#event exclusive

[beanbagbuddies4life]

Hong Kong Toy Fair 2018

via "This special limited Beanie Baby was made to thank you for attending our exclusive showing at the Peninsula Suite ! Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong"

[hoyotunes]

Melody of Dazzling Light from Astral Theater Vol. 2 Duke.Killers, HOYO-MiX

[fogaminghub]

🚀 Hey, fellow adventurers! Looking to complete the Truth and Celebration Quest in Infinity Nikki? 🎈 Check out our detailed guide that walks you through every step of the journey! From visiting Granny Angelica to witnessing a breathtaking shooting star event, we’ve got all the details you need! Don’t forget, this exclusive quest ends on January 23, 2025! 🌠

[chaoticamelay]

elon "world's most dangerous antisemite" musk spoke at a far-right extremist political rally in germany and said he thinks people need to 'move beyond' the holocaust, so i've shelved my original post planned for international Holocaust Remembrance Day and instead i am going to talk about how european cities are built with jewish gravestones.

during ww2 the Nazis and their allies were in search of places to get good quality stone for building. then they realized they had countless: the cemeteries of once thriving jewish communities they were targeting. An unknown number (we will never know exactly how many, but it is high) of matzevot (jewish gravestones) were removed from our ancestor's graves and used as construction materials. even after 1945 our cemeteries kept being used as quarries. because our communities were never the same afterwards.

all over Europe, you can find roads, sidewalks, buildings, tools, christian gravestones... even a children's sandbox, made of gravestones stolen from our old jewish cemeteries. sometimes the cemetery land was 'repurposed' into something else as well, with no regard for the human remains there.

Poland

There were 1200 jewish cemeteries in Poland alone, and more than four hundred of them did not survive the war times. They were rearranged to provide sites for housing estates, sports fields, garbage dumps, or sand quarries. The sand mined from them to build houses was mixed with human remains. Only a hundred and fifty graveyards still have more than a hundred gravestones, but before the holocaust there were at between a few hundred thousand or a few million.

Between 2008-2011, photographer Łukasz Baksik documented some places in poland where Jewish gravestones were ''repurposed" during and after the war. Here are his photos: Matzevot for Everyday Use

Top left: A cowshed in Starowola by Parysów, a village in east-central Poland, made of cobbled together jewish gravestones. Top right: A children's sandbox in Szczecin, a city in the West Pomerania Province built in the 1960s/70s. Bottom left: School playing courts in Kazimierz Dolny, a town in eastern Poland. The schoolyard was built, in the 1950s, on the grounds of a Jewish cemetery, and there are fragments of matzevot in the walls. Bottom right: In the town of Brok, in eastern Poland, the interior of a workshop contains a mounted grindstone carved from a jewish gravestone.

Czech Republic and Ukraine

In the 1980s, cobblestones made from Jewish gravestones were used to pave a busy part of Prague's Old Town, a main city square called Wenceslas Square on Na Prikope, a popular shopping street. (As of 2019 they are apparently going to be returned to the Old Jewish Cemetery).

In 2018, a road in L’viv, Ukraine was being repaired when city workers found over 100 Jewish gravestones used in paving it. Matzevot have been found here in the past and brought back to the Jewish cemetery by volunteer teams.

Left: Cobblestones used to pave a busy street in Prague, taken from Jewish headstones. The Hebrew letter hey and the numbers 895 are visible. Right: Matzevot used as paving in Lviv, being rescued by volunteers.

Belarus and Lithuania

in Vilnius, Lithuania, jewish tombstones were used all over the city in construction, including for an electric transformer substation, church steps, and the grand stairway in the trade union headquarters. They are being rescued and returned to the cemetery as they are found.

In Belarus, matzevot were used for house foundations, porches, fences, backyard paving, roads, or they were turned into millstones.

Left: A man examines the memorial made from gravestones that had been used to build stairs in Vilnius. Right: 2016 photo of Jewish gravestone used as stairway of church in Vilnius.

Greece

People often forget about Sephardic Jews and the Holocaust, but Greece and especially Salonika (Thessaloniki), the "Jerusalem of the Balkans," were devastated by the Shoah. Salonika's major jewish cemetery contained hundreds of thousands of graves- when it was completely destroyed by the Nazis (with the help of Greeks who wanted the land), the gravestones were used in construction projects around the city. Aristotle University sits on the site today. Fragments of matzevot can still be found around the city in churches, buildings, even sidewalks, although now when they're found they're brought to the new Jewish cemetery.

Broken up Jewish gravestone used for construction In Thessaloniki.

Eighty years is not a long time. We are not moving on. We are seeing rising fascism, scapegoating of minorities, violent nationalism. We said never again, not for anyone, not ever - the history books are right there telling us this is wrong, and we are NOT going to ignore words written with blood.

now that i have written all this out i don't actually know how to end the post so. i guess let's go with this: i'm not naive. ordinary people do terrible, awful things and I see how it is hard to trust anyone to not do terrible things to you when it matters most. but ordinary people also do wonderful, life-affirming things! i am a sephardic jew who is here because ordinary people resisted. stood up and threw themselves into the gears of the genocidal system that tried to kill my ancestors in greece and italy during the Shoah. people hid their neighbours, became resistance fighters. in athens a police chief gave jews false id cards and an archbishop gave jews false baptismal certificates. my family always taught me and my siblings that solidarity saves lives. you can start that right now!

There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part; you can’t even passively take part, and you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop. And you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all! –Mario Savio

[ddarker-dreams]

mini love report — gojo satoru

relationship health diagnosis — 70%*

symptom one — permanent honeymoon phase

he's obsessed with you an (ab)normal amount and makes it everyone else's problem. satoru loves seeing how many compliments he can get in before you're swatting him away from embarrassment. he'll capture your wrist, smother your pulse in kisses, then continue his praise. it's not always suave either. he alternates between having decent game and coming off as cringe. you have no idea how he says half the things he does.

satoru gushes about you to everyone. poor ijichi, mortified higher-ups, the elderly lady sitting next to him on the train; no one is safe. his chest swells with pride every time he remembers that he managed to pull you. it doesn't matter if you're teenagers sharing your awkward first kiss or if you've been married for decades, he'll be singing your praises until the end of time.

symptom two — weirdly possessive

satoru isn't possessive in the traditional sense. when others encroach on you, what troubles him runs deeper than simple jealousy. his smile becomes strained and he physically inserts himself between you and the offending party. you're then whisked away, regardless of how rude the abrupt departure comes off. this isn't limited to instances where you're being flirted with outright.

it's actually amplified when the other person holds some unique position in your life that's exclusive to them. satoru prides himself on the fact no one knows you better than he does. so it's disconcerting when another person has access to information and memories entirely detached from him. he's overwhelmed with the urge to prove you belong to each other — no one can come close to the bond you share. this acrimony lingers even after the interaction ends.

gojo satoru is a greedy man. he might not be the type to insist you cover up if your outfit is revealing, but he does experience this antipathy toward people who fulfill a niche he can't.

symptom three — obnoxious

you deserve a reward for putting up with him honestly. he wasn't wrong when he described himself as having a terrible personality. while it's rarely malicious, he isn't the most considerate person when it comes to others. he'll speak what's on his mind without a second thought. zero filter. if you're around, he's a stunning 10% nicer so you'll chew him out less. the number could be higher but he finds that disciplinary side of you hot. this is a direct admission from him.

he likes your attention and will pursue it relentlessly. as he grows up, he slightly improves this habit. or, to be more specific, he hides it better. he feels he's way more interesting than whatever book or video game you're playing. shooing him off so you can get stuff done is a commonplace occurrence. on the upside, when trudging through chores, he helps with the passion of a thousand suns if it means having you all to himself sooner.

primary area of concern

satoru's seemingly infinite (heh) supply of pep often doubles as a shield to deflect uncomfortable emotions. he isn't one to linger on negative events, the pace in which he seemingly moves on is concerning. the innerworkings of his mind are shrouded in mystery for such an open individual. getting him to open up about his fears or past hurts is almost impossible. he won't dodge your inquiries outright, that'd prove too suspicious. he'll throw a few crumbs your way and hope that's enough to satiate your worry.

the word vulnerability isn't in his vocabulary. this isn't owed to a lack of trust on his part — if anything, the care he holds for you makes it tempting at times. however, taking that first step toward opening up is daunting. you'll have to be patient with him. if it doesn't pertain to your relationship, it's unlikely he'll have an extensive heart-to-heart about the specters haunting his mind. rather, those aforementioned crumbs become more substantial. a late-night conversation will unexpectedly veer toward a sensitive subject.

it'll be fleeting. you don't have to shower him with platitudes, simply grab his hand and squeeze. it's an unspoken message that he isn't as alone as he sometimes feels.

prognosis

gojo satoru can be too blunt, he struggles with emotional intimacy, and he's shameless in getting what he wants from you. he's a mess but he's your mess. you don't revere him like a god among men, you make him feel human. you're his best friend, his soulmate (he keeps the latter description to himself, it's one of the few sentiments that embarrasses him). he'd do absolutely anything for your sake. when you enter the room, it's like everyone else ceases to exist. he brightens up and chases after any laugh, smile, or flustered expression he can get.

he believes meeting you altered the balance of the world more than his own birth.

*the universe has tried (and failed) to wrench you apart (0-20) your friends are praying that you'll break up (21-40) 'well it could/has be worse' bargaining mindset (41-60) a lil messiness as a treat (61-80) pure and wholesome (81-10)

[meamiki]

mira !!! :]

[theactualsunshinechild]

I think Aventio and Screwtio shippers shouldn't fight. After all, Ratio has two hands!

That's right. Two hands.

One for his chalk.

One for his codex.

Both of which he's holding in an embarrassed death grip as they chat away with each other about him.

[ghelullu]

Half the fandom: "The Ministry is in the USA!"

The Band:

[couch-collector]

Would you like a pat on the head? (●ˇ∀ˇ●)

[peliginspeaks]

I think part of the reason horror is so important, especially in dark times, is that it deals with the question: When you can't stop what's coming for you, what do you do instead?

When the horror is cosmic, when the dread is too big to be changed, the things that the characters in a well-written horror do still matter, even if it doesn't change the resolution. We feel in an instinctive narrative way that they matter. Small ways of fighting back, forming relationships in the midst of it all, a character picking a tiny goal like keeping one person safe for as long as they can and throwing their life at it again and again, another finding beauty and pointing it out between one calamity and the next... It matters to them, and it matters to the other characters. The middle part matters, even if it doesn't change the ending.

It's not about hope. You don't have to have hope - you can feel in your bones that everything's fucked, and it can be 100% true, but the middle part still matters. I think, in times when it's hard to reach a bar as high as hope, that's what makes horror more accessible. Sometimes you need hope, but sometimes you just need to know that the middle part matters.

[royaltea000]

Guy who never looks the same when I draw him

[beanbagbuddies4life]

Leo and King the Leo Lions

via Beanie Baby Price Guide Born 6/1/1926

Once upon a time, far far away Two lions were born on the same Day Special powers they were bestowed So keep them together and Magic will unfold!

In 2014, Ty did a fundraiser with Leo High School in Chicago that precipitated 2 Beanie Babies, 2 pillows, and a plush football. All 5 items got a heart shaped tag that just said "LEO" inside in addition to a second round hang tag with a name and poem.

The pillows got their own poem and the designation "The L Pillow Collection."

And finally, the football got its own set of tags too.

Ty also made plush for Tilden high school. As far as I know, Leo and Tilden are the only high schools to get their own Ty plush.

[hoyotunes]

Floating Tempo from Astral Theater Vol. 2 Duke.Killers, Fan, HOYO-MiX

[egophiliac]

Do you know when in the timeline the Phantom Bride story takes place? ( I love your comics btw)

thank you! :D :D :D

the events tend to be deliberately ambiguous about when they're set, probably so it's easier to schedule them, and to accommodate players who might be at different points in the main story. though I think you have to have finished episode 2 in order to play events, so most of them are kind of...in this nebulous chronological space of somewhere post-episode 2?

that said, the more recent events (I think starting with Fairy Gala IF) have been set after episode 6, since they have Ortho as a student and in his college gear. so there is a bit of a split there that Ghost Marriage/Phantom Bride falls into!

so basically...somewhere between episodes 2 and 6, and that's about as far as I think it can be nailed down! beyond that, whenever your heart tells you is right. 💙

[zoeology31]

People really should watch sports. Or at least engage with some type of competitive real-time skill-based community: esports, chess, speedrunning, etc. Each community has a rich intersection of history, culture, technical knowledge, and broader societal impact (not all of it good and/or accessible, but there's always a way), and experiencing that can really teach you a lot about humanity and the world we live in.

This post brought to you by everyone who compares Blaseball with 17776/20020 sounding like the "getting a lot of boss baby vibes from this" meme. That's sports fandom culture. What you've identified is sports fandom culture.

Blaseball and 17776 aren't offering an alternative to sports, they're a commentary and a celebration, in the most morally neutral sense of that word. They're both an exaggeration of the most ridiculous or unfair elements and an idealization of what sports could be. Sports are powerful, sports are human. That's the point.