#why does youtube have so many forms for publishing

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Peter Boghossian

Published: Feb 25, 2020

Social Justice is a dangerous, illiberal ideology that is taking over society. Although often associated with “liberalism” in the United States, it is explicitly anti-liberal. One of the core pillars of Critical Race Theory, upon which one dimension of Social Justice ideology rests, is a critique of liberalism, where “critique” is meant as Karl Marx used it and “liberalism” is the broad philosophy of individual liberty upon which the United States was founded.

One of the easiest ways to understand how illiberal Social Justice can be is available to anyone who attempts to criticize it. Those who criticize Social Justice are not thanked for helping to improve its tenets. Rather, they’re called bigots, homophobes, Nazis, grifters, misogynists, or, the trump card meant to silence all conversation: racists. 

Proving its commitment to illiberalism even further, when the accused denies these accusations and demands evidence to substantiate claims that they’re racist, this denial is taken as evidence of guilt. To ask for evidence of racism is considered a form of willful ignorance of racism, according to Social Justice. Then, when the accused points out the obvious, that name calling isn’t an argument and they’d like to have a conversation about the manifestation of Social Justice that led them to be accused in the first place, nobody comes forward to converse. In the Social Justice ideological paradigm, conversing with someone who’s been accused of being a racist, sexist, or bigot would be acting in complicity with racism. (There’s even a word in their lexicon for this, “platforming.”) So conversation is a priori ruled out. 

But Social Justice’s illiberalism is actually far worse. In many situations, because nobody comes forward to speak with the accused—in spite of the fact that he has pleaded with adherents and enforcers of Social Justice ideology to have a conversation—a narrative is then constructed that paints the accused as someone who does not want to have a conversation with anyone with whom he disagrees. Moreover, this is often reframed as the accused being unwilling to have a conversation about racism!

And this is exactly what has happened to me. I have called out Social Justice ideology for being dangerous, illiberal, and unjust. I have stated that it’s an ideology for which not only is there at best scant evidence for its particular claims, but there is actually an entire body of established scientific literature (biology, up against gender studies and queer theory, for example) that contradicts many of its underlying assumptions (e.g., that differences between men and woman are entirely social constructs). I have asked my colleagues and the administration at Portland State University, where I teach, to provide evidence for policies and practices that may be institutionalized (trigger warnings, safe spaces), and I have sent them evidence (Scott Lilienfeld’s or Jon Haidt and Greg Lukianoff’s work) that contradicts these policies. I’ve either been ignored, or ridiculed, or told I’m committing a microaggression and making people feel unsafe. Requests for evidence have even been characterized as having caused them trauma.

From the outside, of course it looks like I’m not having conversations with those who have substantive disagreements, but this is because in Social Justice communities if anyone has a conversation with me they’re contributing to a platform where their claims about reality can be questioned and where alternative views can be explained. And why would they want to do that, given the moral certitude they place in their conclusions? They wouldn’t, especially because Social Justice has been remarkably effective at spreading throughout the society—government (see Benjamin A Boyce’s videos on YouTube), media, tech (note the controversy around the infamous “Google memo”), and, quintessentially, the academy. 

The unwillingness of Social Justice adherents to speak with me—or others who challenge their doctrines—does not stop them from accusing me of not wanting to speak with them. In fact, it escalates those accusations. This is because the primary method of Social Justice is to accuse, whether true or false, sensible or insensible, and to manipulate everything that follows into further accusations.

Sadly, this is exactly the response one would predict given that Social Justice ideology is highly aggressive, intrinsically political, and completely in conflict with science, evidence, and reason. If it were backed by science, evidence, and reason, science evidence and reason would be presented in conversation and there would be no need to call anyone names or accuse people who want to have conversations of not wanting to have conversations. The Social Justice canons would also not need to build an infrastructure that insulates itself from criticism and uses name calling and accusation as the primary tool to dispense its ideological enemies. Rather, it would encourage dialogue, conversation, and even debate. Instead, it sees discourse not as an effective means for determining truth but as yet another political project to oppress people.

Social Justice cannot continue to be taken seriously on its own terms, which it has literally made up. It must be taken seriously in terms of the threat it poses to liberal and civil society, which it is actively undermining and seeks to destroy. I am just one man, of course, but the problems I’m facing are becoming commonplace throughout society—in workplaces, schools, academia, hobby groups, online, and even in churches. As Social Justice creeps into everything and rewrites it with illiberalism, accusations, unfairness, and a conspicuous refusal to have a reasoned conversation about anything it proposes, we put ourselves and our societies at tremendous risk of losing the norms civil society needs to function. We must stand up to Social Justice ideology. We must fight. New Discourses is helping us do exactly that.

==

Remember when people were still saying this wasn't happening, and anyway, if it was happening, it wasn't happening outside the academy? Ah, the days before the Summer of Riots. Good times.

[rumbleonthemill]

I want to address this issue, and I want to write my thoughts about it (it’s my page after all) It’s the old story: people shitting on Hello Neighbor, despite all they know is misinformation and lies. Nothing more.

…

I’ve been subbed to Markiplier for 9 years, if not more. He was the first and only youtuber I began watching, when this whole youtube thing became big. I remember watching him during university years, whenever I felt down, whenever I was happy. and after university too. And for long, I watched nobody else, but him.

…

He has a recent video, which you find here: https://youtu.be/tkREzi3IL7M I’m going to ignore the fact that they probably paid for a traced art for the thumbnail, this is another topic, but holy fuck. Ew. Okay, so this video went out recently, for nobody’s surprise, it is full of misinformation and gossips, and that’s HN for Mark and his friends.

This video…this video goes against one single rule, which sane people keep: “don’t like? Ignore”

I have a shitton of things I dislike. Heck, I even have things about Mark I dislike, but I have no right to change him, nor to criticize him. I skip the disliked things. But what does Markiplier do?

Nothing special. He does what every “fnaf youtuber” does nowadays: kicks into a game that is already laying on the ground. This doesn’t only mean a kick in the game, and the developers, who are probably the nicest people I’ve ever met. I love them. (And no, they didn’t beg to fucking matpat, whose HN theories are WRONG, it is marketing category, not development, and matpat himself does tag people multiple times, so find another cringe excuse to shit on us) God save us, the developers are not equal to the producer/publisher, who is responsible for the marketing part. Tinybuild is ONLY the publisher of HN, the game was created by Dynamic Pixels(now Eerie Guest Studios) who were five people in an office during that time. Five. Their first pc game.

This doesn’t only affect the devs, or the publisher. Believe or not (I don’t give a shit if you don’t) the FANS of the game also receive hate and actual death threats - because they’re fans! You read it correctly, I’m being harassed and sent death threats, made fun of, people wish my DEATH, because I’m thinking DIFFERENTLY. I word my comments fairly and trying to encourage people to not instantly hate something and try it for real - useless. Makes me think, where is the brain level of those shitting people. If I, a random person, despite hearing a lot of bad things, could try HN on my own and experience it, while my forming MY OWN opinion, then why can’t others?!

I like something they know nothing about, but the xy famous youtuber said, it is bad, so it must be bad, right?!

…

Absolutely fucking not. I’m tired of mob mentality and people shitting on things they have no real knowledge NOR REAL INTEREST about. I wrote my personal story about Mark, because I’ve been his faithful fan for years, watching his videos, saying “hey, Mark disliked HN and I’m okay with it. I wouldn’t want him to play with something he dislikes. At least he won’t shit on HN this way.” BUT HE FUCKING DOES. I don’t care that I’m one of the million fans of his, that he doesn’t care if he loses one. I’m aware.

But as a 30 something GROWN adult man, he should think and be aware of the consequences of his words. It was so fucking unnecessary to shit on something he has no interest in, nor knows anything about.

DONT LIKE? IGNORE. SCROLL PAST. or say “I’m not interested” and people with brain will perfectly accept and understand. It’s this simple.

(And no. Idc if Mark is famous. He is a human being, a man like many others. I treat him like a normal person. His opinions are as equal as everyone else’s, those opinions just have insane consequences which make people attack others. Shit on others, harm people they don’t even know.)

all I want is peace and people minding their own business, especially if they don’t care about something.

[sunnunderthesun]

Cooking with Dog: Francis will remain the only host on our channel

I discovered Cooking with Dog many years ago from a list of strange YouTube channels mentioned somewhere on the internet. It's a Youtube cooking web series hosted by an adorable poodle, Francis, who narrates the recipe of the food a Japanese lady, just known as Chef, cooks. Although I am too lazy to cook, I got addicted to the unique series because of the Japanese and English speaking Francis and the mysterious Chef. The channel's creative representation of Francis in the videos, after his death in 2016 (an irreplaceable loss), in both an animated and stuffed toy form has been comforting. What follows is a delightful chat I had with Cooking with Dog's producer and Chef.

Interviewer: What does it feel like to have had worked and gained global recognition with Francis, a multilingual poodle? 

Producer: Francis is such an iconic character in our show. Without his appearance, it would have been impossible to gain global recognition. Here is an interesting episode that happened during my trip to Thailand years ago. I called a guest house and booked a room. When I arrived, the owner of the guest house asked me what I do in Japan. I said I make videos for YouTube, and then his eyes lit up. He recognized Francis' voice over the phone! We miss Francis so much...

Interviewer: How challenging has it been for Cooking with Dog to be what it is today, especially with YouTube's constantly changing algorithm? 

Producer: A lot has changed on YouTube since we published our first Sukiyaki video on Sep. 9th, 2007. Recently, I asked the owner of a local Wagashi (Japanese traditional sweets) shop to let me film the process of making some traditional Japanese sweets. I hope you will enjoy this new "dogumentary"-style video as well.

You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/qsmZId-NVCc

Interviewer: Japan has so many people living for over a hundred years. As a Japanese, what does Chef think are some of the foods/ingredients that promote longevity? 

CHEF: Japan is surrounded by the sea on all sides, making it easy to access fish and seaweed. Additionally, we regularly consume fermented foods such as miso, soy sauce, and natto. I believe that the habit of consuming these nutritious foods has contributed to longevity. However, I am concerned that in recent times, with the easy availability of processed foods, the opportunity to consume these types of ingredients has decreased.

Interviewer: How do you imagine Cooking with Dog in the future? 

Producer: We have received many comments asking why we don't get another dog to replace Francis. I understand that people are curious about this. However, I would like to clarify that we didn't get a dog specifically to start our channel in 2007. Chef and Francis were already together at that time. Therefore, unfortunately, Francis will remain the only host on our channel, Cooking with Dog.

Interviewer: Does Chef have any message for the new people who are going to discover Cooking with Dog via this zine?

CHEF: I am delighted that you have come to know "Cooking with Dog" through this zine. When I was young, I experienced numerous failures when attempting new dishes. Through repeated trials, I discovered new things and found joy in the process. I encourage you to enjoy cooking for the sake of your family's health and for yourself, embracing the journey of exploration. It would bring me great joy if "Cooking with Dog" could help you feel closer to Japanese cuisine.

[ismellpestilence]

There's an incomplete archive of his works here

And part of the transcript for one of the missing videos, The Gay Horror Manga You Should Be Reading, is below. I have to break it up because of Tumblr's character limit.

This video is brought to you by SquareSpace. Stick around until the end of the video to find out more, including how to sign up for our SquareSpace powered Newsletter. And if you’d like to help us keep making queer content like this on Youtube, and even see some of these videos up to six months in advance — including videos covering Good Omens, Sandman, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Evangelion — you can sign up for our Patreon, linked in the description. On a scorching day in rural Japan, we find ourselves in the midst of a chilling tale, where two boys, Yoshiki and Hikaru, seek solace from the relentless heat by indulging in frozen treats from a quaint local store. Outdoors, amidst their laughter, a sudden unease grips Yoshiki, prompting him to utter these haunting words to his friend: "You ain't the real Hikaru, are you?" Hikaru, initially taken aback, undergoes a startling transformation as his human facade fades away, revealing the demonic spiritual entity lurking within. However, instead of unleashing his malevolence upon Yoshiki, Hikaru surprises us all by embracing his friend, pleading with him not to reveal his true nature. You see, this is the first time this new Hikaru has experienced life as a human, even if he's borrowing the old Hikaru's form – his feelings for Yoshiki are undeniably genuine. The real Hikaru may be lost, but Yoshiki, consumed by grief and fear, accepts this new Hikaru into his life, for he cannot bear to be without his friend. Thus begins the spine-tingling horror manga "The Summer Hikaru Died" by the mangaka MokuMokuren. It debuted in August of 2021, and has enjoyed resounding commercial success, despite the unease it provokes among commentators within the medium who have a hard time categorising it. Is it a BL manga? Is it horror? Can it possibly be both? The difficulty in classifying the genre of this story itself puts us at an interesting juncture. With ‘gay boys’ being a genre all to their own, perhaps this has set a precedent for gay characters being unable to appear in other genres. Does the inclusion of a gay character automatically facilitate a gay story? It seems that among publishers and critics, this may very well be the case. Meaning that when a horror story about one or possibly more gay characters becomes a sensation, there’s a reluctance to discuss it because it’s unclear whether it ought to be judged on its merits as horror… or as BL. This speaks to a common complaint among nonbinary people and some trans people as well. Why does the inability to sort this thing into one of two categories generate so much confusion? Is it gay or straight? Are they a man or woman? In either case, many people won’t neatly fit into either of those groups, and it’s just as incorrect to force people into these categories as it is to omit people altogether because they can’t pass. Similarly, it’s also wrong to look at The Summer Hikaru Died in the same way. Genre classification limits the scope of what a story can be, and is often biassed to what the hegemonistic majority considers ‘normal.’ I wouldn’t take it as a good sign either if it were classified as a ‘cross-genre’ for the same reason that we don’t consider ‘straight-horror’ to be a genre. ‘Boys kissing’ and ‘scary’ do not need to be two different genres. Because when you’re a gay boy living in a rural village, kissing another boy is VERY scary. And it also seems that The Summer Hikaru died explores many of these same horrors. Even though whatever has replaced his friend speaks with that voice and projects those emotions, Yoshiki is left in mourning regardless. Caught between ‘everything is different’ and ‘nothing has changed.’ Yoshiki grapples with the fact that Hikaru still acts ‘normal’ while he feels that he has lost something that he will never get back. This new Hikaru… though he smiles, laughs, and cries just like his predecessor, is not the same. The-thing-that-replaced-Hikaru has adopted all of Hikaru’s memories and feelings.

This Just In

James Somerton's channel has been nuked. Every video has vanished. If anyone took the time to save any of the evidence, now is the time to share it.

[nswor]

Evangelion (part 2)

Ok, now for my grievances. The plot completely fumbles at the end. This show is impossible to watch without googling for plot summaries and browsing reddit posts, wikis dedicated to the show, and youtube videos explaining what the hell the ending was and what the meaning of it all was. Now, I really do tend to like media that has extensive lore and backstories, like I could easily watch videos about unexplained Five Nights at Freddy's stories or something like that, but the difference I think with Evangelion is that you can't piece together the story by yourself just from watching it alone. With FNAF, all the details are in the games themselves and you can come up with conclusions on your own (at least you used to be able to), versus Evangelion you have no idea what happened to cause the ending, and what the whole point was just from watching it. That is until you google it and find out stuff and mass extinctions, ancient aliens, sea scrolls and all sorts of other convoluted stuff. If you don't do outside research you will have no idea what the reveal of "adam" at the end of episode 24 is supposed to mean, and even with context its still hard to understand episodes 25 and 26. The show's story ultimately feels pointless. I know the ultimate goal is to end with Shinji getting some form of self confidence, but what is the point if to get there everyone including Shinji needs to die? If the show ends with everyone becoming a collective conscious and the villains 'winning', why does individuality matter? Is the message just 'don't be sad'? Additionally, there are so many plot points I feel they completely drop the ball on. I knew prior to watching that episode 18 is supposed to be the 'sad' one, which really makes everyone that watches depressed. In that episode, Shinji is unwillingly forced to kill his friend by the hands of his father, and when I first saw the Eva killing his friend slowly while Shinji can only watch in horror, I really was moved. For a brief second I thought this is what people who like Evangelion were affected by. That is until the end of the episode where it is shown that his friend lived... What the hell was the point? At that point in watching, I knew this show was never going to actually double down on its messages and would just continue to be a series of events happening for no reason. All tension was completely lost when he lived. I found out recently that the creator's intent was for him to die, but the publishing company didn't want that from a show targeting a 'younger audience'. I don't want to ramble on too much more, but some other things that were dumb were; Asuka's backstory is explained entirely just in episode 25. Prior to, she is just an annoying average tsundere. Even with being exposed to Asuka's backstory, she doesn't learn her lesson, since everyone is dead at that point there can't be a scene where she realizes her mistakes or is shown to be kind to other people. Rei secretly being a clone is a dumb plot point that doesn't do anything. The creator of the show themself just said the Christian Imagery and allusions were solely just because 'they're cool'. Reassuring that the show has no actual substance or goals other than to just be cool and have an interesting atmosphere, which I suppose it achieves Evangelion is just dumb. It feels like I'm supposed to have had some profound impact after watching it but to me it falls flat on its face.

Congratulations.

[hsenvs3000w24]

The Music in Nature

Music is such a crucial aspect of many people's lives, especially mine. I think music is a powerful thing as it can uplift one's spirit, add to a memory and influence how one interprets nature. I play various kinds of music when I am going on a walk, and when I walk I like to listen to music that calms me down. Listening to this type of music always brings me back to taking a walk through a forest.

Music is all around us, and nature itself has music. Music is seen as “patterns of sound varying in pitch and time produced for emotional, social, cultural and cognitive patterns” (Patrica et al, 2001). This means that animals are constantly making music, whether it is to attract the attention of a mate through a call, or its unique roar to scare off a predator. One example of this is the humpback whale. Humpback whales are known to have a whale song that consists of rhythms similar to that of us, they can even sing in a similar note as well, and are even capable of making different types of noises. Something that I think is cool is that the songs that humpback whales sing are comparable to our music. This is also a learned trait, something that is passed down for generations; this is called vertical musical traditions (Patrica et al, 2001). These traditions are seen in human culture all of the time, I know that I got my love of music from my dad. He used to always listen to music when I was in the womb, and it's why my mom says I was trained to love music before I was even born. Every time I listen to country music it takes me back to driving with my dad blaring music with the windows down. Nature itself is another powerful instrument, for example, the crunching of leaves when animals walk over them. When it comes to music interpretation, how the audience receives the music determines if its music is not (Beck et al, 2018). My friend’s boyfriend will go out to a forest and record waterfalls, the wind whistling during a storm and more sounds to post on YouTube. They are always so well-received because, to some, this is music. 

Nature always has a funny way of making it into music. I find that a lot of artists love to use nature references in their songs in the form of metaphors. One artist that I find does this well is Taylor Swift. She has many references to nature throughout her songs such as “all my flowers grew back as thorns” from Call It What You Want It or “a red rose grew up, out of ice frozen ground” from The Lakes. Finnish folk singing does this well as they are known to reflect nature. This type of singing points out nature as more than just a resource, and the lyrics discuss their nature interpretations. The artists will even take nature itself and integrate it into the background track of the song (Mallarach, 2012). 

Many songs come to mind when looking back on what may take me back to nature. One of my favorite artists is Novo Amor who is an Indie artist and his song “Anchor” always takes me back to my cottage, lying on my dock, staring at the stars. When interpreting nature, music can be used to deepen the engagement of the audience. By “singing for ecology” music can strengthen nature interpretation (Beck et al, 2018). For me, listening to music always influences how I interpret nature, and I find that my interpretation is enriched by the music playing in my ear. 

Nature has always played a crucial role when I am interpreting nature. I will never walk without some type of music playing in my ears, and this music influences my walk dramatically. Music is seen heavily in nature and nature can be found in music. Next time you’re going on a walk or listening to your favorite song I encourage you to find these moments where nature and music come together.

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage: For A Better World. (Chapter 10). SAGAMORE Publishing. 

Gray, P. M., Krause, B., Atema, J., Payne, R., Krumhansl, C., & Baptista, L. (2001). The music of nature and the nature of music. Science, 291(5501), 52–54. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.10.1126/science.1056960 

Mallarach , J.-M. (2012). Spiritual values of protected areas of Europe: Workshop proceedings. Silene.https://www.silene.ong/en/documentation-centre/spiritual-values-of-protected-areas-of-europe-workshop-proceedings#Proceedings_Spiritual%20Values_PAs_Europe.pdf

[qnewsau]

I found out I'm neurodivergent – how do I feel about this?

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/i-found-out-im-neurodivergent-how-do-i-feel-about-this/

I found out I'm neurodivergent – how do I feel about this?

Resident clinical psychotherapist, Andrew Macdonald explores the reactions of people diagnosed as being neurodivergent. 

First up, what are we talking about when it comes to being neurodivergent?  Depending on which side of the science fence you sit on, it can be explained as having an atypical way of thinking and processing information. 

Hang on, I hear you say.  What’s atypical? 

It’s a word used to look at development compared to that of the masses.  In other words, my development may be different to many others. 

Unfortunately, in the not-so-distant past, you would hear words like “normal” and atypical used in the same sentence.

In my clinic, I often meet folks who have recently been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a form of neurodivergence and I regularly experience two reactions.

One being, elation, clarity and peace; the other being panic, fear and dread.  In this article let’s look at both of those reactions.

The “Oh that makes so much sense” reaction

With your diagnosis in hand, suddenly life makes more sense. 

It helps explain why you did certain things or behaved differently to others and perhaps gives you a label to see things through. 

This reaction is fine, though it may come at a risk if held onto too tightly.  What if my newfound diagnosis becomes the reason for almost all that I do? 

There’s a potential risk that I start using this label to describe behaviours that have nothing to do with it.

Further, it might even become a major part of my identity.  “Hi, I’m ASD Andrew”… as I forget about all the other parts of me.

The “Oh no, my life is ruined” reaction

How have you got through it to this point?

And how does having this new diagnosis change things?

Was your life that ruined before? 

Usually with clients, when they start sharing their dread, it comes down to social stigma and discrimination. 

The fear about what others will think of them, the concerns about careers and relationships and the belief that their life is by some means less fabulous than anyone else’s. 

Remember, neurodivergence brings with it a different way of thinking and processing. 

Some might say, a superpower or at least, an operating system that is different to many others. 

Let me present to you, a few examples: Hannah Gadsby, Bill Gates, oh and allegedly, Albert Einstein (hard to confirm that one).

Seeing our diagnosis as something that has decided to turn up, ring the front doorbell and say “hey I’m hanging with you today” is an alternative to letting it take over our lives, define our identities and fuel the diminishing stigma that still exists today.

Sure, there are plenty more reactions, these two just like to turn up in the therapy room so often.

Andrew Macdonald is a psychotherapist and counsellor with Jefferson Place.

For the latest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) news in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

[everything-is-crab]

Sorry about that. I didn't really think that it would be suspicious for an anon to sent facebook links. I totally understand your concerns.

Do you know Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj? She's an mra who made documentaries like Martyrs of Marriage and India's sons. The person I mentioned reblogged a post from her about Shikhar Dhawan and Aesha Dhawan while tagging it as "How greedy bourgeois woman can ruin life of man".

I know it sounds simple but what actually annoyed me were the comments to that post and how she responded to it. Men saying things like "most women are like this" and her responding with "yes comrade, women in bourgeois society care only about money" and such. This isn't the first time she's made posts like this. She was the one who actually introduced me to marxist feminism and seeing her turn into this way was disappointing.

A lot of political discourse about feminism or marxism in our country is dominated by upper castes and classes but I'm willing to listen still, which is why I kept following her eventhough she's been making misogynistic posts for a long time.

I actually do read and enjoy works of Urmila Pawar, Anuradha Ghandy, Shoma Sen, Anand Teltumbde and I'd definitely look at the works of those whom you mentioned.

I'm probably boring you by now and I guess I come across as an idiot so I'll stop. I won't bother you anymore. Again, I apologize for sending that link.

Yeah sometimes links are often disguised and can be ip grabbers or other form of malware. And even then I couldn't see what you sent cause I don't have fb account. You don't need to apologize and you can send me an ask without anon on (I won't publish) and we can talk through DMs if you want. Or you can continue sending anons. I don't have an issue. You're not bothering me dw. Everytime I get an ask like this from an Indian leftist feminist I get excited so you're not boring me and you're definitely not an idiot. It's okay really <3

You're already brighter than most men and yet you're feeling so underconfident. Try to resist that.

And ik her! (Deepika whatever) YouTube wouldn't stop pushing her videos on my feed and so I looked into them and just 🤢🤢

What a class traitor. And the fact I have come across so many such women irl. And that case is just vile. Like wtf. These people always want to blame women for everything. If he had sm problem of being away from his son, then maybe he should have taken up some domestic duties himself lol. But men confine women to a certain role in marriage. And when it backfires they cry and blame them.

And she was a Marxist feminist and then turned to MRA rhetoric? Wow that's new. And you're right, it is dominated by the privileged sections of society. You don't have to listen to such extreme bigoted people. Does she really understand Marxism feminism at all if she thinks it's women who are economically greedy in capitalist system? Maybe you were right, it's just for clout. Sorry you had to see that.

And I am glad you're reading their work! You are already very smart idk why you're so anxious about yourself. I am glad you sent me that and this ask :)

[ledenews]

Jermaine Lucious: Pointing at a Paradise Some Refuse to Provoke

Peak a boo, he’s looking at you. Well, maybe, but that just means he’s one of us, though. One of the observers. Just another set of eyes watching our lives because we place ourselves on display – and up for judgement – more so now than ever before.  But that’s where we are now, and that’s where Jermaine Lucious is, too. Not only does he work as a youth counselor, but he’s also a Karaoke host and a partner with Exit Zero Entertainment, a local business that books music and comedy. That’s right, he wants you to smile, maybe even laugh a little, too, but first and foremost, he’d love us all on the same page no matter of age, race, or religion. Why? Because it’s possible, that’s why. And Lucious sees it that simply, too, and he has no idea whatsoever why so many others refuse to even sneak a peak down a street that doesn’t lead to a land full of hate-filled deceit and discrimination. Lucious, though, always will point you down the path.   Lucious posts on social media a lot of reactions to what he experiences during his days. You observe a lot on social media and then you comment on what you see. Why the commentary? A few years back I saw one of my favorite directors, Kevin Smith, speak. He said the three things he believes drive people are to “Eat, Make Love (He used different terminology) and be heard.”  I think I just want to be heard like most. I want to make sure I have nothing left to say when it’s my time to go. Social media is a great form of entertainment. It keeps me aware and engaged in current events.  As long as I’m respectful and honest, and try not to harm others, I think I’m doing it right. Overall, what is it you see? I’ve seen good. I’ve witnessed people find understanding and acceptance. I’ve seen young people find their cultural “niche” earlier in life. Whether that be in music, movies, hobbies, fashion, etc. I’ve seen people network and find social groups they would have never been exposed to 20 years ago.I also believe it’s the biggest cause of division in this country.I think the media helps drive division by taking two or three tweets and publishing them as a story. On social media, we tend to take words like “conservative” and “liberal” and apply them to the most extreme comments we’ve seen. There isn’t much room for nuance. I think there is a whole generation of people who, for the first time, were told their views were seen as “backward” or their jokes as “offensive”. I think that has caused a bit of resentment. They lack an understanding of how social media has changed the views of the younger generation. A whole generation has had the opportunity to find humanity in a diverse group of people by listening to their stories.  People are looking toward school curriculums and blaming corporations like Disney or Budweiser when all along, it's Vloggers on YouTube and Tik-Tok.  In a recent series of statements on social media, you say meeting people in bars who were not alive on 9/11 make you uncomfortable. Please explain. My Father was a much older man when I was born. So, I’ve always measured historical dates after 1940 by how old he was and where he would have been on the planet. It’s kind of been my way of putting things into perspective. I’ve gone on to do that with other people. For 20 years, “Where were you on 9/11?” was a question I could ask people to get a better understanding of who they are and where they came from. Now that post-9/11 children are reaching adulthood, it signals a new era. These young people were raised in a much different world than I was. I’m nearing 40, and I’m feeling a generational disconnect, which I’m sure we all do if we’re around long enough. He wants you to smile and maybe even laugh as he is hosting Karaoke at Taqueria 304. As a Karaoke host, how have you learned to tell some people that they should never sing publicly again?  I’m sure the fine folks at Taqueria 304 wouldn’t want me even hinting to people that they shouldn’t come back and sing. Let’s be honest though, Karaoke singers aren’t usually known for their “Ticket to Hollywood” vocals.  I just don’t want you to be boring. We try to hype every single singer up when they take the mic in hopes they’ll let loose and entertain the crowd. I want to see you dance. Give me some soul. Play air guitar with one of the inflatables. Sing something borderline inappropriate. You left your home, came out on a Tuesday night, and build up the courage to sing in front of others. Just don’t stand there and read the lyrics to “Soak up the Sun.” What is the best story a cemetery has ever told you? I’ve recently enjoyed informing my nephew that his practice field on 16th Street used to be the site of a cemetery. There isn’t one single story I can point to. The cemeteries in town tell the story of the city. I came across a beautiful headstone at Peninsula Cemetery shaped to look like a tree trunk. A quick search of the library’s newspaper archives revealed the man was a gardener who lived on the Island and his funeral was held in his home in the 1890s.   You notice countless graves of affluent people whose names are plastered on the buildings in this city. You come across markers of people you have met. This weekend I noticed a section of Greenwood Cemetery that were mostly the graves of children. I hope to do some research to see if they were all from the same hospital or orphanage. It was nice to show them some attention and respect. You notice that some Cemeteries have fallen out of vogue in the city, and their mausoleums and headstones are reaching disrepair. Then you realize that’s guaranteed to be the fate of all cemeteries in time. It makes me want to enjoy life more.  Read the full article

[worldrankmusic]

If you have difficulty sleeping at night, you might want to consider listening to gentle rain sounds as a way to help you fall asleep. Rain sounds are known for their soothing and calming effect, which can help relax your mind and body, making it easier for you to drift off into a peaceful slumber. Rain sounds have been used for centuries as a form of therapy, and it's not hard to see why. The sound of raindrops hitting a roof or window creates a calming, rhythmic pattern that can be very comforting. The sound of rain can also help drown out other noises that might be keeping you awake, such as traffic or people talking. When it comes to insomnia relief, studies have shown that listening to rain sounds can be an effective way to promote relaxation and help you fall asleep faster. In one study published in the Journal of Sleep Medicine and Disorders, researchers found that listening to natural sounds, including rain sounds, before bedtime significantly improved sleep quality and reduced the amount of time it took participants to fall asleep. So how does listening to rain sounds help you sleep? There are a few theories. One is that the sounds of nature, including rain, can help trigger the relaxation response in the body, which can reduce stress and anxiety levels. Another theory is that listening to rain sounds can help create a calming, meditative state of mind, which can help quiet racing thoughts and promote a sense of tranquility. There are many different types of rain sounds you can listen to, from gentle drizzles to thunderstorms. Some people prefer more intense rainfall sounds, while others find that a soft, steady rain is more calming. You can experiment with different types of rain sounds to find what works best for you. There are many ways to listen to rain sounds for insomnia relief. You can download a rain sounds app on your phone or tablet, which will allow you to choose from a variety of rain sounds and set a timer to automatically turn off the sound after a certain amount of time. You can also find rain sounds on YouTube or other streaming services. If you prefer a more immersive experience, you can invest in a white noise machine or a sound machine that includes rain sounds. Overall, listening to rain sounds can be a simple yet effective way to promote relaxation and fall asleep more easily. If you struggle with insomnia, it's worth giving rain sounds a try to see if they can help you get the restful sleep you need. Just be sure to avoid relying solely on rain sounds for insomnia relief, as developing healthy sleep habits and a consistent bedtime routine are key for maintaining good sleep hygiene. Try this The Soothing Power of Gentle Rain Sounds for Insomnia Relief

[t-oppenheimer]

I’d love to opine on this a bit, firstly because I’d like to finally test my competence in tagging but also because I feel a mild duty in democratizing a political education.

This conflict flattening “censorship” discourse comes in many forms, but all of them rhyme. The purpose is twofold: A. Calcify an ‘outsider’ identity. Right wing grifty types want nothing more than for their marks to reject all outside information. A primary way that they do this is purposefully feed bad premises via repetition. They’re preying on a consensus bias which is bolstered by B. Making the discussion space irredeemably toxic, where only people inclined to interact with wild misogyny, transphobia, racism etc. This gives right wing grifty types control of the community by pushing out stakeholders in the community who belong to minorities or whom otherwise cannot spare infinite energy to tell these people to STFU. Those who remain are told that they’re special little bees for their superior understanding, leading back into A.

Aside from broad social currency, why does this help them? Innuendo Studios published an immaculate summary of this in a youtube essay titled “How to Radicalize a Normie”. It’s age restricted which is really too bad, but in summary it doesn’t matter just how bad or backward the discourse becomes because the discourse (as long as right wing grifty types have control over it) is controlled such that the deeper layers and implications of bigotry et al. (Here, the inevitable end game of throwing a stink about Fillia is that actually, sexualizing children is fine within the framework of patriarchy which conceives of women as property tokens. Child bride laws so on so forth) are jokes or such fringe positions that the mark can forget about them or their rapidly increasing association with them safely. Right wing grifters are not picky about which targets they pounce on for these manufactured controversy, as it doesn’t take all too much effort to start a fire and leave it burning. They can always come back to reclaim influence if they actually succeed at making that A - B loop described earlier (it might be worth it to research Steve Banon’s relationship with the World of Warcraft community for reference). It’s a tried and true playbook. The problem comes that disrupting the playbook generally requires serious moderation muscle who possess first principles which let them ban bullshit for any or no reason. We will see the full extent of Skullgirl’s ability to climb this problem, but given their past with controversy I think a handful of jerkoffs who spent more time on the gelbooru tag than the game should be a breeze.

It’s extremely worrying to me how many people in the Skullgirls community hold the position of “Making the 16-year-old less sexualized is a slippery slope to censoring all the adult characters too”

[thefandomjournalist]

What is the Future of Film Criticism?

The lights dim. A quiet hush falls over the audience. Sodas swish, snacks crinkle, and you lean into the cool soft seat behind you. And then the intro music starts, as you are slowly lured into another world. It ends, you get up and leave, your mind swirling with thoughts, theories, ideas and lessons. You need to understand, you need to share this so others know what you know. That’s what being a film critic is about.

When movies first began to be widely shown in the early twentieth century, film critics did not look the same. We did not see what we consider to be formal film criticism until Frank E. Wood began to consistently publish his work in The New York Dramatic Mirror. After this, more and more joined the cause, like Andrew Sarris, Robert Ebert, and Judith Crist. Once we got to the nineteen thirties we began to see the idea of formal, trained and classical critics that reviewed for major newspapers take hold over other forms of review. This continued for decades until very recently with the birth of the internet allowing informal and online criticism to explode. After that, nothing was the same. Everyone was a critic, literally. People from any and every background and interest, education level and age, began to upload film reviews taking as long as five minutes and five hours. But this brings to mind the questions, if everyone's a critic, can anyone really be a good critic? And what does a good critic even mean any more? That is the hot debate happening all across the world of media entertainment.

You may be wondering, why does any of this matter? A study on YouGov.com says that movie watching is the second most popular social activity among all genders and ages. It ranks second only to listening to music. It’s a valued pastime in everyday life, and it touches every part of it. Many find their spouses and best friends through common interests that come from movies. Film and entertainment have brought people together as long as it has been around. And as with many things so important, there are those whose job it is to critically analyze it. We see this in politics, science, sports, and more. But lately, the way we critique films has changed quickly. Film critics are also incredibly important to the success of a film. More than most people realize. A study called ‘The Influence of Film Critics on Movie Outcomes’ supports this, saying “based on our results it appears that film critics serve as both influencers and predictors to some extent“. And this still works whether it be good reviews or bad. Film specifically will be my focus today, because the topic has never been more important than now. Whether this change is good or bad, we can try to find out.

According to an interview with Kynan Dias, a visiting lecturer at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who’s studies specialize in film studio system economics, grew up with classical film critics and witnessed the birth of the internet, we can view it from a kind perspective. “The audience is also creating things that take criticism to a whole new direction because it had been that in order to be a film reviewer you had to be someone with some kind of cache to them, usually a white man who would work their way up a newspaper”, he said. And indeed they are, with a quick YouTube search for film reviews showing thousands of works, merely in the past few months.

Many of these videos are getting hundreds of thousands to millions of views. The article ‘How YouTube and podcasts spurred the golden age of film criticism’ discusses this and says this “the rise of YouTube — along with the growing popularity of podcasts — has ushered in a golden age of film criticism, one that’s both broadened the audience for such criticism while also allowing critics to dive deeper into film than they ever have before” This sentiment is reiterated in another article called ‘The Film Critic in the Internet Era’. “Now, festival reports and reviews are common coin, especially online—and the buzz that movies generate at festivals far in advance of release (or even a distribution deal) is news in itself … the critics who are on hand to review the films at the festivals are helping to set the agenda”. We are seeing how critics are continuing to do their jobs in the fast paced modern world and have begun to take on a similar but new role in this world.

We used to know what this role was. Cut and clear, it was an educated white man who watched high class films in the theater and wrote out his thoughts in a newspaper sidebar. This is proven by the USAToday study, saying, “male reviewers outnumber female reviewers in every job title category” and “73% of male reviewers are white, 18% are men of color”. But that’s the past. And that past is long gone. Like Dias said “ legacy media outlets are declining with their ratings and readership but actually film criticism as we would say in the academic sense of analyzing films, putting things together from different aspects of film, putting things into context, reevaluating historical film and historical movements, that is really really taking off because of the power of the internet.” But the key to this explosion has been the kind of reviews we have seen, and the people who make them. The internet has given everyone the power of accessibility, credibility, and visibility. People of all backgrounds have a place for their reviews to be seen and be treated as equal. Of this change Dias says, “the internet is destroying the old legacy media but opening up criticism for everybody. So groups who hadn't been that before. Women, queer people, disabled and differently-abled people.” This rise in diverse reviews has also raised the moral standard for what is deemed acceptable in today’s films. Now we actually have the people who have repeatedly been hurt by Hollywood’s racism, sexism, homophobia and ableism speaking up and calling out films and filmmakers. Wonderful examples of that are Angelique Roche, Jaleesa Lashey, Michael Klemm, and Jenny Nicholson. “ The audience now has someone who is writing specifically for those communities.” Not only that, but the lack of formal training often found in these reviews can be its greatest strength. We see a humanity to these reviews that didn’t use to be there. Without the constraints of years of university and training in a newspaper, we are allowed to see a beautiful array of unique writing styles. In an article called ‘Movie critics: Pros and cons’ Jim Emerson said “I find these days that I'm more likely to find lively writing and original viewpoints on blogs than in print outlets”. Reviews can come from someone who has never written before. Mothers, teens, lifelong nerds, book writers and painters. It’s not just the diverse people like POC and disabled we are seeing. Those with every background are reviewing films with completely different perspectives. A good example is the YouTube channel by Bernadette Banner. She’s a historical seamstress who occasionally reviews films and shows on the clothes historical accuracy. That is all she does, consider the accuracy of the clothing. The Wired and GQ channels bring in doctors, archeologists, stunt men, artists and more to give their personal insight into reviewing films. This is what the modern era of criticism is all about. This is what makes it beautiful and what will continue to drive film criticism until the end of time.

But for all the good changes happening to film criticism, there is also bad. Notably, the amount of professional, classically trained film critics has massively decreased. This quickly changing landscape of voices is a good thing, but it is also a double edged sword. And this is something Dias and other film viewers like those on the subreddit ‘r/TrueFilm’ , a discussion thread on popular question and answer website Reddit.com have noticed in many YouTube reviews. “Every once in a while I'll watch a new filmmaker and they don't have the correct vocabulary. They mistake things, they'll say this is a pan when they mean it’s a tilt, things like that. That can throw me off and make me not want to listen to what they have to say” Dias says. Many in the industry have noticed this as well. Older more experienced critics like Charles Taylor in his article ‘The Problem with Film Criticism’ have mentioned their distaste for newer forms of criticism. You could call this a bitterness toward a perceived push to irrelevancy, but it’s not so simple. An article called ‘Binge and Purge: The Rise of Extreme Film Criticism’ notes this, saying, “The work of extreme film critics often appears in diary form, but it hardly reflects film culture as a personal vision. It is a frantic reaction to a changing status quo, dictated not by the idiosyncrasies of the critic but the oppressive sameness of our film culture” But even more so than this lack of polish, what I’m sure everyone has noticed is the intense politicization towards something that didn’t previously have that. Books, music, art and culture are constantly in discussion to see what is or isn’t politically correct. From a liberal standpoint, this is a mark of great progress. From a less literal view, it is not allowing anyone to enjoy things. From a filmmaking standpoint Dias says, “ people are criticizing ideology more than actual criticism…a lot of film criticism is now caught up in this really toxic ecosystem.” Now even art must be held to the highest of moral standards. This is something that has only increased with the newest generation, and will likely continue. Ignoring any flaws, some believe film criticism is simply no longer relevent. There are a variety of resources claiming this, like this collection of thoughts from Variety called ‘Are film critics really needed anymore?’ and a reddit thread dedicated to discussing this topic with not a lot of good things to say. “The popularity of review-aggregate sites Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic has devalued the long-form review, as has the “pivot-to-video” strategy adopted by so many mainstream media companies”

So, is this truly the golden age of film criticism? Only time can say. Film and its critics have always been reflective of the current climate. Now, we are more focused on change and progress than ever. Movements like Me Too, Black Lives Matter, March for Our Lives, and ACAB are influencing the world around us and thus the media we consume. Films themselves have exploded in creativity in the past decades with films like Avengers: Endgame, Boyhood, Get Out, Ready Player One, even animated films like Encanto and Into the Spiderverse. Theaters are dying, but streaming services are more popular than ever. Everyday a new piece of media comes out that is dissected, displayed and reviewed by hundreds of thousands. So here's what we know for sure. Film criticism is here to stay, in whatever form that may take. What is seen as ok won’t always be ok. Writers will write. Directors will direct. And the world will never stop making good movies.

[violettelueur]

— FUSHIGURO MEGUMI || GIVE YOU ALL MY FIRSTS

↳ featuring : fushiguro megumi from jujutsu kaisen

↳ warnings : mention of hickeys + light mention of sex + mention of religious connotation and grammar issues

↳ form : imagine

↳ published : 20 february

↳ pronouns : she/her

↳ word count : 1.1k

↳ synopsis : it’s the night and after a long day, you finally have the opportunity to remove the makeup you have placed on your neck to reveal a few things that you wouldn’t want the world to know about...

↳ request : hi!!! Idk if you’ve done this one yet but can I request an imagine with Megumi where he wants to take it a step further into his relationship with his gf and decides to try giving her hickeys. Maybe at first it feels weird but the more he does it the more the gf gets used to it?

↳ barista’s notes : so i tried to do this imagine as like a teenage love experiencing different stages of a relationship/discovering their sexual side kind of imagine, but i’m not really sure if it came out like that ʕ ㅇ ᴥ ㅇʔ other than that, i hope you enjoy your cup of classic black coffee (jujutsu kaisen request!) and please come again soon ╲ʕ·ᴥ·　╲ʔ

A soft moonlight was gently shining down through the windows of the sliding door in your dorm room, while another warm glow was coming from the white desk lamp you had brought during a shopping trip with Kugisaki since your old one was on the verge of breaking. However, even though the light was on, you weren’t sitting on your desk chair, reading, studying or even using your laptop to watch something interesting on Youtube or Netflix.

Currently, you had seated yourself on the wooden floor in the corner of your room near the same sliding door, sitting in front of an arch vintage antique mirror that you had amazingly discovered when you went thrift shopping one day by yourself and took the immediate decision to purchase it due to how beautiful it looked.

As your reflection depicted, you had tied your hair back while having a bottle of what seemed to be makeup remover in one hand while the other had a cotton pad where the removal liquid was being placed, before you gently placed the now damp pad on the side of your neck as you slowly wiped down to remove the unnoticeable concealer and foundation that you had applied earlier this morning.

As the product started to remove itself from your skin, there was a sudden reveal of a purplish bruise-like mark shown leading to a light rose blush to appear on your cheek the second your eyes made contact with it. 

From what you could recall, your boyfriend had randomly one day started to have a sudden fixation on your neck and began to start leaving a few kisses here and there at the beginning which was surprising since he wasn’t the physically affectionate type. However, one day when you and him were at his dorm room relishing in each other’s company, you unexpectantly felt a small bite on your neck that caused you to moan softly at the feeling before he looked at you in the eye as a way to convey something to you.

In the beginning, it somewhat gave you a weird sensation since you both never really explored further into your relationship, you both never had been sexually active with each other or anyone else as a matter of fact and like you had mentioned before, he was never the one to be physically affectionate with you. However, as time went on, you allowed him to continuously mark you since you were selfishly and greedily relishing the pleasure that it gave you.

You couldn’t deny yourself that the feeling it gave you was something that felt forbidden but too good to even let go of. Like a forbidden fruit some may say.

Maybe that’s why Eve was so enticed by it.

Suddenly, there was a quiet knock on your door causing you to instantly snap out of your daze before turning to look at the wooden door that was slowly starting to open. You weren’t worried about who was coming in since you had gotten a message from your boyfriend that he was coming to your room soon since you had invited him after the mission you both were on.

After a few seconds, Fushiguro was standing in the doorway with a soft smile - a smile that you were the only one to see - before closing the door behind him.

“Hey, you,” Fushiguro greeted, as he made his way towards you before taking a seat next to you on the floor, allowing the mirror in front of him to get a perfect view for him. 

Smiling back at him, you greeted him back before concentrating back on the remaining makeup that needed to be removed for the day causing Fushiguro to take a look at the markings that were slowly appearing again as the feeling of pride, as well as possessiveness, took over him slowly at the sight of your decorated neck.

Fushiguro couldn’t help but have a dilemma himself. He never had been intimate with someone romantically or sexually yet here you were right in front of him, someone that he really loves and cherished, someone who changed his perspective on the word and feeling ‘love’, someone who he wanted to give all his ‘firsts’ to.

His first lover.

His first girlfriend.

His first date.

His first kiss.

Now he wanted his first time to be with you.

Yet, he felt selfish for wanting you as bad as he did.

“Hey, are you alright?” you asked, leading Fushiguro to look at you with his emerald eyes before he slowly raises his hand and began to leisurely as well as gently trace the marks on your neck causing you to close your eyes and shiver at the feeling of his cold fingers touching your warm skin leading you to place your hand on his wrist as if you wanted him to keep his hands there.

“Do they hurt?” Fushiguro asked as he stayed put to which you answered by shaking your head as the blush that was at first pale now turned into fully bloomed Valentine’s Day roses as the colour of your cheeks have darkened.

“I….actually don’t mind them…...in fact, I really….like it….when...you give me them,” you quietly commented with a stutter, before turning away from your boyfriend to look down onto the ground in complete embarrassment since you didn’t have a single clue how or what to feel at this current moment in time.

Of course, you have read many novels and books that have displayed erotic scenes that told you how the characters felt but never once have you ever experienced the real mature feeling until now. You had to admit to anyone, no book or story could ever prepare you for the real thing no matter the multitude of what you read on paper or online. Nothing can prepare you for the real thing.

Suddenly, your felt Fushiguro’s hand pull away from the grasp of your wrist leading a wave of anxiety to enclose your body before you felt something warm coming from behind leading you to look up slowly, only from the mirror’s reflection to find Fushiguro sitting behind you as he moved your body to fit right between his legs as he then processed to wrap his arms around your shoulders as if to save you the wave that had consumed your earlier.

“You know,” Fushiguro began to state as he hooked his chin on your shoulder while looking eye to eye with you in the mirror. “I really like putting them on you,” Fushiguro bashfully confessed as he then processed to leave a light chaste kiss on the side of your neck causing the rose blush on your cheeks to deepen more if it could.

“I really want to give you all my firsts,” Fushiguro commented, leading you to look at his reflection with widened eyes before a soft smile slowly made its way to your face.

“I want to give you all my firsts as well Mimi”

© violettelueur 2021 : written and published by violettelueur - do not steal or repost

[bbcmerlinvault]

[Article] “Bradley James talks Buffy, Merlin, and much, much more”

by Julia Hass for cliqueclack.com, first published  16:14 EST Aug 27 2010 

[Original article]

A copy/paste of the article followed by screencaps (I removed a few links from the copy/paste because they went to YouTube videos which have since been removed):

Season three of 'Merlin' begins airing in the UK on September 11, so what better time to have a chat with one of its stars, Bradley James?

Well, Merlin fans, season 3 will be airing soon in the UK, and to celebrate I naturally thought, why don’t I call up my good buddy Bradley James (who plays Prince Arthur, for those of you not cool enough to be in the know)? Because, as I’m sure you’re all aware, I have him on speed dial. We’re tight.

Hah, hah.

No, in reality, it took me quite a few months, but I finally got a chance to catch up with Bradley James (he managed to second-hand charm my mother, who could hear him because he was on speaker phone) and pick his thoughts on Buffy (he’s a huge fan), soccer — sorry, football — Prince Arthur, and traveling with his co-star Colin Morgan.

Hello? Hello, is this Julia?

Yeah, sorry, I think we have a bit of a bad connection, can you hear me? I think we have a bit of a comedic time delay, which should provide us with some awkward silences, which we can talk about later.

We can. Next time you’re in Boston you can come over for drinks and we can discuss it. Okay, and then maybe we can pretend we have the same delay and play a little game where we have delays in between each line, before each one talks … but that’s just me.

No, I think it would be a good time! We could start a drinking game with that. Definitely, right.

So you’ve been actually kind of MIA lately, you weren’t at Comic-Con or anything. Have you been busy filming? Yeah, well, I mean, I was there in spirit. But I think the budget allowed for Mr. Merlin himself [co-star Colin Morgan] and Buffy‘s Anthony Stewart Head to get plane tickets. But they decided to send me in spirit by the form of an interview with Warwick Davis, so I was pleased to, you know, make some kind of appearance.

Well, if you could have gone to Comic-Con, what was the first thing you would have done? Is there anyone you would have wanted to go see? I … that’s an interesting question, but you’re clearly someone who knows more about Comic-Con. I have very little knowledge of it. I only know that it’s a huge event where lots of people have a great time and, you know, there’s just loads going on. So I wouldn’t have the first clue as to what I’d go and do. But hopefully the opportunity will arise for me to go at some stage. It sounds like it was a lot of fun.

It’s pretty much TV nerd Mecca, where you go and you meet everybody who’s ever been on a television show. Ever. Oh, okay … wow. That’s a lot of people.

It is! It’s huge. Wow! Okay then.

Well, you’ve mentioned you’re kind of a TV nerd yourself, especially when it comes to Buffy. How big of a Buffy nerd are we talking? Are we talking you know all the words to the musical episode? I know a couple … I have, in fact, sung some of the songs to Anthony as the course of filming happens.

So is that your next music video that’s going to happen [after You’re the Voice]? It’ll be a “Once More With Feeling” music video? I don’t know! Here’s my deal with Buffy, right. I’ve got … I mean, I’ve seen all the episodes, I’ve got them all on VHS. Not DVD.

So, old school. Yeah, and “Once More With Feeling,” I think it’s one of those episodes that, were I to go back, that’s one of the first ones to go back to watch, because it was very unique. And having Anthony around on set, there’s moments where, um, I sing him a few lyrics.

Which I’m sure he appreciates. Oh, I’m sure he does. I try to do it sparingly so I’m not just barraging him with, you know, Buffy moments that he’d, you know, perhaps like to move on from.

Well, have you ever considered that Camelot is, perhaps, on the Hellmouth? Considering how many monsters tend to come there? Yeah! It seems to be since Merlin’s turned up, that seems to be the case. I think before that, you’d probably have to ask the question of how Arthur managed to stay alive, due to the fact that hes been certainly healthy, nothing wrong with him, and then Merlin turns up and all of a sudden…

…it’s all Merlin’s fault. Yeah, absolutely everything. So yeah, being on the Hellmouth, I don’t think it’s that far-fetched a reality for Camelot. They might put that in the story somewhere.

But Arthur could definitely take on vampires, right? Ohhhh, that’s a good question. Vampires … To be honest with you, vampires are probably being done to death at the moment.

They really, really are! I mean, we’ve got,you know, the obvious, Twilight…

…oh, God. That’s doing the rounds at the moment, I think there’s various TV shows. But yeah, right, vampires! Let’s get on that bandwagon.

Yeah, Colin [Morgan] has mentioned he’s into True Blood, which is, like, the big vampire show over here. Yeah, he got into that quite a bit, I think. He’s sort of been talking about it on set. I’ve kind of faded out a little bit. I mean, when you do this [schedule] you have to be quite specific with your television watching, if you get any time to watch it at all, and I didn’t really keep up with that one, I’m sorry to say.

Did you get to keep up with the World Cup, though? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. I managed to, you know, install my flat with everything required, you know, getting a big TV to watch it on, the producers very kindly arranged so that the crew got to have a TV on set for the England games … it’s a very important part of my life, the World Cup every four years it’s like my, like my religion suddenly arrives, and I’m in my element, basically. So it was terrific, being able to see, you know, the England games, despite the fact that we were rubbish.

Yeah, my condolences on that. I was for Team Spain from the beginning, so I can’t quite say the same. Ah, I see, I see. Well basically, all you need to know is that we didn’t deserve to do any better than we did. We deserved to be taught a lesson. So just, hopefully well learn from it, and we’ll just change everything.

And they’ll call you up next time. Oh, I’d love if they called me. But I think, uh, 50 million other Englishmen are probably throwing their caps in that ring as well. So, you know, we’ll see how things change. Hopefully they will.

Well, so you are on this show Merlin, which is going to be premiering in England again soon. Yes!

And I have to ask about Arthur — first of all, you’ve mentioned before you think he’s pretty misunderstood. Oh, yeah. [Laughs]

What is it exactly you think people don’t understand about him? Besides that he’s secretly a good guy? Well I … the thing with Arthur is that his upbringing has kind of stunted his emotional intelligence, shall we say. He’s really a bit pathetic.

So he didn’t get hugged enough as a child? Oh, he didn’t get hugged at all.

Aw, poor kid. Yeah, Uther is not a hugging man. He is, at best, a sturdy pat on the back, but no he’s certainly not into hugging. So I’d say that basically, as far as Arthur’s concerned, he, you know, puts on a front that he thinks he has to put on a show and has to perform in a certain way, and, you know, really deep down he’s the guy who sort of guy you’d look to have on your side in times of crisis. So, you know, he’s a good guy, down deep. He makes the right decisions eventually.

Well, do you think he even had friends before Merlin? Um, I think his friends all consisted of his fellow knights, they all probably were involved in a lot of jocular behavior. And in the case of his position, they sort of had to look up to him, had to respect him. So you could argue his friends were people who were only friends with him because of who he was and what he was.

Well that’s I think what so many people find interesting about Merlin and Arthur is that they’re actually equals, because of Merlin’s power. Yeah, exactly! There’s that dynamic of, you know, Arthur not knowing about Merlin’s power, but I think you should sort of give him credit for his feelings kind of changing for Merlin despite not knowing that Merlin’s a pretty powerful guy. He’s, you know, seeing him [Merlin] for who he really is, or I think he’s trying. And then when he finds out about Merlin’s magic he’ll hopefully kind of say hey, well, Merlin’s my friend and that’s fine.

Right, but how is going to trust Merlin when he’s kept that secret for so long? I think that’s something a lot of fans wonder. Yeah, I’ve got no idea how or when that’s going to come about, but I’d like that to be delivered in an intelligent way, and I’d like… I think there’s some interesting ways it could be dealt with. So, you know, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that things work out with them.

You and Colin have just … fantastic chemistry. So how much do you guys rehearse before you go and actually do the scene in front of the camera? Actually … not a great deal. Myself and Colin are kind of in every day and we’re — I mean Colin’s certainly in every scene and, you know, I’m not far behind him. So we’re having to sort of go through the scenes very quickly without time to prepare three scenes ahead, or whatever. So we kind of just try to snatch moments in the car on the way home, or before the cameras the cameras start rolling we’ll try to go through it a couple of times.

When you’re not making video diaries, that is. [Laughs] When we’re not making video diaries, yes, we are actually doing some work. And it’s been fun! Colin and I sort of… we know each other very well now, and what each other’s rhythms are and each other’s timing, so when you sort of take that dilemma away of having to figure that out, you can kind of, you know, experiment with other things. And I really enjoy working with him. We have a lot of fun.

Well, you guys did go on a road trip, which, to my disappointment, was not to America. No, to my disappointment, it wasn’t to America either.

But, okay, you guys were late every single time. What was happening there? [Laughs]

It’s like every scene you show up and go “oh, we’re late, sorry.” Well, it was a bit of a bizarre road trip, we just found ourselves driving around… I mean, it was a trip funded by the BBC Wales, so there was a bit of propaganda around it. I mean, all the Arthurian points of interest aren’t in Wales.

Right, they’re in Cornwall, or somewhere near there. Yeah, exactly, they’re kind of in the southwest parts of England. But as I say, it was a bit of Welsh propaganda, so we found ourselves only being able to look at places in Wales. Which made it a little bit frustrating, because we didn’t actually find anything. But I sort of knew we wouldn’t find anything.

You did find that guy who did the ley lines with you! He was my favorite character, I think. Oh, yes.

He was … fantastic. We could have made an entire show based just on what he was doing, I think.

Colin looked terrified the entire time. Oh, God, I’m glad that came across. I’ve never seen him act so worried in my entire life.

I’ve never even seen him act that worried in front of fans. He’s normally … I thought I’d seen the most nervous he could get when he was in front of fans, and that was nothing compared to how scared he seemed in front of the ley line guy. Well the crazy thing about the ley line guy was, I think it might have been late October, maybe early November, I can’t quite remember, but it wasn’t warm. You can see we’re both all bundled up in jackets and whatnot. And that guy, he turns up in shorts, and they’re very short shorts. Like maybe footballers — that’s soccer players — in those shorts. And he just turned up out of the woods in a pair of shorts and carrying some handles. So we pretty much knew from the off this was going to be a bit of a freaky experience. But it was … you know, it was a pleasurable one. Not one I imagine I’ll experience again any time soon.

Well, Colin mentioned he was very upset he didn’t get to go see the Arthurian library. Do you know if he’s ever made it back there? He’s not been back there, I think largely due to the ridiculous filming schedule over the course of when we’re filming, so when we’re off it’s nice to, you know, take a bit of a break. But I myself would quite like to get myself down to Tintagel at some point, that’s in Cornwall, which is the epicenter of Arthurian legend. Or Glastonbury. I’d like to get myself out there. Probably around the time they have the Glastonbury music festival.

So if you and Colin could go on another road trip, is that where you guys would go? Yeah, well if it was based on Arthurian legend I’d go there, because we might actually find something about Arthurian legend. That would probably be helpful, of course.

I’m a fan of the idea of just the Bradley and Colin show, where you just go places and they film you two, because it’s pretty entertaining, just on it’s own. That American road trip, it’s got to happen sometime.

I’ve been rooting for it for a long time. I think that’s your next opportunity after Merlin, is you and Colin. I think you have your careers made as just traveling places as a comedy duo and just recording what happens. Right. [Laughs] After Merlin, I think myself and Colin have earned a well-deserved break from each other. I’m sure Colin, at least, would enjoy a five minute break from me.

Aw, I don’t think so! He’d like some peace and quiet, I think. As opposed to, say, having me around all day. But who knows! It could be something for us to do in later life, when we’re old pensioners.

Well, I would look forward to it, and so would a lot of fans. Well, if there’s anything in the works along those lines, I’ll let you know.

And if you ever come to Boston, myself and the people who work at our blog would be more than happy to host you. Wow, thank you so much!

So thank you so much for doing this interview with me, in spite of the technical difficulties, and good luck with season 3 and whatever comes after that. No, thank you, Julia, and here’s hoping … I’ve got the feeling it will go down well. Cheers!

[rocksanddeadflowers]

Just listened to an audiobook of the original story! (Well, a much shorter version. The original story is credited to Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, who was the first to have written and published a version of the story. It became more famous still when the author of many French fairy tales and morality stories, Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, abridged this earlier version. That's the more well known "original" story and the audiobook I found for free. That one was on YouTube and actually well read! Also reminded me of early TMA in the voice acting style. I found another that was much longer and supposedly the original, but the voice annoyed me to much to pay attention.) So I of course have a couple notes for that as well! Just some things I thought were neat :)

Instead of the father (a merchant who fell onto poor fortune, not an inventor) being imprisoned for trespassing, he's welcomed in and taken care of for the night (although he meets no one, the food, clothes, etc are just prepared for him, but it is revealed the Beast welcomed him) but when he goes to grab roses as he leaves (per his daughters request, as he wanted to bring her back something though he wanted nothing she requested a rose since they're a rarity at home) the Beast shows himself and is very pissed his roses were messed with and now plans to fully kill this guy. The father explains himself and the Beast is like "well tell your kids-" he had like six kids btw, three girls three boys "-that if one daughter were to come willingly and take your place, you're spared. If not, you must return and face your sentence. Also take all these treasures home for your kids." The dad has no intention of selling his kids out but agrees just to see his kids again, and is comforted by the idea of leaving them some wealth in his wake. Of course Beauty fully insists she go since she asked for the rose, so the plot goes on in Beauty and The Beast fashion.

Beauty spends three whole months at the castle before leaving to check in on her father!! Even then it wasn't an emergency, just missing him, and the Beast wanted her to go and stay for a week with him, but promise that she returns after that week. (A lot of things differed here, like Gaston's existence or a rallied mob, but I like the listed details specifically.) But. THREE MONTHS!!!!!

"Yes, yes!" cries the Beast. "I am of good heart, but still a monster."

"Among mankind," says Beauty, "there are many that deserve that name more than you, and I prefer you just as you are, to those who, under a human form, hide a treacherous, corrupt, and ungrateful heart."

Also, not a quote from the book, but a quote from the 2010 Wolfman, "It is said there is no sin in killing a beast, only in killing a man. But where does one begin and the other end?" I've just always loved that line and thought it was relevant.

Also I started watching the musical so your references made more sense! I found a decent recording on YouTube. I haven't finished but I already find so many more detail added to the iconic Disney version of the story! Stage productions always seem to manage more detail than films somehow.... Probably another reason why I got into theatre lmao. I love the story depth. Everyone eventually losing themselves to the curse and that's why the urgency is there... God that makes so much sense now.

Anyways if you want to write this eventually absolutely go for it dude!! Don't bite off more than you can chew obviously but I'd love to see you do it!!

Okay yes the musical scene is very similar to the movie scene except... more lmao. Immediately watching the movie I was like "Marius is a darling little idiot but he'd never." Take a piss fuck boy 10/10. Marius is definitely the type to lovingly reminisce on being made fun of like that too.

And yes pretty sure she sees her father sick/injured in the woods searching for her. So Brian and Carmilla maybe get stuck in the woods long enough to not reach he mob first. They see the lights and hear the shouts once they're reunited and rush off to the castle. (Although I will add I love the live action movie version of the mob song bc it's so intense. So I kind of pictured Brian rushing into town, being met with the mob instead of his mother and when trying to stop them they tie him up to a tree somewhere. Carmilla shows up and frees him, gives him a horse and he rides off to the castle with all that dramatic flair of a final battle climax thing.)

The Carmilla and Nastya thing makes so much sense!! I also feel like this is the perfect way to throw in some Out angst bc Nastya was already planning to leave (she can possibly come back closer to the end tho bc I love her so so so much). Also sibling angst..... cries about them maybe ..... Also also!! If Carmilla is the enchantress AND the inventor.... That's just a very fascinating combination! Maybe she advances her inventions with certain charms and spells, and maybe vice versa on occasion! It almost makes her insanely advanced tech for the time slightly more believable. Not even that she needed to infuse her inventions with magic (although sometimes she might for fun), but sometimes her power just kinda aids her into knowing how to make something and where to find the parts!

Also please know that Lumim strumming a guitar immediately implies to me that someone made this yapping candlestick an american girl doll sized fire proof guitar and that's incredible to me.

Okay so you know how Gaston treats Belle's dad (I refuse to use his name it's too similar to Marius and I will get confused lmao) when he's raving about the Beast? All "don't worry dear fella we'll help you out" but calls him crazy and kicks him out. Toy does this to Marius but in a more genuine fashion (also if this interaction is at the castle Toy probably stuffs him in a closet or something, but if Marius ran out to meet it in town Toy sending him to Brian and Carmilla's house is actually so cute). Marius explains everything and Toy is like "Don't worry old chap, we'll get this all resolved!" "Really? You'll do that?" "Yep!" Bonks him on the head. "I'm afraid that beast has made my dear friend quite confused and possibly sick! We shall find him a doctor after it's slain! :)"

(Also everyone thinking the Beast enchanted or manipulated Marius to be in love with a clock makes sense if everyone knows the Beast and Brian care for each other while Marius is still pining after Brian in their minds. Also also I think Marius has been pondering his love for Lyf for a while but that's the first time he's actually said it out loud! Imagine Lyf's reaction if they heard that!!!)

Jonny being wildly upset at temporarily losing some of his hair *MWAH*. (Also there's lyrics Gaston sings about himself that include every inch of him being covered in hair and being roughly the size of a barge like .... Buddy. You just describe the beast? So it's sexy when you do it but not when he does it lmao?)

i lobe frankensteiny muches <3

And okay seeing the scene from the musical and ur explanation this makes sense now! Poor Lyf... They're already so stressed as it is lmao. Marius not having a clue what's happening except his new friend is in distress which won't do at all! He needs to comfort them!! I'm gonna die.

Jonny cuddled up into Brian after a long day (possibly after sharing music and reading- btw Beast being almost completely illiterate and Beauty reading to him!!! WAUGH!!!! It's fits the headcanon of canon mechs universe Jonny being illiterate (at least for a long time) bc of his upbringing..........!!!!!!) and is fully so close to zonking out, starts purring. Brian just melts. Literally how was he ever scared of this guy???? God he's down bad now.

The beginning song!!! Listen Belle has her face in a book the whole time, so I keep picturing Brian carrying his sheet music books (<- silly addition but I love book binding it's literally so fun so I think he might bind sheet music into their own books so it's easier to carry, collect, store, and read) but also wearing big clunky headphones (the kind you can hang around your neck 🎧) his mom made him that connects to the makeshift walkman she made him. At the end of the song when everyone sings at once and Belle finally looks up at them and they all stop- that but it's Brian pulling one headphone away from his ears bc he thought he heard someone say his name maybe? Oh well! Back music time!!

Also, consider they're paid to swoon but it's actually Toy paying them. Ultimate hype man-thing! (Thought too hard about this. What if Marius's inflated ego is a result of covering up his spiraling down horribly low self esteem/self worth. Toy is probably the only person in town who's seen him break down a couple of times because of it. It wants to help him so dearly but it's not very good at human feelings. Also Marius may play fuck boy but he is fully a virgin in my mind lmao.)

Also!! In the Disney movie everything about the castle looks extra spooky and gothic (not specifically referring to the architecture, just that everything is spooky and dark monster themed, but maybe there can be gothic architecture in there too! We just have to believe!) but when the curse is lifted everything looks bright and cheery. All the gargoyles turn into angels and stuff. I dislike like, I want to keep the spooky castle and protective gargoyles same as keeping the Beast a Beast! Just make the space less negative and trashed- spooky doesn't equal bad!!!!

Beauty and the Beast, but it's the Mechanisms.

Jonny must be the beast because feral Jonny and the whole heart thing... prove me wrong.

Tim or Brian is Belle.

Rest of the Mechs are the servants in the Beast's house. With an exception for Marius as Gaston cause I can totally fucking see it. He would suck at it though because it's Marius. And also, short Marius HC.

This is probably not new. But it's been brewing in my head for a good few months, ever since I put my Mechs OC in the iconic Belle dress.