#and shoutout to that one podcast she was on cause it was so interesting to hear her talk about her hockey career

[hughesapalooza]

queen ellen weinberg hughes !!

[hobeymakar]

Unapologetically | C. Makar Part 1

Chapter word count: 3,526

A/N: Title from the song Unapologetically by Kelsea Ballerini. This is my first chaptered fic in a long time and my first written on here, so please be kind. This fic is based off a set of very vivid reoccurring dreams I’ve had over the last couple of months that involve Cale and like the true psycho I am, I wrote the big things that happened in those dreams down. Then I decided recently to just turn it to a fic, so this is pretty self-indulgent. Is it possibly narcissistic of me to write a fic about me? Maybe, but I’m gonna write it anyway. This first chapter is gonna be a lil boring and weird because it has a lot of time skips but Chapter 2 will be much more exciting and way better

Shoutouts: @pizzasloot and @hockey-and-wine for being my biggest cheerleaders for writing for this fic in the gc and also shoutout to @grenawitka​ for always keeping the gc lit. I love you girls!

Warnings: explicit language, alcohol use

-

Tatyana “Taty” Marie Ventura or “Ace” as she is now being known as, never thought that when she started a podcast in the comfort of her Rhode Island home, that she would kind of blow up. Taty started the Ace of Hockey podcast because she wanted a career in hockey media and wanted to do it her way, being unapologetically herself. She started the podcast and started messaging hockey players and other athletes in hopes that they would come onto the podcast to talk about diversity and inclusion in the sport.

That’s how she finds herself on an early October evening receiving a message from Cale Makar on how he’s a fan of the podcast. She internally screams because she never thought an actual hockey player would listen to the podcast. She assumed only hockey fans would listen to the podcast and that it would never reach the notoriety of other hockey podcasts.

From: calemakar_

Hey, just wanted to say that I’m a big fan of your podcast. Buddy of mine showed it to me and I think it’s fantastic. It’s helping me learn how to be a better ally

To: calemakar_

Thank you so much, that means a lot honestly!

From: calemakar_

You’re welcome. I’ve been showing it to the team and they think it’s great for them to learn how to be better allies

To: calemakar_

Wow, that means so much! I just want people to know that hockey is great but it would be so much better if it became inclusive to everyone regardless of sex, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, etc. I just want hockey to really be for everyone

From: calemakar_

That's what we all want. We don't want anyone to feel like they can't play or enjoy hockey because of who they are

She doesn't know how to keep the conversation because she's awkward and just lets the dm sit there. She turns her attention to the latest hockey news and figuring out who's gonna be her next guest for the podcast.

A few hours later, she sees a follow request on her personal IG account and not the podcast account. She sees it's from Cale and is confused on why he would want to follow her personal account. She barely posts stuff about the podcast on there and uses it more to keep up with family with the occasional posts promoting the podcast and the guests. She accepts the request and doesn't think anything of it.

A few days later, she notices that he's been liking her posts and viewing her stories. He's been seeing her interact with family and friends and she still doesn't understand why he cares enough to keep up with her personal account. It starts becoming weird when he adds her on snapchat.

She sends him a dm on instagram to make sure it's actually him and not someone pretending to be him.

To: calemakar_

This might sound totally weird but did you just add me on snapchat?

From: calemakar_

Yeah I'm sorry. Josty thought it would be funny to hijack my phone and add you

To: calemakar_

No need to apologize, I just wanted to make sure it was actually you and not someone trying to be you to catfish girls

From: calemakar_

Yeah no, definitely my account

She accepts him as a friend on Snapchat and sends him a message.

To: Cale Makar

Hope it's okay I added you back

From: Cale Makar

Yeah, that's cool. You didn't have to tho. Don't want you to feel like you had to

To: Cale Makar

Trust me I added you back because I wanted to. I don't just accept anybody

She hits send before she can even think twice about it but then she reads it back and wants the ground to swallow her whole. She panics as she watches the delivered turn into a read and the little bubbles show up saying he's typing. It feels like forever before Cale sends a response back.

From: Cale Makar

Well I'm glad you didn't add me back out of pity

She doesn't know how to respond to that right away so she opens up other messages and posts updates on her work on her story. She goes back to the messages and starts typing a response, not wanting to leave him on read forever.

To: Cale Makar

Why would anybody do that?

She exits out of it and hopes that her attempts at extending a conversation aren't met with disappointment.

From: Cale Makar

I admit you got me there

To: Cale Makar

I get people to say that a lot

From: Cale Makar

Never picked you as the type to brag

To: Cale Makar

There's a lot of layers to me and a lot of things you don't know about me

From: Cale Makar

Well I hope I get to know more about you

She blinks multiple times not knowing if the message was actually real. After blinking several times, she realizes the message was real and she lets out a squeal. Is he actually flirting with her? She pinches herself because she must be dreaming. There's no way her favorite hockey player and crush is flirting with her. Shit like that doesn't happen to her! She has zero game and has been on a grand total of zero dates in her life. She has had zero boyfriends and girlfriends in her life, so this is something brand new for her.

Maybe she's reading it wrong? Maybe he's just being polite and isn't actually flirting. She decides it's better not to stress it and just go with the flow. 

That's how she approaches the next couple of weeks with her pumping out content for her podcast, working her actual day job, and working on her social media game for the podcast. She also dms tons of people she sees as potential guests on the podcast. 

Her conversations with Cale become more frequent as she eventually finds herself sending him snaps daily. He actually feels comfortable enough to comment on her posts on her personal IG page now and she honestly doesn't know how this is all even real.

Like before she's not stressing it and is going with the flow. However, on the day of Cale's 22nd birthday, she gets hit with a message that causes her to freak out a little.

From: Cale Makar

Hey, is it cool if I got your number? It's much easier if I can just text you. I like you and want to keep getting to know you more

She hyperventilates because she has never had another human being shoe this much interest in her, her whole life. She pinches herself to make sure it's real and it really is real. Cale Makar actually asked for her number. She doesn't know if she should be jumping for joy or preparing for something to go wrong. This is completely uncharted waters for her and she doesn't know if she should go with her heart or her mind. Her mind is telling her not to do it, but her heart is telling her to do it. After a minute, she decides to go with her heart.

To: Cale Makar

Yeah, that's totally cool! (xxx-xxx-xxxx)

She sees a text from an unknown number a minute later pop up on her phone

From: xxx-xxx-xxxx

Hey, it's Cale

She saves the number under the name "Cale 🥰" and types out a response

To: Cale 🥰

Hey, happy birthday btw! Hope you're having fun!

From: Cale 🥰

Thank you I'm in Calgary rn with my family

To: Cale 🥰

Glad you're having fun with them

From: Cale 🥰

Thank you it's good to be back home

To: Cale 🥰

I can imagine! I'll let you get back to your family

She focuses on getting ready for Halloween, which also happens to be her sister's birthday. Her sister is turning 21 this year and she wants to make the most of it, even in the midst of a pandemic. They plan on going to Salem, Massachusetts with family and throwing a little party at a cousin's house in Brookline, Massachusetts. She sees Cale post pictures and videos on his Snapchat story of him and his family celebrating his birthday. She sees all his teammates wishing him a happy birthday on Instagram and Twitter.

As she’s getting ready to go to bed that night, she gets a video call from Cale.

“Hello?” she asks, not knowing why he would be calling her.

“Ace!” he shouts, causing her to cringe slightly.

“How’s your birthday going?” she asks.

“Great! I’m with my brother and some buddies from back home! We got a bonfire going on right now!” he explains, showing off the fire and his brother and friends.

She wants the ground to swallow her whole because she looks absolutely disgusting with her hair tied up in a bun, and old URI sweatpants and an URI sweatshirt on. She has no makeup on and she’s pretty sure she has some acne on her face.

“Hey Ace! I’m Taylor, Cale’s brother!” Taylor shouts in excitement.

She can clearly tell that he’s buzzed, as well as Cale.

“Hey Taylor,” she smiles, waving at him politely.

His buddies also introduce themselves and she can tell that they’re also slightly buzzed. A part of her hopes that they aren’t driving and are gonna make it back home safely whether tonight or the following day.

“You should come!” one of his friends suggests.

“I’d love to but I live in America and the border is still closed,” she replies, feeling slightly awkward.

“It’s a shame! I know Cale really misses his girl right now!” another friend chimes in, causing her to almost choke on her wine.

“I’m not his-”

“He won’t stop talking about you! He’s got it bad for you!” another friend adds, causing her to blush even more.

If the ground would swallow her up right now, that would be amazing because she can't believe the shit that she’s hearing right now. She doesn’t know if it’s the alcohol that has his friends saying that but a part of her wishes it’s true. God, a part of her wants him to want her because she definitely likes him. She likes everything about him but she’s too much of a loser to put herself out there more. So she just lets him do all the talking and flirting because once again, she has no game.

“Shut up Taylor!” Cale cries out, shoving his brother lightly.

“Well you seem to be having a fun time with your friends,” she says, not wanting to bring up anything that was said about his feelings for her. 

“It would be better if you were here,” he adds, his voice dropping slightly in volume.

“Yeah, well maybe we’ll meet one day,” she adds, not wanting to sound desperate to meet him or anything.

“When I get back to the States, I’ll make that a reality,” he replies, sounding sincere for being slightly intoxicated.

She’s reminded of the saying that drunken words are sober thoughts and gets a warm feeling in her stomach.

“Well I’ll let you keep having fun, birthday boy. I’ll talk to you later,” she smiles.

“Bye Ace,” he smiles back, before ending the call.

She immediately refills her glass of wine because she’s definitely too sober to be thinking about all the feelings Cale manages to give her every time they talk. She eventually falls asleep and if she dreamed about being in Calgary with Cale, she’ll blame it on the alcohol fucking with her dreams.

The next day is a busy one for Taty as she celebrates her sister’s 21st birthday in the best way she can while in the middle of a pandemic. They go to Salem, Massachusetts and have a blast doing many Halloween-related activities and then once it gets late, they head down to their cousin’s place in Brookline, Massachusetts to watch Halloween movies and to have a good time. Her sister decides to get drunk and Taty posts all their adventures on her Snapchat and her Instagram. She also sees that Cale has been posting his Halloween adventures on Snapchat, which aren’t as exciting this year because there’s no Avs Halloween party this year due to it still being the offseason and not everyone on the team is in Denver at the moment.

The next few weeks go by for Taty and it eventually gets to the point that she’s video chatting with Cale every day. They sometimes will stay up until late at night just talking and getting to know each other. Every day she’s becoming more comfortable and it’s on the first day of training camp, where she decides she’s finally gonna grow a pair and let him know how she feels.

He calls her after a long day at training camp and she actually has the time to talk to him as she isn’t working on anything for the podcast or her day job. 

“How was camp?” she asks him, as she locks herself in her room.

The last thing she needs is for her nosy ass sisters to eavesdrop on her conversations with Cale.

“It was tiring but fun. It was great to be out there with the guys again, even though everything is so weird with the virus going on,” he explains.

“Oh I bet, I can’t imagine all the testing and the extra precautions you guys have to take. The whole season is gonna be super weird huh,” she replies.

“Yeah, weird is a bit of an understatement,” he chuckles lightly.

“I really like you,” she blurts out, then immediately wishes the ground would swallow her whole.

She buries her face in her hands and contemplates ending the call to save herself from further embarrassment.

“Oh thank god! I was starting to think you didn’t really feel the same,” he admits, biting his lip.

“No I definitely like you. It’s just I’m new to this. I’ve never dated before or anything. I’m kind of a giant loser if you haven’t already caught on,” she admits, almost rambling at the end.

“Yeah no, you’re not a loser! You’re the coolest, most fun girl I’ve ever talked to and I just want to keep getting to know you because I really like you,” he assures her.

"So are we putting a label on this? Are we dating?" she asks.

"I guess you can say we're long distance dating," he chuckles lightly.

"I did know our video chats were considered dates," she teases.

"I was seeing them as dates and I want our future ones to be considered dates," he confesses.

"Alright so set up our next date," you tease.

"I know you're recording for the podcast tomorrow so what about Wednesday?" he asks.

"I'm off work Wednesday so that would be perfect. What time works for you?" she asks him.

"8pm my time," he answers.

"Yeah that works for me," she smiles.

"So it's a date?" he asks.

"Yeah it's a date," she smiles, getting a warm feeling in her stomach.

She tells him about some funny stories involving her family and he tells her some funny stories from training camp. They chat for hours and before she knows it, it's past midnight and she has to go to work in the morning. 

“I need to go to bed. I have work in the morning. Goodnight Cale,” she yawns, waving at him

“Goodnight love,” he waves back, ending the call. 

If she cheeses a little at the fact he called her love, no one is around to see it. 

December goes by pretty quickly and she feels bad that her calls with Cale become less frequent. December is the busiest month at work because everyone is doing Christmas shopping (being a store manager is hard work) and she finds herself working double the amount of hours she worked before the holiday season. Add doing the podcast three times a week and she’s absolutely gassed. Luckily, Cale doesn’t hold it against her because he starts getting more busy with preseason starting and his parents coming down for the holidays. Taylor is currently in the middle of his final season in the AJHL so he can’t make the trip down to Denver for the holidays. They text each other every day throughout the month however, and she manages to call him on Christmas and on New Year’s Eve, asking him if he’s excited for the new season to start on the 2nd.

2021 starts off worse than 2020 started because of the pandemic but Taty manages to make the best of it. She watches the Winter Classic while on video call with Cale. Luckily, the Avalanche start their season off at home again this year. The following day, she finds herself rushing home from work to be able to catch the Avs first game of the season against the Wild. She makes it home and takes a quick shower before changing into her Cale jersey and joggers. She quickly eats dinner before going into her room. She puts the game on and makes it just in time for the players to come out to the ice. She watches the game and manages to text Cale throughout the game knowing that he won’t see the string of texts until after the game. He finishes the game with one assist and 2 hits, as the Avs win 4-2 to start off the new season on a high note.

As she’s getting ready for bed, she gets a call from Cale.

“Hey, great game,” she smiles, trying not to show how tired she is.

“Oh shit, I just realized how late it is over there,” he sighs, not wanting to keep her up.

“It’s okay. I always stay up past my bedtime to talk to you,” she teases.

“How was work?” he asks.

“Annoying. We’re winding down from the holiday season but we still got a lot of people shopping and returning stuff,” she explains.

“I don’t know how you do it honestly, being so young and running a store, I mean,” he explains.

“Yeah well luckily I’m only an assistant manager,” she replies.

“Still pretty incredible what you do,” he assures her.

��Says the NHL superstar,” she scoffs.

“Hey, I’m not a superstar at all! I’m just another player like everybody else trying to be the best at my position,” he explains.

“Why do you have to be so humble all the time?” she teases.

“It’s just who I am,” he shrugs.

“And I love you for it but like just admit you’re a superstar,” she replies.

“Fine, I’m a superstar. Happy now?” he teases.

“The happiest. When are your parents going back to Calgary?” she asks, switching the subject.

“Tomorrow,” he answers.

“I’m glad you got to have them with you for the holidays, though,” she adds.

“Yeah, it was great seeing them again. I just wish Taylor could’ve been here,” he replies.

“Yeah well you’ll see him once his season ends and on the bright side, he’ll be at UMass next season,” she adds.

“Yeah I just miss him. I always go home for Christmas and this year I couldn’t,” he explains.

“Yeah I can’t imagine what that’s like but it will get better,” she assures him.

“Yeah I know it will,” he nods.

“I wish I could be there to make you feel better,” she sighs.

“Yeah, well we’ll see each other next month,” he smiles, a hopeful tone in his voice.

“February 5th can’t come fast enough. I’m gonna blow you away with the best interview you’ve ever done,” she teases, referring to her interviewing him for the podcast.

“I guess we’ll have to see about that,” he teases back.

“You wound me, Makar!” she fake gasps.

“I’ll make it up to you with a killer real first date,” he smiles.

“I’ll hold you to that. I expect to be really wooed,” she teases.

“It’s gonna be the best date you’ve ever been on,” he almost guarantees.

“It’s gonna be the first date I’ve ever been on,” she informs him.

“I know. That’s why it’s gonna be the best you’ve ever been on,” he jokes, causing her to roll her eyes.

“You’re so funny, Makar,” she deadpans.

“Stop acting like I don’t make you laugh all the time, Ventura,” he teases.

“What happened to humble Cale? I like him better than this smug one I got here,” she teases back.

“Stop acting like you don’t like it,” he replies.

“Yeah, I like every side to you,” she admits.

“Well that’s good because I like every side of you,” he smiles.

She feels her cheeks heat up and that warm fuzzy feeling return to her stomach. Is this what falling in love feels like? She’s never felt this way before and god, she hopes the feeling never fades because it’s amazing. No wonder people love falling in love so much, it’s magical and she hopes she doesn’t fuck it up. She just counts down the days until February 5th praying to god that nothing goes wrong once they finally meet.

[ladylillianrose]

You’ve Got SPRQS a Max Richman/Zoey Clarke Fanfiction

A/N: I'm so glad everyone is enjoying this idea! Thanks everyone for reading and for your comments!

Shoutout to my favorite beta/cheerleader aubreyrichman

These guys are all Austin Winsberg's property, I'll give them back when I'm done playing....maybe

Summary: CodeRedLeader and PianoMan chat some more

Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Zoey kept catching herself glancing at her SPRQ Watch, hoping for another message from PianoMan. She'd received messages from other users, but those were less than appealing. 

Work had been slow all morning, so she decided that it was her turn to initiate the conversation.

"What is it about anonymity that makes people behave like idiots?"  

 She worried her lip while pretending to focus on her monitor.

"I'm almost afraid to ask what happened…. but now you have me wondering."

Zoey couldn't help the smile that crept onto her face.

"You are apparently the only man with a brain and decorum on SPRQS."

"Not that I won't take the compliment, how have you come to this conclusion?"

"Oh, the usual route, collect relevant data, compare and analyze, compile findings."

He sent an emoji of a scientist and clipboard. " For science!"

Zoey giggled, "Exactly. After your message I received a few others and they left a lot to be desired."

"You mean they didn't immediately try and point out how Star Trek is far superior to Star Wars right from the start? Well then what's the point?"

She snorted, shaking her head. "Other than you being completely wrong about that, no they did not. They chose to go the more cliché route…. pick-up lines."

"People still use pick-up lines these days?"

"These guys did, and they were pretty terrible."

"Well come on let's hear them. You can’t not tell me!"

"The first one was: 'Well, here I am. So, what are your other 2 wishes?' " Zoey cringed as she typed it out.

"Yowch. 1990 called they want their line back."

"Oh, that was nothing, the next one was even worse: 'If you were a booger, I'd pick you first.' "

"Gross! What is he a 5-year-old?"

Zoey couldn't help but laugh, she felt better about the sleazy messages sharing them with someone.

Tobin and Max glanced over at her questioningly.

"Just thought of something funny from the podcast I was listening to earlier," she fibbed.

"Would that be the serial killer one? Cause, those are always a laugh riot." Max deadpanned.

Zoey stuck her tongue out at him and turned back to the task at hand.

"If you were a president, you'd be Babe-Raham Lincoln."

She heard Max start coughing as he inhaled his coffee wrong.

"Everything okay, Max?" She asked, mildly concerned.

Max waved his hand and drank some water. "Just down the wrong tube," he rasped.

Zoey arched her eyebrow at him.

"See, all good now," he said, taking another drink of water. "Just forgot how sippy lids work for a moment."

Zoey smiled and nodded at him.

"Okay, now I'm literally in tears from that one. Wow, that wins for most hilarious yet still terrible!"

"Right? It doesn't even make sense because they have no idea what I look like! I could have green skin for all they know!"

"Hey, Elphaba made green skin look good in Wicked."

"I wouldn't know, not a big musical or really for that matter much of a music person. Though, I've been learning more about music, unintentionally, as of late."

"Well, I'll have to record you some piano covers for you to help build on that budding music knowledge."

Zoey felt her face flush, he was going to send her songs. Sure, she could hear people's heart songs, but this was different. He was knowingly willing to share songs with her.

She sent back a grinning emoji and a music note, "I would like that."

"Don't get too excited, they'll probably be pretty rough."

"I don't mind, I look forward to listening to them."

He responded with a blushing emoji. "Careful Red, those kinds of comments are liable to have me spouting terrible pick-up lines."

"You wouldn't dare. There's no way to top the Babe-Rham Lincoln."

" I'm almost intimidated to try."

"Well, if I get anymore, I'll be sure to share them. At least this way I have someone to laugh about them with."

"What, you can't share these gems with your friends?"

"Only the one who signed me up even knows I'm on the app. And my best friend scoffed at the whole idea of a dating app. So nope, you're the only one I can share these delights with."

"Well, then I feel honored to be the chosen one. Only one person knows I'm on here too, and only because he wouldn't stop pressuring me about it. I joined to shut him up...but I have to say that I'm enjoying this far more than I expected."

Zoey flushed with pleasure, grinning.

"So am I."

"Zoey? Zoey?" She heard Leif trying to get her attention.

"What is it?"

"Did you finish checking the code I sent you? We're waiting for your go ahead to input it," he explained raising his eyebrows. 

Shit....She had gotten so caught up in her chat that she hadn't realized that Leif had completed the code and sent it to her an hour ago.

"I'm just finishing my run through now," she lied.

"Welp,duty calls! But talk soon yes?"  

"Of course. I'll send you a song later tonight, if you were actually interested in them, and not just trying to spare my feelings."

"Absolutely, I'm interested! I'll be eagerly awaiting your recording!"

Zoey closed the app, forcing herself to focus on work for the rest of the day.

After hunching over her desk for 5 hours straight, she leaned back and stretched letting out a loud groan.

 Max was standing next to her desk, backpack slung over his shoulder.

 "And, that's our cue to get out of here," he said. 

"Just one more section…" Zoey went to move her chair closer when Max stepped in front of her.

"Nope. It'll be here tomorrow, and it isn't anything that can't wait," he insisted. 

Zoey grumbled, knowing he was right. "Fine. I guess I can finish it tomorrow."

Max grinned, moving out of the way so she could grab her stuff.

"Any big plans for tonight?" He asked as they walked to the elevators. 

Zoey shrugged, "Just a quiet evening in. What about you?"

 "Just got to do some work on a personal project," Max responded. 

"Personal project? This is the first I'm hearing of it," Zoey glanced at him stepping into the elevator.

"Just something I came up with today. I'm pretty excited to start," he grinned.

"So, what is it?"

"I don't want to say yet, I'm not even sure if it will go anywhere. But if it does, I'll let you know," Max assured her.

Zoey frowned, Max usually told her everything, this was a new secretive side to him that she hadn't seen before. But he seemed very eager to begin, and besides he wasn't the only one with a secret.

"Well, good luck with your project," Zoey said, smiling. "I'm glad you're excited for something." 

Max grinned, his dimples showing. "It’s a great feeling!"

"See you tomorrow," Zoey said as they parted at the door.

"Meet you at the coffee shop?" Max asked.

 "If I'm not there, you should probably report me as missing, " she joked back. 

Max chuckled, "Night, Zo."

"Night, Max."

[essekknits]

University FMA AU

Shoutout to @liquidstar , this monstrosity started because of your post about how Furey must have a podcast in any modern AU. I thank you so much.

Hohenheim is a famous chemistry professor who always lectures all around the world, so he’s never around. Trisha is a stay-at-home mum. Winry’s parents joined some program of doctors who fly around the world, to treat people in third world countries.

Trisha dies, as she does, in an outbreak of some sort. Winry’s parents die from some tropical disease around the same time. Since Hohenheim isn’t around and Trisha is dead, Ed and Al are put in a foster home. They get lucky, and their foster parents are a delightfully weird couple, a big, bulky man and a woman who looks so thin and small in comparison but in truth is quite well built. She’s also pretty ill.

Izumi and Sig love them as their own, and treat them well. Sig is gentle and quiet, supporting them silently and mostly showing his love and care with physical gestures, like rubbing their heads or hugging them. Izumi is tougher, sharp witted and tongued, but when they need her, she would always be there for them with a gentle word of advice, or just an understanding hug. She can never have biological children after going through a stillbirth that almost killed her.

Anyway, she homeschools Ed and Al, and because they’re quick learners and she’s a great teacher, they finish all their education very early. Winry is also homeschooled, as the small village they’re from doesn’t have much of a school, and Pinako couldn’t part with the only family she had left. So Winry, also an extremely fast learner, finishes her education at around the same speed, while also learning from her grandma who is a prosthetist, cause she fell in love with the professions she grew up around.

While Ed and Al were with Izumi, Ed got injured in his left leg. It got severely infected, and had to be cut off. While Al appeared to handle the loss of their mother as well as you can expect a child, the time Ed spent hospitalised and practically on the brink of death due to sepsis, on top of the not-so-resolved issues of his mother’s death, was a huge hit on his mental health. He spent long periods of time dissociating, even after Ed got better and wasn’t in danger. He got the therapy he needed, and all the support of his loving families, and is doing much better now. Ed got a prosthetic leg fitted for him by Pinako and Winry.

Ed and Al are still great friends with Winry, even though they don’t meet as much because they live pretty far from each other. They talk a lot on the phone, and also visit each other sometimes.

They take whatever exams they need to take to qualify as “I finished my high school education”, and apply to the same university. Ed and Al are going to study chamistry cause fuck their old man but they’re good at it, and Izumi taught them a bunch cause she studied it herself and loves the subject. Winry is studying to become a prosthetist, so she has a long way to go (she needs a master’s degree to actually practice).

Enter Roy. Roy is an assistant professor to professor Hawkeye. The professor is sick and old and looks kinda dead inside. Riza, his daughter, is definitely NOT studying chemistry, and seems to be fairly cold toward her father, but she hangs around the back of the class when she’s not busy. She’s a martial arts teacher, and also a competitive archer in her free time. And if you think the assistant professor doesn’t steal glances at her biceps when she’s wearing a tank top, you are sorely mistaken. They’ve been going circles around each other for years now, and everyone who knows them is just waiting for them to KISS ALREADY GOD DAMMIT STOP LOOKING AT EACH OTHER LIKE THAT OVER THE CLASS IT MAKES EVERYONE UNCOMFORTABLE.

Roy’s best friend Maes is doing his post doctorate in law. He married one of his old classmates, who is now a lawyer. He’s notorious for gushing over his family with anyone who would listen to him. Alex Louis Armstrong is an art student, and his older sister Olivier constantly calls him a wuss and a disgrace to the family because he’s been studying for years and not taking enough courses for her taste every year (she herself studies at a breakneck speed, and is one of the youngest professors in her chosen field, which I don’t know yet). Falman is a history student. Havoc is still “figuring himself out” and taking a bunch of seemingly disconnected courses. Breda is studying culinary. Furey studies communication, and as a hobby he has a podcast.

Now, he didn’t exactly know what he wants to do with his podcast, so he asked a Breda and Falman, who he knew before, to help him get interesting people for his podcast and they’ll see what they can do. So Farman talks to Havoc, who’s you’re “guy who knows a guy” type of person, so he talks to Riza about it, and she decides to bring Roy and Maes in on it. Maes decides that the two literal kids Roy’s been telling him about need to get a life outside of studying, so he invites them too. Ed doesn’t want to, but Winry forces him to, and comes with. Meanwhile, Breda asked Alex Armstrong, and he dragged two younger students, Dan and Maria, who are just really intimidated by how intense he is.

So Furey is going to the place he set to meet with Farman and Breda, thinking they’ll bring like two other people or something, and is met with a member of the faculty, that intimidating lady he saw around sometimes carrying a large bow, a dude with a comically long string of family photos, a giant muscle man with a magnificent moustache, three normal looking people, and three literal teenagers, one of which has a kickass steampunk-looking prosthetic leg. And also his two friends. Difinitely NOT what he expected, but... hey, you know what? He’snot going to complain. He asked for interesting people, and it looked like that’s EXACTLY what he got.

Somewhere along the line Ling (a foreign student studying chemistry just to satisfy his rich father so he’ll get some of the inheritance), along with his girlfriend Lan Fan and his half sister Mei (who actually LIKES chemistry and won’t let her older half brother outshine her) joined (Ling and Lan Fan were tailing Ed cause Ling needs help with the material, and Mei developed a not-so-subtle crush on Al). Olivier Armstrong also participated in one or two episodes, just because Roy dared her, and she actually likes Riza. Her two assistants, a mountain of a man called Buccaneer and an neat-looking man called Miles, shared a few anecdotes too. Scar is a refugee Winry’s parents treated before they died (he did NOT kill them here), and Mei just casually starts talking to that creepy tattooed dude who’s lurking around the place. He turns out to be a pretty okay dude.

Anyway, just... shenanigans ensue. This is a wacky group of young people messing around on a podcast. Sometimes they play a roleplaying game, DnD style, and the campaign is basically the series. The characters who don’t show up as often as the core crew are just people who can’t show up to every recording session because they’re falling behind in their studies. Tucker is based on the creepy biology professor who started interrogating Ed about his prosthetic for way too long and whose daughter just hung around the campus after school and he never payed attention to her (Ed almost beat Furey up after the Nina part of the campaign cause THAT WAS NOT COOL). Maes got his character killed off on purpose pretty early on. He discussed it with Furey up ahead, since he knew he’ll be working his ass off with his research, so he couldn’t really keep coming for recording for too long. Roy, being the drama queen he is, decided to on the spot make it his character’s life mission to discover who murdered his best friend and avenge his death. Scar is an NPC, based on the actual Scar since before they knew him, and the more they got to know him the more his redemption arc continued. (Winry and Mei spearhead that one, because they’re the ones who got to know him the most).

[survivoraqualand]

Immunity #5 Results

It’s here. The moment we’ve all waited for. It’s time to see the music videos!

But before that... it’s time to reveal some very special judges.

JACK

Follow JackConnorz on Twitch!

KARTER

Karter (they/them) is a badass with too much time on their hands. They love laughing, eating bread, and crying. They were also incredibly iconic in Survivor: Hephaestus’ music video challenge (and the entire season), so they know wtf is up.

ALEX

Alex Brown is the co-creator of The Bridge (along with the fabulous Rebecca Mahoney!). By day, Alex works in the Film and TV industry and writes YA Horror-Comedies about messy queer kids, dramatic demons, and the occasional murder. By night, she's (hopefully) editing the next monstrously large episode of The Bridge and doing her best to hide from Persnickety Pete...

REBECCA

Rebecca Mahoney is the co-creator of The Bridge Podcast alongside the inimitable Alex Brown, and writes young adult and middle grade fiction: her debut novel, THE VALLEY AND THE FLOOD, will be released 2/23/2021. She spends her non-writing hours at her home in the Boston area, working in academic administration and cursing sailors at sea.

Yep, you read that right - we have the creators of The Bridge here to bring some judgment down on these videos. They are the gods of this universe, so I hope you’ve done them proud. 

Without further ado, let’s get to those videos!

PROTEUS - Under The Sea

“Our video is about a bridge watchtower podcaster who loves telling stories of the monsters who live out by the bridge. His boss doesn't understand what's so great about these monsters and the sea  they live in so him and the monsters wanted to show her what was what. We included the siren blood monster, the kraken, and the shadow monster all from the original podcast as well as pulling directly from the podcast for the idea!“

Judge Comments:

Jack: under the sea but make it dark and scary? i kinda dig it. the makeup and stuff was super duper cool. BUT the lip syncing and movement left a lot to be desired. It was cute tho and i wasnt bored. shoutout to the person lip syncing into the shower head. You get my Jack Connorz Music Video SEAL OF APPROVAL.

Karter: This was a fun and clever idea. This team, above the other, seemed to have been having more fun in front of the camera. Which was really appealing to me as a judge. They had super fun costumes and put a lot of effort into their looks, but I struggled with really seeing a theme. The dog was the TRUE star of this and Logan is a true MVP. 

Alex: My mouth dropped when the music started--I was not expecting a cover of Under the Sea to rock that hard! The details with all the make-up were AMAZING--special shout-out to the Kraken and the Crying Blood Monster (and the doggo/shadow!) The opening skit was so cool--Etta and the Podcaster would be BFFs, as would Roger and Ariel. I lost it at the saxophone and the Godzilla at the end killed me in the best way!

Rebecca: This put such a big smile on my face! The performance aspect was particularly so good – you all had such great energy, I loved the framing device with the podcaster, and the makeup was incredible. (The bleeding-eyed siren spitting a verse towards the end was everything to me.) I loved the film clips you wove in here, too – the editing was so fun and kinetic. Also, please tell your dog that they are the scariest monster and I want to give them 1000 kisses a day.

CETO - Look What You Made Me Do

"The Ceto Team has been locked away in the Transcontinental Hotel for a while. Ever since Katie let the monster out of the Submeres, we've started to give in to our inner saboteurs. As the darkness creeps in, we've acted on our more evil urges: drinking all the team's booze, throwing away the food, even burning down everything in site. Look what this hotel has made us into!"

Judge Comments:

Jack: BOLD. ZESTY. FLAVORFUL. INTERESTING. UNIQUE. HEALTHY. FUN. DIFFERENT. This was everything I wanted and more from a music video. A shame that editing wasn't a judging category cause you wouldve gotten a 10 from me! Good work tho. The one thing that was lacking was kinda originality, but the theme of the video and storyline made up for it and you all looked like you filmed this together despite filming in different parts of the world and thats what is most important! JACK CONNORZ MUSIC VIDEO SEAL OF APPROVAL!

Karter: The editing and concept of this was STUNNING. I absolutely loved how you took this situation and truly made it into a story. Beyond that, this team did seem like it was having less fun and the concept wasn’t as original. What really won me over was the fact it did make me laugh. The true MVPS of this were the person who edited this and the person who risked lighting their house on fire for this video by trying to set a Christmas tree on fire. 

Alex: Your use of graphics was AMAZING! That's no small feat and I love how creative you were with everything--the framing both in the scenes and the video itself was super cool! I felt terrified the whole time I was watching it--I think Persnickety Pete would be proud! I LOVED that your video was so true to your team's experience in the game (and fully support Katie's decision to let those monsters loose--YOU GO, KATIE!!!). I gasped when the lighter go way too close to that tree and am touched and honored that you included a part of our show in the opening of your video!!!

Rebecca: Oh, the absolute DRAMA of this was so good: the atmosphere, the graphics, the editing, the little sampling of the show at the beginning!! I think my favorite thing about this was how you connected it to your team’s plotline, it felt like such a cool and exciting way for you to explore the theme. Also I am fascinated by everything you’ve got going on and I hope you make it out of the Transcontinental Hotel in one piece!

Rebecca and Alex also had a couple of final comments about the overall effort and quality:

Alex: This was SO CLOSE!!! For me, Proteus wins because I LOVED how they incorporated monsters from our show and also made their own! The make-up details were absolutely fantastic and the overall energy from everyone involved was downright electric! oh also give Proteus's sea witch in the shower a shout-out please--absolutely loved that one as well!

Rebecca: Okay, the fact that I can’t give both of you all 10s for these amazing videos is EXCRUCIATING, you did such an incredible job on these! But I recognize this is a competition and we have to keep things interesting, so I am very reluctantly giving some 9s where I think the other team had a slight edge. Congratulations to both teams on a job well done!

And now for the scores...

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

With a score of 145 plus 2 bonus points from Ari....

CETO WINS IMMUNITY!

Congratulations on creating a real work of art here. You’d better give your editor a major shoutout!

Proteus, the good news is that you also get 3 bonus Ari points for the amazing inclusion of so many podcast-relevant details in your truly delightful video. The bad news is that this still isn’t enough to move the needle - you will have to attend Sea Council tomorrow night and vote out one of your own once again.

Your votes are due to your host chats at 9PM tomorrow, December 20th. Good luck, and good work everyone! You’ve all done the hosts and the podcast creators proud. <3

[littlemisssquiggles]

RWBY Musings #15: After seeing the title for Chapter 8 of RWBY Volume 5, I’m seriously hoping that part of the episode focuses on Ruby and Oscar.

I told myself I wasn’t going to share another musing for this week til the next episode premieres. After my last musing, I said I was done for the week but damn, the title of that Chapter 8 brought me back. I gotta talk about it.

Speaking of which, before I get into my usual spur of words, I’d just like to humbly thank all the awesometastic people who liked, commented on and shared my ♦last RWBY Musing. Thank you guys so much! It truly means a lot that you take the time to read my jibberjab for real so thank you bunches.

I especially want to give a shoutout to @miraculouscorazone who shared my post with AfterBuzzTV via Twitter. It was quite a pleasant surprise (and by that I mean holy-shizznuggets was that a shocker) to learn that my musing was briefly mentioned and even discussed a little bit in this week’s episode of their RWBY AfterBuzz show. If you tuned into the podcast and remember the part with the hosts mentioning a shared tumblr post with a theory about Oscar’s outburst from Chapter 5 being intentional. Surprise, that was my post they were talking about!

So that’s one of the highlights of my week. Thank you precious star kids and fellow RWBY lovers so much!

 Okay, on with the musing now.

Guys, the title of Chapter 8 is ‘Alone Together’. Where do we even begin with this?

Whenever I see a title like this one, it can only mean one thing: A story with two characters who don’t normally spend that much time together suddenly thrust into a dire situation where they only person they have to depend on is each other.

It’s the perfect set-up scenario to force two characters who don’t normally socialize to socialize. It can also be the ideal way for a story’s protagonist to learn more about a centric secondary character whose story is still a mystery to them and the audience after the two suddenly end up...well alone together.

And if RWBY is doing this kind of story, I’m really hoping it’s an Oscar and Ruby focused episode or at least, an episode where we finally learn more about Oscar as instigated by Ruby. I can’t see what other two characters this title can allude to.

Unless it’s involves Blake ending up alone with Sun or maybe Illia as she is separated from her family, then this episode has to be Ruby and Oscar. It just gotta be this time.  

I’m worried I may be gearing myself up from some bitter disappointment in that department. I know not everything in RWBY is about shipping but this is one of those moments where I’d like the CRWBY writers to make an exception.

Purely for the fact that they began the season strongly hinting at something between Ruby and Oscar.

You can't give us four episodes of them socializing and then stop. The well has to start flowing water again at some point and I’m eager that this episode will provide an opportunity that they will take. Plus there really needs to be an episode where one of the focus in on Oscar and getting to know more about him.

It would be interesting if we get the reverse of Chapter 5 and have Ruby ask Oscar some deep questions that enlighten us more into his character. If Ruby and Oscar are alone together where it's just them I can definitely see the potential of this happening. We only got 7 more episodes left.

I’m starved for the precious farm boy to get some well-deserved development. I’m starved for my ship to get some development. Don’t start something you don’t intend to continue, CRWBY, especially within the same volume.

I’m hoping this episode presents a case where Weiss and Yang probe Ruby for details on Oscar, probably out of curiosity for the young farm boy but mostly as a means of teasing her about possibly having a crush on him.

They do this only to discover that despite being together for several weeks, Ruby still honestly doesn’t know that much about Oscar.

According to Ruby, other than training together under Ozpin’s watch and what happened in Chapter 5, she and Oscar haven’t exactly gotten any alone time to truly get to know each other.

This will then give a mischievous Yang an idea and long story short, she hatches a plan which results in Ruby and Oscar ending up alone together.

Whether it’s somehow managing to get everybody out of the house for the day so that it’s only Ruby and Oscar alone in the house by themselves or gives them the ole parent-trap and tricks them into meeting each other in the same spot in Mistral and Ruby and Oscar enjoy a day of exploring the town together.

Do you know what would be funny and cute at the same time? What if...Ruby and Oscar bonded over videogames, of all things? Books would be a worthy second choice but videogames is the definite first.

I remember way back in Volume 3 after Qrow was first introduced, we got a scene where he was playing a fighting game against Yang using their scrolls as controllers. It’s been a while since we’ve seen something like that in the show.

Since Oscar was given a grand-spanking new backpack (as evidenced in Chapter 5. Don’t think I didn’t notice the new duds for our little stud muffin in the baking), I wouldn’t be too surprised if he was also given his own personal Scroll. After all, how else was he supposed to communicate with everyone? So if Oscar has a Scroll, Ruby can introduce him to the mystical world of videogames and the two can converse over a few rounds.

Like imagine, Ruby asking Oscar what to do while the two were alone. Oscar, being the diligent bean he is, suggests they should possibly continue their training regiment and spar together in a rematch however Ruby denounces that option by slyly encouraging the farm boy to join her in a spirited round of *Insert RWBY-verse videogame*.

Oscar is, of course, skeptical as he’s never been one to be good at videogames nor has he ever played a videogame before (he strikes me more of outdoorsy, all work and no play book-worm type). This only excites Ruby more as she eagerly exposes Oscar to the fun of videogames.

Not only do the two have their rematch on the gaming platform but the hype and distraction of the game disperses any initial awkwardness between them and the two are actually able to hold a decent conversation between them, discussing everything from their favourite hobbies to foods to family; no talk of any impending wars at all.

Just a nice tête-à-tête between two teens with zero interruption from Ozpin.

We have yet to see Oscar just relax, have fun and truly be a kid. As a matter of fact, the first time fans saw Oscar debut to the story was with him waking up early in the morning to work.

If Oscar’s life was a song, it’d probably be Work by Rihanna. All he does is work, work, work, work, work, work.

He went from working on a farm to working to become a huntsman. Not a day’s rest.

Hard to believe he’s only fourteen.

Can I just have one episode or at least a moment in an episode where Oscar can just be a kid? I want so many things for this precious young avocado bean.

One of them is for him to just be a kid for a day or at least an afternoon and just have FUN. Enjoy the good ole fun times before everything goes to shit in the coming episodes.

And if Oscar can have fun while spending it with Ruby; opening up to her about himself and his life before Mistral, that would be beyond amazing. Let’s face it, Ruby is closest thing to a best friend Oscar has at this point, minus Ozpin (that ancient fart) but he literally lives inside his head so I don’t think that counts. At least if Oscar learnt to genuinely like Ruby and forms a true bond with her, it’ll be of his own choice (the first one he’s made since he became Ozpin’s successor).

I’ve had this cute little idea in my head of Oscar describing his past home life on his aunt’s farm to Ruby, who’s never been on a real farm and the young huntress is surprisingly fascinated by it all, practically bombarding Oscar with questions about what it’s like growing up on a farm. Because Ruby loves the idea of his aunt’s farm so much, in a spurt of confidence, Oscar sort of blushingly invites her to spend the summer with him on his aunt’s farm after making mention of how much more beautiful the farm is in the summer (y’know with flower fields and shit).

Of course, he only meant it as a shy joke at first, not expecting Ruby to take him seriously. However when she does, happy accepting his offer with a flushed face of her own, the two then make a promise to each other; a cute little pinkie-swear pact to spend the summer together on Oscar’s farm after defeating Salem.

I know this will NEVER happen in the show (cause my poor shipping Oscar Pine development pining ass is not the one writing for RWBY) but damn, oh how I wish Miles and Kerry could see this and at least consider tossing it in for us RoseGarden fans.

Do you know what would be interesting?

What if...Volume 5 concludes with the Mistral gang being forced to vacate the citadel and go into hiding somewhere out of Lionheart’s view after that they’ve learnt of his full alliance with Salem?

They can’t go to Atlas because they still need to stay close to Mistral in order to safeguard the Relic of Knowledge and prevent the Fall of Haven Academy.

So what’s a good place for them to lay low and come up with a better plan of action? A place that’s not too far from the city but still pretty far enough and more likely to be in the middle of nowhere where the chances of Lionheart finding them are quite slim?

I’m not making any big speculations here. I’m just saying. Oscar’s aunt sure did look like she had a lot of land on that farm of hers...with a lot of big trees...and two barns...probably more than one which would be the perfect cover to house a couple of people hiding from the law.

I’m just saying. The Walking Dead did an entire season and story arc where the main characters were refugees on a farm. Not saying the CRWBY writers are Walking Dead fans either but...we never did get to learn more about Oscar and his family background now, did we?

Volume 4 gave us some good insight into Ren and Nora’s past, though. Blake and Weiss too. We finally got to meet their respective families in the last volume as well. I’m just saying. Oscar does house Ozpin’s soul. He’s practically a main character now, right? Right.

Sure would be swell if he got some development that explored his family ties just like Ren and Nora...and Weiss...and Blake...and Ruby...andYang...and Qrow! We also got to see Qrow’s family ties last season too. So, when’s Oscar due for his, huh? Jusssst saying.

If Chapter 8 is to be all about Oscar and Ruby bonding but still end on more grim terms, then let Salem send Tyrian to exact his revenge and collect the girl.

May I remind everyone that Tyrian Callows has been surprisingly absent this volume? The last mention of him was in Episode 2 when Salem ordered Watts to create a new tail for him.

As revealed at the end of the last episode, Watts is currently with Cinder and her squad on a mission to attack the Branwen Tribe for Spring Maiden which means that Watts must’ve finished his work on Tyrian’s new tail.

They wouldn’t send Hazel after Ruby since he’s busy babysitting High Leader Adam Taurus. While he may be in Mistral and could offer some assistance if Salem saw him to do so, still, the point is that he’s on his own assignment at the moment that has nothing to do with crossing paths with the Mistral gang.

This only leaves Tyrian and seeing as he has his own personal beef with the silver-eyed girl, I wouldn’t be surprised if Salem has been saving him for now to strike Ruby at her most vulnerable.

Things have been pretty comfortable for the crew during their stay in Mistral so far. And I find it oddly peculiar that we haven’t heard or seen anything new from Professor Lionheart in some time. Since the second episode actually. That’s an awful lot of time to be quiet and quietly waiting lions can be quite deadly. Lionheart must know where these guys are staying in Mistral and wouldn’t be surprised if he would be involved in a sudden staged attack on them.  

Oooh you know what? Remember back in the first episode, how Oscar showed up on the gang’s doorstep asking for Ruby cause of Qrow? Imagine a parallel of that same scene where Lionheart surprisingly shows up, all nervous-looking on the gang’s doorstep asking for Ruby Rose and it’s Oscar who answers the door. Of course, he and Ruby are all alone and Oscar becomes especially suspicious of the Headmaster’s sudden presence at the group’s home, even more so when Ozpin warns him to be on his guard like he did with Hazel.

Turns out Lionheart was just the decoy/distraction as Tyrian suddenly comes out of nowhere and goes after Ruby off screen while Lionheart takes care of Oscar. It’d be funny to see Lionheart attempting to subdue Oscar, thinking he’ll get the upper-hand over the boy given his experience even with his rustiness. Much to Lionheart’s surprise, Oscar holds his own pretty well, putting his training to good use.

I want Oscar to fight Lionheart but only in a brief moment for two reasons.

One, I want to get a glimpse of Lionheart’s weapon of choice or at least his fighting style/semblance if possible and two, if a scene like this is done then we can get a sneak peak of Oscar fighting in addition to the look of complete shock on Lionheart’s when he realizes that Oscar is Ozpin.

Admittedly I like Lionheart. His character design is a favourite of mine from this season.  However while I’m wondering if there’ll be a chance for him to be redeemed somehow, I can’t help the part of me that believes the CRWBY might be shaping him up to become the Peter Pettigrew/Wormtail of Ozpin’s so-called ‘most-trusted lieutenants’.

Imagine if...Tyrian attacks Ruby during his and Lionheart’s assault on their threshold and though she fights back valiantly,  Ruby ends up getting captured this time around as a result of Tyrian’s newly improved tail which come with an added upgrade---A venom that renders its victim unconscious, perhaps?

What if...part of the build up to this volume’s epic conclusion revolves around Ruby being abducted by Tyrian who escapes with Lionheart to be taken to Salem.

I can actually see the build up to the finale of Volume 5 going three ways:

In Menagerie, we could have the ultimate showdown between Blake and Illia as she and Sun fight to protect the Massacre of the Belladonna Household. I figured this moment is too important to Blake’s side of the story and the side of the Battle of Haven with the Faunus for it to be glossed over in just one or even two episodes.

In the Branwen Tribe, it’s Cinder vs. Raven as she attempts to protect Vernal. At first I pegged Vernal and Raven’s relationship as a secretly romantic one.

Not really my ship but the thought did cross my mind. But then I thought that maybe Vernal and Raven have a mother-daughter type of bond and Vernal is Raven’s substitute for Yang, to make up for the fact that she missed out on her own daughter’s life for whatever unexplained reason in the series.

Someone theorized that Raven is bonded to Vernal so that’s how she’s able to teleport back immediately to the tribe campsite with her semblance. So if Vernal and Raven are close, it’d make sense if Raven might sacrifice herself to protect Vernal. Like perhaps Raven is captured by Cinder but before she is taken away, she uses her semblance to send Vernal to Qrow in Mistral.

In Mistral, it’s Vernal who informs Qrow of his sister’s abduction by the enemy around the same time the team learn from Oscar that Ruby has also been captured by Lionheart and Tyrion. This forces the gang no choice but to divide and conquer.

While she would much rather do it herself, Yang entrusts Oscar along with Team JNR to go after Lionheart and Tyrian to save Ruby (my guess is that she’d be held captive at Haven Academy) while she, accompanied by Weiss, Qrow and Vernal would go after Cinder and her forces to save Raven.

The intro did tease Yang fighting Mercury. If Raven was captured by Cinder to lure out the Spring Maiden, it would make sense if we got a rematch between Mercury and Yang after she comes to rescue her mother.

It would be cool to see all these things happen in the series. But, I’m no psychic so who knows how the next few episodes will play out.

One thing’s for certain, I’m really hoping that Chapter 8 is about Ruby and Oscar this time or at least have them be a vocal point at some instance in the episode. Seriously. Then again, while I want to remain hopeful, the CRWBY have stood me up at this dance before.

*shruggity shrug* I guess we’ll see tomorrow then.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2017)

[lygerzero14]

Since it was the last one of this particular tour, I decided to do a complete recap of the final NSP/TWRP Rock Hard Tour show, including the VIP Q&A.

All kinds of spoilers below

(but is it really since I doubt they’ll do the same thing for their next tour *shrugs*)

So, I had bought the tickets before I decided to leave California and I flew back to go with my bro.  We had went to the first show in L.A. and now the last show in San Francisco.  He called it a NSP sandwich.

We got there around 4:30pm and waited in the VIP line.  There were a lot of people cosplaying as Ninja Brian, which made me happy.  I saw a few Danny cosplayers and one Egoraptor cosplayer.

When we were let in, we just all walked up to the stage and waited for Brian and Dan to come out.  The tour producer, JP came out and made us do a pledge not to upload videos to youtube. (kinda don’t understand that for the Q&A, some really good information comes out of those but whateves)

So Brian and Dan come out and of course there’s cheering.  And Brian starts off saying they love us more because we paid more money (the dork).

Gonna just do a few highlights.

Someone asked Brian an academic question and Dan was like, “I’ll take this one.”

A mother then thanked Brian for taking time to do these shows, even though it takes him from Audrey, cause she travels a lot too and knows how it feels.

Someone asked about Dan continuing the Leisure Suit Larry game and he said, he didn’t know cause Youtube has gotten pretty touchy lately and then he said quickly “Thanks to Pewdiepie” (didn’t he call out Pewds at a grumps live recently too?)  Then he said he’d see if he can talk Arin into it.

Oct 12 for Under The Covers 2 according to Brian.

Dan called on a Danny Sexbang cosplayer and said she was very well-dressed but she ended up having a question for Brian about academics and balancing that with the arts and Dan just went “Fuck!”

Brian starts talking about STEM, which is Science Technology, Engineering and Math and goes into how he balanced the different degrees and then Dan comes in and says, “I also am into STEM.  Sexually Touching Everyday Man.”  Then Brian says, “Did you say Sexually Touching Every Man?”  Then Dan says, “Don’t make this about your own agenda Brian.”

A guy asked what do they do in their spare time between shows….Brian said, “Fuuuck.” Dan said, “Just look at each other and think about how there’s no words to say.”

Dan said two days ago, Brian was listening to a Linguistics podcast and he was reading a book about plants. Then he said, “Oh my god we are lame.”

One girl asked them to flip her off and Brian said, “I would love to but it’s strictly against my morals.” (this guy) He still did it.

NinjaTupperwareSexRemixParty would be the name according to Dan, when they one day join TWRP to do serious music.

A question was asked about song titles that they wanted but skipped over.

Brian said the one he wanted sounded kinda creepy.  ‘Me Watching You Wanting Me Humping You’

Dan said they started a song ‘It’s Never Too Late To Give Up Your Dreams’ but said it was too depressing. (pretty sure Brian tweeted that on their twitter) but that song became ‘Orgy For One’ which they admitted was still kind of sad.

Someone asked Brian if he had heard of the book ‘Quantum Physics For Babies’ and he had and listed off a whole line of books and Dan asked if it was actually for little kids and Brian said yes.  Then Dan shook his head and said “What happened to playing in dirt with a stick?”

One girl asked if there were any bands they were recently into.  Dan said he was embarrassed but the band’s name was FartBarf.  Brian said it at the same time and Dan said, “Brian, shut the fuck up! Stop stealing my thunder every goddamn ti-FartBarf.” (They are so silly)

They have a song on the next album called ‘Smooth Talking’ that is, according to Brian, “a bunch of dumbass nonsense words.”  It’s his favorite song.

Most of the skits they write are usually intended to be animated but they may do live action ones again.

One girl was like “I love you and I’m legal, wink wink.”  Dan laughed and said, “So subtle.” And he took off his glasses and posed seductively.

Brian ended up talking pretty deep about particle physics and when he was done, Dan was like, “My entire brain shut down.”  Brian said he’d give him one of those baby books and Dan said, “I’ll love while I throw it.”

Someone asked Dan to say, “I’m a sexy widdle baby.”  Brian brought up the twitter account of the same name and he highly recommended it. Dan cuts him off saying, “It’s you, Brian.”  Brian said it wasn’t but he kept winking at us.  

Someone asked who Dan’s Dream Daddy is.  Of course Brian jumps in with, “It’s me.”  Dan said Robert, since he voiced him.

Brian did a shoutout to Quizmaster Quinn, saying he was a sad man who loved trivia, so based on him.

Someone asked their favorite NSP song.  Dan said it was one we’ve never heard, which would be ‘Danny Don’t You Know’ (although I had heard it at the L.A. show)

They took the extra stuff off their channel because they didn’t think it represented what they wanted it to be and wanted to focus on the music videos.  They may release a dvd containing the shorts.

The weirdest gift they’ve been given or asked to sign.  Dan said all of the lower parts.  Brian said one girl asked Dan to sign her boobs and looked at Brian and said she wouldn’t ask him since he’s married and he was like, “What the fuck!”  

Weirdest gift was a shoebox of randomly assorted knives with no note and they met the person a year later at Disneyland.

What would their opening song title be if their life was a musical?

‘Dicks! A Journey.’

After a while the show started.  MC Chris opened again and he confirmed that he was MC Pee Pants from Aqua Teen Hunger Force.  I don’t know why he didn’t say that at the L.A. show.  I was thinking he was just an imitator.  He was in quite a bit of episodes.  His voice is also a love or hate kind of thing.  I wonder if it’s his real voice.

TWRP came out after the longest build up ever, I was actually starting to get annoyed.  But they were awesome as always, hyping the crowd with their energy.  I do remember there being more in between segments at the L.A. show.  They seemed to just play through their set list.  I found it funny, how when Sung would say this is the last song and the crowd would go ‘awww’ and he has to remind them that they aren’t technically leaving.

Then TWRP leaves the stage and an animation plays of one of the many, probably non-canonical, first meetings of Danny and Ninja Brian.  It was pretty funny.  Danny saying that Ninja Brian was a homeless beggar he took in and Ninja Brian having saw an ad that said “Toe-thumbed single guy looking for best friend. Ninjas Preferred.”  

TWRP then comes back out and starts playing the NSP theme and NSP comes out, with a significantly shorter build up, thankfully.  Ninja Brian going around flipping everyone off and Danny being his joyful, bouncy self.

Ninja Brian was pretty energetic, he was running all over the stage, hyping the crowd and all I could think was this guy is 42 and has a Ph.D.…

They played ‘Cool Patrol’ and man, I love that song so much!

After the song, someone threw up a Danny Sexbang bra (it was blue with the star of david on each cup)…Ninja Brian put it down his pants and then a Ninja Brian bra flew up there and…he put it down his pants too.  This guy is 42.  

Then Danny segued into Unicorn Wizard, telling the story about how Arin randomly came up with it. Danny crouched on the ground and Ninja Brian kept trying to quiet the crowd and just as he is about to start playing, someone would make a noise and he’d cross his arms and glare at them.  This happened several times.  Danny starts getting annoyed, telling Ninja Brian to start the song.

(I didn’t notice this at first but as Ninja Brian is having his fit, Lord Phobos goes to Danny and says something and Danny starts laughing…isn’t Phobos one of the silent ones?)

Finally Ninja Brian starts the song.  There was quite a lot of attention on Phobos.  I also liked the ending.  Where they all failed to bring the song to a proper ending.  Just a whole lot of fail all around.

Someone threw up the picture of Dan as Papa Sexbang 69 from Ghost, Ninja Brian tried to take it, then a short game of keep away happened.  Then someone threw a cup up that said Danny on it and…Ninja Brian put it down his pants and offered it to Danny, who reached into Ninja Brian’s pants and took it out. Danny said he’s not putting his lips on that.  

Then he asked people not to throw stuff on stage.  That lasted about two songs.  Then people started subtlety tossing things to the sides of the stage instead of at them.

They then played ‘Spin Me Round Like A Record’.  Danny had some…interesting moves during this song.

After they were done. Ninja Brian did a Rock Fuck chant with the crowd.

The next song was supposed to be ‘Road Trip’ but my gosh, Ninja Brian milked the ‘Bloopy Reggae Jams’ and they ended up doing ‘Let’s Get Together and Do Butt Stuff’.  Just when Danny thought they were done, they start up again and he crouched down in curled up in a ball, like an anime character. I love Ninja Brian.  

Then they finally played ‘Road Trip’.  I really like how this song sounds live.

Danny called TWRP “The greatest backup band in the world.”  TRWP then went off stage and the stagehands pulled Ninja Brian over on his bigger piano.

The person behind me dressed as Ninja Brian managed to get their homemade plush Grubba on stage and Danny thought it was awesome.

Danny then took out his earpieces and winced at the loud cheers and did the heart symbol with his hands. Then a Danny chant started that Ninja Brian tried to stop by pointing to himself and the chant switched to Brian. Then Danny got upset and Ninja Brian started pointing to him to start the Danny chant again. (aww)

Then Danny said he and Ninja Brian have been in Ninja Sex Party for nine years now.  He said when they started out, they were doing shows for ten people in basements in New York.  And he said, this was better.

They then did the slow version of ‘Dinosaur Laser Fight’ for the longtime fans and everyone was singing along and holding their phones up with the flashlights on.  I gotta say, I just love listening to Brian play.

He said that it’s strange that he gets emotional over that song.

Then he had us do the golf clap and gotta admit his little laugh at that is adorable.

He had us take a pledge not to record the new music video and not upload it

Then they played ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’ and it was…something.  Like I wouldn’t want to upload this anyway.  The Porn stars to Danny, Ninja Brian, TWRP ratio was greatly unbalanced. I didn’t like it.  Watching a bunch of girls in candy bikinis suck on lollipops…naw.

 Then Ninja Brian came out and a voice over talked about a piece written, recorded, arranged, produced, directed, scored, figured out, and done completely alone by Ninja Brian. TWRP came out and they played ‘Concerto in P Minor’.  This was very interesting to watch up close.  Man, it sounded so awesome.  Ninja Brian got up and shook the other’s hand but completely ignored Phobos.

After it was over, Danny came back out and Ninja Brian took the mic…and said nothing.

Then Dan talked about messed up stuff happening in the world and said fuck it.  Then they played ‘Everybody Wants To Rule The World’ and everyone was singing along.  I love Brian’s solo.  Danny patting Ninja Brian on the head was adorable.

After the song, someone threw an ankle bracelet…take a guess what Ninja Brian did.

The next song was a philosophy and lifestyle they live by.  ‘No Pants Dance’

For like a full minute, Ninja Brian just stared at Phobos, shaking his head.  Ninja Brian started grooving and thrusting his hips…huh.  Then he started staring at Phobos again.  Then Ninja Brian pulled a blue Yoshi plush out of his pants and threw it into the crowd at the end of the song.

Then someone threw a dollar on stage and Ninja Brian gave it to Phobos, then he took it back and Dan said, ‘Now you have to kiss him.’ The crowd started chanting kiss him and Ninja Brian did and Phobos took the dollar back.  

Then someone threw a penguin(from adventure time?) on stage…ya’ll know what Ninja Brian did and it created a huge bulge.  He then walked over to Phobos and pointed at the bulge and then at Phobos.  (Brian must not know that TWRP aren’t okay with shipping)

The next song was ‘Danny Don’t You Know’ and Danny reminded us of the pledge.  They really need to release this song though.  It’s really good.  And I could actually hear the lyrics this time, without those youtube red people yapping behind me. (by the way, I now know that I did see Michele up there last time)  The photoshop visuals are a lot funnier up close.

After the song they all left the stage.  A few minutes later Danny and Brian came back and people started chanting encore and Danny was laughing saying that’s what this was.  Danny joked that it’d be dickish if they just came back out to wave and then leave again.  Then Ninja Brian waves and walks off stage.  

They then played ‘Wish You Were Here’ and that song is just beautiful.  This was the only song my audio recorded perfectly.  Just having a piano helped a lot.  At the end, Danny and Ninja Brian hugged.

My footage cut off before they played ‘The Hit’ but I still had the audio.

Danny did his ‘Love everyone, forgive yourself’ speech, then they played ‘The Hit’

After they bowed, Ninja Brian lightly touched Phobos before going over to the other side of the stage to wave bye to the crowd with Meouch and Doctor Sung, who were taking a selfie. It was obvious Phobos was lingering behind on purpose.  

When it was just Ninja Brian and Phobos left on stage they approached each other and Ninja Brian kissed him again.  Then they slung their arms around each other’s shoulders and walked off stage.

And thus concluded my third NSP/TWRP concert.  

Gotta say it was still a fun and amazing show.  If you ever get a chance to go, do it.  

It’s worth it.  

[head-and-heart]

My Calgary Expo Experience

Okay guys so I’m still kind of dying. Today (probably yesterday by the time this goes up) was kind of amazing and I can’t believe that I met Bob Morley BUT I’M GOING TO ATTEMPT TO SHARE THE AWESOMENESS WITH YOU ALL.

Apparently recap posts about cons are a thing and I still can’t believe that I actually have reason to write one!!

I only decided to go on the Sunday because I could fit in the photo op, autograph signing, and panel all in one day so I felt that it was a good option, so I don’t know much about anything that happened on any of the other days.

It was sooo incredible. Bob is just ... wow. 

He just has the most adorable personality. And we all probably know this because you don’t need to meet him to be able to tell but he really does. As my friend who was with me likes to say, he’s all “soft and squish” hahahaha.

I was so so so nervous when we first walked into the autograph line (which was not very long at all because we came on the last day, and we also came early) and we were, like, two feet away from him because the line looped around. It was so weird. I still can’t believe that I was that close to him, let alone actually TALKED to him, and TOUCHED him. 

Also I’m about 99% sure that I saw Robyn from the Afictionados podcast in the line ahead of me because she has a very distinctive voice and I heard her mention Unity Days but I was too shy to talk to her and I wasn’t 100% it was her until later but anyway SHOUTOUT TO ROBYN IF YOU’RE READING THIS WHICH YOU PROBABLY AREN’T BUT IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT YOU ARE JUST KNOW THAT I REALLY LIKE YOUR PODCAST AND I'M REALLY AWKWARD SO I DIDN’T TELL YOU IN PERSON

anyway ..

Bob is just amazing because he was out in front of his table instead of behind it like basically all the other guests. It was really neat, he’s very interactive with the fans and likes to be very personal with everyone. He shook everyone’s hand that came to get an autograph and introduced himself (AS IF I DON’T KNOW WHO YOU ARE) and asked how we were doing and he was just so polite and cute and ugghh. I’ve never been to a con before but my friend was telling me how usually the autograph signing is very quick and they get you in and out of there very fast but Bob was so sweet and generous and took his time with everyone, actually attempting to have a real conversation with the fans. 

The people before us were taking a video of him which is prohibited apparently and the security guy there was getting mad at them but Bob was like “oh, I don’t mind ...” and he looked kind of uncomfortable (about the security guy, not the fans). 

He shaved his beard the night before and my friend was hEARTBROKEN because she LOVED it, haha. I think he looks nice either way, but I kind of prefer him cleanshaven so I was happy. HE PLAYS WITH HIS HAIR SO MUCH. And I swear that boy has an entire closet dedicated just to his various hats, its like every time I saw him he was wearing a different one.

My friend was a little starstruck so I ended up doing a lot of the conversation, but honestly I barely processed most of what he was saying. I mentioned that Zach talked about filming a movie with him at a recent con and asked him if he could share a little bit about it. He laughed and said that he was surprised Zach had said anything because they were supposed to be secretive about it so he didn’t really say anything more than what I already knew. He talked about how he was going to be filming in Malaysia pretty soon (which I already knew cause i’m extra lol) and how he hadn’t spent a whole lot of time prepping for the role so he needed to do some of that beforehand. It was fine that he couldn’t say much about it though because I was mostly just trying to keep the conversation going so I didn’t spontaneously combust and/or faint in his arms ... you know, the usual.

My friend was dressed up as Season 2 Octavia (with the warpaint) and I had a really crappy cosplay of Season 1 Clarke going on hahahaha. Basically I couldn’t find a jacket (and i have no idea how to make one) so I just had like the shirt and the watch and the hair and stuff so it wasn’t anything special. Most people probably thought I wasn’t dressed up at all. When I walked up to Bob he went “WOW that’s a big watch” cause my wrists are really tiny I guess haha. I don’t really know if he knew if I was Clarke or not. 

He started both of our autographs with “Dearest [name]” instead of just “Dear” or writing only our names, which I thought was adorable. It’s such a Bob thing to do - or at least something I would expect from him. He also put two x’s at the end.

I didn’t end up getting anything special signed because I couldn’t think of anything super creative, so I just chose one of their prints instead. They were nice though. 

When he saw my friend’s print that she’d chosen he went “wow I was so tan” and I kind of laughed because he’s still really tan and his skin is so nice haha, but meanwhile I’m white as hell and can’t tan for the life of me

Then we both took photos with him. I always see people talking about Bob smelling really nice and I was like “okay” because I don’t tend to talk about how people smell BUT HE ACTUALLY DOES OKAY. lol I know that seems weird, I don’t know how to describe the smell but its a thing, guys, all right?

Afterwards we looked around a bit at the convention and waited to head to Bob’s panel at 12:00. I ran into a few friends who I haven’t seen in awhile which was kind of nice. It was super packed. There were a lot more people who showed up to see Bob than I was expecting, but it was nice to see so many people coming together. :) The panel was 45 minutes but it went by soooooooo fast. The moderator kept asking Bob to expand on his questions basically, which ended up eating up a lot of time so I didn’t get to ask the question about Jasper and Bellamy that I wanted to, which was kind of disappointing. 

I was being so extra though, waving my hand in the hair and everything, trying to get her attention. I made eye contact with Bob because he saw me but then the woman picked someone else and it was really sad lol. I raised my hand EVERY SINGLE TIME. But I was ignored. 

*sigh*

NEXT TIME.

They were really strict about there being no videos so I couldn’t really get any, which is unfortunate, and I wasn’t close enough to get very good quality photos so I won’t post any of them here. If you have any questions about some things people are spreading about the panel or want confirmation about some stuff Bob said, just hit me up and I’ll hopefully clear some things for you because I know that the truth often gets skewed a little at conventions. Its like the fandom is playing a little game of telephone, except online.

Bob is soooo cute and endearing and funny, so I really enjoyed the panel. I know a lot of people have been posting about stuff that Bob but I’ll point out the stuff I remember anyway

Someone asked Bob was his favourite episode/scene was and Bob said that his favourite episode is yet to air, and that it really delves into Bellamy’s “psyche”, which he liked, so I’m super excited to see that. I do wonder if he’s referring to 4x10, actually, since the promo seems pretty Bellamy heavy and it’s written by Aaron who tends to write Bellamy pretty well, I think. We’ll see!

There’s a video of the Bellarke question going around which, to be perfectly honest, isn’t much different from anything else that he’s said. He apparently ~ doesn’t know ~ if they’ll go the romantic path but he believes that they have a very “special relationship” that is deeper than any romance. It’s not in the video that I’ve seen going around but he also said that Bellamy and Clarke have a certain understanding and honesty which he believes is definitely a good place to start to build a relationship on, if they were planning on going that route.

He said something that I really haven’t seen talked about at all, but both I and my friend thought was a little odd when we heard it. I think the question was asking what scenes with Bellamy were most difficult or something like that but he said "the romantic side I find very hard to play”, which I thought was kind of interesting because Bellamy hasn’t really had any romantic partners besides Gina very very briefly. Idk if that’s who he was referring to? *side eyes emoji* Take it with a grain of salt in any case.

Bob joked about how Bellamy gets beat up so often because he’s “been told that [Bob] sells hits really well” lol. He also said that he maybe takes punches a little too well because when Octavia was beating him up in 3x10 he got too into it and accidentally fell through the wall of the set and broke it.

The moderator pointed out that it’s remarkable how well some characters have recovered from being impaled and he made a cheeky little comment about how “it’s science guys!” because we all know just how accurate the science on this show is hahaha

Someone asked Bob how he and Bellamy are similar and he responded by saying that he was loyal to his family and that the similarities “start and finish there”. He talked about how Bellamy is so much more aggressive than he is and how he wouldn’t go around killing people. The moderator then asked him if he thought he would ever be capable of doing something like that and Bob went “NOOOOOOOO! I don’t have that in me, its ACTING!”. He sounded so offended, it was really funny, especially since Bob is so cute and pure so it just sounded bizarre when she asked that.

Apparently during the scene where Pike sentences Kane to death Mike Beach and Henry Ian Cusick had a solid 15 minute argument about whose side Bellamy should be on and Bob just decided to leave the room after awhile. Bob was just like “okay I’m just going to walk out and you two can decide which one of you is my dad”.

Bob enjoys doing fight scenes “because its always kind of exciting to feel like you’re tough, even though you’re not” (he laughed after he said that) and he also enjoyed doing the Bellamy speeches because he thought that they felt cool and kind of empowering to feel like you have the power to actually influence someone else, since there aren’t many opportunities for that in real life.

Since he likes fight scenes, he joked about how he always would ask “can’t I at least try and put up a fight”  and he also said that Bellamy tends to take more beatings than he gives now because Bellamy feels like he deserves to be beaten up for what he’s done.

In the scene where he found out that Octavia “died” apparently Bob went full out and was banging his head against the bars and actually got a cut all along his forehead because he was so into it.

He was asked if it ever hurt his vocal cords to talk so low in Bellamy’s voice and he joked that it’s painful when he has to scream all the time at such a low octave. He also talked about why Bellamy’s voice was so low, because he was really hungover when they shot the Pilot and when he saw the video he went back and was really surprised and he just kind of had to roll with it from there on out. I’ve heard that story before but it was cool to hear Bob talk about it in person.

I know we all love to talk about the drastic difference in pitch between Bellamy and Bob’s voice but I’m telling you that its something else to hear it in person instead of just in a video. The change is SO dramatic.

One time when Bellamy had to do a big speech in Season 1, Bob had a really bad cold and he couldn’t speak properly so he was kind of screeching and messing up and he said it was really “embarassing” and so frustrating that he actually started to cry. The whole crowd went “aWWWWWwwwWWWWW” when he said that and he was like “yeah, yeah, I know, I know” all bashful and it was really cute.

He talked about how he would rather be judged for his “content” versus his physique and he said “maybe its not even me to feel that way” which made me sad, and then he said that he now recognizes that being judged for his appearance comes with the job sometimes.

Bob says that he likes polarizing the audience but that some people on social media can’t seem to separate him from Bellamy and he joked about all these people who meet him and are just like “I hate your character but, you know, you’re okay” and I was honestly like WHO DO I HAVE TO FIGHT COME AT ME

If he could bring back anyone he said he would bring back Pike and someone yelled “WHYYYY????” and Bob talked about how he caused lots of chaos and whatnot which was interesting, to which the mod was like “they already have enough chaos” and then Bob responded with “what’s wrong with a little chaos?” and I died. nOT like that’s one of the most iconic lines of Season 1 or anything ..

He also said he thought bringing Finn back would be interesting because “his moral compass is very different from Clarke and Bellamy’s” 

When he was a kid he wanted to be a stuntman and he would bite into ceramic plates because he thought that’s what they did, lol. Bob just went, “SO stupid” after he described it haha

I CAN’T BELIEVE I FORGOT. He joked a ton about his hair and how the apocalypse is great for the characters’ hair. He talked about how the hair team is great and how Bellamy has “great hair game” in Season 4, but that all seems to change after Bob finishes filming and he doesn’t really do anything with it. He's very self-deprecating

Bob says that when he struggles in getting into Bellamy’s headspace a lot of the time he just starts thinking about lunch because that’s what Mike Beach told him to do, hahahahaha. He also talked about how there’s “a lot of stupid stuff” going around in Bellamy’s head a lot of the time.

He said that he likes to do rock climbing, but a lot of the time he just ends up playing video games instead.

He finds Octavia and Bellamy’s storyline together this season “heartbreaking”.

He says his scenes with Eliza are “always really great” because they’re very “emotional” and he gets to cry lol

Apparently Bob is like one of two people who actually knows how to drive the rover because its stick shift and its “impossible”.

One girl that was picked said “sorry” and Bob was like “what are you apologizing for?” and the moderator was like “it’s the Canadian way” or something along those lines but the girl was just like “cause I’m so awkward” and the whole time i was thinking girl SAME i feel you

Bob says playing Bellamy has changed his real voice. He thinks his voice has “dropped down because of it” even when he’s not playing Bellamy.

Bob said that one of his friends tried to get him to compete in a smashbrothers competition and he went but he said it was really intense so he was like “no, no, no, I’m going to stay home and be the king of my own house”

Bob doesn’t like sitting behind the table when signing autographs because he “feels weird” about it and enjoys interacting with fans because he feels that social media is really “devoid of connection” and he’s “just a normal person” like the rest of us, which was sweet. <3

Bob says that “I’m very loving but I’m very pragmatic” when referring to Bellamy (not himself)

Bob loves Bellamy soo much and he is super protective of him (like us!). He says that when people don’t like Bellamy sometimes he’s just like “oh well let’s talk about this, maybe I can talk you around” but it doesn’t usually work haha

He said that he went to a play in Australia because William Mcinnes, who he really loves, was in it but he didn’t know what it was about and it turned out be about IVF treatment lol and he was like “yeah that was kinda weird [...] maybe I should have read the plot first ...”

After the panel we looked around at all the merchandise but there was barely anything for The 100, which wasn’t all that surprising. I honestly didn’t expect to find anything, but we stumbled completely by accident onto this jewelry stand and we saw one necklace for The 100 and started freaking out because we couldn’t find any The 100 merch ANYWHERE and the lady heard us and told us that she sold stuff at Unity Days so she’d designed an entire jewelry line for The 100 and showed us her collection.

It was so awesome. She makes all these neat little themed charm bracelets for all shows, so there was one for Lost, and OUAT and Supernatural and all that, which was nice but she had a whole COLLECTION for The 100, with themed bracelets for almost all the individual characters. I remember seeing something similar online, maybe even the same ones, and had told my friend earlier that I thought they were cool.

I DEFINITELY wasn’t expecting to actually find them. 

My friend bought the Bellamy one and I bought the Raven one, because I personally thought that the Raven one was more true to the character than the other one (but they were both really cute!). I’m not one for fandom merch so it was kind of exciting for me to buy something. 

Here’s a pic of my Raven bracelet: 

And here’s my friends Bellamy bracelet:

Later we went to go get our photo ops with Bob, which we did individually. It was very fast-paced so we didn’t get to spend much time with him or anything but I was actually surprisingly relaxed and calm the second time I saw him? Idk he’s just so humble and down-to-earth and he really makes you feel comfortable around him, so I wasn’t nearly as nervous as I was earlier. 

When he saw my friend and I he was just like “hello again” and I thought it was cute that he remembered us, after meeting hundreds of individual people!

I just took a regular photo with him, no special poses or anything, because I felt weird asking for anything different. But to be honest I wish that I asked him for a hug, because I saw a girl go before us who did and her photo ended up looking REALLY good and now I’m super jealous, dammit. 

NEXT TIME. 

(I feel like I’m making a lot of promises to myself in this post, hmmmmmm)

Anyways, after we got the photo he turned to me and said “thank you!” and I was just thinking WHY ARE YOU THANKING ME??? YOU JUST MADE MY ENTIRE EXISTENCE, THANK YOU!

So that was my experience seeing Bob. I’m so far from over it and just looking at the pictures makes me feel all light and happy. He’s such a great person and you can tell that he’s not just putting an act or a show for the benefit of his fans, he’s truly genuine! 

Now I know what people mean when they talk about how after they meet some of the cast, they just want to do it again the next day. I’ve got the con fever, I want to go to another one so bad (but of course I’m infinitely grateful that I got to see him in person at all, because it was such an incredible experience)! Bob is so sweet and adorable and KIND (like I’ve reiterated half a million times) and deserves everything amazing in the world, I don’t know make the rules, k?

And there’s just something so ... amazing about cons. No one there is judging you, everyone there is a shameless nerd as well, haha, and its such a safe space for fans to go and meet celebrities, guests, and each other. Whenever my friend and I saw anyone wearing The 100 merch or cosplaying as someone from The 100, we always got so excited. Because there are ACTUAL REAL PHYSICAL people in front of us who are just as obsessed as we are, and you don’t get that connection through TV. Everyone is so friendly and accepting, complimenting each other’s costumes and whatnot. The community is just amazing. 

Here’s hoping that I get to experience this again, and that any of you who haven’t yet get to as well! Everyone deserves to go to a con and have as much fun as I did. :)

Not sure if I’m going to post my photos with him because I’m really weird about posting photos of myself on the internet. I guess I’m just paranoid that someone I know will stumble across it, or my fandom days will come back to haunt me in twenty years or so and someone will pull up my photograph and my account with my dramatic ass screaming about Bellarke and Bellamy Blake and all that and judge me for the rest of my life. We’ll see. Maybe BFSN??

I’ll consider it. ;)

[themsblessed-blog]

About MS Blessed

Journey to Diagnosis

In my early 20s, I was taking a web design class at a local community college and one of my classmates – a woman in her 30s or 40s – broke down and started crying as we were working on our web pages. She was having some kind of difficulty with doing the work. A few women sitting around her led her into the hall and comforted her. She didn’t come back but I heard later that she “had MS.”

I didn’t know exactly what this meant, except it was a serious disease that people spoke about in hushed tones (not a good sign).

I didn’t think of this incident again until years later – and long after I started experiencing this weird, inexplicable development where it was becoming increasingly harder to pick up my foot as I walked. Something was off – my body was becoming weaker, I had a new kind of fatigue, and I just felt strange and different and unsettled. It was hard to explain, to myself or others. I didn’t know what was going on.

Symptoms gradually increased. My primary doctor voiced her concerns that it might be MS early on, but it took seeing a few neurologists and a frustrating amount of time and tests to finally get the confirmation and official diagnosis after a spinal tap at 28 years old.

I have multiple sclerosis. (Also, that weird first symptom was called foot drop, and it’s super common with people who have MS.)

About MS

At the beginning, my neurologist warned me that there is a lot of false and upsetting information about MS on the internet, so my best bet was to focus on trusted sites like The National MS Society. For me, this was a great tip that really helped protect my mental health (especially because I have anxiety, which really ramped up as my health issues increased).

Here is some info about MS (source):

In MS, the body’s own immune system targets the central nervous system and causes damage to important cells and tissues that alters, slows, or stops nerve transmission.

MS is not contagious or directly inherited (sidenote: no one in my family has it). The cause of MS is not known, but it is believed to involve genetic susceptibility, abnormalities in the immune system, and environmental factors that combine to trigger the disease.

There are a lot of MS symptoms – I’ve personally experienced fatigue, walking difficulties, weakness, numbness/tingling, cognitive changes (esp. brain fog), emotional changes (including mood swings, irritability, and some depression), and more. These are all things that affect my daily life and abilities, and I constantly have to adjust to changes throughout the day.

MS is known to occur more frequently in areas that are farther from the equator.

Most people are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, although MS can occur in young children and significantly older adults.

MS is at least 2-3 times more common in women than in men, suggesting that hormones may also play a significant role in determining susceptibility to MS.

MS can be an invisible illness, which can hinder people’s understanding of it.

Some Things That Keep Me Going

The best support system I am so lucky to have: my family, friends, and boyfriend

My amazing neurologists, nurse, and primary doctor

Fantastic and knowledgeable physical therapists

Dr. Terry Wahls and her book The Wahls Protocol, which guided me in making major life-enhancing health changes

Exercise

Free resources (shoutout to Yoga with Adriene, I do her bedtime yoga video most nights)

Kind people

Nature

Writing

Exploration and adventures

Books, movies, and TV

Music and podcasts

My adorable guinea pigs

  The Purpose of This Blog

I want to create a safe space to talk openly and authentically about my experiences with MS. However, I plan to talk about other topics too, like my interests and reflections on life, and also use this blog as a way to motivate myself to do more, explore, and try new things. I also hope to make positive connections with other people, but this blog will always be purely about and for myself – with the freedom to write whatever I want to write.

I named the blog “MS Blessed” because it rhymes and that’s always fun. Also, I do feel blessed to have MS in the sense that it’s motivated me to make really positive health changes, helped reinforce how grateful I am for my support system of people, humbled me and shown me I’m stronger than I thought, and made me more compassionate toward others. I honestly wouldn’t want to go back to being the person I was before my diagnosis.

 Note: I am not an expert. I repeat, I AM NOT AN EXPERT. I am not advocating that anyone do anything that I talk about on this blog or that I know the best way to do anything (re: MS or anything in general). MS has a huge spectrum and every person’s experiences are so different. I am simply one individual sharing her own personal journey, thoughts, and opinions as they relate to me. Also, I’m not profiting from any recommendations I make on the blog, they’re just things I like or think are useful.

[theparaminds]

It’s common for music to be associated, at a base level, to emotion. While true that sound attaches to the idea, it is a step further to explore spirituality, and therefore the life’s intricacies as a whole, through vibrations. This is exactly the new step Umi is introducing to the listening world, building spaces of introspection as well as understanding. 

While young, she uses her life and surroundings to explain much of what doesn't seem to have an answer. Her sounds are beautifully simplistic, yet deeply resonating with every note as they fill the mind with endless memories. In truth, her music makes us nostalgic for things to come. 

With each passing day, her own personal knowledge and self connections become larger and stronger, more honest and hopeful. Ultimately, putting it towards a positive energy rare within music, but one so deeply appreciated. Umi is, in a sense, creating the musical embodiment of love, fear, defeat, laughter, and truly, the human experience.

Our first question as always, how’s your day going and how have you been? 

My day’s been going great! I’m on the plane right now headed to New York. I’ve been doing amazing, life is beautiful! 


To take it to the start, when did you originally find yourself caught by the idea of pursuing music? Who or what around you pushed you onto the path you’re currently on?

I feel like I’ve always wanted to be a musician, I literally couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. I’ve been writing songs since I was 4 and remember putting on little concerts for my mom and sisters. I don’t think one moment or event pushed me to do music, but growing up in a musical household and having friends who did music definitely encouraged me to pursue my passion. 

Artistically, who were the artists that you found yourself drawing from, and how do you contrast those early influences to the ones you hold now?

I’ve been really inspired by artists like SZA, Frank Ocean, Jhene Aiko, and Benny Sings and found a lot of inspiration in their lyricism. I would say in the past I was more inspired by genres of music (R&B, gospel, alternative, pop) rather than a specific artist, which is why I feel I was able to understand and develop my own sound. But finding inspiration in artists over the past few years has helped me to improve the way I write from a lyrical standpoint.

Do you find the roots that you grew up from helped shape who you are as an artist?

I definitely think so! I grew up in a very musical household so creating music became second nature to me. My mom was a pianist, my dad played the drums, my aunt is a blues singer, and literally, everyone else in my family sings or plays an instrument. There was always music playing in my house and because I’m both Black and Japanese, I grew up listening to lots of different types of music (from gospel to R&B to Japanese pop to Korean music). I think that’s what has allowed me to come up with the melodies that I do now and to feel comfortable making different types of music. I also grew up in Seattle. It rains there ALL THE TIME. I think the gloomy weather and all the nature might also be where certain aspects of my sound subconsciously developed from. 


Beyond artists, you also have an interesting passion for astrology and similar forms of personal spirituality. Where would you say this came from and how has it lent itself to your music and understanding of yourself?

I’m not an expert on astrology so I can’t claim to that passion yet, but I am very passionate about spirituality. My mom has always been very spiritual but she never pushed her ideas onto me; I think she always knew it was something for me to discover on my own. I remember right before I moved to LA, I stumbled across this random YouTube video on the Law of Attraction (I definitely think the universe wanted me to watch it). That video shifted the way I saw the world. Since then, I’ve just been constantly reading, writing, meditating, and listening in order to learn more about my own spirituality. Spirituality to me is all about enhancing your self-awareness and understanding the power of your mind! Everything is energy, and whatever frequency your vibrate at reflects the people and circumstances that are attracted to you. When I began to understand this, my life changed! 

To those who may not understand or question reasons to practice these forms of spiritually, what would be your message and answer to their confusion? 

I think a lot of people stop themselves from being happy and truly fulfilled by holding onto learned ways of thinking. I think society teaches us that life is supposed to be hard and sad and full of discontent and so people become identified with this mindset. We think that happiness is difficult so we attract difficult situations, bad people, and unfortunate circumstances into our life. It’s a cycle. Happiness and belief in abundance is innate, you can see that in the way babies look at the world, they don’t fear anything! Life is limitless. Spirituality — or enhanced/deeper self-awareness — allows you to reconnect with this innate understanding you may have lost through living in an unconscious society. When you realize that life is meant to be happy, and easy and fun you attract happy people, positive circumstances, and abundance back into your life. Through practices like meditation, self-reflection etc you realize what traumas in your life may have caused you to hold negative beliefs of the world. This then gives you the power to release your past, let go of your perceived sense of self, and reconnect with the real essence of you! It’s beautiful! I know it’s the reason my music finally started to grow. Literally, every single affirmation I say to myself comes true now. I’m so powerful!  

As well, you’re fantastically vocal about the current political and social situations that matter most to you, even expressing them musically with songs like Dear Donald Trump. Do you hope to continue using your music and artistry as a vehicle for change and why, for you, is it essential to remain expressive as a youth through such turbulent times? 

Yes, as my platform begins to grow, my voice will only grow louder. It’s so important for me to use this opportunity to shed light on various social issues and stand up for what I believe in. I want to become an advocate for change especially for issues regarding woman of color, police brutality, reproductive rights, and immigration. I’m still constantly learning myself, so I hope as I get older and have more resources, I can find even better ways to enact change both through music and outside of music. 

You’ve said yourself that it’s been a really positive past year for you, in all facets of life, but if you could pinpoint one memory which sticks out above the rest, which would it be and what is its significance?

There have been so many fulfilling memories this year (so many happy tears!) but the one that sticks out to me the most is when my video “Remember Me” hit 1 million views. It was such a surreal moment for me. I’ve made so many videos in the past that I hoped would reach a million views and every time it didn’t I would get discouraged. When this happened, it all made sense. I realized that nothing in the past was supposed to gain the views that “Remember Me” did. It was confirmation to me that everything was happening exactly the way it was meant to be, when it was meant to be. More than anything, I was just really proud of myself and deeply grateful for all the people who helped me get to where I am. 


As we stand at the beginning of a, hopefully, positive new year, what goals and plans do you hold? What projects or ideas do you hope to work on or execute? 

1. Release more music! Release a few projects! 2. Release more music videos3. Collaborate with more artists 4. Go on tour! See the world! And headline my own tour! 5. Perform at some festivals 6. Self-direct my own music video 7. Meditate more, read more, share love, express more gratitude 8. LOVE MYSELF! 9. Start weight lifting, or boxing.

Recently, you began to explore collaboration more with songs like Lullaby. Is this an experience you hope to continue pursuing? And, if you could collaborate with one living or dead artist, who would it be?

I have lots of exciting collaborations in the works right now that I’m excited to release! And I can’t wait to continue to collaborate with more artists. My dream is to collaborate with SZA and Jhene Aiko one day! I’ll manifest it. 


If you could recommend one movie, book or show to everyone reading this currently, which would it be?

I think everyone in the world should read “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle and listen to the podcast series Oprah did with him about the book! It changed the way I see the world! Also, listen to Oprah’s "Super Soul Sunday" podcast. It’s such a great way to challenge your mind and shift your perspective about life. Also, watch the movie “Mr. Nobody” it still has me thinking about the concept of time and life. 


Do you have anyone or anything to shoutout or promote? The floor is yours!


Follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook @whoisumi, check out my website whoisumi.com, and stream my music on all streaming platforms!! I have lots of new music on the way. 

[thatsnotcanonpodcasts]

Nintendo America, Comic-Con 2019, Microrobots

Yes, it is that time at last; the latest episode from the Nerds is here, so everyone can relax, the wait is over. Once again, we bring you an awesome show that is jam packed full of the topics that are crossing our desks. First up we bring you news that many of us will find refreshing, Buck does. Now hold tight to your pencils as we tell you about how the all-powerful Nintendo are being sued in a class action because of faulty equipment involved in the Switch. Want to know more to see if this can help you with that dodgy gadget playing up? Well it is the first topic and there is some truly interesting developments arising from this.

Next we have a brief news update from San Diego Comic Con, with the talk from Marvel and also some from DC. No, we still aren’t getting paid by them, contrary to the way it appears. But there are some really cool things coming up to look forward to from both groups. We hear about the Marvel Phase 4 universe and the various upcoming movies. DJ is excited about these and is quite eager to see these unfold. There is the news about the various DC series with some shows seeing a possible end and others announcing the latest seasons.

Next up we need to go grab our magnifying glasses as we look at micro bots. That’s right micro bots, tiny little robots that are going to help change the world. One operates in response to specific frequencies and is called a Bristle bot, totally cool. The other is even smaller and is operated by optoelectronic tweezers (OET), which use light patterns to directly interact with the bots. That’s right – LIGHT FEAKING TWEEZERS!!! Sorry about that, but that is so cool, these bots are so small normal tweezers are too big. Would you like to know more? Well then, you are going to love this, listen to the episode and you will hear a lot more.

As normal we have the Shout outs, Remembrances, Birthdays and Special Events for the week. What do you me and a poltergeist have in common, probably more than you would realise, to find out more head over to our friends at the great new podcast from TNC by that very name (You, me and a poltergeist). Now that is a Segway, now it is time for me to go, time for this to end, but before I vanish let me just say this last little thing. Look after yourselves and take care of each other, stay hydrated and keep Nerdy. Catch you all next time.

EPISODE NOTES:

Nintendo America being Sued

-http://chimicles.com/cskd-files-class-action-lawsuit-against-nintendo-of-america-inc-relating-to-joy-con-drifting-issues/

-http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/07/class_action_lawsuit_officially_filed_against_nintendo_for_switch_joy-con_drifting_issues

-https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/07/nintendo-responds-to-sufferers-of-joy-con-drift/

Comic-con Announcements - https://comicbook.com/marvel/2019/07/21/marvel-phase-4-schedule-complete-kevin-feige-comic-con/

Microrobots in cells

- https://www.scienceandtechnologyresearchnews.com/these-u-of-t-researchers-use-tiny-microrobots-to-scoop-up-transport-and-deliver-cell-material/

- https://www.scienceandtechnologyresearchnews.com/tiny-vibration-powered-robots-are-the-size-of-the-worlds-smallest-ant/

Games currently playing

Professor

– They Are Billions - https://store.steampowered.com/app/644930/They_Are_Billions/

Buck

– Company of Heroes - https://store.steampowered.com/app/228200/Company_of_Heroes/

DJ

– Dawn of War 40,000 : Dawn of War - https://store.steampowered.com/app/4570/Warhammer_40000_Dawn_of_War__Game_of_the_Year_Edition/

Other topics discussed

Graphite (a crystalline form of the element carbon)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphite

Nintendo: Quality over quantity

- https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/336293/Quality_over_quantity_is_Nintendos_firstparty_focus_as_the_Switch_nears_year_3.php

Xbox Red ring of death

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_technical_problems

PS4 Blue screen of death

- https://www.reddit.com/r/PS4/comments/7byh2i/blue_screen_of_death_on_ps4/

Nintendo 64 joystick injuries

- https://www.cnet.com/news/nintendo-offers-glove-to-prevent-joystick-injuries/

Nintendo 3DS problems and solutions

- https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/common-nintendo-3ds-problems-and-how-to-fix-them/

Simu Liu (Chinese-Canadian actor playing Shang Chi)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simu_Liu

Green Book (2018 film)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Book_(film)

Young Justice (DC animated TV series)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Justice_(TV_series)

DC Universe Animated Original Movies

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_Universe_Animated_Original_Movies

Batman: Hush (DC animated movie)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman:_Hush_(film)

How to make a bristle bot

- https://www.robotgear.com.au/Share.aspx/Post/5

K’nex

- https://www.knex.com/

The optoelectronic microrobot: A versatile toolbox for micromanipulation

- https://www-pnas-org.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/content/pnas/116/30/14823.full.pdf

Mu or µ (SI prefix for micro)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_(letter)#Measurement

Prey (2002 Michael Crichton novel)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prey_(novel)

Help KyoAni Heal

- GoFundMe link - https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-kyoani-heal

Kyoto Animation has opened an account to receive donations

- http://www.kyotoanimation.co.jp/information/?id=3075

Kyoto animation studio and their works

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Animation

Rutger Hauer (Dutch actor 1944 – 2019)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutger_Hauer

"Tears in rain" is a monologue delivered by character Roy Batty (portrayed by Rutger Hauer) in the 1982 Ridley Scott film Blade Runner.

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tears_in_rain_monologue

Shoutouts

18 Jul 2019 - Kyoto animation studio fire - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kyoto-animation-anime-studio-arson-attack-1225232

23 Jul 1967 - First successful liver transplant, on 19-month-old Julie Rodriguez by Dr Starzl at the University of Colorado - https://www.express.co.uk/news/obituaries/777849/lives-remembered-dr-thomas-starzl-liver-surgeon-pioneer

23 Jul 2015 - NASA's Kepler mission announces discovery of the most Earth-like planet yet - Kepler-452b, 1,400 light years from Earth - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-452b

Remembrances

23 Jul 1916 - William Ramsay, Scottish chemist who discovered the noble gases and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 "in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air" (along with his collaborator, John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics that same year for their discovery of argon). After the two men identified argon, Ramsay investigated other atmospheric gases. His work in isolating argon, helium,neon, krypton and xenon led to the development of a new section of the periodic table. He died from nasal cancer at the age of 63 in High Wycombe,Bucks. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ramsay

23 Jul 1942 - Valdemar Poulsen, Danishengineer who made significant contributions to early radio technology. He developed a magnetic wire recorder called the telegraphone in 1898 and the first continuous wave radio transmitter, the Poulsen arc transmitter, in 1903, which was used in some of the first broadcasting stations until the early 1920s. He died from natural causes at the age of 72 in Gentofte. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valdemar_Poulsen

23 Jul 2012 - Sally Ride, Americanastronaut and physicist. She joined NASA in 1978 and became the first American woman in space in 1983. Ride was the third woman in space overall, after USSR cosmonautsValentina Tereshkova and Svetlana Savitskaya. Ride remains the youngest American astronaut to have traveled to space, having done so at the age of 32. After flying twice on the Orbiter Challenger, she left NASA in 1987. She worked for two years at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Arms Control, then at the University of California, San Diego as a professor of physics, primarily researching nonlinear optics and Thomson scattering. She served on the committees that investigated the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters, the only person to participate in both. She died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 61 in La Jolla, California. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Ride

Famous Birthdays

21 Jul 1951 - Robin Williams, American actor and comedian. Williams began performing stand-up comedy in San Francisco and Los Angeles during the mid-1970s, and is credited with leading San Francisco's comedy renaissance. After rising to fame playing the alien Mork in the sitcom Mork & Mindy (spun off from Happy Days), Williams established a career in both stand-up comedy and feature film acting. He was known for his improvisation skills and the wide variety of memorable character voices he created. Williams has been voted the funniest person of all time. Williams was nominated four times for the Academy Awards, winning for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as psychologist Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting. He also received two Primetime Emmy Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and four Grammy Awards. He was born in Chicago,Illinois - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Williams

23 Jul 1892 - Haile Selassie, was an Ethiopian regent from 1916 to 1930 and emperor from 1930 to 1974. He is a defining figure in modern Ethiopian history. During his rule the Harari people were persecuted and many left the Harari Region. His regime was also criticized by human rights groups as autocratic and illiberal, such as Human Rights Watch. Among the Rastafari movement, whose followers are estimated to number between 700,000 and one million, Haile Selassie is revered as the returned messiah of the Bible, God incarnate. Beginning in Jamaica in the 1930s, the Rastafari movement perceives Haile Selassie as a messianic figure who will lead a future golden age of eternal peace, righteousness, and prosperity. He was born in Ejersa Goro - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haile_Selassie

23 Jul 1967 - Philip Seymour Hoffman, American actor, director, and producer. Best known for his distinctive supporting and character roles – typically lowlifes, eccentrics, bullies, and misfits – Hoffman acted in many films from the early 1990s until his death in 2014. He began his screen career in a 1991 episode of Law & Order and started to appear in films in 1992. He gained recognition for his supporting work, notably in Scent of a Woman, Boogie Nights,Happiness, Patch Adams, The Talented Mr. Ripley among other movies. He began to occasionally play leading roles, and for his portrayal of the author Truman Capote in Capote, won multiple accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Actor. Hoffman's profile continued to grow and he received three more Oscar nominations for his supporting work in Charlie Wilson's War, Doubt & The Master. Remembered for his fearlessness in playing reprehensible characters, and for bringing depth and humanity to such roles, Hoffman was described in his New York Times obituary as "perhaps the most ambitious and widely admired American actor of his generation". He was born in Fairport, New York - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Seymour_Hoffman

23 Jul 1989 - Daniel Radcliffe, English actor and producer. He is known for playing the titular protagonist in the Harry Potter film series, based on the novels by J. K. Rowling. Radcliffe made his acting debut at 10 years of age in BBC One's 1999 television film David Copperfield, followed by his cinematic debut in 2001's The Tailor of Panama. At age 11, he was cast as Potter in the series' first film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and starred in the series for 10 years, starring in the lead role in all eight films culminating with the final film in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, released in 2011. Radcliffe became one of the highest paid actors in the world during the filming of the Potter films, earned worldwide fame, popularity, and critical acclaim for his role, and received many accolades for his performance in the series. Following the success of Harry Potter, he acted in other movies such as the Edwardian horror filmThe Woman in Black, Kill Your Darlings, Victor Frankenstein, Swiss Army Man among others. Radcliffe began to branch out to stage acting in 2007, starring in the London and New York productions of Equus for which he received immense praise from critics and audiences alike, and in the 2011 Broadway revival of the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. He was born in London - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Radcliffe

Events of Interest

23 Jul 1983 – Gimli Glider:Air Canada Flight 143 runs out of fuel and makes a deadstick landing at Gimli, Manitoba. The subsequent investigation revealed that a combination of company failures, human errors and confusion over unit measures had led to the aircraft being refuelled with insufficient fuel for the planned flight. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

23 Jul 1995 – Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp discovered Comet Hale-Bopp separately before it became visible to the naked eye. It is difficult to predict the maximum brightness of new comets with any degree of certainty, but Hale–Bopp met or exceeded most predictions when it passed perihelion on April 1, 1997. It was visible to the naked eye for a record 18 months, twice as long as the Great Comet of 1811, the previous record holder. Accordingly, Hale–Bopp was dubbed the Great Comet of 1997. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Hale%E2%80%93Bopp

23 Jul 1999 – Space Shuttle Columbia launches on STS-93, with Eileen Collins becoming the first female space shuttle commander. The shuttle also carried and deployed the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-93

- https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/07/sts-93-at-twenty-years-planning-to-launch-chandra/

Intro

Artist – Goblins from Mars

Song Title – Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)

Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJ

Follow us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/NerdsAmalgamated/

Email - Nerds.Amalgamated@gmail.com

Twitter - https://twitter.com/NAmalgamated

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6Nux69rftdBeeEXwD8GXrS

iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/top-shelf-nerds/id1347661094

RSS - http://www.thatsnotcanonproductions.com/topshelfnerdspodcast?format=rss

[thatsnotcanonpodcasts]

Dr Stone, Brain Circuits & G2A

Well once again we have an amazing show for your entertainment, DJ brings us news of a new anime series, Buck has news about brain circuits, good and bad decision making, and finally the Professor brings us news about fraud and scams. But first up we wish to just say welcome ad thank you for joining us once again.

Now the new anime series is called Dr Stone, set in a post-apocalyptic world where everyone has been turned into… Statues and society is to be rebuilt using science. So the premise is looking interesting, the promo gives some comedic content to look forward to. It looks like it will be worth checking out for a laugh. We wish to advise that no DJ’s were harmed during the recording of this and he was ok, just a bit stranger than normal. Which in itself is quite remarkable really, but we digress. Dr Stone has 24 episodes at this point and aired from 5th July on Crunchyroll. So, check it out and let us know what you think.

Now, have you ever wondered why people continue to make the same silly decision repeatedly? For example, people repeatedly using harmful drugs, voting once again for moronic politicians, and reality television shows still being watched. Seriously who watches that stuff, can they just stop it please so we can get better content that doesn’t make us want to claw our eyes out! Umm, yes, bad decisions, well a recent study has been conducted and shows support for the hypothesis that three particular regions of the brain are involved. That’s right, it is not just the frontal lobe, it bounces between various sections and is actually quite involved. If one section is not working right then the result is an individual with a predilection for bad choices, like the foolish nut job mumble rappers like lil stump, or is that bump, whatever, no one cares really. This is when Buck starts to get technical with some of his explanation and has to pause to calm down.

Professor tells us that game developers would rather we pirate games from something called file sharing, whatever that is. They urge this be done instead of using G2A due to a constant amount of fraudulent activity causing problems for both consumers and developers alike. That’s right folks, game developers are apparently tired of nasty vermin cheats who are ripping off everyone, this is a very interesting topic that has a number of issues involved and hits at the heart of our gaming recreation. So check it out and see what exactly is happening.

As usual we have the shout outs, remembrances, birthdays and special events of interest for the week. We also wish to say that a surprise mechanism is a trap, and so are loot boxes, so please EA, stop treating us as morons. But other than that, please remember to take care of yourselves, look out for each other and stay hydrated. Also check out the folks at Off with the Fairies and tell them we said hello.

We will return next week at the same Nerd time, on the same Nerd podcast channels, and at the same Nerd place (preferably over a cup of Earl Grey, hot). Catch you next time.

EPISODE NOTES:

Dr Stone anime Series - https://comicbook.com/anime/2019/06/30/dr-stone-anime-tv-promo/

Brain Circuits - https://scitechdaily.com/three-distinct-brain-circuits-lead-us-to-make-bad-and-good-decisions/

G2A piracy - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-07-02-developers-call-for-players-to-pirate-their-games-rather-than-buy-from-g2a

Games currently playing

Buck

– Mafia 3 - https://store.steampowered.com/app/360430/Mafia_III/

Professor

– Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy - https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/crash-bandicoot-n-sane-trilogy-switch/

DJ – Apex Legends

- https://www.playstation.com/en-au/games/apex-legends-ps4/

Other topics discussed

Mannequin Challenge (viral Internet video trend)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mannequin_Challenge

Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995 anime series)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_Genesis_Evangelion

Mobile Suit Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans (2015 anime series)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Suit_Gundam:_Iron-Blooded_Orphans

Tartarus Sunspot

- https://matthewreilly.fandom.com/wiki/Tartarus_Sunspot

Self-Fulfilling Prophecies (Psychology term)

- https://study.com/academy/lesson/self-fulfilling-prophecies-in-psychology-definition-examples.html

The Secret (2006 book)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_%28book%29

Mozart Effect

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart_effect

Oprah Winfrey moments

- Oprah shuts down her book club - https://ew.com/article/2002/04/08/oprah-shuts-down-her-book-club/

- Oprah gives everyone a car - https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/true-stories/how-oprahs-iconic-you-get-a-car-moment-ended-on-a-sour-note/news-story/46646a3fbf54acc210354304c9910490

- Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah’s couch - https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/11-years-ago-tom-cruise-jumped-on-oprahs-couch-lost-his-mind_n_57436ab1e4b0613b512b05ad

You Wouldn’t Steal A Car (Anti-piracy advertisement)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Wouldn%27t_Steal_a_Car

Take Two CEO: Loot Boxes are freedom of speech

- https://segmentnext.com/2019/06/27/take-two-ceo-look-boxes-are-freedom-of-speech/

EA’s CEO Andrew Wilson’s take on loot boxes

- https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2019/06/20/ea-loot-boxes-discussed-by-the-companys-ceo-andrew-wilson/

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (2014 game)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle-earth:_Shadow_of_Mordor

Spyro Reignited Trilogy (2018 game)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyro_Reignited_Trilogy

Mario (Nintendo character)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario

Donkey Kong Country (1994 Super Nintendo game)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey_Kong_Country

Monkey island (adventure game series)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_Island_(series)

Wattson (Apex Legends character)

- https://apexlegends.gamepedia.com/Wattson

Shoutouts

2 Jul 1839 - Slaves aboard a Spanish schooner La Amistad revolt to secure their freedom while being transported from one Cuban port to another - https://www.history.com/news/the-amistad-slave-rebellion-175-years-ago

2 Jul 1900 – LZ-1 (Luftschiff Zeppelin 1) made its maiden flight, the first flight lasted about 18 minutes and covered about 3-1/2 miles over Lake Constance at Friedrichshafen in Southern Germany, not far from the Swiss border. The first flight of LZ-1 was the culmination of years of planning by its creator Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. - https://www.airships.net/zeppelins/

4 Jul 1776 - Independence Day (colloquial: the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence of the United States on July 4, 1776. The Continental Congress declared that the thirteen American colonies were no longer subject to the monarch of Britain and were now united, free, and independent states. The Congress had voted to declare independence two days earlier, on July 2, but it was not declared until July 4. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(United_States)

Remembrances

2 Jul 1850 - Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet was a British statesman and Conservative Party politician who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and twice as Home Secretary. He is regarded as the father of modern British policing by founding of the Metropolitian Police Service leading to a new type of officer known in tribute to him as "bobbies" and "peelers”. He is also reforming and liberalising the criminal law. He died from a horse-riding accident at 62 in Westminster, Middlesex. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Peel

2 Jul 1999 - Mario Gianluigi Puzo, was an Americanauthor,screenwriter and journalist. He is known for his crime novels about the Italian-Americanmafia, most notably The Godfather, which he later co-adapted into a three-part film saga directed by Francis Ford Coppola. He received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the first film in 1972 and Part II in 1974. Puzo also wrote the original screenplay for the 1978 Superman film. His final novel The Family was released posthumously in 2001. He died of heart failure at 78 in West Bay Shore, New York. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Puzo

2 Jul 2008 - Elizabeth Spriggs, was an English character actress. Sprigg's roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company included Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, Gertrude in Hamlet and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. In 1978, she won the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for Arnold Wesker's Love Letters on Blue Paper. She received a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress for the 1995 film Sense and Sensibility. Her other films included Richard's Things, Impromptu, Paradise Road and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. She died at 78 in Oxford, Oxfordshire. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Spriggs

Famous Birthdays

2 Jul 1877 – Hermann Hesse, German-born poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include Demian,Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, and The Glass Bead Game, each of which explores an individual's search for authenticity, self-knowledge and spirituality. In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born in Calw, Württemberg - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Hesse

2 Jul 1908 - Thurgood Marshall, American lawyer, serving as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from October 1967 until October 1991. Marshall was the Court's 96th justice and its first African-American justice. Prior to his judicial service, he successfully argued several cases before the Supreme Court, including Brown v. Board of Education which held that racial segregation in public education is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause. He was born in Baltimore,Maryland - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurgood_Marshall

3 Jul 1935 - Harrison Schmitt, American geologist, retired NASA astronaut, university professor, former U.S. senator from New Mexico, and, as a crew member of Apollo 17, the most recent living person to have walked on the Moon. As Apollo 17 was the last of the Apollo missions, he also became the twelfth and second-youngest person to set foot on the Moon, and the second-to-last person to step off of the Moon. Schmitt also remains the first and only professional scientist to have flown beyond low Earth orbit and to have visited the Moon. He was born in Santa Rita, New Mexico - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Schmitt

Events of Interest

2 Jul 1843 - An alligator falls from sky during a thunderstorm in Charleston, South Carolina - https://www.onthisday.com/photos/the-day-an-alligator-fell-from-the-sky

2 Jul 1956 – Elvis records hound dog & Don’t Be Cruel during an exhaustive recording session at RCA studios in New York City - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Be_Cruel

3 Jul 1938 – World speed record for a steam locomotive is set in England, by the Mallard, which reaches a speed of 125.88 miles per hour (202.58 km/h) - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/only-in-britain/mallard-set-world-speed-record/

Intro

Artist – Goblins from Mars

Song Title – Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)

Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJ

Follow us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/NerdsAmalgamated/

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RSS - http://www.thatsnotcanonproductions.com/topshelfnerdspodcast?format=rss

[thatsnotcanonpodcasts]

Back flip, True Lies & DRM

Here we go with another episode from Nerds Amalgamated. This week is packed full of fun stuff to look forward to. First up is it a robot or is it a dog? It is Boston Dynamics student competitors with Standford Doggo. This fabulous little robot is awesome and does tricks, listen in to find out what they are. Also did you want your very own robot doggo? Well you are in luck as we tell you about how to get one. Also check our website for the show notes with hyperlinks, you need the article to get what you need.

            Next up we have DJ telling us about a proposed new series coming out based on a movie. Yep, another movie is being adapted for your viewing pleasure. It will once again not have the same actors in it that were the main stars in the movie, like so many others out there. But hopefully it will be enjoyable all the same. We won’t hold our breathe but surely they will have learned something over there by now… Who the heck are we kidding, those idiots never listen to anyone else, let alone the proposed viewing public.

            Next up we look at the blooper that is worthy of a standing ovation. Someone involved with the release of a game from Bethesda studios forgot the DRM. We know, how unlike Bethesda to stuff up something right? BWAHAHA!!! This amazing bit of luck is available on Steam and quite probably numerous other websites that deal in nefarious shadowy dealings. We personally are unaware of the names of such sites and therefore are unable to confirm or deny such suggestions. But come on, just think about it, a brand new game released without the DRM and no one is going to chase that down the rabbit hole of pirating it? Yeah, like Game of Thrones was never pirated ever.

            We have the usual shout outs, remembrances, birthdays and events from history. Plus games we are playing at the moment. All combined into one big mess that we call the show. We hope you enjoy and as always, stay safe, look after each other and stay hydrated.

EPISODE NOTES:

Back flipping robot - https://www.futurity.org/doggo-robot-2067152/

True Lies TV series reboot - https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/true-lies-tv-adaptation-heading-disney/

DRM - https://steamcommunity.com/games/548570/announcements/detail/2565275416672419265

Games currently playing

Buck

– The Crew 2 - https://store.steampowered.com/app/646910/The_Crew_2/

Professor

– Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead - https://cataclysmdda.org/

DJ

– Steep - https://store.steampowered.com/app/460920/Steep/(edited)

Other topics discussed

Hold my Beer Comedy

- http://westender.com.au/circus-coming-hold-beer-end-westend/

Flipsy the dog (Simpsons reference)

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_nGJvqHcV8

LEGO Mindstorms

- https://www.lego.com/en-us/mindstorms

Hulu might take Marvel shows such as Daredevil

- https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2466812/hulu-is-down-to-revive-daredevil-and-other-cancelled-marvel-tv-shows

Denuvo

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denuvo

- https://www.howtogeek.com/400126/what-is-denuvo-and-why-do-gamers-hate-it/

Red Bull Air Championships

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Bull_Air_Race_World_Championship

6ix9ine (rapper)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6ix9ine

Cutscene saga (That’s Not Canon Production Podcast)

- https://thatsnotcanon.com/cutscenesagapodcast

Shoutouts

20 May 1736 - Westminster Bridge Defies a King and the Church - The Archbishop of Canterbury – head of the Church in England – probably prayed there would never be a bridge across the River Thames at Westminster. But he was not alone. Up to the end of the 17th Century most traffic moved up and down on the river rather than by road. River transport was big business and the men who plied their trade on boats and ferries had a lot to lose from the construction of new bridges. They were backed by the Corporation of London which did not want trade moving to the fringes of London, but claimed its main objections were the loss of custom to the watermen and to the City markets and the danger of the navigation of the river being impeded. One of the claims was that if the watermen lost their jobs there would be fewer readily available seamen for the navy if England went to war. The arguments raged on until in 1664 a major proposal for a bridge was made to the King's Privy Council and to the Lord Mayor. City businesses then played their ace card and bribed King Charles II to scrap the proposal. Officially, it was an interest-free loan, but however the transaction was described the effect was that the building of Westminster Bridge would not take place for nearly 100 years. However, over time various people continued to press for such a bridge until in 1721 petitions went to Parliament. There was the same opposition as before but in the end the case was won and permission to build the bridge finally received Royal Approval on 20 May 1736, when George II was on the throne. Work began in 1738 and the bridge was opened on 18 November 1750. - https://www.onthisday.com/articles/westminster-bridge-defies-a-king-and-the-church

21 May 1792 - Mount Unzen on Japan's Shimabara Peninsula, erupts creating a tsunami, killing about 15,000; Japan's deadliest volcanic eruption. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1792_Unzen_earthquake_and_tsunami

21 May 1980 - "Star Wars Episode V - Empire Strikes Back", produced by George Lucas opens in cinemas in UK and North America -https://www.onthisday.com/people/george-lucas

21 May 2004 - Stanislav Petrov awarded World Citizen Award for averting a potential nuclear war in 1983 after correctly guessing Russian early warning system at fault - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov

22 May 2019 - Illawarra scientist and inventor Macinley Butson has been featured by the world's biggest video sharing website YouTube for her SMART Armour copper cancer shield fabric. Macinley Butson's SMART (Scale Maille Armour for Radiation Therapy) invention is a device that shields the contralateral breast (the breast not being treated) from excess radiation. As well as being made from high density copper, the shields are handmade. - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-22/youtube-profiles-teenage-scientist-macinley-butson/11134004

Remembrances

20 May 2019 – Nikki Lauda, Austrian Formula One driver, a three-time F1 World Drivers' Champion, winning in 1975, 1977 and 1984, and an aviation entrepreneur. He was the only driver in F1 history to have been champion for both Ferrari and McLaren, the sport's two most successful constructors. He is widely considered one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time. As an aviation entrepreneur, he founded and ran three airlines: Lauda Air, Niki, and Lauda. He was a Bombardier Business Aircraft brand ambassador. He was also a consultant for Scuderia Ferrari and team manager of the Jaguar Formula One racing team for two years. Afterwards, he worked as a pundit for German TV during Grand Prix weekends and acted as non-executive chairman of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, of which Lauda owned 10%. Having emerged as Formula One's star driver amid a 1975 title win and leading the 1976 championship battle, Lauda was seriously injured in a crash at the 1976 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring during which his Ferrari 312T2 burst into flames, and he came close to death after inhaling hot toxic fumes and suffering severe burns. However, he survived and recovered sufficiently to race again just six weeks later at the Italian Grand Prix. Although he narrowly lost the title to James Hunt that year, he won his second Ferrari crown the year after during his final season at the team. After a couple of years at Brabham and two years' hiatus, Lauda returned and raced four seasons for McLaren between 1982 and 1985 – during which he won the 1984 title by 0.5 points over his teammate Alain Prost. He died of natural causes at 70 in Zurich. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niki_Lauda

21 May 1935 - Jane Addams, known as the mother of social work, a pioneer American settlement activist/reformer, social worker, public philosopher, sociologist, public administrator, protester, author, and leader in women's suffrage and world peace. She co-founded Chicago's Hull House, one of America's most famous settlement houses. In 1920, she was a co-founder for the ACLU. In 1931, she became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and is recognized as the founder of the social work profession in the United States. She is increasingly being recognized as a member of the American pragmatist school of philosophy and is known by many as the first woman "public philosopher in the history of the United States". In the Progressive Era, when presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson identified themselves as reformers and social activists, Addams was one of the most prominent reformers. She helped America address and focus on issues that were of concern to mothers, such as the needs of children, local public health, and world peace. In her essay "Utilization of Women in City Government," Addams noted the connection between the workings of government and the household, stating that many departments of government, such as sanitation and the schooling of children, could be traced back to traditional women's roles in the private sphere. Thus, these were matters of which women would have more knowledge than men, so women needed the vote to best voice their opinions. She said that if women were to be responsible for cleaning up their communities and making them better places to live, they needed to be able to vote to do so effectively. Addams became a role model for middle-class women who volunteered to uplift their communities. She died of cancer at 74 in Chicago, Illinois.

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Addams 

- https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1931/addams/biographical/

23 May 1701 - William Kidd, Scottish sailor who was tried and executed for piracy after returning from a voyage to the Indian Ocean. Some modern historians, for example Sir Cornelius Neale Dalton, deem his piratical reputation unjust. He was hanged for his crimes at 47 in Execution Dock,Wapping, London. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kidd

Famous birthdays

21 May 1948 – Leo Sayer, English-Australian singer-songwriter musician and entertainer whose singing career has spanned four decades. He is now an Australian citizen and resident. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s, and became a top singles and album act on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1970s. His first seven hit singles in the United Kingdom all reached the Top 10 – a feat first registered by his first manager, Adam Faith. His songs have been sung by other notable artists, including Cliff Richard ("Dreaming"). He was born in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Sayer

21 May 1960 - Jeffrey Dahmer, also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal or the Milwaukee Monster, was an American serial killer and sex offender. Although he was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder,schizotypal personality disorder, and a psychotic disorder, Dahmer was found to be legally sane at his trial. He was convicted of 15 of the 16 murders he had committed in Wisconsin, and was sentenced to 15 terms of life imprisonment on February 15, 1992. He was later sentenced to a 16th term of life imprisonment for an additional homicide committed in Ohio in 1978. On November 28, 1994, Dahmer was beaten to death by Christopher Scarver, a fellow inmate at the Columbia Correctional Institution. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Dahmer

22 May 1905 - Bodo von Borries, Germanphysicist. He was the co-inventor of the electron microscope. After World War II , he founded the "Rhine-Westphalia Institute for Electron Microscopy" in Düsseldorf in 1948. In 1949, he was involved in the foundation of the German Society for Electron Microscopy. He was born in Herford,North Rhine-Westphalia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodo_von_Borries

Events of Interest

21 May 1881 - American Red Cross founded by Clara Barton, an organization established to provide humanitarian aid to victims of wars and natural disasters in congruence with the International Red Cross. - https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/american-red-cross-founded

21 May 1927 - Aviator Charles Lindbergh, in the Spirit of St Louis, lands in Paris after the first solo air crossing of Atlantic. - https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lindbergh-lands-in-paris

21 May 1932 - After flying for 17 hours from Newfoundland, Amelia Earhart lands near Londonderry, Northern Ireland, becoming the 1st transatlantic solo flight by a woman - https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/earhart-completes-transatlantic-flight

22 May 1906 – The Wright brothers are granted U.S. patent number 821,393 for their "Flying-Machine".

-  Patent - http://invention.psychology.msstate.edu/i/Wrights/WrightUSPatent/WrightPatent.html

             -  https://patents.google.com/patent/US821393A/en

- Patent War - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers_patent_war 

Intro

Artist – Goblins from Mars

Song Title – Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)

Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJ

Follow us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/NerdsAmalgamated/

Email - Nerds.Amalgamated@gmail.com

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RSS - http://www.thatsnotcanonproductions.com/topshelfnerdspodcast?format=rss

[thatsnotcanonpodcasts]

Episode 53: One Year On - We Are Still Here - Bandages, Black Mesa & Miss Fury

WOW, one year, thank you everyone for listening. It has been an amazing year, with special guests such as Hydark, Shawn and Tahlya combined with support from the Podfather Zane, all hail Zane. We had fun recording this episode, we were all together, with the Professor and Buck in the same room and DJ in another because he is so loud in real life, seriously we think he swallowed a megaphone or something. We also wish to apologise for not having Nerf guns with which to shoot the DJ, but as it was in a public place we might have gotten into trouble. But down to business, first up in this episode we look at new bandages that use electrical shocks to improve healing and shorten the time involved dramatically. These things are so cool they make Aquaman look normal. While it is early days yet this is something we can look forward to. Next up we look at the latest from Black Mesa and the issues with colour saturation making fans blue. Wait, what, haha, you will have to listen to find out more. Then we wander down History Avenue to take a look at an amazing comic from 1941 that was so far ahead of its time the American censors were threatened, which makes Buck furious. With all this and more we hope you enjoy this episode as much as we have enjoyed bringing it to you.

EPISODE NOTES:

Bandage using electric zaps - https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/innovation-2019-bandage-uses-electrical-zaps-heal-wounds-faster

Black Mesa update - https://steamcommunity.com/games/362890/announcements/detail/1751240246269717390

Miss Fury - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-05/miss-fury-the-most-famous-superhero-youve-never-heard-of/10777988

Games Currently Playing

Buck

- CSR Racing 2 Legends- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.naturalmotion.customstreetracer2&hl=en_US

Professor

– Age of Empires 2 - https://store.steampowered.com/app/221380/Age_of_Empires_II_HD/

DJ

- Apex Legends - https://www.ea.com/games/apex-legends

Other topics discussed

Electric Muscle Simulation

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_muscle_stimulation

Dermal regenerator (Star Trek)

- https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Dermal_regenerator

More info on Miss Fury aka Black Fury

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Fury_(comics)

Batman: Battle for the Cowl

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman:_Battle_for_the_Cowl

Age of Mythology (PC Game)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Mythology

Roy O. Disney (Walt Disney’s younger brother)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_O._Disney

Liza Minnelli – New York, New York Theme song

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theme_from_New_York,_New_York

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge7NiJuSpac

Dr Who episodes the Clive Swift acted in

Voyage of the Damned (Dr Who Episode)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyage_of_the_Damned_(Doctor_Who)

Revelations of the Daleks (Dr Who Episode)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revelation_of_the_Daleks

Rosa (Dr Who Episode)

- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7689190/

Botched Restoration of Ecce Homo Fresco

- https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/24/world/europe/botched-restoration-of-ecce-homo-fresco-shocks-spain.html

Cutscene Saga (Another TNC podcast shot about games)

- https://www.facebook.com/cutscenesaga/

Shoutouts

Jan 1926 – “Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio” changes name to "The Walt Disney Studio" shortly after moving into the new studio on Hyperion Avenue in the Silver Lake district. - http://kpolsson.com/disnehis/disn1926.htm

6 Feb 2019 – Falcon Heavy Test Flight the first attempt by SpaceX. This successful test introduced the Falcon Heavy as the most powerful rocket in operation, producing five million pounds-force (22 MN) of thrust and having more than twice the lift capacity of the NASA Space Shuttle launch system. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_Heavy_test_flight

6 Feb 2019 – David Bottomley became Australia's oldest PhD graduate at 94 from Perth's Curtin University, his Curtin University PhD focussed on the history of teaching methods - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-06/david-bottomley-becomes-australias-oldest-phd-graduate-at-94/10784818

7 Feb 1985 - New York's Mayor Edward I. Koch proclaimed the song “New York New York” by Frank Sinatra the city's official anthem

- https://www.songfacts.com/facts/frank-sinatra/new-york-new-york

- https://www.timelines.ws/cities/NYC_C.HTML

Remembrances

1 Feb 2019 - Clive Swift, English actor and songwriter, best known for his role as Richard Bucket, the long-suffering husband of Hyacinth (played by Patricia Routledge) in the British television series Keeping Up Appearances, died following a short illness at 82 in Paddington, London - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clive_Swift

3 Feb 2019 – Julie Adams born originally Betty May Adams, American actress, primarily in television. She starred in a number of films in the 1950s, including Bend of the River and Creature from the Black Lagoon, died of unknown causes at 92 in Los Angeles, California - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Adams

6 Feb 1994 - Jack Kirby, American cartoonist (X-Men, Spider-Man, Hulk, Captain America) writer, and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators, died of heart failure at 76  in Thousand Oaks, California - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kirby

7 Feb 2001 - Anne Morrow Lindbergh, American author (Gift from the Sea), aviator, and the wife of aviator Charles Lindbergh, her books and articles spanned genres from poetry to nonfiction, touching upon topics as diverse as youth and age, love and marriage, peace, solitude and contentment, and the role of women in the 20th century, died of pneumonia at 94 in Passumpsic, Vermont - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Morrow_Lindbergh

Birthdays

4 Feb 1913 – Rosa Parks, American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Dec 1, 1955 in Montgomery Alabama by refusing to relinquish her seat in the "coloured section" to a white passenger, after the whites-only section was filled, born in Tuskegee, Alabama - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Parks

8 Feb 1828 - Jules Verne, French writer known as the "Father of Science Fiction" (Around the World in 80 days, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea & Journey to The Centre of the Earth) born in Nantes, France - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Verne

8 Feb 1932 - John Williams, American composer responsible for some of the most recognizable film scores (Jaws, Star Wars, Harry Potter, India Jones, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial), born in NYC, New York - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williams

8 Feb 1955 - John Grisham, American writer (Client, Firm, Pelican Brief), born in Jonesboro, Arkansas - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Grisham

Events of Interest

5 Feb 1924 - The Royal Greenwich Observatory begin broadcasting the hourly time signals known as the Greenwich Time Signal or the “BBC pips”. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwich_Time_Signal

5 Feb 1981 - Largest Jelly made (9,246 gallons of watermelon-flavor) in Brisbane - https://todayinheritagehistory.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/february-5-1981-the-australian-jell-o-fiasco/

7 Feb 1845 - 2,000-year-old glass treasure shattered by a drunk, one of the British Museum's treasured pieces of Roman antiquity “The Portland Vase” was shattered on this day by a drunken visitor. - https://www.onthisday.com/articles/2000-year-old-glass-treasure-shattered-by-a-drunk

Big Shoutouts to

The Fortress - https://www.facebook.com/FortressNerds/

Comics 2 Movies - https://www.facebook.com/Comics2movies/

Rick Meads – https://authorsemporium.wordpress.com/2018/10/25/author-profile-ricky-mead/

Blue Fox Props - https://www.facebook.com/BlueFoxProps/

Jamie Johnston - https://www.facebook.com/jamiejohnsonillustration/

Sons Of Obi Wan Saber Academy - https://www.sonsofobiwan.com/

Other shoutouts we didn’t mention on the show but would like to thank

Supertee - https://www.supertee.com.au/

Zenyaku / Cyanide Pop Press aka ShaunC

- https://www.deviantart.com/shaunc

- https://www.deviantart.com/shaunc/art/Cyanide-Pop-Press-Banner-443096730 

- https://www.facebook.com/Zenyaku/

Zane - https://www.thatsnotcanonproductions.com/

Tahlya from General Queeries Podcast - https://thatsnotcanon.com/generalqueeriespodcast/

Intro

Artist – Goblins from Mars

Song Title – Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)

Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJ

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