#up board result date 2022

[felassan]

Coming in 2024: Mass Effect: Priority Hagalaz - The Board Game

Text:

"The year is 2186. On the remote world Hagalaz, a research cruiser from the terrorist organisation Cerberus has crashed directly in the path of a deadly storm. With little time before the storm hits, Shepard must lead their squad through the cruiser to uncover its sinister secrets and keep them out of the hands of the enemy. However, the ship holds more dangers than just its former crew… Mass EffectTM: Priority Hagalaz - The Board Game is a cooperative, story-driven game for 1-4 players designed by Eric M. Lang and Calvin Wong Tze Loon. The card-driven AI system and evolving stories respond to your actions, with your early choices even influencing later missions, while the branching narrative ensures unique experiences with each playthrough. So, prepare to gather Shepard’s squad from a selection of teammates from the Mass EffectTM Universe, customise their abilities, equipment, and powers, and get to the bottom of the mystery on Hagalaz!"

[source, publisher's info page on the product and link to sign up for news about it, tweet source, tweet source two, tweet source three]

Some more info:

"A board game based on the video game series Mass Effect will have players becoming members of the SSV Normandy crew battling Cerberus. Mass Effect the Board Game - Priority Hagalaz is an upcoming board game that will take place during the events of Mass Effect 3. In the game, players will take the roles of either male or female Shepard, Asari biotic Liara, Turian soldier Garrus, Krogan leader Wrex or Quarian technician Tali, as they embark on a mission on the planet Hagalaz - which is the world the Shadow Broker’s ship orbits during the Lair of the Shadow Broker downloadable content released for Mass Effect 2. In the midst of the Reaper invasion, Shepard and their crew investigate reports of a Cerberus ship crashing during a storm on Hagalaz, in an entirely new mission not found in the video games. In hopes of acquiring more information, resources and assistance with which to fight off the terrifying Reapers - as well as shut down the immoral efforts of the Cerberus organisation - players will need to explore Hagalaz and face its many dangers: both Cerberus and non-Cerberus alike. During the co-op game for one to four players, the group can experience a narrative-driven campaign that will enable players to explore different storylines and outcomes depending on their choices. As their chosen characters, players can upgrade their unique abilities by spending the experience points they gain, as well as unlock new powers through optional loyalty missions. The group can also improve their various pieces of equipment and weapons as they advance through the campaign. According to the game’s publisher, Modiphius, the narrative choices made by players will have consequences further down the line, with there being potential for multiple playthroughs resulting in never-before-seen experiences. Mass Effect the Board Game - Priority: Hagalaz was co-created by Eric Lang, the creator behind board games such as Blood Rage and Rising Sun, and Calvin Wong Tze Loon, whose previous tabletop title was 2022’s Lands of Galzyr. Besides Mass Effect the Board Game - Priority: Hagalaz, Modiphius is also responsible for publishing various tabletop roleplaying games such as Dune - Adventures in the Imperium and miniature wargames like Fallout: Factions. The Mass Effect board game will be released via Asmodee. The release date for Mass Effect the Board Game - Priority: Hagalaz is set for sometime later this year."

[source]

[source, two, three, four, five]

An email from Modiphius reads:

Text version:

"We’re excited to announce that Mass Effect the Board Game - Priority: Hagalaz is coming to tabletops later this year! For more information, sign up to join the crew of the Normandy here. Set during the events of Mass Effect 3, the crew of Normandy has one more mission. It is the year 2186, and the Reapers have invaded the galaxy. Because the Council ignored Commander Shepard’s warnings, the Citadel Races are overwhelmed and on the verge of losing the war. Aboard the Normandy, Shepard carries out missions to prepare the Crucible, an ancient alien superweapon, for a last-chance attempt to defeat the Reapers. It’s a race against time, and Shepard must seize every possible advantage. On the remote world Hagalaz, a research cruiser from the terrorist organisation Cerberus has crashed directly in the path of a deadly storm. With little time before the storm hits, Shepard must lead their squad through the cruiser to uncover its sinister secrets and keep them out of the hands of the enemy. However, the ship holds more dangers than just its former crew. Deep within the shattered cruiser stir creatures and enemies far worse than the Cerberus forces that guard them. Mass Effect the Board Game - Priority: Hagalaz is a co-operative, story-driven game for 1-4 players designed by Eric M. Lang and Calvin Wong Tze Loon 黃子倫. A branching, narrative campaign allows for multiple playthroughs with a different experience every time. Card-driven AI and evolving stories respond to your actions – your early choices influence later missions. Gather Shepard’s squad from a selection of teammates from the Mass Effect trilogy: Liara, Tali, Wrex, and Garrus. Customise and upgrade your squad’s abilities, equipment, and powers as they gain experience. Enhance them further by unlocking unique powers with optional loyalty missions. The board game features six highly detailed 32mm scale pre-assembled plastic miniatures of male and female Shepherd, Liara, Tali, Wrex and Garrus. For more information, sign up to join the crew of the Normandy here."

[source: Modiphius]

[fiercynn]

on otw's $2.5 million budget surplus: for fuck's sake do something with our money

the recent ddos attack on ao3 illustrated that the otw (@transformativeworks) has amazing volunteers who were able to get things up and running again after a cyberattack. and i’ve seen a bunch of different people urging others to donate to otw in light of the attack.

the problem? not only are the volunteers not going to get any of the money, but the otw likely isn’t going to do anything else with it, because they already have more than $2.5 million in budget surplus that they have not been transparent about with their members, and that they have no plans for.

yup. we’ve known for years that otw had at least $1 million in their “reserves”; they’ve said so at their last two public finance meetings in 2021 and 2022. but a few months ago, @manogirl and i went digging a little deeper because we suspected that there was even more. 

and we were right. from the documentation available, our estimate is that at the beginning of 2023, they had $2,585,841 that was not dedicated to any purpose. this does not include money they had budgeted to spend in 2023 on regular expenses. just extra. (keep reading to see how we got that figure.)

equally appalling? they have all this money and are barely earning any interest on it. satsuma on dreamwidth looked at their 2021 tax returns and found that only ~$10k of their money is held in an interest-bearing savings account, which resulted in them earning only $90 in interest income for 2021. the rest of it is not in interest-bearing accounts. it is just sitting there.

looking at all the crises and dysfunction that have been discussed and uncovered over the past few months - racist harassment and the three-year-old promise to hire a diversity consultant; the mistreatment of volunteers by the otw board both related to last year’s CSEM attacks, and, separately, mistreatment and racism towards chinese and chinese diaspora volunteers both in the past and recently with the closure of the otw’s weibo account; and of course, this latest ddos attack - all of this indicates that there is severe dysfunction within the org. and donors throwing more money at the organization clearly isn’t helping.

the otw board needs to get its shit together and hire people to help with these things. this is not a new idea - there’s been talk for years about hiring paid staff, and in fact, at their july 2021 board meeting, otw said they would be appointing a volunteer who would be known as the “paid staff officer”, to come up with a plan for hiring paid staff. (to be clear, the “paid staff officer” would be an unpaid volunteer.) it’s been two years since that commitment. they have not, to my knowledge, appointed that officer yet.

it’s infuriating, because otw’s “scrappiness” as an organization is constantly used to defend their obstruction of action on things like racism, and this ddos attack will be used to further that agenda as well. but otw doesn’t need to be scrappy. they are well-resourced and could be using that money to set up more sustainable systems, instead of burning out and mistreating their volunteers, and reneging on commitments to address racism and harassment.

at the very least, if they’re not going to do anything with their massive budget surplus, they should stop taking more of people’s money. but we’d rather they did something useful with it.

if you want to see this change, the otw finance commitee holds a public meeting where you can ask questions and give them feedback. last year it was in mid-october. you do not have to be an otw member to attend. i'll definitely be making noise about it once the date is announced, but you can also follow otw's socials.

one brief aside: at the time of posting, a lot of these links are not working because the otw's website is still down. i copied these links from a twitter thread i made in the past and they should all be correct, so you just may have to wait until the site is back up to look at them.

now, to debunk some common excuses that people (not otw representatives, mind you, but just people on the internet who have decided to defend the org) give when confronted with how much money otw has:

MYTH: otw needs to keep $2.5 million in cash reserves in case of an emergency or unexpected revenue shortfall. REALITY: it’s true that nonprofits do need SOME cash reserves for those cases. typical practice is to have 3-6 months’ worth of operating expenses. otw’s current operating expenses are ~$520,000/year, so 6 months would be $260,000. (and, in fact, when i was told by an otw finance committee member that they had $1 million, they were intending 25% of that to be for emergencies, around $250,000). if you were being REALLY cautious, you could have reserves up to one to two years. but $2.5 million is enough for almost FIVE YEARS OF OPERATING EXPENSES. that is an absurd amount to be hoarding, especially when otw’s history of fundraising is that they always exceed their goals, and always make more money in donations than they need for their expenses within a given year. MYTH: they need this money for legal costs if they get sued. REALITY: otw gets most of their legal expenses donated, which is also not listed in their budget, but is in their audited financial statements. in 2021, the most recent financial statement we have, you can see on page 10 that they received just over $230k in donated legal expenses. they do budget some minor legal expenses yearly: in 2023 they’ve budgeted a little over $5k for “registration fees for conferences and hearings and funds set aside for legal filings if necessary, as well as an allocated share of newly adopted OTW-wide productivity tools”. however they do not have a history of even spending that much: in 2022, they had budgeted $4k for legal expenses and only spent $244 (see cell C29 of the budget spreadsheet). they have never been sued, and they do not appear to budget for litigation costs. and when, in the past, they’ve been asked about what their reserves are for (back in fall 2022 when the finance committee told me they had $1 million in reserves, even though this was patently false given their tax documents for 2021), litigation costs were not brought up.  MYTH: they just haven’t had enough time to figure out investment options. REALITY: they clearly have at least one savings account set up to generate interest, which only has $10k in it. even if they haven’t figured out a full investment portfolio, why wouldn’t they put more money in that account? in the u.s., the federal deposit insurance corporation (FDIC) insures bank accounts up to $250,000, so they should have at least that much in there. absurd. also, they have had plenty of time even for a larger portfolio. if you search “investment” on their site, you’ll see that they’ve been talking for YEARS about investing their reserves. more specifically, at both their 2021 and 2022 finance meetings, they said that they needed more time to research investment options. as usual, they have had far more time than they need.  MYTH: they need this money for new servers. REALITY: otw does in fact include expenses for new servers and server maintenance in their yearly budget reports. you can see this in their 2023 budget spreadsheet if you go to the sheet “program expenses” - under “archive of our own”, you’ll see server expenses. the $2.5 million is money that is EXTRA to their listed expenses and revenue in that spreadsheet.

finally, see below where we’ve given more context on otw’s budgeting and showed our work in coming up with these numbers.

showing our work

firstly, i should note for the record that i sent a message to the otw finance committee through the contact us form on the otw website on may 11, 2023 to ask them to state the amount in their reserves.

it has been two months and i have still not received a response (which i find funny, because at the last otw board meeting in early july, the board specifically said to use that form to contact the finance commitee if we had questions about the 2023 budget), so @manogirl and i were forced to do our own math. we've had this work checked by a number of people, but of course we were only able to work with the information the otw has made publicly available.

a few things you need to know about the otw’s budgeting:

they release yearly budget reports on their website (here’s their most recent one, which shows what they project for 2023 and their “actuals” for 2022), but they do not include their surplus in this report - they only include the revenue and expenses for each year

they also provide both their yearly audited financial statements and their yearly tax returns (form 990s) on their reports & governing documents page, but currently, the most recent statements we have are from 2021

otw typically raises more money in donations than they need within a year, so their surplus is always growing 

they have used the term “reserves” in the past to talk about money, but we don’t know exactly what they mean by “reserves” - is there a dedicated account that they consider their reserves?

because of these uncertainties, the goal for @manogirl and i was was to figure out how much of a budget surplus OTW had at the beginning of 2023, and because we don’t know how they define “reserves”, we defined it as how much they had in liquid assets that were not being dedicated for a specific purpose in their budget. (liquid assets are anything that can be converted into cash quickly – e.g. not equipment like their servers, nor anything that would be held in a long-term investment account, etc)

the first document we looked at was their 2021 audited financial statement. the key number is on page 11, under the section on liquidity, where it lists their end-of-year liquid assets as $2,315,841.

so at the end of 2021, they had over $2.3 million in liquid assets.

but since their 2022 audited financial statement isn’t up, we had to turn to their 2023 budget, and specifically, to their 2023 budget spreadsheet, where they show the “actuals” (what they actually raised & spent in each line item) for 2022 in column C. as i mentioned, they don’t list their reserves in this spreadsheet - only the revenue generated & expenses paid within that year, not anything carrying over from the previous year unless clearly outlined.

so at the bottom you’ll see that their net income (revenue minus expenses) in 2022 was $493,564.94, and that they then transferred $400,000 of that to the reserves sometime in 2022.

and the remaining $93,564.94, their adjusted net income for 2022, presumably carries over to help pay initial expenses in 2023 before they started earning more revenue. they also transferred $130,000 of their reserves BACK to help with that at the start of 2023.

so now we have the numbers we need to calculate the surplus (including reserves) at the start of 2023:

$2,315,841 (liquid assets at end of 2021) + $400,000 (transferred to reserve in 2022) - $130,000 (transferred from reserve in 2023) = $2,585,841 USD at the start of 2023

so that’s our math. otw had $2.5 million at the beginning of this year in surplus, in addition to around $223k (last year’s $93.5k in income and the $130k they transferred back from the reserves at the beginning 2023) to fund their expenses for the first half of this year. this does not even include the hundreds of thousands they raised in april 2023 during their fundraising drive.

okay the main part of our documentation is done, but if you want to read a little bit more about what @manogirl and i learned from doing this deep dive, here are a few additional thoughts/nuggets:

first of all, OTW is incorporated in the u.s. state of delaware, which is interesting because as @manogirl researched, delaware is a tax haven where 501c3 nonprofits don’t have to pay any business tax. plus, in many u.s. states, nonprofits have a limit on the amount of money they can keep without spending, but this too is not the case in delaware. of course, incorporating in delaware to take advantage of those benefits is not illegal! but it is very savvy, a characteristic that seems to have not continued with their financial management past their original incorporation lol

next, some more detail on their finances from their 2023 budget spreadsheet. let’s start with revenue.

the most interesting thing to me here is that while their spring and fall membership drive donations bring in the most, non-drive donations are also substantial. also their “total unrestricted net revenue received” is $975,638.36 in cell C16. however, for some reason, when they calculate their net income for the year, they use cell 12, “total unrestricted revenue” ($1,012,543.42) instead. the difference between those two cells is that cell 12 is the amount before their transaction fees are subtracted. but i have no idea why the transaction fees would be ignored when calculating their net income. is this an error?

next, their expenses, which came out to $518,978.48. not too much surprised me here except how low their legal advocacy spending still is, plus  the fact that they’d given francesca coppa a grant for her book on the history of fanvidding, lol. (i’ve written more about this; so has wistfuljane on dreamwidth if you scroll down a bit from here).

it’s also interesting to look at what they’ve budgeted (both the revenue & expenses they’ve expected going into the year) for 2022. in every revenue category, they have exceeded their goal, except for $50 in “other income”. and in most of their expenses categories they have overestimated their needs, except for going over about $700 in the transformative works & cultures, & about $500 for development. this just shows how much they are able to meet their yearly expenses (overestimated) with the revenue generated each year (underestimated), & still have substantial amounts left over (almost half of revenue transferred to reserves)

so that’s what we’ve found. if anyone else notices weird things in their budgeting, please let us know!

[coldflashevents]

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS (2024)

LET'S GOOOOOO!

Hello, all! Thank you all for your patience, and for your responses for the interest check. I'm back to let you know the results, and with some exciting announcements for the year ahead.

First of all, I'd like to announce that we have another mod on board! Everyone please welcome @burdenedwithpointlesspurpose, who'll be helping myself (@coldflasher) and @moriavis run the events this year! We're very excited to be running these events for you :D You can reach out to any of us on this blog or on our main blogs with any questions.

And now, onto the events!

Most people wanted three events, and the most requested event types were prompt-based events, including both mini weekend events and longer week-long events. People also expressed interest in bingos and big bangs.

The majority of respondents had greater availability to participate in the summer months, between April and August.

That being said, I'm excited to announce that our first event will be a mini weekend event that will take place on the 27th and 28th April 2024. This will be a prompt-based event very similar to Cool for the Summer, an event we held in July 2022—we'll provide a list of prompts chosen by you, and then everyone can create works inspired by the prompts, or a combination of them. These types of events are very chill; there are no sign-ups and no commitments, just lots of Coldflash content!

You know what that means—we need prompts! Please drop your prompts in our askbox (you can do this anonymously, if you'd prefer) and once we've got a good number of prompts, we'll give everyone the chance to vote on their favourites.

If you're interested in a slightly more involved event format, I'll also be announcing zine sign-ups for our Coldflash 10-Year Anniversary zine very soon, so stay tuned! We're currently looking at a provisional publication date of March 24th, 2025, which will be the ten-year anniversary of 1x16: Rogue Time, the episode where Leonard learns Barry's identity, and an uneasy truce is struck between them...

I wanted to choose a date with significance to the ship whilst also ensuring that everyone has plenty of time to work on their submissions, and to give us time to put the zine together once we've received them all.

Right now, the aim is for everyone to have their final submissions in by the end of December 2024. Please note that these dates have not been finalized, and are still subject to change, so watch this space for more details.

More information on sign-ups will be released shortly!

If anybody has any questions, please let us know. Until then, happy coldflashing!

[marveltrumpshate]

October 2024 MTH fills

While you're waiting for donation results, check out the fills that were shared publicly in October!

The best way to see all the fills that have been shared with us is our monthly roundups tag or our #MTH-fills channel on our Discord, but you can also view them through the following methods:

Our Tumblr tags: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

Our AO3 collection (only has works posted to AO3; see "subcollections" for specific auction years)

Completed works tag list

To find specific content, use our completed works tag lists above which includes instructions on how to search for a particular character, gen or romantic relationship, universe, and fanwork type. 

GEN/PLATONIC RELATIONSHIPS

Bucky Barnes & Peter Parker

@spagbol99 - "Secrets, Spiders and Supersoldiers" (post-CA:TWS Bucky/Tony and Bucky & Peter fic where Bucky tries to befriend Tony's favorite intern, Peter) for @betheflame (MTH 2022)

Bucky Barnes & Shuri & T'Challa

onethingconstant/@onbearfeet - "No Soap, Radio!" (MCU fic where Bucky and T'Challa have to deal with Shuri and Peter nerding out together when Peter is invited to Wakanda through a youth science program) for @kitping (MTH 2019)

Peter Parker & Shuri

onethingconstant/@onbearfeet - "No Soap, Radio!" (MCU fic where Bucky and T'Challa have to deal with Shuri and Peter nerding out together when Peter is invited to Wakanda through a youth science program) for @kitping (MTH 2019)

Steven Grant & Jake Lockley & Marc Spector

@penguinofthewaddles - Art of Steven, Jake, and Marc in a shattered mirror for @kerravonsen (MTH 2023)

SHIPS

Bucky Barnes/Loki

laily/@lailyn - Art of Loki and Bucky smiling each other while Bucky's holding their child for @mischievousdope (MTH 2022)

Bucky Barnes/Sam Wilson

@daisytarget - MCU Bucky/Sam fake dating mood board for the fic "Surprisingly Compatible" for @ineffable-snowman

Bucky Barnes/Tony Stark

@spagbol99 - "Secrets, Spiders and Supersoldiers" (post-CA:TWS Bucky/Tony and Bucky & Peter fic where Bucky tries to befriend Tony's favorite intern, Peter) for @betheflame (MTH 2022)

Frank Castle/Matt Murdock

punkrockdog/@haunt4haunt - "compromise and council" (MCU Frank/Matt sickfic where Frank checks up on Matt when Matt has been off the streets for days) for @raggedyhive (MTH 2023)

Steve Rogers/Tony Stark

JustLous/@justlous-art - "Collateral Damage" (MCU Steve/Tony fanvid set to "Collateral Damage" by LEVV) for @onlymorelove (MTH 2022)

@melayneseahawk - "So We Must Meet Apart (Letters From the Front)" (WWII Steve/Tony AU fic where Steve and Tony meet before shipping out and exchange love letters during the war while butting heads as Cap and Iron Man, unaware of each other's identities) for @avengersnewb (MTH 2021)

@nostalgicatsea - Mood board for "Coming for you," a post-WWII Noir Steve/Tony fic where Tony goes missing in the Parisian catacombs and Steve is determined to rescue him for @gottalovev (MTH 2022)

[ohplagg]

I Love Yoo Timeline Part 3/4

Math and connecting the dots

This is part 3 of 4 of my I Love Yoo Timeline as of Episode 241.

Part 1 and 2 consists of laying out all the detailed evidence with descriptions, screenshots and episode number.

Part 3 consists of explaining the evidence, connecting the dates and some math because the I Love Yoo universe (the Yooniverse, if you will) uses letters instead of numbers to represent official years.

Part 4 is the I Love Yoo Timeline.

-------

Now that all the evidence has been laid out I can now go in depth about how the dates add up and what the heck does 20XX stand for.

I will mostly be making reference to the evidence rather than showing it and pointing it out. If you wish to see the evidence yourself to know exactly what information was presented, I encourage you to check out Part 1 and Part 2 of this I Love Yoo Timeline post.

(disclaimer, whenever I say "today" or refer to the present I mean in Yooniverse, specifically talking about year 20XX)

-----

Well, the years start coming..

So I want to start with explaining what year 20XX is since that's our starting point.

If you check the exact dates we are given + the November and December calendars we are shown you will see that it doesn't make sense. But! don't leave! just because it doesn't make sense in our universe it doesn't mean it doesn't make sense in the Yooniverse.

Year 20XX is not the equivalent of any year that exists in our universe. Septermber's calendar matches with (just to mention 3) 2011, 2016, 2022; November's calendar matches with 2012, 2018, 2029; December's calendar matches with 2013, 2019, 2024. All this to say that year 20XX is it's own thing that exists and makes sense in Yooniverse and not our own, which is one of the reasons why I won't be converting the Yooniverse years to an irl equivalent.

The other reason why I wont be converting Yooniverse years to irl equivalent is because the Yooniverse keeps track of their years with letters unlike us that keep track of years using the decimal number system. In other words, Yooniverse uses the basic English alphabet to keep track of the years and we use numbers.

With that information stablished, lets now figure out how many years appart are each year is in the Alphabet "Number" System (ANS to make it short).

We know from what Kousuke told Shinae in episode 155 that "roughly 6 years ago" Nol got out of the mental facility and he spent "almost 2 years" inside of it. This means that the day Nol got taken to the mental facility was 8 years ago, and if you remember Nessa died the same night Nol got taken to the mental facility.

The news articles from episode 222 tells us that Nessa died in 20XP.

With this information we can see that 8 years ago from today (20XX) is the year 20XP. And if we look at the letters in the alphabet, the letter P is the 8 letters behind letter X.

"20XP is 8 years ago from 20XX"

Now that we have figured out how ANS works, we can figure out when the rest of years take place. Let's try it with the following:

Randulph became Chairman of the Board in 20WZ

Let's apply what we've learned. W is 1 space before X so that means Rand became Chairman 1 decade ago, right? WRONG. Decades don't convert directly from ANS to decimal.

Imagine that the alphabet repeats itself over and over again. Each full alphabet list is named after a letter. Each time it starts over, the name for the alphabet changes to the next letter. So for example, letter R in the first alphabet would be represented as AR, letter F in the next alphabet would be BF, and so on. So letter X in the list X is XX.

Having that idea in mind, how far back Z from X? If you go back in the list, X is 24 spaces from Z and Z is in the "previous" alphabetic list meaning that WZ is 24 spaces from XX.

20WZ is 24 years from 20XX.

I'll save you from the math for the rest and I'll just put here all the results:

Young-Chul Kim was Chairman from 20WA to 20WY = he was chairman for 26 years. He was chairman 50 years ago from today until Rand took his place

Rand became chairman in 20WZ = he became chairman 24 years ago today.

The prestigious prep school SA investigation started in 20XW which was last year. In which it states that it was investigating 50 years of SA reports.

Nessa died 8 years ago in 20XP

And they don't stop coming.

So that's all for the "what year does the letters mean". Now we'll start adding dialogue together to connect the dots and see how many years ago different events happened.

Everyone's age when following Nol's backstory

So we know the the brother incident happened December 20XP which was exactly 8 years ago making Kousuke 16 and Nol 10- turning 11.

Nol got out of the mental facility the year he turned 13 (meaning when he was 12) and Kousuke turned 18 (Year 20XR)

Nol met Dieter when he was 15, Kousuke turned 21 and Dieter turned 14 (i dont know when Dieter's birthday is). (This is the perfect moment to remind everyone that the ages do make sense because Dieter started hitting puberty at 14 and Nol at 15 so it's fine that Nol looked very childlike in the flashbacks and he looks Dieter's age in that flashback as well)

Nol was 15 when he met Soushi (14) and Alyssa (15)

Nana and Yui's last encounter was when Nol was 13 and Kousuke was 18.

Conclusions so far:

Nol lived with the Hirarahas no more than a year, Nana arrived very shortly after he got out of the mental facility

Nol went to Middle School for 2 years and made absolutely no friends before he met Dieter.

Everyone's age when following Kousuke's backstory

Kousuke graduated high school at 14 years old in spring. The year he was 14 in spring was 20XO which was 9 years ago. Nol was 9.

Kousuke's college friend group started when he was about to turn 15 (assuming he started college the same year he graduated high school)

Kousuke was about to graduate from his master's degree when Meg was 20 years old, and Meg and Kousuke share birth-year meaning that when Kousuke was 20 (Year 20XU) he was still studying.

When Kousuke was 20, Hansuke didn't know the college friend group had fallen apart meaning that that flashback memory Kousuke had of YuJing and Hansuke arguing must have happened after Meg's flashback (unless it happened before and Hansuke was just completely oblivious about the extreme animosity between Kousuke and his friends, which I highly doubt so I won't be considering it for my timeline).

There is absolutely no way that Kousuke being 24 years old today could have had 20 years "about 5 years ago" making Hansuke's recollection of events unreliable (and I don't blame him. The poor guy has permanent eyebags, he was busy studying to become a doctor.)

If Kousuke started college the same year he graduated high school then he did his BS and Master's in a total of 6 years more or less which is surprisingly a pretty normal pace.

Kousuke and Yu-jing knew each other since Kousuke was 14 or a bit younger.

Kousuke playboy era was between 14-15 and 20 years old.

Conslusions so far:

Nol was not in the mental facility when Kousuke graduated high school.

It's very likely that one of the reasons Nol didn't make any friends during his 2 years in Middle School after he got out of the mental facility was because Kousuke was babysitting him during that time and Kousuke kept telling everyone that he was very violent.

Kousuke partook in underage drinking and underage.... adult activies with the oposite sex....

Kousuke's friend group lasted 4-5 years

Everyone's age when following Yui and Rand's backstory

Rand became chairman in March 27th, 20WZ and at the same time he had "been seen in public" with Yui

Yui is in her 40s right now meaning she had Kousuke when she was 16 at the earliest and 24 at the latest (My personal opinion is that she had him in her 20s meaning she is closer to being 50 than we thought unless Kousuke was an absolute accident.... or something darker than that.... because I can't see her choosing to become pregnant in her teens)

Kousuke was conceived during Rand and Yui's honeymoon in February

Kousuke turned 24 years in November 8th, 20XX meaning he was born on year 20WZ, the same year Rand became Chairman. I KNOW. I WAS SHOCKED TOO.

Conclusions

Yui and Rand really got married in secret from the public and Yui hid her pregnancy from the public too. This really broke my brain.

And as a final thing to point out while considering Rand and Yui's backstory: Rand and Yui's marriage reconciliation happened 1 year before the brother incident/Nessa's death. Also, high school graduation flashback where Nessa appears happens when Kousuke is 14 (he will turn 15 later that year) and the brother incident happened when he recently turned 16 meaning that whatever happened in that high school graduation flashback will most likely be relevant to what the press calls "marriage reconciliation between Yui and Rand"

Everyone's age when following Shin-ae's backstory

Finally something that won't break my brain. Future me speaking here, it did break my brain.

Shin-Ae, Maya, Dieter, Soushi and Rika all turned 17 in 20XX and they are in their final year of high school. Min-Hyuk is 19.

Shinae's fall incident was on Min-Hyuk's last school year as a Middle School student, but during Fall Autumn. Min-Hyuk graduated in 20XT so that means the fall happened 20XS.

In 20XS Min-Hyuk was 14, Alyssa 13 and Shin-Ae was 12

Shin-Ae graduated Middle School and started high school at 14 (year 20XU)

Conclusions:

Alyssa met Nol the year everyone started high school meaning that it had been 1-2 years after Alyssa pushed Shinae to her death by accident

High school in the Yooniverse lasts 4 years just like in the USA school system (felt the need to point this out becuase "high school" in a lot of countries last 3 years)

Final words for Part 3

If you feel lost while reading all of this, imagine how I felt having all this information going round and around all day every day in my head without the brain power to see it all at once and connect the dots. Not to mention that what you just read is the version that makes sense and adds up. I had to re-write this so many times because I kept finding new information breaking the timeline over and over again.

Up next I will lay out the timeline in order with dates and time gaps between each event.

-------------

This is just part 3 of 4. Go read the rest:

Part 1: The Evidence Part 1

Part 2: The Evidence Part 2

Part 4: The Timeline

[mimisaurora]

The Final Broccoli Shareholder Meeting ☆

I had originally written the below portion for Mia's 10th Uta no Podcast episode: Music Talk, as she tends to go over occurrences and fandom news that have come out between episodes toward the end of the show. However, considering the nature of the news, I felt it would be good to also share part of the transcript here so that those who do not listen to the show, or may not know otherwise, can get a better understanding as to what's been going on.

Minor edits have been made for clarity.

Without further ado....

_________________________________________________

Broccoli held their 29th stakeholder meeting on May 26th, 2023, resulting in much controversy within the Utapri fandom. It is believed that around 160-170 people were in attendance; and from my understanding of this thread by @active_cns_N, Broccoli as a company has fostered a culture of allowing fans to interact directly with their staff at these meetings to discuss topics outside of just management policies, which is customary in this kind of gathering. Because Broccoli will be delisting themselves from the stock market, this would be their final public shareholder meeting. Please keep in mind that the information detailed in this summary are consolidated from various tweets that came from the attendees themselves, and no minutes have been released as of writing this document. As a result, there may be some things that may need clarification or amendment at a later date. 

In any case, it is believed that Broccoli were expecting to be answering questions regarding the Happinet acquisition considering their lack of preparedness, vagueness, and overall lacking responses regarding Dolce Vita, Backdol and Utapri as whole. These subjects took up most of the duration for the meeting. In fact, I believe it was mentioned that only one question regarding the acquisition was asked throughout the entire meeting, which may have been a shareholder asking if Broccoli was intentionally sabotaging themselves so that Happinet's tender offer could get to 1,500 yen and allow for an easier acquisition. The current President affirmed that no such actions were taking place.

This would be a good segway to mention that the current President of Broccoli is Shigeki Suzuki who served as director and senior managing executive officer at Happinet, being appointed back in April of 2022. The chairman and executive director of Broccoli are also previous Happinet employees.

At this time, it seems there is only one female executive in the company and she is believe to be the producer responsible for overseeing the Utapri project. There are no women currently on the board of directors.

Now for what everyone's been waiting for: As supporters of Uta no Prince-sama, what do we need to know?

♫ Dolce Vita is still in development and Broccoli asserted that it will see a release date; they explained that the reason development on the game slowed to a crawl had to do with having few staff members who are well-versed in the world of Uta no prince-sama and that with the expansion of the movie projects, Shining Live and SSS among other things, it has been difficult to allocate resources to Dolce Vita. The discontinuation of the PS Vita game console also had a huge impact on DV's development. Broccoli emphasized that they want to carefully craft a game they feel the fans will be satisfied with and are very cognizant of its significance and want to be careful with the product they end up releasing. They also declined to say specifically if there would or would not be new information coming out on the 13th anniversary.

♯  It's been brought to light after the meeting that Broccoli currently has up to five (5) different job postings on their site directly related to Utapri in some capacity, like the hiring of a content director, graphic designer, and staff for scenario direction and writing among other roles.  ♯  It's also worth mentioning that historically, the writing for the Utapri games have largely been outsourced to other companies. It wasn't until ASAS that the content was produced in-house.

♫ The title of Uta no Princess-sama from Uta no Princess-sama: Back to the Idol will not be changed, and that after an internal discussion on the matter, did not see the reason to change it and stand firm with Agematsu's vision for the project. They maintain that there will be no crossover between the franchises.

♯ When asked exactly what to expect from Backdol, and why there was a severe lack in quality for their recently released videos (like the recently published Golden Week series), Broccoli only answered the question in part and said they are "making efforts to improve the quality of their videos".

♫ Broccoli was also asked why Backdol and Utapri were so similar despite having nothing to do with each other and asked if their neglect for female-oriented content despite their enthusiasm towards male-oriented IPs had to do with the lack of women among the board of directors. Their response is as follows: On the similarities between Backdol/Utapri: The company does not perceive it to be that way. On the lack of women among the board: While there are no women among the board of directors, they do have a female executive officer (likely referring to Sayaka Konno) who is involved in the development of concepts. Within the company, women also outnumber men in middle management positions and female employees are constantly involved in projects such as Utapri. The prospect of a female on the board is welcome and desired, but they do not consider appointments solely on gender alone. Again, because of the amount of women in the company, it is only a matter of time before some of them transferred to director or executive officer positions. They also emphasized that the opinions of female staff are more readily accepted and incorporated compared to their male counterparts when it comes to content creation. All of this to say that the company feels they are not inhibiting their voices.

♫ When it comes to the mishandling and lack of sufficient stock for event merchandise, Broccoli could only conjure a vague response stating they will "make efforts to improve the situation"

♫ Broccoli has plans for upcoming Birthday celebrations but would not say exactly what. They also did not have anything to say regarding the apparent discontinuation of the Birthday Collection series.

That is as much information as I can remember to include at the moment and am unsure if anything was missed, so anyone with more to share, please don't hesitate to correct or add to in the chat or comments below.

There is much to be said about the acquisition because of Happinet's apparent limited understanding of otome or romance content and Broccoli's responses in general but all I can hope as an enthusiast of the franchise is that it all turns out for the best.

[nzoth-the-corruptor]

Thr inconsistency in warcraft lore shoulf br studied. I tip my hat to all the fanfiction writers for putting up with all the work-breaking jumbo. With that said what's your biggest pet peeve in retconed lore or similar?

Retcons that exist solely because one writer decides they didn't like a previous writer's work or don't want to read through it to make sure what they're writing works with it — not because there's anything about the work that hinders new plans going forward, or because it's dated and tasteless, but simply because they didn't respect it.

(Secondary to this: the fact that the different writing teams all appear to be working without any form of communication, also resulting in strange inconsistencies and instantly-retconned lore.)

Retcons aren't necessarily the devil, but the big problem I think is that they're used as a cheap 'fix' instead of actually getting into the nitty-gritty of what the problem is and how to resolve it through the medium of storytelling, because of course it's a lot cheaper and faster to just retcon the problem than to create an entire questline or commission a story to resolve the issue that's between them and the actual story they want to tell.

But it really stings to see good older lore left on the wayside because whoever was given the reins doesn't care for it one way or another, especially when what it's replaced with lacks charm or character.

As a massive IP Warcraft does have a truly colossal catalogue of old lore and I feel that part of the problem may be writers not being properly on-boarded with it, or else being assigned to writing quests and storylines for areas of the lore they're less familiar with as a way to gain 'experience' — whoever wrote the Kaldorei heritage questline seems to have only the most superficial grasp on night elf lore, for example.

But I think my biggest bugbear is when the novelization and the in-game information on events/characters are completely different, or when the Horde and the Alliance version of the same questline presents completely different stories.

Battle for Azeroth is rife with this, particularly the War of the Thorns where you have three separate versions of the story: the Alliance questline, the Horde questline, and the novelization (Elegy/A Good War) that all establish different, sometimes conflicting events and different motivations for the consistent events.

If you only played Horde in BfA, you're probably a bit confused as to why the night elf players are accusing the Horde of massacring every night elf civilian in Ashenvale and exterminating entire towns during the War of the Thorns.

For a more recent example, I think War of the Scaleborn is fascinating insofar that it appears to be operating in an entirely separate continuity from the rest of World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, which I think is in large part due to the novel most likely being written in 2022 on what was likely a draft of Dragonflight's plot (its original release date was slated to be November 2022, but it was delayed by just shy of a year.)

By the time the novel released, all of the foundation it had been built on was almost entirely eroded not only as the game progressed without regards to the unreleased novel, but as gears shifted towards preparing for the Worldsoul Saga and the retooling of characters and plotlines to fit those plans.

Which massively sucks for Alameda, because I doubt the delay on the novel's release was her fault.

[tomorrowusa]

News you won't find on Fox News or other far right outlets.

Official crime statistics are only released after a substantial delay, so for nearly a decade I’ve collected and compiled big-city crime data as a way to assemble a more real-time picture of national murder trends. And this spring, I’ve found something that I’ve never seen before and that probably has not happened in decades: strong evidence of a sharp and broad decline in the nation’s murder rate. The United States may be experiencing one of the largest annual percent changes in murder ever recorded, according to my preliminary data. It is still early in the year and the trend could change over the second half of the year, but data from a sufficiently large sample of big cities have typically been a good predictor of the year-end national change in murder, even after only five months.

It's in the interests of extremist Republicans to get white people in particular to think that out of control minorities are out to murder them. So when crime goes down, the GOP ramps up other things like culture war issues.

Murder is down about 12 percent year-to-date in more than 90 cities that have released data for 2023, compared with data as of the same date in 2022. Big cities tend to slightly amplify the national trend—a 5 percent decline in murder rates in big cities would likely translate to a smaller decline nationally. But even so, the drop shown in the preliminary data is astonishing.

True, there is still the sensational murder here or there which will get a disproportionate amount of coverage. But murder rates across the board are down notably.

[T]he good news is, well, good. Murder is down 13 percent in New York City, and shootings are down 25 percent, relative to last year as of late May. Murder is down more than 20 percent in Los Angeles, Houston, and Philadelphia. And, most significantly, murder is down 30 percent—30 percent!—or more in Jackson, Mississippi; Atlanta, Georgia; Little Rock, Arkansas; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and others.

The last significant drop in crime took place in the 1990s during the Clinton administration.

The cause of the Great Crime Decline of the 1990s, when murder fell 37 percent over six years, is still not fully understood, so any explanations of the current trend must remain in the hypothesis phase for now.

I hate to rub it in, but there seems to be at least a modest correlation. In the 1970s and 1980s when 16 of those 20 years were under Republican administrations, the crime rate in the US soared. The crime decline of the 1990s and the current murder nosedive are under Democratic administrations.

The current dip is despite the number of police officers being the same or just slightly down.

Murder is down in Chicago, New Orleans, and New York, for example, but Chicago’s number of police officers is virtually unchanged from last summer, while New Orleans’s is down more than 8 percent and New York has roughly 2 percent fewer officers. The end of the emergency phase of the coronavirus pandemic may also be contributing to the decline in murder.

The murder rate went up during the COVID-19 emergency. Perhaps that's another result of Donald Trump's botched handling of the pandemic.

It's been finally dawning on people that Republicans aren't great for the economy. Eventually it may also become conventional wisdom that the GOP is bad for public safety.

When the de facto leader of the Republican Party is an indicted lying crook with the mindset of a petty mobster, that sends a message to American society that such behavior is acceptable. No wonder criminal behavior is down since Trump's departure from office.

No honest person can call the GOP the party of "law and order" any more.

[nikkichama]

SNK/AOT Fic Recs

I'm going to be honest I didn't think someone would even vote so I was really happy when I checked the poll results, so thank you ♥

So okey now it's time to Attack on Titan fanfic recs. Okey so I realized I didn't really have that much AOT fanfic and they are mostly only LeviEre. At the end there is 3 Armin and Reiner fic.

LeviEre:

Eren Doesn't Like Dates by Bean_writes (E) 4/4 chapters

Modern Setting/Blind Date/Fluff and Smut/Top Levi

Despite Eren's previous attempts at getting Mikasa on board with the fact that he’s perfectly happy being single, she still took things into her own hands and set up a blind date for him.

A modern day, blind date (gone wrong) au.

Rewind by Tammyiia (T) 10/10 chapters ♥♥

Reincarnation/Time Travel/Blood/Gore/Rebirth/Future Eren in the past

Eren is just your average medical student, on his way to work in the early morning when he gets hit by a car. His memories of the past had always haunted him, but never to this extent. Eren finds himself in the past.

Against the Sky by tainted_ashes (E) 18/? (WIP last updated 2022)♥♥♥

Omega Eren/Mage Eren/Soldier Levi/Arranged Marriage/Minor Reiner-Eren/Human Experimentation/Goverment Conspiracy/Disturbing Themes/Praise Kink/Protective Levi/Alpha Levi/Forbidden Love

Eren Yeager, a rare Omega mage from the Island of Paradis, has long since accepted his fate inside the walls of his beloved country. But when war continues to ravage humanity and resolve of his home, the country of Marley presents an offer that will turn his entire world upside down.

You always make me smile by Legendanny (T) One shot

Modern Setting/Dad Levi /Isabell is the daughter/Kindergaten Teacher Eren/Falling in Love/Family Fluff

Fate wasn't kind to Levi—his wife died and he was left on his own with his young daughter Isabel. But maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel in the shape of Izzy's handsome kindergarten teacher Eren Jaeger.

Blue Salvia by paradoxicallysimplistic (E) 6/6 chapters

Omega Eren/Alpha Levi/Rituals/Awkward Sexual Tension/Sparring

As an unmated omega and the future healer-in-training, Eren's future and status in the tribe is pretty much determined. Once he comes of age, he is to be mated and expected to bear children.

After a freak thunderstorm, he finds an injured stranger by the riverbank and rescues him. Unknowingly, this one decision changes his life forever.

Halcyon by snakemittens (E) 67/67 ♥♥♥♥

Omega Eren/Alpha Levi/Slow Burn/Modern Setting/Growing up together/Friends to Lovers/Slice of Life/Slow Build/Long-term relationship/Long-distance relationship/Coming of Age/Car accidents/Childhood Friends/Childhood sweethearts

Problem child Eren Jaeger meets his match when Levi moves in next door. The two youngsters find friendship quickly and go through the ups and downs in a world of Alphas, Betas, and Omegas. An Alpha and Omega set of best friends includes its own plethora of struggles and misunderstandings. Tested with the trials of growing up, they find joy in the darkness and learn that there is no better sanctuary than in one another.

Come to My QuaranTEA Party by love_anime123 (E) 2/2 chapters ♥♥

College-University/Quarantine AU/Roommates/Smut/Fluff/Top Levi

“It’s only a matter of time before I start to insult you back, you know?” Eren warned, careful to see what Levi would do. The said man only walked over to Eren and stood impossibly close to him. Levi smirked when he saw Eren gulp nervously.

“I never said you couldn’t fight back. I enjoy a challenge, Eren,”

i'm not a creep; it was an accident by murakamism One shot

Modern Setting/Neighbors

It starts when Levi catches his cute new neighbor changing in front of his windows.

Mr. Nice Uniform by zerozaki_Zen (M) 30/? (WIP last updated 2024.06.17) ♥♥

Alpha Levi/Omega Eren/Arranged Marriage/Military/Historical/Domestic Fluff/Soft Levi/Protective Levi

The kingdom of Sina lacked military power while the kingdom of Trost was short on rations. They were enemies yet this time around, both rulers agreed to end their fued and help one another.

And what better way to seal the agreement? Marriage between kingdom.

As the prince of Sina, Eren's forced to marry someone from Trost, someone he never met. He thought that his life will be hell until he saw his husband in a slick military uniform.

Drunk Nights by SeaweedCat (M) One shot

Modern Setting/Clubbing/Jean is single/Mushy

Eren invited his new boyfriend Levi to go out drinking at Connie’s birthday party as a plus-one. Jean didn’t appreciate the constant reminders of how single he was.

The Wolf's Apple by Fluffyboots (E) One shot ♥♥

Omega Eren/Alpha Levi/Tribal AU/First Meetings/Implied True Mates

Eren swallowed dryly. The heat of Levi’s body was radiating against his own and slowly pulling him towards temptation. That scent, the proximity, it was driving him insane. “Why’s that?”

“I’m drawn to you in a way that I can’t explain.” Levi’s eyes flicked over his face, neck, and collarbones. The warm breath of his words ghosted over Eren’s lips. “I want to mate with you.”

Oyster Eaters by orangerie0340 (E) One shot ♥♥

Alpha Levi/Omega Eren/Canon Divergence/Mpreg

“You know, I’ve just been reminded of something your brother said once.” “Hmm?” Eren gave as a response. “About oysters.” Levi added for context, before snorting, “He said that in Marley, alphas and beta males who eat a lot of oysters are said to be in desperate need of sexual relief ― because they like to compare oysters to cunts over there apparently.”

Redacted Fate by Mery_Run (E) 56/56 chapters ♥♥♥♥

Time Travel Fix-it/Spoilers/Canon Divergence/Canon typical violence/Top Levi/Bottom Eren/Hurt comfort/Past mention of abuse and rape/Angst with Happy Ending/PTSD

Eren had been certain there had only been one destiny awaiting him. Why else would he go this far and hurt so many, even his most precious loved ones?

With the world ending around him, the Founder offers an alternative and even though he would lose everything, Eren Yeager accepts and returns to a time ripe with the opportunity to save everyone.

Assumptions by Fume (T)One shot ♥♥

Fluff/Humor/Misunderstandings/Post Canon Fix It/Canon Divergence/Married Life

The only thing the new recruits know about Captain Levi— aside from his absurd standards for cleanliness and intolerance for babbling— is that he’s definitely having an affair with the beautiful-guy-with-the-sea-in-his-eyes.

Sunset Lover by Flamoria (E) One shot

Omega Eren/Alpha Levi/Summer Vacation/Summer Romance/College Student Eren

When Eren Yeager comes home from university for the summer, all he wants is to find a new job and spend the time he's not working playing Animal Crossing and (possibly) having some short term hookups. However, it seems the universe doesn't quite have that in store for him. After only a week into his vacation, his childhood best friend Mikasa asks him to housesit her Uncle Levi's home for two weeks. The only thing Eren is expecting is free food, some quality time with a cute cat, and a fat paycheck by the end of it. What he gets instead will make this summer the best he's ever had in his life.

Black Swan by Flamoria (E) 9/9 chapters ♥♥

AU Dance/Choreographer Eren/Dancer Levi/Modern Setting/Emotional Hurt Comfort/Mentions of Cancer/Past Violence/Acceptance/Moving On/Minor Character Death/Anxiety Disorder

24-year-old Eren Yeager has risen as one of the best choreographers of his time. He's known by friends and clients as one of the most passionate people they have ever met. Scared of allowing the world to see his true vulnerable self, he chooses to stand behind the scenes and allow for others to display that passion in his place.

Enter 33-year-old famous dancer Levi Ackerman. Well known in the industry for his immense talent as well as his less-than-friendly attitude. Despite his reservations, Eren agrees to work with Levi as his choreographer. Little does the younger man know that this decision will change everything that he ever thought he knew about the world, and most importantly, himself.

gentle touch (heavy intent) by levivi (T) One shot

Hurt Comfort/Canon Compliant/Sick Eren

“Captain,” Eren slurs and peers up at Levi’s face. He doesn’t look mad, mostly bewildered, and Eren slumps against him. The arm around him tightens. “Hi.”

“Hello, Eren. Care to explain why the fuck you’re in my arms right now and not standing on your own damn feet?”

“Think I’m sick,” Eren mumbles.

Hunger by patolemus (T) One shot

Canon Compliant/Pre-57th Expedition Outside of the Walls/Team Bonding/Protective Levi

A series of events where Squad Levi doesn’t understand their new member’s behaviour regarding food, and the one time it all gets cleared up.

How to Snag the Cute Bariste Even When You're a Tea Snob by ReadingToMusic, Stimemia (E) One shot

Pinning Levi/Modern Setting/Coffee Shops/Meet-Cute/First Meetings/Misunderstanding/Implied Sexual Harassment

Levi's a writer — whose job mainly consists of not writing — and when he discovers that the brunet barista makes the best cups of tea as well as being gorgeous, he decides to do as much of his not-writing there as possible.

There's only one issue — that one, annoying customer who always has to take the barista's attention away from his job.

Or alternatively titled: "Why tea is superior to coffee in every way" — an essay by Levi Ackerman

Take My Hand by nackerr (T) One shot

Modern Setting/Concussions/Blood and Injury/Hospitals/Seizures/First Dates/Hurt Comfort/Fluff/Fighter Levi/Paramedic Eren

"Hey, hey. You need to calm down. You have a severe concussion and you need to be treated," the paramedic says.

Levi glares down at the hand on his chest, and then locks his gaze onto those teal eyes. "What's your name?" He asks.

"Eren."

"Eren," Levi's voice takes on a calm and smooth tone. "All due respect to your job or whatever, but shut the fuck up."

(aka Levi is a pro-fighter who gets injured and Eren is the paramedic that answers the call)

Armin&Reiner

Training by EvilPenguinRika (G) One shot

“Reiner… I need your help.”

Bandages by Evinsforreals (Not rated) One shot

Let Me Be There by guccicologne (G) One shot

Takes place aroud chapter 132/Hurt Comfort/Reiner is trying he really is/Emotianal Baggage

Armin helps Reiner get used to the new ODM gear in Ohida, and it reminds them both of the people they used to be.

[wenella]

Zhu Yilong: Passing Through The Storm at Sea Calmly

朱一龙：平静穿越海上风暴

EN Translation of Zhu Yilong's Bazaar April 2022 Cover Issue Feature Interview by wenella

Zhu Yilong loves the sea. He is drawn to the vastness and the all-encompassing nature of the sea. The sea is like a humble gentleman who is strong-minded, yet will not fight for or snatch anything. Zhu Yilong is competitive about everything, except acting. He wants to play every role well and harness the power of introversion whenever he transforms into his characters.

A young man is working seriously and following the rules of his industry carefully. He chants, “Putting on shoes for you, cross the Naihe bridge peacefully.”

This is a character rarely seen in Chinese films – a funeral undertaker. However, this occupation is merely the surface. Look deeper and you will notice his buzz cut, his flowery print shirts, board shorts, and slippers, his Wuhan dialect, the tired and rebellious look in his eyes - this character is not only grounded in the quotidian realities of life, but also a lonely soul who has been hurt by the world.

Soon, this Wuhan native named “Mo Sanmei” started to appear in short videos. Audiences were shocked and watched these videos repeatedly.

They realized that he was Zhu Yilong.

From Wu Xie in Reunion: The Sound of the Providence, to Lin Nansheng in The Rebel, and to Hong Yizhou in Cloudy Mountain, all of these characters were played by Zhu Yilong. Except this time, Zhu Yilong seems to be heading right into a storm at sea.

Lighting up the Stars is a film based on the original script by Liu Jiangjiang. Liu conducted fieldwork in Baiyangdian, Hebei, to gather materials for this film. As the title suggests, it is a film about life and death, as well as the joys and sorrows of its characters.

To immerse himself in his character Mo Sanmei, Zhu Yilong shaved his head without hesitation and chose to take up a look that ran counter to his usual gentle demeanor.

Even though Zhu Yilong has tried a variety of roles, Mo Sanmei is arguably his most challenging role to date if we consider the character’s life. Mo Sanmei bears witness to the passing of life every day yet his job requires him to remain indifferent and collected. Yet deep in his heart, he is also compassionate, proud, and rebellious. Furthermore, Zhu Yilong’s co-actor is a young girl. We can only imagine his Herculean task of trying to balance his performance and the dramatic tension required by the plot.

ACTING: BEING SERIOUS ON A KNIFE-EDGE

Lying in a coffin is something that everyone will inevitably experience yet the Chinese are reluctant to talk about it. Zhu Yilong was attracted to the film’s theme and the role of Mo Sanmei as they were grounded very much in reality.

He said, “Since young, I’ve encountered many people like Sange in my life. They want to achieve great things in life and run a big business. They refuse to engage in anything they deem trivial or insignificant. As a result, they suffer in life because they want their ‘face’.”

But what are the most important things in life? Zhu Yilong found his answer when he entered the inner world of Mo Sanmei. He realised that without long-lasting and sincere relationships in life, material things are ultimately immaterial; life and death are mere rituals or processes, insignificant names or numbers, and answers that people can't accept calmly.

"Life and death are important events in life, but simple things in life may also be something extremely important in the hearts of those who experience them. Personally, I find the phrase ‘Life’s Important Events’ (translator's note: a direct translation of the film's Chinese title 人生大事 rénshēngdàshì) very meaningful."

What will happen to Mo Sanmei when he meets a lonely & helpless girl? The answer can be found in the film.

When he interacts with the girl, Mo Sanmei learns what it means to be responsible. He learns what he wants in life and the important events in life. “There is nothing more important than death in life” 人生除死无大事 is a line that is used most frequently in the film.

Zhu Yilong gained a new understanding of this line after he wrapped the film. He said, "Anything in life can be an important event as long as it is something important to you; it isn't always only about life and death."

Mo Sanmei’s stubble and buzz cut set this role apart from Zhu Yilong's previous roles. He said, "In recent years, I don't like repetition. If I just tried a certain role, I wouldn’t be able to accept if I had to play a similar one immediately.” He wants to try different genres and doesn’t want to fix his future path. “I want to focus on whatever I’m doing now and to do it right.”

This is Zhu Yilong's second attempt at filming in Wuhan dialect after Embrace Again. Compared to his role as Ye Ziyang, Zhu Yilong's main challenge lies in changing audience's previous impression of him and convincing them that he is Mo Sanmei. In a scene with his young co-actor, Zhu Yilong had to reprimand and make her cry. After the filming ended, he transformed back into his normal, gentle self immediately, hugged her and apologised softly.

An actor’s cultivation is not only reflected in his understanding of the character’s inner world, but also in his insistence of looking right for the role. The drama series The Rebel, which he starred in, scored more than 8 out of 10 on Douban - a feat for a young actor who was once labeled as a ‘traffic star". He did his homework and dissected the role: "Although Lin Nansheng was playing the role of 'Xu Liwen' (a cover identity to get close to Zhu Yizhen), 'Xu Liwen' was actually closer to his true self than the Lin Nansheng of Shanghai bureau."

Before joining the set of The Rebel, he went on an extreme diet and lost a lot of weight. He wanted to get rid of his contemporary celebrity look and allow his facial features to become a vessel for his character’s emotions. He once said that he didn’t find his extreme weight loss masochistic at all. After all, an actor’s appearance is to serve his role.

Let us now recall the multiple sides of Zhu Yilong's roles – elegant, melancholic, rebellious, courageous......

Only he will know what remains unchanged within him whenever he creates his characters. Zhu Yilong's calm face is like the sea with gentle ripples; his determination is a sharp knife that lies beneath this calm surface. An actor on a knife-edge can dissect the plot, experience the real & painful emotional world of his character, and allow audiences to believe in the story.

GROWING UP: CHALLENGING MYSELF

Being an actor means that many things are not within his control. Zhu Yilong said, “I wouldn’t let something bother me once I move on. If I don’t let go, I would feel very angry and suppress my emotions. It’s pretty suffocating.”

He has learnt to stay calm whenever he encounters obstacles now as he is aware of the consequences of feeling angry. “There isn’t so much disappointment, loss, and injustice in life.” He learnt to let go as he grew older. “My thoughts and emotions flow smoothly within me now.”

If there was something that Zhu Yilong could not resolve, he would just choose to enjoy a good meal. “I love to eat so much.” During his spare time, he would always be searching for good food. Hotpot, BBQ… everything.

“I'm in love with Beijing's cooper hotpot and zhajiangmian (fried bean sauce noodles) recently.” Zhu Yilong started to share with us his list of dishes excitedly.

Many find him a straightforward or even naïve person. Zhu Yilong has a different take on this. He doesn't enjoy crowds and feels that liveliness is always short-lived. Therefore, he prefers to spend time alone. “When I’m alone, time seems to pass more slowly. I've more time to do what I want to do.”

In a way, Zhu Yilong is probably mature for his age. He does not enjoy spending time with his friends every day. “It is fun, but time passes too quickly.” Sometimes, the fun can be draining.

Zhu Yilong’s independence was a result of him growing up with his grandparents in Wuhan & boarding at his junior high school. When he was in school, he picked up subjects that he was interested in very quickly. Even though he didn’t skip classes that he disliked, he found it hard to concentrate in those classes.

He described himself as "a kid who looked obedient but was actually mischevious (蔫儿淘 niān er táo), and got into fights easily." He had to learn to manage his emotions without his parents by his side and became more introverted as he grew older. But Zhu Yilong still retained a burning competitive spirit within him. "I feel competitive even when I'm with my good friends; I have a strong desire to win." But he wouldn't feel disappointed if he lost. He would always try his best and the result didn’t matter to him that much. “If I’m not good at it, I’d just try it again.”

Zhu Yilong said jokingly, “I helped my mother to realise her dream by becoming an actor. She used to say that her greatest regret in life was that she didn't try to enroll herself into Beijing Film Academy or the Central Academy of Drama.”

When Zhu Yilong visited Beijing one year during his holiday and walked past BFA with his mother, she told him, “You should try to get yourself enrolled here.” He took up 3 months of preparatory classes and and took the entrance exams, albeit rather cluelessly. Even though he finally made it into BFA, he was always doubtful of his ability of becoming an actor. “Do I really have the talent? Am I suitable for this job?”

“At that time, I thought to myself: well, I can always find a 9-to-5 job after graduating, as long as the money is enough to support myself.”

After entering the industry, Zhu Yilong realised something after he trying out at auditions repeatedly. "As an actor, we have to start from the bottom. We witnessed many harsh realities. Even though we fought hard for a role, we might not be able to get it.”

Zhu Yilong is slightly awed by how fate has brought him the scripts and roles that he had worked on. The mutual understanding between co-actors on the essence of a character, the chemistry between the director and actor - it is critical to see eye to eye when working on the set. To Zhu Yilong, entering a new set is an adventure that challenges him to leave his comfort zone.

Zhu Yilong usually takes a while before he warms up. “It is impossible to reveal everything during the first meeting. I can only let myself go slowly while testing the waters.” It is impossible for an entire crew of several hundred people to wait for an actor to get into to slowly get into the right mode. This is the main source of pressure for many actors. As for Zhu Yilong, he finds it difficult to block out all information and enter his character immediately when he just joined a new working environment.

“When I join a new set, it is not so much about communicating with my character but rather adapting to my new environment.”

He has managed to produce good works and roles that have gained the recognition of audiences. However, in his opinion, the process of growing up as "Zhu Yilong" is the most important “role” that he needs to think about.

He admires the Oscar-winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis who starred in My Left Foot. Day-Lewis is a mature actor who has the amazing ability to portray characters and their fate, yet also exude his personal charm during this process. Day-Lewis is an actor who keeps a distance from Hollywood and chooses to hide in the countryside and hone his craft as a leather shoemaker. He finds Day-Lewis' story inspiring.

A good actor has solid acting skills, rich experiences, and he doesn't represent himself. But a better actor can still be himself. The actor can exude an unforgettable personal charm, while his experiences, charisma, and facial features are elements that can be worked into creating his characters.

“Therefore, we shouldn't oversimplify and categorize actors as 'an actor who is being himself' or 'an experiential actor'." On-screen and off-screen, everyone has to deal with their past; everyone cannot escape "life".

Once he understood this, he was able to dismiss and ignore the labels that others have given him. It did not matter to him that other people tried to identify him as an attractive star or as a young actor who was eager to get rid of his 'idol' label and be recognised for his acting.

He started to live with his parents again when he relocated from Wuhan to Beijing to study at BFA. His slow-to-warm-up temperament was a good fit for this historical city. “If I wasn't an actor, I don’t think that I’d need to be surrounded by a lot of people. I’d like to explore this city if there’s a suitable chance.”

He emphasized that the necessity for him to be at peace and to block out noise from the outside world – the questioning voices and irresponsible criticism.

Zhu Yilong needs to walk into the story of a character calmly and carefully discern where this path would lead him. After wrapping the performance, he would leave the set calmly and enter his next role. This cycle would repeat itself.

Zhu Yilong summed up this cycle: dedicating himself to work and leading a simple life. He always felt fortunate whenever he received a role that he liked. He would prepare for his role by observing and thinking; he would try to get himself into a working mode no matter what.

He enjoyed freedom when he was young. He cultivated his determination when he first started out as an unknown actor. Now that he is in the limelight, he tries his best to balance his career and life.

Zhu Yilong revealed that he has no upcoming plans for his 34th birthday. The waves were crashing in the background as he strummed his guitar.

He is satisfied with the current pace of life and work. He has time to prepare for his roles and rest. He also has the opportunity to choose his jobs. Zhu Yilong said, "I think all is great right now." There’s no need for him to make a birthday wish. "Wishing for other things probably wouldn’t come true anyway. I will continue to shoot one work after another."

His expectation of himself: to ensure that "the second year is always better than the first." He said, "I may not have much talent, but I always try to make sure that the second year is always better than previous one."

He said that he would continue to act as long as he is approached by others. There are so many roles that he has yet to try, and so many stories that have yet to be told.

*THE END*

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 5.11

330 – Constantine the Great dedicates the much-expanded and rebuilt city of Byzantium, changing its name to New Rome and declaring it the new capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. 868 – A copy of the Diamond Sūtra is published, making it the earliest dated and printed book known. 973 – In the first coronation ceremony ever held for an English monarch, Edgar the Peaceful is crowned King of England, having ruled since 959 AD. His wife, Ælfthryth, is crowned queen, the first recorded coronation for a Queen of England. 1068 – Matilda of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror, is crowned Queen of England. 1258 – Louis IX of France and James I of Aragon sign the Treaty of Corbeil, renouncing claims of feudal overlordship in one another's territories and separating the House of Barcelona from the politics of France. 1713 – Great Northern War: After losing the Battle of Helsinki to the Russians, the Swedish and Finnish troops burn the entire city, so that it would not remain intact in the hands of the Russians. 1812 – Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the British House of Commons. 1813 – William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth discover a route across the Blue Mountains, opening up inland Australia to settlement. 1857 – Indian Rebellion of 1857: Indian rebels seize Delhi from the British. 1880 – Seven people are killed in the Mussel Slough Tragedy, a gun battle in California. 1889 – An attack upon a U.S. Army paymaster and escort results in the theft of over $28,000 and the award of two Medals of Honor. 1894 – Four thousand Pullman Palace Car Company workers go on a wildcat strike. 1919 – Uruguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty. 1970 – The 1970 Lubbock tornado kills 26 and causes $250 million in damage. 1985 – Fifty-six spectators die and more than 200 are injured in the Bradford City stadium fire. 1996 – After the aircraft's departure from Miami, a fire started by improperly handled chemical oxygen generators in the cargo hold of Atlanta-bound ValuJet Airlines Flight 592 causes the Douglas DC-9 to crash in the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 on board. 1997 – Deep Blue, a chess-playing supercomputer, defeats Garry Kasparov in the last game of the rematch, becoming the first computer to beat a world-champion chess player in a classic match format. 1998 – India conducts three underground atomic tests in Pokhran. 2011 – An earthquake of magnitude 5.1 hits Lorca, Spain. 2013 – Fifty-two people are killed in a bombing in Reyhanlı, Turkey. 2014 – Fifteen people are killed and 46 injured in Kinshasa, DRC, in a stampede caused by tear gas being thrown into soccer stands by police officers. 2016 – One hundred and ten people are killed in an ISIL bombing in Baghdad. 2022 – The Burmese military executes at least 37 villagers during the Mon Taing Pin massacre in Sagaing, Myanmar. 2024 - Minnesota officially updates its flag.

[msclaritea]

Mary Poppins’ UK age rating raised to PG due to discriminatory language | Mary Poppins | The Guardian

Mary Poppins’ UK age rating raised to PG due to discriminatory language

British Board of Film Classification lifts it from U certificate almost 60 years after film was first released

Kevin Rawlinson

Mon 26 Feb 2024 04.37 EST

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Mary Poppins has had its age rating lifted to a PG by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) almost 60 years after it was first released.

The film’s rating has been upgraded from U – which signifies no material likely to offend or harm – to one advising parental guidance due to the use of discriminatory language, the Daily Mail reported.

It was changed because of a derogatory term for the Khoikhoi, a group of people who were among the first inhabitants of southern Africa.

Classifiers picked up on the term used by the character Admiral Boom – first as a reference to people not onscreen, then as a reference to the film’s child stars when their faces are blackened with soot.

“We understand from our racism and discrimination research … that a key concern for … parents is the potential to expose children to discriminatory language or behaviour which they may find distressing or repeat without realising the potential offence,” a BBFC spokesperson told the Mail.

“Content with immediate and clear condemnation is more likely to receive a lower rating.”

The reclassification affects only the cinema version of the film, with home entertainment versions still rated U, according to the BBFC. The word in question is “Hottentot”, an adopted name for the Khoikhoi used by Dutch settlers, thought to imitate their language, which is considered offensive. It would later be used to refer to all black people.

It is not the first classic film to have its rating upgraded in recent years. According to the BBFC’s 2022 annual report, the 1978 animated film Watership Down merited a PG rating as classifiers sought to “remain in step with societal standards”.

They said: “In their exile, the rabbits meet various challenges, some of which result in bloody bite and claw injuries caused by animals fighting. In one scene, a bird tells one of the rabbits to ‘[pee] off’.”

They added: “When we viewed the film under the current guidelines we reclassified it PG in line with our current policies for violence, threat, injury detail and language.”

The 1979 film Star Trek: The Motion Picture was also upgraded from a U to a PG that year as a result of its “very mild language, mild violence and threat”, the BBFC said.

When deciding on how to classify a film, the BBFC considers scenes that might show dangerous behaviour, discrimination, and references to drugs and sex. It also considers the language used in the film, scenes of nudity and of threat, horror and violence.

Classifiers particularly look out for discriminatory language or behaviour that is “unlikely to be acceptable unless clearly disapproved of, or in an educational or historical context, or in a particularly dated work with no likely appeal to children”.

A message from Betsy Reed, editor of the Guardian UK...FA message from Betsy Reed, editor of the Guardian US

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask if you would consider supporting the Guardian’s journalism as we enter one of the most consequential news cycles of our lifetimes in 2024.

From Elon Musk to the Murdochs, a small number of billionaire owners have a powerful hold on so much of the information that reaches the public about what’s happening in the world. The Guardian is different. We have no billionaire owner or shareholders to consider. Our journalism is produced to serve the public interest – not profit motives.

And we avoid the trap that befalls much US media: the tendency, born of a desire to please all sides, to engage in false equivalence in the name of neutrality. We always strive to be fair. But sometimes that means calling out the lies of powerful people and institutions – and making clear how misinformation and demagoguery can damage democracy.

So...the Satanic State of Britain just threw one of their own Classics and one of their most adored actresses, Julie Andrews under the bus, by admitting that they put racist dog whistles IN Mary Poppins, just to damage Disney, over 50 years after the film was made. They killed their own Doctor Who series and now they just fucked over one of MY favorite childhood classics....JUST TO FUCK DISNEY. WOW.

[truthdogg]

As I read the post linked below, it reinforced for me just how much media has changed in the past ten to twenty years. The post itself is a great snapshot of what’s required to understand a news story, and it demonstrates why most news media today is simply not working.

I don’t watch tv news, and haven’t for probably a decade. We have a subscription to the New York Times, but the login rarely works for me, and we’ve let our Washington Post subscription lapse. I get my news from a variety of online newspapers, npr, websites, blogs, and podcasts, and usually do an internet search for anything that sounds interesting or that I want to understand better.

This is a pretty terrible way to keep up with things. It takes a lot of time, and it requires a general knowledge of the ideological slant of the news outlet I’m reading. That means I either have to remember or look up who owns the company and who runs their editorial board, which takes up even more time.

I could save a lot of time by going to one source that not only spells out what just happened, but also tells who loses and who gains, what the impacts will be and how to process it, and perhaps even include links to speech transcripts and legislation for us to read on our own. Good newspapers used to do more of that, but they don’t anymore; instead they simply share the latest quotes about the subject at hand. (“He said this thing, she said a different thing, so you decide for yourself who’s telling the truth. What is truth, anyway?”) So now we need to piece full stories together from multiple sources, just like tumblr user @yiffmaster does above.

It takes a genuine interest in what you’re reading to spend the necessary time that on that. Otherwise all you’ll see are stories about how there’s a new hire at NLRB from SEIU and that upset somebody, or something about the Joy Silk doctrine that makes no sense on its own, or (most likely) that Biden spoke to a worker or two on a picket line somewhere but so did Donald Trump so both parties claim to support workers. It’s all meaningless individual trees standing on their own until you can step back, study, and see the forest.

That’s not to say we never get important dot-connecting well-researched articles. We absolutely do, and there are still plenty of amazing hardworking journalists, but the landscape is so fragmented that it’s hard to know where those articles will come from, whether they can be trusted, or often even how to find or access them. Often they don’t even have dates, so it’s hard to know just how outdated the information even is.

I would love to find a news source that organized its articles by topic and provided outside links. Every story could provide links to relevant info and source material, instead of offhand references. But such a broad news site doesn’t really exist among the sources I read. (TPM might get closest at times, but it’s a tiny company.) instead, an article gets published, it’s out of date a week later, and it remains the top search result for its subject matter for weeks, months or years. Try looking up what the Biden administration did to help rail workers after they went back to work at the start of December 2022, to see what I mean. It’s possible, but you have to already know what you’re looking for. Otherwise all you can find is that they let workers down by forcing them back to work, which isn’t remotely the whole story—what came after that was a very big deal.

But there’s a workaround to all of this that a lot of Americans use to feel they have the full picture. It’s a cable network that does connect all the dots. It ties stories back into an overarching narrative, and explains to viewers how each news story reinforces its narrative. Its viewers tune in for that narrative; they know who is blocking the programs they’re told are good or bad, and who supports the other ones. It’s called FOX News of course, and it’s complete garbage propaganda. It’s also genius in how it works.

There is no good way to deprogram a FOX viewer who’s sucked in, because there is simply no alternative that fully describes the stories that they follow. They’re in an alternative universe of facts that have bits of the real world thrown in for color. The stories that multiple reliable sources do provide cannot counter that narrative on their own, because they simply don’t explain enough. If anything they have the opposite effect, because the FOX viewer is arriving with a set narrative in their mind, and the small story that simply presents arguments with no conclusions will include the argument they’re familiar with. For them to come out of that well of ignorance will require research into multiple sources that they’re simply not going to ever do.

A liberal propaganda outlet to counter it is more than useless—most people who lean left find those annoying and and no one on the right would believe a word of it.

No, what we need is news for today to be organized completely differently, almost like a current events Wikipedia. Publishing a newspaper or making a newscast and sticking them online is borderline ridiculous. They’re only snapshots in time, and without a tree of links to accompany them—perhaps via a link back to a topic main page where that tree of links resides—they often become misinformation fairly quickly.

Many news outlets have taken some baby steps toward something like this, but only with major stories (“Follow our impeachment coverage here!”), and only with their own articles. This relegates other important news (like what the Biden Admin is doing with labor) to a lesser status and keeps these outlets as news gatekeepers, and it undermines their own credibility among doubters by presenting yet another closed system.

We need news sources that are much more comprehensive and committed to providing a full picture if we ever hope to undo the damage and division that propaganda is creating here. I’d love to know if any of you have found such a thing. I haven’t.

[bubblesandgutz]

Hello again, Brian! New album is dope and on heavy, heavy repeat. So, thanks for that. Was wondering, now that we're a year out from you and the guys getting robbed, how are you liking the changes to your gear? I noticed your rig is predominantly Darkglass, do you still have the Meatsmoke? We're you able to rebuild your board with the same gear? New preferences? Thanks!

Hey y'all... big apologies for not getting through my inbox with any degree of regularity. This message is from last year, so I've obviously been slacking. Sorry! And thanks for the kind words regarding Gnosis.

Russian Circles were robbed in Chowchilla, CA back in October '21. Our box truck was parked at a hotel parking lot and we woke up in the morning to find the majority of our gear, merch, and a bunch of miscellaneous personal items gone. Personally, I lost two speaker cabinets, a synth, a MIDI keyboard, a baritone guitar, a bass, pedalboard, and a bunch of accessories (DI, strings, cables, multitools, etc). Oh... and they took a really nice pair of boots from me. Assholes.

It was an unusual tour for us because it was only a handful of shows and it was on the West Coast, so we flew out and Mike and Dave rented/borrowed a bunch of gear. I had just purchased three speaker cabs from Darkglass, so I had driven my rig down from Seattle. I was fortunate because my amps weren't stolen (they were in a beat-up cardboard box that the thieves must've missed) and I still had my Meatsmoke back in Chicago. But I had JUST bought those cabinets, so that was a very big bummer.

We were unlucky in that our gear insurance had lapsed. This was because the renewal email from the insurance company was sent to a label employee that had gotten a new job during the pandemic. However, because so much of the gear was rented/borrowed, it likely wouldn't have covered much of the loss. But we were very fortunate that fans were generous via GoFundMe and several instrument companies immediately offered to help us out (thank you Darkglass, Electrical Guitar Company, Dunlop, Fuzzrocious, and Keith McMillen). It was also a big turning point for us because Hiwatt loaned Mike a backline for the remaining shows, and Mike has never been happier with his sound now that he's playing Hiwatts.

Ever since the robbery, I've been cycling through a lot of different gear options. I was able to rebuild my pedalboard, but my new bass and baritone have slightly different sonic characteristics from the instruments that were stolen, and as a result my sound changed slightly. Most of my first shows back after the pandemic were nowhere near Chicago, which meant I didn't have access to my 8x10 and Meatsmoke. So I used the Darkglass amp and cabs for the TAAS shows, SUMAC shows, and remaining stateside RC dates in 2021 and early 2022. Russian Circles went back to Europe in Spring '22 and I rented a couple of Ampeg SVT3s for the tour just because they tend to be the amps that I'm most comfortable dialing in. I felt really confident about the sound I got in Europe... felt like it was closer to my pre-robbery sound... so I got back to the States and bought two cheap used SVT3s for our Fall tour. By the end of the tour, both amps were broken beyond repair. I finished the tour using my Meatsmoke on bass and Darkglass for synth stuff. The Meatsmoke is still an excellent amp but I'm nervous taking it on the road now that Verellen isn't making amps anymore.

My Meatsmoke and 8x10 are still in Chicago. Most of my Darkglass stuff is in LA. And since most of my musical activity this year has been in the PNW with Botch and SUMAC, I've had to cobble together a backline from borrowed stuff here in Seattle. Been using a pair of cabs that belong to Cory from Minus the Bear and have been borrowing amps from Science and Hiwatt. Both amps are fantastic. I actually bought the Science amp after recording the new SUMAC album on it, and am currently talking with Hiwatt about getting one of their DR201 amps.

So that's where I've been at with gear. If you've been wondering why every picture of my backline on Instagram is different, that's the reason.

[meganewsforum]

Maruti Suzuki's strong financial standing reflects in record-breaking dividend payout

Maruti Suzuki, the biggest automaker in India, presented its financial results on Wednesday for the three months and the full fiscal year ended March 31, 2023. For the fiscal year 2022–2023, the business announced a record-breaking dividend—its highest ever. The company's outstanding performance during the most recent fiscal year is reflected in the announcement of such a significant dividend payout. This choice demonstrates the company's dedication to creating wealth for shareholders and presents an excellent chance for investors to gain from the company's expansion and success. Maruti Suzuki's position as a global leader in the automotive sector is attested to by its solid financial standing and constant commitment to quality.

Maruti Suzuki anticipates market demand expansion with new capacity creation

Top Business News Today: An enormous dividend of Rs. 90 per share, with a face value of Rs. 5, has been suggested by the company's board. The company's remarkable performance in the most recent fiscal year is reflected in the suggested dividend, which is significantly greater than the market's expectations. The choice to declare such a sizable dividend is evidence of the company's sound financial standing and dedication to its shareholders.

It is an excellent opportunity for investors to capitalize on the company's growth and profitability and a clear indication that the company's future looks bright.

This dividend represents the highest one that the world's largest automaker has ever paid in a calendar year and is 50% higher than the company's FY 2021–22 dividend recommendation of Rs 60 per share. Subject to the approval of the shareholders at the subsequent annual general meeting, which is planned to take place on August 29, 2023, Maruti Suzuki has fixed the date of payment of the aforementioned dividend to be made to eligible shareholders of the business as September 6, 2023.

As per current business news, given the anticipated expansion in market demand, including exports, the Board of the market heavyweight has also approved the creation of extra capacity of up to one million vehicles annually. According to the corporation, its current, fully used capacity in Manesar and Gurugram totals almost 13 lakh units. When defining the phases of installing capacity, Maruti Suzuki's Board will finalise and accept the anticipated capacity addition of up to 1 million units. 

[freakylilnutjob]

I posted 3,198 times in 2022

That's 2,740 more posts than 2021!

406 posts created (13%)

2,792 posts reblogged (87%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@idealism-sits-in-prison

@newtness532

@asxitxis

@etheltheblog

@girlwhoknewtheoriginoflove

I tagged 2,379 of my posts in 2022

Only 26% of my posts had no tags

#heartstopper - 437 posts

#nick nelson - 220 posts

#charlie spring - 191 posts

#sav speaks - 114 posts

#asked and answered - 82 posts

#kit connor - 67 posts

#iwbft - 65 posts

#alice oseman - 64 posts

#advice - 59 posts

#important - 55 posts

Longest Tag: 130 characters

#t̷̬̳̫̜̬͙̯̝̤͌̇h̷̗̾̃̂̓̿̚̕̚ͅͅë̴̡̙̟͚͖͖̟́ ̶͙̲̱͍̝̔̔̾̾́d̴̛̫͚̳̫̈́̐̒̀̏̑̀͝ä̶̯͔͓͇̮̱̠͉́̓̋̌̈́̔̏ͅr̶̹̳̣̭̞̳̱͔͌ͅk̷̲̜͙̝̲̿̐̓ņ̷̢͔̺̤͕͕͓͋̐͆̈́̇́̆͜͠e̵͇͗̍͂̚s

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Me after reading every one of Alice Oseman’s books: Oh my god, I have never related to a set of book characters so much

419 notes - Posted August 26, 2022

#4

screaming, crying, throwing myself against the wall

657 notes - Posted August 16, 2022

#3

little things in Heartstopper that I think about a lot (part two):

The smiley face that Nick drew still being on Charlie’s hand the next day

The way Nick looks when he tells Charlie, “C’mon, I bet you can do it!”

The rugby guys hyping Charlie up during practice and seeing him outside of the school gate and saying “C’mon mate, we’ve got practice!”

Charlie sitting up so fast after Elle messages saying Tara doesn’t like Nick

The use of ‘Why Am I Like This?’ and ‘My Own Person’ between episodes two and three

Taos mom being so kind and invested in Elle’s wellbeing

Nick being so defensive when Charlie asks him if he likes Tara and when he asks if he really went on a date with Imogen

Darcy saying, “Oh, hi” and the look on her face after Tara kisses her for the first time openly at school

The way Charlie reassures Nick their situation is nothing like the situation with Ben, the way he squeezed Nicks hand!!!

Literally no one knowing the rules of rugby but showing up to support Charlie anyways

Isaacs subtle eye roll and head shake when Elle suggests Harry and Charlie might be friends

The shot right after Charlie gets hurt during the rugby match where it shows Nicks back to the camera and Charlie’s friends on one side and his friends on the other

Nick saying, “You’ve got some mud on your face” to Charlie as if he isn’t covered in mud himself

“Ah, whoops” as Isaac kicks the monopoly board because he’s tired of Tao and Charlie’s bickering

Taos “incredibly erotic” dance moves

The almost hug between Nick and Charlie during the first bowling match

Tao running between Nick and Charlie to get to the dance machine when he easily could have gone around them

Imogen being incredibly mature by thanking Nick for being honest with her

Nick continuing to scroll up on his messages with Charlie in hopes it just hasn’t sent yet and not that Charlie stopped typing in episode eight

Tao’s landscape painting

That little bit of slow motion during Nick and Charlie’s kiss in the school corridor

Nick pretending he was going to drop Charlie in the photo booth and in the ocean

How Charlie’s voice goes a little high when Nick picks him up and he says “What are you doing!”

“… but I started liking him way before that.”

(part one)

1,891 notes - Posted July 21, 2022

#2

2,445 notes - Posted October 4, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

little things in Heartstopper that I think about a lot (part one):

Mr. Ajayi noticing Charlie’s hesitation when talking about Ben, so he puts his pen down and stops what he’s doing to let Charlie know he has his full attention

Charlie’s little giggle after Nick showed him how to play rugby

the little smile on Nicks face after seeing “x” at the end of Charlie’s thank you text to him

“You look… it looks great!”

Nick not being able to look at Charlie after he hugged him for the first time so he just turned around, said “see ya Monday,” and left

Nick’s singular tear when seeing his “62% Homosexual�� quiz result

Isaac just not replying to the group chat and continuing to read his book, unbothered

Nick ready to absolutely lose his shit when Charlie said he ran into Ben at the party and then immediately going to the opposite end of the spectrum when Charlie said he defended himself

the smile on Charlie’s face after he pulls away from Nick before hugging him again when they’re sitting on his bed the morning after the party

everyone’s reactions when the St. John’s rugby team comes out on the field

Nick being breathless and Charlie’s little double blink after the kiss at the arcade

the stars reflecting on Elle’s glasses when she realizes she likes Tao

when Nick goes, “Oi!” after Charlie said, “I thought I was the one who said sorry too much.”

Tara’s knowing looks at Nick before he tells her he and Charlie are going out

the way Darcy looks at Tara when she’s talking to Nick about how being out is hard

“What?… we’re not… he’s not… shut up!”

the little jumps and Charlie’s smile after Nick left after asking him on a date

the smile on Nick’s face after reading the message where Darcy called them “meddling gays”

the way Tao and Elle greet each other at the milkshake cafe

the smiles from Nick and Charlie at the end of episode six

the hug outside the cinema

the hug Tori gives Charlie in the beginning of episode eight

Darcy’s face after Tara kisses her at Sports Day

the smiles on Nick and Charlie’s faces outside the train station

Nicks mom apologizing to him without knowing if she actually did or didn’t make him feel like he couldn’t tell her he’s bisexual

how the lighting in the room or background often matches the flag colors for the character on screen

(part two)

3,262 notes - Posted July 15, 2022

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