#Viral News Around The World - Feed

[speechlessxx]

new addition. [henry cavill x reader]

summary: anything henry does instantly goes viral.

warnings: mention of fangirls. plot twist?

word count: ~850

It was a poor choice of words on Henry’s behalf – and he knew that.

You knew he knew that.

Ever since you’ve met him, nearly three years ago, you’ve noticed that Henry relished in the chaos he created from just one simple post. Whether it was a clip of him working out or him panting after his jog or even a simple picture of Kal, he sent the internet into a frenzy each time he broke his silence on social media. In fact, you would say he’d get off on it – but of course, he would only respond with a amused smirk and a shake of his head.

And sometimes, just sometimes, he liked to drag you into his mess.

So, when your phone dinged once, then twice, then a million times after one afternoon, you knew Henry had done something yet again.

At first, you ignored the incessant chimes of Instagram and Twitter. The colorful purple and the calm blue icons staring up at you, tauntingly as if saying, “we know something you don’t”. But this wasn’t your first time on the Henry post rollercoaster, and you opted to just turn your phone on Do Not Disturb, silencing the annoying chimes and buzzing.

But only for a few hours … until curiosity got the better of you, and you found yourself exchanging your novel for your cell phone.

You noticed that your accounts had an influx of new followers and posts had more likes and comments than usual. The culprit for this sudden popularity was a single tagged post from your beloved boyfriend.

It was a rather strange occurrence. Henry was keen on keeping your relationship as private as his career would allow. You’ve graced his stories once or twice throughout your two year long relationship, but he had never been so outright and forthcoming on his public feed.

The photograph was nowhere near risqué – which brought a bit or relief to your anxiety. It was a photograph of you curled up on Henry’s bare chest, sleeping your fatigue away. You were covered up enough with the nearly sheer night slip and Henry’s muscled arm wrapped around you. However, it was the caption that caught your eye.

“Our new addition kept her up all night.”

Your jaw dropped and eyes widened as you read that line over and over again. That cheeky little –

There were multiple “congratulations” comments beneath the post, followed by various celebratory emojis. Of course, there was a heavy amount of jealous fans’ inputs, but you considered yourself a veteran at this point – their comments became an inherent risk the moment Henry asked you out on a date.

Speculations, articles, “Baby Cavill” trended worldwide. You couldn’t help but slap a palm onto your forehead before groaning. Despite being frustrated because you were trending for such an obscure reason, you couldn’t help but find the entire situation amusing.

You came out of your shared bedroom just as he was walking into the house. Normally, you would take the time to admire your sculpted-by-the-gods boyfriend – especially after a run or a work out – but today, you wagged a finger in his face.

“You,” you said, in a mock scolding tone, “owe the world an explanation, Mr. Cavill.” Behind Henry padded in Kal, who ran to greet you, nudging your calves with his wet nose. “Your dad has gotten me into big trouble, bear.”

The dog stared up at you with big eyes but you knew that the only thought going through the Akita’s mind was, “treat?”

Henry burst out laughing as he pulled out his phone, undoubtedly reading through the mess he’s created. He seemed almost as elated as he was when he saw the reactions to his PC building video.

“Hennn,” you whined, pouting.

Before your boyfriend could respond, a high pitched bark could be heard as your new puppy ran  towards its family. Energic from his afternoon nap, the little guy jumped and pawed at you, trying to get your attention. He’d occasionally bump into Kal but the older dog didn’t pay him any mind, opting to lay down on the wooden floors, exhausted from his run with his dad.

You bent down to play with the little puppy, cooing at it and handling its tiny paws as Henry recorded.

He’d eventually post the multitude of photos and videos of you and the new puppy with the caption, “Just to clarify, we got a new puppy.” The simple caption would ease the fangirls, but the new puppy news did not stop Baby Cavill from continuing to trend.

Henry loved watching his family grow. The puppy testing Kal’s patience, but Kal proving time and time again that he is a very good boy. And you were an incredible dog mom. Going through the photos on his new post brought a smile to his face as he found himself getting lost in a day dream. He couldn’t wait to introduce an actual little one to the family (though you’d argue that the puppy was indeed your baby).

#henry cavill x reader #henry cavill #henry cavill fan fiction #rpf #real person fiction #speechlessxx

[norris55s]

the feels - oscar piastri

kpop idol reader x oscar piastri social media au

a/n: if anyone has requests lmk! i’d love some inspiration

a/n: it’s a fun concept to think of the most normal guy in the world dating a kpop sensation. let’s ignore that dating is taboo in the kpop world and i fully made up an f1 calendar for this lol. face claim is sana from twice. 🫡 ps. we absolutely love seeing oscar win his first (sprint) race

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oscarpiastri

liked by landonorris, mclaren, y/nusername and 405,027 others

oscarpiastri: Japan has been great. (Yes, I had to go to Y/N’s concert.)

view all 1,852 comments

piastrinorris: oscar is a kpop fan? not on my bingo card

y/nmaniac: it’s the Y/N impact 💕not kpop, Y/N

papayaworld: i am genuinely asking, who is Y/N? i don’t know her

sugarrushy/n: she is a japanese kpop idol who is very big, specially recently bc of her viral single OMG. you should listen to it!! she also has other underrated bops

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y/nusername

liked by oscarpiastri, alphataurif1, yukitsunoda0511, and 1,027,399 others

y/nusername: i didn’t know racing cars could be so much fun! thank you wearelenovo for the invitation to the formula 1 lenovo japanese grand prix, and alphataurif1 for receiving me so kindly!! 😺😺😺

view all 5,038 comments

mclaren: You should come around our garage sometime, we know there would be people happy to see you in papaya orange 🧡

81lover: mclaren being oscar’s wingmen, we love to see it

ln4op81: LMAO, feeding on the oscar x y/n hype. in their defense, oscar’s post race interview didn’t help

himboscar: blud literally said “i almost hoped i wasn’t racing so i could go meet her but she saw me on the podium” and hoped we’d just let that go

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mclaren

liked by oscarpiastri, y/nusername, landonorris and 706,829 others

mclaren: We had to re-invite y/nusername to the Monaco Grand Prix for the McLaren experience. We think she’s having a great time and we have great results to show her.🫡🧡

view all 1,037 comments

y/nusername: thank you for having me😽🧡

oscarpiastri: Hype papaya girl 👧

mclarenussy: u got this, rizz her up

therealpiastri: he doesn’t have it don’t lie

y/nheart: honestly it’s pretty cute how he references her songs lol

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y/nusername

liked by oscarpiastri, landonorris, somsomi0309, and 1,037,824 others

y/nusername: the ETA world tour is over! 😿💕 i had the most amazing time seeing all bunnies around the world, and experiencing all the new things this beautiful planet has to offer. i’m looking forward to doing it all over again forever!!! i’m so grateful to everyone who made this tour possible, from all the crew, to the stylists, to the dancers, and as always my bunnies. here’s to the future!! 😻💕

view all 4,025 comments

oscarpiastri: 🎊🎊

piastricutie: baby get up

y/nusername: tysm for coming✨😺

landonorris: actually upset i wasn’t invited

y/nusername: next tour for sure 🎟️😼

y/ngirly: she’s snatching mclaren boys like pokemons and we love that for her

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f1waggosip

liked by 104,027

f1waggossip: The streets are saying our Oscar Piastri has actually managed to bag his girl crush, Y/N L/N, and her recent Instagram where she is using the same outfit she was pictured with hugging the Aussie in Italy seems to confirm it. She also posted a story of a beautiful dinner date. We likely will see her in the Monza paddock this weekend, after months of reportedly beginning their relationship long distance due to her tour and Oscar’s races.

view all 1,024 comments

maniacpiastri: holy FUCK

formulay/n: the fact that my worlds collided this hard what the helllllll how did oscar manage to bag that queen

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oscarpiastri

liked by mclaren, y/nusername, landonorris and 803,927 others

oscarpiastri: Pretty sure y/nusername is our lucky charm. Amazing P1 🏆😉

view all 3,037 comments

mclaren: We are willing to add her as a plus one for the rest of the year 🤝

landonorris: be a keeper mate

y/nusername: i think it’s all u ✨✨💕😸

thunderousy/n: THE HARD LAUNCH? THE COMMENTS? THE LUCKY CHARMS? IM COMBUSTING

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y/nusername

liked by oscarpiastri, mclaren, hyunah_aa and 1,203,028 others

y/nusername: f1 duties got me in an airport looking like i’m in a second leg of a more tiring tour, while oscar is shining and i’m not the one driving 200mph! 🙀

view all 5,024 comments

oscarpiastri: Sorry, we can’t lose the lucky charm😛

oscarpiastri: Also, you look amazing.

81racing: PLEASEEEE😭

mclaren: It’s the orange hair for us 🧡

y/nusername: temporarily repping for best end of season good vibes 🧡😼

darlingy/n: i love this man, he’s so sweet to her and he makes her so happy

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oscarpiastri:

liked by landonorris, y/nusername, carlossainz55 and 890,024 others

oscarpiastri: Season ended, and P3 in Driver’s Championship isn’t too shabby. I feel like a winner anyway, and my lucky charm will bring us to the next level next year. Thank you mclaren and Papaya Army! 🧡

view all 4,034 comments

y/nusername: great things will always come ur way 🧡🧡✨✨😸😸very proud of u

theoscarpastry: i am so unwell he is saying he won because he got the girl

y/nnation: bunnies love oscar, he’s so ken coded and y/n is the prettiest barbie

landonorris: 👊👊

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f1waggossip

liked by 153,024

f1waggossip: It is now Oscar Piastri’s turn to be a lucky charm, as he is seen attending the Mnet Asian Music Awards with Y/N, who is nominated for several categories tonight. We wish her the best!

view all 924 comments

y/nloverboy: he looks so happy to be her accessory for the night, we love it for her

oscarbabes: ken loves barbie

y/ngoddess: i am still astonished at how oscar even got y/n to take a second look at him but the superstar and chillest person alive combo is giving

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oscarpiastri

liked by y/nusername, landonorris, maxverstappen1 and 802,692 others

oscarpiastri: I love being the trophy boyfriend for the MAMAs’ Artist of the Year.👩‍❤️‍👨 Always proud of you, and always a pleasure to see you perform.😄

see all 3,733 comments

y/nusername: ur too sweeeet my baby 😿😿😽😽💕💕

y/nsbff: “my baby” sleeping on the highway 2nite

oscarwildflower: “trophy boyfriend” bathing with a toaster!!!

allmylovey/n: the most unlikely of relationships is giving everything that needs to be given

#f1 #f1 au #f1 fanfic #f1 smau #f1 social media au #f1 x reader #formula 1 #lando norris #oscar piastri #oscar piastri au #oscar piastri smau #oscar piastri social media au #oscar piastri x reader #oscar piastri fanfic

[sparkrls]

Youtuber!Y/N x Harry Styles

MASTERLIST

Summary: Y/N is a Youtuber who does videos on celebrity gossip, then gets cancelled for the unethical nature of her channel. And finds her way to Harry to be better and learn from her mistakes.

Author’s Note: Tumblr exclusive! We’re feeding the girlies 🤪

•••

THE DEVIL HAS FALLEN: Y/N Y/L/N FEUD WITH AMANDA MCADAMS FINALLY OVER?

After months of a brutal and relentless feud between Youtube influencer Y/N Y/L/N and actress Amanda McAdams, it seems that Y/N has finally disappeared

After deleting all social media posts, and wiping her accounts clean, Y/N released a statement on twitter, declaring:

Y/N Y/L/N started off as a Youtube creator, filming videos of her singing covers of her favorite songs. After finding no success, she began to venture into creating videos about the one thing she knew everything about: celebrity culture.

Y/N found rapid success and her videos soon became viral, with her first series, ‘Internet Gossip’, explaining various cases of infamous celebrity deama. With the rise of social media and a wave of consuming media based on celebrity drama and gossip, Y/N found her place among an audience of mostly young women.

Soon becoming very successful with her videos, she branched out, beginning a few series, among them, ‘Salty Scandal’, focused on celebrity feuds and ‘Radical Romance’, about ongoing or previous famous relationships.

Although Y/N had a large fanbase, her rise to celebrity status was her first red carpet at the People’s Choice Awards, where she participated as an interviewer. It didn’t take long for her to become viral, as she was abrasive and blunt with her questions, not wasting time by beating around the bush.

Among fans and watchers, she was known as someone who searched for truth. Among those questioned, she was thought of as a person who dedicated their life to exposing others and invading privacy.

Y/N began to see the results of her fame. Her community grew and she hosted countless red carpets, interviewing the most famous people on the planet. And just as she seemed on top of the world, her downfall came from her own creation.

With the video, ‘Amanda McAdam: Actress or Victim?’, Y/N claimed that McAdam’s had dramatized her experience with a verbally abusive director, and that it was all for ‘a pity party’.

Following this video, McAdam’s and Y/L/N began a long feud, including several Twitter arguments and subtle shade thrown at each other in interviews or Instagram posts.

It culminated in what seemed to be the final blow; McAdam leaking Y/L/N's address. People and paparazzi alike stood outside of Y/L/N's home, with signs and hollers to let her know what they thought of her. This caused the Youtuber to have to hire private security to escort her as she moved to an undisclosed new home.

Everyone is glad to see Y/N, the devil of the internet, finally gone from the public view. Hopefully forever.

liked by y/nstan07 and 188,242 others

celebrityupdates Y/N Y/L/N spotted for the first time in THREE MONTHS out in LONDON today!

view all 2,541 comments

username1 wtf? who wants to see her?

username2 Did I miss something? Since when is she in hiding? And didn't she use to live in LA?

-> username3 Since her address was leaked by Amanda

-> username2 omg, that’s so fucked up

-> username3 Y/N had it coming after all the shit she said about Amanda

username4 idc what y’all say, y/n is still an icon and that b**ch

username5 I don't agree with anything that Y/N does, but her having to move to another CONTINENT to avoid stalkers and death threats is too far

username6 she should’ve stayed in hiding

username7 Y/N is so fake, she deserves all the hate, tbh

liked by yourinstagram and 5,927 others

ynisthatbitch Y/N for her newest interview with Variety

view all 1,876 comments

username1 WTF? Isn’t she cancelled?

username2 I really don’t care how much she claims to have ‘changed and improved’. Once a devil always a devil

username3 Y/N does NOT deserve a redemption arc after all the shit she talked

username4 Does Y/N seriously think that she can disappear a few months, claim to have gone to therapy and done self-reflection and everything will be fine?

-> username5 I think she just craves attention

-> username6 LMAO fr, Y/N just wants to be famous again. TOO BAD!

username7 Honestly y’all, if you took the time to read the article properly, you’d understand that Y/N was just a teenager!

-> username8 Y/N was literally fifteen when she started making those videos. Every 15-year-old makes mistakes

-> username9 Y/N is no longer 15. She’s now 21 and should know better.

-> username10 Or maybe it took a reality check to burst Y/N’s bubble and make her realize that she’d normalized things that shouldn’t be normalized?

-> username9 That sounds like excuses to me

liked by sparkrls and 107,187 others

harryflorals HARRY AND Y/N Y/L/N LEAVING THE SAME GYM TODAY IN LONDON!

view all 15,678 comments

username1 WHAT THE FUCK???

username2 this cannot be real

username3 why would harry associate with the devil?

-> username4 lmao fr fr

username5 It has to be a coincidence

-> username6 Did Harry conveniently forget that Y/N once made a whole video about his relationship with Kendall Jenner and called it a 'wretched PR stunt’???

-> username7 I find it crazy to believe that THIS isn’t a PR stunt

username8 Maybe y’all shouldn’t make assumptions about people you haven’t met? Harry clearly knows Y/N personally and has good judgment.

-> username9 stfu, no one asked for your opinion

username10 Is it so wild to believe that people can change (Y/N)?

-> username11 once a devil, always a devil

liked by gemmastyles and 833,384 others

annetwist It was wonderful to meet the lovely @yourinstagram and finally hear her perspective on her life! Read the article, written by yours truly. Thank you, Y/N, for your well-thought and introspective words ❤️

view all 22,864 comments

yourinstagram Thank you for giving me the chance to talk to you and share my side of the story 🫶

-> annetwist 💕

username1 Y/N is Anne-approved. That’s all I need to know.

username2 what is wrong with the world?

username3 I expected better of you. I thought you had common decency than to associate with the devil

-> annetwist I believe that God is all about forgiveness and Y/N has found her way to kindness and forgiveness ❤️

username4 say it with me, 4+4=

-> username5 ATEEE

username6 Thank you, Anne, for interviewing Y/N and giving us such a fresh perspective on everything that happened in her life. Loved the article 💕

-> annetwist Thank you, love

liked by gemmastyles and 2,194,801 others

yourinstagram Hell Is My Birthplace. New Single. Jun 1, 2022.

view all 7,657 comments

annetwist Can’t wait to hear it

harrystyles 🔥

-> username1 EXCUSE ME?!?

taylorswift WOW. Loved the preview 😉

-> username2 MOTHER?

-> username3 nothing is more iconic than y/n’s once greatest rivals now becoming her biggest supporters

username4 Y’all doubting if Y/N changed, but if Taylor and Harry can forgive her, so can I

username5 ICON. MOTHER.

username6 you don’t get it. y/n was called a devil and now she’s saying hell is her birthplace. and it was announced on the anniversary of her cancellation. you just don’t get it.

username7 no one will ever love y/n and her cunty moves more than me

username8 I LOVE YOU

username9 I hope your address gets leaked again

username10 ONCE A DEVIL ALWAYS A DEVIL

-> username11 stfu

liked by ynstan07 and 15,768 others

ynupdates INSIDER INFO FROM DEUXMOI!

view all 1,656 comments

username1 I can’t imagine Harry with someone with Y/N

username2 Honestly, I get it. As an ‘I can fix him’ girlie, I understand Harry 😔

username3 not my husband with the devil!!!

username4 Speechless

username5 they lowkey seem cute together

username6 I'm happy if Harry is happy

username7 If Harry is dating her, then Y/N has definitely changed

liked by harrystyles and 1,646,410 others

yourinstagram Paint the Town Red. 2nd Single.

view all 2,678 comments

username1 not harry liking all of her posts 😭

-> username2 man is WHIPPED

username3 MMM SHE THE DEVIL

-> username4 obsessed with y/n leaning into the devil image during her comeback

username5 is anyone concerned that she’s being so provocative?

-> username6 y/n has been laying low and keeping her life to herself. i’m not concerned

-> username7 i think she’s the happiest she’s ever been, tbh

username8 that line "You can't talk no shit without penalties" DAMN

-> yourinstagram I said what I said

liked by harrystyles and 1,121,107 others

yourinstagram dancing with our hands tied. a good metaphor and my 3rd single. out now <3

view all 3,787 comments

harrystyles 💕

-> username1 harry KNOWS this song is about him and y/n

-> username2 He’s a proud boyfriend and we stan

username3 omg the soft launch

username4 PARENTS 😭

username5 lowkey concerned about the two together

username6 am i the only one who doesn’t like the two of them together? it feels icky

-> username7 good thing it’s not your relationship

-> username6 y/n is a terrible person

-> username8 you’ve never met her. don’t make assumptions

username9 awww my babies 😭

username10 I LOVE YOUR MUSIC AAAAA

liked by yourinstagram and 5,677,207 others

harrystyles Grammys. February 2024.

view all 87,567 comments

yourinstagram thanks for being my date <3

-> harrystyles always xx

username1 not my parents flirting in the comments 😭😭😭

annetwist cuties 💕

gemmastyles love you both ❤️

username5 THE FAMILY APPROVAL

username6 Y/N is officially the first gf to be on Harry’s IG feed

username7 tbh, I think that Harry really helped Y/N at her worst and allowed her to redeem herself

-> username8 FR. look at her smile. She’s never seemed so happy. I think Y/N is finally being herself

-> harrystyles Y/N did all the work herself, I was just along for the ride x

-> yourinstagram Don’t be fooled no matter what he says, he saved me.

username10 WAR IS OVEEERRRR

username11 I love seeing Y/N grow so much in her life

-> username12 I don’t think she ever liked who she was before. She seems so happy now

-> yourinstagram Funny how being yourself can fulfill a person. Become a version of yourself that you can love and love will surround you

#harrystyles #fanfic #fanfiction #female oc #niall horan #louistomlinson #harry styles x female reader #harry styles x fem!reader #harrystylesxfemoc #instagram #social media #relationship #one direction #fluff #writing #harry styles fic #harry styles writing #harry styles fan fic #harry styles blurb #harry styles one shot #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fluff #harry styles x reader #harry styles imagine #harry styles smut #harry styles x you #harry styles x yn #harry

[castielli]

could you do bts (jungkook or taehyung), stray kids (hyunjin, bang chan, felix) (they're not on your list tho), or enhypen (jungwon) dating the most important western pop star in the world and how their whole relationship would play out? just any idea lol

Bang Chan x Male Singer Reader

Copy-pasted this from my literal photo gallery (I took screenshots cause I wrote it in another tumblr thing??? Idk how to explain) so some parts might be wrong and some words might be missing. I will control it another day, now I need to finish posting all the requests I have done🫡

Bang Chan, leader of the K-pop group Stray Kids, never thought he would fall for someone like Y/N, the most important western pop star in the world. But from the moment they met at an award show, there was an undeniable spark between them.

"Hey, I'm Y/N" the singer had said, extending his hand with a smile.

"Bang Chan" he had replied, taking Y/N's hand in his

own.

They had chatted for a few minutes before Bang Chan was called away for his performance. But he couldn't get Y/N out of his head. Thankfully they exchanged numbers before Y/N's performance.

The day after, Chan found himself scrolling through the singer's Instagram feed with his secret account, sometimes accidentally liking posts from months before. He didn't have the courage to text the other first.

Luckily Y/N was brave enough to start a conversation. They texted and called each other every night, spending countless hours talking to each other on the phone.

And then it happened, they started dating.

Bang Chan couldn't believe it. He was dating Y/N, the most important western pop star. They decided to keep it a secret tho, knowing well how the media would react knowing that a big western singer is dating an important kpop idol. Not only the media, but some toxic fans too.

But as their love grew stronger, they found it harder and harder to hide. They started sneaking around to see each other in secret, always checking to make sure no one was watching.

" hate this" Y/N said one day, as they cuddled on Bang Chan's couch. "I hate having to hide like this. I just want to be able to show the world how much I love you."

"I know" Chan replied, stroking Y/N's hair. "But we have to be careful. We can't risk getting caught and ruin everything."

Despite that conversation, some days later, Y/N posted a photo of himself and Bang Chan on Instagram, with the caption "🏳️‍🌈💕" The post went viral within minutes, and the news of their relationship spread like wildfire.

At first, the response was overwhelmingly positive. Fans from both sides were thrilled for them, and their social media accounts were flooded with messages of love and support. But as the news spread further, the backlash started to pour in. Homophobes targeted them with hateful comments, accusing them of promoting a "sinful" lifestyle. Some fans felt betrayed and turned against them, calling them attention-seekers and accusing them of using their relationship for publicity.

Both singers knew this was gonna happen, but didn't let those words get to them. Both their agencies forced them to deny the existence of their relationship, but they didn't. They knew they were risking their careers, but they didn't care.

Slowly but surely, the storm of controversy died down. Some fans returned, some didn't. And Bang Chan and Y/N continued to be each other's biggest supporters, cheering each other on through every performance and achievement.

#castielli #singer reader #male singer #male reader #x male reader #bang chan x male reader #stray kids x male reader #skz x male reader #stray kids bang chan #skz bang chan #skz #male reader insert #stray kids #kpop x male reader #bang chan

[katanashipping]

@love-killed-the-superstar​ I hope you don’t mind but this particular part of your recent liveblog just... really sparked something in my brain that I need to get out, re: Fast Forward, and it’s this repeating theme of FF rehashing a plot point from S1-4 but worse. Like the turtles version of a live action Disney reboot.

This turned into a massive rant, oops, more under the cut. Clearly, I have a lot of feelings about this.

Example: Shredder vs. Sh’okonabo

Consider the Shredder. He is an evil alien. He comes back time and again for four seasons before being defeated for good by the turtles’ allies. Every thing we learn about him is more messed up than the last, and learnt often at great personal cost. Notable henchmen: Karai (right hand woman & very skilled fighter), Hun (leads a notorious gang & very skilled fighter), Stockman (kind of a hostage situation, super smart guy who gets punished via mutilation) and later on, Chaplin (Stockman light)

Now consider Sh’okonabo. He is an evil alien. He pops up a few times over one season before being defeated for good by the turtles. We learn most things about him from an expositional voiceover from other characters, and he doesn’t evolve much beyond that. Not that good a fighter by himself. Notable henchmen: Darius Dunn (debatable, he has his own stuff going on), Zixx (debatable, he has his own stuff going on), and Viral (hostage situation, smart person who gets punished via mutilation). Every aspect of him mirrors the Shredder, if the Shredder had decided to try world domination by just... stumbling into the food hall of the UN one morning and feeding everyone poisoned porridge. And also had no friends subjects working for him.

Example: Things Change vs. Future Shellshock

Plotline: The turtles and Splinter have a normal day at home when something unexpectedly rips them out of their routine and throws them into the unfamiliar streets of New York City to fend for themselves. Making their way across the city, one of them gets trapped in an armored car and separated from the rest, turning the episode into a mixture of finding-their-feet and rescue-mission. At the end of the episode, the family finds a new home.

Things Change is the first episode of TMNT 2k3. It sets up the characters in their most archetypal ways, but also shows their connection as a family. The episode begins with the turtles training their ninjutsu skills when they are attacked by the mousers. Raph gets trapped in a Purple Dragon van in an attempt to evade danger, and the family follow in pursuit. Throughout the episode, the brothers might fight, but they never abandon one another. We meet  a few of the villains for the first time (Baxter Stockman, the Purple Dragons, and the Foot). At the end of the episode, the family reunites and find the Outpost Lair, thus finding a new home. Change, Splinter reminds us, is Good.

Future Shellshock is the first episode of the Fast Forward “reboot” and as such reintroduces the characters a little. The episode begins with the family fighting over the TV remote, a battle which Splinter wins (and which somehow comes up again in several other episodes of Fast Forward) when they are zapped to the year 2105. Mikey gets trapped in a newspaper van in an attempt to play a video game, and the family follow, but are distracted for 2-6 hours by Cody showing them around his penthouse and turtle museum before they are reminded by Cody that Mikey is still missing and resume pursuit. We meet a few of the villains for the first time (the Street Phantoms and the Peacekeepers). At the end of the episode, Cody explains that he’s the one who trapped them all here and graciously allows them to stay in his home (which they proceed to wreck in every single episode to follow). Change, we learn, is something you have to make the best of when it hits you unexpectedly from behind.

Example: Playtime is Over vs. Christmas Aliens

Plotline: Mikey is obsessed with a specific toy that is newly released. Initially unable to get one for himself, he suddenly finds himself involved in the local gang’s plot to steal the lot for money. Despite being briefly mistaken by the police for a co-conspirator in the theft, he manages to return the toy to its rightful owner/distributor in the end.

Except in Christmas Aliens, we get a fully fleshed out episode highlighting Mikey’s independence, competence under pressure, fighting skills, and compassion for his fellow humans (when he decides to steal the toys from the thieves and return them to the owners (orphanage) himself. He even goes one further in the end and decides that what he really wants is to give the toys away himself, and the whole family ends up volunteering at the orphanage and agreeing that he has done a Good Thing today.

In Playtime is Over, we get an entire episode of Mikey as a selfish, single-minded and obsessive “gamer”, fulfilling every early 2000′s stereotype of the same: he doesn’t shower, there is trash everywhere, he doesn’t care about his training or his family; the entire “subplot” (such as it is) of getting Cody to hook up with Starly in the mall passes him by entirely; and the only reason he gets involved in the theft at all is because he wants to get a game for himself, not to help others. He cheats, he lies, he cuts in line, he belittles others. At several points, he screams “GIVE ME MY GAME” at the episode’s villains. The entire episode is about Cody finding balance, yet Michelangelo serves only as the bad example of how not to be in contrast; he doesn’t learn anything. When Starly reveals that she got him a copy of the game in the end, he immediately goes back to video gaming, and his whole family agrees that he’s being Bad About This in a way that somehow warrants an entire second episode later on to resolve.

It is actually ridiculous, upon my most recent rewatch, how very similar these episodes are, except Playtime is Over is so much worse in every aspect and the perfect example of the Flanderisation that’s going on in FF. Like, if PiO came before CA somehow I’d call that character growth, but since they are several seasons apart I’m just... ???? what ????

ANYWAY:

These are just two episodes that stuck with me during the recent rewatch that serve to portray my frustrations with Fast Forward as a show. We’ve already seen most of these plotlines, and we’ve already seen most of these villains, and Fast Forward just falls short at every single turn. I am still baffled how they made an entire episode featuring “Raphael says out loud that they finally have a chance to walk the streets in daylight and wants to go do human things for fun, but the rest of the family prefers to stay at home and play video games” and then just... kept having everyone stay inside to play video games for the next 20 episodes after that. Talk about a missed opportunity.

#tmnt 2003 #tmnt 2k3 #meta post #fast forward #clearly i have a lot of feelings about this #it's not very structured but at least it's out of my brain #there's so many other examples to be honest #but here's three of them

[packbat]

fediverse/mastodon tl;dr

(Reposting this from our Dreamwidth, with updates.)

So, hypothetical. You are a open source web developer who thinks microblogging - the artistic medium where people post short, extemporaneous comments and build a chronological/reverse chronological feed out of combining subscriptions to a bunch of other people's similar posting - is pretty cool, but you also think that Twitter is kind of awful. You want to do microblogging like it's old school web forums: you make a website, I make a website, your girlfriend makes a website, and all of us host and moderate our own communities.

...but also you want to read your girlfriend's posts, even though those are on a different website. Which means you need a federation protocol: a standard that tells your server how to send messages to her server and vice-versa so both servers can understand them and display them. The servers don't have to be run by the same organization, they don't even have to run the same software, they just have to know how to format their messages.

The fediverse is more or less this: a bunch of servers - instances - run independently, that all yeet messages back and forth. Most of them are designed around microblogging - Mastodon for sure is - but there are a bunch that do other stuff. It's kind of a pain, because if you sign up as dice on example.social and your friend signs up as sheet on example.gay, the way you subscribe to their posts is:

you search for @[email protected] in the search window on example.social;

the example.social server pings the example.gay server to ask, "is there a user called @sheet over there?";

the example.gay server sends back your friends profile information;

example.social shows the search results to you;

you click the follow button;

example.social sends a new message to example.gay saying, "@[email protected] wants to follow @[email protected]";

example.gay adds @[email protected] to the list of people following @sheet;

example.gay sends a message back saying the follow went through; and

example.social adds @[email protected] to the list of accounts you follow.

...or something like that. We're not experts. But the point is, it's slightly inconvenient and it can take several seconds.

So, janky. But the big advantage is that there's no ads - most servers are supported by enthusiasts paying for it out of pocket, by crowdfunding, or both - and that moderation is by members of the community and not exploited minimum-wage workers.

And that's kind of key to it. Twitter is designed to create viral posts that hook people in so they spend more time scrolling past sponsored posts and creating tracking data to sell to ad companies. Fedi is designed to help communities form and connect with each other. It's still a social network, it still has harassment campaigns and outbursts of bigotry and all that other stuff that makes us despair for the world, but it is more personal and considerate than most commercial outlets. And there are a lot of communities within it that have good codes of conduct and good moderation, that make space for people to flourish.

...and a lot that are somewhere between useless and malignant when it comes to protecting folks from harassment, because we live in a shitty society.

Anyway, that's the "a car burns gasoline to move"-level explanation of fedi. We can't vouch for all of these (and some of them, like artisan.chat, don't even exist any more), but fediverse.party has a list of instances by theme if you're thinking about giving it a try and need to know where to sign up. Remember to read the code of conduct before you join, and let us know if you have any questions.

#mastodon #fediverse #advice

[westerosoliviapope]

Theon Greyjoy - A Day in the Life

I loved this Theon segment so much, I want to give it room to breathe outside the other shenanigans in my latest update.

From Warrior in a Suit (Scandal Westeros - Finale) on A03

"That's the one."

Gods, Theon thinks. Don't let it be the expensive one. He flips the view on his phone so Sansa can inspect the selection of rings on the tray.

"Far right. 1.5 carat, round cut, white gold," she says. "It looks just like the one on her Pinterest board."

Of course.

He nods to Sabitha, the smiling saleswoman behind the counter. A mere six months ago, those tits peeking through her scandalously-buttoned white shirt would have compelled him to give her something more fleeting than the healthy commission she's about to collect.

He's in love, not blind—but neither Sabitha's turnips nor the significant dent in his credit card can cool the warmth in his chest imagining Jeyne's face when she sees this ring.

Theon Greyjoy. Betrothed. He's tempted to pinch himself.

You learn a thing or two watching your best mate spin out from a broken heart. Namely, you don't want to be the bloke who lets the girl—the One—get away.

Day two of their trip to wine country, having dinner on a balcony at Redwyne Family Vineyards as the sun set over rows of red grapes as far as the eye could see, when the light caught whatever Jeyne put on her face that evening to make her cheeks shimmer and all of a sudden he couldn't breathe, Theon knew.

He was done for. Over. So long to the Sabithas of the world.

Maestro, you can cue the wedding march…

The Riverlands' rains don't bother him —a walk in the park compared to the icy storms he grew up with. As far as he's concerned, it's 70 degrees and sunny as he whips his Tesla through the Capitol nodding to the sounds of Jaero Hovys. He became a fan while stationed in Tyrosh, sharing a base with Braavosi soldiers who couldn't get enough of Jae's layered, braggadocious rhymes. When you spent your days trying not to get your cock blown off by landmines, you took confidence where you could get it. For Theon, that meant chanting lines like "I will not lose" and "allow me to re-introduce myself" while waiting in the fields, rifle at the ready.

He generally prefers the earlier stuff to the recent releases with his wife, Bellegere Otherys. Since taking Jeyne to see the pair in concert, however, he appreciates the newer tracks. He doesn't even skip when "Boss" thumps out of his custom speakers.

"Everybody's bosses/ till it's time to pay for the office—"

Fucking hell. How does the phone always know to ring right before the best part of the song? His frustration is quickly replaced with a shit-eating grin when he sees the name flashing across his dashboard.

"Ms. Poole," he answers. He swears he can feel the ring burning a hole in his pocket, even though it's locked in his safe at home. She has no idea… he thinks. Or does she? Bloody hell, if Sansa spoiled the surprise—

"Are you seeing this thing with Arya and your uncle?"

He tries—actively—not to see anything about anyone in his family, except maybe Asha. But keeping the Greyjoy name out of his feeds is difficult of late. What with Euron emerging from bumfuck Asshai and casting himself as Westeros' new main character. Running around with Cersei Lannister. Going viral for shitposting celebrities and the government. Now, apparently he's arguing with Arya on Twitter.

Once he's at his desk, Theon goes through the tweets. All 319 of them. Arya listed the 318 victims of the 2002 Bear Island Attack, a name per tweet, and ended the thread with:

"The media wants you to forget, so they can use the theatrics of a suspected terrorist to boost their ratings. Please think of your Northern neighbors before you platform/share/boost Euron Greyjoy. Time changes many things—it doesn't bring back the loved ones we lost at Bear Island. #TheNorthRemembers."

587k retweets

In reply, Euron posted a photo from Robb's campaign with Theon featured prominently among the Stark siblings.

"Seems you aren't triggered by all Greyjoys. Just the ones who don't kiss your 'honorable' arses. Westerosi elites use every trick in the book to censor me because I tell the truth. Don't let the sob stories fool you.

869k retweets

How long before his phone starts buzzing with requests for comment? Theon gives it two, three hours tops.

When he left Pyke to join the armed services at 18, he thought his days of explaining his family ties were over. He enlisted as Theon Harlaw with no plans to return to the western shores of the Narrow Sea. Once the Three Daughters' conflict settled, he'd find a local Tyroshi girl—a buxom waitress, bartender, or the like—and have a stable full of blue-haired sons who'd never hear their family name associated with words like "extremist," or "cult."

He was in Tyrosh a year when a new crop of cadets came over from the Military Academy at Storm's End, and the name "STARK" appeared over one of the bunks in his unit.

When the Bear Island Courthouse fell, he and Asha were already emancipated, having won their freedom with the assistance of their Uncle Rodrik. The national media knew of Balon Greyjoy, the Iron Islands governor who didn't publicly support the Church of the Drowned God, but—conveniently—never brought the full force of the law down on its extremist sect. They knew the masterminds behind the attack, and applied the term to Aeron and Victarion without irony. And they knew of the enigmatic Greyjoy brother whose "business" took him to Qarth—known drug and money laundering capital of the world—a month before the attack.

They knew little of the wife who divorced Balon ten years prior on grounds of spousal abuse. Or the pair of teenage orphans left to fend for themselves when she died.

His mother's surname let him and Robb coexist peacefully when he first arrived. As the legend of the Young Wolf spread, Theon stayed cordial, but distant. They worked together when duty called. Otherwise, Theon spent his leisure time with the Braavosi unit. With their music, brashness, and penchant for good liquor, they were more his speed than the boy scouts from the Military Academy.

Leave it to Balon to blow it to shit.

News of his father's stroke came via letter. Addressed to "Theon Greyjoy." Like it was bloody designed for shouting in the unit for everyone to hear.

Theon learned three things that day.

One: He wouldn't receive a penny of his trust fund without the Greyjoy name.

Two: Robb has literal bricks for hands.

Three: A fist fight can be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Moments like tonight—watching his name turn into a trending topic because he didn't just have "a" crazy uncle, but came from a family of hucksters who amassed power by deluding an impoverished region with the fantasy of subjugating women, never paying taxes, and attacking merchant ships in the Sunset Sea like a band of old time pirates—makes him wonder if being a Greyjoy is worth the money.

Hovys said it best. Take the good with the bad or throw the baby out with that bath water. Theon Harlaw couldn't drop $21k on an engagement ring.

Fuck waiting out the storm. He may as well steer into it. Smother this baby in the crib before it hits Robb's radar and turns into a real shit show. It's the last thing they need after that Westerling business.

And yes. Perhaps, somewhere in the back of his mind, Theon liked the idea of eye candy in the office when that bloke from the Lorathi embassy gave him her resume. How was he supposed to know Robb would lose his godsdamned head?

Before Jeyne—his Jeyne—not Slutty Fanfic Jeyne…

Well. Okay. Theon would've done the same. Or at least tried. But he didn't unzip Robb's pants and stick his cock in the girl. So, not his fault.

"WNTH. How may I help you?"

"Theon Greyjoy for Wylla Manderly."

Hound that she is, Wylla barely lets the phone ring. Gods save anyone standing between her and an exclusive. "Your uncle has half the republic calling you 'Theon Sheepboy.' Care to comment?"

Sheepboy? Oh. Wolves. Sheep. "Charming," Theon retorts, tapping his pen on his desk.

Time to earn his keep as comms director.

"I'd like to say, on the record, that I have been honored by the gracious warmth and welcome I've found within the Stark family, and stand ardently with them in support of the families and victims of the Bear Island Attack. Euron Greyjoy is a photo on a mantle in a house I barely remember. And I'd like to keep it that way."

"Got it."

"One more thing, Wylla…"

"Aye?"

"The headline is me and my uncle. The family's been through enough without Euron goading them into a brawl." Better Euron's army of bots calling him "sheepboy" than whatever vile shit they'll say to Arya.

"Careful, Greyjoy. People might start thinking you're galant."

"Me?" Theon smiles. "Never."

#scandal westeros #theon greyjoy #modern theon au #modern westeros #modern westeros au

[quotesfrommyreading]

For most people, discovering a frog living in your fence post would make you feel either kind of creeped out or kind of charmed. For one guy in Australia, it was a challenge: He decided to make it the sweetest pad possible. In a now-viral two-minute TikTok video, he designs and 3-D-prints his frog an elaborate home. He keeps adding features until the lucky amphibian has an attached pool, a downstairs mating pond with a tadpole ramp, and a predator-proof safe room.

This frog house was gleefully over the top, practically engineered to go viral with its renovations for “increased ribbit amplification” and a brushtail possum who occasionally likes to drink water from the pool. But frog houses as an idea are worth taking seriously. Animals don’t need much to get cozy in our backyards and balconies, as the world has already learned with birds. One ecologist found that bird feeding goes back at least 3,500 years; in the 18th century, the facades of Ottoman palaces and mosques were fitted with structures to house birds, who were seen as both holy and lucky. Birdhouses and bird feeders are so thoroughly part of human culture that purple martins in eastern North America nest almost exclusively in houses made by humans.

But why do birds get all the love? Building a little house for a frog to shelter in, or a pond where eggs can hatch and tadpoles can grow, is a great idea if you’ve got a place to put it. Even a tiny pondlet in a container on a patio can raise a whole amphibian generation. You can provide meaningful help to animals that need it, and participate in species conservation at home with very few downsides. Honestly, creating a backyard pond is probably better than putting up a birdhouse. Will someone please think of the urban amphibian?

Birds are beautiful, and they sing—it is no wonder we have long welcomed them into human spaces. At some level, it doesn’t even feel like sharing space, because birds live up high, in trees and on rooftops and telephone wires. They get the sky, and we get the land. Seems fair. But frogs? Inviting them into the garden can make you feel uneasy. Whereas birds are “so obvious and so charismatic,” Erin Sauer, an ecologist at the University of Arkansas who has studied both urban birds and urban amphibians, told me, frogs are “cryptic” and “camouflaged”—“they don't want you to find them.” Many frogs in temperate zones, including much of the United States, are brown and green, and more active at night. They are a subtle pleasure, compared with a crimson cardinal or an iridescent hummingbird.

It might not be obvious that some amphibians are probably living not too far from you, in part because they stay hidden. Frogs, newts, and salamanders exist in most cities. In New York, you can hear gray tree frogs call in Brooklyn Heights. In Los Angeles, the canyons of Griffith Park are filled with bumpy western toads. According to the biodiversity tracker iNaturalist, 28 species of amphibians have been spotted in Columbus, Ohio, including the colorful eastern red-backed salamander.

But amphibian populations are declining. Forty-one percent of amphibians are threatened with extinction, in part because of an ongoing fungal pandemic that as of four years ago had driven an estimated 90 species extinct. Frogs also have habitat needs that are “so specific,” Sauer said: They must have both water and land to complete their life cycle.

Still, if there are frogs near your home and some relatively protected route for them to travel, and you build a pond with vegetation around it, they will likely move in. An analysis of dozens of projects that created ponds for amphibians found that in every study, frogs showed up at some or all of the ponds. And many of the studies found that the number of species was similar or higher in created ponds than in natural ponds. Not all of those ponds were in cities, but another study looked at ponds in Portland, Oregon, and found similar results. The biggest predictor of how well a pond attracted frogs wasn’t whether it was real or fake, but the amount of plants growing in and around it.

Frog ponds aren’t very common residential features (yet), but it isn’t like no one thinks of amphibian-kind when designing their outdoor space. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has some advice for creating effective backyard conservation ponds for native wildlife. There are any number of guides online to building toad abodes, frog hotels, and general-purpose backyard frog ponds. Some gardeners install toad houses, hoping that a toad will move in and pay rent by eating common garden pests. You can even buy handmade toad houses on Etsy. And naturally, TikTok Frog House Guy is now selling frog houses as well.

It can be simple, and cheap, to invite amphibians over to your place. Tree frogs love to hang out inside vertical tubes, so simply pounding a few PVC pipes into the ground can create a little frog hotel. Building a cozy house for toads can be as easy as half-burying a broken pot. Making a frog pond is as straightforward as digging a hole; setting a commercial pond liner, an old bathtub, or even a plastic storage tote in the hole; and filling it with rocks and water. “You don’t need to 3-D-print some elaborate frog mansion,” Sauer told me.

I had called Sauer to set my mind at ease on one point: Would creating an artificial house or pond also create a transmission point for disease? She told me it wasn’t worth worrying about. Yes, multiple frogs might move into a pond or house, and they might touch if they mate, but frogs already gather in groups naturally, whereas birds at bird feeders can congregate in unusually high numbers. Feeders can pose a disease risk to birds, Sauer said: “You have a single place with one porthole, and they stick their faces in there and chew on things. And then their friends come over and do the same thing.” A frog pond can even bring in birds, who will use it to bathe and drink—with less chance of disease transmission.

There are very few downsides to catering to your local frogs, the biggest of which is that your backyard might have more mosquitoes—mosquitoes, like frogs, breed in water. To avoid that, you either need animals that will eat all of the mosquitoes (such as dragonflies or some tadpoles) or you need to keep the water moving. A solar-powered aerator costs about $30.

It is very possible that the frogs that show up to your patio water feature won’t be critically endangered species, but that’s okay. “We want to keep common species common so they don’t decline,” Sauer said. It all helps. Providing habitat for amphibians is important, but researchers are also working on frog houses that will actually help save frogs from the fungal pathogen. These houses would be like little greenhouses: hot enough to kill the fungus but not too hot for the frog’s comfort.

Not everyone can or wants to build a frog house. But they might be interested in putting a pot full of wildflowers for pollinators on their balcony. Saving species in the 21st century isn’t just about protecting big, undeveloped parks—although we need those too. It is also about figuring out how to coexist with the many species that can thrive in the urban, suburban, exurban, and agricultural landscapes we’ve made. That we’ve shared space with birds for thousands of years proves we can do it.

There’s evidence that this is already happening, and birdhouses and frog houses are just the beginning. People are adding bee hotels and bat houses, and planting milkweed for endangered monarch butterflies to lay their eggs on. It can be dizzying to think about all the species that need help right now, but engaging in everyday conservation can also just be fun, helping to turn neighborhoods into corridors of habitat for creatures such as frogs. Our cities can be wetlands too, at least in spots. Our kids can watch tadpoles on summer days. And in the spring, we can listen to the frogs sing at dusk.

  —  You Should Build a Frog Pond

#emma marris #you should build a frog pond #environmentalism #ecology #wildlife conservation #history #animals #frogs #salamanders #newts #toads #gray treefrog #western toad #red-backed salamander #mosquitoes #dragonflies #ottoman empire #erin l. sauer

[flamingplay]

Everything Everything on how road-rage icon Ronnie Pickering and late stage capitalism inspired their new album

'It's a state of the nation address that reflects the human cost and the psychological cost of a lot of things that we live underneath,' says frontman Jonathan Higgs.

By Nick Reilly on Rolling Stone

As Everything Everything gear up to release their new album Mountainhead, the Manchester group have told Rolling Stone UK how it’s a state-of-the-nation record that takes unlikely inspiration from, err, Ronnie Pickering.

Yes, you heard that correctly. The Hull man who went viral after screaming ‘D’YER KNOW OOO I AM?’ in a bout of road rage back in 2014 has proved to be an influence on ‘The End Of The Contender’ – one of the album’s standout tracks.

“It’s not representative of the whole album, but it *is* in there,” frontman Jonathan Higgs tells Rolling Stone UK.

“I’ve definitely always been drawn to trying to write about outsiders and groups of people that have been dropped by wider society, for want of a better word. Ronnie was a good example of that, because it was an extremely amusing moment, but the more I looked into it I thought it was quite a poignant tale of where men of a certain age found themselves in the early 2010s. His sort of impotent rage was a good emblem of that.”

While Pickering isn’t directly named and instead acts as subtle influence, Higgs says that wasn’t *always* the case.

“There was a previous song where the chorus was literally I’M RONNIE PICKERING over and over, but the guys weren’t quite so keen on that one! This is more of a subtle way around the subject.”

But it does, however, feed into the overarching narrative of their new record.

“It’s a sort of thinly veiled, satirical look at the current state of late stage capitalism and what it’s like to live in the West and, more specifically, the UK after 15 years of Tory rule,” Higgs explains.

“It’s a state of the nation address that reflects the human cost and the psychological cost of a lot of things that we live underneath. It really explores that, rather than going into the nuts and bolts of the system.”

It’s a hifalutin concept typical of the band who, on their last album Raw Data Feel, used AI software to create some of the record’s lyrics, after feeding it with four eclectic sources of literature – including the terms and conditions of LinkedIn and 100,000 comments from the annals of contentious message-board site 4Chan.

This time around, they say that some of the record’s darkness comes from analysing the ill-fated 44 day reign of Liz Truss as Prime Minister.

“It’s like a trope of Greek drama isn’t it?,” explains keyboardist and bassist Jeremy Pritchard.

“It’s Hubris, going all the way to the top spot, but you can’t stay there. That itself is always going to be interesting isn’t it?”

Politics aside however, it’s a record that has the band’s unmistakeable unpredictability and art-pop spirit coursing through its veins.

“In the last two records, we’ve tried – with increasing success – to use the signature aspect of John’s voice more sparingly,” explains Pritchard.

“That means it has more power and more poignance when it is deployed.”

And seven albums into their career, they’re not disappearing anytime soon.

“There’s absolutely no reason we’d split up,” says Higgs.

“We’re doing the best job in the world, and we like each other and people seem to like what we do. There’s no pressure on us to destroy ourselves. We think we’re doing good stuff and we’re always excited about doing more stuff.”

Or, as with most things in life, there’s a Simpsons analogy at hand…

“There’s that episode where Mr Burns is diagnosed as having every illness. A perfect balance which has meant that he’s lived to the age of 104,” says Pritchard.

And in a way, I think there’s something like that going on with us….

#Everything Everything #The End of the Contender #Mountainhead #Jonathan Higgs #Jeremy Pritchard

[excalculus]

Here we are, heading into another COVID winter.  The fucker’s still here and sadly we aren’t likely to get rid of it any time soon.  You kill diseases by cutting off transmission and slowly strangling them to death.  We tried that.  We locked down the whole world and it didn’t work.

I won’t deny that things look really ugly right now, especially with other respiratory diseases coming back.  But as the sequencing results keep coming in, it’s really starting to look like something incredible happened.

Sure, the lockdowns didn’t succeed in killing COVID.  That doesn’t mean they killed nothing.

Hey, I wonder how the influenza viruses are holding up?

There are two types of influenza that cause the epidemics we get every winter: A and B.  (C and D don’t really get up to the same level of mischief so let’s ignore them for now.)  Type A infects both animals and people, and includes things like the H1N1 bird flu pandemic strain, swine flu, et al.  The H[number]N[number] format points out which subtype of two important viral proteins it has, and usually strains are reported with that code, what animal they jumped into humans from, and where they were first sequenced.  Type B only affects humans, especially children.  It doesn’t have subtypes like Type A.  Instead it has two distinct lineages: B/Victoria and B/Yamagata. 

Today’s best flu vaccines are called “quadrivalent” because they target B/Victoria, B/Yamagata, and our best guess at which two Type A’s are going to blow up this year.  The guess is based on global sequencing of flu infections, so we have at least a decent idea of both past and current circulation logged in databases like GISAID and the WHO’s FluNet. 

Cases went way down during the lockdowns - masking and social distancing pushed spread down to a fraction of what it usually is.  Influenza in general is now back in force as people go back to their normal behavior.  There’s plenty of Type A flying around.  There’s been B/Victoria.

B/Yamagata has not been conclusively identified since March of 2020.

As early as 2021, flu researchers noticed the lack of new B/Yamagata sequences coming in and started to suspect something was fishy.  Look at this graph of GISAID flu data by lineage:

[GISAID] [paper]

Let’s, uh, check FluNet maybe?  That shows that in a typical year you see tens of thousands of cases of B/Yamagata on PCR tests.  2017 had 30,552; 2018 had 51,524.  Then... 3,464 in 2019.  364 in 2020 in only 9 countries.  It does seem like there are still signs of life in 2021 with 8 hits, but keep in mind these detections are based on simple PCR tests like what we do for COVID.  PCR tests are exquisitely sensitive, to the point where it’s been shown that giving flu vaccines and then later using the same room to give flu tests can throw a weak positive by picking up viral RNA from the vaccine.  More specifically, as of March 2022 there’s been a case of this exact thing happening with what looked like a B/Yamagata detection.  So it’s going to be more reliable to look at only the results from full sequencing, where you can yeet anything that matches the vaccine ingredients and only look at wild viruses. 

[paper]

Zero.  Nothing.  All signs point to we shot at COVID and blew up an entire flu lineage as collateral damage!  What the fuck!  We’re probably going to have to change how we do flu vaccines because fully a quarter of what they aim at looks to be gone from the face of the earth!

True, influenza B/Yamagata could still be out there somewhere that hasn’t been sequenced.  Proving absence is hard.  But the fact that Type A and its sibling B/Victoria are back and easy to find really does suggest it’s gone, or stomped down so far it’s near impossible to find.  Time to watch and wait and feed every sample we can into the sequencers, but if we keep not finding it...

A disease is considered eradicated when we’re sure there’s no more transmission “in the wild”.  For smallpox, which was also wildly contagious and also had no nonhuman reservoir, that was three years from the last known case. 

Clock’s ticking.

#biology #flu #influenza #virus #medicine #if covid weren't so insanely contagious we 100% would have killed it

[mariacallous]

In the weeks since Hamas launched its October 7 surprise attack on Israel, the ensuing conflict has generated an unprecedented wave of disinformation, an “algorithmically driven fog of war” that has tripped up major new organizations and left social media companies floundering.

Yet, amid all of the deceptive images and video moving around on social media, the content generated by artificial intelligence tools has remained relatively peripheral. Even as some wondered if the Israel-Hamas war would be the first conflict dominated by false generative AI images, the technology has had a more complex and subtle impact.

“There are definitely AI images circulating but not to the degree where I think it’s playing a central role in the spread of information,” says Layla Mashkoor, an associate editor at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, which studies online disinformation.

Primarily, Mashkoor says, AI-generated disinformation is being used by activists to solicit support—or give the impression of wider support—for a particular side. Examples include an AI-generated billboard in Tel Aviv championing Israel Defense Forces, an Israeli account sharing fake images of people cheering for the IDF, an Israeli influencer using AI to generate condemnations of Hamas, and AI images portraying victims of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.

“In terms of general use that I’ve been seeing online, it’s mostly been to drum up support, which is not among the most malicious ways to utilize AI right now,” she says.

A key factor here is the sheer amount of misinformation circulating, which makes it difficult for AI images to shape conversation. “The information space is already being flooded with real and authentic images and footage,” says Mashkoor, “and that in itself is flooding the social media platforms.”

This point is reflected in a recent paper from the Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review about the role generative AI might play in the spread of false info worldwide. In it, the authors write that concerns about the effects of the technology are “overblown.” While, yes, gen AI theoretically lets people proliferate misinformation at a futuristic rate, those who seek out this misinformation—often those who have “low trust in institutions … [or are] strong partisans”—already have a surfeit of familiar nonsense to pursue, from conspiracy theory websites to 4chan forums. There is no demand for more.

“Given the creativity humans have showcased throughout history to make up (false) stories and the freedom that humans already have to create and spread misinformation across the world, it is unlikely that a large part of the population is looking for misinformation they cannot find online or offline,” the paper concludes. Moreover, misinformation only gains power when people see it, and considering the time people have for viral content is finite, the impact is negligible.

As for the images that might find their way into mainstream feeds, the authors note that while generative AI can theoretically render highly personalized, highly realistic content, so can Photoshop or video editing software. Changing the date on a grainy cell phone video could prove just as effective. Journalists and fact checkers struggle less with deepfakes than they do with out-of-context images or those crudely manipulated into something they’re not, like video game footage presented as a Hamas attack.

In that sense, excessive focus on a flashy new tech is often a red herring. “Being realistic is not always what people look for or what is needed to be viral on the internet,” adds Sacha Altay, a coauthor on the paper and a postdoctoral research fellow whose current field involves misinformation, trust, and social media at the University of Zurich’s Digital Democracy Lab.

That’s also true on the supply side, explains Mashkoor; invention is not implementation. “There’s a lot of ways to manipulate the conversation or manipulate the online information space,” she says. “And there are things that are sometimes a lower lift or easier to do that might not require access to a specific technology, even though AI-generating software is easy to access at the moment, there are definitely easier ways to manipulate something if you’re looking for it.”

Felix Simon, another one of the authors on the Kennedy School paper and a doctoral student at the Oxford Internet Institute, cautions that his team’s commentary is not seeking to end the debate over possible harms, but is instead an attempt to push back on claims gen AI will trigger “a truth armageddon.” These kinds of panics often accompany new technologies.

Setting aside the apocalyptic view, it’s easier to study how generative AI has actually slotted into the existing disinformation ecosystem. It is, for example, far more prevalent than it was at the outset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, argues Hany Farid, a professor at the UC Berkeley School of Information.

Farid characterizes the technology as a “specter” hanging over audio and video that purports to come from the conflict, and that he receives half a dozen to a dozen calls daily from reporters enquiring about veracity. “For a lot of people, the ability to dismiss inconvenient facts is absolutely playing a role in this conflict,” he says.

Farid cites multiple examples that immediately drew this kind of dismissal, including people pointing to various pieces of digital evidence about who was behind the missile strike on the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, as well as images of children buried under rubble, some real, some fake.

Some of the most prominent examples of this are the photos of burned children Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on his X account. After they were published, someone fed the images into the detection tool AI or Not, which the users said determined that they were AI. Farid says his team analyzed the photos and concluded AI wasn't used, but the seed of suspicion had already been planted. Things were further confused when someone used AI to replace the child in one of the images with a puppy.

“And then that went online, and then people are like, ‘Well, wait a minute, if he could have made that one, then that one could be fake, and now these two versions are going around, and everybody started saying, ‘Oh, the puppy was the original, this is the fake,’ and then you just muddy the water,” Farid says.

In other words, this distribution follows a historic pattern: Misinformation gets shared on social media, then amplified via algorithms and humans. “In the broader picture, in our ability to reason about a fast-moving highly impactful world, I think this conflict is worse than what we’ve seen in the past,” says Farid. “And I think gen AI is part of that, but it is not exclusively gen AI. That’s too simplistic.”

[vinnces]

𝐎𝐍𝐄   .

joshua bassett.     he/they.     cis  man.      ›     spotted   at   the   met   steps   ,   vincent   'vinnie'   sawyer  ,   most   likely   listening   to   blue   world   by   mac   miller  with   their   airpods   pro   .   the   twenty   four   gained   quite   a   reputation   ,   known   to   be  -secretive  yet   +selfless   to   anyone   who   knows   them   .   you'll   easily   spot   them   when   you   hear   about   finger   drumrolls   before   making   an   announcement   ,   waking   you   up   with   3am   voice   messages   with   random   thoughts   –   irrelevant   and   not   important   enough   to   wake   up   for   ,   making   up   random   stories   during   interviews   to   confuse   the   audience   ;   leaving   not   a   single   article   to   be   true   ,   a   batch   of   ripped   papers   on   his   bed   &   broken   pencils   as   a   result   of   songwriting   for   seven   hours   ,   followed   by   bad   boy   by   carolina   herrera   .   latest   nepoupdates   article   talks   about   vinnie   sawyer's   newest   song   release   spectaculated   to   be   about   muse   2i   and   not   about   his   girlfriend   ,   but   i   guess   any   reputation   is   good   reputation   .  

–   𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗗   𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦   .  –   𝗦𝗣𝗢𝗧𝗜𝗙𝗬   𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗣𝗛𝗬   . –   𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧   𝗕𝗢𝗔𝗥𝗗   .

𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐓     .

𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭  #𝟏𝟕  :  josie  seong  and  vinnie  sawyer  have  been  called  the  it  couple  for  the  past  two  years  .  every  party  ,  every  candid  resulted  in  viral  tweets  praising  them  ,  people  wished  to  be  like  that  .  for  the  past  two  years  ,  nothing  ever  came  between  them  ,  until  vinnie  is  offered  to  go  on  worldwide  tour  as  one  of  the  supporting  acts  to  one  of  the  biggest  band  in  the  music  industry  recently  ,  together  with  muse  2i  .  josie  and  vinnie’s  relationship  was  put  out  to  the  test  when  what  came  between  them  were  different  timezones  ,  busy  schedules  and  sudden  duet  between  vinnie  and  muse  2i  ,  sparkling  an  affair  rumors  which  muse  2i  feeds  gp  into  .  and  after  six  months  ,  tour  ends  with  a  closing  night  in  new  york  and  it’s  the  first  time  when  josie  and  vinnie  can  see  each  other  ,  except  there’s  an  uncertainness  about  their  relationship’s  future  ,  especially  with  muse  2i  around  .

𝐓𝐖𝐎     .   𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒔

full   name   :   vincent   nathan   sawyer  .   nicknames   :   vinnie   .   dob   :  jan  3rd   .   age   :   23  .   birthplace   :  pairs   ,   france   .   citizenship   :  french   -   american   .   current   residence   :   new   york   ,   new   york   .   gender   :  cis  man   .   orientation   :  bisexual   .   languages   :  french   ,   english   ,   swedish   ,   polish   ,   latin   .   occupation   :  musician   .   education   :   completed   private   /   boarding   school   .   big   3   :  capricorn   sun   ,   scorpio   moon   ,   aries   rising   .   character   parallels   :  christopher   wilde   (   starstruck   )   ,   aki   menzies   (   gossip   girl   )   ,   ricky   bowen   (   high   school   musical   the   musical   the   series   )   ,   jess   mariano   (   gilmore   girls   )   ,   jj   maybank   (   outer   banks   )   ,   xavier   thorpe   (   wednesday   )   .   currently   listening   to   :  heaven   angel   ,   new   person   ,   same   old   mistakes   ,   blind   ,   i’m   in   love   with   you   ,   about   you   ,   boyfriends   ,   sex   on   fire   ,   blue   world   ,   cinderella   ,   high   infidelity    .   voice   claim   :   joshua   bassett   .   career   claim   :   joshua   bassett   .

𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄   .   𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒍

biological  father  :   gabriel   sawyer   ,   50   .   occupation  :   executive   music   producer   .   biological  mother  :   sabrina   sawyer   ,   48  .  occupation  :   former   high   fashion   model   ,   current   professional   dance   choreographer  .  biological  sister  :   camille   sawyer   ,   20  .  occupation  :   law  student  .  family  financial  status  :   high  upper  class  ,  wealthy  .  

𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑     .   𝒃𝒊𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒉𝒚

google's  definition  of  a  nepotism  baby  ,  born  to  a  freshly  married  and  in  love  couple  of  gabriel  sawyer  ;  famous  executive  producer  ,  often  credited  on  the  top  of  billboard's  albums  ,  as  well  as  collaborated  with  multiple  top  artists  ,  from  mariah  carey  to  ariana  grande  ,  dua  lipa  or  olivia  rodrigo  ,  and  sabrina  sawyer  ,  former  high  fashion  model  loved  by  top  designers  such  as  versace  ,  dior  ,  mugler  etc  .  and  currently  one  of  the  best  professional  dance  choreographers  ,  highly  desired  by  the  music  industry  to  work  with  .  vinnie  had  his  entire  life  secured  the  moment  first  pictures  of  sabrina  with  baby  bump  leaked  .

saying  he  was  raised  with  a  silver  spoon  in  his  mouth  is  a  disgrace  as  they'd  be  most  likely  seen  wearing  golden  diapers  if  possible  .  spoiled  left  and  right  from  their  parents  ,  family  and  family's  friends  and  as  vinnie  grew  up  ,  he  quickly  became  people's  magazine  and  tmz's  most  loved  .  despite  being  raised  in  circumstances  that  everyone  else  would  be  rotten  spoiled  ,  vinnie  was  everything  but  that  .  always  polite  ,  always  making  a  conversation  with  everyone  and  never  left  without  wishing  you  a  good  day  .  days  spent  on  playground  only  to  come  back  when  the  evening  came  closer  ,  all  muddy  and  bruised  with  his  perfectly  curled  hair  now  wet  from  the  sweat  but  his  face  was  always  red  ,  biggest  smile  glowing  up  his  face  from  the  happiness  after  the  entire  day  .  when  their  younger  sister  was  born  ,  she  became  absolutely  everything  to  vinnie  ;  probably  a  bigger  apple  of  the  eye  for  him  than  their  parents  .

the  sawyers  moved  out  of  france  when  gabriel  was  offered  to  start  his  own  record  label  .  it  only  made  sense  that  vinnie  would  start  showing  their  interest  and  an  incredible  talent  in  singing  ,  songwriting  and  had  a  golden  touch  with  different  instruments  when  they  barely  turned  eleven  .  it  wouldn't  take  long  for  their  parents  to  put  them  on  voice  lessons  ,  piano  and  guitar  playing  lessons  ,  songwriting  camps  and  they  would  even  be  casted  in  ads  for  kids  and  growing  up  ,  managed  to  book  his  disney  cameos  in  a  few  episodes  of  different  shows  .

at  sixteen  ,  he  goes  viral  as  his  sister  posts  a  short  video  of  him  covering  ‘  drops  of  jupiter  ’  .  it  was  easy  –  after  all  ,  they  are  a  sawyer  .  the  record  deals  were  coming  left  and  right  ,  booking  vinnie  would  bring  an  immediate  success  to  any  label  that  was  lucky  enough  to  get  their  attention  .  a  nepo  baby  coming  back  to  the  spotlight  with  his  own  thing  ,  separating  himself  from  his  parents  and  making  a  name  out  for  himself  .  loyalty  being  first  thing  vinnie  was  ever  taught  ,  he  signed  a  deal  with  his  father's  freshly  debuted  record  label  .  it  was  a  successful  decision  ;  the  label  received  a  big  clout  as  vinnie  was  announced  as  the  first  artist  and  their  fame  was  growing  with  each  day  passing  .  they  didn't  need  a  feature  ,  neither  a  scandal  (  however  ,  was  unable  to  avoid  them  ;  especially  when  you're  suddenly  raising  towards  the  fame  )  .  they  released  their  first  single  ‘  secret  ’  on  february  14th  2018  ;  the  song  talking  about  his  ex  girlfriend  cheating  on  him  ,  a  break  up  the  entire  internet  was  going  through  as  well  which  turned  out  to  take  a  successful  toll  on  his  career  .

career  wise  ,  they  have  been  releasing  multiple  eps  while  working  on  his  debut  album  since  their  first  single  dropped  .  vinnie  recently  came  back  from  world  tour  where  he  was  performing  as  one  of  the  supporting  acts  alongside  muse  2i  ,  which  was  also  what  tested  his  two  year  long  relationship  on  basically  every  platform  possible  ;  not  only  with  the  difficulty  of  timezones  but  having  to  deal  with  more  and  more  rumors  forming  ,  one  of  them  suggesting  an  affair  between  vinnie  and  muse  2i  after  their  duet  song  was  released  ,  ‘  we  both  know  ’  right  as  vinnie  lands  in  new  york  after  six  months  of  absence  .  the  tour  has  definitely  helped  their  career  a  lot  more  ;  their  following  and  streams  growing  up  each  day  ,  the  duet  song  currently  spending  its  fifth  week  on  the  first  place  at  billboard  hot  100s  .

𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄     .   𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚

he  was  always  raised  well  despite  the  luxuries  he  lived  in  .  often  mixed  in  problematic  rumors  which  are  quickly  to  be  exposed  as  lies  as  they  never  fit  what  vinnie  really  is  like  .  a  short  description  would  be  as  your  book  definiton  of  golden  retriever  energy  and  a  social  butterfly  .  takes  romantic  relationships  very  easily  ;  he  watched  his  parents  in  love  their  entire  life  ,  their  little  secret  desire  is  to  have  what  they  do  yet  often  gets  his  heart  broken  which  helped  him  learn  how  to  be  cautious  .  vinnie  is  a  very  private  person  ,  the  only  way  he  ever  exposes  himself  is  through  his  music  .  not  a  single  truthful  interview  in  their  entire  career  has  ever  been  made  as  he  often  dodges  a  question  or  is  able  to  come  up  with  a  lie  on  spot  as  they  believe  the  less  they  shows  to  the  public  ,  the  better  .  also  ,  pro  at  dad  jokes  ,  always  has  them  up  his  sleeve  .

𝐒𝐈𝐗     .   𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒏𝒔

–   known   for   making   instagram   lives   where   he’s   teasing   new   songs   in   the   middle   of   the   night   which   his   fans   hate   him   for   ! –   often   goes   on   tweet   /   dm   sprees   on   twitter   where   he   notices   his   fans   .  think   like   ,   ariana   grande   before   she   dipped   .   this   is   how   close   he   is   with   his   fanbase   ! –   always   wearing   his   airpods   &   is   never   seen   without   his   skateboard   ! –   came   back   with   BOXES   of   fun   skateboards   from   tour   &   even   had   custom   made   vans   from   his   vans   which   he   luvs   very   much   &   is   often   seen   wearing   <333   ! –   is   the   worst   at   dancing   which   is   ironic   bc   his   mother   is   known   for   being   probably   the   best   dancer   on   the   planet   .   he   held   a   q&a   at   his   last   tour   &   almost   broke   his   ankle   when   tease   argued   with   a   fan   about   having   two   left   feet   ! –   overshares   .   a   lot   .   especially   with   his   fans   .   it's   often   "vinnie   just    tweeted"   &   it's   deleted   five   seconds   later   too   jfdkdks   ! –   he's   the   face   of   prada   ! –   owns   two   dogs   ,   one   is   a   three   year   old   australian   shepard   called   howie   and   a   seven   months   old   doberman   puppy   ,   ricky   ! –  when  secret  was  released  ,  it  brought  a  lot  of  jokes  and  memes  inside  his  fanbase  ,  often  referring  to  tweets  such  as  ‘  remember  when  vinnie  ended  his  ex  on  valentine’s  day  ’

𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍     .   𝒂𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒔

making   up   random   stories   during   interviews   to   confuse   the   audience   ,   leaving   not   a   single   article   piece   to   be   true   ;   a   batch   of   ripped   papers   on   his   bed   &   broken   pencils   as   a   result   of   songwriting   for   seven   hours   ,   a   collection   of   limited   edition   skateboards   hanging   on   his   bedroom   wall   ,   missed   calls   from   his   ex   ,   fan   letters   from   tour   hidden   in   his   desk   drawer   that   he   comes   back   to   every   once   in   a   while   ,   multi   colored   vans   &   converse   ,   skating   everywhere   &   probably   driving   you   insane   ,   salt   &   vinegar   crisps   ,   a   vinyl   collection   (   especially   limited   editions   )   ,   two   left   feet   while   dancing   ,   getting   a   store   bought   pie   only   to   layer   it   with   icing   &   write   apologies   on   it   .

#nepofm.intro #let's hope this .. make any Sense

[scribblesbyavi]

I think long ass posts don’t work well now a days. I’m not blaming Tumblr but it’s the story of every social media site these days. I only have like one or two long ass posts here though. No wonder social media has turned us in to people who don’t have the patience to sit through a complete book or a complete film even. May be that’s why many new writers have stopped putting their effort on the setting up of the story plot and development of the character arcs. We only want the best second half. We want the best action scenes, the best reveal, the best climax and happy endings. Yeah, and that’s everywhere. “Pun intended.” However, we should understand the fact that a good piece of content is whole and not two halves. But social media is turning us in to people who wants content that will hit our brain for instant pleasure and then to go away. Because after that we want something else to hit us next.

May be we need to stop feeding ourselves on what the mainstream media and the hype tells us. May be we are better left alone to our own decision making of the whats and the whys. May be only then we can become thinkers and creators. May be only then we will be able to become good audiences and contribute the way we should always have. May be only then we will also be able to become good observers, someone who can see the tiny details in a frame and the nuances of a character or a scene, and that applies even to our day to day lives, our work etc.

we are a generation that feeds on instant gratification.

We are becoming a generation who wants instant noodles, instant results and instant love. But we very well know the fact that even noodles take time to cook and it’s not actually instant like they advertise.

We want a reel to swipe every 10 second, 30s cuts of songs just so that it can fit the social media attention span and go viral. May be that’s where the future is going. 1 minute down to 30s and now down to 10s and what’s next? 1s snaps? But what can you say? Art is art. But is that somehow affecting us, may be in a small way now but leaving adverse effects for the long term? Don’t we sometimes want to dive deep in to the content we love rather than just making us go wow for a second and making us feel bored again. Don’t we want to consume something that makes us think and leaves a mark on us and actually help us build ourselves and a stronger foundation around us?

Some of us are still the kind of people who will go back to those long music sessions. Damn, I just love the long music sessions and qawwalis of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. They go for like 25 minutes, even Sabri Brothers. I always feel that rather than making remixes of the classic songs we should revive them by letting the good singers sing them as covers or like on Coke Studio. Oh! It’s the best thing to have happened. Singers like Ali Sethi, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Atif Aslam and Ali Zafar, they being legend themselves are making covers of the evergreen songs created and performed by the maestros who are no longer with us.

So there are some of us who may not have all the time in the world but we will definitely complete a good book and a good academy winning film or even an indie film for that matter. We just don’t care about the critics or the general audience reactions. We know people who knows people who can recommend us the good books and the good movies to watch. And that’s the purpose of a community, isn’t it? To be able to share experiences that we enjoyed with the people of our own community. And I believe the next revolution in the content world will be brought by these people who don’t care about the social norms and will do anything to bring the best forms of content to the masses, may it be educational or for entertainment purposes. Content will stand truly for the strength of the content and not marketing or vfx alone.

So the hell with going viral and likes and follower numbers, I’ll just continue dropping long ass posts from time to time. May be the content we are creating right now will actually find their right audience only after few months and years. And may be that’s a good thing too. Because these long ass posts actually start the important and the long ass discussions and helps me build a better relationship with few of my readers and actually learn from them too. I mean, we are all here to learn from each other and only then this can be a healthy and growing community. And may be that’s what I crave for too.

To be able to connect. ✨

Initially I thought this post will be about my thoughts on why long ass posts have less readers, but then I kept on writing because things just kept coming and this itself became a long ass post about long ass posts. Inception, you see.

Hope you enjoyed the long ass post (rant) !!!

#long ass post

[sleepy-achilles]

Fame Au

Now, I know what your all saying, 'Achilles! Their already famous!' Yes. I hear your point. But..model Shawn. Famous ceo/model taker. Movie star kliq and cena. Designer Goldust. I'm telling you, sometimes you need to take celebs and shove them in completely different careers.

Shawn is a well known model. He walks the catwalks, he's on every billboard, he's living the life.

Shawn started from the bottom. He was a volunteer model for college and university students whilst he was working in Jose diner and trying to survive in a shitty run down apartment. That's when he met famous designer and model Sherri who fell in love with him and needed to have him in her magazine.

She would soon become his mentor and manager and help him build and secure his spot as top dog.

Taker came from a rich family. But, it wasn't a fame rich family, it was a owning a town and being the only funeral palor type rich family.

Taker lost all of that when a fire took his family, home and business from him. With the people of his village turning on him, he fled to the city with a evil family friend and began a whole new business based around motors and well, it took off quick.

Taker has his own bikes and clothing line. He used to model them at first but then a certain blonde caught his eye and he told a mutal friend that he needed him modelling his clothes.

Hunter also came from a rich family. But unlike taker it was a fame rich family. His mother was a singer and his father was a film producer.

Hunters love for film came from his father and his father actually helped his kick off his film career. Its also how he met ceo vince mcmahon and his actress daughter, Stephanie.

Goldust has always loved fashion. His family is well known in the fashion world for their crazy and insane designs. Goldust loves that and even now still releases a crazy clothing line, but he wanted more and something he could call his own.

Goldust would go on to release his own clothing line of more eloquent and fancy clothes but also his own line of sexual clothes and lingerie.

And goldust has many models that he loves and enjoys using, but one phone call changes his life and earns him a lifetime model and friend that he adores.

Kevin, Scott and Sean become comedians/actors after filming a series of comedy sketches together and them going viral online. They actually meet hunter when he breaks away from romance and serious films to shoot a comedy. They quickly become friends.

Kevin and Scott meet a certain blonde before this though when he offers to be in one of their sketches after finding them so damn funny. This is a friendship that stays for life aswell.

Cena is a young kid who wants to make it in the acting world. He gets lucky when vince sees his work and offers him a shot in a army based film.

Cena ends up meeting Shawn and taker first before meeting the others. Shawn is actually at vinces offices when cena comes for the film signing and shawn offers to buy him lunch. Cena meets taker because taker offers gear to vince for the film.

Obviously the other superstars are famous aswell, I just thought I'd focus on the main ones that I write and use for this. For example bret is famous and yes has one of those Internet breaking relationships with shawn. He's probably one of those models/movie star types.

Shawn is obviously the one who I mention in the others backstories but never actually name. He gladly models for Taker because he finds him hot. He befriends the kliq and lets them use him in videos. He befriends cena and bascially adopts the kid. He falls in love with goldust and his clothing line and they become Internet breaking besties who tweet at each other like every hour. Goldust is always posting Shawn and praising and feeding his ego, always commenting on shawns posts. Shawn is always linking goldusts stuff. Telling people to go buy it or atleast check it out.

You already know their chaoticly wholesome besties who aim to break the Internet.

#wwe #shawn michaels #the undertaker #wwf #hbtaker #undertaker x shawn michaels #shawn x undertaker #triple h #kevin nash #scott hall #sean waltman #john cena #goldust #vince mcmahon #stephanie mcmahon #sensational sherri #fame au

[hellofromuranus]

Despite decades of conservation efforts, whales continue to disappear. Some populations have rebounded from historical lows since whaling was curtailed internationally in the 20th century, but 17 species of whales and dolphins are classified as endangered or critically endangered, including the North Atlantic right whale, the vaquita porpoise and the Yangtze River dolphin, which may already be functionally extinct. The baby dolphin killed on the beach in Argentina in 2016 was a member of a vulnerable species called the Franciscana dolphin, found only along certain coasts and saltwater estuaries in South America. Whaling is still practiced in Norway, Iceland and Japan, and 300,000 whales and dolphins die every year as bycatch. 

Along with the existential threat climate change poses to their migration, reproduction and feeding patterns, whales are threatened by pollution. Giggs describes the body of a sperm whale found in Spain with an entire greenhouse inside its stomach. The compressed greenhouse contained the tarps, ropes, flowerpots and burlap used to grow tomatoes within its walls before the whale swallowed it whole. 

#Whales #Conservation #Ecology #Climate Change

[smashpages]

Geof Darrow and longtime collaborator/colorist Dave Stewart return later this week with a new Shaolin Cowboy series, “Cruel to Be Kin.” Dark Horse sent over a preview copy of the first issue, along with a funny yet completely untrue description of the first issue:

The latest installment in the Eisner-Award-winning Shaolin Cowboy series is set in Phase 4 of the SCU, where the Shaolin Cowboy finds his parenting skills being tested when he is forced to homeschool during a pandemic of unparalleled violence, in a story torn from yesterday’s viral twitter feeds.

Well, I shouldn’t say it’s completely untrue, as there is a young gila monster who is central to the story that Shaolin Cowboy adopts — or, rather, who adopts him, and serves as the narrator of the story. Now, if you’ve read any of Darrow’s previous volumes of SC, you know what to expect — there’s gonna be ultra-detailed sequences where it looks like Darrow spent 10 years drawing them but in reality he didn’t because he’s just that damn good. There’s also typically not a lot of plot getting in the way of the violence — there’s gonna be fighting and lots of it, and maybe there’s a reason for it and maybe you’ll find out why, but usually not. (Kind of like Elden Ring, which I’m playing now — why is this knight trying to kill me? No idea, but let’s fight!) And you’re going to get a glimpse at the weird, whimsical world that Darrow has created, which is part fairy tale and part post-apocalyptic wasteland, where you might find giant monsters or zombies or babymen who ride on top of flying jellyfish. But this time around you also get a little more story, even if it’s about the hard life of a baby gila monster in the SCU. I hope he’s around in future issues.

--JK Parkin on Shaolin Cowboy: Cruel to Be Kin #1

#shaolin cowboy #comics #dark horse comics #dark horse #geof darrow #comic books #shaolin cowboy: cruel to be kin