@Triksy said:

TW

Yennefer leads them to the protected fortress of Aretuza, where she hopes to discover more about the girl’s untapped powers; instead, they discover they’ve landed in a battlefield of political corruption, dark magic, and treachery.

What the heck? Discover? Discover?!!! Ugh! Y knows, damned it!

Tissaia: It’s tumultuous. Artorius can feel his grasp on the leadership slipping. And Stregobor is desperate. Which makes him dangerous.

Yen: Because you and Vilgefortz are making a play for their seats.

Tissaia: We know it’s dangerous, but this is not the time to be weak. It’s the time to be strong.

They keep making Y stupid. Aretuza is an academy. Kaer Morhen was an academy. Now all the Witchers are adults.

So you leave Kaer Morhen, where semi-mages/trained monster killers live, to go hide in an academy? Mages are weak, because they can’t use fire. They aren’t trained for combat. The students there can’t even do magic.

OMG! HC better not touch his chest hair. And he better leave more than one button of his shirt open. I don’t want my brain to process whatever BS story the writers have planned for S03.

Yen: Do you really think offering me as a sacrifice will be enough to spare your failure? You’ll watch my head roll right before your own.

Then, she thinks the commander that failed will keep her head from rolling right before or after his own.

I hear the anxiety and depression will kick in after mid-twenties.

Now I’m suicidal. Thank you very much, Triks. That would be all.

So, what’s the message of the Boar and Bruxa story? I’m not sure.

Must the message be a good message? So far, the message seems to be evil thrives or it’s good to be evil or something like that. For example, Y did something awful, but she gets her powers back by simply righting a wrong. T is a good person and mage, but her scar doesn’t heal. Unlike Y, T never manipulated C. She let C decide about donating her blood. Then, she shows C a non-dangerous way to find out about her past. Also, like Y, she did everything she could to protect others and stop Nilfgaard. But she should remain scarred forever. It isn’t fair.

IMO, in stories like BATB, the cursed person should be desperate to be human again. It’s pointless when the cursed person isn’t the only monster around. It’s even more pointless when the other monsters are beautiful too. It’s also kind of pointless when the cursed person was a weakling and bullied, like Nivellen. The curse made him strong. Nobody will bother or bully him. Like Cash said, he won’t piss himself anymore.

Anyway, in stories like BATB, the cursed person should be desperate to be human again. It’s easy when the cursed person is a good person, like Beast. He just have to do good things to win Beauty’s heart.

When the cursed person did something wrong, like Boar, he should tell his love why he was cursed. The woman shouldn’t forgive him. She should want proof that he’s change. He should do all kinds of good things for others to show her that he’s truly changed and wants to be good.

But the priestess’ curse doesn’t care about redemption. If Boar loves the woman and she dies, the curse will lift, whether he did good things or not to show that he’s truly changed. It’s about the pain of loss, not the pain of penance or the “pain of being good.” But all humans with a partner will lose their partner at some point. So all humans with a partner are cursed. But not all humans with a partner must do all kinds of good things to show they’ve truly changed and want to be good.

@Cashmere said:

RI

The Witcher Season 4 already mapped out by Witcher creators

… it is exciting news for The Witcher fans that Season 4 may be close to being greenlit.

LSH said all seven seasons are mapped out. So my brain is programmed to see HC with creepy yellow eyes, a white wig and very tight pants 7x8 times.

Bridgerton S02 is #1 now and it still has four more days of hv to add. Today is its 28th day.

That’s not shocking. Shonda Rhimes has a huge fan base.

Isn’t Y already aware of the political battle Tissaia, Vilgefortz vs Artorius, Stregobor? Tissaia told her the… situation is… dangerous.

Nobody likes to relinquish their power. Everybody wants power. When there is instability, others may also try making a play for Artorius and Stregobor seats. Of course they have their supporters too. Of course people will betray each other. Aretuza teaches mages about politics, but not how filthy, corrupted and dangerous it can be?

You’re not sure about that? Well… I don’t understand the whole… speech after G decapitates Vereena. I mean… the fact that Nivellen is/looks like a monster is being… ignored.

They forgot he looks like monster, did horrible things, the continent is full of monsters and people who did horrible things too. A person like that won’t care about what Nivellen did. The whole thing sucks. Makes me want to read the original short story.

BAFTA

Toss a coin to Barrie Fower & Sarah Gower, winners of the Make Up & Hair Design for The Witcher #BAFTATV Craft Award

https://twitter.com/BAFTA/status/1518296234569736203?

And the BAFTA for Special, Visual & Graphic Effects award goes to…. The Witcher (Episode 1)!

https://twitter.com/BAFTA/status/1518305311802675200?

@Blue-Rose said:

Must the message be a good message?

I think so.

NBC News

Netflix warns of crackdown on password sharing: Here's what it means for viewers
Netflix may start charging a password-sharing fee and introduce a cheaper, ad-supported plan after losing subscribers for the first time in a decade.

A potential crackdown on password sharing

There are more than 100 million households that use Netflix but do not pay for it, the company said in a letter to shareholders on Tuesday.

Last month, Netflix announced it would begin testing ways to make users in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru who share passwords pay a fee for the additional members.

This model could expand to other countries, executives said during the company's earnings call on Tuesday, but it was unclear when those changes would be enforced.

A cheaper, ad-supported service

“Those that have followed Netflix know that I’ve been against the complexity of advertising and that I’m a big fan of the simplicity of subscription,” Hastings said in a recorded interview. “But as much as I’m a fan of that, I’m a bigger fan of consumer choice. And allowing consumers who would like to have a lower price and are advertising-tolerant get what they want makes a lot of sense.”

'Pulling back' content spending

“We’re pulling back on some of our spend growth across both content and noncontent spend,” CFO Spencer Neumann said in a recorded interview. “We’re trying to be smart about it and prudent in terms of pulling back on some of that spend growth to reflect the realities of the revenue growth of the business.”

It's a move that Greenfield, the Wall Street analyst, said is necessary but perhaps insufficient. "The single biggest issue that really was not talked about is that Netflix’s content, especially its English-language content, is simply not resonating relative to the level of spend," he wrote.

At $17 billion annually, Netflix currently spends more on content than any of its competitors, Greenfield noted. While that level of spending should probably be reduced, Netflix must rethink its content strategy more broadly, Greenfield said.

"By better, we are not thinking about quality, we mean content that captures the zeitgeist, whether that be 'The Crown' or 'Stranger Things' or 'Squid Game' or 'Tiger King,'" he said.

"While the level of consumer appeal of Netflix content always mattered, the need for 'better' content has become far more important as the level of competition has surged in the past two years," Greenfield said. "Having a volume of 'good enough' content is no longer enough."

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/netflix-crackdown-password-sharing-losing-subscribers-rcna25151?featureFlag=false#anchor-Pullingbackcontentspending

THR

Netflix to Start “Pulling Back” Content Spend After Losing Subscribers in Earnings Miss
Wall Street had low expectations this quarter, as total memberships fell to 221.64 million. To address declining growth, executives at the streaming giant say they're exploring an ad-supported tier.

Netflix lost 200,000 subscribers during its most recent quarter — a major setback for the streaming giant that has seen exponential user growth over the past decade — as the company disclosed that it fell far short of its own low expectations of 2.5 million subscriber adds for the start of 2022.

The streaming giant lost subscribers in nearly every region except for the Asia Pacific market, where it saw a net add of over 1 million subscribers. Netflix lost around 640,000 subscribers in the U.S./Canada region during the first quarter — a larger drop than its previous subscriber loss in the region last year — and saw a 300,000 subscriber loss in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and 350,000 loss in Latin America. The losses are expected to continue into Q2, when Netflix predicts it will lose an additional 2 million subscribers.

Heading into Tuesday, when Netflix reported its earnings, Wall Street already had low expectations for the streaming giant due to the company’s weak performance in Q4 and its muted forecasts for the first quarter. Subscriber additions were also expected to be impacted by Netflix’s decision to suspend its service in Russia, where the streamer said it had around 700,000 subscribers, over the invasion of Ukraine. Not accounting for the losses in Russia, Netflix said in its shareholder letter that the streamer would have added 500,000 subscribers for the first quarter.

To help address dwindling growth, Netflix continued its expansion into games during the quarter with the March acquisitions of Texas’ Boss Fight Entertainment and Finland’s Next Games, the latter of which created the Stranger Things puzzle game.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/netflix-q1-2022-earnings-1235132028/

Pulling back content spending? Netflix’s content, especially its English-language content, is simply not resonating relative to the level of spend? More reason to be in the Top 10 Most Popular Shows/Films.

@Triksy said:

NBC News

A potential crackdown on password sharing

Last month, Netflix announced it would begin testing ways to make users in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru who share passwords pay a fee for the additional members.

NX should cool it with the we must grow stuff. Why aren’t American subs used in the test? Why must so-called rich countries use countries that aren’t considered rich to test stuff? I’m very disappointed in NX.

A potential crackdown on password sharing
A cheaper, ad-supported service
'Pulling back' content spending

NX Should stop squeezing money out of subs. Everything on NX can be watched in HD for free on the internet. So it should keep that in mind and try to make things easier and more transparent for subs instead. Subs tend to get excited when they see their favorite show in the Top 10 Most Popular list. But many content will never be on the current four lists.

So make more Top 10 Most Popular lists. It’s also a way to show all the different types of content in NX’s library.

1. Animated
2. Limited series
3. Cooking
4. Comedian etc.

Around the end of the month, send subs an email with a list of all the new content that will be released the next month in their country.

Two months in advance, send subs an email with a list of all the content that will leave NX in their country. For example, around the beginning of May, subs will receive an email with a list of all the content that will leave NX in July. That will give subs enough time to enjoy them before they leave NX.

THR

Netflix lost 200,000 subscribers during its most recent quarter — a major setback for the streaming giant that has seen exponential user growth over the past decade — as the company disclosed that it fell far short of its own low expectations of 2.5 million subscriber adds for the start of 2022.

Not accounting for the losses in Russia, Netflix said in its shareholder letter that the streamer would have added 500,000 subscribers for the first quarter.

The Q I decided to churn is the Q in which NX loses subs.

@Blue-Rose said:

OMG! HC better not touch his chest hair. And he better leave more than one button of his shirt open.

HC’s a crazy purist. If it was up to him, the series would be exactly like the books. But he doesn’t have that kind of power. He does have the power to decide how much hair he will leave on his chest. I’m not sure he’s free to decide how many buttons to leave open, though.

They keep making Y stupid. Aretuza is an academy.

She helped Cahir escape. Why would she think she can go back to Aretuza? Why would she want to be under the same roof as Stregebor after what he did to her? I'd hide C in Brokilon Forest.

Why aren’t American subs used in the test? Why must so-called rich countries use countries that aren’t considered rich to test stuff?

I couldn't believe they'd write that like it's OK.

@Cashmere said:

HC’s a crazy purist.

That’s the funniest thing I read, so far.

I’m not sure he’s free to decide how many buttons to leave open, though.

Remind me to ask LSH if HC can decide that.

I'd hide C in Brokilon Forest.

Yes! Cahir with all his army didn’t dare attack Brokilon. He sent the doppelganger to get C out.

@Triksy said:

TW

We're also excited to reveal the official plot summary for the upcoming season...

As monarchs, mages, and beasts of the Continent compete to capture her, Geralt takes Ciri of Cintra into hiding, determined to protect his newly-reunited family against those who threaten to destroy it. Entrusted with Ciri’s magical training, Yennefer leads them to the protected fortress of Aretuza, where she hopes to discover more about the girl’s untapped powers; instead, they discover they’ve landed in a battlefield of political corruption, dark magic, and treachery. They must fight back, put everything on the line — or risk losing each other forever.

This is why the book geeks are furious. Y does go to Aretuza, but she’s a respected mage there.

@Blue-Rose said:

NWH a gem? What’s so good about NWH?

I don’t think it’s a gem. I hear DS2 isn’t a gem either.

So I felt weird and kind of old. I started feeling my mortality. Some sort of age crisis.

That’s what will happen when you’re a drama queen.

The Q I decided to churn is the Q in which NX loses subs.

Will you sub for Chris Evan’s new NX film?

OMG! HC better not touch his chest hair.

HC should touch his chest hair. He shouldn’t look like a werewolf. He should keep it “neatly mowed.” Someone actually wrote an article about HC’s chest hair.

How to Get Well-Groomed Chest Hair Like Henry Cavill
Toss a trimmer to your Witcher.

There’s a lot that be can be learned from Henry Cavill in his role as Geralt of Rivia in Netflix’s The Witcher: Fiercely masculine independence is overrated, loyalty is hard to find, and chest hair is here to stay. You may not be a magically enhanced swordsman, but that doesn’t mean you can’t feel like one (especially with your shirt off). Men no longer have to feel self-conscience about their body hair. We won’t knock anyone who chooses to shave it all off, but for those who don’t, keeping it neatly mowed is the name of the game. Taking inspiration from the titular Witcher, we’ll show the best ways to trim chest hair — no mutant powers necessary.

@Sue-Yin said:

I don’t think it’s a gem. I hear DS2 isn’t a gem either.

NWH really annoyed me, because of the stupid way the writers decided to introduce the multiverse. Something that serious and dangerous was turned into almost a comedy. Ugh!

DS is about to cast a very dangerous spell and he doesn’t tell Peter that he should remain quiet. No, Peter keeps talking and DS changes the dangerous spell like six times? This was the best way to create the dangerous multiverse in the MCU? Really?!

I also wasn’t impressed with the way the other Spider-Men were brought into Tom Holland’s verse. Two other actors played Spider-Man in the other films. So Ned will bring exactly them into TH’s verse.

Anyway, NWH caused the multiverse, but there are only two Spider-Men in the whole multiverse. They should have called it the 3-verse (TM-, AG- and TH-verse). There’s also only three version of DS in DS2. I understand that, though. Don’t hold this against me, but I think the amount of DS depends on the amount of verses that America Chavez visits. So you can contain the amount of DS. But in NWH, Ned just stops calling Peter after two try? I can’t remember.

To me, the MCU is a joke now. And DS2 makes things even worse. Kevin Feige’s creative pool seems to have dried out. The MCU films released in 2021 were all subpar. I won’t bother with Thor 4, because it looks like a comedy. I really didn’t like Thor 3, because of all the annoying forced humor. Right now, I just hope Black Panther 2 is at least as good as the first.

Will you sub for Chris Evan’s new NX film?

No, CE ruined his face with an ugly mustache.

You know me, I like Ken dolls on my screen. The more, the merrier. But thank goodness only one is the love of my life. I have just enough room in my life for one to annoy me, anger me and traumatize me a little. And traumatize me, the love of my life did. Not a little, either. Each morning, I wake up fearing it might be the morning I find out HC grew facial hair. Is not a healthy way to start the day, Sue.

So with that in mind, I won’t willingly let CE horrify me with a mustache. If CE wants to horrify me, he’ll have to do that accidentally. Like accidentally posting a D pick on his socials and innocent me seeing it before he deletes it. Innocent me can handle accidental horrors like that.

HC should touch his chest hair. He shouldn’t look like a werewolf. He should keep it “neatly mowed.”

Yes, yes, neatly mowed. I’m still a little intimidated by the MOS scene where he steals the clothes.

Someone actually wrote an article about HC’s chest hair.

I agree with some oldies. Chest hair doesn’t look good on all guys. HC has the square jaw and the cleft chin, which are considered very masculine features. I don’t think any woman would want a square jaw with a cleft chin. So the chest hair, which is definitely something that no woman would want, will look good with the square jaw and the cleft chin. I wouldn’t want chest hair on someone like Jared Leto. He has soft (to not say feminine) jawline.

BTW, I think a treasure trail or treasure field will look good on all guys. That, too, is a very masculine thing. Women wouldn’t want that either.

@Blue-Rose said:

Tissaia: It’s tumultuous. Artorius can feel his grasp on the leadership slipping. And Stregobor is desperate. Which makes him dangerous.

Tumultuous must have a different meaning on the Continent. lol Is Y trying to keep C safe or get her in trouble? It’s difficult to protect someone in a place described as tumultuous and dangerous.

OMG! HC better not touch his chest hair. And he better leave more than one button of his shirt open.

Chest hair alone won’t do it. HC will have to show the treasure field. lol

But in NWH, Ned just stops calling Peter after two try? I can’t remember.

TM and AG were already in TH’s verse. Ned just brings them into his grandma’s house. I’m not sure, but there might be a problem with the villains.

TH wants everybody to forget him, but something goes wrong. The spell brings the enemies of Spider-Man from all the universes into TH’s verse. But why do we only see TM and AG’s enemies in TH’s verse? Does DS fix what went wrong?

@Sue-Yin said:

Will you sub for Chris Evan’s new NX film?

No, CE ruined his face with an ugly mustache.

I was really looking forward to this, till I saw that stupid stache. Why did he have to do that? Why? Why? Why does he hate his fans? lol

I can’t believe I think CE looks better with a full beard than with a stache. CapA with beard didn’t look bad.

https://ibb.co/12zk2jp

@Blue-Rose said:

Don’t hold this against me, but I think the amount of DS depends on the amount of verses that America Chavez visits. So you can contain the amount of DS. But in NWH, Ned just stops calling Peter after two try?

Not really. After hearing where TM and AG like to go to unwind, MJ figures out where Peter is and they go to him. TM and AG go too.

@AnnaB said:

But why do we only see TM and AG’s enemies in TH’s verse? Does DS fix what went wrong?

DS contained it. Just a few villains managed to enter TH’s verse.

@AnnaB said:

TM and AG were already in TH’s verse. Ned just brings them into his grandma’s house.

I know.

Why did he have to do that? Why? Why? Why does he hate his fans? lol

Growing an ugly beard must be a macho thing. Like some sort of pissing contest. With guys, it’s always about who has it bigger, longer and thicker.

@Triksy said:

Not really. After hearing where TM and AG like to go to unwind, MJ figures out where Peter is and they go to him. TM and AG go too.

Geek!

But I’m still not impressed. How convenient that TM and AG and all the villains that died in their verse managed to enter TH’s verse.

RI

Blaviken Fight Coordinator to Return in The Witcher Season 3

According to The Witcher Season 3 stunt performer Matt Sherren, the coordinator for some of the new season’s fights will be Wolfgang Stegemann as you can see written below.

That said, the degree of Stegemann’s involvement isn’t all that clear as Mission Impossible 8 has begun filming in March for a long 2024 release, so we don’t know how much is his balance between The Witcher and Mission Impossible 8.

It’s also important to acknowledge that Stegemann isn’t and was never a stunt coordinator for The Witcher or Mission Impossible. He was a fight coordinator, while the main stunt coordinators were Adam Horton and Wade Eastwood respectively.

As Stegemann’s responsibility are mainly the physical fights, perhaps he isn’t needed on either project at all times and can make time for both in his schedule, whenever fight sequences are scheduled to be rehearsed and filmed.

https://redanianintelligence.com/2022/05/31/blaviken-fight-coordinator-to-return-witcher-season-3/

HC: I've had the nine shades of hell beaten out of me through two weeks of fight scenes

Top 10 Biggest Opening Weekend Series (excl. limited series and Emily In Paris), since NX started the Weekly Top 10 (Monday June 28 – Sunday July 4, 2021).

Emily In Paris was released on a Wednesday (107,640,000 Wednesday-Sunday – 12/22/2021 – 10E – 295m – S02 – #2).

Hours Viewed, release date, amount of episodes, duration whole season in minutes incl. end credits, season number, rank in the weekly Top 10, N-E=non-English

01. 286,790,000 – 05/27/2022 – 07E – 536m – S04 – #1 – Stranger Things                                 
01. 201,910,000 – 09/03/2021 – 05E – 256m – S05 – #1 – Money Heist part 1 (N-E) (p1+p2=541m)                  
02. 193,020,000 – 03/25/2022 – 08E – 504m – S02 – #1 – Bridgerton
03. 142,430,000 – 12/17/2021 – 08E – 454m – S02 – #1 – The Witcher                      
04. 133,120,000 – 10/15/2021 – 10E – 485m – S03 – #1 – You                      
05. 125,770,000 – 09/17/2021 – 08E – 452m – S03 – #1 – Sex Education                      
06. 124,790,000 – 02/28/2022 – 12E – 728m – S01 – #1 – All Of Us Are Dead (N-E) 
07. 120,060,000 – 12/31/2021 – 10E – 336m – S04 – #1 – Cobra Kai                      
08. 100,160,000 – 07/30/2021 – 10E – 488m – S02 – #1 – Outer Banks
09. 080,560,000 – 02/25/2022 – 08E – 407m – S01 – #2 – Vikings: Valhalla
10. 063,190,000 – 09/17/2021 – 09E – 490m – S01 – #1 – Squid Game (N-E)

@Triksy said:

01. 286,790,000 – 05/27/2022 – 07E – 536m – S04 – #1 – Stranger Things                                 
01. 201,910,000 – 09/03/2021 – 05E – 256m – S05 – #1 – Money Heist part 1 (N-E) (p1+p2=541m)                  
02. 193,020,000 – 03/25/2022 – 08E – 504m – S02 – #1 – Bridgerton
03. 142,430,000 – 12/17/2021 – 08E – 454m – S02 – #1 – The Witcher                      
04. 133,120,000 – 10/15/2021 – 10E – 485m – S03 – #1 – You                      
05. 125,770,000 – 09/17/2021 – 08E – 452m – S03 – #1 – Sex Education                      
06. 124,790,000 – 02/28/2022 – 12E – 728m – S01 – #1 – All Of Us Are Dead (N-E) 
07. 120,060,000 – 12/31/2021 – 10E – 336m – S04 – #1 – Cobra Kai                      
08. 100,160,000 – 07/30/2021 – 10E – 488m – S02 – #1 – Outer Banks
09. 080,560,000 – 02/25/2022 – 08E – 407m – S01 – #2 – Vikings: Valhalla
10. 063,190,000 – 09/17/2021 – 09E – 490m – S01 – #1 – Squid Game (N-E)

Money Heist was huge! 201,910,000 hv with only 256m. Impressive.

I think ST4 is already #1 in the Top 10 Most Popular Series ever. Will it take the crown from N-E SG or just from Bridgerton?

@Blue-Rose said:

I think ST4 is already #1 in the Top 10 Most Popular Series ever. Will it take the crown from N-E SG or just from Bridgerton?

ST4 was really good. It had to be. It cost a whopping $30 mil p/ep. It didn’t take Bridgerton’s crown last Tuesday (10 days), but it will this Tuesday (17 days). It only needed… 35 mil hv? ST4 part 1 won’t surpass SG, but it might when NX add part 2.