#so i took them from the Facebook official page

[metamorphesque]

Formula 1, Sportswashing and Greenwashing a Genocide ... in other words, just an ordinary day in baku

As the final Formula 1 Grand Prix is set to take place tomorrow in baku, azerbaijan, I find it impossible to remain silent. The world is gearing up for what’s supposed to be an exciting event but behind the gleaming lights of the racetrack, there’s a much darker story that demands attention: the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh and azerbaijan’s ongoing brutal actions against Armenians.

azerbaijan’s history of oppression toward the Armenian people is not a secret. The forced displacement of Armenians from their ancestral lands, the violent campaign of ethnic cleansing in Artsakh, and the inhumane imprisonment and torture of Armenian captives in baku are undeniable facts. The world has remained shockingly quiet as over 200 Armenians languish in azerbaijani prisons, subjected to treatment that violates every principle of human rights.

One of the most glaring symbols of azerbaijan’s hatred toward Armenians is the Genocide Theme Park in baku, a chilling place that mocks the pain and suffering of an entire people. This is not just an internal issue; it’s an attack on humanity. But instead of confronting azerbaijan’s actions, the world is endorsing them.

These atrocities are certainly not limited to the government and the officials; the indescribable hatred has extended over to the people as well - take a glimpse into the azeri society

Now, let's imagine that you were fortunate enough to watch the F1 Grand Prix live in baku. How would you feel knowing that the azerbaijani person sitting next to you might be one of the many who were selling beheaded bodies of Armenian children on Facebook? Or perhaps they took their children to the Genocide Park and photographed them pretending to choke the statues of Armenian soldiers?

azerbaijan is not only hosting the Formula 1 Grand Prix but is also set to host COP29, a global climate summit. These events are being used to greenwash and sportwash the regime’s crimes.

How can we watch Formula 1 without acknowledging that the very ground this race is held on is soaked in the suffering of Armenians? How can we cheer for a spectacle when the cries of the oppressed go unheard?

This is not a political issue; it’s a matter of basic human decency. While the world enjoys the race, we must not forget the injustices happening in the shadows. Formula 1 should be about fairness and excellence. But in azerbaijan, it’s about something far more sinister—using sport to hide atrocities.

So, as you watch the Grand Prix in baku, remember the Armenian lives shattered by violence, hatred and silence. Let’s refuse to let sports and international events become tools for erasing history and ignoring the suffering of innocent people.

BREAK THE CHAIN OF IGNORANCE: Share Information: use social media platforms like Tumblr, Instagram, X, Facebook and others to share articles, videos, and testimonies about the atrocities being committed by azerbaijan. The more people know, the harder it becomes to ignore. Engage in Dialogue: talk to friends, family, and colleagues about the situation in azerbaijan and encourage others to take action too. Support Armenian Communities: donate to/support organizations helping displaced Armenians and those impacted by the conflict in Artsakh. Even small contributions can go a long way in providing humanitarian aid. Artsakh Relocation Project All For Armenia

TAKE ACTION by adding your name to THE LIST of supporters.

Remember that this is not a political issue; it’s a matter of basic human decency.

[imm0rtal-idi0t]

Official Merlin Books - Details!

Here's all the details for the official Merlin BBC books, for anyone wanting to collect them!

They have been out of print for a long time, so you'll need to find these second hand. I found mine through ebay, abes books, thrift books, world of books, biblio and facebook marketplace.

Make sure you shop around to get the best price, and try to get from the same seller to save on shipping.

There are a few extra rare ones that cost a lot more or took a much longer time to find. From memory, these were Lancelot and Guinevere, The Last Dragonlord, The Death of Arthur and The Nightmare Begins.

There are 6 paperbacks and 10 hardcovers. The paperbacks are for 'younger readers' and have cute illustrations inside. The hardcovers are for 'older readers'. Both are written really well and are worth collecting in my opinion.

The books span the first two seasons of the series, and unfortunately weren't continued beyond this point. The paperbacks cover x2 episodes in each book, and the hardcovers are dedicated to one episode (as titled). If you can't collect them all, consider buying just your favourite eps :)

Tip - Caring for your used books

You can use sandpaper to gently sand your page edges and remove foxing and discoloration. A glue eraser / peppermint oil with cotton round will remove any stickers and residue from your covers. You can wipe down your covers with isopropyl alcohol to remove dirt and freshen them up.

PAPERBACKS

The Adventures of Merlin: The Magic Begins ISBN10: 0553821113

The Adventures of Merlin: Potions and Poison ISBN10: 0553821121

The Adventures of Merlin: A Fighting Chance ISBN10: 0553825011

The Adventures of Merlin: Sword and Sorcery ISBN10: 055382502X

The Adventures of Merlin: Dangerous Quests ISBN10: 0553822055

The Adventures of Merlin: The Sorcerer's Curse ISBN10: 0553822071

HARDCOVERS

The Adventures of Merlin: The Dragons Call ISBN10: 0553821091

The Adventures of Merlin: Valiant ISBN10: 0553821105

The Adventures of Merlin: The Mark of Nimueh ISBN10: 0553821148

The Adventures of Merlin: The Poisoned Chalice ISBN10: 0553821156

The Adventures of Merlin: The Labyrinth of Gedref ISBN10: 0553822101

The Adventures of Merlin: The Death of Arthur ISBN10: 0553822063

The Adventures of Merlin: The Nightmare Begins ISBN10: 0553822047

The Adventures of Merlin: Lancelot and Guinevere ISBN10: 055382211X

The Adventures of Merlin: The Last Dragonlord ISBN10: 0553822195

The Adventures of Merlin: The Traitor Within ISBN10: 0553822217

[lovemyromance]

Can people stop saying Elriels are changing Elain & Azriel's personalities to make their ship work?

First of all, SJM wrote a bonus chapter and 3 books of buildup in the background for Elriel already. We didn't just make up the fact that they're very into each other - SJM literally wrote that in the books.

We don't have to change anything about them. They are already attracted to each other and interested in each other in the text at this point.

Could we sit here and argue that Azriel sitting in the garden with Elain, Azriel sensing she's missing and in danger when the Cauldron kidnaps her, Elain looking to Azriel for comfort, Elain getting him solstice gifts, Azriel wanting to beg on his knees for a taste of her, Azriel giving her truth teller, Elain kicking the hounds off him, Azriel making everyone wait for her to eat dinner - We can sit here and argue and say those things are "strictly platonic" or "he's an incel who only lusts after her" (not sure how both can be true but okay). We can do that - but it won't change the fact that it is ON THE PAGE. THEIR MUTUAL ATTRACTION is IN THE TEXT.

Cool? Cool.

Next Point: Nobody is changing shit about Elain or Azriel.

It's like the antis saw one post about "oh Elain could be a cool warrior" all the way back in like 2015 and have held onto that like that one grainy af Elucien Facebook comment that one account keeps posting as responses to elriel posts (y'all know who im talking about right 😂).

Allow me to give you a refresher: It is currently 2024. Nobody is trying to make Elain be a warrior. I think most Elriels are of the opinion that we do NOT want ACOSF 2.0.

What we do want to see, is Elain potentially as a spy. AGAIN - not a warrior. This is not changing her personality. She is already a Seer - it is not a stretch to want to see her delve into her powers in the next book to use them to SEE and gather information. Elain is ready to help, she literally says "Find me when you wish to begin."

If people are complaining about fan arts where she's holding a dagger - I'm like 99% positive that dagger is truthteller and you cannot be complaining about an actual canon scene where she has been the only other person to touch that knife in 500 years, apart from Azriel. Not even Mor, his one time love, has touched that knife.

And Elain holding truthteller is in the official ACOTAR coloring book - BTW. So if you have an issue with Elain being depicted with a dagger - take it up with SJM's team.

Let's talk Azriel:

Genuinely not sure what people are saying we are changing about Azriel to better fit Elain?

People bring up the "oh he's too dark for Elain she will shy away from him" um. No. It's literally in the text how Elain calls his scars beautiful and does not balk from him.

Also .. what darkness? I did an entire post on what the hell is Azriel's darkness even and still, nobody had an answer for me because ??

We can't be reducing this man down to a job he took very very reluctantly and clearly hates. He doesn't like torturing people for answers, guys!! Y'all make it sound like his love interest can only work if she's his literal torture assistant or something 😭😭

"Hi azriel, you have a 11 o'clock coming in for the usual water boarding treatment." <tucks hair behind ear and nods earnestly> "and then afterwards, I will wash the blood off your knife and accept your darkness?"

Is that what y'all want 🤨🤨 don't be weird smh

Azriel says it feels wrong to touch Elain because HE FEELS UNDESERVING OF HER?? Have you never read a romance novel? The tortured hero being so reluctant to even touch his love because he's afraid his sins will taint her goodness??

Please people. Listen to like... a Hozier song before you try to understand this man because maybe then you might get a crash course on him. This man is so Hozier coded, it's insane to me that people think of him as some fuckboi incel.

Nobody is changing anything about Azriel and Elain. They are drawn to each other and understand each other without having to say a single word. Their love story is already starting out to be the healthiest: friends to lovers. They have been given a title: death & his lovely fawn.

Their very names mean Azriel "God is my help" or "Angel of Death" and Elain means "Light" or "Fawn" or "God has answered my prayers"

It's already on the pages and if you can't see the writing on the walls, perhaps it's time for a reread my friend.

[fallloverfic]

"Nimona" fandom informational rundown

New to the fandom and a bit confused about things? Hopefully this will help!

Nimona was a webcomic by Nate Diana Stevenson/ND Stevenson that was first shown on tumblr on December 14, 2011, and Nate later launched it as an official webcomic on its own website on June 19, 2012. It was contracted for publication post-completion as a graphic novel sometime before November 1, 2012. The webcomic finished online publication on September 30, 2014. Shortly afterward, most of the webcomic was taken down as part of the contractual agreement for publication as a physical graphic novel, leaving only a short bit of the opening as a preview. The website for the webcomic later went down entirely, and is no longer accessible.

The comic was published in entirety as a single graphic novel on May 12, 2015. The movie adaptation rights were sold to Fox in 2015, as well, and the project was given to Blue Sky Studios. The comic was later adapted into a full cast audiobook on October 4, 2016. The graphic novel is available for purchase in paperback, hardcover, and as an ebook, and the audiobook is also available for purchase. (The link has international seller links). The graphic novel has been translated into 16 languages. It is also available in a special edition English hardcover via Illumicrate. They only ship from the UK, but ship internationally, and you don't need a subscription to buy the book. As the standard graphic novel and audiobook are ~7+ years old now, if you have a local library, you can see if either of them are available that way.

Disney bought 20th Century Fox Animation (later 20th Century Animation, the purchase completed in 2019), but later shut down Blue Sky Studios in 2021, cancelling the still-in-production movie. Crew worked on shopping the movie around for a new home after talks with Disney. The movie was later picked up and completed by Annapurna, DNEG, and Netflix, premiered June 14, 2023 in France, showed in select theaters starting principally on June 23, 2023, and released to general audiences on Netflix for streaming on June 30, 2023. I have more info on this here.

In English, Nimona is voiced by Chloë Grace Moretz, Ballister Boldheart is voiced by Riz Ahmed, and Ambrosius Goldenloin is voiced by Eugene Lee Yang.

If you're looking for official merch, the movie soundtrack is up on multiple platforms, including YouTube, iOS, Spotify, and Amazon, and a vinyl version of the soundtrack was sold by iam8bit. There is an official humanoid Nimona plushie, a whale Nimona plushie, and a shark Nimona plushie, available via Gee and Hot Topic, as well as a variety of official shirts available via Hot Topic and Amazon (just search Brand: Nimona). Nate also still sells "Nimona" comic art on his INPRNT store.

Netflix released a free-to-read digital-only multimedia 358-page artbook for the movie (but took it down in March 2024). (It's also been released at least for crew/friends of crew(?) in physical release, so maybe it'll get mass release as a hardcover). Outside of this, a lot of the crew for the movie from both Blue Sky and DNEG have been releasing a ton of concept art and development stuff, and the cast and crew have been doing a lot of promotional interviews and videos going back through like April 2023, so there's a lot of material to look through on YouTube, tiktok, tumblr, twitter, Instagram, Facebook/Meta, and Vimeo, as well as various news and media sites. Nate is active on tumblr, his personal blog, twitter, and Instagram. Annapurna, DNEG, and Netflix also have multiple accounts on many platforms, including their own websites, YouTube, Facebook/Meta, and Twitter, and have been sharing clips and behind the scenes stuff.

Nimona actually has been added to a video game: Nimona was included as an event companion in SharkBite 2, a Roblox game.

If you're looking for fanworks, the fandom is active on most platforms, and has been ever since Nate started posting early art of the characters. Nate's talked at length in multiple places about how big the fandom was during the webcomic's publication. Mostly back then folks were very active in the Disqus comments on pages, which are a bit harder to find these days. There's a lot of the older comic fanart still circulating in different places (particularly tumblr, where the fandom was most active), some of which Nate reblogged. There is crossover between the comic and movie fandoms, as many fans of the comic love the movie and vice versa, and both fandoms are quite active. There is at least one active subreddit and fanwiki (and many others on assorted fantasy, comic, movie, and non-English language sites), as well as TV Tropes pages for both the comic and movie adaptation and a number of Discord servers.

For fanfiction, there are a ton of fics on Archive of Our Own in the comic tag and in the movie adaptation tag. There are also a number of fics on tumblr, some fics on fanfiction.net, and some on Wattpad. There are fanvids on tiktok, Instagram, and YouTube. There is fanart on tumblr, twitter, deviantart, instagram, and pixiv. There are cosplayers, meta analysts, roleplayers, music makers, and many other fanworkers

Some tags to use/browse for posts on tumblr and other sites:

Nimona

Nimona fanart

Nimona comic

Nimona movie

Ballister Blackheart

Ballister Boldheart

Ambrosius Goldenloin

Gloreth

Meredith Blitzmeyer

Ballister x Ambrosius / Goldenheart / Boldloin / Boldenloin / Blackenloin / Blackloin / Goldheart

Will update this post as I come across new things.

[keystonepublishing]

Ten Pages from the Gazetteer of Time by Jonathan Edelstein

I maaaaay have overused the drawings of Shaun Tan for this particular bookbind.

I may or may not be sorry.

Remember how I said how First Do No Harm was Jonathan Edelstein's earliest published work? Well, I was correct. But before that, Jonathan did write another piece of short fiction that is not officially published in any magazine or anthology. In fact, this story can only found in two places across the internet; a series of old Facebook pasts and a fiction thread on AlternateHistory.com.

It is this. Ten Pages from the Gazetteer of Time.

To describe it is... difficult. It is akin to Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities but focusing more on history, cultural evolution, and the relationship between cities and people. In fact, Jonathan has said this short story is inspired by Italo Calvino's work, and it really shows.

Printing the cover & endpapers was an experiment unto itself. Early on, I wanted to use the drawings of Shaun Tan (who has given permission for anyone to print his drawings, so long as it's fully non-commercial) as they have the perfect vibe for this book. But I also wanted these prints to last long without getting smudged by my naturally sweaty fingers.

So I cut pieces of drawing board paper to A4 size, sent them through the printer, cut the drawings to appropriate size, and sprayed them with an non-acidic, acrylic-based gloss varnish. The texture and results weren't what I desired - some moisture can still enter the prints and some of the crispness is slightly dulled - but it is definitely more protected from open moisture.

The chapter titles are typed using Doves Type Text while the main body of work are done with Alegreya. For the most part, the formatting for 9 / 10 chapters follow what you see above. The sole exception is the final chapter for Ynyr. For story reasons, I wanted to have a representation of singularity and so used a photo from Adam Block that perfectly matches the chapter. The photo also worked as a good overlay for the chapter title, conveying the awe and centrality of the singularity for the city.

As with previous bookbinds, I also added a meta notes and comments section to archive the reactions and discussions of early readers to the story.

All in all, the production of this book took a bit longer than the last, owing to the printing and glossing of the covers and endpapers, as well as editing the images to fit the pages. Although, there are still some kinks in the finished bind - the cover print does not encompass fully to reach the endpapers - I am reasonably pleased with the result.

Full thanks to Jonathan Edelstein for his permission to bind this work, and to Shaun Tan for his permission to use his drawings. As for Adam Block, uh, please forgive me.

P.S: I took the liberty to save the original forum thread for this story onto the Internet Archive. Enjoy!

[kerubimcrepin]

Exploring dofus-le-film.com and talking about movie-related events. [PART 1]

This will not go into the goldmine that is the interview Tot and Xa give about Joris. This is just a little, self-indulgent post. I hope you will enjoy it nevertheless.

The first silly action I took was extracting the site's icon and enlarging it in Aseprite, so here's your daily dose of cute official Joris pixel art. Anyway.

I love how the movie blurb literally lies about Khan being Joris's life-long idol.

CHARACTER BIOS.

Most of them include the information we already know, so I will only be pointing out things I personally find interesting.

For example - this art here depicts Joris's bald head under the hood as very round. Very useful info for us joris enjoyers. Reblog to slap his bald head, like to slap his bald head.

(Hacks up blood) Deeply caring in nature... papa poule... It is the second time, when Kerubim is called that, in his character bios, and I would like you to remember are these different explanations of this word combo:

I'm insane. I love him a lot.

Bakara is a pleasure to have in class :)

Anyway, I love how non-specific and non-alarming these character bios are. We can't scare the hoes by saying that beneath her cool exterior she wants to kill people around her and also drink 20 gallons of vodka, so "shy and stuck up" it shall be.

Again, it's hilarious how non-threatening these character bios are, considering Lilotte's whole parent thing is basically: (substitute "women" with "kids with families")

Coloring pages + Crayon Contest

A part of me wanted to be "haha, I colored all these coloring pages, for the Full Understanding of The Experience of this movie."

Then I realized that, as a person who is making a Joris painted music video, and had drawn at least 1:07 minutes worth of artwork of him and some other characters of this movie, I would rather-- [remembers that suicide jokes are bad] take cactus for a wife, than draw him for this blog too. I'm sorry.

Not much to be said about the contest, though this is epic:

This little Joris can be found at the bottom of the "win some crayons" page. It's cute.

BLOGPOSTS

This image was drawn for MIFA.

I want to unpack what is occurring here:

Goultard is holding his dragon boyfriend rather gayly on the shoulder. Interesting.

One of the candles landed in Nox's face?

Atcham, Joris, and Lilotte were holding the cake together. Lilotte is sitting on Yugo's shoulder, while Joris is standing on Kerubim's arms. It is reasonable to assume that Yugo turned to the camera, which made Lilotte turn as well, which made Atcham fall, which made Kerubim step away, and the only people carrying the cake who are still even a bit happy are Joris and Yugo.

Adamai is getting ready to catch Joris when in like 5 seconds all of them are going to be tumblring down Atcham-style.

Incredible. But this illustration is not the only gem that Annecy has brought us!

It also brought us more of Atcham being cool and awesome.

I'm insane.

There's more rare art here: these t-shirts featuring designs from a fan contest.

They were made in limited numbers. I'm including them here because we don't exactly have copies of the artwork, and I am insane about preserving art. It might be somewhere — but that somewhere is probably 2016 french facebook, so as far as I'm concerned, trying to seek these out is a lost cause.

Exclusive Merch

There were playing cards, and I am happy to report we DO have artwork for them in HD:

And also, here's a slightly higher definition little game sprite esque Joris:

This is the future crepinjurgenites want.

Kerubim VS Atcham Rigged Pet Contest

I am sad to report that Atchamheads have lost again, in this rigged contest. Imagine asking:

Would you like a fluffy guy you have watched an entire series about, or this bald guy who appears twice in the franchise?

At the very least, this gives us a canonical kitten Atcham design.

(Also, both of them were added, jsyk... Still salty though.)

Maliki Art

Maliki is a webcomic not made by Ankama, but with a long relationship and connection to Ankama due to being published by them in the past.

It's cute, really.

[northwestofinsanity]

About REO Speedwagon breaking up…

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

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

Two Disclaimers before jumping into it:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

……..

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The speculation on this post inevitably led to the next…

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

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

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

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

…………………………………

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[vivi-the-sky-kid]

*old vet voice* Back in my day we didn't need these fancy krill repellent spells, we had...

The Home Glitch

What was the home glitch? Well, to put it simply, it was a way of using the game's menus to keep a krill attack from knocking winged light out of you. Named for the fact that its most common form used the "going Home" menu, this glitch took advantage of the "invincibility" that being in certain menus would give you for things like krill or crab attacks. Another menu that was often used was the emote help menu, though the Home one was used more due to being faster to access, as well as certain instruments that made you sit down to play them

Now, while the glitch would ensure you kept your winged light (and stayed lit, unless you were in Eden) following a krill or crab attack, it was still possible for a krill to fling you away when it hit. Crabs, oddly enough, would just phase through you. I should know. I tested it way back when. Back when collision damage was still a thing, this meant that even if a krill didn't extinguish you, if you got knocked into a wall, you'd still lose some light. However, that was eventually phased out, so the home glitch became basically invincible

That is, until someone (or multiple someones) complained to TGC on the official facebook page and the glitch was removed 😔 A lot (and I do mean a lot) of players were salty about this... including myself, but who's counting? Later invincibility tricks included the sitting instrument glitch, and a few other minor ones that never became particularly widespread, but these too were eventually removed

[sirfrogsworth]

Regarding my heading down an unfinished road... I found it on Google Street View.

So these are from a year ago.

This is the lane I drove down.

And this is the section where I realized, "Oh shit, I ain't supposed to drive here."

I used generative fill to update these images to what they looked like on the day of embarrassment.

Looking back, there were a few cones. But all of the "do not enter" signs were gone and I think it would be perfectly reasonable to assume you could drive here. I think other people may have avoided it because they drive in this area regularly. I drive maybe once or twice a month.

And here is what the dead end looked like with a year of construction progress.

(It is scary how close generative fill matched this to my memory of it.)

I was really confused when I got to this point. I wasn't sure if I should try backing up or turning. I thought the gravel was okay to drive on, so I pulled forward and started a u-turn. But there was a sharp drop-off from the road to the gravel section I couldn't see and that was very jarring. And the gravel was not fit for driving on. So I kicked up a ton of dust and passers-by were all "WTF are you doing?"

Hell, I was like "WTF are you doing?"

I have a feeling this memory will join a few other embarrassing moments that pop into my head right before I try to fall asleep.

It wasn't my fault, but yeah, I hate driving around here.

It feels like the highway construction in this area is endless. It's been going on for years and it never feels like any progress is being made.

They closed off 3 highway exits for streets that contain a lot of local businesses. One of them leads straight to Ferguson. And if you don't know to exit onto a side road ahead of these areas, you'll just pass them by. So people from out of town who might be looking for a place to eat or shop could easily drive past these areas.

I feel sad for my community. Big franchises are closing up shop. There is no pizza place that directly delivers to my area. When your last pizza place closes up, that's when you know your community is in trouble.

If anyone around here wants pizza delivered you have to spend a ton to have it DoorDash'd in from another area.

And it all started with a "white flight" epidemic. They even made a documentary about it called Spanish Lake (my township). There was a failed housing project nearby and a lot of poor Black folks started moving to Spanish Lake afterward. Then some scummy real estate people took advantage and it all snowballed from there...

"The 1990s saw a mass exodus of the white population, spurred on by blockbusting, a practice some U.S. real estate agents use to encourage white property owners to sell their houses quickly at a loss, implying the African-Americans moving into their neighborhood will depress their property values."

Apparently blockbusting is the new red lining.

The "controversy" section on Wikipedia sums up the movie pretty well.

I started following a Facebook page dedicated to Spanish Lake, thinking it would be other folks in my community. I thought maybe I could get to know my neighbors.

Instead, it is all of the white people who moved away reminiscing about how great Spanish Lake used to be.

People in this group are trying really hard not to say the quiet part out loud.

Riff raff?

Scot, I think you dropped this...

I grew up here. I still live here. I love my house and my street. There are some areas that could really use some help, but if you live here, you know the few small pockets to stay away from. I have no issue walking up and down my street at night without fear.

They also mourn the loss of the businesses that closed because they abandoned the area.

There is the mall which will be officially demolished soon.

And, yes, it is the spooky mall from that viral video.

There was the movie theater... at the mall.

There was the Aloha Roller Rink.

Which now looks like this.

And the burger joint.

The pizza place.

And the other pizza place.

Saullo's was okay.

Angelo's in the next town over is better. And still in business!

What was I talking about?

Oh, yeah. Don't drive down unfinished roads!

[seeingteacupsindragons]

Does...does anyone in Gen Z remember when the internet didn't completely suck? When there were communities?

You didn't used to have a million apps. You had your internet browser and it took you everywhere you wanted to go.

There were browser extensions like StumbleUpon that would take you to anything people had saved based on interests you gave it: news articles, memoirs, blog posts about the most random things, Cracked articles when Cracked was a thriving comedy site, and College Humor the same way, before Facebook killed them and now you kind of just hope someone on social media is funny sometimes and maybe there's The Onion. TVTropes pages. Fanfiction. Random sites designed to play exactly one game. Entire websites designed to have one button that did one thing. Yahoo! Answers questions that were funny or informative. Wikipedia pages. Other wiki pages. Fan wikis that didn't live on Fandom.

And you could just. Surf The Web as it were and wander aimlessly through it. Google wasn't totally ads, and it wasn't the only functioning search site, either. Yahoo! had games, and there were plenty of other sites just. Full of flash games. That you could browse through. For free!

People made websites for their fanfiction and their original fiction. Every interest had a forum and probably had a community and you could go sign up and chat with people about it. And you could find those posts again, until the forum died, which it might not even do! People had blogs that weren't attached to sites like Tumblr or LiveJournal or Dreamwidth.

There were thriving communities just for book and fic recs.

You could go places and do things and it wasn't all siloed. You didn't always have to have an account to do things or read things. You might have to sit through some ads, but not as many as now, and the Algorithm didn't steer you away. Facebook was usable. There were sites like Gaia Online that had forums and flash games and avatar design and dress up and videos and there were like 20 different sites like Flight Rising that operated for different silos and interests with different worlds to explore.

When chat rooms weren't privated up in discord and you could sign on anonymously in IRC chats. When NaNoWriMo had its own official IRC chat room! Just on the website! Where you could talk to anyone! And nothing would be saved once you left!

When not everything was paywalled and Exclusive Content and even if it was, you were on 50 different sites a day anyway hanging out with different people doing different things and exploring.

When social media wasn't the main way people got news and not the only place to hang out and talk and you could learn from other people a thousand other ways, and not everything linked to a locked Patreon.

The internet has always had problems. But it didn't used to be so siloed and locked and competitive and difficult to hop from one place to another and people didn't spend all day on three different sites.

And it used to be so much more interesting.

I think the good used to outweigh the bad of the internet. I'm not sure it does. It turned from a place to explore and talk to a corporate dopamine slot machine designed to extract money.

[n41r]

Hope it's okay on me giving asks a lot, but thanks a lot on offering the help and really appreciate it, also Happy Chinese New Year to you! I didn't know about the trick of knowing how many cards the machine can print out so it's really something I gotta try to find out next time I'm going to the arcades, probably practice on hitting the buttons fast too if possible. I have a question though, what do you mean by slime levelling? I don't know much other than combining and grading up so... yeah, kinda confused on that-

Happy Chinese New Year to you too! 🎉🎉🎉 Please don't worry about sending ask and questions, I'm happy to receive them!

That info about cards amount in the machine was taught to me by a kind friend from twitter, I'm very thankful for everything they have taught me;;; Also, fast-tapping is something that can be trained, you can absolutely do it! (૭ ｡•̀ ᵕ •́｡ )૭

Also, for slime levelling To make it short, it's basically getting your cards level up much faster by combining your monsters with a slime

((Pictures are from Konami Asia's official facebook page))

This method is usually not recommended by other players because you can't really control/arrange the command reels neatly by doing slime-levelling

I didn't know any better before, so I let my fear took control of me and did slime-levelling with Culann and Burn- Now I try to limit doing slime-levelling only with monsters that starts from 1★ like Bub, Red Princess, Crow, and White Dragon (still hunting for the egg, tho)

[mykpopwire]

media release: Jessica Jung First Solo Concert in Malaysia

South Korean singer Jessica Jung brought her solo concert, the Diamond Dreams Concert Tour to Kuala Lumpur last January 13th! The concert took place at Mega Star Arena and was co-organised by Sum Supreme Media, MSI Group, Bombear, 43, Ticatech and Cosense. This was her first visit to Malaysia since 2017, a large number of “Golden Stars” (Jessica’s fandom name) swarmed the concert with their Golden Start official lightsticks, which lately turned the auditorium into a golden sea.

Jessica kicked off her first solo concert in Malaysia with “Set Me Free”, “Summer Storm” and “Love Me the Same” which immediately liven up the atmosphere. The attendees chanted and yelled Jessica’s name to show their support and love towards her. When came to “Love Me the Same”, Jessica performed a chair dance which surprised her fans and drew even more cheering and applause.

After interacting with fans, Jessica continued by singing “Because It’s Spring”, “Love U” and “Better Late Than Never”. She handed the microphone to the audience while singing the second song to invite them to sing along, and it turned out that she was “shocked” by the enthusiastic reaction of her fans. Jessica then gave a thumbs-up to indicate her approval to her fans.

Along with performing her brand-new song “Beep Beep”, Jessica also sang well-known songs like “Snap Shot”, “Wonderland”, and "Beautiful Mind”. Dazzling in a silver and sparkling garment, Jessica covered Rihanna’s “Diamond”. When the song came to an end, a fan shouted “I have a big diamond!” and showed Jessica her enormous diamond ring. Seeing that, Jessica wished all her fans could “spark like a diamond”.

The fans sang along with Jessica when she performed “The One Like You”, the OST of the K-drama “Cyrano Agency”. The Korean artis was impressed by the attendees. “I am so touching,” said Jessica in Mandarin. Also, Jessica greeted her fan who had a birthday that night, she even sang the fan a birthday song, which made other fans envious and they all exclaimed: “Today is my birthday too!” Jessica couldn’t help herself from laughing and said: “You guys are lying.”

During the encore session, Jessica gave a performance of “Get it? Got it? Good” and “Starry Night”. She said the staff overly tightened her belt after she finished singing, saying, “I would like to sing, and this makes me unable to take a breath.” Her fans then shouted “Untie the belt”. Jessica exclaimed, “You guys are so energetic and enthusiastic!”

As the singer doesn’t come to Malaysia often, her Malaysian Fans took this opportunity to express their love for her by making a surprise video. Jessica was stunned and moved when watching the video. After the video was played, Jessica was brought to tears. She said, “Thank you. I have nothing to give back to you, thanks for making this sincere video. She was so touched until could not speak a word, and her fans comforted her by yelling “Don’t cry”. Jessica grabbed a golden star ribbon off the stage and put it on her face to express her gratitude to the “Golden Star”.

When she had calmed down, Jessica played her last song of the night, “Fly”. She untied the overtightened belt and tossed it aside during the transition of the song. Fans erupted into laughter when she did that. Jessica concluded the concert by thanking all of her supporters before calling it a day.

For more information about the concert, please visit the official Facebook page and Instagram account of 43.

Thank you Sum Supreme Media, MSI Group, Bombear, 43, Ticatech and Cosense for the invitation.

*photos courtesy of 43

Don’t forget to like, follow and subscribe to MY K-POP WIRE for more K-Pop interview, debut, comeback and event updates!

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[marioharasealmama]

✝️ Matthew 19:21 🇺🇸(SEGA✨🦔) My Precious Baybee Love just took a shower~❤️ Going 2 watch Nickelodeon and go 2 sleep now~❤️💋🦭

Unknown 🦭🤝🦔

Where 2 give: https://azarashiseal.kawaiishop.jp

🦭💡 full images can be found on Twitter at @seal_mama along with all rescue updates and news and easier to find content i upload ❤️💋🦭

✨✨✨

Protect the seals in Norway 🙏 Please sign, share, and spread Awareness to protect them.

Petition here 👉 https://shorturl.at/inptM (working link in bio)

✨✨✨

Please click the link below to write to Prime Minister Trudeau and other Canadian officials and demand that the seal “hunt” be called off and that they ban sealing once and for all.

https://harpseals.org/help/letters_and_emails/canada_pols_cop_15_email.php

Please spread the word, and if you can make a donation, please do so from this link.

https://harpseals.org/help/donate/index.php

(IMPORTANT) Harp Seal Petition: https://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/594/901/362/?TAP=1732

Save Harp Seals Link 2: https://action.hsi.org/page/144926/action/1?ea.tracking.id=website

✨✨✨

Please check out and spread awareness 4 Hout Bay Seal Rescue Centre ❤️

https://www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/hout-bay-seal-rescue

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/HoutBaySealRescue/?mibextid=LQQJ4d

✨✨✨

💎SEGA Hype Energy Boost 💎

Jesus Christ is real and saves us all.

Vote President Donald Trump 2024 #MAGA

Cherish each day ❤️

Sonic Rumble

Sonic SEGA Jakks Pacific toys

Spark the electric jester

Siivagunner

Yohane

Phineas and Ferb

Hideki Naganuma

Sonic Dream Team

Sonic Heroes Remake

Sonic Momentum

Sonic Forces PvP Racing Battle

Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

Jet Set Radio

Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth

Crazy Taxi

Sonic Movie 3

Sonic Superstars

Sonic Origins Plus

Sonic Frontiers

Sonic Frontiers Final Horizon

Sonic Prime

Sambe De Amigo Party Central

Sonic P06

Sonic Forces Overclocked

Sonic Runners Revival

Sonic Runners Reloaded

Sega vs Capcom

Sonic x Shadow Generations

Knuckles The Echidna Paramount+

Persona 3 Reload

Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble

Sonic Robo Blast 2

Jet Set Radio Live Hype!

https://jetsetradio.live + Genesis 1:3 Hype

[josiebelladonna]

okay. so, how my "summer vacation" is going to work is like this:

it'll be from memorial day to labor day, akin to how summer vacations used to go from decades before. all the times i'd hear my parents talk about me and my generation basically getting ripped off from summer vacation growing up as it would start in the first week of june and go to sometime in the middle of august: i have a friend, her daughters started school august 1 some five years ago. barely a vacation for anything, and it kind of makes you realize that you never hear about summer camp anymore.

i (mostly) sign off everywhere but here. i say "most" because i've got notifications switched on for certain people on instagram (alex, eric, testament's official page, nate, matt, joey, krista, jeff/possessed, friends i've made over there).

but i'm going quiet on facebook starting memorial day save for a couple of groups, a private food group that i'm part of with my dad, my stepmother, and their friends, and believe it or not, but the one 90s alt rock group that isn't batshit insane: i won't post on my story or share anything on my tl. i'll just post the rest of my mermay around the world drawings on memorial day and bounce. not that anyone's going to see them, anyway.

i'll be deleting the threads app from my ipad on the 31st, or when the dublin prompt goes up.

i won't reblog anything here on main but i'll be on my art blog, the fic blog, and my cooking/baking/food blog. i blocked all the palestine-related/anti-israel/antisemitic tags on here a while back but i'm really going to be blocking them now (fuck you idiots, seriously; this is #1 reason why i'm doing this, i cannot take any of you and your toxic waste. really, does it feel good to be wallowing in lakes of your own feces as you're erasing history?).

as time frees up, i'm going to be writing and making art a lot more, just like when i was in the dark for nearly 2 years from 2016 to 2018. i made so much back then, and i'm looking forward to doing it again for the summer.

i tried doing this back in january, to go quiet for the entire year of 2024, and i couldn't do it. it started with the permanently vacant look on alex's face, to the point it actually had me worried and... cracking my knuckles, too, and then my mom got sick and i realized i couldn't afford to not stay quiet.

now, it's like: you tried to take my mom from me, you tried to take my dad from me, you broke the love of my life's heart by taking his dad from him (and i'm trying so hard to not let my imagination run wild because i have seasons grey for that), you tried to take my house, you took all my money, you're trying to take my animals from me, you completely shattered the relationship between my mom and my brother for literally no reason, i found out my brother's abusive and likes to demonize me (he actually said to my mom "i won't give hannah money if it's going to enable the two of you". "enable". he thinks that we're drug users. plus, he made it all about himself when the entire point of gofundme is bring everyone into the fold; he's more delusional than the pro-pal people) and a monthly drawing challenge i used to love has become the biggest crock of shit. i need a fucking vacation.

"i need a fucking vacation" was the sentiment that started all of this. i wasn't able to go to monterey this year for my birthday because of my mom's blood clots + the property taxes. all of 10 people sent me a birthday wish (and i used to get dozens, too!), and in fact, i'm lucky to get any interactions anymore and it's at the point now where i start to wonder "what the hell is even the point?". i started the gofundme after my birthday and it started the chain reaction between my mom and my brother. it all started with my birthday.

well, no, it actually started further back than that. it started with kinktober 2023, the thing that just about killed me. feeling vulnerable (and not in a good way) and exposed. feeling like i was doing something wrong for writing things that are *supposed to be* erotic when the whole already-fractured world began to fragment even more. feeling like i was doing something wrong for participating when i should've made my raison d'etre all about the i/p conflict like everyone else (that's the other thing i despise about pro-pal people, aside from the fact they've traded their swastikas for keffiyehs: the guilt-tripping). feeling like i was doing something wrong for writing things upwards of 3k words when others were doing drabbles and involving "you" and being the artist, i couldn't help but compare myself. feeling like i was doing something wrong for craving things that stimulate the senses and to fucking hell with being simply horny. feeling like i was/still am doing something wrong for being attracted to a guy whom i never met, lives thousands of miles from me, is with someone else (who i really don't like, don't trust if it saved the world, and don't understand the appeal of), and probably wouldn't like me if he got to know me personally, either. my ben shepherd era left some particularly deep scars on me. feeling like i was doing something wrong for having different kinks. the fact the sheeple were flocking to just one person didn't help, either (i also admonish this with the organizers of mermay, too, the honestly gross way they flock to adam_is_arting when... he's really not that good? it's competent, but that's about it. it looks like the work of every other artist on instagram right now so i really just don't get it). "they're the sexy ones, not me."

if you're going to support someone and their openness i'd say with their sexuality, do it for other people trying to do the same thing. you might *think* this isn't a competition but your playing favorites tells a different story.

your playing favorites and leaving those whom you claim to support behind in the weeds tells my lizard brain that it is.

it really doesn't feel like there's any room for me and no one will be honest about it. it should make sense that i feel my mental health beginning to slip.

my birthday was kind of a catalyst.

...

i need a fucking vacation.

[back-and-totheleft]

From Oliver's official website

The following is a recent Q&A from my Facebook and Twitter pages.

Q: From Jack Forbes Oliver, the Yellow Shirts in Thailand want to displace the current Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, and her Administration, with an unelected "People's Council" and have gone to great lengths to disrupt elections and disrupt commerce in Bangkok to achieve their goals. They demand "reforms" pertaining to elections procedures and perceived corruption, but have little to show for what reforms they wish and what corruption they suspect. The military is, so far, taking a "hands off" approach but has not ruled out a coup. Yingluck is making her case for democracy, asking the protestors to vote and to integrate into the Thai political system to resolve political differences. There seems to be no end in sight and experts believe that civil war is possible for the near future. What is your take on all of this?

Oliver: My take is as an outsider. I’ve traveled many times to the country and admire their collective sense of harmony in all things. Makes this recent civil strife almost incomprehensible to me. I’m hardly knowledgeable about the complex interior politics of the country, but my feeling is generally ‘the majority rules’—in other words, live with it. As bad as Thaksin may have been and may be, I would imagine time has, and will, softened his impact. Things change. Do not fracture this beautiful country.

Q: From Ben Bracken It seems everyone successful in film has a connection to some rich people or a rich dad in the film business that gets them in the door. I have neither. I have no money, just the ambition to succeed everyday in a world where 20% of American males ages 25-54 are unemployed. I'm not lazy and will never collect unemployment, so I work everyday at a shit restaurant for $4.95 an hour plus tips (that you never get anyway) and work harder than anyone you've ever met. I have self taught myself to be a DP, an actor, and barely afforded to put myself in school for screenwriting. I don't know anyone famous or anyone's rich uncle to help me get my foot in the door. So, my question to you, Mr. Stone, is a simple one. Would you please hire me? I don't care if it's shoveling the elephants shit on the set of Alexander or getting you coffee. I will still be the hardest worker you've ever seen. I humbly thank you for even reading this as I know you will probably not respond to my question as I've seen the other questions people way smarter than me have posted about you and your work. Either way you're still one of my heroes. Thanks, Ben Stiller

Oliver: This is a tough question but I’ll try to answer it. Just to keep things clear, I had no strong connections to get me into this business. I wrote my way in, and it took many scripts and much rejection until some of them were read and gradually I was able to find more and more work.

That said, when I actually penetrated it as a writer and then moved, after a few setbacks, onto being a director. I found that many young people and outsiders were vying for jobs as assistants and interns, but that the union rules were pretty strict on this matter, and that the best way in was through the assistant directors’ department. After the union regulations were fulfilled, the producer, production managers, and assistant director would interview new people for roles as assistants and interns. Generally speaking the job is a tough one—long hours—and often takes place far off the set around the trailer camps and various messengering jobs. Often people would be frustrated that they didn’t get enough time inside or close to the set (On the other hand, being inside the set all the time can be—believe me—quite boring and I think many people would be disappointed.).

Perhaps the best way to approach this is to work on low budget films as a production assistant, where one probably gets a lot closer to the action. I worked on a soft porno back in the early 70s in NYC hauling heavy dollies up and down staircases in New York City.

When, and if, we do start up a film, we crew up like a pirate ship or whaling expedition for the journey. At that time the producer/production manager/assistant director make their choices as to whom they want to work with. Sometimes I weigh in.

Q: Ben Norbeetz Why in many of your films do you repeat certain phrases, ideas and metaphors. "Kiss the snake with no hesitation" was in the doors and alexander and a motif in Natural Born Killers, your close up shots on a single eye was apart of both any given sunday and the doors, the "world is yours" is in scarface and alexander. is there something all of your works mean to say?

Oliver: Each motif is different and probably for a different reason. I wasn’t aware of the similarities until you brought them up, but certainly, I think the idea of the snake in “Doors,” “Alexander,” and “Natural Born Killers” represents a sensitivity to the issue of fear. That by going through the fear, one finds a courage that was not available before. Jim Morrison was writing about the snake long before we made the film. And of course the analogies of snakes and dragons appear again and again in mythology. Although I walked among many rattle snakes in “Natural Born Killers” and lived through my share of snakes in Vietnam, I’m still not comfortable around them.

As to eyes, I’ve been shooting close ups of eyes for so many years I don’t know which exact mention you have in mind. I think it’s a striking visual. The eye is the window of the soul and often speaks an inner truth to us that is beyond the word. And people’s eyes in general, if you look closely at them, reveal much. Movie stars often have blue eyes, because I think they give more access than brown/black eyes.

As to the “World is yours,” well, that’s a subjective frame of mind, and it can well be true if you believe it.

Q: Patrick Dailey Please give us some details about the new "Alexander : The Ultimate Cut" blu-ray/DVD. Will it have new features, new transfer, etc. Thanks!

Oliver: I can tell you the new “Alexander” is 8 minutes shorter and has some structural changes of significance. I think it’s cleaned up. It’s a real final to me. In the 2007 version I was trying to get out all the stuff that I wasn’t able to get out in 2004. And then I was able to look at the 2007 version in various film festivals around the world (San Sebastian, Taormina, and New York.) After seeing it in public like that, I was able to go back and see some of the things that I had added were not necessary—as well as remove some of the complexity that still existed. That’s why I trimmed it. I’m very happy with this new version and it’s definitely a final one. There is no new transfer—not necessary because everything was beautifully transferred the first time.

Q: Attila Peter Of all the empires which one would you prefer?

Oliver: Very good question. I think as a Roman it would’ve been very dangerous to stay alive. There seems to have been a poison in the air, and in the capital too many Romans were killing each other. I think in some ways the British Empire must have been perhaps one of the best, at least if you were an Englishman! But not a native. The idea of going to Eton or Oxford, joining the military, or being a businessman when most people around you are ethnocentric, you think of yourself as superior. It’s an amazing illusion—but produced some amazing results.

We’re now living in the American Empire. So you make up your own mind. Many are happy with it and comfortable. Depends on your consciousness of our history. If interested see “Untold History.”

As to the best Empire, I’m not sure, but I think the Mongol Empire of the 13th/14th centuries makes a lot of sense. Although bloody (who wasn’t at that time), they had an amazing degree of intelligence. As tribal nomads and outsiders, they brought to the sense of empire a newness and ability to see beyond parochial concerns. And because they were a small tribe they were concerned about their universality. They truly brought a modern order to feudalism and tribalism, and their influence is still strongly felt today in the East.

I also deeply respect Alexander’s Empire because of his respect for local laws and customs—as did the Mongols—and the fact that he did not loot and rape the place, as the English and Americans, in their benign way, did. So I vote for the Mongols.

Q: Matthew McKenna Is there a person or persons who have been a major influence on your life?

Oliver: Huge question. We can talk in the personal sphere or artistic sphere, but let’s say we’re talking of the American political sphere. I’d say Roosevelt and JFK. And in a negative way Reagan, LBJ, Nixon, Bush (father), Bush (son), Truman, and Eisenhower. Without a doubt the U.S. has had its share of awful Presidents who’ve really destroyed what this thing could’ve been after WW2. Please see “Untold History” to understand my feelings. These are people who have directly influenced our life in a very powerful way.

Q: Mary F. Nugent On behalf of WH Wisecarver: I was on the Capital Hill in 1991 when JFK was released. It was surprising to me the controversy and re-evaluations it provoked amongst my younger peers. In lieu of your recent post on the prohibition of being able to do your MLK movie and the rehash of contrived political thrillers in today’s films, do you see a time when real thought provoking cutting edge films can be made in Hollywood again?

Oliver: You’re asking a bit of a rhetorical question. Films don’t necessarily have to be cutting edge to be thought provoking. For example, “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” (2011) was a beautiful film about older people that really had a point. It wasn’t cutting edge in the sense of what people normally think, but who cares as long as it move you and provokes your feelings and thoughts. I said earlier on another post I really was struck by “All is Lost,” I think that “Blue Jasmine” in its way make you think about people that I knew in New York. It’s a great character study. I think good movies are coming along all the time from abroad, from here, and I wouldn’t dismiss the industry for that. We filmmakers are always struggling to get something fresh and different done. Few of us succeed. But we try.

I think that the concentration on money, as with the rest of the culture, has hollowed out the business. I know that studios are just not developing dramas unless you’re a top of the line director, and they rarely do that without making you compromise. It’s hard to get things great things made in that way. If the directors stick to their guns and develop stuff they really believe in, I think it’s possible to get films made. I know that we have many more markets available to us, as well as different forms of financing, but sometimes you have to assume you’re not going to make much money making a film, and you’re going to live with whatever distribution you can get. So I think it’s a very harsh playing field—but good stuff does get turned out because people are ‘burning’ to tell a story. I sometimes feel we’re the like that medieval acting troupe in Bergman’s “Seventh Seal.”

Q: Nathan Paul Oliver as a filmmaker myself I come across a predicament often behind the camera. Do you ever sacrifice continuity of a shot for your vision?

Oliver: Yes, I often do. The logic of the technician is often in conflict with the heart. Especially as the sun is going down and fast decisions have to be made. Best to make those decisions early in the day.

But as you can see from my editing, it’s sometimes discontinuous, and probably far more interesting because of it.

Q: Matt Higgins How is it that you were able to turn your horrific experience of being a combat soldier in Vietnam into something productive- producing great films that brought Vietnam into the focus of the American mainstream, instead of becoming one of the many casualties of PTSD?

Oliver: Well, I probably did have my share of PTSD, but I didn’t know it at the time because it wasn’t called by that name. I think that terminology started in the late 70s (not sure). I think the fact that I met a good woman who helped me reintegrate, and I did gradually join back into a film school at NYU and was inspired. I think willpower played a role in it. There was much rejection. Remember, it took 10 years (‘76–‘86) from when I wrote “Platoon” to when it was actually filmed, as well as 10 years (‘79–‘89) for “Born on the Fourth of July.”

This is the point of the artistic journey isn’t it? To take the ordinary and the oppression that’s sometimes served up to us, and make of it something celebratory.

-Archived version here from Feb 13 2014

[thesiouxzy]

10 years ago today we officially adopted Bushy! 💗😺💗

When I saw the nerdy photo of him on Lollypop Farm, the Humane Society of Greater Rochester website (he looked like a hand puppet 🤣), I knew that I had to meet him! We went to Lollypop as soon as it opened the next morning. Bushy & a few other friendly cats were in a community room with big glass windows. He came right up to the window as we were walking towards the room & our eyes met, I recognized him from the website right away. I sat on the couch in the room & next thing I knew he came running across the room, leaped onto my lap & head butted me hello with a friendly chirp! He was very funny; a confident, silly wild man which is just what we were looking for!

When we got home, he fit in purrfectly! He leaped right out as soon as we opened the cardboard carrier that he came in & laid down next to us as if he’d been with us his entire 1 year of life. I couldn’t believe someone gave him up because he was an "ankle biter", then someone else adopted him, kept him for 2 days, then returned him because he was "hyper"! He was still a kitten, that’s what they do! From the start he’s always been a really sweet, calm, happy little guy. Other people's ignorance was our gain! 😻 Bushy is one of the kindest animals that I’ve ever had the pleasure of sharing my life with. He’s a friend to all beings big, small & in between 😺

Always choose to save a life & opt to adopt your animal companions; never buy from pet shops or breeders. There are millions of wonderful animals in shelters whose lives literally depend on adoption. Shelter animals are very special, they seem to know that you rescued them & they are eternally grateful 😺🐶🐰

Photo 1: The first photo that I took of B when he was in the shelter

Photo 2: Bushy today - always a cross pawed gentleman 😻

Photo 3: Bushy’s listing on Lollypop Farm, the Humane Society of Greater Rochester website. He looked like a hand puppet 🤣

Photo 4: Bringing Bushy home in the cardboard carrier 👀

Photo 5: Photos of Bushy at the shelter while we waiting for his adoption paperwork to process. He was so calm & friendly. He even went into his signature otter mode on the couch as we waited 🦦 Top right was taken just after he leaped out of the cat carrier. He was immediately at home 😺

Video: Bushy today 🥰

Please like/follow his Bushy B. Facebook page: