#01/08/2018

[lanwangjihouse]

[midnightmurdershow]

The Haunting of Hill House (2018 – ) Season 01 Episode 08 “Witness Marks” Directed by Mike Flanagan

[mostlysignssomeportents]

NLRB rules that any union busting triggers automatic union recognition

Tonight (September 6) at 7pm, I'll be hosting Naomi Klein at the LA Public Library for the launch of Doppelganger.

On September 12 at 7pm, I'll be at Toronto's Another Story Bookshop with my new book The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation.

American support for unions is at its highest level in generations, from 70% (general population) to 88% (Millenials) – and yet, American unionization rates are pathetic.

That's about to change.

The National Labor Relations Board just handed down a landmark ruling – the Cemex case – that "brought worker rights back from the dead."

https://prospect.org/labor/2023-08-28-bidens-nlrb-brings-workers-rights-back/

At issue in Cemex was what the NLRB should do about employers that violate labor law during union drives. For decades, even the most flagrantly illegal union-busting was met with a wrist-slap. For example, if a boss threatened or fired an employee for participating in a union drive, the NLRB would typically issue a small fine and order the employer to re-hire the worker and provide back-pay.

Everyone knows that "a fine is a price." The NLRB's toothless response to cheating presented an easily solved equation for corrupt, union-hating bosses: if the fine amounts to less than the total, lifetime costs of paying a fair wage and offering fair labor conditions, you should cheat – hell, it's practically a fiduciary duty:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/468061

Enter the Cemex ruling: once a majority of workers have signed a union card, any Unfair Labor Practice by their employer triggers immediate, automatic recognition of the union. In other words, the NLRB has fitted a tilt sensor in the American labor pinball machine, and if the boss tries to cheat, they automatically lose.

Cemex is a complete 180, a radical transformation of the American labor regulator from a figleaf that legitimized union busting to an actual enforcer, upholding the law that Congress passed, rather than the law that America's oligarchs wish Congress had passed. It represents a turning point in the system of lawless impunity for American plutocracy.

In the words of Frank Wilhoit, it is is a repudiation of the conservative dogma: "There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect":

https://crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/liberals-against-progressives/#comment-729288

It's also a stunning example of what regulatory competence looks like. The Biden administration is a decidedly mixed bag. On the one hand there are empty suits masquerading as technocrats, champions of the party's centrist wing (slogan: "Everything is fine and change is impossible"):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/10/the-courage-to-govern/#whos-in-charge

But the progressive, Sanders/Warren wing of the party installed some fantastically competent, hard-charging, principled fighters, who are chapter-and-verse on their regulatory authority and have the courage to use that authority:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/18/administrative-competence/#i-know-stuff

They embody the old joke about the photocopier technician who charges "$1 to kick the photocopier and $79 to know where to kick it." The best Biden appointees have their boots firmly laced, and they're kicking that mother:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/16/the-second-best-time-is-now/#the-point-of-a-system-is-what-it-does

One such expert kicker is NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo. Abruzzo has taken a series of muscular, bold moves to protect American workers, turning the tide in the class war that the 1% has waged on workers since the Reagan administration. For example, Abruzzo is working to turn worker misclassification – the fiction that an employee is a small business contracting with their boss, a staple of the "gig economy" – into an Unfair Labor Practice:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/01/10/see-you-in-the-funny-papers/bidens-legacy

She's also waging war on robo-scab companies: app-based employment "platforms" like Instawork that are used to recruit workers to cross picket lines, under threat of being blocked from the app and blackballed by hundreds of local employers:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/30/computer-says-scab/#instawork

With Cemex, Abruzzo is restoring a century-old labor principle that has been gathering dust for generations: the idea that workers have the right to organize workplace gemocracies without fear of retaliation, harassment, or reprisals.

But as Harold Meyerson writes for The American Prospect, the Cemex ruling has its limits. Even if the NLRB forces and employer to recognize a union, they can't force the employer to bargain in good faith for a union contract. The National Labor Relations Act prohibits the Board from imposing a contract.

That's created a loophole that corrupt bosses have driven entire fleets of trucks through. Workers who attain union recognition face years-long struggles to win a contract, as their bosses walk away from negotiations or offer farcical "bargaining positions" in the expectation that they'll be rejected, prolonging the delay.

Democrats have been trying to fix this loophole since the LBJ years, but they've been repeatedly blocked in the senate. But Abruzzo is a consummate photocopier kicker, and she's taking aim. In Thrive Pet Healthcare, Abruzzo has argued that failing to bargain in good faith for a contract is itself an Unfair Labor Practice. That means the NLRB has the authority to act to correct it – they can't order a contract, but they can order the employer to give workers "wages, benefits, hours, and such that are comparable to those provided by comparable unionized companies in their field."

Mitch McConnell is a piece of shit, but he's no slouch at kicking photocopiers himself. For a whole year, McConnell has blocked senate confirmation hearings to fill a vacant seat on the NLRB. In the short term, this meant that the three Dems on the board were able to hand down these bold rulings without worrying about their GOP colleagues.

But McConnell was playing a long game. Board member Gwynne Wilcox's term is about to expire. If her seat remains vacant, the three remaining board members won't be able to form a quorum, and the NLRB won't be able to do anything.

As Meyerson writes, centrist Dems have refused to push McConnell on this, hoping for comity and not wanting to violate decorum. But Chuck Schumer has finally bestirred himself to fight this issue, and Alaska GOP senator Lisa Murkowski has already broken with her party to move Wilcox's confirmation to a floor vote.

The work of enforcers like DoJ Antitrust Division boss Jonathan Kanter, FTC chair Lina Khan, and SEC chair Gary Gensler is at the heart of Bidenomics: the muscular, fearless deployment of existing regulatory authority to make life better for everyday Americans.

But of course, "existing regulatory authority" isn't the last word. The judges filling stolen seats on the illegitimate Supreme Court had invented the "major questions doctrine" and have used it as a club to attack Biden's photocopier-kickers. There's real danger that Cemex – and other key actions – will get fast-tracked to SCOTUS so the dotards in robes can shatter our dreams for a better America.

Meyerson is cautiously optimistic here. At 40% (!), the Court's approval rating is at a low not seen since the New Deal showdowns. The Supremes don't have an army, they don't have cops, they just have legitimacy. If Americans refuse to acknowledge their decisions, all they can do it sit and stew:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/26/mint-the-coin-etc-etc/#blitz-em

The Court knows this. That's why they fume so publicly about attacks on their legitimacy. Without legitimacy, they're nothing. With the Supremes' support at 40% and union support at 70%, any judicial attack on Cemex could trigger term-limits, court-packing, and other doomsday scenarios that will haunt the relatively young judges for decades, as the seats they stole dwindle into irrelevance. Meyerson predicts that this will weigh on them, and may stay their hands.

Meyerson might be wrong, of course. No one ever lost money betting on the self-destructive hubris of Federalist Society judges. But even if he's wrong, his point is important. If the Supremes frustrate the democratic will of the American people, we have to smash the Supremes. Term limits, court-packing, whatever it takes:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/20/judicial-equilibria/#pack-the-court

And the more we talk about this – the more we make this consequence explicit – the more it will weigh on them, and the better the chance that they'll surprise us. That's already happening! The Supremes just crushed the Sackler opioid crime-family's dream of keeping their billions in blood-money:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/11/justice-delayed/#justice-redeemed

But if it doesn't stop them? If they crush this dream, too? Pack the court. Impose term limits. Make it the issue. Don't apologize, don't shrug it off, don't succumb to learned helplessness. Make it our demand. Make it a litmus test: "If elected, will you vote to pack the court and clear the way for democratic legitimacy?"

Meanwhile, Cemex is already bearing fruit. After an NYC Trader Joe's violated the law to keep Trader Joe's United from organizing a store, the workers there have petitioned to have their union automatically recognized under the Cemex rule:

https://truthout.org/articles/trader-joes-union-files-to-force-company-to-recognize-union-under-new-nlrb-rule/

With the NLRB clearing the regulatory obstacles to union recognition, America's largest unions are awakening from their own long slumbers. For decades, unions have spent a desultory 3% of their budgets on organizing workers into new locals. But a leadership upset in the AFL-CIO has unions ready to catch a wave with the young workers and their 88% approval rating, with a massive planned organizing drive:

https://prospect.org/labor/labors-john-l-lewis-moment/

Meyerson calls on other large unions to follow suit, and the unions seem ready to do so, with new leaders and new militancy at the Teamsters and UAW, and with SEIU members at unionized Starbucks waiting for their first contracts.

Turning union-supporting workers into unionized workers is key to fighting Supreme Court sabotage. Organized labor will give fighters like Abruzzo the political cover she needs to Get Shit Done. A better America is possible. It's within our grasp. Though there is a long way to go, we are winning crucial victories all the time.

The centrist message that everything is fine and change is impossible is designed to demoralize you, to win the fight in your mind so they don't have to win it in the streets and in the jobsite. We don't have to give them that victory. It's ours for the taking.

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/2023/09/06/goons-ginks-and-company-finks

[silvermountaingirl]

Locus Magazine's September update on the Neil Gaiman allegations

"CORRECTIONS (on page 4) In our August 2024 story regarding recent allegations against Neil Gaiman, we erroneously described Tortoise Media (which broke the news) as a tabloid; we apologize for the mischaracterization. Tortoise Media is a British news website founded in 2018

MORE GAIMAN ALLEGATIONS (on pages 72-3) We reported last month on two women who accused author Neil Gaiman of sexual assault. Since then, three more women have come forward with allegations. Two of them spoke on the Tortoise Media podcast Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman. Caroline Wallner lived on Gaiman’s property in Woodstock NY from 2014 to 2021, and says that she felt pressured to have sex with him in order to maintain her living situation; she further alleges that when she stopped responding to requests for explicit photos and videos, Gaiman’s business manager told her she had to move out by December 2021. Wallner says Gaiman paid her $275,000 that month in exchange for signing an NDA that ‘‘disputes and denies that Wallner has sustained any losses, damages, or injuries for which Gaiman is legally responsible.’’ Wallner chose to come forward after hearing the earlier allegations.

The second woman on the podcast, Julia Hobsbawm, says Gaiman made ‘‘an aggressive, unwanted pass’’ at her in 1986, when she was 22 and Gaiman was 25, after which she cut off contact.

Two other women reportedly declined to be interviewed for the podcast but provided messages and ‘‘corroborating evidence’’ pointing to a pattern of behavior on Gaiman’s part. Details are here: www.tortoisemedia.com/2024/08/01/exclusive-two-more-women-accuse-neil-gaiman-of-sexual-assault-and-abuse/

The other accuser, using the name Claire, appeared on a different podcast, Am I Broken: Survivor Stories. She claims that she was a fan of Gaiman and met him at a book event in 2012, subsequently entering into a ten-month in-person and long-distance relationship that allegedly included unwanted interactions such as a kiss, groping, phone sex, and pressure to have sex. She described feeling ‘‘gross’’ but going along with the kiss because ‘‘it was Neil Gaiman.’’ She claims Gaiman said, ‘‘I’m a very wealthy man, and I’m used to getting what I want.’’ She also said Gaiman claimed she initiated the contact, and that he blamed his autism for failing to properly read her body language. The podcast is here: amibroken.buzzsprout.com/763742/15488615-s4-ep2-claire-i-ignored-it-and-i-believed-him-because-he-s-the-storyteller-neil-gaiman.

Gaiman has declined to comment publicly on the allegations."

[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]

[aquasoftware]

Now playing ▹ Kali Uchis - After The Storm ft. Tyler, The Creator, Bootsy Collins.

Isolation | Album • 2018.

Key | 🎸 (smut), 🎹 (fluff), 🎻 (angst), 🎷(suggestive).

╔═══《✧》 ═══╗𓇼 Jujutsu Kaisen.

JJK smaus CD collection !!

01. ♬ Doomed birthday wishes. 🎹 MOST STREAMED!!

(Song released 3/5/25) ↑

02. ♬ Period Drama: Bathroom Edition. 🎹

(Song released 3/9/25) ↑

03. ♬ Can’t handle a lil fabric? 🎹🎷

(Song released 3/12/25) ↑

04. ♬ I'll taste take you instead. 🎹🎷

(Song released 3/13/25) ↑

05. ♬ “Kiss my ass…” Oops, wait not literally?! 🎹🎷#1 MOST STREAMED!!

(Song released 3/14/25) ↑

06. ♬ What round y'all on? 🎹🎷

(Song released 3/15/25) ↑

07. ♬ No strings attached. 🎹🎷

(Song released 3/19/25) ↑

08. ♬ No strings attached pt 2. [1/2] 🎻🎹🎷

(Song released 3/27/25) ↑

09. ♬ No strings attached pt 2. [2/2] 🎻🎹🎷

(Song released 4/2/25) ↑

10. ♬ Doomed birthday wishes pt 2. 🎹

(Song released 3/28/25) ↑

11. ♬ Curiosity killed the roommate!! 🎷🎹

(Song released 4/4/25) ↑

12. ♬ Do me a solid!! 🎹🎷 #2 MOST STREAMED!!

(Song released 4/16/25) ↑

13. ♬ How big are those jugs?! 🎹🎷

(Song released 4/18/25) ↑

14. ♬ Blame it on the strap 🎹🎷

(Song released 4/23/25) ↑

15. ♬ How big is it for research purposes 🎹🎷

(Song released 4/24/25) ↑

16. ♬ False accusations !! 🎹🎷

(Song released 4/26/25) ↑

17. ♬ Kookie Kombat 🎹🎷

(Song released 4/30/25) ↑

18. ♬ Weather boy VS. Petty/H*rny gf: who will win?! 🎹🎷

(Song released 5/4/25) ↑

19. ♬ Not so innocent?! 🎹🎷

(Song released 5/7/25) ↑

20. ♬ The recipe for love ৻ꪆ 🎹🎷

(Song released 5/8/25) ↑

21. ♬ Feed that streak!! 🎹

(Song released 5/14/25) ↑

22. ♬ Every breath you take. 🎹

(Song released 5/17/25) ↑

23. ♬ Mission impregnable. 🎹🎷

(Song released 5/22/25) ↑

24. The blame game. 🎹🎷

(Song released 5/29/25) ↑

25. Break up or breakdown? ↑ 🎹

▶︎ ♪♫♪ ! Satoru Gojo.

01. 𝄞 Nine inch nails. 🎸

(Song released 8/17/24) ↑

02. 𝄞 Words of affirmation. 🎹

(Song released 4/5/25) ↑

03. 𝄞 You got me looking for attention!! 🎸

(Song released 4/11/25) ↑

▶︎ ♪♫♪ ! Kento Nanami.

01. ♪ His baby. 🎹

Track 4 (Song released 8/28/24) ↑

02. ♪ Don’t call me selfish I ain’t sharing!! 🎸

(Song released 4/19/25) ↑

03. ♪ You don’t know my name!!

(Song released 5/6/25) ↑

04. ♪ Vanilla with a cherry on top.

(Song released 5/30/25) ↑

▶︎ ♪♫♪ ! Choso Kamo.

01. 𓏢 Giving oral for dummies 🎸

(Song released 3/21/25) ↑

02. 𓏢 Let’s go milf huntin’ 🎸

(Song released 5/13/25) ↑

▶︎ ♪♫♪ ! Suguru Geto.

01. 𝄢 Soak operas 🎸

(Song released 4/17/25) ↑

▶︎ ♪♫♪ ! Toji fushiguro.

01. ♩Big dick neighbor. 🎸

(Song released 8/1/24) ↑

02. ♩"I missed you." 🎸

(Song released 8/5/24) ↑

03. ♩Smash or pass? 🎸

(Song released 3/9/25) ↑

▶︎ ♪♫♪ ! Sukuna Ryomen.

01. ♭Have some class 🎸

(Song released 3/22/25) ↑

36 songs in total • more by Koi’lani? ➜ Rules

[staydandy]

The Lost Tomb 2: Wrath of the Sea (2019) - 盗墓笔记2 - Whump List

List by StayDandy Synopsis : The group of heroes are pulled into another tomb-raiding expedition that takes them beneath the sea. In an ancient Ming Dynasty ship, they encounter monstrous creatures and puzzling traps. Wu Xie opens the box that he obtained from the Seven Star Coffins of Lu Wang's Palace to discover a snake-browed copper fish. Uncle Wu San Xing recounts the strange occurrences over ten years ago when they went on an archaeological expedition to Paracel Islands. Wu Xie leads a team down to the same place to explore a sunken ship where hidden dangers await. (MDL)

Whumpee : Wu Xie played by Neo Hou (center right) • Zhang Qi Ling played by Cheng Yi (center left) • Wang Pang Zi played by Zhang Bo Yu (2nd from right)

Country : 🇨🇳 China Genres : Action, Adventure, Mystery, Supernatural, Bromance

Notes : This is a Full Whump List • Adapted from books 2, 3 and some of 4 of "The Grave Robbers' Chronicles" (Daomu Biji) by Kennedy Xu • Suggested watch order of series (not including movies & spin-offs) : -- 1. Mystic Nine (2016) -- 2. The Lost Tomb (2015) >> 3. The Lost Tomb 2: Wrath of the Sea (2019) -- 4. The Lost Tomb 2: Explore with the Note (2021) -- 5. The Lost Tomb 3: Ultimate Note (2020) -- 6. Adventure Behind the Bronze Door (2024) -- 7. Tomb of the Sea (2018) -- 8. Reunion: Sound of the Providence (2020) -- 9. Reunion: Sound of the Providence 2 (2020)

Related Lists : The Lost Tomb (2015) - Full List • The Lost Tomb 2: Explore With the Note (2021) - Full List • The Lost Tomb 3: Ultimate Note (2020) - Full List • Adventure Behind the Bronze Door (2024) - Full List

Episodes on List : 25 Total Episodes : 40

*Spoilers below*

01 : Wu Xie shocked awake, sweating, from a layered nightmare (nightmare within a nightmare within a nightmare) … Wang Pang Zi knocked out

02 : [nightmare] Wu Xie choked

05 : Unsteady … entrapped in a trance, strangled, broken out of it … Pang Zi knocked over from an explosion … Wu Xie attacked, thrown to the ground, Pang Zi thrown into a wall, Zhang Qi Ling fights; choked & lifted off the ground

06 : [flashback] Passes out

07 : Wu Xie dizzy, entranced … [flashback] head pain, pushed into water … [present] Zhang Qi Ling head pain, recalling forgotten memories … Wu Xie, Zhang Qi Ling, & Pang Zi escaping a collapsing underwater building, stuck on the way out.. Wu Xie unconscious, receives chest compressions, spits up water, knocked to the ground

08 : Recovering from fever (not really shown) … [flashback] cut his own hand

09 : Shocked awake, sweating, from nightmare

11 : (near end) Wu Xie & Pang Zi captured, tied up

12 : … continued from previous ep. ...Wu Xie still captured, tied up … imprisoned.. dehydrated, breathing hard, unsteady.. passes out.. helped to walk

17 : Pang Zi attacked, Wu Xie attacked.. attacked again, knocked out, drowning.. spitting up water … Pang Zi bit by insect

18 : Wu Xie Hit with the butt of a gun, knocked out.. wakes tied up … Pang Zi having a reaction to bug bite; unsteady, arm in hives & paralyzed, passes out … Wu Xie falls, nightmare; wakes trapped in a casket, choked

19 : Drugged, unsteady, passes out, arm nicked & blood taken

21 : Falls, knocked out briefly … Pang Zi entranced into almost killing himself … rolls down a slope

23 : Wu Xie cuts his own hand … dizzy

24 : … continued from previous ep. ... Dizzy … unsteady, holding his head … attacked, choked

26 : Blown back by an explosion, briefly knocked out … falls, hits head, blurry vision, unsteady … cuts his own hand … blown back by an explosion, drowning … wakes in hospital (comedic: with a high-pitched voice from concussion)

28 : Pang Zi's arm in a cast (tho I'm confused as to why)

30 : (near end) Wu Xie knocked out from an explosion … falls into a pit

31 : Pang Zi found unconscious

32 : Found unconscious, head sore from being knocked out

35 : Wu Xie & Pang Zi in a fight; Wu Xie coughs up blood … head pain from noise

36 : Digs out from being buried in snow, head pain.. [flashback] buried in rubble from collapsed tomb, unconscious … [present] rolls down hill, arm hurt.. exhausted, passes out.. headache, collapses … headache … drugged asleep … caught in a trap, hung upside down

37 : Headache … captured … Pang Zi captured, tied up, mouth gagged … Zhang Qi Ling head pain, drugged unconscious

38 : Drugged unconscious … Zhang Qi Ling & Pang Zi trapped in a net, both tied up & hooded

39 : (near end) Wu Xie exhausted, collapses, hypoxia (not enough oxygen), slaps himself, passes out … hallucinating

More Whump Lists for this show: love-me-a-lotta-whump

[theforbiddeneden]

SLEEP TOKEN SPEECHES, INTERLUDES, INTERVIEWS, MAGAZINES, ART & LORE (FANMADE)

LORE OF SLEEP TOKEN (FAN MADE):

THE LORE OF: Sleep Token - Translated ENG TO PTBR

PART I - SUNDOWING SIGILS - SLEEP TOKEN LORE - FAN MADE - ENG TRANSLATED TO PTBR

PART II - SUNDOWING SIGILS - SLEEP TOKEN LORE - FAN MADE - ENG TRANSLATED TO PTBR

INTERVIEWS:

Who and what the hell are Sleep Token? / Qual é a história por trás do Sleep Token?

An Offering From Drumeo | Sleep Token II

HQ:

[HQ] Sleep Token: Teeth of God 2024

MAGAZINES:

2017 - 2019 - SLEEP TOKEN MAGAZINES

2018 - Kerrang Magazine 01/08/2018

2023 - Metal Hammer Magazine December 2023 Enter The World Of Sleep Token - Revista Metal Hammer Dezembro 2023 Entre no mundo do Sleep Token

2023 - 2024 - SLEEP TOKEN - REVOLVER MAGAZINES COVERS (2023 - 2024)

2024 - 2024 Kerrang - Sleep Token: “Our identity is represented through the art itself” - Translated ENG TO PTBR

2024 - Metal Hammer issue 388 May 2024 The 100 Songs that Changed the World

2024 - EDITORIAL SLEEP TOKEN PICTURES FOR MAGAZINES by ANDY FORD

2025 - Metal Hammer Magazine May 2025 - Sleep Token - Translated to ENG to PTBR

INTERLUDES:

NORTH AMERICAN RITUALS TOUR (30/09/2023): INTERLÚDIOS

NORTH AMERICAN RITUALS TOUR (30/09/2023): INTERLÚDIOS -PART I

NORTH AMERICAN RITUALS TOUR (30/09/2023): INTERLÚDIOS -PART II

TEETH OF GOD US TOUR(30/04/2024): INTERLÚDIOS

SPEECHES:

FROM THE ROOM BELOW - LAFAYETTE - SLEEP TOKEN - 29/04/2022

SHORT VIDEOS:

THIS PLACE WILL BECOME YOUR TOMB - PREVIEWS

THE TEETH OF GOD TOUR 2024

Sleep Token - Short Videos - THE TEETH OF GOD TOUR

EUROPEAN TOUR 2024

SHOW FLYERS:

SLEEP TOKEN - FLYERS SHOWS

COINS LIMITED EDITIONS:

SLEEP TOKEN COINS - LIMITED EDITION

MASK EVOLUTION:

SLEEP TOKEN - MASKS

SLEEP TOKEN II, III & IV MASK BY LANI MASK

ARTS:

Take Me Back To Eden I BY LUKE PREECE

Take Me Back To Eden II BY LUKE PREECE

Snake Vessel by Alex Tillbrook

German Teeth of God Tour by Alex Tillbrook

Sleep Token Art by NEMESIS

SLEEP TOKEN T-SHIRT & HOODIES DESIGNS BY MARC HOLT

SLEEP TOKEN T-SHIRT & HOODIES DESIGNS BY CHRIS HARDY

SLEEP TOKEN T-SHIRT & HOODIES DESIGNS BY RACHEL

IMPERICON - SLEEP TOKEN - EUROPEAN TOUR 2024 - EVENT EXCLUSIVE MERCHANDISE

EVEN IN ARCADIA ART BY ALEX TILLBROOK

Even In Arcadia By Marc Holt

Even In Arcadia By Marc Holt II

SLEEP TOKEN STATUE(ACTION FIGURE):

SLEEP TOKEN VESSEL LIMITED EDITION STATUE BY KNUCKLEBONZ

ALBUM COVER & LYRICS:

EVEN IN ARCADIA

TAKE ME BACK TO EDEN

THIS PLACE WILL BECOME YOUR TOMB

SUNDOWNING

TWO

ONE

SINGLES - Hey Ya, Jaws, Is it Really You?

ALL ALBUM COVERS

ALPHABET:

Take Me Back To Eden - Alphabet symbols deciphered

RANDOM:

THE RESEMBLANCE OF TMBTE GOD AND THANATOS THE GOD OF DEATH/A SEMELHANÇA ENTRE O DEUS DE TMBTE E THANATOS O DEUS DA MORTE

Analysis of “Atlantic” by Sleep Token / Análise de “Atlantic” por Sleep Token

[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

[litacaranas]

call it fate, call it karma.

╰┈➤ circa 2018.

jeff hardy!

desc. the love story of a girl with a pipe dream of becoming the youngest women’s champion and an eclectic man trying to rewrite the narrative of his past.

disclaimer: explicit, probably nsfw at some point, angst, depression, drug use, alcohol, domestic violence & abuse (not between jeff and reader.), bullying, etc.

a/n: age gap fic series, seventeen year diff, actual history of youngest women’s champion doesn’t apply here.

༺☆༻

01. dream big, little bird (march 30th)

02. please, please, please (tbd)

03. nutshell

04. my own worst enemy

05. comfortable liar

06. let down

07. not good enough for truth in cliché

08. silver springs

[lanwangjihouse]

[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!!!!

[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

[kwanisms]

➔ bang chan menu | back to stray kids menu | back to main menu

🔞 many of these works contain sexual content (18+ mdni) 🔞 ♤ — angst :: ♡ — fluff :: ♧ — smut ✍ — ongoing :: ⊝ — hiatus :: ⊗ — discontinued :: ✓ — completed

— oneshots

»» Kinkuary: cuckold + voyeurism (ft. Seungmin) ♧ ➥ 4.6k; For Seungmin’s birthday, Chris decided to give him a gift he’s never considered giving to anyone else: a night with his own girlfriend, Y/N.

»» Creature Feature '23: More Than Just Friends ♧ ➥ 7.4k; Chris is a werewolf. His best friend is well aware of this. But what she doesn’t know is that during his heat, he often pictures pinning her down and breeding her. When she comes back home the day before his cycle is due to start, Chris finds it hard to not give into his urges when he smells she’s ovulating.

»» Kinktober '24: Wrong Turn (feat. Felix) ♧ ➥ 6.6k; Y/N is convinced her map is wrong when she finds herself utterly lost on what was supposed to be a short hike from her camp. When she comes upon a small river and stops to fill her canteen, she finds more than water waiting for her.

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════

— drabbles

L O A D I N G . . .

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════

— timestamps

»» [02:41] ♧ Y/N & her boyfriend were supposed to drive out to look at the stars.

»» [01:08] ♧ Y/N's boyfriend really doesn't like it when his friends pay attention to her nor does he like it when she playfully flirts with them.

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════

— miniseries

L O A D I N G . . .

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════

— series

L O A D I N G . . .

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[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.