#case transcript

[paa-official]

Recording No. 20

In the evening we were back in the city and I immediately ran to our night quarters. Xornud tried to stop me >> Apath, take it easy. This is normal for humans. They'll deliberate for a few days and then come to their senses. <<

I turned to him and stopped in the middle of the path >> You know, I had actually been pretty optimistic. I thought people were open-minded, friendly, innocent. God damn it, I thought they were reasonable. More reasonable than our people. <<

>> Well, that's not particularly hard either. << he muttered to himself. >> Why didn't you warn me about this? <<

>> Warn you about it? Shit, I thought you had some sense. Why else would you come to us for help? And now you want to put all the blame on me? <<

I laughed hysterically >> Are you trying to tell me it's my fault for speaking out against Parker? <<

Becka stepped between the two of us and looked me in the eye >> No one here is to blame. We just have to be patient. You said yourself that this all has to work out. <<

>> What if we don't have enough time? <<

>> But the military doesn't know anything about anything here. They think we're still spying on this place. <<

>> But what if they get suspicious about the whole Area 51 thing yesterday? What if Miran suspects why Markus hasn't returned? <<

I paused for a moment and Becka noticed it in my expression >> What is it? << she then asked.

I slowly turned away from he >> I have an idea. Don't wait for me. Xornud can you take me to Markus? <<

>> Apath? << Becka tried to stop me, but I wasn't paying attention to her, I was already running after Xornud.

Xornud had taken me deep into the ship, to an interrogation room where I had to wait. The walls, ceiling and floor were all made of dark gray steel. In the middle was a table with three chairs connected to the floor and a ceiling lamp had been built into the ceiling directly above it. Unlike in Naglfari or the human interrogation rooms, there was no mirror with someone behind it. After only a few minutes, the door opened and Xornud brought in Markus, whose hands he tied to the table. I went to Xornud and whispered quietly in his ear >> Give me a few minutes with him. I'll take care of it. <<

He doubted at first, but then nodded and left us both alone >> Knock on the door, if there's anything. <<

I walked slowly to the table and sat down on the chair opposite Markus, who looked at me sceptically >> Do you want to try again? <<

>> Yes, and you will give me answers. <<

>> Why so sure? <<

>> I'll ask the questions. <<

He laughed suddenly >> That's not like you. You can stop pretending to be threatening. <<

I sighed slowly and folded my hands on the table >> Alright. Why did you fake your death anyway? <<

He laughed again >> Isn't it obvious? 20 years without orders and then we arrive at the planet. Something will go wrong, like someone going rogue. Miran needs a backup like us, his mercenary force. <<

>> And what about your family? <<

He remained quiet for a moment and his face became serious >> I don't have any. Never did. <<

I hesitated for a moment. He had been all lonely on the ship and probably wasn't allowed to bond with anyone so there wouldn't be that pain when he had to leave everything behind.

>> And what about the second ability? << I then asked >> Have you had it all your life too? <<

He started grinning again >> How many years have you spent on the ship? <<

I looked at him questioningly >> 19 auroric years. What does that matter? <<

>> That's how long I've had mine. And if I'm not mistaken, I even saw you back then. <<

>> What? What do you mean by that? <<

All I got in response was this grin >> Ask your parents, if you have any questions. Or ask your buddy, Luke. Maybe he's in on the whole thing too. <<

I looked at him seriously >> There's more to it than that. Why don't you just tell me? <<

>> I'm only telling you what I'm allowed to tell you. <<

I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms >> What does that mean now? <<

He sighed and propped himself up on the table >> We haven't exactly had the best start since you and I met on Earth, but it doesn't have to stay that way. I want a little more neutrality between us. Do you understand? <<

I raised my eyebrow.

>> I'm willing to tell you certain things, but only the ones I won't get in trouble for. You'll have to find out the redacted lines for yourself. <<

>> Well at least I have a clue donor. << I muttered to myself.

He leaned back again, but not too far, because the chains weren't particularly long >> And if I can give you a tip: grow a new pair. <<

>> What? <<

>> I'm just saying. This pacifist way won't get you where you want to go. Trust me, I was convinced of that on Aurora. <<

I stood up and got ready to go to the door >> This isn't Aurora. You can keep your tips to yourself. <<

>> You're right. This is not Aurora. But the people you're up against are from Aurora. If I were you, I'd do what I advise. <<

I ran to the door >> Know-it-all. << I whispered to myself and knocked on the door.

I had tried to sleep, but couldn't. Becka was having trouble with it too, but she was already fast asleep while I was tossing and turning on the bed. I couldn't let go of the conversation with Markus and the excitement in the Pentagon. To make a pre-emptive strike on Naglfari. The guy was out of his mind. To distract myself a little, I looked at my watch. Maybe I could find or change something new. But first I checked my inbox in case I hadn't noticed that there were new orders. But it had been empty. At least one satisfying message that day.

But then I looked at the tracker, which I had switched off on me and Becka. Markus' words immediately came back to me. > Ask your buddy. <

I looked over at Becka and she was still fast asleep. She had even turned her back on me. I had to take advantage of this opportunity before it was too late. Maybe he would understand. Luke had always had a friendly character. If I had chosen the right words, I was sure I could have convinced him.

So I sneaked out of the night quarters and walked to the train. The lights had only been on in a few houses and the streets were empty. There weren't even any soldiers outside. It was similar at the train station. Only a few phalanxes were walking around and the trains had been mostly empty. That worked out well for me when I took a train to the UK. I can't remember exactly where in England. When I left the station there, I first made my way to a deserted field, far away from civilization. I didn't have to walk very long because the station was already close to a very wide, uninhabited meadow. Somewhere near the chalk cliffs, in fact.

sat down on a rock there and switched the tracker back on. Then I contacted Luke to come to my location, but alone and in such a way that no one would notice. I waited for him until then. The now cold wind from the coast brushed through my hair and was actually refreshing after all the commotion. And the best thing was that it was still so early in the morning in England and still so peacefully quiet.

Soon a shuttle appeared over the horizon. It was barely visible because of the darkness and difficult to follow with the naked eye. But the noise of the engines could not be hidden so easily.

The shuttle landed carefully several meters away from me and the ramp opened. The turbines slowed down until they were off and no longer stirred up the wind. Luke frantically ran out and towards me >> Apath, are you alright? <<

I stood up and ran towards him >> Don't worry, everything is fine. << I answered him calmly.

>> Why did you bring me here? And where is Becka? <<

Luke stood right in front of me and looked at me worriedly. I had to take a deep breath >> We've split up. You don't have to worry, really. <<

He exhaled with relief >> If you say so. Do you actually know what's going on with your watches? Yesterday they showed that you traveled several hundred kilometers in a few minutes and then the trackers went out today. <<

I looked him in the eye and thought about how much I wanted to tell him >> I don't know about the first one, but I turned off the trackers myself. <<

He looked at me confused >> Why? <<

>> It's not important now. << I shook my head >> I have a few questions. <<

He looked around uncertainly >> Go ahead. What's up? <<

>> What do you know about Markus? <<

He looked at me cluelessly >> He had no family. And he never came back from the scouting mission. <<

>> Is that so? << I asked insinuatingly and Luke no longer understood me.

>> Yes, it is suspected that the reptiloids have something to do with it. Have you found him? <<

>> Well, he more likely found us. But I guess Miran didn't tell you everything. <<

>> Miran? What makes you think of Miran? He hasn't been seen since he wiped everyone's memory. <<

[felassan]

[This recent video] by Mark Darrah on YouTube titled 'How 2017 Changed BioWare 1000 Ways' is worth a watch.

Vid description:

"For me, there have been 4 major moments in BioWare history: BioWare's sale to Elevation Partners, BioWare's sale to EA, Ray and Greg's departure, and 2017."

"Chapters: 0:00 12 Critical Months 0:22 Mass Effect: Andromeda 3:04 BioWare Reports To Someone New 4:35 Dragon Age Support 6:00 Casey Returns 7:10 A Prediction 8:20 A Message To Montreal 11:06 Anthem 12:01 Multiplayer Dragon Age 13:42 The Fallout 15:01 Is This a ME Problem?"

[watchlink]

transcript under cut.

Mark Darrah: "Okay, let’s talk about 2017, which I consider the most impactful twelve months in BioWare’s history. Or at least in recent memory. Actually, I’m lying, I’m gonna back up a little bit and I’m gonna start in late 2016, but I’m gonna stick to twelve months. We’ll just go to the later part of 2017, we won’t go all the way to December. In late 2016 we are reaching the point when Mass Effect: Andromeda is trying to ship. It has been grabbing resources from around BioWare for a while, but in this last push, we reach a decision that is different than anything we have done in BioWare’s history, at least in recent memory. And that is, I actually led this final team that came onto ME:A. If you look in the ME:A credits you’ll see the Dragon Age Finalling Team, DAFT, and I’m on that team. My feeling at the time was, the Dragon Age team was feeling jerked around, they were feeling like we were getting no support from BioWare or from EA, which was basically true, and that by me leading the group onto the project, I could then, when ME:A finished, lead that group as well as the other resources that were supposed to come back to Dragon Age back. That’s not ultimately what ended up happening, and we’ll get into that in a second. But what it was, how it was different, this was the first time where we had this leadership discontinuity where the person in charge of a project left that project to help someone else, some other project, while the project continued to run. In the case of ME:A, I don’t think the impact to Dragon Age was huge, it wasn’t very long. But it did set this precedent as this being a thing that we could do. And it’s not a good thing to do. It is incredibly dangerous to have a project run while it’s missing some of its core leadership. So we move forward, and now ME:A ships, and it doesn’t go well. BioWare had had a pretty good run of games that were pretty well-reviewed, pretty well-received, or if they, like Dragon Age 2, had some challenges, those challenges were easily rationalized away. With ME:A that got shaken. ME:A was shipped in a state that had quality bugs because of relatively small things that subsequently got fixed but really damaged the project at launch."

"In 2016 the part of EA that BioWare reported into changed. We went from, strangely, reporting in through part of the Sports organization, to reporting into someone new, and the result of that was that now, our EA leadership went from being benignly disinterested in us, I would say, not really understanding what we did, and being willing to let us do our best on our own, to someone that was hyper-interested in us, and really wanted to be involved in the day-to-day, in the decision-making, on the project. You can decide for yourself if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. It definitely was a dramatic change in BioWare’s interaction with the rest of the EA organization. One project they weren’t particularly interested in was ME:A, because they had little to gain from the success of ME:A and little to lose from its failure, so I do think one of the reasons why BioWare moved on from ME:A as quickly as it did is because the group that we reported into had very little stake in either the success or the failure of the project, and they had a lot more incentive for BioWare to move onto the next thing, that they could tie themselves to, and show themselves as having influence on the development of. Coming out of ME:A, I was feeling like Dragon Age was still not getting adequate support. We hadn’t gotten the people from Montreal that were supposed to come onto Dragon Age yet. They were still doing stuff with ME:A. And I went to Patrick Söderlund at the time, and said, I don’t feel like I’m getting the support from the organization that Dragon Age deserves. I don’t feel that I’m getting the support from the organization that Dragon Age needs. And from Patrick, as well as from Andrew Wilson, I got lots of assurances that Dragon Age was incredibly important, that we were going to get what we needed, what we wanted. In addition to that, I also got a large amount of stock to try to say, please stay, here are some financial handcuffs, to try to tie you to the organization. Around the same time that I’m getting these assurances from the greater EA org, that Dragon Age is really important, I have a conversation with the person that ran the organization that BioWare used to be a part of. And that interaction basically went like this: ‘I can’t believe you’re still at EA. Dragon Age still isn’t getting people. How can you deal with this?’ And, I guess in retrospect, yeah, that is a really good question."

"In the middle of 2017 Casey Hudson suddenly returns. I say suddenly because I found out that Casey was returning at the same meeting that everyone else at BioWare found out. Because there was worry about leaks, there was a meeting held where both Aaryn Flynn was announced to be leaving and Casey Hudson was announced to come back. And then the press release went out during that meeting. So there was literally zero time between when the people at BioWare knew and when the general public knew. You have to remember, I am the second-most senior person at BioWare. Casey was interviewed, and hired, and prepared to be brought back entirely without me being consulted in any way. Would me having been involved in the process changed the decision? No, I don’t think it would have. But there is an immense amount of disrespect involved in making a hire of this impact, in making a decision of this import, without involving the second-most senior person at your studio in any way. So I actually went from the meeting where it was announced that Casey Hudson was coming back to lead the studio to my desk and sent a couple of emails. And those emails said, essentially, I believe what is going to happen in very short order is that Casey is gonna convince the organization that Anthem needs all-hands on deck. It’s gonna starve Dragon Age out even further, and this goes against what we literally just talked about a few months ago. And the email responses that I got back were, no no no no, Dragon Age is super important, that is not what’s going to happen, we are committed to Dragon Age, we are committed to you leading Dragon Age. And, as we all know, that’s not what happened at all. In very short order, in basically exactly the way that I predicted, Anthem was seen as needing greater support, needing greater leadership support, and myself and some other very senior people, as well as a large percentage of the Dragon Age team, was moved onto Anthem."

"Between Casey returning and the everyone on Anthem, we lose everyone in Montreal. This happens really shortly after Casey returns. Casey’s return was announced on July 18th and the loss of the Montreal staff was August 1st. So it’s only two weeks between the two different events. The people in Montreal had been told some stories. They’d basically been lied to, and told that Dragon Age didn’t want them, and that they were going onto other parts of the EA organization because BioWare couldn’t keep them anymore. And, from my perspective, that is a complete fabrication. When this started to happen, I spent 100% of my time trying to force Dragon Age through one of its gates. And the reason for this is that going through that gate theoretically would have allowed Dragon Age to get much larger, would have allowed Dragon Age to keep those people. Politically I don’t think there was any way that that was going to happen. I, there were very senior people on the ground in Montreal who wanted those people, and proximity is a powerful tool, and I don’t think there was any way I could make the argument to keep those people. But I tried. So if you are someone who’s been mad at me since 2017 because you feel like I abandoned you in Montreal, know that that’s not what happened. Know that I fought with every tool that I knew how to wield to try to keep you. But the organization had no interest in that occurring. Were there backroom deals happening between BioWare and the rest of EA at that time? If there were, I was not involved in them. I was definitely fighting tooth and nail to keep everyone in Montreal on Dragon Age. Because we were ready to start getting bigger. I certainly hope there were no backroom deals. Given the timing, given how early Casey was in his role, it seems unlikely that he was brokering such a deal, and it seems unlikely that Aaryn would have brokered such a deal in his last days. I suppose it’s possible for either of them to have done so, but I think what’s more likely is that leaders on the ground in Montreal were taking advantage of the relative leadership vacuum at BioWare to take those people away. But, like I predicted, that’s not what EA was interested in. What they wanted to see, is they wanted to see Anthem. That perfectly-crafted story that was told back in 2012, 2013, continued to hold immense sway within the organization. And now that Casey was back, it was stronger than ever."

"You can see in this time, my trust in the EA organization is being constantly hammered, constantly challenged. Additionally, in this time period, Mike Laidlaw leaves, because he sees the same things that I see. And while I end up going on Anthem, he sees a lot of frustration in the future for Dragon Age, and he decides that it is better for him to look for opportunities elsewhere. Which is certainly understandable. So part of the excuse for moving people off of Dragon Age was this pivot from a singleplayer game into a multiplayer live service. I believe that a large part of that pivot was done entirely as rationalization, as a reason to make it make sense that we were taking everyone away from Dragon Age. There’s no reason to have all of these people on the project because they are going back to the drawing board, because we are making a live service game now, right? So we can start over again. I wish that had never happened, I wish that pivot had never occurred. But that’s what happened. EA said, make this a live service. We said, we don’t know how to do that, we should basically start the project over. And thus, Joplin became Morrison, and myself as well as other very senior members of the team, moved on to Anthem. And we enter into a second, much longer leadership discontinuity on Dragon Age. Project runs until Anthem ships without its EP, without its senior development director. This ends up causing massive amounts of changes to the project, to the team structure, to the culture. In this time, Dragon Age is pursuing a goal that ultimately it doesn’t want to be pursuing. But it does its best, and in doing its best, it changes the nature of the project in fundamental ways. So as we come to the end of 2017, we are in a state where almost everyone is on Anthem, but Dragon Age, now Dragon Age Morrison, is running without most of its core leadership. And in the process of this change, EA and BioWare have dramatically damaged their relationship with myself, but also with a lot of other more senior members of BioWare, because they’ve said things are going to happen, that didn’t happen, they’ve made assurances that did not come true. As we come out of 2017, BioWare is a different thing. It is focused on making a live service in Anthem, it has lost one of its studios in Montreal being taken away, and now it moves into the future in this new state."

"I talked a fairly long time ago about how EA buys studios and then consumes them and they start to lose their culture into the overall EA culture. To me it feels like 2017 is when EA finished digesting BioWare, which they had bought nine years earlier in 2008. You may be looking to this and saying, I don’t know if I buy your story, I don’t know if I believe that this twelve months is as impactful as you are making it out to be, it sounds more like these things are things that affected you personally. And I think there is truth to that, I think that a lot of these things are things that hurt me, are things that damaged my trust with the organization. I guess the argument I would make against that is simply that, given my position within the organization, damaging the trust, damaging the relationship between the second-most senior person at a studio and that studio is going to have consequences. Special thanks to my members. They provide the resources that this channel needs to keep running. If you’re interested in becoming a member, there’s a link to that down in the description. We also have a Patreon if you are more comfortable supporting the channel in that way. Both Patrons and channel members get access to our Discord, so if you are looking for a way to interact with me and the community to a deeper level, that’s a great way to do it. This may end up being a little more personal than I meant it to be, but I do think that when you step back from BioWare’s history, really far back, there are some major pivot points in BioWare’s history. There’s when BioWare got sold to Elevation Partners. Then there’s when BioWare got sold to EA. There’s when Ray and Greg left, and then there’s this period in 2017. Do you buy that? Let me know down in the comments. I will see you again soon, thank you."

[source]

[mangioneupdates]

2/21/25 NY COURT TRANSCRIPT

MS. FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO: Good afternoon, your Honor. My name is Karen Friedman Agnifilo for Luigi Mangione. I'm joined by Jacob Kaplan. I would ask that your Honor please allow my client to be unshackled for this court appearance, please.

THE COURT: Go ahead, you can uncuff him.

(A pause in the proceeding.)

THE COURT: All right. Unless you need him to sign something, they'll allow him to do it after; otherwise, for security reasons, they want to keep him cuffed.

MS. FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO: I'd like to make a record regarding that.

THE COURT: Sure.

MS. FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO: You'd let me know is this an appropriate time to do that?

THE COURT: Sure, but there's no jury here, so.

MS. FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO: I understand, your Honor. But this is a highly publicized and covered and photographed court proceeding with strong public interest, and when my client comes to court, because he's in federal custody, they bring him, they walk him in leg shackles, arm shackles. They have him sitting here, and there is no presumption of innocence. I'd also like to let you know that I go visit him regularly at MDC where we sit in a room, he's completely unshackled. He is a model prisoner at MDC. There has not been an issue. He has not given the police one single problem. There is no reason for him to be this way in court with all these officers here standing here.

THE COURT: I understand that, but for security reasons and for the security people here, they would prefer him to remain cuffed. Okay. Good afternoon everyone. So, update on discovery.

[proceeding continues]

MS. FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO: We object to a motion schedule at this time, your Honor.

THE COURT: It appears you have enough. Listen, if you don't get the affidavits for the warrants, and I don't know exactly what they're going to be redacting from the grand jury minutes, but if we're just talking about identities, that would be enough for you to do your motions.

MS. FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO: Well, we're talking about there are three separate prosecutions that are happening about one event, and there's a Pennsylvania matter, there's a federal matter, there's a New York matter, all three of which will involve discovery. We just today have been handed sounds like a lot more discovery, but frankly, we haven't gotten the bulk of the discovery. We haven't gotten a single DD5. We haven't gotten any police paperwork. I understand and appreciate Mr. Kaplan's remarks that we are going to be getting that in two weeks, but we have yet to receive any of that. We have yet to receive copies of --

THE COURT: You got some of that today. You got that today.

MS. FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO: No, we do not have that today, your Honor. That's what he said. He anticipates that they will provide in two weeks. They're in the process of doing that.

[proceeding continues]

MS. FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO: Your Honor, we also object to setting a motion schedule while we are in the process of speaking to the federal authorities about they're still deciding whether or not to seek the death penalty against Mr. Mangione. Obviously, that's an extremely serious matter that we're in the process of providing mitigation for the Feds for that purpose, and that is where our focus is. That is one of the reasons why this discovery is so critical and why we need all of it before we can even begin to anticipate exactly what we are going to be putting in our motions.

As I alluded to in our court appearance that we had previous to this appearance, your Honor, one of the issues here is that the two theories of prosecution are opposite and inconsistent with one another, and by defending ourselves in state court, we are potentially providing fodder for the federal court appearance case and vice versa. And so it really is critical in this case that we receive literally everything, especially all of the information and the police work that was done here.

And one more thing I just want to say about Altoona, Pennsylvania, your Honor, if I may. From the limited information that we have, I have some police paperwork from Altoona already that I received from Mr. Mangione's Pennsylvania counsel as well as there was one body-worn camera despite there being about a dozen police officers in the McDonald's when Luigi was arrested. We have one body-worn camera that was provided by the Manhattan DA's office that shows an angle.

I think there's a very, very serious search issue in this matter, and there might be evidence that is suppressed in this case, which brings me to another related issue that I'd like to discuss, your Honor, if I may. And I really appreciate you allowing me to make a record, but because there is a serious search and seizure issue here, and because we think that our client's constitutional rights were violated in Pennsylvania, we want to be able to have the opportunity to litigate that. However, we have been afforded -- his right to a fair trial is continuously being impacted.

And I want to just bring to your Honor's attention my shock, frankly, that the chief of detectives of the NYPD along with the New York City mayor had time to sit down with HBO and put hair and makeup on and provide information about the arrest, the prosecution, their theory about the case, and evidence about Mr. Mangione that we have not even received. This journal that they're calling his manifesto, we have never have been provided copies. They had actors playing Luigi on television -- it didn't sound anything like him, by the way.

THE COURT: All right. I'm going to cut you off, because that has nothing to do with you moving to have the grand jury minutes inspected for sufficiency, that's definitely going to be an issue in this case, or moving to controvert any of the warrants. You could always supplement your motions, but it's got to start. So you should have your motions in by April 9th. People to respond by May 14th. June 26th. We'll see if I can have a decision by then, but I hope to. And again, the sooner we order the hearings, the sooner you'll have your suppression hearing.

MS. FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO: Yes, your Honor.

THE COURT: We'll see you on June 26th.

MS. FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO: Your Honor, just one logistical request. Because of the different custody and court matters, we are unable to meet with Luigi before or after alone, and we would just request if we could just have a minute or two of privacy with him, or at least to have a little space so we can talk to him.

THE COURT: One second.

(A pause in the proceeding.)

THE COURT: You'd have to do it now. Right here.

MS. FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO: Your Honor, if I may just make one more record. Because of this unusual circumstance of him being in federal custody but proceeding first on the state case, we do just want to make a record that I think Mr. Mangione is being treated differently than other defendants who would be prosecuted in this court who would be able to have access to his attorneys, who could sit here unshackled, who your Honor could make decisions --

THE COURT: You know, I don't have a problem remanding him right here so he's here in the city. I thought you guys, the People were working on trying to get him so we have custody in that the federal jurisdiction said we were going first, meaning New York.

MR. Z. KAPLAN: Your Honor, the agreement remains that we are to try this case first; however, there's no agreement up to this point to transfer custody from federal custody to state custody.

THE COURT: I mean, is there even an indictment?

MS. FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO: No, your Honor.

THE COURT: In federal court? So they're holding him on a complaint.

MR. Z. KAPLAN: On the consent of the defense.

MS. FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO: When they're hanging the death penalty over your head, you have no choice but to consent.

THE COURT: I get it. Okay. Can you come up for a second?

(Whereupon, an off-the-record discussion was held at the bench.)

MS. FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO: (Conferring with client.)

THE COURT: All right.

[killjoy-prince]

House M.D. but it's when Wilson and House says each other's name

[luminouslotuses]

tommy: hello jaiden.

jaiden [chuckling]: hello–

tommy: i am the god, i am godinnit.

jaiden: hello, godinnit.

tommy: yeess. take–

jaiden: yeah.

[tommy tosses a podzol block to jaiden]

tommy: –my podzol. take this to the end.

jaiden: what is– podzol, what is podzol?

tommy: you will meet my wife there. did you know–

jaiden: okay!

tommy: fun minecraft fact for you, the ender dragon– [a singular note of “able sisters” from animal crossing plays] the ender dragon– [tommy laughs] the ender dragon was actually a girl!

jaiden: was that one– animal crossing bass riff?

[tommy laughs, and jaiden chuckles]

tommy: oh, you noticed! you noticed it was the able sisters!!

jaiden: yeah, of course i do. [chuckles]

[a beat of silence, then “able sisters” begins to play again]

tommy: you’re my new best friend.

[jaiden laughs]

[heartcircus]

devotioners just keep winning it seems

Pangi: Do you think Mapicc is a good friend? Zam: Do you think Mapicc is a good friend? Yeah. I'd say so. Pangi: Do you trust him with your whole life? Zam: He's like- I trust him with a lot of my life, maybe not all of it but like a good amount of it I'd say. Maybe like a good like, 80%, y'know? So most of it. Pangi: [overlapping] 80%? Zam: Yeah, so most of it. Pangi: What's the other 20%? Zam: The other 20? Myself. Pangi: [laughing] so whats the other 80 then wait.. Zam: The 80 is like, Mapicc. Pangi: Wait, you're 80- wait, wait. I'm confused. Zam: 80% of my life is with Mapicc. Uhm.. and the other 20% is for me. Pangi: Wow, you give a lot of yourself to Mapicc. Why don't we make that 100% you? Y'know, you should value yourself a bit more than just about(?) Mapicc you know. Zam: Well I care a lot about what he thinks of me, um... and I care a lot about- just, y'know, making sure he's happy.

[royalarchivist]

Fit: Oh, there's a coffee house, no way! FOFOCA!

Fit: Gosto de fofoca! Gosto de fofoca. ...Wait, that's how you say "I like fofoca," right? 'Cuz I remember "Gosto de você" is "I like you," but "Gosto de fofoca" means "I like fofoca," right? [Reading chat] "Sim" Obrigado.

Fit: GOSTO DE FOFOCA! Tio Fabio gosto de fofoca! Sim.

[princess-of-power69]

I LOVE HIM SOO MUCH??!!

[ananinidraws]

I dunno if this has been done before but. Bowser looks like he has a really squishable face

[suenitos]

tina asking george about his christmas (2022)

tina: what'd you do for christmas? george: uh... went to dream's parents' house. (laughs) tina: wait, that's actually kinda nice! that's sweet! george: yeah, well, i don't have any family here so... had to go somewhere.. or else i was just gonna sit at home alone. tina: did you have a christmas meal? george: yeah, we did! tina: and it was good? ooh, okay okay, what did you eat? george: there was mashed potato... tina (whispering): i love mashed potatoes! george (continuing): there was turkey, there was like little green beans wrapped in bacon. and there was... this like broccoli cheese thing? tina: broccoli cheese thing? george: there was some like, banana dessert thing... i dont know what else there was. some other stuff. and a cup of iced water! tina: oh! you remember your drink... that's good. you know what, good on you.

[bleue-flora]

Michaelmcchill really asking the real questions about Dream and the Prison…

[clip] Sapnap: “He’s fucked up alright? He was my friend but he’s Fucked Up, okay? He wanted to control everyone.” Eryn:”Really?” Micheal: “So you do think he should be in there?” Sapnap: “Yes.” Michael: “For how long?”

[clip] (about Sapnap’s visit to prison) Michael: “But was he like shaking bars fucked up? Or like what?—Was he acting like a fucking monkey in the zoo, like trying to get the fuck out, or what?” Sapnap: “Like no this—look he went from being fucked up in terms of like—like him just being like a bad person to him being fucked up by being like he wouldn’t talk—like oh he—he was like—he got fucked up from being in prison so long. You know what I mean? There’s a difference between the two fucks up.” Michael: “Well if he got fucked up from being in prison then maybe he should be out?” Sapnap: “No, no, no, Micheal, you’ve got it all wrong. He needs to be in prison til he’s not fucked up either way. Once he’s just not fucked up and—” Michael: “Wait a minute, so the prison made him fucked up?” Sapnap: “No, no, no, he was fucked up, alright? And then he got a different kind of fucked up but he’s probably still the other fucked up as well. You get what I’m saying.” Michael: “I mean I get it he was fucked up before he went in but it seems like the prison has fucked him up even more.” Sapnap: “No—no, look he’s gonna get better.” Michael: “If he—if he’s your friend, wouldn’t you want to help him get better?”

[clip] Michael: “But maybe the prison can’t help him!” Sapnap: “Michael, you’re wrong.” Michael: “I’m—I’m just asking.” Sapnap: “Michael, he has to stay in there. If he comes out— Michael: “These aren’t necessarily my opinions I just don’t—I mean if he’s you friend—What if he needs therapy instead of the prison?”

[paa-official]

Recording No. 19

We didn't get any answers to anything and were just laughed at by Markus. After a few minutes, Xothar and Rundor came to take Markus to the city and interrogate him there. Xornud had called them while we were driving back to the station. I had also seen Rundor wearing a mechanical prosthetic as his hand. He gave me a dirty look when he entered the room.

It was all we could do but wait for Bristol to call so we could go to the Pentagon. And he hadn't called for so long that we drove back to the city that evening and waited for the next morning. But before we went to bed, I took a closer look at my watch. I wanted to turn off the tracker at home to avoid incidents like the one on the base.

Late in the morning, Xornud stormed to our night quarters and dragged us both to the train with two of his soldiers. The five of us then drove to Washington, D.C., where there was a railroad station similar to the one in Nevada. From there, we drove to the Pentagon in our human forms in a black Cadillac SUV, with me and Becka in the back seat.

During the drive, Becka had spent most of the time staring out the window as if she recognized the place. Then, as we drove past a park, I asked her >> Is everything okay? <<

She took a deep breath >> This was my territory. This is where I met Eriny. << she said quietly.

>> In this park? <<

>> No, by the monument. We walked along here once when he was on his way to campus. <<

I did my best to reassure her >> At least we know the Phalanx brought him back and he's okay. <<

She turned her head slowly towards me >> And what if all this doesn't work? Then no one is safe. <<

I exhaled and smiled at her >> It will work, don't worry about that. <<

They gave me and Becka visitor passes and then we followed the three phalanx wearing their disguises. I felt like I was in a movie Jenny had shown me about the Men in Black. And as cool as that feeling was, I was still worried that something could go wrong.

The large meeting room was already filled with people from the defense. Whether soldiers, ministers, officers or programmers, they had all been there. And they were all waiting to hear what Staff Officer Bristol had to tell them. And at the time, they didn't know that there were two aliens among them. And three lizardmen, but they weren't aliens because they were already born on the planet. But as I looked into the room, I also wondered who else could have been a Phalanx.

We sat down in our assigned seats and only a short time later the Minister of Defense entered the room. An older man with black hair and wearing a black suit. I couldn't see much more of him because I was further away from him. Someone on the podium announced him and I could actually see that Bristol was already on the podium, sitting nervously on a chair.

Everyone was quiet as the Minister of Defense walked up to the microphone >> Good afternoon and thank you all for finding the time to be here today. Last night, Staff Officer Bristol contacted me from Area 51 with some startling news. One that I didn't want to believe him at first. And I'm sure you've all heard what's happened to Area 51. Staff Officer Bristol wants to fill you in on the details and he's even brought someone with him. <<

He moved away from the desk and looked over at Bristol, who stood up and walked over to him. He thanked him and took the microphone >> Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for being here. I spoke to someone yesterday who has provided our military with valuable information for many years. I know how ridiculous this is going to sound, but what he told me yesterday is just shocking. <<

He paused for a moment to make sure everyone was listening to him >> There is an extraterrestrial race on its way to Earth to wipe out all of humanity so they can inhabit our planet themselves. <<

Disquiet settled in the room as everyone began to talk to each other. The collective murmur grew louder and louder and the apprehension in the people spread further and further that it made me feel sick. Becka also noticed me getting paler and held my hand tightly >> What's wrong? <<

I had to concentrate when I answered >> The fear in people is... is overwhelming. I also sense anger in some of them. <<

The Minister of Defense took the microphone again >> Now everyone please calm down. Officer Bristol is not finished yet. <<

The crowd slowly fell silent and Bristol spoke into the microphone again >> We don't know much about this species yet, although I had contact with them yesterday. Positive and negative. I would like to invite Agent X to the podium to further clarify the situation. <<

Xornud exhaled, but stood up and took one of his two people forward with him. The people in the room remained quiet as the two walked forward and stood at the lectern. Then Xornud began >> Ladies, gentlemen. My name is Agent X, at least that's what you can know about me. Two days ago, two individuals of the alien species called Griever, asked for our help. <<

While Xornud explained to everyone else what the problem was, Becka leaned over to me >> You still owe me an explanation about your empathy. << she whispered to me.

I looked at her in astonishment >> I told you I rarely use it. And only when it's necessary. Like in the fight against Markus. <<

>> I actually wanted to know where you got them from. <<

I sighed >> I don't know. I was born with it and all my life I thought I was the only one. At least until yesterday. Now I'm not sure of anything. <<

>> Do your parents both have dominant ability genes? <<

>> That's what I thought at first, but my parents are both shapeshifters. I didn't exactly get to talk to them much about the origin of my empathy. <<

>> At least you'll know what to do when we get back to the ship. <<

>> I rather hope I can talk to them about it when our people are welcomed on Earth. <<

Suddenly someone stood up behind us >> Excuse me, Commander Parker here. I have a question. Why don't we send some explosives to the ship? <<

In horror, we both turned around and took a closer look at this Parker. He looked about the same age as the Minister of Defense, maybe a little older. His brown hair had started to turn gray and his skin looked slightly wrinkled. He had rough stubble and a moustache. You could even see a metal cigarette holder in his breast pocket. He'd looked like he'd been cut straight out of the handbook for stereotypical > I-don't-like-him < generals.

The rest of the room turned to him as well >> Excuse me? << Xornud asked.

>> If we know where these aliens are hiding, then we can simply eliminate them very quickly. Then we won't have the stress of dealing with them afterwards. I mean, with our satellite systems we can certainly track them down. <<

>> And why should we take a violent path instead of a peaceful one? <<

>> You saw what they did to Area 51, right? Why would we risk letting that happen again? <<

The humans started murmuring to each other again. This time in agreement. I couldn't believe people were seriously considering this solution. There was a great opportunity in front of them and all they got out of it was war.

I wanted to stand up and say something to him, but the phalanx next to me held me by the arm and shook his head. Xornud had been a little disconcerted >> You don't think conventional weapon technology is going to be any match for the Griever ship, do you? << The commander laughed and spoke proudly from his chest >> You must know that our weapons have improved considerably in recent years. <<

Although the Phalanx held my arm, I still stood up and protested >> The Griever's technology is far too advanced for your missiles to do anything against the ship. It has force fields that can bounce off any weapon you launch. And if you attack first, it will be the last thing humanity ever does. <<

The room went quiet and Parker looked down at me from the elevated position >> And who are you, if I may ask? <<

Xornud cleared his throat >> This... is one of the Grievers. Apath, please show them what your people look like. <<

I looked at him again before taking on my real form. All the people in the meeting room gasped and tried to keep more distance from me. The Phalanx just grabbed his face and sank into his chair in shame. He already knew what was going to happen to him.

But Parker didn't twitch a muscle, except the corner of his mouth, so that his moustache danced briefly >> I was afraid that you were too scared to show yourselves to us. <<

I heard some people start to whisper about me and somehow I was proud of that. Maybe I could have finally convinced people to take peaceful paths. But Parker spoke to the podium again >> If these creatures can infiltrate us so easily, then all the more reason for us to launch a pre-emptive strike. Besides, we don't know if he's not just bluffing with the technology. <<

Again, unease spread. The commander's words turned my hands into fists. I could not accept that such idiots were employed in such high and important positions. During my two months on Earth, I got to know people in a completely different light. They were innocent, unsuspecting and open-minded. But this Parker. I still can't find the right words to describe him.

[professorfcknmoriarty]

If this season doesn't turn out to be a great trans allegory about denying who you are for the people around you and transitioning into who you're supposed to be and being the real you (written specifically for Brennan's dear friend Ally Beardsley who transitioned since starting the show, but also for all his friends), I'll pull a Lydia Barkrock and cook 37 chicken parmesans.

There are SO many threads to pull, but to name a few:

In episode 1, Cassandra, who prior to JY used they/them instead of she/her pronouns and didn't look like a copy of Kristin, offered to theme herself around shakes and smoothies to make herself more likeable and relatable to Kristin, and episode 4 she says, "You saved me from being the Nightmare King."

In episode 5, Brennan offered, "Do you wanna use doubt as your weapon here, or do you want to use rage as your weapon here? Do you want to approach the goddess with her own gift, or is there something in here that you wanna go with?"

Later, Brennan says, "There's a moment where that red glows in her, and she says, "Why don't you let me get us out of here?" and turns to look at all of these rage shatter-star things. You see that she looks at them with recognition, and she goes, "How are they back here? I thought you were dead"."

And later something or someone said "She is at my side once more," and Brennan says "Kristen, your goddess is gone and a being whose name you do not know speaks to you with rage and malice from a realm beyond."

In episode 10, Siobhan/Adaine asked: "Was this god that seems to be missing a celestial god or a giant god?" And Brennan said, "On a 27, I will honor the specificity of that question. You think this god's domain changed over time."

From Lydia, we heard, "This god was a god of the Nine Hells, a god of, you know, fire and rage and torment, yadda yadda, all that stuff."

And later, Brennan says, "You start recording the moon, recording that. I think you find effectively what we would call MNA, magical nucleic acid. You're finding a string of magical sequencing. I'm gonna say from this point on, anytime you do any kind of Detect Magic or Detect Evil and Good, you will be able to see whether something is directly of Bakur. But you also find a deific, almost mitochondrial DNA of, oh, here's Bakur, but here's actually where he gets his power from -" and, "- So you're also able to be like, if you were to investigate anything else, you now have this magical sequence being like, is this of the deity that produced Bakur?"

To which Siobhan/Adaine says, "So Cassandra was married to a female or nonbinary or transmasc deity. Mitochondrial," And Brennan agrees that's what he could mean.

In episode 11, Brennan says, "Your worry as these things came out of your hand, the shards enclosed themselves. There was fear, right? Which is something that Cassandra, who in some other version of herself was the Nightmare King, is very familiar with," and while they're falling into the briefcase he says, "you're falling faster. As he (Baron) goes, he says, "The Nightmare King, very angry, once again in the arms of his loving partner. I think you should be very afraid Kristen Applebees, but not of sweet little old Baron from the Baronies. You have plenty of fish in your fish pot to fry with your fish oil." And disappears into the pages again. Very mad. So Cassandra's mad and with... They've both been corrupted again."

(Note that the Nightmare King used he/him pronouns, Cassandra used they/them at the end of SY, she/they before the mall. Baron used they/them pronouns in SY and he/they in JY.)

In episode 12, Riz said "I wasn't keeping him (Baron) a secret. I said I was dating Baron from the Baronies, but I made that up. But then, he became real." And Baron said "I am sorry that my romance partner, Riz Gukgak, has lied so much about my nature," And "(my stark father) wants to make your name something that cannot hurt you anymore."

And Riz said "-(this was) A clear lie that maybe other people could've picked up on, but didn't. And then, you know, Baron was manifested."

And later Baron said, "My stark father does not wish to ever be referred to by his name," and "Stark father, I call him, but there are other titles by which he is referred." And, "You will die here and then there will be none that remember her."

So Riz's refusal to think about or acknowledge his feelings or identity (aro/ace) and thus making up a partner that "doesn't go here" to keep his friends from suspecting or shunning him for his otherness manifested in magic from the Nightmare King/Stark Father/Cassandra. Baron isn't just a manifestation of his lies but a manifestation of his inability to accept his own identity and trying to be someone he isn't.

Random weird threads that seem somehow connected: Kristin's notoriously religious and bigoted parents have they/them pronouns in their title card AS DO Digby and Wilma Thistlespring but not every pair that often shares title cards (see the Barkrocks who have their pronouns listed separately).

There's so much focus so far on names, names that hurt you (what kinds of names hurt trans people? Dead names, usually), identity, changing, duality of self, being honest with and about yourself and I just-

There's also been a lot going on about how little correction that's been for misgendering or just completely changing the pronouns of previously nonbinary NPCs in this season. Given the fact that there have been so many details like this peppered throughout the season so far, I highly suspect that the lack of correction is to not alert the Players too early as to the overarching plotline.

(Also non-zero chance Bucky Applebees turns out to be trans and/or Kristin transitions by the end of the Bad Kids story arch)

[correct-hermitcraft-quotes]

Pearl: I am feeling very exposed

Iskall: "I am feeling very exposed" Pearl you are walking out in the open world-

False: -Naked

Iskall: With a salmon head on you.

[Laughter]

Iskall: And naked, what is there to not stare at

Pearl: I am not naked if I have a salmon head on my face.

Pearl: Would you like to join?

Pearl: Here you go (Drops salmon head at Iskall), I have plenty more than from where this came from.(Gives one to False and Stress too)

[bmpmp3]

RECENTLY IVE BEEN really into the idea of making up "fanunits" for vocal synths akin to what we do with love live characters, like fanmade duos, trios, other unofficial groups and like playing with what kind of names and outfits they could have and what kinds of songs would fit their vibes..... ive got a bunch of sticky notes all over the place full of little unofficial groups like this now.... holds out my hand. play toys with me.

[ghostie-gengar]

coffee date <3