#progress from 2009 to 2019

[argentinagp]

ALEXANDER ALBON CAREER PRIMER Reblogs are appreciated and if you want to post it in other website you can as long as you give credit! Enjoy! 🫶🏻 Also thank you to the fantastic @hungriestheidi for beta reading this mwah!

Alexander Albon Ansusinha has always had a passion for motorsport. When he was very little his idols were Valentino Rosso (MotoGP) and Michael Schumacher (Formula 1). But the Ferrari driver was by far the number 1 for him, his entire room was red from his bed to the curtains and the rug. He always cried when Michael lost and his mom had to put a race from a VHS where Michael had won. His first word was ‘rrari.

But his first encounter with a kart, at the age of 4, was not ideal:“The first time [in a kart] I was in tears I hated it. I was in Disneyland I think. I still remember crying about it but I just remember stepping into the car, it was like a mini F1 car” - Beyond the grid 2019

A few years later though, when he was 7 years old, his dad bought him his own go-kart:

“We lived in the country back then. Next to our house there was a field on which my father laid out a figure-eight layout with stones. That's what I messed around with every day after school.” from Top Gear. And then at the age of 8 he was finally allowed to drive on a real track, back then it was just him and his dad, Nigel Albon, who was his driver coach, mechanic, etc, and who also was responsible for getting him into racing.

His first year in karting was difficult, he struggled with performance and lack of experience, and, because of his financial situation, it was almost from race to race and he had to adapt very quickly to progress. But, then, he went to Malasya to do one race for the first time away from the UK and he finished that race 4th which gave him a lot of confidence. And this was a turning point in his karting career. After that year and a half, he started to score podiums. It was becoming serious. In 2006 he went on a higher level and his father had to stop being the one to help him and a professional team took over, even though he remained alongside him through all his karting years.

With strong results and titles in England he moved up to KF3 from 2008 to 2010, where he was noticed by Red Bull Junior Program.

“2009 was a good year,” he recalls. “I remember competing against guys like De Vries, Marciello. Then, in 2010, I got signed by Intrepid and went against drivers like Verstappen and Gasly to become European and World Champion. - The Race Box. In 2010 Red Bull Motorsport took him under its wings through its Thai division, they were keeping a close eye on him and more so when he switched to KF1 before being integrated into the Junior Team for 2012. “What’s important to remember is that I was at a stage in my life when I was able to stand up a little, thanks also to my double-nationality. I realise today how lucky I am to be part-Thai because of the interest that it created. There’s no denying that I would not be racing up to this day if it wasn’t for that too.” - The Race Box, 2nd part.

2012 was, as he described it, the most difficult year of his life. Career wise, he started Formula Renault, with Epic Racing thanks to Red Bull, but the whole year he spent the entire year at the back of the field, even if he had some good qualifyings. And this was in part a reflection of his private life problems. “But then at some point it turned and I think, I had some family issues a few years on when I was about 14/15, we like to call it my mom went on a holiday, that changed me. [...] the financial support was gone completely,” - High Performance. In the podcast he also says that this changed the way he approached racing. In karting he was not the most competitive kid and because he had the financial support, racing for him had no real pressure, he didn’t feel like it was a need. But after what happened he did feel the need to perform, he described it as a ‘survival feeling’. Because of all of this his first year in Formula Renault didn’t go smoothly and as a consequence of this he was dropped from the Red Bull Junior team at the end of the year, and he felt like the dream was becoming over.

All this also had consequences on his confidence, “I think I lost a lot of genuine confidence when I had this issue. I went from karting to cars, I struggled with cars, didn’t have the feeling, didn’t have the knowledge of single seaters to begin with. I struggled with genuine life confidence, went from having a lot of friends to no friends, started to be a lot more introverted, so everything started to fall away a little bit, becoming a little bit more fragmented in just how I was as a person.” - High Performance.

In 2013, though, he was picked up by the Gravity Junior Program linked to the Lotus F1 Team, which only lasted for one season. Alex considers it as his first proper year in single seater. It didn’t go well, but he did show signs of potential, a big jump from 2012. “After a tough 2012 Lotus helped get the sponsors to race,” revealed Albon. “I most probably wouldn’t be driving if it wasn’t for them, so I am very thankful for what they have done!“Apart from helping find sponsors, I frequently visit the factory in Enstone where we have our physical assessments as well as individual programs made. We also have a sporting manager at each test/race who is there to speak to the team and drivers, giving advice to both” - The Checkered Flag.

Even though he stayed with them for one year, this allowed him to join the KTR formation in 2014 and he finished in 3rd place in the championship. It was also at the end of 2013, just before 2014 started, when he started to regain the confidence he had lost the previous years, “I just remember there was a winter test, it was in December after quite an average season and suddenly I was now quickest in this test, it was in Portugal, and I was like well okay and and and honestly from that point on just I was quick” - High Performance.

In 2015 he signed with the Signature team making his way to the European Formula 3 Championship, all thanks to his links to Lotus in Formula Renault. He finished 7th overall that season and then moved to GP3.

He also competed on Macau for Signature this year

In 2016 he signed for ART to compete in GP3 (alongside an familiar face, Charles Leclerc). He exceeded all of ART’s expectations by integrating himself instantly into the company and fighting for pole positions and victories from the first race weekend (words from team principal Sebastien Philippe for motorsport.com). “He didn’t need a period of adaptation to become one of the best drivers in the category and he didn’t stop progressing throughout the year. He missed the title by very little and it was through no fault of his own, either sporting or personal, why he didn’t clinch it”.

After finishing 2nd, he continued with the team but now in Formula 2 in 2017. He ended up in 10th place for the championship with only two podiums.

“After the bad results of 2017, I knew there was something wrong. I wasn’t sure of what but I could feel it,” he says. “I stayed with my opinion and didn’t let the team tell me I was in the wrong when they were in the right.” - The Race Box, 2nd part.

One of the problems he faced this season was due to an injury, he broke a collarbone whilst out on a mountain biking training ride and missed the Baku round.

Also this is because I am a chalex enthusiast: in Abu Dhabi he was winning for the entire race before being overtaken with a controversial move in the last lap by Charles. [To learn more about chalex click here and here by @vegasgrandprix]

In 2018 Alex found himself again in a tricky situation: “There was 95% chance I would not race in 2018 until an arrangement was found with DAMS and it really paid off,” he remembers. “I went to the tests, kept pushing and was the fastest on track in one of the two days. Still, I was unsure just a few days before the first race of the championship. And it was like that for the first three weekends and even until June. It was a race-by-race situation.” - The Race Box, 2nd part. Not being considered as a priority choice made him angry to prove himself to the team and he came as one of the strongest contenders for the championship despite the season being made of ups and downs. 

This Formula 2 season in particular encountered problems, not only for Alex, with the introduction of the new Formula 2 car, due to a not great clutch system. This made Alex lose lots of positions in the early stages of the races.

But he could prove his value, he had 8 podiums and 4 wins, finishing 3rd in the championship behind Lando Norris (2nd) and George Russell (1st).

“It’s true that, for most of the season, it has been about Lando [Norris, ed.] fighting against George [Russell, ed.] but I was always behind or in between them for much of the year. Obviously, I think that it’s just the way the British media portrayed their battle. Don’t get me wrong, the two are very-talented drivers but it was nice for me to be up there too.”  - The Race Box, 2nd part.

In the middle of the 2018 Formula 2 season, Alex started to look for options to become a professional. His dream still was to become an F1 driver but offers were not appearing and after calling up Helmut Marko (who had kicked him off from the Red Bull Junior program in 2012) and being told that all seats are full, he signed with Formula E team Nissan alongside Sébastien Buemi.

“The level of competition in the series is intense, and I’m looking forward to testing myself against some of the best drivers in the world,” - Motorsport.com. 

He tested the new, at the time, Gen2 car in Calafat during the off season but he didn't make an appearance during the official pre-season test in Valencia. This is all because in the final race of the 2018 F2 season he received an offer from Helmut Marko to drive for Toro Rosso in 2019.

“It came to the last race of the year and Helmut Marco got me back again. So the one who told me ‘there's no space’ inquired about my simulator Services, that's what he said, he got his PA to come over and speak to me and say do you mind just popping into Helmut's office at the circuit and we had a chat about simulator work, I was actually at the simulator for Mercedes doing work for them, he wanted to know how much I got paid. He agreed to my terms on my simulator contract and then, I don't know what it is, I think it's just something he does occasionally, he was speaking about this contract and as I was kind of walking out the door he was like ‘by the way,  what's your position with your formula e contract, can you get out?’ and the one thing I did make sure in my Formula E contract was to have a clause in it that if I had a Formula 1 offer I was good to go and, I said well you know that's the way it is and he said ‘okay, let me get back to you’ and then within 24 hours it was almost pretty much all done.” - High Performance. 

It wasn’t till this moment that he believed that he could fulfil his dream of becoming an F1 driver: “It was not that clear to me formula one was this obvious pathway that I could achieve. I don't think I'm a normal driver in that sense where Formula 1 was this thing and that's all I thought about that's all I wanted to be, of course I wanted to be a Formula 1 driver but for me to believe it, after everything that I went through, I had to almost prove it to myself, I needed to see it. And I would say, only until I got to Formula 2, until I got the call that I was going to be in Formula 1  did I actually realise you know, I'm in it” - High Performance.

He went to his first year in F1 with 0 days in an F1 car. His first day was in Barcelona pre testing where you do a day and a half with your teammate and then go into the first race. He describes it as the most stressful time. 

And the first time in the test was not a good one: he spun on the first lap. It was due to no fault of his own, the car had a steering issue. He says that when he went back to the pit lane and a hundred photographers were waiting for him, it finally hit him that he was in Formula 1.

As the season went on, he started to get comfortable at Toro Rosso and started to have good races. He scored his first points in his second race in Bahrain. But then, after summer break, a change came through, “I was kind of living in this dream where the pressure every race was becoming less and less. I knew after the first race that I belonged, I knew, you know, I've got what it takes and and I do generally believe in myself, and then summer break comes around, had a great start of the Season, great rookie year so far, enjoying my racing more than I ever thought I could, and then I get the same guy, Helmut Marko, call me back to his office this time in Austria, so that's a bit more serious” - High Performance. He remarked that the conversation went the same way as the previous one, with Helmut dropping the news at the end of the meeting, “This is the number to speak to, this is going to be your engineer, maybe give him a call and figure it out. You can't go to the factory right away, because it's shut down but you are going to be announced in about two hours” - High Performance.

After being with Toro Rosso for 12 races he was promoted to the Red Bull Racing team, replacing Pierre Gasly. The team said they would “use the next nine races to evaluate Alex’s performance” and “make a decision as to who will drive alongside Max in 2020.” (BBC)

He of course wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass but he was not sure if he was ready or not for this, and how it was going to be being Max’s teammate. 

“[...] two weeks now or nothing, just thinking about this opportunity but I can't drive I can't get into my happy place, I can't get my helmet on, I've got to just prolong this anxiety out, but, of course, I went into it with more confidence than I did the first time. But it's these opportunities, you just have to take them because Formula 1, the way it is, it's so cutthroat but at the same time I thought to myself there are so many drivers who would kill for this opportunity, there's so many drivers who wish they could have a spot at a top team and within six months you have got that already, you're not going to reject it and with all, even with the ‘am I good enough’, of course there's this deep inner belief that ‘yes, I am’ and you got to go for it. So I am a little bit self conflicting in myself but deep down yes, of course, let's give it a go” - High Performance.

He ended his debut season 8th in the WDC with 92 points, 76 being scored during the last 9 races at Red Bull compared with 97 for Verstappen in that same period, which solidified his place on the big team for 2020. He also won the Rookie of the Year award at the FIA Prize Giving Ceremony.

The following year, though, the car changed quite a lot and it became much more tricky to drive for Alex. He says that it was specially the lack of experience what made it so difficult for him to overcome the problems and he didn’t really know what direction the car needed to go. And for his teammate it wasn't a big issue. Alex started to overanalyze and was overcritical in his performance and he spent so much energy in trying to find a solution to the problems he had and he says that he should have “taken a step back a bit and trusted myself a bit more”- High Performance. And from there it all started to snowball and every time the car became sharper and sharper and he started to become more tense.

On top of it all, one of the things he struggled the most was the media side of being on a top team. Not only because he was on a top team, but also because of all the noise around the swapping seats. Every mistake he made got criticised. Plus all that it is social media with the memes and he became almost a joke, and as much as he could ignore it, on Thursday, media day, he had to go answering questions about his performance and who could replace him. 

Back then he didn’t have any structure, didn’t have a team behind him. “I think Red Bull, especially, they have one extremely quick driver but they're not that used to having young drivers in their team. So, you know, there was help and there was advice when needed but it's not that obvious actually. And so I was with my trainer, we kind of looked at sports psychologists just to see if I need to get that confidence back and that that inner belief back, but I think people don't realise that Formula 1 as much as it is a team sport, it's still very individual, you have the team and the team do care about you, and they do want the best for you, but it's a strange sport where you have your little circle, it's a team within a team, and you have your little support network which for me is my family and at the time my trainer and that was it. But I realised in time that that wasn't big enough and actually, you know, I didn't have a manager at the time or, you know, even anyone to kind of handle the social side of things so I went quiet on everything.” - High Performance. 

His results this season were not ideal, even if he had two podiums (being the first asian f1 driver to do so). Alex finished the season 7th in the WDC with 105 points to Verstappen’s 214. And as a consequence he was replaced by Sergio Perez the following year leaving him without a seat for 2021 and as a reserve driver for Red Bull.

The news of being replaced were delivered to him by team principal Christian Horner when he went to his office in the factory. He knew it was coming because of all the noise from the media. “I do genuinely believe that Christian and Helmut, they really wanted it to work, the reason why I was told so late was because they gave me to the last race to try and show my worth, so, for that, you know, I genuinely do believe they wanted the best for me, but it just didn't work out and, you know, obviously ‘Sergio is going to take your place and we'll keep you as a simulator driver if you accept, we'll try to find you a place for the year after’ and so that was it” - High Performance. 

As much as the 2020 season was painful, he didn’t find the relief he thought he would because all he wanted was to get back again.

On the year away, he had two clear objectives to work on. On one side, he worked on being less of a yes man like he was at Red Bull and prioritising himself. And on the other just performance wise, where were his weaknesses.

The first two months he used them to find the structure he needed, “I need to actually live and figure out where my money is going, what am I doing kind of thing and get the network going, so I had a true team. And I chose people that were, maybe not the most experienced in their role but would fight for me to the death and these are the same people that I have with me to this day, you know. people who wanted an opportunity but cared for me. So I took a guy from Red Bull, who always fought my corner, no matter how tough the situation was, he became my manager and then my trainer who's obviously been with me from the very beginning, so I created my network.” - High Performance.

But working on his driving was a very tough task because he couldn’t actually drive the car, so he did a lot of work at the simulator which made him understand a lot of things better. He wanted to do what it takes to get himself to be the best driver he can be and consequently put him in the best position.

On a professional level, he wanted to do the best job for the team to show that he was a valuable asset, not just for Red Bull but for every other team. So he wanted to make the car as quick as possible. 

Even though he was on the sidelines he was helping Checo get comfortable with the car and he was driver coaching Yuki Tsunoda who was one of the junior drivers at Alpha Tauri. “It was this weird thing because, for example with Yuki, I wanted to take his seat, he was a potential candidate that I could replace. But then I remember having that chat with Helmut Marko, he told me at the time ‘you need to driver coach this guy’ and I was like ‘I'm not going to, that's a potential seat’ and he said ‘no, no he's already signed like he's guaranteed’ so I was like okay fine.” - High Performance.  And clearly, his work paid off because Red Bull Racing won the 2021 driver world championship, albeit controversial. “I was listening to Max and Checo, I was there at the time, and obviously Checo was new, but Max drove the car last year and he was talking about how much better the rear felt, how much more stable it was and you're just like ah, you know it does hurt a little bit, but at the same point you're like okay that's great you know, i've i feel like i've contributed to that.” - Beyond the Grid 2022.

At the same time, Alex participated in 14 of 16 races of the 2021 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters alongside Formula 2 Driver Liam Lawson for the Italian outfit AF Corse with the backing from Red Bull.

He won his maiden DTM race at the Nürburgring, becoming the first Thai driver to do so.. “Today, that was a really good day for my team and for myself,” Albon said after becoming the first DTM race winner from Thailand. “The team has been working hard overnight and that paid off. Today, we have made a step forward, we want to carry over this momentum.” - dtm.com.

For 2022 he regained a seat for Williams Racing. For this to happen one of his best friends, George Russell [to learn more about galex click here by @onadarklingplain] helped put a good word for him in the team, since he was a driver for them and was moving to Mercedes, and a spreadsheet he made comparing his results relative to Max and of the other two teammates the man had. 

“Alex is one of the most exciting young talents in motorsport, yet comes with a large amount of F1 experience from his time at Red Bull. His multiple podium finishes highlight his speed as a driver, and we know he will immediately feel at home with the team at Grove.” - Jost Capito, CEO of Williams Racing via williams.com.

Alex now feels much more comfortable since joining Williams and has learned a lot about different things, “I've got a very good team around me, you know, it's a core team now. It's maybe four of us at this point but they protect my best interest to heart. Like right now, for example, it's very hard for the team to get access to free time of mine or you know they want to come and see me in Monaco and film a piece with me or whatever, they're laughing behind the scenes. But it's true that I've got a good group around.

And the other thing is purely the wealth of knowledge that you get. It sounds silly to say because I've only been in Formula 1 for four years now, but I know what the car needs in terms of an engineer I think. I don't want to sound silly saying this, or arrogant saying this but I do think I could engineer a car to a decent level by myself, if I needed to, I wouldn't get everything right definitely, check how much fuel is in the car, but in terms of like General scientific point of view I understand it. And the final thing which is the biggest thing is I'm just not tense, I'm at one with the car, I know what the car's going to do before I go into the corner.” - High Performance.

#alex albon #formula 1 #f1 #m* #my god its been a long time since i did a research of something #i made sure that the links to the podcast are on the minute when he says the things 😭 #anyway sorry if there is any mistakes english is not my mother language and all that

[probablyasocialecologist]

What the elite-flattering plots of “progress” divert attention from is the following: The core reason that the global rich-poor gap keeps growing is that the bulk of growth also goes to the already have-mosts, as a thin-gruel “trickle down” delivers an unbelievably bad bottom-share (the implicit imperialism pattern that the IPCC models extrapolate). WIL [ World Inequality Lab] data shows that the total global personal-income pie grew $37 trillion from 2009 to 2019. Of that, top-decilers took $8.7 trillion (24 percent) and bottom-decilers got $25 billion (0.07 percent). That’s not a typo. Global markets, as now set up, allocate those in greatest material need 345 times less than they bestow on those that have greatest material abundance already. The average bottom-deciler earns just $289 annually, or 79 cents per day (that’s just under 3 percent, or 1/38th, of a rich-nation poverty level). Their income grows on average $5 per year, and at that rate it will take 2,100 years to reach rich-nation poverty levels (of $10,950 a year, $30 per day).

Jag Bhalla, We Can’t Have Climate Justice Without Ending Computational Colonialism

#inequality #poverty #extreme poverty #new optimism

[ahappydnp]

Everyday I log into Twitter and see multiple people asking “where’s this screenshot from, what’s this clip from?” And it will be content from 2019-2022!!! What has happened to phannie culture. Finding Dan and Phil and not watching every video posted starting from 2009, Reading forum posts from 2013? Do we not care about lore anymore? Where’d the obsession that comes from finding dnp randomly one day and you’re life never being the same. Like if they actually watched phils content they actually know the answers to the questions!!!!!!

i'm not gonna mock people for not knowing something but yeah in the past couple of years there has seemed to be an uptick in people asking others to find the things for them instead of doing any kind of research

not to be an old™️ but i think it's a generational thing and the product of people who are now in their early 20s not having to learn the same online research skills we did? or maybe it's also because social media changed the way they're used to receiving info (as in it's fed to them directly without looking)

but no i agree back in the day if you joined a new fandom or wanted to learn you did your own digging and looked up forums/videos/used basic deductive reasoning. it'll be interesting to see how fandom landscapes progress

#anon ask #i also was reading something recently about how school chromebooks have ruined gen z's ability to properly search? #like it was a widespread epidemic for people who grew up using chromebooks because of their interface? #it generally doesn't annoy me unless it's something that could very easily be searched #or it's like a brand new video that everyones talking about live and someone asks where to find it #but also its nice that theres not the same shame we had in asking back then?

[timextoxhajima]

what's the right word?

my first kpop group was snsd when they first released gee back in 2009/2010 and i was 9/10.

i've been stuck in this hole of 'kpop' since. i turn 24 in april. thats more than half my life.

growing up in a conservative asian family and the elder daughter of two teachers, it's not easy to explain the grievances and troubles i feel like i've experienced. some might not even consider it a terrible thing. yes, i've had a good standard of education and had parents who took care of me but sometimes the challenge was truly connecting with people and finding an emotional support.

nobody else can replicate and/or understand the true depth of the love, admiration, inspiration and reliance a fan has on her favourite idols/groups. throughout the years, i've gone through the eras. going from the snsd/shinee/suju era, and then into the bts/exo/vixx/bap era, and then blackpink/red velvet/wanna one/nct and then i feel like my life had a significant trajectory in the 2019-2020 period because i started dancing.

after having spent a decade being so invested in the idol culture of perfecting every single performance, pushing past boundaries and the idea of 'not being enough' being the exact source of motivation, perhaps picking up cover-dancing wasn't the best idea. especially when i come in a package with a bunch of baggage, anxiety, stress, and other perfectionist ideals.

throughout the years before 2019/2020, my reliance on my kpop idols was emotional. i wrote letters to them like they were my best friends, wished them the best of health and that they were always enough, while wishing i was as good as they were (ironic?). to my past loves: sooyoung, donghae, minho, jonghyun, jungkook, baekhyun, kang daniel, irene, jaehyun and the other members who have helped me through alot - i owe my life to them. quite literally.

tbz and enhypen have a special place in my heart. because not only did they become the usual emotional support pillars i had all the while, they became my mentors. an actual source to learn and be better. enhypen even more, because i've covered at least 5-6 of their items.

this growth in myself and the growth i see in them was so quiet but so sudden last night as i filmed their performances. 'oh my god, i danced to this song back in 2022 and now i get to see it live?'

as a fan, i feel more emotional because not only am i a fan who enjoys their music, i feel like i had connected to them on the 'stage performer' level and though i'm still lacking in many, many ways, i owe my progress and improvement to enhypen. they push me both mentally and physically during practises and their want to surpass themselves always reminds me that love knows no boundaries. the love for the stage and the love to be the best version of yourself.

i'm quite sure there's some psychological term for it, when you rely on someone who doesn't know you exist, and that you gain energy just from this person's existence.

the story is much, much longer but i could write a whole fic about it if i wanted to.

to my strength, my (probably last) love, heeseung.

i could write a billion words about you, and it would still not be enough to share how much of my life, my success, my motivation, my strength i owe to you. the love between a fan and an idol can only go so far, but i promise it will be forever.

i have a knack for choosing the members who seem to be the 'ace' of the group, but you are so unapologetically open about being a perfectionist. that's just my opinion. you know you want to be at your best, and you strive so hard to get there, sometimes i almost feel sad that you think you're not yet perfect. but then again, that's the very thing that makes me look up to you.

saw you for the first time and probably the last time last night. thank you for reigniting this want to surpass myself in every way possible. thank you for reminding me that lacking is the only way up.

[godfrey-the-chaos-duck]

Ok so I wasn't gonna say anything till I had at least the first chapter done but screw it

I HAVE A TITLE FOR MY VILLAIN SCROOGE AU FIC

It is a LONG-ASS TITLE HERE WE GO

Spilt Blood, Ancient Gold, Solemn Secrets Never Told, Something Lost, Never Found, Beware the Heir of Dismal Downs

As I said a while back, me and a friend of mine had been discussing ideas for a villain arc for Scrooge, and I guess this is gonna be the result

I have all the chapter titles, the year each chapter takes place in, and a vague plan for where each chapter goes (titles and years under the cut, and you can all feel free to ask me or speculate if you wanna know more)

Part 1 - Past

The Cold Heart of Clan McDuck (1870s)

The Dark Angel of the Klondike (1880s-90s)

Any Means Necessary (1890s)

Desperate Times, And So Forth (1930s, Great Depression)

“Note To Self: Never Trust Anybody” (1942)

Making Connections In Unexpected Places (1964)

And Fate Turns On A Dime Once Again… (1966)

“You Didn’t Fire Me, I Quit!” (1978)

You Don’t Know Me, But I Know You (1987)

Two Little Angels (1993) Part 2 - Present

Ground Control To Della Duck (2007)

Exodus (2007)

Slipping, Fading, Falling, Sir, and Nothing Left To Say (2009)

Fortune Favours The Wicked (2010)

Anything For Company (2017)

A Slip Of This Respectable Façade, Perhaps (2018)

Flames Old And New Ignited (2018)

We Meet Again, Agent 22 (2019)

Not Quite Healing (2019)

We Run This City (2019) Part 3 - Future

What’s A Little Emotional Trauma Between Old Friends? (2019)

The Trickster Of Glomgold Industries (2019)

Making A Name For Himself (2019)

A New Challenger Approaches! (2019)

Dark Moon Rising (2019)

The Old Gods Return (2019)

F.O.W.L. Play (2019)

Unconventional Alliances (2019)

“Everybody Hates Me, And I Hate Everybody” (2019)

The Second Burning Of Alexandria (2019)

Tale’s End? (2019, mayyyybe 2020)

Note that up until "Fortune Favours The Wicked", anything and everything I talk about is either part of Scrooge's 2017-canon backstory, or is a part of that history that's never filled in in the show (so it COULD'VE happened but probably not). The fic diverges more and more from 2017 canon as it progresses, as we see what things would be like if just a few things changed, here and there...

Also the story starts moving SUPER FAST after "Flames Old And New Ignited", that's intentional.

Also also I split it into three parts and named them after the Christmas ghosts because, y'know, Scrooge, and also that his life in the show really does have three distinct phases - from his youth up till when Della left, his Post-Spear Depression, and his reconciliation with the fam. But of course, in this AU, things don't go according to plan all the time...

But yeah if anyone wants to know more PLEASE ask, I would love to infodump about this, it'll probably be the longest thing I've EVER written when it's done.

#the chaos duck has spoken #ducktales #ducktales 2017 #scrooge mcduck #scrooge mcduck villain au #chaos duck writes #dt17 #I would put the whole title for this in a tag but I think it's too long

[90smagicalgirl]

5 Social Sites and Online Games I Played Growing Up (ﾟ▽ﾟ*) ・‥…━━━★ﾟ+.・‥…━━━★ﾟ+.・‥…━━━★ﾟ+・‥…━━━★ﾟ+.・‥…━━━★

> Cartoon Doll Emporium CDE for short, I believe was created in 2005 and officially shut down in 2019. The site started out as a simple forums and dress up site where there would be dress up dolls from other sources and original artists. It went through a few good many changes through out the years, even having a full avatar based system and membership. I remember you would collect points by playing the dress up games and mini games to spend on your avatar items. I never personally really participated in the events or the forums since I was still a teen and felt too shy or nervous. Sadly, due to the death of flash, many of the early site flash dolls that were more original and simple are no longer able to be played even through the archives.

> Fantage Fantage was an online social site that I would compare to GaiaOnline. It was created in 2008 and officially shut down in 2018; I believe there is a single player/ private server somewhere that was created, but I've never looked or seen it myself so I can't say for sure! You had your avatar and a world to explore. Different parts of the map had different locations like a beach, city, etc.. You even had access to your own home where you could host parties with other players or join parties. This one also had a premium membership, I remember almost having the membership but was too discouraged by the price as a young child to actually ask for money for it lol. I did not do a lot of progression in the game but I just liked to hop on for the music and the vibes.

> Tinier Me Tinier Me seems to have been created back in 2009 and it was officially shut down in 2012, with the forum shutting down in 2020 and the doll maker in 2021. Now it looks like there is a patreon for DreamSelfy, which would have been a successor to the original, but it doesn't look like it will ever reach it's goal. The last update for DreamSelfy was back in 2018 and it's been radio silence since. Now, Tinier me was an avatar dress up site (again similar to Gaia Online~) and you could even go out into the world and walk around to socialize with other players. It did have a premium money option and also a gacha system - and thus it was here that I was first exposed to gachas and I will forever be loyal to them now many years later. But I didn't care for the premium stuff very much, I just absolutely adored the style and cutesy anime look it had to it. I did play this one alongside GaiaOnline :) Now you may be thinking also, hm, those avatars looks sort of familiar don't they? Well you may be thinking of Cocoppa Play! They were both made by the same company and they still incorporate the original mascot for Tinier Me (Selfy) in Cocoppa Play for the more simple and common items in their gachas and game stores. Tinier me, my beloved, I miss you ♥

> Free Realms Okay, okay so maybe this one is borderline MMO and borderline social site, BUT, I used to really just play it as a social site so that is what it primarily was to me (∗  ❛ั ᵕ ❛ั ). Anyway, Free Realms was a massive multiplayer online game that was released back in 2009 and officially shut down in 2014. You may even remember seeing it's commercials play on tv alongside Wizard 101 and Toon Town, when 3D MMOs aimed at kids and young teens was at peak popularity and you would no doubt see those commercials ALL the time on tv. Now, I personally tried ToonTown and Wizard 101, but NOTHING got my attention like Free Realms. The game was my very first MMO and one of the games I miss the most thinking back at my childhood. The game provided you full freedom, with the option of doing anything and everything you wanted with no restriction on your class or job. Heck, you didn't have to do those things you could just be an explorer which means running around the maps finding secrets and tokens! Or just sit around and socialize with other players. I remember the game having constant seasonal and non seasonal events, plus the fact that you could choose if you did want to cook, fight, dungeon crawl, tailor, etc.. was so mind blowing to young me. And the music! Oh my god. The music. The soundtrack is available on Youtube and I highly recommend listening to it, it is so good. I'm gonna stop there, because I could go on and on and on about this game alone. It just means that much to me.

> Gaia Online

Of course after mentioning it twice I have to put it in here! Gaia was created way back in 2003 and is still active to this day. As you can tell by my profile pic below, I haven't updated my profile about 3 years since the last time I was super active was during the pandemic. But I always like to go on and off just to occasionally log in and see that it's still going and change my outfit. I don't remember when I joined Gaia, but I do know this is the my second account actually. I had an even older account that I could probably access if I tried really hard to find the email I used but it wouldn't matter since I did abandon that old account years ago for the current one so its okay :3 Gaia needs no real introduction as I'm sure many of you know about it and what it's all about. But basically, it's a social avatar site just like CDE and Tinier Me was. You have an avatar that you can dress up, a profile page where you can customize pretty freely especially if you knew how to make a sick Myspace page, an aquarium, a car and even pets (but only for the mini game!). Yes, Gaia has mini games and full length games within the site as well, the most infamous being Zomg, which was shut down in 2014 but then brought back again due to all the backlash from users. Be aware though, to play it you do need to download another browser that supports the hardware the game runs on as it does not run on regular browsers since Flash is gone. Another game that I actually enjoyed was Kindred Lake, which is where those pets would come into play. Gaia is also known for its extensive and active forums, weekly art contests and the world of Gaia where you can run around and talk with other players in a multitude of different maps. I have many memories of GaiaOnline and I'm glad that it's one of the sites that managed to stay alive and well all these years later, especially since the death of flash.

・‥…━━━★ﾟ+.・‥…━━━★ﾟ+.・‥…━━━★ﾟ+・‥…━━━★ﾟ+.

⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ Conclusion ♡ I hope you guys enjoyed this list I made! Again, I'm not someone who knows all about these sites and games but the main purpose of this list was to maybe find others who also remembered/ were on them too. Or maybe I even helped you remember something you forgot ages ago, if so reply ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ Have a lovely day/ evening everyone and thank you for reading. If you got this far bonus kitty for you below:

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣄⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀♡⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢿⣧⠀⠀⠀⣀⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿⣇⠀⢸⣿⣿⣦⣤⣄⣀⣴⣿⣷⠀⠀⠀♡ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿⡆⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣼⣿⣿⣧⣿⣿⣿⣿⡟⣿⣿⣿⠻⣿⠂⡀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⣠⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⣿⣿⣿⣦⣿⣏⠁⠀♡ ⠀⠀⢰⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠏⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠋⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⢰⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⡀⠀⠀ ⢠⣾⣿⡿⠋⠀⠈⠙⣿⣿⣿⡿⣿⡿⠿⠟⢿⣿⣿⣷⣄⠀ ⠈⠿⡿⠃⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⣿⣧⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠻⣿⡿⠂ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⢿⡿⠟⠃⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀♡⠀⠀⠈⠀⠀

#freerealms #fantage #fantageonline #cartoondollemporium #CDE #GaiaOnline #TinierMe #CocoppaPlay #Cocoppa #Selfy #2000s internet #2000s nostalgia #nostalgia #wizard101 #postopia.com #toontown #cat #emoticon #kaomoji #blogpost #blog

[dayenurose]

Valle Soleada Fic Recs

People may speak of Paris as the romance capital, but for Romy fans it's Valle Soleada. ♥️ ~ @applejacks1552

Learning to Touch, Sharing Breakfast, and Intimate Moments

Ludi_Ling ( @ludi-ling )

Unbirthday [ao3] [ff.net]

Valentine’s Day [ao3] [ff.net]

Moving In [ao3] [ff.net]

Threads - Chapter 1: Heirlooms & Chapter 9: A Stitch in Time [ao3] [ff.net]

SassC_HiJinx ( @sasschijinx )

As I Lay [ao3] [ff.net]

Le Chat Noir [ao3] [ff.net]

The Art of Being Content [ao3] [ff.net]

DayenuRose ( @dayenurose )

A Life Worth Striving For [ao3] [ff.net]

Hospital [ao3] [ff.net]

Trust Me - Chapter 2: A Leap of Faith [ao3] [ff.net]

From Almost to Always - 2 - Anna - Waking from Unfulfilled Dreams [ao3] [ff.net]

Ilargikat ( @ilargikat )

Sundays [ao3]

Mackenzie05

Valle Soelada [ff.net]

Mystical Sand

Simple Pleasures [ff.net]

WriteItSmall (scribblemyname) ( @scribblemyname )

Expectations [ao3] [ff.net]

Valle Soleada and the Second Generation

AppleJ ( @applejacks1552 )

Children of X [ao3]

Ballofspite

Home [ff.net]

CodeAliasWave ( @codealiaswave )

Unquenchable [ff.net]

Find out more details about these fics below the cut…

Learning to Touch, Sharing Breakfast, and Intimate Moments

Unbirthday by Ludi_Ling (Ludi) [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: G | Words: 828 | Chapters: 1 | Date: May 6, 2019 |

Summary: Powerless and blissfully happy together in Valle Soleada, Rogue and Remy are mostly spending their time getting to know each other, which somehow leads to them celebrating a joint unbirthday. Short, fluffy oneshot.

Valentine’s Day by Ludi_Ling [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: G | Words: 2,760 | Chapters: 1 | Date: Feb 25, 2018 |

Summary: Rogue plans on having some ‘me time’ by taking a trip to Valle Soleada, only to find she isn’t the only one to have the same idea. Short but sweet Romy fluff, set after the Rogue & Gambit miniseries.

Moving In by Ludi_Ling (Ludi) [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: T | Words: 3,124 | Chapters: 1 | Date: Dec 25, 2019 |

Summary: Rogue’s moving in with Remy, and they get deep into their feels along the way. Cameos by Oliver, Lucifer and Figaro. Fluffy oneshot.

Notes: While this fic doesn’t take place in Valle Soleada, Rogue and Gambit reflect on their time (and relationship) while they lived there.

Threads - Chapter 1: Heirloom & Chapter 9: A Stitch in Time by Ludi_Ling (Ludi) [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: M | Words: 94,958 | Chapters: 10 | Status: Complete | Date: May 14, 2004 - Jan 4, 2011 |

Summary: One Sunday morning in Valle Soleada, Rogue and Gambit recall the moment they first met one another. Set in the 616-Universe (the main Marvel Universe).

Notes: Threads is a collection of alternate universes. While each chapter is stand alone, there is a bit of a thread which runs throughout the story. The first chapter begins with a lovely Sunday morning in Valle Soleada. In ‘Chapter 9: A Stitch in Time,’ they revisit an alternate/future version (Earth-371) of Valle Soleada.

As I Lay by SassC_HiJinx (SassC HiJinx) [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: M | Words: 3,339 | Chapters: 1 | Date: Apr 19, 2009 (ao3-2021)|

Summary: “The course of true love never did run smooth.” - William Shakespeare. Or, how Gambit and Rogue deal with coming back to life after their showdown with Vargas. Angsty Romy oneshot with a happy ending.

Le Chat Noir by SassC_HiJinx (SassC HiJinx) [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: M | Words: 2,361 | Chapters: 1 | Date: Apr 4, 2010 (ao3 2021) |

Summary: Sometimes you need someone to take a chance on you. This he knows most of all. Romy fluff with the barest hint of angst.

The Art of Being Content by SassC_HiJinx (SassC HiJinx) [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: T | Words: 3,505 | Chapters: 1 | Date: Feb 19, 2022 |

Summary: Rogue has a cold. Remy takes care of her. A little snapshot of their non-mutant life in Valle Soleada.

Note: These three fics by SassC_HiJinx form a bit of a loose trilogy following Rogue & Gambit as their relationship progresses. These are a lovely snapshot of their relationship from angsty hurt to domestic comfort. Please mind the tags things are a bit rough for Rogue and Gambit at the start of their journey to Valle Soleada, but it does pay off lovingly in the end.

A Life Worth Striving For by DayenuRose [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: T | Words: 1,001 | Chapters: 1 | Date: Dec 29, 2022 |

Summary: Life in Valle Soleada is good. Anna has a job she loves, a home on the beach, and the love of her man. She knows it won’t last, but she’s determined to take full advantage of every moment offered to her.

Hospital by DayenuRose [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: T | Words: 1,410 | Chapters: 1 | Date: September 26, 2022 |

Summary: Remy hated hospitals. He hated them to the very core of his being. From his experience, nothing good ever came from hospitals.

Yet, when Anna was injured, that's exactly where he found himself. Waiting....

Trust Me - Chapter 2: A Leap of Faith by DayenuRose [ao3] [ff.net]

​​Rating: T | Words: 13,313 | Chapters: 5 | Status: WIP | Date: Feb 26 - May 27, 2021 |

Summary: Still adjusting to the loss of their powers after Mardripoor, Anna and Remy explore what these changes mean for their lives and their relationship. Never willing to be complacent, Remy challenges Anna to a leap of faith.

Note: While part of a larger story, each chapter can stand on its own.

From Almost to Always - 2 - Anna - Waking from Unfulfilled Dreams by DayenuRose [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: T | Words: 4,062 | Chapters: 1 | Date: January 11, 2020 |

Summary: In a relationship full of ups and downs, Rouge and Remy have always found their way back to each other. How many times along the way did they almost take the next step in their relationship?

Note: Part 2 features a vignette of Rogue and Gambit during their time in Valle Soleada.

Sundays by Ilargikat [ao3]

Rating: G | Words: 1,763 | Chapters: 1 | Date: Dec 19, 2022 |

Summary: Any given Sunday, a day off to spend the day doing nothing.

Cuddles and memories. Set in Valle Soleada.

Valle Soelada by Mackenzie05 [ff.net]

Rating: M | Words: 3,933 | Chapters: 2 | Date: Oct 13 - Nov4, 2008 |

Summary: Rogue and Remy leave the X-Men after losing their powers and now they have to adjust to having a normal life. Just when they thought that things couldn’t be any better, life gets turned around. Rogue/Gambit Romy. -Comic-verse/AU

Simple Pleasures by Mystical Sand [ff.net]

Rating: K+ | Words: 2,443 | Chapters: 1 | Date: Aug 7, 2004 |

Summary: Rogue handles life without her powers. Set after XTreme XMen Xpose 2. RogueGambit.

Expectations by WriteItSmall (scribblemyname) [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: G | Words: 100 | Chapters: 1 | Date: Dec 19, 2010 (ao3 2014) |

Summary: Rogue was the last thing he had expected.

Valle Soleada and the Second Generation

Children of X by AppleJ [ao3]

Rating: M | Words: 18,642 | Chapters: 11 | Status: WIP | Date: Dec 29, 2019 - Dec 29, 2020 |

Summary: A sequel to “But Here We Are”. Mutant numbers are declining. Rogue and gambit have been vagabonds living in seclusion since the birth of their twins. But how long until their old lives pull them back in?

Note: Chapters 1-6 are set in Valle Soleada before the LeBeau family sets off for another location.

Note: The next two stories take place after X-Men: The End. Which, if you have read The End, you know what that means for Romy. Home focuses more on the next generation (Olivier) and his grief, while Unquenchable is more Remy focused as he and their children face the aftermath of The End. Both stories carry with them the feel of Valle Soleada and the importance that location had for Rogue, Gambit, and their family.

Home by ballofspite [ff.net]

Rating: K+ | Words: 1,206 | Chapters: 1 | Date: Apr 15, 2020 |

Summary: Olivier Raven’s connection to his dead mother is what leads him to a place and time where his life was simpler. Will going home change what has happened? He needs to find out.

Unquenchable by CodeAliasWave [ff.net]

Rating: T | Words: 3,830 | Chapters: 1 | Date: Aug 26, 2012 |

Summary: In The End, Gambit thought he died. Yet he somehow made it back. Now faced living without Rogue, how can he handle his grief and raise their kids? Isn't an angry 12 year old bad enough without blame for his mother's death? Or how about a daughter who thinks she's forgetting her mother? Is Rogue really lost forever? All he knows is that life wasn't supposed to be this way. One Shot.

Take a trip to Valle Soleada and enjoy the reads!

(For @roguegambitweek 2023)

#rogue/gambitweek2023 #rogue/remyweek2023 #rogue #gambit #romy #anna marie lebeau #remy lebeau #fic recs #valle soleada #otp: home and harbor #otp: mon coeur

[femsolid]

“One of the most controversial issues around women and gender at present is the psychiatric diagnosis of teenage girls as having ‘gender dysphoria’ when they do not conform or identify with femininity.

In 2009, seventy children were referred to the Tavistock and Portman Gender Identity Service as they wished to transition. In 2019, 2,590 children were referred into the same service. What is surprising however, is that in 2009, 75 per cent of the children were boys who wanted to present and live as girls but by 2019, 70 per cent of the children were girls who wanted to present and live as boys. 

Arguably, the exponential rise in young girls being diagnosed with psychiatric gender disorders must be viewed through a lens of oppression, misogyny and centuries of theories and beliefs that women and girls are inferior, mentally ill, defective versions of men and boys. This critical argument is often missing from broader discussions of gender and psychiatry. When girls are growing up in a misogynistic society that frequently sexualises, objectifies, traumatises, patronises, feminises and vilifies them –a trauma-informed perspective would clearly argue that it is rational for girls to wish to escape femininity, and their female bodies. It would make sense that they would feel safer if they presented to the world as non-binary or masculine. Therefore, there is much evidence to suggest that a girl or woman seeking to live as non-binary or masculine does not constitute a psychiatric disorder. It does, however, suggest that girls are traumatised, looking for an escape hatch from the patriarchal norms which govern them.

Unfortunately, rather than a growing understanding that psychiatry continues to harm girls and women, the development and utilisation of gender dysphoria as a psychiatric disorder positions any deviation from socially constructed traditional gender roles as a mental illness. Following this thread of logic, psychiatry has then supported the medicalisation of this so-called psychiatric disorder by prescribing puberty blockers, artificial cross-sex hormones and even cosmetic surgery. 

What is now being pushed as progressive and inclusive looks very much like old-time traditional, medicalising, misogynistic psychiatry. Rather than supporting women and girls to present and live however they like, without any commitment or connection to traditional gender roles, psychiatry has once again achieved patriarchal power by convincing them, and the rest of the world, that being gender non-conforming is a mental illness in need of treatment. And this time, like many times before it, professionals in power have embraced the medical treatment of teenage girls as positive and sorely needed, rather than exploring why so many girls seek to shed their female and/or feminine identity and expectations.”

- Sexy But Psycho by Jessica Taylor

#quote #sexy but psycho #jessica taylor #psychiatry #trans

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me WEDNESDAY (Apr 11) at UCLA, then Chicago (Apr 17), Torino (Apr 21) Marin County (Apr 27), Winnipeg (May 2), Calgary (May 3), Vancouver (May 4), and beyond!

#20yrsago Report from the spam/anti-spam summit https://web.archive.org/web/20040426071527/http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/spam/story/0,13427,1187654,00.html

#20yrsago Broadcast Treaty threatens the whole world with super-duper DMCA https://web.archive.org/web/20040427223711/http://www.corante.com/importance/archives/002925.html

#20yrsago John Gilmore on Gmail’s terms-of-service https://craphound.com/gilmoreongmail.html

#15yrsago U2’s manager wants the power to cut off your Internet connection https://memex.craphound.com/2009/04/08/u2s-manager-wants-the-power-to-cut-off-your-internet-connection/

#15yrsago Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air: the Freakonomics of conservation, climate and energy https://memex.craphound.com/2009/04/08/sustainable-energy-without-the-hot-air-the-freakonomics-of-conservation-climate-and-energy/ #15yrsago What you should be afraid of instead of terrorists https://web.archive.org/web/20090327073459/https://www.counterpunch.org/goekler03242009.html

#15yrsago Obama DOJ invents radical authoritarian theory to defend Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping https://www.salon.com/2007/08/01/obama/

#15yrsago London cop’s unprovoked attack on G20 bystander who then has fatal heart attack https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/apr/07/video-g20-police-assault

#10yrsago EU’s highest court strikes down mass surveillance under the Data Retention Directive https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/04/data-retention-violates-human-rights-says-eus-highest-court

#10yrsago Online test-proctoring: educational spyware that lets third parties secretly watch and listen to you through your computer https://web.archive.org/web/20140412142717/http://spartandaily.com/119401/online-proctoring-raises-privacy-concerns

#10yrsago My daughter Poesy reviews Hilda and the Black Hound https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lVWEiMbx_E

#5yrsago The BLM’s Burning Man environmental impact statement is terrible, calls for drug searches, dumpsters, and a 19,000,000lb concrete wall https://memex.craphound.com/2019/04/07/the-blms-burning-man-environmental-impact-statement-is-terrible-calls-for-drug-searches-dumpsters-and-a-19000000lb-concrete-wall/

#5yrsago China’s toxic livestreaming culture: the vicarious lives of angry, alienated, uneducated rural gamers https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1003642

#5yrsago The two hidden intellectual moves behind the “progressive” argument against free college https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/04/05/pete-buttigieg-argues-against-free-college-this-is-why-progressives-cant-agree-about-subsidizing-tuition/

#5yrsago Pledge: I will not participate in any event organized by or including institutions that employ Kirstjen Nielsen https://memex.craphound.com/2019/04/08/pledge-i-will-not-participate-in-any-event-organized-by-or-including-institutions-that-employ-kirstjen-nielsen/

#5yrsago Most browsers — except Firefox and Brave — are eliminating the option to turn off surveilling “hyperlink auditing” https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/software/major-browsers-to-prevent-disabling-of-click-tracking-privacy-risk/

#1yrago Everything advertised on social media is overpriced junk https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/08/late-stage-sea-monkeys/#jeremys-razors

#pluralistic

[eggable]

MiCoVerse Theory

This is a theory about the webtoon comic called MiCoVerse by @mushroomminded. I suggest you read the comic before reading this. Also this theory was made when "All Hell 7" was the latest update to the comic so this theory might be outdated.

I was going to do a recap of the comic's basic story, but if I have to do that then you didn't read the comic beforehand like I suggested which is entirely your fault. Idiot.

So what happened to Milo's dad, Milo? Lets call them Milo Jr. (Junior) and Mile Sr. (Senior). My answer: demon. Or a spirit or entity or something. Lets call it a monster because I don't know exactly it is. Maybe it will become clearer as the story goes on. So hear is the entire story if my theory is right:

In 1968, in the Parker house, the Parker family tried to summon a monster for reasons unclear. They succeeded, but the monster needed a body to be the the physical world so it tried to enter the members of the Parker family, which accidently killed each of them. Without a physical body, the monster remained in the house, too weak to affect anything around it and only visible through shadows.

In 2009, Milo Sr. went into the Parker house for some unknown reason. The monster tried to enter him and succeeded without killing him. Then Milo, with the monster in him, left the house and started wandering around. His roommates and friends, Dan and Jake, found him and realised something was wrong. He might have also been bleeding from the nose a LOT. Dan and Jake could see something was off and brought him to Kathy, who knows a little about strange things. All together they tried to get the monster out of Milo Sr., they also might have done this at the Parker house, which would explain why the monster was there later on, with some kind of ritual. Probably a ritual to change something back to how it was before. They got the monster out of him like how they wanted, but the ritual didn't go as planned and de-aged Milo, turning him into a four year old boy. He also lost most of his memories because four year olds are fresh from being babies and people can't remember their infanthood. They had no way of reversing this so Dan and Jake started taking care of four year old Milo and to explain to all around them why their adult roommate Milo is gone and a young child that looks identical to Milo is living with them, they reported Milo Sr. missing and claimed that Milo Jr. was his son. It made some sense why no one had seen Milo Jr. before, he was so young that didn't go to school or public places a lot. They also didn't have his birth certificate but could easily say that it was Milo Sr. possession and he never said where it was (it was mentioned that they didn't have the birth certificate in "The Tenth Year part 24"). This also explains when Kathy was asked when she'd last seen Milo Sr. and she said "By that name? Ten years ago." (it was currently 2019). She had seen him, but now he was Milo Junior instead of just Milo. Also Cody's dad, I think his name was Dominic, might have been involved too since he acts nervous around the topic and knows Kathy too and tells Dan when Milo Jr. asks about it.

Finally in 2019, Milo Jr. was told from childhood that Milo Sr. was his father who mysteriously disappeared ten years ago. He and Cody go to the Parker house to look for ghosts and the monster sees them and follows them out. The monster doesn't try to enter their bodies so I think it can only do that if it and the person are A) in the Parker house since that's where it was summoned and B) the person is physically touching someone, maybe because that was part of the summoning ritual (that would also mean that Milo Sr. was in the Parker house with someone, maybe we'll learn more about that as the story progresses?). We can tell the monster is following them because Cody sees it above Milo when Milo sleeps in his bed and both Milo and Cody see it at the aquarium. I believe the monster is following them because it recognizes Milo as the one person who didn't die when it entered their body. The monster wants more of that sweet, sweet resistant flesh puppet. But it has to wait for the right conditions. And when Tegan, Cody and Dominic go to the Parker house, the monster followed Cody in and they inadvertently created the right conditions. The monster went inside Dominic, just to realize that he wasn't Milo and immediately left his body again. This still caused Dominic to be effected and he coughed and threw up blood and mystery demon goop (tiny add on theory, it's said that the blood in Dominic's mouth was just run off from his nose, but if you look at the frame you can see that it is pretty clear that it's coming from his mouth. I think this means the monster can make blood leave your body without any incision or cuts. It just happens. This also explains what happens to Milo Jr. later on). He doesn't die because the monster left him, but was still giving that possession experience. Later on Tegan and Milo Jr. go there alone and as the monster appears again, Milo touches Tegan's arm which allows the monster to finally enter it's perfect resilient host. Milo gets the previous symptoms of a bloody nose and mouth, but the monster doesn't leave his body which causes it to go farther with blood exploding from his head and neck (remember, the monster makes blood appear without causing actual harm. Milo's head and neck didn't explode, the blood did). They take him to the hospital but the naked eye and x rays can't identify possession. (After this some stuff happens with Dominic and he says he killed someone and seems really guilty. I have no clue what this is about and honestly forgot about it until this very moment. I'll probably make another theory about or involving this).

Chapter 9, All Hell, doesn't say the main characters involved like all the other chapter covers. The creator, MushroomMinded, says its all for a reason. I know that reason. this unnamed monster is inside Milo Jr. and can't be named or else the story will be spoiled. MushroomMinded also says a lot is about to happen. This is because the monster is no longer a weak little shadow. With a host body, who knows what things it's capable of. When we see Milo, he is completely silent with and unhappy expression this maybe because he spent a night at the hospital or maybe because this old and probably unhappy monster is controlling his body. It's not possible to know how much power Milo still has. That is the conclusion of the theory. There is still of puzzle pieces that I don't where to put them yet, like anything about Kathy, Dominic's murder and general fear, Tegan's brother being somehow involved, but I don't know how to explain these yet.

Also I forgot to mention, I think Milo Sr.'s parents know he never had a child and that's why they don't interact with Milo Jr. They don't care about some random kid being lied to about his heritage.

Also also I think someone in the later story someone is going to set the Parker house on fire. If all else fails, I was write about that one. I hope.

Hopefully I'll get more information and be able to create another theory. Until then,

Are you eggable?

#theory #fan theory #webtoon #webcomic #supernatural #paranormal #lore #speculation #ghost

[heavenboy09]

Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊 To You

The Iconic & Handsome Guatemalan 🇬🇹 American Actor In Cinema Today 🎥

Óscar Isaac Hernández Estrada was born on March 9, 1979, in Guatemala City to a Guatemalan mother, María Eugenia Estrada Nicolle, and a Cuban father, Óscar Gonzalo Hernández-Cano, a pulmonologist. He has an older sister, climate scientist Nicole, and a younger brother, journalist Mike.

He is an American actor. Recognized for his versatility, he has been credited with breaking stereotypes about Latino characters in Hollywood. He was named the best actor of his generation by Vanity Fair in 2017 and one of the 25 greatest actors of the 21st century by The New York Times in 2020. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award and a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2016, he featured on Time's list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Born in Guatemala, Isaac moved with his family to the US while an infant. As a teenager, he joined a punk band, acted in plays and made his film debut in a minor role. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Isaac was a character actor in films for much of the 2000s. His first major role was that of Joseph in the biblical drama The Nativity Story (2006), and he won an AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for portraying political leader José Ramos-Horta in the Australian film Balibo (2009). After gaining recognition for playing supporting parts in Robin Hood (2010) and Drive (2011), Isaac had his breakthrough with the eponymous role of a singer in the musical drama Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), which earned him a Golden Globe nomination.

Isaac's career progressed with leading roles in the crime drama A Most Violent Year (2014), the thriller Ex Machina (2015) and the superhero film X-Men: Apocalypse (2016). He became a global star with the role of Poe Dameron in the Star Wars sequel trilogy (2015–2019). Isaac starred in the historical drama Operation Finale (2018)—which marked his first venture into production—the science fiction films Annihilation (2018) and Dune (2021), the crime drama The Card Counter (2021) and the animated superhero film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023).

On television, Isaac was the lead in three miniseries: Show Me a Hero (2015), in which his portrayal of Nick Wasicsko won him a Golden Globe Award, Scenes from a Marriage (2021), and the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Moon Knight (2022). His stage work includes title roles in Romeo and Juliet (2007), Hamlet (2017) and The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window (2023).

Please Wish This Iconic & Most Handsome Guatemalan 🇬🇹 American Actor Of Hollywood's Biggest Cinema 🎥 Today

YOU KNOW HIM

YOU SEEN HIM IN THE BIG SCREEN

& THE LADIES SURE DO LOVE HIM. KEEP IT TOGETHER, GIRLS

THE 1 & THE ONLY

MR. Óscar Isaac Hernández Estrada AKA OSCAR ISSAC/ POE DAMERON OF STAR 🌟 WARS & MARC SPECTOR AKA MOON 🌙 KNIGHT OF MARVEL STUDIOS

HAPPY 45TH BIRTHDAY 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊 TO YOU MR. ISSAC & HERE'S TO MANY MORE YEARS TO COME

#OscarIssac #PoeDameron #StarWars #Dune #MoonKnight

#Oscar Issac #Poe Dameron #Star Wars #Dune #Moon Knight #Spotify

[ryanreynoldsfangirl]

Ryan Reynolds' Career

Today's hot topic is.... guess who? Ryan Reynolds! (his career but who cares.)

The charming, affable, and boyishly handsome Reynolds has made his way through everyone's hearts. His captivating personality and his witty humor never fails to amaze the crowd, be it teenagers or people old enough to be his grandmother.

HIS DEBUT ROLE IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY

At the young age of 15, Ryan made his debut as Billy Simpson in the Canadian teen soap opera, Hillside, in 1991. The show lasted till 1993. Along with that, his journey in Hollywood began from the movie Ordinary Magic in 1993. He played the 15-year-old Ganesh who was born and brought up in India. Hinduism and Mahatma Gandhi's teachings highly influenced his character in this movie.

(WE KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING. EVEN WE'RE LOSING OUR SANITY OVER THIS!!!!!)

(Look at our lil' floatie-floatie boy <3333)

Anywaaaaay.

Reynolds had a few supporting parts in films and TV shows. Because he no longer wanted to play an adolescent, he declined the role of Xander in Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003). (Terrible fate, we know.) Instead, he was cast in the ABC comedy Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place as medical student Berg (1998–2001).

His role in the comedy The In-Laws marked his entry into the world of high-budget entertainment. He had an appearance in The X-Files episode titled Syzygy. He also made an appearance as the letter 'A' in the A-Team, in the 4225th episode of the popular kids show Sesame Street.

(THIS IS OUR LITTLE ANGRY A-BOY.)

Now the more exciting part,

HIS MOVIES!

When it comes to effortless charisma and wry wit, it's hard to top Canadian charmer Reynolds. But even though the Vancouver-born actor is mostly unchallenged in those categories, it took a while for him to take off as a bonafide movie star. After a decade of hit-or-miss comedies, Reynolds eventually hit the bullseye with 2016's Deadpool, marking the perfect use of his naughty humor and comic delivery.

(Our top G Ryan as Deadpool *rock 'n' roll*)

Deadpool is regarded as one of the best superhero movies of all time and quickly became the highest earning R-Rated film ever, only beaten by Joker in 2019.

A few of his most adorable films include 'Definitely, Maybe' (2008), The Proposal (2009), The Change-Up (2011), and Just Friends (2005).

He's got many spectacular action movies under his belt. A few of them include, The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017) with top-rated co-star Samuel L. Jackson, 6 Underground (2019), Free Guy (2021), Red Notice (2021), and The Adam Project (2022).

Let's not forget his role as Harvey Kinkle (with the bad hair, ew, but he's cute so we'll take it.) in the movie Sabrina The Teenage Witch (1996).

And then there are a few movies which weren't very well received by his audience. These include R.I.P.D. (2013), Amityville Horror (2005), Green Lantern (2011), and Turbo (2013).

Moving on....

AWARDS HE'S RECEIVED OVER THE YEARS.

Our gorgeous superstar Ryan has received many notable awards as his career progressed. The first ever award he received was in 2003, it was the 'Young Hollywood Award for Next Generation - Male'. Then came an award for his role in Green Lantern - 'People's Choice Award for Favorite Superhero' in 2012, even though this movie was met with conflicting reviews, Reynolds managed to win different hearts by doing what he always does. Turn his charm on. (We AREN'T complaining at all.) A huge number of awards followed his movie Deadpool, which was a major box office hit. One for Best Entertainer in a Comedy Movie, and another for Entertainer of The Year.

Here's Ryan accepting the People's Icon Award at the People's Choice Awards 2022. (Look at his adorable smile, we all love him here at Ganesh Lovers' Community.)

Reynolds' has had a total of 60 nominations and 21 wins in his Hollywood career, which is actually quite a lot.

HIS PERSONAL LIFE

Childhood

Reynolds was raised in a Vancouver Irish Catholic home as the youngest of four boys. His parents were police officers and his mother worked in retail. Two of his brothers work in law enforcement, while a third is a member of the RCMP. From 1940 until 1944, his grandfather Chester Reynolds served as a legislator for Stettler, Alberta, as a member of the Social Credit Party.

Love Life

He was engaged to singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette from June 2004 to February 2007, when they called off their engagement.

Ryan with Alanis.

Shortly after, Reynolds started dating actress Scarlett Johansson, with whom he married on September 27, 2008, at a resort in Clayoquot Sound, close to Ucluelet, British Columbia. In December 2010, they divorced and filed for separation.

Ryan with Scarlett.

He started dating Blake Lively, his Green Lantern co-star, in 2011, and the two got married on September 9, 2012.

Ryan with Blake.

Children

Ryan and Blake have three daughters together: James (born in 2014), Inez (born in 2016), and Betty (born in 2020). Betty’s name was publicly revealed by a close friend, Taylor Swift in her song of the same name from the album Folklore.

Them with their three kids. (Our mini Ryan's and Blake's <3)

Personal Achievements

In 2008 and 2009, People magazine ranked Reynolds as one of the sexiest men alive. He was named the magazine's sexiest man alive in 2010.

He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2011, but the event was postponed since he couldn't make it. (Kinda depressing, TBH.) The day of his official induction was October 18, 2014.

But in December of 2016, Reynolds was honored with a star of his on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

(They're the cutest, seriously.)

Let's move on to....

HIS CHARITY AND ADVOCACY WORK

(This is kind of lengthy, bear with us.)

He's a humble and down-to-earth man, at least from what we've heard, and with the help of his super incredible wifey Blake, they make the power duo and set foot on Earth to save a few souls here and there. Here are a few of their contributions:

A half-million dollars were given to the Canadian nonprofit Water First Education & Training Inc. in March 2022 by Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively. 

In Vancouver, Canada, Reynolds also appeared in campaign videos sporting his recognizable "ugly" red-and-green sweater. By January 2021, according to the charity, $640,000 had been raised as a result of his fundraising efforts.

In March 2021, Reynolds and Lively gave $250,000 to a Canadian organization that mentored Indigenous youngsters, Influence Mentoring. 

Reynolds and his wife had also matched donations made to Covenant House Vancouver and Toronto up to a total of $250,000 in a remarkable gesture of generosity to help youngsters who are homeless, victims of trafficking, or in danger, back when COVID-19 had first struck.

Reynolds joined The Michael J. Fox Foundation in 2008 when he participated in Team Fox's New York City Marathon run. Reynolds ran the marathon in his father's memory, finishing in under four hours and raising more than $100,000 for Parkinson research.

And lastly,

HIS ALCOHOL COMPANY AVIATION GIN

As we see his posts on social media promoting his gin company:

Let's give you a brief history on the company and his role in it.

The goal of Aviation Gin was to develop a democratic gin blend with juniper in the background. It was formed in 2006 out of Portland, Oregon. a gin that is suitable for every cocktail. For the next ten years, it would remain mostly unknown.

Fast forward to 2018, when gin use was growing more rapidly than that of any other type of alcohol. This led to substantial changes in the sector, such as Reynolds buying a stake in the Aviation American Gin.  Reynolds is the creative director for the marketing campaign, and it is spectacularly successful (Aviation Gin is now the fastest-growing gin brand in America). How could it not? Reynold is a comic genius who conveys important messages about the quality of gin in the funniest, most approachable ways conceivable. Here's one of his advertisements for the company:

Hilarious! Are we right?!

Ah, sadly we have to end this splendid deep dive into our favorite floatie-boy Ryan Reynold's life here, but! We're not signing off without blessing your eyes with a few photos of his ;)

Your welcome.

Anyway, signing off, it's the dream team, Ganesh Lovers (get it?).

Adios till our next blog!

#ryan reynolds #deadpool #free guy #blake lively #Youtube

[ktsfnick]

BAND INTRODUCTION #4

ELVENKING

BASIC INFO

⛧origin:

italy

⛧years active:

1997-present

⛧members:

Davide "Damna" Moras – vocals (1997–2002, 2004–present)

Federico "Aydan" Baston – guitars (1997–present)

Mattia "Headmatt" Carli – guitars (2022–present)

Alessandro "Jakob" Jacobi – bass (2012–present)

Simone "Symohn" Morettin – drums (2011–2017, 2022–present)

Fabio "Lethien" Polo – violin (2009–present)

⛧past members:

Massimo "Kleid" Bottiglieri – vocals (2002–2004) Jarpen – guitars, unclean vocals (1997–2005) Luca Luison – guitars (2005–2007) Raffaello "Rafahel" Indri – guitars (2007–2022) Sargon – bass (1997–1999) Gorlan – bass (2000–2011) Zender – drums (1997–2011) Marco "Lancs" Lanciotti – drums (2017–2022) Elyghen – violin (2002–2010)

⛧genre:

Power metal, folk metal, progressive metal, symphonic metal, hard rock

MY OPINION

⛧my top 5 songs:

Silverseal - Reader of the runes (2019) The divided heart - The scythe (2007) Elvenlegions - The pagan manifesto (2014) The one we shall follow - The secrets of the magick Grimoire (2017) The scythe - The scythe (2007)

⛧my fav albums:

The scythe (2007) Reader of the runes (2019) The pagan manifesto (2014)

⛧my opinion:

I saw my dad wearing their hoodie from the album 'The Scythe,' so I decided to check them out. I recognized a few songs because my dad played them in the car, and now I just love them. Their music makes you feel like you're in a fantasy movie. If you're into Northern mythology or something like 'The Hobbit,' you'll definitely enjoy them. I also love their appearance on stage fr.

PHOTO FROM 1998 VS 2022

MORE PHOTOS<3

#metal #metal music #heavy metal #music diary #band introduction #hard rock #progressive metal #folk metal #fantasy #elf #power metal #the elvenking #elvenking #damna dave

[equalityvoices]

Trailblazers in LGBTQ+ Leadership Across Europe

Stefanos Kasselakis Breaks New Ground

Stefanos Kasselakis, an openly gay former employee of Goldman Sachs, has achieved a historic milestone in Greece by becoming the leader of the Syriza party, a significant leftist opposition group. Since 2019, he has been married to Tyler Macbeth, and his election marks a substantial advancement in LGBTQ+ representation within the Greek political landscape.

Europe’s Leadership in LGBTQ+ Representation

Europe is a global leader in terms of LGBTQ+ political representation, with Luxembourg, Ireland, Serbia, and Andorra currently having openly gay individuals at the helm of their governments. This highlights the continent’s forward-thinking approach to LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion.

Latvia’s Presidential Milestone

Edgars Rinkevics of Latvia became the region’s inaugural openly gay head of state earlier this year, a significant development since his public coming out in 2014. Rinkevics has utilized his role to champion equal rights for all.

Trailblazers in Iceland and Belgium

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir of Iceland was the first openly gay government head globally, leading her country from 2009 to 2013 and playing a pivotal role during the financial crisis. Elio Di Rupo, former Prime Minister of Belgium and later head of the Wallonia region, has also been a vocal supporter of LGBTQ+ rights.

Luxembourg’s Advocate for Normalcy

Xavier Bettel, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister, has been transparent about his sexuality and stresses its normality. His marriage in 2015 to his partner was a landmark event, marking the first time an acting EU leader married a same-sex partner.

Ireland’s Symbol of Change

Leo Varadkar, who has been Taoiseach of Ireland twice, from 2017 to 2020 and again starting in 2022, is Ireland’s first gay leader. His election is emblematic of the shifting social norms in Ireland, a country with a traditionally conservative Roman Catholic background.

Serbia’s Progressive Leadership

Ana Brnabić of Serbia holds the distinction of being both the first female and the first openly gay individual to be appointed as Prime Minister. In 2019, she became the first openly gay prime minister to become a parent while in office.

Europe’s Inclusive Political Landscape

The emergence of these leaders reflects a broader movement towards inclusivity and acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community in European political spheres. Their influential positions are not just breaking barriers but are also creating pathways for future LGBTQ+ individuals in the realm of politics.

©equalityvoices.org

[rmitsemester2project]

Heightened Multisensory Experiences

Week 1

Reflection:

I have worked with sound, mocap, video and 3D model editing. I was given different tasks in each of the fields, all to do with RMIT University projects. Christian Marclay works with investigation connections between sound, noise, photography, video and film. I hope to do something similar throughout the subject. This will help me progress through my discovery of what the project will be.

Progress:

In the first week, we were given a selection of words to choose from to base our project on to represent that emotion via a heightened multisensory experience.

Research:

Academic:

Born in 1955 in San Rafael, California, and raised in Geneva, Switzerland, for more than thirty years, Marclay has explored the relationship between the visual and the audible through a variety of media, including sculpture, video, performance, collage, and music. Marclay started his career in New York City’s East Village, where he became an early experimental DJ and musician, creating multiple series of works by destroying, collaging, and scratching vinyl records. Influenced by musique concrète, punk rock, and the work of John Cage, Marclay collaborated with a variety of artists, musicians, and performers during this time. The transformation of sound and musical objects into visuals and visuals back into audio experiences has been an important and ongoing part of the artist’s practice. Marclay’s signature playfulness with sound and image has become a feature of works such as Manga Scroll (2010), a sixty-five-foot-long collage of visual onomatopoeias meant to be performed aloud; Scream (2019), prints that collage together the vocal expressions of Japanese manga and Western comic-book characters; and 48 War Movies (2019), a video installation that cacophonously overlays the images and sounds of the titular number of war films. Marclay is best known for The Clock (2010), a work for which he collaged and sequenced views of clocks from a broad range of films to create a 24-hour video installation that also functions as a timekeeper. Collectively, his works tap into and comment on the subliminal power of mass visual and audio culture. Marclay received his BFA from Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, and studied at Ecole Supérieure d’Art Visuel in Geneva, Switzerland. Among other awards and honors, he has received the Contemporary Vision Award from San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2016) and The Golden Lion from the Venice Biennale (2011). Major solo exhibitions include Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California (2019); Venice Biennale, Italy (2011, 2019); Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Spain (2019); Sapporo Art Museum, Japan (2017); Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland (2015); Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France (2012); Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2010); Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea (2010); MoMA PS1, New York (2009); Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland (2008); Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Melbourne (2007); Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden (2006); Barbican Art Gallery, London, England (2005); and Tate Modern, London, England (2004).

Reflection:

Marclays way of work seemed the most ambitious of the artists I considered, so I decided to try to do something similar, even if not to the same degree.

Outside of class, thought about what project would be conceived was a tricky procedure due to multiple words to choose from and multiple ideas to choose. Not normal for these occasions, but it was this time.

Week 2

Progress:

In Week 2, we paid a visit to the RMIT Capitol building where we witnessed a couple of performances with lights and sounds using the Pharos software. A couple of ideas have now sprung into my mind.

Recreating the Matrix Code rain with brutal sound effects. The PHAROS software would be used to duplicate the code rain light effect. Some brutal sounding sound effects would be played as the bottom tip of the rain lights hit the ground, sort of like bombs being dropped from overhead. This could've also been mixed with the word terrifying due to the bomb inspiration drawn from the rapidly dropping lights bombing the audience isolated in the dark room.

Research:

Academic/Technical:

In the film, the code that comprises the Matrix itself is represented as downward-flowing green characters. This code uses a custom typeface designed by Simon Whiteley,[1] which includes mirror images of half-width kana characters and Western Latin letters and numerals.[2] In a 2017 interview at CNET, he attributed the design to his wife, who comes from Japan, and added, "I like to tell everybody that The Matrix's code is made out of Japanese sushi recipes".[3] The effect resembles older generation green screen displays of monochrome phosphorescent computer monitors.[4] One predecessor exists in a "code-scene" of the movie Meteo, a Hungarian experimental-pop culture movie from 1990. The 1995 cyberpunk film Ghost in the Shell, a strong influence on The Matrix,[5][6] features similar opening credits. No official version of the code's typeface actually used in the Matrix trilogy and in the website for the game Path of Neo has been released. Several imitations have been made, mostly screensavers.

Matrix digital rain. (2023). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix_digital_rain#:~:text=The%20effect%20resembles%20that%20of,pop%20culture%20movie%20from%201990.

2. Having different colours flash at different times like alarms in a plane cockpit. The word overwhelming could also be used for the project due to the amount and type of alarm flashes and sounds bombarding the audience into spatial disorientation and loss of situational awareness, fitting the word overwhelming very well.

Research:

Academic:

CONCURRENT TASK DEMANDS IN THE COCKPIT: CHALLENGES AND VULNERABILITIES IN ROUTINE FLIGHT OPERATIONS

Reflection:

Outside of class, extra thought was put into about which of the two ideas to pursue and how to pursue the chosen one. Different cockpit alarms from different planes were looked at to look into further stages of the project. Potential foley sound would be involved to recreate any voice elements of the alarms.

Week 3

Reflection:

A couple of ideas seemed to spring to mind. One of which was the aforementioned cockpit simulation. Outside of class, some thought was put into what sort of brutal consequences would happen during the simulation which led to looking to the consequences of some real life air disasters.

Research:

Academic:

The Horror Film. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=a0ZgaAcKJ9sC&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=horror%2Bfilm&ots=d3kILW4B5V&sig=kS_AvCTrUXumAh7PGRx1_SVTqy0#v=onepage&q&f=false

The other which seemed to fit the word Brutal better was taking inspiration from horror movie scenes and combining them into one big brutally loud violent package at the RMIT Capitol.

1. ADJECTIVE A brutal act or person is cruel and violent. He was the victim of a very brutal murder.  ...the brutal suppression of anti-government protests.  Jensen is a dangerous man, and can be very brutal and reckless.  Synonyms: cruel, harsh, savage, grim  More Synonyms of brutal brutally ADVERB [usually ADVERB with verb] Her real parents had been brutally murdered.  Synonyms: cruelly, fiercely, savagely, ruthlessly  More Synonyms of brutal 2. ADJECTIVE If someone expresses something unpleasant with brutal honesty or frankness, they express it in a clear and accurate way, without attempting to disguise its unpleasantness. It was refreshing to talk about themselves and their feelings with brutal honesty.  He took an anguished breath. He had to be brutal and say it.  brutally ADVERB [ADVERB adjective, ADVERB with verb] The talks had been brutally frank.  Synonyms: mercilessly, fiercely, cruelly, relentlessly  More Synonyms of brutal 3. ADJECTIVE Brutal is used to describe things that have an unpleasant effect on people, especially when there is no attempt by anyone to reduce their effect. The dip in prices this summer will be brutal.  The afternoon sun had been brutal.  The 20th century brought brutal change to some countries.  brutally ADVERB [usually ADVERB with verb, oft ADVERB adjective] The early-morning New York air can be brutally cold.  Synonyms: savagely, cruelly, dangerously, ferociously  More Synonyms of brutal

Definition from Collins Dictionary.

The war times were an inspiration for the Brutal word due to savagery of the impact both during and after the war. The sound of the bombs dropping and machine guns being fired would fit the word brutal perfectly. The colours would also have to be modified from just one plain colour to create a representation of blood and other brutal consequences of these savage times.

Week 4

Reflection:

I presented my idea of brutal, but not with a lot of confidence. As a result, I was disappointed with myself and wished I had done better. But I had also come up with the idea of the cockpit simulation, but using the word Terrifying instead.

I discussed it with my Lecturer and they thought the plane idea had the better potential to work. I decided the same. I also thought of the idea of using foley sounds and my own voice to recreate the sound of cockpit alarms as the simulation progressed.

Outside of class, I started to record my own voice using the Voice Memo app on my phone to record my own voice repeating phrases made by planes electronic voices as part of alarms. This was done after looking at some YouTube videos of plane alarms from different plane cockpits.

Due to a mild diagnosis of Aspergers Syndrome, I have keen attention to detail and pattern recognition. With this, I was able to create a pretty good imitation of the voices sounded, but for some recordings, I decided to take my own personal spin on the alarm voices to show how I would've voiced the alarms if I was the voice in the computer.

Research:

I took inspiration from TheFlightChannel and Air Crash Investigation due the realistic recreations of disaster flights and what happens during their respective sequences.

Technical:

TheFlightChannel is a YouTube channel where the creator uses Microsoft Flight Simulator to create disaster flights and gives an inside view of what goes on in the cockpit and an outside view of how the plane behaves to the respective commands from its computer. After the flight either crashes or lands or whatever, the video then gives a brief of what was discovered during the ensuing investigation. This could've fitted the word terrifying, mainly the flight portion of the video, especially from inside the cockpit and passenger cabin. It also allowed for a more accurate sound of the alarms.

The MAYDAY case of Aeroperú Flight 603.

'Air Crash Investigation 22 / May Day series 23' investigates legendary aviation disasters to find out what went wrong and why. It uses actors and actresses to portray the pilots, sound effects for the alarms and stuff and CGI for plane behaviour. The only downside is that the voices were not exactly the same in the specific planes as in real life.

TV, N. (n.d.). National Geographic - Air Crash Investigation. Retrieved from https://www.natgeotv.com/za/shows/natgeo/air-crash-investigation

Week 5

Project 1 - Matrix Rain.

Progress:

This project has pretty much been abandoned because of the steep learning curve of PHAROS and the limited time remaining. The first class of week 5 was my first time starting up PHAROS. My lecturer told me that PHAROS has a steep learning curve and feared that that curve, combined with the limited time remaining to complete the project, would be too ambitious to complete fully by the deadline.

Reflection:

If the project had been developed, it would've been great learning skills for me and I would've tried something I had never done before.

Project 2 - Terrifying Flight Simulation.

Progress:

This project is still under consideration, but no longer in the sense of the RMIT Capitol. Instead, it's now being considered as an animated and edited video with sound effects as it progresses. Outside of classes, I filmed some footage to make a terrifying perspective of a flight gone so horribly wrong including high speed dives, spinning and unwanted climbs and falls.

Research:

Academic:

Multiple accident flight cases were considered for inspiration for the terrifying experience.

The 2012 film 'Flight' Starring Denzel Washington served as a guide and inspiration of the terrifying chaos onboard a plane out of control and doomed to crash.

The story of the film was loosely based on the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 which crashed in 2000 with all 88 people dead. The cause was ultimately found to be improper maintenance by Alaska Airlines cost cutting after the economic downturn in the 1990's.

One of the flights considered was the case of Aeroperú Flight 603. A Boeing 757 that crashed shortly after take-off killing all 70 people on board. The investigation found that a maintenance worker had placed tape over the pitot static ports during cleaning, but forgot to remove the tape before departure. As a result, the blocked pitot tubes caused the planes computer to give multiple false and contradictory warnings such as rudder ratio, stall, overspeed and terrain.

Project 3 - Brutal Horror Film Fest.

Progress:

This project is also being considered as a video due to the aforementioned PHAROS learning curve and limited time. A horror video probably has a better chance of being done in the time due to a less steep learning curve.

Research:

Academic:

Sam Raimi served as an inspiration for the horror direction. In the past, he, along with his childhood friend, Bruce Campbell, made a short film called 'Within The Woods' which landed a larger budget to create the 1981 film 'Evil Dead'. The kills were violent, but also amusing in their own absurd fashion.

Project 4 - Meditative Nature Relaxation.

The word Meditative was also considered for the project due to the stress and mental torture I would have to put myself through to achieve the other projects with a more terrifying and brutal touch.

Outside of classes, upon my lecturers advice, I thought about a more peaceful type of experience to work on. This would save any potential future nightmares

Research:

Years ago, I played the game 'Flower' on the PS3. When first introduced to it, I became captivated by it's unique take on controls and the peaceful easy feeling it gave me. It will serve as criteria that the soundtrack and sound effects have to meet to stick to the mediative adjective.

Academic/Creative Practise:

Designed by Jenova Chen and Nicholas Clark, the focus was sparked by Chen, who felt that the primary purpose of entertainment products like video games was the feelings that they evoked in the audience and that the emotional range of most games was very limited. The team viewed their efforts as creating a work of art, removing gameplay elements and mechanics that were not provoking the desired response in the players. The music, composed by Vincent Diamante, dynamically responds to the player's actions and corresponds with the emotional cues in the game. 

The idea of combining the chosen soundtracks, sound effects with flower interaction and the idea of playing as the wind itself gave me the feeling that I really was nature itself giving the planet a big helping hand to maintain it's beautiful appearances and fixing it whenever it turned dark and depressing, although this was not always the case with every level.

The song 'Flying' composed by Peder B. Helland served as a guide for the soundtrack to follow. Footage would be filmed of Mother Nature performing her duties throughout the world as we continued our daily business.

Peder B. Helland has been interested in music since early age. He was astonished by the fact you can create your own film music with only a computer and keyboard. After being sold on the idea, he set out to get the necessary equipment.

A keyboard his parents gifted to him enabled multiple layers of sounds and melodies on top of one another. By this point, he had already begun fiddling with this and sharing via YouTube. He was suited to the task having development a good understanding of music theory developed from some past piano lessons and playing a trombone in a marching band.

Sandesh Kadur is a regarded as one of the best wildlife photographers. A person from National Geographic and a maker of stills and films that are a dramatic moving tribute to the animals he photographs.

This would serve as a guide to filming any potential wildlife if this was to be included in the project.

Week 6

Project 2 - Terrifying Flight Simulation.

Progress:

Some more thought was given to the flight simulation idea and a different adjective was considered. The word amazing was being considered due to the amazing views that can be seen from the airliner as you fly from A to B.

Outside of class, I made a couple of mockups or a terrifying flight gone horribly wrong, but the lecturer found it pretty underwhelm,ing, even though they were only prototypes.

Research:

Creative Practise/Technical:

There are a few elements to taking a good view from an airplane window: What Is the Best Seat for Airplane Window Photos? Know Your Route Consider the Time of Day Where Is the Sun? What Camera to Use What Lens to Use Composition for Airplane Window Shots Post Processing Airplane Window Photos

Register - Login. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.tumblr.com/edit/rmitsemester2project/723254008968609792

Reflection:

I was given an opportunity to explore this because of a flight a week away for a family birthday. I decided to use this flight to film outside the cabin at the beautiful views seen as the plane passes them overhead. One slight problem was some slight moving about, but this would be reduced by filming multiple individual films, slowing them down and adding smooth transitions in Adobe Premiere Pro to allow the viewer to take in the wonderful seen out of the plane window without any parts of the plane in the shot, wherever possible.

A mock-up was created for the lecturers to show what it could be like if that direction was decided upon. It seemed like a good direction, but in the end, it was again abandoned due to finding another project that seemed to have better chance of succeeding.

Week 7

Project 4 - Mediative Relaxing Nature.

Reflection:

Meditative was also previously considered as a potential adjective for the project. For this to work, the main elements of meditation had to be studied and then thought about how to work as many of them as possible into a heightened multisensory experience. I decided to research the main elements of meditation for use as a guide to ensure the project continues to contextualise the word and reaches the goal for the users to experience.

Research:

Creative Practise/Technical:

Elements of Meditation: Focused Attention. This technique involves deep, even-paced breathing using the diaphragm muscle to expand your lungs. This slows your breathing, allowing you to take in more oxygen, and reduce the use of shoulder, neck and upper chest muscles while breathing so that you breathe more efficiently. A Quiet Setting. Beginners practicing meditation may be easier if in a quiet spot with few distractions, including no television, radios or cell phones. As you get more skilled at meditation, you'll be able to do it anywhere, especially in high-stress situations where meditation benefits you the most, such as a traffic jam, a stressful work meeting or a long line at the grocery store. A Comfortable Position. Meditation can be practised whether you're sitting, lying down, walking, or in other positions or activities. Just get comfortable to get the most out of your meditation. Aim to keep good posture during meditation. Open Attitude. Let thoughts pass through your mind without judgment.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/meditation/in-depth/meditation/art-20045858

The game Flower was turned back to for inspiration. But not so much the visual experience, but the audio experience due to the soundtrack working beautifully well with the nature of the environment of the game and the gameplay itself. Some rather relaxing footage was filmed during my time in Brisbane as a Brookfield house.

One thing to be done was to work the audio. Heightening the audio was not a good idea due to the fact that increasing the volume would disrupt the 'meditative' factor of the experience. So instead the volume will be lowered to a level more acceptable to something of such a relaxing nature.

Also another potential obstacle is that the relaxed feel of the meditation may require people to close their eyes and let go. This would potentially render the whole image thing pointless no matter how beautiful it looks.

Outside class, some footage filmed at my grandparents house during the mid semester break was put into OneDrive onto my laptop and then put into Premiere Pro and the editing and experimentation began.

Project 5: Hypnotising Tunnel

Progress:

The word Hypnotising was also considered thanks to some new footage that was filmed while going through a Brisbane tunnel. The idea was to have the footage play with some hypnotising soundtrack playing in the background. The hypnotising factor would come from the lights passing through different surfaces as a certain speed. But after very little development, this went nowhere and was eventually abandoned due to limited time and limited ideas on how to make this project work.

Research:

Creative Practise:

Choosing someone to be hypnotised Firstly, find someone that wants to be hypnotised. If they don't want to be hypnotised, they’re unlikely to go into hypnosis. All hypnosis is fundamentally ‘self-hypnosis’ (i.e. it’s a self-generated state). So, you can’t hypnotise anyone against their will, no matter how good a hypnotist you are… Next, ensure the person is a suitable candidate and the hypnosis can be done in a safe manner. Not everyone is on the same safety level when it comes to hypnosis and others should not be hypnotised at all. So, ensure that the person has none of the following conditions/issues: Psychological disorders Personality disorders Psychosis Severe (clinical) depression Uncontrolled epilepsy/seizures Brain trauma Dementia Severe learning difficulties/cognitive deficits Do not hypnotise anyone that suffers from any of the above conditions, for their safety.

How do you hypnotise someone? It’s actually pretty easy... (2023). Retrieved from https://hypnotc.com/how-do-you-do-hypnosis/

I decided to research any potential unforeseen obstacles to the meditation experience. Not all of them could be avoided due to not knowing every individuals body conditions and things like that.

Week 8

Project 4 - Meditative Relaxing Nature.

Research:

Creative Practise:

I have also been cautious of the potential negative meditation experiences that have caused certain people some amount of discomfort.

Research on meditation has mostly focussed on the putative benefits of meditation on health and well-being. Reports indicate that psychologically unpleasant experiences occur in the context of meditation practice. Little is known about the prevalence and potential causes of these experiences. The aim of these studies was to report the prevalence of particularly unpleasant meditation-related experiences in a large international sample of regular meditators, and explore the association of these experiences with demographic characteristics, meditation practice, repetitive negative thinking, mindfulness, and self-compassion. With the use of a cross-sectional online survey, 1,232 regular meditators with at least two months of meditation experience (mean age = 44.8 years ± 13.8, 53.6% female) responded to one question about particularly unpleasant meditation-related experiences. A total of 315 participants (25.6%, 95% CI: 23.1 to 28.0) reported having had particularly unpleasant meditation-related experiences, which was thought may have been caused by their meditation practice. Logistic regression models indicated unpleasant meditation-related experiences were less likely to occur in female participants and religious participants. Participants that indicated higher levels of repetitive negative thinking, those who only engaged in deconstructive types of meditation (e.g., vipassana/insight meditation), and those who attended a meditation retreat at any point in their life were more likely to report unpleasant meditation-related experiences. The high prevalence of particularly unpleasant meditation-related experiences reported here points to the importance of expanding the scientific conception of meditation beyond that of a (mental) health-promoting and self-regulating technique. It was proposed that understanding when these experiences are constitutive elements of meditative practice instead of merely negative effects could advance the field and, to that end, it was concluded with an overview of methodological and conceptual considerations that could be used to inform future research.

Progress:

The video has been trimmed to remove any moments of either the camera moving or other unwanted entities moving across the camera lens like a human hand.

The project was modified to make it more of a meditative heightened multisensory experience. One such modification was to change the speed of some of the clips used in the video to make it slower. This would encourage a slow and relaxed mood for the viewers as they were shown the wonderful view. Slow, smooth and seamless transitions were also implemented to get rid of any abruptness which could potentially disturb the meditative element of the experience.

A screenshot from the project in Adobe Premiere Pro.

Outside of class, I did a little experimentation with the audio to fit the video and the transitions.

Week 9

Project 4 - Mediative Serenity:

Progress:

Before the week, multiple transitions were put in to the video along with multiple different soundtracks to fit the transitions. But the transitions didn't work and the soundtracks changed abruptly enough to disturb the meditative nature of the experience. To reflect more of Marclays style of doing these things, I may put in some smoothly transitioned words saying the sound effects of sounds sourced via FreeSound. They will have to be smoothly put in to avoid abruptness and disturbance to the meditative element of the video.

Outside of class, I turned back to Freesound to find the perfect soundtrack to last the whole audio experience. I also thought about extending the experience, giving the audience more time to enter a meditative state. The lecturer recommended four minutes, but personally, I didn't think that was long enough to achieve true perfect meditation.

Reflection:

A presentation was done to show the Work In Progress of the main project. The serene Meditative project has now taken top priority.

One piece of feedback received was to remove any abruptness in the audio so, the next thing to do will be to remove all the soundtrack, even though the pieces created a really serene theme to the video and worked well with the visuals, and replace it with one big long audio that lasts the whole video. Transitions such as fade in and out will still be put into the audio to help it match with the transitions of the visual aspects, but now to a lesser degree due to much less soundtrack in the final video. The volume will also be adjusted accordingly to avoid too loud audio and destroying the meditative effect on the users/viewers.

Research:

Creative Practise:

Background Anxiety disorders are among the most common psychiatric disorders and meditative therapies are frequently sought by patients who suffer from anxiety as a complementary therapy. Although multiple reviews exist on the general health benefits of meditation, no review has focused on the efficacy of meditation for anxiety specifically. Methods Medical databases were searched thoroughly with keywords relating to various types of meditation and anxiety. Over 1,000 abstracts were screened, and 200+ full articles were reviewed. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included. The Boutron (Boutron et al., 2005: J Clin Epidemiol 58:1233–1240) checklist to evaluate a report of a nonpharmaceutical trial (CLEAR-NPT) was used to assess study quality; 90% of the authors were contacted for additional information. Review Manager 5 was used for meta-analysis. Results A total of 36 RCTs were included in the meta-analysis (2,466 observations). Most RCTs were conducted among patients with anxiety as a secondary concern. The study quality ranged from 0.3 to 1.0 on the 0.0–1.0 scale (mean = 0.72). Standardized mean difference (SMD) was –0.52 in comparison with waiting-list control (p < .001; 25 RCTs), –0.59 in comparison with attention control (p < .001; seven RCTs), and –0.27 in comparison with alternative treatments (p < .01; 10 RCTs). Twenty-five studies reported statistically superior outcomes in the meditation group compared to control. No adverse effects were reported. Conclusions This review demonstrated some efficacy of meditative therapies in reducing anxiety symptoms, giving important clinical implications for applying meditative techniques in treating anxiety. However, most studies measured only improvement in anxiety symptoms, but not anxiety disorders as clinically diagnosed.

Week 10

Project 4: Meditative Nature

Progress:

So in adobe Premiere Pro, I extended it to about 10 minutes to allow the users more time to enter a state of satisfactory meditation. This meant sourcing music and sound effects that last the whole 10 minute video period.

Also, to reflect Christian Marclays style, I decided to put in some nature sound effects and some words that say which noises are being made as they come. They will be entering the video via a smooth transition to avoid abruptness. But upon reflection, this was decided against because the nature sound effects were deemed too much of an anchor back into the reality of the visual aspects. A backyard swimming pool.

Once the soundtracks were chosen, the next task was to switch the order of the clips around due to varying degrees of weirdness with the transitions. This was decided by how much movement there was during each transition. The one that moved most would be put last and the least movement would be put first, creating a sort of ascending order.

Reflection:

Outside of class, I reflected upon the recommended duration of the video. My lecturer recommended 3-4 minutes. I decided that wasn't really enough to allow the viewers to enter a meditative state.

My Lecturers said that the project was finally heading in the right direction. The audio sourced from Freesound sounded a little substandard though. So I was recommended to hunt for audio from better platforms such as Spotify and YouTube. I was told to consider the audio with the transitions. The order of the transitions was another thing I was told to consider. For example, changing the order so that the most subtle transition was first and the 5 transitions got weirder every time as the video progressed. Finding the right audio has become the priority before sorting the order of the clips. They also said that putting the word RELAX at the start and fitting it with a smooth transition into the video got at least one of them engaged.

Four soundtrack were picked, the first two were the best. 3 and 4 were too meaningful and had too hard a note respectively. The soundtracks chosen were 'Elipse Extended Version' and 'Primal Stream' both by Sleeping Music.

My lecturer told me to make more transitions or make them longer to avoid staying in a basic backyard landscape for too long, this will help make it more of a heightened multisensory experience.

Week 11:

Reflection:

When my lecturers took a look at the latest version of my project, they suggested jettisoning any violent accidental camera movements out of the project completely. They also suggested downloading a clearer version of the soundtrack files and editing the transitions so that they fit when the audio enhances or really tones up and then down.

Progress:

I have another copy of the video and trimmed it down to just under 7 minutes upon lecturer advice and have edited it so that the transitions happen when the soundtrack tone rises and then falls.

Week 12:

Reflection:

The project was once again previewed on the big screen in class. It left some dark side in it. I was told to fineness the volume automation so that the sound of the first track really dies down when the transition stops.

After that was done, the lecture said that the video was pretty much good to go for submission apart from a little added neatness to the ending.

Upon reflection, the final product was not as ambitious as I originally envisioned, it also developed unforeseen sensation for some, such as being brutal in a very obscure way and weird in other ways due to some feeling like they have just woken up from being drugged and the like. But all things considered it turned out pretty alright.

Progress:

The volume automation thing was becoming a bit of a farce. So I decided to revert to a previous technique allowing one of the soundtracks to fade to silence as each transition ended. I believed this to be the best thing due to two contradictory soundtracks and the limited time available.

To finish it up, I made the final audio transition slower to make it a neater ending and then finally submitted the finished project.

#Youtube

[cartoonrankings]

10 Best Episodic Cartoons

The decade we live in is absolutely amazing! We have so many diverse forms of media to look forward to, and we have so much media from earlier. Cartoons have become so diverse as there are many different types including serialized and episodic cartoons. While serialized cartoons are much more popular now, and while I do prefer serialized cartoons, episodic cartoons are still awesome especially when you need to relax or just need a laugh. In this blog, I will highlight my 10 best episodic cartoons!

10. Phineas and Ferb

I had to kick off this list with a cartoon that defined many of our childhoods. Phineas and Ferb was an animated series on Disney which ran for 4 seasons from 2007 to 2015, with a total of 129 episodes. Phineas and Ferb are about two brothers who just want to enjoy their summer in the most normal way possible: by inventing crazy things! Meanwhile, their sister Candace is trying to expose what they are doing to their mother, all while their pet Platypus Perry is sneaking out to fight crime as he is a top secret agent. My favorite aspects of the series are the layout of each episode as it is formulaic but still entertaining and varied, the character designs and the variety in characters. Like many, Phineas and Ferb has defined my childhood, and it is easily one of my 10 best episodic cartoons of all time! You can watch Phineas and Ferb on Disney Plus and Amazon Prime!

9. Kim Possible

Now to follow up with another classic Disney TV series: Kim Possible. Kim Possible had 4 seasons of 87 episodes and ran from 2002 to 2007. Kim Possible was about a high school cheerleader named Kim who also fought crime with assistance from her friend Ron and his pet mole rat, Rufus. It was about Kim, a high school cheerleader who was also a crimefighter. While many shows do explore this theme of undercover superheroes that are still in school, Kim Possible actually made it so that Kim was not hiding her identity from anyone. The show has many amazing aspects with my favorites being the characters who are all pretty entertaining, and the fast paced action. I also loved how it took on a unique approach to this crime fighter trope by making Kim’s identity known. Kim Possible was another series that impacted me, and I wholeheartedly recommend it! You can watch Kim Possible on Disney Plus!

8. Regular Show

And now we move on later into the timeline into a show that was a bit more recent than Kim Possible and Phineas and Ferb: Regular Show. Regular show ran for 8 seasons and 261 episodes from 2009 to 2017. The series revolves around two groundskeepers named Mordecai and Rigby who often end up causing a huge problem. What may seem like a simple situation often turns into something super deep and something that is far from regular like the title implies. Now, it does get more serialized in the last season, but for the most part it is episodic. My favorite aspect is easily the variety of characters, and the humor which go hand and hand together. I also love the progression of each episode as episodes go from the most simple situations to the end of the world. Regular Show is definitely a great show that is fun to watch for all ages, and I highly recommend it. You can watch Regular Show on HBO Max or Hulu Plus!

7. Invader Zim

Now this is one of those shows that were so great that I saw them when I was a baby, and had to rewatch later as I knew it was phenomenal from then on. Invader Zim ran from 2001 to 2006 for a total of 2 seasons and 27 episodes, along with a movie reboot in 2019. It revolves around Zim, an alien from the Irken Race who gets sent to earth by the leaders as an effort to get rid of him. Though, he thinks he has been sent for a mission to conquer earth. Zim disguises as a school student, and nobody notices his efforts to conquer earth except for his classmate, Dib. My favorite aspects of Invader Zim are the darker elements in it, the pacing of the episodes and the amazing voice acting. Invader Zim was a great series, and while I wish it lasted longer, I was satisfied with what I had got from the series. You can watch Invader Zim on Amazon Instant Plus, Paramount Plus or Vudu!

6. The Boondocks

Now, we are moving onto an episodic cartoon that is targeted to a slightly older audience: The Boondocks. The Boondocks was a series that ran from 2005 to 2014, and had a total of 4 seasons consisting of 55 episodes. The series is centered around the Freeman brothers RIley and Huey who moved to Chicago to live with their grandfather in the suburbs. They are black siblings who live in a dominantly white neighborhood, and the series does show their struggles to fit into this new neighborhood. Riley acts “gangster” and tough in the series, while Huey is a more laid back person, and is a freedom fighter. Now, as for favorite aspects, there is a lot to love about the show - I think my favorite was that it shows the audience the American life from the perspective of a black person, making me think a lot when watching the show. I also love the humor of the show, and having a series that is both funny and introspective definitely made me love it. Finally, I cannot talk about The Boondocks without mentioning the anime-esque artstyle. It was another element that made me love the series. The Boondocks is easily an amazing cartoon that does so much with itself, and it is easily one of the 10 best episodic cartoons. You can watch The Boondocks on Amazon Prime Video!

5. Ed Edd n Eddy

While Cartoon Network in 2022 is definitely not something I have been enjoying as much as I would like to, I can’t deny that they had some hits earlier on, with one being Ed Edd n Eddy. Ed Edd n Eddy was a series which ran from 1999 to 2007, and consisted of 69 episodes along with a TV movie. It was about three preteens who often try scamming other children so that they can get money for jawbreakers, with many episodes straying away from that topic entirely. Ed Edd n Eddy has many highlights including the cartoony artstyle, the character dynamics and the humor of the series. Ed Edd n Eddy in my eyes is a classic, and I am glad that I found it! You can watch Ed Edd N Eddy on HBO Max or Amazon Prime Video!

4. Clone High

I wish someone could clone the creators of this show so that we could get more masterpieces like this. Clone High was a cartoon which was unfortunately short lived - it consisted of one season and only had 13 episodes. However, we are getting a revival of the series soon. The series was a high school dramedy, but one thing which distinguished it from other high school dramedies was that every single character was a clone of a historical figure. Some of the clones include Gandhi, John F Kennedy, Cleopatra, Joan of Arc and Abraham Lincoln. To go deeper into the lore of Clone High, we find that the clones are actually being used as a military experiment by a government organization. Clone High definitely has many enjoyable elements - I loved the artstyle which honestly deserves more credit seeing how it influenced shows like Total Drama and Detentionaire, I love the humor and I love the characters. Whether you like the show or not, you can’t deny how iconic John F Kennedy became because of this show. Clone High was ahead of its time and I am glad it is getting the recognition it deserves now. You can watch Clone High on the YouTube channel Retro Rerun, Paramount + or Amazon Prime Video!

3. South Park

Oftentimes, cartoons try offending people to be funny, and it fails miserably. South Park, however, does this extremely well, and leaves us much satisfied despite potentially offending us. South Park was an American series consisting of 25 seasons and 318 episodes. It premiered in 1997 and is still running. South Park revolves around four seven year old friends named Eric, Kenny, Kyle and Stan, who live in South Park. The four often go through many different situations together whether they be pretty normal, or whether they be extremely supernatural things involving aliens. Regardless of the differences in the episodes, all of them are funny and are sure to have no filter. South Park has many awesome elements that make me love it - some of my favorites are the fact that it has no filter, the characters who always make me laugh and the designs. I know the designs don’t look good, but that’s what gives the show its charm. South Park is definitely an amazing episodic cartoon due to the fact that it makes me laugh every time I watch it, and I cannot recommend it enough! You can watch South Park on HBO Max!

2. The Simpsons

There is a reason why this cartoon is the longest running series of all time: it was a fantastic cartoon. While the newer episodes are subpar, this series was once awesome! The Simpsons is a long running animated cartoon which started airing in 1989, and currently has 33 seasons consisting of 728 episodes. The Simpsons revolve around an American family that lives in Springfield, Oregon. The family consists of the dimwitted dad, Homer, the smarter parent Marge, the older son always getting into trouble, Bart, the voice of reason middle child Lisa and the baby Maggie. The family often go through different situations that vary episode to episode whether these situations are more emotional or comedic. The older episodes consisted of more emotional episodes while still having comedic episodes, but as the series went on, they started drifting away from emotional episodes, and moving towards more comedic episodes with emotional episodes still intact. The Simpsons has many great qualities with some of my favorites being the balance of comedy and emotional moments, the diverse range of characters (and trust me, there are a lot of characters) and the creative plot lines that many episodes offer. While many of the new episodes are not my cup of tea, I can’t lie that these episodes still offer a very unique idea. The Simpsons is a great series, and I wouldn’t be surprised if people are looking back at it as a classic even hundreds of years from now. You can watch The Simpsons on Disney +!

1. SpongeBob SquarePants

Now, we go onto what might just be the most iconic cartoon today. SpongeBob SquarePants is a series which started in 1999, and through that time has had 13 seasons of 270 episodes with 3 movies, 2 spinoffs and much more to come. SpongeBob SquarePants revolves around a sponge with the same name that goes through different misadventures whether they be at his workplace The Krusty Krab, with his dumb starfish friend Patrick or his neighbor Squidward, who clearly hates him. SpongeBob SquarePants has much to like. Some of my favorite aspects are the humor which is brilliant, the characters and the darker and more emotional episodes they incorporate into a series that is rather lighthearted. SpongeBob SquarePants is truly an amazing series, and it is clear why it has lasted this long!  You can watch SpongeBob SquarePants on Paramount +, Fubo TV, iTunes and Amazon!

Well, these were my 10 best episodic cartoons! I hope you enjoyed reading! What are some you agree with? Disagree with? Any you would add? Any you would swap? And be sure to follow me for regular blogs!

#cartoon #cartoons #phineas and ferb #kim possible #regular show #invader zim #the boondocks #ed edd n eddy #clone high #south park #the simpsons #spongebob squarepants #nickelodeon #disney #cartoon network #2000s nostalgia #2010s nostalgia #radarplz