#apparently some guy high up just doesn't like the site

[holyadoptionpapersbatman]

*twirls hair*Sooooooooo, there's this post by @brucewaynehater101 of a Sherlock AU

And, this is a 'Yes, and' site. Rather than go, 'Yes, but imagine', I've decided to make a separate post *giggles*

Bernard Dowd as Irene Adler.

For those who don't know, In the original books by Sir Conan, Irene Adler is a character that could match Sherlock's wit. I'm just going off on memory here, but some King was scared of being blackmailed because he was about to get married and he had a previous relationship with Irene. Irene also had pics of him and her together, and he was scared that this is the blackmail that could be used against him and stop the marriage. So, he calls Sherlock, Sherlock makes up plans and creates traps. And every single time, Irene manages to evade him, and cunningly trap him back. Sherlock never wins.

In the end, Sherlock realizes that the reason why Irene kept the photo was to avoid the King's wrath. She also goes tells him that she's about to be married, and the king really don't need to give a shit of where she's at.

As payment for all the hard work Sherlock had done, he asks the King for a picture of Irene, and the rest is history!! (BBC's Irene Adler is a Badass Dominatrix *swoons*)

SO----

Say Tim (Sherlock in this AU) and Kon (Watson in this au) are both adults in this non-superpowers AU. Kon, finding out that Tim had a horrible history with women as lovers, jokes that maybe Tim should try his hand with guys (you're not subtle Kon).

It's at this moment that Zoanne shows up, Tim's old high school sweetheart. Apparently, she's now married with a kid. However, a few months back, she and her husband were fighting with each other, badly. She ended up flirting with a co-worker of hers: Bernard Dowd.

Tim remembers Bernard. He hasn't seen him since their friend, and his late girlfriend, Darla died.

Apparently, Zoanne and Bernard's 'relationship' turned into something more, but her relationship with her husband had also been on the mend. She confessed to Bernard that she was married, and that she chooses to go back to her husband. That was the last she's seen of him.

Inwardly she was worried that their relationship might get outed to her husband, but she was also worried about where Bernard might be and how the man was because he also hadn't been showing up to work for a whole week.

Tim and Kon get on the case, they figure out what Bernard had been up to. They discover that Bernard got caught up with some pain cult, the Cult of Dionysus, and that's he's been an established member for years. Tim tries his utmost best to convince Bernard to leave.

To Bernard, the way Tim planned to catch him, laid traps for him, and even tried dismantling the cult, was just both funny and adorable. He made plans and traps of his own to thwart Tim.

It all ends the moment Bernard reveals that he's been dismantling the cult on his own from the inside.

Tim asks if he was doing this to take his mind off the heartbreak, and Bernard reveals that, 'no!' He's never had much more than a fling in his romantic pursuits, and Zoanne wasn't any different. The confession just so happened to coincide his plans of taking down the cult, but it also gave him a good reason to disappear and hide under the 'impression' of a heartbreak.

The past week had been the most fun Bernard had in years. He tells Tim to tell Zoanne that she doesn't need to worry about him saying anything, and that he wishes her and her family well.

Tim is amazed by Bernard's cunning, and wondered why he's never seen this when they were both in high school. The two had been close at the hip in school, and the only constant about Bernard that Tim always noticed was that Bernard had always been a flirt with the girls, and had even attempted to flirt with Tim's stepmom.

Bernard gets into Tim's space, like he usually does, and wraps an arm around Tim's shoulders, winking towards Kon, who was just aggressively confused on why he was getting a little bit angry.

Then, he gives Tim the number to his burner phone. Bernard says that he might not contact Tim, but he'd never miss a call should Tim end up using it. Tim keeps the number under a photo of them both in high school that was framed in his room.

Bernard quits his job, because although the cult in the city he lived in is dismantled, it doesn't mean they didn't exist in other places. It's not safe for him to stay in one place.

He bids Tim goodbye, and for the rest of the AU, his mind would sometimes come back to Bernard.

Weeks or months later, Jason (who I headcanon as Mycroft...) and Kon tells Tim that Bernard Dowd had been killed off in some foreign country after successfully taking down the whole cult. Tim emotionlessly sips his energy drink, while reminiscing in a flashback of going on a 'business trip', saving Bernard's life, but also killing off Bernard's 'identity'.

Somewhere out there, Alvin Draper is relieved of his international crimes and works professionally for the FBI.

[bentosandbox]

Ambience Synesthesia tutorial blog

rambled this out because I didn't have inflight wifi otw home and the turbulence was too crazy to draw

Buying the ticket

erm so they only dropped the tickets like slightly less than a month before lol kinda insane

The concert tickets were sold on Damai so you need a CN number or know/pay someone with one who'd buy it for you which is what I did by recommendation (A tier 1280 + 400 'service fee' [apparently it would have been cheaper if they only helped you half way or something but i wasnt gonna risk running into a payment hiccup so]) Iirc they sold it in two batches but I don't remember the ratio split between first and second wave…

I got a ticket for 5/5's afternoon show (so the second last performance), I DID meet an oomf who said they managed to snag a ticket for themselves on their own (without a Professional Ticket Snatcher) so its not too impossible to attain on your own I think??? (I didn't get a CN number until like 2 days before I flew back home soo)

Professional Ticket what?? Uhhh apparently there's a whole industry/scene for this you look for listings on xianyu/taobao etc for people to buy on your behalf, you have to give them your real name and identification number (so for foreigners it'd be your passport number) for verification purposes during entry so yknow yea

getting there

You could cab directly to the venue but my friend signed us up for the free shuttle bus (they had freebies last year but not this time) and before we boarded they gave us like free water and bread (apparently free raincoats too on rainy days) which was nice of them but also insane because. the venue doesn't allow you to bring food/drinks in so a lot of people were leaving A LOT of unopened bottles near the gate and I saw a venue staff just throwing them all into the bin (HOPEFULLY JUST TO CARRY THEM AWAY IN ONE GO AND NOT FOR STRAIGHT DISPOSAL….) They drop you off near the venue but you don't go in directly, there's a 'Doctor break room' where most people are seated waiting to be ushered in batches into the venue, but also a lot of people standing around on one side of the room swapping/offering merch

merch swap

ive been told this is a very concert culture thing but i feel like its kind of different because a lot of these are so high quality ike…you could sell them at Artist Alleys but here they are just distributing for free if you have a E2 60 blorbo lmao or whatever (there seems to be a tiny…? minority that prints official art but most of them seem to be handdrawn/made)

i was too unprepared for this lol i did exchange some of my old stickers (missed out on a collapsal plastic fan bc my brain lagged when the guy asked me and i went to my auto 'sorry i dont have any merch' response' :( regretted this bc the room got a little hot from the amount of people in there and i was wearing like 3 layers with that fan on my mind)

from people watching a lot of trades are arranged beforehand on weibo/other sites unless you're willing to yell WHO WANTS TO TRADEEE/anyone wants freebies (a lot of people were also wearing 'Feel Free to Swap Merch/Ask for Freebies' tags) which i was definitely not brave enough to do lol… met up with an oomf i got to know from last dec when i attended an arknights only and they gave me some birbs and charms (bottom of post), there was someone who got a free LGD zine and charm from me bc i posted on wb that id give a free copy to anyone with a Mod 3 swire/swummer LMFAO

I had 2 more people to meet but, uhhh so I bought an esim for mobile data and it would intermittently lose signal here and there which was a little annoying when getting coffee but it just died entirely when i reached the venue and it was kind of Dire because i was waiting for one more friend who was coming over from the fes and i couldn't contact them lmao. told the friend i came with to go in first because I thought if my food got confiscated at least my oomf could see it beforehand LOL

waited outside in a light drizzle for an hour trying to trouble shoot my data to no avail and ended up borrowing a staff's wifi hotspot to get my entry qr code (I actually bought a second data roaming plan on my local sim but i quite stupidly did not check the country coverage and only learned later that night that 'Asia' doesn't cover China kuxiao) she was so nice i was (bow emoji) so sorry to trouble you im a stupid gaijin and she was like no its ok enjoy shanghai!! pien

spent a good 30min next to this board praying for data to no avail

the show

erm anyway because of that clownery above i more or less missed the first piece (the one w the goated hoho) but at least i wasnt the guy next to me who went for a bathroom break right before starset came up

The live singing this year was definitely an improvement I think… I can't really remember the setlist off the top of my head but I'm sure someone else has already listed it out, there were a couple of new pieces that weren't related to the concert groups like a Babel/Kazdel?? one sung in Latin, a Victoria…? one (in victorian ofc) also an Amiya (? just remembering by the visuals they used lol) one in Japanese

ohh yeah so almost every track would start with like a faction logo transitioning in from 3d to 2d which was cool but also amusing because it was honestly bringing quite the 'I will Make Your Company Logo Into 3D Fiverr' vibes

Since I missed the first piece idk if any of The Dreamer(s) got 3D models but The Pilgrim(s why are they all singular) had Kaltsit playing on that piano (there was also a replica of that piano on stage the white one complete with 'Arknights' text on it lmao) and Siege being cool running around in 3D (and ofc Eureka during her denpa number) it was very cool but man... its a pity the other characters in the group just get their live2d png during the beginning and effectively get sidelined lool compared to say Phenomenal Agents idk if i like this tradeoff but that eureka bit was so good sheesh #NOVAFIVE⭐ULTRALIVESWEEP

The other stuff was really great too looking at you Lone Trail medley…!!!!! I might be wrong but I... assume... you're encouraged to karaoke bc they always show the lyrics on screen… I couldn't even hear myself anyway but it was very fun singing songs you can't get on joysound/etc with a whole crowd going at it too (even if most of them would only sing 1-2 lines of the chorus)

Mary Clare did Radiant (they had the lyrics scrolling on the sides very cool) and iirc the Throne group's song...? Radiant was so fun live

Starset did Monster > Telescope and when the latter ended they were like Bye! and we(?) started yelling ENCORE--awkwardly because idk how they do it here (I was half expecting it to be JP style 'an-call-roo' but a bunch of us just yelled en-core en-core here and there until they returned to perform Infected) speaking of yelling.. between every piece when they had to switch sets people would just yell memes or skill names (like Dage's) to pass the time or sth i barely caught half of whatever they were memeing about

did i forget to mention anything else uhhh originium rock turntable for Guide Ahead's boss theme/Dossoles Lobby and they had IS4 medley live throat singing very cool also the dancers they got for silbenherze's boss theme good stuff...

iirc after starset was like a behind the scenes video of how HG prepared for AS and a recorded lowlight video saying some stuff that i forgot LOL just some thank you message basically. 9.5/10 bc no missy/shu EP live

i just realised i forgot to display all the merch from the A tier ticket but w/e. light stick photo ft. merch swaps/gifts from friends and strangers 🥹 (the iffy lenticular card was literally dropped into my bag by an iffy coser (wearing the LT outfit..?!) while waiting for the cab LMAO)

[bluntfriend]

Some random headcanons for Director Jack Bright.

Any warnings: Some cussing. Mentions concerning behavior and it does get sad in the ending.

A/N: I didn't expect this to get sad like this—oops, lmao. These are just random headcanons I came up with involving Bright that I wanted to write about. I feel like I only scratched the surface when it came to Bright on this one. There is so much more I wanted to add and had to delete lmao. I hope you enjoy it!

He is unapologetically himself, for better or worse. He is true to himself through and through. He has this charisma that draws people towards him and oddly enough gives you a sense that he knows what he is talking about. That you can depend on this guy to lead and bring people together to manage. It is weird but he has that.

And that wit of his, he doesn't even have to try sometimes. He knows how to make people laugh or snicker.

He loves horror movies. He is a horror movie buff. When it comes to horror movies and TV shows he is the one who raves over them and is very knowledgeable about them. He has been watching them since he was young. He especially loves indie movies from the 90s. Those old indie horror movies from the 90s have a special place in his heart. He enjoys modern horror movies as well. But there is just something about watching those indie movies from the '90s and '80s that gives him a little nostalgia and makes him feel happy watching them.

Honestly, he would love almost any indie horror film that is a slasher. Surprise him with a movie night together, watching old films with some takeout food from his favorite restaurant, and he will probably consider getting down on one knee and proposing to you at that moment.

He doesn't know how to cook for himself and doesn't bother to take the time to learn how to. He says he is too busy to learn how to so he settles with ordering out most days or eating what the cafeteria is serving since he practically lives on Site. The cafeteria food is pretty good though so he does settle on that most of the time.

He does try eating healthy sometimes but fails when he sees something tasty in the cafeteria and makes an unhealthy decision instead.

Bright does have his own apartment that he owns, but he barely makes it there some days so he is always sleeping in his private quarters on Site. He doesn't mind it too much since his private quarters are cozy and nice and he doesn't want to be bothered with driving all the way home some days.

He is a workaholic. It wouldn't seem apparent at first because of how he is but he prefers working over anything else. He spends majority of his daily life working and working. And he wouldn't want it any other way. He wouldn't admit it but he wouldn't know what to do with himself if he wasn't working. He likes staying busy.

And he does take his job very seriously when it comes down to it. He may joke around and act ridiculous at times but at the end of the day, he is the guy who makes sure the job is done. Period.

Speaking of his job when it comes down to it, he is extremely loyal to the Foundation. Loyal to a fault is what Bright is. However, just because he is loyal doesn't mean he would stay quiet when feels like the Foundation is about to do something fucking stupid he going to say something lmao.

Bright is by far NOT afraid of voicing his opinions on things when asked to do so or when he feels like it is necessary. And he is going to be blunt about it. Whether it is with high-ranking personnel within the Foundation, his close friends, or even his S/O. He is going to speak his mind.

Okay, he will chill out a bit when it comes to his S/O because his sentimental feelings for them will take hold and he knows not to sound like an ass because he does generally care for them.

He does smoke but he isn't a frequent smoker. He indulges in smoking when he is feeling stressed the fuck out or feels like his depression is REALLY getting to him and he needs a cigarette to feel "better" but don't count on him to carry around a cigarette pack either. He will have one of those moments where he is like fuck... I need a cigarette right now and leaves to buy a whole pack. And depending on his mood and how his day is going he will probably finish that whole pack.

And then he wouldn't touch a cigarette for a little while.

He has zero consideration for his own well-being physically and mentally. Like it sometimes gets to a point where others will be concerned for him and they will express that concern and he just shrugs it off like... I always come back. You don't have to worry about me with a reassuring smile and waves them off. And while he is right the amulet will always bring him back. His own behavior does become unacceptable because there are moments when he does become a danger to himself. And it can become worrying.

To see someone you care for behave like that can be disheartening and really hurt.

He will have you concerned about him some days tbh

Oh, also he is intuitive. He can pick up on things that others may not have. He can pick up on the subtle hints that people drop. He is very observant when interacting with people. He makes a mental note of anything useful when necessary. Some people are easier than others. And it does take some time but he can get the hang of it. He does shock others with how intuitive he is and how he is able to know when someone is lying or hiding something from him.

He can be amoral but that does not mean he doesn't understand the difference between what is right and what is wrong. Or that he doesn't have any morals because he does have some morals... It is just that some days his morals seem nonexistent but it is still there. But with Bright's line of work, he does have to push aside his own moral compass to get things done to the point it feels like he doesn't have any.

[qualcosadelgenere]

A "DESERT LION" NAMES ANALYSIS + name meanings related hcs PT.2

DISCLAIMER: if any of the information reported here is wrong or even just partially incorrect/imprecise, feel free to let me know; as my main sources for this analysis were Wikipedia and baby names sites (lol).

Messer Jassim <English Wiki> (Mansur Jasim/Messa Jassim <alternative dub names>):

Mansur Jassim

Mansur (Messer is apparently a surname and Messa doesn't even exist(?)) is a male Arabic name that means "He who is victorious".

Jassim is an Arabic name/surname. (Couldn't find the meaning.)

Headcanons:

Succeeding in his set goals and dreams is a very essential part of his life. He puts great importance on winning and is generally very competitive. He has a hard time forming long-lasting friendships due to this side of his personality.

His parents, unlike Nasser's, tend to encourage him to be less focused on beating others and more on doing things he actually enjoys for himself. His relationship with his teammate is a conflicted one.

On one hand, Nasser is a pleasant guy to be around, always ready to assist or to share a few jokes with. On the other one though, Messer can't really bring himself to relate to his struggles. He doesn't understand how someone could resent parents whose only wish is for you to be your best version; for you to be ambitious and successful.

He didn't bond with anyone in particular, but he tends to spend most of the time with Far, who happens to be his roommate.

___________________________________________ ___ __ _

Zack Abdullah <English Wiki> (Zack Abdulla <alternative dub names>):

Zakariya 'Zack' Abdullah

Zack is sometimes a given name, but more often it's a short form of the Biblical name Zechariah (in this case probably of the Arabic form, Zakariya) and its meaning is "God/YHWH has remebered".

Abdullah is an Arabic Muslim given name/surname which means "servant of Allah".

Headcanons:

Zack grew up in a large family: his mom, his dad, three sisters, and four brothers (including himself).

Zack's family originally hails from Casablanca, Morocco, but they relocated to Qatar in search of better job opportunities. With some financial assistance from Zack's grandparents and some personal sacrifices, they were able to secure stable employment at a local camel farm. Zack's father, who had experience working with dromedaries in Morocco, found the job to be a perfect fit.

Despite their efforts, they still fall under the lower middle-class category by Qatari standards*. As a result, Zack and his siblings had to start working from a young age to support the family.

Growing up among the animals, Zack spent his free time playing football and caring for them. He greatly admires his father and shares a strong bond with his mother and siblings.

Zack is extremely outgoing, friendly, and open-minded as a result of interacting with people from all walks of life. He easily makes friends and is generally well-liked. However, he often feels the need to hide his feelings of inadequacy behind a facade of happiness and laughs, because most of his friends come from well-off families with high social status, and hanging out is a constant reminder of his own financial limits and racial status.

His closest friends are Bjorn, Majidi, and Djamel. He gets along also with Sulai and Adel, with whom he has more of a love-hate relationship. (Adel once referred to him as impossible to ignore and to this day Zack wonders if it was meant to be a compliment or not.)

*(North African Expats are considered to be racially inferior to Gulf Arabs; with them only coming second to Westerners in the class system, even though they're primarily Muslim and from neighboring regions. The apparent reasons for this are a widespread sentiment of anti-blackness and a general dislike for Africans, more specifically sub-Saharan, immigrants).

___________________________________________ ___ __ _

Majidi Ismail <English Wiki> (Majdi Ismail <alternative dub names>):

Majid Ismail

Technically speaking Majidi is an Iranian surname; the Arabic name equivalent would be spelled as Majid. It means "noble", "glorious", and "magnificent".

Ismail is an Arabic given name/middle name/surname and patronymic, that literally translates to "heard by God". It's also the name of Ibrahim(Abraham)'s son.

Headcanons:

He's a very self-assured little guy, as the only male sibling to four sisters he grew up spoiled and pampered.

Scaring(courting?) girls with the little animals he catches in the desert is his biggest hobby and simultaneously his sisters' biggest pet peeve. They tried everything in their power to stop the ever-increasing toll of his victims but to no avail.

"Why can't you impress girls like a normal person, Majidi?"

Fun fact: the moment he catches a fever his chaotic personality is gone, replaced by the meekest and quietest boy you have ever seen.

His mom knows it sounds bad out loud, but sometimes she wishes he'd get sick more often. It's just so nice to have a little quiet with five teenage children around from time to time.

He considers Zack, Rajab, Nasser, and Bjorn his best friends on the team. He doesn't really get along with Hassan, and even if he'd rather die than admit it, it's most likely due to a tiny, small, minuscule flicker of envy that burns in his gut whenever his teammate effortlessly charms the girls he tried to court(scare?) before.

Hassan, sad but true, couldn't care less.

___________________________________________ ___ __ _

Talal Hamad <English Wiki> (Talal Hamad <alternative dub names>):

Talal Hamad

Talal is an Arabic given name and surname that means "admirable" and "nice".

Hamad or Hamda is an Arabic given name and surname, meaning "to praise" or "one who praises", "much praising".

Headcanons:

Talal is too nice for his own good, always praising others and being kind even when people are not in return.

He's also a little bit of a chatterbox, never really stopping talking, but thank god he has an array of aunties who are more than willing to listen to his latest gossip. They're the ones who instilled in him the dream of entering the Middle East's best TV station.

He'd love to work for Al Jazeera since it's one of two main TV stations in his country and it's also pretty popular on an international level.

He bonded quickly with Sulai and Seiyd. Little Rajab is too nice not to like him and Adel's maternal uncle is one of the managing directors of Al Jazeera, so better to have him as a friend rather than as an enemy, right?

___________________________________________ ___ __ _

Hassan Ahmed <English Wiki> (Hasan Ahmed/Hassan Amed <alternative dub names>):

Hassan Ahmed

Hassan (also Hasan) is an Arabic given name that means "handsome" or "good", or "benefactor". As a surname, instead, Hassan may be Arabic, Irish, Scottish, or Jewish.

Ahmed which is the variant of the name/surname Ahmad, means "Highly Praised”.

Headcanons:

He is widely regarded as extremely handsome.

Throughout his life, he has benefited from an inherent advantage due to his looks (pretty privilege), receiving praise for even the most minor accomplishments. As an only child to a wealthy family, his birth was considered miraculous due to his mother's health-related issues. Consequently, he has been showered with affection and has developed an inflated sense of self-worth, perpetually reinforced by those around him.

He's kind of a narcissist, so he doesn't let people get too close if not solely on a superficial level.

The closest thing he has to a genuine friendship is with Adel; it's a relationship primarily based on mutual teasing and banter (which, according to Zack, borders on flirting 98% of the time, however, both parties disagree.).

___________________________________________ ___ __ _

Khalfan Jibril <English Wiki> (Khalfan Jibril/Halfan Djibril <alternative dub names>):

Khalfan Jibril

Khalfan is primarily a male given name of Swahili origin that means "successor"

Jibril (also Djibril) is an Arabic variant of the name Gabriel (the archangel), therefore meaning "God is my strength", and a common Arabic given name and surname.

Headcanons:

Khalfan can be described as a greatly resilient person, always reluctant to give up what he believes is important.

He comes from a family of artists: his grandad was a famous painter and his daughter, Khalfan's mother, inherited his great talent.

He was not exactly gifted with the same artistic abilities, but he knows a great deal about many art forms and is well aware of their historical and social significance.

He aspires to work in art-related fields and is supported in this dream by his family, particularly his proud grandfather who is moved by his grandson's passion for preserving artworks.

His closest buddies are Musa and Yusuf. He enjoys the latter just a smidge more due to their shared love for tradition and Qatari/Arab culture.

___________________________________________ ___ __ _

Rajab Ismail <English Wiki> (Rajab Ismail <alternative dub names>):

Rajab Ismail

Rajab is an Arabic given name that corresponds to the seventh month of the Islamic calendar which is known as Rajab.

Ismail (see Majid Ismail).

Headcanons:

His parents are very religious, hence, his upbringing was very religion-oriented.

They don't support his passion for writing, especially because some of the social issues he's keen on featuring in his novel stem from exasperated and distorted religious beliefs, and his parents find it very hard to critique such things.

Furthermore, due to his youthful appearance, individuals in his environment such as teachers and family friends tend to dismiss his ideas, believing him to be too young to comprehend the depth of his convictions. Consequently, Rajab frequently feels mocked and ridiculed for his beliefs, leading to a significant struggle with not being taken seriously.

He finds Majid funny and he also gets along well with Zack and Talal. He looks up to Adel and Nasser because he deems the first to be very intelligent and mature for his age and the latter to be reliable and confident.

___________________________________________ ___ __ _

Adel Siddique <English Wiki> (Adel Siddique/Adel Shteik <alternative dub names>):

Adil Siddique

There are two different names that are transliterated as 'Adel' and which one it is depends on the pronunciation:

1.) Adel [ˈɑːdəl] (Germanic given name of ancient European origins, evolved from north-western languages; meaning "noble" "nobility" "elite".)

2.) Adil [ˈʕaːdɪl, ˈʕæːdel] (often transliterated as Adel, is a variation itself of the name Adel; an Arabic male name (common in the Muslim world) that originates from the word "Adl", meaning "fairness" and "justice".)

Siddiq/Siddique is an Islamic term and is given as an honorific title. It means "truthful" and it denotes a descendance from someone named Siddique.

Headcanons:

As his name suggests, Adel has a strong sense of justice paired with (sometimes brutal) honesty.

Even though he comes from a horrendously rich and privileged family, social injustices have always been acknowledged in his family as his father and mother are both very intellectual and intelligent people.

For him, it's important to use the privilege he was born with to fight against inequality and ensure that everyone has equal opportunities in life, and this topic will often come up in his movie productions.

His closest friends are Sulai (best friend) and Hassan. Zack is the equivalent of a human mosquito, but he's passable (when he shuts up). He also respects Rajab a lot for his desire to write about their country's social issues and wishes to be less intimidating in his younger eyes.

I also wanted to mention Adel's self-esteem.

Although he's very confident and capable of standing up for himself, he struggles with his physical appearance. Ever since he was a child, he realized that his darker skin and facial features did not conform to the standard of beauty in his country (I like to think he has Somali ancestry somewhere in his family, perhaps his father's grandad?).

Other children had lighter skin, straighter hair, and less full lips, which made him feel different. Additionally, when he started playing football at a national level, he experienced subtle racism from his own people. Despite fitting in and looking rather Qatari, he didn't feel equally accepted by the Qatari public, making him feel like he didn't fully belong.

That explains his attachment to wearing oversized and dark sunglasses as they somewhat mask his ethnic features and give him an advantage when controlling emotions.

In other words, they help him feel less self-conscious.

[quibbs126]

So because I was bored, I decided to take the g1 toy descriptions I found on TF Archive and write down all the roles and rank numbers of the Autobots and Decepticons. Mostly because I was curious what they all were and how everyone stacks up

I'm not sure if this is how it works, but I'll link it here if anyone's curious. It's really not much though, just bullet lists and names with their Rank number

Right now I've only done the first two waves on the site, since that's as far as I've gotten in the show itself. I can add more later though

Anyways, so I just wanted to point out a couple random observations I got from this. There's more I could point out, but I don't feel like it at the moment

First off, I feel like it's kind of annoying how some characters just get the rank of Warrior. There's 6 in the Autobots, 7 in the Decepticons, and they are:

Autobots

Cliffjumper

Windcharger

Sideswipe

Sunstreaker

Powerglide

Tracks

Decepticons

Frenzy

Skywarp

Thundercracker

Devastator

Dirge

Ramjet

Thrust

Like okay, for some of them, I get it. But I feel like with Powerglide and Tracks, they gave them this designation just because they didn't know what to do with them, so they gave them the generic Warrior role, and I think that's boring. As for the Decepticons, I'm more so annoyed that every Seeker other than Starscream merely has the rank of Warrior. Like outside of the group package characters like the Insecticons and Constructicons, these guys make up the bulk of the Decepticon faction, and they get the generic role. Nothing interesting going on with them in the workforce apparently

But speaking of the Seekers, I wanted to point out a strange anomaly in the rankings. So Starscream's listed as Air Commander in this, and is the only Seeker to have that title. Despite this, his ranking is at a mere 5, instead of a level more befitting the second in command. However, there is a Seeker with a much higher rank, and the only non-5 level Seeker, and that's Skywarp at an impressive 9. Not even Soundwave's at that level, he's at 8

I have no clue why he's so high up, but I'm given to understand these toy descriptions predate the show, or at least the characters' depictions within it, like with Skyfire being Jetfire, and Shockwave wanting to overthrow Megatron, like in the comics. So maybe he was meant to have a bigger role in the Decepticons? But also Starscream is the one listed as Air Commander, so I don't know what's going on here

Anyways, on to high rankings (aka 8-10)

So Optimus and Megatron are both listed as 10s, as they are the leaders of their factions. This is also their rank title

However, there is one other 10 in the list, that being Jetfire, oddly enough. I'm really not sure why this was the case, as his Function is simply Air Guardian, which doesn't exactly evoke high ranking. But I don't know, maybe it was changed in the show with the copyright issues

Aside from that, the other high ranking characters here are: Prowl (9), Grimlock (9), Jazz (8), Wheeljack (8), Skids (8), and Roadbuster (8) for the Autobots. And for the Decepticons, it's only Shockwave (9), Soundwave (8), and as mentioned prior, Skywarp (9)

Skids and Roadbuster haven't appeared yet in my viewings of g1, so I can't speak on those two (though I don't know why a theoretician is so high ranking, but whatever), but I definitely understand Jazz, Prowl and Wheeljack. Prowl doesn't do much in g1, but I'm given to understand he's usually one of Optimus' top bots, so I get it. Similarly, Jazz is his second in command. Then there's Wheeljack who's a bit odd, but at least in Season 1, he was the main guy inventing stuff and he had a prominent role, so okay. A bit odd Ratchet isn't higher up, but ah well

As for the Decepticons, I think we all get Soundwave and Shockwave (and we've already talked about Skywarp). Most of what I have to say on this front is that I find it interesting how few Decepticons have high rankings. There aren't that many 7s either, just Ravage and Kickback, for reasons I can't really tell. It reads to me like Megatron doesn't trust his troops enough to give them high ranks within his command, even if their roles imply they should, like Starscream being Air Commander and a 5, and then Blitzwing as Ground & Air Commander and a 6. Maybe that isn't the intended interpretation, but it's how I see it based on the info

And that's pretty much all I wanted to cover on this topic. Just thought it'd be interesting to share

[cazort]

I agree with this criticism, but I think he leaves out some important parts of it.

A huge part of why the working class is fleeing the Democratic party in droves is that leftist discourse has resorted to classism as a way of attacking, bullying, and silencing its political opponents.

You started to see this first in fringe internet discourse in the early 2010's and it increased in frequency and become more mainstream in response to the shift to algorithmic feeds on mainstream sites (FB and Twitter, soon after others following) in 2011.

Basically what happens is that someone says the "wrong thing" and they get mobbed...it could be something harmless like using old terminology to refer to trans people ("FtM", "MtF", "became a woman / became a man", etc.) or it could be something harmful in subtle ways but dependent on context and perhaps not even immediately apparent to the person speaking it (i.e. "I want applicants to be judged on merit or qualifications alone." / "That (black) person is so articulate." / "That woman is so bossy." etc)

And people FLIP SHIT on them.

And here's the thing...this sort of bullying behavior directed at people saying "politically incorrect" things, i.e. what people call "social justice culture" or "wokeism" is little more than a form of classism.

Because who knows how to say all the right things? Educated people. People who are more intelligent and who don't have any learning disabilities. People who have more time on their hands. People with an easier life, people who aren't working 2 jobs or struggling to make ends meet or caring for a child on top of working a full-time job or more or doing full-time job on top of school. People who are more well-connected, whose friends already use the right language and can correct them politely in private before it blowing up into an incident.

Picture you're some poor person from some tiny town in West Virginia. Your parents say racist things, all your friends say racist things, and you might actually be the least racist person you know and then you come online or you come into the big city and you say something that would be seen as outright progressive where you're from, and suddenly everyone is berating you and condemning you and jumping down your throat.

Now picture you're some wealthy person who grew up in a wealthy suburb of a big city. Your family is educated. You know how to say the right things without offending people. Your friends correct you. You might be deeply racist, but you know how to express your viewpoints so subtly, so indirectly that it doesn't push the buttons of the leftist SJW's. You might even openly support movements like BLM, but then you turn around and support deeply-racist policies like the status quo of school funding by municipality, and high-tax-base suburbs with low tax rates and high city services while black people live in low-tax-base, high-tax-rate municipalities.

And then you turn around and look down on that West Virginia guy who said the wrong thing on Twitter or the wrong thing in some work meeting.

This is the classism of the Democratic party. This is why Trump won in a landslide.

I want people talking about it yesterday. I want people talking about it 10 years ago. I was talking about it 10 years ago but almost no one was listening to me. I want to scream at all of you who ignored me, and shake you. You were all wrong and I was right.

Listen to me now.

We can defeat the Trump movement but we ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO start by examining ourselves first. There is no other path. We cannot win by brute-forcing our way out. The Trump movement already has a majority of support among voters and has been growing in strength as we fail to address these issues.

We have to examine our own classism and we have to break it down, and then we have to reach out and apologize to the people who have been wronged by it. We need to unify behind leaders who publicly reject cancel culture and publicly reject classism.

And I don't just mean Bernie here. Bernie's statement is good but it's not good enough. It doesn't verbalize everything that I've said here. I just expressed a whole other level of classism that I think is getting closer to the heart of things. Other people may have even more things to add, that I missed.

But please, start talking about this stuff. We need to build a new consensus around these things and we need to start identifying and rejecting the classism in leftist thought. And then apologizing to, listening to, and bringing back in all the people we have shut out and excluded. Yes, that means even the people who say problematic things here and there. I don't mean to include people who are adamantly shouting egregiously bigoted things. I mean that we need to apologize for the way we have overreacted. I mean that we need to exercise restraint, de-escalate. And when we do see bigotry, we need to refrain from using classism as a way to bully the people voicing it. We need to cleanly separate the bigotry and make pointed criticism of the bigotry without putting down the person voicing it.

As Christians say "hate the sin not the sinner". Seriously, it does work.

Source

The scalding reality

[jodilin65]

I've been weighing the pros and cons of where we want to move. The climate here is warm, Oregon was cold, and Citrus Heights fell somewhere in between. The climate in NM is between cold and in-between. It even gets a dusting of snow a few times a year although it doesn't last long since there's quite a big swing between the daily lows and highs. However, it would do wonders for my allergies and asthma. Plus, it would mean no year-round spiders and even the snakes would hibernate longer there compared to Arizona. The Chihuahuan Desert is much higher than the Sonoran, with night temperatures already dipping into the 20s for several months. I’ll definitely need a winter coat, which I haven’t needed since we lived in Oregon in 2007. I’ll miss this warmer weather, but not much else.

Becky mentioned that if we're interested in a particular piece of land, she’ll drive by and make sure it’s not a problematic spot. Apparently, the area has shifting sands, though most of that is over in White Sands.

Other pros and cons include moving into a place that will make this one seem big. But I’m also liking the idea of a minimalist lifestyle and having less space to clean.

Becky also mentioned that gunshots are common during hunting season but not too frequent, which is probably similar to Arizona. The sound might be a bit annoying outside city limits, but we plan to soundproof (monsoon storms can be just as loud as the storms here). Comparing the planes we hear here to the gunshots we heard in Arizona, the occasional gunfire is preferable. I only remember one year in Arizona where it was extreme, with gunshots from sunrise to sunset.

On another note, I ordered a new color-by-number book with a floral theme.

Had a couple of shitty dreams and I wonder if the Claritin could have caused them. This stuff can cause nightmares. My father was alive in one dream, and we were going somewhere at night. I knew in the dream that he was 89 years old, even though he only lived to be 80.

All of a sudden he got this funny look on his face And started mumbling incoherently. I asked if he was okay, and he just gave a slight nod. But then he started drifting into the wrong lane. I shouted at him to move over, and he did. A few minutes later, he started drifting off to the side of the road into trees and shrubs, and again I yelled at him. Fearing he was having a stroke, I was about to tell him to pull over when he floored it all of a sudden and I woke up right as we were about to slam into the back of another vehicle.

As a psychic, I'm a little worried when it comes to dreams like this. But maybe it doesn't mean anything, since it involves someone that's not even alive anymore. I sure hope not!

Where it got weird was that after the nightmare woke me up and I got up to pee, I got back in bed and had another dream where my mother was alive and I was telling her about the nightmare. I was hoping we could finally chat for a bit and spend some time together and asked her if she received an email I recently sent her. She gave a vague roundabout answer, which pretty much told me she didn't want to confirm it because she didn't want to hear from me. When I tried to tell her about the dream, some other guy entered the room and they started chatting and laughing together so I finally gave up.

Nothing from Michela, but fortunately 23andMe tells you when someone has been on the site. She hasn't been on since she requested to add me.

[conkreetmonkey]

Did you ever figure out the art comms taxes situation u posted about? - from another curious individual

I was informed that on tax forms there's a section for "other income" you can put things like comms and Etsy sales on. Just add it all up and write down the number. Pretty much every site that deals with the exchange of money in some way will keep records for your account's transactions that you can look at.

Apparently, at least where I live, you don't actually have to file a business and stuff if you make under a certain threshold per year from such activities, some high number in the tens of thousands.

Again, though, keep in mind that a) I'm Canadian, and b) I'm not an expert. I just know a guy who's working on a degree in the field right now and asked him. It's way easier than it seems, the government doesn't reeeally care if you're not the best at filling out forms so long as you're honest about it. They won't get mad at you even if you do make a genuine mistake, they only breathe fire down your throat if you're deliberately trying to hide stuff from them. They care about drug dealers and human traffickers trying to disguise large sums of illicit money as legitimate, not some 20-something new to taxes accidentally forgetting to report a $15 icon sketch or an acrylic charm. Tax fraud, as I understand it, requires intention. They'll gently and politely correct you, or so I've been told.

Please, though, take everything I've said here with a grain of salt. For more credible information, I'd recommend asking an adult who does their own taxes, or an actual accountant if you're lucky enough to know one.

[woodfrogs]

I promise my answer is coming, but it's becoming longer than I'd anticipated, so in the meantime...

🌻

sorry this took so long :sob: but in my defense it hasn't even been a week which is a good response time for me! anyway i'm gonna tell the story of the falcon lake incident because i was recently listening to the album by jim bryson of the same name so i went to read the wiki article and it's been on my mind

on may long weekend, 1967, stephan michalak went out to the small town of falcon lake, manitoba, to prospect for some quartz and silver. he was way out in the woods when he reached a clearing, and after some geese were startled away he saw two aircraft hovering in the distance. he described them as "cigarette-shaped with a lump in the middle" and glowing red, but according to his sketch i'd describe it as a traditional UFO shape. one of them landed nearby and he spent 30 minutes sketching it, complete with handwritten notes on details about its appearance. they look like normal messy handwriting. take note of this.

then he got bored and decided "yeah, i'll approach the UFO. fuck it". a door was open on the side. coming out of it were muffled voices. they stopped when he called out a hello to the "yankee boys," because he thought it was an american experimental aircraft. he looked inside, and there were a bunch of flashing control panels but no people. he stepped away and a door slid shut in front of him, which was hot enough to melt his glove when he touched it.

and then the ship quickly spun and blasted him back with hot gas through a grid on the side before taking off. it set his clothes on fire and badly burned his chest. he was obviously disoriented and tried to go back to his hotel, but an RCMP officer stopped him and assumed he was drunk. michalak refused the officer's help (according to his story, he was never offered it, but the officer says he did,) and took a greyhound bus back to his home in winnipeg, an hour and a half away 💀

he had symptoms from the incident for the rest of his life. the burns reappeared intermittently for the next 26 years, and in the immediate aftermath he suffered from weight loss and other gastrointestinal issues, blackouts and headaches, and his white blood cell count plummeted to near lethal levels. which are all symptoms of radiation poisoning. but a nearby government research reactor (the whiteshell laboratories) found nothing abnormal with him.

they also found high levels of radioactivity near the site, which they later attributed to a radium vein. but his clothes were radioactive, and metal was found melted into cracks in the rock of the canadian shield in the clearing. there was also a large burned patch of grass. afaik the only evidence that has not been lost over time is his shirt and a piece of radioactive metal.

the common skeptic explanation is that he was drunk and things like the metal were planted on the land later. so that he could fully stake his claim to the land to be prospected. which is stupid if you ask me. don't make up a UFO hoax if you want people to stay off your land? hello?

michalak also stood by his story that he believed it was an experimental aircraft and not aliens until the day he died. he and his family struggled under the public's scrutiny to the point of his son being bullied in school, and apparently he did somewhat regret saying something. but him lying for attention doesn't mean he couldn't have regretted it later either.

personally, i think some stuff doesn't add up with any explanation. i would say it was a government experiment but since this was 50 years ago and we have never heard of any similar technology since, i doubt it. i genuinely have no clue what could have happened here. but even if it's a hoax or just a drunk guy hallucinating and falling on a grill near a radium vein, it's a cool story

[dyingrosesandwriting]

Guys I just had the worst nightmare ever but the actual events of course were actually not that bad, but I couldn't tell it wasn't resal...

Anihalifilation, or something like that, annihilation but different. It started with a strange dream and a known creep (in my dream) that bought me monster high dolls that were just... In my room, one of them already put on my shelf. Then eventually he found me, called me his princess and the dream got horny. Then, it was a new dream, I'm in the car, but it doesn't feel like a car, no roof, no sides, holding a tray with a bowl of soup with a lid that doesn't fit and an opens container with my meal. We're driving. Driving to a supposedly good restaurant. In the dream we've been before. But it's gone. And also past some water, the car drives through and we're all drenched. The building broke off of its raft like foundation. I'm holding the tray, with the soup and my rice-ish meal. I look up, the sky is dark, like night, but the streets look like day. Instead of a sun or moon I see Earth. It's bigger in the sky than either celestial bodies it should be, and it's getting bigger. Closer. I know it's Earth, but it looks like COD BO2 Zombies Earth, and glowing cracks appear in the atmosphere as it draws closer. I look to my phone for explanation. I don't get that strange annihilation name yet, but this is apparently a known rare scientific event though highly unlikely, like a solar flare. Different universes are colliding, or well, their Earth's are.

Suddenly the scene is different. I'm in some streets that my brain has conjured before. I'm a mess but not crying yet. Bev, my friend's mum is there, I'm looking for my English teacher who lives next to the house Bev is in front of, I know she lives elsewhere even in the dream. I go inside of a 7/11 but people are still lining up. I know they're anxious, but I'm the only one freaking out, on the edge of crying. I leave, I was planning on stealing a slurpie, but with the order everyone else shows, I wouldn't dare.

In my search for my favourite teacher, I find myself in Coles, though there's more space, and it all reminds me of my local Woolies instead. I check the news, after simply searching news, clicking on an Optus news site where there are about 5 articles, two of which mentioning the current event, that anihalifilation name is here. I panic so hard I can barely read, which is part of why I couldn't realise it wasn't real sooner I suppose.

Remember that creep I mentioned earlier? He first messaged me on Instagram, and considering I am going to die, I decide to finally text him back. I send something so garbled that I wasn't sure what I meant, even in the dream. I search the store for a place I can text in relative privacy. I find some seats near the bakery. Instead of the warm lights there should have been, it was darker, with mayber only a blue tinger white bulb illuminating the cold atmosphere.

There are a couple of seats, a man sits alone, another with his young daughter, when I sit I find a ps4 game that looks familiar (from another dream I swear) on the ground. I go to pick it up, but it's kind of hard. The man with the child picks it up. My mind instantly thinks his daughter must of dropped it. But then I see it's wrapped with something I swore I just bought, so with him still holding it, I open the plastic and grab what's mine, and grab my phone to text that basically yandere dream creep.

Then, my alarm woke me up.

I know this isn't the right blog, but I just needed to get this out. I was a sobbing mess in this dream and I just spent 27 mins writing this ig??

[vln-vibes]

Amity Park; Clone City ?

It started with a video.

Tim had been scrolling through social media, as one did when procrastinating doing boring paperwork for Wayne Enterprises. He found himself going down the rabbit hole and somehow ended up going down the Unreality/ARG path.

He had to appreciate the dedication to bringing these stories together, some of the stories could actually happen given all the shit he'd seen in his hero career. Anyway this ended in him getting fed back to back Not Real videos. At least that was until he found The Video.

The caption on the screen was the first thing that popped up in front of the face of a latina teen who was trying not to laugh; Imagine getting wrecked by a twink

The camera flipped two buff guys wearing red and white Leatherman jackets, one was on the grass with his head tilted to the side and a basketball next to him, the blonde guy was looking at his friend with tears in his eyes before turning red and turning to the side and yelling out.

"You're dead Weston!"

"I said sorry!"

The camera then did a sharp turn to zoom in on a lanky ginger teen. It looked as though the blonde was about to go beat the shit out of the guy before the ground shook and the sky turned momentarily green.

"Ah shit, must be Skullker"

The audio began to glitch before the cameragirl began to run, the blonde could be seen carrying his companion, the ginger guy running besides them. A sudden cry came from behind as they could hear what seemed to be a girl trip.

"Star!"

The video started to glitch again and the camera fell from the girl's hand. As the girl picked up her phone the video showed that the ground where the blonde fell was now charred. When the girl panned to the side he could see that the ginger guy had tackled her.

"Are you guys okay?" her slightly accented voice could be heard with a weird echo, the ginger guy had his head back to the camera as he helped the girl up.

"Ugh Skullker's the worst, I still can't believe Ember dates him" the girl groaned. She looked up;

Kara?

"At least Phantom's already on it" the ginger guy turned around.

Wally?

The video ended and Tim found himself rewatching it over and over again--- There was no doubt that those two were Kara and Wally. Sure they looked younger but it was them.

There had to be more to this, was this really some sort of ARG? The explosions and the weird glitches, was that just all some part of a gimmick? Also why were there two younger versions of prominent heroes? Were they clones? Was Cadmus involved?

If it was clones then Cadmus was definitely involved.

He clicked on the girl's profile--- PaulinaxPhantom<3

Most of it was blank, not in a 'She doesn't really post much' sort of way, like her photos and video were whited off. He could see a sporadic picture and video here and there but they were divided by blank pictures that never loaded or video that crashed without ever showing anything.

He knew it had nothing to do with his connection so what the hell was going on. Could it be something with the site?

On a recent picture it was a selfie of herself with 'Star'/Kara with a link to 'Star's' profile.

Same thing as Paulina; pictures and videos surrounded by never loading and permanently whited out.

He checked the blonde jock's, Dash, and had the same result. Apparently the guy he’d been carrying was named Kwan—

Was that Garth? Sure he was a lot bulkier but he had an uncanny resemblance to the Atlantean.

Then he found 'Wally' again, or Wes apparently; Wally West and Wes Weston? It wasn't giving him much hope.

Wes was apparently part of Casper High's journalism club given his video about trying to meet the deadline and ranting about how annoying 'Boxie' had been, having trashed their clubroom and making them pick up after him.

"Stop complaining and actually pick up the slack Weston" a female voice spoke up from behind him.

"Yes, yes Chief Editor Manson"

Raven!?

Another video had him in a local food joint where the waitress was taking an order from a black haired customer, scowling as she noted the camera on her and flipped him off as the camera zoomed in on her, which was a dick move on the guy's part (as if service industry workers didn't have to deal with shit customers in the first place). The customer she was helping didn't even look back and also flipped him off.

"Get a life Weston"

Karen?

Oh holy hell bats! Was that Dick!?

Oh crap. Oh motherhecking heck!

This was bad.

Fumbling off of his bed and out of his room with a single drive to get to the Batcave, where he knew Bruce would be at the time and be able to assemble an Emergency Meeting with the League, he only had one thing in mind.

Why the hell would they hide clones in the middle of bumfuck Nowhere Illinois?

[tenta-cute]

Billy Lore From 'Runaway Max': Chapter 5

Okay guys, hold on to your butts because this one has a big Billy scene and... Well let's just say that in this one OUR SON TRIES TO MAKE THE WORLD BURN, very literally. Sorta. Anyway, lotsa interesting stuff in this chapter, mostly Cali flashbacks.

Spoilers and lore from CHAPTER 5 under the cut!

California:

Billy has at least one confirmed experience with the cops. Next to his high school there was a construction site where he and his buds would climb the scaffoldings, chill, and get drunk. A week after the end of the school year (on a Saturday) the cops brought him home dirty, tousled, muddy, and bleeding from his hand (or arm - the translation uses the word which means both, so it's unclear). The boys were daring each other to walk over some steel plank, with obvious results. Billy is absolutely furious.

Neil is furious too and gives Billy an ultimatum after the cops are gone: either he kisses the Camaro goodbye for two months, or attends some kind of high school military course thing? (I'm not American so I'm not sure what exactly it's supposed to be.)

Billy would rather kiss the Camaro goodbye for two months than do the military thing.

While his car is taken away, Billy is supposed to be painting the garage. He only ever does it when Neil is watching.

Max has three best friends: Nate, Ben, and Eddie. There's a small hill behind Max's house. They have a little spot in a dry riverbed (which apparently fills with some shitty lil river in spring, but otherwise remains dry) where they got a shitty sofa and a rickety table set up. It's where they hang out most of the time. One day Max is sitting there alone when Billy comes with his buddies.

Billy has two friends he usually hangs out with. They both look like slightly dangerous ragamuffins and usually chill in Billy's room, listening to Metallica or Ratt, now that the keys to the Camaro have been taken away.

One of them is called Sid. He's tall and slightly chubby, wears combat boots with green shoelaces. He's not very talkative, but he's nice and jokes sometimes, so Max likes him.

The other one is called Wayne. He's loud, has long greasy hair, and Max describes his face as rat-like. Wayne generally seems to be a very twitchy and impatient individual.

Both Sid and Wayne follow Billy around and do what he says.

Billy sits down next to Max on the couch and lights a cigarette. He's quiet, but at some point Wayne mentions that he can't believe Neil took Billy's Camaro away, and from that point Max easily picks up that Billy starts gradually getting more and more tense.

She also notes that he's been in an extremely poor mood since that night the cops brought him home.

Billy has a zippo with a picture of a burning skull on it. He starts toying with it while Staring at the dry bushes and grass.

There's a dead cat that's been like... rotting in the bushes nearby for a while. Wayne finds it and suggests they grab pliers and rip its teeth out to turn it into a necklace. Billy joins Wayne staring at the dead cat and says that maybe they should give it 'viking funeral.'

He cheerfully asks Sid what he thinks about it, but Max can tell from his voice that there seems to be some kind of Problem between Billy and Sid, but she's doesnt' know what it is.

Sid ignores Billy, sorta ostentatiously focusing on Max instead. He has a 'Music City' catalog and is showing Max ads for guitars, particularly Baretta from Kramer. Sid seems to be quite knowledgable about guitars, remembers off the top of his head which one Van Halen used in Hot for Teacher.

Wayne, ever a loyal sycophant, claims that Sid himself said it would be fun to watch, and that at least Billy is not too much of a coward to do it. Sid doesn't seem too keen, claiming that what they want to do is completely stupid.

Max doesn't understand what's going on, so she asks what the 'viking funeral' is. Wayne explains that it's a traditional norse burial and that Sid knows all about it, because he got 100% on the final history test (again, not American, so idk how important that is).

Billy failed that same test, which made Neil furious.

Max tells them not to do it, but Billy pulls a can of butane he uses to refill his lighters out of his pocket and empties it over the dead cat.

Our son sets the dead cat on fire, guys.

OUR SON ALSO SETS HIS FRIEND ON FIRE, GUYS.

No, seriously. Wayne was standing too close and his t-shirt caught fire. Wayne starts screaming and jumping and laughing nervously and Billy watches him with an expression Max describes as hella weird - almost as if he's pleased.

It's June, so the grass and bushes nearby are dry as hell, so naturally they instantly catch fire too. The fire starts spreading fast.

Sid and Max rush to put the fire out with their shoes. The soles of Max's shoes melt a little in the process.

Billy doesn't do anything, he just Stares and smiles like he's amused.

Together Max and Sid manage to put the fire out, but like a 10ft long strip of grass gets completely obliterated.

In Max's mind Billy crosses the line there, and it's the moment when she fully realizes how unpredictable he is.

Aaaand back to Hawkins on Halloween night. We got some information about politics here!

Susan told Billy to stay with Max when she goes trick-or-treating, but of course that doesn't happen and Billy leaves her on the corner of Oak and Maple. He tells her to meet him there at 10PM and that he will leave without her if she's not there by then.

Not directly Billy-related, but in Loch Nora most people are voting for Reagan, as per those election lawn signs that Americans do.

Susan doesn't care much for elections. Before she married Neil she sometimes mentioned voting for Walter Mondale, but she complained about him running together with Ferraro, because in Susan's opinion no man is going to vote for a woman.

When Max asked her mom about elections after Susan married Neil, Neil butted in and said that Reagan is the best thing to happen to America since Eisenhower, and that he will not allow anyone from his household to vote for Mondale and Ferraro.

Impressions:

Okay, five chapters in I have some very personal and very subjective observations.

So far Billy's portrayal implies that he is not a talkative guy. His default reaction seems to be Silence and Staring. He also seems to frequently zone out as he Thinks About Things.

While in Hawkins he's firmly on the very top of the food chain, his buddies in San Diego definitely don't sound like popular guys.

The Camaro is Important. The book makes it sound like the day was pretty chill until Wayne mentioned Neil taking it away.

Neil openly imposes his political views on the entire household. Like, he's not even trying to be subtle about it.

[eyedelater]

here is a post of thoughts i had while rewatching the golden kamuy anime (and while watching the new episodes airing now, up to s4e3)

rewatching early episodes, i suddenly feel like tsurumi's voice should have been sexier. i mean, maybe people think it already is. but i think it should have been sexier given how his favorite underlings view him. his voice fits his character design from the perspective of "this is a scary archvillain military guy in his 40s who is threatening to kill sugimoto and acting kinda crazy! ooh, he's the primary antagonist!!!" but it doesn't quite fit the aspect of his character that is so incredibly charismatic and admirable to certain people around him. so that aspect should maybe be reflected in a sexier voice…? am i insane though

(slams table) if tsurumi's voice was even HALF as sexy as ogata's voice… that would be… more appropriate…!!!

i already made some broad statements about the anime in a previous post, but i'll make some more. the golden kamuy anime (at least the first season or two) has taken the approach of no stretching, all squashing, no addition of any nuance or fun extras, only pure and compressed adaptation of manga into anime-- with broad omissions. no extra jokes thrown in or anything. some jokes partially or completely omitted. and i think the timing suffered from all the squashing. also, the episode breaks are in weird and unnatural places, but i guess they're in weird places in the manga a lot too. but i don't mean that the anime is Bad bad. i would say the anime does approximate justice to the manga but is rather clumsy and could have been much better. my feelings about the OPs and EDs (that they're lame) have not changed.

all the voice actors have been doing a great job, though. especially asirpa, played by (looks up her name) (double take) haruka shiraishi.

okay, revising my opinion slightly. the 2nd OP is a little better than the first because, among other things, tsukishima does a high kick. and the song is slightly more engaging. and did the production value increase a little for season 2? it's becoming apparent that my first time watching the anime was not a Close Watch. the 2nd ED is unpleasant because i really don't like the song.

i think the anime is too dark sometimes. i mean dark as in the amount of light. and i mean actually a lot of the time. i can't fucking see. i understand that it takes place in our real world, but i think you can bend that by properly illuminating things you've gone to the trouble of carefully animating, enough so that i can actually see them. key examples: the scene where ienaga's tattoo is first revealed. the coal mine. infiltrating abashiri. every scene that takes place at night!

the first time i watched the anime, i watched it on vrv.co, which i think has some connection to crunchyroll and therefore has the official subs. the second time watching the anime, a paywall had sprung up on that site, so i went elsewhere and ended up watching episodes with fan-translated subs. so it was interesting to compare (based on my memory) some different translation decisions that were made. the fan subs were a little worse.

the main reason i'm studying japanese is because translations can be so iffy that i can't trust them. here's an example i just came across in the anime (unofficial subs done by some rando). the whale is pulling everyone toward fishing boats that contain henmi kazuo, and shiraishi is yelling to watch out, and a fisherman says, "That [bouzu] is yelling something." "bouzu" means "monk," and it is often used as a way to refer to young boys, but because monks are often bald/shaved, you might also call a guy with a shaved head "bouzu." so clearly in this case the fisherman, referring to shaved-head shiraishi, meant the latter. but the subs translated it as, "That boy is yelling something," because the translator forgot that second connotation of "bouzu." and you, the viewer who can't understand the japanese being said, might just think that that man referred to shiraishi as a boy because he looks that young, and you might come away thinking shiraishi is younger than he is. his age isn't explicitly mentioned in canon (apart from being over 20), so you might try to piece things together from various little clues, and if you took the use of the word "boy" there to be a clue, you would get the wrong impression. that's why painstakingly precise translations are not only worthwhile but in fact necessary! if you're an absolute nitpicker like me!!! this is just a bad example for making my point, actually!!!

i think a lot of the cinematography in the anime wasn't dramatic enough. manga is nothing but raw cinematography, so you need strong cinematography in order to adapt a manga properly. (i also think it's important and worthwhile to preserve the framing of panels in the manga when translated into anime, when possible. i mean like treating the manga like a storyboard to some degree.) in some dramatic moments, much of the drama is lost because it is not framed dramatically enough. and i think leaning toward excessively dramatic framing would be better for golden kamuy than playing it excessively safe, since it would enhance both serious moments AND ridiculous moments! just think about how things are framed in the nichijou anime. more animes need to reach in that direction with their cinematography. just go nuts with it! like nichijou! please!

when tanigaki and kenkichi are talking to each other in a cave, i like listening to their dialect. genjirou is pronounced like "genzərou" and kenkichi is pronounced like "kenkitsi." it's like, oh, you can just change that part, huh? that's how japanese dialects sound to me as a japanese language learner. though satsuma dialect is a much higher level of unintelligibility. they change a lot of parts. but tanigaki's akita dialect is very interesting. and he can utterly erase it and speak in "standard japanese" when talking to tsurumi or others. he and koito and tsukishima have code-switched their various dialects into oblivion. many soldiers in this story erased a part of themselves. (side note: i think hidoro and the rest in barato also had some dialect in that OVA, but i wasn't paying that much attention…)

coward animators showed ogata's entire boobs during the sea otter scene but omitted his nipples. (cups hands around mouth) boo! weak!

the strings-heavy soundtrack of the anime is pretty earnest. i appreciate that.

usami's voice is appropriately nasty even from his very first appearance. props

gotta wonder how much of usami's pursuit of jack the ripper they'll show in the anime. they can't just omit the whole thing and make it an OVA because the surrounding context is incredibly important to the story. but will they even imply the shiko-shiko? and the sound of it? is he gonna say "hihiin"?

i didn't realize the voice of tsukishima is also the voice of miles edgeworth. i went to his wikipedia page to see if he is known for being able to speak russian or if that's something he worked on for his role as tsukishima (or if they got another voice actor to do the russian parts? i don't think so, but i can't tell…). i didn't get an answer from reading that article. can you imagine if you sign up to voice a character who speaks russian and has a bunch of russian lines and you just have to learn to pronounce russian well enough for it to pass? it's like on america's next top model when they'd travel to milan and then have to film a commercial in ad-libbed italian… not that i ever… anyway…

noda-sensei wasn't such a coward that he erased everyone's nipples in the vital and irreplaceable stenka scene, one of our rare best tsukishima appreciation scenes. only the coward anime staff would decide to do that! (cups hands) boo! boo!

i think mostly everything about the anime improved slowly over time, with season 2 being better than 1 and 3 being better than 2, in terms of timing and cinematography and stuff. of course it's still a lot of squishing and omissions. i wish they could have done a great job from the start, because the story really deserves it. also they show nipples on the tattooed skins when tsurumi wears them as shirts but not on the living men. boo! a chest without nipples is like a night without stars! it's a matter of principle!

i love when ogata is depicted from the correct angle to show his eyelashes going off the side of his face and it's like, oh. they are eyelashes. it's very rare in the anime and the manga. happens in s3e3 though.

the line where tsukishima has a moment of clarity while searching the beach is hard to hear well enough to compare the translation :( i was wondering about this one. i suck

season 3 episode 5 around 16:12 ogata does a little laugh. why do you ask?

these voice actors playing russian border patrol… they're definitely japanese voice actors sounding it out, right? i haven't heard a whole lot of spoken russian, but something's definitely off, right? also, is vasily's voice actor from that scene going to continue playing that role and say nothing but "hm hm" 30 times?

in the anime, at the end of the sniper battle, vasily decides on the coffin and fires one shot and then waits. but in the manga, vasily got really confident and fired at least 3 shots into that coffin before getting shot in the face. why would they change that? or did it get changed in the volume version? no, i'm pretty sure it was 3 shots in the volume version.

ogata's little cape was green earlier in the anime and later it's white. you thought i wouldn't notice??

i can't understand exactly what yuusaku is saying in s3e6 when he tells ogata that people who don't feel guilt shouldn't exist in the world. i was really wondering about that line because i think the translations i've seen differ significantly. i suck

ogata notices asirpa remembered something important and he's like (trying not to put on a scary face) (trying not to put on a scary face) (isolates asirpa from the others and approaches her from behind with the scariest face ever)

"then why are you asking me when kiroranke and the others aren't around?" then ogata looks at her with a face that says, "BECAUSE I'M NOT GOOD AT THIS!" and a little later (s3e11 14:12) he's making an "argh, this is so difficult…!" face that i really enjoy

ogata fleeing, sugimoto "i'll aim for the horse!" (shoots clearly at ogata's head level three or four times) that's plausible deniability.

before i knew it, i caught up with the anime and now i'm watching the first episode of season 4. this OP is quite good compared to the others. it made me smile twice. it's got a good intensity about it. the ED is good too! it has a subtle charm. it should be very useful for viewers who might not remember who all these characters are in relation to each other. and the song is nice. now, about what happened in between the OP and ED. that was a pretty faithful adaptation of the manga. i read that part of the manga just recently so i remember and it syncs up almost perfectly. i had kind of expected them to cut out a lot of the stuff with kadokura and kirawus, but then i remembered we saw figure skating ushiyama in the trailer, so of course the surrounding context has to be included.

the second episode of season 4… i think these fan translated subs could have used a little delicacy, a little beating around the bush about what obencho means.

they show us kadokura's nipples on the lake, but not everyone's nipples at the banya?? boo-- wait didn't they switch animation studios? maybe these new animators aren't so cowardly. maybe they'll show us everyone's nipples, as justice demands. wait, people are naked in the opening (which constitutes another point in its favor, for capturing the sentiment of the source material), and i didn't look closely. do they have nipples? i must ascertain… for research purposes. (short pause) result: they show us boutarou's nipples in the OP. i think kikuta's nipples were shadowed, but shadows are fair game. i accept this.

i'm watching season 4 episode 3, and they didn't chicken out on showing us everyone's nipples. well done (respectful nod.) they did chicken out on showing us the silhouette of kikuta's huge dick on his very first appearance like in the manga, but that's perfectly understandable. i couldn't hold that against them. really, it's too much to even call it chickening out. absolutely nothing wrong with that decision. as far as i'm concerned, everyone involved acted correctly. and that's all i'm going to say on the matter.

this new animation studio really is much better at keeping a dramatic momentum in terms of timing and framing. they're also very faithful to the manga in terms of showing us little extra things that i think would have been cut out before (e.g. in this episode, the snow geta and baby ipopte with a torch). kikuta ties on toni's sweaty bandana without a second thought. and next week's episode is what i've been waiting for… it's what i've been eagerly waiting for!!! it's the koito otonoshin kidnapping incident! argh! so long to wait! just kidding, time already passes painfully quickly because i'm an adult.

[asknarashikari]

Funny minific idea : The word got out that George and Ikki dating and get Riders senpai on murderously overprotective side but there plot twist, with a scientist as a lover ofc there backfired quickly, and George is second person beside Sento that likes to goes boom in his experiments..

Would George want to make his idols go boom?

...Okay. Maybe yes. If it means he can ravage date Ikki in peace.

(Also George is the third? fourth? person who likes making things go boom Philip does it too. And maybe Rinna)

"I told you that wasn't a good idea. I warned you and you didn't listen!" Touma exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation.

The novelist-swordsman had not been amused to receive a call from a remote hospital, who had found his number after he tried (and failed) to reach Emu's phone. Apparently, most of his predecessors had been found, unconscious and with varying levels of injury, at some quarry outside the city, which had been the site of some kind of massive explosion.

Touma came, with some of the Riders who had not participated in this nonsense, to help with the paperwork, and subsequently, lecture the idiots currently convalescing.

"How were we supposed to know that the guy was gonna blow us up Sento-style?" Haruto groaned from his bed.

"He's in the Science Squad! They all like making things go boom!" Aruto retorted. "I still can't believe you guys went through with this, after what you did to Isamu and Rintaro-san and Kento-san..."

"It's our duty, as the senpai, to make sure anyone our kouhai are dating are on the up and up..." Tsukasa tried to sit up, but gave up halfway and just laid back down.

"Oh gimme a break. You guys didn't give the kid's boyfriend this hard of a time when they got together." Shoutaro, who had the parent-Rider-group's brain cell for the day, said, gesturing to Sougo. "And for crying out loud, the kid's got actual parents, let them handle it for once."

"Not to mention his siblings are both Riders too." added Takeru helpfully. He gave Shinnosuke and Emu disappointed looks. "You guys didn't have to do this to George-san... he's so nice too, he's a Rider fan isn't he?"

"Doesn't change the fact that he's dating one of our sweet and naive kouhai..." Kouta responded.

"Eh, Ikki-san might take offense to that..." Sougo laughed awkwardly. "Didn't he have a girlfriend in high school or something?"

"No, she just liked him and he was too clueless to notice." Touma corrected. "That doesn't change the fact that this was a stupid idea and never should've even occurred to any of you!"

"Alright, alright, you're right... we'll apologize to them both when we get out," Emu replied for the group.

"You better," Shoutaro replied, "because the ladies found out what happened and soon enough, they're gonna be on your ass."

The Riders laying on their hospital beds all went pale at once.

[mechanicalinertia]

STMPD Recommends Bubblegum Crisis Fanfiction (Sort Of): Terror From The Deep! Ancient Fansites! Pre-Millennial Relics!

Tumblr wiped my first draft of this post, but let's give it another go all the same. Basically, I've spent many a late night hunting Bubblegum Crisis fan 'pages' (back when a website was called a webpage, boy wasn't that a time) via various links, links to other links, links to sites that can only be accessed via the Wayback Machine, ancient internet archaeologist shit. It's... fascinating work, to say the least. There's a lot of good, a lot of bad, and overall a lot of content that I feel that fans wouldn't dream of producing nowadays. RPG fansites, for example, chronicling various mecha a play session threw together via Mekton and whatnot. Or just straight-up review and explanation sites. Or sites dedicated to holding an author's fanfiction independent of Usenet or wherever.

Are any of these useful resources for a Crisis superfan? Probably not. Are they as engrossing as a good fanfic? Again, probably not, unless you're weird like me. Either way, let's get right into it.

Andy Skuse's Raven's Garage: Probably the biggest fansite still being hosted, on an individual server no less. Old, too, it got its start in 1995. Let that sink in.

Raven's Garage is a massive site, grown over the years by virtue of archiving other people's lost 'infosites', Bert Van Bilet's fanfiction, download links to Duke Nukem 3D reskins, and Craig Wigida's Fanfiction Guide... and one of Skuse's own pieces of fanfiction (it's not very good, we'll leave it for later). It's massive, not all of it is totally functional (but that's all the bits Skuse lost to time, not his fault), and it's just... essential, I guess? Yeah. Essential sounds right.

The Bubblegum Crisis Center: While this site does exist fully on the web, it's worth noting that it's primarily focused on the AIC-solo outings of Crisis (2040, ADP: To Protect And Serve, Parasite Dolls) instead of, you know, the good stuff. (Parasite Dolls always lacked a certain something for me... creativity? It's not badly written the way 2040 is, but it feels like too much of a retread of old ideas.) So we're just going to ignore it for now.

Bubblegum Crisis Links Page: A nice little Geocities (how many of these sites have a black background? Geez) dedicated to linking to other people's stuff. It's pretty big, but it ultimately pales in comparison to...

A Bunch Of Links With No Name: I'm not actually sure where I found this page, but what I do know is that it's very useful to track down small or otherwise insignificant dead pages which might be marginally amusing. You know, the kind of pages marked as 'shrines' to a given fictional character (this was before the term 'waifu' got into discourse courtesy of Azumanga Daioh). There's some weird shit in here, much of it of dubious quality, but it's funny? You can sort of giggle at how stupid people were on the internet even back before social media got just about everyone online for good. Like, and this is just an example...

The Disgruntled Fan's BGC Page: There's a few pages like this out there, where basically one guy has a beef with Priss for existing and just extrapolates that anyone who likes her is stupid. Fanfics like this, too. I've long held that if you don't like Priss, then you may not really like Crisis as much as you think you do, for she is its emotional core for better and for worse. But noooo, somehow her being part of the story makes her a screentime hog who prevents the story from reaching its true potential. Whatever that means.

(Is BGC's story not high art? Sure, but does it neeeeeeed to be? Moreover, was that Priss's fault or just the fault of creators who wanted to make something fun that didn't try to be more than it was? I'd argue the latter.)

Still, though, the writer here doesn't like No Armor Against Fate, apparently because Priss slept with a cokehead in the original version (not Neo, I don't think), and because he felt that Hagen shoved lesbian tendencies on every girl in the series. Which, hey, knowing Hagen he's probably not wrong! Still doesn't excuse the snobbiness that feels incredibly cringey in retrospect. Oh, and speaking of which:

JChao's Bubblegum Crisis Review Site: This is comedy gold. Cringe comedy, mind you, but comedy nonetheless. This is another one of those guys who wanted BGC to be 'deeper', which sounds all well and good (okay, he likes Sylia more than Priss and wishes the former got more screen time) until you click on his ADP Files review:

"This series may easily be what BGC should have been."

Grammar problems aside... yeah. This guy thinks that High Impact Sexual Violence The Anime was somehow a masterpiece of deep insight into the human condition, which should tell you everything about how seriously to take his opinions. No, really. It's funny. Laugh.

Sylia: Da Bomb: This is probably the only 'shrine' page I'll put in here, because I think it's... interesting? Y'all know I'm a serious Sylia / Celia simp, so I was interested to see what this was about when I found it on a links page. The argument the guy is laying down is essentially that Sylia is a) probably a Boomer, b) she's the coolest Knight Saber, and c) she's a stone-cold bitch who cares mostly about the mission and keeping the Sabers together, not about them individually, and we ought to love her for it. Which... yeah? Kind of? Maybe? The point is this guy makes some half-decent points (and ribs on Rei Ayanami fans) that maybe you might even halfway agree with. So if you want a decent shrine, check this out.

Bubblegum Marriage Prospects: Priss and Sylia: Even before the term waifu was popularized... there was simpage. Deep simpage. These two pages are but one part of a massive compendium of nerds writing about whether or not x or y anime girl would be good to marry and have kids with I am not making this up. And they come off very differently.

Priss? She's sexy, fast, wild, furious, dangerous, you could make good money off her rockstar career ("If you can manage a pop star, you can probably reap an enormous amount of cash"), just don't bring her home to mom and get ready to do most of the housework. Sounds great.

Sylia? Relatively attractive, but cold-blooded, solely dedicated to The Mission, and the sex? Get this:

"At first glance one would expect her to be vanilla to the core; but positions of power, abnormal childhoods, high levels of stress, and outward emotional repression are often associated with sexual... eccentricities. Do not be overly surprised to find yourself bound hand and foot, gagged, and/or suspended from the ceiling at some point during your honeymoon."

See what I'm saying? This is funny, how much thought people put into this shit like twenty years ago. And what's even funnier is that I can form opinions about this that disagree with these two writers, I have put enough thought into this. What is wrong with me? A lot.

Christian Conkle's Bubblegum Conundrum: Now we get into RPG-based fansites, which as a rule are a little less chatty and have more nice, calming spreadsheets outlining large mecha used to kill people. How pleasant.

Anyway, this site focuses around a campaign set in the Cascadia Metropolitan Axis, (Portland-Seattle-Vancouver - take that, Shadowrun!), one where the PC's and other characters actually get marker-drawn art of their fine selves and their hardsuits, plus other gear... so that's a high bar to clear right off the bat, having actual art of everyone and their toys. One gets the sense that Conkle understands the tone of BGC, too, cyberpunk that's just a little superheroically melodramatic, focusing on macro plots instead of micro plans. So it's all great fun to read.

Also worth looking at is Conkle's great big 'Garage' section, which contains tables used to rapidly construct various big bad mecha in the RTAL system... give or take some house rules. Good house rules, but house rules nonetheless.

Christian Conkle's Dragon Knights 2050: It's a later campaign Conkle did, this time constructed as an Eva ripoff, where humanity uses giant mecha piloted by kids to fight the orbital Boomer Kingdom. I never looked into it much, because hey, it's an Eva ripoff, it's really BGC. I include it out of amusement more than anything else.

Robert Farquhar's Bubblegum Crisis Web Archive: It was discovering this page, one of the many recommended by RTAL via BGC EX - that one expansion I gushed about a few posts back - that inspired me to write this whole post. And if that doesn't mean something to you... yeah.

See, even if Farquhar (whatta name that is) was focused more on an ADP-style campaign with upgraded Masamune Shirow-lookin' battlesuits, the thing about this site is that it contains the work of several other player teams uploading their hardsuits and Boomers and powersuits and characters and even a few Cyberpunk 2020 conversions for all the world to see. So there's a lot of cool concepts, and even some MS-Paint-lookin' art of some of said concepts. For that alone, I love it deeply.

Actually, there's one particular piece of art which I think was made by a guy who designed a separate hardsuit concept that I really liked. I tried finding the guy's site, but it's gone, too. Another unsolved mystery.

Kain The Seeker's Bubblegum Crush: Another site featured in BGC EX, focusing on a campaign set in Cyberpunk 2020's Night City, but alas, it's woefully incomplete. The only part of the campaign site, really, is some background and some stuff about the characters, and that's it.

Luckily, we have a rough idea of why this site is unfinished thanks to Farquhar: apparently the hard drive of 'Kain' (I do so hate people using that name for edgy fictional characters) crashed, the site was lost, and then it was resurrected, with all the Boomers and whatnot that we see fragments of on the Web Archive. Alas, that site proper is lost to time.

Maybe that's for the best, though. Some of those Boomer designs are literally 'lol your waitress Boomer now has a laser gun concealed in her, prepare to die player characters', a cheap-o CP2020 trick if there ever was one. I don't want to know what the rest was like.

Bubblegum Crossfire: Sabers and Angels: A simple little site focusing on an LA-based group, featured in BGC Ex. There's not a whole lot to recommend it, the art's small portraits and not very good ones at that, the story's a little less exciting than Conundrum... but it's there.

Bubblegum Crossroads: Chicago 2033: No art, but it's a complete RPG site with some cool worldbuilding and a cool concept for interchangeable 'battlegloves' allowing some modularity for combatants.

That's it, so far. Go forth, my children! Explore the Dead Net!

[crosby-interesting]

anonymous comments from "The Data Lounge" 2012

about Sidney :

1)It's not exactly true that he hasn't been linked to any girl. He's been linked to some old hag in the Dominican Republic, Gabriella Stern, some girl named Jess (there are actually pictures of them floating around somewhere) and Kathy Leutner. He just hasn't shown up at any team event/function with a girl.

2)Someone posted this on the talk sports girlfriend site today: "A piece of girlfriend gossip I heard and thought I would share. I by no means am claiming it to be truth just heard it from a girl I use to be friends with forever ago and now only see once a year at an annual family/friends christmas party.Anyway, apparently Sid is/was dating Karyn, a teacher from Sewickley Academy (might have the name wrong). She is/was not a permanent teacher but was taking over for a teacher on a maternity leave. My friend is a teacher-not at the same school, but knows some of the teachers there and said she kept it very lowkey and and that she was super cute and really nice.

Can he not get anyone actually attractive? Reminds me of Hugh Jackman's wife.

3)why would Sidney keep a relationship with a woman low-key? Does his father prohibit him from dating?

4)I haven't read Puckbunny Parlor in a long time, but that is where one would find gossip. Mind you, the girls there, generally, hate him. Loathe him. They think he's a semi-retarded naif puppet who has the hand of the NHL stuffed up his ass so he can sell products for them and project a squeaky clean image. Part of the hate is that the NHL has failed utterly to promote hockey beyond him and Ovechkin. To them he's just an easily manipulted oaf. Not true for all because there are starry eyed fangirls who would come in and fight the regulars. There is one woman in particular who goes by "!" there. Yes, just the exclamation point. She's an old time puckbunny who has dated hockey players for a while and had a regular guy (married) whom she doesn't name. There's another poster "Puffy" who works in either the NHL or some supporting enterprise that works closely with the NHL. These two women are very intelligent and mature and don't sound like they have a particular ax to grind. The last time I was on the site was about three years ago. At that time "!" said that when Crosby first started in Pittsburgh he dated a high school girl, a senior, whom he saw very discreetly. This "!" also said that he was later involved with a woman who was an exotic dancer and his family and Mario Lemieux made him break it off. He told them he did, but he continued to see her.

5)I found my old registration info for Puckbunny Parlor. Here's what "Silver" says about Crosby: About Sidney Crosby. There is definitely something "off" about him. But it doesn't mean that he is necessarily gay, and that's not because there is anything wrong with being gay, it just means that there is something "off" about him, as in he's "hiding something." People could assume that that feeling that he's hiding something is because he's gay and hiding it. But it doesn't have to have anything to do with being gay. IMO, people get a weird vibe from him, that is why the jokes about him being "retarded" and "gay" circulate. His behavior is odd, and the more it is highlighted by the media, the more odd it looks, especially as he gets older. But let's not forget that even his "lifestyle" is all a phony image because he is a totally marketed persona. Everything he does/says is fake and everything in the media is a carefully calculated move. TPTB want him to be this Peter Panesque man/child. I personally have no idea how or why they consider that to be admirable or desirable but it's obvious the demographics of it have worked because if it didn't and he didn't sell all of their tickets, merchandise and so on, his campaign would be dropped immediately. I cannot imagine how long this persona is going to be able to keep going. How long before even the most head in the sand, know nothing about hockey, bandwagon fan is going to start to wonder why this man is shown to still behave like a preteen. The reason he seems like a robot or unnatural or retarded or gay or anything "out of the ordinary" is because it is all an act. As the act keeps going on and on, it starts getting tiresome, and he'll start to look more and more odd and ridiculous until he's like a hairband in one of those old videos where you watch now and wonder how anyone thought that was a good choice.

6)Crosby is definitely very insulated and protected. For what? Protect him from what? Give me a break. He's a grown man for crying out-loud. Protection. Enough! Thank you.

Yes, I also do not understand for what merits the NHL management is paid a salary. Justin Bieber promotes ice hockey more than all of them put together