#spring tune up 2022

[why4anne]

Daylight

Part: 7/?

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x Reader

Category: Social Media au

Summary: Follow the love story of a global pop icon and a monegasque F1 driver

Face claim: Taylor Swift (Singing) + others

Masterlist

2022

theathletesgala

liked by yourusername, ellenpompeo and 645 943 others

theathletesgala:

Musical guest and award presenter Y/N L/N is in the building. She's wearing a stunning Versace gown and a killer cat eye.

view comments:

yourusername: 🫶🫶

y/nenjoyer: she looks STUNNING!!

girlypopy/n: Dare I say... Revenge dress?

vintagel/n: Oh, definitely!

holyleclerc: It's giving Princess Diana

lonely4lifer: Charles, look at what you lost

havemyleclerc: She is the one who fumbled

summery/n: Y/N lost a second tier F1 driver, Charles lost global pop icon, highest streamed female artist, the woman, the myth, the legend Y/N L/N

leclerctingzz: He's not a second tier F1 driver, he's the future of Ferrari

ubery/n: How many WDC?

childofdivorce: Auntie Blake pick me up I'm scared

lewishamilton: @/donatella_versace you outdid yourself with this dress

donatella_versace: Donatella VERSACE💜

theathletesgala:

liked by lewishamilton, simonebiles and 426 392 others

theathletesgala:

It's a star-studded event here tonight. Multiple athletes have now made their way onto the red carpet including:

Formula 1 drivers Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, Footballers Neymar and Alex Morgan, Gymnast Simone Biles, Figure-skater Tessa Virtue and NFL Quarterback Joe Burrow

Keep your eyes open for your favorite athlete to arrive!

view comments:

joeyb_9: Such a well organized event!

lewishamilton: Blessed to be here🙏

charles_leclerc: Happy to be included❤️

alexmorgan13: This will be so much fun

moreleclerc: Putting Neymar and Charles beside each other is CRAZY

lilttley/n: Okay but can we talk about how both Lewis Hamilton AND Joe Burrow interacted on the post about Y/N earlier??

gemmal/n: Y/N now has the chance to do the funniest thing ever and get with Max Verstappen

home4l/n: STOP- that would be too iconic

justleclerc: The world is not ready for that sort of chaos

theathletesgala

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theathletesgala:

Miss Y/N L/N what a performance!🙌👏

view comments:

heavenlyy/n: Mother did not come to play tonight!

realy/nfan: fr! She saw that both of her exes were in attendance and said "hold my wine glass"

unifiedy/n: Singing ATW and you're loosing me back to back while STARING at table number 12 (Charles and Neymar's table) is absolutely FOUL!

justl/nthingz: She's so cunty, I love it!

l/ny/nfavorite: Okay but why is no one talking about how she literally sang silver springs by Fleetwood Mac and in true Stevie Nicks fashion was glaring daggers into Charles while doing so!!!!!???

bluey/n: next level balls frfr!

bobbiey/n: Okay but that outfit??? Mother ATE!🔥

holyl/n: Ass out and everything for Charles to see🤭

justy/nfans: I just know that that man will go home and cry himself to sleep tonight

celebritynews

Liked by 202 392 people

celebritynews:

After receiving an anonymous tip from a reliable source, it seems as if Y/N L/N left the athletes gala after party with one of the guests of the night. Who it was is still unclear but stay tuned on celebritynews for more information!

view comments:

summery/n: This girl is a wag at heart

flowersbyl/n: That's so true! She does love her athletes😭

y/nleftpinkynail: Honestly she's so real for that😍

l/nbyy/n: Just like me fr!

chad.larsen: She's such a slut!🙄

leclerc_l/n: Bro GTFO with your musty ass comments!!🤢

brianyoung: Watch out whoever it is. She's gonna write a song about you😵‍💫

littley/n: It's almost like THAT'S HER FUCKING JOB???🤯

greenflowers: misogyny☕️

l/nhouse: Okay but who was it???!!!!

justagirl: I think it was Joe Burrow, did you see how he was looking at her while she was performing??😍

godlyy/n: I hope with my entire being that it's Max Verstappen💀

slayvettel: That would be too iconic!!

icemanfan: Y'all tripping, it's gotta be Lewis!

heavenlyy/n: HOLD UP! What if it was Neymar??

yourusername

liked by blakelively, nicorosberg and 6 582 194 others

yourusername:

cellphone on silent📱❌

comments are disabled:

Tag-list: @mindflay3r @karmabyfernando @lightdragonrayne @ilove-tswizzle @sadg3 @sassyheroneckgiant @c-losur3 @spideybv28 @boiohboii @charizznorizz @amel1ee @loloekie @sunny44 @janeholt3 @berrnuu

[d-criss-news]

How Sondheim and Burnett Got Darren Criss to Provincetown

Provincetown hasn’t been compared to The Godfather or Star Wars very often, but those are the examples actor and singer Darren Criss names in acknowledging that his July 21 town hall appearance will be his first visit here.

“Provincetown is like that movie that you haven’t seen but you don’t want your friends to know you haven’t seen, so you don’t incur their wrath and ridicule and disbelief,” he says, noting that several of his good pals visit often. “I don’t bring up that I haven’t been there because my friends will give me crap. I haven’t avoided it — I’ve really wanted to go. Finally, the stars aligned quite nicely.”

Maybe the stars had a little help from Carol Burnett.

Host and accompanist John McDaniel, a Grammy and Emmy award-winning musician, says he invited Criss to be part of his summer Broadway series here after Criss performed on 2023’s Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Love + Laughter TV birthday special. McDaniel was the music director.

Criss’s best-known roles are his breakout portrayal of Blaine for five seasons (2010 to 2015) on Glee in a milestone-for-mainstream-TV gay romance with Chris Colfer’s Kurt, and his 2018 Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning turn as spree killer Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. (Both roles came thanks to producer and Provincetown part-timer Ryan Murphy.)

In addition to acting and singing — including Glee’s “Teenage Dream” cover that climbed the Billboard charts — Criss is a songwriter. He first won notice for co-writing and starring in 2009’s A Very Potter Musical parody for the Chicago-based StarKid Productions, which he co-founded. Criss’s A Very Darren Crissmas generated national holiday tours.

Shortly after Criss wrote the opening number for the 2022 Tony Awards, his friend Paul Miller, director of the Burnett tribute, asked him to refashion Stephen Sondheim’s “Side by Side” from Company into an homage to Burnett’s famous duets with celebrity guest stars.

In what he called “one of the coolest things I’ve ever gotten to be a part of,” Criss performed “Burnett’s Duets” for the star-studded birthday-party special with Broadway’s Sutton Foster. That came after he meticulously dissected Sondheim’s music to fit new lyrics and fine-tuned the arrangement with McDaniel.

“When I was doing this,” Criss says, “in my mind, I was going, ‘What would the ghost of Sondheim be OK with?’ ”

More Broadway music will be on Criss’s mind in Provincetown for what he says will be an unusual program because it likely won’t include original work or him playing guitar or piano; McDaniel will accompany him. Criss prides himself on not performing the same live show twice and plans to include Broadway songs he’s not yet sung in public.

That said, he recognizes fans might want to hear something connected to his own Broadway star turns. Those include — besides the nonmusical American Buffalo in 2022 — How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in 2012 and 2015’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Plus, earlier this year, Criss starred in off-Broadway’s Little Shop of Horrors.

In September, he’ll originate a Broadway role for the first time, headlining Will Aronson and Hue Park’s musical Maybe Happy Ending. Criss plays an outdated, retired robot in futuristic Seoul who explores the nature of love with another retired robot (Helen J. Shen). To try to help boost its U.S. profile, Criss is also a producer of the musical, which has been a hit in Korea, China, and Japan. Its Broadway debut will be directed by Michael Arden (2023 Tony Award for Parade, Spring Awakening), a longtime Criss friend who directed the English-language debut in 2020 in Atlanta.

Criss is excited but nervous about the piece; he says it’s intimate and epic at once. “There’s an excitement about the uniqueness and specialness of this show that I’ve never encountered before,” he says. “So that’s either going to crash and burn and blow up in our faces or catch on. I don’t know, but the prospect is very thrilling.”

Criss, who is straight, made headlines this spring for comments at a Chicago expo about being “culturally queer” because of his admiration for the LGBTQ community. “The things in my life that I have tried to emulate, learn from, and be inspired by are 100 percent queer,” he said then, later adding that “it was in queer communities that I’ve found people that I idolize, that I want to learn something from.”

“That had to be the slowest news day ever,” Criss says about his comments getting attention — especially because he’s talked many times before about similar things, including how much it meant to be part of Glee’s Blaine-Kurt relationship story.

Beyond Provincetown and Broadway, in August Criss’s voice will be heard in an unusual spot: on season 10 of Netflix’s Gabby’s Dollhouse, a children’s show, as the new Marty the Party Cat, magical host of the Party Room. It’s a voice role Criss says was planned long before his two-year-old daughter and seven-week-old son were born to him and his wife.

Marty is described by Netflix as a lovable, “exuberant goofball” who has a big heart and the ability to laugh at himself.

“He’s a fun guy,” Criss says. “I’m aspirationally Marty the Party Cat.”

[veranavera]

Who I am, what I do, and why I do it :)

Hello people of Tumblr!!! My name is Vera and I'm a trans woman who spends her time hiking a trans pride flag up many mountains (here's a list of all of them!!!). Over the last two years, I've done this on over 500 peaks in the Eastern US, and now I've shifted out to the Western US where I plan on doing this many more times over the next few years! This post is kind of an intro to me, and if you have any more questions, feel free to send them my way! Also do be aware that I'm a Reddit refugee who's new to this site, so if you have any helpful advise, please let me know because I'm still figuring things out as I start to transition away from that dumpster fire of a website! :)

Who am I???

My full name is Veronica Ashcroft (she/her), though I usually refer to myself by my nickname, Vera. I am a transgender hiker and aspiring mountaineer from the Northeast who spends a lot of time outside. I recently bought a van and have converted it into a little mobile-living space, and that combined with my recent decision to do seasonal work means that I have a lot of free time on my hands – free time that I intend to spend hiking and peakbagging as much as I can!

What is peakbagging?

Peakbagging is a style of climbing mountains where the goal is to summit a peak. This can take on many different forms, from just generally trying to summit peaks as a goal of climbing/mountaineering, to religiously pursuing lists of mountains grouped together because of their height, significance, etc. The way I personally approach peakbagging is to summit as many peaks as I can within a given timeframe, usually following some list that I either created myself or borrowed from an outside source. Most people who peakbagg do so over the course of months or years, so I'm definitely on one extreme with how much time I put towards my peakbagging projects

Which mountains have I done, which am I working toward, and what will I tackle in the future?

In the summer of 2022, I took a trans pride flag up the Northeast 115 4000fters list, which is a rather descriptive name, given that there are *basically* 115 4000ft mountains in the American Northeast. In the spring of 2023, I bagged the New Southeast 202, which includes the tallest and most prominent peaks in the Southern Appalachians. I spent nearly a year after that grinding through most the New Northeast 131, which comprises a number of the 1000ft prominence peaks in the American Northeast. Although I had to put that project on indefinite pause, I still climbed over 200 peaks as part of it. This fall, I'm road tripping through the American Southwest and will be climbing a number of peaks there - stay tuned for the specifics of those!

Why take a pride flag up mountains?

The simple answer is because I was already going to do these mountains anyway, and taking a pride flag up them allows me to promote trans visibility in the outdoors and spread some positivity in the process. And we trans people need some positivity in the world right now. Politicized transphobia is on the rise, and trans people have become one of the key targets of right-wingers. It was already bad a few years ago and it has gotten worse - I invite you to look at the news if you wanna see what I'm talking out. Obviously taking a flag up some mountains isn't in the same league whatsoever as these political assaults from the right, but we really do need some positivity to stay sane and hopeful in these times. And I'm certainly not going to single-handedly do that - I'm neither that arrogant nor ambitious to claim something like that. But even if my projects positively impact only a small group of people for a brief period, that will be good enough for me

Why take a trans pride flag though?

I'm trans, and I'm also a lesbian and sometimes gender nonconforming - I like to joke that I'm a couple different flavors of queer. Intersectionality is important, and when I started these projects last year, I choose to emphasize my trans identity by taking a trans flag up because that was the part of my identity most under-assault. Truth be told, I was originally planning on using a rainbow flag for my current work for the reason of trying to have my projects appeal to a wider queer audience. But then, the onslaught of anti-trans laws intensified last year, and I was being reminded daily that a lot of people really do hate me for who I am, and I know that those people would already be angry to see a queer person taking a rainbow flag up mountains - but they'd be livid to see a trans woman doing the same with a trans pride flag. Or to put it another way, on a personal level, my trans identity is the target for most of the bigotry I face, and so that's the part of my identity that I want to push back with the most

Why am I not doing something more useful with my life?

With the onslaught of bigotry showing no signs of relenting, I see queer people all over wondering what we can do to fight back. And to be entirely honest, hiking a pride flag up a bunch of mountains definitely isn't the most efficient use of my time and energy right now in that political context. It would probably be a much better idea for me to join one of the many political groups and organizations fighting back against this onslaught of bigotry, rather than doing projects like these. And I know for a fact that some people will look at my project and be disappointed that I'm choosing not to do that. But honestly, hiking makes me really happy, and I've spent the majority of my life profoundly unhappy dealing with issues of depression and gender dysphoria. And now that I'm in a position where I can actually do something like this, I'm gonna, because for most of my life I couldn't even imagine myself having agency over my own life. And, although I'm well aware that the scope of my project is ultimately quite small, I've had enough people both online and irl come up to me and tell me that my projects helped inspire them, or at least just brought some trans positivity in an era that is increasingly frightening for queer people - and, to me, that makes it worth my time

What can you do to help?

If you enjoy my project, please reblog and share it with other people - the more people who view/follow what I do, the more effective I'll be in getting the message across!!!

Is there anywhere else you can follow me?

Yes! I also have a reddit and an insta that I post to, along with an account on peakbagger detailing the nitty gritty of my hikes. Additionally, I have a personal website where I put detailed trip reports and lots of photos, so be sure to check those out!!!

What if you have any other questions?

Reach out! I love it when people message me! Do be aware, I do spend most of my time in mountains with spotty reception, so I might take a few days to get your message!!!

[eretzyisrael]

by Robert Williams

To assess correctly the damage that Qatari influence in the US is causing, it is essential to understand what Qatar stands for and promotes. Qatar has for decades cultivated a close relationship with the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, whose motto is: “‘Allah is our objective; the Prophet is our leader; the Quran is our law; Jihad is our way; dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.” It aims to ensure that Islamic law, Sharia, governs all countries and all matters.

Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, has enjoyed Qatar as its main sponsor, to the tune of up to $360 million a year, and was until recently the home of Hamas’ leadership. In 2012, Ismail Haniyeh, head of the terrorist group’s political bureau, Mousa Abu Marzook, and Khaled Mashaal, among others, moved to Qatar for a life of luxury. This month, likely because of Israel’s announcement that it will hunt down and eliminate Hamas leaders in Qatar and Turkey, the Qatar-based Hamas officials reportedly fled to other countries.

Qatar was also home to Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, who was exiled from Egypt until his death in September 2022. According to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center:

💬 “Qaradawi is mainly known as the key figure in shaping the concept of violent jihad and the one who allowed carrying out terror attacks, including suicide bombing attacks, against Israeli citizens, the US forces in Iraq, and some of the Arab regimes. Because of that, he was banned from entering Western countries and some Arab countries…. In 1999, he was banned from entering the USA. In 2009, he was banned from entering Britain…”

Qaradawi also founded many radical Islamist organizations which are funded by Qatar. These include the International Union of Muslim Scholars, which released a statement that called the October 7 massacre perpetrated by Hamas against communities in southern Israel an “effective” and “mandatory development of legitimate resistance” and said that Muslims have a religious duty to support their brothers and sisters “throughout all of Palestine, especially in Al-Aqsa, Jerusalem, and Gaza.”

Qatar is still home to the lavishly-funded television network Al Jazeera, founded in 1996 by Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Hamad ibn Khalifa Al Thani. Called the “mouthpiece of the Muslim Brotherhood,” Al Jazeera began the violent “Arab Spring,” which “brought the return of autocratic rulers.”

In 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt made 13 demands of Qatar: “to cut off relations with Iran, shutter Al Jazeera, and stop granting Qatari citizenship to other countries’ exiled oppositionists.” They subsequently cut ties with Qatar over its failure to agree to any of the demands, including ending its support for terrorism, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Al Jazeera.

The Saudi state-run news agency SPA said at the time:

💬 “[Qatar] embraces multiple terrorist and sectarian groups aimed at disturbing stability in the region, including the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS [Islamic State] and al-Qaeda, and promotes the message and schemes of these groups through their media constantly,”

US universities and colleges are happy to see this kind of influence on their campuses in exchange for billions of dollars in Qatari donations. According to ISGAP:

💬 “[F]oreign donations from Qatar, especially, have had a substantial impact on fomenting growing levels of antisemitic discourse and campus politics at US universities, as well as growing support for anti-democratic values within these institutions of higher education.”

[ramayantika]

A goodbye needed

From being born in Hyderabad to living in the northern part of India, that is Gurgaon and then the Western side, Maharashtra to Vishakhapatnam in the south and finally in the eastern states of Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, and Odisha, I do get to say that I covered eighteen years of my life in the four main directions of India. But my favourite city has and will always be Kolkata.

To be honest, my brother desperately wanted to live in Kolkata because of Eden Gardens in our GK book. I wasn't that interested until I arrived in Kolkata in 2016 to appear for the written test in my school. The exam went well and so did the interview. I remember my father lived in a small bachelor's one room apartment in Ruby Park. My eleven year old eyes were stunned as they took in the grandeur of the old buildings from the British era to the modern metros and malls of Kolkata. When I came back to Raipur, all I knew was Kolkata would be life changing for me.

And in 2017, I did come home. To Kolkata. A small roadside apartment facing a canal where you don't have crystal clear water but drainage water. Somehow the water wasn't stinky until the arrival of the monsoon showers. I lived there from 2017 to 2020. I was supposed to stay there until 2022 but fate had other plans but that's a story for another day.

I always call Kolkata home even though I am from Odisha. It was the only city that embraced all shades of me. I spent the first two years of my teenage there. The damp roads leading to my apartment have heard my songs above sweet love and true friendship. On quiet midnights, my tiny balcony knew the whispers of my soul, and the questions it asked about fate and the world. The monsoon rainfall told me how to appreciate nature and beauty. I learnt to dance with storms, and dream of stories that I now write and desperately wish to be a part of.

I met a teacher who told me in a tone akin to a whisper in front of the class that I am like a small pandora box, hidden from view but having the most wonderful and beautiful things to offer the world. The next month I danced for a school event and God since then I never looked back. Kolkata connected my soul to literature and culture.

I am no longer in Kolkata but each time my calendar notifies Rabindranath Thakur's jayanti, my heart goes to the old tunes of Rabindra sangeet; the beauty and tenderness of his songs that captured my heart and caused me to spill some of my poetry in the last page of my rough notebook.

I visited kolkata again in December 2021 after first term examinations of class twelve. My connection with kolkata broke like a plant uprooted from its soil. It felt as if I had been banished from home. All the months that passed, and all the seasons that changed showed me memories and dreams of what could have been in kolkata. But when I visited kolkata, I saw how some things had changed.

My home appeared....... different? I always say that my young soul blossomed in Kolkata. The same soul turned sad at the emotion that the city showed me. Perhaps that's how growing up is. To see that things around you change, people, roads, hearts everything but somewhere there still lies a calling that says, 'hey, I know things are different. But I am still here. Look at me, embrace the new me. Embrace yourself. You are changing too.'

Where it once used to be wonder, nostalgia filled my heart as I met my friends after two years. I passed through my apartment again and smiled at the balcony, my small corner for solitude. I saw a few towels hanging there.

Going back from Kolkata felt a little sad. I could not accept the change. I had been uprooted from my roots, and when I come back I see new flowers springing up. Without me?

Then after a year, I visited Kolkata again in July 2023. I had grown so had the city. When I passed by the same British era buildings and Howrah bridge, the same wonder struck my soul. I saw a few flowers growing on the pathway, getting their nourishment from the July showers. The empty space in my heart too was filled with flowers. My friends who are now in their respective colleges, doing their own things with their own friend circles now but somehow we come together. Just like old days before.

Home is always home no matter how far you go or how long you stay away from it. Home will always welcome you back. The fragrance of wet earth filled my soul with a warm blanket, as if telling me that all this while, I waited for you. I am different but I am still your friend.

Era sukher laagi chahe prem, prem mele na.

Shudhu sukh chole jaye emoni mayar cholona

This song will always remind me of Kolkata, the warm monsoon nights that were filled with a longing of love, friendship and magic. It will take me back to dreams and whispers of a fantasy that my heart still believes in that I would one day bring forth the wonder and beauty of my Self to the world. It will remind me that there must be tender days to be spent in reading poetry on a cool evening.

The day I boarded the train to Durgapur, my heart hummed the tune of Era Sukher Lagi from Choker Bali. As the train left the station, I waved at my young self through the window. It was farewell. I would come home later for my dance work, a thread that shall tie me to this wonderful city forever but I would never come home this way ever again and for the first time I was happy. And perhaps to witness an end to a heartwarming journey of nostalgia, acceptance to change and farewell, the clouds showered rainfall against the window just like the cool monsoon nights years ago.

All was well....

[writing-for-life]

From time to time, I just need to flog the goods (speak: my fics) on here because I’m notoriously bad at it. So have one of my favourite chapters from The Light of Stars, and read the rest on Ao3. Bye 🤣

[Oh, before I forget: Even if the thing has been published for a while: I still love your comments, and it’s not weird to comment on a completed fic. We don’t suddenly stop caring just because a fic is finished. Actually the opposite.]

The Light of Stars (76,167 words) by Writing-for-Life

Chapters: 31/31 Fandom: The Sandman (Comics), The Sandman (TV 2022) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Dream of the Endless | Morpheus/Original Female Character(s), Dream of the Endless | Morpheus/Original Character(s), Dream of the Endless | Morpheus/Other(s), Dream of the Endless | Morpheus/Reader Characters: Original Female Character(s), Dream of the Endless | Morpheus, Lucien | Lucienne (The Sandman), Fiddler's Green | Gilbert, Mervyn Pumpkinhead, Matthew the Raven, Desire of the Endless, Original Male Character(s), Destiny of the Endless, Death of the Endless, Despair of the Endless, Delirium of the Endless, Dusk (The Sandman), Night (The Sandman), Hob Gadling, Thalia Callaghan (OC), The Gatekeepers (The Sandman) Series: Part 1 of The Light of Stars

Creating Stars

Thalia felt an inner restlessness that would not dissipate, and it could neither be manoeuvred with work nor distraction. She didn’t want to go to sleep yet because it meant seeing him, and while she wanted to, she also needed space. Space to tune into her feelings, space to let her soul speak. So she decided to go for a walk to create that space, despite the late hour.

It was a beautiful clear, if cold night. Autumn had closed in completely; the air felt sharper, the balmy feel of summer was gone for good. However, she hadn’t seen the stars so beautiful in a long time. It was rare to see them so clearly because of light pollution, and for a moment, she wondered why they shone so brightly tonight. It stopped to matter—their beauty made her feel small, but connected to the universe in a way that was new to her.

As she kept walking, she began to agonise over her time with Morpheus coming to an end. If her stories weren’t what had brought her to him, what else was there to explore? She understood, on a deep level, that she wouldn’t really lose him, that he had always been there, as he was for everyone. And yet, it wouldn’t be the same. Thalia had long realised she wanted him the way he was now—fully present with her in both her dreams and waking hours.

Thinking about it too much made her head spin and her heart ache, and the pain was sharper than the night air.

She wrapped her coat around herself tighter and pulled up the collar before looking up to the sky and taking a deep breath. Her attention was drawn to three intensely bright stars that lined up in almost perfect symmetry. Something about them felt significant. Just when she was about to check her mobile phone for constellations, she was overcome with a feeling of deep peace and clarity.

Let the stars remind you of your strength and courage. Your guidance springs from hope.

It was almost like she could hear someone, or something, say these words to her, and she neither doubted them nor did she feel afraid.

There was no hubris in her realisation that her effect on him was as profound as his was on her, and that all of it was somehow meant to be. Perhaps finding him was the universe’s plan, and while it might have been beyond her comprehension, she trusted it. She didn’t care if anyone else would be able to understand—she just knew it to be true.

She also knew he was with her, even before he began to speak.

“It’s Orion’s Belt. The three stars are called Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. Some also call them the three sisters.”

Thalia turned around to face him, and for a moment, the way he looked in this darkness completely took her breath away. Something about him was night, but he was also light. Not the incandescence of the sun, but the reflection of a thousand stars in a pool of cool water, or the moon’s soft sheen in a hazy winter sky.

“You should not be out on your own at this time of night,” he said softly, and the slight hoarseness in his voice sent shivers down her spine.

“Are you worried about me?”

“What if I were?”

Diamonds set in gold was all she could think of when she looked at the stars in his eyes.

“Maybe it would mean you cared more about me than you want to admit.”

He stayed silent, eyes firmly fixed on hers.

Thalia could tell his breathing was shallow, not least because he seemed to breathe in perfect synchronicity with her, and she was acutely aware that none of the air she inhaled seemed to reach the bottom of her lungs.

She took a cautious step forward, reached out her hand and touched his face. For a moment, he allowed her hand to linger and leaned into her touch so subtly that it was hardly noticeable.

And yet, she did notice.

She sensed it with every fibre of her being, and she wished this moment of exquisite tension and closeness would last forever.

It didn’t.

Morpheus laid his hand on hers, his touch cool, and gently removed it from his face. He bowed his head and exhaled deeply.

When he looked up again, his eyes met hers, aureate stars shimmering. “I care about your safety, and you are not safe out here.”

The air between them remained charged.

“I can take care of myself.”

“I don’t doubt it for a second, but…”

She put two fingers on his lips and shook her head. “I think the real reason you’re here is that you like my company. Maybe, just maybe, you didn’t want to wait until I’m asleep?”

Morpheus didn’t shrink back, neither from her touch nor her brazen claim. The stars in his eyes were flashing and flickering in a dance of cool blue and warm red until they finally settled on the richest, most fluorescent indigo she had ever seen.

His lips were soft against her touch. Thalia became painfully aware how much she wanted to kiss them, and she was also cognisant of the fact that she might not be able to hide her thoughts and feelings from him. If she was totally honest with herself, she didn’t care. She decided, there and then, to let him in because she wanted him to know.

And from the look in his eyes, she could tell he did.

She felt his breath on her fingers, and his eyes were burning like molten copper. He laid his hand on hers once more, but this time, he gently pressed her fingers against his lips. For the briefest of moments, it felt as if he were kissing them so lightly that it might as well have been an illusion.

He closed his eyes, swallowed hard and removed her fingers, but he held on to her hand when he said: “Let us walk, Thalia Callaghan.”

Although his words felt like a cold shower, she couldn’t help but chuckle. “Uh-oh, the surname, I’m in trouble. In any case, you still have a talent for changing topic.”

As they began walking, he finally let go of her hand. “So I should.” He gave her a sideways look. “And you are not in trouble, although I might change my mind about it.” The faintest smile lit up his face before he refocused on the path ahead.

“Tell me about them.”

“About whom?”

“The stars. What were their names again?”

“Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka.”

“They are beautiful. It’s like they… called out to me tonight.” She hesitated. “Does that sound weird?”

“Not in the slightest.” He gently shook his head. “They are testament to the powers and wonders of the universe. Some believe they created the seasons, others think they are a symbol of the divine feminine and her strength. And then there are some who think Orion, the hunter, was transformed into the greater constellation after his death, and they like to see it as a symbol of bravery and courage.”

“Which one is true?”

He glanced at her. “All stories are somewhat true, even the ones that started as lies.”

Thalia stepped out in front of him and began walking backwards in her usual way, only that it was a lot harder in the dark, real world than it was in the Dreaming. “You sound as if you know but don’t want to tell me.”

He smiled faintly. “I do know.” Out of nowhere, he stopped. “Turn around.”

Thalia’s heart began to race the moment he stepped behind her, so close that she could feel him despite the fact their bodies didn’t touch. He moved his arm over her right shoulder and pointed. “Follow my hand with your eyes…”

She focused on what seemed the dimmest of the three stars.

“You are looking at Mintaka. What you cannot see is that she isn’t one star, but a whole stellar system, formed over 12 million years ago. And yet, she is very young, much younger than Earth. So are her people, who abhor violence but unfortunately also value conformity above all else. Some of them dream of being different, and to break free one day.”

Thalia felt her breath catching in her throat and turned her head to look at him. Their eyes briefly connected before he moved his head closer to hers and whispered in her ear: “Eyes straight ahead.”

It took all her resolve to follow his hand again, which slowly moved to the left. “This is Alnilam. She is the youngest of the three, 6 million years younger than her oldest sister, and she is alone. She is the brightest of them, some say the most beautiful. She lives and breathes and dreams of escaping her solitude before she stops burning and it is too late.”

Thalia couldn’t help but reach for him and let her hand rest on his upper arm. He inhaled deeply. His fingers were less steady than she had expected them to be when he pointed farther left.

“Alnitak is really a twin. The slightly younger one is stable, the other is unstable and perpetually circling her sibling. Over the past 7 million years, the elder was responsible for the death of three separate developing lifeforms. They both dream of being separate and free from each other.”

Morpheus slowly lowered his arm, and she removed her hand to face him. When she looked into his eyes, she knew everything he had just told her was true, and yet, it was beyond her comprehension.

“They live? How is this even possible?’ she asked.

“It is just as possible as my standing with you here right now.”

“And you are there for all of them?”

He nodded. “I have been for billions of years.”

She shook her head in disbelief, eyes wide. “I know Lucienne said you are old, but…”

“I have seen them come and go.” He looked up to the sky. “The nebula you can see right below Alnitak has been the birthplace of many stars. And when they start to dream, I am there.”

Thalia searched the sky. “I can’t see it.”

“It is there, trust me.”

“I do. I just wish I could see what you see.”

“Be careful what you wish for.”

“I know full well what I wish for.”

Morpheus looked straight into her eyes, and she could tell he was trying to judge whether she understood the true depth of her admission.

“I do,” she replied.

He looked surprised. “It seems we have learned to communicate without words, Thalia Callaghan.”

“We’ve been doing so for quite a while, it’s just that turned tables confuse you.” She blinked slowly, and the air charged with electricity again.

Morpheus seemed to get lost in her eyes.

“What are you looking at?” Thalia’s mouth was dry, and her voice nearly gave out.

He hesitated for a brief moment before whispering: “Close your eyes.”

Her deep trust in him made her do as she was told. A moment later, she sensed him, inside her head, her mind, her soul. It was nearly too much to bear, and yet, she didn’t want it any other way. A sweet dizziness enveloped her.

“Open them again…”

Clarity set in slowly. She didn’t know where they were or how they got there, and it didn’t matter. It felt like floating in space, yet her feet were touching the ground. All she could see was darkness and light and stardust, orange, pink and red. The stars were too numerous to count.

“Is it real?” She couldn’t help but reach for him because she felt unsteady.

“As real as your body and mind can handle.”

Thalia was completely overwhelmed, and silent tears began to fall. “I have never seen anything so beautiful.”

“Neither have I.” Morpheus was looking at her, and she could hardly breathe. He reached out his hand to catch a tear from her chin that had been slowly running along her jawline, all the while carefully avoiding to touch her face.

When he opened his hand, the droplet transformed into a tiny speck of light, shimmering like a diamond. He released it, and it moved away, floating, scintillating, and turned into a star right before her eyes.

She gasped. “Is it real, too?”

“If you believe it is, does it matter?”

Thalia couldn’t take her eyes off it. “When I wake up, will it be gone?”

“You are not dreaming…”

She turned her head to look at him. “But…”

“…and it will be here for as long as you remember it.”

“How could I ever forget?” She just didn’t care any more and embraced him.

Thalia could feel his resistance within an instant. He had somewhat become accustomed to the touch of her hand, but maybe feeling her body touching his was too much, and she immediately regretted her decision to act on her impulse.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

He stepped back ever so slightly. “I… Perhaps I underestimated the human need for touch.”

Thalia mustered up all her courage. “Maybe it’s not just humans who need touch. For what it’s worth, I don’t touch indiscriminately. I just want to be close to you.” He didn’t react, but she was determined not to give up. “Can you promise me something?”

His eyes narrowed. “I am not sure whether I can.”

“Maybe you should take a chance and trust me, just like I trust you.”

The stars in his eyes looked like the most beautiful, shimmering moonstones she had ever seen, and they made it hard for her to focus.

“Proceed.”

Thalia couldn’t help but smile at his attempt to be formal, all the while only managing to sound wary.

“I want you to…”

“Want?” He raised one eyebrow, and strangely enough, she knew he was back with her. And apparently he knew she knew, because he began to smile.

“Yes, I want you to promise that you will remember tonight. And that you will remember the star we just created when I am gone, so it will keep on existing. Can you do that?”

He just nodded and turned his head to look into the distance.

Thalia stepped in front of him. “Please look at me.” She only noticed then that his eyes were brimming with tears. “Have I said something wrong?”

He shook his head. “I promise I will remember tonight. I will remember you, Thalia Callaghan…”

[exeggcute]

for the sake of consistency I feel compelled to point this out: I feel like I'm seeing a warped false dichotomy-ish thing spring up where people are responding to the "tiktok is a national security threat to america" hysteria with a counter that american software companies collect data about users, largely for advertising purposes, which is true!

but some of this seems to wrap around to an assumption that tiktok doesn't engage in garden-variety data collection for any reason at all... except they very much do lol. because tiktok is also an advertising platform at its core, to the tune of $11B of revenue in 2022. which I'm not trying to offer as a gotcha, just that I wouldn't be all "well you gotta hand it to them" about data collection practices in the same breath that you lampoon american companies' practices because tiktok's functionally not much different from any other advertising-supported platform in that regard.

WHICH, IMPORTANT CAVEAT, is a completely neutral statement on my part. not only am I famously pretty lukewarm on the privacy threat posed by advertising data, but also what I'm trying to get at here is that tiktok's data collection serves the exact same purpose as any other big platform's data collection, which is Making Money. it's all the same. you could even argue that the big monolithic publishers like tiktok/reddit/facebook/google who source their own buyers are less leaky (and therefore less problematic in general) because their supply chains don't include a million third-party ad platforms per auction, and those third-party middlemen are often the ones who sell shit to data brokers, so tiktok's closed advertising ecosystem is actually better than some of these publishers with miles-long ads.txt files who'll do business with anybody.

but like, for example: pixel tracking is a common way to track ad conversions by measuring how many users click on ads and do stuff on the website that the ad leads to. facebook has the facebook meta pixel, reddit has the reddit pixel, tiktok has the tiktok pixel... exact same tech. exact same reason. no espionage, just ads for those mobile games where you're trying to solve a weird maze thing before some guy drowns in lava

[p-h03n1-x]

Yibo Official Weibo update 2.8.2024 (part 1 of 6) Welcome to play UNIQ-Wang Yibo’s key frames of the year. Recall frame by frame, wonderful and colorful. Indulge in the beautiful changes of light and shadow, enjoy expressing your true self in music, explore the unknown in different fields, and progress in life. Keyframes are drawn one by one on the strip. In 2023, you will be rewarded with diligent study and hard work, and in 2024, we will embark on a new journey with steady steps!

A new chapter is about to begin. I wish you all to move forward in the Year of the Dragon, and be happy and prosperous!

Part 1 - Film and Television

Follow the light and cultivate yourself.

Accumulate and write the journey of light and shadow with characters Move forward steadily and use the screen to record your growth trajectory

Movie 无名 Hidden Blade There is an unknown person in Shanghai, known as Mr. Ye. He is hiding in the dark night, walking in the wind and rain. He is both good and evil, and his identity is difficult to distinguish

Fourth place at the box office during the Spring Festival in 2023

The third runner-up in the mainland box office of action movies in 2023

Popular movies of the year on Weibo Night 2022

2022 Weibo Night Annual Quality Movies

The 36th China Golden Rooster Awards for Best Feature Film (nominated) Best Cinematography (Nominated) at the 18th China Changchun Film Festival

The 19th China-US Film Festival Annual Top Ten Golden Angel Film Awards

The 15th Macau International Film Festival "Golden Lotus" Award for Best Film Award

The 4th New Era International Film Festival Golden Yanghua Award for Best Suspense Film of the New Era (Nominated)

2023 Weibo Night, Weibo’s annual word-of-mouth movie

Top Ten Influential Movies in 2023 "China Film and Television Blue Book 2024"

Movies 长空之王 Born to Fly and 热烈 One & Only

Born to Fly Explore the limits and chase dreams in the blue sky. Lei Yu breaks through himself and moves forward bravely

2023 May Day box office runner-up

2022 Weibo Movie Night The most watched film of the year

2023 Weibo Movie Night Audience Favorite Film of the Year

The 36th China Golden Rooster Award for Best Feature Film (nominated)

Recommended movies (nominated) for the 4th "Light and Shadow China" Honor Ceremony

Top Ten Golden Angel Film Awards of the 19th China-US Film Festival

One and Only Chen Shuo, who is inconspicuous in life, becomes passionate because of the firm dream in his heart

Sports film box office champion in mainland film history

2022 Weibo Movie Night The most anticipated film of the year

2023 Weibo Movie Night Movies of the Year

The 36th Tokyo International Film Festival

China Film Week "Golden Crane Award" Most Popular Film

The 11th Zhejiang Film Phoenix Award for Outstanding Feature Film Award

The 19th China-US Film Festival Annual Top Ten Golden Angel Film Awards

Web movie My Youth and I released on 1 May 2023

The most popular online movie on Maoyan (single day)

Tencent Video has the highest popularity in history: 15928

The most watched films of the year in Weibo Movie Night 2022

Outstanding online audiovisual works of the State Administration of Radio and Television in the second quarter of 2023 (shortlisted)

The 13th Beijing International Online Film Festival "Lightyear Award" main competition unit special honor from the jury

Stay tuned

Movie Formed Police Unit. Wang Yibo as Yang Zhen

TV Series 长风破浪 Chang Feng Po Lang. Wang Yibo as Wei Ruolai

[kaiowut99]

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX Episode 110 Subbed (Finalized)

(Previously: Episodes 108-109 Subbed [Finalized])

(Check out my Subbed!GX Stream Masterpost!)

TURN-110: Tyranno Kenzan VS Fossil Dragon Jim

Jim Crocodile has noticed an outbreak of strong electromagnetic waves at the Duel Academia. Accompanied by Judai, Johan, Shou, and Kenzan, Jim decides to investigate in the jungle. As they do, some strong electromagnetic waves spring up, causing his crocodile Karen to pounce on Kenzan--and at the same time, the effects of the electromagnetic waves cause Kenzan to forget who he is and pounce on Jim.* This leads to Jim having a duel with Kenzan, and as Kenzan instinctively summons his powerful Dinosaur Monsters, Jim activates his Kaseki Yuugou -- Fossil Fusion Magic Card to summon his Fossil Dragons. *Worth noting that the pre-airing summary text here makes it sound like Karen biting Kenzan and Kenzan lunging for Jim both happened as they're looking around in the jungle, when in the episode proper, Karen biting Kenzan is what gets Jim onto the scene; wonder if that was the original idea in production...

[EDIT, 5/19: Episode reuploaded after correcting two of Cobra's lines near the end, and also fixing an animation error I missed initially with Kenzan's Disk near the end of the episode; details added below the cut.]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*runs in to post this in Engrish*

Well, mates, episode 110 is now up and finalized! With Season 3 starting off with a couple of two-parters, I figured I'd take a slight breather and work on just 110 this go-round given the multiple two-parters on the way. And it's a good one, as we're introduced more to Jim Crocodile Cook (and his well-done Australian accent in the dub, for some kudos there to 4Kids [some dialogue choices for him (and Kenzan [that's not how Tail Swing works???]) aside]) while also seeing how quickly Judai seems to have recovered after his duel with O'Brien, and we see the debut of Jim's Fossils, which would go on to take a good 18 years or so before finally being printed with some buffs to them; it was always an archetype I liked. Kenzan also just spending a good 3-4 minutes growling was A+ (a shame the dub just made him talk semi-primitively, even if it mostly works), more of Jim's Engrish was just as good, and I liked how Jim and Kenzan came away with some respect for each other by the end after how offended Kenzan was by the Fossil Fusion concept. Fun times!

Animation error-wise, like with 108-109, I mostly did some quality-of-watching touch-ups around split-screens (with some of the fixes I did also allowing me to get rid of some of the ghosting in the footage), though there two card fixes I applied with Kenzan. Details below under the cut as always for the interested!

Quick housekeeping: in case you missed it, I re-released my finalized episode 1 work, as I went back and applied various card fixes that were bugging me and that I've grown to be able to fix, lol. Still shook I first started finalizing everything in 2014... 💀 Currently, I don't anticipate going back to re-finalize anything pre-84, mostly due to the annoyance of cutting/splicing stuff to get around not having the original unreleased scripts I'd keep with the ATK/DEF counter subs and whatnot thanks to a 2022 data drive failure, and hopefully it stays that way. 😅 I also applied a few minor styling fixes to the ending credit subs for 105 and 108 (noticed the text for a few names in the cast lists were scaled inconsistently) and reuploaded those; rereleased episode 1 has been posted on NAC, while re-finalized 105 and 108 will be posted there with 110.

Anywho, enjoy! I'll likely be going back to some TFSP stuff for a bit (in case you missed that news~) and then I'll dip into episodes 111-112 and Manjoume VS Amon; stay tuned!

Fixes/Edits!

As Jim first activates Fossil Fusion, we see the card first before he fades in holding it, but his thumb is missing as his fade-in starts, and then it just appears, fully faded-in, in the next frame even though the rest of him is still fading in. I fixed this in Sony Vegas by masking out his thumb and adding it to the first frame in which Jim starts fading in, then making his thumb fade in with the rest of him.

Later, as Kenzan thinks Dark Driceratops bested Jim's Skullgar, Skullgar turns around and defeats it, causing Kenzan some damage; as he reacts while his LP drop, Jim slides in on a split-screen exclaiming "Bravo!", but his split-screen slide-in starts with his split already about 50% into the shot. After that, Jim sets one card face-down and ends his turn, and as Kenzan opens his eyes and starts to growl while the split-screen ends, Jim's split starts to slide out the frame after Kenzan starts to move. Fixed the first in Sony Vegas by re-doing his slide-in to be more natural and start closer to the edge of the screen, then fixed the second by just removing the one frame where Kenzan has moved but Jim hasn't so that they move simultaneously, holding a frame once the split-screen's over a frame longer to compensate.

As #2 here leads into Kenzan taking offense at how Jim woke his dinosaur out of its sleep to use as a piece for Jim's fossil "freak," he says he'll make Jim pay for that as their match gets going for real; Judai and co look on as Jim and Kenzan stare each other down on a split-screen leading to the eyecatch (the split-screen here cut from the dub, likely for time), but Jim's split slides in unevenly compared to Kenzan's. Fixed in Vegas by redoing his split's slide-in so they both slide in evenly.

Later, after Jim uses Dowsing Burn to take out Sabersaurus, Kenzan reacts as Jim slides in on a split-screen to declare his Sample Fossil summoning, but Jim's split starts to slide in with it already about 50% of the way into the shot. Fixed this in Vegas by redoing his slide-in to make it slide in more naturally, while also redoing Kenzan moving in the background to eliminate the ghosting during this split-screen's forming.

A bit after #4, Jim uses Sample Fossil to dig up Sabersaurus from Kenzan's Cemetery to make a specimen out of it, and as we see its chains working to drag its remains up from the ground, we see Kenzan still has Sabersaurus on his Disk despite it being in his Cemetery. Fixed this first in Photoshop by cleaning up the Monster Zone in question on the shot's first frame, then threw the fixed frame into Vegas, where I then shook it along with the screen for the rest of the shot, also slightly zooming it out and fading it out as the transition from Kenzan into the dug-up Sabersaurus happens.

Shortly after, as Jim taunts Kenzan about his lovely Sabersaurus specimen, Kenzan growls in response; Jim then slides in on a split-screen to say that Sample Fossil's ATK becomes equal to Sabersaurus's, but his split again starts to slide in with 50% of it already in the shot. Fixed this in Vegas by redoing his slide-in so it slides in more naturally, and redoing Kenzan moving to again eliminate some footage ghosting.

A bit later, Kenzan activates his Treasure of Variation card, and as the close-up shot on it transitions into a split-screen splitting apart to show Kenzan behind it explaining its effect, each side of the split-screen jitters slightly in the frame before it properly starts to split apart. Fixed this in Vegas by holding the earlier frame over the jittering frame so that it properly splits apart in the next frame.

After Kenzan's next turn, as Jim wonders if the electromagnetic waves aren't behind Judai and co's exhaustion, he draws another Fossil Fusion; he smiles upon seeing it, but his smile ends up being slightly drawn onto his eye bandages. Fixed this in Vegas by just masking the eye bandages over it to keep his smile off the bandages.

(continued below due to Tumblr's dumb characters-per-block-of-text limit)

(9) After Kenzan's Brachion switches into Defense Mode from Jim summoning Skullgios, Jim is impressed by its 3000 DEF; Kenzan slides in on a split-screen to think that there's no way he can hold off an attack from Skullgios, but his split only starts to slide in the frame after Jim starts to move for it, and with it starting about 50% of the way into the shot. Fixed this in Vegas by redoing Kenzan's slide-in to start as Jim moves and slide in more naturally.

(10) As Jim has Skullgios pause its attack on Brachion, Kenzan looks up and wonders why, but as he does, we see that Brachion is on his Disk in Attack Mode despite it just going into Defense Mode. Fixed first in Photoshop as I blanked the Monster Zone in the first frame of the shot, then took it into AfterEffects to add a proxy in Defense Mode, and then took the fixed frame into Vegas to re-pan into the footage, masking in Brachion as it starts to cover the Zone up.

[EDIT, 5/19] (11) After Jim and Kenzan are drained of their Duel Energy, Kenzan shudders for a second or two before falling to his knees panting, but as he does, the end of his Disk (on our right) isn't fully drawn in for the five frames of movement that takes (each lasting 2-4 frames), though it comes back near the end of the shot. As noted here, fixed this first in Photoshop by using one of the initial frames as reference to snip out the end of his Disk and adjust it into place for three of the five movement frames, while I just painted in what was missing for the last two; once done, I threw the fixed frames into Sony Vegas and re-panned them to complete the fix.

[jo-harrington]

Get To Know Store Manager Verse Eddie

What story is he from? What kind of story is it (Fix-it fic, Older!Eddie, Rockstar!Eddie etc)? My Eddie I'm going with it my original Eddie from Store Manager Verse. It's a sort of EveryoneLives! NoUpsideDown! Amalgam where Eddie works at StarCourt Mall and he meets a New Romantic interest in the Claire's Store Manager.

What inspired you to write this Eddie? I've worked retail forever and the horrors but then I moved to corporate. New job, no customers. But corporate teams usually go into the field and help during Q4 and especially in the special...department I work in? Christmas 2022 really made me ask "what if little Store Manager Jo had an Eddie who worked at her mall and she had a crush on him" and SMVerse was born.

What are your favorite headcanons about him/share something you never shared in your story? In my story, he had friends in his first stint through high school/senior year that left him behind and broke up the band. Then Corroded Coffin 2.0 was born with Jeff, Gareth, and Unnamed Freak (who I named Dave). Now that he's approaching a potential graduation with Jeff and some of them aren't...he's worried about Jeff leaving first, but the others shortly after. And then his band will have broken up a second time and what will he do then?

What does he wear on a casual day? On a dressier day? What does he wear to bed? Casual Day: Jeans, T-shirt, Flannel optional based on the weather. Jacket/Vest combo if he's going out. Dressy Day: Bought a nicer button down from Montgomery Ward, sleeves are rolled up, a few buttons undone. He's got the least offensive graphic tee he owns underneath it. Leather Jacket on top, no vest. (There's a Regional Manager visiting Tape World. Kyle is wearing a suit. He also bought sunglasses for all the guys to wear inside secret service style.) Pajamas: Summer, underwear only. Spring/Fall, no shirt, and either flannel pj bottoms or there's a pair of sweats that he's cut into shorts. Winter: Hoodie, sweats, thick socks

Favorite foods? Mountain Dew, Zebra Cakes, Pizza, Watergate salad. End of story. He also likes how reader makes pasta.

Tell Us About His Family/Friends I intentionally left it vague. Mom dead dad in jail, the usual. In SMVerse, Reefer Rick was his mom’s boyfriend for a short amount of time. That’s when things were really looking up in his life. He had a father figure (aside from Wayne) who loved and cared about him with no familial obligations. Mom was working, Rick obviously selling, Wayne working either driving or at the plant. It’s a mutual aid situation. Then his mom dies and Wayne and Rick share as much responsibility as possible because neither of them can do it alone. Wayne and Rick are both Vietnam war veterans? I don’t history good. So they have the benefit of being from the same down and going through the same shit and then they need to raise a kid they both love more than life. And he in turn would do anything for them.

Yeah Yeah, he's a Metalhead. Tell Us MORE About His Taste in Music in your story Oh GOD. Listen. He’s a fucking asshole about his music but if you’re respectful, he’ll be respectful. (If you’re his friend though, it’s extra disrespect). Aside from metal, he does enjoy the classics. He has some rock, he’s got some blues. His mom’s favorite were the Monkees and he listens to that tape to be close to her.

Eddie and Store Manager are currently in my WIPs listening to music and getting high. Stay tuned.

What are his views on romance? On sex? Sex is casual to him. It’s nice to feel nice. He’s slept with a few people, at parties where he’s made sales. He had a “girlfriend” that he thought was a girlfriend who was actually trying to get close to his friend Mickey. Kind of made him a little jaded. All of that to say, that specific event made him hesitate with saying anything to Store Manager. She reminds him SUPERFICIALLY of someone who hurt him and it’s easier to pine and keep her at arms length as a friend than potentially get hurt.

Is he optimistic or pessimistic? Pessimist. Next.

Where or with whom is he most comfortable? He’s most comfortable in his van. Home is home but is it really home? Wayne’s rarely there. Rick’s would have been home if his mom was still alive. He likes being with his friends and he is mostly with them at school which…blah. Or in the van.

What are his views of his future? What are his hopes/dreams? Music!!! music music music. He would like to be a musician and SPOILER he’s gonna be. Just not the fantastical rockstar we would wish for him. But he’s also debating what his future looks like as it pertains to Tape World. He likes it there. He likes being part of a team. Working with them, working with Kyle…he’s very much questioning what he wants.

Anything else you'd like us to know about your Eddie/your story? He’s the softest Eddie I’m gonna write. With the nicest future I think. He’s been dealt the easiest card out of all of them. No Upside Down. Got to have the most ideal childhood given his circumstances. AASB Eddie is harder for obvious reasons. STFF is going to be hard in his own way. But SMV!Eddie is the sweet boy we all need. He’s the sweet boy I need.

[davidshawnsown]

USA BASEBALL/COLLEGE SUMMER BASEBALL - and - SAVANNAH BANANAS ONE SHOT RPF - Savannahskaya Kadrovsky??!! -

(AN: 2022 turned out to be FIRST ever year and now just the only year following one of the more fun teams in college summer ball - the iconic and funny Savannah Bananas of the Coastal Plain League, which in the past few years have spun off two pro teams in theor umbrella playing their own take on baseball, Banana Ball. Now they are committed to play that form year round and leaving the CPL, but the memories of those first years of CPL play will forever go down as part of its history. I therefore present to the fans this one shot RPF featuring these guys from Savannah and the fun ways they have played baseball in these past years up to today and the first Ukraine-set fic of many featuring these guys in yellow, including a full blown RPF fic of their POV of the events in that country. To link up the fics with the wider universe I've included Scott Hatteberg, a former teammate of Eric Byrnes with the A's - and a Team USA Baseball CNT alumnus. This is dedicated to Dalton Maudin and Tanner Thomas - the two members of the Bananas organization and its constituent teams that have been bringing out weekly vlogs on Youtube, you better check them both, as well as Dalton's music there as well and on Spotify!)

SOMEWHERE IN POLTAVA OBLAST

SUNDAY MAY 22, 2022

1400H EEST

"The regiment from Savannah has done it again?!!"

That is the reaction from no less than BG Mark deRosa, the operational commander of US forces in Ukraine under the 46th Command. That regiment, the 716th Savannah, established in the spring of 2015, and led by its now newly promoted commander COL Byrnes, who took over this year from its first commandant, COL Cole, now a honorary Brigadier General and its first ever regimental colonel now retired even at a young age, had been in Ukraine since April, among the first of the collegiate units to be sent to the country to assist the war effort, fight alongside Americans in the International Legion of Territorial Defense and with Ukrainians in the Armed Forces and the National Guard, and also to give the young guys a taste of what their service to the nation entalls.

"Yeah indeed," replied COL Garza. "Those boys whose regiment carries yellow and white colors. They did it again!"

He and others on an ongoing meeting of the command staff in northern Poltava Oblast were referring to those TikTok and Twitter videos, as well as those on Telegram, featuring the boys of this young formation.

It is the sole infantry regiment among the formations of the 351st Southeastern Coastal Infantry Brigade, activated 1997 and whose numeral honors the North Carolina based Coastal Militia Rifles, a militia formation raised in 1935 which in 1936 was granted affilation with what is now the 169th Corps of the 46th Mobilization Command, US Army Reserve, affilated to the Southern Defense Command during the Second World War as a territorial defense brigade which lasted until the early 1950s. Their nickname of Bananas is a nod to the agricultural past of their home city and their full dresss honors partly its Union liberators during the Civil War and its home front efforts in both World Wars.

They began as a ROTC company in late 2015. Almost a year later, the 716th Infantry Battalion was activated, and within 5 years, evolved from a Humvee-armed unit into wheeled mechanized infantry, armed with the Stryker systems, and as a three battalion regiment, with its 2nd and 3rd battalions including minority and immigrant personnel to reflect its home city's character. One battalion each is made up of reservists and the Georgia Army National Guard, making up for a total of 5 battalions.

But these boys' Tiktok combat videos, set to popular Western pop tunes, have got the people motivated to know what is going on in the Ukrainian frontlines. They have been for weeks now in a tense battle for popularity against the Chechen National Guardsmen from Chechnya in Russia, which have been in the Ukrainian front since the onset of the invasion, as well as several of the Ukrainian frontline brigades and militia units, which have similar pop content. These so-called "Yellowshirts" after the yellow and white colors during its foundation today wear the same uniform as those deployed to Ukraine but with a yellow and white armband with the regimental DUI on it as well as the arms of their home city.

The 46th's Ukrainian operational HQ and elements of the 78th Brigade Combat Team had been watching what the boys had been doing on and off the field, while recieving word that their actions in the Soledar front have helped the local Ukrainian forces get motivated to continue the struggle in the weeks prior. Now they have been rotated out with a new assignment north of Kramatorsk City as a reserve formation ready to fight in the Donbas region. They will be on R&R before returning to their then brand new barracks located in Kovel in Volyn Oblast for equipment resupplies as well as to await the arrival of the local maintenance battalion from their home city. The town was chosen as it is a sister city to Chamblee, just northwest of Atlanta, the state capital. Just as in the other American and Canadian formations they were given a Ukrainian advisory team - in that case with officers and NCOs from the 14th Mechanized Infantry Brigade based in Volodymyr City, Volyn Oblast.

Thus the brigadier general had during the meeting phoned the now retired BG Jessie Cole, the newly appointed regimental colonel, on what the boys have had been doing in the frontlines. They were there since early April assigned there in Kovel town, with the 2nd battalion of the 72nd Atlanta based there as well and the local battalion based in Savannah from said regiment, both since early May. They chose that city to keep their ties to Georgia state and its traditions while in country as the first of the collegiate summer service units and the only regiment of its kind so far to fight for the cause of Ukraine in the opening months of the war. He had just arrived in Kramatosk that day with his wife Emily to check on the boys before joining them on the journey back to Kovel.

"I have with me one of COL Byrnes' friends and one who served with him in Oakland. This is now LTC Scott Hatteberg. This year I called for the man to return to service after retiring as a battalion XO almost two decades ago in Oakland. He will be our liason officer on behalf of the brigade, Mr. Cole, with your regiment as its new commander was a friend of his," said the brigadier general on the mobile phone.

"Understood Mark, I now will bring in Eric," Jesse responded. As usual he wore his variant yellow working dress but without the top hat he wore replacing the kepi beginning with his early retirement. The kepi had been worn alternately with the bicorne by officers of the regiment when in full dress in ceremonial events to honor the military history of its home city.

"Thanks sir."

Then Eric got on the cellphone.

"Morning, sir, Colonel Byrnes here of the 716th Infantry Regiment."

"IS THAT YOU ERIC BYRNES? This is Brigadier General Mark DeRosa of the 78th Brigade Combat Team based out of Cary, NC, I have one of your buddies in Oakland with me who is a graduate of the brigade's training program."

"Yes I am, sir. And is that guy with you, sir, Scott Hatteberg?"

"Affirmative colonel Byrnes. How's your regiment now on R&R after all those weeks in Soledar?"

"Nice so far, the American people and the people of Savannah have enjoyed the antics of the men of the 1st Battalion and also our combat videos all this time, which have awakened Americans on what we are supposed to do to aid Ukraine at this time."

"Regarding those in between combat dancing videos on TikTok and Twitter of your boys, as well as on Telegram, are they all true?!"

"Yes, DeRosa, and the people have loved it."

"Cannot believe this, but you boys are better than those Chechens. Dancing, singing, having fun in the field but fighting better than them and the Russians. And who suggested these?"

"Our first battalion commander LTC Gilliam, who has been with us since it was a battalion, and our long time A Company commander soon to be captain Bill Leroy, who's a 1LT by now alongside his faithful XO 1LT Kyle Luigs. The two began with the regiment on secondment from their colleges, last year, following their graduation, when I was appointed regimental commander to replace Jesse who retired a Brigadier General, he recommended that the two be granted permanent status due to their long service with 1st Battalion, and indeed they were permanenty assigned since then."

"1st Platoon commander?"

"1LT Jackson Olson, sir, joined the regiment early this year."

"2nd Platoon is led by whose officer?"

"1LT Dalton Cornett. All officers, NCO and enlisted here, general, were selected for permanent duty in the years after it became a regiment from being a battalion and these people and others from the past 5 years who served on secondment from their respective colleges and universities before with the local lads recruited from within the state were the once I asked, upon the urging of the regimental colonel, to join the 1st Battalion on permanent status. Some of these officers here in the battalion, DeRo, as well as NCOs and enlisted with no collegiate service here nor even direct ties, were recruited on national lines thanks to the efforts of our depot battalion personnel, while the regiment still retains its seconded personnel from the colleges and universities."

"3rd platoon commanding officer is.."

"Turner Pruitt. Was with the regiment in 2021 and is a 1LT. 2LT Bryce Madron from Cowley College's battalion, seconded from his alma mater's unit, joined the regiment on its Ukrainian deployment as the 4th platoon's commander."

"Your PAO chief?"

"CPT Biko Skalla."

"The A Company first sergeant?"

"SFC Malachi Mitchell."

"Acknowleged colonel, will have to bring in LTC Scott Hatteberg. I am damn proud of all of them for their efforts to help Ukraine's ongoing fight by any means. And regarding retired MSGT Bill Lee, your honorary regimental sergeant major for a few months now, he's at home in Connecticut, but has come to Savannah when the regiment was around for months before the departure to Ukraine, I've been told."

"Mark, Bill Lee was appointed by the regiment to serve in a honorary capacity due to his age, but his strength and fitness was still the same when he served with the 1st Boston and the Montreal City Fusiliers. And sir, he sent you an email yesterday thanking you all in the 78th for the support given to his secondary home of Savannah and the 716th Infantry. He was there in the sendoff ceremony last March. He still takes time to visit Grayson Barracks to visit our depot battalion and those recruits who have finished basic training."

"Was a pleasure. Tell him we are forever grateful for his service with the 846th Command and the 169th Corps and we also congratulate him for his appointment as honorary sergeant major."

"Noted, sir."

Then Scott got the phone to talk to Eric, whom he formerly served with.

"Scott Hatteberg here, Lieutenant Colonel, US Army. Just been returned to service after retirement. Now a part of the 78th Brigade Combat Team. It's because I was a part of the collegiate training unit under that platoon years before. You still remember me from those years?" he started up the chat.

"Yes Scott, this is Eric, I still remember those days in the Oakland barracks and training fields together with others. Glad you're back in uniform again. How's your regiment going?"

"Been a tough few weeks in Soledar, but boy, these were tough but happy days for the boys in yellow. Fighting against Russians and the Chechen allies at the front, but we never waivered, we never gave up hope in the fight with our Ukrainian allies."

"You guys going back to Kovel after this to recharge for the trip home and then to prepare to return here for the summer offensives?"

"You bet we are, Scott."

"I am thankful to you for having been a part of those years I spent in Oakland, as well as to General DeRosa for giving me this chance to coordinate jointly our efforts as well as with the other US and Canadian forces fighting with our Ukrainian allies. I'm sure this is the start of a great partnership together, especially that the general has given me this assignment to coordinate our efforts to help Ukraine fight its way to victory."

"You're welcome Scott, make sure there will be new videos coming out from you guys in the weeks to come." "Yes sir, there's more where they came from, colonel. BTW who was behind all of these aside from those in battalion and company leadership?"

"MAJ Frongillo, part of regimental staff. He's the one who came out with that idea."

"Well, congrats to him as well. I expect more from Zack in the coming weeks as well as to the PAO team led by Biko. Who's the main videographer of the regiment?"

"SFC Breaux. He's in charge of the video and film duties for Public Affairs. Also, I have to inform you that two of the guys in A Company - CPL Maudin who joined last year and was a part of 1st Platoon and CPL Thomas, a newbie of 2nd Platoon and a direct entry corporal with the unit - have been putting in superb combat videos and vlogs on Telegram and Youtube. They and many of the 1st and 2nd platoon boys whose stories have become the living witness to the ongoing war have inspired many not just to continue helping Ukraine but also to encourage others to dedicate themselves in service to the nation. If you check Telegram and Instagram, their English posts have opened many to the reality of the war they are fighting in and many of the young men and women are already following their journey so far."

"All the best for you guys, sir, Hatteberg out."

"Byrnes out sir."

"I'm sure there's more of that coming up," Scott stated to the gathered personnel from brigade command after watching the video of elements of A Company and the battalion staff dancing with their regimental commander and regimental colonel from his cellphone. And that was after Jesse spoke on video to those who have followed their journey so far on Tiktok and Twitter, as well as on the regiment's Telegram channel, expressing his gratitude and that of COL Byrnes to everyone who have supported them in every way possible on their journey to fight Russians in Ukrainian lands together with elements of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as to those who have already given their time to support the country in her time of need. That short dance clip stunned everyone watching and confirmed everyone of what the online world had been talking about. He finishes with "I am certain the regiment has been going good in the PAO side of things and am glad to report that their regimental depot battalion CO has emailed me that their efforts, as well as the stories they shared online, has led up to a massive recruitment effort there in the city not just for this regiment but for the other military units in Savannah. And many who are trying to join the 716th are coming from all over the country!"

"That's incredible news," BG Maxwell stated.

"So are you sure that these new recruits, after finishing basic training and getting assigned here on their own wishes, will be serving in Ukraine with the regiment soon?" asked SGM Pollock.

"Affirmative, they will be there soon."

And when asked by COL Bianco on whose concept it was, the LTC replied that it was an officer of regimental staff, MAJ Traczuk, who helped the sergeant first class pitch that idea to Public Affairs and it was based on the post-exercise recreation and fun the boys had stateside since it was a battalion.

COL Bloomquist added, "You have a tough job ahead of you, colonel. But soon you will learn more about those boys."

"Got that, one day I will check them before they leave for home to welcome a new batch of summer enlistees who will be serving this time, given that the regiment is forward deployed to Ukraine, with the 4th and 5th battalions based stateside."

These boys from Savannah, who were selected from every corner of the nation to fight in this ongoing war, are not just contributing to the fight for Ukraine's independence, they are dancing their way to victory.

"And one thing's for sure," adds the lieutenant colonel from Salem in Oregon, "Dalton and Tanner, and the rest of their company, will lead more young people in realizing Ukraine and democracy all over the world are both worth fighting for, and we have to help defend Ukraine and our allies no matter what it takes. I'm sure you all watched their appeal to the people of Savannah and the nation lately. Now that I've been appointed liason to this unit and those units preparing to serve in Ukraine whose personnel are either ROTC or college regiment personnel, I will do my best to coordinate our efforts towards this goal."

@kiinghanalister @travisdermotts @lukeexplorer

[sillyname30]

How Sondheim and Burnett Got Darren Criss to Provincetown

The songwriter and star of Glee makes his local debut in Broadway-centric concert

By Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll Jul 17, 2024

Provincetown hasn’t been compared to The Godfather or Star Wars very often, but those are the examples actor and singer Darren Criss names in acknowledging that his July 21 town hall appearance will be his first visit here.

“Provincetown is like that movie that you haven’t seen but you don’t want your friends to know you haven’t seen, so you don’t incur their wrath and ridicule and disbelief,” he says, noting that several of his good pals visit often. “I don’t bring up that I haven’t been there because my friends will give me crap. I haven’t avoided it — I’ve really wanted to go. Finally, the stars aligned quite nicely.”

Maybe the stars had a little help from Carol Burnett.

Host and accompanist John McDaniel, a Grammy and Emmy award-winning musician, says he invited Criss to be part of his summer Broadway series here after Criss performed on 2023’s Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Love + Laughter TV birthday special. McDaniel was the music director.

Criss’s best-known roles are his breakout portrayal of Blaine for five seasons (2010 to 2015) on Glee in a milestone-for-mainstream-TV gay romance with Chris Colfer’s Kurt, and his 2018 Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning turn as spree killer Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. (Both roles came thanks to producer and Provincetown part-timer Ryan Murphy.)

In addition to acting and singing — including Glee’s “Teenage Dream” cover that climbed the Billboard charts — Criss is a songwriter. He first won notice for co-writing and starring in 2009’s A Very Potter Musical parody for the Chicago-based StarKid Productions, which he co-founded. Criss’s A Very Darren Crissmas generated national holiday tours.

Shortly after Criss wrote the opening number for the 2022 Tony Awards, his friend Paul Miller, director of the Burnett tribute, asked him to refashion Stephen Sondheim’s “Side by Side” from Company into an homage to Burnett’s famous duets with celebrity guest stars.

In what he called “one of the coolest things I’ve ever gotten to be a part of,” Criss performed “Burnett’s Duets” for the star-studded birthday-party special with Broadway’s Sutton Foster. That came after he meticulously dissected Sondheim’s music to fit new lyrics and fine-tuned the arrangement with McDaniel.

“When I was doing this,” Criss says, “in my mind, I was going, ‘What would the ghost of Sondheim be OK with?’ ”

More Broadway music will be on Criss’s mind in Provincetown for what he says will be an unusual program because it likely won’t include original work or him playing guitar or piano; McDaniel will accompany him. Criss prides himself on not performing the same live show twice and plans to include Broadway songs he’s not yet sung in public.

That said, he recognizes fans might want to hear something connected to his own Broadway star turns. Those include — besides the nonmusical American Buffalo in 2022 — How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in 2012 and 2015’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Plus, earlier this year, Criss starred in off-Broadway’s Little Shop of Horrors.

In September, he’ll originate a Broadway role for the first time, headlining Will Aronson and Hue Park’s musical Maybe Happy Ending. Criss plays an outdated, retired robot in futuristic Seoul who explores the nature of love with another retired robot (Helen J. Shen). To try to help boost its U.S. profile, Criss is also a producer of the musical, which has been a hit in Korea, China, and Japan. Its Broadway debut will be directed by Michael Arden (2023 Tony Award for Parade, Spring Awakening), a longtime Criss friend who directed the English-language debut in 2020 in Atlanta.

Criss is excited but nervous about the piece; he says it’s intimate and epic at once. “There’s an excitement about the uniqueness and specialness of this show that I’ve never encountered before,” he says. “So that’s either going to crash and burn and blow up in our faces or catch on. I don’t know, but the prospect is very thrilling.”

Criss, who is straight, made headlines this spring for comments at a Chicago expo about being “culturally queer” because of his admiration for the LGBTQ community. “The things in my life that I have tried to emulate, learn from, and be inspired by are 100 percent queer,” he said then, later adding that “it was in queer communities that I’ve found people that I idolize, that I want to learn something from.”

“That had to be the slowest news day ever,” Criss says about his comments getting attention — especially because he’s talked many times before about similar things, including how much it meant to be part of Glee’s Blaine-Kurt relationship story.

Beyond Provincetown and Broadway, in August Criss’s voice will be heard in an unusual spot: on season 10 of Netflix’s Gabby’s Dollhouse, a children’s show, as the new Marty the Party Cat, magical host of the Party Room. It’s a voice role Criss says was planned long before his two-year-old daughter and seven-week-old son were born to him and his wife.

Marty is described by Netflix as a lovable, “exuberant goofball” who has a big heart and the ability to laugh at himself.

“He’s a fun guy,” Criss says. “I’m aspirationally Marty the Party Cat.”

[gecko-s-greenhouse]

a thread about my shithole job

when i asked my therapist about workplace trauma and how to move forward from it, she suggested setting some time aside to feel my feelings and journal about it. so that's what i'm going to do, because i'm determined to move on from all the ways that i was mistreated at that shithole job now that it's been 5 months (lol).

for context, my first job out of my PhD was at a tiny startup of fewer than 10 employees. i felt lucky to land the job because the biotech job market was in a bad place at the end of 2022 (it's worse now at the end of 2023), and luckier still because the company sang a (lying) tune about company culture that i bought into. the job ranged from okay to a total dumpster fire and i'll get into the details below, and then after 5 months, i was unceremoniously laid off. (alternately, my entire team of 2 was unceremoniously restructured.)

and because i signed a non-disparagement agreement to get my severance, i can't tell you the company's name. i assume not all of these issues occur at other companies,

topics that i want to cover:

my own timeline of events.

company retreat.

what i wish i had said to my shitty ex-manager when she fired me.

cult of personality.

how to create a healthy work environment. (the short version: consume any/all media that anne helen petersen puts out)

dating among the c-suite.

"i'm not here to make friends."

qualities of a good manager.

respecting time off.

i regret not taking more time off.

what does giving employees an honest chance look like?

valuing humans over success; failure is always on the table.

and others that i'm sure will spring to mind.

today's topics:

company retreat.

for context, about 2 months into my time at this company, we went for a 3 day/2 night ski retreat.

the invite went out after i had accepted the position, but before i had started, so i felt like this was "mandatory fun" and forced team bonding time that i had to attend (even though the text of the email said no pressure!), so i accepted, but made clear from the beginning that i am not a skiier and would not be joining the downhill skiing activities.

come the week of the event, work was a flaming shitshow. we were in our first sprint week at this startup, and two new hires were visiting from oot so we had to entertain them and make it seem like work was chill even though we were working overtime.

actually being on retreat was fine, i guess? we did cabin activities, they went skiing and i did other snow stuff. it was awkward but manageable. the CEO covered activity fees for only the downhill skiiers, so i, notably not in this group, had to pay my own way for tubing, skating, and snowshoeing all by my lonesome.

i now regret not asking for my activity fees to be covered also.

we get home, and the CEO sends out a group photo. that was taken at the top of the ski mountain.

let that sink in for a moment.

ask yourself, who was not included in the picture?

and to make matters worse, i was never, at any point during this retreat, invited to be in a group photo.

that was the first time i cried over this shithole job, and the first time that i told myself that i wasn't going to care anymore. (first time? because i wasn't good at holding myself to it.) startups want their employees to be part of a shitty family, and i was no longer having it.

to make matters worse, when i was being hired, the CEO had fed me a lying story about how "we're not like other startups" and want to focus on employee well-being over the other cultish aspects of stereotypical startup culture.

what i wish i had said to my shitty ex-manager when she fired me.

i don't appreciate being patronized. the first thing she said to me was, "this may come as a surprise, but..." haha no, this was not a surprise in any way, shape, or form. i've known that you wanted to fire me from that joke of a performance review* (more on this later) a month ago, right up through this meat grinder of a so-called "second chance" you've given me. i guess i am only surprised that you fired me right in the middle of a field trial where i'm a member of the team of two that handles every sample that comes through.

just because you don't like what my data says doesn't mean it's bad data. 'nuff said.

if you're restructuring, why can't i be absorbed into another function of the company? why do you have to look me in the eye, lie to me and tell me that you think i'm a great scientist, but apparently not one who can learn how to contribute to other functions that i am fully capable of doing and you know it?

what's this bullshit about "effective immediately"? (don't @me about MA at will employment, i know the law but i'm talking here about decency, which i guess is a foreign concept to you.) shouldn't i be given a couple days to tie up loose ends, tell you how to find my shit, and say a non-rushed goodbye to those of my colleagues who i did come to like? and ESPECIALLY because i had requested several days of pto THAT YOU HAD APPROVED starting literally the next day? this feels like a move for YOU, so you don't have to look at me any more than you have to after you made this decision.

also, in the state of massachusetts, it would be polite to lay people off with enough lead time that they can acquire health insurance in a timely manner. assembling the necessary documents takes time, and the last day to sign up for the next month's coverage is the 23rd day of the prior month. lesson learned: negotiate a severance package that includes health coverage. again, i understand that decency is a foreign concept to you.

what gives you the right to play games with people's lives? this thought really took shape as my nutbag ex-manager continued to arbitrarily fire people, including one on an O1 visa. consider my situation: i had been at this company for 5 months and got laid off. any decent manager looking in would see this and immediately recognize that the problem is with the company (funding?) and the management rather than with me, a young scientist who hasn't even been given the standard amount of time to fuck up learn the ropes (1 year) before being shown the door. alternately, what gives you the right to brand me as someone who behaves poorly? (because that's the only other reason a stranger would think that i was laid off so quickly?) for example, my friend and former colleague, upon finding out that i lasted only 5 months at the company, immediately asked if the company was having money problems, but he's someone who knows me and knows that i'm not a jerk, but that's not immediately obvious to a stranger. what gives you the right?

you are running your company into the ground. i don't care if your science is impeccable (it's clearly not based on my data), but it's clear to me that your company is going to fail if you keep treating your employees like this. the consensus among former employees of the company, both the ones who were laid off and the ones who left of their own volition

i hope you fail. i will gleefully eat my popcorn WHEN it happens.

also, i want my stuff back. (i wouldn't have forgotten it if you'd given me more notice!)

to be continued.

also, am i supposed to talk about my feelings too? overwhelmingly angry that at an incompetent inexperienced and scared manager treated my life/career/future as a gigantic joke to her, but also disappointed in myself that i signed on in the first place, and sad to have lost a year that i could have otherwise spent building my career to this total nonsense. bad times all around.

[wildcards1407]

WE CAME TO DANCE is LIVE! The time has come!

Amphibian Press welcomes you to stand up with us as we support Club Q through storytelling. On November 19, 2022, an LGBT community hub and nightclub called Club Q was attacked by a shooter in Colorado Springs. Five people were murdered. Someone tried to destroy not just individual queer folx’ lives, but a safe place for the LGBT community. Someone silenced the music everyone in the club had come to celebrate with gunfire. We can’t let that happen.

We came together with authors from around the world to tell stories of queer joy, filled with gender and culture-diverse characters, found family, community solidarity, love, comfort and hope. All proceeds will be donated to Club Q.

We'll be revealing the incredible community of authors who came together to make this amazing project possible, so stay tuned! You can find out more, support the project, and share with your friends below!

https://www.kickstarter.com/.../we-came-to-dance-stories...

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A promotional image for the WE CAME TO DANCE anthology, with the neon-themed title in pink and blue, and the subtitle "A Queer Anthology Benefitting Club Q"

[motownfiction]

auto shop

This trip to the auto shop is a very big deal for Charlie. It’s the culmination of a year’s worth of work. Maybe more, if he thinks about his adolescence, and that time he panicked after the fender bender with Sarah O’Connor at the 7-Eleven on Pelham. Back then, he swore he’d never drive a car again. Back then, he had no way of knowing that promise would kill his own brother. Back then, he wouldn’t have guessed that in 2022, he’d end up earning a driver’s license all his own. He wouldn’t have guessed that for Christmas that year, he’d buy himself a car, just to have, even if it’s pretty much useless in New York City.

And he most certainly wouldn’t have guessed he’d be here, now in the spring of ‘24, waiting at an auto shop back home in Detroit.

It’s a simple thing. At least, that’s what Daniel assured him when they spoke about it earlier today. Sometimes, you just need a new tire, and you’re not the one who can fix it. Daniel even helped Charlie get the car over here, like he would have when they were young.

Young. It’s hard to believe they’re not anymore. 

Perhaps he’s putting too much stock into it. Hell, he knows he is. But Charlie can’t help but feel that if he makes it out of this auto shop with his car in one piece, then he’ll be a different kind of man. He’ll be the man that Elenore deserves, the father that his children deserve, the brother that Sadie (and Sam) could be proud of. It’s all tied up in a car.

That makes him laugh. Lots of men use cars as metaphors for their lives, especially here at home, where you can’t take two steps without meeting a few dads in the automotive industry. The Motor City is more than just a jingle on the radio. It’s just that Charlie was never one of those men. His metaphors were all about keys and chords and clefts. They still are. It’s just that when you change your life, your poetic devices change, too. At least, that’s what he thinks. He was never as good with words as he pretended to be.

He sits in the waiting room of the auto shop and tries to take it in. It smells like going with his dad to fix up the truck when he was a kid. Burnt, greasy, welcoming. Charlie can’t believe he forgot that fuel is the smell of summer and safety. Of course, you don’t really forget how to be a Motown kid. You just push it down until it comes back up.

He sits there and focuses on the radio, echoey somewhere in the back of the shop. Somebody’s tuned into a local station. Maybe even CKLW. They’re buzzing and drilling and fixing in time with “Jet.” It feels just like being a little kid and not understanding anything but smells and sounds. It’s great. Elenore should be here.

Elenore should be everywhere. He’ll think about that when he gets the car back.

One of the workers appears from the back with a smile on his face. Says that Charlie’s car is done, and they’ll have a total for him in a minute or two. Charlie smiles back.

He did it.

He didn’t do anything, but he did it.

It feels like something, and on the whole ride back to the hotel, he’ll try to figure out what that is.

(part of @nosebleedclub march challenge -- day 29!)

[mariacallous]

This week, President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law—an important step toward advancing protections for same-sex marriages. But the legislation comes near the end of a year in which hundreds of anti-L.G.B.T.Q. bills were proposed across the country, queer literature was the target of bans in schools, protests and violence against drag shows rose, a queer night club in Colorado Springs was attacked, and at least thirty-four trans people were killed. As Bryan Washington writes in a new essay, in this “ghoulish year for queer folks,” spaces for gathering have become more essential than ever, serving as “focal points of connection and as portals for sharing information.” Reflecting on his time at gay bars everywhere from Houston to Bangkok throughout 2022, Washington offers snapshots of the connection, support, sadness, joy, and visibility he found in them. “And perhaps this is one function of queer spaces,” Washington writes. “To give what is deemed unworthy—by white supremacy, by stigma, by capitalism—its brightness, even if only for a few hours.” The essay is a wonderful reminder of the gift of having companions to help you process a year’s worth of heartbreaking lows and euphoric highs.

In January, near the queer bars lining Houston’s Montrose Boulevard, some white guy stood with a bullhorn. Wearing a button-down shirt under a tidy jacket, he screamed at foot traffic for hours. Sodomites wrought the end of civilization! We were all going to hell! Vaping on a patio across the street, I asked a buddy whether this was strange, and he confirmed that it was, before we flopped into Crocker to the tune of Toni Braxton.

A week later, around the same spot, a gaggle of folks stood with more microphones. They wore matching T-shirts, blasting fire-and-damnation into the humidity. From time to time, they’d flag down passersby to remind us of our pending eternity in flames. A handful of folks engaged with the homophobes while walking along the busted concrete, but few offered more than a brief, tired Girl.

At Ripcord, a bartender—a bearish ginger draped in leather—told me that the agitators had been more visible lately.

They’re feeling themselves, he said. But it’s fucking gross out there? They should drink some water instead.

Some porn played on the screen behind us. Patti LaBelle sang from the speakers. This was a perfect space, and I ordered more drinks to take to my friends on the patio.

All in all, 2022 has been a ghoulish year for queer folks in the United States. Lawmakers have proposed more than two hundred and fifty anti-L.G.B.T.Q. bills, more than a hundred and eighty of them directed at trans folks. Nearly half of book bannings this year have focussed on queer content. There have been more than a hundred and twenty threats, protests, and attacks against drag shows. At least thirty-four trans folks have been killed, and states across the country have revelled in targeting trans kids.

But queer spaces have been more essential than ever. They’ve served as focal points of connection and as portals for sharing information. Yet another year into the pandemic, they’ve been places to just enjoy others for a fucking minute. Or maybe play bingo. Or catch a drag show, or catch up with friends, or spin the wheel on a date. They’ve offered a way to spend time with people whom you can wear a little less armor around, who might actually be invested in your feeling O.K.

In February, I flew to Los Angeles to pretend to finish a novel, but mostly I ended up drowning myself in seolleongtang. The majority of the queer bars I haunted stood in Silver Lake, sporting a little less sheen than the WeHo circuit farther down Santa Monica Boulevard. One night, I passed through the Eagle, where a Latinx guy working at the hotel I’d been staying in flagged me down by the pool table.

He, too, was from Texas, but he’d recently relocated. He asked how things were back home, and I told him that they were suboptimal.

It’s sad, he said. Because there’s so much potential, you know? The numbers are there. My people are there. But what can you even do? Kids can’t even pull up the fucking Trevor Project at school, he added, referring to a district policy that prevents queer students from accessing resources including the suicide-prevention hotline.

We ordered another round of vodka sodas. A group of gays across the bar began to cheer for their friend, who had either just gotten married or divorced. Eventually, we joined in, too.

I thought of my new friend, in September, when a church just outside Houston hosted a drag bingo night as a fund-raiser for young trans folks, only to be descended upon by a group of neo-Nazis and Proud Boys. Protesters and counter-protesters clashed along a road leading to the house of worship. Local police formed a line on the median. Afterward, despite everything, a pastor at the church deemed the event a success.

At a queer bar that weekend, about thirty miles away, my boyfriend, L, and I watched the usual assortment of karaoke singers cross a stage. Spectating was our tiny ritual. (I can confidently sing only songs by BLACKPINK.) Some familiar faces were perched in their corners. We smiled and nodded and touched one another’s elbows and shoulders. Eventually, a straight couple took the stage. They announced that they’d just gotten engaged, and dedicated their performance to the queer folks in attendance, swearing that “it gets better” before immediately launching into Selena’s mournful “No Me Queda Más.”

Behind us, someone asked, What the fuck?

Back in L.A. a few weeks later, I was sitting with two friends on the curb of Akbar, a gay cocktail bar, when a car swerved toward our intersection. A white guy leaned out of his window, yelling, Go get fucked, faggots.

The car honked as it passed us, nearly running the light. The three of us continued to tap at our phones. Then one friend looked up, sighed, and said, Babe, I wish.

The next month, after the fabulous collapse of a years-long project, I was feeling a little frantic, and L suggested that we take advantage of remote work. We ended up in Bangkok for a month. Our hotel, in the Silom area, sat a short walk from the subway line. A slightly longer walk brought us to a strip of queer bars tucked down an alleyway, beside an all-night American-style diner whose tuna salad made me see God.

On our first night out, we met a bespectacled guy at a drag bar. He was a local engineer, and he’d recently come out. A month beforehand, Bangkok had celebrated its first Pride march in years—which was also his first Pride march ever. So we bought him a drink to celebrate, and when I asked how he liked the city’s queer scene he grinned. If you were just looking to cruise, he said, waving at some older white guys ogling a pair of twinks wrapped in Gucci, then the bars were great. But the pandemic hadn’t been kind to many of the city’s queer establishments.

A lot of folks just hang out at home, he said. Tourist life and local queerness are different.

Another club I frequented underlined this dynamic. Tucked away on the upper floor of a nearby shopping mall, it was basically a local bear bar. The vibe felt worlds away from the evening strip’s sheen. Its clientele lounged in beach chairs. The occasional expat sipped beer from a straw. A dubbed version of the third “Transformers” movie played on a tiny television by a Jacuzzi.

One guy I met came from Indonesia. He asked whether I was Thai-Muslim (I’m not), and, when I told him I lived in the States, he asked how many of them I’d visited. He’d spent the last two years in Jakarta by himself. But he wasn’t out to his family. Indonesia was a tough place to be queer, and Bangkok was a reprieve.

I can let my guard down, he said. I can’t even tell you what that’s like.

By the time we returned to Houston, mpox—the disease often called by the harmful name “monkeypox”—had been declared a global health emergency. The epidemic had spread throughout the country, while testing remained virtually impossible. One buddy picked it up from a hookup. Another’s partner had a brush with it after an orgy. The vaccine requirements were constantly shifting: you could possibly, maybe receive one, but only if you were deemed sufficiently high-risk, and then only if you were “a man who had sex with men,” a wildly inadequate qualifier. The most accurate information I received came not from the government but by way of gay bars, sex clubs, and other queer-forward spaces hastily fortifying informal networks.

L and I spent a long Tuesday on the phone, flailing for an available shot. Two weeks later, pulling up for our appointments, we found that we were the only non-white folks in line at a predominantly Black neighborhood’s community center in South Houston. As it turned out, the government had sat on hundreds of thousands of doses. In the following month, supply strains would exacerbate racial disparities in vaccine access and medical disenfranchisement among queer folks of color.

But, at the end of July, Beyoncé released “Renaissance.” I started the album in my car the morning after its release and simply never stopped playing it. That same weekend, ducking through Houston’s queer circuit, I heard a d.j. in a packed bar start one song from the record (“Heated”) before slipping into another (“Virgo’s Groove”) and then a third (“Pure/Honey”) as the room worked itself into a pulsing huff of steam. When I finally stepped outside for air, I was enfolded into a group of folks still running through the lyrics, clapping each other on our shoulders and backs, nearly tearful, deeply euphoric.

In August, realizing that I’d either have to finish my novel or simply walk into the Gulf of Mexico, I holed up in a Vancouver studio overlooking the downtown skyline. Most mornings, I ambled down to the Vietnamese diner stationed by the building’s garage, until the matron started heading instinctively toward the coffee machine whenever I squeezed through the door. One evening, I passed through a restaurant for katsu curry and noticed that an Indian guy was the only other person eating alone. We exchanged polite smiles. A few hours later, nursing a drink at a queer bar, I spotted the same guy.

He was visiting with his family. He’d been hoping for a fun vacation, but mpox had him wary. He said that he’d just graduated university. I congratulated him, and he asked whether he could have a hug. When I gave him one, I could feel his entire body relax. He said that he’d only recently started going to the bars by himself, because he wasn’t entirely out. I told him it wasn’t a race, and he laughed.

That’s what everyone keeps saying, he added. But first there was COVID? It feels like a raw deal, like it’s all one risk after another.

A few weeks later, back in the Bay Area, I stood vaping with some folks outside a queer bar when a gray S.U.V. settled beside us. Its driver unrolled the window, unstrapped himself from a seatbelt, and yelled that he was fine with a queer bar in his neighborhood, but that we needed to keep our fag shit in the building.

He asked whether we understood. Four other smokers and I blinked at one another. None of us said anything. There were too many uncertain variables. Finally, the oldest person standing among us, a bearded Filipino guy, said, Sure, honey, and the car rolled away.

We stood in silence for another beat, puffing away, a little rattled. Then another person, a Black individual in overalls, the smallest one among us, said, He looked like his breath fucking stank.

In November, sleepwalking toward a manuscript deadline, I visited Amsterdam. The city unfurled in a moody way, guided by canals and folks meandering on bikes along brick-laden roads. Every few streets, a rain-worn building sported the Progress Pride flag.

As far as I know there’s only one gay sauna in Amsterdam. On a weekday, it was hardly populated. I ended up sitting in a hot tub between two guys, one of whom said that he was from Spain, and in the way of queers everywhere we started in on our recent grievances. The Spanish guy said that he was living in London for work. This was the first trip he’d taken since relocating. He grew up in a small town, and adolescence had been tough on him. London had been an education, and now he was furthering it.

The other guy was white and younger than both of us. We’d taken him for a local. But when we asked where he was from, he said Kyiv, and the reality of his situation—the war across the continent—sent a chill through the water.

Holy fuck, we said.

It’s all right, the guy replied. I’d never been to a gay bar. I’ve never been to a place like this, he said. I’m trying new things— hoping for the best, you know?

We nodded. But how could we possibly know?

The week before Thanksgiving, L and I lounged on the patio of our local leather spot, because I’d just finished copy edits on my novel and it was time to celebrate. Then, starting at one end of Montrose, we careened from bar to bar. I managed to stay afloat until two in the morning. A crisp chill hung over the patios. Folks huddled together as they passed, cheering on strangers, imploring them to stay safe. A few hours later, we woke up to news of the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs. A shooter had killed five people in the queer nightclub and wounded at least nineteen more.

It all felt like—and it all is—entirely too much. A country that prides itself on queer progressiveness on an international stage refuses to provide safety and human rights for its residents. This month, the Respect for Marriage Act has become law, but what is the privilege of marriage to communities without the baseline necessities, who face regular violence in their attempts to secure them?

On Thanksgiving evening, after making the rounds of our assorted found families, we made our way back to the queer bars, settling into JR.’s. The atmosphere was muted. Looks of recognition passed from patron to patron. But, as the evening progressed, the room turned more crowded—never packed, but lively—until it felt like being present for each other was a gift in itself.

On the karaoke stage, a drag queen lamented the shootings. She said that things were taking a turn for the worse. But then she asked whether anyone in the room had something for us to champion. One woman noted that she’d just left a ten-year marriage. Another guy spoke about his new gig. A couple announced that they’d opened up their relationship, drawing a scattering of cheers, because this, too, was touching: to see things normally rendered invisible allowed visibility within this shared space.

And perhaps this is one function of queer spaces: to give what is deemed unworthy—by white supremacy, by stigma, by capitalism—its brightness, even if only for a few hours. Flirting at the bar is holy. Biding time on a hookup app by the pool table is holy. A sleepy evening sipping lukewarm beer with found family is holy. Chatting with the muscle-cub bartender is holy. A midnight drag show on a week night is holy. Sucking dick in a dark room is holy, and so is waiting until you’ve gotten home, and so is opting out of the meat market entirely for a lazy pecan waffle with eggs at the all-you-can-eat diner once the bars have closed. Coming out incessantly is holy. Coming together is holy. A hastily organized orgy is holy. And mundanity is holy—perhaps even the holiest, because it is worth everything to insure that the most disenfranchised among us receive the same ordinary benefit of the doubt.

With the queen’s interlude over, karaoke began again. An older Black dude sang Luther Vandross. Some Latinx folks followed with Selena Gomez. A Black woman sang Jill Scott with her white friend. And then an Asian guy took the stage for an astoundingly beautiful rendition of “Rocket Man,” which felt like the appropriate note to depart on. We finished our beers and slipped out into the rain, taking care not to trip on the concrete.  ♦