#that story has been with me since the early 2000s so having new content from it!!! overwhelming!!!

[ditch-lily]

don't mind me being a nerd but somehow got to the final episodes of my TMA relisten, the new aftg book releasing and magnus protocol episode happening all at once (this weekend) 😵‍I'm sweating lol

also like I never actually got to the end of TMA, like I stopped late s5 for some reason and have remained unspoiled so. basically I'm vibrating

[bengiyo]

Hi, i'm a newish bl drama watcher from thailand that just started watching thai bls. i'm a bit ashamed to say that for a long time as a gay man living here i've been avoiding bl shows like the plague cuz of both the fandom reputation and of misconception from my yaoi era which i leave far behind. i'm just want to ask how did you got into watching thai bls and what were you preconception before you got into it.

Welcome to the Tumblr side of BL fandom. I'd actually like to also hear more of your experience with yaoi and BL as a gay person growing up in Thailand if you're willing to share.

For me, I'm a Black American from the Gulf Coast (the South). I grew up in a Catholic city and spent my entire adolescence in the closet. Despite having a sense of who I was as early as 8 years old, I kept most of that to myself. Because I didn't talk about it much with people, I found out most information about queer media and queerness from the internet.

I entered BL via queer cinema. I think the first explicitly gay character that I remember from TV was Marco from Degrassi: The Next Generation. There were probably others, and definitely more subtle expressions, but when I think about the oldest gay character I remember and connect to, it's Marco. I don't like counting things like shipping Shawn and Corey on Boy Meets World or Tai and Matt on Digimon for oldest gay characters. Sailor Moon can't even count because we got a censored version of it in America.

I got access to satellite television away from observing eyes around age 16 and started watching content on Logo back when they aired gay content regularly. I watched basically whatever I could late at night. It's how I saw movies like Get Real (1998), Beautiful Thing (1996), and Bent (1997). It's also how I saw Queer as Folk (2000-2005) Noah's Arc (2005-06).

After hitting adulthood I mostly got lost in video games and standard American TV for a while, but I did basically show up to any Gay Event in TV. I appreciate that Stef and Lena from The Fosters (2013-2018) were some of the only TV lesbians to survive the horror of 2016.

I watched a bunch of movies in this time, many of which appear on the Queer Cinema Syllabus I made for a hypothetical Westerner new to BL and queer cinema, which @wen-kexing-apologist has decided to try to complete.

I got into Thai BL in 2018 accidentally. I started seeing gifsets of Kongpob telling Arthit he'll make him his wife passing around Tumblr and was basically like, "Right, what's all this then?"

I had watched a few Thai gay films, mostly notably Love of Siam (2007), Bangkok Love Story (2007), How to Win at Checkers Every Time (2015), and The Blue Hour (2015), but this was the first time I was seeing a long series made available so easily from any Asian country.

From there I got into Make It Right (2016-17) and Love Sick the series (2014). Once I realized that yaoi had moved beyond manga and a few anime adaptations, I went looking for a lot more. I basically haven't left since I started in about 2016 with SOTUS.

There's my basic entry into the genre. I don't think I was as worried about fandom and worries at the time because so much of being a fan of queer cinema was a mostly-private experience for me for so long. I didn't realize that BL fans active in the space would predominantly be women or queers figuring themselves out. It took a while to adjust to that, and also to adjust my expectations of the kinds of queer stories BL distributors were willing to fund.

That being said, I tend to agree with @absolutebl that BL has a useful role in normalization for non-queer audiences who encounter it. I like cheering BL when it does things I think work really well, and also deriding it when I think it does things that are offensive to help nudge the genre and offer my perspective as a gay man.

I like the place we're at right now where there's way too much to watch for any person with other hobbies and responsibilities because it means that people can pick and choose what's to their tastes.

More often than not, I'm probably most-invested in something airing from Japan because of my melancholy nature, but there's so much variety these days that it's okay if you don't like everything. I certainly don't!

I'm glad you joined us on Tumblr and look forward to your thoughts!

[kiragecko]

cherrystainedknuckles

I guess the only problem with being asked to take a “marie kondo approach” is that in order to find any fanfic that appears to be based in actual canon timeline and plot points and characterization (which does exist, and I’m not sure why fanon fans seem insistent that it doesn’t), I literally have to search for hours. I’m not joking, I consistently make fic rec lists, and I have to search for hours and hours for actual canonical basis. same thing with character tags on tumblr.

I’m not saying fanon fans have to stop enjoying fanon or making up their own content. I’m just saying that when the tags used for both fanon tim drake and canon tim drake are the same tag it just becomes incredibly annoying sometimes, and I understand why people who like to engage with canon (me, often) become frustrated

-

I have definitely had periods where I got incredibly frustrated with fanon! Around 2019, I was wondering if I needed to leave the Batfandom, because it had been so long since I read a new fic where the characters felt 'right'.

-

But, if you're willing to, I'd like you to consider what you mean when you divide 'fanon' from 'canon'. Because I struggle to find a hard line between the two, for several reasons:

1. Fandom is transformative. Every fanfic is going to have some interpretation of the source material. The line between what is too much interpretation and what is acceptable is different for every person. For me, I find it can even vary based on writing style or other odd things - lighthearted fic can have more noncanonical stuff in it than heavier fic, and still seem true to canon.

2. 'Canon' is subjective. I do not consider the movies or video games to be 'canon', and it annoys me when things from those creep into the fic I'm reading. (I'm okay with SOME Battinson.) Some aspects of the cartoons are okay. I consider precrisis Jason Todd to be an alternate reality version, but Donna's precrisis origins are more canonical than the dumb retcons. Wayne Family Adventures isn't my main version of the characters, but I'm not bothered if some elements show up in my stories. I'm ignoring most of the nu52, but I like Duke and I'm still watching this new Lian to see what happens. I doubt your divisions are identical to mine.

(Also, some things that I think of as 'fanon' have shown up in nu52 canon! I do not accept them as any more canon because of this.)

3. Most 'fanon' is based on canon. Canon Tim has weird sleep habits. 90s Dick is really lighthearted and joking around some characters in ways similar to fanon. Dick can canonically not be trusted to take care of himself if his mental health gets low enough. Jason likes classical literature. Etc.

These are exaggerated and/or twisted in a lot of fic, but where is the line where they stop being canon? I wouldn't bat an eye at a lot of this stuff, if it didn't show up SO OFTEN.

4. Most 'fanon fans' do know some canon. What line are you going to set where it will be 'enough'. And are they allowed to mention parts of the canon they haven't read yet? Is anyone allowed to talk about Dick's early Robin days, or only the tiny amount of people who have read the golden age stuff? A lot of the 'mistakes' I see are obviously made by people who have read ABOUT canon, but don't know quite how it fits together.

5. 'Canon' is FULL of contradictions. Yes, there are canon events. Yes, there is characterization that is consistent across 3/4s of comics. But. I'm still working on my sidekick timeline. I've devoted days to figuring out ages and passage of time. I've spent over a decade trying to figure out Jason Todd's motivations, and why Tim treats him the way he does. I've read all the 90s and early 2000s CANONICAL character assassination of Jason.

I spent years thinking that Donna's death was almost as foundational as Jason's, only to later discover that I had just happened to read the specific comics that focused on the fallout, and she only stayed dead for a short time. That happens to fans ALL THE TIME! We read a character summarizing an event we haven't directly read, and just accept it as what happened. But characters have biases, and not all writers care about accuracy.

-

I've read some Tim Drakes that I consider to be almost entirely 'fanon'. And quite a few that were so scarily 'canon' that I got chills. (Not all of which were similar to each other.) But the vast, vast majority have fallen somewhere in the middle.

I definitely do not want the responsibility of deciding which ones count as 'canon'! And I think I would strongly dislike anyone who tried to decide for me.

Being frustrated is logical, and I empathize. But the original post was about the impossible expectations some fans feel. The expectation to read thousands of comics, synthesize all the contradictions, and come to conclusions that match the 'true fans'. That's a perfectly reasonable thing to be complaining about.

If that's what some fans are experiencing, of course they're not going to want to engage with canon! There's no way for them to succeed, so why should they even try?

When you join THAT conversation to discuss your frustration about fanon, it strengthens that perception. When you call them 'fanon fans' it emphasizes their belief that you don't think they belong. And rather than trying to change, it's more likely that they'll double down. Canon is full of gatekeepers, so they'll avoid it.

[geek-fashionista]

A Business Proposal

A little while ago, I posted an interest poll for a series I'm planning. Since many of you responded that you were at least curious, I come today with... limited information. Limited, because the novel version of this series is currently being read by a literary agent.

But I've always felt that this story was too big to be contained in book format. Under a traditional publisher, I would lose the rights to my own property, so if they didn't want to see more of it, that's that for myself and the characters and the readers who fall in love with the characters. Self-publishing is harder. It needs to be a collaborative effort between writer and readers if it's going to succeed. Thus, I turn to the only audience I have with my "business proposal."

(Note: If you've been around long enough, you might recognize some of these characters from posts that have since been deleted.)

~*~

Working Title: Trainwrecks Length of Series: 8 seasons Length of Seasons: 24 episodes, 12 main and 12 bonus, posted biweekly. (Each season will last three months.) Episode Length: 1000-2000 words Setting: Seattle, Washington and its surrounding towns, between the years 2004-2015 Genre: Contemporary, YA to New Adult

Trainwrecks follows a diverse group of six best friends from high school to their mid-twenties, with all the romance, heartache, college and career decisions, and confusion that entails. Our main cast:

A bubbly, fat Puerto Rican girl with a passion for art and matchmaking (Ages: 14-25)

Her adopted, Argentinian brother, who is adept at music and pretty much nothing else (Ages: 16-27)

Their childhood best friend, an Asian/British/American guy who hides years of trauma behind a flamboyant and overbearing personality (Ages: 19-30)

His ill-tempered younger sister, who has just moved back to the United States from London after their parents divorced fifteen years ago (Ages: 14-25)

An equally bad-tempered Hawaiian/French guy with a love of photography and a hatred of bullies (Ages: 14-25)

The coolest, most beautiful Chinese girl you'll ever meet, who is fighting a sex addiction after a history of abuse (Ages: 16-27)

Main episodes will be written in story format. Bonus episodes will be in epistolary format: MSN chats, text messages, letters, blog posts, and eventually Twitter posts. Y'know, cuz Twitter didn't exist in 2004.

The main series (8 seasons, 24 episodes each) will be completely free to read and delivered directly to your email inbox. There will be character artwork, a bio page to keep track of everyone, a tie-in Tumblr account for memes, Spotify playlists for each character, and helpful things like family trees and relationship charts as well. Each season will have its own key artwork---cover art, if you will.

In addition to the completely free story, there will be extra content for paid subscribers and Patreon patrons, including but not limited to:

Sneak previews/early updates

Side stories

Back stories

Character and universe development notes

Entire AUs with different relationships or different genres

Money raised will either go towards paying artists or towards my student loans. And if the series gets really popular, I intend to launch a Kickstarter for physical copies that will include all the artwork and maybe some bonus items as well.

That's my business proposal. If you like it or have questions, comment on this post, scream in my inbox, chat me---do whatever but do it vocally because I need to know you're out there. And then, feel free to follow my Substack for updates.

[budgie-city]

THE ORIGINS OF BUDGIE CITY

Welcome to this informational article where I will be explaining what exactly this "Budgie City" is, where it came from, and in which direction it will be going. So, sit down comfortably - there are some interesting things waiting ahead of you! If you are interested in the lore, visit this article.

What exactly is "Budgie City"?

It is a fictional world that I am actively developing. At the moment, I’m in the process of writing it in the form of a paper draft. I write long texts by hand, and it seems to me that spelling out each letter, unlike typing, helps to approach the composition of sentences more thoughtfully, and to more successfully avoid strange and crooked constructions that will then have to be rewritten and corrected. It is far from the final, but I want to warm up people's interest in this world before the release of a full-fledged work, which is what I am doing now. I will not publish too many pieces of text until I have finished the story completely (though I probably will show some sneak-peeks). For now the content on "Budgie City" is mostly limited to drawings — concepts, sketches and character designs. Gradually, I've been starting to bring this topic to my YouTube channel in order to introduce the setting and concept to my viewers.

You may have seen my first video of Budgie City since 2014, which I have released quite recently — “I am not insane”, a video that focuses on one of the secondary conflicts of the story.

Where did this concept even come from?

It's quite a long story, and it's funny that this year is the ten year anniversary of me registering on the forum called "Budgie City". Yes, it all started with a regular internet forum — a by now almost extinct site format, which in the early 2000s and until about 2016-17 was the main place for interest groups on the internet. Now this has moved almost completely to social media, but before almost any hobby or interest had its own forum with different sections and topics. It saddens me a little that the golden age of forums has already passed.

In 2012, for the New Year, my parents bought me my first budgie — a classic green one, and I named him Gesha. At that time, I was not a regular "user" of the Internet yet. I only started to comprehend the vastness of the virtual network a few months later, and at first it leaned purely on me viewing memes in Google pictures and all sorts of videos on YouTube.

But in the spring of 2013, I discovered these wonderful things known as forums. And it was that point in time when I, having had a budgie with me for a year, decided to find a forum thematically fitting. Upon the request from my country, Google led me straight to the “Budgie City” forum.

The topics on there were something like rooms in a big house. The users randomly surfed through them and followed each other's daily lives. Therefore, Budgie City did actually feel really like being in a virtual society where everyone knows each other. I was getting used to the frequent people, getting to know each person individually. I went to their topics to write comments and answers, they wrote in mine. That's how we existed as this cozy club of interests.

There is an interesting thing with almost every child that is on the Internet — no matter where, in which community — a person with the admin/moder status is perceived as an absolute authority, any response from which causes awe and delight. And there were certain, more active and sociable admins in Budgie City — Anya under the nickname "Phoenix Bird" and Olga under the nickname "Olivka". The "Phoenix Bird" nickname spoke for itself — the image of a large bird of fire that walks around the city and receives admiring glances from everyone, was drawn in my head almost instantly. Olivka didn't have an image yet; I started turning her into a character much later.

Phoenix and Olivka in their modern designs (2022)

In the early summer of 2014, I read "Warrior Cats", and that’s where the whole story took off. I suddenly felt like I should become a writer too and write my own book. And 12-year-old me, who was spending 80% of my online traffic on the forum, decided to write a story, turning part of the admin staff and the budgies of familiar forum members into their own characters. Phoenix and Olivka turned into birds, the latter in particular acquired an image in the form of a wompoo fruit dove with olive-tinged wings, the budgies of the forum were also turned into their respective characters: Gesha and Yasha (mine); Glasha and Gosha (Hoatzin); Clementine, Jack, Fenya, Nira, Mouse, Castorka, Mithril and Small (Phoenix); Kuzya (Dmitriy68), Milana (Radujniy), Raisin (yyna) and others.

Sections of the forum have turned into parts of the city — the restaurant, the mayor's office, the registry office and nursery, and suburbs with parrots of other species, located on trees surrounding baobabs.

This is how the novel of the same name with the slogan "Feathered Metropolis" was born from the "Budgie City" forum. I posted it in its own topic, had about a dozen readers and, judging by the reviews, they all really liked reading the story. Although, looking back at the writing now... I wouldn't call it something breathtaking. Rather the opposite. But then again, I am now judging from the perspective of a third-year animation director student, and not the fifth grader I was at that time.

A couple of my original illustrations from 2014

The story was successfully brought to an end in about seven months, and after a while I started writing a sequel — however, the central conflict wasn’t thought out the slightest, so the plot quickly crumbled and was abandoned after several chapters.

Now the original text is lost in the vastness of the web — somewhere there is a piece of the prologue, somewhere even a couple of chapters. But the full version no longer exists — it was published only on the forum, and the said forum, unfortunately was — somewhere around 2019 — ruthlessly deleted from the Internet due to the desolation. All that's left of it are snapshots in the Wayback Machine.

Rewriting from the old version into a new one

In 2017, three years later, I made an attempt to rewrite "Budgie City" from scratch — leaving only the main conflict, the structure of the world, and the set of characters the same, to write a new text out of this "skeleton". Progress did not go beyond the prologue and the first chapter however, and rewriting was abandoned.

The same story with 2019 — a couple of pages, that’s all.

Two artworks from 2019

The next approach took till early 2021 to happen, when the original story turned almost six and a half years old. At that time I was already in the middle of my first year of animation directing at SPbGIKiT (Saint Petersburg State Institute of Film and Television). I wrote the prologue and part of the first chapter and went to proudly tell our master Galina Voropai about my "really cool" world. Galina interrupted me in the middle of the impromptu presentation, after which followed a forty-minute roast, thoroughly and in detail explaining that the "Budgie City" in its concept is a piece of junk that does not have the right to exist in its current form. And all this was in the presence of my classmates in the workshop. I gave up trying to defend myself halfway through, and when it was all over, I got up, quietly thanked Galina for a detailed objective analysis of the shortcomings of my project, went down to the first floor, huddled in a bathroom stall, and burst into tears.

It was the first (and yet the only) time in my life where I was literally crying over my work, and the girls from senior courses came to my howls, and we sat together on the windowsill of a public toilet. I was all red, shaking, and dropping snot, as they tried to calm me down.

(my mental state that day)

After that, I did not return to those written several pages for about a year and a half. I began to doubt whether I should continue at all or if it would just be a waste of time.

After the roast from the master, I went through all five stages of grief:

Yes, that was tough. But after so much time, I was finally able to evaluate the message of this scolding with a cool head and understand that most of the comments were actually really helpful - the conflict and the world did require a lot more careful study and rework. With the next approach, I wrote out all the conflicts, all the character motivations, and made a proper plan. And since the end of last autumn, I have returned to writing. Now I know where the story will begin, where it will head, and how it will end. All the actions performed by the heroes are finally based in actual logic. And, although Galina will not see the final result (she sadly passed away at the end of 2021), I hope that the new version will be one that she would have approved of.

A small FAQ:

Q: When will the book be released?

A: I don't want to make any promises as of now, because writing is a rather spontaneous and uneven process. I write more when I am inspired, and inspiration is impossible to predict. So the answer is simple — it will come out when it's finished :D

Q: Will it be released electronically or in a printed book form? Will I have to pay for reading it?

A: I plan to release the final version "Budgie City" in the same way as the old one — in open access, so that everyone can read it at any time. I will not charge money for reading the electronic version, but if there will be a demand for physical copies, I may release a small print run, which will cost money for those who want to get a copy. But it's a little early to think about that anyway.

Q: How does the world in Budgie City work? How do they live? What is the main conflict of the story?

A: All of this you can find out in this article!

Q: Where can I find more content to this world and story?

A: On this very blog or on my YouTube channel

I hope this article was helpful and informative enough for you to know where "Budgie City" comes from and in which direction it is currently heading. Thank you for reading!

Huge thanks to @annchanorsomethin for helping with translation of this article!

[wordsandrobots]

I have of late been thinking about my dislike for the idea that Optimus Prime and Megatron were friends prior to the whole 'thousands of years of unending war' thing.

You see, there is this new Transformers animated film that's just been released, Transformers One, predicated on this very concept. Semi-relatedly, the most recent cartoon to be released under the Transformers umbrella proposes a world where the Autobots and Decepticons settled their differences and Megatron now acts broadly on the side of Good, to the extent of having human friends. I don't like that either.

And to a very large degree, my opinion is completely irrelevant. These are stories aimed at children, to sell toys, and I am closer to 40 than I am to 30. I'm not the intended audience. To a large degree, I've never managed to actually be the intended audience for Transformers media, having fallen awkwardly into the gap between the original 'Generation 1' merchandising push and the 90s iteration in Beast Wars. I have always been a fan of Transformers in an eclectic, slightly disconnected sense, gathering bits and pieces together as and when I've come across them.

My idea of what Optimus Prime and Megatron are like comes from Ladybird Books, half the very first Marvel Comics miniseries, and The Transformers: The Movie. I hold Side Burn from Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001) up as a favourite piece of design. My first proper official Transformers toy was Air Hammer (who is awesome). Yes, I've been terribly invested in different parts of the fiction and I have my preferences, but my nostalgia buttons for this are permanently, delightfully borked.

Why would modern Transformers fiction cater to me? Why should it? Hell, no, let me say outright it shouldn't. That would be ridiculous. Thus, while I can certainly sit down and explain my feelings on this particular subject -- that Optimus and Megatron originate as characters defined entirely by enmity and oppositional philosophies, that I am deeply uncomfortable with ejecting the political content from fictional conflicts in order to make them more conventionally 'tragic' or 'complex', that I think James Roberts inadvertently did permanent damage to the franchise's central concepts when he made Megatron a conflation of Marx and Stalin in the course of trying to rescue the character from a hilariously botched 'Origin' mini-series, that telling the 'they were once friends' story with a white man voicing Optimus and a black man voicing Megatron looks *fucking awful* -- is there any point doing so?

Never forget that you are arguing about a children's toy was the maxim on the Transformers forums I frequented in the 2000s and early 2010s. I took that advice to heart. I try only to have long involved discussions about the nuances of the franchise with level-headed friends who can separate their preferences from the material realities and thus moderate their reactions with perspective. I also try not take up my keyboard to bash out angry tirades that I am not being catered to by cartoons.

But there's the rub. There's the thing that sticks in my head and leads me to type this post out. In spite of the idiosyncratic reality, I *am* being catered to by this stuff in theory. For the past decade, Transformers as a franchise has been locked into a constant reiteration of previous versions of itself. Transformers One is predicated on fixing the origin of The Transformers around Optimus, Megatron and Bumblebee (and Elita, because you gotta have a singular girl tagging along). The recognisable faces of the brand since 1984 (and Elita). The same characters that have been re-released, reduxed, redone and rewritten since the first update with 1992's Generation 2 (and Elita).

It's branding. It's market-tested iconography. It's commodification working as it always does. It's also absolutely nuts when you step back and realise the underlying strategy of Transformers has gone from "we will sell you all the toys by inventing All The Characters and giving every single one backstories and plot-lines that ensure Sprocket is somehow somebody's favourite" to "we will sell you fifteen versions of the same four characters over and over again."

I assume that calculation makes sense somewhere in the structure of Hasbro's corporate edifice. That it's cost-effective and feeds their goals of endless growth. As James Stephanie Sterling (arch excoriater of the games industry and thank God for them) has been pointing out quite a lot this recently, the concept of perpetually greater profits year on year is a dangerous, stupid delusion that destroys industries from all sides. But I am sure the people who buy into it think they know what they're doing and that their logic does indeed result in squeezing more money from same old cash-cow.

Part of that is the calculated targetting of nostalgia. Transformers One is positioned as a prequel, not to any other story in particular, but to an 'evergreen' version of the Transformers franchise. It's at once its own, unique thing and the prequel to that cartoon 'you' remember and loved from the 80s. Why not bring the whole family to relive 'your' childhood? Or hoover up the collectables that have been shipped to ranks of Transformers YouTubers so they can excitedly get fellow enthusiasts to spend more money on plastic models nobody has room for?

[They are selling non-transforming model kits for this movie, because the designs are so streamlined as to prevent easy realisation as transforming toys. The part of me that hates Action Masters with every fibre of my being doesn't know whether to laugh or weep that big name collectors are embracing these damn things. The whole flipping point of this toy-line is meant to be 'thing turns into other thing'! Primus wept, what is wrong with you people?!]

[Ahem.]

The assumption, fundamental to this and the other big toy franchises that have persisted from the 80s and 90s, is that because 'you' like X, you will continue to buy N different variations of X ad-infinitum. That's why it's still Generation 1 Optimus, Megatron and Bumblebee (and Elita) forty years later and following dozens of attempts to diversify the roster. Nostalgia sells, regardless of how well it actually accords with the thing that 'you' liked while in the original demographic for children's toys.

As a slight aside, I have also been unreasonably vexed this week by discovering Hasbro has produced a box-set of collectable action figures based on Star Wars novel The Last Command which features dark Jedi clone Joruus C'baoth wielding a red lightsaber. Not only does he not at any time pick up a lightsaber in the book, it would be completely contra to his personality for it to be one associated with the evil Sith. Joruus suffers under the delusion he is rebuilding the good and noble Jedi Order right to the very end, despite falling headlong into the Dark Side of the Force. That's the entire *point*. And that point is entirely irrelevant to the people making the box-set, even as they supposedly target people who like The Last Command, because commodified nostalgia rarely concerns itself with the specifics of the object being evoked. A hazy outline is enough.

Elizabeth Sandifer wrote in a recent essay regarding particular forms of bad Doctor Who and bad Doctor Who spin-offs that they "use my unequivocal love of this stupid fucking show against me." She identifies a distinction between instalments in the series that are crap through the normal reasons things are crap -- bad concept, bad script, bad production -- and those that are produced purely on the grounds that they are 'more Doctor Who'. I think that zeroes in on the problem here. 'More Transformers', 'More Star Wars', 'More Marvel', 'More sci-fi or fantasy intellectual property from which can be squeezed a seemingly endless deluge of products' has become the dominant mode of these long-running franchises. And written into this mode at a fundamental level is this idea that 'you', the hypothetical fan who cares deeply about something that struck a chord with them as children, will simply keep buying the same thing over and over again.

Lego have jut released an 'Ultimate Collector' set depicting Jabba the Hutt's sail barge from Return of the Jedi. It retails for £429.99. I have no earthly idea how anyone can make that kind of outlay on a toy, and I say this as someone who probably could afford to, if I prioritised buying a toy over financing house repairs and, you know, food. I *own* thousands of pounds worth of Lego, because I have been hoarding it piece by piece since I was *six*, one set and one charity shop at a time. If I wanted to build Jabba the Hutt's sail barge, I would consider it an interesting challenge. But to simply buy it, to put down half a grand on this huge set just because it comes from my second favourite Star Wars film?

It offends me an already massively-profitable corporation thinks I would do that. Because in theory, I am in the target demographic here. I am the 'you' in my examples above, I am the right age, more or less, with the right interests and the right level of disposable income. I am the mark all this is aimed at.

I am the person who is supposed to be thrilled by the idea of the 'untold story' of where the Decepticons and Autobots came from, of the secret history of Megatron and Optimus Prime.

Never mind that story was told in the first couple of pages of the original Marvel comics, as a fascistic uprising from within Cybertron society resisted by a peace-desiring majority. Never mind the 1984 cartoon created its own history of sectarian strife between sentient robots built for different purposes by sinister corporate overlords. Never mind that it's just forcing another set of familiar signifiers through the same origin story mill that has given us a long litany of unloved prequels off the back of George Lucas getting too big and too rich for any editor to constrain.

I don't imagine what I have said so far to be a novel observation. It's just capitalism doing what it does, squandering potential in the pursuit of ever-greater profit. Nor do I deny the reciprocal part fandom plays in creative impoverishment. The hysterical backlash from certain quarters to The Last Jedi -- a film that goes out of its way to say Star Wars is still alive with new possibilities and that the returning heroes are strong in all the ways they were at the end of the original trilogy -- stands testament to what ossified taste does to a person's sense of proportion, just as Rise of Skywalker stands testament to what happens when you indulge such people.

Above all, I am not claiming to be immune to the forces behind the nostalgia glut. I'm writing this looking at my display cabinets which have shelves devoted to Transformers, Bionicle (specifically these models), Batman, Doctor Who, Star Wars and Fullmetal Alchemist, and Transformers again. I bought Missing Link Convoy entirely to have a version of Optimus Prime I could hold in my hand that evoked the books aimed at primary school children from which I first learned who this character was (resulting emotions: mixed). My fandom has *always* involved collecting physical objects and as much as I'd stand by the claim hunting down decades-old toys to curate a collection informed by your personal experiences and taste is superior to gorging on an endless stream of new products, it's still chasing commodities. As someone who has also always prioritised creative fandom (fan-art, fan-fiction, building, modelling, speculating, imagining), I'm not seriously going to place one version of Having The Thing over the other on an ethical level. Equally, I see no particular mark of dishonour in taking joy from holding an object that has some meaning to you, however trivial or mass-marketed it may be.

No, what I resent is seeing marketing for a 'brand new' iteration of Transformers that is on some level still aimed at people like me, people my age, people who still find joy in the things they did as children. The calculated insult in multiple-hundred-pound Lego sets designed exclusively for 'adult collectors'. The mendacious indifference inherent to 'exclusive' toys that purport to be physical realisations of dearly-held fictions while being demonstrably ignorant of the source. The endless 'Easter eggs' and 'love letters' that we are expected to clap along to like performing seals.

The idea I should uncritically enjoy the same things I did when I was ten, in the same way, and that this should be a skeleton key to my bank account.

One of the very first things I learned about Generation 1 Optimus and Megatron, beyond the fact that they had always been mortal enemies, was that they died. Their story came to an end and new characters took their places. Ultra Magnus and Galvatron. Rodimus Prime. Fortress Maximus and Scorponok. Optimus Primal and an ersatz new 'Megatron'. Successors. Legacies. The full-throated boast that there are futures past the original tale.

And sure, the original characters have been refracted through different relaunches, alternate universes and reincarnations. It is unreasonable to claim there has ever been a version of Transformers that truly lacked Optimus and Megatron. But there is a difference between reinvented iconography and collapsing every version into 'evergreen' amalgamations, all development sheered off so they will continue to appeal to an old market alongside new generations of kids. Actually, putting it that way is giving Hasbro too much credit when the truth is they have expended massively more effort in courting middle-aged fans with toys aiming to recreate the exact look a character had in the 1984 cartoon (impossible) and bastardised versions of post-G1 toys (look what they did to my boy). They are very much doing the thing I said they shouldn't be.

So yes. I really don't like the idea Optimus and Megatron started out as friends before the war. But the more I think about it, the more I realise that is less to do with them being crammed into a thoughtless 'Professor X and Magneto' template than it is with the fact it is still Optimus and Megatron, forty years on from their debut -- and I'm expected to be happy about that.

[blastedking]

Hi! I hope you are doing alright.

When I first entered the Gloryhammer fandom a year ago, I genuiely thought all your art and comics were canon and made for the band, and honestly I'm still flabbergasted it's all fanmade content. So I wanted to know how you feel about all the stories you made, what place they had for you in your life and just in general what they represent for you. I hope this isn't too much of a personal question, all the efforts you put in this is fascinating to me, so I'm just curious about that.

Oh hey there! 

First of all, a bit thank you of course. Even though that notion of “thinking it is canon" would probably terrify some particular people xD But I think most do realise it isn't so eventually. I’m indeed just doing it for fun, as a hobby, trying to squeeze it into the free time I have between an actual job :’D

It’s an interesting question though, because the whole thing is naturally important to me, especially given the way I got into it. 

I got into Gloryhammer by chance in March 2020 I think, and by May that year I started the first comic. All art from that time is pretty rough since I genuinely had stopped drawing for a year at that point, because I had started a new job and was still very bitter about having to stop doing art full time due to health reasons at the time. But I made room for this. I had the idea for this story line very early on - which I always called my “5 Year ULF plan” (which I’m still almost on-track on. Going to be 6 years now because stuff got added. Like the Powerwolf comic wasn't planned X))

So, getting into Gloryhammer, kind of revitalised my love for doing this stuff. Worldbuilding, making comics, art and stories.

It’s not been a smooth ride all the way, it is unfortunate to know that some people just don’t get that this is genuinely fun. But there are enough people who follow along and appreciate it. We may not be many, Gloryhammer itself is already niche, so ULF only takes another fraction from that, but it’s never been about clout.  (Like, there was this surreal moment when I posted (1) TF2 fan art in between the ULF stuff in late 2022 and it got like 2000 notes - which was like “ah right, it’s really about fandom size xD”) 

It IS an enormous amount of work though for sure. But it’s sufficiently varied. I finished the next comic a few weeks back (starting on the 22nd this month!!) And I am right now still in the “I never ever want to draw a comic ever again” phase xD but that will fade over the next months again. In the meanwhile I can focus on writing and other art. 

On a more theme related note concerning ULF and what it means to me,

The ULF worldbuilding carries forward a lot of themes and ideas and concepts I had been conceptualising for a long time already. Like ideas about immortality, magic, even the werewolves of Hatir are very closely based on Original content I’ve written before. It also focuses a lot on the idea of characters just not fitting in, or struggling to comply with the status quo in many variations. Which is also a theme that has been running through my stories since forever. There is definitely a lot in ULF that is either important or interesting/fascinating to me personally. (One would assume so I think xD) But at the end of the day, I do it because it's fun to me and I greatly enjoy the result this far.

It’s often very grim and dark - but in the end I always hope to get it to a brighter place. I still plan for a happy end for ULF. So there is hope in that :)

Thank you so much for the question! Answer got a bit rambly x) ❤️

[trigun-manga-overhaul]

Trigun Ultimate Overhaul Update - Unreleased Promotional Material and Origin Story.

OVERHAUL FRIDAY 12/23/22 - PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL AND ORIGIN STORY.

It's been four years since the project started and the goal has never changed. The only thing that really changed was the scope of it and how much material was needed to keep people interested and all the edits made in connection with that. It started as a single man undertaking but eventually grew to have a consistent team of three, along with a few guest helpers here and there.

In this post we'll share the story of how the project came to be and then a few iterations of these edits we've made.

(Above: Early Overhaul promotional edit.)

THE STORY

To briefly tell the story of how we got here, we've got to go back to 2018.

It started with me, the project leader, D, getting into Trigun in November of 2018. Being a relatively new fan, I have learned a lot in the brief time I've been in this fandom and community, actually, it was pretty dead when I came around. I had no intention of being alone in my newfound interest, so I wanted to start get things going and wrote up a plan for how I wanted to revive the fandom as a whole.

At the same time, I started checking up on the history of the fandom in every corner it existed, learning more and more about what has happened in the past and where everyone went. During that dive I learned about people's displeasure over the manga and how there were two translations. I realized quickly afterwards that I had seen both in my desire to read the manga back at the start, and that I had found the Scanlation first but immediately dropped it due to the horrible quality and went on to find the Dark Horse Comics translation.

But what I few from fans of the past, a repeated notion between more dedicated fans, was that the Dark Horse Comics translation was also subpar and that the writing was off, something I agreed with.

I've always been a very determined person and a perfectionist, so it was just a matter of time before I decided to be the one to make that new translation. I got all the files I needed and started working on a method for preparing them, planning out everything I needed done before I really could get to work. I was doing all of this in the background while I made daily content for the subreddit in early 2019, back when there were only about 2000 people. I also started a Trigun Discord server, TriCord, at the time, wanting to connect with as many people as possible.

(Above: The thumbnail for the Spotify playlist "Dancing Revolver.")

I spent the next months cleaning pages. I was removing text and redrawing bubbles and backgrounds as needed, as well as removing compression from the downloaded pages to make them clear and crisp. Some would see it as tedious work but I personally quite enjoyed it. It was pretty therapeutic and a nice way to unwind after coming home from work.

On a more personal note, it was also really nice to have this project on the side when things went a little sideways. Within the span of a single week both my parents were suddenly hospitalized and I had to temporarily move into a room at their house, so that I could look after them when they came back from hospital, as they required care. My mom was wheelchair bound for a month and then used crutches for a while afterwards, and my dad was very ill. With all that worry, it was vital to be able to clear my mind with a bit of creative work. My dad was diagnosed with cancer then, but through a successful operation, he made a full recovery and has been cancer free since.

A month or so later, I finished the entire cleaning process, allowing me to tackle the translation finally.

(Above: A black background variation of the 10/29/21 release.)

In retrospective, there's a ton about the earliest translations that I want to change in the new version, as my skill have vastly improved since. I have more experience and the tools I have have grown, so I would be able to do a better job today than back then, another reason why 2.0 is needed before I'm satisfied with the work done.

In late 2019 I had some help looking over pages I've already translated and typeset, just to get a better sense for what I need to look out for. This is the first time I'm actually working with anyone on the project, having been handling the planning and work alone before this. However, those who were kind to help me out didn't have all the time in the world to help out whenever it was needed, and they weren't as deeply into the process I was, so it was difficult for a few people to get a feel for what I wanted exactly.

I had a stable work partner from November 2019 and to July 2020 but then that partnership went silent. It wasn't before the summer of 2020 that I ended up with one of my current stable partners for the project, someone who really brought the quality of the writing to a whole new level. That partner being Vulpana. With our combined set of skills, I personally feel like the final results of our writing that improved greatly.

Later the second work partner, Arth, would join. With a sharp eye for all the technicalities of writing, as well as a much less constantly tired eye on all the work, we have reached as good as the text can get. I am very happy with the work we're doing together, the feel of it and the coherency. We work really well together and our communication is professional and fantastic.

(Above: The first version of the credit page for Trigul Vol 2.)

It was also through encouragement from various parties that I decided to list the Overhaul project on my CV while looking for another job. As I personally didn't see the point in listing a nerdy project, others insisted it couldn't hurt and that the project in of itself is impressive.

I had to eat my own words in late 2021 though, as I ended up getting offered a job as a professional translator for a respected international theater anthropology organization. They expressed their interest in my project, noting that they were impressed by the personal dedication to translate and formulate for fun. I gladly accepted the position, of course, and it became my dream job. Been working that position since and it has both helped my project and my project has helped it.

As there's not much else to say, I'll share a few more images as promised! Enjoy!

(Above: Early idea for the credit page for Trigun Vol 2.)

(Above: Spotify thumbnail for the upcoming Overhaul work theme playlist.)

MORE INFO NEXT WEEK!

[ausetkmt]

Bobby Carter is slowly changing the music industry, one genre-bending performance at a time. As the Senior Producer for NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concerts, he’s brought on an increasingly-growing roster of emerging artists, big names, and icons to the company’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. to perform not only for the building’s employees, but for an audience of millions worldwide.

The St. Louis native’s journey has been long and arduous, but fulfilling, to say the least. “I’ve been at NPR for 23 years,” Carter tells ESSENCE. “But my route to where I am now was a bit unconventional; I started out as an intern in the summer of 2000. I was in the digital media space at the time, my job was to edit our content for the web stream. I spearheaded or managed our live streams – and this predated Tiny Desk.”

“I knew at some point I wanted to get involved with music at NPR, but that opportunity wasn’t there yet until NPR Music came along,” he continues. “I slowly started to drift over into the music space by writing pieces here and there, and contributing to our year-end content. In 2014, that’s when I produced my very first Tiny Desk concert, and three years later I was officially over with Tiny Desk in a formal role.”

Since his full transition to Tiny Desk in 2017, Carter has developed partnerships with Complexcon, and HBO’s Insecure, along with creating new initiatives to grow and diversify the program’s reach. He’s also known for further innovating the Tiny Desk Concert Series with artists such as Usher, H.E.R., Anderson.Paak, Jazmine Sullivan, Kirk Franklin, and more. The process of choosing musicians for the now-iconic performance platform has shifted from the time of its inception, but for Carter, he’s more hands on than ever.

“Well, early on it was a lot of us pursuing artists from our end and selling artists on what the concept is and getting them to come and play,” describes the Jackson State University graduate. “Fast-forward to now, it’s pretty much a two-way street. Tiny Desk, as you’re aware of, has become a phenomenon of sorts, where artists and labels know at this point that it’s a vehicle for promoting music and selling music.”

While many musicians feel that Tiny Desk is critical to promoting their music, Carter has found that the promotion of Black music has been equally as important. “I’m really passionate about helping to tell the story of Black music, because the story of Black music is the story of American music, if you ask me,” he says. With the month of June being Black Music Month, NPR has observed it by honoring Black music’s influence through various mediums, and highlighting its impact so that the story is told properly.

“You can’t tell the history of music without black people,” the veteran DJ says. “What we’re trying to do here at the Tiny Desk with Black Music Month is to really present that in a way that shows us in different lights. You have R&B, gospel, etc.; there’s just so many layers to black music that have made American music what it is today. It’s a story that isn’t told enough, it can never be told enough.”

Outside of jazz the only other true artform produced in the country is hip-hop, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. During his earlier days at the platform, Carter speaks about the “internal conflict” that he has dealt with to get people to recognize that hip-hop and artists like Gucci Mane also need to be heard in a space like NPR. 

“I think that there is a struggle to be sure that every single perspective is heard, and understand that whether or not a they’re a street MC or a trap artist or a neo soul artist, that they all belong, their perspective deserves to be heard at the Tiny Desk, as long as the performance is right,” he says. There were people who were uncomfortable with a Gucci Mane at the Tiny Desk, given his history and whatnot. But he served his time for his wrongs, and he has been the ultimate redemption story.”

The Atlanta rapper’s appearance on Tiny Desk altered the trajectory of what the concert series was, helping to catapult it to the successful platform that it ultimately became. “I think that Gucci Mane, that Tiny Desk was a big, big game changer for the Tiny Desk in terms of hip hop, because it showed other artists in his lane that, ‘We can come and we can do our thing here too,’” Carter states, before pausing briefly.

He continues by saying, “There is an internal fight, because a lot of times people want to feel comfortable, they don’t want to feel threatened by hip hop. But if you’re a little uncomfortable, that’s okay – maybe it’s just not for you, but it is for somebody.” After Gucci’s performance in 2016, Tiny Desk featured Chance the Rapper, Big K.R.I.T., Rakim, Lizzo, Megan Thee Stallion, and Trina, among others; bolstering the fact that the genre is still strong, and is here to stay.

Throughout the years, many legendary performances have taken place behind the desk of the All Songs Considered’s host Bob Boilen. Tiny Desk has risen to the heights of popularity, and is now a staple in today’s culture. Carter, who helped build it to what it is today, understands the task at hand, and knows how special this platform is. “I feel like it’s part of my duty to continue to do this,” he says. Not only continuing to push current stars and rising artists to the forefront, but also giving flowers to legends like El Debarge, Patti LaBelle, Charlie Wilson, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, and more.

“I think that it helps to bridge that gap and it helps to bring the youth over to these legendary legacy artists, and to remind them of their greatness,” Carter explains. “I think a lot of times  when I bring some of the artists that I bring to the Tiny Desk, this should serve as a reminder of their status in music.”

“So, I feel the ultimate responsibility, from a cultural standpoint, is to show people and use our huge audience to spread awareness about these artists,” he continues. “To grow and continue to be a voice for black culture, and for diversity as a whole.”

[aniketsanimationblog]

Hey, it's me, Aniket Dhar!! And Welcome to my Blog - Aniket's Animation Blog!!

I have something to say, which I know, a lot of people don't even know about, but I think it's good to be said before it's too late!! And it's regarding Animation in a Global Scale!!

I reside from India, where Animation has not been great when it comes to original Intellectual Properties (IPs) but great at outsourcing Animation stuffs!! I love Animation ever since I was born and I used to watch a lots of Cartoons and stuff from late 90's and early 2000's!! There were lots of good stuffs we can get from TV, and back then, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and others were used to show good qualities of content, which are now showing bad stuffs of content!! That discussion would be on another day!!

But That's not the topic at all I'm gonna cover!! I am an ardent Animation fan ever since my childhood, watching every single animated content (I mean, Family-friendly animated content, not the adult animation ones) I can consume!! The most vivid memories are from my childhood and there was a show I loved ever since I watched it, and that was Oswald!! Remember, that blue octopus with his pet dog called Weenie, that used to shown on Nick Jr.?? Well, if you remembered, then we're no different!! I used to watch Oswald a lot on weekdays before going to school and on holidays!! That one was my first favorite show at that time!!

I loved the story, the characters and the Opening and Closing Song, which were soothing to our ears!! And Oswald's Catchphrase, "Oh my gosh!!" and referring Weenie as, "Weenie-girl" And Henry, that Penguin, saying, "Great Scott!!", and Daisy, that Sunflower, saying " Wowie-Kazowie", like yeah!! That was great at that time!! But the show was very limited and it was canceled by Nick Jr. themselves!! At that time, Oswald was underrated in the USA. The show never gone up above 26 episodes!! But it gave me so many memories back then!! There are other shows as well at that time, but Oswald was like a guide for me for how to be a Gentleman!! The show itself was a gem!!

Another Animated show, that I think it should be mentioned, and I think it would be incomplete to post is a preschool show, that I adored and loved so much as I loved and adored the same with Oswald, was a Nick Jr. Series, that should deserve to get mentioned, because it was also underrated as well like Oswald, and it should not get Canceled in the first place after 2 seasons run, because a lot of people backlashed the show, despite I loved that!! And that was, none other than, Peter Rabbit

Before Digital Video Streaming Platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video arrived, there was one show that came on TV and that show got me and I was hooked that I can't afford to miss any single episode of this series!! At that time, I was 14 years old watching Nick Jr. (It might sound funny, but the main thing started there)!! I started watching with curiosity, and it turned out to be the great show I can watch!! Peter Rabbit, which came out in 2012, based on the namesake book by Beatrix Potter, had so much thrills and fun and excitement, that I thought, it's my new favorite show after Oswald, I can watch!! The series revolved around Peter Rabbit, a young, mischievous and smart rabbit, who hops on to the adventures in his woods with his adventure-mates and friends, Benjamin Bunny and Lily Bobtail, for exploring something they think, they can achieve!! But they have to face some enemies, who wants to do bad things around them, like Mr. Tod, that fox who wants to eat them, Tommy Brock the Badger, Old Brown the Owl and most dangerous one, Mr. McGregor!! There were also Sammy Whiskers, that sneaky rat, who wants nothing but giving trouble to the main 3 protagonist rabbits!! But All-in-all, the best thing were when Peter uses his late good ol' dad's journal to solve things and whenever Peter and his friends are in trouble, he used to say his father's catchphrase, "A Good Rabbit Never Gives Up!!" And that catchphrase gives me a vocal tonic to not give up no matter what's the situation!! Just Wow!! But sadly, it would've end a great way, but it was canceled after a couple of seasons, making no bidding farewells whatsoever!!

Years Passed, and I was waiting for another show to be on that same enthusiasm and same greatness as I got in Oswald and Peter Rabbit!! But in 2020's decade, yup, the COVID-19 Pandemic happened!! The world was locked down!! Everyone were watching the content they used to watch in their childhood, whether it's on TV or on Streaming Platforms!! A new content before pandemic were consumed on the Streaming Platforms like Netflix and Prime Video as BINGE-WATCHING became the new norm!! There was Streaming war happened when Disney+ arrived during Pandemic, And all that!! But in 2021, something big happened!! The Beginning Year of Paramount+ in the USA!! And at same year, I have access to Paramount+ (US one), to watch Oswald, Peter Rabbit and other stuff as well!! But in October, a new show arrived and that show is now currently my Favorite show that I have to wait every week for new episode to drop in the afternoon!! And surprisingly, it's not a Preschool show, it's a Nickelodeon produced, Paramount+ original, that I think it is the equivalent to Nick's favorite show by the critics back in the 2000's, which was Avatar: The Last Airbender, of course!! But this isn't Avatar: The Last Airbender!! It is, none other than, from A famous and oldest Sci-fi franchise!! Yup, I'm talking about Star Trek: Prodigy

At first glance, I was never a Star Trek Fan in the first place!! And I wasn't a nerdy Sci-fi fan whatsoever!! But I saw some promos of it running on Nick US!! And it was a Paramount+ original!! I watched Star Wars: Visions Anime on Disney+ back then, it was good on its own!! But I headed onto Paramount+ and Star Trek: Prodigy was on the banner of the home screen!! That's why I thought it would be a hit or miss, but I thought it's worth a try!! And it turned out to be really good!! Yeah, agreed, at first, it was a bit of Star Wars-esque, and some animation resembling like Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which I used to watch in my Childhood, but stopped it early out of interest, anyhow!! The show is likely a sequel to the Star Trek series "Voyager", as per the fans of the esteemed franchise say, because it has Kate Mulgrew reprising her role as Kathryn Janeway, the Captain of USS Voyager and main character in "Star Trek: Voyager" Series!! Again I say, I hadn't watched any Star Trek series or movies until I discovered Prodigy in the first place, so I was new to this Sci-fi franchise!!

At first glance, the series premiere episode was good, per se, but others who are Star Trek fans in general, not all of them, but some of them saying and complaining that this is a cheap knock-off of Star Wars and it's an insult to Star Trek (I'll get to them later on), and people are giving negative reviews around it!! But I think, I would continue on, because the negative reviewers were about to quit the show without continuing any further!! After Episode no. 4, I was hooked, because it was serialized!! And when suddenly after Episode no. 6, some negative reviewers were coming back and continuing further!! And I think it was a game changer by the time episode 8 came out!! And for characters, I loved the main characters in Star Trek: Prodigy, which made a great sense to the show itself!! When most of the popular animated series lacked of character development and story arc, Star Trek: Prodigy gained them by using and executing at proper times!! Like Dal R'El, for example!! At first, fans were annoyed around Dal's character in first few episodes, but after Episode no. 6 or 7 onwards, the complaints were gone, and now he is acclaimed as suitable captain of USS Protostar!! Same for Gwyndala aka. Gwyn!! At first, I thought she would do something worst to Dal and his crew, but in episode 5, she changed her mind and she was wrong about Dal and his crew!! And same for Rok-Tahk, the brikar!! And everyone, including the main antagonist, Gwyn's Father, the Diviner!! Great Redemption Arc by the way at the end of season 1!! For USS Protostar's Hologram Janeway and Vice Admiral Janeway of USS Dauntless, voiced by Kate Mulgrew herself, is an icing on the cake!! Throughout Season 1 spanned from late 2021 to end of 2022, I had no problems around this series, making it the best animated series on the Post-COVID era and my another favorite show, except for one, that it's not even creating a big trendsetting buzz, which I think it should deserve that, among Animation Fans, which is a shame!! I'm not talking about those Animation Fans who watched previous Star Trek series or being a Star Trek Fan!! Animation fans should watch this series regardless of being A Star Trek fan or not!! Because, you've got great Animation, Visuals, great set of characters, New and reprising, great set of Voice Actors like Brett Gray (Dal R'El), Ella Purnell (Gwyn), Rylee Alazraqui (Rok-Tahk), Jason Mantzoukas (Jankom Pog), Dee Bradley Baker (Murf) etc. And Great Plot, Character Arc and Redemption Arc , with great designs, giving lessons and values of Starfleet and everything they boldly gone (No Pun intended)!! But Nickelodeon and Paramount+ should've promoted more of it!! I know, second season is coming later this year!! But they should not cancel way too early like what they did to Oswald and Peter Rabbit!! It feels like they're underrated for some reason or other!!

But Why Am I talking these to you?? Because, in the likes of Popularity of a series, we're missing out some gems, which should've been the trendsetting phenomenon in the first place!! All of these are just examples!!

All of them are my favorites and these shows are wonderful on their own!! But, the problem lies when Animation Fans neglect them for nothing!! No disrespect intended, but Star Trek: Prodigy should've been a buzz around animation fandom on a global scale, regardless of being a Star Trek fan or not!! Same would go for Oswald and Peter Rabbit for great classic storytelling!! It's the Animation Audience's fault for not creating a buzz around them!!

I want to ask a question to everyone who loves Animation, who lives in Animation:

Why don't you support such deserving Gem-like series?? If you give that much attention to Miraculous Ladybug, then why don't you give the same amount of attention or more to those Animated Series, which deserve to get Recognition and Love with some media Buzz??

So, that's it for this post!! Sorry for this long post, but I need to get it off of my chest!! I hope, Animation fandom should realize that with time being!!

Thank you so much for reaching to the end of this post!! Peace!!

[mahou-furbies]

Mahou wrap up 2022 survey results

Here are the results of the recent questionnaire for your Mahou 2022!

Best character:

irma w.i.t.c.h.

Myamu

Lemon Kokoa

sunday spade wild cardz

Luchia Nanami

Mew Lettuce

Cure Whip! (i rewatched KiraKira! So not really 2022? If from 2022 only, I loved Kuroe)

Cure Precious/Yui Nagomi

nanami kiryuu

Fuwa Kokone

Sayaka miki (I watched side story this year so it technically counts even though she’s my favorite magical girl ever)

Yui Nagomi/Cure Precious, Ichigo Momomiya/Mew Ichigo

Best character design:

Cure YumYum

Cure Yum Yum

Cure coral

cure flora

Cure Finale

Kome-Kome

The Hirogaru Sky silhouettes. I just know the full designs are gonna be ballin'

This is a hard one, all of the Primagi designs are tied.

kumi kumi from mgrp white is minecraft

Infinite Iroha (Magia Record)

I just love seeing designs in general

the way utena uses the transformations for symbolism and what not is super cool design by itself goes to cure summer shes great

Mew Lettuce's and Mew Zakuro's 2022 designs

Best work:

Tokyo Mew Mew New

Tokyo Mew Mew New!

care bear stars

Magilumiere

Healer Girl

....does witch hat atelier count as a mg since it's witches or it it too fantasy world to be one? either way it slaps

Ultra Maniac

Delicious Party PreCure has its moments but it's not my fav season or anything. I wish I had time for more anime this year, but unfortunately I've been working overtime.

Can I say Glitter and Guilt? Because there's published webcomic pages now

utena is the best show ive watched in a long time i love picking it apart and even tough its super dark and hard to watch the visuals and everything is amazing i love the movie the most its so surreal and dreamy this is all entirely expected bc i love twin peaks and theyre a very similar niche

I really really liked Madoka side story, but I watched yuki yuna and was really pleasantly surprised by it!

Free comment field for gushing about something that didn’t fit the other topics:

uhh watch lego monkie kid its like a magical girl show but about a boy

Keeping it to series i more or less saw this 2022 but i really wanna praise waccha primagi tho its more of an idol series than magical girl the magic is every present in the show and i love the great myamu sama the ending moved me to tears.

saint tail remaster bless discotek

Obsessed with the Shugo Chara Wonderland merch that released earlier this year.

Was fascinated how some of the dress up collection dresses made a comeback in the DeliPre series. For example when Kokone was shown wearing Rikka's blue gown.

Watching Vampire in the Garden (a non mahou show) has given me ideas for making a magical girl OC with clothes based on Imperial Russia. You can never have too many OCs!

all the merch and new content for the early-mid 2000's shows and manga has got me really excited! like, of course we got the Tokyo Mew Mew reboot, but there's been new merch and art for Shugo Chara, Mermaid Melody has that sequal series being released, and even Saint Tail has gotten some stuff. It makes me hopeful that other manga besides Mew Mew will also get the same love and attention!

power of friendship is the shit and somehow mg shows make it not cheesy but good good

The Mascots and Recipepes in Delicious Party Precure are so cute!! I also liked the addition of Rosemary and BlackPepper/Takumi.

Hmmm I really liked some magical girl webcomics I was reading, like Cloudy Wondrous and Captian Jellyfish

I love Takumi from DeliPaPre, he's such a dork and its very endearing how he tries to be a cool Tuxedo Mask type but sometimes forgets his Cool Guy persona bc "omg its yui" lol

Complaint time!

Gushing Over Magical Girls should be good. i like the designs but too horny for the age of everyone

Mew Mint's henshin was a major downgrade from the original

The adaptation of Magia Record was such a disappointment! It undid the happy ending of the game and killed of several characters for shock value!

I finally got around to watching all of Day Break Illusion and GOD it started out really cool and interesting, but than it decided to just get BAD bad a bit after the half way mark. Lots of missed potential.

WHY CAN'T WE GET ANY MAHOU MOBILE GAMES IN ENGLISH EVERY TIME I SEE GAME CHARACTERS ON MGOTD I WANT THEM BUT THEY'RE ALWAYS DISCONTINUED OR SOMETHING Also Miraculous Ladybug is a trainwreck

i watched a lot of older and darker mg shows this year and i really dont like the saturation of designs that exist now also there arent newer medium dark shows that ive heard its either for kids or everyone dies i like both but not as the only option

How easily I fall out of a Precure season. Delicious Party I think is the furthest I've ever gotten

yuis lack of a personality in delipre

The 4th cures design and general costume of delipre didnt really live up to the food theme.

Honestly I really hate how delicious party precure is pushing stress eating as a good thing.

Delicious Party Precure seemed to have TOO many themes at the same time and didn't feel as cohesive as other teams to me.

Hmm I tried watching some of the later entries in precure (tropical rouge and delipre) and I simply couldn’t get into any of them :/ I also tried watching flip flappers again and simply couldn’t get through it again -_- it was uncomfortable to watch

Mahou plans and hopes for 2023:

That the new precure series will be aesthetic af

I'm always excited for the next Precure!

im hoping this years precure has an angel theme and there will be more cyber inspired designs in general i find them fun and good for diversity also ive started the sailor moon anime i read the manga when i was a little kid but ive never watched it

To like the new season of precure and for Magilumere to keep going

Super excited for Hirogaru Sky!! And Mew New season 2

I hope the new precure season uses the duo formula again, and a more pastel color palette. Also looking forward to the new Sailor Moon movie!

I hope the next precure season is better than DeliParty, and I also hope for a Primagi season 2! Just more new original stories would be nice.

lesbians

new original series.

I'm really looking forward to Mahou Shoujo Magical Foghters and In/Spectre season 2!! Gonna watch those weekly!

Learn to take things off the backburner

God I wish I could design magical girls

Hopefully I’ll be able to get my current project going (webcomic)

More magical girl stuff in general, and less fighting among fans over ships and the grimdark vs. standard genres

Thanks to everyone who took part!

Raffle winners have been contacted. I’ll wait... let’s say a week in case people are busy doing something else over the holidays than browsing tumblr, and if there’s no response I’ll pick a different winner.

[buckee]

yuletide 2024 letter

Dear Yuletide writer,

Happy Yuletide! Thanks for being my writer this year! <3 More under the cut:

Hi Yuletide writer, thank you so much for your patience! I haven't had access to my personal computer for a bit, and I've tried uploading this from my phone, but I don't think it's been visible (?) until now. Anyways, apologies for the technical issues!

General likes: Dead dove content, darkfic content (any & all, I have no qualms with anything re: non-con, incest, underage, violence), NSFW stories, romantic comedies, character studies, sympathetic villains, unlikeable female characters, fraught relationships (platonic, romantic, or sexual), stories where two characters are isolated from others (e.g. quarantined, stranded on an island, etc), lovers to enemies, bittersweet endings, queer homoerotic toxic best friendships, one-sided love, fleshed-out backstories, villain/corruption arcs, power imbalances, age gaps, canon divergence AUs.

General dislikes: Stories about weddings (if the plot revolves around this topic), kidfic, single parent AUs, soulmate AUs, heavy-handedness, SFW stories, slice-of-life, coffee shop AUs, maternal abuse (if the plot revolves around this).

FANDOMS + potential prompts

Challengers (Art, Patrick, Tashi):

A post-canon fic exploring Tashi coaching Patrick while Art retires to be with Lily would be interesting–how does Patrick integrate himself into that family? How awkward and painful is it to discuss the years that went by, and what happened in-between? Do they have rules for intimacy?

Patrick and Art exploring a romantic & sexual relationship while Tashi mostly removes herself from that part of their dynamic would be really appealing–she’s part of their throuple, but in a remote way. I’ve always seen her as kind of their…coach? And also, that she’s aromantic, but not asexual. I think Art mourning a part of his relationship with his wife but gaining a new partner is really interesting. Art/Patrick have the most interesting dynamic to me, ESPECIALLY in the context of the throuple (no Tashi erasure), because Tashi has never seemed intensely invested in romance or commitment, even if she is involved with the both of them. And since she’s a parent and someone who could have a career comeback, this would be cool to see!

AU where Patrick & Art are Gen Z/zoomers who come of age in a time when gay marriage became legalized in the USA/queerness has a different connotation than it did even in the early 2000s. What would their relationship look like if it had started a lot earlier? If they had been involved in the queer community as a couple/in their young adulthood? And what would their relationship look like once they met Tashi?

The Acolyte (Qimir, Mae):

I really want to see a tense, psychosexual exploration of their dynamic while Mae was training under him. It’s fascinating that he becomes fixated on her twin afterwards–they’re identical, which means he had to find her face superficially attractive at the very least. Wouldn’t mind it getting darker on this end, especially with crossing boundaries in a mentor/mentee dynamic. How did they meet? Why is she so interested in his good opinion? Why does she stick around if she is afraid of him?

Push (Nick, Cassie)

Nick and Cassie blurring the lines between brother/sister as she grows older is always fascinating. Would love to see them be codependent and inappropriate and odd with one another, without realizing why until it’s too late. How do they handle being lovers? How does Nick deal with the conflict of self-hatred and desire? Does Cassie ever realize that no matter how much she loves him, he still groomed her? Do they ever try to make it work, white-picket-fence style? Do they live perpetually on the run? Do they grow tired of each other? Do they try to separate at all?

Alternatively, their romantic/sexual relationship starts at the age they both are in canon. Feel free to get dark here, so long as Nick remains horrified and conflicted and resistant to what he wants to do. Cassie can be coerced into increasingly inappropriate behavior, or she can instigate out of a childish crush. So long as it isn’t a vaudevillian, mustache-twirling event on Nick’s end, I’m interested in all ways this could go down!

Thank you so much! I'm so excited, and appreciate your time. :)

[nostalgia-of-music]

How can such a short theme be so memorable?

Multiple times throughout my blog, now, I have mentioned this video about the Disney Channel theme from the Youtube creator known as Defunctland.

This video goes into depth about the mystery of who wrote the Disney Channel theme. Again, I’ve posted this at least twice before, but just to refresh your memory: 

Now, although I did just refer to it as a video, not classifying this as a documentary is an insult to the work this creator puts in. It can be found on many film websites, including IMDB, Top Documentary Films, Letterbox, etc. So, I will be reviewing this video as a documentary.

Not only does this Documentary take a deep dive into the story of the man who wrote the Disney Channel theme but, over its 90 minutes runtime, talks a lot about how memorable this theme is, along with so many other themes for different networks. I think it’s very interesting to think about, not just jingles, but network themes specifically. Most of the time they tend to be extremely short, but extremely recognizable. 

The documentary opens up with its narrator, Kevin Purjerer, giving the viewer the history of network themes and how they came about. The “first iconic sound signature in the United States” was that of NBC. 

These iconic chimes were originally created to signify the end of the broadcast, back when it was only radio, so that affiliate stations would know to switch to the new broadcast. 

Purjerer goes on to list networks that followed in NBC’s footsteps and made sound signatures of their own. These include Nickelodeon, HBO, and later on… The Disney Channel. 

So, to go back to the title of this post, why are all of these themes so memorable? As Purjerer puts it, all of these themes are “Recognizable to generations of viewers.” If you really take a moment to listen to any iconic network theme, all of them seem to be no more than four or five notes long. So how do these themes last for decades and, as Purjerer puts it when talking about the Disney Channel theme, “Dominate through the network’s rise and peak in popularity”?

The documentary doesn’t answer this question directly unless we’re talking about things that are not music. 

Throughout the documentary, the narrator mainly focuses on the things that would play in between shows on Disney Channel, as this is when the Disney Channel theme would be played (rather than showing traditional commercials from 3rd party companies, Disney Channel shows promotional content for everything Disney).

There is a portion where the narrator is interviewing a previous producer at the Disney Channel. She mentions that for over two years leading up to the release of Finding Nemo, they would show short segments about fish in-between shows to almost trick kids into being interested in fish. 

He shows various clips from the early to mid-2000s, the same time I would have been watching Disney Channel. The majority of the clips that he shows throughout this video make me say “Ooh my gosh, I forgot about this!” followed by a flood of memories unleashed from seeing just one clip. 

This got me thinking, that repetition of showing the same thing over and over… Hearing this theme during every single commercial break of my childhood has made it so I can never hear it without seeing those colorful mickey ears in the bottom left corner of the screen. 

During the documentary, Perjerer interviews many primary sources directly from Disney Channel. Since he was trying to solve the mystery of who composed the theme, he started with a loose idea of who to talk to, so he interviewed some actors from the channel. 

Then he interviewed Eric Perlmutter, a composer that worked on different Disney Channel themes, such as the “Disney Channel Movie” theme. 

After that, David Norland, someone who composed extended versions of the Disney Channel theme. 

**spoilers ahead, I highly recommend watching this documentary before reading!**

Later, producers filmed and directed the segments where the theme is played, and finally tell us the composer of the theme was Alex Lasarenko, whom I made my entire last post on this blog about. He didn’t stop there, though. Since Alex sadly passed, he reached out to his living relatives to talk to them about him. 

The documentary tells an amazing story. Throughout its runtime, the narrator mentions how he wishes he wasn’t referred to as a Youtuber but rather as a Documentarian. He cleverly plants little seeds throughout the documentary that get this thought into our heads, before connecting his experience to that of Alex Laserenko. He doesn’t want Laserenko to only be known for these four notes. 

**major spoilers ahead… again!**

So, he reveals that all of the music that we had been hearing throughout the entire documentary was all original music by Alex Laserenko. 

Overall, I learned so much from this documentary. It made me realize how much of a lasting impact the small things we see during our childhood have on the rest of our lives, and how important just 4 notes can really be to millions of people around the world. 

[tolkien-fandom-history]

I've been involved in the Tolkien fandom since 2004, and there has almost always been tension between young fans and fandom olds, particularly around how the two groups should share fandom spaces. This latest version of the conflict (which seems much more an issue in other fandoms than the Tolkien fandom, thankfully ... at least for now) treads some familiar ground for the Tolkien fanfic fandom.

When I first started participating in the fic fandom, many policies existed specifically with minors in mind. For example, many sites/groups described themselves as "family-friendly," which I I didn't think much about at first because it was the language of the communities I was joining and who was I to question. At some point, someone pointed out how weird this was, and then I did start questioning the language used here. Was the idea that the whole family was going to crowd around the living-room PC and read fanfiction together?? No one believed this was happening, so why the need to imply sites required policies that enabled it?

Warnings on fics (or, again, communities and sites) were often addressed directly to minors. "If you're under 18, do not enter!" a site splash page might read. "This story isn't appropriate for minors," a summary might read. Some authors (including me!) even made two versions of adult-rated stories: one for our adult peers and one suitable for younger readers. Ratings systems were often (still are in many cases) age-based: the MPAA system or General/Teen/Adult. Warnings were often construed as for the benefit of younger fans, not fans who were sensitive to or trying to avoid particular content (as is often the case today). To this day, the profile page for the Silmarillion Writers' Guild Dreamwidth contains the following direct plea to kids and parents:

There was definitely a CYA component to this. I know, as a new author and archive owner, I imagined facing down an angry parent whose kid had learned something untoward from a fic of mine by pointing at the warning, like "your problem is with your kid, not with me. I did my due diligence." But this still wasn't seen as enough; there was very much a "but the childryn!!1!" vibe from some fans, who saw it as our (adult fans') responsibility to post with minors in mind (always assuming that those minors didn't want to read adult content, which seems laughable in retrospect; learning about sex from fiction is a rite of passage for bookish kids).

The interesting difference is that, in the early-mid 2000s, this pressure came mostly from adults, who wanted to create this "family-friendly" haven for the kids they imagined perusing the internet for fanfiction (which they certainly were), whereas now it seems to be coming from minors themselves. Then (as now), what this concern trolling often hid was discomfort with the content itself, using a "Save the Children" banner to hide objections (in the early 2000s fandom) to writing slash or explicit sexual content in Tolkien-based fanworks. These fans projected their own anxieties about this content onto the imagined legions of unwitting children they imagined would discover sex (or--worse!--gay sex!!!) by stumbling onto fanfiction. They didn't have to engage with the validity of their objections to certain fictional content because they could play a card few people who want to object to: the idea of protecting kids from harm. And then, as now, the idea of being a good fandom citizen by "[c]urating my own experience" didn't enter into these folks' thinking; they wanted to see the entire fandom fall into lockstep with their values and preferences, and they hid behind kids as a means to that end.

This is too long already, but there have been other generational tensions across the years in Tolkien fandom, such as adults bullying young writers, veteran fans' impatience with young fans' perceived ignorance (and young fans' disdain/disregard for fandom olds), and now of course the minors who want their online experience sanitized by the adults they share a fandom with. Another time.

(Posted by @dawnfelagund)

“You are responsible for the minors in your fandom!!!”

No, I’m fucking not. I’m not your parent. My past-times do not automatically sign me up to act in loco parentis. If you need someone else to monitor your own content consumption online, go get mommy and/or daddy to set up a content blocker on your computer.

[hoboal87]

Don't Speak, Part 13

Pairing: Sam x F!Reader, Dean x Claire

Characters: Sam, F!Reader, Dean,

Summary: The Doctor and Midwife visit the Manor.

Warnings: dark!fic, domestic violence, angst, implied fertility issues, punishments, implied smut, cheating, surprise new character!

Word Count: 2000-ish

beta’d by the wonderful, lovely, @writethelifeyouwant

This is a dark!fic that includes potentially triggering content and is intended for mature audiences only. You are responsible for your own media consumption, so please, read the warnings and if you feel that you may be triggered and/or offended please move along. If you have any questions about the warnings/tags please feel free to DM me.

Don’t Speak Masterlist

My Full Masterlist

Part 12

Life with Sam has been a dream. He never says an unkind word, raises his voice, or lays a hand on you. He’d been keeping you to himself for the most part, no doubt on John’s orders. You’ve seen what had Claire worried when she came to your room that night; catching Dean in a dark corner of the manor, his trousers down his thighs and Joanna’s skirt bunched around her waist. Claire was right; if she didn’t produce an heir, and soon, Dean would find a reason to rid himself of her.

The doctor that examined you weeks ago arrives at the manor as snow begins to fall one early December morning, Bobby had apparently insisted he visit after seeing the state of Claire. The brothers had been careful to keep you away from each other; you hadn’t seen her in nearly two months, not since the brothers attacked you. Sam told you it was for your own good, that seeing her would upset you, and you believed him; why wouldn’t you?

You’ve all but healed from your injuries, bruises have long since faded away, though a small scar does remain just under your eye. You’re allowed at the breakfast table with Sam and occasionally John, one of your many privileges now that you’ve been taught your lesson, as well as more free time to roam the grounds, with Sam’s permission and a chaperon, of course. With the falling snow, you elect to stay inside today, browsing the massive library. The Winchesters have more books than you could ever imagine, ranging from fictional to medical textbooks.

There’s a new book today, you assume it must’ve recently arrived in the post. “The Lady of the Barge,” you read outloud to yourself. The new book smell is almost intoxicating, and you open it to find an inscription. “To J.W and his sons for opening my eyes to a world I didn’t know existed.”

You’re entranced by the book, wild stories of supernatural beings and cursed objects. Why would the author send them a copy? You shrug the thought away, and grab for another book to take to your room after supper.

While reading by a large window, a carriage pulls up in front of the manor, you’re almost surprised to see John and Mrs. Harvelle meet the doctor and midwife. Granted you’ve spent little time outside of yours and Sam’s chambers until recently. The doctor is younger than you remember, but still you’d guess he was slightly older than you. Even from a distance, his smile shines brightly, and you find yourself admiring it. The four of them appear to be in deep conversation, the doctor’s smiling quickly fades, a look of concern replacing it.

You don’t suspect that they are here to see you, Mrs. Harvelle had stopped administering morphine to you weeks ago, and you were bleeding regularly. There are hushed conversations as they enter the house, too quiet for you to make out anything clearly, but you conclude they are here to see Claire when they make their way towards the South Wing, which you know to be Dean’s and Claire’s living quarters, even though you’ve yet to visit it.

You pray that Claire is recovering as well as you are, but the doctor and midwife being back at the manor can’t mean anything good. Something emboldens you to follow behind them. You’re about to make your way up the stairs when someone grabs at you.

“Where ya goin’, sweetheart?” Dean's gravelly voice sends chills through your spine. You hadn’t seen much of him since the lesson he and Sam taught you, only two or three times, when he would join you and Sam in the bedroom. He hardly spoke, which was slightly concerning. When he didn’t speak before it only caused more trouble for you, not knowing what he wanted or how to please him.

“I– I wanted to check on Claire,” you half-lie, “it’s been so long since I’ve seen her, heard her voice.”

Dean’s eyes narrow at your answer.

“I saw the doctor and– and the midwife– Is she okay?”

“You think you’re gonna sneak up there and fuck her again, hmm?” Dean’s voice deepens, irritation and anger apparent.

“No!” You insist as Dean’s grabs you roughly by your still healing wrist. “Please, Dean, I’m sorry– I just wanted to see her,” you beg as his grip grows tighter, twisting it and causing tears to well in your eyes. “I swear, I– I– you’re hurting me.” Tears fill your eyes, why didn’t he believe you, you promised Sam that you wouldn’t ever do anything like that again. “I’ll go back to my room,” Dean nods and lets go of you, and you make straight for your bedroom.

Once alone you let out a sob, what if Dean told Sam that you’d disobeyed him? What if he and Sam decided to punish not only you, but Claire? He took it easy on you last time, what would happen if he was truly angry? You decide that you must come clean with Sam, even though you’re sure you didn’t do anything wrong.

Once you’ve calmed yourself, there’s a brief knock at your door before John and the doctor enter your room. You plant a fake smile on your face, hoping that you can convince John that you are a good wife to Sam, that you’ve done everything he’s asked of you.

“Mrs. Winchester,” the doctor smiles warmly, “how are you feeling today?”

“Good,” you nod, as he takes your previously injured wrist, now aching thanks to Dean, in his hands, examining it closely. “My wrist hurts a little, but other than that I’m fine.”

“There’s still some bruising here,” the doctor seems to say more to himself than to you or John. “All your other injuries have healed?”

“Yes, doctor,” you agree, watching as John’s eyes narrow on you, as if he’s waiting for you to slip up. You wince as the doctor continues looking over you.

“Sam said she took a bit of a spill the other day, isn’t that right, darlin’?”

“Yes, I– I was in the library, and I was reaching for a book and lost my balance, I put my arm out to break my fall.” You're surprised at how easily the lie leaves your lips. “But besides that, I’ve been very lucky. Sam has been very attentive, as well as Mrs. Harvelle, they didn’t let me get out of bed for weeks.”

“I’m glad to hear that, Y/N,” the doctor smiles. “Your wrist is still healing, Y/N, so I’m going to have to ask you to take it easy,” he grabs a mesh cloth, wrapping your wrist as he did weeks ago. “That husband of yours is probably the tallest person in town, surely he can reach the top shelf in the library,” the doctor gives you a quick wink, and you smile in return.

“Yes, doctor.”

“Please, Y/N, you can call me Adam.”

“I don’t think that’s appropriate,” John interjects. “A married woman shouldn’t be so familiar with anyone outside her family.”

“Mrs. Winchester,” Adam smiles again, before turning his attention to John. “If her wrist isn’t properly healed in another week, I’ll need you to bring her down so that I may perform an x-ray.”

“It’ll be fine, Dr. Milligan,” John says curtly.

“Would you like to wait for the midwife to join us, or do you want me to do this alone?”

“You may start.”

“Y/N, I know this isn’t something that you would talk about otherwise, but have you and Samuel been copulating?” You furrow your eyebrow at the unfamiliar word.

“Have you been sleeping together, fucking,” John says rather bluntly.

“Oh,” you feel the heat rush to your cheeks, you’d been raised to never discuss private matters like this with anyone other than your husband. “Urm, yes.”

“I know this may be uncomfortable, but I’m going to ask you a few questions, and they will be rather personal. I need you to answer them honestly, can you do that for me, Y/N?”

You eye John before answering, and he gives you a slight nod.

“I’ll do my best,” you nod.

“How many times a week have you been lying with Samuel?”

“N-nearly every night,” though it’s an exaggeration, Sam hadn’t been showing as keen an interest in getting you pregnant as he had before. “Except for when I bleed.”

“When you do, does Samuel finish inside you?”

You give a flushed nod. Another lie.

John looks disappointed in your answer. You'd become pregnant so quickly before, that you figured it wouldn't take long again. Mrs. Harvelle, like Sam, assured you that it would happen when the time was right, but John seemed to be the one growing impatient with the fact that neither you nor Claire, as far as you knew, were expecting.

"You don't think it's odd," John asks, "that she's yet to become pregnant?"

"If she and Samuel were able to conceive a child once, I see no reason that they should have any problems now. Unless there's something that you haven't told me?"

That Sam may very well not have fathered your first child.

You and John share a long look, you know better than to divulge anything that happened in your marital bed; it wasn't proper. There were already whispers around the manor about your relationship with the brothers, none of them would outright accuse you of having an affair, lest they bring down the wrath of the Winchesters.

John asks Adam to give the two of you a moment alone, and you can feel the tears start to sting in your eyes: the thought had never dawned on you before, what if Sam couldn't give you another child?

Hours later Sam joins you in your bedroom. You want to ask about Claire, the midwife never came to see you, and she didn’t leave with Adam. Was Claire okay?

“Father said that Dr. Milligan gave you a clean bill of health,” Sam places a kiss on your forehead. “Except for this,” he grabs you gingerly by the wrist.

“I almost went to the South Wing,” you blurt out, you didn’t know what Sam already knew, what Dean could’ve possibly told him. “When Dr. Milligan and the midwife arrived, I– I tried to follow them to Dean and Claire’s room, but Dean stopped me before I could, I’m- I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. I just wanted to see Claire.”

“What are the rules, Y/N?” Sam replies softly, calmer than you expected him to be. You knew the rules, they’d been seared into your brain shortly after you’d moved back into Sam’s room. There were only a few of them, and one of them was that you were never to go into the South Wing without Sam, Dean or John.

"No going to any part of the house without your permission," You repeat them back to Sam.

“And what happens if you break the rules?”

“You’ll punish me,” you answer, not knowing what kind of punishment you’ll receive for breaking the rules.

“That’s right. But, you were honest, so I will take that into consideration.” Sam ponders for a moment, removing his belt from his trousers, and you already know you will receive a whipping. The belt isn’t as wide or thick as the one John used on you, but you know it will still hurt. Sam bunches the belt together and orders you to undress and lean over the bed, ass in the air. “10 lashes, but if you count them out like a good girl, and don’t cry or ask me to stop, I’ll stop at five, understood?”

“Yes, Sammy,” you respond obediently.

Thwack!

“One.”

Thwack!

“Two.” Tears sting in your eyes, but you fight them back, biting your lip to keep yourself from crying out.

Thwack!

“Three.”

Thwack!

“Four.” You can do this, you’ve taken so much worse.

Thwack!

“Five,” you let out with a sigh. Sam’s lips are on you, kissing your back, and any place that the belt landed.

“Such a good girl, Y/N. Now, spread your legs f’me.”

Part 14

Feedback is fuel! Please tell me what you think!

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[dippedanddripped]

Old Nollywood aesthetics and fashion may be considered trendy today, but the films were not always so well-regarded. In the 90s and early 2000s, when these movies were made and watched in parlours across Nigerian homes as they were shot, straight-to-video, they were considered as bad entertainment, or ‘low culture’. To watch and enjoy Nollywood films was to celebrate mediocrity. But today, nostalgic young Millennials and Gen Zers are overlooking the jarring audio, grainy pictures, and sometimes hammy acting, to appreciate not only the grooming and style of the actors, but the original and diverse stories that reflect unique Nigerian experiences.

It was for this reason that sisters Tochi and Ebele Anueyiagu started Nolly Babes, a nostalgic Instagram account dedicated to celebrating the cinematic period’s women. Started in December 2017, their first post was of Nollywood’s biggest star Genevieve Nnaji; a still taken from 2004 film Sharon Stone In Abuja, directed by Adim Williams. Nnaji plays the titular character, a sexually liberated young woman who uses her beauty and charm to ensnare unassuming men into doing her bidding.

The account is an ode to the female characters of old Nollywood who were often portrayed as warning examples. The storylines were steeped in moral principles rooted in the patriarchal culture and the dominant Christian religion of Southern Nigeria. A large number of the female characters were considered immoral because they kissed other women, challenged men, smoked and drank, or wore mini skirts. Today, Nolly Babes and similar accounts are reimagining these women, taking their scenes out of the moralistic context of the films, and turning them into iconic feminist personas.

The first time Nollywood content seeped into the mainstream internet consciousness can be traced back to 2017 when videos of Nollywood’s favourite comedic duo Chinedu Ikedieze and Osita Iheme, better known as Aki and Pawpaw, rose to popularity due mostly to the influence of a now-defunct Twitter account @nollywoodroll ran by Nicole, a woman based in Brazil.

Their memes became the go-to reaction videos for expressing a wide range of emotions: joy, disappointment, sadness, frustration. The appeal was in seeing children making mischief or in adult situations – drinking beer and smoking cigars, wooing bigger women, or in oversized suits shouting instructions at people twice their size. Although both Ikedieze and Iheme were in their 20s in the early 2000s when most of the films were made, they mostly played children because of their body stature. By 2019, the memes had achieved such virality that brands like Rihanna’s Fenty would use them for social media clout.

Theodora Imaan Beauvais is the curator of Yung Nollywood, another archive of clips and stills from old Nollywood paying homage to its controversial female characters, after screenshotting moments from Nollywood she found “appealing or inspirational”. Yung Nollywood is remarkably distinct from Nolly Babes for its subtitling of the films’ stills from Nollywood films, something she attributes to Tumblr. While the idea to give witty captions to the actors’ facial expressions came from watching Netflix. “I thought, ‘If someone could describe Nollywood reactions in short phrases it’d be an art form on its own,’ and I became that someone.’”

In December 2019, Tochi and Ebele hosted a Nollywood-themed party in Lagos. Nollywood actor and musician Nonso Bassey attended the party dressed in a two-piece jean set and bucket hat, a signature look of the bad boy/alpha male archetype, and a role reprised multiple times by older actors such as Hanks Anuku, Emeka Ike, and Jim Iyke. Since that party, Nonso has attended social functions and premieres in outfits that make a nod to the fashion choices of that era of Nollywood. He insists, though, that he isn’t cosplaying Nollywood characters of that era. “I’ve always been attracted to the idea of merging old world charm with a new school approach,” he said.

The party caused a cultural stir amongst Nigerians and Africans both at home and in the diaspora – every other week, there seems to be a Nollywood-themed party held either in Lagos or London. Take for instance friends and business partners Imani Okunubi and Aseosa Uwagboe, two Nigerian-British kids who grew up in the UK. Nollywood was one of the ways they could connect back to their roots. That experience informs their event brand, Lasgidi to London, targeted at Nigerians living in the UK. “We wanted to create events that were reminiscent of the Naija hall parties (Owambe) we attended as kids, as we don’t want to see that culture die,” Aseosa said. Their next owambe is a Nollywood-themed party and guests are expected to come dressed in their “best nolly Y2K aesthetic”.

Below, the Nolly Babes sisters talk about creating and hosting the first Nollywood-themed party and the cultural moment it has inspired.

How did that first event come about – please take me through it, from the planning to how it turned out?

Nolly Babes: From the inception of Nolly Babes, we knew we had to throw a party. Fashion is a huge part of what makes Nolly Babes different from other Nollywood-themed pages and we knew we were the only ones that could set Nolly Babes as the dress code and have people commit as they did. There are many iconic Nollywood scenes and scenarios. The daughter meeting her evil mother-in-law, the ominous visit to the Babalawo, the campus stroll – just the mere mention of these scenes evokes images that have been embedded in the minds of our fellow Nollywood enthusiasts. The party scene is probably the most iconic of them all. Whether it’s in a club, a mansion while mum and dad are out of town (but coming home early to crash the whole thing) or poolside, the Nolly Babes party scene has its staples: mad music, dancing, and sick outfits.

December in Lagos is notoriously hectic. On each day, there are day parties, beach hangouts, concerts, and we just knew we had to be a part of it. Our flyer was the first thing we made sure was done right, and that has been replicated (but never duplicated) many many times. We went through at least six drafts of that until we got the flyer to be a realistic replica of the home video covers from the golden era. The DJs Kemi Lijadu and vIVENDII Sounds understood the assignment and played music from the Nolly Babes era. We’re talking Tony Tetuila, Mo Hitz, Wande Coal, Plantation Boyz… We curated a special cocktail menu: Genny Colladas, Jim Iyke’s Hard Lemonade, MargaRita Dominic, and our Lagos Island Iced Tea, in tribute to Nollywood stars Genevieve Nnaji, Jim Iyke, and Rita Dominic respectively. We had a video projection on the famous red wall at Nok showing a mashup of emblematic scenes. We were partying while seeing images of a young Jim Iyke dressed just like many of the attendees were dressed. It was magical! We have an event we’re planning in New York for the summer – it’s going to be a madness.

Did you envisage it becoming the cultural movement it’s now become?

Nolly Babes: We really didn’t. We hosted the party because we knew people were taking inspiration from our page for styling jobs and music video treatments, and wanted to give everyone a chance to recreate some of their favourite looks. Now every week we see people planning Nollywood-themed parties and sending people to our page for references. It’s awesome. Toke Makinwa even recently attended a Nolly Babes-themed party and she was dressed as a character we have immortalised – Regina Askia in President’s Daughter. She killed it! Even though the character wasn’t referenced, it was clear as day and it was awesome to see that she pulled it off! Honestly, when we see people really pay attention to detail and execute the theme well it’s so, so dope.

How has TikTok helped grow Nollywood's influence? You posted a scene from Girls Cot, the famous “you stink with poverty” clip on TikTok and it went viral and birthed these recreations even by non-Africans.

Nolly Babes: We’re just happy to see that another aspect of Nollywood that we champion – the iconic scenes and one-liners – is also resonating across the world. We see Nolly Babes as an archival work and as much as we focus on beauty and looks on Instagram, it’s nice to be able to point people in the direction of the scenes that are forever embedded in our brains. These are scenes we recreated in jest ourselves before there was even a Nolly Babes to begin with, so to see it catching on TikTok is exciting and a new frontier for us to fully explore. I think what distinguishes Nolly Babes from other Nollywood pages and what contributes to our TikTok success is that we really watch Nollywood movies. We grew up watching these movies and continue to do so now so we can capture those moments in films that the casual consumer or poster of Nollywood content might not.

What are your thoughts on Nollywood’s influence on the Alté scene? Music videos of artists such as Lady Donli and Odunsi nod to the aesthetic and fashion styles of that era.

Nolly Babes: Nollywood, and specifically the aesthetic we have shone a spotlight on, is probably one of the biggest influences in terms of visuals in that scene right now. I have never seen so many Eucharia (Anunobi) eyebrows on TV and we love it! It’s awesome to see our images and scenes being used in treatments and storyboards. If we’re being candid, we think it would be great if we got the chance to step into our stylist/creative direction bag and help with the execution of the aesthetic.

“The bottom line is really that Nolly Babes has brought what was already an international cultural influence to the modern social media realm with a new lens” – Nolly Babes

How far do you see Nollywood's influence on pop culture, beyond Nigeria and Africa?

Nolly Babes: When we moved to New York we found our Dominican and South American friends had also grown up watching Nollywood films. The bottom line is really that Nolly Babes has brought what was already an international cultural influence to the modern social media realm with a new lens. Nollywood clips were online everywhere – but it was always in a comedic way. Aki and PawPaw are meme gods now, and that’s because their expressions transcend cultural boundaries. Black Twitter eats that stuff up.

Nolly Babes chooses to center the beauty, style, and iconic imagery, even the home decor with our #NollyDecor hashtag of the golden era of Nollywood. We share the makeup, accessories, fashion, iconic phrases, and scenes in a way that isn’t just comedic but inspirational and aesthetically groundbreaking. I see Nollywood being at the centre of this Y2K resurgence that is happening all over the world, from TV to runways and fashion collections. That era is coming back around and, this time, the Black experience is being revisited and centered in a way it wasn’t back in the late 90s and 2000s. (Black people) were always the originators of the trends and this time they’re tapping into the source and Nollywood, particularly the era we celebrate as Nolly Babes, is a great resource for that.

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