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darkarfs · 3 years

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the worst movie tie-ins in the history of wrestling

Wrestling is stupid, and will show its ass at the mere mention of cross-promotion, especially when it comes to movies, which is it's cooler older brother that can get away with a lot more. Hell, the 2nd ever SummerSlam's main event, in 1989, was Hulk Hogan facing the main villain, Tiny Lister as Zeus (RIP), from the film they were both in, No Holds Barred. So wrestling's always wanted a piece of that. So... - Army of the Dead Let's just get this one out of the way. Here's the thing; I thought the WrestleMania Backlash's card was fucking perfect...except for this weird business. WMB MIGHT've been the best show of the pandemic (hot take) were it not for making sure we sell Big Dave's big zombie heist movie. If they had just kept some of the guys in zombie makeup on the Thunderdome's webcam footage, that would have been borderline charming. But instead, the Miz (who was WWE champion 3 months ago, don't forget) and Damien Priest (who they're making WWE's pop-culture liaison so far on the main roster, for some reason) had to sell for zombies in a lumberjack match. If this was the first ever wrestling show you watched with a loved one who had never watched wrestling or hadn't since like, the end of the Attitude Era, would you for a second want them to stick around after Miz and Morrison get, for all intents and purposes, kayfabe killed and eaten, and then watch Damien Priest shoot the logo at the ceiling? My money's on "no." - Shaft Speaking of the Attitude Era, anytime someone tells you that wrestling was cooler in that 3-year time frame, point them to the June 15th of 2000 episode of SmackDown, where a storyline that ran throughout the show followed Patterson and Briscoe through New York City to find Crash Holly and his Hardcore Title. Now, I admit parts of this are kinda funny, like Briscoe just wanting to give up and find a "gen-yoo-WINE New York hot dawg!" That's fun! And who does Crash Holly run into but none other than Shaft, and his woman, the only one who understands this complicated man, John Shaft. So, we have real Samuel L. Jackson, playing fake John Shaft, talking to real/fictional Crash Holly, and man is it weird. Anyway, Shaft agrees to be Crash's bodyguard for the night, and he slaps around Patterson and Briscoe in a nightclub. After all, what better way to get across how cool and badass a character is than having him knock around the fucking Stooges? - The Wrestler Well, this is complicated. The Wrestler, starring ancient wooden lion Mickey Rourke, is a somber tale about an industry that, in its heyday, left people physically spent, washed-up and addicted to adrenaline at best, and dead at worst. It famously moved Roddy Piper to tears because he recognized what destruction and brokenness the industry once left in its wake. Which is why it's super-weird that WWE jumped at the chance to promote maybe the bleakest possible look at their world in 2009, and did so by having Chris Jericho smack the shit out of three old wrestlers at WrestleMania 25, including Roddy Piper. And then have Rourke jump into the ring, wearing his "do you want to take peyote in the desert?" starter kit and bring out his amateur boxing chops. Tonally, it's just really bleak. Like if the creator of Super Size Me screened the premiere at the world's biggest McDonald's. - Bride of Chucky Poor Rick Steiner. You didn't deserve this. You're the sane Steiner. They shouldn't have made you talk to the puppet. So, WCW was heading into Halloween Havoc 1998, and after years of stomping all over the WWF in the ratings, the wheels had come off, and dramatically. Like, all at once. Like the car in the Blues Brothers. To boost PPV buys, they spent a fortune bringing in the Ultimate Warrior to rekindle a feud with Hulk Hogan, mostly by hiding in his fucking mirror. And the Steiner Brothers, one of the best teams of the early 90s, had been feuding with one another since Scott turned on his at SuperBrawl. What was the best way to build hype around this match at Halloween Havoc? Why, to have Rick get into a war of words - and lose - to Chucky. Yes.

Serial killer doll voiced by Brad Dourif, and it's so sad. Chucky cusses Rick out while Rick challenges the fucking doll to a fight, which is promptly ignored (Chucky's video segment is pre-recorded, and you can tell because he starts talking about 3 times in 3 minutes while Rick's mid-promo and missing his cues to stop) and then is made fun of. And all the while, people were probably wondering "what's going on on Vince's show?" and the answer is...that was the episode of Raw where Austin fills Vince's Corvette with cement, which is slightly more badass than being teased by a puppet. - The Goods Here's the thing: Raw is, right now, a bad show. It is bad TV. It's been bad for a while now. And as bad as it is right now, it's still not as fuck-awful as it was in 2009, aka the Age of the Guest Hosts (which, in kayfabe, was given to us by Donald J. Trump, so blame that ambulatory Nazi scrotum for one more thing, he's certainly earned it). For those of you fortunate enough to not be watching what was objectively unwatchable at the time - and hell, I sure as shit wasn't checking in very often - from mid-2009 to around mid-2010, a celebrity would be the special guest host of Monday Night Raw, often to promote a TV show or movie, and it was nearly all horribly-written, cheesy wank. Imagine if every week was the week of the zombie attack at Backlash. That's what it was like. Bob Barker was funny. The Muppets were good. And THAT'S the end of the list. MacGruber coming out to blow up R-Truth made me want to fall on a knife. The A-Team coming out to beat up Virgil was fucking awful. Go straight to fucking HELL, the Three Stooges, Dennis Miller, the reverend Al Sharpton, the 2010 Pittsburgh Steelers, Don Johnson and Jon Heder, the poor entire cast of Hot Tub Time Machine...and then there's Piven. Jeremy Piven. He showed up with Ken Jeong to promote a movie no one remembers...called the Goods. He stunk up several segments, infamously called SummerSlam "the Summer Fest" and then got roughed up by John Cena. Wrestling's the worst. Stop watching. And many did. For a looooooong time. - Robocop 2 This one's infamous, so I'll keep it brief. Robocop 2 came out in 1990, and goddamn, I don't know how much money the producers threw at WCW, but it was enough for them to rebrand an entire PPV "Capitol Combat: the Return of Robocop" and marketed the entire thing around the fancy metallic gentleman. The branding really made it seem like Robert Cop was old friends with the promotion, and indeed, old friends with Sting. Makes sense; two big, heroic idiots running on BASIC. He had been feuding with the Four Horsemen, who locked him in a cage at ringside. Out comes Robocop, called completely straight by Jim Ross, who rips the cage door off his hinges, and then leaves. An accumulated 85 seconds of screen time. Totally worth being the centerpiece of this PPV! But a little context as to why WCW fans hated it so much: 1989, the year before, was regarded by WCW fans as one of the best in company history. The era that gave us stuff like Chi-Town Rumble and the still-very-much-lauded peak of the Steamboat/Flair feud. To go from that to Robocop was seen as a bit of a slap in the face, because WCW was always seen as the more traditional "wrasslin'" company and was never into cheesy pop-culture crossovers, which is why the last one...is all the funnier.

- Ready To Rumble First of all, those dumbasses at Turner had to give Michael Buffer - who they still had on retainer - around $350,000 just to use that title, because he owns the trademark to that phrase. Strike 127 million, capitalism, that a guy gets to own a phrase and gets paid an obscene amount when he or anyone else uses it. Secondly, I initially wasn't going to do movies where the promotion itself is producing the movie, or oh holy HELL would See No Evil and the infamous May 19 shit be on here. But unlike See No Evil, this had a hand in killing a decades-old wrestling promotion, so it feels weird to not include it. On April 7th, 2000, bad movie Ready To Rumble was released, a film about two hapless dorks trying to help Oilver Platt, aka the lawyer from the West Wing, become WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Two weeks later, to promote the movie, they made David Arquette, the lead actor in the movie, the WCW World Heavyweight Champion. He pinned Eric Bischoff, who wasn't the champion, of course, in a match where he was teamed with Diamond Dallas Page, his best pal and the company's top babyface at the time, but who is also one of the villains in the film to make it extra confusing for the mainstream casual audience the movie was made to attract. And, to be fair, Arquette didn't want to do it, NO ONE really wanted to do it, and it tanked viewership for WCW once and for all. At the very least, David took his payday from the wrestling appearances and the film and gave it to the families of Owen Hart, Brian Pillman and to Darren Drozdov, who had been paralyzed from the neck down in a wrestling match the previous year.

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itcertainlyisl-n-h · 3 years

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Empi’s Bedtime Stories 1

Berth Marks 1929

In mid-April 1929 Stan and the gag writers began kicking around ideas for the teams second talking film. The films press sheet claims the story was ‘semi-autobiographical”.

Many times during his long and very traveling career, Stan suffered the trials and tribulations endured by the two vaudevillians of “Berth Marks”. His memory of the days are crowded journeys and narrow upper berths form the basis for this “laugh fest” of a night in a Pullman car.

Ere long, the studio craftsmen were making preparations for the shooting of this “laugh fest”. Because this was a talkie which took place on a train, it was going to need the sound effects of a train. Elmer R. Raguse and his crew placed two microphones inside a real sleeping car with the recording equipment perched precariously on a flat car at the rear of the train.

Shooting had begun by April 20th when a reporter for Hollywood Filmograph noted Laurel and Hardy making scenes at the Santa Fe Depot. A large crowd getting a kick out of their antics...Translation: L&H had their first encounter with a new problem engendered by this newfangled sound equipment.

When shooting on location with the silent camera a crowd giggling and hooting at the actors comedic cut-ups caused no problems. But, with a sound camera all of the giggling and hooting would be captured on the soundtrack. And since this was long before television sitcoms where laugh tracks were necessary to inform the viewer that what was funny, lots of retakes were needed.

The location scenes are remarkably well photographed. By this time someone had figured out that you didn't need four cameras filming every scene in order to have a choice of angles and synchronized sound. Thus Len Powers was the sole cameraman on this picture.

The team’s dialogue in Berth Marks appears to have been entirely improvised. There are sections where some pre-planned dialogue would have helped immensely. During the sequence in which the boys undress in the upper berth Ollie keeps saying “Will you stop crowding” until one wishes Stan’s tangled clothing would strangle him.

To be fair though, the boys do sound entirely at ease in front of the microphones in the second talkie. One reason why the upper berth sequence doesn't come off too well may be the unforeseen problems that Laurel and Hardy encountered while shooting it. Thomas Benson Roberts recalled “It took ‘em three days to get that scene. They’d get to laughing you know; Stan would get his foot in Babe’s underwear. He didn't do it on purpose, he just couldn't see what he was doing...and his he went to stretch out, his foot went in and goosed Babe see?

“They’d get to laughing and then they’d go out and play golf to get it off their minds and of course we were wasting film so they come back the next day set up shoot it again and then break down and laugh again. Three days they're working on that thing.”

The curse of The Unwanted Giggle having first affected the crowds watching Laurel and Hardy at the Santa Fe Depot and now cursing the boys to break up, next spread to the man behind the camera, Len Powers. As he told American Cinematographer “Sometimes I can't do a thing for laughing as they start to ad lib...In Berth Marks most of the very funniest stuff was absolutely devised on the spur of the moment by Stan and Oliver. They got started and we couldn’t stop them and that sequence was side splitting.”

Most existing prints of Berth Marks derived from the 1936 reissue and these copies the opening scenes are a company by an arrangement of the team's signature tune “Cuckoo” recorded in August 1932 by Van Phillips and the Columbia Orchestra. (The original 1929 prints had music over the main titles only “Cuckoo” hadn't been yet been written)

Although well received in its day, Berth Marks is as bumpy and uneven as a trip for its audiences today as it was for Laurel and Hardy.

#laurel and hardy #stan laurel #oliver hardy #berth marks 1929 #behind the scenese #empis bedtime stories

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proprhettcies · 4 years

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Season 5 Episodes 51-60 (405-414)

S5 Ep 51 (405)- Phrases that will save your life

- Please don’t shoot me

- Please don’t stab me

- I’m allergic to peanuts and bee stings (Please don’t punch me in the face)

- Where’s the bathroom?

- Where’s the McDonalds?

- I’m just listening to the voices in my head.

Bacon good- bacon flavored stuff not good

S5 Ep 52 (406)- Weird Conventions

Miranda Sings/ Colleen Balinger

DieCon 08- Alka Seltzer Road Trip

Costco Convention

-Lego Con real

- The Sean Con-nery fake

- Bone- Con fake

- Mer-con real

- Redhead Day real

- Cloud Appreciation Society Annual Con fake

-Celebrity Impersonator Convention real

- Yawn City fake

-International UFO Congress real

- Lick Fest fake

S5 Ep 53 (407)- Playlist Live Episode

amusement parks

roller coasters

state fair

creating their own amusement park

Link’s speech for student council

Q & A- “Thoughts on writing an autobiography style book?”- Link- Yes we have thought about it.”- 2014

S5 Ep 54 (408)- Space Jobs

NASA

Link’s List

- Chief Sniffer

- Space Psychologist

-Visual Coordinator

Rhett’s List

- Space Suit Design Engineer

-General Helper

-Space Tour Guide- made this one up

Laugh attacks as kids

Space Facts

-530 km/sec is how fast we are moving through space

- the moon is drifting away from Earth 3.8 cm every year because of tidal effects

- The light hitting the Earth is 30,000 years old

- if 2 pieces of metal touch in space they become permanently stuck together

S5 Ep 55 (409)- Confronting Jerks

Christy’s supermarket jerk perfume story

their time at Sundance

S5 Ep 56 (410)- Vivid Dreams

B6 & High Tryphonane Meal

Playlist of sound effects

Disney Season Passes

Yelp

Rhett’s horrible trip to Disneyland

S5 Ep 57 (411)- Bug War Challenge #1

Link psyching himself up to eat bugs

R1- Small Crickets

R2- Weaver Ants

R3- Female Katydids

R4- Squash Bugs

R5- Silkworm Pupae

R6- Grasshopper

-Rhett: These will be on the menu 25 years into the future

R7- Dung Beetles

Final- Black Scorpion

Herb the Tarantula

Giant Centipede

S5 Ep 58 (412)- Losing Keys

3 Products that help

Link loses his keys a lot

Janitor key ring

More- Theory on why we lose our keys

S5 Ep 59 (413)- Internet April Fool Pranks

2012- Google Maps in 8bit

2012- Virgin Airlines Glass Bottom Plane

2011- ADBlock Sunglasses

2010- Google Translate for Animals

2011- Google Motion

2011- Kodak- Relationshiffft

2010- Starbucks adding 2 cup sizes

2013- Netflix- Adding crazy categories ie Nic Cage Meltdowns

2013- Twitter- announced pay service version but get a free version with no vowels get y for free

Google Nose Beta- smells out of your computer- Rhett wants smellovision

App called Simple- Prank to deposit your cash by photo

Eye of Sauron Lamp

S5 Ep 60 (414)- Top 5 questions 5yr kids ask

Rhett giving the joke answers to his kids

-Why is water wet?

-Where does the sky end?

-What are shadows made of?

-Why is the sky blue?

-How do fish breathe underwater?

More- Rodeo Clown Car Salesman

Retiring the Bronco

Car with off road capabilities- FJ Cruiser

#gmm #season 5 #episodes 51-60 (405-414)#good mythical morning #rhett and link

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blackkudos · 6 years

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Ashanti

Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas (born October 13, 1980), known simply as Ashanti, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer and actress. Ashanti is known for her eponymous debut album, which featured the hit song "Foolish", and sold over 503,000 copies in its first week of release throughout the U.S. in April 2002. In 2003, the self-titled debut album won Ashanti her first Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B album. Her second release achieved a platinum certification and others top 10 singles.

Ashanti wrote and sang background on Jennifer Lopez's "Ain't It Funny (Murder Remix)", which reached number one on Billboard Hot 100, which was also in the top 10 chart at the same time as "Foolish", "Always on Time" (with Ja Rule), and "What's Luv?" (with Fat Joe). Later that year, she was acclaimed as the "Princess Of Hip-Hop & R&B" by her label and capped off her successful debut by winning eight Billboard awards and two American Music Awards.

Ashanti cites Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Tupac Shakur, Mary J. Blige, Ella Fitzgerald, Smokey Robinson, Donna Summer, and Blue Magic as her musical influences. She is currently working on her own publishing company titled Written Entertainment.

Early life

Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas was born on October 13, 1980, in Glen Cove, New York. Her mother, Tina Douglas, is a former dance teacher, and her father, Ken-Kaide Thomas Douglas, is a former singer. Her mother named her after the Ashanti Empire in Ghana; in this nation, women have power and influence, and Tina wanted her daughter to follow that model. Her grandfather, James, was a civil rights activist who associated with Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1960s. Growing up, Ashanti took dance lessons and joined the church choir. Ashanti went to Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center, where she studied different dance styles, including tap, jazz, ballet, African, modern, and hip hop. She danced with the Senior Pro Ensemble at Carnegie Hall, the Apollo Theater, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Avery Fisher Hall, and the Black Spectrum Theater. She also performed at the 1994 Caribbean Awards and dancing with Judith Jamison of the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. With actress and choreographer Debbie Allen at the helm, Ashanti also performed in the Disney television film Polly alongside stars Keshia Knight Pulliam, Jomecia Moore and Phylicia Rashad.

When she was three years old, Ashanti sang in a gospel choir called "Having Some Fun and the Handsome Pigeons," but her mother discovered her full singing potential when she overheard Ashanti singing Mary J. Blige's "Reminisce" at age 12. By the time Ashanti hit puberty, her mother was sending out demo tapes of her singing and dancing. The family could not afford to go to a studio and record a formal demo, so when labels called, Ashanti would have to sing 'I'm a little teapot' in front of the record company executives. While attending high school, she began to write songs. As a teenager, she performed in a local talent show and at the Soul Cafe, China Club, Madison Square Garden, Caroline's Comedy Club, and Greek Fest 2000. In her first major singing performance, Ashanti performed Yolanda Adams's "More Than a Melody". She also appeared in a number of big-name music videos, in addition to other dance work.

Ashanti got her first taste of acting as a child extra in Spike Lee's Malcolm X (1992) and in Who's the Man?. She also started as a dancer in the Disney TV film Polly. She was also one of the students in the 3-2-1 Contact Extra, What Kids Want To Know About Sex and Growing Up. She also had a couple of minor appearances in music videos, such as KRS-One's "MC's Act Like They Don't Know" as well as 8-Off's "Ghetto Girl".

When Ashanti was 16, she was discovered by P.Diddy's Bad Boy Records. Initially, she went to Bad Boy Records and sang one of Mary J. Blige's songs in front of P. Diddy and Biggie Smalls. After being impressed by her singing ability, Diddy had her sign to a development deal. In the end, due to a bad contract, Ashanti did not sign with Diddy. This ultimately led to a record deal with Jive Records in 1997. This relationship soured when Jive tried to make Ashanti into a pop singer. Ashanti subsequently involved herself in schoolwork, cheerleading, and running on her school's track team. She belonged to the English club where she began writing poetry. She was also in the Drama club and performed in a few plays. She put college pursuits aside when Epic Records approached her with a contract in 1998. However, the label's management changes quickly made Ashanti a low priority. She continued to perform at local New York clubs and began hanging out at the Murder Inc. recording studio, hoping for another big break.

Career

2001–03:

Ashanti, Chapter II and Ashanti's Christmas

Ashanti was first noticed by Irv Gotti because of her vocal skills. Ashanti initially asked him to produce a few demo songs for her to record so she could say she had some strong tracks by the big time producer but Gotti had a different idea. He asked her to pen hooks for his rap artists and to perform with them in duets. Ashanti provided the melodic response to their call. Ashanti was first featured as a background vocalist on rapper Big Pun's song "How We Roll". In the same year, Ashanti was featured on fellow labelmate Cadillac Tah's singles "Pov City Anthem" and "Just Like a Thug". She also appeared on the 2001 The Fast and the Furioussoundtrack as a featured artist on Vita's 2001 hip hop remake of Madonna's "Justify My Love" and on the solo track "When a Man Does Wrong". She was featured on Fat Joe's "What's Luv?" and Ja Rule's "Always on Time". "What's Luv?" and "Always on Time" were released simultaneously and became two of the biggest hit songs of 2002. Ashanti became the first female to occupy the top two positions on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart simultaneously when "Always on Time" and "What's Luv?" were at numbers one and two, respectively.

Following the success of her collaborations with Ja Rule and Fat Joe, Ashanti released her debut single, "Foolish", which contains a sample of the 1983 song "Stay with Me" by DeBarge (also utilized by The Notorious B.I.G. in his 1995 single "One More Chance", and by Big L in "MVP"). This is her biggest song to date, spending ten weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100. She became the second artist (after The Beatles) to have their first three chart entries in the top ten of the Hot 100 simultaneously. Ashanti's self-titled debut album,Ashanti, was released on Irv Gotti's Murder Inc. record label in April 2002. It debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart. The album has been certified triple platinum in the United States and sold six million copies worldwide. Ashanti wrote the album's twelve tracks, most of which were written on the spot in the studio. 2002 saw the birth of the careers of many new R&B artists and 'rivals' against Ashanti including Amerie, Tweet, and Nivea. Ashanti's dominance of the R&B world was certified as she had a song in the top ten of the R&B/hip-hop charts every week from January to November 2002. Ashanti's follow-up singles, "Happy" and "Baby", were not as successful as her debut single but peaked inside the top ten and top twenty in the U.S., respectively. During mid-2002, Ashanti appeared on Ja Rule's "Down 4 U" with labelmates, female rappers Vita and Charli Baltimore. The song appeared on a Murder Inc. compilation titled Irv Gotti Presents The Inc. Ashanti's debut album earned her many awards, including eight BillboardMusic Awards, two American Music Awards, and a Grammy Award in 2003 for Best Contemporary R&B Album. She was nominated as Best New Artist and "Foolish" was nominated in the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance category. FHM credited her as the "Sexiest Woman in Music" in 2002. She also received a Comet Award and two Soul Train Music Awards that same year.

Ashanti became the subject of controversy when it was announced that she would receive the Soul Train Aretha Franklin Award for "Entertainer of the Year", a high school student took offense and started an on-line petition against her, explaining to The Seattle Times that she was too new to deserve the award. Nearly 30,000 people agreed with him, signing the petition. Many said that established artists such as Mary J. Blige and Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott or critically acclaimed singers like Alicia Keys and India.Arie were more deserving of an award that carries the name of a musical legend. Despite the petition, the Soul Train committee and Don Cornelius stuck by their decision and Ashanti. Ashanti was applauded by her musical peers as she entered the Pasadena Civic Auditorium to accept her award and she was supported onstage by legendary singer Patti LaBelle, who stated "she's a baby and we have to support our babies." In September 2002, Ashanti and her sister Kenashia appeared on the first DisneyMania CD, which was released under Walt Disney Records and features contemporary Disney songs. Ashanti and her sister sang "Colors of the Wind" from the Disney film Pocahontas. By early 2003, Ashanti had performed at every major award show there was: Soul Train Awards, Grammy's, BET Awards, MTV Awards and the American Music Awards. In 2003, Ja Rule and Ashanti collaborated on another hit song, "Mesmerize", the music video for which was a parody of a scene from the film Grease. In February 2003, the self-titled debut album had her win her first Grammy award for Best Contemporary R&B album. On May 2, 2002 Ashanti received the key to the city of Glen Cove, New York (her hometown), and the day was named Ashanti Day; Ashanti also received a key to the city of Atlantic City, New Jersey (she was crowned princess of hip hop and R&B).

In July 2003, Ashanti released her second album, Chapter II, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 326,000 copies in the U.S.. The album went Platinum, selling over 1.5 million copies in U.S. The album's success was somewhat eclipsed, however, by all the negative drama surrounding the Murder Inc. camp at the time (i.e., the FBI investigation and the G-Unit feuding). Chapter II's first single, "Rock wit U (Awww Baby)", became a hit, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Its video, which showed Ashanti in a bikini frolicking on a beach and riding an elephant named Bubbles, was nominated for two 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. A remix of the song contains interpolations of Michael Jackson's "Rock with You". The second single, "Rain on Me", reached the number-seven spot on the Hot 100 and number two on the Hot 100 R&B Songs chart. Chapter II was nominated for a 2004 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album, and "Rock wit U (Awww Baby)" and "Rain on Me" were nominated in the categories of Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, respectively. At the end of 2003 in November, Ashanti performed at The American Music Awards and was nominated in two categories. In the "Rain on Me" mini-movie music video—directed by Hype Williams and co-starring Larenz Tate—Ashanti portrays a troubled young woman in an abusive relationship. Her song and lyrics combined with William's visuals to impart the power and horror of the cycle of domestic violence. Ashanti partnered with LidRock to distribute this mini-movie using LidRock's unique platform. This promotion, in conjunction with heavy rotation on MTV, BET and other music video programs, brought the film and her cause to the attention of millions of fans. It also helped to raise money for the cause, with proceeds from the $5 mini-disc going toward helping to stop domestic violence. She received a Lifetime Channel Achievement Award for her message speaking out against domestic violence. Ashanti was scheduled to join Mariah Carey on the U.S. leg of her Charmbracelet World Tour, but due to scheduling issues, she, instead, became the opening act for R. Kelly's five-date tour in mid-2003 instead. In May 2003, Ashanti appeared on VH1 Divas and performed her single "Rock wit U (Awww Baby)". She also participated in duets with Stevie Wonder (who later gave her the nickname Little Libra) on "Do I Do", and the Isley Brothers on "That Lady". That same year, she began dating rapper Nelly.

In November 2003, Ashanti's Christmas album, Ashanti's Christmas. The album containing 10 Christmas songs, six classic covers and four she wrote herself. To coincide with the release Ashanti premiered a "Christmas Medley" video for the album. While on BET's 106 & Park, Ashanti said the concept of the Christmas Album came from a guest spot she did on Steve Harvey's radio show. While playing a game with Stevie Wonder, he began playing Christmas medleys on the piano and Ashanti began singing them, giving her label head the idea to push for a Christmas album. Ashanti went into the studio to record the album during the summer of 2003. Ashanti's Christmas was released that October and sold just around 100,000 units in the U.S.

2004–07:

Concrete Rose, Collectibles by Ashanti and acting

Before Concrete Rose was released, Ashanti did some major promotion for her single "Only U", when she premiered it at the 2004 Vibe Music Awards. In 2004, Ashanti was invited back to perform at VH1's Divas 2004. She appeared on stage with Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, Jessica Simpson, and others. She performed Diana Ross' single "I'm Coming Out", and she performed a soul-influenced rendition of Chaka Khan's funk driven "Ain't Nobody". Later that year Ashanti collaborated with male R&B newcomer and labelmate Lloyd on the song "Southside", which was released as his debut single and was a moderate hit. "Wonderful"—with Ja Rule and R. Kelly—peaked at number five in the U.S. and at number one in the UK, and "Jimmy Choo" with rapper Shyne reached number fifty-five on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. Alongside artist such as Wyclef Jean, Mary J. Blige, Eve, Brandy, Fabolous, Jadakiss, Missy Elliott, and many others, Ashanti participated in a cover of "Wake Up Everybody" in support of ACT, the left-leaning political action committee.

In December 2004, Ashanti released her third studio album, Concrete Rose, the title of which took on Tupac Shakur's pseudonym "The Rose That Grew from Concrete". The album debuted at number seven in the U.S with first week sales of 254,000 copies, and eventually became her third platinum certified album. The first single, the gold-certified "Only U", reached number thirteen on theBillboard Hot 100 and became her biggest hit in the United Kingdom, peaking at number two. A second single, the ballad "Don't Let Them", garnered little chart success after Def Jam refused to fund a music video due to Irv Gotti's legal troubles during his money laundering trial. Ashanti used her own money to deliver the second video to her fans, with Gotti acting as director. The single was released only in the U.S., where it failed to chart, and the UK, where it reached the lower end of the top forty. In 2005, Ashanti graced the stage at the MTV Japan Music Awards, where she performed her hit single, Only U. She also won a Style award during the show. She performed alongside huge acts like Mariah Carey and Korean star Rain. After the release of Concrete Rose, Ashanti released the DVD Ashanti: The Making of a Star, which was available only for a limited time. The deluxe DVD includes exclusive photo and video shoot footage, music from the albums Ashanti, Chapter II and Concrete Rose, special concert footage, unreleased childhood school performances and behind-the-scenes interviews with family, friends, and fans. The DVD was also repackaged along with the filmCoach Carter. Later in 2005, Ashanti was invited to Oprah Winfrey's Legends Ball, which honored some of the most influential and legendary African American women of the twentieth century in the fields of art, entertainment, and civil rights. In December 2005, Ashanti released a remix album of Concrete Rose titled Collectables by Ashanti. It features six remixes of previously released tracks and four newly recorded songs, including the single "Still on It", which features rappers Paul Wall and Method Man. The album was an opportunity for her to fulfill her contract with Def Jam (and have the option of working with another label), and did not fare well on the charts.

In January 2005, she made her feature film acting debut in the film Coach Carter alongside Samuel L. Jackson, which debuted at number one opening weekend. She played a pregnant teenager named Kyra who has to decide whether or not to abort her unborn child. The movie opened at number-one at the U.S. box office, eventually grossing $67 million in the U.S. Later in 2005, Ashanti beat out Hilary Duff and Jessica Simpson to star as Dorothy Gale in the made-for-television film The Muppets' Wizard of Oz, which pulled in nearly 8 million viewers. In 2006, she starred in the teen comedy John Tucker Must Die, which opened and peaked at number three at the U.S. box office (competing with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Miami Vice) and grossed $68,818,076 worldwide. Ashanti played Heather, the head cheerleader who participates in a vengeful scheme against John Tucker, her unfaithful boyfriend and the school's biggest heartthrob. Ashanti can also be found on Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 7 episode 14: "First Date" and onSabrina the Teenage Witch season 7 episode 3: "Call Me Crazy". In 2007, Ashanti appeared in the sci-fi horror action Resident Evil: Extinction as a nurse named Betty. The film entered at number one at the box office grossing $53,678,580 in its opening week. To date the movie has grossed $83,648,679 at the US box office and around $197,713,442 worldwide. This was Ashanti's second number one movie, the other being Coach Carter. In 2006, Ashanti announced that she would release a book titled Ashanti Style withJump at the Sun, an imprint of Disney's Hyperion Books for Children. The book, which was being touted as Ashanti's "life and style guide", was a behind-the-scenes look into her style, both in her personal and professional life. The book was originally planned for a late-2007 release, but as of April 2008 no release date had been announced. Another venture Ashanti has enlisted in is her own handbags and pocketbook, revealed in 2007.

2008–10:

The Declaration, departure from The Inc. and The Wiz

Her fourth studio album, The Declaration, was released on June 3, 2008 and sold 86,000 units its first week of release, which were the lowest first week sales for any of Ashanti's studio albums. In mid-2007, MTV News reported that the first single from The Declarationwas "Switch", which was produced by Shy Carter and released digitally in the United States on July 24, 2007. It was later reported that "Switch" may not be included on the album's track listing, and that the first single would be "Hey Baby (After the Club)" it was released to radio and digital outlets on October 16. The song, which does not appear on the U.S. editions of the album, peaked at number eighty-seven on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. "The Way That I Love You", was released to radio and digital outlets in January 2008, was referred to as the "first single" in press material and media reports. It reached number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and number thirty-seven on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Ashanti's first song to reach the top forty since "Only U" in 2004. "Body On Me" was recorded not only for Ashanti's The Declaration, but also for Nelly's fifth studio album Brass Knuckles. The track is produced by Akon and Giorgio Tuinfort. It went to number one on Billboard's Hot Videoclip Tracks chart in its first week, becoming the first number one single from Nelly's album."Good Good" was released to urban radio stations on July 16, 2008. The song contains elements of Elton John's 1974 single "Bennie and the Jets", and has the same melody arrangement as Michael Jackson's "The Girl Is Mine". In July 2008, Ashanti was named an ambassador of tourism for Nassau County, Long Island.

In May 2009, Irv Gotti announced that he was officially releasing Ashanti from The Inc. Records, stating that "The relationship has run its course. The chemistry of what's needed — we're in two totally different places. You're talking to somebody that took her and shaped and molded her and put her out there for the world, and it blew up. We [hold the record] for the [fastest] selling debut by a female R&B artist — 503 [thousand]. We did it! My views and philosophies and her views and philosophies are not meeting up." Gotti also admitted that he and Ashanti have not spoken to each other in a long time. A rep for Ashanti did not respond. On September 24, 2009, Ashanti announced her fifth studio album would be released from her new label, Written Entertainment.

Ashanti headlined the cast of The Wiz in the New York City Center Encores! Summer Stars staging from June 12 to July 5, 2009. Ashanti's role as Dorothy has since received mixed reviews from critics as most praised her vocals but was less pleased with her acting ability. BET and Entertainment Weekly both praised the singer's performance as The New York Post and New York Times gave lukewarm reviews. Though the first night was sold out, some of the other shows were unable to follow its success. On October 27, 2008, Ashanti took part in The Yellow Brick Road Not Taken, a one night only concert to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Wicked, featuring songs written by Stephen Schwartz, that were cut from the show.

2011–present:

Braveheart, and sixth album

Ashanti confirmed via Twitter that she was currently in the studio working on her fifth album, that is being released through her own record label Written Entertainment. Ashanti was rumored to be working with a slew of producers and artist, thus far this is all that has been verified... LT Hutton, Dr. Dre, Game, Theron Feemster aka Neff-U, Cool & Dre, Warryn Campbell, Carvin & Ivan, Common, Darkchild and Tank who co-wrote and co-produced with her the song Paradise. The release date was initially April 17, 2012, however, the release date got pushed back to June 19, 2012. It was later pushed back yet again, with a new release date of August 28, 2012. The album then got pushed back again to January 29, 2013. In July 2011 a promo picture was released, rap-up revealed she had been in the studio with big names including Dr. Dre, Game, and Lil Wayne, and Ashanti had said that a single was coming "very soon". Single titles include "Paradise" and "She Can't." R. Kelly joins the singer on a track titled "That's What We Do", whilst Keyshia Cole appears on "Woman to Woman". Ashanti released her first song in four years, "Never Too Far Away", which was featured in Morgan Creek's film Dream House starring Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz with Naomi Watts. Ashanti also confirmed via her Twitter account that the song will be on her upcoming fifth album but is not her first single. Ashanti announced the title of the first single from her fifth studio album, BraveHeart, via NBC Today Show, revealing it to be called 'No Good', however the title was later changed to "The Woman You Love". The lead single from her fifth studio album, "The Woman You Love" featuring American rapper Busta Rhymes, was released online on December 15, 2011. Ashanti said on her official Twitter account that the song would be released onto iTunes on 16 December with a new promo picture. Ashanti released via UStream snippets of some songs from her upcoming 5th studio album which included "The Woman You Love", "Never Too Far Away", "She Can't", "Paradise", "Blow" and "Get Lost Together". Ashanti teamed up with Meek Mill and French Montana for the anticipated second single "No One Greater", which was produced by 7 Aurelius, Irv Gotti and Chink Santana. The track was leaked in June 2012. On October 2, the song "That's What We Do" with R. Kelly was released to iTunes for download. In April 2013 she released another single called "Never Should Have". An music video for the track was also released the same month. In November 2012, it was reported that she had landed her first series regular role in the seventh season of Army Wives in which she played Latasha Montclair. The series was cancelled on September 24, 2013. In the fall of 2013, she appeared in a guest spot on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit alongside Clay Aiken and Taylor Hicks. Additionally, her single "Never Should Have" won "Best Independent R&B/Soul Performance" at the 2013 Soul Train Awards and has also earned an additional nod at the 2013 MCP Music Awards. She starred in the Lifetime film Christmas in the City which premiered on December 7, 2013. Additionally, she released a holiday EP titled A Wonderful Christmas with Ashanti on digital services.

In August 2013, Ashanti announced her plans to work with Ja Rule again, who'd been released from prison in July of that year after a six-year sentence stemming from a gun charge. On January 8, 2014, she revealed the official cover art and release date for Braveheart, which was released March 4, 2014. In January 2014, Ashanti shot the video for the official first single from Bravehearttitled "I Got It" featuring Rick Ross. The video was shot in Miami, Florida and was directed by Eif Rivera. In July, Ashanti announced that the second official single from BraveHeart would be "Early in the Morning" featuring French Montana. The video was shot in August 2014 and directed by Elf Rivera. She released a full-length (deluxe) version of her holiday album A Wonderful Christmas with Ashanti in October 2014. The following month, she starred in the SyFy film Mutant World.

In 2015, she announced that she has been working on new music for her sixth album to be released in 2016. Ashanti also teamed with Michelle Obama and her Let's Move campaign to spread awareness of drinking water with her new video and song "Let's Go". The song and video go from dehydrated to hydrated the more #DrinkUpAshanti is tweeted on Twitter. On December 2, Ashanti released her newly hydrated single "Let's Go" on iTunes. The video is also available at www.drinkupashanti.com.

Artistry

Ashanti is known for her lyric soprano voice type. People magazine referred to her voice as "pretty" and her soprano as "sultry" and "sweet but slight." her unique styling of hip-hop soul earned her the title of The Princess of Hip-Hop and R&B, as stated in her song, "Happy." Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic noted her reputation for using her "swooning voice" in duets with Big Pun, Fat Joe and most notably Ja Rule. As a young girl Ashanti was influenced by legendary artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Prince and Tupac Shakur but she cites Mary J. Blige as the main reason she wanted to pursue a singing career. "I didn't want to sing only slow songs and I didn't want to be spittin' rhymes. But Mary [J. Blige] put those concepts together. She cleared the way, and now I'm following my own path."

Philanthropy

In 2003, Ashanti partnered with LidRock and the San Francisco-based Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF) to raise awareness about the issue of domestic violence during National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and to distribute the "Rain On Me" mini-movie using LidRock's unique platform. Proceeds from the $5 mini-disc went towards helping to stop domestic violence. Ashanti also recorded a public service announcement that appeared in more than 4,000 film screens and reached millions of people. Ashanti also gives back by raising money for sickle cell research and she is active in helping the Make-A-Wish Foundation stating, "I'll go and do just about anything for them." In 2005, Ashanti helped by recording public service announcement and raising money for the Southeast Asia tsunami disaster. Later that year she helped raise money for the Hurricane Katrina victims and storm evacuees. In 2008, Ashanti, along with others celebrities, taped a PSA to help stop violence and discrimination towards the LGBT community in response to the death of Lawrence King, an eighth-grader at E.O. Green Junior High School who was shot because of his sexual orientation and gender expression. That same year, she launched a special on-line campaign called "I Declare Me..." with Wal-Mart. The campaign's core is a very personal focus on the self-definition and empowerment of women across the United States, with its home base at Ashanti's official website. The campaign creates a safe and inclusive on-line space to for women to share testimonies on the site. Participants are able to openly declare their own breakthroughs, revelations, struggles and victories in every life area they choose: career, birth, death, relationships, and personal situations. "I Declare Me..." also invites women to a virtual discussion with Ashanti on such issues as voter registration, teen obesity, and other concerns facing women today.

In September 2009, Ashanti, along with other artists Mariah Carey, Beyoncé Knowles, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, Fergie, Sheryl Crow, Miley Cyrus, Melissa Etheridge, Natasha Bedingfield, Keyshia Cole, Ciara, Leona Lewis, LeAnn Rimes, Busta Rhymes, Cheri Oteri, Flavor Flav, Queen Elizabeth and Carrie Underwood, teamed up for the song "Just Stand Up!". The charity tune for cancer was conceived by Antonio "L.A." Reid, who produced it with longtime creative colleague Babyface. All 15 singers (along with Nicole Scherzinger) shared the stage to perform the song live on Sept. 5 2008 during the "Stand Up to Cancer" television special, which aired simultaneously on ABC, NBC and CBS, and helped raise $100 million for cancer research. As a result of SU2C fund raising endeavors, the SU2C scientific advisory committee, overseen by the American Association for Cancer Research was able to award 73.6 million dollars towards novel, groundbreaking cancer research in 2009.

In November 2009, Ashanti joined the crew of ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The singer assisted in the rebuilding of the Powell Family home in Buffalo, New York. The efforts from the show expanded significantly to include not just the family home but the entire neighborhood surrounding it. The episode aired January 24, 2010.

Ashanti is featured on the 19-track compilation album "Songs For a Healthier America", a collaborative project by the Partnership for a Healthier America, whose honorary chair First Lady Michelle Obama, and Hip Hop Public Health. Her song "Just Believe" also features Artie Green, Gerry Gunn, Robbie Nova and Chauncey Hawkins.

Ashanti has greatly given back to the community. She has a history of supporting good causes. She is affiliated with the Jumpstart reading program, Tupperware Brand and Boys and Girls Club of America.

Personal life

Ashanti met rapper Nelly at a press conference for the 2003 Grammy Awards on January 1, 2003. Ashanti and Nelly ended their nine-year relationship in December 2012.

Discography

Ashanti (2002)

Chapter II (2003)

Concrete Rose (2004)

The Declaration (2008)

Braveheart (2014)

Chapter VI (2016)

Filmography

Films

Bride and Prejudice (2004)

The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005)

Coach Carter (2005)

John Tucker Must Die (2006)

Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)

Christmas in the City (2013)

Mutant World (2014)

Stuck (2015)

Mothers and Daughters (2016)

Television

What Kids Want To Know About Sex and Growing Up (1992)

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (2002)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2003)

WrestleMania XIX (Opening: America the Beautiful) (2003)

The Proud Family (voice) (2003)

Pepsi Smash (Commercial) (2003)

Punk'd (2004)

Oxygen: Custom Concert (2004)

Las Vegas (TV series) (2005)

2007 World Series (Opening: 'God Bless America') (2007)

NFL Thanksgiving Day game CBS (Opening: 'National Anthem') (2007)

BET Awards Nomination Special "I Wanna Thank My Mama" (host) (2008)

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (2010)

Army Wives (2013)

Law & Order: SVU (2013)

Unforgettable (2015)

Theater

The Wiz (2009)

http://wikipedia.thetimetube.com/?lang=en&q=Ashanti%20(singer)

#Ashanti

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saintchaser · 1 year

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lyall lupin headcanons for lyall&remus april fest

comes from glasgow and has a really thick accent that eventually shifted into a mix of his own and hope's

when he went to hogwarts, he was sorted into slytherin. he and pomona sprout were the original slytherin and hufflepuff duo

they were also great friends with poppy pomfrey and minerva mcgonagall

he's a ginger (his hair is russet brown)

remus takes after him a lot, both appearance-wise and personality-wise. however, remus is slightly less hot-headed than lyall

loves helping hope with chores around the house. he's particularly a good cook

was very excited when he found out that hope also practices witchcraft and was surprised when he found out that they are definitely not practicing the same kind

obsessed with dragons, his favorite is the welsh green, and he taught remus about them as well. remus, after that, had an ungodly amount of knowledge about dragons

became really good friends with fleamont when remus and james started going to hogwarts. initially, they knew each other from the ministry, and, despite not having many things in common, they got along very well

was rivals with orion during hogwarts; both of them, gifted students, were fighting for the title of the best student. them being in the same house didn't help; they were always glaring at each other across the common room

he's pretty tall and looks, in a way, scary, and remus finds it totally entertaining, knowing what his father actually is like, once you get to know him

blanket hog, but it's fine because hope is a bed hog and in the morning lyall is sleeping tucked in the corner of the bed with three blankets and hope is sprawled all over the bed with no blanket

#lyall&remus april fest #l&r april fest #i love him your honor #also!!! he's a good dad xx #lyall lupin #lyall lupin headcanons #headcanons

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enbysiriusblack · 1 year

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Lyall Lupin had never hidden the truth behind the attack from Remus; and in return, Remus had blamed him.

He didn't listen to things his father told him to do. He didn't let his dad hang around his bed after a moon. He didn't want to be in ravenclaw like him. He didn't want to learn Italian, especially when his father wouldn't even let him visit. And he didn't want to stay in Wales his entire life, isolated and bored.

But as he looked up at the bright red train that would take him all the way up to Scotland for a whole year, Remus turned to his father and hugged him tight.

His father almost cried, slowly shrinking down to his son's size to talk face to face.

"Can I come home for Chanukah?"

Lyall nodded, "Of course. I think you'll still have classes on the first few nights but Hope's planning on writing to your school to ask if you can come home a few days early."

Remus smiled and hugged Lyall harder, "I'm going to miss you, tata."

Lyall was about to tell Remus to be extremely careful with his secret, especially in concern to his roommates. But the smile on Remus' face made his stop. Remus so scarcely smiled at him. He'd write a letter instead.

Remus leaned over, whispering in Lyall's ear, "I don't blame you for it anymore. I get to go to school! I'm still a person!"

Lyall froze, hand clasped on Remus' shoulder, "Of course you are... Of course."

Remus grabbed his suitcase, the handle had snapped so Remus had to hold it from the bottom. Lyall winced in guilt at the sight. He couldn't do anything for Remus.

Remus turned, "I'm going to make friends!"

Except this.

And Lyall instantly frowned, "Be careful, okay? Don't get to close otherwise they'll expect to be able to see you everyday and they'll start to grow suspicious in your absence."

Remus nodded, sadly, "Don't give them anything to worry about."

"Right." Lyall nodded back and Remus turned back towards the train and boarded without a look back.

Lyall knew Remus didn't want this, to keep separate and distant from all the other students. But it was safer this way. He had to keep his child safe.

'I am to be blamed; and for that, I shall never hurt you again.'

#my first post for sascha's lyall & remus april fest!!!#lyall&remus april fest #l&r april fest #marauders era #marauders #remus lupin #lyall lupin

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inazuma-hq · 6 years

Photo

As the Inazuma Countdown to Ares event is just about to start, here is an updated list of Inazuma Eleven events for 2018 happening on twitter and tumblr - please note that many of these events are announced before the actual date listed, so please keep an eye on this blog for any event announcements:

PAST EVENTS

f e b r u a r y

Valentines Day Events: Inazuma Eleven Secret Valentine hosted by @inazumaelevenconfessions Inazuma Eleven Cupid’s Mailbox hosted by @inazuma-hq

CURRENT EVENT

m a r c h - a p r i l

Countdown till Ares hosted by @inazuma-hq

UPCOMING EVENTS

m a y - ?? Inazuma Ares Fest (Writing Event) hosted by @inazuma-hq // @inazuma-writing Sign ups: April

o c t o b e r Inazuma Eleven 10 Year Anniversary Event hosted by @inazuma-hq Sign ups: June/July

n o v e m b e r Inavember hosted by @inavember

d e c e m b e r Secret Sakka hosted by @inazumaelevenconfessions Sign ups: TBA

If you are planning to run event or have an idea for one, please let us know!

#inazuma eleven #events #inazuma-hq

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aion-rsa · 3 years

Text

Abandoned and Hideo Kojima Silent Hill Conspiracy Just Got Much Weirder on YouTube

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Today was supposed to be a big day for Silent Hill and Hideo Kojima fans, at least those who believe an upcoming PS5 game called Abandoned is secretly a new entry in the horror series from the creator of Metal Gear and Death Stranding. But after a week of teasing the release of a new “trailers app” meant to reveal more of the indie title at the center of gaming’s latest conspiracy theory, Blue Box Game Studios’ enigmatic founder Hasan Kahraman released a video to announce the app and reveal had been delayed to August.

Did this quiet the fans who had spent more than a week speculating, deciphering “clues,” uncovering weird coincidences, and hounding the Blue Box Twitter handle for answers? If you think the answer is yes, you clearly don’t know the internet very well.

But let me rewind. If you’ve not been keeping up with the chatter on Twitter or obsessively reading the Blue Box Conspiracy subreddit like I have, we tracked many of the potential clues the eagle-eyed sleuths on Reddit found last week. But here’s the gist:

Ever since the first cryptic trailer for Abandoned premiered during a PlayStation State of Play broadcast last April, fans have been drawing connections between the game, Abandoned developer Blue Box Game Studios, Silent Hill, and Hideo Kojima. At first, the theory just seemed like wishful thinking, but A LOT has happened since then. After the official Blue Box Twitter handle posted a now-deleted tweet teasing that “Abandoned” wouldn’t be the final name of the game, fun speculation quickly turned into obsession for some.

“Guess the name: Abandoned = (First letter S, Last letter L). Reveal closing in…” read the tweet posted on June 15, which was enough to trigger a full-scale investigation spanning the entire internet, from Kojima’s Instagram feed to some really creepy YouTube videos involving Morse code. More on those videos in a second. The point is that things are getting SO weird.

All this even after Kahraman posted a video earlier this week confirming not only that he was a real person (and not Kojima in a mask — the MGSV developer previously pulled a stunt like that once) but that Blue Box and Abandoned had nothing to do with Konami or Silent Hill. He’s also been previously interviewed by IGN and went on the record with Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier, arguably the most reliable reporter in games journalism.

“It doesn’t matter how much I try to debunk all this,” Kahraman told Schreier in an hour-long phone interview. “People don’t believe it. They just expect something that’s not out there. It bothers me.”

Quick message from Hasan: pic.twitter.com/1oVeaMvu3w

— BLUE BOX Game Studios (@BBGameStudios) June 22, 2021

The videos on social media and statements to the press would normally be enough to debunk the theories that Kahraman isn’t real, but many fans have dismissed the evidence as red herrings designed to push them off the trail. Plus, there ARE some weird coincidences, such as the fact the Kaharaman and Kojima both share the same initials and that when you translate “Hideo” from Japanese to Turkish, you get “Kahraman.” Blue Box’s initials are also “BB,” which is the name of a character in Kojima’s most recent game, Death Stranding.

Some “clues” that Kahraman and Blue Box aren’t who they say they are more outlandish. For example, some Reddit sleuths have suggested the black t-shirt Kahraman is wearing in his first video has a secret meaning. Why? Because every major figure whose talked about Abandoned or Kojima’s next game on video has worn a black shirt, including Leo Enin, the founder of Nuare, a real art outsourcing studio that has most recently worked on Marvel’s Avengers and Halo Infinite. The Game Awards and Summer Game Fest founder (and longtime Kojima collaborator) Geoff Keighley also teased that Kahraman had reached out to him to possibly help him reveal the game sometime in the near future.

Then Kahraman posted a new video today to announce the delay of the release of the Abandoned trailer app on the PlayStation Network. Yes, an app just for your trailers is a peculiar way to market your game, and it’s strange that PlayStation is giving such special attention to a very small indie studio, but that’s not the weirdest thing about Kahraman’s second video.

An update from Hasan: pic.twitter.com/vpFN81YDXL

— BLUE BOX Game Studios (@BBGameStudios) June 25, 2021

While Twitter users were busy trying to decipher the meaning of Kahraman’s switching from a black t-shirt to a white turtleneck, and speculating that perhaps the developer was actually a CGI model created by Kojima, something far stranger was happening on YouTube.

More than 10 hours before Kahraman announced the delay, a YouTube channel claiming to be the official channel of “AbandonedTheGame” went live with a countdown video, seemingly for the launch of the promised trailer app. But right when the clock hit zero on the live YouTube broadcast, Kahraman announced the delay on Twitter. What the hell?

At first it seemed like Blue Box had gotten cold feet at the last second, deciding to reveal Abandoned when it was a bit more polished. But those who stuck around YouTube after the delay was announced were treated to new clues that seem to confirm what some have known all along: that there’s much more to Abandoned than meets the eye.

The video, which played a loop of weird sounds over the Blue Box logo, began to communicate with the viewers, sending out messages in Morse code that some speculate is actually a conversation between two sides of the same person, potentially a tease of a character both in and outside Silent Hill’s Otherworld. Each line of Morse code appeared in either blue or red, seemingly signifying that two different voices were speaking, although some simply took this as confirmation that PlayStation (blue logo) and Konami (red logo) are collaborating on the new Silent Hill.

Either way, viewers quickly deciphered the would-be conversation:

BLUE: FIND THE SOURCE RED: REALITY BENDS TO MY WILL BUT MY MIND IS DELUSIONAL BLUE: I CANT TRUST YOU IF YOU CANT TRUST YOUR MIND SO FIND THE SOURCE RED: SHALL I REMIND YOU WHO I AM BLUE: SHALL I REMIND YOU WHAT I CAN DO BLUE: I THINK THEY SPOT ME STOP PLAYING ME AND FIND THE SOURCE RED: I CANT GET HOLD OF YOU SO I ASSUME YOU GOT MADE TIME TO SEPARATE BLUE: BYE BYE FOR NOW RED

Those on Reddit and YouTube quickly rushed to try and “find the source,” the central message of the otherwise nonsensical conversation. At this time, neither the Blue Box Conspiracy subreddit nor fans on other social platforms have come up with a definite answer as to what’s happening here, although there are some stunning theories I won’t delve into here because…it’s A LOT. Unfortunately, the video recording was deleted from the channel after the broadcast ended a few minutes after the final line of Morse code.

There are other videos on the channel, including this very creepy teaser apparently released earlier this week:

If you feel like taking a trip down the rabbit hole this weekend, I highly recommend you check out all the weird videos on the channel as well as the aforementioned subreddit. Even if you’re not invested in what Kojima or Blue Box have planned, it’s a lot of fun watching these sleuths try to figure out what’s going on. I can’t even begin to summarize all of the theories that have popped up since the Morse code dropped.

As of this writing, the YouTube channel has most recently dropped an “Act II Teaser” with more Morse code that reads:

RED: Endure BLUE: Survive

What does it all mean? We’ll hopefully get some answers in August…which also happens to be the month in which P.T., Kojima’s “Playable Teaser” for Silent Hills, released on the PSN back in 2014. Oh god.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The post Abandoned and Hideo Kojima Silent Hill Conspiracy Just Got Much Weirder on YouTube appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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