#Brian uses logic

[just--kay]

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It's almost midnight post M//arble H//ornets unpopular opinions

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[mostlysignssomeportents]

Apple fucked us on right to repair (again)

Today (September 22), I'm (virtually) presenting at the DIG Festival in Modena, Italy. Tonight, I'll be in person at LA's Book Soup for the launch of Justin C Key's "The World Wasn’t Ready for You." On September 27, I'll be at Chevalier's Books in Los Angeles with Brian Merchant for a joint launch for my new book The Internet Con and his new book, Blood in the Machine.

Right to repair has no cannier, more dedicated adversary than Apple, a company whose most innovative work is dreaming up new ways to sneakily sabotage electronics repair while claiming to be a caring environmental steward, a lie that covers up the mountains of e-waste that Apple dooms our descendants to wade through.

Why does Apple hate repair so much? It's not that they want to poison our water and bodies with microplastics; it's not that they want to hasten the day our coastal cities drown; it's not that they relish the human misery that accompanies every gram of conflict mineral. They aren't sadists. They're merely sociopathically greedy.

Tim Cook laid it out for his investors: when people can repair their devices, they don't buy new ones. When people don't buy new devices, Apple doesn't sell them new devices. It's that's simple:

https://www.inverse.com/article/52189-tim-cook-says-apple-faces-2-key-problems-in-surprising-shareholder-letter

So Apple does everything it can to monopolize repair. Not just because this lets the company gouge you on routine service, but because it lets them decide when your phone is beyond repair, so they can offer you a trade-in, ensuring both that you buy a new device and that the device you buy is another Apple.

There are so many tactics Apple gets to use to sabotage repair. For example, Apple engraves microscopic Apple logos on the subassemblies in its devices. This allows the company to enlist US Customs to seize and destroy refurbished parts that are harvested from dead phones by workers in the Pacific Rim:

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

Of course, the easiest way to prevent harvested components from entering the parts stream is to destroy as many old devices as possible. That's why Apple's so-called "recycling" program shreds any devices you turn over to them. When you trade in your old iPhone at an Apple Store, it is converted into immortal e-waste (no other major recycling program does this). The logic is straightforward: no parts, no repairs:

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

Shredding parts and cooking up bogus trademark claims is just for starters, though. For Apple, the true anti-repair innovation comes from the most pernicious US tech law: Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

DMCA 1201 is an "anti-circumvention" law. It bans the distribution of any tool that bypasses "an effective means of access control." That's all very abstract, but here's what it means: if a manufacturer sticks some Digital Rights Management (DRM) in its device, then anything you want to do that involves removing that DRM is now illegal – even if the thing itself is perfectly legal.

When Congress passed this stupid law in 1998, it had a very limited blast radius. Computers were still pretty expensive and DRM use was limited to a few narrow categories. In 1998, DMCA 1201 was mostly used to prevent you from de-regionalizing your DVD player to watch discs that had been released overseas but not in your own country.

But as we warned back then, computers were only going to get smaller and cheaper, and eventually, it would only cost manufacturers pennies to wrap their products – or even subassemblies in their products – in DRM. Congress was putting a gun on the mantelpiece in Act I, and it was bound to go off in Act III.

Welcome to Act III.

Today, it costs about a quarter to add a system-on-a-chip to even the tiniest parts. These SOCs can run DRM. Here's how that DRM works: when you put a new part in a device, the SOC and the device's main controller communicate with one another. They perform a cryptographic protocol: the part says, "Here's my serial number," and then the main controller prompts the user to enter a manufacturer-supplied secret code, and the master controller sends a signed version of this to the part, and the part and the system then recognize each other.

This process has many names, but because it was first used in the automotive sector, it's widely known as VIN-Locking (VIN stands for "vehicle identification number," the unique number given to every car by its manufacturer). VIN-locking is used by automakers to block independent mechanics from repairing your car; even if they use the manufacturer's own parts, the parts and the engine will refuse to work together until the manufacturer's rep keys in the unlock code:

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

VIN locking is everywhere. It's how John Deere stops farmers from fixing their own tractors – something farmers have done literally since tractors were invented:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/08/about-those-kill-switched-ukrainian-tractors/

It's in ventilators. Like mobile phones, ventilators are a grotesquely monopolized sector, controlled by a single company Medtronic, whose biggest claim to fame is effecting the world's largest tax inversion in order to manufacture the appearance that it is an Irish company and therefore largely untaxable. Medtronic used the resulting windfall to gobble up most of its competitors.

During lockdown, as hospitals scrambled to keep their desperately needed supply of ventilators running, Medtronic's VIN-locking became a lethal impediment. Med-techs who used donor parts from one ventilator to keep another running – say, transplanting a screen – couldn't get the device to recognize the part because all the world's civilian aircraft were grounded, meaning Medtronic's technicians couldn't swan into their hospitals to type in the unlock code and charge them hundreds of dollars.

The saving grace was an anonymous, former Medtronic repair tech, who built pirate boxes to generate unlock codes, using any housing they could lay hands on to use as a case: guitar pedals, clock radios, etc. This tech shipped these gadgets around the world, observing strict anonymity, because Article 6 of the EUCD also bans circumvention:

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

Of course, Apple is a huge fan of VIN-locking. In phones, VIN-locking is usually called "serializing" or "parts-pairing," but it's the same thing: a tiny subassembly gets its own microcontroller whose sole purpose is to prevent independent repair technicians from fixing your gadget. Parts-pairing lets Apple block repairs even when the technician uses new, Apple parts – but it also lets Apple block refurb parts and third party parts.

For many years, Apple was the senior partner and leading voice in blocking state Right to Repair bills, which it killed by the dozen, leading a coalition of monopolists, from Wahl (who boobytrap their hair-clippers with springs that cause their heads irreversibly decompose if you try to sharpen them at home) to John Deere (who reinvented tenant farming by making farmers tenants of their tractors, rather than their land).

But Apple's opposition to repair eventually became a problem for the company. It's bad optics, and both Apple customers and Apple employees are volubly displeased with the company's ecocidal conduct. But of course, Apple's management and shareholders hate repair and want to block it as much as possible.

But Apple knows how to Think Differently. It came up with a way to eat its cake and have it, too. The company embarked on a program of visibly support right to repair, while working behind the scenes to sabotage it.

Last year, Apple announced a repair program. It was hilarious. If you wanted to swap your phone's battery, all you had to do was let Apple put a $1200 hold on your credit card, and then wait while the company shipped you 80 pounds' worth of specialized tools, packed in two special Pelican cases:

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

Then, you swapped your battery, but you weren't done! After your battery was installed, you had to conference in an authorized Apple tech who would tell you what code to type into a laptop you tethered to the phone in order to pair it with your phone. Then all you had to do was lug those two 40-pound Pelican cases to a shipping depot and wait for Apple to take the hold off your card (less the $120 in parts and fees).

By contrast, independent repair outfits like iFixit will sell you all the tools you need to do your own battery swap – including the battery! for $32. The whole kit fits in a padded envelope:

https://www.ifixit.com/products/iphone-x-replacement-battery

But while Apple was able to make a showy announcement of its repair program and then hide the malicious compliance inside those giant Pelican cases, sabotaging right to repair legislation is a lot harder.

Not that they didn't try. When New York State passed the first general electronics right-to-repair bill in the country, someone convinced New York Governor Kathy Hochul to neuter it with last-minute modifications:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/12/weakened-right-to-repair-bill-is-signed-into-law-by-new-yorks-governor/

But that kind of trick only works once. When California's right to repair bill was introduced, it was clear that it was gonna pass. Rather than get run over by that train, Apple got on board, supporting the legislation, which passed unanimously:

https://www.ifixit.com/News/79902/apples-u-turn-tech-giant-finally-backs-repair-in-california

But Apple got the last laugh. Because while California's bill contains many useful clauses for the independent repair shops that keep your gadgets out of a landfill, it's a state law, and DMCA 1201 is federal. A state law can't simply legalize the conduct federal law prohibits. California's right to repair bill is a banger, but it has a weak spot: parts-pairing, the scourge of repair techs:

https://www.ifixit.com/News/69320/how-parts-pairing-kills-independent-repair

Every generation of Apple devices does more parts-pairing than the previous one, and the current models are so infested with paired parts as to be effectively unrepairable, except by Apple. It's so bad that iFixit has dropped its repairability score for the iPhone 14 from a 7 ("recommend") to a 4 (do not recommend):

https://www.ifixit.com/News/82493/we-are-retroactively-dropping-the-iphones-repairability-score-en

Parts-pairing is bullshit, and Apple are scum for using it, but they're hardly unique. Parts-pairing is at the core of the fuckery of inkjet printer companies, who use it to fence out third-party ink, so they can charge $9,600/gallon for ink that pennies to make:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/11/ink-stained-wretches-battle-soul-digital-freedom-taking-place-inside-your-printer

Parts-pairing is also rampant in powered wheelchairs, a heavily monopolized sector whose predatory conduct is jaw-droppingly depraved:

https://uspirgedfund.org/reports/usp/stranded

But if turning phones into e-waste to eke out another billion-dollar stock buyback is indefensible, stranding people with disabilities for months at a time while they await repairs is so obviously wicked that the conscience recoils. That's why it was so great when Colorado passed the nation's first wheelchair right to repair bill last year:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/when-drm-comes-your-wheelchair

California actually just passed two right to repair bills; the other one was SB-271, which mirrors Colorado's HB22-1031:

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB271

This is big! It's momentum! It's a start!

But it can't be the end. When Bill Clinton signed DMCA 1201 into law 25 years ago, he loaded a gun and put it on the nation's mantlepiece and now it's Act III and we're all getting sprayed with bullets. Everything from ovens to insulin pumps, thermostats to lightbulbs, has used DMCA 1201 to limit repair, modification and improvement.

Congress needs to rid us of this scourge, to let us bring back all the benefits of interoperability. I explain how this all came to be – and what we should do about it – in my new Verso Books title, The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation.

https://www.versobooks.com/products/3035-the-internet-con

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

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

Image: Mitch Barrie (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Daytona_Skeleton_AR-15_completed_rifle_%2817551907724%29.jpg

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

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kambanji (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/kambanji/4135216486/

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

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Rawpixel (modified) https://www.rawpixel.com/image/12438797/png-white-background

[newborn-vessel]

Undersiders Classpects Ideas

Taylor: Heir of Mind

(while I could genuinely see Mage in the knowledge and suffering parts, her arc fits better with Heir as she naturally grows to a connection that she initially uses minorly, extremely logical and overwhelmingly smart, mental parallel with bug hive)

Lisa: Seer of Light

(The knowledge, the drama, the guidance, perpetually trying to find the best path, sight motif, knows too much, can never act nearly as much as she wants)

Alec: Witch of Heart

(Fairly literally manipulates the self, has a complex relationship with his sense of self such that he often controls and projects it, really specific idea of how people work, the whole Heart and emotional motif with his family)

Rachel: Knight of Blood

(literally fights through her connection with her dogs beyond her power, constantly fights against human connection, obvious literal blood parallels, extremely loyal, really specific idea of relationships)

Aisha: Thief of Void

(Invisibility, lack of recognition, simultaneously self focused and actively supportive, can't escape the ignorance of her despite any attempts)

Brian: Maid of Doom

(world's most normal tormented man, would be Void maybe but has greater links to Doom and death, darkness fundamentally overwhelms, death flag collector champion, perpetually talks with a morose sense of giving in, serves and works for others)

[ladykailitha]

Royal Pain Part 4

Hello! I am loving the response for this story. Thank you so much. In this one we get pouty Steve and chaotic Eddie.

Enjoy!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

***

To say Steve was vibrating out of his skin would be an understatement. Eddie had really killed it on stage. He was a little unsure about the music itself, but watching Eddie play said music got him on his feet and bouncing to the beat.

The rest of the band was great, too. But Eddie was electric. Like he was born to be in front of an audience. There was a passion to their sound that made all the music on the radio sound rote and boring.

Steve and Robin followed Miranda to the backstage.

The security guy eyed Steve and Robin warily. “Who you got there, Mandy?”

Miranda looked over her shoulder. “They’re with me. They’re friends of Eddie’s.”

The security guards eyes narrowed. “And if I call Eddie, he’ll tell me the same thing?”

Miranda rolled her eyes. “Always so fucking suspicious, Callahan. What you think they’re holding me against my will to get to Eddie?”

Callahan opened his mouth, probably to agree when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Eddie standing there.

“Let them through, Cal,” Eddie growled.

“Right away, man.” He moved aside and let them in.

As they walked Eddie explained, “Sorry about that, for some reason this asshole thinks he’s security for Metallica or some shit.”

They got the “green room” that already had Gethin already with the rest of the band, chilling.

“You were right, Gare,” Eddie said as he strutted into the room. “Cal had them held up in security.”

Gareth rolled his eyes. “I thought so. I’ve talked to management about getting someone else to do door duty, but they think he’s the best.” He waved his hands sarcastically.

Steve snorted. “I was at a store like that once,” he said moving further into the room. “Was so sure being extra super cautious was better anything else, because anything else was just being lazy.”

“Yes!” Brian said. “He gets it!”

Steve smiled.

Robin grinned at him, “Was this Scoops or Family Video?”

Every head in the room turned to Steve and Robin.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Eddie said. “Do you mean to tell me that you two lovely individuals worked at Scoops? In those ridiculous little sailor outfits?”

Robin and Steve looked at each other and shrugged.

“Yeah,” Robin said. “Steve hated the hat.”

“My hair was too thick for it sit properly on my head,” Steve grumbled, “so the damn thing kept falling off!”

Robin smirked and eyed him sidelong. “And you’re sure it had nothing to do to the fact that you thought it hid your best feature and you couldn’t get any bitches?”

The whole room laughed as Steve blushed. “Snitch.”

Robin laughed. “Love you, babe.”

Steve stuck out his tongue at her before turning to the room. “You guys all coming out to drinks with us?”

Eddie saluted. “All cleared for drinking. Except are dearly beloved designated drivers, Gareth and Miranda.”

Steve grinned. “Great! Robin and I took an Uber here, so we don’t worry about who’s driving home tonight.”

Everyone nodded.

“You two are going with Jeff and Miranda,” Gareth explained. “And Gethin is coming with the rest of us.”

Steve felt a pool of disappointment settle in his stomach. But he could see the logic in the match up.

“Sounds great!” Robin said cheerfully, bumping Steve’s shoulder with her own.

Eddie winked at Steve. “Don’t worry, big boy, we’ll have plenty of time to socialize once we get to the club.”

Steve had suggested a nearby club for their after party because the last thing he wanted to do was try to get to know Eddie better surrounded by people that judge the ever-loving fuck out of him. Because yeah, Steve loved giving stereotypes the middle finger, but he wasn’t immune to the snide remarks and sneering looks he got from people on the regular.

So he was really relieved when Eddie agreed to the change in location. He just assumed he would be going with Eddie to club and was a little cross when he found out they weren’t. He tried not to let it bother him as they all walked out to the parking lot.

Robin bumped his shoulder again, clocking his mood immediately. He smiled at her, but he knew it was weak. God, he was such a loser. He was quiet in the car as they drove to the club. Standing in line, his mood started to improve as Eddie turned his full attention on Steve.

“So what did you think of the music, Stevie?” Eddie asked once they lined up.

Steve thought about lying and saying how much he loved it, but he knew that would only get him into trouble later.

“I’m not really familiar with the genre to know for sure,” he said instead. “I would love for you to educate me though, broaden my horizons a bit.”

Which was apparently the right thing to say because everyone was nodded their approval.

Eddie positively beamed at him. “I’d love that! When would you like to meet up for that?”

Steve laughed delightedly. “Sundays are a no go, I have dinner with Dustin and his wife Suzie, but I close up my shop every day at eight. So really any time after that.”

Eddie grinned. “Is Monday at nine okay? What time do you open in the morning?”

“I don’t open until ten,” Steve said brightly, “so nine on Monday sounds fantastic, we can order in and make night of it.”

Eddie bounced on the balls of his feet excitedly. “I’m so there. Text me your address.”

Steve pulled out his phone and did just that. “There you go.”

Eddie pulled out his own phone and smiled at the new message. “There I am.”

Behind him Gareth and Gethin were making gagging noises.

Jeff smacked the back of both of their heads. “Ignore the children. Their mother didn’t raise them right.”

Robin laughed as Steve shook his head.

“It’s like Dustin and Mike all over again,” he said, resigned.

“Who’s Mike and Dustin or Dustin and Mike or whatever?” Brian asked.

Eddie bounced up and down. “Ooh, ooh! You’re going to love this Bri! Dustin and Mike are Nog and Tayr respectively.”

Brian’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. “No way! You know Nog and Tayr?”

Steve scratched his cheek and half shrugged. “If those are their D&D characters then sure, I’ve known them for ages.”

“Stevie here used to babysit them!” Eddie said excitedly.

Steve blushed. “More like made sure they didn’t kill themselves doing some stupid ass shit while their parents worked to make sure they had a roof over their head and food in their bellies. But yeah, good kids.”

They got into the club where the music was loud but not overbearing, the lights were dimly lit but not so dark you couldn’t see and the atmosphere was hopping without being oppressive.

In short, it was Steve’s favorite place to go.

Soon even the Corroded Coffin boys were bobbing their heads to the music as they drank and danced the night away. It was a fun evening that ended too soon if you asked Steve.

But the thought of Eddie coming over on Monday is was kept Steve from pouting all the way to the cars.

“You two are coming with us, pretty boy,” Eddie said with a grin. “Bri and Jeffie and Mandy aaallll live in the same general area so they go home together. Which means Gareth takes you home!”

Gareth who had wisely gotten the address to their apartment before they got drunk off their asses just shook his head fondly. With the help of a mildly tipsy Gethin, the two managed to get the three drunks pilled into the back of the car without much fuss.

Robin wisely sat between the two boys so they wouldn’t do anything they might not recall in the morning as she wasn’t as drunk as they were.

Eddie got dropped off first much to Steve’s chagrin. Robin kept slapping his arm every time he pouted.

Gareth just shook his head every time he caught them in the rear view mirror doing exact that.

Gethin and Robin helped a very ineberiated Steve up the three flight of stairs to their apartment.

Robin thanked Gethin and got Steve into bed. She flopped down next him and murmured. “We are going to regret this in the morning.”

“Not if I don’t wake until noon,” came the mumbled response.

“Smart.”

*

Eddie woke up the next morning with his head pounding a rhythm in his brain that was outside his usual Sunday morning hangover. The place Steve chose for them was outside Corroded Coffin’s usual wheelhouse, but it was fun.

The type of thing that Wayne had suggested he do. He was still planning on going to the park today for some doodling, but last night was good. Really good in fact.

He could tell that Miranda and Robin had become fast friends and he loved that. With Brian and Gareth not having romantic partners, Miranda often felt a little on the outskirts of the band. But if Robin and Steve kept coming to their shows, Miranda would have people to chat with.

He got out of bed and staggered to the bathroom to take a cool shower and shave. Once he felt mildly human again, he made some coffee and had cereal for breakfast.

He cleaned the apartment and did dishes. Once he was satisfied with the state of the place, he pulled on a loose t-shirt that had the sleeves cut off, making sure the tattoo was covered and applied sunscreen, even going as far as to put another bandage over it, to protect it. He just needed to get out and get fresh air, but not at the cost of ruining his brand new tattoo. Then he packed up his drawing pad and art pencils and walked to the nearby park.

It wasn’t really a park. At least not one maintained by the city, but rather a strip of green in an otherwise grey landscape of hell. There were always kids kicking around a soccer ball and teenagers laying on the grass smoking weed.

It was Eddie’s favorite spot to just doodle and people watch. He just let his hand and mind wander as he free-handed a bunch of sketches. He wasn’t sure how long he sat there just enjoying the breeze and the sounds of the city, muted around him.

He felt the growl of his stomach and looked at his watch. He had been sitting there for three hours. Yeah, it was time to eat. He put away his art stuff into his bag and hoisted it up on his shoulders. He felt really lucky today; he didn’t get hit with a soccer ball, he didn’t get harassed by Karens and the cops didn’t come by to scare the teenagers off.

Eddie got the fast food joint and ordered his lunch. He happily munched away while he visited the band’s social media. And if he grinned at the two new followers on their TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter accounts, you didn’t see shit.

He walked back to his apartment and let himself in. He went to go to the bathroom and as he was washing he hands he realized that he had made a grave error.

Eddie had done everything to keep his tattoo safe, but had neglected the rest of him. His cheeks, his shoulders, and the back of his neck were all bright cherry red.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

He dialed Steve up immediately. “Steve, I think I fucked up our appointment this week.”

“What happened?” Steve asked, more worried then disappointed.

“I protected my new tattoo when I went out to draw,” Eddie explained, “but forgot about the rest of me.”

“Let me text you where I’m at,” Steve murmured, “so I can check out the damage and see if we need to reschedule your tattoo appointment, okay?”

“Yeah,” Eddie said letting out a shuddering breath. “Thanks, man. Sorry about all this.”

He could hear the smile in Steve’s voice when he said, “Hey don’t worry about it. We’ll figure this out, I promise.”

Eddie agreed and hung up. How could he have been so stupid? He even had the sunscreen out for the tattoo for fuck’s sake. Why didn’t he make sure the rest of him was covered, too?

His phone trilled in his hand and he looked down at the message from Steve.

He supposed there was one silver lining in all this. He got see Steve a day earlier than planned.

***

Part 5 Part 6  Part 7  Part 8 Part 9 Part 10  Part 11 Part 12  Part 13 Part 14  Part 15  Part 16  Part 17  Part 18 Part 19  Part 20  Part 21 Part 22  Part 23  Part 24  Part 25 Part 26  Part 27  Part 28  Epilogue

Tag List: @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @pyrohonk​ @renaissan-vvitch @goodolefashionedloverboi @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @plyerice27 @thedragonsaunt @chaoticlovingdreamer @sapphirecobalt-1 @a-little-unsteddie @i-must-potato @danili666  @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @itsall-taken @justforthedead89 @emly03 @bookworm0690 @aizawa-emma @redfreckledwolf @thesuninyaface @bookbinderbitch @yikes-a-bee @littlewildflowerkitten @scheodingers-muppet @archermightbegay @hallucinatedjosten 

[zathechaosgod]

How Boeing's doing

If anyone has sort of lost the oversight of the soap opera of a scandal is going with the whole Boeing thing:

Jan 5th: Alaska Airlines flightusing a boeing 737 max 9 loses a door, turns out to have literally screws missing leading to the failure of the door plug

Boeing is logically being sued/audited over safety concerns and "can't locate any documents about the opening and closing of the door plug" on march 8th

March 9th: A whistleblower involved in the process since 2017, John Barnett, is found dead in his car "from a self-inflicted gunshot wound" after being asked by Boeing's lawyers to stay on site for the ongoing trial one more night instead of going home to his family, and despite making it clear to his family beforehand that he had no plans of ending his life and was actually looking forward to making it into court.

April 30th, a second whistleblower has died, this time Joshua Dean who used to work as a quality auditor at a Boeing supplier. In only two weeks time he went from completely healthy to hospitalized from a whole Bunch of viruses including influenza B, MRSA (which is resistant against basic antibiotics), and pneumonia, to a degree that basically stunned his doctors with how much his lungs were filled.

Both whisteblowers were being represented by the same lawyer, Brian Knowles

Ironically, less than a day later on may 1st, the emergency slide that a delta flight lost last friday got washed up in the backyard of one of the lawyers suing Boeing in a coincidence that nearly feels like a targeted threat

Sources i used under the readmore:

[lakesbian]

taylor would use bugs to cheat at escape rooms.

brian would attempt to get everyone to follow his plan

alec would try to guess the end lock to immediately escape before solving any puzzles

i think taylor would try not to cheat on the escape room but accidentally do it anyway and 15 minutes in she would start listing information about a mechanism she absolutely should not have or something and everyone would be like Uhhh and she would be like 😐what. sorry. lisa's thing is she still needs to feel like the smartest person in the room even though she can't really play so she's Commentating, Condescendingly. brian is without doubt expecting everyone to follow his plan and he goes from ":D what a cool and practical girl we are solving this escape room so efficiently together" to being misogynistically insecure as taylor contributes to and then significantly outstrips his plan in terms of skill. he's coping by trying to micromanage rachel. i think rachel would not like any of the logic puzzles involving trivia or some other such thing she does not know but if you (by which i mean taylor) gave her a more physical puzzle or something to fiddle with she could sit down quietly and have a fine time with it. if alec is there pre-aisha joining the team i think he would try 2 participate by making a mediocre suggestion and then when he gets kind of ignored or steamrolled over hes like welp im bored let me know when we're out...and sits back and tries to take a nap. if alec is there after aisha has joined the team they sitting in the back of the room trying to hide from the camera with a passworded box that's already been opened and figuring out what the mechanism for setting the password is and then changing it to PENIS. and giggling. these are my inexpert opinions on what the undersiders would do at the escape room what do you all think they would do

[the-s1lly-corner]

Hello how are you :3? I was wondering if you could write E.J., Hoodie, and Masky with a s/o that has a lot of scars? (Toby too but platonic for him) I’m not sure how many people we can request so if it’s too many just Hoodie? I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable and thank you!

Various!Creepypastas w/ a scarred!reader

waaaah im so sorry for not seeing this sooner! i didnt recieve a notification for this ask!! really theres no limit to how many characters you can send in! i think my personal max varies from prompt to prompt!! mix of how they approach the concept of a scarred lover (friend in tobys case) with some hints of fluff! cause of scars will be vague as admittedly i didnt know if you meant general scars or SH! side note i hope this posts right! im writing this on my computer, im used to mobile!! + apologies for any weird wording or typos, im listening to music and im getting hyped!! not proof read we die like my spiderverse brainrot

Includes: Eyeless Jack, Hoodie, Masky and Platonic!Toby!

CWs: touch and go talk of potential past trauma, body image issues, vague mentions of SH(?) in EJs part + Toby's parts

admittedly admin doesnt know if its technically SH due to the nature and motiv but personally id still count it as such and tag it as such

Eyeless Jack;

he gets it, he really does. the basic run down of my hc/take on ej is that he wasnt always some flesh eating monster; just some dude who got caught up in some bad stuff

so naturally, he doesnt... really vibe well with the concept of eating human flesh, which can lead to a few... instances. from intentionally to accidentally harming himself while hes lost in his instincts

so hes no stranger to being a little roughed up around the edges

but hes a stranger to comforting; he'll likely approach it from a logical side before trying anything else. "you've been hurt," before going on a small tangent about the formation of scars. hes not the most... emotionally... good... available... person

so youre going to need to lay out the general basis for what you need for basic comfort, on days where your scars become an issue; be is needing comfort or a distraction. it may take him a while, but hell eventually start to pick up on cues and hints as your relationship develops

otherwise hes very neutral about them, again approaching them with a blunt view; seeing it as neither good nor bad. he doesnt draw attention to them, but he doesnt act like theyre gross

really just. vibing with it, doesnt make a huge deal of it since he feels he doesnt have any place to judge, nor does he feel its his business to pry for information

solid 6/10 imo, hell comfort you if you express that you need it but hell likely not go out of his way to do it

Hoodie;

Soft touches, he almost does it before he has your permission to touch you

naturally he has his own fair share of scars from various.. activities

really im still all jumbled up with how i wanna write him and masky; not sure if i want to make them like how they are in their MH source or lean into the proxy thing that was prominent in the early days of the fandom... lowkey leaning into the proxy thing for this post because im more... versed..? in that, but anyhow

hes more upfront and compassionate than eyeless jack, in fact hes probably the most caring out of the four in todays post... maybe thats because i read one (1) fic years back that changed my entire approach to his character but! yeah

subconsciously trails his hands on them when the two of you are holding one another; something gentle and intimate, not too obnoxious to make you self conscious, but not careful enough to go unnoticed

i view hoodie, and by extension brian if i end up considering him and tim fully seperate from their 'proxy' parts, as a very tactile person

true to the popular fanon interpretation, hoodie doesnt speak much. but that only makes him a better listener, so on days where things get hard, hell let you talk his ears off with anything thats bothering you. very rarely, hell speak up and offer some words of advice, most times hell inch closer to grasp you. though it does get awkward since most the time hes just. blankly staring at you silently without emoting or saying a word

overall? personally hes a 7/10 for me, i would rank him higher if he were more verbal, but thats just because admin has an easier time venting if its a two way convo; but overall hell make sure that your scars dont effect your worth

Masky;

very similarly to hoodie, masky also has his own set of scars for the same reasons

he probably starts pointing out his own scars to you and mumbles about where they came from if he knows their origins

this doesnt mean "oh hes invalidating your experiences and hes trying to make it about himself," but more so "hes showing that he really does get it and he doesnt mean to talk over you"

much like EJ he approaches scars with a very blunt and upfront mindset, but to a lesser extent. he admits that whatever led up to the tissue forming, it hurt. emotionally and physically, and hes not going to deny that simple fact. hell listen to you, have a conversation with you about it, and try to help you through whatever you may be currently going through regardless of if youre injury is relevant.

or at least, thats what hes trying to do.

hes still has his own personal issues regarding going about his own problems in a healthy manner but hey thats something for another post; maybe, if i remember

honestly this post doesnt have enough fluff imo, and i can kinda see masky doing this, but imagine he boops his mask against your scars in a mockery of a kiss (doesnt take off his mask often, in fact youll probably never ever see him without it on), i can see jack doing this too tbh

thoughts? 8/10, gets the bonus points for being less awkward to rant to imo, plus i think asides ej, i think i have a bias for masky for the simple fact i had the fattest crush on him when i was in middle school

Toby;

okay! this one is going to be interesting for one main reason! i actually havent touched tobys character in YEARS! so hes probably going to have the shorter list... obligatory i havent built any solid hcs for him past what was going on in the fandom in the 2010s, before toby briefly became a mild discomfort... but we're back in business baby!! (^^ dont feel bad for requesting for toby btw! hes no longer a discomfort, and if i didnt want to write for him i wouldnt be including him right here!!)

obviously we cant talk about his part without talking about his cheek. and other, similar hcs. while i dont think most of the self inflicted marks on his body were from a place of.. for lack of better words, darkness; it doesnt change the fact he still has them. i think a lot of them are from the fact he cant feel anything; accidental burns, gnawing through his cheek, digging his fingers deep into himself. really i could go into detail, but due to the aforementioned fact that my take on him isnt as developed as other characters + i really dont think its appropriate for this post (or really, anywhere on this account,), ill stop there

while he cant relate to the physical pain of what caused your scars, he can sympathize through your feelings. do you feel sorrow, or anger to whoever hurt you? hell be getting worked up right with you, because to him youre one of his closest friends

i feel like he doesnt talk much about his past, regarding his family. but hed tell you, and you can sure as hell bet that hell do his absolute damndest to grant you the same feeling of security.

hell probably touch and prod without truly meaning any harm, but thats because he can have problems with boundaries, but hell listen if you sit him down and tell him it makes you uncomfortable if it does

more so emotional than outwardly... supportive? idk the words, but hes very empathetic with you and tries to relate to you through emotion rather than feeling what you felt. honestly? kinda based for that, but maybe thats because i dont see feelings about this topic being touched on, usually its straight up about how the scar makes the person look or the physical trauma they had gone through, but idk, maybe thats just a me thing

he can be an asshole at times but hell usually backtrack and cool off somewhere else if you call him out on it imo

not sure if its because as im LITERALLY investigating his characteristics and interpretations as we speak, but i think im starting to relate to him so ER-OH!

anyways, i wish i could make his segment more... in tune with the characters above but its probably going to take me a while until im comfortable with how i portray this dude, which sucks because as a kid he was probably one of my favorites

i dont think im going to give toby a rating like the others; since i dont think i can accurate rate him due to the lack of proper concrete ideas outside of him being empathetic to your emotional pain since he cant relate on how much it hurt

im gonna end this here since im starting to sound like a broken record on tobys part so!

i hope you enjoyed this! characterization may be a little off but i blame that mostly on the fact that i kinda fell out of the loop in regards for writing for these guys (that damn spider movie! the brainrot threw me off my creepypasta grind!/j) but its good to be back writing for this fandom! it was a fun little brain exercise trying to figure out each character goes about this kind of thing without making them all the same!! with that being said, im going to go listen to an audio reading of tobys story so i can regrounded in his character and hopefully do him some justice in the future!

[faolonfiendrender]

How I imagine the mechs run cons:

Jonny kinda just gets drunk and improvises. It works really fucking well a lot of the time. Also, slight penchant for rigged games of chance, picking a random but lethal game, becoming the dealer in any casino game, that sort of thing. (Wonder where he picked that up)

Ashes considers fraud to be like the second or third funnest crime, obviously not beating arson and murder, but still rather fun. Ashes also has a wide range when it comes to what con they choose, but often it includes showing off manipulation skills.

Brian’s favorite con is fake prophecies or real and not useful prophecies. Granted it often isn’t a con, and he’s just being a prophet, so I’m not sure this counts.

Marius just gets up to all sorts of medical quackery, sometimes he starts a radiation fad on planets in that critical development phase where they know what radiation is but don’t know it hurts you. Sometimes Marius does sell working medicine as well as fakes or simply functional and deeply stupid medicine, depends on his mood.

The toy soldier is kinda bad at cons, more because sometimes it commits to the bit too hard and actually renders promised services even when not logically plausible. It is rather convincing it just tends to pretend to fulfill the service as opposed to pretending to pretend to fulfill the service.

Calling Raph’s cons cons is kind of not accurate, She often publishes science that works and is greatly in advance of what they have and as such is hard to replicate. Also sometimes just walking into a lab and leaving with hard to find tools or materials.

Ivy is very very meticulous when she does run a con. Every detail planned and documented, the methods vary, but there will be at least five ways to pull the plug, and the targets to get access to are often books, archival hdds and the like.

Tim tends to go violent enough that it can’t really be called a con anymore, though he did steal the identity of the “war hero” Achilles for a bit while in the city.

Nastya’s preferred scam method is becoming an engineer for the mark, and as such gaining widespread access to everything.

[freddiemercurylegendabovelegends]

Today, on April 22nd, 1989 - Queen Story!

Queen filmed promo video for “I Want It All” at Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, UK, director David Mallet

🔸Roger Taylor: Yes, it is our first studio album since 1986, I think that the reason for, for the delay, no, not the delay, for the long wait in between was that we wanted to sort of go away, and just recharge our batteries, quite logical really, and er, and just sort of generate some, some new energy and enthusiasm for, for being Queen

John Deacon: After we did the, the tour in 1986, which was a very big European tour, we were all absolutely exhausted, and shattered, and basically we didn't want to really work together or see each other for a while

Roger Taylor: To get into the whole cycle of er, just making an album, then going on tour, then coming back home and making an album again, we wanted to get out of that

Brian May: We said right, we'll take a little break, we're not, we're not going to split up, but we just er, we need some space for ourselves, and when the time is right, we'll make the album, rather than, you know, somebody says you've got to make one so we make one, so we waited, and we did some, did various other things, you know, Freddie and Roger both did solo projects, and I'm half way through one, and did a lot of producing

John Deacon: That took at least a year to a year and a half, and then towards the end of that second year, er, we sort of met up, and Freddie suggested, I think it was Freddie, perhaps we'd try a little time in the studio

Roger Taylor: So we went into the studio, saw what it was like, and we enjoyed it very much, and we still didn't have any material, so then we decided to go in for the long, for a long, longer time

John Deacon: You know, the third year was spent making the album, so the, in a way it was a two year gap to us, rather than three years, and er, and what was the, I've forgotten the second part of the question already

Interviewer: Did it help you to return to the studios feeling refreshed?

John Deacon: Yes (laughter) yes

The first few weeks of the recording we did a lot of live, er, material, a lot of songs um, ideas came up, some jamming, we had a few ideas that were already prepared, er, 'I Want It All' was one of the, one of the few songs that was actually, written before we went in

- From 'The Miracle' Interviews

Various and separate interviews recorded with Brian, Roger and John on the set of the 'Breakthru' promotional video, May 1989

👉"We were heading into the period where we decided to share the credit for all the songs, and John has said that [the song] was pretty much a finished song when we went into the studios – that's true, it was just this riff that I was obsessed with for months. The actual title was a favorite phrase of Anita's, a very ambitious girl: 'I want it all, and I want it now '... We were never able to perform this song live. It would have become something of the staple core of the Queen show, I'm sure, very participatory. It was designed for the audience to sing along to, very anthemic."

- Brian May, interview 2003, from Greatest Video Hits 2

[gilears]

thinking again about how the official d20 accounts posted baron clips in the junior year lead up..... What does it mean......... (they posted several sy clips of several different things so the baron clips don't inherently mean anything, but they also posted the origin clip of the night yorb and we all know that actually was hyping up the night yorb in jy.....) What Does It All Mean................

NO I KNOW..... AT THE VERY LEAST THE NIGHT YORB CLIP WAS INTENTIONALLY HYPING WHICH SETS THE PRECEDENT THAT ANY OF THE CLIPS COULD BE INTENTIONALLY HYPING. I AM CHOOSING TO BELIEVE THE BARON ONES ARE like listen

we have murph talking about how riz "loses" the belief that youre gonna have all your friends with you after high school. we have him saying that riz is trying to keep the group together. we have riz in e1 being grossed out and annoyed by fabian and ecaf's flirting. we even have murph in fearful symmetry saying "that is truly riz's worst fear and he is not prepared to deal with that right now so he's going to use logic to get out of this" (paraphrasing but that was the gen idea). we have my green heaven. we have brennan saying because riz is ace, is asexual in an ap for the seven (WHICH i believe 100% he NEVER would have said/decided if he and murph hadnt talked EXTENSIVELY about riz's character and direction previously). we have me putting all my psychic energy into telepathically connecting with brian murphy to make sure he knows how to say the words "asexual" and "aromantic" out loud.

maybe im wearing my clown shoes here but i think theres a real chance something aroace happens to riz this season. and just know that if it does i will be hosting a party i will be popping non-alcoholic bottles for everyone

[mouthsfullofsharpteeth]

GODDDD I LOVE THE VAMPIRE ALEX STORY

I wanna know how he bites them bitches (gay as hell)

ok so, im kinda using the sims4 vampire logic here, where if alex just needs a little snack he drinks from the wrist, but when he's having a full meal he would drink from the neck.

i feel like even though alex and brian were such close friends in college, brian would get a bit squeamish about the blood. he would try to act unbothered, but it hurt, and seeing alex with some pinkened drool dripping out of the corner of his mouth is both too unnerving and too attractive. brian would prefer alex bite his neck during a make out session, because at least that doesn't involve him drawing blood for over five minutes straight. so alex typically just has snacks from brian's wrist. eventually he does get over some of his discomfort, and alex gets a nice little meal from his neck.

jay doesn't mind blood at all. he's happy to let alex drink from his neck, except for the fact that yk, hes kinda skinny lanky and anemic, and after alex takes those big drinks from his neck jay looks close to passing out. they end up needing to just have alex drink from his wrist, which jay soon comes to enjoy a lot more because it means he can see alex's face while he's feeding. he likes to watch how into it alex gets, how he wraps his hands around jay's arm to hold him still, eyelids fluttering and face slowly gaining some color again. jay definitely would take on a very knowledge hungry researcher role here, he helps alex a lot with finding out information on vampires, and he and brian sort of lead the hunt for knowledge on the local vampire that turned alex, as well as any other's that are in their area.

lastly, tim. so as previously stated, tim is a werewolf. the werewolf is sort of like his masky side in this case. he's well aware of being a werewolf, and so is his family, as he's been one his whole life. none of the other's know however, initially because brian was his only friend and he didn't want to scare him off, but now because as he's gotten closer with jay and alex, he doesn't want to infringe on alex's being a vampire. he's worried that could drive them apart and ruin the friend group. tim heals very fast though, and can handle a lot more blood being taken from him than the others, which he thinks might be suspicious, so he holds off on letting alex drink from him for a whileee.

however, it soon becomes necessary for alex to feed from tim, because with jay unable to handle giving alex the large meals, and brian currently too squeamish to, alex is getting weaker. he asks for snacks more and more frequently, and it becomes clear that he's just not getting enough. so tim finally offers. tim has a low pain tolerance, and the first three times alex tries to latch onto his neck, tim jerks away in pain. their solution to that is a bit extreme, but it involves tim crawling into alex's lap and grabbing onto his shoulders, burying his face in the crook of alex's neck, whimpering in pain, fur all fluffed up, maybe biting into the fabric of alex's shirt while he tries to keep his little whines muffled. meanwhile, alex clamps onto tim's neck, teeth puncturing the skin sort of like a can opener, and then sucking and licking up the blood that spills from those holes. tim is intoxicatingly delicious, the werewolf in him flavoring the blood in a way alex has never experienced. alex feels more alert than ever, but also almost loopy, drunk on that blood lust. tim finds it painful, but it will be a pain he will grow to love.

[astrologyaware777]

Schizophrenia & astrology

Key factors

Jupiter our wisdom and maturity

Moon is the mind , hence “lunacy”

Mercury is our logical mind

Rahu is associated with delusion

Saturn aspects, afflicted mainly but not only

Houses, 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th , 8th & 11 & 12 houses

Since 11th is ruled by Aquarius, it’s a weak house for the moon (mind)

5th house The 5th house is your sense of discrimination, how do you use reason and judgment to understand and manage your surroundings

It seems to be schizophrenic individuals can sense or hear messages of other realms

Charts of individuals with schizophrenia

Zelda Fitzgerald

Mercury is retrograde

& aspecting in the 1st house & 5th house & 11th house

Jupiter (R) is aspecting the 12th and 11th

Uranus (R) in the 5th in hard aspect to 11th , also aspecting 1st & 12th

Rahu is (R) in the 5th house

Saturn in the 5th house in harsh aspect to the 11th +12th

Pluto, mars & Neptune, moon & Venus all in the 11th house

Neptune opposite Saturn- 11th opposite 5th

Zelda is fire dominant followed by water

Half fixed energy followed by mutable

Sun , mercury and moon dominant

Sign cancer is the second dominant sign

Dominant houses 11th, and 12th , 1st, 5th and lastly the 4th

Moon in cancer

Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald both accused one another of plagiarism, although zelda had proof from diary entries

Zelda wanted to leave fitz and had a lover but fitz refused to let her and not long after her potenial lover vanished

Later Ernest Hemingway became good friends to Zelda and fitz and Zelda accused him of having a homeosexual relationship with Hemingway

Her husband fitz had an affair with a 17 year old while he was 31

Zelda had tried suicide several times, even driving off a cliff

Fitz died first and later on Zelda died by fire in psychiatric ward, receiving electroshock therapy

Fire dominant 🔥

Interesting she has mercury in the 1st and she drove herself off a cliff - in aspect to Uranus , Mars and Pluto !

Also her mars is in the 18th degree

18-19° Aries Death by violence, fearful & miserable death, early death

29 Sagg early death

1 degree Sagg violent, attack

9 degrees Leo- death through disaster

15 cancer suicide (many attempts )

Relevant signs, planets , houses CANCER, (mind) MERCURY,- Gemini (intellect, nerves) ARIES ( head)MARS, judgmental abilities-(4th and 5th house) signs LEO & CANCER, Neptune, 12th house, SATURN, RAHU, KETU, 2nd house(feelings, emotions- esteem self-worth )

John Nash

Neptune aspecting mars and the moon

Ketu (R) in the 5th house

Saturn in the 6th house

Rahu in the 11th

Venus, sun, mercury & Pluto in the 12th

Pluto in cancer, mercury in cancer

Saturn in the sign Sagittarius in its fall

Brian Wilson

Air and earth dominant

Fixed dominant followed by mutable

Venus dominant, Uranus and Pluto

1st house dominant followed by 3rd house & 12th

Mercury in the 1st house

Uranus aspecting Neptune in the 5th house

Uranus is also connected to the 4th house

Saturn in the 1st house, in harsh aspect to the moon in the 5th ( common one is moon in harsh aspect to Saturn)

Mercury in the 1st in harsh aspect to the 5th

Sun in harsh aspect to Neptune in the 5th

Jupiter in harsh aspect to Neptune in the 5th

Rahu in the 5th

Venus aspecting Neptune - lack of focus

Mars in the 3rd with Pluto , mars and Gemini mixing here is going to create more chaos both in harsh aspect to MC

^^ note Brian Wilson convicted of raping a 21 year old HENCE why mars and Pluto aspect his MC,

Creeps everywhere , tf for astrology

Veronica lake

Not confirmed time of birth

Pluto in the 4th

Neptune in the 5th

Moon and rahu in the 6th

Saturn in the 7th in harsh aspect to Pluto

Jupiter, mercury and sun in the 8th

Jupiter aspecting the 12th & harsh aspect to mars , Jupiter is as well aspecting the 4th

Mercury in harsh aspect to Mars and aspecting Pluto in the 4th as well

Sun in harsh aspect to the 5th & also it’s aspecting the moon & the moon is aspecting Pluto

Uranus in the 12th connected to mercury, Jupiter and Pluto in the 4th

Different patterns but it’s there , she had her a famous hair style, her dad died tragically (sun in the 8th, Jupiter+ mercury) , she drove her car off a cliff by accident ?

Known to be an alcoholic, responsible for the death of her second child because she fell while pregnant - ON SET - sounds fishy

She said a hateful goodbye to Hollywood after being spit out after her prime

Quote here from Veronica

There were times I just stayed on the beach all night, heady with a belly full of lobster and gin,” she writes. “I’d just sleep right there and smile at the thought of the water sneaking in and carrying me away to a place where peace was always present and never interrupted by life.”

Jack Kerouac

Water and earth dominant

Mutable dominant

Moon, mars, mercury and Uranus dominant

Virgo dominant followed by Pisces

1st house dominant followed by 6, 7 and 4th

Moon in the 1st house , moon in harsh aspect to sun and Uranus

Moon aspecting Mars in the 4th

Saturn in the 2nd in retrograde, Saturn aspecting Pluto, mars & Venus

Rahu in the 2nd house and Jupiter

Mars in the 4th in harsh aspect to the moon & MC

Mercury in the 6th aspecting rahu

Neptune aspecting mars and Jupiter

Venus opposite Saturn

Insane or inspired ? Article title for him

Scandal for him was being accused misogynistic and being obsessed with Marilyn Monroe

Neptune in the 11th aspecting mars, Jupiter and MC ^

Letters between Kerouac and Lucien shed light on his feelings for Marilyn Monroe

After her death Kerouac said Marilyn was “fucked to death” (mercury in Aquarius, third house in the sign Scorpio)

He claimed a girl shared this with him and that he was aware of two men that had quite sizeable appendages similar in size to a baseball bat that did this to her

Quotes from the letters

LUCIEN: How?

KEROUAC: By telling her that she was an Angel of Light and that (writer/director) Clifford Odets and (acting coach Lee) Strasberg and all the others were the Angels of Darkness and to stay away from them and come with me to a quiet valley in the Yuma desert, to grow old together like “an old stone man and an old stone woman”…to tell her she really, is really, Marylou.

Marylou” refers to another character in On the Road, a “beautiful little chick” based on Luanne Henderson, Neal Cassady’s real-life adolescent bride. Kerouac wrote, “Marylou was a pretty blonde…But, outside of being a sweet little girl, she was awfully dumb and capable of doing horrible things.” It seems absurd that Kerouac conflated or equated Monroe, one of the most powerful women in Hollywood, with Cassady’s child-wife, who was fifteen when they married. But it’s also a telling detail that Kerouac imagined – saw himself as – Monroe’s protector, her superhero.

As for misogynistic

I’ve heard a lot about Pisces dominant men acting these qualities out

Kerouac has Venus, sun, Uranus and lillith (R) all in Pisces

Venus opposite Saturn

Sun opposite moon

Uranus opposite moon, square MC, square Mars finally rahu and PLUTO

Speaking of Pluto

Pluto aspecting moon , square Saturn , aspecting mars and Uranus

Pluto in the 10th , just dominating

He sure has potential, next mystery is how did Marilyn Monroe die? Another post for another day

Thread on Pisces has a lot of good points perspective on Pisces and how they can play out , quotes below

I tend to mention my Pisces ex on these threads.. and things went very sour between us. So for the sake of fairness - I'll split my reply in two.

The reasonable/psychologically healthy Pisces.. who is not religiously taking any heavy mind-altering substances

How are they in comparison to other men you've known?

Much more spiritual. It's very easy to have a deep conversation with them and to open up about things. They can be great listeners. they are very kind. It's also good that they not get hurt easily. The 'healthy' Pisces has a thick skin. Spiritually he has 'seen it all' and it's all OK in his book.

How did they aproach you?

Usually in a friendly/open way. They almost never approach purely romantically. It gradually builds up to a romantic thing. They are very interested in other people.. They also have a strong desire to be helpful, so if you look a little sad - you'll get every Pisces in the room by your side. The 'healthy' Pisces (huge emphasis on healthy) is actually the most emotionally honest man you'll ever meet and he can be very affectionate.

How did they treat you girls?

They treat me like a princess. They are really very kind and very generous with everything - both materialistically and emotionally. Some of the Pisces people (male & female) I have known are the best friends I've ever had.

Now for the second 'fish' - This is the naughty fish lol..

The unreasonable - psychologically unhealthy Pisces - who IS on drugs - has religious views bordering on the insane - and - has a pretty strong misogynistic streak

How are they in comparison to other men you've known?

Insane! In a nut shell.

They are just off the reservation. There is no talking to them. They are simply 'mad'.

How did they aproach you?

They don't. They either harass you (specially if they also happen to have an afflicted Aries Venus)... or they hide because they are very scared of you - and besides they saw a Freudian-parody once, where vaginas had teeth and men literally *lost* their penises during sex. Since Pisces was on cocaine at the time, he got confused - and thought this was the *news*. Understandably, he is now traumatised for life.

How did they treat you girls?

If you vaguely remind them of a prostitute or a striper.. they will have one of two reactions - fall in love with you to try and 'heal' you and play Jesus... OR.... try to literally murder you because your behaviour is morally wrong and possibly harming other people.

Tip: The fact that you are just a normal girl who wears normal clothes etc.. will not stop an 'unhealthy' Pisces from seeing you this way. He is after all on cocaine - as I just mentioned. You could be a nun & there's always a chance he'd still see you this way.

If you do not remind them of a prostitute... you might remind them of one of those business girls who focus on their career and have it "all" together. This will also get one of two reactions. One: He will leach on to you like nobody's business and spend alllllll the money you ever make. Two: He will literally try to murder you (& no I'm not just accidentally repeating myself lol) - because he doesn't really like feminists.. and this whole thing just reminds him of that Freudian-parody all over again. Besides, he is after all God.. and if he wants to whack someone..... why not?

Shalt we say - biggest narcissism complex.

So my advice is - be careful in sussing out of he is a good one or a bad one. The amount of drugs he consumes is a dead give away

End quote

Bettie page

Water dominant

Mutable dominant followed by fixed

Uranus, Neptune dominant followed by Jupiter and the moon

Pisces dominant followed by cancer

1st house dominant followed by 4th and 2nd

Uranus in the 1st aspecting moon and Pluto in the 4th house

Uranus is aspecting Jupiter in the 8th and MC in harsh aspect

^^( she stabbed her landlord 20 times ) emitted to psyche ward for schizophrenia

Venus in harsh aspect to MC , nude pictures, bondage , sex symbol

Sun and mercury in 2nd ,mercury opposite Jupiter , mercury is square Neptune in the 6th, mercury is also in aspect with Saturn

Mars in the 3rd , harsh aspect to ASC , aspecting Neptune

Moon and Pluto in the 4th house , moon square Pluto

Moon and Pluto aspecting Jupiter, Uranus and asc

All these points in her chart show further her sexual based career and later violence that ensued

Neptune in the 6th, harsh aspects to Jupiter and mercury asp aspecting Saturn, MC and mars

Rahu in the 7th house

This is a very interesting chart

That’s it for now

[chaos-lioness]

Happy Rosh Hashana guys have some marker experiments with my new favorite Jewish character of all time, Brian Jeeter. And Krejjh!!! ID below, lengthy design decision ramblings below that :)

[ID: A marker drawing of Krejjh and Jeeter from The Strange Case of the Starship Iris. Jeeter is a light-skinned human with short curly hair. Krejjh is an alien with four arms and mid-length hair in elaborate braids. They are lying on a mattress together with their arms and legs overlapping, partly covered by a blanket. Krejjh is face down and their limbs are spread out across most of the mattress. They are drawn in purple. Jeeter is face up and smiling slightly in his sleep, and drawn in blue. He has visible top surgery scars and oxygen tubing leads from under his nose to a machine beside the mattress. Also on the floor are two pager-like devices, a pile of notes and books, and a tablet showing two figures in elaborate hats. END ID]

Marker test number two has been marginally successful!! Still trying to figure out how best to get a degree of smoothness. My main regret with this is Krejjh’s sleeping position honestly. ‘Krejjh is exhausted flops face down and takes up the whole bed’ is, I maintain, a hilarious idea. But now we can’t see them smiling back at Jeeter! Their fancy braids are supposed to be a Dwarnian thing, I wanted to give them something appearance wise that could have cultural significance. I figured Dwarnians might have a variety of hair textures just like humans, so I wanted to go with something that works similarly for lots of different types of hair. I have them on a mattress to drive home the makeshift way they’re using the new ship (I intended this to be set mid season 2). The stuff on the floor is supposed to be coms, linguistics research, and everyone’s favorite Dwarnian soap. Also, big thanks to @high-voltage-rat for answering my hopefully spoiler free vague questions, this was a good drawing to have a resident Biomed Person for! Believe it or not a lot of work went into figuring out where Krejjh’s extra arms should go that would not have been possible without her anatomy textbooks and well-informed suggestions. (The muscles for the bottom arms are upside-down versions of the musculature in human shoulders (and Krejjhs’s top arms) if anyone was wondering. Also the bone structure is behind their digestive organs, so their stomach pokes out more than a human’s… which you could also see if I chose their sleeping position better. Alas.) Also for telling me enough that I could Google the right words to figure out an oxygen tank but Future but like the Right Amount of future. (The nose piece is name dropped so I left that pretty much unchanged, but rat said you’d usually need pressurization at night so the ‘tank’ is a little more flexible and technologically advanced than what we have right now in the real world. So it can act like a cpap and it squishes but you still gotta lug it around, keeping it nice and cannon aligned.) Finally, they’re so uh. Scantily covered because the ship is allegedly kept at 37 degrees… which for a while I thought was Celsius but maybe it’s Fahrenheit?? Anyway. 37 Celsius is really warm. So. It was the only logical way.

[mistress-of-vos]

It's their turn! 💛❤️✨

(Extra context of the meme below (mini fic?)!!!)

After the events of Red Robin, Babs and Luke inform Jean-Paul of the issues and problems going on among the bats. During a mission, Bruce got hurt again and has been benched, meaning the situation of "Dick covering for Batman" is once again back in town. This creates a lot of tension among Dick, Damian, Tim, Jason and Bruce, making it almost impossible for them to work together.

Having their hands full with actual city saving, Luke and Babs called JP to ask him to go back and help for a while. Luke does apologize for it, since he knows JP is way happier in Europe and working on his own. It's not that JP doesn't like Gotham, but he grew tired of Bruce and Dick treating him like trash, so he left months after Jason had that - violent encounter with Tim on Titans Tower.

Jean-Paul admits that was part of the problem too; he didn't like it that Bruce seemed so at peace with Tim getting hurt. And Tim... Tim allowed Bruce to ignore his pain. That was maddening, btw, and Jean-Paul had snapped a few times against Tim, screaming that he shouldn't let Bruce walk over him.

Whatever. Jean-Paul had left. He went to Europe and traveled, getting rid of the order of st. Dumas by himself alone, and then getting rid of other groups equally awful and cruel. It was a tiring, slow job. He traveled a lot, and from time to time visited Brian in Spain to chat, but mostly he focused on ending the cycle of violence that he had been raised into. Eventually he did, and just months later, Luke and Babs call.

Being back in Gotham is - weird. It has been years, and Jean-Paul feels uncomfortable around Jason and Damian. His dislike towards Dick hasn't lowered, and it has stayed as a mutual feeling, although JP can't help to feel a bit of pity for Dick when he sees how tired and old Dick looks once he takes off the Batman cowl. But hey, didn't Dick argue that JP wasn't worthy? Then perhaps he should carry the weight of the mantle he insisted JP tainted.

Mostly, JP doesn't like being back at Gotham. Until he sees Tim.

Tim, who has - grown into such a smart, beautiful and sassy young man. Tim, who wears eyeliner, mascara and red lipstick. Tim, with acrilic nails as sharp as Catwoman's. Tim, with a perfume even more hypnotizing than Poison Ivy. Tim, lethal and beautiful. Tim, that makes JP's knees tremble as if he's a teenage virgin boy.

And it gets worse when they start working together. Huge news! Ofc JP had been called back because Tim refused to work with the bats anymore, and it's JP's duty to work with him and push him back to Babs (she does understand that Tim doesn't want to be close to the others, but she worries about Tim being alone, and doesn't want him going out without any support). And doing that is hell, because JP falls hard and deep for Tim.

JP is sure that he was completely whipped by the end of the third week working together. Maybe even sooner.

That's how Luke learns about it, since JP is awful at hiding his crushes. And Luke has the nerve to laugh, telling JP to ask Tim out as if Tim wasn't way out of JP's league! Does Luke enjoy seeing him suffering? JP thinks he will go crazy if he has to hear one more phrase about taking risks...

And yet JP follows Luke's advice: He asks Tim out.

He asks Tim out in a chat. A grupal chat. With Luke on it. And maybe he's hugging his cat George all the time while waiting for Tim to reply.

Against all logic, Tim says yes, and then texts JP on their private chat (the one that's supposed to be used for cases only), saying just one sentence:

"You're adorable, Jean-Paul."

For the record, the first date goes great. JP manages to get to third base, and Tim smirks smugly while murmuring "Puppy" on JP's ear, nails holding his long blonde hair to keep him in place: At Tim's mercy.

[exvangelicalrage]

It's Not Technically Gaslighting

Recently, in my travels, I came across this church sign: 

Back in my younger years, I would've seen this, nodded sagely, and said, "Yes. Putting jesus first, others second, and myself last is sure to bring joy. What a clever and profound statement." 

Not anymore. Now when I see a sign like this, at best, I roll my eyes. At worst, I go off on a tirade and end up turning around my car to take a picture of the sign so I can rant about it later online lol. 

So yeah, here we are.

This message communicates a belief that is so, so essential to modern christianity—which is that you should always put others first. Always. And it is especially emphasized for women, whose entire role in life is supposed to be that of service. 

Give, give, give, and never, ever take, they say. You don't want to be a burden, you want to be a blessing. jesus gave everything to save you, so you too should give everything in service to his "great plan." And they use jesus's words to emphasize the point as well: 

"Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all." mark something or other. "Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of christ." galatians. "Now that I, your lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet." john. "...whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." matthew.

It goes on and on and on. And it's not just the gospels and paul (I fucking hate paul) who harp on it, but practically the entire old testament as well.

But there's a basic logical fallacy inherent in this idea of being the lowest of the low, of being the last of the last, which is this: if everyone is successfully "the last," then doesn't that technically make everyone first? And if everyone is trying to be a slave or a servant or at the bottom of the pile, who exactly is at the top? Maybe the people who want to be at the top? Aren’t the people who don't give a shit about being at the bottom going to slide into leadership roles? The people who are least qualified to be role models? The people who are the worst candidates for leadership? 

This creates societal pockets rife with abuse. This system is the perfect opportunity for predators to hunt. And there are so many prey. Everyone who is actually a humble person, who is actually trying to live a good life, everyone who wants to embody the servitude of christ—guess what? Simply because they are trying to be good and live life right, they are going to have to put up with a lot of shit from predators who want power and control. And those predators who benefit from their servitude? They’re going to milk it for all its worth.

That's how you end up with brian houstons and bill gothards.

When I was 17, I was part of the youth group band at my church. It was a mini-mega-church, as I like to call it. We had on average 800+ attendees every weekend, and the church functioned with a sort of corporate hierarchy, with a head pastor and sub pastors, and had the fancy lights and loud music and charismatic sermons you'd expect at a mega church. 

Sunday night was youth group, which operated like a full-fledged church service. Kids would come into the sanctuary and us, the band, would play popular christian music. We had a pianist (me), a drummer (my little brother), guitarists, a bassist, and singers. Sometimes we even had brass or woodwinds. They even had a light designer who would do impromptu light shows. And a haze machine. 

It was basically a weekly live music concert for teens that lasted anywhere from twenty to forty minutes. Then the youth pastor would get up and preach a youth-directed sermon. Usually the message was something along the lines of, "be christian in school!" "don't mouth off to your parents!" "don't masturbate!" 

My little brother also played in the adult band, because he was the best drummer in the county, despite only being 15. My family would arrive at church at 7 AM on Sunday mornings, sit through a rehearsal and three church services, and then go home for an hour or two, before returning by 3 PM for youth group rehearsal. We would rehearse until 5 PM, and then had to be performing the "welcome music" (just the musicians, not the singers) at 5:30. Then we played until 6:30, got a "break" for the sermon (during which we were required to sit in the audience), and then played again until 7:30 or 8 PM. At that point, we were responsible for tearing down our equipment, loading out, and shutting down the sanctuary.

They didn't provide food for us. Or drinks. If we wanted something, we had to buy it from the church kitchens. My mom was so upset by this, she started making a meal every sunday for all the kids who were in the band (there were usually 7 of us). 

There weren't volunteers to help us set up and take down our equipment. We didn't get money for maintaining our instruments or for gas, for driving back and forth from the church. We weren't allowed to take breaks.

I remember once during my senior year, I was exhausted. I hadn't gone home that day; I'd been at the church since 7 AM, and it was my fourth performance that week, between high school band/jazz band/church stuff. I just wanted to be alone for a few minutes. So during the sermon, I told my friends I was going to sit in the lawn outside the church and pray. 

I had been outside for less than five minutes when an adult volunteer came out and told me I wasn't allowed to be out there. I explained I was exhausted. That I was in the band. That I'd been there since 7 AM. That I just needed a few minutes to breathe. 

She told me it was against the rules, and that as a member of the band, it was my responsibility to sit in the audience and set a good example for the other teens. She made me go back inside.

I didn't know how to be angry back then, but I was just a little bit rebellious. I told her I had to grab my stuff from backstage. I found a dark corner and hid. One of my friends' dads, another adult volunteer, found me, gave me a little smile, and left me alone.

We were the first people to show up, and the last people to leave. We did manual labor. Emotional labor. We were on display as examples of "good christian youth." We were expected to be perfect, without blame.

We were servants.

There to obey. To do the bidding of the church. Not to obey god, but to obey the leaders who decided what god's bidding was. After all, we were only teens. How could we possibly claim to understand god's will?

And those humans, who claimed to know the will of god, exploited children for their own gain. They exploited us.

I know how to be angry now. But I can't deny there is a complex amalgamation of feelings whenever I think about this time of my life. Some anger, yes—rage, even. Sorrow too. And confusion, cognitive dissonance.

Because while yes, they exploited me, I also can’t deny that I liked being there. I liked playing the piano and performing. I liked spending time with my friends. I liked feeling like I was doing good work, like I was serving god, like I was needed and important.

But, it turned out, I wasn't important. I was a cog in an exploitative machine. 

As soon as I graduated, they brought in a younger pianist who was much more skilled than I. Most of my friends, I never heard from again. I never again heard from the youth pastor who I served so willingly. Nor the music pastor. Nor my sunday school teacher. Nor the adult volunteers whom I worked alongside every week. Even my friendships with the teens I played alongside lasted less than a year after I left.

They made me feel important, necessary, and needed. So that I would keep serving. So that I would continue to provide unpaid labor ranging from performing to cleaning to setting a good example for kids my own age. 

They exploited me.

That ever-present message of service and submission—it's not exactly gaslighting. They weren't trying to sow confusion, necessarily. They weren’t outright lying. But they were trying to get me to believe without question. To serve without question. To obey without question.

And it worked. For a time, at least.

As much as it hurt me, I'm lucky they abandoned me. If they hadn't, I might still be there. Sacrificing my health and well-being and happiness in the service of lies.

Here, I fixed the sign:

[radioactive-earthshine]

Hello

Could you explain what you mean by Bart and Brainaic's friendship? I admit I never read any bit of LOSH and the only thing I remember of them interacting is when Brian told Bart he drank to forget him. It doesn't seem like they are friends but IDK

Teen Titans/Legion Special (2004)

This is actually something fairly on brand for Querl to say given his crassness inherited from the long line of Dox-Bitchiness. Querl is one of those great examples of a character who is a good person but he's not necessarily polite and nice all of the time. Although in more recent comics and media he has gotten significantly nicer.

His loose "blink and you miss it" friendship with Bart in the 90s comics comes as a little bit of a surprise considering the types of characters they are but it works as their dynamic evolves around mutually started chaos and working to get out of said chaos. The start of their connection also shows a surprising side of Post-Zero Hour Querl when he elects to show Bart some compassion after he had a very bad day.

This is not to say that their friendship was without a lot of frustrations as Bart did inflict himself upon the Legionnaires in ways that left... an impact.

Bart's first encounter with Querl can be found in his own comic when recently stranded Legionnaires specifically sought Bart out for help in getting back to their own time.

It ended disastrously when Bart while in the midst of an extreme case of the zoomies attempted to use the Cosmic Treadmill to take them home, but he had absolutely no ability to control it, and instead just flung everyone around through varying intervals of time (and gave Imra a migraine and Querl, Koko).

Impulse #21

Bart was even more hyper-active in this issue than normal, and I think it had something to do with the Slurpee he was drinking at the start of it.

Regardless if the zoomies were a result of Mark Waid deciding to go full ham for the chaos in this issue, or if the slurpee did something, the day did not end well and the Legionnaires left hoping to find another way home.

Querl did not expect to see Bart again for a long, long time, if ever.

They were all wrong.

Because like the One Ring he resurfaced as he inflicted himself upon them again about a day later at S.T.A.R. Labs in Legion of Super-Heroes (1989) Issue #88.

But not before the issue opens up reminding everyone that while Bart does have his chaotic moments, Querl is no less guilty of chaos and is his own unique brand of mayhem.

They are in fact, kindred.

LMFAO @ Rokk's "I've asked him NOT to." in regards to blowing up S.T.A.R. Labs because Rokk has about as much control over Querl as Max or any authority figure over Bart when he has an inkling.

S.T.A.R. Labs' solution to dealing with Querl was to put him under watch and surveillance, much to his extreme foul-mouthed displeasure, another trait he shares with Bart.

"What could possibly go awry?" is early Bart Allen's famous summoning incantation.

With Bart back in proximity of the Legionnaires things begin to unfold again chaotically, this time however it is Querl's fault for trying coopt Bart into helping him operate under the radar put on him.

This is their first instance working together, and it is the incident that brings them together and what likely prompts Querl to drink.

With the telepathic ear plugs, Querl directs Bart and gives him what he believes are clear instructions, but he didn't count on Bart's own brand of logic and instead helps initiate a countdown towards nuclear meltdown.

Fortunately, everyone is able to work together to stop catastrophe and all it takes is a Coluan finger subjected to speed force.

"Well. THAT went all right, then, didn't it?" you're a grenade in a barrel full of oatmeal, sir.

The day's events leads to the Legionnaires being kicked out of S.T.A.R. Labs, and out of a home, until they can find a solution to get back to their time.

It also leads to the heartbreaking scene at the diner where Bart is very bluntly and firmly told that he was absolutely not accepted as a Legionnaire. But not only that, he was the first ever hero to be turned down. Superboy at this time is an honorary member so it's a poignant gut-punch and it's hard to read.

Querl lurks outside for reasons unknown.

In true Bart Allen fashion all he wanted to do was help and he did act earnestly it just was not a good day. Six to One rejected him and the comics do not reveal who voted to allow him in.

It is likely that Querl voted to allow him membership, but we never find out, but it is my personal interpretation due to how the final page goes and this is where we see Querl lean into compassion for someone kindred. Maybe he saw a little bit of himself in him.

Querl opens up to Bart literal direct communication and this is the start of a positive friendship between them. Bart has this link with Querl for an impressively long time in comic continuity, at least 11 issues, however the comics do not show them actively communicating until later when Bart is needed to help save the world from C.O.M.P.U.T.O.

We see them again in Legion of Super-Heroes (1989) #99 when Querl reveals to his team that he shares a link with Bart and summons him. Much to the Legionnaires' bemoaning.

Querl isn't wrong, they really are up against time and a threat that is literally world-ending. He trusts Bart is capable and reliable enough to efficiently help them at this point and Bart does.

We also get a humorous snippet showing Querl trying to translate Bart's pictograms. If anything, communicating with Bart sometimes had to have been a mental exercise that he either appreciated or attained a migraine from.

After this point, we do not see them interact much except for in the Teen Titans/Legion Special, and then the next time they are seen even in the same proximity is during Final Crisis when another Brainiac 5 entirely bottles Bart's 'youth' and leads to his resurrection.

They had an interesting and unexpected dynamic/friendship and it is one I feel people generally neglect to notice or consider unless you happen to be a fan of both comics.

We do see some hints in other media that is a throw-back to this old friendship and dynamic such as in The Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century Issue #15 when an alternative history to Bart Allen lands him working with Querl in his birth time.

In this particular version of Bart he has not evacuated to the past (if he ever does) and he is still in VR, however he still works with Querl in harmony and manages to impress them enough to get an invite to the team immediately. The entire issue is like a little love-letter to Bart and is a delight to read and stands on its own.

So there's Bart's interesting relationship/friendship to Earth 247's Brainiac 5 that maybe some in the Flashfam fandom or LOSH fandom may have overlooked.

It's fun, it's unexpected and it's interesting, and it would have been nice to see it a little more fleshed out but 1000 years of time displacement just makes this impossible.