#far right adoration of putin

[tomorrowusa]

Speaking of courage, am I the only one struck by the contrast between President Biden’s daring visit to Kyiv and the way President Donald Trump retreated to the White House bunker in the face of unarmed protesters in Lafayette Park?

Nobel laureate Paul Krugman in a New York Times column on how the far right in the US worships loser Vladimir Putin. (archived)

People on the far right love to talk tough. But in reality they are mega wimps with fake bone spurs.

#paul krugman #joe biden #biden's visit to kyiv #donald trump #trump cowering in white house bunker #far right adoration of putin #invasion of ukraine

[calicoaidan]

Eurovision 2023 - the story so far

I’m gonna be blunt folks, I adore the Eurovision Song Contest, it’s not even a guilty pleasure nowadays.

The concept of it is just something I like, every country gets one shot, once a year, 3 minutes to write and perform a song of their choosing with it being staged however they wish* (well, there are some restrictions).

A list of the recent winners shows the brilliance of it all,

The Swedish slickness of Loreen and Mans Zelmerlow

The heartfelt nature of Jamala when she won with 1944, a song that resonates ever more with current events

Conchita Wurst’s victory with Rise Like a Phoenix, the best Bond theme tune there never was

And through what can often be a lot of noise the breakthrough of Salvador Sobral with what by Eurovision standards was a shock win

It’s not even the winning songs that stick in the memory; Dadi Freyr, Francesco Gabbani, Mahmood, all bangers.

One source of sadness was the remote chance of Eurovision ever being anywhere near home, for near enough the entirety of the 21st century the BBC has tied itself into a number of completely out-of-touch tunes and often hamstrung themselves with some feeble staging - Electro Velvet is probably the best example, just poor. And then, TaP Music – and more importantly Sam Ryder – arrived.

Between his 2nd place, Putin’s fuckery needing the UK to host, and a lengthy bidding process, it has now fallen to Liverpool to host the next contest. Roughly half of the songs in 2023’s contest have now been unveiled and it’s time for some takes!

I’ve zero interest in being harsh, some of these tunes just don’t do it for me and that’s fine – others will thrive on these and that’s the joy of the contest.

From the 18 so far, here’s 11-18:

11 – Latvia

12 – Italy (my least favourite Italian song since they rejoined the Song Contest)

13 – Ukraine

14 – France

15 – Norway (note - this is currently the Eurovision subreddit favourite)

16 – Denmark

17 – Albania

18 – Romania

Between 11th and 15th I see stuff to enjoy, there’s artistic merit, they just don’t fully scratch the itch for me. From 16th onwards I’m just a bit lost, sorry.

And now, we count down from 10.

10th – Malta

It’s a slick enough tune, if they stage it like this in Liverpool it’ll resonate, it’s like a crossover of Moldova’s Sax Man and Lake Malawi’s Friend of a Friend

9th – Spain

It’s a stunning performance, will stand out on the night, but there are bits where it feels a bit flat for me - artistically incredible all the same but yeah, it doesn’t fully carry me.

8th – Ireland

The general attitude towards this song has been hostility from the subreddit, it’s been rather vicious! For me, the lyrics are a bit corny and the live performance on display isn’t amazing because RTE insist on having their selection contest in a shoebox, but the chorus is one of the most anthemic so far. It won’t win, but if they pitch it right they’ll make the final with that song.

7th – Croatia

This year’s pearl-clutcher will be this entry by Let 3, which points their ire to a very obvious individual without directly naming them. The first 45 seconds are a bit of a void, but when it gets going it tells a story that doesn’t need translating - it’s daft but fun. Will it make the final? The jury is out.

6th – Belgium

It’s full 90s, very catchy, another one that r/eurovision hates but I hope it makes it through, it’s three joyful minutes.

5th – Estonia

Well-written, brilliantly-performed, the only thing stopping me from putting this higher is it doesn’t quite peak, a victim of the 3 minute track limit.

4th – Lithuania

Similar issue to Ireland where the verses don’t quite carry but the choruses are lovely, it reminds me slightly of Saudade, Saudade with the harmonies - I feel like this will do better than most expect, not quite a winner.

This moves us onto the top three (who are a clear top three for me at this point), Slovenia, Australia and Czechia

3rd – Slovenia

A very catchy indie tune delivered by a group who clearly want to lean on boy band charm, I’m more interested in the former but this lot are going to be shovelling in the points in May, guaranteed top 10.

2nd – Australia

This is hot off the presses having been released this evening (in the middle of the night for Australian folks, strange) - I LOVE this. There’s elements that remind me of Everything Everything, and then sections that go grungy, world away, it’s a love-on-first-listen kind of tune for me. If it sounds this good live, it’s another top 10 in May.

1st – Czechia

As it stands, this is my clear favourite. It’s powerful, poignant, carries an energy throughout, and between the group of them, multi-lingual as well, it just works. I so, so hope they make this work as a live performance, it should be top 5 as a minimum and it's a potential winner if they pull it off.

So yeah, that’s where we’re at so far - 18 down, 19 to go.

I’ll do a part 2 when we have the full slate and update my rankings. Sláinte.

#eurovision #eurovision 2023 #Youtube

[fahrni]

Mediaite

I assume, therefore, that she thought I was a “flight” risk – I’d fly far away, maybe to Russia, Russia, Russia, share a gold domed suite with Vladimir, never to be seen or heard from again.

Oh, please, Mr. Orange, please fly away to Russia and hang out with your buddy Vlad. I’d love that so much. It would be the biggest gift you could ever give the great United States of America.

It’s nice to see him come right out and say how much he adores Putin. It also surprised me how much the Republican Party embraces authoritarians like Putin.

[booksandwords]

State of Terror by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny

Read time: 3 Days Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

The Quote: How she loved this country. This glorious, broken beacon. — Ellen Adams

State of Terror is one of those unputdownable books that I am immensely glad to have read. I stayed up far too late to finish it. Anyone looking at my reviews/ read books knows this one is out of the left field for me. But the premise is fantastic and the idea of Hillary Clinton a former American Secretary of State writing a book that heavily features that role was too much to ignore. Louise Penny is known as a thriller writer and they have a preexisting friendship which means there was less likely to be awkwardness there (because yes it can transition to the writing). It must be said it was art mare than imitating life with the Russian President, Maxim Ivanov and former president Eric Dunn being obvious caricatures of their real-life counterparts (Putin and Trump respectively). This is written in alternating points of view, I appreciate the decision to focus heavily on women for the POV. It feels right. Hillary Clinton is one of America's foremost female politicians of her age. An inspiration to young women for so many years, it makes sense that any novel she writes that involves the political sphere would feature women prominently. While still treating men with fairness. While the POV does focus largely on women it does tend towards men in the last 1/3. The writing for the action sequences towards the end of the book were highly effective. It felt almost cinematic, fast switching between the perspectives during the military engagements.

The main character of State of Terror is Ellen Adams. American Secretary of State, new to the role and trying to mend the bridges left by a chaotic previous presidency. Nearly everyone in the story is on some level connected to her. Importantly to the story, Ellen has two children a son, Gil Bahar with her first husband, and a daughter, Katherine with her second husband Quinn Adams. Gil is something of the family wild child his past is key in a way. Even the major villain of the story is tied in a way to Ellen. Ellen is not based on Hillary Clinton but you can certainly see where the influences are, where Ellen is perhaps the better version of herself. She is a strong, loyal and fearless woman, learning the boundaries of her job and pushing them. All her previous experience is in the media world and she has those networks. It makes her an interesting character to read, she's not a politician she doesn't think like that. When push comes to shove it's not about votes it's about people. She's not afraid to get her hands dirty and take risks to save lives.

From that day forward, Ellen and Betsy were almost inseparable. Ellen taught Betsy that goodness existed, and Betsy taught Ellen how to kick attackers in the nuts. — Ellen Adams

Okay, so Betsy, Betsy. She is keeping Ellen grounded. Something I think the real Betsy, Betsy Johnson, did for Hillary Clinton. Louise Penny admits that that real Betsy was much softer and less sweary than Betsy Jameson, her fictional counterpart. But the fictional Betsy is wonderful I adore her. Strong and confident and not going to let anyone question her presence in Ellen Adams inner circle. She has been there from day dot and she will let you know about it if you question her. One of my favourite parts aspects of her characterisation in a bizarre way is that she is frequently referred to at June Cleaver. A reference to her appearance and her personality. For those like me who weren't certain on the June Cleaver reference, she was the maternal, female lead character in the American sitcom Leave It To Beaver.

The FSO, Foreign Service Officer, of the blurb is Anahita Dahir. Ana is Lebanese-American, whip-smart and young. I like her. She is a character of colour written in a way that gives her some strength while showing that yes she would definitely be treated as a suspect in the relation to anything terrorism related. She has connections to Gil and a story to tell all of her own. The guilt and doubt and determination to help that she carries feels right. I adored the easy friendship she formed with Katherine, I'm unsure of their ages but something there just felt right. It is known that they went to school at the same time. Katherine is not used as well as she possibly could be. But as I said this is left open for a sequel and I can see how she could be used later. Katherine has taken over Ellen's media empire, not as a journalist as something more bureaucratic. there is a lot to respect in the character choices with her.

One other character I want to talk about. Dr Bashir Shah. Bashir Shah is the big villain of the story and he is a brilliant villain. Bashir Shah is an interesting man. I appreciate the line "He'd grown, over the years, almost fond of Ellen Adams. He'd come to know her quite intimately, and that had bred a rather curious bond." I quite like him in a bizarre way. He's intelligent, suave, physically attractive and manipulative. But he's flawed. By that I mean he has a very clear and plain ability to get too close, to not be objective. Yes he's an awful man, yes he's deadly and he's a terrorist. But as a character, he's just fantastic, there are stereotype elements just more. He's not a character you want to succeed in his goals, you want him to get his comeuppance but he's captivating to read and that matters.

Have some quotes and comments because it will stop me spoiling the story.

The head of the Joint Cheifs of Staff looked more like a librarian than a warror. Interestingly, the Librarian of Congress looked like a warrior. — (Ellen) I love this line so so much. I appreciate a warrior librarian. Librarians are warriors, protectors of knowledge and history.

"They've found the perfect vehicle in Eric Dunn." "Their Trojan horse." said Betsy Whitehead smiled. "A good analogy. Hollow/ An empty vessel into which these men and women have poured their ambitions, their outrages, their hatreds and insecurities." — (Bert Whitehead and Betsy Jameson) This is one of the many lines that I read I just thought... Trump, that is Trump. I really like the Trojan Horse analogy.

It kept each from behaving especially badly. That was the teory. What it in that created wasn't a balance of terror but a perpetual state of terror. — (Ellen) How had i never thought of this?

"I mean Hitchcock knew that the closed door is much more frightening than the open. Think of when you were a kid at night. Staring at the closed door. wondering what was really in there. We filled the void with our imaginations. And we almost never thought it was some kind of fairy holding a puppy and some pudding." — (Canadian Eye) The Canadian is a reference to the head of one of the Canadian security agencies during a meeting of Five Eyes. This is quite honestly one of my favourite quotes in the book. I just really like it.

I quite like the inclusion of the quote from The Little Prince "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.". It fits so well in context

They stared at each other. Much the same age, they'd grown up a world apart, but fate bought them together, like brothers. Like kindred spirits. Perhaps for that very reason, for this very moment. — (Gil) This is about Gil's relationship with Hamza. I really like their relationship. I like Gil, I like the way his mind works. Of the male characters, he's the one who has the most depth I think.

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." — Anahita attributes this quote to Einstein. I had to look into it to see if the attribution was accurate. Apparently, it's a paraphrase but it's close. “I don’t know what weapons might be used in World War III. But there isn’t any doubt what weapons will be used in World War IV.” “And what are those?” a guest asked. “Stone spears,” said Einstein.

Louise Penny merges her worlds. Her best-known series appears to be Chief Inspector Armand Gamache (first book Still Life). Characters and the town Three Pines both appear. Also, a book of poetry (that if Penny if publishes I will buy) called I'm F.I.N.E. by Ruth Zardo. "It stood for "Fucked up, Insecure, Neurotic, and Egotistical."

I enjoyed the ending. It has definitely been left open for a sequel if Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny so choose. It could be good to see a less personal story, villain. But that doe raise the question would it work? Or is Shah and his connection to the wider story so important to the writing. That ending the sequence of events we see is rewarding to the reader and suits the tone of the book, keeping the reader engaged and questioning what they thought they knew. There are undoubtedly signposts to indicate where this was headed but I missed them. On a reread chances are what appears a little insignificant in the moment may just click into place as important. This is probably a 4.5-star book for me. It rewarded me for stepping out of my comfort zone. I really liked the characters and the writing style. It was a joy to see so many women together working for the good of others. But with them still being human and occasionally at odds.

#state of terror #hillary rodham clinton #hillary clinton #louise penny #book review #ktreviews #read 2021 #booklr

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

Ukraine, 26th Feb, 2022

A friend of mine told me yesterday that he didn’t realise how much Ukraine meant to him until now. I posted yesterday about the time we spent there, and we’re all getting super pre-occupied about the invasion. As I said in that post, I can’t get our waitress out of my head. I can sort of remember what she looked like now. She had an undercut. I think maybe her hair might have been blue? But - I will never know if she lives through this, and it’s driving me very slightly mad.

So naturally, my husband spent all day yesterday obsessively researching everything he could about it with the help of his journalist friends, as a way to help me process it.

This post is me putting it all in order, as a way to try and process my own emotional response as much as anything else (I freely admit there is an element of self-indulgence here). Please don’t take me as the spokesperson for Ukraine right now, nor as a solid reliable news source. But, I haven’t seen this stuff except in bits and pieces on Tumblr, so here we go.

(This is also not about why the invasion has happened. This post is solely about what has happened, and how the invasion is going.)

So, Putin and the rest of the world believed that this invasion would take 1-4 days. The plan was to push through fast, take Kyiv, and force Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian President, to surrender. Given Russia’s military might, it really looked likely.

Here is the conclusion of all that’s happened so far:

Ukraine is absolutely nailing this??? Actually???

They managed to defend every single city overnight, including Kyiv. They started rolling out and using these WW2-style anti-tank thingies that look a bit like angry gabbions, look, here’s a picture of one being delivered:

A bunch of spare iron girders turned into a hefty octopus of Russian misery, basically.

But it’s not just tanks they’re taking down, oh no. Ukraine successfully shot down a transport plane 20km from Kyiv. That is, I shit you not, the single biggest hit to the Russian military since the Second Chechen War. Volunteers from Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Azerbaijan and Israel are all entering Ukraine to help fight and bolster the anti-Russian forces, which is probably illustrative of how Eurovision voting is going to run for the next decade. Most countries have banned Russian planes from their air space. To help stop the Russian advance, Ukraine has made and installed new road signs, like this one:

I can only say a handful of sentences in Ukrainian, Tumblrs, but as I understand it, from top to bottom, it says:

“Fuck off”

“Fuck off again”

“Fuck off Russia”

Meanwhile, it turns out the Russian military might we feared is... possibly not quite as advertised?

They’re underfunded and badly trained. Ukraine captured 200 soldiers in one go, and most of them were confused 19 year olds with no training. The equipment is shite. The tanks keep running out of fuel. Russian soldiers keep abandoning their tanks and handing them over to the Ukrainian army. Putin’s plan was to take Kyiv fast and move on, and he didn’t have a plan B - hence these kids, playing soldier. Here is an image of a Russian tank receiving roadside assistance from Russia’s finest, an old Lada.  

No one expected Zelenskyy to survive the night; but he did. America offered him asylum in the White House.

But he said no. 

Zelenskyy remains in Kyiv, with his people.

And Putin, in his desperation to be adored, has turned Zelenskyy into a global icon and hero.

Here is something you may not know about Volodymyr Zelenskyy - he used to be a standup comedian. Was he any good? No idea - but what he IS good at is producing funny short videos he can put on Twitter and that, which are absolutely fantastic for Ukrainian morale. And morale is vital in an invasion like this, and Ukraine are smashing it out of the park there.

They are utilising the internet to its fullest extent. In addition to Zelenskyy’s videos, they’ve made sure that the final words of the Ukrainian defenders of Snake Island are known and now echoed around the world: “Russian warship, go fuck yourselves.” A video has gone viral of Ukrainians mocking a group of Russian soldiers whose tank had broken down and who didn’t know the way to Kyiv anyway, presumably because of all the new road signs. They have created a website that lists every single Russian death they can identify, partly so Russian mothers can have closure (thus also painting themselves as the defenders of decency and humanity), and partly for the enormous morale boost of the world knowing, categorically, that they’ve already killed 3700 Russian soldiers (over 100 of which were from that transport plane.)  Not one word has leaked of Ukrainian casualties. I’m sure they’re devastating, but for morale purposes, they’re being kept quiet until the dust settles. Ukrainians have started setting up fake Tindr profiles to catfish Russian soldiers for intel, and they’re all 19 and lost, so it’s working. Plus, they’re using Grindr to actually track where the soldiers are, because it turns out Putin was not entirely correct about there being no gays in Russia.

So, Russia wants to cut their internet access. Can the Ukrainian Minister for Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, shame a billionaire into providing aid?

This is crucial, remember. Atrocities happen best in the dark, and the world is watching - because of the internet. Morale is vital to maintain. Can they convince Elon Musk to help?

Yep.

Ukraine now has the fastest internet service in the world. The fastest, most stable internet service in human history, in fact. Russia cannot now disable it. The world watches.

Which is just as well, because then Anonymous decided to get involved, and have leaked the website database of the Russian Ministry of Defence. Lol. Also this happens:

And then the Russian propaganda channels started broadcasting the truth of what is happening in Ukraine. Double lol.

So what is the political response?

Well, in addition to closing airspace to Russian planes, loads of countries are sending weapons to Ukraine. Those that can’t are offering asylum. They’re also offering asylum to any Russian soldiers who surrender or defect, which is startlingly good tactics, and there are rumours of around 5000 Russian soldiers who have done just that. Germany, of course, has long had a block on lethal weapons transfer; but Germany recognise this shit for what it is. They’ve lifted the block, thus allowing the Netherlands to send weapons. Efforts are now underway to fast-track Ukraine into the EU. I presume they will consider the lack of pint glasses with crowns on to be a worthwhile price to pay.

So what about Russia’s supporters?

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenka helped Russia with this invasion. Now, this has happened:

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was actually elected president, but some wild nonsense kept her out of power. She’s now running a government in exile. I have literally no idea what this means or will mean! But my god. She has a spine of steel, and this is not a good time to be happening for Putin. 

And it’s really, really not, because then intel on a meeting of Putin and assembled Oligarchs LEAKS (hello Anonymous, probably). The highlights:

This war is costing Russia $15bn a day

He expected it to take ONE TO FOUR DAYS TO WIN

It’s been two days and he is losing very badly, currently

They will run out of rockets by day 4, maybe sooner

After that they will be down to rifles and ammo

It will take 3-4 months to make more significant weapons, except they need raw materials, and the countries that can provide them... have cut supply lines

If the war lasts 10 days, Russia will have completely run out of money and weapons

It's only day 2, and Russian soldiers are knocking the doors of random Ukrainian homes begging for food and water because they've already run out

So, out of desperation, Putin turns to his greatest, closest and most trusted ally for help: Kazakhstan. 

And Kazakhstan

SAYS NO

And then Ukraine shoots down a second Russian plane.

Anyway, I’m going to finish off with a final point. Morale is vital in this situation, so here is the message from the Ukrainian government at the minute, to everyone watching around the world:

Be VERY SUSPICIOUS of any negative news about Ukraine. Russia uses misinformation and propaganda. They will want to damage Ukrainian morale.

Use your social media to spread news of Ukrainian victories. 

Don't give oxygen to negative stories. Especially since they might not be true.

That’s genuinely something we can do to help. Every victory of Ukraine, blast it far and wide. So on that note, I’ll leave you with this:

Congrats to Natalia Antonova’s cousin's son.

#ukraine #politik

[needs-to-stop-looking-at-valves]

"YOU SEND THAT AS A REQUEST RIGHT FUCKING NOW YOU WHORE. YOU ARE UNDER LEGAL OBLIGATION TO MAKE ME WRITE THIS." Request a story about it or request NSFW headcanons about it? Either way, do it. Do it now. -💝 Anon

In case you guys are confused, anon is referring to two other asks that essentially means, you guys are about to read Combiner wars Overlord fuck little Percy. Now, let’s fucking GO.

“Would you take a gander at you.”

By some stroke of luck, Overlord managed to catch one of Megatron’s little friends. He only had one, but one was enough to beat the shit out of, get information, then kill. Easy peasy, you’d think. But there was one complication. Overlord REALLY liked this one. A cute little nerd who struggled against his restraints. He had his hands cuffed to the ceiling of the small, dark room they were in, leaving him helpless. He was thinking about doing the same with the legs, but he appreciated the small, scared steps he took to try to get away from him. How cute. Overload’s hands roamed across that frame, much to the unease of the little scientist.

“Cute little face, but a nice, smooth body. You got curves in all the right kinda places. I dig it.”

It was almost evil, the way he was put together. A face that said cute and innocent, with a body that begged to just get fucked raw. Overlord chuckled as he pushed his body towards him with one hand, and held his face in the other.

“Sorry, I think I’m forgettin’ my manners. What did you say your name was?”

“P-perceptor. And you’re Overlord.”

“Ah, good, don’t gotta introduce myself then. Well then, Perceptor- actually. Let me call you Percy, you mind?”

The little mech found himself clam up as Overload’s hands now gripped at his chest. A nice, big rack for him to play with too. Overload gave a light shake of his helm.

“I’ll take that as no, you don’t. Listen here, Percy, I’m diggin how you’re put together. And seein’ as you ain’t doing anything else, imma have a little fun with this body of yours.”

He tried to shove his hand between his legs, only for Percy to jump. It was a decent reflex, enough for him to need his restraints to keep him upright.

“N-no! No thank you! Very kind offer, and I’m honestly flattered, but I’m not interested in ANYTHING like this. At all.”

Now Overlord was a scum bag. A total piece of garbage. But he wasn’t about to take this little cutie if he REALLY didn’t want it. He liked it when they screamed, but the thrashing about honestly was such a pain. But Overlord, being the kinda mech he was, knew how to get bots to see things his way. He grabbed at his bust again, pulling him right back into his front.

“You’re shy. If you really wanted me off of you, you’d be putin’ up much more of a fight. What is it…”

He thought for a moment, before piecing it together. The averted gaze. The only slight hesitation to his touches. Overlord suddenly barked in laughter, patting his little cheek.

“Wait a minute now! I know what’s your deal. Ain’t nobody ever touched you before, huh?”

Percy averted his gaze. So he was right. Not only was this little nerd a snack, he was a snack that no one had taken a bite out of yet. This was too good to be true. He grabbed a hold of that little chin, slowly running his glossa across those little lips. He didn’t turn away, didn’t act grossed out. He was a slut dressed in a nerd packaging. How precious.

“Hey, don’t worry, Percy. I know I’m a big, mean mech, but I’ll go easy on you. I’ll make you like it so bad, you ain’t ever wanna leave this place.”

Overlord pressed his lips against his, and in that moment of surprise, he dipped his servo between his legs, and opened his spike panel. Percy gasped, and tried to move, only to stop. Overlord’s hands were responsible for who knows how many deaths. But right here and now, it felt so good, letting him stroke his spike. It was slow, totally firm against him. Enough to make Percy’s helm fall back, right onto Overlord’s chest.

“Look at ya, liking it already. You like it when a big, mean mech touches you here, don’t you? What about here?”

He reached for the valve panel, only for Percy to jolt away from him. So skittish. Their optics met, and Percy’s was full of embarrassment.

“I...well. I’ve never opened it, apart from medical examinations. You’ll forgive me if I don’t exactly trust you anywhere near it.”

Overlord should've been pissed. But honestly? He was just incredibly amused. He let go of him, only to slowly walk in front of him.

“Percy Percy Percy….come on. I ain’t treating you nothin’ but fair. I know you think I’m mean, but I can be SO nice to you.”

“W-what are you doing?”

“Imma do the best I can~”

Overlord shot him a wink as he got to his knees, and enveloped that spike between his lips. Percy would have fallen to the floor, had it not been for the restraints. Percy was liking it so much, he was absolutely trembling, watching in lustfull adoration as Overlord slowly pushed him back and forth into his mouth. No one even BLEW this helpless thing. Overlord slowly pulled him out of his mouth, watching as Percy tried to excuse his erect, throbbing gerth.

“I-i don’t- I’m not sure If I-”

“Percy, baby, lemme tell you somethin’”

He started, taking moments in between to lick and kiss along that gerth. Each time was met with a fierce, hard throb, Overlord kept thinking the little guy was gonna bust at any moment.

“You’d think amongst this fightin’ combiners, religious mumbo jumbo, even stuff like the titans, I’d be more focused on it. But no. Amongst the lineup of things I wanted to get my hands on, REALLY fuck over, I chose you. I wouldn’t take that lightly. And I’m kinda thinkin’ this is going right out your little audials, ain't it science boy?”

He looked up at the panting, steaming little Percy above him. Overlord WAS going to kill everything in sight, and that little valve was his next target. Overlord got up, and walked back behind him. This time, Percy was far more welcoming to his touches, pushing against him eagerly, and even groaning as he played with that nice, cute bust of his. Overlord popped his spike panel open, and pressed it right up against his lower back. Percy gasped (flattering really), and stiffened in his hands.

“Is. Is t-that-”

“My spike? Mhmm. And it’s gonna fuck that pretty little valve of yours till your bathing in me.”

“W-wait I don’t think it’d f-fit-”

Percy was silenced as Overlord held his hips, and slowly started to run it past his thighs. Dripping in fluids, it fucked his thighs slowly, but nonetheless made him whimper and mewl. He was terrified, but he so wanted it. It was a wonderful smell that made Overlord damn hungry.

“That’s it baby. Loosen up for me. Overlord gonna fuck you nice and good.”

“G-good is the one thing I’m sure this isn’t-”

He was cut off as his valve panel suddenly opened. Now Overlord’s huge, hot spike was gliding against his sensitive, virgin valve. Every time it brushed up against him, he let out a shuddering moan, clearly tempted to bust already. Overlord clicked his glossa, making sure his head brushed up against that cherry red node from time to time.

“You autobots and your ‘good and bad’. My motto is, if it feels good, do it. And you feel REALLY good, Percy. You got a little body just right for a big guy like me.”

That was when he got a firm hold of those hips, and pushed himself in. He could've been more graceful about it, but that valve was practically screaming to have him inside. Percy let out a scream as he overloaded, getting nice and tight around his spike. As if he didn’t feel good enough already. Percy whimpered, maybe in some ploy of mercy, before Overlord caught himself almost snickering. Still keeping a hold of his thighs, he started to move, making Percy give out little cries each and every time.

“There we go. Don’t I feel good, Percy?”

When there was no response, Overlord grabbed his neck, TIGHTLY, and nearly growled in his audial.

“I said, don’t I feel good, boy?”

“Y-you feel very good!”

The line itself was cute, as well as how he said it, but the way he looked. Percy’s mouth was wet in drool, and his body kept itself warm, tight, eager for more. Overlord gripped tighter, liking Percy’s cute little choking sounds.

“You like it when I choke you, don’t you? I wouldn’t be lookin’ all ashamed. A little experimenting never hurt nobody.”

He chuckled. Percy didn’t seem to find it too funny, given the fact that he was too busy taking a spike as big as his forearm. He was handling it so well, Overlord figured he’d reward him. He unclipped the cuffs from above them, and suddenly he was on the floor, holding the little one on his lap, and shoving himself fully inside of him. Percy cried out from all of his nodes suddenly flaring to life with pleasure, but even then, Overlord wouldn’t let him rest. He started to thrust into him, hips darting it to really slam into that valve of his. Percy wasn’t even fighting it. Like Unicron’s darkness, Percy was becoming corrupted in all things guilty and extreme.

“I-i’m not sure I can-!”

“You gonna take it, boy. Look at you. Takin’ it so good already, you can handle the little mess imma make.”

Overlord’s spike was bulging against his plating at every slam, body trying to accommodate its size. Percy felt at the bulge, seeming to be fascinated with it. Overlord swore under his breath. He was so ready for his turn, he wanted this little loser to feel all of him.

“Look at that. Look at how I’m bulging inside of you. That’s MY spike in you, and it’s about to pump you full.”

Overlord used one of his hand to rub at that little node of his, and in but a few moments, they overloaded. Percy was first, nearly screaming as Overlord not only fucked him right through it, but promptly overloaded in him right after. It must've been a while since last he had a little fun, because his spike did NOT go easy on him. Pumping him full of enough overload to bloat him, Percy whimpered and whined the whole way through. Overlord grinned as soon as he felt his processor catch up to the rest of him.

“Hooo...I know I made some messes in my day, but damn aren’t you somethin’ else.”

Overlord held the little mech in his arms, rubbing the bulge still present on his new little toy. Overlord leaned up, one hand groping at those soiled tits of his, and shoving his glossa down his intake. Percy welcomed him fully, groaning and mewling at the attention. Overlord liked to destroy things till they crumbled.

And Overlord was going to do JUST that with Megatron’s little friend.

#asks #lemon #overlord #percy #listen #picture this too #overlord just sticking his dick in percy #and percy just rubbing at the bulge to make him nut inside of him #or the new goth roddy helping by stroking him so he could nut inside that little valve #i have a problem #i need to get laid

[minetteskvareninova]

This war is horrible, and itself would be enough of a reason to be angry, but I don’t think anything has pissed me off so far like the recent status from Ľuboš Blaha.

Ľuboš Blaha is a member of the Slovak parliament, who could’ve been called far right if it wasn’t for his incessant pining for our communist past. It’s a bit like American conservatives and their pining for the fifties culture, except even worse, because he celebrates the time we were an actual totalitarian regime. There’s a whole bunch of people like that in Slovak politics, and, if the Facebook is anything to go by, general populace, ranging from politicians who are trying to maintain at least the appearance of reasonability, to fringe conspirationist weirdos that not even their brethren takes seriously. Together, they create something of a movement - staunchly conservative and anti-progressive, catholic, somewhat anti-capitalist (or at least happily using anti-capitalism as a bludgeon against the USA, while not talking about their own economic policies very much), anti-American and pro-Russian. They also kinda folded the diet Nazis like Marián Kotleba into their movement, which is ironic considering how much some (like Blaha) adore the late USSR.

Ľuboš Blaha is one of the most prominent members of this movement, known for his long opinionated Facebook rants. Now, you would THINK that his ilk would shut the fuck up about Putin and focus on other things, considering their past unconditional simping, and some do... But the more radical or shameless ones (like Róbert Fico, a.k.a. a former prime minister, who is notoriously corrupt and is now using this movement as a way to get ahead) chose denial instead. You know the drill - Ukraine is a Nazi country (completely unlike Slovakia, which has a DIET NAZI PARTY IN THE PARLIAMENT), we should care about our own people instead (which means leaving refugees starving on our borders or whatever, I have no fucking idea what these fuckers expect), there is propaganda and bad people on both sides, Ukraine was developing biological weapons, NATO was threatening Russia - you know the drill, it’s pure Russian propaganda, because Putin could start a nuclear war and these asshole would still kiss his hand and other body parts. I didn’t talk about it on this blog, because what’s the point - after all, I bet there are idiots like this in many countries, and it’s probably best to ignore them. Their lies don’t even phase me anymore.

But I draw the line at atrocity denial.

Blaha starts his rant relatively innocuously - by reminding us that there is still some confusion over what exactly happened at Bucha, and that we can’t proclaim any particular person a war criminal untill the whole thing is fairly judged by an independent tribunal. Which, fair, I’ve met some fairly progressive people who think the same. However, he then starts insulting “mainstream media” (another popular tactic of this movement) and telling the reader to get their information from social media. Which is like complaining about a leaky roof and then running outside straight into the rain. He then makes the distinction between liberal “elites” and “common people”, which is a fairly standard feature of modern conservative to fascist movements, you know the drill. And then he reminds people of the Snake Island incident, insinuates that it was caused not by genuine confusion or Russia withholding information, but by Ukrainian propaganda. Because apparently, there is “propaganda on both sides”, and “Zelenskiy is liar” (this from a man who not only doesn’t acknowledge Putin lies, but happily spreads them). And then he all but proclaims the recent events in Bucha were a Ukrainian false flag operation, pointing out its utility in pro-Ukraine agitation, and also that Russians have nothing to gain from this. Because it’s not like they have been met with fierce civilian resistance, which they would want to quell by any means necessary. And Putin would never allow such atrocities to be committed, since he totally cares about what the rest of the world thinks - that’s why he started this war in the first place.

Man, FUCK this dude and his lies. I wrote this rant so that my hatred can be accessible to the biggest possible range of people. The whole world needs to know what horrible things this guy posts, so that he might be as widely condemned as possible.

#ukraine #russia #slovakia

[blindrapture]

Our enemies are related.

The modern internet is the hateful den of misinformation and escapism because of the coordinated efforts of a new (iteration of the) global far right.

GamerGate was a test run for the alt-right, spearheaded by white supremacist Steve Bannon (among others, such as former US and UK military and intelligence officers) after studying WoW culture for social exploits. The alt-right itself is modern fascism of the social media age-- gamers, media lovers, TERFs, the middle-class white, rallied by memes designed with pyschological war in mind.

Through the likes of (and including) Cambridge Analytica and AggregateIQ, the global far-right coordinated with Russian oligarchs and Rupert Murdoch to add to their force, now bringing their tactics to Facebook. This was before 2016.

Brexit was planned as a test run for Trump. (The exact same people managed the digital arms of both campaigns. This is not hidden knowledge.)

For the latter half of the 10s, the global far-right have been using their power to consolidate forces across the rest of the world. Their tactics evolved, now taking influence from internet horror, ARGs, and social justice. QAnon absorbed all of our conspiracy theorists, and with QAnon's dissolution those old conspiracies have taken top billing again: anti-vax, "save the children," "democracy is rigged."

The UK has been one large think-tank for the TERF arm of this empire, in turn reinforcing and justifying the efforts elsewhere. (That Greg Abott bill in Texas the other day? It literally cited a TERF-adored British court case, even though that court case was overturned long ago.)

America dealt a substantial and legitimate blow to this empire by electing Joe Biden. I know some of you don't want to hear that, or would prefer if I conditioned that statement somehow. But I will not. America is in a better position now than it *very easily was going to be*.

Covid threw the far-right off their heels for about a month. It threw all of us off. But a population isolated and exposed to social media quickly became one they could take advantage of. And so anti-vax became "bafflingly" popular.

The sudden rise of NFTs was the symptom of another arm of war. It is fuelled by grifters, yes. But. You will notice that cryptocurrency is most popular in its least regulated form, and that this surge in popularity came quite "bafflingly" only after Biden came into power. The US has an interest in pursuing financial crimes and has recently emboldened its federal agencies to investigate and seize crypto assets. You may also have noticed a talking point amongst cryptobros, not as widespread as most of their points yet still "bafflingly" consistent, that "fiat currency will be gone by the end of this decade." What I'm trying to say here: the crypto scam is only the lure for a more sinister plan. Attract desperate middle-class white dudes, make them invest their money in crypto, leave them to get systematically punished by the FBI, what are you left with? A fresh wave of recruits for the far-right in their war to destabilize a democratic power. Ripe for new programming, "join our trucker convoys and anti-vaxxers and election rioters, we all hate this illegitimate government and its enforcement of fiat currency, its only role is to bring us down!"

Putin's advanced war against Ukraine is the next stage of this global power grab. They began the invasion in 2014 by taking Crimea. You may notice that the timeline of events just about converges there. GamerGate came afterwards. Cambridge Analytica began its social media operations in 2014.

Putin wants Ukraine. Putin wants to reassemble the Soviet Union. To consolidate even more power, to dismantle the European Union, to break democracy's knees. And Putin has considered this a war against democracy ever since 2014, a modern war with a digital battleground in addition to its physical one.

What does a digital war look like? Like culture war. Like the last decade. An escalation of physical war means the Hell of the internet will, too, escalate. This is not "human nature." This is manufactured and curated, funded by billions upon billions of units of dark money, crypto or otherwise. This is man-made Hell, the only thing white power knows how to produce.

Tumblr, you have never been immune. You were left to the dogs. Escapism was offered to you as a refuge, as those of you not under attack are being asked to walk away. I will not judge you if you do so. Just.. *listen, comprehend.*

Voices around you have faded. Some are long gone. The sex-positive crowd were among the first. Travelers and foreign trans folk are next. You know what I am saying, as it is a pattern. The voices will disappear in order to condition you to get used to a culture without them, a world without them.

This is not about Russia, nor is it about America. This is about a particular band of Russians who joined forces, years ago, with a particular band of Americans, Brits, Germans, French, Hungarians, Polish, Australians, Turks (and many more of nationalities I cannot list, out of ignorance). This is about far-right money and power who are threatened by the potential for democracies to consolidate and *vote them out*. This is about people who are afraid of being cancelled, because they don't know any other way to gain power and would sooner double down than learn a new way. This is about people who have decided that this world is not for them, so they would rather forge a new world out of fire and ice, then rule over the new humans who thrive under those conditions.

We have been at war for nearly a decade. War is now escalating.

Understand, they are here. And they like your jokes.

They will be defeated, as they required nearly a decade of conscious effort and money to even get this far. We do not require the same effort. All we require is conviction. That is literally why so much of their digital efforts were focused on *breaking* our conviction, making us doubt ourselves.

Your belief is power. They seek it. You *have it*. Hone it, tend to it, learn to wield it.

And, seriously, don't stop engaging in the media you like simply because of feeling guilty and nothing else; just find the ways to engage in media that are *training* rather than escapism. (Which also isn't to say "only engage in media!" If there are opportunities for you to support the fight directly, those are vital!)

Take deep breaths. Accept that it's gonna get uglier. You don't have to like it. But even if we dislike life, what else can we do besides *live?* That is the only actual human nature.

[sastrugie]

hey! i definitely don’t hate you, so please don’t say that :)

i’m sorry i didn’t interact in the last 5 days or so, i’ve had an extremely hectic time but my break has started so i’m all yours <33

can we know the result of your covid test? i so hope it was a negative!!

oof i should definitely check that trilogy out!! thank you so much for the rec xx

the music and culture and just every day life of the cold war era is so interesting, i just absolutely love learning about it, and i adore my grandparents’ anecdotes about it even more *-*

i’m actually interested in the whole dynasty from beginning to end but i’m only just getting invested in them, so like i barely know anything lmao. but so many interesting people and stories and wow i’m fascinated :O

lenin was such an interesting (and problematic lmao) person! tbh, just start with his wikipedia page and then move on to internet articles and docus and then maybe even books? his life was extremely interesting, so if you do feel like it, definitely give it a go!

anne bonny was an irish pirate in the 18th century - one of the most famous female pirates, in fact!! again, highly interesting person

and the civil rights movement is also one of my favourite topics! we have so much in common, oh my lord :D

yees, it is so important to keep a critical eye if you’re interested in history, especially the one of the british lmao. they did so many bad shit, it’s hard to name anything good, honestly. and i completely get that about people! like, most of the time, i don’t even agree with them, their lives and stories just fascinate me and that’s what usually keeps me reading and learning more about them - but i would be the first to point out my problematic faves’ flaws, tbh

oh wow that IS far from history but also really interesting? good luck with your studies; it’s so amazing that you have such a wide range of interests *-*

ah thank you so much, friend. but i get the shit about poor mental health, cos mine is basically non-existent lmao. but i’m also just way too driven to give psychology up because of it and my therapist says not to either, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

sapiens was sooo cool, man!! like i literally can’t believe i took the longest to pick up that book simply because i was *scared*. can’t relate anymore, it’s one of my best reads this year

thank you so much for the recommendations, mate! i’ll be sure to check them out :D

and again, i’m so sorry i ghosted you, i just needed to take some time off but i should’ve sent you an ask about it instead of vanishing - i regret it now but i hope this long arse message is somewhat of a compensation :D

hope you’re doing well, it’s almost christmas eeee

sooo first I want to apologize for me being overreacting a few days ago I just felt so lonely and isolated and again had a depressive wave coming over me where i just want to dissappear and need love and yeah :( thats no excuse! and i want you to know that your life should always come first and tumblr second so dont be sorry for not replying <3

i hope your christmas break started now and you can chill and eat sweets all day!! 

YESSSSS it was negative and im so happy i immediateley drove home to my parents so that i can spend christmas with them:)

yes I think so too and eventhough my grandma and grandpa had the privilege of living in wetsern germany its still so heartbreaking to see how they lost friends and family and none trusted anyone ... quite spooky sometimes... but yeah literature qand music of that period is so interesting and its not even so long ago!

oh theres this book about the romanov dynasty that i really want to get my hands on! it starts with 1613 and goes until 1917 wait here it is

i mean honestly every historical person is a bit problematic lmao but yeah i get why lenin is perhaps a but more than others, i will def check him out and i bought a magazine about paralles between: lenin, the last tsar and putin WHICH SEEMS TO BE SUPER COOL and omg honestyl it always starts with wikipedia doesnt it ;)

omg i need to check out anne then bc WE LOVE STRONG AND COOL BADASS HISTORICAL WOMEN DONT WE

indeed a criritcal eye is so important.. esp with some nations. like in germany we fucked up so much in our history like REALLY and so we were eductaed to have an extremely critial eye when it comes to history, sometimes even too critical (when it comes to other stuff, not our nation, there we cant be critical enough i think!!) and so im always looking for the perfect historical fave and sometimes cancel them when they did like 1 thing wrong but now i came to see that none is perfect :) and iaccept my historical faves flaws and point them out and make fun of them :D but i usually love them

ahhh yes it is (but there is earth history and i love it lmao) 

noo dont give up! i think e3ven people woth mental health problems can become good therapists! dont give up <3

honestly i know the feeling of being scared orf books is so VALID! i was scared of this short biography i just finished abt king george v and it wasnt even as bad (but it wasnt good either) sometimes we3 just need to give things a go hahah

noooooooo dont apologize im glad youre back! <3 merry christmas i cant wait for the reveal hehehe :)

#anon #r #secret santa

[tessa-quayle]

full text: 2019 Telegraph piece

check out the pictures here from @ralph-n-fiennes

the article by Hermione Eyre (official link - registration required for a free trial)

Ralph Fiennes does Ralph Fiennes so well. During our interview he delivers everything one might hope for: sensitive introspection, charm, pathos, a touch of mystery and even a (partial) defence of late Soviet Russia. ‘A lot of people didn’t experience it as repressive…’

This in the context of the stunning new film he has directed, called The White Crow, about the defection of Rudolf Nureyev from the Soviet Union in 1961. Oh, and he also impersonates a horse for me. Beautiful whinny. Sensitive nostrils.

‘It’s how I feel as the house lights go down and I can feel the expectation from the audience. You can see it in horses before a race.’ 

As we begin, in a Shoreditch loft studio not far from his home, he seems professorial, in a woolly cardigan, neatly arranging his spectacles, notebook and copy of the latest London Review of Books. When he is ready he gives me that trademark encouraging smile – half little boy, half crocodile.

Career-wise, he has it all. Family life, not so much. His greatest luxury? ‘My independence. I lead quite a solitary life.’ When I ask him if he’s a good uncle to his siblings’ progeny – Mercy, Titan and Hero, to name a few – he says flatly, ‘I could be better.’

His sister, the film-maker Sophie Fiennes, says her son Horace, now eight, really enjoyed the sword fighting in his Richard III, which is, if you think about it, a good outcome for a small boy going to see his uncle play Richard III.

His presence is a mark of quality in a film. Both the Bond and Harry Potter franchises, where he plays M and Voldemort respectively, brought him in for gravitas. Since Rada, he has run the gamut of Shakespeare, from Romeo in 1986 to his award-winning Antony & Cleopatra last year at the National, opposite Sophie Okonedo.

‘She was spectacular. I miss Antony. I found him very moving in his brokenness; his masculinity falling away and him trying to cling on to it. He’s male and middle-aged, and he keeps saying, “I’ve still got it, haven’t I? Haven’t I?”’

Does he recognise that? ‘I am 56 and I try to stay fitter’ – he does cardio and morning yoga – ‘but I can feel myself getting… old. Little shifts of energy and ambition, little impulses. You get tired more, you want to take it easy more.’ Then summoning mercurial energy in that actorly way, he explodes, ‘But I can feel myself fighting that, like, “I’m not gonna let go! Come on, come on. Yeah!” There are plenty of virile 56-year-old men.’

When I ask if he’s got a motorbike yet, like Ralph Richardson, he isn’t impressed. ‘No, my brother Joseph rides a motorbike. He can do fast cars and handle boats.’ Joseph, now 48, will for ever be the young Bard wooing Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love, just as Ralph single-handedly made Herodotus hot, that spring of 1997 when we all went to see The English Patient and wept.

Antony gives everything up for sex. ‘Yes, he does, that’s a very real erotic connection, and it’s very emasculating for him.’ Does sex make the world go round? ‘Erm, sex produces more human beings, mostly.’ Nice deflection.

Fiennes married Alex Kingston, his great love from Rada, in 1993. Their marriage ended when he left her in 1995 for the actor who was playing Gertrude to his Hamlet, Francesca Annis, 17 years older than him. Although the relationship broke down in early 2006 amid reports of his alleged infidelity, they still talk, have a deep, mutual professional respect and go to each other’s first nights.

Kingston has since gone on to have a daughter, Salome, with her second husband and Annis already had three children; Fiennes has never wanted his own family. ‘Never say never,’ he demurs. ‘But I don’t feel that’s imminent at all. I love the family and community of plays or the cast and crew of a film.’

He recollects his lines from Man and Superman, the Bernard Shaw play, ‘where Jack Tanner [whom he played] rather brilliantly pours scorn on the idea of happiness: “No family, no marriage, spread your seed, but no marriage!” I love the mischief in that.’

He says, ‘I am the eldest of six,’ as if it explains everything. The Fiennes children were born within seven years. Martha and Sophie make films; Magnus is a composer; Joseph is an actor and his twin Jacob is a gamekeeper in Norfolk. Their foster brother, Michael, now an archaeologist, came to live with them when he was 11, Ralph was two and their mother Jini was only 24.

‘My wonderful parents [Mark Fiennes, a farmer, and Jini Lash, a writer] were pressured by tough financial situations and a very erratic income,’ says Fiennes quietly. ‘They were extraordinarily courageous in giving us love and a sense of home, but also a feeling, early on, of what it is to be a burden on your parents – somewhere I think that’s affected my choices.’

‘We experienced family life with bells on,’ says sister Sophie, who’s currently working on a new series of the brilliant Pervert’s Guide to… documentaries with philosopher Slavoj Zižek. ‘You have lived that and you don’t need to replicate it.’ She remembers that as a child Ralph ‘really liked getting away from us all and being alone’.

He adored his Pollock’s toy theatre and insisted his siblings formed an audience, ‘furious’ if they didn’t comply. He set up footlights in matchboxes. ‘It was magical, very Fanny and Alexander,’ says Sophie, referencing the Bergman paean to childhood.

Ralph always had ‘a love of practical jokes’, she remembers. When they lived by the sea, on the Sheep’s Head peninsula in Ireland, he stood on a rock at high tide and pretended to be drowning.

‘Gave our mother a fit.’ He also called their neighbour to say his wife had been changing a light bulb and was now hanging from the ceiling, twitching. ‘It was April Fool’s. Our neighbour was furious.’

As a young man Fiennes became, after Schindler’s List, the intellectual’s pin-up. Is ageing harder when you’ve been a heart-throb? ‘Look, there’s lots of heart-throbs out there. You see it in younger actors who are having their moment, there’s a new one and they’re written up, how beautiful they are… You see the waves and the breaks, that person had that moment, or that opportunity. There are a handful of actors and directors who stay [the course], but mostly it’s ups and downs.’ In other words, the challenge is to convert being a heart-throb into something more meaningful and lasting.

Such as directing. He directed himself in 2011’s Bafta-nominated Coriolanus with Vanessa Redgrave as his mother Volumnia; in 2013 he directed and appeared as a passion-struck Dickens opposite Felicity Jones in The Invisible Woman.

His latest is The White Crow, based on Julie Kavanagh’s biography of Nureyev. He spent months touring Russian ballet schools before finding Oleg Ivenko, a young unknown from the Tatar State Ballet company, who is devastatingly good as the dancer. Fiennes plays his mentor Pushkin.

I didn’t really want to be in it,’ he says. ‘But I felt this creeping pressure and although I had a cast of wonderful Russian actors and dancers, the Russian producer said to me, “If you want Russian investment then we need Western names, why aren’t you in it?”’

He will dig deep to make the films he wants to make: has he put his own money in? ‘I have done, yes.’ Would you again? ‘No! I’ve had to put money into all the films I’ve made. They don’t sparkle with commercial appeal.’ Did the money come back? ‘No.’ Harry Potter helps? ‘Definitely. I don’t regret doing it. I have the resources and I believe in the project. You get one life, so f— it.’

The script of The White Crow is by David Hare, who questions the view of Nureyev’s defection as a ‘leap to freedom’, showing instead a certain nostalgia for the Nikita Khrushchev era.

Hare and Fiennes spoke to friends of Nureyev from 1950s Leningrad, twin dancers Leonid and Liuba Romankov, now in their 80s, who appear in a lunch party scene alongside actors playing their younger selves. ‘Liuba said, “I felt free, I felt happy inside myself at that time.” Nureyev was so nurtured and nourished by the dance school.’

The film doesn’t have anything to say about the propaganda and food shortages. ‘If you say I should have laid out a history lesson of the regime, I say no, I think that would have been heavy-handed. I think an audience is smart. You see the ideological pressure of the regime and the constant surveillance Nureyev was under.’

Do you feel the Soviet approach to the arts got something right? ‘I do, because that was, as I understand it, the philosophy of “we’re all a group”, though of course the individual is stifled. I’ve always been moved by what I feel to be the dedication of the Russian arts ethos, the discipline, the intense seriousness with which people take it.’

His love of Russia began in his early 20s, with him performing Chekhov and reading Dostoyevsky; he is now fluent in Russian, has ‘a lingering fantasy of buying a flat in St Petersburg’ and has been presented to Putin. ‘At the St Petersburg International Cultural Forum, which they hold every year. He was very quiet and listening.’

This was before the Salisbury poisoning. Does Fiennes believe Russia was responsible? Briskly, ‘Yes, yes. It seems to me like it was. Clearly there are problematic things with the current regime to our eyes and I do feel it’s been a tricky time since Salisbury, and that’s a shame and sad.’ Oddly enough he knows the town well, having been to Bishop Wordsworth’s grammar school.

‘I had a mostly happy time there. It was an extraordinarily shocking, cack-handed event, unacceptable and wrong in every way. And in reaction the Brits have made things harder with visas and it becomes tit for tat, and the Russians have closed down the British Council, which was a wonderful enabler of cultural interaction. I don’t know if the British Council is a cover for espionage, maybe it is…’ Bond bells are ringing. But you’re M, you must know! He replies, curtly, ‘But I’m not M, am I?’

We return to the topic of growing older. ‘There are pluses to ageing, you know? You can let go of some shit. The competition falls away. You can see the cycles of your own mistakes, hopefully you’re learning… All the things that have caused you upset:  I hurt that person, I got a bad review. You start to feel: did that really matter? The things you were so concerned about just drift away on the current of life. And your idealism is tempered and your vanity gets knocked…’

He brings up, as an example, the 2002 film he made with Jennifer Lopez called Maid in Manhattan, a comedy fairy tale in which he plays a US senatorial candidate who falls for his chambermaid. ‘I saw in the newspaper they had J Lo’s most successful films and’ – big smile – ‘Maid in Manhattan was there, and it came quite near the top’ – bigger smile – ‘and then I read: “Let down by the fact that Ralph Fiennes seems like a serial killer.” Ha ha ha! I had to laugh.

’Cos my vanity scrolled it and then… bam!’ He gives a proper belly laugh. Didn’t he get together with J Lo while they were filming? ‘No. No. I was set up by her manager and the producer. So a picture was taken of us saying goodnight after dinner and sold to the New York Post. It was a decoy, to take the focus away from the fact that she was going out with Ben Affleck.’ You didn’t mind? ‘I did, actually. I thought it was really crap.’ He shrugs, smiles. The things fame brings.

‘I give my agent all these neurotic phone calls, asking about reviews, who said this, who said that, but then, glass of wine, laugh it off.’

I feel I’ve had a flash of the blazing, naughty, fun side of Fiennes; we have known it’s there ever since we saw his suavely clownish Gustave in The Grand Budapest Hotel, and his irrepressible Harry in A Bigger Splash (complete with gyrating dance routine). There is a fun side to him, then? He smiles enigmatically as we say goodbye. ‘You won’t ever see that in an interview situation.’ 

#ralph fiennes #mixed feelings #appreciate his insight and humility #still feel like he struggles with interviews sometimes #or depending on the writer he's shown in an odd light #the 2016 gentleman journal's interview is probably still my favorite #the telegraph #fulltext

[libertariantaoist]

A new, updated data set is now available on a psychological phenomenon that has been labeled “Trump Anxiety Disorder” or “Trump Hypersensitive Unexplained Disorder,” and it says that the phenomenon only got worse in 2018. The disorder is described as a specific type of anxiety in which symptoms “were specific to the election of Trump and the resultant unpredictable sociopolitical climate,” and according to the 2018 surveys Americans are feeling significantly more stressed by the future of their country and the current political environment than they were last year.

Pacific Standard reports as follows:

“As the possibility of a Hillary Clinton victory began to slip away—and the possibility of a Donald Trump presidency became more and more certain—the contours of the new age of American anxiety began to take shape. In a 2017 column, Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank described this phenomenon as “Trump Hypertensive Unexplained Disorder”: Overeating. Headaches. Fainting. Irregular heartbeat. Chronic neck pain. Depression. Irritable bowel syndrome. Tightness in the chest. Shortness of breath. Teeth grinding. Stomach ulcer. Indigestion. Shingles. Eye twitching. Nausea. Irritability. High blood sugar. Tinnitus. Reduced immunity. Racing pulse. Shaking limbs. Hair loss. Acid reflux. Deteriorating vision. Stroke. Heart attack. It was a veritable organ recital.

Two years later, the physiological effects of the Trump administration aren’t going away. A growing body of research has tracked the detrimental impacts of Trump-related stress on broad segments of the American population, from young adults to women, to racial and LGBT communities.

The results aren’t good.” 

I do not for one second doubt that Americans are feeling more stressed and suffering more health-degrading symptoms as a result than they were prior to Trump’s election. But Pacific Standard and its “growing body of research” ignore the most obvious and significant culprit behind this phenomenon which is tearing people’s health to shreds: the mass media which has been deliberately fanning the flames of Trump panic.

The always excellent Moon of Alabama blog has just published a sarcasm-laden piece documenting the many, many aggressive maneuvers that this administration has made against the interests of Russia, from pushing for more NATO funding to undermining Russia’s natural gas interests to bombing Syria to sanctioning Russian oligarchs to dangerous military posturing.

And yet the trending, most high-profile stories about Trump today all involve painting him as a Putin puppet who is working to destroy America by taking a weak stance against an alarming geopolitical threat. This has had the effect of manufacturing demand for even more dangerous escalations against a nuclear superpower that just so happens to be a longtime target of U.S. intelligence agencies.

If the mass media were in the business of reporting facts, there would be a lot less “Putin’s puppet” talk and a lot more “Hey, maybe we should avoid senseless escalations which could end all life on earth” talk among news media consumers. But there isn’t, because the mass media is not in the business of reporting facts, it’s in the business of selling narratives. Even if those narratives are so shrill and stress-inducing that they imperil the health of their audience. 

Trump is clearly not a Russian asset, he’s a facilitator of America’s permanent unelected government just like his predecessors, and indeed as far as actual policies and administration behavior goes he’s not that much different from Barack Obama and George W Bush. Hell, for all his demagogic anti-immigrant speech Trump hasn’t even caught up to Obama’s peak ICE deportation years. If the mass media were in the business of reporting facts, people would be no more worried about this administration than they were about the previous ones, because when it comes to his administration’s actual behavior, he’s just as reliable an upholder of the establishment-friendly status quo as his predecessors.

Used to be that the U.S. mass media only killed people indirectly, by facilitating establishment war agendas in repeating government agency propaganda as objective fact and promulgating narratives that manufacture support for a status quo which won’t even give Americans health insurance or safe drinking water. Now they’re skipping the middle man and killing them directly by psychologically brutalizing them so aggressively that it ruins their health, all to ensure that Democrats support war and adore the U.S. intelligence community.

They do this for a reason, of course. The Yellow Vests protests in France have continued unabated for their ninth consecutive week, a decentralized populist uprising resulting from ordinary French citizens losing trust in their institutions and the official narratives which uphold them. The social engineers responsible for controlling the populace of the greatest military power on the planet are watching France closely, and understand deeply what is at stake should they fail to control the narrative and herd ordinary Americans into supporting U.S. government institutions. Right now they’ve got Republicans cheering on the White House and Democrats cheering on the U.S. intelligence community, but that could all change should something happen which causes them to lose control over the thoughts that Americans think about their rulers.

Propaganda is the single most-overlooked and under-appreciated aspect of human society. The ability of those in power to manipulate the ways ordinary people think, act and vote has allowed for an inverted totalitarianism which turns the citizenry into their own prison wardens, allowing those with real power to continue doing as they please unhindered by the interests of the common man.

The only thing that will lead to real change is the people losing trust in corrupt institutions and rising like lions against them. That gets increasingly likely as those institutions lose control of the narrative, and with trust in the mass media at an all-time low, populist uprisings restoring power to the people in France, and media corporations acting increasingly weird and insecure, that looks more and more likely by the day.

Read More

#caitlin johnstone #consortium news #mainstream media #trump anxiety disorder

[jack-manpain-zimmermann]

Time to protest the Caps like we did the Pens... finally?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capitals-insider/wp/2018/06/13/most-capitals-say-they-will-visit-the-white-house-after-winning-the-stanley-cup/?utm_term=.c0edb8f5a599

“We all have our opinions on it; it’s a very sensitive issue,” said defenseman Brooks Orpik, one of six Americans on the Capitals’ roster. “It’s just kind of the way things are going these days. If you don’t have the same belief as somebody else then automatically they think you’re wrong and they take it personally, which politics isn’t supposed to be that way. You’re allowed to have disagreement, but my opinion is that you’re supposed to respect the other person’s decision.”

Braden Holtby (Canadian): “I don’t know. We’re gonna try and make that a group decision. Weigh the positives and negatives of everything. In any situation like that, you want to make sure you’re doing what’s right for what you believe in and that should take thought and weigh a group decision. We’ll discuss that later.”

Tom Wilson (Canadian [trash can]): “You weren’t going to let me off the hook easy. To me, I’m a Canadian, politics are not really in my nature. I don’t understand that, really.

Alex Chiasson (Canadian): “I’m Canadian. I think I’m not huge into politics and obviously there are things that are said and all that.

Which was exactly Sidney Crosby’s response for which he was rightly lambasted as weak-willed and a poor excuse.

Orpik, who won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009, added: “I know from past experiences it’s a really cool experience [to visit the White House]. I mean, you go there for three or four hours. For me, it’s a really cool celebration with your team celebrating a championship.”

Which was exactly what Pens players said, for which they were rightly condemned as choosing to pretend that the visit wasn’t a political statement. (too many for one link)

“I have my opinion on that which is part of the process of being a championship team, and other people have different opinions, so I respect both,” Trotz said. “I haven’t talked to the guys one way or the other. We haven’t had any official team meetings, but I respect both sides, really I do. Whatever the group decides, we will do it. I don’t know if it will be a full group, a half group, or no group, I have no idea. I think most guys have the tradition part down.”

Which is exactly the response that the Pens management had to the issue, which was rightly seen as a pathetic smokescreen for the players’ level of involvement.

(more player responses that are almost identical to the ones chosen above in the link)

Apparently Ovechkin’s Trump retweet and the photo with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were unfortunate but “forgivable” little goofs. 

But as everyone but Caps fans predicted, the bar has officially been dropped beyond all pretension to what the Pens did last year. 

Let’s run through some of my favorite Exceptionality Excusion Making that sports fans regularly irrigate from the upper colon when confronted with their teams doing things just as badly as other teams, customized for this particular issue:

But what if some of the Caps besides Smith-Pelly don’t go? Surely that makes them better than the Penguins! 

No. The issue is not with the individual. Smith-Pelly is not a magical black person for liberal fans to use to excuse whoever they want. He is one man with his own opinion. Do not “use” him for your own political conscience. He’s not here for your purposes. Braden Holtby supports gay rights. As does Evgeni Malkin. As does Sidney Crosby. As do a whole lot of players in the NHL actually. These are not pawns to for you to play dodge-the-outrage-of-last-year with any more than they were pawns available for Pens fans last year.

The NHL and individual franchises are not allowed to play liberal sticker collecting with the color of their players or the political leanings of their players. Support Smith-Pelly for not going. Support Holtby if he doesn’t go. Just like Pens still supported Malkin for speaking his mind on the gay ban, which trust me is a pretty fucking far out place to stick one’s neck. 

Do not use these individual cases as smokescreens for the NHL and every organization using a ‘tradition’ to excuse making extremely tasteless and tone deaf political statements. 

But you’re just not seeing things correctly, it’s more complicated than you think.

No, it’s not. I’m looking at the Caps the exact same way I looked at the Pens. I haven’t had team loyalty in fifteen years. I’ve had my political morals far longer. Hockey is disposable to me and I’ve been watching it with cynicism and clarity my whole life, long before social media softened the images of men who exist in almost as toxic an environment now as they did twenty years ago. Going to pride parades hasn’t changed shit. Black players aren’t out here saying how great everything is now. I have no reason to not view the culture of hockey any differently.

I wasn’t upset about raining on the Pens’ back-to-back parade last year, I’m not upset about raining on this parade either. 

Pretending to ‘complicate’ this issue is an effort to escape from it. Just admit you don’t want to deal with the same ramifications when it’s your own team fucking up.

But it’s still different!

Then consider your supposedly unbiased protest of the Penguins last year invalidated, bud.

I’m gonna reblog this with a bunch of useless but detailed stuff about why it’s still different to try and obfuscate the issue in my team’s favor but dress it up as being politically smart.

Go for it! You’d be joining your Ovechkin and his pal Putin in terms of spin, so why not? No one with common sense and no Caps loyalty will care and tumblr’s confusing activity page means I never see additions unless I happen to check. As I know that any refutation of this will just be from butthurt and defensive Caps fans, I’m not gonna bother. Turn it into a circle jerk of reducing grown mens’ responsibilities if that gets you high! I’ll never know or care even if you send it to me.

Always remember that Ovechkin’s deep-level and very personally motivated involvement with the Kremlin has been his avid voluntary choice his entire career and that Caps fans and his team mates regularly side-step and excuse his association with a regime that is commits genocide (Smith-Pelly and Holtby included, who adore him not just tolerate him). This being the main reason why I have never been able to make myself root for the Caps under Ovechkin’s captaincy.

So I won’t be surprised if this White House visit successfully avoids all protest.

It’s disgusting that it hasn’t happened so far, so forgive me if I’m not out here writing posts as olive branches to hope that maybe I’ll see anything like the scale of outrage as last year. It’ll still be great if it happens, but the start of this summer hasn’t been promising.

#alexander ovechkin #braden holtby #brooks orpik #washington capitals #donald trump #tw politics #rl hockey

[disinvited-guest]

6/15/18 Recap

It was probably an illogical decision to go to this show, but it was also an excellent one.  This show was absolutely bursting with energy, joy, and humor.

I got a bit later start than I wanted, turns out it’s harder to get out of the house quickly when everyone else is up and getting ready for their day at the same time.  Driving east as the sun was rising was less than ideal, and I made bad time after two rest-station stops and a longer lunch than I wanted.  I finally got there a few minutes before 4 and met up with @littlemissterter (Teralyn).  We  met and talked with a whole bunch of other fans as we waited (including @teedeekay who gave me a das pendant, stood to block the sun from my eyes, and was generally super nice). 

An hour before doors, we were funneled into a hot, loud metal room where we waited until we could get into the venue.  Once in, I snagged a spot only just in the front row, as far left as someone could stand without being entirely blocked by the amp.  The stage was small enough that they had adjusted their setup, placing the keyboard far to stage left (our right).  

The guys came onstage with New York City, and it was clear they were happy to be performing together again, even if they were a bit crowded together by the lack of space  on the stage.   Throughout the first few songs, Danny gave a smile or nod to everyone he knew in the front, which amounted to nearly the whole front row (myself included!).  I noticed that Linnell had kept his beard (this was just after the Tony ceremony pictures had caused a bit of a ruckus).

After the song was over, everyone onstage was trying to work out sound issues.  We were told that they were receiving secret messages by way of explanation.

Marty needed some adjustments in his ear monitors and leaned out over his drums to shout to the crew.  The crew member he was shouting to evidently didn’t notice, but it did attract the attention of both Dans, who both went over to Marty to ask what the issue was, then got the attention of someone off the other side to fix the problem.

After the sound issues seemed mostly fixed, they moved on into Fingertips which, as always, is fantastic live.  

After that, there were more issues with the  sound to be straightened out “Welcome to our soundcheck,” Flans told us.  They both were told to talk so they could sort out the levels and Flans relayed those instructions to us.  Danny stepped up to a mic to tell the crew he wanted Flans’ vocals up and Linnell’s vocals down in his monitors and Linnell pretended to be hurt by the request.

The sound once again sorted out, Flans started to introduce the next song as from their new album, but noticed Dan and Danny whispering in the back and asked if there was a problem.  Linnell told his they were discussing a later part of the show and Flans replied sarcastically “Now is a good time to discuss it.”

The song Flans was introducing turned out to be the always entertaining Let’s Get This Over With, with Linnell at his accordion mic where I  could actually see him.  While Linnell switched back to keyboards, Flans told us that “We can’t talk about current events because it’s “‘all a hoax’” Then explained “this pause when we would say something.”  Danny came up to Flans and told him he could talk about Paul Manafort, and Flans said “Oh yeah, we can talk about that.  On behalf of Paul Manafort, ‘I did it, I’m guilty, I’d like to say I’m so sorry to Putin and all of the Russians.’”

I think this was when Flans and Linnell discussed their ongoing and upcoming projects.  Linnell commented that he liked that they were pretending it was a private conversation and that the audience wasn’t here.  Flans replied that the crowd was loving it, which got a cheer.

After Don’t Let’s Start, Flans told us that earlier that day he was driving through “What can only be described as a ‘rural part of the state,’”  and saw a sign advertising that fireworks were ‘now available to local residents’.

He asked the crowd what that was about, and someone answered in a drunken shout “Because we’re the Replacements.”

Linnell peered into the part of the crowd the answer had come from and commented “That answer makes as much sense as the sign does.”

Flans then commented that, from an entrepreneurial standpoint, only selling to people from out of state made sense. “Blow up your own turf!”

Your Racist Friend was next, with Curt making his grand entrance and blowing everyone away as always.

Flans forgot the lyrics at the beginning of one of the verses to this song.  Dan was behind him, and either mouthed or sang the lyrics at him (sans mic, so I couldn’t tell) until he recovered.

Linnell switched to his accordion for Whistling in the Dark, introducing it by saying “I forget which album this is on.”

Linnell then switched from the accordion to the contra alto clarinet.  Flans first introduced it correctly as the contra alto clarinet, then second-guessed himself, saying it was the contra bass clarinet before asking Linnell, who confirmed it was contra alto.  After Flans made another incorrect comment, Linnell jokingly replied “I hate to keep correcting you, but-” and they got into a discussion about  couples counseling for bands.  Apparently Linnell and Dan had been talking about it earlier that day, and a group who it didn’t work for.  Dan kept coming up to Linnell with comments about it, and Linnell would respond off-mic and then they would both crack up.  Linnell had Flansburgh try to guess what band it was, but was so distracted by Dan that Flans eventually gave up and they started into All Time What.  

From there they went straight into Mrs. Bluebeard, then paused only for Flans to tell us that “In the ideal version of the show, the transition between these songs is a seamless segway.” before starting into This Microphone.

The Dans left the stage and Marty grabbed his bell for Shoehorn With Teeth.  The bell was introduced, then the Johns discussed the Glockenspiel they used to have, Flans pointed out TDK in the front row, and said they gave it to him, but they weren’t sure what city they gave it away in.

Curt’s Euphonium was introduced as being worth $800 when melted down.  Curt jokingly took offense at that, until Flans continued “in its current form: priceless.”

After Shoehorn, Flans reintroduced Dan and Danny, saying that the Dans had returned and that it was “all gonna be alright.”

They then played I Left My Body, Damn Good Times, and Particle Man without pause.  They had a bit of trouble getting the clapping going for Particle Man.  Flans had to restart it a few times, and it never really got going like it usually does.  Marty took advantage of the  interlude, which was Here You Come Again, to shove half of a protein bar in his mouth. Dan used the time to switch from guitar to keyboard, which he played for the rest of the song and stayed on for Doctor Worm, which closed out the set.  They held the last note for a long time like they have been at the end of sets, to be honest, I’m not a big fan of it.  My asthmatic self can only cheer for so long at once!

During the break between sets, I was treated to a view of Marty backstage air drumming to the between-set mix.  He was really into it, with the same head-bobbing, foot-tapping, face-making intensity he has onstage.  It was adorably wonderful.

The Johns and Marty came back onstage to start the Quiet Storm section of the show with Older.  Marty wanted his sound adjusted during this song, so he would play his part, use the last motion to turn so he was facing backstage, and give the crew feedback in the tiny pause.  I wasn’t sure how helpful that was to the crew, but they got it sorted out and I was impressed with Marty’s multitasking skills.

Flans introduced the Quiet storm as Always Quiet and Often Stormy, reintroduced Curt, then told us that they had “just got back from a session with our couples counselor,” and that they felt closer and knew each other  better.  He and Linnell riffed on this idea for a bit before Flans introduced I Like Fun as “The title track off the new album-”

“Finally!” Linnell interjected

“-who’s all important second verse has become even more relevant.” Flans finished, referring to him now being 58.

Flans introduced Tippecanoe and Tyler Too by telling us “Seven or eight minutes into our session, we realized we had to leave to go back onstage, and our therapist said ‘you know, people really like your old songs’ so this is a special long-distance dedication to our couples therapist.”

They played Self Called Nowhere, then How Can I Sing Like A Girl, with Flans introducing it while Linnell had already started the accordion part, to finish the Quiet Storm.  

Curt had to literally run to grab his valve trombone, which wasn’t in it’s usual place, so he could start the intro to Istanbul. There’s always so much going on  during this song that I never get tired of it.  

Curt’s ending to the song was so ridiculously good that it wowed the rest of the guys onstage as well as the crowd. The Johns joked that all people from Connecticut could play trumpet like that, and Linnell said that he’d heard “Katharine Hepburn play that exact same solo.” He tried to continue the joke, but could only come up with one other person from Connecticut, and asked Flans if he knew any others.

Flans responded that he had worked for a lady who’s mother grew up in the same town as Katharine Hepburn, and that she would call the office and ask in that same voice ‘Is Elizabeth there?’  

“And she played a mean jazz trumpet!” Linnell added, before telling us that Curt spoke exactly like Katharine Hepburn too.

They then played When Will You Die, with Linnell singing “This is Dan and that’s Dan-ny,” but not adding Curt’s name in like he has been.

Let Me Tell You About My Operation was especially wild.  Flans accidentally dropped his pick in front of TDK, who picked it up and handed it to me! It was tortoiseshell with Flans on it in a Flood logo type pattern.

I forget how it came up, but Flans returned to the couples counseling joke, saying that was where they learned about ‘radical honesty’.  Linnell told us all that they would probably not talk about couples counseling tomorrow and Flans added that it was a  “special bonus for today.”

They played Wicked Little Critta then Twisting, with Flans explaining to us that they were intentionally skipped a song.  Apparently this was the part of the show where his guitar was at its loudest and it was “scrambling his brains” so he needed time to recover.  

After Twisting, they plugged some ongoing projects, threatening “direct eye-contact” for those who didn’t know about 2018 dial-a-song.  They mentioned the Lincoln remaster, and being near Lancaster again “in this calendar year.”

Flans introduced the next song as from The Else, but told us “Don’t cheer i probably got it wrong!”  He was right though, as they then played The Mesopotamians.  Marty morphed the end of it into the start of Ana Ng, which is absolutely fantastic to witness.  

Flans started the first Encore by introducing the band and then they played Hey Mr. DJ.  They did some of the fade out, then faded back in to finish.  They then played Spy.  For the ending, Linnell used the “now the night is gone” sample he’s been using, but gradually replaced the sample by screaming it into the mic over what the rest of the guys were playing.  He gave control over to Flans but continued in that vein.   Flans alternated with that and pushing his strings to the mic-stand, then brought the audience in at the end.

Coming onstage for the second encore, Flans wished a Happy Birthday to a guy in the balcony who had been holding a sign about it all night.  They played Birdhouse in Your Soul, then Flans had the house lights turned up so he could make direct eye-contact with members of the crowd to thank them for coming.

They finished the night with End of the Tour.  From his spot upstage, Danny mouthed the lyrics to the entire first verse, which was adorable.  

Afterwards, Danny came out in a bit of a hurry, and gave out three of the setlists (one of them to me) before rushing back offstage.  Marty came out to give out the rest of the setlists, his drumsticks (One of which he threw into the balcony!), and the drumhead.  TDK gestured Marty should give the drumhead to me.  I was trying to think of a polite way to say that he had already given me one in Indianapolis (getting two seemed unfair to everyone else), but wasn't sure exactly how to do that.  Marty said something to TDK and handed the drumhead to a girl next to me.  I started to leave and look for Teralyn, when TDK told me that Marty had told him I had already got one.

I found Teralyn, who wanted a picture with Marty, so we headed back up to the edge of the stage. Marty was finishing up signing, so I gave away the rest of my magnets while we waited.  He was about to leave when Teralyn managed to get to the front and ask him for a picture.  I took it for them, then Marty checked with me to make sure he had already given me a drumhead before leaving.

(I’m just going to freak out about this a tiny bit here: I knew that Marty recognized me from show to show on my week long run, but I never guessed he’d remember me, or that he also recognised me from the February shows!)

On our way out we stopped at the bar, where I tried to by a bottle of water, but we both got free ice waters instead (Thank you nice bartender lady!).  Teralyn wanted to wait by the bus for the guys and I agreed to go with her, even though I needed to get started on the drive home and was really nervous about the concept. I was really glad that I did, because it was well worth it!

When we got to the back of the venue, there was no bus, but there were a few other groups waiting. One family assured us that this was where the performers would be leaving.  We started noticing the New York license plates on the parked cars and realized that the guys had driven there themselves.

Flans exited the venue, now wearing an orange t-shirt and without his glasses on.  Another group asked him to sign some things, but none of them had brought a pen.  I supplied them with my Sharpie (I hope Flans wasn’t upset with me for ruining his excuse) and eventually got him to sign the cloth square I had brought.

As Flans was signing it, he asked me what it was.  I told him I was going to whipstitch it onto a blanket I was crocheting.  He seemed pleasantly surprised by this and said “Oh! You crochet! Have you started knitting yet?”

Then, instead of some platitude, my stupid smartass mouth responded without consulting my brain “Nope, crocheting is just knitting for lesbians!”

“Oh, that’s not true.  Knitting is knitting for lesbians,” Flans told me, as I was still realizing what I had said.  As he handed me back my cloth and sharpie, he looked me in the eyes and said “Don’t give up on knitting.”

He headed around to the drivers side of his car, telling the group he had a 4 hour drive.  As he was getting in, someone asked him a question about the car and he stopped to tell us all about it.  Apparently he’s had it for a while, and it was the first car he ever bought new.  The same person asked if the seat was comfortable, and Flans replied that it was, and that it was “the perfect car to grow old with,” before getting in and closing the door.

He had a little trouble getting out of his spot, and I thoughtlessly headed towards the far side of the car to tell him how much space he had. Luckily, he managed to get out of the spot before I made it over, so I was spared from making a complete fool of myself all over again.

Marty, Dan, and Linnell all came out of the venue together, having all ridden in the same van. Looking only a little panicked Linnell told us they were in a rush and couldn’t sign things, but suggested the alternative of shaking hands, then actually followed through.  I’ve received a handshake from John Linnell!

My sharpie was borrowed again, with another group getting something signed from Marty, before they had everything packed up and drove off.

Curt left a bit later.  Another group had him sign a Why? Vinyl with my Sharpie and he jokingly told them “You know it’s not me on the cover.”

I responded, again without asking my brain, that it looked like him and he said “I get that a lot.” He signed my cloth as well.  I was a little more aggressive asking than I was comfortable with, but it was my Sharpie he was using.

Danny had apparently already left, so I said my goodbyes to Teralyn and headed for my car.  When I got there, I found out the universe had taught me a cruel lesson: the pocket where I had put Flans’ guitar pick had a hole in it and the pick was gone!

#tmbg #recap

[kittykatz009]

Breaking News

I got commissioned by the lovely @deepestkoalapeach for a Code Geass fanfic! I had fun with this and it let me explore an anime I forgot that I needed to continue watching! I apologize if any of the characters are too OOC. 

Rating: Teen and Up 

Pairing: SuzuLulu (Suzaku x Lelouch)

Warnings: Politics, Language, Modern AU

Word Count: 1035

AO3/FFN

Summary: Sometimes you have to hope for the best, but expect the worst to happen. Modern AU involving the Mueller Investigation. 

“Oh come on, I don’t care that a celebrity is going to have a baby. No one honestly should care about that right now. There are more pressing issues at hand!” Suzaku shouted at the television, running his hands across his knees nervously.

“What are you going on about, Suzu?” Lelouch asked with a yawn, running a hand through his unkempt hair as he walked into their living room. He stopped behind the other man, resting his hands on his shoulder as he bent down to give him a soft kiss on the crown of his head.

“They are releasing more details of the Mueller investigation today! However, all the media can seem to focus on is the latest celebrity gossip. It’s insane; doesn’t everyone realize that this trial can prove that the entire election was interfered with from the start?” Suzaku huffed, leaning back into the couch, enjoying the soothing massage his boyfriend was giving his shoulders.

“You know how the media is—they will present whatever story they can to get the ratings up. So sad that journalism has taken such a drastic turn for the worst,” Lelouch sympathized.

“It just is ridiculous, to be quite honest. I can’t wait for the turn of the hour; at least we will get the newest details then.” Lelouch hummed in acknowledgment, pushing himself away from the couch.

“Would you like me to make some coffee for you?” Lelouch asked as he started for the kitchen.

“That would be lovely. Thank you Lulu,” Suzaku called, attention still glued to the television. Lelouch couldn’t help but to admire how adorable Suzaku looked when he was focused like this. His flannel pajama pants sat low on his hips and the oversized black tee shirt, that Lelouch had reason to believe was his, was haphazardly thrown on, giving him the impression that Suzaku merely threw on the first clothes he could find as soon as he awoke and rushed to the television to try and gather the newest scoop. While he never could really understand Suzaku’s fixation with politics, he appreciated the man nonetheless. Once upon a time he cared about the political infrastructure of the United States, but that all went to hell the minute the election results brought the newest President into office. For a couple like them to now live in an America where their rights from the previous Administration were slowly being ignored was something that cut at Lelouch deeply. He would be lying if he said he never entertained the thought of assassination, but he knew that it was such a far-fetched idea, and one that Suzaku would never condone, no matter how upset he may be.

“Hey Lulu, are there any muffins left?” Suzaku called, breaking Lelouch from his thoughts. Lelouch blinked, realizing that the coffee pot was full. He quickly grabbed two mugs, filling them and adding some milk and sugar to Suzaku’s cup before snagging two muffins and heading back into the living room.

“Sorry, I spaced out. Here you go,” Lelouch smiled, giving Suzaku a kiss on the cheek and settling himself next to the other on the couch.

“Thank you so much,” Suzaku smiled, taking the food and drink and savoring it.

“Any updates yet?” Lelouch asked, sipping at his coffee while reading the ticker on the bottom of the screen.

“None as of yet. Now they are focusing on a celebrity overdose,” Suzaku sighed in irritation. “It is seriously baffling how little people seem to care about this.”

“Most people probably aren’t paying too much attention because they feel that once again, the truth is going to be swept under the rug,” Lelouch muttered darkly.

“There is no way they can hide something as big as this from the public!” Suzaku exclaimed, turning his attention to the other man for the first time since the day began.

“Really Suzu? Until recently, they were doing a pretty great job of hiding the fact that the Russians interfered with the election results. The only reason that any of this has aired is because Mueller is a damn good investigator.”

“Well, that’s all you really need though, a great investigator. Once everything comes to light, then we as the American people can finally have the fair and just trial that we deserve.”

“Suzaku—a fair trial? I know you are idealistic, but there is no way that a fair trial will come out of this, as much as we both want it.” He really hated to be the one to burst Suzaku’s bubble, but he knew better. Since day one of the campaign season for the newest administration, the name of the game was to cover up evidence and find a way to destroy whatever did come into the limelight.

“Why are you being so pessimistic, Lulu?” Suzaku grumbled around a piece of muffin.

“I am being realistic, not pessimistic. We both know that as soon as the defense can find the smallest piece of evidence to twist to their liking, it is all over. Besides, the administration has been trying to safeguard this information since the beginning—firing people in as little as thirty days after taking position just to protect their asses.”

“God,” Suzaku groaned. “I just cannot believe any of this. I mean, look how chummy the President has been with Putin. How could there be any doubt that the election was interfered with? I just cannot believe this is happening. If President T-"

"Stop right there Suzaku. We do not speak his name. It only gives that egomaniac power. And the last thing he needs is more of that."

“You’re right,” he sighed, leaning onto Lelouch. “I am just so nervous for all of this. I really want justice to happen.”

“I know you do, and so do I. All we can really do is just hope that Mueller will have enough evidence to nail Manafort’s ass and slowly bring the rest of them down with him.”

“Oh God, here we go,” Suzaku whispered as the clock struck ten, the screen changing to a headline of Breaking News. Lelouch gripped his hand, pulling him close as they prepared to see what new fresh hell the reporters had for them today.

#the kitten writes #code geass #kururugi suzaku #lelouch lamperouge #suzaku x lelouch #suzululu #fanfiction #my fanfiction #commission #modern au

[automatismoateo]

Evangelical Christians cannot be relied upon to remain loyal to the U.S. or to Western cultural values via /r/atheism

Evangelical Christians cannot be relied upon to remain loyal to the U.S. or to Western cultural values

(Post was removed from /r/debatereligion because it has nothing to do with religion...allegedly.)

I'm Canadian, so fears of pro-Putin Christian terrorist attacks in the U.S. by Evangelicals aren't an immediate concern of mine.

However, the rhetoric of American Conservative/Christians over recent years, esp. in the past few days, do give me reason for concern.

Firstly, people might recall Evangelical pastor Franklin Graham trying to organize a "Pray for Putin" event. While most people dismissed this as in bad taste, an apologists argued that these prayers were aimed at appealing to Putin for peace, other Christian narratives would contradict this idea.

Secondly, Trump recently praised Putin, expressing his admiration of Putin's [wisdom for invading Ukraine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvH8qJIcpsg). As we know, Trump has long been in the pocket of Putin, owing Russia vast sums of money. Supposedly, Trump is also being controlled by Putin over a sex tape in which Trump urinates over two Russian prostitutes.

Fox News, the preferred media source for American Evangelicals, has also asked Americans to stay loyal to Putin [see Tucker Carlson's appeals here](https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/02/23/tucker-carlson-putin-russia-ukraine/).

Steve Bannon, far-right commentator who is often adored by American Conservatives also recently spoke in support of Putin and the invasion of Ukraine as an [attack on Wokeness](https://www.newsweek.com/former-trump-adviser-steve-bannon-backs-anti-woke-vladimir-putin-1682122). Apparently Bannon has some confusion about his gender because he doesn't know what bathroom to use, and apparently such confusion is nonexistent in Putin's Russia.

And [GOP Candidate Lauren Witzke recently declared Putin's invasion of Ukraine a holy war to defend Russia's Christian values](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77K8PccbwKk).

The treasonous actions of Christians/Conservatives do indeed suggest a level of disloyalty to the United States and to our Western cultural values.

Submitted February 25, 2022 at 06:13AM by SolidPrestigious (From Reddit https://ift.tt/xR06Hrn)

#reddit

[blogpinoy339]

Avenged Sevenfold Hail To The King Zip

Avenged Sevenfold Full Song List

Avenged Sevenfold Albums

The Best of 2005–2013Compilation album by ReleasedDecember 2, 2016Recorded2004–2013GenreLength1:35:39LabelWarner Bros.Avenged Sevenfold chronology

The Stage (2016)The Best of 2005–2013 (2016)Live at the GRAMMY Museum (2017)

Get the best deals on avenged sevenfold hoodie when you shop the largest online selection at eBay.com. Free shipping on many items Browse your favorite brands. Avenged Sevenfold Full Zip Hoodie! Hail to the King! AVENGED SEVENFOLD METAL ROCK. Avenged Sevenfold - Hail To The King by Gandi Tama. Publication date 2013-11-29 Usage Public Domain Mark 1.0 Topics Avenged sevenfold Language Indonesian. The Best of 2005–2013 is a greatest hits album by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold, released by the band's former label, Warner Music Group, on December 2, 2016.The album covers songs from all of the band's albums released under Warner Bros., from City of Evil to Hail to the King, including covers and one-off singles released in between. Audio normalizer for windows.

The Best of 2005–2013 is a greatest hits album by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold, released by the band's former label, Warner Music Group, on December 2, 2016. The album covers songs from all of the band's albums released under Warner Bros., from City of Evil to Hail to the King, including covers and one-off singles released in between.(1) The band members themselves have not endorsed or supported this album due to it being released without their consent, knowledge or involvement. The album has since been removed from digital streaming services.

Background(edit)

In early 2016, Avenged Sevenfold left Warner Bros. for Capitol Records, resulting in a legal battle between the record label and the band.(2) In response to the allegedly-leaked release date of the band's seventh album, falsely leaked and titled Voltaic Oceans with a December 9 release date by Chris Jericho over Instagram, Warner Bros. announced The Best of 2005–2013, to be released one week prior to the leaked release date, on December 2. However, the band officially surprise-released the album as The Stage on October 28, to which the label quickly changed the release date to capitalize on traffic, but reverted to its December 2 release.

Avenged Sevenfold Full Song List

Singer M. Shadows has openly expressed disdain about the release of the greatest hits album without the band's knowledge, stating 'You’re gonna try to put this record out right before our new record just to undercut us and try to confuse the casual fan, like, 'Is this the new record? Or is that the new record?' Or parents buying stuff for Christmas. So it's just really childish.'(3)

Track listing(edit)

Disc oneNo.TitleAlbumLength1.'Bat Country'City of Evil, 20055:112.'Beast and the Harlot'City of Evil, 20055:433.'Seize the Day'City of Evil, 20055:344.'Critical Acclaim'Avenged Sevenfold, 20075:155.'Almost Easy'Avenged Sevenfold, 20073:546.'Afterlife'Avenged Sevenfold, 20075:527.'Dear God'Avenged Sevenfold, 20076:338.'A Little Piece of Heaven'Avenged Sevenfold, 20078:00

Disc twoNo.TitleAlbumLength1.'Nightmare'Nightmare, 20106:142.'Welcome to the Family'Nightmare, 20104:053.'So Far Away'Nightmare, 20105:264.'Hail to the King'Hail to the King, 20135:055.'Shepherd of Fire'Hail to the King, 20135:236.'Walk' (Pantera cover)High Voltage!: A Brief History of Rock, 20065:207.'Flash of the Blade' (Iron Maiden cover)Maiden Heaven: A Tribute to Iron Maiden, 20084:018.'Paranoid' (Black Sabbath cover)Covered, A Revolution in Sound, 20092:439.'Carry On'Black Reign (EP), 20184:1510.'Not Ready to Die'Black Reign (EP), 20187:05

Avenged Sevenfold Albums

Personnel(edit)

M. Shadows – lead vocals

Zacky Vengeance – rhythm guitar, backing vocals

Synyster Gates – lead guitar, backing vocals

Johnny Christ – bass, backing vocals

The Rev – drums, backing vocals (all tracks on disc one, tracks 6, 7 and 8 on disc two)

Mike Portnoy – drums (tracks 1, 2 and 3 on disc two)

Arin Ilejay – drums (tracks 4, 5, 9 & 10 on disc two)

External links(edit)

References(edit)

^'Avenged Sevenfold to Release 'The Best of 2005-2013''. Loudwire.

^'Avenged Sevenfold Wants Out of Warner Bros. Contract, Label Sues: Exclusive'.

^'A7X's M. Shadows Denounces Warner 'Greatest Hits' Album'. Loudwire.

Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Best_of_2005–2013&oldid=991057901'

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Song Released: 2013

Hail to the King Lyrics

'Hail To The King' Watch your tongue or have it cut from your head Save your life by keeping whispers unsaid Children roam the streets now orphans of war Bodies hanging in the streets to adore Royal faith will carve the path in..

1TOP RATED

anonymous

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Mar 27th, 2018 3:37pmreport

I thought this was an actual Christian song about praising God.

2TOP RATED

anonymous

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Oct 8th, 2016 10:05pmreport

A song about the people yearning to bring back and greet the coming Christian king to rule in the name of God's son Jesus Christ in the near future. In order to save our Western society that has been polluted and corrupted by the ungodly intellectual illuminated illuminaries, working with the old Bolshevik communist, Zionist Nazi slave driven mentality, that has been used on us with the throat cutters now, to create and accomplish their agenda for the one world order rule, who calls themselves the globalists. That are against hailing to the coming of the king, like they have always been, and now who likes for us to be against the Christian 'czar' Vladimir Putin that are demonizing him like he is the new Hitler to scapegoat for war, and don't want to be surfing themselves to 'Hail To The King' and serve God.

anonymous

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Aug 13th, 8:25amreport

The song is not about a tyrant king. Because even after the the rebellion of the people in that interpretation happens they still hail to the king. I think the song is about the second comming of the messiah. Every interpretation I have come across that says otherwise leaves out the part about being born again but it's to late to atone. There are so many other correlations to be made with him being referred to as the king, the one, standing in the sun or the light. The bad has references to god in there songs all the time this is no different.

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anonymous

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Jul 5th, 7:42amreport

This the sound tracks of the series game of thrones, cutting heads, cutting dick,cuting hairs fuck it all hail to tha king.

anonymous

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Mar 24th, 2020 3:27pmreport

You dont need my opinion, it's mine. just enjoy good music when and where you find it. Stop over anylising everything, get a job and stop worrying about life so much. It is going to end someday for all of us. Be right with GOD and enjoy whats here. opinionated huh?

anonymous

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Feb 20th, 2020 2:59pmreport

It's Trump's theme song for his MAGA rallies.

anonymous

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Jan 11th, 2020 1:34amreport

This is a Clear Depiction and Story of Julius Caesar and his Accomplishments. Kaiser which a title meaning ruler or King derived from Caesar. Hail to the King.

anonymous

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Jun 24th, 2019 6:39pmreport

It's a long shot but I think of this song as the rein of Hitler. 'Watch your tongue or have it cut from your head' Those who opposed Hitler were suppressed in violent ways. This song is clearly about a tyrant king who suppressed opposition. It's an idea, but it's probably not about him especially coming from a band like this.

anonymous

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Sep 14th, 2018 9:53pmreport

My interpretation is like others have said, about a tyrant king, but the ending shows something dark not sure if it's death or the devil! But the song is badass!

anonymous

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May 1st, 2018 5:40amreport

i'm not 200% but I think that the song is about a Tyrant king who is suppressing the common folk in a time of war

anonymous

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Apr 27th, 2018 4:13pmreport

Hail to the King is an occult song. It's referencing Saturn which rules death, decay, slowness, cold, sharpness, rings, winter, grief, solemnity and time. 'Watch your tongue or have it cut from your head' - Saturn is a very serious entity. He doesn't joke or love. As the angel Cassiel who governs Saturn once said, 'I leave love to others.' 'Save your life by keeping whispers unsaid' - Saturn is quiet which is manifest in winter silence for example. So this line is saying respect Saturn and rest in the stillness. 'hildren roam the streets, now orphans of war' - War brings about death. Losing one's parents to war brings mourning and grief. All Saturnian characteristics. 'Bodies hanging in the streets to adore' - Don't fear death, come to terms with it by understanding it's place in life. 'Royal flames will carve a path in chaos' This carving a path could be a reference to the shape of Saturn's knife, the scythe. 'Bringing daylight to the night' This line references bringing attention and action to the night which Saturn rules. 'Death is riding into town with armor,' Pretty clear 'They've come to take all your rights' You can't have rights if you're dead. 'Hail to the king, hail to the one Kneel to the crown, stand in the sun Hail to the king' Saturn is king because he rules time and death. Therefor, let's honor him as king. Also, historically Saturn has always been worshipped and there is even confusion between the Sun and Saturn hence 'Stand in the sun' line. Some believe Saturn was once a sun which undergone a change with cataclysmic consequences on earth. Others believe Saturn always was the planet that the 'sun' referred to. 'Blood is spilt while holding keys to the throne Born again, but it's too late to atone No mercy from the edge of the blade Dare escape and learn the price to be paid' This refers to the inevitability of death and Saturn's influence on our lives. Saturn strikes us with cold, sharp fear. The blade is another reference to the Scythe. Saturn doesn't do love so if you try to escape his grasp, you WILL lose and indeed learn the 'price to be paid' for your arrogance. The rest is pretty clear as well. Hope this helps. This is coming from a magician. Additionally, Saturn worship is seen in wedging RINGS, halos above the heads of saints (a reference to Saturn's rings) and countless other customs. It's deep. This is coming from a magician who evokes spirits. Honoring them in music is definitely an excellent way to reap the benefits of their office.

anonymous

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Feb 18th, 2018 2:37amreport

I think this song is about Satan and The Illuminati. https://blogpinoy339.tumblr.com/post/653279790755921920/diskmaker-x-snow-leopard. When he says watch your mouth ill have it cut from your head I believe that Its the Illuminati saying that if he talks about what they do then they will kill them

anonymous

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Jun 26th, 2017 6:28pmreport

A tyrant king who rules over his subjects with a iron fist who kills all who oppose him it is not about the bible or the second coming.

skullripper48

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Jun 17th, 2017 6:56pmreport

this is a song, in my opinion, that is a sarcastic pledge to the leaders of the world. 'These people torture us and are totally disconnected, not concerned with anything but the almighty dollar, but by all means, HAIL TO THE KING!'

anonymous

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Jan 9th, 2017 1:22pmreport

I think the king is death, and the lyrics show how in the end, death triumphs over everything

anonymous

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Jun 9th, 2016 6:52amreport

This song is about a tyrant king who abused his people and how they are angry with him everything from armour to the sky blackened with arrows describes a Dark ages king who has alust for power it is not Jesus'second coming or the anti Crist or Satan it is a dark ruler like Bloody Mary, king Richard III, or Henry VIII.

JJG103

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Aug 10th, 2015 8:55amreport

I think its about anything that can completely take over you and your every thought and therfore effect you and everybody and everything that surrounds or includes you and or something or someone or anything that is effected by you weather it be drugs or love,war,jesus violence or being the best at something. if you look at it like that you can put any circumstance weather it be good or bad in there case opiate addiction is the king

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