#january 12 2019

[mostlysignssomeportents]

It all started with a mouse

For the public domain, time stopped in 1998, when the Sonny Bono Copyright Act froze copyright expirations for 20 years. In 2019, time started again, with a massive crop of works from 1923 returning to the public domain, free for all to use and adapt:

https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2019/

No one is better at conveying the power of the public domain than Jennifer Jenkins and James Boyle, who run the Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain. For years leading up to 2019, the pair published an annual roundup of what we would have gotten from the public domain in a universe where the 1998 Act never passed. Since 2019, they've switched to celebrating what we're actually getting each year. Last year's was a banger:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/20/free-for-2023/#oy-canada

But while there's been moderate excitement at the publicdomainification of "Yes, We Have No Bananas," AA Milne's "Now We Are Six," and Sherlock Holmes, the main event that everyone's anticipated arrives on January 1, 2024, when Mickey Mouse enters the public domain.

The first appearance of Mickey Mouse was in 1928's Steamboat Willie. Disney was critical to the lobbying efforts that extended copyright in 1976 and again in 1998, so much so that the 1998 Act is sometimes called the Mickey Mouse Protection Act. Disney and its allies were so effective at securing these regulatory gifts that many people doubted that this day would ever come. Surely Disney would secure another retrospective copyright term extension before Jan 1, 2024. I had long arguments with comrades about this – people like Project Gutenberg founder Michael S Hart (RIP) were fatalistically certain the public domain would never come back.

But they were wrong. The public outrage over copyright term extensions came too late to stave off the slow-motion arson of the 1976 and 1998 Acts, but it was sufficient to keep a third extension away from the USA. Canada wasn't so lucky: Justin Trudeau let Trump bully him into taking 20 years' worth of works out of Canada's public domain in the revised NAFTA agreement, making swathes of works by living Canadian authors illegal at the stroke of a pen, in a gift to the distant descendants of long-dead foreign authors.

Now, with Mickey's liberation bare days away, there's a mounting sense of excitement and unease. Will Mickey actually be free? The answer is a resounding YES! (albeit with a few caveats). In a prelude to this year's public domain roundup, Jennifer Jenkins has published a full and delightful guide to The Mouse and IP from Jan 1 on:

https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/mickey/

Disney loves the public domain. Its best-loved works, from The Sorcerer's Apprentice to Sleeping Beauty, Pinnocchio to The Little Mermaid, are gorgeous, thoughtful, and lively reworkings of material from the public domain. Disney loves the public domain – we just wish it would share.

Disney loves copyright's other flexibilities, too, like fair use. Walt told the papers that he took his inspiration for Steamboat Willie from Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks, making fair use of their performances to imbue Mickey with his mischief and derring do. Disney loves fair use – we just wish it would share.

Disney loves copyright's limitations. Steamboat Willie was inspired by Buster Keaton's silent film Steamboat Bill (titles aren't copyrightable). Disney loves copyright's limitations – we just wish it would share.

As Jenkins writes, Disney's relationship to copyright is wildly contradictory. It's the poster child for the public domain's power as a source of inspiration for worthy (and profitable) new works. It's also the chief villain in the impoverishment and near-extinction of the public domain. Truly, every pirate wants to be an admiral.

Disney's reliance on – and sabotage of – the public domain is ironic. Jenkins compares it to "an oil company relying on solar power to run its rigs." Come January 1, Disney will have to share.

Now, if you've heard anything about this, you've probably been told that Mickey isn't really entering the public domain. Between trademark claims and later copyrightable elements of Mickey's design, Mickey's status will be too complex to understand. That's totally wrong.

Jenkins illustrates the relationship between these three elements in (what else) a Mickey-shaped Venn diagram. Topline: you can use all the elements of Mickey that are present in Steamboat Willie, along with some elements that were added later, provided that you make it clear that your work isn't affiliated with Disney.

Let's unpack that. The copyrightable status of a character used to be vague and complex, but several high-profile cases have brought clarity to the question. The big one is Les Klinger's case against the Arthur Conan Doyle estate over Sherlock Holmes. That case established that when a character appears in both public domain and copyrighted works, the character is in the public domain, and you are "free to copy story elements from the public domain works":

https://freesherlock.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/klinger-order-on-motion-for-summary-judgment-c.pdf

This case was appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, who declined to hear it. It's settled law.

So, which parts of Mickey aren't going into the public domain? Elements that came later: white gloves, color. But that doesn't mean you can't add different gloves, or different colorways. The idea of a eyes with pupils is not copyrightable – only the specific eyes that Disney added.

Other later elements that don't qualify for copyright: a squeaky mouse voice, being adorable, doing jaunty dances, etc. These are all generic characteristics of cartoon mice, and they're free for you to use. Jenkins is more cautious on whether you can give your Mickey red shorts. She judges that "a single, bright, primary color for an article of clothing does not meet the copyrightability threshold" but without settled law, you might wanna change the colors.

But what about trademark? For years, Disney has included a clip from Steamboat Willie at the start of each of its films. Many observers characterized this as a bid to create a de facto perpetual copyright, by making Steamboat Willie inescapably associated with products from Disney, weaving an impassable web of trademark tripwires around it.

But trademark doesn't prevent you from using Steamboat Willie. It only prevents you from misleading consumers "into thinking your work is produced or sponsored by Disney." Trademarks don't expire so long as they're in use, but uses that don't create confusion are fair game under trademark.

Copyrights and trademarks can overlap. Mickey Mouse is a copyrighted character, but he's also an indicator that a product or service is associated with Disney. While Mickey's copyright expires in a couple weeks, his trademark doesn't. What happens to an out-of-copyright work that is still a trademark?

Luckily for us, this is also a thoroughly settled case. As in, this question was resolved in a unanimous 2000 Supreme Court ruling, Dastar v. Twentieth Century Fox. A live trademark does not extend an expired copyright. As the Supremes said:

[This would] create a species of mutant copyright law that limits the public’s federal right to copy and to use expired copyrights.

This elaborates on the Ninth Circuit's 1996 Maljack Prods v Goodtimes Home Video Corp:

[Trademark][ cannot be used to circumvent copyright law. If material covered by copyright law has passed into the public domain, it cannot then be protected by the Lanham Act without rendering the Copyright Act a nullity.

Despite what you might have heard, there is no ambiguity here. Copyrights can't be extended through trademark. Period. Unanimous Supreme Court Decision. Boom. End of story. Done.

But even so, there are trademark considerations in how you use Steamboat Willie after Jan 1, but these considerations are about protecting the public, not Disney shareholders. Your uses can't be misleading. People who buy or view your Steamboat Willie media or products have to be totally clear that your work comes from you, not Disney.

Avoiding confusion will be very hard for some uses, like plush toys, or short idents at the beginning of feature films. For most uses, though, a prominent disclaimer will suffice. The copyright page for my 2003 debut novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom contains this disclaimer:

This novel is a work of fiction, set in an imagined future. All the characters and events portrayed in this book, including the imagined future of the Magic Kingdom, are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. The Walt Disney Company has not authorized or endorsed this novel.

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250196385/downandoutinthemagickingdom

Here's the Ninth Circuit again:

When a public domain work is copied, along with its title, there is little likelihood of confusion when even the most minimal steps are taken to distinguish the publisher of the original from that of the copy. The public is receiving just what it believes it is receiving—the work with which the title has become associated. The public is not only unharmed, it is unconfused.

Trademark has many exceptions. The First Amendment protects your right to use trademarks in expressive ways, for example, to recreate famous paintings with Barbie dolls:

https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/summaries/mattel-walkingmountain-9thcir2003.pdf

And then there's "nominative use": it's not a trademark violation to use a trademark to accurately describe a trademarked thing. "We fix iPhones" is not a trademark violation. Neither is 'Works with HP printers.' This goes double for "expressive" uses of trademarks in new works of art:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_v._Grimaldi

What about "dilution"? Trademark protects a small number of superbrands from uses that "impair the distinctiveness or harm the reputation of the famous mark, even when there is no consumer confusion." Jenkins says that the Mickey silhouette and the current Mickey character designs might be entitled to protection from dilution, but Steamboat Willie doesn't make the cut.

Jenkins closes with a celebration of the public domain's ability to inspire new works, like Disney's Three Musketeers, Disney's Christmas Carol, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Disney's Around the World in 80 Days, Disney's Alice in Wonderland, Disney's Snow White, Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame, Disney's Sleeping Beauty, Disney's Cinderella, Disney's Little Mermaid, Disney's Pinocchio, Disney's Huck Finn, Disney's Robin Hood, and Disney's Aladdin. These are some of the best-loved films of the past century, and made Disney a leading example of what talented, creative people can do with the public domain.

As of January 1, Disney will start to be an example of what talented, creative people give back to the public domain, joining Dickens, Dumas, Carroll, Verne, de Villeneuve, the Brothers Grimm, Twain, Hugo, Perrault and Collodi.

Public domain day is 17 days away. Creators of all kinds: start your engines!

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/2023/12/15/mouse-liberation-front/#free-mickey

Image: Doo Lee (modified) https://web.law.duke.edu/sites/default/files/images/centers/cspd/pdd2024/mickey/Steamboat-WIllie-Enters-Public-Domain.jpeg

CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

Daddy Yankee - Gasolina 2004

"Gasolina" was released as the lead single from Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee's 2004 album Barrio Fino in the US in October 2004. By November 6, WSKQ-FM in New York City reported "Gasolina" in their top 10 rotation, and WRTO-FM in Florida said the song was their number one most-played track. It entered the US Billboard Hot 100 chart a week later, rising to number 32 in January 2005. "Gasolina" was a hit in North America and the Caribbean, gaining Daddy Yankee popularity among Latino mainstream music fans. In July 2005, "Gasolina" was released as a single in the UK, eventually earning a Silver certification in March 2019. Australia saw the single enter their charts in late January 2006 during their summer season, rising to number 12. "Gasolina" was the first reggaeton song to be nominated for the Latin Grammy Award for Record of the Year. Puerto Rican reggaeton singer Glory sings the line "dame más gasolina", although she is not credited.

In 2015, the song was ranked number nine on the "50 Greatest Latin Songs of All Time" list according to Billboard. In 2018, it was ranked number 38 on Rolling Stone's 50 Greatest Latin Pop Songs. In 2017, it was included on Billboard's "12 Best Dancehall & Reggaeton Choruses of the 21st Century" at number eight. In 2021, it was ranked number 50 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and a year later it was ranked at the first place on their 2022 "100 Greatest Reggaeton Songs of All Time" list. In 2023, "Gasolina" was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The song was used in the 2023 movie Fast X / Fast & Furious 10.

"Gasolina" received a total of 77,4% yes votes!

[michaelnordeman]

Goldcrest/kungsfågel. Värmland, Sweden (January 12, 2019).

[reasonandempathy]

Walz has served as Minnesota’s governor since 2019 after 12 years in the House of Representatives and now chairs the Democratic Governors Association. He has built a reputation as a folksy politician who can get things done, as Minnesota has adopted a number of progressive laws during his tenure. According to a poll conducted earlier this year, Walz enjoys an approval rating of 55% among Minnesotans. Since Minnesota Democrats achieved a legislative trifecta in the 2022 elections, Walz and his allies have used their power to push a slate of progressive policies. The governor has signed bills protecting abortion access, expanding background checks for prospective gun owners and legalizing recreational marijuana. “Right now, Minnesota is showing the country you don’t win elections to bank political capital,” Walz said last year. “You win elections to burn political capital and improve lives.” That philosophy has endeared him to progressives, who threw their support behind him as the veepstakes kicked into high gear over the past two weeks. They reshared clips of Walz lovingly mocking his daughter’s vegetarianism and tinkering with his car to paint him as the dad that America needs right now.

This is fucking awesome! Honestly, sincerely good news and a very promising pick for the potential Harris Administration. An aggressive, unabashed, popular, populist left-winger with a track record of enacting real, substantive help for people is capital-G Great.

What has he done, specifically?

Abortion rights

In a 1995 ruling, the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld abortion rights in Minnesota. In January 2023, Walz signed the PRO Act (Protect Reproductive Options Act) into law, making abortion a "fundamental right," as well as access to contraception, fertility treatments, sterilization and other reproductive health care.

The law made Minnesota the first state to codify abortion rights in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 ruling in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which nullified Roe. v. Wade after nearly 50 years of precedent. In April 2023, Walz signed the Reproductive Freedom Defense Act into law, shielding women and providers from any legal action originating from the patient's state.

Pro-LGBTQIA+ legislation

In March 2023, Walz signed an executive order to protect the right of residents to have access to gender-affirming health care. Weeks later, he signed the "Trans Refuge" bill, banning the enforcement of arrest warrants, extradition requests and out-of-state subpoenas for those who traveled to Minnesota for care.

"When someone else is given basic rights, others don't lose theirs," Walz said. "We aren't cutting a pie here. We're giving basic rights to every single Minnesotan."

Paid family, medical and sick leave

In May 2023, Walz signed a law creating a state-run program to provide paid family and medical leave for Minnesota workers, funded by a 0.7% payroll tax on employers, by 2026.

Legalization of recreational marijuana

In May 2023, Minnesota became the 23rd state in the nation to legalize recreational cannabis use. Three months later, people 21 and older could start to possess certain amounts of marijuana at home and on their person, in addition to legally growing up to eight plants at a time.

Restoration of voting rights for former felons

In March 2023, Walz signed a bill that restored the right to vote to more than 50,000 convicted felons who had already served their time.

Universal school meals

Amid the increase in food insecurity for many Minnesotans during the pandemic, and the subsequent strain on the state's food shelves that remains to this day, Walz signed a bill in March 2023 that ensures all K-12 students in the state have access to free breakfast and lunch on school days.

Do you know what makes this even better?

Fuck 'Em. I know negative partisanship is important and can help motivate right-wingers to vote, but they're going to vote anyway. And him being afraid of Walz is just a sign that he's a good pick, in policy and politics.

[xinganhao]

📺 now watching: "hotel del luna" (jihoon x reader)

part of my svtflix milestone event. warnings: cussing/swearing, mentions of death. more content under the cut. enjoy watching!

hotel del luna's guestbook, as managed by lee jihoon.

Name: Han Seung-woo Check-in date: August 17, 2019 Reason for stay: Seung-woo was a street artist who passed away in a tragic car accident at the height of his career. He stayed at hotel, haunted by the regret of never completing his masterpiece mural, which he planned to dedicate to his late mother. Reason for leaving: The hotel manager tracked down Seung-woo's original sketches and helped arrange for a modern artist to complete his mural at a public plaza. Witnessing his vision come to life brought him peace. Check-out date: January 11, 2024

Name: Choi Min-ji Check-in date: May 4, 1997 Reason for stay: Min-ji was a nurse who sacrificed herself to save patients during a hospital fire. She lingered at Hotel del Luna because she couldn’t forgive herself for leaving her younger brother behind, feeling she hadn’t done enough to care for him. Reason for leaving: Decades letter, her brother passed away; the manager brought him to the hotel. During their reunion, he reassured Min-ji that her sacrifice inspired him to become a doctor and save lives, fulfilling her legacy. They crossed into the afterlife together. Check-out date: October 9, 2024

Name: Kang Mi-young Position in Hotel del Luna: Receptionist Check-in date: July 8, 1975 Reason for stay: Mi-young was a renowned opera singer who lost her voice in life. She became the hotel receptionist to welcome guests with warmth and kindness, making up for the bitterness she had shown in her final days. Reason for leaving: A guest, who was a devoted fan of her opera performances, recognized her and reminded her of how much her art had inspired others. This helped her regain a sense of purpose and release her regret. Check-out date: December 31, 2024

Name: Park Jin-ho Position: Concierge Check-in date: January 12, 1843 Reason for stay: Jin-ho was the very first staff member of Hotel del Luna. He accepted the role of concierge after passing away as a penniless merchant who regretted his life of greed and failed relationships. He hoped to redeem himself by helping guests find closure. Reason for leaving: After serving at the hotel for over 180 years, Jin-ho finally forgave himself when the manager thanked him for teaching them the value of love and selflessness— something he had yearned to learn in his own life. Check-out date: June 8, 2024

Name: Lee Jihoon Position in Hotel del Luna: Proprietor Check-in date: August 23, 1290 Reason for stay: Jihoon lived over a millennium ago during the Goguryeo era. He was the leader of a band of thieves and was devastated after the massacre of his loved ones; namely, his bandit group and closest friend. Fueled by vengeance, Jihoon killed various people in his fury. Deity Ma Go punished him for his sins by bounding him to the Hotel del Luna. He was warned that he would only be unshackled from the hotel once he is able to replace his fury and grief with remorse and love. Reason for leaving: You N/A Check-out date: N/A

› scroll through all my work ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧ ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ my masterlist | @xinganhao

[probablyasocialecologist]

In January 2019, world-renowned food and nutrition experts published a groundbreaking study. The culmination of two years’ work by 37 authors, the EAT-Lancet report set out to answer the question: how can we feed the world’s growing population without causing catastrophic climate breakdown? The publication was high profile. Launched in the prestigious peer-reviewed Lancet medical journal, the report came out in 12 languages, and a flagship event at the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland was planned for March. But in the days leading up to the launch, the WHO pulled out. The health agency’s withdrawal followed a massive online backlash, which had concentrated on one of the report’s recommendations: to cut global red meat consumption by 50 percent.  New evidence seen by DeSmog suggests this surge of outrage against the report was stoked by a PR firm that represents the meat and dairy sector.  A document seen by DeSmog appears to show the results of a campaign by the consultancy Red Flag, which catalogues the scale of the backlash to the report.  The document indicates that Red Flag briefed journalists, think tanks, and social media influencers to frame the peer-reviewed research as “radical”, “out of touch” and “hypocritical”. It highlights that negative coverage outnumbered neutral or positive stories, with thousands of critical posts shared on X about the research, alongside more than 500 negative articles. “Red Flag turned EAT-Lancet into a culture war issue,” Jennifer Jacquet, professor of environmental science and policy at the University of Miami, and expert in lobbying, told DeSmog. “Instead of having nuanced conversations about the data, Red Flag takes us back to mud slinging.” “This document is a portrait of what we’re up against – as people who care about the truth, about climate change, and about the future,” she said.

10 April 2025

[saintvainglorious]

Fics I Enjoyed in December - DC Comics Fic Rec List

Fell headfirst back into DC Comics for the first time in years this month. Reread some old favorites and discovered some new gems!

My January DC Comics fic rec list is here!

Heart, Humble by Betty (Mature, 8k, 2005) Jack Drake deals with finding out that Tim is Robin (poorly, and then not so poorly). THEE canon-accurate Jack Drake-focused fic of all time, this is canon in my heart.

Back then, all the boys his age had hero-worshipped costumed vigilantes. Jack supposes they still do.

Exit Strategy by smilebackwards/@smilebackwards (Teen & Up, 13k, 2021) Tim plans to leave a family he thinks he was never really a part of and decides to train Damian on how to run Wayne Enterprises before he goes. Delicious angst, excellent character work, and fun Wayne Enterprises worldbuilding.

Batman needs a Robin and Batman has a Robin. Tim is just extraneous now, vestigial. He’s a bandage over a healed wound. He doesn’t know what he’s hanging on to. Or: Tim didn’t expect his exit strategy from the Batfamily to involve quite so much bonding time with Damian over Wayne Enterprises bureaucracy.

On the Downbeat by medusaceratops (Teen & Up, 2k, 2019) Bruce and Jason talk while waiting in line at a drive-thru (featuring Gotham-typical violence and husborth-typical gorgeous prose). I've always adored husborth's Star Wars fics and I'm so glad I dipped my toe into their DC works, no one's writing hits quite like husborth.

Jason has recovered his sanity, and Bruce and Jason have recovered their relationship; but there are some things that are hard to forget.

A Zoo for Canines by medusaceratops (Mature, 45k, 2019) Part 2 of Zoology; Dick and Jason try to help Bruce recover from addiction. If you're used to fanon Dick Grayson (cheery, friendly, forgiving) you will not find him here - his anger and pain is ugly, raw, and so fucking captivating.

Edit: This fic and the series has since been deleted off ao3, though Part 1 (An Aquarium of Nameless Things) is still up; DM me if you'd like to read it.

Dick, Bruce, and Jason head out to a cabin in the mountains, and they handle things about as well as they handle anything.

All the Roofs of Uncertainty by Kieron_ODuibhir/@kieron-oduibhir (General Audiences, 70k, 2015) Dick almost dies and makes Jason promise to take care of the family for him. A masterclass demonstration on how DC fic can square all the wildly divergent canon versions of Jason Todd into a single compelling character.

For all the blood on his hands, Red Hood was never just a villain. And Nightwing never gives up on family, not for good. (Or: The one where Dick bleeds a lot and Jason argues with everybody.)

The Till-Then From the Ever-Since by Kieron_ODuibhir/@kieron-oduibhir (General Audiences, 85k (WIP), 2020) Kid versions of the whole Batfamily mysteriously time travel to the future! I livetexted a friend the whole time I read this so I could yell about how amazing the character writing is; also I'm wildly impressed with how the author deftly handles tons of dialogue-heavy scenes with like 12+ guys in it without anyone going unmentioned.

It began, or seemed to begin, with Jason. Usually that would have meant something in the order of fire and explosion and probably at least one gunshot wound, but for once (as Tim said, sourly), it wasn't actually Jason's fault.

only you will have stars that can laugh by silverwhittlingknife/@silverwhittlingknife (Teen & Up, 9k, 2022) Dick finds out Tim is alone on Christmas and invites him to Babs' Christmas party. Discovered silverwhittlingknife through their galaxy brained Dick & Tim meta essays, stayed for every single line of Chapter 2 ripping out my heart and roasting it over an open flame.

You coming over is possibly the only thing that’s gonna stop me from wanting to punch your dad in the face, Dick doesn’t say. My current Christmas Day plans are 1) pace around at home, and 2) try not to obsess about what Bruce is up to, so trust me, you’ll be an improvement, Dick doesn’t say. Tim's alone on Christmas Eve. Dick finds out, and fixes it.

nerve endings by silverwhittlingknife/@silverwhittlingknife (Teen & Up, 5k (WIP), 2024) Post-Catalina Flores, Dick, Tim, and Bruce go on a (canon-accurate) cruise and dance around their open wounds. This is a glorious example of "he WOULD fucking say that", Dick's voice is so canon-accurate that the angst is even more painful i cri

It's all right, even, to have a foreign hand pressing against his skin, testing him, testing his reactions. He keeps his breathing controlled. Just Tim, damn you, it’s just Tim, don’t fuck it up. Dick's on a cruise with Bruce and Tim. And he's fine. Mostly.

Red Letter Day by silverwhittlingknife/@silverwhittlingknife (Teen & Up, 42k (WIP), 2022) Dick is sure the cryptic scribble in his agenda refers to something he's supposed to do for Damian, but he can't remember what. Mostly about Tim and Dick s l o w l y mending the post-Damian rupture in their relationship, but the whole family is here and Jason, especially, is fucking hilarious.

Dick Grayson, stressed pseudo-parent to a preteen assassin, tries to solve the case of Damian’s Mysterious Wednesday. He never expected it to help him fix his relationship with Tim, too. (… Though only after everything fell apart first.)

Gonna Be A Better One (A Thousand Miles To Your Door) by Traincat/@traincat (Teen & Up, 18k, 2011) Tim and Kon keep dating even after Jack forces Tim to retire as Robin. I reread this fic annually and every time am delighted to rediscover how funny and heartwarming and squee-inducingly kind it is, pure Timkon perfection.

In which Tim quits being Robin, Kon refuses to quit Tim and Ma Kent is full of relationship advice.

last light in a darkened room by bigdamnher0/@bigdvmnhero (Not Rated, 6k, 2024) Tim finds a distressing video of Robin!Dick and wishes that things were different. The whole fic, particularly Tim manifesting a happy ending in the bathroom, is a gorgeously crafted tragedy such that you're left kind of awed at how thoroughly massacred your heart and soul are post-read.

Tuesday morning: a video was uploaded to one of the deep web black markets. The footage, shot on those grainy vintage camcorders. But Tim knew that boy in the thumbnail; his eyes had memorized him, the heft and shape and dazzle of him, imprinting like an afterimage. Or: a brother is a witness; there's your tragedy.

buy back the secrets by sundiscus/@vinelark (Teen & Up, 91k (WIP), 2024) Superboy rescues civilian Tim Drake before learning that Tim is Robin and shenanigans ensue. I spent my whole holiday vacation intermittently screaming at this fic while my family members looked on with vague concern this fic is ADORABLE and AGONIZING and PERFECT please and THANK YOU.

He takes a long, slow breath. Ignores the glares from the other students. “Superboy,” he murmurs. “It’s me. If you’re listening, I could use some help.” Or: 5 times Superboy saves Tim Drake, and one time Tim Drake saves Superboy.

[t3n5cious]

• AAU Super Showcase ATL Championship (June 2016)

• FIBA Team USA U16 (May - June 2017)

• Paige staying with Azzi's family (2017)

• Maryland visit (Fall 2017)

• Working out together (February 2018)

• Nike Boo Williams Invitational (April 20-22, 2018)

• Capital Classic All-Star Game (April 28, 2018)

• North Tartan Summer Jam (June 15-17, 2018)

• FIBA Team USA U17 (July 2018)

• Azzi going on a cruise with Paige's family (2018)

• Azzi helping Paige out with her basketball charity clinic (August 2018)

• Their Instagram birthday posts for each other referring to one another as other half (October & November 2018)

• Paige being at Azzi's Sweet Sixteen (November 2018)

• Azzi supporting Paige on her state championship game + Wearing Paige's Hopkins Jersey (March 16, 2019)

• Yellowstone National Park Trip (Spring Break 2019)

• Paige praying over Azzi's injury (April 13, 2019)

• Cheesefactory clip during Spring before Azzi's knee surgery (Spring 2019)

• Spooky Nook with their AAU teams (April 26-28, 2019)

• Overtime 1v1 video (July 2019)

• SC30 Camp (August 5-7, 2019)

• Cabin camping (August 2019)

• Celebrating Paige's birthday together (October 2019)

• Paige at Azzi's comeback game wearing a Team Azzi shirt (January 2020)

• Their whitechocolate535 reunion TikToks made on (January 2020)

• Paige supporting Azzi in one of her games wherein Azzi dropped 20 points (January 2020)

• Azzi at Paige's game while wearing a Team Paige shirt (March 11, 2020)

• Azzi supporting Paige in her State Championship Semifinals game (March 12, 2020)

• One of their March Tiktoks (March 2020)

• Paige wearing the gray Azzi shirt with (2020) - Just a bonus clip cause it’s hella cute

• Paige's bedside photos mainly comprising of photos with Azzi (March 2020)

• Paige photos in Azzi's room (March 2020)

• Paige choosing a photo of her and Azzi for a school project (2020) - another bonus because it was too cute not to add

• Paige's Azzi to UCONN recruiting efforts (2020)

• 20 questions eye contact clips (April 2020)

• Paige supporting Azzi in her GTS Fusion AAU games (2020)

• Paige staying with Azzi’s family during COVID: TikToks, Azzi's YouTube videos, other YouTube videos) (April - July 2020)

• Azzi hanging out with Drew and making a TikTok with him (2020)

• Azzi missing Paige on TikTok main (October 2020)

• Their birthday greeting videos on TikTok (October & November 2020)

• Togetherx Facetime clip (November 5, 2020)

• Azzi at Paige's NCAA Final Four + Facetiming her (2021)

• Paige being with Azzi during Azzi’s prom (May 2021)

• Paige being with Azzi and the Fudds during her rehab (April & May 2021)

• UConn summer workout together (June 2021)

• Paige supporting Azzi during her Team USA U19 camp (July 21, 2021)

Current look at the compilation vid timeline. We still don't have internet connection since our internet provider decided to be incompetent as hell but we move on. Let me know what I missed out on and what should be added moving forward from this timeline as well. Much love.

[dontmean2bepoliticalbut]

On 7/31/2019 Trump has a private meeting with Putin. On 8/3/2019, just 3 days after his private meeting with Putin, Trump issues a request for a list of top US spies. By 2021 the CIA reports an unusually high number of their agents are being captured and/or being murdered. During the search executed at Mar A Lago the FBI find more documents with lists of U.S. informants on them.

A Timeline

• FBI wiretapped Russian gambling ring headquartered at Trump Tower for two years - March 21, 2017

• Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian foreign minister and ambassador - May 15, 2017

• Trump, Putin Meet For 2 Hours In Helsinki - July 16, 2018

• Rand Paul Goes To Russia And Delivers Letter For Trump, Marking Our Era Of Irony - August 9, 2018

• Following the Money: Trump and Russia-Linked Transactions From the Campaign to the Presidential Inauguration - December 17, 2018

• The US extracted a top spy from Russia after Trump revealed classified information to the Russians in an Oval Office meeting - September 10, 2019

• Trump’s Loose Lips Force US to Extract Spy From Kremlin - September 10, 2019

• Was Mar-a-Lago Trespasser a Tourist or a Spy? A Judge Said Her Story Didn’t Hold Up. - November 25, 2019

• Trump downplays massive cyber hack on government after Pompeo links attack to Russia - December 19, 2020

• Russia has been cultivating Trump as an asset for 40 years, former KGB spy says - January 29, 2021

• There was Trump-Russia collusion — and Trump pardoned the colluder - April 17, 2021

• Longtime GOP operatives charged with funneling Russian national’s money to Trump, RNC - September 20, 2021

• Captured, Killed or Compromised: C.I.A. Admits to Losing Dozens of Informants - October 5, 2021

• Files Seized From Trump Are Part of Espionage Act Inquiry - August 12, 2022

• Ex-Clinton aide implies 'President of France' file found at Trump's home during Mar-a-Lago raid could be valuable to Putin as 'kompromat' - August 13, 2022

• Inventing Anna: The tale of a fake heiress, Mar-a-Lago, and an FBI investigation - August 22, 2022

• Russians used a US firm to funnel funds to GOP in 2018. Dems say the FEC let them get away with it - October 30, 2022

• Trump makes shocking comments about trusting Putin over US 'intelligence lowlifes' - January 31, 2023

• Russia's Prigozhin admits links to what US says was election meddling troll farm - February 14, 2023

• GOP operative sentenced to 18 months for funneling Russian money to Trump- February 17, 2023

• Trump allegedly discussed US nuclear subs with foreign national after leaving White House: Sources - October 5, 2023

• 'So appalled': What witnesses told special counsel about Trump's handling of classified info while still president - April 24, 2024

🤔🤔🤔

[just-barrow]

An overview of interviews with Lou Ferrigno Jr, subdivided into read, watch, and listen.

Note: some of these will overlap (for example podcasts that are also on Youtube). This post is a work in progress.

READ

GRUEmonkey (January 4, 2017)

Paradigm Treatment (August 4, 2017)

Swagger Magazine (2021)

Flaunt (2021)

Vulkan Magazine (March 5, 2021)

Pop Culturalist (March 13, 2021)

Medium (April 5, 2021)

TVBrittanyF.com (April 12, 2021)

Men's Health (June 16, 2021)

The Pop Culture Principle (January 14, 2022)

A Book Of (2023)

PhotoBook Magazine (February 8, 2023)

The Hollywood Reporter (April 11, 2024)

TV Insider (April 11, 2024)

TV Fanatic (April 12, 2024)

Fangirlish (November 7, 2024)

Decider (November 8, 2024)

But Why Tho? (November 21, 2024)

Felix Magazine (Fall 2024)

Digital Journal (February 22, 2025)

But Why Tho? (April 25, 2025)

WATCH

Tahoe Show (December 29, 2014)

Muscular Development Magazine (January 16, 2017)

The Red Booth (August 28, 2017)

TLC Unleashed (November 25, 2017)

Mellow Riot (June 5, 2018)

TLC Unleashed (June 16, 2018)

Corridor Cast (February 20, 2019)

Howie D and the Lesser Knowns (August 1, 2019)

FOX5 Las Vegas (February 16, 2021)

FOX5 Las Vegas (February 17, 2021)

Geekscape (March 2, 2021)

Paltrocast with Darren Paltrowitz (March 2, 2021)

Celebrity Page (March 3, 2021)

WorldFilmGeek (March 3, 2021)

Good Day Sacramento (March 16, 2021)

Howard's Haunt (March 4, 2021)

Reel Talker (March 12, 2021)

Men's Health (March 31, 2021)

The Story Box (April 4, 2021)

REALPOLITIK (April 9, 2021)

The Buzz (January 10, 2022)

Stauros Entertainment (January 10, 2022)

Bionic Buzz (January 16, 2022)

Great Day Houston (January 24, 2022)

Passionflix (July 19, 2022)

Good Day Sacramento (February 23, 2023)

Access Hollywood (May 23, 2024)

But Why Tho? (April 25, 2025)

LISTEN

Corridor Cast (February 20, 2019)

Robby D and the Lesser Knowns (August 1, 2019)

Geekscape (March 2, 2021)

Good questions...with Cameron Dole (March 5, 2021)

Comic Book Central (March 6, 2021)

The Scott Sands Show (March 9, 2021)

Culture Pop Podcast (May 16, 2021)

Shots to the Dome (November 30, 2021)

Hollywood at Home with the Creative Coalition (March 14, 2023)

[vivziepoparchives]

Sketch gifted to Ashley Nichols. Posted to her twitter January 12, 2019.

[source]

[episodes-without-incident]

Drawfee Bits Wrapped (2024)

Cats (2019)

Episodes referenced: 13 (15.29%)

Episodes not referenced: 72 (84.71%)

This is a 0.40% increase from 2023, meaning the years were nearly equal in percentage.

First reference: January 11

Last reference: November 21

Longest streak of no references: 22 episodes (July 4–November 14)

Shortest streak of no references: 0 episodes (Referenced in the March 12 and 14, April 18 and 23, and November 14 and 21 episodes. They grouped them this year!)

Cascada (2005)

Episodes referenced: 8 (9.41%)

Episodes not referenced: 77 (90.59%)

It's hard to compare these numbers since Cascada counting only began partway through last year, when the bit was near its peak. References are definitely much lower in this year's time period (9% compared to 22%).

First reference: January 2

Last reference: November 7

Longest streak of no references: 22 episodes (February 13–April 30)

Shortest streak of no references: 0 episodes (Referenced in both the January 2 and 4 episodes)

Combined statistics.

Episodes where both were referenced: 2 (2.35%) (February 13 and July 4)

Episodes where only one was referenced: 17 (20.00%)

Episodes where neither was referenced: 66 (77.65%)

It's again hard to compare because of different timeframes, but comparing this year to the last five months of last year, there was an overall decrease in references.

Conclusion

We broke both records of no references this year (bringing both to 22 episodes without incident). I was starting to wonder if I would have to change things up! But as always, the bits came back around, and I bet they're here to stay.

And though I've had my suspicions before, this blog was officially interacted with by the creators for the first time this year, when David liked my post challenging them to a fist fight. Fun times! Also, scary. Get off my lawn.

And, well, I'm as grateful for Drawfee and this community as ever! Thank you all for coming along! You can check my pinned for the full spreadsheets and charts.

[michaelnordeman]

Eurasian Red Squirrel/ekorre. Värmland, Sweden (January 12, 2019).

[grapejuicestyless]

Butterfly Wings

Harry Styles x fem!reader

Summery: In an alternate universe where time travel is possible, Harry discovers what the future holds. And theres only one way to change it.

He’d gone over every possible outcome, run his pockets dry as the machine whirred back and forth between decades; no—years. Not even a full ten. He changed his career, his friends, his passions, his address. Down to the way he parted his hair, he tried it all, and yet somehow, it had all come down to the same conclusion. Death.

Without fail, every time the years passed, there you stood, a camera hung around your neck, the camera he got for you as a gift when you’d first met him, waving goodbye. January 20th, 2027. 8:03am.

You were smiling, readily waiting for the car to heat up just a little more before climbing in. You’d cut your hair to your shoulders, put it up in braids and sliced through them with rusty kitchen scissors to make bangs the night before. Harry laughed at how uneven it was and fixed it. Promised to make it better. But he couldn’t make it better, he could never make it better. It just wasn’t possible.

You would leave, go off to do your job and at 12:30pm, he’d receive a call from a hospital a few hours away. They’d tell him the news. The head on collision, a man had served into your lane, smashing up the old blue car you and Harry had fixed up together. Ironic, almost, how evidence of your life you’d built together was crushed in just one reckless moment.

At 1:56pm they would pronounce you dead. He wouldn’t even be there yet, wouldn’t have the chance to say goodbye. You would be gone.

He tried driving you in one of his thousands of trips. It always ended the same. The car was ruined, and you would suffer while he would walk away. He just couldn’t seem to die.

Out of his thousands and thousands of attempts, only one worked. One that he prayed wouldn’t be the only answer, but was.

In one singular time line, you would never get into that car. You wouldn’t drive yourself across Europe to photograph a stranger who would sparkle on stage, and Harry wouldn’t have to shake hands with your friends at the service, the ring heavy in his pocket. The ring he would never get to give you.

So, Harry went back. He traveled back to 2019, when he was helplessly fumbling around for a tour photographer. Someone who could create what he thought up. He stumbled upon your page. His fingers twitched, and his eyes glazed over in despair. This was it, this was the walk off, the forfeit, the end. He brushed past your application, shredded it completely and never looked back.

It was a few years later that you would meet Harry in this timeline. On January 21st, 2027 you attended a party for one of your mutual friends. Harry complimented you, and your boyfriend quickly whisked you away.

He watched from afar, his hands no longer clammy as he watched the clock continue to tick past the time where you had died so many times. You looked gorgeous, smiling down at your feet bashfully, your arm hooked around the brunette actor Harry recognized from a few films.

Your hair was long, and you didn’t have any bangs now. There were no kitchen scissors for you to find and no giggles shared in the bathroom. Only silence. No clothes thrown on the floor in piles or dirty brushes left on the sink. Your decorations were forever missing.

Everyday became increasingly obvious that you were no longer a factor in Harrys life. But he believed it to be worth every moment. He had the privilege of loving you from afar. He had lost you, but at least now he would never truly lose you.

He sipped slowly on his drink that night, acting like he cared for the boring conversations with people he didn’t know, stealing glimpses at the fluttering of your eyelashes.

You looked up, and you caught his eye. It was like you knew something, like there was fear and pain in your eyes.

He never figured that while he had been desperate to hold onto you, you had been doing the same thing.

Harry left that night with a friend, wondering what it could mean. But as he got in the black car and headed for the on ramp, lights blinded him, and it all went dark.

January 22nd, 2027. 2:56am.

[glorious-collections]

In honor of pride month, here's a list of Loki's male love interests/men he's flirted with!

Prodigy/David Alleyne

(Young Avengers #15, released January 8, 2014)

Union Jack/Brian Falsworth

(Avengers Academy, released February 4, 2016)

Sigurd

(Agent of Asgard #4, released May 7, 2014)

Theo Bell

(Where Mischief Lies, released September 3, 2019)

Hercules

(Marvel Voices Pride #1, released June 22, 2022)

Honorable mention: Mobius. It's not canon, but in my heart it is.

(Loki S2E2, released October 12, 2023)

Let me know if I missed any!

[harrisonarchive]

Photo by Chris Cuffaro.

“People always say he is the quiet Beatle. And I always think, ‘What the f*** is that?’ [Laughter] Because he was so loud, he was so funny. […] They call him the quiet Beatle, and he’s a guru-type person, and I don’t see that at all. I mean, he was very, very sensitive in a way, that in one day or a certain period of time [around 1973] he would be up early in the morning and meditate and his whole day was beautiful. And then, a few months later he’s down there sniffing the f**** coke like an idiot and drinking like — I couldn’t believe it. He’s so good or bad. Those people are the ones that are looking for something to hold on to, and this Indian thing was for him the thing that he was holding on to, if he could hold on to it, if it didn’t slip out of his hand.” - Klaus Voormann, Sound Opinions, January 2019 “George’s zodiac sign was Pisces, and he even wrote a song about it, called ‘Pisces Fish,’ where he says: ‘One half’s going where the other half’s just been.’ He was a man of extremes: everything he did, he did intensely. When he was naughty, he was very naughty, and when he was well-behaved, he was very well-behaved. It was the same in his relationships with other people, that’s why he touched so many so deeply. But ultimately he saw no difference between a very dark night and a very sunny day. It was all about the depth of experience.” - Olivia Harrison, translated from Süddeutsche Zeitung, November 25, 2011 “But I try to balance my life with peace and quiet, because the other side is real rowdy, you know, when you get into the record business and that kind of stuff. So I think that I’ve been a very extreme person. I’m a Pisces, you see; one half’s going where the other half’s just been. It’s been very extreme: extremely up or extremely down, extremely spiritual or extremely drugged. And now, with a bit of maturity, I’ve brought the two extremes closer to the middle, I don’t get too far up, I don’t get too up or too down, you know, it’s… and it feels good.” - George Harrison, Off The Record, February 12, 1988