#not to mention the financial differences different artists can have

[mynameispluto]

Its like 2:30 in the morning and im tired and need to get up in a couple hours, but i really want to ramble about this idea about accessibility in art that i talked about with my therapist

For the longest time ive struggled with constant feelings of art block, burn out, and just overall no interest in my passions, and it got to a point where i just felt like i had to accept it, even tho there was still this desire to create underneath all the exhaustion

It wasnt until a few days ago, where i was like "im really bored, lets make one of those really really simple animation/edit memes cuz why not" and then i actually made it, which was super surprising cuz i never finish anything, and i was like,, so happy that i made something

Animation has always been a passion of mine, like SUPER MEGA BIG TIME passion, specifically with frame by frame stuff, but everytime i go to try to animate anything, no matter how short or simple it is, i can never finish it which leaves me feeling, well, terrible all around

I would fall into thoughts like "look at these people on youtube making beautiful animations, i should be able to do that" "I know how to animate, but why doesnt anything come out?" ect, and it would leave me feeling constantly like, worried about how people perceived me as an artist

But then i made this silly little animation meme, and suddenly something clicked

I can't make (XYZ) cuz its just not accessible to me right now

Which felt weirdly nice to come to that realization? i can make stuff, its just that the things im trying to force myself to make arent the things i should be making, they dont fit my needs, and im making them more to please other people than myself

Like, i would LOVE to be able to pump out disney quality 2d animations, with full colors and everything, but thats just not realistic for me, but that doesnt mean i cant make anything

Or like, i hate doing line art so much, so i just decided to stop doing it?? Ya know???

I feel like as artists we really become slaves to these imaginary rules that dont actually exist, that one way or another we internalized along the way, whether intentionally or not, especially in the age of the internet where any one person can just say whatever and it almost instantly becoming the popular opinion

Those rules dont exist, there are no rules in art, do whatever

If making a character bob its head to 30 seconds of music is what you can comfortably do, and it makes you happy, then do it

If drawing a 3/4s angle of the same character over and over again is what you can do, do it

If trying to be consistent is a pain in the ass for you, then fuck consistency!!

MAKING YOUR ART ACCESSIBLE TO YOU IS NOT YOU BEING LAZY

Art doesnt have to exist to be impressive

[crooked-wasteland]

It's been so odd seeing Ghostf*ckers currently sitting at 7.9m views two weeks later despite the boost of Hazbin's launch and the other episodes not doing anywhere near as bad; anything you feel might've factored into it?

I've mentioned it before, but I am happy to explain my perspective again. I obviously don't have the complete picture in front of me, so it's really only a grain of salt. More of a thought experiment than anything else.

For starters, the spike in views following Hazbin was a predictable boom and bust situation. There is a give and take with different styles of streaming, specifically around the trickle or binge models. More people will watch a series that is available to be binged vs one that is still in progress. Like some people who wait for the entire season to drop before picking up a new show. These sorts of drops see huge initial views, but people stop talking about the shows much faster.

The overlap of cultural impact as well as financial success makes Binging content appealing to the finance people, but the real money comes from maintaining cultural relevance. Which is why binge releases are generally criticized, especially by artistic people.

On the flip side, episode by episode releases, especially those like webcomics and web series need to maintain a sense of consistency to retain an audience. There must be deadlines that are achieved relatively consistently. It's even more important for content that is hosted on algorithm-heavy platforms like YouTube. It's why most content creators have an upload schedule to maintain their algorithms and promote their channel being recommended.

This is especially important on social media platforms because, generally speaking, only 10% of your audience are actually subscribed. While YouTubers don't get paid based on their subscriber count, it's used similarly to viewership. A channel like Mr. Beast has deals with mainstream studios like Amazon because of his subscriber count, in junction with the number of views he accrues.

The 10% active subscriber count is actually seen as a general positive so long as your views stay around that number, because it means others are being recommended your channel outside of your base. Once you get stuck in your "base" you're waiting for that thing ice to finally break. It means no one is discovering you and your legitimately risk losing everything. Most often from stale content, people becoming bored or disillusioned with what a creator is creating. And having no fresh eyes on your content, you will disappear in the algorithm eventually. For some people it means they can still survive just fine doing the same old things, for others (usually those who see the money before the art) it means the loss of everything.

The issue with inconsistent uploads is a major one that Medrano actually beat in the first season. The Vivziepop channel was so infrequently uploaded on, episodes being posted essentially the moment they were done, and yet Medrano maintained 35 M - 50 M views an episode (until Ozzie's which topped out at 28M before Hazbin Hotel, Medrano's first attempt at writing for the series).

So what I mean to say with that information is Medrano actually succeeded against the odds for the first season. She should have faded into obscurity, but the support for her show was legitimate and beat the odds of an inconsistent uploads schedule. I was never subscribed to her channel and didn't have Twitter until this year, but I would search Vivziepop every 3-5 months and usually saw a new episode had been uploaded in the last week to a few hours prior.

So while this is anecdotal, I'd argue that it was the general norm at the time. Reaching 35M when you only have 8.6M subscribers necessitates genuine effort of the part of the watchers to seek out the content themselves. And that's a good thing. You want people to be motivated to seek out your content on their own volition.

With that said, it explains all the possible, and probably, issues being had.

1) Upload Fatigue

Since viewership has fallen, Medrano has been posting more frequently to her channel. Mostly low-effort Vlog content that her main base is legitimately not invested in. People who love musicals and Broadway would recognize the low quality musical fodder Medrano creates. Animation fans, meanwhile, are not interested in celebrity actors being friends with Medrano.

That sort of content is what you see on Adin Ross' channel. If you don't know who that is, think Andrew Tate, but somehow more pathetic. The TL;DR is that his claim to fame was playing a video game with LeBron James' son. That's not what most people are really interested in, unless they carry the same fundamental psychology of the 'Man-osphere" or conservative grifters.

Additionally, these videos don't hit that 10% subscriber base. With 10.4 million subs, her lowest performing videos should still hit at least 1.4million views. Her major sale videos (Halloween and Valentine's mainly) still see this proper 10%

But the Vlog videos...

It isn't surprising that the video focusing on the fans being seen with Medrano and her friends would be the most watched, because of this mindset of piggy-backing self-worth off of someone else's name.

So for the fans that actually like the show, or at least want to support the series, are now being hit with a ton of videos they don't care about. Which can and usually does result in a loss of subscribers or your subscribers turning off their notifications for your channel.

2) The Show Left it's Base

Hazbin being aired on Amazon introduced many people to Vivziepop. There is a sense of quality that one expects from a big name like Amazon, regardless of how most of their shows they directly fund are not that great. But with the series leaving it's base, it offers new fans while threatening, and definitely delivering, a complimentary spike in criticism. Many people who would have accepted a subpar web series are going to be far more harsh of a show with a studio behind it.

With more voices discussing the issues of the series, it teaches people how to identify sub-par content and a lot of those people will lose interest in it once they realize the show isn't actually quality.

There are far more videos discussing the issues with Hazbin than there are of Helluva Boss for this reason, but once the luster is removed from one, inevitably it will impact the other.

3) The Story Sucks

This is obvious as we see more fans becoming less enthusiastic about the story. A badly written show can and will still be loved by those who love it. But it has become more obvious that the writing isn't subversive, just negligent. The characters aren't complicated, they are puppets. The creators aren't creative, they are regurgitating tropes without substance. The emotions are hollow.

But worse than any of that is that the show is contradictory to itself. Which makes the show feel unreliable, but that leads to the last point:

4) Medrano Exposed Herself as an Unlikeable Person

Medrano's description for Apology Tour exposed her to her YouTube base. YouTube is a place that craves authenticity, to the point they have manufactured it. There is a right and wrong way to be on YouTube, and the right way requires a ton of accountability, even when you probably don't owe anyone it. But accountability is something you must have on the platform, and Medrano was a bit too personal in how she made excuses for Stolas while not playing an even hand towards her main character.

That sort of attitude, fictional or not, will result in people turning their back on you. People have lost their whole channels over the same attitude. And the way Medrano handled it was responding to her twitter fandom criticizing the show, letting everyone know she doesn't see anything wrong with the behavior being expressed.

And that doesn't really sit well on YouTube. Not in the communities she's trying to cater to.

And like I said, this is all with a grain of salt as I can't say for certain. To be safe I believe a little of all of these play a role in Medrano's decline, but all of it is just my opinion.

With that said, to see such a steep decline of almost 50% of your audience, while knowing that many of those who are still fans are viewing each episode about 1-2 times a day for about a week, that means 2 in every 5-7 views are the same person. So 8M, while respectable for the platform, is a huge blow.

[byemambo]

4Minutes EP. 4 - My Takeaways

For the sake of organization: my future takeaways will be under #mambo.4minyap (get it? hehehehehe) cause it seems to be hitting the radar for lots of folks. It's also an interesting series, and I like talking and taking the scenic route while doing so!

Compositional Framing: The Relationship of Oppression

We got the most information about Korn's character and status within the story from this episode thus far: but the visual devices popped out the most for me (I am an artist after all LOL). I mentioned camera angles, specifically bird's eye view in my episode 1 takeaways, but we're met with a different element: shot sizes! I'm not a filmmaker so please go easy on me (my credentials include my storyboarding and animated illustration classes so my knowledge is limited), but what remains consistent throughout this episode is Korn's relationship with authority and power through the usage of establishing shot size, which lots of his scenes with various characters have varying heights.

Tonkla (Authoritarian) vs. Great (Equals)

The way Korn approaches these two characters have their obvious differences in relation to himself, but the common thread is that these two characters are individuals Korn should love. It's expected to love your family unconditionally, and arguably, love your partner even more than that. But as we've seen the story play out, starting from Korn and Great's family dynamics (which I've also covered in episode 1!): love has always been conditional.

Their relationship is revealed from a flashback that Korn and Tonkla are established boyfriends since their university days, however, dating in secrecy. This further contributes to Tonkla's stress and anxiety within the relationship, slowly escalating once he realizes the mistreatment he's tolerating. I found the symbolism between the pet cat's collar and Korn's "senior chief" sash interesting: there is ownership involved, which is mistaken for partnership.

From the jump, Korn doesn't view Tonkla as an equal partner to him, but someone who he can assert dominance over (which is primarily physical but also emotional). By displaying acts of love such as helping Tonkla through his first time and being present during Tonkla's loss with his deceased pet cat, what seems innocent and kindhearted on the surface actually has more context (which due to the 30 image limit, y'all are going to have to watch the episode for yourself and take my word for it LOL).

In the university flashback, Korn mentions keeping the cat's collar as a memento, but he's not the one reaching in and taking the collar off the cat: Tonkla is. Tonkla also isn't the one who puts on the "senior chief" sash himself: Korn is. In both scenarios, Korn is the one making decisions for Tonkla during his moments of vulnerability (both in a state of grief and during a sexual act). I checked out this article to make sure my facts are straight (got too many fun facts up my sleeve), but this approach is how cults target and recruit their victims:

Possible situational vulnerabilities include illness, the death of a loved one, breakup of an important relationship, loss of a job, or moving to another city, state or country.

Is this deliberate, or is it Korn's act of kindness? We can only infer at this moment where Korn falls on the value spectrum, but he's definitely a morally gray character (you can argue with your mom idc). During the after care scene, Tonkla mentions his father (which is alive during this flashback, but not presently living during the funeral ceremony) and moving to a new place with his younger brother due to his father's alcoholism (and possible physical abuse but this is only an assumption). Korn handles this interaction by providing financial stability (cough cough financial abuse) for Tonkla in the meantime, establishing a relationship rooted in give-and-take, debt and IOUs, under the guise of a caring romantic relationship. Given that Tonkla and his brother have suffered from trauma relating to family dynamics and enduring dysfunction into adulthood, I can see why Tonkla had become completely blindsided to this level of power imbalance that is simply all too familiar.

Once Tonkla realizes that Korn is only present in his life for his own self-interest, and access, he stands up against his oppressor, recognizing that there is another individual that is displaying signs of love and care (which isn't 100% healthy, but it's progress nonetheless) that Korn has bread crumbed him for all these years.

This confrontational scene is highly intense and emotional, which is reinforced by Korn's physical stature towering over Tonkla in most of the scenes we've seen thus far in each episode and usually ending with Korn continuing to be enabled. These scenes are usually shot at angles such as panning from above to reveal Korn's power over Tonkla, who's usually shot from over-the-shoulder and panned down. However, once Tonkla finally takes his stand against him, the camera follows him and frames the shot as a close up, tightening the gap between Korn as the oppressor and Tonkla as the oppressed.

Once Korn leaves and returns to question Nan about the leaked information: we're shown a similar staging of Korn physically towering over his victim, but from a cowboy shot slightly panned upward. However, the framing suggests from size relationship alone: Korn is nothing more but a victim himself playing the role of the villain. He is in the same predicament as his own victims, but living in a state of falsehood and denial as he has been trained to believe it is his birth right to take over his father's business (not even taking the time to question the morality behind such a business). What remains behind choosing moral righteousness over injustice: the disappointment of living as a failure and abandonment of his family system, the only consistently good thing in his life that is his younger brother Great. It's heartbreaking because we can see somewhat of goodness from his beaconing of retrieving information without the reliance of violent methods (which is unsuccessful and out of context, rather pitiful?), and I really do hope that he will be able to redeem himself (but I wouldn't completely write off the series if he does not deserve redemption).

However, the greatest loss is Tonkla's revelation of his own entrapment: reminiscing the memories held by the collar but in an entirely new perspective. The composition of him looking at himself in the mirror is hauntingly beautiful but full of melancholy: the mirror serves as a moment of literal self reflection, the collar reminding him of living as a possession rather than a person, the frame of the mirror serves as a metaphorical cage. Now it's a matter of whether or not Tonkla will reclaim his power again and recognize that he's simply a bird confined in his cage, but the door is now wide open. Will he realize soon that he has his own wings to fly?

Moral Value: A Hidden Responsibility

We've seen in this episode Great having a better understanding of his gift, establishing his moral compass and duty to act with integrity and with a strong sense of justice. Seeing such strong character development within these past few episodes is breathtaking (especially if you've been a long time supporter of Bible and just his journey as an actor). We have a good sense of Great recognizing his autonomy and relationship with free will, contrasted to how passive and reluctant he was in doing the "right" thing and being given a second chance to make a different decision.

Tyme's motive reveal (I love being right hehe) after being confronted by Great's demand for why he attacked his brother became a turning point for Great to finally tap in and establish his innate desire for moral justice, especially after being told about Nan's captivity and being foreshown her demise once he found her location. What I found most interesting during the initial rescue of Nan from Samarn was just how "normal" his conduct was when addressing Great as the son of his upper head. How polite his language was while holding a gun and standing next to a pool of his victim's blood, to just before Tyme's appearance where Great becomes the voice of reason amongst the chaos.

"Why can't I?"

It's such a simple response, but it's so loaded with depth and hidden meaning: it makes you sit back and also wonder...why can't I?

Great becomes an individual questioning the circumstances surrounding him, enabling himself to experience change. When his "friend" attempted murder and brought him along for the ride, when he experienced his first few heart attacks and hitting the woman seeking unalivement, when he is confronted by his brother's attacker and doesn't blindly dedicate his loyalty to his brother for the mere fact that he's family, when he sees Nan's predestined death in the hands of the enemy (which you can say that it really be your own people).

What makes Great such a fascinating character to me is just how dynamic and determined he's become after being gifted with foreseeing the future. Having such excitement in his awareness to his free will makes me enjoy him more as a character, that our lives are not predetermined to live and die for, that we have morals and values that must be considered and analyzed for its legitimacy, that we have integrity to do what's right without entitlement to self-interest, that we have the shared responsibility to criticize the world in which was built for us, but our jobs to upkeep and maintain. I'm excited to see what's in store for Great moving forward, and I'm so happy for Bible and Jes to play such characters.

Even though the lighting is similar to how Korn and Tonkla's flashback was, the visible warmth is even more obvious with how these two established their relationship. That in contrast to KornTonkla's ownership, TymeGreat is partnership (we haven't reached boyfriend status yet but it's coming!) How Tyme is willing to accept and make room for Great's excitement and passion, to hold it gently, to cherish it as a fleeting moment. Their NC scene in comparison to KornTonkla and WinTonkla is simply ethereal: the level of shared vulnerability and intimacy warmed my heart. From the lighting to the shots and down to the chosen score, the director does a fantastic job of creating such dissonance between all the pairs (which lots of people like to write off NC scenes as unnecessary and vulgar but it's just blatant purity cultural standards imposing on all of us and I need to dedicate another time to talk about it). The visual storytelling thus far has me anticipating more from the story as the details continue to establish the worlds revealed to us.

Tonkla's Brother: The Arrival of Home

I'm sure we all saw this coming but the reveal is heartwrenching. To see such a sweet face and scene filled with hope and longing with its immediate contrast to harsh reality, my heart goes out to Tonkla. Some may infer that there's a separate timeline that exists alongside reality, but I think it's possibly a hyperrealistic hallucination or dream by Tonkla (since the last scene we see of him was just before heading to bed for the night but also his intense codependency on drugs). Of course on the surface, people can infer that this is simply Dome returning home from recovering from his injuries: however, I interpreted it philosophically. Dome arrived home for his soul to rest.

We're shown in the first half of the episode of Tonkla mourning after Dome's body is cremated (I'm also Buddhist but I'm nationally American and ethnically Vietnamese so my interpretation of the religion will have its differences), which now establishes Dome's physical remains returning to the earth which his soul can no longer return to. I imagined Dome's soul has reincarnated and given access to the Western Pureland (since Tonkla was physically outside in the warm sunlight versus his more cool toned coloring within his scenes), only hoping that he actually experienced resting on his deathbed ready to enter the afterlife with a smile. Now we know that Tonkla's fingerprints were already in the investigation database: we need to know why and what crimes he had already committed before the murder shown as the opening in episode 2. This is definitely going to affect Win's current dynamic with Tonkla, given that they're now living together and he has access to Tonkla's home and possessions. Maybe we'll experience another shift in character development like how Great was, but possibly targeting Korn if the company is involved in Dome's case somehow.

Honorable Mentions: Heart Attack Transition

This scene was literally so fucking cool. The match cuts and in and outs of the inversion (def going to have trigger warnings for future GIF sets) were literally out of this world, especially when I find out it's from the freaking painting within the hospital hallway that is just a prop on the surface. I wonder who suggested such a transition and I wonder how they'll depict Great's future heart attacks and visions. The VFX team is working overtime and I'm so impressed so please give them their flowers!

[hockey4palestine]

🌟 Calling All Artists! 🌟

We are excited to announce that Hockey4Palestine is accepting artists to join our collective effort to raise funds in support of the Palestinian people. Whether you're a fanart illustrator, a fanfic writer, or both, we need your creative talents to make this initiative a success!

How You Can Help:

Join Our Artist Collective: We are currently looking for passionate creators to volunteer their skills. By contributing fanart or fanfiction, you will play a crucial role in our mission to encourage future donations to our selected Palestinian support organizations. To sign up, please fill out this Google form.

Spread the Word: Even if you can't contribute art or writing, you can still help by sharing our mission with your followers. Every reblog and mention counts!

What to Expect:

Volunteer-Based: Please note that this is a volunteer-driven initiative. Artists will not receive financial compensation, but your contribution will make a significant impact.

Tiered Rewards: As our community grows, we plan to implement tiered donation levels. Higher donations will correspond with more detailed fanart or longer fanfics, giving donors a meaningful way to support a cause they care about.

Flexible Participation: Once we start receiving commission requests, artists will have the freedom to choose which projects they want to work on.

Your involvement can make a real difference! If you're interested in joining or have any questions, feel free to reach out to us. Let’s come together to create something beautiful for a cause that matters.

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[cowgurrrl]

It Ain't Me Babe

Pairing: Joel Miller x fem!reader

Author’s note: A holiday present from me to you ❣️

Summary: Ellie’s first art club meeting [2.8k]

Warnings: creative insecurity, mentions of financial instability, teacher things, Ellie talking about Sarah, more flirty flirt, I think that’s it??

Nothing has ever been as annoying or guilt-inducing as an unfinished piece of art. Sure, every artist— no matter the medium— has felt like an uncreative, unoriginal hack, but it still feels just as new as it did the first time. Moonlight streams through your window as you glare at the canvas, hoping for an idea or stroke of genius. It's late. You should be in bed, especially since it's a Sunday night and you spent your weekend working at the bar down the street. But you're holding a paintbrush between stained fingers and praying for a miracle. It's been eight months since you last sold a piece for a whopping $200, chump change when it comes to living in Austin these days. Even with two jobs and doing commission work, you're living paycheck to paycheck. Maybe that's why it's so hard to create? That has to be the reason. You don't remember it being this hard when you were younger.

Creating art was the only thing that brought you solace during your teenage years. It didn't matter if it was drawing, pottery, painting, sculpting. All that mattered was that you were doing it and you were good. You won awards, scholarships, and attention. Your art teacher, Ms. Henry, was a godsend. Grey-haired, glasses-wearing, colorful Ms. Henry glided through lessons and projects like it was second nature. She always had pencils in her hair, a mug in her hands, and a kind word on her lips when you entered her classroom. She's the one who pushed you to go to your artsy liberal arts college full of people richer and better than you. Even with her love and support, you struggled and almost dropped out after that first semester. 

"There's always someone better," she told you when you ended up crying across from her in a coffee shop. "But there's nobody in the world who can make what you will because there is and never will be another you. I mean, God, what a gift. I'd hate to see you waste it." That sobered you enough to keep going and eventually pursue a teaching certification. Ms. Henry has since retired to the Pacific Northwest with her wife, Mable, and sends you a postcard every once in a while because she believes smartphones will be the downfall of civilization. After so many years in education, you're ready to agree with her. 

You sigh, feeling your motivation fluttering away with your breath, and plop your paintbrush down in the cup engraved with the words "DO NOT DRINK" in bold. The canvas doesn't look like much of anything right now— just a mass of colors and shapes that could potentially pass as an abstract version of a landscape. It looks like the other painting you left at the school to work on when you have time. And the painting before that. And the one before that. You curse at exactly the same time your phone buzzes with a text. 

You awake?

You don't bother responding and go straight to FaceTiming her. She picks up on the second ring, her beautiful, round face greeting you with a smile. You met Andie during high school, and her effortlessly cool attitude and bulky violin kit quickly became a part of your heart. You two were inseparable all four years of high school, dividing your time between rehearsals and time spent in the studio, but college took you to art school and her to a prestigious orchestra program in Vienna. She's been there ever since graduation, playing for diplomats and royals alike, but she comes home for holidays, and you've been trying to save money to go see her. Being so far from her is hard, but you make it work. 

"Why are you awake?" You ask by way of a greeting, more than accustomed to your seven-hour time difference and her early riser habits. She laughs, and you hear a tea kettle whistle in the background. 

"Well, hello to you, too," she says. "I have rehearsals all day today, so I got an early start. Why are you awake?"

"I'm staring at my waking nightmare." 

"Oh, God, are you having another spiral?" 

"I'm a hack."

"You're an artist."

"I got rejected again this weekend," you say as if to prove your point, and she sucks her teeth. "They said my art didn't fit their vision for their exhibition, but to feel free and submit another time."

"Well, they must not know great art when they see it. There will be another exhibition and another chance for you to show off your amazing skills. And when you get accepted, which I know you will, I'll fly in, and we'll drink fancy champagne and talk shit the entire opening night." She says, and you sigh. Her persistent optimism is one of the things you love about her, but sometimes, all you want to do is sulk. 

"Or I could fly to you when your first composition gets performed, and we could do all those things in Austria instead of this shithole."

"Hey, some of us like that shithole."

"Some of us haven't lived in the shithole in ten years." 

"Touche," she concedes. "But I'm serious about what I said. You're a good artist, just going through a little bump in the road. One day, we'll be really sexy and successful, and we'll look back at this and laugh with our rich spouses while drinking expensive wine."

"One day," you say, smiling. "How are rehearsals going?" She groans at the question, and you laugh. Whenever you talk to her, she's working on a new show or with a new conductor and always has something to say. There are many things you could call your best friend, but lazy is not one of them.

"I feel like we're stuck on this one part, but the conductor won't listen to me. He says he knows better than I do, which might be true, but also, if he just listened to me, then we can move on. I don't know. I'm sure if I poke him enough, he'll have to listen to me."

"Sounds reasonable." 

"That's what I'm saying," she says as she shuffles her coffee mug and breakfast to her dining room table before checking the time. "It's midnight there. Don't you have school tomorrow?" She asks, and you sigh.

"And an early morning staff meeting and art club after school." 

"Sometimes, I worry about your mental health." She says, and you laugh a little too deliriously to prove her wrong. You stay up talking with her for a while before finally getting hit with a wave of fatigue and crashing into bed. 

The next day is not any less hectic than your weekend was. The staff meeting early in the morning is mind-numbing and completely unnecessary. The printer in the teacher's lounge breaks halfway through a heavy-duty print job, and you're left scrambling for new activities and lessons. Not only that, but your students were more out of control than usual, prompting a veteran teacher to come in and scold your class on your behalf. It would be kind if it didn't make you feel two inches tall and your students didn't look at you like you betrayed them. You spend your planning period indulging in the silence of your empty classroom and fighting off a migraine. 

The second the final bell sounds, your art club kids are knocking down your door, more than ready to work on their projects for the winter showcase. The winter showcase is hosted by a local art gallery that opens for submissions from students every fall. If a student's work is taken, it gets shown in the gallery, and they get entered into a prize to win money and a chance to paint a mural downtown. It's a big deal. So far, you haven't had a student win first place, but you've had them get very close. You always assure them you're proud of them no matter what, which is especially true when Ellie slinks into your classroom with a shy smile.

"Hey! We're just setting up supplies to work on stuff for the showcase. Do you have something to work on?" You ask, gesturing to the students working around the room in a buzz. 

"I think so. Are you gonna play music?" 

"Who do you think I am?" You make a face, and she laughs. "Why don't you find a spot and get comfortable while I queue up a playlist?" She hesitates for a second before she takes a deep breath and musters up the courage to approach another student to ask if she can sit with them. They start chatting easily, and her shoulders relax as she gets more and more comfortable with all the new people. You put on a random playlist and move around the room to answer any questions about colors or give an opinion when asked for one. Over the course of an hour, Ellie makes her own little group of friends, and they all talk as if they've known each other forever as they work. She seems so in her own element, and you can't fight the pride beaming in your chest. Okay, so maybe your job can be pretty cool sometimes. Not fame and fortune cool or traveling overseas cool, but cool nevertheless.

Students gradually start packing up their things and leaving when they get texts from impatient parents in the parking lot or close to dinner time, but Ellie stays behind, bobbing her head to a beat or bouncing her knee under the table. She's the only one left in the classroom when you start packing your stuff and preparing the room for the next day. "You've got a ride home, honey?" You ask, and she glances nervously between you and her phone.

"Yeah. My dad should be here soon." She says. 

"Alright, well, I've gotta lock up here, but I'll wait outside with you until he gets here."

"Oh, you don't have to do that."

"It'd make me feel better knowing you weren't left behind. Plus, I'm the adult responsible for you until he picks you up, so it's kinda illegal for me to just leave you here." You say, and she looks hesitant again but nods. Together, you walk out of the classroom and through the empty hallways until you get out to the scorching September afternoon. You stand outside in silence for a few seconds, taking in the sunset, before you turn to look at her.

"How'd you like the club?" You ask. 

"It was fun! I met lots of cool people."

"I told you, kid. You just needed to give it a chance."

"I know, I know," she rolls her eyes, and you smile. "Thank you for pushing me to go. I don't think I would've gone without you." She's so genuine and kind in her tone that it throws you off-kilter. You're used to being berated by students, staff, and parents. To be told you actually had an impact on someone is not commonplace, to say the least. 

"I'm sure you would've found your way there without me." 

"Maybe, but you helped me get there a lot sooner than I would've on my own." She says, and you take a deep breath. It feels nice to be acknowledged, especially after the day you've had, and Ellie seems to sense it. You're looking for something to say when she looks down at her shoes and kicks a stray rock. "Just take the compliment and move on. Don't make it a thing." 

"Alright." You say, laughing, and she cracks a smile, too. Traffic will be horrible on the way home, and you have nothing to eat for dinner, but it's okay. You did one good thing today. That's all you need. 

"Sorry, my dad is taking so long." She changes the subject, a touch of anxiety creeping in, and you shake your head. 

"Does he always work late?" You ask, and she shrugs.

"Sometimes. Dad and Uncle Tommy have been picking up jobs to send money to my sister in Boston. "

"What's in Boston for your sister?"

"Medical school. She's about to go into her internship at a hospital there."

"That's a big deal." You say, and she hums. 

"Yeah. She'll probably save the world or something one day." There's a hint of something nostalgic in her voice, and you decide to push just a little. 

"Do you miss her?"

"A lot," she says. "She's my best friend."

"She's lucky to have you." You say. She smiles but doesn't say anything. You want to ask more about her family, but a rickety, greenish pickup truck comes rumbling through the parking lot before you can. Ellie shifts her backpack on her shoulder as her dad and uncle come into view, and you smile at them. Joel, however, looks frantic. 

He's unbuckling his seatbelt and opening the driver's side door before the car can even finish moving. There's dirt on his pants and a little bit of a sunburn across his arms, the muscles straining across the black fabric. He politely pulls the ball cap off his head to reveal sweaty curls as he approaches you, jerking his head toward the truck at Ellie. "Why don't you wait in the truck with Uncle Tommy? He's got a snack for you." He says, and Ellie lights up at the mention of food. When you're alone, he tucks his hands in his pockets and gives you an apologetic look. 

"'M so sorry. We got caught up at work and lost track of time. It won't happen again." He says, wringing his hands like he's waiting to be scolded, but you wave him off. 

"It's okay. Things happen, and I'm just glad she's got someone picking her up." You say. 

"How'd she do today?"

"Really good. I think she fits right in."

"She make some friends?"

"I can't give away all my secrets. What else are y'all gonna talk about at the dinner table?" You tease. 

"I guess that's right," he says as he stares at you, a muscle in his jaw jumping. "Thanks for waitin' with her."

"It was my pleasure." You say. You stand awkwardly for a few seconds, rocking back and forth on your feet. His eyes are locked in yours, and there's a silent competition to see who's gonna blink first. "Well, I should let you get home. Have a good night." 

"Uh," he starts, stopping you before you can even fully take a step. "I wanted to apologize for the other night. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"You didn't make me uncomfortable," you say a little too quickly, and he smirks. "I was very flattered. Besides, it's not the first time."

"Beautiful woman like you, I'm sure you've got 'em linin' the block for a chance with you." He says. You're dancing a delicate dance here. You're not not flirting, and you're not not interested in him, but if your principal finds out, it could cause a whole new world of problems. Still, it's nice to be wanted after so long of being on your own. You're not a saint, but you're also not doing anything inherently wrong, right?

"The teacher thing usually freaks 'em out before they can get very far."

"That's a damn shame." He's quick with it, and you have to resist the urge to roll your eyes at the line. A buzz in your bag reminds you of the time and why you're still at school, and you find your footing again. 

"Uh, I usually give out my contact information to the parents of my art club kids in case they need anything or need to contact me quickly. Since Ellie's an official part of that, I figured I should give you my phone number in case anything comes up. If that's alright?" You say, and he pulls his cracked phone from his back pocket. 

"Yeah, yeah. That's more than alright." He says, handing it to you to punch in your information. 

"It's for emergency purposes only."

"What d'you consider an emergency?"

"Mr. Miller-"

"Joel." He corrects, and you give him a look as you pass his phone back. 

"Don't abuse it. I'd hate to have to put you in a group chat with all the PTA moms."

"You're evil." He groans, and you laugh. Tommy, leaning over and honking the truck horn, interrupts your conversation, and he shoots daggers through the back window. 

"I'll see you next week, Joel." You say, dismissing him, and he hesitates for another second before nodding.

"See you next week." He says and turns on his heels to get back in his truck. You think you vaguely catch Joel scolding Tommy for being impatient, but you ignore his deep voice and the engine sputtering as you walk to your own car with a little more pep in your step than this morning.

TAGLIST: @abbyhaslongshorts @kiwiharrykiwi @sumsworldz @myloveistoolittle @anavatazes @marantha @cosmoscoffeee @shyminnie07 @beezusvreeland @eddiemunsonsbedroom @harriedandharassed @doodlebob-mp3 (look at how many of you there are!)

[in2u-4asec]

A first for me doing this 🙃

frustrated with all the lies and bs of everyone ☠️

that new york times article is not a coincidence. Nor is the timing of the documentary in cinemas shown in many places in the world. They are clearly making a campaign for the grammys for their golden boy.

and this made me laugh because we know that they will go to hell first than admit that their idol is favored by bsh and his solo career was orchestrated by sb. with all the label’s resources backing him up, how can he not achieve success?

Sacrifice? All the other members sacrificed their solo careers too given their military service 💁 these people doesn’t understand or most likely disregarding everything that had jk got a nomination or grammy win last year, he would not be at the military right now and would be on constant tours around the world.

and the other members solo career and their brand? All up in the air. These discussions are always met with scathing replies and abuse because many doesn’t want to admit that their OT7 or nothing bs is just like that, a big BS.

when jimin got that bb hot 100 #1, it was said that it would put the bts brand at stake so they had to counter measure it by making jk be another one to have it. If that is their logic, then what happened to the other members? Why weren’t they given the same support as jk to even out the playing field for all of them?

many will die first than admit that jk’s solo career has been in the works for years. they have been positioning him to be the breakout star in the band. Will it be jk and his fellow bts members as his back up dancers in the future? Fans are all convinced that the members are all ok with this, as if they don’t care about their own solo careers. Then care to explain the difference in promotion with Namjoon’s indigo and rpwp? He clearly negotiated with hybe for that promotion. And i will reiterate it again and again, the fandom has been failing NJ since the beginning and they are taking their anger out on jimin and his fans. Jhope’s difference in promotion with his first and second album is also noticeable.

i want to see how hobi and jin will promote their works since time is on their side. But will hybe be using their resources for them like they did with jk? The answer is as clear as no. With hybe’s financial situation right now, they can’t afford to do so. Or the better answer is, would bsh do it because he wants to? Hell, no.

i actually am glad that jin made friends with coldplay. They could and probably would help him to get more audience. Let’s see how it will play out for him.

Can’t wait for BTS to comeback. It will be interesting to see if it will be as like before or not. the army fandom? Nah. They are the maknae’s fandom, not already but they have been since the beginning they just don’t want to admit it hence they keep on gaslighting themselves 😂 I’ve mentioned before during the start of their solo career that each member should have their own fans and nobody listened because of the ot7 bs and solos are losers and they are not army. Well, look at it now. Who is the one with a thriving solo fandom that is putting in the works for their artist even if the odds are againts them? You know the answer.

[deke-rivers-1957]

Tickle Me Review

Faced with bankruptcy Allied Artists made a short term deal with Elvis in a last ditch effort to save the studio. The terms were that Elvis would be paid $750k plus 50% of the profits. Tickle Me only had a budget of $1.5 million meaning Elvis' salary alone took up half the cost leaving only $750k for everything else. Therefore to save money, the soundtrack only had 5 measly songs (in the original US release) that were previously recorded across the years 1960-1963.

Despite the studio's financial woes the movie was a box office success making $5 million worldwide. It not only saved the studio, but was also the studio's 3rd highest grossing film at the time. Elvis himself won the 1966 Golden Laurel award for Best Male Performance in a Musical. Writers Elwood Ullman and Edward Bernds' effort proved to be their last hurrah as Bernds would retire later that year after a successful career with the 3 Stooges and the Bowery Boys. But did this last ditch effort provide a fresh take on the Elvis vehicle or was this nothing more than a Hail Mary for those trying to hold onto any semblance of success and relevance? Let's find out.

We start off with Elvis in a travel bus singing "(It's A) Long, Lonely Highway". No idea if this was filmed on location or not. Song sounds pretty good. Lip-synching seems to be on point. I'll just mention this here but Tickle Me is a terrible title. I have no idea where they came up with that or why the working title "Isle of Paradise" was changed. There's no song with that name since no new songs were recorded. They should've stuck with the working title or better yet, change it to a song on the soundtrack called "Night Rider". That title fits in with Lonnie's occupation as a traveling rodeo star, the western setting, and the eventual shift into a horror film better.

He arrives at a western town called Zuni Wells. We get what's at first side conversation with a deputy sheriff saying that the sheriff went fishing far away (remember this later). We find out that his name's Lonnie Beale and is trying to find work before rodeo starts. Even though Lonnie got offered a job, the man ended up quitting. I love how we get some world building by having the bartender mention Prescott, Arizona which is one of the most famous rodeo cities in the US. So to make any money he has to sing in the saloon.

"It Feels So Right" is distracting with how obvious it is that Elvis sang this a long time ago. The song’s echo effect is so noticeable too but we do have a Red cameo and a call back to when Elvis was a "dirty hip shaker". Red's girlfriend who is drunk starts flirting with Lonnie and for once a fight starts that wasn't even his fault. He didn’t flirt with her back or throw the first punch. If anything he was trying to make a point that he had no interest in her.

Assuming he’s about to get fired he goes with a woman in charge of the Circle Z ranch. We get some background that Lonnie was raised by his uncle and always had a good time with horses. If only we saw him actually put that to good use instead of just exposition.

Lonnie's shocked to see that this is meant to be a Hollywood type of ranch meant to keep actresses and models thin. Watching how this is portrayed, you can make an argument that there's some social commentary in this movie. When you first meet Pam you wouldn't even notice a difference between her and the other women. It would be one thing if they showed these ladies as being slightly overweight, but that isn't the case at all since all of these ladies have an average body weight and general size indicating good health. It really shows how in their industry, expectations are so specific that these women who are already at a healthy state have to be even smaller and fitter to be beautiful.

Lonnie meets Pam while the women are stretching and I'm amazed they're even allowed in that part of the ranch. In modern day, men likely wouldn't even allowed to work at a place like that unless they're in a position that doesn't have close contact with the female guests. Lonnie then meets Stanley who tells us that the guests have to pay $500 a week just to stay there. The whole process of how these girls get down to "36-38-24" by giving them very little to eat really shows the culture of the 1960s where starving people was seen as the best way to lose weight. I won't get into the complexities of it, but you can see for yourself that the "diet culture" of today has completely shifted.

Lonnie does his job despite getting advances by some of the female clients. He starts making eyes with Pam and you get the idea that they're interested in each other. He goes over to talk to her but she makes it clear that she's only interested in taking care of the guests. only to then immediately get jealous when the guests show interest in him. I don't like this because you don't get to feel jealous when you turned him down. It only makes Pam look bad as a character since this makes her come off as being possessive of Lonnie when they're not at all a couple. Lonnie is single so he should be allowed to interact with other women.

If she's upset because she takes Lonnie singing to the guests as unprofessional, I can understand that. However, her facial expressions don't indicate that all. "(Such an) Easy Question" at least gives you that context that despite Pam turning him down, she can't stand to see him being with other women. As for the song itself, I don’t like the echo effect for the middle of the sandy outdoors. I know that they didn't have the budget to really change the pre-recorded songs, but given that this is supposed to be outside, an echo effect doesn't really work. Brad meanwhile turns into a butt monkey by having his food dumped on him once Stanley stands up. I genuinely feel bad for him because even though he is jealous of Lonnie, he so far hasn't done anything that would deserve this level of punishment.

Even the next day he can't catch a break as a woman he tries to help learn to swim, laps the pool when she sees Lonnie. He gets so upset he hits his hand against the concrete border of the pool. We get "Dirty, Dirty Feeling" as he works in the stables. Once again it doesn’t match the outdoor scenery. It’s actually very distracting to hear a 50s sound coming out of a 60s Elvis. If anything I'm very confused on how he's able to sing so that the entire ranch can hear him. It's not clear just how big or small this place is since it shouldn't seem possible that his voice can carry that far at that same level of clarity.

Lonnie gets in trouble with the other workers because the guests are so distracted by him. Lonnie isn’t doing anything wrong though as he doesn’t intend to interrupt everything. Meanwhile I'm very distracted by how this painting in the background was allowed to stay up since it's clearly a bunch of nude women. I have no idea how no one noticed that since it appears in multiple shots where you can clearly see the whole thing uncovered.

The women all seem to love him despite the fact that he doesn’t seem interested in any of them beyond a professional relationship. As he should since he doesn’t plan on sticking around and it’d be unprofessional of him otherwise. Pam meanwhile goes on this long spiel about how she's figured him out as being this playboy looking for a "millionaire divorcee" and quite frankly she's unlikeable. Lonnie in the audience's eyes hasn't done anything to suggest that and it's unfair of her to think that.

Even when she tries to catch him in a "gotcha" moment, it just feels weird of her to do this. She's not his boss nor his girlfriend, so it's not her job to police his actions. The audience clearly sees that Lonnie isn't the one making these advances and because this is the 60s men aren't allowed to say no yet. It makes you wonder what on earth Pam's doing with her life when she should be working. She makes an innuendo that Vera would "give him an A for effort" and you just feel a little gross because she's making it off like this is his fault. Sexy sax music playing when Vera makes her advances on Lonnie also feels gross given the concept of a workplace relationship between a boss and their employee has become a very problematic issue given the unequal power dynamics that come from it.

We get actual tension with a fight scene that in real life would’ve been genuinely dangerous. Lonnie had full reason to help her when she screamed even though we get a comedic moment of Pam hitting Lonnie by accident. The attacker immediately runs away as Lonnie's knocked silly. We find out it was because the guy was trying to find where her grandfather hid some money and the deputy sheriff advises her to lock all her doors and windows. It's not at all suspicious for the deputy sheriff to blame her for poking around abandoned buildings when she says she's entitled to any money that he left behind. I have no idea how this is such a mystery in their part of the world given that this is a ranch and a small town. The list of suspects shouldn't be astronomically high for anyone to not be able to figure this out. It's almost as if we're not supposed to know who did it until it's the perfect moment or something.

The next day, some men watch Stanley trying to look for footprints only to realize they're his own. Classic Shemp Howard moment. I have no idea who these two guys are but surely they'll have more to do in this movie right? Lonnie accidentally throws water on Brad and of course Brad gets upset. A fight breaks out as somehow all the women know to be there at that exact moment. Lonnie quickly wins and Pam appears out of nowhere to tell him off despite Lonnie literally doing nothing wrong. In an act of karmic justice to prove women are not immune from slapstick in this world, she gets her foot stuck in a bucket and instead of taking the L she keeps walking with it on.

When Lonnie sees her go off on her own, he follows her to an abandoned building. I understand that Pam wants to prove that "she's a big girl", but going to an abandoned building without even telling anyone is just stupid. Especially when you just got attacked not even a day ago by people who want to steal your grandfather's gold. Lonnie following her doesn't even prove that he loves her since he was there when she got attacked. His actions more indicate that he's a good coworker who doesn't want to have Pam make a stupid decision that'll get her killed. It's not as if the letter she's got is all that helpful since we see what's said.

We get exposition that her grandfather once owned the biggest mine in the area, a fantasy scene about the building once being a saloon from the 1800s and an audio change makes me think they used ADR for Pam and Lonnie's lines. This whole scene feels like a love letter to the Shemp era westerns with the jokes that they use, down to the editing techniques they used when Lonnie threw his hat. "Put the Blame on Me" had a similar echo effect, but to me it's fine given that it's a fantasy sequence even though this is also unnecessary filler. We fade back and Pam’s laugh in response to the donkey braying at their almost out of nowhere kiss sounded so fake in what feels like another instance of ADR. I have no idea how we're supposed to believe that now Pam likes her.

We get the luau and apparently Lonnie and Pam are together. I think on paper they wanted to convey that they did like each other and she was playing hard to get, but Lonnie meeting up with her at the abandoned saloon really isn't enough to make her suddenly love him. The Dabney's are upset when one of the female clients tries to steal their chicken because she’s starving. I thought it was funny how she tried to grab more food only to jab Mrs. Dabney. To try to appease them, the boss has Lonnie sing and entertain the guests. "I'm Yours" at least fits with the luau setting so I don't mind the vocal effects this time. In fact it's actually a very sweet song.

Meanwhile Pam almost gets kidnapped again and if I was Vera I'd be seriously considering upping security with how this could impact the other guests. If you have an all girl ranch meant to cater to models/actresses, you need to have security measures in place if it's going to be in the middle of the desert. Lonnie and Stanley try to save Pam and once again she tries to help only to hurt Lonnie. The deputy sheriff goes to find the men only to have an actually shocking twist that he’s in on it. Surprisingly we don't see the two lackeys meant to help him almost as if that's not meant to be revealed until later. Pam and Lonnie read the letter and based on what we see this time I don't get why they're struggling with it. It clearly says you have to pull the crowbar straight toward you to get the money out. Granted the diagram showing the wall isn't all that helpful.

It’s the next day and Lonnie sings "Night Rider" and I have no idea why. This feels like nothing but filler since it comes out of nowhere and is quickly forgotten like it never happened. This should've been the opening song since it clearly doesn't fit here. You could cut right to one of his coworkers wanting him to talk to Vera. At least we don’t have an echo effect on this song.

Vera again tries to hit on him while he tries to turn her down. This is so gross to watch and even Elvis looks at the camera like this is wrong. Lonnie kisses her despite being in a relationship and you got to wonder why he would do that. It isn't as if Vera force herself on him because Lonnie willingly kisses her again. Pam is rightfully upset as she sees Lonnie kiss their boss and for once I'm on her side. Lonnie was in a relationship with her and knowingly kissed Vera back. I know it's a cliche to make it be a misunderstanding but I genuinely would rather have that be the case than to watch Lonnie do this only to try apologizing like he made a mistake.

"I Feel That I've Known You Forever" is surprisingly haunting for a ballad. Him going to every window is so weird and you question why Pam is just as defenseless as before. If she was attacked twice, why would no one think to put some security around her house. This. is meant to be private property so Vera should be able to afford that expense. Pam of course breaks things off and Lonnie just quits the ranch offscreen.

Lonnie joins the rodeo and Pam rightfully doesn’t want to speak to him. If only Pam wasn't so unlikeable in the beginning where we can at least laugh at Lonnie's misfortune. We get a ghostly sound of Pam hearing Lonnie's voice which is pretty spooky. I get that she's meant to struggle with missing him or hating him, but based on the montage of Lonnie calling her for four months only for her to hang up, I don't think it was well executed at all. Stanley somehow knew where to find Lonnie despite not having any update. Lonnie is so down bad for Pam that even though he'd write to her, even his letters were rejected. At this point, I would assume the relationship is over. Four months is long enough to think that she's no longer interested. Stanley meanwhile convinces him that Pam is really playing hard to get and that he should tell her off.

As soon as they get there she drives away. They chase after her and they all think about each other’s relationship. They finally stop at a ghost town when it starts to rain. Lonnie spanks her and I hate it. It doesn't fit with the style of slapstick violence we've seen. The writers don't spare women in their works from getting exposed to slapstick so to me I would've had this be a slap fight until Pam realizes that Lonnie does care about her as someone who's more than just a coworker. That way we get a genuine moment of chemistry between the two.

They end up in an abandoned hotel while it’s raining and keep getting spooked by the storm. It's surprisingly light outside for what's supposed to be a monsoon level storm. We get 3 stooges antics where Stanley keeps getting punched by someone through a hidden door. Even Pam gets scared to the point of screaming bloody murder. This is where the movie turns into a horror film as you feel a level of suspense and upcoming danger. Of course it's still humorous by making Lonnie the straight man and by having Pam make the dumb decision to turn the light off when she's clearly afraid of someone breaking into her room. Since no one is getting hurt, it still keeps the tone light for Lonnie to not believe anything's wrong.

We see guys in masks very akin to some 3 stooges shorts which might also act as a Scooby Doo predecessor. The guy in the wolf mask I'm amazed would even want to be outside in this bad weather. Stanley's very much a tribute to Shemp Howard. Seeing him get spooked by both the guys in masks and Lonnie is something I've seen Shemp do. Lonnie being the straight man by not seeing what Stanley saw adds to it because if you just replace them with Moe and Shemp you'd get the same results and it would still be funny. That's a sign that Elvis clearly understood how to convey that style of comedy. It's actually creative at how some of them even got inside since it's not like anyone knew Pam would be going to that hotel. When one of them gets into her room, Pam, for someone who can take cares of herself, doesn't fight back and instead faints allowing him to steal the letter.

Lonnie of course saves the day in an Elvis vehicle style fight scene. We get the reveal that some of the male staff at the ranch were in cahoots with the deputy sheriff. I don't think this twist was executed well because looking back at previous attempts to capture her, you can't help but raise an eyebrow at how she didn't seem to recognize her coworkers earlier. Sure they had their faces covered but we see how staff wise, it's not that big of a ranch for her to have never met them. Lonnie grabbing the knife only to have the handle come off is hilarious. When the man charges him he opens the door only to reveal nothing on the other side. I genuinely wonder what the purpose of that door was since this is meant to be a restored hotel or if it was just magicked into existence by the writers only to then disappear when it wasn't needed. Stanley falls into the storm shelter in a way that in real life I'm amazed didn't kill him since landing on old wooden furniture wouldn't have softened the fall. When they go to get him, they find a suitcase with Pam's grandpa’s initials on it. Stanley pulls the crowbar out trying to open the suitcase and despite the letter clearly saying that's what you need to do, everyone's shocked to see gold coming out of the wall. Why would they even think it's in a suitcase if grandpa specifically made a diagram of the wall?

The deputy sheriff arrives and they find out he was the mastermind. Lonnie beats him in a fight after the running gag of Pam trying to hit his opponent finally works in his favor. I'm genuinely amazed that he was able to do that since Lonnie's an otherwise normal guy and policemen even in a small town would've had some type of training in physical combat. Brad shows up because Vera somehow knew Pam would be at this hotel and surprisingly had absolutely nothing to do with the deputy sheriff's scheme. It turns out that the two men Stanley was talking to earlier were the same guys trying to kidnap Pam. I'm amazed that we got a rare twist hero in the sense that on first watch you thought for sure that he would try to at least kill Lonnie. The only thing I don't get is what he talking to the cook about when almost Pam got kidnapped since Adolph was part of it too. At least include a line for Brad to explain what they talked about since that's a loose end that was never addressed.

Lonnie and Pam end up getting back together and eventually get married at the ranch. This romance felt so underwhelming and you can tell the writers aren't used to playing it straight. I'm not sure if it's the script or Elvis not having the chemistry with Jocelyn but I just don't see these two getting married. Even though Vera was so into Lonnie, she's apparently not at all upset to see them get married and you just wonder what the point of her making passes at Lonnie was. Nothing changed on her end to suggest she's over him or that she even felt sorry for partially ruining his relationship with Pam for many months. We end with "Slowly But Surely" while Stanley’s getting dragged behind in a wash tub. The lyrics actually fit Lonnie's perspective of trying to win Pam back. Why he's singing this when they're already married is an odd choice, but hey it's been almost a half hour since Elvis' last song so we need to end on one. The rear screen projection is so blatant by having Stanley appear in the rear angle shots but then have him be nowhere to be seen when Lonnie sings. A strange joke to end on as they drive off into the proverbial sunset.

I'm very on the fence with this movie. On the comedy side, this movie is a complete success. Ullman and Bernds were masters of their craft regarding slapstick comedy and Elvis fit into that style well by having him play the straight man. Where they fall flat is the romance as I feel like they were told an Elvis movie has to have a romance so they only added one as an afterthought since an Elvis vehicle romance was never really their style. I wish that the other workers who helped the deputy sheriff had the same level of development Brad had it makes their reveal a little more shocking that Brad was friends with them yet still wasn't part of it.

My rating will likely change next time you ask me but for now it's a 7/10. At this time I don't think the comedy and Brad being the twist hero was enough to overcome a boring romance and awful song placement. If you had simply cut out a lot of songs and use that time to develop the side characters, I think this would've been a great movie. For a movie that really only had $750k to work with, I think they did a great job in capturing that western vibe yet also showcase other parts of the country with the rodeo scene in Phoenix. If you're a 3 Stooges fan that really loves the Shemp Howard era, I highly recommend giving it a watch. Even if you're not, I still think this movie is worth watching as it shows what Elvis could've been if the focus was more on physical slapstick comedy. After all, even Moe got hurt sometimes.

Tagging: @vintagepresley, @kawaiiwitchy, @mercsandmonsters, @jhoneybees, @thetaoofzoe,

@nicferg068, @lycan61-blog, @wildhorseinkansas, @hooked-on-elvis, @thelonelyheart,

@almightybigbrain, @i-r-i-n-a-a, @cherrycolaride, @stickysteve1388, @xs4lvtore,

@urbeatlemaniac, @eapep, @peaceloveelvis, @arrolyn1114, @smokeymountainboy,

@jupiterssparkles, @ssinnerplazahotel, @lilmisspeaches, @getyourpresleyfix, @an-americcan-trilogy,

@atleastpleasetelephone, @halieghhh, @tacozebra051, @xanatenshi and @bonjovipresley.

[itsbansheebitch]

More thoughts

I get both sides, but I feel a little confused they couldn't find four people in their +25 employees

Data analyst (Are you seriously telling me you couldn't personally email or even just HIRE matpat's team who do data analytics as part of Theorist Media to help??? The man would be overjoyed to help???)

Editor (Put the first $6 towards a can of coffee grounds, dude)

PR Team (Even, like, a single person, please, for the love of god)

Business Major (Or literally anyone that has taken a home ec/budgeting/personal finance class)

First, the Dish Granted series was started when gold leaf burgers were novel, now it's seen as tone deaf (for obvious reasons) it should have shifted to something like interviews with people who make that kind of food or local businesses (like parmesan cheese shops in Parma, Italy) or the history of food (like talking about the history of modern Native American slavery on Californian wine vinyards). Not to mention the untapped potential of Food Fraud topics. Either shift it, or scrap it. Any data analyst or chronically online person could tell you that.

Second, why did you keep "anyone can afford $6 a month" in? Are the editors asleep at the wheel? Are they overworked? What is going on? You know damn well to not make generalizations about what people can afford. That's NEVER a good idea, especially when you KNOW (because YT gives you analytics) that most of your viewers are young (16/18-30/35 range, I'd guess) who probably, either 1, are still in school and either arent paid well/dont have jobs OR 2, arent paid well and tired of people's shit, like people who own businesses talking about "tough financial decisions." To them, Watcher isn't going to look different from the other people talking like that, because this was so sudden, with no input from fans, and in the video you hear shit like "anyone can afford [X]." To be frank, it wouldn't really matter what the amount is, because that generalization goes against the message they have stood by for years. THAT is a slap in the face.

Third, what are yall doing with the budgeting? Every artist has a right to make art that they are proud of. Every artist deserves to have their work seen if they so choose. Every artist deserves to make a living. HOWEVER, there are MANY options online when it comes to making money, especially on YT. You could get into marketing, data analysis, expanding your demographic, looking at what people are interested in right now VS what will stand the test of time (not gold leaf burgers), etc.

You have to either have these skills, develop these skills, or hire someone to do it for you. It's understandable that you would want a team behind the production, but I find +25 employees to be WAY too many people, especially in LA. Bailey Sarian has a Dark History section on her YT (and Spotify podcast) where she has hired historians to help make sure her episodes are as accurate as possible. You've caught heat before from Puppet History's missing & incorrect info, you should do the same. She has about three (3) "intermissions" per episode for ad breaks. I never see anyone complain. People WOULD listen to yall talk for that long (+1 hour videos), tbh, though that's not necessary.

Why are yall out here with Teslas, expensive food, new gear, scripts (where there weren't scripts before, PH is different, that makes sense), and "better than TV" level sets??? I need to put your accountant in this week's church prayer list what the actual hell??? Ya'll, this video is literally the meme:

Guys help me budget:

LA Rent: 2K per month

Videos: 100K per vid

+25 Employees: God only knows

New stuff for videos: Don't get me started

Like, are you serious?

You have a right to do whatever you want with your art. You have a right to charge whatever you'd like for that art. You have a right to make a living from your art and you have a right to ask your fans for money.

Your fans have a right to be angry when they've been supporting yall for, what, almost 10 years? They have a right to choose when and where to spend their money even when you've made an impact. They have a right to feel betrayed, especially when there are better options (like Nebula or consulting with Theorist Media).

Fans DO NOT have a right to be racist to any members of Watcher, now that they have made a decision they do not agree with.

I personally, think this is a really silly decision and could have been solved (haha solved) with a simple YT poll, but apparently we had to get... this. I respect their decision, I just don't think it was a smart one. I wish them the best, and I hope they find a better solution. Any further comment from me will depend on what steps they take next.

[onceuponapuffin]

Fanatic Intervention Part 23!!!

Okay, so yes this took me a while, but it's here :)

Let's do this.

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*********************

With a click, the tripod locked into place. Jeremy went behind his recording phone to check the angle one more time. It looked perfect – he would be dead center of the screen as he started his latest masterpiece. He nodded in satisfaction and hit record. He needed to get as much footage as he could before Doug showed up to “bust” him. As much as his viewers loved watching him do this stuff and get away with it, the numbers always jumped whenever he “got caught” and had to get himself out of trouble. Lucky for him he had friends at the police station who were happy to play along for the right price. Doug, specifically, was his most reliable buddy cop. He had like, 3 kids, so he was always happy to have the extra cash. Jeremy was pretty sure he’d taken them to Disney World on it last year. Jeremy’s dad may not have been around all that much, but one thing he’d made sure Jeremy learned early was the power of holding others’ financial stability in the palm of your hand.

Jeremy stepped into the camera’s line of sight, made it look like he was adjusting the angle, then he winked and ran a hand through his hair. Gotta look cool for the camera. Then, he picked up a bottle of spray paint, shook it, and tossed into the air. He missed the catch, but that’s alright, his editor Luca would make it look good in post. Then he started painting. The comments had asked for him to paint something called Trollface. Honestly he’d had to Google it and he thought it was the weirdest thing he’d ever seen, but if it got him views and followers, then sure. He could see the faint chalk lines that his artist Matteo had drawn for him ahead of time. Luca would erase those in post. With another smile at the camera, Jeremy pressed the trigger, and began painting Trollface on the side of the federal office building.

*******************************

Okay, you decide, the time has come. You need to say something.

“Um, hey everyone?” You start as Crowley steers deeper and deeper into the busy streets of LA, “I think the car is a Swiftie.”

Aziraphale sighs and looks at Crowley. “Is this one I want to ask about? I still rather regret asking last time”

“Listen, every song for the last three hours has been Taylor Swift,” You insist, “And the second someone mentions it, the song changes to a different artist, but then it just goes right back!”

Anathema raises an eyebrow at you.

“Don’t give me that look,” You say to her, “You are not someone who should be looking at me like I’m crazy.”

“Maybe it’s just an AI feature,” Sardis suggests, “You know, it sees that there are Taylor Swift songs on our playlist, and Taylor Swift is a pretty big deal right now, so it just gives us more of her songs.”

“No,” You say, “It’s the car, I’m sure of it--” You’re prevented from saying anything else because Crowley slams on the break and leans on the horn. Someone had the audacity to try and cut him off. You have no idea who would try something like that, but you are very sure that they will find themselves regretting it later. To your right, you see Sardis shaking his head. Anathema is swearing under her breath in at least two languages, and Aziraphale is holding on to anything he can get a grip on as though his life depends on it. You, for your part, are trying a bunch of breathing techniques to try and shake off the shock of what just happened. While inhaling and counting on your fingers, you happen to look out the window, and you get the breath knocked out of you for a second time.

“WAIT I THINK I SEE HIM!” You scream, pointing out the window. Crowley slams on the brakes again and swerves in the direction you’re pointing. A corner of your brain is once again comforted to realize that he does actually use his mirrors. Aziraphale shrieks and grabs the overhead handle with both hands. Anathema swears really loudly, but Sardis actually looks where you pointed and becomes rather excitable himself.

“THAT’S HIM! THAT’S HIM!” Sardis yells, confirming your suspicion.

What are the chances, right? Yeah, okay we’ve done this bit before, I’m not gonna harp on it. You get how this goes by now. Suspend your disbelief – we have things to do.

The kid in question – Jeremy – is busily vandalizing the side of an office building. He’s within view of the street, which honestly you find really annoying. Couldn’t he at least have the decency to go around back? No, you figure, probably not. That tik tok seemed to suggest that he wanted to get caught. How on earth were you going to convince him to help save the world?

The car comes to a screeching halt right behind the boy who, weirdly enough, doesn’t seem alarmed by the sound. He doesn’t jump or anything. At least, not until he turns around, then he almost leaps three feet in the air. There’s suddenly surprise and confusion on his face as Crowley cuts the engine and hops out. Aziraphale also scrambles out the door, but you figure that’s probably less about the mission and more about Crowley’s driving.

Jeremy drops his spray paint and runs.

Aziraphale groans. “Must it be running?” He asks no one in particular. There isn’t any time to reply before Sardis goes rushing past the lot of you.

“You coming slowpokes?” He calls over his shoulder.

“No!” Aziraphale answers, “You’re doing quite well on your own! We’ll catch up with you!”

“Speak for yourself!” Anathema huffs at the angel. Then she picks up her skirt and starts running after Sardis, heels and all. You look over your shoulder and see that Crowley and Aziraphale have hopped back in the car. Wait, wait, you’re gonna get left behind. After only a second of indecision, you book it back to the car behind the husbands and you only just manage to get your other foot in the door before the door slams behind you and Crowley takes off at full speed. How does he know where he’s going? You have no idea, but you’re not asking questions. Besides, you’re busy being thrown around the backseat because he took off too fast for you to put on your seatbelt.

“OI! OUTTA THE WAY!!” He yells, full volume, laying on the horn. The traffic bends to his will, as do the lights. There are miraculous spaces for Crowley to weave between cars, every light is green, and he drives through construction zones without any trouble. Once you finally manage to sit back up and click in a seatbelt (it immediately locks tight, which is uncomfortable, but you decide it’s the better of your options), you glance at Aziraphale, whose eyes are shut tight. You vaguely register that the car has started playing Taylor Swift again.

“You okay, Azi?” You call. The seatbelt is constricting you too much to get his full name out. Fortunately he seems MUCH too distracted to notice.

“As long as Crowley doesn’t discorporate us, I’ll be fine,” The angel mutters. The look on his face says otherwise.

“Yeah, Crowley please don’t kill us,” You call to the driver’s seat. From the rearview mirror you can see the smile on his face, and just how yellow his eyes are getting.

“We’ll be FINE,��� He says through his devilish smile, as a maniacal laugh rises in his throat. Well, nice to see someone is enjoying themselves.

“Good lord,” Aziraphale mutters. Honestly, you can’t tell if he’s trying to be sassy or if he’s actually praying. Could easily be either.

You close your eyes, and do your best not to throw up.

After what feels like too long, the car finally drifts to a screeching halt. You’re thrown sideways, and find yourself feeling grateful for the hug of the seatbelt – it’s the only thing keeping you from being thrown against the door like a ragdoll. The doors and seatbelt unlock with a click, and your door is thrown open for you. It takes you a second to get your bearings, and as soon as you step out of the car, you see three figures running toward you at full speed. Jeremy, and right behind him, Sardis and Anathema.

Jeremy’s attention is behind him. Clearly he doesn’t expect anyone to have gone around. By the time he looks back, he’s going to fast to stop – and he bumps into Crowley.

“Well well well,” The demon says, towering over the teen, “It’s been a while, now, hasn’t it?”

❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ 🖤

As per usual, feel free to tell me your thoughts and ideas in the comments :)

I'll to my best to keep the updates on some kind of normal-ish schedule.

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[gynoids-over-androids]

How do you deal with being a radfem in the art world? In feel like I made a huge mistake in my younger years when I was drawn into queer art and now most of my art contacts are 'queer'. Not only is queer art getting worse and worse when it comes to quality and pretty void of intelect but I also feel if I say exactly what I want with my art, Ill be outcast forever. Not that I have loads of succes but everything would be over then : ( these days Im staying off feminist topics because I know, if I do something woman centric, people will not like it..... I feel like an idiot coward.

im currently switching to tech and continuing art on the side, to secure my wellbeing financlially at least. i think if i wasn't doing it, id be way less eager to talk about feminist topics...

i also feel like a coward sometimes, i know what you mean. for example for this exhibition/art residency i didnt outright tell im a radical feminist, i said im a "materialist feminist who goes to the root and re-mater-ializes female history" lol. i know i wouldnt be "allowed" to mention it at best (happened to another art piece about a radfem) and #cancelled at worse. i know other radfems who are more outspoken about this, i feel like a coward compared to them, but i also think being strategic wouldnt hurt. i think there are ways to present your work and yourself that wouldnt compromise it but also wouldnt completely erase what you want to say.

when we were working on this exhibtion, honestly i didnt even say anything when they were talking about certain topics cause that would be high risk, low reward. for others, id turn their own tactiques on them ("wow, this is something i only hear in the west! maybe i dont understand this cause im an immigrant", "wow thats crazy that there are so many different genders, in X language we only have the word for sex and we use the english word "gender"for sexist stereotypes") etc. It was VERY funny!

i had accusations of transphobia because i often depict vulvas in my work abt women, so i just mad fun of these accusations ("what, do i need to stick dicks everywhere then? im not interested"). a male artist with a piece about gay men which only depicted dick havers didnt (normal) have this criticism ofc.

i agree 100% with what you say about "queer" art. it's such a meaningless label today in the art world, it's anything but subversive. ime it's something these (western and middle+ class) artists use to mean "abnormal", but about ANYTHING! (ex. making art about your stay in a mental health clinic is "queer"). it's SO bigoted.

personally i have a "squeeze every opportunity" mindset. if TRAs want to infiltrate the art space (predominantly female at least in the beginning btw) and make everything about them, why cant we? we need to use every opportunity we can, because i can guarantee no one else is gonna make real feminist art. we need to be strategic about this, sure.

another thing (and thats just my opinion) sometimes we just need to present feminist work without marking them as radical. expressing radfem views and describing them as normal feminism is safer for us and makes the piece more accessible to others, and thats my ultimate goal. im not interested in arguing with cultists, im interested in making art for women.

finally i think its important to create our own spaces and opportunities. id love to make an exhbition or a book abt radfem art one day.

if you want to dm me to talk more, you're welcome, i'll respect your desire for safety

tldr i deal with this by humour + idgaf attitude + trolling + not depending on this financially + being strategic with what you say

[tedlyanderson]

Reading posts from someone I follow on why image generators are a legitimate form of art and their use should be normalized, and it's refreshing to encounter some pro-generative-AI arguments more nuanced than "I don't want to pay artists." I still think they're fundamentally wrong, but it's been extremely helpful, because it's forced me to examine my own thoughts on the matter and determine why, exactly, I believe what I do. Something something mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone, idk, I didn't watch Thame of Groans.

(Of course I'm not going to mention the person by name or tag them or anything, and for that matter I'd appreciate it if people didn't reblog this. I'm not writing this to get into an argument; I'm mostly just consolidating my own thoughts into a semi-coherent form.)

There are a number of arguments that have been leveled against generative AI, some of which I find more persuasive than others. The energy usage and financial waste, for instance, are significant, but not relevant in the case of one person using a locally hosted image generator and not selling the results. The question of the quality of the work is similarly unimportant to the bigger question; AI-generated images are going to continue to get better-looking as the technology improves, and "good" versus "bad" art is impossible to define in a meaningful way for the purposes of this argument.

The copyright argument is much more important, particularly to me as a creator. Another user pointed out that copyright cases against LLMs (on behalf of creators whose works were included in the learning sets) could have a potentially deleterious effect on fair use and transformative artworks. I'm not hooked into the legal scholarship on this, so I can't respond to that point. I do think it's somewhat short-sighted of that user to say "AI is a tool like any other, its use can be good or evil, our true enemy is capitalism," and then turn around and attack copyright as some kind of uniquely evil legal technology, rather than a technology that can also be used for good (making sure artists are recognized and paid for their work) or evil (large corporations shutting down parodies). And yeah, the revolution would fix all this, but how long do we have to wait for that? And what can we do in the meantime?

Anyway, the one argument that made me genuinely examine my own beliefs was "what is art anyway, and can you define it in a way that does not disqualify large swaths of what is widely recognized as human creative work and also excludes generative AI?" Because that's the meat of all this—not whether image generators suck up too much energy (because it's not about the specifics of the technology, which will change and improve over time, just as new types of paint do not fundamentally alter the nature of painting) nor copyright (which is a whole other legal mess), but whether we can call this "art" at all. For that, you need a definition, and that's the sticking point.

The original poster named a couple common ways of defining art/not-art (the "smell test," i.e. I Know It When I See It, and the "quality test," i.e. Can You Hang It In A Museum, which are largely the same but from different perspectives), and points out that they and other definitions would exclude quite a lot of human endeavors that most people would describe as art (graffiti, calligraphy) as well as fields that are more difficult to define but could constitute art (mathematics, programming).

(They also ascribed to anyone who attempted to make such a definition the motivation of not just gatekeeping but unadulterated fascism, which is an argument I think holds no water and wins them no friends, but. Let's just leave the paranoia aside and concentrate on the argument itself.)

So what is art? How do we define it, and why do I fundamentally disagree that anything that comes out of an image generator can be considered "art"?

I don't think this is sufficient for a full definition, but after talking it over with friends, I think, in part, art requires a perspective, which is to say that it must be the result of individual human decisions about non-trivial components. Another way to state this would be that the artist (if indeed they are an artist) must be able to make conscious choices about the work that are beyond what is strictly necessary for its completion.

Should the background be blue or green? Would this sentence be improved by an adjective? How large of a flourish should this letter have? What if I carve the gargoyle's snarl more deeply? What color should the hair of my halfling rogue be? These choices are indicative of a product that would be widely recognized as belonging to the category of "art."

Obviously, there are still gray areas. Certain fields have both a creator and a performer; can we say that one is "more of" an artist than the other? What about commissioned works? What if the artist is creating something within a strict limit or form—for instance, the 14-line sonnet, or a novel without the letter 'e'? What about Duchamp's Fountain, or John Cage's "4'33""? What about works with a large number of creators, such as films or collaborative writings? What about works where there is a level of interactivity with the audience, such as video games or certain theater pieces? Those and other questions are certainly open to debate, and should be debated! But to my mind, they do not challenge the fundamental principle, which is that the artist is an artist because they exercise choice in the process of creation.

Thus, by my (admittedly partial and underdeveloped) definition, I don't regard AI-generated images as art. The algorithm does not choose in a meaningful way; it merely calculates the most statistically likely next word/pixel/frame/etc. based on the database and the prompt with which is has been provided. (If you want to claim that this constitutes a choice, please submit a 5,000-word essay on whether free will exists and how we could possibly know if it does.) The remixer samples a specific beat; the collage artist cuts a particular image out of a magazine; the parodist deliberately draws in a specific way. The computer computes. It uses a mathematical operation—which, by definition, is repeatable and will produce the exact same outputs, given the same inputs. (Yes, the results have elements of randomization. We all know that true randomness is impossible for a computer, so they produce quasi-random numbers using things like the system time and so forth. I don't want to split hairs on this specific point. You get what I'm gesturing to. Don't look at the finger, look at the moon.) A prompt limits the database to certain specific sets, which the algorithm assembles according to its internal logic. The input is disconnected from the outputs; anyone could input the same prompt and receive the same art. (Even The Policeman's Beard is Half Constructed required an editor.) Generative AI is no more "creating" a piece of visual art than turning a radio dial to a specific station is "composing" the music that plays. The purely mathematical nature of its generative process makes it no qualitatively different from assembling a Lego set according to the directions.

The first obvious challenge to my partial definition is to say that it just restates the premise and shifts the goalposts: art is something that must be made by a person, and thus cannot be made by a computer. Which is fair! This is a verbalization of a belief I've always held about art, and which caused me to immediately (instinctively, unthinkingly) reject the idea that an AI-generated image could be "art." That's how I got into this discursive mess! It's why my brain recoiled when I heard someone call these images "art"!

But it also helps me understand why I instinctively categorize other acts and works as either "art" or "not art." A photograph was taken by a person at a specific time and a specific place, its elements arranged and its moment chosen according to the photographer's visual logic; it is therefore art. A hamburger put together by an underpaid worker at McDonald's is not art; a recipe by a chef that combines existing ingredients in a new way or using a new method is; a meal created by a person who tweaked a recipe might be. (That one might actually run counter to current copyright law, I'm not sure.) A mechanism assembled by a worker on an assembly line, identical in every way to another mechanism made by a different worker, is not art, because there was no choice on the part of the worker. (Could it be art because the designer of the mechanism exercised choice? Depends on the nature of the mechanism and the industry! Venmo me $20 for a debate.) A dance choreographed to produce a specific visual effect is art; an exercise designed to stretch certain muscles in the most efficient and painless way is not art. And so forth.

AI-generated images are not art. (They are also not a medium, which I saw several other commentators claim; an image is an image, regardless of where it comes from. I'm already knee-deep in linguistic debate, let's not cloud the matter any further.) Generative AI is a tool, and there are and can be creative and ethical uses for it! But to claim that it is capable of making art is giving agency to a thing that cannot have it, and claiming that someone who writes "sexy anime girl" in a prompt field is an artist is to expand the meaning of that word to the point of nonsense.

More than one person has brought up Jorge Luis Borges' "The Library of Babel" when talking about the potential of AI-generated works. It's got some bearing on the question, sure, but I feel like the more apropos point of comparison is his story "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote." In that work, Pierre Menard is a friend of the author's who is attempting to become the author of Don Quixote—not in the sense that he is trying to plagiarize the work, or time-travel and replace Cervantes in history, but that he is trying to make himself into a version of himself that could have independently written Don Quixote. It's partly a critique of elements of literary criticism, in that Quixote would become a far more interesting book (according to the narrator) if it had been written by a 20th-century Frenchman rather than a 17th-century Spaniard (it was written some 28 years before Barthes' "The Death of the Author," for context). But in the context of the current argument of generative AI, and specifically to my fumbling attempts to defining what is and is not art, it's an illustrative example of what I think it all boils down to: any work of art is the work of an artist, who inevitably brings to the work perspective/knowledge/experience/an individual understanding of the world. Ascribing any such perspective to an algorithm is just fetishism. (And not the kind that generative AI is most often used for.)

Or, to put this way more succinctly and directly:

[synergysilhouette]

Plotting out "Rainstar" (Disney movie)

Make sure to check out the post summarizing my various posts from the fanmade Disney Reinvention Era here (and I'll probably edit it to fit my fleshed-out posts).

Background: Despite somewhat fatigue of superhero films, several projects are brought to Disney's attention, though they are quick to shoot down any comic adaptations, preferring to do original ideas in contrast to "Big Hero 6." Eventually they settle on a pitch for a superhero film with a female lead that takes inspiration from the many 90s superhero shows. Disney is interested by this, particularly since "The Incredibles" is inspired by mid 20-century comics and most superhero films (live-action and animated) are usually placed in present-day. The setting is unique enough while still being accessible and engaging for many of their audience members. That said, despite the "retro" setting, many influences during production were taken from 21st century comics and comic-inspired materials. Interestingly, the pitch comes with an addendum: possibly making it a musical. The idea of a superhero musical is almost immediately dismissed, as the styles are too different from each other, but an alternate suggestion is made instead of a traditional music format: crafting a soundtrack that's played during the film, similar to "Black Panther" and "Suicide Squad." This is also something Disney did with "Tarzan." It's an iffy idea, particularly because the film is relatively modern, and the radio-friendly sound the soundtrack would have is likely seen as a cash-grab move. While they consider using Moss and Marlow again after "Midnight Masquerade," they eventually they agree to the proposed option instead (partially due to it being mentioned how Disney already enlisted the help of Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar for "Khoeli, which ended up being a big success), but another problem comes to mind: who should be part of the team, including the music. The thought of Brad Bird directing is quickly dropped, and they come to the conclusion to choose a female director--especially since this era hasn't had any yet--with Jennifer Lee writing the script (and significant contributions from Joss Whedon), and several artists being reached out to to help craft a soundtrack. The film goes over many, many, many changes in story, tone, and characters, until eventually becoming "Rainstar." One of them is the decision to take inspiration from the "Arkham" Batman video games and make the events of the film occur all in one night instead of over the course of several weeks.

(Note: I didn't decide on a director because there's a bit of a shortage of female directors for animated films, and I wasn't sure which one would fit the bill, live-action or otherwise, though I had an idea or two.)

Plot

In the early 90s, the city of Phoenix Crown took to the world stage as a lively, bustling town of ingenuity and culture. More than that, it became notorious for an unprecedented uptick in crime, and an unusual one at that. Superheroes and supervillains are no longer just whispers on the street; they live and embody the chaos of the city, and the future of what could become the greatest city in the United States rests on the shoulders of who can restore the peace.

Characters

Rainstar--A young woman who grew up in a somewhat selfish family (inspired by sitcoms such as "Married With Children" and Seth MacFarlane cartoons, albeit not quite as self-destructive), the woman who would become Rainstar was selfish and vapid, not particularly interested in anything other than herself. However, following some, ahem, complications after moving to the city of Phoenix Crown, she became endowed with impeccable strength, athlete-level speed, combustion, and durability that's made her something of an extemophile. While she originally planned to find a way to financially benefit from these newfound abilities, saving the lives of people one day gained her instant fame, which she adored. With time, this adoration turned to duty, and she became a fixture in the major city as crime experienced a surge in the coming years. With a sense of humor, a positive attitude, and a strong will, she's a credit to the city--even if not everyone agrees.

Her personality is highly derived from Marvel superhero She-Hulk, as well as several iconic female characters from various comic books, video games, and anime. For her stylized design, her appearance is heavily derived from distinct pop stars.

Sundial--A young scientist who is fascinated with superpowers. After wrongly being terminated by a corrupt superior, he took the situation in stride and built his own laboratory with loyal personnel. He eventually discovered that some individuals have a "superhero gene," and while his contemporaries had expected him to monetize it, he decides to bring out the gene in himself, and succeeding. While not an overwhelming power, his healing factor is something highly useful, and one he keeps secret. With time, he becomes equally philosophical and insane, questioning the purpose of humanity and seeing himself as "the great scientist" who is to discover the secrets of life. As such, he occasionally puts on his own costume to kidnap unsuspecting victims, with his acrobatic ability making it quite easy to evade unwanted attention and capture his prey as he sees fit. Rainstar isn't a killer and she believes that Sundial is as a danger to himself, and that he could really make a difference in the medical field if he wasn't...unwell. This may be fueled by the fact that despite his cruelty, he's often kind and polite, and his interest in human nature has a somewhat childlike sense of wonder.

Despite the clandestine business, his costume is neon, like the lights of the city at night. Ironically, him matching the scene makes his otherwise loud appearance blend in.

Glasseye--An aspiring psychologist, the young man who would become Glasseye was born and raised in Phoenix Crown, and was heavily inspired by Rainstar. He had no intentions on becoming a hero of course, preferring the more domestic way of helping people via her future profession. However, he is one of the few people whose supernatural ability manifested itself naturally in the form of telekinesis and telepathy that occasionally manifests itself in cognitive inducement (at which point his eyes take a glassy shine to them). Eventually, he accidentally probes Rainstar's mind and discovers her identity, and she suggests an infrequent collaboration, to which he reluctantly agrees due to wanting to help others and her connections to higher-ups. He's typically seen as her "nerdy" counterpart, but he's got a big brain and is cautious where she's bold. They make a great team, but they make even better friends.

Dangerprone--Another "villain" (as most of Phoenix Crown would call it) of Phoenix Crown, she has the ability to teleport, though she's also a skilled martial artist, so...watch out for that. She's alluring but upfront, and is in a temporary partnership with Sundial. She's a wild card to his more methodical way of doing things, but she has morals and standards. In a way, she's essentially what Rainstar would've become if she hadn't become a hero. She wants to run the city that's a focal point of technology and power, as she's very aware that she who conquers that City of Dreams conquers the world.

Songs

(For once I didn't make a song list since not all of them would be tied to the story and would mainly just work for the worldbuilding/overall narrative. Maybe I'll come back and add some, though).

Lemme know what you think! I DESPERATELY want Disney to make a superhero musical, so this was an idea I had for a while. Only three more films left for the "Reinvention" era!

[joesalw]

Just went through the r/SwiftlyNeutral and saw a post about her firing her manager back in 2005 and him suing her and her parents in 2008. Holy hell. The audacity of this woman to make herself seem like she came from this humble background when in reality her daddy bought her a record deal AND HIRED BRITNEY SPEARS' MANAGER. There's a court doc attached to the post.

So basically they hired Dan Dymtrow who shopped her to major labels and invited execs to see her perform at the Blue Bird Cafe. He hired consultants to help her improve her skills, educated her and her family about marketing, branding, imaging to 'help develop a satisfactory press kit to present to music industry executives and for press/media coverage'. Got her A&F deal, scheduled meetings in New York and Nashville with major record companies. "Due in significant part to her young age, not one major record label would even meet with Artist before Mr. Dymtrow agreed to represent her".

In 2004 he had a "press-package" sent to Scott Borchetta (who was the Executive Vice-President for Universal Music Group at the time) and invited him to see her perform at the Blue Bird Cafe and sent her demo to him. After that Borchetta left UMG and started his own label. He told Dymtrow that he wanted to sign Taylor. Dymtrow "worked closely with Borchetta to ensure that Artist would get the most favorable record contract terms". In July 2005 Scott Swift told Dymtrow that he was terminating his contract and a few weeks after Taylor signed with Big Machine (they fired him to avoid paying him I'm assuming). Before he was fired, he was pursuing Creative Artists Agency "CAA" to represent Swift. In June 2005 they offered to sign Taylor as their client and the contract was signed after her manager was fired (his contract was officially terminated in August 2005).

In about May 2005 Scott Swift began to systematically and wrongfully discredit Dymtrow's efforts and interfere with management, created a division between his daughter and her manager. Prior to firing him, her father requested and obtained Dymtrow's goals and plans for his daughter's career and contacts he was relying on. In July he demanded Dymtrow to draft NINE different business plans to chart her career for the next five years. The following day he asked him about WHO OWNED ARTIST'S MASTER RECORDINGS(!!!). That was before the deal was even signed.

The story she's selling is completely re-written. They hired a top industry manager with lots of contacts in the industry, nosed out his plans and a list people that can help, fired him without paying. They knew about her possibly not having the ownership of her masters even before the contract was signed. The lawyer that represented her when she was 13-years-old is currently the Global Head of Artists at YouTube Music. Just scums.

After his contract was terminated, Andrea and Taylor had a dinner with him where Taylor told him that she didn't want to fire him and her father made her choose between him or the manager *ew*. Her father also threatened to cut-off any financial support related to her career if she didn't fire the guy *again,ew* which Andrea confirmed.

Someone mentioned that the skeletons in her closet will fall out on their own and I think that's true. Her own fans (former fans?) will be her downfall. I mean, I found this in a supposed Swiftie Reddit sub. If this kind of stuff gets more traction she *may be* screwed.

.

[blazehedgehog]

What do you think of AI stuff like DAll-E or Midjourney?

It's not as useful as some people want you to believe. A lot of people pushing for the acceptance of this kind of software are the same tech bros that invested in crypto currency and were trying to sell you NFTs, which should tell you enough.

All of this "it's democratizing art!" and "finally, people can make art even if they don't have natural talent!" is snake oil.

You know where my "natural talent" came from? I started drawing when I was 4 or 5 years old. I drew at least one thing per day for over 20 years. I earned the ability to crank out dumb doodles on a whim.

You can't just show up one day and think you deserve to make artwork without putting in the work to learn and get good at it. Art's importance comes from the length of time needed to learn to master it. And I don't just mean drawings, I mean music, film, food, everything. No matter what it is, effort is value.

Financial value, sentimental value, it doesn't matter. All value is derived from the effort required to make it.

If you can just push a button and churn out artwork en masse, that devalues the importance of art. I mentioned this back with the Martin Scorsese ask, but it's like, which has more value? An original hand-made piece of artwork, or a print of that artwork? Prints are easy to mass produce. You can get a nice, high quality, glossy print of the Mona Lisa almost for free at this point. But the actual Mona Lisa, the original product, is actually valuable beyond value.

Art prints are literally just replicating a single file over and over and over again, but the original is one-of-a-kind and where all the effort is most evident. All the layers of paint can be felt as DaVinci sought perfection in his work. That's what makes it special. That's what makes it important.

My uncle does woodworking. He's so good at it, he gave my Mom an end table that looks like it came from a high-tier furniture store. A mass-produced end table like that would be at least $100. He made it by hand. It is beautiful. I will treasure that end table forever.

Effort is value.

If you spend any length of time looking at art websites where AI art is allowed (such as deviantart or pixiv), what you'll often find is these AI art chumps submitting massive amounts of artwork. They'll submit 10, 20, 40+ images a day, all from the same prompt, all with slight differences, because to them, every single thing the generator produces is worth submitting.

Even when I was drawing regularly, I could only really do maybe one finished piece per day. Two if you were lucky. Not only because sketching, inking, coloring and shading would take so long, but because after I was done the tank was empty. I'd used up all my effort for the day and had no more creativity left to give.

All the claims of "letting people without artistic talent generate art" are bogus because it throws the whole signal-to-noise ratio out of wack. Too much signal in itself becomes noise. And it devalues the effort that real artwork takes, because real artwork is now part of that noise, instead of rising above it.

When anyone can vomit out hundreds or even thousands of AI generated images that are of decent-to-good quality, a lot of what would be considered "b-tier" artwork ceases to be important anymore.

In a world where AI generated images are normalized, only the top 0.1% of artwork (your Mona Lisas) are considered to have real value. And who benefits the most from that kind of stuff? Rich people. Rich people who can afford to drop a million dollars on a historic piece of hand-crafted artwork. And just to be clear: these are exactly the same people who are trying to sell you on how important AI generator software is going to be going forward.

Or to simplify it even more: the people who stand to profit the most from AI "art" are the ones trying the hardest to sell you on its benefits. Because it benefits them more than it will ever benefit you.

Because, full disclosure, over this last week, a friend of mine has been having a lot of fun with Bing's new image generator feature, and I couldn't help but also play with the toy. The quality of images it can generate is shocking.

Microsoft, in their endless desperation to get anyone to use Bing on purpose, is clearly playing with fire here.

When effort is value and value is effortless, nothing has any value anymore.

I understand how, if you aren't an artist, this is all probably incredibly difficult to comprehend. The lure of fast and easy artwork from a simple line of text is a net gain to you, and nothing else really matters to your perspective. But imagine all of the up-and-coming artists who get completely pushed out of the conversation because of how easy it is to crap out endless AI generator output. I spent 20 years drawing every day for results that can be beaten in 20 seconds.

How many future artists is that going to discourage? There's a lot of buzz, now more than ever, about "late stage capitalism" and the way that's manifesting in our lives. When AI generated images are "good enough", how is that going to change the world around us?

You can't just think, "we'll figure something out" because the people trying to control this narrative do not have your best interests in mind. The people trying to control this narrative think they still don't have enough money yet even though there's not much money left to give them.

Their solution is to stop paying people to do work that they can get a computer to do for free, even if it means destroying the entire foundation of human culture. Long term destruction for short term gain. The same old story.

Are they going to get away with it?

(Another good ask along this line is over here, from February.)

[a-man-for-hire-and-his-archives]

‘Black Sails’ Star Luke Arnold Is Creating A Graphic Novel With A Strong Creative Compass

Though he’s had a long run as a working actor, Australian born Black Sails and INXS: Never Tear Us Apart star Luke Arnold says he’s always been a writer. He says that’s related to his favorite part of acting – figuring out the strategy for the performance more than the performance itself.

For Arnold, getting into the space to create is vital. Drama school was followed by the start of his on-screen career, but while he was still writing, he felt a truth that will resonate with many aspiring creators: “For so long you’re so desperate for a paycheck and for something to happen in your career that for so long as a young actor, it’s hard to really focus on something [else],” he says while recounting the process of trying to find time to write in between auditions and jobs.

Arnold is talking with us as he readies the launch of a Kickstarter campaign around a new, high concept graphic novel that he-co-wrote with Chris “Doc” Wyatt. The story plays with shifting realities, twisting truths, and anti-science ideas. It sound expansive and timely, deploying multiple heavy-hitter artists (including Bill Sienkiewicz, Glenn Fabry, Jason Howard, Vince Locke, Brendan McCarthy, Andrea Mutti, and M.K. Perker) in collaboration with The Lab Press. This follows his three novels with a fourth on the way.

Arnold’s writing work is the result of a careful balance that grants him the time to carve out dedicated space to write, doing it in a way that seems to not just impact the work but also reinvigorate him when a new acting role comes along. That balance has come from having worked steadily and from legit financial planning.

“I do put time aside and I know I’ve got to make the acting money last through that time. And make sure there’s enough, all the rent and bills and everything are covered while the money isn’t pouring in the same way it does when you’re on an acting job that gives you a check every week,” says Arnold.

Working in this fashion gives Arnold the ability to not be pushed into bad creative decisions by necessity, accountable to his audience more than to the business side of things. It’s a luxury, to be sure, but one that he is happy to lean into with focus and humbleness (believe me, Arnold gets how lucky he is to be able to put one career down for a moment to pick up another, mentioning it more than once).

“If you start spending so much that now you have to make all your decisions based on finances, you start making the wrong decisions, you start taking jobs you don’t want to take.” says Arnold.

The desire to chase a kind of purity with the creative process extends beyond planning and striving for dedicated time. It also factors into how he chose to pursue this specific process, turning to Kickstarter.

“It takes so many barriers away, because so much in publishing and getting books out can be about this whole network of agents and publishers to the booksellers, to the bookstores, to the people in the bookstores recommending it to readers. And that can be such a great pipeline of people, but it can also limit what people have access to,” Arnold says. “Kickstarter is a very level playing field and very creator driven. So it’s a perfect place for this whole journey to start.”

While Arnold also lauds Kickstarter’s creative community and other benefits, he acknowledges the advantage his name recognition brings, though we both agree that it may, at times, be overstated.

“I think that the’ve got to be careful how I say this. I’m sure when I get opportunities like this, some part of it is that I have have a profile from a TV show. But I think it often gets overestimated, this idea of how much of an audience will follow you between different fields and different mediums,” he says, before I co-sign the thought by reminding that there is a big difference between following someone and giving them a credit card number.

At the end of the day, while some may click because of Arnold’s run on Black Sails (the pirate epic is about to hit Netflix in full), the idea for Essentials has to win them over. It’s why we’re talking with him, to be honest. And so, to end off and share info on the Kickstarter, let’s have him make that sales pitch in his own words.

“Essentials follows Harris Pax, who was the one scientist who foresaw this inter-dimensional collision happening where our dimension collided with another. Now objective reality has become untethered. And people’s subjective realities are becoming real, the way they see the world, their fears, beliefs, ideas are manifesting around them. This was a kind-of COVID baby. This was an idea that we were forming in 2020. A lot of it is dealing with that idea of what the hell do you do when everyone is in their own little world. And we can no longer agree on some basic facts, science, the world we’re in, and how hard is it to do what Harris tries to do, which is to go into these subjective realities and try and convince the person inside that they need to come back to the real world.”

You can check out the Kickstarter for Essentials on April 17.

Source: Uproxx

[joyswonderland1108]

I'm.. Confused?

Okay i will be completely honest here, i rarely very rarely watch any content that isn't purely BTS when it comes to, well.. BTS. So when it's something about Bang PD talking about BTS sometimes i only catch snippets on my tl and i end up watching it very later solely because there was a mention of BTS.

Now this popped up on my TL because someone qt tweeted it, i'm not sure about what this interview was all about, i still didn't watch it, i don't have the whole context but anygays :

(My Tumblr isn't giving me a preview of the post so i'm linking the ss of the post anyways)

After i've been sitting here reading this over and over again, reading comments and quotes i was like.. If this is real, well it most probably is since i didn't see anyone correcting OP yet on the take, just how many times were BTS lied to, gaslighted up until this day about things they are doing..

And if you think about it it's actually pretty scary, imagine being manipulated into thinking you are not doing good enough and you need to do this and that to be able to achieve XYZ goal that you have, but at what cost? How do we even know that those "motivations" aren't backed up by a selfish desire of seeing BTS grow just for the financial gain the company gets from that? How do you even know that the way they are being led won't strip away what the members themselves wanted to achieve by choosing a path that was wrongfully introduced to them?

I don't know if i'm making sense here and i hate how people are quick to call BTS company's puppets when shit like that is being talked about, but honestly? Personally if i've been working under someone who is supposed to be a leader helping me, someone who so far through years has been a person i've looked up to, respected and trusted to seek advise from to continue to push for my dreams, just for them to end up being liars about the advise they gave me, because maybe the most crucial part of my dream was never going to be fulfilled following the advise i was given, maybe the advise helped me grow and through me that person was able to grow as well leaving the part i might've been in desperate need from the start..

I feel like i'm still not making any sense, i also don't know how much i should rely on a single post and comments and qts backing it up but as i said, if it's all true, if it's all not just some misunderstanding of some sort, then goddamn it's really scary!!! I wouldn't want to imagine our boys trusting someone enough to see their advise as something precious they might feel it should be considered, they make them believe that they are given full freedom to chose while maybe even the choices that are out there presented to them are still not on a wider scale presenting a potential to reach what they were made to believe would make them achieve what they want for the future.

Many artists don't only seek the artistry recognition, some people want or NEED a recognition on different aspects including who they are too as a person not just as an artists, but the mere thought that this can be stripped away from an artist just by using this gaslighting tactics.. *Sigh*

I'm rambling, i don't know i just poured all the thoughts that came to my mind after reading that. All i ever want is for our boys to be happy with their career, their artistry, their creativity, their professional and personal lives, i just want them to find comfort in both and always feel no type of restriction or barrier out there for them to reach the peak of their happiness..