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popculturebuffet · 16 days ago

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Top 12 Animated Episodes of 2024

Happy New Year You happy people! For those new to this blog or finding it for the first time, each year I do a list of the best episodes of cartoons i've watched that year. I do episodes as my short attention span means I finish maybe 20 if i'm lucky, so a top 12 list feels a bit more hollow. So starting in 2020 I started covering the top 20 episodes of animation, to celebrate the highest highs each year in my faviorite industry in a fun way. As i've turned away from covering shows as they've come out, it's also a way to check in on the various shows this year I haven't gotten to cover yet, and is something I look forward to every year and i'm delighted to have you all aboard.

So how this works: each year I normally took 5 episodes of each show i'd watched, narrowed them down and eventually sorted out the top 20. This year I slimmed things down: Top 12 instead of 20, 3 episodes per show, ready, FIGHT. This is so I could fit the whole shebang into one post and hopefully do a best film list, more convient for me and you.

Before we get to the good stuff though, let's talk about this year in tv animation. It was the best of times it was the blurst of times.

Let's get the bad out of the way first: Warner Bros Discovery continued to downplay animation: Jellystone and Tiny Toon Adventures Looniversity got no promotion and a halloween special for the latter never materalized despite being promoted. It's sadly likely neither show will make it past their current season. It's buisnes as usual but it gets no less tiring.

What's new is that WBD has all but killed Cartoon Network. While the Network still TECHNICALLY exists, most of it's originals have either endd or are winding down, with Craig of the Creek's finale delayed to this year just cuz and Invincible Fight Girl moved to adult swim. It's clear what was once a pillar of my childhood is being stripped for parts, with any sequels coming to max, itself sinking rapidly into the earth after Zaslav sold it's foundation to buy a cool watch he found on the internet.

Somehow worse was Disney. Oh fucking boy disney. I've talked about this a few times this year but to recap: Disney has peaked in homophobia and transphobia this year, firing X-Men 97 showrunner Beau Demayo for being openly gay and not just rubber stamping things for them but wanting to write actually challenging content, overworking the staff of Inside Out 2 while making them tone down Riley's crush on her hockey captain , including aging the character up because they GENUINELY assume lightyear failed because it had lesbians in it

Shelving a trans focused episode of moon girl and devil dinosaur, and shelving a trans storyline in upcoming show win or loose. Disney had already proved with owl house they weren't an ally but this year proved the company is DEEPLY homo and transphobic and deeply stupid, scrapping finished content just to appease a few bigots. I may still watch their shows as the creators had no part in this (and as seen with X-Men 97, MGADD and Win or Loose, were trying badly to do something good and got punished for it), but my opinon of the company is at an all time low. And given they supported the don't say gay bill, shot next to a concentration camp and other horrors, that's saying a LOT.

Animation in genreal faces an uncertain future with shows being shelved, and the animation guild having to fight tooth and nail to get better contracts, with the specter of ai being a deep exestential threat.

Thankfully there is some light in these dark times. For starters the Animation Guild successfuly reneigoated their contracts with more residuals, protections and protections from Ai. And content wise animation seems to be in one of it's best years. 2023 is a hard one to beat but 2024 certainly tried.

We had some all time great premeires as the superhero boom that's currently in crisis in theaters reached i'ts peak in animation: In addition to the returns of Invincible, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur and My Adventures with Superman (Apologizes for missing that one), we had the premeries of the delightfully noir and mature Batman Caped Crusader , the solid and fun Creature Commandos that proves the DCU's commitment to animation and the kickass and thought provoking X-Men 97, a series that did my boy Scotty justice after far too long. In a year when superhero content is dry as a bone theatrically with only Deadpool and Wolverine as a drop in that desert, it was nice to see Superhero Animation back with a vengance and with Spider-Man next year and Invincible Season 3 airing in one piece around the same time

Outside of superheroes we got Fairly Odd Parents a New Wish, Jentry Chau Vs the Underworld and Invincible Fight Girl.. all shows I didn't get to but not for a lack of intrest and intend to rectify that this year. I did get to Hazbin Hotel, which after a long wait finally opened it's doors to a solid first season with a god tier cast and soundtrack. I mean giving me more keith david singing is more than enough but damn this show brought it.

Also making it's grand return was Total Drama, a show I missed and that thankfully returned better than ever... in the US anyway. Everywhere else got it last year or earlier and both seasons of this reboot. Still it's an excellent reboot and while it didn't make this list, it was a great return to form after two terrible seasons and a long hiatus to make canadian muppet babies.

There were many great returns: Helluva Boss delivered a solid arc that flipped up the status quo and gave us three stone cold classics and... uh the other two. Vox Machina had some amazing moments as the chroma conclace conflict concluded, Jellystone and Great North delivered the greatest seasons of their runs, the former giving us the return of an american hero. All hail brak! Simpsons gave me a season that's kept me tuning in more than not and continues it's renissance while Bobs Burgers continued it's own.

2024 despite all the strife and terrible shit, was a fantastic year for animation, a year where despite every company devaluing the practice and being a dick, it soared higher. While I may be worn out with how companies treat animation and the political landscape, ther'es some refuge in how GOOD animation is and how it only has higher to climb next year. So let's celebrate these highest highs under the cut shall we?

12. The Gatekeeper (Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, S2-E0) "How many doors do I have to break through before they stop locking me out?"

I've reviewed this episode in full shortly after it's leak so i'll be brief:The Gatekeeper is a masterpiece. It's not subtle but given it comes from a company that shelved the episode because they "want parents to have conversations about these topics when their ready" forgetting that some parents are bigots who will never be ready for that conversation, it dosen't need to be. It's a beautiful story about how you don't need to take the weight of the world's bigotry on your own, how being YOU, trans, nonbinary, queer, is okay and your not burdening your friends by letting them into your fight to be you. It's also shockingly funny for an episode with this heavy an a-plot, with Casey trying to stall desperately. Leading to this beautiful moment

The Gatekeeper is only this low because the escape room stuff, which is a not sizeable chunk of the episode isn't super engaging, not helped by deadly escape room plots being kinda common these days. It's salvaged by it's metaphor at least: that transphobes and other bigots will just keep moving the goal post so fucking break it over your knee. This episdoe is excellent and I encourage you to find it in the depths of the internet. Disney MIGHT air it, if nothing else than for the backlash, but since we really CAN'T count on disney for shit when it comes to queer issues, it's going here. If you want a more in depth dive into this episode, lookee here

11. Apology Tour (Helluva Boss S2, Episode 9)

"I don't think you meant to hurt me, cause I don't think it meant a thing at all"

Helluva Boss finally finished season 2 this year.. and I finally finished season 2 around the same time as Sinsmas as I'd sat on the show for too long. My depression's been peaking this year

So I shoved the show aside. I regret that as season 2b is for the most part excellent and the decision to wait a while and release the episodes more consitantly was a smart one: it not only gave Helluva some space from it's little big sibling's big debut, but it meant while the episodes still had a long weight they weren't left to be picked apart for months. Mostly a month.

The first half of the season was good, but had issues: sloppy pacing, the series worst episode, not really following up on the bombshell ending of season 1 from Blitzo's perspective, it was good.. but the cracks were setting in. And while some still remain in this batch, it's damn strong helped by an arc tha'ts been built up all series: Blitzo, the o is silent, everyone's faviorite dumpster fire imp murder machine and Stolas, everyone's faviorite disaster gay prince who thinks like a romance novel splitting up. Break up is a bit strong given the transactional sex nature, but it's a bomb that was in wait: Blitzo has a bad habit of pushing anyone who cares about hi m away and Stolas really never got to actually KNOW Blitzo as a person, seeing him as a way out of his awful marriage and an idealized prince and not an actual person whose a bit fucked up nor. With Neither adressing their actually problems, an explosion was ineveitble.

Hence Apology Tour, the fallout of the explosion after Stolas attempt at a three point grand romantic gesture brought out the dick in blitz, who couldn't fathom someone being nice, lashed out and not understanding why Blitzo thought so little of him , Stolas slammed the door in the fancy magic man way rather than actually talk about it.

Full Moon has a great ending and the blitzo subplot is graet.. but it wasted a lot of time with those two assfaces and collin. Apology Tour thankfully more than makes up for it, a character piece focusing on both men as they deal with the breakup poorly: Stolas tries to just keep distance, while Blitzo shows up, tries to get sex to prove he's worth something to his inferority complex and screams at Stolas for being gay. Blitz WANTS to make up for things.. but is so determined to not actually talk about his feelings he's at peak asshole.

So when Stolas actually cuts deep, asking if Blitz is even CAPABLE of apologizing, Blitzo does what he tends to do: be a dick in a showy way just to get back at someone instead of engaging why their pissed at him. The montage of him apologizing to his enmies is fun, that martha ms mayberry thing needs more shading in in season 3... like just a short or something to establish what the fuck is going on there.

The episodes heart though is an I Hate Blitzo party Verosika throws. The queen is back, looking fine and getting some depth: while she was a full on antagonist in her first apperance and there to make a bad day worse in her second, here we see some humanity from everyone's faviorite succubus: she geninely tries to comfort Stolas who feels miserable, wasting his one night of the year pass to earth on a party where everyone wallows in their hatred of Blitzo an ex that Stolas makes clear he's not over. Verosika is TRYING to geninely help, but can't grasp that the poor bird is still in mourning over what he thought he had and stabbing a cake in the dick isn't helping.

What helps is the episodes best segment and the second best song of the season, possibly even best Two Minute's Notice is just.. heavy competition. All 4 U is Bryce Pinkham's finest performance: while "You'll be Okay" showed off his pipes back in episode 2, All 4 U is a raw song, a indie rock guitar ballad where Stolas lays out his pain: how he realizes now Stolas is both a motherfucker (As Verosika and Vortex helpfully chime on chorus) and how he never actually meant to hurt him.. because their relationship meant nothing. It's a painful beautiful song.. and also dosne't asauge Stolas of his own guilt. While Verosika and Vortex TRY to blame it all on Blitz, Stolas is PAINFULLY aware he fucked up. Surrounded by memories of EVERY time he's clearly realized Blitz.. was never into this and he tried too hard: all the times he demeaned him without meaning too nad hurt him... he gets the rejection wasn't all on Blitz. Blitz is an asshole, easily, but Stolas is in pain partly because he KNOWS he did it and partly because he still WANTS him. He can't STOP wanting him. And it hurts.. and Blitz hurts realizing he was a bad person.

It leads to the second best scene of the episode as Blitz comforts Stolas, whose too drunk to put up a fuss but unloads.. and we get my faviorite exchange. A truly painful one that outlines why this didn't work. " I want to be someone's someone! I want to feel wanted, in a romantic way! Like, I'm standing in the rain at a train station and someone runs up shouting "HARRIET! DON'T GO ON THAT TRAIN! IT'S GOING TO LONDON AND I CANNOT BE WITHOUT YOU!" " "Oh Stolas.. that' sa romcom"

I've been where Stolas is, that need for someone , to fill the void inside.. not getting that won't help you get BETTER. And Blitz realizes that.. and realizes what it did mean, geninely trying to apologize.

The talk with verosika is no slouch, with Blitz trying to ocne again put up walls. We even get a nice rebuke of the whole "Well of course their assholes their in hell" argument that gets flung around. When Blitz tries that Verosika rebuffs it and reveals to us why she's so hung up on him: She said I love you and he ran three rings to wrath and maxed out her credit cards on shitty horse riding lessons. It confronts Blitz with the fact that while he belivies he's unloveable.. he's not.. and the number of people he's hurt proves it. He wants to be better.. but he dosen't know how. he's patched things up with one ex.. but his other seems to be moving on. That last part whent nowhere.. but there's still that pain realizing he ALMOST had something, and his own nerousis fucked it up. For now anyway but we'll get to that

10. Remember It (X-Men 97, S1 Episode 5) "The Names Gambit Mon Ami.... Remember It"

Since it aired it's felt like Remember It making this list was ineveitble. It's the episode that took X-Men 97 from a fantastic show, to the best x-men show of all time. An episode that deftly and perfectly adapts one of the defining moments of the comics, the massacre of genosha, with it's own style and flair, broke our hearts with Gambit's tragic end and got nominated for an emmy with it's creator barred from them because Disney would rather frame a man for misconduct than let him get his flowers and the Emmy were just.. okay with this.

Grumbling aside Remember It is a masterpiece and one of the best wham episodes i've ever seen. For those as not terminally on tv tropes as I am a Wham Episode is an episode of tv that changes the show fundemntally or promises to, with a shocking reveal or a big plot twist or what have you.

This episodes secret sauce though is hiding that fact. It sneak attacks you as the first half is a pretty standard plot following up on things from the season: Cyclops continuing his relationship with Maddy, the clone of Jean despite still being married to jean and her less than happy reaction to their psychic affair, Jean trying to come onto Logan, and of course more of the magneto-rouge-gambit love triangle.

Yeahhh the reason this is so low is the Magneto-Rogue-Gambit Love triangle sucks. I went deep into why in my review of 97 Season 1, but the short version: it makes Magneto into a groomer as while Rogue is an adult in her 20's, he's still old enough to be her foxy grandpa and still manipulates her and in present day, his method of wooing her is making her queen of a foreign nation without asking. In a show that has easily the best Magneto in animation, i't sa blotch. It's intended to make him human and put rogue's desire for sexy time against her connection with remy. It's a good idea but the excution is just baffling and brings this episode down a peg.

What keeps it on this list is it's good parts The first is scott motherfucking summer in his most accurate adaptation yet, a capable leader and world class badass whose an emotinally stunted mess, laying out why mutant lives arne't NORMAL in a rant.

The biggun of course.. is the bait and switch. In a moment we go from Maddie, Jean's clone long story watch the show, going outside to get a breather.. to her son Nathan running up as full cable begging to save her before being yanked away.. and then Maddie dies. And a lot of others with her.

In a moment reflecting showrunner Beau DeMayo's experinces with the pulse night club shooting and 9/11, we're at the ground floor of a horrifying massacre. The orignal in New X-Men was horrific in how FAST it was. In minutes millions of mutants were dead, the x-men could do nothing in time, and the world changed. Here we're on the ground: three x-men are present along with some of the most powerful mutants in existance.. and they still can do nothing. Magneto whips the monsterous sentinel responsible with a motherfucking train, uses all of his power.. and only dosen't end up dead because the big bad wanted him alive. Rogue, easily one of the strongest x-men and a brick house tha'ts mighty mighty, is swatted aside. Gambit can throw stuff but none can do anything. This sequence is incredible, showing the powerlessness sin such a slaughter and the sheer trauma it puts on someone. It's the kind of event that leaves a bloody mark on history and cannot, SHOULD NOT be forgotten.

And like most massacres against the disinfranchised it only ends in one way.. with more blood. In this case Remy after Rogue FINALLY realized she loved him but never got to say, gets horribly imapled. And graphically. This series does not shy away from violence. And rather than just die he goes out with a quip and making himself an dthe monster he faces blow up real good. The episode ends somberly on Rogue weeping over his death, invoking va lenore zahn's lost of her niece and signaling this series will never be the same. Remember it is fucking brilliant and if you haven't seen x-men 97, please do.

9. The Sign (Bluey S3 Episode 49)

"Am I making a mistake?" "Probably.. but let's make it together" So i'm late the party, but I finally got into Bluey this year, thanks to this very episode. The huge buzz around it's release from fellow animation nerds had me curious so I watched a few that were recommended.. then some more and before I knew it i'd watched most of it's three seasons.

Bluey is a throughly charming show, keenly deserving of it's massive succes. It's a show that's meant for younger viewers, teaches lessons but unlike most shows, it dosen't talk down to young children. it's made in a way adults and older kids can enjoy too, as you can empathize both with the childish wonder of our lead, her sister and thier various friends, relatives and whatever sort of delightful stygian goblin muffin is

And see the adults side. It's a show that somehow covered Bingo imitating any animal she wears a onsie of and the chaos that insues and Chilli's estraingment with her sister who stayed distant because being around her nieces reminded her she can't have children. It's a show that's warm, loving and utterly brilliant.

And given this is me it took me a long time to get to creator Joe Brumm's swan song as I knew it would emotoinally wreck me.. and I was right. The Sign is Bluey's first half hour special, the other episodes being 8 minute shorts all bundled together and while there's an episode after it , it's the proper finale to the season and to Joe Brumm's time as showrunner.

The Sign has been a fully admited test run to see if Bluey could handle a longer story for a movie and even before that movie's recent greenlight, it was clear yes they could. It's helped by picking two massive events in the heeler's life that perfectly mesh together, nicely zigging in and out of each other. It's amazing how well the creators got this episode to just flow, and to keep up a nice array of jokes despite the heavy topics. Bluey's utter joy at getting to ride shotgun and Chilli carefully checking to make sure it's legal (and a police officer doing the same thing later), is such a briliant gag. It also has plenty of muffin, always a plus.

The first is a big downer: Bandit's gotten what he feels is a better job, and is uprooting the family for it. Bingo is oblivous to the reality of the move and Chilli is trying to be supportive leaving Bluey the only one who wants out. We get a truly soulcrushign scene when she tells her friends, them all hugging her and sobbing. Her teacher Calypso tries to cheer her up with a fable, but she misnterprets rolling with life's hardships as "everything will work out which means we'l lescape. "

This rolls nicely into the other big plot: it's the wedding of Frisky, Chilli's best friend since childhood and Rad, Bandit's brother. The two debuted and had their meet cute in my faviorite episode of the series, Double Babysitter. It's one of the first I watched, entirely because I knew it set up this one... and it is glorious. The two were shown on holiday in the christmas episode and here they get married.

And look I love wedding episodes so much kev paid me to make a top 12 wedding episode lists this year, which has one of my faviorite art pieces i've done

So I was an easy sell, doubly so after seeing Double Babysitter. The episode does well with it: the heeler's family is all present, everyone's ready to go.. then Stripe bandit's younger brother does an oopsie and mentions rad plans to have Frisky move with him to near the oil rig without having actually talked this through with her. Rad is thankfully just very bad with people, but this casues Frisky to snap and the resulting argument sends her on the run and declaring the wedding is off.. which is bad for bluey as Frisky was told to remove the 4sale sign and bluey thinks this stops it because she's a children

We then get some fun shenanignas as Chilli has to go chase our runaway bride and while she intends to leave the kids, who want to go for personal reasons or just a ride in the car, they find a perfectly hilaroius reason not to with every kid nearly telling Rad's mom about the disaster because kids have no filter and thus Chilli is sent on an epic quest

What follows is what clinches the episode: after a bunch of shenanigns that are perfectly hilarous, Chilli goes to her and Frisky's old hang out where they used to think.. and also smoke a dooby or twoobie. It's here we get the perfect intersection: part of Chilli's freakout, besides the entirely resonable pissyness over the rad situation is her best friend leaving.. and Chilli finally reveals she DOSEN'T want to leave. Leave her best friend, the house her family has been raised in.. she just wants ot be supportive. And seeing her mom finally be honest gets Bluey to embrace change. And Rad being a good dude whose just a tad awkawrd, can relate, apologizes and decides not to move.

It's this that helps them blend so perfectly: Rad like Bandit is making a rash decision based on what he thinks what's best and has to see the real effect it has. He likely dosen't back out sooner simply because the house is sold. But when the buyers back out to buy winton's dad's house so he and winton can move in with the terriers nad their mum, shoutout to winton, we get our joyous ending as Bandit rips the fucking sign out, and the family all has takeaway.

The Sign is a callback filled wonderland, a truly heartrending episode and a vicotry lap for bluey's best season. It also has Stripe passing out drunk in the bushes next door because Wendy can't make it out of anything unscathed apparently. Hopefully Stripe isn't heading for divorce. Maybe check the sink mate see if hot dogs are there

Okay while we process that ineveitble divorce onto

8. Sinsmas (Helluva Boss S2, Episode 12)

"Have a great fucking life with him dad"

Back to Helluva Boss and to the most recent episode and one of the series best. Admitely this one was an easy sell for me: it's an octavia episode. Loo Land is still one of my faviorites and while Seeing Stars is a mess, the stuff with her and Loona is heartwrenching and adorable. I hope even with what happened here, Loona still mentors her little sis. The fact i've had the little emo ace on the brain as I ship her with Sasha from amphibia probably dosen't help. My crossover ships are weird and numerous and I find this one adorable and the being ace (not aro) adds a nice lair of things and is something I hope the show brings up outside of the pride photo confirming everyone's sexualities, as we need more ace representation in our animation. She could party with Todd

But while I have my bias... this episode is just plain amazing on it's own. While what i've seen of Mastermind is decent, Andy's plan makes no sense and only works because he was working over someone whose kinks are racisim and classim but the status quo change is phenominal: Stolas is now left broke and powerless, while having proven beyond a shadow of a doubt he cares for blitz, while Blitzo, after episodes of dealing with his darkest demons, realizing he dosen't ruin everything (Ghostfuckers barely didn't make the cut), and becoming a better person for a change, caped off by telling the ruler of hell's vice principal to go fuck himself, has rewarded him with fame, adoration and the knowledge his daughter loves him.

But it leaves thing in an intresting place and while I expected to wait between seasons for the fallout, i'm delighed Sinsmas instead bakes in it. With Andrealphus and Stella keeping Octavia from calling her dad because it's how they get off, Stolas is left spinning out, not dealing with his transition to working class life well, not helped by being out of meds. It' sa nice bit of spiraling as while Stolas sacrifcing himself was brave, and the right thing... it was still an impulse decision that he didn't expect to have to live with. Stolas fully expected to die a brave hero saving the love of his life... and instead has to live with the consequences of doing the right thing and the hurt it brings to the only person in his old life he ever really loved.

The good news is Blitz.. is actually in a place for a healthy relationship, and we see the guy at his sweetest: he makes breakfast, realizes maybe eggs were a poor choice, robs clothing stores (which explains his slick wordroebe in the funneist way possible) and catches rats for his sorta boyfriend and tries to calm him down. It's this landing that makes the arc strong for me: After sinking to his lowest.. Blitz is actually trying to change for the better. He's still his weird ass profane as hell self, but he's no longer the sexually harassing bitter hate filled man who assumed the worst of everyone. He's not going to be a ray of sunshine, but it's heartwarming ot see after two seasons of Blitz digging himself deeper, he's TRYING to change. As we've seen with shows like bojack horseman, change is an uphill battle and he'll no doubt have issues.. but it's ncie to see Blitz as something resembling his best self.

And that extends to the titular holiday: while Blitz is working on sinsmas it's not to force his employees to work, but to let them enjoy themselves as sinsmas is about enduging your sin and he already nearly burned down his apartment once while the office is insured. So M and M have some sexy violence (My faviorite bit being her showing up behond a white bord to sock him and his happy awee when she kisses him after) and Loona to gorge herself on snacks, while Stolas gets a job (his oh fuck i'm poor is delightful)

Sadly the team gets a bitch of a client who wants to murder he gay ex for "probably" cheating on her and leave her kids orphans. Blitz only agrees because she sucks but the remidner of his failings leads to Stolas going to see his daughter..... just as Octavia gets a very sad song steeling herself up to be alone, her mom and uncle ignoring her and finding her dad.. was addicted to depression meds just to function and as is her way, blaming herself for her dad's issues and going to give him his pills.

While this sitcom misunderstanding happens, we get another nice show of blitz's character development. once again the target is a happy family.. but this time... Blitz can't do it and dosen't berate Moxxie for it. All he sees is what he COULD have: him, stolas and their daughters all happy, an image that just thinking about it makes me tear up and despite Loona offering and Millie badly wanting to and strangely being unersonable, he can't. He cancels the contract, yeets a karen out a window and then runs into his new step daughter and realizes "oh fuck my boyfriends confronting his ex in law who can kill him"

Granted before Andrealphus can actually try to kill him we get a cathartic as hell face beating. While Andy heals becaues Goetia can do that, it's so damn nice to see Stolas not listen to his ranting and just beat his ass. It's even nicer when even when stolas is kidnapped, the reste of Imp makes a meal of beating his ass down, an eppic winter showdown with Loona suddenly pulling direwolf forms out of her ass, blitzo being a knight complete with lance and Millie ramboing up. I'ts one of the series best fights in a show that's fucking great at them and cumilates in octavia saving her dad, and guests and blackmailing her uncle into not finishing as he was beaten by commoners and all and Stella is not good at keeping secrets unless she's too dumb to realize why their secret.

Yet the parting of father and daughter.. is bitter and painful. Octavia breaks from her dad, convinced the pills were her and having been lied too so much. Yeah the pills thing is a reach.. but her not beliving in her dad.. makles sense. Stolas loves his daughter.. but LOVE isn't the same as being a good parent. He's neglected her due to his marraige falling apart and then the divorce, openly obessed over the man who as far as octavia knows broke up a working marriage instead of a deeply horrible one neither had a choice in. It's the cumilation of Stolas faults biting him in the ass: his inablility to see what others feel, to take the time to take care of them, and putting his fantasy version of reality over what's in front of him , the same things tha tcost him Blitz fo ra time... cost him his daughter. His quiet "she hates me" after is devistating as is the nice montage of everyone getting ready to party as blitzo (who nicely ate coals to warm up), cuddles him. he's jut there, alone utterly devistated.

But in some heartwarming bits.. he's not. Moxxie warmly offers him cookies and I swear once Stolas recovers a bit they'll be best pals. Blitz is gonna hate it :B! At while Loona seemds.. happy having kept the friends from Queen Bee and eager to have everyone join in games.

Millie is less than as we get a pregnancy cliffhanger but it's easy to see why she's overwhelmed: she won't be able to do what she loves, having a kid is expensive and her husband was stripping off his clothes while screaming BANKRUPTCY two episodes ago. Her friend group is not exactly "chill" at the best of times. These panic attacks will be glorious.

But Blitz recognizes Stolas needs him and offers his unconfditonal support ina beautfiul scnee; He hasn't given up reconcling with his siter.. and Stolas dosen't have to give up reconcling with his daughter. she just needs time.. and for now.. they ahve each other and we get a beautful dance as these two pass by being a transactional fucking, a disaster, bitter exes and awkawrd friends... and finally become the couple the series has been buliding too. Will this happiness last? probably not.... but being there for someone is being there for the bat shit too.. and the ending shot, Blitzo hugging stolas while stolas stands there and soaks it in, is proof they can make it. and that season 3's gonna be something special.

7. Hell to Pay (Legend of Vox Machinas S3, Episode 4)

"I’m not even sure you knew you were lying"

Like Helluva Boss, legend of Vox Machina is one of my faviorite shows right now. Not concidentally both are a fixture on this list. I crunched the numbers recently seeing how many spots overall shows got and with this list Vox Machina and Helluva Boss are tied for second with 7 a piece, passing amphibia's 6 and behind Owl House's whopping 10.

Vox Machina's also our reining champ having topped last year's list with Rise of the Chroma Conclave, and it was certainly welcome to try again. And Season 3 brought it: It had some issues, the back half is a big jangly with one big exception we'll get to, but it's still a hilaroius, heartbreaking badass tail of a bunch of misifts thrust into saving the world.

This year took even more liberties with the campaign and one of the biggest success stories from that was Zerxus. Zerxus didn't exist yet when the campaign legend of vox machina was based off of happened, coming instead years later for the spinoff prequel Exandria Unlimited: The Calamity.

For those who haven't gobbled up every bit of critical roll lore they could because their a thirsty bitch like me, The Clamaity is the big event in backstory that shaped this world and barred the gods from it after a war between the nicer ones nad the eviler ones wrecked the world. The Clamity shows HOW that happened as a bunch of misguided high class types who ended up being the players did an oopsie and the apolcalypse happened. I don't know much more as I want to experince this one and hope it gets a movie or mini series some day as Zerxus left a hell of an impression.

Zerxus was a high minded man who loved his family and made the mistake of trying to make a demon god better. We hadn't got to see him in the present day so Legend of Vox Machina ups his roll to let us see it, bringing back his player Luis Carazo. Carazo is one of the two main reasons this ep made the list, as Zerxus is one of the series best vilians thus far and it's hinted he'll be back for the final arc.

Zerxus in the show is the ideal of a demon: cordial, clever, powerful.. and scheming as hell, zeroing in on pike. He has the plate of the dawnmaryr, one of the last vestiges our heroes need and the only one that can properly counter Thordak as he won it in a card game. No really he won it from an immortal dragon who neglected to mention that part when she told our heroes about it. So half the party is in hell. Hell here is a truly horrifying desolate place: people beg for death, the demon designs ar ehorrifyign (even our heroes disguises) and while ther'es some humor there's an overwhelming sense of dread and hoplessness. Our heroes only find Zerxus.. because he figures their looking for him as if you say the devils name enough times he's liable to here it.

It's a bad place to be... and especaily for the focus of this episode, Pike. Pike is the team's cleric and her goddess the everlight warns her against going.. but the team NEEDS this so we see the poor gnome slowly degrade. Her god has abndoned her and her attempt to help someone only gets everyone nearly killed. She's in a place beyond hope, beyond her god, and beyond her usual cheerful give no fuck attidue.

And that's where the episode gets intresting as Zerxus senses that and having understandable issues with his own god, is determined to pull a heretic on her. And unlike Hugh Grant rather than just mansplane and mimic jar jar binks he hammers in on her doubts, on her need to SEEM like she belivies, on every insecurity.. and challenges her to a card game for her soul. Because Yugioh doesn't have a patent on that, she agrees.. and looses as it's also a game of questions and if you lie, even if it's also to yourself, yoru cards burn.

So Pike has to gamble everyone's soul. Thankfully her mothers gone but her friends aren't so lucky, and also aren't able to consent as their stuck in a glass box. At least they have plush chairs up in this bitch. It's a fascinating character study and helps deepen pike: while she had an arc in season 1, mostly to give Ashly Johnson something to do as she was absent for most of that arc in the web show and couldn't be added back in without breaking the arc in half, here they take advantage of her being in the show more by really diving into her and the question of gods: the everlight is her god.. but how much of her belief his her and how much is her god? When is faith leaning too heavily on someone especially someone who isn't some unknowable being but you know.

Zerxus makes a mistake in his attempts to lecture: he gives his backstory: he and his friends did a stupid, wee were over this.. but the part I glossed over and that undoes him is his family: he did this so his husband and son would be safe.. and naturally making a deal with the devil his god removed their memories. So Pike asks a question: do you wish they were here suffering with you. And while he denies it as pike put it in the quote... he was lying to himself. Pike wins and our heroes get the plate. Granted they have to outrun Zerxus pit fiend because he only needs pike for his evil plan..

This episode at it's core is a spectacular game of chance, will and breaking your opnent and I loved every second of it. It's a series high point for Ashley Johnson and I can't wait to see where this goes next season.

6. ...And Be A Villain (Batman: Caped Crusader S1 Episode 2)

"I don't believe your performance. Your chewing on scenery to enhance weak characterization. It's insincere Basil, it's not real"

So Batman Caped Crusader fucks.

Caped Crusader is a glorious noir return to tv animation for batman after a long nap after they screwed over beware the batman and brave and the bold. While Paul Dini is back, he alongside fellow batman legend and catwoman's real dad Ed Brubaker, do something different, a slightly darker world set in a more socially open 1940's where he can have the government be corrupt from the top down without networks whining "the government can't be corrupt! Children need to have faith in the government!"

So we get a gotham where a few honest people are the only one's fighting against a corrupt system, and while batman can put away the varoius freaks of the weak, it's going to be harder cutting out the cancer at the center alone.

Yet while this is a darker take it refeshingly dosen't stick to just a grim grounded tone as much of batman does in adaptations. While I love Matt Reeves the Batman, it's nice to have variety and while Caped Crusader is a bleak work at times, it remembers to have fun and that while batman's dark.. he can also be camp. The first episode has penguin as a female (and awesome) crime boss who will kill her own children if necessary, she also has a giant umbrella shaped canon on top of her umbrella shaped dockside yacht as her main weapon. The third episode has a catwoman who rather than the complex thief I prefer, is a spoiled socialite who steals batman's bit to fund her lifestyle and army of cats. We get outright supernatural villians with the racist and classist gentleman ghosts and the tragically selfish vampire child nocturna. There's an overaching story.. but the show also gleefully embraces being episodic ala BTAS: while every episode contributes something to the larger arc, each one stands alone beautifully allowing for the sharp character focus of BTAS while still bringing something diffrent to the table.

That brings us to this episode, my faviorite to watch out of the season. We'll get to my overall faviorite but while that episode is a hard but awesome watch due to it's ending, this one is just good damn fun with a clever mystery and nice character building.

In this case the focus is on Renee Montoya, who eats good this series, probably helped that the man who redefined her in Gotham Central and 52, Ed Brubaker, was head writer for season one and wrote this episode. Also as my fellow reviewer Serum Lake has said if you like this show, read Gotham Central. It's a police procedural from the view of the GCPD's honest cops and it's damn good. Batman isn't an active character but more a presence and it's a brilliant series.

Here Renee is one of the only honest cops as usual for this franchise, having been recently promoted by Gordon and is resented by other cops because well.. she's a woman, and they see her as having gotten the position on that and not the fact she actually does her fucking job and dosen't take bribes. Which should be the bare minimum for a cop but wether your in gotham or real life, apparently isn't.

While Batman's around this episode, he nicely sinks into the background: Renee's the one doing the leg work and like most white men Bruce is content to leech off the work of a succesful person of color. I'm not even Kidding.. mostly. He's not asking for help because this batman is at a stage where he refuses help and calls his dad "Pennyworth" he's not exactly okay and the series isn't treating this like "okay", just a pramatic step so batman dosen't have to do the same work someone just as good at detectiving is twice, nor doe she want her credit. He just wants the same thing she does: the case solved.

The case revolves around the murder of a starlet, and soon wraps into one Basil Karlo, a vetrain actor who plays "the heavy", the bad guy, and badly wanted to be dramatic but with his face couldn't get the part. So as you can probably guess, he decides to kill for it, a nice nod to his first apperance. This clayface isn't a nigh unstoppable monster, but a thorughly human one: a man who desperate for his co stars love and the public's praise, took a shady chemical from a back alley doctor and become a malformed lump of a man.. but one who could remold his face.. Yet he still got rejected.. not because of his face.. but because Yvonne, his costar, simply was never intrested.

So rather than accept this, Basil decides to instead accept he is the villian and we get a thriling story buildling up to that reveal as he imitates several people: he can't turn his body into a weapon like modern clayface, but he can make his face whatever. Basil is a fantastic villian, and not just because he and batman fucking swordfight, which is as dope as it sounds. He's a man who felt rejected by society.. but in reality simply was an entitled bastard who while tragic to an extent ,focused on the wrong things. While it's in a very 40's context it's hard not to parallel basil with the various incels littered aroudn the internet: an angry man who blames his self loathing and issues on everyone else. Basil is a fun ham but as Yvonne puts out his actual satisfactoin with being the bad guy.. is artifice. He's a bitter person who can't accept life sucked for him but he still had a pretty good one.

It's fitting the person solving his case is a woman and hte person beating his face in is someone whose also not handling his trauma well.. but ultimately wants to help people. Batman may be rougher, colder here.. but he's doing this to save people and Renee can see that. Despite the odds against her she solves the case, and gets the credit.. kinda. I mean corrupt assholes Bullock and Flass tease her about batman but given he kicks their ass next episode what goes around comes around. More on them later. For now Renee has a new ally and basil can be the bell of the prison's production of pirates of pinsance.

This episode has wonderful atmosphere, a real theatrical quality> While I haven't watched a ton of 1940s films, this really has that feel just a good noir with a nice new take on an old favorite that harkens back to his earliest appearances. Basil might not show up again, at least not next season but man.. what a performance.

5. Gwimbly: Definitive Remastered Enhanced Extended Edition DX 4K (Anniversary Director's Cut) (Smiling Friends S2 Episode 1)

"I Swear to god if I had my Gwimbly gun on me right now man i'd.."

After a year off Smiling Friends came back and better than ever. Well mostly, still not pleased about having Doug Walker cameo after his tommy wiseau level bullshit as a director and general ambivalence to the mistreatment of the rest of Channel Awesome, but that's a rant for another day.

Still i'm not going to hold it against Gwimbly: Not typing out all those subtitles had to copy paste it in the first place. It was the showcase that smiling friends was not only back but had improved: with a bigger budget Hadel and Cusak took things to new heights and came out of the gate with an ambitious bonkers idea: what if our heroes helped a homeless ps1/n64 either collectathon mascot abandoned by time and his company get his groove back. Well Pim's trying Alan just wants to spray him with dirty brown water.

Gwimbly arrives in all his polygonal and prolapsed anus glory, with Pim determined to help his friend and Alan only doing it to get a homeless man off his lawn. Alan is.. a bit of a prick this season and it's hilarious. The creators clearly realized fans loved the guy and his potetial and rather than do what I assumed, fuck with that expectation, they instead make Alan a part of more plots and his dry, not giving a fuck nature makes for comedy gold, paticuarlly his spotlight which missed the list but can HANG out with me, and smoke weed, and fill our bellies with DIET soda and play Burnout Revenge for the PS Two.

Here he makes a nice partner for Pim.. and proves while Charlie may be awful at his job and barely giving a fuck.. he at least.. tries. In just one day in the field Alan dropkicks an innocent woman who "startled" him and constantly asks if he can just drop Gwimbly wherever including a graveyard.

Gwimbly is also great satire of the modern game landscape: The CEO of the company that made Gwimbly is a grotesque asshole whose best known for a meme i've had endless use for and is easily the season's best line

And sends his latest creation to go murder our heroes for crowdfunding a gwimbly game after his company pivoted to fps.

We get some truly fantastic gags. Gwimbly threatning to use his Gwimbly gun, his former antagonists weird wife and his sidekick mr milipede getting a smash cut to his grave, having died of Fentnyl. The climax where the ceo gets killed by his own creation and said creation and gwimbly decide to do a mascot fighter is heartwarming. Also Charlie has a subplot with an angry asshole. It's okay, and mostly notable for the guy ripping Charlie's nose o off..a nd thent he cut back later to Charlie calcmly trying to call 911 to get an ambulence while the douchey client who won't leave tries to bully him. It's the funneist episode of the year , one of the most insane and a good sign for the series future.

4. Mutant Liberation Begins (X-Men 97 S1 Episode 2)

"Charles Xavier entrusted me with his dream, and it does not ask you to love or embrace my kind as your own, but merely to accept that this is a shared world with a common future, and that my kind, like yours, have the right to live in it. I am trying to be better. Please...do not make me let you down..."

I fucking love Magneto. and even with the stupid ass grooming subplot, X-Men 97 does a damn good magneto. It portrays him as the complex asshole he is: a man who genuinely wants to help his people, who will say never again, and who will kick ass, but WANTS to be better than his violenty groomy past. Someone whose taken things to an extreme.. but you can see after all he's been through WHY he got there.

MLB is a great second episode. While To Me My X-Men was a great intro, showing off Cyclops and Storm properly and setting everything up, MLB is where the series starts to really cook, bringing in the complex themes. While x-men media hasn't been afraid to talk about race or opression using the mutnat metaphor, 97 gets into how endless it feels.. how it just KEEPS coming and how hard Xavier's dream of coexistance is. It feels extra relevant after Disney's sacking of the shows creator for being this blunt and the horrifying results of the election, that this isn't new. History repeats or as behind the bastards host and guy I deeply respect Robert Evans put sit "It's cool how people don't learn anything ever"

And while other episodes rip right into it better, I like MLB for doing that and being an outstanding magneto character piece. He's trying to honor his absent friend.. but he's still an arrogant dick. Being an x-man dosen't take erik's arrogance away. He' still smug as hell as he asks why the x-men never bothered to send the morlocks to saftey in genosha now it's a free country and not a hell hole, his mutant power still kills fascists.. he's just tampering it down to maiming them. He's doing a noble thing.. but in the most dickish most magneto way possible and its easy to see why the x-men aren't easy with thier new leader.

The Rogue's stuff's better here as she encourages him to pull his head out of his ass and we hadn't got to "They say i'm robbing the cradle but she's robbing the grave" yet.

Magneto gets a grand stage to lay out his ideas when the UN comes to arrest him. Because they can do that apparently. He stops all their helicopters and makes it clear it was a stupid move to not magneto proof thier helicopters. Seriously you.. you guys are HQ'd in new york same as the x-men and live in a universe with the x-men, the avengers, the fantastic four and spider-man all in it. You didn't think to have quinjets or hulkbuster tanks to take on the most dangerous man alive?

It's only for the grace of proving he's changed their not all reduced to a pile of blood and metal and Magneto agrees to the trial.. but defends what he's done: he did what he had to, he's seen the holocaust, and he has one simple code: never again. He calls them out for their hypocricy, for the show trial nature of things.

Then the racists hit. Beau really just said "let's have a january 6th allegory" and i'm here for it with the friend sof humanity storming the UN. When a racist on the panel wonders whyt heir trying to killh im Magneto says it simply "your giving the monster a trial"

The x-men defend and we get a great scene with the FOH's leader the x-cutioner, a bigot who loudly complains about how mutants won't just shut up and how HE has problems but he isn't whining.. to Scott Summers. The may whose dad got shot up into space, grew up an orphan, can't look anyone in the eye, had his wife die twice, and had a weird man fuck with his life and will have him do it again. What i'm saying with this is fuck your first world problem and it's telling real bigots latched onto the scene missing the point.

We also get a neat subplot as Maddy goes into labor. I love her shenanigans with logan: making his car a convertible and the intimal confrontation with him thinking "he's here" means apolcaypse or something and having to be told "the baby you idiot". I also love Rogue (who brought Cyke to the hopsital mid insurrection) sapping a racist doctor's knowledge to deliver the baby. Brilliant stuff.

But the true heart is what happens. While the x-men valiantly do their best, the x-cutioner has a nasty suprise: a neutralizer gun. He aims it at erik.. and Storm takes it. And Erik.. does not take it well, watching a strong, powerful mutant who had done nothing but try to help people crawl weekly in shock he says: ENOUGH and gives the speech above, lifting the un council and the x-cutioner into the sky and making clear he could kill them all if he wanted.. but he won't. They don't have to like mutantkind.. but they should be allowed to exist. He's trying to be better. please don't let him down. Sadly.. they do. But as swerve said, story for another time.

3. Souls in Darkness (Legend of Vox Machina S3 Episode 12)

"Percy... this isn’t how I wanted to do this. And gods know all this attention would appall you but... That day with you in Syngorn when you stood next to me and allowed me to be a part of something that you hold dearest. I... I was so proud. You stood up for me and I... I lied to you. I lied to myself. I hate that I was too afraid to admit it. You’re fascinating, and... obstinate, and... and the cleverest man I know. You have to find your way back to us Percy. Because the truth is... I love you, darling. My heart... It's yours."

As I alluded too in the "hell to pay" entry, the last act of season 3 was bumpy. They tried to thread a lot of stuff together, and while ther'es awesome highs like the battle with thordak, the period between that and the finale was rocky, splitting everyone up for time and not working like it had before.

What did was the ending, which also ended a cleverly addded subplot: in both the original game and the show Percy, my baby boy, dies. He forgave his arch enemy Ana Ripley, let go of vengance.. and got a bullet for it. While his ressurection was frought in the game, with Ashley Johnson coming in special just to make sure pike could help him feeling guilty for the team not having a healer when percy died, here.. it sticks. The team dosen't have anyone who can do it and Percy is dead. Granted most of us felt this woudln't stick.. but I applaud the decision to let it ride: to let that pain fester: Vex feels guilt for not admitting how she felt, pushing him away due to her daddy issues, and Scanlan regrets not being there to help.

The good news is the series had a loop hole. Our heroes get Anna Ripley's gun from her corpse and Vax slowly hears something inside. Percy is alive.. but in a horrifying twist (one hinted at in the show but shown in full here) Orthax, the shadowy ghoul that he accidnetly made a deal with and who slowly possed him over season 1, has him.

Our heroes have to wrap up other buienss first and the first act finishes where the last episode: Raishan has played our heroes, their alliance being so she could get thordak's corpse, escape her curse and become a necrodragon.. and wanting vengance against the ashari, she traps Keyleth with her. Thankfully kiki's grown as a person and awesomely dispatches one of the series best villians (a truly awesome performance by cree summers) by turning into an earth titan then using Raishan's own corpse to pump her new body full of curse and blow her up real good.

This part is excellent, finally giving Keyleth some shine (as did the previous two eps) and letting her get revenge on her tormentor who played her friends the best way possible. She and Vax alsof inally confirm it's offical. Thank god.

But it's not over as during the fight Vax used the pepperbox.. and heard percy inside. Percy is alive, he's trapped... and his brother in law's gonna go save him. As usual for the show ressurection is not easy. It dosen't seem easy in dnd, but in fiction you can't just have casual resurrection without death meaning nothing. And unless you question that like x-men did in the krakoan age, the good and bad of it it can be tedious. So instead Ressurection is really hard.. especially since the person they had do one last time is now dead. RIP Cash, Will please do more voice acting.

So we get a tense sequence as PIke restores the body and the party has to keep it alive while Vax dives into hell despite his matron warning him he will be punished if he spits in the face of death. But Percy is family.. and Vax won't abandon him.

Orthax's realm is helish: all of percy's previous targets are horrifying corpse and percy himself is stuck ona n eternal forge bereft of memories while Vax risks being stuck there too... until.. Vex reaches out... confessing to percy as quoted above in Laura Bailey's most beautiful bit of acting series wide. It's love that saves Percy from his own guilt and his worst enemy, and it's the love of a brother that gets him out of there as Vax pulls his brother out.

The ending is also joyous.. likely because they didn't know if they'd get ot do season 4, so rather than scanlan bitterly parting ways, he plans to leave with his daughter and everyone else decides to take a break from being a party: Vex and Percy are going back to whitestone, Vax is going to help his girlfriend finish the Armente they need to actually define in show, and Pike and Grog are gonna.. go save people they guess. We get a truly beautfiul song to close this out, Circle the World, which shows off Scanaln's evelopment and is a nice parting song... and an omnius cliffhanger shows we're not done.

Souls in darkness is an episode that serves as the perfect caper to everything that's come. Like the end of season 1 the final conflict isn't the big bad.. but saving one of their own. Vox Machina is ultimately about a family of choiec, a group who loves each other even if they'll verbally tear each other apart and this a beautiful showcase of that and of my favorite characters. I'll truly miss them when the series wraps.

2. Night of the Hunters (Batman Caped Crusader S1 Episode 4)

"He'll Talk"

Night of the Hunters is a perfect episode, one that had a damn good shot at being the year's best episode. Night of the Hunters takes everything that makes Caped Crusader great, condenses it into half an hour and the results are fantastic.

Previously on Batman Caped Crusader

Also Catwoman was there and made the mistake of humiliating detectives Bullock and Flask. In this show Bullock isn't the gruff man who should probably still be fired but at least believes in justice guy we know and love from the comics and BTAS, but a corrupt monster, working closely with his partner detective Flass , a big piece of shit in any medium. The two gladly bring up the idea of roughing up suspects as their go to, inform for Thorne and Penguin and genuinely just suck. So when Selina Kyle got off on a technicality and made the two look stupid, not to mention scratching Bullocks face, the two decided to murder her. Batman had to stop it and kicked some cop ass, hooray, but did so on film to make sure Catwoman actually went to jail this time.

This being the alternate 40's, cops are viewed with actual respect and not as an orginzation that BADLY needs reform filled with people who think their gods I tell you gods who will arrest striking workers because they were created for the upper class. Thankfully Caped Crusader is aware of this irony and is one of the best depections of police i've seen: a few people, not suprisingly of color are trying, but the bulk of the system is corrupt, horrible and more than willing to resort to force.

Still the good side is the one that gets to try and catch the batman. Renee Montoya, who we talked about earlier, gets the task force head as her solution isn't throw wave after wave of her own men after them but clever tactics. She sets up fake crimes, and only fails because the Batman is one step ahead. It also turns out he's been reading thier strategies, as we find out in the most hilaroius scene in the show: Gordon is working late, goes into the task force room and finds batman and the two just.. sit there for a beat and drink in the absurdity, fully absorb this then the chase begins.

Montoya brings in an expert, Harleen Quinzel, her future girlfriend and the current Harley Quinn but the latters for an episode we're not talking about today. She explains Batman's biggest draw is someone who matches his freak: Super crime. The kinds that aren't easy for gpd. Masked bandits and such. Given he fights a ghost a few episodes after this and punched a clay man in the face a bunch in a previous entry on this list, she's not wrong.

Montoya has the obvious solution: fake a super criminal, a clever plan that doesn't get executed because Bullock and Flass go for the easiest , stupidest, bloodiest , fastest method: they essentially kidnap Firebug, an arsonist in a grey suit to burn down the east end.

Firebug is an also ran in the comics, here more resembling firefly, but with a disturbing and wonderfully horrific twist: He's a meek unassuming man... who assumes everyone would be happier in the flame. In the second best sequence of the episode, he imagines everyone as happy animated flames, the joy they'll have consumed by the fire. It's the best version of either character i've seen and it's fucking horrific.

Helping this is his voice actor, the legendary Tom Kenny. While Tom has gotten a lot of flexibility in his long career, this is one of his best rolls, which says something. The meekness, the tired way he is.. then the expressiveness when Firebug gets to do his "sacred duty" it's truly haunting.

The climax is horrific and perfect: Flass and Bullock hyjack a bunch of swat members with one goal: kill batman. They don't care that Firebug is killing a bunch of innocent people, their an acceptable casualty. Gordon and the Bat disagrees with Jim going in HIMSELF to save the people whose beat he once walked, the poor and desperate.. and works with Bruce working in concert with him.

Sadly this leaves Firebug vunerable. He's out of fire.. but Flass can't let him squel and tells bullock to kill him. And in the series best shot, he does.. killing him and standing stone faced in the window, any hope of redemption gone. Gordon tries to fire him.. but all the public sees is a hero cop.. and Gordon is left broken wondering what the hell his purpose is. Night of the Hunters is a dark, brutal episode of television and one of my faviorites.

Masquerade (Hazbin Hotel S1, episode 4)

"It's time to loose your self loathin, excuse yourself let hope in. Play your card be who you are, a loser , just like.." "Are they fuckin singin?!"

This glorious #1 was a surprise to me. While I expected Masquerade, and Hazbin Hotel in general to place, I didn't expect it to win. I'd pegged other episodes for that spot.. but when thinking things out, comparing episode... this was the winner. As good as night of the hunters is, as close as this race was... Hazbin always came out on top and after three previous years the Hellaverse as a whole has finally gotten it's flowers.

Hazbin Hotel is excellent. Season 1 may wove way faster than it should've for space reasons, but damn if it wasn't a good time. The songs were all beautiful, the cast was perfection, and the visuals gorgeous, while the characters were as loveable, complicated and in in most of our villians cases intentionally punchable in the best way as Helluva's cast. It's a messy good time and I ca'nt wait to see where it goes this year.

Masquerade is the standout and it' shelped by narrowing focus. While it ends up being important to the series as a whole, Masquerade has nothing to do with the overarching plot of Original Fuckboy Adam's imminent genocide, being an intimate character piece dealing with everyone's faviorite power bottom at rock bottom Angel Dust.

Masquerade is a rough watch: most of the time we see Angel, it's him confidently deflecting, making sex jokes and doing sexual harassment to Husk. Yet episode 2 gave us peaks behind the mask: he's geninely hurt when Charlie seemingly writes him off (If not unfairly) and we see just how horrible his pimp/slavemaster/general piece of shit valentino is to him, emotoinally gaslighting him and planning to murder everyone in the hotel over Angel daring to.. live somewhere else.

Valentino is one of the vilest characters in animation, and I don't exagerate there. The show does need to better ballance his comedic moments with his monstrosity, but in my eyes at least the monstrosity is done chillingly realistically: he's a gaslighting monster who has hold over someone he treats as a sex slave, assaults regularly and abuses his power over. When Charlie makes the innocent mistake of trying to help angel get his work hours down to be at the hotel more, it goes horribly, gettiing angel punished for it.

And it's a tragedy that's welld one: You get why Charlie blunders ont o a porn set. Angel hasn't told her HOW bad shit is, why he's doing this, and is doing his shit of dissocating to avoid having to deal with the nightmare he's trapped in. He likely dose'nt WANT to talk to Charlie about it and bring his truama and pain into the one safe place he has.

Yet by not doing so.. Charlie just assumes he's doing this to be angel and not because he has to, and dosen't grasp the depths of her friends abuse. She does get to oggle a hellhound though. So that's nice. But Charlie blundering leads to angel getting hit and while Charlie prepares to leave Valentio a stain on the floor Angel' desperately tells her to go. He's so scared of this monster that even a quick way out won't save him while Charlie is left broken not understanding WHAT she di dwrong. Which.. was nothing intentional. She fucked up, sure, but she's a sheltered 20 something who while meaning well, has no real concept of how fucked up hell truly is to it's core. It's her first taste that the world is more complciated and fucked up than she can imagine and she can't just.. save angel. I Mean killing val might've done that but we dont' know how soul contracts work and I suspect neither does charlie. You don't blame either perosn: Angel's deeply traumtized, self loathing and is likely afraid val will hurt his best friend, or worse, take her awya form him, and Charlie is a naive idiot. She's not without fire to her, adam learned that the hard way, but a common theme is Charlie's lack of actual experince hampers her goals.

So we get Poison, one of the shows best sequences and a great song.. ut a sequence I'll likely NEVER watch again as Angel is assaulted, and talks about the hell he's in, blames himself for it, and his nightmare of a life is sexualized for the cameras.. while the actual abuse of valentio is shadowy and horrific. Valentino delights in parading angel around as his property and using him how he sees fits and i'ts utterly breaking to watch.

Also hard to watch is Angel's attempt to cope: he wants to get drunk, then hits on Husk who resonably, finally has enough. His main reason is simple: he knows i'ts a defense mechanism. He knows the angel he sees at the hotel and the harassment is annoying less because it's.. harassment (something to unpack next season maybe as... i'ts an uneasy message at best) nad more because he can tell angle's faking it to get by and it pisses him off. Like Charlie Husk makes a mistake.. but you can't blame him. He shoudln't have to get constantly hit on by someone to make that person feel better and it's likely only gone on this long because Charlie is so naive she likely dosen't get this is bad as it's not the grosser sexual harassment she's dealt with and husk seems fine.

So angel storms out and with Charlie broken (adorably so but still aww) Vaggie orders Husk to go fix this. Her blaming him isn't okay but I get her logic: while blaming husk is stupid, sending him is really the only option as he's the only person who can resonably save angel from himself right now. Charlie's breaking down, Vaggie's having to make sure Charlie dosen't break down further, Husk is the only one. And it's telling that while ti's an order, given how he usually shrugs those off.. he doe sit.

And it saves Angel from more assault as Angel gets hammered and fully intends to let a bunch of shark men assault him repeadtely which is horrific.. and when Husk saves him he snaps, asking why. In a truly heartbreaking moment that's Blake Roman's best acting so far he reveals he does it to escape, that if he's broken Val may not want him anymore. And in this moment of vunerablity.. Husk actually responds and comforts him.

And the character suddenly gets a thousand lairs as we learn his backstory: He was once an overlord, but his gambling addiction meant he ended up enslaved to Alastor. And as worn out shell.. he recognizes himself in Angel. It's likely why he was so hard on him.. he could see himself and simply wanted Angel to actaully be himself.. and now he sees why he wasn't, he helps.

And he helps with the season's second best song. I mean.. Still Gone is fucking fantastic and had the rest of the episode not just been okay, episode 2 would be here too. But Looser Baby is the series breakout, an endlessly applicable song with a great message: that it's okay to be a mess, that you can be better.

Granted i'm biased: My love of Keith David is something I don't hide and not only does this episode let him shine he gets to sing. In fact David took the roll entirely becaue he wanted to sing more, and why it's taken this long is beyond me. The man did one of the most iconic disney villian songs period, let him sing.

Viv does.. and the results are glorious. Partly because we get to see Keith david sing thigns like "your a fucked up little whiny bitch" and "your a power bottom at rock bottom". He starts tearing into angel.. but the point is not "you fucking suck and will continue to suck" it's "just because your in a bad place, dosen't mean you have to be alone in it". As david dreamiily croons

"There was a time I thought that no one could relate, to the grusome ways in which i'm damaged. But letting walls down it can sometime set you straight, we're all livin in the same shit sandwitch"

It's a lesson I needed to learn: your not broken, you can heal, and your not alone if you can find someone like you whose also in pain. Its a joyous ode to how things may suck.. but you can still love yourself despite the flaws you need to work on. It's help by buttery smooth animation as we see Husk, whose been mostly drunk and sullen in a corner, move an dgroove the whole time, in beautiful ways, using his umbrella and get some great neon colors cumilating in that beautful shot above. And some shark death. Always shake your tails before the big musical number.

The ending is also shockingly sweet. Charlie tries to blubbering apologize.. and Angel has grown, having realized he can be loved and dosne't have to shove people away to survive or break himself.

"Charlie it's fine I get it, thanks for carrin about me"

Her blubbering after and her girlfriend putting her to bed is fucking adorable, but this episode itself is fucking amazing. A truly heartrending story... that somehow has a happy ending and a turning point in who angel is and him and husk's relationship that's realistic, and well earned. And viv well earned our number one spot. Congradulations Spindlehorse, keep it up and i'll see you next year

For all you fine folks, thanks for reading, follow me here on bluesky for more nonsense and remember: I'm pullin for ya we're allin this together.

#moon girl and devil dinosaur #the legend of vox machina #helluva boss #hazbin hotel #batman caped crusader #x-men 97 #bluey #animation #2024 #the sign #hellaverse #the gatekeeper #lbgtq+#reviews #best of the year #best of 2024

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princessmacedon · 5 months ago

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{ happy anniversary!

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is. Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing! Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together. Template courtesy of Neffi! 💕

Name: Red, more commonly nicknamed Reddo

Pronouns: they/them preferred, she/he OK!

Birthday (no year): December 28th

Where are you from? What is your time zone? moved to kentucky when I was young, and for sake of ease i use EST (TOAST)! i live near a timezone line, so i get to be flexible like that >vo)v HAHA

How long is your roleplay experience? with a few on and off breaks, roughly 15 years? i forgot about a period of my life where i 'moderated' (read: was the most active user on) a warrior cats RP site; my first foray into rp proper was in pokemon rp on tumblr, my first muse was lyra but i didnt have an internet name until i picked up and settled into writing (you'll never guess who)

How were you introduced to roleplaying as a whole? kind of half answered this above oops, but with warrior cats i genuinely dont remember? i probably just googled warrior cats and wound up there HAHA. for pokemon...... honestly probably the same thing

How were you introduced to TOA? key had mentioned it to me in passing a few times, so i knew she was there, but it wasn't until my friend zyra mentioned it to me and suggested we write macedon siblings together again that i actually joined, hahaha

Do you have any pets? i do! i adopted a ?? year old dog from the shelter about six years ago, so now he's x+6 years old :] pretty sure he's some kind of border collie mix, but not certain! his name is tobin, but he'll answer as long as you say 'ob'. he's a sillyhead

What is your favorite time of year and why? (Season, holiday, general period) it used to be winter because i love the snow! but as i get older and more harrowed by weather conditions, i appreciate how normal and not-trying-to-kill-me autum is HAHA

What is your IRL occupation? (finger guns) figuring it out

Some interests and things you like/enjoy? drawing was my first love! i like reading, especially comics, and writing; i like video games and immersing myself in stories, and have passing interests in things that i don't commit to trying out (like resin, charms, etc etc)

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? FFXIV, mainly; genshin impact and hsr; various farming-ish sims (story of seasons + old harvest moon, stardew valley, rune factory, currently fields of mistria); to a lesser extent dragon age, ace attorney, various VNs / otome / rhythm games, pokemon until roughly scarlet/violet era and then my wallet couldnt keep up with it HSDFSGVSD

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: as a kid it waffled between fire / dark, but not sure i have a dead set favorite type anymore. favorite pokemon still lucario and appletun for sure though!

Tell us some funfacts and trivia about yourself! (Optional bonus challenge: if you filled this out last year, try not to repeat what you said back then!) - i love christmas and thinking about gift giving! when i was in school my christmas spreadsheet hit like, 50 names HAHA nooooo way do i have that energy anymore, though - i'm reasonably fond of baking and also reasonably terrible at it! something always goes wrong but usually (usually) stuff comes out pretty tasty in the end. except for that time i set my oven on fire

How did you get into Fire Emblem? my friends were talking about how much fun they were having with the new game at the time, awakening! it looked fun so i decided to try it out

What Fire Emblem games have you played? - Beaten: Genealogy, Blazing Blade (FE7 if youre like me and still cant remember which one is which), Shadow Dragon & New Mystery, Awakening, Fates (Conquest + Birthright), Three Houses (Blue Lions) - Started: Binding Blade (FE6), Sacred Stones, Path of Radiance (FE9), Fates (Revelation), Shadows of Valentia, Three Houses (Black Eagles & Golden Deer), Engage

First & Favorite Fire Emblem games: Awakening -- still Awakening! possibly tied with 3H, though. i really enjoy games where i can peacefully level grind

List your 5 favorite Fire Emblem characters across the series! vaguely ordered, it's: Wolf, Maria, Cordelia, Seliph, Katarina...? if you think you're seeing a trend you're probably right, hahaha ^^ writing a character is an expression of love for me, so inevitably my muses climb higher and higher on my list over time

Who was the first character ever to make you go “ooh I like this one in particular” and why? Can be any context and reason! the clearest one i can remember is wolf, because when i was playing fe11 i was passively using him because he was pretty, and then he got 7 crits in a row and i was like :pika:

Any Fire Emblem crushes? 😳i'm weak toward green haired women AHSJASFDSF but actual game crushes, hmm... not sure!

If you’ve played (or are familiar with) the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? - Awakening: chrom -> still chrom! - Fates: takumi -> hmm... silas or flora? - Three Houses: dimitri -> still dimitri, except now he's duking it out with yuri - Engage: i have the ring in my pocket as we speak, suffering from the burden of choice... probably diamant though?

Favorite Fire Emblem class? whatever class my blorbos thrive in

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class and stats? Would you be playable? in all likelihood i'm a villager with just absolutely baffling AI. not entirely stupid, but you cant in good conscience say it's smart either HAHA as a playable unit though, i might be a recruit-type? i could do well if you help me grow, otherwise i'm just this scruffy shitty thing tucked into your pocket. middling-high skill growth, paper defense, and you wish you knew what my speed growth was because i don't (probably fast as a mage but realistically NOT as anything physical)

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? (Black Eagles, Blue Lions, Golden Deer, Church of Seiros, Those Who Slither in the Dark, unaffiliated civilian, other - for example Almyran) my heart says blue lions, but if i'm just some guy (unaffiliated civilian) i won't be surprised

If you were an Officers Academy student, what would be your boons, banes and potential budding talent? - Boons: Reason - Banes: Authority, Gauntlets - Budding Talent: Flying

If you were an Engage character, which nation would you originate from? (Firene, the Kingdom of Abundance; Brodia, the Kingdom of Might; Elusia, the Kingdom of Knowledge; Solm, the Queendom of Freedom; Lythos, the holy land of the Divine Dragon; Gradlon, the desolate land of the Fell Dragon) hmm... probably either Firene or Lythos! i'm too much of a weenie to be from brodia HAHA

How do you pronounce TOA? 🤔(separate letters, to-ah, other?) toah, like noah! to all my xiv gamers out there this definitely applies to job shorthands too. durg. dirk. whum blum sidge. rurpur and rogg...

Current TOA muses: Maria & Katarina

Past TOA muses? Cordelia my beloved

Who was your first TOA muse? If you no longer have them, can you see yourself picking them up again? Maria! unless something unprecedented happens, i don't see that changing. writing her, her want and determination to love and find wonder in the world, to spread and be joy -- it just puts me in a good place! it's really, genuinely helped me a lot, even if her extroversion is exhausting to my introvert ass sometimes HAHA

Do you believe you have a type of character you gravitate towards writing? (If you filled this out last year, has this changed in any way?) uhhh... i definitely tend toward characters who are in some regard defined by a form of love or strong emotion, romantic though it need not be -- people who have some sort of powerful, aching tenderness in their heart. i've not really done as much as i've wanted in terms of bringing that out of them, but it's definitely something that draws me in to a character in the first place!

Do you have characters or types of characters you don’t think you can handle writing, but wish you could? ooh, there are lots of characters i like who have a brusque edge or manner, who might be harsh or cold... i wish i could do that! i'd like to try, i think. and also the funny, energetic, boisterous types -- i love to see them and be around them, but i definitely can't pull it off hahaha

What kind of scenes, situations etc do you believe you enjoy writing the most? (If you filled this out last year, has this changed in any way?) it's been a while since i've gone all in on this kind of scene, but i love emotional scenes and heart-to-hearts -- the sort of thing where you're communicating your feelings with everything you have and trying to reach someone else! i usually rein myself in well shy of that though, hahaha. i worry a lot about getting too lost in the sauce and derailing a conversation/thread, or making it all about what my muse/what they want to communicate.

Do you have any scenario in mind for your muse(s) that gets you thinking “man I hope I get to write this one day”? for katarina, i'd love for her to make some friends! she's her own worst enemy in this regard, separating herself from friends/friendships whether consciously or subconsciously. for maria... well, i'd love for her to have a real heart to heart with someone!

Favorite TOA-related memories? to this day i miss and adore annie's frederick! his dynamic with my cordelia at the time was so much fun to write and to talk about and we had such thoughts for how their relationship would evolve -- it's one of the most interesting and endearing relationships i've had the pleasure of writing! on a sillier note, i often think about leif hauling ass after kanoesa's lewyn HAHA

Present or past tense? it used to be past tense, but i think toa's successfully converted me to defaulting to present hahaha ^^;; consciously at least, i try to match whatever my partner does!

Normal size text, small text, no preference? it doesn't matter to me, but i do hate fighting tumblr to keep all of the small text small.

Got any potential muse delusions to share? 😉 the wolf app/blog i've been refining on and off for the better part of three years is no secret HAHA, but i've seriously contemplated writing a few other characters! radd and boucheron, to name a couple. i get super attached to my characters though, so it's a bit tricky

#out of siblings #meme tag #i didn't cross check this with last year at all so probably a lot of duplicate answers SHFHSFSS #happy anniversary toa!! i hope to see many more to come :]

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phanfictioncatalogue · 6 months ago

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Friends to Lovers (8) Masterlist

part one, part two, part three, part four, part five, part six, part seven

About useless lists and oblivious teenagers (ao3) - OliveTheHobbit

Summary: Phil helps Dan with his sexuality crisis while he tries to overcome the fact he is head over heels for him. Oh, and they have a date day.

Apartment 126 (ao3) - girlboss128

Summary: Dan is 23 year old video editor living in a London flat. His days are boring and he lives life as a hopeless romantic. Then, Phil Lester, a 27 year old Internet celebrity moves in across the hall. Dan after one glance decides he needs Phil in his life. Dan is forward and persistent. How could this end?

April Fools (ao3) - hygge

Summary: Dan proposes an April Fools Day prank that he thinks will shock the Internet. But, when it comes time to share it with the world, Phil has second thoughts. There is something he needs to get off of his chest instead.

Big Love (ao3) - winstonlives

Summary: Phil wakes up freezing one night, only to find out he is shrinking. Panicked and tiny he goes to Dan for help. Together the two deal with the challenges that come along with being too small for the normal world. Relying on each other, and working together, they realize their friendship, is in fact more than just friendship.

Come Clean (ao3) - castrotophic

Summary: Dan thinks Phil might be in love with him, but he's not quite sure how to figure it out.

Craving Control (ao3) - starwatersong

Summary: Phil is intrigued by the hypnotist at the YouTuber Summit in 2016 and finds himself oddly fascinated by hypnotism. Is Dan helping him find one for a video for Phil’s benefit… or Dan’s? Some timeline mixing where Phil’s fortune telling video takes place in an earlier time. They’re living in London apartment #1 in this story.

Don’t be scared (ao3) - danisnot3131

Summary: Before agreeing to go on Tour for Interactive Introvers, Dan is hit with the realization that he’s been in love with Phil for years.

Do You Know How in Love With You I Am (Please Notice) (ao3) - phantasticworks

Summary: Based on a Phan!The Office AU drawing by @laurainlilac on tumblr

Dan works at a small paper company, but the brightside to this boring career is that his best friend Phil is just a few feet away at reception. The downside to this is that he’s hopelessly, irrevocably in love with said best friend. Oh, and Phil is engaged, too.

A short little story about best friends, being in love, and pining hopelessly after the boy you think you can’t have. But, don’t worry, there’s a happy ending in here somewhere.

drop your heart I’ll save it for you(ao3) - Anonymous

Summary: Tenderness isn’t part of the deal, nor are soft words, or feelings, or kisses that don’t lead to fucking. It’s not what Dan asked for, and it’s certainly not why someone would choose to fuck their friend slash flatmate slash colleague who they absolutely don’t have any feelings for.

Drunken Nonsense (ao3) - Spring_Haze

Summary: Young Dan and Phil end up playing their own drunken version of truth or dare following a few too many cocktails at the Lester Family Christmas Gathering in Phil’s family home. Confessions are made, and two best friends become lovers.

How Life Changes (ao3) - madd09

Summary: Phil had no idea how much his life was going to change when Cornelia and Martyn announced they were expecting and how it would end up being a catalyst for him and Dan,

Keep These Secrets In A Lie (ao3) - CanDanAndPhilNot (enbycalhoun)

Summary: Dan and Phil are friends. But friends don’t act the way they do.

Like a cicada rhythm. (ao3) - emmibug

Summary: every night they share the same bed, legs twisted together, arms holding each other close. dan and phil haven’t grown up from their childlike sense of friendship which leads people to believe there’s something deeper going on.

a dan and phil childhood best friends to lovers AU where they share the same bed and always have done.

Midnight Cab Rides to You (ao3) - QueenKatelynTheAristocrat

Summary: “Whenever he felt the spiralling of his thoughts that indicated an impending breakdown, there was only ever one place he would go. He wondered how many breakdowns he had left before Phil got sick of him.”

Also known as: Dan can’t stand another damn minute on campus, so he does the only thing he can think of to make himself feel like he isn’t dying. He gets a cab to Phil’s flat.

never quite as it seems (ao3) - Ablissa

Summary: Phil has a unique gift that allows him to see something he never expected to see - his best friend Dan, meeting the person that would most likely become the love of his life. It hasn’t happened yet, and right now, Dan has no idea what lies ahead.

When old feelings resurface and every choice may have a big impact on the upcoming events, will Phil be able to make the right decision?

Stars in His Eyes (ao3) - harleymoony

Summary: Once every week, Dan and Phil sneak out of their houses to go stargazing together. Tonight is Dan’s birthday, and Phil has something planned for that, of course.

stuck on you (ao3) - watergator

Summary: dan finds himself in a rather awkward predicament and phil ends up having to helping him

you only know you love him when you let him go (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: Dan was sitting on his beanbag chair and nodding along to Phil’s story, tossing a ball into the air as he stared at his best friend.

While Phil continued describing how pretty Amanda looked and how amazing the movie was, Dan was focused on Phil himself. He let his eyes roam over Phil’s face, catching on shiny irises and sharp cheekbones and pink lips, and thinking of how much he’d love to feel those lips against his own.

And suddenly, everything made sense to Dan.

He froze, the ball falling on his head as his chest filled with terror. Phil continued with his story, delightfully oblivious to the panic attack Dan was two seconds away from having. He was attracted to his best friend, and big time, too, but Phil now had a girlfriend, and one he’d been wanting for over two years.

Well, fuck.

You’re All my Reasons (ao3) - QueenKatelynTheAristocrat

Summary: “Phil wished he could think of the right thing to say. It would be nice if at times like this his English Language degree knowledge would kick in and provide him with the words to make Dan understand that he could tell Phil anything, that there was nothing he could say that would scare Phil away, but alas.”

In which Dan’s depression doesn’t allow him to leave his room for two days, and Phil struggles to find the words, but what comes to realize is that maybe words aren’t always necessary.

Just a bit of hurt/comfort fluff to get you through your day.

You're The Only Friend I Need (ao3) - microwaveoven

Summary: Little snippets of Dan and Phil's lives from childhood to 2024. Based on the idea if they had been friends since they were kids and went to the same school

You set my soul alight (ao3) - Wolf_Of_Westeros

Summary: Dan likes Phil. Phil likes Dan. Neither of them know about it.

#phanfictioncatalogue #phan #phanfic #phanfiction #masterlists #friendstolovers #friendstolovers masterlist

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denimbex1986 · 8 months ago

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'If you're the type of person to double tap edits of Josh O'Connor's glistening thighs in Challengers, or the kind of fan still favoriting clips of Andrew Scott's Hot Priest "kneel" command, you may have recently been led down another digital path: Celebrity-centric audio erotica.

A relatively new phenomenon pioneered by audio erotica apps like Dipsea and Quinn, actors have taken on the role of smut narrator, much to their fans' delight...Most recently, the Hot Priest himself recorded a three-episode story for Quinn portraying a queen's guard with unresolved feelings for a fiery rebel...

Caroline Spiegel, Quinn's founder, hopes the platform can use celebrities and horniness for celebrities to remove some of the shame around talking about sex. "Women and queer people have been trained that talking about their sexuality, talking about sex, talking about masturbation, is not good. Whether it's from a place of purity culture or homophobia or misogyny or slut shaming, it's in [the] way them having a happy relationship with sex," she explained to Mashable. "What's cool about [Quinn Originals] is it's really easy to talk about because you're not talking about sex, you're talking about Andrew Scott, you're not talking about masturbation, you're talking about Jesse Williams and Grey's Anatomy."

The comments on Quinn's social posts reflect those language habits, with fans flooding its pages with requests and comparisons to their other celeb or fictional faves. Following the release of Scott's first episode, Spiegel posted a TikTok video, captioned, "Pitch me on your Quinn celeb casting 👀🎧." Spiegel explained to Mashable that this is part of a strategy to find celebrities, and even influencers, who already have built-in "thirst fandoms."

Tyler McCall, the author behind Scott's "The Queen's Guard," explained the levels of fiction and fandom involved in writing a Quinn Original...

When commissioned for Scott's story, McCall said she perceived the writing process cinematically, almost like writing a movie script. And she pulled in a lot of pop culture inspiration, like Game of Thrones and the sixth installment of a '90s PC game called "King's Quest." "I was thinking a lot about Star Wars. There's always a 'Reylo' at the scene of the crime," she said...

Quinn aims to offer a less stigmatized way to explore sexuality for women. Spiegel sees fanfic — which Gesselman's observations backs up — and celebrity crushes as female experiences. "The female erotic mentality is very much around who the person is, and what's their backstory and what's happening. Female eroticism is sort of like a detective. You're trying to figure out: Who is this person? What's happening? Are they safe? Where are they? What's going on? Celebrity culture, the fanfic culture, reflects that," explained Spiegel. Quinn taps into those desires.

There's a sense of safety for listeners provided by discussing sexuality through celebrity. Not only is the fan listener familiar with Scott's voice and has a pre-existing relationship with his work, but the celebrity is consenting to the erotic content and Quinn co-signs it. It's not like the fan-for-fan erotic fanfiction that's produced and consumed on the depths of the internet. Instead, there are multiple faces for Quinn's content, both Spiegel on its TikTok and the celebrity partners.

"Quinn's whole thing is erotic content and historically it has been this very overly graphic, off-putting uncomfortable genre. Our bet is that it doesn't have to be that way, it can actually be something that's talked about over coffee with friends. That's a really mainstream, normalized, happy, healthy part of life," said Spiegel...

With the continued growth of celebrity obsession, technology is changing the availability of celeb fantasy materials to fans. In January, deepfake pornographic images of Taylor Swift went viral on X, spurring a debate about the ethics of AI tech, celebrity idolatry, and the government's role in stopping this harmful content...The rise of AI technology brings a celebrity's — and all of our — right to their likeness into sharper focus.

But if a celebrity can get ahead of this technology (and sometimes even their own fanbase), then maybe they can exert some control — or at least that's what Spiegel proposes. It may explain a celeb's unexpected collaboration with less explicit, non-visual platforms like Quinn. While the site's marketplace of creator-uploaded audios speak directly to the person masturbating, almost like phone sex McCall explains, celebrity-narrated Quinn Originals ask listeners to become a character themselves, distancing users from celebs even further.

"This is a way for celebrities who have this sort of thirst culture around them to say, 'Hey, this is gonna be on my terms. I want to feel empowered doing this,'" said Spiegel. "'I'm acting in this real, elevated piece of art that's also sexual.' Being sexual doesn't have to feel degrading. It's actually a very empowering, cool thing to deal with sexuality. What I think does feel degrading is this AI porn that people make against your consent, or putting words in your mouth, or asking you inappropriate questions."

Additionally, it's not just that the celebrity is consenting to a Quinn Original, but consent itself is a major theme of all Quinn audios. Spiegel aims to bridge the gap of a topic that she sees as underrepresented in erotica. "[Consent] is a really hot thing that feels in line with the story," she said...'

#consent #Quinn #The Queen's Guard #Andrew Scott #Caroline Spiegel #Tyler McCall #Hot Priest #“Kneel”

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mariacallous · 2 years ago

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For 20 years, the only way to really communicate privately was to use a widely hated piece of software called Pretty Good Privacy. The software, known as PGP, aimed to make secure communication accessible to the lay user, but it was so poorly designed that even Edward Snowden messed up his first attempt to use PGP to email a friend of Laura Poitras. It also required its users to think like engineers, which included participating in exceptionally nerdy activities like attending real-life “key-signing parties” to verify your identity to other users. Though anyone could technically use PGP, the barrier to entry was so high that only about 50,000 people used it at its peak, meaning that privacy itself was out of reach for most.

These days, to talk to a friend securely, all you have to do is download a free app. For a certain set, that app will be Signal. Snowden and Elon Musk have recommended it; it’s been name-dropped on big-budget shows like House of Cards, Mr. Robot, and Euphoria, and its users include journalists, members of the White House, NBA players, Black Lives Matters activists, and celebrities trying to get their hands on Ozempic. Its founder has been profiled by The New Yorker and appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast. A tiny organization with virtually no marketing budget has become synonymous with digital privacy in the public imagination.

Technology can be deeply shaped by the personal inclinations of a founder. Facebook’s light-fingeredness with user data is inseparable from its roots in Zuckerberg’s dorm room as an app for ranking women by their looks; Apple’s minimalist design was influenced by Jobs’ time spent practicing Zen Buddhism. Signal is no different. During its formative years, the charismatic face of Signal was Moxie Marlinspike, a dreadlocked anarchist who spent his time sailing around the world, living in punk houses, and serving free food to the unhoused. He led every aspect of Signal’s development for almost a decade, at one point complaining, “I was writing all the Android code, was writing all of the server code, was the only person on call for the service, was facilitating all product development, and was managing everyone. I couldn’t ever leave cell service.”

In the field of cryptography, Marlinspike is considered the driving force behind bringing end-to-end encryption—the technology underlying Signal—to the real world. In 2017, Marlinspike and his collaborator, Trevor Perrin, received the Levchin Prize, a prominent prize for cryptographers, for their work on the Signal Protocol. Afterward, Dan Boneh, the Stanford professor who chaired the award committee, commented that he wasn’t sure that end-to-end encryption would have become widespread without Marlinspike’s work. At the very least, “it would have taken many more decades,” he said.

The motivations that led to end-to-end encryption going mainstream lie far out on the political fringe. The original impetus for Marlinspike’s entry into cryptography, around 2007, was to challenge existing power structures, particularly the injustice of how (as he put it) “Internet insecurity is used by people I don’t like against people I do: the government against the people.” But sticking to anarchism would imply an almost certain defeat. As Marlinspike once noted, the “trail of ideas that disappears into the horizon behind me is completely and utterly mined over with failures … Anarchists are best known for their failures.”

For an idealistic engineer to succeed, he will have to build something that is useful to many. So there has also been an unusually pragmatic bent to Signal’s approach. Indeed, in many interviews, Marlinspike has taken a mainstream stance, insisting that “Signal is just trying to bring normality to the internet.” Signal’s success depends on maintaining its principled anarchist commitments while finding a wide-ranging appeal to the masses, two goals that might seem at odds. Examining how the app navigates this tension can help us understand what might come next in Signal’s new quest to reach “everyone on the planet.”

Released after WhatsApp set the standards for messaging, Signal’s problem has always been how to keep up with its competition—a fine dance between mimicry (so as to seem familiar to new users) and innovation (to poach users from its competitors). Signal started off by copying WhatsApp's user experience, while at the same time pioneering end-to-end encryption, a feature that WhatsApp turned around and copied from Signal. Throughout this evolutionary dance, Signal has managed to maintain an unusual focus on the autonomy of the individual, a wariness of state authority, and an aversion to making money, characteristics that are recognizably anarchist.

Because a small fringe of cypherpunks, Marlinspike included, came to see cryptography as a way to remedy the imbalance of power between the individual and the state, Signal focused on getting end-to-end encryption on messages and calls absolutely right. With Signal, no one can read your messages. Amazon can’t, the US government can’t, Signal can’t. The same is true for voice calls and metadata: A user’s address book and group chat titles are just as safe. Signal knows basically nothing about you, other than your phone number (which is not mapped to your username), the time you created your account, and the time you last used the app. Your data can’t be sold to others or cause ads to follow you around on the internet. Using Signal is just like talking with your friend in the kitchen.

Because Signal is committed to retaining as little metadata as possible, that makes it hard for it to implement new features that are standard to other apps. Signal is essentially footing the cost of this commitment in engineer-hours, since implementing popular features like group chats, address books, and stickers all required doing novel research in cryptography. That Signal built them anyway is a testament to its desire for mass appeal.

Signal also pioneered features that gave individuals more autonomy over their information, such as disappearing messages (which WhatsApp later adopted) and a feature that let users blur faces in a photo (which it rapidly rolled out to support the Black Lives Matter protests). At the same time, Signal has garnered users' trust because its code is open source, so that security researchers can verify that its end-to-end encryption is as strong as the organization claims.

For the ordinary user, though, individual autonomy and privacy may not be as important. On WhatsApp, users accept that it will be very hard to figure out what exactly the app knows about you and who it might be shared with. Users’ information is governed by an ever-shifting labyrinth of grudging caveats and clauses like “we will share your transaction data and IP address with Facebook” and “we can’t see your precise location, but we’ll still try to estimate it as best as we can” and “we will find out if you click on a WhatsApp share button on the web.” WhatsApp is also closed-source, so its code can’t be audited. If using Signal is like talking in a friend’s kitchen, using WhatsApp is like meeting at a very loud bar—your conversation is safe, but you’re exposed, and you’ll have to pay for your place.

If you’re not an anarchist, you may be less worried about a shadowy state and more worried about actual people you know. People in your community might be harassing you in a group chat, an abusive ex might be searching your chats for old photos to leak, or your child might have gotten access to your unlocked phone. WhatsApp’s features better support a threat model that is sensitive to interpersonal social dynamics: You can leave groups silently, block screenshots for view-once messages, and lock specific chats. WhatsApp can even view the text of end-to-end encrypted messages that have been reported by a user for moderation, whereas Signal has no moderation at all.

Idealists have called centralization one of the main ills of the internet because it locks users into walled gardens controlled by authoritarian companies. In a great stroke of pragmatism, Signal chose to be centralized anyway. Other encrypted-messaging apps like Matrix offer a federated model akin to email, in which users across different servers can still communicate through a shared protocol. (Someone on Gmail can still email someone on Yahoo, whereas someone on Facebook Messenger can’t contact someone on Signal.) This federated approach more closely mirrors anarchy; it could theoretically be better, because there would be no single point of failure and no single service provider for a government to pressure. But federated software creates a proliferation of different clients and servers for the same protocol, making it hard to upgrade. Users are already used to centralized apps that behave like Facebook or Twitter, and email has already become centralized into a few main service providers. It turns out that being authoritarian is important for maintaining a consistent user experience and a trusted brand, and for rolling out software updates quickly. Even anarchism has its limits.

What Signal has accomplished so far is impressive. But users famously judge software not on how much it can do, but on how much it can’t. In that spirit, it’s time to complain.

Because of Signal’s small team, limited funding, and the challenges of implementing features under end-to-end encryption, the app bafflingly lacks a number of important features. It doesn’t have encrypted backups for iOS; messages can only be transferred between phones. If you lose your iPhone, you lose all your Signal chat history.

Signal also doesn’t do a good job serving some of its core users. Activists and organizers deal with huge amounts of messages that involve many people and threads, but Signal’s interface lacks ways to organize all this information. These power users’ group chats become so unwieldy that they migrate to Slack, losing the end-to-end encryption that brought them to Signal in the first place. It’s common to try and make multiple group chats between the same people to manage all their threads. When users are hacking “desire paths” into your interface to create a new feature, or leaving because of the lack of the feature, that’s a strong hint that something is missing.

WhatsApp and Telegram, on the other hand, are leading the way on defining how group chats can scale up. WhatsApp “communities” gather different private group chats in one place, better mimicking the organization of a neighborhood or school that may be discussing several things at once. Telegram’s social media “channel” features are better for broadcasting info en masse, though Telegram’s lack of moderation has been blamed for attracting the kind of fringe crowd that has been banned from all other platforms.

It's no exaggeration to say that small features in a chat app encode different visions of how society should be organized. If the first reacji in the palette was a thumbs down rather than a heart, maybe we would all be more negative, cautious people. What kind of social vision did Signal arise from?

“Looking back, I and everyone I knew was looking for that secret world hidden in this one,” Marlinspike admitted in a 2016 interview. A key text in anarchist theory describes the idea of a “temporary autonomous zone,” a place of short-term freedom where people can experiment with new ways to live together outside the confines of current social norms. Originally coined to describe “pirate utopias” that may be apocryphal, the term has since been used to understand the life and afterlife of real-world DIY spaces like communes, raves, seasteads, and protests. And Signal is, unmistakably, a temporary autonomous zone that Marlinspike has spent almost a decade building.

Because temporary autonomous zones create spaces for the radical urges that society represses, they keep life in the daytime more stable. They can sometimes make money in the way that nightclubs and festivals do. But temporary autonomous zones are temporary for a reason. Over and over, zone denizens make the same mistake: They can’t figure out how to interact productively with the wider society. The zone often runs out of money because it exists in a world where people need to pay rent. Success is elusive; when a temporary autonomous zone becomes compelling enough to threaten daytime stability, it may be violently repressed. Or the attractive freedoms offered by the zone may be taken up in a milder form by the wider society, and eventually the zone ceases to exist because its existence has pressured wider society to be a little more like it. What kind of end might Signal come to?

There are reasons to think that Signal may not be around for very long. The nonprofit’s blog, meant to convince us of the elite nature of its engineers, has the unintentional effect of conveying the incredible difficulty of building any new software feature under end-to-end encryption. Its team numbers roughly 40; Marlinspike has just left the organization. Achieving impossible feats may be fun for a stunt hacker with something to prove, but competing with major tech companies’ engineering teams may not be sustainable for a small nonprofit with Marlinspike no longer at the helm.

Fittingly for an organization formerly led by an anarchist, Signal lacks a sustainable business model, to the point where you might almost call it anti-capitalist. It has survived so far in ways that don’t seem replicable, and that may alienate some users. Signal is largely funded by a big loan from a WhatsApp founder, and that loan has already grown to $100 million. It has also accepted funding from the US government through the Open Technology Fund. Because Signal can’t sell its users’ data, it has recently begun developing a business model based on directly providing services to users and encouraging them to donate to Signal in-app. But to get enough donations, the nonprofit must grow from 40 million users to 100 million. The company’s aggressive pursuit of growth, coupled with lack of moderation in the app, has already led Signal employees themselves to publicly question whether growth might come from abusive users, such as far-right groups using Signal to organize.

But there are also reasons for hope. So far, the most effective change that Signal has created is arguably not the existence of the app itself, but making it easy for WhatsApp to bring Signal-style end-to-end encryption to billions of users. Since WhatsApp’s adoption, Facebook Messenger, Google’s Android Messages, and Microsoft’s Skype have all adopted the open source Signal Protocol, though in milder forms, as the history of temporary autonomous zones would have us guess. Perhaps the existence of the Signal Protocol, coupled with demand from increasingly privacy-conscious users, will encourage better-funded messaging apps to compete against each other to be as encrypted as possible. Then Signal would no longer need to exist. (In fact, this resembles Signal’s original theory of change, before they decided they would rather compete with mainstream tech companies.)

Now, as the era of the global watercooler ends, small private group chats are becoming the future of social life on the internet. Signal started out a renegade, a pirate utopia encircled by cryptography, but the mainstream has become—alarmingly quickly—much closer to the vision Signal sought. In one form or another, its utopia just might last.

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ladybuggirl123 · 2 years ago

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Fascism/Flop Eras/The Art Of The Rebrand

If the tone of this post is completely different from last week it’s because my prozac just started working!! If i came off as obsessive and impulsive it’s because i was!! i’m working on it 😁

Alright, Where did we leave off?…

Emotional Terrorism I believe it was-

I now see how entirely dramatic this phrase is(tysm prozac). I probably need to watch my provocative language, I’ve never In my life been a chill or fun girlfriend.

If “emotional terrorist” is a fitting title for any of these people honestly who could blame them, i’m basically an emotional fascist. After my regime is overthrown I have to rebrand obviously.

Teenager’s (and me), are calling this “having an era” . A little google action reminded me this all started with the “Flop Era”

This is what a flop era looks like for the unfamiliar:

this is what getting ur emotionally fascist empire taken down by a emotional terrorist does to a mf

#bringbackcryingselfies

i think i almost bought a “flop era” tshirt in 2021 but i went with ironically hot instead

simpler times…lol

Anyway all the sudden everypony online was in their fleabag era or their reputation era. It’s 2023 Taylor Swift’s having her eras tour and now I barely remember who I was before it became a part of the cultural zeitgeist for a normal non celebrity girl to have definable eras.

here are a few favorites of mine:

i don’t endorse any of these eras also i think i probably do this to an unhealthy degree

bpd grrl era:

grunge post woke fleabag on vyvanse era:

the I ready theory (only lasch) era

looking like I play a [REDACTED] in a [REDACTED] era:

Rebranding isn’t a new thing at all but hyper specific digital language used to describe how you express yourself obviously is and this is a tired conversation at this point.

How is “I’m in my looksmaxxed bushwick kinderwhore era” a thing you could say and how did I get to a point in my life where i know exactly what that would mean. It’s internet buzzword salad and it feels like it’s too much information for my brain to be storing and holding onto at all times (is this where my ancestors kept the berry forageing knowledge? is this really what i’m using it for??)

quick grass touching break 4 u

whatever mental illness i have was designed to pick this shit apart for hours so sometimes this all drives me a little nuts but it’s ok cause i’m a mental health warrior💪🏼

When you feel it’s time for your new era you could sift through pinterest rabbit holes and tiktok echochambers trying to find the perfect niche that describes the new and improved you. You’ll probably find a corner of the internet with other people just like you who like all the same esoteric celebrities you do, who listen to the same underground bands and who all talk the same cool way. But they are all doing it a little better than you.

Then you wake up from the digital coma you slipped into from stemming from unsupervised internet access at a young age, and you realize this is the dumbest shit in the world and ur actually and literally a full ass adult..

🎀Here is my personal plan of action for a non internet poisoned rebrand:🎀

Step 1- The Transformational Event

This could be a breakup, a breakdown, a move, or just a general realization that challenges all ideas you previously had about yourself.

Step 1.5- Deep Emotional Pain

😁

Step 2- Get Ur Ass up

Envision the you that has moved on and no longer feels held down by the emotional weight of the situation. How do they spend their free time? What passions are they pursuing ? what kind of people do they surround themselves with? lastly how do they dress how would they adorn their space? Work from the inside out.

Instead of looking up glass skin healed french girl aesthetic on pinterest you could journal about this version of you or even make a physical vision board.

Step 3- Faking it

Initially you might feel like you are not mentally stable or cool enough or whatever to be this person. But the person is you and the only way you can become them is to just start.

Step 4- God and Faeries take over

Spoiler alert: what i referred to as “faking it” in the last step is also called vibrating at a higher frequency. As I type this out I’m aware that i only maybe half believe it but also this has always worked for me my whole life so……

The circumstances in your life will basically rise to meet you where you are. you’ll start to realize you have the types of friends the new version of you would, you’ll develop the habits you wanted to and you’ll realize you have faked it till you made it.

Step 5- You are sexier and doing better than you ever imagined!

As time goes by and you think back to yourself immediately after the initial transformational event you’ll realize you have become even cooler and happier and more grown up than you hoped you’d be

If u did this right you’ll also feel a little bit of gratitude for the transformational experience because it basically provided a short cut for ur prefrontal cortex development.

that’s all the knowledge i have on this phenomenon here’s a tiktok and a podcast episode that probably inspired me to write this

#Spotify #coquettestyle #girl interrupted #red scare #blokecore #bushwick #indie sleaze #2014 tumblr #rookie magazine #lana del ray aka lizzy grant #lana del rey #2014 nostalgia #girl blog #caroline polachek #blog #writeblr #writing

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purplesurveys · 11 months ago

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1823

Would you rather have another job? I would, but the job market sucks and it's been a challenge trying to apply to new ones even though I had been actively looking every day of February. I got a little impatient so I've ultimately settled for a new role, still in my current workplace – so I've still resigned from my current post, but the new role will allow me to continue to be in the industry I like while removing the shit I don't want to deal with and had originally resigned over.

Did you ever live in a house with more than one story? I currently do. It was the house I grew up in that didn't have an extra floor.

What room of your home do you spend most time in? My bedroom, since it's also my workspace.

Is your second toe longer than your big toe? Just super slightly, but yeah.

Have you ever given yourself a tattoo? Nope.

Do you own any clothes you wouldn’t wear in front of your mother? Not really.

Do you have health insurance? Just Philhealth. What are some medical issues you’re currently dealing with? Just what I'm presently sensing as anemia, but other than that there aren't any.

Why did you last take pain medication? Can't even recall. I just apply a cooling ointment whenever my back and shoulders are sore lol, and I've been proactively lessening my Biogesic intake because I don't want to be too dependent on it every time I get a headache.

What physical traits have you inherited from your father? I find that my smile and mouth are similar to his. I think my eyes too? Idk but in general I'm the most well-balanced among me and my siblings when it comes to genetics haha, so it's hard for me to tell which of my features look more like my mom's or my dad's.

How about your mother? My overall face structure? IDK IT'S REALLY HARD TO TELL LOL

What personality traits do you wish your children would inherit from you? I take pride in how devoted and loyal I am in my friendships, so it'd be nice for my hypothetical and likely-to-never-exist kids to get that from me. Also, passion for their hobbies! I'd listen to my kids ramble on all day about whatever it is they're interested/invested in.

What parts of the world are your ancestors from? Philippines, and that's pretty much it lol. I don't think I have ancestors from Spain.

Have you ever had a strange pet, outside of the normal animals people keep? No.

Do you believe in astrology? Hell no.

Do you drive an electric car? No. It just wouldn't be the smartest decision to get one at this point as we barely have the technology or network to make owning an electric car a feasible long-term thing. Philippines was already late as it is when it came to the internet, so I imagine it would be the same - perhaps even longer - with the electric cars.

Do you like facial hair on guys or do you prefer the clean shaven look? Eh, it depends on how they look with the hair.

Who was your first celebrity crush? It was a tie between Zac Efron and Ashley Tisdale, haha.

Are you good with kids? I honestly don't know. I was good with kids before as a First-Born Asian Daughter™ lol, but I haven't been arounds kids in YEARS so idk if my abilities still hold up.

Are you usually late, early, or right on time? At this point tbh I'm a mix of all three. I try to make it on time but it sometimes also depends on how invested I am in the thing I'm supposed to be at. I arrived at the Seventeen concert by 11 AM, but at work I will sometimes arrive at 10:30 AM lol.

Are you good at applying makeup? I'm horrible at it, but that's also because I'm not the least bit interested in makeup.

Do you like pastel colored hair? It's alright!

What do you think about the most? Career options, opportunities to take care of myself or find new hobbies...I've been getting paranoid about mortality lately as well and I hate it.

Do you like to see it snowing outside? I wish I could experience that, but I don't live in a country with snow.

Do you have your national flag hanging up anywhere outside your house? Nopes.

Have you ever been in a choir? I have not.

Do you look older or younger than you actually are? I used to get 'younger' all the time, but idk now. Work may have aged me physically enough to start actually looking 25 hahaha.

When is the next time you’ll be up on stage? I'm assuming June because my mom has asked me to host a surprise party we're doing for my paternal grandparents. I never committed to it, but I know ultimately it'll come down to me hosting anyway lol.

Where did you spend your last birthday at? I was just at home. My friends came over though.

What was the last show that you watched a full episode of? Friends.

Is there anything you need to work on doing soon? Little bit, yeah.

Were you ever a boy or girl scout? I was not.

Do you take your medications in the morning or at night? I don't take any medication at all.

Have you ever bought a YouTuber’s merch? Nah, merch is usually next to impossible to get when you're from an Asian country that's not Japan anyway. The merchiest I got with YouTubers was going to the first-ever YouTube Fanfest haha.

What is the best type of donut? I like a good classic – chocolate frosting with sprinkles! My favorite local doughnut shop also makes this fantastic roasted brown butter brioche doughnut that I could have every day.

Do you like thrift stores? Not the first place I would go to, but still willing to check them out.

What is your town known for? Aesthetic cafes with shitty food, car accidents, pilgrimages, and our waterfalls. We're all over the place lmao.

Have you ever used a fake name at Starbucks? I once referred to myself as Audrey as in Audrey Hepburn but it came back as fucking Aujie hahahaha. Haven't really done it since because I don't see the point.

What color is your lava lamp? I've never had one.

Who is your favorite Lisa Frank character? We were too short on money for my parents to be spending overpriced Lisa Frank shit on me.

What’s your favorite movie that you remember seeing in the theater? Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

Do you know anyone who has ten cats? I think Val may have? She posts about her cats all the time and it's always different ones every time lol.

Have you ever had a cat? My sister had Arlee.

Have you ever had a dog? Yes, three of them.

Have you ever any other kind of animal? Yes.

Have you ever had a pet rock? That I never have.

What were you voted in the senior class polls? We don't have that tradition.

Who was your favorite teacher in high school? My music teacher. I never even liked what she taught, but she had a teaching style that let her relate life lessons to whatever music theory she was explaining at the moment and that resonated with me all throughout high school.

Do you want to give your kids common names or unique names? Common, but not too mainstream in that they can still stand out but also not get bullied.

What collection are you thinking of starting? I currently collect BTS merch and I plan on continuing it, especially since I'm not even done getting all the albums yet.

Do you organize your clothes by color? No, I just have them fixed according to article of clothing.

What do you want to name your first child? I've stopped having a go-to pick for a name because I've also stopped wanting kids.

List ten favorite girls names. Mia, Scarlett, Charlotte, Emilia, Harper, Elliott, Lily, Juliana, Rosie, Dylan.

List ten favorite boys names. Seth, Liam, James, Lucas, Julian, Matteo, Noah, Owen, Jacob, Leon.

What season do you want to get married in? Continued from last night. We don't have seasons but I'd pick out a colder month – so anywhere between December to February.

Is your Pinterest cluttered? I don't use Pinterest enough to make boards.

What is your favorite insect? None of them.

What bugs scare you? All of them, but especially cockroaches.

Who picked your name, your mom or your dad? My dad picked my first name, my mom chose my second.

Have you ever fallen asleep in a significant other’s arms? Sure.

Do you have a television in your room? If you do, is it one of the old school big ones? Or i it a new flat screen? I do. It's a flat-screen but it's not a new TV – it was originally from our living room until we got a new one last year. Anyway, the TV I have is like 16 years old.

What was your favorite cartoon or television show as a child? What about movie? I liked Spongebob and Drake & Josh. For movies, Toy Story was and continues to be my favorite.

Did you have sleepovers at your friends’ houses a lot as a child? Or did your friends come over to your house more often? No. I was never really allowed to, but also I didn't have many friends so eh. As for me, I lived in a very crowded duplex so the house was never the most visitor-friendly.

Do you have any significantly older siblings? No, our age gaps are small.

When opening presents on Christmas or birthdays, do you first try to guess what is in the package? Do you tear the wrap off slowly, or just rip it to shreds? Are you polite no matter what the gift, and say you love it anyways? I rip it to shreds haha, and yes I always say thank you.

What happened last time you got drunk? I dropped a wine glass and injured my foot.

What are you listening to? Friends.

Which parent do you feel the most affection for? My dad.

How do you feel about God? "If there is a God, He will have to beg for my forgiveness.” A quote that reached fame by being found carved in a concentration camp wall. And I will forever agree with it, violently so. <– I like this answer. < There you go. <--- yep. < That's the best answer yet, because that's exactly how I feel with the shit I went through growing up.

Which platform do you use to listen to music on the most? Spotify.

Who do you care about the most? Myself and my dogs.

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ranabayarea · 1 year ago

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New Post has been published on RANA Rajasthan Alliance of North America

New Post has been published on https://ranabayarea.org/tips-on-how-to-construct-a-stay-streaming-app/

Tips On How To Construct A Stay Streaming App

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Step Four Designing The Consumer Interface

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Audio streaming apps enable users to document and broadcast stay audio over the web. People use it for live music shows, radio, podcasts, celebrity interviews, and political discussions/interviews. Live video broadcasting apps allow users to document and broadcast live movies for any small or giant viewers on-line. In today’s article, we are going to information you through the complete course of of making a reside streaming app. But, no worries, we work on this subject and know every single detail required to build a user-friendly live streaming app. Keep in thoughts that this estimation is approximate and consists of numbers related to the event stage solely.

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While an in-house growth looks like a very good thought, it is nonetheless a little problematic if you finish up a small startup attempting to get your business up and operating.

These apps have given delivery to scores of web influencers and celebrities.

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Building a stay streaming app includes a number of crucial steps that guarantee its success and performance. Following these steps will assist you to cater effectively to your audience, understand the market dynamics, and find worthwhile methods to operate. If you don’t have an software designer in your group, we suggest recruiting as a result of streaming utility growth isn’t a “Do-It-Yourself” type of task. The common price to develop a live streaming app would be $45,000 to $60,00 but that may range relying on your design/feature necessities and the location of the event staff.

You may also think about bundling offers, free trials, promotional campaigns, and different particular deals that encourage viewers to buy. To successfully scale your streaming services, you’ll want issues like cloud companies integration and catastrophe restoration plans, too. Being able to consider your app and repair from a microservice structure perspective will assist you to plan for successful scaling. M/BODY is a superb example of utilizing stay streaming to generate revenue – $40,000 each month, in fact! The gallery shops and organizes recorded movies on the consumer’s profile. It comes as a digital archive so the users can revisit their favourite moments and share their content portfolio with others.

They are generally used to supply entry to virtual occasions, online training, sports coverage, concerts or native government meetings. They are additionally broadly used by marketing and sales for pitches, product demos or explanatory movies, that are particularly useful for individuals who engage in comparison shopping. Also, the well being sector is increasingly benefiting from stay video streaming app growth for distant affected person monitoring. Live streaming SDKs provide a method to integrate reside video and audio streaming capabilities into present platforms with out having to build the streaming infrastructure from scratch. Some of the popular reside streaming SDKs obtainable for builders are Agora.io, AWS elemental media stay SDKs, and Firebase. A stay streaming app is a video streaming utility which allows customers to ship reside video content material to viewers across the globe in real-time via the web connection.

In our dedicated article, you probably can study extra about these monetization strategies and how free apps earn cash. Discover why VPlayed might be the right match for your video streaming enterprise in underneath 30 minutes. However, as you combine extra refined functionalities like real-time chat, user interactions, and monetization options, the cost might even see a modest enhance.

Transform Your Business With AI Software Development Solutions https://www.globalcloudteam.com/ — be successful, be the first!

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erotic4ugf · 2 months ago

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How Does Nude Women Video Impact Society?

In today's digital landscape, adult content, including nude videos of women and celebrity sex videos, has become more accessible than ever before. While the consumption of such content is often normalized, its impact on society remains a subject of significant debate. From shaping societal norms to influencing individual psychology, the prevalence of explicit media content has far-reaching consequences. Understanding these effects can help in creating informed dialogues around responsible media consumption and regulation.

The Prevalence and Accessibility of Nude Women Videos

The internet has made nude videos featuring women readily accessible to global audiences. With a single click, individuals can access a vast array of explicit content, much of which is freely available. The easy accessibility of these videos is not restricted to adults, raising concerns about youth exposure to mature content.

The consumption of nude women videos and similar media is often driven by curiosity or natural attraction, yet constant exposure can shape perceptions and behaviors in more profound ways. Some argue that it creates unrealistic standards around intimacy and physical appearance, while others see it as a medium for exploring sexual freedom. However, the broader societal impact is nuanced, with both positive and negative effects.

Celebrity Sex Videos and Public Fascination

The phenomenon of celebrity sex videos adds another layer to the conversation. When intimate footage of public figures is released, often without their consent, it garners massive public attention. This fascination with celebrity sex videos points to a cultural trend where privacy is often sacrificed for entertainment. In addition, these videos can serve as social benchmarks, shaping what audiences consider normal or desirable in romantic relationships and personal conduct.

The celebrity aspect can lead to normalization of voyeurism and reduce the respect for individuals’ privacy. Furthermore, the obsession with celebrity sex videos can perpetuate a cycle of exploitation and ethical disregard within the media industry, as these videos often spark heated debates around privacy rights, consent, and personal boundaries.

Psychological and Social Impact of Explicit Content Consumption

Influence on Relationships and Interpersonal Behavior

Regular consumption of nude women videos and similar explicit content can influence the way people perceive and conduct their relationships. Studies indicate that high exposure to adult content can lead to unrealistic expectations in relationships, as well as an objectification of partners. The portrayal of intimacy in these videos is often dramatized, shaping unrealistic ideas about affection and physical intimacy that can be damaging when applied to real-life relationships.

For individuals who internalize these portrayals, there may be challenges in maintaining healthy, realistic relationships. The expectation of constant perfection in intimacy can lead to dissatisfaction and strain between partners, and in some cases, individuals may struggle to differentiate between media portrayals and real-life emotional connections.

Effects on Self-Perception and Body Image

The impact of nude women videos extends to self-perception and body image. When viewers are consistently exposed to unrealistic portrayals of beauty and physical appearance, they may begin to judge themselves against these ideals. This can be particularly damaging for women, who may feel pressured to conform to the body standards they see represented in explicit media. Men, too, can develop unrealistic expectations about women’s appearance and behavior.

These media-driven body standards can foster self-esteem issues and even contribute to mental health challenges, such as anxiety or depression. Societal pressures around appearance and the glorification of specific physical types can lead individuals to feel inadequate, affecting their confidence and self-worth.

Potential Desensitization and Impact on Empathy

Another consequence of frequent exposure to explicit content is the potential desensitization to intimate or personal situations. When people regularly consume nude women videos, they may become less sensitive to the emotional depth associated with intimacy. This can hinder their ability to empathize with others in romantic or interpersonal contexts, as relationships become viewed through a lens of instant gratification rather than emotional connection.

Desensitization can also lead to an increased tolerance for invasive behaviors, reducing empathy for those whose privacy might be compromised. This is evident in the public fascination with celebrity sex videos, where individuals often disregard the emotional and psychological impact on those involved. The desensitizing effect reinforces a culture where consent and privacy are undervalued.

Legal and Ethical Considerations in the Distribution of Nude and Celebrity Sex Videos

Privacy Rights and Consent

One of the primary concerns surrounding nude women videos and celebrity sex videos is the issue of consent. Many such videos are shared or leaked without the consent of those involved, infringing on their privacy rights. This has led to a growing push for stronger legal protections against revenge porn and unauthorized distribution of explicit content.

While laws surrounding adult content have become more stringent in some jurisdictions, enforcement remains challenging. In some cases, victims find it difficult to seek justice, as legal systems struggle to keep pace with the rapid distribution capabilities of the internet. The ethical implications here extend beyond the legal realm, as society grapples with respecting personal boundaries in an era where content can be easily shared without permission.

The Role of Technology Companies in Curbing Unauthorized Content

The responsibility of technology companies in controlling the spread of unauthorized nude videos and celebrity sex videos is another key consideration. Social media platforms, video-sharing sites, and web hosts have an obligation to monitor and remove non-consensual content from their platforms. While some have introduced policies and tools to detect and prevent the sharing of unauthorized videos, gaps in enforcement remain.

Proactive measures, such as automated detection tools and stringent content regulations, can help curb the spread of these videos. Moreover, tech companies must work closely with legal authorities and advocacy groups to create a safer online environment, emphasizing user privacy and consent as top priorities.

Societal Norms and Cultural Shifts

Evolving Views on Sexuality and Personal Boundaries

As explicit content becomes more mainstream, societal norms surrounding sexuality and personal boundaries are shifting. While some view this as a step toward open-mindedness and destigmatization of sexuality, others believe it risks normalizing voyeurism and diminishing respect for privacy.

The consumption of nude women videos and celebrity sex videos has sparked a cultural shift, where discussions about intimacy, consent, and self-expression are more common. In some ways, this shift has facilitated greater acceptance of individual choices and diversity in expression. However, it has also contributed to a blurring of lines around what constitutes acceptable public behavior and what should remain private.

Generation Gaps in Perception and Media Consumption

The impact of explicit content on society also highlights generational divides. Younger generations, who have grown up with easy access to the internet, may view explicit content as a normal part of their media consumption. In contrast, older generations often hold more conservative views, seeing the prevalence of such content as damaging to social values.

This generational gap can create misunderstandings and debates around the role of adult content in society. While some argue that media consumption should reflect evolving values, others worry that unrestricted access can erode traditional ideals around intimacy and respect.

Conclusion

The impact of nude women videos and celebrity sex videos on society is multifaceted, affecting everything from personal relationships to societal norms around privacy and consent. While some argue that such content promotes open-mindedness and self-expression, others caution against its potential to distort perceptions and erode respect for personal boundaries. The psychological effects, including impacts on body image, relationships, and empathy, reflect the deeper consequences of frequent exposure to explicit media.

Balancing the evolving landscape of adult content with ethical considerations and responsible consumption is essential for fostering a healthy society. Through education, stronger privacy laws, and responsible media practices, society can address these issues thoughtfully, ensuring that the consumption of adult content respects personal rights and maintains healthy social norms.

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erylonlyfans · 4 months ago

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MIDLE & LATE CHILDHOOD

A time of life full of formative events and quick changes is childhood, which is intriguing. In an effort to learn more about their environment, a 12-year-old gifted child was interviewed recently. Through this conversation, the child shared thoughts about their physical changes, emotional development, and the joys and challenges they face as they grow.

During the early stages of the interview, one of the topics that was tackled is the physical changes which the child saw taking place when he was between the ages of seven and twelve. The child stated rather proudly that he had incorporated some growth in height and weight and was more active. In fact, they were keen in engaging in many forms of physical exercises and games, be it sports or playing with friends, which improved their self-esteem and general ability. On the issue of health maintenance activities, the child noted that it was their healthy eating habits and especially the consumption of fruits and vegetables, as motivated by their parents, that helped. Further, they disclosed their disability in this area because of their fondness for certain sporting activities that kept them trim and in reasonable fitness. also, good personal hygiene and health practices like visiting the doctor for check-ups were added to their normal undertakings showing that the child appreciated the necessity of being healthy from a tender age.

As the conversation progressed, the child was also asked about the shifts in his cognition as well as learning. They looked back to how they comprehend difficult concepts much more easily than they would before and have also been able to take interest in other subjects like science and history. They also stated that they had done research as well which they thought was useful in the course of doing their work in school. Upon being given new tasks, the child refused to be overwhelmed, characterizing as a person who never gives up. Instead, he often asked teachers and children for assistance and also turned to books and the internet for help, showing inventiveness and initiative in the learning process.

The interview also explored the topic of emotional regulation as the child grew up. They reported that they had become more aware of their inner feelings and the recognition of them improved. When they had sad or angry feelings, they contacted their moms and dads or friends and participated in sports as another way of relieving stress. At such a young age, it was encouraging to witness such cleverness and control over emotions.

When asked about their sweetest recollections, the child appeared bright and cheerful. Certain happy moments were narrating stories of playing with other children, going to school, and celebrating family events most importantly during holidays and birthdays. The delight derived from such experiences came out strongly presenting the idea that childhood is about connecting with people and having fun. To conclude, the child assessed the different experiences they have had, and lessons so far, including working hard, valuing friends, and spending time with family. They learned that being patient and optimistic were important weapons in dealing with difficulties, something that is not only relevant in childhood.

This interview offered a touching window into the experiences of a young person negotiating the challenges of growing up. The perspectives offered show a world full of wonder, difficulties, and priceless lessons, from bodily changes to emotional development. Reminding adults of the simplicity and joys of childhood, children's perseverance and optimism can teach them a lot. It is from discussions such as these that one gains a greater understanding of the maturation process and the value of raising the next generation.

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nniccolx · 8 months ago

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Week 12: Crowd sourcing in times of crisis

welcome back to nn’s blog ˙✧˖°🌎 ༘ ⋆｡˚

Hello there my wonderful peeps! I hope you’re doing well. This is going to be my last blog post for the semester, and I wanted to end on something incredibly powerful and uplifting topic – Crowdsourcing in Times of Crisis. Let’s dive into how people come together online to make a real difference when the world needs it most.

So, what exactly is crowdsourcing? At its core, it’s about leveraging the collective power of a large group of people to solve problems, gather information, or generate ideas. When a crisis hits, whether it’s a natural disaster, a pandemic, or a humanitarian emergency, crowdsourcing becomes a vital tool for quick and effective response (Howe 2006).

Let’s rewind to some real-world examples.

Do you guys remember the devastating Australian bushfires in 2019-2020? Social media was flooded with posts asking for donations, sharing information about safe havens for wildlife, and even coordinating volunteer efforts. Platforms like GoFundMe saw an outpouring of support, with people from all over the world donating to help those affected. One standout moment was when comedian Celeste Barber’s Facebook fundraiser raised over $50 million for firefighting services, showcasing the immense impact of digital communities rallying together (BBC News 2020).

ABC News reported about Celeste Barber raised $51 million for RFS & Brigades Donations Fund

While we often think of modern examples, the concept of collective action has been around for centuries. Take the 1556 Shaanxi earthquake in China, the deadliest earthquake in recorded history. Though there was no technology for crowdsourcing as we know it today, the communities banded together in remarkable ways. Local citizens and officials worked collectively to rebuild homes, share resources, and support each other through the aftermath. This historical example highlights the timeless nature of collective action in crisis situations (Spence et al. 2021).

The story about 1556 Shaanxi, China earthquake

Fast forward to the Sabah Mount Kinabalu earthquake in 2015. This disaster struck the beautiful Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia, leaving many stranded and in need of immediate assistance. Social media and crowdsourcing platforms became essential tools. People used Twitter and Facebook to share real-time updates, call for help, and coordinate rescue efforts. Volunteers, rescue teams, and locals collaborated through these channels to ensure a swift response, demonstrating the power of collective action in the face of tragedy (The Straits Times 2015).

The Straits Times reported about Sabah Mount Kinabalu earthquake in 2015

And let's not forget the power of information. During crises, crowdsourced information can be a lifesaver. Tools like Google’s Person Finder help reconnect people with loved ones after a disaster, while platforms like Ushahidi map reports from the ground in real-time, offering a clearer picture of what’s happening and where help is needed most.

The beauty of crowdsourcing lies in its democratizing power. It breaks down barriers, allowing anyone with an internet connection to contribute to meaningful solutions. However, it’s not without challenges. Ensuring the accuracy of information, coordinating large-scale efforts, and maintaining security are critical issues that need constant attention.

So, what’s the takeaway? Crowdsourcing leverages the collective power of individuals to provide support, share information, and bring about real change during crises.

"What we can achieve when we come together, even if only digitally."

This is the end of my blog for today! As this semester comes to an end, I just wanna say a huge thank you to all of you who’ve read my blogs! Thanks for being part of this journey 🫶🏻

Until next time! See ya <3

Reference

BBC News 2020, 'Australian bushfires: Celeste Barber's fundraiser reaches $50m', BBC News, 6 January, viewed 9 June 2024, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-51002889.

Howe, J 2006, 'The rise of crowdsourcing', Wired, vol. 14, no. 6, viewed 9 June 2024, https://www.wired.com/2006/06/crowds/.

Spence, P, Lachlan, K, Lin, X & Del Greco, M 2021, 'Collective action in times of crisis: An analysis of the 1556 Shaanxi earthquake', Journal of Historical Geography, vol. 71, pp. 36-44.

The Straits Times 2015, 'Mount Kinabalu earthquake: Social media abuzz with news of rescue efforts', The Straits Times, 7 June, viewed 9 June 2024, https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/mount-kinabalu-earthquake-social-media-abuzz-with-news-of-rescue-efforts.

#mda20009 #week12

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beyond-icelebrities · 10 months ago

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Week 10- Digital Detox Experiment

1. DIGITAL DETOX Experiment: Leave your phone at home for one hour to take a walk in your neighborhood. Write down your observations when you return and draw a map of your path. (This is a hand drawn map, not a screen shot of Google or Apple Maps.)

2. Afterwards, take a photo of your hand drawn map to include in your book review. What did you observe? Did you notice animals, trees, sounds and sights that you'd never seen before? Did the experience provide any revelations? Were you anxious, relieved, inspired?

To be completely honest, I do a one hour minimum walk EVERY SINGLE DAY to simply disconnect from the game of life and find space to breathe and be alone with my own thoughts... Getting to do this for an assignment was simply refreshing and natural. Because of my extensive walk history in my area (home away from home while I am working on an acting contract), I didn't necessarily see anything I hadn't seen before; I did however notice some beautiful birds (ducks, irises, and geese), a gorgeous sunset, and most importantly I noticed how at PEACE I felt.

2. What is your favorite quote from the book and why do you find it meaningful?

“Our very idea of productivity is premised on the idea of producing something new, whereas we do not tend to see maintenance and care as productive in the same way.”

This quote really resonates with me because as an artist this is truer than ever, in an economy where creation is the mere basis of not only our livelihood but "success". It isn't spoken about enough how productivity can look more internalized than what's usually expected.

3. Why do you think this book, released by indie publishing house Melville Press, became an unexpected bestseller during the height of the Covid19 pandemic? Her book was so successful, she recently released a second title, Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock.

During COVID times, society's idea of productivity kind of got turned on its side as people found themselves unable to go about their normal routines; the idea of comfort also became more individualized and niche because everyone was seemingly doing the same thing: everything but NOTHING. I think this book became an unexpected bestseller because honestly people definitely had more time to read as it is, but also I think there was a spiked interest in self-care and mental health during the pandemic. This was a time where people collectively were acknowledging how hard it can be to "spread yourself thin" especially in dire times.

4. How does the attention economy benefit from our social media activity and media streaming consumption?

The attention economy has a severe chokehold on people of all demographics simply because we now live in a world where not feeding into media consumption and social media algorithms is seen as abnormal. Because we are seemingly all so connected all over the world through social media platforms and applications, not only is the demand for content high but we can clearly see how life online can impact the real world in the form of "trends" which continue to feed into that exact economy.

5. How does this book relate to the topic of celebrity culture?

"CELEBRITY CULTURE is an essentially modern phenomenon that emerged amid such twentieth-century trends as urbanization and the rapid development of consumer culture. It was profoundly shaped by new technologies that make easily possible the mechanical reproduction of images and the extremely quick dissemination of images and information/News through such media as radio, cinema, television, and the Internet." -Encyclopedia.com

This book acknowledges that celebrity culture is inevitably growing, becoming wide spread and accepted.

6. Do you take digital detox breaks regularly? If yes, describe them. Were they more challenging during the quarantine era? Why?

I take one every single day, and they are my "escapes" even though in reality these moments end up being where I feel most present and comfortable with myself, so often times I just look at it as a necessity. I have to admit, during the quarantine era it was slightly more difficult to truly disconnect from the digital world when again, that was singlehandedly the way information was shared and seemingly all I COULD do was open my laptop or scroll on my phone for example.

7. Do you sleep with your phone or computer? Are you aware of the impacts on your sleep cycles and relaxation caused by 24/7 proximity? Have you experimented with leaving digital devices in a drawer or another room?

When I am on my own schedule I tend to fall asleep with my devices kind of carelessly to be honest. I have frequently fallen asleep with headphones on for example, connected to either my MacBook or my iPhone and haven't given much thought to it. It doesn't seem to affect my sleep cycle or relaxation as I actually have a form of codependency with music, leading to using electronics as my form of intaking as much music as possible. I could even argue I feel more at peace with my phone playing a random playlist vs. silence in the air. But I have experimented with leaving my digital devices say in the kitchen or something in a past relationship of mine... This habit lead to more one on one focused time with my partner which was the goal.

8. What does Odell mean by 'doing nothing?' Are we capable of doing nothing?

Odell defines "doing nothing" as avoiding the constant need to feed into the attention economy and instead focusing one's time and energy on what they need as an individual. I think it is extremely hard to convince certain types of people in this day and age to truly do "doing nothing" justice, as many many people actually revolve around consumer culture, so as a whole I am not sure if "we" are capable of doing nothing if that makes sense.

9. What is the role of nature in Odell's book, in particular the role of birds? (P.S. Did you know that birdwatching became a HUGE pastime in the Covid era?)

Odell genuinely shares the same appreciation and love for nature as I do as a human being. She and I see beauty in the simplest of forms such as grass, trees, bodies of water; And we both see birds as symbols of freedom and easygoing.

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nat20marketing · 10 months ago

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Hello fellow marketers. Welcome back to Nat 20 Marketing! As mentioned last week, we are going to talk about personalization this time!

Let’s start with a quick definition of what that word means when we apply it to marketing and advertising – the act of making something suitable for the needs of a particular person.

For this week’s blog, I’d like to spend some time discussing why personalization is important in marketing, as well as how personalization can be implemented in both traditional marketing and digital marketing.

Why personalization when we can just generalization?

When we give a gift to a friend or family member, we often think about the things the receiving end would enjoy. For me, I like receiving gifts that expand on my art supply collection, video games, and art of things I like. For others, it can be things that they care about. It can be something related to their hobbies, their career, their health, and many other aspects. We think about these things deeply before we decide on what to buy or make for the recipient. This concept is the same for businesses to consumers. Businesses want to send their products to the right customers. Relevance is the key. The probability of an adult wanting toys made for kids is not as high unless they are parents, because then they may be looking to give their children a present. The probability of an artist looking for art supplies and drawing tablets is much higher than a person who doesn’t ever do art.

As marketers, we want to show our customers that we do know and care about what they care about. We are here to bridge that gap and build a connection.

The first step to personalization is to learn about your customers.

With the sheer population size across the globe that has access to the Internet, personalization has never been made easier thanks to cookies and large data sets so readily available.

The one thing that makes collecting data more difficult these days is consumers’ ability to opt out of such data collection to protect their privacy. There is also a rise of options for partial data collection where only “necessary” data is collected. Personally, at some point, I also opted out of such programs, but I have since recently opted in for partial collections. From a consumer’s standpoint, it is completely understandable that people do not want companies to collect all their information, from their biodata to what they look up on search engines and the messages they send to others on social media platforms. It is normal for people to feel uncomfortable having their entire profile publicly available for companies to take advantage of and push personalized content and promotions into their social media feeds.

Cookies, whilst being extremely efficient and effective at data collection, marketers should always look at other sources for data collection. Let’s use one of my favorite examples – video games.

Video game developers can source their data from online reviews, forums, and social media all the time. They can find out what their players want in the future and what they are dissatisfied about. Let’s take the example of the game The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood. The common consensus from the players by skimming through the reviews is that they wish the behemoth in the game is romanceable. Unfortunately, to make that happen in the game itself may pose challenges due to plot reasons, but the game developers showed that they do know what their players want in their recent online event celebrating Valentine’s Day. The developers launched a contest inviting players to create cards for a chance to win a real-life prize related to the popular behemoth character in the game. The prize itself started a lot of conversation and surprise from the players. From a marketing standpoint, it can be considered a successful campaign of bringing word-of-mouth promotion on top of engagement from the community.

With the example above, we have successfully covered personalized digital marketing. What about traditional marketing?

Before we go into this topic, I must say that personalized traditional marketing is undoubtedly a costly investment, and may not always yield the positive result we predict it would be able to. However, think about it like this:

Patagonia creates a unique pamphlet that is playful in design and attracts the younger generation when the pamphlet arrives at their mailboxes. The chance of the receiver tossing the pamphlet immediately into the garbage bin is going to be much lower because they are more likely to flip it open and see what it does. Then, there comes the exposure of information to these young adults who can purchase clothes for themselves. It is more likely for them to remember the brand. It is more likely for them to talk about receiving such an interesting handout with their peers.

Traditional marketing with a touch of personalization is going to take creativity, time, and money. The stronger the impression we get to forge with our audience, the better the results will be. With information always bombing people thanks to rapid technology development and its ever-increasing daily usage, traditional marketing as a whole needs to step up its game to make an impact.

At the end of the day, IMC is not just about advertising goods and services. As marketers, our goal should not end at boosting sales but also creating a buzz amongst our potential and existing customers. Personalized marketing can be extremely powerful at sparking conversations and bringing in fresh impressions to the brand when it is done right. It doesn’t always have to be a publicity stunt or a heated and controversial topic. As long as marketers show effort that they genuinely understand the needs and wants of their customers, personalized marketing is one of the key elements to successful IMC campaigns.

Next week at Nat 20 Marketing, we will cover reputation management. Stay tuned and happy marketing!

#integrated marketing communications #personalization #digital marketing #traditional marketing #marketing #business

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reasoningdaily · 11 months ago

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The Guardian: ‘We are all mixed’: Henry Louis Gates Jr on race, being arrested and working towards America’s redemption

The first time I met Henry Louis Gates Jr raised more questions than it answered. It was the year 2000, I was still a teenager, and he – already a distinguished Harvard professor – was hosting a launch for his new BBC and PBS series Wonders of the African World.

I remember the occasion as a series of firsts – my first TV launch party, first documentary series I’d seen on African civilisations, first encounter with a real-life Harvard professor. I remember wondering whether the circumstances were normal. The venue was the British Museum, an institution that harbours a practically unprecedented quantity of colonial plunder. Was it, I wondered, a deliberately ironic choice? Were all Harvard professors as friendly and personable as Gates, whom everyone calls “Skip”, and was charmingly informal and kind? And perhaps most pressingly, was it normal for Harvard professor TV presenters to dress as Gates so memorably had, in shorts, socks, and a ranger’s hat?

Gates, whom I am meeting again for the first time since that day 24 years ago, remembers it for entirely different reasons. “I got in a lot of trouble for that show,” he says, cheerfully. “I was the first black film-maker to talk about African involvement in the slave trade.” And, he adds, with undeniable pride: “It was the first internet controversy involving black folks!”

The documentary, which followed Gates as he examined ancient civilisations from Axum to Nubia and Great Zimbabwe to Timbuktu, was indeed controversial. Alongside the African cultures he visited, he demonstrated great interest in African complicity in the transatlantic slave trade, an interest that managed to alienate almost everyone who was black.

African scholars complained that Gates revealed an approach to African culture through a western-centric, American lens. African-American scholars claimed his emphasis on black involvement “got the white man off the hook for the Atlantic slave trade”.

I’m speaking to Gates over Zoom. I’m in uncharacteristically rainy Los Angeles, he’s in sunny Miami. As we speak, he turns his laptop screen around, attempting to goad me – successfully – into jealousy at the sight of blue sky and serene ocean from his seaside condo. He is in Florida for a family wedding, and our call is periodically interrupted by good-natured family members coming in and out, as people mill around preparing for the big day. Family is important to Gates. His new book, The Black Box: Writing the Race, opens with the story of his grandchild Ellie, who inspired the book’s title.

Born recently to Gates’s daughter, who is mixed race, and his son-in-law, who is white, Ellie “will test about 87.5% European when she spits in the test tube,” Gates writes, adding that she “looks like an adorable little white girl”. And yet when Ellie was born, Gates’s priority, he reveals, was to make sure her parents registered her as a black child, ticking the “black” box on the form stating her race at birth. “And because of that arbitrary practice, a brilliant, beautiful little white-presenting female will be destined, throughout her life, to face the challenge of ‘proving’ that she is ‘black’,” Gates writes.

Any discomfort flowing from this – both Gates’s decision and his perception of it – is deliberately intended as a commentary on the discomfort of race itself. How can race not be contradictory, Gates suggests, when it was constructed in service of racism, and yet has been alchemised into a cultural identity celebrated by those most oppressed by it?

The Black Box applies this analysis to the lives of famous African Americans. The poet Phillis Wheatly, an enslaved young woman who was required to “prove” to white observers that she was capable of writing the poetry she so eloquently composed. The abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who constructed parental relationships – the reality being that he knew little of either his mother or father – to refute ideas, prevalent at the time, that if a black person was intellectual, that was because of white parentage. The history of what black Americans have both been called and called themselves, encompassing a fascinating and ongoing debate about the usage of “negro”, “coloured”, “African American”, and “black”.

That work began far away from Harvard, in a working-class black family in the hills of West Virginia. Gates’s father had two jobs, one at a paper mill and another as a janitor, and his mother was a home-keeper, and later a cleaner for a white family. After attending the local public school, Gates obtained an undergraduate place at Yale in 1969.

Although proudly black, the family vaguely knew it had white ancestry, particularly through Gates’s paternal grandfather. “My grandfather looked so white, we called him Casper, after Casper the Friendly Ghost,” Gates laughs. “I mean his skin was translucent!” Gates had thought one ancestor – his paternal great, great-grandfather – had been white. But when he tested his DNA, he discovered a different picture.

“Imagine my surprise when I received my first DNA results, and I’m 49% white!” he exclaims. “What that means is that half of my ancestors on my family tree for the last 500 years were white, and the other half were black, and that was an amazing lesson to me. So, what does that mean about identity? It means that I was socially constructed as a negro American when I was born in 1950. But my heritage, genetically, is enormously complicated.”

This discovery set Gates on a path that has become perhaps the dominant part of his legacy, as the host of a popular PBS show Finding Your Roots, in which he leads other prominent Americans of all racial backgrounds – figures including Oprah, Julia Roberts, Kerry Washington and Quincy Jones – on a similar journey, through DNA testing and genealogy, in which they trace their family tree.

“I have never tested an African American who didn’t have white ancestry,” Gates says. “And that’s quite remarkable to me.”

“Paradoxically these DNA tests deconstruct the racial essentialism we’ve inherited from the Enlightenment, because they show that we are all mixed,” he continues. “It’s a mode of calling those categories into question, showing scientifically that they were fictions, and freeing us from the discourse that sought to imprison us in the black box, the white box, the Native American box.”

The tightrope Gates walks lies in rejecting blackness as a racial category, while embracing it as a cultural tradition. His most recent PBS documentary series, Gospel, which relays the origin story of gospel music, is perhaps my favourite work of his, celebrating both the heartbreaking beauty of black spiritual tradition in America, and its seismic impact on global culture.

When I share my emotion at the series, Gates is unable to resist subverting the theme. He bursts into a rendition of Can the Circle Be Unbroken?, a 1930s country number by the white gospel group the Carter Family.

“[On a cold and] cloudy day/ when I saw the hearse come rollin’/ for to carry my mother away/ Will that circle be unbroken/ By and by, Lord, by and by,” he sings, in a surprisingly rich tenor.“White people wrote that song, black people love that song!” he exclaims.

The current climate, in which political tribes are more polarised than ever, has only deepened his resolve to push back against the idea that black people should all agree. In this, he sometimes comes across as a man from another age – a more charming one, real or imagined – in which everyone could sit down together and work it all out.

“I grew up in a working-class town. People are goodhearted. They want what everybody else wants: to make enough money to live comfortably, to send their kids to college, to be able to go on vacation, to have leisure time, to have some joy in their life and not just be punished by drudgery, not have economic anxiety,” he says.

Gates’s stance on reparations is a case in point. The murder of George Floyd in 2020, and the current threat to black history studies from rightwing Republicans – some of Gates’s own work has been banned from schools in Florida under Governor Ron DeSantis – have only accelerated calls for restorative justice for enslavement.

Gates acknowledges the wrongs but disagrees with the solution. “Affirmative action plans go a long way… I think that’s a form of reparation,” he says. “But I just could not imagine any group of Americans deciding to dip into their pockets and pay a cash settlement for all that our enslaved ancestors suffered. I don’t think that’s realistic.”

When I disagree – citing examples of other societies that have paid reparations, Gates is firm. He even describes calls for reparations as “racial bullying”. “The bottom line is, you can’t bully people with calls for reparations because of the legacy of slavery,” he insists. “So we need leaders who are thoughtful and nuanced and sensitive. I should know. I’ve been in America for 73 years.”

Gates’s optimistic view of American decency was famously pushed to breaking point in 2009, when he – already a famous professor and TV personality – achieved unwelcome notoriety. Returning home from filming in China, he was struggling with the lock on his door, as he entered his own property. A call from a neighbour – who reported a suspicious black male attempting to enter a house – led to the arrival of police. Gates was initially suspected of breaking into his own home. When it was established that he lived at the property, he was arrested anyway for disorderly conduct. Widespread coverage – which made international news – pictured an angry Gates, handcuffed, being led away from his own front porch.

Gates was released after Harvard sent its lawyers over. Further controversy ensued when President Barack Obama commented on the debacle, calling the police’s decision to arrest Gates “stupid”. The entire affair was resolved in a meeting at the White House in which Gates sat down for a beer with the officer who arrested him, the president, and vice-president Joe Biden.

The “beer summit”, as it became known, sparked wider conversations about racial discrimination in policing. Gates took a conciliatory line. “My heart went out to the officer when he told me he was just scared,” Gates says. “He had just wanted to go home that night to his wife. We shook hands and he gave me the handcuffs he had used to arrest me. And they’re now in an exhibit in the Smithsonian,” he adds, with a weary air of triumphalism.

Beers with a well-intentioned black president and messages of racial conciliation seem a lifetime away in the current political climate. Yet Gates says his own teaching practice remains unthreatened by fears of censorship or backlash. “Fortunately, I have the freedom to teach, whatever way that I want and whatever content that I want,” he says.

Gates has been protected, perhaps, by his refusal to conform to the norms of either academic or celebrity life. He is one of the few people to have achieved fame as an academic, thanks to his long TV career. He credits that not to American broadcasters, but to his time in Britain, early on in his career. “My time in the UK was fundamental,” he says.

“One time we went to this Indian restaurant in Cambridge,” Gates recounts. “And Soyinka brings his own chilli. I mean, this Nigerian chilli he would make and carry with him – it was engine oil! And they said to me: we are from your future. We brought you here to tell you you’re not going to be a doctor. You are meant to be a professor. You’re going to be a scholar of African and African-American studies, and you’re going to make a difference.”

The prophetic nature of those remarks must have become obvious when Gates’s first book, The Signifying Monkey, was published in 1988, applying post-structuralist analysis to African-American vernacular and literary traditions. Since then, Gates has made a name for himself as a leading voice of African-American literary and cultural history. Yet it is his TV career that put him on a steady path to becoming an American national treasure. It was the British producer Jane Root, Gates tells me, who recruited him to present an episode of the long-running BBC series Great Railway Journeys in 1996, travelling with his two daughters through southern Africa.

“The whole conceit was this professor of African-American studies taking his mixed-race daughters to Africa to find their roots, only for them to say: ‘Our roots are in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I’ve got nothing left in Africa, I want a Big Mac,’” Gates laughs. “The Guardian called it National Lampoon Goes to Africa, and that was just so honest and fresh. I would be giving my daughters this pompous lectures about Livingstone and, you know, they’d be rolling their eyes. And it was great.”

The success of that episode led to Gates hosting an entire series, Wonders of the African World, the show where I first met him all those years ago. “My whole life as a film-maker, I owe it to Jane Root, and to the BBC,” he says.

The concept so central to Wonders,of the descendants of the enslaved reconnecting with Africa, is as old as the enslavement that displaced them. Yet its modern iteration has exploded in recent years. Ghana, the west African nation that has long positioned itself as a hub for the “return”, now regularly records hundreds of thousands of additional visitors from the black diaspora, with festivals celebrating global blackness and ancestral connection. “I love it!” Gates says, of this growing phenomenon. “I think all African Americans should do two things. Take a DNA test to see where in Africa they’re from. And I think they should visit the continent.”

The return is a joyful movement in which black people seek to heal the bonds severed by enslavement and globalisation. Yet if underneath it lies a pessimism – that racism makes western nations unliveable – it is not one that Gates shares.

He acknowledges that America is broken. “I remember under John Kennedy and certainly with Bobby Kennedy, and with Martin Luther King, we thought poverty was a disease that could be cured. No one thinks that today,” he laments. But rather than offering a way out, he believes in the country’s redemption, and hopes he and his work will play a role. “We have to fix it,” he says. “And we have to fix it together.”

In typical contrary fashion, Gates turns to histories rooted in the darkest side of America’s racial capitalism to find inspiration for believing in America’s potential. At the turn of the 20th century, when black women faced racist characterisation as “thieves and prostitutes”, they retaliated by forming “coloured women’s clubs”, to improve their image, foster racial pride, and advocate civil rights.

“I think of that movement,” Gates says. “Their motto was ‘lifting as we climb’. And I think that should be the motto of American capitalism. We lift, as we climb.”

The Black Box: Writing the Race by Henry Louis Gates Jris published by Penguin (£25). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply

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