Look, TV has always been weird but at the HEIGHT of when things should be good, writers are finalizing stories and getting more spotlight, small actors are getting jobs, and hell, just having fun everything is falling apart. Spongebob is on its fourteenth season, Loud House is on its 10th, and Disney+ just keeps making content that’s… Look that’s a blog all on its own. The only thing standing seems to be indie animation, and that can fall through at any time because its indie animation.

Speaking of which, streaming. TV show writing was basically rooted around cable. Your twenty something episodes? Cable. Your twenty-two minute run time? Cable. Now less and less people pay for cable, (and there’s already a video somewhere about how weird cable is now,) and everything’s thrown. Rates writers and actors and basically the entire crew would’ve made from cable views are all transferred to streaming, and the money that was supposed to come from that was barely seen. And THEN there’s the issue of the eight episode season—which again, is a cable issue. Where ads in between thirty minute episodes usually supported productions costs and airing schedules meant 22 episodes to drop over the course of a summer and a spring, now production is entirely supported by the streaming service and you can just drop a chunk of episodes in a day on Disney+ or an entire season on Max.

And there’s password sharing and I don’t wanna even get into that, just know its dumb and Netflix lost 791 million dollars.

Where are you supposed to go for good TV? Where it’s not going to get canned within the first season? Where its not going to get eight episodes? Look, network TV has always been a bit of a scam, and I know nothing about managing markets or whatever—but it had a model. And whatever this new model is, is certainly a dumpster fire and I’m not looking forward to what may come of it—be it another season of NCIS or a ten episode cancellable series.

And if you’ve ever gotten attached to a TV series, I’m pretty sure you feel the same.

sources: https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/zv27gc/why_do_shows_nowadays_only_have_8_to_10_episodes/

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/1247176/streaming-services-loss-us-password-sharing/&ved=2ahUKEwi_pL7n8oCGAxXdDkQIHUz-A3wQFnoECA8QAw&usg=AOvVaw2sRmXMDI0Z2DN8RdQhwQZ3

Alright guys let’s see if I can do this blog in the miniscule amount of time in which I have given myself to write because I don’t know what is good for me. I am going to give one or two disclaimers before I do this, these people that I have been compared to have been through the span of several years, believe it or not I haven’t always had long hair and a beard so please keep that in mind, however with that in mind I will say that differences in some of these characters are notably different and you can tell when the comparisons become more modern.

 

Will Byers

When I was very very young I had a haircut that was very similar to season one will byers, like the bowlcut with the hair longer in the back, even though that hairstyle was from when I was a toddler and technically before will byers was even a character but somehow the comparison still managed to come my way.

 

Bling Bling Boy

I don’t want to talk about this one, I was fat in middle school, this one hurt my feelings. Is everyone going to laugh at it, absolutely, will I cry, absolutely.

 

Jack from the Magic Treehouse

This one always struck me as odd because I never wore glasses but I guess I can kinda understand the hair, my hair from when I was a kid was really rough if I’m being honest. But anyway, this one never offended me too much, though I think I was really young when the comparison was made

Klaus Baudelaire

AGAIN, I DONT WEAR GLASSES. WHY DO I KEEP GETTING COMPARED TO PEOPLE WITH GLASSES

 

Moist Cr1TiKaL 

This one was fairly recent and yk what, this one gave me the biggest confidence boost, just wait till next year I will make it a reality smh, my hair is on the way.

The rolling giant

 

Jesus

I think this one has been the most prominent one I have received in recent years, and yk what, according to most Modern American Christians I guess I am white enough to qualify for this man born and raised in Israel. 

“I wear yellow on Thursdays.”

As many of you know (hopefully), I have type 1 diabetes. Today, I will tell a story of what Neon said to me at Sarah senior showcase. But first, a short explanation so you don’t mix up the different types of diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes, aka juvenile diabetes, usually occurs when you are a child. Hence the nickname, juvenile diabetes. Man I really want to make a joke but I don’t think Dr A would let me post it so I’ll slightly tell it. Dream. Alright, t1d occurs when the body’s immune system attacks the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas causing it to not make insulin. From my understanding (i’ve had t1d for over 8 years you can trust me) sometimes the immune system doesn’t kill all of the insulin cells so your body will make little to no insulin. Depending on the amount of living insulin cells. T1d is permanent and there is no cure. I remember when I was first diagnosed on January 29, 2016, I was told not to worry because there would be a cure in about four years. Those four years came and went with no cure. Then another four years came and went without a cure. Now I’m on the next four years lol. Anyway, t1d is usually genetic meaning it runs in the family. You can also get sick and basically your immune system gets confused and thinks your insulin cells are bad. Neither of those happened for me. It was just a fluke that I got t1d. Your diet and exercise habits cannot at all whatsoever cause you to have type 1 diabetes. Now onto type 2 diabetes.

I don’t know much about type 2 diabetes but I’ll do my best to explain it. Basically (from my understanding but I dont have the disease so take what I’m saying with about 4.2oz of salt) type 2 diabetes usually occurs in adulthood from poor diet and exercise. This is not always the case. Sometimes you can be the healthiest person in the world and still develop type 2 diabetes because it can also be a genetic factor (meaning it runs in the family). It is also not permanent. WIth proper dieting and exercise, you can get rid of it.

A lot of diabetics (mainly t1) complain that t1 and t2 should have different names because of how different they are. They claim that they are two completely different diseases and are not at all similar. I agree and disagree at the same time. Both types are in the endocrine family and they both have to do with your pancreas. I do agree that the names are too similar and should be different. I’ve talked to a lot of type 2 diabetics and when they find out i have t1, they’re like “hey i have diabetes!” When I ask them which type, they say they don’t know. In my experience, if you don’t know what type of diabetes you have, you’re usually type 2. Ok, enough with the explanations and onto the story.

I was at Sarah’s senior showcase and Neon was eating some sort of cookie. I asked them what it tasted like because I had never had one before. They looked at me and said, “diabetes.” I looked at them with a surprised look on my face as their eyes widened in horror and they started apologizing. To be fair, it was really funny. We both started laughing and they fell to the floor because they were laughing so hard.

Fun Fact: There is also a kind of diabetes called type 1.5 diabetes. This occurs when an adult is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. There’s type 3 diabetes which is linked to Alzheimer’s or something. I don’t really know. I mainly only know about t1.

 

The Bugs from Lion King

I know they’re bugs and in real life that they would be disgusting but I think Simba was being so dramatic because they looked delectable. Also he could’ve shown some appreciation for them, that look is so disrespectful when they could’ve just let you starve. 

Breakfast from Fairy Odd Parents

All of the food in Fairy Odd Parents looked scrumptious. I don’t even like omelets yet I would DEVOUR that one. You see how happy they are you know that meal is about to be fire.

Burger and Burrito from Teen Titans Go

 

The burger and burrito from Teen Titans go looked unnecessarily good. Especially at the end when they combined them. I would do obscene things for a portion of one of them. I remember my tummy rumbling watching that episode for the first time and every episode since. 

Steak from Tom and Jerry

They way this dog was craving this stake I know it had to be good. It even has Jerry foaming at the mouth and I’m not sure mice even eat meat. One thing Tom and Jerry’s animators were going to do is draw a steak. 

Reptar Bar from Rugrats

Just they way he’s holding it makes it look good.This is what Angelica really should have been fighting for. The way they bit into it. OMG. I need it.

The Perfect Sandwhich from Teen Titans Go 

It’s literally called the perfect sandwich and I’m trying to test that theory. The bacon looks cooked to perfection. My only note is that I would prefer my bread toasted. 

Big Meatball from Wow Wow Wubzy 

THIS MEATBALL. The sauce looks absolutely perfect, it’s touching the ground which isn’t ideal but I would still inhale this. I’m saying not a trace of it would be left. 

Peanut Butter from Wow Wow Wubzy 

I absolutely DESPISE peanut butter. The very smell of it disgusts me but there’s just something about it here that looks appetizing.

Chocolate Chip Cookies from Little Bear 

 Something about the simplicity of this animation makes these cookies look good. I remember watching this show at midnight at like 8 and my stomach immediately rumbling.

Apples from Ni Hao, Kai-Lan

I don’t know what it is about these apples, maybe it’s the shine but they look so good. Especially the green ones. These are the true granny smiths I can’t name one cartoon apple competing with them.

Pizza from Bubble Guppies 

I know it looks raw but I have always wanted to try this pizza from this episode. The amount of the sauce on it looks perfect for me like I would genuinely devour this whole think with no help. I would need like two personal pans though because there’s no way this is a full sized pizza.

 

                                       

Howdy everyone! As we all know, Summer is fast approaching, and I know most of us are excited for it.  Especially when we are thinking about what we’re going to do, like get a job, vacations, summer camps, projects, what’s going to be your anthems for those summer jams, and all that jazz.  Well, don’t think too hard on it, because for this blog I’m going to be helping with one of these biggies. 

Yep, you know it, I’m requesting some artists that you should drop on your summer hit list.

I’m also going to drop my favorite song by them that has those Summery vibes. 

MYLES SMITH 

 

                                                                                      

Is an artist that I’ve been listening to a lot lately after being influenced by the song demos and tour moments that keep popping up on my phone. 

He’s sort of a new trending artist, but just in case some people don’t know him, his first song “Sweater Weather” was a trending audio on TikTok.  Some say he covered it from The Neighbourhood, but other sources say it’s his.  He also made this song called “My Home” which I think everyone heard at least once, like while shopping at a clothing store or something.  

Now about Myles Smith — 

Myles Smith himself is from the UK.  His genre of music is folk Americana, R&B, and Pop.  His number one song is called “Solo” and he’s going on tour currently for his album Slightly Less Lonely which is really a joy to listen to.  He also is coming out with this song called “Stargazing” which I honestly feel is going to be a summer hit. 

FAVORITE SONG — “Solo” 

There’s a reason why it’s a hit, I love the context of it. The story about true heartbreak was sung in a way that felt disappointed and not sad to me.  I feel he portrayed the feelings of it pretty well.  The tone is light and not heavy which is going to be so refreshing while driving through the hot summer heat.  This is why it’s my favorite song of his. 

LYN LAPID

         

She is kind of a gem when it comes to artists for me.  She’s a rising artist who’s journey I’ve been keeping up with since the start of the pandemic and I loved all the music she’s produced so far.  She started rising in early 2020 when her song “Producer Man” became viral and gained over 50 million views and she went from there.  Her top song is “In My Mind” which is a song that is basically for people that are considered outsiders or different because of how they don’t associate themselves that much socially.  It’s basically an anthem for those who were considered the quiet kids that really had whole battles in their minds.  It’s good.  

Now about Lyn Lapid — 

Lyn Lapid is American, but her ethnicity is Filipino – American.  She sings Indie and Alternative Pop. Her main aesthetic is cottage core and softie, which she does promote a lot. She has an album called “to love in the 21st century” that’s covering friendships and platonic relationships mostly.  A song I really like from that album is “Eastside ”. It’s about long-distance friendships. And fun fact, she studied classical piano and played violin and orchestra for seven years.   

FAVORITE SONG — “Saturn” 

The beat of itself is so chill and the way she intertwines it with the ad libs are beautiful. 
Also, the main point of the song is explaining how sometimes you just want to leave your regular life and go to another planet or something.  It gives fantasy book vibes.  Also, her voice is just soothing in all her songs and in this one it’s strong.  If you just want to escape for a moment at any point in the Summer,

This is what you want to listen to.  

LAUREN SPENCER SMITH

 

She’s been on top of my Spotify list for two years straight.  Which, of course she is, her music is majestic and for all of the themes to be interesting topics paired with her strong notes, it’s admirable.  Lauren Spencer Smith sings a lot about love relationships, but it’s not just heartbreak songs, she sings more on the issues within the relationships, for example she covers narcissism, she covers manipulation, she covers commitment, she covers the actual love part, but it’s not in a way when she’s just saying she’s sad, it goes deeper than that. That’s why her music attracted me, because she’s telling a story. Her trending song is called “Fingers Crossed” and she has performed it mostly everywhere, she even performed it at Coachella.  

Now about Lauren Spencer Smith — 

Lauren Spencer Smith is a British – born Canadian.  She has an album called unplug that was a Juno Award nominee.  She was on American Idol where she made it to the top 20 at 16 years old.  She has two Platinum certified singles and more than 1 billion streams from them.  All at just 19, well she’s 20 now. 

FAVORITE SONG — “That Part” 

It is one of her happier songs that covers a long-lasting soulmate kind of love.  It’s telling a story that she wants for herself.  It’s a soft warm topic, and her voice makes it sound like she’s giving a wedding speech but boho style if that makes sense.  I like it a lot, it gives sunshine and the ocean.  If you want to just listen to something hopeful this Summer when you feel down, then this is your jam.  

 

DAVID KUSHNER

                                                                                               

I feel he’s well known, and everyone has heard that one song “Daylight” at least once.  Well, I was one of the people that stumbled upon his audio on TikTok and then went to listen to his actual song and discovered that his music is really cool.  His voice is interesting, if rustic was a sound that’s how I would describe his voice.  It has some soul in it.  The lyrics of his songs that I’ve listened to so far are very poetic and he has a neat way of getting the deeper meanings of his words across. “Daylight” is his most popular song, but it may be surpassed by his recent release “Skin and Bones.”  I don’t know, but I’m not worried about that now because I’m waiting for his new release “Buried at Sea” which he sure is taking a good minute to release.  But anyway, 

Now about David Kushner – David Kushner is an American singer and Songwriter raised up in Chicago before he moved to California.  He prominently rose to fame after becoming a TikTok star after releasing his single “Miserable Man”.  Then he kept on making music and that’s when he got recognized again for “Daylight” and that became a TikTok sensation also.  

FAVORITE SONG – “Burn” 

I really can’t explain this one to you, it just gives off a vibe you know.  It’s kind of sad though, it discusses pain and betrayal, not really just a summer jam in my perspective.  But I recommend it because some others may think differently.  Though, if you want to listen to a song of his with a summer vibe, then just keep Daylight on replay.   

Any who, it’s May, anyone excited? 

Also, Honorable Mention for:  

BENSON BOONE – y’all should go check out his new album “Fireworks and Roller Blades”, my favorite song from there is “Cry.”  

 

 

Controversial Topic, but… I want to explore it. 
In Avatar: The Last Air Bender, for those who aren’t familiar with it, you can be born to control either nothing, or one of the four elements. The elements being Earth, Water, Fire, and air. I want to explore the benefits of these elements. 

And to keep things simple, I’m going to be talking about people that have master the element, so like… blood bending, metal bending, literally stealing the air from your lungs, and lightning bending too. 

 

#4 Earth

Don’t get me wrong, I know that this is a powerful element to be able to use. But like, I think its also the most conditional out of the rest. 
Fire and Air benders can literally just bend whenever they want, they don’t need to meet a condition. Water benders can take their own sweat, or literally any form of hydration. Water is still technically conditional, but I would say less so. 
I know that master earth benders can move entire mountain, but like, how often are you going to need to move a mountain?? 

And this is completely unbiased too, Toph is like, my favorite fictional character. I love her attitude and behavior, and her character and background are really unique too.  But considering the prior statements, I would have to say that Earth might be coming in last for this. 

#3 Fire

So, The ONLY reason that the fire nation got control of most of the world, was because they were a literally army. Or at least they functioned as one. Air benders were peace nomads, Water benders were more of a tribal community. And Eart was close. But they had no military force, they just lived in peace because that’s how everyone literally thought the world would be. 

And how did literally no one see that the fire nation was making all these battle ships, warriors, Armour and not get suspicious??  
Not to mention they’re the only bending element that can be nerfed depending on whether or not the sun is shining. Seems weird. 
And lets not talk about how in LOK they’re “Master ability” Lighting bending, was used for powering a light bulb. 

#2 Air

Air could have dominated with their agility. Ang held his own throughout the show using barely any offense. He was dogging left and right. Imagine if he was as aggressive as a fire bender. Also, imagine being able to just, take the breath out from your opponent.  Breathing under water, flying. I think Air is one of the more underrated elements in my opinion. 

Blood Bending, Easy. Unless you’re the avatar and can just apparently say no, you’re done for.

(bear with me, I’m very bad at promotion. These are good youtubers I swear)

Sarah Z

Super chill youtuber who does niche 2012-2015 internet history as well as musicals. She only has 60+ videos, but most of them are close to an hour long so I don’t think you’re scrapped for content. Her videos have an undeniable charm as her most baffling videos leave you just as surprised as she is. And even with the most inane videos, she comes at with an incredible amount of empathy and maturity as she never forgets there are people pulling the strings behind these internet disputes and weird rabbit holes. So, if you want to sit down with a cup of tea and listen to someone talk about the bad writing of the Mean Girls musical or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I highly recommend.

Sideways

Another musicals guy who specifically dedicates and analyzes music in films, tv, and musicals. His videos are like actual analysis as he takes apart motifs, music structure, and sound in things like the Disney Live-Actions or Cats (2019). He is highly educated in his craft and it leads to some really interesting videos like Why the Music in the Live Action Disney Remakes is Worse than you Thought ← full title while also being very passionate about the work that goes into writing music. I really don’t know how to recommend him, but his thorough analysis, like—exactly hits the right spot of my nerd brain, so if you have any interest in this or you wanna learn something new, I highly recommend. Learn about leitmotifs and Howard Ashman and Disney.

hbomberguy

Highly doubt you have not seen, watched, or been recommended this guy. I feel like I don’t even have to say anything but I will! This guy is one of the best investigative journalists I have ever seen, and this was just randomly brought to light one day when he made a video about the Roblox Oof sound (go watch it, really.) His videos weren’t even investigative journalism before this! If you haven’t seen his newest video about plagiarism and its effects on YouTube, I  suggest you go watch it. He also has a large string of fanworks before this, so if you have an interest in Fallout, Bloodborne, or RWBY—or you could give his measured response series a check. Detailed videos on social justice might pique your interest!

 

i was sitting in Carter’s room last night, fiddling with the guitar that i was first starting to learn how to play when i heard his roommate say something that got me thinking. parker was never one to say many things with much subsistence, not that he didn’t have the capability to, but because he tended to stay on light topics.  However, he asked us something that got me thinking. He said “I’ve realized that some of the best artists that have ever walked the earth struggle with some kind of life changing issue, do you think that there is something connected to all of that?”

a question like that wasn’t something i had expected out of him, it kinda was, however in that moment it wasn’t what i was expecting. and it really did get me thinking, was the pain that you experienced something that could enhance the quality of your heart, or was the art you created a reflection of the pain in which you put into the work. there were so many prominent artists of every accord which experienced so much pain, whether it be authors such as hemingway or poe, or painters such as da vinci or hopper. though i think that the form of art in which this is the most prominent is music, elliot smith, kurt cobain, ian curtis, these are all names of people whose suffering was so prominent that it caused their demise, however the beauty of their music serves as something that is a world of a difference. It was a difference that was monumental beyond any accord, but was it because of the things they experienced that caused the influence of their music to be better than it might’ve been? That is, what I wonder about the most. I don’t think I have a finite answer because the art I create come from both premises.

This one’s a little long but oh well.

1. I was like 2 and my dad took me with him to Lowe’s and we were in the aisle with those drawers filled with the fun designed door knobs and whenever we were in that aisle, I would always look at the doorknobs. Anyway, one of the workers went up to help my dad and they started talking and my dad walked out of the aisle WITHOUT ME while I was looking at the doorknobs, distracted. Side note, WHO LEAVES THEIR TWO YEAR OLD ALONE IN A STORE?? Ya I get he only went a few aisles down but when your kid is that age they can easily wander off and get kidnapped. I did half of that. Let’s say I was in aisle D when I noticed my dad was gone. I started calmly freaking out and walked to aisle E. He wasn’t there. Then, I walked to aisle C and then B. He wasn’t there. I had just turned around to go back further the other way when this nice lady who worked there was like “Hey sweetie, are you lost?” and I nodded my head. She took me to the customer service desk and asked me what color shirt and pants my dad was wearing and then she made the announcement, “Will a father wearing a green shirt and tan shorts please come to the customer service desk. Your daughter is here.” Like five minutes later my dad came. He was mad at me for wandering off. I told him I didn’t know where he went and he said, “You could have just stayed there. I was coming back.” HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT??? I WAS TWO
2. I was like 2-3 and I was in my bathroom with the door shut and locked. I heard my dad coming up the stairs so I unlocked the door. He heard the click and asked me why I just locked the door. I told him I didn’t and I had unlocked it. He said, “No you didn’t. That was the sound of the door locking not unlocking.” They both sound very similar. I was grounded.
3. When I was in prek 4, I always had to stay for like two hours after school before my dad could pick me up. Both my parents worked late and whoever got off first picked my brother and me up. It was usually my dad. Anywho whenever he picked me up, he would ask me what color I got on. We had a color system, green, yellow, and red, to represent our behavior. My teachers hated me so I was always on red. Whenever he picked me up he would ask me what color I got on and I’d tell him red and then he would spank me. I started lying. One day he caught on and had the teachers give him notes telling him what color I was on. One day I decided to not lie and tell the truth. I told him I got on red. He was like, “really? lets go see I don’t believe you.” I guess he didn’t get the note that day because we walked to my classroom to see what color I was on. The teachers had already set all the cards to green by then and left. He saw I was on green (so was everyone else) and grounded me. When we got home he spanked me. I tried telling him that the teachers must have already reset the cards but he didn’t believe me because they usually never reset them that early.
4. I talked about this in one of my very first blogs. I’ll shorten it. We were re doing our driveway and my brother and I were playing in the front yard. My dad said my brother had to watch me. Thomas dug a hole and put me in it. I couldn’t get out. He went inside and left me there. My dad came to the front yard like 10 minutes later and saw me. He grounded me for being in the front yard by myself which I wasn’t allowed to do. I tried telling him what Thomas did but he didn’t care.
5. One time my dad had to take me with him to the next state over for his dr appt. We left the house a bit late so I didn’t get a chance to eat breakfast. Side note: when I’m hungry I get really nauseous. We were a few blocks away from the hospital where his appt was and I threw up in the car. He grounded me for puking??? I was like two!!! I think. Yes I was two. This was a few months after we had moved to Mississippi.
6. One time my dad asked me a question and he didn’t like how I answered it so he grounded me. This actually happened a couple of times.
7. When I was in pre-k4 my dad said if I came home with food on my shirt he would ground me. I was like 3-4, of course I was going to get food on my shirt. Low and behold, I’d come home with food on my shirt and he would ground me.
8. Ok this last one isn’t a stupid reason why I was grounded but it’s kinda funny. The summer before sixth grade my mom grounded me from my electronics (my iPad, her iPad, the TV, her computer, etc.) “until further notice” and she said if I ever asked her about it, she would sell my iPad. I never asked her about it. She forgot I was grounded. She never ungrounded me. I’m still grounded. After a couple of months I slowly started using my iPad again and she didn’t say anything so I just went back to using everything. I reminded her about this last year and her response was something about her just thinking I got sick of the internet or something. So in short, I’ve been grounded for about six years all because my mom forgot to unground me. Very fun.

I am coming in last minute with this topic today, which is just about writing in general. Well, more specifically, how my writing has changed over time. I recently freed an old, dusty story from the basement of drafts, and that is what sparked this. I don’t think I want it to be my main focus for future projects, but the difference between when it began and when I resurrected it is very eye opening for me.

Originally, I had left the story years back due to how messy its plot and world was. There was a good premise and neat atmosphere, but I never got around to truly developing the society. Plus, the character goals were really odd, and I wasn’t incorporating some cool ideas right. Eventually I drifted away from that world, and whenever I thought about it again, I knew I wasn’t going to revive it. Not in a sad way; I just wasn’t interested in fixing it up when I had other things I wanted to work on more. 

But then, I had an assignment I was struggling to complete. That assignment lead to me thinking of the story, and, in need of at least something on paper, I got to writing. I did not remember anything super in depth, but I remembered the premise. Because I only remembered the premise, and because of how my skills have grown, I found myself enjoying the story much more. Now it actually felt coherent, and the changes my mind made to fill in blank memories made the plot much more interesting to my  eyes now. Plus, I’ve grown a lot more adept at worldbuilding.

Looking back at notes on what the plot used to be doesn’t make me embarrass me, but I actually find it really interesting. “Oh, man, you didn’t focus on that idea more?” “Wait, this was never actually supposed to happen?!” It’s given me a closer look at just how much I’ve grown. I still have a lot more growing to do.

Maybe one day I’ll revive other basement stories just for fun, but I think I’m good for now.