#and therefore create more marketable characters

[ashirisu]

hey, everyone!

My name is Ley (pronounced like "Lee," she/they) and I'm a fiction writer/editor based in the PNW. I haven't done a proper writeblr intro in a while, so I figure the new year is a great time to reintroduce myself to the community!

— about me

An important thing to understand about me and the way I talk about writing is that this stuff is literally my entire life. Even outside of work, I don't think I have a single interest or hobby that doesn't relate back to storytelling in some capacity. I'm an avid media consumer and critic, and will hyperanalyze just about anything that catches my fancy for more than a minute.

I love science fiction and fantasy, and my goal as a writer is to take all the genres I loved growing up and create stories that are a little more diverse, inclusive, and queer.

— about the blog

I came to writeblr mostly to share my work, but also to find an active community where I can get excited with other writers and talk shop. Marketing is obviously a really important part of the publishing industry, but I get tired of having to filter every thought I have about my work and experiences through the lens of aesthetic micro-trends just to put it out in the world. Sometimes I just want to pop off about scenes I'm proud of, you know?

Above all else, I really just want to connect with more writers like myself, ones who got their start in fandom spaces and are working to take their writing from a hobby into a career. I see you, I am you, I love you, let's be friends!

You’ll definitely see me posting and reblogging a lot of stuff that isn’t necessarily related to writing, so be ready for that. My art exists in the context of my personality and the world as a whole, and I simply do not have it in me to maintain a whole separate blog for silly nonsense and memes. Just consider it a way to get to know the writer as well as the writing!

— about my writing

I write a lot, though most of it is disconnected nonsense. Flash fiction and short stories are where I really thrive as a writer. I don't tend to commit to long-form projects, but I have a few projects that I'll occasionally share details about!

I like to describe my style as "earnest and character-forward," which is a fancy way of saying that I like driven protagonists who think too much and are emotional to the point of it being a character flaw.

My goal is to share more of my original writing moving forward, so hopefully you'll get to see all of this for yourself. If I'm totally honest, though, you'll probably see more of me discussing my work than actually writing it.

— about my projects

Here are the things you'll most likely see me posting about:

Agnomen: A sci-fi retelling of Hamlet and Coriolanus, currently in its very preliminary stages. It is literally my Roman Empire, except it's set on a moon of a planet that I'm calling Jupiter as a placeholder (but please note that it isn't actually Jupiter, as Jupiter is a gas giant and therefore a scientifically impossible setting for large sections of the plot).

Alter Ego: A superhero fic in which not-so-mild-mannered reporter Drew Derrick fights for mutant rights and can't seem to get his act together when it comes to keeping the complicated parts of his life separate.

Untitled Fantasy Project: The very first project I ever wrote, and the piece I return to every so often when writing is feeling more like a slog than a fun hobby. I set a lot of one-offs in this world and follow a few key characters around without them having a real plot.

D&D: I write a lot about Baz, my Wild Magic Barbarian. He's a regency noble with a lot of problems, and I care about him very much. I also have various other settings and characters, but he's my most active PC at the moment and therefore gets the most attention.

Short Stories: Sometimes I write these, and sometimes I like them enough to share!

— tag directory

ley rambles: my (often wordy) opinions about things

ley writes: not necessarily my writing, but talking about my writing

my writing: stories, blurbs, and other content I've written

not my writing: reblogs and creative writing that I liked, shared, and sometimes commented on

[nerdygaymormon]

Happy Pride

I want to wish a Happy Pride to:

Green Carnations

In 1892, Oscar Wilde had some of his friends wear a green carnation on their left lapels to the opening night of his show. An elegant and witty character in the play—who paralleled real-life Oscar Wilde—wore a carnation as part of his costume. Why green? It was an unnatural color for a carnation, Wilde chose this since it was said that homosexuality was unnatural. The green carnation became associated with Wilde and his flamboyant friends, and spread as a secret code to show others that you're gay.

"Be Gay, Do Crime"

The slogan "Be gay, do crime" has existed since at least 2011. The slogan suggests that crime and incivility may be necessary to earn equal rights given the criminalization of homosexuality around the world and a reminder that the Stonewall uprising was a riot. The slogan stands in contrast to the polished, corporate version of contemporary Pride, and shows that queerness has always been transgressive, regardless of its legal status. Part of being queer is being willing to push boundaries and protect one's self from the law since we have traditionally been attacked by it.

Peppermint Patty and Marcie

Peppermint Patty defied traditional gender norms. She played all sorts of sports at a time when it wasn't common for girls to do so. All the other female characters wore dresses, but Patty wears a t-shirt, shorts and sandals and the only other female character not to wear dresses is Marcie.

Peppermint Patty regularly flirts with Charlie Brown and has a strong bond with Marcie. While we don't know for sure, it certainly seems that Peppermint Patty is bi and her best friend Marcie is a lesbian.

I can imagine Peppermint Patty organizing the school's GSA or an all-inclusive dance, and loudly calling out any queerphobia. I like thinking of Patty getting a man's suit from a thrift store and going to Prom where she dances with both Marcie and Charlie Brown

Absolut Vodka

In 1979, Absolut entered the American market, but sales were slow. In 1981, Absolut starting targeting the LGBTQ consumer with the idea this group are trendsetters. Since 1981, Absolut has had print ads in queer magazines, sponsored events in gay bars, donated more than $40 million to queer charities and causes, sponsors the GLAAD Media Awards, and numerous major LGBTQ events in the US annually. Absolut has commissioned many openly gay artists to create ads, such as Andy Warhol, Nereyda Garcia Ferraz, David Spada, Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf. Supporting the queer community in 1981 was risky, but they have invested in the community and earned loyalty in return.

Pink Triangle

In the 1930s and 40s, just as Nazi Germany required Jews in the concentration camps to wear a yellow star of David, gay men, bi men, and trans women had to wear a downward-pointing triangle on their chest. The symbol was reclaimed in the 1970's by the queer liberation movement as a symbol against homophobia, and then was adopted widely by the LGBTQ community. The community took this symbol from the holocaust to show we are stronger than the worst done to us.

The pink triangle has largely been replaced by the rainbow Pride flag, and a reason for this is explaining why a pink triangle is the symbol of the community required an explanation of its dark past and therefore was about what others did to us rather than a symbol representing who we are and our hopes & aspirations. Although it isn't used much anymore, it's important to remember the pink triangle as the first widely-adopted visual symbol of the queer community

Ace & Aro Rings

Beginning in 2005, wearing a black ring on the middle finger of your right hand became a way for people to signify their asexuality. The material and design of the ring are not important as long as it is primarily black. It’s about carrying a reminder on our hands that there are others like us, and it's a way to identify each other. A white ring on the left hand of the middle finger is the aro equivalent.

Eyebrow Slits

Eyebrow slits was a trend in the hip hop community in the 1990's and called "eyebrow cuts." The trend fell out of style, but was brought back in the 2010's by some male artists and models as an edgy fashion statement. Lesbians quickly adopted this trend, perhaps as a way of showing they aren't beholden to gendered fashion rules, and it quickly grew in popularity on social media as a way for members of the queer community to express themselves and signal to each other. It seems natural that a fashion style containing an underlying rebelliousness appeals to a group who are marginalized by society. The eyebrow slit trend largely has faded except among the LGBTQ+ community, and so has become associated with us.

Nautical Star Tattoos

For centuries, sailors would get tattoos, often of images with symbolic meanings, such as the nautical star (which represents the North Star) which was believed to ensure a sailor’s safe return home. In the 1940s and 50s, lesbians were navigating the choppy waters of societal norms and expectations, and this five-pointed star tattoo became their compass, helping them find others like themselves. They'd get this tattoo on the inner wrist because it could be covered by a watch strap during the day, allowing women to hide their identity when necessary for their safety or professional lives, but could reveal it in safe spaces. This symbol was revived in the 1970's and is still used by some to this day.

Online "Am I Gay?" Quizzes

A common experience of people who are gay, bi, and pan, is they find an online quiz that will ask a few questions and then determine whether you are gay, or will reveal how gay you are (as though this can be graded like a school test). Sometimes the questions are lighthearted, while others try to be more serious. Here's the thing, more than any quiz results, searching for this type of quiz is probably the biggest indicator that a person experiences attraction to people of their same gender. It can be helpful for someone to have a "confirmation" of how they're feeling, and thus these "am I gay" quizzes will remain a rite of passage many.

Subaru

In the early 1990's, Subaru was struggling. Sales of their dependable but plain cars were in decline. Subaru knew teachers, healthcare professionals, IT professionals, and the outdoorsy types bought 1/2 their cars in America, and they targeted advertisements at those groups. Soon they realized there was yet another core group, lesbians were 4 times more likely than the average American to purchase a Subaru.

Subaru began printing advertisements that made subtle nods to lesbians in a way that slipped past the notice of other Americans, such as having the license plate "XENA LVR" on a car. Many ads had taglines with double meanings. "Get Out. And Stay Out" could refer to exploring the outdoors in a Subaru—or coming out as gay. "It’s Not a Choice. It’s the Way We’re Built" could refer to all Subarus coming with all-wheel-drive—or an LGBTQ identity.

Subaru noticed a group of customers and created ads for them, a group which often felt unwelcome and invisible. The campaign was so successful that it became a stereotype that lesbians drive Subarus, even leading to the word "Lesbaru." Polls show that the queer community views Subaru as the most queer-friendly brand.

[justrustandstardust]

Can I ask your opinion on answer to this : https://www.tumblr.com/gojuo/742796780522061824/is-satosugu-a-queerbaiting-ship?source=share ?

for reference, this is the post anon is talking about. feel free to check it out for context before reading my response.

this person is basically saying that stsg cannot be romantic because there is no romance depicted between them onscreen; all of their interactions are meant to be regarded through a platonic lens because it's never explicitly indicated (in canon) to do otherwise.

this goes back to the whole idea of "projecting" queerness onto geto and gojo despite them being queered already, which i've touched on before. i'm going to respond to this person's ideas in two main parts: 1) queerbaiting and 2) canon, alongside the idea of "shipping".

as an idea, queerbaiting refers to the marketing technique employed by creators and publishers to increase a media's appeal, achieved through teasing a queer connection between two characters romantically unentangled in canon. queerbaiting dangles the proverbial carrot in front of the audience only to snatch it back with forced love interests or open declarations of brotherhood. it operates along the binary of friends/heterosexuals and queered/romance, dangling the carrot in front of the latter only to resolutely plant their feet in the former.

shockingly, i actually agree with this person— gojo and geto are not queerbaiting because they are queer-coded. the blatant difference between baiting and coding is that the former uses the appeal of fetishism as a marketing mechanism and the latter employs subtextual traits, literary devices and narratorial mechanisms that are recognizable as queer without being stated outright.

queerbaiting is always negative; it operates through stereotypes and functions to create the illusion of representation to ultimately reify the sex/gender binary. queercoding, on the other hand, functions in a more neutral space to create all forms of representation. (although western media has historically queercoded villains, which is an example of negative mechanization).

when engaging in discourse around queerbaiting, it's important to remember that queerness does not present uniformly across borders and time periods. when we seek open declarations of love as affirmations of queerness, we are seeking western representations of queerness, which are often founded in romantic love. the person who wrote this post is engaging in a solipsistic analysis from a western perspective, a perspective of which too often assumes the 'default' in anglophone fan spaces.

gojo and geto are not meant to be interpreted through a western lens because they are not borne of the west. applying a western conception of queerness to them as a barometer is unfair, incongruous and downright disrespectful to their characters. it's akin to shoving a box into a circular hole and declaring the box at fault for not being able to fit. simply because gojo and geto do not fit your static conception of queerness does not negate the core tenets of their characters that can only be understood through a queered lens, albeit a non-western one.

this brings me to my second point, which regards conceptions of canon and the practice of shipping. this person applies the same binary to fandom/canon spaces as they do sex/gender, dichotomizing jjk media into 'source' materials and 'fan-generated' content, much of which they relegate to the "stsg shippers [that] forc[e]their headcanons down your throat and manipulat[e] you into believing that shit".

a guiding principle amongst purists of any media is that there is "original" and "unbastardized" content, and then there are fan "mutilations" of said content that come after. they maintain a sanctimonious attitude and imply that people who engage in bastardizing media therefore understand the "source" content to a lesser degree (a requisite qualification to engage in mutilation).

in polarizing fan content and 'source' content, purists willfully blind themselves to the true essence of media— it does not exist independently of the imagination of the populous, it is made and continues to be made of the populous' imagination itself. once created, each re-imagination is not adjunct to the 'source' material but rather an extension of it on an equal ontological plane.

functioning less like an island in the ocean of our worldly milieu, media is more of a current, pushing and pulling on different sociocultural forces and being shaped by them in return. regarding it in a puritanical manner is a perversion of its nature because media does not merely live in the world, it becomes the world around it.

this person divorces so-called 'fan' content from 'original' material, and derisively declares that "Theories you read? That's fandom. Art you reblog? Fandom. Memes you consume and regurgitate? Fandom. Sending me asks about JJK? You're engaging in fandom". in doing this, they fundamentally do not understand that the two are inseparable because they are co-constitutive. jjk is fandom, and fandom is jjk.

fan culture is not supplemental to 'source' content; it a manifestation of media achieving its intended purpose, which is to join the world that bred it. fandom is perhaps the highest form of intellectual engagement with jjk because it executes the understanding that media exists within the world and not outside of it.

the things fans create are not inferior or antithetical to the 'source' media; however, i'm not saying that they're all inherently favourable either— they can be anything because they can just be. media invites itself into our world and in doing so, sends an amorphous invitation back. when you pompously declare that "in canon there is no romantic love between those two and there never has been", you slap the hand that extends itself to you and defy the maxim of media: it is not prescriptive, it is participatory.

when people acknowledge that gojo and geto are queercoded and choose to understand their coding in a romantic context, they are not "forc[ing] their headcanons and misinterpretations of the material down everyone's throats". they optimize media's purpose and reach back towards the waiting hand of fiction instead of isolating jjk and forcing it out of the creative medium that birthed it. "shipping" is one form of engagement amongst many, and is a reductive term that belies the intricate textual analysis required to arrive at its conclusion.

one key dimension of the "shipping" discourse is that it's mainly conducted by people who aren't men. men, in principle, are used to dominating every discursive space. to them, it is utterly flabbergasting that people who aren't them might have more insight into their favourite media than they do; nuanced and complex insight at that. compressing the discourse about stsg into "shipping" is reductive and disregards the complex conceptual and narrative analysis conducted to reach the so-called "shipping" conclusion, a practice which requires analytical capabilities that elude the men who deride them.

maybe the people who are "annoying as fuck" are not the "stsg shippers" but the people who insist on interacting with jjk in a purely prescriptive context, clinging to a vacuous relationship with their favourite media and removing themselves from its most authentic, intellectual and enjoyable facet in the process.

[fanbun]

This quote from Variety's new Dan Harmon interview is concerning to me as a Rick and Morty fan… but it also explains a lot of the problems I have with the show’s writing...

“I think a reset is a good way of looking at it. We had so much behind the scenes drama that I think we didn't need a lot of irony and challenge on the screen narratively. I think the experiment became, can we accomplish the show moving forward? Can the fans not lose their favorite show, not be distracted by any of the turbulence? There was also another important reason to reset, which is we're anticipating doing a lot more of these. This was always designed to be a show that could last thousands of episodes. And you can't last thousands of episodes if you're simply going to tell a serialized story about how your protagonist stops being the protagonist. I've always been obsessively focused on maintaining modularity, so that the more popular your show gets, the more accessible it is to a hopefully increasing freeway of traffic.” (source)

I really don’t like this business-minded approach that sacrifices story in exchange for an endless stream of content.

You could argue the show was always supposed to last forever, but the problem is that the writers set up major overarching storylines and focused their attention on Rick’s development as a character. Things in the show are changing and therefore a reset comes across as a forced decision to keep the show from coming to an end.

It seemed like in season 6 the younger writers in the room were allowed to experiment with larger narratives, but from this quote I think it’s clear that Harmon’s stubbornness really prevents Rick and Morty from evolving naturally and reaching its full potential.

What I find most concerning though is that he admits that they are playing it safe with the narrative because of all their behind the scenes drama. That sounds like the final nail in the coffin to me. Why expect anything truly interesting to come out of these characters when the goal is to be unchanging and marketable? Why hope for writing that is reflective of real life when the people working on it are trying to hide the chaos that spawned it?

Unlike Solar Opposites, the Rick and Morty showrunners said they wouldn’t even be referencing the behind the scenes drama for jokes. And it’s not like Rick and Morty hasn’t done those sort of meta references before either. They did it in season 3, a time where the writing felt like it had way more effort put into it.

So not only is the writing itself disjointed and detached from reality but the jokes also tend to feel forced and generic when there are topics that are off-limits to them. And yeah, this kind of downfall is par for the course when a cartoon has been running for a long time. But Rick and Morty didn’t need to become that kind of cartoon. It didn’t need to be a Simpsons or a SpongeBob.

Honestly this is why I vastly prefer what I have read fans come up with for the show. The creatively engaged fans like to dig deep and talk seriously about character development, make theories about the show's world-building, and create art from a place of emotion. There's something really engaging there that the show occasionally touches on, but whatever hopes we have as those type of fans are sure to be dashed. At the end of the day, the showrunners would rather make some casual viewers chuckle with a half-assed pun or movie reference than risk the death of their cash cow.

[glitteringcrab]

...So, uh...

...You guys remember how the most common fan theory about Evil Morty before S6E01 was that he was Rick C-137's original Morty?

Obviously, after S6E01 that theory went out the window, because it was revealed that Rick C-137's Beth died as a child (so Rick C-137 couldn't have his own Morty). In turn, Evil Morty's familiarity with the Citadel's Morty Market and cloning process and the facts that he was enlisted in a Morty Agency and seemed like he had no home to return to, point towards him being a clone Morty.

HOWEVER.

It's still possible Evil Morty is "Rick C-137's Morty", in a way...

...if he originated from a batch of clones that were created using Morty Prime's DNA and memories, that is.

Given that Rick C-137 created the Citadel, and depending on why exactly Morty DNA was necessary to bring down the Central Finite Curve...

...and why "it's complicated"...

... it's theoretically possible Rick C-137 used Morty Prime's DNA and memories to kickstart the Morty Market.

So there might be a batch of clone Mortys who were identical to Morty Prime in every way up until the time the series starts, that is.

Now, while I absolutely LOVE the possibility of Evil Morty being a literal clone nobody who managed to rise above the ranks through sheer determination, instead of him being "a copy of the protagonist"...

...I also like this theory, because of its implications on Morty Prime's capabilities and Evil Morty's well-masked emotions.

Of course, whether this specific theory is true or not, Evil Morty is still a "Morty", and therefore the above mentioned implications still hold true. However, we've seen various "small" differencies among the Mortys from different dimensions/different clone Mortys (eg a girl Morty, Morty with Glasses, fat/left handed Morty, etc) which open the possibility of Evil Morty really being more cruel or capable than Morty Prime. Therefore, those two having the exact same DNA, memories and personality up to the point the series starts would make the implications hit THAT MUCH HARDER.

However, I would absolutely HATE this theory if it were to really influence any characters' decisions in the show. I mean, I don't mind this revelation triggering Morty Prime's self-reflection or something, but I would hate it if the reason Evil Morty asked Morty Prime to come with was "we're the same person" instead of "he's also sick of Rick and has been kind to other Mortys and I don't want to be alone".

Likewise, I'd hate it if Rick C-137 was ever to help Evil Morty in the future and the reason he decided to help were to be "he's a copy of the specific version of my grandson that I love, the specific version of my grandson that I love could be in his place" instead of "this is a very hurt child and the creation of the Morty Market is partially my fault".

Or if the reason Evil Morty didn't try to kill Rick C-137 when he escaped the Citadel was because "he's my grandpa" instead of "his death will bring me no satisfaction, as I know from experience, and I have better things to do, like escaping".

Or if Morty Prime is forced to confront his own dark tendencies because of a metaphorical ugly mirror placed in front of him in the shape of an evil clone, instead of him pondering over the actual violence he has personally committed.

That being said, them being literal copies of each other would explain the following stuff, which however I want to stress also have other possible explanations:

The strange lingering look Evil Morty gives Morty Prime in this scene (assuming he already knew whose Morty he was a copy of, which admittedly we have no indication is a thing that clone Mortys know) (and his look could also be triggered by the anti-Rick stuff Morty Prime had said up to that point)

"There's our guy" (lol) (also possibly Evil Morty simply being ironic, given that "Rick had two Mortys" in this adventure, and that Evil Morty pretended to be Rick C-137's Morty for part of the fight)

Morty Prime's stats in the attribute slider (also possibly explained if all Mortys are actually smart and charismatic, which, you know what, they probably are)

The CFC universe Evil Morty is latched on could very well be the very Universe Morty Prime currently lives in, because I suspect if a Rick was to ever search for him using his unique genetic/dimensional/whatever signature the presence of Morty Prime might make it seem like a false positive lol. (And it would be HILARIOUS if he's hiding under their very noses).

ANYWAY I wrote this theory but I want Morty Prime and Evil Morty to be ACTUAL FRIENDS, not their relationship to be reduced to "he's a copy of me, so I'll be more understanding". I don't mind if this theory is true, I just don't want it to matter in the plot.

...I still prefer the theory of Evil Morty being a literal clone nobody though.

[finchers-ipad]

SE7EN FUN FACTS!! (SPOILER WARNING)

these are my favourite facts/little details about the production!!! a lot of them are from the dvd commentary, ‘David Fincher: Mindgames’ book and other random interviews i have consumed! :)

(thank you to @loosebonez for giving to an excuse to dump these and itch my brain!!)

- Fincher wanted to keep Kevin Spacy out of the marketing campaign for se7en so that his reveal would be all the more shocking, this included not having him in trailers, posters and even his name not being on the opening credits (and on letterboxd Spacey’s name isn’t at the top of the cast list like it normally would be for such a big role but it’s at the very bottom of the cast list, which is very cool and epic of letterboxd)

- (related) in the promotional material , the scene of John Doe’s phone call to Mills and Somerset is included, and because they were keeping Kevin Spacy out of the campaign, FINCHER DOES THE VOICE OF JOHN DOE WHICH IS SO FUCKING COOL!!

- Fincher wanted the film to be a “no colour, colour movie” and therefore kept the production and set design to a very gray/black/green colour pallet so that when colour is used it has impact and draws the audiences attention (seen most notably with the colour red for blood, Johns prison outfit being red to show he is a threat and stand out and the neon red cross over John Doe’s bed)

- Fincher was sent the wrong script when being asked to do the film, as there was multiple versions of the ending, and the ending he was supposed to be sent was one where Mills’s dog’s head is in the box at the end instead of Tracys head. it was in Brad Pitt’s contract that he would only do the film if it had the head in the box ending

- an extra in the back of the barbershop scene was drunk on set, and the extra sat in the chair was worried that he was going to cut him with a straight razor (which was real and not a prop because the props department ran out of them lmao)

- Clive Piercy and John Sabel, who designed John Doe’s diary’s spent 2 months and around $15000 (i found that number online but idk how accurate it is) to HANDWRITE a lot of the diary’s. obviously not all of them are hand written but the ones given close ups on camera and in the opening credits are. there are around 2000 notebooks. there is a special feature section on the dvd where you can listen to them explain how they created them and the ideas behind the information they put in them, it’s very interesting i highly recommend it :3

- in the back of the leather store scene, John Doe can be seen looking at Mills and Somerset through the window from the outside, he even has a limp like the guy working there mentioned. he has a limp because he cut his leg on a window when Mills was chasing him earlier in the film.

- se7en was heavily inspired by the neo-nior films of the 70’s such as ‘The French Connection’

- Andrew Kevin Walker (the scriptwriter) makes a cameo at the beginning of the film as the dead guy at the first crime scene before the opening credits

- Fincher and Arthur Max (production designer) wanted the city that the film is set to be nameless and unrecognisable, which lets the audience think that this type of crime can be going on in any city and all around them. they ensured the anonymity of the city by removing and changing street signs, creating police cars with their own unique design to the film. they also did no large establishing shots of the city, and if they did, they were shots of building exteriors and general unrecognisable images

-Fincher and Pitt both agreed that Mills is a selfish character, and should be presented as such. they amplified this by adding David and Tracey’s dogs last minute, to show that he is so selfish as to move these big dogs into a small city apartment

- there is a deleted scene of Somerset checking out a new house in the country side, which would have been at the beginning of the film and they really liked this cute little cottage that they filmed it at but it was RIGHT next to a maximum security prison so they had to put these massive barrels of hay in-front of the barbed wire to block the view of the prison 😭

- not a fact but the dvd commentary for se7en is available on spotify and it has the audio from the film too which is really cool (please listen to it just to hear how crazy Arthur Max’s voice is)

THANK YOU FOR READING MY INFO DUMP!!! i fucking love this film (if you couldn’t tell already) and i honestly probably have more facts but these are my favourites that come to mind!!! crazy film with silly guys that established Fincher as a director :) (sorry about any spelling mistakes) <3

[mariacallous]

In recent weeks, as so-called cheapfake videoclips suggesting President Joe Biden is unfit for office have gone viral on social media, a Kremlin-affiliated disinformation network has been promoting a parody music video featuring Biden wearing a diaper and being pushed around in a wheelchair.

The video is called “Bye, Bye Biden” and has been viewed more than 5 million times on X since it was first promoted in the middle of May. It depicts Biden as senile, wearing a hearing aid, and taking a lot of medication. It also shows him giving money to a character who seems to represent illegal migrants while denying money to US citizens until they change their costume to mimic the Ukrainian flag. Another scene shows Biden opening the front door of a family home that features a Confederate flag on the wall and allowing migrants to come in and take over. Finally, the video contains references to stolen election conspiracies pushed by former president Donald Trump.

The video was created by Little Bug, a group that mimics the style of Little Big, a real Russian band that fled the country in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The video features several Moscow-based actors—who spoke with Russian media outlet Agency.Media—but also appears to use artificial intelligence technology to make the actors resemble Biden and Trump, as well as Ilya Prusikin, the lead singer of Little Big.

“Biden and Trump appear to be the same actor, with deepfake video-editing changing his facial features until he resembles Biden in one case and Trump in the other case,” says Alex Fink, an AI and machine-vision expert who analyzed the video for WIRED. “The editing is inconsistent, so you can see that in some cases he resembles Biden more and in others less. The facial features keep changing.”

An analysis by True Media, a nonprofit that was founded to tackle the spread of election-related deepfakes, found with 100 percent confidence that there was AI-generated audio used in the video. It also assessed with 78 percent confidence that some AI technology was used to manipulate the faces of the actors.

Fink says the obvious nature of the deepfake technology on display here suggests that the video was created in a rush, using a small number of iterations of a generative adversarial network in order to create the characters of Biden and Trump.

It is unclear who is behind the video, but “Bye, Bye Biden” has been promoted by the Kremlin-aligned network known as Doppelganger. The campaign posted tens of thousands of times on X and was uncovered by Antibot4Navalny, an anonymous collective of Russian researchers who have been tracking Doppelganger’s activity for the past six months.

The campaign first began on May 21, and there have been almost 4,000 posts on X promoting the video in 13 languages that were promoted by a network of almost 25,000 accounts. The Antibot4Navalny researchers concluded that the posts were written with the help of generative AI technology. The video has been shared 6.5 million times on X and has been viewed almost 5 million times.

Among the prominent accounts sharing the video was Russian Market, which has 330,000 followers and is operated by the Swiss social media personality Vadim Loskutov, who is known for praising Russia and criticizing the West. The video was also shared by Tara Reade, who defected to Russia in 2023 in a bid for citizenship. Reade also accused Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993.

The video, researchers tell WIRED, was also manipulated in a bid to avoid detection online. “Doppelganger operators trimmed the video at arbitrary points, so they are technically different in milliseconds and therefore are likely considered as distinct unique videos by abuse-protection systems,” the Antibot4Navalny researchers tell WIRED.

“This one is unique in its ambiguity,” Fink said. “It's maybe a known Russian band, but maybe not, maybe a deepfake, but maybe not, maybe has reference to other politicians but maybe not. In other words, it is a distinctly Soviet style of propaganda video. The ambiguity allows for multiple competing versions, which means hundreds or articles and arguments online, which leads to more people seeing it eventually.”

As the Kremlin ramps up its efforts to undermine the US election in November, it is increasingly clear that Russia is willing to utilize emerging AI technologies. A new report published this week from threat intelligence company Recorded Future highlighted this trend by revealing that a campaign, which has been linked to the Kremlin, has been using generative AI tools to push pro-Trump content on a network of fake websites.

The report details how the campaign, dubbed CopyCop, used the AI tools to scrape content from real news websites, repurpose the content with a right-wing bias, and republish the content on a network of fake websites with names like Red State Report and Patriotic Review that purport to be staffed by over a 1,000 journalists—all of whom are fake and have also been invented by AI.

The topics pushed by the campaign include errors made by Biden during speeches, Biden’s age, poll results that show a lead for Trump, and claims that Trump’s recent criminal conviction and trial was “impactless” and “a total mess.”

It is still unclear how much impact these sites are having, and a review by WIRED of social media platforms found very few links to the network of fake websites CopyCop has created. But what the CopyCop campaign has proved is that AI can supercharge the dissemination of disinformation. And experts say this is likely just the first step in a broader strategy that will likely include networks like Doppelganger.

“Estimating the engagement with the websites themselves remains a difficult task,” Clément Briens, an analyst at Recorded Future, tells WIRED. “The AI-generated content is likely not garnering attention at all. However, it serves the purpose of helping establish these websites as credible assets for when they publish targeted content like deepfakes [which are] amplified by established Russian or pro-Russian influence actors with existing following and audiences.”

[vermutandherring]

Part 1 is here

It is impossible to defeat nature and its laws. You cannot destroy the established order of things, because sooner or later it will return to the starting point, albeit modified. Part of the eternal order is war. This is a rather conventional character, which, nevertheless, has all the features of eternal evil, which the main character must defeat. Before the battle, Sundowner reveals another revelation to Raiden: he is too blinded and naive to think that he can change the world. War is part of cruel human nature. This is an outdated tool, which we have not been able to completely discard. But like a real virus, rooted in the very middle, it evolved with us, adapting to the conditions of the times.

War is indifferent to moral guidelines and honor, deaf to human suffering and merciless to victims. This virus is ready to manifest itself at any moment, as soon as the system crashes. What for Raiden as a person is a matter of morality, for the World Marshal as a large military company is supply and demand. Even the "Patriots", well known to Raiden, did not invent anything new. The fact that after their "disappearance" history continues in the same direction is only proof that the established order cannot be defeated. This is what Sundowner actually says: Raiden with his good intentions will not change the world. PMC has offices all over the world, and therefore their products are in demand. They are only suppliers working for the war market. After all, war is a business hidden behind the face of morality, and the person in it is a commodity.

This again resonates with the rest of the games in the series, where the main unit is not so much the metal gears themselves, but the people behind their creation and control. Of course, the crown of creation of both nature and man is not a perfect tank, but the Legendary Soldier. Big Boss used to be the one. The same fate awaited Raiden. Towards the end, however, MG Rising moves in a slightly different direction, touching on the theme of the "ideal society". As the Patriots once fought for a single ideal world, so Armstrong seeks to create an ideal society where "people will die and kill for what they BELIEVE". Be that as it may, history constantly shows that an imperfect man cannot create a perfect society. After all, it cannot become even the best version of itself. MG has something of the dystopia inherent in the cyberpunk genre. But, at the same time, it remains close to reality, where some wars are fought to stop other wars.

Each war has its own methods of achieving the goal. I like that MG Rising raises the question of the facelessness of the enemies that Raiden kills in packs. Their fate does not interest you as long as it is only a dummy for beating. But as soon as you imagine in front of you a person who has life, destiny and its own will, it becomes morally difficult to destroy them. Maybe that's why it's much more difficult for me to kill innocent NPCs in modern games - they suffer too realistically and look like real people who have their own lives. Giving the enemy human traits is what Sam uses to break Raiden mentally: reality doesn't match his moral principles. It turns out that they are just a cover for his true nature. But as a player, we lean more towards our main character, considering his (that is, our) actions a priori correct. Raiden's reasoning about the sword as an instrument of justice gives us a moral discharge: we destroy the villains who exploit the weak, and therefore do nothing wrong.

But all this is just an illusion. There is no moral attitude that would give a person the right to take the life of another person. "Who saves the weak from the man who saves the weak?" Through the mouths of the characters, the game in a peculiar manner breaks through the fourth wall, addressing the player. Why do we kill? Why do we justify our cruelty? Perhaps Monsoon's phrase that nature cannot be defeated does not mean only the world order. But also a person who has always been marked by cruelty, and therefore cannot defeat himself. As Raiden, we have no right to judge or condemn someone to death. But our internal attitudes, they are memes, give us an excuse, and the game gives us such an opportunity.

In the general sense, a meme is a unit of information. An attitude or idea that is repeated in different variations and transmitted by imitation or learning. The thesis Meme as a gene was formed by the scientist Richard Dawkins in the 1970s, comparing cultural phenomena with human genes, which copy themselves and are ultimately subject to natural selection. In fact, this is all that Monsoon is talking about: memes (that is, cultural attitudes) influence our behavior, the way we communicate and perceive reality. Culture, religion, our own will - everything is formed from the outside and imposed on us as a given. However, not all cultural phenomena undergo selection. In the struggle for the human mind, the "stronger" meme survives, the one most successfully replicated by the carrier, and therefore more valuable.

Raiden wins with his tool of justice meme Mistral with her thirst for revenge because his beliefs are stronger. But this fake facade of nobility is not enough to defeat Monsoon's nihilistic worldview. Dawkins claims that memes adapt quickly, easily deforming under external conditions. All memes disappear, but are immediately replaced by new ones. Breaking Raiden's unnatural mindset, Monsoon forces him to quickly adopt a new one: "…killing your enemies felt good. Really good <…> I was born to kill <…> Pain… this is why I fight”. Thus, Raiden returns to his original beliefs, where he is Jack the Ripper. Again following Dawkins, memes can change and combine and split, resulting in the formation of new memes. For Raiden, it becomes obvious that you can achieve your goal in another way, by accepting the repulsive part of yourself and using it for good.

This is the transformation that Samuel could not go through at the time. Unable to handle his thirst for revenge and justice on his own, he falls under the influence of Armstrong's memes. In the end, this makes him doubt his own ideals, and later he rejects them altogether. It's clear from Sam's backstory that he's not a bad guy. Rather, a guy who got into the wrong company and chose the wrong path. There is something in his character about samurai stories, especially the Hagakure - a treatise on bushido - the samurai's unwritten code of honor. The series of stories was created by Nabeshima Mitsushige in 1716. In them, he told the stories of the former samurai Yamamoto Tsunetomo, who after the death of his master became a ronin - an exiled samurai. In short, the meaning of the book can be described by the phrase 'A samurai has no goal - there is only a path', which was attributed to Yamamoto himself (although he did not actually say anything like that).

Kuniyoshi (1797 - 1861). Tomimori Sukeemon Masakata from the Biographies of the Loyal Retainers series. Woodblock Print, c.  1847. Source: Ronin Gallery

Sam begins his samurai path to avenge his father's death, but as his purpose crumbles, he becomes increasingly hesitant and ends up becoming a mercenary for terrorists. The transformation from a respected man to a robber was quite a common phenomenon among samurai during the turbulent times of Japanese history. But Sam's path was not in vain and meaningless. Yamamoto commanded the samurai to find their own way in life, discarding thoughts about the past, future and everyday problems. This path was paved on the battlefield with a sword (or rather a bow and a horse), and to die in battle for a samurai is the highest honor. Sam and Raiden's battle was a test of their ideas; a turning point that had to decide whose ideology has the right to exist. Samuel himself speaks about this in his posthumous message.

Both were not enemies, but rather adversaries, each had their own convictions at stake as a kind of equivalent of honor. Sam's mindset and fate shows that personal beliefs do have weight. If they are true and worth fighting for, if they are the same strong memes, they will continue to exist. That is why, finally accepting his nature as an assassin, the sword as a weapon, and the goal as completely achievable, Raiden defeats Samuel.

Totally forgot I started to write it, so i had to finish it, haha.

[tfyoulookingatgiuxs]

SPOILERS!!!!!

Four episodes of Hazbin Hotel are out on Prime Video and I'm speechless! Four episodes in one go is a lot of information we can gather to inform our theories and comments on the show. Let's talk about the first episode!

Here we summarize the situation, recalling a bit the events that happened in the pilot, but while watching it I already saw something was wrong. In this episode the extermination of the exorcist angels has just finished, Vaggie later reveals to us that a week has passed from the first episode to the Pilot! In the Pilot we started with Charlie announcing the end of the extermination and we see the clock restart 365 days after the next extermination, so why did Adam and the others decide to show up again a week later?

I don't know whether to call it a continuity error...but now I'd like to leave this little corner aside and move on to when Charlie compares Adam and Lute.

I'll start by saying right away that I really like Lute's style and I must also say Adam's strange obsession with rock and roll. Charlie here, introduces the two exterminating angels to The Hotel and states that everyone makes mistakes. Lute stops her by exclaiming that angels don't make mistakes, and here the question comes spontaneously: and Lucifer?

If I remember correctly, Lucifer was an angel who fell into his own darkness that he created together with Lilith because he made a mistake, so this doesn't seem very consistent with what Lute is saying.

Speaking instead of Adam, well of course we understand that he is one of the main Villains, but I don't feel that he will be a character that we will fear like the three Vs. He gave me this impression. I liked his song, both in Italian and in its original English form. As for its design, well it doesn't drive me crazy but it makes me laugh how it looks a bit like an imp. I still wonder what he ever did to become like this, being that he had to be a human. And then wasn't he the first to sin together with Eve? I don't know if Vivzie will follow the story of Adam and Eve with certainty as it is written by the Christian religion, but if this were to be the case, then Adam also sinned, he too made a mistake, maybe he became like this to make amends? Maybe he's lying when he says he hasn't made any mistakes in his life?

Aside from these questions, Lute has become one of my favorite characters. She is very set, confident and has a leader's attitude, perhaps even more than Adam, who unlike Adam prefers to plan well only for destruction and chaos in hell.

Instead she also worried about hell if we think about it. When Lute discovered that one of the exorcist angels had been beheaded, she obviously became worried and perhaps feared something. We don't know the exorcist angels and heaven well, we don't know well how it works there and also the various ranks, therefore from the most powerful species to the less powerful ones. We don't know if the exorcist angels can be injured by their own weapons, but if so the battle in hell will become much more heated since the scythes left by the exorcist angels are taken and sold on the black market.

Lute fears that in hell there is someone of greater power capable of certain actions. If we are actually talking about a demon with a greater power such as an Overload then we can see that the exorcist angels are not as strong as we think, but that they are of a lower rank compared to many angels in heaven.

But now let's talk about him: Alastor. One of the characters that I have adored since the Pilot. Since the first episode came out on Prime Video, Al seems to have become even more mysterious than usual, which he wasn't in the pilot. In short, Alastor in the pilot was introduced as "The Radio Demon" all told by Vaggie and how he was intent on wanting to help Charlie only to see her fail. Despite this he didn't give the impression of being a feared character, a possible hidden Villain. Now however he seems more sinister, full of secrets and gave me the impression that throughout this first season he will be a thorn in my side, especially regarding his relationship with Vox and how he despises this technology that everyone uses. I don't know how this "battle" between him and Vox, which we'll see later on, will continue, but I hope it's something truly incredible.

Anyway this was what I thought of this first episode, obviously I will do the others too and together we can open a space for theories or comments regarding Hazbin Hotel. I really love this show and I hope you think the same too!

Sorry for my english!

[bethanydelleman]

Who Could Mr. Collins Reasonably Marry?

Mr. Collins is a very silly character, but there is one section that grants him a small amount of sympathy:

Having now a good house and a very sufficient income, he intended to marry; and in seeking a reconciliation with the Longbourn family he had a wife in view, as he meant to choose one of the daughters, if he found them as handsome and amiable as they were represented by common report. This was his plan of amends—of atonement—for inheriting their father’s estate; and he thought it an excellent one, full of eligibility and suitableness, and excessively generous and disinterested on his own part.

Now, I don’t agree that Mr. Collin’s plan is entirely disinterested and generous. It does seem like marrying a daughter and establishing goodwill, is a “done thing” and it might be done to give you some sympathy from the father. Mr. Elliot, in Persuasion, wants to stay close to Sir Walter by marrying Anne, to prevent an heir from being created. If Mr. Bennet believes the estate and the girls are in good hands, through this sort of marriage, he may be less likely to try and displace Mr. Collins. (say if Mrs. Bennet died)

But what kind of a wife could Mr. Collins have gotten if he tried the open market? It says he has a very sufficient income already, and we know he has a house and gig (therefore keeps at least one horse). He gets his parsonage for free and must have a stable attached. Also, the Hunsford living, being so close to the main house, is likely the living intended for an Edmund Bertram-type from Mansfield Park. Edmund’s livings brought in between 650-700 per year. (Lady Catherine has no sons, so she doesn’t need to pass it on to them) That is more than the Dashwoods have as a family of four in Sense and Sensibility. 

Mr. Elton is the only similar character we see marry in Jane Austen’s works (I believe, I’m not going to count Edward because he has a huge possible inheritance and Elinor loved him before he became a minister). Elton is a parson, it seems he has a smaller income than Collins, and some independent property. He is probably more physically attractive than Mr. Collins, but apparently his delicate flattery is so silly that Emma has to run from the room to laugh, so his personality isn’t actually that far from our boy Collins. I would say they kind of come out as equal, with Elton being more intelligent and attractive and Collins being wealthier and having better future prospects.

Elton manages to marry a minor heiress with about ten thousand pounds. Perhaps Mr. Collins could not do that well, but I think he could probably have gotten far more than Elizabeth’s 1k on the death of both parents or Charlotte Lucas’s basically nothing. And since he knew nothing about these women, we know he wasn’t valuing their personalities or other merits. Mr. Collins probably could have married better just based on his high parson income alone. Therefore, while his pursuit of Elizabeth was likely motivated by securing his inheritance, it did have a seed of charity.

[fareehaandspaniards]

Wait tell me about Helbrecht and Elżbieta 👀

Yay!! I would gladly ramble :^)

In truth, Helbrecht and Elżbieta are minor characters in a big original story I've been working on for a long time (God grant me the strength to take my mind off Fromsoftware games for a while and get back to development xd).

They're one of many couples I have, and I've tried creating them in Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring, however, in terms of setting they'd be more suited to DS3…

Helbrecht - is a once resident of a town that has tamed the magical arts. His main dream was to create a universal cure and defeat death. He wandered, searched, and gathered legends and stories to change the human cycle. Eventually, he came to success and gained immortality. His body stopped changing in any way - his hair stopped growing or falling out, his wounds healed immediately for the body to become as it was, and he also could no longer have children. In fact, he stopped even needing food. Helbrecht was happy for the first century. But then he buried his first spouse. It was getting harder. He left his hometown again to start life anew elsewhere. Helbrecht married several times. And each time his heart was broken, for his lovers died sooner or later. Many centuries have passed - Helbrecht's city has long since been leveled, burned down in one of the wars, his native language has changed beyond recognition, and he still drags himself across the land and does not know where to go. Even his magical knowledge is outdated (although, admittedly, it is very valuable, because he is the last one who can recreate ancient spells)! He can't devote himself to his art, he can't live as a human being, Helbrecht is waiting for his death, which doesn't want to come. He's a totally depressive piece of sad rock who seems to have become completely indifferent to what's going on in the world. He's just really tired :(

Elżbieta (Lilibeth at birth) is an aristocrat, a fiery redhead with a heart as bright as her hair. Actually, among her many siblings, she is the only redhead, and her parents are black-haired. Therefore, she was labeled the “child of sin” (her father suspected her mother of cheating. However, her grandfather's genes just played out on Elzbieta!). Elżbieta was not loved at home, and in addition she also had a rather defiant character, which she brought up in herself. Her family tried to marry several times, but something was happenning to her suitors all the time - and many of them died of various circumstances. Elżbieta believed that she was guarded by heaven, and her family was convinced that she was cursed, for which she was nicknamed “Lorelei” - her beauty was called destructive. To get rid of her and thus “tame”, her parents married her to an old hunter, famous for his cruel temper and considerable money. But the old hunter showed her true mercy and didn't use strength against her, leaving her a virgin and allowing her to escape and creating a legend of her death. In return, she healed his maimed leg. Elzbieta left him and took a job with a madam in a market town as a nurse and healer. She has a passion for plants and works with them, practicing “folk medicine”. So, in my world's logic, she is a witch! Naturally gifted to healing magic, independent and lonely.

That was actually the backstory! I won't write here the main plot - I have to think about it long and hard xd Helbrecht and Elzbieta ran into each other and disliked each other almost instantly, because their approaches to healing magic are opposite, and Helbrecht couldn't stand her deep cleavage and was extremely annoyed because he was embarrassed xd

Half of the story this couple will squabble (briefly) xD But their story ends with them finding each other, healing their wounds, and many, many years later, when Elzbieta is old and it's time for her to die, Helbrecht's curse will be over. Legend has it that he turned into moss that hugged her grave, around which a thicket of Elzbieta's favorite ivy sprang up.

I apologize if you were expecting them to be linked to BB (I only have two OCs in BB, and I think one of them will go into my story) xD But I'm really glad there was an excuse to talk a little about my OCs

References to both of them:

my veeeeeeeeeeery old Elzbieta sketch (I don't have any worthy sketch for Helbrecht! :( He is pictured like more than 30 times in my sketchbook and none of those oc-shitposts I can show lol):

[sailoragere]

Hello, and welcome to the sweet home base of #sailoragere. (Promise I’m not a witch!) /ref

I'll be your host, Serendipity. Dipsy for short. If you didn’t read up there in my bio already, I’m white, and an autistic adult who is currently 25. You may be wondering,

“What is #sailoragere?”

It is to be an established hashtag to share and create age regression content related to Sailor Moon.

After close to a decade of shying away and being kinda desperate for agere stuff of my special interest, I felt brave enough to create this blog for the purpose of breaching--er..bridging the gap.

What will be featured? What can I post in the tag? What can I ask you/talk to you about?

Lots of things! For starters,

💗 Artwork!

💙 Fanfiction/Headcanons (AUs are encouraged)

❤️ Moodboards

💚 Outfit collages

🧡 Stimboards

and whatever else can be thought of!

(All versions/iterations of Sailor Moon are encouraged: Manga, 90s Anime, Crystal/Eternal/Cosmos, PGSM, CD Dramas, Stageplays, etc.)

On the blog itself, there will be a focus on positive posts, cute things such as plushies, toys, stimboards, stimming in general, aesthetics, “-cores,” that remind me of the characters and their canon culture. I will also be sharing my own works from time to time.

Sailor Moon used to be marketed primarily towards children in its American market in the 90s, but you may or may not have known that its Japanese target demographic used to be children as well!! There’s a seemingly endless amount of cute little trinkets and merchandise that appeal to me, therefore I’ll be sharing some of it here, too.

As for you, if you prefer to stay low or are just feeling shy/anxious, it’s okay. Just swap to Anonymous in the ask box and we can assign you an emoji to better accommodate you! (Please keep in mind I am chronically ill and will likely take a while to respond!)

I’d love to see what others come up with, and find fellow fans of Sailor Moon who also regress! Please spread the word by reblogging this post! (I could really actually use a boost)

Please click “read more” or “more” before following/interacting with this blog or hashtag! Don’t fall under any of the below and you’re good to to use the tag / interact!

‼️ The following will not be allowed nor tolerated. (In no particular order of importance:)

💔Pedophiles/Zoophiles/"MAPS"/"NOMAPS"/RADQUEERS

Self-explanatory.

💔Anti-antis"/"Proshippers"/Pro-fic/"Problematics" (literally so many different ways of putting this nowadays...)

Also self-explanatory.

💔Racism towards black, indigenous, and POC.

This will apply to any content shared within the blog or hashtag. Don’t drag others down for headcanoning or depicting a certain character as mixed Asian. Just so long as their canon Japanese culture and race are not being erased, anything goes. Anti-racist is the way to be.

💔Homophobia/Transphobia (TERF, Radfem, etc).

We love and support the LGBTQ+ community in this space. It’s totally valid to express gender and/or affectional orientation through your favorite characters. Romantic and/or platonic shipping is encouraged! (But please understand that shipping in a sexual context will never be allowed here or in the tag.)

💔Ableism towards autistic people (otherwise known as autmisia), or any other disability.

This includes anything relating to autism or disabilities be it a headcanon, piece of art or someone using the hashtag! The very person behind this blog is disabled and wishes to cultivate a diverse and inclusive environment for disabled systems, system littles, regressors, carers, and other individuals.

💔 Equating diapers to only a kink/fetish and/or something to make fun of/something that degrades a person.

They're inherently a disability aid, so they will always be included here!! Be ableist elsewhere. Same in bold goes for any other disability aids.

💔 Sexualizing age regression/agere and/or supporting others that do so.

Adult topics are not appropriate here and therefore will not be brought up. This is meant to be a space to escape and heal from that sort of trauma. (Personal to the admins in particular)

Speaking of trauma, that sort of discussion will be allowed, too, as age regression tendencies often stem from it. And these characters have been through it. Said content will of course be tagged accordingly. ^^

While this blog is fiction focused, above all, we care about the world and the people in it. The intention is to do that by sharing important posts about current events. I will tag those specific posts with warnings and #not agere just to be safe.

If I catch anyone misusing the tag for any of the above, you will be blocked! Please respect our boundaries for my sake and a lot of yours! With this all said, I cannot put forth the energy to scrutinize every single follower or interaction online anymore due to it becoming damaging for my mental health!

Play it safe and be kind to others!

[communist-manifesto-daily]

The Communist Manifesto - Part 12

[ ◁ First | ◃Prev | Table of Contents | Next ▹ ]

Bourgeois marriage is, in reality, a system of wives in common and thus, at the most, what the Communists might possibly be reproached with is that they desire to introduce, in substitution for a hypocritically concealed, an openly legalised community of women. For the rest, it is self-evident that the abolition of the present system of production must bring with it the abolition of the community of women springing from that system, i.e., of prostitution both public and private.

The Communists are further reproached with desiring to abolish countries and nationality.

The working men have no country. We cannot take from them what they have not got. Since the proletariat must first of all acquire political supremacy, must rise to be the leading class of the nation, must constitute itself the nation, it is so far, itself national, though not in the bourgeois sense of the word.

National differences and antagonism between peoples are daily more and more vanishing, owing to the development of the bourgeoisie, to freedom of commerce, to the world market, to uniformity in the mode of production and in the conditions of life corresponding thereto.

The supremacy of the proletariat will cause them to vanish still faster. United action, of the leading civilised countries at least, is one of the first conditions for the emancipation of the proletariat.

In proportion as the exploitation of one individual by another will also be put an end to, the exploitation of one nation by another will also be put an end to. In proportion as the antagonism between classes within the nation vanishes, the hostility of one nation to another will come to an end.

The charges against Communism made from a religious, a philosophical and, generally, from an ideological standpoint, are not deserving of serious examination.

Does it require deep intuition to comprehend that man’s ideas, views, and conception, in one word, man’s consciousness, changes with every change in the conditions of his material existence, in his social relations and in his social life?

What else does the history of ideas prove, than that intellectual production changes its character in proportion as material production is changed? The ruling ideas of each age have ever been the ideas of its ruling class.

When people speak of the ideas that revolutionise society, they do but express that fact that within the old society the elements of a new one have been created, and that the dissolution of the old ideas keeps even pace with the dissolution of the old conditions of existence.

When the ancient world was in its last throes, the ancient religions were overcome by Christianity. When Christian ideas succumbed in the 18th century to rationalist ideas, feudal society fought its death battle with the then revolutionary bourgeoisie. The ideas of religious liberty and freedom of conscience merely gave expression to the sway of free competition within the domain of knowledge.

“Undoubtedly,” it will be said, “religious, moral, philosophical, and juridical ideas have been modified in the course of historical development. But religion, morality, philosophy, political science, and law, constantly survived this change.”

“There are, besides, eternal truths, such as Freedom, Justice, etc., that are common to all states of society. But Communism abolishes eternal truths, it abolishes all religion, and all morality, instead of constituting them on a new basis; it therefore acts in contradiction to all past historical experience.”

What does this accusation reduce itself to? The history of all past society has consisted in the development of class antagonisms, antagonisms that assumed different forms at different epochs.

But whatever form they may have taken, one fact is common to all past ages, viz., the exploitation of one part of society by the other. No wonder, then, that the social consciousness of past ages, despite all the multiplicity and variety it displays, moves within certain common forms, or general ideas, which cannot completely vanish except with the total disappearance of class antagonisms.

The Communist revolution is the most radical rupture with traditional property relations; no wonder that its development involved the most radical rupture with traditional ideas.

[ ◁ First | ◃Prev | Table of Contents | Next ▹ ]

[itsbinghebitch]

just as Moonlight Chicken comes to a close, i have the chance to find myself reading a book very relevant to its themes. How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell, discusses the notion of what it means to be useful in free market capitalism and felt very poignant as I was watching MLC, both book and show placing emphasis on rootedness and responsibility to our home/ecosystem in a world where, increasingly, our space and relationships are determined by the logic of capital.

throughout the show, Uncle Jim’s arc deals with the impending closure of his chicken diner due to corporate development in the area. we soon find out the pandemic has taken a toll on businesses in this neighborhood, and that Uncle Jim offers unlimited chicken to his customers after midnight. this is later questioned by Wen, who thinks Jim could be making a bigger profit if he ditched the all-you-can-eat after midnight business model, and notes that “other diners do that.” Uncle Jim disagrees. he says: “I’m comfortable with the way I’m doing it.” he thinks in terms of the larger ecosystem of his community: of the food waste (where we know big corporate chains like Starbucks have to dump good food at the end of each day), of the usefulness of his economic role beyond bringing him a profit.  

Wen’s profit drive and his participation to the development of the Marina food court is shared by a few others in the MLC world: from the neighborhood local landlord to Gaipa’s mom. throughout the show, we feel the pressure of smaller players having to learn to adapt to grow in order to survive.

related to capitalist growth, Odell’s book says, “in the context of health and ecology, things that grow unchecked are often considered parasitic or cancerous. Yet we inhabit a culture that privileges novelty and growth over the cyclical and regenerative. Our very idea of productivity is premised on the idea of producing something new, whereas we do not tend to see maintenance and care as productive in the same way.”

economic growth in the universe of Pattaya, the Marina food court construction, Wen’s promotion, are all intertwined with the challenge of the same capitalist growth mindset at the level of interpersonal relationships: Wen chasing for a confirmation of his status with Jim, Li Ming’s struggle to determine his next step towards economic sufficiency, Heart becoming deaf and his parents’ reaction to essentially hide him away from society (with the implication that disabled individuals are a dissonant surplus in a society that functions by triaging its weakest).

the theme of leaving and starting anew is also important in MLC. Jim and Jam abandon their rural origin for economic prosperity; Li Ming’s wants to do the same with America. Wen leaves his relationship with Alan and Leng discusses the possibility of an abortion for his child with Praew. it stands out, therefore, that almost every character completes their arc not by leaving and starting anew, but by learning how to make use of what they have. Li Ming locks in his plans to leave not out of economic necessity, but out of the desire to help Heart. Leng and Praew stick together to raise their child despite economic difficulties. 

notably, instead of cutting off ties, Wen and Alan leave room for friendship based on the mutual recognition of their past together and a relationship based on maintenance and care, which is important especially for queer people who may be estranged from biological family (it’s not lost on the viewer that Alan has no one but his sister-in-law to help with moving out). homophobic members of family are however muted and de-emphasized; MLC is much more interested in spotlighting Gaipa’s mom and Jam coming to terms with their sons’ sexualities.  

it’s also no wonder that at the end of the show, we don’t find Uncle Jim overhauling his life to create a different economic reality for himself. he is instead content to be providing for his newly enlarged family, as well as the rest of the community, as he repurposes his diner into a food truck. he parts ways with us on the following note: “I choose to sell Chicken Rice because it’s a simple dish consisted of four components: rice, chicken, broth, and sauce. It might only have four units, yet everyone’s definition of ‘delicious’ differs. Some love to eat chicken skin. Some love chicken thighs. Some don’t eat it with the sauce at all. Some love the hot broth. That’s what makes this simple dish stand out.”

and in a world where capitalism tells us to disrupt and innovate, this is, in fact, counterculture: the idea that a simple dish like chicken and rice shouldn’t be changed. that it is already great in and of its own, though it can look differently for everyone; it only requires us to have the right perspective and outlook to see its value. as Jim contemplates this throughout the show, it could be that the ‘right person’ and the ‘right time’ is right there in front of you, or at least that’s what i think that is what MLC tells us. that instead of fleeing and searching for growth elsewhere, the most radical act you can take against capitalist displacement is to firmly plant your roots where you are; to renew, regenerate, restore and rekindle your relationship to those around you, to your community and, most importantly, to yourself.

[ana-cantskywalker]

I think the reason longform animated shows made for kids but clearly created with an older audience in mind work so well is because the aren't taken seriously by the general public. Hear me out,

The comedic aspects work so well because they don't have to be serious, with either no humor, or overtly sexual and try-hard humor that just ends up cringey. (ie; thor love and thunder) I feel like most mainstream shows fall into either 'this is a serious piece of media, therefore any comedy has to be subtle or nonexistent, we aren't allowed to have fun' OR 'look at how funny this is, the plot is lacking and the jokes are stupid but you should watch it because we joke about death and sex'. The writers can throw in quips while still maintaining their dignity, and since it's 'made for kids' they can be a little silly now and then without taking away from the purpose of the story.

They usually don't follow the trend of short seasons that we are seeing more in more in mainstream shows, so the writers have time too flesh out characters and tell a whole cohesive story in the way stories should be told, because they aren't pressured to make something short and easily consumable by the masses so they might can get a second season. (which is the biggest problem in the Ahsoka finale in my opinion) It's made for kids, so as long as it appeals to that target audience they can pretty much do whatever they like and probably get another season.

Animation is an incredible medium for story telling, there is no sets, no stunt doubles, no cgi, so the creators can show some incredible world building and character design without stretching the budget in the way that the same world building would if it was attempted in live action. Not to say that animation isn't a costly and time consuming art, but for example, it's easier to animate a dragon in an animated show, than it is to cgi one with green screens and actors and the dragon having to be hyperrealistic. (The Dragon Prince would not be able to have the same whimsy as it does if it were live action, and Across the Spiderverse is literally impossible without the variety of different animation styles and techniques)

Because they are made for a younger audience, they usually carry the thematic elements of love and friendship, and family that isn't taken seriously by adult media, but are stories that are beautifully rich and enjoyable. That's why you typically see a lot of found family in these types of shows. (Which is why I adore Star Wars Rebels)

Their saving grace is that they aren't pushed by executives and marketing teams to make something that says and shows the right things to be easily consumed by the public and make a lot of money. So writers can tell stories that are genuine, which is why the work so well.

As much as I wish animation was taken more seriously, part of the reason shows like The Clone Wars, work so well are because they aren't taken seriously by anyone other than their fandom.

[fennecfics-the-simp-king]

Pillow Tower

It is a Pizza Tower AU made by me that is basically the game mixed with Toy Story. All of the characters are toys now, and they’re sentient!!

The plot follows a stress toy, called Pepperoni, who is owned by his child owner, Mushroom. But uh oh!! He’s been misplaced and put in the attic!! D:

I’m still working on it and unfortunately I have very little digital drawings for this AU. but this does raise some interesting questions… (questions and answers bellow!)

Will this be a fangame?

no. This is just a fun AU idea I had while listening to the Toy Story soundtrack. It won’t turn into a game, it’ll just be showed by a series of digital & traditional drawings, ..along with some Fanfiction by yours truly.

Does it take place in the same universe as Toy Story?

Now this is a tricky one. I’d say yes, but also no. Although it does have the same idea as Toy Story, the toys are sentient, it’s also kind of mixed with Pizza Tower’s universe. As in, goofy ahh characters in place of humans, like Mushroom.

Will it be almost the exact same plot as Pizza Tower with all the characters having the same roles?

No, this is a problem I had when first starting to work on this AU. I tried to make the character designs too similar to their originals to the point where I was essentially just recreating them as marketable plushies.

Thankfully I caught myself and changed it up so I could have more fun with it while creating this idea. It’s actually kind of funny how much Pepperoni’s design changed when I realized what I was doing before xD-

In addition, Pepperoni’s personality leans more on the anxious aspect, and he doesn’t really get angry unless he’s pushed to his absolute limit. I kinda got the idea from the Inanimate Insanity s2 contestants- He’s a stress toy, therefore…he must be stressed. /silly

This is just the intro to my AU, I’m still working on the others designs so sadly Pepperoni is all you get for now. I will be posting more about Pillow Tower very soon though!!

btw… here’s an official account I made- I’m probably gonna be posting about this AU more often on there; @pillow-tower