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mostlysignssomeportents · 7 months

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Brinkwhump Linkdump

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me in TUCSON (Mar 9-10), then San Francisco (Mar 13), Anaheim, and more!

Once again, I find myself arriving at the weekend with a giant backlog of links, triggering a linkump, the 15th such dumpage, a variety-pack of miscellany for your weekend. Here's the previous editions:

https://pluralistic.net/tag/linkdump/

Let's start with the latest incredible news from KPMG, the accounting and auditing giant that is relied upon as a source of ground truth for a truly terrifying share of the world's economy. KPMG has a well-deserved reputation for incompetence and corruption. They first came on my radar in 2001 when they sent a legal threat to a blogger for linking to their website without permission:

https://memex.craphound.com/2001/12/05/reason-4332442-not-to-ask/

The actual link was to KPMG's corporate anthem, which remains, to this day, a banger:

https://web.archive.org/web/20040428063826/http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/uknewsita/http://anthems.zdnet.co.uk/anthems/kpmg.mp3

Don't miss the DJ remixes (and the Nokia ringtone!) that the internet thoughtfully provided when KPMG decided that it didn't want the world to know about "Our Vision of Global Strategy":

https://web.archive.org/web/20011128153057/http://corporateanthems.raettig.org/

Now all this is objectively very funny, a relic of the old, good internet from one of its moments of glory, but KPMG? They were already enshittifying, even in 2001, and the enshittification only intensified thereafter. Nearly every accounting scandal of the past quarter-century has KPMG in it somewhere, from con-artists selling exhausted oil fields to rubes:

https://www.desmog.com/2021/06/03/miller-energy-kpmg-auditors-oil-fraud/

To killer nursing homes that hire KPMG to audit its books – and to advise it on how to defeat safety audits and murder your grandma:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/09/dingo-babysitter/#maybe-the-dingos-ate-your-nan

They're the architects of Microsoft's tax-evasion plot:

https://www.propublica.org/article/the-irs-decided-to-get-tough-against-microsoft-microsoft-got-tougher

And they were behind Canada's dysfunctional covid contact-tracing app, which never worked, but generated tens of millions in billings to the government of Canada, who used KPMG to hire programmers at $1,500/day, plus KPMG's 30% commission:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/31/mckinsey-and-canada/#comment-dit-beltway-bandits-en-canadien

KPMG's most bizarre scandal is literally stranger than fiction. The company bribed SEC personnel help its own accountants cheat on ethics exams. The corrupt officials were then given high-paid jobs at KPMG:

https://www.nysscpa.org/news/publications/the-trusted-professional/article/sec-probe-finds-kpmg-auditors-cheating-on-training-exams-061819

I mean it when I say this is stranger than fiction. I included it as a plot-point in my new finance crime novel The Bezzle (now a national bestseller!), and multiple readers have written to me since the book came out a couple weeks ago to say that they thought I was straining their credulity by making up such an outrageous scandal:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865878/thebezzle

But all of that is just scene-setting (and a gratuitous plug for my book) for the latest KPMG scandal, which is, possibly, the most KPMG scandal of all KPMG scandals. The Australian government hired KPMG to audit Paladin, a security contractor that oversees the asylum seekers the country locks up on one of its island gulags (yes, gulags, plural).

Ever since, Paladin has been the subject of a string of ghastly human rights scandals – the worst stuff imaginable, rape and torture and murder of adults and children. Paladin made AU423 million on this contract.

And here's the scandal: KPMG audited the wrong company. The Paladin that the Australia government paid KPMG to audit was based in Singapore. The Paladin that KPMG audited was a totally different company, based in Papua New Guinea, who already had a commercial relationship with KPMG. It was this colossal fuckup that led to the manifestly unfit Singaporean company getting nearly half a billion dollars in public funds:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/feb/24/incredible-failure-kpmg-rejects-claims-it-assessed-the-wrong-company-before-423m-payment-to-paladin

KPMG denies this. KPMG denies everything, always. Like, they denied creating "power maps" of decision-makers in the Australian government to target with influence campaigns in order to win contracts like this one. Who knows, maybe, this one time, they're telling the truth? After all, the company whose employees gather to sing lyrics like these can't be all bad, right?

The time is now to lead the way, We share the same the idea That may win by the end of the day. Our strength is here to stay. Identity, one energy, One strategy, with sympathy. These are the words that will lead us into a new world.

https://everything2.com/title/KPMG+corporate+anthem

You may find it strange that I'm still carrying around the factoid that KPMG once threatened to crush a blogger for linking to its terrible corporate anthem, but that's just my "Memex Method," which helps me keep track of literally everything that seemed important to me through most of my adult life:

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

One of my favorite quips from the very quotable Riley Quinn is that "leftists are cursed with object-permanence" – that is, we actually remember what just happened and use it to think about what's happening now. The Memex Method is object permanence for 20+ years worth of stuff. A lot of those deep archives never see use, but there's a surprising number of leading indicators buried in the stuff that happened in years gone by.

Take James Boyle's 2014, XKCD-style comic about the experience of driving a notional Apple car:

https://www.thepublicdomain.org/2014/11/07/apple-updates-a-comic/

Apple, it turns out, spent the next decade working on just such a car, and while that car has now been canceled, Boyle's comic correctly anticipates so much about the trajectory Apple's products took. It's uncannily accurate – real "don't invent the torment nexus"/"cyberpunk was a warning, not a suggestion" stuff:

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/torment-nexus

But no matter how many times we insist that the torment nexus shouldn't be created, the boardrooms of end-stage capitalism continue to invent them. Take HP, the poster-child for enshittification, edging out even KPMG in the race to turn everything into a pile of shit. After years of tormenting people to punish them for wanting to print things, HP has announced a new service that so mustache-twirlingly evil that it lacks verisimilitude:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/02/hp-wants-you-to-pay-up-to-36-month-to-rent-a-printer-that-it-monitors/

Here's the pitch: HP will sell you a printer that you don't own. In addition to paying a monthly fee for your ink – which you pay no matter whether you print or not – you will also pay a monthly fee just for having HP's printer on your premises. You are absolutely, positively forbidden from using third-party ink in this printer, and must use HP's own ink, which sells for about $10,000/gallon.

But while you aren't allowed to use this printer in ways that are bad for HP's shareholders, HP is absolutely free to use the printer in ways that are bad for you. When you click through the signup agreement, you grand HP permission to surveil every document you print – and your home wifi network more generally – and to sell that data to anyone and everyone.

What's more, HP reserves the right to discipline you with punitive credit-card charges if you disconnect this printer from the internet, on the basis that doing so makes it harder for them to spy on your printer.

I'm sorry, this is just more torment nexus shit, the kind of thing you'd expect to drop on Apr 1, not Feb 29, but I guess this is where we are. I can only conjecture as to whether HP's businesses strategists are directly taking direction from my novella "Unauthorized Bread," or whether they're learning about it second-hand from a KPMG consultant who converted it to Powerpoint form and charged $1,500/day for the work:

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-near-future-tale-of-refugees-and-sinister-iot-appliances/

All of this cartoonish villainry is the totally foreseeable consequence of a culture of impunity, in which companies like HP and KPMG can rob, cheat, steal (and sometimes even kill) without consequence. This impunity is so pervasive that the exceptions – where a rich criminal faces real consequences – become touchstones: Enron, Arthur Anderson, Theranos, and, of course, FTX.

FTX was arguably the largest-scale corporate crime in world history, stealing more than $10 billion dollars, mostly from rubes sucked in by hype and Superbowl ads. When news that FTX founder and owner Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud and was in for a lengthy prison sentence made a huge stir, because criminals like SBF usually walk away from the wreckage with their hands in their pockets, whistling a jaunty tune.

One of the very best commentators on cryptocurrency scams generally and FTX/SBF in particular is Molly White, whose Web3 is Going Just Great feed is utterly indispensable. White's newsletter, "Citation Needed," dives deep into the wrangle of SBF's sentencing:

https://www.citationneeded.news/issue-52/

Bankman-Fried's parents – prominent law professors at top law schools – helped brief the court this week on their son's punishment. According to them, SBF faces 100 years in prison, but should be sentenced to 5.5-6.5 years at the most. Why? Because he is a vegan, who is not greedy, and feels remorse, and cares for individuals (recall that SBF presented himself as the avatar of the batshit "effective altruism" philosophy while privately admitting that he used this as a smokescreen).

The most bizarre note in the 100-page filing is SBF's mother declaring that her son is an "angel of mercy," apparently unaware of the grisly meaning of that term:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_of_mercy_(criminology)

America's prisons are a travesty and I wouldn't wish them on anyone, but that's not the argument SBF's parents are making; rather, they're arguing that their special boy doesn't deserve the treatment America metes out to poorer, less white people who merely steal hundreds or thousands of dollars. A crook who steals ten billion should be handled the way a casino handles a whale – with concierge service.

The problem is, there are so many of these remorseless, relentless crooks that there's no way we could scale up that white-glove treatment when we finally round 'em all up and make them pay. Writing for The American Prospect, Maureen Tkacik tells us about the ransomware attack that shut down America's pharmacy system last month:

https://prospect.org/health/2024-03-01-zoomer-hackers-shut-down-unitedhealthcare/

The attack brought down Change Healthcare, part of the monopolist Unitedhealth, which serves as the "pharmacy benefit manager" to a vast swathe of American pharmacies. PBM is one of those all-American finance scams, a middleman garlanded with performative complexity put there to make you feel stupid for asking why independent pharmacies all have to pay rent to this malicious, unaccountable – and now, manifestly incompetent – gang of crooks.

Tkacik's breakdown of this scam – and how it rendered Americans' ability to get the drugs they depend on to go on breathing – is characteristically brilliant. Tcacik is fast emerging as my favorite Explainer of Scams, a print version of John Oliver or Adam Conover. You may recall her work from my post last week on how private equity has taken a wrecking ball to America's hospitals:

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

I always try to finish these linkdumps with some upbeat news to carry you through the weekend, and this week brought two genuinely wonderful – and totally underreported – pieces of amazing news.

The first is that Starbucks has sued for peace in the war against its workers' unions. Hundreds of Starbucks stores have unionized in recent years, but not one of them had a contract. Instead, Starbucks had waged dirty war on their own workers, from denying gender-affirming care to unionized employees to simply shutting down whole stores after they voted to unionize:

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/14/starbucks-union-company-threatens-that-unionizing-could-jeopardize-gender-affirming-health-care.html

But the workers held fast and after years of this, Starbucks has caved, promising contracts for all unionized stores and an end to its campaign of terror against workers seeking to unionize more of its stores. In a postmortem for Jacobin, Eric Blanc rounds up "seven lessons from Starbucks workers' historic victory":

https://jacobin.com/2024/02/starbucks-sbwu-contract-bargaining/

This is the kind of listicle I can get behind. According to Blanc, the Starbucks unions won by deploying worker-to-worker organizing, a tactic that many of the new unions that are shaking up formerly impossible-to-organize jobsites are using (Blanc has a book about this coming from UC Press called "We Are the Union: How Worker-to-Worker Unionism Can Transform America," so he should know).

Other tactics that made the difference for Starbucks unions: new digital training and support tools and partnering with established unions for support and infrastructure. Blanc also calls out the success of "salting" – the venerable but largely disused tactic of union organizers applying for a job at a non-union shop in order to organize it.

Blanc also mentions government policy, including the outstanding work of NLRB general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, a shrewd and committed tactician whose understanding of the technicalities of labor law have let her push for bold measures. For example, in Thrive Pet Care, Abruzzo is arguing that when a company refuses to bargain in good faith for a contract with its union, she can step in and order them to honor the terms of a contract at comparable unionized competitors until they produce a contract of their own:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/06/goons-ginks-and-company-finks/#if-blood-be-the-price-of-your-cursed-wealth

Abruzzo is one of several smart, competent tacticians in the Biden administration who are working to kneecap corporate power. Another is Rohit Chopra, chair of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, who just announced another bold, important initiative that will help Americans fight corporate corruption and get a fair deal:

https://prospect.org/economy/2024-03-01-public-option-credit-card-shopping/

Chopra is taking aim at credit-card comparison sites that purport to show you where you can get the best deal. If you're an affluent person who doesn't carry a balance, this might not matter to you, but if you're an average working stiff, high interest rates can gobble up a massive share of your paycheck. What's more, credit card margins are higher than they have ever been:

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/credit-card-interest-rate-margins-at-all-time-high/

The most expensive credit cards come from the big, monopolistic banks, but you wouldn't know it from the leaderboards produced by Credit Karma, NerdWallet, LendingTree, and Bankrate. All of these sites take bribes from the big banks to list their credit cards above those offered by credit unions – who are typically 10% cheaper than the big banks' cards.

The new CFPB rule prohibits this fraudulent ranking, but the Bureau is going even further. They're using their administrative powers to force banks to report their rates to the Bureau, which will publish them on a publicly funded, neutral website – what David Dayen calls "a public option" for shopping for credit cards.

This policy makes a perfect bookend to the last CFPB initiative I wrote about here: a rule that forces banks to allow you to transfer your account to a rival with a couple of simple clicks, importing all your history, payees, and everything else you need to switch to a better bank:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/21/let-my-dollars-go/#personal-financial-data-rights

Combine that ease of switching with reliable information on which banks will give you the best deal and you get something that will directly transfer millions and millions of dollars from giant, wildly profitable banks to low-income people who've been tricked into paying them punitive interest rates.

So that's it, this week's linkdump. I promised you I'd end on a high note, and I did it. The world may be full of all kinds of terrible things, but workers and regulators are scoring big, muscular victories in battles where the stakes are real and important. Have a great weekend – we've earned it.

And remember!

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

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/02/macedoine/#the-public-option

Image: Stacy (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/notahipster/4402860361/

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

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steinwayandhissons · 1 year

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arctic monkeys and every time the word ‘love’ is mentioned

whatever people say I am that’s what I’m not

tonight there’ll be some love, tonight there’ll be a ruckus yeah regardless of what’s gone before

~ view from the afternoon

oh there ain’t no love, no montagues or capulets

~ i bet you look good on the dancefloor

all that’s left is the proof that love’s not only blind but deaf… yeah I’d love to tell you all my problem

~ fake tales of san francisco

she makes a subtle proposition, I’m sorry love I’ll have to turn you down

~ when the sun goes down

lady, where has your love gone, i was looking but can’t find it anywhere, they always offer when there’s loads of love around but when you’re short of some it’s nowhere to be found

~ no buses

well how can you wake up with someone you don’t love and not feel slightly phased by it

~ leave before the lights come on

favourite worst nightmare

it’s wrong wrong wrong but we’ll do it anyway cause we love a bit of trouble

~ balaclava

and those dreams weren’t as daft as they seem, aren’t as daft as they seem my love

~ fluorescent adolescent

there’s room for the trouble and there’s lovers to be had

~ this house is a circus

it’d be a big mistake for you to wait and let me waste your time, really love it’s fine, I said really love it’s fine

~ the bad thing

old yellow bricks, love’s a risk… houdini love you don’t know what you’re running away from

~ old yellow bricks

another roll around and another push and shove, further away from the idea of love

~ da frame 2r

the more you keep on looking the more it’s hard to take, love we’re in stalemate… you’re slacking love where have you been

~ the bakery

am I too quick to assume that the love is no longer in bloom

~ too much to ask

humbug

i had a hole in the pocket of my favourite coat and my love dropped into the lining

~ i haven’t got my strange

suck it and see

i wanna feel your love brick by brick

~ brick by brick

do you still feel love is a laserquest or do you take it all more seriously… when I’m not being honest I pretend that you were just some lover

~ love is a laserquest

your love is like a studded leather headlock

~ suck it and see

jealousy in technicolour, fear by name, love by numbers… crushing up a bundle of love

~ that’s where you’re wrong

before she showed you how to shake love’s steady hand

~ the blonde o sonic shimmer trap

your love’s not what I need, so don’t give it to me

~ evil twin

it’s not like I’m falling in love I just want you to do me no good… the look of love, the rush of blood

~ no.1 party anthem

love buckles under the strain of those wild nights

~ mad sounds

I heard that you fell in love, or near enough

~ snap out of it

love like locked horns, love like dominoes… love like thunder, love like falling snow

~ electricity

I know you’re nothing like mine cause she’s walking on sunshine and your love would tear us apart

~ you’re so dark

tranquility base hotel and casino

love came in a bottle with a twist off cap, let’s all have a swig and do a hot lap… but it’s alright, cause you love me

~ star treatment

when true love takes a grip it leaves you without a choice

~ golden trunks

pattern language in the mood for love

~ the world’s first ever monster truck front flip

I wanna stay with you my love, the way some science fiction does

~ science fiction

the dawn won’t stop weighing a tonne, I’ve done some things that I shouldn’t have done, but I haven’t stopped loving you once

~ the ultracheese

the car

lights out on the wonder park, your saw toothed lover boy was quick off the mark

~ jet skis on the moat

put your heavy metal to the test, there might be half a love song in it all for you

~ mr schwartz

#arctic monkeys #alex turner #listen this was purely out of curiosity #there are so many poetic and imaginative ways in which alex describes love #i just wanted a tangible record of every time he just straight up uses the word #i was surprised that humbug only had one mention and even that was a b side but when i was making this i realised that it was such a #lyrically dense and innovative album and descriptions of love were more elaborate and straightforward #*less straightforward #(might make a separate post about that)#also found that the other albums were quite consistent except the car #i found it interesting that most of the songs aren’t actually about the same kind of love like the earlier albums were #the earlier ones use love as a nickname and portray the physical embodiment of being in love #and even in tbhc it describes this feeling despite there being slightly fewer mentions #but the car seems more like a goodbye album… not even about breaking up… just goodbye which is very….#there’s no room for love in amongst the melancholia and introspection #and makes me wonder about his relationship with love at the moment #it seems very disassociated and immaterial like he has no interest in spouting poetics about love like he did before #and i hope he can rebuild that relationship #i could probably say more but im not going to bc this is getting way too long #cheers if you actually read this whole fucking essay #i spent way too long on this if you cant tell

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ensemble-news · 1 year

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This week on Ensemble News

The newest Crazy:B event has the community busted. Several theories, notes and analyses have appeared as a consequence.

Last week's catastrophy regarding the Enstars assets Drive appears to have settled down, however, the future of the drive is still unknown.

Ensemble News, our account, is finally running! Round of applause, we hope you support us through our journey.

Want to know more? Stay with us

▶ Fandom Section

Crazy Anthem and its landmarks

The newest Crazy:B music video for their song "Crazy Anthem" has been released. Because of this, the fandom has been making speculations about the possible landmarks that the video may feature, alongside theories and other writings.

A user on Twitter ¹ has deciphered many of the possible locations in which Crazy:B appears through the video and, possible, during their event story.

The video happens in California, as the event synopsis explains, but it looks like their route starts in San Francisco and finishes in Baja California, Mexico.

Curious about the locations? Here are some of the ones the fandom was able to find;

— Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills

"Venus Beach" — Venice Beach, California

— Walk of Fame, Hollywood

— Los Cabos, Baja California, Mexico

References:

1. Lisaw (@.mafucchu) via Twitter. 28/05/2023. Link

The Enstars assets Drive and its future

The past May 18th, the Enstars wiki Twitter account made an important post ¹ spreading awareness about the current state of the assets drive held by the account @.gradualcolors. The Twitter thread written explained that the assets drive — in which all cards, art, chibis, gifs, voice packs, and etc. are hosted, was going to be taken down due to multiple DMCA violations.

A week later, @.gradualcolors mod replies:

"All I want to say is that I want to stick with my belief of "assets = fandom creativity" and I'll try my best to maintain the new drive when I put it out again. I want to keep seeing how ppl decorate their social media with those files or do fun things like reading guides!!

Tldr; drive gone, will be re-hosted because I want to, rip my wallet tho. - H.E. had precedent to nuke the drive for reposting reasons so pls be careful posting fan created edits - Lemme see the cool edits and cute carrds you guys use these files for when drive comes back" (Rai via twt) ²

We don't know how much time it'll take them to make the proper accomodations to restore the folders, but we sure hope the struggles seize sooner than later.

References:

1. Enstars wiki (@.enstarsENG) via Twitter. 18/05/2023. Link

2. Rai (@.sakasakitty) via Twitter. 21/05/2023. Link

Inauguration! Ensemble News is finally up

To conclude with this fandom section, we'd like to express our excitement for this passion project. Ensemble News is a little blog that was constructed with pure love, with the objective of informing others and bonding with the community further. We hope you give this blog a chance, we encourage you to interact with us and to enjoy your time here. ♡

▶ Game Section

Event

The first Climax event has been announced. It's time for Crazy:b and their newest event "Sugoroku* Journey! Number Eight is Our BGM" to shine. Synopsis:

"Rinne and co. are invited to appear on "Number Eight", a show that was popular once upon a time, and so they head overseas. From Crazy:B's dice result begins their road trip where everything is left up to fate--" (Iridescent via twt) ¹

This event will feature 5* Rinne Amagi, 4* HiMERU and 3* Niki Shiina and Kohaku Oukawa.

Feature Scout

Feature Scout 2: Koga, has been announced. Synopsis:

"Koga isn't quite able to figure out what casual shots should be like, causing him to struggle in his photoshoot. He wants to show a cool side of himself while still looking natural." (Iridescent via twt) ²

This scout features 5* Koga Oogami, 4* Mika Kagehira and 3* Tsumugi Aoba.

Event Scout

Scout: Biblion, has been announced. Synopsis:

"Tsukasa isn't entirely sure about joining Biblion yet, but he joins as a temporary member. He finds a book that interests him in the bestseller section, and is engrossed in the book's universe." (Iridescent via twt) ³

This scout features 5* Tsukasa Suou, 4* Kaoru Hakaze and 3* Nagisa Ran, Hajime Shino and Tsumugi Aoba.

References:

1. Iridescent (@.iridesenescence) via Twitter. 27/05/2023. Link

2. Iridescent (@.iridesenescence) via Twitter. 24/05/2023. Link

3. Iridescent (@.iridesenescence) via Twitter. 28/05/2023. Link

May 2023 Tsukisuta notes:

Main story 1.5 is currently being voiced, part 3 will come out on June 26th. Summer voicelines will be added in-game on June 1st. New stamps were added to the Ensemble Live shop. Outfits for the 8th anniversary are now in the dia shop. Element (animation) prints are out and currently being sold at 7-Eleven JP. The next round of Starry Symphony tickets will start being sold on Jun 8th.

▶ Thank you for using Ensemble News.

#📰 ensemble news #🗞️ weekly news #📆 date: 30/05/2023 #enstars #ensemble stars

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granvarones · 1 year

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the roots of queer clubs can be traced back to the early 20th century. many of these spaces existed in secrecy, then in the aftermath of the stonewall uprising against police violence in june 1969, queer clubs began to emerge from the shadows. the uprisings served as catalyst for transformation of queer nightlife.

in the 1970s and 1980s and throughout the 1990s, clubs continued to serve a profound role personal and collective liberation. these venues provided a space that offered a sense of freedom and refuge from homophobia and discrimination and music played a pivotal role. the songs , which often times could only be heard in queer spaces - months before they crossed over to mainstream pop radio, were a sonic invitation for everyone to come out to dance and be free on the dance floor.

below are a few of the songs that soundtracked the celebration of coming out to and/or inviting people into your world. may we all find a dance floor to move and be with abandon as we sing, or lip sync, to our favorite songs!

I WAS BORN THIS WAY • CARL BEAN

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defiant in its profound message about gay pride, self-acceptance, and self-affirmation, “i was born this way” was initially released in 1975 by motown recording artist valentino. two years later, in 1977, carl bean, also on motown, covered the song and made it an anthem on and off the dance floor. bean’s version was remixed and re-released as the “better days” remix. it ignited dance floors again - almost a decade later.

I’M COMING OUT • DIANA ROSS

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written by the prolific producer nile rodgers, “i’m coming out” was inspired after nile saw multiple diana ross drag performers in a bathroom at a new york queer club in 1979.

although the term “coming out” had been used to describe self-disclosure around sexual orientation and gender identity since the turn of the 20th century, ross was surprisingly unaware of the concept until nile told diana, “..this song is gonna be your coming-out song. we think of you as our black queen…”

I AM WHAT I AM | GLORIA GAYNOR

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“i am what i am” was initially written for the 1983 broadway musical “la cage aux folles.” gloria gaynor, first lady of disco, released a dance version later that year. “i am what i am,” became a global queer anthem during a time when “coming out” was fiercely encouraged to build community and organize around the still unfolding AIDS crisis.

I’M COMING OUT OF HIDING | PAMALA STANLEY

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philadelphia-born and raised pamela stanley scored a string of dance hits in the early 1980s. Her most notable song was the Hi-NRG classic “coming out of hiding.”

released nationally in 1984, “coming out of hiding” became a massive club hit, reaching #4 on billboard’s dance chart, and became an anthem among gay men during the onset of the AIDS crisis. a time when severe homophobia threatened to chase LGBTQ folks back into the closet.

NEW ATTITUDE | PATTI LABELLE

youtube

by the release of “new attitude” at the end of 1984, patti labelle had already cemented herself as a queer icon for her fashion, performance style, and resilience. she was also one of the first recording artists to support and perform at AIDS benefits.

if a jolt of energy could be a timeless self-empowering anthem, it would be “new attitude.” the song’s uplifting message of self-confidence, transformation, and embracing one’s connection with queer audiences.

COME INTO MY HOUSE | QUEEN LATIFAH

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“welcome into my queendom, come one, come all…,” the opening line of the first verse of queen latifah’s 1990 hip-hop/house track “come into my house” is an invitation into her world, extended to those of us who were either exiled from or denied entry into kingdoms that valued hyper-masculinity and conformity. and visitors are greeted with the song’s refrain, “give me body!,” an invitation into her world and community.

GO WEST | PET SHOP BOYS

youtube

originally recorded and released by queer disco group the village people in 1979, “go west” is an unapologetic rallying cry about gay freedom and migration to san francisco. english synth-pop queer duo pet shop boys’ 1993 cover was hopeful and reflective in its yearning for acceptance and community. a theme that resonated emotionally during immense loss during the height of the AIDS crisis.

FREE HAPPY & GAY | THE COMING OUT CREW

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in the 1990s, as LGBTQ+ culture continued to gain mainstream visibility, the coming out crew’s 1995 exuberant dance track “free, gay and happy” captured the unwavering power of queer joy and hope. written and performed by renowned vocalist sabrina johnston, “free, gay and happy” became a club hit in both the US and UK.

#granvarones #gay #queer #latinx #storytelling #afrolatinx #lgbtq history month #latinx heritage month #AIDS #national coming out day #Youtube #Spotify

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womaninwinter · 6 months

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Shuffle your on repeat playlist and list the first 10 songs that play, then tag 10 people.

thanks for the tag @synestheticwanderings 😘

The Flood by Blue Orchids (don't think this song has left my on repeat playlist in two years)

Litany of Peace by the Monastery Choir of St John of San Francisco (what can I say, I contain multitudes)

Another the Letter by Wire - definitely on my imaginary Season 3 soundtrack

Seattle - PIL (idk why but PIL always make me think of Quill Kipps. Tbf, if you put young Johnny Lydon in some tight pants and gave him a shiny rapier, I think he'd be a pretty good fancast for book!Quill...)

I Followed Fires by Matthew and the Atlas (thank you Shelby for that one)

Rejoice, Life-giving Cross of the Lord by St Symeon Orthodox Church Ensemble (ortho chant just slaps 🤷‍♀️)

Purple by Wunderhorse (voted song most likely to force to learn video editing by me because I need a Locklyle vid for this one)

Help of Christians by Prima Luce (listen the rosary brainrot doesn't happen by itself)

Kein Liebeslied by Kraftklub (girl help i'm giving myself more and more Locklyle feelings)

Kissin' Booth by Jacob Slator (unofficial anthem of Ana's Ollieverse fics)

tagging @dangerously-human @geekloverlz @insidethekaleidoscope @itripandfallalot @polithicc @bobbys-not-that-small @lilaccatholic @hailqiqi

#tag games

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copperbadge · 2 years

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The Mysterious Fistbump Goes To The Footie!

[ID: Three images; in the first, the Chicago skyline at night shows a skyscraper lit up red and blue with “Go Chicago Fire FC”; in the second, smoke from fireworks drifts over the field, and in the third I am taking a selfie, face obscured by the fake fur on the hood of my parka.]

I did not realize when I bought my ticket that it was for the season opener, but I’m glad I went! It was a good time, I got a free flag, and one of the buildings that always lights up with messages was adorned as above while I was walking home. (Anon who sent me the ask about homohobic chants -- more on that later, there’s a post I’m working on about it, but the short version is while I didn’t hear that chant, we also didn’t have any straight penalty kicks at goal. I didn’t hear it during corner kicks, and there was some pretty intense messaging about bigoted chants, so I’ll keep you posted.)

I almost didn’t go, because it was cold and rainy, but the rain was due to clear up right as the match started and I had my big red waterproof parka on, so I came through fine. For the National Anthem they had a mariachi band, which was awesome and they did a great job. The stadium wheeled four big red stars (for the stars on the Chicago flag) out onto the field, which went off with sparks and gouts of flame and rockets while the anthem was going on.

I grew up attending San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s games in MASSIVE west coast stadiums, so I’m always shocked by how small Chicago stadiums are -- Wrigley Field is quite intimate and Soldier Field is on the small side as well. I was pretty close so I got a good vantage on about 90% of the action, and had a nice view of the south curve, where the hardcore fans were. I’ve never been to a pro match in person, so I was a little startled by how passionate the fans are -- there’s so much more constant emotion than a football or baseball game, much more extreme reactions. I’ve never heard that much booing during a single sporting event in my life but, as I mentioned to my seat neighbor (a nice woman about my age who was there with her teenage daughter), “The ref doesn’t seem to understand that it’s possible to foul a Chicago Fire player.” There were so many uncalled fouls, good lord.

Also all those motherfuckers are fast and they are gymnastic. At one point a NYC player jumped up to head the ball and did a full-on forward flip over the Chicago player blocking him. The grass was super wet because of all the rain, so there was a lot of slip-sliding around. I’m never not impressed by pro athletes and what they can make their bodies do, but you rarely see it so plainly. I tend to pick one or two players on any given team that I kind of follow more intently than most -- I came to AS Roma following Mourinho (the manager) but Dybala and Abraham are kind of “my” players, although I’m also very fond of Smalling and I was sad to see Zaniolo leave. I have a feeling Chris Mueller, a forward who is a homegrown Schaumberg boy, is going to be my Chicago Fire Guy. He’s not particularly big but he’s fast and good with the ball, and he pulls the eye when he’s on the field.

Anyway we tied, which given we were down a goal for most of the game I will accept happily, and I had a good time. Though I do think I will wait until it’s a trifle warmer before going to another one.

#chicago #chicago soccer #chicago fire

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d-criss-news · 1 year

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Darren Criss singing the National Anthem at the Giants home opener in Oracle Park, San Francisco, CA. (April 7th, 2023) | Download | Source

#darren criss #knbr #san francisco giants #giants home opener #audio #april 2023

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halloweeneverlong · 9 months

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selfish machines sentence starters

sentence starters taken from selfish machines by pierce the veil <3

besitos

- “you’re my favorite explosion.”

- “you’d better not get back up!”

- “leave the water by the bed for later.”

- “i’m tired of holding up your backup plans.”

- “all you have is not enough.”

- “i heard what you said. a friend of a friend.”

- “if that doesn’t turn you on, i’ll keep talking ‘til something does.”

- “i’ll steal you flowers from the cemetery gates.”

- “so say it. i’m in love.”

- “don’t expect me to understand.”

- “she was covered in blood, last seen in san francisco.”

- “they were there from beginning to end.”

southern constellations

- “please keep chasing me.”

- “i’ll never let you freeze without me.”

the boy who could fly

- “it’s time to take you home.”

- “i’ll be the brightest someday.”

- “don’t ruin a perfect thing.”

- “why do i still pray? when will it end? and who fucking cares?”

- “i swear to god, i did what i could.”

- “i’d rather be dead.”

- “don’t rain on my parade!”

- “i guess i never should have loved you.”

- “if you were gonna leave this world, how could it be without me?”

- “love dies like a dog.”

caraphernilia

- “there ain’t a thing that you can do that’s gonna ruin my night.”

- “honestly, it’s harder breathing next to you.”

- “hold my heart, it’s beating for you anyway.”

- “what if i can’t forget you?”

- “what’s so good about picking up the pieces?”

- “just give her back to me.”

- “you can’t just throw me away!”

- “what if i don’t even want to?”

- “i’d better learn to live alone.”

fast times at clairemont high

- “i was saving myself for you.”

- “we’ll be throwing a party.”

- “hold on, this is innocent blood.”

- “without you, nothing ever mattered.”

- “if i die, you die too.”

- “i just wanted one dance with you.”

- “melodramatic, but it turns me on.”

- “i’d kill anyone who gets too close.”

the new national anthem

- “somebody’s supposed to fall in love.”

- “you’ll be excited just to see me someday.”

- “darling, look at the sparks!”

- “you hold my attention without even trying.”

- “love, don’t forget to bleed.”

- “if i ever catch the ones who hurt you, i’m hoping that god looks away this time.”

bulletproof love

- “we used to laugh until we choked.”

- “it was the best time of my life.”

- “now i sleep alone, so don’t wake me up.”

- “the taste of you and me will never leave my lips again.”

- “i wanna hold your hands so tight i’m gonna break my wrist.”

- “i’m barely hanging on.”

- “by the time you’re hearing this i’ll already be gone.”

- “there’s nothing to do.”

- “this isn’t fair! don’t you try to blame this on me.”

- “my love for you was bulletproof, but you’re the one who shot me.”

- “goddamn it, i can barely say your name.”

stay away from my friends

- “i want you in the most unromantic ways.”

- “you’re torturing me with a beautiful face.”

- “come on, i thought we had a damn good thing.”

- “stay away from my friends.”

- “i still can’t believe how you look next to me.”

i don’t care if you’re contagious

- “i don’t wanna leave without you buried by my side.”

- “they’ll never take us alive.”

- “i would rather spend my life vacations in bed with you.”

- “i don’t care if you’re sick, i don’t care if you’re contagious. i would kiss you even if you were dead.”

- “i’d do anything to hold your hand.”

disasterology

- “i drank the poison then i passed the fuck out.”

- “i have a million different kinds of fun.”

- “can we create something beautiful and destroy it?”

- “you were screaming ‘till the police came.”

- “if every living thing dies alone, what am i doing here?”

- “if it’s the end of the world, you and me should spend the rest of it in love.”

million dollar houses (the painter)

- “would you ever try to leave me?”

- “i’ve broken bones for you, and for you only.”

- “we can run, baby, run now.”

- “i still remember how you moved so slow.”

- “we don’t stop ‘til someone’s bleeding.”

- “i make money, but we just can’t keep this home.”

- “sometimes the moon looks brighter than the sun.”

- “sometimes things don’t work out the way we planned.”

- “maybe we’re meant to lose the ones we love, but i’ll fight for you ‘til then.”

the sky under the sea

- “it’s gonna be the best day of my life.”

- “you’ll never be as beautiful without me.”

- “you’ll be alright as long as i’m not.”

- “sharpen your teeth and bite as hard as you want.”

- “is this fantasy real, or is it all home-made?”

- “yeah, that’s fuckin’ right.”

- “do you think you’re the only one afraid?”

#pierce the veil #selfish machines #ptv #selfish machines pierce the veil #sentence starters #dialogue prompt #sentence starter meme #dialogue starters #rp sentence starters #sentence starter prompt #dialogue prompts #sentence prompts #writing prompts #prompts

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datshitrandom · 1 year

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Darren Criss sings the national anthem for the San Francisco Giants home opener against the Kansas City Royals | April 7th, 2023 | 🎥 via Victoria I. Gomez's IG Stories

#Darren Criss #san francisco giants #kansas city royals #giants home opener #🧡🖤#please do not repost

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shady-swan-jones · 9 months

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Silicon Valley fic Masterlist

Hallfoyle, mine:

Schrödinger's cat

"First you say ‘I like you’ as if I haven’t spent the last three years watching you being a mean sarcastic asshole and not caring about anyone’s feelings. Then you add ‘not like that’, disappear, and proceed to never mention it again. And go to extreme lengths to avoid me. So, for fuck’s sake, Gilfoyle, what is your deal?” -/- Monica is furious. Gilfoyle falls back on science and philosophy as a way to address his feelings. Naturally.

The Road Not Taken

Laurie offers Monica everything she ever wanted if she goes back to Bream-Hall. But is it too late now that she's helming Pied Piper? Did she make the right choice, risking it all for a dream and a New Internet?

What Are You Waiting For

Gilfoyle has the chance to write the algorythm that will make him post-Pied Piper famous, the king of System Architecture. Monica has received an offer she doesn't share with the group. But why do they both procrastinate when they're faced with what is, arguably, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? -a short fic about holding back

This Guy Fucks

There were a number of instances in the last year that left Dinesh Chungtai utterly dumbfounded. Yet, nothing came close to surprising him more than seeing his satanist buddy leaving a cup of coffee on Monica’s desk like it’s normal Gilfoyle behavior. - a Hallfoyle story

Don't SCRUM it up, Gilf

“At least I didn’t put my girlfriend in prison because I was too much of a pussy to break up with her”, Girlfoyle grips. Dinesh pauses, the beer bottle halfway to his mouth. “At least I had a real girlfriend, instead of stringing someone along while mooning over a girl who doesn’t even bother to reject me”.

Hallfoyle:

Can't Keep My Hands Off Of You by ShyRomantic

Gilfoyle and Monica were having a hard time keeping their hands to themselves, they keep getting caught but they just can't bring themselves to stop. Their friends handle their passions in the best way they can.

Attractive Opposites by Ariana (ariana_paris) [complete]

Gilfoyle likes Monica. Monica doesn’t like Gilfoyle. Or at least she doesn’t until she knows he likes her. Not that she wants a relationship with him, of course. They are complete opposites, after all. But you know what they say about opposites…

Halloween Hijinx by ShyRomantic

Pied Piper decides to throw a halloween party for the office, blow off some steam. Monica might have forgotten her costume but Gilfoyle has a trick or two up his sleeve that might help, and Dinesh might have a full meltdown in the process.

I Like You by DialandyouShallReceive

Takes place after "I like you" happens in 5.08. I love these weird nerds.

together_a five times prompt by blackfodder

Gilfoyle and Monica are in a relationship. People find out as time goes on.

Perfect Illusion by Ariana (ariana_paris) [c]

Monica urgently needs a plus one for a school friend's wedding. Since nobody suitable is available, she takes Gilfoyle.

Only the Good Die Young by ProgramasaurusRex [wip]

Monica's a Catholic. Gilfoyle's a Satanist. Both of them are confused.

Running a Half-Cryptonomicom by Ariana (ariana_paris)

Set during 6x02. Monica is upset about something and Gilfoyle's ego is slightly bruised.

Purgatory by Cole88 [wip]

Gilfoyle has convinced himself that he is content. Monica disagrees. Sort of.

National Anthem by violet_saturn [wip]

Pied Piper's CFO and Systems Architect haven't interacted much since their victory over the 51% attack. Will Pied Piper's first 4th of July party change things?

Jared/Richard:

The Weight of Us by @onequartercanadian

The Uber Kidnapper had been on the loose for two years, using Uber to abduct unsuspecting passengers who are never seen again. His last three victims were in San Francisco and Palo Alto. When Richard is his latest victim, Jared stops at nothing to find him. Especially when he realizes what his true feelings for Richard are.

Set It Up by @iambickentameter

In an ingenious attempt to occupy Jared's time, Monica and Gilfoyle take increasingly extreme measures to set him up with Richard.

work friends who live in their workplace by iknowandimsorry

After Pied Piper fails, Richard doesn’t travel. He goes back to the Hacker Hostel and rots. Jared goes with him.

I like me better when I'm with you by @seasiderendezvouss [c]

Hiring Jared was supposed to be a simple act of revenge. Richard would poach him to get back and Gavin and that would be it… at least, that was supposed to be it.

One Last Chance by Ilsistemaperiodico

They may finally find a way to make Son of Anton works.

the curve became a sphere by darklips_paleface

Richard needed space to figure out how to talk to Jared again, how to let him know that Richard wasn’t some tech messiah anymore and that Jared needed to stop treating him like he was something special when he was just some guy now. Or maybe he’d go on this whole global adventure thing, and Eat Pray Love himself into being a better person, a better friend. Here's hoping.

i'm sorry, okay? by lohoron [c]

“You have to take care of your cuticles, Richard,” Jared had whispered kindly, “Such a beautiful person like you should have the neatest cuticles in the world.” Richard had brushed it off. Another Mr. Potato Head of Beautiful People comment. It wasn't a big deal. But he felt a swelling in his tummy he can only describe as gratitude.

#i only put the fics ive read but if you have more recs message me or reblog #sillicon valley #jared dunn #richard hendricks #bertram gilfoyle #monica hall #hallfoyle #sillicon valley ff #my lists #my fics

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