#but the main draw would still be seeing randy play live

[alas--pringles]

Is there a way to ask which band, if either, a specific musician will be playing with on a specific date without implying that the one person (and not the band overall) is the defining factor in whether you're gonna make the trek to the city that night? 😅

[doomedandstoned]

Cassius King Drums Up Hard Driving New LP, ‘Field Trip’

~By Tom Hanno~

In the doom/stoner metal circles, the name Dan Lorenzo has become synonymous with his Vessel of Light project, but there is more to this prolific guitarist than just that band. From his days in Hades to Non- Fiction to Vessel of Light, Dan has laid his trademark work to many albums, and now he presents us with an album of original music from his latest project, CASSIUS KING. 'Field Trip' (2021) will be out next week and is, in my opinion, a must-have album.

For a bit of historical context, I want to add that Dan has been using the Cassius King name for years, from his debut solo album to his endless cover song CDs with various lead vocalists; but it wasn't until 2021 when Lorenzo decided to make an all-original album with vocalist Jason McMaster (Watchtower, Dangerous Toys, Broken Teeth, Howling Sycamore, Ignitor). This decision stemmed from the Covid-19 pandemic keeping Vessel of Light from touring in support of their Last Ride album, with Dan also feeling that fans weren’t ready for a fifth VoL album without touring the last one.

Ironically enough, the song “Join the Exodus”, which we’ll talk about later in this review, was originally written during the recording/writing sessions for the second Vessel of Light album, Woodshed. Dan tells me that, “I actually recorded the music to the song Join the exodus for the Vessel of Light album Woodshed. I wrote so many songs that Nathan forgot about it. So then Ron ended up playing on it, and it just sat there for two years until Jason sang on it. It’s probably one of my favorite songs on the album.”

Despite the connection to Vessel of Light, I don't recommend jumping in thinking you're getting music that is just like them; there's obviously going to be a comparison because of Dan, but it's not an overly large one. Cassius King is less doom, even though there’s a definite Black Sabbath sound, and Jason McMaster has more in common with singers like Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth and Dio, than he does with Nathan Opposition; who, as you know, provides his own awesome vocal style to the Vessel of Light albums.

Jason McMaster explains further, by saying that "It was the kind of material I had been wanting to do for a long time. It feels a bit like Ozzy and Dio playing poker over some leftover Sabbath material. The melodies came to me quickly, as well as some of the lyrics. Things I already had fit the visions I had upon first listen and it all flowed immediately. I would not call it a full "doom" application of terms, but its heavy, it reminds me of what I love about Sabbath and Dio songs."

Now that we have an idea on what we’re getting into, let’s begin talking about the best tracks on the album. We'll start with the aforementioned song, “Join the Exodus.” This is the one track where I will draw that direct line to Vessel of Light, and I had thought so even before Dan shared its origins with me.

Beginning with a heavy intro, with the guitars playing a stripped down version of the main verse riff, and Jason singing:

TEARS ON THE TRACKS IN A RACE, EMOTION GLEAM AROUND THE BEND I TASTE THE RAIN DROPS AS THEY TRICKLE DOWN MY FACE AGAIN REMINDS ME OF THE SAND FALLING FROM THE HOURGLASS TIME DISAPPEARS WITHOUT A TRACE.

Jason’s vocals are performed with such conviction, such power, that you can get the idea that he’s really really feeling what he’s saying, which helps make the song seem more honest than it would if he was just “phoning it in.” This goes without even mentioning the Dio influences in the lyrics themselves, and in certain areas of his performance here.

Musically speaking, this track is heavy, with a strong groove, which really makes sense because of the era of its beginnings. Woodshed had that heavy groove throughout the album. As always, Dan has a phenomenal guitar sound, and even if you didn’t know it was him on this, you’d still know that it was him within moments after hitting play.

Towards the end of the album, we find a song that is titled, "Six," which had a working title that Dan told me came from the way the intro guitar part had sounded to him.

"And I didn’t tell anybody else this," he confided, "but the working title for the song 'Six' was 'Randy,' because I thought that opening riff sounded more like Randy Rhoads than me! Not sure if you agree, but just a little bit of knowledge on the track."

I can definitely hear that Randy sound in the intro riff, but, in my opinion, it doesn't really sound like that iconic guitarist as we get much further into the track. In all honesty, I hear more of a Kiss meets Black Sabbath vibe once the riff opens up for the verse.

Jason really brings in that Dio vibe with his vocal performance, and it shows exactly why Dan partnered up with him for this album. Between Jason, Jimmy Schulman, and Ron Lipnicki, Dan put together an immensely talented band for this album, and they all absolutely crushed it on this track.

One of my favorite tracks is titled, "Apocalyptic Nations," which just so happens to be my favorite song on the record. This tune opens up with some tribal influenced drumming, and is a perfect way to bring in the album. I think of Judas Priest's Painkiller when an album opens this way. Lyrically, this song could be about many things, but I catch a Stephen King influence in there, with his book The Stand.

TRASH MY NAME ACROSS YOUR SEAS YOU CONTROL MY DESTINY BRINGING FATES UNKNOWN TO ME LEGENDARY, WHEN PEOPLE USED TO DREAM ANCIENT STORIES OF THE TRAVELIN' MAN YOU WILL BELIEVE

If you've ever read The Stand, you'll know that the villain, Randall Flagg, is known as "The Walking Dude" and that he is hell bent on destroying civilization through terror, violence, and death. The lyrics really could be about this "Man in Black," as he's also called, but it could just as easily be about a government that is just as hell bent on the same things as Randall.

As per his usual modus operandi, Dan pours his all into the riffs contained within "Apocalyptic Nations." They create the power needed to propel Jason’s vocals into the stratosphere, while also leaving the perfect amount of room for the other instruments to shine through.

The last track that I'd like to bring up is "Below the Stone," and is one of my two top picks from this album; with the other being "Apocalyptic." The riffs have a sweet little groove to them, and are, once again, the perfect vehicle for the vocal work. I'm unsure of what the lyrical content is about, but the execution, and the arrangement, makes this song shine, really standing out from the others. This chorus section really exemplifies what I mean:

OH, OH, OH, WE PRAY FOR THE LIGHT WE MAGNIFY ALL HOPE AND THE SEARCH WILL BEGIN BELOW THE STONES THE SECRETS LIVE AND BREATH OH, OH, OH, WE PRAY FOR THE LIGHT

Field Trip will be out in digital format July 23rd, with compact disc and vinyl due out this October. The CD will include two bonus tracks, a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Out on the Tiles" (Dan actually plays the bass and guitar on this cover). and Cheap Trick's "Big Eyes." The other ten tracks are all original tunes. I have an earlier Cassius King CD that Dan sent me, which is full of cover songs, and hearing them attack these originals is really great for me.

To sum it up in one short sentence: you need this album. Pre-orders will be announced soon via Nomad Eel Records, so get ready for that and I'll see you in the next review really soon. Enjoy!

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[jonnolovesfob]

All the questions please?

hell yea my friend! this is gonna be one hell of a post.

Nikki Sixx - Favorite Bassist and Why?

i have multiple favorite bassists! my first favorite was pete wentz of fall out boy because he’s who inspired me to play bass! nikki sixx and duff mckagan because i love their style and sound and how much they put out there for their bands!

Rick Allen - Most Inspirational Band Member and Why?

honestly, it’s mick mars for me. he’s dealt with having to pay child support, sleeping where he could, bouncing from band to band, dealing with depression, and his ankylosing spondylitis. that man went through hell and back and still put on a show for the loyal fans of their bands!

Steven Adler - Favorite Drummer and Why?

i have a lot of favorite drummers tbh, but here’s a few! andy hurley and rian dawson from fall out boy and all time low because i just love how they play and their style! tommy lee of mötley crüe and james cassels of asking alexandria because they were both allegedly in marching band and i’m in marching band!

Axl Rose - Favorite Music Genre?

uh 00s pop punk, 00s punk, 00s metal, 70s-90s glam scene, 70s-90s hard rock and heavy metal, uh theres more-

Stephen Pearcy - Would You Ever Want To Be In A Band?

hell yeah! my bass teacher was supposed to filter me into one under his program with lessons and stuff but i was never in it. NEXT YEAR THO!

Izzy Stradlin - Who Would You Want To Be In A Band and Why?

i’d be the bassist and/or lyricist because that would honestly be fun to just mess around on stage like mr. sixx and my bandmates get mad at me

Tommy Lee - Drums or Guitar and Why?

both? they both have unique styles and ways to play them and i honestly think they’re both neat!

Johnny Rod - Would You Ever Do Anything To Get Where You Want To Go?

already working on that my friend! i’m working to be a band director/music educator as my endgame! i’m taking music theory lessons this week, i play a bunch of instruments—flute and electric bass as my main! i’m going to start learning oboe soon too!!

Steven Tyler - Favorite Album of All Time and Why?

oh boy. oh boy oh boy oh boy. i don’t even know! dr. feelgood by mötley crüe and led zeppelin III got me into classic rock and they mean something to me! but i find myself drawing back to hysteria by def leppard, too fast for love by mötley crüe, and love gun by kiss! they’ve all got that vibe that i like!

Eddie Van Halen - Favorite Guitar Solo?

probably the mick mars ten seconds to love live guitar solo. just OH MY GOD. it’s so good. it’s just so good live because he did a lot more improv. i’m just a mick mars fanatic arent i-

Slash - Have You Met Your Favorite Band Members?

NO- i have interacted with some of them on instagram though!!!

Robbin Crosby - Would You Do Drugs If You We’re In A Band?

ok, if i was thriving in the 70s or 80s, probably yes because that was a different time thing and they were huge in that scene. but otherwise, no cause i don’t wanna die-

Duff McKagan - Do You Have a Crazy Story You Tell When People Ask About Your Music Taste?

actually, i do honestly. it’s the story of how i got into mötley crüe!! i rlly don’t wanna tell it here, ask me in the inbox if you’re curious!!

Joe Elliot - Favorite Band and Why?

STOP. i cant lmao. but like i find myself drawing back to mötley crüe and fall out boy the most because they got me through a ton of crap!!

Eddie Van Halen - Do You Have A Crush On A Band Member? If So, Who?

let’s see, early 80s DLR, late 80s tommy lee, early zeppelin robert plant, early gnr izzy stradlin, late 80s duff mckagan, and the list goes on.

Kevin DuBrow - Do You Prefer More Guttural or More Soft Vocals In Songs?

i like both! it depends on the band and song because bands have different styles and stuff!!

Mick Sweda - A Song That Motivates You Every Time You Listen To It.

excitable by def leppard, pretty much any mötley crüe song, i stole your love by kiss, tnt by ac/dc and etc!

Jeff LaBar - Do You Have Any Embarrassing Nicknames For Band Members?

surprisingly not! i call nikki sixx mr. sixx but that’s pretty much it and it’s not embarrassing!! i mean angus young is shorty but shh

Randy Rhoads - Are You Going To Any Upcoming Concerts?

YES!!!! i’m going to see chicago as my first concert in july!! and then i have the hella mega tour in august for my second concert! and then i’m seeing the stadium tour next year!!

Mick Mars - If You Could Choose Any Band/Band Member To Make A Biopic Of, Who Would You Choose and Why?

mick mars because that man has been through hell and people need to see how he went from small to stardom and all that he suffered with! but if you’re looking for a band, i would say chicago because they’re one of the most influential jazz-rock fusion bands!!

[lildevyl]

Could someone explain the appeal of wrestling?? Not that I think it’s bad, I’m just confused how it’s just the most popular thing lately?! I can understand other sports but how is WWE so huge?? I’m so, confused? How would you describe it?

Well, I can’t really answer “How is WWE so huge?” because it’s been like seven?  Ten?  Years since I’ve watched WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment).

But I’ll glad to geek out about Wrestling!!!!!

Okay, so a little disclaimer here.  One, I am not in shape, way, or form, what someone will call a professional. I am a fan.  Also, this is just my opinion on this subject matter.  I’m a huge fan of wrestling going all the way back when I first started watching in ‘95!  And finally, I am not sponsored by any of these companies.  Ghoul, I wish!!!!

Alright so with that outta the way.  Let’s begin!!!!

Wrestling in itself is a very old and traditional sport going all back to the early eighteenth century.  Where wrestling in the Traveling Circus/Carnivals were very big and popular.  Now, during those days, they would have a very big and strong guy, usually around the 6 feet to (I think but don’t quote me on this) six foot six inches tall.  Now, back then that was extremely tall and big for man!!!!  Now, days the average height for a guy is around the five feet ten inches to six feet range.  During that time period, wrestling was a “Side Show.”  A way to draw in the big crowds by having their “Champion” take on any takers and see if they could defeat him or last I think it was five minutes in the ring with him.  If that won, they would win the big money.  I think it was a hundred dollars which would be around a thousand or so today.

Over the decades wrestling became more of a profession for a lot of people.  The 1940′s and 1950′s had so many legends during their days!  Some of the most famous ones are the Fabulous Moolah.  Moolah still to this day holds the World Record of the longest-reigning of the Women’s Championship.  1956 (when she first won it) - 1984 (when she lost it).  We also were introduced to Mae Young!  Another incredible wrestler then turned trainer for many young aspiring girls.  For the male side, we had Gorgeous George.  This man literally made the promoters of the 1940′s & 1950′s money!!!!  Buddy Rogers, one of the famous NWA Heavy Weight Champions and trainers there was.

Now, before Vincent McMahon Jr. came into the picture when he took over his father’s company in the 1960′s.  WWWF (World Wide Wrestling Federation), NWA (National Wrestling Association before was known as the National Wrestling Alliance), AWA (American Wrestling Association), ECWA (Eastern Championship Wrestling Association) and many others were known as Territory Promotions.  Meaning in many states you were only allowed to broadcast or work in that company and defend their Championship.

So, I don’t want to bore you with all these cool and fascinating details about all these companies and how some of them are still around and others faded out.  So, let’s fast-forward here.  Vincent Kennedy McMahon Jr. took over his father’s company and along the way literally re-institutionalized and re-visioned professional wrestling!  Now, we go to the 1980′s!

The 1980′s-1990′s we had quite a war!!!   WWF was literally the very first company to ever invent the term and the way to use it of pay-per-view!  And did their very first ever pay-per-view live!  WRESTLEMANIA!!!  I’m sure you know a lot of the wrestlers from that Era such as Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Jesse “the Body” Ventura, Ric Flair, The Four Horseman, Srg. Slaughter, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Sting, “The Brain” Bobby Heenan, Andre the Giant, “Classy” Freddie Blassie, The Ultimate Warrior, and many others.   But there was also another huge wrestling company that was also making its waves into the sport.

WCW (World Championship Wrestling).  This one you had many different wrestlers but the big thing that many people remember of WCW was the fans all-time favorite wrestler Hulk Hogan made a huge decision and it made headlines.  He left WWF and went to WCW (WWF’s competition).  When that happened many people started to tune in and watch.  Then Ric Flair also came by and the Four Horseman reunited.  Sting made his presence known and still many people remember his “Crow” face-paint and his vigilantly like style.

But the big thing that a lot of fans remember is when the “Face of the Company” the “Fans Hero” the “Face/Hero” turned on all the fans and joined the enemies!  Alright so let me fully explained this!  When Hulk Hogan left to join WCW two other wrestlers from WWF decided to give WCW a chance: Kevin Nash (aka Diesel) and Scot Hall (aka Razor Ramon).  When they jumped they truly made an impact (pun intended)!  When Nash and Hall came to WCW they were literally invading.  Crashing the broadcast booth, mocking the commentators “So, this is where the big boys play huh?  Well, we challenge any of the WCW guys to the two of us and our mystery partner”

Everyone including me was scrambling to figure out who the mystery partner was.  Every kind of theories was going around from another wrestler jumping ship to someone from WCW who was going to help Hall and Nash.  The big moment came at Bash at the Beach.  Hall and Nash cleaned house and Hogan came down the ramp and everyone including the announcers and commentators were cheering with fans upon seeing Hogan!  (I admit I was secretly bouncing in my seat).  But then, we all bared witness to the shock of all shock!  Hogan turned on WCW and joined Hall and Nash!  Forming the NWO (the New World Order) taking one anyone and everyone, taking over and seeking to bring down WCW.  This was a really good story-line and it was one the biggest swerve and one of the biggest story-lines that worked so well!

Now, I’m sure you saw me mention another wrestling company earlier in this post and might or might not have sounded familiar.  ECWA (Eastern Championship Wrestling Association) now, this company is still around.  It’s pretty big in the Indie Circuit (Independent Wrestling Promotions Circuit).  But in the 1990′s it was also known by another name thanks to the “Evil Genius” Paul E. Hayman.  ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling).  This was the first time that “Hardcore Wrestling” came about in the United States that was televised!  For the first time ever blood was actually seen on television!!!  Now, ECW was more than just the hardcore aspect and the blood.  It was all about giving the best show with very little money and minimal equipment.  Think, developing a fan-made movie and then post it on YouTube.

They didn’t have the money for lights, pyro, and all that jazz.  But what they did have was high-quality talent in wrestlers, best interviews, great promos that didn’t need a lot of effects.  Many of the fans really enjoy ECW and yes, the 2200 Arena is known as the ECW Arena.  That’s why when many companies perform out of there and they may have an ECW alumni wrestler, the fans will chant “ECW! ECW! ECW! ECW!”  ECW literally helped reshape wrestling today.

Okay, so that’s the history there.  As for why wrestling is so popular.  It’s basically a life story coming to life.  You have the faces (heroes) that the fans truly love to cheer for.  They’re the ones that you want to rally behind and believe in and are the face of the company in a way.  Then you have the Anti-Heroes.  They’re the ones that basically do what they want to do.  They’ll follow the rules if they wan too and at the same time they have no problem in breaking every single rule in the book!

Then you have the heels (the villains).  They’re the ones that break every single rule in the book known to man.  They don’t care about being liked.  They don’t care how they’re seen or portrayed.  They don’t care about lying, cheating and stealing they’re way to victory so long as they’re the ones on top!  Now, I’m not going to lie.  Sometimes, the villains are actually cheered when they’re not supposed to be.  Some examples are, Tripple H, The Undertaker, Kane, Abyss, The Main Event Mafia, LAX (Latin American Exchange) The Elite, Bullet Club, The Broke Hardy (although they were more the anti-heroes then villains), you get the idea.

Many, companies today like ROH, AAA, MLCW, New Japan, AEW, MCW, literally have sports of wrestling.  Where you get to see the pathetic abilities and the “Mic Skills” during promos and interviews and a combination of story-line to give the fans and viewers the best show there is.

Hope this helps.  And sorry for the long post.  If you can’t tell.  I’m a huge wrestling fan!

[briangroth27]

Dora and the Lost City of Gold Review

Dora and the Lost City of Gold is a very fun all-ages adventure! I’ve never seen more than a clip or two of Dora the Explorer, but that didn’t hurt the movie at all for me. The film starts with a summation of the cartoon’s style to get new audiences up to speed on the conventions of the show and it worked perfectly. I was in the mood for a fun jungle adventure flick, saw the good reviews this was getting, and I’m happy to report that it lives up to both those standards!

Full spoilers…

Isabela Moner more than capably leads the film as Dora, whose enthusiasm for learning, exploring, and life in general is absolutely infectious. Dora’s expertise in the jungle and her drive to find the lost city of Parapata were awesome! While her childlike enthusiasm is written as a side effect of being secluded from most of modern society to a large extent, it was refreshing to see a teenage lead who isn’t dour and down on life. Her dauntless willingness to go it alone when she had to was a relatable and realistic trait, and her acceptance of the fact that she was even stronger when she had a team backing her up was a cool message. I’m glad Dora didn’t lose her exuberance by the end of the movie or change to be more socially acceptable to her new high school friends, even if she does choose to stay and get to know them better rather than go off on another adventure. Her journey isn’t that she needs to remember to be herself regardless of whether she fits in or not, it’s that she needs to let people in to her world again, so Dora getting to remain true to herself while making new friends was very cool. Of course, it’s always great to see a female-led adventure film (particularly in this subgenre) with a nonwhite lead and cast (or at least the overwhelming majority of it) too! More of that please!

Dora’s cousin Diego (Jeff Wahlberg), her intellectual rival at school Sammy (Madeleine Madden), and everyman student (and impressive breath-holder) Randy (Nicholas Coombe) provided a share of challenges for Dora she wasn’t expecting at all: high school. Diego’s embarrassment over Dora’s personality felt like a realistic (though unfortunate) reaction to a younger sibling who doesn’t want to conform to high school society’s standards, while Dora’s scientific take on Diego’s feelings for Sammy was funny and built their sense of familial bonds nicely. Theirs is the strongest relationship in the movie and emotional core. I thought the breakdown of their bond felt realistic and painful (leading to Dora largely shutting everyone out as a kid and opening that wound all over again as a young adult) and that the repairs to their relationship were well-done and satisfying. I was glad Dora and Sammy’s rivalry wasn’t over some guy and that Sammy wasn’t written or performed as a mean girl, but one who was concerned about her standing in the class GPA. She also generally couldn’t understand Dora’s outlook, which is ironic given how Diego and apparently the other students at school don’t understand her, vilifying her for her outlook and “attitude” as well. The common ground she and Dora came to with Dora’s know-how and Sammy’s contributions to the quest for Parapata created a nice build to their budding friendship. I liked that Randy didn’t have toxic vibes to his crush on Dora, and he brought a nice balance of pure terror and truly wanting to help his new friends to the adventure. These kids have their issues, but none of them were ever unlikable and they all felt like real people, not caricatures or an adult’s attempt at writing “annoying youths” (or cartoons). I also liked that all four of them came together to keep each other alive and they all contributed to solving the traps protecting Parapata’s treasure. That was a cool way to unify Dora’s quest to save her parents (Michael Pena, Eva Longoria) and finish their search for the city with her arc toward sharing her life with people and depending on friends instead of just herself.

Dora’s parents don’t have much to do here, as they’re kidnapped for most of the film, but I liked how supportive they were of Dora (even if they were just as bewildered by some of her habits as her friends at school were). I really liked that they spelled out the distinction between exploring and learning vs. treasure hunting and plundering cultural artifacts. CBS’ Blood & Treasure made a similar point of noting who should get to display what artifacts (if they are to be displayed at all), and it’s good to see a more socially conscious approach to archaeology taking hold in the movies and on TV. Films like the Indiana Jones series are among my all-time favorites, but those artifacts don’t belong in an American museum, they belong to the cultures that originated them. I didn’t expect the movie to bring in an actual Inca royal/goddess (Q'orianka Kilcher) with an army to protect Parapata, but that was an excellent addition that felt totally natural with the world they’d established! I always want the supernatural stuff in films like these to be real, so seeing these people appear was very cool. It was also a neat twist on the formula (and execution of her parents’ guidelines on exploring) that Dora & co. didn’t get to keep the treasure, only increase their knowledge by confirming its existence.

Most of the villains are ultimately just muscle, but Eugenio Derbez’s Alejandro Gutierrez gets a lot of screen time thanks to initially disguising himself as a friend of Dora’s parents. He was affable enough that it was reasonable Dora and her friends would fall for his lies (particularly with the stress of their situation and his apparent rescue of them). I wonder if the more comedic persona he puts on was designed to fit with and manipulate Dora’s eternal optimism, which would be a solid take on the older generation manipulating the best intentions of the younger one to fuel their greed. He certainly uses their intelligence to further his own interests (and, depending on how deep his cover was, to keep him alive in the first place). He also personifies the old-school treasure hunter method of archaeology, contrasting him nicely with the younger, more socially and culturally conscious generation. I definitely wouldn’t have included him disrobing in front of teenagers though, even if it was caused by hallucinogenic pollen in an animated sequence. 

That moment not being a great look aside, it was refreshing that like Dora herself, a modern adaptation of a kid’s property didn’t take the “dark and gritty is cool and mature” path in an effort to draw in older audiences by ignoring what made the show a success in the first place. Instead, this fully embraced what I assume is the upbeat vibe of the cartoon and absolutely ran with it. They do poke fun at some of the conventions of the animated series, like Dora breaking the fourth wall to teach the audience vocabulary and science, but those self-deprecating jokes absolutely worked and it didn’t feel like the filmmakers were embarrassed by the source material or like they were outright mocking it. It would’ve been easy to make those moments part of the video diary/podcast she has at the beginning of the movie (particularly with the popularity of Instagram and Snapchat stories nowadays), but playing them straight and just having everyone else think she’s weird was so much funnier! Her Map (Marc Weiner), Backpack (Sasha Toro), and possibly her pet monkey Boots’ (Danny Trejo) abilities to talk were played as her childhood imagination and/or hallucinations, which felt like the right balance for the very fun, heightened reality she lives in. I’m glad that they kept the talking, masked fox Swiper (Benicio del Toro) here as well: he feels like a major part of the series’ world and I’m sure fans would’ve been bummed if they left him out. I loved that the questions surrounding him from our heroes were not that he was a fox working with mercenaries, but just that he wore a mask!

While Dora works for all ages, kids are definitely the main target audience and some of the other humor reflects that. I’m not a fan of toilet humor—it’s not that I find it inherently juvenile, I’ve just never thought it was funny—but the two gags in that realm here (quicksand that sounds like farts and the difficulties of using the bathroom in the jungle) didn’t go on long enough to make it feel like this was only for kids; it felt like this was just one style of comedy at play among many. Like Alejandro’s pollen trip, I wouldn’t have included everyone running by Sammy while she was using the bathroom though. Unlike so many movies described as “all ages” but which are really just for kids, the rest of the movie’s comedy, the character development, and the action-adventure sequences totally work regardless of your age and they successfully made it feel like our heroes were on a real adventure with actual dangers. Even if “jungle puzzles” aren’t a thing in the real world, the ones showcased here felt classic and were a lot of fun to see our heroes solve. The pacing moved the story along briskly, but I didn’t feel like Dora’s problems fitting in (and letting others in) were rushed or underdeveloped. The score hits the exact right vibe for this and I liked the original song at the end of the movie too.

If you’re like me and in the mood for a fun, all-ages jungle adventure with a great cast, good action, and a solid emotional core, Dora and the Lost City of Gold will absolutely deliver! I’d definitely watch a sequel. If this one’s still in a theater near you, go see it!

 Check out more of my reviews, opinions, and original short stories here!

[fountainpenguin]

S and T for the ask

S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist?

> Bittersweet endings. I don’t like completely perfect or completely depressing ends… I like little nibbles of both.

> Witty banter. Never get tired of it.

> I’m not normally one for AUs, but I love college AUs for worlds that don’t have a college equivalent. What do they study? I must know.

> Fleshing unliked/overlooked side character out with an interesting backstory and cool hobbies.

> We dislike each other but have to keep up appearances.

> Smooth, probably sexually experienced character is easily flustered.

> Alternatively: smooth character flirts with someone, takes it too far, and instantly backpedals while screaming internally.

> Sharing space on a road trip.

> Soft holiday stories! Especially fantasy holidays, because then I’m falling in love with the worldbuilding and pleased that the characters are happy.

> Blind dates.

> Tired but loving single parent who works very hard

> Two tired parents working very hard, so glad they’re in this together

> Someone falls in love with a single parent, asks their kid(s) permission to marry their parent, and lets kid help them pick out a ring and participate in wedding plans.

> HEALTHY!!! STEP-FAMILIES!!!

> Jerk messed with the wrong person and now they’re in for it… We don’t know when… but oh, they’re in for it.

> Petty villains (“Whoa, whoa, whoa! I call in an evil plan, and you send your B squad??? Frankly I’m a little insulted!” -Snaptrap)

> Petty heroes… Read: Randy Disher, a full-grown adult police lieutenant, getting his feelings hurt when the Captain says he’d save Monk, not him, if both were in the water because Monk can’t swim, and Randy persists by asking if his mind would change if Randy was holding an anchor and the Captain asks why he wouldn’t just let go of the anchor and Randy looks him in the eye and says “Family heirloom” and the Captain just >:|

> Gift giving is shown to be a valid form of affection and not played as a greedy, materialistic love language (Related: Character A buys cute little gifts for B sometimes and it doesn’t turn into a story about wasteful spending or needing to shower your partner in gifts or else they’ll freak out).

> Bed sharing / cuddles (As long as it doesn’t progress to sex… I have to be in the right mindset for that and 9.5 times out of 10 I’d rather have snuggles).

> Quick, casual, absentminded kisses. Convince me this character’s instinct is to express affection even when they’re distracted and you have me eating out of your hand.

> Kisses in awkward places… Up against walls, quickly stolen while the third wheel is out of the room, couple trying to hide even though their friends ship them and no one present will judge them for a kiss… Yes. The more uncomfortable the position or time, the better. Love that spontaneous cute.

> Fake dating and in the end they’re still good friends, no push into a romantic relationship just because they were in this situation together.

> Healthy mutual break-ups

> Asexual characters!!! I’m for any story that acknowledges people like me exist and are happy, whether it’s a story about discovery, the difficulties of being ace, or a story where the ace character is just at peace.

> People are close friends and not dating. Both are comfortable with their relationship and no one tries to make them feel bad.

T: Any fandom tropes you can’t stand?

(Below the cut. Keep in mind these are my personal preferences and I’m not attacking anyone who likes tropes I dislike. This isn’t a comprehensive list, just some thoughts about tropes I don’t enjoy reading).

> Redemption through romantic love. So. Much.

> Everybody Lives AUs

> Soulmates

> Forbidden love

> Amnesia

> Coffee Shop AUs (I’m all for “In the future this character gets a job” stories, but I dislike “I’m going to flirt with this person while they’re in a position they can’t leave” stories)

> Psychic powers / Twins can read minds. It’s not an immediate deal-breaker, but my interest will drop sharply.

> Falling in love way too quickly / confusing infatuation with genuine love and the moral of the story is that you should risk your life plans and dive headfirst into relationships with people you don’t know well yet (I didn’t watch The Sun Is Also a Star, but the trailers pushed ALL my wrong buttons).

> Physical touch is the only or most important way to express affection. I’m all for love language miscommunication stories. I don’t like being told those who don’t express physical touch easily are frigid or uncaring.

> Big rescue scenes in romance (Ex: Hero carrying love interest from a burning building… I’d rather see hero helping love interest up a tough patch of the trail they’re hiking, or leaving a party to find their partner a dessert they’re not allergic to, something small and affectionate like that).

> Asexual invalidation/correction stories (Related: Virgin mockery). I don’t mind reading these if the main character is asexual and it’s a story about sexuality exploration or a character facing difficulties because they’re ace (That’s what Origin of the Pixies is, after all), but if the author legitimately believes asexuality needs to be fixed or that ace characters can’t be in fulfilling relationships, that’s what I don’t like.

> Canon: *Characters state they don’t want to be together romantically*  Fanfic: *Makes them romantic*  As a reader, I’m willing to let you take my hand if you show me careful thought processes and honest conversations while the characters work through changes together in early chapters, but if there’s absolutely no explanation (or indication that backstory will be given later) and the story just starts with them together for some reason… I won’t play along.

> When two people in canon are very close but not an official romantic couple and the only ‘fics about them are romantic. I don’t mind some stories being romantic, especially if they’re set in the future of canon, but if I can’t find more than a tiny handful of ‘fics that match their canon relationship, I get frustrated.

> Oh, here’s a trope I despise with the intensity of a thousand suns… Animals that are not dogs behaving like dogs (Ex: Maximus the horse in Tangled). Other animals are interesting too!

> I dislike a lot of angst tropes in general. I like psychological horror, like the slow recognition of your own sins (which is probably why I write villain backstories). A loved one dying in your arms, or trapped inside a burning house, does nothing to me. You could not get farther from affecting me if you tried. My heart will break if someone hesitates in an otherwise cheery story and the other person staggers back, realizing things aren’t as perfect as they thought. I live for moments where the bliss suddenly snaps and in an instant, everything’s changed. But deaths drawn out with gasps and bleeding, or houses going up in flames, don’t really land. Angst has to be fast and hard or I find it tedious.

> Developing a crush on someone before you even see or hear them interact. See also, liking someone you have no business liking when your people raised you to dislike theirs. How do you exist outside your culture? I want reasons.

> Using new pronouns for a character who hasn’t revealed their preferred pronouns to the narrator and/or a character outs someone by using new pronouns without ensuring they’re okay with that. I’m cool with long-established pronouns, but if some characters don’t know yet, they don’t know yet.

> I’m personally not a fan of self-insert stories, especially Self-Insert x Canon. Specifically, I dislike the trope that self-inserts will draw canon character attention and take the focus away from a canon character development story, which is what I prefer to read. Self-inserts who don’t disrupt the status quo are fine by me.

> I can accept OC x Canon if you don’t contradict canon, but the OC has to be well fleshed out with realistic flaws, and if the canon character is completely OOC, I’m backing out (It’s specifically Main Character OC x Canon that I don’t like- I’ll happily dive into “Failed relationships in canon character’s past involving OC exes because canon characters won’t work for this”).

> Timmy wakes up one day and realizes Tootie’s the girl for him. I need a looong slow burn to sell me on that one. I’m happy to see him recognize his own judgmental attitudes and accept her as a friend, but if it moves into romance while they’re still young, I’m out.

> Wanda being pregnant instead of Cosmo… I 100% forgive this for anything written before “Fairly Odd Baby,” but if Wanda’s the pregnant one then I immediately scroll up to check the upload date. If I can’t trust you with that piece of canon, what can I trust you with?

> Wanda confronts Cosmo and argues that he’s being mean to her. That’s a can of worms I’d rather skirt around.

> I’m all for Cosmo and Wanda having a second kid, but NOT while they’re still with Timmy.

> Abusive Juandissimo.

> I also don’t like fluff. I don’t deliberately avoid sweet, plotless stories, but I don’t seek them out. I lose interest in fluff more quickly than anything else.

… I’m realizing now that the reason I don’t like romantic stories is probably because most of them revolve around expressing affection the literal opposite way of how I prefer it (Ex: Way more stories about physical touch and making out until impulsive sex occurs, not enough quick kisses in passing or time spent existing quietly on the same couch enjoying your separate hobbies).

I don’t inherently hate romance, I just have different romantic preferences than the media that usually crosses my path. I’m more about companionate love than fiery passion. It’s hard to convey the comfortable silence I like in words.

Fanfic Ask Meme

[scarlettlawyer]

Phantoms and Mirages Fic Commentary, Part 1

So. I’ve basically written up over six thousand words of reaction/commentary of @renegadewangs‘s fanfic Chasing Phantoms, the first instalment in the Phantoms and Mirages series. This post’s commentary covers the first ten chapters, but I still reference parts beyond that excluding Tracking Ghosts, which I still have yet to read (so the commentary itself is spoilery in the sense that it jumps about at times and references stuff beyond the chapter at hand). So please no spoilers regarding the final instalment! Meowzy, I hope this was okay for me to do, please let me know if it’s not! The way I’ve written this up is kind of like a review where I’m talking to you, but other fans are more than welcome to comment on and engage with this post if they wish. I plan to cover the series at least up until the end of Lifting Spirits with these commentary posts.

Sorry for Very Long Post!

Chasing Phantoms, Chapter 1

First off, already, in the first few sentences, you present us with something to contrast SO strongly with the changed Bobby we see later – specifically to contrast as much as possible, basically. The difference here between this Bobby and Randy Liberate, it’s, aaaah…! You specifically draw attention to this, in the very beginning of the very first chapter… You didn’t HAVE to make the contrast so stark, but you did, and god damn it hit me hard. XD. NOT GONNA LIE IT MADE ME KINDA “ANGRY” THAT YOU DID THIS LIKE, hahaha. You did this on purpose, didn’t have to make that the content of the first few lines of dialogue.

Man, you know what occurred to me when I was starting to read this fic? In the past there was at least one fic on the PWKM that a friend linked me to that was also a Bobby Lives AU where Bobby was also traumatised – but it was basically one where Bobby had been held captive during that whole year. And I read a little bit of it then basically shoved it aside and couldn’t read it anymore. It was just too off-putting for me, the horror and level of trauma Bobby must have suffered over such a long period of time too much to think about, making me feel ill and sick to my stomach at the time. Now that fic – based on what my friend told me and what little I read of it – focused on Bobby and his slow recovery. The phantom was not really present, they were not a character – they were merely a part of the fic’s background formation, the referred-to and merely alluded to entity whose prime influence over the fic was being the source of – having inflicted Bobby’s trauma, the trauma already having played out.

Now there’s more than one reason I didn’t continue reading that fic, and what they have in common is that they stem from the fact that I like the phantom a lot as a character. Therefore, I want to read fic with a focus on the phantom and with the phantom as an actual character who does stuff in the fic, and that fic did not meet those requirements. SECONDLY… I was not, and until reading Phantoms and Mirages, was never really in the habit of giving Bobby Fulbright as a character much focus. Reading about Bobby shell-shocked and traumatised was a fundamentally uncomfortable experience (as it should be) because naturally it made me feel very very bad for the guy, but also because the fic wanted to (rightfully) position the phantom as an abhorrent and detestable being. Now usually I got no problem with that but the way that fic went about it felt somehow different – it made my insides twist, perhaps because it was shining a spotlight on the phantom’s victim(s) as opposed to the phantom themself. It did not encourage my love for this awful fictional character, it did not give me anything to “fangirl” over, it just made me dislike the phantom in the context of that fic, and I wasn’t about that life.

So back when I’m starting out this fic written by you, where Bobby is actually a player on the chessboard getting a bunch of focus, and I’m like oh, boy. Is it going to be like that again? Is this fic(s) going to make me feel super, duper bad about Bobby Fulbright and by extension, just make me feel sick when thinking about the phantom? Is this series going to encourage me to hate the phantom and have a certain degree of success? I was a little worried.

…Phwwhwhh…. Bahahaha. Oh, past me. If this fic series has a thesis, I can tell you it’s NOT “this person known as the phantom is bad forever and you should hate them.” Can you believe this was ever one of my concerns? : D Hehehehe.

--

Oh my god… Oh my god… Reading over this again, it just hit me – the IRONY of that corpse being labelled a “John Doe” and referred to as such… goshdangit Meowzy!!! I know you love your irony an awful lot. Is there no end to your amusing twists and reversals?! XD. I’M TRYING TO THINK, DID THEY ACTUALLY CALL THE CORPSE A JOHN DOE IN TURNABOUT FOR TOMORROW? THAT MIGHT’VE BEEN WHAT GAVE YOU THE BEGINNINGS OF THE SHELLY IDEA… HMMMM.

--

Now as much as I poked fun above about the possibility that this series would make me dislike the phantom, man did this chapter make me feel bad for Bobby Fulbright. It really manages to put you in his shoes. Struck me REALLY heavily just how absolutely mind-breaking it must be for your captive to step into the room and they’re, well, you. To have the spitting image of yourself calmly and coldly hold you at gunpoint… goddamn. That’s some shattering stuff. Honestly even if none of the Shelly death happened, poor Bobby, the guy would already have a lot of baggage that would take a lot of time to work through based on that alone.

The “highly respected nobody” and “devoted your life to justice, but in doing so forgot to pursue close bonds with loved ones” comments and Bobby’s reaction was flippin’ heartbreaking for me. I’ve seen plenty of meta written before supposing about Bobby not having any real close loved ones and how that would have made impersonation easier, and for the people doing that analysis there is always an air of “huh that’s kind of sad/depressing, actually” – a level of acknowledgement there that I would register when reading such analysis, but here in this chapter I’m hit with the absolute full force of it and just how depressing it is when Mr Bobby Fulbright himself is confronted with that analysis (or at least, that’s what it really felt like the first time I read it!). It really hurt to think about! This is what I mean when I say I’m impressed that you gave Bobby Fulbright agency as a character – in fics where he is dead, or in meta passively analysing him, this analysis is basically applied to him post-mortem. He’s an idea, a thing to be dissected, with no concrete shape or form (because we can never know how accurate the phantom’s impersonation was). And in later chapters the text itself lampshades this. Bobby’s later comments about being treated as a martyr of justice by the public struck me as basically how the fandom as a whole tends to treat him, and that may have been intentional on your part. We, the fandom and the players, just like Simon Blackquill, never actually got to meet the real Bobby Fulbright. But here, here? As a character in your fic, Bobby gets to take shape as a concrete entity as opposed to the multitude of possibilities that he is in much of fandom. But importantly, he gets to react. He gets to react to things, and he is the one reacting to this very analysis of himself. As shattering as it is for him, in this chapter he gets to basically hear a solemn takeaway that parts of the fandom have made about his person. And in subsequent chapters, he is given the chance both to respond and overcome it.

It’s kinda funny, you know what these scenes made me think and wish? “Man, it really sucks that Bobby Fulbright died, actually. It really, really sucks. I wish he hadn’t died.” Keep in mind that I was kind of, err… too distracted by the phantom to be truly sad over Bobby when playing the ending of Dual Destinies for the first time. Hmm. Well, this chapter certainly helped me out with feeling the anguish that the average player did over Bobby!

“Wish Bobby didn’t die. It’s not fair! Wish that Bobby was, you know… still alive. Somehow.” Hah! Meowzy, you were just standing there like “don’t worry bro I got you covered.”

When I read this chapter for the first time, I didn’t actually know for certain that it was a Bobby Lives AU. I mean, it was telling me that Bobby Fulbright was gonna be a character, but all signs so far seemed to point to “yeah, he’s a character… in flashbacks.” The fic tags were saying Blackbright, and yet the entire setup seemed to be saying otherwise. It left me kinda confused and wondering how, in what capacity would our man Bobby Fulbright be playing a role. This chapter had made me so certain he was dead, that I actually thought supernatural elements would be involved. Ghost Bobby! : D

And I honestly don’t know why, but for some reason I’d always assumed Phantoms and Mirages as a series was some Fun Wacky AU With Actual Supernatural Elements for the longest time back when I didn’t know anything about it. It’s part of why it took me so long to finally get around to reading it. I blame both the chosen titles involved (why I failed to realise back then that they were not actually meant to be taken literally, seeing as the canon “phantom” character has no supernatural elements, I really don’t know) and the fact that “Bobby Fulbright” and “the phantom” were both listed as characters co-existing in the same fic. My mind just went “does not compute” to the point where it straight-up assumed it mustn’t be canon compliant and/or have fantastical elements. Heh. Joke’s on me.

So yeah, you made me really sad and wish Bobby hadn’t died and he was still alive… in an AU where he lives! Excellent work ;D

Just also want to randomly say again(?) that I can’t believe you managed to write canon compliant Bobby Lives “AU” fic. You took two of the main issues/problems I’ve seen raised by fans; “why did it take a year for Bobby’s body to be found” and “why did the phantom allow that evidence to be discoverable”, and managed to actually solve them in a manner that supports a Bobby Lives “AU”. Brilliant!

Chasing Phantoms, Chapter 3

The guard by the man’s side exchanged a meaningful look with his fellows on the other side of the glass as the tirade was still ongoing, though the next few words were in a foreign language. French? Then Cohdopian? He switched back to English soon enough, which didn’t diminish the oddity one bit.

The Phantom was losing it.

Gosh, I can’t emphasise enough how much I loved the language switching here. That’s another thing this series does REALLY well: acknowledging other languages and having characters change between them. An international spy is naturally going to know more than one language, that’s just kind of a given, and I don’t see much meta or fics acknowledge that, so I really do adore how strongly it’s a given in your fics. The way language switching is done and discussed, and just discussion of listening to other languages etc is usually really well done in this series and I always enjoy it.

But I just especially love this particular scene – the phantom inadvertently changing languages because he’s just that far gone is… iconic. I’d almost say it’s kind of a miracle that they were able to stick to the one language throughout their entire breakdown at the end of Dual Destinies, but then again, they only used the faces of “English” speaking characters I guess, flitting between their voices, so it does make sense!

Interesting that, when I read through this chapter for the first time, when the phantom started actually making threats and being like “I’M GOING TO BREAK OUT OF HERE AND YOU WILL PAY, SEE YOU SOON!!” I was, well, sceptical. I was like, hmmm, huuh…? “That doesn’t really, um, make sense, does it? Isn’t that a little out of character for the phantom?” and yet, the narrative itself acknowledges this, through Blackquill, later on when things come to a head. I was awfully foolish to ever doubt the Great Meowzy. :P

Now this time around, of course I know exactly what’s going on here and register precisely how this seemingly odd behaviour slots into the phantom now.

Chasing Phantoms, Chapter 4

”Bobby Fulbright.”

Fulbright stiffened at the mention of his own name, just for a few seconds.

OH, HERE WE GO. YEAH. HERE WE GO, HUH???

Yeah, you might have seen/noticed from my posting in the discord chat, but this? This inspired quite the reaction in me. This made me livid, frothing at the mouth. Not in any way towards you, the author or the writing, but towards the character. Mission accomplished via good writing!

Well, I wasn’t angry at first, I don’t think. Initially it was just a kind of, delighted bewilderment when he showed up – I am pretty sure I found it pretty, well, amusing. Funny but in a sense you’re laughing out of shock and bewilderment more than anything. LIKE… IT /IS/ PRETTY FUNNY IN A SUPER WACKY KIND OF WAY… the narrative has kind of said in no uncertain terms over and over again, that this character is dead. And here he is, in the flesh, alive, just like that.

The phantom: lol Bobby Fulbright is dead and I killed him

(Except he’s lying through his teeth.)

Like, YES, we have the narrative undercurrent of Simon’s creeping suspicions leading up to this point – it’s most certainly not something that happens out of nowhere, textually speaking. The groundwork HAS been laid, and alternative explanations have been hinted and implied. (An AU of this AU would be some grimdark angsty thing where Simon follows the “maybe he’s not actually dead though” trail and gets his hopes up only for it to end in despair because nah, he’s really gone dude, and it was all your imagination and yearning for something that will never be, but anyway).

It’s awkwardly funny and funny in an awkward way. This guy presumed dead, another guy claiming to have killed him, the funeral has taken place, THE BODY SUPPOSEDLY IDENTIFIED AND /BURIED/, THE LOCATION OF THE MURDER SUPPOSEDLY IDENTIFIED- People are in mourning.

Bobby: Oh. Hey. Hello, um, yes. I’m alive haha

Part of it is that it’s so sudden too. I kind of love it. He’s just there at the cemetery, Simon chases this random man down and it’s Bobby flippin’ Fulbright.

So at first it’s like

:O [laughing confusedly] what the heck? Bobby, you’re aliiive! : D

Then it’s like

Bobby, how the hell are you alive?

…And what the hell are you doing here?!

Then finally reaches a crescendo in a sort of WAIT, HOW DARE YOU BE ALIVE?!

My standard expectation for a fic scenario like this – “Bobby is alive post-DD” is him being found, hidden away somewhere – him having been forcibly hidden away from the outside world with no way to make contact with it if he wanted to. He needs to be uncovered. He’s certainly not casually hanging out in the background at cemeteries, walking around outside freely, that’s for sure, hahaha.

But no, he was not discovered in some dark cellar, chained to the wall. He was discovered walking around out in the open, nothing really preventing him from making contact with people.

My amused surprise quickly and rapidly gave way to rage.

Rage at this man!!! Rage, as the story progressed and unfolded in the immediate aftermath of this initial scene.

All thoughts of the phantom – the god damn phantom, the entire reason I started reading this fic in the first place – vanished from my mind. Stuff the phantom. Who cares about the phantom?! All of my thoughts and feelings and reactions were all focused on Bobby. For the next small chunk of the fic, the phantom is not relevant, and I couldn’t care less, because he was completely irrelevant to me at that point too, and for me that’s kind of a big accomplishment writing-wise in and of itself.

“You’re a real doll”

“Y o u ‘ r e a r e a l d o l l”

HMMMMMMMMMMM

Me: BOBBY FULBRIGHT ARE YOU OKA

“shooting her a playful. WINK”

UHHHHGNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

I FORGOT HE ACTUALLY SAYS THAT BEFORE THE SMOKING REVEAL but I was already blind rage at that point anyway sdklsdklsd like… Bobby Fulbright just… Existing “freely” and not having contacted the authories or anything… was more than enough to tip me off that something was horribly wrong, that this Fulbright had fundamentally betrayed himself and what he stands for in some capacity. That much was already clear to me – I was essentially infuriated over certain reveals before they even happened. I already Knew, really. Looking back, the “doll” line MIGHT not have been intentional? But basically: I am Very Certain it really doesn’t suit Bobby’s character back before the phantom happened and kinda ruined his life for a while there. When he said that to Olga… It was really Randy Liberate speaking imo. Post-phantom Bobby though, I guess would possibly say that line too. But it was a line that just made me uncomfortable and be like [holds out cross in self-defence] “I Don’t Trust Like That.” (And my friend agreed when I told her about the line hahaha). The main point is it’s a small but stark contrast to Original!Bobby and I was like bro. oh no.

Wait no what am I saying – as far as Phantoms and Mirages has established, Bobby is Very Gay (unless he’s also attracted to women but I don’t recall it being mentioned. Huh!) and also had never acted on his sexuality originally. He just wouldn’t be the type to Wink And Act Like That. Post-Randy-Liberate-Bobby would but probably only in a purely playful and innocent sense, obviously with no actual interest there. I could be wrong but Yeah! Anyway

”What’s this?” He snatched the last item up with one hand to inspect it. “You don’t smoke.”

”Bobby Fulbright didn’t smoke. Randy Liberate took it up last year,” the other man corrected him. “It relieves stress.”

OH MY GOOOOOOD HERE IT IS……………..THE H

YEAH. YEAH YOU PROBABLY SAW ME TALK ABOUT THIS IN DISCORD I GUESS FOR SURE.

CONGRATULATIONS, this just……. The narrative absolutely achieved its goal here. This, I was so… The IMAGE. The image just gave me such a visceral reaction it was just like yeah, yeah, okay. Bobby would Never, but here we are I guess, I was ready to throw hands. Man I was so mad, this man I swear… Once again… The good writing absolutely resulted in Mission Accomplished for what it was going for.

Worth noting that there was a kinda misconception I had here initially – from the information the fics give us later on, it seems that Bobby actually had pretty free reign when it came to shaping who Randy Liberate was? Even if he had some rough guidelines he needed to follow maybe, guy was pretty free to do and be what he wanted. At this point I actually thought that Randy Liberate was already a set personality that Bobby had to fake, and that he Could Not Stray from the mould that was given to him. I figured that Randy Liberate smoked, and when Bobby became him, he’d no real choice in the matter (but also genuinely wanted to just Become this new person so ultimately, he didn’t care, he just did it cause Whatever, if he’s Randy Liberate then smoking is cool now, who cares! Not Bobby Randy!) Guess the “took it up last year” should have tipped me off? But oh well.

…Oh! I also just want to say it’s worth noting that the “Bobby found, was kept prisoner in a cellar for a year”-type scenarios don’t work for me, and they’re part of why previously I was never really able to accept Bobby Lives AUs – I just found it too unrealistic for the phantom to hold Bobby captive for so long, cause it was like, why? For what reason? The scenario you give is so much better imo and I can, yeah, I can buy it! I love Blackquill kind of actively lampshading it though hahaha. “Literally what reason would the phantom keep you alive for? You’re a liability, it would be Too Dangerous for them, makes no sense to me” – Simon Blackquill, anticipating my objections ahead of time and voicing them. God, I love that.

Simon watched as Fulbright slipped a cigarette into his mouth and lit it.

Skjnsdndskjnsd thanks, I hate it! SDKJDKJDKJB OK SORRY I JUST. I just have to put this here for the extra “Oh my God… this is really happening huh… the level of discord shoved into a single sentence.” Simon comments on Fulbright acting nonchalant. You know what else is nonchalant? This sentence. And it’s all the more effective as a result.

I should pull up some of Ye Olde Liveblogging messages I sent to my friend over this, consisting hugely of “[cocks gun] you’re not Bobby. Who are you.” Exactly the point, of course.

(”the two of us” here refers to my friend and I).

Heh, don’t worry, I won’t kill Bobby. Bobby is fantastic. At this point of the fic it was really something though

”[…] it was the only life I could still have. A second chance for a dead man. I was lucky to be given even that much.”

Just like the phantom gets in Lifting Spirits.

WAIT I FORGOT ABOUT THE CASUAL SWEARING TOO OH YM GOOOOD. The “I stopped trusting in justice” I just CAN’T.

Me, screaming: GET OUT!!!! HOW DARE YOU STAND WHERE HE STOOD

Sdlnsdlknsdkl

I always just think about this one AskAceAttorney post where they go “Bobby would never swear. It’s not just.”

The casual marriage reveal too just slays it, hits it out of the park… “Crashing parties” Bobby,,, is gone. He’s not here anymore. I can tell you that. That was Randy.

”Pathetic!” he slammed his fist against the wall behind him, causing both Fulbright and Taka to give a start. “Absolutely pathetic! I’ve yet to decide who is more detestable, you or the Phantom!”

I AM BLACKQUILL, BLACKQUILL IS MEEEEE, at least the first time I read through this, that is. Love when the POV character is on the exact same wavelength reaction-wise.

The newcomer seemed confused for a few seconds, if only because despite their viably different situations, there were two men in the room who looked virtually identical.

IN SPITE OF EVERYTHING THIS IS LITERALLY SO FUNNY… LIKE LITERALLY NOTHING ELSE ABOUT THE SITUATION IS FUNNY BUT THIS ONE SPLIT SECOND? HILARIOUS. I LOVE IT. The image of Shelly just pausing and looking at what he’d just abruptly burst in on is GOLD. Ahahaha. “oh GEEZ which one is the target?!” (that quickly becomes kinda obvious, but the brief confusion is everything to me). Well I suppose it would have been bad news for Bobby if he’d been able to subdue phantom by some miracle and the situation WAS reversed, that’s for sure!

God. Literally everyone in the room at this point is in an awkward situation tho im

Shelly, having come across this weird scene with Two Identical Men: what

The phantom, his almost-murder he was about to commit having been interrupted and his Secret Hideout having been intruded on without warning by an annoyingly persistent assassin that just won’t go away: what

Bobby, being held at gunpoint and About To Be Murdered: what

It’s so great.

Still, fast as he was, the stitched man was faster.

I concur. I always figured that, if at point-blank range or whatever, Shelly would win. Killing is his trade, after all. It’s his specialty. It’s not the phantom’s specialty in the way that it’s Shelly’s specialty – the phantom has his Cool Spy Moves and is good at being a spy but like, that’s just not equal to Shelly and his craft, man. The phantom’s only hopes with Shelly are just to avoid being caught amidst his many identities. Or an unlikely person saving his life.

Oh and it’s super interesting because there’s actually fanart of Shelly and the phantom (fully decked out as Bobby Fulbright) running at each other for a throwdown match, the text of the post just saying “killer vs killer”. I wonder, have you stumbled across this fanart before? Could it have at all served as a kind of inspiration, perhaps? Or maybe your fic actually predates it, and the inspiration was the other way around. Or maybe it’s just an amusing coincidence, and neither influenced the other – there just happens to be fic of a certain piece of fanart and fanart of a certain scene from a fic, this unintentional on everyone’s behalf. I actually think that’s pretty damn cool. Well, no matter what the truth is: neat!

Anyway, there is honestly so much that happens in this series – it is so completely filled to the brim and action-packed that I essentially forgot that Shelly de Killer got killed way back at the start until it became relevant again. In the grand scheme of things, it just feels so… understated, almost. When I read it, I was like “whoa, dude, you just killed off Shelly de Killer. Whoa. What!” And then it promptly got swept away amidst everything else, you know? My mind just had SO MANY other things to focus on.

Well no, it’s not understated – Bobby suffers severe trauma, and he can never truly purge that horrific scene from his mind. BUT what I mean is, from the way the narrative handles it, it becomes more “that thing Bobby was traumatised by and needs counselling for” and “that event that led to a body being confused for Bobby’s own corpse” (I swear I literally kept forgetting that was Shelly, that’s actually Shelly’s corpse). The powerful impact of “SHELLY DE KILLER IS DEAD!!!” got lost somewhere along the way, and then fast forward to Lifting Spirits and Benny shows up and OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

And by the way, the fact that it even becomes relevant again, in the first place? Storytelling and writing at its finest. Like… You didn’t have to make everything come full circle like you did. I had long-dismissed the Shelly incident as, well, a wacky incident where an iconic canon ace attorney character gets killed off and practically FORGOTTEN about it, never actually expecting it to really get expanded upon beyond that, but by hell it sure did. You are awesome. I would never have guessed this one scene would send out shockwaves that would come back full force to haunt the phantom fics later. At that point, he’s no longer the phantom of course, but well, we’ll get there… : ) But it really goes to show that Nothing is really wasted in this series, honest-to-goodness, and that’s such good writing, it’s so cool.

I also forgot that, even back here, way back then, Bobby saved the phantom’s life. He really Did that huh.

ALSO I FEEL LIKE THERE’S LOWKEY IMPLICATIONS THAT THIS IS JUST, an average day in the life of the phantom, and that’s really funny to me too. ‘Cause it kinda IS standard to an extent, I guess.

Chasing Phantoms, Chapter 5

”Aura, I have a question. Do you believe it’s right to start a second life when your first one has gone to hell?”

Oh? You mean kinda like… Lex does in the end? :P

Well I suppose this fic series raises that debate early on. XP

”Of course I don’t think it’s right. Who would even get a second life? Cheats like the Phantom, that’s who!”

OH,..

Now obviously the first time reading this I read it in the context of “yeah, bc shedding identities and all” BUT THIS TIME AROUND, IT TAKES ON A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT MEANING… HEH. Actually you know what, the first time reading this I don’t think I even dwelled on it or how it connects to the phantom having so many identities he sheds and takes up, it just seemed like an easily-overlooked “the phantom is awful and a cheat” comment and I’m kinda. Yelling at the resonance of this line now.

Oh, and her bringing the word “cheat” into it, and I think I recall a line in Lifting Spirits at the end where it says they “felt like they were cheating”… heh. Heh.

”Genuine humans only get one life and we have to make the best of it.”

Her exact sentiments in Lifting Spirits… I didn’t even think about how this aspect also comes full circle. A similar kind of question is posed, first about Bobby Fulbright (or rather, “Randy Liberate”) in the beginning, and then about The Man Currently Known As The Phantom in the end. The answers and the outcomes that the fic provides to these rather similar kind of questions are quite different. Aura’s stance never wavers, not even once.

…This fic series’s meta writes itself tbh.

OKAY. ANYWAY I LEGIT TEARED UP A LITTLE READING THE MESSAGES THAT WERE WRITTEN TO BOBBY IN THAT BOOK, NOT GONNA LIE. The feels.

Chasing Phantoms, Chapter 6

Anyway yeah this is just so good and well-written, the whole play on Bobby actually needing to fake his old persona for the sake of other people…

Chasing Phantoms, Chapter 7

…You know, I just realised, I’d actually been very sceptical of Bobby’s level of proficiency in Borginian, given his job and lack of opportunity to use it previously when he was a detective, the fact that he learned it years ago and thus a lot of the knowledge had probably faded over time (although obviously I know it had the chance to be brought up to speed again over the past year, I just had strong doubts over that being enough). But then I realised that my only experience with knowing another language is Mandarin Chinese, so uhh…. It’s OBVIOUSLY going to be far easier if the other language Bobby knows is, in fact, much closer to English. Huh.

Me, with a smarmy voice: actually Bobby being fluent in Borginian is unrealistic, there’s no way given that he would have had so little opportunity to use Borginian over the years

Me, realising that Borginian would probably be way easier to learn for an English-speaker than Chinese is and therefore my perception is skewered: …OH.

I actually felt so bad for Fulbright’s “wife”, because tsk tsk, just like Simon I too had made an assumption there. But imagine marrying this guy and DURING the divorce proceedings you find out the identity was fake and the circumstances that led to it… that’s so screwed up.

Me now @ past me, thinking about how Domestique already knew: HAHAHA

--

[narrows eyes] oh. Here we are. Our first phantomquill. …………..hmph. I’ve still not the full capacity to confront this – I’m still trying to figure it out for myself.  Nnh. Well, more on… this later, I suppose. It will come up again. ;P

I uh, wonder how long it was until you changed gears on your original plans. Kinda feels like you were still gunning for full-blown one-sided phantomquill at this point, ahaha.

When was the last time anyone had touched him with such kind intentions?

>kind intentions.

Yes, I am sure the intentions are wholly kind, I’m sure there is nothing awful or twisted or empty about them. God damn it, Meowzy. :P

Chasing Phantoms, Chapter 8

”Don’t worry, detective. I’ll put you out of your misery now.”

“Ok you helped save my life but I’m still gonna kill you lol.”

--

Whew… So we have the phantom outlining the full extent of Randy Liberate’s exploits. By this point though, I’d basically already dealt with and come to terms with, well, just how much Bobby had changed. I’d already presumed most of the phantom’s bombshells regarding that, but the extent of it still came as a surprise. I also hadn’t expected the text to make it this explicitly clear, and truly highlight it all, underscoring just how much it positions Bobby at the opposite end of a scale compared to how he was before.

Although, it didn’t really affect me too much, since I’d already done my fierce reactions to changed!Bobby towards the start – even if it was even worse than I’d assumed, I’d already mourned TotallyInnocent!Bobby, to the extent that hearing all this resulted in a kind of deadpan “well this may as well be the case, huh” within me – the most impactful fact was that Innocent!Bobby was gone, back towards the start. To what extent he had vanished, how far gone Bobby was, therefore didn’t change that fact, if that makes sense.

Chasing Phantoms, Chapter 10

Athena’s “phantom menace” comment really cracked me up. It’s little things like that which are not only funny, but they’re authentic, and I love that.

I really like how the narrative of this series handles names and identities, how in the flashback scene they’re called Randy Liberate and Bobby Fulbright – that’s just how it is. Because those ARE effectively their identities at that point.

…Okay this is random but I’ve needed to go through airports recently and digital fingerprinting was part of the process to get through at one point; it’s a relatively new addition though. Though I still took flights that didn’t involve it, but I just thought, man, Randy Liberate would be screwed, what with having no fingerprints. Although maybe Mr Liberate has a valid reason and there’s an alternative security check he could use – I’m sure the phantom would have thought it through and had everything covered for him. What a great guy! Very helpful, very considerate, amirite? And generous for allowing Randy to use his funds, too! Okay I’m done XD

No actually I’m not – one more joke:

”Don’t lose track of your phone, alright? You never know when I might call to check up on you.”

Awww he really cares uwu uwu uwu how sweet!

”Now Randy, remember to behave yourself. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

THAT was unnecessary, phantom, stuff you. This and the “stress could be the death of you” comment… HMPH.

So this chapter really drills home just how formidable and terrifying the phantom on the loose can really be. A horror movie thriller really could just pick up this whole concept and run with it freely – needing to keep your loved ones in sight at all times, lest they be replaced by an emotionless killer. The constant fears and paranoia and always second-guessing yourself whether such and such loved one is REALLY them or not or someone who would kill you without a second thought. Hmm! I was kinda excited/thrilled at reading of the phantom’s escape, only for it to all come crashing down on me how genuinely scary and awful that is for all of our protagonists and the characters that I actually, you know, care about!

THE SUSPENSE IS REALLY GOOD, WITH TIME PASSING AND NOTHING HAPPENING AND THE QUESTION BEING BEGGED “where is the phantom? What are they up to? What do they plan? They could be lying in wait anywhere. They could be just outside or in another country.” It’s SO GOOD.

At this point, I actually didn’t really… care about the phantom? I felt a kind of disconnect, wherein I had this absolutely hilarious and unfounded in retrospect assumption that the author didn’t really care too much for the phantom as a character, and would rather just focus on Bobby and Simon while the phantom terrorizes them somewhere far off in the background.

Me at the time: don’t get me wrong this fic is pretty fantastic and well-written, it’s just a shame that the phantom’s role is kinda minor I guess

(PFFFFFFF)

Yeah because the phantom will totally never have a prominent or pinnacle role in this series with “phantom” namechecked in the title – suuuure.

Well, to be clearer… The fic was/is still 100% my thing. The narrative was calling him a monster because he kinda is. This is the exact thing I’m usually looking for to read. So why was I feeling weirdly… hurt over that at the time of reading this initially? Well, it just so happens that around that time I’d just reread over the bulk of another phantom fic which in no way excuses the phantom’s crimes, but does portray them rather sympathetically. And it has them faux-getting along with Blackquill except some blurred lines where it becomes genuine getting along. Blackquill uncovers some tragic truths about the phantom’s past and you know, that kind of thing, where Blackquill finds themself caring and they hate that they do but they can’t help it (I’m not talking about Pengy’s fic if that’s what you’re wondering, pff).

So I was still stuck in “sympathetic phantom” mode from that fic where they’d been, well, kinda humanised. Even though I usually love the standard (accurate) “they’re a killer, they’re a monster” take, at that time I was sitting there kinda like “…aww. Right now, I kinda want just a slightly lighter take? Kinda bittersweet, like that fic… I kinda want. MORE.”

I bring this up because it amuses me to no end that I was, on some level feeling complain-y over the phantom a) not getting enough focus and b) not being… humanised enough??? IN THE SAME SERIES WHERE LIFTING SPIRITS LIKE… EXISTS. CAN YOU BELIEVE. I really had No Idea huh, was just completely and utterly clueless. But I never would have thought, never would have guessed in a million years what the endgame was actually going to be. Like, @ past me please have a tiny bit of patience and sit the hell down. You’re reading Chasing Phantoms and feeling lowkey sad because the phantom’s got such a bad rep (that they totally earned btw)? You’re actually assuming the author wants us to only ever see them as a monster? Pff, please. Honey, you’ve got a big storm comin’.

Little did I know that this series ultimately makes the phantom even MORE “friendly” and MORE likable than the other fic that made me crave that...

But yeah ‘cause of that at the time I was kinda like “ok I’m just gonna, tune out the phantom and how they’re an empty monster for a while cause it makes me kinda sad to think about.” LOL. Well Meowzy will leave no stone unturned, rest assured!

It’s the equivalent of having a nice pizza and the pizza’s absolutely great, there’s nothing wrong with it, but you just happen to not be feeling it at that very moment and are kinda craving icecream instead. (But on a normal day, you’re usually 100% down for pizza!)

[Meowzy voice] “not to worry, I brought pizza AND ice cream. The best damn ice cream you’ve ever had. But you have to finish your pizza first!”

[placetobenation]

Goldberg is back.

Yes, it’s time for a major PPV with the Royal Rumble in three weeks and again we have a returning superstar from the past trying to worm his way into the main event. Goldberg returning on Legends Night, making the challenge for Drew McIntyre’s WWE Championship makes little sense, as we’ll explain in our RAW recap later. Regardless of the storyline, the match on its face doesn’t make me want to invest in it. McIntyre’s been an awesome champion carrying the RAW brand week-in and week-out. Why on Earth would anyone believe that Goldberg, who hasn’t wrestled since losing to Braun Strowman at WrestleMania 36 in April of 2020, should be able to beat a guy on top of the chain who’s been out there wrestling on a consistent basis? Besides, didn’t Goldberg already call out Roman Reigns at the end of 2020 or are we just supposed to forget about that? And speaking of forgetting, why exactly do we get McIntyre going up against Randy Orton again this Monday night out of the blue? Is there something I’ve missed there? Having your top champion wrestle every week waters down how the effectiveness of the championship and the wrestler. It should be a big deal when the WWE Champion wrestles on the show, not just more of the same old thing.  I’m not saying it should be months in between appearances like back in the days of Bob Backlund and Hulk Hogan, but every Monday night for a month is a bit much.

Either way, that bit of business was the oddest thing to go down in what was a pretty eventful and productive week around the WWE.

Star of the Week

And still … #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/WuNF0Yu88M

— Ryan Satin (@ryansatin) January 7, 2021

Finn Balor – Back from a broken jaw, The Prince delivers a main-event victory over Kyle O’Reilly to retain the NXT Championship, returning the jaw injury to his foe in the process. These two have put on back-to-back dynamite matches and here’s one who’s hoping there’s a third one to add to the trilogy down the road. He’ll need to stay on top of his came because here comes Karrion Kross and Scarlett back to take what they think is rightfully theirs.

RAW

RESULTS

The New Day defeated The Miz & John Morrison

AJ Styles defeated Elias

Non-Title WWE Women’s Championship Match: Lacey Evans & Peyton Royce defeated Charlotte Flair & Asuka

Non-Title United States Championship Match: Riddle defeated Bobby Lashley

Dana Brooke defeated Shayna Baszler

Randy Orton defeated Jeff Hardy

Non-Title RAW Tag Team Championship Match: Lucha House Party defeated The Hurt Business

WWE Championship Match: Drew McIntyre defeated Keith Lee to retain title

Someone’s got upset fever in the WWE. Not one, not two, not three, but four upsets on the night. Amazingly enough too, they all made perfect sense!

"GET OUT NOW." Consider @MsCharlotteWWE furious…#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/NyRmekWGsv

— WWE (@WWE) January 5, 2021

Charlotte Flair getting pinned by Lacey Evans after Papa Ric Flair takes his flirting with Evans to a nasty level and “inadvertently” trips his own daughter was a nice swerve. Maybe this wakes up Flair and turns her against Asuka and the true Queen persona returns after a few weeks of being nice.

Riddle over Lashley after seemingly tapping out makes him a US Title contender. That’s a good thing. He’s earned it.

Dana Brooke over Shayna Baszler. I’m good with that for a week. Brooke and Mandy Rose have been beat up so many times the past month, they deserve some positivity.

Lucha House Party wins again! Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin are at odds. It’s a nice mix as we lead to the eventual Four Horseman-esque dumping of Alexander I think it’s coming post-Royal Rumble.

What a BATTLE! #WWETitle @DMcIntyreWWE @RealKeithLee

#WWERaw, 1/4/21 pic.twitter.com/IV2lqkwgPj

— WWE (@WWE) January 6, 2021

Kudos to Keith Lee and Drew McIntyre! Those two put on quite a show as McIntyre defended his WWE Championship. Lee continues to keep himself in the main event mix with another quality showing.

Hope you enjoyed that @Goldberg, because it’s the only push you’re gonna get pic.twitter.com/VFUd150xoC

— Drew McIntyre (@DMcIntyreWWE) January 5, 2021

Now, to the elephant in the room. Goldberg. The whole premise of him coming down to berate McIntyre for tearing the legends down when he’s done nothing of the sort. He’s been as respectful as the day is long. I don’t think for a second that Goldberg will, or should be on McIntyre’s level. Here’s hoping Drew puts his “Dad” in his proper place. Plus, not for nothing, but what a shoddy way to end the night by dumping out at the end of RAW to see Modern Family on the USA Network before we see McIntyre pop right back up from the Goldberg push down that we saw later on social media. Sloppy TV production right there from the WWE who is usually really good at that part of the biz.

Heartthrob @AngelGarzaWwe was ready to party with @iamcardib on #WWERaw but instead ran into THE BOOGEYMAN! pic.twitter.com/oLQQM73Xgn

— WWE (@WWE) January 6, 2021

Speaking of the legends, outside of the ridiculous H-Phone with Hulk Hogan to start the night, I thought it was pretty well done. Nothing crazy. Nothing hugely surprising. But they played the hits. Loved The Boogeyman being a shock to Angel Garza. Melina with the Lucha House Party was a nice touch. It’s too bad Mick Foley has to miss the night due to a COVID-19 positive test. Prayers out to Mick and the Foley family.

NOT AGAIN, RANDY!!!#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/KVx5WbNIzH

— WWE (@WWE) January 5, 2021

Otherwise, Jeff Hardy is one good sport for letting Randy Orton continue to stretch out his ears to no end. The New Day vs. The Miz and John Morrison was pretty good to kick-start the night. I’m expecting The Miz to turn on his buddy anytime now and blame him for the losses.

NXT

RESULTS

Karrion Kross defeated Damien Priest

NXT Cruiserweight Championship Match: Santos Escobar defeated Gran Metalik

Last Woman Standing Match: Raquel Gonzalez defeated Rhea Ripley

Shotzi Blackheart & KUSHIDA defeated Candice LeRae & Johnny Gargano

NXT Championship Match: Finn Balor defeated Kyle O’Reilly

New Year’s Evil was a home run folks!

It's only a matter of time before he gets back what's his. 𝑻𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑻𝒐𝒄𝒌. #WWENXT #NXTNYE @WWEKarrionKross @Lady_Scarlett13 pic.twitter.com/OORdOxs5d2

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) January 7, 2021

I’ll admit, Karrion Kross and Damien Priest was a little bit of a disappointment for me because I had such high expectations for it. It did what it needed to do though as Kross keeps his title aspirations alive to get back his NXT Championship from Finn Balor.

Santos Escobar continues to dazzle as the highlight of the cruiserweight division. While many can compete, there are few who can or will take him down. Gran Metalik tried but came up short.

.@RaquelWWE is the #LastWomanStanding. Words cannot even describe what we just witnessed. WOW.#NXTNYE @RheaRipley_WWE pic.twitter.com/kn4eCTVbwo

— WWE (@WWE) January 7, 2021

Raquel Gonzalez and Rhea Ripley was a downright epic war. These two took their Last Woman Standing match all over the WWE Performance Center and even took it to another level with Ripley locking Dakota Kai in a locker to prevent further involvement. Gonzalez’ chokeslam of Ripley through the stage was impressive. I’ll have to say, I wonder where Ripley goes next as she hasn’t won “the big one” in almost a year since dropping the NXT Championship to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 36. Gonzalez stardom continues to rise and now joins Mercedes Martinez and Toni Storm at the top of the charts to take down NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai.

So many questions, so little answers. #NXTNYE @XiaWWE @Bigboawwe pic.twitter.com/cXbnetNiD1

— WWE (@WWE) January 7, 2021

Badass thy name is Xia Li. For the first time since their banishment, Li and Boa are back live and Xia showed she’s for real. She looks the part and has all the feels of a faction led by ???? We’ll continue to guess.

Shotzi Blackheart & KUSHIDA is an interesting combo to take on The Gargano Way duo of Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae. It was fun!

Does he have your attention now?

#AndStill #NXTNYE #NXTChampionship @FinnBalor pic.twitter.com/lMyzOltoXm

— WWE (@WWE) January 7, 2021

Finn Balor vs. Kyle O’Reilly II. Holy smokes! This was high drama to say the least. It was touch-and-go right until the end. Having Balor take aim at KOR’s jaw seemed right. Balor with a little color the hard-way proved how tough his one was. I like that they didn’t get lazy and make a Kross run-in mar the finish either. It let these two have the stage they so richly deserved.

ABOUT TIME. Per #WWENXT GM @RealKingRegal, the WOMEN'S #DustyCup is coming your way, soon! #WeAreNXT #NXTNYE pic.twitter.com/D7btsuCPso

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) January 7, 2021

Finally, I love that the women of NXT are getting a Dusty Rhodes Classic of their own. The NXT women’s division is top notch and there’s plenty of match-ups that could be made. Just like the men though, I hope they bring in some other indie teams to spice it up too.

SMACKDOWN

RESULTS

Intercontinental Championship Match: Big E defeated Apollo Crews

SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match: Robert Roode & Dolph Ziggler defeated The Street Profits to win the titles

Gauntlet Match – Rey Mysterio defeated Sami Zayn; Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Mysterio; Nakamura defeated King Corbin; Nakamura defeated Daniel Bryan; Adam Pearce defeated Nakamura to win a title shot against Roman Reigns at Royal Rumble

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/WCsFNufQU4

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) January 9, 2021

It was all about the titles this week on SmackDown. First up, Big E defended his Intercontinental Championship for the first time against his friend, Apollo Crews. But, after Crews thought he pinned Big E yet instead the referee called for a double pin and a draw, Crews wasn’t so friendly. One slap later and a decent back-and-forth restart of a match, Big E retained his title. Nice job by Big E turning things serious when he needed to get the victory.

The Dirty Dawgs did it! AND NEWWW #SmackDown Tag Team Champions: @HEELZiggler & @RealRobertRoode. pic.twitter.com/hUh0XCUWc6

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) January 9, 2021

We have new tag team champions as Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode take advantage of Montez Ford’s injured left knee to take home the gold. Good to see the vets rewarded with a tactical win. Let’s hope they keep it for a bit and it’s not just a quick respite for the TSP.

The second hour of SmackDown was devoted mostly to the Gauntlet Match to decide who will face Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble. As they foreshadowed in the opening segment, Paul Heyman got WWE official Adam Pearce put into the match as a bit of payback for making the Tribal Chief look stupid for his latest actions. And the rest, as we always say, is history.

Respect.#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/62aycltXw2

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) January 9, 2021

What a great "win" by @ScrapDaddyAP, who will now face @WWERomanReigns at the Royal Rumble! #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/ObSpiKmHoB

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) January 9, 2021

As for the match itself, I didn’t like Sami Zayn being eliminated by Rey Mysterio in about a minute. He deserves better. Nakamura, who’s really been an afterthought on the singles front for months, looked good with victories against Mysterio and Corbin. Against Daniel Bryan, Nakamura looked even better as those two are magical together in the ring. Beautiful sign of respect afterwards as well. Unfortunately for Shinsuke, the expected happened as Reigns and Jey Uso beat up Nakamura before Pearce entered the ring as the final contestant of the Gauntlet Match. Reigns showed it’s HIS show, as Uso superkicks Pearce before dragging his body over Nakamura to get the win. Predictable? 100%! Good for the storyline. Absolutely.

""I want to put the past behind me." – @SonyaDevilleWWE to @ScrapDaddyAp#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/gWKF48xJ7F

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) January 9, 2021

Finally, what’s the deal with Sonya Deville? At least they addressed her loss in the loser leaves WWE match with Mandy Rose to end 2020. But they didn’t really quite explain what her role will be in aiding Pearce. Will it be taking over now that Pearce is back in the ring? I really wish Michael Cole and Corey Graves would give a little background on Pearce. He was a former 5-time NWA Champion. If Paul Heyman could slip in a Scrap Daddy WCW line, why not give us a little context. I get that the WWE doesn’t think anything exists outside the WWE Universe, but in this day of social media, it helps the story get over with some needed details. They’ve never explained who Pearce is other than just another backstage guy. Major mistake on their part.

Parting Shots:

Could Jay White be coming to the WWE? Rumors abound that he could be leaving New Japan Wrestling after his loss at Wrestle Kingdom. It seems like White liked this tweet from our star of the week Finn Balor after his NXT Championship match this week with Kyle O’Reilly. Count us in on wanting to see that one!

STEP RIGHT UP pic.twitter.com/ojcoHpdcz6

— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) January 7, 2021

Coming up this week:

RAW: Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton Goldberg’s Challenge addressed NXT: Dusty Rhodes Classic begins

SMACKDOWN: TBD

Thanks for letting us share our thoughts! Shoot me an email at jcrowe567@gmail.com. We’d love to hear your comments and suggestions! You can also check out my blog, The Crowe’s Nest as we delve into more pro wrestling, sports entertainment and the World of Sports. My apologies ahead of time – I AM a Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins fan! If you’re not down with that, I’ve got TWO WORDS for you… NEW ENGLAND

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New Post has been published on The Bouncing Tigger Reads

New Post has been published on https://www.tiggerreviews.com/new-and-witchy/

New and Witchy

Guest post

An Interview With My Author

By Rosemary Bell – Heroine of New Witch on the Block

What made you decide to write my story?

As someone who has spent time as a single mum, I am fascinated by the plight of women who are striving to slay it in their everyday lives: mums who work full-time, mums who are at home full-time (because that has a whole other set of challenges), mums who are in-between, or run their own businesses… the list goes on! I knew I wanted you to be a witch, and that I wanted moving to have to be a difficult experience for you. Giving you a downright reprehensible ex-husband whose influence you needed to overcome so that you could bloom into the woman you always were deep down inside meant I got to see your grow throughout the book. Adding the witchery on top of all that seemed like a logical step – but you needed to believe in yourself before you could believe in magic!

I see. Randy sure is a piece of work, so thanks for that I guess? Moving on – why Mosswood?

I’ve always been fascinated with the United States, ever since I was a little girl. A few failed attempts at visiting has meant that for the short-term future at least, my experiences of the US will need to happen through books, TV shows, and movies. I love the pictures painted of places like Bon Temps (Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse series) Mystic Falls (L. J. Smiths’ The Vampire Diaries series) and New Orleans in general – so it made sense to set my series in the South. My editor is Southern and is an incredible source of real-life info, helping me adapt my language. And then once I knew I wanted a really tiny town surrounded by woods, I got my ten year old daughter to draw me a map! Kids are so inventive, and she thought of things that I never would have thought of. I loved collaborating with her on the project, and the story is so much richer for it. 

That’s actually adorable, bless her! But for real now – was the palmetto bug really necessary? And the biceps? Were the biceps really necessary? And the laundry machines? The skunks?! Actually nevermind, we aren’t speaking.

Stop being overly dramatic, it was just a bug? And sexy biceps. And… well okay, the skunks probably didn’t need to scare the crap out of you, so I’m a teeny bit sorry for those. 

Did you feel even remotely bad for any of the hurdles you threw my way during the course of the book?

Not really! The scene with the eggs was difficult to write, because I was actually imagining it happening to myself and my daughter as I was writing it and I shed a tear or two, I can’t lie! But everything that made it into the book was totally necessary for your growth and development as a character, so I can’t be too sorry! And I mean, sure Declan is annoying, but could you really call him a ‘hurdle’? Heh.

What about the naked magic casting? Did you feel bad about that? Because that was just unfair.

Not in the slightest, and I will do it again in a heartbeat. You needed to come out of your shell, figuratively and literally – and those scenes really demonstrate your transition from Randy’s Rosie to your own person in so many ways. In fact, the last of those scenes might just be my favourite scene in the whole book!

What’s in store for me in Jealousy’s a Witch? The title sounds ominous.

There will be a huge raft of new characters, and new places in Mosswood to explore in-depth! The plot definitely takes a turn – you discover that Declan’s been keeping a pretty big secret from you that makes you re-think your whole association with him. Maggie will experience a lot of growth in the book too, and the main plotline revolves around some dangerous situations for her. It’s gonna be a wild ride!

That makes me worried for Maggie! Will she be okay?

Absolutely – but it wouldn’t be the type of book I write without a little drama! She will come out of Jealousy’s a Witch with a rather cool experience of her own – but I don’t wanna spoil it for you!

 Author Bio

 Author by day, Netflix connoisseur by night.

 Louisa likes Pina Coladas and gettin’ caught in the rain. Determined to empty her brain of stories, she writes across several genres including fantasy, speculative fiction, contemporary and historical fiction, and romance.

 She lives in Mandurah, Western Australia, and drinks more coffee than is good for her. When she’s not writing or researching projects, Louisa enjoys spending time with her family, and Harriet The Great (Dane). Hobbies include playing video games, watching copious amounts of tv, and various craft-related initiatives.

 She strongly believes that the truth is still out there.

http://www.louisawest.com

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16738794.Louisa_West

https://www.facebook.com/louisawestauthor

ttps://www.instagram.com/louisa_west

[magzoso-tech]

New Post has been published on https://magzoso.com/tech/snapchat-launches-bitmoji-tv-zany-4-min-cartoons-of-your-avatar/

Snapchat launches Bitmoji TV: zany 4-min cartoons of your avatar

If you were the star of every show, would you watch more mobile television? Snapchat is betting that narcissism drives resonance for its new weekly videos that put you and your friends’ customizable Bitmoji avatars into a flurry of silly animated situations. Bitmoji TV premieres on Saturday morning, and it’s remarkably funny, exciting, and addictive. Think cartoon SNL on fast-forward with you playing a secret agent, a zombie president, or a Moonlympics athlete.

It’s a style of content only Snapchat could pull off that relies on ubiquitous personalized avatars only Snapchat owns. The company says 70% of its daily active users, or 147 million of its 210 million, have made themselves a Bitmoji. Snapchat bought Bitmoji’s parent company Bitstrips in 2016 for a steal at $62.5 million, and it’s paying off. Amidst a sea premium video and haphazard Stories that blur together across streaming services and social apps, Snapchat finally found something Facebook can’t copy.

“We really believe that we have invented a new category of entertainment. It’s scripted but it’s personalized. You could take that in a million directions” says Bitmoji co-founder and CEO Ba Blackstock who wrote and directed Bitmoji TV. “First and foremost, I hope that everyone who watches this has kind of a mind blowing experience that they’ve never had before.”

Bitmoji TV, which TechCrunch was first to report Snapchat was building last month, will have its own Snapchat Show page where users can subscribe to get notifications and see new episodes on the Discover Page. Users can visit this page on mobile or tap and hold on the Snapcode below while pointing at it with the Snapchat camera.

They’re designed to be PG-13 with some bleeped out swearing and a little bloody violence. The shows are made out of Bitmoji’s Toronto office and are based on North American TV, film, and advertising. Each episode cuts away and back to a main story, with the first two centered around an America’s Best Bitmoji game show and a Mime Cops hostage negotiation. Interspersed are ‘channel flips’ between shorter single-gag clips that take your avatar into sit-coms, soap operas, action movies, and informercials.

But you’re not alone it Bitmoji TV. There’ll be occassional celebrity guests like Randy Jackson, Andy Richter, and Jon Lovitz. But your co-star in these segments is the Bitmoji of whichever person you last interacted with on Snapchat. That lets you control whether you want your best friend, your significant other, or some rando alongside you. That decision will change the way you interpret the jokes and scenes. Your Bitmoji won’t talk, but their’s will.

Getting philosophical, Blackstock explains that “When you say words to me, it’s not just your words in a vacuum. They’re coming from you. You’re the medium . . . In any narrative fiction you learn about the characters, they have back story, they have relationships that exist under the story that color it.” Who you make your supporting actor lends personal subtext that enriches each story. That’s one reason you can’t download or easily share clips of your version of Bitmoji TV, and Snap instead just lets you share a link to watch the real thing. Blackstock says it just doesn’t have the same effect if you’re not in the spotlight.

[embedded content]

One thing you won’t find in Bitmoji TV, at least at first, are advertisements. The initial 10 episode season won’t have them. But that does seem to be the plan. When I asked Blackstock about monetizing the show, he said “You can imagine. Discover has a business model of showing ads.” Snapchat would get to keep that ad money since it makes Bitmoji TV rather than paying it out with revenue shares or by buying content. Just as we’ve seen music and video streaming apps move to cut royalty expenses by creating content in-house, Snap seems to have the same idea.

Snapchat has yet to monetize Bitmoji directly beyond its merchandise store where you can get yours on t-shirts and mugs. Surprisingly, it doesn’t sell premium or branded clothes and looks for Bitmoji, nor allow brands to pay to have their apparel featured. Snap did recently start letting people mix-and-match clothes for their Bitmoji, and when asked if that could foreshadow a revenue opportunity, Blackstock said “You gotta build the store before you start selling the clothes . . . this was a foundational evolution designed to not only improve the experience for users but to set the stage for things to come.”

Having watched the first three episodes, I’m pretty certain Bitmoji TV is going to be a hit. The show embodies the whimsy of Snapchat and the youth culture of the community who uses it. It’s rare to see something so premium but so unabashedly weird. It’s remininscent of the Rick & Morty ‘Interdimensional Cable’ episodes that similarly features rapid-fire snippets of fake and absurd TV shows.

Yet “the idea for Bitmoji TV actually precedes Bitmoji. It’s something I’ve been thinking about since those days [before Snapchat acquired it.] In a way it preceding Bitstrips. I’ve been making comics and cartoons since I was a little kid” Blackstock tells me. “That’s how I met two of the co-fodners of Bitstrips was passing them comics in class. Even after school when we had jobs I would draw comics of my co-founder that were very compromising and I would fax them to his office to try to get him fired” he recalls with a hearty laugh. Now he has the budget to make them TV-worthy but meant for your phone.

Snapchat has a good hunch it’s going to work because it’s been testing a comic-stripped down version called Bitmoji Stories. These still or lightly-animated slide shows use the same idea of starring the avatars of you and your friends, but without full-motion video or constant audio. 130 million people have watched Bitmoji Stories since they launched in late 2018.

Blackstock tells me “They were easier to make at a high volume and release ongoingly, which we could put out as a prelude to get our audience ready for personalized content — but also for us to learn from and see how people responded and figure out our own processes in terms of production.” Snapchat had animators and engineers work hand in hand to build a rendering system for Bitmoji Stories and TV. That helps it rapidly produce the personalizable content than can flex to accomodate any shaped avatar without them clipping into their surroundings.

Tonight, Bitmoji TV will receive an in-person ‘silent disco-style’ premiere at Los Angeles’ Soho House. Guests will scan a code on the big screen, don headphones, and each watch on their own phone with themselves as the star.

Snapchat’s head of original content Sean Mills tells me that “New technology will unlock new kinds of storytelling” citing “the power of bringing a user into the experience with their best friends.” Bitmoji TV has certainly found a way to turn vanity into engagement. It’s certainly more compelling than the mediocre originals on Facebook Watch. And it’s technologically innovative, unlike the planned lineup for Quibi.

If the modern era of visual communication began with the selfie, Snap honed it into a messaging tool. A few words were more interesting with a friend’s face behind it. The original Bitmoji chat stickers let your face say whatever you wanted even without having to get on camera. Snapchat’s new Cameo feature grafts that face into GIFs to express even more complex feelings. And now with Bitmoji TV, an animated version of your face can live out your wildest fantasies or weirdest dreams. That’s something worth tuning into.

[852recordstores]

gold song producer Adi Aberdeen X Grammy Master Randy Merrill master tape production J.Sheon X Liao Wenqiang X Fang Yijia X Night Watcher Qin Xuzhang Mountain Man X Wan Zhixuan X Hai Dafu X He Yusheng Join hands to create a colorful new Ding Dang music color ticket

★ Sing red nearly 50 The drama song "National Love Songs" has a good performance ★ "The palm of your hand" is the first YouTube point to see the billion songs promoted to "K song billion sister" ★ Return to the player's identity to participate in the singing program to return to the original self-viewing self ★ On the eve of the show, the feelings of returning to zero will face the long-distance love and hurt.

Twelve achievements, the results are loud! Dingdang released his first solo album "Runaway from Home" in 2007. After 12 years of debut, he released 8 albums and accumulated more than 50 concerts around the world. He sang nearly 50 TV dramas, movies, stage drama theme songs and episodes. Known as "Idol Drama" and "Queen of the Theme Song", it has the classics of "I love him", "I can't be alone", "Not your fault", "It's hard to be rare", "Can't guess", etc. His masterpiece, the TV drama "Lan Ling Wang" theme song "Hand Palm" has become Ding Dang's first YouTube point to break through the billion songs, so that "K song a sister" Ding Dang promoted "K Ge billion sister" club. The song is also excellent. In 2018, he took the lead in performing a new adaptation of the musical "The Wrong Car" actress "Ami". The tour was held in Taichung, Taipei, Kaohsiung, Xiamen, Wuhan, Beijing, Shanghai, Toronto, Vancouver and other cities. The challenge of the three-in-one strength of song, dance and drama makes Ding Dang's acting career a new milestone!

Constantly innovating, constantly advancing, and constantly returning to zero, is the way in which Ding Dang has been examining himself in recent years. She has set her own 2019 year as "Ding Dang Yuan Nian" and reviewed the past performance art road until this year. It’s like drawing a circle, you can go back to the original point, think back to the original intention, and return to the original one.” Just as she went to the singing program “The Voice of Dreams”, she felt very big in her heart and once stood on the concert of thousands of people selling tickets. On the stage, she has to stand up with the amateurs to become a contestant, and she needs to put a lot of burdens and world vision. This process has become her important life lesson: "The most feared people are getting along with themselves. Re-recognizing that you really need to experience all kinds of storms and baptisms, but often because of various senses of insecurity on the road of life, bring yourself a lot of unnecessary inferiority. And fear." She deeply felt that the bondage of the outside and the so-called care, it does not matter, do not have to deliberately please who to lose yourself.

In love, Ding Dang also bravely faced the return of zero and wounds in the past. She once had a long-distance relationship, always thinking that as long as it is well cared for and maintained, it can make happiness come true. Unexpectedly, on the eve of a performance, the unfettered breakup broke, and the feelings of the five flavors made Ding Dang unable to resist the crash when he was performing! She recalled that she could only tell herself at the time: "I know that the night before the show was the last time we met, so I put all the tastes I have tasted in love into every love song." Long distance love is hard. But Ding Dang is very open and chooses to fall in love, she will go all out. "I don't regret it, at least I work hard, and finally I don't have to be so careful to guard." Walked through the stage and under the stage, after emotion She is grateful for these memorable processes and insights, and believes that she has become a woman with confidence and brilliance after her experience. Now Ding Dang, I know how to cherish my heart, not to live for others, just for myself!

★ Bravely pursue the true self, "Love is not to be fatal" to examine the shortcomings of love and life. ★ The golden song producer Adi Aberdeen develops a colorful and jingle music color ticket ★ "Gold" light 熠熠 Grammy master Randy Merrill master tape production ★ 10+1 first special record "Minimum Great" Sanshang Meibang Life Insurance Publicity Image Advertisement ★ "Desperate Sanniang" Ding Dang's love "death" can "not kill"

Courageously pursued my true Ding Dang, on April 2, 2019, released her 9th solo album "Die Lovin", made by the golden song producer Adi Tsai, combined with J.Sheon, Liao Wenqiang, Fang Wei Jia, the night watchman Qin Xuzhang, Shandiren, Wan Zhixuan, Hai Dafu, He Yusheng and other outstanding music creation and production teams, changed the past sadness and weakness of the bitter love song image single color, and developed a more colorful new Dingdang music color ticket. The genre is diverse, including: R&B, POP, lyric rock, metropolitan folk, electronic funk, etc., so that the love songs show more different styles. The post-master team of the album is also a "golden" glory. The guest has been awarded the six-time nomination of Grammy and three award-winning gold master Randy Merrill. The artists who have worked together are: Ariana Grende / Lady Gaga/ Adele/ Justin Bieber Wait, let Ding Dang's voice on the album be penetrating but not sharp, and the producer Adi Zi praised it. It is the best masterpiece of the master tape post-processing in his recent album.

"Love to No Life" is a Ding Dang "the most courageous face to love, the album closest to you", with her true emotional story and love concept as the main axis, from analyzing herself, facing herself, reconciling herself, and healing herself In the music, accept his own imperfections. In the past, Ding Dang often gave people a strong positive image of a "female man". She said frankly: "People who look very strong on the surface often have a weak side in their hearts. Sometimes they just fear to puncture the status quo or dare not face it. The cruel reality is stubborn." The new album "Love to No Life" cuts in with "the regrets and beauty of love life". Love is not perfect, honesty faces ten flaws and ten beauty, everyone has different regrets in love. For example, humble, addictive, blind, long distance, inertia, etc. Some beautiful things are actually to shine through the reflection of regrets, bravely face the defects of love, in order to discover the beauty of the shortcomings, to find the original one, The one who still believes in love.

The concept of the album full of bursting tension, "Love is not to be killed", is the personality portrayal of "Ding Ming San Niang" Ding Dang, born with a kind of "the more you are light, the more you want to prove yourself". Can work for the fall, still do not want to continue to sing on the stage; in order to overcome the demons of the play, set up tens of thousands of words of autobiographical novels for the stage play characters; you can try hard to challenge yourself, extreme sports; Can lose weight, run on the treadmill and cry and don't want to support it; for the sense of justice, for the harassed girl to stand up and defend; more for love, encounter scum male bad heart still love not to die . Every kind of "Don't Die" of Ding Dang is because the loved ones, things, and things are all in the heart. "Because of life, love, and love, you can pay for it, you can love it." .

★ The first wave bursts and breaks the main character <Don't be fatal> Characterizes "Don't care for the body" Dark love life ★ Ding Dang X J. Sheon sings new sparks and boldly challenges R&B style ★ "Love and hate symbiosis" lyrics concept dying elopement of the end of the day ★ New MV Director Ares Wu American black movie style full of violent aesthetics

Do you want to go for a person? Do you want to, do you really want to die? The first wave of bursting and breaking the main hit "Don't be fate", R&B style, by the new generation of omnipotent singer J. Sheon, together with the new creator Wan Zhixuan, for the Ding equivalent body to create a male and female chorus, telling the secret love of life: a pair Love does not care about the body, sometimes it is forced to the cliff, the only way to see the beautiful vision, in order to provoke absolute determination. The lyrics come from the concept of "love and hate symbiosis", the attachment to a person who has a strong love, love can be broken, not even life, but the deeper the love, the deeper the hate, the encounter of two lives The bond with the relationship, metaphor of love and hate is a community, you can love to die, you can hate to be terrible, only for each other's life or birth or death, there is no alternative.

Have you ever worked hard for others in your life? Do you know if you should, but still do not want to love it? "Don't be fateed" MV is directed by the new director of the MV of Zhang Huimei, "There is a beautiful black movie style. Ding Dang and hair stylist J. Sheon plays a hot couple, but the real identity of the show is J. Sheon. The serial murderer killed a number of women in the darkroom operating room hidden in his hair salon. Dingdang fell in love and fell into the hunting trap to become a lamb to be slaughtered. Even she apparently noticed that she would be stunned and stunned. In this play, I drank a poison drink, and finally woke up to resist the poisonous needle with him but lost the other hand. Ding Dang was so sad that he was crying. MV Riding is a big play, with a face that is closely related to the intimate interaction of J. Sheon's chest and romantic dance. There is a female man who has been dragged and bound to break away from the drama. When she is touched by the murderer J. Sheon, she is afraid of fear but heartbroken. After the drama, even the crying drama is also crying and crying and tearing the heart, so that the "Don't Die" MV full of dark and beautiful violent aesthetic love drama seems more worth seeing.

★ Pants/windbreaker/suit style, neutrality, wind and swaying feeling ★ Black apple/surreal high-rise fashion photographer Zhou Mo palm mirror play avant-garde modern style ★ Mottled and decadent eye makeup / hysterical chaos challenge Life crazy woman dressing up ★ Mobile black paint / temperature ink new designer Yang Shiqing to create a beautiful collection of packaging

echoes the "not to be fat " attitude, the new album style is neutral and handsome, biased suit suit tops, pants, windbreaker Get rid of Ding Dang in the past to give people a feeling of love and soft beauty, showing the feeling of degeneration of strong women. The main visual invites the new fashion photographer Zhou Mo's mirror to play the avant-garde modern style. The ingenious use of black apples represents the fatality of dangerous love, but still eats without fear. Set up a surreal super-high-rise building, let Ding Dang climb the high ladder to the building, showing that even in the high-risk area, it is still dangerous and unrelenting. In the process, Ding Dang also wears workers' gloves and simply puts tall buildings. Tear off the dismantled domineering sense of arrogance. Even in the end, the hair was messed up, with the mottled and sinister makeup, the mad woman who performed the performance, conveyed hysteria and bravely faced defects and imperfections.

The album design packaging is designed by the cutting-edge designer Yang Shiqing. The album cover is made up of a large type of typography. The concept standard words are arranged in a stepped stack, and like a staircase, they echo the idea of ​​climbing the building. In order to present a sense of desperation, the transparent CD case in the album packaging is hand-painted with black paint, so that each album is a unique out-of-print collection, with a black paint flow with jingle photos, showing a dying edge A deep and hopeless experience. In the concept poster, using the temperature-sensitive ink technology, through the touch of the hand, the face of the close-up face will appear, and the interactive temperature will show another kind of jingle appearance. I hope that the fans will use love (temperature) to feel the dying of Ding Dang.

01. 我們不像我們 (LINE TV《hitory3圈套》插曲) 02. 有什麼不敢面對 03. 不要命feat.J.Sheon 04. 都是月老惹的禍(OT：Birthday Suit) 05. 海的顏色（華視《最佳利益》插曲） 06. 成癮(LINE TV《hitory3圈套》插曲) 07. 誤區（華視《最佳利益》片尾曲） 08. 太陽雨 09. 愛情最高指導原則 10. 愛上你的我 11. 最小的偉大Smallest Great-三商美邦人壽公益形象廣告曲

Release Date: 2 Apr 2019

[themusicenthusiast]

Saturday, April 15th, 2017 – Just Another Line in the Story Your Life Will Tell: A Revived SouthFM Shakes Off the Dust During a Nostalgic Set at Trees

The celebration at Trees on this Saturday night may have centered around Big Story and the release of their debut record, however, there was something else that was every bit as monumental-arguably even more so-going on as well: a legend of the D-FW music scene was returning. A couple years or so out from a fairly vague Facebook post Paco Estrada made hinting at another chapter in SouthFM’s presumably finished book and nothing had happened. No further statements had been made about resurrecting the titan that had become one of North Texas’ elite bands. I don’t think many people thought much of it, especially as they continued to support Estrada’s current endeavors; and while SouthFM may have reunited to perform Swallowing the Pill acoustically last December, by all accounts even that was a one-off thing. Just a reason for the former band mates to join forces on stage one last time before finally leaving it to rest for good. And then came word of this show, SouthFM listed as main support for Big Story, where they promised some classics along with a few new songs. And so it was, ten and a half years after their initial breakup and a few reunion concerts in between, that SouthFM would once again become an active force the music scene. And at the risk of sounding sacrilegious, it did seem appropriate that they would begin their second coming on Easter weekend. With three-fifths of the final lineup returning (Estrada, guitarist Chad Abbott, and bassist Dave Shafer), the two remaining positions were filled by Andrew Pederson, the drummer being a familiar face to anyone who has seen Estrada in the past couple of years, while Cody Sowell picked up the duties of lead guitarist. Trees was packed, to the point it was hard to tell which of the final two bands had the most sets of eyes on them, the spectators cheering when as the lights dimmed shortly after 10:30, eagerly awaiting whatever was to come. “The Wound” clearly set the stage, the instrumental piece tacked on at the end of the third cut from Swallowing the Pill playing over the PA system. It made one feel as if they were listening to the record itself, the opening riffs of “Killing Me” roaring into action as soon as it had concluded.

One of their signature songs and, best of my recollection, the routine closer, was surprisingly moved to start of the set, and while it may have felt a bit odd, it came across as a powerful opener. It immediately had all of the longtime fans enthralled, being the first of many songs that several patrons joyously sung and shouted along with. That feeling of elation wasn’t confined to just the crowd, Estrada being unable to hide the grin on his face, which was all too noticeable even as he sang. “…Your love, you see, is killing me. And I don’t want to waste more time telling you how I feel...” It was as if that, in that moment, it was truly hitting him that he would be performing these songs again, a flood of emotions and memories coming with them, and he was loving it. Those authentic reactions would persist throughout the show. The quintet would prove to be masters of the segue this night, Sowell lightly picking at his guitar as Pederson supplied some gentle percussion for a transition piece that led them into “Push Me Away”. With each passing minute, this new lineup was starting to find their footing and develop their live chemistry, while the original members grew more confident in their performance. Shafer in particular, as the bassist began to thrash around more as they hit the second chorus of that one, really loosening up and getting into it all. Mixed in with the handful of fan favorites they were able to work in to their brief set was a couple new songs, and afterwards, they struck with the first. It was interesting one, and personally, my favorite of the new ones. Interesting in the fact that it so perfectly showcased the songwriter and lyricist that Estrada has evolved into, even transcending where he was at when writing that twelve-year-old record. However, it also felt like a natural progression for SouthFM, fitting nicely within their wheelhouse thanks to some catchy riffs and at times downright brilliant guitar work from Abbott. The robust percussion solidified it as a captivating number. “…Open your eyes. Open your heart,” the first verse concluded, the chorus beginning with, “Only love…” Everything about it embodied positivity and it felt rather inspirational. A couple more classics separated them from the next new number, and there was little doubt that “Surface (Wake Up)” was one of, if not the top song everyone was anxiously waiting to hear. “These are not the words that I would like to be saying to you… And I hope that in the morning you will feel the same way that I do…” several of the spectators chimed in, assisting with the choruses. It was one of those rare and magical moments where you get to see just how closely people identify with a certain song and how much it means to them. In the local scene especially that’s seldom seen, though only reaffirms that “Surface” is one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written thanks to the honest sentiments and sheer vulnerability that it captures. “…Can we ever take the chance to see what happens? What we really want we fail to mention…” Another instrumental song from the album bled things into the next song, the delicate sounds of the instruments keeping it concealed for a time. Some haunting notes then rang out as Abbott proceeded to pick at his axe, unmistakably being the opening of “Regret”. Arguably their best song of the night, Shafer was able to provide plenty more backing vocals, accenting Estrada’s voice quite well as they were layered atop one another. That was also the song where Sowell appeared to truly immerse himself in the music. He had no more reservations of making certain he was getting each note right and instead just followed his gut, still nailing his parts as he at times shredded on the guitar. That song alone was quite the display to witness, Estrada taking a deep breath before the bridge, preparing himself for the rapid-fire part. “And kiss me in our darkest hour, kiss me when it’s pouring rain. Kiss me when the full moon begs and when the sun awakes again…” As usual, the emotion and passion he was packing into the lines bled though on his face, which further reminded everyone why he is one of the most talented vocalists there is; while Pederson ensured the song came to a phenomenal close, his drumming sounding more forceful than it had all night. With this 36-minute long set nearing its end, Estrada addressed the crowd, mentioning how excited they were to be there and on the bill, while also quipping that it was the night of “big singers” and shouting out J.R. from Stareview, who had played before them. “Randy’s not that big, though,” he noted, soon recalling when he first met the current frontman of Big Story. “He was a cocky young asshole,” said Estrada, before Shafer began bantering with him, asking him if anything had changed. “Now he’s a grownup cocky asshole,” remarked Estrada, who noted he had asked Randall Stephens if he’d mind him saying that about him. As he spoke, he was fighting against a growing chant of “SOUTHFM!”, the fans declaring their adoration for the band. The other new tune seemed a bit slower at times, adding a decent balance to a set that was otherwise dominated by intense rock tracks, and though it did have some serene moments, it also swelled to become a striking number. And that was when it happened. It was at the second chorus when you saw a shift in the overall demeanor of the musicians as they truly hit their mark and gelled with one another. It finally looked and felt cohesive, as if they were all crucial components of a much larger machine rather than five people each doing their own thing on stage. And with one song left to go, that couldn’t have come at any better time. Given the way the show had started, there seemed only one song capable of bringing the set to a close. Estrada turned his back to the audience, arms folded behind him while some fuzzy notes courtesy of Abbott acted as the segue. After a decent amount of time to build suspense Sowell sprang into action with the exhilarating riff that defines “Vesica Piscis”, a fitting and thrilling end to a show that offered but a brief glimpse of what the iconic Dallas group is still capable of. Thrilling due to its exceptionally high-energy, and fitting because of the holiday weekend, the story making it all too easy to draw some religious connections. “And he said, ‘Son, don’t you know it has to be this way? Your wounds will bring them life.’ And he said, ‘Son, don’t you know it has to be this way? So maybe someday they’ll understand grace.” This wasn’t the SouthFM that was easily in their prime in the final year or so of their existence, nor was it a SouthFM covered in dust and cobwebs, straining to shake it all off. It was something in between the two. Understandably, even after many years together, Estrada, Abbott and Shafer can’t just dive back in and have the same level of chemistry they enjoyed before. Factor in the two new members and the dynamics are completely new; and the only way a strong bond between them can be forged is by getting in the live experience. There’s no substitute for it and that is what will allow them to mesh with one another and eventually become a force to be reckoned with once more. Bearing all that in mind, it was a solid show. Sowell and Pederson did look new to the group, though they played it off as if they at least had a few shows under their belt, each bringing a good bit of energy to the mix to boot. As for the other three, while not to the point of merely relying on muscle memory and the confidence that comes with that just yet, none of them appeared too far away from that. After a few more times on stage it seems reasonable that performing these songs will be back to being second nature for Shafer, Estrada and Abbott. To the die-hard fans this was still akin to a religious experience, the simple act of hearing those five old songs again being euphoric. And that was just scratching the surface, a set clocking in at about half an hour forcing them to cherry-pick what they felt everyone wanted to hear most. They did a great job of that, everyone probably wishing they had heard this or that, though I don’t think anyone felt like they had missed out on anything. It will be fun see how this all unfolds, a new album already in the works, even if it’s only in the formative stages at the moment. Hopefully more shows will follow soon as well, and at least one where they’ll have ample time to delve into their catalog. But for now, it’s just great to know a band like SouthFM is back on the active roster. There aren’t many bands of that caliber anymore, and at least the scene has one more shining star then it did. Stay tuned to their FACEBOOK for news on future shows; and for those whose libraries’ may be lacking some SouthFM, you can download their full discography (for free, if you desire) on BANDCAMP.

[sheminecrafts]

Snapchat launches Bitmoji TV: zany 4-min cartoons of your avatar

If you were the star of every show, would you watch more mobile television? Snapchat is betting that narcissism drives resonance for its new weekly videos that put you and your friends’ customizable Bitmoji avatars into a flurry of silly animated situations. Bitmoji TV premieres on Saturday morning, and it’s remarkably funny, exciting, and addictive. Think cartoon SNL on fast-forward with you playing a secret agent, a zombie president, or a Moonlympics athlete.

It’s a style of content only Snapchat could pull off that relies on ubiquitous personalized avatars only Snapchat owns. The company says 70% of its daily active users, or 147 million of its 210 million, have made themselves a Bitmoji. Snapchat bought Bitmoji’s parent company Bitstrips in 2016 for a steal at $62.5 million, and it’s paying off. Amidst a sea of premium video and haphazard Stories that blur together across streaming services and social apps, Snapchat finally found something Facebook can’t copy.

“We really believe that we have invented a new category of entertainment. It’s scripted but it’s personalized. You could take that in a million directions” says Bitmoji co-founder and CEO Ba Blackstock who wrote and directed Bitmoji TV. “First and foremost, I hope that everyone who watches this has kind of a mind blowing experience that they’ve never had before.”

Bitmoji TV, which TechCrunch was first to report Snapchat was building last month, will have its own Snapchat Show page where users can subscribe to get notifications and see new episodes on the Discover Page. Users can visit this page on mobile or tap and hold on the Snapcode below while pointing at it with the Snapchat camera to open Bitmoji TV.

The show is designed to be PG-13 with some bleeped out swearing and a little bloody violence. The shows are made out of Bitmoji’s Toronto office and are based on North American TV, film, and advertising. Each episode cuts away and back to a main story, with the first two centered around an America’s Best Bitmoji game show and a Mime Cops hostage negotiation. Interspersed are ‘channel flips’ between shorter single-gag clips that take your avatar into sit-coms, soap operas, action movies, and informercials.

The gags are ridiculous. At the basketball “Moonlympics”, a player jumps up for a dunk, but low gravity causes him to crash through the glass dome and suck all the other players into space. At Cannibal High, an school announcement says “Attention students, we’re all deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Vice Principal Schneider. To honor his legacy, today the cafeteria will be serving Vice Principal Schneider.”

You’re not alone it Bitmoji TV. There’ll be occassional celebrity guests like Randy Jackson, Andy Richter, and Jon Lovitz. But your co-star in these segments is the Bitmoji of whichever person you last interacted with on Snapchat. That lets you control whether you want your best friend, your significant other, or some rando alongside you. That decision will change the way you interpret the jokes and scenes. Your Bitmoji won’t talk, but their’s will.

Getting philosophical, Blackstock explains that “When you say words to me, it’s not just your words in a vacuum. They’re coming from you. You’re the medium . . . In any narrative fiction you learn about the characters, they have a back story, they have relationships that exist under the story that color it.” Who you make your supporting actor lends personal subtext that enriches each story. That’s one reason you can’t download or easily share clips of your version of Bitmoji TV, and Snap instead just lets you share a link to watch the real thing. Blackstock says it just doesn’t have the same effect if you’re not in the spotlight.

One thing you won’t find in Bitmoji TV, at least at first, are advertisements. The initial 10 episode season won’t have them. But that does seem to be the plan. When I asked Blackstock about monetizing the show, he said “You can imagine. Discover has a business model of showing ads.” Since it make Bitmoji TV, Snapchat would get to keep that ad money rather than paying it out with revenue shares to partners or by buying content. Just as we’ve seen music and video streaming apps move to cut royalty expenses by creating content in-house, Snap seems to have the same idea.

Snapchat has yet to monetize Bitmoji directly beyond its merchandise store where you can get yours on t-shirts and mugs. Surprisingly, it doesn’t sell premium or branded clothes and looks for Bitmoji, nor does it allow brands to pay to have their apparel featured.

Snap did recently start letting people mix-and-match clothes for their Bitmoji, and when asked if that could foreshadow a revenue opportunity, Blackstock said “You gotta build the store before you start selling the clothes . . . this was a foundational evolution designed to not only improve the experience for users but to set the stage for things to come.” You and your friends seeing your avatar’s fresh outfit on Bitmoji TV might make people care more about what their digital mini-mes wear.

Having watched the first three episodes, I’m pretty certain Bitmoji TV is going to be a hit. The show embodies the whimsy of Snapchat and the youth culture of the community who uses it. It’s rare to see something so premium but so unabashedly kooky. It’s remininscent of the Rick & Morty ‘Interdimensional Cable’ episodes that similarly feature rapid-fire snippets of fake and absurd TV shows.

Yet “the idea for Bitmoji TV actually precedes Bitmoji. It’s something I’ve been thinking about since those days [before Snapchat acquired it.] In a way it precedes Bitstrips. I’ve been making comics and cartoons since I was a little kid” Blackstock tells me. “How I met two of the co-founders of Bitstrips was passing them comics in class. Even after school when we had jobs I would draw comics of my co-founder that were very compromising and I would fax them to his office to try to get him fired” he recalls with a hearty laugh. Now he has the budget to make them TV-worthy but just as crazy.

Snapchat has a good hunch it’s going to work because it’s been testing a comic-stripped down version called Bitmoji Stories. These still or lightly-animated slide shows use the same idea of starring the avatars of you and your friends, but without full-motion video or constant audio. 130 million people have watched Bitmoji Stories since they launched in late 2018.

Blackstock tells me “They were easier to make at a high volume and release ongoingly, which we could put out as a prelude to get our audience ready for personalized content — but also for us to learn from and see how people responded and figure out our own processes in terms of production.” Snapchat had animators and engineers work hand in hand to build a rendering system for Bitmoji Stories and TV. That helps it rapidly produce the personalizable content that can flex to accomodate any shaped avatar without them clipping into their surroundings.

Tonight, Bitmoji TV will receive an in-person ‘silent disco-style’ premiere at Los Angeles’ Soho House. Guests will scan a code on the big screen, don headphones, and each watch on their own phone with themselves as the star.

Snapchat’s head of original content Sean Mills tells me that “New technology will unlock new kinds of storytelling” citing “the power of bringing a user into the experience with their best friends.” Bitmoji TV has certainly found a way to turn vanity into engagement. It’s more compelling than the mediocre originals on Facebook Watch. And it’s technologically innovative, unlike the planned lineup for Quibi.

If the modern era of visual communication began with the selfie, Snap honed it into a messaging tool. A few words were more interesting with a friend’s face behind it. The original Bitmoji chat stickers let your face say whatever you wanted even without having to get on camera. Snapchat’s new Cameo feature grafts your face into GIFs to express even more complex feelings. And now with Bitmoji TV, an animated version of your face can live out your wildest fantasies or weirdest dreams. That’s something worth tuning into.

Snapchat Cameos edit your face into videos

from iraidajzsmmwtv https://ift.tt/2uMrUbK via IFTTT

[technicalsolutions88]

If you were the star of every show, would you watch more mobile television? Snapchat is betting that narcissism drives resonance for its new weekly videos that put you and your friends’ customizable Bitmoji avatars into a flurry of silly animated situations. Bitmoji TV premieres on Saturday morning, and it’s remarkably funny, exciting, and addictive. Think cartoon SNL on fast-forward with you playing a secret agent, a zombie president, or a Moonlympics athlete.

It’s a style of content only Snapchat could pull off that relies on ubiquitous personalized avatars only Snapchat owns. The company says 70% of its daily active users, or 147 million of its 210 million, have made themselves a Bitmoji. Snapchat bought Bitmoji’s parent company Bitstrips in 2016 for a steal at $62.5 million, and it’s paying off. Amidst a sea of premium video and haphazard Stories that blur together across streaming services and social apps, Snapchat finally found something Facebook can’t copy.

“We really believe that we have invented a new category of entertainment. It’s scripted but it’s personalized. You could take that in a million directions” says Bitmoji co-founder and CEO Ba Blackstock who wrote and directed Bitmoji TV. “First and foremost, I hope that everyone who watches this has kind of a mind blowing experience that they’ve never had before.”

Bitmoji TV, which TechCrunch was first to report Snapchat was building last month, will have its own Snapchat Show page where users can subscribe to get notifications and see new episodes on the Discover Page. Users can visit this page on mobile or tap and hold on the Snapcode below while pointing at it with the Snapchat camera to open Bitmoji TV.

The show is designed to be PG-13 with some bleeped out swearing and a little bloody violence. The shows are made out of Bitmoji’s Toronto office and are based on North American TV, film, and advertising. Each episode cuts away and back to a main story, with the first two centered around an America’s Best Bitmoji game show and a Mime Cops hostage negotiation. Interspersed are ‘channel flips’ between shorter single-gag clips that take your avatar into sit-coms, soap operas, action movies, and informercials.

The gags are ridiculous. At the basketball “Moonlympics”, a player jumps up for a dunk, but low gravity causes him to crash through the glass dome and suck all the other players into space. At Cannibal High, an school announcement says “Attention students, we’re all deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Vice Principal Schneider. To honor his legacy, today the cafeteria will be serving Vice Principal Schneider.”

You’re not alone it Bitmoji TV. There’ll be occassional celebrity guests like Randy Jackson, Andy Richter, and Jon Lovitz. But your co-star in these segments is the Bitmoji of whichever person you last interacted with on Snapchat. That lets you control whether you want your best friend, your significant other, or some rando alongside you. That decision will change the way you interpret the jokes and scenes. Your Bitmoji won’t talk, but their’s will.

Getting philosophical, Blackstock explains that “When you say words to me, it’s not just your words in a vacuum. They’re coming from you. You’re the medium . . . In any narrative fiction you learn about the characters, they have a back story, they have relationships that exist under the story that color it.” Who you make your supporting actor lends personal subtext that enriches each story. That’s one reason you can’t download or easily share clips of your version of Bitmoji TV, and Snap instead just lets you share a link to watch the real thing. Blackstock says it just doesn’t have the same effect if you’re not in the spotlight.

One thing you won’t find in Bitmoji TV, at least at first, are advertisements. The initial 10 episode season won’t have them. But that does seem to be the plan. When I asked Blackstock about monetizing the show, he said “You can imagine. Discover has a business model of showing ads.” Since it make Bitmoji TV, Snapchat would get to keep that ad money rather than paying it out with revenue shares to partners or by buying content. Just as we’ve seen music and video streaming apps move to cut royalty expenses by creating content in-house, Snap seems to have the same idea.

Snapchat has yet to monetize Bitmoji directly beyond its merchandise store where you can get yours on t-shirts and mugs. Surprisingly, it doesn’t sell premium or branded clothes and looks for Bitmoji, nor does it allow brands to pay to have their apparel featured.

Snap did recently start letting people mix-and-match clothes for their Bitmoji, and when asked if that could foreshadow a revenue opportunity, Blackstock said “You gotta build the store before you start selling the clothes . . . this was a foundational evolution designed to not only improve the experience for users but to set the stage for things to come.” You and your friends seeing your avatar’s fresh outfit on Bitmoji TV might make people care more about what their digital mini-mes wear.

Having watched the first three episodes, I’m pretty certain Bitmoji TV is going to be a hit. The show embodies the whimsy of Snapchat and the youth culture of the community who uses it. It’s rare to see something so premium but so unabashedly kooky. It’s remininscent of the Rick & Morty ‘Interdimensional Cable’ episodes that similarly feature rapid-fire snippets of fake and absurd TV shows.

Yet “the idea for Bitmoji TV actually precedes Bitmoji. It’s something I’ve been thinking about since those days [before Snapchat acquired it.] In a way it precedes Bitstrips. I’ve been making comics and cartoons since I was a little kid” Blackstock tells me. “How I met two of the co-founders of Bitstrips was passing them comics in class. Even after school when we had jobs I would draw comics of my co-founder that were very compromising and I would fax them to his office to try to get him fired” he recalls with a hearty laugh. Now he has the budget to make them TV-worthy but just as crazy.

Snapchat has a good hunch it’s going to work because it’s been testing a comic-stripped down version called Bitmoji Stories. These still or lightly-animated slide shows use the same idea of starring the avatars of you and your friends, but without full-motion video or constant audio. 130 million people have watched Bitmoji Stories since they launched in late 2018.

Blackstock tells me “They were easier to make at a high volume and release ongoingly, which we could put out as a prelude to get our audience ready for personalized content — but also for us to learn from and see how people responded and figure out our own processes in terms of production.” Snapchat had animators and engineers work hand in hand to build a rendering system for Bitmoji Stories and TV. That helps it rapidly produce the personalizable content that can flex to accomodate any shaped avatar without them clipping into their surroundings.

Tonight, Bitmoji TV will receive an in-person ‘silent disco-style’ premiere at Los Angeles’ Soho House. Guests will scan a code on the big screen, don headphones, and each watch on their own phone with themselves as the star.

Snapchat’s head of original content Sean Mills tells me that “New technology will unlock new kinds of storytelling” citing “the power of bringing a user into the experience with their best friends.” Bitmoji TV has certainly found a way to turn vanity into engagement. It’s more compelling than the mediocre originals on Facebook Watch. And it’s technologically innovative, unlike the planned lineup for Quibi.

If the modern era of visual communication began with the selfie, Snap honed it into a messaging tool. A few words were more interesting with a friend’s face behind it. The original Bitmoji chat stickers let your face say whatever you wanted even without having to get on camera. Snapchat’s new Cameo feature grafts your face into GIFs to express even more complex feelings. And now with Bitmoji TV, an animated version of your face can live out your wildest fantasies or weirdest dreams. That’s something worth tuning into.

Snapchat Cameos edit your face into videos

from Social – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2uMrUbK Original Content From: https://techcrunch.com

[thisdaynews]

For once, Roger Stone is quiet

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/for-once-roger-stone-is-quiet/

For once, Roger Stone is quiet

The brief appearance provided some of the most high-profile comments Stone had delivered in months.

It took constant verbal warnings and the very real threat of sending the longtime Donald Trump adviser to jail, but U.S. District Court judge Amy Berman Jackson has somehow managed to keep Stone off the internet and out of the direct media spotlight over the last four months.

People who know Stone say adhering to Jackson’s gag order hasn’t been easy. Before his legal troubles hit, Stone was in high demand, playing the role of unofficial Trump defender as his former lobbying client rode a populist wave to the White House.

But much of that has been shelved — for now.

“He’s a social being. This is his life. And when you can’t speak you can’t give your defense,” said Randy Short, a Washington, D.C., activist and Stone supporter who attended the first day of the trial.

Indeed, something has changed for Stone since the summer when federal prosecutors brought to Jackson’s attention several of his Instagram posts criticizing the media coverage of the criminal charges he’s fighting that he lied to Congress and obstructed lawmakers’ 2016 Russia investigation.

Since then, the 67-year-old conservative provocateur has effectively gone dark online while maintaining a careful balance when he does speak publicly to limit his comments to raw politics or topics well outside the arena central to his legal fate.

All along, Jackson’s stated goal has been to ensure she can give Stone a fair trial in a case that was bound to generate significant media coverage. It’s her job to seat an impartial jury pulled from a city that has been saturated by the news of Robert Mueller, WikiLeaks and Hillary Clinton’s hacked 2016 presidential campaign.

During Tuesday’s proceedings, Jackson’s struggle in trying to at least limit Stone’s penchant for publicity was apparent. She peppered dozens of potential jurors with questions about their professions and media consumption, and many of the people replied that they had indeed formed hardened — and negative — opinions about Trump and the current administration. Several said they had consumed the news about the Mueller probe and Stone’s case — though that was before they got their first notice earlier this summer that they could get tapped to serve on the jury and should start tuning out all things tied to the upcoming trial.

Jackson largely ruled that people who said they could remain impartial if seated on the Stone jury could be eligible for the job. And she rejected several objections from Stone’s lawyers that some of the D.C. residents wouldn’t be fair to their client.

Some of Jackson’s concerns about Stone’s combative social media persona seemed to be vindicated Tuesday.

One potential juror said he’d followed some of Stone’s antics on Twitter and was aware of his reputation as a “dirty trickster,” as well as his Richard Nixon back tattoo. Jackson released the man, saying his description of Stone suggested a bias that might be hard to overcome. “I just think that’s not a good place to start,” the judge said.

And several members of the jury pool said they’d heard something about Stone’s run-in with the judge over his controversial Instagram post.

For his part, Stone on Tuesday looked to be at his lowest. He was unusually subdued as he arrived, and excused himself from the courtroom not long after Jackson began jury selection, asking the judge for permission to depart for the rest of the day.

But even that brief appearance was far more than Stone has been saying since Jackson’s decision in June to ban him from social media through the duration of his trial.

“There is no doubt that it has been torturous for Roger to be under a gag order,” said Morgan Pehme, a co-producer and co-director of the 2017 Netflix documentary, “Get Me Roger Stone.”

Pehme recalled how Stone told him that “his value as a political operative is his gift in talking to the media and that depriving him of that ability is tantamount to denying him food and air.”

Stone’s attorneys fought back as Jackson tried to clamp down on their client. At one point, they even made therisky moveof allowing him to take the witness stand to offer an apology to the judge for an Instagram post in February that appeared to show a gun crosshairs above a picture of Jackson’s head.

More recently, they made an unusual plea to a federal appeals court to try to ease aspects of Jackson’s most recent gag order. The courtturned them down.

People who know Stone said there was a practical reason for the fight to maintain his freedom to speak up.

“I suspect that Roger’s opposition to the gag order was less how it would affect the fairness of his trial than it was about trying to earn a living at a time when his astronomical lawyer fees have devastated his financial situation,” Pehme said. “His legal woes have likely made him radioactive to any would-be consulting clients, so the main source of income he has had since he was arrested is his book sales. Making a spectacle of himself online and in the media draws buyers to his books.”

Stone hasn’t exactly dropped off the face of the earth — though his every move has come with more caution than before.

His travels around thecountrywhile awaiting trial have required court permission, and each one has usually come with an explanation that he was seeking “business opportunities.” One such opportunity was an “uncensored” speaking gig in Buffalo in September where he signed books and t-shirts for $30. A note attached to theEventbrite invitationincluded an explainer that “uncensored refers to Roger Stone’s views on the 2020 Presidential campaign and no other topic.” Awrite-upin the local newspaper made it clear the guest wasn’t there to talk about his case.

Jackson’s decision to rein in Stone’s speech wasn’t her first such foray. While overseeing the trial of Paul Manafort — who was also ensnared in Mueller’s probe — Jackson ordered the former Trump campaign chairman to rein in his statements to the press.

Jackson’s use of gag orders has drawn the attention of legal experts, who see the gag order concept as increasingly on its last legs. Defendants often don’t seem to respect gag orders, social media makes them almost impossible to enforce and, in prominent cases, the president has displayed an unrivaled penchant for offering pointed public commentary.

Some First Amendment experts say gag orders are becoming outmoded because it’s no longer clear what it means to ban someone from talking to the press or even from speaking publicly.

“The whole idea of a distinction is incoherent because we’re all the media now,” said Rodney Smolla, dean of the Widener University Delaware Law School. “It’s an example of the law not being able to keep up with digital culture.”

Especially amid the sea of publicity around the Mueller probe, gag orders can seem like an exercise in futility and irrelevance.

In Manafort’s case, the gag order Jackson imposed faced a particular, unusual challenge: the defendant was also facing trial on related charges in nearby Alexandria, Va. The judge in that case, T.S. Ellis III, did not enter a gag order.

The result was that Manafort’s lawyers often talked to reporters at the Alexandria courthouse, sometimes making press statements before the phalanx of TV cameras there.

It alsoemergedearlier this year that Manafort was in regular contact with Fox News prime time host Sean Hannity via text messages both before and after Jackson imposed the gag order.

“They are still f’ing with me on bail,” Manafort wrote to Hannity soon after the gag was put in place. “Getting close. Once [done] then we need to sit and build the plan.”

An even higher-profile figure than Hannity helped demonstrate the impotence of gag orders in controlling publicity around Manafort’s prosecution: President Donald Trump.

“So many lives have been ruined over nothing — McCarthyism at its WORST!” Trumpwrotewhile jurors in the case were home for the weekend, blasting Mueller’s investigation as a “Rigged and Disgusting Witch Hunt.”

While jurors were in their second day of deliberations, Manafort’s lead attorneywelcomedTrump’s remarks. “Mr. Manafort appreciates the support of President Trump,” Downing declared at microphones set up just outside the Virginia courthouse.

The situation revealed the potential imbalance of gag orders, several lawyers argued.

“Why are you gagging the little guys, when the guy with the biggest microphone on Earth gets to say whatever he wants?” asked former federal prosecutor Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School.

Jackson’s repeated tightening of the gag order on Stone may at this point have less to do with suppressing publicity about the case than about signaling to him and his lawyers that he can’t defy her with impunity. At a July hearing, the judge sounded less like a censor and more like a somewhat reluctant disciplinarian.

“So, what am I supposed to do with you? It seems as if, once again, I’m wrestling with behavior that has more to do with middle school than a court of law,” she told Stone. “It’s tempting to ignore it all completely, but if I don’t respect and uphold my own orders, why would I expect anyone else to?”

The Stone and Manafort gag orders are clearly being tracked by other prosecutors working on high-profile, politically-sensitive cases.

Over the summer, federal prosecutors in San Diego targeting Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) directlycitedthose orders as support for the notion that Hunter crossed the line with his repeated public statements about his case being a politically-motivated persecution.

Prosecutors then asked the judge to give the congressman a warning to rein in his talk about being the subject of a witch hunt.

Modern law on gag orders is almost all derived from what is now a half-century-old Supreme Court precedent stemming from the sensational and chaotic murder trial of an Ohio physician, Sam Sheppard, who was accused and convicted of killing his pregnant wife.

In a 1966 decision, the high court overturned Sheppard’s conviction, decrying a “carnival atmosphere” that pervaded the trial, where reporters were permitted to handle actual exhibits introduced in the case. Hostile news stories about the case were saturated with salacious details about Sheppard’s refusal to take a lie detector test, his relationship with another woman and leaked claims about incriminating witnesses, many of whom never actually testified.

The Supreme Court faulted the trial judge for essentially losing control of the process, arguing that the judge could have limited out-of-court statements about the trial.

But in the current era, finding jurors who know absolutely nothing about a case like Stone’s can be a challenge — unless people have intentionally chosen to opt out. One potential Stone juror who said she works in tax policy told Jackson on Tuesday she only reads news related to her work and recently stopped consuming what she called an “omnipresent” onslaught of political stories.

“I want to be able to have my life back,” she told the judge.

“I don’t know if you should be embarrassed or not,” Jackson replied. “But it might make you perfectly well qualified for jury service.”

Read More

[thegloober]

The Dive: Uhhh..What…Huh?

So, uh, yeah…what the *bleep* just happened, WWE?

WWE’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, for the most part, was an enjoyable show. Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton had a really entertaining Cell match, filled with all sorts of gross things (A SCREWDRIVER IN HIS EARLOBE!!!) and high spots (hope Jeff is okay). It was a great start to the show.

Charlotte and Becky Lynch had a fine match, with Lynch winning the SmackDown Live Women’s Championship getting a huge pop. The Raw Tag Team Championship match was bonkers. AJ Styles and Samoa Joe had a decent WWE Championship match that furthered the feud. The Daniel Bryan/Brie Bella vs. Miz/Marsye mixed tag match served it’s purpose. And it was good to see Ronda Rousey look vulnerable before retaining her title against Alexa Bliss. All in all, the first three hours of Sunday’s show were good.

And then the main event happened.

A few things:

1) Mick Foley should not have been the referee in this match. He looked old and really served no purpose to the match. He messed up the count five minutes in, which the announcers played it off as being “rusty.” I love Mick, don’t get me wrong, but he wasn’t needed for this match.

2) For as great as Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman are together in the ring, this match was underwhelming. It never had any flow to it, and it was as if both guys knew there was going to be chaos at the end and didn’t want to over-perform. None of the spots they did were overly original, and the crowd didn’t seem too enthralled as they’ve been for these matches in the past.

3) When Brock Lesnar’s music hit, I popped. You’re lying to yourself if you say you didn’t, too. That was a complete shock, and it got me to sit up on my couch. Lesnar looked like an animal kicking the door in and taking out both guys. It was an incredible moment, until…

4)…the match just ended. Poof. That’s it. Both guys just can’t continue after one F-5 each and a few shots with a broken table. Isn’t this a Hell in a Cell match? How can one of those end in a draw? Isn’t the whole point that there’s no disqualifications and we go until there’s a clear winner? After having an awesome surprise pop to get the crowd going, the air came out of the room when the match was called.

I was yelling at my TV when the little WWE copyright logo popped up in the bottom left corner of the screen. Here was this awesome moment, and we’re just going to call the match a draw? The door is open now, where are Ambrose/Rollins/McIntyre/Ziggler? Are Ambrose and McIntyre still on top of the cell?

I know people will be angry that Lesnar is back. SummerSlam felt like the perfect opportunity for him to go and focus on his UFC return. Now it appears he, Strowman and Reigns are on a collision course for a triple threat match, probably at Survivor Series. It’ll be a fun match as all three of those guys know how to put on a good match. But once the initial “surprise pop” wore off, the reality of Lesnar potentially being champion again disgruntled a lot of WWE fans.

So yeah, Sunday night was pretty good until the last 30 seconds of the show. If they had just finished the match, the reaction would be less tempered today. But how can a Hell in a Cell match finish in a draw? I felt WWE insulted my intelligence a little bit with how the show finished Sunday night.

The post The Dive: Uhhh..What…Huh? was shared from BlogHyped.com.

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