#2018/12/04

[sugdensdingle]

[tea-earlgrey]

Spatort-Timeline

Aktualisierte Version (Stand: Juni 2025) 

Disclaimer: Das ist meine Interpretation der vorhandenen Informationen und ein Versuch, möglichst viel davon passend zu machen. Ich erhebe keinen Anspruch auf Richtigkeit und möchte nicht, dass damit jemand in der eigenen, kreativen Freiheit eingeschränkt wird. Zur Verwendung siehe unter Cut.

1990  - Adam und Leo werden geboren (Annahme basierend auf Jahrbuch aus HdW und dass Adam und Leo in der 11. Klasse etwa 16/17 waren; Stichtag Einschulung Saarland 30. Juni, Stand 2021) - Erster Nachweis von Aktivität Roland Schürks (Kontoauszüge aus April 1990) 

1994  - Fahndungsaufruf Joseph und Beatrice Radek vom 16. Mai 

2001  - Roland Schürk wird wegen unerlaubten Waffenbesitzes verurteilt  

2002  - Erste Raubüberfälle, zu denen Boris Barns geständig ist; (gemeinsam mit Roland Schürk) - Roland Schürk erhält 300.000 Euro in kleineren Summen aufs Konto

2003   - 14. Februar: Banküberfall mit Todesfolge aus der Raubserie Roland Schürk/Boris Barns - Boris Barns kommt im Frühling 2003 wegen Raubmord ins Gefängnis (Entlassung vermutlich 2023 bei Höchststrafe und wegen Weigerung auf Kooperation; mögliche Verlängerung wegen weiterer Vorfälle)  

Vermutlich zwischen 2003 und 2006   - Leo und Adam als Jugendfreunde (“Hab jahrelang dabei zugesehen…” aber Leo weiß nicht von Boris) 

2006   - Vermutlich April: Roland Schürk wird von Peter Lausch im Wald angegriffen und später von Leo in Nothilfe ins Koma geschlagen (siehe Post zur Ermittlung des Datums) - 04. Mai: in Frankreich wird die Leiche von E. Morel gefunden, ihr Oberschenkel fehlt   

Schuljahr 2006/07  - Peter Lausch wird Lehrer an Leos und Adams Schule; Leo und Adam kommen in die 11. Klasse   - Oktober - Dezember: Leo gewinnt Vorlesewettbewerb und fährt danach zum Bundesausscheid; Adam leitet die Fußball AG 

Schuljahr 2007/2008   - Adam verschwindet (im Jahrbuch 2006/2007 mehrfach aufgeführt, in der 11. den Philo-Kurs von Lausch besucht, “Und Sie sind dann irgendwann verschwunden”)

Schuljahr 2008/2009  - Abitur des Jahrgangs 1990/91, daher vermutlich mindestens Leo (vgl. Jahrbuch 2006/07 11. Klasse; G9 Modell im Saarland bis 2009)

2014  - 23. Januar: Mara Heinrich wird als vermisst gemeldet  

2018  - Cora Reuthers wird zum ersten Mal überfallen (muss nicht der erste Einbruch sein; Stimmiger hinsichtlich Therapie und Selbstverteidigungskurse) 

2020  - Vermutlich 4./11. Mai (Montagnacht): Eric Hofer wird ermordet  - Vermutlich 5./12. Mai (Dienstag): Adam beginnt neue Stelle in Saarbrücken  - Vermutlich 7./14. Mai: Roland Schürk wacht auf nach etwa 14 Jahren (Annahme: Rundung auf 15 Jahre, weil es besser klingt)   - 05.07.2020: Jessi Pohlmann wird ermordet  - 06.07.2020: Roland Schürk wird aus dem Krankenhaus entlassen und sitzt im Rollstuhl  - 09.07.2020: Leo erschießt Peter Lausch; Roland Schürk verletzt 

2021  - Ende 2021/Anfang 2022: Einbruch im Wohnhaus Schürk durch Modalls Bande; Roland wird verprügelt (Aussage von Heide Schürk, dass Roland nach seiner neuerlichen Verletzung während HdW wieder laufen kann) - Erster Einbruch bei Cora Reuthers (könnte unterschiedlich zu o.g. Überfall sein) 

2022:  - Anfang März: Roland Schürk kauft einen Regenbogenfrosch  - Ende März (Woche vom 21.-27.03.): Roland Schürk stirbt; Adam wird wegen Mordverdacht an seinem Vater verhaftet und trifft in Untersuchungshaft auf seinen Patenonkel Boris Barns  - Ende März: Adam birgt die 1,2 Millionen aus dem letzten Bankraub seines Vaters (Geldscheine sind allerdings falsch)

2023  - Frühling: Boris Barns wird aus der Haft entlassen (sofern seine Haftstrafe nicht verlängert wurde) - Ende Juli (vermutlich 22.07.): Andreas Schneider stirbt nach einem Ackermatch; Moritz Leimer überfällt Adam wegen der 1,2 Millionen aus dem letzten Banküberfall  - Ende Juli (vermutlich 25.07.): Roswitha Jäger stirbt bei beinahe-Unfall (Datum auf Leos Uhr falsch) auf (nicht) B17 

2025 - 09. Juni (Pfingstmontag): Überfall auf Geldtransporter am Willi-Graf-Ufer durch Carla Radek, Merlin Bravard und Moritz Leimer  - 11. Juni: Carla Radek stirbt bei Explosion in einem Bunker in Frankreich; Leo verletzt

Zur Verwendung:

Dieser erste Post enthält die grobe Timeline mit Informationen zu einzelnen Jahren und Eckpunkten, die relevant sein könnten. Rot markiert und kursiv sind Annahmen, die ich tätige, um die Timeline passend zu machen.

Informationen über Nebencharaktere sind kleiner, aber im Post teilweise inkludiert, da sie Einblicke in die Gesamt-Timeline geben oder für die Weiterverarbeitung hilfreich sein können.

Die Quellen sind diesmal in den Reblogs zu finden. Es gibt zu jedem Film einen eigenen Reblog; die Informationen befinden sich unter den Cuts, damit der Stapel nicht zu groß wird. Film-Reblogs enthalten jeweils eine Timeline des Films in violett.

Die Timeline ist absichtlich in Textform, um sie für Screenreader erfassbar zu machen.

Fragen zur Timeline beantworte ich jederzeit gerne.

[nattanoora]

12 NOVEMBER, 2015 ✦ TORSDAG, 13:20

13 MARS, 2018 ✧ MARDI, 09:00

10 MAGGIO, 2018 ✦ GIOVEDÌ, 14:40

16 MAI, 2018 ✧ MITTWOCH, 11:29

01 JUNE, 2018 ✦ THURSDAY, 3:34PM

25 OKTOBER, 2018 ✧ DONDERDAG, 12:34

27 OCTUBRE, 2018 ✦ SÁBADO, 21:17

16 NOVEMBER, 2018 ✧ VRIJDAG, 10:11

04 PROSINAC, 2024 ✦ SRIJEDA, 15:56

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Dirty words are politically potent

On OCTOBER 23 at 7PM, I'll be in DECATUR, presenting my novel THE BEZZLE at EAGLE EYE BOOKS.

Making up words is a perfectly cromulent passtime, and while most of the words we coin disappear as soon as they fall from our lips, every now and again, you find a word that fits so nice and kentucky in the public discourse that it acquires a life of its own:

http://meaningofliff.free.fr/definition.php3?word=Kentucky

I've been trying to increase the salience of digital human rights in the public imagination for a quarter of a century, starting with the campaign to get people to appreciate that the internet matters, and that tech policy isn't just the delusion that the governance of spaces where sad nerds argue about Star Trek is somehow relevant to human thriving:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/10/04/small-change-malcolm-gladwell

Now, eventually people figured out that a) the internet mattered and, b) it was going dreadfully wrong. So my job changed again, from "how the internet is governed matters" to "you can't fix the internet with wishful thinking," for example, when people said we could solve its problems by banning general purpose computers:

https://memex.craphound.com/2012/01/10/lockdown-the-coming-war-on-general-purpose-computing/

Or by banning working cryptography:

https://memex.craphound.com/2018/09/04/oh-for-fucks-sake-not-this-fucking-bullshit-again-cryptography-edition/

Or by redesigning web browsers to treat their owners as threats:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/09/open-letter-w3c-director-ceo-team-and-membership

Or by using bots to filter every public utterance to ensure that they don't infringe copyright:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/09/today-europe-lost-internet-now-we-fight-back

Or by forcing platforms to surveil and police their users' speech (aka "getting rid of Section 230"):

https://www.techdirt.com/2020/06/23/hello-youve-been-referred-here-because-youre-wrong-about-section-230-communications-decency-act/

Along the way, many of us have coined words in a bid to encapsulate the abstract, technical ideas at the core of these arguments. This isn't a vanity project! Creating a common vocabulary is a necessary precondition for having the substantive, vital debates we'll need to tackle the real, thorny issues raised by digital systems. So there's "free software," "open source," "filternet," "chat control," "back doors," and my own contributions, like "adversarial interoperability":

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/10/adversarial-interoperability

Or "Competitive Compatibility" ("comcom"), a less-intimidatingly technical term for the same thing:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/12/competitive-compatibility-year-review

These have all found their own niches, but nearly all of them are just that: niche. Some don't even rise to "niche": they're shibboleths, insider terms that confuse and intimidate normies and distract from the real fights with semantic ones, like whether it's "FOSS" or "FLOSS" or something else entirely:

https://opensource.stackexchange.com/questions/262/what-is-the-difference-between-foss-and-floss

But every now and again, you get a word that just kills. That brings me to "enshittification," a word I coined in 2022:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/28/enshittification/#relentless-payola

"Enshittification" took root in my hindbrain, rolling around and around, agglomerating lots of different thoughts and critiques I'd been making for years, crystallizing them into a coherent thesis:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys

This kind of spontaneous crystallization is the dividend of doing lots of work in public, trying to take every half-formed thought and pin it down in public writing, something I've been doing for decades:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/09/the-memex-method/

After those first couple articles, "enshittification" raced around the internet. There's two reasons for this: first, "enshittification" is a naughty word that's fun to say. Journalists love getting to put "shit" in their copy:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/15/crosswords/linguistics-word-of-the-year.html

Radio journalists love to tweak the FCC with cheekily bleeped syllables in slightly dirty compound words:

https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/projects/enshitification

And nothing enlivens an academic's day like getting to use a word like "enshittification" in a journal article (doubtless this also amuses the editors, peer-reviewers, copyeditors, typesetters, etc):

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=enshittification&btnG=&oq=ensh

That was where I started, too! The first time I used "enshittification" was in a throwaway bad-tempered rant about the decay of Tripadvisor into utter uselessness, which drew a small chorus of appreciative chuckles about the word:

https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1550457808222552065

The word rattled around my mind for five months before attaching itself to my detailed theory of platform decay. But it was that detailed critique, coupled with a minor license to swear, that gave "enshittification" a life of its own. How do I know that the theory was as important as the swearing? Because the small wave of amusement that followed my first use of "enshittification" petered out in less than a day. It was only when I added the theory that the word took hold.

Likewise: how do I know that the theory needed to be blended with swearing to break out of the esoteric realm of tech policy debates (which the public had roundly ignored for more than two decades)? Well, because I spent two decades writing about this stuff without making anything like the dents that appeared once I added an Anglo-Saxon monosyllable to that critique.

Adding "enshittification" to the critique got me more column inches, a longer hearing, a more vibrant debate, than anything else I'd tried. First, Wired availed itself of the Creative Commons license on my second long-form article on the subject and reprinted it as a 4,200-word feature. I've been writing for Wired for more than thirty years and this is by far the longest thing I've published with them – a big, roomy, discursive piece that was run verbatim, with every one of my cherished darlings unmurdered.

That gave the word – and the whole critique, with all its spiky corners – a global airing, leading to more pickup and discussion. Eventually, the American Dialect Society named it their "Word of the Year" (and their "Tech Word of the Year"):

https://americandialect.org/2023-word-of-the-year-is-enshittification/

"Enshittification" turns out to be catnip for language nerds:

https://becauselanguage.com/90-enpoopification/#transcript-60

I've been dragged into (good natured) fights over the German, Spanish, French and Italian translations for the term. When I taped an NPR show before a live audience with ASL interpretation, I got to watch a Deaf fan politely inform the interpreter that she didn't need to finger-spell "enshittification," because it had already been given an ASL sign by the US Deaf community:

https://maximumfun.org/episodes/go-fact-yourself/ep-158-aida-rodriguez-cory-doctorow/

I gave a speech about enshittification in Berlin and published the transcript:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/30/go-nuts-meine-kerle/#ich-bin-ein-bratapfel

Which prompted the rock-ribbed Financial Times to get in touch with me and publish the speech – again, nearly verbatim – as a whopping 6,400 word feature in their weekend magazine:

https://www.ft.com/content/6fb1602d-a08b-4a8c-bac0-047b7d64aba5

Though they could have had it for free (just as Wired had), they insisted on paying me (very well, as it happens!), as did De Zeit:

https://www.zeit.de/digital/internet/2024-03/plattformen-facebook-google-internet-cory-doctorow

This was the start of the rise of enshittification. The word is spreading farther than ever, in ways that I have nothing to do with, along with the critique I hung on it. In other words, the bit of string that tech policy wonks have been pushing on for a quarter of a century is actually starting to move, and it's actually accelerating.

Despite this (or more likely because of it), there's a growing chorus of "concerned" people who say they like the critique but fret that it is being held back because you can't use it "at church or when talking to K-12 students" (my favorite variant: "I couldn't say this at a NATO conference"). I leave it up to you whether you use the word with your K-12 students, NATO generals, or fellow parishoners (though I assure you that all three groups are conversant with the dirty little word at the root of my coinage). If you don't want to use "enshittification," you can coin your own word – or just use one of the dozens of words that failed to gain public attention over the past 25 years (might I suggest "platform decay?").

What's so funny about all this pearl-clutching is that it comes from people who universally profess to have the intestinal fortitude to hear the word "enshittification" without experiencing psychological trauma, but worry that other people might not be so strong-minded. They continue to say this even as the most conservative officials in the most staid of exalted forums use the word without a hint of embarrassment, much less apology:

https://www.independent.ie/business/technology/chairman-of-irish-social-media-regulator-says-europe-should-not-be-seduced-by-mario-draghis-claims/a526530600.html

I mean, I'm giving a speech on enshittification next month at a conference where I'm opening for the Secretary General of the United Nations:

https://icanewdelhi2024.coop/welcome/pages/Programme

After spending half my life trying to get stuff like this into the discourse, I've developed some hard-won, informed views on how ideas succeed:

First: the minor obscenity is a feature, not a bug. The marriage of something long and serious to something short and funny is a happy one that makes both the word and the ideas better off than they'd be on their own. As Lenny Bruce wrote in his canonical work in the subject, the aptly named How to Talk Dirty and Influence People:

I want to help you if you have a dirty-word problem. There are none, and I'll spell it out logically to you.

Here is a toilet. Specifically-that's all we're concerned with, specifics-if I can tell you a dirty toilet joke, we must have a dirty toilet. That's what we're all talking about, a toilet. If we take this toilet and boil it and it's clean, I can never tell you specifically a dirty toilet joke about this toilet. I can tell you a dirty toilet joke in the Milner Hotel, or something like that, but this toilet is a clean toilet now. Obscenity is a human manifestation. This toilet has no central nervous system, no level of consciousness. It is not aware; it is a dumb toilet; it cannot be obscene; it's impossible. If it could be obscene, it could be cranky, it could be a Communist toilet, a traitorous toilet. It can do none of these things. This is a dirty toilet here.

Nobody can offend you by telling a dirty toilet story. They can offend you because it's trite; you've heard it many, many times.

https://www.dacapopress.com/titles/lenny-bruce/how-to-talk-dirty-and-influence-people/9780306825309/

Second: the fact that a neologism is sometimes decoupled from its theoretical underpinnings and is used colloquially is a feature, not a bug. Many people apply the term "enshittification" very loosely indeed, to mean "something that is bad," without bothering to learn – or apply – the theoretical framework. This is good. This is what it means for a term to enter the lexicon: it takes on a life of its own. If 10,000,000 people use "enshittification" loosely and inspire 10% of their number to look up the longer, more theoretical work I've done on it, that is one million normies who have been sucked into a discourse that used to live exclusively in the world of the most wonkish and obscure practitioners. The only way to maintain a precise, theoretically grounded use of a term is to confine its usage to a small group of largely irrelevant insiders. Policing the use of "enshittification" is worse than a self-limiting move – it would be a self-inflicted wound. As I said in that Berlin speech:

Enshittification names the problem and proposes a solution. It's not just a way to say 'things are getting worse' (though of course, it's fine with me if you want to use it that way. It's an English word. We don't have der Rat für englische Rechtschreibung. English is a free for all. Go nuts, meine Kerle).

Finally: "coinage" is both more – and less – than thinking of the word. After the American Dialect Society gave honors to "enshittification," a few people slid into my mentions with citations to "enshittification" that preceded my usage. I find this completely unsurprising, because English is such a slippery and playful tongue, because English speakers love to swear, and because infixing is such a fun way to swear (e.g. "unfuckingbelievable"). But of course, I hadn't encountered any of those other usages before I came up with the word independently, nor had any of those other usages spread appreciably beyond the speaker (it appears that each of the handful of predecessors to my usage represents an act of independent coinage).

If "coinage" was just a matter of thinking up the word, you could write a small python script that infixed the word "shit" into every syllable of every word in the OED, publish the resulting text file, and declare priority over all subsequent inventive swearers.

On the one hand, coinage takes place when the coiner a) independently invents a word; and b) creates the context for that word that causes it to escape from the coiner's immediate milieu and into the wider world.

But on the other hand – and far more importantly – the fact that a successful coinage requires popular uptake by people unknown to the coiner means that the coiner only ever plays a small role in the coinage. Yes, there would be no popularization without the coinage – but there would also be no coinage without the popularization. Words belong to groups of speakers, not individuals. Language is a cultural phenomenon, not an individual one.

Which is rather the point, isn't it? After a quarter of a century of being part of a community that fought tirelessly to get a serious and widespread consideration of tech policy underway, we're closer than ever, thanks, in part, to "enshittification." If someone else independently used that word before me, if some people use the word loosely, if the word makes some people uncomfortable, that's fine, provided that the word is doing what I want it to do, what I've devoted my life to doing.

The point of coining words isn't the pilkunnussija's obsession with precise usage, nor the petty glory of being known as a coiner, nor ensuring that NATO generals' virgin ears are protected from the word "shit" – a word that, incidentally, is also the root of "science":

https://www.arrantpedantry.com/2019/01/24/science-and-shit/

Isn't language fun?

Tor Books as just published two new, free LITTLE BROTHER stories: VIGILANT, about creepy surveillance in distance education; and SPILL, about oil pipelines and indigenous landback.

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/2024/10/14/pearl-clutching/#this-toilet-has-no-central-nervous-system

[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

[incubusparadox]

DIR EN GREY in Taiwan: a hellish journey as beautiful as a nightmare, as real as a letter written in blood

After nine years, DIR EN GREY finally returned to Taiwan. Following the conclusion of their U.S. tour, they kicked off their Asian leg on May 10 at Zepp New Taipei. This stop of the “TOUR25 WHO IS THIS HELL FOR?” was titled mode of VULGAR, and while it was centered on the 2003 album VULGAR, the setlist served as a condensed retrospective of over 20 years of career: a deep exploration of their musical roots and a frenetic ritual that stared straight into the abyss of human nature. With “pain” as its core, DIR EN GREY remains a symbol of both visual kei and extreme metal—dark and beautiful, violent yet filled with hope.

Crossing boundaries of nationality, gender, or age was no obstacle: fans gathered to experience this intense performance, where pain and hope intertwined like a scream etched into the bones.

The five members of DIR EN GREY emerged amid passionate screams. The night opened with “人間を被る” (2018), a sonic explosion that marked the entry into their spiritual realm. It was followed by “The Devil In Me,” a new song accompanied by its music video—a dialogue with deceased criminals and inner demons.

Next came the iconic “DRAIN AWAY,” unleashing a frenzy among fans, who sang through tears and laughter. In “13” (from the album PHALARIS, 2022), Shinya’s drums sounded like a beast on the march, while 京 (Kyō) writhed on stage like a cursed flame—clearly evoking the brazen bull on the album cover.

The emotional descent deepened with “禍夜想” and “The Perfume of Sins,” where 京 (Kyō)’s piercing high notes and the floral projections created a dreamlike and distressing atmosphere. The ballad “朧” played under red lights and visions of a bloody childbirth, detaching the audience from reality.

Without pauses or MCs, they attacked with “VINUSHKA” (UROBOROS, 2008), a harrowing epic that condemns war, even projecting images of atomic bombings. Yet, brief glimpses of the band members added visual flair: 薫 (Kaoru)’s avant-garde hairstyle, Die’s flowing hair, Toshiya’s charisma, and Shinya’s elegance.

The heart of the show brought the essential “かすみ” (from VULGAR), with 京 (Kyō) improvising over the melody. The red mic cable looked like a living vein transmitting his voice straight to the audience’s soul. It was followed by “audience KILLER LOOP” and “OBSCURE,” experimental pieces far ahead of their time. With this album, 京 (Kyō) abandoned the title of “vocalist” and proclaimed himself a “prophet,” breaking away from traditional rock roles.

The final songs before the encore were “落ちた事のある空” and “Eddie” (PHALARIS), performed at hellish speed. The crowd screamed, pumped their fists, and released years of emotion. 京 (Kyō) threw down the microphone and left the stage.

For the encore, 京 (Kyō) appeared without makeup to perform “CHILD PREY,” featuring a new electronic intro and visuals that retained its original futuristic essence. Everyone sang with raised fists, unleashing long-restrained feelings. Then came “THE IIID EMPIRE” (VULGAR), an explosive political critique that fused rage and sorrow.

With “鱗,” 京 (Kyō) used his operatic tenor voice to embody the twisted mind of the oppressor. To close, he shouted, “Taipei! The last song!” before unleashing the brutal “詩踏み” (2016): riffs like saw blades, vocals like gunfire. Even as the screen marked the end, the crowd kept screaming, hoping for a second encore. As they exited, a piano instrumental version of “アクロの丘” played—like a final caress for the soul.

DIR EN GREY TOUR25 WHO IS THIS HELL FOR?」 LIVE IN TAIPEI 「mode of VULGAR」

2025.5.10 Zepp New Taipei

【SETLIST】

01. 人間を被る

02. The Devil In Me

03. DRAIN AWAY

04. 13

05. 禍夜想

06. The Perfume of Sins

07. 朧

08. VINUSHKA

09 かすみ

10. audience KILLER LOOP

11. OBSCURE

12. 落ちた事のある空

13. Eddie

-SE- G.D.S.

14. CHILD PREY

15. THE IIID EMPIRE

16. 鱗

17. 詩踏み

Photos and report by Rakuzine

Translation by @incubusparadox

[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

[sugdensdingle]

Baby Robert (1986) & Baby Seb (2018)

[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!!!!

[nattanoora]

18 MARS, 2016 𓏲 FREDAG, 21:22

27 AVRIL, 2018 𓏲 VENDREDI, 23:36

11 JANUAR, 2019 𓏲 FREITAG, 19:30

APRIL 5TH, 2019 𓏲 FRIDAY, 8:58PM

04 MEI, 2019 𓏲 ZATERDAG, 01:12

NOORHELMS + THE NATTA, WILHELM/NATTA, NOORA PARALLELS

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The antitrust case against Apple

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me TONIGHT (Mar 22) in TORONTO, then SUNDAY (Mar 24) with LAURA POITRAS in NYC, then Anaheim, and beyond!

The foundational tenet of "the Cult of Mac" is that buying products from a $3t company makes you a member of an oppressed ethnic minority and therefore every criticism of that corporation is an ethnic slur:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/12/youre-holding-it-wrong/#if-dishwashers-were-iphones

Call it "Apple exceptionalism" – the idea that Apple, alone among the Big Tech firms, is virtuous, and therefore its conduct should be interpreted through that lens of virtue. The wellspring of this virtue is conveniently nebulous, which allows for endless goal-post shifting by members of the Cult of Mac when Apple's sins are made manifest.

Take the claim that Apple is "privacy respecting," which is attributed to Apple's business model of financing its services though cash transactions, rather than by selling it customers to advertisers. This is the (widely misunderstood) crux of the "surveillance capitalism" hypothesis: that capitalism is just fine, but once surveillance is in the mix, capitalism fails.

Apple, then, is said to be a virtuous company because its behavior is disciplined by market forces, unlike its spying rivals, whose ability to "hack our dopamine loops" immobilizes the market's invisible hand with "behavior-shaping" shackles:

http://pluralistic.net/HowToDestroySurveillanceCapitalism

Apple makes a big deal out of its privacy-respecting ethos, and not without some justification. After all, Apple went to the mattresses to fight the FBI when they tried to force Apple to introduced defects into its encryption systems:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/04/fbi-could-have-gotten-san-bernardino-shooters-iphone-leadership-didnt-say

And Apple gave Ios users the power to opt out of Facebook spying with a single click; 96% of its customers took them up on this offer, costing Facebook $10b (one fifth of the pricetag of the metaverse boondoggle!) in a single year (you love to see it):

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/facebook-makes-the-case-for-activity-tracking-to-ios-14-users-in-new-pop-ups/

Bruce Schneier has a name for this practice: "feudal security." That's when you cede control over your device to a Big Tech warlord whose "walled garden" becomes a fortress that defends you against external threats:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/08/leona-helmsley-was-a-pioneer/#manorialism

The keyword here is external threats. When Apple itself threatens your privacy, the fortress becomes a prison. The fact that you can't install unapproved apps on your Ios device means that when Apple decides to harm you, you have nowhere to turn. The first Apple customers to discover this were in China. When the Chinese government ordered Apple to remove all working privacy tools from its App Store, the company obliged, rather than risk losing access to its ultra-cheap manufacturing base (Tim Cook's signal accomplishment, the one that vaulted him into the CEO's seat, was figuring out how to offshore Apple manufacturing to China) and hundreds of millions of middle-class consumers:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-apple-vpn/apple-says-it-is-removing-vpn-services-from-china-app-store-idUSKBN1AE0BQ

Killing VPNs and other privacy tools was just for openers. After Apple caved to Beijing, the demands kept coming. Next, Apple willingly backdoored all its Chinese cloud services, so that the Chinese state could plunder its customers' data at will:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/technology/apple-china-censorship-data.html

This was the completely foreseeable consequence of Apple's "curated computing" model: once the company arrogated to itself the power to decide which software you could run on your own computer, it was inevitable that powerful actors – like the Chinese Communist Party – would lean on Apple to exercise that power in service to its goals.

Unsurprisingly, the Chinese state's appetite for deputizing Apple to help with its spying and oppression was not sated by backdooring iCloud and kicking VPNs out of the App Store. As recently as 2022, Apple continued to neuter its tools at the behest of the Chinese state, breaking Airdrop to make it useless for organizing protests in China:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/11/foreseeable-consequences/#airdropped

But the threat of Apple turning on its customers isn't limited to China. While the company has been unwilling to spy on its users on behalf of the US government, it's proven more than willing to compromise its worldwide users' privacy to pad its own profits. Remember when Apple let its users opt out of Facebook surveillance with one click? At the very same time, Apple was spinning up its own commercial surveillance program, spying on Ios customers, gathering the very same data as Facebook, and for the very same purpose: to target ads. When it came to its own surveillance, Apple completely ignored its customers' explicit refusal to consent to spying, spied on them anyway, and lied about it:

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

Here's the thing: even if you believe that Apple has a "corporate personality" that makes it want to do the right thing, that desire to be virtuous is dependent on the constraints Apple faces. The fact that Apple has complete legal and technical control over the hardware it sells – the power to decide who can make software that runs on that hardware, the power to decide who can fix that hardware, the power to decide who can sell parts for that hardware – represents an irresistible temptation to enshittify Apple products.

"Constraints" are the crux of the enshittification hypothesis. The contagion that spread enshittification to every corner of our technological world isn't a newfound sadism or indifference among tech bosses. Those bosses are the same people they've always been – the difference is that today, they are unconstrained.

Having bought, merged or formed a cartel with all their rivals, they don't fear competition (Apple buys 90+ companies per year, and Google pays it an annual $26.3b bribe for default search on its operating systems and programs).

Having captured their regulators, they don't fear fines or other penalties for cheating their customers, workers or suppliers (Apple led the coalition that defeated dozens of Right to Repair bills, year after year, in the late 2010s).

Having wrapped themselves in IP law, they don't fear rivals who make alternative clients, mods, privacy tools or other "adversarial interoperability" tools that disenshittify their products (Apple uses the DMCA, trademark, and other exotic rules to block third-party software, repair, and clients).

True virtue rests not merely in resisting temptation to be wicked, but in recognizing your own weakness and avoiding temptation. As I wrote when Apple embarked on its "curated computing" path, the company would eventually – inevitably – use its power to veto its customers' choices to harm those customers:

https://memex.craphound.com/2010/04/01/why-i-wont-buy-an-ipad-and-think-you-shouldnt-either/

Which is where we're at today. Apple – uniquely among electronics companies – shreds every device that is traded in by its customers, to block third parties from harvesting working components and using them for independent repair:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/yp73jw/apple-recycling-iphones-macbooks

Apple engraves microscopic Apple logos on those parts and uses these as the basis for trademark complaints to US customs, to block the re-importation of parts that escape its shredders:

https://repair.eu/news/apple-uses-trademark-law-to-strengthen-its-monopoly-on-repair/

Apple entered into an illegal price-fixing conspiracy with Amazon to prevent used and refurbished devices from being sold in the "world's biggest marketplace":

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/10/you-had-one-job/#thats-just-the-as

Why is Apple so opposed to independent repair? Well, they say it's to keep users safe from unscrupulous or incompetent repair technicians (feudal security). But when Tim Cook speaks to his investors, he tells a different story, warning them that the company's profits are threatened by customers who choose to repair (rather than replace) their slippery, fragile glass $1,000 pocket computers (the fortress becomes a prison):

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/01/letter-from-tim-cook-to-apple-investors/

All this adds up to a growing mountain of immortal e-waste, festooned with miniature Apple logos, that our descendants will be dealing with for the next 1,000 years. In the face of this unspeakable crime, Apple engaged in a string of dishonest maneuvers, claiming that it would support independent repair. In 2022, Apple announced a home repair program that turned out to be a laughably absurd con:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/22/apples-cement-overshoes/

Then in 2023, Apple announced a fresh "pro-repair" initiative that, once again, actually blocked repair:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/22/vin-locking/#thought-differently

Let's pause here a moment and remember that Apple once stood for independent repair, and celebrated the independent repair technicians that kept its customers' beloved Macs running:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/29/norwegian-potato-flour-enchiladas/#r2r

Whatever virtue lurks in Apple's corporate personhood, it is no match for the temptation that comes from running a locked-down platform designed to capture IP rights so that it can prevent normal competitive activities, like fixing phones, processing payments, or offering apps.

When Apple rolled out the App Store, Steve Jobs promised that it would save journalism and other forms of "content creation" by finally giving users a way to pay rightsholders. A decade later, that promise has been shattered by the app tax – a 30% rake on every in-app transaction that can't be avoided because Apple will kick your app out of the App Store if you even mention that your customers can pay you via the web in order to avoid giving a third of their content dollars to a hardware manufacturer that contributed nothing to the production of that material:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/06/save-news-we-must-open-app-stores

Among the apps that Apple also refuses to allow on Ios is third-party browsers. Every Iphone browser is just a reskinned version of Apple's Safari, running on the same antiquated, insecure Webkit browser engine. The fact that Webkit is incomplete and outdated is a feature, not a bug, because it lets Apple block web apps – apps delivered via browsers, rather than app stores:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/13/kitbashed/#app-store-tax

Last month, the EU took aim at Apple's veto over its users' and software vendors' ability to transact with one another. The newly in-effect Digital Markets Act requires Apple to open up both third-party payment processing and third-party app stores. Apple's response to this is the very definition of malicious compliance, a snake's nest of junk-fees, onerous terms of service, and petty punitive measures that all add up to a great, big "Go fuck yourself":

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/06/spoil-the-bunch/#dma

But Apple's bullying, privacy invasion, price-gouging and environmental crimes are global, and the EU isn't the only government seeking to end them. They're in the firing line in Japan:

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Japan-to-crack-down-on-Apple-and-Google-app-store-monopolies

And in the UK:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-wins-appeal-in-apple-case

And now, famously, the US Department of Justice is coming for Apple, with a bold antitrust complaint that strikes at the heart of Apple exceptionalism, the idea that monopoly is safer for users than technological self-determination:

https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1344546/dl?inline

There's passages in the complaint that read like I wrote them:

Apple wraps itself in a cloak of privacy, security, and consumer preferences to justify its anticompetitive conduct. Indeed, it spends billions on marketing and branding to promote the self-serving premise that only Apple can safeguard consumers’ privacy and security interests. Apple selectively compromises privacy and security interests when doing so is in Apple’s own financial interest—such as degrading the security of text messages, offering governments and certain companies the chance to access more private and secure versions of app stores, or accepting billions of dollars each year for choosing Google as its default search engine when more private options are available. In the end, Apple deploys privacy and security justifications as an elastic shield that can stretch or contract to serve Apple’s financial and business interests.

After all, Apple punishes its customers for communicating with Android users by forcing them to do so without any encryption. When Beeper Mini rolled out an Imessage-compatible Android app that fixed this, giving Iphone owners the privacy Apple says they deserve but denies to them, Apple destroyed Beeper Mini:

https://blog.beeper.com/p/beeper-moving-forward

Tim Cook is on record about this: if you want to securely communicate with an Android user, you must "buy them an Iphone":

https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/7/23342243/tim-cook-apple-rcs-imessage-android-iphone-compatibility

If your friend, family member or customer declines to change mobile operating systems, Tim Cook insists that you must communicate without any privacy or security.

Even where Apple tries for security, it sometimes fails ("security is a process, not a product" -B. Schneier). To be secure in a benevolent dictatorship, it must also be an infallible dictatorship. Apple's far from infallible: Eight generations of Iphones have unpatchable hardware defects:

https://checkm8.info/

And Apple's latest custom chips have secret-leaking, unpatchable vulnerabilities:

https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/03/hackers-can-extract-secret-encryption-keys-from-apples-mac-chips/

Apple's far from infallible – but they're also far from benevolent. Despite Apple's claims, its hardware, operating system and apps are riddled with deliberate privacy defects, introduce to protect Apple's shareholders at the expense of its customers:

https://proton.me/blog/iphone-privacy

Now, antitrust suits are notoriously hard to make, especially after 40 years of bad-precedent-setting, monopoly-friendly antitrust malpractice. Much of the time, these suits fail because they can't prove that tech bosses intentionally built their monopolies. However, tech is a written culture, one that leaves abundant, indelible records of corporate deliberations. What's more, tech bosses are notoriously prone to bragging about their nefarious intentions, committing them to writing:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/03/big-tech-cant-stop-telling-on-itself/

Apple is no exception – there's an abundance of written records that establish that Apple deliberately, illegally set out to create and maintain a monopoly:

https://www.wired.com/story/4-internal-apple-emails-helped-doj-build-antitrust-case/

Apple claims that its monopoly is beneficent, used to protect its users, making its products more "elegant" and safe. But when Apple's interests conflict with its customers' safety and privacy – and pocketbooks – Apple always puts itself first, just like every other corporation. In other words: Apple is unexceptional.

The Cult of Mac denies this. They say that no one wants to use a third-party app store, no one wants third-party payments, no one wants third-party repair. This is obviously wrong and trivially disproved: if no Apple customer wanted these things, Apple wouldn't have to go to enormous lengths to prevent them. The only phones that an independent Iphone repair shop fixes are Iphones: which means Iphone owners want independent repair.

The rejoinder from the Cult of Mac is that those Iphone owners shouldn't own Iphones: if they wanted to exercise property rights over their phones, they shouldn't have bought a phone from Apple. This is the "No True Scotsman" fallacy for distraction-rectangles, and moreover, it's impossible to square with Tim Cook's insistence that if you want private communications, you must buy an Iphone.

Apple is unexceptional. It's just another Big Tech monopolist. Rounded corners don't preserve virtue any better than square ones. Any company that is freed from constraints – of competition, regulation and interoperability – will always enshittify. Apple – being unexceptional – is no exception.

Name your price for 18 of my DRM-free ebooks and support the Electronic Frontier Foundation with the Humble Cory Doctorow Bundle.

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/2024/03/22/reality-distortion-field/#three-trillion-here-three-trillion-there-pretty-soon-youre-talking-real-money

[almostyours]

click  to  help  palestine.    support  gaza  municipality  funds. ib:   @hearthr0b,   @stcpidcupid,   @chcrryade 08/04/25.  can’t update the audio but changes have been made.

*     ÆNGELS  OF  THE  SEASON  PROJECT. released  2018,   first  single  album.

“   [...]   and their debut single album, regarded as the ængels of the season, was so outstanding it secured them a place in the k-pop industry. their numerous achievements, and victories, along with their once-in-a-lifetime performances and limited edition merchandise that fetch high prices at auctions, and the rich lore behind every piece of media they release, were enough to spark curiosity and love from a loyal fanbase that soon were named angels.   [...]   their music on their first single album is, to this day, regarded as one of the best debuts in the industry.   ”   —   BILLBOARD   “angel  talk,  meet  hiræth”,   2020

title  track:   NEW WORLD

era’s  wins:   12

promotions:   five  weeks

promoted  b-side:   WHO  AM  I?

*     YOURS  TRULY. released  2019,   first  mini  album.

“    with the acclaimed track MAGO, hiræth was met with widespread praise from both fans and critics alike. the music video quickly amassed millions of views on youtube, solidifying their stay at the top of the charts and their status as one of the leading girl groups in k-pop. this success was paralleled by hiræth, who became the first artist to receive both rookie of the year and song of the year awards across three major award shows in the same year.

the MAGO music video is a visual spectacle that captivates from start to finish. the song itself is a catchy, empowering anthem that resonates with listeners. it's a must-watch for fans of the group and anyone looking to experience a bit of retro magic.   ”   —   FORBES   “hiræth’s  reintroduction:   angels,  disco,  and  the  two  sides  of  the  moon”,   2020

title  track:   MAGO

era’s  wins:   11

promotions:   six  weeks

promoted  b-side:   BUTTERFLIES

*     HASHEM. released  2020,   second  mini  album.

“    [...]   in conclusion, our angel’s PEEK-A-BOO is a masterful blend of spooky and fun, a campy horror experience that leaves a lasting impression. the music video showcases the group's versatility and creativity, proving that they’re not afraid to take risks and try something new. PEEK-A-BOO is more than just a song; it’s a cultural phenomenon that continues to entertain and intrigue fans around the world. whether you're in it for the scares or the fun, one thing is certain: PEEK-A-BOO is one, if not the most memorable release from this year.   ”   —   IDOLCHATTER.COM   “the  best  k-pop  releases  in  2020:  ‘where’s  x?’  not  here!”,   2020

title  track:   PEEK-A-BOO

era’s  wins:   8

promotions:   four  weeks

promoted  b-side:   SASSY  ME

*     DO  •  RE  •  MI  •  Æ   / ド • レ • ミ • Æ. released  2021,   first  japanese  full  album.

“    [...]   DO • RE • MI • Æ has solidified hiræth's place in the japanese music scene, demonstrating their versatility and appeal across different cultures with the tracks AITAI  ☆  TAI and UNDERGROUND. the album's innovative approach and commercial triumph have set a high bar for future debuts, making it a landmark release in both hiræth's career and the broader k-pop industry.  ”   —   ORICON  NEWS   “hiraeth’s  japan  sucess  report”,   2021

title  track:   AITAI  ☆  TAI

era’s  wins:   n/a

promotions:   one  month

promoted  b-side:   UNDERGROUND

*     ANGELS  ☆  GENERATION. released  2021,   third  mini  album.

“    RUSSIAN ROULETTE has etched itself into k-pop history as one of the group's best-selling songs and a timeless hit in the genre. released this year, the track quickly climbed the charts, captivating fans with its infectious melody and catchy chorus. however, it's the song's music video that truly sets it apart and has kept fans talking for years.   [...]    the unsettling yet fascinating concept, combined with hiræth’s undeniable charm and performance skills, has made RUSSIAN ROULETTE a standout hit. the song's success is reflected in its impressive sales, their many accolades through the year, and its enduring popularity on streaming platforms.  ”   —   BILLBOARD   “k-pop’s  global  impact:  6  of  the  20  best  selling  albums  in  2021  are  from  south  korea”,   2021

“    angels generation was such a good era and everything i wanted for the girls!!!!!! it’s such a shame it had to end bc of yvan’s rumors :/   ”   —   twitter  user  @ angelthoughts,   2022

title  track:   RUSSIAN  ROULETTE

era’s  wins:   16

promotions:   five  weeks

promoted  b-side:   THE  WAY

*     LUCKY  GIRL  SYNDROME. released  2022,   fourth  mini  album.

“    [...]   the angel’s latest title track, LION HEART has certainly made waves since its release. the music video, shot in a single, mesmerizing take, has been widely praised for its creativity and seamless execution. fans and critics alike have applauded the visual masterpiece, which showcases the group's stunning choreography and vibrant energy.  [...]   the new track's sound bears a striking resemblance to their previous hits, leading to a sense of déjà vu among a segment of their fanbase. this similarity has left some wondering if the group is playing it safe rather than pushing the envelope with their music.

interestingly, LION HEART is the first of hiræth title tracks not to chart as impressively as its predecessors. despite its high production values and the visual success of the music video, the song's performance on the charts has been somewhat muted compared to the group's past releases.  [...]   as hiræth continues to innovate and evolve, LION HEART stands as both a testament to their artistic consistency and a reminder that not every release will hit the same high notes. fans remain hopeful that the next chapter will bring fresh surprises and further establish the angel’s dynamic presence in the music world.”   —   SOOMPI.COM   “oh,  my  lion  heart!   everything  about  hiraeth’s  newest  release”,   2022

“    [...]    i wonder if yvan’s scandal was a reason why   [LUCKY  GIRL  SYNDROME era]   did... kinda bad?   the rumors were proved false but it still makes me wonder.   ”   —   youtube  account  @ COMMUNITYBESTIE,   2022

title  track:   LION HEART

era’s  wins:   5

promotions:   three  weeks

promoted  b-sides:   BETTER  KNOW,   TALK  TO  ME

*     ARMAGEDDON. released  2022,   fifth  mini  album.

“   hiræth has made a dramatic return with their latest track PRETTY PRETTY and it's clear they’re not holding back. emerging almost out of nowhere, the song is a bold declaration of confidence and resilience, serving as a fiery rebuttal to the criticism and rumors that have surrounded the group in recent months. the release comes on the heels of a turbulent period for the angels. the group faced a storm of negativity, fueled by speculation about their personal lives, including relationship statuses and rumors about their behavior. additionally, there were concerns that they were losing their distinctive sound, which led to whispers of discontent among fans and critics alike.   

PRETTY PRETTY appears to be the group's unapologetic response to this backlash. the song’s narcissistic and fiercely defiant tone is like a proverbial middle finger to those who have scrutinized and criticized them. 

the reaction to PRETTY PRETTY has been mixed. while some fans appreciate the raw, confrontational approach as a powerful statement, others are taken aback by this sudden departure from the group's refined persona. despite the divided opinions, there's no denying the track's impact. it has achieved notable success and received accolades, proving its popularity not only in south korea but also catching the attention of the western market.

PRETTY PRETTY has marked a significant moment in hiræth’s career, showcasing their ability to reinvent themselves and make a statement regardless of external pressures. as the track continues to climb the charts and earn recognition, it’s clear that hiræth remains a force to be reckoned with, no matter the controversy that surrounds them.   ”   —   VARIETY   “pretty pretty savage:   hiræth’s  defiant  comeback  amidst  controversies”,   2022

title  track:   PRETTY  PRETTY

era’s  wins:   12

promotions:   five  weeks

promoted  b-sides:   MALA,   FAKE  SMILE  

*     M◐◑N  THESIS. released  2023,   fifth  mini  album.

“   [...]   her group’s release of PSYCHO was nothing short of a sensation. the track and its accompanying album quickly made waves, racking up impressive views, accolades, and chart positions. fans were elated as the group seemed to return to their signature sound and persona, with the album feeling like a heartfelt love letter to their supporters and loved ones.   [...]   despite the celebratory mood, the era was marred by unfortunate incidents. the face of the cover, poppy, had to leave a festival show with a broken wrist and a dislocated shoulder. another member, the main vocalist yvan, also suffered an injury when an accidental hit during a performance caused a bleeding nose and a halted stage.

[...]   overall, PSYCHO was one of the standout releases of the year, showcasing hiræth’s resilience and dedication, even amidst challenges.   ”   —   VOGUE  FRANCE   “10  things  to  know  about  hiræth’s  flower”,   2023

title  track:   PSYCHO

era’s  wins:   16

promotions:   five  weeks

promoted  b-sides:   ROOM  OF  MIRRORS,   IN  MY  DREAMS

*     SPÆCIAL  DELIVERY:  FROM  US  TO  Ü. released  2023,   special  album.

“    [...]    so, we’re diving into my girls’ latest release FANCY which just dropped and is absolutely magical, don’t you think? so, here’s the scoop— even though i urge you to stream the album and watch the music video yourself: for their anniversary, hiræth gave us a little gift with this song and an album packed with some scrapped tracks from previous eras. it’s like a special treat for all of us who’ve been following them through thick and thin. pretty sure they did this for me, actually!

[...]   the music video for FANCY is just so… good… imagine this— the girls as magical girls battling it out in an epic light vs. dark showdown. it’s like a mini fantasy movie with all the glitz and glam, and the concept was a huge hit with us and many others because it’s just so much fun and visually stunning.   [...]   even though this release was meant to be a special album, it’s been doing incredibly well, if i do say so myself! i don’t care about charts, but i saw that the song and the album have been climbing the charts and snagging some well-deserved accolades. it’s amazing to see how something that started as a special gift has turned into such a big deal.  ”   —   youtube  account  @ COMMUNITYBESTIE,   2023

title  track:   FANCY

era’s  wins:   9

promotions:   three  weeks

*     THE  ÆNGEL  THEORY. released  2024,   first  full  album.

“    after much anticipation, hiræth has finally delivered a full album with their latest release, ÆNGEL THEORY and it’s everything fans could have hoped for and more. this highly anticipated comeback comes after a long wait, with the group’s loyal followers eagerly awaiting a substantial new project. the title track and the album as a whole have been met with widespread acclaim, reflecting the group's remarkable ability to blend nostalgia with fresh, captivating sounds.

ÆNGEL THEORY feels like a journey back in time, enveloping listeners in a warm, nostalgic embrace. the title track and the album are steeped in nostalgic undertones, evoking memories of the angel’s iconic earlier work while still feeling refreshingly current. 

[...]    there’s a bittersweet quality to ÆNGEL THEORY. while the album feels like a heartfelt goodbye, it also serves as a testament to hiræth’s enduring presence in the music industry. the group seems to be signaling a graceful exit from the spotlight, but they are also reminding everyone that their music will forever be a part of the landscape they helped shape. 

ÆNGEL THEORY is more than just a track; it’s a celebration of their journey and a poignant reminder of their impact.  ”   —   ROLLINGSTONE   “everything  about  the  ængel  theory”,   2024

title  track:   ÆNGEL THEORY

era’s  wins:   18

promotions:   six  weeks

promoted  b-sides:   UP  NO  MORE

*     THE  PERFECT  ÆNGEL,  THE  REPACKAGED  THEORY. released  2024,   first  album's  repackage  album.

“    [...]   BAMBOLEO emerged as a formidable follow-up to the group’s ÆNGEL THEORY, and its influence has earned them a host of new accolades and further cementing their place in the music scene. its is clearly visible in the group's growing list of achievements. the song's success on the charts, coupled with its critical acclaim, has added several new accolades to hiræth’s roster.   [...]   BAMBOLEO has not only marked a high point in their career but also set a new standard for what can be achieved in the realm of pop music. its success is a testament to the group's talent and vision, illustrating their ability to evolve and innovate while maintaining a unique and captivating sound.

as hiræth continues to build on this momentum, BAMBOLEO stands as a landmark achievement, bridging the gap between past and present musical milestones. the song's success is a powerful reminder of the group's growing influence and their role in shaping the future of pop music.  ”   —   BILLBOARD   “hiræth's  history-making  accomplishments:  a  timeline”,   2024

title  track:   BAMBOLEO

era’s  wins:   10

promotions:   four  weeks

promoted  b-side:   LOVE  ARCADE

[toasttt11]

happy birthday?

June 3, 2018

Hayden was cuddling her few months old puppy in her bed, she has been having a hard few days and she denied going to dinner with her parents.

She knew they would be home within in few minutes as it is almost midnight and she knew they would be home by midnight for her birthday.

Hayden frowned hearing a knock on the front door, she was confused as her parents wouldn’t knock and she wasn’t expecting anyone else.

Hayden looked at Archie who was sitting up alert and she got out of bed with Archie right on her heels.

Hayden opened the door and felt a wave of dread washing over her, there was two police officers with pity looks.

“Hayden Blake?” One of the police officers asked the sixteen year old girl.

“Yes?” Hayden warily answered having a very bad feeling she wasn’t going to like what they were going to tell her.

“Your parents were in a car accident. They are in the hospital now in emergency surgeries.” The other officer softy told her.

Hayden stumbled a step back her holding onto to the door as her breathing picked up, “Are they alive.” She stammered out trying to count in her head and not get a full panic attack.

“They are but they are both greatly injured and both of them are in surgery.” The police officer told her looking at the young girl in pity, “We can take you to the hospital.”

Hayden nodded and grabbed a pair of sandals next to the door and closed the door behind her quickly following the officers to the police car.

Hayden’s legs were bouncing up and down as she chewed on her fingernails as the officers drove her, she didn’t even realize she forgot her phone and only paid attention to the fact where the drive was taking for her.

June 4, 2018

Hayden rushed out of the car immediately once they parked with the officers begin her, they lead her to the emergency surgery waiting room and she saw that only her mother was still in surgery.

“Wheres my dad.” Hayden harshly asked the front desk employee, “Harrison Blake.” Hayden did not like the emotion that showed on the employee’s face when she said her father’s name.

“Are you Hayden?” A soft voice called behind her making her turn and she saw a surgeon waking out of the doors.

Hayden nodded and surgeon walked over to her, “I’m sorry to tell you this Ms. Blake but your father did not survive, he passed just minutes ago at 12:04.”

The rest of the word coming from the surgeon drowned out as she only focused on the fact her father is dead.

Hayden chocked on her breath shaking her head and looked at the surgeon, “And my mother.” She croaked out holding on to the front desk trying not to fall over.

“She and the baby are still in surgery and the team is trying their very best to save her.” The surgeon told the very young girl.

“The baby?” Hayden croaked out looking extremely confused her eyebrows furrowing as she looked at the surgeon.

“Your mother is almost four months pregnant, did they not tell anyone yet?”

Hayden shook her head no, she did not know that she was going to have a sibling, she just found she lost her father but now she had a sibling.

Hayden went and sat down on a chair and held her head in her hands letting out a few tears as she knew she would never be held by her father, never play hockey with him, never cook a meal with him, she would never be able to tell him she loves him again.

Hayden didn’t know how long she sat in the waiting room only listening to the ticking on the clock on the wall until the door opened and the surgeon came back out.

She looked up and felt her heart drop as he slowly shook his head and was holding two bags of things and she immediately recognized them as the things her parents had with them when they left home.

Hayden covered her mouth closing her eyes as her whole body trembled.

“I’m sorry but neither your mother or the baby survived, there was many complications and we could not do anything more.” The surgeon sadly told the now seventeen year old on her birthday that all of her family were dead.

“Is there anyone we can call?” He asked her softly.

Hayden blinked rubbing her face, “Uh the Hughes.” Hayden mumbled, “They are on my parent’s charts.” Hayden knew her parents had added Ellen and Jim to their charts so if something happened to both of them they woukd know and could be there for her.

“Okay we will call them.” He softly told her.

“Can i go home now.” Hayden mumbled not knowing how much longer she could go with out sobbing and she didn’t know once she started if she could ever stop.

“Yes you can go.” The surgeon kindly told gesturing for the officers to take Hayden home, he knew there was lots of paperwork and funeral arrangements that would need to be made but he wasn’t going to ask her to it after just finding out her parents and unborn sibling are dead, it can wait a few days.

Hayden spaced out the entire time until she heard her name being called and realized the car was pulled in front of her house.

Hayden stumbled out of the car shutting the door and slowly walked up the steps to her house, she slowly opened the front door locking it behind her. She dropped the bags of her parents belongs to the floor not even wanting to think of items

Archie ran to Hayden looking very excited to see her then cocked his head noticing something off. Archie slowly trotted over to Hayden as she sunk to the ground with her back to the door and she started sobbing.

Hayden wrapped her arms around her dog and harshly sobbed against his fur. Archie whined sadly licking Hayden’s arm.

She just became an orphan on her seventeenth birthday.

[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.