the-very-rubiest

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@poodlejoonas

it occurs to me that i haven't talked about the thing that sometimes happens where i become a haver of an additional rabbit without my consent.

we have this problem where for the past 12 years, periodically a wild Mountain Cottontail will find its way into our house. we don't know how it happens, but they do. we suspect there's a hole in our foundation somewhere that they keep finding somehow.

here's a photo from the first time it happened. he's in our kitchen and very confused as to how he got there. we were also very confused as to how he got there, but left the front door open for him and he very politely excused himself.

here's a post-capture photo from the second time it happened. my parents had to toss a towel over him and scoop him up to let him outside.

this is a baby who popped out from under my couch while i was sitting on it. i was home alone, and all i had to do was leave the back door open and keep an eye out for him. he also very politely excused himself.

here's the fourth one. another case of "toss a towel over him, grab him, and let him go in the yard."

and here's some photos from the most recent time it happened in 2022.

so yeah. very funny and on-brand problem for me and my parents to have.

all of these photos were taken in the 30 seconds before we let them go outside again. every single bunny was very happy to be let go, but also very confused as to why we didn't hurt them.

[the-very-rubiest]

I'm trying really hard to find a non-sarcastic way of pointing out that every god damn time a band member leaves, a band is put through this circus of suddenly having all their interactions put under a microscope and anything other than hugs and kisses are suddenly deemed "visible tension" and there's theories of long running festering feuds and fights and anger and fallouts regardless of the band stating the reasons for the split in an announcement and all parties confirming they're still friends. like. god, why does this happen every time? are we that desperate to have someone to point a finger at that creative differences or shifted priorities in life will never be enough? I get that Joel is everyone's poor little meow meow right now but maybe a man who has talked about not sleeping for days at a time, being homeless during touring and always drinking wine before shows saying "my health just cant do that anymore" could be telling the truth and we don't actually need to put the rest of the band through rigorous psychological assessments and profiling and investigation, cus chances are they're just as if not more upset than us about losing a bandmate. how is the response always to throw the remaining band into a centrifuge until we find the answers we *want* because the ones we are given are never good enough?

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Everything going on today reminded me of something I don't think I talked about on here. Back in 2023, I met BC at a signing session. I had all of them sign a page in my sketchbook, and most of them seemed in good spirits. Tommi was all smiles and unpromptedly drew the BC logo for me. Olli said the paper felt nice and asked me where I got my sketchbook. Niko gave me the confirmation that Darker Than Black was indeed named after the anime. Joonas and Aleksi I didn't get to talk to much, but they were friendly and smiley. Joonas drew his signature X-eyed smiley faces. The only odd one out was Joel.

I remember talking to him about the performance and wishing him luck on his upcoming surgery. He seemed quite serious, didn't smile; but he was talkative and spoke quite openly about being exhausted and needing the upcoming (short) break, but that they couldn't stop the band's momentum at the time, so they had to power through it. It took me off guard, and I wasn't sure how to respond. I guess I hadn't expected him to be so sincere with a random fan at a signing session—I don't remember what exactly was said, but for a moment it almost felt like a regular conversation you'd have with a friend when you ask them how they're doing.

My point is, he's been exhausted for a very long time. He hasn't been hiding it. And after everything, I'm glad he's finally letting himself rest. I for one will probably not meet him again; but if I ever do, I hope he'll be in a better state.

Bonus, the signed page:

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Joel said in an old documentary (the UMK/Eurovision vlogs) that he was diagnosed with ADHD at age 7! Aaaaand insomnia is also a common comorbidity of that. And ADHD also tires you out on its own. And then all of those things feed into each other.

It's not fun.

"Did he leave over creative differences? Was there a falling out?" You guys need to breathe. Sure, maybe there was some headbutting behind the scenes but there's an obvious explanation here. Like yeah sure maybe there was some drama but to put it very bluntly, none of it can hold a candle to the fact that continuing tour life could probably eventually have killed him very dead.

[the-very-rubiest]

I mentioned this on my blog, but along with doomerism, people seem determined to find some conspiracy where everyone hated Joel, or something stupid like that. To take a phrase from writing, sometimes a tree is just a tree. There's a 99% chance that this should be taken at face value. Sometimes celebrities struggle with their mental and physical health, it's weird how some people don't get that. As far as I see it, unless something credible pops up, we should take this at face value

THANK you.

I talked about this as well, but yeah I agree. Everyone was exhausted physically and mentally, sure, but there's a difference between that and what happened to Joel. The man talked about the physical effects of his exhaustion and lack of sleep all the way in 2021. We've all seen the band's schedule since. As someone who's struggled with periods of insomnia without having to haul ass to a different city every damn day, sleep in a tour bus, and perform on stage for 90 minutes every evening I can say it sucks enough ass without having to do all those things. You get dizzy, faint, nauseous, which in turn keeps you from sleeping again. Eventually it gets dangerous. Eventually it causes longterm damage. There's a very, very sizable chance that it already did cause longterm damage for Joel. The fact that he survived all those years without a medical emergency is honestly baffling.

My point is, there's a very straightforward, very obvious explanation for why he left. It was simply not safe for him to continue. Could other things have played a role? Maybe. But this was absolutely the key driver, because going back to tour life would probably eventually have endangered his life.

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"Did he leave over creative differences? Was there a falling out?" You guys need to breathe. Sure, maybe there was some headbutting behind the scenes but there's an obvious explanation here. Like yeah sure maybe there was some drama but to put it very bluntly, none of it can hold a candle to the fact that continuing tour life could probably eventually have killed him very dead.

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Real talk? I don't really think that Joel leaving the band is a sign that BC is coming to an end. I think it's a sign that they want to come back actually.

Because here's the thing. Joel's health has gotten very bad from touring. This is not a new thing, remember in the UMK/Eurovision rehearsal vlogs when he talked about being so exhausted he'd get dizzy and felt the ground shake while walking? That was way back in 2021. It has almost certainly gotten worse over the years of touring, to the point where it's only a matter of time before it becomes outright dangerous if it isn't already. And, most importantly, no one knows when or if he'll ever be well enough to tour again.

So basically, if Joel stayed in the band, he'd either have to stay on individual hiatus potentially forever while the others come back, or the others would have to wait a very long time for him to recover with no certainty that he ever actually will. Basically, him staying would either endanger his health (…even more) or put the band in limbo, whereas him leaving allows the band to move forward whenever they're ready.

It must've been an awful, terrible, painful decision to make, but in the end I think it's a sign that they are trying to continue.

[the-very-rubiest]

Songs of the 2020s

2021 - “SHUM” by Go_A (Ukraine)

2021 - “Dark Side” by Blind Channel (Finland)

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Us, arriving to Austria to a tiny family hotel owned by an elderly lady

Us: speak only limited German

Lady: barely speaks English

Us:

Lady:

Lady: Czech? Slovak?

Us: Czech

Lady, to herself: Czech, that's a Slavic language right

Lady: understand Yugoslavian?

Us:

Us: yeah that works

[the-very-rubiest]

Use your own judgement as to what "counts" in regards to things like airport layovers and trips taken before you could remember.

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We ask your questions anonymously so you don’t have to! Submissions are open on the 1st and 15th of the month.

[the-very-rubiest]

You can use any travel method you like, walking, public transport, so on. You can get an uber but their map has failed so you'll have to give directions. You can travel to other countries and count those libraries but you have to be able to completely navigate from your home without assistance. So you can catch a plane but must be able to travel to and from the airport. No limit on how long it takes. If you know which block it's on or which tram line but aren't sure precisely, but you feel sure you'd find it once you got there, count that as a yes (if you're not sure maybe google it now and see if your plan would work). You cannot rely on asking for directions though, this must be all your knowledge

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Spin the wheel. That's who's trying to kill you.

Spin the wheel again. That's who's trying to protect you.

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If you see this on your dashboard, reblog this, NO MATTER WHAT and all your dreams and wishes will come true.

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"in your life" meaning you met them enough times and substantially enough to remember them. and not just consider them some faceless, theoretical stranger.

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Joel // Blind Channel TikTok update 05.03.22

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✨ Please reblog to make it reach out to as many people as possible, but KEEP IT SPOILER-FREE to make people listen to the music with an open mind 💖 Artists and titles will be revealed after the poll's conclusion, check the original post for an update! ✨

[the-very-rubiest]

This poll is about whether you would be willing to pass your genetic health issues on to biological children. For the purposes of this poll, answer based on this question alone– if you don't want to have children for other reasons, try to put those reasons aside and answer solely on the basis of whether you would want hypothetical children to inherit your condition(s).

For the purposes of this poll, do not include the possibility of IVF + PGD (in vitro fertilization with preimplantation genetic diagnosis), which allows the parents to choose a healthy embryo or an embryo with specific traits to be conceived.

Be civil in the comments and remember that real people live with every one of the conditions you could bring up in your hypothetical arguments. If you have a condition that aligns with this question, feel free to discuss your reasoning, but I encourage anyone who does not have a condition like this to refrain from speculating on the value of lives with such conditions. Do not use this post as a platform for eugenics.

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We ask your questions anonymously so you don’t have to! Submissions are open on the 1st and 15th of the month.