sometimes has trouble simply putting breathing space into shows and movies — superfluous gestures, brief pauses, and other moments that aren’t necessarily propelling the plot forward. Hayao Miyazaki once explained this to Roger Ebert as ma, the soundless beats between claps of the hand. Adventure Time had lots of ma.

Look at this scene from the “Stakes” miniseries, in the episode “Everything Stays.” In less than a minute, the episode creates an extraordinary evocation of intimacy between a parent and child. The animators inject dozens of little gestures to establish this feeling — note the brief shot in which young Marceline strokes her mother’s arm. And then the scene is over, and it’s on to the next beat.

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This kind of formal economy, doing a lot in precious little time, is rare in television. Today, many prestige shows are running longer with each installment yet still struggle to carve out time for characters to simply be. They could learn something from Adventure Time, a show that used its 11-minute episodes to explore myriad genre ideas and flights of fancy, and to demonstrate the endless potential of simply being artistically open and flexible.

Every single character on Adventure Time, from the regulars to the one-episode guests, had a distinct voice. And I don’t mean in terms of acting (though the show’s voice acting was excellent), but in how each person spoke. The writers gave everyone a unique slang, or attitude, or cadence to work with.

Finn and Jake had their own adolescence-inflected goofy rapport and strange swears (“Aw, dingle!” “Algebraic!”). Marceline was a laid-back slacker punk rocker. Princess Bubblegum was officious and scientifically minded. Finn and Jake’s parents, who only appeared in a few episodes, had ’30s-style trans-Atlantic accents (“Make like there’s egg in your shoe and beat it!”). One episode set in an alternate universe introduced an entirely different future lingo. No character was too minor to be considered as a distinct individual.

Adventure Time frequently devoted entire episodes to fleshing out secondary characters, sometimes shining a spotlight on someone who had only existed in the background for the entire show up to that point. It drew up complex inner lives for the likes of characters with names like “Root Beer Guy” — a sentient, walking mug of soda — and “Cinnamon Bun.”

And what it could do for its main characters was even more impressive. Some of them were hundreds of years old, with a few of them predating the Mushroom War, and as we got to know them better, we came to understand a long history of regrets, which stemmed first from the act of survival and then from trying to build a new society out of the ruins. Their arcs were contrasted with the subtle but definable trajectories of Finn and Jake, who slowly matured over the course of the show from goofballs to responsible figures.

Many episodes of Adventure Time took detours to toss out different philosophical challenges, aiming them at both the characters and the audience. In one, Finn got trapped in another world and lived an entire lifetime there before returning to his own as a child again. In another, Finn and Jake confronted a population of people willingly submitting to a Matrix-like virtual reality existence. In a sequence emblematic of the series’ simultaneous whimsical tone and intellectual seriousness, one character mused: “What’s real? Your eyes think the sky is blue, but that’s just sun rays farting apart in the barf of our atmosphere. The sky is black.”

Adventure Time dared to be anything and everything, often at the same time. It was a silly, plotless kids’ show. It was an epic fantasy adventure. It was a long-term coming-of-age story. It was an experimental exercise. It was a stoner’s dream. It was a relationship drama. It was a heartbreaker.

Episodic television offers a canvas unique among the arts: time. The best shows make use of this canvas to tell their stories as creatively and ambitiously as they can; Adventure Time used it to become one of the best television series of its day.

Adventure Time’s four-part finale, “Come Along With Me,” airs Monday, September 3, on Cartoon Network.

Original Source -> An ode to Adventure Time, one of TV’s most ambitious — and, yes, most adventurous — shows

via The Conservative Brief

[infotainmentplus-blog]

These are the best smartphone commercials of all time Many people who read articles on Android Authority or watch our YouTube channel are looking to purchase a new smartphone. They might be concerned with features like a fast processor, a good camera, or long battery life and want to know exactly if the price is justified. But many people who buy smartphones make their decision – or at least get interested enough in a phone to go to a store – simply because of the marketing that help promote those devices. Even though television commercials are becoming less important for advertisers in this era of social media and influencers, the truth is that they are still a major part of smartphone promotion. We have seen some wild, wacky and even poignant TV ads over the years to market phones. We dug around the internet to find what we think are the best smartphone commercials of all time. As you will see, there are some well-known ads, along with some others that you may have forgotten about, or not seen at all. Palm Pre “Flow” Way back in 2009, the Palm Pre made its debut with a very striking ad campaign. This commercial, and others for the same phone, featured actress Tamara Hope, using the Palm Pre to simplify her life. The main ad in the campaign, Flow, was directed by music and movie director Tarsem Singh and it showcased his trademarks: highly colorful settings that, well, didn’t really make a lot of sense on the surface. The ad is striking and cinematic, and doesn’t have a whole lot to do with the Palm Pre, but that doesn’t make it less entertaining to watch. The Palm Pre wasn’t a huge sales hit, but it at least it served as the inspiration for a cool commercial. Motorola Droid “Human” Also launched in 2009, Motorola, Verizon and Google teamed up to promote the first of the Droid series with this memorable smartphone commercial. You probably remember this one, because it looks a bit like the phone was made in the same factory as the T-800 Terminator model. The ad’s theme, funnily enough, is a robot using the phone to look up all the different results a search for “Human” produces, whether in Google Search, Google Maps, Music and more. It’s an effective ad, and one that, back in 2009, made the Motorola Droid look like something from the future. After all, searching on something on your phone back then was a bit of a chore, but the commercial for the Droid made it look like you were searching for something on your PC. Apple iPhone 4S “Siri” The iPhone 4S launched in 2011 and introduced the world to “Siri”, its voice assistant. While the actual implementation of Siri back then left something to be desired in the real world, Apple likely got lots of folks to buy the phone thanks in part to the promise of Siri. Nowhere is that promise shown better than in this iPhone 4S ad, featuring actress Zooey Deschanel. The ad shows Deschanel asking Siri very simple things, and getting instant and accurate responses. The commercial is quirky, much like the actress herself, but it also revealed how much Apple wanted to promote the use of Siri on the iPhone 4S. Did it work that way in real life? Not really for most people, but this ad certainly made Siri look cool, and it may have caused many to buy one that had not purchased an iPhone beforehand. Samsung Galaxy S III “Next Big Thing is Already Here” Samsung went after Apple’s launch of the iPhone 5 in the fall of 2012 with this excellent commercial for the Galaxy S III. It mocked what was, even then, the typical response to a new iPhone launch: showing people lining up at an Apple store. The people who are lined up to get the new iPhone are shown mostly rationalizing many of its flaws, such as its Lighting charging port that was incompatible with older iPhone accessories. The commercial also showed off the Galaxy S III’s many features, such as its larger screen and its ability to transfer data just by touching two phones together (does anyone still use S Beam or Android Beam? Let us know in the comments if you do!). The ad is funny, while also pointing out both the iPhone 5’s flaws and the benefits of the Galaxy S III. It’s perhaps one of the best put-downs of the iPhone, while at the same time showing that Apple had some real competition. Nokia Lumia 900 “The Smartphone beta test is over” Also released in 2012, the Nokia Lumia 900 launched at a time when Microsoft was still trying to make Windows Phone a thing. The ad, featuring Saturday Night Live alumnus Chris Parnell, tries to claim that the Lumia 900 is the first “real” smartphone. Parnell, in his deadpan humor style, walks around telling unsuspecting people that all previous smartphones were nothing more than a “beta test” for the Nokia 900. The commercial did get the point across that many people were disappointed with previous smartphones and were looking for something better. This ad was certainly funny and memorable, but unfortunately it didn’t do the one thing it should have done; it didn’t really go into the features of the Lumia 900. Perhaps if it did, Nokia and Microsoft might have sold more phones. Nokia Lumia 920 “Don’t Fight” Here’s another Nokia and Microsoft ad, this time in 2013 for the Lumia 920. This time, it shows fans of Apple’s and Samsung’s phones fighting at a wedding while two of its caterers document it on their Nokia phones. As with the older Lumia 900 commercial, this is a funny and well-produced ad. It shows, in an over-the-top brawl, that Apple and Samsung fans were blindly stuck in their camps while there were solid alternatives they could use. As with the earlier Nokia ad, this one didn’t really get into the features of the Lumia 920 either, aside from mentioning an award it had won from a media outlet. Still, this is a great commercial for a product that, perhaps, needed some more direct marketing rather than seeing Apple and Samsung fight it out. HTC “Here’s to Change” In 2013, HTC signed up actor Robert Downey Jr. to a two year contract to be their spokesperson. It seemed like a good idea at the time, as RDJ (we can call him that because we are friends) was the biggest actor in the world, thanks to his role as Tony Stark in the Iron Man movies and The Avengers. For its first, and most memorable, commercial with Downey Jr., HTC went all in with the actor’s persona of kooky super-confidence. It showed the actor trying to come up with a way to explain what “HTC” actually meant. We saw some truly bizarre scenarios that focused on these ideas, such as “hipster troll carwash” and “humongous tinfoil catamaran”. It was surreal and eye-popping and, without a doubt, very entertaining. However, even Iron Man was unable to get HTC to sell more phones, although it tried again with a weird series of short films featuring RDJ in 2015. Motorola Moto Z “Different is Better (Moto Mods)” The Moto Z family of phones launched in 2016, along with their Moto Mods snap-on accessories. Motorola decided to launch an ad campaign to promote both the phone and the Moto Mods, and it did so in a great way, by focusing on how smartphones, which were cool just a few years ago, seemed to be losing some steam for consumers. The ad poked some fun at most new smartphone launches, showing how they might have a slightly better camera or a new “rose gold” color option but not much in terms of innovation. The Moto Z ad showed that owners of that phone could snap on a Moto Mod that could turn the phone into a better speaker, a more advanced camera and more. It certainly got its message across, and it even brought back Motorola’s “Hello Moto” tagline from its older feature phone days. Mophie “All Powerless” Mophie decided to spend millions of dollars for a Super Bowl ad in 2015 to promote its lineup of power cases for various smartphones. It did so with a commercial featuring Hollywood-style special effects. The ad shows the world seemingly on the brink of ending. Hurricanes are hitting Nebraska, snow is forming in the African desert, fish are falling from the skies and dogs are now walking their owners. What’s causing all of this? As it turns out, it’s all caused by God’s smartphone being about to run out of power. Like every one of us who have experienced the same thing, it feels like the world is about to end. Mophie’s point about how we all feel about that battery icon going down to nearly zero is perfect for its lineup of phone power cases, and it’s one of the few Super Bowl ads that may be remembered by the tech crowd well past the game. Samsung Galaxy Note 7 “Do More” Oh dear. Samsung went all out for their TV ad campaign for the Galaxy Note 7 in September 2016, before the phone famously started exploding for many users just a few weeks after its launch. Before all that, and well before Samsung recalled all Note 7 phones, its main commercial for the phone was a lot of fun. Using actor Christoph Waltz was a brilliant move, as he takes on a number of different roles to show how the Note 7 was supposed to help people work hard no matter what else they might be doing, or where they might be at the time. The South Korean company’s promotion of a phone through the use of old-fashioned U.S.A. marketing is pretty funny. It’s a little ironic that the Galaxy Note 7 got this “Do More” campaign just a few weeks before Samsung advised Note 7 owners to do nothing besides shut off their phone permanently. Samsung Galaxy: The Rest of Us A few months after the Note 7 debacle, Samsung came out with this Galaxy smartphone commercial for the 2017 Oscar telecast. It featured YouTube creator Casey Neistat and, while it wasn’t techically promoting a specific phone, it was made to show that the kinds of people that buy Galaxy smartphones were creating videos that were making their mark on the world. It was a first step in Samsung’s rise back following the Note 7 launch, and it showed how people could use their Galaxy handset to truly make creative films without the need for a big budget or studio. It spoke to the YouTube generation, rather than the old fashioned Hollywood system of creating films. It is still a great commercial that not only showed that Samsung was back in the phone business, but also showed what people could do with its hardware. Best smartphone commercials of all time There are a lot of smartphone TV ads that have been released in the past decade or so, but these are our picks for the best smartphone commercials of all time, or at least until the next great commercial comes around. Do you agree with our list? Which commercials would you pick for your best smartphone commercials of all time list? Let us know in the comments! , via Android Authority http://bit.ly/2ubNti8