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mariacallous · 3 months ago

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If you’ve been on TikTok at any point in the past six months, chances are you’ve stumbled across them, as I first did during a fairly routine doomscroll one night this summer. For me it started with two videos somewhat incongruously tagged #homeremodeling and #housedesign. One of them featured a CGI man summoning a baby phoenix outside of a tree that he planned to turn into an apartment. Then a robotic AI voice started to narrate how the CGI man, identified as “Little John,” was going to build it. Over the next 90 seconds, Little John transformed the tree into a maniacally space-efficient luxury unit in an AI-generated ballet of flying galvanized square steel, ecofriendly wood veneer, and expansion screws.

The other video, featuring nearly identical CGI and the same hypnotically flat AI narrator, followed the story of a couple with a billion children that, like Little John, decided it was time to improve their home. And those two videos were only the tip of the galvanized steel iceberg.

There are hundreds of accounts posting these videos to TikTok right now, and they’ve become immensely popular, racking up millions of views. Even the “character” of Little John has become a meme of his own, with people making skits where they pretend to be him.

The videos struck me as a fascinating case study of how TikTok trends have evolved—or rather devolved—over time. What was once an app full of human beings making content in conversation with each other has become a dizzying world where irony and sincerity, memes and spam, blur together into a slurry of bizarre content no one is quite sure what to do with. As I set out to discover who was making these videos, I assumed that lifting the rock would reveal an even stranger world of broken social networks, AI content farms, and shady engagement hacks, wiggling just beneath the surface of the web. Which it did! But stranger still, in the end, it turned out these videos hadn’t become huge as a TikTok trend at all.

In 2022, an account popped up on TikTok called @designer_bob. From the start, it exclusively posted videos with a specific format: Some kind of weird domestic issue must be solved with extreme home renovation, the action animated in a surreal CGI style with a spunky stock music soundtrack. Within a month, the account had a viral hit: a video about designing a bedroom for four children, which has been viewed more than 10 million times.

Designer Bob’s formula proved perfect for TikTok’s algorithm, which is constantly analyzing, in microseconds, what catches your attention and recalibrating to what it thinks you want to watch. There’s a hypnotic quality to these videos. “The storyline is just fucked up enough to grab your attention early on,” says social media analyst Rachel Karten. And because there’s a process happening—a home renovation—the user can’t look away.

Once Designer Bob’s videos started going viral, hundreds of other accounts started posting similar content. One account called @dy02449xjp, which had been sharing clips from 2000s romcoms like The Proposal and Two Weeks Notice, switched over to weird home renovations in January 2024. That same month, one of their videos went exceptionally viral. It’s been watched more than 44 million times.

Along the way, the aesthetic and style of these videos started to change. The early viral renovation videos from Designer Bob were silly but could sometimes be mistaken for genuine design content. Newer videos were more ludicrous, the renovations more fantastical, their action narrated by a droning AI voice. That’s just the way TikTok’s remix culture works, says Alex Turvy, who studies digital culture.

“We’re going to see trends like this become more and more absurd until they burn out,” he says.

There’s even a spin-off meme specifically about “galvanized square steel,” to the point where some users have questioned whether the whole meme is a viral marketing campaign for galvanized steel.

“I think lore is a really good word to use here. Now the videos blow up and do well because there is lore around them,” Karten says. “Lore sustains virality.”

The more I watched these videos, the more desperate I was to understand who was making them. In the case of Designer Bob, the account bio links to an online candle and crystal store run by a company based in China called Whisper Wisp. And the Designer Bob Facebook page lists Hong Kong as a base on the Page Transparency section. Still, it seems unlikely this is a covert marketing campaign for a candle shop. None of Whisper Wisp’s social channels are nearly as popular as the Designer Bob account. (Whisper Wisp didn’t respond to any of my messages.)

Details about who’s behind the Dy02449xjp account are even more scarce. There is a Facebook page with the same username sharing the same videos. Beyond that, nothing. No other connected accounts, no storefronts or identifying information. If there’s a scam or an upsell coming, it hasn’t dropped yet. For now, at least, Dy02449xjp appears to be pursuing TikTok engagement for its own sake.

Many of these accounts use some variation of the name “Home Designs” and similar logos of a small house, which strongly resemble the branding of an architecture and interior design program called HomeDesignsAI—a major clue, I thought, toward solving the mystery. I was able to track down HomeDesignsAI’s COO and cofounder, Denis Madroane. But he was just as confused as everyone else about how popular these renovation TikToks have become.

HomeDesignsAI is a Romania-based startup that launched in 2023. The app allows users to upload a photo of a room or floor plan and transform it using AI. Madroane says he started seeing TikToks that used HomeDesignsAI last year. He says he and his team thought they were pretty funny—but they’re not seeing much upside.

Madroane confirmed that Home-DesignsAI does have a TikTok account, though it doesn’t really participate in the memes. It has a little under 900 followers, and its biggest video has around 195,000 views. Which seems fine—until you compare it to the unofficial Home-DesignsAI accounts on TikTok. The biggest one, @homedesign369, has 2.4 million followers and is consistently getting millions of views per video.

“Our official account is severely underperforming compared to the numbers averaged by user-generated content,” Madroane concedes.

But as it turns out, none of the most viral Little John TikToks were made using HomeDesignsAI software. So, mystery unsolved. And before this summer, no one on TikTok seemed to know where these videos were coming from. That is, until Candise Lin, a Cantonese and Mandarin tutor based in the US, noticed the trend going viral and revealed the missing piece of the puzzle—at least for confused Americans—in a TikTok video of her own.

It turns out we haven’t actually been watching videos made by TikTok users. They’re coming from a completely different app. As Lin explains, these videos come from Bilibili, China’s closest equivalent to YouTube. On Bilibili, Little John is known as 大壮, or Big John. “Galvanized steel” is even a trending search term. According to Lin, there are two Bilibili users known for creating this kind of content, an account called 疯狂设计家, or Crazy Designer, and another called 设计师王姨, or Designer Aunt Wang. I was able to find dozens of other accounts, as well.

The unhinged home renovation videos on TikTok are machine-translated versions of videos from Bilibili. Chinese content makes the jump across the Great Firewall like this fairly often. Videos downloaded from TikTok’s sister app Douyin are a regular presence on TikTok. But the fact that these were not made for English-speaking audiences would explain the robotic narrator, bizarre syntax, and Chinese iconography seen throughout.

After digging through Crazy Designer’s videos, I was able to find one of the videos I had come across on TikTok back in June, about a couple designing a house for a billion children. Crazy Designer titled it “One Billion Children per Room,” and it’s part of a series, all with titles like “A Million Children per Room,” “Two Million Children per Room,” and so on. After watching it on Bilibili and reading the comments underneath it, I started to realize what these videos are: They’re shitposts. This jaundiced real-estate porn is meant to satirize the housing crunch in cities like Hong Kong and Shanghai, and the commenters are all in on the joke.

In the end, it appears there isn’t any kind of scam or engineered marketing stunt here after all. It’s just two cultures laughing at the same uncanny user-generated content, filtered through some perfunctory layers of AI translation and lost context. And according to Lin, Bilibili users are now aware of how popular Little John videos have become in the West. They’re mortified that Americans are watching.

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sunshines-child · 10 months ago

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Drew

TW: rape, slight gore, death

Drew Fukohei Tanaka comes to CHB at the age of 4 years old after her father dies from a drug overdose. Her clothes are ratty and the goat looking man who brought her there looks at her weirdly. She wraps her arms around herself and wishes she could go home, but home isn't there anymore. Home isn't anywhere now. Drew Fukohei Tanaka feels hands on her hips one night at 6 years old. It's one of the Hermes boys, she knows, and she's too scared to make a sound as she feels rough hands spread her legs. It feels like hours, but in truth it was only a few minutes. She feels wetness run down her thighs and all she can do is curl up in a ball in cry. On a brisk January morning, █████ ██████, son of Hermes, is found dead in the forest clearing, face mauled into a bloody pulp and blood dripping from open gashes around his neck and wrists. The little grass around him is stained brown. Drew feels sick satisfaction pool around her. She is claimed that very morning, next to the body of her attacker. Drew Fukohei Tanaka is moved into the Aphrodite cabin, where she is met with walls of soft pink instead wrangled beige, sweet smiles instead of maniacal grins. A beautiful girl greets her, her hair wavy and her eyes warm as a summer's sky. The girl greets herself as Silena and wraps her in a hug warmer than anything her father ever gave her. Drew loves her. When Silena dies, taking care of the cabin falls onto Drew's shoulders. She's not even the oldest, but apparently Silena had trusted her enough and wanted her to leave. Drew wants to curse out Silena for making her do something she wasn't ready to do, but she can't bring herself to. She loves Silena with all her heart. She falls to the ground and cries.

#pjo #pjo hoo toa #drew tanaka #percy jackson #heroes of olympus #she was never given a past so I gave her one #Fukohei is a japanese name that means “unjust” or “worthless”

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messengersfolly · 1 year ago

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There is no means to an end.

(a self-para for Malachi Howahkan. TW blood, gore, murder)

It's the endless drone of old fluorescent lights and the maniacal beeping of the fire alarm, low-battery. Everything ends, but it doesn't mean you know when.

And the annoyance will continue, and continue, and melt your mind away, until you put a stop to it.

It's with this thinking that Malachi Howahkan murders his wife with an axe in the back of their small Prairie-style Craftsman in mid-January.

His life has not been his own.

It has been Alice's, turned to dinner parties and board game nights. Stockings hung with care, two tiny tots, soccer practice, and the backyard grill. The ole ball and chain. "Can't live with him, can't live without him!" The baby showers, the anniversaries. A mini-van and a house with a foyer.

He works as an insurance agent. 9-5, casual Fridays, water cooler chatter and group synergy. "Workin' hard or hardly workin'?"

One day it's easy to just take the axe and swing it.

Easier than the time it takes to type in his client's yearly salary and figure out the percentage still owed.

Easier than picking up Bobby from violin.

Prison is not easy. It's threats and shouting and shoving. Too much time alone to think about every aspect of his wife's dead body, the blood coming from the chunks he cut out of her. Officers with too much power, men with too much anger. And boredom.

When he gets a letter, he assumes it's one of his kids. But it reads of a man infatuated. Questions about his life and how it fell apart, and more importantly, how he can piece it back together for Malachi.

This meager connection is a life raft in a tsunami. Mal holds to it like a man possessed. Until his fingers go raw and bloodied, he'll cling to every letter sent.

Polaroids on sun-bleached film, chopped brown hair tied with an old rubber band. Tales from the outside.

It's back and forth for years.

One day, the folded letter Malachi sends has a piece of twine tied into a little loop perfect for a finger enclosed inside. He asks him to marry him, and promises a better ring when he's out.

It's years later that Malachi Howahkan walks out of the New York State Penitentiary in the dirty clothes he walked in with over 20 years ago. Released early on good behavior. Cash that Mik had sent for snacks from the commissary buys a bus ticket straight to his husband's apartment.

Once he's there, he never leaves.

#malachimuse #selfthread #tw blood #tw gore #tw murder

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livealittleoc-cb · 1 year ago

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Small Update!

✨: I’m awake so earlyyyy! *whines* It’s for an important event, my cousin is having a bachelor’s party and as the best man I had to help arrange it and it’s now the day! So have to smile through the pain. Good news though, I’m going to England for Thanksgiving week, my parents are meeting me there and I’ll be with Devon hanging out as well.~ I’m just excited for food we don’t even celebrate Thanksgiving, we celebrate Chuseok but since that past and I didn’t get the chance to visit my parents we’re doing stuff now. Christmas is still a ‘to be announced’ because I don’t know what we’re doing. Hope everyone has lots of fun things planned for their holidays!~

🐉: It is so damn early-. What the fuck. *groans* Guess who’s going also to this bachelor party? Me.~ I may or may not be entertainment, I haven’t been told yet-. But, Sky and me are on a little breakfast date before I have to go and be sexy. 🥰 *snorts and laughs* I also get to pick up my check before I don’t have to work for the rest of the holidays, today is just a great day.~ Thanksgiving isn’t really going to be anything done Sky and me are going to hangout with Joo before he leaves us 🙄 and then for Christmas we’re going to Australia to meet up with mum and then going to China for Chinese New Years in February. I can’t wait.~

☁️: G-Good whatever time i-it is-. I a-am currently extremely t-tired but I get a cute breakfast date with my beautiful b-boyfriend.~ 🥰 I’m not going to the party I-I’m g-going to meet u-up with my D-Dads for the r-rest of the week and catch up with them and than Grey and I have some hangouts with J-Joo planned until C-Christmas! January I s-should be g-going t-to Netherlands with the D-Dads so that should be fun. D-Do you have a-any plans f-for the holidays?!

🩵🩵: @monsterhigh-cb [🐟🤍💍 && ⚡💙 && 👻💜 && 🐺💕 && 🎤💖 && 👑💛] @evicted-oc [☕️🤎 && 🐼🖤 && 🔦💛 && 🧊🩵 && 💄🖤] @theinvitation-bot [🐭🩶💒] @welcome-to-maniac [🐇🖤 💍 && 🌻❤️ && 🌕❤️‍🔥 && 🐿️❣️] @fantasyaespa [🐈 💚💍 && ☀️🩵] @k-venturetime [🍓❣️] @multi-joong [🌧️🧡💍 && 🎨💚] @kardpackcb [🌙💝 && 🐺❤️‍🔥]

possible new residents: @faywithlove @badbf-cb @clubwnderland @domxbot @welcometosector1 @lunaaofthemoon @reve-rv @multi-esme @the-hellhounds @san-cb @jinju-oc @enhanced-cb @camboys-com @lavienrosecabaretxo @oppositesattraxt @domrachaa @hwangsiblings-oc @coffeexdreamcb @silcntxnight @moonlightchn @blogger-yura @crimson-l @thesugaredalchemists @folklore-cb @doom-bc @hearthstone-apothecary @vandalsxcb @redlight-cb @inferno-cb @damnationinc @moongoddesselene @darkloversxcb @urluvlyfe @9ateez-multiau-bot @minsour-r @jeonsoyeonn @secretscb [DM + / -]

#🔭small update!#✨jooheon.txt #🐉greyson.txt #☁️skyler.txt

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enpleurait · 1 month ago

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Musicals in Korea: Take One

The highlight (or embarrassment) of my video call with VIXX was Lee Jaehwan looking at all four musicals I went to in Korea and saying "Wow! Musical maniac!" I didn't even show him my drawer of Broadway Playbills. Actually I'm pretty sure Taekwoon imitating my dolphin squeak is peak embarrassment.

I do not have much experience with Korean musicals. I was, however, (un)fortunate enough to live by Broadway for two years and within two hours for several more. I've so far checked off 15 out of 41 Broadway theatres, and a handful of Off-Broadway theatres. I'm not a "theatre kid", so am coming at theatre as a casual enjoyer. I'd like to think I have some grasp on the pinnacle(?) of the american theatre scene, from smaller black box productions to Majestic classics and hyped up Best New Musical Tony winners.

I was blown away in Korea.

Since finding info was a pain in the rear, I'm doing a quick write-up of my experience as a non-Korean speaker before I embark on Korean Musicals: Part Two. The four musicals I saw were: 22 Years and 2 Months, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, and Ben-Hur.

- - - - - -

Some general notes on ticketing:

There are two HUGE differences from purchasing theatre tickets on Broadway (or Toronto, or West End). The first is that the cast schedule is posted ahead of time. The second is that tickets are released in batches, known as 'Ticket Open', separated several weeks apart. A third, less major, difference is that there are often several purchase sites per show, and each purchase site will have a different "block" of seats. The full-price tickets are also much cheaper than Broadway… (although I got a little spoiled and this time looked at my fifth row off-to-the-side Jesus Christ Superstar seats of ~130 CAD and went 'this is kind of expensive'.) For the most part, I bought my tickets for these shows directly from the global interpark website. The other two common sites are Melon and Yes24. Some shows that are on Interpark (korea) will not be on Interpark Global, but may be on Melon. Last year the fee was 3,000KRW but this year it seems to have become 8,000KRW on Interpark Global. This is still much more reasonable than western ticketing sites.

Example cast schedule (may only appear on Korean version of Interpark). This one is for Tebas Land which only has two characters. Unless you're really interested in seeing a particular actor, probably any cast choice is a good one.

Example seating charts for Great Comet, R&J, and Hedwig. Each site takes a 'vertical' chunk, and has all tiers available. Some seats are reserved for box office.

Example of a Ticket Open announcement with the casting schedule announced at the same time. The tickets will go on sale at 2PM on November 6, for shows between the dates of December 17th to January 5th.

- - - - -

22 Years and 2 Months - Link Arts Center, Bugs Hall, 401 seats

This was a smaller, local production, and I was lucky enough to attend Jaehwan's last performance. I failed at ticketing, but another fan helped me get a ticket! Ticketing is serious business in Korea and seats for shows for well known actors or idols can go in seconds, especially for first and last performances. Imagine trying to get tickets for, say, Aaron Tevit or Daniel Radcliffe--instead of the barrier to entry being ticket prices of 300$-700$, it's down to internet speed and fast fingers.

In some ways, it's more fair! At least scalped tickets are still much less than for English shows…

Tickets were will-call. I lined up at the box office, showed them my order number, and they gave me my ticket. I was there pretty early so went to take pictures with the cast board and look at the merchandise. Since it was the last show, several things were out of stock, but I bought a really pretty key-chain, a handkerchief(?), and a program book. The photobook and OST were only available to people who'd seen the show X number of times (five? I forget) which was kind of a bummer. Unlike many Broadway theatres, there's no bar to get an overpriced cocktail in a souvenir cup to sip on through the show.

I again have to stress that I speak zero Korean. The language barrier doesn't bother me, possibly because I was raised on a steady diet of Italian and German opera. I knew the rough gist of the story since it was based on a historical event, and had no trouble following along. The acting was phenomenal--not just the leads, but also the ensemble. No one was ever 'off'. The vocals were… everything. The set was simple, but the use of lighting and projections and sound design brought it to life.

And the sound design. Imagine not getting your ears blown out! Imagine actors enunciating! Imagine mics not cutting off, or speakers turned up to max! I didn't even need my auditory sensitivity aids! Twenty minutes in and I needed all my self-restraint not to message my friend to wax poetic on the sound design and the enunciation. I will give it to Korea that the theatres are all much, much newer, which definitely helps.

Plenty of washrooms, so no need to book it out the door to the washrooms during intermission. Merchandise booth was open during intermission as well.

Stage door seems to vary from actor to actor and show to show, especially when it comes to idols. This is the only show I 'stage door'ed for. Fans lined up behind barricades and waited for Jaehwan to come out, fansite cameras at the ready, he waved and greeted us and then got into the van and left. He seemed very tired :( Probably because he had a concert in a few days to rehearse for.

The (packaged) MD from 22 years and 2 months.

- - -

Theatres in Korea (or at least in Seoul) are completely dark on Mondays. Some shows are dark on Tuesday as well, but nothing plays on Monday. In other words, I was forced to do non-theatre things, like go to Namsan tower… What a shame.

- - -

Les Miserables - Dream Theatre, Busan, 1700 seats

I'm basic. Les Miserables is one of my favourite musicals. (In no particular order, my top three were Camelot, Phantom of the Opera, and Les Miserables). Circumstances and sheer bad luck meant I'd completely missed its Broadway run and I'd resigned myself to hopefully seeing it one day on West End.

I was initially bummed out because Les Mis closed in Seoul just before I arrived. But! Thanks to the power of public transportation! It takes less than three hours to get to Busan! Where Les Mis was playing! And so, on Wednesday, I hopped on a 7am train to Busan, ate delicious seafood, and went to the matinee performance. The ticket for a 5th row seat was 180,000 KRW with a 3,000 KRW fee.

Instead of there being one concentrated theatre district, several of the big theatres (arts centers) tend to be further out of the city center. Again, good public transit makes this a non-issue, but it is something to note.

Other than 22 years and 2 months, the other three musicals were "big" productions. While I'd never seen Les Miserables before, I had the 10th Anniversary Cast recording playing on repeat, and was probably one of the few that actually enjoyed the movie???? Either way, I had high expectations.

Tickets again were will-call, the theatre was pretty big and connected to some other things and up an elevator, but again, showed them the order confirmation, and they gave me the ticket, and off I went to wait.

Unfortunately, I met my absolute nemesis--school groups. Downside of matinee performances :( I've encountered school groups or summer camps at matinee performances on Broadway, but there were so many of them, they took up almost the entire balcony level, and, I am afraid to say, had all the decorum one might expect of a hundred or so middle/high schoolers. They laughed during 'On my own'!!!! (They weren't that bad. I just don't get along with school groups.)

Merchandise at Korean shows go HARD. None of that basic t-shirt or tote bag or magnets. Although I only ended up picking up a pin badge and a program book, mostly because I got choice paralysis and also had to schlep whatever I got back to Seoul. Playbills aren't a thing, similar to West End, but the program books are basically the most beautiful photobooks for a musical you want. They also have synopsis and cast introductions and all that standard stuff.

The tiny amount of Les Mis MD (because I was already hauling a bunch of stuff around.)

I unfortunately forgot to take pictures with the cast board for Les Mis because I was too busy avoiding the Hordes Of Children.

Honestly, I don't know what else to say about Les Mis because it surpassed my wildest imaginations, Grantaire had the best delivery of his lines in Drink With Me possible, the stability of all the actors even while moving or while lying down was incredible, and Gavroche was so hecking cute. I cried so many tears. So. So. So. Many. Tears.

I was very excited and impressed and was relaying my appreciation of technology to my friend.

And then I had just enough time to go to Spa Land and still make the last train, and that was what I did in Busan.

- - -

Ben Hur - LG Arts Centre, 1335 seats

So. Recall how my top three musicals were Les Mis, Camelot, and Phantom? I now have a new one.

Ben Hur.

Ben Hur is an original Korean musical based on a well known book with a well known movie that I did watch when young but mostly slept through. Mostly I remembered: chariots, and Jesus. Wikipedia here was a godsend.

Ben Hur, by nature, is a big production. They had real horses in the play on Broadway! (They did not have real horses here, but the horses might've been more impressive.) If I ever wanted to see any sort of stage production of Ben Hur, it was not going to be in North America. Also, my little dumpling goober was playing the titular role so an otherwise very painful decision of which cast to watch was made for me. I could not imagine this loser gamer dweeb as Judah Ben-Hur but also, he's my soft loser dumpling gamer dweeb so. Yeah. (Kyuhyun. It's Kyuhyun.)

This one I was waiting on Interpark and refreshing desperately for ticket open, and managed to get a seat in the 10th row. The ticket was 170,000 KRW with a 3,000 KRW fee. After absolutely botching two ticketing attempt, I was very thankful I got a good ticket!

Again, tickets were "will-call". IIRC, instead of a box office, they had little machines where you put in your ticket reservation number and the ticket was printed from there. There was a lot of merch, and one thing I wish I got but did not get was a pair of Ben-Hur 'opera glasses'. Yup. In Korea they still use opera glasses, and people in the same row as me were using them too. Honestly, given how emotive the actors are, I can see why you'd want a good look at their faces. In addition to the program book and some keychains, I also got postcards of the dumpling and of another actor who I really want to see some day but didn't have time to.

Anyway.

LG Arts centre is quite new and is also very big. I'm looking through old convos with a friend and I sent her this image with the caption "Broadway could never".

Look. I'm used to scouting out the bathrooms in any unfamiliar theatre so I know exactly where to bee-line to during intermission. Of course this is incredible to me.

There was no line for the bathroom during intermission.

Out of all of the musicals I saw, this one was the 'loudest'. Mostly because Ben-Hur is about the Roman occupation and there is a lot of whipping and fighting and in other words, there are many things that should be loud. But because sound design in Korea is great, there was a good volume range they could use, so even though it was 'loud' I didn't need to pull out my auditory aids at any point. Also: "if you've ever wondered what it's like to mic up opera singers, I think I'm experiencing that right now."

I mentioned this in the Les Mis section, but the stability of the actors is incredible. I expect it of the idols, who've trained extensively to sing and be stable while dancing, but wouldn't expect it of a general theatre actor. There were several sword fights and other physical altercations that the actors sang through. I've noticed on Broadway and other English productions, more physical fights tend to be split into 'action' and 'singing'-- sing the lines, do some fighting, stand and sing lines, do more fighting, etc. It's incredibly impressive to watch Valjean choking Javert with a chain, or Messala and Judah having a sword fight and singing through it all.

I did not even attempt to stage door for this. I was actually so tired that I just walked some distance away, stared at the huge crowd waiting at the door, and called a cab.

I really, really, really wished I'd bought an OST for this. It's an incredible show, and I have an ideal casting in my head that if it ever occurs, I will fly to Korea for. And I will watch it so many times. From so many seats. For as many cast rotations as I can afford.

- - -

Phantom of the Opera - Charlotte Theatre, 1200 seats

Oh man. Phantom. This was my fourth time seeing Phantom. I'd seen it three times on Broadway, with three different Phantoms, three different Christines, and three different Raouls. This was the best Christine I've ever seen. Imagine my surprise when I open the program book and all I see for her credits is one ensemble performance from the 2018 production of Elizabeth. This is the difference that classical vocal training can make. Best Raoul, best Meg, probably the best Phantom also. Absolutely best in class.

The Charlotte is gorgeous. It's new, and big, and has the loveliest staircases. There were several photo spots, including the cast board, a backdrop of petals, and a… chibi Phantom statue? It actually has fewer seats than the Majestic (1200 vs 1600) but there is actual leg room. I am so spoiled now.

Once again, the tickets were will-call. Went to the box office on the first floor, gave them my order number, got my tickets, and went to go look at the merch. Phantom has a special place in my heart for being (one of?) the first musical I ever watched live. I'd say that it's because of Phantom I became such a theatre fiend. So in addition to the program book, I ended up with a wine glass, a tote bag, two key-chains, and a magnet. (One of the keychains was for a friend!) Because of how big the Charlotte is, there were a few merchandise booths, with one on the first floor and one on an upper floor.

My ticket was in the 16th row, and was 160,000 KRW with a 3,000 KRW fee. I didn't get ticket open, and actually got it for the wrong day at first (accidentally double booked with another one) but THANKFULLY noticed fairly quickly. Korea has no cancellation fee for the first few days, and then has increasing cancellation fees to a maximum of 40%.

I learned that the trick to not crying during Phantom, is apparently to cry your eyes out at three musicals during the same week first. Which is good, because it was so emotionally impactful I would have bawled if I'd seen it first.

Set design was incredible. There are/were rumours that Phantom might return to Broadway stripped down, similar to how Chicago got stripped down--Phantom in Seoul was the opposite of that. It didn't have anything 'extra', but the set was meticulous and breathtaking, and again, I've seen this show three times already. This isn't because it's the first time I've seen the chandelier crash down from the second floor. I also appreciate Asia's dedication to pyrotechnics. Incredibly fun to see the Phantom shoot fireballs at Raul. I imagine that this would've been a pretty big fire hazard at the Majestic though, especially with how packed the seats are.

I'm not sure if there was stage door for this one, but again, even if there was, I was way too tired. Apparently I swore off three evening shows in a row after this, but looking at my calendar for the coming week, I've definitely got three days in a row of evening+matinee shows…

Phantom was the last show I saw in Korea. In the space of a week I'd been to a fanmeet and four musicals, and stayed out past 11 for 3 days in a row. I was wiped.

Not pictured: a wine glass.

Anyway. I'm about to do this again in a few weeks. The line up this time: Jesus Christ Superstar (twice), Tick Tick Boom, Lizzie, Eternity, and Tebas Land (twice). I can't wait.

#korean musicals #musicals #ben-hur #phantom of the opera #22 years and 2 months #les miserables #write-up

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pscottm · 2 months ago

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America Did This to Itself

This time, the nation was on notice. Back in 2016, those of us who supported Donald Trump at least had the excuse of not knowing how sociopathy can present itself, and we at least had the conceit of believing that the presidency was not just a man, but an institution greater than the man, with legal and traditional mechanisms to make sure he’d never go off the rails.

By 2020, after the chaos, the derangement, and the incompetence, we knew a lot better. And most other Americans did too, voting him out of office that fall. And when his criminal attempt to steal the election culminated in the violence of January 6, their judgment was vindicated.

So there was no excuse this year. We knew all we needed to know, even without the mendacious raging about Ohioans eating pets, the fantasizing about shooting journalists and arresting political opponents as “enemies of the people,” even apart from the evidence presented in courts and the convictions in one that demonstrated his abject criminality.

We knew, and have known, for years. Every American knew, or should have known. The man elected president last night is a depraved and brazen pathological liar, a shameless con man, a sociopathic criminal, a man who has no moral or social conscience, empathy, or remorse. He has no respect for the Constitution and laws he will swear to uphold, and on top of all that, he exhibits emotional and cognitive deficiencies that seem to be intensifying, and that will only make his turpitude worse. He represents everything we should aspire not to be, and everything we should teach our children not to emulate. The only hope is that he’s utterly incompetent, and even that is a double-edged sword, because his incompetence often can do as much as harm as his malevolence. His government will be filled with corrupt grifters, spiteful maniacs, and morally bankrupt sycophants, who will follow in his example and carry his directives out, because that’s who they are and want to be.

I say all of this not in anger, but in deep and profound sorrow. For centuries, the United States has been a beacon of democracy and reasoned self-government, in part because the Framers understood the dangers of demagogues and saw fit to construct a system with safeguards to keep such men from undermining it, and because our people and their leaders, out of respect for the common good and the people of this country, adhered to its rules and norms. The system was never perfect, but it inched toward its own betterment, albeit in fits and starts. But in the end, the system the Framers set up—and indeed, all constitutional regimes, however well designed—cannot protect a free people from themselves.

My own hope and belief about what would transpire last night was sadly and profoundly wrong—like many, I have the emotional and intellectual flaw, if that’s what it is, of assuming that people are wiser and more decent than they actually turn out to be. I feel chastened—distraught—about my apparently naive view of human nature.

I dare not predict the future again, particularly as it comes to elections and other forms of mass behavior. But I daresay I fear we shall see a profound degradation in the ability of this nation to govern itself rationally and fairly, with freedom and political equality under the rule of law. Because that is not actually a prediction. It’s a logical deduction based on the words and deeds of the president-elect, his enablers, and his supporters—and a long and often sorry record of human history. Let us brace ourselves.

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justinspoliticalcorner · 5 months ago

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Mark Sumner at Daily Kos:

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley announced on Tuesday that she is releasing the delegates she earned in the Republican primaries and asking them to vote for Donald Trump. This will not alter the outcome; Trump secured enough delegates to ensure his nomination months ago. But now he may be spared the distasteful distraction of hearing someone else’s name entered into nomination during his coronation next week in Milwaukee. For Haley, this is the final step down a descending staircase of self-abasement and humiliation. The move comes just over a month after Haley endorsed the man she had called “unstable and unhinged.” Which came after she suspended her campaign while refusing to endorse Trump. Which came after she lost her home state but vowed she was staying in the race. Which came after Trump threatened to blacklist Haley donors and supporters.

Now Haley’s voters, who continued to cling to her name as a symbol of their dislike for Trump even after Haley officially suspended her campaign, are finding that Haley’s tough talk about Trump has vanished. They’re getting confirmation that being a Republican in 2024 means supporting Trump. And nothing else. For months during the campaign, Haley repeatedly signaled to her voters that she was never going to get behind Trump’s run to return to the White House. In February, she declared that Trump was a “bully” who was “getting meaner and more offensive by the day.” Haley may have offered a series of proposals on foreign policy and her own plan for the economy, but most of those who voted for her simply did not care about any of that. As The Atlantic wrote in May, they voted for Haley, and continued to vote for her long after her candidacy was no longer viable, for a simple reason: “as a way to stop Donald Trump.”

[...] Haley may have talked a big game. She may have presented an almost ideal image of an anti-Trump candidate, offering traditional Republicans and Never-Trumpers the idea that the Republican Party could continue as the Republican Party, rather than as a vehicle for the worship of a single man and his maniacal campaign of vengeance and destruction. But that image proved to be as substantial as the rainbow on an oily puddle. On Tuesday, Haley stood up to that “bully,” to the “mean” and “offensive” and “unstable” and “unhinged” man who had threatened both her and her supporters, and gave her last abject surrender.

What a debased and cowardly move by Nikki Haley to release all of her delegates to Donald Trump at the RNC.

This is a far cry from the primary cycle, especially from January 2024 onwards, in which Haley brutally laid into Trump.

#2024 RNC #RNC #GOP #2024 GOP #2024 Presidential Election #2024 Elections

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blowflyfag · 1 year ago

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WRESTLING ALL STARS: Heroes and Villains : JUNE 1996

VIEW FROM RINGSIDE

By George Napolitano

[The Bodyguard for Hire and his snake share a moment with their #1 fan: Tekla Benson.]

We would like to welcome everyone to another edition of WRESTLING ALL STARS. Since our last issue there have been quite a few changes in the wrestling world. For starters on January 22 in Fresno, CA, during the WWF Royal Rumble, the bizarre Goldust defeated Razor Ramon to win the WWF Intercontinental title. The following day in Las Vegas, Nevada, during a live Nitro Tv broadcast, Macho Man Randy Savage defeated Ric Flair to regain the WCW heavyweight title. Also on the card, Lex Luger and Sting defeated Harlem Heat to win the WCW tag team title.

On January 27 in Philadelphia, PA, the Sandman’s reign in ECW came to a screeching halt when he was defeated by the mysterious Raven. Needless to say, Raven had plenty of help as the “new” Fabulous Ones (Stevie Richards and the Blue Meanie) as well as Raven’s new squeeze were at ringside to lend their support. In the Sandman's corner was his manager. Woman. After the title loss, Woman took the microphone and asked the Sandman to join her in WCW. The Sandman looked around and hesitated for a moment. Then Too Cold Scorpio joined him in the ring. Now Woman offered to take the both of them to WCW just when it looked like they were going to accept her offer, they flatly refused and said they were never going to leave ECW.

[Woman looks to be headed for WCW. Will she take any of her ECW talent with her?]

[Woman was in Sandman’s corner when he lost the ECW belt to Raven. Are their days together over?]

[Woman asked this man, Too-Cold Scorpio, if he wanted to come with her to WCW. Been there, done that, Scorpio replied, declining.]

In Las Vegas, at the WCW Clash of the Champions, Hulk Hogan and the Macho Man had two special guests at Ringside during their tag team battle against Ric Flair and the Giant. One was Kevin Green from the AFC Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, and the other was the former manager of the “Mega-Maniacs,” the lovely Miss Elizabeth. With Savage’s ego as big as it is you can bet that soon he will get jealous that his ex-wife, the lovely Elizabeth, is spending so much time with Hogan.

[Diesel and Lawrence Taylor at last year’s Wrestlemania press conference. It hardly feels a year has passed since LT made his spectacular WWF debut against Bam Bam Bigelow.]

The following week in Canton, OH after a Monday Night Nitro match between Ric Flair and the Hulkster, it certainly looked as if the Macho Man’s jealous rage was starting to burn! While Flair and Hogan battled toe to toe inside the ring, Jimmy Hart ran over to the other side and attacked Elizabeth. As soon as Hart grabbed Elizabeth, Arn Anderson immediately tossed his shoe into the ring toward Flair.

Grabbing the show by the heels, Flair pounded right into Hulk Hogan’s eye! Flair then rolled Hogan over and pinned him in center ring! After the verdict was rendered, a bloodied Hogan rolled out of the ring and fell straight to the floor bleeding profusely from his eye. Elizabeth immediately ran over to try and comfort him, but as soon as she did the Macho Man pushed her away. Elizabeth didn’t know what to do, but she continued to kneel next to the fallen Hulkster. Finally Savage helped Hogan up and led him to the dressing room. Do you think that the Macho Man was jealous that Elizabeth was there to help the Hulk?

Oooh..Yeah!

As far as the tag team title is concerned, you know that eventually Sting and Luger will have a major falling out. Luger is still very much a part of the Dungeon of Doom, while his partner, Sting, hates everyone else in that infamous group. It’s only a matter of time before their team is blown to smithereens!

[The Stinger is one-half of the WCW tag team champs, with Lex Luger. But Sting and Lex have not been seeing eye to eye as of late. How much longer can they work together as a team?]

While we are on the subject of tg teams, we must acknowledge that the awesome Road Warriors have reunited after a three-year layoff. Before Animal’s back injury caused the team to dissolve, the Legion of Doom (as they were then known) were the premier tag team in their sport. Now that they are back, the Road Warriors are determined to regain their rightful place at the top of the tag team empire.

Razor Ramon is livid! Ramon can’t believe that he lost the Intercontinental belt to Goldust. Although Goldust had expert coaching from the sidelines from his “Director” Marlene, it was Goldust who applied the finishing touches inside the ring. NOW that Goldust has the gold Intercontinental belt strapped securely around his waist, it’s not going to be easy prying it off of him.

By winning the Royal Rumble for the second year in a row, Shawn Michaels earned the right to face the WWF champion at Wrestlemania XII in Anaheim, CA.

[Here’s a pair of partners who aren't getting along: “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan.]

At the WWF Royal Rumble, the awesome Vader really made his presence felt in a very big way, but that pales in comparison to what he did the following night on Raw. After easily finishing off his opponent, Vader continued to apply his deadly Vader Bomb from the top rope. After witnessing several Vader bombs in paid succession, interim acting president Gorilla Monsoon came to ringside to try to stop the unstoppable Vader. After failing in his attempt to stop Vader, Monsoon grabbed the microphone and said that Vader was indefinitely suspended for his actions. Hearing this, Vader flew into a rage and immediately attacked the President. Sonn Monsoon found himself on the receiving end of several Vader Bombs. Eventually Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels ran into the ring to try and stop Vader, but by the time help arrived the damage had already been done. Within minutes Monsoon was taken by ambulance to a local hospital to have his injuries treated. With Monsoon out of commission the WWF has named “Rowdy” Roddy Piper as its new president!

[Eddy Guererro has made a smooth transition between ECW and WCW. He still maintains a lot of his AAA (Mexican) style, however.]

Former ECW champion Shane Douglas is back after a short and unsuccessful stint in the WWF. While in the WWF Douglas called himself “Dean'' Douglas and critiqued the other wrestlers’ performances in the ring. Although Douglas talked a good game, he just couldn’t produce in the WWF. Whether he will regain the form that made him a star in the WCW still remains to be seen.

Henry Godwinn has brought his cousin Phinneas T. Godwinn to the WWF, and they are being managed by the original country boy, Hillbilly Jim. When Hillbilly Jim was going strong he had several family members with him yoo. Hillbilly’s family consisted of his Uncle Elmer, Cousin Junior and Cousin Luke. Old time fans will recall that Uncle Elmer was even married in center ring at the Meadowlands Arena in New Jersey. But that wasn’t the first WWF wedding. That distinction goes to Butcher Vachon who got hitched on a Saturday Night Live segment during the glory days of WWF. The other WWF wedding was the marriage of Macho Man Randy Savage and his lovely valet, Miss Elizabeth, at SummerSlam in Madison Square Garden. Today, as we know, these two are back together again, but they are no longer married–as their marriage ended in a bitter divorce.

[Bret Hart with belt. Will the Heartbreak Kid be his Wrestlemania opponent?]There has been quite a bit of talk in the wrestling world about the controversial “Billionaire Ted” skits with the “Huckster,” “The Nacho Man” and “Scam Gene” which have been appearing on the WWF telecasts. The skits poke fun at WCW Head Ted Turner and ex-WWF stars Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Savage, and Gene Okerlund. Actually the skits are very funny, but unfortunately WCW doesn’t think so. Now WCW has threatened the WWF with legal action if they continue to air the “Billionaire Ted” skits. The war between WCW and the WWF has really heated up, and it’s obvious that the war is only going to intensify in nature in the next couple of months. That’s all for now. See you at ringside!

#magazine scan #magazine transcript #wwf #world wrestling federation #wcw #world championship wrestling #Ecw #extreme championship wrestling #WRESTLING ALL STARS: Heroes and Villains #WRESTLING ALL STARS: Heroes and Villains 1990s #1996 #1990s

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flaylore · 7 months ago

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MACHIROON APPRECIATION DAY

"If our world is fake and your world is real what actually is the truth? What is a lie? Are you able to answer that for me? You’re not. Then let me ask you this, do you choose reality or a falsehood, or rather a truth or a lie?"

Machiroon Appreciation Day and New Outfit stream, released on January 20th 2023, is Flayon's 2nd outfit debut. Flayon also dedicated this stream to show his appreciation to Machiroons. It is the 7th stream that shows a more in-depth look into the hidden dynamic between the two people fighting control over his body.

Summary:

Before the intro screen cuts away, there’s a short glitch that happens before cutting to the guild hall

Flayon appears on a blue projection explaining what’ll happen during the stream

The reason for the new outfit is because the Elysium government says Flayon needs to go on a sort of vacation due to his energy output for the R-TRUS getting “out of control” (5:14)

More importantly, Flayon doesn't know why

The Elysium government told him to find ways to express himself, so he dug up an old outfit

Had some gifts delivered from his family to his guild room (6:03)

Another short glitch happens before cutting to Flayon’s guild room (supposedly, see 6:39), a photo portrait lying on the ground near his bed

Soft grunting can be heard, followed by more short glitches once Flayon’s projection appears on at the top right corner (7:14)

Following this is a sudden change in music, followed by more glitching

Upon picking up the portrait shows a younger version of Flayon from his childhood, looking notably different

His eyes are a blank, tinted shade of pink. His expression looks blank and emotionless

Flayon begins to hyperventilate, grunting and shouting in pain as the glitching worsens. He begins to repeat frantically:

“Stop..! I’m Flayon.. I’m Flayon—! I’M FLAYON!!” (8:35)

The background changes (looks like a forest, maybe somewhere abandoned..?), a glitchy figure of Flayon appearing in front asking where he is and that it’s cold

He asks who he is, soon disregarding the previous statement saying “it doesn’t matter”. After all, it/he can’t be explained (10:09)

The screen glitches again, a very faint image appearing once it disappears. Looks like a younger version Flayon again, this time with bright, blank, red eyes and a small smile (10:25)

The figure begins shouting “I hate you!” repeatedly in a fit of rage before the screen flickers again

Another image of younger Flayon appears, his eyes and smile more lifelike than the previous two

The figure starts laughing, soon asking “why me?” and that this “isn’t what he wanted”. He begins to apologize, asking someone to “forgive him already” (11:08)

Frantic apologies continue, now asking to stop hitting him as he was “doing it for you”

A question pops up on the screen: “Who Am I?”, followed by two choices: “Machina” or “Flayon”; the poll eventually ends with “Flayon” winning

While the chat answers the figure continues to talk frantically, asking to help him and saying it isn’t fair how “you get to enjoy it”

A second question appears: “Did I do something wrong?” the choices are “Yes” or “No” respectively; “No” wins

💬: “He didn’t do anything wrong” [laughter] “Liar. You’re a liar. You don’t know what he did. He took away everything from me.”

The figure gets upset and accuses us of lying, the screen glitches longer than usual. When it ends, the background switches to the inside of a subway train as Flayon’s outfit slowly reveals itself (16:19)

“The corruption. It’s… It’s… right. That’s who I am, no one else. There’s no one. There’s no other man.” (16:55)

Third question: “Is it wrong to hurt yourself?” the choices are as followed: “Yes” and “Yes?”; the poll ends with “Yes” winning, though suddenly changed to “NO”

The figure begins to laugh maniacally, repeating it’s not wrong

“Why did it have to be you? You piss me off. …help me.” (19:15) “It doesn’t matter. And then no one would miss you. No one missed me, anyways. Nobody can even tell the difference. If people can’t tell you’re different, do they even care? All people care about are themselves, right?” (20:17)

Fourth question: “Do you love me?” the choices are: “. . .” and “No”; the poll ending with “No” winning

“Of course you don’t. You don’t even know me. You’re so quick to replace me… that’s all you care about.”

Figure recalls that he was getting ready for the guild, saying “he” doesn’t appreciate his friends

A final question: “Who am I?” the choices are: “X” or “Neither”; the poll ends with “X” winning

The glitching ends, revealing Flayon (?)

“That’s it… I’m Flayon, no one else.” (28:40)

The lighting darkens, revealing his swirly eyes

“I think… you’ve been here long enough. You can clear the corruption as much as you want. This is my body, okay? So go. Away. Stick to your little league friends in the guild, and they’ll care of you.” (29:15)

Laughter ensues, followed by more glitching until we’ve returned to the inside of the R-TRUS, Flayon in his new outfit appearing in front of us

Explains his outfit is from when he attended “a school for geniuses”, claiming he always had it (33:12)

SOMETHING OF NOTE. Flayon says “I guess I wasn’t the best…” before the screen glitches slightly, with him correcting himself and saying “No, I was! I was a very good student; a genius.”

“Well, nobody really paid attention to me, so… But that’s what happens when you don’t make good grades, right?” (33:34)

His outfit came from the Elite Elysium Academy

SOMETHING OF NOTE: the screen glitches but for a small moment you can see Flayon’s eyes switch to swirly eyes at 43:03. You can properly see them if you pause correctly at 43:04, but i’ll link the image HERE.

“After all, they’re my clothes.”

The screen glitches when he says this, swirly eyes clearer to see and present for a moment before Flayon switches back to normal (44:06)

Talking about his haircut…

“It reminds me of when I was young, I think. But, I can’t exactly remember what—” (46:24)

Nothing else of note besides the new ending screen… you can see Flayon and a Machiroon walking through a snowy forest of some kind with X somewhat transparent in the background

However, some distorted audio in the background can be heard at 1:06:1

#machina x flayon #holostars #holotempus #flaylore #2024 #summary

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historyhermann · 2 years ago

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Metal Family Review

In recent years, there has been an increase in indie animations, including on platforms such as YouTube. One of those series is the musical-themed Russian mature animation series, Metal Family.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs, my History Hermann WordPress blog on Jan. 19, 2023, and Wayback Machine. This was the eighth article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on January 8, 2022.

The action-adventure and drama series focuses on a Russian family of metal fans, each with their own personalities: there are Victoria and Glam, two metalheads in love with one another, and they have two children, Heavy and Dee. It follows the creative ways that the family deals with problems every day and manifests various tropes. Dee is 15 years old and Heavy is 13. Victoria is 37 and Glam is 39-40.

The series has a number of interesting small details that sets it apart from other animation series. For example, the opening of each episode begins with the character, or characters, hanging up their key, with the way each character hangs up their key a specific reflection of their personalities. There are also various pop culture references throughout the series to bands such as Metallica, System of a Down, Black Sabbath, Bon Jovi, and Led Zeppelin. Unlike some other series, this show takes place in a blurred world, without any specific location.

Metal Family does not shy away from mature topics. Victoria often drinks and smokes, while her husband, Glam, does not. She even gambles. The last part of the first season focuses on Glam Shvagenbagen’s troubled childhood going to a music conservatory. He meets a friend named Ches/ Chive who introduced him to Twisted Sister, heavy metal music, and gives him his current nickname. He leaves home for good after living with his abusive father, Gustav. Leaving his past behind, he chooses to be part of the “rabble” as his father puts it. He finds a family for himself in music and in the companionship of Victoria.

The show plays with the idea of a “strong man” defending a “weak” woman. In this series, Glam is diminutive but nasty in a polite way while Victoria is buff and brash. She is not afraid to throw a person out of a window or punch a hole through a wall, if warranted. Glam is more calculating and can solve problems by using his mind. Victoria likes to smash things apart – as she does in an escape room in an episode. She is a little like Princess Bean in Disenchantment, an alcoholic, and Harley Quinn in the series of the same name, who carries around a baseball bat which she uses to protect herself, those she cares about, and fight for what she believes is right.

The series is produced by a small team and is created by Alina Kovaleva. Xydownik co-directed the series with Kovaleva. Both work as series animators. According to the fandom site for the series, Koveleva works on the series full-time, using Adobe Animate CC. It took over two years to create the show’s first season. Alexey Khrapov worked in the show’s sound department. Alexey Vasilevsky composed original music, apart from the show’s other music. Karin Karimova worked as a violinist, Daniyl Yakovenko as a music consultant, and Luis Rojas as a guitar soloist.

The Russian voice actors have been consistent. Blin voices Glam and Dee. Roman Volkov voices Gustav and Xydownik voices Heavy. Kovaleva voiced a Youtube Instructor in a 2021 episode as well as Victoria. Xydownik also voices Ches in two episodes, along with characters like Rowd and the Conservatory Dean. Flynn The VA voices Drusilla. There’s also a background character named Celestie, and therapist Dr. Hans.

The English dub introduced new voice actors, including Elliot Cancel as Chive / Ches, Randolph Castellanos as Dee, Lydia Shvagenbagen, and Richard Armstrong, Hoctor as Gustav, London Hartman as Heavy, Kylie Ann as Mary Shvagenbagen, Ry Harte as Glam, and Chiari Queen as Victoria. Hoctor also voices biker gang member Bug, Ann voices Anna, a cynical radical feminist.

The series first aired on September 13, 2018, released in Russian, with English subtitles added after its release, ending its run in 2020. The pilot episode was also a music video sung by Avantasia, is entitled “The Story ain’t Over.” Since February 2021, an English dub of the episodes has been released on a separate YouTube channel, with a hilarious 3-minute trailer for the release of the English dub. Through 2021, the 10-episode first season aired on YouTube and the second season began in late December 2021. Oksana Gunchenko helped translate and adapt the episodes of the series.

The series has been positively received by fans, with over 140 fan fics on Archive of Our Own, garnering hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube, and has high rankings on IMDB. Hundreds of thousands more follow a fan site for the show on the Russian language social media platform, VK. This is impressive for a series with relatively new voice actors, with this series as their first big roles, and even for animators. A few are involved in other indie animated projects, like Kylie Ann as an animator on Legends of Myiorda, an anime/cartoon series. Some previously worked on Russian language productions.

Updates about the series are shared on Xydownik’s Russian-language YouTube channel, the Instagram account of Kovaleva, a channel on Telegram, and Kovaleva’s VK account. Like Helluva Boss, Heavy, one of the show’s characters, has an official Instagram account, posting candid photos from his life. This encourages people to be more deeply invested in the show. There’s even an official store to buy merchandise and items related to the show.

The voice acting and animation of Metal Family were intriguing. The story kept me watching the episodes and I say this as as a person who likes listening to metalheads like Caleb Hyles and the band Twisted Sister. The characters were complex enough and were not stereotypes which made me excited about what is going to come next. In the end, I’d highly recommend this series, especially for those who like badass characters, music, and compelling stories.

Metal Family is available on YouTube.

#metal family #indie animation #youtube #heavy metal #metalheads #harley quinn #disenchantment #princess bean #alcoholism #imdb #fan fics #ao3

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vanillagalaxiez · 10 months ago

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Fandom: Pit Babe

Name: A Trusting Fool

Pairing: Winner/Kim

Tags: Hurt/Comfort | Developing Feelings

Date: 22nd January 2024

Blurb: After Kim gets locked up by Tony’s men, Winner shows up in the room Kim is kept in to mock him. However, something changes, and to Kim's surprise, instead of the mock laughter he expects, Winner takes him away and promises to take care of him instead.

❤️

A part of Kim regretted coming to confront Tony, the man who seemed hellbent on wanting Babe for some reason, the man who trafficked children on the black market—and the man who would undoubtedly slit his throat and sell his organs in the foreseeing future. Yet he believed he did the right thing, in a foolish way; nonetheless, his heart was set in the right place.

Kim sighed. What a pathetic display he so happened to be.

As the icy concrete floor seeped into his back, he opened his eyes for the first time since Tony’s men gave him a beating, and this time a pitiful whine left his split lips. He was going to die there, in a foreign country—they would probably throw what was left of him in the sewer when they were done. Kim wasn’t a crier; he never had been, and yet he couldn’t stop the tears from welling into his eyes and down his face.

Soon, a piping ache squeezed Kim’s stomach from where the men had punched and kicked him, and he whined again, instinctively reaching to wrap his arms over himself. However, it was then that the realization washed over him that his arms were tied tightly by ropes behind his back. His ankles were also tied so tight that he couldn’t move, not that he would; the pain was unbearable. His eyes barely opened, and when he opened his mouth to shout for help (which might be a stupid thing to do), his jaw silently screamed—he could barely speak. He couldn’t breathe, either, and every part of his body ached in ways indescribable and unimaginable, in ways he had never experienced before.

When the door to this holding cell, which Kim supposed was what it was, opened with a loud bang and heavy footsteps entered, his body subconsciously closed in on itself, and goosebumps swept across him from head to toe, and it wasn’t because he felt cold—quite the opposite.

He knew what was coming.

Tony’s men were there to kill him. Would he scream and beg for mercy? He never thought of himself as a coward, and yet, there he was, with eyes tightly shut, contemplating ways he could barter his way out of this messed up situation he was in. It might’ve had something to do with what happened earlier, he supposed. After one of Tony's men had put a knife to his neck this morning, the touch of the cold metal still clung to his skin, so, like a weeping coward, he was afraid of it slicing through his neck.

“Well, well, well, look who we have here.”

That voice—Kim knew that voice—he despised it with every core of his being.

It was Winner. What was he doing there? Was he there to help him? They might not tolerate each other; they were still teammates, though. Did Winner come looking for him?

With great difficulty, Kim opened his eyes with relief, only to stare up at Winner, who hovered above him like a creeping maniac—with laughing eyes and a mocking smile.

Something seemed wrong, Kim believed. Winner did not seem the least bit concerned about his predicament; he seemed rather joyful, like he was enjoying the beaten-up state Kim was in, the bruised face and sprained ankle, his torn clothes, and his exposed weaknesses.

He watched with cautious eyes as Winner approached before stooping down next to him; that menacing look on his face never faltered.

“Look at you,” Winner said, gently brushing the sweat-soaked fringe from Kim’s forehead before he slapped him across the face before gripping his throat, causing a shocked gasp to leave Kim's mouth. Winner did not squeeze; the threat of him crushing Kim's windpipe still lingered, though. Winner added, “Not so tough now, are you? Where did all that mouth go?" And then he burst into a fit of laughter. “I can’t wait to watch them cut your throat. Maybe I should do it myself.”

So Winner was also working with Tony? It figured— a man like him was a selfish bastard after all .

Kim stared hard at him, a deep frown on his pained face and hurt in his eyes. He wanted to fight—scream, put his fist down Winner’s throat. And he would’ve done just that, too. However, when another sudden pain clung to his stomach, his eyes spilled tears, and his mouth opened, and a pitiful whine escaped it—something soft and helpless, something strange even to his own ears—like a wounded puppy, perhaps.

Winner's eyebrows furrowed into a curious frown, and Kim thought that maybe he—

Suddenly, Winner let go of his throat, only to grip Kim by the jaw in a tight squeeze and grit, “You think I will feel sorry for you?”

Kim didn’t know what Winner was talking about. He was in pain, bleeding, wounded, thirsty, and hungry—he didn’t give a shit what Winner thought. For all he knew, the bastard was there to make cheap jokes out of him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he answered with a distressed gasp when Winner's fingers sank into his cheeks. "You had your laugh. Just… Just go away.”

“I told you not to meddle with affairs that don’t involve you,” Winner said, and he said it so quietly, it was like he was talking to himself. Then he looked at Kim with mean and angry eyes and added, “You deserve this, you know that? You should’ve gone back to Korea when I told you to.”

Kim let out another pained whine when he attempted to move away from Winner. He didn’t need this—he didn’t need to be told he was a fool for wanting to do good, and he certainly didn’t need to see Winner laugh at him, mock him, torment him with words, and possibly with other things when the time came. He couldn’t move, though, so he let out a frustrated sound that ended up being a whimper.

A moment later, when Kim realized it was pointless to move away or do anything, his shoulders slumped in defeat, and he asked through tears and a choked-back sob. “Why do you hate me so much?”

Because why did Winner hate him? He never got an answer, not that he ever asked, either.

Winner seemed taken aback by this question, yet he answered, “I don’t hate you; I just don’t like you.”

What a childish thing to say. If Kim had functional eyes, he would’ve rolled them so far back that they might permanently disappear at the back of his head. He also found it funny, though.

“Why did you come here?” Winner suddenly asked, more serious than before.

“I want to confront Tony,” Kim answered with a tremble in his voice. “I saw what he did to Babe... I don’t. I wanted to do something.”

“You’re a fool.”

Kim didn’t want to admit it, but Winner was right: He was a bloody fool.

“I know.”

A moment passed by, perhaps three minutes or four, and Kim’s eyes went shut once more. Despite this, he felt Winner’s gaze on him. He had expected Winner would probably hit him, maybe a stomp or two—definitely more insults. However, when he got closer and Kim’s body stiffened, preparing for a damning beating, what happened next was something other than what he had expected—something strange. With careful consideration, Winner’s arms were on him, and he hoisted Kim up like he weighed nothing in a bridal style, and he whispered, “I will take care of you... Everything will be fine. You just need to behave and not cause me any trouble.”

Kim groaned deeply the second he left the floor and went into Winner’s arms, where he unknowingly allowed his body to curl into the other man’s embrace, pressing against his chest. “What are you talking about?” He asked in a whispered tone. He knew that he appeared fragile and helpless, like something that needed protecting, and he wondered, Why wasn’t Winner taunting him?

Winner said nothing; however, when they arrived by the open door, he stopped and looked down at Kim for a minute—into his eyes like they were lovers—and said, “I won’t let anyone hurt you, Kim.”

When Winner started walking again—out the door and down the hallway—Kim couldn’t stop himself from staring at the other man’s face the whole time, and gradually, his eyes softened because, strangely enough, he believed Winner’s words; he believed the man wouldn’t let anyone hurt him. What a fool he was to put his trust in a man who disliked him from the very beginning, because, obviously, Winner was lying.

Kim felt his eyes grow weary, so he closed them.

It seemed that Winner was right; Kim was a fool—the biggest of fools.

#pit babe fanfic #pit babe the series #pitbabeedit #pit babe bl #pit babe kim #pit babe winner

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ravenloftian · 6 months ago

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Innocence Corrupted

January 22, Y357 Game Session 6/21/2024

The party leaves Vallaki on horseback, heading toward Krezk on the Old Svalich Road. Enormous trees crowd the path, their massive trunks resembling the columns of a temple for fell beasts. Except for the tread of their horses' hooves, the dusky air is smothered in silence. Sometime in the afternoon, the light flees as if an impenetrable cloud has engulfed the sun. It is dark as night for a few seconds. Then the daylight returns, grayer, and a strange breeze suddenly moans through the wintry, snowy forest.

They look to the ground to check their bearings, but the road seems to have vanished. The breeze has turned into a chill wind, and its moan deepens. Upon the wind, the party hears the unmistakable screams of a small child nearby. Quickly, the party moves to investigate. The cries pierce like a beacon through the forest, growing stronger and clearer as they thread their way through the maze of trees. After passing a few more trees, a clearing opens.

There, framed between the ponderous trunks of two ancient trees, stands a small girl. Beyond her trembling silhouette, an enormous tree pitches maniacally from side to side as though caught in some otherworldly gale. As they draw near, they see that the tree's branches do not move with the randomness of wind but instead with calculating and sentient evil. Even the brawny roots stir, pulling from the stony ground, lashing out across the clearing, and sinking down again.

Then, they catch sight of the body of a man, snagged among the higher boughs and seeming to writhe in a futile struggle to break free. The party conquers their fear and rushes in to try to help the man and simultaneously shield the girl. Upon seeing the tree tear the man apart and eat him whole, the party flees for their lives with the little girl in tow.

After escaping, they finally get a good look at the child. She is about seven years old, with bronze-colored hair that emerges from beneath a frilly hat and flows smoothly to her shoulder blades. An aristocratic beauty hovers elusively about her even though her eyes are wide with fear, and she is shaking all over. Her complexion is pale and smooth, and her eyes are a deep azure. She wears a long box coat of fine red wool with brass buttons and a stand-up collar. From under the cuffs and collar protrudes a finely embroidered sateen waist shirt. Upon her hands are silk gloves. She holds a torch in one hand, and in the other, she has a doll in a lacy dress. The girl's walking skirt is made of royal blue wool and wears thick stockings and high-button boots.

In addition to her understandable terror, the party notices a marked sadness that haunts the child's features—a sadness that seems to extend beyond the terror of what she has just seen.

The child becomes insistent that the party light her torch, even if the party carries other light sources. She says that fire will keep her safe from the bad things. When the characters ask her name, she tells them she is Elenia Windalla. And when asked how she came to be in such a predicament, tremors of fear and distress play across her smooth face, and horrible images seem to stream past her eyes, like the reflection of racing storm clouds. At length, the child gathers her strength and begins to speak:

“Mother and father were poisoned and Uncle Dory came to take me away but he said we have to go through the bad woods and he says if we have fire we’ll be safe but the bad things didn’t come at us for one whole day so Uncle Dory says we’ll use torches only at night but then the tree started moving and grabbed him and now who will take care of me in the bad woods?”

Elenia then begs the party to escort her through the woods to her uncle’s house. She is all alone and will surely be killed in the woods unless someone protects her. When she doesn't cease crying, the party agrees and begins to trek toward the girl's house.

As they do so, night begins to descend, and they stop to make camp.

Something huge and shapeless shifts in the shadows beyond the ring of trees. Though the breeze is gentle, you hear the unmistakable sound of branches crunching and striking against each other. The child screams and begins to mutter frantically.

“Need fire! Need fire!”

The child begins to gather more wood, piling it on the flames. Frightened, she tries to convince the party, “We’ll be safe if we have fire!”

Val uses his bag of endless dowels to make a gigantic bonfire much to the girl's delight. As the flames leap up, casting fiendish shadows upon the trees, the motion beyond the clearing ceases. Then comes a slow, grating sound as though an enormous monster is backing away.

They go to bed after supping on rations and establishing a watch order.

Elenia settles down in Gray's tent.

That night, all those who are asleep have vivid dreams except Gray. All discuss these dreams with each other at some point.

Val's Dream:

As you sleep, your mind cycles through phantoms and fragments of your recent adventures-battles and monsters, darkness and dawn-shreds of sensations tumbling like leaves through your mind. Then a tide of fear slowly seeps over the whirling memories, fear darker than night. The terror congeals, black and hard, into a depthless, suffocating night. Then hope slices through the black terror. You feel you may go blind staring at it, but it is too beautiful to tear your eyes away. As you gaze deeper into the radiant hope, you see that Elenia is its source.

Percival's Dream:

You dream you are flying. Above you hangs the blue vault of the heavens, and below you drift mountainous clouds on a continent of air. Not by wings or magic do you fly, but by holding to the hand of a child. Elenia soars beside you, lending power to your flight. She smiles at you, her eyes filled with joy and hope. Then something goes terribly wrong. Elenia is pitching unsteadily. A stream of crimson issues from her back. You spot an arrow that has shot through her. Suddenly you are plummeting, and the sky and the world below turn to blackness.

Brother Andrei's Dream:

You dream that you are falling from a cliff. The rocky face tears your body apart as you tumble hopelessly downward. When you smash into the ground, you are merely a broken pile of bones and flesh. Yet you live, and you suddenly have to wonder if you cannot die. The merciless sun pounding down on you is abruptly eclipsed. It is Elenia, leaning over your broken form, laying her hands upon your wounds. You feel life-energy course like fire into your frame. Gashes close, broken bones fuse, and the terror and pain in your mind turn to joy. You are whole again-whole as you never have been before.

Cedric's Dream:

Elenia appears in a deep woodland. You see that her heart is black as coal, and she knows you know her secret. The child-guise she wears peels away. Beneath the innocent exterior, she is a withered, craggy sorceress of evil. Her fingertips are black with poison and her clawlike nails are sharp as daggers. She swipes viciously at you. Her claws sink in deeply. You feel the poison seep into your blood. All goes dark. In the final ebb of your dying mind, you realize that Elenia must die! Elenia must die . . . must die. . . must die. . . .

When it is Cedric's turn to watch, he confesses a terrible nightmare and is convinced the child is evil. "She must die," he tells Percival. "She is evil and came to me in a dream."

Percival is shocked by his cousin's accusations over a nightmare and tells him not to do anything stupid. Cedric snaps out of it and agrees. "Of course, cousin. It was just a dream. I would never harm a defenseless child. Rest, all will be well."

The following morning dawns cold and damp. As the party stretch their aching muscles and gather their provisions, they notice great troughs and scars on the ground around the edge of the camp. From the massive disruption of soil, they can see that at least one evil treant circled the camp a few times during the night. Elenia stands in the midst of the camp, gazing up toward the canopy of leaves. At length, she announces to no one in particular, “Uncle Dory said go toward the dawn.”

Brother Andrei casts Augury to try to get a sign for the course of action they should take in the near future, but after the spell is cast he is more confused than ever. He sees a raven and a dove fly in circles, sometimes clashing mid-air and other times flying in harmony. Their movements create a sense of tension and unease.

Though the party cannot see the sun because of the thick fog, they can tell that dawn has come in the direction the little girl is pointing.

And so the journey continues with Elenia seated atop Gray's horse.

All through the morning, the child leads the party through the dark and rambling wood. She insists upon carrying a torch, and looks to every side for more attacks, but none come.

By noon, you reach a narrow road. A stone’s throw down the road, the adventurers see a Vistani wagon. Its canary-yellow wheels and cherry-red sideboards starkly contrast the oppressive white of the wintry forest. Outside the vardo sits a gnarled woman draped in a ratty but colorful shawl. She motions for the party to approach.

Val, Percival, Cedric, and Brother Andrei approach against Elenia's wishes to stay away from gypsies.

The old woman opens her hand and says, "Greetings travelers, I am Madamme Ragnyn, two silvers, I will read your collective fortune. Come inside, take a seat."

Val agrees, and the party enters the wagon and sits down.

Despite the cheerful colors and cleanness of the wagon’s exterior, the interior feels cramped and cluttered. It carries the weary smell of a place that serves as a bedroom, kitchen, parlor, and transport. The bent old woman moves through the wagon with a surprising deftness that bespeaks a lifetime of such confinement. She arranges small crates and rickety stools, enough for the party and herself then settles like a vulture upon a low seat. She produces a small crystal ball from her robes, then sets a piercing eye upon them. She puts her hand out, palm up.

Val hands her the money, and the reading begins.

The old gypsy woman leans laboriously into her task, her craggy hands caressing the clear crystal with amazing delicacy. The glass ball seems to be another eye for her. Although the crystal does not glow, you suddenly realize that the room has become unsettlingly dark. Then the crone’s voice rings out:

"Much darkness...much darkness...one among you is deceived...one among you thinks to do the right thing, but does evil...one among you, though good once and kind has been turned to great evil by this land...one among you must be slain to save the others..."

The reading is interrupted by the shrill shriek of a horrified child from outside the wagon. The crone leaps up, jostling her crystal ball, and rushes for the door. Glaring daylight spills into the dark wagon as the Vistani woman rushes out.

As the party ventures outside, they see the child scream in fear as she tries to scramble up a tree. From the brambles below, four black forms suddenly surge. They are wolves, snarling and drooling. They reach the tree's base in moments, carefully skirting the girl's torch, and leap at the screaming girl. One catches hold of her dress and for a moment she loses her hold on the tree branches and slips down. She shrieks in terror as another set of slavering jowls clamps brutally on her dress.

Gray's arrows deflect the attention from the girl, and the wolves quickly turn and head for the horses.

Two of them latch on to Brother Andrei's horse, and another two onto Percival's.

During the melee with the wolves, a familiar yet unexpected figure appears. Priestess and Dawnslayer Daciana emerges from the wood, her quarterstaff twirling, and smacks one of the wolves dead. Cedric gives her a quick greeting and returns to the fight.

Within moments, the Vistani woman packs her wagon and leaves, disappearing in the thick fog.

The wolves are quickly dispatched, but the mystery of their appearance deepens when they vanish into thin air.

When the battle is over, Daciana introduces herself as a cleric of the Morninglord. She has been sent from Vallaki to find the party with urgent news for Brother Andrei. The Vossmeyers sent an urgent message via raven to the temple in Lunamire, begging Andrei to come to the town of Barovia, where they are now based. His younger sister has fallen ill and needs his help.

Since the road is still nowhere to be found, Brother Andrei continues the journey with his fellows.

The party follows the girl's lead through the forest with no end in sight. When night approaches, Val begins to search for a suitable camp. He thinks he finds the perfect place–a large fallen log, but upon hitting it with his sword to make sure it's dead, the grumbling grinding sound coming from the woods makes him reassess. Val now has a healthy fear of killer trees.

As they settle down for the evening, Elenia is kept busy with the dowel bag. Brother Andrei questions her and finds out she was orphaned and now lives with her aunt and uncle in the forest. Her uncle is a lumberjack (and he's OK!), and they were headed to Vallaki to get some grain. Daciana questions the story, seeing how the girl is dressed like an aristocrat. Elenia shrugs and says she always wears her best to town.

That night, the party doubles up on the watches. Elenia takes Daciana's hand and insists on sleeping in her tent. Once inside, she tries to kiss the woman, but Daciana refuses.

As everyone falls asleep, the nightmares begin.

During the watch, Percival and Cedric suddenly feel a terrible weakness come over them. Even lifting a tea kettle becomes difficult. They are figuring it out when, out of nowhere, Elenia's doll leaps at them from the darkness. The infernal thing bites Percival's neck, ripping out a chunk of flesh. Both paladins begin to scream and scramble, but their screams fall on deaf ears. Sapped of all strength, they lose their battle with the doll golem.

The first to wake is Gray who arms himself with a burning faggot and attacks the thing. Then, slowly, the camp wakens to a pitched battle. Daciana stumbles out of her tent dizzy and out of sorts and proceeds to try to heal Percival.

Cedric is bitten by the doll and finds the whole situation hilariously funny. A few moments later, he is doubled over in unnatural spasms of laughter that seem to be taking a terrible toll on him. At last Brother Andrei and Val awaken. Andrei casts Dispel Magic, ending Cedric's torture, while Val overpowers the doll and pins it beneath him.

At this point, Elenia flies out of the tent, screaming to leave her dolly alone, and throws herself on top of Val. As she squeezes him with phenomenal superhuman strength, Val begins to turn blue from lack of oxygen. "She's not a little girl!" he cries. "Kill her."

Though she holds Val in a vicelike grip, her voice is still soft, loving, and childlike. “Why are you struggling? I love you! Why do you hate me so? I just want to be your daughter. I just want us to be happy together. Swear you will stay with me, love me and will never leave me, and I will let you go.”

"Kill the bitch!" screams Val.

Several party members land blows on the little girl, but none do any damage. All are baffled and desperate with the escalating situation.

Meanwhile, Percival has a brilliant idea to destroy the golem with his Bag of Unholding. "Shove it in the bag, Val!" he says, opening it.

Val finally manages to free himself from the sorceress's hold, and helps Percival stick the doll in the bag.

Once the bag is closed, the doll disappears and is never seen or heard from again. All who have battled the small child now see her as she truly is–a decrepit old woman with many tricks up her sleeve.

The old woman (actually an Ermordenung) casts hold person on Brother Andrei and Val. Frozen in place, they can do nothing.

Then, it's the young paladin's turn to shine. Cedric delivers a deadly sword blow to the hag, severing her head and sending it spinning into the flames.

Once she dies, all are freed from her influence. Cedric and Percival's strength returns, and Brother Andrei and Val are freed from paralysis.

Winded, the party regroups and rejoices at having survived a terrible ordeal. Exhausted, they fall into a dreamless peaceful sleep and the rest of the night is uneventful by the light of the great bonfire.

Almost as if by magic, the following morning, the mist lifts, and they find the Old Svalich Road. Daciana, who had tied her horse on the side of the road, discovers the error of her ways. The animal has been butchered and disemboweled by a hungry pack of wolves.

Winter is a harsh mistress.

The following day, the party accompanies Brother Andrei back to Vallaki and bids him good travels. Brother Andrei and Tang will ride to Barovia. Tang tells them he will use his ravens to stay in touch.

Congratulations, you survived what was sure to be a total party kill. Each of you gets 1400xp Percival you get an additional 500 XP bonus for excellent roleplay and problem solving.

#gothic horror #ravenloft #dnd 2nd ed #dnd campaign #dnd #alternate timeline #vallaki

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daydreamerdrew · 6 months ago

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Comics read this past week:

Atlas Comics:

Men’s Adventures (1950) #9

This issue was published in April 1951, according to the Marvel Wiki. It contained 4 stories, ranging from 4 to 7 pages.

I thought that this was the issue that Men’s Adventures became a war comic. The front cover was certainly branded that way, but only one story was a war story. I tried this book because I wanted to branch out a little in war comics from Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandoes (1963), all of which so far has been written by Stan Lee. The one war story in this issue was tonally similar.

I found the story “Bullets, Blades, and Blood” (written by Hank Chapman; drawn by Ed Moore) really bizarre. It starts in August 1942, shortly after a publicized battle that the Canadian forces won, but in which they suffered serious loses. Wally Chetnik, an American, begins the story going to enlist, explaining that he’s got a younger brother overseas, who’s supposedly a Major, and he wants to fight Nazis, too. He’s desperate and maniacal about getting overseas. He refuses to wait in line at the recruiting station and threatens to beat up the officer if he doesn’t get him in action as fast as possible. Later, in what seems to me a usual basic training camp, Chetnik is incensed about not already being in battle. He ends up escaping the camp to sneak aboard a shipment to England that he heard about, thinking, “I’ll be with Willie… I’ll get at them Nazis… I’ll kill… Kill!” This doesn’t work and he’s put in military prison for a year. When he’s finally given orders to go overseas he celebrates, cheering, “At last I’ll be able to get my hands on those stinkin’ Nazis! I’ll kill every one I see.. I don’t need a gun.. I’ll do it with my bare hands!” Another soldier comments that he’s “plain nuts.” The regiment spends another year overseas waiting, not fighting, to Chetnik’s frustration, until they get their first combat experience being in the first wave on D-Day. Coincidentally, Wally somehow dies in the battle right on top of his brother’s grave. This reveals that Willie was a dead Canadian Major the entire time, explaining why no one ever found evidence of an active American Major Chetnik after Wally kept talking about his brother.

Drawn & Quarterly:

Beverly by Nick Drnaso

This 130-page graphic novel was published in January 2016. It was a collection of 6 short stories, some disconnected and some with the throughline of starring members of the same family. It was the parts of the book that were related to that family that were the most interesting to me.

The story "The Lil' King" takes place during the family vacation of a couple and their teenage daughter, Cara and younger son, Tyler. The parents are enjoying themselves and reminiscing on when they were last at the vacation spot while their daughter is bored and their son is distant. The parents' disconnect from their son is established early. While on the way to the vacation spot he's sitting in the backseat of the car and fantasizing about sex. When the father asks him a question and he doesn't answer, the mother says, "I think he's sleeping." In truth, Tyler never speaks in the entire story, though his parents continue to talk to him as though him not ever responding is fine.

Throughout the vacation the son also fantasizes about violence. For example, when he has to wait behind someone to get some ice, he imagines the man in front of him being decapitated. And interspersed between regular aspect panels showing the small beach town scenery are panels with naked, mutilated corpses that aren’t really there piled on the street. In these moments, when a perpetrator is depicted, he's first shown as just bare arms with gloved hands encroaching on the panel, and then revealed as a shirtless man in a black ski mask, somewhat like Tyler’s vacation attire of just shorts.

At one point, when Tyler and Cara are left alone, she tries commiserating with him about the vacation sucking, and then says, "Would you please say something? Mom and Dad might be able to pretend nothing is wrong, but I don't think you've said one word on this whole trip? What's going on with you?" She, of course, doesn't get an answer. Later Tyler is caught by the family trying to masturbate with a pillow he's decorated with Cara's clothes, which makes Cara cry and the parents awkward and the father, later, angry.

At the vacation's end the father tries to have a serious, compassionate talk with Tyler. He apologizes for yelling earlier and says, of being 10 years old, "I still remember how confusing it was. A lot of emotions to deal with... But it's nothing to be embarrassed about. Do you understand what I mean? Anyway, I just want to tell you that your mother and I love you very much, and we're here for you if you need to talk about anything, ok?" Again, Tyler does not say anything in response to this attempt to reach out to him.

Right before this conversation the depiction of Tyler's fantasizing about violence had changed, so that his child self on the page was actually replaced by the adult perpetrator, and this didn't revert back when the father interrupted to talk to him. The father has this whole conversation with and then hugs, as it's drawn, a grown, shirtless man in a ski mask his same height. This continues in the next, final page of the story, with Tyler drawn as that adult sitting next to Cara in the car as the family drives home.

Briefly in "Pudding" we see- making the teenage interpersonal drama between three new characters that the story is focused on seem less important- a car accident in which the dead person is identifiable as Cara.

In the next story, "Virgin Mary," in a montage of everyone in town talking about a girl who was raped, we briefly see the family again. At the dinner table the mother says, "Barb said her name's Mary. I wonder if Cara knew her." In an ambiguous moment, immediately after Tyler goes upstairs and goes through the school yearbooks, looking at every girl named Mary. We don't what, if anything, he does after with this information after and we don't return to this family again in this story. I'll note that Tyler doesn't speak in his brief part in this story, either.

The final story of the book, "King Me," takes place years in the future, when Tyler is an adult. It begins by following completely new characters, one of whom is a woman who decides to walk to her bus stop, but then regrets it because it looks like a man in a ski mask is following her. But the man walks past her bus stop, and we follow him and eventually see that he is Tyler when he takes off his mask to enter a building. The way that he looks as an adult with his ski mask so much like the distorted portrayal of him in "The Lil' King" gives the impression of a bad predetermined fate that wasn’t avoided. Tyler is getting his weekly massage from a woman, the titular Beverly, who looks a lot like Cara with her blond hair in a ponytail. Tyler describes his sessions as "the best part of my week."

In the course of their conversation the answers Tyler gives to Beverly’s questions about him are largely either already recognizable to us as lies or are revealed to be so later in the story. It's largely innocuous things about his life to make himself look better. or at least not strange, which he lies smoothly and automatically about. He doesn't say things that are unrealistic or would draw too much attention to himself. For example, he claims he's parked nearby, when really he walked, and then wandered around for a while to waste time so he didn't enter the building suspiciously early. That he's setting aside so much time for this shows that these sessions are of genuine emotional significance for him.

At one point, while Tyler is laying on his back, a panel focuses on Beverly's boobs from his perspective, showing that that's what he's focusing on in that moment. Soon after this he tells her, "You know, I usually don't like to talk during my session." The obvious assumption is that her talking makes it difficult for him to pretend that it's Cara touching him.

After his appointment Tyler (ski mask-less because he accidentally left it behind) gets on the subway, where he sees a man he's known since he was a kid, and in their chat Tyler tells him a mixture of the truth, since this is someone that knows more about him, and a similar style of lies to make him seem more likeminded to the man than he really is. Eventually Tyler gets off the train (with a lie) to get away from the conversation. A woman approaches him in the subway, loudly calling him a made-up name. She tells him, "Just hug me, pretend like we know each other." He goes along with it, and gives her the name Cara. She explains that a guy's been following her and asks him to walk her home, which he does, good-naturedly. The creepy sequence of them losing the guy so he doesn't know where she lives invokes the earlier sequence of another woman falsely thinking Tyler was following her.

On the second to last page of this story, which is the last story of the book, the woman thanks him and walks into her home. The last page of the book has only one panel, but it's of a standard size and in the upper left, leaving the majority of the page blank white. The panel shows Tyler standing there looking at her house. It comes across as though this is only the brief moment when she's just closed the door, but it's left to the reader to imagine what Tyler does after this, walk away or stay there and bother the woman himself. What you imagine depends on with how much animosity and severity you viewed his earlier actions.

Also, I did like the earlier story, "The Saddest Story Ever Told," about Cara as a child and her mother, outside of the broader narrative about their family and her brother. In the story the mother is excitedly invites Cara to watch an episode of a TV show that hasn’t been released yet, thinking that they’re going to fill out a survey to give the studio feedback on their as-yet-unreleased show. The generic family sitcom is interrupted multiple times by advertisements. Nick Drnaso's art style with its uniform panels worked well for portraying the show scenes and commercials. In the end the survey was really all about the commercials, which is both embarrassing and genuinely saddening for the mother.

What I particularly liked about this story were the scenes when the mother goes to Cara’s room in the beginning to invite her to watch the episode with her and the scene at the end when Cara goes back to her room. In the first she was laying in bed not doing anything with a plain, bored expression on her face. She gives her mother a small smile at the invitation. Her expressions while in the living room with her mother alternate between the two. Then at the end she sits on her bed, has a moment of visible anguish on her face, then turns to cry into her pillow.

This is an alternate approach to portraying the emotional disconnect between parent and child. Her mother is elsewhere in the house, sad but not expressing anything as intense as Cara. And like her mother, we don’t know what’s really going on with Cara. It seems more likely to me that, rather than being so affected by this experience with her mother, Cara is having some problem in her child life (I assume she’s about 10 in this story like her brother is in the next one) that isn’t known to her parents, and this experience has weakened the walls that allowed her to not express them. But we don’t know, which works well within the disjointed narrative of this book. I am really intrigued by the concept of parents believing that they know everything about their young kids, but not really understanding their child life and child perspective.

#comics read this past week #my posts

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