Hello guys, I’m Caël and welcome to my Viedéo channel. Today I am going to answer your questions that were sent via @CâbléExplains and my personal Twitcher account @Caël_Boënnec. In this “Ask Me Anything” video I am also going to select some question from the live chat at the right-hand side of the screen and answer them. Thanks to Câblé Magazine for letting me organize this on my own channel and promoting it there!
First off, Éleonore @ellen_degenerates asks,
“Who are you?”
I hope that is said in a nice tone, haha. My name is Caël Boënnec, I’m 23 and I’m originally from Redon in Bethany.
Komz bethoneg a ran… (pauses) oh my god the chatbox is lighting up. People don’t think I’m 23 (laughs).
@Pauline557 says in chat
“BABYFACE!”
(laughs) Yep, I do get that comment a lot. Before I became… uh… somewhat well-known, I frequently get “carded”. Last time I got carded was two months ago: the salesperson at the
Les Galleries department store asked for ID when I was buying a knife set as a housewarming gift. Fun times. Apparently babyface runs in the family. My uncles say they used to experience that too.
Speaking of my fam, @melon_musk asked on Twitcher
“Rumour has it that you are the heir to Interflix. Is it true?”
Just because I’m Bethanian, doesn’t mean that I am the heir to the most famous Bethanian company. But uhhh… yes, I do come from that family (chuckles). My mother’s side, the Kegelins, started and still own
Interflix, one the world's largest video-on-demand streaming service. I’m not technically
the heir, as the company is held in trust for the family. My uncle Thibault is the one who’s really into the company right now. Uncle Thibault is the older brother of my mum, hence we don’t share the same surname. He’s a cool uncle.
“Why are you working?” asks @justins_costumes in the chat.
Why
wouldn’t I be working? (chuckles) It’s not as if I’m swimming in money. I'm not a trust fund baby. My parents live modestly and taught us to do the same. My dad used to work at an Interflix store. In the eighties and nineties, Interflix used to be a video rental store, where you physically borrow tapes and DVDs of movies and shows… just like borrowing books from a library. Interflix was my dad’s day job, while he had a side hustle of acting minor roles in TV and theater. My dad eventually became the manager of an Interflix branch in Redon and that’s when he met my mum, who was being trained in the family business in the 1990s. He made it clear that he wasn’t interested in my mum’s money and said that if they get married, they would live within their means. They maintained that principle in their married life and taught it to us.
On Twitcher, @larry_the_cable_guy asks “
How did you get your job at the magazine?”
I studied Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Bethany, and I interned at Câblé Magazine after graduation. Câblé is a Santonian general-interest online magazine, although it has its focus on technology and digital life. At that time of my internship, Câblé was looking for Bethanian-speaking staff so they could have a Bethanian-language section of the website. I think, I guess, they liked me enough? The arrangement is kinda unusual – I’m not technically their employee, I’m a self-employed contractor. Now, before you call the Ministry of Labour, this arrangement was mutually agreed upon. They give me projects and ask me what I need. For example, the explainer videos.
See, each explainer video gets recorded in three versions: Santonian, Bethanian, and Mercanti. I do all three versions. They send me the questions that I would answer and they send resources for researching the content and even filming resources. Sometimes I do filming at their office in Saintes or I do it myself at home in Redon. I do the translations myself because some stuff don’t translate well by machine. Then Câblé gives me editing and publication support. Câblé and I share control and copyright over the content we create, same with the profits.
Câblé and I have future projects in the pipeline which I hope will take off and you guys would watch!
“Did you expect to become viral”? asks @monkeyfox on Twitcher.
Honestly, I didn’t. I thought I was just putting together and narrating explainer videos for some of the burning questions that people have wondered about but can’t find satisfactory answers to. Like,
why is it called ‘handegg’ in Saintonge?
My first video was “What is Bethanian?” wherein I explained to the wider Santonian and global audience about the existence of my people and my language. It took off about one week after it was posted. Paradoxically, it gained a lot of traction within the Bethanian corner of the internet. And then soon afterwards the next videos were gaining thousands to tens of thousands of views – and increasing.
I feel incredibly blessed with this success and I want to thank everybody for helping me reach this. I’m glad people are enjoying our content and deriving knowledge from it.
“What do you like most about working at Câblé?” asks @happy_hour_15.
I like that Câblé gives me a lot of creative freedom. Like I said, they give their creatives a lot of leeway when it comes to making stuff. The copyright issues and profit-sharing are also very favourable to creators. I consider myself lucky I got in.
Okay, off to another line of questioning here, @milly_cha was asking if I had done my National Service. Could be related because people don’t think I’m 24, they ask if I had done my National Service? And at twitcher @judy_man asks
“Are you the same Boënnec guy at the 271e CG Boëme?? A Lt. Boënnec?”
YES!! Yes, I am that Boënnec guy. I don’t know what your name is, but I will DM you afterwards. For the rest of the audience, the “271e CG Boëme” is the 271st Boëme Cyberguard Battalion. It’s a
National Guard unit from my home department, the Boëme. The Cyberguard is the National Guard equivalent of the Royal Santonian Cyber Force. I’m a reservist in the Santonian military.
I did my National Service straight out of high school. Being some sort of a computer and gaming nerd, I tried out at the newly-formed cyberguard unit within the reserve militia of the Boëme. I finished with the rank of Lieutenant. Then I then went to university afterwards.
I feel that @judy_man is probably someone I met while in service. Drop me a line and maybe we can meet each other here in Redon!
@santonianness asks
“Your name does not sound Santonian. What is the origin of your name?”
My name Caël is from the Bethanian language. This could be the subject of a video! The
patron saint of my hometown is named Saint Caël. The
Redon Cathedral is dedicated to Saint Caël, an obscure saint who worked as a Messianist missionary from the area. Saint Caël was martyred by headhunters during the 6th century in what is now Iteria. His
shrunken head is actually a venerated relic in the Cathedral!
Also, the royal island off the coast of Redon is dedicated to him, the “royal town” of
Mont-Saint-Caël.
“What do you do in your free time?” asks @amala_aries over in Twitcher.
I’m a geeky nerd, really. I love playing video games. #NotAnAd but I love Antinomy games. Not a promotion.
Fists of Iron 4 is my favourite. And yes, I had picked up
Kyle de Spycker.
I’m also into sports manager games, so
Football Manager and
Ice Hockey Manager are some of my most-played games too.
Speaking of sports, @its_theotime asks
“What sport do you play? I think I have seen you play ice hockey.”
Yes, @its_theotime, I am – or was – a frustrated ice hockey player. That’s like literally the few times where nepotism failed me, ha! Just kidding. Anyway, my Uncle Thibault was one of the founders and sponsors of the
Requins de Saint-Océan ice hockey team. It was created partly to give Prydanian refugees and lower-income Santonians opportunities to play ice hockey. Ice hockey is very popular in Prydania, and during the 2000s and 2010s, a lot of Prydanian refugees arrived in Saintonge.
Uncle Thibault got me into the then-amateur team where I learned to play ice hockey. I think it’s because they also needed Santonians in the group to help the Pyrdanians integrate. Also as a warm body on the ice, I guess. I was a
plug! (laughs) Seriously, those Prydanian kids were way better than me. I was just an amateur player within the
Requins system. The
Requins had a semi-professional team at the top; I had never reached that level. Now they’re
going professional, and I’ll be rooting for them. Also, that logo is sick.
Anyway, I went back to ice hockey in university, where I tried out and made it to the University of Bethany’s ice hockey team. I was a Stoat! That’s our team name.
I also dabbled in handegg, but I liked ice hockey more.
In the chat, @austin_matthieux asks, “
What hockey position do you play?”
I was a right-handed defensive defenceman. But like I said, I wasn’t as good as the others. I was at most a bottom-pair defenceman. Even on the Stoat team. I think I got a place because right-handed defencemen are a rare species of ice hockey player!
Anyway, I still do play amateurly and join in some pickup games or so. It’s also where I can still practice my rudimentary Prydanian, which I learned from hanging around Prydanian children. Half of my vocabulary is probably cuss words though!
@luxy asks in Twitcher,
“Are you single?”
Heh. I actually am single. Not looking for anyone now though, I want to become financially stable first before I get into relationships and build a family.
On Twitcher, @love_facials asks
“What is your skincare routine?”
Uhhh… I don’t have a skincare routine? I just wash my face with soap twice a day. Omg the comment section is blowing up again…
“brag about being naturally blessed with beautiful skin...” Hey, I’m not bragging! I’m just saying I wash my face twice a day and that’s it. I’m a guy and I am totally ignorant of skincare routines haha.
@barbae says in chat,
“Not even shaving and post-shave routine?”
Well… you see… I’m one of those guys with a natural inability to grow a full beard. Not even a moustache. Nuh-uh. I just cannot get one. So instead of a half-baked beard I just go clean-shaven. But because my facial hear grows reeeeally slowly I only have to shave like every three days or so. Five o’clock shadow more like three-day shadow. When I do shave, I just wash my face afterwards. Nothing fancy.
@gudrun_ramzi asks on Twitcher,
“What is your favourite food?”
Oh I love
Kyle’s sausages. Stick ‘em in buns, mmmm. For those not in the know, Kyle’s sausages are a specialty of my home province of Bethany. It’s very thick and juicy and yummy!
It also brings some sort of nostalgia to me. Back to my childhood and to my hometown. Kyle’s sausages in buns are a staple beach food in eastern Bethany. Having one makes me feel right at home or feel like I’m on the beach.
“How about more specific – cheese?” says @aiden_cheese on the chat.
For cheese… I like
Douvres cheese. Doesn’t go well with Kyle’s sausages though, but I put Douvres in my salads and pasta.
On Twitcher, @Kirsten_Cinema asks
“What is your favourite movie?”
I tend to have a recency bias when it comes to these things. I love movies that have historical content
and social significance. Uhh… can I have
three? Three films come to mind. I might inadvertently include spoilers, so apologies in advance.
First is
Les Possessions de Lesprée, set in the 17th century and takes place in a fictional town of Lesprée. The town suffers a mass hysteria due to demonic possessions. It’s not a scary movie per se, but there are some scary scenes. It’s neither a parody nor a comedy, but is a tongue-in-cheek critique of relevant current social issues while set in the past. It’s a deep movie, and sometimes you don’t be able to immediately recognise the meaning and thoughts and ideas it wants to impart.
Second is
La Messe Noire, which is – surprise! – another historical-themed movie. In this case it is a semi-fictionalised account of the Black Mass in the Black Cathedral of Loudun (yes it indeed happen historically) during
the Santonian Revolution. Not to be a spoiler – since it is indeed history – the Black Mass happened with the anticlerical (and some say Satanist) Duke of the Sologne forced the Bishop of Loudun to re-enact, mockingly, the
Stations of the Cross and ended up with the bishop being crucified in front of the Black Cathedral of Loudun. Then the Duke of the Sologne desecrated the cathedral by presiding over a “Black Mass”, with details too graphic to be included – my channel might get banned! It’s a 2012 film, but I was only able to watch it a few years ago because it had a “Restricted” rating due to its graphic nature. It scores highly because of its cinematography and production.
And to round up my top three it’s
Penn-ar-Bed, which is a Bethanian-language film set in the 19th century about Bethanian seafarers and the women back home waiting for them. I won’t spoil it because I want you guys to watch it! Even though the language in the film is Bethanian, it has Santonian subtitles.
On chat, @flixative asks,
“Since you’re the Interflix heir, and you can’t be unbiased…”
Hey I just said that I am not THE Interflix heir! But yeah, okay I won’t be biased…
“…what is your most recommended non-Interflix series?”
This one’s easy. Definitely
La Reine Reticente. Good story, good production value.
There are still a lot of questions, but we’re running out of time. We’ll reserve that in the next AMA! If you’re still with me, thank you very much for listening! If you like my content, please subscribe to my channel. I very much appreciate it!
