#not saying shit about palestine even when fans brought it up

[spiltcandycoatedpunkblood]

so was that legitimately fake outrage at Watcher being "greedy capitalists" that people are now gonna go watch the try guys who are doing the exact same thing?? where's the outrage at their wealth and how they spend their money? why does Keith get people just watching him eat at expensive restaurants, but it's terrible seeing Steven go to expensive restaurants to eat food? it's got nothing to do with "the try guys did it better!!!" it's the fact that you got so outraged because of how much the economy is in shambles and people can barely afford food, let alone another streaming service, and now suddenly it's a great thing seeing the try guys be able to improve their situation with one!! I thought the whole point was that we didn't need another one!! what is it???

it's just obvious that they've both done similar things, but people are taking more issue with the creators of colour for daring to grow and move forward. EVEN AFTER THEY ALTERED THINGS AND GENUINELY APOLOGISED even whilst being fucking eviscerated online. and instead of being helped and understood by their white friends, they get fucking shaded by their friends with a sofa joke and "not to name names" bullshit

what is it with people of colour being left in the dirt by their white friends and/or costars???

[dontwinmarioparty]

So, since Smosh fans are targeting Damien, despite him being the only Smosh member who talked about Palestine, are they gonna have the same energy with people like Shayne, Courtney, Amanda, etc, who never ONCE spoke up about the Palestine situation? Are they gonna hold the rest of Smosh accountable for not using their platform to spread awareness like Damien did?

There's something very backwards about Damien taking the heat when he's the single person who's been remotely talking about Palestine while everyone just kinda didn't even try?

Linking this ask to this because it somewhat sums up my thoughts on the whole ordeal so far.

This whole fandom has a problem of bias with Smosh cast members and their overall silence on Palestine.

It’s easier to just antagonize/dogpile on Noah being in a video since he happened to be the loudest about it back in October, and make him the big Zionist villain of Smosh while most/all cast members have been radio silent on the issue at best.

I’m almost absolutely sure if we repeatedly pressured Smosh every video, every stream, they’d actively DO SOMETHING about it, or at the very least address it.

It’s far easier on us, the collective, to go “aw shucks Noah’s in this one, best skip it” than to boycott, and continue to pressure. I know we can, see the response to making sword AF audio only.

I’m almost just as sure that there has to be some Zionism going upwards of executive at Smosh and Pressalike, tangentially. They were quick as hell to be vocal about BLM in 2020, I can’t help but wonder why the silence now.

This is a self report too. We need to continue to boycott, protest, and rightfully call out creators with a platform when they say some sus shit.

But Twitter has a MASSIVE atmosphere of polarization, and almost never allows for any sort of walkback or nuance of an interaction/reaction to be brought into the conversation. The OP is valid for being upset about the joke and how Damien handled his apology. Damien is valid for wanting a break from social media after the backlash. It’s better than him continuing to argue with fans on the internet and doubling down.

Anyways yeah, free Palestine, fuck twitter, but also giving my regards to the OP and hoping that their family gets to a safe situation and that Israel can be launched into the sun.

[forlix]

what do you think about skz on gma? i just saw it and seeing channie praise charlie just made my heart sink.

aside from being a zionist, he’s also very much a misogynist and a rape apologist. also the way he talked about selena many years ago is just so icky to me.

so hearing channie praise him like that when i really believed that channie was a good example of what more men should be like. i’m just very disappointed. idk i had this hope that the boys just didn’t know? or didn’t like working with him? hearing them praise him and looking at them taking selfies is just so devastating.

also! please don’t ever stop talking about skz and palestine. it’s very important and im glad you’re speaking up about it and it’s comforting to know you share my opinion. i was really disappointed in the fans on the show and idk :((

to be so very honest, i think nothing about skz on gma 😀 i told someone earlier today that they are simply not my business right now. i haven’t watched or heard anything from gma and i don’t plan to change that

if it does help at all though, angel, and this certainly helped sahar and i to learn a few days ago, the collab was planned and recorded when the boys were in the u.s. for the global citizen festival last september, according to this interview (i’m assuming that’s when they took their pictures with him too). so the song was planned far, far ahead of time, and they couldn’t have known at the time that puth would come to endorse genocide.

obviously that doesn’t change everything because puth is still a shit enough person as is even without the zionism + skz have posted pictures with puth and the ex-idf producer, and now. as you stated, offered puth complimentary words on national television. but i did find a few scraps of hope in 1) the collab being planned before last october and 2) the way the boys had literally nothing positive to say about puth in the interview despite it being the perfect opportunity to do so, as compared to the glowing praise they’ve showered previous collaborators like lisa and tiger jk with. my copium thought process is that there was more of an expectation to exchange niceties with puth on gma because of it being a talk show, but the interview, where they talk solely about the song itself and the work skz put into it, is closer to their true feelings.

your devastation is so fucking valid baby :( i think i’ve also been especially disappointed in chan because he’s always been so good at communicating to stays that he sees us and he cares for us. i do believe he’s a good person; i believe that about all of them. but witnessing the way they’ve gone about all of this has been so painful to say the least. (and don’t even get me started on the fucking fans. this collab has brought out the worst of the worst in this community. there’s only so much disappointment to go around 😭)

rest assured i will never stop talking about palestine 🤍 thank you for sharing your thoughts with me and just know that so many people share the same opinion as us. take care of yourself darling

[hencheri]

yeah, tell me you have no empathy without telling me you have no empathy :) I’d suppose you don’t even stan nct so why you ended up here idk, but this isn’t a moment to fight!? and over that, absolutely fucking not. like, you can’t deny the fact you’re attacking me/trying to pick a fight because why you are bringing up other groups and their silence about palestine? this is a WHOLE different situation. we’re talking about a man who is involved in a sex crime and we know this is 99% true with how sm handled the situation. this is not about kpop. this is not about who’s better as a stan!?

now about the members being with him, I mean, just how you said it and brought it up, I know you don’t stan or used to stan nct, whatever your feelings are. you have no concerns whatsoever, you use skull emojis like it’s a big fat joke, and it’s even brought up as a mocking way. the concerns about if they knew or not is valid, after all we were all shocked by the news and disgusted to hear that, especially from a member like taeil who we would have confidently said wouldn’t ever hurt a fly. but obviously, we thought wrong and we don’t even know how to process this (again, he was immediately kicked out of the group by how serious the case is. nobody saw it coming). but you clearly don’t care about any more potential offenders, as long as it’s not your faves, right? idk, this reaction is just straight up vile im my opinion. I know disgusting people are using this in fan wars as usual because they have no sense of morality, but seeing it in my dms? by one of my own followers probably? yeah, just shows me some of you are really devoid of any empathy. you don’t care about the victims, like I just answered an ask that was sympathizing with taeil and literally not believing the victims, and you tell me to calm down?? ofc I’m not calm like half the people right now because they learned that the person they liked is in fact horrible and has hurt people in the most cruel ways! I just stood up for what I believe in and it’s that no matter what, victims should be believed. this is not rumours about dating, this is not ‘pick a side’, the only right thing to do is not support taeil in any way and show that you believe the victims. give your support to them and to SA survivors in general.

and lastly, how is fanfiction promoting nct? like, am I getting a bill by sm for doing it? idk why I’m specifically getting laughed at by you and attacked when we’re more than that in the fandom, right? or am I the only one? idk. let’s repeat that taeil was kicked out of nct. he is no longer doing activities, he will not appear anywhere, like basically sm do not want to do anything with him anymore which is good!! that man doesn’t deserve a career. I don’t even think he’s gotta get money anymore, but in the end, I wasn’t giving him a boost or promoting his ass by writing fanfiction about his members. idk why the entirety of nct should be brought down too, saying they knew is just speculations and honestly speculations can be very harmful too. the news are fresh, and I’m still sick about it. idk why I’m getting attacked by randos on the internet for still having fics up on a blog that literally has 200 followers. like idk what’s your goal, but it’s not as truthful as you think it is. it’s not helping anyone and surely not the actual victims. dw, I saw your other ask and it’s just stupid and insensitive. I’m very serious rn, and I honestly don’t think you are. I wrote a lot but idc, this is not your silly ‘gotcha’ moment, this is real lives that have been destroyed by someone famous who deserves jail time for all the horrible shit he did.

[horce-divorce]

I don't know how to explain to you chucklefucks that for the most disenfranchised among us, NOTHING HAS FUCKING CHANGED since Trump left office. We know how bad it was, we were fucking here. And we are TELLING YOU, not speculating about the future, we are TELLING 👏YOU 👏NOW that nothing fucking got better for us and some of us ALREADY have nothing left to lose THANKS TO BIDEN AS WELL. NOT JUST TRUMP. WE HAVE BEEN DOING THIS SHIT ALL ALONG. Not JUST once Trump got to office!!! And NO IT HAS NOT BEEN FUCKING EASIER. WTF. Incoming tranmission from Planet Neoliberal Voter Privilege.

You stupid pricks don't even seem to realize that Trump leaving office DIDNT MEAN HIS APPOINTEES ALL WENT WITH HIM. THEYVE STILL BEEN THERE THE WHOLE TIME. Alive and WELL AT WORK helping to push some of the worst antiqueer legislation we've seen in DECADES while Biden, who barely has 2 brain cells left to rub together, decomposes before our very eyes.

If you think TRUMP was the thing that brought neo-nazi fascism to the mainstream, you are so comfortably privileged to have gotten to ignore it, to have never fucking heard it until then. And you are way too out of touch to be addressing the people you think you're talking to rn!

The "sign off on your glorious revolution" bit really gets me. Lmao. What a fundamental misunderstanding of the issue. What a hilarious way to misconstrue entire swaths of political ideology. You think Policial Jesus is going to come and save your ass, so we must think that too, huh?

Shits gonna hit the fan this year regardless of who "wins" the election, and it's not merely because of The Orange Man. It's also because of everyday lay people like this OP who have merely been privileged enough to ignore the suffering of your neighbors until now. Your privilege is running out, not because the revolution is coming, but because the hegemony that affords you that privilege cannot continue indefinitely. That machine runs on a profit-growth-extraction paradigm and we are running out of resources to extract from.

I don't know how to explain to these fucking people that you are the tone deaf motherfuckers we're talking to when we say you need to stop talking and learn. You have reblogged support of BLM and UBI and Palestine but at the end of the day you *don't fucking listen* to what we're saying in those posts. At the end of the day you are not hearing our cries of pain. And its pretty fucking ridiculous to turn around and point at people EVEN LESS PRIVILEGED THAN YOU and say "don't you realize that YOU'RE going to threaten MY safety and stability with your uncouth actions?" Well, bully for fucking you, because we already lost that! It's been gone! It never came back for some of us after Trump left!!!! You got to plug your ears and pretend the pandemic was over while millions of us became disabled and homeless for the first time as a result!!! While BIDEN admitted HE DOESNT THINK ABOUT IT ANYMORE!!!!! You got to go back to your life while protestors railing against our tax dollars being used for GENOCIDE are being injected with KETAMINE by the COPS!!!! If you thought TRUMP was that fucking scary! At least he outright said what he was doing!! Biden is continuing his work with ICE, continuing to increase surveillance and crack down on any kind of protestor, cop cities are expanding UNDER BIDEN, DEMOCRATS ARE ALSO VOTING FOR MASK BANS!!!!!!!

It is SOOOOO BLATSNTLY SELF CENTERED to think that you losing the privilege of a comfy life is the biggest threat to ""our democracy"" rn. YOU got to ignore how bad shit was until now. Some of us NEVER HAD THAT LUXURY. Our democracy fucking died decades ago and YOU got to keep playing Weekend at Bernies with it's corpse while the rest of us dug our own graves. And now you're scared because you stand to end up like us.

Lol. Lmao. Get fucked. This type of attitude is only furthering the class/social divides that already exist between voters and WILL. NOT. get anyone to vote harder for Biden. In fact, it just makes me wanna fist fight a Democrat even more than I already did.

First they came for the indigenous, and you didn't say anything bc you got yours. They came for the immigrants, and you didn't say anything bc you've always been a citizen. They came for the prisoners and their voting rights and you said if they didn't want to lose their rights they should follow the law, even while they made it illegal to mask, to protest, to be gay and trans in public- its so easy to just follow the rules! They came for the trans kids and you said, but we already have gay marriage, I thought it was safe to be queer now, and I dont have trans kids so I don't see how this affects me... they came for palestine and you said Oof. Well. That's the price of freedom for me, I guess!

And now they're coming for you and none of the other targets are left to feel worried for you, because we have already been living through your worst nightmare, UNDER BIDEN.

You look fucking stupid.

if you could EVER find a dem as outspoken and angry for the people as trump is for the white 1% then maybe we wouldnt be having this discussion.

[lazywolfwiccan]

So, after seeing your take on the situation with Neve Campbell and Melissa Barrera and all that drama that went down a while back, there's a couple of things I'd like to say about it.

First, it's not your place to tell someone, especially a POC or anyone from a marginalized group what they should think or feel, or to get over something. And even more so when it pertains to a situation like Melissa's. It shouldn't have to affect you personally to understand and respect other people's feelings.

Second, your attitude about the whole situation tells me you're obviously not as educated and informed about Palestine and Israel. And you should probably take a little more time to educate yourself about the matter, before you give your opinions and accuse anyone of anything. And you'd have to be pretty naive to think Spyglass cares anything about Palestine. They don't. 

Third, Spyglass clearly doesn't give a shit about Neve Campbell either or the value she brings to the franchise. And again, you're naive if you think otherwise. You really think they brought her back out of the goodness of their hearts, and because they actually care? No way, they brought her back to save face. If they actually cared about her and the value she brings to the franchise, they'd have paid her what she deserved and treated her right from the start, and had her back for Scream 6. Honestly, Spyglass is who you should be disgusted with here. 

Fourth and last, I don't understand why everyone is so up in arms about the newer characters. It's also very telling to me the fact that when Scream 4 came out, all the new characters were all white and no one had an issue with them or complained. But when the last two movies came out, everyone all of sudden has a problem with the new characters, because they're all POC. 

And before you try to tell me it's not a race issue, I've seen all the racist shit people have said not just about Melissa, but also about Jenna Ortega, Mason Gooding, and Jasmin Savoy Brown. And this whole Neve/Melissa war that Neve stans created is evidence of that. Salty and pressed, because people can't stand the idea of a Latina being the final girl in a popular horror franchise. If you can't support your white faves without putting down POC, then maybe you shouldn't be a fan at all.

Anyways don't see Abigail because Universal supports Israel and free Palestine. 👍

[raamitsu]

Imagine telling me that everyone's life is not revolving around Palestine because you got shits to deal with - while you yourself haven't reshare a single beneficial resource regarding Palestine but in the end, I was the one doing too much for calling out the proclaimed "human activists" artists/celebrities when they are being ignorant and silent in this situation... I'm sorry but it's hard for me to even considered you humane.

I have been wanting to say this for days, weeks. So far, I received two responses that gave me a huge heartache to the point where I could have lost my hope in humanity after witnessing more of them on the other sides. Ironically, even though it was said by the same person TWICE (I noticed after checking them) I realised what I am about to say may sound dramatic to yall but it's just that- I would never thought that [me] being advocated and vocal regarding the massive disastrous ethnic cleansing that is happening in Palestine right now would have brought me to this [type of] "human"; who said to me explicitly that our life is not revolving around Palestine and its people because we have shits to deal with + saying I was doing too much for calling out artists/celebrities to educate or at least share awareness to their fans and that these bare minimums aren't their obligation.

Not gonna lie, I was totally in complete shambles and heartbroken to read them. Funny, because NOBODY asked you to ignore your life and stay on the phone/computer 24 hours a day straight just to be actively advocative - NOBODY. We all understand how complicated everyone's life is, especially for us who have bigger shits to deal with - financial, family, job seeking etc. — HOWEVER, if you could spend your little time responding as such into sharing crucial and beneficial information (PREPARED BY OTHERS, mind you, and that is why we said you don't have any excuses to be ignorant) + donations and so on instead, that would have been greater and meaningful. That little time you used on other stuffs can be used for a little awareness too. I promise you it won't even take hours to reblog as well.

And as for the artists/celebrities, do you have any idea that their power alone could make a change? Some of them have came out (unfortunately most of them are underrated ones), shared, spread contents for awareness and even opened a donation links to aid the effected victims of this ongoing war crimes, and you're telling me that they have "have no obligation"? As a human being, when it comes to responsibility, that comes along with obligation as well. We gotta show up for the others too. How is you as a human, dare to just sit by and watch this atrocities every day and CHOOSE to go on with your life without guilt feeling? Dare enough to talk about "obligation" in regards of sharing and spreading awareness is like saying these artists/celebrities needed to experience wars/war crimes in order for them to "feel obliged" to advocate for human rights. It sounds so outrageous to me.

Even so, I cannot say I am not disappointed because unfortunately I utterly AM disappointed. I have been heavily upset with humans around me for so long, now why do I need to face these type of people again? Where your humanity and empathy lie? Where are they when both are crucially needed in the times like this? Where is your existence lies? Where is your presence?

I'm truly sorry as this post is beginning to get longer than I planned but I guess it is what it is, then. I have blocked that person, by the way. As usual, I won't reply to this type of response and will immediately get blocked. I took my time just to make myself clear that I have no time to argue with these type of reponses, but I won't just sit by and let this slide again. I hope that everyone, mutuals or not, will never condone this behaviour and continue to advocate, spread awareness when you have time in your hands. We need to keep our voice afloat whether or not the ceasefire is implemented. Keep protesting and boycotting. Keep doing what we need to do online, if we can't do bigger things offline.

[the1975attheirverybest]

I wasn’t exactly trying to compare Taylor and the band because yeah there’s no comparison at all. Again I was just trying to get a perspective and the only other celebrity I knew you were a fan of for sure that hasn’t talked about Gaza was the band so that’s what I brought up. Wasn’t trying to say they are comparable in any sense because. They are not. Totally different entities with virtually different audiences

Ohhh gotcha! No, I get it. I talked about this before on several occasions. I was VERY saddened by Matty saying “me? And Brittany broski? Talk about Israel and Palestine?” When he’s the one who has said multiple times that he has a responsibility as an artist to use his platform etc. and he’s called out other artists (remember the imagine dragons thing?) when they stay silent. Even called out Taylor swift.

And like it’s not like Israel and Palestine are having some tension but are negotiating it rationally and other leaders and necessary entities are DOING SOMETHING. So for him to say it so flippantly after he’s repeatedly emphasized his position for years really kind of hurt. But I get that he’s feeling defensive and shit after….well the whole year that he’s had. And I get it though I don’t agree with it.

[nevermindirah]

Yitzhak!

is a character! who Gregadiah What-Is-Math Rucka gave us almost no information about!

I've gone through Tales Through Time #6: The Bear and #1: My Mother's Axe with several magnifying glasses and done a lot of googling and taken my copy of the Tanakh off my shelf for the first time since (well, since the last time I needed to read Torah for TOG reasons, which I think was Booker Passover headcanons) and here's the best I can come up with.

In The Bear we meet someone who goes by the name Isaac Blue:

Read on for a lot of comic panel analysis and historical research and Jewish flailing!

So what do we know about this Isaac Blue person?

He's Lorge, he's got curly hair, he's basically a taller version of Joe as drawn by Leandro Fernández (ie an antisemitic stereotype why the fuck did they approve this character design?? and then why did they double down and copy-paste it to Yitzhak??):

He's got a mezuzah on the doorpost of his house in Alaska!

I screamed about the mezuzah way back in January in this post where I (very reasonably) assumed this character was Joe and spun myself a tale about how Booker is still Joe's brother so the mezuzah stays up even though Booker isn't welcome in that house for a century. Bottom line: the mezuzah is a tradition with origins in the commandment from Deuteronomy 6:9 to "write the words of G-d on the gates and doorposts of your house" and evolved over the course of the Rabbinic period into the modern mezuzah we see here.

I did unnecessary levels of google image search to glean absolutely no useful information about Yitzhak’s origins from this panel:

I've decided the variant cover of TTT 6 is Yitzhak because of a panel in My Mother’s Axe, shown here, and what's likely an unnecessarily deep reading of Exodus, discussed further down:

The person at the right of the bottom panel is wearing the same clothes as in the TTT 6 variant cover and has the same shoulder-length curly hair and hairy forearms.

Left to right, the people in this panel are Lykon (I'll never get used to him being white in the comics), Andy, Noriko (I think? why doesn't Andy mention her by name here?), and Yitzhak. Andy's robe has a stereotypically Greek design on the sleeve cuff, and I had to stop myself 10 minutes into a Wikipedia rabbit hole because Gregorforth doesn't think that deep about this shit. The solid clues as to timeline that we get in this panel are:

Andy's iron axe

the presence of Lykon, who Andy first met in 331 BCE

So all we know is that Yitzhak is an immortal, he was a contemporary of Lykon, and he's Jewish.

Isaac is the most common Anglicization of Yitzhak (which in turn is the most common Anglophone transliteration of יִצְחָק‎), and Greg always uses the (transliterated) Hebrew when he refers to this character. Yitzhak is the long-awaited child of Abraham and Sarah in Genesis, the child who G-d commanded Abraham to sacrifice but spared at the last minute. I see what you did there, Gregory.

Why Isaac Blue? This is where I pulled out my Tanakh. According to the New JPS translation, blue is the first of three colors of yarn listed in Exodus 35:6 among the gifts requested of the Israelites to construct the priestly garments for the Tabernacle and later the Temple. Then in Numbers 15:38 the Israelites are commanded to "make themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout the ages; let them attach a cord of blue to the fringe at each corner."

And now for sandbox timelines party! Gregadiah gave us ALMOST NOTHING to go on, so I'm gonna make my own fun.

I, like many modern Jews, think the stories in the Tanakh are foundational mythology that are valuable because of how they've shaped our people but that contain some fucked-up shit and either way aren't meant to be a record of historical facts. Modern scholarship generally agrees that the community we now call Jews emerged as a distinct group of Canaanites sometime in the late Bronze Age (cw this video's host says the Name of G-d aloud despite being a religious studies scholar who knows that is not a name anyone but the Temple priests are allowed to say). The first non-Biblical written record of the people Israel is from an Egyptian source c. 1200 BCE, and the Biblical kingdom of David and Solomon was probably an exaggeration of whatever really happened during the Bronze Age Collapse. We start getting into historical-fact territory a few centuries into the Iron Age:

588 BCE Solomon's Temple destroyed, Babylonian exile begins

538 BCE Cyrus of Persia allows Jews to return to Jerusalem

515 BCE Second Temple construction complete

332 BCE Alexander the Great At Something I Guess conquered Judea, beginning the Hellenistic period of Jewish history — 331 BCE Andy & Lykon find each other

167 BCE another jerkface Greek king desecrated the Temple and basically outlawed Judaism

164 BCE recapture of Jerusalem and Temple rededication during the Maccabean Revolt

70 CE destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans, beginning of the Rabbinic period of Jewish history that we're still in now

What if... and hear me out... what if immortals come in pairs, and the pairs are:

Andy & Quynh

Joe & Nicky

Booker & Nile

LYKON & YITZHAK

What if Yitzhak was a priest of the Second Temple? What if he and Lykon killed each other just like Joe and Nicky would in the same city around 1300 years later, but instead of enemies-to-lovers speedrun with an absurdly long happily-ever-after, when Lykon died permanently Yitzhak decided to separate from Andy and Noriko and become the hermit we later see in Alaska?

We don't know how old Yitzhak is compared to the others, only that he was a contemporary of Lykon at a time when Andy was using an Iron Age version of her mother's axe. Other plausible origins for him:

a Jew of the early Rabbinic period, maybe a child or grandchild of people who were still alive before the Second Temple was destroyed

a Judean of the Second Temple era under the Romans or Greeks or Persians, maybe a priest, maybe not

an exilee in Babylon, maybe of the generation who got to return, maybe of the generation who was exiled (he doesn't look like he was 50 at his first death but who knows, he could've been mortal for both)

an Israelite of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, maybe a priest of Solomon's Temple or again maybe not

an Israelite wandering in the desert with Moses

THEE Yitzhak, ben Avraham v'Sarah, our patriarch who was brought up for sacrifice and then spared, and then spared again, and then spared again, and again, and again...

or! he could also be a Canaanite or other Levantine who predates the people Israel, who at some point in his very long life chose to join our mixed multitude, who like Andromache before him (and like Avram and Sarai would in this case do after him) took a new name to reflect the magnitude of influence this people has had on him

Why do I keep saying Yitzhak might have been a priest? It's thanks to the one detail in the artwork I could plausibly connect to solid research without getting a PhD real quick. Take a look at the gorgeous detail on the opening of his robe in the TTT 6 cover. He's dressed in rags, holes and dirt everywhere, rough stitches probably from hasty repair work — except for the neck opening. Compare that to this description from Exodus 39:23 of the construction of the priestly garments for the Tabernacle: "The opening of the robe, in the middle of it, was like the opening of a coat of mail, with a binding around the opening, so that it would not tear."

The next verses describe the intricate designs for the hem of the priestly garment. Yitzhak's ragged garment looks like the hem was torn off entirely.

Am I overthinking this? Yes I am! You're welcome!

My friend and historical research hero @lady-writes​ is in a Discord server with Gregadiah and asked the man himself some questions about all this. He clearly thinks he's being sneaky?? No shit Yitzhak is Jewish, dude, I want DETAILS!

I will not be giving up my Jewish Booker headcanon, I've put too much thought into it by now, the internalized shame of antisemitism explains Booker's depression too well for me, and it just adds so much richness to Booker/Nile both being children of forced diasporas. Fortunately (for him, not me, bc I'd do it anyway!) Gregothy supports fan headcanons even when they're not in line with his own:

One last thing before I close like 100 research tabs and go back to writing historical fantasy and/or porn! I love that, despite that atrocious caricature of a face design, our canon Jew and our fanon Jew are both Lorge and Soft and Kind, flying the face of the antisemitic stereotype of Ashkenazi Jewish men as small and weak, but also not falling into the New Jew / Muscle Jew stereotype that Zionism created. (I am trying SO HARD not to talk about Israel/Palestine for once ughhhhhhhhhh) Anyway here's a (US-centric but very good) primer on both these stereotypes of Jewish masculinity. Is this why I'm forever projecting my transmasc diasporist feels onto Jewish Booker the service sub? 🤷🏻‍♂️

I’ll reblog a second version of this with full image descriptions so that there’s a version accessible for folks who need IDs as well as a version accessible for folks who get overwhelmed by walls of text.

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

World War Z was published in 2006, but takes place in 2009 at the earliest.  Late in the book, astronaut Terry Knox states that the International Space Station took over 10 years to complete; it started construction in November 1998, and Chief of Staff Karl Rove Grover Carlson says that the Republican party barely eked back into power after a disastrous 2-termer who started a “brush fire war” in the Middle East (George W. Bush).  He mentions an election year, but he doesn’t specify if it was the new president’s first or second term, so it’s either set right after 2008 or 2012.  This was written before the Nintendo Wii was announced, but one chapter mentions that people brought their GameCubes with them as they fled their homes in search of safety in the frozen Canadian wilderness.  This same chapter also mentions that they didn’t know how to pick survival gear; a park ranger finds a SpongeBob SquarePants sleeping bag frozen in the mud because its owner didn’t know the difference between a child’s indoor sleeping bag for slumber parties and a real insulated survival bag for camping.

The new president is never named, he’s just told be be pro-big business and anti-regulation, pushing a placebo zombie vaccine through the FDA to jumpstart the economy.  When shit hits the fan, he is “sedated” and his vice president takes power; we’re never told what happened to the president, whether he was bitten or had a stroke, just that he was “sedated.”  His Vice President is directly implied to be Colin Powell; he’s former military with family in Jamaica and black.  He appoints Howard Dean to be his vice president to form a bipartisan coalition; he is never referred to by name, but it is clearly supposed to be Howard Dean.  He was a rising star in the Democratic party from Vermont whose wife is a doctor and whose career imploded after he had a passionate outburst.  In 2004, Howard Dean gave a speech where he started passinately screaming about how he was gonna start sweeping state primaries and ride a wave into the White House, punctuating his point by going “HHEEUEAHHGH!!”  This was political suicide in 2004, and he was laughed out of the race.  In the book, he is referred to only as “the Whacko” because of this.  It is implied that he was Powell’s second choice for VP, his first being Barack Obama; the Whacko says that the Democrats wanted somebody else, somebody of the same skin color as the president, but that the country wasn’t ready for that.  In 2004, Obama was a candidate for senate in Illinois, so popular and so well spoken that he gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention before he even won his seat; then and there, pundits already had him pegged as the first black president, they could see the writing on the walls.  The Whacko becomes president when Powell dies of stress, but he is consistently referred to only as the wartime Vice President, out of respect for his boss.

Also, the Attorney General is implied to be Rudy Giuliani; all that is said about him was that he was the mayor of New York and once tried to give himself emergency powers to stay in office after his term.  Giuliani did exactly that after 9/11.

Other real life figures mentioned in the book

Fidel Castro; a ton of Cuban Americans flee the continent and return to the island during the zombie war, and he jumpstarts the economy by putting them to work as cheap laborers and slowly integrating them back into Cuban society.  He rehabilitates his image by stepping down as dictator and democratizing the country, voting himself out of office before the “nortecubanos” could hang him for decades of war crimes.

Nelson Mendela, referred to by his birth name Rolihlahla, the father of modern South Africa, he personally invites Paul Redekker, a former apartheid era political analyst, to solve the zombie problem; in the 80s, Redekker created a plan for the white minority government in case the black majority ever rose up against them.  In real life, Mandela lowered the temperature when he was elected president, saying that revenge against the apartheid government would do more harm than good.  In the story, Mandela uses this as justification to reuse the apartheid era plan to handle the zombie outbreak instead.  Redekker is so overcome by his compassion and forgiveness that he has a mental episode and dissociates, believing himself to be a black South African.

Kim Jong-il, the dictator of North Korea, he withdraws all troops from the DMZ and shuts the entire country down.  After months of radio silence, it is revealed that the entire country’s population has vanished; all satellite imagery shows a desolate wasteland, no zombies, but no humans either. He presumably moved everyone into subterranean bunker systems where he not only control their lives as on the surface, but now their access to food, water, and air.  He presumably became the god emperor he always wanted to be; either that, or the entire tunnel complex has been overrun, turning every man woman and child in North Korea into zombies.  The South Korean government refuses to send a expedition into the North to figure out what happened, lest they open up one of the tunnels and unleash millions of zombies onto the surface.

Martin Scorsese, mentioned in passing only as “Marty,” a friend of world famous film director Roy Elliot, who himself is a thinly veiled pastiche of Steven Spielberg.  Interestingly enough, the audio book features Martin Scorsese doing the voice of the conartist who created the placebo vaccine

One chapter has a ton of vapid celebrities hole together in a fortified mansion on Long Island, and takes great care to show each of them getting torn apart not by zombies but by regular people who storm the facility because they were stupid enough to broadcast their location on reality television.  A redneck with a “Get’er Done” hat (Larry the Cable Guy) and some bald guy with diamond earrings (Howie Mandel) blow themselves up with a grenade.  Rival political commentators, an annoying guy who talks about feminization of western society and a leathery blonde (Bill Maher and Ann Coulter) have end-of-the-world viking sex as the facility burns to the ground.  A dumb starlet (Paris Hilton) is killed by one of her handlers and her little rat dog escapes on foot.  A radio shock jock (Howard Stern) actually survives the war and restarts his show.

Michael Stipe of REM joins the army to fight the zombies

Another war veteran mentions how his brother used to have a bunch of Mel Brooks’ old comedy skits on vinyl record, and how he and his squad acted out the “Boy meets Girl” puppet skit with some human skulls.  Mel Brooks is author and narrator Max Brooks’ father.

Queen Elizabeth II, refuses to evacuate England when the island is overrun by zombies.  She intends to remain in Buckingham Palace “for the duration,” mirroring the fact that her parents refused to evacuate to Canada during World War II.

Vladimir Putin declares himself Tsar of the Holy Russian Empire, an ultra-orthodox religious state that has armed priests execute political dissidents under the guise of mercy killing people who have been bitten by zombies.

Yang Liwei, the first “taikonaut” (Chinese astronaut) has a space station named after him

While the main conflict is about government responses to the zombie pandemic, we see glimpses of a greater war torn planet.

A major plot line involves a Chinese Civil War which sees the entire communist politburo nuked out of existence by a rebel sub commander, as well as an attempted “scorched space policy” where the government planned to blow up their space station with scuttling charges to cause a cascade of space debris to encircle the Earth and prevent any other countries from launching missions in the future (this is known as Kessler Syndrome in real life, and was featured as the inciting incident of the 2013 movie Gravity).  The People’s Republic becomes the United Federation.

Iran and Pakistan destroy each other in nuclear war; everyone thought it would be India and Pakistan, but they had very close diplomatic infrastructure in place to prevent such a catastrophe; Pakistan helped Iran build a nuclear arsenal, but as millions of refugees fled from India through Pakistan to the east, Iran had to blow up some Pakistani bridges to stem the flow of zombies, which led to a border war and eventually total nuclear retaliation.

Floridians flee to Cuba, Wisconsinites flee to Canada, the federal government flees to Hawaii.  Everything east of the Rockies is abandoned and ruled by warlords until the government sorts itself out and mounts an expedition to clear the continent of zombies by literally marching an unbroken line of soldiers stretching from Canada to Mexico across the wasteland to the Atlantic.

Israel withdraws from Gaza and the West Bank to become super isolationist, building a wall around the entire country to stop the zombies getting in (they were the first country to respond to the pandemic, and the most successful), but the religious right rebels against the secular left in a civil war that sees Jerusalem ceded to a unified Palestine.

It is an amazing, multifaceted story with so much going on that nobody recognizes.  It was written as a response to the end of the Cold War and the start of the War on Terror.  It’s about a geopolitical shift, a change in the status quo, a disaster from which the world never recovers; America before 9/11 was a very different place than American after 9/11.  Iraq and Afghanistan changed everything, and we’re still feeling their effects to this day; the story uses the zombie apocalypse as the next big international disaster the world must adapt to.  World War Z is World War III with zombies, and I think it would do a lot better if it were published today, now that we’ve had several decades to respond to the fall of the Soviet Union and the endless wars in the Middle East and a global pandemic.

[emmaekay]

Galaktikon II - Post Lyric Release Analysis

Hello friends! If you follow this blog for Dragon Ball content, avert your eyes from what is about to be a full critique, breakdown, and analysis of my favorite metal album of the last 5 years. 

Released on August 26, 2017, Galaktikon II is the 2nd studio album of Galaktikon, combo metal outlet of Brendon Small, Gene Hoglan, and Bryan Beller. I say “combo metal” because what the fuck even is this, other than holy?

 At times, melodic death, at times speed metal, at times operatic metal - it’s everything good about all those subgenres and none of the trite or campy elements. This weekend, to celebrate the year’s anniversary of the release, the official lyrics were released to the album - that’s a big deal for a lot of reasons.

See, Galaktikon II is special in another way, too. It’s the unofficial end to the Metalocalypse story. Criminally cancelled before the story could draw to its planned close, fans everywhere have protested, petitioned, spammed, come just this side of rioting... and a certain exec at Adult Swim just can’t be arsed. Small has said in this-side-of-legal ways that Galaktikton II is the true end to Metalocalypse. 

But when I listen to it, I hear something else, too. I hear the story of someone who spent 10 years building a world, only to have it burned down by someone else. I hear a love letter to the fans, but also a plea to let the end be the end. To accept that that world is over. From The Ocean Galaktik to Rebuilding a Planet, this is Small’s story, of trying to find the right combination of factors that would force that network to allow him to finish his tale, to his own acceptance of the fact that that will never happen. He has been clear about that in interviews - it’s over, and he’s ready to move on to the next project - the next world - he’s ready to rebuild. In this album, I hear an ask - will you, my friends and fans, come with me to the next? 

So, here it is - everything I heard and everything I think about each track on Galaktikon II. SIDENOTE - this review is in the VINYL track order, which is also the “story” listening order. The CD/digital track order will not be followed here, and I really recommend listening to it in the vinyl order only.

1. Some Days Are For Dying

This track picks up right after the end of The Doomstar Requiem. The “Doomstar” is not the same thing as the Dethlights, which is the power that the band gains control of when they get Toki back. There is a huge asteroid or meteor heading for the earth. It’s freaking people out, destroying satellites, causing chaos. It’s being predicted that it will hit the Earth and destroy the planet.

Triton is nearby, but doesn’t appear to want to get involved. 

Fuck this, never was my occupation. 

He sings, correctly, since he’s not a planet savior but a bounty hunter. 

On the Earth, various forces are mobilizing, militarizing, magnetizing. Nathan is still drawn back to the Whale goddess in the sea: The voice in my heart still speaks to me / It beckons me back to the deep. Nathan seems to want her help, for the first time - he doesn’t want the planet to be destroyed and actively wants to seek out that “Right Song” that has been eluded to since season 4. Any gift in this haze that the gods bestow / remove the blindfold, enlighten my soul / Would aide in the poetry I’m to sing.

The Church of the Black Klok is predicting the end of the world. We forsee blackness. We forsee doom. 

Both the soldiers in the Falconback project AND the Gears are assembling for a serious battle. Fall in - Fall in - Fall in. (This cadence is echoed in Could This Be the End when Nathan asks the band “Alright?”) Prepare your captains. Prepare your flag. Prepare the battlements. Prepare the bloodied ram.

The song ends with a threat. 

I will make you twist and burn. (Nathan)

I have waited, clock must turn. (Halfman)

Who is threatening who? I take it as both the Halfman and Nathan threatening each other, noted above, but it’s the Halfman who gets his say in the next song.

2. Nightmare

Full disclosure, this is my favorite track on the album. Man, this manages to be powerful and sinister even as it touches on a poignant key of sadness. 

This song is a soliloquy by the Halfman. He was cursed with this demonic affliction, but says he isn’t the devil - Mephistopheles isn’t me - he sings, though people have made him into the devil. He explains how he died, then came back from the grave... half alive. Half of what he used to be. Based on later tracks, one can infer that Vater Orlaag is who brought him back to life and imbued him with the powers and overall creepiness he displays.

He doesn’t want to let go of the half life he has, but the impending star will change that life into something entirely different. Even while expressing feelings that he was misunderstood and even of fear, he still stands out as a villain. He seems to vascillate in the context of the song between fearsome and fearful. He has, after all, lived this way - waiting to see what would happen - for a very long time. 

This cold heart keeps on beating

I’m the darkness you’re feeling. 

The delivery of that lyric, at the same time powerful and ominous even as it hints at uncertainty. The song ends with the Halfman’s trademark “we’ll see” sort of sentiment. 

I still wait

Time will tell

Falcon flies

Magnetize 

3. The Ocean Galaktik

This song, I think, is where Small really gets the most personal on the album. This is the story of both Nathan’s return to the deep to find the music - the right song - and of Brendon’s own quest to release the end of this story, to come to terms with the falling out on the network, and to find the right way to release this music, these songs, and to end this story. 

Some hearts will grow cold (The network)

Some of them outshine them all (the fans and the band)

Show love through it all (Small himself)

Breathe through my soul (Release the story the only way he can - through the music.) Leave this all behind, and look within (stop trying to get the 5th season)

Though we must all die, we don’t all live (Everything has an end, not everyone gets to do 4 seasons + a rock opera on tv, so he’s grateful for what he DID do)

and of course, the obvious: “Could this be what I need to set me free?” Small is asking himself, could this denial from the network, and also this album, be what sets him free from doing the same thing over and over - allowing him to invent and explore?

“I’m ready to serve my planet now.” I also hear the word “storm” laid over “serve” in this lyric. Officially, it’s serve, but Small is a tricksy little minx, so I’m not ruling out storm. In fact, the dual lyric makes the most sense - Brendon is ready to storm the planet with his next project. The “storm” thing comes into play later in the album, too. But also, Nathan, storywise, is ready to serve the planet because after meeting with the Beast Queen (who I think is Abigail but might just be that cool ass whale, who I’ve taken to referring to as the Whale Goddess) he has THE Song. 

4. The Agenda

This is, simply, Vater Orlaag and the Halfman programming a poisoned Murderface to do some fucked up shit. 

Oh - be anything I want to be?

Oh - is this just a dream?

Oh - give away so willfully

Oh - please carry me away. 

These lines are Murderface himself, seeing the immortality and adoration offered by the two villains. Already poisoned, Murderface falls for it. 

“Just lock the door, and trap accused. Just flip the switch & light the fuse.”

5. My Name is Murder

Well, yeah, it is. This song describes Murderface luring the rest of the band into a trap where they nearly die. The idea is that when the rest of the band dies, the Dethlights will all flow into him, which I can only assume Orlaag and the Halfman intend to take from him at that point. Murderface runs away after lighting Mordhaus on fire, the Gears chase his ass down though. He thinks about taking his own life. He chooses not to - I interpret this as Murderface himself breaking the possession/poison a bit. The Gears appear to catch him. 

6. Exitus

Oh man, if this song doesn’t give you chills, check your fucking pulse. 

The rest of the band tries to think of how to cure Murderface. The reason that “there’s gotta be a relationship between the water and” the Halfman based on the fact that water has been protective and healing for the band in the past, and appears to have driven the Halfman out of “the man in green” which I think is General Krozier. 

The Gears & the Band take Murderface to the cove from the end of Season 4 and literally fucking drown him. Brutal. 

I have always thought this next verse was from the perspective of Ofdensen:

Come back to me.

Blink if you hear me. 

You gotta fight to breathe.

Hold my hand - look in my eyes. The klok within your chest gives back your life. 

Too soft for Nathan. Anyway, Murderface is cured and comes back to life. Holy shit this bit kills. 

You live, you live in your body

You live, you live in your soul

You live, you live in your heart

And we live, we live with you. 

And now we stand here believers - a pentagram of black faith. 

So Murderface is back with the boys and the Dethlights are powering up again. Next stop? FUCKIN SPAAAAAAACE BOYYYYY

7. Icarus Six Sixty Six

The boys literally go to space? Based on the video for Nightmare, where the whale goddess meets up with Triton, I’m guessing that Triton shows up and is the “UFO” referred to in the lyrics. He helps the boys rig a fucking planet wide sound system like the one in the Dethkones Israel/Palestine episode but EVEN BIGGER. (This is also the current cover photo on the Metalocalypse Facebook as an additional clue.)

Louder than the world believes

Defying physics all perceive! Shit goes tits up and they end up having to eject from a crash landing on their way back to Earth. 

Not now! Eject? Not now! Eject? Not now! Eject? BUT NOWWWWW. 

Thanks for helping the boys save the planet, Triton. 

8. Become the Storm

Nathan literally uses a planet wide PA system to notify the whole population that the Earth is about to get fucked up royally by the Doomstar - a possessed star with a demon inside it that’s going to take up residence in the Halfman’s body and really, really wreck up the Earth 

Nathan inspires people all over the world, civilians and fans and Gears, to unite and “become the storm” that will wipe this evil out. 

From the land to the sea

There’s no them - only we! 

That might be the warmest thing said on this entire album, not leastwise because I’m starving for some kind of unity in humanity lately. No division here - it’s the people of the planet vs. Orlaag & the Halfman. 

Also there are robots on Orlaag & the Halfman’s side. That’s the Falconback project. Robots that will serve them and the demon - literally soulless people who have been mechanically augmented. Bwomp. And also there appears to be some kind of big machine at work - also hinted at in Some Days Are For Dying and later in the album in Could This Be The End?

“We march forth to his throne

We will die for our home.”  The Army of humanity heads for the Halfman. Look out, motherfucker!

9. To Kill a God

Well, the title says it. They’re heading out to kill a god - or really, prevent the birth of a new one. Orlaag and the Halfman are holed up in a snow covered mountain range. The band sends the main wave of soldiers to “dismantle their magnetized machines.”  The sky will part to let the demon soul descend. 

Yep. The star is a demon. And it’s coming to chill inside the Halfman’s body. The rest of the song is a battle between the robotic Falconback soldiers and the Storm. Nathan urges them to fight on - “Don’t leave the gods alive.”

10. Could This Be The End?

This song is a fucking rollercoaster. Okay:

The Storm is fighting outside and the band is waiting in place. They turn the Falconback magnetized weapon against the star, trying to destroy it or override the machinery. It, of course, goes tits up. The band decides to use the Dethlights against the Doomstar, even though it will probably kill them.  They form a “pentagram of power” and basically go toe to toe with this fucking demon asshole. They’re willing to die. The machinery is overloading. The star gets nearer and nearer to anchoring in the Halfman.  Oh oh, leave their souls. We were always meant to go. 

Let it be one last strike with our sword

Save them

Call the lights

We must die

But we lived our lives

They choose to save the Storm soldiers and all of the planet, opening themselves up completely to the destructive power of the Dethlights. 

The Falconback machine explodes.

The demon tries it. 

Doesn’t win. Dethlights fuck it up totally. 

Because of their bond, their commitment, their pure brutality - the Dethlights are strong enough to repel the demon WITHOUT killing them. 

Nathan compels everyone to hold on - “We know that we must die,” he says, “But for now we live! ”

Alright

Alright

Alright

Alright, we live!

He asks each of them and by context gets an affirmative answer. 

The song closes with the question - Could this be the end? 

11. Rebuilding a Planet

This is totally instrumental, so you know, imagine whatever scenario you want. Do they return to playing music? Do they rule the world? Do Nate and Abigail have the most metal wedding ever? Do Toki and Skwisgaar still pretend to hate each other? Whatever you want “rebuilding” to mean, it can and it does. This, maybe even moreso than The Ocean Galaktik, is truly a love letter to the listener. A gift. An absolute salve on the burn we’d all felt for so many years of unresolved plot line. A promise, that Small isn’t done and Galaktikon will be rebuilt with new stories and new potential. Overall the tone is hopeful, peaceful, soothing - a satisfying goodbye to five goofballs Small loved, and that we all loved, too. 

[sole-cuore-amore-e-droga]

Tel Aviv 2019: Straight outta Spain to Eurovision with whole lotta fun

Dare I say Operación Triunfo is a little bit of... a Choice?

I mean, you got yourself a format that a bunch of young-aged/teen/late-teen aged droolies follow for the drama more than the music, at least that’s what I suppose it is because it’s one of those singing reality shows where you’re oh so very welcome to follow the lives of all the 20-somethings that were unfortunate to sign the contract of the show, not being able to read all the fine-prints in the contract and later regretting not doing so because things like Eurovision. In Israel. But more on that later.

But this is Espain, and this is the sad state of television that is today - if they like your shitty talent show with 24/7 followship of the contestants, and if they watch that, and if they eat that with a spoonful, chances are you’re going to prolong its post-mortem revival state in order to maaaaaybe attract a new audience and acquire a new shippable couple people will vote “a Eurovisión”. Even if your last couple sucked. And even managed to break up unceremoniously sometime before the 2019 show’s Eurovision final <3 god bless them for finally breaking the chain and breaking the hearts of thousands who were ‘dying’ for the ship. It was never EVER meant to last.

So is it a no surprise that Operación went thriving for another year? Certaintly at least it’s no joy to bear with another amount of subpar desperates from every other corner of Spain, but only because Spain deserves a better NF format. I mean, with these other NF formats we can at least have a variety of artists with their own (or composed by others) songs, and it doesn’t matter an inch whether the public’s big fave gets rigged out to me - as long as it’s just a NF I can get easily over with, it’s all fine to me! And of course OT is also fine for me, it’s just that people are begging for it to get axed for some reason. Maybe because of all the ships?

I don’t want to put too much more thought of what happened in the reality show other than the Eurovision Gala, BUT I seemed to notice something rather crazy. You see, at first we had Natalia (or was it Alba Reche or Sabela even?) heavily speculated as the winner pre-show, but in the end the OT glory was all handed to some Dutch-born boy of Nigerian origin named... Famous. Not shitting you, it is his name. But what’s the saddest part about this? Famous CLEARLY wanted it all to himself just because of Eurovision being included in the contract. Yet his only victory in life is being the best among the rest of these stars that were watched over 24/7. Unfortunately, Mr. Oberogo couldn’t make this out to be in his favour in the Eurovision-special gala, to which the “triunfitos” can attend if they have songs chosen for them in the lineup, and yes he was admitted, but then he was given a SUCH DISAPPOINTING SONG EHMERGERD!!!!!!!! :’(

(lol calm yer ladyhormones, “No puedo mas” wasn’t THAT bad, it’s just that given Famous did songs like “Nobody but You” (yes THAT one) on the show, you’d expect something contemporary soulful, not just blatant radio filler that could have easily been an EYD reject?)

So how did it all happen that the girls were rooted for to win OT, but in the end the one that wanted Eurovision the most won? And how come the one that wanted the Eurovision the most was given a song that paled in comparison to that one song that was performed by someone who was blatantly against going to ESC because “nuuuuu Israel stop hurting Palestine” and that one being favoured to win? AND HOW COME ONE OF THE BIGGEST SHOW’S VILLAINS GOT HANDED ABSOLUTE SLAYAGE OF THE SONGS?? Honestly it’s for the best if Spain is just there to subdue everyone’s expectations, just like they did when choosing Manel (be it because of a corrupt juror or whatever). They did it every single turn of the time this year during OT’s run.

And of course I’ll forever love them for that, as the end result was AN ABSOLUTE FUCKING FIESTA BANGER. Courtesy of Miki (Núñez).

Ngl, the first thing I went in for about “La venda” before listening to it was through this first impression tweet on Miki’s ‘eliminated’ song from the selection, “El equilibrio”:

BITCH HOW WAS SHE NOT READY TO SEE THAT COMING AT HER.

Granted, the sudden start of happy sounds rushing right at me was a little startling, but I was able to cope with it and jam to the song in the end.

I completely adore this one, it’s so powerfully joyful with all its instruments and the Spanish language, the interesting turn of events in lyrics, the incredibly easy probability to sing along to this (LO QUE EEEEERE! LO QUE ERE ERE E!), the authenticity, the cultural roots (tbqh Eurovision countries should be welcome to embrace their culture rather than stray further away from it! also this is why more native languages other than English are encouraged)... mmm-mmm.

And like I said, for some reason Miki was seen as a grand villain to the show, and even if I didn’t follow OT all that much, I was constantly questioning why, and after seeing him eliminated I only wanted to know if people in Espain were rejoicing about it. The against-agenda turned up onto him again when he happened to have the most songs in the internet selection bunch handed to him (THREE!!! Two solo tracks and a duet.), but nothing there was to worry, as instead other favourites were discovered, therefore Miki ended up in the dust for a while. Up until something happened that got him a big surge of votes at the end. Go figure.

Despite all this, I think it’s the right direction for Spain songwise! Me gusta mucho, and not only personally, but also objectively, honestly. Miki’s got a right enough good song for the nation and provided the revamp doesn’t make it crash and burn (yes, the good friend of a Eurovision song - the revamp! It’s happening), it’s safe to say that Spain can stand a chance. Not win, for now, but stand a chance. Yes.

Before I repeat myself some more I’d probably have to add this part for no reason as it came from my Twitter review for “La venda” this time, as I heard songs 1 day before the NF as when I expected the NF to go on Saturday but it was on a Sunday:

BITCH HOW WAS I WRONG. Well mostly thanks to the fact the fanwank-ess of OT ESC Gala actively asked to direct her votes to Miki’s song (Monika Marija teas amirite), but still, WRONG!

Now that I finally composed my thoughts I guess, let’s all go and read the below verdict I’m putting this up for:

Approval factor: I’m giving this a big fat SÍ!

Follow-up factor: Of course I like it way better than “Tu canciYAWN”, there’s no doubt in it :) and after Almaia’s romance advertisement they’re doing a great job by coming back to their great Spanish roots of music, honestly. And it’s better that way than forcing a ship onto a Eurovision 2018 ship, so yeah

Big 5 factor: As of this time Spain lowkey fizzled out with everyone now that a big wave of other faves arised, BUT I don’t think that Spain’s drowning in misery this year, not at all! With right kind of energy of the staging and uplift Spain can totally woo them televoters this time around, making them “lo que ere” their worries away to the sunset. And this is a positive thing - as if juries decide to drown this sometimes and televoters don’t, it will still soar somewhere up high enough in top 15.

NATIONAL FINAL BONUS

Now, I don’t quite think this year’s OT was quite as memetic as I expected, but we still have had some pre-NF gems, just like this:

• “THEN POLKA”. That one moment was also brought up to her on her OT Eurovision Gala postcard.

• and this one contestant’s gloriously accidental butt-shot

Though we did have a handful of these kind of moments on the Gala itself (and surrounding it), such as:

• NF’s biggest favourite to win songwise not even trying. Yes, there are those NF winners which underperform but only because they don’t seem to know better, but did you know that there are THOSE like María Villar who decide against it? Basically, she was one of those opposing against the situation in Israel with Palestine, so out of protest towards all this, she voluntarily went against doing Eurovision in a nation like this by encouraging her fans to vote for Miki the night before and sacrificing any slightest grains of trying with her performance - by barely dancing on stage and not outselling anything vocally. And it worked to some extent, as she came SECOND only, and shortly after Miki won, she spoke out loud that she was satisfied to not have become the victor (I mean she just thanked everyone for not voting her to ESC lol). But you know what, for situations like these I really do love ESC NFs - where everything predictable is upturned by some sort of events like these. I mean, I like "Muérdeme", it’s catchy, Latino-appealing enough (for those whores thirsty for Luis Fonsi and similar fucks who sing in Spanish on English songs these days), has a cool breakdown and what not, but it would just probably bring back another disappointing result from Eurovision much to fans’ dismay, especially if the Tel Aviv (oh wait sorry... for Maria’s case this would have probably been Limassol or Vienna) edition was to bring many bops for this time around that are BIGGER and BETTER than this one. It’s just happening that it’s unfortunate to be Spain...

• Yet again, putting Famous up on here, but of course he was disappointed to not get that win. I know I’m not the right person to judge considering I’m WHOLE THREE DAYS YOUNGER than him, but I’d still tell him he only had RTVE to blame for giving him THAT in the end and putting him through online voting rounds... and speaking of:

• Like I mentioned before several times, there was an online voting round for to pick-pocket the songs that sounded the best out of the demo-ic snippets of a minute or less. Its top 3 was of course dominated by ladies and their own bangers/just likeable enough songs, with poor Famous being 4th in it (and the top 3 is a must on there to be automatically admitted to the show without any higher-ups shuffling the other competitors ‘round later on and toying with their fates). I liked the complete final cut of the Gala for the most part, but boy did they miss out some, like this male laidback-acoustic pop bop “Sale”, courtesy of Damion Frost. I can at least forgive the loss of “El equilibrio”, but this? Nah siree. And yeah I know this whole shtick is a tire, but I like some of it, and I saw a worse track from the same shtick collection qualifying through higher-ups and that’s NOT boding well with me.

(yes of course Manel happened but still)

• Miki joining the glorious wall of epic NF victory reactions with his O face of total cartooney awkwardness <3

• and Eleni Foureira being able to rock a trashbag as a dress during her guest performance of both “Fuego” and her ‘new’ ‘smash’ hit in partially more Spanish than “Fuego” was - “Tómame”. Granted the juxtapose transition was a little too jarring, but hey - 2 songs for a price of 1. Go get them Spanish audience people acknowledging your pop art Elli <3 (also her chitchat with the ESC Gala host about what do you need to do good in Eurovision <3)

At this point I’m too not fucked to remember more of them but I’m really sure I missed a lot of the OT lulziness that happened before the Gala, during and after it (such as Natalia (who also sang one song in the NF with Miki himself) not wanting ESC but still trying better than Maria). I don’t want to be reminded of them, as my review’s as long as it is. But I’m sure someone else remembers, so I’ll let them judge.

[hanzi83]

More Targeted Harassment

How many of these have I done that even start out with how many of these blogs I have done to get stress related shit off my chest and trying to convey it a calm manner no matter how much the employed social media trolls try to fuck with my mental illness more with the litmus of rumors of me having a weapon, which I don’t, stalking women, which I don’t, beating up gay couples in public places, which I don’t. I normally just shrug it off like I have the last few days but then the same fucked up shit goes down with them making their presence known, first by moving my cursor as I type in my personal journal, which isn’t personal because the people in charge are watching everything I do and no one believes it because I am the mentally ill conspiracy theorist from the Howard Stern Show and after perpetuating that image constantly and then getting rid of me when they needed to, they still continue to harass me and because I am outspoken about political issues they try to censor me as much as possible. Even when I was a part of other shows on You Tube like I have written about the last several months, and the anger that exists that I am not coming back and them needing me and even endlessly reporting my Face Book videos, so I have less platforms to talk about stuff, and then sending people to my periscope to fuck with me so I complain while they seemingly do nothing.

I believe these people invite others into their discord or private groups so they are recorded and then blackmailed into loyalty for something. These are just theories, but I have contacted several media outlets to investigate the targeted harassment they do to me and countless of others, either way whoever is doing it is doing it at the behest of people with power who want to fuck with me and the more I type it out I can get comfortable with that but I know to most people who know nothing about this will just think some delusional fat man is in his mother’s basement just having another melt down that you will find amusing because people love train wrecks and then when something happens to that person, they will pat themselves on the back and tell themselves they are good people because they wrote something on twitter about suicide prevention and it is insulting from these people in the industry who will never disclose what helps cause this mental illness get more deeper and disturbing but because any conspiracy gets lumped in with Alex Jones and the right wing which is done by tactful purpose to get the message misconstrued. That is why I keep pointing out that nothing will be done until something actually physically happens to me even though I have put out countless tweets, blogs, videos etc and still no one will take it seriously. I just know these people will profit off it when this becomes official and then act like they gave a shit and then put out a bunch of numbers on social media and pretend they care but then are complicit with moguls who have helped cause this shit. I will always blame Stern. I believe because my name was mentioned and threw him off, he even got my credit card hacked because I found it hilarious that he gets nervous when my name is mentioned and he doesn’t acknowledge other shows that try to imitate his shows and this line right here got at their mind frame because when I typed it out they moved the cursor again. So much for staying off the internet because even when I do, they find ways to torture me more and make me become even more paranoid.

I guess it teaches me not to be vocal about Israel and how people are flipping out about North Korea and were silent about what happened in Gaza and basically these supposed liberals play the Trump game when he said “Both sides were horrible people” shit with neo Nazis and the protestors, but this time the democrats do that with Palestine and Israel. And I guess because these people, especially certain industry types have cliques of employed fan bases and a bunch of other burner accounts they use it to harass certain people and because I have angered a lot of people, they keep upping their game into fucking with me. I have to constantly claim that the rumors about me are not true, but then these same people on social platforms making threads about profiting off my likeness for T-shirts being made, which exist on Amazon through some group called Public Tees or some shit and they know I don’t have resources to track this stuff down.

I can’t go to my friends or family because sometimes I think they have been scared into saying anything. People I know would rather do business with Zionist like and shit on anything really progressive because they think being ignorantly contrarian is the way to go because we don’t have enough of that, which has been normalized in society for the longest fucking time. These same people will talk shit about me in their private group chats and then pretend like they are peaceful with me and have love for me but then dismiss anything about Israel or any other theory like there is something I hit on. I don’t ever trust anyone and I wish I was dead so I never have to see how horribly these people sell their souls. I could be wrong, maybe people have my back but it is seems like it is just me. These people rather have their organized orgies rather than stand up for right, all the people who used to be outspoken politically have sold out and limit their narratives about certain things because they don’t want to rock the boat but they still need to use me and after I take the brunt of the mental abuse from these people in the higher positions, they have all profited off it for their fucking gain and then get uncomfortable whenever I bring up a topic that really takes guts to address. They think acting a fool and being ignorant is the way to go and then call other contrarians who are standing up for good in this world. They don’t ever vocalize their problems with me, they will do that on private podcasts or some shit.

This will anger them and make them fuck with me even more. They have fucked with everything of mine and you pretentious twats who show compassion about mental illness constantly stay silent while people are being bullied into an oblivion, don’t use me for click bait and profit off my fucking name when this eventually exposes itself because if you stood back and said nothing while knowing what has transpired so you can get a pretentious industry cosign, never fucking talk to me again. I mean that shit. None of these people are edgy, because they have designed the PC left to seem like they are the enemies because the democrats are corporately tied to corruption, the corrupted right wing think tanks have their internet trolls act counter culture so the cycle of ignorance continues over and over. People always want to appeal to the cynical and because the right wing has taken over the counter culture aspect online, you automatically think this is the edgy take and it isn’t. That is why they hate me because I expose that these people who take joy in the ignorance love that their side is seen as the edgier side and the side that people want to cater towards.

So just take this as another wasteful blog that will make the Stern Show trolls to put this on their platforms and still continue to attack me and make it seem like it is me under a fake account doing it so I can get my name there in a lame sub reddit that barely breaks 10 quality posts a month and then when I am brought up it catches a little more traction and while it seems harmless but because people are employed to do this, in my opinion, I feel like I need to address it because these people are trying to get me to kill myself from the stress and when people from these other shows have said their goal was to make me kill myself and destroy me but then plays it off like he doesn’t want to do that, it is scary, especially when I have seen this person show and him putting out people’s numbers or acting like he is concerned with someone being held hostage who is doing another show, encourages his people to call the landlord of that place, or calls grieving mothers and does it under the guise of entertainment because everyone wants to do 90’s Stern Show shit. This is where we are at. Even a college kid who has connection to the show and is followed on twitter by Stern Show people like Benjy, Baba Booey or Jason Kaplan, is a part of that clique and pretends to be peaceful and doesn’t partake in this meanness and evil shit but still associates with them. He probably got a good connection into a fancy university or something because he is helping with that dirty work. He is another closeted miserable dude who instead of addressing his issues, decides to get the frustration off his chest by trolling others.

So these people hacked my phone when I was doing my periscope and made the camera blurry for some odd reason and it can’t be fixed but as soon as I blocked that corrupted account, suddenly my phone was malfunctioning and it will continue to because these people are sociopaths who hate me for not wanting to go back to their fucking show. I hope the worst shit happens to these people and anyone who was complicit in not exposing this and waiting for the most opportune time to make money off the story or on your podcast, you are fucking trash. 

[djrelentless]

“2014...Friend Or Foe?”

December 23, 2014 at 3:08pm

Well, another year has come and gone. And what can be said about the year that bought usThe Ice Bucket Challenge, Lumberjack Beards and The Battle of Celebrity Silicone Parts. 2014 cemented history for some and unraveled it for others. We watched the product of racism grow into an epidemic of police brutality and learned a lot more about ourselves than we wanted to know. So, let's jump right in and do a recap!

I can't think of anyone else who deserves this cover more than President Obama.

Politics is one of those subjects that we are told never to discuss at a dinner party, but this year I don't think any of us could escape this topic. In the United States, President Obamahad a roller coaster ride that I don't think any otter president has ever had to face. His uphill battle with the Republicans just got nastier as they continued to be "The Party Of No". It amazed me that their hatred for the first Black President would drive them to put in place rezoning laws to secure the elections later in the year. Republicans cunningly said "no" to many ideas just to later blame Obama for things not getting done. This hatred and racism would spill into other areas later in the year.

Here in Toronto, we started out the year with Mayor Rob Ford being defiant by not stepping down after admitting that he smoked crack on The Jimmy Kimmel Show. His arrogance would make him believe that he would win the next election. But as my grandmother used to say….."God don't like ugly (and he ain't too fond of pretty either)." Health issues would eventually take him out of the mayoral race and have his brother take his place in the running. But the good folks with common sense had the good taste of send the message to the Ford brothers that they are not welcomed in City Hall anymore. And although the gay community were really hoping that Olivia Chow would have been our next mayor, the inner core of downtown could not out voted the conservative suburbs and John Tory was voted in.

It was really interesting to watch the blogs and twitter-sphere talk about what was going to happen and what should have happened. I was surprised to see how many conservative acquaintances I had on my facebook friends list. I even had someone in my circle who is super-gay and a Ann Coultier fan. Talk about a walking contradiction…..I mean….who knew we had gay republicans in Canada? And one of my favorite things (….this is sarcasm), is watching some Canadians who only know what is sensationalized on the internet and on TV talk and post about life in the states. As if what they read or heard is the only life for Americans. Everyone has guns, everyone voted Bush in office in both elections and all Americans are stupid. That's no different than the Americans who think Canadians live in igloos and say "a-boot". I guess that's why many Canadians believe that the racial problems that happen in the states are not here in their own backyard. I often joke with my husband that I now know why Canadians get mugged and shot in The Big Apple. They go in with preconceived notions and carry their Canadian philosophies with them when traveling (like walking directly behind New Yorkers instead of giving a little breathing space while walking down the street…..definitely a good way to get shot or at least cursed out).

2014 could be described as history repeating itself. With the re-election of President Obama came more racial divide in the world. Remember….what happens over here effects over there. In his first term, the Republicans accused him of going on an Apology Tourthrough Europe. But Obama realized that in order to fix the US's standing in Europe, he had to repair relationships. Recently he began speaking about fixing things with Cuba. As an American (especially from Florida), I was surprised when I came to Canada and saw commercials for vacationing in Havana. This would never happen in the states. But with the Democrats' big loss in the Senate election this year, Obama lost any power in Congress. And try as he might to reach out to work with the Republicans……they are not having it.

The Ebola Crisis, Russia, North Korea, the Israeli-Palestine Conflict, the missing Malaysia aircraft, Healthcare Enrollment, "The Interview"……..whatever Obama said or did was not good enough or was not soon enough. But I guess the Republicans were not counting on him to remain so level-headed. Just once I wanted him to explode and show full anger for all the shit that he has had to endure as the first Black President. But he knows that he has to remain focused and stay on course. When it is all said in done after he leaves office, his legacy will out live the assholes who tried to sabotage him every step of the way. Let's just hope that Hillary Clinton really does throw her hat in the ring for the 2016 election (I wanna see the US make history again as Bill Clinton becomes the First Husband). So far, the Republicans have not presented a viable candidate.

Unfortunately for Obama, his presidency has brought up the old "Jim Crow" mentality. Just as the US took two steps forward, bias crimes and hatred slowly started to rise and knocked us four steps back. We are still recovering from the Zimmerman Verdict. Paula Deen andDuck Dynasty are still on the air (and I just got back from a trip to Florida where I was surprised by how many Redneck reality shows are in production). Chick-fil-a became the fast-food headquarters for homophobia while some gays tried to turn the situation into black people and the n-word situation nothing changed.

In July, I heard a report about a mentally challenged black man named Milton Hall being shot 46 times in Detroit. And then we watched on YouTube as Eric Garner died in a police choke hold because it was believed that he was selling loose cigarettes (known as a "lousy" on the streets) on Staten Island. Shortly after that came the news of Michael Brown being shot and left in the street in Ferguson. The  reports of 12 year old Tamir Rice being shot and killed by police in Cleveland left me stunned. Earlier in February, I wrote a blog called"Hunting Season Is Open In The U.S." which talked about the rise of hate crimes against black youth. Little did I know that this blog would become a prelude to a summer of killings by the police. And all of these shootings would open a huge debate about what is excessive force. Of course we want to support the law enforcement officers who are really out there to protect our communities, but something has to be done about the percentage of cops who are hunting down people of color while the judicial system seems to not be holding them accountable. Yes….there are bad people and bad cops. Out of all the names I mentioned above, there were no cigarettes found on Eric Garner. The rest had probable cause to be stopped…..but not killed.

And while the internet can be the perfect place to see the world and learn new things, it can also be the breeding ground for hate and misinformation. It's scary to think what and who is lurking behind the keyboards out there. Agendas to start a race war and spread propaganda is at every turn. Folks writing sensational articles and blogs to get hits to their sites (without regard for who they hurt or discredit). For every positive article or blog there are probably hundreds to counteract that message. And unfortunately, many people don't check the sources or credibility of these sites and articles and then just accept them as truth. Look before you leap, people.

With the rise of cyber-bullying, teen suicide is slowly becoming common place. Many deaths happened in 2014 (including the death of Bill Cosby's image). And although we lost quite a few celebrities and icons this year (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Williams, Joan Rivers, Jan Hooks, Maya Angelou, Ruby Dee, Casey Kasem, Shirley Temple) there was one particular non-celebrity death that struck me really hard. It was the suicide of 16 year old Sergio Urrego. His story really got me because he did not kill himself because of bullying by classmates. No…he killed himself because of the faculty at his Catholic School in Colombia found a photo on his cellphone of him kissing his boyfriend and began harassing them both. Forcing the boyfriend to out himself to his parents about his sexuality then forcing him out of the school. Then they went as far as not releasing Sergio's records so he could not transfer to another school. The poor child posted the lyrics and the YouTube clip of Pink Floyd's "Goodbye Cruel World" on his facebook page on August 4th and then killed himself.

This is the danger of allowing religion into politics. People kill in the name of religion. And now people are killing themselves because of religion. And with idiots like Andrew Caldwellproclaiming that he is not gay no more and dancing around with the holy spirit on YouTube, it's hard to believe that in this same year Pope Francis in the vatican declared that "homosexuals need to be welcomed…..and have gifts and qualities to offer the Christian community." But the majority of black churches are not following the Pope's words. In the communities of color, there remains homophobia (which is completely silly because there are plenty of gay people in the church). When will everyone understand that we are not free until everyone is free. It is hard to break down the years of institutionalized hatred, racism and homophobia. We must first look at ourselves and ask the question…."how would I like to be treated?"

Another topic that has risen since the summer is the appropriation of Black Culture. One of the great things about the United States is the concept of making something out of nothing. Ideas being turned into reality fuel the imagination and the economy. So, the concept of Hip Hop and Ballroom Culture being repackaged and marketing under white artists has come under fire. Since the Eric Garner choke hold, many of the black community have asked where is the outrage from folks like Miley Cyrus, Robin Thicke, Justin Timberlake, & Iggy Azalea. And it seems that since Iggy's sales have been through the roof and she has been deemed the new Elvis of Urban Music, she has been the subject of complaints. Rivals Nicki Minaj and Azealia Banks have voiced their distain for the gal from down under. Because I am leery of most things I read nowadays on the internet, I don't know what to believe about Iggy. I like her music and her flow, but is she really stealing thunder from other black artists? I mean….Kendrick Lamar seems to have moved on since the Grammy's. And it's funny that we haven't heard very much from Macklemore since all his accolades. The argument is that "everybody wants to be black to sell records", but when it comes down to actually being down for the cause of fighting for justice no one is around. Don't use our music and culture for record sells and then turn your back on us when we need your voices as much as ever. And don't think because you adopt black children that it gives you card blanche to say the word "nigger"….I'm talking to you Madonna. Even though you are about to drop your new album, I haven't forgotten your Instagram comment on your son, Rocco back in January.

And the continuation of Ballroom Culture appropriation continues as many gay white men love to ki-ki and duck walk to RuPaul's "Sissy That Walk" (which is another kind of appropriation since Ru was never a Ballroom kid either). But the funny thing is watching"Paris Is Burning" and seeing all the appropriation of the 80s rich Republican Culture as they aspire to be all the things they watched on "Dynasty". And today's Kardashians don't help either. Getting rich off of poor people's lust for power and fame. So, who's wrong and who's right. Should we take this opportunity to adapt and accept each other's culture instead of pitting black women against white gay men? I mean….we can all be "Gone With The Wind Fabulous" if that's what we aspire to be. We are all guilty of admiring something about another race or culture. Some imitate it and others try to destroy it to make themselves look superior. Everyone wants to point the finger, but no one wants to look in the mirror.

So, as this year comes to a close I am grateful for a few things. One of the things I am most proud of for 2014 is that I received the 2013-2014 "Friends Of The Foundation Award"from the Toronto Peoples With AIDS Foundation for my fundraisers, POZ-TO andSUNDAY NIGHT FEVER. My husband and I have worked really hard to create a space for the HIV+ Community and raising awareness. My "HIV/AIDS IS EVERYONE'S BUSINESS" Campaign has brought a lot of people together to raise their voices in the fight. And we celebrated our second year anniversary of the POZ-TO event on World AIDS Day(December 1st). Another is the sense of community that rallied together to help me after my bicycle accident in October that left me with a fractured cheekbone and jaw accompanied with a chipped tooth. It was amazing to see how many people cared and came out to perform, donate and support me in my time of need. I am also grateful for reconnecting with my family. I know too many gay people who do not have the support of their biological family (and there is nothing wrong with our adopted family, but there is something really special about being connected to those who are in our blood line). And lastly, I am forever grateful for my loving husband, John Richard Allan. I have never met anyone who has understood me or supported me as much as this man. I am truly blessed.

I don't know what 2015 will hold. But I do know that our conversations and debates about justice and racism will probably be more intense until we change some laws and outlooks in the United States. I know that Bill Cosby needs to address all of the rape accusations against him. It's tough watching the death of another black man. I know that not all cops are bad. I know that not all black youth are bad. I know that shooting police officers just because they are cops is not going to help the solution of fixing what is wrong with the relationship between communities of color and the law enforcement. I know that there are still some good people out there who are working to make their immediate worlds better (and honestly….that's all we can do on a personal level). I know that if you can't see passed the bubble you live in, you are not gonna go very far in life. And as for me….I am looking forward to seeing what else I can do to make my immediate world a better place.