#Klu One & Only video

[jetblack4realz]

the sweetest of loves - jacaerys velaryon

i'm living for fluffy modern jace rn honestly you're gonna love me for this

low key same au as my last one, just a few years later - more will come of this as well, i'm loving it haha

word count: 5.2k

______________________________________________________________

when you talked with jace about transferring to the essos school of literature instead of attending king's landing university with him again he was entirely supportive.

"you have to do it," he insisted, glancing between you and the 'accept' button at the bottom of the email. his smile was wide as he nodded at you, hand covering yours on the table. "you have to. you've been dreaming about going here for years."

"but, i already have a life here, jace, with you," you objected, brows furrowed as you leaned back in your chair. "i have friends and i like what i'm studying. i've only got two years left."

"it's just a study abroad year," he told you with a light smile. "you'll still graduate from KLU, you'll just have all this new experience to go along with it. it'll be okay."

"are you sure?" you asked.

"positive. you'll never forgive yourself if you don't go," he said, squeezing your hand comfortingly. "i think you should go."

and so you'd clicked that 'accept' button and shipped off to northern italy a month later.

you sent pictures of everything when you arrived, and a video of you and your roommate lisy who was studying in america at nyu originally. she was the most bubbly person you'd ever met and you loved her instantly.

jace responded in kind with his own pictures; the boys on the football pitch, 0.5's of cregan and aegon and benji, pouting selfies of him in the kitchen pointing at a burnt plate of who know's what? you got a voice memo each morning of him mumbling "i love you, have a great day," which you answered with a wide smile.

lisy teased you relentlessly, wondering after each picture, "is that going to the boy?" which you always had to reply honestly and say it was. she met him over facetime several times and he told you he was glad that you had her in italy, even though he wished he was there instead.

"she seems excitable," he laughed once she left your bedroom. you giggled, falling on your bed with the phone to your face.

"the most excitable," you told him. "i love her. she's made the transition a lot easier. but, i still miss you like hell."

"i miss you too," he hummed with a half smile. "even cregan misses you. we don't eat nearly as well with you gone."

"well be sure to stock up before i come home and i'll make you something," you told him, smiling at the compliment of your cooking.

"deal," he said with a grin. the screen shook as he moved on his bed, a yawn escaping his lips.

"when do you have class tomorrow?" you asked.

"eight," he sighed.

you gasped. "jace! you need to go to bed, it's like one in the morning."

"i'm fine, love. i'd rather talk to you," he said, but the daze in his eyes as he resisted another yawn said something else.

"go to bed, jacaerys," you told him sternly, smiling at the boy.

"it's like two in the morning over there, why aren't you going to bed?" he asked lazily.

"me and lisy are going sightseeing tomorrow and we don't have a wake up time," you said, a smirk on your lips as his eyes widened. he groaned dramatically.

"that's so not fair. i have to go to class and you're touring italy," he whined.

"should've come with me," you hummed.

"we both know i never would've gotten in. i'm terrible in english, i'll stick to history," he answered.

"then go to bed," you said, a smile still on your lips as he sighed heavily.

"fine," he droned. he looked more intently at the screen to you, smiling softly. "i love you."

"i love you too, j," you said, reciprocating his sweet smile. "sweet dreams, love."

"you too. goodnight."

"goodnight."

"i've never seen a place like this before," lisy gasped, looking all around the sweet little market you'd found yourself in. you giggled, beginning to file through a few of the notecards sitting on an antique table.

"jace's mom used to take me places like this all the time," you told her. "she doesn't have a daughter and is a serious shopaholic, so i got dragged to all sorts of places."

"ugh, i would've loved that!" she said.

"i did," you answered, following her to the home decor section. "i reckon as soon as i go home for the holidays she'll have all sorts of markets and boutiques for us to go to. are you going home? maybe you could come with!"

"i can afford the fare to america to just spend a week home," she answered. "but, i guess england's only a few hours from here, huh?"

"you should come! if we buy the tickets now they'll be cheap," you said eagerly. "i have an apartment back home that i'm sharing with my two best friends, though one of them moved into my room. you could stay with us! you'd love them, we'd have loads of fun."

"okay," she agreed with a smile. "it's a plan. now, can we please buy these pillows?"

she held up two blue and cream pillows with little floral designs on them. you reached for the tag hanging off one corner and flipped it over, gasping when you spotted the number printed on it.

"forty euros!"

"that's not that bad," she said, waving you away.

"each!" you reemphasized, but she shrugged, carrying them with her as she continued to the baking section.

"worth it!" she called over her shoulder, earning a laugh from you as you followed her.

you had jace on speaker as you worked your way around the kitchen.

"i mean, if he'd just get a grip he'd realize that she likes him too," you said louder than normal for it to reach the phone. you heard jace sigh dramatically as you began mixing the cream cheese icing you were going to put on the cinnamon rolls as soon as they came out of the oven.

"that's what i've been saying!" he said. "but luke is so stuck in his own head. i mean, he's a weird bloke, sure, but she's into that apparently."

"luke is a cute kid, don't say that," you told him.

"well, he does look like me, he is my brother."

"oh, shut up jace," you laughed.

"oh, you're talking to jace?" lisy asked as she entered the kitchen, sticking a finger into your icing to lick off as she turned back to where your phone was charging. "HELLO JACAERYS!"

"wow, hello to you too lisy!" he chuckled. "nearly broke my ear there."

"i try," she said with a shrug, eyes on your phone. "you've been on the phone for three hours?"

"don't judge," you told her. "it's boring baking by myself."

"it took you three hours to make your cinnamon rolls?" she asked.

"and cake pops," you answered.

"ooh, where?" she asked with an eager smile.

"setting in the fridge, don't touch them yet," you laughed. she looked back at your phone as jace apparently moved his, the sound crunching through your speakers.

suddenly, her eyes widened and her face paled. she clicked your phone as jace started talking again.

"gods, do i miss cake pops. what flavor, love? strawberry?"

"uh, yeah," you said slowly, crossing the small kitchen to grab your phone from your roommate, brows knitted in a silent question. she flashed your phone screen at you, brows raised high as she pointed at a little green text.

what r u doing tonight?

"who the hell is that?" she whispered.

"who is who?"

"nothing, jace. just some guy in my creative writing class who's asking me what i'm doing tonight," you said. you grabbed your phone, beginning to type out a response.

"and what are you doing tonight?" jace asked slowly.

"certainly nothing to do with him," you laughed. "probably watch a movie or something. maybe we can do the group watch thing on disney plus and watch the princess bride."

"i'm always down to watch princess bride with my future princess bride." you could hear the laugh on his tongue as he teased you and you giggled, lisy making a face of disgust.

"you two are gross," she said. "anyways, is the guy cute? i'm not doing anything tonight."

"his name is liam and he's kind of a jerk," you told her, scrunching your nose. "kept interrupting class with his stupid, slightly offensive jokes about our professor's teaching methods and then when we had to write a short narrative as a group he did no work."

"you didn't answer my question; is he cute?" she emphasized, a grin on her lips.

"i think you'd think he was cute," you finally told her, your grimace still on your lips. "i can tell him you'll go if you want."

"yes please," she said dramatically. "i'll go get ready."

"you don't even know what you're doing!" you called as she sprinted to her room.

"whatever!"

"she is a hoot," jace laughed through the phone.

"yes, yes she is," you answered with a giggle. you returned to your device, quickly telling the boy that your roommate was interested and copying her number. but, you hadn't sent it when he answered.

-i want to go with you. are you busy?

"the fuck?" you muttered, narrowing your brows.

"what?" jace asked quickly.

"this is just weird. he's being weird," you mumbled.

i'm hanging out with my boyfriend.

like i said, my roommate is free. this is her number if you want to text her about it

you waited for a response, getting increasingly annoyed that his texts were green and you couldn't watch him type.

"what'd he say?"

"that he wants to go with me. but, i said i was hanging out with my boyfriend and gave him her number, so hopefully he'll bugger off," you answered.

-do you and your boy wanna come?

you sighed. "guess not. he asked if we wanna go, and i really don't want to say that you don't exactly live in italy."

"then don't, just say no," jacaerys told you.

"alright," you mumbled.

can't sorry.

-next time for sure

you didn't answer that, instead returning to your icing. "i'm about done with my rolls if you want to send me the disney request."

"on it, love."

"who did you tell that my boyfriend doesn't live here?" you asked lisy quickly, brows raised. "liam will not leave me alone."

"what's he saying?" the girl asked with knitted brows.

"that jace doesn't need to know," you said before widening your eyes and throwing your hands in the air dramatically. "he's asking me to hook up!"

she gasped. "no way."

"yes way!" you groaned, falling on the couch.

"have you told jace?" she asked, sitting next to you.

"well, sure," you said. "he was on the phone when i got the text. and then when he started passing me notes in class i sent pictures to him."

"what'd he say?"

"that he'd fly down to punch him in the mouth if he tried anything," you answered with a sigh. "i can't wait to go home in a few days. i miss him."

"you've missed him since you got here," she laughed.

"i know," you laughed with her. "it sucks."

a knock on your door caught both your attentions.

"did you invite anyone over?" lisy asked you, brows furrowed.

"no. you didn't?"

"nope."

you stared at each other for a few moments before lisy shrieked, "nose goes!" and pressed her pointer finger to her nose before you even had the chance to do the same.

"cheater!" you cried.

"you have to get it!" she yelled with a laugh.

"shh," you said, holding a finger up as you stood and approached the door.

your face fell when you opened it and saw who it was. "liam."

"hi," the boy said with a cocky grin, hands tucked in the pockets of his hoodie jacket. "how are you?"

"fine..." you said slowly, brows scrunching in confusion. "how did you get my address?"

"oh, don't worry about it," he said, shrugging casually. "do you want to go get some food?"

"i have a boyfriend, you know this," you said strictly.

"doesn't mean you can't have a little fun," he said with a gross smile. "who knows what he's getting up to while you're gone? don't you think you should be able to do the same?"

"i know what he's doing while i'm gone and it's nothing close to this. no thank you, liam," you told him, hand on the door as you went to push it closed. he caught it, eyes softening as he peered at you.

"please? i promise not to do anything," he tried. you furrowed your brows.

"no," you said, your response the most obvious thing to both you and lisy who was watching behind you protectively. "i still don't trust you and i still have a boyfriend. go home."

"oh come on-"

"go home!" lisy yelled, pushing the door shut. you locked it before turning to her gratefully. she settled back on one foot, brows furrowed as she stared at the door for a few moments. "he really wasn't that cute."

you laughed lightly before walking towards your room.

"where are you going?"

"i have to tell jace, he'll never believe this!"

jacaerys didn't know you were coming home for the holidays. you'd told him some ridiculous lie about having finals too close to christmas and that there was a big new years party that you didn't want to miss and he believed you. he said he wasn't mad, that you should live up your life in italy.

little did he know you were absolutely tired of italy and more than ready to jump back in his arms.

baela and alysanne picked you up from the airport with excited screams, hugging you tightly as you laughed joyously.

"my girls!" you cheered. "how are you?!"

"fantastic now that you're here," alys said with a smile. she scrunched her brows. "where's your friend?"

"she decided she did have enough money to go home," you answered with a shrug and a smile. "it's all the same - i get to be home with you guys!"

"ugh, i'm so glad you're back," baela said. "so much has happened."

"since i talked to you last week?"

"oh, you don't know the half of it," she sighed dramatically, grabbing your arm as she and alysanne dragged you out to your car. "so addam..."

you saw rhaenyra before you saw jace, the woman capturing you in a warm, tight hug as soon as she laid eyes on you. baela slipped in behind you with a laugh and made her way upstairs to her room.

"look at you!" rhaenyra said with a gasp. "you look so beautiful! i'm so glad you're here."

"me too," you said with a laugh light on your breath. "thank you for letting me over."

"anytime, my dear, anytime," she insisted, smiling widely as she led you further into the house. she left your side to begin pulling chicken from the fridge, allowing space for her children to spot you.

soon enough, you had viserys and aegon clinging to your sides and joffrey patiently waiting his turn at the entrance to the kitchen. you laughed, kneeling down to hug them all properly, waving joff over once you finished with aegon.

"how are you all?" you asked excitedly.

"good!" the three cheered.

"i made a gingerbread house out of graham crackers," joffrey said proudly. "do you want to see it?"

"of course i do," you told him, your smile widening. "but, i think i have to go see jace first. do you know where he is?"

as the littles shook their heads, rhaenyra said, "he just left to his room."

"awesome," you said, standing and taking a step towards the staircase. you pointed at joffrey. "me and jace will be down in a few minutes to see your gingerbread house, okay?"

"okay!" he said happily.

you turned and quickly made your way up the carpeted steps, heaidng down the hallway you knew like the back of you hand. you approached his door slowly, hand resting on the handle as you raised your knuckles to rap gently on the wood.

"come in," he called from inside, causing your heart to jump and a smile to pull at your lips. you pushed the door open, seeing him seated at his desk with a notebook in front of him, though his attention was on his phone.

"hey," you said gently.

he looked up quickly, his eyes widening as he abandoned his phone and flew from his seat. he wrapped his arms around your torso, you barely managing to get your arms out to wrap around his neck before he squeezed you tightly, his momentum sending you both into the wall. you laughed loudly, hugging him back joyously, one hand raking through his curls as he nuzzled into your neck, pressing a few kisses there before he mumbled into your skin.

"what are you doing here? why didn't you tell me?"

"i wanted to surprise you," you told him, pulling him back enough to see his beautiful coffee brown eyes. his smile was the widest you'd seen it as he leaned in and captured you for a quick, but deep kiss. he pulled away, hugging you tightly to him once more, kissing your cheek, jaw, and neck in quick little pecks, his energy vivid and sporadic as he held you close.

"this is the best surprise, love," he told you, pulling away to kiss you again. "i love you so much. i missed you so much." he kissed you again, not giving you a chance to respond as you giggled lightly. he pulled back, eyes raking over your face and then your form, drinking you in for only a few seconds before he muttered, "gods, you're beautiful." his mouth returned to your own when you heard a door open.

you pulled back, tucking yourself in jace's side as you turned to see luke standing in his doorway with an unimpressed quirk of his brow and baela standing in hers with her phone up.

"really? i don't even get a hello before i'm subjected to you making out?" he asked. you laughed, slipping from jace's grasp to give his little brother a hug.

"hi luke," you told him.

"hello y/n," he hummed, laughing lightly when you pulled back and rolled your eyes. you turned your attention to baela, who's phone was still pointed at you.

"i got that whole thing on camera," she said with a giggle. "super cute, it's gonna go viral."

"you can't post it!" you cried, laughing as you reached for the device. she pulled it out of your reach, stepping back into her room and beginning to push the door closed.

"it's my video!" she laughed. "go back to your boyfriend!"

when her door shut and lucerys snuck between you two to descend the stairs, you did go back to your boyfriend. you snuggled into his grasp, sighing contentedly as he pressed a kiss to the top of your head.

"i missed you."

"i missed you too."

"let's go out tonight," he suggested, his chin settling comfortable on the top of you head as you leaned into him.

"where are you thinking?"

"just some food and a drive. i'll drive if we can take your car." you could hear the smile and you sighed, grinning yourself.

"i guess..."

"alright, where should we go?"

"italy doesn't have nando's."

"well, then we have to get you some nando's."

by the time that you'd escaped his house - having to stop for joffrey's graham cracker gingerbread house, a brief coaching session with luke on how to flirt with the girl he likes over text, and to attempt to convince daemon that the italians did in fact think you had a good accent when you spoke italian even though he thought otherwise - it was well past dark.

you giggled as jace held your door open and shut it after you, crossing to the other side to slip into the driver's side. he started up the crappy old ford with a wide grin, handing you the aux cable immediately.

"we need to get you a bluetooth adapter," he hummed as he pulled out of the neighborhood. "my phone doesn't even plug into that one anymore."

"you got a new phone?" you asked, clicking on the same album you always played when you were with jace. you listened to it a lot when you were alone in italy, lights out and lisy off with friends, just missing your boy.

"yeah. i'm still on mum's family plan and everyone got an upgrade for some promotional. i don't know if i like it yet," he admitted with a shrug. "it did make facetiming you easier. my battery didn't die as fast, and for that i love it."

"that's nice. i was always plugged in while talking to you," you told him with a laugh. he grabbed your hand over the middle console, shooting you a smile. "it was worth it, though."

"i'm just so glad you're actually here now. i was certain this was going to be the worst holiday i've had yet, but now you're here with me, so it'll be the best," he said. "are you coming over for christmas or will you be with your family?"

"no, dad's off with his witch girl and my siblings are at my grandparents'. your mum offered for me to stay here with you guys for the whole holiday," you answered. he grinned, squeezing your hand.

"are you going to? or do you want to be with alysanne?" he asked.

"i mean, if you don't mind seeing me literally 24/7 i would actually love to stay with you guys," you replied with a small smile. "i love your family."

"and they love you," he said. "stay. i'm pretty sure everyone would be ecstatic if you did."

"alright, i will," you agreed, your heart fluttering a bit at the thought of it. you were always welcomed at the targaryen household, but to be spending christmas with them? that was a new level of love.

after he parked, he leaned over the console to kiss you again, earning a slight giggle as you kissed him back. he pulled back just enough to grin at you before kissing you again, his free hand brushing over your cheek gently. you pulled away finally, staring at him with an incredulous sort of love.

"let's get food," you insisted, turning to get out. he pulled on your hand, making you to turn back to him. he shook his head and quickly exited the vehicle, coming to your side in a moment and opening your door. you hopped out with a wide smile, accepting his hand again when you came chest to chest with the boy. "you're the perfect gentleman."

"only for you," he said, wiggling his brows as he shut the door and pulled you towards nando's.

as you stood in line, talking about how aemond started posting the same girl on his stories recently, you people watched. you always liked to see who was out to get chicken at nine o'clock at night. nando's seemed to have the wildest people, from a man wearing a tshirt that read 'danny dorito' with danny davito's face on a dorito, to a chick waiting by the doors with a chihuahua in a stroller. and then there was the weirdest one -

liam.

"shit, what?" you said quickly, brows furrowing as you stepped behind jace. he looked up from your phone where you'd previously been viewing aemond's story highlights, immediately scanning the room for what could've incited such a reaction from you.

"what is it?" he asked, his hold on your hand tightening. the line moved up and you stayed behind him, the man understanding your attempts and keeping you out of sight of whatever it was you were nervous about. "love, what is it?"

"remember that liam guy i kept telling you about? that came to my house and kept hitting on me in class? he's here," you told him, peeking around his arm to see if he was still sat with the three boys you saw him with.

"what the hell?" he muttered, eyes narrowing on the kid. "we'll just get our food to go. i'd rather not risk meeting him."

"i thought you said you'd beat him up for me?" you asked with a light giggle.

"if he comes us and starts something then of course. but, i don't start fights, darling, i finish them," he told you. you grinned as you pulled him further up the line, ordering once you reached the register.

as jace began paying, you glanced back at where liam had been, your curiosity getting the bets of you. your brows furrowed when you didn't spot the boy - he'd just been there a moment before.

"thank you," jacaerys told the cashier with a charming smile before stepping back next to you, hand grabbing yours as he pulled you to fill your drinks. the nando's workers were speedy tonight, holding your bag out as jace rushed by, the boy grabbing it with a thanks. he eyed you carefully. "what's wrong?"

"nothing, i just-"

"y/n!"

you both turned quickly, brows knitted tightly at the call of your name. of course it was liam.

"liam," you said slowly, nodding as you eyed him. "hi."

liam approached with a wide grin, a strange swagger in his step. you pursed your lips as you watched him. jace pulled you closer to him, his grip tightening slightly.

"crazy to see you here," liam drawled, his grin making your skin crawl. his eyes flashed to jacaerys. "is this the boyfriend you've been talking about?"

"yes. this is jacaerys," you said shortly, not bothering to introduce your classmate.

"pleasure to meet you jacaerys," liam hummed, holding a hand out to him. jace clasped it securely, a straight look on his face as he eyed him with a steel gaze. "i'm liam."

"alright," jace said.

"me and y/n go to school in italy together," he continued.

"alright," jace repeated, releasing his hand with a slight shove. "good to meet you, mate. if you'll excuse us, we've got to get going."

"why don't you join me and my friend bobby? we're heading to a party later tonight with some college friends, you should come," liam offered.

"no thanks," you said quickly, glancing at jace with an unintelligible look in your eyes. "we've got plans."

"you've always got plans, don't you sweetheart," liam sighed, turning your attention back to him. your furrowed your brows again.

"sorry?"

"every time i invite you out, you refuse. i'm just being friendly."

"and i'm perfectly friendly when i say no. it's alright for you to accept that i don't want to hang out with you, liam."

"ouch," he said, a grin still slipping off the side of his lips as he held a hand to his heart. "you don't want to hang out with me?"

"i think she's made that clear," jace told him, stepping towards him. "now, like i said before; we've got to get going."

he didn't wait for a response before dragging you away to the drinks station, filling both your cups quickly, and pulling you back to the car. "i see what you mean," he muttered as he helped you in your side.

"he's kinda pushy," you answered, accepting the bag of steaming food before he shut your door and crossed to his side. he sat down with a sigh, starting the car up.

"just a bit."

"let's get out of here."

you sung along to the playlist you were used to, the one you'd curated with jace when you first started dating and began these drives, and the one you listened to the most while in italy and missing him desperately. a mix between enthusiastic songs you weren't afraid to belt out and slow, sweet songs that varied from taylor swift and old american country artists, your playlist had everything.

eventually, he pulled off to the side of the peak of the Rim, a mountain range not too far out from his parents' house and one you frequented over the last almost two years of dating. he pulled you out of the old ford and onto the roof, the bag of nando's in your hand.

you chatted while you ate, random nonsense and updates of luke's love life that he'd failed to mention in your regular facetimes.

"joffrey's even got a girlfriend now," he hummed with a cheeky grin, laughing as you gasped and pushed his shoulder.

"he does not!" you cried, eyes wide. "but, he's so little!"

"he's twelve," jace shrugged. "we all had girlfriends and boyfriends at that age. you 'go out' for a day or two and be done with it."

"and is he done with it?" you asked.

"no," he admitted, laughing loudly before he continued. "he bought her a peppermint teddy for christmas. she told him she was jewish and he was mortified, but she said she'd take it for hanukkah. he spent all week trying to convince mum and daemon to let him buy her six more presents to go along."

"i thought there were eight?" you asked.

"either way," he said with a shrug. "mum said no. he'd already spent his whole allowance on the teddy and we still had to draw for family secret santa."

"who'd you get?" you asked with a soft smile.

"actually, i was hoping for your help on that. i got baela."

"oh, i can definitely help with that," you said, a giggle following your words.

you sat in contented silence for another few moments, finishing the rest of your meals before jace spoke again.

"i didn't like the way he was looking at you."

you looked at him quickly, eyes softening in realization of what he meant. you leaned into his side, holding his arm gently. "me neither. but, i doubt it'll happen again - i think you intimidated him."

"it won't happen again," he said, the words so sure, so definite that it made you furrow your brows.

"i'm sure," you agreed, determining to say nothing more on the matter.

another silence passed over you as jace considered his words, looking down on you with a soft smile and a certain resolve.

"i'm studying with you next semester."

"what?" you asked quickly, pulling away to look at him with a wide smile. "you are? you're coming to italy?"

"well, now that the football season is over i can. i spoke with admissions and they agreed it'd be a good experience. i start next term with you," he said, smiling at you so sweetly. "and well, i couldn't leave you with the likes of liam for another semester. i don't think i could handle that."

"thank you," you sighed, tucking into his side with a neverending smile. "i love you."

"i love you too."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

thanks for reading! leave a request in the comments or message me privately! i love writing, so if you've got an idea you need fleshed out on paper i'd love to be the one to do that for you

masterlist!!

[beardedmrbean]

A BBC staffer is under fire for a string of antisemitic Facebook posts in which she referred to Jewish people as “Nazi apartheid parasites” and called white people a “virus.”

Dawn Queva, Senior Scheduling Coordinator & Playout Planner at BBC Three, made many of the troubling, since-deleted posts over the last few months, Deadline revealed.

In one rant, Queva – whose profile appeared under the name Dawn Las Quevas-Allen – called Jewish people “Nazi apartheid parasites” and accused them of funding a “holohoax,” the outlet said.

She also made several posts criticizing Israel and Zionism – including one in which she referred to “a bunch of subcontinental European melanin recessive CaucAsian japhetic AshkeNazi who have no None zero zilch blood connection to the land of Palestine or Israel historically.”

Some of Queva’s disturbing posts go back nearly a decade: In 2014, she referred to Israel as “Israhell,” the Times of Israel said.

“The Zionist genocidal land squatting so called Jew’ irrespective of the fact that The UKKK and Amerikkka gave away land they had no god given right to a people who have no god given right to,” Queva added in another post, according to screenshots shared by Deadline.

Queva – who previously worked for A+E Networks, UKTV, and Disney, according to Deadline – also repeatedly hit out at white people, whom she referred to as a “virus” and a “mutant invader species,” the Telegraph wrote.

Several of her posts refer to Great Britain as the “UKKK,” in reference to the Ku Klux Klan.

In another update, she wrote that white people were a “barbaric bloodthirsty rapacious murderous genocidal thieving parasitical deviant breed”.

Several of her posts were removed or restricted by Facebook – including an early January incident in which her activity was restricted for bullying and hate speech, the Times of Israel said.

Queva then slammed the action as “anti black klu klux klan white/Zionist restrictions,” the outlet reported.

Queva appeared to respond to the reports about her previous posts on Friday, when she updated her Facebook wall with a video from the 1987 movie “The Garbage Pail Kids” alongside a caption that read “only those who live a lie hate the truth!”

She also commented below to add an infographic supposedly listing Jewish slave ship owners, as well as the infamous photo of Gordon, an escaped slave with a heinously scarred back due to years of abuse.

Queva’s disturbing posts are believed to have been circulated in BBC WhatsApp groups that formed in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

The BBC was under scrutiny for its coverage of the attack and subsequent war – and Director General Time Davie has held “listening meetings’ in order to address the perceived bias in its work, Deadline explained.

There have also been recent reports that 22 employees at the national broadcaster have filed complaints about antisemitism in the workplace, the Telegraph added.

“We don’t comment on individual members of staff and we have well-established and robust processes in place to handle such issues, we do not tolerate anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, or any form of abuse and we take any such allegations seriously and take appropriate disciplinary action wherever necessary,” a BBC spokesperson told The Post.

[writingsofwesteros]

Daeron's relationship with his girlfriend fell apart quickly, and he did feel guilty, but thankfully his sweet sisters were there to make him feel better. He was home for a few more weeks before he headed back down to Oldtown for finals, and Aegon insisted they all went out, and the press went crazy (and the fanpages too): "The missing Targaryen- rare sighting of Daeron Targaryen" "Four becomes five, Daeron Targaryen back in King's Landing"

King's Landing Daily: Elusive to the media for years, Daeron Targaryen seemingly makes a debut with his famous siblings on the King's Landing party scene, spotted entering the exclusive Dornish club owned by Oberyn Martell- who according to sources close to the family is a good friend of Aegon Targaryen. Sources tell KLD that the fifth Targaryen siblings has been in Oldtown studying medicine, and is due to start his residency this year- quite a departure from his family's pursuits. Rumours swirled about a potential girlfriend from back in Oldtown, but sources were quick to clear up that there was no girlfriend in sight for the youngest Targaryen, pictured with his four siblings out on the town. It comes as a surprise to many to hear of the medical pursuits of Daeron, the family is seemingly everywhere, though never in the field of medicine, until now. Most know of Daenora Targaryen's equestrian career, and her side job as one of King's Landing's resident party girls, along with eldest Targaryen Aegon, the undisputed King of the Party scene. Helaena Targaryen, this outlet reports, is apparently working on a thesis at KLU, though details are sparse, she does have a large social media following like her sister. Aemond Targaryen has always been elusive, both on social media and in life, but rumours swirl that he's currently in training to set into his place in the family's centuries old, dynastic corporate kingdom. Many wonder if Daeron will step into the spotlight like Daenora, or Aegon, or remain elusive in his work, like his brother Aemond. Though away from media eyes for years, his debut tonight shows him falling seamlessly into place with his siblings, this exclusive foursome now a fivesome- and we can only wonder if he'll live up to the Targaryen name and like every Targaryen at one time or another, bring a little scandal to the table.

also, now that Daeron is officially understanding of the true depth that the sibling bond goes, he's been added to a certain group chat 😉

4targs>>>5targs

Aegon: added Daeron Targaryen to the chat

Helaena: 😚😚😚

Aemond: 👍🏽

Nora: I'd keep my volume off when you open some of the videos in this chat, @ daeron. wouldn't want anyone to see 👀

Daeron: wdym??

*ten minutes later Daeron goes through the chat media*

Daeron: wow

Daeron: holy shit

Aegon: bet ten bucks he's hard

Aemond: bet twenty he came in his pants

Nora: 🤭🤭🤭

Helaena: 🤭🤭🤭

Daeron: ....

Daeron: I owe @ aemond twenty

ALL OF THIS !! Poor sweet Daeron, he had no idea what he was returning home to ;)

[fiifiadinkra]

Klu - One & Only (Official Video)

Klu – One & Only (Official Video)

Klu – One & Only (Official Video)

Klu celebrates one year release of his 2018 released studio album ABEN, with a new video One & Only track 16 off the album. Directed by Archery Watch the new video here:

  Check out : Fameye – Afia Bruwaa (Feat. Kofi Kinaata) (Prod by Peewezel)

[angelhummel]

could you rank the degrassi next class characters?

gladly!! also sorry in advance if you love any of the characters im about to shit on lol

20. Frankie Hollingsworth. Almost had her second to last but. No. Klu Klux Fran?? The ZOO?? I can't even talk about her she's just so damn annoying and racist and omg. And she was being pushed as the new Main Girl which made everything all the more offensive and unbearable

19. Esme Song. Sorry but I do not think she had a single redeeming trait. She had nothing she stood for, no actual character beyond being an antagonist to every single other person on the show. Like she thinks Shay is stupid for being embarrassed about getting her period on her boyfriend's pants, and yet she calls Yael disgusting for having armpit hair?? So what's the truth? And people are like "well she's mentally ill" to excuse all she does. Well Maya is mentally ill and Esme makes fun of her too. So who's side are we on? Like I would've liked to see her get help and develop but we didn't get that so.

18. Hunter Hollingsworth. Terrorist. Not even interesting enough to be an actual school shooter. Just a waste of a character. Sexist, violent, had a plot about wanting to play video games at school. I'm so bored. Only not at the bottom bc I feel like he wasn't in my face as much

17 & 16. Baaz Nahir & Vijay Maraj. Thing 1 and Thing 2 to the would be school shooter. Clowns. They were a terrible group and I cringed any time they had a plot together. Annoying together, useless on their own. Hard pass

15. Yael Baron. The final member of the above group. Was mostly boring and annoying and especially dumb for being romantically interested in Hunter. Only gets bonus points for their coming out as nonbinary plot. After their makeover I was literally crying

14. Jonah Haak. Mostly disliked him for being in a relationship with Frankie. Like I'm sure they were only a year or two apart but he felt so much older than her. It was gross. And mostly he's just really blah. The attempt at a straight edge character at that point was. Hilarious. at least.

13. Winston Chu. Seemed harmless at first but idk all the boys were shifted high into clown mode when this show hit netflix. The incident with the geisha and Japanese soldier costumes? Defending Zoe against Esme? Then later telling Goldi maybe she should take her hijab off to cause less of a fuss? Bruh.

12. Saad Al'Maliki. Honestly I felt like he was the one with the most braincells most of the time. Probably pissed me off the least. But he was also in the least amount of episodes and didn't make much of an impression on me. Was mostly just boring. But I'll take boring over everything that came before

11. Lola Pacini. Degrassi has a knack for introducing the worst and most obnoxious characters and then eventually making you love them. Lola was not quite that. I hated her for the longest time but it decreased a bit near the end. I got emotional when she had her abortion. And when she gave Yael their makeover. And when she reached out to Saad and convinced him not to leave. I feel like I could've grown to like her more if the show went on, but again... Oh also I hate her and Miles together sorry

10. Grace Cardinal. Ugh Grace is confusing to me. I wasn't the biggest fan of her story with Zoe. I mean sure you're allowed to hook up with someone and then realize "oh that's not for me" but it was handled so awkwardly. Like she slept with Zoe just to be like "damn i hate when everyone thinks i'm a lesbian :/" like why. Idk she was fine but I'm not over the moon about her

9. Goldi Nahir. Ugh okay I feel like they didn't know what to do with her. Like she had the plotline about if she should take off her hijab or not. And she had to teach the poor whities about racism. That was about it? She was adorable and sweet and a bright spot in the show but ugh she deserved better than what she was surrounded with lol

8. Shay Powers. Again, it's not her fault she's stuck in a show written by 70 year old white people. But the black girl is completely oblivious to the racism of her friend? She has to ask her dad if a racist thing is really racist? She's never experienced racism? Ok Degrassi. They treat all their black girls like shit and I feel like I just stan them out of spite bc of that lol. But she's cool and a nice person and she's into sports so she's at least doing stuff

7. Rasha Zuabi. Another generally nice and cool character that I have positive feelings for. Also she was gay so yay. Loved her story with Zoe. I think there was just one moment where I was like "wtf are you doing" but compared to everyone else it's not a big deal

6. Zig Novak. I have to admit that all my enjoyment of his character comes from before Next Class. He was such a sweetie and then he left and came back acting dumb as hell. That was not my boy in Next Class. But ahhh he's still my boy sorry I love him <3

5. Deon "Tiny" Bell. Basically the same as Zig above. But I feel like he maybe had a few less moments of being an asshole? Also his promposal for Shay was cute <3 Wait didn't he also date Lola? Wasn't a fan of that either.

4. Zoe Rivas. She was the one dressed up as a geisha lol (: Oh boy Next Class was something else. Umm it was nice to see her process of accepting herself as a lesbian. I feel like it took forever tho. Which is understandable irl but this is a tv show lol. I didn't enjoy her sucking Zig off in the woods. Not fun. But her relationship with Rasha was one of my fave things about NC

3. Tristan Milligan. The amount of hate Tristan gets is faaaar too much. He's one of my favorites of the whole show honestly. I think he's funny and dramatic and a great addition to the show. But he gets knocked down bc I can't remember anything he did in Next Class other than BEING IN A FUCKING COMA FOR A WHOLE SEASON. He's already Owen's brother, he's suffered enough. But I love his relationship with Miles. And him helping Zoe accept herself

2. Miles Hollingsworth. Yes another character I wasn't fond of at first. Hated his relationship with Zoe and thought he was just boring. Truthfully I think I only became interested when he started dating Tristan lol. Plus omg with his family?? It's a miracle he got out at all. He went through so much bullshit and he was especially going through it in Next Class. He was kind of a hot mess but also I just care a lot about him. He deserves the world <3

1. Maya Matlin. Is Maya really my fave?? I guess so! Yet another character I wasn't fond of at first. Which is insane bc we just got to the part in our rewatch where she first shows up and I'm like !!! baby girl!! So precious!!! And I wanted to cry thinking of what she's about to go through. I feel like her character is treated with some of the most respect and care. Her motivations and mental health decline all make sense storywise. I just care a lot about her and got super emotional watching everything in her story, especially the later parts in NC

Wow this is a lot!! But I hope you enjoyed my ranking and explanations lol. Also like. Everyone was racist. Everyone was mentally ill. That was the whole show. It was a hot mess and truth be told I am not a fan. Even the characters I love, they were acting weird here. Like I said about Zig and Tiny and their character regression. And I think it was the same for like Tristan and Zoe and plenty of others too. Everyone was off, idk how to explain it. But that's my ranking for the hot mess that was Next Class!!

Thank you for the ask, ily <3

[hell-much]

For @twentysixthpercent prompt - 37. you jokingly suggest we send out holiday cards together as friends so we do, and now everyone is congratulating us for finally getting together

I had a lot fun with this, and added a social media twist. Hope that is okay :)  Thank you for the prompt! Enjoy the read!

----

Margaery blinked her eyes open and closed them again only half a second later, wishing desperately she could go back to the blessed state of being passed-out. Her body was not generous enough to grant her that relief, instead more and more discomforts worked itself into her mind. 

Her head was pounding a bit more with every thought, her mouth felt dry as sandpaper, and she thought she could taste the remains of red wine and something sugary. The lingering taste not helping along with nausea that enwrapped her entire existence.

A body shifted beneath with a groan. That, along with the sound of a hand tapping on the surface of the couch table, brought her attention to what woke her in the first place. 

"Shut up," Sansa whined pitifully, the obnoxious alarm sound of a phone coming physically closer, letting Margaery feel like her head would explode any minute. 

The silence that followed when Sansa, at last, managed to turn it off was nothing sort of divine. Margaery's body relaxed back into … well, it did not feel like her bed. 

Reluctantly she blinked her eyes back open, discovering her suspicion to be true. She was not in her bed, but instead on the living room couch. Half of her body was on top of Sansa, the other half squished between Sansa and the backrest. 

When searching her mind for an explanation of why she was here, and why she felt like dying, the memory of the previous night returned slow.

What she could see of the living room was chaotic. Remains of wrapping paper and ribbons were spread everywhere over the floor. Three empty bottles of wine lined up on the couch table, along with empty glasses, two cups and plates with half-eaten cookies. The half-empty bottle of gingerbread liquor had her stomach do a small turn, and she squeezed her eyes back shut before she could give the still glowing lights on the Christmas tree a proper examination. 

She buried her face into the warm darkness that the crook of Sansa's neck offered, bringing along a pitiful noise of discomfort. 

"Ditto," was all that Sansa muttered back, as she cuddled into the embrace, and brushed a hand through Margaery's curls. 

That certainly had escalated.

When she'd gotten home from work last night, the living room had already resembled a Christmas workshop. She'd found Sansa sitting on the floor, amidst various half-wrapped presents, shipping bags with all kinds of Christmas decorations and a cup of eggnog. 

Ugh. The eggnog. 

Margaery had known that Sansa felt homesick more than ever with not being able to go home for the holidays this year, but she'd had not expected that it would manifest in such sheer blind holiday activism; like the fir tree set up next to their TV or the smell of Christmas cookies hanging in the air, along with Christmas songs blasting through the speakers. 

Any other year Margaery was not someone who placed too much importance on Christmas. In the past, when still living alone, she'd barely bothered with more than one or two items of decoration, and maybe, if she had felt really festive, couple of light strings here and there. Unsurprisingly it had not taken more than Sansa cheerfully smiling at her and gushing about all she had planned to make their place more festive and Margaery had been infected with the holiday spirit. 

She'd quickly declared the decoration of the tree as her duty, simply because if she had to look at one in the middle of her living room, she refused it to be an eyesore. She trusted Sansa's taste any other day, but not in this level of enthusiasm; there were several multi-coloured packs of lametta within her shopping bags. 

The first bottle of wine -after they had finished the eggnog- had been, much to her dismay now, Margaery's idea. 

The second one had followed once the tree was beautifully decorated, and most of the presents were wrapped. 

Things got a bit blurry around the third one, but she did recall Santa hats, some dancing and singing along to Christmas songs, and an extensive amount of Christmas cookies. 

Sometime after that, somewhere during their drunken musings about Christmas and how it could never come back to the magic it had held during their childhood, they must have dozed off on the couch. 

Trying to recall all of that, was as much activity as Margaery found herself capable off and gratefully her body did grant her some more sleep.

When she woke again, it was already dusk outside, an indicator that she must have slept into the late afternoon. So much for productivity on her Saturday off. 

The worst of the headache seemed to have vanished, for now, only the dryness of her mouth and her queasy stomach prevailed. So much, that her need for a sip of water became stronger than her wish not to move. 

She detangled herself from a still sound-asleep Sansa and sat on the other end of the spacious couch running a hand through tangled hair and over still heavy eyes, feeling slightly dizzy sitting upright. 

Gods. No more drinking had just moved to the very top of her list for new year's resolutions. 

She dragged her way into the kitchen, and when she took the first sip of ice-cold water, she swore to never have tasted anything better in her life. 

Retrieving a second bottle for Sansa out of the fridge she made her way back to the living room, finding Sansa, now also awake, shifted up on the couch with her head propped against the armrest. 

Margaery held out the bottle in a wordless compassionate smile, that broadened to a small smirk when Sansa reached for it eagerly. 

"I love you so much right now," Sansa exclaimed in a groan, greedily drinking the fresh water. 

Margaery sat down on the armrest next to Sansa's head and emptied half the contains of her own bottle. 

She ran a hand through tousled red hair. "How are you feeling, darling?"

Screwing the cap on a half-empty bottle, Sansa made a face as she glanced up at Margaery. "I am never drinking with you again."

"I'm never drinking with myself again, either."

She looked around the disorder of the room. She could not be bothered right now, even if the type-A side of her personality was appalled by it. 

"I will go take a shower," she announced, getting back to her feet. After sleeping in her clothes, she wanted nothing more than get out of them as quickly as possible, yearned to feel clean again. "How about some nice greasy hangover take-out later?"

"Yes, please," Sansa returned with an enthusiastic nod. 

The shower rejoiced Margaery's spirits a good deal. She retrieved from the bathroom a good forty minutes later in a fresh pair of sweats and an old KLU shirt; her wet hair wrapped into a towel. 

It appeared that Sansa had used the time to take care of most of the chaos already, or at least, transfer it out of sight into the kitchen. 

Margaery plopped down on the couch, turning on her now recharged phone. "Any particular cravings?," she called out to Sansa who was rummaging around in her bedroom. 

"I would murder for Advarks' right now," Sansa's voice sounded through the half-opened door; a moment later she emerged, hair freshly brushed and wearing a bathrobe. "If that aligns with your own cravings."

"I would have reconsidered living with you if you'd suggested anything else," Margaery shot back, typing her PIN into her phone. 

"Will you get me a… ham and-"

"Ham and mushrooms, with extra mozzarella," Margaery deadpanned her standard order. "Brownie for dessert too?"

Sansa smiled and raised her eyebrows. "Is that a serious question?"

Margaery smirked at the roll of Sansa's eyes that was flung her direction before she disappeared behind the bathroom door. 

The same smirk melted into confusion, when, as wanting to dial the number of their favourite pizza place, notification after notification popped up on her phone. Her stomach dropped. Wasn't that just the last thing you wanted to wake up to after a night of drinking. 

Fifteen notifications from Instagram, eight unread messages and three missed calls. 

Always someone to rip off the band-aid quickly, Margaery tapped on the Instagram notifications, breathing an initial chuckle of relief when instead of some embarrassing picture or video exposing their drunken exertions. Instead, she found a selfie of herself and Sansa, wearing their Santa heads and posing in front of their Christmas tree. Their level of intoxication not visible at first glance.

She did remember that. They had actually gotten out the impulsively bought Selfie-Stick to get a decent photo of them and their tree. The one she'd -evidently- ended up posting was one where Sansa was smiling brightly into the camera, while she was pressing a kiss to her cheek; the lights and decorations of the tree lining the background. 

Her smirk broadened when she read the caption.

margaerytyrell Happy Holidays to all of our loved ones from Sansa and Margaery! 🎄 #makingitofficial #ourchristmastreeisprettierthanyourchristmastree #soblessedtobecelebratingwiththisone 

The relief once again drained away and replaced by freshly blooming irritation when she scrolled down to the comment section. 

dany.targ Cuties 💕Merry Christmas to you too! 😘

starkbrandon About time you two make it official!  arya.st Right?! @jon1310 Pay up. 

robbstark @san.stark 🤔 😏 So that's the reasons you are skipping Christmas at home?

jeyne.isthebest Fucking finally!!!!! 🙏 🙏 🙏 Want to hear all the details when I come back!

thereallorastyrell Congratulations you two! Happy the veil of obliviousness fell at last. arya.st @thereallorastyrell It was getting painful to watch. thereallorastyrell Gods yes.

c.tully-stark What great news! You two make an adorable couple, I am delighted that things worked out for you. 😘

brienne.of.t Congratulations and happy holidays!

stmya* Merry Christmas! 🎅 Enjoy your first holiday as a couple!

etyrell Insanely happy for the two of you! 💗 😘 Happy Holidays!

THE.greyjoy 🤨 You two. Together… 🤯 is more than my poor brain can handle. 🤤😏 yara.greyj @THE.greyjoy Don't be a creep. @san.stark @margaerytyrell Congrats you two!

baratheon.renly Could not ask for a better girlfriend for my favorite sister-in-law. 

Margaery did not know whether to laugh or to be horrified. What the fuck was happening here? So much for last night escalating. 

She scrolled back up and looked at the picture again. 

Fine, yes. Out of context, it could appear like something a couple posted. The caption did perhaps not help that impression along. But both she and Margaery had dozens of pictures like that on their phones. 

The way their friends and families -dear gods, Sansa's mom- commented sounded like… like what even? Like this was something everyone had just been waiting for to be announced? Like they had been unofficially dating?

It was ridiculous. Sansa was her friend. Her best friend. Her roommate for almost a year now. Sure, they were affectionate with each other, and maybe Margaery did have—

Automatically, Margaery swiped across the screen, finding that the missed calls were from Loras, as were the majority of the unread messages. 

Loras Tyrell, 08:43 I am disappointed Marg. I would have at least expected a personal revelation of this new development. 😪

Loras Tyrell, 09:20 So that you are not answering lets me suspect that you have better things to do? 🙄

Loras Tyrell, 09:21 Still mad at you btw that I had to find out along with everyone else. 😑 I thought our bond was more special, Marg. Also. I do literally live around the corner.

Loras Tyrell, 11:24 Just so you know, I am dying for details. Not that I ever doubted you, but landing Sansa Stark for sure is an accomplishment.

Loras Tyrell, 13:07 MARGAERY! ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ Sister of mine! Come up from between your girlfriends' legs and answer me.

Loras Tyrell, 14:02 You know… I had never known you as someone who just abandons everyone else for their s/o.

Loras Tyrell, 14:40 But what do you know… looks like you are THAT person. Again. Disappointed. 😶

While still contemplating, how to hell to get a hold of this mess, Lora's name popped up on her screen with an incoming call. 

She glanced quickly towards the bathroom where she could hear water running, then got to her feet and went into the kitchen, where she answered the call. 

"Hey."

"She has risen from the dead!," Loras exclaimed, way too cheerful considering her hangover and confusion; the way he said it she could not be sure he was talking to her or making an announcement in the room he was in. "Or risen from post-orgasmic bliss?"

Margaery leaned back against the kitchen counter, and the fingers of her free hand came to her temple, where she felt her headache from before resurfacing. "You got everything entirely wrong."

"No orgasm then?"

"No orgasm, or sex," Margaery hissed quietly into the phone. 

"I guess the two of you taking it slow should not surprise me," Loras quipped back. 

"There is nothing to—We are—," she took a deep breath, wrapping an arm around her middle. "This is all a huge misunderstanding."

Like always, he picked up on her upset tone immediately, dropping his teasing in the same breath. "What's going on, Marg? Is everything okay?"

"No," she breathed out. 

"Tell me what has happened?," he asked gently. 

Margaery turned to the window and brushed some remaining cookie crumbs off the counter. 

What had happened was that everyone assumed she and Sansa were dating. 

"That Instagram post," she still did not know how to put it in words. "All those comments... Why would everyone just assume Sansa and I are a couple?"

She could hear the smirk returning to her brother's face. "Eh, because we have watched you dance around each other for months now?"

"No." Margaery quickly shook her head. "There has been no dancing around. We are friends."

"Clueless lesbians is what you are," Loras deadpanned.

"Loras."

"Clueless bisexuals then," he joked, lightly while she felt more and more impatient. 

"We had a couple of drinks last night," Margaery explained. "We took that picture for fun. As friends. Nothing beyond that happened."

The line went quiet for so long that Margaery wondered if they had been cut off. When Loras spoke again, she wished the line had gone dead. 

"But you do like her?"

"That's not the point," she gave back quietly. 

"It's precisely the point."

He was infuriating when he knew he was right, and this time she remained silent, staring outside to where the sun had almost disappeared for the day. A knot formed itself in her gut when she thought of all the people assuming that they were a couple now. 

Yes, of course, she found was attracted to Sansa. One would have to be blind not to be. And perhaps she had the tiniest bit of a crush on her, but Sansa had not shown the slightest hint that she reciprocated that. It felt humiliating that so many other people had picked up on the feelings she harboured for her. 

The thought of having to clear up this misunderstanding made her want to sink into the ground at this very moment. 

"She likes you too, you know?" Loras surged ahead cautiously when a minute had passed without a single word from her. 

Margaery closed her eyes and swallowed the knot that had moved from her stomach to her throat back down. "She doesn't." A beat. "How would you even know that?"

"Because I have eyes," he returned, his tone somewhere between patronizing and exasperated. "And obviously I am not alone. For Gods' sake, we have bets running when you two fools will get to your senses."

"Really?" She hated how little and meek her voice sounded. 

"Did you notice how not a single person commenting seemed surprised?"

Margaery felt her heart rate pick up; the queasy feeling had returned to her stomach, only it had become of an different quality. Still, the nervousness and the reluctance did not magically disappear. 

"What if you're wrong?"

Loras laughed. "I'm not wrong. In fact, I'm never wrong." 

Gods, was she crazy enough to consider this? 

But what other options did she have? The stupid post was out there, along with all the reactions and congratulations from their families and friends; even deleting it would not make a difference at this point. 

"You've been wrong plenty of times," she shot back at him. "And if you are wrong with this; if she doesn't like me back, you better know that I am moving in with you and that I am taking your—"

Margaery didn't get any further, stopped in her twirling around, her free hand subtly reaching out for the kitchen counter for some much-needed balance. She found herself face to face with Sansa; still in her bathrobe, by the looks of it un-showered, her phone clutched in her right hand and the most adorable blush on her cheeks. 

"Stop being dramatic, Marg. You are acting like it's the first time you tell a girl you like her." Loras' voice was still sounding out of the speaker, pressed against her ear and in the silence in the kitchen, Margaery felt like Sansa had to be able to hear every single word. 

"I'll call you back," she told him curtly, ending the call and disposing the phone on the kitchen counter; not taking her eyes off of Sansa. 

Sansa was smiling and… damn it; being right about this was something Loras would never let her live down. 

[abitterlifethroughcinema]

         #ABitterLifeThroughCinema’s WOKE! Film Reviews

     The Top Ten (+1) Best Movies of 2018 and where to find them!

                                                          by

                                           Lucas Avram Cavazos

+1…11. Overlord  Having its premiere at this year’s Sitges Int’l Film Fest, Overlord not only happened to be one of the fave films screened there this past festival, but this cinematic fantasy is an all-too-real and stark portrayal of a horror that actually occurred, and it deserves a nod from the Barcelona film critic family, so here it goes. Duly noted, I’d say. It starts with an insane aerial combat mission on the night of D-Day, one which goes awry and sees only a handful of paratroopers surviving the drop when enemy fire rains hell. They land in provincial France and the plot sets out to detail some of the inner workings of the Third Reich in reference to the insane, gruesome experiments done on captured Europeans and Jews. Those stories you’ve heard about turning these poor people into guinea pigs for super soldier intent using potent, injected serums…yeah, those? They’re true, if you believe the words of JJ Abrams. Are they as utterly brutal and horror/zombie film-like as displayed here? I sure as hell hope not. (now available On Demand and DVD)

10. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs There once was a film called O Brother Where Art Thou? While this is not its sequel, there is a sharp-witted vein to this film that could only be crafted and gifted to us by the Coen Brothers. What a hoot it is, even if it is a rather darkly-tinted hue of that hoot and humour. It is also one of their finest in years. Revolving around the singing cowpoke Buster Scruggs (Tim Blake Nelson) and five other tales brought to us with the commonly-threaded theme of death in often brutally funny ways, this film is a fine return to oddball form from two of the finest sibling directors of all time. Starring Liam Neeson, James Franco, Zoe Kazan, even Tyne Daly and so many in its vignettes, and that acting star power fuses this Western comedy into new territory for the brothers. Their previous works set in the west always seemed to be re-hashing works of years gone by but here, with their usage of almost comic-book-like details and witty banter make this much more enjoyable than their other historical works like O Bother and their remake of True Grit. Best western in absolute years! (available on Netflix or VOD)

9. Eighth Grade This poignant little film, which should have been wide-released everywhere the world over, is given fierce and bittersweet star power by Elsie Fisher, protagonist and student at the heart of this film. Comedian Bo Turnham has brought us the quintessential coming-of-tweenage story and along with Fisher, everyone in this film is so perfectly placed in their roles, especially Josh Hamilton as her dad, who deserves some nominations for this film but is unlikely to get any. Telling the story of 13-year old Kayla, we the audience get a sneak-peek into the minds and lives of today’s young adults. From her simple YouTube videos made to encourage other young kids to her obvious desire to fit in with older kids to her insecurity with boys, this film paints a stark reality that too many have lived through and this little indie film deserves aplomb from anywhere it can get it! (now available On Demand and DVD)

8. A Star is Born I skipped the critics’ screening of this film for the mere fact that I couldn’t bear to see if the acting and plot lines were another torrid take on a much-redone film. Even into the holiday season, I had not yet seen it and then when I did, I certainly took back any reservations. Bradley Cooper’s update of the film starring himself and Lady Gaga is just about as good as everyone said it was, and that was beyond refreshing to note post-viewing. In many ways, I feel that Cooper is likely revealing a few things about himself with the guise of “it’s a movie” being a nice cover; in some ways, he gives us what I believe are hints of his covert life, and it’s with Gaga’s turn as Ally that we really see him shine beyond the shtick of his character, country-rocker Jackson Maine. In a tad corny-tad, gripping way that takes hold the moment you see Gaga, let’s be frank and real, this film goes on to detail a Diet Coke version of the grim realities that often detail too many a tale of celebrity in Hollywood. Without revealing too many details of the film’s plot and denouement, we are looking at a necessary conversation about alcoholism, drug addiction and fame (plus a lack of ’NO’ men/women in many relationships) that needs to addressed for all ages. Well done, Mr. Cooper Goes to the Oscars. (At select screens, On Demand & DVD)

7. El Angel Incidentally, this may be the first time in a rather long time that I say something good about Argentinian men, so do take note. Telling the true story of fresh-faced boy killer Carlos Robledo Puch, played to Oscar-worthy perfection by newcomer Lorenzo Ferro, the masterful detail to which director Luis Ortega has crafted this arthouse meets dramedy-thriller is astounding and easily touches heights set by dePalma and even, dare I say it, Scorcese. We follow young Carlitos Puch, who is just nearing the edge of seventeen, as takes up with a rough and tough family of his devilishly attractive school chum Ramon, played by the spirited Chino Darin, son of Ricardo Darin. But as Carlitos comes to find out, his street crimes can easily be paved to real ones and his sadistic tendencies suddenly yet gradually paint a picture of someone who is in part desperate for attention and tacceptance and in part a fairly smart, well-to-do young adult. He parlays his sociopathy at pubescence into psychopathy with time, and this film will likely be, but should definitely not be, forgotten come awards and Best Of lists time.(available On Demand and DVD)

6. Black Panther As Oscar season comes to a head, it is worth talking about one of the most striking films that you’ll see for a while. Black Panther is that good, not only because of its genre but also because of its message: that seeking freedom through recreating systems of oppression will only extend the ill-treatment and broken nature we find ourselves in nowadays. Set in the fictional African nation of Wakanda, protagonist King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) brings us the first real black superhero from the Marvel universe. With a cast including Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker and Michael B Jordan, the acting is beyond impressive. What is even more amazing, however, is how the plot power-plays many elements of our world’s current political climate. (now available On Demand and DVD)

5. Chappaquiddick Another film which is nothing short of striking in its relevance to the current political situation in the USA. Senator Ted Kennedy was the only remaining Kennedy that I was familiar with throughout my adolescence and early adulthood. Jason Clarke as the Massachusetts senator is astounding, as is the cut of his jib and chin, although the accent was a tad weak, to be ever sincere. This is a complete revelation on the many details that were only gingerly touched upon during the course of the week following the death which this movie is detailing . As the facts are laid out in the film, it astounds me that the American people continued to vote and elect Kennedy for decades after. This is a study on arrogance, class and governmental ambiguity. And if that was the case with liberals in the Sixties, how much more so with conservatives in this digital age? My favourite film of last year’s BCN Film Festival. (now available On Demand and DVD)

4. Private Life Good Lawd this is such a heartwarming/breaking story with the finest elements of believable comedy and situational realism that define the art of the classic Gen X film from the 90s to now. May we never forget that it was Gen, and even those a few years before them, who gave us the digiverse-Netflix-instant oatmeal www.orld in which we live today and when I see a very NYC film like this one, it makes it a true reality check. Being the age that one should be married with kids, I watched Kathryn Hahn as Rachel absolutely slay the silver screen and am eager to see if she picks up any more accolades throughout the current awards season. Simple plot…she’s in her early 40s and her hubby Rich (played by Paul Giamatti) is entering his late 40s and they are fully entrenched within the confines of every single way to conceive a baby. Following the couple through their trials and tribulations really get pushed up an ante when sort-of relative Sadie (the lovely Kayli Carter) decides she will be the surrogate mum for them as things get a tad pear-shaped. This could easily be dubbed a dreamed, for in effect, it is; what needs to be known is that this is also a morality tale for a new age. The old-fashioned ethics of yesteryear just do not apply anymore, at least not in big cities, and the less is more factor easily makes this one of the finest films released within the last year. (available on Netflix)

3. BlacKKKlansman Without a doubt, this is the finest work in all too many years by Spike Lee, and he takes no prisoners in letting you know that the spilled essence of blaxploitation all over this celluloid is to egg you into knowing that this story is 100% true…and crazy. The mere fact that David Duke is literally cheerleading for the current President of the United States should scare us all and wake those who are not. Watching actor John David Washington portray Ron Stallworth, the real-life cop who slyly infiltrated the inner workings of the Klu Klux Klan 40 years ago. After signing up for the Colorado Spring PD, he realises the lack of trust in the 98% Anglo-Saxon workforce, as he’s thrown into monitoring the goings-on of any Black Panther student situations. Eventually, he takes up with a guy on the force that he can dig called Flip and played to skilled excellence by the oddest of lookers Adam Driver. Basically, the plot follows the twosome, as they tag team the aforementioned white supremacist movement, Ron being the voice and Flip being the wingman as they start an investigation on grand wizard bastard himself David Duke, played to troubling perfection by Topher Grace, evoking all of the calmness and utter sociopathic tendencies of a man reviled by most yet revered by still too many. And watching this taut film and how it rolls through such a daunting story with comedic aplomb and vicious realness gives you goosebumps. That said, as the film gets toward its ending, is when Lee gives you the goods when he flashes to scenes from the crazy Charlottesville, Virginia, riots, AntiFa protesting and subsequent death of Heather Heyer, may she rest in peace. God Save the World…and Amerikkka.

2. Fahrenheit 11/9  Premiering a few weeks ago here in Spain at very select cinema screens across the country, this is the first documentary in some time by Michael Moore that could play across an international landscape and should be required viewing on any critic’s or person’s list. The titular oddity refers to the day after we all woke up across the world in shock and awe that Donald J Trump had won the Presidency of the USA. Even if this is not Morre’s best film to date, it is undoubtedly the one that holds the viewers’ feet to the fire and calls for them to fight the nasty funk of this administration. But, it’s when he takes it back to his roots, to Flint, Michigan, and ends up involving all local and state politics, that we start to see the more sinister undertakings happening amongst conservative parties, ideals and societies. When you add in the fact of the Parkland High School shooting and the way Moore later fuses footage of Hitler and his minions and followers with a rally speech made by the current occupant of the White House, it becomes all too obvious that things are exactly as we think they are (A HOT MESS!) and we have very little recourse rather than claiming truth. (now available On Demand and DVD)

1. ROMA There are tender moments of realism that are permitted to happen with the rise of instant cinema on VOD and direct-to-home films, and it has been a pleasure to see that sites like Netflix and Amazon and Canal+ have truly added to the foray in which great celluloid can be brought to the masses. Case in point comes the finest piece of dramatic celluloid that graced the silver screen in the last year. Being a Mexican whose father is a naturalised citizen of the US and a mother who is Chicana from the US, like myself and my siblings, the sentimentality ran deep with this film. One of the differences I experienced was the fact that we were the only Mexican-American family in a stately US country club…and we had an entire childhood spent with loving housekeepers, which is what this film inherently is honouring and depicting, using the backdrop of Alfonso Cuarón’s take on growing up in 70s-upper middle class Mexico City in the neighbourhood of Roma. Depicting the life of the house assistant Cleo (first-time performer Yalitza Aparicio in a J.Hud moment, frankly) and the family of Sr. Antonio (Fernando Grediaga), a doctor in the Mexican capital, what Cuarón has called his most personal film to date, is also a B&W modern tale in the vein of Gone with the Wind, and the fact that he centres around a privileged Mexican family is poignant for several reasons: it not only takes a focus away from how Donald bloody Trump has painted Mexicans, in general, to the world, but it also highlights a very human element to how many classes of society function and live there in the frontier regions of North America and, more importantly, EVERYWHERE…easily put, this is a sweet, oft-times simple, oft-times brutal story on humanity. What binds so many critics together on this film’s merits is that fact that Alfonso Cuarón has crafted the past year’s most enigmatic movie, leaving us to make our own answers to what happens to Lady Cleo, her best mate Teresa, and this beautiful family. Absolutely and quietly stunning! (available on Netflix and selects screens across the country)

[globalworship]

A Christmas Creed (by Walter Russell Bowie)

I believe in the one whose spirit glorified a little town; and whose spirit still brings music to persons all over the world, in towns both large and small.

I believe in the one for whom the crowded inn could find no room, and I confess that my heart still sometimes wants to exclude Christ from my life today.

I believe in the one who the rulers of the earth ignored and the proud could never understand; whose life was among common people, whose welcome came from persons of hungry hearts.

I believe in the one who proclaimed the love of God to be invincible.

I believe in the one whose cradle was a mother’s arms, whose modest home in Nazareth had love for its only wealth, who looked at persons and made them see what God’s love saw in them, who by love brought sinners back to purity, and lifted human weakness up to meet the strength of God.

I confess my ever-lasting need of God: The need of forgiveness for our selfishness and greed, the need of new life for empty souls, the need of love for hearts grown cold.

I believe in God who gives us the best of himself. I believe in Jesus, the Son of the living God, born in Bethlehem this night, for me and for the world.

+++

The poem is recited, accompanied by piano music, in the video at the bottom of this blog post.

Printed as a PDF at http://www.knoxunitedvancouver.org/df_media/W1siZiIsIjIwMTUvMTIvMjQvMDAvMDcvMDQvMmI5NDZmNWYtZTQ2YS00NmM3LTg5ZDItYzcyOWMwYWY5NGRkL0EgQ2hyaXN0bWFzIENyZWVkLnBkZiJdXQ/A%20Christmas%20Creed.pdf?sha=8e544ef1735649be

+++

About Walter Russell Bowie, the Author

Bowie began his time as an Epis­co­pal priest in Richmond Virginia, and served as a Red Cross hos­pi­tal chap­lain in France in World War I. His advocacy for what was becoming known as the “Social Gospel” was lived out in his support for social reforms, and his opposition to the Klu Klux Klan and fundamentalist Christianity. 

In 1939, Bowie joined the staff at Un­ion The­o­lo­gic­al Sem­in­ary as Pro­fes­sor of Prac­ti­cal The­ol­o­gy, later to become Dean of Students. He later taught homiletics at Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia.Bowie was a member of the committee who edited the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. 

He was a member of the American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born, which challenged federal policies on immigration, The Church League for Industrial Democracy,  and the Civil Rights Congress.

http://www.postkiwi.com/2008/christmas-creed-by-walter-russell-bowie/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Russell_Bowie

+++

‘Nativity’ by Lalo Garcia https://www.lalogarcia.com/sacred-art/

+++

This Christmas Creed is recited and accompanied by piano music in this video.

[overwijs]

Dag 142 – “Baby got back”

Dit verhaal hoort bij mijn werkdag van woensdag 2 december.

I like big rocks and I can not lie. Een big rock is een klus, hoeft niet per se echt groot te zijn, wat niet bepaalt makkelijk gaat. Iets met een drempel, of een hobbel, met een uitdaging. Je kijkt er niet naar uit, je ziet er een zelfs een beetje tegenop.

Het begrip big rock leerde ik een paar jaar geleden kennen tijdens mijn werk als projectleider binnen onze onderwijsorganisatie, we kregen staande bordsessies. Check-ins waar je kon vertellen over welke smiley het beste bij jouw huidige gemoedstoestand past, welke dingen je bereikt hebt de afgelopen tijd en de big rocks waar je wellicht hulp bij kan gebruiken.

Van de bordsessies an sich ben ik geen fan, mensen zijn mensen en de korte check-ins werden een groot deel van de bijeenkomsten waar eigenlijk alles al besproken was wat ook op de agenda stond, niet gek want dat zijn natuurlijk de dingen waar we mee bezig waren. Alleen dan op een zogenaamd informele manier waardoor je ze daarna alsnog een soort van moest bespreken.

Natuurlijk is het goed om te weten hoe anderen in de wedstrijd zitten, ook is het belangrijk om stil te staan bij de dingen die bereikt zijn en om te weten hoe je anderen kan helpen. Als het kort en krachtig neergezet wordt, helaas heb ik die ervaring niet altijd gehad. Toch is het begrip big rock al die tijd blijven hangen. Niet dat ik het vaak hardop zeg, maar in gedachten speelt het woord wel vaak.

Zo ook de afgelopen weken. Een klus die gedaan moet worden, niet per definitie een leuke klus. Een document opstellen over de werking van iets complex, simpeler maken zodat anderen er mee uit de voeten kunnen en niet afgeschrikt worden. Ik heb de afgelopen weken meerdere keren naar een blanco blad gekeken.

Ik zal het eerlijk toegeven, ik ben daar niet goed in. Ik vermoed dat veel mensen dit niet weten maar ik ben niet de gene die makkelijk kan beginnen als er nog niets staat. Een collega zei dat laatst mooi tegen mij: “je hebt mensen die graag een blanco doek hebben en ik heb het nodig dat iemand de eerste streep zet zodat ik daar verder op kan doorgaan.”. Iets waar ik mij zo in herken, en steeds aan terugdacht, starend naar mijn scherm.

Pas als de druk hoog is, komt mijn creativiteit. Op het moment dat hij bij anderen verdwijnt, als het moet, dan begin pot het bij mij pas. Dus als niemand de eerste streep zet, heb ik een deadline nodig. En die deadline heb ik nu. Dus zit ik driftig te typen, vliegt de tijd en vergeet ik zelfs dat ik nog een training te modereren had. Ik zit in de personeelskamer achter mijn laptop, ik hoor diezelfde collega in mijn hoofd zeggen “achter je laptop, je kan er beter voor gaan zitten”, en ik ontvang twee appjes.

Ik lees ze, mompel een geschrokken scheldwoord en realiseer me dat ik niet meer naar huis kan voor de sessie. Dat wordt dus een plekje op school inrichten, in de wildernis van de school, natuurlijk komen er juist dan groepjes docenten met elkaar bijpraten, wat meestal niet veel meer gebeurt in deze tijden na schooltijd. Het is een uitdaging, maar nog geen big rock.

Na weken denken over het afbrokkelen van de big rock, vermorzel ik hem, zo goed en zo kwaad als ik kan in de tijd die ik nog had. Ik verloor het zicht op tijd en vergat even alles om mij heen. En dat is waarom ik big rocks hou, “not because they are easy, but because they are hard!”, ze dagen je uit, verleggen je grenzen en uiteindelijk lukt het je altijd en kan je alleen maar trots zijn. I like big rocks and I can not lie.

Oh, my, God Becky, look at her butt

It is so big, she looks like

One of those rap guys' girlfriends.

But, ya know, who understands those rap guys?

They only talk to her, because,

She looks like a total prostitute, 'kay?

I mean, her butt, is just so big

I can't believe it's just so round, it's like out there

I mean gross, look

She's just so, black

I like big butts and I can not lie

You other brothers can't deny

That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist

And a round thing in your face

You get sprung, want to pull up tough

'Cause you notice that butt was stuffed

Deep in the jeans she's wearing

I'm hooked and I can't stop staring

Oh baby, I want to get wit'cha

And take your picture

My homeboys tried to warn me

But with that butt you got makes (me so horny)

Ooh, Rump-o'-smooth-skin

You say you want to get in my Benz?

Well, use me, use me

'Cause you ain't that average groupie

I've seen her dancin'

To hell with romancin'

She's sweat, wet,

Got it goin' like a turbo 'Vette

I'm tired of magazines

Sayin' flat butts are the thing

Take the average black man and ask him that

She gotta pack much back

So, fellas (yeah) Fellas (yeah)

Has your girlfriend got the butt? (hell yeah)

Tell 'em to shake it (shake it) shake it (shake it)

Shake that healthy butt

Baby got back (L.A. fits with the Oakland booty)

Baby got back (L.A. fits with the Oakland booty)

I like 'em round, and big

And when I'm throwin' a gig

I just can't help myself, I'm actin' like an animal

Now here's my scandal

I want to get you home

And ugh, double-up, ugh, ugh

I ain't talkin' bout Playboy

'Cause silicone parts are made for toys

I want 'em real thick and juicy

So find that juicy double

Mix-a-Lot's in trouble

Beggin' for a piece of that bubble

So I'm lookin' at rock videos

Knock-kneed bimbos walkin' like hoes

You can have them bimbos

I'll keep my women like Flo Jo

A word to the thick soul sistas, I want to get with ya

I won't cuss or hit ya

But I gotta be straight when I say I want to fuck

Til the break of dawn

Baby got it goin' on

A lot of simps won't like this song

'Cause them punks like to hit it and quit it

And I'd rather stay and play

'Cause I'm long, and I'm strong

And I'm down to get the friction on

So, ladies (Yeah) Ladies (Yeah)

If you want to role in my Mercedes (Yeah)

Then turn around, stick it out

Even white boys got to shout

Baby got back

Baby got back

Yeah, baby, when it comes to females

Cosmo ain't got nothin'

To do with my selection

Thirty six-twenty- four-thirty six

Ha ha, only if she's 5'3

So your girlfriend rolls a Honda, playin' workout tapes by Fonda

But Fonda ain't got a motor in the back of her Honda

My anaconda don't want none

Unless you've got buns, hon

You can do side bends or sit-ups

But please don't lose that butt

Some brothers want to play that hard role

And tell you that the butt ain't gol'

So they toss it and leave it

And I pull up quick to retrieve it

So Cosmo says you're fat

Well I ain't down with that

'Cause your waist is small and your curves are kickin'

And I'm thinkin' bout stickin'

To the beanpole dames in the magazines

You ain't it, Miss Thing

Give me a sista, I can't resist her

Red beans and rice didn't miss her

Some knucklehead tried to dis

'Cause his girls are on my list

He had game but he chose to hit 'em

And I pull up quick to get wit 'em

So ladies, if the butt is round,

And you want a triple X throw down,

Dial 1-900-MIXALOT

And kick them nasty thoughts

Baby got back

Baby got back

Het liedje luisteren doe je hier: https://open.spotify.com/track/1SAkL1mYNJlaqnBQxVZrRl?si=Ta7d-KEEST2rYAYIvu2HyQ

De hele afspeellijst van mijn blogs hier: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5EtxaLDydwfpnPsFrSS3Oh?si=Q38OEQ4aSDWoR42OH9Ef6A

[chiayulu]

Forefront #1: Klaus and Into The Spider-Verse

In recent years, the technology of animation tools and methods has been rapidly evolving in the current Animation industry. It seems like animation tools not restrict a lot of animation styles as used to be—for example, the two groundbreaking and representative animations, Klaus and Into The Spider-Verse.

Firstly, Klaus made 2D Animation look 3D and Into The Spider-Verse made 3D animation similar to 2D. Secondly, there is the same condition for both animations. To stimulate such a unique style, both of them need a large team and a lot of time to accomplish.

Klaus

How Netflix's 'Klaus' Made 2D Animation Look 3D

In the perspective of Klaus, it is made by a studio called The SPA Studios and the partner company Posson Rouge. Over 300 people involving this project with 40 animators, it took two years to make. The film, Klaus, used a trick of the light to illuminate scenarios. The primary tool they used in the film is two. The SPA Studios used a program called Harmony by Toon Boom to hand-drawn. The Franch company Posson Rouge helps advance the technology called KLaS, short for Klaus Light and Shadow. They used the KLaS tool to edit lighting and MOE to texture.

The SPA Studios YouTube channels share videos in terms of behind the scene and how they achieved Klaus by techniques.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU5ThXAtxgt2AXNru7r7veg

The process of making Klus is illustrated bellow. It is more complicated and various techniques.

1.     They storyboarded the script and made a cut using temporary voices for characters. Then cast record the voice as the final version

2.     Layout for backgrounds and careful the angle of perspective

Totally 3160 scenic layout

3.     Animators hand draw on a program called Harmony by Toon Boom

4.     The animators used live-action reference videos of themselves as a guide

5.     Ink & Paint: rough line then cleanup and refined the drawings and finally painted the flat colours

6.     Lighting tool and colour keys as a guide

7.     Merging characters and background then texturing with another tracking tool called MOE, they used contour, lighting, and motion to add effects

8.     The final composition, to combine 3D and 2D elements

How Klus was rendered

Tools used at Klaus (Netflix animation movie)

According to the work method, it indicates the evidence that Klaus is not a simple 2D Animation. It is believed that it is hard to keep the shape of elements by hand drawings. To stable features in the film, when the camera rotates large angle or shakes, they put 3D elements in and simulate the effects to improve unstable hand drawing issue. It is one of the standard methods for producing and adjusting 2D animation in the current industry. Animators adopt various software and techniques to promote the quality of animation no longer to divide tools into only for 2D and 3D so that animation tools and techniques are more broad application and fusion of animation works.

Into The Spider-Verse

Apart from Into The Spider-Verse, it is an example almost different and opposite to Klaus. The Spider-Verse made 3D animation similar to 2D. Before Into The Spider-Verse, there is a 2D style called Cel Shading in 3D animation. Animators usually will create 2D Cel Shading into Cinema 4D, a 3D animation tool. However, both forms are different. Cel Shading uses large-area flat colours without strokes. So, it is a simple cartoonish shading. Comparing with Into The Spider-Verse, Cel Shading is easily achieved in C4D by built-in tools or other plug-ins.

Cel Shading in C4D

How 'Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse' Was Animated

It features an innovative, eye-grabbing animation style. Sometime you might feel confused about defining what the form is when you watch the film. In this animation, fusion traditional print comic book style such as Manga speed lines, half-toning, hatching, and crisscrossed lines is one of the crucial elements. Besides, it puts twelve principles of 2D animation into the film. The first difference with typical 3D animation is the frame rates. Some frames on ones and other on two, it depends on the speed of motion. Then it used a technique called smear instead of CGI blur in movement. It grabs several facts from comic books and 2D animation principles. Those features make this film impressed.

It is incredible to mix 2D techniques in 3D. There is no one has done before. Although it will be a good start to develop creativity in style representation, because it breaks the rules in 3D animation, it costs loads of works as well.

Some pessimistic reports state that 2D animation wanes. However, looking at 2019, the succeed of Klaus pushes 2D animation going further. There is a change in the current animation industry.

This article mentions the unique features of 2D animation and the success of brands. It is worth noting that the 2D animation is resurgent, and the demands of 2D animation increase. Many animation studios produce 2D animation more than used to be. In 2019, Blue Zoo Animation Studio, which is one of the top animation studios in the UK, opened a second London studio dedicated to episodic 2D animation. Besides, according to the report and an interview I had with a senior animation Steve Kimbrey, who works in Blue Zoo and he states 2D resurgence by his specific experiences and Blue Zoo studio decision in terms of 2D animation.

Moreover, the UK government promotes Creative Industries evolving by the Tax Relief and relevant policies. Therefore, the request of several specific animation themes surges in recent years. The obstacles of animation industry keep being improved.

These significant features related to my practice. It shows the passion to keep stay creative and explore new technology. Also, I learned the newest pipelines on how to create a specific animation style.

Reference

Lu, Chia Yu (2020), An interview with Steve Kimbrey, senior animator at the Blue-Zoo, Skype interview. 20th March.

 WIT, A. (2019). 'How 'Klaus' Draws On Centuries-Old Artistic Principles To Push 2D animation Forward.' [Online] Available from:https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/how-klaus-draws-on-centuries-old-artistic-principles-to-push-2d-animation-forward-182325.html [Accessed 2nd April 2020]

 The SPA Studios. (n.d.).Home [YouTube Channel]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU5ThXAtxgt2AXNru7r7veg [Accessed 7th April 2020]

 Insider, (2020). How Netflix's 'Klaus' Made 2D Animation Look 3D | Movies Insider. [Online Video]. 30th January. Available from: https://youtu.be/BlU49dJhfcw [Accessed 7th April 2020]

 TomPreston6 (2019). How Klus was rendered. [Online Video]. 3rd December. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47opK56DUow&list=LL4AMtiV2zjS93XK8SuL3HIA&index=2&t=0s[Accessed 7th April 2020]

 Pipeliner (2019). Tools used at Klaus (Netflix animation movie). [Online Video]. 17th November. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnmQy0UMLtA [Accessed 7th April 2020]

 Insider, (2019). How 'Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse' Was Animated | Movies Insider. [Online Video]. 21st February. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEXUG_vN540[Accessed 12th April 2020]

 Eyedesyn (2016). Cinema 4D Tutorial - 5 Ways to Create Cel Shading in Cinema 4D. [Online Video]. 19th October. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrCW7Z4TYnc [Accessed 12th April 2020]

 Luminasearch (2020), " 2D Resurgence.",

https://luminasearch.com/thought/thought-2d-resurgence/ [Accessed 23rd March 2020]

Harbottle (2013), UK Tax Credits for Animation and High-End Television Confirmed. https://www.harbottle.com/news/uk-tax-credits-for-animation-and-high-end-television-confirmed/ [Accessed 29th March 2020]

[s4banf-blog]

Geek Culture, Part 2

As with any culture, there will always be problems. In the geek culture, one of these main problems is sexism. Typically, it is assumed that geeks will refer to the straight white male. Sometimes, the culture doesn’t acknowledge that there is women who also fit into this ‘category’. Roli Varma states that “scholars have yet to critically examine the impact of geek culture on the under-representation of women in CS/CE in relation to the ethnicity/race and class”. Varma writes her paper in direct reference to the under-representation of women especially minorities in geek culture, she then goes onto to investigate this and why we need more representation within the culture. When women emerged from the all male dominated culture, it created internalised misogyny. This then created memes to try and stereotype the female geeks, which were often seen as “fake geek girls”. These memes often depicted young women wearing heavy makeup with gigantic over the top ‘nerdy’ glasses. However, this isn’t anything new. Women have often been marginalised within the community. Often in comic books, they have been ‘refrigerated’. Frank Miller the author of The Dark Knight Returns and Renin states that ‘refrigerated women’ is “a trope wherein female characters are killed (or raped, or suffer some other form of violence) solely to further a male character’s story or development”. These agendas have slowly been tackled with such characters such as Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman that continue to challenge this male dominated world. Some women however, are completely oblivious to the ongoing misogyny. An example of this is Allie Townsend. Her article written in 2011, “There’s a New Geek Girl Site in Town. I May Already Hate It” claims that the “internet culture has evolved way past the gender divide”. Throughout her article, Townsend puts down women-centric geek sites and blogs. She implies that because she’s never personally experienced any sexism in geek culture, it simply does not exist. This invalidates the experiences of real life women who have been harassed at conventions for their costumes or aggressively pestered by men when walking into a comic shop. However, when you have men and women in the community and industry who turn their heads away from new female fans, you are shutting out new fans.

People self-identify as geeks because they have been put down, excluded, and hurt by other people due to a certain interest in "uncool" things like comic books, or board games, or computer programming. More and more millennials are embracing being a geek, whilst previous generations saw the label as being something to be embarrassed about. Millennials are slowly starting to shape mainstream culture, they have changed the idea of what it means to be a geek - thus encouraging more and more people to embrace themselves to the term.  Some of those who self-identify as geeks look back nostalgically on the time when their status felt rebellious, says Benjamin Nugent, author of American Nerd: The Story of My People. Being geek means that you have permission to like what you like no matter what it is. In 2012/3, a new trend came about of wearing t-shirts that simply said “GEEK” and “NERD” across the chest. Topshop brought out the designs. By springtime they were unavoidable, seen on the chests of schoolkids, ravers and posh kids alike. Literally worn by everyone apart from those named on these t-shirts. As all things fade, so did this fashion statement. If you wore one of these t-shirts before it became cool, then you would’ve been ridiculed. Another example of the ‘wrong’ type of people associating themselves with being a ‘geek’ is Kim Kardashian revealing that she watches anime. People were absolutely furious about this, how can a popular famous reality star enjoy something only ‘geeky’ people enjoy? There is an implication that Kim is a ‘fake geek girl’ who can’t name so many anime series’ that she watches is an example of something that’s been happening for years, as self-declared keepers of a community struggle to come to terms with its growing popularity. Why shouldn’t Kim like anime? She grew up with it. Sailor Moon hit American screens in 1995. She’s a globetrotter deeply interested in world cultural trends. It would be surprising if she didn’t know what it was. Just because people don’t like her as a person -  is no excuse to assume that she’s ignorant that anime exists entirely. Her spouse, Kanye West has also declared his love for anime, tweeting that Akira was one of his favourite films. Fans of a cultural product assume that other fans are like them; that they share the same ideas, opinions and presumably, background.

Slowly consumerism is becoming filled with superheroes and fantasy, which create a lot of revenue. For example take the company Marvel and their sadly deceased owner Stan Lee before he died, he was worth a whopping $50million alone - (not including Sony and Disney). Marvel’s Black Panther became the highest grossing film for the Marvel Universe.. To date, the franchise has made over $14.7billion worldwide, making it the highest grossing franchise ever. It’s currently $6bn ahead of Star Wars. According to statistics, four of the top 10 highest grossing films of 2017 are comic book adaptations. In 2017, consumers in America spent $14.6billion on video games, hardware and related. The first San Diego Comic Con in 1970 featured 145 attendees. Last year, that number exceeded 130k. Geek culture is a cultural phenomenon.

Pop-culture portrayals of “geek culture” aren’t entirely accurate according to some. Shows like The Big Bang Theory and Silicon Valley may get right overwhelmed by tone-deafness to the culture they are supposedly giving to us, the people. What our core culture perceives to be geek culture is just a set of marketable trends. Actor Will Wheaton from Star Trek: Next Generation says in his memoir ‘Just a Geek’ that “Becoming mainstream is the wrong word; the mainstream is catching up”. Knowing obscure facts about favourite subjects has also lost its flavour. The number of Star Wars characters or the name of a constellation is all on Wikipedia now.

Nowadays people are starting to associate the alt-right with ‘geek’ culture, especially with what is going on with our modern day lives. There is no direct parallel between the alt-right and geek culture. Simply, an invasion. Recently, there was much debate surrounding horror author HP Lovecraft becoming the figure of the World Fantasy Award due to his well documented racism. His passionate fans - most of who have never experienced racism - asked why such historical oppression even mattered anymore. The movement is an online community whose values are almost identical from the far-right racism and sexism of the National Front and the Klu Klux Klan. It began as an attack on individuals, on a supposed lack of integrity in gaming journalism, which was then exploited by alt-right ‘activists’ using misinformation to start a huge fire of hatred online against women and minorities in gaming. This outrage helped to build their ever growing army of white, (mostly) male supporters. The fury of alt-right ‘activists’ helped push a minority of young male geeks to them. But far more members of the geek community went against the racist ignorance of the alt-right, and have stood against them.

[jessicaj27-blog]

How did ‘Pepe the Frog’ influence the 2016 US election?

(Pepe the Frog “Feels good man” image source)

Pepe the frog first started out as human-like frog character in Matt Furie’s indie cartoon ‘Boys Club’ in 2005. Pepe had never been innocent, no, no, Pepe was known for its stoner crude behaviour in the cartoon, but only went viral after Furie depicted Pepe as peeing with his pants down to his ankles. When one of the other characters in Boys Club asked Pepe about his actions, he was quoted as saying “feels good man”, from this, Pepe became a viral meme.

But what does this have to do with politics (yuck!)?

Well, sweet (not so sweet) Pepe, with the help of participatory culture was consumed by various parodies of the meme. Pepe became the ‘feels good frog, ‘feels bad frog, ‘Happy Pepe’, ‘Sad Pepe’, ‘Angry Pepe’, and ‘Smug Pepe’ these are just the most popular Pepe memes used as reactions on social media.

Unfortunately, Pepe took a dark turn, when original fans of the indie Boys Club cartoon, wanted to reclaim Pepe from it’s internet fame. Pepe was transformed into an alt-right, racist, hate symbol. People would change and photoshop the image of Pepe as a racist meme, being depicted as a Nazi, Hilter and Klu Klux Klan member. Pepe became a symbol of hate, even though original cartoonist Matt Furie first created the character as a stoner frog with no right wing political intentions.

(Pepe image sourced)

During the 2016 US election, Trumpy Vs. Clinton, social media played a huge part in both candidate’s campaigns, as did the numerous Saturday Night Live (SNL) skits. The SNL political skit ‘Hilary Clinton/ Donald Trump Cold Open’ (skip to 5:19 in video) that aired on 6 November 2016, shows Alec Baldwin’s impersonation of Trump being connected to the Klu Klux Klan, as pointed out by Kate McKinnon’s impersonation of Hilary Clinton. This skit aired after Donald Trump tweeted a Pepe the Frog meme in 2015. This was after the online Pepe the Frog meme had been declared a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

This was trump’s tweet:

(Trump Pepe the Frog Image source)

By Trump tweeting out this now racist Pepe the Frog Trump meme, Trump was publicly identifying himself as a white supremacist, when he was most likely tweeting out Pepe the Frog to appeal to a younger audience and to meme culture. Hilary, of course, loved this slip by Donald Trump, as it hindered his campaign and Clinton could call Trump out as a racist to gain more voters in her favour.

Not long after the Pepe Trump saga, Hilary said that Trump’s supporters belonged in a “Basket of Deplorables”, this is a term used to describe something really bad or unfortunate.

However, Donald wasn’t the only Trump who posted a Trump Pepe the Frog meme during the presidential campaign to their social media account. Donald Trump Jr reposted an altered version of the movie poster for ‘The Expendables’, but instead is said “The Deplorables”, another Pepe the Frog Trump meme, which showed Pepe, his father and other conservatives.

(’The Deplorables’ image source)

Believe it or not Pepe the Frog had a huge impact on politics during the 2016 US election, it labelled Donald trump as a white supremist, because of the negative relationship that this poor stoner frog was now a hate symbol.

Pepe the Frog’s creator Matt Furie was just so disappointed that his little frog cartoon sparked so much outrage and hatred, in politics and online. As an attempt to put Pepe out of it’s misery, Furie released a cartoon of Pepe in an open casket, as to symbolise Pepe’s death, and end his rein of racism and hatred in the online world.

(Pepe death image source)

Research Resources:

ABC 2017, ‘Pepe the Frog cartoonist resurrecting character to prove he is still a 'positive' symbol’, ABC, 27 June 2017, viewed 8 April 2019, <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-27/pepe-the-frog-rises-from-the-dead,-creator-says/8654568>. 

ADL 2019, ‘Pepe the Frog’, Anti-Defamation League, viewed 8 April 2019, <https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/pepe-the-frog>.

BBC 2016, ‘Pepe the Frog meme branded a ‘hate symbol’’, BBC, 28 September 2016, viewed 8 April 2019, <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37493165>.

 BBC 2017, ‘Pepe the Frog ‘is killed off to avoid being a hate symbol’’, BBC, 8 May 2017, viewed 8 April 2019, <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39843468>.

Behind the Meme 2016,  Who Is Pepe The Frog? The Creation And Origin Of A Classic Meme, 25 August 2016, viewed 8 April 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvgkGewzUq4>.

CBC News 2016, Is Pepe the Frog a hate symbol?, 5 October 2016, viewed on 8 April 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg1Hoii-g6Y>.

Di Placido, D 2017, ‘How ‘Pepe the Frog’ Became A Symbol Of Hatred’, Forbes, 9 May 2017, viewed 8 April 2019, <https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2017/05/09/how-pepe-the-frog-became-a-symbol-of-hatred/#3a991761426b>.

[lita2017northgroup1-blog]

Semana Santa imagery in Medina

Given that Spain is known for its colorful festivals that fill the streets with music and joy, the first sight of a Semana Santa procession can be somewhat alarming for the uninitiated. 

As church groups parade down the streets during Semana Santa (Holy Week), they take turns carrying incredibly heavy “pasos,” or large sculptures representing scenes from the life of Jesus Christ. These processions are often silent, or accompanied only by a drum corps. 

The most striking and perhaps eerie spectacle for American visitors however, is the capirote, a pointed hood with holes for the eyes. These costumes date back to the Spanish Inquisition, where the judged were made to wear different colored hoods based on their crimes as a sign of public humiliation. Religious orders use them in Semana Santa celebrations as a sign of penance. 

Semana Santa is one of Spain’s most famous celebrations, but most American visitors instantly connect these costumes and this celebration with the Klu Klux Klan. It is a very unfortunate confusion of imagery, as the robes are nearly identical, but there is no historic or symbolic connection whatsoever between the two. 

After our Spanish class visited a local religious organization’s museum here in Medina, I sat down with a few members of the class to discuss their first reactions and final conclusions. 

---------------------------------------------

Evie: It was a pretty cool museum; there was a bunch of religious art and also lots of history of Semana Santa in general and in Medina. There were lots of videos describing the celebrations and the preparation that goes into them. It was cool to learn about. 

But when we walked in there we saw the hoods...and we were thinking, “What’s going on here?”

Something about just seeing the hoods had a strong impact on me and I think other people too. I didn’t think I would ever see that in person. It just felt like a dark symbol of American history that no one really talks about right in front of you, even though it has nothing to do with the KKK at all. 

Meg: Yeah, I feel like it’s something we try not to talk about in the USA. I was taken aback by it a little bit because when we went in I saw part of the gift shop, and they were selling little figurines of men in hoods and I thought, “Wait a second, those look a lot like the hoods the KKK wear...” and then I asked Javi and he explained how they looked the same but had completely different meanings. 

Riley: I’d researched Semana Santa a little before we went to the Museum. When you look up Medina del Campo online it’s one of the first things that comes up, so I knew what I would see generally but, seeing the hoods in person was pretty shocking. 

I talked about it later with my host family because we were watching Forest Gump which famously starts with the KKK scene, and I asked my host sister if she knew who the people in hoods were. She said, “Yeah, those look like the Semana Santa costumes,” and I had to explain a little about what that scene actually meant in an American context, like who this group was and how they were very different from the religious organizations celebrating Semana Santa. I think she understood but it’s hard to explain something so personal. It’s tough trying to talk about it in an intelligent way. 

Bonnie: Yeah, I don’t think many people know that outside of the USA. I feel like the guide didn’t really know what these symbols meant for us as Americans. It was kind of sad because we were all a bit reserved, but he was so excited to share his celebrations with us, he was very proud. He was really excited to share his town’s history and culture, it’s strange how they can be so different. 

Meriel: Yeah, it’s so strange to think that in some other part of the world this strong image means something totally different, and that we didn’t know that. It’s also strange that so many people here don’t know what those hoods mean to us. But at the same time, they are so completely different, and here they are part of a really important religious celebration. 

-------------------------------------------

Each summer we watch our students step into a new language and a new culture, and dive enthusiastically into an appreciation for the experience of others. Rarely, though, is our own history and experience reflected back to us in a way that forces us to so thoroughly reevaluate our initial assumptions. 

A big thank you to our instructors for coordinating this visit, and to the Spanish class for taking the time to share their thoughts. 

[papermoth-bird-blog]

Red, Blues & the Greyhound bus to Nashville

Most people, when I said I was going to take the bus between my stops, gave me a very strange strange look. As if to say “why would you subject yourself to that?” or “I’m worried about you.” I have no regrets though. Truly, I set out to get an authentic understanding about what is going on in the American south right now, and let me tell you, I certainly have been learning a lot. Now, of course, in all my stops I’ve landed in blue cities in Red States, so I’ve felt quite sheltered for the most part. But there is no way better to learn, then riding the bus.

Now leaving New Orleans was difficult, I’ll tell you. Not just because I had such a great time there, but because my new friends were literally getting ready for the WITCHES BALL as I was packing up my bag. It was like the city was dangling the carrot begging me to stay. On top of that- Will Smith showed up and played the preservation hall. I mean--- New Orleans just has to stop flirting with me. It’s too much. As a matter of fact, it was like the city was holding on to me. My bus was supposed to leave at 9:30 pm, but it ended up leaving half past midnight. I didn’t mind, I knew the bus wasn’t going to glamorous or fun persay. I wanted to see the landscape/ people-scape change as I moved through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama & Tennessee. It was palatable too.

I mean, I don’t know if other places are like this, but from my time on bus’ in Canada, I’ve never been made to get off before. Here you do- At every. single. stop. Which is tedious to say the least. My ticket originally said I just had stop in Mobile, Alabama, for an hour. As it turned out, we actually had an hour long stop in Mobile, Montegomery, Birimgham (maybe another one too?). Each time we stopped for a while, the bus would be emptied out & cleaned from top to bottom. I which is nice, but how messy could they possibly get in two hours?The stop in Mobile ended up being more like 5 hours- because we missed the connecting bus. I didn’t really mind (I mean, I sighed up for it & all I could do was go with it, being negative wouldn’t change the situation & I wasn’t even tempted to be).

Most people were grumpy though, if I’m being honest. Those poor greyhound people, I think every person going through those terminals, particularly in Alabama, was swearing and cursing those greyhound staff. They were grumpy about all kinds of stuff- but mostly because of that missed connection. 

There really were ‘all-kinds’ on that bus. Joining up in New Orleans, there was a whole group (of maybe 20) parents & children coming into the country (via Texas) for the first time. In Nola, a man and a woman, rushed towards them, handing out supplies & fruit & a manner of many other small items. It was clear they were migrating because they all had the same lime green totes, with the name of a charity that helps with these things printed on them. We parted ways in Montgomery, where many of them continued on to Atlanta or Florida. 

In Birmingham, I mostly occupied my time with watching videos Eli was sending me about Tulum. (Which I think is growing on me as a destination). I made small talk with a guy next to me who (I didn’t realize until later) was wearing a shirt with a confederate flag on it, that said something like “never apologize for your past”. He asked me where I was coming from and where i was going & I told him. In regards to Nashville, he said “Oh, yeah I like it up there. They are a lot more polite than in places like down here.” He also told me he’d always wanted to go to Canada, but couldn’t (he learned at the boarder one time) “on account of my convictions”- which turned out to be 3rd degree assault & battery. I didn’t really ask more questions. 

Maybe it was a fluke, maybe not, but I also found the amount of people wearing the colour red was super unusually numerous. Like everyone, white people, people of colour, old, young. Maybe it’s a style choice, but I definitely noticed it in Birmingham. Our stop in Birmingham also ended up being a lot longer than we initally thought it would be because the police wouldn’t let our bus leave. They picked out a couple of white guys in the back (who had been with me since Mobile) who were both wearing red shirts & grey hoodies (my co-incidence, I dont think they knew eachother). They were both asked to leave the bus, where they were searched for weapons. When they got back on, they were both making a fuss, saying that the cops were trying to figure out if they were “in the brotherhood” or not. The brotherhood, of course, being the Klu Klux Klan. Which made me both uncomfortable & way more aware. I mean, I was one of the only white people on the bus (definitely the only white woman on the whole trip), and if it made me uncomfortable, I can’t imagine what it would have felt like otherwise. The bus driver, who was a black woman, then got up to warn us that she would have “no tolerence for any kind of nonesense” and that she would kick anyone off if she felt any trouble from them. It had me kind of on edge, but it turned out fine.

I did sleep for the most part. I mean, it was a night bus anyways, but I didn’t feel like anyone else was feeling super chatty. (okay, that may be a lie. A guy that was on his way to rehab in Colombus kept offering me peanut butter sandwhiches. Actually, he was one of the people accused of being in the KKK. Maybe it was me that wasn’t feeling chatty- I was doing my best to observe.) In Huntsville, a young man came and sat next to me. His speech was super slurry, and I couldn’t easily understand him. He did keep making conversation with me. Then he started crying. The whole way to Nashville. He was messaging back & forth with a girl, who clearly broke his heart in someway. As if sitting next to a crying, stranger wasn’t awkward enough. He couldn’t read that well, so he kept turning to me ASKING ME TO READ THE MESSAGES to him. Which of course, would make him burst out into tears all over again. Texts including “N ya. that’s y I dnt wanna b wit u” & “I do got luv for u. Just nt as a couple”. He then kept voice memo-ing her stuff including “That’s fucked up!” over and over again. It started to feel like I was breaking up with this guy. This strange, strange, socially awkward person. I try not to pity people, because I think that is a sentiment that can be disempowering for the subject. Not going to lie tho, I felt a lot of pity for that guy. Honestly, I felt a lot of relief too, when we finally got to Nashville.

I haven’t explored too much yet- I mean- It’s 8am on the morning after my bus rolled in (a good 7hrs after it said it would). I did wander just a little to find Two Boots pizza-which was relatively near by. Two Boots is the pizza chain that Leon (Asa’s cousin) family owns. It’s a cajun, pizza place- the two boots being Louisiana & Italy. So I got a calzone & tried not to feel sad about the fact that I wasn’t in New Orleans anymore. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I have a good feeling about Nashville. Definitely crush worthy too. The mountains that hug this city were beautiful to watch with the setting sun. I do feel a sense of land-locked-ness, which I wasn’t necessarily expecting, but I think that’s my spoiled east-coast girl showing. Nashville has a really good energy about it. Bubbly, a little hooky for sure, but friendly as ever. I already feel much more comfortable walking around at night here.  I’m gonna do my best to get my country music fix here- I can tell it won’t be hard- there are honky-tonks everywhere.

[wemythings]

YouTube Censorship revisitation

Lately there has been an uptick in the removal of anyone or anything that espouse a conservative viewpoint. Alex Jones has been one such voice who for whatever reason had all of his content removed from Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Apple, I tunes and google. Alex Jones for the most part was mainly a conspiracy theorist that dealt with a lot of conservative issues. When watching an Alex Jones’ video you hardly heard any cursing. Jones didn’t call for the death or harm of another, only challenging popular liberal thought and putting his spin on it.  

Facebook Founder questioned on Censorship

Back in April of 2018  Mark Zuckerberg Founder and CEO of Facebook was taken to task by Texas Senator Ted Cruz concerning censorship. Cruz blatantly accused the company of removing those who express conservative views on the false bases of being seen as a threat to the social media platform. 

The senator vehemently asked “Does Facebook consider itself to be a neutral public forum? and representatives of your company have given conflicting answers on this!!” Are you a first amendment speaker expressing your views or are you a neutral public forum allowing everyone to speak?” 

Zuckerberg’s reply 

The Facebook CEO responded that he wants Facebook to be a safe space for all people to express themselves. Mark Zuckerberg also explained that he is working to stamp out biases in viewing and censoring user information. Though the company will censor anything that is deemed hate speech or represents something that is harmful to others. This can include nudity, terrorist propaganda, racism and or hate-speech. Zuckerberg explained that he is  committed to making Facebook, a platform for any and all ideas to be expressed freely.  

The importance of this question and Facebooks answer

This question has been asked on multiple social media sites and the answer always seems to be similar to that of Mark Zuckerberg. The issue is that the actions of many of these tech companies do not match their political statements. Another tech giant known as YouTube has taken part in censoring a number of content creators. Most recently two individuals that come to mind are David Duke and Tommy Sotomayor. 

Truthfully who are David Duke and Tommy Sotomayor

For many years David Duke has been painted as the face of racism in America by a multitude of media outlets. The only thing that seems to come to mind is David Dukes past as a card carrying member of the Klu Klux Klan and being from the deep south, Louisiana. For many blacks in America today this can seem very alarming until you hear the man speak. David Duke who holds a PhD in history talks extensively about being a white nationalist without ever disrespecting African-Americans. 

David Duke has spoken on a number of issues revolving around the role powerful Jewish people play in the media and in shaping society today from a systemic standpoint. Many of Dukes videos are classic works on the hypocrisies and wayward double standards of neo-Judaism. 

Tommy Sotomayor who is a graduate of Georgia Tech, a once division one powerhouse with a good academic reputation state wide. Sotomayor went on to work for a highly prestigious fortune 500 company in IBM. Tommy went on to use IBM as a stepping stone to start his own business working in human resources. In 2012, Tommy Sotomayor  began creating content for YouTube. The content generally centered around the breakdown of black pathological behavior. Sotomayor would often apply his personal life experiences, the sayings of his Grandmother often times when discussing the behavior of black woman in america. 

This like many discussion are needed as black-men in these communities find themselves being raised solely by black women. At first the channel started out very small and rarely heard of to becoming its own niche known as the “black sector” of YouTube. Sotomayor has done nothing but point out black pathological behavior that is harming the black community, the hypocrisy in women and the disregard of men in society and in the courtroom. Sotomayor has created a number of classic works going at all races and religions, in a no holds bar manner

Tommy Sotomayor is in the process of releasing a documentary called  “A Fatherless America”.  Due to other YouTubers constantly having most if not all of Tommy’s channels flagged and taken down simply because they don’t like what he says, this process has been difficult. One of the most hurtful parts about it  is that YouTube seems to be okay with the removal of free speech. 

Why these two men are mentioned

David Duke recently had a brilliant discussion with Tommy Sotomayor. For four hours Tommy Sotomayor and David Duke discussed a number of issues as it pertains to the  newest movie “Black Klansman”. In this discussion David Duke points out the inconsistencies in the movie and the idea of Spike Lee indirectly comparing the president to a modern day Klansman. This was yet another good video that covered a lot of important topics as it pertained to race, religion and movies. This video was censored in a way that the viewer could only watch the video but not share it. 

Tommy Sotomayor made another video the very next day explaining how a number of videos, comments and actions that go directly against YouTube guidelines are kept up , while his are taken down. Tommy Sotomayor went on to explain that the Jewish elite don’t mind when other groups and religions are blasted on social media. But the minute their religion or one of their own is mentioned in a disparaging light the individual in question is removed. The removal and censorship of Tommy Sotomayor and David Duke make their opinions and beliefs on that group valid. 

Bringing it all together

You’ve got numerous videos of channels promoting pedophilia that are still up and getting views. There are numerous channels promoting transsexualism to small children and toddlers on YouTube. There are numerous channels promoting hatred towards Black, Latino, Asians, Muslims, white people and America on YouTube. So why for the life of me are viewpoints that are conservative or right leaning being removed faster than those channels and videos? 

Is an opinion made by a man on the internet that harmful that their videos need to be removed every time it offends? But the harmful behavior of telling a little boy at the age of 9 that he can wear dresses and become a women doesn’t matter? Tommy Sotomayor made a great statement in one of his rants that needs to be remembered. “If you can do it to me and get away with it, I should be able to do the same to you! and if i can’t there is a huge problem.”  The social bias in the media in general is becoming nauseating. Now, whenever The President or whoever decides to toss a verbal grenade at the liberal media, I can’t blame them even if they are wrong.

[jadacanwrite]

June 11, 2021

Lesbian Home Movie Project

This is like a set of short form content vlogs.

The video of the Washington sisters singing “More than a paycheck” is where I started.

It’s crazy that the Klan came to an event where there were a lot of openly gay women. I found it interesting that the woman in the video related that to feeling liberated or free to come out.

I really thought she actually was being sincere about her being glad about the Klu Klux Klan  being there until she said something about ‘oppression’ then I was like “ok, sis. You got it”

This shows that even in times where you thought the KKK was only after minorities, they’re also after the gays too. That’s crazy to me that the KKK consumes their time with terrorizing others.

The line dance clip is so cute and nostalgic

All these clips seem to be showing the many talents, thoughts, and lifestyles of lesbian women in the 90s. I don’t see any black women yet tho…

Wasn’t there a floating McDonalds in Holland that they cant get rid of? *side note*

I love this literal version of pride floats in the Friendship through Culture and Sports parade. It brought together all races and ages to the Amsterdam Canal.

It’s the woman’s softball team for me. I just love all these old videos. Especially the one of the pride parade in New York.

The signs are a little different from what you may see now a days.

“Parents of Gays” is something that I haven’t seen now and wouldn’t have expected to see in this older clip.