#april fool's day 2008

[esqueletosgays]

APRIL FOOL'S DAY (2008)

Directors: The Butcher Brothers Cinematography: Michael Maley

[unohanadaydreams]

There’s a bleach dating sim ?

No one wishes there was one more than me, but no lmao.

There was a post about a project dubbed BleachAPRIL yesterday that linked back to a little preview video on the Bleach site, using the delinquent high school art Kubo made for JET and making a game with it. I think people calling it a dating sim weren't thinking it was like a true otome or anything but more a simping game (ala Hypnosis Mic and other games that revolve around attractive anime guys but don't involve actual dating).

The game itself was an April Fool's jokes, which is very fun and I hope they do AU jokes every year. I will gladly be an April Fool for a fake Bleach game any year, every year.

But also kind sad it won't exist!!! Bleach games that dare to be more than rehashes of the main plot are rare! Really the only one I remember is The 3rd Phantom (which brought all the drama a teenager could ask for, really).

[suzuran777]

Nitro Chiral April Fools’, 2005 - 2021

Nitro Chiral recently announced that they will probably not create any new content for April Fools’ in the future. I remember really looking forward to this every year, so I was a bit sad to hear that...! They mentioned that they might change this decision again some day, so we will just have to wait and see... To remember all of the fun jokes they’ve created throughout the years I wanted to make a fun compilation of all their previous April Fools’ jokes (or at least the ones I remember and took screenshots of). Maybe someone already posted something similar, but I had a lot of fun looking at these old pictures again! 

2005 Togainu no Chi 'Vischio Jack'. This was just one month after Togainu no Chi was released! Nitro Chiral’s website was filled with Arbitro’s hobbies. He announced that the next game will be called ‘Makeinu no Chi’ which means ‘blood of the losers’... The new main visual also shows all of them bleeding from their noses lol.

Some interesting new items... the Shiki body pillow?

2006 A year later Arbitro hijacked the official website once more and comments on each Lamento character. He seems to be a fan of Konoe but the others aren't his type... This blog describes it in greater detail (Japanese only). Second part of the website teases the Togainu no Chi fighting game (咎狗の血 餓狗 Mark of the Dogs). I kind of wish they really made this game because the description of it sounds fun.

2007 Lamento Love Love Gakuen, which was later made into a real drama CD also started as an April Fools' joke! Asato is Konoe’s childhood friend in this, Rai the student council president and Bardo’s a health education teacher. 

You can still listen to some of the audio clips from the original page here! The plot doesn’t seem much different than the real drama CD they ended up making later. 

2009 Nitro Chiral mentioned they couldn’t do anything for April Fools’ 2008, but they were back in 2009 with..one of the weirder ones. They posted a teaser of their new game, ‘Sweet Potchari’ which literally means ‘sweet chubby’ and as the name suggests, they posted art of all of the sweet pool characters, but this time they’re chubby.

You could check the profile description of each character and Kunihito’s description mentions that he’s very charming and “both men and women love him” lol. I unfortunately don’t have any high quality versions of these wallpapers anymore. Someone also recorded the voice lines, though listen to it at your own risk.

2010 This time Nitro Chiral announces a new project called 'YO! Akira'. It’s Togainu no Chi except all of the characters are replaced by mannequins and they’re kinda terrifying. They made videos in which they re-created part of the opening and the game, which someone actually saved and uploaded, so you can still watch it here...! The whole thing is a parody of Japanese sketch comedy series 'Oh! Mikey!!' which focuses on an American family living in Japan, but all the characters are played by mannequins.

This blog has some more pictures of what the website looked like. The day after this Nitro Chiral made a blog post about maybe spending too much time creating these April Fools’ jokes, but it seems like they had fun! They also had no idea what to do with the mannequins after this.

2012 I think they skipped 2011 because I cannot find any information about it, so let’s move on to 2012! Arbitro took over the Nitro+Chiral website again and changed it to Bitro+Chiral...

You could play this short visual novel on the website in which Arbitro introduced his new product line-up. A hataki (feather duster) shaped like Konoe’s tail, a life-sized Akira statue made of chocolate, Onnushi-sama's curry, and blue butter which is supposed to decrease you appetite so you don't have to eat anymore. After looking at these last two pictures I think I don’t feel hungry anymore...

This is also the year DRAMAtical Murder was released, so they changed the website too! Now it’s DRAMAtical Mother, which is of course referencing the Mother series (Earthbound). You can find some more screenshots and information here.

Aoba got his own Twitter account too this year, which someone also archived here! The Twitter account actually still exists but I believe they locked it after April Fools’ ended. 

2013 This year they focused on DRAMAtical Murder too! They transformed the website into Junkshop Heibon's webstore (the store Aoba works at in the game). It feels kind of nostalgic... 

That same year they also released a radio show in which Aoba and Mizuki work for Midorijima Radio Station. They invite Koujaku, Noiz, Clear, and Mink as special guests. This has been uploaded and fan translated, so I definitely recommend checking it out here! They also ended up selling this as a CD later.

2014 This is one I remember very well because I remember playing the short game they released. It's called ‘Osu-Boys!! ~Ikemen Ryoujoku ☆ Paradise~’ and it's a short visual novel which features the four protagonists, except they're all really clumsy and end up in some really embarrassing situations... I am guessing the artstyle is supposed to be similar to KyoAni’s Free! anime.

I don’t think I can show the full pictures here because the CGs of this game are quite NSFW, but you can probably still find them somewhere online. Aoba worked at an adult goods shop in this game though, nice new job (?). Unlike the browser games, this one could be downloaded, so some people probably still have it.

2015 Arbitro once again returns and opens his own 'hentai' museum.... yeah. Someone uploaded the theme song they made for the website, you can find it here. I believe it’s supposed to be a parody of ‘Atami Hihokan’ (an adult museum).

The website shows a map of the museum and its facilities, some more pictures can be found here. I think the art of the mascots is pretty cute this time...

You could also play this minigame on the website which also featured the four protagonists. There’s still a video of someone playing through the game, so definitely check it out if you’re interested. The artstyle has a bit of a retro feel.

2016 This year the website turned into the 'Raira-ryuu honpo' official homepage, an art school that specializes in the traditional art of ...boys love. All of the characters are drawn like famous Ukiyo-e paintings.

All of the ones above are Tōshūsai Sharaku paintings, so it was pretty easy to find which ones they were referencing!

They also re-drew all of the game covers too and the descriptions of the games were pretty funny. Midorijima was transformed into a big red-light district and the people who lived there were kicked out and are now living in poverty. I hope you’re surviving, Aoba...

This time there was also a flash game which could be played on the website, a shunga (erotic painting) puzzle. You can find all of these pictures here. Like the previous year they are heavily censored and not really NSFW. 

2017 This time the April Fools’ joke is a parody of 'The World of GOLDEN EGGS', a Japanese animation series set in an American-style fictional town, except this time it’s called ‘BOYs LOVE Nitro+CHiRAL’. I’m assuming most people who have been in the fandom for some time remember this one. They created a short YouTube video series and it had English subs. You can still find the videos if you look for them on YouTube so please watch them...! It’s all worth it for Konoe singing ‘I’m in Blue’ and the Rhyme fight.

Youji is always the victim of these awkward conversations... Some more pictures here! You can find the YouTube videos by just searching for the title of the series mentioned above.

2019 After 2017 they stopped updating their website on April Fools’, probably because they were busy working on Slow Damage, but in 2019 they did post some extra illustrations. Not the most happy kind of illustrations, featuring the protagonists and Naito-kun apologizing because they couldn’t do anything for April Fools’ that year...

2021 Unfortunately this is the last one! 2021 is the year Slow Damage was released, so it makes sense the final April Fools' joke focuses on them. It's called 'Warau Euphoria', which means ‘laughing euphoria’. It’s a reference to Japanese series 'The Laughing Salesman', so they're also drawn in a similar artstyle. 

The website has a warning that you need to be over 35 years old to enter instead of the usual 18+ warning lol. They also got Towa’s voice actor to record a couple of new lines on the webpage, if you click here you can still listen to a recording of it.

I’m a bit sad they might not do any of this stuff anymore in the future, but I’m also glad many people recorded videos of the old websites and minigames so we can still enjoy them even now. I couldn’t include every single screenshot in this blog post, so I tried my best to link other pages with more information.

I had a lot of fun checking out their website every year and I really appreciate the effort they put into all of this. I might update this blog with some additional info later!

[should-know-better]

An interview from Italian Rolling Stone Magazine which I put through Google Translate.

- Note how Alex says that Sweet Dreams TN is about a beautiful Mexican girl 🤔

- Also how Alex is self deprecating about his nose 🥺

Fooling around with the Last Shadow Puppets

Alex Turner, frontman of Arctic Monkeys, and Miles Kane are more like brothers than friends, and they introduce us to the new album by stealing each other's jokes.

25 April 2016. Di Silvia Danielli

They look at each other secretly and burst out laughing, one finishes the other's sentence, from one word they begin to remember a thousand anecdotes about them. They call it bromance, that friendship between two people of the male sex so strong that it resembles a romantic brotherhood. Once upon a time, Bruce Springsteen and his saxophonist Clarence Clemons were a clear example of this, while in the Hollywood field it is Brad Pitt and George Clooney or Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Alex Turner and Miles Kane, both recently thirty, of The Last Shadow Puppets are no less so.

Some classify it only as the side project of Turner, frontman of Arctic Monkeys, others see its potential. Turner and Kane, the latter in the Rascals and Little Flames and now a soloist for a few years, met at a concert in 2005 and since then "have never left each other". In their free time, obviously, because Arctic Monkeys are a group with a high maintenance rate with a fan base worthy of a boy band and Last Shadow Puppets represent, after all, the time for messing around. In these years they have only produced the album The Age of the Understatement in 2008 and now Everything You've Come to Expect. The proportions, however, could also be reversed: AM are currently at a standstill, TLSP have recently started a long world tour (with two dates in Italy: July 5 in Ferrara and July 6 in Milan) and they already have the last chapter of this ideal trilogy ready (even if they still don't know when it will be released).

We meet them in a boutique hotel in London and it’s 9.30 in the morning. Early for them, very early in fact. Alex is the first to arrive and, even with his eyes rumpled and his quiff ruffled, he is still elegant. Like a new crooner, one might say, in tune with the general mood of TLSP. He starts interviewing me: “Where have you been in London these two days? Where did you eat your Sunday roast? Do you like Saint Paul’s?” After asking him in turn and finding out that he has a house in London, that on Sunday he was also in the Islington neighborhood for the ritual of the roast at the pub with friends and that the ghostly atmosphere of Saint Paul’s Cathedral scares him, Miles arrives and apologizes for the delay. I immediately sense that interviewing two subjects suffering from a bromance at the same time will be anything but simple.

Turner and Kane have both left England (Turner is from Sheffield and Miles from Birkenhead) to live in Los Angeles, so they have even more anecdotes to share, without involving the third wheel (me). They recorded this new album at Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, once Bob Dylan’s and now Rick Rubin’s. They certainly had a pretty good time during that time: “Well, you know, having the Pacific Ocean in front of you all the time gives you a certain energy. Nothing like recording the previous album in the north of France. We also had lots of friends who came to visit us while we were in the studio. And we never went to the beach, you know, otherwise we would have been too distracted. Anyway, that air, the moonlight, the romantic atmosphere…” They laugh. And any chance of bringing them back to a more serious tone is lost forever. They steal each other’s jokes, like when they swear that in L.A. they go to bed early, “because, you know, we wake up really early.” Looks of understanding. And they say they only get pissed off for “fundamental” reasons: “For example, when we both want to wear white shoes in the evening. Even now, I arrived late because I had to change, for example,” Miles explains.

Back on track with Everything You’ve Come to Expect, they say they once again used James Ford (also in Simian Mobile Disco) on drums, Zach Dawes of Mini Mansions on bass and Owen Pallett on strings, but this time they limited the references to Scott Walker: «We chose him for his ability to use strings and transform the pieces into ideal soundtracks, but this time it went differently: we tried to give it a more personal touch». Like the first album, however, this one also seems like a soundtrack with a dreamlike atmosphere. And they reiterate it, using the word dream in two titles: The Dream Synopsis and Sweet Dreams. «Yes, you know, dreams are important, don’t you think?», Alex sneers. Apart from everything else, Sweet Dreams, where Alex brings out his best crooning skills, is remarkable. «It’s the only love song on the album, you know? Dedicated to this Mexican girl, very beautiful…», and he starts singing.

The two have defined the sound of this album as halfway between the Beatles and the Fast and Furious. The first reference is evident in some songs (in the title track, for example), but for the second I ask for explanations: perhaps it applies to the first single they chose, Bad Habits, which is the most rhythmic, quite different from the others and reminiscent of the Strokes. «It could be, some of the Strokes' albums were really fundamental for us, and we still like them». In fact, the video of the two of them at the Strokes concert in New York last summer, while they happily dance to Barely Legal in Hyde Park, went viral in a short time. Like the photos that portray them with it girls, from Alexa Chung to Suki Waterhouse, or the models of the moment, to the delight of the English gossip newspapers. Tombeur de femmes? They laugh. Surely fans of the genre, to the point of choosing sensual women for the covers of their albums, like for the latest one, where there is a young Tina Turner. “Always better,” Alex concludes, “than putting my nose on the cover, don’t you think?”

[annbourbon]

Cheritzverse Timeline~

* This is only to show the dates and the way all this is linked (the information is already established through these games, so I'm only keeping track of what they say but not if the game is in a different Timeline, or Space, for more on this topic please check out my Beyond The Planets post.

If anyone has different ideas, is welcomed to share those by reblogging it. Screenshots and evidence will be necessary to be credited.

2006 -

2008 ~ Before Dandelion Events

♡ Heejung moves from Seoul to Busan

2009

2010 ~ Beginnings of Mint Eye

♡ Sally (Rika's dog) dies here or beginnings of 2011

♡ During June's Route (set around 2013) is said the RFA is still a work in progress. But we know Mint Eye started before. While this is a little theory I have... what if Mint Eye starts when you're dating Zen (remember Rika was a fan of Zen? Just saying~)

♡ It's usually said that the first years of any kind of project are hard~ and we see Mint Eye believers starting to gather power throughout The Ssum. Which is why I have settled Mint Eye beginnings around this time. Still need to decide the actual date though.

♡ Check the first year of Mystic Messenger Timeline. Come back.

♡ Possible beginnings of 2011 or lasts months of 2010 but the Dr Cus was kidnapped. According to JJ, 2 years before~ although considering Henri's timeline, it's not necessarily here. But from here till the end of 2011 at least. If you can find more clues~ it'd be very helpful. You're gonna be credited ofc.

2011 ~ 2013: The Ssum & Nameless (In Between)

* I believe The Ssum events start a bit before The Ssum.

2011

♡ It is said during Mystic Messenger that Zen has been without a girlfriend for 5 years. And to add to it: The Ssum (Teo route) says that Zen was your ex boyfriend.

If we take Mystic Messenger and The Ssum work together, Zen definitely was our ex boyfriend before Mystic Messenger. For those who don't understand why he doesn't remember us, it's implied during Epiphany (Zen's DLC, April Fools Day) that he was trapped inside.

Then several chat rooms and calls during Casual and Deep Story suggest that Zen does remember but only certain parts and that he only remembers everything by the time MC has picked a LI which makes it impossible for him to butt in, so instead he tries to steer things in the right direction for us to have a happy ending. An example of this~ a call with Zen before things started to get serious with Jumin, said that he dreamt of us being trapped inside a cage.

♡ Possible beginnings of 2011 or lasts months of 2010 but the Dr Cus was kidnapped. According to JJ, 2 years before~ although considering Henri's timeline, it's not necessarily here. But from here till the end of 2011 at least. If you can find more clues~ it'd be very helpful. You're gonna be credited ofc.

2011 ~ 2012 Dandelion Events

♡ Heejung's father escaped with an artist, and young woman. Dandelion.

♡ Rika meets V.

♡ Unsure if it's during 2011 or 2012 but~ Rika and V engagement.

♡ Nameless Events

2013 ~ The Ssum Events

Check The Ssum Timeline

♡ Jaehee barely started to work for Jumin during this TL (2013, around June or July) and Elizabeth the 3rd escaped for Teo to take care of her during one day. I believe that even though it's implied that Jumin Han was the owner, he was not yet officially the owner of the cat.

Theory: However, the more I think about these events, this escape seems to be part of some training Elizabeth the 3rd received from part of Mint Eye. I saw a post here on Tumblr (wish I could find it) saying that Elizabeth the 3rd might have been abducted and lured with a whistle. But what if in addition to that, she was trained too? While it's difficult to train cats, it's not entirely impossible. I think part of it also explains why she was so easy to capture if she bonded with Saeran and Rika first.

* Teo Route starts at least some months or weeks before we see Jaehee, this settles the story beginnings of 2013. Remember Jaehee said she had been working for Jumin 2 years and a half in 2016. For continuity issues, I would settle Teo Route around November or December 2012 and Jaehee something around beginnings of 2013, giving enough time to Harry's route. June and Henri need to be play together:

Teo entire route [beginnings of 2013]

Harry till day 200 [2013 till 2014]

June season 1 (30 days) ~ Harry Day 230

Henri s1 and June s2 ft. Harry Day 260

*There might be a time where you're dating Teo and Harry at the same time, even the options suggest it as a choice. This can be why the Angel confronts you about it.

♡ Mint Eye makes several attempts to drag Teo.

^^;; please don't mind my wall~ i'm painting behind and that's why it looks a bit weird. Now let's make a close up~

♡ During June's Route (set around 2013) is said the RFA is still a work in progress. But we know Mint Eye started before.

Yes. I put the same text twice. It helps to create an idea of when things are happening.

♡ Slightly mentioning Unicorn Drugs because I'm working on tracking the drugs they give to us or to the LIs.

Theories on why probably June's wasn't mentioned before:

1. His condition and S.Korean society around these topics. Best example of this? Rika and Saeran. Not confirmed but implied during June's Route, when he goes to the wedding.

2. Possible death.

3. On a more cheerful note, he probably is still alive but people don't talk about him because of how that affects Jumin Han and Chairman Han reputation. And of course, the C&R. Confirmed: June is an illegitimate son. Carolyn had it out of wedlock, had an affair with June's dad. And went to Chairman Han to ask for help. The nerve of this woman 😳

Take it with grain of salt but ^^;; June's father was a singer?

♡ Heejung's father escaped with an artist, and young woman. Dandelion.

♡ Carolyn (Jumin's and June's mom) was said to be an artist, singer? She had an affair with June's father, abandoned Jumin's and Chairman Han, tried to make June look like he was Chairman's son but ended up divorcing him and marrying June's dad. The Ssum.

In the end I don't think any of these events are mutually exclusive but inclusive. And if things don't make sense yet, don't worry, I'm covering a relationship chart soon~

So, Harry knows Seven. June and Jumin are half-brothers. June and Henri know each other. Henri hates Jumin but works for him lol and Henri's dad works for Chairman Han. Yeah all this is connected in a way or another.

To understand why I'm talking about Another Story as Part 1 and Part 2~ you guys need to check out my Mystic Messenger TL.

BTW~ I'm suspecting a connection between Harry (since his parents are basically bullies and kind of gangsta and laundering money through art~) V, Jumin and Rika. All through The Muse collection.

Like I said to @cherrychipheart once, looking at the background of Dandelion, I could see some V pictures behind the gallery where Heejung works. So this is a personal theory I have but~ I believe that The Ssum is the story of MC before disappearing, cause she's being captured for Mint Eye. TBH after playing Dandelion I have trust issues with every character within the Cheritzverse lol

And I have yet to finish it ��﹏╥

There's a full moon behind Saeran and MC pic too~

How come the Angel has chosen the moon as his symbol? And why Harry placed a moon on his profile picture right after we broke up? Does anyone remembers the Angel call before that day? He was basically calling us and being all scary in a similar style to Unknown. Does any of this sounds more like The Wizard than Unknown? Because it does to me. But that's for another topic. Yes, I'm already onto "The Angel" and working full time on it.

2016 ~ Mystic Messenger Timeline

♡ 2016 includes Casual and Deep as whole. But remember the events in Jumin's trigger Saeran's AE and Saeyoung's route too. That proposal to MC was too public for the twins.

* Because of time travel, Mystic Messenger is a non linear story, which means you need to pick upon clues here and there to understand where the timeline goes. The other games have a similar issue but not as pronounced as this.

⋆ ₊ ﾟ ☽ * ₊ ⋆⋆ ₊ ﾟ ☽ * ₊ ⋆⋆ ₊ ﾟ ☽ * ₊ ⋆⋆ ₊ ﾟ ☽ * ₊ ⋆

*Notes: I already ran out of space for images so if any other thing or piece of information is dropped, I'll create a second part, however this should cover the basics. Also, if additional info comes up~ i'll update it!

Other Notes:

♡ Harry and Teo Spoilers

[haveyouusedthispokemon]

Omg when I submitter her I didnt realise today was her birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TETO!!!

She was an April Fools day joke from 2008 that grew in so much popularity that she got her own voice bank! And she deserves it, happy birthday Teto

[heaven-sent-hell-bent]

There’s literally a horror movie for like every holiday (if I miss any please tell me!!!)

New Years: Bloody New Year (1987)

Halloween: Halloween (very hard to see I know) (1978)

Thanksgiving: ThanksKilling (2007)

Valentines Day: My Bloody Valentine (1981)

April 1st (aka Fools day): April Fool’s Day(1986)

Christmas: Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)

Hanukkah: Hanukkah (2019)

Memorial Day: Memorial Day (1999)

Chinese New Year: Seventh Moon (2008)

Mardi Gras: Curse of Mardi Gras (2002)

Saint Patrick’s Day: 10 Unlucky Charms (2013)

[ropermike]

A woman finds her brother tied to a chair as part of an elaborate prank.

[ladzwriting]

Honestly, Ladz, I'm scared to read fealty even though I bought it. I feel like I'll become obsessed and then want something similar

I am so flattered by this; thank you so much!!

In terms of becoming obsessed and wanting more, there are minimum 7 more volumes to write (it takes a long time to stop a forever war while preserving a vestigial empire, who knew!). But in the interim of me writing them, I have a carefully curated to-read list for the different aspects of FEALTY that you like most.

NON-FICTION (also featured in the back of the book)

The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II by Svetlana Alexievich (2017)

God's Playground: A History of Poland, Volumes 1 & 2 by Normal Davies (2005)

Revolutionary Russia, 1891 - 1991: A History by Orlando Figes (2015)

Queer Gothic by George Haggerty (2006)

Rasputin: Faith, Power, and the Twilight of the Romanovs by Douglas Smith (2016)

VAMPIRES

Hellsing by Kouta Hirano (1997 - 2008)

Monogatari by nisiOisin, illustrated by Vofan (2005 - Present)

Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi, illus. Yoshitaka Amano (2005 - Present in English)

A Flame in the Night by Morgan Dante (2023)

Ossuary by T.D. Cloud, illus. by Ambi Sun (2023)

Unholy with Eyes Like Wolves by Morgan Dante (April 2024)

Mistress of Lies by K.M. Enright (August 2024)

SLAVIC POLITICAL FANTASY

Tower of Fools by Andrzej Sapkowski (2020 in English)

The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid (2021)

Kalyna the Soothsayer by Elijah Kinch Spector (2022)

SLAVIC FICTION

Day of the Oprichnik by Vladimir Sorokin (2011 in English)

The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczyk (2022 in English)

GENERAL POLITICAL FANTASY

Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake (1946)

Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake (1950)

Titus Alone by Mervyn Peake (1959)

Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey (2001)

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth J. Dickinson (2015)

GOTHIC FICTION

tbh Mervyn Peake's books also work for this category

The Monk by Matthew G. Lewis (1796)

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh (2022)

The Lord of Astiigos by Soren Häxan (2023); please note: there is an update coming in the next few months

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw (2023)

BLURBER BOOKS

(if not in previous sections)

Little Death by Pom Poison (2022 - Present)

A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock (2023)

A Necessary Chaos by Brent Lambert (2023)

All Tomorrow's Photos Duology by S.S. Genesee (2023)

VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY

Bloodborne (2015), especially Castle Cainhurst

Fire Emblem Three Houses (2019), the Black Eagles house

I think this is most of it!! I have read and reviewed most of these on my blog, where you will find things like content and trigger warnings.

Hope this answers the questions and please take your time! FEALTY is a dense, gory book with a lot happening both politically and interpersonally, so don't feel bad about taking time to get into it.

It took me a few years from purchase to actually reading Mervyn Peake's work, for example, and it absolutely came at the right time for me.

I hope this answers the ask!

[stenka-razin]

in 2023 I watched some movies

I was gonna catch up on all those best picture nominees from the last 5 years, but watched crap like Caligula 2 instead

The 1989 World Tour - Live (2015, dir. Jonas Åkerlund) Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022, dir. Rian Johnson) Flight 666 (2008, dir. Scot McFayden and Sam Dunn) Dracula (1931, dir. Todd Browning) Moonraker (1979, dir. Lewis Gilbert) The Pez Outlaw (2022, dir. Bryan Storkel and Amy Bandlien Storkel) Encino Man (1992, dir. Les Mayfield) Star Trek: Insurrection (1998, dir. Jonathan Frakes) Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood (2019, dir. Quentin Tarantino) Cleopatra (1963, dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz) The Alligator People (1959, dir. Roy Del Ruth) The Silence of the Lambs (1991, dir. Thomas Demme) Godzilla vs. Megalon (“ゴジラ対メガロ” 1973, dir. Jun Fukuda) Invasion of Astro-Monster (“怪獣大戦争” 1965, dir. Ishirō Honda) Breaking a Monster (2015, dir. Luke Meyer) Terror at Orgy Castle (1971, dir. Zoltan G. Spencer) Wake in Fright ("Outback" 1971, dir. Ted Kotcheff) m.A.A.d. (2014, dir. Khalil Joseph) Reservoir Dogs (1992, dir. Quentin Tarantino) Kung Pow! Enter the Fist (2002, dir. Steve Oedekerk) House (1977, dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi) Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981, dir. Steven Spielberg) Dunkirk (2017, dir. Christopher Nolan) Final Destination (2000, dir. James Wong) Glitch: The Rise & Fall of HQ Trivia (2023, dir. Salima Koroma) Basic Instinct (1992, dir. Paul Verhoeven) Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (1985, dir. Tim Burton) Caligula 2: The Untold Story (“Caligola: La storia mai raccontata” 1982, dir. Joe D’Amato) La noche del terror ciego (1972, dir. Amando de Ossorio) Rocky IV (1985, dir. Sylvester Stallone) Saw IV (2007, dir. Darren Lynn Bousman) House of Wax (1953, dir. Andre DeToth) Thir13en Ghosts (2001, dir. Steve Beck) Kashchey the Immortal (“Кащей Бессмертный” 1944, dir. Aleksandr Rou) Ghost Ship (2002, dir. Steve Beck) The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971, dir. Piers Haggard) The Face of Fu Manchu (1965, dir. Don Sharp) The Brides of Fu Manchu (1966, dir. Don Sharp) The Vengeance of Fu Manchu (1967, dir. Jeremy Summers) The Blood of Fu Manchu (1968, dir. Jesús Franco) April Fool's Day (1986, dir. Fred Walton) It's Pat 1994, dir. Adam Bernstein) The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969, dir. Jesús Franco) Adam and Eve Meet the Cannibals ("Adam ed Eve, la prima storia d'amore" 1983, dir. Enzo Doria & Luigi Rosso) The Mountain of the Cannibal God (“La montagna del dio cannibale” 1978, dir. Sergio Martino) When Harry Met Sally… (1989, dir. Rob Reiner) Beetlejuice (1988, dir. Tim Burton) Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (2001, dir. Peter Jackson, Long as Shit Version) The Hobbit (1977, dir. Arthur Rankin Jr. & Jules Bass) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920, dir. Robert Wiene) The Wicker Man (1973, dir. Robin Hardy) The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974, dir. Tobe Hooper) House of 1000 Corpses (2003, dir. Rob Zombie) Chopping Mall (1986, dir. Jim Wynorski) Basket Case (1982, dir. Frank Henenlotter) Cube (1997, dir. Vincenzo Natali) Cube 2: Hypercube (2002, dir. Andrzej Sekula) Practical Magic (1998, dir. Griffin Dunne) Tropic Thunder (2008, dir. Ben Stiller) Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015, dir. J.J. Abrams) Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017, dir. Rian Johnson) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019, dir. J.J. Abrams) Eyes Wide Shut (1999, dir. Stanley Kubrick) Superbad (2007, dir. Greg Mottola) Bruce Almighty (2003, dir. Tom Shadyac) House of Flying Daggers (“十面埋伏” 2004, dir. Zhang Yimou) Saltburn (2023, dir. Emerald Fennell) Grandma’s Boy (2006, dir. Nicholaus Goossen) Five Nights at Freddy's (2023, dir. Emma Tammi) Caligula and Messalina (“Caligula et Messaline” 1981, dir. Bruno Mattei) The Wizard of Oz (1939, dir. Victor Fleming, King Vidor, George Cukor, and Norman Taurog) A Christmas Prince (2017, dir. Alex Zamm) A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding (2018, dir. John Schulz) The Knight Before Christmas (2019, dir. Monika Mitchell) Goldfinger (1964, dir. Guy Hamilton) Total Recall (1990, dir. Paul Verhoeven)

[haveyouseenthishorrormovie]

Stats from Movies 1001-1100

Top 10 Movies - Highest Number of Votes

Pet Sematary (1989) had the most votes with 921 votes. I Know What You Need (2023) had the least votes with 310 votes.

The 10 Most Watched Films by Percentage

Sleepy Hollow (1999) was the most watched film with 56.4% of voters out of 424 saying they had seen it. Saint Drogo (2023) had the least "Yes" votes with 0.2% of voters out of 495.

The 10 Least Watched Films by Percentage

They/Them (2022) was the least watched film with 62.8% of voters out of 682 saying they hadn’t seen it. I Know What You Need (2023) had the least "No" votes with 5,2% of voters out of 310.

The 10 Most Known Films by Percentage

Pet Sematary (1989) was the best known film, 3,8% of voters out of 921 saying they’d never heard of it.

The 10 Least Known Films by Percentage

I Know What You Need (2023) was the least known film, 94.2% of voters out of 310 saying they’d never heard of it.

The movies part of the statistic count and their polls below the cut.

What Josiah Saw (2021) It Comes at Night (2017) Something in the Dirt (2022) Lisa Frankenstein (2024) The Toxic Slime Creature (1982) The House of the Devil (2009) The Dark and the Wicked (2020) Shin Godzilla (2016) Run (2020) Nine Dead (2009)

The Addiction (1995) The Guardian (1990) Open 24 Hours (2018) Here Comes Hell (2019) Sweet Home (2015) Like Dogs (2021) The Stylist (2020) Saint Drogo (2023) Girl on the Third Floor (2019) Evil Bong (2006)

The Hunger (1983) Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (1988) Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama 2 (2022) Bed Rest (2022) Witchhammer (1970) Leonor (1975) Cold Skin (2017) The Vourdalak (2023) Blood for Dracula (1974) Flesh for Frankenstein (1973)

The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer (2003) The Dirties (2013) The Vigil (2019) Storm of the Century (1999) Infinity Pool (2023) The Final Wish (2018) Devil (2010) Uzumaki (2000) Horror in the High Desert 2: Minerva (2023) Blood Red Sky (2021)

The Finale (2023) The People Under the Stairs (1991) Eli (2019) Autopsy (2008) Sleepy Hollow (1999) The Gay Bed and Breakfast of Terror (2007) I Walked with a Zombie (1943) Paganini Horror (1988) Titane (2021) Burying the Ex (2014)

They Remain (2018) Vicious Fun (2020) Vivarium (2019) Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel (2018) Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire (2019) Summer of '84 (2018) A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) Sweet Sixteen (1983) Popcorn (1991) April Fool's Day (1986)

Eerie (2018) Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989) Greener Grass (2019) The Innocents (2021) Dark Harvest (2023) Häxan (1922) Dark Light (2019) Arthur, Malédiction (2022) Polaroid (2019) Antisocial (2013)

Headless Horseman (2007) Radius (2017) Goblin (2020) Havenhurst (2016) The ABCs of Death (2012) Abandoned Dead (2015) Pet Sematary (1989) Dark Water (2005) Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor (2023) Witches Straight From Hell (2023)

Belzebuth (2017) Fade to Black (1980) Scanners (1981) Blood Punch (2013) Cannibals and Carpet Fitters (2017) Split (2016) Game of Death (2017) Paperhouse (1988) The Baby (1973) Splatter: Naked Blood (1996)

A Perfect Child of Satan (2012) Blair Witch (2016) Night of the Devils (1972) I Know What You Need (2023) Midnight Son (2011) Slaxx (2020) They/Them (2022) The Darkness (2016) Wind Chill (2007) Crypt of the Vampire (1964)

[compacflt]

okay "normie median Biden voter ice" got me. That's funny. But also so true! It prob took him a bit to vote dem too (though I believe that Ice would have never voted for Trump). Would love to hear more thoughts on Ice and Mav's politics. Also the list of who they would have voted for if you're willing to share.

i do worry that posting my extremely in-depth headcanons about some of this stuff will have the JKR “wizard shit” effect on my writing and ruin it a little, but ask and ye shall receive

copy-pasted straight from my list of “unhinged compacflt!top gun headcanons” that ive been keeping since september: on ice & mav's politics

16. Since their friendship began, Ice has always told Maverick who to vote for, since Maverick doesn't care enough to pay attention to national politics. They are begrudging ConservaDems (conservative political views, would vote conservative every election if Republicans weren’t actively sending them to war/actively promoting fascism). Ice’s voting record (and after 1988, Mav’s too) 1980-2020—note that he has always considered himself an “educated moderate”: 1980: Reagan. 1984: Reagan. 1988: Bush. 1992: Bush. 1996: Clinton (reaction to aftermath of PGW. Doesn’t care that Clinton enacted DADT because “I’m not [redacted], so it doesn’t apply to me”). 2000: Gore (refusal to vote for another Bush). 2004: Kerry (Mav votes Bush this year out of spite as he and Ice are going through their break-up). 2008: McCain (Navy loyalty). 2012: Obama (liked him as a person/worked closely with him, didn’t like his policies so much). 2016: Clinton (no other alternative). 2020: Biden (actually liked/previously worked with Biden, and now actively married to another man and therefore had to make some liberal concessions). 2024-onwards they will vote for any Democrat as long as they aren’t a “socialist.”

17. Also, Maverick didn’t vote in 2016. Partially because in my universe the TGM mission takes place that November, very near the election, and he has bigger fish to fry (something Ice will later take him to task for), and partially because I genuinely think he wouldn’t be able to stomach either mainstream candidate and probably would’ve voted for Libertarian Gary Johnson, which might have torn his relationship with Ice to shreds a few days before schedule. “Are you fucking kidding me? Johnson? Pete, this moron’s moronic party wants to abolish the driver’s license—” / “—Yeah, and then I could ride your sweet wheels with no problem whatsoever—maybe he’ll abolish pilots’ licenses, too, I’d like to see that—” / “If you vote for Gary fucking Johnson, I will very happily stop footing the bill for your piece-of-shit airplane, and you can see how useful your pilot’s license is then—” / So Mav didn’t vote in 2016. 

35. In terms of what he Tweets: I do foresee, post-retirement, Ice basically becoming a neoliberal military intellectual type on Twitter a la Mark Hertling (look him up on Twitter). Bio: “Retired @SECNAV. Advisor @WhiteHouse and @VoteVets. Contributing writer @TheAtlantic. Interested in geopolitics & modern warfare. Aviator, husband, Padres fan. [American flag emoji]” Only posts pictures of himself and Maverick at three specific annual events: 1. their wedding anniversary (“36 years with this fool and he’s still surprised to find out that I like the F-5 better than the A-4 #happyanniversary”), 2. every EAA Airventure (huge airplane convention), 3. San Francisco’s Fleet Week (which of course they MUST attend, they even headline it in 2018). Informative, analytical, highly-respected. Maybe goes on CNN or NBC all the time to talk about civil-military relations shit (aversion to FOX since the start of the Iraq War). Gonna say he had like four really viral threads about Russia and Ukraine in April or May and so has 300k followers or something like that. He has a personal website that links back to his Twitter and every essay he writes for international publications, with a pretty braggadocious bio (something along the lines of “Tom Kazansky has directly almost started global nuclear war twice in his life, and in the thirty-year gap in between, sold the Swiss half their entire goddamn Air Force and directed an entire Fleet during the Iraq War”). Lots of tweets like “Military aviation hot take: Compared to the F-22, the F-35 is a waste of money. Source: husband with 400+ hours of F-35 experience.” / “[Quote tweet of Russian Foreign Minister boasting about Su-57 production lines] Oh, so you guys finally figured out how to make more than one every other year?” / “Analysis of the failure of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine, from an ex-US Pacific Fleet Commander’s perspective: a short [thread emoji] [This thread gets 26k likes and 4k retweets]” / “This weekend my husband & I flew in to @EAA Oshkosh #OSH19 & took home first place for best P-51. Not to brag, but.” (A reply to this tweet: “Sir, you really know how to bury the lede that your husband is Adm. Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell. I had to look it up on Wikipedia.” / @TKazansky: “What, was it not obvious? Who else could it have been?”) Also, I see him writing a whole bunch of op-eds for international political magazines a la Tom Nichols (look him up on Twitter too). Writing analyses of recent geopolitical/military events for the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Bulwark, the Navy Times, the Atlantic, Bellingcat, etc. Not so much focused on domestic issues (but VoteVets [socially progressive vets’ group] board member, and ardently pro-democracy, yay!). He’s a smart guy.

37. This is not a headcanon, just kind of a… a real-life implication. My Ice was Deputy Commander of Third Fleet in 2003, meaning he’d have been there in command of the USS Abraham Lincoln when President Bush gave his “Mission Accomplished” speech aboard that ship in May less than 2 months after the initial American invasion of Iraq. Very premature & embarrassing. Ice would’ve been in direct contact with Bush/Cheney/NSC bureaucrats many, many times during the war. I genuinely believe this is what pushed him over the edge into firm liberal territory.

[animesavior]

“There's nothing guaranteeing tomorrow. We could die today or we could die 60 years from now. Either way there's never enough time to do everything we want. With that in mind...I'm gonna...” -          Akira Tendou, Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead (Ep. 01)

The Toonami Trending Rundown for March 30-31, 2024.

With a zombie apocalypse striking Tokyo, Akira is freed from the toxic environment of his former job to complete his bucket list of things he wants to do, as Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead makes its premiere on Toonami.

On Twitter, #Toonami trended in the United States alongside Ninja Kamui, Zom 100, and Lycoris Recoil. #Toonami also trended on Tumblr.

This past Monday marked the 12th anniversary of “The Night no 90’s Kid Slept.” When on April Fools Day 2012, what was originally thought was another rerun of The Room turned out to be a sudden revival of Toonami after being cancelled for over four years. Thanks to incredible fan support, the block would be resurrected for real nearly two months later, which has now surpassed the lifespan of its original 1997-2008 run. Here’s to many more years of Toonami to come.

Last week, Toho Animation released a new trailer for the upcoming 7th season of My Hero Academia, which will begin airing on May 4th. You can see an English translated version of the trailer below. In addition, four special recap episodes titled My Hero Academia: Memories, will be airing weekly beginning on April 6 and through the weeks up to the season premiere. As with previous seasons, Crunchyroll will simulcast the new season and will be producing dubs for season 7.

Toho has also announced this morning that a new My Hero Academia film is also in the works. Titled “You’re Next”, the film will be premiering in Japanese theaters on August 2, 2024. Plans for a release stateside have yet to be revealed as of this writing.

On Tuesday, the anime world bid adieu to Funimation, as Sony has shut down the FunimationNow service (with funimation.com now redirecting to crunchyroll.com), completing its merger with Crunchyroll. Funimation is one of Toonami's long time media partners, going back as far as when DBZ first aired on the block in 1999.

And on that note, if you missed it, I posted an Op-Ed this week titled "The 2020’s Anime and Streaming Service Bubble Burst," as I look into the controversies regarding the Warner Bros Discovery merger, the Funimation-Crunchyroll merger, their respective effects on Toonami, and how what's going on with both could lead to another anime bubble burst, and one for streaming services overall.

Legend: The shows listed are ordered based on their appearance on the schedule. Show trends are listed in bold. The number next to the listed trend represents the highest it trended on the list (not counting the promoted trend), judging only by the images placed in the rundown. For the Twitter tweet counts, the listed number of tweets are also sorely based on the highest number shown based on the images on the rundown.

United States Trends:

#Toonami [#Zom100]

#NinjaKamui [Trended with #Toonami and #Zom100]

#Zom100 [#6]

#LycorisRecoil [Trended with #Toonami and #Zom100]

Tweet Counts:

#Zom100 [2,927 tweets]

Tumblr Trends:

#Toonami [#2]

If you wish to send me a tip for the work on the trending rundown, donations can be sent to PayPal.Me/DanielLimjoco.

Get Ready to Run for Your Life. Only Toonami on [adult swim] on Cartoon Network.

[very-best-vivosaur]

Alright, last one before preparations are complete!

[stygiusfic]

u cant spell sword without words thats what i always say. with that in mind pls 19, 20, 22 and 23 :D

you are RIGHT and you should say it!! those five letters don't lie!! <3

19. the most interesting topic you've researched for a fic

traditionally I've been allergic to writing anything that requires extensive research. either I won't have the patience for it, or worse, I'll get sucked into the research and never actually start writing. this is why I don't do modern AUs, I prefer to write fictional settings where I can make up the rules.

i did fall down a research hole of flower language when i was writing the hanahaki fic, and that was a lot of fun! (I did waste weeks of bigbang drafting time on that, though...)

20. in what year did you publish your first fic?

trying to count the rings on my tree trunk, i see... my earliest fic posted to ao3 on my first account is dated May 2008, but I was definitely posting elsewhere online for quite a few years before that. I think the very first may have been around 2003 on a forum for my first fandom, but I've lost track of the post so idk for sure. 

22. do you ever worry about public reaction to what you're writing? how do you get past that?

let me tell you a story. I wrote that cursed skelly/zagreus fic (my proud masterpiece Hard to Port) in half a day in january of 2021 to mess with all-star hades writer thepleiades, and I was half-expecting I would be chased out of the fandom with torches and pitchforks for it, so I waited until April Fool's to post it, for plausible deniability.

then after posting it I gained 3 whole subscribers on ao3. the following day i posted a perfectly normal thanzag fic and I lost 4 subscribers

the lesson from the universe here is to always write for the sake of trolling your friends and having fun, and also that trying to predict anyone else's reactions is probably pointless. 

(it still gives me weird anxiety to post now and then, especially if it's something i worked hard on, but slowly I'm getting better at turning my brain off after I hit post. my days of vibrating out of my skin hoping my latest fic will be well-received are certainly coming to a middle. maybe even three-quarters!)

23. pick three words that describe your writing

i answered this one here so i will trade you for the next!

24. how do you recharge when you're not feeling creative?

brain's a sponge so sometimes you just have to walk away if there isn't enough water to squeeze out. I like to read and watch new media for a change of pace, and usually that helps get me out of a rut! other times I'm stuck because the story has a problem I haven't figured out how to fix yet, and when that happens I talk about it to my pet bunny and he just stares or lies down because he enjoys hearing voices. and then very often my problem is magically fixed!

(wip ask meme)

[youngveinsworld]

a recap of the young veins' show at webster underground in connecticut on 1 april 2010

It's weird to consider former Panic at the Disco rockstars Ryan Ross and Jon Walker playing a venue so small. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you its about the size of a 2 car garage and not quite as wide. A ceiling so low its claustrophobic. The floor literally bounces when you walk on it, as if it's going to give way (which I presume someday it will, hope I’m not there).

7:30pm we walk in to the band first drum hit. and there right before me was Ryan Ross, still the baby faced young man you could spot a mile away holding a giant guitar and smiling.

This I have to stop and point out to you. When last I saw PATD (2008) we were stunned at how timid, scared and almost neurotic he appeared. Look at that old photo of him and the Magpie. He looks like an emaciated child wearing his grandmothers coat. At that meeting he was strained and really rather confused. Jon that day was more relaxed but aloof.

Flash forward 2 years and the boys are smiling, they’re happy, they don’t look overwhelmed at all. They banter (with each other, sorta made me feel bad for the other 3 in the band - they didn’t get much chit chat) almost as if there were an inside joke going on. April Fools perhaps?

The sound was terrible and I blame the venue, but what remained true if you strained through the feedback is the simple text I sent to Iman from the show: Ross was the Talent. Urie was the Face.

The music was light and fun with creative harmonies and interesting vocal shifts. They seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Although Jon felt compelled to complain he felt as if he had just had a bath and that it was too hot (dudes you’re not at the stadium tonight, you pulled up in a camper for fucks sake let's reel that in) he has great singing voice. That was a nice surprise.

Jon - "Well, our new album is coming out soon"

Ryan - "You mean our only album"

I guess he really did forget he was in a new band.

Mid-set they took the opportunity to do a nice arena style band introduction right down to the individual applause.

They didn’t really have room to move but they made do with what they had and they did so very well.

June 8th was the release date noted for the lp. I look forward to it now. I think it will have a summer feel to it, just a light background cruise sound. I hope anyway.

I’m stunned they don’t promote themselves as such (without exaggeration there were less than 100 people in that club when we finally got in). I’m beginning to think it's intentional.

I really liked them a lot. I liked the sound I liked the simplicity and I liked the smiles. There’s no Panic at the Disco, but there's new life in the Young Veins.

– adapted from this blog post