#you are popular indeed Eric

[atimefordragons]

ERIC SAADE PERFORMING AT EUROVISION 2024 SEMI-FINAL 1 proudly wearing his Keffiyeh

[merakiui]

Mera I saw you mention stepson Vil and I KNOW you were thinking more about that..... aside from the mr hot dad centric thoughts...

Anon, you know me too well...... 🫣 I was indeed thinking more about him, but I didn't want to take the spotlight away from our beloved dilf hehe. <3

Stepson Vil.......... imagine him with the sweetest, cutest milf. Soft with age, gentle and kind, always cheering for your husband and stepson in their every endeavor, the type to give cheek smooches while wearing lipstick, and Eric laughs and keeps it on for as long as he can. It's so obvious you and Eric are in love, and Vil's very happy for the both of you. He thinks you're a wonderful stepmother. But,,, he wants to be able to keep your lipstick imprint on his cheek and boast it proudly and happily like his father does. >_< but if he did that it wouldn't look the same. It would look strange and a little too attached. Plus, since Vil is young and popular with a certain type of audience, they would go wild if they saw such a scandalizing thing!! Not that he really cares.

Stepson Vil who actually feels jealous of his father when the two of you have your date nights. Vil wants to take you somewhere nice, too. Or somewhere slow and private if you're tired of the spotlight. Anywhere is perfect so long as it's with you.

Stepson Vil who mixes up the most potent aphrodisiac and plans to slip it into your morning tea. You'll be so hot, so needy, so delirious as you cling to him and mumble about how you don't feel good. Calling him "honey" in that soothing voice of yours because you have a tendency to call him and his father by adorable terms of endearment. Naturally, Vil must live up to his pet name and be sweeter than honey when he helps you to the bedroom, assuring you that you'll be okay. Just trust him. He knows how to handle this. He's studied it in school, after all.

Or stepson Vil who takes time off to spend it with you when his father is traveling for the film he's going to be starring in........ I think he's so gross behind closed doors. Lusting over you in secret, feeling as if he has to prove himself to be better than his father, stealing your undergarments, masturbating to photos of you (all of these photos aren't even lewd; he's just down bad).

ALSO ALSO!!!!! Stepson Vil body swap........... Vil who wakes up in his father's body...... Eric who takes the opportunity to explore life through Vil's eyes and know what it's like to be young again while Vil is taking advantage of the fact that he's technically his father to get closer to you!!!!

[jewbeloved]

hihihiiii!!!!

can I request the main 4 with an fem s/o who is a actor in a famous tv show? I love ur work SM!!!

Team Stan with an s/o who is an actor in a TV show📺🎬🎬

Warnings: None

Gender: Female

💙 Stan Marsh 🌀

This boy probably never knew you were an actor of a TV show until he was watching Terrence and Phillip and an ad of the show you're acting for came up on the TV.

He was a little annoyed at first because this random TV show out of nowhere interrupted his session of watching Terrance and Phillip.

He was about to change the channel back to Terrence and Phillip until he saw an actress come up to the front of the stage and announce the next episodes they're going to be playing in.

Stan immediately without another second recognized you by your voice as soon as you started talking.

You're an actor of a TV show? Why didn't you tell him? How is this even possible?

When he met up with his friends at school, they told him about this famous TV show that is going around in south park and it's the one that had you as an actor in it.

And that's when Stan saw you organizing your locker for your next class, mostly everyone in the school didn't know you were the same actress that was on TV.

You had no idea how much Stan enjoys watching the show, he mostly only watches the episodes that features you in it.

Stan wonders if he should or should not confront you now that he knows you're an actor.

He will confront later, for now he just wants to enjoy your presence and hearing your voice in this TV show that he's now going to get addicted to watching to.💙💙💙💙💙💙

💚 Kyle Broflovski 🌲

When his mom heard this new TV show that has gotten really popular recently, she had to check out it before she lets her son watch it.

And let's pray that she doesn't find anything wrong with it or else she probably might complain and start a war with the state or country that owns this TV show you're performing for 😭😭😭😭

But anyways, just like Stan. Kyle never knew you were a famous actress for the TV show that has gotten popular.

That was until he saw everybody in school crowding you and talking about how they saw you in the TV show they watched.

Of course Kyle didn't believe it but went to go check it out for himself to see if everyone was lying.

He was actually surprised when he saw you acting as a character in one of the episodes, I guess everyone was telling the truth after all but why did you never tell him about this?

But he brushed it off since you probably weren't comfortable enough to tell him so he won't hold you accountable for that. But he is still curious.

Even if you didn't tell him you were an actress of the TV show, he didn't mind it either way.

This TV show probably might be even better then Terrance and Phillip 💚💚💚💚💚

❤️ Eric Cartman 🍔

Okay kewl.

You actually told him about it yourself and he responded with his normal 'kewl'. It may seem like Cartman doesn't care but he actually watched the TV show you're an actress for.

If the company that owns the TV show is holding an intermission standby where fans of the show can come in and meet the actresses. He's definitely going to go to it so he can see you.

You were actually surprised to see that Cartman came. You don't know how big of a fan he is of the TV show.

If his friends find out they'll probably tease him about it with Cartman also denying and saying that he thinks the TV show is shit and whatnot.

Even if you talk to Cartman about it, he'll still be in denial but you know your boyfriend's ways, he definitely likes it.❤️❤️❤️❤️🏵️

🧡 Kenny Mccormick 🐁

You indeed also told Kenny about it, but he probably won't be able to watch it since the television he has is really old and rusty and it doesn't always work.

But he is also amazed to see you actually being an actress of a show that has gotten popular in his school even his friends are also talking about it.

Kenny probably begs Cartman to let him use his TV so he can watch the episode that has recently aired that involves you in it.

Cartman of course has to be an ass about it so his mom gladly allowed Kenny to use the TV.

And when Kenny is watching the episodes, he barely even sleeps because he doesn't want to miss a single moment when you are on screen. The mf needs some sleep 😭😭

So you decided to step in and help Kenny get some sleep.🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

[scotianostra]

On September 8th 1912, Alexander MacKendrick, the US born Scottish film director, screenwriter and teacher was born.

I’ve said it before, just because you weren’t actually born in Scotland it doesn’t make you any less Scottish than others. Many things can attribute to you being Scottish and Proud, people like Elsie Inglis or Eric Liddell, neither of whom were born, or indeed died here are both celebrated and championed as Scottish.

In my opinion Alexander MacKendrick falls into the same category, his parents had emigrated to the US and after the death of his father his mother reluctantly gave up custody of the seven year old Alexander to his Grandfather, who took him back to Glasgow, where he grew up. attended Hillhead High School from 1919 to 1926 and then went on to spend three years at the Glasgow School of Art.

MacKendrick’s first work was in animation, and got work in London working on ads for the cinema, he wrote his first film with fellow Scot, playwright, and his cousin, Roger MacDougall, Midnight Menace was released in 1937, it was a minor hit, but it got them noticed, although the war years saw him shooting numerous short documentaries and propaganda films.

After the war he found work with the famous Ealing studios and in 1948 made his directing debut with a film that would endear him to Scots the world over, Whisky Galore. Amongst the films that he wrote were The Maggie, about an American businessman in Scotland is conned into shipping a valuable load of cargo to a Scottish island on a Clyde Puffer, MacKendrick took inspiration for this story from Neil Munro’s stories about Para Handy and The Vital Spark, like Whisky Galore beforehand, Ealing studios filmed most of the film on location in Scotland, this time on Islay.

MacKendrick teamed up with his cousin, MacDougall and John Dighton for one of my favourite films of the post war, black & white era, The Man in the White Suit, which was also a big hit and one of the most popular films of its time.

Hollywood came calling and in 1957 he directed and co-wrote the screenplay for Sweet Smell of Success, a vehicle for the highly popular Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis. He was praised for his directing and the film is still popular nowadays, a film site I read often, Rotten Tomatoes, gives it a 98%, few films on the site get that high a rating.

After just three more films, he was offered an academic job as the Dean of the Film Department of the California Institute of the Arts, which he accepted and held from 1969, Alexander MacKendrick suffered from emphysema for many years and this stopped him returning home to Scotland, he died of pneumonia in 1993, aged 81.

Alexander Mackendrick may have been born and died in the USA, but I think he deserves his place as one of the many others not actually born here, who we would would use the term, Scottish & Proud.

Pics include Mackendrick on the set of The Sweet Smell of Success with Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis and on the set of The Maggie, set in Glasgow.

[aquitainequeen]

Aside from news on how things possibly stand for a Shadow and Bone/Six Of Crows renewal (basically no news is good news, keep going with the campaign!) there's also a short interview with Eric Heisserer, which sheds some interesting light indeed on the writing and making of Season Two, and it explains a lot of things:

Here are the questions posed for Eric's interview: 

"I'd like to know if there's a way to liberate the pre-written scripts if Netflix doesn't plan on using them" - Christian Thalmann (creator of the Fjerdan language)

"In my view, 'The Crows' have the potential to revitalize the Grishaverse. Unlike "Shadow and Bone", this new show could rely less on elaborate visual effects and offer a fresh narrative angle. Heist-themed shows are currently in high demand, adding to its appeal. Am I mistaken in thinking that our focus should primarily be on 'The Crows'? The likelihood of 'Shadow and Bone' returning seems slim, but I've always believed that 'The Crows' had a greater change of success." - Joleen

"If/when the spinoff is back (finger crossed) was there anything he had planned that would completely surprised, for good reasons obviously, the audience? And we should hold our breath for that twist/turn??" - Rti

"What are the difficulties you mentioned about filming S2 in that Reddit comment? Don't want to sound negative, but what went wrong?!" - Mitra

"How long was the sizzle reel ready to go but he had to keep it secret?" - Discord Team

"I would love to know his perspective on the impact of streaming on storytelling. Would we have had to launch a campaign like this 10-15 years ago for a show like this? What are the main points when it comes to streaming models and telling unique, diverse stories?" - Acorn_Bri

Eric's Responses: 

1) "There is a way to liberate the Crows scripts from Netflix, yes, and in fact that would be part of the buyout for another streamer when acquiring the rights to Leigh's novels. It would be a package deal." 

2) "The focus on the Crows is helpful in two ways -- first, those scripts were written, which lets us get a running start at production, and second, just from casual analysis of book sales, it's far more popular worldwide than other Grishaverse titles. So it will be a bigger draw for viewers. The trap though is the cost. It's more grounded than S&B, sure, but the Ice Court is a unique location that either requires a really costly set build, or set extensions and VFX work to make it look authentic, which means nearly every shot of the heist once our crew gets there could be a VFX shot. My guess is the budget would be on par with S2 of S&B.

3) "Yes, there is a surprise or two in the Crows spinoff season, but overall it's as close to the novel as we could make it. And Leigh's novel is such an amazing story with natural cliffhangers that work as episode "out" moments, etc. I think the biggest move we made was to feature every single Crow's backstory to go with their episode. So that was fun/sad/exciting." 

4) S2 kept throwing challenges at us, and it started long before we got to production. Like months earlier, when we learned the location we needed for the Little Palace in S1 was closed to us due to the pandemic. So right there we lost out on a ton of S&S scenes, because it wouldn't be a match. But we also had written a compelling side arc for Ivan and Fedyor in S2, these two Grisha trapped on either side of the civil war. Each of them played a big role in the story, but Simon (Ivan) had a feature film that overlapped with our schedule and couldn't move, which meant we lost him. So Daegan worked to revise the season keeping Fedyor and leaving Ivan like dead from the end of S1. He was Kirigan's right-hand man for the season. But poor Julian caught COVID just when we were to shoot out most of his scenes, and after tyring to ake the schedule work, we had to come to the brutal truth that there wasn't a way to keep Fedyor in the story. Our only option was to bring him in at like episode 8, which would've been too little, too late. 

COVID continued to be a monster all through production, requiring us to juggle schedules and miss out on days, and it was madness for the cast, who had to pivot with almost no notice whenever someone was ill and quarantined. This isn't unique to our show of course---it happened with everyone. It's just the challenge. 

Beyond that, we had been given the go to write a special standalone story: The Demon in the Wood. This would have been released on its own around Christmas, like a BBC special but for Netflix, and would help bridge seasons 1 and 2 by showing a little of what Kirigan was doing before we seem him in S2, and also provide more character context, etc. Christina Strain wrote that and did great work adapting Leigh's short story. But it never went the distance. 

There was a lot more to S2 as well, scenes and side stories and little interactions that were lost due to budget or time restrictions. Again, not unique to our show, but agonizing all the same, since what you get is not what we had written, or in some cases even shot. I'm incredibly proud of the cast and the team, and Daegan did the heaviest lifting while I was off finishing the Crows writing room. But we had a lot more thrown at us." 

5) That sizzle reel was put together four months before the second season dropped. 

6) Streaming is a challenge to serialized storytelling in that it looks at 'content' often with a different agenda and uses metrics that can take a creative issue and exacerbate it. Like in broadcast, if viewership and thus ad revenue has slightly declined, the show will ned to find a way to make their 22 or 13 episodes on a proportionally smaller budget. What is not done is reduce episode order. But if a streaming series underperforms or doesn't meet expectations, an the streamer doesn't cancel it outright, the go-to budget reduction idea is to reduce episode order for the next season. When you just have 8 episodes and continue to deal with notes to compress, pace up, or omit for what you'd scripted for a longer season, reducing further to six or four episodes is exhausting. 

This happens due to a slide in autonomy from what the showrunner position has been. What the chatter on the picket lines revealed to us is that most showrunners today don't get to see their own show's budget, and thus don't get the freedom to make budgetary decisions that could better protect the story they're telling. More and more, showrunners not at a legacy network aren't the final say or at times even involved in hiring key roles. I don't have any ideas that aren't already in contract language, I just see how the job on this side has gotten harder and there isn't much of a way for us to make it easier for each other like we could with having writers on set or in post production, because the streaming model has made that impossible." 

[davidshawnsown]

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

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

SOMEWHERE IN POLTAVA OBLAST

SUNDAY MAY 22, 2022

1400H EEST

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Thanks sir."

Then Eric got on the cellphone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"1st Platoon commander?"

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

"2nd Platoon is led by whose officer?"

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

"3rd platoon commanding officer is.."

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

"Your PAO chief?"

"CPT Biko Skalla."

"The A Company first sergeant?"

"SFC Malachi Mitchell."

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

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

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

"Noted, sir."

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

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

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

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

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

"You bet we are, Scott."

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Byrnes out sir."

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

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

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

"Affirmative, they will be there soon."

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

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

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

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

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

@kiinghanalister @travisdermotts @lukeexplorer

[akuaya-stories-tl]

[SR] [Eric] Night of Kickoff Party

Chapter 1: Living Up To This Brilliance

Oscar: It's almost time to start. Ugh, so tiresome.

Eric: ...

Oscar: What's wrong, youth. Fixing up your earrings, are you dolling up yourself for the party?

Look at you, you're about to get popular with the ladies.

Eric: It's not that. I'm not styling myself to attract the opposite sex.

This pair of earrings are the symbol of the Sharlet Family. It's inherited from generations to generations.

When I wear these, I have to live up to this brilliance... so I have to act like a praiseworthy human, that's what I think.

I have to conduct myself appropriately as a member of the Sharlet Family in this party.

Because it's possible that a mistake on my part will bring shame to the Aquilegia Empire and the human race as a whole...

Oscar: Praiseworthy human huh. That's impossible for me, felt like I'd change to another person.

You should forget about that sometimes too, isn't it nice eating good food and having some fun for once?

Eric: Jeez, Sir Oscar. Can you please behave more seriously?

Oscar: Do you think the word "serious" exists in my dictionary?

Eric: If it doesn't, then write it down properly. A dictionary without the entry "serious" is a defective one.

Oscar: Your dictionary doesn't even have the word "sloppy" in it. Whatever, I rarely use something like a dictionary in the first place.

At best, I'd use it as my napping pillow. I don't care what words are inside.

Eric: Sigh... Sir Oscar, will you be alright with things this way now?

Oscar: Probably not. I'm planning to slip out midway after this, see you later.

Eric: Don't "see you later" me! It's inappropriate to skip out an important event like this!

Seriously, Sir Oscar is the same as always.

Huh, but... my chest felt a bit more relieved now...?

Maybe it's a good thing Sir Oscar is here with me...

Oscar: Sigh, smoking is prohibited inside the venue? I really wanna smoke a cigar~

Eric: ...Still, Sir Oscar is too relaxed.

Eric: ...In the end, Sir Oscar went outside to smoke a cigarette.

Captain conducts himself very sociably. It's impossible for the current me to blend with the environment like that.

I got to act quickly if anything happens. I don't know what the other factions are thinking after all...

Fiori: Oh, Eric~♪

Eric: !

Chapter 2: Living Up To This Brilliance

Fiori: Long time no see, Eric~ Are you holding well?

Eric: M-Miss Fiori...

Fiori: Hey, how do I look? Am I cute?

Eric: C-Cute...!? Umm, that's...

Uhh. I'm nervous when talking to ladies...

I know that Miss Fiori is a boy, but I still can't help but see her as a girl and end up looking away because of it...

Fiori: Ahaha! Eric, you're so innocent it's funny~♪

Eric: Please don't make fun of me, Miss Fiori...!

Fiori: Sorry. But be real, me and the venue are beautiful, right?

I planned the decorations. And I gave my best shot at this~

Eric: Yes, indeed. It's incredibly gorgeous...

...Mm?

What's with those Devils over there. They're looking at Miss Fiori with contempt...

Could it be that they're conspiring something sinister? ...Am I overthinking this...

Fiori: What's the matter, Eric?

Eric: Ah, umm...

It doesn't seem like Miss Fiori has noticed it. Should I let this one go to avoid a fuss...

...No, but...

I can't leave this matter alone...

Excuse me, Miss Fiori. I need to go outside for a moment.

Fiori: Mm? Oh, alright~

Eric: Sigh, seriously...

To think there are those that talk badly of Miss Fiori, saying she's a shameless person who stays in a Devil's castle after she abandoned her homeland.

But I already gave them a warning. They shouldn't be able to pull out any tricks now, at least...

Fiori: Welcome back, Eric~

Eric: Wah, Miss Fiori...!

Fiori: Fufu. Thanks, Eric.

Eric: !

Does Miss Fiori know all this time...? No, don't jump into conclusion first...

...W-What are you referring to?

Fiori: Hm? I just wanna say it ♪

Eric, you surprisingly had it in you.

Eric: Thank... Thank you for the compliment.

I still think I have plenty of immature points.

But I guess I managed to do something that lived up to the name of the Sharlet Family for just a little.

Fiori: Hey, there's a ton of feasts over there. Let's go eat it together.

Eric: Alright. Let's go, Miss Fiori.

[Fin]

[adultswim2021]

Tim & Eric Nite Live #9: “Dunnder the Covers” | February 12, 2008 | S01E09

A very really strong episode with a few really sublime moments. It’s a very romantic night in the Night Live studio. This one starts out the way every episode starts out, with the high-energy opening sequence prefaced by an announcer billboarding tonight’s guests. There are two key differences on this episode; no Ben Hur (it sounds like DJ Douggpound doing a Ben Hur impression but I’m not certain) and also the guest announced for this episode, John Mayer, turns out to be REAL - in every other episode the announced guests are totally bogus, like Dave Chappelle’s twitter account. 

The set and our “the boys” are festooned in Valentines Day regalia. Tim and Eric are wearing blonde wigs and pink makeup to appear more lovely. This is, indeed, the Valentines Day episode. Tim and Eric begin by competing over who got the most Valentines sent to them, and take turns reading them aloud. Tim’s first one reads something like “what does your sex look like?” which seems like a discarded or blown cue to go into a bit that happens later.

Both of them are actually quite popular, and are ecstatic for most of the messages they receive. Things take a turn when Eric reads one that says “Dear Eric are you into threesome”, Eric, completely pervily stoked, looks up from the valentine to say “yes!” completely beside himself. His enthusiasm wanes when he reads that it’s from a guy, and it continues “my uncle and I want to experiment”. Nasty! Also Tim starts pouting because it appears that Eric is getting slightly more love letters than he is. What’s a Nite Live co-host to do?

This isn’t just vanity; this is an actual contest that they are having wherein the winner gets to go on a Tunnel of Love ride with a beautiful young woman named Gabby whose in the studio. The loser has to go “Dunnder the Covers”, meaning they have to get into a bed with Richard Dunn and canoodle. We are introduced to “Dunnder the Covers” with a title sequence sung by Dunn himself. It’s literally the hardest he’s ever had to work for the show, belting out the title “Dunnder the Covers!” to the tune of “Pop Goes the Weasel”. It is haunting, and it’s one of my favorite things ever in a Tim and Eric project. So funny. 

Gabby is actually waiting with Dunn, so she is effectively Dunnder the covers at the beginning of the show. Richard Dunn seems genuinely horned up, and his sweet talk is just as haunting as his title song. There’s a moment in here where Tim encourages the couple to go as far as they want to, and that the entire studio has agreed to allow them the space to actually make love during the show if they want. It’s insanely funny, but a tad dicey by today’s standards; putting a woman on the spot like that. It’s an obvious joke, but it’s not a “great look” as the kids say. I’m guessing that this is why they elected not to include this bit in the abridged clip of the show that they used in their recent Valentines Day Watch-along.

Tim is egged on to demonstrate “having sex” by Eric, who accuses Tim of being a virgin. Tim stands up in his seat and obliges by lowering his pants and squeezing his balls (back to the camera, but Eric can supposedly see the whole thing). His idea of sex (really masturbation) is to squeeze his balls so hard that eventually sperms come out. Tim asks for a paper towel and acts arrogant towards his staff for not having another chair for him ready to go. Alas, his original chair now has cum on it. 

John Mayer is the guest, and he’s real. I remember despising him in 2008, and I think I considered his appearance her a bit of an affront to what Tim and Eric normally do. He would actually go on to appear in an episode of Awesome Show. He may have been shooting his sketch that very day. In retrospect, he’s perfectly serviceable, and he has really good instincts for somebody who isn’t particularly funny: he spends most of the time there just sitting in silence. In 2023, a time where I no longer consider him a threat, I gotta say he comes off just fine in this. I’m not pissed off about it.

John Mayer and Eric have bought Tim a prostitute in another gag that is probably considered dicey by today’s standards. The woman they procured is seemingly a muscular black man in drag. I hesitate to say that she’s a transwoman because that muddles the time-honored (until somewhat recently [unless you’re a Louder with Crowder fan]) comedy trope of a big, muscular, masculine man masquerading as a “natural” woman and the fundamental understanding that “this is obviously NOT a woman” being the butt of the joke. It’s not as bad as it could be (Tim is only ever enthusiastic about his date and never experiences gay or trans panic), but it’s notable because I don’t think this sort of humor defines Tim and Eric and it’s more of an exception. The fact that this bit is also excised from the recent Valentines Live Stream is rather telling. Different times!

Again: you are not a bad person if you are older and you remember humor like this fondly and still laugh at it. All you have to do is treat trans people with respect. If this seems like a tough sell to you, just remember: you could become bimbofied at any moment by a magic book you find on the floor planted by the Biden administration and it could cause you to become transamorous, so being nice to them today could pay off for you tomorrow. Just something to think about.

Michael Q. Schmidt plays cupid in a skimpy diaper, and he shows up to tally up the valentines. Tim actually winds up winning the Tunnel of Love ride with Gabby, but opts to take his ride with Shelly. Eric must go Dunnder the covers. Gabby is seen bored in the green room with nothing to do. And the credits play over John Mayer just sitting in his seat, looking like he’s contemplating his life. 

This is a very good episode, though I understand if the presence of transphobia, or worse, John Mayer spoils it for you. I do think the strongest part of the episode is everything that happens before John Mayer shows up. One of the more notable things missing from the episode are Skype calls (which didn’t appear in the politics episode either - there was one in the HD episode but it was during the picture getting squished), and also David Liebe-Hart and James Quall. I’m not sure if they were dis-invited to this taping to protect Mayer or perhaps Gabby. One thing is for sure, we could all use a break from these awful men.

MAIL BAG

please answer this ASAP: do you like French Stewart or do you find him annoying like rainn wilson

GOOD QUESTION. The fact is, I haven’t encountered French Stewart to the same extent as I have Rainn Wilson. Rainn Wilson was part of the cast of a television series that I watched the entirety of. French Stewart, on the other hand, has been part of multiple series and films that I’ve only looked at momentarily, and never really spent a whole lot of time with. I’ve also not heard French Stewart be an unfunny douchebag on a DVD commentary track, or witnessed him inserting himself into comedy programs that I revered. 

I guess this means Rainn Wilson is the winner. I have no beef with French Stewart, but I’m also not familiar with him. I hope this answers your question. Thanks.

[fuckyeahvanhalen86-95]

Gene Simmons recently spoke to Louder to offer his reflections on the late, great Eddie Van Halen. In the piece, Simmons recalls witnessing early Van Halen shows, his friendship with EVH and, in the process, dismisses comparisons to the late electric guitar icon’s own hero, Eric Clapton.

Instead, says Simmons, “Eddie was a complete guitar symphony in his own right” and, as such, the frontman maintains EVH had more in common with classical composers than blues-based players.

“What really intrigued me about Van Halen was that they came out of nowhere,” says Simmons. “Edward has talked about being a fan of [Eric] Clapton. I’m sorry, I don’t see that. Where other guitarists were inspired by B.B. King or Albert King, Edward was playing majors and minors and flat-thirds. What he did was closer to classical music.”

Elsewhere in his Louder interview, Simmons recalls the first time he saw Van Halen perform (at Holywood club The Starwood in 1976) and says that - contrary to popular myth - he did not discover the band, stating "I just happened to be there."

That popular myth, of course, may have been down to Simmons previously telling Howard Stern “I discovered Van Halen” – but either way, he was there.

“I saw them that night and was left incredulous,” recalls Simmons in his Louder interview. “I stood at the front of the stage and couldn’t believe my eyes and ears. This was one man making all of these sounds with his bare human hands?”

At that point, Simmons says, Van Halen’s talent was already clear, and the guitarist had already started trying to protect some of his trade secrets.

“In those early days Ed would sometimes stand with his back to the audiences because he didn’t want to give his tricks away,” remembers the Kiss icon. “But even if you saw how he played those licks, how could you possibly emulate them?”

Later in the piece, the frontman argues that the quality of Van Halen’s compositions is often overlooked, and says he is concerned about modern audiences overlooking the legacy of the guitar icon.

“As much as his death was upsetting, it also made me a little furious that so many of our so-called ‘younger generation’ remain unaware of his talents,” says Simmons.

“For fuck’s sake, parents should be slapping mobile phones out of their kids’ hands and telling them to check out this guy. Our millennials need to know about the most important musician since Jimi Hendrix. There will never be another like him.”

Most millennials are now pushing 40, so Simmons' rant is seemingly actually aimed at Gen Z, or maybe just yunguns’ in general.

Regardless, given that cohort seems to contain some of the more technically gifted and musically open-minded players we’ve seen yet – not least of them Eddie Van Halen’s own son, Wolfgang – perhaps that legacy is not in as much danger as the Kiss man fears.

Indeed, Eddie Van Halen’s Hot For Teacher Kramer recently sold for almost $4,000,000, suggesting he’s hardly fallen off the radar….

To read Gene Simmons' full interview, head to Louder.

[xazz]

Masks 1/1

Category: Gen

Wordcount: 2.4k

Characters: Eric Moonheart, Savant-3, Gup (hive), Ghostie (Ghost)

Additional Tags: Festival of the Lost, Costumes, Dress Up, Trick or Treating, unorthodox families, sometimes a family is a hive son an awoken mom and an EXO uncle okay 

I was DETERMINED to get this done for Halloween. Gup deserves to go outside but if he shows his face it'd be BAD. So Festival of the Lost is all about wearing masks. Perfect cover for a little Hive boy to go play in the City! As a reminder Gup sounds not unlike Steven Universe lol.

You can find links to read it in the reblog (if you don’t wanna read it here) bc tumblr is Like That about links. Reblogs are super good and if you liked it you should reblog it!

----

Eric woke up to being poked lightly on the cheek. “What’s the matter baby?” she asked sleepily, not opening her eyes.

“Its Festival of the Lost,” Gup said.

One of her yellow eyes opened. “Is it?”

“It is,” Ghostie said.

With a groan she pulled herself into a sitting position. “Okay. Lemme make some coffee,” and she got out of bed and went to the kitchen. The little Hive, who honestly wasn’t that little anymore and was almost as tall as Eric (not hard either), followed after her. She started a pot of coffee and looked down at Gup who was in his usual comfy clothes to hide the fact that he was indeed a little monster. “So what do you want to be for the Festival?” she asked him, leaning against the counter.

“I want to be an Eliksni,” he said.

“Oh yeah? How come?” Gup had otherwise no interest in Eliksni so it was a surprise he wanted to be one.

“Maybe if I look like one I can have an alien friend,” he said cheerfully and Eric looked at him so softly. She didn’t care what Eris, or Guppy, or anyone else said; Gup was a nice young boy. He just had the face of a monster.

“Okay. I think we can manage that,” she said. She had a feeling Eliksni would be popular this year in the City like it had been last year. Though she was sure the masks would be more endearing than the horrible ones they’d worn last year. “I’ll go to the store and pick up some supplies once I have coffee and you have breakfast.”

“Yeah!” Gup cried, both arms up. “I want sausage, and waffles,” he said.

“Well you’re in luck, we have both,” and Eric dug both out of the freezer. Four breakfast sausages and three frozen waffles went into the big toaster oven. By then there was enough coffee for Eric to pour herself a cup. She fixed it the usual way and sipped it while waiting for Gup’s breakfast.

“What are you going to go as, mom?” Gup asked her, sitting at the counter politely waiting for breakfast.

“Hmm. I’ll have to see. Savant and I usually match you know,” she said thoughtfully. “What about you, Ghostie?” she asked her Ghost.

Ghostie looked thoughtful and then he zipped off. She heard him bring out his collection of old shells or ones he had in rotation and move them around. Then he appeared again a few moments later no longer wearing his usual plush shell but now with a single metal ring around his core vertically. “I’m going as Orion!” he said cheerfully.

Eric giggled. “But Orion has more than one ring and they spin,” she said.

“Oh I’m Orion when Savant is dead, or talking through him,” Ghostie said seriously and Eric laughed. Gup also laughed. Savant was going to lose it when he saw Ghostie.

The toaster oven dinged and Eric took Gup’s breakfast out. On went a big wedge of butter and she put it in front of the Hive. While he ate she went to put on some casual clothes for going down to the City. Didn’t take her long. She finished her first cup of coffee while she got dressed.

“Okay bud I’ll be back in a little bit. I’m going to head down to get us craft material for our masks,” Eric said as she finished putting on a pair of earrings. They were dangly, the kind she liked.

“Okay!”

She left the apartment and headed for the top of the Tower, Ghostie floating in her wake.

—

Gup took a whole four days to make his Eliksni mask and the rest of his outfit. Eric and Ghostie helped him as needed but he mostly did it himself. Eric was very proud of how crafty he was. Eric wasn’t at all and had just bought one of the popular masks this year from Eva. There was a weird fruit theme this year and she and Savant were going as a couple of blueberries.

Different parts of the City did candy giving different days of the Festival so by the end of it every child in the City had a ‘year’s’ supply of candy. Realistically it lasted maybe two months. That and most of the Festival was just dressing up and being out and about in the City. It was the only time of year Gup was allowed to leave Eric’s apartment because he was in full costume and no one looked sideways at someone dressed up.

Tonight was the first night they were going out. They didn’t go out every night though. Some nights were more… rough and less playful more tricky than others. She didn’t want some teenage Lightless to rip Gup’s mask off.

Savant arrived as it was getting dark, already dressed all in blue but without the paper mask. “We ready to go?” he asked as he closed the door. Eric was making herself coffee so she didn’t pass out and was cheerful for the night. She could be nothing but alert when taking Gup out.

“Uncle Savant uncle Savant look at me!” Gup jumped out from around the counter and showed off his Eliksni costume. Eric thought it was pretty well done and Gup had decided to style the mask after Mithrax, which Eric thought was cute. Gup had just said ‘well everyone likes Mithrax, so they’ll have to like me too!’ And she’d just tried to be happy for that instead of sad.

“Wow! Look at you. Just like a real one from the district,” Savant said with a pretty, stupid, smile. “You’re going to fool so many people on what kinda little alien you are!” He looked at Eric. “I sent Orion down to the City already to be the anchor and there are enough beacons to transmat chain all the way to the Garden District,” he said.

“Great. Let me just finish this before we go,” and she drank the coffee. “Okay, Gup, you got your candy basket?”

“Yeah!” Gup went and grabbed a decorated basket that looked like the Traveler. “Let’s go I want to go!” he cried, jumping up and down.

“Okay okay. Just relax,” Eric said but she knew Festival of the Lost was Gup’s favorite time of year. He got to go outside. He got to see other people. She and Savant were purposefully not wearing any Guardian gear with their masks. They’d stand out and two Guardians with a kid would be noticed. But two people with a kid? Not likely.

She finished her coffee and went over to Gup and did a final check that every inch of chitin was covered and his clawed hands were disguised properly as Eliksni hands. But there was no wait to hide that Gup didn’t have as many fingers as humans did. That was always a problem. In the past they’d used gloves or said they were gloves or any amount of other things but this year they were just going to try and pass him off as an Eliksni if anyone asked. Most people didn’t. They just assumed it was a costume.

Once she was sure Gup was covered properly she said, “Okay. We can go.” Ghostie immediately transmatted the three of them down to Orion in the City and then it was short chain transmat across the City to the Garden District.

The Garden District was a residential area with many multi family buildings. To save kids going around to so many different buildings, especially tall ones where not everyone participated, people tended to congregate in the parks around the City to give out candy. Garden District had a centralized park surrounded by its main buildings and families who wanted to participate just set up in front of their buildings in the park.

There were

So many children out and about. And adults to keep an eye on them. Ghostie stayed with Gup as he quickly ran ahead to the first group of tables giving out candy and warm drinks. One benefit to having a Ghost if you couldn’t lose your kid with them following him. There were lots of other fruits out tonight so Eric and Savant didn’t stick out at all. An entire family was dressed as a fruit basket with the dad dragging along a cart that was the basket itself. There were a lot of Guardians, as you’d expect: famous Crucible players and SRL racers, the Vanguard, and even a few where Eric spotted familiar but cheaply made recreations of Glitterbomb armor. There were also a lot of Eliksni costumes this year again. The amount of Mithrax costumes had doubled now that parents were allowed to admit that yes, an Eliksni had saved them from the Endless Night. But there were just general Eliksni costumes too, and Cabal. She even saw a few Caiatl masks, which were funny. From reports she had a feeling Caiatl would not find the human tradition of dressing up like this amusing. There were also the standard amounts of ghosts and ghouls and skeletons and scary costumes.

She caught up to Gup and grabbed his hand before he crossed paths with some older boys who were all dressed like Hive and scaring the smaller children. “Let’s go over here instead,” she said and pulled him along a different way. He nodded, not noticing the boys in the very well made Hive costumes.

“How’s the haul?” Savant asked as he came up behind them.

“Look,” Gup showed off his candy.

“Woooow. That’s a lot. You going to share?”

“No. You can get your own, uncle Savant,” Gup said and Eric chuckled.

“Awww. Really? That’s so mean,” Savant complained.

“It’s fair,” Gup insisted.

There was more candy to get after that as the moon rose and was eventually eclipsed by the Traveler which was illuminated with festive lights from beneath. Some tables even had hot cider or little warm treats to give out to the kids as it was cold that night. Eric watched as Gup talked to some Lightless children and they were non the wiser that Gup wasn’t anything like them. For a while he went trick or treating with that group of kids while Eric and Savant followed behind.

“That’s your boy?” a woman asked Eric as they stopped at a table.

“The Mithrax? Yeah,” Eric said, trying not to be on guard.

“It’s very well done.”

“He did it himself.”

“Really now? He’s very talented for someone so young.”

“He is,” she agreed.

“Well we helped a little,” Savant butted in. “I did the LEDs so the eyes and Splicer parts glow!” he said proudly.

“Only because he’s not allowed near a soldering iron,” Eric said and they all laughed.

Eventually the night wore on and they’d done most of the park. But it was getting late and now Gup wasn’t leading them but rather he was trudging along holding Eric’s hand. “I think that’s enough for tonight,” Eric said after they’d stopped at another building.

“No. I still want to be out,” Gup said in a weak and tired voice.

“The Festival’s just starting. We can do more days this week, baby,” Eric reminded him.

“I know. I just don’t want it to be over,” he said.

“Yeah but you got a big haul! Look,” and Savant showed him his basket that was positively overflowing with candy and treats.

“Yeah!” but even his enthusiasm was tired.

“Let’s go home,” Eric said.

“Trade ya,” Savant said and Eric took the basket. Savant in turn scooped Gup up just like you would any other tired child. Eric couldn’t pick Gup up anymore. He was too tall and she too short. Luckily Savant could and would basically until he took on a morph, if he ever did. “We had a fun night, huh, Gup?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Gup yawned. “I want to go home and show Orange Cake all my candy,” he said leaning his masked head on Savant’s shoulder. Orange Cake was Gup’s favorite stuffed animal, a large orange tabby striped cat Eric had bought him when he was little.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Savant said brightly.

They made it back across the park to the closest transmat anchor. Ghostie was thankfully old enough to figure out transmat in contact so Savant didn’t have to put Gup down as they were transmatted back across the City. They stood at the base of the Tower waiting for Orion to go to Eric’s for the final transmat.

“He asleep?” Eric asked him.

“Didn’t even wake up during the jump,” Savant said.

“Oh good. He’s going to be a nightmare to get to sleep after the Festival.”

Savant chuckled. “Too much sugar?”

“Yeah.”

“You know in humans sugar rushes are short lived and make us crash more often than give us a rush. How’s that work in Hive?” Savant asked her.

“They process sugar slower and don’t get any rush or crash,” she sighed. “But he’s seen enough media that he knows he needs to act crazy on sugar,” she groaned and rubbed her blueberry mask head.

“Well that stinks,” Savant said and then they were transmatted to Eric’s room.

Savant set Gup down, the little Hive waking up enough to stand. “Thanks for coming trick or treating, uncle Savant,” he said.

“Of course! Any time. We’ll go again sometime later in the Festival,” he said cheerfully.

“Yeah!”

“Bye guys, see ya,” Savant waved and saw himself out.

“Time for you to go to bed,” Eric said.

“Okay,” Gup didn’t argue too much as he undressed and crawled into bed, which was a box with a hole in the side full of soft things. “Mom,” he said from inside the box.

“Yeah baby?”

“Next year you think I’ll be able to go without a mask and just pretend I’m a human in a Hive outfit?” he asked sleepily.

Eric stared at the hole where she could see part of Gup’s pajama covered body. “I don’t. Maybe,” she said. Two years ago the Cabal and Eliksni had been in the ‘monster’ category of Festival costumes. Now they were fun hero and culture ones. But Eric didn’t know if the Hive would ever be that.

“Or maybe I’ll go as Orange Cake next year,” he mumbled and that made Eric smile. Seemed he wasn’t too hung up about it. Eric put his basket somewhere safe and went and made herself another cup of coffee, half decaf, before sitting on the couch and turning on something to watch quietly on the wall screen.

[rurahdenisesblog]

Sex Education: Raising The Standard for Representing LGBTQ+ in The Entertainment Industry

Sex Education has indeed established itself as one of the most enlightening programs on adolescence and sexuality, but with the release of its second season, it raises the standard for complex representations of LGBTQ+ youth. By the time Sex Education season two's closing titles appear, the well-liked Netflix series is one of the queerest adolescent comedies ever; about half of the key characters have displayed queerness in some form.

Ncuti Gatwa's portrayal in Sex Education's first season exposed us to the unashamed, unrepentant Eric Effiong. Although he is close friends with the main character Otis Milburn, the program never treats him as the cliché homosexual best buddy or comedic relief. Sure, he's extremely entertaining and isn't scared to show off when it comes to his costumes, but Sex Education has always presented Eric as a complex individual. He has his own moral principles, which include his religion and the church family to which he belongs to. Also important is the fact that he is of Ghanaian and Nigerian heritage in a largely white LGBTQ+ television environment. One of the most progressive LGBT characters on television is Eric, especially with all of his qualities. Although, to be honest, it does so by employing one of the oldest tactics in the book—a love triangle—season two advances Eric's plot. However, heterosexual characters have traditionally been the only ones who had access to this narrative device. Rarely do queer characters ever have the chance to date one possible partner, much less two. The classic tension of who will he choose is used in the love triangle, but ultimately, it doesn't matter which boy Eric likes more; rather, it matters which one makes Eric feel more like himself. Even his mother can see the differences between the two as they compete for her son's affection.In the end, Eric picks Adam, one of the few bisexual young men on television. Adam's path of self-discovery and acceptance serves as a reminder that there are indeed plenty adolescents who battle with their identity, even though characters like Eric and Rahim are proud of their identity from the start. It also serves as a reminder that there is hope and that loving yourself will enable you to truly embrace everyone else. Ola, who discovers she is pansexual after her separation with Otis and the emergence of love for her friend Lily, joins Adam under the bisexual umbrella. She stands in stark contrast to Adam since Ola is willing to embrace rainbows and give tailored menswear her own unique twist after taking a little online exam to accept who she is. Ola and Adam are coworkers at the convenience store, and their relationship turns out to be one of Sex Education's most delightful and unexpected outcomes. Although their shared interest adds a new dimension to their relationship, their sexual orientation is not always what forges their bond.

While Sex Education receives acclaim for exposing the diversity of queerness, fans of the show would love to see a trans character be included in its plot. In the end though, it's so thrilling that about half the cast of a popular TV show may identify as gay in some way. It's not only that these LGBTQ+ characters in Sex Education fit a certain standard, though. The way they are incorporated into the program is how. Their sexuality is an element of their identity that impacts several other aspects of who they are, but it's not the entirety of who they are, as you can see in the care with which their narratives are portrayed. It's a vital part of their identity, and it motivates some of their decisions and behaviors, but not all of them. They are present, they identify as queer, but they are also let to be whole, multifaceted people.

References:

[tenaciouspostfun]

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harmony. Theater Review.



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"Harmony" at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre is apropos for the times that we live in now. The book by Bruce Sussman is based on a group of harmony singers that meet in Germany in 1927. Rising to popularity and fame even though the world is facing a depression, the musical starts out at New York Cities Carnegie Hall in 1933 where the six singers decide whether to return to their native homeland, Germany. The group is worried about the overtures of antisemitism and that Adolf Hitler is rising to power. The group has three Jewish members and three Gentile members who are tight knit and genuinely like one another.

"Harmony" is very slow unraveling its plot and the first thirty minutes of the show moves very slowly. What saves the first act is the songs; "Harmony" , "What Do You See", "How Can I Serve You, Madame?" and "Home" are all memorable indeed. The actors who sing them are all very talented and so is Warren Carlyle's choreography (he directed this show as well). Capturing the time period is scenic designer Beowulf Boritt who is one of the best currently on Broadway. Linda Cho's and Ricky Lurie's costumes too capture this turbulent time period.From Ruth's (Julie Benko) communist garb to elegant Mary's (Sierra Boggess) well appointed dresses, Cho and Lurie give the audience a great feel for the period. Both the lighting and sound are first rate as well. But even with all the good things going for this show it is the writing in the first act that disappoints and the direction here doesn't help as well. Warren Carlyle at times can't get the actors out of their own way.

It is in the second act where the musical gains traction. The show becomes more up tempo and interesting. Even though it begins again at Carnegie Hall in 1933, it quickly moves to 1934 when Germany is changing fast. We see how the group is being challenged, how they are being threatened and forced to capitulate to the German governments wants. It is brought front and center if they made a wrong decision going back home. They hope that Germany will return to its former self and that hope is all they have at this point, the hope will turn to anger and frustration as they see their livelihoods all but dissipate.

Barry Manilow who composed and arranged "Harmony" had many really good songs, he also had many forgettable ones. Sussman as well in his lyrics had our minds wondering at times during the performance and there is where the problem lies.Even the really good acting that went into this show :Chip Zien, Sierra Boggess, Sean Bell, Eric Peters, Julie Benko and Blake Roman were all outstanding, they brought deep emotion to the performance, they also brought great dancing and even better singing; but even with all the great supporting things that make a great show, the writing, both the book and the songs, just couldn't get this show over the trough.

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Next up is Spamelot.

I am hoping that Spamelot can pick up the spirits of Broadway this year. The only great thing I have seen so far this season is "Back To The Future"; mostly everything else has been mediocre to bad. While I liked Sabbath's Theatre, it too did not wow me the way a great show does. There is some promise, however that the season will end stronger with "Appropriate", "Prayer For The French Republic" and "Spamelot".

Beowulf Boritt, Linda Cho, Barry Manilow, Broadway, Tony Awards, Sierra Boggess, Julie Banko, Carnegie Hall, Hamilton, The Lion King, Aladdin, Harry Potter, MJ The Musical.



Words: 608

[idolskpop]

Ok Taecyeon Wants to Show More Skin in His Next Drama Role

Ok Taecyeon, the multi-talented idol-actor, has revealed his wish to portray a character that would showcase his physique more than his previous roles. The 2PM member, who recently impressed viewers with his villainous performance in the hit K-Drama “Vincenzo”, shared his thoughts on his acting career and future plans in a media interview.

Ok Taecyeon’s First Solo Fan Meeting in Manila

On September 23, Ok Taecyeon held his first solo fan meeting in Manila, Philippines, where he met his loyal fans and entertained them with his music, games, and interactions. Before the main event, the star also participated in a press conference with some members of the media and selected fans. During the press conference, Ok Taecyeon talked about various topics related to his K-pop and K-Drama activities. He expressed his gratitude to his fans for their support and love, and also shared some behind-the-scenes stories from his recent projects.

(Photo : KBS Entertainment) One of the questions that caught the attention of many was about his acting career and what kind of role he wanted to play next.

Ok Taecyeon’s Dream Role: A Boxer, A Fighter, or A Swimmer

Ok Taecyeon has been active as an actor since 2010, when he debuted in the popular teen drama “Dream High”. Since then, he has taken on diverse roles in different genres, such as a ghost hunter in “Bring It On, Ghost”, a detective in “The Game: Towards Zero”, a royal inspector in “Secret Royal Inspector & Joy”, and a half-vampire in “Heartbeat”.

(Photo : KBS Drama Official) Ok Taecyeon, Won Ji An However, the role that made him gain recognition and praise from critics and viewers alike was Jang Han Seo, the young and ruthless chairman of Babel Group in “Vincenzo”. Ok Taecyeon showed his versatility and charisma as he portrayed the complex and conflicted character, who was both an antagonist and an ally to the titular anti-hero played by Song Joong Ki.

(Photo : tvN's Official Instagram) In a previous interview with Eric Nam on Daebak Show, Ok Taecyeon revealed that playing a villain was his dream role. He also said that he had to persuade his agency, JYP Entertainment, to let him take on such a role, as they wanted him to maintain a clean image.

(Photo : tvN's Official Instagram) Now that he has fulfilled his dream role, what is next for Ok Taecyeon as an actor? In the press conference in Manila, he answered this question by saying: Like what I said before, I do wanna expand my spectrum as an actor. But since I am known for my physique… He was interrupted by cheers from the audience, who apparently agreed with his statement. Ok Taecyeon is indeed known for his muscular body and handsome appearance, which he often flaunts on stage and on social media. He continued: I do want to try something that would allow me to exhibit my physique a little bit more than the characters I have previously done. Like boxer, fighter, or swimmer. He then added that he is open to any role that would challenge him and make him grow as an actor. His answer surprised some of his fans, who suggested other roles for him, such as a romantic comedy lead or a historical drama hero. One fan even shouted out a reference to the erotic movie series “50 Shades”, which made Ok Taecyeon laugh and blush. He responded: I know what you guys want. But I think it’s too early for that.

Ok Taecyeon’s Upcoming Activities

As of now, Ok Taecyeon has no confirmed drama project yet. However, he is busy with his K-pop activities as a member of 2PM. The group made their long-awaited comeback in June with their seventh full-length album “MUST”, which topped various music charts and received positive reviews from fans and critics. Ok Taecyeon is also continuing his solo fan meeting tour around Asia. After Manila, he will visit Bangkok on October 9 and Jakarta on October 16. He expressed his excitement to meet more of his fans and promised to give them unforgettable memories. While waiting for his next drama role, fans can watch some of his previous works on various streaming platforms. Some of his notable dramas are: - Vincenzo: A dark comedy-crime thriller about a Korean-Italian lawyer who returns to Korea to recover a hidden fortune from a corrupt conglomerate. - Blind: A movie thriller about a blind woman who witnesses a murder and teams up with a detective to solve the case. - Secret Royal Inspector & Joy: A historical comedy about a secret royal inspector who investigates corruption and injustice in the Joseon era. - The Game: Towards Zero: A mystery thriller about a man who can see the moment of death of anyone he looks at and a detective who tries to prevent crimes. - Bring It On, Ghost: A romantic comedy about a college student who can see ghosts and a female ghost who becomes his partner in exorcising evil spirits. - Who Are You: A mystery romance about a detective who wakes up from a coma and gains the ability to see the memories of dead people. - Dream High: A teen musical drama about a group of students who aspire to become idols at a prestigious arts school. - Cinderella’s Stepsister: A melodrama about a girl who suffers from the abuse and neglect of her stepmother and stepsister. Ok Taecyeon is one of the most versatile and talented idol-actors in the Korean entertainment industry. He has proven his skills and charisma in various fields, such as music, acting, and variety shows. He has also shown his willingness to challenge himself and explore new genres and roles. His fans are looking forward to his next drama comeback, where he hopes to show more of his physique and charm. Whether he will play a boxer, a fighter, or a swimmer, or something else entirely, he will surely deliver a memorable performance that will captivate the viewers. What do you think of Ok Taecyeon’s wish to portray a character that would showcase his physique more than his previous roles? What kind of role do you want him to play next? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below. Subscribe to IDOLS KPOP for exclusive updates and captivating content. Read the full article

[engbergeurovacay23]

Saturday: Our Final Day in Helsinki

On Saturday, Rowan came into the room where I was sleeping and told me what a bad night’s sleep he’d had. He was very low-energy.  I was worried he might have a bit of a fever. We took it slow in the morning and he laid on the couch.  I took his temperature (I always travel with a thermometer; I also always travel with a combo smoke-detector/CO-detector, since many Airbnbs  do not have CO detectors!).  He had a low fever, about 100 degrees. He said he felt well enough to walk around some, so we went to the Posti around 10 a.m. and took my package there to drop it off.  That was all very straight-forward.  We also bought a card for the kids’ elementary-school librarian, Ms. Rachel, who they adore.  They wanted to write her something on a Moomin card to give to her on the first day.

After the Posti, we walked over to the harbor where we could get the Suomenlinna ferry boat. Suomenlinna is an mid-18th-century barracks and military fortress and it is a UNESCO world heritage site.  It is a popular destination for day-trips from Helsinki and is only a fifteen-minute ferry ride.  We have never visited before!  People also live on Suomenlinna, but it really seems to be more of a day-trip sort of spot. The weather on Saturday was spectacular: sunny skies and no rain and warm temperatures, but not hot by any stretch!  We were so lucky that after several days  with rain, we had one gorgeous day.  I mean, I will truck around Helsinki in any kind of weather --I say that now: I have not visited in the winter ;) – but, it was very nice to have “perfect weather day.”

Getting our Suomenlinna ticket was a bit of a struggle.  I tried to do it online and downloaded the app, but I could not quite figure out how to do a ticket for just the ferry and not a one-day ticket for all Helsinki public transport for the day. Then, there were two ticket machines right when we approached the ferry, but one gave the message that it could not sell Suomenlinna ferry tickets.  This was very confusing.  Eric asked a ferry employee at the turnstiles what the matter was and he said maybe just that ticket machine was on the fritz.  Indeed, that was the case. So, we got our tickets at another one (we did end up getting the full-day transport tickets—not quite sure how), boarded the ferry, and were off across the bay.  We arrived at Suomenlinna and, honestly, I wasn’t sure quite what to do with ourselves once we were there.  There are several museums and there is a submarine that you can visit and there in a former prison. There are beautiful parks and there was a massive, historic church, which was about to host a wedding. I was not really interested in the idea of making a full-day of our Suomenlinna jaunt.  I just wanted to walk around for  a few hours and see what it was all about; that is, in fact, what we did.

As with most of our nature adventure (and city stops, too, I guess!), Eric found a place for a little swim.  There was a “beach” at Suomenlinna and there were other people in swimsuits, but it was rather windy on that side of the island and not really swimming temps, in my humble opinion.  Eric said the water was very cold.   But, he got another item on his “Eric’s gone swimming in odd locations” list!

After Eric’s swim, Eric walked some more around the island; he’d had a big breakfast at the apartment, but the kids and I were hungry, and I was starting to get grumpy.  We went to a little café, Vanille, by the ferry dock and actually had a lovely little lunch!  Cece got a salmon bun and Rowan got quiche and I got a little sandwich.  It was decorated in very Victorian style but had a high shelf at the top of the wall where there was a huge collection of coffee cans.  There was also a sign that said they had no wifi and did not allow laptops; the intention was for people to sit and chat ;)

Rowan was really starting to wither when we arrived back to Helsinki.  He wanted to rest and then muster the energy to go to the Kiasma Contemporary Art museum later in the afternoon, so he and Eric returned to the apartment and both of them rested.  Cece and I went on a 1.5- hour shopping jaunt to a few boutiques that I either knew about or that I read about in the Design District Helsinki map.  The first store, called Papu, is right on the Esplanade, and I went there last year.  This year, it was summer-sale time, which was great.  Next, we went to a place called Hálo, which was pretty high-end, diaphanous-style clothing, but some of the dresses were silk with very beautiful prints.  It was not really “my style.”  Then, our last stop of Falla Finland, right near our Airbnb. Ritva Falla, a former designer for many labels, including Marimekko, was the founder of this brand, but she has left in the last few years, so it is continuing with other designers at the helm.

After our trip to Falla Finland, Cece and went back to the apartment and reunited with Rowan and Eric, who were both lying down. As I mentioned, it had been a “warm” day by Finnish standards, probably about 70 degrees with full sun, so the apartment was on the warm side.  We opened the windows and I know I mentioned that they have no screens, but Finnish homes (and probably other countries too, but I am not recalling right now from prior years in Nordic places) have double windows, like, full-blown, double windows that open on the right or left (like a door).  The window closest to the street, in Finland at least, has like a piece of metal that can slot into a hole in a metal fixture, to keep the two windows connected, but open, so that wind, for example, doesn’t blow them closed or open.  I imagine that the double windows are great for insulating.  But, I do still wonder, if you’re going to put in two windows, might it also be a good idea putting in a screen, so you can keep flies out when you do open the window?  Also, the four different Finnish apartments in Helsinki we’ve staying in over the last eight years have all had double front doors.  It is not like there is one door, then a vestibule to (perhaps) take your shoes off in, and then another front door.  There are two, one-after-the-other, big, heavy front doors, with just a few inches of space between them.  I will need to look this phenomenon up on the internet and share with you what I learn. (OK, I did look it up and here is what I learned.)

Rowan got out of his sleeping loft and said he hadn’t actually fallen asleep and was now ready to go to the Kiasma. Oh, another word about the sleeping loft: you know what apartment this one in Helsinki reminds me of?  My apartment on Balcombe street in Marylebone, London, in ’94-’95.  Similar to that apartment, the one in Helsinki this time has very high ceilings, especially noticeable because the space is rather small. Also, my apartment in London had a sleeping loft in my very narrow and small bedroom.  It had a mattress and light up there, but I did not use it.  The ladder would go up to it only when you shut the door into the room.  So, if a person went up there by ladder, they’d be stuck, because you’d have to take the ladder away to open or close the door.  My friend Chris slept up there when he came to visit, as did my friend Amy. I was able to provide them with the ladder whenever they asked! It was such a weird sleeping closet.  This one in Helsinki was much more like a small, long, narrow room, entered via a square hole-in-wall in the living room.  The Helsinki loft also had a small window.  The London one did not.  It was much more of a depressing space ;) The rest of my London apartment was great, though!

Anyway, we went to the Kiasma by streetcar, the Number 3, which came right in front of our apartment. The Kiasma apparently only has rotating exhibits, no permanent collection, so anything we saw years ago we did not see this time. This time, their big exhibition was by famous erotic artist Tom of Finland.  We did not visit that floor of the Kiasma because, while I am a proponent of the important cultural work Tom of Finland did (and his work continues to do) for gay men worldwide, I was not sure it was appropriate yet for 8- and 10-year kids; the same would be the case for erotic art of any kind.  So, we went up to the 4th and 5th floors where there was a really interesting array of works by Spanish artist (who now resides in Rio de Janiero) Daniel Steegmann Mangrané.  One of his artistic approaches was to laterally cut small twigs in half and suspend them apart. He also had a huge array of studies he did with watercolor on gridded paper.  They were wonderful.  His array of works also included film, light, and a squeezing-of-orange-juice-in-a-small-room-covered-in-orange-mylar installation, but that one wasn’t in operation.

After the Kiasma, we split up: daddy and Cece went to the Olympic swimming pool and Rowan and I went to the Oodi library and then, quickly, to Stockmann and to the grocery store.   At the Oidi (which I’ve taken photos of in previous years; it is a modern architectural wonder), Rowan and I went up to the children’s floor and had a quick hot drink (me, cappuccino, and Rowan, rooibos tea) and a snack and then Rowan read his book for about twenty to thirty minutes.  From there, we went to Stockmann quickly before it closed and looked at their sales (it is summer sale season!) and then we went to a small K Market by our Airbnb.  En route, we saw an outdoor dancing/DJ platform right outside the Design Museum (which we sadly did not get to visit on this trip—you can’t do it all, I guess!) and people were doing a really good and enthusiastic job with their social dancing on that warm and wonderful summer evening! It was so nice spending a few hours just me and Roro and, later in the evening, I did the same with Cece!

When we got back to the Airbnb, I moved quickly into packing mode.  I got things pretty far along, pretty quickly.  Then, it was dinner-mode.  I thought Eric and Cece would be home not long after 8, because that was when we thought the pool closed.  That did not happen ;)  At almost 9, they called, and they were still 20 minutes away (because of some funny tram-car confusions).  I had told Rowan I would take him out for ice cream, and there was one place a short walk away that was open until 10 p.m., so he ate a great dinner, and then we quickly walked down to the waterfront (9-minute walk) and we saw one family with huge ice-cream cones and I said to the mom, “oh, great, we’re close!” and she said, “Oh! Be sure you only get one ball of ice cream!  This is just one!”  It was an insanely big single-scoop!  So, Rowan ordered the creamed toffee and it was so, so yummy.  We had a great evening walk home and then he got right ready for bed.

We met Eric and Cece right outside the building and she saw the massive ice-cream cone and wanted one too.  I said, “OK, well if you eat a quick and healthy dinner, we can race down there before they close at 10!” And that is just what happened! After a swift powerwalk back to the ice-cream kiosk, we arrived with 15 minutes to spare, and there was a line of other last-minute ice-cream getters.  Cece got strawberry and it was a very nerve-racking and exciting time watching her eat it, fearing she was going to knock the whole scoop off the top, which did in fact happen once, but I caught it with my bare hands, wedging the ice cream between my hand and her shoulder. Very glad I grabbed napkins when Cece and I got her ice cream.

Once back to the apartment, Cece got right to bed, too.  This allowed me to finally eat my dinner (it was a very weird dinner) and then complete the packing/engineering experience, about which I am very particular.  I got it all done, made a quick call to American Airlines to get on a standby list for an earlier Dallas/ABQ flight, and then I hit the hay!

[qocsuing]

Bigo Live Debuts Game Changer with Milan Christopher

Bigo Live Debuts Game Changer with Milan Christopher

The month of love wrapped with a flourish as leading global livestreaming platform Bigo Live (BIGO) hosted one of its most successful livestreamed shows – Game Changer with Milan Christopher (Game Changer) – the first original social media livestreamed LGBTQ+ dating reality show. Raking in close to 8,000 hours of watch time and gaining 27,000 fans, this groundbreaking in-person and livestreaming event is testament to the strong demand for more LGBTQ+ representation as well as the rising popularity of the hybrid show format.To get more news about topup bigo live, you can visit topuplive.com official website. The in-person event took place on February 11 at StarBase in Las Vegas and was simultaneously livestreamed on the Bigo Live App and later uploaded to YouTube. Unlike other dating reality shows, Game Changer focuses on the unique experiences of queer individuals. The first episode of Game Changer featured five queer singles looking for love and a chance to win a date in Los Angeles with Milan Christopher, reality TV's most eligible single heartthrob, hip hop artist, and television personality.

"I'm deeply honored and proud to be part of this groundbreaking show that has received such positive reception," said Milan. "Too often, queer voices and perspectives are erased or marginalized in mainstream media. Game Changer centers the stories and experiences of LGBTQ+ people and showcase the different ways that queer love can exist and thrive. Bottomline: representation matters. Shout out to BIGO for providing a powerful platform for our community to showcase the beauty, diversity, and struggles in our search for love and acceptance."

Indeed, a rapidly growing number of influencers and content creators are embracing livestreaming platforms like BIGO, which now has more than 400 million users in 150 countries. Riding the wave of the creator economy, this fast-growing community is leveraging a new and evolved pan-entertainment approach by synthesizing social media, livestreaming, and traditional video formats to grow and build stronger relationships with their audiences.

According to Bigo Live's North America Senior Operations Director Eric Kim, "We're thrilled to launch Game Changer and to be able to showcase the incredible diversity of experiences through our livestreaming platform. The show's success inspires us to continue our efforts to build a more inclusive and welcoming world for all LGBTQ+ people and to amplify creators and influencers as they embrace their voices, causes, and communities on Bigo Live."

Milan Christopher was a natural fit for Game Changer being a recurring name in TV and media. He's appeared in the VH1 network's Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood, where he opened up as gay. The model-musician-actor and LGBTQ+ activist has pointed out the sensitive issue of homophobia in the hip-hop industry. He has also appeared in several commercials and TV series.Game Changer will continue in the next episode with the premiere of Milan's date in Hollywood, Los Angeles. To watch and support Game Changer, download the Bigo Live app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play store, and subscribe to BIGO's YouTube Channel.

[freepsncodesforall]

Overview for Python Learning Module

Introduction to Python Learning Skills

Python is a high-level, interpreted programming language that is widely used for various purposes, such as web development, data analysis, machine learning, and more. Python's simple syntax, rich libraries, and ease of use make it an excellent choice for beginners who want to learn programming.

There are several learning modules available for Python, including:

Online Tutorials and Courses: 

There are various online tutorials and courses available for Python, such as Networkers-Champ, Coursera, and more. These resources provide you with a structured learning path and cover everything from the basics to advanced topics.

Books and eBooks: 

There are numerous books and eBooks available for Python, covering a wide range of topics and skill levels. Some popular books include "Python Crash Course" by Eric Matthes, "Python for Data Science Handbook" by Jake VanderPlas, and "Fluent Python" by Luciano Ramalho.

Online Video Tutorials: 

Video tutorials are a great way to learn Python, as they provide a visual representation of the code and concepts being discussed. Platforms such as YouTube and Pluralsight offer a wide range of video tutorials for Python.

Coding Challenges and Exercises: Coding challenges and exercises are a great way to practice your Python skills and test your knowledge. Platforms like HackerRank, LeetCode, and Project Euler offer various coding challenges and exercises to solve.

Online Communities and Forums: 

Online communities and forums are a great way to connect with other Python learners, ask questions, and get feedback on your code. Some popular communities include Reddit's learn python, Stack Overflow, and the Python community on Discord.

In summary, there are several learning modules available for Python, including online tutorials and courses, books and eBooks, video tutorials, coding challenges and exercises, and online communities and forums. By utilizing these resources, you can develop your Python skills and become proficient in programming. Make Habit for Learning of Python Online Course Now!

Learning Python has several benefits:-

Easy to Learn: Python has a simple syntax and is easy to read and write. It does not require extensive programming experience, making it an excellent choice for beginners who want to learn programming.

Versatile: Python is a versatile language and can be used for various purposes, such as web development, data analysis, machine learning, artificial intelligence, scientific computing, and more.

Large Community and Libraries: Python has a large and active community of developers who contribute to its development and offer support to learners. Python also has a vast collection of libraries and frameworks that make it easier to write code and speed up the development process.

High Demand: Python is one of the most popular programming languages, and there is a high demand for Python developers in various industries, such as tech, finance, healthcare, and more.

Well Paid: Python developers are in high demand, and their salaries reflect this demand. According to data from Indeed, the average salary for a Python developer in the United States is around $120,000 per year.

Fast Prototyping: Python's simplicity and versatility make it an excellent choice for fast prototyping and developing proof-of-concept projects.

Portable and Cross-Platform: Python runs on various operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and Mac, making it a portable and cross-platform language.

Conclusion:-

In summary, learning Python has several benefits, including its ease of learning, versatility, large community and libraries, high demand, well-paid jobs, fast prototyping, and portability. Python is an excellent language for beginners and professionals alike and can open up various career opportunities in the tech industry.