#Apparently Facebook is a family friendly Only Fans

[autisticwizardwritings]

HI HI HI HI HI :D

Can i get a total drama request about the contestants meeting Chris’ niece/nephew(gender neutral tho) preferably for world tour but any are good :)

Thamk you!!! :3

(Wasn't sure if you wanted younger, same age, or older, so I'm doing all three. If you want ALL of them, tell me! I just did these 3 for now since they're the only new appearances in World Tour, but I'd be happy to write more of the cast! I say it at the end too, but if you want this written in a proper paragraph style too I'd be more than happy to try to do so, just let me know!!)

Probably OOC 💔

Alejandro, Sierra, and Blaineley meeting Chris’s niece/nephew (no pronouns mentioned) (gn)

Younger (8-12)

Alejandro:

Extremely confused

Also fairly concerned

Why would Chris bring his own niece/nephew on this show at such a young age?

Even if they aren't competing. Should they really be seeing this sort of thing?

After finding out you're not part of the competition, he relaxes a little bit.

Apparently you're here because your mom/dad had to go on some big work trip, and since you were so young, you couldn't be left alone for that long.

Convinced that your parents don't watch the show, because no responsible parent would allow their child in that

Probably tries to talk to you, to get to know you.

Maybe even ends up seeing you as some sort of sibling after a while.

Will defend you if anyone else (*cough* Duncan *cough*) decides to be an asshole

Genuinely cares about you.

How can someone so sweet be related to *that?*

If you're a trouble child however

Makes sense how you're related to Chris

Still makes an effort to be nice to you considering you're only a child

Little minds are influenced by family, they can't help it.

Does tend to keep his distance more though

Probably pulled his hair at some point and that was it for him

Always ponytails it if you're there now.

Either way, if you get hurt somehow, he'd help.

Again, you're only little.

Even if you're 12. 

A little less worried in that case, since you're old enough to kinda look out for yourself

But still makes sure you're alright.

Sierra:

She already knew of your existence. 

Found your mom's Facebook page for info on Chris

Found you there too

Doesn't question the fact that you're here

Immediately wants to become friends with you

Probably smothers you with hugs

Suuuuper friendly

Constantly saying stuff like "Chris your niece/nephew is so sweet" even if you're basically the devil himself

"They could do no wrong ♡"

She's doing it because she genuinely thinks this, but also partially because she wants some "brownie points" or whatever the fuck they're called

Also trying to prove to Cody that she can "be a good mom."

He apologizes for her

If she wins a reward challenge, she'll 100% share whatever it is with you if it's child friendly

Even if you're getting the same good food as your uncle

Will make you dolls out of anything she can

And will want to play with them with you

Blaineley:

A child? Really?

What was Chris thinking?

No one wants to see a child on a show like this

Not to mention the grubby little hands

Doesn't want anything to do with you

Or she makes it seem like that, anyways.

If you get time where it's just the two of you, she's actually surprisingly nice.

Genuinely good with kids

Treats you like her own child

As soon as someone walks in she's back on the other side of the room glaring at you

Will deny this until she dies

If she finds out the fans like you 

Then she starts acting all nice and buddy-buddy on camera too

Not very genuine though

It's just like that when she knows she won't get poked fun of for it

Same age as (still younger than Blaineley)

Alejandro:

Couldn't really care less tbh

Another contestant

Another obstacle

For now

Still makes the effort to talk to you, to make you like him

Like he does with everyone there

The more allies the better right?

May possible try to woo you

With the idea in mind to get you eliminated

There's a possibility he does come to genuinely like you over time

But he'd never admit that

(Platonically or romantically depends on how you wanna read this)

Keeps you around for a little while after

Really not a fan of you at first though

Mainly because you're related to Chris

Who wouldn't?

With the reputation that man has, he's got every right to assume you're like he is

Hopefully that's wrong

If it is? Like I said, definitely starts to genuinely care for you

Actually tries to befriend you

Not just an alliance 

Not just for a scheme

Maybe a little schemey 

But not only for that.

If you ARE like Chris?

Not a fan of you then.

The whole robot thing hasn't happened yet since this is World Tour

But even then

He knows what an ass Chris is

That's an understatement

Really doesn't like you that much

But he still makes the effort to "befriend" you

Just to get rid of you, of course.

(Cannot write for this man to save my life, sorry if this is absolute dogshit)

Sierra:

Again, already knew about you.

Very excited to meet you, too!

She's the self proclaimed Total Drama Superfan, she HAS to know everything about you!!

Talks your ears off

All with good intention of course

She is absolutely ECSTATIC

You know in those cartoons where they shake someone's hand extremely excited and they just. It's almost violent

Yeah

Like that

That's how she shakes your hand when you're first brought on the show

I'd imagine you weren't brought immediately

Because like

Idk

I have no proper reason

Just for funsies

Before any proper eliminations 

(But after Zeeke's)

But yeah!!

Her Cody obsession is… off-putting to say the least

You stay away from her, or at least keep your distance at first

She keeps talking to you, being all friendly

And if you're not too scared of her

Then you guys could become friends!

If you keep talking to her on your own without keeping any distance?

Makes every day so much better for her

Probably used to people being weirded out by her

So you actually talking to her because you GENUINELY LIKE her? 

Bouncing off the WALLS

A friend! Yay!

Obviously Cody is still her #1 priority

But if you prove yourself, she miiiight let you in on a couple group hugs

Maybe

Blaineley:

Doesn't give a shit

Just like the younger version

But without the sweet bonding time

Doesn't like you very much

Might put on her fake little buddy-buddy act to stay on the good side of the media

Since you're probably "great for the ratings" 

Being related to Chris and all

Idk what else to put for her sorry

Older than them (17-19) (STILL younger than Blaineley)

Alejandro:

..why are you here?

Probably assumes you're an intern at first

Or here to help run challenges/watch them

If you're in the challenges, he finds it to be unfair

You're older, probably taller and smarter, and he's CONVINCED Chris is giving you some sort of advantage

Still does his whole thing

But like. Not romantically.

If you're not in the competition?

VERY confused as to why you're here

You're not competing, but you're still back in the plane with them?

It just doesn't make sense to him

You're probably there to help out with challenges

If you're 17, and I'd assume still in high school, you might be there for volunteer hours or something

Since you're probably not getting paid either way /hj

Might attempt a flirting thing once or twice (if you're not older than 17)

Probably doesn't do shit though

Sierra:

Genuinely have no idea what to put here I'm just repeating myself

Again, already knows who you are

Basically just like the second one but more "respectful" (not really) 

Blaineley would've probably been suuuuper boring (even worse than her "same age" (technically still younger) one) so I didn't include it.

I'm sorry this is so shit lmao I'll probably try redoing it as a proper paragraph written fic/one-shot instead of this. That'll probably make it better. If you want that, please tell me so I can start it soon!! xx

[techn0cel]

My thoughts on Seung Hui Cho and Emily Hilscher

Hello everybody, I would like to start this post off by saying I’m very grateful for all the recent attention I’ve been getting on here. I don’t expect much engagement on this post but I want to share my thoughts anyways because it’s a very interesting topic. Today, I will be discussing one of the most popular and creepiest things about the Virginia Tech shooting which is Seung Hui Cho’s “obsession” with Emily Hilscher.

if you are unaware of who Emily Hilscher is, she was Cho’s second murder victim. Emily Jane Hilscher was an 18 year old freshman (born June 2nd, 1988) studying animal sciences at Virginia Tech. She was described as outgoing, friendly and imaginative by friends and family. Many people believe she was the first to die but that was debunked as she was alive for 2 hours before succumbing to her gunshot wounds. One last thing I mention before I start sharing my thoughts, Emily had a 19 year old boyfriend named Karl Thornhill, who was also a gun enthusiast just like Seung Hui Cho. Remember this because he plays a role later.

In earlier VT reports (circa April 2007), it was stated Seung Hui Cho was apparently “crazy in love” with Emily Hilscher and wanted to be in a romantic relationship with her. However, Emily had rejected him and Cho became enraged with her specifically, hence why he targeted her first. Emily’s friends deny these rumours and can’t recall her even being aware of Cho’s existence. It is still a mystery after 17 years if the two really were together or not, which could explain another motive for one of the worst school shootings of all time.

I had heard multiple interpretations of their potential relationship but I will be explaining the story that caught my eye. Reminder: everything I’m about to say aren’t facts and just how the story goes. Unfortunately, I lost the original source material a couple of years ago so a few details might be fuzzy but I’ll try to explain to the best of my abilities.

Cho (around 2006) often visited an animal shelter due to his love for animals, anti animal cruelty and potential veganism. Emily was a volunteer at this same animal shelter and over time she started to talk more with him to which he didn’t say much but listened to what she said. As the months passed by, Cho started to develop a huge crush on her and genuinely believed they were in a relationship. Cho began to stalk her and show up at her doorstep unannounced, he would send her weird messages on Facebook as well. Cho eventually found out she already had a boyfriend and was angry at Emily for “leading him on”. After this, Cho threatens her, makes sexual comments towards her and tries to isolate her from family, friends and boyfriend to which Emily cuts him off entirely. This was around the time he was planning the shooting and decided she would be the first to die for rejecting his advances. On April 16th 2007, his intent was to rape Emily first before killing her but didn’t follow through with that because of Ryan Clark interfering. He didn’t have enough time and so he just ran off after murdering Emily and Ryan. Many Virginia Tech shooting “fans” either believe Emily was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and that the rumours are bogus or that Cho did had an obsession with her. However, the stories do add up with Cho’s personality and it’s proven he had stalked women multiple times leading up to the massacre. It’s not out of character for both students to meet in an animal shelter, Emily was a kind person and would’ve felt bad for Cho since he was a loser with no friends. The only thing really stopping people from believing these rumours are Emily’s friends claiming she never talked about a “Seung Hui Cho”. Law enforcement couldn’t find any evidence to hint Emily knew Cho.

I’m in no way saying Emily’s friends are 100% lying but female victims of stalking by men are usually afraid to speak about the abuser to family and friends. She might’ve never mentioned him to her friends because Cho was clearly a mentally disturbed and dangerous man. There are many other reasons why Emily potentially could’ve stayed quite about her relationship with Cho which include fear of being judged/not believed or guilt. It also makes sense Emily’s friends DID know but didn’t want to make themselves apart of this whole thing. Being questioned in even some connection to a school shooting is terrifying, so I don’t blame them too much if they did really know and were just lying.

Cho was quite familiar with the WAJ hall area as we know, he had a previous stalking allegation from a woman that lived in that same building (November 2005). However, I need to acknowledge the other side’s arguments, Cho easily could’ve just saw Emily that morning walking to her dorm room and decided to kill her. Cho didn’t have to have a reason other than “practice”, It’s possible Cho never knew her. Something frustrating about this case is that every time you think you know something, there are a billion plot holes that can’t be explained easily. One of my mutuals told me they didn’t think Cho even knew of her existence before April 16th 07 and that it was a random attack. He was also 4 years older than her and was a senior by the time she started her first year. Virginia Tech is a massive school, having a population of over 20,000 students.

Remember when I said to keep Karl Thornhill in mind? Yeah apparently a few people who research this case believe Seung Hui Cho was aware of him as well. Karl Thornhill was briefly a suspect but was quickly ruled out as the shooter, he hasn’t made any interviews about what happened and it’s unknown what he is doing today. All we know about him is that he feels partially responsible for Emily’s murder.

“Karl’s been taking the situation very hard,” said Tori White, 19, a friend of Mr. Thornhill’s family, in an e-mail message. “He kept thinking that if he had just kept her in the car for a minute or two longer she’d still be here. I think he feels a bit responsible, though by no means is it his fault.”

The theory I personally believe, is that Cho was aware of her but she wasn’t aware of him. I believe Cho did like her but didn’t know how to express it, his previous love interests were either random girls he was stalking or completely made up in his head (Yes, I am looking at Jelly..).

Cho couldn’t take rejection and presumably wanted to have sex before he died, he hired a prostitute to dance for him but never actually had sexual intercourse with her. The woman claimed Cho was even “bored” during the session. Seung Hui Cho in general, is a very contradicting person and doesn’t make much sense even to someone who has been researching him for years at this point. We will never truly know what the hell was going on in his head and there’s such a lack of answers in the whole case. Obviously you don’t like to question people who lost a good friend, but VT university covers up so much stuff about this event that it’s hard not to. There really wasn’t much reasons for Emily to lead Cho on, considering she was in a seemingly perfect relationship with Karl. The two always cuddled on the couch watching movies on Sunday nights and were high school sweethearts.

In April 2012, this idea of Cho being obsessed with Emily was revisited in “Massacre gunman's deadly infatuation with Emily” written by The Standard. Emily apparently wrote on her MySpace page "I live, love and get booted (high, stoned or drunk) but eventually that will change... I now have a wonderful guy who is hopefully going to change all of that." somewhere before October 2006.

Liviu Librescu has been awarded for his heroism and talked a lot about outside of those weird Virginia Tech shooting forums online. However, I still believe Emily is arguably the most important victim of them all because she brings up a whole conversation of misogyny. I’m not saying Cho was 100% an incel or that was why he killed her, nor am I saying the other 31 lives didn’t matter as much because of course they do.

I think it’s important for women not to get involved with controlling, mentally ill men like Seung Hui Cho, it never ends well and your life always comes first. If you or someone you know are in an abusive relationship, male or female, please call a domestic abuse hotline. Stay safe out there everyone and thank you so much for reading!

[bunnygirl678]

putting this under a keep reading so if don't want to read about politics or religion don't look :)

(also friendly reminder that if something stresses you out, don't interact with it, even if pop culture tells you that you have to, including politics)

So I normally don't get involved with anything remotely political. I avoid the news, I don't discuss my personal opinions with most people. My overall belief is that the only difference between the two (American) parties is the color of their ties, because the same corporations line their pockets, and unfortunately anyone who makes it anywhere in politics is corrupt. This part isn't all that important just some background, with it being election season here in the states, I have multiple things blocked tag/content wise, I don't want to see it. For that reason I don't get on facebook, okay this is a whole lot of back story for the payout lmao.

I get on facebook to see the post my vet did featuring my dog and i made the mistake of scrolling. I see a bunch of posts about how horrible bankers daughter turned singer is (i'm not a fan of hers just to be clear, i change the radio and usually complain when she pops on), how her music is anti-God, anti-family ect ect ect, again i don't care. I looked up some of the lyrics and tbh this stuff is tame? Again I DO NOT CARE, i haven't liked her since her first song hit the radios.

Anyway, these same very evangelical people posted about her and how people need to come to God yadda yadda, how pure and Christian they themselves are, then they go on to post about 45 (trying to avoid this post getting pulled into any searches by content lol) apparently 45 has released (or is at least endorsing) a new bible, which besides being an obvious play for money and votes, it's extremely sacrilegious and offensive. Had anyone else been pushing this, there would have been widespread calling them the anti-christ, instead evangelicals are acting like this is a sign from the lord himself.

i'm lutheran, i take the sacraments, i pray, i read the bible, and i'm so angry that people think this is okay. holier than thou people too, it's so infuriating. sld;kfjsdlfkj how can people say he's a god fearing man?? like he obviously doesn't fear god, if he did he wouldn't be putting out a bible that throws in american nationalism.

"There is neither Jew nor Gentile, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" Galatians 3:28

wonder if 45 took out that verse, and it's kjv arguably the worst translation. skdlfjsdflkjsdfkljsdfjlk

might delete this idk i'm very annoyed; (and for the record my opinion is typically 'the government should have no say in private lives, and they should be forced to spend money like someone with 20.00 in their checking account')

[hanasampaguita]

So my bf just explained only fans to me. His summary:

It's like Facebook but for adults only

...is it just me or is that absolutely not how it is like

[lovecolibri]

I'm actually more inclined to believe if there was a third spin off it will actually be in Boston. And thats why you dedicate a whole episode there. I also think the cast has been supportive of her because the knee there would be a fan backlash. I dont think it will last long because we have Buddie interactions coming and they knew they needed to just buffer her maybe for a week or 2.

Also think they could be plucking her for another show. Like how Ryan came in for one the. They were like we need you on 911 instead.

Okay, so that was absolutely my first thought too since we have Eli there that's a known face that we associate with Chim (where he's been a good friend and mentor), that will get to be more known in this episode, but that has little enough screentime overall that you wouldn't need to know anything about 911 to start the spinoff, as I mentioned in this post. Now, apparently someone (LS co-showrunner maybe?) mentioned if they did one, they would want to do it in Florida, so that's made me reconsider a bit, plus I don't think they've already got it in the works or we might have heard already that FOX greenlit the filming of a pilot episode. But I don't actually know how ANY of this stuff works, so definitely do not quote me on any of this.

And you're right it could be actors supporting each other, they could all genuinely be friendly and enjoyed working together, we just don't know. 🤷‍♀️ And I think the backlash *may* die down after we get Madney, when we see Chim back at work, and when we see Buck in the room (OMG he is IN THE ROOM Y'ALL!), however that is also entirely dependent on how much she is in the episodes, and how much of that time is spent flirting and interacting with Buck. Because the casual viewers HATE her already since on top of her character being brought on to make Buck cheat, and on top of the 700 interviews, viewers have BEEN tired about not getting to see storylines for the characters they watch the show for, our main characters! And now, L after ONE episode and a couple of scenes is already suffering from "girl eating crackers" disease.

NOTHING she does is going to be liked by the general audience, especially not all the Facebook moms in their 30s who project onto Buck's love interests and imagine their husbands were gentle and kind and loyal and caring and great with kids like him. Because now, she is The Other Woman they all live in fear of that makes their husbands "feel alive" again. She could rescue a kitten from a low tree branch, she could save a child from certain death, she could stand in the background of a shot doing literally nothing, and people are going to hate her for it. I honestly don't know why they thought this wouldn't happen, it's literally the only response you could get out of this mess 🤷‍♀️

So who knows! You could be right and they are going to pull her for another project, they could be working to fit her into a Boston spinoff because they could easily incorporate her whole cop family KR and AK threatened us with being introduced too, IDK. But I DO know, that if they try to put her on a spinoff as this character, it's dead in the water before it started, OR if they pull her to a new show as a new character, many fans will still be pissed about seeing her face and won't want to watch her even if she's doing something else, at least not right away. They'll just be happy she's going and wish her good riddance.

[kuramirocket]

This is going to be a story about why I’m choosing to play for the Mexican national team over the U.S. But while I have your attention, I also want to talk about something deeper.

I want to talk about my experience as a Mexican-American in the United States.

And I want to talk about depression.

But to really get it, you have to understand what I’ve been through, because it’s been a long path to get here. You have to know about my hopes and dreams.

You have to start in Oxnard, California.

When you grow up with Mexican parents in Oxnard, you’re not really living in the United States. You’re in Mexico.

My home was very Mexican, too. After my dad had come home from work and eaten dinner, he would put on a Mexican movie or — even better — a Mexican league game. And if he was really lucky, Chivas would be playing. My dad loves Chivas. My grandpa supports Chivas, too. You can basically go through my entire family tree, and everyone will be a Chivista.

So naturally my dream was to play for Chivas.

That, and to play for the Mexican national team.

I think a lot of my dreams were shaped by my dad. He had been a goalkeeper in his Sunday league team, so when I was four, I chose that position, too. He would always analyze the goalkeepers. We’d be watching a game, and he’d tell me, “You need to be like that guy. Look how good he is!” And I really wanted to be like those guys. I knew every goalkeeper from every team. I especially wanted to be Guillermo Ochoa.

Anyway, when I was 14, I got to play in the Dallas Cup with a local team. Thank God I did well, and I was spotted by L.A. Galaxy, Real Salt Lake, Monterrey and Chivas. The Mexican national team had scouts there, too.

When I went to live at the Chivas academy in Guadalajara, they were so proud of me. My Facebook was bombarded with messages. ¡Mi hijo, que orgullo!

Chivas was my club, and I was playing for the Mexican youth national teams, so I was really close to making my dreams come true. I just couldn’t lose this opportunity.

Sadly, it never worked out because some FIFA rules stopped me from playing in the Mexican academy league as a minor. So I returned to the States, and luckily another door opened: I joined Real Salt Lake Academy. Things actually fell really nicely into place there. The academy was run by Martín Vásquez, who was a Mexican-American as well, and his staff all spoke Spanish. The goalkeeping coach was Mexican too.

In Utah, my performances led to a call-up to a Mexican U16 camp. I was about to go, but Real Salt Lake needed me for a tournament at the same time.

I did really well there. I was even called up to another camp to prepare for the U17 World Cup. But that’s when things got difficult. I was trying too hard to impress the coaches, and I ended up making silly mistakes. Off the pitch, I didn’t feel at home at all. There was nobody there who really understood where I was from, or even who I was.

That was the second time I felt depressed. Again I was working so hard without seeing results, and I got anxious about what would happen if I failed. Part of the reason was also that I didn’t actually know what was happening to me. I didn’t know that I was depressed. I just knew that I was hating my life again.

But then I got up to the U18s, and I met a goalkeeping coach named Des McAleenan.

He was Irish, but he had worked at an academy in Mexico, so he spoke fluent Spanish. He knew all of the goalkeepers in the Mexican league. We would discuss the games, the saves, everything. He would go out of his way to talk to me. He would hug me. He just got me. He believed in me. I trusted him with my whole life.

I loved his way of working. It wasn’t technique-based, it was more like flying everywhere and making big saves — the Mexican way. In the U.S. it’s more about gym work and technique. Mexican goalkeepers are skinnier and flashier, and I wanted to be like that. Sure, maybe they can be too flashy sometimes, but that’s why you fall in love with it, right? You want to pick that ball out of the corner and hear everyone go Whooooaaa!!

I became the locked-in No. 1 for the U.S. U18s. Then I was bumped up to the U20s for the U20 World Cup. There were more Mexican-Americans there, like Alex Mendez and Ulysses Llanez. These guys were just like me.

But then Des left to coach for the Colombian national team.

Des kept calling me every month. He kept watching my games. He was coaching players who had made it in the big leagues in Europe, and he would tell me, “You can be better than them. Not as good as. Better.” 

In February, I got the news that Des had apparently taken his own life.

Then I began to look at my own past and recognize that, yes, I had been dealing with depression, too. It’s weird, because when you’re playing soccer, you kind of go on cruise control, and then suddenly two years have passed. But now I could see the symptoms. I had been suffering, but I hadn’t fully understood what I was going through.

Thankfully, the dark thoughts belong to the past.

Last May, the U.S. called me up for the Nations League. Mexico had been knocking on my door for a year, and deep down that was still my dream.

The final against Mexico was weird. Sitting on the bench, I was obviously rooting for the U.S., because I was part of the team. But something in my heart was like, Wow ... these Mexican players are the ones I grew up watching on TV. Guillermo Ochoa was playing. I really felt that Mexico had a place in my heart.

In the end, I became the only player in the camp not to play a single minute. I did really well in training, and I wanted to show what I could do.

When we met Costa Rica after the tournament in a friendly, I was thinking, They have to give me this game.

We were playing where I play home games with Real Salt Lake, in front of my own fans.

At one point, the crowd was chanting for me to come on.

But it never happened.

I’m not gonna lie about it: I was frustrated. I was angry. I felt like they didn’t really believe in me. So when Mexico invited me to a training camp before the Gold Cup, I felt like I had been given the green light to say yes. Tata Martino had coached Barcelona and Argentina — and now he was saying that he believed in my potential. So I went just to train and check things out.

I enjoyed the Mexico camp so much. Nobody was calling me gringo. They were all talking to me, trying to get to know me, and I’m talking about the big guys as well. Héctor Herrera followed me back on Instagram. I know it’s funny how much I look into that, but it really makes me feel like, O.K., this guy is at Atlético Madrid, but he knows who I am. Guillermo Ochoa wasn’t there, but Talavera, Cota, they all were. The players who had been my heroes when I was a kid were right in front of me. They were my teammates.

After three days, I knew I was making the switch. I felt appreciated not just for the goalkeeper I am right now, but for the goalkeeper I can be, you know?

And I realized that, no matter how much I try, I will never be fully American.

So it’s about where I feel more comfortable, and something inside me feels more at home with the Mexican players. They are loud and fun and outgoing.

They even make me feel like I did when Des was around. And at this stage, that’s what I want to feel. I want to feel loved, and at home.

Basically, after all that’s happened, I just want to be happy.

So that’s why I’m choosing Mexico

I have another dream, by the way. I want to become a role model for Mexican-American players. There are so many talented kids playing soccer in little cities like Oxnard, but nobody seems to see them. There are more than 35 million people living in the U.S. who were either born in Mexico or have Mexican origins, but hardly any of them are playing soccer professionally here. It’s really weird, right? There should be many more.

So I hope I can play a part in changing that. I hope that Mexican-American kids can see what I’m doing and think, Wow, maybe I can do that, too.

Maybe some will even watch soccer on TV and say, “Dad, I want to be that guy!”

A kid from Oxnard.

A goalkeeper for Mexico.

A proud Mexican-American.

[beerandpresentdanger]

A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Almost Certainly Do Again

A lot of people die on cruise ships.

Some - a worryingly large number in fact - fall overboard, though this is a relatively rare occurrence in the grand scheme of things. A few will suffer freak accidents. Then there are those that just disappear, into the gap left by millions of square miles of desolate ocean and the vagaries of international maritime law.

But most just die of natural causes. A lot of people who go on cruises are old, and many aren’t in particularly good health. Give them an extended period of overindulgence and a melting-pot of germs, and it’s only natural that some will go out in style. Every cruise ship has a morgue tucked away on the lower decks, somewhere between the laundry rooms and the mighty engines.

A lot of it will be down to booze. People really go for it on cruises. Most operators offer all-inclusive drinks deals, which, given the price tag, only encourage you to push the envelope (given the price, you generally have to drink at least eight to 10 drinks a day to make it value for money, if not more). Nearly every cruise ship has a plethora of drinking establishments - pool bars, piano bars, ersatz pubs, cocktails joints, people who come around to your lounger and offer you drinks, 24-hour room service. There are plenty of passengers who step off dry land and don’t get dry again until they leave. And why would you? You’re on holiday. Treat yourself.

So how does that square with Disney and their family friendly, squeaky-clean public image? You never see Mickey looking half-cut. In fact, Disney doesn’t even offer drinks packages on its cruise ships. But I didn’t let that stop me.

In fact, almost as soon as I boarded the Disney Magic on sun-blasted Miami morning in December, I was thinking about beer. My wife had joined a Facebook drink dedicated to our sailing, and found an old hand who organised a beer swap event for every voyage he was on (this was his tenth, as it turned out. Disney fans are nothing if not loyal). Disney’s policy lets you bring six beers on board for personal consumption, but the swap event encouraged you to share your haul on a table in the night club, then take it in turns to draft a new six-pack from the combined spoils. With most people bringing stuff that was local to them, it actually turned out to be a great way to sample new things - I took a bunch of Due South Caramel Cream Ale (a Florida brewery’s eyebrow-raising flagship) and came back with cans from Modern Times, New Belgium, Odell and Avery - a haul I couldn’t help but be impressed by.

In fact, despite the abstemious impression the House of Mouse gives off, there was better beer on the boat that initially met the eye. While the main bars offered beers for every taste - Bud Lite OR Miller Lite - the “Irish” pub, O’Gills, where I hung out to watch a disappointing NFL game, actually had an impressive list for a venue floating somewhere south of Cuba- Orval, Ayinger Celebrator and Saison Dupont to name a few.

I also had my reserve stash - ie, the six-pack my wife was allowed to bring on board, but had kindly gifted to me. The issue was when and how to drink it. Feeling self-conscious - and somewhat gauche - about glugging from a bottle of Dogfish Head BA Worldwide Stout, I found that the ideal solution was to decant it (let it breathe, if you will), into a styrofoam coffee cup, lid optional, or else the plastic cup that my daughter’s apple juice was served in at dinner. In that way, I was happy to pass the time on deck, lounging by the pool and watching whichever Disney classic they played on the big screen (a grim reminder of how many shipwrecks there are in Disney films), or indeed, in the cruise ship’s own cinema, enjoying a New Holland Dragon’s Milk while rolling my eyes at the Rise of Skywalker.

On shore, the options were a bit less intriguing. Apparently there is a “craft” brewery on Grand Cayman, but the only beer I ended up with on the island was Caybrew, the local lager, a musty, sweaty, earthy beer notable for its distinct lack of refreshment on a sweltering Caribbean day. On Castaway Cay - Disney’s private island, a former drug baron’s hideout that has been sanitised and dynamited by the corporation into a tranquil, tropical resort, the only options are macro lagers and gaudy cocktails with fruit and parasols and terrible pun names. If you want to drink good beer, you have to provide it yourself, but at least they let you.

David Foster Wallace famously decided that cruise life probably wasn’t for him, but he never had imperial stouts. He also didn’t have Goofy doing laps of the promenade deck in jogging gear, or a party night themed around pirates (which seemed in very bad taste - pirates are the natural enemies of sailors. It’s like mice having a cat party). Perhaps he would have thought differently if Rapunzel had serenaded him during dinner.

As for me, I’m already planning out my six pack for the next cruise. Some heavy stouts, some supercharged IPAs. Lots of flavour, lots of booze, but nothing too outrageous. I want them to be strong, but I don’t want to go overboard.  

[gcvalas-blog]

hi babes! i’m syd (or squid, you with the face, you know, whatever, i’m not a picky cephalopod) and i’m hella excited to be here! i’m very new to the whole, structured group rp concept on tumblr thing, so this is all basically a series of new experiences that i’m pumped to have with you all! anywho, if you wanna plot, come slide into my dms, either just in general or to get my discord i’m a paranoid cephalopod so i don’t wanna like, just have that sitting out where just anyone can find it !! without further ado, i give you jack!

[ michael vlamis, cisgender male, he/him, 27 ] FREEDOM by DOROTHY? whenever i hear that song, it reminds me of JACKSON “JACK” GAVALAS. maybe because they’re FREE-SPIRITED but also RECKLESS. they’ve been living at mulberry apartments since OCTOBER of 2018 in APARTMENT 507 and have 1 ROOMMATE**. ( LANDSLIDE, COME OUT AND PLAY) [ syd, they/them, 18+, pst ]

BASICS:

Name: Jackson Bennett Gavalas Nickname(s): Jack, Gavalas Age: 27 Birthday: July 7, 1991

BACKGROUND:

he spent most of his early years an only child, growing up outside of baltimore

his mom was never really in the picture. he doesn't know too much about what went down between her and his dad, but she gave full custody of him to his dad and vanished when he was just a few years old

his dad remarried, and jack found himself with a brand new baby sister (@ftspcncer) he absolutely adores to this day

he wasn't a bad kid, though he could be a little hotheaded, and chasing the next adrenaline rush sometimes had him returning home sporting some new scrape or bruise

he was and is a total nerd, though. he was on the robotics team in high school, and if his family had had the money to send him straight to university, he'd have been a mechanical engineering major

as it stands, he did well enough in school that he got scholarships from the colleges he applied to—they just weren't enough to offset the cost, and he wasn't going to put their family into debt if he could help it

instead, at eighteen, fresh out of high school, he enlisted in the navy—at first a five-year commitment as an engineman, which he then re-upped for another three years—and remained until he felt it was time to do something else with his life, upon which point he moved to baltimore proper

if you asked him why he enlisted, he'd say it was a way to jump-start his life without having to worry so much about the cost of it all, which would be true, but he also did it seeking adventure

he went out of his way to keep in contact with his family, sending emails, letters, postcards, and the occasional trinket from his travels, as well as doing his best to fit in regular skype and phone calls. and if he had more than a few days leave, you bet your butt he was coming home to spend time with his family

he's had some hiccups in adjusting to civilian life, still less than a year out of the navy. he's up at odd hours, sometimes, and the loose structure of day-to-day life (even with him taking community college classes as a full-time student) without specific checklists of duties can get daunting. those especially are the days he'll disappear into the gym or spend all day just driving so he can get out of his own head for a bit

PERSONALITY:

he's a thrill-seeker (always has been) and a fan of just being outside. he was the kind of kid who climbed trees and just kind of laughed it off if he fell out, and shrugged off most injuries. he's also the kind of guy who got his motorcycle license very shortly after his regular driver's license, had worked his ass off saving up for his own bike, and very happily used it as his preferred mode of transportation

he likes having other people around, even if he's not talking to them. jack and quiet spaces don't mix well—he'd rather go to a crowded park or a bar to do work for class than sit in a library

don't get me wrong, though, he's the grumpiest mofo without his coffee, or if he doesn't get at least three or four hours of sleep (or a combination thereof). he's a morning person out of force of habit, not of his own volition, and it's glaringly apparent when his equilibrium is thrown off

he can also get irritable if he's having a particularly bad tinnitus day. he hates having to ask people to repeat themselves, but sometimes he has to, and it puts him in a bad mood

he tries very hard to be an optimist with a positive outlook on life, which is absolutely hilarious when coupled with his foul mouth. he does his best to keep it to a minimum (or, rather, he tries to keep it on the tamer end of things, at least) but sometimes an f-bomb slips out in the middle of a perfectly good sentence in what might be considered 'polite company'

he can be a goof. he loves life and wants to just have fun with it. he is absolutely your best bet if you're trying to find a friend to go on a 2 am trip through the city for ice cream, or if you want to drag someone along to hit up every thrift store in the city (but also like, never play pool against him. he will hustle you, and he might not give you your money back once you realize he's actually really good)

he also has a huge heart. he makes friends easily and tries to make time for anyone who needs him around

that being said though he's kind of a commitmophobe. he draws the line at anything beyond fwb, especially after opening his heart to a guy he thought he really had something with who never called him back (who is one of his connection songs ;3)

on a related note, he has a heavy preference for dating men, though he's equal opportunity when it comes to bedfellows

he's just a huge puppy you guys (a friendly german shepherd puppy who cannot be left unsupervised because he'll get himself into some kind of mischief) 

ADDITIONAL (random) FACTS:

for a smart guy, he can be kinda dumb when it comes to technology, especially social media. he only has facebook down because he joined not too long after he enlisted, because it was the best way of keeping in touch with people coming and going with their deployments and stationings (someone pls teach him what twitter and instagram are)

he's still not quite used to cooking for himself. tv dinners and other microwavable goodies all the way, with the occasional boil-able frozen food thrown in (he'll get there eventually, he just doesn't often remember he has to make food until he's too hungry to go through the work of preparing a meal from scratch)

he has both the best and worst fashion sense. he's perfectly at home in steel-toed boots, snug jeans and a leather jacket, but he's also regularly wearing truly gaudy, loud print button-ups. it's kind of a signature look, at this point

he’s a baseball fan. he played club most of the way through school, and still kept up with the world series while he was deployed

he has days where he desperately misses being at sea. he has a hammock hung by the window in his room for the days he really needs to feel something similar to the sway of a ship on the waves, but other times he has to be down in the harbor, feeling the wind on his face and listening to the sounds of a busy port

he’ll answer to gavalas about as fast as if not faster than he will jack, and will answer to either a hell of a lot faster than he’ll answer to jackson

he picked up an infrequent smoking habit while in the navy. if you ask him, he'll say he's “pretty much” kicked it, especially now that he's out, as he was mostly a social smoker, but if you searched his room, you'd probably manage to find either a few loose cigarettes or part of a pack, which he's usually gotten off of someone else

[lynzuglyliar]

Lynz Way & Chantal Claret: Stalking & Online Bullying, A Masterpost.

This post is intended to document and expose Lindsey Way and Chantal Claret’s bullying behaviour, which has been discussed a lot on this blog and on others. In this post we touched on some of this behaviour, such as Lindsey using her art to mock Lucinda Montano and testimony from Lucinda that Lindsey and Chantal online bully fans.

You may also want to read our previous post about Lindsey’s estranged sister and mother so that you have some background knowledge needed for this post.

To cut a long story short, Lindsey dropped her mother and sister, Amy not long after Bandit was born:

It looks like Lindsey has dropped her family- they’ve met Bandit once. When her mother was sick, Lindsey didn’t get in touch. Amy thinks Lindsey is embarrassed of them. Not nice, but then again, a lot of people fall out with their families. So, if Lindsey doesn’t want anything to do with her family, then why does she continue to monitor what they do? Why does she share this information with her friends?

Here is an extract of the court documents between Frances Bean Cobain, Courtney Love and Frances’s ex-husband (Silva v. Love et al.):

Here is a screenshot of the original text messages between Frances and Lindsey (Way):

We have highlighted the areas where Frances refers to Lindsey’s sister and mom.

First up “even her go fund me pic is with the papa roach guy. That’s some stalkerish dedication right there”. What is Frances referring to?

Well, Amy just happens to be a big Papa Roach fan:

Please note the date of the court documents as September 2015. Why was Amy setting up a GoFundMe page? Well, at this time, Amy was single, around six months pregnant and working full time to earn money for the arrival of her first baby, as well as supporting and caring for her ill mother single-handedly.

Frances Bean mocking Amy for setting up a GoFundMe is all the more disgusting when you remember just how much she is worth from her father’s estate alone.

Also, when Frances laughs at Amy being “stalkerish” for using a photo of her with her favourite band, is she not laughing at all of us who have ever been excited to meet their favourite celebrity?

Luckily, she’s never done anything embarrassing like that, right?

No matter what happened between Lindsey and Amy, whether she did drop her family out of embarrassment or whether it was something else, mocking Amy with her friends is not cool. It’s mean, it’s nasty and it’s just the kind of behaviour that Lucinda said she was was responsible for.

Ok, so how about “our bloodlines suck”. I get that Frances had a turbulent upbringing with the loss of her father and instability from her mother. Lindsey’s dad was also absent for most of her life, but that’s not what Frances is referring to here, she’s directly referring to Lindsey’s mom and sister. What exactly have they done wrong? They weren’t ‘cool’ enough for Lindsey’s L.A. lifestyle. That’s it. Does that make them the same as a drug addict mother or a father who (no disrespect intended to Kurt) killed himself? Is getting a picture with your favourite band really that bad? Are their bloodlines comparable, really?

To our final point, Frances says, “anyway let me know what info you get about ur mom and sis”. Not only does this look like Frances is fishing for more of Amy’s “stalkerish” behaviour to laugh at, but it suggests that Lindsey was actively researching what her mom and sister were up to and sharing it with her ‘coven’, despite taking nothing to do with them (by her own choice). Lindsey saw her sister’s plea for money to support her new arrival and help with her mother’s care and what did she do- laughed about it with her multi-millionaire friend. Classy.

So let’s take another look at that screenshot, because Amy isn’t the only one on the receiving end of their taunting:

Charlie is also being called out for her own “stalkerish dedication”- “it’s gonna be Charlie in 5 years”.

So, to Charlie. By now you’ve probably heard the Legend of Charlie. She’s famous in the MCR/MSI fandom (mostly for the wrong reasons). We believe that she was one of the first victims of Lindsey and Chantal’s bullying. Here’s a quick recap (of what we know, anyway) about the Charlie saga.

Charlie was an MCR fan. She had a popular blog and was well-known in the fandom. Like most MCR fans, Charlie became an MSI fan when introduced to them through Gerard and Lindsey’s marriage. At 14 years old, Charlie even met Lindsey during the 2008 MSI tour:

In 2010, (when Charlie was 16) Lindsey Way and Jessicka Addams announced an art show. Charlie, being a big Lindsey fan, booked her tickets from the U.K. to L.A., excited to meet Lindsey again and see her art show. Lindsey and Jessicka ended up moving the art show to another date, when Lindsey heard that Charlie had already booked her flight, she kindly invited Charlie to visit her at the studio during her trip, since she would be missing the show. Here are some pictures from this meeting:

Lindsey even gave Charlie this note after their time together:

But soon after this, things turned sour. We’re not exactly sure what happened, we don’t think anyone but Lindsey and Charlie know the full story. Some people speculated that Lindsey wasn’t happy that Charlie posted the letter seen above. Anyway, there was a backlash against Charlie. Her and her friends’ Tumblrs were hacked and their private conversations were leaked, including this one:

You can imagine just how much flack Charlie got after this message was leaked. Also, please note that ‘fandom mom’, agony aunt and Lindsey’s “lady-friend”, Anna posted this, despite being around 10 years older than then teenage Charlie. Nice.

We’ve tried to avoid mentioning Charlie on here and contrary to popular beliefs, such as this one:

 .... it’s not because we think she’s completely innocent. Certainly, she did some problematic, ‘fangirly’ stuff. But so do most fandoms and it’s not like Anna wasn’t doing exactly the same thing. Mainly we’ve tried to leave her out of it because she’s not a public figure and because she’s had enough shit from the fans as well as Lindsey et al. especially from her BFF, Chantal Claret.

It has been widely speculated for years that Chantal has set up fake Twitter accounts to bully fans. So after we saw this Twitter exchange (below), we thought it was time to bring Charlie’s story to the forefront. Please note that Charlie is now more or less out of the fandom and this post is in no way intended to drag her back into this mess.

So why would Chantal be so intent on bullying Charlie, one of Lindsey’s biggest fans?

We did a bit of digging and we’ve traced it back to a Vimeo video that Charlie and her friend made when they were 16. We remember seeing it years ago, but we think it’s been deleted now. Here’s our best recollection of it: in the video Charlie’s friend (sorry, we don’t know her name) talked about how she was friends with Donna Way on Facebook (please note: at this time, Donna accepted most requests from MCR fans on FB). Apparently, Donna had taken a shine to the girls and invited them to stay with her in New Jersey. Charlie and her friend were talking fangirly shit about how funny it would be to be invited to Gerard’s old house and maybe even stay in his old bedroom. Not the most mature thing, but it was typical shitposting talk that you’d expect from a couple of excitable teenagers. It was a video for their friends, after all.

Unfortunately for them, Chantal was up to her private investigator work (much like when she made the nowaymikeyway blog with Lindsey) and set about making sure the video went public and everyone (including MCR members and Charlie’s then-boyfriend) knew about it:

As you can see, this is the account ‘morrisseystears’ that Charlie and @poisondwarfiero were discussing in the twitter exchange above. We can’t 100% prove that this was Chantal but knowing her behaviour, Charlie’s confidence that it was her and based on these tweets (below), we are convinced that this was one of her many sleeper accounts.

“#HiC” clearly means Charlie and “stay on the internet and stuck in their houses” refers to Charlie dealing with panic attacks and agoraphobia due to the fallout from her divorce from Lindsey and the MCR/MSI fandom.

Can we also talk about Chantal’s use of the term “skin wearers”? Does that sound familiar? It should. It’s what Lindsey and the rest of the spooky pie coven refer to their fans, fans like you, as:

So, if you’re a fan of Lindsey, be sure to know that this is what her and her friends call you. Cute. Wonder what other terms of endearment they have for fans?

Here’s some more proof from Lucinda that Chantal and Lindsey bullied Charlie (although Jessicka has since owned up to also being part of the group that bullied her). In our previous post, we blanked out Charlie’s name as we didn’t want to cause her any more upset. However, we now think that her story should be told as it is an important part of demonstrating how cruel and conniving the ‘coven’ can be:

Chantal’s bullying was so bad, referring to people (mostly teenagers) as “cunts”, “bitches” and “whores” that she’s now deleted all her tweets from before 2016/2017. She’s also fallen out with A LOT of people, including those who used to be her close friends. See this friendly twitter banter directed at Chantal from Giuliana Mayo:

Fast forward from February 2013 to September 2013 and we have this:

and this:

Also, notice Jessicka sticking up for Chantal and claiming that she is not a bully (lol). This is the pack mentality of the coven. But now they’ve dropped Jessicka and are online bullying her with references to her mental health.....

Anyway, we digress.... But it wasn’t just Chantal that bullied fans online. Christian Addams, Jessicka’s husband also got involved in the bullying of Charlie, a 16 year old fan (who is British btw) :

Considering that Lindsey followed all these people at the time - Jessicka, Christian, Chantal - there’s no way that she didn’t know that this bullying was going on.

It doesn’t end there though the @JOJrobot twitter account was also used to bully fans (along with another account @CourtneyThug- now deleted and owned by someone unrelated to this mess). Jessicka claims that she did not run the JOJrobot account but it has now been re-appropriated to the @JOJ_official account (that she ALSO says she doesn’t run... funny that). You can see that here:

So Chantal was @Morrisseystears, Jessicka was @JOJrobot, meaning that Lindsey was most likely @CourtneyThug as these accounts would ‘tag-team’ the bullying of fans, often interacting with each other. The JOJrobot account (as you can see is now @JOJ_official) was responsible for these tweets bullying teenage fans @ruthieforadream and @AyeraJeanGrey:

Notice that the JOJ account uses the same bullying tactics that Chantal implements, tweeting famous people that their target is fans of in order to embarrass them and maybe even get their idols to block them. This is a pattern of behaviour that can also be seen in CourtneyThug’s tweets. The @CourtneyThug account was equally as nasty and also targeted another teenage fan, all because they briefly followed an anti-MSI twitter account. They tweeted disgusting stuff about the people she/he was a fan of (another Jared Leto fan, not that that’s important though) and refused to back down, even when they unfollowed the anti-MSI account and begged to call a truce:

Not really related, but a bit of a lol, Jessicka the JOJrobot accounted tweeted to get self-promo for Jessicka:

and, even weirder, tweeted Eliza (Cuts) Siep (ex-girlfriend of Gerard Way and fanfic writer extraordinaire):

Since Jessicka has been booted out of the coven, she seems to regret her bullying past and is trying to make amends and distance herself from them:

So to sum it all up:

- Lindsey monitors the actions of her mom and sister despite taking nothing to do with them

- Lindsey and Frances make fun of Lindsey’s relatives

- Chantal is a bully

- Charlie isn’t the devil

- Jessicka was a bully, is now (hopefully) reformed

- Christian Addams was a bully

- Lindsey knew about the bullying and was most likely @courtneythug

These women in the ‘coven’ are still operating fake and sleeper accounts. To our knowledge (and we will update if anything changes) these are their current sleeper accounts-

Lindsey Way- @weirdtrufax on Tumblr and Twitter (previously @ratsinyourwall on Tumblr and @ceilingrats on Twitter) also @Vee00181 on Twitter.

Chantal Claret - @mcrIord on twitter

[the-end-of-art]

I need to take care of the people who took care of me

From I Found the Best Burger Place in America. And Then I Killed It. by Kevin Alexander

Apparently, after my story came out, crowds of people started coming in the restaurant, people in from out of town, or from the suburbs, basically just non-regulars. And as the lines started to build up, his employees -- who were mainly family members -- got stressed out, and the stress would cause them to not be as friendly as they should be, or to shout out crazy long wait times for burgers in an attempt to maybe convince people to leave, and as this started happening, things fell by the wayside. Dishes weren’t cleared quickly, and these new people weren’t having the proper Stanich’s experience, and Steve would spend his entire day going around apologizing and trying to fix things. They might pay him lip service to his face, but they were never coming back so they had no problem going on Yelp or Facebook and denouncing the restaurant and saying that the burgers were bad. And then the health department came in and suggested they do some deep cleaning (he still got a 97 rating, he told me), and the combination of all of these factors led Stanich to close down the restaurant for what he genuinely thought would be two weeks.

This, I tell him, actually sounds like it was my fault. I put a target on their back by naming them number one, and that influx of people messed with the way they’d been running the business for decades, and all that could literally be blamed on me, if you were going to blame someone.

“No, no, successful people don’t blame others,” Stanich told me again, though this time he wasn’t looking at me.

And then, in a quieter voice, he started to explain why it wasn’t just two weeks. He asked me not to reveal the details of that story, but I can say that there were personal problems, the type of serious things that can happen with any family, and would’ve happened regardless of how crowded Stanich’s was, and that real life is always more complicated and messier than we want it to be. Stanich explained that, as these issues were going on in the background, it was hard to read the social media screeds attacking them, and listen to the answering machine messages at the restaurant calling him a fat fuck and telling him to fuck himself for closing his own restaurant. He didn’t care about them, he insisted. He only cared about people like that woman who’d shown up, the regulars who live in NE Portland. “I need to take care of the people who took care of me,” he said. “They don’t turn on you.”

This was the same sentiment the chef at Paiche had expressed, and that I’d heard from others. If there was one main negative takeaway from the raging fires of food tourist culture and the lists fanning the flames, it was that the people crowding the restaurant were one time customers. They were there to check off a thing on a list, and put it on Instagram. They weren’t invested in the restaurant’s success, but instead in having a public facing opinion of a well known place. In other words, they had nothing to lose except money and the restaurant had nothing to gain except money, and that made the entire situation feel both precarious and a little gross.  

(...) And that fact is the thing I can’t quite get past. That a decision I made for a list I put on the internet has impacted a family business and forever altered its future. That I have changed family dynamics and relationships. And it could very easily happen again.

I’ve been asking myself what the other side of this looks like. How do I do this better? Is there a way to celebrate a place without the possibility of destroying it? Or is this just what we are now -- a horde with a checklist and a camera phone, intent on self-producing the destruction of anything left that feels real, one Instagram story at a time?

Clearly, I don’t have an answer. I understand there are larger forces involving tourism and technology and society writ large at play here, and I’m not enough of a hypocrite to turn this into a morality play about the internet and the consequences of our actions, but maybe if we were all as kind to each other as Steve Stanich has been to me, we might just survive this apocalyptic puddle of shit we currently find ourselves in.

(https://www.thrillist.com/eat/portland/stanichs-closed-will-it-reopen-burger-quest?fbclid=IwAR1Nno_Tudejg1cbLVCMhFvSDQfdmHNxOd-xswEEO0cGwmqaPmB_K6DQ56A#)

[bloojayoolie]

Apparently, Cats, and Children: 10 yrs old 1.8ths-Walang on Loce @ 7MafalanACC Stunna # 46610 Lovely older Gent! Stunna was a family dog all his life. He is great around kids, lived with a small dog, he is strikingly handsome, very smart and friendly and has been great in playgroup with other dogs. TO BE KILLED - 11/16/2018 Sweet Senior Stunna <3 Exceptionally handsome, friendly, well behaved playgroup greeter - You will be absolutely stunned when you meet him! A volunteer writes: I remember seeing at the Smithsonian Museum, in a display about "Dogs of War", an Amstaff who just looked like Stunna. Yes, this is exactly what our Stunna is besides being a boroughbred, an Amstaff, majestic, noble, loyal, well mannered and trained. Stunna is 10 year old and was a family dog all his life, always welcoming of strangers, great with kids, happy with his little female housemate and very loving to his family. He is described by his former owners as a "big fluff" sleeping in their bed, under the cover. I have been so impressed by Stunna's looks, his perfect manners, the way he sits right away, his excellent leash manners, his sociability and friendliness with people and dogs alike. Stunna has been beautifully cared for and raised to be a well rounded pet who will be the joy and pride of a new owner or family. Come and meet our gem, Stunna at the Manhattan Care Center! He is the friend you have been dreaming of! Volunteer Georgia Richmond writes: Stunna is a lovely older gent, a happy explorer in the park and a fun friend in the yard. He's strikingly handsome and very smart, independent but social too. Join the Stunna fan club today! Manhattan ACC Dog Volunteers: Dedicated to The Ones We Love Facebook-Page writes: There's no bigger joy than welcoming a senior into your home, one who was surrendered due to housing issues, lived with young kids and a small dog, is house broken, good on leash, lively, friendly, well mannered and has been great in playgroup with both males and females. Seriously, what's not to love about Sir Stunna! VIDEO: Stunning Stunna <3 https://youtu.be/m53Bg1XvIc4 Stunna ID# 46610 Manhattan Animal Care Center 10 yrs old, 51.8 lbs Brown Male Seize: Large Owner Surrender Reason: Landlord Issues Intake Date: 11-06-2018 SHELTER ASSESSMENT ~ EXPERIENCED HOME OWNER NOTES Basic Information: Stunna is a 10 year old male unaltered brown and white large mixed breed dog. Previous owner got Stunna from a friend about 8 years ago. She has had Stunna for 8 years and surrendered him over to ACC because of her living situation. Previously lived with: 2 adults, 1 dog How is this dog around strangers? Around strangers, Stunna is friendly and outgoing. He will greet strangers with a wagging tail and happy "smile" How is this dog around children? Stunna has been around 2 children between the ages of 5 months and 2 years old. He is friendly, respectful and plays gently with these children. How is this dog around other dogs? Stunna lived with a small female dog. He was playful and respectful of this dog. How is this dog around cats? Stunna has not been around cats. His behaviour is unkonwn Resource guarding: Stunna is not bothered if his food bowls/toys/treats are touched while he is utilizing them. He will bark if someone unfamiliar approaches the owner or the household. Bite history: Stunna has not bitten another animal or person before. Housetrained: Yes Energy level/descriptors: Very high, friendly, affectionate, playful, excitable Other Notes: Stunna enjoys baths and loves to be scrubbed. He enjoys being brushed and groomed. He has not received a nail trimming from his owners because his nails are filed down when he goes on walks. He enjoys being held and isnt bothered if he is restrained. Has this dog ever had any medical issues? No Medical Notes Stunna saw a vet last year and has no medical concerns or injuries that were reported at intake. For a New Family to Know Stunna is a Very high energy , friendly, affectionate, playful and excitable dog. He loves to cuddle in his owners bed and sleep under the covers. Previous owner explained him as a big fluff. Stunna loves to play with toys of all kinds and his favorite activity is tug of war. He is very housetrained and will rarely have accidents. He was taken on 4 walks a day. He knows commands such as sit stay and come. He eats dry food only and is given wet food as a treat. BEHAVIOR NOTES Upon Intake: Upon intake, Stunna had a loose wiggly body. He was panting and licking the air. He allowed to be collared, pet and placed inside of a kennel. Allowed all handling. Means of surrender (length of time in previous home): Owner Surrender (In home for 8 years) Previously lived with: Adults and a dog Behavior toward strangers: Friendly Behavior toward children: Friendly, respectful, and gently playful Behavior toward dogs: Playful and respectful Resource guarding: None reported Bite history: None reported Housetrained: Yes Energy level/descriptors: Stunna is described as friendly, affectionate, playful, and excitable with a very high level of activity. SAFER SCORES: Date of assessment: 7-Nov-2018 Look: 1. Dog's eyes are averted, with tail wagging and ears back. Allows head to be held loosely in Assessor's cupped hands. Sensitivity: 1. Dog leans into the Assessor, eyes soft or squinty, soft and loose body, open mouth. Tag: 1. Dog follows at the end of the leash, body soft. Paw squeeze 1: 1. Dog gently pulls back his/her paw. Paw squeeze 2: 1. Dog gently pulls back his/her paw. Flank squeeze 1: Item not conducted Flank squeeze 2: Item not conducted Toy: 1. Minimal interest in toy, dog may smell or lick, then turns away. Summary: Stunna approached the assessor with a soft body. He was social during the assessment, allowed all handling, and displayed no concerning behaviors. Summary (1): 11/7: When introduced off leash to female dogs, Stunna greets politely. Summary (2): 11/8: Stunna greets politely. Summary (3): 11/9: Stunna greets a group of female dogs politely. When one jumps up on the handler for attention he rushes over with stiff body. Summary (4): 11/10: Stunna greets male and female dogs politely and engages in brief play with a select male dog. Date of intake: 6-Nov-2018 Summary: Loose body, allowed handling ENERGY LEVEL: Stunna is described as having a very high level of activity. We recommend long-lasting chews, food puzzles, and hide-and-seek games, in additional to physical exercise, to positively direct his energy and enthusiasm. BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION: EXPERIENCE (suitable for an adopter with some previous dog experience, especially with the behaviors outlined below) Potential challenges: Handling/touch sensitivity Potential challenges comments: Handling/touch sensitivity: During his medical examination, Stunna displayed defensive behavior when restrained, growling, snapping, and thrashing. He appears uncomfortable with medical restraint. While this behavior was not reported in his previous home and has not been seen in the shelter other than during his medical exam, we cannot be certain if it will appear in other contexts outside of a medical setting. Future adopters should be aware of this behavior and note that Stunna may need to be muzzled or possibly sedated for veterinary exams. MEDICAL EXAM NOTES 10-Nov-2018 Spay-Neuter Waiver Documentation [Spay/Neuter Waiver - Age] It is the policy of ACC not to perform surgery on any animal over the age of 8-10 years due to the higher risks incurred in a shelter setting. The veterinarian is hereby issuing a permanent spay/neuter waiver, from the spay/neuter requirements of the City of NY due to the estimated age of this animal. ACC does recommend you consult with your veterinarian to determine if surgical sterilization is appropriate. 10-Nov-2018 DVM Intake Exam Estimated age: 10y Microchip noted on Intake? no Microchip Number (If Applicable): History : owner surrender Subjective: BARH, good appetite, normal defecations Observed Behavior - Needed to be muzzled, will charge and snap when held Evidence of Cruelty seen - no Evidence of Trauma seen - no Objective P = wnl R = wnl BCS 5/9 EENT: Eyes clear, ears cropped, mild cerumenous debris, no nasal or ocular discharge noted Oral Exam: incisors appear normal, could not see rest due to muzzle PLN: No enlargements noted H/L: NSR, NMA, CRT < 2, Lungs clear, eupnic ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated U/G: male intact, soft and symmetric testicles, no leakage and discharge MSI: Ambulatory x 4, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, healthy hair coat CNS: Mentation appropriate - no signs of neurologic abnormalities Rectal: visually normal Assessment Apparently healthy Prognosis: excellent Plan: medically cleared refer to behavior SURGERY: Permanent waiver due to age *** TO FOSTER OR ADOPT *** ASPEN IS RESCUE ONLY. You must fill out applications with New Hope Rescues to foster or adopt him. He cannot be reserved online at the ACC ARL, nor can he be direct adopted at the shelter. PLEASE HURRY AND MESSAGE OUR PAGE FOR ASSISTANCE! HOW TO RESERVE A “TO BE KILLED” DOG ONLINE (only for those who can get to the shelter IN PERSON to complete the adoption process, and only for the dogs on the list NOT marked New Hope Rescue Only). Follow our Step by Step directions below! *PLEASE NOTE – YOU MUST USE A PC OR TABLET – PHONE RESERVES WILL NOT WORK! ** STEP 1: CLICK ON THIS RESERVE LINK: https://newhope.shelterbuddy.com/Animal/List Step 2: Go to the red menu button on the top right corner, click register and fill in your info. Step 3: Go to your email and verify account \ Step 4: Go back to the website, click the menu button and view available dogs Step 5: Scroll to the animal you are interested and click reserve STEP 6 ( MOST IMPORTANT STEP ): GO TO THE MENU AGAIN AND VIEW YOUR CART. THE ANIMAL SHOULD NOW BE IN YOUR CART! Step 7: Fill in your credit card info and complete transaction HOW TO FOSTER OR ADOPT IF YOU *CANNOT* GET TO THE SHELTER IN PERSON, OR IF THE DOG IS NEW HOPE RESCUE ONLY! You must live within 3 – 4 hours of NY, NJ, PA, CT, RI, DE, MD, MA, NH, VT, ME or Norther VA. Please PM our page for assistance. You will need to fill out applications with a New Hope Rescue Partner to foster or adopt a dog on the To Be Killed list, including those labelled Rescue Only. Hurry please, time is short, and the Rescues need time to process the applications.

[villiansarepeopletoo]

To Infinity and Beyond: What to Expect in Toy Story Land

As a cast member, one of the best things about constantly being surrounded by Disney is knowing what’s real and what’s rumor. It was an awesome feeling scrolling through Facebook and seeing all these crazy rumors about what was happening in Disney World and knowing they weren't true (but sometimes wishing they were). I loved being in the know, and just as my program was ending, Toy Story Land was just beginning.

I moved back home the week Toy story Land opened, so I really wish I could've stayed just to go on opening day…But ill make it back down there soon to see what it’s all about. In the mean time I’ll live vicariously through all my friends that are still Making Magic. Through the help of Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and all these beautiful tools to post everything they are doing, my friends have kept me up to speed on how totally immersive Toy Story Land is, and it is definitely next on my to do list. I still think Andy’s Lunchbox was a lame idea and Disney World is more than deserving of our own Pizza Planet…But its fine. I’m not bitter.

From what I’ve seen and heard, Toy Story Land’s ultimate success has been in the atmosphere. The incredible, larger than life characters that are scattered throughout “Andy’s Backyard” are the perfect size to make everyone feel like they’re a toy.

“Toy Story Land…what an immersive area. From the moment you walk in you are treated like a toy! Your imagination gets to go places no where else in the parks takes you! Also, the Slinky Dog roller coaster is just enough more than a family coaster to keep the adults wanting more and just enough not to scare the lil ones. Such a perfect ride. My only negative would be that the “land” itself wasn’t as big as I had imagined it. It feels very small, and I assumed with me being a “toy” in a  backyard, that it would feel huge!” -Victor, Server at Disney’s Contemporary Resort

“I think it perfectly captured the essence of being shrunken down to toy size right down to the benches in the land. The benches made of popsicle sticks that still had colorful stains on them were my absolute favorite. It definitely met my expectations and slinky dog dash exceeded them! It’s a fun ride for the entire family and has children feeling like they’re on an exciting thrill ride without it being too overwhelming. I think it’s 100% worth visiting!” -Carlee, QSFB at Epcot’s World Showcase

Disney thinks of everything, I know my opinion is biased but...it’s true. Before I started my program, I hadn’t been to Disney in years. A lot had changed by the time I earned my ears and took my first trip through the parks. One of the biggest changes I noticed were the queues. Imagineers have gone out of their way to make almost every second of waiting in line both interactive and entertaining, and apparently it’s no different with the new attractions in Toy Story Land.

“One of the things I loved most about Toy Story Mania wasn't the ride itself but the queue. I always loved walking into Andy's room and with the size proportions actually getting the chance to feel like a toy. It was absolutely amazing getting to walk into Andy's Backyard and getting that same feeling/perspective in an even larger sense with such a big area. I also thought the queue for slinky dog did an awesome job of setting up the Story for the attraction with Andy's toy roller coaster building kit and walking through that. The ride itself had several surprises and I especially enjoyed the huge singing Wheezy animatronics at the end.” -Ron Server, at Disney’s Contemporary Resort

I’ve talked to so many people since the new attractions opened and there’s been a mixed bag of reactions. My last week in Florida, Disney was hosting a random selection of cast members to be chosen to test ride Slinky Dog Dash and Alien Swirling Saucers. Everyone was waiting for the email with their date and time and people were begging for shift swaps to go to opening day. That was a really cool perk for cast members, but everyone had different reviews about the rides. But none were as ready for it as my friend Kristin and especially Eric, who are both College Program employees. They both definitely went in with high expectations.

“Slinky dog dash to me is the cousin of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Its fun and at certain points, faster than expected. It has a lot going for it for the family perspective, but alien swirling saucers is clearly meant for the little toys. While the theme is enjoyable, alien swirling saucer needs a little more for the big kids. While it’s true that toy story land is family friendly to include younger kids in mind since the film is geared towards them, all the kids that originally watched the first toy story are just like Andy in the third film, in their 20s. It would’ve been nice to have a few more young at heart but “grown up” rides or other qualities to go off of. Given that, toy story is a fun spot to hit, but once you do it the first time, the second and third will feel just like another amazingly well themed area that Disney has pulled off but won’t be as busy as some of the other rides, like Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, located at Hollywood Studios.” -Kristin, Bus Greeter

“While the new rides don’t deliver top notch thrills like Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror, they are a genuinely fun pair of rides.

The thing that impressed me most about the land is definitely the theme inside of the land. The story behind toy story land is that you’re being shrunk down to the size of a toy in Andy’s backyard and it does truly feel like you are the size of a toy. Between the giant wooden fence and the massive footprints on the ground from Andy’s shoe, it is an extremely immersive area of the park. And Disney didn’t skip on the small details either whether it be the fun Easter eggs you can try to find throughout the land or the fact that the railings near alien swirling saucers spell out their famous “Oooooh”

Toy story land in my opinion lives up to the hype and it adds in a new element to a park that was desperate for a jolt of new energy. I think this land will be warmly welcomed by fans of Disney and toy story and it is the perfect thing to hold crowds over until the real star of the future for Hollywood Studios, Star Wars: galaxy’s edge, opens late next year.” -Eric, Seater at the Sci-Fi Dine in Theater

The question I asked all these Cast Members was, “Is it worth it?” Is it worth the two and three hour lines, is it worth working through the masses of people? I think the general consensus was yes. It completely lives up to the hype. The expectations of high speed crazy rides in Disney World will always be let down. Disney targets “Safe-D Begins With Me” and entertainment for children. Are you really surprised the rides aren’t crazy? But their ultimate goal of making every guest feel completely transported into the world of Woody and Buzz was met with flying colors. And Hollywood Studios needed this more than any other area of Walt Disney World.

[livinginlandmarketing]

Bob Munson got in touch to tell me that he and Ritchie Valens had been pals back in junior high. Not only did Munson have stories, he had photos.

Days later, I was in Munson’s kitchen in the Murrieta Hot Springs neighborhood of Murrieta, looking at snapshots.

There was Valens in a dark suit for eighth grade prom at Pacoima Junior High, standing behind a girl in a dress, arms around her waist from behind. In fact, there were three similar photos, with three different girls.

“Ritchie had no problem finding a date,” Munson says with a chuckle. “He was very popular with the girls. They all loved him…I don’t know which one he took to prom.”

Another photo has Ritchie seated behind a snare drum, looking at the camera, drumsticks in his hands. That was taken in the Munson living room in Panorama City, adjacent to Pacoima.

Munson’s dad, an electrician who had been in a band, had a full drum set in the garage. The snare kit was in the house, because Bob played. Ritchie noticed it and sat down for a lesson — more about that in a minute.

Murrieta resident Bob Munson, 79, shows his personal photographs of his junior high and high school friend Ritchie Valens Monday, Feb. 15, 2021 which were taken in the spring of 1957. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Another photo has Ritchie standing next to a car at the Munson curb. The final photo has Bob in the foreground walking into his junior high graduation ceremony, Ritchie right behind him.

The photos were developed in June 1957, according to the stamp on the border.

Munson had a Brownie camera, a boxy model with a built-in flash that was the starter camera of the era. He thinks he took all the photos except for the one at graduation, which his mother shot.

At the dedication of Ritchie Valens Park in Pacoima in the 1990s, Munson brought his photos to show Valens’ sisters, whom he hadn’t seen in nearly 40 years. He gave them copies and the negatives but kept his originals. Smart man.

Valens, of course, was the pioneering Chicano rocker who managed to write and record “La Bamba,” “Come On, Let’s Go” and “Donna” as a high school sophomore during a career that lasted only eight months. The 17-year-old died in a small plane crash in Iowa on Feb. 3, 1959, along with Buddy Holly, J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson and the pilot.

As a fan of 1950s rock who happens to cover the Inland Empire, I’ve been delighted to discover that Valens performed twice in Pomona, subject of one recent column, and that two Pomona High students got to meet and interview him, subject of another. To hear from someone in Riverside County who had known Valens was a kick.

Munson is 79, the same age Valens would be today. A retired firefighter and water plant operator, Munson has lived out here since the mid-1970s.

He and Ritchie met in seventh grade. “We were both 15 years old,” Munson says. Ritchie was living with his mom’s sister in Panorama City because of school district boundaries, Munson recalls. They became part of a mixed-race group that spent time together.

“We were the rough kids,” Munson says. “We had our little pack. He just kind of fit in. We got to talking and he just slipped in.”

Sometimes the teens would meet on a corner “to take care of business, if somebody had to fight somebody. It was all friendly stuff,” Munson says.

Friendly? He explains dryly: “It was junior high, we were all wired up.”

Ritchie and Bob would visit each other’s homes and sometimes sleep over. When Bob went to his part-time job at a sweets shop, he might give Ritchie a ride on his scooter. From there Ritchie could walk home.

Bob had a learner’s permit to drive. He and Ritchie ditched class on occasion with a few other kids to head out to the beach.

At Ritchie’s aunt’s house one night, the pair went into the garage at Bob’s instigation, climbed into the uncle’s Packard, which had the keys inside, and took a joyride down the alley before returning the car. Apparently no one ever found out.

“This is grassroots, where he started: the Packard, ditching school, the girls,” Munson says with a laugh.

He remembers the day at junior high — Jan. 31, 1957 — when two planes crashed in mid-air and some of the wreckage hit the school’s playground, killing three students. Ritchie was away that day at his grandfather’s funeral. Still, Valens avoided planes after that — although not the one he should have avoided.

After the graduation ceremony, Bob’s mother took the two boys to lunch. That fall they entered San Fernando High in Pacoima as freshmen. The student population was a mix of White, Black and Brown, lunchtime fights were common and police were sometimes called to break them up.

“You had to be tough,” Munson says of that high school. “Ritchie was tough. He could hold his own in a fight. He was strong.”

Ritchie had returned to living with his family in Pacoima and the two friends didn’t see each other as much.

Munson remembers a day in summer 1958 when Ritchie phoned and asked him to invite a bunch of their friends over to Bob’s bedroom to hear his first record. Ritchie’s producer, Bob Keane, came over with a test pressing of what was probably “Come On, Let’s Go,” which they played on Munson’s record player.

Afterward, Keane asked what they thought and if they’d noticed a mistake toward the end. He played the record again. Nobody in this teen focus group could hear what Keane heard, so the record was released as it was, Munson recalls. He put a copy on the jukebox at the sweets shop where he worked.

The record took off, and “after that, Ritchie was gone all the time,” Munson says.

On Feb. 3, 1959, a Tuesday, Bob and some friends had just pulled into a hamburger stand on their lunch break when the radio broke the news about the plane crash. In the backseat, a girl named Nancy who had dated Ritchie began crying. “That was a rough day,” Munson says.

He tried to go to the funeral that Saturday at St. Ferdinand’s but couldn’t find parking due to the overflow crowd of more than 1,000. So he followed the hearse to San Fernando Mission cemetery.

“Afterward a bunch of us hung out at his grave and just talked about him,” Munson says. “He was a sweet guy. My mom loved him. Just think if he had lived where he’d be now.”

We returned to the subject of the drums.

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“My dad taught him how to hold the sticks. He picked it right up,” Munson says, demonstrating the crossover technique at his kitchen table, one wrist over the other. “He had a rhythm for music.”

Valens apparently became proficient on drums, I told Munson. During the ill-fated Midwest tour, the drummer developed frostbite, so Valens, Holly and a third musician divided the drumming duties. A photo exists of Valens playing drums behind Dion and the Belmonts.

“I wonder if that’s what got him to play?” Munson says excitedly, breaking into a startled smile. “Wouldn’t that be something, if he learned to play drums from my dad’s kit? I didn’t know that.”

David Allen writes Friday, Sunday and Wednesday, which you did know. Email dallen@scng.com, phone 909-483-9339, visit insidesocal.com/davidallen, like davidallencolumnist on Facebook and follow @davidallen909 on Twitter.

-on February 18, 2021 at 08:28AM by David Allen

[thebestplltheories]

Farewell, Pretty Little Liars.

Today is the day that we must finally say goodbye to Pretty Little Liars. With its never-ending theories and constant renewals, the PLL endgame always seemed like an intangible, abstract and theoretical concept that is just so far away, that it will simply never come. It feels so surreal to say that today is that day, which again, over the years, was never in sight. I thought watching Pretty Little Liars would just be some light, weekly, background entertainment. On June 8 2010, I did not truly know what crazy rollercoaster I had stumbled upon. Through numerous ups and downs, these past 7 years have certainly been unforgettable. If you told me seven years ago that a television show will have such a positive impact on my life, I would have laughed at you and called you dramatic. Tell me that today, and I’ll smile in appreciation at the positive influence and power a television show can bestow upon its viewers.

Not every show makes it to seven seasons, particularly mystery shows. Seven years is a long time. I started watching this show when I was 13, and I am now 19. (I realise I am probably very young in comparison to most other PLL fans!) Just to visually see this: Pretty Little Liars was with me while I was 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19. These are arguably some of the most important years of one’s life. As I grew, PLL grew too, in a literal sense, as we got a time jump where the characters matured, but also in figurative sense, since the stories gradually shifted from being high-school oriented to dark and twisted themed through a demented dollhouse and a psychologically straining board game. All while PLL was on the air, I graduated from primary school and high school, started university, got my driver’s license, my first job, credit card, car, gone overseas by myself, and made life-long friendships. Achieving all that never was easy, but it was made easier by PLL. If I ever struggled in my personal development, I always had PLL to fall back upon for psychological stability and security, aside from general entertainment. A part of me sees the end of PLL as if the training wheels are coming off my bike: for 7 years, I was learning how to become a young man, and now that I finally am one, I no longer need this safety rock that is PLL in order to continue developing.

This long, personal post is dedicated to me and my seven-year relationship with Pretty Little Liars.

How I started watching PLL

On June 8 2010, a new show called Pretty Little Liars aired. My sister had her friends over and they were all obsessing over this fresh new murder mystery with a hot cast. But it was socially unacceptable for me to watch this show, since I’m a boy. “Are you seriously watching Pretty Little Liars with us? Don’t boys play PlayStation when they’re bored?” My sister laughed in agreement at her friend’s comment to me. (To this day, I am even shamed for my love for Selena Gomez as a person and her music, because she is labelled as a female entertainer.) So I left my sister and her friends alone to watch their stigmatised “chick flick” that was PLL. Apparently it was wrong of me to take interest in this show. But I wasn’t going to let the irrational comments of a group of girls stop me from finding out how Alison DiLaurentis disappeared. And so little 13 year old me began watching the episodes online, in my room, every week, once my whole family had gone to bed. I was careful to put my headphones on a safe volume, because I didn’t want the sound to pulsate too loudly from them, and I always had my computer screen positioned so that it can’t be seen by anyone who unexpectedly walks into my room. Shoutout to my sister, for indirectly introducing me to Pretty Little Liars, but shame on you for making me feel less masculine just because I enjoyed the murder mystery of a show with female leads. I never shamed her for liking Harry Potter; a movie series with mostly male leads. As of June 8 2010, Pretty Little Liars was my secret.

Tumblr

In my secret weekly viewings of the show, I eventually reached the point where I was so personally immersed with the intricate mysteries of Rosewood, that I needed to hear other peoples’ thoughts to see if they aligned with those within my crazy mind. When I wasn’t doing my homework, I was studying who could be this omnipotent and omniscient stalker and potential murderer. What’s so wrong with a guy wanting to get to the bottom of such a juicy mystery? Apparently, everything was wrong with that. So around the season 3 Halloween episode, I decided to unload my brain on Tumblr; a place my sister could never put a face to the person behind the screen - she could never know her little brother is talking about the “chick flick” that is PLL.

During the first few months, I was lucky if my theories garnered the slightest bit of discussion and attention; I considered it to have been a very good week when I received two messages. Since Tumblr was the only way I could talk about my secret, I persisted with the near-silence my posts were getting because I knew those two messages per week are better than the zero people I can talk to outside of Tumblr. Never ever did I think my blog will blow up into what it is today with tens of thousands of followers and hundreds of messages per week, literally. I’m saving the thank you’s for the very end, because my gosh, that is the most important part of this entire post.

Being highly active on Tumblr during PLL’s lifespan definitely negatively affected my viewing experience of the series. Every single day, I was answering questions, reading theories sent in to me, reading theories posted by other blogs, reading Tweets from the writers/cast and watching interviews from the writers/cast. Everyday. While that was all fun in the moment, I’d be lying if I said that knowing absolutely everything about upcoming episodes and reveals made the show more fun to watch. I was always up to date on every single theory and all of the latest leaks, news, spoilers… whatever. Absolutely anything PLL related, you can bet I had read it. In fact, since I joined Tumblr, not one single event that has happened in the show has truly shocked me. I was here reading theories that Charles is a transgender CeCe. I was here reading theories that Toby is just being A to protect Spencer. I was here reading theories that Spencer gets shot, because we paused the promos at the right frames and could see it happening. Heck, I knew Ezra was only writing a book, I knew A is someone named Charles DiLaurentis and I even knew Mona is alive and being held captive in a dollhouse, ahead of their reveals in 420 and 525 respectively. Not only did scripts leak, but someone who worked on the subtitles of the show leaked the content of the reveals. Being on this site, of course I saw these leaks and spoilers even despite my serious attempts to avoid them. It’s impossible to avoid spoilers since you don’t know it’s a spoiler until, well, you’ve actually read the sentence. Since joining Tumblr, I can honestly say that nothing in PLL has shocked me, so I can conclude that Tumblr did ruin the fun in watching PLL.

Having a less fun viewing experience was a small price to pay for what I received in return for signing up for this wild ride that is Tumblr. Call me obsessed with PLL, and yeah I guess I am, but PLL is merely just the topic of conversation, in this world we created for ourselves. More than PLL itself, I am obsessed with this loving community of fans uniting from around the world, bound by a common passion which places us all as equals who share a sense of belonging and worthiness. This loving and fun community is emphasised and taken advantage of every single day - not just the days a new episode airs. Every. Single. Day. The warmth this community provides to my heart, alone, is enough to instantly override the fact that Tumblr stole the show’s entire shock-factor from me.

It feels very surreal to think that this show experience has finally reached its end - a lot of personal adjustment will need to now take place. In the society and culture I live in, your social status is defined by how many likes you have on your Facebook profile picture and how many likes you get on your weekly Instagram posts. When my posts aren’t up to everyone else’s standards, I find mental security and comfort in closing Facebook and Instagram, and opening the Tumblr app; a place where I do not have to prove my worthiness in society. Numerous times, my friends have been refreshing their Facebook profiles to see how many likes they got, meanwhile I’m refreshing my Tumblr dashboard to see one of your friendly commentaries. Again, this may seem overly obsessive with PLL, but I re-state: over the years, PLL is just the conversational topic. The simple existence of conversation, regardless of the topic, is enough to provide this mental stability I’m speaking of. On top of this inappropriate importance placed on social media in my culture, there have been other times where I have said no to dinner and a movie with friends and admittedly, family too, because I’m lazy and I would rather a date night with my bed and the Tumblr community. No longer will I have something fun to do on a Friday night, home alone. No longer will I have something to occupy me on the bus ride going home from uni. No longer will I have theories to think about during my study “breaks”, or something quick and easy to reward myself with after hours of studying. No longer will I wake up on Wednesday mornings (the Tuesday night equivalent here in Australia) full of energy. Now that this experience is over, I anticipate that my brain may start to feel empty. Sure I will miss the characters and the mysteries of Rosewood, but for me, this is the area that will require a lot of adjustment.

My final evaluation of PLL

As this is a post dear to my heart that I will keep forever, I want to include here my final evaluation of Pretty Little Liars, as a whole series.

Undoubtedly, the best season, in my opinion, is season 7. “But what about good old seasons 1 and 2, when PLL was at its prime?” Sure, seasons 1 and 2 were pretty good. We had just been introduced to fresh and exciting new characters and stories. Everything was amazing in seasons 1 and 2. The girls could be baking cookies whilst talking about good books they’ve read lately, and I would have loved it, because I’d be spending time with these new characters I just met. Retrospectively looking back on earlier seasons, I find that they are way too ‘bubblegum’ for my liking. Mona/A forced Hanna to stop her dad’s wedding, A gave Ella a ticket to the museum Ezria visited, A was hiding in the Spencer’s closet, A was spying on the girls visiting the therapist, A sends the girls on a scavenger hunt in the woods…  sure, these stories did the job to reel me in back then, but if the show continued with these flowery, teenage-girl themes, I don’t believe I’d be here seven years later. Again, they were great for the time, but PLL did need to take a convoluted, complicated, psychologically twisted turn. What excites the 19 year old me, are the stories that season 7 is telling: the liars killing an imposter, the previous A being murdered, a dead body in the trunk, attempting to cover tracks for murder, seducing a cop, twins, the liars getting arrested, a liar betrays her best friends and wears the hoodie, a liar finds out her parents have been lying to her since literally day 1, a liar has been impregnated by the uber villain using another liar’s eggs, and ultimately, the uber villain being revealed. The stakes are heightened, and this is what I appreciate and enjoy watching, more so than a high-school Truth Up Night, a sleepover in the barn, or a liar steeling her sister’s boyfriends. No longer is the show about the Queen Bee of a group of high-school girls who went missing, followed by threatening text messages from an anonymous person. The show is far more mature now in season 7, and I appreciate that a lot. Again, earlier seasons did the tough job of attracting me to permanently reside in Rosewood, but such bubblegum stories would not have sustained me for the years to come. As each season went on, sure more fans began complaining at its progressively unrealistic and exaggerated nature, but I, on the other hand, sat here twiddling my fingers muttering “excellent”.

But have I just got it so damn wrong? If the general worldwide consensus is that PLL is no longer what it used to be, why am I more in love with season 7 than the earlier seasons? The answer is simple, yet easier said than done: I forget about what the writers have done wrong in the past, and I just enjoy the present. Here are the 6 areas that the writers have cumulatively pissed off the fans over the years: mysteries are dropped ridiculously fast (remember Melissa in Ali’s backyard saying “do it, just do it” to someone unknown?), red herrings are not properly explained once the truth is revealed (Melissa’s suitcase handle just so happened to break, when a similar object is what killed Charlotte?) the inconsistency in interviews/tweets (some actors say AD clues exist in season 1, yet Marlene says to ignore seasons 1 and 2), not making answers explicitly clear in the show and instead using interviews to confirm a theory the characters have (Garret being killed by Wilden was never said in the show), some answers don’t have a lot of logic behind them (why was Sara Harvey helping Charlotte?) and a significant imbalance between the romance and the mystery (did we really need to see Hanna dump Jordan because her favourite restaurant shut down, when Big A was killed two minutes ago?)

To summarise this point I’m trying to get across - I hear, and I agree, with the complaints PLL fans have. But never ever did I let “we still don’t know why Sara Harvey helped Charlotte” and “ugh I still can’t believe they killed Maya” disrupt my here-and-now viewing experience. THAT is why I’ve continued to love PLL more in 2017, than I did in 2010.

I’d like to conclude my evaluation on PLL by saying that I felt like I knew these characters on a personal level, to the point I could predict their future behaviour and responses. (Which is a good thing.) I’ve never ever felt this way about the characters of a TV show before. They felt like my friends, who grew up with me, and I’d catch up with them once a week by tuning in. Never have I ever seen a show where the off-screen chemistry is this visible on-screen. I also would like to commend the show for its portrayal of the LGBT community. When the show first started, I was a young, uneducated and immature 13 year old who thought that being straight was normal and being gay made you weird. I reflect back on this and am disgusted by the way I used to think. PLL was my only exposure to the LGBT community, and this show certainly standardised non-straight relationships for me, and was the absolute driving force to my acceptance of all people regardless of their identity and sexuality. To put this into perspective, I ended up ‘siding’ with PLL, rather than my own Catholic school which preached totally contradictory messages to PLL. Go figure: I chose the values of a TV show, than the values of my own school’s religion. While I may be one of the few to admit this on paper, I just know I can’t be the only one to have gone through something like this.

The show should be proud of everything it has achieved.

What’s next?

Let’s be real: PLL will get a reunion of sorts in the future. Shows this popular on social media and with a cast that call each other family, do not just die forever with the series finale. In 5, maybe 7 or 10 years, we will get a Netflix mini series, or even a movie. You can bet your ass I will be here for whatever reunion we get and I genuinely hope we can meet again, come that special time.

With tens of thousands of followers (thank you!!!) I could never have notifications turned on. My phone would have a panic attack. Now with the show ending, I’m expecting a major decline in Tumblr activity. So, I can safely enable notifications now. I promise you: any message I receive, or like, reblog, comment, whatever - from now on in, I will see it. I’m not going anywhere. I will be here forever, in the sense that I’m not deleting the Tumblr app. I may not be posting as frequently, but I’ll be here if there is something to post, or a notification to interact with.

As you may all know, I am obsessed with Riverdale. It is the new PLL. Amazing cast, insanely intriguing mystery. If you’ve never seen Riverdale - watch it. There have only been 13 episodes, concluding the first season, and season 2 is coming later this year. If you loved PLL, which I’m assuming you did if you’re on my blog, you’ll love Riverdale. Two months ago (!!!) I made a Riverdale-theories blog, and I have been waiting for today to officially announce @thebestriverdaletheories !

I am not sure yet if I want to use this blog. I feel like this Tumblr experience should be uniquely special to Pretty Little Liars. If everything is special, then nothing becomes special - I feel like if I start another blog for another show, then this PLL experience will be diminished. Unless, we join each other. If a significant portion of this PLL fandom ports over to Riverdale, then I’m willing to give this new blog a shot! If you go and follow me over there, just send me a message and say that you were a part of the PLL squad, so I know who to follow back! I’d love to see the community continue in this way, if possible. We’ll see how it goes! But I’ll be on thebestplltheories dissecting the finale for a bit, before I move over. Plus, this PLL blog is my main blog, with the Riverdale blog being a side blog. So, I guess this Riverdale blog will be a way for PLL to live on, as I’ll have to look at thebestplltheories every time I log in! So yeah - I’ll give it some time, and we’ll see if PLL fans are passionate about Riverdale!

Thank you

Before this post, no one knew the truth behind this nameless faceless blogger. I feel embarrassed, yet amazing, to finally be sharing with you all my personal and private story.

I cannot find the words to express my gratitude to each and every one of you reading this. Likes, reblogs and pressing that follow button, whilst always appreciated, amounted to nearly nothing in the grand scheme of things. What I appreciate the most, is your gift to me: your gift of a voice. You all gave me a voice in a community that my society labelled for “females only”. I mean, over the years, I received numerous messages with tags like you go girl and thanks girl! Which is fine - how could you possibly know I’m male!? But I highlight this just to emphasise that intuitively, it was always assumed that I am female and so I kept my gender a secret, in fear of being dismissed and not taken seriously in this fandom. All I wanted to do was to participate in PLL theories, and I really did think that my gender wouldn’t allow that. Eventually, I realised that that’s so not true anymore; my gender doesn’t matter! Which poses the question - why didnt I admit this earlier? I didnt want to be known as that blog that’s run by a guy. I wanted to be seen as normal. I knew I wouldn’t get rejected and dismissed, but I also didn’t want to stand out even in this slightest way.

So thank you, ultimately for giving me a voice that my sister and her friends, on June 8 2010, said I can’t have. Thank you for entertaining me every single day. No, not just days of new episodes. We all know this is a daily thing, not weekly. You guys are funny, brilliant, optimistic, honest, kind, energetic, intelligent, passionate, loyal and loving. (Each word there has been carefully selected. I’m not throwing around random positively connoted adjectives.) Thank you for being a spark of positivity in my life for all these years.

FOREVER IN MY HEART, PRETTY LITTLE LIARS

The only ‘show’ I have ever watched, and ever will watch, that is not “just a television show for entertainment purposes only”. The only show who’s set I have visited. That means something to me.

8 June 2010 - 27 June 2017

To summarise this experience in five carefully chosen words: unforgettable, irreplaceable, fun, special, passionate.

Til DeAth Do Us Part.

[pacsettravel]

Headlinin’: 11/27/17

We’re having a huge sale today, so please go check that out! Seriously guys, this is the biggest one we’ve ever done. Go get it! :D Alrighty, on to this week’s main story...

MUCH ADO ABOUT DOGEN

I’d like to talk about balls. No, not the sports ones. The kind that are metaphorical, the kind that you have when you stand up for what’s right in the face of intense opposition. I mean, think about it: there’s stuff that takes courage, and there’s stuff that takes balls. Asking someone out to prom? Courage. Telling a Firefly fan to let it go, since Fox canceled their show fifteen years ago? That’s courage with a little bit of balls. Standing up to the bully ten times your size? That’s balls. 

Bringing your baby to work with you when you’re a politician in one of the most male-dominated societies in the world? That’s more balls than you’ll find at a basketball tournament. [Washington Post]

Image courtesy Asahi Shimbun/Getty Images

Just look at this picture. Words fail me. Here, check out the video:

This is Kumamoto City Representative and certified bad ass mama Ogata Yuka and her son Dogen, who has a very nice hairstyle going for someone who’s only seven months old. She made the “mistake” of bringing her son to work with her, which resulted in many male members of the chamber crowding around her and demanding she leave - with some of them even demanding she apologize for doing so (even though Dogen was being a good boy and not making any noise).

According to her official bio, Ogata is a graduate of the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and holds a graduate degree from George Mason University in Virginia. She’s also worked as a program officer with the UN’s Development Program in Yemen, which I imagine is not the UN’s easiest mission. After moving back to her hometown, Ogata became interested in local politics and ran on a campaign emphasizing support for working mothers, traffic/pedestrian safety, public health and welfare, and promoting tourism to Kumamoto. [Editor’s note: we’re working on a tour pitch or two, Ogata-shigi!- Team PacSet]

Fun fact: Ogata was elected when her first child was just 1 year old, and the day she brought Dogen to work was her first day back from maternity leave. Now personally, I would have appreciated a “Welcome Back” cake, a balloon bouquet... maybe some of Kumamoto’s famous Ikinari Dango* with a nice message written on it? Like this?

But hey, I guess a bunch of old dudes being rude is kind of like a welcome. I mean, isn’t that how the bullies welcome the nerds back to class in all of those teen movies? Sorry, I digress.

Although child care is provided in municipal assemblies in Kyoto and Akita (as the WaPo points out), Kumamoto’s model male citizens decided to get their pantsu in a bunch over this, eventually forcing Ogata to leave Dogen in the care of a friend before returning to the chamber. 

In a statement, Ogata said that she wanted to bring attention to the tough conditions facing working women in Japan. She’s not wrong; numerous  [Bloomberg/Benchmark] articles [Japan Times] have been written about Japan’s shortage in adequate day care facilities and how hard it is for women in the workforce. In fact, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has cited making the working world more friendly to women a priority, since Japan’s birthrate is declining and the benefits of being a mother are not all that attractive if you want to have a career/support a family in Japan. However, apparently Abe forgot to mention this to fellow LDP member and “guy at the pachinko parlor” Haraguchi Ryoji, who said that Ogata could be “subject to punishment for disturbing the chamber over a personal reason.” [Mainichi Shimbun] Which I guess I understand... I mean, I bet no one in the LDP has ever been in a scandal for personal reasons, right? (Fun game: Google “LDP Scandals” and see how many you can find in 10 minutes!)

The truth is that there is still a cultural stigma against working mothers in many social circles in Japan. Not too long ago, having a baby meant a women would leave work altogether and focus their entire lives on child rearing. Even today, mothers that go against the grain are often harassed by other mothers and people who aren’t parents at all but have so many opinions. Which is probably one of the reasons why Japan’s fleet of online trolls have since invaded Ogata’s Facebook page and are tweeting nasty replies to English language stories about her. Nice of them, isn’t it? 

Regardless, we hope that Ogata-shigi keeps fighting for working women, that we are able to create the best Kumamoto tour EVER, and that Dogen can keep that clean, awesome looking hair forever. <3 Speaking of clean...

I’LL HAVE A WASH AND DRY WITH THAT YAKITORI

If you have traveled with us, you know how tough it can be to find coin laundromats in Japan sometimes. Fortunately, the effort to make them more common just got a massive (and I mean massive) push from a somewhat surprising source: convenience store (conbini) chain Family Mart. (LINE NEWS)

That’s right - one of Japan’s biggest conbini chains, the place where you get a meat bun when you’re hungry, a manga volume when you’re bored, and a Pocari Sweat when you’re drunk, is installing coin laundry! According to an official statement, the company is planning on rolling out the service quickly, with laundry popping up in at least 500 locations by the end of 2019. [Family Mart]

I’ll level with you guys: I’m trying to think of a negative angle to this story, and you know... there just isn’t one. The thought of being able to wash my clothes during FanFest while eating a lemon ice, buying breakfast onigiri for the next morning, and browsing the latest Shonen Sunday? What did I do to deserve this kind of joy?!?!?!?!

The best part? Because the competition between conbini chains in Japan is such a bloodbath, it probably won’t be too long before Lawson or Seven Eleven decides to try out Coin Laundry as well. Japan in the summer is all kinds of humid - keeping it clean is a concept I can definitely get behind.

TAKA IS NOT [ONE] OK [ROCK] WITH SMAP... KINDA

One guy isn’t keeping it clean this week in the world of gossip; ONE OK ROCK front man Taka sent shockwaves across the Japanese interwebs this weekend when he dissed recently disbanded J-Pop royalty SMAP during an appearance on Super Beaver singer Shibuya Ryuuta’s radio show late Thursday night. Although both of their bands specialize in rock and not the kind of J-Pop sound SMAP embodies, the two were discussing which song from the band they like most. Taka’s selection? SMAP’s 1993 single “Ten Dollars”:

This is a somewhat deep cut from the SMAP catalogue; it’s from when the group still had six members, and it wasn’t nearly as popular as SMAP’s turn-of-the-millenia hits Lionheart and Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Everyone in Japan has heard this song twenty million times oh god please make it stop**. 

After the song played, Taka voiced a sentiment that many indie rockers, rappers, and artists in Japan have long thought but always been scared to say. SMAP is... eh. From the man’s own mouth: [Model Press]

“Actually, I hate them, really. I hate SMAP. They’re like Japan’s national group,” said Taka. He’s not exactly wrong; SMAP’s TV show was one of the view where western stars appeared regularly, and even Eric Clapton wrote a song for them. Yes, ERIC CLAPTON. Taka, probably realizing that the internet could twist such a comment out of control quickly, added: “No matter which group you’re in, whether you’re an idol, a superstar... we’re all just human... Being in a group like that shouldn’t be your WHOLE life - that’s tiring. So when I heard SMAP was disbanding, I was thinking, ‘Wow, they really worked hard to come this far...’” I can’t help but agree with Taka myself; to have a group be your entire life until you’re alone again - that’s truly a Mighty Long Fall.

Taka’s comments were also a reflection of the public’s sadness when SMAP disbanded - so much so that many thought the group should keep going. Indeed, artists in Japan that are popular are expected to devote their lives to their work to a degree that many in the west would consider horrifying (just ask any former idol star... ugh). For what it’s worth, many on Twitter and message boards in Japan agreed with Taka on this point. 

Now if some of those nice, sympathetic folks would go help support Ogata Yuka... that would be awesome. 

NOTE: I’m off on Japan Holiday next week, so this column will be on hiatus. We’ll be back in a few weeks with more goodies. Until then, be lovely to each other!

*About the Dango: The popular YouTube series Cooking With Dog (RIP, Francis ;_;) actually did a segment on how to make Ikinari Dango; check it out! We miss you, Francis the Dog... <3

**title edited for accuracy

[hsj-scenarios]

The Ryosukekeke Saga  Continues...

Mod J had not checked her inbox, phone, and messages in a while, mostly avoiding messages from the OG who continued to vacillate between out of control anger with threats and swear words, and completely broken sobbing, pleading. That said, she finally felt brave enough to take a look--we peek into her world as she skims through the hundreds of messages...

Eighteen days ago:

Ryosuke:

I see what you all have done! （；¬＿¬) Who is this...this.... @keito-okamoto person? A new Mod? Is that what it is? AND MOD L!!!!!!! OMG WOULD YOU LOOK AT THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (☞◣д◢)☞

Ryosuke:

Mod L (╬ಠ益ಠ)  backing up this person, this @keito-okamoto person, plus I never settled on the ‘OG’ title. Still! What, did you guys bring on a new mod for the express purpose of disparaging my character? Honestly, I’d like to talk about this. 

And the fact that you’ve changed your password Mod J. 

⁀⊙﹏☉⁀ WTF

I thought we had an agreement. I’m so put out with you I am going to avoid any song with your name in it from now on. Seriously, I’m making someone else sing my lines--and when I say “I love you, Juliet” I am talking to every other Juliet in the world, but NOT YOU!!!!!!!!! 

（￣へ￣）

Mod J: ( responding two and a half weeks later)

ILY. That’s not the new mod, that’s Mod C, your paranoia is on high alert,  you need to simmer down now. Look no one is even talking about this anymore! I won’t even be at the concerts, so I don’t care what you do at them......you’re such a toddler.

17 Days Ago:

Ryosuke: 

WTF is this!?! (; ･`д･´) I thought ( •̀ω•́ )σ you were going to talk to Mod L to get her back on my side! Instead of putting this entire debacle to rest, she is fanning the flames. That quote is taken entirely out of context. It’s absurd and it might even be defamation, or libel, or something, hell, I’m no lawyer. But I DO keep one on retainer--your blog may be hearing from him. 

（　｀ー´）OG OUT! 

Mod J:  (2 minutes after two and a half weeks later)

Ah, see I never said that, ever--you said it...a thousand times, but I never said it or agreed to it. I told you that you needed to take it up with them, because I am NOT your messenger. I’m sure this quote IS out of context, the same way you screaming “Mommy” while on the roller coaster was. I didn’t know Kekeke was such a gifted ventriloquist! *sarcasm off*

15 Days Ago:

Ryosuke: 

Tell Mod L she at least got this s*** right. (*´ー`)

OMG-- @(。・-・)@ your blog is a three ring circus lacking a f***ing ringmaster on it’s best day--on its worst it’s like one of those zoos on Zoo Tycoon where they build this huge zoo, with hundreds of thousands of patrons, and then start feeding the pedestrians to the dinosaurs--or just let all of the carnivorous animals loose. 

へ‿(ツ)‿ㄏ Either way. 

Still, factually speaking, if I were to be a courtesan this is absolutely and unequivocally true. I would be the best, I would win it all, and I would f***ing crush everyone else out of the competition with my prowess.

╭( ･ㅂ･)و ̑̑ ＂

I want more about me, and this, who am I making the check out to?

(also, I’m gonna beat the hell out of Chinen for putting a d*** filter on my computer now!) （○｀Ｏ´○）

(also, wtf Mod J, ༶ඬ༝ඬ༶ why you gotta bring that up? Am I no longer your number one?)

Mod J:  (5 minutes after two and a half weeks later)

I just...no comment. (yes, you are still my no 1! mmmwah)

11 Days Ago:

Ryosuke: 

I see you’ve closed the requests. <(_ _)> Thank GOD! I know there are at least fifty requests that I sent in about me, which have not been filled to date. Now maybe you can put some quality material out about ME! Please, Mod J, it’s been so long, so long....I’m so sad all the time. I can’t even handle and we’re on tour and I need happy happy happy--give me the happy please!? 

.·´¯`(>▂<)´¯`·.PLEASE I AM BEGGING YOU.

BTW, why aren’t you responding to me? 

｡･ﾟヾ(✦థ ｪ థ)ﾉ｡ﾟ･｡

I’ve left messages on your cell phone, your house phone, your email (both), Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, Live Journal, and of course, here. I even got a hold of your neighbor and asked them to tell you to contact me, and if they didn’t I need to know, I gave them a lot of money to do that.

((*｀ﾟдﾟ)ゞ PLEASE SHOW MERCY ON ME!

(and I didn’t even catch the kiss, didn’t even watch it come near me, I swatted it away with great force!)

8 Days Ago:

Ryosuke:

This fill was strangely accurate. Terrifyingly so. Pls stop. (⁎˃ᆺ˂)

(；´･Д･)(where are you Juliet?)

6 Days Ago:

Ryosuke:

Mod J, I am going to need you to help me out here. ヽ(ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ  I’m not even kidding, okay? I need you to be f***ing serious right now, cause I am in dire need of your help! 

( ⚆ _ ⚆ )

How much do you know about this “Mod L” person? ( ⁰д⁰) Cause...well...I mean, I had a detective come into my house looking for hidden cameras and taps. Paranoid? Nope, realistic, because this is too much like a genuine conversation I actually had with Yutti. I’m freaking out right now. ヽ〔ﾟДﾟ〕丿 Could Mod L be a spy? Could Mod L be someone close to Jump? Could Mod L be someone IN JUMP!?!?! <|๑⊙Д⊙|/

OMG!  ε=ε=(怒ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ

Please help! Σ(ﾟДﾟ;≡｀ﾟдﾟ)

Mod J  (7 minutes after two and a half weeks later)

You do need help, but not the kind I can offer. Yama-chan, this is all just fiction, not your actual real life. I mean, if you need us to, we’ll put a disclaimer like those movies where it says anything resembling a real life event or person is strictly coincidental. But still...Mod L isn’t in Jump. 

You’re just really not as complex as you think you are to be honest. I mean, how do you think we all write you so accurately? 

Ryosuke: (2 seconds after the response from Mod J)

Is that an insult? (｡•́︿•̀｡) I’m dizzy again, I mean the world is tilting sideways, why have you forsaken me Mod J?! 

.·´¯`(>▂<)´¯`·.

Why!? 

6 Days Ago:

Ryosuke and Daiki’s friendship in one gif:

Ryosuke:

Yes.

Not gonna lie, I was drinking a soda when I scrolled past this and it literally came out of my nose. It  hurt.  

Still...｜ｏ゜）Accurate. Terrifyingly accurate. ヘ（。□°）ヘ TOO accurate. I am still leaning toward my hypothesis. Until you offer me proof, anything is possible. Still, I’m for sure the guy in yellow. 

⁀⊙﹏☉⁀ Right? Right??

5 Days Ago:

Ryosuke: 

YES. (it wasn’t me I swear!)

4 Days Ago:

Management: Okay guys, I know Dear was a great outlet to show your sexy sides but we kind of want I/O to be a little more PG.

Ryosuke:

The actual conversation was “Guys, this is going to be a tour with a lot of children attending so we are going to need to keep the atmosphere ‘family friendly’ this time.”

Just to be clear, they were sure as hell staring straight at me while they said it, and you know, that just makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up like someone’s challenging me right up here in my dojo. 

So I plainly responded, “F*** you, how’s that for family friendly?”

Actually, that didn’t really happen, okay, so it did in my head though and that should count for something. That said, an intelligent conversation took place and they decided it would be wisdom to allow us to perform what we wanted.

ヽ( ･∀･)ﾉ┌┛Σ(ノ `Д´)ノ 

(If Dai-chan or Chii-chan contact you and tell any lies about me pitching a fit and crying and threatening to quit because the world NEEDS my “ah ah ahhhs”, please hear them as the blatant and bold-faced lies they are!)

4 Days Ago:

Ryosuke:

This is true, except it really wasn’t Keito. (>^_^)><(^o^<) He’s been going through a lot lately--and you know...no matter how selfish you guys seem to think I am, I have a heart for the guy! (ps I meant love, not give-- (; ･`д･´)  I can’t write the word f*** on my phone but it can apparently feel the f*** free to change my non-swear words at will!)

3 Days Ago:

Ryosuke: 

This isn’t a good thing--it’s still being talked about. 

(ノ｀Д´)ノ~┻━┻

STILL BEING TALKED ABOUT! 

This is a bad thing. Stop them--don’t you have any power or control Mod J? What are you DOING about all of this!?! First it was the bane of my existence the BPA, I can’t f***ing drive anywhere now, because everyone apparently knows what car I drive! I mean, let’s be honest, I stand out anyway, so I mean the car--I mean, f***, I’m getting off track--listen, this same person is...just, now they’re saying they did the Kekeke thing too? 

┻━┻ ︵ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ︵ ┻━┻

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY TIMES THAT MAN HAS LEFT MESSAGES ON MY CELL PHONE CACKLING MADLY!? All hours of the day and night I tell you! 

Щ(º̩̩́Дº̩̩̀щ) Can’t you ban them? For me? Please?! I’ll say “I love you Juliet” and mean you, only you in all the world of all of the girls named Juliet! 

(/□＼*)・゜PLEASE.

3 Days Ago:

Ryosuke:

Please? 。ﾟ(ﾟﾉД｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡

3 Days Ago:

Ryosuke:

(ɔˆ ³(ˆ⌣ˆc) I LOVE YOU JULIET! PLEASE 

・゜・(ノД`) PLEASE PLEASE!??!?!!? (｡♥‿♥｡)

2 Days Ago:

Ryosuke:

(⊙_☉) What the actual F*** IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!? F***ing hell! This is insane. You’re all crazy. (⊙.☉)7

ꉂ (๑¯ਊ¯)σ л̵ʱªʱªʱª (ps I sent this to Takaki--and now he’s mad at me because I wouldn’t tell him where it came from! lolololololol)

2 Days Ago:

Ryosuke:

Less food network, more writing about me. (´｀;) ？What has happened to your blog?

YOU STILL AREN’T ANSWERING ME!?!? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY??

2 Days Ago:

Ryosuke:

Did I do something? (′︿‵｡) Did I? (´•ω•̥`) I can’t fix it if you won’t talk to me.

2 Days Ago:

Ryosuke:

This is both alarming at how accurate it is (again!) and that you guys paint me to be some kind of control freak who can’t handle a relationship without knowing every intimate detail of someone’s life. 

...

...

Well, it’s still alarming how accurate it is anyway. 

I’m hiring a bodyguard.

I quit you. ~(>_<。)＼

1 Day Ago:

HS7 @ the 113th 1130000000000000th time that Chinen mentioned Ohno: 

Ryosuke:

I fixed this for you.

(I can’t quit you, please, you guys gotta still love me, okay!? I didn’t mean it!)

1 Day Ago:

Keito after he watched Ryosuke’s kissing scene 4 84 times, twelve times while Ryosuke was in the room with him begging him not to.

Ryosuke:

I fixed this for you.

1 Day Ago:

Yuto: Date someone who will drag you outside at 3am to look at the stars :)

Ryosuke: If anyone, and I mean /anyone/, wakes me up at 3am to go look at the damn sky without sexual gratification in some way, shape, or form they will be removed indefinitely from my life.

Ryosuke:

I fixed this for you. Just saying, I love to sleep but c’mon. Just...c’mon!

Mod J:  (12 minutes after two and a half weeks later)

Bless your heart. Just...bless it.

Ryosuke:  (20 seconds later)

Are you patronizing me? ｢(ﾟﾍﾟ)

Mod J:

No, I really want your heart to be very blessed, you’ve worked yourself up into a frenzy, haven’t you? Deep breath, everything is fine, people are all about Yuya and the salad ship now, you know? Kekeke will get tired of paying us to torture you, and everything will go back to normal, with our blog filled with lots of stories that make you look like the amazing guy you really are! Just take a deep breath, it’s all going to be okay! I’ll take good care of you from here!

Ryosuke:

ヾ(;ﾟ;Д;ﾟ;)ﾉﾞYou promise?

Mod J:

I promise.

Ryosuke:

(‘∀’●)♡ ILY Juliet.

Juliet:

ILY2 (´∀｀)♡

Today:

Ryosuke: 

Mod J, I take back everything! I just saw that the person who started all of this Ryosukekeke craziness is the one who was in Paris! 

(‘∀’●)♡ Listen, I was terrified, being in a foreign country, facing so many fans, and not sure what the reception would be. I’m used to facing those kinds of challenges with the other Jump members, not by myself--there’s always been a level of security in having everyone there, you know? But this time, I was all alone...

So here I was feeling so alone and worried and afraid and then there was this lovely fan, smiling, and happy, and overjoyed--holding this uchiwa that said “Ryosukekeke” and I swear, I laughed so hard! I really did!

It was this bright shining moment, and the fan was so lovely--a happy smile in the midst of so much trepidation--and there was such peace to be found in the idea that there was at least one fan there who wasn’t going to approach me from the perspective that I was Japanese ( ´△｀) and not whatever nationality they wanted Ed to be (despite it being fictional), who wasn’t going to come at me from the thought that I couldn’t possibly be good enough, ฅ(๑’Δ’๑) that our team couldn’t pull it off, that I was going to fail the collective FMA fandom.

That one fan was going to be there to see me, ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ Yamada Ryosuke, and not just as the Idol from Jump either! But as the ~ヾ(＾∇＾) PERSON I really am--as there’s no show that proves more about who I am genuinely than our own show does! That fan watched the show enough to know about my love/hate relationship with Kekeke--and you know what? 

d=(´▽｀)=b I’ll go through anything to give back to that fan, even suffer through months of ridicule from my members, and incessant phone call messages from Kekeke, and even having a lot of posts on your blog that make fun of me! Because, there’s no way I can say, not for one second, that my feelings are more important than that single fan’s happiness. 

（⌒▽⌒ゞ Not for one second.

To my Dear @sekairiinu, (ɔˆ ³(ˆ⌣ˆc) my “Ryosukekeke” fan--thank you for being a bright light in a sea of uncertainty. 

（*’∀’人）♥ I pay my respects with my embarrassment gladly! 

--OG

PS I am still not so sure about your Mod L. Can you give me definitive proof that she ISN’T someone in Jump?!