#vb movie spoilers

[crispyafterdark]

A highlight reel of Dr. Orpheus in his Zardoz-inspired outfit from Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart.

[memoriesofachicken]

For those of you still upset about Sirena cheating on Hank with Dean...here you go.

[jaywalking-rogue]

Listen, I know that The Best Film Wrap was ultimately just a little silly mixed event that primarily focused on Nene's character development and Kamiyama chaos, but I've been rotating one particular moment in my head and I need to talk about it.

Event spoilers under the cut!

So I've been wondering, (while I'm very proud of her, look at her go), how and why exactly An jumped from being insecure and not confident in her acting ability literally a couple episodes prior to ad-libbing an entire scene? I know both Akito and An have been getting some lessons from Nene but that's not nearly enough to have that much of a confidence jump, right?

And maybe I'm looking too much into it, especially since we don't even get An's POV in this, but in my opinion it's because her acting partner was Akito.

I mean, they've been singing together for probably something over a year now and during this time An has definitely learned Akito's telling signs, when he stumbles or loses the rhythm or whatever, so you course she's gonna jump in to cover for him! It's almost an instinct at this point, it's what VBS do!

Akito losing his timing was supposed to be a minor enough thing that Nene, the director who's paying the closest attention to the scene, only notices something is "off" a moment before An cuts in. Neither Nene nor the other actors have a clear sign that something's gone wrong, but An's somehow paying enough attention to notice Akito acting off at the same time as Nene does, and at the moment's notice makes a correct decision to jump in and save the day. And Akito catches on immediately, too.

Neither Akito nor An have any prior acting experience but what they do have experience with is being on stage together. I don't think this episode would have gone in the direction it did if An wasn't absolutely confident she interpreted the situation correctly.

VBS bounce off each other so nicely and the way they're almost always ready to cover for each other (remember Akito dragging An into a wedding and her just rolling with it? Basically same thing), and I think in-universe this dynamic between An and Akito is exactly what made the movie work and why they've been able to act their best. These two are physically incapable of letting their teammates down in any possible way.

Idk, I just think they're neat.

[oshygoshy]

masterlist!

hq ensemble cast -

a medley of many different characters from the series, all in one!

what instruments they would play in a concert band setting - coming from a not biased, insanely accurate flute player do you think i'm pretty? - how the hq boys would answer this question (spoiler alert they're all smitten)

nekoma -

kuroo tetsurou

6:37 am - studying for midterms went south when a stranger appeared at your favorite study spot.

aoba johsai -

oikawa tooru

7:29 am - you enjoy your morning with ur bf, stupidkawa, and his bf, iwa-chan, as oikawa thinks about what he really wants for his birthday. (happy bday my wondrous grand king)

inarizaki -

miya atsumu

9:04 pm - only thing scarier than a horror movie is falling for miya atsumu 1:38 am - atsumu asks the very normal question, "how would you describe me if i went missing?" and then you talk about his thighs (respectfully, to provide a helpful description)

itachiyama -

sakusa kiyoomi

2:07 pm - shopping with your cute wife, 6'4 pro vb player omi-omi

[annoying-probably]

Hi there. I have three draft posts about akty / vbs vs' / poly jump!

But I'm bad at wording things coherently in a post. So instead, please have a long post on a lot of different genshin lore theories, more specifically linked to Istaroth and Barbatos and Khaenri'ah sometimes. Genshin is a special interest and more specifically, the gods and their lore are! The ending point about the Wind being a primordial one is a favourite theory of ours. We actually wrote about it lightly in our recent fic "With Wind Beside You" on ao3!! Anyways, this is ripped straight from discord! This is a lot of disorganised genshin theory ranting. I'd be happy to hear people's thoughts!

also spoiler stuff for the most recent archon quest iirc

If irminsul can not delete all things, just direct mentions. Venti suddenly knowing every ballad and song ever- along with being connected to a god of time, worshipped with her, and possible from the same origin- the thousand winds (of time) is a lot more scary for him and how omniscient he may be. There's a lot of. Like. Internet connections to genshin. I did ei's story quest2 last night and that ending cutscene with time? How eternity is everything, all at once? Both future and past? How come it looked like a 3d model set up from a spy movie huh. And irminsul.. is kinda like a super computer!!! It's just super weird !!! But also makoto was close with Istaroth!!!! And Ei thought she might have something to do with it all!!!! concerning . istaroth is being mentioned more and more and it scares me cus that's like our once chance of "old teyvat"/ pre war lore that isn't being gatekeeped by celestia because I don't think they can kill a primordial one tbf. I hope we see her but damn I am scared of her. imagining playing a god of time, how fucked up could they be!

gold / rhinedottir was all fucking over the cataclysm. Durin was attacking Mondstadt, making Barbatos wake up and fight him with Dvalin. Ei was fighting Rifthounds in Inazuma, while Makoto died in the cataclysm- both of those things, made by khemia, by gold! What's gold? The last stage of khemia, go memory! And Rifthounds and Durin must be first, really, Soil. This is all going off my albedo lore knowledge without checking give me some slack- but! Durin and Rifthounds share traits! Poison. Completely disintegrating everything and poisoning the land! Yay! Powerful enough to affect god's! And gods familiars! And *ley lines!* Infact they specifically attack ley lines ***which is what causes erosion!!!!*** So. That's very concerning. Whether they thrive off erosion, or ley line power itself, and cause other things to erode thereafter- bad. Durin is also still alive, partly. The heart. So!

After soil comes chalk! Now, Albedo was made to be a perfect being and then abandoned! Did Rhinedottir not need something sentient? Did she not need intelligent life? Did she want a puppet from afar? Where is she now? Albedo, who she so lovingly named /s, is still trying to figure out her question to what human life means!! And the idea that albedo, too, may one day fall to erosion, is terrifying! Because he is strong!! Very, canonically, if i remember!!! Which isn't *great*.

On.

the topic of khaenri'ah.

so the next traveler archon quest has dain and kaeya. Talking. In sumeru. And oh boy Mona's "One day he'll have to pick a side." ***is a lot scarier!*** And ventis line on albedo!! I don't like where this goes!!! Sure I'd kive more cataclysm lore like sure go ahead but holy f u c k. a reason why kaeya isn't cursed would be n i c e. Maybe something of Pierro??? Mentioned??? He's khaenri'an. Theorised to be kaeyas dad really. Which would be funny. And terrifying but funny.

fic idea for my lost notes of Teyvat series but!!

the way mond specifically is where anyone cast out goes is so <3 to me. little monkey brain loves the idea of it just being known for being loving and accepting of anyone new, with some pushing. Collei, albedo, kaeya- and how three of those are specifically khaenri'ah tied but heyo!! I think Collei counts because we don't know what Dottore was using + eleazar specifically comes from some dead god and which one that is could be . important. Unless they mentioned which and I'm just wrong??

Timeloop theory stuff soooo enkanomiya quest, kokomi, irminsul stuff + the sumeru reincarnate theory

timeloop theory makes more sense every day and it's just because of the sumeru reincarnations!! Which again reminds me of black boxes!!!!! Oh so you only have so much data you have to reuse souls? 🤨 okay. /j reincarnation and it's studies and theories have been around forever but not the point. Kokomi being a possible reincarnation of a primordial one could be huge. Does she work on Zelda / Hylia logic? Can she reawaken that power and memories? Can any possible reincarnation? Nahida and Rukkhadevata are literally just reincarnation, too, before the wipe. Also again, the thousand winds itself may be a primordial one-

THIS IS SPECIFICALLY MY INSANITY OVER WIND IN GENSHIN IMPACT IT IS A VERY IMPORTANT THING TO ME.

/lh j

how I jokingly said before in my fic- the wind is very important to death. Atleast to Mondstadtians! The wind carries their souls back to Mondstadt to rest. We can see Venti bring back the memory of Stanley, to bring him to Mond to rest. In the final cutscene of Ei story quest 2, in a literal plane of consciousness, the sakura blossoms of Makoto's life is taken away on the wind. This, and Istaroth, can also link the wind to time and the age old-

Seeds of story, brought by wind and cultivated by time.

The wind, as we know through Venti, can carry songs that don't exist yet, wind is constant through time!! Throughout teyvat!! And we think time could be primordial- and that primordial time goes hand in hand with the wind! Literally!!!! The wind itself/ the Thousand Winds are primordial. They carry all of time, and therefore life and death, stories and songs. Istaroth herself was a god of wind and time. Barbatos a God of wind, freedom, and music. (finally actually said by the most recent lantern rite rite calling him a "patron deity of music.") The wind itself is also sort of a guiding spirit? People usually follow it, or specifically - I have hit the nitro limit oh god - mention it with the moons- also very important to teyvat lore- the three moon sisters, the dead moon and possibly the fake sky! So!!! I personally theorise the Wind is a primordial being and that's why we have three different wind / storm gods and also andrius may count as a storm god. He was a wolf leader and god of snow storms, I think? So??? Maybe. The wind keeps splitting, that's how important it is.

If the wind stops, time stops, I believe.

So imagine if we ever went to the Mare Jirvari. And like where we've seen the corpse of every other god. It's completely frozen in time. The wind stopped there. So time cannot move. And imagine if that's where Istaroth died. that's why it's where the wind doth both blow.

[fannishcodex]

Glad I just remembered a few days ago to check on the status of the Venture Bros. movie, and it’s almost here! Finally saw the trailer (x) for it!

And that’s it, gonna try to avoid anything else related to it (other clips, other teasers, trailers, etc.) and definitely any spoilers until I get to see it.

It should get more seasons, but I’m excited for new VB content!

[dynamoe]

The commenter above moved on to my other story— Tomorrow's Just Another Day— and was equally enthusiastic and generous in their comments.

Even though these stories been done for more than a year, it warms my desiccated heart someone is still getting some enjoyment out of reading 'em.

→ back to the Billy & White index

↓ spoilers and annoying fan fiction business below ↓

The commenter said they had their own head canon in what really happened after the (very abrupt) ending— the second reader to say that.

Either Alison faked her death or otherwise escaped the explosion, to reunite with Billy 20 years later.

I've considered doing a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style follow-up chapter where you can either read...

Alison really has died, blown to pieces. Billy can't move on and brings her back from the dead but can only save her head. Reanimating the dead is a big no-no (it's the dividing line between "Super Science" and "Mad Science"), so Billy struggles with his morals. Alison struggles with being just a head. — or —

Alison never got in the car, she agrees to stay with Billy and didn't die. They move in together, straining Billy's relationship with Pete. (Major divergence from VB canon) Billy loves being a "househusband," but Alison accuses him of wasting his talent.

I have a grab-bag of other story line segments I could write. These are all but written in my head but never committed to paper. (Virtual paper)

1990 - Pete prepares to go to happy hour without Billy, who whines about being left alone. Pete reminds him he's a kid

pre-1989 - How Pete got the Quizmaster Job He first attempts to pass as "not-albino" and book his first on-camera job, jumping from radio to TV (sequel to White Xmas)

1989 - One Quizboy Summer Billy and Pete (passing as not-albino) hang out in LA between Quizboys shoots. Billy talks about leaving the show, Pete conspires to make him stay. (Intend to do this as a comic.)

Mid-1980s - Pete in College. Just shit he did in college. Slept in the computer lab. Has a fall out with proto-incel Mike Sorayama over his treatment of women in the department. Left behind at State College when his friends drop out, he leaves the science dept. bubble and dabbles in the arts. Scenes within the Tomorrow's Just Another Day continuity - 1995-1996 (contains Alison as a character)

Billy goes to prom with Alison. Second time's the charm?

Movie Night at Conjectural Technologies. Pete and Billy think they're watching a soft-core knock-off of The Craft, but Alison finds a footage relevant to their history. White thinks she's proposing a three-way.

Alison gets beaten up by her shitty drunk dad, White retrieves her from a gas station and they talk

Billy explains why he gets kidnapped so much

Billy panics because he grows 12mm.

Alison gets a super-8, White fixes it. She makes a documentary about Billy, which he doesn't enjoy.

Now those are out of my mind and in this list!

Boy Genius wrapped up Feb 2023, but I got this nice review 10 days ago.

Maybe it was someone from Tumblr? If so and you're reading this, it has been the one light in a deeply hopeless two weeks— sincerely, thank you.

As I responded on AO3, I promise I will attempt to make all future backstory adventures more Eurocentric.

→ back to the Billy & White index

↓ more details ↓

Now, me, as a vulgar Ugly American— what do I know about European pop culture in the 1990s? What would have broken through to unambitious, uncultured suburban American teens?

Hmmmm... Barcelona '92 Olympics? The mascot was a scribbly dog thing. That's all I remember.

Ace of Base (Swedish) dominated 1994 with The Sign. They had another hit with All That She Wants (Is Another Baby) from the same year. Urban legends immediately started that they were Nazis and "the sign" was a swastika (an Ankh in the music video). Various levels of confirmation on that.

Do we count Björk as European?

I'm trying to think of European movies that broke through— the 1990s is the era of independent film but that was mostly focused on American auteurs. The big international hits were for an older audience— teens weren't into Lars von Trier or Three Colors Trilogy.

La Femme Nikita and Léon: The Professional (French-Italian) appealed big-time to the guys already into Tarantino and Hong Kong Action. At the end of the decade you get Run Lola Run (German), very big with teens and college students.

Billy and his date go see Jeunet-et-Caro's Delicatessen (French) in Tomorrow's Just Another Day. (Their City of Lost Children already referenced in VB for the design of Watch and Ward.)

Note, I'm excluding British pop culture, which I've already included a lot of in the fiction. The UK is still in the EU in the mid-90s, obvs, but American pop culture has a far different relationship with the British than with the rest of Europe. Even before the Beatles. "Cool Britannia" had a major hold in the US after 1997. A Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Tony Blair was on The Simpsons, before he became a war criminal. Trainspotting, Britpop and Elisabeth Hurley— God Save the Queen. As a British Comedy obsessive, I can write endlessly about the UK in the '90s—music, politics, TV, actors, comedians etc. Ask me anything about Spitting Image or all the stock jokes associated with Deputy PM John Prescott from Have I Got News for You. Except you shouldn't, it will be very boring for you.

Now the big European backstory story I have notes for would be a 1990-1991-set road trip through the Eastern Bloc and newly independent ex-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States as Billy and White try to pick up abandoned super-science research from former state-sponsored labs for pennies on the dollar.

Starting in East Berlin, they stumble through Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia into the Federation of Former Soviet States, heading east. White tries to trade Levis blue jeans for death ray plans. Billy mangles translating a dozen languages he barely understands (he's only 16).

They cause international incidents and nearly get killed over and over, running away to the next country. They are tailed by EuroPol, accidentally become oligarchs and have to be airlifted out of the US Embassy in Tashkent.

Tetris would be key. A Trojan Horse— it was actually a coded super-weapon meant to destabilize the west. Billy and White somehow figure it out and neuter its power while fucking everything else up.

I dunno. I might never write it but it's fun to think about.

→ back to the index

[hench4lyfe]

Dr. Venture finishing up in the booth! (Dec. 10th, '21)

[levinneheart]

Home, Sweet Home

➳ Pairing: Aone Takanobu x F!Reader

➳ Genre: Fluff, Hcs, Engagement Proposal, Domesticated, Established Relationship

➳ Warnings: Slight manga spoiler if you squint, extremely long, may or may not give you diabetes cuz of sweetness overload, self indulgent cuz i need smth soft to enlighten my emo mood, also me being a hopeless romantic so be warned

When he became a college student, you two moved in together along with a couple of his vb teammates at a two story flat

You and Aone ofc shared a room while the others had their own rooms separately, although sometimes his underclassmen Koganegawa would barge in to ask if he could pratice tossing with your bf

Not that you hate him or anything but... one time, he almost walked into you two doing the deed 😳 Aone bless him immediately reacted by pulling you close, tucking you underneath him before covering you both under the blanket and pretended to be asleep

Poor baby chick was so clueless and confused cuz he thought he heard both of your voices and assumed that you two would be together inside, I— 💀

But that’s a story for another time~ 😝

You would always laugh when you remember that tho, while Aone would just have his usual small smile with that soft doting look in his eyes as he watches you

This man knew right there and then that he was gonna marry you so you could stay by his side forever and he would come home to you making dinner

He could even imagine himself waking up everyday to see your face first thing in the morning and stare at you lovingly while thanking his lucky stars for bringing you in his life

He mayhaps.. start thinking of making a family together with you in the future, it doesn’t even matter if you don’t want kids cuz he’s satisfied with fur babies too 👉�� aww 🥺

His friend Futakuchi was def the first one to know, next are his upperclassmen in vbc and lastly everybody else he was acquainted with

Aone, despite being quiet, would already have something planned out so he lets everybody in on it and nobody gets left behind, just cuz he babie 💗

Ngl everybody was highkey shooketh and impressed when he told them his plan of proposing since it was simple yet so meaningful

Everyone helps out as much as they could and started calling it ‘Mission: Get Aone Engaged’ or Mission GEA for short

Time skip to the day of the proposal — Aone held your hand and began leading you to his car before driving off to somewhere as you soon as you got into the passenger seat

You quietly watch the scenery passed by the window for a while before glancing back at your ever so quiet bf “Are you taking me there? Where you wanna show me smth?” You asked as he hummed in response, looking at you through the windshield and smiling softly

You smiled back and continued to look out of the window while enjoying this little adventure and his company duh, ofc you were ecstatic yet nervous at the same time cuz it’s been a while since Aone took you somewhere and surprised you

Last time was when you came home late and drunk from a night out with your colleagues after work, he took you outside of the backyard where it was decorated with fairy lights and lanterns with a pillow and blanket fort in the middle

He got you sober by making you eat snacks and drink water as you two played board/card games all night before binge watching some anime and streaming any disney/barbie/ghibli movies on your laptop

This called me out as single lmao

You two arrived at what seemed to be an empty house, it was decently sized with a somewhat large backyard, a porch and a small garden up on the front

You heard a grunt from Aone, making you turn around to face him and gasping at the sight: your tall light-haired sweetheart was kneeling down on one knee with a small box help up held up in one hand

He slowly opened it to reveal a note attached on the inside lid of the box that said ‘marry me?’ and a cute simple pearl ring before ‘locking onto’ you

Bonus:

Ofc you said yes, how could you say no to him??? Aone’s literally husbando material, FIGHT ME 😤 jkjkjk

You also show him the ring that you were supposed to give him when you proposed— Well, if he wasn’t already whipped for you, he is now but more intensely 🥴

When you did, the whole deadass Date Tech came out of hiding, popping wine and confetti everywhere while congratulating both of you

Everyone tells you that Aone planned and built this house with the help of others and them ofc, but he planned everything so he gets all the credits 🥺

Your reaction would literally transition from 😮 to 🥺💗💞

Your heart mayhaps had exploded from the overwhelming love and adoration that you have for him ✌️😌 same tbh, loves

Futakuchi rolled his eyes at the sight of all the lovey-dovey stuff he’s just envious cuz he’s still single lol and was about to say smth snarky but Moniwa smacked him right on time lmao

When the congratulation party was over and everybody had gone home, you asked Aone why he picked this day in particular

“It’s the day we first met.” “You remembered?” “Of course.” “Aw, Nobu.” You cooed before leaning up him, their lips touched for a soft kiss before parting

“Guess, this is: home, sweet home.”

Since I promised y’all that if my first Aone fic reached 100 notes, I’ll write another w/ a surprise bonus so here it is

Tagging: my mutuals/friends @whitedragon127 @zephyrria @currentconcern @kiddiegore @honeyvanilla-hq and the ones who liked the previous Aone fic @youtube1230 @nekoglasses @lealexio @lunadinottes @stephisapotatoe @haikyulover @fatty6669 @trashys-things @amateur-maniac @wow-im-a-mess @tigress445 @mokke-chan @i-m-not-a-cat @yikerb @ash-draws-alot @livinginthatstate @that-fic-bitch @dumbassbrigade @polarbearaone @osforgodss @soy-clob @your-stank-ass @nicouwu1 @viviendracula @dpqssmdd @g-r-boiii @just-perish @luvsunshine-fields @kara-grayson04 @cheereios @nialeesato @ohmypurin @ssvgawara@thecastielmoriarty @akaawhore @bear-likes-mushrooms @haikyuu-biatch @wowthatsuckss @karebearrrrrrrr @littlemissmonster12 @miiixed @doesngiveafuck @noya-senpai-imagines @trash-trashington continuation in the comments!

[ghostofmichelangelo]

so netflix is coming out with a series on assassin's creed?

i really really am looking forward to it considering im really into reading about the templars and the crusades. i'll link some podcast eps down below of the same.

but im also worried about the historical accuracy of the same. the games are absolutely brilliant however the adapted books/movie haven't exactly been upto the mark for me and i sincerely hope that this is better.

also after watching medici, i have some high standards for the accuracy part of it considering i was literally reading history to get show spoilers, which was what happened in the show as well.

anyway just wanna hear some of your thoughts on it. feel free to rant.

here are some links:

https://castbox.fm/vb/50369017 - History Extra Podcast

https://castbox.fm/vb/232527432 - Secret Societies Podcast (this also has a part 2)

https://youtu.be/ruhnvXy48Yw - Timeline World History Documentaries (youtube)

[forgetfuldragon]

just watched guardian of the galaxy vol 2, i can say that i liked it but it has some things that it would have done better

the first half of the movie it was well idk what to say except that if it was only this part or if the whole movie had this tone i would have enjoyed it a lot less and i would have been pretty disappointed

now the second half was the part i really liked and i felt was very good, all the emotions it made me felt 

the nebula and gamorra arc was tbh my fave part of the movie, the other arc i loved well it has spoilers so i wont say anything about it

[i-cant-find-my-knife]

I WILL BE TALKING ABOUT VENTURE BROS RN PLEASE SCROLL ON IF YOU DON’T CARE

ALSO HELLA SPOILERS

So, Venture Bros, alongside FMA Brotherhood, Dragon Ball Z and Yu Yu Hakusho are some of my favorite TV shows. I’ve intermittently watched VB since I’ve known about it (probably around season 3?) and didn’t become hugely attached until I got the series on DVD from a dying Hastings. That was right about the time that they were gearing up to drop S6 on DVD so I was set to immerse myself in what was available.

The series is very convoluted and builds the characters in such incredible ways and has evolved far beyond its origins of a lampoon of Saturday morning cartoons. The reason I’m doing this at all is that I 1. just got done rewatching the whole series (for the, 4th or 5th time) over the course of the last week, 2. just watched the season 7 premiere. This is all very fresh on my mind and I’m looking to talk, and this empty void of tumblr is a good diary to shout into.

Sooooooooooooooooooooo WHAT THE FUCK. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT OPENER. I AM SO EXCITED TO SEE WHERE THEY GO WITH THIS.

Season 6, turned the show on it’s head and slapped down the reset button. Specifically the special in between S5 & S6, All This and Gargantua 2, turned the show on its head. Wiping out the old Guild of Calamitous Intent, along with the Sovereign, most of The Counsel of 13 and The Investors, killing off JJ, and burning down the Venture Compound, left the show a fresh face to work with. Moving the Doc and the Boys to NYC and bringing Brock back as the Body Guard was bold, but the Monarch’s character arc was insane. Revealing that his father was a Vigilante Super Hero named The Blue Morpho, and seeing the Monarch take over this persona and use it to kill off competition to Arch the Doc. All of this was fucking sweet! But quite a bit of this was left unresolved at the finale of S6 and so with the usual wait for the new season I was left ancy.

So, S7 debuted tonight, and didn’t really resolve anything from the last season. It dropped in more, “THE FUCK”, cliffhangers than the end of S6 did. The debut dealt with the computers of Venture Tower going haywire and acting possessed. Exorcist and Poltergeist references abound, and the first appearance of Dr. Orpheus and the Order of the Triad since the S5/S6 special were nice, but the throwback references to the show itself were incredible. A lot of what is referred to is from the second episode of the show “Careers In Science”, the problem light from that episode has now found a home in Venture Towers, the main theme from “Sharky’s Machine” keeps playing (the movie is brought up in S1E2 as the movie played to lure the crew of Gargantua to the hangar, before “Phantom Spaceman” jettisoned them into space).  

The episode expands upon Hank’s relationship with Serena Ong, and his attempts to win over her father and body guards. He does so by reviving his Enrico Matasso persona from S5E6, and is lead into a room by Serena’s father, and Doc’s current Arch, Wide Wale to reveal a bound and gagged Monarch in Blue Morpho fatigues. So the whole episode keeps alluding to that arc from the last season, and I figured it would take a back seat until this happens and is promptly dropped for the other cliffhanger of the episode.

Which reveals the problem light from Gargantua 1, is “possessed”, by whats left of Jonas Venture Sr. who is still alive.

Like

The

FUCK

This brings new meanings to Doc’s visions in S1E2 of his father and the problem light being on. But it is poorly given light before Pete White takes and axe to Jonas and roll credits. And no post credits scene aside from a “TO BE CONTINUED”

I knew this show would be dropping some shit this season, but this is only episode 1 and boy am I FUCKING TORQUED.

[draupp]

GUEST:

Hollywood has been using bots to entertain on the silver screen for decades — this includes HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey, Jarvis from Iron Man, and more recently, the Samantha bot from the movie Her. Now, however, Hollywood is leveraging bots to market and create income from celebrities. These celebri-bots hold good lessons for how bots can be used by major brands for monetization and brand awareness. Here are four unique celebrity bots and the marketing tactics they employ.

1. Casey Neistat Bot: Affiliate Marketing

As one of YouTube’s top celebrities, Casey Neistat is known most for documenting his life through daily vlogs, which often contain eccentric behavior.

Neistat has gained millions of fans, many of whom are inspired to create their own vlogs. Casey is well aware of this fan phenomenon, and often reviews and promotes video equipment through his YouTube channel for an additional stream of income.

The Casey Neistat Bot for Facebook Messenger takes this a step further by not only allowing users to be notified of his latest videos, but also to see and purchase the video gear he uses. By simply asking “What gear do you use?” you get served a categorized list of Casey’s favorite gear, with each item linked to an Amazon affiliate link. So while the bot is a great way for Casey to drive traffic over to his YouTube channel, what’s most interesting is that he’s generating additional income by using the bot as an engaging channel for affiliate marketing.

Marketers can create affiliate marketing for their own brands by adding a chatbot into their web or mobile platforms that sends users to partner sites, and track partnership marketing using deep links.

2. FooBot (LMFAO’s Redfoo): Cross-promotion

Many of the celebrity bots that come from musicians offer the same type of content: links to YouTube music videos, concert listings, ticketing, and merchandise. In addition to this content, Redfoo’s FooBot for Facebook Messenger offers something unique — cross-promotion with Uber through a feature called “Ride with Foo.”

Selecting the Ride with Foo option allows users to connect their Uber account with the bot so they can listen to LMFAO music while they’re riding in an Uber. This is a great example of cross-promotion: Loyal LMFAO fans may want to give this feature a try during their next night out in the city, which benefits Uber (and the Uber driver) by creating additional revenue. And while Ride with Foo is not likely to be used more than once by the same person due to its novel nature, it can be a source of new user acquisition for Uber, which is much more valuable in the long term.

Marketers can use chatbots to gather data about their users, create custom segments, and then use this information to send targeted cross-promotional messages from trusted partners.

3. Aeden (Westworld Bot): Viral marketing/ARG

Westworld is HBO’s latest hit TV show, about an adult theme park full of lifelike robots, where guests are free to do whatever they please without consequence. It’s a binge-worthy mind-bender, and particularly relevant to issues we face today as we develop increasingly advanced artificial intelligence.

In perhaps the most meta of bots, Aeden is a bot for Westworld‘s tie-in website, Discover Westworld. While it doesn’t offer much functionality on the surface, apart from general Westworld trivia and a plug for HBO’s website, Aeden has been particularly useful as a component to an alternate reality game (ARG).

Once Westworld fans got word of the Discover Westworld website, they quickly got to work, looking for any clues or hidden Easter eggs. What they found was a hint from Aeden, which ultimately led to a very spoiler-like revelation for the upcoming season. Shortly thereafter, the news spread like wildfire on news websites and social media like Reddit — a great example of how a bot can generate additional publicity through viral marketing.

Giving chatbots unique roles in marketing campaigns and tying them into an integrated strategy can create interesting, multifaceted experiences for users.

4. Dave Ramsey Alexa Skill: Smart audio

Most of the popular bots are based on some sort of chat or text dialog — whether it be on Facebook Messenger or hosted on a website like Westworld’s. But new AI-driven devices like the Amazon Echo have provided a new avenue for bots: audio. With the Echo, users can install custom audio-driven bots called “skills” that do things like check your bank account balance, call for an Uber, or order a pizza.

Dave Ramsey, one of America’s most popular speakers on personal finance, has an Alexa skill that lets users listen to his show. While the skill is very basic, with only a few play and stop functions, it’s a great way to acquire new listeners with the help of a bot. Most importantly, bots like Dave Ramsey’s Alexa skill open the door for new marketing experiences, like using an influencer or celebrity’s voice to help create audio-driven AI conversations that result in purchases or conversions.

Marketers can increase distribution of valuable content through popular bots. As new technology emerges, it’s important for marketers to stay on top of emerging trends and experiment with new ways to reach their customers. As they are often at the forefront of new ways to self-promote and build brand awareness, celebrities can be the perfect source of inspiration for innovative marketing tactics.

Dima Rakovitsky is the CEO and founder of ROKO Labs, a mobile app developer.

Above: VB Profiles Chatbots Landscape. (Disclosure: VB Profiles is a cooperative effort between VentureBeat and Spoke Intelligence.) This article is part of our bots landscape series. You can download a high resolution version of the landscape featuring 197 companies by clicking this image.

on March 9, 2017 at 11:15AM via VentureBeat at http://ift.tt/2lJgX5t