#Dual Broadcast

[colortraks]

Oh my god so my remote desktop app i use isnt. Supported on. The linux distro im using but it is supported on ubuntu so im like FINE ill switch to ubuntu later and i go to the website and im like ig ill look at the requirements but theyre FOUR GIGS OF RAM and my backup laptop only has THREE so i have to get new fucking ddr3 sodimms because the spare sodimms i have are DDR4 !!!!!!!!!!!!! i am living in a hell of my own creation

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

Madonna - Like a Prayer 1989

"Like a Prayer" is a song by American singer Madonna and was released as the lead single from her 1989 fourth studio album of the same name. Written and produced by both Madonna and Patrick Leonard, the song heralded an artistic and personal approach to songwriting for Madonna, who believed that she needed to cater more to her adult audience. Along with the parent album, "Like a Prayer" was a turning point in Madonna's career, with critics starting to acknowledge her as an artist rather than a mere pop star.

"Like a Prayer" is a pop rock and gospel song that also incorporates elements of funk. The lyrics contain liturgical words, but they have been interpreted by some people to have dual meanings of sexual innuendo and religion. "Like a Prayer" was acclaimed by music critics upon release and was a global commercial success, becoming Madonna's seventh number 1 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100, topping the Hot 100 for three consecutive weeks and also topping the charts in many other countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain and the UK. It was Madonna's fifth number 1 hit on the Eurochart Hot 100, and stayed at number one for 12 weeks.

The accompanying music video for "Like a Prayer", directed by Mary Lambert, shows a white woman being sexually assaulted and subsequently killed by a group of white men, but a black man is arrested for the crime. The video depicts a church and Catholic symbols such as stigmata. It also features the Ku Klux Klan's burning crosses and a dream sequence about kissing a black saint. Leon Robinson was hired to play the role of a saint; the part was inspired by Martin de Porres, the patron saint of mixed-race people and all those seeking interracial harmony. The Vatican condemned the video, while family and religious groups protested against its broadcast. They boycotted products by soft drink manufacturer Pepsi, who had used the song in their commercial. Pepsi canceled their sponsorship contract with Madonna, but allowed her to retain the $5 million fee.

While most TV stations banned the music video, MTV notably continued to air the video on heavy rotation. The controversies leading to her "Like a Prayer" video introduced the concept of free publicity and became a turning point where Madonna was viewed as a shrewd businesswoman who knows how to sell a concept. At the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards, the video for "Like a Prayer" was nominated in the Viewer's Choice and Video of the Year categories, winning the former. It was number one on MTV's countdown of "100 Videos That Broke the Rules" in 2005, and for the channel's 25th anniversary, viewers voted it as the "Most Groundbreaking Music Video of All Time". In addition, the video was ranked at number 20 on Rolling Stone's "The 100 Top Music Videos", and at number two on VH1's 100 Greatest Videos. In a 2011 poll by Billboard, the video for "Like a Prayer" was voted the second-best music video of the 1980s, behind only Michael Jackson's "Thriller". According to Screen Rant, "Like a Prayer" is one of the most used Madonna's songs in movies and television, most recently notably featured in the 2024 film Deadpool & Wolverine.

"Like a Prayer" received a total of 87,9% yes votes! Previous Madonna polls: #18 "Who's That Girl", #184 "Live to Tell".

[deforest]

SHE'S CRAZY WITH THE HEAT — 1946 ft. The International Sweethearts of Rhythm

In 1946, William D. Alexander began the production of a series of one-reel shorts, half-hour featurettes and feature films that would serve a dual purpose. These black cast subjects would be released to theaters that welcomed African American audiences; concurrently, the music segments would be excerpted from the films and released as Soundies. Ultimately, sixteen of Alexander’s musical shorts reached the Panoram screen, spotlighting the bands of Lucky Millinder, Billy Eckstine, Henri Woode and the International Sweethearts of Rhythm. (Alexander actually produced four films with the Sweethearts, three ten-minute short subjects and one feature, although some of the performances turns up in more than one film; only three performances saw release as a Soundie.) The International Sweethearts of Rhythm grew out of a band formed in the 1930s at the Piney Woods Country Life School, an institution – in part an orphanage – for poor African American children. A member of the music department had apparently taken note of the success of Ina Ray Hutton’s Melodears and decided that an all-woman band composed of school members might lead to something special. While they performed locally, the ISR did not begin to hit its stride until it left Piney Woods and became a professional touring outfit in 1941. The band was certainly “international” in nature, and its ranks included African American, Latina, Chinese, Indian, White and Puerto Rican musicians. In 1941, Anna Mae Winburn joined the orchestra as front woman and featured vocalist. During the war years Maurice King joined the band as both arranger and band manager. Born Clarence King in 1911, King played reeds and later became a fine swing arranger. While here we recognize his composition and arrangement for the Sweethearts – he called this tune “She’s Crazy with the Heat ” – King is best known for his longtime association with Barry Gordy and Motown Records for which he served as director of artist development. He worked closely with vocal groups, teaching the singers how to voice and phrase together. “Maurice brought sophistication and class to Motown,” said session musician Johnny Trudell. By 1946, the Sweethearts was recognized as one of the finest African-American bands in jazz. They recorded for Guild and RCA Records, broadcast regularly for the Armed Forces Radio Service, and toured Europe entertaining the GIs. While much of the success was due to Maurice King’s arrangements, the band’s musicians were all strong, and a special nod must go to Viola Burnside, one of the most neglected tenor soloists of the 1940s. I chatted with my friend Roz Cron, a member of the Sweetheart’s reed section, shortly before her passing. When I thanked her for her contribution, she paused and said, “Yeah, we were one of the best, one of the very, very best.” (via Jazz on Film)

[demilypyro]

What are your PC specs? And do you have any preferences with components?

I have my specs listed on my twitch page. I use a dual-PC streaming setup, meaning I use a capture card to capture footage from my gaming PC and broadcast it using the streaming PC.

[fans4wga]

[September 1] Don’t Fall For Hollywood Bosses’ New PR Spin

'Today marks the 122nd day of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike and 48th day of the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strike. The dual work stoppages have brought Hollywood to a standstill, with production halted on films and television programs, and premieres and other promotional events either scaled back or canceled. Both guilds are striking over demands that are more than reasonable, particularly given studio executives’ record pay. These demands include fair compensation for streaming media (particularly better residuals, which currently pale in comparison to what they are for network and cable broadcasts), robust studio support for health and retirement funds, and safeguards around the use of artificial intelligence. (For more on why WGA and SAG-AFTRA are on strike, read the excellent reporting of Jacobin’s Alex Press). 

In a move that has shocked…pretty much no one, Hollywood bosses don’t want to share their earnings with the very storytellers responsible for generating them. At the same time, they’re happy to make workers pay the cost for their own miscalculations about streaming.

The major Tinseltown studios – organized under the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) trade association – remain stubbornly opposed to striking a fair deal with either guild. Under the leadership of AMPTP president Carol Lombardini, studios have employed brutal tactics to bust the strike, including threatening to drag things out until writers lose their homes and using management-friendly trade publications to pressure the guilds into accepting lowball offers. These tactics have backfired spectacularly: not only have they failed to end either strike, but they’ve also turned the public overwhelmingly against the AMPTP. A new Gallup poll finds that Americans back the WGA over the AMPTP by 72% to 19%, and SAG-AFTRA over AMPTP by 64% to 24%.

Aware of their reputational damage (but willfully ignorant of the anti-worker attitude that caused it), the AMPTP announced a “reset” to its approach this week – not by negotiating in good faith or meeting the guilds’ demands, but by hiring a pricey crisis-management PR firm to revamp its image! According to Deadline, the AMPTP has hired The Levinson Group – a D.C.-based PR shop best known for representing the U.S. Women’s  National Soccer Team in its campaign for pay equity – to “reframe the big picture for studio and streamer CEOs who have been characterized as greedy, imperious and out of touch.”

If you’re feeling like you’ve seen this movie before, you’re not wrong. During the last WGA strike 15 years ago, studio bosses hired former Clinton comms strategists Mark Fabiani and Chris Lehane to revive the AMPTP’s flagging public image. The revolving-door duo were paid a jaw-dropping $100,000 per month by the AMPTP to strike-bust, deploying campaign-style spin attacks designed to break the WGA’s resolve. 

As I wrote for The American Prospect in May:

“Fabiani and Lehane created a website with a live tally of the millions of dollars in income that guild members and on-set crew had purportedly lost by striking. They urged studio CEOs to publicly refer to WGA representatives as “organizers” rather than “negotiators” because the former “sound[ed] more Commie.” Lehane even told the press at one point that striking writers were “making more than doctors and pilots,” cynically arguing that the strike was harming “real working-class people” like below-the-line workers who had lost income from struck late-night talk shows […] Fabiani and Lehane were [also] the brains behind a “strongly worded and downright menacing” AMPTP press release breaking off negotiations with the WGA in December 2007. This move allowed the studios, which cited a protracted strike as an “unforeseeable event,” to invoke force majeure contract clauses and cancel multiple writer-producer deals worth tens of millions of dollars, severely demoralizing the WGA’s rank-and-file members.”

The parallels between 2008 and today are striking. Like Fabiani and Lehane (who have worked for scandal-plagued clients like Gray Davis, Bill O’Reilly, Lance Armstrong, and Goldman Sachs) the Levinson Group has no qualms about representing greedy and unsavory characters. Over the years, Levinson has done PR for predatory student lender Better Future Forward, reviled monopolist Live Nation/Ticketmaster, a talc mining company linked to the Johnson & Johnson baby powder cancer scandal, and Theranos fraudster Elizabeth Holmes. 

And just like the ex-Clinton spin doctors, the Levinson Group boasts close revolving-door ties to powerful politicians and the news media. The firm currently represents President Biden’s personal attorney Bob Bauer and previously represented John Podesta’s family lobbying firm. Levinson partners have previously worked for an array of influential politicians, including former President Bill Clinton, Senators Jon Tester and Amy Klobuchar, Representatives Maxine Waters and Ted Lieu, and former and current Los Angeles Mayors Eric Garcetti and Karen Bass. The firm’s founder and CEO Molly Levinson spent eight years working for CNN and CBS, while two of the Levinson Group’s top managing directors are alumni of CNBC and The Wall Street Journal. With a web of strong connections to power players in the entertainment industry’s twin capitals of LA and New York, along with the nation’s capital, Levinson could help the AMPTP tilt the regulatory and media scales back in the bosses’ favor. 

Though this may sound demoralizing, striking writers and actors shouldn’t lose hope. For one, consider a surprisingly uplifting parallel between 2008 and 2023. Fifteen years ago, after Fabiani and Lehane took the AMPTP’s contract, the SEIU and other unions that had previously worked with the duo severed ties with them for trying to bust the writers’ strike. Fast forward to this week: the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team Players Association (Levinson’s star client!) publicly rebuked the firm for doing the AMPTP’s dirty work and voiced support for the dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. If history is any indication, it’s only a matter of time until other pro-union Levinson clients – like the majority SEIU-owned Amalgamated Bank – follow suit and sever ties with the firm. 

There is also one crucial way in which 2023 is thankfully not like 2008: The Levinson Group is bad at their jobs. 

Consider an August 27th New York Times article about AMPTP President Carol Lombardini*, which was almost certainly pitched or otherwise molded by Levinson flacks. The article goes to ridiculous lengths to rehabilitate Lombardini’s image:

The article passively describes Lombardini’s tenure as “marked by labor peace until now” (a peace that she has now broken) and shifts blame for her unpopular decisions to anonymous AMPTP members (how convenient!).

Article co-authors Brooks Barnes and John Koblin quote a 2014 email from then-WarnerMedia CEO Kevin Tsujihara praising Lombardini’s negotiation skills and recommending she receive a $365,000 bonus. Curiously absent from the article is any mention of Tsujihara’s high-profile 2019 resignation from WarnerMedia for pressuring actresses into non-consensual sex.

Barnes and Koblin attempt to paint a “she’s just like us” picture of Lombardini (who reportedly earns a $3 million annual salary), mentioning her upbringing in a “working-class town outside Boston” and love for Red Sox and Dodgers games.

Barnes and Koblin paint a rosy picture of the AMPTP’s “sweetened proposal” (their words) to the WGA, describing the studios’ August counteroffer as “including higher wages, a pledge to share some viewership data and additional protections around the use of artificial intelligence.” Barnes & Koblin never quote the WGA’s well-founded reasons for turning down this lowball offer, saying only that the WGA is “holding firm to demands related to staffing minimums and transparency into streaming-service viewership.”

Bizarrely, the core issue of underpaid streaming residuals (the main reason writers are demanding greater streaming transparency) is never mentioned in the article.

Barnes and Koblin frequently imply that criticism of Lombardini is unfair, describing her as an “easy target” for the “grievances of striking workers” and singling out a tweet purportedly “mocking [Lombardini] as a fuddy-duddy who hangs out at chain restaurants”.

Barnes and Koblin quote a pre-strike September 2022 Deadline interview with Teamsters organizer Lindsay Dougherty to claim that Lombardini has the “grudging respect” of union leaders who see her as a “fair individual.” They did not quote more recent statements from Dougherty, who last month tweeted that the “greedy” AMPTP had “declared war on Hollywood Labor” by refusing to negotiate in good faith with WGA and SAG-AFTRA.

In one unintentionally eyebrow-raising line, Barnes and Koblin state that Lombardini was “inspired to become a lawyer by reading articles about F. Lee Bailey.” Neither Bailey’s sordid clients (like OJ Simpson) nor his multiple disbarments are mentioned in the article.

And it’s not just me who finds the Levinson Group’s efforts laughable. Discussions of the NYT story on Reddit and Twitter are dominated by comments tying the story’s blatant reputation laundering for Lombardini to the AMPTP’s concurrent hiring of Levinson. A recent New Yorker puff piece on Warner CEO David Zaslav has been met with similar ridicule – with many commenters also pointing to Levinson’s potential influence. So too have recent stories from management-friendly trades like Deadline – all of which have failed to make a dent in strong public support for WGA and SAG-AFTRA. This is a good sign: not only is the public more inclined to side with striking workers than it was in 2008 – it’s also seemingly more attuned to the role of corporate PR flacks in shaping the media narrative. If studio bosses think they can remake the same movie and end another strike with flashy spin-doctors, they’re sorely mistaken. 

So here’s my advice to the AMPTP (and it won’t cost you six figures per month to hear it): the way to fix your reputation problem is to end the strike by giving writers and actors what they want. No strike-busting comms team can rescue you from the hole you’ve dug yourself into. 

As the LA Times’ Mary McNamara recently put it, “You’ve lost the war. The best thing to do now is negotiate the terms of surrender.”'

[wangxianficfinder]

Fic Finder

July 5th

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1. For Fic Finder! This is my first time making such a request so please forgive any mistake. This is such a cool thing you are doing, thank you so much! The fic I am looking for is set in canon during the indoctrination era but it diverges. Wen Chao forces WY and LZ to have sex while LZ is injured. I am pretty sure it was part of a series. In the last part after Wy comes back from Burial mounds LZ thinks the resentment is because he raped WY, so he tells the truth about the golden core. Thank you! @fangirlingforever

FOUND? Give You What You Like series by Jo Lasalle (Jo_Lasalle)(E, 81k, WangXian, Fuck Or Die, Bad Guys Made Them Do It, Canon Divergence, angst with an eventual happy ending, First Time, Episode Related, fuck or die aftermath, Xuanwu Cave, Burial Mounds) first part is fuck or die in the Wen dungeon, 2nd one is Burial Mounds, 3rd one is WWX comes back during Sunshot

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2. looking for fanfic where Jiang Fengmian dies and Jiang Cheng loses his golden core on a night hunt where Wei Wuxian was supposed to guard them but was ordered to stay away so couldnt react on time. Madam Yu forcefully has Wen Qing transfer the core over but she secretly leaves the foundation behind so that Wei Ying can recover. Everything is captured on camera and the camera ends up in Wei Ying’s hands after they kick him out with nothing but the torn up bloody clothes on his back because he was injured saving them in the first place.

FOUND? 🧡🔒Truth Will Out (when caught on video) - End_OTW_Racism! by KizuKatana (E, 178k, WangXian, WN & WWX & WQ, graphic depictions of violence, modern cultivation, canon divergence, YZY abuses WWX , caught on camera, partial core removal, WWX kicked out of Jiang sect, livestreamer WWX, meet ugly, dual cultivation, smut, no war)

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3. Hi! Need help finding this fic: LWJ and WWX were high school classmates (I think?), and LWJ had a crush on WWX. Years later, WWX moves into the apartment across from LWJ along with WQ and WY. LWJ wrongly assumes that WQ and WWX are married and have a child. WQ is dating MM and LWJ does not understand if WWX and WQ have a polyamorous relationship. Thanks for all the help!!! @fantasiacoral-blog

Hi!! I was #3 fic finder on july 5th. I found the fic, it was "Only in my eyes" by Leffy. I think whoever gave the recommendation left the wrong link, but I was able to find it since it was from the same author. Thank you very much for giving me the clue to the author!! finally i found it

NOT FOUND! Night of Sixth Magnitude Stars by Leffy (M, 22k, WangXian, Modern, Reincarnation, Fluff and Humor, Also a sprinkle of angst, LXC is a supportive onii-chan, Student/Teacher, for the first chapter only tho, Canon Divergence) A great story I've had bookmarked for years and read periodically. ☺

FOUND! Only in My Eyes by Leffy (T, 11k, WangXian, Domestic Fluff, Misunderstandings)

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4. Hi fic finder! I have been searching for this fic and hope you could help me. What I remember is that Wei Wuxian instead of kiling him he was cursed or was trapped/sealed by the sect in a world where lan zhan is his husband. So he was made to believed that but then something happens and he discovered that it's not true. I'm not certain if this is completed or not.

Thank you.

FOUND? a different place, different time, but my love is right by callmeb6104 (E, 49k, wangxian, canon divergence, ABO, alpha WWX, Omega LWJ, dreams vs reality, incense burner, YLLZ WWX, canonical character death, eventual happy ending, mating cycles/in heat, MXY lives, hurt/comfort, pining)

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5. So I'm technically asking for both myself and a discord friend but neither of us can find this fic:

So it's an omegaverse fic. Wangxian were participating in a mating run and the runs are also broadcast over screens like a public spectical? I think the runs also get recorded so the participants can keep a tape of the run

While everyone else participating has a nice time, Wwx initially thinks he'll not get caught, but then Lwj shows up and starts chasing him with extreme prejudice, making wwx freak out because he thinks lwj is there to punish him or something? And starts running around screaming his head off like he's being chased by a serial killer, which is broadcast for everyone to see. Their siblings are watching and mentally face-palming the entire time.

Wangxian end up in a ditch and mate, and things end happily but wwx has to be overdramatic first

FOUND! Threadfic by CerbyKerby

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6. Hi, I'm looking for a long, explicit WIP time travel story where LWJ and WWX are together in the past, deal with the Waterborne Abyss, (are at very least engaged) and near the end LXC has grown concerned with WWS'S reputation and drugs him with a song of his xiao, pissing LWG off (that's all I remember). @krysaniar

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7. Hello..I love what you do helping us find fics. I need your help please. I was reading a story about Lan zhan being soft with weiying. I don't know what happened, I can't find the story. The title sounds like "I will play for you" or something like that. Been trying to find it to no avail. Help pls @gegeford

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8. I'm looking for a fic where lwj is being forced to mate (not sure if it's a/b/o or what) by his clan and the elders are choosing a mate for him. I think there's a scene where he's sitting in a room and the elders bring su she to him and that makes lwj super angry and throws him out. There might be something about scents? Ultimately, end game wangxian. If anyone has any ideas, or knows of something similar, it would be much appreciated! Thank you!

FOUND? Open Up Your Eager Eyes by meicairoubingfan (kiradyn) (E, 17k, WangXian, Mafia AU, Modern with Magic, dragon lans, Fertility Issues, Which Originally Began As A Method Of Natural Population Control, Gusu Lan Needs Heirs, The Twin Jades Have To Provide Them, LWJ Is Less Than Enthused About This, at first, Enter WWX And His Ripe Peach Ass, LWJ Is Suddenly Very Into The Idea Of Giving His Elders A Buncha Babies To Spoil, Dragon LWJ, incubus WWX, Size Difference, Canonical Lan arm strength, LWJ's Canonically Huge Dick, Now With Twice The Dicks, Fantastical Porn, fic Interpretation Of Dragon Lan Hemipenes, Double Penetration, boy pussy, small dick, cocklet, Mating Press, Biting, Scent Marking, Non-A/B/O Scent Kink, Subspace, Belly Bulge, Knotting, Cum Inflation, Breeding Kink, Mpreg, Bondage, Restraints, Dubious Consent, Which Becomes Canonical Wangxian CNC, Aphrodisiac Scent, Dragon Voice Powers, names have power, Dirty Talk, Tail Kink, cum plugging, Double Penetration in Two Holes, Gaping Holes, LWJ's Appreciation At Leaving WWX (And His Holes) Sloppy And Well-Used, Multiple Orgasms, Fantasy Incubus Anatomy & Biology, Suspension of Disbelief Required, LWJ's Endless Stamina, PWP, Was Supposed To Have More Plot, Derailed By Porn, so much porn, Dark LWJ, But More Like GreyJi Than BlackJi, Cockwarming, WWX’s Filthy Mind, LWJ’s Filthy Mouth)

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9. Hello! Thank you for your hard work!!! I'm looking for a fic where wangxian are still disciples in the Cloud Recess and WWX founds a cilindrical object Wich turn out to be a ancient onahole and links it to himself. LWJ finds him in the backhills fucking said object and confiscates it to later use for himself. // Hi, I think that maybe I already sent an ask for this one but for I really can't remember well. The fic that I'm searching for is one where Wangxian are still in Cloud Recess (I don't remember if they're disciples or not) and WWX found that some Jin cultivators have a device similar to an onahole where you put some blood of the desired person to link it to them. I remember that he confiscates it and uses it on himself and then LWJ founds him and confiscates and uses it too. Cue shenanigans.

FOUND? 🔒 The Golden Cutsleeve by syrus_jones (E, 77k, WangXian, Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff and Crack, Humor, Aged-Up Character(s), WWX POV, WWX is a gremlin, Internally Screaming LWJ, No Sunshot Campaign, First Times, Accidental Sex, Masturbation, PWP, Porn with Feelings, WWX experimenting with things he shouldn’t like always, Happy Ending, Porn With Plot)

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10. Hello! I'm looking for two fics that popped into my head recently.

A) LWJ manages to save WWX and he lives in Cloud Recesses wearing a face covering and using an assumed name. LQR figures it out and shocks WWX by asking if he needs help escaping if he's being held against his will. It was long-ish and had a happy ending, I think.

B) This one was a horror fic, I think. One of them brings the other back and it's happy for a little while and then the one who was resurrected gradually realizes that everyone around them is dead - basically the still-living partner had gone mad and was talking to corpses and hallucinating their responses. I remember it being not super long, well written, and disturbing, with a pretty sad ending.

Thanks in advance!

10A)

FOUND! Unbreakable Heaven, Luminous Earth by carolyncaves (M, 96k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Secret Identity, almost to the point of uncomfortable identity theft, Sharing a Bed, Literal Sleeping Together, Mutual Pining, Getting Together, Suicidal Thoughts, that’s for WWX after Nightless City and is not pervasive throughout the fic, Blood and Injury, Hurt/Comfort, Caretaking, Sexual Content, Domestic Fluff, Angst with a Happy Ending, Power Imbalance, mainly between WWX and JGY in an entirely nonsexual manner, this isn’t really a kid fic but the kids are there, as are some yunmeng sibling feelings, JYL lives, Not Everyone Dies, some COVID parallels, this is not a quarantine fic, but thematically WWX deals w things like face-covering for safety and loss of control, also assume all canon warnings, this AU is gentler than canon but isn’t a complete fix-it)

10B)

FOUND! they would call you my queen by HeavenlySkyfarer (E, 10k, WangXian, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Dark LWJ, Descent into Madness, Character Death, Royalty, Murder, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Insanity, Musical Cultivation But Dark AF, Bone Magic, Unreliable Narrator, Resurrection, Ghost WWX, Biting, Blanket Permission)

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11. Hi! I'm searching for this wangxian fic where they are childhood friends. It's a royalty au where jyl is crown princess and there's a competition to choose her the perfect consort as otherwise the kingdom will fall asleep. Wwx was a demon and lwj the palace librarian. They pretend to fake court eachother. I only read till chapter 2 before I had lost it.

FOUND? practicing our mistakes by isabilightwood (E, 49k, WangXian, Fairy Tale, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, royalty-adjacent AU, rom com, all the parents live, especially Mama Lan, who needs a divorce, consort competition, lwj does NOT want to participate, fake courting his best friend is the obvious solution, Qīnghéng-jūn’s A+ Parenting, matchmaking while mutual pining, wwx is a mostly human-looking demon, Monsterfucking, Submissive LWJ, Dominant WWX, Bondage, (fully consensual), Outdoor Sex, Fluff and Light Angst, wwx’s tail expresses his emotions, Bottom LWJ, Top WWX)

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12. Hi! This is my first time doing this, so I hope I’m doing it right ;-;

There’s this ao3 fic I’m trying to find and the only thing I remember is that there was a discussion conference (I think it was held in lanling jin) and I think su she burst in while holding a-yuan hostage, but then a-yuan cried out to wei ying by calling him a-niang, and a ghost of wei ying appeared ‘cause I’m sure he was also dead before all that happened too.

If you could find this, it would be so great. I’ve been trying to find this for so long🥹 @stygianamulet

FOUND! To Ride A Stygian Tiger by Madyamisam for Duochanfan (M, 111k,WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Time travel, Angst with a happy ending, BAMF WWX, Dark LWJ, Slow burn, Family Feels, Misunderstandings) chapter 4

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13. Hello to fic finder I am looking for a fic where Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù is it an alternate universe bridgeton

FOUND? 🔒 yours truly, lady mulberry by qinghuaz (G, 78k, JC/NHS, WangXian, JYL/JZX, WIP, Historical, Bridgerton (TV) Fusion, A/B/O, Alpha JC, Omega NHS, First Love, Getting Back Together, Sort Of, Regency, Nobility, Slow Burn, Pining, Secret Identity, Fake/Pretend Relationship, in the past, Historical Inaccuracy, Courting Rituals, Childhood Friends to Fake Lovers to Strangers to Lovers, Implied Mpreg, Childbirth, Idiots in Love, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Mentions of miscarriage, Not between Sangcheng) there's a Bridgerton fusion Sancheng fic "yours truly, lady mulberry" by qinghauz? Not sure if that's what the requestor wants. There is background Wangxian though.

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14. Hello my loves. I'm looking for a Wangxian fic where it's abo and wei wuxian comes back as an omega when before he was an alpha. He's somewhat intersex and I distinctly remember the author making him hate "xiao nuts"

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15. hello! i'm searching for this fic.

the fic is a canon divergence fanfic, and I remember in a chapter (definitely not the first) wuxian writing letters to nie huaisang throughout all of the Wen issues and such and then killing himself. nie huaisang gets a letter from him afterwards and reads it to every group and everyone, and JC + NHS + NMJ + LWJ + LXI all go and see what wei wuxian wrote about in his letter (the torture, etc.) the fic extremely graphic and amazing and i would love to read it again. from the latest chapters i remember, wei wuxian had just gotten his soul transferred into his body again (essentially) while in the pond at the cloud recessses, after they found out mo xuanyu (who was taken in by his brother and jiang yanli i think. i cant remember i apologize my brain is blanking its 12 am) could hear wwx and such.

its been 2 years and last i recall the author had been in a car crash (if that helps or anything) and hadn't updated and i can't remember if the fic had been deleted or revived or anything. thank you 🙏 @painehell

~*~

16. Help finding fanfic I don't remember much but I remember Wei Wuxian finding a DiJiang which is like that faceless creature that has wings (the creature was named morris in shang chi) everybody was freaked out he came across it during a think the hunt. I remember he is eventually able to fly on it. Any help to find it would be great. @angiewriter

FOUND? Whatever it takes by Moonlit_dewdrops (T, 115k, JC & WWX, WangXian, JC & WWX & JYL, JC/WQ, JYL & WQ, WWX & WQ, WWX & JGY, WWX & JZX, Canon Divergence, Time Travel Fix-It, Not Everyone Dies, yunmeng prides, POV JC, POV WWX; WQ & WN live, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, WWX & JC actually communicate, Yunmeng Siblings fluff, But Also Some Angst, Lots of WangXian moments, Protective JC, Protective LWJ, JGS & JXN will die for sure, NMJ Lives, Twin Prides of Yunmeng Feels, Slow burn but not for Wangxian, Brotherhood, justice for the wen remnants, JYL & JZX Live, Wen Remnants Live, Cinnamon Roll WN, Canon-Typical Violence, Implied/Referenced Cannibalism, reference to wwx's suicide, Established Relationship, Torture) The Dijiang or Hundun shows up somewhere round about chapter 25. WWX can ride it and in a panic i think it even once napped NHS and flew off with him because it thought something was wrong.

~*~

17. there was a fic where child Wei wuxian meets meng Yao and they decide to become brothers and meng shi takes care of them and they eventually bring xue yang I believe into their family. Wei ying never gets adopted by the jiangs in this fic

FOUND? what builds a home by Stratisphyre (T, 46k, WangXian, MY & WWX, Canon Divergence, Adopted WWX, POV Multiple, warning for JGS behaving exactly as expected, child endangerment, Brother Feels, Minor Character Death) I think 17 might be what builds a home but this one has Mo Xuanyu becoming the third brother rather than Xue Yang.

FOUND? Shards of Hope by Dreaming_Days (T, 89k, JGY/LXC, WangXian, Time Travel Fix-It, Redemption, Character Study)

#17 might be that ic where wwx xy and my are all homeless living in the outskirts of yiling. Burial mounds were formed when a powerful sect/dynasty? Was destroyed and they thought the bloodline wiped out, but the three kids a descendants of a survivor. And ghost of the last queen is raising them, and prepping them to kinda reclaim a throne?

FOUND? Debts of a Child by Hauntcats (M, 115k, WangXian, dark, YZY Bashing, Not Jiang Family Friendly, Angst and Feels, lots of anger, JC Bashing, not Jiang friendly, Angst with a Happy Ending, Content warning for icky spiders in later chapters.)

~*~

18. Hello good! I need help finding this fic and knowing if it still exists, it goes like this: Lan Wangji is kidnapped by the Wen and ends up pregnant with Wen Xu's son, who is A-Yuan (I don't really remember if it was a m-preg or an abo) . Wei Wuxian later claims the child as his own and I'm pretty sure he ends up at the party for Wen's fall. I don't really remember much Wangxian happening (but they do end up together) and I have the impression that it was one chapter or just extremely short. I don't remember much else so I would appreciate your help, please and thank you! @makolashida

FOUND? 🔒 Baijiu for Breakfast, Sanity for Lunch, Innocence for Dinner, Your Poison in my Cup by Cy_anne & NiceElsa (E, 20k, WangXian, Dark, Gods & Goddesses, God WWX, War Prize LWJ, Forced Marriage, Forced Pregnancy, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Not by WangXian, Adultery, Cheating, Threats of Violence, Threats of Child Abuse/Murder, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon-Typical Gore, Smut, Mpreg, Pregnancy, Pregnant Sex, Mating Cycles/In Heat, A/B/O, Alpha WWX, Omega LWJ, Bottom LWJ, Endgame WangXian, WangXian Get a Happy Ending)

~*~

19. Hi! I'm looking for a fic where Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian are dance teachers? Wei wuxian has kind of a bad reputation but comes back in the picture to help the juniors to learn how to dance? Lan Wangji pines a lot and there's a pablo neruda poem in the middle, it's very funny and cute. @ilyweiwuxian

FOUND? Unstrictly Ballroom by Ariaste (T, 47k, WangXian, background SongXiao, Modern AU, Everyone’s alive, the gang defeats systemic heteronormativity, Stripper AU, competitive ballroom dance AU, really stupid misunderstandings, Yearning, Mutual Pining, the wrist grab, Erotic Handholding, [Podfic] Unstrictly Ballroom by RevolutionaryJo, Unstrictly Ballroom [Podfic] by esbielle)

~*~

20. Heyyy I’ve been looking for this fic forever but I only remember some of it… so basically it’s a modern au where wwx and lwj are friends w benefits and wwx thinks lwj is super straight and that makes him insecure.? there’s a lot of crossdressing on wwx’s part especially during frisky timesss. I think I remember there’s a scene where they’re at a board game night with wen qing..? I think it’s right before lwj tells wwx that he was gay all along lol.. N e ways thank you so much!!!:)))) @yes-mimi

FOUND? i’ll be your girl by plonk (E, 30k, WangXian, Modern AU, Modern with Magic, PWP, Idiots to Lovers)

~*~

[lilyofthevalleyys]

just wanna say i have wind breaker brain rot right now (the manga)

10/10!! highly recommend reading/watching it!

i’m hoping that i can find the manga but i dont have high hopes. some merch maybe? the chance is probably really low too though :/

more photos under the cut! + me talking about them

also i really want suo’s earrings but they’re impractical so i probably can’t get them 😭 maybe next time 😔

also please tap on the photo for higher quality!

also x2, there blood in the second photo, not a lot but just a warning!

LOOK AT THEM

i haven’t watched the anime on my phone to screenshot yet so i don’t have any good pics but KIRYUU <33 he’s the longish haired person. can you tell he’s my favourite. and Nirei being best supporting character <33

i had mixed feelings about kiryuu at first cuz i was uncertain about his vibe BUT HES AMAZING

kaji is a favourite too!!! his headphones, lollipop and hoodie is so iconic. i also love his parallel to sakura! sakura has someone to ask advice for who’s similar to him :))

introducing the four kings of furin/bofurin!

MOMOSE, the zojo king (the guy with a hood and sweater paws) we don’t know much about him yet (i hope we get more) but i just like him so he’s a favourite! so my top three are kiryuu, kaji and momose, in no particular order

tsubakino, the jikoku king (the one in the second frame)! the way the whole town just accepts them!! and their crush is treated like any other normal crush! they’re so older sibling vibe i love them so much

hiragi, the tamon king (the one in the third frame)! the dad of the group and the one who pops those stomachache pills/tablets like it’s nothing. tbf having to deal with the leader of furin, who legit yells into the broadcast mic thing, isn’t easy 😭

mizuki, the komoku king (the guy in the first frame)! nothing much is known about him either but he’s seems serious and is the strategy person of furin. also he takes off his glasses when he fights which is just really cool

also i realise i haven’t said this but the one with dual colored hair (kinda like todoroki shouto) is the main character of the manga, sakura, who’s goal is to be at the top of furin! he’s got ✨ trauma ✨ but he’s slowly learning to accept and rely on people :)) he also blushes at any kind of romance (and also when he’s shy or embarrassed), even hand holding. i don’t know how he’s gonna date people honestly

and of course, the leader/representative of furin, hajime umemiya! he’s really just like an elementary school kid, as Suo says. hes the sunshine character who you wouldn’t wanna piss off. he’s also the one who united furin with the four kings when they used to be a dog-eat-dog kind of school, so major respect to him!

(the next one contains a bit of spoiler on suo?? idk but just a warning. it’s more of a mini analysis)

a more formal introduction of suo and nirei, sakura’s vice captains and the supporting characters! nirei is good with people and collects information on people in his notebook. he’s the sunshine in the trio, and the other two are the sunshine protectors! suo is a joker, but don’t let that kind face get to you. he’s like the main instigator of most of the (harmless) shit that goes down in 1-1. he’s also mysterious with little information about him. oh and he doesn’t eat?? not in front of other people at least. i really wanna know his backstory tbh

but also:

suo. hes mostly easygoing with a smile on his face all the time. but also freaking scary when pissed off like if someone was looking at me like that i’d run and never look back. yes sakura is right, that’s not the face of someone who’s kind, not in this case. i’ll make a post psycho analysing him later

but he takes fourth on my favourite character list! then tsubakino, umemiya, nirei, hiragi, tsugeura, kusumi, suzuri, choji, togame, the twins etc. the list goes on.

point is: wind breaker is great and i highly recommend reading/watching it.

thats all! imma go make a post analysing suo later, because seriously he’s so mysterious. thanks for reading!

[theroyalsims]

BREAKING: CROWN PRINCESS AND GUS TO WED

Royal fans woke up to a wonderful surprise this morning! We'll finally be getting a royal wedding this year!

The Palace announced the engagement of Crown Princess Anya to her boyfriend (and first love), Gus. The statement reads:

Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness Prince Jacques are incredibly pleased to announce the engagement of Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess Anastasia to Mr. Baris Gustavo Aslan.

The Crown Princess and Mr. Aslan, who have known each other since childhood, are set to be wed in Autumn, later this year. Mr. Aslan proposed to Her Royal Highness last month, during a private trip to Rennaux.

More details of the upcoming wedding will be made public in time.

The statement, which was released via the Royal Family's official website, social media channels, and broadcast on television, was accompanied by two brand new photos of the newly-engaged couple. The photos were confirmed to have been taken by Princess Ingrid (cementing herself as the official family photographer at this point), and was taken at the Winter Palace earlier this month. The Crown Princess wore a fully-embroidered gold gown. HRH accessorised with pearls and diamonds, including the versatile Debonne Tiara. Gus, meanwhile, looked handsome in his tux with his typically wild mane kept neat and slicked back.

The seemingly out-of-the-blue announcement has apparently been a well-guarded secret for over a month! Sources now reveal that the proposal happened a few weeks after HRH's historic win, on Rennaux's famed Lover's Cliffs - the same spot where Prince Jacques popped the Question to then-Crown Princess Emilia decades earlier!

Proposing at The Cliffs, aside from being an obvious nod to Crown Princess Anya's parents, also holds a very special and romantic reason: legend has it that couples who reveal their love and promise each other along its picturesque ridge will be destined to stay together forever.

Rennaux also plays a significant part for both the groom and bride-to-be. Anya, of course, is half Rennauxi, and is both a Princess and Duchess in her father's homeland. Gus, meanwhile, is half Tartosan and half Ekharean. He, however, grew up and studied in Rennaux, and holds dual citizenships in both Rennaux and Ekhkare.

By the looks of it, Gus popped the question with a massive diamond ring. We're quite certain we'll be getting a closer look at it in the coming days, but already, we know it's a stunner!

A photo call is scheduled to happen soon, and the couple is also expected to do a sit-down engagement interview in the coming days.

Congratulations to the very happy couple, and we are SO READY for this royal wedding!

[fallershipping]

Trainer Titles and Meaning?

Pokemon League Officials: These are the official titles recognized by the International Pokemon League Association (IPLA). They are the "global standard" of trainer battles and has been adopted in many countries. Usually, these are the trainers that go to the Pokeworld version of the "Olympics" or the official Pokemon World Tournament (PWT)

Rules: No Legendary or Mythical class Pokemon are permitted due to the Mirage Species Clause, even if the trainer has a permit. One of the many reasons for this clause is that League battles are broadcasted and heavily advertised... However, this can often get ignored due to special circumstances.

Gym Leader - Usually specializes in one type. Type generalists exist with Justy in Orre, but they are the exception and not the rule. Specialization comes from knowledge due to career, ease of breeding and husbandry, or out of personal preference. They usually have a large amount of Pokemon that are perfect for beginner challengers or expert challengers.

Elite Four - Usually specializes in one type, but has a wider range of dual types or even wild cards. Still, the type focus seems to be almost an unspoken rule or League tradition. Type Specialization is often criticized as being too restrictive, but it is the easiest form of Pokemon training that people often gravitate towards.

Champion - A random draw between Type Focus and Type Generalists, usually taken by the ladder. Being a master of many typed Pokemon makes for strong trainers not because of type advantage, but because it's a visual showcase of being able to master different advantages and weaknesses. Type Focus trainers can be still just as strong, however.

League Defectors: These are trainer titles unrecognized by official standardization, and are often the go-to for various trainers that do not like the criteria set by the IPLA or simply enjoy different forms of battling. They are sometimes colloquial known as "Battle Facilities." Frontier Brains are often mistaken to be type specialists like the league ordinance, but are actually quite in opposition of such.

Rules: Silver Legendary Class Pokemon such as Raikou and Articuno are permitted, but Mythicals remain banned. Golden Legendary Class Pokemon like Lugia and Groudon remain banned.

Frontier Brain - (Non-Tower) A title developed by Scott Enishida for Battle Frontiers. Frontier Brains are scouted out of a wide variety of trainers that are not type specialists and often have a unique forms of battle, intense knowledge of all species, or a flashy gimmick.

Tower Tycoon - A very specific Frontier Brain title. It is in the same ranking as other Frontier Brains, but is unofficially deemed as the spiritual Champion title for their specific Battle Frontier.

Subway Boss and Battle Chatelaine - Titles regarded as unofficial Tower Tycoons of other regions. Though unaffiliated, they often hold similar meaning if a region has only one main Battle Facility.

Cultural Ambassadors: These are trainer titles not affiliated by the Pokemon League and are historical in nature. Often, regions or entire countries will reject modern league bureaucracy to keep their cultural traditions intact.

Trial Captains - Alola based trainers that care for Totem Pokemon. They are often mischaracterized as Alola's Gym Leaders.

Kahuna - Alola based trainers that are chosen by a patron island spirit known as the Tapu. They are the final challenge for an islands set of Trial Captains before a challenger can move forward to the next. In modern times, some act in the official Alola Elite Four, though it is not necessary.

Warden - Historically Sinnoh based trainers that used to care for what was referred to as Noble Pokemon. This practice was last seen in the early 1950s as the IPLA began to rise in popularity, though some much smaller form of it remains today.

[empiredesimparte]

Live TV Broadcast on Francesim 2, Special Edition ‘Oliver and Hortense, The Royal Wedding’

👉🏻 Follow Hortense's wedding on the blog @officalroyalsofpierreland

Statement by Jérôme Leicca, Head of the Emperor's Household, at the Press Conference on the Marriage of Hortense and Oliver of Scots.

Ladies and Gentlemen, members of the press, This royal marriage marks an important and symbolic moment for our two nations, and I am here to clarify the new legal and protocol situation of Her Royal Highness, Princess Hortense, to the French people. Princess Hortense, in marrying Prince Oliver, has acquired a new status as Princess of the Scots. She will henceforth be referred to as "Her Royal Highness, Princess Hortense." This title is a recognition of her integration into the Scottish royal house and her new role within it. This new status takes precedence over her French title, which she nevertheless retains as the sister of the Emperor of the French. This retention has been approved by His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Napoleon V, in accordance with imperial tradition and the provisions of our Constitution. Thus, her full title is: "Her Royal Highness, Princess Hortense of the Scots, Duchess of Rothsey, Countess of Carrick, Lady of the Isle of Sky, Madame de Francesim." As a member of the imperial family, Princess Hortense will continue to enjoy certain protocol privileges when she is in our country, in her capacity as Madame. However, her main responsibilities and commitments will now focus on her duties as the wife of the Prince of the Scots. The official functions and protocol engagements of the Princess in Francesim will be coordinated in close collaboration with the Scottish Royal Household to ensure harmony and consistency in her activities. It should be noted that Her Royal Highness will continue her studies in Francesim at the École Polytechnique for two more years. We kindly ask journalists to respect the privacy of the Princess and the newlywed couple while on French soil. In accordance with Article 2 of the Imperial Constitution, the children of Their Royal Highnesses will not have any rights of succession to the throne of Francesim. They will hold dual Franco-Scottish nationality but will not have any French imperial privileges. This event strengthens the bonds of friendship and cooperation between the empire of Francesim and the kingdom of Scotland. It symbolizes the unity and fraternity of our two nations, and we look forward to increased cultural and diplomatic exchanges as a result. The members of the Emperor's Household, with whom the Princess grew up, wish to express their warmest wishes for her marriage to the Prince Oliver.

⚜ Traduction française

Emission télévisée en direct sur Francesim 2, édition spéciale "Oliver et Hortense, le mariage royal"

Déclaration de Jérôme Leicca, Chef de la Maison de l'Empereur, lors de la Conférence de Presse sur le Mariage d'Hortense et d'Oliver d'Écosse.

Mesdames et Messieurs, membres de la presse, Ce mariage royal marque un moment important et symbolique pour nos deux nations, et je suis ici pour clarifier la nouvelle situation légale et protocolaire de Son Altesse Royale, Hortense, auprès des Français. En épousant le prince Oliver, Madame a acquis un nouveau statut en tant que Princesse des Ecossais et duchesse de Rothsey. Elle sera désormais désignée sous le prédicat "d'Altesse royale, Princesse Hortense". Ce titre est une reconnaissance de son intégration dans la maison royale écossaise et de son nouveau rôle au sein de celle-ci. Il prévaut désormais sur son titre français, qu'elle conserve néanmoins en tant que sœur de l'Empereur. Ce maintien a été approuvé par Sa Majesté Impériale, l'Empereur Napoléon V, en accord avec la tradition impériale et les dispositions de notre Constitution. Ainsi, le titre complet est : "Son Altesse Royale, la Princesse Hortense des Ecossais, Duchesse de Rothsey, Countess of Carrick, Lady of the Isle of Sky, Madame de Francesim". En tant que membre de la famille impériale, la princesse Hortense continuera à jouir de certaines prérogatives protocolaires lorsqu'elle se trouve en notre pays, en qualité de Madame. Cependant, ses responsabilités et engagements principaux seront désormais centrés sur ses devoirs en tant qu'épouse du prince des Ecossais. Les fonctions officielles et les engagements protocolaires de la Princesse en Francesim seront coordonnés en étroite collaboration avec la Maison Royale d'Écosse pour assurer une harmonie et une cohérence dans ses activités. Il faut préciser que Son Altesse Royale poursuivra encore deux ans ses études en Francesim, à l'Ecole Polytechnique. Nous demandons donc aux journalistes de bien vouloir respecter l'intimité de la Princesse et du jeune couple marié sur le sol français. Conformément à l'article 2 de la Constitution impériale, les enfants de Leurs Altesses Royales n'auront pas de droits de succession au trône de Francesim. Ils auront la double nationale franco-écossaise, mais n'auront aucun privilège impérial français. Cet événement renforce les liens d'amitié et de coopération entre la Francesim et l'Écosse. Il symbolise l'unité et la fraternité de nos deux nations, et nous nous réjouissons des échanges culturels et diplomatiques accrus qui en découleront. Les membres de la Maison de l'Empereur, auprès desquels la Princesse Hortense a grandi, souhaitent exprimer leurs vœux les plus chaleureux pour son mariage avec le prince Oliver.

[coimbrabertone]

Why George Russell's Disqualification is Really Napoleon's Fault

Alright motorsports fans, with the end of the Belgian Grand Prix (held before the summer break this year because the F1 calendar is becoming increasingly cursed year after year) F1 enters its summer break. NASCAR and Indycar are on an Olympic break thanks to both series currently being on NBC (who is the US broadcaster of the 2024 Paris Olympics), and MotoGP doesn't come back from its second summer break until next week.

So what the hell am I going to talk about in this blog.

Well, George Russell won the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix until he got disqualified for having an underweight car. Some people have theorized that Mercedes made a mistake and underfueled him, others have said that George switching to a one-stop meant he lost out of valuable pitlane speed time, using up more fuel, still others have theorized it's down to the unique procedures at Spa - where drivers turn around after turn one and drive the wrong way into pit exit - that meant Russell didn't have the chance to pick up rubber and thus increase the weight of his tyres.

I, meanwhile, have a different theory.

George Russell could only have been disqualified from the Belgian Grand Prix because of Napoleon!

Yes, really.

How, you may ask? Well, the Napoleonic Wars created the conditions that ultimately allowed for the the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps to exist. Thus, the long lap that causes F1 cars to deliberately underfuel for the race, the unique post-race procedures due to track length, and choice of this area as the venue for the Belgian Grand Prix...none of that would've been possible with Napoleon.

Our story, as all good motor racing stories do, begins in 651 when the Benedictine Monk, Saint Remaclus of Stavelot founded the dual Abbeys of Stavelot and Malmedy (which you may recognize from corner names of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, as these are neighboring villages).

These abbeys wound gain more territory in 747 when Carloman, the Majordomo of the Franks and uncle of Charlemagne, abdicated and became a monk himself.

They would be enlarged again in 882 by Charles the Fat, Holy Roman Emperor, in compensation for the Normans raiding and burning down both abbeys the previous year.

Thus, the Princely Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy became one of the many mosaic pieces of the complex historical mindscrew that is the Holy Roman Empire, holding territories along what is now the Belgian-Germany border. Back then though, they were a rather significant ecclesiastical territory, holding land where Lothringia met the Low Countries.

This was the exact region where, in the late 15th and early 16th century, the Dukes of Burgundy attempted to create their own sovereign territory, using the chaos of the Hundred Years War in France to become lords over Luxembourg, Hainaut, Flanders, Brabant, and Holland. Soon enough, the Princely Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy was one of only three independent states remaining in the region.

It was Stavelot-Malmedy, an ecclesiastical state which thus couldn't easily be absorbed into secular Burgundy.

Then the Prince-Bishopric of Liege, which again, was an ecclesiastical state which meant it would be a tricky proposition for a Catholic Duke of Burgundy to try and conquer.

And finally the Duchy of Bouillon, which was a downright weird state in that the title was a secular Duchy that was sold to the Prince-Bishopric of Liege, and in the late 17th century became a sovereign possession of the La Tour d'Auvergne, a French noble family.

In any case, upon the death of the Burgundian line, their territories were divided between France, the feudal overlord of Burgundy, and Philip the Handsome (the son of Mary the Rich, the last Duchess of Burgundy, and Maximilian von Habsburg, an Austrian Prince).

Philip the Handsome was in turn married to Joanna the Mad (we should bring back the random ass nicknames people used to get in the past btw), the Queen of Castile and Aragon. Their son, Charles, would thus inherit Spain, the Burgundian possessions in the Low Countries, and, eventually, Austria and the title of Holy Roman Emperor. Yeah.

So thanks to Charles V rolling a natural 20 in his birth dice roll, Stavelot-Malmedy was suddenly one small little ecclesiastical holding squeezed between the two halves of what would eventually become known as the Spanish Netherlands.

Then, the northern half of the Spanish Netherlands decided they didn't want to be Catholic anymore. This ushered in the Dutch Revolt of the 17th century, a bloody religious struggle concurrent with the Thirty Years War and the Portuguese War of Independence that marked the end of the golden age of Spanish power.

Come 1700 and Charles II of Spain (Charles V was Charles I in Spain, regnal numbers get weird when you rule over half of Europe), the last Habsburg King of Spain, dies an inbred and infertile mess. The Low Countries become a battleground in the War of the Spanish Succession.

On one side, France and Spain, as Charles II had declared his grandnephew, the French Prince Philip of Anjou, threatened to tip the scales of western Europe towards the Bourbon dynasty.

On the other side, a grand coalition of Austria, England, the Dutch Republic, Prussia, Portugal, and Savoy aimed to contain French power.

This was the War of the Spanish Succession, and the war would be transformative for the southern Low Countries. The Spanish Netherlands went back to Habsburg hands and became the Austrian Netherlands, meanwhile, the Duchy of Cleves, just to the east, was returned to Prussia following a French occupation.

The Dutch Republic in the north was Protestant, the Austrian Netherlands were Catholic, and Protestant Prussia was emerging on the scene as well. This would more or less lay the stage for the Napoleonic Wars, where the armies of the French Republic and later the French Empire would occupy all of this land. Gone were the Austrian Netherlands, gone was Stavelot-Malmedy, Liege, and Bouillon, and gone was Prussian Cleves.

Instead, the land surrounding Spa-Francorchamps would became part of the French Department of Ourthe, named for one of the principal rivers of the region.

However, much like the War of the Spanish Succession, numerous grand coalitions would rise up against Napoleon, the primary participants being Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, the Dutch, and Russia. In 1815, they would finally defeat Napoleon once and for all, and the Peace of Vienna would shape the new postwar Europe.

Of the old Princely Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy, Stavelot would go to the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (the new kingdom combining the modern-day Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg), while Malmedy would go to the Kingdom of Prussia.

The border would be a minor tributary of the River Ambieve known for its reddish water. The name? Eau Rouge.

Fast forward to 1830 and the largely Catholic southern Netherlands revolt from their Protestant overlords in the north and demand the creation of a Kingdom of Belgium. Following a great power conference in London, the Belgians would get their wish, and in 1831, the Kingdom of Belgium was born, including Stavelot.

The Dutch would recognize Belgium Independence in 1839.

Eau Rouge was now the Belgian-Prussian border.

Come 1871, and Prussia becomes the German Empire.

Come 1914, and this border region is amongst the first overrun by the Germans in World War I. Spa becomes a major German field hospital from the get-go, and by 1918, Spa is the German military headquarters and the primary residence of Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Upon the German surrender in 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm would abdicate and leave for the Netherlands, meanwhile, France and Belgium - the countries that wore the greatest scars from World War I - would demand harsh reparations from Germany. For Belgium, this would include Eupen-Malmedy.

Thus, the great majority of the old Princely Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy was now within Belgian borders.

Jules de Thier, owner of the La Meuse newspaper in Liege, found this new territory to be the perfect site for a high-speed triangular race track in 1921. The race would begin in old Belgium, with a run to the old border - originally they would veer right, pass through Ancienne Douane - the old customs office on the Belgian-Prussian border - then back left to rejoin the track on the other side of what is now the Eau Rouge corner - then run through the German territories.

Burnenville and Malmedy were in old Germany, then swing back at the bottom of the track, crossing back into pre-war Belgian territory in time for the Masta kink, then Stavelot, Blanchimont, and La Source would all be in pre-war Belgium as well. Cross the start-finish line after La Source (as it was back then) and then cross into former Germany again on the next lap.

Thus, the Belgian Grand Prix was born in a region that had only just been annexed from Germany.

This led to Spa again becoming a battlefield during World War II, but with the borders restored after the war, Spa would again be in Belgium and, from 1950, the Belgian Grand Prix would become a traditional staple on the Formula One calendar.

Spa-Francorchamps would be transformed a couple of times over, not assuming its current form until 2007, but it was born from the great Napoleonic shakeup in European politics.

The ancient double abbeys of Stavelot-Malmedy were separated for the first time in 1200 years, and it would take another century for them to be reunited in modern Belgium.

So yeah, if you're mad that George Russell was disqualified, blame Napoleon...or Kaiser Wilhelm II I suppose, whichever one fits your fancy.

Oh, and by the way, Lewis Hamilton takes a record-extending 105th win following his teammate's disqualification, so I suppose Mercedes still has something to be happy about.

[allbeforee]

Words from a Palestinian (Eman Basher)

Translation of this tweet.

ID and plain text broken up version below

Image ID:

Let me tell a few things clearly and in Arabic: Regardless of October 7th incidents, Israel has constantly been bombing Gaza. I work at a school affiliated with the UNRWA near the borders. We're always asked to wear loose clothing to help us escape in the event of bombing. More than half of the female students in the class, not only have martyr relatives, they also witnessed the death of martyrs before their eyes.

Meaning, more than three-quarters of the students in my school have psychological trauma. More than once we fled from school under random bombing. More than once we hide in our classes and sit on the floor (like the CNN broadcaster), but this time I have 40 students in the class and I am charged with protecting them, and I cannot even protect myself.

Many times we would go back to school when we were not in a state of war, and we would find a girl who had been martyred, or in the hospital seriously injured because a soldier on the border had targeted her while she was in her home.

The residents of Beit Hanoun, all of their agricultural land, which is their livelihood, is on the border. Go and ask them about the tragedies they experience day in and day out. How many times have their crops been burned? How many times have they been targeted while they were farming safely?

Before October 7th, Israel constantly assaulted women on their way to prayers in Jerusalem, preventing them from reaching Al-Aqsa Mosque for days. Celebrations are held in vain and repeatedly, and they chant racist slogans to provoke the Palestinian people of Jerusalem.

Gazans need a permit to enter the West Bank, which is often denied (for education, work, treatment, all the same, forbidden).

On a personal note, I am 32 years old and have never visited Jerusalem or the rest of the cities of Palestine. Patients with serious medical conditions that require a transfer to the West Bank die while waiting for the approval of the transfer.

Checkpoints are widespread in the West Bank on every street, to the point that you take 2 hours to reach a place that you can normally reach in 15 mins because you have to stop and wait many times. Israel arrests men, women, and children, imprisons them without charge or trial, abuses them, and tortures them in prisons without supervision. If it releases them in deals - something that happens once in a lifetime - it exiles them to another city far from their family, that if it doesn't take them captive again!

Settlers occupy houses in the West Bank, steal them and live in them (just like that, imagine!), and the Palestinian who yesterday was still sleeping in this house is expelled under the cover of the occupation government. Even the Palestinians inside Israel, who are supposed to have Israeli identity cards, were not spared. They are treated as second-class citizens and are considered a minority.

They are prevented from many jobs. Armed Israeli gangs constantly assault them in the streets and in their homes. They are killed without any accountability. Rather, their killing is encouraged because they are causing a crisis for the occupying state.

In Gaza, if you order something online, it will take a year and we will be answered verbatim "it's up to the mood of the Israeli soldier working at the crossing". Three-quarters of the items Israel considers to be dual-use and refuses to enter the Gaza Strip, the most important of which is reinforced iron, which can be used in building shelters to protect civilians in wars.

I once ordered diving goggles, and they were returned because they were classified as dual use. Everything entering the sector is subject to inspection. Israel rations the Gaza Strip's food supplies so that the food that enters is not enough for a single person. It updates its data after each war to account for the sector's decrease in population due to martyrdom (articles are widespread and numerous, for example how it rations the entry of chocolate into the sector according to its own specific calculation).

Fishermen are hunted at sea and they're falsely accused of getting close to the border. The fishing area keeps shrinking that they now have a tiny area from which they can make a living.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of the occupation's practices against the Palestinians in general and Gaza in particular.

Israel did not need October 7th except to inflame people's feelings, remind them of the Jewish tragedy, and wipe out the Gaza Strip, with the world giving it the green light. If October 7th hadn't happened, Israel would have bombed the Gaza Strip and said that a Gazan dog walked near the border and denied the Holocaust.

Resistance, tunnels, return marches, and demonstrations are all forms of oppressed people trying to defend themselves. Whether they succeed or fail, they are all attempts to say that we died with dignity, and at least we tried not to let them kill us while they were happy. As Naseer said, "If it were not for the resistance, your mother would've been washing an Israeli soldier's feet in a basin right now."

The occupation is not the enemy of the resistance itself. The occupation is my enemy, the enemy of my students, the enemy of my children, the enemy of my family members, and the enemy of my people. If God allowed us to live, I would like to let my children and students grow up cursing Israel. The battle is not over yet. This is not a post of justification, I don't have to justify to the world why we resist.

This is for some of my people who seem to believe the occupation's repeated narrative that its goal is to eliminate Hamas. And to remind them that in the past there was no Hamas, but your grandfather and grandmother were still killed. My son and your son are not Hamas, but my son and your son are still being killed.

End ID

[tapedsleeves]

jack talking about noah from the radio broadcast interview

min vs vgk april 12, 2024

transcript:

Context: Dan D'Uva has asked about the trade deadline acquisitions. Jack answers about Tomas Hertl, calling him "Hertz" and then:

Jack: And Noah, uhm, you know he's a dual threat up top. He can obviously shoot it and score, we've seen that, and uh at the same time he's, uh, makes a lot of really good reads and distributes the puck well. So, uhm. It was good to see us get a good power play goal. We want to continue to build off it. Obviously, it wasn't our best power play the second time. So, if we get another chance here, we can be ready to go.

Dan: Jack, what was your reaction when you found out that Noah had signed an eight year with the Knights?

Jack: (chuckles) I was pretty stoked. That's incredible, not only for him, but his family. I've known Noah for a while, and known his family for a while and uhm. Y'know, I know how much work and sacrifice he's put into get where he is in this position in his career. And obviously growing up with him, we have a special bond. So, uh. yeah. It's just unbelievable. And you know just to be able to call him my teammate every day and share a locker room with him, it's been a lot of fun so far the last few weeks, and I look forward to the future playing with him.

Dan: Jack, thanks. Good Luck.

Jack: Yeah, thank you.

[capybaracorn]

Australia challenged on ‘moral failure’ of weapons trade with Israel

Regular protests have been taking place outside Australian firms making crucial components for the F-35 fighter jet.

Melbourne, Australia – Israel’s continued assault on Gaza has highlighted a hidden yet crucial component of the world’s weapons manufacturing industry – suburban Australia.

Tucked away in Melbourne’s industrial north, Heat Treatment Australia (HTA) is an Australian company that plays a vital role in the production of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters; the same model that Israel is using to bomb Gaza.

Weekly protests of about 200 people have been taking place for months outside the nondescript factory, where heat treatment is applied to strengthen components for the fighter jet a product of US military giant Lockheed Martin.

While protesters have sometimes brought production to a halt with their pickets, they remain concerned about what’s going on inside factories like HTA.

“We decided to hold the community picket to disrupt workers, and we were successful in stopping work for the day,” Nathalie Farah, protest organiser with local group Hume for Palestine, told Al Jazeera. “We consider this to be a win.”

“Australia is absolutely complicit in the genocide that is happening,” said 26-year-old Farah, who is of Syrian and Palestinian origin. “Which is contrary to what the government might have us believe.”

More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its war in Gaza six months ago after Hamas killed more than 1,000 people in a surprise attack on Israel. The war, being investigated as a genocide by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), has left hundreds of thousands on the brink of starvation, according to the United Nations.

Nathalie Farah has been organising regular protests outside HTA’s factory [Ali MC/Al Jazeera]

According to Lockheed Martin, “Every F-35 built contains some Australian parts and components,” with more than 70 Australian companies having export contracts valued at a total 4.13 billion Australian dollars ($2.69bn).

Protesters have also picketed Rosebank Engineering, in Melbourne’s southeast, the world’s only producer of the F-35’s “uplock actuator system”, a crucial component of the aircraft’s bomb bay doors.

Defence industry push

In recent years, the Australian government has sought to increase defence exports to boost the country’s flagging manufacturing industry.

In 2018, former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced Australia aimed to become one of the world’s top 10 defence exporters within a decade. It is currently 30th in global arms production, according to the Stockholm International Peace Institute.

It is an aspiration that appears set to continue under the government of Anthony Albanese after it concluded a more than one-billion-Australian-dollar deal with Germany to supply more than 100 Boxer Heavy Weapon Carrier vehicles in 2023 – Australia’s single biggest defence industry deal.

Since the Gaza war began, the industry and its business relationship with Israel have come increasingly under the spotlight.

Last month, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles insisted that there were “no exports of weapons from Australia to Israel and there haven’t been for many, many years”.

However, between 2016 and 2023 the Australian government approved some 322 export permits for military and dual-use equipment to Israel.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s own data – available to the public online – shows that Australian exports of “arms and ammunition” to Israel totalled $15.5 million Australian dollars ($10.1m) over the same period of time.

Officials now appear to be slowing the export of military equipment to Israel.

In a recent interview with Australia’s national broadcaster ABC, the Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy insisted the country was “not exporting military equipment to Israel” and clarified this meant “military weapons, things like bombs”.

However, defence exports from Australia fall into two categories, items specifically for military use – such as Boxer Heavy Weapons vehicles for Germany – and so-called ‘dual use’ products, such as radar or communications systems, that can have both civilian and military uses.

[See the video embedded in the article]

Australia’s Department of Defence did not respond to Al Jazeera’s requests about whether the halt to defence exports to Israel also included dual-use items.

What is certain is that companies such as HTA and Rosebank Engineering are continuing to manufacture components for the F-35, despite the risk of deployment in what South Africa told the International Court of Justice in December amounted to “genocidal acts“.

In the Netherlands – where parts for the jet are also manufactured – an appeal court last month ordered the Dutch government to block such exports to Israel citing the risk of breaching international law.

The Australian government has also come under scrutiny for its lax “end-use controls” on the weapons and components it exports.

As such, while the F-35 components are exported to US parent company Lockheed Martin, their ultimate use is largely outside Australia’s legal purview.

Lauren Sanders, senior research fellow on law and the future of war at the University of Queensland, told Al Jazeera that the “on-selling of components and military equipment through third party states is a challenge to global export controls.

“Once something is out of a state’s control, it becomes more difficult to trace, and to prevent it being passed on to another country,” she said.

Sanders said Australia’s “end use controls” were deficient in comparison with other exporters such as the United States.

“The US has hundreds of dedicated staff – with appropriate legal authority to investigate – to chase down potential end-use breaches,” she said.

“Australia does not have the same kind of end-use controls in place in its legislation, nor does it have the same enforcement resources that the US does.”

The protesters say they will continue their action until manufacturing of F-35 components is stopped [Ali MC/Al Jazeera]

In fact, under legislation passed in November 2023, permits for defence goods are no longer required for exports to the United Kingdom and the US under the AUKUS security agreement.

In a statement, the government argued the exemption would “deliver 614 million [Australian dollars; $401m] in value to the Australian economy over 10 years, by reducing costs to local businesses and unlocking investment opportunities with our AUKUS partners”.

International law

This new legislation may provide more opportunities for Australian weapons manufacturers, such as NIOA, a privately owned munitions company that makes bullets at a factory in Benalla, a small rural town in Australia’s southeast.

The largest supplier of munitions to the Australian Defence Force, NIOA – which did not respond to Al Jazeera for comment – also has aspirations to break into the US weapons market.

At a recent business conference, CEO Robert Nioa said that “the goal is to establish greater production capabilities in both countries so that Australia can be an alternative source of supply of weapons in times of conflict for the Australian and US militaries”.

Greens Senator David Shoebridge told Al Jazeera that the government needed to “publicly and immediately refute the plan to become a top 10 global arms dealer and then to provide full transparency on all Australian arms exports including end users.

“While governments in the Netherlands and the UK are facing legal challenges because of their role in the global supply chain, the Australian Labor government just keeps handing over weapons parts as though no genocide was happening,” he said. “It’s an appalling moral failure, and it is almost certainly a gross breach of international law.”

The Dutch government has faced legal action over the export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel [File: Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters]

Elbit has come under fire for its sale of defence equipment to the Myanmar military regime, continuing sales even after the military, which seized power in a 2021 coup, was accused of gross human rights violations – including attacks on civilians – by the United Nations and others.

Despite a recent joint announcement between the Australian and UK governments for an “immediate cessation of fighting” in Gaza, some say Australia needs to go further and cut defence ties with Israel altogether.

“The Australian government must listen to the growing public calls for peace and end Australia’s two-way arms trade with Israel,” Shoebridge said. “The Albanese government is rewarding and financing the Israeli arms industry just at the moment they are arming a genocide.”

Protests have continued both at the HTA factory in Melbourne and their premises in Brisbane, with organisers pledging to continue until the company stops manufacturing components for the F-35.

[keekeenuggets]

RadioStatic Week, Day 2: Vintage / Modern

We were writing this for other reasons, but then realized it happens to fit the prompt for today, so... figured we'd post it. We probably don't have the energy to participate in a lot of the days for this week, but we're excited to see more of what other people create, regardless!

Summary: A year into Alastor's disappearance, Vox makes one last attempt to reach out to the demon -- he hosts a radio broadcast.

Title: Old-Timey

Day three hundred and sixty-five since the last time Vox had heard from Alastor. Not that he'd been keeping track. He only had the date memorized, of course, and he just happened to look at the calendar and notice how many days had passed. Just like he did every day. It was part of his daily routine, not that he would ever admit it. It just so happened that he had a calendar posted on his door, which he looked at every day before exiting his room. Of course he'd look, because how would he not look at before leaving his room? It only made sense.

But as much as he didn't want to admit it, he'd started actually growing concerned for the old prick. An extermination had passed, not too long ago, and Vox wanted some kind of confirmation that Alastor was still alive. Even more, he wanted to know that his old friend cared, but he knew that was asking too much.

Still, he had an idea. He had the right equipment for it. Though radio broadcasts weren't his thing, what if...? It was a long shot, but if anything would catch the Radio Demon's attention enough to get a response, it would be Vox, the modern television overlord, going live on the air an old-timey piece of junk.

He wouldn't abandon his TV equipment, of course. He'd simply both avenues at once. Talk about the Radio Demon's mysterious disappearance, perhaps. It was as interesting as any news segment that bitch Katie Killjoy could come up with. Most of her shit consisted of boring, desperate grabs for views. At least Voxtek could come up with things that garnered actual interest. The hypnotism didn't hurt, either.

"... And three. Two. One. Going live!"

Travis, the studio director who bounced back and forth between shooting for Vox's segments and Val's pornography happened to be in charge of cameras, that day. He was mediocre at the radio tech, but they managed. And with the push of a few buttons, he saw the green light that let him know he was live not only on the television, but also on the more traditional radio waves. The perfect venue for grabbing the attention of all citizens of hell. Not only the most up-to-date ones.

"Annnnd good day, fine sinners!" Vox grinned into the camera, his hands folded in front of him. "Today's broadcast is brought to you by Voxtek. Trust *us* with your news." His eye sent out waves of persuasion, for only a moment. Today, he was all about the audio. And no one, not even -- or especially not -- Alastor, would be able to hear the hypnotic frequencies. He had to rely on his charm and showmanship, today. But that was not a problem.

He cleared his throat. "I come live to you in a rather unique format. Yes, this time, I'm broadcasting over the radio, too. A little bit of traditional medium for old time's sake, right? It doesn't hurt, every once in a while." He laughed, to himself. Then he continued. "Now, we've got a special topic this morning, and it's the reason I've decided on this dual transmission. As some of you may be aware, the Radio Demon hasn't been around in quite some time." Speaking the words gave them a truth he didn't want to think about, but Vox kept the grin plastered on his face like his life depended on it. He refused to slip up. "In fact, it's been an entire year since his last reported sighting!" Not that he had checked every social media platform in case of any mention of the Radio Demon.

Except that was exactly what he'd done. And as the overlord of technology, he'd been able to keep an eye on cameras and through screens all throughout the Pentagram. Sure enough, Alastor was nowhere to be seen. That is, nowhere that modern technology had any reach, at the very least. He still didn't want to believe him to be dead, but the fact Alastor would work so hard to avoid any detection or communication with Vox was also infuriating. As if had never meant anything to the other overlord. Maybe he hadn't. But he didn't need to think about that.

"Now, there has been some speculation on where he's been. Having a nice vacay off-the-grid, entrapped by another, more powerful, overlord..." The last one didn't seem likely -- or at least had been a possibility Vox feared the thought of. The Radio Demon was already quite powerful to begin with. "Some even speculate that the demon might not be among us any longer at all!" That would be much worse, of course.

"But hey, maybe there are some upsides to this change of pace, am I right?" He said this only because he knew that if anything would get a response from Alastor, it would be demeaning his choice form of expression. "I mean, radio is so outdated. It's about time we give Hell a more modern entertainment makeover. And sure, as I said, radio can be fun every once in a while, but who wants to rely on only barely audible sources of pleasure? With no visuals?" He laughed. "Please. That's so old school. And we've got much better means of enjoyment, nowadays."

He paused. Half-expecting the Radio Demon to interrupt his broadcast. Such a thing certainly wasn't unheard of before. Alastor enjoyed displacing mediocre radio hosts. And though Vox was confident in his ability to entertain, he knew that his old thought of himself as superior. Maybe he was right; maybe he was wrong. Regardless, it was his opinion that made the difference, and yet, Vox's program remained uninterrupted. It was almost disappointing.

So Vox continued, sharing some of the theories and speculation he'd found online about Alastor's disappearance. All found while searching for any signs of him being spotted anywhere. Stories were all kept anonymous, and there were a few ideas he made up himself. But no one needed to know that. The viewers, the listeners, they were just there for the entertainment and fun. Most of them didn't care about what was genuine or not, so long as it was enthralling, and technically, Vox wasn't lying about anything -- only pretending that the speculator of some of the rumors wasn't himself.

The segment Vox had planned out was only about an hour long, and as the top of the hour began rapidly approaching, he started to feel more restless and agitated. It became clear that Alastor really wasn't listening. Or at least, wasn't planning on showing it. Responding at all. What an ass. A year of absolutely no contact after an argument-induced battle, no way of even knowing how he could possibly contact his old friend, and all after Vox had dared ask Alastor to join him in expanding the medium he worked with? As if it was such a major offense. At least Valentino and Velvette supported him, even though they didn't seem to understand, either. They didn't understand the joy of broadcasting, not in the same way Alastor had. They'd had that in common, and he still had been too stubborn to stray from radio, even a little bit.

"Well, that about wraps it up for this broadcast," Vox chimed as happily as he could muster. The viewers, he knew, didn't care whether the grin was genuine or forced, and most didn't know it was the latter anyway. "We'll be back later for some more daily news. In the meantime, I leave you with this ad from our sponsor. And don't forget: You can always trust us, Voxtek, with your entertainment."

As soon as the cameras shut off, Vox's smile faltered, but he plastered it right back on when Travis came up to him.

"We're done here, right?" He asked. "'Cause Val's expecting me down at his studio for a shoot. The rest of the camera crew can handle the afternoon broadcast for you."

"Yeah, yeah," Vox waved him off. "Go help Val. He won't let me hear the end of it, if I keep you." It was good news, though, if Valentino was going to be busy with a shoot. He knew Velvette had her work, too. And he just wanted to be alone.

He retreated to his room and sat surrounded by his screens, all connected to cameras and tech across town. City-wide surveillance. Vox flipped through different feeds absent-mindedly. As always, in the back of his mind, he was searching for one specific person. But he should have known, by now, it was pointless.

What if something really had happened to him? Vox shook his head, sighing at the thought. No. Alastor was too tough for that. He was the Radio Demon. No, it seemed more plausible that he was simply avoiding Vox. Avoiding all detection. How, Vox wasn't sure. Strange that he could disappear so effectively. But, of course, if anyone could do such a thing, it would be Alastor. For whatever his reasons, Alastor knew how to remove himself from the public view if he needed to. That was their thing, of course, media and coverage of different sorts. Vox figured he, too, could avoid being detected, if he'd wished.

Vox sighed. It was time to just admit what he didn't want to before. Whatever he had with Alastor before, if he ever had anything at all -- it was over. Truly. By this point? Any hope of having it back was futile.

The aching became rage, like a protective shield. Rage, bitterness, was easier to handle. It meant he wasn't being hurt, but that he was the one in control. He was the one that would do the hurting, if it ever came down to it. If he ever saw Alastor again. That had been one thing he'd learned from the Radio Demon. Always find a way to keep the upper hand.

With his control over technology, now, he would. And someday, Alastor would see what he left behind.

[dieselpvnk]

Why don’t you like your least favorite campaign in rw?

Spearmaster is just. I dont like it so bad. Most of this is btw not objective critisism but just stuff I personally don't like for reasons varying from pretty valid to plain stupid.

there' just way too many moments that I find frustrating and not fun. Sure, you could say skill issue and that I should just get better at the game, but

I did this with chaos + enemy randomizer, I make myself suffer in this game for fun and Spearmaster just hits different. (also yes I'm just taking a chance to bring up this screenshot again because I kinda slayed)

random, but this is the only time I get to mention I was so excited at the start of the campaign, just to get upset upon realizing cool new starting region is just Outskirts, the first few rooms made me hope for a mix of Shaded, Drianage and Superstructure kinda region. I guess seeing what's behind the Surv/Monk starting pipe is cool, but I hoped for something different. Also sad you can't go back there.

The mechanic is nice ig, I like killing things, holding two spears is cool ig, but tbh, a pebbles and a spear is even more effective in most situations. The way Spearmaster gets food is pretty cool and very unique, but I do miss munching on corpses. Not having a stomach slot isn't a big deal, until you remember Spearmaster has a bunch of unique lore pearls bc nobody else has access to pre-collapse Moon. Imo it's much much worse than the story pearl.

Speaking of, the story pearl. It's whatever, don't care, prior to Spearmaster I played Hunter bringing both the pearl and the neuron to Moon and it was much more difficult, as Spearmaster I just used a passage. What IS a problem tho, is having to go between iterators back and forth. I wanted to know what Pebbles was talking about, so I went to Moon first, then I had to go to Pebbles to get top surgery, then I had to go back to Moon again to give her the pearl, and then I had to go to Sky Islands, which is also going past Pebbles through the Precipice.

The spawns are brutal, which is not an issue itself, I liked Artificer's camapaign a lot. The issue id that it feels "bullshit" brutal instesd of "challenging" brutal.

The regions are also not something I enjoy. Past Garbage Wastes? Better as Artificer with brief acid immunity and awesome mobility [and high threat level to compensate]. The only really good part is build-a-ladder room. Waterfront facility? It's whatever, and again better as Artificer because I can make shortcuts myself, as a little treat. any wall is scaleable and gap is crossable [unverified information], the Precipice is bad. Tight jumps, no shelters, missing a jump.is very punishing and a lot of threats on top of that. Yes I know you can bring a grappleworm, but I hate them so I'm not doing that. Moon's Underhang? Struts, I believe. Also very fucking bad, just. she has an awful infestation she should get it checked out. The only and only thing that made me get get that awya from me mod and remove spiders. Also it's hard to navigate and it doesn't have enough shelters to compensate. Moon's superstructure? I don't like superstructure regions because zero-g is the worst mechanic every concieved for rain world. also getting food from neurons is annoying. I know I don't have to I can just go through Superstructure in one cycle. but I still hate it.

The lore? Don't give a shit honestly, I was kinda hyped for the broadcasts but then I just didn't care, I was just hoping I can skip them faster. I don't care about iterator drama stfu!!!! Like it's cool and all. in theory. but in reality I really just ended up not caring at all. Call me a fake fan but I wish they just weren't in there or there was a lot less.

Spearmaster is a lot more enjoyable if you disregard the camapign and do whatever. But at that point I'd rather play slugcats I enjoy more anyway. No dual-wield and no unlimited spears isn't a deal breaker