#why aren't you holding companies accountable when it comes to this???

[bandzboy]

kpop stan twt will blame the fandom for not voting or streaming and how the comebacks may be flopping (to some people's standards anyways) when the blame will always and i mean ALWAYS have to fall on the company because THAT'S THEIR JOB their job is to promote their artists and if these companies want to reach a certain goal with a group THEY HAVE TO PUT IN THE WORK fans can only do so much but you can't rely on a fanbase for everything like cmon now

[fratboykate]

I'm totally in support of the writers in theory but I'm trying to understand more of what you're fighting for because I've seen some people on twitter claim writers make more money a week than most of us make in a month so I'm trying to understand what the issue is. Also if that info is accurate. This is a genuine question. Not trying to have a "gotcha moment". I really want to hear from a writer.

people have always had wild misconceptions about how much a writer earns because of their lack of understanding of how the industry actually works. there's so many posts about how "you guys make 5k a week. what more do you want?!" yeah...let's do some math on that.

5k a week for 14 weeks (and that's a long room. a lot of rooms these days are 8-10 weeks. those are the dreaded mini-rooms we're trying to kill) is $70,000. for roughly three months of work. you'd think we're cooking with gas...BUT HOLD UP. that's gross! let's see everything that has to come out of that check:

10% to our agent

10% to our manager

5% to our entertainment attorney

5% to our business manager (not everyone has one but a lot of us do. i do, so that's literally 30% immediately off the top of every check)

most of these breakdowns ive seen downplay taxes severely. someone made one that says writers pay 5% in taxes and i would like to ask them "in what universe?". that doesn't even cover state taxes. the way taxes work in the industry is really complicated, but the short of it is most of us have companies for tax reasons so we aren't taxed like people on w2s/1099. if we did we'd be even more fucked. basically every production hires a writer's company instead of the writer as an individual. so they engage our companies for our services and then at the end of the year we (the company) pay taxes as corporations or llcs (depending on what the writer chose to go with). my company is registered as a "corporation" so let's go with those rates. california's corporate rate is 9% and the federal corporate tax rate is 21%. there's other expenses with running a business like fees and other shit so my business managers/accountants/bookkeepers have recommended i save between 35-40% of everything i make for when tax season comes.

you see where the math is at already??? 25-30% in commissions and then 35-40% in taxes. on the lower end you're at THE VERY LEAST looking at 60% of that check gone. 70% worst case scenario. suddenly those $70,000 people claim we make are actually down to $28,000 as the take home pay. and that's if you're only losing 60%. it goes down to $21,000 if it's 70%.

lets pretend you worked a long 14 week room (that's the longest room ive ever worked btw) and let's also be generous and say you only have 60% in expenses so the take home is $28,000. average rent in los angeles is around $2,800-$3,000. if you're paying $2,800 in rent that means you need AT LEAST $4,000 a month to have a semi decent life since you need to also cover groceries, gas, medical expenses, toiletries, phone, internet, utilities, rental and car insurances, car payments, student loan payments, etc etc etc. and again, this is los angeles. everything is more expensive so you're living BARE BONES on 4k. and these are numbers as a single person. im not even taking having children into account. so those $28,000 you take home might cover your life for 6-7 months. 3 of which you're in the room working. the reality is that once that room ends, you might not work in a room again for 6-9-12 months (i have friends whose last jobs were over 18 months ago) and you now only have about 3 months left of savings to hold you over. we have to make that money stretch while we do all the endless free development we do for studios and until we get our next paying job. so...3 months left of enough money to cover your expenses -> possible 9 months of not having a job. this is how writers end up on food stamps or applying to work at target.

this is why we're fighting for better rates and better residuals. residuals were a thing writers used to rely on to get them through the unemployment periods. residual checks have gone down from 20k to $0.03 cents. im not joking.

they've decimated our regular pay and then destroyed residuals. we have nothing left. so don't believe it when they tell you writers are being greedy. writers are simply fighting to be able to make a middle class living. we're not asking them to become poor for our sake. we're asking for raises that amount to 2% of their profit. TWO PERCENT. this is a fight for writing even being a career in five years instead of something you do on the side while you work retail to pay your bills. if you think shows are bad now imagine when your writer has to do it as a hobby because they need a real job to pay their bills and support a family. (which none of us can currently afford to have btw)

support writers. stop being bootlickers for billion dollar corporations. stop caring about fictional people more than you care about the real people that write them. if we don't win this fight it truly is game over. the industry as you know it is gone.

[back2bluesidex]

Hard Luck - JJK & KTH (18+) - Chapter 1

◆ Pairing: CEO Jungkook X Fem employee Reader X Legal advisor Taehyung. 

◆ Summary: You have a good face, a nice body, a fat amount saved in your secondary bank account, a stable job that you love, loving friends and family, you are good in bed. You have almost everything other than a good luck in love. Sleeping around with random dudes don’t feel enough when your friends are getting married and having kids. If you are being honest, you have started getting bored of this prolonged singlehood already. 

Your last light of hope fades away when your work crush, aka the hot guy from the legal department, Kim Taehyung (with whom you might or might not have slept once, okay! twice!), asks you to set him up with your work best friend (who, apparently, is the most asked out woman of the company). But what you don’t know is that the CEO of the company has taken a liking to you and has started on a mission of winning your heart. 

But wait… Taehyung might have started developing feelings for you in the process of receiving your help.

◆ Chapter summary: Two meetings - One went good - another went downhill.

◆ Theme: Romance, drama, light angst, my poor attempt of humor, fluff and eventual smut. office romance au,

◆ Warnings: Tiny bit angst.

◆ Word count: 3.2k+

◆ A/N: let me know your thoughts.

Minors aren't allowed in this blog!!!!

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You have a very love-hate relationship with weekends. 

Love because who the hell doesn’t like free times, no rush to drive to work, a quiet time on their couch with some unhealthy snacks and a good movie playing on the TV? 

Hate because weekends make you feel alone. Today is just a copy of yesterday.  

On most Friday nights you end up going drinking with your teammates, save your Saturdays for your friends and your precious Sundays are for yourself and yourself only. 

But lately, your said friends have changed, not by choice but by circumstances. Two of them are married, one is engaged and another just started dating after a prolonged singlehood - leaving you completely out of the order. Now they name most of their Saturdays to their partners, which makes you angry but you know that’s the only normal thing to do. 

So, now you are the one that neither has a partner and nor anyone to spend most of your Saturdays with. 

You sigh as you scroll through netflix. 

There is nothing that catches your eyes, intrigues you enough to start watching. 

Just when you are about to read the description of this new cheesy romcom, your phone vibrates with a call. 

It’s your mom - she calls you ten times a day. 

“Hmmm?” you greet her absent-mindedly. 

“Mia just gave birth to a baby boy!!!” she squeals on the other side of the phone. You can feel her excitement through the vibration of her digitized voice. 

The news lights you up as well. Mia is your favorite cousin and older than you by a year only. 

“Really? Woah! Is the baby fine? Is she fine?” 

“Both of them are fine, ddal.” Your mother, now, replies calmly, “it’s only me who is not.” 

“What? What happened? Joint-pain again?” you sit up on the couch. 

“No. That's not it.” your mother whines. You love to hear her whines. 

“Then?” 

“When will I have my grandchild?” she huffs, making you laugh. 

“Eomma, I’m only 27.” you remind her. 

“That’s why I am reminding you, darling. If you start looking for a man now, you will be able to gift me a grandchild before I hit seventy.”  

The mention of a ‘man’ draws a very particular face on your vision. 

You know you should not think too much, read too much into someone’s actions. But at this age, when you already started feeling alone, feeling the desire for someone to come back home to, you can’t help but to feel the need of holding the next best person who shows you a silver of interest. 

And Taehyung has shown a lot of it. 

You will win in life if you manage to bag someone as nice, hot, handsome and successful as him. 

“Maybe… maybe very soon, eomma.” you add a trail of words to end your thoughts. 

“Omo! Really? Are you seeing someone?” she’s now way too much excited and her excitement makes you want more from the guy who only fucked you twice. 

“No- it’s not that. I am just talking about the possibilities.” your voice sounds frail for some reason. Possibility is what it is. Nothing is confirmed. 

You know you have a crush on Taehyung but at the same time you have no idea if there is more than just lust in his mind.

You try not to think of negative things and engage your mother in off-topic conversations. But in the back of your mind, Taehyung stays still, with his baritone voice and boxy smile. 

“Good morning, sweetheart” Hani, the colleague you are the closest to, chirps in with her sweet voice. 

She is the epitome of perfection. 

The girl looks like a goddess, very friendly, the life of the party, smiles at everyone - doesn’t really matter if she knows them or not, is an amazing cook, and good at the job she does. 

Her amazing persona accompanied by that next level face card, makes her the most desired woman of the company. 

There is hardly any bachelor who hasn’t asked her out yet. And Taehyung is one of them (which makes you think that he must be into you). 

Sometimes you are jealous of her - okay! Scratch that! Most of the time you are jealous of her ability to make friends, to have people wrapped around her fingers without having to do anything while you practically have to beg your own friends to spend their weekends with you. 

And being asked out? That’s a completely different story. 

What you have understood from your experience is that guys love to have you on their bed. You are a good fuck, you know that. But a wife material? No. 

You are way too aloof, emotionally unattached to entertain anyone more than normal boundaries allow you to. Hence, you end up pushing people away.  

And now - at an age where you should be in a long term relationship - you are alone. 

“Good morning, Hani.” you reply with a genuine smile gracing your lips. Honestly, very few people can pull a genuine smile out of you and Hani is certainly one of them. 

Had it been anyone else as popular as her, they would have a big fat ego. But Hani is different and that’s why you love her. 

“How was the weekend?” she asks, placing her order for her usual iced americano. You still don’t understand how people consume this as the first thing in the morning. It’s nothing but cold and bitter.  

You grab your iced vanilla latte and take a mouth full of the sweetness, “as usual. Boring. Only me and my couch and netflix” 

“Oh? You could have called me in. I was mostly alone too.” she sips her aa-aa, and makes a delightful face. You scrunch your nose at that. 

“Really? I thought you do those volunteering stuff on weekends?” you two walk towards the elevator while sipping on your beverages. 

“That’s for day-time. I am usually free during the nights. So, try calling me if you need a companion.” she eyes you expectantly. 

You know she feels alone too, just like you. 

Hani came out of her two year long relationship just a few months ago. She probably feels alone during her free time as her partner is not there to entertain her anymore. 

And maybe it’s a good idea. 

Even though you don’t like to extend your professional relationships beyond the gates of your workplace - Hani can be different. 

You can take this friendship a little further, you guess. 

The elevator door slides open, revealing a certain someone you look for a lot these days. 

Taehyung smiles brightly at you. Two strands of his dark hair fall on his forehead, his siren eyes are full of mirth as they quickly dip down to check you out. But then his eyes fall on Hani. And if you are not wrong then they have a brief eye-contact before someone behind asks you and your friend to get inside and make space already. 

An odd feeling blooms inside your chest. 

Taehyung checked you out, that’s for sure. But what were those love eyes that he regarded Hani with? Did he just fall in love at first sight or something of that sort? 

You settle inside the dingy space of the elevator rather uncomfortably - both physically and metaphorically. 

Hani is standing in front of you and Taehyung is just behind your back. You are sandwiched between the two of them and weirdly enough - you don’t feel too good about the situation. Because you can see Taehyung staring at Hani through the glazed metal door or the elevator. Something churns inside of you at the thought of Taehyung being smitten by your work best friend. 

But maybe you are thinking too much? Maybe time will soon prove you wrong. 

Wrong. Everything is wrong. 

Your teammates do an impressive job everyday except for the days when there is an important meeting and you need documented reports. 

Today is one of those days. And today is even more horrifying because this will be your very first meeting with the new CEO who took over less than a month ago. 

Streets say he is as strict as his father if not more. That’s basically all you know about Jeon Jungkook. You don’t know what he looks like or what he sounds like. And that makes you anxious. 

The prospect of having an one-on-one meeting with the new, young CEO has been freaking you out already and now your subordinate had to do a sloppy reporting job.  

“Oh lord! Sooho! Why did you write ‘no penetration this month’ when the chart is at its peak?” You don’t like to scream at all but the migraine that is climbing up through the path of your neck mixes with your frustration and turns your sentence a little more high pitched than what you usually use. 

“Oh?” your teammate blinks at you being dumbfounded, “is that called penetration?” 

“Yes of course? What did you think? We are asking about your sex life in the reports?” you can’t help but mock the boy. 

Laughter echoes through your workspace but it quickly dies down when you glare at your teammates. They mumble apologies but you pretend not to hear any of it. 

“Sorry, seonbae. I will fix it right away.” he runs towards his cubicle. 

“You have five minutes.” you issue a warning. Taking your phone in your hands, you find a text sitting on your screen. 

Taetae: Any plans tonight?

Your chest heaves with the long breath that you inhale upon reading the text. See… Taehyung still wants to see you! It’s you he wants to see! And you went on an overdrive thinking he might ditch you now and start chasing Hani like the other men of the office. 

Your nails clink against your phone screen as you type your reply. 

You: nope. 

You don’t even get the chance of putting down your phone because his reply comes right away. 

Taetae: Then let's get a coffee after work. I will wait at the lounge. 

You: Sounds cool. 

You don’t know what you feel about this one-on-one meeting situation. 

The previous CEO, Mr. Jeon Jae Gyeong, had meetings with all of the department heads at once and got done with it. 

But the younger Mr. Jeon has sent out emails to everyone stating very clearly that he would be changing the meeting format. 

So, now you are here. Waiting outside his massive office (that could fit your entire workspace and still leave space for a snack pantry), on the verge of an anxiety attack. 

The more you wait, the more restless you feel. Your heels start tapping against the floor creating a rapid sound. The CEO’s assistant, a beautiful guy with blonde hair and soft features, looks at you with an assuring smile - as if to tell you that ‘it’s okay. Don’t get your nerves worked up.’ 

you smile back at him feeling a tiny bit better. 

Just then the huge door of the CEO’s office slides open. The head of the finance team walks out and from the look on his face you can tell that his meeting didn’t go too well. 

Your throat dries at the assumption of what you might face when you go inside. 

You are not going to get fired, right? Right?!

Mr. Bae, the finance head, walks out in haste heightening your anxiety even more. 

Just then the assistant receives a call on his line and murmurs something. He looks at you and says, “you may go inside now.” 

Your legs almost give out. You start planning to go home and update your resume to look for opportunities.  

Taking a long breath, you push the door open. 

Your eyes fall on the prominent figure that is sitting on the large mahogany table. His eyes are focused on the ipad. Mouth shut tight, lips pursed, his downturned face is casted with a shadow, which prevents you from taking a good look at his face. 

What you see is the silver ring that glints on his eyebrow. And are those tattoos on his hand? 

Even if he heard you coming in he clearly didn’t plan on providing you with any of his attention. 

“May I come in, Mr. Jeon?” you curse at the way there is zero confidence in your voice. 

He then looks up at you and locks his eyes with yours. 

Holy shit! He is handsome! 

Your chest heaves with another long breath. 

You wait for him to call you inside but he just sits still staring at you with big doe eyes. His gaze is piercing, intimidating and makes you weak on your knees. 

His Adam's apple bobs as he gulps once before clearing his throat, “Miss Y/N. Please come in.” 

You take careful steps towards his desk praying that you don’t trip and embarrass yourself. He ushers his hand towards the chair, asking you to take a seat voicelessly. 

You do as he asks. 

“How are you doing, Miss Y/N?” Jeon Jungkook asks without diverting his piercing gaze from yours. 

He is looking at you so intently as if he has known you for a long time. 

You give him an easy smile, “I’m doing fine, Mr.Jeon. What about you?” you return his courtesy. 

“Doing great.” Jeon Jungkook gives you a very pretty, heart fluttering kind of smile. 

If your heart really flutters a little  - you are not going to dwell upon it. 

“So, let’s talk about work.” he hums as he dives into his laptop and probably opens the reports you have mailed him earlier. 

Taking a minute to check all the reports, he opens his mouth to speak, “pretty impressive. I have gone through the reports from previous months as well and as I am seeing this month's reports - you have been bringing great results. Online traffic is at an all-time high, ad-clicks have gone past the five million mark, there are an average of 20 real-time users and at least 5 of them are from the states. Great. I must say” he pauses to look at you, “I am very impressed.” The last part of his sentence comes out breezy, a little bit suggestive as if his words are not only about your work. 

Your stomach feels light. 

“Thank you sir.” that’s all you manage to reply. Absent-mindedly you take your lower-lip in between your teeth and nip on it. 

The action catches Jungkook’s eyes. 

“Are you nervous?” he places a very unexpected question, catching you off-guard. 

“Ah- yeah. I mean, It’s my very first encounter with you as the CEO, so I could not help being a bit anxious. Apologies if my actions have disappointed you in any way.” you straighten your back and speak confidently this time. 

He doesn’t seem rude at all. You allow yourself to feel at ease. 

“Don’t worry about that. I get you. But be assured I am not going to eat you up.” he giggles. His giggle makes you break into a smile as well. 

“That’s all for the day. Looking forward to working with you…” Jungkook extends his hand towards you. You wrap your smaller one around his palm and he mutters, “...closely.”  

When you look into his eyes, you see mischief. 

“Sure.” you reply, sucking in all the air you could. 

By the time you come out of his room, your heart is thumping inside your ears. 

What the fuck was that? How is he so handsome? And what were those eyes he looked at you with? Why did he murmur ‘closely’ like that? 

No! You are overthinking again! You scold yourself. 

The assistant gives you another smile as you bow at him a little and walk away. You find Hani waiting to be called inside. 

When she sees you, she approaches you with a nervous grin, “how is the new CEO?” she whisper-yells. 

“Very nice and handsome.” you whisper back. She makes an “O” with her mouth before she gets called inside. 

You check your lips once more in the mirror. 

Being too focused on perfecting your lip liner, you don’t see Hani coming inside the washroom. You only become attentive of her presence when she smacks your ass. 

“Ouch!” a painful groan leaves your lips, “don’t do this! People might think we are dating!” 

“I’d have totally dated you if I wasn’t straight.” Hani chuckles standing beside you, “what’s the occasion tho? Have a date or something?” 

“Nope. Gonna meet Taehyung for a quick coffee.” 

Hani’s eyes wide at that, “Taehyung? As in Kim Taehyung from the legal team?” 

“Yup.” 

“Ohh hooo” she sings “I didn’t know you guys have coffees with each other, huh?” 

“It’s not what you think, Hani.” you look at her, raising a brow. 

“Oh? Really? But I think he is a good guy. He even greeted me when we met during lunch and I’m sure he didn’t even know me before this morning.” 

Huh? Taehyung greeted Hani? That’s weird. Because he hardly ever smiles at people he doesn’t know properly. 

You don’t let your expression give away your thoughts when you murmur a little ‘yeah’ to your friend. 

Teahyung looks like a painting - or better - a sculpture as he sits there facing the huge window of the lounge. 

He is devastatingly handsome. A smile creeps up to your lips without you realizing so. 

This time you walk confidently, marching towards him as if you own it all. The sound of your heels against the floor makes him face you and look up at you.

“Hey” he greets you as you sit down across from him. 

“Hi” you greet back, waving your hand to a waiter. 

“How was the day?” Taehyung asks, once you are done placing your order. 

“Nerve-wracking. I almost fainted before the one-on-one meeting.” you recall the incidents, then the man. 

Jeon Jungkook’s handsome face flashes before your eyes for a second. 

Taehyung chuckles at your answer, “I know. Jungkook can be really intimidating.” 

You pout, “oh? You’re talking as if you know him personally?” 

“Actually yes. We are not at all close and probably talked a few times but we share the same group of friends.” 

Your eyebrows shoot towards your hairline at the information, “Really? That’s great. It would have been easy for you to face him then.” 

“Oh god! Not at all! He had me pinned at my seat for the entire meeting. All serious expressions and no smile.” Taehyung grimaces at the memory. 

“He smiled at me though. Actually… giggled. He was super nice.” you start recalling the encounter again. 

“He must have really liked you.” Taehyung muses. 

Is he jealous? You ask yourself. Even though Teahyung sounds anything but envious. 

“By the way, Y/N. I asked you to meet today for a selfish reason.” he smiles sheepishly. 

“What is it?” you ask sipping your coffee that just arrived. 

“Are you close to Hani?” 

As soon as the words leave Taehyung's lips, your world stops moving. You know what is about to come and it breaks your heart but you are determined not to show it on your face. 

“Yeah. why?” you manage to voice upon gulping the lump that formed in your throat. 

All of a sudden Taehyung lunches forward grasping your hands with his big ones, “help me please. Set me up with her! Pleaaaaseeeee” his boxy smile is on full view. 

Once that smile warmed you up but right now you feel nothing but cold. 

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[xenosagaepisodeone]

As much as copyright law sucks, its unfortunately one of the only legal venues with any sort of real power for artists working in creative industries to protect their livelihoods and colleagues. Unionization alone isn't going to stop companies from scraping people's work, especially not people who are non-union or freelancers, and unions like SAG-AFTRA keep throwing people who aren't making top-dollar under the bus for "ethical" AI startups they partner with anyway, even when said members call them out for siding with corporate over their own due-paying members. When corporations who normally try to shut down creators with DMCA takedowns are now violating the IP of countless creators themselves, why shouldn't we at least hold them accountable to the same laws they already use against us?

because it will not work. I truly cannot stress this enough, whatever meager personal gains that some industry artists are able to acquire in isolated cases against startups and other boutique tech ventures will set the precedent for which the corporations that actually control your country (who have infinite resources to expend on legal ventures) will use to push the law further in their favor. disney already does so much to prevent their IPs from entering the public domain! if you give them an avenue to exploit, they will do it! and it won't matter who was actually right because they have they have so much more money. artists and indie animation studios that could pose any threat to corporate monopolies on art will get C&D'd out of existence for superficial similarities. karla ortiz' lawsuit was so vaguely worded that you could hypothetically pursue someone legally if they had artwork of yours saved in a pinterest inspo board since CLIP models were framed as "trade dress databases". this entire movement is more concerned with potentially obstructed opportunities to rent-seek than it actually is about workers rights- or even simply art that was not created with the intent of being 'content'. and the same industry artists who spearheaded this frenzy will side the the corporations when it comes to it because they've already got theirs.

copyright is never made with the interests of individuals in mind. like, i can't even begin to explain how historically, the little guy is the one getting fucked over by copyright law! how so much of what shapes our culture exists in spite of copyright law as opposed to because of it. what drives me insane is how ai is the thing that artists end up rallying around in unity; not anything to actually improve the quality of life working within the arts, but instead a fad technology. i've seen people describe working in animation as being like a form of debasement and act like nothing can be done while i'm witnessing an entire movement unfold to protect that because a lot of artists seem to think of themselves as temporarily embarrassed small business owners over workers.

[not-goldy]

Some people clearly don't get it. NDA's are a given from BTS. I imagine they probably don't want to do it, but Hybe for sure isn't gonna let these men run around sleep with random people and have them not sign NDA's and run the risk of ruining BTS reputation. Look at Raven Simone who admitted she made all her partners sign NDA's including her wife. That's show business. And it means the person can't do anything or say anything to link to you without risk of being sued or jailed depending on the contract.

Take Nain for example. When Jk DM'd her and everyone was screaming he was a pedo cause she's underage, she stopped and he stopped. He was posting about her often, even tagging her on IG doing her choreo and she was running around showing his DM's and changing her YT name to what he suggested (which is the same name he has on Bam's IG, but just a play on the word Night/Bam) but did you see how quick it took for her to be silenced? So you think JK magically stopped interacting with her and she just decided to be done with him? Or was it he told her to be quiet or Hybe told her to be quiet and respect his privacy and she respected that? Even as friends or Jk just being supportive, Hybe wants no dating scandals. Which is what people were suggesting about him and Nain. So either JK or Hybe set her straight. Which is why when Tae's leaks happened they weren't prepared and didn't know what to say. They couldn't deny it cause it's clearly him in all them pictures with jennie and in Jeju in the car and in Paris. They could only say we don't comment on artists personal lives. Then Tae said fuck it and went public with her holding her hand, cause its the only way he can confirm cause he can't verbally. He said I'm Kim Taehyung bitch. I made Hybe, Hybe didn't make me and he went on vacation with his girlfriend and showed her off to the world. However he went quiet shortly after Paris, which should tell you Hybe does in fact have the last say. Which is shameful, but its their policy. So anyone who thinks someone is gonna hook up with BTS, get cozy in their house and take videos of it and then slowly leak those videos on their own personal IG's, are insane. They would use burner accounts or be anonymous untraceable sources, cause they know they'd be breaking an NDA and going up against Hybe & BTS. Nain found out the hard way. If You brag about DM's. You find out. So I don't believe Jimin's lie being spread. Sorry and I do believe JK when he says he has no GF. So that means whoever was on that tape is nothing to him or its over, if there was even something. Jikook are together right now and nothing can change that and It's all I'm focused on right now.

I agree... except Hybe can't force them to use one in their personal affairs.

It defeats the whole purpose of NDAs if hybe could force them to due to something called privity of contracts and duress and undue influence which legally vitiates contracts💀

It would be easy for them to get out of such contract if they could show hybe forced them to use them🥴

If a clause like that exists it would be unenforceable.

Whatever power hybe has over them is in yet another contract called their contract of employment which controls relations between them and hybe and not third parties who aren't privy to the contract and its nothing they haven't willingly agreed to. Hybe cannot contract with them to bind a third party who has not agreed to that contract.

I think Hybe can advice them to use them for their own good but can't require them to use them in their personal lives. Think about it, no one would want to fuck with them if they felt the company could come after them and no one would sign that NDA either. a provision like that would make it too tedious for them to navigate human relationships.

It's their personal lives, something they have to decide on with their personal lawyers and not hybe.

If hybe is requiring them to that's over stepping their boundaries and they need to lawyer up fast.

But I do see what you mean and I agree

[bugtransport]

I've seen this one person who, on account of knowing a fair bit of Japanese, has actually seen old-timey serial toku from the late 50's-early 60's like Gekko Kamen, & not only always praises them, but holds more conventional showa toku like Rider & Zubat against them! & I think that's genuinely really fascinating & thought provoking! Makes you wonder how much perspective is lost on us because of the language barrier stopping us from watching those shows, it also brings to mind how when we measure stuff like art, we only do so relative to what WE know!

sorry it was incredibly funny receiving this ask because i feel like this is the experience that anyone who tries to talk to me about western media has when they inevitably run into the brick fucking wall that is the fact that i just apparently did not go through US Kids to Adolescents Media Bootcamp and have the world's spottiest baseline of what you're supposed to know. i mean like yeah sure i've never seen shit like titanic that's an easy one to miss but i just learned who king arthur was last year. i've been boycotting disney since i had a concept of what a company was. i just straight up didn't watch live tv after 2nd grade. my friend had to explain what danny phantom was to me this past weekend. all the shakespeare i know (2) was taught to me against my will.

anyway where was i. i typed up something first but it got way too long. i do think it is interesting to think about how we're only able to comprehend and analyze media through the lens of our experiences in life up to that point but [gesturing above] i am Dumb Ass Rocks and i think that's why whenever i make certain statements about media i feel the need to put in a disclaimer that gives at least some idea of where i'm coming from so people don't expect me to know things i simply don't? it's something that i've had to become very aware of through the years and i think a lot a lot a lot of miscommunication is due to the fact that people are assuming that other people around them have the same understanding or background information or reading of something. i think if you want to talk language barriers there's a point to be brought up too about how translation is an artform and a really beautiful one; you're essentially being a middleman for understanding between the author and the reader but because they're relying on the translator to decode and recode the meaning in their own words, we've now got an additional person in the mix having to balance THEIR knowledge base, so i am wrENCHING MYSELF AWAY FROM THE KEYBOARD I'M GOING OFF TRACK AGAIN-

i think it's good enough to just find enjoyment in the things that you find enjoyment in! unless you're looking to do serious (i.e. academic style) analysis i'm anti-completionist and think everyone should simply leave if they're not enjoying something. doesn't matter how late in the game. i'll watch a whole show and not the final episode if it sucks. i watched bojack horseman thrice but there's one episode i simply won't watch because i started it and hated it. i just watched as much of the show as i cared to and enjoyed it! and in that same vein if you aren't able to access a part of a series/genre/what have you due to time/language/cost/bald/other constraints in my Humble Onion you can just take the enjoyment out of the parts you're able to access. no use dreaming about the things that could be when you have perfectly good shows right there!

[sterekchub]

Chris force feeding Derek the darker the better. The kink is mutual, Derek gets off on verbal humiliation of being Chris’ piggy

This screams AU (and be warned - dark, and VERY Long but…Derek loves it). Chris is a legend in the gainer community.

Derek is the CEO, sole heir to the Hale Industries inheritance, nothing but a clean image and solid reputation…and his dirty secret is he logs on to Chris' blog every few nights and jerks off imagining Chris is feeding him.

One night, Chris posts he's looking for a new pig. Promises that they'll be treated like a true hog, but threatens there are strict conditions to meet. He requires blackmail. Embarrassing videos, bank account numbers, anything to guarantee they're not backing out. Chris knows what he wants, and he doesn't want some young twink getting scared when the scale says 300lbs.

A little drunk and thinking "what the hell," Derek fills out the form, jerks off to Chris' videos, hits send, and promptly goes to bed thinking nothing about it.

The next morning a black limo is waiting for him outside his office. Chris gets out of it, screaming DILF and Derek is a CEO of a billion dollar company, has fired dozens of people, and finds himself nervous in front of him.

Chris just smiles and holds out a hand to him. "I accept. Congratulations, Derek."

(Ummm and lots of plot in between but have some random scenes)

It becomes VERY obvious before long that verbal humiliation is Derek's thing.

Chris is relentless. Feeds Derek constantly, sends him to work bloated and in a food coma, then obediently follows Chris' orders on what he's to order for lunch. Chris doesn't care if he has meetings. Doesn't care if Derek's button bursts as he sits with the board of directors, or if the BBQ and baked beans he forced Derek to have for lunch is making him gassy right before an important meeting.

Derek is his pig. He's lucky Chris is letting him even leave the house.

"Imagine what they're saying about you, Derek." "Won't be long before they start looking at this gut you're growing and wondering why you're letting yourself go." "Imagine what they'd think if they knew how desperately you wanted to get fat for me." *** Force-feeding is…really the entire relationship. Anything Derek eats, is decided on by Chris. The boost shakes he keeps in his office and faithfully sends pics to Chris with each one he's chugged down. The lunches Chris tells him to order. The huge dinners Chris prepares every night where Derek eats until his arms are tired and his belly feels ready to pop. The funnel-feedings before, during, and after sex to make sure Derek is as filled to the brim with calories as possible

Derek gets fat at a pace so rapid even he can't believe it. One morning he looks down and sees nothing but a pudgy gut and stretchmarks and swears they weren't there last week.

"I can't" Derek gasps weakly. "I have to give a press call today."

"I know. But pigs really shouldn't try to pretend to be something they aren't." Chris tells him. "Drink up."

He pours a keg of beer and as much soda as he can fit into Derek's swollen belly before dropping him off outside his office. Derek goes to the press call with a button missing from his suit- belly wide and proud like a beach ball in front of him. He belches and slurs and hiccups his way through the entire press call.

Chris replays it over and over that night as he fucks Derek. Derek's never come harder. *****

"I don't think this gut," he gives Derek's belly a solid slap, "will fit in a booth, could we get a table?"

Chris takes Derek out to eat, in jeans that look painted on and a T-shirt that is one stuffing away from rising up over his belly like a crop top. As soon as they sit down and look at the menu, Chris tells Derek what he's supposed to order.

"I'm sorry, he's such a pig," he smiles charmingly at their waiter, "I can't seem to get him to stop eating!"

Some nights, Chris will have Derek ride him, just to watch Derek starting to sweat and pant, blubber glistening and belly jiggling, and eventually has to stop to catch his breath.

"Need to stop already? Not even a minute….Finish this shake then get on all fours, pig. Fat fuck…" ***

Chris is sitting in a booth off to the side of the front counter, sipping on a soda and clearly waiting for the show to start.

Derek orders one of everything on the menu. The cashier behind the counter stares at him in confusion and asks him to repeat himself.

Derek is bright red but doesn't back down. "I'll…have one of everything."

It takes four employees to bring the entire order to his table. Derek can feel the eyes of everyone watching him, ass hanging out of his pants as he sits on two chairs and starts digging in, but all he cares about is Chris who is watching him hungrily. ****

"547," Chris reads."You were only 554 yesterday..." Derek looks down to on instinct, even if he can only see the mounds of his chest and the ever growing curve of his expansive belly. Chris catches him trying to look. "Don't worry, you haven't maxed this one out yet...but you will soon enough. What do you think about that?" "Please," Derek moans, reaching for his aching dick. There's too much of his own lard in the way. Usually Chris loves forcing Derek to rut against his own belly to try ang get himself off, teases him for looking more and more like a barnyard pig then ever. But ever since Derek passed the 500lb mark, Chris put a few new rules into place. "You know the rules, piggy. Want some help?" Derek oinks. "Good hog."

[beth-purcell]

Bendy and the State of Affairs

Or, Beth is Holding a Match and in Front of a Few Bridges

Yes, this is inspired by the going-ons, especially on tumblr and no I'm not going to name-drop because it's more just one account doing this; I've just lost my patience and I need to get this out of my system.

So I'll keep it under the cut so you can choose to skip and if you do skip, have a good day. If you decide to read, please remember to be respectful and it's just my opinion, as well as have a good day.

For context, one of the founders of Joey Drew Studios, Mike Dejsardins (Or as he was known during the peak of Bendy, Mike Mood), has come back to the internet via his YouTube Community Page, answering some questions that were left there. Despite claims for others to leave "civil" comments, there are quite a few nasty ones, and whatever you take from the guy, there's something that the fanbase can't argue.

He owns Bendy.

No matter how many people yell and complain and spew vile at him, that's not going to change. And assuming he doesn't sell the IP or loses it in a lawsuit, Bendy will always belong to him and the Meatly, and we know that Meatly enables his behavior and I think there are those in the fanbase that don't understand that this isn't like the Sonic movie, where multiple factors had to line up to even convince the higher ups at the movie studio that they'd make more money than had they left it alone. And a multimillion movie company is not the same as (as Mike himself confirmed) two people working on a game franchise with three people in the company overall.

Which tangentially brings me to the other question; Why are these people who claim to be "fans" of Bendy being so vile? Like, Mike certainly isn't a saint, but claiming people who aren't out there trying to "reclaim" that was never theirs in the first place are bootlickers when they could just be wanting to work for the game series that they grew up with? Hate to be the asshole, but I'm not going to have someone who spewed awful every time the topic of my project came up on said project, even if they claimed it's because "they want better". And that's just assuming that Mike and Meatly wouldn't tell other developers they know and interact with.

And honestly, you're not looking like a fan with what I'm seeing. There's a different between "Hey I like this, but I acknowledge there are faults, but I also acknowledge that I will not yuck anyone's yum." and "I like this, therefore I will not stop talking about how much I actually don't like aspects of this thing, and will use my "love" as an excuse to do awful things like disrespecting artists and writers by redistributing their paid work alongside asking people to work for free."

It's not like you could make your own story or game about an animation studio that fell from grace and tell it exactly how you wanted, with the staff portrayed as you exactly want, but I suppose you won't get those clicks if it's not labeled an "AU" of Bendy.

[saltwukong]

I don’t understand the “Kdin is a victim” narrative, sure her experience at RT was absolutely vile but she’s also vocally racist and should have gotten fired for that a long time ago. The fact that she continues to employ a white savior narrative in her crusade against RT is gross. Should I feel bad that she accepted transphobia as a price to say the n word with the er? Nah, she’s a PoS that loved RT until they stopped valuing her labor. I have no sympathy towards anyone that is ever involved with RT, they accepted slurs being used against them in order to punch down others.

Do me a favor and do not darken my askbox with a dogshit take like this again. You need to step back and think about why you're having these reactions--because you're falling for a very obvious trap.

"Kdin is a victim" is not a narrative, it is a fact. No one--and I mean no one--deserves to be dehumanized on a daily basis and damn near bled out for their work like Kdin was, and then stripped of all recognition for it in the process.

Kdin's actions were reprehensible. But a) there is quite a difference between someone apologizing for vile actions taken in the past year, and someone apologizing for vile actions fifteen years prior--before RWBY even existed and before plenty of people watching it were able to walk. Fifteen years is more than half my age at this time. And b) broken clocks, as they say.

It is not a white savior narrative to insist that Rooster Teeth be held accountable for its horrible work environment and bad practices and refuse to let people forget it.

The facts of Kdin's racism coming about mere days after she blew the whistle was not a coincidence, it was a distraction tactic. I would wager she knew full well something like that would be leaked and used to discredit her the second she spoke up. Rooster Teeth rely on reactions like the ones you're having to divide and conquer--if the people who complain are bad people, then no one will take what they say seriously enough to pursue it further. This isn't rocket science, it's just a bunch of smoke and mirrors. The more villains there are, the harder it is to put energy into defeating them.

You can hold Kdin accountable for what she did, acknowledge that it was a long time ago and that she's changed, and support her in castigating Rooster Teeth for being a shitty company that has abused its workforce for longer than she's had a history with them, and you can acknowledge that the circumstances in which people come to work for Rooster Teeth are not signing a paper which says "free bigotry" and that most of them cannot just leave even if they want to. That's the ultimate point.

The people I'm pissed with aren't even bothering to circulate Kdin's prior racism as a valid reason to ignore her and continue sucking Rooster Teeth's dicks, although that would still piss me off. They want to make her out to be bitter and a toxic person, when that's not the case--she's rightfully angry and these people were never going to give her the time of day no matter who she was or what she had done.

You can't take a serious stand against anything if you're easily distracted and willing to turn on anyone who falls short. Accept that, and you can start to point your anger to the right places.

[sirenemale]

Not to have ai art thoughts but I really don't think you can make guides up on spotting ai art, every one ive seen just points out weird anatomy / lighting / clothing folds as the Tell like that's not something all artists do anyway because no one is a master of that and even the rendered styles it trains off aren't flawless by that definition. And unlike the photoreal images that can and will be used for propaganda, ai art stuff you only really need to look at the source to see it's ai, not the art itself. Most ai art people are pretty forefront about it being ai, or it'll be a result from one of those ai sites, or it'll be an art account that has only uncaptioned work in various styles that are clearly not drawn by the same person, right. That's the tell, I don't think anything good will come out of trying to analyze peoples art for strange mistakes when there's a far more surefire way to tell if it's generated or not. Also still goes for the wider issue of people being caught up on what real art is, and the soul of art or whatever or how anyone can do art, which is true but also not, because disability exists and impacts people. When it hits the point where it is pretty and indistinguishable everyone who knows its ai will still use its aesthetic value as the critique, which is just falling back onto real artists these tools were trained off. And while I agree that our individual limitations and experiences are what makes our art unique to us regardless of what we're making, I ljterally just don't think calling the mean average result of uncountable artists "devoid of feeling" is enough of anything.

Like the gigantic issue is the way it's both training off and exploiting artists, and being used to replace them. and the way things are so fast paced now and based on rapid consumption, even if it's not taking the place of people it's still making real people and artists with lives and disabilities and issues compete with a machine that can produce endlessly and within seconds and then be sold just as fast without the complexities of people holding up the pipeline. At this point they're feeding data to data they want the consumer and producers to be growing in a clean statistic way they have something now that doesn't even really need market testing. There's no way for us to keep pace there when it was already hard before it. And while it's easy to joke about it being ugly or mass market slop, and I've done it too obviously there's a lot to rag on, but your core argument can't be that it's just ugly or isn't convincing it leaves you open to the idea that you would turn around on it if the aesthetic of it is Good enough by your standard, which is what these companies already realize that's why they are rapidly improving it 😭😭

[mrs-monaghan]

That was just 1 big ot7 account I sent..now more accounts are coming up in support of Tae. When JM was attacked for the hug there WAS NO ONE. One big ot7 acct just liked a tweet to show the support, that's it. They saw everything but didn't spoke up at all. Now all are acting like ot7 angels and vminkook protectors. You know what them and their favs are going to hell if they are making Jimin's life miserable.

i dont think they are anon. Jimin hate didn't start yesterday. From what i hear he's been getting shit from haters for YEARS. So this isn't new. He used to be called the King of Twitter coz of how active he was. Then suddenly it all stopped. Rumor has it he may have been told by the company to stop posting JK so much and so Jimin was like 'fuck it. if i can't post bae then i don' wanna post at all' which would go hand in hand with the company telling JK what to do with his GCFs so he stopped all together. Man just wanted to showcase his love for Jimin in peace 😂

Anyway, i'm digressing but it's my speciatly. 🙈🙈 What i'm saying is, we dont know why Jimin stopped being active on twitter, but it could definitely have been the hate.

However, i think it's been going on for so long, he's at a point where he just doesn't give a shit anymore. You heard him on SMF prt 2. He's good. I don't think we have to worry about that. But u know who i know lurks online and sees everything? His boyfriend. JK had an IG account since 2016 and no one had a clue. I believe that man has secret accounts and lurks online for sure. RM too and Jhope see everything. V too has admitted to seeing everything Armys are doing. Jimin, Suga, not so much.

This long winded answer is to make u feel better as a Jimin fan. No, his haters aren't making his life miserable. He knows Tkkrs exist and probably hates them as much as JK (nah I take that back. No one hates Tkkrs more than JK. Maybe Jennie but definitely JK) but i think they haven't gotten to him in a while.

Remember this is the same dude who saw a Tkkr holding up a Tkk sign at the airport when they came back from Vegas and he immediately shared this photo.

That was soooooo savage of him 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Jimin is doing just fine my dear. Thank God.

[pink-strawberry-kissess]

ppl are fandom policing again just bc they don't like that one aeon vid... like I get it u can just ignore it but having ppl to follow u like some kind of sheep... this is such a sticky situation

okay bestie please give me more context next time cause i had to do research

okay so from what I can tell is the issue is

the usage of real life face models in video games and then being used in nsfw content.

now we have to break down a lot of things to get the full context of things

when actors audition/are asked to 3D model for a game/movie, they are contractually signing AWAY their face/likeness. they (the developers) hold their face scans/body scans in perpetuity, meaning that they can do WHATEVER they want with it.

when you sign away your face, you (the model) have to be aware of ALL POSSIBLE OUTCOMES OF THIS ACT. usually there are a lot of fine print details about how much they can use your face etc. you- as the model and your agent/etc are RESPONSIBLE IN MAKING SURE THAT YOU ARE AWARE TO ALL THESE POSSIBLE OUTCOMES (i understand this is NOT CONSENTING. when you get into a car, you acknowledge that you can get into a car crash, you are NOT CONSENTING TO A CAR CRASH)

now a secondary issue is that a lot of people are NOT aware of how far developers will go with your face. elliot page had explored legal action after he was scanned for a character in beyond two souls [source] NOTE: this particular article uses Elliot's dead name, and was not updated to Elliot.

a third issue is that people can not separate the face models from the actual characters. leon's face model has VERY PUBLICLY STATED that he DOES NOT WANT ANY PART OF THE RE COMMUNITY/FANDOM. he has repeated several times that he does not appreciate these "fan accounts" [source] leon's face model has had his old videos/photoshoots etc DUG UP for leon thirst traps. (i believe this is a bigger issue)

now PERSONALLY i do not see leon and ada's models (in game) as REAL PEOPLE- i do not associate them as REAL PEOPLE and therefore do NOT think of their face models when perceiving them. i PERSONALLY think it's GROSS to seek out the face models and to treat them as if they are leon or ada etc. (i personally do not see the irl face models as leon OR ada)

when you sign off your face, you need to be aware that you become a piece of media and your model and likeness will and can be used

there has consistently been IP issues within fandom spaces for DECADES. TECHNICALLY FANART IS AGAINST COPYRIGHT IN SOME INSTANCES. some companies like pokemon WILL SUE YOU if you make a profit off their IP.

this is also why that small team that was making a fan made code veronica was shut down by capcom since what they were doing WAS ILLEGAL. [source] I believe this particular article was heavily siding with the dev team though- as it was said to be "pure evil," that capcom was stopping them. however they neglect to disclose (in many instances, like their i believe now defunct twitter) that they were taking donations (this article speculates it is the reason, but frames it as such it could possibly not be the reason)- BUT they were STILL making a profit off an IP that they don't own. furthermore they were using assets from re2r that ALSO ARE NOT THEIRS

fan art/fan videos are also questionable when it comes to legality. the leon and ada models aren't exactly ripped from capcom in a sense- they are generally REMADE and then used in animating programs so that they can be animated to do whatever.

it could be argued that these artworks are transformative enough that they can slip through. like i said previously, fanart STILL EXISTS obviously, and people STILL MAKE A PROFIT off of it. it is STILL work and time put into something.

i also find it interesting that when that particular artist made leon and ashley videos, there wasn't an uproar but suddenly for the aeon one, there's a problem with it? interesting...

if you don't like something- then try to block it.

a WORSE ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO BE DISCUSSED IMO ARE THE PEOPLE THAT ARE USING AI GENERATED VOICES, STOLEN FROM NICK TO MAKE NSFW LEON CONTENT THAT IS PROFITED ON FROM PATREONS.

tl;dr: just read it

[anticorn-lawleag-ue]

Whoa there hold on. Capitalism and America's relationship with art and profit does not come down to Economists only. Our role in why profit maxxing (what this post is talking about, aka beating that dead horse until it stops spitting out money) became default/obsession is *not* small but we aren't the source from the top of these existing and dominating companies. Private sector economists typically get hired to do the dirty work; when they tell us to find the profit maximizing strategy, we do the analysis and interpret the conclusion in a meaningful way, and provide reasonable next-steps. Many also study poverty, international trade, why some countries are poorer than others, welfare participation rates and how to *increase participation* for those that qualify and don't take it, labor and wage stagnation, education (my specialty), crime, insurance, exchange rates, etc.... We *know* how to profit maximize with spread sheets sure, but we are a quantitative social science. We study human behavior through the lens of data and mathematics, but it must toe the line between numbers and human behavior. This is our role in the humanities.

There are different schools of thought and essentially political alignments within our field as well, such as the famous Keynes vs Hayek debate (post WW2) on degrees of government intervention in times of economic crises, and we even have slang for these debates that have existed for a while (google Fresh water vs Salt water economics; these are nicknames based on locations of universities). Notably, many economists are trying to increase the diversity and perspectives that exist in the field right now.

If you want to look at CEO education, here's source:

https://www.study.eu/article/the-academic-backgrounds-of-the-worlds-most-powerful-ceos

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberlywhitler/2019/10/05/new-ceo-study-the-undergraduate-degrees-and-majors-of-fortune-100-ceos/

I commonly see economists being confused as the only ones driving where the economic culture goes, but there is a reason Finance, Business, and Accounting majors are different degrees than Economics: we all actually do very different things. We simply frequent similar topics and areas of expertise. Note that in the source above, those with a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) are the majority (54%) in North American CEOs. Believe me, there are plenty of economists that notice and don't like the way things are going, and yes, even in the arts. My undergrad was in music before I pivoted to Econ for my masters; at the very least, I notice.

The common joke within the field is we get hired and then ignored. I've heard multiple stories from my professors being hired to analyze a situation, finding a way that maximizes everyone's welfare, presenting it, and they say "Wow thanks! Here's your payment, we won't be doing that. :)"

Note though that artists *do need money*. At some point you need income to cover your costs and to be fairly reimbursed for your labor. You even deserve to make a profit if people like your work so much! The problem is when this is taken to the extreme by unrestrained companies and their executives that will cost-cut and extract every last penny of consumer surplus in the market, leaving poor quality products for a high price. Those profits then don't get used in efficient ways that benefit their employees. Generally, this is characteristic of a market failure, when regulation needs to step in (part of econ theories btw). America doesn't uhhh do that these days, and you can look at econ and political history to verify this.

Disregard for the arts is something that is not isolated to the business adjacent fields, but I believe it is cultural. Arts programs have been decreasing in public schools for a while in the States, so it shouldn't be surprising this is where it ends up. Fundamentally, we need to start prioritizing something else than profit margins for top companies as an indicator for general welfare in a country... something some economists have been pushing for for a while now.

The world is vast and complicated and nuance exists; its disregard will be a disservice to you and others. Hope this helps.

Sincerely, an Econ PhD student.

Why the media CEOs will always learn the wrong lessons

Yesterday a friend and I talked about how the entire (AAA) game industrie looked at BG3 being as popular as it is and going: "Oh, we need to produce 100+ hour games, I guess! Those sell!" Which... obviously is not why it is popular. The game is not popular because it has 100+ hours of gameplay, but because it has engaging characters, that are well-acted and that work as good hooks for the players. Like, let's face it: The reason why I so far have sunken 160 hours into this game is, because I wanna spend time with these characters - and because I wanna give them their happy endings.

But the same has happened too, just a bit earlier this year, right? When Barbie broke the 1 billion and every Hollywood CEO went: "Oh, so the people want movies based on toy franchises! Got it!" To which the internet at large replied: "... How is that the lesson you learned from this?"

Well, let me explain to you, why this is the lesson they learn: It is because the CEOs and the boards of directors at large are not artists or even engaged with the medium they produce. They mostly are economists. And their dry little hearts do not understand stuff more complex than numbers and spread sheets.

That sounds evil, I know, but... It is sadly the truth. When they look at a successful movie/series/game/book/comic, they look at it as a product, not a piece of art or narrative. It is just a product that has very clear metrics.

To them Barbie is not a movie with interesting stylistic choices that stand out from the majority of high budget action blockbusters. It is a toy movie with mildly feminist themes.

Or Oppenheimer is not a movie to them with a strong visual language and good acting direction. No, it is a historical blockbuster.

And this is true for basically every form of media. I mean, books are actually a fairly good example. In my life I do remember the big book fads that happened. When Harry Potter was a success, there was at least a dozen other "magical school" book series being released. When Twilight was a big success there was suddenly an endless number of "teen girl falls in love with bad boy, who is [magical creature]" YA. When the Hunger Games was a success, there were hundreds of "YA dystopia" books. Meanwhile in adult reading, we had the big "next Game of Throne" fad.

Of course, the irony is, that within each of those fads there might have been one or two somewhat successful series - but never even one that came even close to whatever started the fad.

Or with movies, we have seen it, too. When Avengers broke the 1 billion (which up to this point only few movies did) the studios went: "Ooooooh, so we need shared universe film series" - and then all went to try and fail to create their own cinematic universe.

Because the people, who call the shots, are just immensely desinterested in the thing they are selling. They do not really care about the content. All they care about is having a supposedly easy avenue of selling it. Just as they do not care about the consumer. All they care about is that the consumer buys it. Why he buys it... Well, they do not care. They could not care less, in fact.

So, yeah, get ready for a 20 overproduced games with a bloated 100+ hours of empty gameplay, but without the engaging characters. And for like at least 15 more moves based on some toy franchise, that nobody actually cares about.

And then get ready for all the CEOs to do the surprised Pikachu face, when all of that ends up not financially successful.

Really, I read some interviews yesterday from some AAA-studio CEOs and their blatant shock and missing understanding on why BG3 works for so many people.

Because, yeah... capitalism does not appreciate art. Capitalism does not understand art. It only understands spread sheets.

[channeleven]

Revisiting The Secret of NIMH 2

 A long time ago I did a review of The Secret of NIHM 2. In that review, I essentially echoed the complains others had over the film, many, many others. Called it a cash grab, fan fiction, hits harder when time after you see others basically saying the same thing and you feel partially responsible.

Of all the things to hold Nostalgia Critic accountable for is influencing general perception of movies for years to come, whether he was the loudest voice at the time or did it earlier than others where traction would be had by that time. The Secret of NIMH 2 is among his many casualties and they're still trying to recover, held back only by a number of washouts who forgot what year it was. Wanna know what got me to review this movie? A Nostalgia Critic type review that was released on July 24th... 2024. Yikes.

I was on the fence when it came to NIMH 2, but then I saw a video created by my good buddy Timey that defended the film, and credibly as well, and if you ask me you should check her video out first.

Now, for the movie in general, is it really as bad as people claim it to be? To that it's a resounding... sorta. There are some issues with this movie, but half the time people focus on less important things or just go solely by its connection to the first NIMH alone, if not regurgitating everything Nostalgia Critic said just differently enough to not make anyone side-eye.

I'm just saying, if Bobsheaux were to do a review of this movie, I imagine him just copying Nostalgia Critic's points questioning logic where it doesn't need to be questioned, use a rat puppet in his place and maybe charge two dollars just to watch it. He can't possibly be that destitute.

Whatever I may say about this movie, while it's not great, it's not the worst movie ever, not even close to being the worst sequel, a guilty pleasure at the most, and if you want an idea to what that's like for me, here's a list of my personal guilty pleasures: https://letterboxd.com/channeleven/list/guilty-pleasures/

But shameless plug aside, there's no better place to start than the beginning... of the film... 's inception.

Background

The Secret of NIMH 2 came out during a period where video/DVD rentals/purchases were on a continual rise. Companies like Disney would begin putting out sequels for the sell-through market in order to capitalize on the success of their properties. Lacking the same budget as the movies they followed (why put in extra effort for the home video market in the event ticket sales outdo rental payments, and the whole shebang behind shares?

While a lot of these sell-through movies aren't great, at best don't have the same staying power as their theatrical contemporaries, I mean companies weren't making fine art here, they were out making a profit, a necessary evil for them, you'd be a fool to expect anything more. But you don't have to always see it that way, if these movies made up your childhood or you can look past the obvious dips and enjoy a movie for what it is, more power to you, I'd probably relate depending on what movie's on the table anyhow.

Back on topic, The Secret of NIMH, the first, its success cannot be understated. Breaking new ground when it comes to storytelling and having gorgeous animation to boot, I can see why a lot of people loved that movie, and MGM would feel the same to the point they would try to continue it in some way, but with conservative spending.

The Secret of NIMH 2 was the second to last movie put out by MGM's animation division, one of four to be exact. MGM Animation originally produced a sing-a-long series of tapes, along with a handful of cartoons based on IPs they owned at the time. But regarding the movies, they first began with Babes in Toyland, which I only saw the latter half of and became one of many films that I could never figure out until recently.

But I swear that Roger Corman took the design of Humpty Dumpty for Aladdin and the Adventure of All Time.

This was followed with An All Dogs Christmas Carol which is based more on the All Dogs television series, something that Bobsheaux never even touched upon in the slightest, at least as far as I know. Anyway, that and NIMH 2 came out the same year before ending with a mousified Tom Sawyer in 2000.

NIMH 2 was directed by Dick Sebast. Sebast primarly did work as an animator for Disney productions like The Rescuers and Winnie the Pooh, later doing work for various Hanna-Barbera and Ruby Spears cartoons among other small roles. On one hand, he was involved with X-Men Evolution and even directed nine episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, those that at the very least aren't considered to be on the lower end. But on the other hand he is also somewhat attached to shows and movies I'm not particularly fond of, here's looking at you Sonic SatAM and Ultimate Avengers. The last thing he's credited to is the DreamWorks movie Home, where he was not credited, but chances are he doesn't mind that.

The film's story is credited to three people. Sam Graham and Chris Hubbell appear to be a writing team, sharing nearly the exact same credits. They had contributed in some capacity to the writing of films like Oliver and Company and The Little Mermaid, they wrote a later season episode of the Beetlejuice cartoon, four for The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest and wrote the teleplay for Night of the Twisters. But like Sebast they also have a BTAS connection, writing for one episode of that series, you wanna know what it was? You ready?

I've Got Batman in my Basement

Yes, what is generally agreed upon to be the worst BTAS episode of all time, you have them to thank for that.

But what about the third person? Jymn Magon is attached to quite a bit, but for more notable ones he was tied to Quack Pack, a product of its time at best, and was also attached to cartoons produced at DiC entertainment's French division Les Studios Tex, handling The Wacky World of Tex Avery, hated as that show is and serving as the headwritter for Archie's Weird Mysteries, a show I thought was cool, but then realized it's an E/I show using a cool premise to trick people into learning things. As far as other movies go he wrote Casper: A Spirited Beginning and Casper Meets Wendy, all two of those live-action Casper TV movies, An All Dogs Christmas Carol, I mean granted he did the story and part of the screenplay for A Goofy Movie, but you wanna know what else he was involved in?

Titanic: The Legend Goes On

Yet another punching bag of many years ago, he served as a consultant on it just for the record. If you want my opinion on the film there's an uncut version that, while not a great movie at least is better held together than the more commonly spread cut version.

As far as the cast goes it's a who's who of celebrities who were falling or fell off long ago and are looking for some easy money. Among them being William H. Macy, Ralph Macchio, Harvey Korman, Eric Idle, and we do get two returning actors, Dom DeLuise who was clearly never picky when it came to movie deals, and Arthur Malet in his final role... before he would retire and die in 2013.

I also wanna single out Meshach Taylor as I used to watch Designing Women reruns, but you may recognize him Mr. Wright from Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide. And speaking of Nickelodeon actors, the second, or third if you count the 1994 pilot Arnold Shortman, Phillip Van Dyke was also in this. Also Hynden Walch, who you may recognize as Penny Sanchez from ChalkZone... and nothing else. But something tells me her presence here and what she became known for later on had given her some slack relating to who she played. Lastly, it's important to note that the voice of Mrs. Brisby, Elizabeth Hartman, had passed away under very dark circumstances. She was played by Debi Mae West in the film, and she is perhaps best known for playing Meryl in Metal Gear Solid, and she does a decent job in this movie for whatever it's worth.

If it wasn't obvious before, Don Bluth had no involvement in this movie, but whether he was on or not wouldn't affect the quality of the movie because throughout the 90s he had begun to lose his touch. You may argue Anastasia was an outlier among his more mediocre movies, and that MGM greenlit this movie because the Bluth name was more or less redeemed for a time, but that's a stretch. You already know how this movie turned out, so I'm not gonna go into the impact, it's a byproduct of trying to be like the biggest reviewer out there and share his opinions on movies, and it's never going to stop. I'm delaying the inevitable by rambling on and on about behind the scenes stuff, I should stop.

Okay, the movie, finally

As something different, I'm gonna do my best to try and explain the issues people have with the movie, it may not work, but it's different.

NIMH 2 would center on Timmy, a character who served a purpose in the first movie, but was otherwise relegated as part of a goal had by Mrs. Brisby to help him, while contending with the rot... whatever the first movie was about.

The movie would begin with a recap of the first, and this is where red flags are raised for most people, as it presents Mrs. Brisby's husband Johnathan as the main hero. As much as I'd love to bitch in the name of a cartoon rat, I think I know what they're going for here. Mrs. Brisby is the main player in the rest of the first NIMH movie yes, but Johnathan Brisby was the one who helped free the rats from NIMH, giving them the means, the will, to start their own civilization, he may've even lent a hand in the creation of Thorn Valley.

You may say Mrs. Brisby was also instrumental in helping Thorn Valley, I mean you may be right, but don't act like Johnathan had no influence either, if anything I give the movie props for trying to provide extra focus to the rest of the Brisby family, bar certain stretches. And in the case of Timmy, who spent the entire first movie sick, it's a good way to better flesh him out, what more is there to him?

Now, his selection as the rats' golden boy is kinda forced, I'll give you that, and some claim it should've been Martin in the lead, as Don Bluth also would've suggested, but I also see what they're trying to do here. Timmy is just coming into life with a greater purpose, and he feels he isn't ready for it. Martin who had more experience feels he is better suited for what's in store for Timmy, which would be a setup for what happens later in the movie.

As far as him being the chosen one, I mean I get citizens of Thorn Valley expressing optimism and fate for the next in line in the Brisbys thanks to their help. A little overblown, sure, but these reviewers going on and on about how Mrs. Brisby is a god they prey to you'd think they'd see something of her in Timmy. That would explain that celebration at the start of his arrival.

As for the cautious nature of Mr. Ages, he has faith in Timmy, but wants him to work to earn his reputation, to not just base himself solely on the achievements of his family alone, to have the experience and discipline to back it up. You don't become a hero in a day, you gotta work your way up. At least that's what I feel like they're going for.

Along with Timmy there's also Jenny, who is considered to be one of the film's few objective positives. She has enough personality and tact so she wouldn't feel out of place, as well as some importance to the plot. She had escaped NIMH and would inform Thorn Valley's higher ups about what's currently happening. For when they refuse to act on it and for those who say they should throw caution into the wind and do it... you wouldn't last one presidency, if conflict is the first thing. Yes it's ideal to help, but as the first movie shows, there will be bodycounts, and the rats escaped NIMH to live.

Oh but, building up Timmy. Perhaps he wasn't ready yet and his training amounts to protecting Thorn Valley from outside dangers, and that them going back to NIMH may lead to NIMH finding their way to Thorn Valley.

Up to this point I've ignored the musical aspects, and yeah... the songs are pretty bad. On paper they're decent, but in practice... you know what, no, I'd still take off-key singing over the autotune or swapped voice they used in The Loud House Movie. It seems like the songs are used just to help bolster the length, or because that's what kids were into, even if it doesn't fit in the context or tone of the film that came before.

I mean say what you will about Ferngully 2, at least it began as a musical of sorts.

Now as for Jeremy who is seen helping to scam forrest animals by pretending to be the Great Owl, I dunno, I guess they had to have him do something and justify him being within reasonable distance so he could rejoin Timmy and Jenny. So basically plot convenience, guess they backed themselves into a corner with that.

Getting to NIMH, remember how Martin acted earlier on? And how even more we were led on to believing one particular scientist was the big bad? It's a good ol' bait and switch, sorta. Anyway blah blah blah, evil Martin, agreement, blah blah. The rest of Thorn Valley would arrive, presumably realizing Timmy and Jenny were gone they would set out to find them and then they were like, fuck it, we're here, we may as well see this through, fruitless to go back now.

Alright let's talk about this. Martin was jealous that he was not considered to be sent to Thorn Valley, early on it was shown he knew where it was, hence how he could get out there. One can assume he traveled to NIMH to prove himself by stopping them, and either he got caught and experimented on, or his selfish desires led him to become corrupted.

Martin being the bad guy actually has more weight than people want you to believe. It plays a part in Timmy's character where he cares deeply for his family, Martin especially, so to realize the one behind all of this was his own brother, it hits hard. Compared to it just being a generic scientist that few of them know beyond some aspects, it gives this film one above sequels/d2v movies by representing an emotional connection, you don't get that as often, and while that is offset by a very goofy song it's still there.

It also says a lot in regard to Timmy's character, where he would be willing to help his brother even in spite of his corruption, "I have my brother back!". For his bravery, proving himself and potentially destroying NIMH for good, he is given a statue alongside his father for helping to bring the rats to where they are now, literally and figuratively.

Of course some of you may say "Wait a minute where the fuck is Mrs. Brisby's statue for the millionth time!?"

Alright I'm gonna be real, I'm aware of what she has done in the movie, benefit of the doubt to naysayers that maybe she did enough to warrant one. Maybe it's an oversight, maybe the extent of what she did was big but not statue big, she wasn't trying to prove herself against Johnathan Brisby, she was just trying to help her family and those close to her and faced her own journey to do so. I don't know, I really don't know, but there's a reason somewhere, I can feel it.

Animation

The animation in this movie is about what you'd expect for a straight-to-video film, not amazing but above average compared to others like it, and those others typically came out in the 2000s whereas this came out in 1998. It's not bad, but not mind-blowing and people would turn the other cheek given this is riding off of a movie best known for its animation.

Final Thoughts

A lot of people really hate this movie, and for a time I did too and I made a review to that effect. But the fact that even to this day people are still complaining about this movie and bringing nothing new most of the time it comes down to the same thing... it's getting old, and maybe this movie isn't as bad as Nostalgia Critic made it out to be.

The Nostalgia Critic had a negative impact on movie reviews, you can owe the reputations of certain films to him. For instance Garbage Pail Kids was more relatively obscure until he did a review and got more people to talk about it. The same effect occurred here as well evidentially as few could do anything more than just echo what Nostalgia Critic said in the name of a movie, of all things.

Once you take that away, you're left with a movie that, yes, isn't great but is far from the worst movie of all time, let alone one of the worst sequels. I'm being blunt here, because after seeing the same reviews multiple times and looking more into the movie, things just don't add up. Is this really that bad, or are we just regurgitating what we heard before with no variation? Only credit I can give to this is that most of the time they don't throw Don Bluth into the discussion, and since this movie came out as he was still alive there goes that go-to.

There's more to a movie than what you hear from the reviewer of the week, and people need to have the confidence to go against the grain if there is something that is getting missed. High risk, high reward.

[green-for-the-win123]

Guardians of the Digital Realm: Tackling Data Breaches in Indian Healthcare

In the bustling digital landscape of India, a silent battle rages on – one that could affect your most personal information. Welcome to the world of healthcare data breaches, where your medical history is the prize, and cybercriminals are the hunters. Buckle up as we dive into this critical issue that's making waves in India's healthcare sector.

Why Should You Care? Picture this: Your entire medical history, from that embarrassing rash to your latest blood test results, suddenly available to the highest bidder on the dark web. Scary, right? That's why I, as a digital innovation student, chose to shine a spotlight on this topic. It's not just about ones and zeros; it's about your privacy, your security, and potentially, your life.

The State of Play: Numbers Don't Lie Hold onto your stethoscopes, folks, because the numbers are alarming:

In 2018, healthcare data breaches accounted for a mere 7% of all data breaches in India.

Fast forward to 2022, and that number skyrocketed to 18%! (Data Security Council of India, 2023) That's more than double in just four years. Houston, we have a problem!

The Usual Suspects: How Does It Happen? So, how are the bad guys getting their hands on your health data? Let's break it down:

Ransomware Attacks: Imagine hospitals unable to access patient data unless they pay a hefty ransom. It's not a movie plot; it's happening!

Insider Threats: Sometimes, the call is coming from inside the house. Disgruntled employees or careless staff can be the weakest link.

Phishing Scams: That innocent-looking email? It might be the bait to hook your doctor's login credentials.

Unsecured Databases: Some databases are about as secure as a house with the front door wide open.

The Domino Effect: Who Gets Hit? When a healthcare data breach occurs, it's not just the patients who suffer. It's a domino effect that impacts:

Patients: Privacy goes out the window, and identity theft becomes a real threat.

Healthcare Providers: Reputation takes a nosedive, and the financial hit can be massive.

Insurance Companies: Fraudulent claims start pouring in, and liability skyrockets.

Government: Trust in the system erodes, and regulatory nightmares ensue.

The Legal Tangle: Where Do We Stand? Here's the kicker – our current laws are playing catch-up. The Information Technology Act of 2000 is like using a flip phone in the age of smartphones – it just doesn't cut it for healthcare's specific needs. There's hope on the horizon with the Personal Data Protection Bill, but for now, we're in a bit of a legal limbo.

Fighting Back: The Cybersecurity Arsenal But fear not! The good guys aren't sitting idle. Here's how the healthcare sector is armoring up:

Beefing up access controls (because not everyone needs to see everything)

Regular security check-ups (finding the weak spots before the bad guys do)

Employee boot camps (turning staff into the first line of defense)

Data encryption (making stolen data as useful as a paperweight)

Battle plans for breaches (because hope for the best, prepare for the worst)

The Bottom Line As India's healthcare sector races into the digital future, we can't let cybersecurity be an afterthought. It's a delicate balance – embracing innovation while fortifying our defenses. The stakes? Just our privacy, security, and peace of mind. No biggie, right? So, the next time you visit a hospital or clinic, remember – in the digital age, it's not just your physical health that needs protection. Your data health matters too!

Stay safe, stay informed, and maybe think twice before oversharing on those medical forms!

[scarlettberth]

Social Media Policies

Trends that are happening in the industry currently are battling artificial intelligence, talking about upcoming elections, and the growth of social shopping. The current code of ethics for Lush for their social media are they believe "data privacy is a fundamental human right", they do not participate on platforms that use visitor data in unrevealed ways, they prefer platforms that don't use algorithms to target users with negative/fake/extreme viewpoints, and their choice of platforms that they utilize for communication will change over time with new platforms becoming available.

Brands that are utilizing proper social media ethical practices are Lush, Hello Fresh, and JUST WATER. A professional that I feel practices strong ethical behavior on social media is a TikToker by the name of Golloria by posting beauty and lifestyle videos. She makes honest reviews of products and respectfully holds companies accountable for not including black women. Takeaways that I can bring forth in my own practices are that it's okay to hold companies accountable for their actions and everyone should have a strong sense of ethics especially when it comes to being an avid social media user.

The main concepts I think are necessary to adhere to for my own personal conduct online are to show respect towards people and their thoughts/opinions because people are allowed to have them although you may disagree, be mindful and follow behavior standards that you would normally follow in real life, be crystal clear in what you are posting so that you don't spread misinformation, and be considerate of people's privacy.

The main concepts I feel strongly against and want to make sure I avoid on social media are misappropriation and trying to stick yourself in a conversation and making inappropriate comments, don't manipulate people, be authentically yourself and understand not everyone is going to be influenced by you, and don't be a narcissist, people prefer the quality of your content rather than how many followers you have.

-> Core concepts that I will follow as a practicing social media professional are;

Pick the right social media platforms to be on. You need to consider your audience on the platforms you'll be utilizing. (INDEED)

Use social listening to keep up with trends and discussions with your followers. With that information you want to make a calculated decision to plan your next move. (INDEED)

Be very careful and monitor your digital footprint. Make sure you aren't posting content that's offensive/rude/false or interacting with followers inappropriately. Also just remember, once it's posted online, it will never fully be deleted. (OCCC)

Engage with your followers regularly to keep a connection going. Make time to reply to messages or comments, and be open to any feedback your supporters may give. (OCCC)

Post engaging content that will capture people's attention and make them want to sit and watch. You want to make people think about why they should learn more. (UMBC)

Prioritize and respect the privacy of other people. Don't stick yourself a situation that you don't need to be in and end up drawing negative attention to yourself. (UMBC)

Works Cited