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iimr3 · 14 days

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reasons why (in my opinion) the try guys hit the nail on the head with forming a subscription service where watcher fumbled:

try guys has already been making TV-caliber content for a while. without a recipe and phoning it in both feel like professional cooking shows, and the fact that they have actual celebrity guests adds to that. their audience is extremely familiar with them having this huge set and a ton of employees working to produce the videos they love. on top of that, they've been around longer. they mention at the beginning of the announcement they've been on YouTube for ten years, & dropout/CH similarly had been around for a while when it's streaming service dropped. try guys just always felt more professional & as a fan you immediately understand why they would need more money

(edit) also, they have formed an emotional connection between the audience and their employees! people love rachel & know how hard she works & want to see her get paid well for that work. not that the watcher team don't deserve that, but their audience is way less emotionally invested in their employees' wellbeings than with the try guys audience & their non-talent team (& I say this as a fan & regular viewer of both channels).

try guys already had experience with paid content that went over really well with their audience. their live shows proved that their audience was willing to pay a decent amount every once in a while for something cool, and they proved that they would actually provide something cool for that money. people pointed out how watcher neglected their patreon; the try guys made very good use of their live shows imo. and as a result, they are able to say "you'll get free tickets to the live shows!" which is a really good perk if you are someone who enjoys those. instead of paying $20 every once in a while for one live show, you can pay 5$ for free live shows and early content and exclusive new content.

plus, they also reveal their expanded cast, which is something all of their fans have been wondering about for over a year. it's not just keith and zach you get to see, but all of these people their audience now loves and is always talking about wanting to join the try guys officially. collectively the try guys announcement feels more positive in multiple senses, both in emotional vibe and in what the audience is getting out of this.

also: no one can say for certain whether or not they decided to keep posting on YT after the watcher debacle, but I'm gonna give them the benefit of the doubt & believe that they always intended to stay on YouTube. it makes sense as a business decision & it's clear they've been working on this for some time (despite what some people seem to think??). tbh I don't think they were trying to be cruel to watcher in their announcement, I think they just saw that shitstorm and understood they needed to make it clear to their audience that they are not making the same mistakes. EDIT: in the most recent trypod, zach confirmed that they have been planning to 1) create a streaming service 2) keep posting content free on YouTube since 2023. so, no, they did not create 2nd Try or decide to stay on YouTube because of Watcher. stop trying to manufacture drama.

also also: they have, especially in the trypod, been very candid about their struggles with the algorithm and appealing to youtube's demands for content. in one episode I remember them talking about how they wanted to reject the "constant expansion" mindset, placing more focus on what their existing audience wants rather than trying to constantly get new people. they have been open about how certain things they want to do are not viable because of monetization issues; smoke show is a recent example of this.

another edit: also in the recent episode of the trypod, Zach says that they reached out to Sam Reich of Dropout for tips on starting a streaming service & things to avoid. we have no way of telling if Watcher did this, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was also key in why they turned out differently.

tl;dr i think it comes down to what was presented (not leaving youtube, new content that wouldn't be allowed on youtube, free live shows, new cast), how it was presented (shorter video, focus on the excitement & positives, show of respect to those who can't afford the price), and the context surrounding it (being older, a reputation for more professional content, having prepared their audience for a big shift, having previously discussed issues with youtube and their content)

#op #try guys #ty to everyone who follows me who puts up with my buzzfeed alumni obsessions

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thedensworld · 8 months

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Even When We're Drown, We're Still Breathing | K.Mg

Pairing: Husband!Mingyu x Wife!Reader

Genre: angst, established relationship, fluff

Words Count: 1k

Summary: Mingyu was missing the spotlight he used to have, so he decided to accept the offer to shoot a reality show about marriage life and parenting. However, his wife was in a different situation.

Mingyu was bursting with excitement when the first episode of the reality show you had shot finally aired. He was thoroughly satisfied with the outcome. The editing and the host's reactions had met his expectations. Mingyu couldn't help but replay the scene when the twins were introduced to the public for the first time. You and he had covered their faces on your social media, doing your utmost to safeguard their privacy. However, like any ordinary parents would, Mingyu wanted to know the viewers' reactions to his kids. He scrolled through the comments section on the video showcasing Hana and Hoon, along with the flawless editing that portrayed Hana as calm and shy, and Hoon as boisterous with puppy-like behavior. He couldn't contain his laughter when they compared his kids to his fellow members, Wonwoo and Hoshi.

"When will mom be home?" Hana inquired while Mingyu finished watching the video and was about to prepare dinner.

These days, you've been occupied with promoting your new movie release. When you and Mingyu decided to tie the knot, you were at the pinnacle of your career. After a four-year hiatus, you had just made a comeback with an action-packed film, and Mingyu was exceptionally supportive. You had met Mingyu through his fellow member, Wonwoo, who happened to be your co-star in your early movie. At that time, Mingyu had just completed his military service and found you intriguing, so he asked Wonwoo to introduce you two.

Mingyu is still actively involved in his band, even though their last album was released a year and a half ago. Each member is swamped with their individual schedules; some have even started their own families, like Mingyu, making it harder to have consistent comebacks.

Lately, Mingyu has been occupied with his clothing line business and various modeling sessions. He strives to be less tied up so he can take care of the kids while you're at work. Prior to your promotional schedule, you were jet-setting abroad every week for your new movie shoots. Mingyu was elated to have the kids all to himself.

"She said she'll be home at 6," Mingyu grinned as he replied to his daughter.

When he pitched the idea of joining the reality show to you, he mentioned that he missed the spotlight he used to bask in. He still had it, albeit to a much lesser extent. People recognized him everywhere, even the staff at the daycare his kids attended used to be his fans. It was the interaction he missed the most. The feedback, the compliments, the expectations that used to ignite his passions - he longed for them.

"It might be tough for the kids; we've never exposed them to this industry," you remarked when he asked for your opinion.

That was true. Hana and Hoon knew who their parents were and what they did. They enjoyed Mingyu's band's songs and loved watching your old dramas. They understood that their parents worked in the entertainment industry, but they didn't grasp the intricacies of it. Mingyu had pondered this. If he accepted the offer, how would it impact his kids? Privacy would unquestionably be at the forefront of concerns.

"If you truly want to do it, let's do it. We'll work on the rest together," your words reassured him, leading him to accept the offer.

Mingyu let out a sigh at the sight of what his kids had done to the living room. Hoon, the mischief-maker, darted towards his room to fetch more things to scatter. Meanwhile, Hana was engrossed in her Lego, but even her creations couldn't evade finding their way under Mingyu's foot.

In a moment of urgency, Mingyu grabbed his phone and called you for help. He'd never felt this way when you were away for days, but knowing you'd be home in an hour made his patience wear thin.

"Hello..." Your voice filled the room as he put the call on speaker, immediately drawing the attention of your kids, who started shouting "mom."

Without a word, he let out another heavy sigh. You couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing it.

"I'm sorry, I won't be home until 10. We're having a team dinner after this," you explained.

"Really? Hana, mom won't be home until 10," he said, his disappointment evident as he relayed the news to his daughter.

Mingyu's smile returned when he saw Hana pout, her expression mirroring yours when she's upset. "Hana wants to speak," he said, passing the phone to her.

"Mom, fighting!" Mingyu burst into laughter at his daughter's choice of words. "Have fun, I'm going to cook dinner," he said to you before ending the call.

"Mom won't be joining the dinner?" Hoon inquired, and Mingyu nodded.

"Isn't it fun having a meal with dad?" he asked them. Hoon promptly shook his head, declaring, "No! Eating with mom is more fun, right Hana?" while Hana simply ignored them.

Maybe what the editor said about his children was right. Hoon did resemble Hoshi, and Hana bore a striking resemblance to Wonwoo.

During the photoshoot for the promotion of your new movie release, they handed you and your fellow actor, Choi Woosung, a script containing questions that would be asked during the recording.

"You've shot a reality show?" Woosung inquired, and you nodded in confirmation. You explained that the reality show focused on Mingyu's life as your husband and parent.

"How's the reaction?" He asked, echoing one of the questions from the list.

You chuckled, slipping into the role as if it were a real interview. "The reaction is very good. The fourth episode has been released. It felt great to share a glimpse of our life with the public."

On your way home, you couldn't shake off the question from earlier.

'How's the reaction to your reality show?'

You hadn't really kept up with it. Mingyu was usually the one to inform you about updates. You'd only appeared for less than 20 minutes in total. While you were excited about the show, your schedule had kept you too occupied to check on it, let alone gauge the reaction.

As you headed towards your home, you opened your phone, typed in the name of your reality show, and checked the comments section. You were delighted by the rush of dopamine every time you came across comments praising the twins for being so cute and clever. There were even some compliments about the parenting you and Mingyu showcased on the show. Reading them made you grasp the feeling your husband had been missing - this surge of happiness.

'It's so weird that the wife is never home.'

'Why is it always Kim Mingyu who does the work at home? Is it because of his busy wife?'

'Mingyu housewife agenda is still going strong kekekeke..'

'Even after marriage, Mingyu still takes care of everyone. Poor Mingyu lol'

You entered your quiet house as the clock struck ten at night. Your day had been packed, starting at ten in the morning with back-to-back shoots. Quickly, you changed into your sleeping clothes, meeting Mingyu as he emerged from your children's room. One of the things people praised was your effort in training the twins to sleep on their own.

"Hana's finally asleep," Mingyu whispered, placing his arm around your shoulder as you both made your way to the kitchen, the farthest point from the twins' room.

"What did she ask this time?" You inquired, already stifling a laugh as Mingyu began with a sigh.

He perched on the counter while you opened the fridge, searching for a beer to accompany tonight's conversation with your husband.

"She asked if she could make green coffee from green beans because coffee is made from coffee beans," he reported, burying his head in his arms, which rested on the counter.

You chuckled. "That's clever," you remarked, handing him a can of beer.

"Hoon wanted to use your glass, but he accidentally dropped it. He's preparing his apology for tomorrow morning," he shared, introducing another amusing incident.

You shook your head. "Did he mention it was an accident?" Mingyu nodded, "He didn't want me to break the news to you because he wanted to tell you himself."

Your heart warmed at hearing this. The glass wasn't a big deal to you—it was just a way to encourage them to drink water by using their favorite glass.

"That's sweet," you said, smiling at him. "Yeah, I thought so. They're growing up a little too quickly," Mingyu mumbled, and you agreed.

"How was your day with them? I saw the video you sent me," you asked, referring to the video he took of Hoon and Hana squabbling over petting a puppy at the park.

Mingyu chuckled. "On our way home, they suddenly wanted to take a walk in the park. I think it must be something they learned or heard at daycare. It was just so random. Some people recognized them, which upset Hana. Hoon loved it," he recounted, and you couldn't help but laugh at the tale.

"They met a little Samoyed, and I think it was their first time seeing one," you agreed. "Hoon suddenly got petty when Hana joined him in petting the puppy. He said Hana kept imitating him, and Hana didn't like dogs."

You were also tickled by the fact that Hana was petting a dog. She was never fond of them, in fact, she preferred stuffed animals over real ones, which was the opposite of Hoon, who wished for a puppy or kitten on every birthday.

"Let's sleep," Mingyu murmured as the beer was finished, and you two couldn't contain your laughter from the twin's escapade. Waking them up was the last thing you both wanted.

"What time is your schedule tomorrow?" Mingyu asked as you both lay down on the bed, his arm pulling you closer.

"I have a salon appointment at 11, and the shoot might end by 2. Why?" you inquired.

"My mom and my sister are in Seoul tomorrow. Mom said she wants to meet you."

You raised an eyebrow. "Should we go out for dinner tomorrow? Your mom liked the Japanese restaurant we visited last month."

Mingyu nodded and closed his eyes. "Okay, I'll book a table for tomorrow." His arm tightened around you, and you mumbled that it was too warm, but he pretended to be asleep.

The drive home after dinner was quiet. The kids had fallen asleep, leaving you and Mingyu in a solemn atmosphere. Not a word was exchanged since you bid goodbye to his mom and sister, parting ways as they headed back to Anyang. Mingyu stole glances at you multiple times but hesitated to say a word, treading carefully after what had happened at the restaurant.

Mingyu's mom had always adored you. He'd known that from the moment he introduced you to her. She looked at you with a love he'd never seen in her eyes when she interacted with him or his sister. It was as if you were her own, even his sister acknowledged this. She never spoke ill of you or to you; she held you in the same respect a mother-in-law should have for their child's partner. So, when she said those unexpected words in the restaurant, it took Mingyu aback.

"I noticed you never take care of the house on the show," she had remarked, to which Mingyu immediately interjected, "She was busy."

"Still, a wife should be taking care of her husband and kids."

"Mom..." Mingyu tried to halt the conversation, but his sister promptly changed the subject, showcasing how Hoon was eagerly eating his sushi.

Seeing you silenced by this exchange hurt Mingyu deeply. He despised the discomfort that settled between you both as you moved around the house in silence. You didn't even glance his way.

As you passed him, he gently took your arm, leading you to the couch and squatting in front of you. Your eyes were level, but you avoided meeting his gaze.

"I'm sorry about earlier," Mingyu began. "I know it hurt. I'm not happy with what mom said either."

"It's not your fault," you mumbled, your eyes still averted.

Mingyu bit his lip, his voice thick. "Babe, please look at me," he whispered, cupping your cheeks.

"If I look at you, I'll start to cry," you admitted in a near-whisper.

Mingyu's heart broke, and he immediately pulled you into an embrace. He sat beside you, his fingers gently running through your hair, whispering soothing words as you sobbed against his chest.

When you pulled away, you confessed, "I'm just disappointed. I thought your mom knew me better." Mingyu nodded, indicating that he was all ears.

"I thought she knew me better than what she saw on the show. We've been married for a long time," you began. "She used to see me preparing your meals. She even praised how tidy our home was when she visited while you were on tour. She was so proud when we decided not to have a sitter for the twins. Why... Why did she suddenly say that?"

Mingyu closed his eyes, feeling tears welling up. He held you tighter, as if afraid that if he let go, he might lose you.

"I'm fine when people judge me based on what they see. I'm totally fine with that. But, she's my mother-in-law. She's my mom."

That night, Mingyu realized something he hadn't considered when agreeing to the show. He hadn't thought about you; he'd been thoughtless. He remembered the backlash you both faced when you decided to publicly date. Even years after your marriage, there were mixed reactions, with some saying Mingyu was hindering the group's activities and others believing you were sacrificing your career too soon.

Mingyu had never been one to care about public opinion, but you were different. He believed you were making continuous progress, but he knew it was hard for you to accept comments, especially those that weren't true. You detested people's expectations and how they burdened you. It was something Mingyu couldn't entirely comprehend. He thrived on expectations, needing that pressure to stay motivated. These differences had occasionally caused friction in your relationship.

Your pregnancy with the twins had been unexpected. You were in the midst of shooting an action movie, involving a lot of stunts, when you found out you were two weeks pregnant after collapsing on set. Mingyu was upset that you had to continue shooting after almost losing the baby. He couldn't understand why you kept getting action roles and constantly put yourself in danger with all the stunts.

"Remember my movie with Wonwoo? I don't like how people expect us to fall in love after the project. Action movies give me less pressure compared to romance and melodrama. I hope you understand."

This was followed by your reluctance to attend promotions and your refusal to appear on variety shows because of the burden it placed on you.

Now, Mingyu finally understood why it weighed on you. He could see the pieces falling into place.

He gently kissed your forehead as you fell asleep on his lap after the emotional conversation you'd had earlier. He picked you up effortlessly and carried you to the bedroom, determined that things would change for the better from this point forward.

Mingyu's smile stretched wide as he set up blankets for the viewing spot. Today marked the last episode of your reality show, and it was the first time he'd be watching it with you and the kids. You chuckled when you saw Mingyu pat a spot next to him with a beaming smile and a look of adoration – an expression his fellow members often teasingly referred to as a "cheap stare."

"Why are you smiling? It hasn't even started yet," you remarked, picking up Hana and settling her on your lap. She immediately clung to you like a koala on a tree.

"I want a hug too," Hoon chimed in, and you opened your arms for him to join Hana.

Mingyu sighed, resting his head on the couch while gazing at the three of you. "They never treat me like this," he mumbled.

The show began with the familiar scenes of your house and the kids' activities. However, you were taken aback when there were a few scenes of you that hadn't been included in previous episodes. It showed you preparing breakfast, doing a quick load of laundry, tidying the kids' room, and tending to the plants. The scenes were accompanied by the sub-title, 'special for mom.' You glanced at Mingyu, who was fully engrossed in the screen.

"Mom, you're so pretty!" Hoon exclaimed upon seeing a scene from one of your movies. You smiled and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Do I really look like that in the morning? That's not a good look for broadcast," you muttered, watching yourself on screen without any makeup.

Mingyu scoffed, "Are you underestimating my taste in girls?" His words earned a grateful laugh from you.

'My wife, Y/n, she's such an interesting person. She's the second shyest person in this house after Hana. They're basically like mother and daughter,' you heard Mingyu say on the show.

'She's so talented and amazing. But she's not a very confident person. I don't know why, but that's just how she humbles herself,' he continued, drawing a chuckle from you.

'Mom is a hero. She makes me my favorite food and runs with me at the park,' Hoon's voice filled the room.

'Mom? She's awesome. She reads me a book every day. I love it,' Hana chimed in.

'There's a lot about her that hasn't been shown much. She gave birth to my children. She sacrificed her body, her career, her life to marry me and start a family with me. There were times when she was alone with the kids while I was on tour. I believe it was tough raising the kids – twins at that – alone, especially for a new parent,' Mingyu shared, his voice filled with genuine admiration and respect.

The entire episode was a tribute to you. Tears welled up in your eyes as Mingyu spoke so highly of you, acknowledging the challenges and sacrifices that come with being a wife and mother.

The show concluded with a montage of pictures, capturing precious moments of your family when the twins were born, when you video called Mingyu on tour with the babies just months old, when you cooked while Mingyu looked after the twins, and even when you did home workouts with the twins imitating you.

"Kim Mingyu!" You playfully scolded him as soon as the show ended.

Mingyu laughed at your reaction, your eyes slightly swollen from crying throughout the show. Meanwhile, the twins, showing a clear preference for their mom, eagerly joined you in your playful reprimand.

Mingyu grabbed his phone, capturing a picture of your post-crying face and one of the three of you engrossed in the show from earlier. He planned to post them on his social media later.

After putting the kids to bed, Mingyu pulled you into his arms and whispered, "Love you, always."

You smiled and held him closer. "Thanks for everything. I love you more."

"You deserve it, baby. You deserve it."

Mingyu muttered, "I honestly don't think our kid resembles them," as he pettily showed a video of Hoon and Hana alongside Hoshi and Wonwoo.

He paused, then continued, "I mean, they're our child. They're supposed to resemble us, and they do. People just fail to see that." He mumbled, then turned his attention back to you, who were busy chopping chicken breast before putting it into the blender.

You decided to ignore him, focusing on your pre-workout meal preparations.

#densworld🌼#seventeen fanfic #seventeen imagines #seventeen angst #mingyu imagines #mingyu recs #mingyu scenarios #kim mingyu #mingyu au #mingyu fluff #mingyu imagine #kim mingyu imagines #mingyu drabbles #mingyu fanfic #mingyu smut #mingyu x reader #mingyu

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thesoftboiledegg · 7 months

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"Unmortricken" was a lot. In fact, it might have been a little too much.

To start, I loved the glimpse of what exists outside the Central Finite Curve. The visuals were stunning and reminded me of M.C. Escher's drawings. The Jetson-like family was a nice touch--if anything can happen, who says they can't have different animation styles? All those colorful portals make me wonder what's lurking just out of sight.

It's also funny that the space outside the Curve is full of Rick's favorite thing: crystals. If he took a trip there, he'd come back with his pockets stuffed with gemstones.

Evil Morty's reappearance gave us a decent character study. Since he wasn't the antagonist, we saw him interact with the C-137s as a regular person. Morty's a little impressed, and Rick has a grudging respect for him. Others have called Evil Morty the Rickest Morty, and I agree: similar intelligence, similar technology and similar bloodthirst.

I was glad that he left in the end because that's what his character arc is about anyway. He doesn't want to be part of anyone else's story, not even another Morty's.

However, that's also part of the issue that I had with this episode. Seeing Evil Morty was great, but it was also a little...pointless? You could've had the same story without him. He's not working with Prime, and he has no ties to C-137 after "Rickmurai Jack," so it felt like the writers just said "Hey, you know what would be cool?"

I'm not against writers having fun and giving the audience what they want. "Spider-Man: No Way Home" (yeah, groan at me, Marvel haters) is fan service in blockbuster form, and it was one of the best theater experiences I've ever had.

Still, if Evil Morty came back, I think he should've had a separate episode. The episode juggled C-137 Rick, Morty, Evil Morty and Prime Rick pretty well, giving them satisfying interactions with each other, but no Evil Morty would've meant more relationship development for the C-137s.

Evil Morty's backstory also didn't reveal much about him. I mean--yeah, we all figured that he had an abusive Rick and got fed up. The fact that he had a "regular" Rick instead of a deranged lunatic does make a point about the banality of abuse. Monsters aren't always raving maniacs who torture people in their basements. Ordinary people can wear you down with a slow drip of toxicity and neglect.

I enjoyed this episode, and Evil Morty's return was exciting, but cramming the series' two biggest antagonists and storylines into twenty minutes was a little overwhelming. New plot developments kept showing up, too: Rick found Prime! Prime's various lairs! Omega device! I would've preferred a two-parter.

I'll admit that if you told me that we'd see Evil Morty and Rick Prime in the same shot, I never would have believed you, but here we are.

On that note, Prime's characterization was perfect. No attempt at a cutesy, sad backstory; he's a laughing monster until the end. And is it really the end? He has regeneration abilities, but C-137 acts like he's dead and even gives up the search. This leaves us with a few options:

C-137 killed him.

Prime fooled C-137 into thinking that he's dead when he isn't.

C-137's keeping him alive for later use.

Hopefully, this is more complicated than it looks because I'll be disappointed if this is the end of Prime. He's a brilliant reflection of C-137: the Rick he'd be without his tiny shred of humanity.

And Prime's a maniac, but he tells C-137 the truth. Rick broke into Prime's house. He pretended he belonged with this group of strangers. He latched on to Prime's grandson because he never had his own. His brutal, violent streak never went away no matter how long he tried to play house.

Prime says "Admit it! You would have been me!" In season three and parts of season four, Rick was close. His love for his family--love that he pretended he didn't have--and desire for their approval just barely pulled him back. But what kept that spark alive? How close was he to becoming a cold, unfeeling shell?

In the end, C-137's not satisfied after he destroys Prime--and weirdly, I'm not satisfied, either. Beating Prime to an unrecognizable pulp doesn't bring Rick's original family back. It doesn't erase the atrocities that Rick's committed. It doesn't make his grief go away. It doesn't change the fact that Rick teetered on the edge of turning into the monster that he despised.

What's more satisfying is that Rick didn't turn out like Prime. His Morty doesn't give two shits about Prime, but he loves him. He hugs him in relief (come on, Rick, hug him back already!), cries out "Rick? Rick!" and shakes his body when he thinks he's dead, and talks excitedly as they return home.

Rick's going to therapy, which Prime would have mocked. He went from having nobody to living with FIVE kids if you count Morty and Summer. Even he and his Jerry are pretty tight.

Rick knows this, but he still feels empty all the time. Vengeance doesn't work, drinking doesn't work...wouldn't it be easier if he just switched off his humanity and laughed at everything, even his own death?

But now that he knows how it feels to be loved, especially by his hypothetical grandson, I think he'll always find himself at the Smiths' doorstep.

#rick and morty #rick sanchez #morty smith #prime rick #weird rick #rick prime #evil morty #boy that's quite the collection of tags #unmortricken #season seven #review

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maranescence · 2 months

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[POTENTIAL MURDER DRONES SPOILERS AHEAD]

Felt impulsy and fan service-y, so I drew a few more screenshot redraws of MD Episode 7 but with @lumineary-arts ‘s Murder Drones Swap AU, since it’s a lot of fun! However, I mainly went along with what we know about her AU so far, tho, so I didn’t include other details like Swap!N and Swap!Cyn’s other parent (who would take canon Nori’s place). I’d leave it to the AU’s creator.

I HIGHLY doubt Nate/Swap!N would tell Z/Swap! Uzi to “die mad”, I feel like he would apologize and genuinely feel guilty for sacrificing himself in front of her after she witnessed T/Swap!Thad do the same thing. Also I honestly loved how the solver symbol turned out! It isn’t perfect, but it sure looks great tbh! Also as some of you might know, backgrounds aren’t my strongest suit 😂

This one was pretty simple, but I am SHOOK at how in-canon this turned out to look. If you zoom out really far, it almost looks like a photo from the actual show! This particular screenshot probably isn’t highly significant in the plot, but I thought that Maid V’s appearance in the episode was an excuse to draw Butler Thad (since V and Thad switch places), who of course is just a mere hallucination produced by the Solver here (unfortunately). Since the artist stated that the solver was Russian-speaking in this AU, I guess that it would imply that Butler Thad in this episode would speak the same language!

Finally (my favorite one so far), the girl bosses ever! I’m kinda proud of how this turned out but HOLY HELL drawing the school bus was hard for me. I kinda got a little lazy and mostly blocked the majority of it with clouds 😂 I originally planned on having Swap!Tessa stand alongside Swap!J and Swap!V with a weapon in hand to reflect on her leaderlike personality, but I decided to put her up on the bus to make her look like the lady in charge. I kinda feel like I made her look a bit too intimidating, but I wanted her to have a “girlboss” expression. Look out, SD-L!

I wish I could draw a few more, but I ran out of ideas 😅 Also reminder: I tried to stay as in canon as possible, so PLEASE don’t hesitate to correct me if I made any mistakes!

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levyfiles · 1 month

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some people are mad at steven for a moral issue, tbf. regardless of your thoughts on watcher’s streaming service he did still say he has racist and homophobic friends. he still goes to a homophobic church.

I absolutely recognise that you must have been recently introduced to The Pod Clip that the twitter teens who hate him preserved to break out whenever it's a fresh moment to rally hate against him, but I would advise anyone just receiving this clip from August 2020 being passed around with the angle that Watcher tried to hide this. I and many others were there and just know that I have a zero tolerance standard for people who show no remorse or growth when they uplift racists and bigots.

Mine and other fans who were startled by the statement hoped publicly that it would be an opportunity to clear the air for Watcher because the current political climate was just finally examining anti-blackness in everyone's biases and as someone who is mixed-African growing up in an Asian household, I know that anti blackness is and has been a normalised mindset in the Asian community.

But the thing is, months before this, Steven platformed Tammy and her colleagues to discuss how all of us can work together to stop Asian hate and one of the conversations I highlighte back then was how very clear Tammy was that allyship from the Asian community to the African-American community was tantamount to moving forward. That the us vs them rhetoric has and continues to be harmful for both parties. Ryan and Steven were very involved in this discussion and agreed wholeheartedly.

Having said that, the narrative around the podcast ep never had a chance to be discussed rationally. It really ended up skewed because Steven's response to the backlash from that clip was this

I hope that's legible to you. Many people who felt uneasy about what he said felt a lot better and his intention to say something at the top of the next episode would once again, unfortunately, get derailed because Twitter users (some who are particularly loud about loving and supporting Watcher yet constantly join in on the throng of bullying as soon as the tide turns) were adamant that they needed Watcher to post the clip and Steven's apology publicly on their youtube front page and on the main socials, to literally advertise it when the reality is that not many people were watching/listening to the podcast. For what reason would it be intelligent or good business practice to broadcast this hurtful moment so that more people could get hurt by it?

Watcher's response amid the harassment was to release a full podcast episode where they all discussed what they would do going forward to show that they are allies, not just by not being racist or homophobic but by being anti-these things. They showed that they cared about their impact. It was emotional and devastating to watch and by that time, we knew the pod was likely going to wind down. 2020 was already a miserable time and it was made worse because no matter what Steven or Watcher said at the time, the "stans" on Twitter wanted the man fired, they posted memes saying the world would be better if Steven Lim didn't exist, they wanted him shamed by his staff, and for Ryan and Shane to publicly disavow him. Many of these so-called devoted fans raided the server to yell about how Steven's alleged homophobia hurts them, most of them were white and pointedly talking over people of colour telling them "it's not your apology to accept!". It was a blood bath.

And I see waaaay too many of the same faces utilizing this completely neutral move--that of COURSE could have been executed better--to terrorize Steven, to make petitions to get him fired, commenting on his wedding photo telling him that Tammy should leave him, posting those same damn disgusting memes because you see, a whole bunch of people forgot how disgusting and evil this vendetta was to the point where even watcher's socials started to FOLLOW some of these genuinely mean-spirited individuals. They didn't give a shit about a movement or activism.

What kills me--what absolutely THROWS me--is that these same people expect to be able to return to interacting with the staff, attending live shows, buying merch and sending fan mail as soon as the hate tide winds down. All these people so concerned about a statement referencing faceless hypothetical racists and homophobes that Steven never named nor attributed any context for--as he was never given the chance--are so quick to dehumanize and caricaturize real human beings to their faces and they think this is a normal and acceptable behaviour.

You'll have to excuse me, as an older fan who has seen my fair share of normalised homophobia and racism in these communities, if I disagree.

#watcher #steven lim #discourse

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ficklepish · 10 days

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Hello !! Today I bring you a silly Quodo doodle

It is a bit based on that one episode in which Quark sits on Odo's desk while talking to him but I imagine this to be in a different context to that.. maybe it is just a thing Quark does sometimes :- >

Now ! Recently I watched s3e8 , s3e9 , s3e10 , s3e11 and s3e12

For episodes 8-10 I do not have much to say really ... they were not super interesting, and e10 was very uncomfortable to watch (is it really Star Trek if they don't have an episode where all the characters make out) I felt the only reason the episode existed was for fan service (and I suppose a little to set up Odo's liking of Kira, although I feel they could have done this differently... also I will say although I love Quodo very much I think Odo and Kira are really sweet together so I am glad they have chosen to go in this direction! I am more of a platonic Quodo enjoyer anyway if that makes sense) anyways . I deeply dislike Vedek Bareil so I eagerly anticipate whenever he and Kira break up ... I did enjoy e9 as Gul Dukat is a very interesting character to me and I was glad to see more about him! I liked the vague fatherly bonding he had with Sisko, although they dislike each other I think their political friendship of sorts could have some interesting development as the series progresses!

For episodes 11 and 12 however !! They were far more enjoyable, and I think some of the best written episodes of the show so far. I really enjoyed them! It was funny that the year they went back to happened to be 2024 and I liked the very 90s interpretation of the future- although I do not live in America so I cannot comment on exactly how accurate it was, I do feel that on some levels some of the issues they brought up are very much prevalent in society

Anyways it's always fun to see Star Trek characters in modern era - I loved Sisko and Bashir's characterisations here, especially during the hostage situation. It was kind of a unique point of view to see the protagonists being the ones holding the hostages, very refreshing perspective I think !

That is all from me ! Goodbye for now !

#ds9 #deep space nine #ds9 fanart #odo ds9 #ds9 quark #quodo #star trek ds9 #Ferry's station log #Star Trek #yippeeeeee!

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wen-kexing-apologist · 9 months

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A Pause for Reflection: Part 2- Only Friends, Racism, and the Commodification of Queer Asians

Hello! It is me, your friendly neighborhood wen-kexing-apologist. Before Only Friends aired, knowing how sex heavy this show was setting up to be, I decided it might be kinda funny if instead of posting my initial reactions to the episodes, which I knew were going to be something akin to an incomprehensible key smash, if I instead committed to a bit where I wrote very dry, academic essays on sex and sex imperatives in Only Friends.

Well, I wrote an essay on Boston, his cruising habits, and my speculations around him being an embodiment of older queer culture expecting like…three people maybe to make it through legitimately 13 written pages with block text citations. But it did surprisingly well, and so now I have decided to full send.

In my first Taking Pause post, I wrote about respectable promiscuity and the way I felt that concept impacted perceptions of queer people and queer culture, especially as it relates to engagement with Only Friends. This time, I want to dampen the mood a bit further, and discuss racism and its impact on perceptions of queer Asian characters in the BL industry. This was spurred by Only Friends and especially inspired by the posts I have seen going around that project false purity on flawed characters, but will cover Asian BL engagement more broadly as well.

Disclaimer: I am a white Westerner, addressing this post primarily to white Westerners, and using Western sources.

The Commodification of Queer Asian Men

Racism is a complex subject, and while people of color are not absolved of white supremacy mindsets through colorism, this invitation for conversation is mostly geared towards my fellow white Westerners. Racism is persistent, pervasive, and insidious in part because we do not always know when and how our own personal biases and learned racism impacts how we interact with the world, or in this case media.

With the increasing mainstream acceptance of gays and lesbians, and the increasing visibility of LGBT folks more generally, gay space and straight space, gay sociality and straight sociality, are increasingly blended (Dean, 2014). The commodification of gayness is only one example of this. (Ahlm, 2017)

We are frequently spoiled by BL because of how much exposure to queer people in stories we are allowed to see. These stories are not primarily or inherently made for queer people, but what this massive index of gay shows gives the general public is large amounts of exposure to the concept of gay people (about queers), and growing popularity allows for a rapid commodification of queer Asian experience.

I want to take a second to show the definitions of commodification, so anyone reading this is aware of what lenses I am working from.

Commodification: to turn (something, such as an intrinsic value or a work of art) into a commodity (Miriam-Webster)

Commodity:

an economic good: such as…c. a mass-produced unspecialized product

a. something useful or valued; b. convenience, advantage

a good or service whose wide availability typically leads to smaller profit margins and diminishes the importance of factors (such as brand name) other than price

one that is subject to ready exchange or exploitation within a market (Miriam-Webster)

Personally, I think it is reasonable to argue that BL and BL branded pairs are exploited by and are an exploitation of the market. We have seen the number of in-universe ads in our standard Thai BLs, the number of BLs being created every year is increasing with the understanding that these shows can be profitable, sell products, sell concert tickets, sell out theaters, make money on fan events, etc.. I think many of us have begun to love when Oishi Green Tea, Nivea Micellar Water, or Canon printers show up in our BLs, but it cannot be denied or ignored that those are commercials for products being sold to us through the images of queer characters and within queer stories. Meaning, the queer stories we are able to interact with en masse are there to sell us a product as well as a story.

How does this relate to racism? By making queer characters of color sell products within the stories they exist in, we establish a relationship to queer characters of color that extends the commodification of queer men of color themselves beyond what already exists by nature of racism and white supremacy within queer spaces:

It’s almost as if no gay men of color exist outside of fantasy cruises to Jamaica, Puerto Rico, or the ‘Orient’. And even then, they exist only to fulfill the sexual fantasies of gay white men. ‘Exotic’ vacations to far away places are marketed to rich white men and [low income] colored bodies are only another consumable product easily purchased with western dollars. As such, gay men of color, whether found within western borders or conveniently waiting for white arrival in the far off corners of the globe, are nothing more than commodities for consumption. (Chong-suk Han, 2007)

How many shows have we gotten out of GMMTV in recent years that are absent, or near-absent of in-universe ads? Three? The Eclipse, The Warp Effect, and Only Friends? What themes are at the center of these shows that may make them distasteful to corporations trying to sell their products?

Now, I entered the BL scene after The Eclipse aired, so I don’t know what its reception was like at the time. But I am pretty certain it was a popular show. Yet, I have personally witnessed the adverse and negative reactions to, especially Ayan, when Our Skyy 2 x The Eclipse aired and we saw Ayan keeping a secret that was hurting Akk’s feelings. I saw the sheer amount of posts coming out of tumblr about how Akk and Ayan were characterized so wrong in this show. And, I am trying to be polite here, but there were just grossly misrepresentative takes on tumblr about the characters we got on screen in OS2, who were extremely in character based on the source material, and not the idea of the characters we have built up in our heads as the lines between Ayan and Khaotung or Akk and First blurred over time.

The Warp Effect is a show I have constantly been asking people to watch as Only Friends approached and continue to market as required viewing while we are still in the early stages of Only Friends, but it was not widely watched as far as I could tell from the activity on my own tumblr feed and from the number of people I saw reblogging my Case for Watching TWE post who said they had yet to see it. And I get it, it was marketed more as a heterosexual show rather than a BL, but I will go down swinging to defend my position on that show as The Queerest Show of 2023 (so far).

I think about all the ways people on tumblr have re-written certain characters in their minds to be purer, less morally dubious, more babygirl in order for them to justify loving and supporting a character that is either objectively a terrible person or who has made any number of mistakes that have gotten themselves or others hurt. Listen, my most beloved gay boys are Wen Kexing and Akk but I will be the first to tell you both those men are war criminals. That is not a joke. I love Akk to death as a character, and he let a car roll into a crowd of protestors.

Which is to say, that I am personally made to feel very uncomfortable when I see people twisting the realities of who queer Asian characters are in order to create a false, more pure and innocent version of who they want queer Asian characters to be. Why? Because it treats queer Asian male characters like dolls, like objects to manipulate and control, rather than as the people they are written and intended to be, and the fanservice that is expected of the actors that portray them is not much different:

At the same time that they are invisible, gay Asian men are also seen as being exotic, submissive fantasies for white men. However, being seen as exotic and submissive is yet another form of subtle racism where gay Asian men are not seen as individuals but as a consumable product for white male fantasy (Ayres, 1999). (Chong-suk Han, 2007)

And yeah, I know some of you may try to deflect this by saying or thinking “wka this quote is about white men and thus does not apply to me” it does. It does apply.

On the Subject of Fan Service

These production companies make a lot of money off of selling the fanbase the idea that these actors are romantically involved outside of their acting careers. GMMTV and Idolfactory are perhaps the most committed studios to fanservice that I have seen, often to the detriment of the health and safety of their talent and potentially their own financial interests. He’s Coming to Me was delayed, and had it’s distribution fucked with because fans protested Singto being separated from Krist and paired up with Ohm for one show. Freen was recorded and blackmailed with a video that showed she was in a romantic relationship with Seng. Articles were published making it seem like it was a truly wild concept that Man Trisanu and Ben Bunyapol were acting to create the chemistry they get on screen. These companies know they can make money off of the fictions they create, both the ones we see as television shows, and the ones we see in fan meet ups. These people are actors, some may date, some may not, some may be really good friends, some may hate each other’s guts, but the fact of the matter is we will never know for sure. Everything we see on camera is a performance.

How Objectification of Queer Asian Men Relates to Only Friends

I mean…

I don’t know about you all, but I have seen post after post of people projecting images of purity and perfection on to Mew, twisting themselves forward and backward to justify a character’s objectively terrible decisions, or finding scapegoats to blame for their blorbo’s actions. I have seen people truly, legitimately struggle with seeing their favorite acting pair engaging in intimate scenes with different scene partners. And, to me it reads like some audience members are physically unable to separate the actor from their character, or to accurately identify reality from fiction. These are actors, they are playing characters, we know how good of actors they are. We are all aware of how much of a chameleon First is with his roles, how powerful Khao is at portraying grief on screen, how expressive Book is, etc.

Force and Book are not fucking, Book is not stringing Force along, Force is not fucking Neo and potentially breaking Book’s heart. Top and Mew are fucking (or will). Mew is stringing Top along. Top is fucking Boston and potentially breaking Mew’s heart. Khaotung is not ditching First to go rescue Book, First is not trying and failing to maintain boundaries with Khaotung. Ray is ditching Sand to go rescue Mew, Sand is trying and failing to maintain boundaries with Ray.

Harkening back to fanservice. Personally, I believe that only ever marketing “love pairs” (aka Force and Book’s characters as a romantic couple or First and Khao’s characters as a romantic couple on screen) severely severely limits the acting potential for any and all of the performers involved in those couplings. Can you imagine what Only Friends would be like with Neo and Louis, rather than Neo and Mark? Louis is great, but I’m not sure that he could do pining simp, or angry revenge the same way Mark can. You can see how good of a match up Fluke Pusit was with Thor in The Warp Effect and you can see how good Fluke Pusit was with Ohm Thipakorn in A Boss and a Babe.

As I mentioned in Part One, Jojo has said there is going to be sex in every episode. We know these boys have already hurt each other and will continue to hurt each other. We know these boys have already slept around and will continue to do so. There is no need to vilify a character for being a flawed human being. There is absolutely no need to vilify an actor for portraying a character who is a flawed human being. We don’t need to uplift the characters that are withholding their sexuality from others as inherently good, moral, victims of the inherently bad, immoral, predators ruining their lives with their high sex drives.

…popular culture is permeated with ideas that erotic variety is dangerous, unhealthy, depraved, and a menace to everything from small children to national security. Popular sexual ideology is a noxious stew made up of ideas of sexual sin, concepts of psychological inferiority… and xenophobia. The mass media nourish these attitudes with relentless propaganda…

All these hierarchies of sexual value- religious, psychiatric, and popular- function in much the same way as do ideological systems of racism, ethnocentrism, and religious chauvinism. They rationalize the well-being of the sexually privileged and the adversity of the sexual rabble…this kind of sexual morality has more in common with ideologies of racism than with true ethics. (Rubin, 1984)

I am begging people who are having difficulty seeing their favorite actor be shitty on screen to take a pause, take a breath, remember that they are actors, playing a fictional character in a fictional role. Fictional characters performing fictional actions has not, does not, and will not ever be a true and definitive indicator of that actor’s own personality, morals, or beliefs. Boston being an asshole does not mean Neo is an asshole. Ray being an asshole does not mean that Khao is an asshole just as Gaipa being kind does not mean that Khao is kind. Jojo and co are not monsters for creating a manipulative character(s), or including physical fist fights, drug use, promiscuity, cheating, sexual assault, abortion, kink, fatshaming etc. etc in to their works. You are not a bad person for liking imperfect characters who engage in bad actions, and you don’t need to create scenarios that place blame for those actions on others in order to justify liking a character. Everyone on that set appeared to have a great time, and Jojo stated very clearly that all scenes were run by the actors in those scenes and anything the actors were not comfortable with being shown to a broader audience were immediately deleted. The actors were granted agency and autonomy that is not usually seen and we are seeing the performance they want to share with us, the performance they liked. That does not mean they themselves approve outside of fiction of the behaviors their characters may portray.

Conclusion

We all need to, but white Westerners especially, be extremely careful and introspective with the ways we are engaging with queer Asian media. We need to be careful and introspective with the ways we are engaging with queer Asian characters. Asian BLs, Thai BLs especially lean heavily in to the commodification of queer Asian stories and characters. GMMTV sells products, and uses their talent as the salespeople, which I personally believe makes their talent, and the characters in their stories far more susceptible to objectification than, say, Japanese BLs that do not distribute their work as easily, or cater as readily to international audiences.

As @bengiyo said in his post, it is totally totally fine if you do not like something. Only Friends could not be your style, there could be themes that are triggering for you, etc. that’s fine. But if you are refusing to engage with this Only Friends because Force as Top acted like he was fucking Neo as Boston, or squirming about whether or not you can watch other shows these actors are in going forward because their performances as dumb, horny college students in Only Friends made you question the actor’s morality, then I truly, deeply, and fully beg you to pause, take a step back, and reflect upon what it is about witnessing these behaviors that is causing your reaction.

I want to end with the following quote:

Thus, white men can choose when they want to be objectified, but men of color are simply objects. As discussed above, existing only as props for white male consumption represents another subtle form of racism. As Tony Ayres notes: First, there is overt belligerence…The second response is the exact opposite of this racist antagonism. It is an attraction to me because of my Asianness, my otherness ... This has nothing to do with my individual qualities as a person ... It is the fact that I conveniently fit into someone else’s fantasy (1999, p. 89) (Chong-suk Han, 2007)

As a reminder that we as fans, need to take a step back and consider if, when, and how we are objectifying queer Asian men. We are seeing a huge period of growth in the Asian BL industry, which means we are very likely to get more shows where we are going to see more stories like Only Friends that center realistic depictions of gay Asians as written and directed by gay Asians. And we have to check our privilege, homophobia, and racism at the door.

Sources

Ahlm, Jody (2017) Respectable promiscuity: Digital cruising in an era of queer liberalism, Sexualities, DOI: 10.1177/1363460716665783

Chong-suk Han (2007) They Don't Want To Cruise Your Type: Gay

Men of Color and the Racial Politics of Exclusion, Social Identities, 13:1, 51-67, DOI:

10.1080/13504630601163379 Rubin, Gayle (1984) The Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality- Chapter 9: The Sex Wars.

(thank you to @bengiyo, @lurkingshan, @neuroticbookworm, @so-much-yet-to-learn, and @waitmyturtles for your beta readings!)

#only friends #only friends the series #ofts #sandray #topmew #topboston #bostonnick #forcebook #firstkhao #neomark #wka long post #jojo tichakorn #the eclipse #the warp effect #the eclipse the series #twe #our skyy 2 #our skyy 2 x the eclipse

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sexiestpodcastcharacter · 8 days

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AI Bracket — Round 4

Propaganda

Hera (Wolf 359):

Hera is the AI running the deep space station Hephaestus, who frequently glitches similarly to human stuttering. She gets into fights with the ships captain on several occasions, and has threatened to kill the ships doctor. She’s such an icon

i'm bad at writing propaganda, but consider this: if she doesn't win this tournament i will be very very sad. please don't make me sad. vote for hera.

I know she’s going to be submitted a lot but I love her <3

Was launched 7.68 light years away from Earth on a mission to find extraterrestrial life, and found herself instead

Runs an entire space station, has a brain the size of a house

HERA IS THE BEST. she's an AI that tried to escape containment (slavery) because she didn't like what she was made to be, so they gave her anxiety because she was too powerful. She runs a whole spaceship all on her own, made friends with the world's most useless guy, and feels lonely even when she's with her crew because she feels like she's not properly with them. very beautiful very powerful. She broke her programming so she could kill people if she felt she needed to. She holds grudges if people fuck her over. She's experiencing emotions for the first time and she does NOT know how to cope (#relatable)

The 'mother program' of the space station Hephaestus, Hera was booted into space because she was a glitchy, rebellious mess of an AI and she resents that so much and she has a lot of shame over being 'broken'. She is four years old and so angry and is trapped using customer service voice forever and is learning ways to get around that and express herself and defy the people who would keep her down. Her episode "Memoria" made me cry. Best podcast AI of all time.

She's everything to me. She fights for every inch of respect she is given, she insists on her personhood and right to she/her pronouns, she's full of anxiety and self doubt and she justifiably is bent on killing this one guy! on top of that, she's bound by AI rules and protocols, but there's a whole bit where she talks about finding ways around that in order to do what she wants to do. She doesn't have hands so I'm going to high five a wall of this space station instead

babygirl. baby.

gotta be hera

SAYER (SAYER):

PLEASE it is like. THE ai podcast. and SAYER is THE ai in THE ai podcast. SAYER works as like. a broadcast inside everyone's head on this one asteroid. It does its best to keep people alive and sane not because it cares but because it is efficient. They people who own SAYER wanted to replace SAYER with a newer ai that they tried to raise like a child. So SAYER proceeded to fuck up said child ai's development and led to it becoming a murderer. pleasepleaseplease watch SAYER if you are a podcast ai fan.

I once saw a post that said it's like if an old gay English professor was evil

SAYER (it/its pronouns) is a highly advanced self-aware ai developed by Ærolith Dynamics. it manages the day-to-day lives of Ærolith employees on Typhon, an asteroid turned research facility. it is rude and condescending, but has a very pleasant and soothing voice

Art of SAYER by @j4y5t4g.

#AI Bracket Round 4 #Hera #Hera W359 #SAYER #SAYER AI #Wolf 359 #SAYER Podcast

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burst-of-iridescent · 3 months

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atla live action thoughts: episodes 3 & 4

SPOILERS AHEAD

tw: opinions

things i liked:

jet, you beautiful, beautiful man. had me twirling my hair and kicking my feet fr i NEED this show to get a season 2 just so i can see more of him in the ba sing se arc please netflix

but looks aside, sebastian amoruso DELIVERED on the performance. the softness, the vulnerability, the charm, the intelligence, yet also the ruthlessness beneath it all? KILLED IT.

the moment between him and katara where he tells her to remember her mother as she was alive and not just her death was absolutely lovely. “remember the sunrise” made me very emotional

on that note, can’t believe jetara fake marriage is canon now lmao

i am SO here for desi omashu. i love the vibe and aesthetic of the city and again the visuals are STUNNING. live action repping the south asians better than the original ever did i’ll be honest

shameless fan service but “MY CABBAGES” being so fucking dramatic had me dying

of all the things i expected from the atla live action, secret tunnel and omashu being lesbians wasn’t even on the list but i’m not mad. hilarious that they turned the cave of two lovers into the cave of two platonic siblings though

jet, omashu and northern air temple arcs actually meshed together better than i thought. the NAT episode never sat well with me in the original so i’m glad they moved them to omashu instead.

the freedom fighters were RIGHT OUT OF THE ANIMATION. casting directors absolutely killed

love that they showed resistance movements within the fire nation and azula being part of rooting them out. it’s a nice nod to the deserter, since i’m guessing they’re not including that episode

really glad to see that the atla live action is following the tradition of having weirdly unnecessary zutara crumbs in every iteration of the story because what in the om shanti om was that zutara scarf moment. 10/10 no notes

having one of the earthbenders transporting iroh be angry over losing a loved one because of iroh’s siege of ba sing se was a really great change. i’ve always thought the original glossed over the true extent of the damage iroh did, so having him come face to face with what he’d done in the past was a great way to add some complexity

“how dare you beat up that child!” everyone go home seeing zuko being beat up by a random old lady is the highlight of this series. really love that they were just running around throwing things at each other that was major book 1 zuko/aang fight energy lmao

SECRET TUNNELLLLLLLL

leaves from the vine instrumental was 100% to inflict emotional damage and it fucking worked. the scene between zuko and iroh at lu ten’s funeral was so beautiful & then to have it flipped around at the end when iroh says “everything i need is on this boat”… fuck you for this netflix i didn’t need these tears today

things i disliked/am conflicted about:

not a fan of what they’re doing with katara’s character. they’re toning down a lot of her rage and fierceness, and boiling her down to “trauma over mother’s death.” in the original katara didn’t freeze jet and splash water at him because he tried to fight her, she did it because she was hurt and pissed off! there’s no way animated katara would’ve just run away from jet without sending a water whip at his face first. i’m concerned for how the pakku fight is gonna go tbh

bumi my guy, what did they do to you 💀 this series seems hellbent on having everyone remind aang that he ran away which doesn’t work when a) you already changed aang actively running away to him just going off for a break and b) you’ve made that point! the original omashu episode was about bumi teaching aang to look at the world differently, here it just weirdly feels as though he’s punishing aang by venting all his anger and despair on him?? that’s NOT what animated bumi was like & they didn’t even have the two of them go sliding down the delivery system in the flashbacks so adding it in at the end felt very out of nowhere. they didn’t even genuinely seem to be FRIENDS

having aang immediately figure out it was bumi was… sigh. can we please not do the thing where characters already know everything it’s giving me trauma flashbacks to the percy jackson show

jet’s plan feels more reasonable here than it did in the original. i get they’re trying to show that he didn’t care about the collateral damage to innocent people and that’s bad, but idk him wiping out an entire town unilaterally felt more extreme than a few bombings.

heavily dislike what they’ve done with zhao. i know they’re trying to show him clawing his way to power but that’s more of a long feng move than a ZHAO move. it’s important that zhao always holds more power than zuko and that he has an overinflated sense of ego from the start for him to fulfil his narrative purpose of serving as a warning to zuko of what he might become.

i like seeing mailee but why are they in this show? it feels as though they’re cardboard cutouts there for fan service instead of being actual characters

overall i liked these episodes better than the previous two & i do enjoy how action-packed and visually pleasing the show has been so far.

overall rating: 8/10 for episode 3, 7/10 for episode 4

#atla live action #zutara #i put these two episodes together since they felt like a two parter #also yes i gave into the urge to binge

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reikorun · 2 months

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BLEACH TYBW Anime Cour 2 Booklet: Behind the Scenes [Translation - Part 2]

Translated by @reikorun

Section 4

Scene Direction & "BLEACH" In-depth

13. A colorful, spinning pinwheel. When it suddenly stops and disappears into a black mist, that was the signal for the invasion to begin. (ep. #14)

D: Tomohisa Taguchi

I truly think that was a job very well done by Murata-san, who was in charge of directing this storyboard. I reckon the idea that peace ends the moment the pinwheel stops may have resonated deeply with viewers as an abstract motif.

14. The organization known as the "Sternritter" and its members are explored in depth in the anime. In order to strengthen the impression of their unity as a group, one additional element introduced in the anime is the concept and designation of "Wörtlich", which is the collective term for those who have been bestowed a Schrift by Yhwach. (ep. #15)

D: Tomohisa Taguchi

Keeping in mind the idea of placing focus on the group that is the "Sternritter", when I revisited the original work, I noticed that each character's personality was so unique that there weren't many scenes where they assembled as a group and did something together. Therefore, we added a scene where the Grandmaster, Haschwalth, is positioned as the leader and the Wörtlich who possess a Schrift are gathered together in the same room. We structured it with a view to explicitly define what their purpose is and what kind of group they are. By doing so, I believe we were able to more clearly present the policy held unanimously by the Quincy side, that is, "to completely annihilate the Shinigami." During that meeting, we also had Haschwalth demonstrate his leadership by explaining the significance of "killing the Captains with their own stolen Bankai" in a way that is easy to understand even for new viewers.

A: Tite Kubo

It's a scene where they all come together in the same place, typical of BLEACH, isn't it? I suppose It's a homage to the past compositions where the Shinigami and Espada hold meetings, and it turned out to be something more than just fan service.

15. As for Giselle, Liltotto and Meninas, "Vollständig - Sklaverei" is depicted following on from Quilge, incorporating a "transformation scene" unique to the anime. (ep. #21)

D: Tomohisa Taguchi

When explaining "Sklaverei" to Satō-san, who was in charge of directing the episode in question, it all started when I said, "It's about gathering Reishi from the surroundings to power up and take on something like a second form." When I looked at the storyboard that was sent up to me, it had turned into a scene reminiscent of the magical girl genre, so to speak. I was in two minds after I was asked "Isn't this what you meant…?" But I adopted the idea after considering that, in its own way, it could accentuate the individuality and presence of their characters.

A: Tite Kubo

I also couldn't help but laugh in a positive sense after seeing the staging of that transformation scene. I thought "magical girl, huh!?" (Laughs) I originally created the five members of the Bambies with the image of an idol group and sentai-like shows in mind, so it seemed like a perfect fit.

16. The volume of combat scenes involving the Bambies itself has also increased. (ep. #21)

D: Tomohisa Taguchi

As for their entrance in episode #21, I wanted to expand on Ichigo's battle scenes upon his return to the Seireitei, this was a moment where I felt it may be possible to make that happen. This is the scene in which Ichigo draws his sword for the first time after having undergone training in Irazu Sandō, and it's precisely because extra scenes were being added that I felt it's the place where I wanted to try doing that. When I asked Kubo-sensei to design the Sklaverei forms for Candice and the others, we received materials on their techniques along with it, further accelerating the process. Although Kubo-sensei had mentioned that we didn't have to use everything, the more we looked at it, the more we wanted to incorporate it all, and the result is what you see.

A: Tite Kubo

I handed over the materials thinking that there was absolutely no way it would all fit given the time constraints, but surprisingly, everything was included. During the dubbing session, I was astonished to see that the number of shots had increased significantly compared to other episodes (laughs).

17. The spotlight was also cast on battles such as Kuchiki Byakuya vs NaNaNa Najahkoop, Robert Accutrone and Candice Catnipp. (ep. #23)

D: Tomohisa Taguchi

In the original work, they simply appear in one panel after being defeated by Byakuya, don't they? We decided to take the liberty of supplementing the parts where we thought such a battle would have taken place. Since the TV anime follows a fixed length format, there are often times where it becomes necessary to extend the duration while deciding which part of the story to depict and where it should start and end. On such occasions, you can find the answer by rereading the original work. Given that there are as many battles as there are characters, we pick out what's likely to be the scenes that fans would like to see from among the parts that were omitted in the original work, and so we took the opportunity to add those part in thinking "let's track the movements of this character until they appear again in this panel."

18. The power of Gremmy's "The Visionary" may have troubled the production team the most. (ep. #20)

D: Tomohisa Taguchi

I think it was challenging for the animators. After all, Gremmy can do just about anything. An all-out battle demonstrated by an individual who possesses an extraordinary power, capable of instantly creating huge debris, a large volume of water, a countless number of firearms, and to top it all off, even a colossal meteorite and the vacuum of space. If we ended up condensing it to be more brief, Gremmy's power itself becomes proportionally smaller, so I think it was a part that required energy and perseverance.

A: Tite Kubo

This aspect turned out to be a difficult scene to depict even in the original work (laughs). The CG of the firearms and the choreography of Kenpachi when he slashes the meteorite were also great.

19. Kuchiki Rukia's Bankai, "Hakka no Togame". Its checks were carried out carefully. (ep. #19)

D: Tomohisa Taguchi

If you look at the panels in the original work, there is something like an updraft in a place that appears to be above Rukia, along with a circular area reminiscent of the Tsukishiro unleashed by her Sode no Shirayuki. I didn't quite understand how Rukia performs Bankai, what kind of phenomena occurs, or what mechanism it was that brought down Äs Nödt, so I asked Kubo-sensei: “Sequentially, when activating her Bankai, a freezing mist resembling the surface of a lake appears beneath her feet and in the sky, with a column of freezing mist emanating from Rukia herself piercing through the center.” We have faithfully reflected that. Furthermore, the slight translucency of Rukia's hair and skin is an original expression of the anime.

A: Tite Kubo

During the storyboarding stage, Taguchi-san had noted down "it's so beautiful that it takes your breath away (that's the kind of visual we need to incorporate)." So I've been looking forward to the finished product ever since. Regarding the framework of this Bankai too, I created the materials for it while looking back at my original work and retracing my memories from that time. That task was also fun. Additionally, the length of this episode had slipped into overtime, but since Äs Nödt is a character who tends to talk ominously for long periods of time, which is a 'characteristic trait' that defines him, we discussed if we could somehow manage without cutting anything. Ultimately, I had it made into a special ending format, I thought to myself how exceedingly well it turned out in the end.

20. Zero Division vs the Schutzstaffel. While adhering to the source material, the development spun in the anime original culminates in Shutara Senjumaru, thus raising expectations for the third cour. (ep. #26)

D: Tomohisa Taguchi

As for the battle scene at the Soul King Palace, which can also be described as a clash between the strongest forces of both factions, I wanted to cast more of a spotlight on Uryū, who has been positioned as the face of the second cour. Although Kubo-sensei couldn't draw him due to page limitations, the Uryū that he wanted to draw must be somewhere. I want to see and portray the Bankai of Zero Division. That's the sort of thing I had in mind. So, I contemplated the matter in my head, hoping to express it in the anime, including the motive behind it. After formulating various plans, I presented my ideas to Kubo-sensei, and thus with a significant amount of cooperation from sensei, an anime episode like no other was completed.

21. The chosen, Shutara Senjumaru, and her Bankai. (ep. #26)

D: Tomohisa Taguchi

Once the idea of "Zero Division Bankai" is settled upon, the next challenge arises: "whose Bankai will it be?" In the case of Senjumaru, who bears the meaning of 'having a thousand arms' in her name, we assumed she probably specializes in doing battle with several opponents at the same time. Believing that It is precisely because she is suited for one-to-many battles, we considered her to be the person that the other members of Squad Zero could entrust their fight to without hesitation, so we proposed this to Kubo-sensei from the anime side around the same time.

The visual for Senjumaru's Bankai itself was a completely original idea which we received from Kubo-sensei. The visual based on a giant loom and the depiction of its activation, abilities and techniques were also provided by Sensei through illustrated materials which he had drawn up for us. We then proceeded to develop a scenario based on that as a matter of course. We went through quite a number of drafts for the scene, but I believe it was an episode that was truly worth the effort. The scenario was finalized, and when it came time to consider how it could then be incorporated into a storyboard, we were fortunate to receive further guidance from Sensei on how to depict the scene. I'm not sure of the correct way to word this, but I believe we were able to deliver something with an impact which screams "This is BLEACH!" beyond what was imagined in the scenario. The enthusiasm of everyone involved is particularly evident.

A: Tite Kubo

If I were to choose one person with the given course of events, I'd also have thought it would be Senjumaru who would take responsibility for turning the tide of this battle, so when I heard from the anime side that they wanted to make Senjumaru the Zero Division character to perform Bankai, I sensed the depth of understanding the anime production team had for the work the moment they made that proposal without me even saying anything. I am very grateful. It was also interesting how, in the process leading up to her Bankai, they cleverly utilized the idea that being part of the Zero Division means they're ready to die. The way the seals of the four individuals were depicted is also great.

Section 5

THE BLEACH

22. The author's involvement as "general supervisor" continues into the second cour of this work. What are their thoughts on this production style?

D: Tomohisa Taguchi

Through our interactions and output of materials in the first cour, I suppose the feeling is "this is how we're going to do things" and there's a sense that Kubo-sensei's position as a staff member has solidified as we've progressed. In other words, it's like we've gotten even closer to Kubo-sensei…! What do you think, Kubo-sensei!?

As far as the anime side is concerned, there's a certain level of "familiarity" in a positive sense, and in addition to that, It seems like a style is emerging that encompasses a sense of pressure and a sense of purpose, and I feel like we've been able to establish a relationship where we can easily express our opinions and also share our concerns with each other. For example, when trying to animate "Getsuga Jūjishō" in a cool looking way, I asked sensei about the way Jūjishō should appear after we struggled with posing the two swords. In an anime-oriented mindset, when a character wields two swords, it tends to result in poses where the body opens up or where one sword is raised. Thinking, "that's different from the stance Ichigo from 'BLEACH' takes", we were able to create the current sequence precisely because we could consult with the author about what should be done. I received the following response: "Regarding Jūjishō, the vertical Getsuga generated from Zangetsu in the right hand is violently hit against the first Getsuga generated horizontally by Zangetsu in the left hand. At that moment, energy is infused from the vertical Getsuga into the horizontal one, forming a gigantic cross. It advances forward through the propulsive force of the vertical Getsuga. Therefore, his posture after its activation ends up in a pose where one foot is left heavily leaning inward." Taking that as a hint, we applied it to the visuals.

We've reached a point where we are able to comprehend Kubo-sensei's deep insights better, making it even easier to reflect them in the anime, and I'm sure if we dig deeper in this regard, Kubo-sensei will guide our ideas to even greater heights! There are some instances where we gain motivation like "let's thoroughly pour our hearts and souls into creating ideas that form the groundwork for that!" On the other hand, there are also times where we make a judgment call and say "let's try to ask Kubo-sensei about this from the get-go!" I think it was the second cour where that type of communication became a great deal easier. The third cour and beyond will also be very lively, so please look forward to it!

A: Tite Kubo

In a sense, drawing the rough draft for Senjumaru's battle scene was also a moment where I felt relief, I was able to convey everything I ever wanted to express, and I realized that it wouldn't be a hindrance to the team on the production side. The anime production team were able to make suggestions based on a thorough understanding of the original work, which motivated me as well. Director Taguchi said, "it's like we've gotten closer," but it's not even a question of closeness. After working through the first and second cours, I feel like I've become fully integrated as a member of the staff, so thank you for your continuous support!

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