AI movies are developing quickly

Jul. 8th, 2026 04:12 pm
mellowtigger: (mst3k)
[personal profile] mellowtigger

People are creating stories with AI video that are just amazing. Most of them are still in development, and I find myself paying to join subscriptions to help fund their efforts. As I did with the game Star Citizen 13 years ago, I gladly donate money to something unfinished, just because I want to see where the creative urge leads them. Their intended product is exactly the kind of thing that piques my interest.

Click to see a list of recommended movies...

AI is allowing individuals to do what previously required small teams to do. AI is allowing small teams to do what previously required Hollywood-sized studios to do. Here are the best examples that I've encountered so far, in order of my own preference, most enjoyable at top.

  1. Eldrin's Path is more compelling than I anticipated when I first started watching this BL story in a magic fantasy world. Their story playlist is growing to a respectable length of playtime already. The latest episode is painful to watch. I've had to pause and take a break during the stressful bit, each time I watch it. This one episode probably wouldn't make much sense if you haven't seen the whole story, to know both the characters and the divinely-created world in which they exist. I notice that the quality of each episode is increasing too. The creators (in Spain, not Brazil as I first thought) are getting better at their work.
  2. Noctari is a full sci-fi / dark fantasy movie in development. There are only 3 episodes so far, but they are really quite well done. The smoothness is probably better than any of the other examples in this list. The team effort clearly helps the production process. The Black Eye Media studio is based in Sweden.
  3. Magehold is a fantasy series with enough episodes to give a good sense of the "flavor" of the world and several interesting characters beyond the main group. The creator skips around the globe, but I think they're based in Japan at the moment? I'm not sure. I am sure, however, that I want to see more of this creative effort.
  4. Emberfall is a fantasy dystopia series. It's set in some kind of steampunk apocalypse world. I've seen demonstrations of elemental magic, but I still don't know what exactly it can be used for besides fighting opponents. The series is new, so there are only 2 episodes at the moment.
  5. Lost in the Stars by Ether Pulse is a sci-fi series with a sense of humor as well as danger. It maybe even will have a cross-species straight romance. It's a new series with only 2 episodes so far.
  6. The Vine by Neural Fiction is another sci-fi series. After 3 episodes, I'm still not entirely sure what it's about. Some sort of biological-zombie apocalypse scenario combined with hostile AI menace. After 3 episodes, it's still introducing characters and factions. It looks promising.
  7. Nexus Infinite by Everlight Storyworks is another post-apocalyptic sci-fi story. There's only 1 half-hour episode so far, but the amnesiac female main character seems interesting. She clearly will have some kind of redemption character arc. Instead of being photo-realistic, this AI creation is more like a drawn animation.
  8. Forbidden Origin by Junior Movies makes this list mostly for its intention. The final quality is not as polished as the others, with editing errors and mistakes of visual and audio continuity. Everybody starts somewhere, though, and I'm content to ignore the flaws, so I can learn more about the anti-exploitation story. It's set in a high-fantasy world, based on the gods of Egypt, where the humans are all black-skinned Africans. It has no relation to the fantasy story of Wakanda, but it's something new. At the end of the second episode, it clearly has lessons directed at our Earth's timeline. I want to see where it goes.

And those are just the best of the lengthy projects. There are so many more movies where people are learning to use this new media. Zoot Zoots, for example, is trying a variety of scifi/fantasy stories. Other studios (like WAHEfilms and KimeraProductionVFX) were inspired by the 3I/Atlas flyby to create short stories about alien arrival. I'm neglecting the even more numerous shorts out there, such as this bizarre vagabond cat. I also enjoy this demon hunter complaining specifically about the YouTube algorithm. It's an interesting time for creative minds.

Ukraine during Pride month

Jun. 30th, 2026 12:20 pm
mellowtigger: (ukraine tears)
[personal profile] mellowtigger

I haven't done anything for Pride month, other than the dive into BL stories on YouTube. I thought I'd pass along this documentary news piece by Kyiv Independent about the legal status of LBGTQ people in Ukraine during wartime.

I learned some things from it. For instance, I didn't realize queer equality is a requirement to join the European Union, because anti-discrimination protections are part of the Fundamental Rights charter for the EU. Ukraine, however, cannot change its national constitution as long as they remain under martial law. This prohibition was intended to maintain democratic stability during unstable times caused if authoritarians (who like martial law) usurped power.

41C heat index in Minneapolis

Jun. 29th, 2026 07:19 pm
mellowtigger: (flameproof)
[personal profile] mellowtigger

When I watched the 6pm news tonight, the weather in Minneapolis at that time included 41C/106F heat index. That's cooler than forecast, because we developed a thin layer of unexpected cloud cover for much of today. My bedroom air conditioner unit has been running constantly all day long, keeping the rest of the house at a comfortable temperature as the cooler air fell downstairs. Weather sites tell me that the heat index in Austin, Texas, is only 37C/99F.

Enjoy one of the coolest years of the rest of your life.

misc

Jun. 26th, 2026 08:40 am
mellowtigger: (Default)
[personal profile] mellowtigger

I had a topic planned for Moody Monday, but I was too exhausted. Summer is supposed to be slower at work, but nearly half of our staff were out sick on Monday or on vacation this week. The increased workload for those who remain has been slightly intense. I hadn't poured any whisky since the last time I mentioned it, so the bottle was practically new. It's definitely more used now, since I poured a glass of whisky and grapefruit juice after work every day this week (Monday-Wednesday, I mean).

Click to read more about YouTube, straight men, autism, and children's stories...

I've watched so much stuff on YouTube lately that "the algorithm" has changed for my account. The YouTube summary of topics at the top of the main page now offers topics like these for the custom feed: Music, News, Podcasts, Gaming, Science fiction, Live, Boyfriends, Romantic comedies, Theory of Relativity, Intelligence, Outer space, Sci-fi films, Dramedy, and Novel. Ok, sure, I guess. That's a fair summary of my video consumption lately.

I returned to watching reaction videos to the BL story "Heated Rivalry". It still puts me in such a hopeful mood for humanity's future when I watch straight guys watch the show. The latest one to impress me is this one, from a straight guy (and former substance abuser, apparently, from long ago) who is moved to tears more than once while reviewing the 6 episodes of the show. His wife, I assume, appears once or twice in the room while he does his reviews. I really hope guys like these are what heterosexual women find desperately attractive, because they certainly match what I expect the ideal man to be like, regardless of his own attraction to others.

Speaking of "Heated Rivalry", did you know that Margaret Cho could have been in the show? She turned down the opportunity because she was afraid that this Republican administration would detain her if she tried crossing the border into Canada for filming. The consequence equation is different for everyone, but I keep reminding people to please "do not comply in advance" with fascism. Force them to fight for every inch they want to take from you. Don't cede your power without a fight.

Autism was an important feature in a YouTube story, surprising me. This video is just a single self-contained narrated drama. Heterosexual, if it matters, but the autism is the key point. There's a vampire prince with autism, and he seems incapacitated until a human woman (who has a younger brother with autism) communicates successfully with him. It leans heavily into autism tropes, but I find it fascinating to consider how autism would affect a creature who already has supernatural senses. Intriguing.

Finally, back to BL stories, someone took the story of "The Little Prince" and transformed it into a short BL fantasy. It's sad, like the original. Reading comments on the YouTube video makes it apparent that many people have never read that childhood story. That's unfortunate. I've mentioned my Remaking a few times here over the years. After surviving and remaking, when I was still broken and hurting, trying to assemble a new life, I went through a phase of reading childhood fables and watching children's movies. I figured that people speak more plainly to children, and I had a better chance of understanding from these tales the world that other people had built. "The Little Prince" was one that I read during that time, so I appreciate this BL follow-up to the original story.

Anyway. I'm still tired after hunkering indoors all day yesterday. I ate yummy junk food, watched YouTube, and listened to narrative platforms all day long. I'm definitely feeling better, though. I'm slightly recharged now.

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