#edit: edited the og post to what i want but to set the record straight i edited to the post to be mathematically correct right after the

[caruliaa]

staff still hasn't given me polls, what should i do?

🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪 their moms 69%

🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪 their dads 31%

grace image os i get to look at her

[trans-luis-serra]

I’m sure I’ve BRIIIIIEFLY touched on it here before?????? But I wanted to set the record straight on what’s my own interpretation of Luis;

I See floating around a LOT that Luis was indoctrinated/brainwashed by Los Illuminados which like,,,,,,,,,,, no???????? Like,, ignoring the fact that I have seen SOME people turn this into racist/classist rhetoric-

Luis has been out of Valdelobos for YEARS. He left when he was a CHILD- he worked as a scientist for the majority of his life; there’s no way in MY mind that he would’ve fell for the same religious rhetoric the villagers who were already extremely devout Catholics did cuz he probably left that religion ages ago!!!!!!

I personally think it’s more likely that he was blackmailed into working with Los Illuminados- he comes home, finds what he was hoping to be a safe space taken over by a cult, tries to make a cure for the sickness they’re using- and when he finds out that he was working for them and that their intentions are to basically mind control the world, it’s already too late and if he tried to run NOW, he would’ve been chained up and tortured (AND HE ALMOST WAS. IN SEPERATE WAYS. HE WAS LITERALLY ABOUT TO HE TORTURED BY THEM FOR TRYING TO BREAK OUT.) hell maybe LI held the lives of the villagers over his head or something cuz those were his family too!!!!!!!

Some people even say he was ON BOARD with Los Illuminados’ plan??????? @/blveherb has a GREAT post debunking this but the note people point to in-game a lot- there one where he remisces that the world may finally know peace under their rule- is literally just that. Him making an literal observation that anyone would have made. That doesn’t reflect his actions/morals/wants?????? He LITERALLY says in the next paragraph that he doesn’t want that too Hello????

And yeah there’s probably a good chance he WAS curious by the Plaga and had that kinda icarus-burnt-wing thing with it!!!!! Cuz he’s a scientist ofc he’s gonna be interested!!!!!!!! But that doesn’t reflect his dang morals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another thing I see a lot is people trying to point to Luis and say that HE made the Bioweapons like the regenerators and he used live humans?? N o ???????? IN-GAME we get told that a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT scientist made them and it is HEAVILY IMPLIED that Luis was the ‘horrified’ scientist that tried to convince them to stop

(Also cough COUGH a lot of these ideas come from the RE wiki either making shit up or combining og and remake info so people who aren’t able to play the game or read the files get misinformed cough C O U G H )

((Alsoalso hahahahaah can you guys imagine how guilty Luis must’ve felt watching the other scientists slowly die knowing that the only reason he’s survived is cuz of his charm and his childhood connections to the village hahahahahahahahaha-))

This is just my stance on it, and what I think makes the most sense for his character- SO many people want him to be the perfect ‘bad guy turns Good’ character and that he only decided to change after meeting our golden white boy protag Leon and all his actions prior to that were all outta malicious intent. Like,,, to me I feel like it just erases a lot of his upbringing, trauma, and real-world Spanish history which rubs me the wrong way

Edit: adding this too cuz people won’t be able to see the reblog:

Again this is just my own interpretation!!!!!!!! There is HEEEEEEEEAPS of merit and REALLY COOL discussions to be had with interpretations that play into Luis being brainwashed by the cult, or him having a Frankenstein/Icarus like curiosity about the Plagas etc!!!!!!!!

Just don’t. Yknow. Be racist. Or completely misinterpret his character and morals

General good rule of thumb: if you can give the same amount of grace to a white character, try giving it to Luis.

[lastlifeforfans]

Last Life: For Fans Server

I’m proud to announce I’m opening a Last Life server for fans! 

Last Life: For Fans, or LLFF for short, will follow the same premise as the original server. It will implement the random lives system, the boogeyman mechanics, and /givelife commands.

I am looking for 10-20 applicants, 18 years or older, preferably North American residents (due to server ping), with a Minecraft: Java Edition account to join the server.

APPLY HERE.

I recommend reading this entire post before applying.

As a university student, with two jobs and a full class schedule, I rarely get the chance to engage with others about one of my favorite games, Minecraft. As a fan of Last Life and general MCYT, I thought it would be really cool to create and run a server for folks like me -  those who may not have the time to play or watch Minecraft everyday, but want to connect with other fans and make new connections. 

The server will be run similarly to how the OG Last Life server is run - it will only be open during a certain day and time, from 2-6 hours, and we will ask that all players hop on then to progress the game and have some fun. Once members are chosen, we will figure out a time that works best for everyone to play.

You do not need to be a diehard fan of the series to apply. However, I do ask that applicants are actual fans of Last Life and only apply that can dedicate 2-6 hours of their week to the server. 

If you’re interested, please apply here: https://forms.gle/BhRKDcofBU5cfaaM8

Common Concerns/Questions

What are you looking for in applicants? Are there requirements to apply?

You must be 18 years or older.

You must own a Minecraft: Java Edition account.

You must have a decent* mic and be comfortable talking in VC. Communication is important and generally can make playing more fun and engaging. (*Decent means anyone listening should be able to hear your voice clearly and easily without background noises or buzzing.)

You must have a Discord account.

I am generally looking for people who have good sportsmanship, love Minecraft and want to have some fun. :)

Why do you have to be 18 years or older to apply?

Mainly because I want to connect with older fans of Last Life. I think it’s harder for those folks to connect with others with similar interests and backgrounds IRL. I’m hoping that this requirement can help garner the attention of the more mature fanbase, who are also passionate about Minecraft, but just don’t have the time to play it 24/7.

Do you have to be a content creator or be able to record footage to join?

NO! In fact, I recommend not creating video content from anything that happens on the server, due to the fact this is a very similar, if not a straight up copy of the OG Last Life server. Like previously stated, this is for the community to have fun and create connections. :)

Why create a fan server in the style of Last Life? 

I really like Last Life in the sense that it’s not a traditional vanilla server. With a Last Life style gamemode, there’s no pressure in making giant or impressive builds, but rather focuses on camaraderie, partnerships, and communication. There is also a beginning and end to the server, whereas in vanilla smp’s, new players are often left behind until a new season or restart happens - some players cannot afford to play everyday and grind, and that’s the appealing point of LLFF. With a set schedule that works with everyone, I’m hoping LLFF can become a way for older fans to connect and have fun without being left behind like in larger public vanilla servers.

Who’s managing the server? What plugins are you using?

You can call me Yonbon (They/Them) - I’m the server owner and admin. :) I am running the server on Paper Spigot Java 1.17.1 and I am using the fan-made Last Life server plugin developed by Xcalibur8, along with general performance plugins as well as the Simple Voice Chat Mod (Proximity Chat).

You can find Xcalibur8’s plugin here. I highly recommend donating to them for creating it.

If you have any questions or comments, let me know in the asks!

Applications are due November 14th, 2021 at 11:59pm, PST.

Thank you, and goodluck!

[spiftynifty]

How come it seems like lm and jds can talk more candidly about their intentions regarding other ships like allurance and even k/l but not sheith? I don't understand why they can clarify things like allurance and how it was there from the beginning or flat out state that they never intended for k/l to be a thing, but when it comes to the topic of shiro and keith they won't just clarify what they did or did not intend/want their relationship to be? I'm confused by it. :(

Ooof this is an excellent question and I suspect a complicated one. 

First off, they can be candid about Allurance because 1) it’s a hetero couple (and therefore “acceptable” to executives and conservative parents) and 2) it was strongly implied and built up for almost the entirety of the series before they officially, canonically, became a couple. There’s no ambiguity there. They can be candid about kl because Allurance technically “kills” the ship by virtue of existing, but more importantly kl is the fanship that they have been directly asked about on more than one occasion and probably straight up badgered about it more times than we’re aware of. When your production studio gets blackmailed in the hopes of making k/l canon, that ship is being brought to your attention. 

Also, Afterbuzz is run by kl fans who have anti-like tendencies. They angle kl questions in nearly every interview, and I was pretty miffed by the way in this interview they heavily, heavily implied that only Sheith fans hated s8 “because their ship didn’t become canon” and yet in the same breath talked about how Allurance wasn’t good and came out of nowhere (something JDS delightfully shut down). In the live chat for the recent interview, people from all ship alignments kept begging the hosts to ask about why SK’s friendship wasn’t included in the final season. In the saltiest tone you can imagine, one of the more vocal kl hosts decided to answer the question (”they helped each other grow and evolve and since they’ve done that, we don’t need to see their friendship anymore, it got lots of screentime in other seasons”) and never let the showrunners actually speak on it, instead moving swiftly to another topic that aligned more with the hosts’ own interests. It was almost like she was afraid of what the answer would be. Was she afraid they’d say “well actually, on the matter of that, Sheith was our intended endgame” or was she trying to save them from having to talk about something NDAs prevented them from talking about? 

So why CAN’T they talk Sheith? I have a few theories. This gets long and a little rambly, so I’ve thrown it under a cut. 

1) Don’t ask, don’t tell. Except for post-s7, the showrunners themselves have never been asked about Sheith’s relationship in an interview. I think most Sheiths were afraid of rocking the boat and potentially upending a SK endgame by drawing too much attention to it. We were/are definitely the quieter side of the primary vld ships and honestly most of us were not expecting our ship to be canon. 

But vld ships and the ship wars are notorious across geekdom for vitriol and death threats, and the creators didn’t want to add any fodder to either side. In the middle of production it would have benefited no one for the EPs to say, “yeah sheith is meant to be viewed romantically” or “no, we can’t go back and change the story to make that true”. Either one would have resulted in an uptick of harassment from antis towards them, towards other fans. And nevermind the production side where DW/WEP weren’t ready for even a hint of m/m until right before s7 dropped. It was only AFTER they got the greenlight on gay Shiro that showrunners could finally be vague and say “some people will interpret [sk] as brothers, others will say it’s 100% confirmed they’re in a relationship”. Which is, in my opinion, a pretty interesting way to respond to that question. But again, if that interviewer hadn’t been brave enough to ask it, I highly doubt it’s something that the showrunners themselves would have ever brought up.

2) Sheith was actually intended to be romantic, but was blocked. We know now that Adam being greenlit as Shiro’s boyfriend happened right before (like a week or less) before s7 dropped. This was a show that had been in production for almost 4 years by this point, and the showrunners stated they picked Shiro to be their rep early on in the process. When they planted that idea in executive’s heads is anyone’s guess, as is when the proper fight for it began. I suspect their immediate team of directors, writers, and in-house producers were well aware and supportive, but kicking that up the chain was another story. I also have a suspicion that it wasn’t until season 6 was complete that the matter was brought up because greenlighting everything we got in s6 knowing Shiro was gay the whole time puts a lot of eyes on Keith. 

And really, it was Keith who was the problem all along. 

In every version of Voltron, Keith is the main protagonist. He’s the leader of the team, the primary “image” of Voltron, and thus, certain things about him need to be maintained. I’m not sure if this is sheer coincidence or not, but he is the only person on the team who stayed visually the same to his OG counterpart. All of the other paladins have gone from white dudes (and a white lady) to POC, or have had a genderswap. There is much debate about Keith’s race with people creating their own headcanons but ultimately Keith can pass as white. While the handbook states Lance is Cuban, Hunk is half black-half Samoan, Shiro is Japanese and even Pidge gets “Italian”, Keith is just listed as... human. Which is a surefire way to not upset fans who have HC’d him as POC while also not-NOT saying he’s white. Everybody “wins”. 

In addition I’m confident a major stipulation of the OG Voltron owners (the “gatekeepers”, as a few of the VAs and the showrunners themselves have darkly alluded to) was that Keith could not be LGBT. We know now he was meant to end up with Acxa, a fact that was already obvious to many of us from their Weblum meetcute. But that relationship was never scripted. 

Setting aside the fact that the OG Voltron owners (WEP) didn’t want Keith to be LGBT, I’m sure executives at Dreamworks would have struggled with the idea as well. Shiro stans can come at me all they like about this but Keith was always meant to be the primary protagonist of the show, of every version of Voltron, and making the main, masculine hero of a well-trodden, oft-rebooted franchise gay/bi would have been an ENORMOUS move for animation. Making him end up with the other main, masculine hero would have honestly broken the internet and the minds of countless conservative executives, and been a major benchmark not just for cartoons, but ALL media. Animation often trails behind TV and movies in terms of social progress because something something “protect the chillllldrennn”. And right now I’m struggling to think of a popular live action TV show, or movie, with an older audience, where the main masculine hero is lgbt, and in a relationship with the other main masculine hero. Feel free to offer me examples in replies but the fact that I’m struggling to think of anything is pretty telling. In short, if this revolutionary move still isn’t happening for the live action 13+ audience, asking for it to happen on a cartoon with a 7-11yo boy demographic is like asking for the moon. Keith couldn’t be gay, because immediately it would have been obvious to anyone that he was already very much in love with the other LGBT character on the show. Hell, it’s already pretty obvious in canon that this is the case, and dodging the question about his sexuality is dodging the confirmation that he’s in love with Shiro. 

I’d like to believe that one of the solutions to the Adam Problem that was proposed was that KEITH ends up with Shiro, but they were laughed out of the office. The pair’s incredibly close bond aside, it would have been the absolute easiest fix production-wise. They already have their shared history doing most of the legwork, all that’d have to be changed is:

-adding Shiro to the L/K scene in 8x01, just sitting there as Keith encouraged Lance.-Re-recording a couple of Shiro’s lines in 8x05 to make him seem at least somewhat upset that Keith was kidnapped-Showing Keith and Shiro hanging out in the video episode. You could just use the shot of Keith and Pidge but replace Pidge with Shiro.

And the best part is, you could change just one or two of these and then do the wedding epilogue you always intended (but write something that doesn’t insist Shiro retired) but with Keith instead of Rando. Not to mention, there is a slight, slight possibility there was a S/K scene (or two) cut along the way. I strongly disagree with the theories that have floated around about the “massive edits” done to s8, but I think there could be truth to the idea that a Sheith scene was cut to make room for Crew Member, or an effort made to downplay the Sheith friendship that comes off way more intimate than any interaction Shiro has with [man]. It’s more likely that SK scenes never existed at all in this season as the showrunners had to cave to pressures to “have more action”, had no idea what to do with Shiro besides relegate him to a stiff cardboard general, and perhaps had to follow strict instructions about the kind of friendliness an out & proud gay man could show to the men he’d enjoyed good interactions with before. 

All this to say, the Sheith battle is messy. It’s fine for the showrunners to say “getting the greenlight for Shiro was a battle” because it’s a battle they won that makes everyone look pretty good. It makes Dreamworks look like they Learned Something and are going to be more open to LGBT content in future properties. It makes WEP look not-terrible because they can add “allowed a character who wasn’t really an OG Voltron character to be gay” to their list of “generous” things they allowed for this re-envisioning of their property. It’s self-congrats all around.

Blocking Sheith has the opposite effect. It reveals that WEP is homophobic because they could allow Pidge to be a girl and Allura to be black but making the hero a non-straight man? That’s TOO FAR. It reveals that Dreamworks higherups are homophobic because they weren’t ready for two LGBT protagonists, just one plus a background character with 3 lines who is literally never named. No one wins, and to be asked about Shiro and Keith and be honest about it could potentially be the showrunners saying, “god, we wanted to, but we were blocked at every single turn”. And thus DW and WEP are the outed villains of the story.

3) Shiro and Keith were never meant to be read as romantic. The showrunners don’t say anything because there’s simply nothing to say. Sometimes the most incredible ships are happy accidents. Sometimes people genuinely don’t realize what they’re doing. I felt a little disheartened watching the AB interview because the way they talked about wanting to include more [man], or how they “hoped viewers would read between the lines” re:Shiro/Curtains, was so casual and flippant it was like they genuinely thought most people would be fine with Shirando if only there had been more scenes between them, as though completely severing Shiro’s relationship with Keith and instead only showing scenes of Shiro bonding with a new character would come off as a good move rather than a baffling (and somewhat hurtful) one. 

I do believe that certain directors were absolutely fans of the pair and angled in what they could. Chris Palmer is behind the famous “shiro loves you baby” art and responsible for the eps that include Shiro’s gay panic, the Sheith hug, “As many times as it takes”, Shiro falling into Keith’s arms, and “We have to stop, Shiro’s out there!!” among others. Steve Ahn was the director behind 2x01, 3x01 with heavily grieving Keith, Blade of Marmora, and the episode where Keith screams Shiro’s name so loud he astral projects and then Shiro holds his hands over the controls. He also got really soft when he talked about the pair in an episode of Form Podcast (before JDS kinda hastily shut him down). And even Eugene Lee, he directed The Black Paladins which is an episode so Sheith I still can’t believe it’s real, and 7x01, the other episode so Sheith I can’t believe it’s real. All three of these guys were the original series directors, which is pretty inchresting. 

But that doesn’t mean the showrunners were necessarily onboard. Maybe it was really important to them to show a positive male friendship since that never happens in media, just as they felt having Allura sacrifice herself was a powerful feminist move. However the thing I keep circling back to is JDS’ early interview about The Winter Soldier and how if he ever got the chance to do that, he hoped it would be in the future when things could be more progressive, hinting that he wanted to throw more overt romantic undertones if he himself ever got a fight like that to write or direct. It’s pretty interesting that he wrote the Black Paladins, which mirrors the Stucky fight in Winter Soldier so much that it actually rotoscopes one of Bucky’s moves. I’d also point out that JDS’ favorite characters are Shiro and Keith, and I find it impossible to be a fan of both and not also be a fan of how much they love each other, and how much that love straddles the line between romantic love and friendship.

This got long, but I hope it was helpful. The likely final-ever showrunner interview will be on Let’s Voltron sometime this month, and I do hope that now that the series is over someone is brave enough to ask them, “so... what was going on between Shiro and Keith? In a perfect world, what would have happened there?”. In a way it doesn’t matter though. There is always the risk of them saying “nothing was going on there” and us agonizing over whether that was a lie to protect their careers or bald-faced honesty in the face of an NDA or fucks-given that might have expired with their contracts. 

But I think the best we can hope for is the same situation that happened with the Avatar creators and that live action movie: 3 years from now when the NDAs are well and truly expired, JDS & LM may come out and say, “SO, on the matter of Shiro and Keith, it’s time to come clean.”

[kurai-lonewolf]

Bronycon N’ Stuff 2019

So here we are: the final @bronycon loot post I’ll be making. First off, I had a lot of fun. Tears were shed by the end, but it made me incredibly happy to see that this was the largest year Bronycon has ever had. Makes me confident that this fandom will be around for a long time!

One last merch and photo dump, and this is gonna be a long one, so here we goooo!

Firstly, an exclusive BC poster I got for the last year:

Next up, bought some prints from my friend @marikazemus34 (twitter), who I hung out with for a few days at the con. We’ve known each other since about 2012 now, but this was the first time meeting in person.

Didn’t buy a whole lot from @lil-mizz-jay this year, but that’s namely because I bought a ton from him last year and had just about every print lol. But here’s a cute femmy Shining:

Neeext up, Skoon! His old Berry Punch ask blog was one of the first blogs I ever followed on tumblr years ago, so it was cool seeing them for the first time, real cool guy too. 

Now we have @shonuff44 (twitter) who I bought a bunch from, he had really cool prints and an art book I bought from him:

And speaking of books, I visited the Fallout Equestria booth and bought myself a hardcover book of the OG Fallout Equestria! I never ended up finishing this fic back in the day, but I really wanna do it now and this was the perfect opportunity! 

Now semi FO:E related, but I bought a mystery box from artworktee.com booth that was pretty damn cheap for what I got: three shirts, some prints (one of which was FO:E related, and other little trinkets. The art for the prints is by Torben and Freeedon

So, while @clinkorz couldn’t come to Bronycon, someone she knew went on her behalf to see for her. A couple years back in 2014 I think, I bought an Umbreon keychain of her art, so this year I decided to buy the print of that art!

And speaking of Umbreon, there was a Youmacon booth where I bought this really cool leather Umbreon journal. And it’s me, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity with that, so:

Bought this really nice Celestia (and Philomena) art by viwrastupr, one of the best paintings of Celestia I’ve ever seen:

I went to the legendary Sonic artist ChibiJenHen’s booth too and bought these really nice prints:

And I bought these two from Harwick’s booth, really phenomenal little prints!

And last but certainly not least for the art prints, we’ve got a print from the lovely @braeburnedart (twitter)! He was super nice! He only had one final print left by the time I got there, so I snagged this:

Now, on to more miscellaneous stuff, I bought these limited edition mugs from the Wild Bill’s Soda stand based on the three mascots of Bronycon! 

Drank them with Birch Beer and Sarsaparilla, really wish those were more accessible sodas around where I live... 

Anyway, so I did something I haven’t done in ages, but I took videos of some bits of Bronypalooza that I wanted to save! During Black Gryphon/Michelle Creber/Bassik and the Wonderbolts’ sets! I’m not used to recording on my phone...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tesxhpqfflne7sy/Gonna%20Get%20Better%20by%20Black%20Gryphon%20%26%20Bassik.mov?raw=1 (Got pretty mesmerized by that dude’s shirt for a bit, lol)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fmi5i76a6kay74j/Beat%20It%20by%20Michelle%20Creber%20%26%20Black%20Gryph0n.mov?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/011d4po8mxzo1po/2019-08-03%2022.44.42.mov?raw=1

And lastly, I wanna show the pics I took of the Bronycon Memorial spot. Was a little shrine some people made by one of the pillars to show their sadness for Bronycon’s final year, and it was getting bigger and bigger by the day. Was honestly pretty heartwarming.

So yeah, that just about covers every picture I took.

All in all, this was an amazing 4 days that I’ll always treasure. Hell, the last seven years I’ve been going to this convention are moments I’ll keep with my forever. But this isn’t the end for pony conventions, I’m gonna be headed straight to Everfree Northwest next year, so I’ll probably post about that next year!

RIP Bronycon: 2011—2019, and thank you to all the staff and attendees that made it possible, you’ve earned your rest.

[themagiciansreccenter]

Author Spotlight @echomoon

Every week we are going to be interviewing a writer from The Magicians fandom. If you would like to be interviewed or you want to nominate a writer, get in touch via our ask box.

First things first, tell us a little about yourself.

what up im jared, im 19 and i never learned how to fuckign read. JK my name is Theo and I super know how to read. Most of the time. Also I’m 22. Anyway I’m one of the more OG members of the Magicians fandom, having been here since back in the early days of early s1. Uhhh I’m nonbinary and hella queer. Metafic is my most favorite thing in the world other than puppies. I cry at least once a day. I have adhd and depression and chronic pain and hella other issues. I’m an anthropology major, in my third year. I’m a slytherin, an illusions discipline, and a pisces.

How long have you been writing for?

Since I learned how, basically, but I only really started posting things online because of the Magicians and also because of Twilight?

What inspired you to start writing for The Magicians?

It’s the BEST and I find it very easy to write from Quentin’s pov which means I actually finish things sometimes lol.

Who is/are your favourite character(s) to write? What it is about them that makes them your favourite?

Quentin, because he is essentially me if I was born as a cisdude except more repressed in terms of sexuality and also more wealthy, which makes him super easy to write and super easy to get ideas about. I also like Penny, because for some reason people think I’m good at writing him?

Do you have a preference for a particular season/point in time to write about?

I write a lot set in the Brakebills years because I like the whole magic school thing and the exploration of magic and interpersonal relationships without having to deal with the Beast or other threats trying to destroy everything they know and love? Like I like that slow burn, spread out, things are happening but they’re happening slowly and also heres some meta about magic kind of exploration that that time gives me the opportunity to do. I think this is partially influenced by that the first book has them in that setting so much longer, and partially because I’m still doing the whole college thing myself and find that easiest to relate to (because no one really wants to read ‘Quentin working two part time jobs and struggling to survive and nothing else happens’ unless it’s just a tiny segment of the fic lmao).

Are you working on anything right now? Care to give us an idea about it?

Well, in regards to Magicians fic, I’m still trudging along on chapter two of Magician’s Path - I’m trying to introduce more of Julia’s side of the story as well as working on how to warp the two canons into each other while also making the storyline unique - and also on the next part of crazy/classic/life, my paradise kiss and magicians crossover au. I’m also trying to find the time to record more podfic of my fics, because I think its important to have audiofic available. But nothing new, just continuations.

As for other fandoms, I’m working on a HELLA long reworking of the Descendants universe (hi i love disney channel movies dont judge), and that’s my primary focus right now in terms of fic.

How long is your “to do list”?

Very

What is your favourite fic that you’ve written for The Magicians? Why?

Oh heck, um… probably either all tied up or The Magician’s Path. all tied up was my first time writing PiV smut and also writing shadeless!Julia and I’m just really proud of it? And TMP is like, my baby, my huge multichapter canon reworking that I’m putting so much planning into and I’m always so excited to talk about it. I know it doesn’t seem like much yet but y’all I have so many plans for it and I hope you end up loving it as much as I do.

Many writers have a fic that they are passionate about that doesn’t get the reception from the fandom that they hoped for. Do you have a fic you would like more people to read and appreciate?

TMP for sure - I hope that when I’m done more people give it a try.

What is your writing process like? Do you have any traditions or superstitions that you like to stick to when you’re writing?

Ha my writing process is either ‘has no ideas for months straight and then suddenly idea when I’m supposed to be doing something else but I gotta write this down!!!’ or ‘one sentence every month at most’. Now that the FTB server has gotten bigger, I’ve found some people who will proofread for me, so there’s that editing process afterwards (thanks @oneeyeddestroyer for being the best beta).

I guess my only superstition is that if I’m doing a multichapter or big work I try not to give too much detail out when I talk about it because I get worried that saying about the plot too much will make me lose interest in it.

Do you write while the seasons are airing or do you prefer to wait for hiatus? How does the ongoing development of the canon influence and inspire your writing process?

I do tend to write more when the show is airing, because more people are engaged and it’s something to fill the void between episodes - during hiatus I tend to drift away a bit and focus on other fandoms. This is the first show thats been so all consuming for me, I don’t usually watch things while they air because I tend to forget about remembering to watch them after a week or so? But Magicians keeps pulling me back and keeping me in.

As for ongoing canon developments, it really depends on the thing. If it fits into my plot of it’s a detail I want to put in, I might, but otherwise I’m comfortable lifting what I want from canon and throwing the rest out for a fic - we follow a show with canon multiverses, we can do what we want lmao.

What has been the most challenging fic for you to write?

Honestly, most of my fics? Because I try to improve every time I write and like, explore new things. So whatever I’m working on at the time is the most challenging.

Are there any themes or tropes that you particularly like to explore in your writing?

EVERYONE BEING HAPPY AND NOTHING BAD HAPPENING EVER cough cough I mean, um. I like meta, I like worldbuilding and exploring meta and seeing what I can change. I keep accidentally writing soulmate fics? So that’s a trend I guess.

Are there any writers that inspire your work? Fanfiction or otherwise?

Oh heck, so many dude, I don’t even know, I’m gonna just link you to my bookmarks because that’s the fic I love and probably unconsciously imitate on the often

As for nonfic, like I def want to write like Marisha Pessl or Tamora Pierce or Donna Tartt or Lev Grossman or Mark Z Danielewski but more in his house of leaves phase than his current stuff tbh or Neil Gaiman and also like. Everything that you read or watch or experience makes up how you see the world and how you create what you create and I consume so much stuff I can’t even begin to guess my influences beyond the little tidbits that I keep in my bookmarks or on my shelves.

What are you currently reading? Fanfiction or otherwise?

Currently I’m reading a lot of harry potter fic - the mood is the department of mysteries or other exploration of magic, so things related to that. HP fic is my go to when I’m not revving for any fandom in particular. Nonfic, I’m working my way through Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, which is hella fucking good, as well as a bajillion textbooks.

What is the most valuable piece of writing advice you’ve ever been given?

Fuck canon do what you want

Cringe time:

Are there any words or phrases you worry about over using in your work?

Yes but now that you ask can I remember any? Nope.

What was the first fanfic that you wrote? Do you still have access to it?

Oh shit dude I don’t even know. The earliest one I can remember was this like, post twilight self insert fic where the cullens came to my middle school for some reason? I barely finished the intro of it iirc but it might still be in my stack of papers in my old room somewhere.

Rapid Fire Round:

Self-edit or Beta? Beta (always get a beta kids! They’re worth their weight in gold)

Comments or Kudos/Reblogs or Likes? Comments!! (please, leave me comments, i live for them)

Smut, Fluff or Angst? fluff

Quick & Dirty or Slow Burn? Slow burn

Favourite season? All?????? Dont make me choose

Favourite episode? Im stuck between life in a day or all that josh

Favourite book(The Magicians books)? Probably book 2, i love seeing julia’s side of things and exploring hedge magic

Three favourite words? BUTTS, lore, hearth

Want to be interviewed for our author spotlight? Get in touch here.

[cryptofeedzposts]

The Many Facts Pointing to Ian Grigg Being Satoshi

Financial cryptographer. Cypherpunk. Inventor of Ricardian contracts and early utilizer of triple-entry accounting systems, which would later be exemplified in Bitcoin. Ian Grigg may have claimed that Satoshi was a team effort and is now dead, only living on in bitcoiners everywhere, but some seem to think it’s him. In this installment of “the many facts,” we’ll direct our attention to Grigg’s background, achievements, associations and direct claims to see which evidence possibly points to him as being Satoshi Nakamoto.

Also Read: The Many Facts Pointing to Shinichi Being Satoshi

Satoshi: A Cypherpunk Story

Nearly every popular Satoshi candidate has a background or at least association with the cypherpunk movement of the 1980s and 90s. This is for good reason. Hashed into Bitcoin’s genesis block is a message about bank bailouts. Cypherpunks are generally libertarian and anarchist-leaning individuals, set on unshackling the financial system and returning economic power to the everyday individual via crypto technology.

Grigg, in a very real sense, is no exception. A pioneer of triple-entry accounting systems as also conceptualized by lesser known accounting wizard Yuji Ijiri, Grigg invented what are known as Ricardian contracts and sought means by which to leverage cryptography in data verification and security for legal contracts — forerunning and related concepts to smart contracts and cryptocurrency. Grigg was an early cypherpunk, has an educational background in computer science and business, and is associated with personas like Craig Wright and ostensibly connected parties like Dave Kleiman. Grigg writes in his paper on Ricardian contracts:

Our innovation is to express an issued instrument as a contract, and to link that contract into every aspect of the payment system.

Griggian Grist for the Narrative

Triple-Entry Accounting

Looking back to the cypherpunk mailing list of the late 80s and 90s is always a good start, but there’s a concept that was being developed prior to and largely separate from cypherpunk exchanges about cryptocurrencies, and which is much more elemental. That of triple-entry accounting.

Throughout the history of money, keeping accurate records has been paramount and evolutionary. From the first systems of single-entry bookkeeping where recorded amounts of assets or goods held were single data points, to the later, double-entry system where the reason for a new amount must also be entered, increasingly accurate and trustworthy ledgers have been developed. Before any code can even be written, the concept has to exist. Grigg wrote in his 2005 paper “Triple-Entry Accounting“:

The digitally signed receipt, an innovation from financial cryptography, presents a challenge to classical double entry bookkeeping. Rather than compete, the two melded together form a stronger system. Expanding the usage of accounting into the wider domain of digital cash gives 3 local entries for each of 3 roles, the result of which I call triple entry accounting.

Prior to Grigg’s publication, way back in the 1980s, Japanese accounting researcher Yuji Ijiri had already come up with the idea and published a monograph on it, entitled “Momentum accounting and triple-entry bookkeeping,” but hadn’t found a way to apply it. Just over three years after Grigg published his paper on the topic, Bitcoin was born.

The Wright Associations and ‘Team Satoshi’

“Satoshi Nakamoto is dead, long live Satoshi,” Grigg writes on May 2, 2016 in a post to his Financial Cryptography website. Asserting that “Craig Wright has just outed himself as the leader of the Satoshi Nakamoto team. I confirm that this is true, both from direct knowledge and a base of evidence,” Ian Grigg set the crypto space on fire with equal parts excited speculation and derisive skepticism.

Claiming that the suspicious death of supposed Satoshi team member David Kleiman “played merry hell on the lives of those left in the team,” Grigg then goes on — as he previously had on Twitter — to detail how extortionists and hackers had targeted Wright, ostensibly leading to his move to reveal himself as Satoshi. While some may understandably view an association with the infamous CSW as very strong evidence that Grigg is definitely not Nakamoto — or even part of the “team” — it’s his strange words on Wright that give pause:

Yet, a warning to all. Satoshi was a vision … Which is why the team aspect is so important to understand … As you come to know Craig you will discover he is no legend, no God, no saviour. He’s just a guy, a prickly one at that, he’s a lot like those very difficult geek/nerd/blatherers that turn minor IT support into a social drama … Satoshi Nakamoto has died, yet long may Satoshi live. Now we really are Satoshi, now you all are. There is no longer any excuse, we each in every way are responsible for taking the vision forward.

Why would someone like Grigg feel the need to make such a clarification? One Redditor remarked on the topic: “Yes Grigg’s ‘testimony’ sort of remains a mystery without which the entire thing would be much easier to dismiss. Why does he, a true veteran of the scene, put his weight on behalf of Craig Wright and risk his reputation?” Some view Grigg’s actions as something only a truly concerned party would do.

Stylometry

Stylometry is a field of linguistics dealing with expressive style, and usually applied to writing. Many Satoshi candidates have been the stylometric focus of sleuthing aimed at uncovering Nakamoto’s real identity. Grigg has notably been pointed to by data scientist Michael Chon as the closest match when it comes to email correspondence.

Chon has previously noted that “Timothy C. May has the highest similarity score to the Bitcoin paper and Ian Grigg has the highest similarity score to Satoshi’s email exchanges. An unusual result is that Ian Grigg has a similarity score of .99996 to Satoshi’s email exchanges.”

Theories on Blockchain Governance

In an April 10, 2018 speech at the Internet of Agreements conference in London, Grigg detailed how compliance costs related to KYC and AML are driving traditional banking systems into the ground. The financial cryptographer with connections to Block.one and EOS stated: “I’ve got bad news: if you do the compounding, in seven years you won’t have a bank account, because all the banks will be out of money. If you compound 30% forward by 20%, in seven years all of the money is consumed on compliance.” Grigg goes on:

Does anybody know when compliance started? 1985 was the first time I ever heard about it. It couldn’t have started a year earlier, 1984. It literally started the year after 1984, and it’s been rolling ever since, and the problem is it hasn’t got a particularly good record. It’s been rolling forward, and the solution to failure has always been to double down.

Grigg points out the futility of the FATF and others “discovering that there are problems, running into banks, fining the hell out of them and doubling down on compliance, but what they’re not actually succeeding in doing is changing the problem.” His solution? Community creation governed by blockchain transparency and “skin in the game.”

In this presentation a voice is heard which is very focused on current, unsustainable banking practices (as Nakamoto was back in 2009), and calling for blockchain-based solutions to these same dilemmas, which would theoretically be available to anyone. Also noteworthy is that Grigg’s seminal contribution to fintech, Ricardian contracts, has no patent and is not subject to intellectual property restrictions. An available financial tool for anyone to use, like Bitcoin.

Counterpoint and Summary

It’s hard to tell whether a look at Ian Grigg makes the Satoshi mystery any less murky, or simply befuddles the understanding further. Here we have a cryptographer, deeply interested in broken banks and implementation of solutions therefore, who was an OG cypherpunk developing applications in triple-entry accounting. He even more notably claims to have inside info about the team of people who were collectively “Satoshi.”

Some big counter arguments exist. Biggest of all, perhaps, is that Grigg claimed his supposed assertion that he was a Satoshi team member was just poor wording. “Nope — I am not a member of the team,” he tweeted. He also seems to be very excited about the European Central Bank’s recent progress in developing a centralized, digital cash. Hardly something the creator of peer-to-peer, permissionless cash with potential to topple banks would likely be pumped about.

Still, if Satoshi really were a team effort, it might make sense that a fragmentation has happened, with individual members and their individual personalities splintering off in starkly different directions. After all, can anyone say with a straight face that any solo Beatle’s career was as good as the band itself? It’s also hard to imagine that the whole Financial Cryptography piece on his direct knowledge of the team, and implied involvement — including the since-edited statement “I confirm as member” — was merely the result of something being “badly written.” However one slices it, the world may never know, and the mystery marches on.

Who do you think is Satoshi? One person? Many? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images credits: Shutterstock, fair use.

Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section. You can also enjoy the easiest way to buy Bitcoin online with us. Download your free Bitcoin wallet and head to our Purchase Bitcoin page where you can buy BCH and BTC securely.

The post The Many Facts Pointing to Ian Grigg Being Satoshi appeared first on Bitcoin News.

https://ift.tt/2th21jA

[theconservativebrief]

Vox Sentences is your daily digest for what’s happening in the world. Sign up for the Vox Sentences newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday, or view the Vox Sentences archive for past editions.

The FCC unexpectedly votes to effectively kill the Sinclair Broadcast Group’s acquisition of Tribune Media; Pakistan prepares for election day.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), led by Ajit Pai, delivered a crushing blow to the Sinclair Broadcast Group and its $3.9 billion attempt to acquire Tribune Media. The commission unanimously voted to refer Sinclair to an administrative law judge, which will delay the merger and could even end the acquisition attempt. [Reuters / David Shepardson]

Sinclair currently has 193 affiliate stations across the country — and is known for injecting conservative politics into its local news segments. [Vox / Dylan Matthews]

Sinclair’s bid for Tribune means it would own 235 US stations and be available in 72 percent of US households. The federal cap on audience size is 39 percent, but the FCC revived a loophole that doesn’t fully count stations broadcast on ultra-high frequency. [Politico / Margaret Harding McGill and John Hendel]

Sinclair attempted to appease the FCC by offering to sell 23 TV stations. But the FCC discovered that Sinclair would still have had operational control over the stations. [NYT / Edmund Lee]

The FCC argues in court documents that Sinclair misrepresented and “did not fully disclose facts” about the acquisition, which Sinclair denies. [Variety / Ted Johnson]

Shares for both Tribune and Sinclair have fallen since news of the judicial review went public. Sinclair has hit a 52-week low, with shares down 22 percent this week alone. [Bloomberg / Todd Shields]

The news, but shorter, delivered straight to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and European users agree to the data transfer policy. For more newsletters, check out our newsletters page.

Pakistanis will head to the polls on July 25 to vote in a nationwide election that will determine the country’s next prime minister — amid deadly terrorist attacks, censorship in the media, and alleged military interference. Imran Khan and Shahbaz Sharif are the two most likely candidates to lead the nation. [CNN / Euan McKirdy]

Khan, a center-right candidate and former cricket star, is breaking the status quo as a candidate running in the PTI party, which is outside of Pakistan’s typically two-party system. [USA Today / Abdul Salam]

The election will fill 849 general seats in the country’s National Assembly and four provincial assemblies. [Times of India]

Human rights activists have called the election, racked with deadly violence by extremist groups and fears of military influence, the “dirtiest election” since the establishment of the country’s democracy. [AP / Kathy Gannon and Munir Ahmed]

Authorities have deployed 371,000 troops across the country to protect the election. Activists are concerned that they will try to influence and micromanage civilians into voting against the PMLN. [Reuters / Idrees Ali and Saad Sayeed]

A generation of energetic young voters ages 18 to 25 will vote for the first time in the coming election. Including those ages 26 to 35, this generation makes up 43 percent of the vote. [Al Jazeera / Saba Aziz and Alia Chughtai]

A law allowing transgender people to run in elections passed in May. Now 13 trans people are competing for seats across the country. [First Post]

There will likely be “significant changes” in who leads the government. That doesn’t mean there will be much change in policy or progression. [Observer Research Foundation / Sushant Sareen]

A duck boat capsized at Table Rock Lake in Missouri, killing 17 people and injuring seven. Duck boats, known for their ability to drive on land and in water, have killed 40 other people since 1999. [WTOP]

Roseanne Barr released a bizarre new minute-long video explaining the racist tweet she sent about former Obama aide Valerie Jarrett that led to the cancellation of her eponymous ABC sitcom. “I thought the b*tch was white,” Barr screams in the video, a lit cigarette in hand. [YouTube / Roseanne Barr]

Egyptian archaeologists have found and opened a 2,000-year-old tomb to discover three mummies and a mysterious red liquid. People around the world were concerned that opening the tomb would set off an ancient mummy curse, but things are fine … for now. [USA Today / Ryan W. Miller]

Bristol Palin, the daughter of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, is joining the cast of Teen Mom OG, the MTV reality show about women who got pregnant as teenagers. Bristol famously got pregnant at 17 while her very conservative Republican mother was running for vice president of the United States. [Yahoo / Kylie Mar]

“Donald Trump is betraying America as an imperfect place striving for perfection. What makes this nation rich [and] entrepreneurial is its endless inventiveness. … Trump’s decision to close doors and build walls is antithetical to the principles that make this nation a magnet to others.” [Ilan Stavans for the column “One Small Blow Against Encroaching Totalitarianism” / McSweeney’s]

It’s more than just dancing around. [YouTube / Estelle Caswell and Kimberly Mas]

Report: the FBI has a recording of Trump talking about paying off a former Playboy model

The controversy over Mark Zuckerberg’s comments on Holocaust denial, explained

Comic-Con 2018: watch all the must-see movie and TV trailers

The latest protests against the Chicago police are about more than one shooting

The 5 most important questions about carbon taxes, answered

Original Source -> Vox Sentences: Ajit Pai doesn’t want to play Monopoly this time

via The Conservative Brief