#2017/04/10

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Tesla's Dieselgate

Elon Musk lies a lot. He lies about being a “utopian socialist.” He lies about being a “free speech absolutist.” He lies about which companies he founded:

https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-cofounder-martin-eberhard-interview-history-elon-musk-ev-market-2023-2 He lies about being the “chief engineer” of those companies:

https://www.quora.com/Was-Elon-Musk-the-actual-engineer-behind-SpaceX-and-Tesla

He lies about really stupid stuff, like claiming that comsats that share the same spectrum will deliver steady broadband speeds as they add more users who each get a narrower slice of that spectrum:

https://www.eff.org/wp/case-fiber-home-today-why-fiber-superior-medium-21st-century-broadband

The fundamental laws of physics don’t care about this bullshit, but people do. The comsat lie convinced a bunch of people that pulling fiber to all our homes is literally impossible — as though the electrical and phone lines that come to our homes now were installed by an ancient, lost civilization. Pulling new cabling isn’t a mysterious art, like embalming pharaohs. We do it all the time. One of the poorest places in America installed universal fiber with a mule named “Ole Bub”:

https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-one-traffic-light-town-with-some-of-the-fastest-internet-in-the-us

Previous tech barons had “reality distortion fields,” but Musk just blithely contradicts himself and pretends he isn’t doing so, like a budget Steve Jobs. There’s an entire site devoted to cataloging Musk’s public lies:

https://elonmusk.today/

But while Musk lacks the charm of earlier Silicon Valley grifters, he’s much better than they ever were at running a long con. For years, he’s been promising “full self driving…next year.”

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/09/herbies-revenge/#100-billion-here-100-billion-there-pretty-soon-youre-talking-real-money

He’s hasn’t delivered, but he keeps claiming he has, making Teslas some of the deadliest cars on the road:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/06/10/tesla-autopilot-crashes-elon-musk/

Tesla is a giant shell-game masquerading as a car company. The important thing about Tesla isn’t its cars, it’s Tesla’s business arrangement, the Tesla-Financial Complex:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/11/24/no-puedo-pagar-no-pagara/#Rat

Once you start unpacking Tesla’s balance sheets, you start to realize how much the company depends on government subsidies and tax-breaks, combined with selling carbon credits that make huge, planet-destroying SUVs possible, under the pretense that this is somehow good for the environment:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/14/for-sale-green-indulgences/#killer-analogy

But even with all those financial shenanigans, Tesla’s got an absurdly high valuation, soaring at times to 1600x its profitability:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/15/hoover-calling/#intangibles

That valuation represents a bet on Tesla’s ability to extract ever-higher rents from its customers. Take Tesla’s batteries: you pay for the battery when you buy your car, but you don’t own that battery. You have to rent the right to use its full capacity, with Tesla reserving the right to reduce how far you go on a charge based on your willingness to pay:

https://memex.craphound.com/2017/09/10/teslas-demon-haunted-cars-in-irmas-path-get-a-temporary-battery-life-boost/

That’s just one of the many rent-a-features that Tesla drivers have to shell out for. You don’t own your car at all: when you sell it as a used vehicle, Tesla strips out these features you paid for and makes the next driver pay again, reducing the value of your used car and transfering it to Tesla’s shareholders:

https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/6/21127243/tesla-model-s-autopilot-disabled-remotely-used-car-update

To maintain this rent-extraction racket, Tesla uses DRM that makes it a felony to alter your own car’s software without Tesla’s permission. This is the root of all autoenshittification:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/24/rent-to-pwn/#kitt-is-a-demon

This is technofeudalism. Whereas capitalists seek profits (income from selling things), feudalists seek rents (income from owning the things other people use). If Telsa were a capitalist enterprise, then entrepreneurs could enter the market and sell mods that let you unlock the functionality in your own car:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/06/11/1-in-3/#boost-50

But because Tesla is a feudal enterprise, capitalists must first secure permission from the fief, Elon Musk, who decides which companies are allowed to compete with him, and how.

Once a company owns the right to decide which software you can run, there’s no limit to the ways it can extract rent from you. Blocking you from changing your device’s software lets a company run overt scams on you. For example, they can block you from getting your car independently repaired with third-party parts.

But they can also screw you in sneaky ways. Once a device has DRM on it, Section 1201 of the DMCA makes it a felony to bypass that DRM, even for legitimate purposes. That means that your DRM-locked device can spy on you, and because no one is allowed to explore how that surveillance works, the manufacturer can be incredibly sloppy with all the personal info they gather:

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/29/tesla-model-3-keeps-data-like-crash-videos-location-phone-contacts.html

All kinds of hidden anti-features can lurk in your DRM-locked car, protected from discovery, analysis and criticism by the illegality of bypassing the DRM. For example, Teslas have a hidden feature that lets them lock out their owners and summon a repo man to drive them away if you have a dispute about a late payment:

https://tiremeetsroad.com/2021/03/18/tesla-allegedly-remotely-unlocks-model-3-owners-car-uses-smart-summon-to-help-repo-agent/

DRM is a gun on the mantlepiece in Act I, and by Act III, it goes off, revealing some kind of ugly and often dangerous scam. Remember Dieselgate? Volkswagen created a line of demon-haunted cars: if they thought they were being scrutinized (by regulators measuring their emissions), they switched into a mode that traded performance for low emissions. But when they believed themselves to be unobserved, they reversed this, emitting deadly levels of NOX but delivering superior mileage.

The conversion of the VW diesel fleet into mobile gas-chambers wouldn’t have been possible without DRM. DRM adds a layer of serious criminal jeopardy to anyone attempting to reverse-engineer and study any device, from a phone to a car. DRM let Apple claim to be a champion of its users’ privacy even as it spied on them from asshole to appetite:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

Now, Tesla is having its own Dieselgate scandal. A stunning investigation by Steve Stecklow and Norihiko Shirouzu for Reuters reveals how Tesla was able to create its own demon-haunted car, which systematically deceived drivers about its driving range, and the increasingly desperate measures the company turned to as customers discovered the ruse:

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/tesla-batteries-range/

The root of the deception is very simple: Tesla mis-sells its cars by falsely claiming ranges that those cars can’t attain. Every person who ever bought a Tesla was defrauded.

But this fraud would be easy to detect. If you bought a Tesla rated for 353 miles on a charge, but the dashboard range predictor told you that your fully charged car could only go 150 miles, you’d immediately figure something was up. So your Telsa tells another lie: the range predictor tells you that you can go 353 miles.

But again, if the car continued to tell you it has 203 miles of range when it was about to run out of charge, you’d figure something was up pretty quick — like, the first time your car ran out of battery while the dashboard cheerily informed you that you had 203 miles of range left.

So Teslas tell a third lie: when the battery charge reached about 50%, the fake range is replaced with the real one. That way, drivers aren’t getting mass-stranded by the roadside, and the scam can continue.

But there’s a new problem: drivers whose cars are rated for 353 miles but can’t go anything like that far on a full charge naturally assume that something is wrong with their cars, so they start calling Tesla service and asking to have the car checked over.

This creates a problem for Tesla: those service calls can cost the company $1,000, and of course, there’s nothing wrong with the car. It’s performing exactly as designed. So Tesla created its boldest fraud yet: a boiler-room full of anti-salespeople charged with convincing people that their cars weren’t broken.

This new unit — the “diversion team” — was headquartered in a Nevada satellite office, which was equipped with a metal xylophone that would be rung in triumph every time a Tesla owner was successfully conned into thinking that their car wasn’t defrauding them.

When a Tesla owner called this boiler room, the diverter would run remote diagnostics on their car, then pronounce it fine, and chide the driver for having energy-hungry driving habits (shades of Steve Jobs’s “You’re holding it wrong”):

https://www.wired.com/2010/06/iphone-4-holding-it-wrong/

The drivers who called the Diversion Team weren’t just lied to, they were also punished. The Tesla app was silently altered so that anyone who filed a complaint about their car’s range was no longer able to book a service appointment for any reason. If their car malfunctioned, they’d have to request a callback, which could take several days.

Meanwhile, the diverters on the diversion team were instructed not to inform drivers if the remote diagnostics they performed detected any other defects in the cars.

The diversion team had a 750 complaint/week quota: to juke this stat, diverters would close the case for any driver who failed to answer the phone when they were eventually called back. The center received 2,000+ calls every week. Diverters were ordered to keep calls to five minutes or less.

Eventually, diverters were ordered to cease performing any remote diagnostics on drivers’ cars: a source told Reuters that “Thousands of customers were told there is nothing wrong with their car” without any diagnostics being performed.

Predicting EV range is an inexact science as many factors can affect battery life, notably whether a journey is uphill or downhill. Every EV automaker has to come up with a figure that represents some kind of best guess under a mix of conditions. But while other manufacturers err on the side of caution, Tesla has the most inaccurate mileage estimates in the industry, double the industry average.

Other countries’ regulators have taken note. In Korea, Tesla was fined millions and Elon Musk was personally required to state that he had deceived Tesla buyers. The Korean regulator found that the true range of Teslas under normal winter conditions was less than half of the claimed range.

Now, many companies have been run by malignant narcissists who lied compulsively — think of Thomas Edison, archnemesis of Nikola Tesla himself. The difference here isn’t merely that Musk is a deeply unfit monster of a human being — but rather, that DRM allows him to defraud his customers behind a state-enforced opaque veil. The digital computers at the heart of a Tesla aren’t just demons haunting the car, changing its performance based on whether it believes it is being observed — they also allow Musk to invoke the power of the US government to felonize anyone who tries to peer into the black box where he commits his frauds.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/28/edison-not-tesla/#demon-haunted-world

This Sunday (July 30) at 1530h, I’m appearing on a panel at Midsummer Scream in Long Beach, CA, to discuss the wonderful, award-winning “Ghost Post” Haunted Mansion project I worked on for Disney Imagineering.

Image ID [A scene out of an 11th century tome on demon-summoning called 'Compendium rarissimum totius Artis Magicae sistematisatae per celeberrimos Artis hujus Magistros. Anno 1057. Noli me tangere.' It depicts a demon tormenting two unlucky would-be demon-summoners who have dug up a grave in a graveyard. One summoner is held aloft by his hair, screaming; the other screams from inside the grave he is digging up. The scene has been altered to remove the demon's prominent, urinating penis, to add in a Tesla supercharger, and a red Tesla Model S nosing into the scene.]

Image: Steve Jurvetson (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tesla_Model_S_Indoors.jpg

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

[felassan]

[This recent video] by Mark Darrah on YouTube titled 'How 2017 Changed BioWare 1000 Ways' is worth a watch.

Vid description:

"For me, there have been 4 major moments in BioWare history: BioWare's sale to Elevation Partners, BioWare's sale to EA, Ray and Greg's departure, and 2017."

"Chapters: 0:00 12 Critical Months 0:22 Mass Effect: Andromeda 3:04 BioWare Reports To Someone New 4:35 Dragon Age Support 6:00 Casey Returns 7:10 A Prediction 8:20 A Message To Montreal 11:06 Anthem 12:01 Multiplayer Dragon Age 13:42 The Fallout 15:01 Is This a ME Problem?"

[watchlink]

transcript under cut.

Mark Darrah: "Okay, let’s talk about 2017, which I consider the most impactful twelve months in BioWare’s history. Or at least in recent memory. Actually, I’m lying, I’m gonna back up a little bit and I’m gonna start in late 2016, but I’m gonna stick to twelve months. We’ll just go to the later part of 2017, we won’t go all the way to December. In late 2016 we are reaching the point when Mass Effect: Andromeda is trying to ship. It has been grabbing resources from around BioWare for a while, but in this last push, we reach a decision that is different than anything we have done in BioWare’s history, at least in recent memory. And that is, I actually led this final team that came onto ME:A. If you look in the ME:A credits you’ll see the Dragon Age Finalling Team, DAFT, and I’m on that team. My feeling at the time was, the Dragon Age team was feeling jerked around, they were feeling like we were getting no support from BioWare or from EA, which was basically true, and that by me leading the group onto the project, I could then, when ME:A finished, lead that group as well as the other resources that were supposed to come back to Dragon Age back. That’s not ultimately what ended up happening, and we’ll get into that in a second. But what it was, how it was different, this was the first time where we had this leadership discontinuity where the person in charge of a project left that project to help someone else, some other project, while the project continued to run. In the case of ME:A, I don’t think the impact to Dragon Age was huge, it wasn’t very long. But it did set this precedent as this being a thing that we could do. And it’s not a good thing to do. It is incredibly dangerous to have a project run while it’s missing some of its core leadership. So we move forward, and now ME:A ships, and it doesn’t go well. BioWare had had a pretty good run of games that were pretty well-reviewed, pretty well-received, or if they, like Dragon Age 2, had some challenges, those challenges were easily rationalized away. With ME:A that got shaken. ME:A was shipped in a state that had quality bugs because of relatively small things that subsequently got fixed but really damaged the project at launch."

"In 2016 the part of EA that BioWare reported into changed. We went from, strangely, reporting in through part of the Sports organization, to reporting into someone new, and the result of that was that now, our EA leadership went from being benignly disinterested in us, I would say, not really understanding what we did, and being willing to let us do our best on our own, to someone that was hyper-interested in us, and really wanted to be involved in the day-to-day, in the decision-making, on the project. You can decide for yourself if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. It definitely was a dramatic change in BioWare’s interaction with the rest of the EA organization. One project they weren’t particularly interested in was ME:A, because they had little to gain from the success of ME:A and little to lose from its failure, so I do think one of the reasons why BioWare moved on from ME:A as quickly as it did is because the group that we reported into had very little stake in either the success or the failure of the project, and they had a lot more incentive for BioWare to move onto the next thing, that they could tie themselves to, and show themselves as having influence on the development of. Coming out of ME:A, I was feeling like Dragon Age was still not getting adequate support. We hadn’t gotten the people from Montreal that were supposed to come onto Dragon Age yet. They were still doing stuff with ME:A. And I went to Patrick Söderlund at the time, and said, I don’t feel like I’m getting the support from the organization that Dragon Age deserves. I don’t feel that I’m getting the support from the organization that Dragon Age needs. And from Patrick, as well as from Andrew Wilson, I got lots of assurances that Dragon Age was incredibly important, that we were going to get what we needed, what we wanted. In addition to that, I also got a large amount of stock to try to say, please stay, here are some financial handcuffs, to try to tie you to the organization. Around the same time that I’m getting these assurances from the greater EA org, that Dragon Age is really important, I have a conversation with the person that ran the organization that BioWare used to be a part of. And that interaction basically went like this: ‘I can’t believe you’re still at EA. Dragon Age still isn’t getting people. How can you deal with this?’ And, I guess in retrospect, yeah, that is a really good question."

"In the middle of 2017 Casey Hudson suddenly returns. I say suddenly because I found out that Casey was returning at the same meeting that everyone else at BioWare found out. Because there was worry about leaks, there was a meeting held where both Aaryn Flynn was announced to be leaving and Casey Hudson was announced to come back. And then the press release went out during that meeting. So there was literally zero time between when the people at BioWare knew and when the general public knew. You have to remember, I am the second-most senior person at BioWare. Casey was interviewed, and hired, and prepared to be brought back entirely without me being consulted in any way. Would me having been involved in the process changed the decision? No, I don’t think it would have. But there is an immense amount of disrespect involved in making a hire of this impact, in making a decision of this import, without involving the second-most senior person at your studio in any way. So I actually went from the meeting where it was announced that Casey Hudson was coming back to lead the studio to my desk and sent a couple of emails. And those emails said, essentially, I believe what is going to happen in very short order is that Casey is gonna convince the organization that Anthem needs all-hands on deck. It’s gonna starve Dragon Age out even further, and this goes against what we literally just talked about a few months ago. And the email responses that I got back were, no no no no, Dragon Age is super important, that is not what’s going to happen, we are committed to Dragon Age, we are committed to you leading Dragon Age. And, as we all know, that’s not what happened at all. In very short order, in basically exactly the way that I predicted, Anthem was seen as needing greater support, needing greater leadership support, and myself and some other very senior people, as well as a large percentage of the Dragon Age team, was moved onto Anthem."

"Between Casey returning and the everyone on Anthem, we lose everyone in Montreal. This happens really shortly after Casey returns. Casey’s return was announced on July 18th and the loss of the Montreal staff was August 1st. So it’s only two weeks between the two different events. The people in Montreal had been told some stories. They’d basically been lied to, and told that Dragon Age didn’t want them, and that they were going onto other parts of the EA organization because BioWare couldn’t keep them anymore. And, from my perspective, that is a complete fabrication. When this started to happen, I spent 100% of my time trying to force Dragon Age through one of its gates. And the reason for this is that going through that gate theoretically would have allowed Dragon Age to get much larger, would have allowed Dragon Age to keep those people. Politically I don’t think there was any way that that was going to happen. I, there were very senior people on the ground in Montreal who wanted those people, and proximity is a powerful tool, and I don’t think there was any way I could make the argument to keep those people. But I tried. So if you are someone who’s been mad at me since 2017 because you feel like I abandoned you in Montreal, know that that’s not what happened. Know that I fought with every tool that I knew how to wield to try to keep you. But the organization had no interest in that occurring. Were there backroom deals happening between BioWare and the rest of EA at that time? If there were, I was not involved in them. I was definitely fighting tooth and nail to keep everyone in Montreal on Dragon Age. Because we were ready to start getting bigger. I certainly hope there were no backroom deals. Given the timing, given how early Casey was in his role, it seems unlikely that he was brokering such a deal, and it seems unlikely that Aaryn would have brokered such a deal in his last days. I suppose it’s possible for either of them to have done so, but I think what’s more likely is that leaders on the ground in Montreal were taking advantage of the relative leadership vacuum at BioWare to take those people away. But, like I predicted, that’s not what EA was interested in. What they wanted to see, is they wanted to see Anthem. That perfectly-crafted story that was told back in 2012, 2013, continued to hold immense sway within the organization. And now that Casey was back, it was stronger than ever."

"You can see in this time, my trust in the EA organization is being constantly hammered, constantly challenged. Additionally, in this time period, Mike Laidlaw leaves, because he sees the same things that I see. And while I end up going on Anthem, he sees a lot of frustration in the future for Dragon Age, and he decides that it is better for him to look for opportunities elsewhere. Which is certainly understandable. So part of the excuse for moving people off of Dragon Age was this pivot from a singleplayer game into a multiplayer live service. I believe that a large part of that pivot was done entirely as rationalization, as a reason to make it make sense that we were taking everyone away from Dragon Age. There’s no reason to have all of these people on the project because they are going back to the drawing board, because we are making a live service game now, right? So we can start over again. I wish that had never happened, I wish that pivot had never occurred. But that’s what happened. EA said, make this a live service. We said, we don’t know how to do that, we should basically start the project over. And thus, Joplin became Morrison, and myself as well as other very senior members of the team, moved on to Anthem. And we enter into a second, much longer leadership discontinuity on Dragon Age. Project runs until Anthem ships without its EP, without its senior development director. This ends up causing massive amounts of changes to the project, to the team structure, to the culture. In this time, Dragon Age is pursuing a goal that ultimately it doesn’t want to be pursuing. But it does its best, and in doing its best, it changes the nature of the project in fundamental ways. So as we come to the end of 2017, we are in a state where almost everyone is on Anthem, but Dragon Age, now Dragon Age Morrison, is running without most of its core leadership. And in the process of this change, EA and BioWare have dramatically damaged their relationship with myself, but also with a lot of other more senior members of BioWare, because they’ve said things are going to happen, that didn’t happen, they’ve made assurances that did not come true. As we come out of 2017, BioWare is a different thing. It is focused on making a live service in Anthem, it has lost one of its studios in Montreal being taken away, and now it moves into the future in this new state."

"I talked a fairly long time ago about how EA buys studios and then consumes them and they start to lose their culture into the overall EA culture. To me it feels like 2017 is when EA finished digesting BioWare, which they had bought nine years earlier in 2008. You may be looking to this and saying, I don’t know if I buy your story, I don’t know if I believe that this twelve months is as impactful as you are making it out to be, it sounds more like these things are things that affected you personally. And I think there is truth to that, I think that a lot of these things are things that hurt me, are things that damaged my trust with the organization. I guess the argument I would make against that is simply that, given my position within the organization, damaging the trust, damaging the relationship between the second-most senior person at a studio and that studio is going to have consequences. Special thanks to my members. They provide the resources that this channel needs to keep running. If you’re interested in becoming a member, there’s a link to that down in the description. We also have a Patreon if you are more comfortable supporting the channel in that way. Both Patrons and channel members get access to our Discord, so if you are looking for a way to interact with me and the community to a deeper level, that’s a great way to do it. This may end up being a little more personal than I meant it to be, but I do think that when you step back from BioWare’s history, really far back, there are some major pivot points in BioWare’s history. There’s when BioWare got sold to Elevation Partners. Then there’s when BioWare got sold to EA. There’s when Ray and Greg left, and then there’s this period in 2017. Do you buy that? Let me know down in the comments. I will see you again soon, thank you."

[source]

[papyrus-in-practice]

IT'S WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY, FOLKS!!!!

So, I wanted to post something a bit different!

A common prompt I use with my clients is a positive affirmation jar which is a project in which the client decorates a jar and writes positive affirmation on slips of paper to keep in the jar. In the case that I run out of jars, I make boxes out of paper. A couple weeks ago, I had an idea while and that was to fuse this prompt and Superhero Therapy.

Superhero therapy was initially conceptualized as a form of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy that used superheroes or other characters from media to facilitate the acceptance of oneself and one’s emotions and the commitment to move forward. 

Clients engaging in superhero therapy may be prompted to reflect on their own experiences in life and identify a “superhero” they may relate to or look up to. “Superheroes” don’t have to be the cape-wearing people with superhuman abilities. They can be any characters we find in any media. What defines a “superhero” in superhero therapy is a character that you can relate to on some level and one that possesses strength, wisdom, or other traits you admire. 

Especially when diving into the topic of change, clients might be encouraged to imagine: if that “superhero” showed up at the exact moment you needed them the most, what kind of message would they tell you? This prompt takes that part and creates a physical object that can relay those messages when you need it most. 

Basically, what I did is I thought of characters that I felt I could relate to or look up to. These are my “superheroes”, characters that have strength, wisdom, or another trait that I admire. I drew these characters out and collaged them onto a box.

After the box was done, I wrote short lines that each character might say to me during times when I need encouragement the most. I made sure to label each one so I knew who was talking. I'm still adding some messages, so it's almost "done".

Since I tend to need encouragement the most when I’m at work, I put it in my office!

It was a fun project and I wanted to share it with y’all.

Quick disclaimer, this isn’t therapy nor any kind of substitute for therapy. This is more of a project I did to essentially play-test a prompt. Still, I think other folks could benefit from doing it, too. We’ve all got our own self-defeating thoughts rampaging through our brains and, sometimes, we need a reminder from our inspirations to direct us towards our values. Superhero therapy is a lot about naming and recognizing our unhelpful thoughts as thoughts. Then, we make the commitment by pursuing our values through the characters we admire

Characters from left to right:

Toriel(Toby Fox's Undertale)

Papyrus(Toby Fox's Undertale/Papyrus in Practice)

Sans(Toby Fox's Undertale)

Doc(@tehrogueva Therapist!Sans)

Baggs(@megalommi Megalosomnia)

Dream(@jokublog Dreamtale)

Nightmare(@jokublog Dreamtale)

I also wanted to shout out @wishing-stones Rabble and Rampallians since I also felt really connected with their portrayal of Baggs, Dream, and Nightmare!

Luz and Eda(The Owl House by Dana Terrace)

Andromachus(Vampire Therapist by Cyrus Nemati, @littlebatgames)

References: 

Scarlet, J., & Alves, W. (2017). Superhero therapy: Mindfulness skills to help teens and young adults deal with anxiety, depression, and trauma. New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

Washington, K. (2019, April 25). What is Superhero Therapy? Denver Health. October 10, 2024, https://www.denverhealth.org/blog/2019/04/what-is-superhero-therapy

[thatssummer]

150514 - 250514 💿 10 years with Monsta x Shine Forever (2017) • Songs of All Time 04/∞

[toskarinarchive]

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[thealieninhiding]

The Katie McGrath Archives (WIP)

A repository of my ongoing digital archeology & archival work please contact me if you have anything to contribute and buy me a coffee if you value my content

Updates

(last updated 2025-01-14)

2025-01-14

Scans:

2008-10 InStyle (LQ)

2009 DRAMA Magazine (LQ)

2009-10 The Sunday Times Style (Ireland)

2010-10 Tatler

2010-12 InStyle

2011-02 Instyle (LQ)

2011-07 Tatler (LQ)

2011-10 Sunday Independent

2012-03-14 Sci-FiNow

2012-03-23 The Lady Magazine

2024-07-03

Scans:

2014-02-07 London Times - Dracula sets

Audio:

(Un)likeminded 2x02 How to Survive The Apocalypse

2024-05-24

Video:

2017 Katie McGrath interview [CW|KMcGsource]

2017 Supergirl Season 3 Sweet dreams (are made of this) Music Video

2017 CW SDCC Promo Supergirl and Arrow

2019-01-01 The CW Promo Open To All

2021-04-25 Supergirl Season 6 Katie McGrath Lena Luthor

2021-09-15 Supergirl Season 6 Katie McGrath Reflecting on Supergirl

2024-05-22

Audio:

Interview - 2009-07-17 Katie McGrath Mr Media interview

Interview - 2009-10-15 Geek Syndicate Merlin BTS special

Video:

BTS - 2008-10-08 Blue Peter Merlin BTS

Events - 2009 TV Choice Awards Digital Spy interview

Events - Getty Videos of 2009 TV Choice Awards, 2010 Merlin Series 3 launch, 2011 W.E. premiere, 2017 King Arthur Premiere

2024-05-17

Archived interviews

2008-12-07 Tribune Magazine - What Katie Did

2011-10-14 What's on TV - Merlin's Katie McGrath- 'Bad girls have more fun!'

2012-12-03 Fanhattan Blog - Colin Morgan, Katie McGrath and Bradley James on Season 5 and The Series Finale

2018-08-01 The TV Junkies - Supergirl SDCC 2018 Interviews- Lena’s Impractical Lab Outfits, the Return of Reporter Kara and a More Grounded Season 4

Audio

HHush samples

Interview - 2009-2011 Sci-fi Talk rewind merlin the series specials episode 1

Interview - 2011? Merlin S4 Sci-fi talk byte katie mcgrath on morgana

Interview - 2013 BBC Radio 1xtra part 1 & part 2

(Un)likeminded 1x02 While You Were Dreaming

Trees a crowd- Irish folklore segment

Magazine scans

2008-09-20 Radio Times

2009-06-08 TV Week (Aus)

2010-09-05 Sunday Express

2010-09-30 Totally Merlin Magazine

2011-12 Total Film

2012-03-14 Sci-Fi Now

2012-10-06 Radio Times

2013-04-06 Irish independent

2013-09-02 Marie-Claire (UK)

2013-12 Instyle

2013-12 Total Film

Video:

Fans - 2012-04-16 Merlin4 [carlospyrrhus]

Fans - 2017-08-30 Supergirl cast together on set [Joyce Law]

Interview - 2009-09-?? Merlin S2 audio interview with Katie McGrath [BJsRealm] part 1

Interview - 2010-09-06 Merlin Series 3 - BBC Radio 1xtra Interview with Angel Coulby & Katie McGrath [BJsrealm]

Interview - 2011-10-14 Merlin S4 Colin Morgan, Eoin Macken Katie McGrath on The Late Late Show

Interview - 2012-07-15 Colin Morgan and Katie McGrath at SDCC 2012 - innerSPACE [merlinnetwork2]

Interview - 2012-07-18 Katie McGrath Talks Merlin At Comic Con 2012 [ThinkHeroTV]

Interview - 2012-10-25 BBC Radio 1 Breakfast - Colin & Katie part 1 & part 2 [BJsRealm]

Interview - 2012-12-03 Merlin S5 Katie McGrath interview international press day [BJsRealm]

Interview - 2012-12-03 Colin, Bradley, Katie phone interview [BJsRealm]

Interview - 2013-11-09 Katie McGrath on BBC One Saturday Kitchen [BJsRealm]

Interview - 2019-07-22 ENTREVISTA SUPERGIRL Elenco fala sobre a nova temporada [Warner Channel Brasil]

Interview - 2019-07-23 Melissa Benoist Teases Directing An Episode Of 'Supergirl' [ET Canada]

Interview - 2020-02-21 ‘Supergirl’ Celebrates 100th Episode [ET Canada]

Panels - 2011-07-28 Merlin Comic Con 2011 Panel [ThinkHeroTV]

[robronpolls]

links to kisses below for proper comparison

04/12/2014 - "Because you know why we're both still here" - first kiss 25/12/2014 - "So... you going home?" - Christmas back room kiss 06/04/2015 - "You're meant to live off sugar!" - Easter kiss 14/04/2016 - "I want to be able to rely on you, Robert." - Officially BoyFriends kiss 14/10/2016 - "Oh, well, he hasn't said yes yet!" - horny pre-proposal boyfriend kiss 23/01/2017 - "Got too much keeping me here these days." - after hours at the pub kiss 21/02/2017 - "I promise I'm gonna be the best husband I can be." - unofficially officially husbands in the garage kiss 25/12/2017 - "What kind of friend would you be to me, Aaron?" - the saddest kiss on the cheek that Christmas has ever seen 22/02/2018 - "Do you want to get dumped again?" "We definitely don't have a song." - officially back together kiss 05/10/2018 - "...I'm delighted to pronounce you husband and husband!" - Officially Official Husbands Kiss 17/10/2019 - "Maybe I'll have a vege patch, then." - "last" kiss in the woods 28/05/2025 - "Not going to punch me again, are you?" - the 'we are so back' kiss <3

[seoul-bros]

Jikook Week 47 Complete (29/10-05/11/2024)

Their 47th week in the military is now complete and we celebrate with a look back at this week in 2017.

It was a very special week for Jimin and Jungkook marking their first trip together. They went to Tokyo between 28/10 and 31/10 on a trip that JK organised as a birthday present for Jimin, a trip that they are still talking about seven years later.

"We were walking down an alley, there weren't many cars, there was the light from the street lamps.... It was really beautiful. And then Jimin said that his feet hurt and so we walked slowly. These simple things were so fun" Jungkook, Real Love, Beyond the Story

"We went around wearing masks from the move Scream with black fabric covering our bodies, and black umbrellas. When people came over, we took picture, it was fun. We went around people watching, and when we went to the restaurant, we took off our masks and ate" Jungkook, Real Love, Beyond the Story

They wandered the streets, went shopping, ate good food and visited Disneyland before returning to Korea on the 31/10.

The first Golden Closet Film came out about a week later on 08/11 much to JK's delight as its talented creator and Jimin as its star.

No one before or since has shown Jimin quite like JK does here. He is completely open, relaxed and joyful. He beams at JK behind the lens. This is what it must feel like to be in Jimin's inner circle and have his complete trust. It is a Jimin that we don't really see anymore, although perhaps, in Are You Sure? we caught glimpses of that guy.

On 31/10, Jimin posted this photo of them looking relaxed and happy with an emoji caption. The trip seems to have done them a lot of good and brought them even closer.

😊💐

The trip took place during a break in the Wings tour between the Taiwan concerts on the 21-22/10 and the Macau concert on 04/11. If you want to know how crazy this time was for them and how hard they were working nothing can demonstrate that more clearly than the Burn the Stage series and in this case Episode 8 which shows the October and November leg of the tour and its final concert in Seoul on 10th December 2017.

It is in this episode that Taehyung asks us to love all seven of the members of BTS which seems worth repeating at this moment.

Watching their 2017 selves talking about what they learnt about each other and about themselves during the Wings Tour made me nostalgic for a time when I wasn't even in the fandom and hopeful for the future that they deserve, pursuing the next steps of their musical journey together as a group. Just over seven months to go before that future can become a reality and all we need to do until then is hold it together, ensure we put out our share of positivity to balance the incessant toxicity of SM and TRUST IN BTS.

Post Date: 05/11/2024

[descendantsramblings]

Descendants Rambling Masterlist

♡Welcome to my page/Master list♡

My Requests are always open

I'm willing to write readers with she/her, he/him, or they/them pronouns

I'm willing to write 1-2 love interests

I only write for villains/vks unless it's a VK x reader x Ak situation (ex: mal x reader x ben, Jane x reader x Carlos)

I'll make suggestive comments/make out sessions but I don't write smut, these characters are all underage regardless of their actor's age

𝓜𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽

Key:

♡ personal favorite

✎ least favorite (i might eventually rewrite)

⋆ head canons

♤ AU

𝓒𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓕𝓸𝓾𝓻

Mal Bertha

Game Planner (He/him) After finding out how much she misses Halloween on the Isle, Mal's boyfriend does everything he can to bring her a slice of home. - Written 10/2021

Evie

Candy Apple (She/her) Evie's family history leads to her trying to back out of a chemistry project. - Written 09/2021

Carlos de Vil

Saved ♤✎ (She/her) Going back to the Isle leads to the Hook!Reader being kidnapped by her own brother, leavig Carlos to save her. - Written 10/2017

Carlos Having a Crush on You ⋆(she/her) Ben's Twin!Reader x Carlos -Written 12/2017

I've Got You✎ (She/her) Carlos has a nightmare about his mother. (Trigger Warning!!)- Written 07/2018

PB&J (They/Them) Finding out their boyfriend hates their favorite holiday leads the reader to graveling to give him a good Halloween. - Written 09/2021

I Loved You First ♡ (They/Them) Inspired by "Loved You First" By One Direction. Carlos didn't expect them to wait for him to come back to the Isle, but that doesn't make it easier to see them with someone else. (minor Gil x reader) - Written 10/2021

Jay

Dating Jay ⋆ (no pronouns used but the reader wears leggings) Jay x Cheerleader!Reader - Written 10/2018

Spidermonkey (she/her) Gothel!Reader has Jay surprise her when he sneaks through her window. Loosely inspired by twilight- Written 04/2020

Stuffed Spook (They/Them) Jay's partner gets excited by a stuffed bat and he's determined to win it. -Written 09/2021

𝓢𝓮𝓪 𝓣𝓱𝓻𝓮𝓮

Uma

Letters to the Sea♤♡ (They/Them) Soulmate AU: everything you write on your skin appears on your soulmate's skin too. Uma and the Reader write letters until they can meet. - Written 07/2021

Baking (They/them) Uma watches her partner try to prepare for the Halloween escape room. Evie's Sibling!Reader - Written 10/2021

Gil

Hook's Daughter ⋆ (She/her) Harry's younger sister is Gil's closest friend (minor Gil x Jay) - Written 07/2021

Orchard (They/Them) Gil's partner takes him apple picking during his first September in Auradon - Written 09/2021

Harry Hook

Jafar's Child ⋆ (They/them) A flirty joke leads to Harry dating Jay's sibling - Written 07/2021

Fever ♡ (She/her) Harry and Captain take care of his sick girlfriend (requested) - Written 06/2021

Haunted Castle (He/him) Harry drags his scaredy-cat boyfriend to a haunted castle - Written 09/2021

Making a Splash (she/her) One wrong move leads to two people panicking and one person hurt on the docks. Jay's Sister!Reader. (Requested) - Written 12/2021

Flirting Pirate (She/her) She only hangs around the fish and chips shop to watch after he brother, it would be easier if she didn't have to deal with the flirty first mate. Gil's Sister!Reader (Requested) - Written 02/2022

Sealed With a Kiss ♡ (She/her) Ben's twin gets kidnapped with him by a pirate who's had a crush on her his whole life. Ben's Twin!Reader (Requested) - Written 04/2022

𝓓:𝓡𝓸𝓡 𝓥𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓪𝓲𝓷𝓼

Morgie le Fay

Sunday Night ♡ (She/her) After his friends let him down, Morgie runs to his girlfriend for comfort. - Written 08/2024

In Another Life (he/him) When Rapunzel's son gets thrown back in time he finds himself to be the object of two villains' affection. Minor James Hook x Reader (Requested)- Written 08/2024

I Would Be Yours (he/him) He never thought the lips he spent years thinking about would appear to him again 3 years later. Sequels to “In Another Life” (Requested)-Written 09/2024

True to Heart (he/him) Without the pressure of parents and villains, how hard is it to be true to heart? Especially when you’re holding a book that tells you your truth. (Requested)-Written 08/2024

Tree Bark (they/them) Everyone deserves their time alone, sometimes though that well deserved time alone has to be interrupted by the sound of animal noises coming from a tree. (Requested)-Written 08/2024

Crushing (they/them) Morgie had never been good at hiding when he had a crush on someone, and they don’t mind playing the long game with his affections (requested) - Written 08/2024

Win You Over (they/them) Magical history had always been their favorite class, but this assigned partner situation had the ability to dampen that. (Requested)-Written 08/2024

Mindless Touch (she/her) Morgie hasn’t meant to upset her, he only wanted to have his hands on what was his. (TRIGGER WARNING: body image issues) (requested)-Written 08/2024

The Dominant Type ⋆(no pronouns used/GN reader) Hook x reader x Morgie head canons with a dominant leaning reader (requested) - Written 08/2024

Warm Greens (she/her) Red discovers she has a secret aunt when she sees her face next to the people who ruined her mother’s life. (Requested)-Written 09/2024

Cool Reds (she/her) She would do anything to keep him, wouldn’t she? Prequel to “Warm Greens” (Requested) -Written 10/2024

One Sided (he/him) If he has to listen to Morgie talk about Uliana one more time, he’s going to be sick (requested) -Written 09/2024

Love Letters (he/him) Morgie was growing far too attached to those little silver envelopes (Requested)-Written 09/2024

Babydoll ⋆(no pronouns used/GN reader) Hook x reader x Morgie head canons with a submissive leaning reader (Requested) -Written 09/2024

Scales (They/them) Morgie could think of 100 things he would rather do than parent a dragon with the sweetheart of Merlin Academy (requested)-Written 09/2024

Doesn't Matter (he/him) Morgana le Fay is coming to Merlin Academy's family day, and she has no idea that her son's boyfriend is a prince (Requested) - Written 09/2024

Second Place (he/him) Just once he wants to feel like his boyfriend’s first choice (Requested)-Written 09/2024

Emerald Comfort (he/him) Morgie might just be dating the sleepiest boy to ever live -Written 09/2024

Snake Eyes (she/her) Lions, tiger, and bears; just anything but snakes (Requested) - Written 10/2024

Flash Photography (She/her) Who would have thought that they would make such a good pair? (Requested) -Written 10/2024

James Hook

Call of the Sirens (She/her) As Hook sells his ship to Uma, he and his wife recall a time that she had to save him back in their prime. (Requested)- Written 08/2024

Side Effects (she/her) If Hook knew the side effects that came with those Malibu sprites, would he take them? (Requested)-Written 08/2024

Red Dress (she/her) He hadn’t meant to upset her when he picked the dress out, now Hook was set on making her see how good she looked in it. (TRIGGER WARNING: Body Image issues) (Requested) - Written 08/2024

The Dominant Type ⋆(no pronouns used/GN reader) Hook x reader x Morgie head canons with a dominant leaning reader (requested) - Written 08/2024

Eyes on Me (They/Them) The fairy wasn’t thinking about the pirates past when they excitedly called for him. They definitely didn’t mean to upset him. (TRIGGER WARNING; animal attacks and panic attacks) (Requested)- Written 08/2024

Wake Up Slow ♡ (she/her) Everyone needs a place to fully relax, and he found his in a heavy duvet and needy hands (Requested)-Written 09/2024

Babydoll ⋆(no pronouns used/GN reader) Hook x reader x Morgie head canons with a submissive leaning reader (Requested) -Written 09/2024

Bloody Charming (they/them) Hook’s flirting leads to an argument being blown way out of proportion (TRIGGER WARNING: just, yeah. I got a little too silly) (Requested)- Written 09/2024

Studious ♡ (they/them) Hook might not mind tutoring, as long as it’s for them. (Requested)-Written 09/2024

Hades

Body Better (he/him) Sometimes the weight of life can lead to your insecurities coming out in peculiar ways. (TRIGGER WARNING: Body image issues) (Requested)- Written 08/2024

Let me See (she/her) Her need to be independent keeps getting her hurt, and she really did it this time. (Requested) - Written 08/2024

Play With Fire (they/them) their mother warned them not to play with fire, now look at them getting burned (requested) -Written 09/2024

Hitting Every Mark (she/her) Turns out she had nothing to worry about, her fans love him (requested)- Written 10/2024

Uliana

Family Lines (she/her) After seeing Bridget's sister at Family Day, Uliana will do anything to earn the girl's affection. Even being nice to her ray of sunshine sister. (Requested)-Written 08/2024

Rivalry (She/her) It was only a matter of time until the two groupd of VKs either came together or tore themselves to shreds. (Requested) -Written 08/2024

Double the Trouble (she/her) Uliana might be able to date Hook’s sister, but that doesn’t mean she’s able to make Hook like the whole ordeal. (Requested) -Written 08/2024

Breathe (they/them) Sometimes the biggest villain is not knowing how people see you. (TRIGGER WARNING: Anxiety attack) (Requested)-Written 09/2024

Strongest Tides (she/her) When the leader of their crew is emotionally taken out of commission, it’s up to her girlfriend to pick up the pieces (requested)-09/2024

Maleficent

Stylized (she/her) Artistry is the highest form of flattery and Maleficent has found herself as a princess’ muse. (Requested)-Written 08/2024

Play (she/her) watching your girlfriend study can get just so boring (requested) - Written 09/2024

𝓝𝓸 𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓻

Descendants, Not Made for Kids ⋆ Changes I'd make if I made the Descendants movies as a series for teens or adults. - Written 06/2021

Style Headcanons ⋆ How I'd restyle the main characters from the OG Descendants movies - Writen 06/2021

[nejihinata]

⋆ ˚｡⭒ ☾ Important announcement ☽ ⋆⭒˚｡⋆

Is anyone excited for the NejiHina week???? 👀

This time it will be even more special because it will mark ten years of our wonderful annual event that keep this community together and this ship afloat and sailing in our hearts.

Ten whole years! Can you believe it?

We are so proud and full of gratitude for every one and each of you that contributed for the NejiHina community across the last ten years, may it be as creators with beautiful art and fic that make our hearts ache due to their brilliancy, may it be as fans with likes, comments and reblogs.

You guys are amazing! Absolutely amazing!

We are super excited for 2024's edition of the NejiHina Week because this edition will be more than special.

And to honour our history, instead of collecting this year's themes through asks as usual, we are counting on you to select the best themes from each year of edition from 2014 to 2023!

Starting from today 11/04/2024 till sunday 11/10/2024 we will be releasing pools for you to vote on your favourite theme from each year of event.

You are free to campaign for the theme you think should be picked, mod @pandoraimperatrix and mod @cyanis-art will be making their own propaganda posts too!

As always, we will be tracking the tags #NejiHina, #NejiHinaWeek and #NejiHinaWeek2024 so don't forget to tag everything so we can reblog and engage with your posts!

Have fun eveyone!

Choose a theme from NejiHina Week 2014!

Choose a theme from NejiHina Week 2015!

Choose a theme from NejiHina Week 2016!

Choose a theme from NejiHina Week 2017!

Choose a theme from NejiHina Week 2018!

Choose a theme from NejiHina Week 2019!

Choose a theme from NejiHina Week 2020!

Choose a theme from NejiHina Week 2021!

Choose a theme from NejiHina Week 2022!

Choose a theme from NejiHina Week 2023!

[nwjnsloona]

— only cry in the rain 🌧️

synopsis :: as you look through your childhood home, you find a camcorder.

< pairing ! > liz x fem!reader

< tags ! > ambiguous ending, angst i guess?, childhood friends to nothing, i dont even rmb what i wrote

< wordcount ! > 900 words

< warnings ! > none i think

the old cuckoo clock cries at three in the afternoon as you open another cardboard box in your childhood home.

inside is a camcorder, the one you liked best as a teenager. you take it out of the box gently, quickly fiddling with the settings until you reach the first video.

— 2016/10/21 00:15:76

you are center frame, eyes locked on a subject close to the camcorder. “is this on?” you mouth. the voice behind the camera— jiwon— whispers a quiet, “yes,” and you clear your throat.

“hi! my name is-” your voice immediately cracks, and laughter can be heard as the camera is pointed abruptly towards the floor before the video immediately cuts.

— 2016/10/21 01:04:32

this video is obviously more rehearsed than the one before, as when the video starts you immediately start talking.

“hi! my name is lee yn, and the year is 2016 and my bestest friend in the world kim jiwon is filming!” the camera pans to show a blonde girl smiling, then pans back to show you.

“in 2016, we have really cool stuff, like-”

“why are we doing this?”

“in case someone from the future finds it!”

“aren’t you going to keep it?”

“well, just in case…”

the conversation continues back and forth until the recording eventually ends, neither girl winning.

— 2016/12/31 03:24:97

“it’s almost new years!” you shout excitedly into the camera.

“yeah!” jiwon joins in, showing the camcorder the clock which displays the time 11:59. one minute left. there is no-one else in the room, just you and jiwon.

the sound of other people can be heard in the distance. five! four! three! two! one! happy new year!

“happy new year,” you say to jiwon, the camera facing back to you now.

you press a kiss to jiwon’s cheek and she squeals, running away.

“yn kissed me!” she says to the video.

“come back!” you complain in the background, laughing.

you smile, reminiscing. that was the day when you realised you liked jiwon, her pink cheeks and toothy smile seeming brighter against the dim lights of midnight on new year’s.

 — 2017/01/20 00:12:84

you and jiwon are at a park, still in your school uniforms. you hold two drinks in your hand, one for you and one for jiwon. the camera moves towards you teasingly, and you glare at it, then burst into laughter.

— 2017/03/18

“we took polaroids!” jiwon says, showing the pictures off to the camera.

“don’t you think it’s funny that we’re showing a picture of us to a video camera?”

“i think it’s cute,” jiwon says, and the pout in her voice is evident despite the fact she isn’t in frame.

“wait me too! i just think it’s also funny!”

“okay…” jiwon replies, and turns the camera.

you’re resting your chin on jiwon’s shoulder from behind. you make a peace sign with your hands, and jiwon follows you, smiling.

the video ends.

— 2017/03/28 00:07:12

the scene is blurry, your hands unsteady, before it eventually focuses.

you zoom in on her face. “she’s so pretty,” you mutter under your breath.

— 2017/04/04 01:10:12

you and jiwon are in school. your pencil cases sit side by side on jiwon’s desk.

“look!” jiwon says, reaching with one hand for the keyrings on your pencil cases, “they’re matching!”

“i bought them,” you say proudly.

“yeah, she bought them,” jiwon says. she turns the camera and points at you with her free hand, and you start posing.

the other videos are all similar, slices of you and jiwon’s life interspersed with clips of you filming jiwon’s face— until you get to the last one.

— 2018/11/21 08:21:98

it’s almost a year apart from the rest of the videos, and you know instantly what’s in it.

“it’s jiwon’s birthday,” you start, although you are not in frame, just your desk. your voice trembles slightly.

“so, i just wanted to say some things that- that remind me of her.” some rustling is heard, and you produce something from a drawer.

“first, these polaroids. we took them together, and she took one of them and it was the best one but-” you exhale shakily. “i don’t even know if she has it anymore. second, this keychain. she got it for me to match with her.”

“and third… this camcorder i’m filming on right now. she always used to film us together, but… i don’t think it’s going to happen anymore. i ruined it. jiwon, i’m sorry.” the camcorder is barely filming anymore, and you set it on the desk. 

“please,” your voice sounds raw, pained, “please be my friend again, jiwon. i won’t- i’m not-!”

it all comes back to you. you and jiwon, sitting together watching the sunset. you were young, foolish then. you lean in to whisper, “jiwon, i… like you.”

her eyes go wide. “what?”

suddenly, jiwon is not there anymore. and she won’t talk to you, and you don’t know why, until one day after days of begging she finally says something to you.

“my parents said i can’t be friends with,” she lowers her voice, “a lesbian.”

your eyes well up with tears.

“i swear, i’m not—! i’m not a-”

you sniffle behind the camera, and—

the cuckoo clock cries at four in the afternoon.

you shut off the camcorder, and gently touch your cheek. it’s wet with tears. the rain beats down on the window and you sigh, drying your eyes, and get up to open another box.

the camcorder still lies on the ground.

a/n : idk if this is good i literally wrote it in one sitting…….. anyways STREAM ONLY CRY IN THE RAIN BY CHUU!!!!

[argumate]

female political leaders, not counting queens, empresses, consorts, or pharaohs:

Mexico: Claudia Sheinbaum, president 2024-- Italy: Giorgia Meloni, prime minister 2022-- European Commission: Ursula von der Leyen, president 2019-- Finland: Sanna Marin, prime minister 2019-23 Ethiopia: Sahle-Work Zewde, president 2018-24 Taiwan: Tsai Ing-wen, president 2016-24 Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi, state counsellor 2016-21 South Korea: Park Geun-hye, president 2013-17 Brazil: Dilma Rousseff, president 2011-16 Thailand: Yingluck Shinawatra, prime minister 2011-14 Australia: Julia Gillard, prime minister 2010-13 Iceland: Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, prime minister 2009-13 Germany: Angela Merkel, chancellor 2005-21 Finland - Mari Kiviniemi, prime minister 2010-11 - Anneli Jäätteenmäki, prime minister 2003 Indonesia: Megawati Sukarnoputri, president 2001-04 New Zealand - Jacinda Ardern, prime minister 2017-23 - Helen Clark, prime minister 1999-2008 - Jenny Shipley, prime minister 1997-99 Turkey: Tansu Çiller, prime minister 1993-96 Canada: Kim Campbell, prime minister 1993 Poland: Hanna Suchocka, prime minister 1992-93 Bangladesh - Sheikh Hasina, prime minister 1996-2001, 2009-2024 - Khaleda Zia, prime minister 1991-96, 2001-06 Lithuania: Kazimira Prunskienė, prime minister 1990-91 France - Élisabeth Borne, prime minister 2022-24 - Édith Cresson, prime minister 1991-92 Pakistan: Benazir Bhutto, 1988-90, 93-96 Philippines - Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, president 2001-10 - Corazon Aquino, president 1986-92 Yugoslavia: Milka Planinc, prime minister 1982-86 Norway - Erna Solberg, prime minister 2013-21 - Gro Harlem Brundtland, prime minister 1981, 86-89, 90-96 United Kingdom - Liz Truss, prime minister 2022 - Theresa May, prime minister 2016-19 - Margaret Thatcher, prime minister 1979-90 Portugal: Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo, prime minister 1979-80 Argentina: Isabel Perón, president 1974-76 Israel: Golda Meir, prime minister 1969-74 India: Indira Gandhi, prime minister 1966-77, 80-84 Sri Lanka - Harini Amarasuriya, prime minister 2024 - Chandrika Kumaratunga, president 1994-2005 - Sirimavo Bandaranaike, prime minister 1960-65, 70-77, 94-2000

runners up:

People's Republic of China, 1.4 billion people - Soong Ching-ling, vice, acting, and honorary chairman

United States of America, 340 million people - Kamala Harris, vice president - Hillary Clinton, secretary of state and presidential candidate

Nigeria, 227 million people - Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, minister of finance, foreign affairs

Vietnam, 100 million people - Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh, vice and acting president

South Africa, 63 million people - Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, deputy president

[transspeciesculture]

We keep mentioning how transspecies as a term has existed long before the radqueer & transID communities formed, and started claiming it as part of those communities despite it's actual usage within nonhuman/fictional/unusual human species identifying spaces and objections from said spaces.

As a sort of quick thing to back this up, here are some examples before the year of 2020 (estimated beginnings of the radqueer/transID community)!

All of this excludes troll posting/mockery, and is focused on NH/FICT community's discussions. Some additional content warnings are provided for some of the e-mails, however.

This is not extensive, feel free to show us any other finds (excluding alt.horror.werewolves e-mails, we've already scoured trough everything. There is actually more mentions via that, but all from the same person).

Mentions of term:

01 - "Gender-bender" e-mail, 1999. Included in this section due to the unclearness of if the original author of the e-mail identifies as otherkin or transspecies personally.

[Link] [Link 2] [Archive] [Archive 2]

02 - "On cosmic surgery and personal identity" e-mail, 2005

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

03 - "Da Jakkal's work revisited" e-mail, 1999. Warning: has some outdated terminology/beliefs.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

04 - "Re: Introduction" e-mail, 2002

[Link] [Archive]

05 - "Re: Shifters: in need of Help." e-mail, 1999. Warning: thread has mentions of an un-nameable native American creature.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

06 - "Re: Musing of the Week" e-mail, 1999

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

06 - "Re: define were" e-mail, 1997. Warning: thread has mentions of an un-nameable native American creature. (This is the second time we've have to issue this CW. Sucks.)

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

07 - "Re: Fun with Faith" e-mail, 1997. Same warning as above, unfourtunately.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

08 - "Re: Questions on Were's/Shifting/etc" e-mail 1997. Same warning, a lot of early instances of the word being used seem to all be from this one being, sorry.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

09 - "Re: Slithering into AHWW" e-mail, 1997

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

10 - "Re: Odd Dreams" e-mail, 1998

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

11 - "Shifters: WereBreeds" e-mail, 1999. Warning: has some outdated terminology.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

12 - "On the appropriation of trans narratives by therianthropes" article, 2013. Contrary to the title, it is supportive. It does mention the native creature again due to excerpting an AHWW member's ramblings, so thread with caution.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

13 - "An Introduction to Animality" article, 2009

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

Usage of term for clear self identification (flags and symbols are included):

01 - "Re: A question to everyone out there" e-mail, 1997. Warning once again for mentions of an un-nameable native American creature, and questionable identity that may or may not be considered cultural appropriation (we have no place to say as we are not native). Still, it is an clear account of identification with the label and experiences that'd come to be associated with it.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

02 - "Chewing and biting (and intro)" e-mail, 1999. The poster at the time of posting already specifies that they do not identify with the label anymore, but used to.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

03 - "Transspecies Pride stamp" flag/pride graphic, 2017.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

04 - "Transspecies Flag" flag, 2018

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

05 - "Why I call myself Transspecies" personal article, 2018

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

06 - "Gender: Furry II (Now With More Scales)

[Archive]

07 - "Real Dragons: Transspeciesism" article, 2001

[Archive]

[calderacitylovers]

Zutara SlowBurn FanFiction: Personal Favs, part I

·        I AM STILL HERE by owedbetter Published: 2017-10-09 | 77K words | 7 Chapters

After the Last Agni Kai K heals Z with the help of bloodbending. Very sweet.

 ·        THE SUMMIT by AJLenoire

Chronicles post-war years, as Gaang and other characters gather for annual summits to keep peace and build relationships between the Four Nations. Katara yearns for a bigger purpose than the Avatar’s companion and slowly grows into a shrewd diplomat. Very sweet slow burn ZK story. Has mature scenes.

 ·        CLOTHE ME IN SEASONS, DRESS ME IN SNOW by sadladybug Published: 2015-01-05 | 62K words | 7 Chapters

Follows old Zuko as he reflects on his life and what would have been if he kept Katara closer. Absolutely beautiful, but also a devastatingly heart-breaking story about loss and pain.

 ·        SILENT DECLARATIONS by Megara Pike (Megara_Pike) Published: 2021-01-20 | 2,6K words

A short story based on animation by Hayley Wong. Z finds K asleep in her study and carries her to bed. Very sweet, gentle story.

 ·        COVERED IN YOU by evergreenonthehorizon Published: 2021-04-02 | 55K words | 14 Chapters

Eight years after the war Z convinces K to take on a role of a Southern Water Tribe ambassador in the Caldera city. Both are completely clueless about each other’s feelings. Features political talks, big gestures, and a ball. Very cute, sweet slow-burn story. Has mature scenes.

 ·        TEN STRIDES IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION by evergreenonthehorizon Published: 2021-04-03 | 29K Words | 12 Chapters

A collection of short stories filling in the gaps between some of the events of ATLAS3 and up to the Last Agni Kai. Features accidental cuddling, embracing in the rain, sharing a bed for warmth, post-Ember Island Theater discussions, being discovered, waiting to be kissed, Suki & Katara being good friends, battle plans, Zuko & Sokka getting drunk, slow burn & angst. Very sweet.

 ·        THE SWAY OF THE SUN by TheBlackBriarSparrow Published: Published: 2019-10-14 | 102K Words | 27 Chapters

Two years post-war Gaang reunites in Caldera city for a secret party in honor of the overworked Fire Lord’s birthday. Rebels attack the palace setting a thrilling consequence of events in motion. Adventures, investigations, and fights ensue. Z & K work together and enlist old friends to help find missing people. Beautiful slow-burn story with an exciting plot.

·        A WARM EMBRACE by ewinkie Published: 2020-10-06 | 19K Words | 7 Chapters

An ATLAS3 rewrite from Southern Riders to the Last Agni Kai. Katara and Zuko have to hide in a cave following their encounter with Yon Rha. Comforting turns to cuddling, which turns to waking up on Appa's tail in each other's arms. Katara is shocked at how comfortable she is. Zuko is shocked that Katara doesn't hate him for it. Features sharing a bed, being discovered, slowburn, and lots of teenage silliness.

 ·        FOLLOWING BLUE by Boogum Published: 2018-11-07 | 39K Words | 10 Chapters

ATLA S2 rewrite. After Katara falls from Appa’s saddle during a pursuit, the Blue Spirit becomes her reluctant companion and helps her reunite with her friends. Ba Sing Se scenes are completely rewritten, and Z ends up joining the Gaang much earlier. Thrilling beginning, sweet middle, average ending.

 ·        ANOTHER WORD FOR ALCHEMY by FanPanda13 Published: 2014-08-19 | 108K words | 24 Chapters

Five years post-war Aang summons old friends for a summit and invites them on a trip to investigate mysterious locations where he experiences loss of bending. Features Gaang setting Z & K up, travelling on Appa like in the olden days, lots of sparring, royal courting, magnificent navy ships & war ballons. Thrilling story with fun banter between old friends. Slowburn, mature content.

 ·        CONSUME ME WITH FIRE, FLOOD ME WITH DESIRE by Dacamia Published: 2020-08-14 | 86K words | 24 Chapters

Steamy ATLAS2 and ATLA S3 rewrite. Z & K accidentally meetup on their way to Ba Sing Se and decide to travel together. Features aged-up characters, lots of intimate scenes, staying in a beautiful cave, helping villagers, betrayal in Ba Sing Se, reunion, forgiveness, etc. Explicit mature content.

 ·        ROOTS AND WINGS by zukoscomet Published: 2020-08-14 | 250K words | 25 Chapters

A series of short stories of Z & K as they grow closer, confess their love for one another and start a family.

 ·        THOSE WHO FAVOR FIRE by hiwasseelane Published: 2021-05-02 |29K Words | 13 Chapters

An ATLAS3 rewrite. Sweet, teen-appopriate.

Here’s a link to Part II of my personal favs.

Here’s a link to Wholesome Zutara Short Stories.

[lemoncrushh]

The Entertainer - Story Page

Summary: Set in the 70s, Sky Jones, a young woman from L.A., meets Harry Styles, an up-and-coming musician and frontman for the band Wildfire. Told in first person from Sky's point of view, she shares her journey and what it's like to fall for a rockstar.

Author's Note: This was originally written and posted way back in 2017. An oldie, but I'm finally getting around to finishing the sequel. I figured before I start reposting that, you need the original story. Hopefully there are some newer fans/readers who haven't read this one yet. A ten-part series, each chapter acts as a track from an album. Within each chapter, there will be song lyrics. Be sure to check the bottom of each part to get a list of the songs included. It makes for a great soundtrack, like a movie. This story is very special to me, and I hope you enjoy. Inspired by the song "The Entertainer" by Billy Joel.

I am the entertainer And I know just where I stand Another serenader And another long haired band Today I am your champion I may have won your hearts But I know the game, you’ll forget my name And I won’t be here in another year If I don’t stay on the charts

Reposting daily! Links will be updated as I post.

Track 01 - You Have a Great Collection

Track 02 - Looks Like Rain

Track 03 - Pick a Memory

Track 04 - Pajamas & The Holiday Inn

Track 05 - It's Always Been About the Music

Track 06 - No Concern of Yours

Track 07 - Let's Hit The Road

Track 08 - I Don't Wanna Be Alone

Track 09 - Make Some Beautiful Music

Track 10 - Let's Make the Most of It

The Playlist

Another note: Though this story does include some sex, I would not consider this smutty at all, just in case that's what you're looking for. The sequel, however, will contain a lot so...lol...it's your call.

I do require that you be at least 18 to read my fics though.

MASTERLIST

[jadesimsyt]

my ENTIRE occult CC collection, part one (1/2)

please subscribe here in solidarity of the hours it took me to create this video and gather these links. plus, check out the video here!

holy jesus, this took long.

skin tones:

https://lamatisse.tumblr.com/post/685872705693728768/lore

https://octetsica.tumblr.com/post/729149311056773120/brand-new-occult-skin-tones-colorized-in-every

skin details:

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4/title/life-s-a-beach-siren-skin/id/1663024/

https://www.patreon.com/posts/halloween-set-72680995?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator

https://www.patreon.com/posts/halloween-set-72680995?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator

https://www.patreon.com/posts/simblreen-2020-2-43117579

https://www.patreon.com/posts/makeup-set-71489302

https://www.tumblr.com/ddarkstonee/189988213053/ddarkstonee-skin-n6-48-colors-teen

https://www.tumblr.com/ddarkstonee/633473745947951104/happy-halloween-skin-n1348-colors-teen

https://tekri.tumblr.com/post/179466077549/cyclops-this-has-been-a-long-long-long-time

https://www.patreon.com/posts/succubus-devil-73759581

https://www.patreon.com/posts/simblreen-2020-2-43117579

https://pyxiidis.tumblr.com/post/128420702911/ghost-skeleton-makeup-by-pyxis-hello-everyone-i

https://pyxiidis.tumblr.com/post/122701548141/devils-backbone-a-skin-by-pyxis-this-skin

https://obscurus-sims.tumblr.com/post/188717790078/skin-n14-44-swatches-20-colors-2-styles-with

tattoos:

https://pyxiidis.tumblr.com/post/166301660956/interstellar-alien-overlays-by-pyxis-a

https://redearcat.tumblr.com/post/630384225991966721/arms-scar1-maxis-match-base-game-new-mesh-teen

https://pyxiidis.blogspot.com/2018/02/intergalactic-supernatural-overlays.html

https://www.patreon.com/posts/simblreen-2019-30922912

https://pyxiidis.blogspot.com/2017/06/video-kid-android-overlay.html

https://www.simsfinds.com/downloads/292699/zombie-scars-tattoo-sims4

https://pyxiidis.blogspot.com/2017/04/devils-backbone-maxis-zombie-skin-2t4.html

https://pyxiidis.blogspot.com/2017/10/interstellar-butt-ton-of-alien-stuff.html

https://pyxiidis.blogspot.com/2017/10/interstellar-butt-ton-of-alien-stuff.html

https://ms-marysims.tumblr.com/post/187959139264/tattoos-set-witch-s-mark-hq-compatible

https://isaiahillustrates.tumblr.com/post/665141261764804608/wicked-fingertips

https://mmfinds.tumblr.com/post/179948697747/lunanelfeah-nebula-tattoo-sims-4

https://valhallansim.tumblr.com/post/145927887477/18-blackwork-chest-tattoos-as-the-second-part-of

https://public-ccfinds.tumblr.com/post/690508501911470080/c-cerberus-sims-s-craft-your-frankie-stein-with

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-female-tattoos/title/scale-tattoo-v1/id/1451691/

https://obscurus-sims.tumblr.com/post/188666511423/just-small-gift-for-you-guys-glowing

https://www.patreon.com/posts/halloween-set-72680995?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator

https://obscurus-sims.tumblr.com/post/626971034312114176/ddarkstonee-set-of-genetics-makeup

https://tekri.tumblr.com/post/185590149219/siren-ears-big-spiny-pierced-fish-ears-for

https://pyxiidis.tumblr.com/post/179538353771/dionysus-things-for-cloven-folk-by-pyxis-satyrs

https://maxismatchccworld.tumblr.com/post/187736701210/witchy-face-tattoos-i-made-this-because-that

https://northernsiberiawinds.tumblr.com/post/633512821567717376/witch-make-up-collection-face-painting-n2

https://www.patreon.com/posts/plague-face-eyes-59979319

https://obscurus-sims.tumblr.com/post/188666511423/just-small-gift-for-you-guys-glowing

https://www.patreon.com/posts/tattoos-set-s-30255671?epik=dj0yJnU9MFd1dlMwNEpqbDNnNjlqb2dSWUVQRExBQnB2dWhOYWomcD0wJm49M2hWMWRSYUlRdXdSZ0paZS1VQmhJdyZ0PUFBQUFBR1ZSYlBJ

ears:

https://evoxyr.tumblr.com/post/618677877246951424/galatic-earpresets

https://zaneida-and-sims4.tumblr.com/post/182431089413/ears-branches-skin-detail-download-sfs

https://divadoom.tumblr.com/post/648549234000429056/loopy-hearts-ears-bgc-available-for-all-ages

https://zaneida-and-sims4.tumblr.com/post/182431089413/ears-branches-skin-detail-download-sfs

teeth:

1,2.https://rotteneyed.wixsite.com/website/product-page/teeth-vampirica

3-7.https://sewersims.tumblr.com/post/186583477664/hay-whats-up-there-are-4-different-teeth-styles

8,9,11,15,20.https://yooniesim.tumblr.com/post/709550825947742208/baby-monster-mini-teeth-set-5-sets-of-teeth

10,12-14,16-19,21,22,24.https://maxismatchccworld.tumblr.com/post/185834653120/uxuie-teeth-downloads-bgc-new-meshes-all

23.https://pyxiidis.tumblr.com/post/123921851591/unnatural-selection-makeup-by-pyxis-today-i

presets:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/face-scars-eyes-45633899

https://www.patreon.com/posts/plague-face-eyes-59979319

eyes:

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-sets/title/life-s-a-beach-temptress-eyes/id/1662846/

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-sets/title/life-s-a-beach-temptress-eyes/id/1662846/

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-sets/title/life-s-a-beach-charmer-eyes/id/1662849/

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-sets/title/life-s-a-beach-charmer-eyes/id/1662849/

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-sets/title/life-s-a-beach-charmer-eyes/id/1662849/

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-sets/title/life-s-a-beach-charmer-eyes/id/1662849/

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-sets/title/life-s-a-beach-charmer-eyes/id/1662849/

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-sets/title/life-s-a-beach-charmer-eyes/id/1662849/

https://www.patreon.com/posts/halloween-set-72680995?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator

https://www.patreon.com/posts/halloween-set-72680995?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator

https://lady-moriel.tumblr.com/post/639936181865414656/android-and-cyber-eyes-2-different-eyes-textures

https://lady-moriel.tumblr.com/post/639936181865414656/android-and-cyber-eyes-2-different-eyes-textures

https://lady-moriel.tumblr.com/post/639936181865414656/android-and-cyber-eyes-2-different-eyes-textures

https://lady-moriel.tumblr.com/post/677460070785744896/maya-eyes

https://sims3melancholic.tumblr.com/post/633434566022021120/download-credits-obscurus-sims-info

https://sims3melancholic.tumblr.com/post/633434566022021120/download-credits-obscurus-sims-info

https://www.patreon.com/posts/57318370

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-makeup-male/title/life-s-a-beach-mermaid-eyes/id/1663485/

https://bunbunzsims1.tumblr.com/post/632847050301718528/%CF%9F-monster-eyes-%CF%9F-halloween-gift-face-paint

https://www.patreon.com/posts/happy-halloween-43353764

https://www.patreon.com/posts/set-of-genetics-40660935

https://www.patreon.com/posts/happy-halloween-43353764

https://www.patreon.com/posts/set-of-genetics-40660935

https://www.patreon.com/posts/40660935

https://www.patreon.com/posts/skin-highlight-32531241

https://www.patreon.com/posts/skin-highlight-32531241

https://pyxiidis.tumblr.com/post/176376842361/gossamer-fairy-stuff-by-pyxis-its-surprisingly

https://www.patreon.com/posts/simblreen-2020-2-43117579

no seriously, please subscribe.