#28/05/2021

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The US Copyright Office frees the McFlurry

I'll be in TUCSON, AZ from November 8-10: I'm the GUEST OF HONOR at the TUSCON SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION.

I have spent a quarter century obsessed with the weirdest corner of the weirdest section of the worst internet law on the US statute books: Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the 1998 law that makes it a felony to help someone change how their own computer works so it serves them, rather than a distant corporation.

Under DMCA 1201, giving someone a tool to "bypass an access control for a copyrighted work" is a felony punishable by a 5-year prison sentence and a $500k fine – for a first offense. This law can refer to access controls for traditional copyrighted works, like movies. Under DMCA 1201, if you help someone with photosensitive epilepsy add a plug-in to the Netflix player in their browser that blocks strobing pictures that can trigger seizures, you're a felon:

https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-html-media/2017Jul/0005.html

But software is a copyrighted work, and everything from printer cartridges to car-engine parts have software in them. If the manufacturer puts an "access control" on that software, they can send their customers (and competitors) to prison for passing around tools to help them fix their cars or use third-party ink.

Now, even though the DMCA is a copyright law (that's what the "C" in DMCA stands for, after all); and even though blocking video strobes, using third party ink, and fixing your car are not copyright violations, the DMCA can still send you to prison, for a long-ass time for doing these things, provided the manufacturer designs their product so that using it the way that suits you best involves getting around an "access control."

As you might expect, this is quite a tempting proposition for any manufacturer hoping to enshittify their products, because they know you can't legally disenshittify them. These access controls have metastasized into every kind of device imaginable.

Garage-door openers:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/09/lead-me-not-into-temptation/#chamberlain

Refrigerators:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/06/12/digital-feudalism/#filtergate

Dishwashers:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/03/cassette-rewinder/#disher-bob

Treadmills:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/22/vapescreen/#jane-get-me-off-this-crazy-thing

Tractors:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/23/reputation-laundry/#deere-john

Cars:

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

Printers:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/08/07/inky-wretches/#epson-salty

And even printer paper:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/16/unauthorized-paper/#dymo-550

DMCA 1201 is the brainchild of Bruce Lehmann, Bill Clinton's Copyright Czar, who was repeatedly warned that cancerous proliferation this was the foreseeable, inevitable outcome of his pet policy. As a sop to his critics, Lehman added a largely ornamental safety valve to his law, ordering the US Copyright Office to invite submissions every three years petitioning for "use exemptions" to the blanket ban on circumventing access-controls.

I call this "ornamental" because if the Copyright Office thinks that, say, it should be legal for you to bypass an access control to use third-party ink in your printer, or a third-party app store in your phone, all they can do under DMCA 1201 is grant you the right to use a circumvention tool. But they can't give you the right to acquire that tool.

I know that sounds confusing, but that's only because it's very, very stupid. How stupid? Well, in 2001, the US Trade Representative arm-twisted the EU into adopting its own version of this law (Article 6 of the EUCD), and in 2003, Norway added the law to its lawbooks. On the eve of that addition, I traveled to Oslo to debate the minister involved:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/28/clintons-ghost/#felony-contempt-of-business-model

The minister praised his law, explaining that it gave blind people the right to bypass access controls on ebooks so that they could feed them to screen readers, Braille printers, and other assistive tools. OK, I said, but how do they get the software that jailbreaks their ebooks so they can make use of this exemption? Am I allowed to give them that tool?

No, the minister said, you're not allowed to do that, that would be a crime.

Is the Norwegian government allowed to give them that tool? No. How about a blind rights advocacy group? No, not them either. A university computer science department? Nope. A commercial vendor? Certainly not.

No, the minister explained, under his law, a blind person would be expected to personally reverse engineer a program like Adobe E-Reader, in hopes of discovering a defect that they could exploit by writing a program to extract the ebook text.

Oh, I said. But if a blind person did manage to do this, could they supply that tool to other blind people?

Well, no, the minister said. Each and every blind person must personally – without any help from anyone else – figure out how to reverse-engineer the ebook program, and then individually author their own alternative reader program that worked with the text of their ebooks.

That is what is meant by a use exemption without a tools exemption. It's useless. A sick joke, even.

The US Copyright Office has been valiantly holding exemptions proceedings every three years since the start of this century, and they've granted many sensible exemptions, including ones to benefit people with disabilities, or to let you jailbreak your phone, or let media professors extract video clips from DVDs, and so on. Tens of thousands of person-hours have been flushed into this pointless exercise, generating a long list of things you are now technically allowed to do, but only if you are a reverse-engineering specialist type of computer programmer who can manage the process from beginning to end in total isolation and secrecy.

But there is one kind of use exception the Copyright Office can grant that is potentially game-changing: an exemption for decoding diagnostic codes.

You see, DMCA 1201 has been a critical weapon for the corporate anti-repair movement. By scrambling error codes in cars, tractors, appliances, insulin pumps, phones and other devices, manufacturers can wage war on independent repair, depriving third-party technicians of the diagnostic information they need to figure out how to fix your stuff and keep it going.

This is bad enough in normal times, but during the acute phase of the covid pandemic, hospitals found themselves unable to maintain their ventilators because of access controls. Nearly all ventilators come from a single med-tech monopolist, Medtronic, which charges hospitals hundreds of dollars to dispatch their own repair technicians to fix its products. But when covid ended nearly all travel, Medtronic could no longer provide on-site calls. Thankfully, an anonymous hacker started building homemade (illegal) circumvention devices to let hospital technicians fix the ventilators themselves, improvising housings for them from old clock radios, guitar pedals and whatever else was to hand, then mailing them anonymously to hospitals:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/10/flintstone-delano-roosevelt/#medtronic-again

Once a manufacturer monopolizes repair in this way, they can force you to use their official service depots, charging you as much as they'd like; requiring you to use their official, expensive replacement parts; and dictating when your gadget is "too broken to fix," forcing you to buy a new one. That's bad enough when we're talking about refusing to fix a phone so you buy a new one – but imagine having a spinal injury and relying on a $100,000 exoskeleton to get from place to place and prevent muscle wasting, clots, and other immobility-related conditions, only to have the manufacturer decide that the gadget is too old to fix and refusing to give you the technical assistance to replace a watch battery so that you can get around again:

https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/26/24255074/former-jockey-michael-straight-exoskeleton-repair-battery

When the US Copyright Office grants a use exemption for extracting diagnostic codes from a busted device, they empower repair advocates to put that gadget up on a workbench and torture it into giving up those codes. The codes can then be integrated into an unofficial diagnostic tool, one that can make sense of the scrambled, obfuscated error codes that a device sends when it breaks – without having to unscramble them. In other words, only the company that makes the diagnostic tool has to bypass an access control, but the people who use that tool later do not violate DMCA 1201.

This is all relevant this month because the US Copyright Office just released the latest batch of 1201 exemptions, and among them is the right to circumvent access controls "allowing for repair of retail-level food preparation equipment":

https://publicknowledge.org/public-knowledge-ifixit-free-the-mcflurry-win-copyright-office-dmca-exemption-for-ice-cream-machines/

While this covers all kinds of food prep gear, the exemption request – filed by Public Knowledge and Ifixit – was inspired by the bizarre war over the tragically fragile McFlurry machine. These machines – which extrude soft-serve frozen desserts – are notoriously failure-prone, with 5-16% of them broken at any given time. Taylor, the giant kitchen tech company that makes the machines, charges franchisees a fortune to repair them, producing a steady stream of profits for the company.

This sleazy business prompted some ice-cream hackers to found a startup called Kytch, a high-powered automation and diagnostic tool that was hugely popular with McDonald's franchisees (the gadget was partially designed by the legendary hardware hacker Andrew "bunnie" Huang!).

In response, Taylor played dirty, making a less-capable clone of the Kytch, trying to buy Kytch out, and teaming up with McDonald's corporate to bombard franchisees with legal scare-stories about the dangers of using a Kytch to keep their soft-serve flowing, thanks to DMCA 1201:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/20/euthanize-rentier-enablers/#cold-war

Kytch isn't the only beneficiary of the new exemption: all kinds of industrial kitchen equipment is covered. In upholding the Right to Repair, the Copyright Office overruled objections of some of its closest historical allies, the Entertainment Software Association, Motion Picture Association, and Recording Industry Association of America, who all sided with Taylor and McDonald's and opposed the exemption:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/10/us-copyright-office-frees-the-mcflurry-allowing-repair-of-ice-cream-machines/

This is literally the only useful kind of DMCA 1201 exemption the Copyright Office can grant, and the fact that they granted it (along with a similar exemption for medical devices) is a welcome bright spot. But make no mistake, the fact that we finally found a narrow way in which DMCA 1201 can be made slightly less stupid does not redeem this outrageous law. It should still be repealed and condemned to the scrapheap of history.

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

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

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/28/mcbroken/#my-milkshake-brings-all-the-lawyers-to-the-yard

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

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[f1-chaos]

I’m trying to put together a playlist of songs Oscar mentioned or used in his social media posts. It’s far from complete, let me know songs I should add (and their source please ☺️)

Updated: 08/July

HOUSENOF LUX - DannyLux (Instagram, TikTok, 8/Jul)

Devotion - Lance Savali (Instagram, 03/Jul)

Sunsleeper - Barry Can’t Swim (Instagram, TikTok, 30/Jun)

Bancroft - Lemtom (TikTok, 26/Jun)

Still Ridin - Barry Can’t Swim (Instagram, 25/Jun)

Eatin’ Good - Woodcamp (Instagram, 21/Jun)

Swimming Places (Jerome Sydenham Remix) - Julien Jabre (Instagram, 19/JUN)

Cops & Robbers - Sammy Virji, Skepta (Instagram, TikTok, 17/JUN)

Call You Back - Josh Butler, Bontan (Instagram, TikTok, 04/JUN)

Back to Reality - RMS (Instagram, TikTok, 02/JUN)

Like I Like It - Mau P (Instagram, 01/JUN)

Da Funk - Mochakk, Joni (Instagram, TikTok, 31/MAY)

The Process Is The Good Part - geods sorèd (Instagram, 26/MAY)

Pushing On - Oliver $, Jimi Jules, TikTok, 26/MAY)

Eyes Without a Face - Billy Idol (Instagram, TikTok, 21/MAY)

Always - JAYC (TikTok, 17/MAY)

Euphoria - Claptone (Instagram, 17/MAY)

Clothouse - Hector CT (TikTok, 15/MAY)

Move Your Body (Future House) - Tchami (TikTok, 06/MAY)

No Bad Vibes - Jazzy, KILIMANJARO (Instagram, 06/MAY)

Oh Honey - Angelo Ferreri (Instagram, 05/MAY)

Back in the Dance - Darius Syrossian (TikTok, 05/May)

Like This - ZARG (Instagram, TikTok, 05/MAY)

So Good - NOSI (Instagram, TikTok, 28/APR) note: it’s the song in the background of the video, not soundtrack

CALMNESS - MVTRIIIX, Kingpin Skinny Pimp (Instagram, TikTok 26/APR)

Shapes (Oh Will) - Sammy Virji (TikTok, 22/APR)

Nostalgia - Sammy Virji, Issey Cross (Instagram, 21/APR)

Stay - FISHER (Instagram, TikTok, 20/APR)

What Does It Take - Cody Wong (TikTok, 14/APR)

Racing Green (Disrupta Remix) - High Contrast (Instagram, TikTok 13/APR)

Rally House - valtis (Instagram, TikTok, 12/APR)

GLUE (DnB) - VULTURE$ (Instagram, TikTok, 11/APR)

Automatic - Silva Bumpa (Instagram, 9/APR)

Rave Out - Turno, Skepsis, Charlotte Plank (Instagram, TikTok, 7/APR)

The Final Countdown - Europe (Oscar’s pick for karaoke song, YouTube, Which Driver Has The Best Karaoke Pick? on F1 channel, 02/APR)

Wacuka - AVAION, Sofiya Nzau (Instagram, TikTok, 24/MAR)

LETS GO - Lykia (Instagram, TikTok, 23/MAR)

Find My Way Home - Sammy Virji (Instagram, 17/MAR)

Ventriloquist - Chris Gresswelll (Instagram, TikTok, 6/MAR) Note: also recommended in the 3/MAR video

Big Dawgs - Hanumankind, Kalmi (Instagram, TikTok, 22/JAN)

Baiana (Sped Up) - Bakermat (TikTok, 17/MAR)

I Guess We’re Not The Same - Sammy Virji (TikTok, 3/MAR)

Not Like Us - Kendrick Lamar (Instagram, TikTok, 13/FEB)

Chihiro - Gravagerz (TikTok, 31/JAN)

Real Love - Retrowaves (TikTok, 24/JAN)

The Days (NOTION Remix) - Chrystal (TikTok, 19/JAN) Note: also recommended in the 3/MAR video

Who Loves The Sun - Jo. Ke (TikTok, 13/JAN and 29/JUL)

It’s That Time (FISHER remix) - Marlon Hoffstadt (TikTok, 16/DEC)

Peach - salute, Sammy Virji (TikTok, 10/DEC)

Let Go - Duskus (TikTok, 02/DEC)

If U Need It - Sammy Virji (TikTok, 25/NOV)

Somedays - Sonny Fodera, Jazzy, D.O.D (TikTok, 05/NOV)

Thunderstruck - AC/DC (TikTok, 22/OCT)

Way Down We Go - KALEO (TikTok, 06/OCT)

Let It Happen - Matt Frank & The Manic Moon (TikTok, 24/SEP)

Safe and Sound - Capital Cities (TikTok, 17/SEP) Note: version used was “slowed + reverb”

I Follow Rivers - Lykke Li (TikTok, 18/AUG)

Praise Jah In The Moonlight - YG Marley (TikTok, 25/MAY)

Greedy - Tate McRae (TikTok, 22/MAY)

M to the B - Millie B (TikTok, 28/APR)

Bring It Back - Sosa (UK) (TikTok, 18/APR)

Check Da Method - SonoTWS (TikTok, 16/APR)

Lose Yourself - Eminem (Oscar’s hype song, Ride along with Robert and Oscar - Prema Youtube, 21/OCT 2021)

Streetside - Bru C, Bou (Oscar’s song to fall asleep?, other hype song, Ride along with Robert and Oscar - Prema Youtube, 21/OCT 2021)

Don’t Worry Be Happy - Bobby McFerrin (Oscar’s song for a happy moment, Ride along with Robert and Oscar - Prema Youtube, 21/OCT 2021)

Tri Poloski - Davay (Oscar’s song for sleeping, Ride along with Robert and Oscar - Prema Youtube, 21/OCT 2021)

[how-about-some-more-whump]

The Dance of the Storm 风暴舞 (2021) - Whump List

Synopsis: After the death of his father, Li Junjie (on the left) was sent to an orphanage where he met Shi Yunhao (on the right). They became the best of friends, and years later entered a security agency as new recruits. Everything was fine, until Li Junjie suddenly disappeared for three years without a word. Now coming back and looking for revenge, Li Junjie is faced with mixed feelings coming from his agency, his brother and especially his ex-fiancée.

Notes: The WHUMP. The BROMANCE (in pink). The ACTION SCENES. It’s everything I need to keep my mind peacefully quiet. Apart from these scenes, you can watch this drama in x2 speed (or skip it entirely), it’s way too long otherwise. I refer to Junjie and Yunhao as "brothers" because it’s how they refer to each other. Love ya!

NB: Timestamps might be off (< 1mn) depending on where you watch the show. I do not disclose any character death on purpose. The characters are listed by chronological order of whump in each episode.

WARNING: This drama contains se*ual assault depiction.

------ EPISODE 1 ------

Li Junjie

2:17 (In a nightmare) Stabbed in the gut, holding his wound, struggling to stay awake, woozy

16:28 At gunpoint, fighting, running away, slapped

18:57 Hugged (awwww)

21:20 (In a flashback) Shot in the leg, at gunpoint

22:16 (In a flashback) Threatened

Shi Yunhao

40:41 Ambushed, under heavy gunfire

------ EPISODE 2 ------

Shi Yunhao

1:37 (Continued from previous ep) Ambushed, under heavy gunfire

Li Junjie

4:38 Fighting with a criminal, communication with his teammates cut off

6:15 Shot in the back by his teammate (probably in a vest because he seems fine)

9:17 In a car crash, fighting, shot at, holding onto a moving car

11:24 Surrounded, at gunpoint

14:44 (In a flashback) Shot in the leg, collapses

19:18 (In a flashback) Threatened

------ EPISODE 3 ------

Li Junjie

2:51 Fighting with a criminal, thrown around, punched, panting

12:43 Threatened with a bomb

Shi Yunhao

12:43 Threatened with a bomb

------ EPISODE 4 ------

Shi Yunhao

8:38 (The way they smile at each other-)

39:29 Ambushed, attacked with a knife, disarmed, fighting, thrown to the ground, dragged

41:25 Ran over by a car, panting

Li Junjie

20:42 In a barfight (22:27 wtf is happening lmao)

------ EPISODE 5 ------

Shi Yunhao

2:27 Publicly humiliated, pushed

5:17 Blaiming himself

6:11 Comforted by his brother (cuties)

14:00 Yelled at by his father, apologizes, teary eyes

------ EPISODE 6 ------

Li Junjie

6:35 Surrounded, at gunpoint, surrenders

7:19 Interrogated (stays detained for the rest of the episode)

------ EPISODE 7 ------

Li Junjie

11:23 (Continued from previous ep) Still detained

14:20 Handcuffed, interrogated

22:25 Shot in the abdomen, hiding, sweating, escapes from cell

34:28 Bleeding, collapses, pale face, panting

39:15 Barely conscious, wound digged through, wincing and moaning in pain, bullet digged out

------ EPISODE 8 ------

Li Junjie

11:52 Pale face, taken away

19:09 Black sack on his head, struggling to walk, holding his wound

39:25 (In a flashback) Training, attacked from behind, thrown to the ground, in an armlock

40:40 At gunpoint, shot at

------ EPISODE 9 ------

Li Junjie

6:02 (Continued from previous ep) At gunpoint, shot at

9:05 Shot in the chest, falls from a cliff

10:10 Drowning, passes out

29:39 Unconscious, bullet digged out

32:57 Still unconscious, infected wound, fever

37:59 Still unconscious, struggling to wake up

Shi Yunhao

9:02 Pushed, at gunpoint

9:50 Slapped

16:29 Tearing up

------ EPISODE 10 ------

Li Junjie

5:30 (In a flashback) In a group fight alongside his brother, thrown to the ground, kicked in the face, bloody nose, thrown again, groaning in pain, pulled by the hair, punched, dazed

16:26 Bitten (well deserved, how the hell doesn’t he realize how terrifying he is for her), screaming in pain, attacked with a knife, jumps through a window, wincing in pain, running away

Shi Yunhao

5:30 (In a flashback) In a group fight alongside his brother, picked up, manhandled, bruised face

------ EPISODE 11 ------

Li Junjie

2:25 Attacked with a knife, fighting, strangled, arm cut, running away

------ EPISODE 12 ------

Li Junjie

25:20 Trades himself against a hostage

30:26 Hands zip tied behind his back, black sack on his head, manhandled, smacked in the face

32:18 Tied upside down on a boat with ropes, can’t see and can’t hear, spasms

36:28 Hands zip tied behind his back, black sack on his head, helped to walk, weak

------ EPISODE 13 ------

Li Junjie

4:37 (Continued from previous ep) Still tied up, weak

24:29 Tied up on a chair, black sack on his head, injected with a sedative, passes out

26:22 (In a video) Still tied up, sedated, black sack on his head, shot in the head

Shi Yunhao

8:30 At gunpoint

------ EPISODE 14 ------

Shi Yunhao

40:22 (In a flashback) Surrounded by a group of people on motorcycles, trying to run away

Li Junjie

40:35 (In a flashback) Sprained ankle, limping, attacked, slapped, hit between his legs, moaning and wincing in pain

------ EPISODE 15 ------

Li Junjie

10:31 Hands zip tied to a chair

16:32 Tortured (head plunged into water), hands chained behind his back, thrown to the ground, beaten

36:22 Hung from the ceiling by the wrists, unconscious, slapped, beaten, dragged, groaning in pain, drooling blood

Shi Yunhao

22:00 Drinking alone, defeated

------ EPISODE 16 ------

Li Junjie

7:08 Unconscious in a cell, face bruised and bloody, dragged, tied on a chair, manhandled, interrogated, thirsty

9:22 (In a flashback) Hung from the ceiling by the wrists, thirsty

10:34 Injected with some sort of drug, screaming in pain

20:22 Lying on the ground in a cell with his hands tied, barely conscious, struggling to move

27:29 Fighting his way out of it

30:42 At gunpoint, recaptured

37:07 Hands tied behind his back, thrown in a cell

------ EPISODE 17 ------

Li Junjie

3:45 (Continued from previous ep) Lying on the ground in a cell, bloody (it’s pretty much all he does for this entire ep)

------ EPISODE 18 ------

Li Junjie

6:47 Hung from the ceiling by the wrists, unconscious

10:02 Watching someone he loves get tortured (waterboarded)

------ EPISODE 19 ------

None.

------ EPISODE 20 ------

Li Junjie

40:21 Gun to his head

------ EPISODE 21 ------

Li Junjie

7:41 At gunpoint, gun to his head

16:35 Gun to his head

18:20 In a gunfight alongside his brother

19:35 (This bromance omg)

32:31 Gun to his head

Shi Yunhao

17:41 Gun to his head

18:20 In a gunfight alongside his brother

------ EPISODE 22 ------

Li Junjie

2:39 Tied up on a chair

6:30 Kicked in the chest, moaning in pain, stepped on, groaning in pain, bleeding from the mouth

22:41 Beaten up, dazed, spitting blood

------ EPISODE 23 ------

Li Junjie

5:40 Shot at, running away

6:35 Head grazed by a bullet, woozy, shot at more, hiding

------ EPISODE 24 ------

Li Junjie

24:52 Jumps through a window while chasing a criminal, wincing in pain, shot at, running away

--- EPISODES 25 to 29 ---

None.

------ EPISODE 30 ------

Li Junjie

9:21 Arrested

------ EPISODE 31 ------

Li Junjie

1:44 (Continued from previous ep) Detained (stays this way the whole episode)

Shi Yunhao

8:00 Pissed (and hot as hell)

------ EPISODE 32 ------

Li Junjie

18:56 Sent to jail

Shi Yunhao

23:32 Betrayed, gun to the back of his head, forced to shoot someone

------ EPISODE 33 ------

Li Junjie

12:03 Hit on the back, manhandled by prison guards

40:21 Wrongfully accused, hit, taken away to solitary confinement

------ EPISODE 34 ------

Li Junjie

1:40 Handcuffed

3:37 Hit on the back, manhandled by prison guards

12:11 Fighting with other inmates, stabbed in the shoulder, shot, panting

29:19 On a hospital bed

40:51 Unconscious on a hospital bed

Shi Yunhao

3:34 Kicked in the chest, falls to the ground, kicked

22:28 Attacked with a knife, stabbed in the arm, groaning in pain

24:17 Cleaning his wound, shirtless

------ EPISODE 35 ------

Li Junjie

1:39 (Continued from previous ep) On a hospital bed, weak, comforted by loved ones, struggling to breath, coughing, passes out (can’t believe i got pranked by this mf)

3:40 Mask brutally taken off, exclamation of pain, scolded

17:15 Learns his father might be alive, upset

21:05 Tries to run while wounded, in pain, collapses

22:02 Helped to walk

------ EPISODE 36 ------

Li Junjie

5:17 Worried for his brother, comforted

20:26 In a fight, hit on his wound, in pain

21:38 In a heated argument with his brother

Shi Yunhao

11:04 (In a video) Holding his wounded arm, in pain

14:36 Under pressure, sighing

21:38 In a heated argument with his brother

29:49 Drinking

32:21 Still drinking, drunk, angry, crying

------ EPISODE 37 ------

None.

------ EPISODE 38 ------

Shi Yunhao

33:16 Tailed, in a car crash, severely injured, unconscious

38:50 Unconscious on a hospital bed, intubated

------ EPISODE 39 ------

Shi Yunhao

5:14 Unconscious on a hospital bed

34:54 Unconscious, abducted while being transferred to another hospital

Li Junjie

5:21 Bed vigil for his brother

20:12 Checking on his brother (who’s cutting onions?)

------ EPISODE 40 ------

Shi Yunhao

17:21 Unconscious, bomb strapped to his chest

18:07 Blown by an explosion

19:24 On a hospital bed, weak, hoarse voice, coughing

Li Junjie

18:07 Blown by an explosion

------ EPISODE 41 ------

Li Junjie

8:30 Jumps out of a moving car, dragged under a bus, shot at

16:35 Falls from a bridge into water while driving a bus

19:53 On a hospital bed

Shi Yunhao

17:40 Holding back tears

------ EPISODE 42 ------

Shi Yunhao

30:36 Disarmed, shot at, hiding, running through two brick walls (he’s lucky he’s not in Europe)

32:40 Trapped in a dark room, can’t see a thing, attacked with a knife, cuts all over his body, unsteady

34:10 Lying on the floor, bleeding, struggling to stand and walk, panting, kicked, grabs a blade with his bare hand

36:42 Panting, struggling to walk, attacked with mountain ice axes (yup), fighting

------ EPISODE 43 ------

Shi Yunhao

43:05 (This whole monologue is so funny, he’s the best bro ever lmao)

___

Head to the WHUMP MASTERLIST for more whump! For more of Willian Chan (Li Junjie), click here.

[henrykathman]

The Miraculous Horror of Stop Motion

From the same artform that brought you Coraline and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, comes three stories that evoke the existential fear of art.

Original Music by Molly Noise

Bibliography below

Atrocity Guide. “The Animators Who’ve Spent 40 Years on a Single Film.” YouTube, 9 Oct. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=73hip3pz0Xs&pp=ygUMdGhlIG92ZXJjb2F0. Accessed 19 June 2024.

Brubaker, Charles. “The Japanese Studios of Rankin/Bass.” Cartoon Research, Jerry Beck, 14 Apr. 2014, cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-japanese-studios-of-rankinbass/.

Bute, Paris. “Introduction to “a Rankin/Bass Retrospective from a New Perspective.”” Citizen Jane, Stephens College, 19 Nov. 2021, www.citizenjane.org/home/cwwicd2ucb2fvs64kgfaocfykjhaum. Accessed 19 June 2024.

Crome, Althea. “Coraline.” Althea Crome | Micro Knitter, 2012, www.altheacrome.com/coraline. Accessed 19 June 2024.

Harold Halibut. Directed by Onat Hekimoğlu, Slow Bros., 16 Apr. 2024.

Hekimoglu, Onat, and Gabriel Schmitz. “Unite Berlin 2018 - Harold Halibut and Making a Stop Motion Game.” Unity, YouTube, 6 Aug. 2018, youtu.be/9usssSQc0wQ. Accessed 6 May 2023.

Jon "Sikamikanico" Clarke. “The Making of Harold Halibut.” XboxEra, YouTube, 21 Mar. 2024, youtu.be/WMyxM9t3o7A. Accessed 19 June 2024.

LAIKA Studios. “Sweater and Gloves: Knitting Coraline by Hand.” YouTube, 11 July 2017, youtu.be/zUvkfcGR-7U. Accessed 19 June 2024.

Mad God Productions. “Phil Tippett’s “Mad God.”” Kickstarter, 17 May 2012, www.kickstarter.com/projects/madgod/phil-tippetts-mad-god/posts.

Olson, Mathew. “Report: Michel Ancel Accused of Abusive, Disruptive Practices on beyond Good & Evil 2.” VG247, 25 Sept. 2020, www.vg247.com/report-michel-ancel-accused-of-abusive-disruptive-practices-on-beyond-good-evil-2. Accessed 19 June 2024.

Ono, Kosei. “Tadahito Mochinaga: The Japanese Animator Who Lived in Two Worlds.” Animation World Network, AWN, Inc, 1 Dec. 1999, www.awn.com/animationworld/tadahito-mochinaga-japanese-animator-who-lived-two-worlds.

Orland, Kyle. “Claptrap Voice Actor Accuses Gearbox CEO of Assault, Underpayment.” Ars Technica, 7 May 2019, arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/05/claptrap-voice-actor-accuses-gearbox-ceo-of-assault-underpayment/. Accessed 19 June 2024.

Pilling, Jayne. A Reader In Animation Studies. Indiana University Press, 1998. Project MUSE muse.jhu.edu/book/40033.

Prehistoric Beast. Directed by Phil Tippett, Tippett Studios, 1984. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlaXIRTjNfo

Randles, Jonathan. “VFX Studio with Star Wars, Jurassic Park Credits Goes Bankrupt.” Bloomberg Law, 1 May 2024, news.bloomberglaw.com/bankruptcy-law/vfx-studio-with-star-wars-jurassic-park-credits-goes-bankrupt. Accessed 19 June 2024.

Shanley, Patrick. “Gearbox Software CEO Accused of Contempt in Latest Filing.” The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Aug. 2019, www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/gearbox-software-ceo-accused-contempt-latest-filing-1235064/. Accessed 19 June 2024.

The Making of “Jurassic Park.” Directed by John Schultz, Amblin Entertainment, 1995. https://youtu.be/8r01mk6F_Pk

The Making of Mad God. Directed by Maya Tippett, Shudder, 2021. https://youtu.be/sfUOHh0xmwc

The Tale of the Fox. Directed by Irene Starewicz and Ladislas Starevich, UFA GmbH, 10 Apr. 1941. https://youtu.be/Us_Pn6Q1dBQ

Wikipedia contributors. "List of films with longest production time." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 12 Jun. 2024. Web. 19 Jun. 2024.

Wikipedia contributors. "List of media notable for being in development hell." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 19 Jun. 2024. Web. 19 Jun. 2024.

Wikipedia contributors. "List of Rankin/Bass Productions films." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 9 Jun. 2024. Web. 19 Jun. 2024.

Wikipedia contributors. "Tadahito Mochinaga." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 28 Nov. 2023. Web. 19 Jun. 2024.

Wilson, Josh. “Phil Tippett: 24 Frames per Second < the Fabulist Words & Art.” The Fabulist Words & Art, 5 Nov. 2021, fabulistmagazine.com/24-frames-per-second-the-phil-tippett-interview/.

Worse than the Demon. Directed by Maya Tippett, Shudder, 2013. https://youtu.be/ghKqvDNRe4c

[helveticablanc]

From the Archives — 2021 04 28-05 04

[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

[archivalofsins]

Not sure if this is the right time to ask this but how old are the prisoners now? We know what their age was going into Milgram, but what is it now? Since Mahiru was just short of her birthday

Star and I have been looking for the post where I list the characters ages and birth years though neither of us can find it at the moment I'll link it again if one of us do.

Sakurai, Haruka

Age when brought to Milgram: 17 (said he was this age but didn't really care too much about his own age. So, he wasn't sure. Actively lied about his age is one of the oldest young adult prisoners here. He is older than Mahiru, Futa, and Kotoko.)

Turned: 18 (said he was seventeen in his first voice drama meaning he would have turned eighteen the first year he was in Milgram if this were true. It's not it's fiction he made it up.) Haruka Sakurai was 22 when brought into Milgram and turned 23 during his first two months of incarceration within Milgram.

Birthdate: 06-22-2001 Lying dead bastard- 06-22-1997

Age at demise: would have been 23 (this is based on a lie and inaccurate) 27 or 28 if he passed away after June 22, 2025

Kashiki, Yuno

Age when brought to Milgram: 18

Turned: 19 her first four to five months of incarceration in 2020

Birthdate: 09-02-2001

Current Age: 23 turning 24 on September 02, 2025 (if she lives to see it)

Kajiyama, Futa

The specialist birthday boy. Had his birthday right before being taken to Milgram. His character description on the website says he's twenty. His birthday is on April 19 the first video for Milgram the MILGRAM / Teaser Movie released on April 27, 2020 after Futa's birthday.

So for him to be twenty when he was brought there means the prisoners must have awoken or been brought to Milgram on either the day the MILGRAM -ミルグラム- / PV video came out April 27, 2020 or when the MILGRAM / Jackalope’s “This is the MILGRAM” video came out on May 1, 2020.

Futa's age gives us a big hint for when the prisoners arrived within the prison in that sense.

I believe it was the former since the video released on April 27, 2020 is when we hear Es and all the prisoners for the first time. This also aligns with the beginning of the timelines as well.

20/04/28

Jackalope: Hey, have you been behaving yourselves while you waited? I’ll explain what it is you need to do. ……come back on May 1st at 7pm. I’ll tell you everything you need to know about MILGRAM then. In the meantime, you should bring in as many other people into MILGRAM as you can. You’ll be considering the prisoners’ “sins”…… it’s important to have a lot of different ways of thinking and feeling. You understand, right? Jackalope: ……also, all of you who’ve been calling me a rabbit on Twitter. Just know I remember all your icons……

Age when brought into Milgram: 20 (he would have been twenty for eight days if they were brought here on April 27, 2020 if it was on May 1, 2020 he would have been twenty for twelve days.)

Turned: 21 a few days before one year into his incarceration within Milgram on April 19, 2021.

Birthdate: April 19, 2000

Current age: 24 going on 25 April 19, 2025 (if he lives to see it he more than likely should but who knows if he'll get to twenty-six)

Kusunoki, Mu

Age when brought into Milgram: 16

Turned: 17 going on three months of her incarceration within Milgram.

Birthdate: 07-05-2003

Current Age: 21 going on 22 on July 05, 2025 (If she lives to see it.)

Kirisaki, Shidou

Age when brought into Milgram: 29

Turned: 30 going on six months into his incarcerations at Milgram.

Birthdate: 10-24-1990

Age at demise: 34 would have been 35 October 24, 2025.

Shiina, Mahiru

Age when brought into Milgram: 22

Turned: 23 nine months into her incarceration at Milgram 2021.

Birthdate: 1-17-1998

Age at demise: 26 would have been 27 January 17, 2025

Mukuhara, Kazui

Age when brought into Milgram: 39

Turned: 40 going on four months into his incarceration in Milgram.

Birthdate: 8-05-1980

Current Age: 44 going on 45 August 05, 2025. (If he lives to see it.)

Momose, Amane

Age when brought into Milgram: 12

Turned: 13 going on two months into her incarceration in Milgram.

Birthdate: 6-27-2007

Current Age: 17 going on 18 June 27, 2025. (If she lives to see it.)

Kayano, Mikoto

Age when brought into Milgram: 23

Turned: 24 going on six months into his incarceration at Milgram.

Birthdate: 10-06-1996

Current Age: 28 going on 29 October 06, 2025. (If he lives to see it but let's be real he'll probably outlive everyone here given he's not fully restrained and may probably be less restrained now that he's innocent.)

Yuzuriha, Kotoko

Age when brought into Milgram: 20

Turned: 21 going on eight months into her incarceration at Milgram.

Birthdate: 12-15-1999

Current Age: 25 going on 26 December 15, 2025. (If she lives to see it which she might not but hell if Shidou couldn't extract that fang then she probably gon' be fine.)

Es

Age when Milgram started: 15

Birthday: Unknown

Current Age: 19 going on 20 whenever their birthday is. So literally Futa's age when he did what Es/the audience found him guilty for driving someone to suicide and or instigating someone's death but not killing them directly. Man it would be awkward if they did the exact same thing at the exact same age now wouldn't it- Luckily we don't live in that timeline.

My apologies that this took a bit to answer. I had @apatchworkstar check over it to make sure I was doing the math right before posting just in case I messed up and I did with Mahiru. Now no one will ever know how. Yay always have someone check over your work when you suck at mental math and are greatly out of practice with the subject and art of it.

Hope this is helpful to you and others in some way. Honestly more art of the prisoners at the irl time ages would be great. So maybe this may lead to that or nothing but just more knowledge being out there.

[labiodentalfricative]

Nettles, Ethel Cain // Dan and Phil

You'll go fight a war

I'll go missing

I warned you, for me, it's not that hard

That picture on the wall you're scared of looks just like you

I want to bleed, I want to hurt the way that boys do

Maybe you're right and we should stop watching the news

'Cause, baby, I've never seen brown eyes look so blue

Tell me all the time not to worry

And think of all the time I'll have with you

When I won't wake up on my own

Held close all the time

Knowing I'm half of you

References:

Nettles, Ethel Cain

Photo taken by Angelina Clark at We’re All Doomed, 2022

DAN AND PHIL MASSIVE PIZZA MUKBANG 2. Timestamp: 28:03

Daniel Howell, Twitter: “i literally peaked age five” August 8 2019. 

Dan and Phil - TERRIBLE INFLUENCE (Official Full Stage Film). Timestamp: 57:13

Daniel Howell: WE’RE ALL DOOMED! (Full Comedy Show). Timestamp: 2:05:11

Daniel Howell: WE’RE ALL DOOMED! (Full Comedy Show). Timestamp: 1:59:24

Why I Haven’t Been Uploading. Timestamp: 1:54

How Phil Nearly Died. Timestamp: 24:47

Phil Lester, Twitter: “how i nearly died!” July 11 2024.

Daniel Howell, Instagram: “the box boys are now officially homeowning homosexuals” June 18 2021

BONCAs 2016 - Gamer of The Year & British Creator of The Year. Timestamp: 5:18

phil is not on fire. Timestamp: 3:16

[calderacitylovers]

Zutara SlowBurn FanFiction: Personal Favs, part II

·        DESTINY IS A FUNNY THING by Megara Pike | Published: 2020-08-21 | 198K Words | 45 Chapters

ATLA Season 3 rewrite, fills in a lot of blanks between canon scenes. From the Southern Raiders to Sozin's Comet through coronation and aftermath. Growing friendships, bonding, being there for each other, a carnival & a cave, epic spirits' appearance on the Ember island, sparring, nightmares, assassination attempts, political ruses, and covert operations. Lovely, sweet. Exciting plot.

 ·        ATLA Book 4: Ashes by elayne_cypher | Published: 2018-10-27 | 306K words | 34 Chapters

This action-packed story picks up right after Ember Island Players and continues well after the war. Zuko is facing many challenges as a new Fire Lord. Romance, tough decisions, rebels, traitors, out-of-body experiences, secret headquarters, angst, teamwork, fire jets. The story has a bunch of OCs.

 ·        Refraction by caroes3725  | Published: 2020-09-09 | 215K Words | 37 Chapters

After breaking up with Aang, Katara needs to figure out her place and role in the patriarchal world. As determined Katara stubbornly bulldozes her way through Fire Nation political scene, her feelings for Zuko grow. Diplomatic visits, Gaang reunion, bonding with Kanna, insights into the life of Caldera city, stuffy politicians, cute correspondence, tropical storm, women supporting women, assassination attempts, personal boundaries. A sweet well-written coming-of-age story with a healthy measure of slow-burn and mutual pining. Katara and Zuko are both POVs, but the story mostly follows Katara. Bonus: Mai is NOT a clingy resentful idiot, but a smart person and a good friend. Some explicit language here and there, a bit of mild smut.

 ·        I Asked You First by halfhoursonearth | Published: 2020-10-03 | 142K words | 22/? Chapters

Ongoing, incomplete. Post Southern Raiders ATLAS3 rewrite. Mostly canon-compliant with blanks filled in between familiar scenes. Zuko and Katara develop a close friendship built on trust and sharing each other’s fears and hopes. Includes mentions of implied child abuse, Lu Ten’s diaries, exploring Avatar Roku’s legacy, sharing a balcony, heart-to-hearts, a hot spring under the stars, an actual date, and artbending. It’s incomplete, but what we have is bliss. Slowburn, mutual pining. Zutara-centric, but also explores the personalities of Team Avatar and their relationships.

 ·        Katara Alone by cablesscutie | Published: 2020-05-31 | 21K words

Katara is not an “unnecessary accessory to a more powerful man”. After the war, she is willing to forge her own path as she turns to people who need her the most on her journey of self-discovery. Features character exploration, correspondence, exploring outback villages of Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom, sweet reunions, and new firebending skills.

 ·        THE PHOENIX AND THE DRAGON - THE COMPLETE SERIES by JasmineTeaLatte | Published: 2021-06-11 | 100K words | 31 Chapters

This story picks up after The Ember Island Players. Zuko and Katara get to know each other during a late-night conversation by the campfire. In this story, you will find healthy boundaries, protective Sokka, a dash of Taang, sparring, funny banter & lots of flirting.

·        HESITATE by tiffaniesblews | Published: 2020-07-11 | 22K Words | 12 Chapters

This story picks up right after Zuko's coronation and spans two years afterwards. Zuko & Katara talk, share a few beautiful moments, write to each other, and reunite for the 2nd anniversary of the war ending. Very sweet, fluffy story about two sweethearts figuring out their feelings for each other.

·        LIKE WE'RE MADE OF STARLIGHT by Naladot | Published: 2021-11-28 | 5K Words

Katara leaves her post as the ambassador to the Fire Nation to take up a new one as the ambassador to the Northern Water Tribe. Her absence makes Zuko realize that he's got an unfortunate crush, which he is determined to keep secret. Unfortunately for him, subtly has never been one of his strengths—especially when he arrives in the Northern Water Tribe and she keeps taking him on what seem to be dates.

·        FIGURE IT OUT by clearascountryair | Published: 2021-12-20 | 35K words | 13 Chapters

After choosing not to kill Yon Rha, Katara rethinks her sense of self and others' perceptions of her. Or,    In which Katara learns that there’s a really big difference between being kissed when you don’t want to be and being kissed when you do. Aged-up 3B/Ember Island AU.

-  I FOUND YOU by that_turtleduck | Published: 2020-11-01 Completed: 2024-02-24 Words: 157,541 Chapters: 28/28

After divorcing Aang, Katara uproots her family and travels to Caldera. There she finds comfort, kindness and support from an old friend. Katara tries to find her footing as an independent political figure. Great story & relationship dynamic of Momtara & Dadko in their early 30s (Ember island, diplomatic meeting, dancing, turtleduck pond, letters). Delicious slow burn with rewarding spicy resolution in the end (explicit open door). Titters on the side of Anti-Aang.

Here’s a link to Part I of my personal favorites.

Here’s a link to Wholesome Zutara Short Stories.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Oregon bans the corporate practice of medicine

I'm in the home stretch of my 20+ city book tour for my new novel PICKS AND SHOVELS. Catch me in PDX TODAY (June 20) at BARNES AND NOBLE with BUNNIE HUANG and at the TUALATIN public library on SUNDAY (June 22). After that, it's LONDON (July 1) with TRASHFUTURE'S RILEY QUINN and then a big finish in MANCHESTER on July 2.

Private equity firms are the demon princes of the hellspace that is the imploding, life-destroying, plutocrat-generating American economy. Their favorite scam, the "leveraged buyout" is a mafia bustout dressed up in respectable clothes, and if you mourn a beloved, failed business, chances are that an LBO was the murder weapon, and PE was the killer:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/23/spineless/#invertebrates

(Despite simplistic explanations and bad-faith apologestics, a leveraged buyout is nothing like a mortgage – it is a sinister, complex, destructive form of financial fraud:)

https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/05/rugged-individuals/#misleading-by-analogy

As bad as this is, it's ten quintillion times worse when applied to healthcare. When PE buys your hospital, people die. A lot of people:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/28/5000-bats/#charnel-house

PE doesn't even have to buy the whole hospital – for a long time, PE groups bought out anesthetist practices affilated with hospitals and pulled them out of the hospital's insurance affiliation. Unsuspecting patients who went in for routine surgical care at a hospital that was in-network for their insurer would get a rude awakening from their sedation: "surprise bills" running to tens or hundred of thousands of dollars. PE groups did the same thing with emergency rooms, so that people experiencing serious medical emergencies who had the presence of mind to insist upon being brought to an in-network ER nevertheless got hit with life-ruining surprise bills:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/03/14/unhealthy-finances/#steins-law

Donald Trump sometimes panders to anti-elitist elements in his base by threatening the private equity racket. For example, Trump has frequently railed against the "carried interest" tax loophole that allows PE bosses to pay half as much tax as you or I would on their vast takings. "Carried interest" is a tax law that gave 16th century sea-captains a break on their "interest" in the cargo they "carried." It is both weird and fantastically unjust that richest, worst financiers in America are able to take advantage of this Moby Dick-ass-law:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/29/writers-must-be-paid/#carried-interest

But while Trump sometimes talks a good line about fighting private equity looters, he does not, has not, and will not lift a finger to them. He dares not. The carried interest tax scam is preserved in the Big Beautiful Bill, joined with many other giveaways the least productive, most guillotineable looters America has produced:

https://www.pillsburylaw.com/en/news-and-insights/no-changes-carried-interest-big-beautiful-bill-so-far.html

Working people cannot rely on Trump's federal government and the Republican Congress to protect us from these vampires. But this is America: when the feds fail, that creates an opportunity for state legislators to step in and act. And that's just what's happened in Oregon, where the state legislature has passed sweeping, bipartisan legislation that bans corporations from owning or operating a medical practice in the state:

https://prospect.org/health/2025-06-13-united-health-care-oregon-corporate-medicine/

This is called the "corporate practice of medicine" (CPOM) and it's already banned. The American Medical Association has a longstanding, absolute prohibition on medical practices that are run by anyone except a doctor. Oregon has had a CPOM ban on the law-books since 1947. Private equity meets this prohibition with a very transparent ruse indeed: they get a "rent a doc," often out of state, to serve as the nominal owner of their practices, and the doctor takes orders from the PE firm, and hires the PE firm's outsource agencies to actually operate the clinic or hospital, absorbing the entirety of the practice's profits.

The Oregon bill closes this loophole, and not a minute too soon. Giant healthcare monopolists – most notably groups associated with Unitedhealth, the largest health corporation in America – have embarked on a statewide buying spree, buying and shutting down rural hospitals and clinics, and transforming the remaining facilities into understaffed charnel houses that hemorrhage doctors.

The bill took several tries to get through the legislature. As Oregon House Majority Leader Representative Ben Bowman told Matt Stoller and David Dayen on their Organized Money podcast, the statehouse was crawling with lobbyists hired by out of state private health-care firms who were worried about "contagion" if Oregon's bill passed and spread to other states:

https://www.organizedmoney.fm/p/how-oregon-is-ending-corporate-run

But the bill passed anyway, thanks to a combination of two factors. First, during the bill's legislative adventure, Unitedhealth's Optum bought out the Oregon Medical Group and made working conditions so terrible that dozens of doctors quit, leaving thousands of rural patients (from predominantly Republican districts) without medical care. Optum "fired" thousands of patients, including some who were undergoing cancer treatment, on the basis that they weren't profitable enough to care for:

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/private-equity-unitedhealth-take

In the midst of all this, another Unitedhealth monopolist, Change Health, got hacked and virtually no one in America could get a prescription filled – worse, the hack exposed the health records of almost everyone in America, the largest health-related breach in US history:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/28/dealer-management-software/#antonin-scalia-stole-your-car

Then, as icing on the cake, Unitedhealth's Oregon operation screwed over multiple, cancer-fighting lawmakers who were serving in the state-house as the bill was under debate. Combine this with testimony from doctors who described how they were unable to practice medicine after leaving Unitedhealth's terrible facilities because they had been trapped with noncompete clauses in their contracts, nor could they warn other doctors away from falling prey to this trap because they were also bound by nondisparagement clauses.

The new bill, SB 951, passed out of the legislature and was signed by the governor earlier this month. It is now good law in Oregon, which means that corporations can't operate medical practices, and that medical personnel can't be subjected to noncompete clauses (fun fact: every noncompete clause is written by a lawyer, but the American Bar Association prohibits noncompetes for lawyers).

Now it's time for those out-of-state healthcare looters' worst fears to be realized. It's time for the contagion to spread to other states.

The US federal system is a big, gnarly mess, but by design, it leaves a lot of power in local hands. That's bad news when local power is being used to ban trans people from peeing, or to attack school librarians, or to ban masking. But it's good news when states and cities can use the American system to create sanctuary systems that welcome asylum seekers and treat them with dignity (which is why the American right, the standard bearer for "states' rights" when it came to school segregation and voter suppression, is now all-in on sending armed soldiers to terrorize their fellow Americans with assault rifles).

Another reason to like state and local politics: local Democrats often suck way less than the necrotic federal Dem establishment. Some of them are even good! In Philly, Mayor Cherelle Parker just signed the Protect Our Workers, Enforce Rights (POWER) Act, which protects 750,000 workers from wage theft:

https://prospect.org/labor/2025-06-18-how-philadelphia-secured-basic-rights-for-750-000-workers/

The POWER Act shifts the burden of proof for wage theft allegations from workers to their bosses and allows them to recover their stolen wages plus $2,000 in statutory damages per violation; it sets up a new fund (replenished with employer fines) that gives money to victims of retaliation, and it creates a public "bad boss" database of repeat offenders.

As Brock Hrehor writes for The American Prospect, the POWER Act was passed after Trump gutted the National Labor Relations Board and left it unable to protect American workers. The POWER Act tackles one of the most pernicious forms of crime in America: wage theft, which accounts for more losses than all property crime in America combined, with losses overwhelming borne by Black and brown workers, especially women. Wage theft is notoriously hard to police, thanks to fear of retaliation and the precarity of victims of this crime.

The POWER Act passed as a result of the combined efforts of unions (SEIU, AFL-CIO) and the Working Families Party. Along with the Oregon Corporate Practice of Medicine ban, it shows how local, grassroots activism can protect everyday, working people from even the worst corporate criminals, even in Donald Trump's America.

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/2025/06/20/the-doctor-will-gouge-you-now/#states-rights

[bad268]

Writing Inktober 2024

Official prompts this year were ass, so this one's gonna be fun (sarcasm). I'm only doing like 3 from the actual prompts, so a lot ended up being song prompts.

01/10 Backpack

Jax Teller X Reader (W.C. 547)

02/10 Chains

Arvid Lindblad X Reader (W.C. 448)

03/10 Perfect

Callum Ilott X Reader (W.C. 446)

04/10 Ledge

Spot Conlon X Reader (W.C. 498)

05/10 Enchanted

Clement Novalak X Journalist! Reader (W.C. 463)

06/10 Passport

Max Fewtrell X Reader (W.C. 465)

07/10 Daisies

Ollie Bearman X Verstappen! Reader (W.C. 496)

08/10 Ride

Pezzy X Biker! Reader (W.C. 473)

09/10 Home

Michael Gray X Reader (W.C. 485)

10/10 Laugh

Harry Lewis X Reader (W.C. 476)

11/10 Rain

Corpse Husband X Reader (W.C. 465)

12/10 Drive

Chris Sturniolo X F1 Driver! Reader (W.C. 472)

13/10 Lesbian

Logan Sargeant X Parent! Reader (W.C. 483)

14/10 Here

Sodapop Curtis X Reader (W.C. 464)

15/10 Convince

Noah Sebastian X Reader (W.C. 476)

16/10 Strangers

Colby Brock X Reader (W.C. 486)

17/10 Bracelets

Luke Browning X Reader (W.C. 506)

18/10 Leave

TMR Newt X Reader (W.C. 479)

19/10 Peachy

Simon Minter X Reader (W.C. 454)

20/10 Tackle

Justin Herbert X Reader (W.C. 467)

21/10 Original

Elastic Droid X Reader (W.C. 501)

22/10 Always

Hector Fort X Reader (W.C. 512)

23/10 Picture

Jak Crawford X Dams! Reader (W.C. 553)

24/10 Alone

Marcus Armstrong X Reader (W.C. 554)

25/10 Betrothed

Finn Shelby X Reader (W.C. 466)

26/10 Goal

Fermin Lopez X Reader (W.C. 530)

27/10 Explorer

Big Puffer X Reader (W.C. 455)

28/10 Blindfold

Tadashi Hamada X Fiance! Reader (W.C. 586)

29/10 Pretend

Brad Simpson X Reader (W.C. 591)

30/10 Pumpkin

Paul Aron X Reader (W.C. 493)

31/10 Freak

Franco Colapinto X Reader (W.C. 574)

Bonus: Ending

Lando Norris X Reader (W.C. 509)

Average W.C. 479

Want to read other years’ Inktober stories, check these out:

2021 // 2022 // 2023 

MASTERLIST // HITLIST

[blackfoy]

Shimmer Eyes

https://archiveofourown.org/works/65098093/chapters/167410690

Summary:

Being a father was already hard enough, but when Powder suddenly comes down with a strange, unexplainable illness, Vander finds himself more worried than ever. His fear for his daughter only becomes worse when Sevika insists she recognizes the purple glow of his youngest's eyes, and brings her straight to the one man who could truly strike fear into him.

(I.E. Several people have time-traveled, with various side effects. Vander is not one of those people, but like hell he's leaving his daughter alone with Silco, no matter how strangely soft the man is acting.)

Full list of tags and info beneath the cut.

Rating:

Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning:

No Archive Warnings Apply

Fandom:

Arcane: League of Legends (Cartoon 2021)

Relationships:

Jinx & Vander (League of Legends)

Silco (Arcane: League of Legends) & Vander (League of Legends)

Jinx (League of Legends) & Silco (Arcane: League of Legends)

Sevika & Silco (Arcane: League of Legends)

Jinx (League of Legends) & Sevika (Arcane: League of Legends)

Silco (Arcane: League of Legends)/Vander (League of Legends)

Claggor (Arcane) & Jinx (League of Legends) & Mylo (Arcane) & Vander & Vi (League of Legends)

Ekko & Jinx (League of Legends)

Characters:

Vander (League of Legends)

Jinx (League of Legends)

Sevika (Arcane: League of Legends)

Silco (Arcane: League of Legends)

Benzo (Arcane: League of Legends)

Vi (League of Legends)

Mylo (Arcane: League of Legends)

Claggor (Arcane: League of Legends)

Ekko (League of Legends)

Additional Tags:

Time Travel

Time Travel Fix-It

POV Outsider

Father-Daughter Relationship

Protective Sevika (Arcane: League of Legends)

Soft Sevika (Arcane: League of Legends)

Protective Silco (Arcane: League of Legends)

Soft Silco (Arcane: League of Legends)

Parent Silco (Arcane: League of Legends)

Silco Needs a Hug (Arcane: League of Legends)

Protective Vander (League of Legends)

Good Parent Vander (League of Legends)

Jinx Needs a Hug (League of Legends)

Jinx is a Little Shit (League of Legends)

Jinx Needs Therapy (League of Legends)

Jinx Has Issues (League of Legends)

Shimmer (Arcane: League of Legends)

Medical Conditions

Confusion

Fear

Mental Health Issues

Mental Instability

Implied/Referenced Drug Use

Implied/Referenced Character Death

Implied/Referenced Torture

Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD

Trauma

Tags May Change

Complicated Relationships

Happy Ending

Angst with a Happy Ending

Hurt/Comfort

Sick Character

Fluff

Angst

Fluff and Angst

Blood and Injury

Minor Injuries

Self-Harm

Needles

Medical Inaccuracies

There Was Only One Bed

Kind Of

Sharing a Bed

Literal Sleeping Together

Mutual Pining

Sevika Does Not Get Paid Enough (Arcane: League of Legends)

Benzo and Silco have beef

Caring Ekko (League of Legends)

Protective Vi (League of Legends)

Good Sibling Vi (League of Legends)

Protective Jinx (League of Legends)

Canon-Typical Hallucinations

Language: English

Series: Part 1 of Time Travelers Are Real Anonymous (T.A.R.A)

Collections: Readers' 📚 Booknook📖(⁠~⁠‾⁠▿⁠‾⁠)⁠~

Stats:

Published: 2025-04-28

Updated: 2025-05-20

Words: 25,278

Chapters: 12/?

Comments: 365

Kudos: 500

Bookmarks: 108

Hits: 8,237

[kunamaibintangitunamamu]

My WHV Timeline

I got that WHV with my name on it!

This post is going to be super long! Jadi, karena aku termasuk tipe yang suka menceritakan semua hal secara detail dan memang sudah niat juga sih, aku pengen tulis ini sebagai kenang-kenangan karena aku berhasil mendapatkan WHV!

Here’s my timeline, each moment a small but sweet step toward the dream: 12-02-2024: The day I made a quiet but powerful promise to myself—to see my name on that WHV, no matter what. 02-03-2024: Took my visa photos. Just one tiny step, but it felt like a step toward something big. 23-04-2024: Got my SKCK done at Mabes Polri. A little closer, a little more real. 22-05-2024: Took the PTE test, butterflies in my stomach, but my sights set firmly on the goal. 08-10-2024: Prepared my bank reference letter, and then—out of nowhere—the SDUWHV opening was announced! My heart raced; it was really happening. 10-10-2024: Received that precious SDUWHV letter. Holding it felt surreal, like I was holding a piece of my future. 25-10-2024: Lodged my visa application, sending off all my hopes and dreams along with it. 27-10-2024: Completed my Medical Check-Up (MCU), feeling both excitement and calm; the finish line was in sight. 12-11-2024: The day that made everything worth it—Visa granted! I felt pure joy, knowing the adventure of a lifetime was now just around the corner.

Jadi, aku sudah mengincar program WHV ini dari tahun lalu, gara-gara orang-orang di sekitarku tiba-tiba banyak yang berangkat ke Australia. Honestly, back in 2021, aku juga sempat berandai-andai, "Asyik juga ya kalau bisa ke Melbourne," waktu itu mikirnya pengen lanjut kuliah lagi, sih. Plus, one of my bucket list items is to work abroad, dan rasanya negara yang paling potensial buat goal itu adalah Australia. Banyak orang Pontianak juga yang hijrah ke sana, jadi makin kebayang, deh. Impian itu aku pendam, sambil terus cari kesempatan dan peluang, supaya bisa mewujudkan one of my ultimate dreams.

Ternyata, di tahun 2024, aku merasakan dorongan yang kuat untuk mengejar visa ini. Aku mulai mencari tahu semua persyaratannya, dan langkah pertama yang harus diambil adalah mendapatkan surat sakti SDUWHV. Nah, untuk bisa mendapatkan SDUWHV, ternyata ada beberapa persyaratan lagi yang harus dipenuhi. Waktu itu, aku masih berpatokan pada persyaratan tahun 2023, yaitu: foto, KTP, paspor, sertifikat bahasa Inggris, SKCK, ijazah, surat keterangan bank, dan surat keabsahan dokumen. Jadi, pelan-pelan aku mulai melengkapi semua dokumen yang bisa dicicil dulu sebelum pembukaan SDUWHV.

02 Maret 2024 Sore ini, aku pergi ke studio foto untuk ambil pas foto visa. Sempat bingung karena belum pernah foto visa sebelumnya, tapi untungnya studio tersebut sudah paham ketentuannya. Mereka mengarahkan dan membantu pengambilan foto serta pencetakan sesuai kebutuhan. Aku juga sekalian print ekstra untuk bikin SKCK.

28 Maret 2024 Setelah mendaftar antre online lewat aplikasi, pagi ini aku melakukan rekam sidik jari di Polda Kalbar. Aku datang pagi-pagi sekali agar bisa mendapat antrean pertama. Staff di sana dengan cekatan membantu dan sempat bertanya, "Apa tujuannya?" Aku jawab, "Untuk ke Australia, Pak." Mereka sangat mendukung dan turut mendoakan semoga prosesku lancar hingga mendapatkan visanya.

Perekaman sidik jari ini adalah salah satu syarat untuk membuat SKCK. Awalnya, aku pikir masih bisa membuat SKCK dengan tujuan WHV di Polda Kalbar, tapi ternyata sekarang ketentuannya sudah berubah dan harus diurus di Mabes Polri. Sempat bingung juga kalau harus ke Jakarta untuk mengurus SKCK. Beruntungnya, temanku bisa pergi ke Jakarta dan mewakilkan aku untuk membuat SKCK, dan pada 23 April 2024, SKCK-ku akhirnya terbit.

22 Mei 2024 Lanjut, dokumen-dokumen yang mudah sudah berhasil aku kumpulkan. Sekarang tantangan berikutnya adalah lolos tes Bahasa Inggris. Ada beberapa pilihan tes yang bisa diambil, dan dua yang paling populer adalah IELTS dan PTE. Kebetulan di Pontianak tersedia tes PTE, jadi aku memilih PTE saja. Jadwal tesnya juga lebih fleksibel. Sebenarnya, aku sudah mulai persiapan IELTS dari awal tahun, tapi H-2 bulan ini aku mulai intens belajar untuk PTE setiap malam dari YouTube dan website PTE Study, agar skorku tidak hanya lolos, tapi juga memuaskan. Sudah lama aku tidak merasakan sensasi belajar sambil menunggu-nunggu hari ujian.

Hari itu akhirnya tiba: hari tes PTE-ku. Lokasi tes di gedung PTE Academic, Universitas Tanjungpura, persis di depan fakultas kampusku dulu—nostalgia, hehe. Jadwal tesku jam 11. Pagi itu aku terbangun dengan deg-degan, rasanya seperti menghadapi ujian akhir semester lagi. Ada skor minimal yang harus aku capai (minimal 30), dan kalau tidak lolos, berarti harus mengulang tes—yang berarti keluar biaya lagi.

Jam 8.30, aku pergi ke kafe sendirian untuk sarapan sambil mengulas tips dan trik dari setiap bagian tes. Setelah itu, aku pasrahkan semuanya pada usahaku sejauh ini. Jam 10.00 aku berangkat ke gedung ujian. Setibanya di sana, aku melakukan registrasi. Ujiannya terasa cukup formal, mungkin karena ini tes internasional. Setiap sesi hanya bisa diikuti oleh 6 orang, jadi jadwalnya memang terbatas. Aku duduk di komputer nomor 1, dan semua tes dilakukan secara komputerisasi. Jawaban kita direkam dan disimpan dalam sistem. Menurutku, bagian yang paling sulit adalah writing, haha, karena temanya tidak diketahui sebelumnya dan mendadak aku merasa blank harus menyusun kata-kata seperti apa.

Dua jam berlalu, dan tes akhirnya selesai. Kata petugasnya, hasilnya bisa keluar dalam waktu 2 jam dan akan dikirim melalui email. Setidaknya, salah satu tahapan sudah kulewati, dan aku hanya bisa berdoa semoga hasilnya sesuai harapan! Seusai ujian, aku pergi makan ramen bersama teman yang juga ikut tes. Kami sempat berandai-andai seolah-olah sudah siap berangkat ke Australia dan visa sudah di tangan—padahal waktu itu, jadwal pembukaan SDUWHV saja belum pasti.

Sore itu aku lalui dengan harap-harap cemas menunggu skor. Dan… akhirnya, malamnya, hasilnya keluar! Skorku jeng jeng jeng… 81/90! Not bad! Aku langsung merasa lega. Satu langkah lebih dekat. Salah satu dokumen penting sudah ada di tangan, dan malam itu aku bisa tidur dengan tenang.

01 Juli 2024 Jujur, di tanggal ini aku sempat deg-degan banget. Soalnya, aku pernah lihat di IG Kedubes Australia yang memposting bahwa pendaftaran program WHV tahun 2023 sudah ditutup, dan pendaftaran WHV untuk tahun 2024 akan dibuka pada 1 Juli 2024. Kupikir itu adalah hari “war” untuk SDUWHV. Ternyata, itu adalah tanggal pembukaan kembali untuk lodge visa WHV. Waktu itu aku masih belum paham, haha, jadi aku sudah ngebut mempersiapkan segalanya dari awal. Pas tanggal 1 Juli tiba, ternyata tidak ada info apa pun dari Ditjen Imigrasi.

Sebulan… dua bulan berlalu…

Tidak ada kabar dari MIDO soal pembukaan SDUWHV. Hingga akhirnya, tanggal 02 September 2024, muncul pengumuman dari MIDO yang membawa kabar gembira: pembukaan kuota SDUWHV akan segera dilaksanakan! Deg-degan makin terasa! Lalu, pada 27 September 2024, MIDO mengumumkan bahwa untuk tahun 2024 hanya akan ada satu batch SDUWHV. That means, hanya ada satu kesempatan untuk “war”—jika tidak berhasil, berarti harus coba lagi tahun depan.

Overthinking dan kalut semakin terasa. Ada ketakutan terselubung, “What if aku nggak dapat?” Pasti akan sangat kecewa, karena ini adalah impian yang sudah lama aku nantikan—satu kesempatan berharga untuk explore dunia luar, bekerja di luar negeri, dan melalang buana, melihat dunia dari perspektif yang berbeda.

08 Oktober 2024 Siang itu, aku sedang santai-santai mengurus surat keterangan bank di BCA. Ini kali ketiga aku datang ke CS untuk minta surat tersebut, sampai-sampai CS-nya masih ingat dan bilang, “Lho, Cece lagi, bikin surat referensi bank lagi ya, Ce? Kapan buka kuotanya? Btw, tadi sebelum Cece juga ada yang minta surat keterangan bank, lho.” Aku cuma bisa tertawa kecil, ini sudah ketiga kalinya aku minta surat yang sama, haha.

Di saat yang hampir bersamaan, aku melihat postingan di IG Ditjen Imigrasi yang menyatakan bahwa tanggal pembukaan kuota SDUWHV adalah 10 Oktober 2024—which is lusa ini! Hatiku langsung berdetak tidak karuan! Malam itu, aku bahkan tidak bisa tidur dengan tenang, memikirkan semua persiapan untuk “war” yang harus semaksimal mungkin. Aku cek berulang-ulang file dokumen yang perlu diunggah, membaca kembali semua ketentuan agar tidak ada informasi sekecil apa pun yang terlewat.

Untungnya, aku sudah membuat akun di website-nya sebelumnya, jadi tidak perlu repot di tahap ini. Banyak pengaju lain yang mengalami error karena terlalu banyak orang yang membuat akun di waktu bersamaan.

10 Oktober 2024 Hari war dimulai! Pagi ini aku bangun lebih awal dari biasanya. Jujur, semalaman aku hampir tidak bisa tidur. Yang ada di pikiranku hanya satu: aku ingin bisa melewati hari ini dengan tenang dan lega. Banyak cerita dari tahun lalu tentang war SDUWHV yang katanya menegangkan dan “hidup-mati”—hanya ada satu kesempatan, dan kalau tidak berhasil, harus menunggu batch berikutnya yang entah kapan diadakan lagi. Jadi, hari ini, no matter what, aku harus mendapatkan surat sakti itu.

Jam 9 teng war dimulai. Laptop sudah siap, Wi-Fi aman, website sudah dibuka, dan akun sudah login. Masih menunjukkan pukul 08.45, tapi hatiku sudah dag-dig-dug, dan waktu terasa lambat. Detik demi detik berlalu sampai jam 9 tiba. Aku berpikir, Pasti bisa kok, sudah doa dan yakin. Tapi… tiba-tiba website down, dan aku ter-logout sendiri. Panik! Aku coba login lagi, hasilnya nihil, hanya muncul pesan error! Semakin panik, aku baca di grup, ternyata banyak yang mengalami hal yang sama. Temanku juga mengatakan hal yang sama, semua orang kesulitan login ke website.

Jam 9.11 aku berhasil masuk. Pengaju sudah terisi 423 dari kuota 4.796. Panik lagi! Aku coba segala cara—refresh browser, buka incognito, buka berbagai jenis browser—supaya bisa klik tab permohonan. Jika tombol “Ajukan Permohonan” berwarna biru, artinya kita bisa masuk ke halaman pendaftaran. Setelah beberapa waktu, tombol itu akhirnya berwarna biru. Aku langsung bersujud syukur, segera mengisi biodata dengan cepat karena waktu yang diberikan hanya 15 menit. Halaman 1 lancar, halaman 2 lancar, tapi di halaman 3, tersendat! Panik lagi! Setiap file yang aku coba unggah gagal. Waktu semakin habis. Aku coba ganti Wi-Fi ke tethering HP, tapi tetap gagal. Hingga waktu benar-benar habis, dan permohonanku terpental. Aku pun ter-logout sendiri.

Lemas… Rasanya mau nangis.

Usahaku seketika runtuh. Aku coba login lagi ke website tapi tidak bisa!

Aku pikir itu satu-satunya kesempatan, dan kalau sudah terpental berarti kesempatan itu hangus. Dunia rasanya runtuh. Tapi aku baca di grup lagi untuk mencari solusi. Mereka bilang coba terus masuk lagi dan ulangi dari awal. Akhirnya, meskipun panik, aku tetap mencoba. Ter-logout hingga ratusan kali kualami saat itu. Sampai akhirnya aku mendapat kesempatan kedua. Cepat-cepat aku isi lagi dan cek semuanya, tapi lagi-lagi terkendala di halaman ketiga untuk unggah file. Dan kembali lagi terpental sama seperti sebelumnya. Rasanya dunia runtuh untuk kedua kalinya. Kesempatan berharga yang kedua kali terbuang begitu saja. Kupikir semesta belum berpihak padaku.

Namun, aku tetap mencoba lagi dan lagi hingga masuk kesempatan ketiga. Kuota sudah terisi 3.000-an orang. Angka terus bertambah, mungkin karena banyak peminat dari seluruh Indonesia. Di IG MIDO, banyak yang protes dan mengeluh, hingga MIDO memberi pernyataan resmi bahwa pemohon mencapai 12.000 orang, sementara kuota hanya 4.796. Tidak heran jika website down. Tapi aku tetap berdoa. Aku yakin, surat sakti itu akan ada di tanganku hari ini! Akhirnya, aku berhasil masuk untuk ketiga kalinya, dan entah keajaiban dari mana aku bisa unggah semua file dengan bantuan tetheringHP. Aku langsung submit tanpa memikirkan sisa waktu, berserah. Yang penting aku sudah berusaha maksimal dan mengikuti semua prosedur.

Ternyata, untuk tahun ini, SDUWHV akan terbit di hari yang sama sekitar 1 jam setelah pengajuan diterima dan diverifikasi. Meski sudah lega karena berhasil submit, aku masih harus menunggu terbitnya SDUWHV. Dua jam berlalu tanpa kabar, membuatku cemas. Aku selesai submit jam 11.59, seharusnya jam 1 siang sudah terbit, tapi belum juga. Jujur, aku takut kalau ada dokumen yang terverifikasi gagal atau ada halangan lain, bahkan takut ditolak. Overthinking semakin menjadi-jadi. Aku hanya bisa duduk diam di depan laptop, menunggu status berubah ke penerbitan SDUWHV.

Tidak ada mood untuk makan sejak pagi hingga jam 14.40 sore, saat surat sakti itu akhirnya terbit!

Mau nangis bahagia! Tidak tahu lagi bagaimana mengekspresikan perasaanku. Ini adalah langkah awal untuk bisa apply WHV. Saat aku buka dan baca SDUWHV itu, rasanya seperti mimpi. Dari bulan Februari aku memimpikan ini, dan ini hari dimana aku benaar-benar mendapatkan surat berharga ini. Terima kasih banyak, Tuhan!

13 Oktober 2024 Hari Minggu yang cerah, aku memutuskan untuk fokus lodge visa. Karena ini pertama kalinya aku lodge visa, rasanya cukup deg-degan. Untungnya, aku punya banyak panduan yang bisa diikuti. Tapi tetap saja, aku sempat bingung—gimana caranya lodge visa kalau aku belum MCU? Kebingungan pertamaku: apa itu HAP ID, dan gimana caranya daftar MCU? Blank total. Untungnya, temanku mengirimkan link YouTube yang menjelaskan langkah-langkahnya. Baru deh aku paham prosesnya, termasuk cara mendapatkan HAP ID dan daftar MCU.

Aku segera menghubungi rumah sakit yang khusus untuk MCU Visa Australia, yaitu RS Premier Jatinegara. Aku memilih jadwal MCU hari Minggu, 27 Oktober 2024. Awalnya, aku berencana MCU pada 20 Oktober 2024, tapi karena suatu alasan, aku mau rescheduleke RS Bintaro. Sayangnya, RS Bintaro tidak melayani MCU pada hari Minggu. Akhirnya, aku kembali ke jadwal awal di RS Jatinegara. Namun, karena aku sudah mengajukan reschedule, jadwalku tanggal 20 Oktober hangus, jadi aku harus mundur jadwal MCU-ku ke tanggal 27 Oktober 2024.

23 Oktober 2024 Karena belum MCU, aku memutuskan untuk save dulu permohonan lodgement visa-ku. Alurnya memang bisa lodge visa dulu baru MCU, tapi aku belum punya dokumen yang di-translate, jadi rasanya lebih baik MCU dulu. Aku pun mulai mencari penerjemah tersumpah untuk menerjemahkan beberapa dokumen pendukung, seperti akta lahir dan kartu keluarga. Sayangnya, jadwal penerjemah penuh! Aku jadi menyesal kenapa tidak mengurus terjemahan lebih awal. Tapi, sudahlah. Aku terus menghubungi beberapa penerjemah tersumpah yang menerima layanan express. Untungnya, aku dapat Pak Joseph yang menyediakan layanan express dengan waktu pengerjaan 2 hari kerja. Dokumenku selesai diterjemahkan pada tanggal 23 Oktober 2024.

Saat aku mengecek hasil terjemahan dokumen—FYI, aku hanya menerjemahkan akta lahir dan kartu keluarga karena dokumen lainnya sudah bilingual—aku baru sadar kalau nama orangtuaku berbeda antara akta lahir dan KK. Wah, ini bikin aku galau berat. Seharusnya, aku lebih teliti sebelumnya untuk memastikan dokumen-dokumenku tidak ada masalah kecil seperti ini yang bisa menghambat proses visaku. Sebagai tambahan kekhawatiranku, SKCK-ku juga expired tepat tanggal 23 Oktober 2024. Aku tahu, SKCK adalah dokumen opsional untuk visa ini, tapi semakin banyak dokumen pendukung yang diunggah, kemungkinan visa granted akan lebih besar. Sayangnya, aku tidak punya waktu untuk memperpanjang SKCK karena harus mengurusnya langsung di Mabes Polri.

Aku bertanya di grup, dan mereka memastikan bahwa SKCK tidak wajib diunggah. Tapi tetap saja, aku merasa was-was. Tidak ada jaminan pasti apakah visaku akan grantedtanpa SKCK. Di tengah drama ini, muncul lagi kabar kalau ada masalah di immiaccount—katanya banyak yang tidak bisa lodge visa karena website error. Bahkan, beberapa orang menyebarkan rumor bahwa pendaftaran visa akan ditutup sampai tahun depan. Wah, ini benar-benar bikin panik dan overthinking.

Benar saja, malam itu, setelah aku mendapatkan hasil terjemahan dokumen, aku mencoba lodge visa. Tapi ternyata, immiaccount benar-benar tidak bisa diakses. Memang, aku sudah menyimpan semua data sejak 13 Oktober 2024, tapi halaman tersebut tidak bisa dilanjutkan. Yang muncul hanya notifikasi maintenance, dan itu membuatku semakin galau karena tidak bisa memproses visaku. Padahal, aku hanya tinggal lodge dan membayar biaya permohonan visa. Rasanya frustrasi karena sudah begitu dekat, tapi masih terhalang masalah teknis.

Hari itu, pikiranku penuh dengan kekhawatiran: soal nama orangtua yang tidak sinkron, SKCK expired, masalah immiaccount, dan waktu yang terus berjalan.

Rasanya seperti drama tak berujung.

Tiap jam aku terus refresh immiaccount, berharap ada perubahan. Aku juga rajin cek grup, siapa tahu ada teman-teman yang berbagi info kalau maintenance sudah selesai. Tapi tetap saja, hasilnya nihil—selalu gagal. Mungkin karena terlalu banyak orang yang mencoba lodge WHV ini, jadi aksesnya dibatasi. Aku mulai merasa menyesal, kenapa aku tidak lebih cekatan dan mengamankan lodge visa lebih awal. Overthinking pun muncul. Bagaimana kalau benar-benar kuota tahunan ditutup dan baru dibuka tahun depan? Kalau itu terjadi, perjuangan war SDUWHV-ku jadi sia-sia. Pikiran-pikiran itu membuatku tidak bisa tidur, hati gelisah, benar-benar galau.

Sampai akhirnya, 25 Oktober 2024, sekitar jam 12 siang, aku coba login ke immiaccount lagi, dan ternyata BISA! Tanpa pikir panjang, aku langsung lodge visa dan melakukan pembayaran. Untungnya, semua dokumen sudah aku unggah dan simpan sebelumnya, jadi begitu maintenance selesai, aku tinggal klik submit. Syukurlah, pada 25 Oktober 2024, jam 12.29, visaku tersubmit dan status berubah menjadi received.

Lega banget rasanya!

Tapi, tidak lama kemudian muncul kekhawatiran baru. Aku sudah punya HAP ID yang aku request sendiri sebelumnya, tapi aku lodge visa-nya dulu sebelum MCU. Saat lodge, ada pertanyaan apakah sudah pernah MCU sebelumnya. Kalau sudah, aku tinggal memasukkan HAP ID-ku. Masalahnya, aku belum MCU, tapi HAP ID-ku sudah ada. Kalau aku tidak memasukkan HAP ID, nanti malah dapat HAP ID baru dari imigrasi, yang berarti bisa jadi double. Bingung banget! Akhirnya, aku tetap nekat lodge visa dengan menyertakan HAP ID-ku yang aku request di awal, meskipun aku belum MCU. Aku hanya bisa berdoa semoga tidak ada masalah besar karena keputusan ini.

27 Oktober 2024 Aku berangkat ke Jakarta malam Minggu, 26 Oktober 2024, dengan penerbangan sore jam 6. Pesawat sempat sedikit delay, tapi aku tetap tenang karena Sabtu sore setelah pulang kerja aku tidak perlu terburu-buru mengejar ke bandara. Untungnya, proses MCU tidak lama, jadi aku tidak perlu mengajukan cuti. Tapi tentu saja, muncul lagi kekhawatiran baru. Malam sebelum MCU, aku haid! Panik lagi, karena salah satu persyaratan MCU adalah tes urin. Kenapa ya rasanya selalu ada saja masalah bertubi-tubi?

Sabtu pagi, aku benar-benar galau. Aku langsung memastikan ke pihak RS apakah aku masih bisa lanjut MCU dengan kondisi haid. Kalau tidak, aku harus reschedule tiket pesawat dan jadwal MCU, yang mana saat ini MCU sedang penuh-penuhnya karena banyak pengaju visa yang daftar. Kebayang antrean panjang dan waktu tunggu yang makin lama, dan itu bikin aku khawatir proses visaku jadi semakin tertunda. Untungnya, pihak RS mengonfirmasi bahwa tes urin sudah tidak lagi menjadi bagian dari MCU untuk visa ini. Lega banget!!! Setidaknya, aku tidak perlu reschedule, dan proses MCU bisa tetap berjalan sesuai jadwal.

Pagi itu, aku sampai di RS Premier Jatinegara sekitar jam 6.30 pagi dan langsung menuju tempat MCU di lantai 7. Meskipun pelayanannya baru buka jam 8, sekitar jam 7 lebih aku sudah diperbolehkan masuk untuk pengisian administrasi oleh stafnya. Estimasi awal, aku dapat giliran jam 9.05, tapi karena aku datang pertama, aku langsung dapat antrean pertama.

Jam 8.30, aku dipanggil untuk cek fisik dan mata. Dokternya melakukan sedikit wawancara tentang riwayat kesehatan dan menanyakan beberapa hal seputar diri kita. Setelah itu, dilakukan pemeriksaan fisik seperti cek nafas, detak jantung, dan refleks tubuh. Kemudian, lanjut ke tes mata seperti membaca huruf-huruf pada papan optik.

Selanjutnya, aku diarahkan ke ruangan kedua untuk timbang berat badan, cek tinggi badan, dan tensi. Di sini, aku juga diberitahu bahwa hasil MCU akan dikirimkan langsung ke imigrasi Australia dalam 3 hari kerja. Hasilnya bisa mulai ditanyakan pada H+1 setelah selesai. Setelah itu, aku diarahkan ke ruangan lain untuk pengambilan darah. Sebelum tes, aku sempat disarankan untuk banyak minum air agar hasilnya lebih baik. Oh ya, seminggu sebelum MCU, aku sampai nyetok susu Bear Brand dan minum rutin karena katanya itu bagus untuk kesehatan, terutama paru-paru. Did it work? Aku nggak tahu pasti, tapi aku tetap mengikuti saran orang-orang, siapa tahu memang ada manfaatnya.

Setelah selesai di lantai 7, aku lanjut ke kasir untuk melakukan pembayaran, kemudian diarahkan ke radiologi untuk Chest X-Ray. Proses Chest X-Ray cukup cepat ternyata. Saat tes, kita diminta mengikuti arahan staf, seperti cara bernapas yang sesuai prosedur. Di ruangan ini, kita hanya diperbolehkan memakai baju luar tanpa aksesoris seperti kalung, agar tidak mengganggu hasil foto. Seluruh proses MCU telah dipenuhi. Malamnya, aku pun langsung terbang kembali ke Pontianak.

MCU selesai! Berarti, aku tinggal menunggu hasilnya di-submit oleh pihak RS dan difinalisasi oleh imigrasi Australia.

Keesokan harinya setelah MCU, status Health Assessment di immiaccount-ku berubah menjadi finalised. Artinya, hasil MCU-ku bagus, dan pihak RS juga mengonfirmasi bahwa semua hasil normal. Lega rasanya! At least, aku tidak perlu MCU ulang, dan peluangku untuk granted semakin besar.

Tapi, apakah aku bisa menunggu dengan tenang? Oh, tentu tidak!

Masih ingat kekhawatiranku sebelumnya? Soal SKCK, aku sudah tidak terlalu cemas karena membaca banyak pengalaman orang yang tetap granted meskipun tanpa SKCK. Kalau pun nanti diminta, aku pikir aku bisa memperpanjang SKCK lagi.

Namun, yang benar-benar jadi sumber overthinking setiap hari adalah perbedaan nama orang tua di akta lahir dan kartu keluarga. Tiap hari aku kepikiran, apalagi setelah membaca case di Facebook tentang orang-orang yang kena random check karena masalah data ini. Ada yang harus bikin surat pernyataan kalau nama itu mengacu pada orang yang sama, ada juga yang diminta update KK, yang jelas itu semua butuh waktu dan proses yang tidak cepat, belum lagi harus di-translate lagi. Banyak juga yang bilang kalau tahu data ada perbedaan seperti ini, jangan coba-coba unggah KK karena bisa jadi malah bikin posisi kita lebih sulit kalau terkena random check. Rasanya, setiap hari aku tidak bisa tidur tenang, hanya bisa berdoa agar prosesku berjalan mulus dan visaku tidak menemui hambatan.

12 November 2024 18 hari berlalu sejak lodge visa dan selesai MCU. Setiap hari, aku rajin login ke immiaccount, berharap status visaku berubah dari received menjadi finalised dan granted. Tapi, nihil. Aku juga cek email berkali-kali, namun tidak ada notifikasi baru. Sementara itu, di grup, banyak pejuang WHV lain yang visanya sudah granted, dan aku mulai memperhatikan polanya—ternyata waktu lodge sangat berpengaruh. Semakin cepat kita lodge, semakin cepat visanya diproses. Karena aku lodge pada 25 Oktober 2024, berarti aku harus menunggu giliran teman-teman yang lodge pada 23 Oktober 2024 selesai granted terlebih dahulu sebelum giliranku. Setiap kali ada notifikasi dari Gmail, jantungku langsung berdebar kencang, tapi selalu saja bukan email granted. Rasanya mau nangis dan kecewa setiap kali harapan itu pupus.

14.46 Sore itu, aku memutuskan untuk refresh immiaccount untuk terakhir kalinya hari itu. Aku pikir, kalau tidak ada kabar, aku akan logout dan berharap lagi keesokan harinya.

Tapi… tiba-tiba, statusnya berubah menjadi FINALISED!

Aku terdiam. Bengong. Rasanya detik itu berhenti. Tanganku gemetaran. Aku refreshlagi untuk memastikan, dan di sebelah namaku tertulis GRANTED.

Aku mengecek kembali emailku, apa ada Grant Notification-nya? Beneran ada!

Semua overthinking-ku langsung buyar. Rasanya tidak bisa diungkapkan dengan kata-kata. Aku tidak perlu lagi memikirkan perbedaan nama dokumen atau takut terkena random check. Jantungku berdegup kencang, tapi kali ini penuh dengan kebahagiaan. Hari itu, semua impianku mulai terlihat semakin nyata.

Aku baca lagi granted letter-ku, dan akhirnya aku bisa mengatakan: Yes, I got that WHV with my name on it.

Terima kasih, Tuhan! ✨

Dan di sinilah perjalanan panjang ini akhirnya sampai pada awal yang baru. Semua perjuangan, rasa cemas, overthinking, dan doa yang tak henti-hentinya kini terbayar. Surat sakti itu bukan hanya sekadar dokumen, tapi simbol dari mimpi yang selama ini aku perjuangkan. Kini, langkah pertama sudah selesai—dan petualangan sesungguhnya baru saja dimulai.

Australia, here I come! 🌏✨

[how-about-some-more-whump]

Hunter 猎狼者 (2021) - Whump List

Also known as: The Wolf Hunter

Synopsis: Five years after a confrontation with poachers left him severely injured and his partner dead, the former forest policeman Wei Jiang (on the left) is only a shadow of himself. When the young ranger Qin Chuan (on the right) is reported missing, Wei Jiang is called to help find him. It turns out that Qin Chuan was abducted by the same group of poachers that killed Wei Jiang’s partner years ago. A game of cats and mouse begins.

Notes: By far my favourite kind of drama. Short, straight to the point, realistic, raw, merciless. And with a lot of whump, of course.

NOTICE: I can read/speak Chinese. I watched it on Youtube without engsub. I know you can find engsub out there, but they are terrible. I am very eager to provide good quality engsub for this drama, but I have absolutely no idea of how to make them available for those who would need it. If anybody has insight, I’ll gladly take it! Dm me please <3

NB: Timestamps might be off (< 1mn) depending on where you watch the show. I do not disclose any character death on purpose. The characters are listed by chronological order of whump in each episode.

------ EPISODE 1 ------

Wei Jiang

3:55 Watches his partner get shot, shot at, shot, falls from a cliff, half-dead

27:00 Running away, chased, hiding

40:55 Running away, chased, shot at

48:50 Shot at, rolling down a hill, groaning

54:40 In a fight against three armed men, smacked on the back on his head, collapses

Qin Chuan

17:45 Held captive, hands zip tied, bruises on his face, blood on his forehead, gun to his head, slapped, pissed, manhandled, pressed to the ground, teased

23:13 Hanged to a tree with his hands tied behind his back, made to stand on his tippy toe in the rain, laborious breathing

27:00 Running away, chased, hiding

31:37 Shivering

40:08 Attacked with a machete, running away, chased

47:58 Steps on a wolf trap, groaning and wincing in pain, panting, crawling, dragged away, shot at, rolling down a hill, groaning, leg freed from the trap, wincing and moaning in pain, panting, wound treated on the field

56:11 Hiding, panting

------ EPISODE 2 ------

Wei Jiang

4:30 Refuses to be examined

21:19 Reminiscing what happened five years before, drinking, collapses, passes out

Qin Chuan

4:45 Leg wound examined, wincing and moaning in pain

16:41 Bandage changed

31:14 Kicked, falls down, pushed to the ground, hit on his leg wound, collapses, coughing, helped to stand and walk

------ EPISODE 3 ------

Wei Jiang

14:07 Trapped in a house

15:35 Shot at, house set on fire

16:38 At gunpoint, fighting, pushed to the ground

19:48 Kicked back, crawling out

21:23 Grabbed and manhandled by police officers, pinned to the ground, heavily breathing

Qin Chuan

14:07 Trapped in a house

14:30 Smacked on the head and thrown back, dazed

15:35 Shot at, house set on fire

17:07 Fighting, pinned down, strangled, coughing

------ EPISODE 4 ------

Wei Jiang

5:20 Crying

------ EPISODE 5 ------

Qin Chuan

27:25 Dehydrated, sweating, passes out, falls down from his horse

------ EPISODE 6 ------

Qin Chuan

15:40 Stabbed in the arm, fighting, pushed back

20:25 Caught in a sandstorm

22:58 Shot at (a lot)

44:05 Forced to leave Wei Jiang behind, tearing up

Wei Jiang

19:45 Shot at

20:25 Caught in a sandstorm

21:53 Hand shaking, hitting his hand on the ground out of frustration

22:58 Shot at (a lot)

31:35 Held back by Qin Chuan, forced to listen as his best friend get shot, PTSD

40:45 Trading himself for Qin Chuan’s safety

45:11 Smacked in the face, knocked out

46:01 Wakes up tied up to a pole, shoulder injury stepped on, groaning, at gunpoint

------ EPISODE 7 ------

Qin Chuan

2:50 Has been walking under the burning sun for a while, panting, dehydrated, collapses, loses consciousness

Wei Jiang

12:28 Hands tied behind his back, sack on his head, forced to kneel

21:41 Gun to his head

37:55 At gunpoint

------ EPISODE 8 ------

Qin Chuan

9:03 Shot at

10:15 Blown by an explosion

26:25 Shot in the side, collapses, hiding, holding his wound, shot in the shoulder, exclamation of pain, collapses, shot at, struggling to move, groaning

29:11 Struggling to walk, holding his side wound

31:11 Coughing

32:27 Collapses

40:48 Heavily breathing

Wei Jiang

9:15 Grabbed and slammed to the ground

30:41 Shot in the back, collapses, shot at, in a fight, punched on his wound, ringing ear, fingers pressed on his wound, screaming in pain, bleeding, crawling

33:03 Shot in the leg and the chest, collapses, rolling down the mountain

34:33 Struggling to move, coughing blood, crawling

36:15 Shot in the leg, crawling, leaving a blood trail

40:37 Dragged in the snow

___

Head to the WHUMP MASTERLIST for more whump!

[ramenwritesss]

No-Power’s Umbrella Academy AU Headcanons (Fic is set in 2021)

- [ ] Age Order from oldest to youngest: Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, Ben, Vanya/Viktor, Five (28, 26, 25, 23, 22, 20, 16)

- [ ] Reginald is TERRIBLE with news, good or bad. Everytime he tells somebody something they leave totally confused.

- [ ] Reginald is a Lawyer.

- [ ] Grace can’t have kids, that’s why they adopted. (she’s not a robot)

- [ ] Grace is a stay-at-home mom and kinda acts like Mrs. Wheeler from Stranger Things

- [ ] Luther is a scientist and works at NASA as an assistant.

- [ ] Luther HATES tomatoes. Idk, he just kinda looks like he would.

- [ ] Diego is still a cop, but he’s actually a good one.

- [ ] Diego will drink coffee to seem tough but he enjoys tea more (his favorite is Earl Gray)

- [ ] Allison still an actor and still has a daughter, but she named her Elizabeth (After her great-grandmother) and Allison’s husband died in a car crash when Elizabeth was three.

- [ ] Allison bakes a TON of sweets with her daughter and sends them out to her family as Christmas or birthday gifts (Five loves them and always calls Beth to thank her)

- [ ] Klaus drinks A LOT but he doesn’t do drugs and is actually a yoga instructor (He does Tarrot readings on the Hush-Hush because he’s a fraud)

- [ ] Klaus LOVES to spend time with his siblings. He’s at every family gathering, birthday, and holiday even. Sometimes, if he misses them enough, he’ll just show up and spend a week or two there.

- [ ] Ben is a kindergarten teacher. He’s always LOVED kids, he absolutely adores them, he thinks they are the cutest and purest things ever. He’s actually one of the many reasons they adopted Five. (Buddy just REALLY wanted a little sibling to raise and play with because Vanya was only a year younger than him)

- [ ] Ben, for some reason, is naturally good at fighting. Like, Diego was scared when Ben asked to train with him and he got a mouthful of kneecap within the first thirty seconds.

- [ ] Vanya can play almost every instrument, she just enjoys the Violin the most. She teaches Violin and Piano lessons at the same school Ben does.

- [ ] Vanya buys herself little trinkets and gets all giddy because she thinks they’re cute.

- [ ] Five is a student in highschool and is VERY SMART. He had the opportunity to skip a grade -and still does- but he declined. He hated being the youngest in his family -He gets babied too much lol- and he thought it’d be hell to be the youngest in his classes too.

- [ ] Five is allergic to peanuts. Like, HIGHLY allergic to peanuts so much to the point where he carries two EpiPens and his own water bottle to not chance anything.

- [ ] Fives real name is Max, Maxson Hargreeves, but GOD does he absolutely hate it. He goes by Five because it was his siblings nickname for him when he was younger. (His birthday is 5/5/05)

- [ ] Diego is tremendously good at cooking and sings while he does it. Not hum, he fully sings as if he’s Mariah Carey.

- [ ] Klaus is obsessed with kimonos…nobody knows why, but if you catch him on the right day he’ll just be fully decked out with his hair pulled up in a sparkly purple kimono.

- [ ] Ben is a total lightweight. Buddy could smoke a cigarette and it’d have the same effect of smoking weed.

- [ ] Allison hates the feeling of fur or fuzzy things. Fuzzy slippers? Nope. Socks? Nada. Blankets? Definitely not. She prefers heavyweight blankets and tight clothing.

- [ ] Allison doesn’t braid her hair, it gets all knotted and takes forever to detangle.

- [ ] Luther can do top-tier voice impressions, it’s actually terrifying how good he’d be trying to catfish someone.

- [ ] Vanya rarely ever wears makeup. She instead uses her hair as a way to boost her confidence so she styles it every now and then.