#replies may be slow

[caribaheine]

i just hit 1k so here’s a little follow forever/mutual appreciation! thank you so much to all my lovely followers and mutuals, i can’t believe it!! i’ve tried to include as many people as i can think of but so sorry if i’ve missed anyone ♡

+ moots can send a 🌸 for a blog compliment!

a b c d

@aimlocked @aino-minakos @allidoistry @another-aveng3r @anyataylorjjoy

@arobarbie @backmygirlhood @bella-not-swan @bhxrdy @blackpink

@blueslemonade @blushingallthewayhome @b0lter @brittritz @bruceewayne

@burkleswinifred @cheekymcgrath @chjhiro @claudiasjessies @cleveris

@clubglee @cressida-cowper @daisyjohnsn @danielsousa @davidfinchrr

@deadpoets @deweyduck @distortedlightbeam @dlndjarin @dontwanderoff

@dragonss-in-the-north

e f g h i

@eclpsedsun @elibrays @emmaswcns @empiresrecords @flippinfins

@folklormore @gezellig @gloriapritchetts @goldenboyricciardo @greatestloves

@gretaonieogou @gwyns @hazelcalllahan @hcrror @hellshee

@hers @hopperjane @hunnybears @ibetyouthinkabtme @ifyoukeeponbelieving

@isitovernow @itwasmagic

j k l m n o

@jennortegas @justreputationnoexplanation @jynesro @kahhorri @kanthcnys

@karlcagathon @katabasiskassandra @katesbridgerton @ketterdarn @lavendereater

@leviiackrman @localundeadgirl @lvnderhvze @lydstilinsk @madalainepetsch

@marthanielsn @miamignonette @miwtual @nalleyscott @ncutii-gatwa

@nitasanchez @omercilessmoon @onedayillknow @opalsiren

p q r s

@peterfelicias @pinksvenom @quitebewitching @radicaloptimisms @raisy

@rcpunzel @readingfolklore @realfuckinlegacyy @restinglennyface @rejoiceandcomplain

@rekakroki @rosaliehale @sadgirlautumn @samwinchcster @sarahmichellesgellar

@shahrukh-khan @shemustbolt @shrinking-violetta @simoneashlcy @slimshadys

@slvrroses @snowbairdd @someoneoffthestreet @stararry @stardustandors

@starswerealigned @sunsetskys

t u v w x y z

@taylorcardigan @taylorsabrina @taylorswiftsthighs @therealwitch @timelesstaylorsversion

@tisdae @trainingseasons @usereste @vorpalinas @whenhewaswickeds

@williamprvtt @youareonyourownkid @yourfreezing-hands @yournowheregirl @yuiaka

@zensdaya

[stupidlittlespirit]

im sorry to hear that you're actively losing your relationship due to being ace.. thats genuinely devastating

it's alright babe, at the end of the day I'll always have this smokin hot bod and this clean bill of mental heal-..... this smokin hot bod!

[aimfor-theheart]

on the death of skirt chasers

a small think piece on how media has been stripped of romance, sex appeal, and charm over the last 20 years using trigun and trigun stampede as an example—specifically looking at this through wolfwood and vash as a tangible way to track this evolution.

it’s interesting and also unsurprising to me that trigun stampede stripped vash and wolfwood of some of their biggest personality traits from the 98 anime, which were their love of women. to be frank— they were both dogs lol

but vash was this sort of forlorn man who, meryl, upon meeting him, adequately describes him by asking, “are you the type of man to fall in love right away and get your heart broken?” or something to that effect. and he says what, no way! and then proceeds to fall in love with the next beautiful woman he sees and gets his heart broken by the end of the episode. and we were seeing this constantly throughout the show, then even in the later movie of the early 2010s badlands rumble.

and the 2000s are notorious for dubious, sexist comments from men who are women-obsessed. our action movies are packed with sexy female characters only existing for romance, etc. etc. we’re sort of at the tail end of it in 2010. so arguably, vash is almost worse here to me? he’s really pushy and borderline inappropriate with how stubborn he is. in a way that, while persistent in the 98 anime, he had a little more boyish charm to him and they never made him so forceful.

and then the middle and later 2010s happen where marvel takes over our action movies and romance and sex and womanizers are all but killed—originally, in reaction to the sexism. it’s important to note that the me too movement picks up in the middle and later 2010s too and becomes well-known by the end of this decade. and in response, i think we nosedive into puritanical ideas and sentiments by the end of the decade.

now we must always remember when a movement (ie feminism in this case) has a critique or reaction that catches on (the me too movement, men being pushy and overly flirtatious in our media, treating women in action movies only as sexy romance options, or showcasing toxic dynamics that subconsciously tell men to keep chasing her, even if she’s not interested) then the oppressive force (patriarchy in this case) will always transform as a way to take control again (bringing puritanical ideals back—we shouldn’t be showing sex or romance in our movies. we should not be consuming any dark content, ever. etc etc.)

i believe we killed romance and sex in the later 2010s because of an over correction of our sex-obsessed media of the 2000s—or rather, the patriarchy over corrected in order to maintain control. there were critiques of the 2000s that were valid, but like i said, the oppressive force will always transform to maintain power, so we hit puritanical beliefs again. “political correctness” if you will.

(capitalism surely has something to do with this too and it’s definitely along the lines of—be more beautiful and even hotter, but your body is not a sexual one, but a visual or capitalistic one. etc. etc. another topic, another time.)

and so here we are and we don’t really have any flirty or womanizing characters like we used to. and we see this very plainly in 2023s trigun stampede, where they have completely stripped vash and wolfwood of any of those traits.

and i sort of miss them? i think a 2023 forlorn vash who loves great and hard and gets his heartbroken would not be a bad thing—one who is effected and charmed by women, maybe rather than nearly stalking them like in the 2010 movie. i think it shows another piece of vash and that is quite literally that he wears his heart on his sleeve. and he gets hurt for it, endlessly. more than that there is a little more whimsy to him? and aching. he’s this lonely man who wants love so, so badly.

now, wolfwood in 98 version was less this forlorn chaser and more this suave womanizer. many jokes are made where vash is chasing a girl that wolfwood sorta already has if he wants her. but he’s this lone wolf who leaves everyone a little high and dry. (of course until the end—with milly —where, in a very classic lone-man way, he dies after leaving a woman with his child. the tragedy being that when he was ready to stop roaming and settle down with her and meryl and vash, he dies, thus still leaving everyone). and i mean even his appearance in the 98 version—big chested with low-buttoned shirt, shaggy hair and stubble. he looks like a 90s rockstar. he looks like your lone cowboy. he’s reminiscent of spike from cowboy bebop who has a similar charming air to him that never leads anywhere because he’s destined to be solo. the unintentional, intentional womanizer.

then the later 2010s hit and we kill the charming womanizer. (tony stark kills the womanizer. another topic, another time.)

and now in 2023, wolfwood is completely stripped of any of his sex appeal and suave personality that the 98 and even 2010 version of him oozed naturally. gone is the cool, tough, lone wolf. replaced with a sort of boy-bandish, squeaky-clean, semi villain, semi hero. he’s crass and he’s snarky and he’s supposed to be rough around the edges. but he doesn’t look it? and he lacks the charm that 98 wolfwood naturally had. which aided him when he talked to kids—he was softer. charming. people liked wolfwood, even when he was being crass. he knew how to talk to people, maybe even how to con them when he wanted.

2023’s wolfwood is tough to get along with. and while fun sometimes, i think it does lose this…romanticism to him? there is a softness in wolfwood that is sorta lost in 2023s version. while we get a fuller and better written backstory, we sort of lose this other aspect of him. we’re supposed to infer from his backstory and his relationship to his brother that he is a good man, just one put in a horrible situation, always had bad luck. whereas the 98 version, we saw that wolfwood was good with kids. gentle. women loved him—he charmed rowdy men, even swindled when he needed to. we saw that there was something good in wolfwood, even if he remained mysterious.

all this to say i do miss the romanticism? i do miss these men being…romantic? flirty? charming? and not even in a fangirl way but in a…humans are romantic creatures way? we are sexual beings? and romance and sex can tell us a lot about characters and their personalities.

and i think looking at vash and wolfwood in particular is a good way to track how we lost this romanticism in our media over the last 20 years—we literally see it in them, in their remaking in 2023, where they are stripped of it.

i think the mid and later 2020s will continue to return to it in some way—we already see this with the resurgence in romance novels (or these dark fantasy romance novels gaining popularity) and even fandom spaces being more “mainstream” on social media. but in late stage capitalism (and thus late stage patriarchy, racism, etc.) it looks a little like a carnival mirror of romance and sex to me.

another topic, another time. etc. etc.

[milesdadworth]

With Christmas upon him once again, Miles Edgeworth is faced with returning to Germany to visit the von Karmas. The previous Christmas when he had visited, the only topic of conversation was his failure at his first trial. This year, Miles Edgeworth is desperate to avoid that. His solution? Reconnecting with an old friend, and roping him into being a distraction—as a fake boyfriend. The plan was fool-proof. Or perhaps it's simply proof that Miles Edgeworth is a fool.

Chapter 7 is up now!

[thanatologie]

meant to jump on this bandwagon last night, but you know, shit happens, so:

listen. i know i'm the slowest human being to ever live. and it may take me a hot minute to get to things, because of who i am as a person, but like. i have never once gotten mad at something dropped randomly in my inbox, and by god i don't plan on starting now. there's a reason my meme tag is forever and always linked in my pinned posts, and if you just want to drop some random thing in my inbox with no meme, that's okay, too.

[crystallizsch]

idk why i’m so weird about my main blog it’s not like i’m too secretive about it since it’s in my intro (not the pinned) post if people decide to look through it (which i don’t really 100% expect from everyone so i get it if people aren’t aware) but it just looks like i’m hiding it for no reason 😭

anyways, all this to say i’m finally explicitly shouting out my main @scint1llat3 (where i follow/interact from) if you want a barrage of random queued reblogs 24/7 (<- exaggerating. mostly.) bc i reblog anything i find mildly interesting— (sorry mutuals/followers who are already currently there 😭)

+ also more importantly i have another side blog @llizsch for non-fanart and old art, and bc art fight is coming up i’m reposting all my previous art fight art there if anyone’s interested (i’ll be joining art fight this year too btw!! i’ll make a more proper post about this after the team reveal 😤) (and i don’t mind interactions with my old art since i’m still pretty happy with them!! there’s a reason why they’re being reposted)

also semi-related tangent, it’s nice seeing in the notifs people finding a lot of my old art in this blog these past days, thank you 😭💖 even if it’s also just silent like-reblog spam, that all really cheered me up

ANYWAYS. NO PRESSURE. JUST IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED 🙏

[butteredfrogs]

my porchlight is now on!! send me an ask off anon to get your treat!! 🍬🍬

[shivunin]

Hey all, questions and tags are going to be a bit delayed until I am back home from my trip, just a heads up

[tri-point-bruiser]

Why would a discussion on tails be NSFW? Do you mean all tails, including the ones on costumes, or yours in particular? Is this a sort of… proximity zone thing? Too close to the “no no zone,” or is there a different reason (if it’s okay for me to ask, of course)?

Discussion on tails in general, things like fake ones, costumes, and just the usual animal kingdom kind of talk is ok. Discussion on me having a tail, is not fer public conversation for a few reasons I am not gonna get into right now.

Unless yer genuinely curious but then yer gonna get a crash course in mutant anatomy and ya might learn some things ya don't wanna know and then can't unknow them. Brain bleach territory for some people.

And still, even with the curiosity, unless you want to talk about your body and all the weird shit it does this is probably not a discussion you wanna have.

[the-janitor-esc]

I look tired, Professor?

Oh, yes, I guess I'm like a little tired. It was such a long night last night...but I am sooooo happy to be back at the Good Science Center! I am learning like sooooo much from you, Professor.

Oooooooo, coffee? Yes, I think I will gooooo get myself a cup, Professor. You're like the best! I'll just be a moment!

*off to go "get a cup of coffee" in the (good) pyrotechnics department on the other side of the building because they "got lost" again*

[northwestofinsanity]

About REO Speedwagon breaking up…

So, earlier this week, an announcement went out on the official REO Speedwagon social media pages that blindsided pretty much every REO fan… including the very small handful of REO fans here on Tumblr.  It’s been a rough week.

I’ve done some digging around for information, and have managed to get somewhat of a blurry picture of what happened from everything I’ve found, so here’s a post to hopefully help the small few of us here make sense of it all.  Due to the length, I’m keeping this under a read-more, and I’m going to try to (aside from where I must clarify) put the timeline of basic information I’ve gathered up top, and analysis down lower, so that those who don’t want to read further don’t have to sort through it. 

Two Disclaimers before jumping into it:

1 -While it is fair that anyone might have their opinions from the information here (as I do, too), this post is not an invitation to hate on the members of the band, and I do not condone the making hate comments toward any of the members on any social media pages with posts on the matter.  At this point, talking smack about Bruce Hall, Kevin Cronin, or Neal Doughty is not what’s going to change the situation -if anything will at all.

2 -For every Facebook post I mention, I do have screenshots, though I will not be posting them in the main post, as some social media screenshots have a way of being removed here.  Most of those pages are publicly viewable even to those not logged in, so I will link to REO’s official page and Bruce Hall’s official page to those who would like to look, and anyone who would rather not look there at all who would still like to see is welcome to request that I DM the screenshots.

Alright, let’s do this, starting with the Basic Timeline of Events:

Starting with the line of perspective given on the official REO Speedwagon Facebook Page (and I believe everything on there is cross-posted to their Instagram for anyone who has that). This Facebook page is viewable without an account. Kevin Cronin makes a lot of posts here himself in a blog-like format, so we can consider posts here as Kevin’s side of the story.

-Back on November 7th of 2023, it was announced by Kevin on social media that Bruce Hall, the longtime bassist of REO Speedwagon, would be off the road and replaced with a substitute to undergo back surgery and the subsequent recovery.  Matt Bissonette, who has been with multiple groups, was the bassist who took over touring duties while REO has been on tour with Train.  As Kevin’s post read, one line stated, “Bruce is our brother. And times like these test us all. We have faith that Bruce’s surgery will be successful, that he will make a complete recovery, and that he will be back to being the hard rocking bassist/singer that we all know. Bruce has our love and support, as we have encouraged him to take all the time he needs to get himself back to 100% strength.”

Very little information has been given there on Bruce since, up until recently, but going back through, I found:

-November 27th, 2023, at the end of Kevin’s “Happy Thanksgiving” journal entry, a PS note stating, “Received a photo of the newly repaired Bruce Hall, sitting up in his hospital bed and smiling. The nurse in the shot was all smiles and hands in the air, reacting favorably to Bruce making progress. I am giving him space, while my thoughts are with Bruce and wishing him a full recovery.”  So by this point, Bruce had undergone his procedure and was doing well in early recovery.

—June 1st, a post from Bruce on the Official REO Facebook Page, mentioning he had been featured on “A Fishing Story With Ronald Green”.  No telling if this was filmed before or after Bruce’s operation.  He does look good in the video, and is on his feet, though not holding anything of substantial weight.

—One of Kevin’s journal entry-like posts on July 12th, 2024, where Kevin was talking about the Milwaukee Summerfest performances, and mentioned, “Bruce told me he would love to be out here, but we both agreed that his health and recovery need to come first.”  So by Kevin’s account here, Bruce was not in condition to play.

……..

Nothing further came on the REO Speedwagon page until the recent unfolding of events within the last week -so let’s jump over to Bruce’s official Facebook page, Bruce Hall of REO Speedwagon, (also viewable without an account) and backtrack to get his side of the story:

-On November 7th, 2023, Bruce made his own announcement letting fans know he would be off the road, stating that he had been powering through a “traumatic back injury” for quite some time and was unable to do so any longer.  He assured fans that REO had a plan to find a good substitute while he was away.

-On November 20th, Bruce’s wife, Kimmie, made a post saying that Bruce had his surgery that morning.  She assured that “Everything went really well”, and that Bruce had “already gotten up and walked a couple of steps”.

-On December 10th, Bruce posted his first picture of himself with his then newborn grandchild.  He looks a bit rough (rightfully so), and is sitting on a couch, so unsure how steady he was at this time, but he was at home in recovery.  In his post, he stated “My surgery was a huge success, and I’m getting better everyday.” 

[I’m not going to list every one of Bruce’s posts, because there were a lot while he was home in recovery, but over the next month or so, there were several around the Holidays where Bruce was with his family, back on his feet and looking better, and even a few where Neal Doughty was visiting with him]

-Worth mentioning, on January 27th of 2024, Bruce mentioned in a post that he had been working on bass tracks for an album his daughter was recording over the last couple of days.  A post came the next day featuring a video of Bruce playing bass, if sitting down and leaned over, but playing as great as usual for him.

[Multiple posts continued of Bruce living life in recovery, including a trip to Disney World with his wife in February, his feature on Ronald Green’s fishing show in March, confirming that it was filmed at that time, and another family gathering with the Doughty’s in early April]

-On April 8th, Bruce made a post with pictures of an REO Speedwagon Make-A-Wish Benefit show, in which he did come onstage for one song and perform.  He excitedly mentions this as the first time he had performed since October.  Pictures show him playing standing up, if bent over.  (Very strangely, there are no posts about this show on the REO Facebook page, when they are typically very prolific with posts made about benefit shows).  The day prior, the 7th, Bruce had a video featuring him and Neal Doughty at soundcheck (Neal had also shown up and was playing Piano for “Can’t Fight This Feeling”)

[More posts follow, including ones where Bruce posted Facebook-generated “memory” posts of pictures with him performing with Kevin and Dave, stating how much he misses this, and pictures of being out and about fishing and golfing.]

On June 14th, Bruce made the first post directly addressing the length of his time absent, accompanied by a picture of playing bass while sitting down.  Within his statement, the most notable information is as follows: “I'm feeling better every day and have been cleared by my doctor to perform.  If it were up to just me, I'd be there rocking tonight...but it's unfortunately not.  The consensus feeling is that I don't have good enough posture to perform at the level expected by our fans.”  Amid assurances he was still undergoing physical therapy and training to continue recovery, he added, “Trust me, I have no intention of retiring or walking away from the band I have loved for almost 50 years.  I would never ever walk away.”

[More generalized Bruce living life and being physically active in recovery follow]

On September 5th, Bruce made a post with a picture of his wife that seems a bit cryptic, stating that he appreciates the support of fans and misses them.  It seems this coincided with an article that had come out on September 3rd by Ultimate Classic Rock, regarding Bruce’s absence, titled “Is Bad Posture Keeping REO Speedwagon’s Bruce Hall Off The Road?”  My guess is this is what began stirring up a lot of talk from fans, and led to the official statement eventually being made, and Bruce was answering to concern given by fans who might not have been following his page to be aware of his condition until this time.  Now, Ultimate Classic Rock is somewhat of a clickbait site (there’s no other way to get around putting it as such), and the article was quoting information from Bruce’s post made back in July, but in this case, it is true to Bruce’s post.  Anyone who is trying to avoid Facebook who would like to see it can find it here.

This ends anything relevant on any Facebook page up until everything unfolded within the last week, so the next part of the timeline that follows, I’m going to mix posts from the REO Speedwagon Facebook Page and Bruce’s page in chronological order, rather than separating them out.  I will also attempt to hot link the individual posts to the dates here (Tumblr tends to limit how many of these I can do, which is why I have saved that for the most pertinent posts).

-On September 14th, 2024, on the REO Speedwagon Facebook Page, Kevin made an announcement entry along with a performance video regarding the end of the Summer Road Trip Tour, and expressing gratitude for the good touring partners Train have been.  He then addressed REO Speedwagon having to miss the last two shows of the tour, revealing that he had emergency surgery, and suggested that he was making this post from the hospital.  Kevin then went on to leave this somewhat cryptic message, “I have so much more life to live, and have re-examined what I want to do with the rest of my time here, and who I want to be surrounded by while I do it. I need to be lifted by those around me, and in return, to lift them. I feel excited at the prospect of creating and playing the best music I have in me, with the best artists, musicians, and people who will have me.”

Many comments were left on the September 14th post, requesting clarification on what Kevin meant about this, as well as asking “What about Bruce?  When will he be back?”  

One person made a comment claiming that they had privately spoken to Kevin on Facebook, and that Kevin had said that Bruce had quit the band on his own.  Bruce himself came into the comments on his verified account to say that Kevin does not have his own Facebook page, and that it was a fake imposter account whom that person had spoken with, warning to look for blue checkmarks after the names.  In his first of two comments clarifying this, he noted, “I would NEVER leave the band.”  This was less than two days before major news came to light.

The speculation on this post inevitably led to the next…

-On September 16th, an announcement came up on the REO Speedwagon Facebook Page that most REO fans have seen by now -if not on the band’s socials, by many news articles featuring it.  This one was worded as if written by management.  It stated that if it were up to Bruce alone, Bruce would be back to touring, but “it’s not up to just him”, and stated that there was a consensus that Bruce could not perform up to expected standards.  It also stated that Kevin had never had any intentions of leaving the band, but then cited irreconcilable differences between Bruce and Kevin as cause that REO Speedwagon will stop touring at the end of this year.

Comments were disabled on this post, as well as the next couple that followed.  Many people still shared this post and commented on their own pages

—Bruce shared the post on his own page, expressing that he is heartbroken that it has ended this way, that he in no way expected this, and that he and Neal did everything to try and keep the band going after his recovery. (Should be noted that while Neal has retired from touring, he is still very much a member of the band with some background control).  Many fans commented on Bruce’s shared post, expressing anger toward Kevin, and some suggested that Bruce and Neal should find a singer who can do justice to Kevin’s voice, as well as a strong guitarist who can back them.  (To the effect of “Do what Journey did”, etc).  Bruce has said over and over again in responses to those comments that he believes Kevin is the voice of REO and that he will not tour as REO without Kevin, that he is protecting the legacy of the band and the wishes of Alan, Neal, and Gary’s family.  (Also, we don’t know if there’s some contractual agreement between Neal, Bruce, and Kevin as owning members where it’s a tiebreak situation, and Kevin can’t continue permanently by himself, and if Bruce and Neal refuse to do this.)  Even though he has been deemed healthy and ready to return by his doctor, he has said that if Kevin would rather “go solo”, he cannot stop him from doing so.  He has suggested through these comments that despite being upset, he does not want anybody talking disrespectfully about Kevin in his comments.

—A share that I will not be linking, but I have a screenshot of that anyone may request by DM, Eric Richrath, the son of late classic era guitarist, Gary Richrath, whom in the past has occasionally joined REO onstage for a couple of songs, shared the post, making some scathing comments about his feelings on the situation.  For the sake of keeping this part of the post neutral, and for the sake of his dignity, I will not repeat publicly what he said about Kevin.  The relevant point he makes is that he believes this is a sad way for the band to have gone out, that fans and the members deserved at least some proper farewell shows, and brought up the good point that Alan Gratzer and Neal Doughty may have wanted the opportunity to rejoin the band for a couple of songs at said shows to send off the band they founded in a good way.

…………………………………

Alright… phew.  That was already a lot.  Now, discussion, analysis, if anyone wishes to continue further:

From what I can understand from all this, is technically, Bruce is medically cleared to travel and perform, but he is under certain limits as to how he is allowed to perform.  For the sake of putting on a good show, is the show diminished somewhat if Bruce can’t jump around as he has in the past, or if he’s required to play sitting down for part of the show?  To a point, yes… However, this has been done before.  Members of various bands have sustained injuries before and have had to do this, and some found their ways to still make it fun.  (Actually, more recently, Bruce posted a throwback picture performing onstage, where Kevin was sitting down after injuring his foot, so this isn’t the first time REO has dealt with something like this… in the comments, when asked about Neal’s stance, Bruce stated that Neal is his best friend, and that Neal is “100% in [his] corner”).

And honestly, none of our aging rockers are able to jump around the way they used to.  That’s life, that’s fair whether anyone likes it or not, and that’s what’s going to happen.  Sure, I have more fun when I watch live videos of -say, let me pick on Heart, and compare just the videos from even the late 2000s/early 2010s to now.  Nancy Wilson isn’t kicking and jumping as high as she did less than a decade ago, but I still love her.  And she’s 70 -it’s lucky she was still doing that as long as she was, and that she can still kick at all.  I don’t see any reason to view Bruce any differently.  Now, maybe not ideal to continue for years like that, but for the sake of having some official farewell shows here and there, as many fans, and Gary’s son have suggested they would have liked to have, it would have probably been feasible.  It is worth mentioning that traveling for multiple shows in close proximity can be a little harder on the body (it’s ultimately why Neal chose to retire even though he can still play fine).  Bruce has traveled, per the timeline posts I went through, though there could be some valid risk.  Nobody’s necessarily saying that farewell shows would have to be close together, though -one a month in different locations could limit the toll of the traveling.

And then, the side of the issue with Kevin.  My intent here is to put this into an objective viewpoint, because some people who know me well may know I have some opinions about what happened in the past with Gary, and I’m not alone in that among REO fans -and I have seen it brought up in comments on Facebook.  Which is fair, and I especially find it fair for Eric Richrath to leave the comments on his share he did, after he had to witness the impact of that fallout on his father -but let’s put the situation with Gary aside and look at this as an isolated incident, because this is about Kevin and Bruce.  And while I’m not here to defend Kevin, I’m also not here to trash talk him -and I would discourage anyone who has decided to side against him to not go wild with negative comments, as Bruce’s Facebook comments have made it abundantly clear, he doesn’t want this.

Is it kind of cruddy for Kevin to just spring this on everyone suddenly the moment he decides he wants to do something else?  Yeah!  Could he have handled this better, and would it have been more fair of him to just agree to stick around to do even just a couple of official farewell shows?  Probably so.  But the reality is, while Kevin does share a great deal of what goes on in his life on REO’s official pages, there’s a lot we still don’t know about, because we don’t know Kevin.  We do know he recently had emergency surgery.  We don’t know what for.  We don’t know what’s going on in his life or his true health status, or whatever news he’s potentially been given.  Apparently, based on Bruce’s replies mentioning “going solo”, he’s decided he’s got other things he wants to do, and I hate saying it (because it breaks my heart), but we’re not going to have these guys around forever.  So again, while it would have been great for Kevin to stick with it for a farewell tour even just a week long, he’s got a need to do something else, and the reality is, there’s only but so much time he’s going to have to make that happen.  If that’s what he’s choosing to do with the remaining time he has where he is still able to perform, that’s a choice that has understandable and respectable merits, regardless of how much there might be to disagree over.

My advice to fans who have chosen to pick sides in this situation?  If you’ve sided with Kevin, keep your eyes out for whatever he’s going to do next.  It won’t be REO, but maybe it might just be something worthwhile -so give him a chance.  If you’ve sided with Bruce, and you feel the need to say anything, go show him some love on any of his socials, but please keep comments expressing frustration toward Kevin to yourself or to your own private posts away from him.  I cannot stress this enough (I’ll say it again), Bruce has politely suggested that he does not want that.  I imagine comments of such on his socials at this point are only serving to rub this in his face.  I can also imagine that if Kevin can see any comments like that, it’s only serving to fuel whatever animosity he might feel toward Bruce right now, and it’s making any small chance of reconciliation in the future smaller.  So please don’t do this. 

And for those neutral in the situation, let’s just stand back and watch this situation.  Give Kevin a chance, show Bruce some love…  Maybe Kevin will get whatever he feels he needs to do out of his system and will rethink things and decide maybe he wants to get together again for some farewells (situations in the past -including the fallout with Gary -have told that he doesn’t go back and change his mind after making a big change like this, but who knows… time will tell).  Hopefully, everyone will make good choices, and as the shock settles, “irreconcilable differences” may seem a bit less than they were in the moment.  We can only love these guys while we’ve still got them.  This situation is hard, and nasty thoughts aren’t going to make it any easier.  We know what’s said before every live performance of “Ridin’ the Storm Out”, and I think it holds true here as we process all this.

[ur-fav-sugardaddy-situation]

So.. have you found a way out of the subspace highway yet

Hey…

Ramona here.

I’m sure it’s a bit confusing to see me, but Wallace asked me to take over while he recovers-

Or attempts to recover, since Scott keeps pestering him with water and sonic facts

As you know, He was stranded in the Subspace highway.. On one of my early morning deliveries I found him.

He’s safe with me, any questions I can answer, or I can deliver a message.

However it may be delayed, since I do have work still

-R.Flowers

[stoneheart-paramour]

.

[herostoried]

would anyone like a starter from mirai / sir nighteye?? it's been a while since i've written him, so. ;w;

[good-beans]

💖

[m-rod-unofficial]

second ask to allow a spoiler cut! i was going to include a pic of vladimir and his stupid wig. but instead here's rin thinking about how long she has before the full moon <3

i've started working on a bloodrayne fic! it's very much a work in progress, though. and i need to rework what i have so far because five seconds ago, it occurred to me that KATARIN SHOULD BE A WEREWOLF. or whatever the romanian equivalent is. hold on. a pricolici. sure. i think that would be SO fun. and she could have easily been bitten and turned on a night hunt or something. apparently, you have to die with violence in your heart to be transformed. baby lunged at a wolf and it took a chunk out of her right before she killed it. check

OOO that's good. It'd be fun to actually see something done with the fact that the film is set in Romania. I guess it's because Transylvania is located there, and, like... it's about vampires? Idfk. 18th-century Romania is mentioned in every synopsis I've read, but it has almost no bearing on anything.

i like the idea of her being jealous because rayne can still mostly control her condition. like, sometimes it's instinctual, but katarin can't rein herself in like that. and she's terrified of being found out. another reason to deflect attention from herself by rigidly following all the protocols and trying to keep everyone's focus on the dhampir~ rayne figures it out pretty quickly, obvi. maybe they had a caged pricolici in the circus. a kid or something. or like just recognizes like. nobody at brimstone's noticed because they're all laser-focused on spotting vampires and meanwhile katarin is taking night watch alone on the full moon and only eating steak cooked blue in the mess hall or something. i'll read more about balkan werewolf lore even though i don't think this is a canon that demands massive accuracy. funnily enough, i already found some bulgarian dude's blog post where he describes how children of vampires look and it sounded a hell of a lot like mrod. nice casting, uwe. i cannot imagine it was intentional

Yessss that's the good shit.

I do think it's funnier for all of Brimstone to unaware of Katarin's condition despite it being obvious. They only specialize in hunting vampires, after all.

I know she doesn't like people entering her quarters because there's massive claw marks in there. Vladimir notices some while he's speaking to her with door open only slightly, she starts sweating internally when he asks about it, and tells him the marks are from one of her blades. It's a dogshit lie. It clearly looks like an animal did it, but he just accepts it without a second thought.

also, after pricolici die, they return as vampires! my plan was already to have rayne come back for her corpse and resurrect her, so i figure i can keep that with some minor alterations to the ritual. that's good 'cause i've already written most of it. rin would be a standard vampire, though, not a dhampir, which i imagine would pose some interesting challenges. aside from realizing you've been transformed into the one thing you hate and fear most. the fic i have planned ends right before the resurrection but i'll keep what happens after in mind for another

I am once again asking to be notified whenever you post it. Please and thank you <3

Maybe I need to properly watch the movie again, but I can't actually recall what the differences between a normal vampire and a dhampir are ability-wise. They typically don't have weakness to sunlight like that dude Meat Loaf played, but when Rayne's transported to and from his place, they have her ass completely covered with a blanket. I dunno, maybe it'd burn her the way holy water would, but she wouldn't burst into the flames like a standard vampire? The rapid healing after drinking blood is something only she can do, I think.

Is Katarin gonna have one of those blood frenzies they mention freshly-turned vampires having? It would suck so hard to spend years trying to control yourself, then get turned into different creature and basically have your progress reset haha

And will there be any interaction with her fathuh after she turns?

oh, this is suchhh a good idea. and of course rayne hasn't been doing anything and had no idea katarin was dreaming about her in the first place. rin probably knows vampires can't do that, anyway. she's just desperate for an explanation. i think this should be why she goes to confront rayne in the middle of the night at brimstone. and then that can turn into the knifeplay scene i've already written <3

Fun! :) I like the thought of Rayne sitting in the mess hall in the morning, completely oblivious to Katarin staring holes into the back of her head from another table because she's still pissed about the gay dream she had about her.

i think it would be kind of ridic to demand immediate replies to my largely unsolicited frank & katarin ramblings. looking forward to your frank thoughts <3 i don't have anything specific in the works for him right now but i do want to write something else post-canon from his p.o.v. i really wish we got more of him just interacting with the world at large. he seemed awkward as fuck in the diner. he leans down so fucking far to drink from the mug hahaha

Have I mentioned before how I like when his eyes dart all over the fucking place while he talks to people? It's funny because I don't think he ever does it while he's interacting with other criminals, but when he's thanking Johnnie for letting him stay with her/speaking with the hospital receptionist/etc., he is struggling with that direct eye contact <3 Anyway. I would read a really mundane fic about him just going about his day, honestly.

God, I love the way he drinks his coffee. It's almost like he might just lean down to lap it out of the mug like a dog for half a second there haha