#this is the 4th thing i've posted this year. at all. since january.

[allsassnoclass]

hello, Hazel!

how about "let's go out for a cheap dinner" ft. mashton for the prompts?<3

hi ana! thanks for requesting!

mashton: "Let's go out for a cheap dinner"

Michael covers his face with his hands and groans, as loud as he can. It echoes slightly in the empty theater, or maybe he just thinks it does because his hands are creating an echo chamber, but either way it's equally as satisfying as it isn't.

"Mood," Luke says. Michael turns his head to look at him, sitting in the second row of the audience with his feet propped up on the chair in front of him, Sierra nodding sagely beside him. It looks like an uncomfortable position for someone of his size, but laying on his back on the hard, disgusting wooden stage isn't as comfortable for Michael as it could be, so he's not going to say anything.

"They should've done Beauty and the Beast," Calum repeats for the fiftieth time since they all began working on this production nearly two months ago.

"Or Shrek. Or Spongebob. Or Sound of Music. Or literally any other family-friendly musical besides fucking Mary Poppins," Michael agrees, just like he has every other time.

When he applied for the job to direct Mary Poppins at a community theater this summer, it had seemed like a good idea. Being partially-funded through Community Education, he was told that they would have full access to the theater, scene shop, and costume shop at the high school, as well as some additional rehearsal spaces there. The board of directors seemed really excited to dive into a family show after producing some more mature musicals in the previous years, and he got to hire the production staff, meaning he could ensure that he works with his friends this summer. He knew that Mary Poppins is a difficult show from basically every standpoint: the music is complex, the dance numbers are big, there's an inconvenient amount of settings, and Mary Poppins does magic at about 12 different points in the script, including flying across the stage. Still, Michael had been optimistic.

Michael had been a fucking idiot.

This has been, to put it plainly, the most frustrating directing experience Michael has ever had. The theater was a new build from five years ago, but apparently the blueprints have since been lost and no one at the school knows the measurements of the space. He keeps trying to negotiate with different flight companies so they can rent equipment, hire a trainer, and have Mary actually fly across the stage, but most of them are appalled at the quick turnaround and all of them need some sort of measurement of the space, not to mention that Michael has to wait for permission from Community Education before he can solidify a deal. Every time he thinks they have it, the school finds some sort of issue that takes him three days to smooth over, at which point they find another one, then later another one.

Administration doesn't seem to understand anything about urgency, because the production staff didn't get their contracts until a month after rehearsals began, so now everyone is scrambling to get things done, and they still don't know what the set will look like because they don't know if Mary will be flying or if they have to find some other way to imply that she is.

That doesn't even scratch the surface. The stage has dried gum on it but the custodians won't let them mop, let alone paint the stage so it actually looks nice and fresh instead of ugly and chipped. They don't have keys to the catwalk. They only just got keys to the booth tonight, and Matt and Roy spent all rehearsal up there trying to figure out how the sound and lights are set up, because it doesn't follow logic. The electrics aren't weighted, which could kill someone, but the weight station is a floor above and the door is padlocked. Michael has already requested a key, but he requested a key to the catwalk two months ago and still doesn't have it.

There's no dressing rooms, no backstage space, and no hallway behind the stage to cross from one side to the other unseen. Michael figures all of those are problems for tech week, but tech week is very quickly approaching, which is why Michael is currently laying on the stage having a mental breakdown two hours after rehearsal ended.

His phone buzzes. He checks it, exhaling when he sees who is texting him.

"Can someone let Ashton in?" he requests.

Someone, probably Roy, heaves a sigh and gets up. Michael stares up at the electrics and wonders if he can sue the school if one of the lights falls and lands on him.

"Well, this is pitiful," Ashton says a few moments later. Michael holds up his middle finger. Ashton probably looks lovely, even for this late at night, and looking at him will probably make Michael feel incrementally better, but he's decided to let himself wallow and therefore refuses to so much as glance at him.

"Come on, what was your win of the day?" Ashton asks. He started asking this after the second week, when Michael came home and told him that every day with this production feels like getting one win, then fifteen losses. The win is usually that the actors have learned something new. The losses are typically everything else.

"We got access to the booth," Matt offers. "Nothing in there is set up, but we have access, so Roy and I can actually start our jobs."

Michael gives a thumbs up.

"Hey, that's great! Is there anything else that you need to solve here tonight, or can I take your fearless leader home?"

Michael holds up his middle finger again. There's a beat of silence, then Calum's voice, holding all of the authority he needs as a stage manager.

"There's nothing else we can do tonight. Let's all go home."

Michael listens to everyone gather their things and put the theater back to some semblance of order. Something blocks the lights overhead, and Michael squints until the silhouette solidifies into Ashton, looking down at him. He really looks good, even when Michael is looking at him from the most unfortunate angle. He's wearing a bandana to keep his curls contained, something which he started doing again this summer, and his shirt is sleeveless, giving Michael a fantastic view of his arms. Michael really likes those arms.

Ashton holds out a hand. Michael drags a sigh up from the depths of his soul and takes it.

"What do you want to eat?" Ashton asks as he's hauling him up and Michael is doing his best imitation of a rag doll.

"We have no food at home. I do not want peanut butter and jelly."

"Let's go out for a cheap dinner," Ashton suggests. Michael rolls his eyes and slumps against him.

"I do not want McDonald's for the third time this week, and there's no where else near us open this late."

"I was researching and found a 24/7 diner about half an hour away. That'll give you enough time to vent and relax, and you'll probably get to sleep just as early as you would if we went home and you watched Netflix."

Michael considers, enjoying the feeling of Ashton's arm around him, supporting his weight. Ashton is always a fantastic combination of solid and soft, which makes him the perfect person to hug.

"I have a playlist ready," Ashton says. "No Mary Poppins on it at all."

"Twist my arm, why don't you," Michael concedes. Ashton ushers him off the stage to gather his backpack, script, and numerous writing utensils that have escaped their case. Calum has already stolen his keys to lock up, and by the time he turns out the lights and the group heads to the parking lot, Michael is feeling marginally more like a functional person.

"Come on, in you go," Ashton says after they call goodbyes to the rest of the staff, holding Michael's door open for him. The show must be taking a noticeable toll on him tonight if Ashton is babying him this much, but Michael is pretty lazy and isn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth right now.

Michael doesn't know what he'd do without Ashton, honestly. Between juggling his day job, rehearsals, production meetings, and all of the administrative bullshit that has unexpectedly come with this show, Michael barely finds time to exist, let alone eat and sleep and drink water. Ashton is the one who ensures that those needs are met, picking him up from production meetings once he deems that they've gone on long enough if Michael doesn't call before then, making meals that will be good reheated when he has time and scoping out places for them to get food when everything else is closed. He offers a patient ear when Michael needs to rant and practical solutions when he can, and Michael is man enough to admit that he would have fallen apart by now without the knowledge that there is someone who is in his corner and who will still love him if the production goes to shit.

"Hey," he says once Ashton starts the engine, his phone already hooked up to the car and an acoustic pop punk song beginning to play over the speakers. "I love you."

Ashton smiles at him, reaching out and tucking a lock of Michael's hair back, letting his fingers trail down Michael's cheek after. Michael closes his eyes, savoring the sensation.

"I love you, too," Ashton says warmly. "Now let's get some food in you. You can tell me all about the school's latest bullshit on the way there."

Michael sighs and presses back against his seat, looking out the window at the dark. quiet town around them. He starts talking, and Ashton listens attentively the entire time, even when Michael can tell from his clenched jaw and furrowed brow that he's angry on his behalf. Once Michael has gotten it all out of his system, he lets Ashton distract him with talk about his own day over a plate of pancakes and some bacon.

With Ashton's ankle hooked around his under the table, it's the most relaxed Michael has felt all day.

"Thank you," Michael says before they pay the bill. He means it for more than just the food, Ashton understands. He always does.

"I love you," Ashton says in reply, like it's an explanation.

Michael takes the last bite of his pancakes from the tiny diner that Ashton found to ensure that Michael eats well, and knows with certainty that he can make it through anything with Ashton by his side.

[pinesfamilyguidetotheweird]

If there was one thing I disagreed with Hana (or fordtato) is what year Gravity Falls takes place. They say 2013, but I thought 2012.

My only source was the calendar Stan held in 'Summerween'

And then, when you take account of when the science fair project took place (likely in the Stans' final year in high school) and the years that followed (Stan being homeless for 10 years, Ford being in the portal for the next 30), so 40 years since the incident, the year of the science fair was likely 1972.

This was further proven when, in Journal 3, Ford's timeline had him coming to Gravity Falls in 1975, which falls perfectly with Ford gaining his first PhD in three years (PhDs usually take 6, depending on the program).

In Journal 3, in the first entry, Ford said it had been six years since he arrived in Gravity Falls. This again falls perfectly into the timeline I thought.

1975 + 6 = 1981

So, if the June 8th entry was in 1981, then the January 17th entry would be in 1982.

Take all of this into account and Gravity Falls takes place in 2012.

And I thought that was it...

Until I decided to look at one more clue to the timeline.

The calendar in Carpet Diem.

First off, it has five days in a week instead of seven and it bothers me.

Second, I don't think I've registered the month. Just the year.

July of 1982...

In Journal 3 (both in-universe and out), the first entry was in June and the last dated entry before Ford was sucked into the portal was in January, likely in 1983 when keeping mind of the Carpet Diem calendar.

While evidence for 2012 being the year makes it more likely, this slight difference was enough to make a wrinkle that started to make cracks...

However, I just thought about this...Who says the calendar was still being used by Ford? What if it was Stan? I don't remember when he boarded up Ford's room, but I do remember a source saying that Stan kinda moped in this room for months (I don't remember if it was a post or fic; someone feel free to correct me). Now, it's kinda unknown when the brothers reunited before Ford went into the portal, I estimated it to be in March at the latest.

This is purely speculative on my part though. I'm sure that, in spirit, you can pick when it takes place (since that's what Alex was kinda going for, as he wanted to invoke the 90s feel into the show.)

I just like the details.

I am curious about the significance of July 4th being circled. Who was this relevant to, Stan or Ford? And why?

[milligramspoison]

Updated list of potential FOB 8 ball songs

(An update to this post as the European leg starts tomorrow and some songs on the list made it as 8 ball songs as well as fixing any mistakes the previous post had!)

Evening Out With Your Girlfriend

Honorable Mention - last performed on January 22nd, 2007

Switchblades and Infidelity - last performed on August 28th, 2004

Pretty In Punk - has never been performed live (yet)

Growing Up - last performed on November 7th, 2008

The World's Not Waiting (For Five Tired Boys In A Broken Down Van) - has never been performed live (yet)

Short, Fast, and Loud - has never been performed live (yet)

Moving Pictures - last performed on November 23rd, 2005

Parker Lewis Can't Lose (But I'm Gonna Give It My Best Shot) - has never been performed live (yet)

Take This To Your Grave

Tell That Mick He Just Made My List of Things to Do Today - last performed on July 24th, 2023

Homesick at Space Camp - last performed on July 16th, 2023

Sending Postcards From a Plane Crash (Wish You Were Here) - had its only live performance ever on March 12th, 2004

The Pros and Cons of Breathing - had its only live performance ever on November 19th, 2007

Grenade Jumper - last performed on February 20th, 2009

Reinventing the Wheel to Run Myself Over - last performed on November 19th, 2007

The Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes - last performed on July 5th, 2023

My Heart Will Always Be the B-Side to My Tongue

My Heart is the Worst Kind of Weapon - has never been performed live (yet)

It's Not a Side Effect of the Cocaine, I Think It Must Be Love - has never been performed live (yet)

Love Will Tear Us Apart (cover) - had its only live performance ever on June 10th, 2004

From Under The Cork Tree

Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued - was the 8 ball on November 4th, 2023- its first performance since March 23rd, 2008!!

Of All the Gin Joints in All the World - last performed on June 23rd, 2023

Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner - last performed on July 19th, 2023

I've Got a Dark Alley and a Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth (Summer Song) - last performed on August 6th, 2023

7 Minutes in Heaven (Atavan Halen) - last performed on August 1st, 2023

Sophomore Slump or Comeback of the Year - was the 8 ball on October 25th, 2023 and December 9th, 2023!

Champagne for My Real Friends, Real Pain for My Sham Friends - has never been performed live (yet)

I Slept With Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me - last performed on July 11th, 2023

Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part to Save the Scene and Stop Going to Shows) - last performed on August 4th, 2023

XO - was the 8 ball on November 8th, 2023 and December 12th, 2023!

Snitches and Talkers Get Stitches and Walkers - last performed on January 30th, 2007

The Music or the Misery - last performed on May 30th, 2006

Infinity On High

Thriller - was the 8 ball on November 6th, 2023!

“The Take Over, the Breaks Over” - last performed on August 4th, 2023

Don't You Know Who I Think I Am? - was the 8 ball on October 27th, 2023!

The (After) Life of the Party - was the 8 ball on October 29th, 2023 and on December 1st, 2023!

The Carpal Tunnel of Love - last performed on April 4th, 2008

Bang The Doldrums - was the 8 ball on October 17th, 2023!

Fame < Infamy - was the 8 ball on November 7th, 2023, it’s second performance ever!!!

You're Crashing, but You're No Wave - was the 8 ball on October 31st, 2023, its second performance ever!!

G.I.N.A.S.F.S. - was the 8 ball on October 18th, 2023 and on November 8th, 2023!

It's Hard to Say “I Do”, When I Don't - has never been performed live (yet)

Folie à Deux

I Don’t Care - last performed on September 7th, 2023

She’s My Winona - last performed on July 19th, 2023

America's Suitehearts - last performed on July 2nd, 2023

The (Shipped Gold Standard) - was the 8 ball on November 2nd, 2023, it’s first performance ever and marks the fact they’ve performed every Folie song now!!

(Coffee’s for Closers) - last performed on July 1st, 2023

27 - was the 8 ball on October 24th, 2023!

Tiffany Blews - last performed on September 19th, 2009

w.a.m.s. - had its only live performance ever on August 2nd, 2023

20 Dollar Nose Bleed - last performed on September 29th, 2013

West Coast Smoker - had its only live performance ever on July 30th, 2023

Pavlove - had its only live performance ever on August 6th, 2023

Lullabye - last performed on April 26th, 2009

Believers Never Die: Greatest Hits

Alpha Dog - has never been performed live (yet)

“From Now On, We Are Enemies” - had its only live performance ever on July 26th, 2023

Yule Shoot Your Eye Out - had its first performance since December 18th, 2013 on December 12th, 2023 and it was for medley! Wasn’t even 8 ball!

Save Rock and Roll

Alone Together - last performed on November 17th, 2017

Where Did The Party Go - last performed on July 16th, 2023

Just One Yesterday - last performed on August 1st, 2023

The Mighty Fall - has never been performed live (yet)

Miss Missing You - last performed on July 25th, 2023

Death Valley - last performed on September 12th, 2014

Young Volcanoes - was the 8 ball on October 28th, 2023, its first performance since May 7th, 2018! And it was the 8 ball again on November 2nd, 2023 and December 3rd, 2023!

Rat a Tat - has never been performed live (yet)

PAX•AM Days

We Were Doomed from the Start (The King Is Dead) - had its only live performance ever on November 29th, 2013

Art of Keeping Up Disappearances - had its only live performance ever on November 29th, 2013

Hot to the Touch, Cold On the Inside - had its only live performance ever on November 29th, 2013

Love, Sex, Death - last performed on June 14th, 2014

Eternal Summer - had its only live performance ever on November 29th, 2013

Demigods - had its only live performance ever on November 29th, 2013

American Made - had its only live performance ever on November 29th, 2013

Caffeine Cold - had its only live performance ever on November 29th, 2013

New Dreams (cover) - had its only live performance ever on September 13th, 2013

American Beauty/American Psycho

Irresistible - last performed on March 7th, 2023

American Beauty/American Psycho - was the 8 ball on November 3rd, 2023, it’s first performance on Tourdust!!

The Kids Aren’t Alright - was the 8 ball on October 23rd, 2023 and December 6th, 2023!

Jet Pack Blues - last performed on August 6th, 2023

Novocaine - last performed on March 27th, 2017

Fourth Of July - last performed on March 22nd, 2017

Favorite Record - had its only live performance ever on July 15th, 2023

Immortals - last performed on September 7th, 2023

Twin Skeleton’s (Hotel In NYC) - has never been performed live (yet)

Mania

Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea - last performed on August 18th, 2019

The Last Of The Real Ones - last performed on July 29th, 2023

HOLD ME TIGHT OR DON’T - last performed on May 7th, 2018

Wilson (Expensive Mistakes) - last performed on November 4th, 2018

Church - last performed on April 30th, 2018

Heaven’s Gate - has never been performed live (yet)

Champion - last performed on December 6th, 2019

Sunshine Riptide - has never been performed live (yet)

Young and Menace - last performed on October 10th, 2018

Bishops Knife Trick - has never been performed live (yet)

LLAMANIA

Past Life - has never been performed live (yet)

Footprints in the Snow - has never been performed live (yet)

Wrong Side of Paradise - has never been performed live (yet)

Lake Effect Kid

Lake Effect Kid - last performed on October 10th, 2018

City In A Garden - has never been performed live (yet)

Super Fade - has never been performed live (yet)

Believers Never Die, Volume Two - Greatest Hits

Dear Future Self (Hands Up) - last performed on December 6th, 2019

Bob Dylan - had its only live performance ever on August 5th, 2023

So Much (For) Stardust

Heartbreak Feels So Good - last performed March 16th, 2023

So Good Right Now - has never been performed live (yet)

I Am My Own Muse - was the 8 ball on October 20th, 2023!

Flu Game - has never been performed live (yet)

The Kintsugi Kid (Ten Years) - was the 8 ball on October 21st, 2023, it’s second performance ever!!

What a Time To Be Alive - was the 8 ball on November 3rd, 2023- it was played in full for the first time!!

So Much (For) Stardust - performed for the first time ever on November 2nd, 2023- it wasn’t even the 8 ball!

(Disclaimer: I included songs that have already been 8 balls as some have been performed as a 8 ball again and have been performed outside of the 8 ball range)

[eregyrn-falls-art]

Here's my 2023 Art Year in Review!

Oof. Yeah, not a great year for output. As you can tell by my having to put in some photos I took for May and October, since I didn't have any drawn art for those months. What I used for January and Sept. is definitely fudging things (in a "hmm close enough" way.)

So, here's the damage: 15 pieces total (all but one full background and color); 54 individuals.

BUT.

I'm not going to be super hard on myself, because this year is when I organized a big fan project that I'd been wanting to see get done for years and years -- the "Trouble" multi-artist lyric comic. (Art here, video version here by the amazing @stariousfalls.) As I've said before, absolutely awesome seeing 72 people step up wanting to do a big GF fan project in 2024! I was truly blown away by what a spectacular job everyone did.

And while I'm noting some of the stuff I can feel good about, I was happy to finish the Stan Twins meet the Jersey Devil comic that I'd also been meaning to finish for years.

So, not a great year personally, but some things to feel satisfied about.

Saying it here: my new year's resolution is just to DRAW SOMETHING in every month. Even just one thing!

Links below the cut.

2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017

(For this year's images, I am in the process of updating the original posts with image descriptions in the image ALT text. I should have all of them done by the end of tomorrow, January 4th.)

January: Fiddleford as Disney Mirrorverse Kermit

February: GF Finale 7th Anniversary

March: Not What He Seems 8th Anniversary

April: DTIYS: Mystery Farm AU Stan and Jackie

May: (a photo I took of a sunset that I didn't even post, lol)

June: The Pines family and Paul Bunyan Day

July: My Portal Ford page for the "Trouble" lyric comic

August: A pinch-hit Stan page for the "Trouble" lyric comic (collab with @stephreynaart)

September: My polaroid for the "Trouble" lyric comic

October: Sunset photo from LBI in October

November: Fiddleford Friday - father and son fishing

December: The Pines family around a Winter Solstice campfire

Template by @mossygator

[senkusphone]

Happy Stone Day, everyone!

On this day, when celebrating the onion man is what most people indulge on, let's also turn our eyes to the fascinating civilization that is Ishigami village, in this mini post (compared to what I usually do anyway).

Starting with the reason I am doing this in the first place, Stone Day. It is a celebration from Ishigami Village that takes place in January 4th, which happens to be Senku's birthday, likely an easter egg left by Byakuya in the hundred tales. Unfortunately we weren't shown anything regarding what this celebration involves.

As the manga itself points out, Stone day is significant in several ways, for one, 1/4 is i-shi in japanese, which also means Stone. It is Senku's birthday (and if you've been following me you'll know that the day Senku was born in, January 4th 2004, was the day that Nasa's Spirit rover landed on Mars).

Another tradition is of course the grand bout, which there isn't much left to say about since it was explained in detail in the series, even down to its specific rules

Rule 6 is the only one that wasn't relevant in the series as far as I can tell.

It's been also vaguely implied that there are other fighting tournaments that take place in the village, which makes sense, since why would you keep an open arena just to use it once very 20 years or so?

(Sideways to save vertical space, Suika will pray for your neck)

However it's never explained how this tradition started to begin with; did it exist in treasure island and disappeared after the Ishigami branched off, or did it start with them in the mainland?

The society structure of contemporary treasure island is substantially different, with a number of small villages that are all (at least in theory) managed by a centralized government composed of the master (or "head" much to our amusement) and the prime minister, where most power is held by the master, who also serves as the main religious figure, being the one who largely keeps the hundred tales, which are passed from generation to generation along his lineage.

In Ishigami village things kinda flipped and thus spawned a system that is at least half matriarchal so to speak. Now political power is split between the chief and the priestess, where the chief holds most executive authority while the priestess holds most of the religious power, and it is the lineage of the priestess that keeps the tales and that power in-family, with the chief being some allegedly suited rando from the village.

Even though it's the obligation of the priestess to marry the chief, she is rarely if ever shown as a subordinate to him and both can be seen directing the village, which I think it's very interesting. The anime went as far as expanding on this, by implying that it was Ruri who told Kokuyo to abdicate his position to Senku.

Sneakily she gets to keep being the priestess without having to be engaged, and we see her taking leading roles from then on.

Now I've talked about religious figures but what is their religion to begin with? Hard to tell, we know that they believe in multiple gods who control the forces of nature such as lightning. Similarly it's also been shown that prior to Senku's arrival, they believed themselves to be the only humans on earth, at least some of them believed the earth was flat, and most bizarrely, they believed the moon was something akin to a floating lake, owning to its small apparent size, however that works.

Perhaps they took note of how water tends to form spheres due to surface tension? This reminds me of how some scientist a few centuries ago (but idr who at this moment) believed the moon to be a solid mass of congealed air.

The last thing I want to bring up is the Ishigami village rope, reportedly made with a special technique that's unique to them.

It is also said that the rope reflects rank and profession somehow, but this is not reflected in any noticeable way on the series itself. Boichi probably hadn't been told about this when he designed all 40 known villagers in the span of one week.

The rope is worn somewhere around the body, and it contains a single red thread spun into it, serving as a symbol of kinship among them.

For now I'll leave it at that, as it's getting pretty late in the day, and pretty much all of this is written on the wiki article to begin with. Hope you enjoyed it, I'll see you all some other day.

[zukazukazuka]

Serika Toa to Retire on April 27, 2025

Long reflective navel-gazing and emotional processing under the cut.

tl;dr: If I had a nickel for every time I inadvertently planned a trip during a Soragumi taidan, I'd have two nickels.

Second nickel hurts way worse.

Inevitably, living on the opposite side of the world means I usually wake up to messages about these things before I actually see them for myself. I remember waking up on July 7, 2017 to things like "wow...hope you like Soragumi!" when her transfer was announced. It feels oddly prophetic that that year we inadvertently planned our trip to catch Asaka Manato's taidan show as well as Kiki's last Grand Theater show with Hanagumi. I cried a lot on that trip, honestly.

Once you start to immerse yourself, it's easy to get attached to your first round of top stars. We'd gotten to see Maasama and Soragumi in Elisabeth the year before, and I was sad she was leaving. Hanagumi was our home troupe, and my favorite actress was transferring. Both shows were incredible, and to this day SANTE!! remains my favorite revue of all time. I think we saw it some ridiculous amount of eight times, back when it was possible to have the privilege of satisfying your brainrot by waiting outside the Tokyo Theater at 5 AM in hopes of getting same-day tickets. I remember the utter devastation of seeing that show from the 4th row, of getting arrowed with a Kukochihiko stare from the silver bridge during her duet with Mirio that made me squirm in my seat. I remember how loud the audience was on senshuuraku in Tokyo, it felt like we were at a rock concert rather than a Takarazuka show, and how satisfying that was, despite the tears.

It's hard to believe that was seven years ago, which feels both so close (literally to a degree, as you don't have to scroll very far down this blog to get my live reaction posts lol) and somehow yet so far away (thanks COVID).

Two months ago, we bought tickets to go back to Japan in January, our first trip since 2019.

This morning I woke up to messages again.

And now apparently I've stumbled yet again into a Soragumi taidan, "my" taidan, which of course I knew ultimately was on the nearer horizon since June 2023, but could never have guessed how fraught everything in between would become.

I can't help but feel exceptionally, heartbreakingly sad.

I fell in love with Kiki from the very first time I set foot in Quatre Reves and saw her photo as Rudolf in 2014. She has always been my favorite since that day, and by the time she goes it will have been effectively 10 and a half years. 10 years, nibante under two long-running top stars, through pandemic closures and changes, and effectively 1.5 GT shows as top. In truth, I'd always prepared myself for a short run. 3 shows would've been just enough to give her 'decent' time without really feeling like they were just shoveling her off after so long as #2, although I would've been cranky about it. 4 or 5 would have been an ideal sweet spot. At this point, I'm sure 3 was always the initial plan, and I hope that had been satisfying for her going into things.

It just extra fucking sucks now.

Today I can't help but feel regret for falling off as much as I did after her transfer. I was able to see her in both of those 2019 trips, thankfully at least once on stage, but the double whammy of Mirio leaving and COVID closures made it feel a lot hard to stay connected to Takarazuka in general - which is ironic, given that I will never, ever not find it surreal to watch a raku livestream on my fucking couch at 12 AM. But I didn't watch as many as I could have. One of my favorite things had always been seeing iride photos on twitter, and it made me feel like even if I couldn't be there, I could still "keep up" with what was happening day to day. Unfortunately (or rather fortunately, given this last year) I am famously too lazy to make a lot of effort to read things in Japanese, even if Takarazuka helped improve it for a time. I have limited space and desire to buy dozens of GRAPHs or other magazines for interviews. I moved on to other interests, but always kept one finger on the pulse of things. At one point, as things went on longer and longer, I thought so many times "hey girl, if you wanna pull a MiyaRuri and bounce without making top, I fully respect and support that, even if I won't get to see you one last time."

Well.

I don't have much I want to say here about what happened last year, except that I hope such a horrendous tragedy does ultimately lead to a lot of reform at the revue. Unlike apparently most everyone, I didn't go digging around the internet for names and 'what really' happened (see: lazy, also not my fucking business). I don't know, I don't want to know, and at this point frankly I don't really care about anyone's particular opinion about the people involved, or whatever outcome they think should have happened.

But we are where we are, now.

Last week, in my naive hope that after we got through Escalier's break with no taidan announcement, I was guessing that she might yet go later next year. I'd been reading the schedule wrong and complaining about the possibility of a late summer taidan, because Japan is fucking horrendous in summer, only to realize that it would've really been October, which would be ideal, although truthfully I'm not sure I could have swung a second trip in one year. I'd been sad about not getting to see her possible ohirome during my favorite time of year, since I couldn't swing a trip last year. In hindsight, I'm glad it turned out as "lucking" into actually seeing taidan rather than potentially have booking a trip last fall and "wasting" it, and that I no longer have to worry about whether or not I get to see it. But it still really fucking sucks.

Part of what helps offset the hurt of an actress retiring, especially your actress, especially a top star, is the celebration of all that's come before. Coming in as a fan in 2014, I saw all of the photos and videos of the last day festivities of Teru and Chie, which continued through all of the others that left in subsequent years. I felt devastated for the top stars who left during the height of pandemic closures, who couldn't have that, and for fans who couldn't get to see it. I'm not even sure what taidans look like these days, as I'm sorry to say a consequence of only trailing vaguely along on the hype train for the past several years is that I haven't seen any taidan shows or bothered with social media to know if they do even a semblance of those last day activities, even for the troupe. It makes me sad to think that maybe those sorts of things are perhaps long gone, just generally. Even if they aren't, though, I doubt we'd get any of that, anyway.

So in absence of that element or really any other joy, all I can really feel is bitterly sad.

In truth, I have a lot of complex feelings about her whole run, and have for many years, but those aren't things I care to lay out here. Suffice it to say, this whole situation feels like icing on that whole cake, I guess.

As I was writing all of this, I realized that just because of timing and that we usually prioritized seeing grand theater shows over small ones, the only time I will have seen Kiki live in a lead show will be her last one. I realize that compared to many people I'm privileged to go at all, let alone the number of times I've already done so in the past, but I'm still utterly heartbroken.

At the end of Escalier last weekend, I'd been so happy to see a semblance of her old self again. Her jokes, her smile, which has always felt like sunshine to me. I can't ever know her real feelings, but I hope that maybe there is some relief for her, knowing there's an end in sight. I hope that despite everything, she can find a satisfying life after the fact, that she'll still be able to perform, if she wishes. At the end of it all, I do feel thankful for the things we do have, the experiences I've had up to this point. My one tiny silver lining is that Sakura is (supposedly, maybe, fingers crossed) hanging around, hopefully for a while, because she's an incredible powerhouse and deserves the world. I'm grateful to her for being Kiki's partner and radiating love at her on stage, and terribly looking forward to seeing that in person.

Anyway, time to go cry some more, and eventually write a letter.

[clarktooncrossing]

Didn't Wanna Feel Older in 2024? TOO LATE!

So long, 2023! You have been a weird-@$$ year to say the least. Between by having to repair old thumb drives, purchase a new printer, finding out I'm susceptible to anxiety attacks, trying out dating for the first time, getting my Discord and Steam account hacked, starting a new Discord server since said account was never unhacked, opened myself up to commissions, managed to post art for Halloween, got Covid, summoned more Kaijus to play an elaborate game of poker, and had a merry enough Christmas. Here's hoping 2024 will prove better. At the moment I have no new goals, since I just want to relax after four months of constantly being active. There's a mile of books, movies, and TV shows I need to get caught up on! My opinions on all of them will be given in future Giraffe's Eye Views, but for now let's get to what you all came here for: yet another unnecessarily long list of things celebrating major milestones this year!

You all loved it when I did this last year. In fact it got more attention that anything else I posted, including the original art I put way more effort and time into. Nah, that didn't sting at all. Seeing my sketches get ignored is so much fun. Passive-aggressive joking aside, I do still love making these lists, so let's get started with some major stuff this year.

Thanksgiving wasn't too long ago, so why not mention that the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade turns 100 this year? I know, that's insane! Watching this festive event has become a seasonal staple in my house and is the only reason I've ever signed up for Peacock. Thank goodness in all those years it hasn't been smashed by a giant monster.

Godzilla turns 70 freak'n years old this year! How crazy insane is that? Here's hoping his old age won't slow him down when he teams up with King Kong this April. Even if it does, Gojira will continue being cinema's coolest character!

Contrasting with the King of the Monsters, Mary Poppins turns 60 years old this year. This movie, considered to be Walt's last masterpiece, has aged considerably well even after all this time.

Oh yeah, and Mickey Mouse enters the public domain this year. Still not entirely sure how that works, but whatever. What I do know is...

Anything from 1974 turns 50 this year. That includes-

The Fort Wilderness Resort (January 1st)

Happy Days (January 15th)

Blazing Saddles (February 7th)

"Waterloo" by ABBA (March 4th)

“Sundown” by Gordon Lightfoot (March 25th)

"Rikki Don't Lose That Number" by Steely Dan (April 25th)

Herbie Rides Again (June 6th)

"Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd (June 24th)

America Sings (June 29th)

Gone in 60 Seconds (July 28th)

Hong Kong Phooey (September 7th)

Shazam! (TV series) (September 7th)

Little House on the Prairie (September 11th)

Wolverine debuted in The Incredible Hulk #180 (October)

Arkham Asylum makes its first appearance in Batman #258 (October)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (October 11th)

Phantom of the Paradise (October 31st)

Earthquake (November 15th)

The Year Without a Santa Claus (December 10th)

Young Frankenstein (December 15th)

The Godfather Part II (December 20th)

Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, Too! (December 20th)

The Island at the Top of the World (December 20th)

An Adaptation of Dickens' Christmas Carol, Performed by The Walt Disney Players

“Bennie and the Jets” by Elton John

"Hooked On A Feeling" by Blue Swede

“The Loco-Motion” by Grand Funk Railroad

Anything from 1979 turns 45 this year. That includes-

Captain America (The TV movie) (January 19th)

The Dukes of Hazzard (January 26th)

The Warriors (February 9th)

John Carpenter's Elvis (February 11th)

Hair (March 14th)

"In the Navy" by the Village People (March 17th)

The Bad News Bears (March 24th)

Phantasm (March 28th)

"We Are Family" by Sister Sledge (April)

Nickelodeon (April 1st)

"Boogie Wonderland" by Earth, Wind, & Fire (May 6th)

Alien (May 25th)

Rocky II (June 15th)

"My Sharona" by The Knacks (June 18th)

The Muppet Movie (June 22nd) - THIS MOVIE SLAPS!

The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (June 27th)

The Amityville Horror (July 27th)

"Highway to Hell" by AC/DC (July 27th)

Apocalypse Now (August 15th)

"Don't Bring Me Down" by Electric Light Orchestra (August 24th)

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (September 2nd)

The Bugs Bunny / Road Runner Movie (September 14th)

Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (September 22nd)

Spider-Woman (TV show) (September 22nd)

The Black Stallion (October 17th)

Atari's Asteroids (November)

The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh (November 6th)

Pink Floyd's The Wall (November 30th)

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (December 7th)

1971 (December 14th)

The Jerk (December 14th)

The Black Hole (December 20th)

Mickey Mouse Disco

Anything from 1984 turns 40 this year. That includes-

The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man (January)

Night Court (January 4th)

"Rock You Like a Hurricane" by Scorpions (February 3rd)

Footloose (February 17th)

Nintendo's Punch-Out!! (February 17th)

"Eat It" by Weird Al Yankovic (February 28th)

Splash (March 9th)

Children of the Corn (March 9th)

Run DMC (March 27th)

Romancing the Stone (March 30th)

The Toxic Avenger (April 11th)

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (April 13th)

My Little Pony: Rescue at Midnight Castle (April 14th)

"We're Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister (April 27th)

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Franchise (May)

Marvel's Secret Wars (May)

Spider-Man's Black Suit debuted in The Amazing Spider-Man #252 (May)

"What's Love Got to Do with It" by Tina Turner (May 1st)

WHAM!'s Make It Big (May 14th)

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (May 23rd)

Once Upon a Time in America (June 1st)

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (June 1st)

Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. (June 4th)

Ghostbusters (June 8th)

Gremlins (June 8th)

The Karate Kid (June 22nd)

Prince's Purple Rain (June 25th)

Conan the Destroyer (June 29th)

The Last Starfighter (July 13th)

The Muppets Take Manhattan (July 13th)

The NeverEnding Story (July 20th)

The Adventures of Andre & Wally B. (July 25th)

Dragon's Lair (TV show) (September 8th)

Voltron (September 10th)

Muppet Babies (September 15th)

Miami Vice (September 16th)

The Transformers Franchise (September 17th)

Murder, She Wrote (September 30th)

Thomas & Friends (October 9th)

Fist of the North Star (anime) (October 11th)

"We Belong" by Pat Benatar (October 16th)

The Terminator (October 26th)

"Like a Virgin" by Madonna (October 31st)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (November 16th)

Supergirl (movie) (November 21st)

Beverly Hills Cop (December 5th)

Hydlide (December 13th)

Starman (December 14th)

Frankenweenie (December 14th)

Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (December 19th)

The Country Bear Christmas Special (December 19th)

Anything from 1989 turns 35 this year. That includes-

The Arsenio Hall Show (January 3rd)

Gotham by Gaslight (February)

SimCity (February)

LJN's Friday the 13th for NES (February)

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (February 17th)

The Toxic Avenger Part II (February 24th)

"Like a Prayer" by Madonna (March 3rd)

Quantum Leap (March 26th)

The Jim Henson Hour (April 14th)

Ranma 1/2 (April 15th)

Pet Sematary (April 21st)

Nintendo's Super Mario Land (April 21st)

Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever (April 24th)

Dragon Ball Z (April 26th)

Disney's Hollywood Studios (formally Disney-MGM Studios) (May 1st)

Disney's Pleasure Island (May 1st)

The Trial of the Incredible Hulk (May 7th)

Konami's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for NES (May 12th)

Road House (May 19th)

"Bust a Move" by Young MC (May 22nd)

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (May 24th)

Typhoon Lagoon (June 1st)

Dead Poets Society (June 9th)

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (June 9th)

Tales from the Crypt (June 10th)

Ghostbusters II (June 16th)

Roger Rabbit in Tummy Trouble (June 23rd)

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (June 23rd)

Tim Burton's Batman (June 23rd)

The Karate Kid Part III (June 30th)

Do the Right Thing (June 30th)

Weekend at Bernie's (July 5th)

Seinfeld (July 5th)

Lethal Weapon 2 (July 7th)

When Harry Met Sally… (July 14th)

Splash Mountain (July 17th)

UHF (July 21st)

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (July 28th)

Kiki's Delivery Service (July 29th)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (August 11th)

"Pump Up the Jam" by Technotronic (August 18th)

Saved by the Bell (August 20th)

"The Best" by Tina Turner (August 21st)

Little Monsters (August 25th)

LJN's Back to the Future on NES (September)

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (September 4th)

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! (September 4th)

American Gladiators (September 9th)

Captain N: The Game Master (September 9th)

Beetlejuice: The Animated Series (September 9th)

LJN's Who Framed Roger Rabbit for NES (September 14th)

Capcom's DuckTales for NES (September 14th)

Doogie Howser, M.D (September 19th)

Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 (September 19th)

Baywatch (September 22nd)

Family Matters (September 22nd)

Penn & Teller Get Killed (September 22nd)

Capcom's DuckTales for NES (October)

Neil Young's Freedom (October 2nd)

Prince of Persia for Apple II (October 3rd)

Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (October 13th)

The Little Mermaid (November 17th)

All Dogs Go to Heaven (November 17th)

Prancer (November 17th)

Back to the Future Part II (November 22nd)

The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie (November 24th)

America's Funniest Home Videos (November 26th)

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (December 1st)

The Wizard (December 15th)

The Simpsons (December 17th)

Konami's Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse on NES (December 22nd)

Fester's Quest for NES

Anything from 1994 turns 30 this year. That includes-

You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown (January 18th)

The Critic (January 26th)

Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin (January 26th)

"Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain (February 1st)

Green Day's Dookie (February 1st)

Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog 3 for Genesis (February 2nd)

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (February 4th)

Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? (February 5th)

Aladdin: The Series (February 6th)

The Busy World of Richard Scarry (March 9th)

Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (March 18th)

Nintendo's Super Metroid for SNES (March 19th)

Food Rocks (March 26th)

Thumbelina (March 30th)

Final Fantasy VI (April 2nd)

Space Ghost Coast to Coast (April 15th)

All That (April 16th)

Doom II for MS-DOS (May 5th)

The Stand (May 8th)

Weezer's Blue Album (May 10th)

The Crow (May 13th)

The Return of Jafar and Disney Direct-to-Home Sequels as a whole (May 20th)

Beverly Hills Cop III (May 25th)

The Flintstones (May 27th)

Speed (June 10th)

The Lion King (June 15th)

Forrest Gump (July 6th)

Angels in the Outfield (July 15th)

True Lies (July 15th)

Black Beauty (July 29th)

The Mask (July 29th)

The Little Rascals (August 5th)

"Cotton Eye Joe" by Rednex (August 12th)

EarthBound for SNES (August 27th)

VR Troopers (September 3rd)

Street Sharks (September 7th)

The Magic School Bus (September 10th)

The Tick (September 10th)

Quiz Show (September 14th)

Léon: The Professional (September 14th)

Tekken (September 21st)

Friends (September 22nd)

The Shawshank Redemption (September 23rd)

Ed Wood (September 27th)

Earthworm Jim (October)

Spider-Man's Infamous Clone Saga (October)

A Troll in Central Park (October 7th)

Pulp Fiction (October 14th)

Wes Craven's New Nightmare (October 14th)

Sega's Sonic & Knuckles for Genesis (October 18th)

Clerks (October 19th)

Aaahh!!! Real Monsters (October 22nd)

Gargoyles (October 24th)

Gullah Gullah Island (October 24th)

Killer Instinct (October 28th)

Mortal Kombat II (November)

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (November 4th)

In Search of Dr. Seuss (November 6th)

The Santa Clause (November 11th)

Rare's Donkey Kong Country for SNES (November 18th)

Miracle on 34th Street remake (November 18th)

Star Trek Generations (November 18th)

The Swan Princess (November 18th)

Spider-Man: The Animated Series (November 19th)

Disney's Greatest Hits on Ice (November 25th)

Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger (December 12th)

The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure (December 13th)

Dumb and Dumber (December 16th)

Richie Rich (December 21st)

Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book (December 25th)

Anything from 1999 turns 25 this year. That includes-

Ed, Edd n Eddy (January 4th)

Batman Beyond (January 10th)

The Sopranos (January 10th)

Jon Stewart becomes host of The Daily Show (January 11th)

Disney's All-Star Movies Resort (January 15th)

Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. for N64 (January 21st)

Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century (and a crap load of other Disney Channel Original movies for that matter) (January 23rd)

Zoboomafoo (January 25th)

"My Name Is" by Eminem (January 25th)

Family Guy (January 31st)

Square's Final Fantasy VIII for PS1 (February 11th)

The Planet's Funniest Animals (February 17th)

October Sky (February 19th)

Office Space (February 19th)

Konami's Silent Hill for PS1 (February 23rd)

Batman: No Man's Land (March)

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (March)

Pepsiman for PS1 (March 4th)

Test Trak (March 17th)

RollerCoaster Tycoon (March 22nd)

Doug's 1st (and only) Movie (March 26th)

"Livin' la Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin (March 27th)

The Matrix (March 31st)

"I Want It That Way" by The Backstreet Boys (April 12th)

"What's My Age Again?" by blink-182 (April 13th)

Mickey Mouse Works (May 1st)

SpongeBob SquarePants (May 1st)

The Mummy (May 7th)

"Genie in a Bottle" by Christina Aguilera (May 11th)

Aliens Versus Predator (game) (May 13th)

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (May 19th)

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (ride) (June 4th)

Disney Sing Along Songs: Flik's Musical Adventure at Disney's Animal Kingdom (June 8th)

Smash Mouth's Astro Lounge and their hit "All Star" (June 8th)

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (June 11th)

Tarzan (June 18th)

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (June 30th)

Wild Wild West (June 30th)

American Pie (July 9th)

The Blair Witch Project (July 14th)

Muppets from Space (July 14th)

Eyes Wide Shut (July 16th)

Inspector Gadget (July 23rd)

Deep Blue Sea (July 28th)

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith (July 29th)

The Iron Giant (August 6th)

The Sixth Sense (August 6th)

Rocket Power (August 16th)

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (the American version) (August 16th)

Dragon Tales (September 6th)

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (September 20th)

The West Wing (September 22nd)

Capcom's Resident Evil 3: Nemesis for PS1 (September 22nd)

Freaks and Geeks (September 25th)

Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein (September 28th)

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (September 29th)

Journey into YOUR Imagination (October 1st)

The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (October 1st)

Spider-Man Unlimited (October 2nd)

Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost (October 5th)

Fight Club (October 15th)

Namco's Pac-Man World (October 15th)

The Amanda Show (October 16th)

The Nuttiest Nutcracker (October 19th)

Grand Theft Auto 2 (October 22nd)

Ubisoft's Rayman 2: The Great Escape (October 29th)

Insomniac's Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! for PS1 (November 2nd)

Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (November 9th)

Courage the Cowardly Dog (November 12th)

Square's Chrono Cross for PS1 (November 18th)

Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow (November 19th)

Nintendo's Pokémon Gold and Silver for Gameboy Advance (November 21st)

Toy Story 2 (November 24th)

Fantasia 2000 (December 17th)

Stuart Little (December 17th)

Wakko's Wish (December 21st)

Man on the Moon (December 22nd)

Galaxy Quest (December 25th)

Asia at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Anything from 2004 turns 20 this year. That includes-

Winnie the Pooh: Un-Valentine's Day (January 6th)

Teacher's Pet: The Movie (January 16th)

The Butterfly Effect (January 23rd)

The Lion King 1 1/2 (February 9th)

50 First Dates (February 13th)

Power Rangers Dino Thunder (February 14th)

"Somewhere Only We Know" by Keane (February 16th)

Clifford's Really Big Movie (February 20th)

Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures for Gamecube (March 18th)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (March 19th)

Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (March 26th)

Home on the Range (April 2nd)

Danny Phantom (April 3rd) - Screw Butch Hartman, but this show still rocks!

Hellboy (April 2nd)

Ella Enchanted (April 9th)

Kill Bill: Volume 2 (April 16th)

Nintendo's Pikmin 2 for Gamecube (April 29th)

Super Size Me (May 7th)

Van Helsing (May 7th)

Shrek 2 (May 19th)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (May 31st)

Marvel Knights: Spider-Man (June)

DC's Identity Crisis (June)

Garfield: The Movie (June 11th)

Napoleon Dynamite (June 11th)

"My Happy Ending" by Avril Lavigne (June 14th)

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (June 18th)

Phil of the Future (June 18th)

The Notebook (June 25th)

Spider-Man 2 (June 30th)

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (July 9th)

"Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson (July 19th)

Nintendo's Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for Gamecube (July 22nd)

Catwoman (July 23rd)

The Bourne Supremacy (July 23rd)

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (July 30th)

Justice League Unlimited (July 31st)

Blue's Room (August 2nd)

Alien vs. Predator (film) (August 13th)

Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (August 13th)

Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (August 17th)

Brandy & Mr. Whiskers (August 21st)

The Batman (show) (September 11th)

Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide (September 12th)

Higglytown Heroes (September 13th)

Sly 2: Band of Thieves for PS2 (September 14th)

Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! (September 18th)

Star Wars: Battlefront (September 21st)

Green Day's American Idiot (September 21st)

Lost (September 22nd)

Shark Tale (October 1st)

Drew Carey's Green Screen Show (October 7th)

Surviving Christmas (October 22nd)

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (October 26th)

Saw (October 29th)

Insomniac's Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal for PS2 (November 2nd)

The Incredibles (November 5th)

Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (November 9th)

Halo 2 (November 9th)

Naughty Dog's Jak 3 for PS2 (November 9th)

The Polar Express (November 10th)

The Sims 2 (November 14th)

Stitch's Great Escape (November 16th)

Turtle Talk with Crush (November 16th)

Kangaroo Jack: G'Day U.S.A.! (November 16th)

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines (November 16th)

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (November 17th)

Half-Life 2 (November 18th)

National Treasure (November 19th)

Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi (November 19th)

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (November 19th)

Howl's Moving Castle (November 20th)

Nintendo DS (November 21st)

World of Warcraft (November 23rd)

Christmas with the Kranks (November 24th)

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II (December 6th)

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories for Gameboy Advance (December 7th)

PlayStation Portable (PSP) (December 12th)

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (December 17th)

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (December 25th)

Shaun of the Dead

Anything from 2009 turns 15 this year. That includes-

Hotel for Dogs (January 16th)

Wolverine and the X-Men (January 23rd)

Paul Blart: Mall Cop (January 16th)

Coraline (February 6th)

Friday the 13th (remake) (February 13th)

Halo Wars (February 26th)

Sega's Sonic and the Black Knight for Wii (March 3th)

Capcom's Resident Evil 5 (March 5th)

Zack Snyder's Watchmen (March 6th)

Power Rangers RPM (March 7th)

Race to Witch Mountain (March 13th)

The Secret of Kells (March 19th)

Monsters vs. Aliens (March 27th)

Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? (April 2009)

Special Agent Oso (April 4th)

Parks and Recreation (April 9th)

Dragonball Evolution (April 10th)

Iron Man: Armored Adventures (April 24th)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (May 1st)

Plants vs. Zombies (May 5th)

Star Trek (remake) (May 8th)

Terminator Salvation (May 21st)

The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story (May 22nd)

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (May 22nd)

Up (May 29th)

The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (June 1st)

The Sims 3 (June 2nd)

The Hangover (June 5th)

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings (June 9th)

"I Gotta Feeling" by Black Eyed Peas (June 15th)

Ghostbusters: The Video Game (June 16th)

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (June 24th)

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (July 1st)

"Fireflies" by Owl City (July 14th)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (July 15th)

G-Force (July 24th)

(500) Days of Summer (August 7th)

District 9 (August 14th)

The Time Traveler's Wife (August 14th)

Inglourious Basterds (August 21st)

Batman: Arkham Asylum (August 25th)

Rob Zombie's Halloween II (August 28th)

Disney buys Marvel for $4 billion (August 3st)

Waking Sleeping Beauty (September 6th)

Dinosaur Train (September 7th)

Walt & El Grupo (September 9th)

9 (September 9th)

The Vampire Diaries (September 10th)

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (September 15th)

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (September 18th)

Jennifer's Body (September 18th)

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (September 29th) - Still the dumbest name ever 15 years later.

Zombieland (October 2nd)

Where the Wild Things Are (October 16th)

Borderlands (October 20th)

DJ Hero (October 27th)

A Christmas Carol (November 6th)

Fanboy & Chum Chum (November 6th) - BOO! This show was the actual worst!

Fantastic Mr. Fox (November 13th)

Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues (November 17th)

Left 4 Dead 2 (November 17th)

Assassin's Creed II (November 17th)

Planet 51 (November 20th)

The Twilight Saga: New Moon (November 20th) - YUK!

Turtles Forever (November 21st)

Big Time Rush (November 28th)

Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation! (December 6th)

Prep & Landing (December 8th)

The Princess and the Frog (December 11th)

Avatar (December 18th)

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (December 23rd)

RuPaul's Drag Race

Minecraft

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Anything from 2014 turns 10 this year. That includes-

True Detective (January 12th)

The Lego Movie (February 7th)

South Park: The Stick of Truth (March 4th)

Mr. Peabody & Sherman (March 7th)

The Grand Budapest Hotel (March 7th)

Dark Souls II (March 11th)

Muppets Most Wanted (March 21st)

Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge (March 25th)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (April 4th)

Rio 2 (April 11th)

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (April 26th)

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (May 2nd)

Chef (May 9th)

Godzilla (May 16th)

X-Men: Days of Future Past (May 23rd)

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (May 28th)

Maleficent (May 30th)

Edge of Tomorrow (June 6th)

The Fault in Our Stars (June 6th)

Phineas and Ferb Save Summer (June 9th)

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (June 13th)

Shovel Knight (June 26th)

Transformers: Age of Extinction (June 27th)

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (July 11th)

Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie (July 21st)

Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars (July 26th)

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers's Hypnotic Eye (July 28th)

Guardians of the Galaxy (August 1st)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (movie) (August 8th)

Five Nights at Freddy's (August 8th)

P.T. (August 12th)

BoJack Horseman (August 22nd)

Destiny (September 9th)

Gotham (September 22nd)

Disney Infinity: 2.0 Edition (September 23rd)

Black-ish (September 24th)

How to Get Away with Murder (September 25th)

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks (September 27th)

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (September 20th)

Star Wars Rebels (October 3rd)

Annabelle (October 3rd)

Gone Girl (October 3rd)

Alien: Isolation (October 6th)

The Flash (October 7th)

BİRDMAN or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (October 17th)

The Book of Life (October 17th)

John Wick (October 24th)

Taylor Swift's 1989 (October 27th)

Sunset Overdrive (October 28th)

Interstellar (November 5th)

Big Hero 6 (November 7th)

Assassin's Creed Unity (November 11th)

Far Cry 4 (November 18th)

Penguins of Madagascar (November 28th)

Toy Story That Time Forgot (December 2nd)

Peter Pan Live! (December 4th)

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (December 17th)

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (December 19th)

Wow, that took forever to type. Chances are I missed something, so if something you enjoy is hitting a major milestone this year, leave it in the comments below!

MAY THE GLASSES BE WITH YOU!

[murumokirby360]

Title: Another 90s Camera: Olympus Camedia C-2000 Z

DeviantART Version [CLICK ME!]

Hello, January! Sorry for the long delay, though. Because I have a lot of things that happened at the beginning of 2024. And GOOD NEWS, I've bought something that makes my PC bring back to LIFE, after 7 months of being inactive (since Jun 9th, 2023)! 🖥️🔧😀 Although I'm still working on the topic, maybe I'll submit it this Feb 2024! 😁

Right now, it's time for my 1st throwback item share of 2024, with this neat-old camera (as my improvise).🙂

• Here's another '90s camera, this is the Olympus Camedia C-2000 Z 📷 inherited from my late grandpa named Jim, who passed away on Jun 6th, 2020 owing to complications, as well as the victim of the COVID-19 virus. Once again, R.I.P, grandpa Jim. 😔⚱️🥀 Believe it or not, I used this '90s camera for submitting on dA, back in Jan 2010. 🙂📸🖼️

Here are my snapshots from the 2010s, so far using the 90s Olympus cam: ○ Jan. 4th, 2010 #1 - [CLICK ME!] ○ Jan. 4th, 2010 #2 - [CLICK ME!] ○ Jan. 19th, 2010 - [CLICK ME!]

BTW: #1: All these three we're stored to my dA private storage, but at least I've already posted on tumblr, couple of years ago.

(and) #2: Also, picturing & submitting these photos on whole "January" calendar was utterly coincidence. 😊📸

1st & 2nd Image(s) [took photos on Jan 19th, 2023]: ↑

• Anyways, the 90s Olympus cam possessed 2.1 megapixels of camera 📷✌️, which was pretty clear & and crisp at the time. However, as of 2024, it is considered a pretty low megapixel that no other modern high-quality companies make that, anymore. 🤷‍♀️ Except for cheap gadgets, of course. And when you compare to your (flagship/mid-range) smartphones 📱/digital cameras 📷 that possessed a whopping 150+ Megapixels, and sometimes 200+ megapixels for the Pro-DSLR camera brands 📷🖼️ speaks volumes to the consumers. It was simply an evolution of the camera lens. Today, like the brick phones from the 90s, the 90s cameras we're now a relic status of the past, meaning no one's using them, anymore due to outdated hardware. They now act as a throwback collection, which simply refuses to throw the trash 🚯, like this ancient 90s Olympus camera. ��🫳 But hey, if your 90s camera still functions, then you're lucky to used it, but please be careful. 😉

• So, what about the "Olympus" 🇯🇵📷 brand? What happened? Are they still producing cameras? 🤔 Well, according to "quora.com", quote "Olympus has announced in June 2020 that it is selling its camera division to Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) and will exit the camera business altogether. The sale to JIP was completed in January 2021, and the new company created from the sale is called OM Digital Solutions." This means the Olympus camera brand is already off the camera wars; with Canon, Sony, and other Japanese camera brands still running the camera business. However, the Smartphone cameras became more advanced than the old-style digital cams. Here's hoping, that the digit cams will have the same treatment, or maybe still be around in case the smartphone's camera pixels weren't enough, in terms of the raw image.📷🤞

3rd & 4th Image(s) [Took photos on Jan 29th, 2024]: ↑

• Uh yeah, I forgot that the camera includes a soft case fitting for this model. And look, my paper dolls were delighted to see a throwback camera & they wanted a snapshot using it. 🙂📸 Yeah, but it's no longer working 📷❌, and I tried (using 4 Eneloop AA Batteries) 🔋🔋🔋🔋🤷‍♀️. So much so, that I decided to pretend to take snapshots with the old cam while taking photos with my actual camera from my current smartphone (Honor 8C). Was that a coincidence? 🤔 I'm not so sure 😅, but they're delighted. 😊

Well, that’s the end of my topic, more things to come this 2024. 😊

And if you want to see my Yearend Items Summary - 2023, then please → [CLICK ME!].

Tagged: @lordromulus90, @bryan360, @carmenramcat, @leapant, @paektu, @rafacaz4lisam2k4, @alexander1301

[freifraufischer]

It's been a few days since the "announcement" of the GIGA Pro Gymnastics thing and I'd like to share some research and my lengthy list of questions about this project.

Let's start by saying that there is a document floating around that is marked confidential and proprietary. It's not long, it's an info graphic and appears to be aimed at investors or recruitment. I'm not sharing it. It does inform my questions.

Who Are These People?

First of all: The officers listed are Aimee Boorman as Co-founder and Chief Events Officer. Maura Fox as Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. LaPrise Williams as Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer. This is what I can find based on publicly available information:

The gymnastics community knows who Aimee Boorman is so I'm not going to detail her. She became a FIG Brevet judge in the last two years but is very junior. She's a category 4 judge meaning that except at the smallest FIG meets she is limited to things like being a line judge or a timing judge, this is not a slight. Everyone has to start as a cat 4 but that does mean she doesn't have a lot of experience as a judge.

Maura Fox has a linkedin which informs what I know about her. She was an executive for Time Warner leaving in 2009. Her last job there was as group vice president for consumer devices, cross platform, and strategy. She then ran her own consulting form for 10 years which her linkedin says ended in 2019. She's honestly the person I want to know the most about to take this project seriously or not. She says she's been involved in launching professional circuits in cycling and men's tennis. I'd like to find out what those ventures were to be able to assess the likelihood that this venture will survive. She then worked for some kind of media products group that I can't really get my head around for two years before going to work for GIGA. Her linked in identifies GIGA as having been founded in 2021. So they've had 2 years to build this... which frankly matches with the fact that I had heard about them recruiting potential athletes last year.

LaPrise Williams is a pediatric nurse who was the Baylor Acro and Tumbling coach for from 2011-2014. She later told the press she intended to file a Title IX complaint against the university but I have no idea how that worked out. She opened a gym in St Vincent and the Grenadines which identifies itself as the first gym in the islands. She is the Technical Director for the St Vincent and the Grenadines Gymnastics Association. Here is their facebook page. Now I'm going to put some context on the SVGGA here and I don't want anyone to think I'm disparaging them or her. There are many small federations in the world and this is one of them. It is very clearly a legitimate National Governing Body (NGB). At the moment they have no FIG licensed gymnasts in any discipline and Williams is the only FIG brevet judge from the federation in any discipline--she is a category 4 judge for WAG. The facebook activity for the fed runs:

post on June 4th of 2023 which is a repost from Williams' gym's instagram page.

on September 25, 2022 they changed their profile and header pictures

on January 25, 2020 they posted pictures of a team going to Manhatten Classic.

on June 16, 2019 a repost from an article from the Trinidad and Tobago Newsday about the Caribbean Gymnastics Championships which is very likely not a FIG sanctioned event.

All of this is to say this is a small, relatively inactive federation with limited resources and staff and I'm not entirely sure if much weight should begiven to her involvement in it for this project.

Who are the Sponsors/Who is going to pay the Athletes?

This is upfront going to be a lot of "I have no idea." Their launch material doesn't say. The document I've seen doesn't say and the fact that the thing has supposedly existed for two years without a sponsor lined up to be named at public launch is a little worrying to me.

The document describes a two tiered structure for the athletes with start fees and prize money for all (the initial start fee is $1500 to be paid to all gymnasts with GIGA paying for things like travel, hotel, meals, etc). The prize purse for the first year event is described in the low 6 figure range with mention of an All Around winner. I've seen no mention of teams so it appears to me that they're planning on this being an individual competition circuit (more thoughts on that later). I have seen no reference to insurance of any sort and the only medical related thing in the document is onsite massage, PT, and recovery aids. My major concern continues to be that these people are recruiting adult aged post-college athletes and all I can think is there will be many knees destroyed. And this is the United States... so look forward to some Go Fund Me for medical treatment in the future... It's notable that the European club leagues are all in countries with nationalized health care. Their document talks about career longevity for gymnasts but I'm not at all convinced they're promising an infrastructure for that.

There is a second section of this document that talks about headliners and the things they can negotiated for as individuals. So some gymnasts will be paid appearance fees--which I should stress I think is perfectly normal.

Why is it hard to figure out if these people want to be a professional league or a media platform?

Because they want to be both. They want hold to meets and stream content to fans as well as sell access to the athletes for fans experiences. It looks like kind of standard VIP meet and greet kind of things from what little detail I've seen... you pay money to meet the athlete for say 30 minutes with a group of other fans. I've done this kind of thing for television actors. It's fun. But it's also by it's nature not something a lot of fans can afford.

They also want to build a library of content that is essentially athlete interviews presumably the access of which they can sell in whatever the subscription package of their multimedia platform is. It's all pretty vague so we'll have to figure out what it means when their products actually launch.

For now my main concern is why did they announce this in June without a date or location or a format for their first competition?

Lingering Questions...

I have so many... aside from the ones I've touched on above. They talk about how this hasn't been done before. It has. The most successful attempt at launching a pro-gymnastics competition circuit was in 1997-98 in the post Atlanta Olympics hype. They used a modified NCAA code and the meets were aired on CBS. I don't need them to talk about the previous two attempts (except maybe don't claim to be the first) but I really hope they are aware of them at the very least to find out why they didn't last. I fear that they either didn't do that research or they assume because it was 20+ years ago that their multimedia platform makes them so different that it doesn't apply.

What the heck is the meet structure here? They talk a LOT about the successes of NCAA gymnastics but at least the materials I've seen seem to suggest that they don't plan on having teams. Teams are a key part of building fan support in both NCAA and the European club leagues. I still don't think you can model a US league based on those European leagues mostly because they are build on a lot of routines from junior gymnasts and this project seems to be entirely about post-NCAA age careers. That's in addition to my medical insurance and liability insurance questions.

What is USAG's involvement in this? My fear is "they don't want USAG's involvement". See the launching of new professional sports leagues in a country often depend on how much support and buy-in they have from the NGB. One of the major differences between the currently running National Women's Soccer League and earlier defunct attempts is buy-in from USA Soccer. And I promise you that US Soccer is no more popular then USAG. I'm also informed by the fact that playing conditions for a lot of NWSL teams have been pretty bad (let's not touch the sexual harassment issues within teams). One team was playing on a home field that had holes in it and couldn't afford to pay for their players shoes. Gymnastics equipment is extremely expensive. Millions of dollars just for the competition apparatus. Are these people buying it? From who? Are they going to transport it around the country? Are they going to host it in a central location so they can store the equipment locally or rent it from a specific source? So many questions.

What code of points are they using? US developmental program--you know the one whose code of points you have to buy and isn't publicly accessible without paying for it? Some modified version of the above (like NCAA)? If they're riding the coat tales of NCAA I somehow doubt they're using the FIG code which will make it somewhat harder for non-US/Canadian athletes to be involved. What difficulty expectations will there be? How are they going to handle judges? How are they going to assure fans and athletes that judging will be fair given how much money they are saying is in the prize purses and that they're setting up a two tiered "everyone" and "headliners" compensation structure?

Conclusions:

I'm highly skeptical of all of this. I'm worried about what seems to have been a premature information free public launch. Their website and materials seem amateurish to me and I just can't get my head around the idea that they launch this publicly with no sponsors named.

I'm not at all convinced that these people know how or why European club leagues work, why previous attempts at this in the US have failed, what a lot of the appeal of NCAA gymnastics is, or that they have the experience necessary to do any of this.

[ducklooney]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, but in the classic Disney universe (Mouseverse, Duckverse and Goofyverse)

I've already posted this before, but this time I'll update it a bit so to speak.

Of course Christmas, although it used to be celebrated on the Day of the Sun God, since it was the end of a short short day and they are starting to be a longer day, first of all it is a Christian holiday because Jesus Christ was born on that day. Of course, not exactly December 25, that is, January 7, but certainly that day has been celebrated since the 4th century as one of the biggest holidays.

You all already know what the symbols of Christmas are, now I'm going to share pictures from the classic Disney universe from the beginning to today from cartoons and comics where they celebrate their Christmas specials. The rest is my copied text from two years ago.

I hope it’s not too late, but I’ve posted here some pictures that are my favorites regarding Christmas specials, related to the classic Disney universe (Mickey’s, Donald’s and Goofy’s universe mostly) in animation and in comics. Toy Tinkers, some classic shorts, Carl Barks comics, Mickey’s Christmas Song, Don Rosa comics, Darkwing Duck, Christmas promo special, Goof Troop, Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas, Duck the Hals, Topolino and Paperino comics and more. I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and I apologize if I made a mistake about some things earlier. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year once again! If you want, feel free to like and reblog this, if you are a fan of these things.

Also Topolino reached the 3500th issue, so for all fans of those comics and those characters this will certainly be an exciting event.

[the-script-demands-it]

Welcome to...

Rad's enormous pile of abandoned MetaWare WIPs/things that ARE finished but I didn't like them/WIPs that I might come back to/other stuff!

Below the "keep reading" button will be a detailing of all of these images! Please be aware that this WILL be an extremely long post, so... Just a warning. There'll be a second post after this that will also contain the rest of the art that I wasn't able to squeeze in here. (Even 30 pics per Tumblr post isn't enough for this...)

Let's start off with the most recently abandoned WIP!

I started drawing this about two weeks after Chris' birthday (her bday is January 4th) and I was really happy with it, but then I had NO idea how to pose Izzy. It's a bummer since I liked how Chris' hair came out, but alas! (Happy belated birthday, Chris!)

Possibility of finishing?: Yeah, maybe. Prob will have to change Izzy's pose if I really want to finish it though.

Oh hey, I posted this a few months ago on my other blog!

Really wish I finished it, but now that I'm looking back on it, there's definitely some improvement to be had here. I don't like whatever's going on with her face. You can tell that I gave up while trying to make the background as well. Poor Hope!

Possibility of finishing?: I'll have to completely redraw this if I plan on finishing it, but I've definitely got a feeling that I'll come back to this someday.

Hmph!

This one's actually pretty finished, I've just never posted it anywhere before because it's such a small little doodle. I like it though! Nari in a Gir tassel hat is always welcome.

Possibility of finishing?: It's already done. Don't plan on editing it!

(This happens on the rude route!)

It's basically just a proof of concept, and a VERY minimal one at that, but I think it's got some merit! Not enough people talk about that Chris Vs Aspen scene, honestly.

Possibility of finishing?: Sometime this year maybe...??? I don't plan on abandoning this forever, I just don't really know when I'll get around to it.

AUTISM BLAST PT. 1

Hey, remember that art I had pinned on my other blog for a while? I was planning on redrawing it, but I only ever managed to complete one part of it until I forgot about it... It's definitely an upgrade from the original version, though I can do better than this nowadays.

Possibility of finishing?: I'm DEFINITELY going to redraw this someday. I need a new pinned post, damn it!

Thx ^]

Okay, here's some context for these two. I got an anonymous ask on my other account saying that they liked my MetaWare PFP and I thought that it would be a great idea if I responded to it with some art and also turn that same post into an announcement for my MetaWare sideblog (this one!), but that of course did not actually happen.

Possibility of finishing?: NO.

Nari looks so... "off" in this picture.

I like how I drew Hope, but ergh... that is NOT Nari. I don't know how I managed to make her look like a completely different character in this one, but I do NOT like it.

Possibility of finishing?: Nah, I think I'm done with this pic.

Woah, scary!

I actually touched this one up a bit before sending it here. It used to look MUCH more incomplete, but it's basically done now besides from the hair being missing 'n all.

Possibility of finishing?: I might draw more MetaWare stuff with drastic lighting in the future, but I don't plan on revisiting this specifically.

Le miaow miaows.

I worked on Hope before sending this because she looked kinda off, but I think she looks OK now. You can see that this isn't really what my usual art style looks like. I was trying to mix together the original MetaWare sprite art style and the style SparkBag used in the polaroid anniversary art he made, and I think I did just fine.

Possibility of finishing?: It's basically already done! Coloring it would probably make it cooler, but I don't think I'll ever do that.

This won't be the last time I try to use eyes symbolically.

I still REALLY want to revisit this again. It's great! It's magnificent! I just did NOT have the ability to execute it properly back when I made it a ton of months ago, so I just didn't do it. Still don't know if I do now, but it's worth a shot. (This was basically just another proof of concept, by the way.)

Possibility of finishing?: Absolutely! I'll try to get to this sometime soon this year.

GRILLING START ! ! !

Yep, this was based off of Papyrus' "Dating Start!" minigame! Just another proof of concept or... Okay I don't know what else to call these. Like, they're definitely NOT finished nor are they actual fleshed out sketches, what else am I supposed to call them???? I think it's cool though.

Possibility of finishing?: Don't think I'll be ditching this idea anytime soon. Seems kinda simple to draw too, I'll get to it sometime.

Lookin' pretty cute!!

Context for this one: It was gonna be a 3 part comic or something with Hope drawing Nari's bear fursona. Never actually made the comic though, but I DID make her fursona!!! It's the one right below this one, actually.

Possibility of finishing?: Nope.

BEAR NARI BARI LET'S GO

Personally, I think this is adorable. When drawing people's fursonas I always kinda make them more animal than anthropomorphic, but I think it leads to pretty cute art!

Possibility of finishing?: It's already done!

I was just testing out a brush with this one, I think.

It's a cute little doodle, don't have much to say about it though! I WILL say that the bear plushie was a bit inspired by my own plush I have at home, though this one is much smaller than mine.

Possibility of finishing?: Nah, it's just a little doodle.

Ingo Nari... Ingri... Angry!?!

iiii really think I made the hat too big. Like... WAY too big. Don't really like how her face came out, but the body itself is pretty OK. I based it too much on Ingo's original pose though, kinda looks like I just put Nari's head on his head LMAO

Possibility of finishing?: This is basically already finished, though I might draw Nari cosplaying as Ingo again. Why not?

(Bonus Ingri!)

Nari in a hoodie!

Don't exactly remember what this was for. Either it was for an AU of mine or someone else's AU. Her front hair's kinda too far down though, I had a bit of a habit making her face REALLY small compared to her hair in my old art.

Possibility of finishing?: Nay!

Wow, Nari with an eye AND eyebrows! Who woulda thunk it.

Her hair is much puffier than previous versions in this one. Why? Dunno. She looks pretty cool AND cute in this though!

Possibility of finishing?: It's already complete.

My polar bear plush makes a cameo in this one! Say hi!

I had to edit this one a SHIT ton before sending this final picture. I wish I had a pin that said "I HATE DRAWING METAWARE STYLE NOSES" because I loathe them. There were other reasons why I didn't like the original version, but I was annoyed with the nose the most. Really happy how this came out though!

Possibility of finishing?: I just finished it right now. (I'll probably be posting this on its own sometime soon)

Some original characters...!? Unthinkable!

This features Lumi (Metolefrul-indus' fan character) and an old version of Rowan (my fan character)! I changed Rowan's design and personality soon after this, so I don't think this interaction with Lumi and Rowan will actually ever happen... Sorry Lumi! 'Twas just a little doodle.

Possibility of finishing?: NEVER.

Last but not least (for this post, anyway), is this Chris and Izzy sketch!

Some pals requested this during a stream and this was all I managed to make of it... I'm so sorry!!!!!!! They were good prompts!!! I'll finish it one day I swear!!!!

Possibility of finishing?: Soon!

PHEW WE'RE DONE FOR THIS POST. We have 20 more to go in the next one! Might post it next week because this is tiring holy hell. Glad to show these WIPs off to the world though!

P.S. I'm going to skip a few images seen in the huge pic at the beginning! Some were already completed and I'll just post those on their own orrrr I just don't want to review 'em.

[ridleyytheriddler]

im suuuper bored rn and in a mood to write so! rant! yay!

first thing i wanted to rant about - my sexual orientation (:

im ace, period. i know that for a fact. at least I'm somewhere on the spectrum, maybe demisexual? but I'm not sure, I'm not really diving into microlabels.

romantic orientation is an ENTIRELY different story...

had a crush on a boy in 3rd/4th grade, back when (i thought) i was a cishet girl. liked him until like 5th grade when my feelings sort of faded away. now, i was virtual schooled through 5th and 6th so i didn't really like anyone in sixth grade but i spent a lot of time exploring queerness in general- like my nonbinary awakening happened sometime in like January/February of 2022 (though i did first label myself as a demigirl, it still falls under the enby umbrella).

i entered seventh grade as a closeted aroace enby and went through about 3/4 of the year without any major crushes (i had a platonic interest in a boy that i misinterpreted as a crush). i didn't really label my romantic attraction because i didn't need to.

however, as the end of the school year approached, i started feeling uncomfortable. i wanted to know who i was, and the only valid part of my identity had been my asexuality, since i knew that i liked a boy in the past so how could i be aro? i was drowning in a whirlpool of invalidation and not feeling queer enough.

so, i go to the first camp of the year, a writing camp, filled with TONS of queer people. i loved it there, but seeing so many people around me, sure of their identities, made me die more inside.

sooo, a couple days after i was accused of flirting with my friend (who happened to be a boy), i "discovered" i liked a girl. she was pretty, she was smart, she was blonde, she was sporty. i texted her a lot (even after camp was over). i put hearts around her contact name. but "liking" her didn't feel thrilling and it didn't feel happy. to put it simply, it felt like a fucking punishment. talking to her made me feel like i wasn't enough.

so after going through about a month of emotional turmoil and dying inside and bragging to my friends about how i liked a girl, i headed to my first sleepaway camp of the summer, a church camp, ironically enough. and THERE. THERE i fell. not in love, but probably the realest crush i'd had. there weren't really butterflies, so to speak, but if you looked at a picture with the two of us in it, you would see me gazing at her (lets call her M) with literal heart eyes. we'd started quietly chatting while our mutual friends were off doing other stuff, and ended up bonding with each other despite how the only thing we shared was our introverted-ness. and I'm not even that introverted. we're polar opposites. we still text each other almost every day, and i had hopes she liked me back, aaaaaaaaand she doesn't but. here comes part two of my rant.

my crush doesn't like me.

and i don't even feel the tiniest bit sad about it.

this is probably the most confused i've ever been. i know i like her. maybe it's because her "rejection" was so soft it didn't even feel like one. i don't know. it's complicated, but my best friend had been cheering me on to tell her, so i did. and i was honestly divided as to whether she liked me or not- at times she acted like she did but other times she didn't. honestly, i think I'm just hopeful that she likes me

anyway thats not the point-

so. after writing this THERAPUTIC post, i have discovered that:

i am aroace and proud 🧡💛🤍🩵💙

im nonbinary (and proud, but I've known that for a while)

I'm confused

but I'm 100% queer. whether I'm lesbian or straight or bi or something, i am queer! and I'm tired of feeling invalidated by being compared to the people out there who are out and proud with all their labels. i don't need to be exactly like them to be queer and be myself.

to put it poetically, "our friendship is worth more than being in any relationship." I'm going to write a poem about that now. good night yall <3 or even good morning/afternoon.

[holdmeclosertinytaron]

A little catch up!!

Ahhhh it feels like forever since I've properly posted on here. I promise I'm still alive, life has just been kicking my ass this year and it's been a lot to juggle. So here's a little rundown for you all...

In January I had to have an ultrasound on my abdomen due to intermittent, excruciating pain. Turns out I have gallstones (yay!). The doctor was referring my to general surgery to discuss options which was fine.

In February I had the gallbladder pain bad and wound up bed ridden for five days after unable to eat or drink. I slept continuously for almost 24 hours and my mum was getting worried about me because I started to turn yellow. I'm talking fully minion yellow. So I ended up in A&E where I spent five of the shortest hours of my life waiting to find out what was going on. I was put on a fluids drip because I'd only had 500 ml of water in four days.

I spoke to a lovely surgeon at like 1am who was quite surprised that I knew what she was talking about (thanks Grey's Anatomy for that. You're a real one). She told me that she would like it for me to stay overnight but she knew I wanted to go home so she let me home but made me promise I would go back to the hospital the following day for an MRCP and more blood tests because some of my levels were really high.

I got a call the next day telling me that my scan had been scheduled for the following morning so to take the day to rest and that I didn't need to go in. I still wasn't eating or drinking. I wasn't hungry and I was so exhausted it was awful.

I had the scan and then I went to the surgical same day emergency care department where I had blood drawn and had to wait for an hour for results. I was finally starting to get thirsty but I couldn't have a drink of anything in case I needed emergency surgery. A doctor came to speak to me and he said I had more gallstones than they first thought but they were no longer blocking a duct like they were before so I could go home. I just had to go back again the day after for another blood test to make sure my bilirubin and haemoglobin levels had sorted themselves out. Fun.

The following day I went back and had even more blood drawn. Before this whole ordeal I was petrified of needles. Now I just give them my arm and tell them to go to town. I was allowed to drink that time so a nurse made me the worst cup of tea of my life, bless her. Not her fault, the teabags they use at the hospital aren't the ones I'm used to. That's besides the point.

Another doctor came to speak to me and asked me how I was doing. I told him I felt fine again and as though nothing had happened. He was glad I was feeling better and said as long as my levels had dropped he was happy to sign me off and let me wait for general surgery to get in touch with me.

My levels had dropped enough to go home!!

A couple of weeks later I got a letter from general surgery with an appointment for the 4th of April. Perfect. My fear of hospitals was no more because I'd been so much bad in February so off I went with my mum to this appointment with a consultant.

What a laugh that was. Throughout this whole thing, my weight hadn't been mentioned once. I had only dealt with one male doctor at this point too and that was a phone call to tell me I had gallstones. Every other doctor, nurse and surgeon I'd spoken to were women and not one of them mentioned my weight.

Now I know I'm overweight. It isn't a secret. I am fat. But to have a surgeon look at you and talk to you for fifteen minutes about your weight, while looking at your mum instead of you, that shit is awful. He didn't know why I was there. He thought I'd been rushed through from the GP for surgery asap (I thought I was getting surgery asap too).

For a whole twenty minutes he said I would need to be referred back to my GP and put on a weight loss programme otherwise I couldn't have the surgery and that waiting for surgery is dangerous because of how easily a stone can block a duct and such. He then proceeded to make it sound as if he thought I would find it difficult to cut out 'nice things'. I made him acutely aware that since I had been in the hospital, I had eaten fresh, lean meat everyday with potatoes and vegetables. I have cut out pretty much all fat from my diet and happily sat back while everyone else in the house has had chocolate.

I don't find cutting things out of my diet hard. I find it hard to be sitting in front of a man telling me that I have to go on a weight reduction programme and that it will take hard work and dedication, as though I don't know what they mean.

Said consultant sent me for even more bloods to make sure my liver function is okay which I totally get. And then he referred me back to the GP so they can refer me to this programme which could take months.

All the while I still have gallstones that could cause pain at any given time. I have no clue when I'm getting surgery so I have to live with this for however long, not knowing when it's going to strike and eating the most boring foods with no fun snacks.

It is debilitating living life not knowing when you're going to be in the worst pain of your life. I wouldn't wish gallstone/gallbladder pain on my worst enemy it is hell. It comes on suddenly with absolutely no warning and it can last anywhere from an hour to five hours. I have to sit with two hot water bottles, one on my front and one on my back, and not move. It makes me throw up, it makes me sob uncontrollably, and it makes me feel like such a failure.

So that's why I've been quiet recently. I've been dealing with lots of health things and have been spending more time trying to focus on me than anything else. HOWEVER, these past two days have been spent working tirelessly with my angel @brayndilyn to write some of the big fic coming this year. I can't wait to share it with you!! We love it and we hope you do too.

[milligramspoison]

Potential 8 Balls and Medleys for 2ourdust!

Originally did this for the first US leg as well as the EU/UK leg, doing it again for 2ourdust! Some special little additions will be here too :)

Note -> this is will include songs that have been already 8 balls! Based on the 8 ball contest, it looks like the 8 ball will be resetting once again! And medleys too since some songs that have debuted there. It will also include the setlist staples as those are songs you can enter in the contest as well :) EDIT: after the first show (February 28th) I have removed the setlist staples- any changes will be edited in :)

Lastly, credit to @starrynyxa for finding all of the potential songs!! Tysm! Here’s their post that showcases the songs in alphabetical order :)

Evening Out With Your Girlfriend

Honorable Mention -> was the first of many 8 balls on April 6th, 2024, it’s first performance since January 22nd, 2007!!!

Switchblades and Infidelity -> last performed on August 28th, 2004

Pretty In Punk -> has never been performed live (yet)

Growing Up -> last performed on November 7th, 2008

The World’s Not Waiting (For Five Tired Boys In A Broken Down Van) -> has never been performed live (yet)

Short, Fast, and Loud -> has never been performed live (yet)

Moving Pictures -> was in the TTTYG slot of doom on April 5th, 2024, its first performance since November 23rd, 2005!!!!

Parker Lewis Can’t Lose (But I’m Gonna Give It My Best Shot) -> has never been performed live (yet)

Take This To Your Grave

Tell That Mick He Just Made My List of Things to Do Today -> was in the regular set on March 22nd, 2024!!

Homesick at Space Camp -> not in 8 ball or medley, but had its first performance since July 16th, 2023 on March 8th, 2024!

Sending Postcards From a Plane Crash (Wish You Were Here) -> had its only live performance ever on March 12th, 2004

The Pros and Cons of Breathing -> was performed in the TTTYG spot on March 19th, 2024, it’s first performance since November 19th, 2007 AND its second performance ever!!!

Grenade Jumper -> last performed on February 20th, 2009

Reinventing the Wheel to Run Myself Over -> was in the TTTYG slot of doom on March 24th, 2024, it’s first performance since November 19th, 2007!!!

The Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes -> was in the TTTYG slot of doom on March 31st, 2024!!

My Heart Will Always Be the B-Side to My Tongue

My Heart is the Worst Kind of Weapon -> has never been performed live (yet)

It’s Not a Side Effect of the Cocaine, I Think It Must Be Love -> had its first performance ever on March 8th, 2024 during medley!!!

Love Will Tear Us Apart (cover) -> had its only live performance ever on June 10th, 2004

From Under The Cork Tree

Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued -> last performed on November 4th, 2023

Of All the Gin Joints in All the World -> last performed on June 23rd, 2023

Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner -> was in the medley on April 3rd, 2024!!

I've Got a Dark Alley and a Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth (Summer Song) -> last performed on August 6th, 2023

7 Minutes in Heaven (Atavan Halen) -> was the 8 ball on March 4th, 2024!

Sophomore Slump or Comeback of the Year -> was the 8 ball on March 1st, 2024!

Champagne for My Real Friends, Real Pain for My Sham Friends -> has never been performed live (yet)

I Slept With Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me -> last performed on July 11th, 2023

Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part to Save the Scene and Stop Going to Shows) -> was the 8 ball on March 22nd, 2024, April 2nd, 2024, and April 6th, 2024!!!!!!! And in the 16 Candles spot on March 27th, 2024 and March 30th, 2024!!

XO -> was in the regular set on March 22nd, 2024!!! And April 5th, 2024!!!

Snitches and Talkers Get Stitches and Walkers -> last performed on January 30th, 2007

The Music or the Misery -> was the 8 ball on March 27th, 2024, it’s first performance since May 30th, 2006!!!!!

Infinity On High

Thriller -> was in the 16 Candles slot of doom on April 3rd, 2024!

“The Take Over, the Breaks Over” -> was in the 16 Candles spot on March 26th, 2024, it’s first performance since August 4th, 2023!

I'm Like a Lawyer With the Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off (Me & You) -> was in the medley on March 11th, 2024 AND was the 8 ball on March 16th, 2024!

Hum Hallelujah -> was in the 16 Candles slot on March 29th, 2024!!

Don’t You Know Who I Think I Am? -> was the 8 ball on March 8th, 2024!

The (After) Life Of The Party -> last performed on December 1st, 2023

The Carpal Tunnel Of Love -> was the 8 ball on April 6th, 2024, its first performance since April 4th, 2008!!!!

Fame < Infamy -> last performed on November 7th, 2023

You’re Crashing, But You’re No Wave -> last performed on October 31st, 2023

I’ve Got All This Ringing In My Ears and None On My Fingers -> was in the medley section on March 4th, 2024, March 30th, 2024, and April 3rd, 2024!!

G.I.N.A.S.F.S. -> was the 8 ball on February 28th, 2024! And was in Heaven, Iowa’s spot on March 27th, 2024!

It's Hard to Say “I Do”, When I Don't -> has never been performed live (yet)

Folie à Deux

I Don’t Care -> last performed on September 7th, 2023

She’s My Winona -> last performed on July 19th, 2023

America’s Suitehearts -> last performed on July 2nd, 2023

The (Shipped) Gold Standard -> had its only live performance ever on November 2nd, 2023

(Coffee’s For Closers) -> last performed on July 1st, 2023

27 -> was the 8 ball on March 3rd, 2024!

Tiffany Blews -> was the 8 ball on March 11th, 2024, its first performance since September 19th, 2009!!!!

w.a.m.s. -> had its only live performance ever on August 2nd, 2023

20 Dollar Nose Bleed -> was in the medley on March 16th, 2024, it’s first performance since September 29th, 2013!!! And was in the medley again on March 20th, 2024!!

West Coast Smoker -> had its only live performance ever on July 30th, 2023

Pavlove -> was the second 8 ball on April 2nd, 2024, its second performance EVER!!!

Lullabye -> last performed on April 26th, 2009

Believers Never Die: Greatest Hits

Alpha Dog -> had its first performance ever on March 15th, 2024!!!

“From Now On, We’re Enemies” -> was the 8 ball on April 5th, 2024, its second performance ever!!!!

Yule Shoot Your Eye Out -> last performed on December 12th, 2023

Save Rock and Roll

Alone Together -> last performed on November 17th, 2017

Where Did The Party Go -> last performed on July 16th, 2023

Just One Yesterday -> was in the medley on March 13th, 2024 and March 22nd, 2024 (performed in a full piano medley with Daisy Grenade!!) and was the 8 ball on March 19th, 2024, marking its first full band performance since 2014!

The Mighty Fall -> has never been performed live (yet)

Miss Missing You -> was the 8 ball on March 20th, 2024!!

Death Valley -> last performed on September 12th, 2014

Young Volcanoes -> was the 8 ball on March 13th, 2024!

Rat a Tat -> had its first performance EVER on April 6th, 2024 in the 8 ball!!!!

Save Rock and Roll -> last performed on December 12th, 2023

PAX•AM Days

We Were Doomed from the Start (The King Is Dead) -> had its only live performance ever on November 29th, 2013

Art of Keeping Up Disappearances -> had its only live performance ever on November 29th, 2013

Hot to the Touch, Cold On the Inside -> had its only live performance ever on November 29th, 2013

Love, Sex, Death -> last performed on June 14th, 2014

Eternal Summer -> had its only live performance ever on November 29th, 2013

Demigods -> had its only live performance ever on November 29th, 2013

American Made -> had its only live performance ever on November 29th, 2013

Caffeine Cold -> had its only live performance ever on November 29th, 2013

New Dreams (cover) -> had its only live performance ever on September 13th, 2013

American Beauty/American Psycho

Irresistible -> last performed on March 7th, 2023

American Beauty/American Psycho -> last performed on November 3rd, 2023

The Kids Aren’t Alright -> was the 8 ball on March 7th, 2024 and April 6th, 2024!!!!

Jet Pack Blues -> last performed on August 6th, 2023

Novocaine -> last performed on March 27th, 2017

Fourth Of July -> was the 8 ball on March 29th, 2024, it’s first performance since March 22nd, 2017!!

Favorite Record -> had its only live performance ever on July 15th, 2023

Immortals -> last performed on September 7th, 2023

Twin Skeleton’s (Hotel in NYC) -> has never been performed live (yet)

Mania

Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea -> last performed on August 18th, 2019

The Last Of The Real Ones -> last performed on July 29th, 2023

HOLD ME TIGHT OR DON’T -> last performed on May 7th, 2018

Wilson (Expensive Mistakes) -> was the 8 ball on March 26th, 2024, it’s first performance since November 4th, 2018 AND Mania’s first ever 8 ball!!!!!! And was the 8 ball once again on April 6th, 2024!!!!

Church -> last performed on April 30th, 2018

Heaven’s Gate -> has never been performed live (yet)

Champion -> last performed on December 6th, 2019

Sunshine Riptide -> has never been performed live (yet)

Young and Menace -> had its performance since October 10th, 2018 and it was in medley!!!

Bishops Knife Trick -> had its first performance ever on April 5th, 2024 in the medley!!!!!!!

LLAMANIA

Past Life -> has never been performed live (yet)

Footprints in the Snow -> has never been performed live (yet)

Wrong Side of Paradise -> has never been performed live (yet)

Lake Effect Kid

Lake Effect Kid -> last performed on October 10th, 2018

City In A Garden -> has never been performed live (yet)

Super Fade -> has never been performed live (yet)

Believers Never Die, Volume Two: Greatest Hits

Dear Future Self (Hands Up) -> last performed on December 6th, 2019

Bob Dylan -> had its only live performance ever on August 5th, 2023

So Much (For) Stardust

Heartbreak Feels So Good -> last performed on March 16th, 2023

So Good Right Now -> has never been performed live (yet)

I Am My Own Muse -> was the 8 ball on March 24th, 2024!

Flu Game -> has never been performed live (yet)

The Kintsugi Kid (Ten Years) -> was in the medley on March 24th, 2024 and the 8 ball on March 30th, 2024!! And was also in the Stardust slot of doom on March 31st, 2024 and April 2nd, 2024!

What a Time To Be Alive -> was in the medley on March 19th, 2024, March 24th, 2024, and March 29th, 2024!! And was the 8 ball on April 3rd, 2024!!!

Miscellaneous (solo material, demos, collabs, etc)

Explode by Patrick Stump -> last performed on November 11th, 2011

This City by Patrick Stump -> last performed on November 11th, 2011

Dance Miserable by Patrick Stump -> last performed on November 11th, 2011

The “I” In Lie by Patrick Stump -> had its only live performance ever on November 11th, 2011

Run Dry (X Heart X Fingers) by Patrick Stump -> was in the medley on March 26th, 2024, Patrick’s first performance of the song since November 11th, 2011!!!

Cryptozoology by Patrick Stump -> last performed on October 12th, 2011

Greed by Patrick Stump -> has never been performed live (yet)

Everybody Wants Somebody by Patrick Stump -> last performed on November 11th, 2011

Allie by Patrick Stump -> was in the medley on March 1st, 2024, its first performance since November 11th, 2011!!!

Coast (It’s Gonna Get Better) by Patrick Stump -> last performed on November 11th, 2011

Bad Side of 25 by Patrick Stump -> was in the medley on March 16th, 2024, Patrick’s first time performing it since November 11th, 2011!!!!!

People Never Done A Good Thing by Patrick Stump -> has never been performed live (yet)

When I Made You Cry by Patrick Stump -> has never been performed live (yet)

Mad At Nothing by Patrick Stump -> has never been performed live (yet)

Saturday Night Again by Patrick Stump -> last performed on July 30th, 2011

Porcelain by Patrick Stump -> last performed on November 4th, 2011

Spotlight (Oh Nostalgia) by Patrick Stump -> was in the medley on March 31st, 2024, it’s third performance of all time!! Was also in the medley on April 2nd, 2024!

Cute Girls by Patrick Stump -> last performed on November 11th, 2011

Love, Selfish Love by Patrick Stump -> last performed on August 22nd, 2011

As Long As I Know I’m Getting Paid by Patrick Stump -> last performed on May 8th, 2011

Big Hype by Patrick Stump -> last performed on August 22nd, 2011

7-9 Legendary by Fall Out Boy -> unreleased song, had its first performance EVER on April 6th, 2024 in the medley!!!!!!!

A Nice Myth by Fall Out Boy -> released when FOB was known as Fallout Boy back in 2001, has never been performed live (yet)

Austin, We Have a Problem by Fall Out Boy -> unreleased song, has never been performed live (yet)

Beat It by Fall Out Boy feat. John Mayer -> a cover of Michael Jackson’s Beat It, was last performed on November 18th, 2018

Bounce by The Cab -> co written by Patrick, has never been performed live by FOB (yet)

Check Your Phone by Cheap Cuts feat. Pete Wentz -> a feature Pete did at the very beginning of the pandemic, has never been performed live by FOB (yet)

CYAN1DE by nothing,nowhere. feat. Pete Wentz -> a feature Pete did last year (2023), has never been performed live by FOB (yet)

Deep Blue Love by Patrick Stump -> a song Patrick recorded for the movie Spell, has never been performed live by Patrick (as a solo artist) and FOB (yet)

Electric Touch by Taylor Swift feat. Fall Out Boy -> a feature FOB did for Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), has never been performed by Taylor and FOB (yet)

Fellowship of the Nerd by Fall Out Boy -> unreleased song, has never been performed live (yet)

Ghostbusters (I’m Not Afraid) by Fall Out Boy feat. Missy Elliott -> song for the 2016 Ghostbusters movie, has never been performed live (yet)

Grow Up and Be Kids by The Cab -> a song Pete co wrote, has never been performed live by FOB (yet)

hand crushed by a mallet (remix) by 100 gecs feat. Fall Out Boy -> remix featuring FOB, has never been performed by FOB (yet)

Hand of God by Fall Out Boy -> a very beloved unreleased song by fans, has never been performed live (yet)

Have I Got a Gift For You by Patrick Stump -> a song Patrick did for the movie Black Friday, has never been performed live (yet)

I Got Nothing, But You Got Something by Fall Out Boy -> unreleased song, has never been performed live (yet)

I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) by Whitney Houston -> FOB recorded a cover for Spotify, but has never performed it live (yet)

I’ve Been Waiting by Lil Peep & iLoveMakonnen feat. Fall Out Boy -> a feature FOB did, has never been performed live (yet)

Lake Shore Drive by Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah -> Patrick covered the song during opening night of Tourdust, has not been performed since June 21st, 2023

New Dreams by Naked Raygun -> a cover FOB performed with the og artists themselves in its only live performance ever on September 13th, 2013. It also appears on the PAX•AM Days limited edition vinyl as a bonus track

One of THOSE Nights by The Cab -> Patrick does additional vocals in the song but has never been performed live by FOB (yet)

Open Happiness by Various Artists -> Patrick did this with Cee-Lo Green, Brendon Urie, Travie McCoy and Janelle Monáe for Coca-Cola, but has never been performed live by FOB (yet)

Roxanne by The Police -> FOB did a cover of the song that only appeared the Director’s Cut physical release of TTTYG, as far as I can tell, they haven’t done a live cover of the song yet (yet)

San Diego by blink-182 -> Patrick co wrote the song but it has never been performed live by FOB (yet)

So Sick by Ne-Yo -> FOB did a cover of the song at the BBC Live Lounge. I can’t find the exact date, only the year- the last time they performed this was around 2006

Sober by blink-182 -> another blink song that Patrick co wrote, but had never been performed live by FOB (yet)

Star 67 by Fall Out Boy -> another beloved unreleased song by fans, it’s never been performed live (yet)

Summer Days by Martin Garrix feat. Macklemore & Fall Out Boy -> a feature that FOB did, has never been performed live by FOB (yet)

Colorado Song by Fall Out Boy -> a TTTYG demo that was released on the 20th anniversary vinyl, has never been performed live (yet)

Jakus Song by Fall Out Boy -> another TTTYG demo that was released on the 20th anniversary vinyl, also has never been performed live (yet)

We Don’t Take Hits, We Write Them by Fall Out Boy -> an unreleased song that has its only live performance dated as July 7th, 2004 (as far as I can tell, this is the only time it’s been performed)

What’s This? by Danny Elfman -> a cover FOB did for Nightmare Before Christmas Resisted, has never been performed live (yet). The Nightmare Before Christmas is also notably one of Pete’s favorite movies

Spidey and His Amazing Friends -> the theme song to the show of the same name written by Patrick, had its first performance ever on March 22nd, 2024!!!

If you’ve made it this far, hello! And ty for taking the time to look at this!

I’ll give you a treat for sticking around 🫶

[long-distance-love]

Hi, guys! First of all I hope you two had a beautiful July 4th!

So this isn't my first ldr, I was in one between the ages of 20-24 in the early 2010s with a boy in the Netherlands.. that one didn't work out due to a lot of distrust and generally not being on the same page as young twenty somethings, but I've now found myself as a 30 year old in another one but this time with an American (we've been together for a year and I actually flew to the USA in January this year to meet him). And I have to say, this relationship is so wildly different to my first experience of one, and it actually feels like a healthy transparent and loving relationship. I never expected to fall in love with a man from Florida but the heart wants what it wants. I'm a little scared at times of making the same mistake as I did with my previous relationship due to some trauma there, but so far we've always been an open book with each other and he understands and is aware of the things my ex did that caused severe PTSD.

Anyhow, since my last relationship where there were a lot of LDR forums and blogs to find couples with support, I'm finding that it doesn't feel like there's the same sort of online community as there used to be and was wondering if there are any discords or communities out there to join to just.. have that sort of camaraderie with other couples? Especially as we've been talking about our future and we're 99.9% sure that I'll be moving to the US to close the distance after a few more visits on our belt. It'd just be great to get that sort of perspective on the VISA journey etc! Sorry for the long ramble, I just love your posts and your relationship is honestly beautiful!

Hi Nonny,

Thanks for the beautiful message, and for opening up so honestly about your struggles. 💕 Well done for not being afraid of giving love again despite your past trauma! You're not making a mistake, you are simply healing. And that hurts, and takes time and relapses on your side, and lots of patience and love on your partner's. 💕

As for communities... To be completely honest with you, I would recommend that as the last step for support. Now I know this sounds controversial as my husband and I are spearheading a small LDR community here on Tumblr, but hear me out. You need to find the strength within yourself and your relationship first. You need to find the motivation internally to keep showing up for your partner. Your experience will always differ from others, especially within the LDR community because in my experience, all couples have wildly different routines when it comes to communication and meeting. What a community can be good for is thoughts, tips and tricks, opinions. It can help you discover tools to survive the difficult days and times. But maybe I'm overthinking this, and you just want to befriend long distancing people, which is a completely fair wish since we always look to establish connections with those who's experiences are similar to ours. 💕

As for advice on visa, which is practically legal advice, I'd strongly recommend speaking with a US immigration advisor. My husband and I were in a financially tight spot when we arranged for me to move to where he is (UK), but we still coughed up what our solicitor charged us and damn, I'm happy we did. He was up-to-date with all requirements, he helped us prepare our portfolio, he had insight into how long the procedure would last based on our unique circumstances, AND guaranteed a successful visa application. We wouldn't have been able to do it without him, certainly not as quickly, efficiently and safely as we did with him.

Also, Benny and I have never joined any LDR Discord servers, but if any of you lovely folks know anything, please share with us (in anon too) so that we may help Nonny out. 💕

Best of luck to you and your boo! 💕

- Danny

[brainrattlers]

Play It Cool - Tyson Jost (36/n)

Pairing: Tyson Jost x OFC (AJ)

Word Count: 2891

Chapter 35 can be found at https://at.tumblr.com/brainrattlers/play-it-cool-tyson-jost-35n/l1n6k0ggp18i

Start from the beginning at https://at.tumblr.com/brainrattlers/play-it-cool-tyson-jost-1n/p7no8u1hzuza

Warnings: hmm. AJ's sick, taking meds so if you have a bad aversion to NyQuil, maybe take a pass? I don't even think there are bad words in this chapter.

Author's Notes: Short chapter, I've been under the weather, so just got some fluff today. Will get back to hockey goodness in the next chapter! For some reason, tags have not been working, so if you'd like to be directly tagged in my posts (since they're not coming up in tag searches? And Tumblr's support is failing me in solving this issue), hmu in the comments!

***

So that New Year's kiss may have happened on January 4th, but Tyson made it one hundred percent worth it. Texting from the airport, he made sure that AJ would indeed be at the hotel in about an hour.

Tyson: Not to ruin the surprise, but… you’ll be there, right?

AJ: Yep, what are you up to, Jost?

Tyson smiled, he secretly loved it when AJ called him that. She knew he was up to something, and he loved the fact it was getting to her in a fun way. Plotting little things to cause some harmless mystery and mischief, and of course making AJ smile and laugh was his favorite.

Finding his Grand Cherokee in the parking lot, Tyson hit the road, finding himself at the grocery store near the hotel before heading home. Stopping in, he picked out a few things he jotted down on his phone notepad earlier on the flight from DC. Strolling down the candy aisle with his small basket, he also threw a package of Justin’s PB Cups in for himself. Looking at his basket, everything from the list was in there, and made his way to the checkouts, and out the door.

After parking, and coming up the elevator, Tyson stood outside of their door, pulling things from the bag, including cups and sparkling cider. Inside, AJ could hear the rustling of the plastic bags and Tyson chuckling from the hallway as he texted his fiancée just inside.

Tyson: Hey babe, open the door in 10 seconds.

Tyson: 5, 4, 3, 2…

AJ opened the door, whispering “1.”

Grabbing Tyson’s face, AJ kissed him with abandon. It had been nearly a week since they’d physically been in each others’ presence. She pulled him inside, hands on the still on the sides of his face. Finding the counter next to them, Tyson was able to put the cups and bottle in his hand down on it, dropping the bag (thankfully without breakable items in it) onto the floor.  Lips melting into each other’s, the two caught up on all the kisses missed in the last week, and more than made up for the kiss missed days earlier at midnight. After a few minutes, the pair were left with dazed smiles AJ looked up into Tyson’s eyes.

“Happy New Year, Eggo. Here’s to spending this year, and many more, together.” Tyson’s eyes twinkled as he kissed AJ again. 

Breaking the embrace, Tyson went back to the kitchen counter, grabbing the sparkling apple cider and plastic champagne glasses, pouring each a glass. Before doling them out, he grabbed drastically marked down party hats and noisemakers from the grocery bag. Putting a hat on AJ and himself, he put a horn in his mouth and honked at AJ. The horn in AJ’s lips unfurled and squeaked in Tyson’s direction, leaving them both giggling, sipping on the sparkling juice.

Grabbing the extra blanket that AJ had on the bed, she headed for the sofa as Tyson clicked around on Netflix to find something to watch. She shivered under the fleece as she curled up next to him. The opening scenes of White Noise started, and the two watched intently, trying to figure out what was going on. 

As much of an Adam Driver fan AJ is, she was unable to stay awake and fell asleep shortly after the first half hour of the movie. And as the movie went on, Tyson wasn’t faring much better in the keeping awake department. The thing that woke AJ up was the song of the final credits, as she’s also a bit LCD Soundsystem fan. 

Attempting to bounce her head to the beat, it started pounding, leaving AJ shivering. Breathing in deep, her nose was clogged and she snuffled, waking Tyson instantly. Rubbing his eyes, he suddenly looked concerned.

“You feeling okay, babe?” 

AJ scrunched her eyes and sniffled loudly, wincing as she tried to stretch her arms over her head.

“I’ve been kinda tired the last day or so, I hope I’m not getting sick.”

Tyson put the back of his hand on AJ’s forehead.

“Oh no, you’re burning up. I think you’re past the getting sick level,” Tyson suddenly went into nurse mode, getting up off the sofa, “You stay put, I got this.”

“Damn it, I was working on scheduling *sniffle* places for us to go look at to live in.” AJ was more concerned about making it to the appointments.

Returning from the kitchen, large glass of water and a couple Tylenol in hand, Tyson shushed her. 

“Right now that doesn’t matter, we can find our place when you get better. Here, take these to start, and drink that whole glass of water. Gotta keep you hydrated, yeah?” Tyson gave a soft smile as he had AJ sit up to take the meds and sip on the cool water. “Will you be okay if I run back out to grab a few things from the store?”

AJ cleared her throat, nodding. Trying to not be a wimp, she attempted to get up but sat down quickly again. She motioned toward the bedroom.

“Can you grab my pillow?” Her voice was tiny.

“Of course, you stay put,” Tyson had AJ lift her head to put the pillow underneath it and tucking the blanket in around here, “I’ll be right back. Text me if you need anything, okay? Or if you want something from the store?”

“Sprite? And orange juice?”

“Of course, Eggo. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Tyson leaned down, kissing AJ’s feverish forehead.

Tyson made the quickest trip back to the same grocery store he was just at hours earlier. Grabbing a cart this time, he made his way up and down aisles, while texting his grandma.

Tyson: Hey Grandma, what’s the recipe for your chicken soup? AJ is sick, and yours always made me feel better.

A few minutes later he got a list of ingredients off his phone, they were in his cart, along with liquid NyQuil (Tyson remembered that AJ couldn’t swallow the capsules), tea, Sprite and orange juice. Tyson picked up a few other things too that he thought would make AJ more comfortable, the things that made him feel better when he was home sick. His last stop in the store was the floral counter, where he found the perfect plant for her, picking out a pot in her favorite color as well.

Rushing back home, the door was opened as silently as possible, with Tyson putting the bags on the counter. Peeking over, he found AJ snoring loudly as her nose was severely clogged. Without clanging the pots as much as he could muster, a pot of broth and shredded rotisserie chicken simmered on the one-burner stove in their small home. It wasn’t 100% his grandma’s recipe, but it was going to be as close as he could get in the time/space crunch he was working with. Tasting the broth, he added a little more garlic, and some extra spices from the cupboard. 

With a coughing fit, AJ woke up, looking around at the living room, not remembering she fell asleep there. Quickly, her nose, albeit stuffed up, smelled something delicious coming from the space behind her in the kitchen. Tyson jumped up, looking around the corner from the table to make sure AJ was alright. Once knowing she was good, he offered to help her get to the table as dinner was almost ready.

AJ sat down, still wrapped up in the blanket as two bowls of chicken noodle soup were ladeled up. Looking at the breakfast bar, a small green and white mottled leaf plant in a bright red ceramic pot caught her eye. Amused, Tyson smirked, pointing at the plant.

“I saw it and thought of you. I think it’s a… pothos? It’s a Snow Queen, according to the tag. And with everything you’ve been through in the last two months, you’re MY Snow Queen.” 

The smile that graced AJ’s face from the explanation warmed Tyson’s heart. Twice now AJ had given up most of her plants when moving to a new place, so he was hoping he could help start a new collection for their new place in Buffalo.

“Now, eat up... It isn’t quite the recipe, but pretty close. Grandma Emily sends her love and hopes you feel better soon.”

Taking a slurp of the broth and a noodle, AJ closed her eyes, letting the hot liquid ease down her throat. She appreciated that the carrots were soft. Even more appreciated is the fact that Tyson skipped the celery that is often found in chicken and noodles all together, as it’s a veg that AJ refuses to eat. Slowly, the bowl of soup in front of her disappeared, helping her shivers disappear a bit as well. 

Once their bowls were empty (Tyson might have had a second one), AJ attempted to get up and grab both of them, heading to the sink.

“Huh uh, you go either to the couch or bed… I got this,” Tyson gently took the bowls from AJ’s hands, “You need to rest.”

“But you cooked, I need to do the dishes,” AJ squeaked out.

Tyson put the bowls and silverware on the counter next to the sink, “Not this time. Next time, when I’m sick, you can cook and do the dishes while I rest, you know? I got you babe, you’re benched the rest of the  night.” 

AJ frowned, but then chuckled at his choice of words. Finding her way back to the chaise part of the sofa, she propped herself up with her pillow to help with her cough and congestion. Tyson looked over the counter to see her clicking on something on Hulu, starting an episode. The opening credits hadn’t even started, and the snores from her stuffy nose were already happening as he filled the sink with hot water to wash the dishes. He let her doze as he finished up.

Looking at his watch, Tyson grabbed a bottle from the bag of groceries that still sat on the end of the counter from earlier.  Popping off the little plastic shot glass, he eyeballed the red syrupy liquid that came out until it was at the top line.

“Hey baby girl, I need you to wake up,” Tyson gingerly touched AJ’s arm, “C’mon, it’s medicine time.”

AJ grumbled and opened her eyes, sensing the vile red liquid in the shot glass was not indeed a tasty shot. Finally awake enough, the cup was put in her fingers and then turned her lip up at it in a cringe, knowing how bad it was going to taste. But getting up the courage, she attempted to shoot it as fast as possible, taking it in two gulps. The horrific taste left her gagging slightly.

“IT IS SOOO BAD, ewwww,” AJ was being a little overdramatic, flailing a bit. She got quiet, thinking about something for a few minutes, forgetting the taste that was still lingering in her mouth. “Do you want me to sleep on the sofa? I don’t want to get you sick babe.”

To be honest, she probably already had exposed him with that make-up New Year’s kiss. 

Tyson thought about it as well, coming to the same conclusion. “I want you to sleep where you’ll feel most comfortable, where you’ll actually get rest. If that’s the sofa where you can prop yourself up, sleep there. If you want to sleep in bed, by all means.”

“But you need your rest too… you’re the one that has to play Saturday, and practice, and…” AJ got quiet, and started staring at a spot on the floor, although nothing was there.

The NyQuil was hitting, and Tyson could tell.

“Even if you choose the bed, I’m staying there with you. I think you’re going to be pretty out of it here quick anyway.” Tyson smiled as AJ completely zoned out, intensely looking at seemingly nothing.

Leaving AJ in her cold medicine-induced trance, he took the few moments to grab a pair of pajama pants and a tanktop for AJ. Before he had her decide where she wanted to crash for the night, he made sure she was comfy in what clothes he picked out. Eventually, AJ indicated she wanted to sleep in bed, requesting a pile of pillows to keep her head up and hopefully not coughing all night. She was still coherent enough she was worried that Tyson wouldn’t get any sleep, but he had one more trick up his sleeve, or rather, in the bag in the kitchen.

While not his favorite scent, it was something that always helped him when he was younger and struggling with a cold. Opening the little blue jar, he scrunched his nose at the smell as his fingers swept up a dollop of VapoRub and smeared it on AJ’s exposed skin above her collar of her top, and put a little just under her nose. The goo was already doing it’s thing as her nose started to run a bit, and she didn’t feel like coughing. An extra box of lotioned tissues was put on her nightstand to make sure her nose wasn’t going to get all red and cracked from blowing it too much.

Tyson really had thought of everything.

AJ was out like a light, and a groggy mess come morning. Tyson was up early, getting ready for the morning’s practice, when he heard AJ honking while blowing her nose in the other room. Peeking in, he noticed that she had a little more color to her face (that wasn’t the dark circles under her eyes). She caught him checking in, and noticed how tired HE looked.

“Please tell me I didn’t keep you up all night?” AJ croaked out, throat dry from sleeping with her mouth open to breathe as her nose was still stuffy.

“Naw, I ended up sleeping on the sofa after you kinda starfished in bed. We have this giant king size bed here and you may be tiny, but… yeah. You kinda took over.” Tyson smiled and chuckled, just happy that she did get some sleep. “I just wasn’t used to the sofa, that’s all. I’ll be fine with a nap after practice. You feel like some more soup for breakfast? I can heat you up a bowl if you’d like.”

With a nod, Tyson jumped up and grabbed a bowl and the extra soup from the fridge, heating it up as he finished his own bowl of cereal. AJ made her way slowly to the little dining table, sitting down and rubbing her head. A glass of water and shot of DayQuil was already waiting for her. She had been single so long prior to Tyson coming into her life, she couldn’t even remember the last time she had someone to take care of her when she felt crummy, and despite the obvious feeling ill, she felt mentally better knowing someone was looking out for her.

Bowl of soup in front of her, Tyson kissed AJ’s forehead while putting the spoon on the wooden table.

“Well you don’t feel like a raging inferno this morning,” He kissed her forehead again just because, “feeling better at least?”

She truly was, although not one-hundred percent. But was happy that at least her eyes and ears didn’t feel like she was cooking from the inside out. The soup felt amazing, helping her face and throat hurt less.

“I’ll be back in a few hours. Rest! And stay hydrated, your OJ and Sprite are in the fridge. Text me if you need anything.” Tyson put on his backpack and blew a kiss from the doorway.

Finishing up her soup, AJ put on the latest season of Letterkenny and grabbed a big glass, filling it half and half between the soda and juice. Settling in on the sofa, she sipped the drink and laughed at the jokes. A text from Laura came in asking how she was feeling - Tyson obviously said something to Grandma Emily and word likely spread. The two chatted back and forth a few minutes until sleep took hold after the warmth of the soup and blanket lulled her to sleep.

Not knowing what he was going to come back to, but figuring from the lack of texts, Tyson was quiet as a mouse once home from practice and again the grocery store. When AJ had emerged on the other side of her migraines, she always craved a handful of things, so he figured this would be no different and picked them up. Leaning down over the arm of the sofa, the back of his hand grazed her forehead again, making sure the fever never came back. She stirred slightly, but was out like a light again. He took advantage and snagged about an hour’s worth of nap time in bed, without her sprawling limbs taking up the space.

Until they weren’t, because that’s exactly what woke him up. But AJ’s limbs weren’t sprawling, they were curling up into him, wrapping around his torso. She smelled a bit of another shot of DayQuil and some VapoRub, but he didn’t care. The fact she got up, took some more meds, and willingly climbed into bed were signs she was on the up and up.

Chapter 37 is posted! https://at.tumblr.com/brainrattlers/play-it-cool-tyson-jost-37n/hxfl33gkhrv2