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nattaphum · 1 year

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Earlier this year at the Gateway of India in Mumbai, Phakphum Romsaithong — or more affectionately known by his nickname “Mile” — was spotted at the Dior Women’s Fall ’23 show together with fellow co-star “Apo” Nattawin Wattanagitiphat. There was plenty of buzz surrounding their attendance: #MileApo appeared on Twitter’s trending page, while “Did Mile and Apo come to India” became one of many common Google searches about the two actors. Despite being just two years into their careers in the Thai entertainment industry, the duo requires no introduction — and it is all thanks to the seminal action and romance television series KinnPorsche: The Series.

Since it first aired on 2 April 2022 after a year of production delays, the show consistently trended worldwide as each weekly episode arrived. While a shift in scriptwriting — especially as the story pursues themes of the Mafia with darker, complex themes that most series in Thailand have shied away from — many have reasoned that the natural interactions of Mile and Apo in the series are a rarity. Coupled with an intense promotional strategy that saw graphic teasers each time an episode was announced and a slew of behind-the-scenes footage available in durations twice as much as the series, it made sense why these actors have rapidly risen into contemporary pop culture knowledge.

While we have come to know both Mile and Apo, rarely do we get a glimpse of Mile without his tether to Apo. Once a communications and journalism graduate, the 31-year old — who never expected that acting would be his calling — has been going back and forth between personas. For faithful fans, he might be Kinn but within closed doors, Mile remains just as he was before the series. Two years on, Mile is still intensely committed to his fans. “I approach my work with an open mind, not knowing the extent of its potential success,” Mile mentions. “Nevertheless, my main focus remains on giving my absolute best and ensuring the happiness of those who witness it. Their satisfaction is of utmost importance to me.”

Hello Mile, how are you these days?

I’m currently doing well, although quite occupied at the moment. If we were to represent it as a graph, it might appear as a lull period. However, I am utilising this time to engage in self-care — both physically and mentally — and to make necessary preparations. 

What did it feel like waking up the morning the show debuted?  

I’m thrilled to be addicted to the series once again. Its irresistible charm keeps me coming back for more, just like others who are captivated by its captivating story. Seeing people enjoy it and receiving positive feedback brings me immense joy. These moments are truly cherished, and I take great pleasure in being a part of it.

In a few interviews, you mentioned that a career as an actor and singer/songwriter was not your first choice. Looking back, do you still have any reservations about acting?

Each of us harbours a multitude of aspirations, not confined to a singular goal. For me, true fulfilment lies in pursuing what truly ignites my passion and brings me joy. I am steadfast in my commitment to constant self-preparation and growth.

When presented with an opportunity, I choose to wholeheartedly embrace it — giving nothing short of my best. I am prepared to immerse myself in the pursuits that captivate my interest, dedicating my heart and soul to them. Though it may not be my ultimate objective, I am aware of my deep desire to embark on this path and so, I persistently ready myself for it.

Your life has now changed seeing that you are arguably one of Thailand’s most recognisable personalities. What is one thing you miss from before your fame arrived?

Engaging in conversations with strangers holds a special place in my heart. As of right now — due to time constraints — I haven’t had the opportunity to fully immerse myself like that anymore. The days of encounters and spontaneous conversations with unfamiliar faces have become a rarity. However, such encounters have always been a source of genuine enjoyment for me. The sheer pleasure of conversing with individuals from all walks of life knows no bounds. Regardless of their background or disposition, I find immense fulfilment in the simple act of exchanging thoughts and ideas.

Any moments with your fans that have had a lasting impact on you?

Each encounter with my fans brings an overwhelming sense of joy and fulfilment. Lately, I’ve been immersed in reading the heartfelt messages written on cards by my devoted supporters. I’m already halfway through this heartfelt endeavour. Last night, I came across a touching note from a fan expressing their desire to learn English in order to communicate with me. It’s remarkable to witness the lengths people go to — dedicating their time and efforts to learning languages like Thai, English, or even regional dialects — solely for the purpose of connection. Their dedication truly moves me.

You are almost inseparable from Apo, both on and off-screen. What is your most fond memory of him?

It has been twelve years since we coincidentally worked together, and his unique appearance remains vivid in my memory. Recently, passionate fans stumbled upon a video of our first meeting, leaving me pleasantly surprised. This unexpected revelation serves as a gentle reminder of life’s unpredictable nature, occasionally gifting us with delightful surprises along our journey.

On fashion, Mile elaborates that “the fashion world captivates us and draws us into its allure. Active participation in this industry involves immersing myself among talented stylists and continuously expanding knowledge.” But while Mumbai is not his first breakthrough with Dior, Mile has always had his eye on fashion. “I actually embarked on this journey at the age of eight,” Mile explains. “Seeing my mother in beautifully crafted clothes when I was young and experiencing the influence of television were transformative moments that sparked my passion for the captivating world of fashion.”

Tell us more about the Dior Men Fall 2023 collection you are wearing today. What did you like most about it?  

This collection exudes an exceptional uniqueness and embodies the distinctive character that Dior presents. I was remarkably comfortable during my time in Mumbai, which pleasantly surprised me. Despite the inquiries from others about its potential heat-inducing qualities, I found it to be quite the opposite. Even with its simple yet captivating designs and understated colour palette, it effortlessly stands out. Wearing these pieces becomes easy and is an enjoyable experience. Rather than mere excitement, my emotions were fueled by an intense enthusiasm when I delved deeper into the realm of Dior.

How about your first fashion show with Dior, what was it like? 

Attending a fashion show proved to be a transformative experience, one that expanded the horizons of my perception. It was a delightful and invigorating journey, allowing me to witness the unfolding of a whole new world. The show by Dior in the enchanting city of Paris was truly remarkable. Each garment conveyed a profound message, intricately woven into the fabric of the event. This combination of creativity and storytelling made for an unforgettable spectacle.

Are there any Dior items in your wardrobe that you would consider your favourite?

I love the Dior Lingot bag in the large size, I believe it is the 50. It truly holds everything I need. And when you have a very busy schedule, a large bag is just what you need.

Yet, despite the tremendous achievements he currently possesses, the story is far from over for Mile. In some ways, KinnPorsche could be likened to only the dawn in what promises to be an impressive career. Be On Cloud — the company managing Mile and Apo as well as a host of other up-and-rising Thai stars — has recently announced a new film later this year and it involves Mile as its lead actor. Titled Man Suang — an ancient descriptor which translates to a “heavenly city of gods and angels” — the film will be set around the emerging Thai kingdom and its historical inception as a modern civilisation in epic proportions. Teased as a complete departure from the contemporary themes explored with KinnPorsche, the film has been marked as one of the largest and most ambitious film projects in Thailand with a production budget that rivals even that of Hollywood.

Much of what is shown in the trailer is meant to mislead, Mile teases, with more yet to be revealed at this point of writing. Apo will return as Mile’s co-star, but with a different dynamic between both actors this time. Its quality is meant to be top-notched too and make no mistake, there is plenty of anticipation for the film to be huge — the film’s trailer arrived weeks before its premiere at the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival, suggesting that Be On Cloud has its eyes on taking the film all over the globe.

There has been quite a bit of buzz about Be On Cloud’s Man Suang, especially since there has not been much information released at this moment other than its debut at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. It is noteworthy to mention that the film marks your first main role in a motion picture. Can you tell us more about it?  

This movie carries a truly unique essence, captivating its viewers with a narrative that invites imagination and contemplation. It weaves a mysterious tapestry intertwined with the rich traditions and stories that unfolded in Thailand during the Rattanakosin period. The beauty lies in the artful portrayal of each character as they share their tale, allowing us to witness the profound transformations that humans undergo. It serves as a reminder that our beliefs — though held strongly — may not always yield definitive outcomes, offering a glimpse into the diverse possibilities that exist.

Let’s also get into the fact that it will be a historical film, and it marks a departure from the contemporary style of KinnPorsche. What kind of research did you do to get into the role?

For every character I embody, I dedicate myself to meticulous preparation, adopting a consistent approach. I delve into the era in which the character resides, immersing myself in its historical backdrop. It is almost like method acting and it is very similar to how I live my life. This thorough understanding enables me to comprehend the motives behind their actions and thoughts. I am grateful to be surrounded by a supportive team that encourages my creativity throughout this process, granting me the freedom to explore and bring my own unique perspective to the role.

While it is a new project for you, you will be starring alongside Apo again. Will we see a different dynamic between the characters both of you are slated to play?  

In every performance I deliver, there lies a remarkable blend of 90% embodiment of the character and a 10% essence of my own being. This 90% is a testament to my growth as an actor, an opportunity for people to witness my evolution through each role I undertake. I wholeheartedly invite audiences to appreciate the dedication and effort I invest in every project. As each character holds a unique identity, spectators will recognise the striking distinction, unveiling the diverse range and versatility I hope I can bring to the stage or screen.

Before we end, would you like to share any messages with your fans?  

My heartfelt gratitude goes out to all the devoted fans who have supported me wholeheartedly throughout my journey. Your unwavering support has touched me deeply and means the world to me. Thank you for being there, from the bottom of my heart.

[LINK]

#IM POSTING IT BUT I HAVEN’T READ IT YET #AAAAAAH I CANT WAIT #pls let me know if there’s something especially interesting #kinnporsche #mile phakphum #mile x mensfolio #mileapo #man suang #mileapo movie

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she-walked-away · 4 months

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Tag Game Tuesday Monday: 911 Lone Star Fandom Edition

It took me nearly a week to get to it, but thanks Anne @thisbuildinghasfeelings for tagging me!!!

When did you first start watching Lone Star? Who or what introduced you to the show?

Funnily enough, I was watching the Super Bowl in 2020 and was folding laundry when they showed a promo from Lone Star and it was the part where they were talking to the old lady and I heard "Sure ma'am but just so you know I'm a homosexual" and I looked up because that was VERY random for a commercial to say and I the rest of the scene aired and I thought it was one of the best things I've ever seen lmao.

I actually did not start watching the show until 1x08 when TK got shot and I was HOOKED. I remember having to miss the season 1 finale to go to the grocery and checking my twitter account to see if Tarlos got together in the end ajkdhafdas

Which season is your favorite?

Season 3!

I'll never forget the EXPERIENCE that Push was. I was on a whole rollercoaster of emotions and I remember watching the TK waking up and Grace giving birth montage live and when it went off, my husband sitting behind me and very quietly going "whoa." We were both SHOOK. And then the proposal happened in 3x18 and I slunk off my couch because I was dying happily.

I think my rank is 3, 4 bc of the wedding and SOULMATES!!!, 2, and then 1. I really did like season 2 but you can tell Tim kind of bum rushed the ending dalkhdf

Who is your favorite character? (Bonus: If you answered TK or Carlos, who is your favorite besides them?)

TK and Carlos will always be number one and I cannot pick a favorite between them. They're both so complex and interesting.

I think my second favorite has got to be Tommy. She always just *fit* in the show better than Michelle and I think she's hilarious and smart and her friendship with Grace and Judd are my favorites. Plus, I love how she and Owen play off each other.

Top five episodes. Go!

Push - nothing will ever top this I'm afraid

Bad Call

Saving Grace

Red vs Blue- LET THEM HAVE FUNNY QUIRKY EPISODES LIKE THIS BUT MORE CARLOS

In Sickness and Health

If you could pick any character to be given a "begins" episode, who would it be and what would that episode look like?

After season 4- I kind of NEED a Carlos one. I always want one and I think we learned a lot about him last season, but 4x18 opened a lot more questions about his childhood for me. Especially since he genuinely doesn't seem to remember a lot of the good times with his dad and it makes me curious if there is some underlying reason why other than just distance as he grew up.

But also NANCY. What is her backstory?? Her dad told her to start saving when she was little and she has thousands of dollars that she can lend out?? I want to know if there is more to it! And how did she get her start? Was she with the original 126 paramedic squad?

What is a scenario or storyline that you would like to see in season 5?

Obviously Gabriel's murder being solved and it would be great if Tarlos did it TOGETHER. And if one of them is in dangerous peril at the same time in front of the other- would not complain. I'm all for a "being threated and stalked" kind of storyline- I was thinking of along the lines of The Watcher by @ladytessa74 I want to be scared!! And to watch them be scared and IN LOVE AND A TEAM

I saw this earlier, but an episode from like B-shifts POV. You know that Owen and the firefam respond to the most INSANE calls, so I want to see what B shift and Captain Harper's POV is towards A shift. I think it would be hilarious.

Also- give me some silliness within the Catan Crew. Like maybe someone gets a little TOO into a game and then we have an episode of them all pranking each other or a little funny divide- similar to 4x16, but without them actually fighting.

What do you think is going on in this still?

It's Ghost face from Scream asking Carlos what his favorite scary movies are

I think it's either about Gabriel's murder or them finding out that Robert is dead. Rob Lowe said we'd see part of that day so I wonder if we will see the aftermath since I don't think Robert necessarily died within a week after the wedding.

We all know about the elusive 5x05 spicy scene that has been teased, so what is your prediction for how it could possibly top 1x02?

I think it could DEF be some *spicy* shower sex. If TK get's injured in 504, Carlos should help make him feel all nice and healed in the SHOWER

Where was the Tarlos honeymoon in your mind?

I think somewhere in Texas like Galveston. It's not too far away, but I think it's far enough to where TK and Carlos would feel okay leaving both their parents for a short trip. I headcanon that they spent A LOT of money on a quick 8 week wedding *cries in timeline* and so they'd have to save up for a bigger and longer honeymoon.

Shoutout one of your favorite fan creations.

I HAVE SO MANY SO I AM SO SORRY IF I FORGET TO MENTION. It's hard to me to count my favorite stories beacuse I think this fandom has so many. I usually put them on my kindle when I'm traveling so I can reread on a long road trip and read in between the Pluto TV commercials during my long treadmill runs.

I just found my password for Ao3 that i created in 2015 (i was a fanfiction.net OG and live journal girly lol really dating myself) so I am currently making my way through reviewing @welcometololaland's ALTA and I have so many other ones to review as well! @strandnreyes, @reyesstrand, @paperstorm, @carlos-in-glasses, @ladytessa74, @rmd-writes , @goodways, @heartstringsduet , @liminalmemories21 , @lemonlyman-dotcom and literally so many more. I love going back and rereading fics on my work breaks now I'm back from leave and now that I have my password back, I plan on continuing that!!

I love gifsets by @guardian-angle22, @lutavero, @reasonandfaithinharmony, and more!

Also Anne's @thisbuildinghasfeelings cross-stitch!! Literally SO FREAKING COOL.

If I forgot you, I am so sorry. But if you write or make art or anything else in this fandom- just know that I am obsessed with everything you do :) I've just been silently stalking this fandom since like 2020

#tarlos #911 lone star

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bedofthistles · 4 months

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So Long, London - Moonacre Week 2024 (Taylor's Version)

“Great job, Maria, that’s a wrap.” Benjamin held down the mic until he had finished speaking, his mouth pressed into a firm, almost smile as Maria took off the headphones.

The world was different inside of the box. People talked about fish bowls, paparazzi, interviews, concerts, but they never mentioned this part. Where you sat in a glass box and people watched as you swam around in circles, never going anywhere, repeating the same words until they meant nothing.

Maria gave her own half smile and hooked the headphones onto the mic. She stacked the sheets of music together. She left the aquarium.

Maria pulled on a blue peacoat as her Uncle, Producer, Temporary Roommate, and Legal Guardian met her out in the hall.

“Beautiful as always, Maria, I have to say, I much prefer this new music style you’ve curated.” He pressed the elevator button and Maria smiled, however bitterly.

“You liked the old music better, I know it suited you more.” Maria argued, knowing for a fact that her Uncle was not overly fond of the more aggressive turn her music had taken.

“It’s much livelier than the first album.” His brows rose and fell in a secret language as the elevator dinged open.

“I’ll see you at home.”

Benjamin nodded, and kissed her forehead before she could disappear. As she slipped inside, he adjusted the roll of his sleeves and gave her another pressed smile. Once the doors had closed and Maria was alone, she allowed herself to lean against the elevator wall and pulled out her phone. It was already open on Instagram, something she had opened before she went into the booth, and had occupied her thoughts for the entirety of the recording session.

The Truth Revealed: Maria Merryweather not the Perfect Princess we Thought we Knew?

She hadn’t had time to read past the headline pasted over an old red carpet photo of her…

And Phileas Auster.

An actor. A model. A rising star that was perfect, and hot, and heartbroken.

Two months ago they had agreed to keep their break up out of the public eye, and while sightings of them had diminished, the only thing fans had were wild speculation. But Maria knew she shouldn’t have trusted him to keep his mouth shut. He would do anything to push himself up in the world. That was half the reason he had dated Maria.

Who was, what some people might refer to as, world famous.

Maria’s thumb hovered over the read more button just as the elevators opened, however, before she could step out, she saw them.

Not inside, of course, as it was a secure building, but through the barely tinted windows, the flashes of lights, the bodies pressed to the glass and doors, the sudden rise in volume as they realized she had walked into the shot.

“Maria!”

Her grip tightened on her phone, their muffled shouts never reaching her, but she watched as they crowded around one another, just trying to get a good picture.

Benjamin was in front of her, blocking her with his body as he pushed her back to the stairwell, he was yelling at security to do something about the horde, and to get her a car, and make sure she got out of there safe.

Her phone began to ring, and vibrate, and she was flooded with notifications as the hour long timer she had set Do Not Disturb on turned off. Twitter, tiktok, YouTube, texts. She was sure every person who had the privilege of having her personal phone number was trying to get a hold of her.

“God, I’m sorry Maria, Digweed saw the story drop after you went down.” Benjamin led Maria down into the underground car garage and someone brought his car up to them. “Here, take my keys and I’ll take yours once they clear out.”

Maria blindly searched for her keys in her pocket, the old keychain tarnished, and handed them off for her Uncle’s key fob.

“He told,” Maria whispered.

“Are you alright to drive?”

She nodded, but she was far away.

“Maria-” but before he could say anything else, his phone went off. “Hello? Yes she’s here- oh yes, we know. When did you find out?” Benjamin sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Well- no… no! We don’t have- yes, she just finished recording… but we need to- no that’s done… we could drop it early.” He gave her an odd look, and before he could say anything else, Maria spoke for him.

“The single? If it’s ready, drop it. Now for all I care.” Maria fell heavily into the car seat, her hands on the leather wheel and her foot on the gas before Benjamin could offer any kind of protest.

Maria’s phone connected to the car's Bluetooth and before she could switch her phone back to DND, she saw Cat’s name flash across the screen.

She accepted the call with a heavy, remorseful sigh.

“Do you see what that bastard did!” Cat cursed into the phone in lieu of a greeting.

“Not yet.” Maria said, pulling out of the garage, fortunately, no one knew about the entrance and it was free of nosy reporters. “Just that he spoke when he wasn’t supposed to.”

“Ugh! I hate him! Where are you? We’ll come to you.”

“Don’t! You’re supposed to be practicing!”

“I don’t care about that! If I trip on stage it’ll just make for good publicity. Are you going home? We’ll meet you there.”

Maria sighed. “Not home. If I had my way, I’d be going back to Moonacre, but we’re stuck in the city until it’s done.”

There were some rustling sounds on the other side, “Lizzie, we’re going! I thought today was the last recording day?”

“Well yes, but Uncle Benjamin is here until it’s fully produced, and you know how I like to have the final say on everything, and make sure it sounds right. We won’t go home until summer at the very least.”

She could practically hear Cat pouting on the other side. “Well, what about a little weekend trip? Just until this blows over?”

“Just- no, no! Cat don’t be unreasonable.”

“Oh it’s only a short ride up to the countryside!”

“Oh please, it’s hardly short, it takes ages.”

“And we’ll be back Sunday night. Or Monday morning. Whatever you prefer! No one will bother you up there.”

Maria bit her lip as she pulled into the flat’s parking garage. It was tempting. “Well, I’m not sure. Besides, Uncle Benjamin wouldn’t like it, and the single just dropped, or it will in a few moments.”

“Sir Ben Mix’s a Lot will want what’s best for you and that is most definitely a weekend getaway with your best friend and her sister.”

“Hey!”

“And Jane.” Maria added, “If you want to give her a call.”

“Of course! Lizzie’s already on it.”

“Alright, well, I’ll see you soon.”

“Yes! And we can listen to your new song the whole way up!”

Maria chuckled, “Oh god, not the whole way up.”

“Half way.”

Maria parked the car and turned it off, sitting in the warmth until she had no choice but to leave.

She pulled out her phone, and read the article.

It was just as horrible as she would have thought it would be. Every nasty word he could call her, he did. He had been in love, ready to marry her, and she had broken his heart in a cruel, vicious manner. She was a monster, callous, and evil. A villian who had played him the fool.

There was pity from the interviewer’s end, and faux tears on his, she was sure. But they didn’t know, and he would never say, if she had just taken pictures of the drywall…

This battle, whatever would come, would be a he said she said. She had no evidence, no photos, nothing substantial, and he had the benefit of speaking first.

Maria lowered her head onto the steering wheel. She tried not to cry, she tried to keep her breath even, but it was impossible. Not when she kept seeing his face red with rage each time she closed her eyes. Knuckles white with drywall dust and paint. Her wrist black from where he had held on to her too tight.

When Maria did lift her head, ten minutes had passed, and Cat texted that they had gotten Jane in their group chat, and they’d be thirty minutes. Maria wiped her eyes and went upstairs to pack a weekend bag. She texted Benjamin the plan, and his response was: good, best to keep out of the public eye for now.

The single dropped within the hour, Maria was already on the road heading North, Lizzie was posted at the steering wheel, and Cat had given up shotgun for Maria.

“You wanna listen?” Cat asked, bouncing in her seat.

“Not really, but you can.”

Maria’s recorded voice filled the car, and they sat in silence. They had listened to the demos and voice memos she had sent, but none were prepared for what it would sound like fully produced.

He's punching walls again…

His phone buzzed.

Which, usually, wouldn’t have been enough to get his attention. Usually it was just David yelling at him over text to finish whatever he was working on, or some unimportant social media update.

Robin put down his guitar however, needing an excuse to take a break, but it was the last thing he had expected.

Loveday:

Website: 🌙 Moon Princess 🌙 on Instagram (Instagram.com) The Truth Revealed…

#moonacreweek2024 #the secret of moonacre #tsom #band au #maria merryweather #robin de noir

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bungandmunchpi · 5 months

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Just wanted to write a little something about the shows I saw in New York before the Tony noms come out tomorrow! I never write long-form about the things I've seen any more so thought I'd indulge myself quickly.

Stereophonic, 13th April

Theatre twitter was abuzz about this when it was at Playwrights' Horizons and the transfer rumours were very exciting as we were planning our trip. We managed to nab some $40 seats in the rear mezz for previews and went with it as the first show of our week!

It's a great play, although I don't think totally deserving of the raves/five stars it's getting everywhere. It could do with some pruning in places and I think both Nancy and I thought the female characters were a little bit underwritten: I'd say the scenes where it's just the two of them discussing their careers and personal lives are the weakest of the play, although Sarah Pidgeon and Juliana Canfield are both fantastic. The rest of the cast is as well - it's stacked top to bottom, with six out of seven making their Broadway debuts which is thrilling! Will Butler's music is absolutely phenomenal, and the show really soars when the band kick into gear and are recording successfully: we were both nodding our heads and tapping along, and I can't wait for the album to come out on May 10th.

Shout-outs to basically everyone in the cast, as everyone gets their little (or large) moment, but I think Eli Gelb really anchors the thing and has a gorgeous arc, and Will Brill is incredibly funny and sad at the same time. Tom Pecinka is doing fantastic work too as the antagonist/engine of the show, and I've really enjoyed watching his Gold Derby interview where he speaks about the hostility he experiences from the audience a lot of the time, and how he processes that and stays true to the text without being tempted into making the character more likeable.

We stagedoored too and everyone was very lovely! We got to compliment Will on his British accent and meet Tom's dog Molly, who was totally over the two-show day and ready to be on her way (but very sweet with it). A great start!

Merrily We Roll Along, 14th April

This was the show I spent the most money on, and I went on my own as Nancy was off being immersed at Punchdrunk (/the McKittrick Hotel, apologies). I love Sondheim and I really love this show - I was introduced to it by Lonny Price's beautiful documentary The Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened, which I would really recommend even if you're not a big Sondheim/musical theatre person, as it deals with being creative and dreaming big at a young age, and how we adjust when those dreams aren't realised or turn sour. It felt very special to be seeing Merrily on Broadway, as I believe Sondheim used a lot of his own early experiences in the theatre to make it. So special in fact that just hearing the overture made me extremely emotional (although it's a different version/orchestration to the overture on the original cast recording, which is one of my favourites of all time).

It's brilliantly directed/somewhat reworked by Maria Friedman, and she's been credited with turning what was a notorious flop originally into an absolute smash off and on Broadway this season. I think she does a lot of good work but it's undeniable just how brilliant a lot of the songs in it are: when Daniel Radcliffe finished Franklin Shepherd Inc, the man sitting behind me exclaimed "what a number!" to his seatmates. The material in the second half in particular is extraordinary, and I thought all three leads were fantastic as the characters get younger and younger, with It's a Hit, Opening Doors, and Bobby and Jackie and Jack highlights. Our Time, the brutally optimistic climax of the show, had me tearing up as soon as it started, and I cried all the way through the curtain call, just because I felt so lucky to have been in that space experiencing that piece of work made by this team of cast and creatives.

Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez, and Daniel Radcliffe are all phenomenal in it: I was expecting less from Daniel Radcliffe as I know he has the least musical theatre experience of the three, but he did a great job and brought so much humour to Charley, which I really enjoyed. Jonathan Groff's Growing Up is stunning and he just leads the show so well - he's a real star and would be very deserving of the Tony, which I have a feeling he may just land. Lindsay Mendez has been out of the show now and then so I was preparing myself not to see her and then was thrilled I got to: her voice is so solid and her arc was beautifully drawn, from Mary's acerbic comedy at the beginning of the show to her brightness as she's entering the creative world early on in her career.

In terms of emotion, this was probably the highlight of my trip, and I'm excited to see the production sweep a lot of awards in June!

An Enemy of the People, 17th April

As soon as this was announced, it started making my New York trip plans more concrete. I think Jeremy Strong is one of the best actors we have working today, and it was brilliant to see him onstage - I don't think he's done any theatre for a decade, and Circle in the Square is pretty intimate for a Broadway venue, so that was extremely exciting.

I was left a little cold by the production: I think that may be Amy Herzog's version, which gets through the nuts and bolts of Ibsen's play, but does so at quite a lick (the show runs about two hours with a five minute pause in the middle). The character work the actors are doing is beautifully detailed, so you really want to spend some more time with them all. Jeremy Strong is totally transformed from Succession, endearing and frustrating in equal measure, and he and Michael Imperioli work so well together as very different brothers. I saw Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' The Comeuppance recently at the Almeida, so it was fun to see Caleb Eberhardt and try to read him back into that play: I thought he was really fantastic and nuanced in Enemy, and would love to see him snag a Tony nom, although I think Featured Actor in a Play is insanely crowded (and I would hate to see any of the Stereophonic guys lose out).

Sam Gold's staging is nice although the space seems to be a little difficult to work in. There are some interesting details in the second half as things become less naturalistic, with characters remaining onstage to watch the action, and Jeremy Strong being Jeremy Strong has to put himself in some kind of physical peril (getting buckets of ice poured on him as the townspeople turn on Stockmann, leaving him wet through (and I presume freezing) for the rest of the show).

Overall this was good if not as impressive as I'd hoped, but it was amazing to see Jeremy Strong onstage and he again was lovely at the stagedoor, so I'd recommend that if you're interested!

Appropriate, 17th April

This was the best show we saw all trip, from the writing to the direction to the performances, and so brilliant that we didn't try very hard to get into something on the Thursday evening, as we didn't want to spoil the high we'd experienced the night before.

I love Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' writing, and the way he plays with drama as a form to create his shows. Appropriate sits in the tradition of American domestic drama, and it's harrowing and screamingly funny all in one go. Again a real thrill to see a cast this stacked, and fun to pick up another Succession cast member, with Natalie Gold so good in what could be a tricky role. Sarah Paulson leaves it all out there in the lead role, and does a fantastic job: another actor who isn't afraid to be unlikeable, and who goes deep in the cruelty she exhibits towards other characters. Corey Stoll does some great, solid work too, and Michael Esper is so SO good as Franz. The role is so disruptive and interesting and gross and funny, and he does a beautiful job. Nancy and I really bonded over the production of The Glass Menagerie he was in in London in 2017, so it was wonderful to see him onstage again and to see him bring it so hard.

The design elements of Appropriate are phenomenal too, particularly the final sequence, which I won't spoil but is one of the most extraordinary things I've seen done onstage.

That was the trip!! I had a brilliant first ever week in New York and the best time seeing my first shows on Broadway: I was very sad to leave but it's made me really excited to see great work in London over the summer, and I'm ready to start saving up again to go back!

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bitty-bits · 9 months

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The First and the Last of the Year

And possibly last ever... on Tumblr at least.

Where did I go?

Nowhere in particular... if you've seen my socials all year, that is. This blog/newsletter however, took an extended vacation, not just from a lack of interest (and personal real life stuff getting in the way) but also from a technical standpoint - I really wanted the email newsletter aspect of this to work, but I still couldn't. I was considering using TinyLetter ...until they announced that was shutting down. If I had a nickel for every time a newsletter service shut down out of nowhere I'd have two... you know the rest. And with Tumblr getting worse as the year went by, maintaining this wasn't exactly motivating enough.

That said, it was a less than ideal year for my productivity, inconsistent pace, money issues, the lowest amount of notable dreams to write down on my dream journal to date... you get the idea.

So I can only hope for things to be better. For me to be less lazy... and work not only on stuff I make, but on myself. And I do have a bit of optimism, since a lot has, so let's see a couple of stuff, although everything else you should expect to see in a "rebooted" version of this blog...

Also, Free Palestine!

What I've Been Playing / Watching

So while I haven't fully completed a LOT of things this year, this will be going back to the beginning of the year, essentially, so strap yourselves. (Some of it I'll be grabbing from my media thread that I've made on Twitter as well)

Lucky Star (Finished)

I have posted about Lucky Star in another issue, but I was still in the middle of watching it. Now that I've actually finished watching it (in February) I can say more about it: When it comes to this anime, it was either pretty ahead of its time, or we just have Regressed as a species since then. Maybe the latter.

And sorry folkz, Lucky Star is pro-ship/pro-fic culture and there’s nothing you can do about it. I watched the entire series including the OVA, and while I’m definitely still not sure I’m exactly the "target demographic" what I saw was still very enjoyable. it really just is whatever the fuck and I'm all for it.

At first my kin™ was Konata pretty quickly because of course. That was until Minami showed up and like, she’s basically the weeb version of Ongo Jelly Jamm™!!! I actually can say I got attached to and care about most of the characters, even if just a little.

Like I said in a previous issue, in 2015 I had watched part of an episode of it english dubbed and it didn’t click with me at all. Turns out the dub just sucks as I should’ve expected lol (And I really wasn’t used to segmented "several short stories in one" type anime and stuff to be fair - that and I was dumber too of course so I couldnt properly appreciate the ART........)

My rating is Timotei/10 - and Nichijou is next!

Pizza Tower

Easily the biggest loss for gaming this year was this game not winning "Best Debut Indie" at the Game Awards. Oh well.

I was already highly anticipating this game - having first heard of it when it had a demo at SAGE 2019 I’m glad the game turned out great and is getting the recognition it deserves. I pretty much finished the game in early March. P/10

The Owl House (Finished)

Well... it’s over... for better or worse. I do think they managed to deliver a satisfactory ending all things considered. This was definitely a great cartoon to kick off the new decade.

And of course, fuck Disney as always.

This show got me to break out of, I guess an habit, you could say, or a superstition, or whatever the hell it is, when it came to media with too much ""occultism"" in them. You know the drill. I guess it opened up the little my mind had left that was still a bit closed. Even if it’s mostly involuntary.

But this isn’t even new. As a child I’d actually have an "imaginary friend" that i made (that kinda just Existed, didn’t really "interact" much with them whatsoever cuz i was Dumb™) that their backstory was literally that they were a demon in hell "gone rogue" so they were "not an evil one". Again, I was a kid. I never thought too much about the implications of me thinking about stuff like that already at that age. But it is interesting to think about now.

Anyways, been gay, did witchcraft. ⛥/5

Invader ZIM (Series + Enter The Florpus)

Well I did it. I finally watched the funny hot topic show™ (Finished in late May)

What can I even say about it that hasn’t been already said by everyone else? ...well maybe I have one thing: for some reason I didn’t find That One Episode that people always bring up the MOST disturbing one. I thought the one with a literal character flatlining and Zim being ":)" about it got to me a bit more.

Anyways yeah it’s Cool I liked the characters especially Gaz, and GIR obviously Why Wouldn’t He Be Here. The show can be stupid and end episodes in Whatever The Fuck ways that leave you like "That's it? That's the episode???" but I think that’s one of the unique aspects of it that I Enjoy - also the movie is cool. ☮️>🐔+🍚/10

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

So I watched it first when we only had shitty cinema bootleg recordings (that aren’t even that shitty anymore at this point in terms of quality, the Shit comes in the form of godawful intrusive illegal casino ads™ placed.) even though a bit later the raw movie would sometimes be uploaded in full to YouTube with no consequence for days. And at this point I’ve rewatched it plenty of times in proper HD (though only once in English cuz I’ll be honest, the Brazilian dub really is phenomenal really and blows the original "star talent cast" out of the water in my opinion, where it falls short is the voice for Luigi, as I know the dude’s voice too well and he’s just doing his normal voice with an accent, not to mention he’s the brazilian Sonic voice already!!!)

I think Charlie Day is the superior Loogy here but I’d still say the dub is better, not only for the fact there are "real voice actors" cuz you know, that’s Their Job, but also like, Charles Martinet is still in there cuz in case you didn't know, he voiced that jumpman dude’s only line in pretty much every language possible which is absurd/admirable.

It’s a fun movie if not mostly for looking at Mario Things happening that you know and recognize, because otherwise the story is pretty ridiculously basic, though even for "Mario game story" standards it’s definitely refreshing to see Luigi as the one to be rescued... though that Also sucks because Luigi deserved more screentime. The main Toad too. Oh well. Also disappointed that the "wise Toad" in the movie isn’t Toadsworth… or maybe he is but hasn’t aged yet and maybe in a sequel we’ll see him get older and then main Toad becomes Captain Toad. Who knows 🍄/10

Honorable Mentions - Stuff I've Watched That I've Yet To Write My Thoughts About, I Don't Have The Time Now

Spy × Family (Season 1) - Not the type of anime I'd see myself watching, but I was forced roped into it by one of my partners and found it to be VERY enjoyable.

Sparkle On, Raven: The Life of Drillgirl - Charming, shitpost-y, but genuine and fun

The Amazing Digital Circus - A very promising series with unexpected popularity, and equally unexpected high quality Brazilian dub with recognizable talent.

Murder Drones (Season 1 - 6/8) - A series I've been cautiously optimistic about since its pilot - it has endearing, enjoyable characters and settings, but flawed writing and pacing - more on that at a future date.

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off - An amazing take on a series that I'm not so familiar with (haven't seen the movie or read the comics, only really knew that the franchise "exists") and judging from what I've heard from others, it probably is the best take on the main storyline. Especially when it comes to the representation of who turned out to be my fave - Roxie. Watching the live action now is... probably gonna be very weird. Not sure if I want to.

Kunshikter (Күншіктер) - A new, yet very obscure cartoon from Kazakhstan. It's cute. It's for children but at this point I don't think y'all care. It's still ongoing and there are not many episodes so far. I recommend giving it a watch. Now!

Future YouTube Updates

As some of you saw in a xeet tweet from early October I was planning to do something significant on my main YouTube channel which has been stagnant for a while now, only for that to, surprise, not happen. I do have a set goal now: In very early January, a video to explain exactly what happened and what was the video I wanted to make, and... why it's hard for me to get a video like that out in the first place. The short answer (that doesn't actually account for Everything) is autism. The long answer is... stay tuned for it, lol

Song of the Issue

youtube

Although this section was supposed to be for sharing music that isn't mine, I thought I'd share snippets of music stuff I've been making since the beginning of 2023 until now, that you can look forward to!

Conclusion

I dunno. All I can say is... happy new year! It's been a tradition to make a stupid amateurish collage at the end of the year with the highlights, but this year there's been... less of them, that I took note of at least. But that won't stop me I think. Once I have that done, I may edit this to include it.

No comment on anything related to Twitter (which I'll never call "X") and the billionaire that happened this year as you all probably already know by now, and by the way you can now follow me on the social butterfly of bluesky. See you next year!

#newsletter #personal #Youtube

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vanillaxoshi · 1 year

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Idk what i thought of, boboiboy basically just activated some brainstorming in me

Like the watches can eneable the user to understand every language, like each species could say something but to them its earth language

Like Tapops of course having many connections, may have connections to many planets who give tapops, medical supplies technology, protection and weapons

This could go the same way for talented species who are recruited into tapops since i can see its an accepting organization,

Tests used, like whenever tehy land or plan to go to unknown planet, they test it first before allowing anyone to get in if they're ok for the species their sending in

They alrwady have tablets and information ready for the team their sending in so they wont be completely clueless,

Like planets with less gravity, yaya could increase their gravity to find the power sphere they could be getting, a planet which is very sticky, a planet whose air is toxic to humans, and it will be pretty great for tapops to prepare an insulation outfit or spacesuit fit to undergo these conditions, i saw some space suit from the comic from someone on twitter and, the suit really fitted the 1900's style its really cute.

Tapops is advanced, very advanced especially since its i think a mix of various tech from different species

Im sure they do most of these things that i just may have missed in the series but still

Pretty cool for terains in other planets

The advancement, the timeline, the star it could all be different

A planet that looks inhabited but is actually a hologram or disguise and inside is a very advanced society

A planet filled with like crystals? Or prisms that give off different colors that looks like candy

A planet where its always night

A planet where the speicies worship stars/sun and sees them as gods and make their homes open to embrace the warmtg the sun gives

These stuff i find in other space related media, like dc, marvel, star wars, ben ten or others i do not know or cannot include

But it just can be.

Gosh, now i think i should make a space sci-fi story-

#boboiboy #boboiboy galaxy #rambles #thoughts #this was a draft from last night

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kylesvariouslistsandstuff · 2 years

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Cartoon "console wars" and modern Disney villains, possibly part 1?

I don't know... It just seems like on twitter, and other parts of the online animation-fan sphere, no one seems to not enjoy animation and cartoons more than animation fans...

Right now, there's this very, very bizarre and overwhelming hyper-support of PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH. If you can't tell by my current pfp, I liked this movie a lot. Enough to make the titular cat my pfp, in fact I *loved* the movie... But something's eatin' at me, and I want to get some thoughts off my chest...

So, PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH... Hardly an indie darling, this is the sixth film in the ever-reliable (in financial terms) SHREK franchise from a studio that is owned by a massive multimedia conglomerate. It's legging it up something fierce at the box office, too, as it has become the first animated movie since ALADDIN... Yes, you read that right, ALADDIN. Disney's 1992 animated movie... To score a 10x multiplier. Already at about $145m domestic off of a paltry $12m opening weekend, and neck-and-neck with what the first PUSS IN BOOTS made. Exemplary performance, as it looks to peak at about $170m here, and the worldwide total should put it at $400m. Not too far behind what the first PUSS IN BOOTS took in, which got there off of a higher opening and a pre-COVID market (with 3D and IMAX 3D on its side) back in 2011-12.

So... Yeah, on twitter and elsewhere, the more recent work of Disney Animation and Pixar has been repeatedly negatively compared to PUSS IN BOOTS 2, to such an insufferable degree I feel. Never mind any other studios. I don't see DC LEAGUE OF SUPER-PETS or whatever being pitted against PUSS IN BOOTS 2, the other DreamWorks movie that came out this year, and even - in some circles - Illumination's recent work including a yet-to-be-released MARIO movie... Kind of weird, don't you think?

Personal opinion is all fine and well, if one feels that PUSS IN BOOTS 2 is superior to the recent films made by both studios operating under The Walt Disney Company, that's totally okay. I myself liked PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH a great deal, and probably a bit more than two of the films Disney put out this past year. But what I don't get is the constant pitting movies/studios against one another thing. Like this is some kind of rivalry out of the old ANTZ vs. A BUG'S LIFE days of yore.

I loved PUSS IN BOOTS 2, but I also quite loved this past year's original Pixar film TURNING RED. I even really liked the more divisive TOY STORY spin-off LIGHTYEAR, and saw a lot of potential in the rushed but still enjoyable STRANGE WORLD. Most of the animated films of 2022 that I have seen have been satisfactory to me, some I loved more than others but isn't that how life goes? Why do some people online treat this like it's a hierarchy? And by extension, treating films that didn't meet their expectations as some form of spite?

There's a lot to break down, and my thoughts are as unorganized as ever, but here's the first thing that comes to mind.

Villains...

People have groused for a long while, maybe since the release of ZOOTOPIA in 2016, that Walt Disney Animation Studios has been lackluster on the villain front. Apparently it's just twist villain after twist villain... Or, the villains just plain suck...

Okay... Should we start at 2012, when WRECK-IT RALPH was released? In that film, we have King Candy... He's already a bad guy from the start of the picture, he's already antagonistic to both Vanellope and Wreck-It Ralph. The "twist" is that he's Turbo, the very video game star that infamously left his own game in Litwak's Arcade and put two games - his own and Atari's 1987 action-driving game ROADBLASTERS - out of commission. It's implied, when Fix-It Felix, Jr. tells Sgt. Calhoun about what "Going Turbo" means, that Turbo got himself killed in the process... But no, the twist is that he was always around, he was King Candy! So, I don't really count King Candy as a "twist" villain. At least, not in the way that people keep parroting... What they're talking about are Hans from FROZEN, Professor Callaghan from BIG HERO 6, and assistant mayor Bellwether from ZOOTOPIA. These three are very much in the same league as Stinky Pete from TOY STORY 2, Mr. Waternoose from MONSTERS, INC., and Lotso from TOY STORY 3... Three Pixar twist villains... You thought they were good and kind-natured characters, until they weren't. Usually these twists came about 2/3 into their respective movies. Those three films were Pixar films, and the studio's 2017 film COCO re-used that same formula with Ernesto de la Cruz. Funnily enough, TOY STORY 2 and MONSTERS, INC. were co-directed by Lee Unkrich, who directed TOY STORY 3 and COCO. Filmmakers re-using their own devices... John Lasseter, of course, was director of TOY STORY 2... And ran both Pixar and Disney Animation from 2006 to 2018, ran the hierarchical "Brain Trust" that Lee was a part of, and he used a lot of those so-called Pixarisms in WDAS' films as well.

Yes, to be fair, that was three in a row from Disney Animation, from 2013 to 2016. Hans, Callaghan, Bellwether. They all play out like Stinky Pete/Waternoose/Lotso-types. I totally get that. I think it's accidental, though, because FROZEN was originally supposed to be about a villainous Elsa, but at the very last minute the story was redone and Hans was bumped to villain status, with Elsa functioning as a complicated, torn, but ultimately sympathetic character. I never really liked Hans as a villain myself, he feels shoehorned into what should've just been - in my not so humble opinion - a movie about two sisters. I feel he's also there because the film fancies itself a "meta" commentary on Disney fairy tales. As for BIG HERO 6 and ZOOTOPIA, I feel their twists suit the stories that the filmmakers were telling.

But after that?

MOANA's "villain" is, to me, Maui. Arrogant demigod Maui stole the heart of Te Fiti, so... Yeah, Te Ka is a rightfully enraged Te Fiti. Tamatoa is but a mid-movie boss level, though his less than 10 minutes onscreen are indeed a lot of deliciously villainous fun. Some people wish he had had a bigger role, but I'm totally fine with him being a temporary obstacle in the main adventure.

Maui is obviously not an evil, malicious character, but when I say villain... It can mean anything. A villain can be a character who is an antihero, or their own worst enemy even. Think Pinocchio in Walt Disney's PINOCCHIO, a sentient puppet boy who sometimes doesn't listen to Jiminy Cricket and gives into temptation quite a bit. Again, his own worst enemy... He creates a lot of his own problems. If he hadn't said yes to Honest John Foulfellow, he wouldn't have been locked in a birdcage by Stromboli. If he hadn't lied to the Blue Fairy, his nose wouldn't have grown. Him being held captive by Stromboli lead to Geppetto and his pets ending up being swallowed by Monstro the whale. Even Jiminy Cricket is no saint, bailing out on Pinocchio at one point. "What does an actor want with a conscience anyway?"

I'm getting off track here, but you catch my drift, right? Okay, so MOANA... Maui causes all the trouble in the movie, the whole adventure revolves around his past crime of stealing something valuable. There's no malicious overlord looking to threaten Moana's home village of Motunui, there's no bad guy out to kill her. MOANA is purely an environmental story if anything, and it's about colonialism too. Stealing from the land for your own gain, draining it of its life, etc.? You know...

After MOANA came RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET, already a divisive movie for many other reasons... RALPH BREAKS is, from my perspective, a movie about a neurodivergent who is so used to his home and familiar surroundings being thrown into a big, wide, and sometimes scary world... And how he reacts to all of that. Ralph's insecurities and fear of losing the one friend of his, his first at that, if you don't count the other video game villains at the Bad-Anon meetings... His fear of losing that friend, that drives much of the movie's conflict. It is he who causes all the commotion in the third act, by unleashing the virus that hungers "flaws" in things. FROZEN II came next, that was essentially another colonialism/sins of the past-type story. RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON had a sort of pseudo-geopolitical conflict going on with multiple tribes of people in a fantasy setting, with a complicated relationship between the heroine and the antagonist. A source of power that corrupts what should be a harmonious community. *Cough cough* money- ENCANTO is generational trauma, obviously, if that hasn't been made clear a million times. STRANGE WORLD is as well to an extent, definitely a daddy issues story, but it's also an environmental story about a fictional world's population inadvertently killing the world it lives on...

This all forms up a nice variety of stories... Because believe it or not, conflict **can** come from things **other** than malicious, scheming, mustache-twirling bad guys. And get this! Some people complain that *all* Disney movies are just about simplistic evil bad guys, which is certainly untrue.

This variety of stories also applies to the Walt-era films... For every Evil Queen or Maleficent, there were antagonists like "Man" in BAMBI and society's casual cruelty in DUMBO. The Evil Queen, the various foes in PINOCCHIO, Lady Tremaine, Maleficent, Cruella, Shere Khan, etc. all fall into a classic "bad guy" category, characters who willfully want to hurt or harm someone, some who seek power in ways that will hurt many people. Your classic bad guy... Some of them might even see themselves as the hero of their own story. Like, Shere Khan for example... His fear of man shooting him is not unfounded, but he certainly enjoys the prospect of eating an innocent little man-cub, though! So he's definitely more on the bad side than one would expect. He's already feared the jungle over, yet in a way, he has some legitimate motivations.

Okay, so where am I going with this? Yeah, so in plenty of the Walt-era Disney animated movies, you have malicious or harmful bad guys out to harm the protagonists, many of them larger-than-life or have a major presence of sorts in the movies... But let's look at some of the other films. In DUMBO, the gossipy elephants are bullies to Dumbo because of his deformity. And, well, that's reality unfortunately. Was back then (1941), is now. Prejudices exist, and people bully others because of those prejudices. I would know, being autistic and queer for starters. Dumbo is not only bullied by the other elephants, but circus patrons laugh at him, too. Some rough boys pick on him, driving his mother to intervene. The circus staff separated him from his mother, put him through dangerous stunts, and generally treated him rather poorly until he triumphs at the end. The Ringmaster isn't really in the same league as The Evil Queen or Maleficent, he merely runs a circus, and circuses have a history of animal cruelty. Just cold indifference towards living creatures for showbiz. The movie doesn't portray the Ringmaster as Snidley Whiplash, he's merely a showman. Nor the clowns as sniveling goons, but merely as working class guys. (There's a particularly amusing little ditty in the film where the clowns sing about "hitting the big boss for a raise", which was partially in reference to the discrepancies that lead to the Disney Strike of 1941.) Gotta also factor in the historical context, DUMBO is a Great Depression/World War II-era picture. Walt and his story people were careful in their depictions of Dumbo's antagonists. This was a modern-day story, unlike SNOW WHITE, PINOCCHIO, and the many fantastical segments of FANTASIA, so they told this story accordingly. No fairy tale menaces, but simply how mean people can be in the real world. Some people are just plain bullies because it is/was accepted to ostracize certain kinds of people (or in Dumbo's case, animals), and some people are just indifferent to injustices.

Ironically, this makes the Walt-era films - seen by a concerning amount of people as "childish" compared to the studio's later endeavors - more mature than many Western family animated films made over the past 30 or so years. Can't you tell I really love the Walt films?

BAMBI is another favorite of mine... "Man"... Do the animals ever refer to human beings as "evil" in BAMBI? That would be no... Just a few simple lines in what is a rather quiet and lyrical film. Certainly quiet by today's standards, for sure. "Man... Was in the forest." "He is here again... There are many this time..." BAMBI is unique in that it shows, starkly, just how much destruction humans bring to the forest. We never see a human being in the film, nor hear one speak... We only hear gunshots, and honestly? That always made them scarier. It gave them a mystique, an ominous aura. This thing called "Man" shows up, and there's a possibility that you will die when he does. Nothing beyond that. In real life, that's probably how animals with their very different brains than ours process human encroachment in their habitat. Many other animated movies have animals that act like humans and know lots of things about the human world, the animals in BAMBI do not. So, yes, in BAMBI, there is no scheming gun-toting hunter. We don't know the motivations of the human who shot Bambi's mother dead. Was he doing it for the sport? For a venison dinner? The whole point of Walt's film, an adaptation of Felix Salten's novel BAMBI: A LIFE IN THE WOODS, is that the motivation doesn't matter. What matters is, Bambi's mother is dead and his whole life is significantly altered by a bullet shot by one person in a mere second... This is what Man can do to a life, a whole home or world even. Tell me that didn't line up with how the world was reeling from the man-made horrors of World War II?

I'll even throw in LADY AND THE TRAMP for good measure. Who is really the "villain" in that film? The obvious answer may seem to be Aunt Sarah, who is kind of a busybody. She isn't very friendly to Lady, or to dogs in general it seems. She has two cats, though. That seems to line up, right? Doesn't like dogs, has cats, cats are usually portrayed as evil or scheming in a lot of older media and stories. Her two cats cause trouble and frame Lady for an attack, which leads to Aunt Sarah muzzling her. We don't see her for the rest of the picture until the climactic battle with the rat. The rat, of course, just a silent wild animal. Is she really "evil", though? She's antagonistic, for sure. She's a total pain in the ass more so than a powerful, towering bad guy a la Ursula or Hades. The whole movie isn't necessarily hinged around her, Lady gets the muzzle off halfway through the movie and doesn't return home until later. That is by choice, she would rather watch the baby than run off with Tramp and life the free life with him. Aunt Sarah's only role in the climax is to be oblivious, and since it's a dark and stormy night, how would she know about the rat? She just assumes Lady is an annoying barking dog. It's all real-world human stuff, not exaggerated cartoon "muwahaha!" menace. Aunt Sarah gets shut right down at the end of the movie when Jim Dear and Darling make it home from their trip. ("Nonsense, she's trying to tell us something!") Aunt Sarah is more a person who really needed to chill, and be a little nicer to dogs. No, for me, much of LADY AND THE TRAMP's conflict stems from its themes. Lady is a purebred, she's pampered and lives in a lovely neighborhood with loving owners, Tramp is from the wrong side of the tracks, a stray mutt who hasn't had it easy and has a rather cynical outlook on life. Classic polar opposites for this romantic drama that happens to be animated and happens to be have talking dogs as its stars... It is very much a story about class differences, subtly so, because Walt's movies - contrary to popular belief - weren't these paper-thin stories that some folks make them out to be. The class themes are quite obvious actually, in several scenes, such as Lady's first encounter with Tramp, the entire dog pound sequence, and particularly in the third act confrontation between Lady and Tramp at her house. It's natural drama and conflict, not somebody looking to threaten the town they live in.

As for Post-Walt films made before the Disney Renaissance, I could also wax about THE FOX AND THE HOUND being more a parable of race relations in the '70s than anything else, but... Moving on-

As you can see, and if you've read from me elsewhere, I really love me my Walt-era Disney animated films, and I see a nice variety of stories and conflicts in them. By contrast, the films of the Disney Renaissance? It was bad guy after bad guy after bad guy. Even before the Renaissance, start at 1985's THE BLACK CAULDRON with The Horned King... And it's a succession: Ratigan, Sykes, Ursula, McLeach, Gaston, Jafar, Scar, Governor Ratcliffe, Judge Claude Frollo, Hades, Shan-Yu, Clayton. This is the era that a lot of detractors of modern Disney animated features yearn for. They don't seem to like that the recent movies haven't retread the same ground as before, and have opted to tell stories with different kinds of conflict. For me, the variety in the antagonists and conflicts put the films closer to Walt's entire body of animated feature work than the Renaissance period.

Now, if they don't like these stories because of their respective executions? That's totally fine and well...

I myself do think that the recent WDAS films need a little more bite. Even without a bad guy, you can still make certain aspects and scenes intense and thrilling, and make other things stand out. Can I go back to films like DUMBO and LADY AND THE TRAMP for a second? Those may not have had traditional bad guys in them, but they did tell their stories in ways that made the conflicts register, the drama hit hard, and the resolutions hit even harder. It was one of Walt's storytelling tricks, and it was regularly executed so well by his crews. Directors like Wolfgang Reitherman, Ben Sharpsteen, David Hand, Clyde Geronimi, etc., to say nothing of his animators, the Nine Old Men especially. Anyways...

I feel like many of WDAS' recent films are all essentially TANGLED 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, etc. That they got too comfortable with that one style of visuals and the directing, I feel, is not as distinguishable. There are some touches here and there you can pick up on, from films directed by the likes of Byron Howard or the Ron Clements-John Musker duo, but little else... PUSS IN BOOTS 2 by DreamWorks does the opposite, it doesn't feel like the few DreamWorks pictures released before it nor any of the previous SHREK movies for that matter... with or without bad guy villains in it.

I never really found FROZEN or BIG HERO 6 to be too intense, they would've easily been rated G in the 1990s, for sure. ZOOTOPIA comes close in parts, MOANA has some cool action but I heard that the filmmakers were mandated to tone down the scenes of Te Ka. I believe it. Meanwhile, yes, PUSS IN BOOTS 2 doubles-down on the more intense stuff, with some serious style at that! Death/Wolf is legit menacing, what with his sick fighting moves and glowing red eyes. Big Jack Horner is completely malicious, not a moral bone in his body, comically so. When Puss runs through the woods after seeing Death for the third time and his subsequent panic attack, I was reminded of Snow White's run through the scary forest. Just soooo well done. PUSS IN BOOTS 2 knows what kind of story it is, and it doesn't hold itself back. As a fairy tale for a family audience, it doesn't timidly hold back on giving the kids in the audience a good thrill. I don't feel like anyone in higher positions gave notes to the filmmakers, telling them to tone down their vision. Contrast that with what the Disney+ documentary on the making of FROZEN II pointed out: Test screenings with kids lead to certain intense scenes being toned down.

Now that kind of criticism, I do totally get!

But, what I don't get is... "Lol, Disney's villains suck these days!" "DreamWorks' villains were always better anyways, Disney was never good!" "Heck, DreamWorks is just better, period!" Heck, I even saw a meme saying that a Disney film *never* had blood in it, while PUSS IN BOOTS 2 was "top-tier" or "goated" or whatever because Puss gets a small cut in the movie... Like, what? Have these people not seen... Let's see... SLEEPING BEAUTY, THE BLACK CAULDRON, ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE, Pixar's FINDING NEMO and UP, etc.? We're now doing this over onscreen blood? I'm paraphrasing a lot of this nonsense, I know, it's not the exact wording, ***but***... But, but, but... People seem to have the attention span of GNATS when talking about these films. Aren't these the same people who felt that DreamWorks had lost their way? Which was in response to DreamWorks releasing a BOSS BABY sequel and a SPIRIT spin-off movie for 6-year-old horse girls in 2021? "DreamWorks is back"? The TROLLS movies seem to get a lot of flack too, and we have a third one coming out later this year. Will these same people relapse when TROLLS BAND TOGETHER comes out and they all collectively say "DreamWorks, why do you suck now?" I mean, what is all this? Are they all kids or something?

Why the constant rivalry? Why the constant "nyeehhhh, this is king, the other thing sucks"? This isn't the console wars. Someone on twitter summed it up as that, and I think that's brilliant. A spot-on description of what this silliness is. The console wars, yes... Nintendo and Sega went at it in the early 1990s in America, it was all marketing... But it was also all stupid, and a lot of gullible kids ate it up, because they were kids, you know? When I was 12-13 in the mid-aughts, I idiotically and unironically bought into wild conspiracy theories about DreamWorks vs. Disney/Pixar, and I'm not proud of that whatsoever. Or, we can compare this silliness to how the media in the 1960s made it seem like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were these fierce rivals or something...

The reality is, all the studios are full of talented people who work very hard for about four years making these motion pictures a reality. Not a single thing in a single frame of an animated movie comes for free. I mean, I'm a long-time artist, I would also know that. Just one drawing alone of something can be taxing... Now imagine that, but a ton of them, for the numerous amount of frames in a 90-minute movie! Decisions are made and they can't always be corrected. Money, time, etc. What's done is done. It's not like WDAS' filmmakers, or Pixar's, or DreamWorks' filmmakers for that matter are trying to spite you whenever they make a movie. I feel much of the animation fan community treats an animated movie or show they don't personally like as spite.

Most of the time, if not nearly all the time, it is not SPITE. TURNING RED wasn't made to spite you, LIGHTYEAR wasn't made to spite you, STRANGE WORLD, BOSS BABY 2, SPIRIT UNTAMED, you get the idea!

But is this anything new? No.

Remember how, when COCO was coming out, COCO was supposedly this big rip-off of THE BOOK OF LIFE, a similar animated movie about musicians and the Day of the Dead? Remember how COCO was apparently a big ol' insult to BOOK OF LIFE and the country of Mexico as a whole? Remember how COCO was destined to be a failure because BOOK OF LIFE came first and was directed by a Mexican, while COCO was directed by a white American? Remember how COCO was appropriation of Mexican culture while BOOK OF LIFE was ostensibly the more "pure" and "authentic" film? Remember how a major animation news website kept stoking this fire? Then COCO came out... It's one of the highest-grossing films in Mexico, it's beloved, I heard nary a negative thing about it after that.

Or how about... Remember THE EMOJI MOVIE? Remember how Sony Animation was a "bad" studio and that they "redeemed" themselves with SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE the year after? Remember how THE EMOJI MOVIE apparently killed animation or whatever?

Or how about all the raw and perpetual anger over harmless shows like TEEN TITANS GO! and such?

It's just cartoons. It ain't... Ya know, something like running a country.

Chill. Nothing's the greatest thing ever, or the worstest thing ever. There's no need to pit these things against one another, like we're living in HIGHLANDER or something. "There can be only one." If we want animation to look more worthy and sophisticated than it does, then there can't be this playground "nyah nyah, mine's better!" nonsense. At the end of the day, there's stuff you like, and stuff you don't. If I don't like something, I'll just express a little disappointment and go watch/enjoy something I *do* like. Or better yet? Make something of my own that I think is cool.

Last autumn, I caught two horror films in theaters, to use an example... One was Zach Cregger's BARBARIAN, the other Parker Finn's SMILE. I loved BARBARIAN, dug the hell out of it. Whereas I borderline hated SMILE. On Twitter, after seeing SMILE, I made a few tweets about it, posted a Letterboxd review, and that was about it. In another tweet, I briefly brought it up... Unlike toon-twitter or the rest of the whole sphere, I didn't, week after week, pit BARBARIAN and SMILE against each other. I didn't constantly bring up SMILE just to bash it, or use BARBARIAN to one-up it. Because I'm an "adult". SMILE exists, me bashing it doesn't change anything. People saw it, people loved it, it had ludicrous legs at the box office for an *original* *horror* movie. I really disliked SMILE, and I just left it at that. Unless you directly ask me what I thought of SMILE and why I disliked it, I see no need to bring it up. I moved on to other things. In fact, the night I saw SMILE, I went home and streamed DC LEAGUE OF SUPER-PETS - which I hadn't seen yet - to wash it out.

The last mainstream animated movie that I saw that I disliked was THE ADDAMS FAMILY 2. Would you know? Unless you're someone who likes to keep up with my crumby Letterboxd reviews, you probably wouldn't know. I don't think I even mentioned on twitter that I even saw the film, let alone really disliked it... Because I have no need to say that, to keep spreading it like wildfire. You didn't like TURNING RED/LIGHTYEAR/STRANGE WORLD? Fine. PUSS IN BOOTS 2 satisfying your tastes is more than enough, you don't need to keep interjecting why the other three movies were "mid" or whatever. Just a suggestion, ya know?

And if it's about sticking it to big bad corporate Disney? Guess what, DreamWorks is owned by COMCAST. A big multimedia conglomerate that's every bit as evil as Disney is. Oh, and how about two of the other Best Animated Feature of 2022 nominees? PINOCCHIO and THE SEA BEAST? They're from NETFLIX! Even A24, the sole studio in the running that isn't huge, is imperfect and they're quite mainstream I'd argue. On top of that, they sell random trinket merchandise for their films that doesn't justify the price tag. Like c'mon, we're really battling over which corporation or enterprise to worship?

I try to cherish all the animated films we get in a calendar year, especially nowadays... When some of these corporations are just thoughtlessly cancelling projects left and right, even erasing some from existence because "tax write-offs" or some capitalist mumbojumbo nonsense that truly makes no sense. Hundreds of people work on them, and a lot of the time, it's people making decisions that they think are the right decision at the time... But sometimes, it doesn't translate to critical success or commercial success. Like the late William Goldman once said, "No one knows anything. Not one person in the entire motion picture field knows for a certainty what's going to work. Every time out it's a guess and, if you're lucky, an educated one."

I reckon most people mudslinging online and wearing their favorites as some sort of badge of honor wouldn't last a day in a studio, in production of a film... And this isn't unique to the animation fandom, it's elsewhere, too. Any kind of film, really. TV, sports, games, you name it... But I have to see a lot of it on my timelines and on my YouTube recommendeds, and even from people I otherwise really find insightful, and it's just goddamn exhausting. A little nuance would be nice...

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golikehellmachine · 2 years

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friday, nov. 11th.

well, friends, we made it through another week, one which saw the antifa stronghold of portland, oregon help legislative warlord tina kotek ascend to leadership of the people’s republic. other good news, too, all over the country, along with some less good news, but all in all, better than expected. twitter is exploding, silicon valley is shaking, things could be worse (unless you work or live in silicon valley, i guess, in which case, condolences).

***

first up today is a band i’ve been getting into this week through, mostly, other bands posting about them. WHITELANDS are a dreamy shoegaze outfit out of london that are part of a growing wave of bands that, for the most part, sound like they grew up listening to their parents’ ride albums. i approve. check out how it feels:

next up are DESPERATE JOURNALIST, whose record maximum sorrow! i pre-ordered last year and then forgot about entirely, which is a shame, because they’ve got a great sound that incorporates some fun siouxie and pat benatar moments right along with a little bit of the long blondes and, occasionally, even some bjork. that’s kind of an all-over-the-map description, but i think you’ll hear it when you listen to it.

god, THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUEEN were great. it’s unlikely they’ll do anything again — they were always just kind of a project band amongst a bunch of old guys (damon albarn is the youngest of them), but they have such a fantastic and distinctive sound that weaves together simon’s unmistakeable bass, the late tony allen’s drums (from fela kuti!) and damon albarn’s bored, lovely vocals, with plenty of interesting instrumentation from simon tong, albarn’s guitarist from GORILLAZ. everything they did was good; this live version isn’t my favorite of theirs, but it’s worth it to see tony allen and paul simonon in action.

youtube

practically every punk band since TELEVISION has claimed TELEVISION as an influence, but it’s somewhat rarer when you can actually hear it. SMIRK really pull it off here on souvenir. the cover artwork for this record is also terrifying.

san francisco’s SPORTING LIFE claim dream rock, shoegaze and brit pop, though i feel like this song reaches a little further back into the garage rock of the 1960’s. there’s a lovely, lush bridge right in the middle of this song that really elevates what was an already-good garage pop song up to something much more exciting.

i don’t think these folks are together anymore, but portland’s THE CRY! were a fantastic power pop four-piece in the tradition of portland power pop legends THE EXPLODING HEARTS, who had about as tragic an end as any band can have. this one is highly recommended for people with shag haircuts and converse sneakers.

REDD KROSS are a band that, as but a wee punk rocker, i always got annoyed by every time they popped up on a comp in the late 1990s and early 00s (which happened a lot). i got annoyed by them because i did not understand what these longhairs were doing on my punk rock compilations, and i was annoyed because i was, first and foremost, an idiot. REDD KROSS absolutely rule — fantastic, blazing power pop, like a supercharged big star. this song’s a banger right from the opening guitar riff, it just never lets up.

this week’s playlist is power pop heavy, so it only makes sense to include one of the originals, NICK LOWE. this song is a delight all on it’s own, but the video was directed by JD MCPHERSON, a fellow okie whose old band, THE STARKWEATHER BOYS, used to play with my old band on occasion, before he became the guy who plays lead guitar for a little-known rocker named ROBERT PLANT.

anyway, this video is such a great, sweet little vignette, featuring a few of my friends, and one of my most absolute favorite people in the whole entire world right around 1:45. “i’m leaving like i’m getting out of jail” is a phrase that i always want to work into my natural vocabulary, but never remember to say.

youtube

speaking of my old band, i have absolutely no shame, and i’m happy to include us on this week’s list. THE ENGINE HEARTS were a lot of things — sometimes exhillarating, sometimes a total shambles, sometimes both at the same time — but i’m happy with what we accomplished, and this record stands as one of the recordings i’m most proud of being a part of. this band was so much fun.

closing out this week’s list are yet more oklahomans — turns out that living in a state with nothing to do tends to produce great artists — BRONCHO. these folks always have a great, fun, exciting sound that bounces off the walls like a rubber ball, and while they’ve done plenty in recent years that’s fantastic, i always return to their first single, try me out sometime. you should do exactly that.

#friday #playlist #powerpop #postpunk #Bandcamp #Youtube

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loubouskz · 2 years

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update on me(loubouskz) & my stories that are coming soon!

hey everyone! I hope y'all are doing well? How's winter doing you guys? I'm sorry I've been M.I.A(haha) for the last couple of months. That wasn't part of the plan at all. I was so ready to be posting stories on here more that I had planned. I was going to post my next one about I.N in October after I had gotten back from a concert bc I was so excited for it. but I got the flu the following week and when I get sick, which hardly ever happens, I get sick sick. bad sick. after all that, without going into too much. my mental state vanished and I was not in a good place at all, it still isn't. mainly bc of eating and body issues. so I haven't been on the internet of much, like I would pop on tumblr here and there. hardly got on twitter, insta, fb, etc. the only thing I have been on is youtube, watching Markiplier. I'm hoping next year, I'll finally get therapy like I've been wanting and needing. but I'm doing a little better, I feel a little better today. enough to start writing and posting again. I'm okay, I will be.

so on to the stories that have been in my drafts since the middle/end of this year. let me tell you about some of them. I have 4. and for the person who sent in a request with chan, don't worry, I saw it! It's coming and I love your request. and for anyone reading this, my requests are always open, even if it takes me a min to see. even if it is just a small one, I would love to write something for you. writing in general makes me happy.

1.) Yang Jeongin - it's called love for an angel. basically it's ab a guardian angel(i.n) that falls in love with the human their protecting(the reader), which isn't supposed to happen and isn't allowed. angels are supposed to be invisible, but one day the reader sees him and fall in love. and yeah, I don't want to spoil too much but I absolutely love it and is probably one of my favs that I've been working on.

2.) Lee Felix - it doesn't have a title yet, still thinking of one. it's where felix and the reader are best friends and roommates(and they were roommates. did anyone see the tiktok update ab that vine and the story broooo). oh wow, shocking! and the reader tells felix that she's hasn't had great sex and felix offers to try and maybe help her out. it's short, but I'm pretty sure I haven't written something smexy for felix yet. and if I did, I probably didn't post it...memory is kinda foggy still.

3.) Hwang Hyunjin - it's part 2 to it's gonna happen. I've only written a few sentences. It was the last thing I worked on before going M.I.A, so I didn't get that far. I have bullet points of what's going to happen in the story(and so I don't for forget what I was going to write) and from the looks of it wont be as long as the the first part. just kinda of any update of what happens next in this story. don't worry, I wrote down in one of the bullet points: "a lot a smut scenes" ehehe

and 4.) Lee Minho - the story that I've been working on for the longest time and so proud of. and that still doesn't have a name! 🫠 sadly, it is still not anywhere close to being finished. I really want it to be good so I'm taking my time with it. I'll give WIP updates about it soon. rn, it has 4k words. like I'm at the part where the reader and lino are having their first convertion...this fic is my baby. I love it so much bc it has space, and I love space and the stars. I'm fully ignoring my fear of heights and big metal objects that go in the air or under/on the water.😀

but yeh, that's it. guessing what fics are coming out soon. felix and jeongin's most likely. then hyunjin's then....maybe not the lino in space one. pffft. next year, I promise!

#loubouskz #skz #stray kids #skz imagines #stray kids imagines #skz smut #stray kids smut #skz fluff #straykids #stray kids fluff

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bellmo15-blog · 6 months

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Villains In Fiction Act Like Villains? *Gasp!*

So, there was a post I saw on Twitter last night that was poking fun of some of the sillier complaints people have about Disney Star Wars and the post contained screenshots of posts from Ticktok complaining about how certain factions, the Empire in particular, had been depicted in Star Wars media recently and these shots contained a bunch of fickle arguments such as “where is the war in Star Wars” as if people don’t understand that war isn’t all just big explosions and screaming “FOR QUEEN AND COUNTRY” at the top of your lungs. You know, it was the stereotypical “Disney Star Wars bad” kinda stuff you’d expect to see at this point. However, there were two particular screen shots in this post that bothered me the most. This shot from opening of The Force Awakens where the First Order assaults the village on Jakku which ends with them all being executed, and another shot from one of the recent episodes of The Bad Batch showing that the Empire has started experimenting on kids with that same episode also showing Cad Bane kidnapping a literal baby.

And these complaints, they got to me. Like they actually got to me and not in a good way. Because ignoring the fact that the sequel trilogy actively goes out of it’s way to show the audience that the First Order is A LOT more brutal than the Empire anyway and this opening assault is a great way of showing that and this wasn’t even the first time in cannon that Cad Bane had kidnaped children, they were acting like the Empire being as evil as it is is a new thing. No it is not! This is the same group of people who killed Luke’s aunt and uncle, blew up an entire planet, tortured Princess Leia for information and would of killed her two if Luke, Han and Chewbacca didn’t show up to save her, Darth Vader killed some of his own men just because they fucked up at their job, blackmailed Lando into luring our heroes into a trap and set up a shield generator on a planet they likely didn’t ask the consent of the local Ewoks beforehand. And let’s not forget the Galactic Empire is also being led by a man who manipulated his best solider from childhood, planned a mass genocide on a group of what’s basically Space Samurai wizards and any Jedi that DID survive often ended up working for this new regime to basically hunt down and kill any Jedi who survived Order 66 and let’s not forget Palpatine basically lied his way into power. The Empire experimenting on children in The Bad Batch is no different from how they acted in the past BEFORE Disney brought the rights to this franchise!

However, this post of the Star Wars fanbase just being the Star Wars fanbase also highlights a bigger issue that extends to all works of fiction. Apparently, we can’t have villains in fiction who are irredeemable assholes that do some really horrible shit anymore. And I really have to wonder, do you people NOT know some of the really horrible shit villains have done in fiction over the years. Do you also know that some of them also have no real motivation to do half the shit they do other than “just cause” or because of “insanity?” This really isn’t a new thing or anything!

Don’t believe me? How about we bring up Green Goblin from the first Sam Rami Spider-Man film? This is a villain who literally becomes a villain though a science experiment gone wrong leading to him going insane and he actively takes joy in the horrible stuff he does. Does he have a reason to continue doing evil shit after killing off the Oscorp executives who screw him over at one point? No. Is he still a joy to watch on screen? Yes!

Or how about Risky Boots from the Shantae series. Does she have any deep or personal or sympathetic reason as to why she does half the shit she does in this series, including kidnapping Shantae’s Uncle, stealing her genie magic out of her, inverting Shantae’s Genie Magic to turn her evil or helping the Empress Siren just for the sake of a ship? As far as we know, no! She just really likes being a pirate and stealing shit save for the one time in the series she had no choice but to work with Shantae to stop the Pirate Master. And that’s fine! Because she’s still an incredibly entertaining villain.

Or what about Bowser from the Super Mario franchise. Does he have any detailed reasons as to why he constantly goes after Princess Peach? No! And yes, there is the Super Mario Bros Movie where he wants to marry Peach but that’s a different cannon altogether anyway.

And what about Commander Tartar from Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion who wanted to commit mass genocide on the entire Inkling and Octoling race just because he wasn’t happy with how they had become the new dominant species on earth and wanted to replace them with a new race?

“But Bellmo, we need our villains to be sympathetic otherwise what’s the point of half the stuff they do.” No no no. You can NOT just sit here and tell me making a villain Sympathetic instantly makes that character likable or justifys half the shit they do. Because even the ones who are do some pretty horrible stuff.

Don’t believe me still? How about Magneto in the X-Men movies? Now one look at this guy and you might think that he has a noble goal. He wants mutants to be respected and the X-Men universe mutants are seen as freaks or monsters. Well guess what, Magneto does some pretty awful shit in these films just for that goal. In the original X-Men he was more than willing to sacrifice Rouge, who casual reminder is ALSO a mutant, just to turn a bunch of people into Mutants despite the fact that we see before this point that it does NOT end well if a normal person get’s forcibly turned into a Mutant. X-2 despite helping to stop a plot to wipe out all mutant on the earth he then ends up turning that plan on its head and try’s to have all non mutants wiped out instead. Last Stand he rally’s a bunch of mutants to his side because of a recent “cure” for mutations and his plan is to literally go to the source of the cure, who is a literal child, and probably kill him two. And that’s not even counting some of the stuff he does in the First-Class saga such as being more than willing to blow up American and Russian boats with mislles, thinking the best way to stop the apocalyptic future we see in Day’s of Future Past is to kill Mystic because her actions in the 70’s lead to what happened and willingly working for Apocalypse because he has nothing left anymore. Yeah, I don’t care how much of an activist for mutant rights Magneto is, if I was a mutant I’d be going straight to the school run by the telepath in a wheelchair. Which is ironic for me to say considering Magneto is arguably one of the best parts of these movies. He’s incredibly well acted and his dialogue with other characters is great to listen two.

“But Gannondorf is a sympathetic villain in Zelda Wind Waker. He had good reason for doing what he did.” Yeah, a sympathetic villain who lied his way into the Hylian Royal family and plunged Hyrule and the Sacred Realm into chaos. And that’s just in the Adult Timeline. Don’t even get me started on how he basically used Zant to try and take over Hyrule again in the Child Timeline or how he actually kills OOT Link in the Downfall timeline.

Look, the point I’m trying to get across with all this rambling is that I don’t get why villains acting like villains is such a shocking thing to people nowadays. What, are we going to complain about Heroes being Heroes next? Villains doing villainous shit isn’t a brand new thing nor do they all have to be sympathy to justify the shit they do either. But then again, we live in an age where media literacy is deader than my hopes for that Sands of Time remake to be finished. I know I said this already a while ago but I swear to God, I will NEVER forgive what a lot of overly critical Youtubers from the 2010’s into now have done to an entire generations ability to consume media.

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fahrni · 9 months

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Saturday Morning Coffee

Good morning from Charlottesville, Virginia! ☕️

For those who celebrate Christmas I hope you’ve completed your shopping and can enjoy your time reading blogs today or enjoy some other non day job activity. 😃

Dave Nemetz • TVLine

Andre Braugher, Star of Homicide and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Dead at 61

This was devastating to me. I’ve liked Andre Braugher since I saw him for the first time on Homicide: Life on the Street. Such a loss.

RIP.

Raymond Chen • The Old New Thing

The x86 instruction set has an ENTER instruction which builds a stack frame. It is almost always used with a zero as the second parameter.

Raymond Chen is one of the best development reads in the world. He’s so smart and can write to boot. He also has great stories to share. I recommend you point your RSS reader at The Old New Thing at Microsoft and enjoy.

Jose Munoz

I’ve used RSS for news and blogs since Google Reader days. I go through my feeds with Reeder on my iPad mini every morning. It’s my favorite time of day. While I’ve been extremely happy for years with Reeder as my RSS reading app, I’ve faced issues with their Reeder Feeds iCloud service.

iCloud sync is a thorn in the side of almost every developer who uses it. It slow to sync and sometimes requires logging out entirely to get it to work. Little indie companies do a better job running services than Apple. Sure, sure, Apple are doing it at huge scale, but so do Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, and Google and I don’t hear about issues like this as often.

It’s really too bad modern software has an expectation of a backing service to make it work properly because a backing service is super expensive to operate. I can’t provide my own sync because I can’t pay hundreds of dollars a month to run a sync service for Stream. I only make a few bucks a month on Stream. And by a few I mean less than $20/month. That’s OK because I chose to make a simple app that isn’t updated often and chose to give it away. But, I feel for those little undies who spend so much to keep services up and running only to just scrape by or lose money.

Chance Miller, Zac Hall, and Michael Potuck • 9to5Mac

Last week, Beeper Mini debuted as a way to bring iMessage to Android, without having to hand over your Apple ID credentials. A few days later, Apple made a change that stopped Beeper Mini from working – and it promised to continue doing so.

Not surprising.

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Sarah Perez • TechCrunch

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is throwing her weight behind Beeper, the app that allowed Android users to message iPhone users via iMessage, until Apple shut it down. Warren, an advocate for stricter antitrust enforcement, posted her support for Beeper on X (formerly Twitter) and questioned why Apple would restrict a competitor. The post indicates Apple’s move has now caught the attention of legislators, who are in a position to regulate Big Tech through policymaking.

Sorry, Senator. Goodness knows I love you, I really do, but I disagree with you on this. Apple is a publicly traded company who created a secure service for users of their devices. We pay for it with our purchase of Apple hardware and other services. It shouldn’t be seen as a free public utility.

The Beeper folks did an amazing job reverse engineering Messages so they could do what they did but it’s essentially hacking a service. Of course Apple is going to shut that down.

What should Apple do? That’s an easy answer for me. They should staff up an Android team and write a native Android app version of Messages. Then charge a monthly service fee for it. Problem solved! You’re welcome!

Something I often wonder. Are Apple’s services so bad/insecure that they mask it by not opening them up? I kind of doubt that but it always pops into my head when I read something about one of their services.

FeedLand

I am lobbying everyone I know to add great feed support to social media systems, so we can get out of the mode of dominant platforms before Threads becomes the dominant platform.

I must admit I didn’t understand what FeedLand is all about, but know I think I get it, maybe. 😃

Ultimately it’s an RSS aggregator. But I do get what Dave is trying to do beyond FeedLand.

Using RSS to follow a social site like Madtodon, Threads, or Bluesky would be amazing. RSS is mature, extensible, and stable.

I follow a few Mastodon feeds using Mastodon’s incredible RSS support, but it could go even further.

Imagine if all social networks supported RSS publishing. We could then use our reader of choice to casually browse our aggregated feeds. I know of a nice little iOS App that presents feeds as a timeline, check it out. 😃

Sorry, had to get that self plug in there.

What if social networks went the next step? What if I could set up a social network to read an RSS feed? Then I could write in one spot and publish to many/all using just RSS. That would be amazing.

To go one step further the social network could support weblog ping so the social network would know you’ve made an update.

Prior to social networks we had all of this in the blogging world. Dave Winer did all of it. He did RSS as well as weblogs ping. It worked really well. He even had Weblogs.com (don’t go there now, it’s a spammy site) which would display the latest sites with updates. If you’ve ever used Blo.gs you’ve seen weblog ping in action. You can even check out my ancient C++ command line implementation of weblog ping. 😂

Anyway. RSS in and out of social networks + weblog ping could be a nice open API for any social network without the need for someone to write code to call an API.

Alyssa Place • benefitnews.com

Employees' traditional view of retirement is changing. It’s time for employers to embrace that, too.

I asked WillowTree HR. A couple years back if we had any kind of plan for part time work and we don’t. I’d like to see that happen because, quite honestly, I can’t really retire. But I do hope to slow down when I hit 70 to enjoy what time I’ll have left, hopefully I live long enough to see a partial retirement.

I suspect the type of business we’re in doesn’t work well with part-time workers. It’s all about billing those hours, which is the worst possible business to be in.

Product and Services are still king. Anything you can upgrade and make money from while doing the next version is so much better than the hourly hamster wheel. 🐹

Robb Knight

Threads started to test ActivityPub integration this week and the fediverse is losing it’s collective mind going into overdrive to block them in any way possible so they can’t grab all your data. Here’s the fun part: they can already do that and they definitely don’t need ActivityPub to do that.

There has been a lot of fear surrounding Threads integrating ActivityPub. I had my doubts at one time but as long as they remain good citizens I don’t have a problem with it

Sarah Perez • TechCrunch

Despite delays, the plan to connect Tumblr’s blogging site to the wider world of decentralized social media, also known as the “fediverse,” is still on, it seems.

I think this is good news. Overall Tumblr feels like it fits into the Fediverse better than Wordpress and I hope they’re able to get it there.

Leo Laporte • twit.tv

Unfortunately, our medium, podcasting, has suffered economically since the beginning of Covid. As the number of podcasts grew exponentially, the number of advertisers dwindled, and with it, our revenue. At one time, we had as many as 30 people on the TWiT staff, not including show hosts, producing more than 30 unique shows. Today, the staff is half that size, and we produce half the number of shows.

Every indie podcast I listen to seems to be pushing subscriptions a lot harder than before. The entire market is in a downturn for free shows. Seeing TWiT layoff a bunch of longtime staff and cut shows is surprising and sad.

Mustapha Hamoui • platformer.news

Late Monday, the jury deliberating in Epic Games’ lawsuit against Google ruled in favor of the Fortnite developer. It found that Google harmed Epic by creating a monopoly in in-app billing and app distribution within the Android ecosystem, illegally tying the app store and its billing system together. A series of revenue-sharing deals with developers and device manufacturers were also found to harm competition.

I admit I don’t know how it is Google is found guilty of having an App Store monopoly and Apple isn’t. The law is strange and understanding eludes me at times.⚖️

Will Shanklin • Engadget

Etsy is the latest company to lay off staff in 2023. CEO Josh Silverman confirmed the marketplace is letting go of 11 percent of its staff (around 225 employees) in its first significant staffing cut in recent years. It’s also reshuffling its leadership, including announcing two executives’ departures at the beginning of 2024.

2023 has been such a crummy year in so many ways but all the tech layoffs scare the crap out of me. I still worry about being laid off and hope the new year doesn’t continue the trend we’ve seen in 2023. 😔

John Scalzi

Abandoning the Former Twitter: A Four-Week Check-In

I’m a fan of John Scalzi’s writing and have many of his book, most unread at the time of this publishing. Not only does he write books he also has a very active blog and social media presence. I loved following him on Twitter and now I love following him on Mastodon. You can too!

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