Matthew Lillard + Nostalgia + Why It's Important To Have Asian Americans (Everywhere) Now

In my browser window I saw a link to this article with the headline Matthew Lillard Says “People Are Hiring Me Again” Because of Nostalgia and it is a good reminder again on why representation matters--not just for the present, but for future generations simply because of nostalgia.

If you grow up with a specific set of people that you see--and it really can cross into so many other areas--you are likely to support them years later and while it seems like common sense, other groups don't always see it, and then they don't understand why we push so hard for it, or look to create our own spaces.

Just a short random thought for the day.

And yes we all likeed Lillard in FNAF.

Suni Lee The Real Villain Over CJ McCollum? And She's In Beef Season 2? Nice Work If You Can Get It AKA I Want The Knicks To Implode (Unless Linsanity Comes Back)

After last night's EPIC loss from the Knicks--the only great thing about them is the MSG (and obviously Kat), it wasn't actually CJ McCollum who turned out to be the ones Knick fans blamed.

It was Suni Lee:

Suni Lee attended the Knicks versus Hawks playoff game on Monday evening and became widely popular online for her influence on the game’s outcome [...]

One user questioned, “OG HOW YOU GONNA MISS BOTH FREE THROWS WITH HER WATCHING??” Another one added, “OG always reacts when she’s around.” One person mentioned, “This is the second year in a row they’ve blown a 4th-quarter lead in front of her.”

The online discussions happened after the Hawks won 107-106 against the Knicks, tying the playoff series at one game apiece.

Yup.

But maybe it sets Lee up for some more roles as she starts getting those cameos in.

In episode 6, Austin (Charles Melton) is thrown into the deep end in his new role as a physical therapist at the club's wellness center by the arrival of gymnast and Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee.

"Josh says that you'll work with my team to get me right for L.A.," says Lee, before arching her back into a handstand and performing the splits. "Nobody's been able to figure out why, but I feel a slight pinch in my QL and my psoas when I do this."

Again - nice work if you can get.  

SPIT: A Life in Battles By Jonnie Park AKA DUMBFOUNDEAD

Check out the new book by DUMBFOUNDEAD AKA Jonnie Park

Born in Argentina to Korean parents and smuggled by a coyote across the US-Mexico border at age three, Park grew up in L.A. amid cultural dislocation, his father’s violent alcoholism, and the turbulent protests and riots of the early 1990s. 

Searching for belonging, he found salvation in the highly competitive underground world of battle rap, where he was among the only successful Asian American battle rappers. He honed his freestyle superpowers at Project Blowed, the legendary South Central L.A. open-mic venue, amid a motley crew of characters who took him in as one of their own. 

Told through the lens of his life’s greatest battles—his father’s rage, racist stereotypes, the “model minority” myth, the pressures of fame, and his own addictions—Park tells his story with his trademark humor, lyrical style, and unflinching honesty.

Like Eminem’s 8 Mile, SPIT charts the author’s course from high-school dropout to cultural pioneer, one verse at a time. Featuring a dozen vivid graphic novel–style illustrations that bring his journey to life, SPIT visualizes the inner demons and outer adversaries Park faced along the way. From open-mics in South Central to freestyle cyphers in Seoul to music festivals across the globe, Park’s memoir is a testament to creativity, grit, and the power of speaking your truth—even when the world isn’t ready to hear it.

More than just a chronicle of an artist’s path to success, SPIT is a groundbreaking story of identity, resilience, and reinvention. It is also the story of an American outsider who turned life’s challenges into his stage and battled his way to triumph.

Currently it is #1 in New Releases for Rap & Hip-Hop Musician Bio's.

Pick it up at: https://www.amazon.com/SPIT-Life-Battles-Jonnie-Park/dp/B0F7DY1ZNK

3 Days Left To Submit For slant'd Issue 08 Wild (Submissions Close 4/19

From their PR:

If you've been sitting on a story idea, this is your sign.
Not sure if your idea is ready—or if YOU are ready? Here's what happens if your pitch gets selected:

• Writers: First, our team will match you with a dedicated Editor and Layout Designer. The story development process will kick off with our signature story workshop, where you'll get to share more about the heart of your story and develop it further. Then, you'll work hand-in-hand with your Editor for 4-6 months to get it into its final form. Mid-way through the process, you'll meet your Story Artist, who will co-create an original piece of art made just for your story. It's truly a special and beloved process that is unique to Slant’d.

• Artists: In addition to personal essays and poems, we also feature art pieces (think: illustration, photo essays). If you pitch a visual story and are accepted, you'll be matched with a dedicated Layout Designer who will help you sharpen your vision and make sure you feel amazing about the final piece before it goes to print.

We're looking for personal essays, short stories, poetry, art, and photography from AAPI creatives of all backgrounds. We believe that everyone is creative—no MFA, no agent, no previous bylines required here. All you need is a story worth telling and the willingness to pitch it.
See here for a breakdown of this issue’s theme, our editorial philosophy, and submission requirements. 
If you still have questions, you can send us a note at editorial@slantd.com. 

SUBMIT HERE: https://slantd.submittable.com/submit

Film Project: The Adoptees + Seed&Spark Campaign + From The Voices Of Vietnamese Adoptees

The film is a new project from the perspective of an older Vietnamese Adoptee who was on Operation Babylyft and from what I've seen of the first 9 minutes (as I am sitting on the advisory committee as well) is something very new and needed from a Vietnamese Adoptee film perspective as there is nothing out there that I am aware of, that handles some of the material in such an authentic way.

Here is some information on the project from the SEED&SPARK campaign which has around 15 days left:

Mission Statement

The stories of Vietnamese adoptees have long been reduced to a simplistic "saved" versus "stolen" narrative. The true story of their adoption is far more complex, lasts a lifetime, and is now being told by adoptees themselves. Our film aims to change the conversation by centering adoptee voices. 

For many Americans, this is where the story ended, but Mike Frailey's story was just beginning.

He was just eight years old when he was put on a plane destined for Missouri alongside his best friend. In Vietnam, they were Thọ and Nga. In America, they became Mike and David.

Evacuated together during Operation Babylift, Mike and David were adopted by American families living on the same street in Missouri. While Mike embraced assimilation and the promise of the American Dream, David struggled to let go of their past and grappled with their memories of war. Their paths ultimately diverged, and they had a major falling out as teenagers.

In 2009, at the age of 42, Mike traveled back to Vietnam for the first time and began recording his experiences with photos and videos, and the seed of a documentary was born. In 2024, the discovery of a handwritten ledger in Mike's orphanage prompted him to reexamine his story and David's while mounting a search for his birth family.

While the film's main focus will be on Mike and David, there will also be some other Vietnamese Adoptees adding to the film's story as well.

Definitely check out the campaign and the site and if you are so inclined give it a little post on your social media and/or donate if you can. 

BINI Performs At Coachella. Makes History As First Filipino Group There

The group released their junior EP called Signals before their Coachella debut and will return for the festival's second week end on April 17th according to reports.

Markiplier + Iron Lung + $50 million + Breaking Boundaries

 

A little late to this (not too much though) - but I think this is just another example of how different pathways that allow anyone to create, can do something great, and how Asian Americans have done so much with YouTube. 

If you are not sure who Markiplier is here's a little bit from the Wiki's:

After joining YouTube in 2012, Fischbach became popular on the platform with Let's Plays of Amnesia: The Dark Descent and the Five Nights at Freddy's series; as of February 25th, 2026, his channel had over 38 million subscribers.[4] He signed with talent agency William Morris Endeavor in 2016. While with the agency, he released a clothing line, wrote and directed the YouTube Original series A Heist with Markiplier (2019) and In Space with Markiplier (2022), and hosted or co-hosted two podcasts, which reached No. 1 on Spotify.

In 2023, Fischbach signed with United Talent Agency and was nominated for a Children's and Family Emmy Award. He starred in the series The Edge of Sleep (2024) and made his theatrical debut directing, producing, writing, and starring in the horror film Iron Lung (2026). 

[...] 

Mark Edward Fischbach was born on June 28, 1989, in Honolulu, Hawaii. His father Cliffton Morris Fischbach Jr. was a German American military officer who met his mother, Sunok Frank, while stationed in South Korea.[5] Fischbach's maternal grandfather was a North Korean defector and his maternal family history is covered in the 2022 documentary film Markiplier from North Korea.[6]

After Fischbach was born, the family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio,[7] but his parents divorced when he was still young. Fischbach graduated from Milford High School in 2007 and enrolled at the University of Cincinnati in a biomedical engineering program.[7][8] His father died in 2008 when Fischbach was 18 years old.[9][10] Fischbach met Wade Barnes in sixth grade and roomed with Bob Muyskens in his freshman year—they would both become his long-term friends and collaborators.[11]

In 2012, Fischbach was beset by many different issues: he went through a breakup, was laid off from his job, moved to an apartment after his mother kicked him out of her house, had an emergency appendectomy, and went into debt. After being hospitalized because of an adrenal tumor, he "decided that he wanted to do something else.

And then here's a little but from an article on Slate:

This past weekend saw one of the oddest box-office victories in recent times. No, I’m not talking about Melania, the first lady–produced documentary that Amazon reportedly spent $40 million on for the rights alone, with an additional $35 million for the marketing. I’m talking about Iron Lung, a self-financed film by a beloved YouTuber named Mark Fischbach, who goes by the handle Markiplier, and who has more than 38 million followers to his name. The movie, an adaptation of an indie horror video game, had a budget of approximately $3 million—an amount that Iron Lung has already earned back seven times over, with a box office of $21.7 million worldwide. Markiplier’s secret to getting his passion project into an impressive 3,000 theaters? According to an interview with Matt Belloni’s podcast The Town, he tapped into his network of fans, many of whom apparently work at movie theaters, and who vouched for the film to their managers. This is one of the rosier byproducts of his years cultivating a relationship with followers through videos that are usually—though not always—about gaming.

Slamming Korean Adoptees For Their Pronounciation (AKA WTH Is Wrong With People...Oh Yeah)

So I'll just start out by quoting out some of the substack article from  K-Culture with Jae-Ha Kim:

In another edition of You’re Not Korean Enough, we have a contingent of cruel and clueless people on the internet who are taking a Korean adoptee to task for not being a real Korean. Why? Because she initially mispronounced the name of a Korean folk song, “Arirang” (아리랑).

Are you done rolling your eyes yet? Because I’m not.

A few days ago, Kat Turner made an informative video explaining the significance of the Korean folk song “Arirang” as it applies to her. Thanks to BTS annoucing that Arirang is the title of the group’s highly-awaited comeback album, “Arirang” has become a buzzword that is being dissected on social media. What could the significance of Arirang possibly mean? [...]

All of this brings me back to Turner’s video on Instagram. While the post went viral — drawing praise from BTS fans, adoptees, and the general public — there was a contingent of loud and entitled naysayers (most of whom appear to be westerners and/or Korean Americans) who criticized her at every turn for being a clout chaser, an imposter, and — most egregiously — a Korean wannabe.

Why? Because she mispronounced the word “Arirang.” 

Here is Kat Turner's response via IG as well.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by KAT 문순자 (@thekatturner)

I think what I like most about this, is how she told all the naysayers where to go, in a nice way, and that after journalist Jae-Ha Kim wrote the piece in substack, Min Jin Lee, the bestselling author of Pachinko, shared it and the same day, invited Kat to a speaking engagement, even when it was sold out. 

How cool is that?

Adoptees all over the world have to deal with stuff like this and I'm glad to see other Koreans standing up for their people (because Adoptees are part of the diaspora too). Things like this can take an Adoptee from wanting to learn about the culture they were taken out of, to not wanting anything to do with it at all, and that's a sad state.

So make a note of that if you know some Adoptees trying to make their way, love their motherland and culture and language--remember that they had it pretty hard in that way, and to make those jumps, to do the work--it takes a lot of courage and heart.

Don't dismantle them.

Help build them up to be the best version of who they can be, and who they want to be.

And just for the record--I know a lot of Adoptees, who didn't group up familialy with their culture and knowledge and language, who now know it better than some of those that did here in America.

We all learn. We all grow.