#closing statement

[starkbucksbingo]

Hello Starkbucks Crew Members! 

Firstly, I would like to both thank and congratulate every one of you for another amazing year of this bingo! You're all seriously superstars, and I'm so grateful for your dedication over the past few years. This wonderful ship is lucky to have so many amazing content creators making fanworks for it. ♥♥♥

All your final fills and Masterposts have been queued, and over the next few days you should expect to see them reblogged to Tumblr. As for badges, those will be finalized and sent out by next weekend!

Thank you all again for joining us on this endeavor. You've all made it a wonderful time, and I couldn't have been happier to host and moderate this event for all of you. Which brings us to my final announcement; this year (round three) will be the last year this bingo runs. I don't have the time or energy to manage this event anymore, as I have other things that require my attention on and off the internet. The world is an oyster and all that. Still, I am very thankful to all of you for sticking with me, and I look forward to the content you continue to create outside of this bingo! ^^

As for the Discord, Tumblr Blog, and Ao3 Collections; they will remain as they are for your viewing pleasure, as an archive of the good times we had here at the StarkBucks Bingo!

So long and thanks for all the fish StarkBucks ♥ 

Best regards, 

- Your Mod, Trashcanakin ♥

[naegiriweek]

Thank you all for such a fun and wonderful week this year!🌱🍥

We saw so many lovely works this year, both in lovingly crafted fics, and beautiful art pieces. It's always such a pleasure to hold Naegiri Week every year and bring us fans together and share our love for this wonderful couple, and for some, what the characters meant to us growing up. I was more quiet than usual this year due to chaotic retail, but I'm so grateful @rubixkun is here with us to help not only run the event, but share positivity and ideas with us all.

I am very grateful for all of the fans who come together to share their creations and passion for Naegiri, and I hope to see you all again in 2023💖

I hope you all have a great rest of your year, and Merry Christmas!🌱🍥

-Mod Eon

[tagapagsalaysay]

[russianreader]

Ilya Yashin: Closing Statement in Court

Ilya Yashin: Closing Statement in Court

This is a translated excerpt from Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin’s closing statement, which he delivered at his show trial in Moscow earlier today. Charged with “spreading false information about the Russian military,” Yashin faces up to ten years in prison if convicted, which he almost certainly will be. ||| TRR Ilya Yashin Taking advantage of this podium, I would also like to…

[star-shard]

Change of Habit. The last Elvis movie. Just finished it for the first time. I've now seen every movie he made.

This is by far the most interesting Elvis movie. It tackles catholicism, the inner city, race, mental health and more. The very first movie of his to ever get close to this socially conscious.

From a modern lens I'm sure a lot of it can be written off as outdated, and yes this movie doesn't hit home runs on every issue.

But this was a Hollywood Elvis movie made in 1969. (The bar was low.) And I think it took risks and really showed an interest in these issues in ways previous films he made never did. It's depiction of women, other races, mental illness, even if not always accurate, was such a refreshing improvement.

_

And in seeing the last three movies he made now, it got me thinking.

A lot of people remember Elvis's movies for being cheesy and low budget, that his first four movies are the only ones worth seeing.

But I'm willing to argue his last three movies: Charro!, The Trouble with Girls, and Change of Habit, had real potential to revitalize his acting career.

Even if the final three never turned into classics, and aren't perfect movies, they each had a certain style or substance. It's not pure fluff to satiate teenie boppers, they all feel like movies

Of course, Elvis returned to the stage and produced some incredible stuff. But, I think writing off his filmography discounts his work, his passion, and his love of movies.

I loved this marathon. It was a wonderful time.

[kyreniacommentator]

Tatar: No progress on the Cyprus Issue until common ground is found

Tatar: “There can be no significant development in the Cyprus issue until common ground is found” President Ersin Tatar made assessments to the press following his meeting with the Deputy Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia, and the Americas in the United Nations Department of Political and Peace Building Affairs, Miroslav Jenča. Continue reading Untitled

[scintillatingshortgirl19]

VERY interesting that this moment took place in the "woman in house and wilson's building thinks they're gay/dating" episode

also. hugh laurie's little smirk here really adds a certain . . . dimension to this moment that would not be there if he'd responded to the joke in a different way

[cheecats]

In light of how grossly disrespectful and dismissive some (not all) DC voters have been, here is something for a lovely lady who deserved better. [X]

[royalarchivist]

I love the QSMP. Not only has it introduced me to many amazing international creators, it's also introduced me to the French and Brazilian community, who are so sweet, funny, and chaotic in their own unique ways. I love seeing fans sharing their culture and learning from one another, and I myself have learned a lot this past year. I think it's incredible how QSMP brings so many different people together – all of us united in our love and passion for this project and its goals.

But passion can often evoke strong emotions, and these strong emotions aren't always positive.

The past few months, I have seen multiple waves of hate, bad-faith generalizations of communities, and racist remarks directed at fellow fans – especially those who are part of the French / Brazilian community. This kind of behavior is inexcusable, and is in direct conflict with the mission of QSMP, which is to break language barriers and unite communities.

We are a global community with a variety of people from different backgrounds. Miscommunications may occasionally occur because of cultural differences and/or language barriers, but we should use these moments as opportunities to learn and engage with other people rather than assuming the worst about them and starting fights.

Although certain issues can be resolved with communication, sometimes it’s better to block and move on. Avoid spreading negativity or hate, and save yourself the headache of interacting with people who are just looking for someone to argue with.

No matter what community we're a part of or what languages we speak, we're all here to have fun. Please remember to be kind to each other. We have more in common than we have in conflict.

[polyamorousmood]

just a lil reminder that

You're never too good for old-fashioned miscommunication!

[hella1975]

it's been pointed out on here before that a lot of terf arguments are actually rooted in sexist idealology that feminists fought and died to unnormalise decades ago and that's its own kettle of fish but one thing i also find very frustrating about this so called 'radical' feminism is that it's so... defeatist? like the moment you categorically label an entire section of society as Bad and Inherently Evil then there's also the implication that nothing can be done about it, and it completely takes all accountability away. saying all men are evil is just another way of saying boys will be boys. he raped her because he's a man. he hit her because he's a man. he didn't listen because he's a man - it's almost offensively oversimplified. there's no point trying to fix this issue in society because men are just Like That, okay! so now what? it's not like they're going anywhere, so you just accept that 50% of the population are evil and will forever treat you terribly and there's nothing to be done about it bc they're biologically predisposed to it? like is that fr the argument here? you're soooo radical for that

[pixelatedquarter]

Shoutout to Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III who's decided the only way he can ask Patrick (who's been constantly hugging both guests and joe for the entirety of the tour) for a hug is apparently onstage comparing him to a football player and saying he looks like a teddy bear he'd like to cuddle.

Like a normal person that doesn't have an extremely complicated relationship with boundaries borne from testing those decades ago and then backpedalling so hard we still see that one gif of him hovering his hand and pulling it back like patrick was a stovetop when they were fresh out of hiatus.

It's the tour of fuck it we heal man, i'm sure you can get a hug without reciting archivebears

[ladyluscinia]

Why did they make the romantic wham line of the finale love letter "we've written our names on each other in permanent ink" when a) matching commitment tattoos would be a wholly believable and in-character thing for Stede and Edward to do, b) they explicitly have not done so to the point of deep irony that Edward's full back "trust no one" is the closest thing that comes to mind, and c) Edward does have matching swallow tattoos (canon) and potentially signature related tattoos with a whole different man (and the writers have got to know about that popular theory, yeah)?????

[russianreader]

Azat Miftakhov: "It's Like They're Telling Us, 'It's No Trouble for Us to Put Anyone Away'"

Azat Miftakhov in court. Photo: OVD Info Anarchist and mathematician Azat Miftakhov has been sentenced to four years in a maximum security facility on criminal charges of “condoning terrorism.” The young man will spend the first two and a half years of his sentence in a closed prison. Miftakhov was detained in September 2023 as he was leaving the penal colony from which he had been released…

[viiinz]

there's something about Dostoyevsky characters suddenly bursting into tears that just hits different

[nancywheeeler]

‘Eddie Munson should have died at the hands of the government instead of the Upside Down’ please expound on this your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

okay, i am finally gonna release from the vault a text post i had drafted months ago about how reductive and bland i find eddie munson's "heroism" arc.

from a characterization standpoint, i totally understand why eddie declares himself a coward for running after witnessing chrissy (and later, patrick) die. his image of himself as a proud outcast willing to brandish a middle finger at societal norms, bolstered by playing a "satanic" game about misfits coming together to bravely face great evils, is completely shattered. however, from our viewpoint as an audience, eddie does what just about any of us would have done after watching someone die in a horrific, unexplainable manner and not knowing if what happened to them is about to happen to us.

...except the show then does this weird thing where it agrees with eddie's warped, guilty view of his actions. eddie is a coward for running. he should have...what? stayed, again not knowing if he would be killed next, tried to explain everything to hawkins pd, and gotten arrested? (which would have derailed the rest of the hawkins plot because, unless dustin & company staged a jailbreak, eddie then would have been in custody during fred and patrick's murders.) the plot demands he run, but to wring any sort of emotional catharsis out of his death, the writers want us to think "look! he's redeemed himself! this time he ran into the danger!" it equates self-preservation with selfishness and cowardice, which certainly isn't a new thing in media but it's boring and doesn't reflect reality.

and when you parallel eddie's death with billy's (and what i imagine steve's death would have been had they gone through with killing him in season one), it paints this uncomfortable picture that redemption can only be found through extreme self-sacrifice and ultimately death. boring! very boring! and again, why are we redeeming a character who doesn't need redemption?

i appreciate (and really like actually!) that the narrative dooms eddie from the beginning. there wouldn't have been a satisfying way to write him out of a triple homicide rap had he lived. that being said, i would have loved to see eddie survive the upside down, get arrested for the murders, and, while our intrepid heroes are expecting owens and his shadowy government contacts to swoop in, be killed by those same shadowy government contacts as a cover-up.

because that is all owens has been doing for the past three seasons: covering things up to save a fringe organization's ass. it's just been convenient for our gang that the cover-ups align with their interests, too, to the point they are over-reliant on owens stepping in with forged birth certificates and mall fires. only, in season four's case, eddie is the most convenient cover story. with owens left for dead in a bunker in the middle of the desert, what loyalty does the rest of this strange government operation have to the gang and to eddie that they would exert any additional effort concocting a more outlandish story than the easy one the town of hawkins has already bought into?

it would have been a great way to add additional stakes going into season five because the gang would have had absolutely no one to rely on or trust but themselves. no more clean-up crew to plant fake stories and file the paperwork. the government has never actually been on their side. it's hawkins against the upside down and the world, baby.

wow, this is so long and i am so sorry. i still have a lot of feelings about this apparently, even after all this time.