#generation kill alternative posters

[vintagewarhol]

[tsscat]

GET GONCHED

[aplpaca]

Honestly while I 100% agree with the pushback against the misuse/misunderstanding/watering-down of "intrusive thoughts" as a term, i think on some level it's also misrepresentative when the only kind of counter to "lol I had an intrusive thought to jump on the table" is stuff like "real intrusive thoughts are terrible and involve stuff that's gory or morally repulsive like 'you should stab your mom' and are things no one would ever ever talk about"

Cause like, gory and morally repulsive thoughts like that are definitely examples of forms intrusive thoughts can take, but a lot of times it seems like the implication/vocal consensus of a lot of these counter-posts is that intrusive thoughts are things that are all Objectively horrible/terrifying/gruesome/immoral, when that's not actually the case

Like, the core thing about intrusive thoughts is that they're thoughts/images/"urges"/ideas that are unwanted and distressing to the person having them, and are generally repetitive/reoccurring. So while repeated thoughts of "what if I want to kill my mom" that cause distress to the person having them are definitely intrusive thoughts, basically any theme of worry can be the focus of intrusive thoughts, as long as the thoughts are distressing.

Stuff like "what if I don't actually believe in God", "what if I'm not actually an atheist", "what if I'm actually gay/straight/bi/etc", "what if i left the oven on", "what if I'm living in an alternate reality", "what if I forgot to submit my assignments", etc are all themes that intrusive thoughts can have that aren't Objectively Horrible or Immoral, and many are stuff that a lot of people wouldn't consider an Issue. But like even stuff like "I keep counting things in my head" can be an example of intrusive thoughts if the counting is causing distress.

And like idk it just seems like boiling down intrusive thoughts to "horrible things you could never talk about to other people and that fundamentally go against your own morality" does a disservice to a lot of people with different "themes", and can lead to dismissing the distress of those who have more "speakable" intrusive thoughts, or with these people not recognizing their thoughts as intrusive ones bc it doesn't fit what they've seen talked about.

Plus like off the top of my head, I've personally seen the idea that intrusive thoughts are always about things that are Morally Repugnant to the person experiencing them end up in someone being dog-piled on a reddit thread, when a poster (a straight guy) talked about having intrusive thoughts that he was "actually gay" and was met with people accusing him of being homophobic for "being disgusted by the idea of gay people" (and also with people telling him he was repressed and in the closet, which is also definitely not something that would help with said intrusive thoughts)

And just I don't super know where I'm going with this or how to wrap it up nicely but I think in the pushback against the misuse and infantilization of "intrusive thoughts" I think there should also be effort to make sure that we're not just replacing one misunderstanding with another

[david-talks-sw]

"the Warrior, the Princess & the Peasants"

Hidden Fortress (1958)

The Akira Kurosawa movie that inspired the structure and some of the character dynamics in the first Star Wars film. The main characters are:

Matashichi and Tohei, the two serfs whose eyes most of the picture is viewed through, Princess Yuki, an uppity young aristocrat on the run from the authorities, who constantly bickers with Toshiro Mifune's battle-hardened general Rokurota.

Star Wars (1973)

In the original concept of Star Wars, the dynamic stayed similar, although more characters were added to the mix.

But you still have the two droids, C-3PO and R2D2 (deriving from the peasants in Hidden Fortress), Princess Leia (loudmouth aristocrat on the run from the authorities), and Luke Skywalker (a battle-hardened general).

As drafts changed and plot details shifted, Luke Skywalker became the young protagonist, the general character became Obi-Wan Kenobi (whom Toshiro Mifune was originally considered for).

It's not a one-to-one copy, but there is clearly an inspiration. And when you look at the posters at the time?

Still Luke, Leia, 3PO and R2.

The Phantom Menace (1999)

As already discussed here, in one of the early drafts of The Phantom Menace, Obi-Wan is the one who rescues the Queen from Naboo and finds Anakin on Tatooine. Qui-Gon only comes into the script once the gang gets to Coruscant.

But in this early draft, Obi-Wan is an experienced warrior, who pushes the envelope, eliciting the complaints of princess Queen Amidala (the aristocrat on the run). When on Tatooine, the two "low-ranking" characters are still R2, this time with Jar Jar Binks.

Eventually, for multiple reasons, Obi-Wan was made the Padawan and Qui-Gon was put in early in the script.

(Fun Fact: before this change was made, there was a draft where Obi-Wan stayed the elder, Qui-Gon was made the Padawan, and then Obi-Wan gets killed by Maul and young Qui-Gon takes on his name, going on to become Alec Guinness' Ben!)

But be it Qui-Gon or Obi-Wan, the warrior in The Phantom Menace is no longer a general with rank authority, he's just a diplomat.

The only reason he's able to do things "his way or the highway" is because 1) he is headstrong and 2) Padmé is undercover and doesn't wanna give it away (as if Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan hadn't already noticed...!)

So here we have an interesting reversal of roles: in Hidden Fortress (and kinda in the first Star Wars film), the Princess is the chaotic hellion who must be reined in by the warrior, who's always screaming:

"Princess, ffs! Stop wandering off, they're actively looking for you!"

Here, the warrior is the one going off-book and the Queen is like:

"Stop this at once, you cheeky fellow! We're on the run!"

Finally, as covered in this lengthy post about how The Hidden Fortress informs us of the Jedi's standing within the Republic, Lucas makes it clear that he alternates between projecting the "peasant POV" archetype on the Jedi duo and Jar Jar & R2/Anakin.

There is no clear protagonist in The Phantom Menace, you just have four main characters: the Jedi (who are two separate characters, but functionally are basically one single character), Padmé and Anakin.

All of this to say that just like the themes, these archetypes also echo each other in more ways than one, and it's intentional. As Lucas puts it, it's like a symphony:

"I’m also doing very stylistic ideas, things that are very musical in terms of how I develop themes, and repeat themes. I go do the same thing over and over in certain areas to echo what I have done before. It’s like a symphony more than a movie." - Star Wars Insider #35, 1997

"I'm approaching these films, for better or worse, like a symphony. I have a lot of themes that I keep repeating over and over again through the whole thing. Different notes and different instrumentation, but when you see all six movies together you'll see that there's a lot of recurring notes being played. [...] And it’s done on purpose. And it’s also done in different facets." - Star Wars Insider #52, 2000

So yeah.

Just some fun similarities and tidbits I noticed, figured I'd share.

[ramblingoak]

The Cardinal's Bride, Interlude: Meanwhile Back at The Ministry

Previous Chapters: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 ~~ Pinterest Board ~~ Spotify Playlist  

Something a little different while I finish up Chapter 7. I think it's time we met Secondo and get a taste of what life is like at his casino, The Ministry. Thank you to @tasty-ribz for the very very nice gambler/cowboy Secondo art. And thank you to @kissingghouls and @writingjourney for being thirsty for Secondo and cheering me (and him) on.

~ Secondo, Mist, Cirrus and Alpha (no pairings, alternate universe, gun violence, lots of swearing, nsfw 18+ only, mdni, 1,600 words) ~

“Copia did what?”

Secondo watched as Alpha nervously shifted from foot to foot. The Ghoul took their hat off and cleared their throat before continuing.

“He, uh, kidnapped Saltarian’s fiancé. Sir.” 

Of all the fucking stupid things his brother could have done.  He clenched his fists on top of his desk and resisted the urge to flip the damn thing over.  When would Copia learn to let shit go?

“How did you find this out?”

“There was a courier that rode through about an hour ago.  Dropped off the usual warrants and some new wanted posters from around the area.”  Alpha pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and nervously set it in front of him.  “This was in there too.”

Secondo unfolded it and gritted his teeth.  There was the familiar picture of his little brother that was posted everywhere that had a damned window but next to it was a picture of a young woman.  He got progressively angrier as he skimmed over the text. The Cardinal and his band of Ghouls kidnapped the generous Mr. Saltarian’s fiancé.  The poor woman was being held for ransom less than a month away from her wedding.  It ended with a quote from the banking magnate that a hefty award would be given to anyone with info on the whereabouts of the devil worshiping outlaws. 

Unholy fuck. 

“Should I wake up the sheriff?”

“What do you think?”  He crumbled up the paper and set it on his plate from dinner.  Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a cigar and his matches.  “Wake Omega up instead.  I need to know where the fuck mio fratellino is.”

“On it.  I’ll have him come here right away.” 

Secondo ran a gloved hand through his hair and took a few puffs on the cigar to get it going.  After it was lit he flicked the match onto his plate, watching as the paper began to burn.  His eyes flicked back to Alpha and he called out to him before he left his office. 

“Deputy…don’t tell anyone about this, do you understand?”

“Got it, Papa.”  

He nodded towards the door but it burst open before Alpha had even turned around.

“What now?”

Mist narrowed her eyes at Secondo’s tone as she shoved past Alpha. 

“Got a problem on the floor. Some asshole thinks Cirrus is cheating him at poker.”

Secondo pushed his chair away from his desk and ripped open a drawer. His gun belt rested inside, something he rarely wore anymore. Mostly because he was always too tempted to shoot anyone that pissed him off. 

“She’s supposed to be playing the piano.”   Secondo settled the belt around his hips and then grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair.  “Who the fuck is on stage right now?”

“Cowbell.”

Fucking Cowbell.  He straightened his jacket and stalked around his desk, glaring at Alpha when the deputy still hadn’t left. 

“Shouldn’t you be doing something?”

Secondo narrowed his eyes when Alpha hesitated. 

“Uh, are you going to shoot someone?  I could stick aro—“

“You’ll do what I fucking tell you.”  

Alpha held his hands up and quickly turned, heading out of the office. He could hear the Ghoul’s boots thunking down the hall as he went. 

“You ready?  Cirrus might’ve killed him by now.”

“I’m not that lucky.”  

Mist snorted and turned on her heel, Secondo trailing behind her as she headed out and down to the casino floor.  Secondo used the walk to check things over.  He could hear the piano playing and Cumulus’s voice accompanying it.  The sounds of glasses clinking and dice hitting tables got louder as the pair started down the stairs.  The place wasn’t particularly busy tonight, but there was still a low hum of chatter from the patrons.  Secondo easily picked up the sound of an angry customer as they started weaving through the tables. 

“I know you fucking cheated so just admit it!”

“You can say it as many times as you want, asshole.  It ain’t gonna make it true.”

“I know what I saw, you had cards up your sleeve!  I didn’t come to this shithole to be cheated on.”  The man took a step towards where Cirrus was still seated and spit at her feet.  “Especially not by a woman.”

“I don’t know sweetheart, you look like the kind of guy that gets cheated on by women a lot.”

“You fuc—“

Secondo had reached them right as the man advanced on the Ghoulette.  He held a hand out and stopped his progress, splaying his fingers wide on his chest and shoving him back away from the table.  

“What’s the problem here?”

“The problem is this stupid bitch has been cheating and costing me money!”

Cirrus slammed her fist down onto the table and jumped to her feet. 

“If you say I cheated one more fucking time I’m going to slice your damn throat.”

“You’re a fucking che—“

“That’s enough.”  Secondo once again had his hand on the man’s chest but this time he grabbed his shirt in his fist. He yanked him closer, blowing smoke down into his face.  “My games are fair.  My employees don’t cheat.  I think you’re just having a bad night friend.”

“I ain’t your friend.”  He shoved away from Secondo, stumbling back and falling onto his ass.  “Should’ve known a bunch of Satan worshippers would cheat.”

Secondo narrowed his eyes and took a step toward him. He pushed the right side of his jacket back and tucked his thumb into his belt so his palm was close to the handle of his revolver. 

“Care to repeat that?”

“You heard me.  Everyone knows about you guys.  Fucking sacrificing people and animals and shit.”

“Well if you believe the rumors why did you come here?  For someone with such a strong moral code you seem willing to revel in sin.”  Secondo smirked when Mist stepped close and lifted up on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear.  “You even spent the night with one of my fallen angels.”

“That’s a lie!”

“Liars.  Devil worshippers.  Cheaters.”  He shook his head as he stared the man down.  “Serious accusations from a drunk that can’t back them up.”

Secondo smirked when the man growled and clumsily got to his feet.  He was itching for the man to try something, honestly for anyone to try something tonight. His anger over what Copia had done was simmering in his veins.

“Oh I can back them up.”  The man straightened his clothes and then reached towards his belt.  “But first I’m gonna shoot you in your smug fucking face.”  

“Are you?”  Secondo clicked his tongue and let his palm rest on the handle of his revolver.  “What a pity.  I had plans for later.”

“Yeah well fuck your pl—“

The man had finally gotten a grip on his gun and pulled on it, but he barely had it out of the holster before a gunshot rang out and echoed through the now quiet casino.  Secondo watched as his body jerked and collapsed in on itself.  The bullet had lodged between his eyes, blood quickly pouring from the wound and dripping onto the floor.  Secondo grimaced for a moment before he turned to look at Mist.

“Take care of this please.”

“Yes, Papa.”

Mist pointed at some nearby Ghouls and snapped her fingers.  While Earth and Water lifted the body up Secondo uncocked his gun and spun it back into its holster.  He turned and took a few steps towards the bar before glancing back at Cirrus.

“Cirrus, a moment por favore.”

As he walked towards the bar he shot a look towards the quiet stage.  Cowbell took the hint and started playing again, Cumulus’s voice joining not long after.  At the bar he leaned against the front of it and nodded towards Air who quickly poured him a whisky.  The liquid burned down his throat, but he held the glass out for a refill.  Before he could tip that back Cirrus stepped up to his side and slipped the glass out of his hand, coughing after she swallowed the contents.

“Lucifer, how do you drink this?”

“You get used to it.”  Secondo held his hand out for his glass and nodded towards Air again.  As the Ghoul filled it once more he met the Ghoulette’s eyes.  “Are you that bored?”

“Can you blame me?  There’s nothing to do.” 

He raised an eyebrow at her statement, downing his drink in one gulp.  When Air filled it once more he handed it to Cirrus.

“Let me guess, you’d rather be riding around with my brother.”

“Well yeah, those shitheads need my help.”

“Do they?”  Secondo watched her throat move as she gulped the drink down.  “Help with what exactly?”

The only answer he got was Cirrus coughing as the liquid burned her throat again.  The fact that she wouldn’t meet his eyes was answer enough though.  Copia’s Ghouls were loyal to a fault.  When she finally spoke, Secondo froze.

“Don’t you want revenge?  For what Saltarian did?”

Secondo sighed and held his hand out for the glass, holding Cirrus's gaze when she handed it back.

“What I want is to live my life without looking over my back waiting for the next Saltarian.”  He also wanted more whiskey and another cigar.  Cirrus sighed and started to turn to head back to the poker tables, but Secondo shot a hand out and grabbed her wrist. “I also would like you to take over for Cowbell please.” 

Cirrus nodded her head, but when Secondo didn’t let go she turned back to him.  He brought his other hand around and slipped his fingers into her sleeve. When he pulled out the two aces she had stuffed up there he smirked at her and flicked them behind the bar. 

“Oh no, how did those get there!”

Secondo snorted and let go of her before pointing towards the stage.

“Piano, please.”  He winced as Cowbell hit a few wrong notes.  “Before I shoot him too.”

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

my masterlist

my ao3

[strangertheories]

Reading the 4.09 script reminded me that the Russians called the MF’s particles "the shadow". Now the play is being called "the first shadow" , it has to be related. But how is it possible? How Hawkins could have been affected, before El opened a gate between the 2 dimensions, by something that we know was originally a big cloud in Dimension X? Any idea?

I'll put a "keep reading" thing here, because this post gets long but I'd appreciate a read! It talks about Henry Creel, Hawkins history, Will Byers, the potential impact on S5 and the ending of the show.

I think there is something Upside Down-y going on with the Creel House. Victor Creel mentioned that young Henry was very sensitive and automatically disliked the house. We see the lights flickering randomly when Henry isn't using his powers. There are shots of random objects in the attic that are also prominent on posters but remain unexplained, such as the wheelchair. Hell, Vecna still hangs around in that attic when the vines go into his back and he goes into Vecna mode.

I also think there is something to be said about curses. S4 has an episode called Vecna's Curse. Hopper says he feels like he's cursed. Joyce's maiden name in the show literally translates to bad luck. The promo of the play heavily features a black cat, which is associated with bad luck as well.

Something about Hawkins in general and the Creel House in specific is kind of doomed, and I think the link to the UD could be the case. The boundaries between the Upside Down and Hawkins get weakened each time a gate opens which the Russians explicitly say and is also the reason why Vecna needed four gates to make his mega gate, so maybe in the past someone was able to open a gate in the Creel House attic, hence why it just has this weird vibe around it that even young Henry could pick up on.

The advertising heavily promotes that this play contains a key to figuring out S5, so that could be it. Maybe the season would even end with them destroying Hawkins (this post speaks about it) due to how strongly it's linked to the Upside Down, like in It Chapter 2 or even Buffy. 1959 (when the play is set) is also 27 years before Vecna's come back in 1986, an It parallel as well, if unintentional. There will also be a time skip in S5, meaning something will have to spring the now older kids back into action after Vecna lay dormant so they can kill him once and for all, again paralleling It.

I almost wonder if he had true sight and if he was like Will in that aspect. Will can sense the mind flayer, even before he is possessed, and can feel his presence. He was also described as sensitive. Maybe young Henry somehow interacted with the Upside Down, and became the flee in the acrobat and the flee metaphor. This could explain the first shadow being the mind flayer's presence even if the dust itself wasn't there. Alternatively, he could just be able to sense it without needing to know the mind flayer. Perhaps the mind flayer is linked with the Creel House or the attic, and Henry feels its presence.

This could also help to explain the many Will/Henry parallels. Will is a sensitive child, able to sense supernatural occurrences, shunned by society for his inability to conform to bullshit social rules. Henry is the same. I don't know if this could also foreshadow Will making the Upside Down into what it is now, like Vecna moulding the mind flayer or Will having powers, but I do think it's worth mentioning, especially with that shot of Will moving his eyes from side to side in S2 like Eleven and Henry do when they use their powers.

And I agree with your point that the shadow refers to the mind flayer. It's relevant to note that the mind flayer was called the shadow monster by the kids too before Dustin related it to the D&D monster. I'm excited for the play to come out so I can find out more and I will be praying for bootlegs before I'm able to see it myself.

Alternatively, we saw the mind flayer dust just looming in a clump in the UD before Vecna sculpted it (I don't have a screen cap sorry so you'll just have to trust me). Maybe the first shadow references the shadow looming over Hawkins in the form of the mind flayer's dust being in a cloud about the town. I'll raise you one further and say that the mind flayer's location in the UD was in fact where the Creel House is, hence why the supernatural presence in that house and attic is so strong. Again, just a guess, but I'm going to say every thought I have in case I'm right.

Thanks a lot for the ask, sorry it took me a while to answer! I haven't theorised in ages which is unfortunate because that's what I made by blog to do. I'm so excited for the new content this play will provide! Side note: I can't be the only one who reads MF as motherfucker before mind flayer (no disrespect to the anon though).

[thebibliomancer]

Earth X #2

I’m seeing a couple Things, a Giant-Sized Thing, a bearded Doom, and a whole lot of Kirby krackle. This issue must focus on the Fantastic Four.

What does this Bad Future have in store for the first family of Marvel? Nothing good, probably.

First of all, yes, Uatu is still being a massive prick. To Aaron Stack specifically and also just in general.

When Uatu is recapping the concept of the Fantastic Four for Aaron/the audience, he scornfully calls Reed’s concern for Ben Grimm something that limited Reed.

I thought Uatu liked the superheroes of Earth but he’s had a bad couple years, getting mysteriously blinded and all. Still though.

The Inhuman royal family shows up on Ben Grimm’s doorstep on their quest to find the missing prince.

Ben is actually retired from the superhero game. Retired and married to Alicia with two mini Thing children.

Alicia herself was affected by the mass empowering event. She’s got Kirby krackle eyes and can imbue life in her sculptures.

The Inhumans ask what the heck happened to the Fantastic Four while they were gone and Ben shares the sad story.

The mass empowering caused food shortages. I dunno if it’s because everyone needed so many more calories or whether the supply lines were just disrupted.

Consequently, countries began fishing EVEN MORE to feed their citizens. Which was related to the ocean and so pissed off Namor.

When the UN met to discuss the food crisis, Namor asked for a seat at the table. But the UN didn’t recognize Atlantis as a real place and told him to fuck off.

So Doom was easily able to recruit Namor in a scheme to attack the UN and hold the food supply hostage.

He who controls the hamburgers, controls the world.

Captain America and the Fantastic Four jumped into action to stop them. And Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, decides he’s got Namor.

Except Namor has him.

Namor kills Johnny. Right in front of Franklin. Who I guess has never had to really reckon with death.

(You brought him to the battle? You couldn’t get a babysitter or something?)

Enraged, Franklin uses his reality manipulation powers to wish Namor was constantly on fire.

The burning fish man flees screaming into the ocean, leaving the Terrific Three and Captain America to confront Doom.

Doom tries to bargain for his life against a FURIOUS Sue by claiming he knows what caused the mass empowering and he knows how to fix it.

Reed rejects the notion in disbelief because the mass empowering, what fucked the world, was caused by an experiment he was running to use vibranium to bring free energy to the world. Surely!

Vibranium altered the whole of humanity on a cellular level! That’s the explanation Reed believes!

(I have some doubts, given Doom suggested an alternative theory existed but never explained it.)

And then Doom exits scene pursued by Sue and both seemingly explode.

In grief, Reed takes over as Doctor Doom. Moving into Doom’s castle in Latveria and wearing Doom’s armor and working ceaselessly on trying to fix the world.

He works with equally shut-in and beardy Tony Stark over video chat but Tony is losing hope this is a problem they can fix. That maybe this is just the new normal and they’re obsolete.

These are the thoughts Tony thinks if he goes too long without shaving.

Also, in the issue, Captain America in his flag toga and Wyatt Wingfoot break into the crashed Helicarrier to use Nick Fury’s flying car to get to California to investigate the new Red Skull.

(The background info of last issue suggested that Nick Fury is dead but that there are tons of his old Life Model Decoys causing trouble around the world.)

The all-new all-different Daredevil finally appears. He’s the daredevil for a circus, the man without fear because nothing can kill him.

I cannot fathom so far why this new Daredevil gets so much focus. He appeared on the cover of issue 1 despite not appearing in person. There were posters of him in the backgrounds of some scenes in issue 1 and the Thing children were watching him on TV. And now he gets a whole extended sequence at the circus where the audience is invited to shoot flamethrowers at him.

Then minions of the Red Skull show up to kidnap the audience.

Hi Domino, Sunspot, and Sandman.

Guess there’s going to be some spot the cameo with Red Skull’s crowd.

Back of the book worldbuilding info: the mutated world has been great for some people. The Moloids enjoy surface tourism and revere Reed as a saint on the assumption he caused it.

The Skrulls and Kree have refugee populations on Earth after their forever war reduced both empires to a cinder.

And although the mutants were blamed for the mass empowering event, they blend in far too well to catch hate anymore.

Other popular theories were: the government caused it, a curse caused it, and evolution caused it.

So I’m assuming that none of those are correct and neither is Reed’s theory about the vibranium energy project being the cause.

There’s so many issues left. And this is the big mystery. The correct answer surely is not on the table yet.

So to sum up: Avengers dead, half the Fantastic Four dead, Captain America is wearing a toga, Norman Osborn runs America, mind control alien squid on the loose, and a new Red Skull causing trouble.

Earth X is a mess.

[clockworkspider]

im insane im foaming at the mouth letter i for the minific ask. ibayuzu with the song “never love an anchor” cause it eats at my psyche like worms

Like how an anchor loves a ship

The day Yuzuru left, he didn't get to say goodbye.

Which was just as well. Ibara knew this was coming, and there wasn't anything Yuzuru could have told him that would have smoothed out their parting, and he really didn't want to leave on a bitter note.

Still, he'd see the missing scene in his dreams, different versions of it, as if from a million different lifetimes. It'd always start the same way, with Ibara saying "so they're taking you back" and ends with Ibara trying to kill him one last time.

In his dreams, Yuzuru would let him.

He thought this was appropriate, symbolically. Death, in both dreams and Tarot reading, represents transformation. The death of his childish, rebellious self in the hands of the companion he left behind seemed right. Poetic, even.

He still wished his unconscious mind could have been more generous with that child, tho. It felt unfair and selfish, under the circumstances, to make Ibara the facilitator of Yuzuru's transformation, even if only symbolically.

That particular dream gradually faded away as he aged, came back when he saw Ibara's face in the posters for Adam, and went away again when he met the boy in the flesh, saw him dance upon the shining stage of Autumn Live, smiling with his confident, vicious radiance, so full of life and full of hunger, next to the blindingly beautiful figure of his partner.

That night, Yuzuru didn't get to say goodbye. The bloody corpse of his younger, rebellious self rose from the dead, and Ibara turned his back from him and ran, and ran, and ran.

In ES, they were competitors. But they were also co-workers. Which oddly emulated their positions back at that facility. Except this time, Ibara ranked higher than him. But that didn't matter. What mattered were the other three members of Eden, surrounding Ibara with their warmth like shelter, Ibara curling himself around them like the thorny vines of his namesake.

"Sometimes," he admitted once, while they were alone, "I imagine a life where we met as humans, under the sun. I'd like to think I would have taken your hand, and perhaps you would have let me."

Ibara looked at him with enormous exasperation. "If we have met under normal circumstances, then you wouldn't have given your time of the day for an ill-natured brat like me, not when you have other choices."

"You underestimate me," Yuzuru smiled.

"It's pointless to dwell on alternate lives. You wouldn't be you, and I wouldn't be me. It'd only be two dolls with our names stuck to them." He hesitated for a second, before he said, looking Yuzuru squarely in the eyes, "But we are under the sun now, are we not?"

Yuzuru reached out, and before he had time to think, grabbed ahold of Ibara's hand. Ibara stared at their joint hands with a frown, before reaching a decision. His face lit up in a brilliant smile as he squeezed Yuzuru's hand back, hard enough to leave a bruise.

Then, he let go.

That night, he faced the young Ibara and told him "I'm leaving," and he held out his hand.

Ibara took it. He said, "Then let's go."

[lawonderlandwriter]

This was what I was looking for that no one else was posting yesterday. Now we have context. And it’s the exact context that I knew it would be, that I said in my post yesterday that it would be. Kit isn’t saying that the ending between Jon and Daenerys was the right ending period, he’s saying their ending for everything that happened in the show before that moment felt right. For what Dany did, of course it makes sense that Jon would have to kill her. 

Is that an opinion that I agree with? Of course not. I still hate Jon for killing Dany even after she burned King’s Landing. It was unnecessary to me. But that’s also a pointless line of thinking because that means accepting what Dany did in the first place, which I don’t. I don’t think that was her character at all. It was D&D fanfiction and that’s the end of it for me. 

But I’m glad I watched this. 

Some other notable Kit one-liners from this panel:

“What [Benioff and Weiss] did was right because they wrote it.” Boom. Right fucking there. Kit just comes out and says it, as he always does. He is not biting the hand that feeds, he’s saying everything he needs to say for HBO. But he’s also telling the audience what he needs us to know about the whole situation. 

“If you could ever do this, it would be interesting to go back and do an alternative.” Now that’s an interesting thought. Jon fighting the Night King again? It’s more likely than you think. 

When asked about whether Jon really loved Dany and if he could have gotten over the incest thing he goes into the “dominant women” bit as he does in the second panel, though that question is totally different from this one. “Don't know why I went into that.” Probably because it was pre-written and he’d gotten certain answers to certain questions mixed up. Notably not answering the part of the question of whether Jon could get over the incest angle of their relationship, either because he just forgot or he did so on purpose. 

Nearly all of these questions are the same as those from the second panel, there are only a few variations and there are more questions in the second panel. But it all sounds just a little bit rehearsed. Especially in the second panel, Kit uses some buzz phrases that seem like they’re straight from Reddit, so probably pre-written for him by someone else. 

As for what it means for Snow, I feel like he’s doing all this because it hasn’t been greenlit yet. He wants to get his show made and so he’s doing anything he can to placate the people at HBO. Which is probably why his answers in the second panel, though nearly the same, also feel more generic and tailored. I’m sure he said some things in this first panel he wasn’t supposed to and so he made sure not to repeat them in the second. 

But that’s just my interpretation. I only write this for my own sense of posterity. Either I will regret giving him the benefit of the doubt when Snow gets made or I won’t, but that’s not for present me to stew about. 

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Podcasting "View A SKU"

This week on my podcast, I read my recent Medium column, “View a SKU: Let’s Make Amazon Into a Dumb Pipe,” about how interop can help us demonopolize Amazon and tame its market power:

https://doctorow.medium.com/view-a-sku-32721d623aee

To explain this proposal, I need to start with an axiom: there are lots of problems with Amazon (lots!) but the fact that Amazon is really convenient is not one of those problems. Your use of Amazon isn’t a mark of your “laziness” anymore than your consumption of plastics is a mark of your indifference to the planet.

As Zephyr Teachout writes in her stupendous book Break ’Em Up:

“I like supporting local retail for shopping whenever possible. But I will not shame people for buying from Amazon the magic markers they use to write ‘Break up Bezos’ power’ on a big poster they parade outside their state attorney general’s office.”

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250200907/breakemup

The drive to “shop local” is great, but it shouldn’t become a hairshirt. If you buy something from Amazon, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you support union-busting, monopolization and creepy surveillance doorbells. It might just mean that you are out of time and live in a place where Amazon killed most of the retail that survived Walmart.

[Image ID: A Mr Gotcha panel by Matt Bors from The Nib. A downtrodden peasant says, ‘We should improve society somewhat.’ Mr Gotcha replies, ‘Yet you participate in society, curious! I am very intelligent.’]

If you’ve enjoyed Matt Bors’s work, you understand this. It’s the essence of the Mr Gotcha gag. A downtrodden peasant says, “We should improve society somewhat” and Mr Gotcha replies, “Yet you participate in society, curious! I am very intelligent.”

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/13/theory-of-change/#mr-gotcha

The fact that Amazon has given us a single database in which you can search for a large slice of all the objects of retail commerce, read reviews, and explore alternatives is good, actually. The problem is in how Amazon abuses its workforce, crams its suppliers, self-preferences its own goods, and shifts wealth from taxpaying local businesses to its tax-evading coffers.

The same politics and economics that have made it so hard not to use Amazon have also made working people much poorer, both in terms of money and time. It’s not reasonable to expect people who are piecing together a living from three or four casualized jobs and paying sky-high pump prices to spend hours driving around looking for a local merchant to buy a specific widget at.

But what if we could make shopping locally — where a local alternative existed — easier than shopping at Amazon? What if we could actually turn Amazon into a tool for finding goods at local merchants?

[Image ID: A screenshot from Library Extension, showing an Amazon listing for one of the Divergent books with the ‘Buy’ button replaced by buttons to reserve at a variety of local libraries.]

That’s where my proposal comes in. It was inspired by Library Extension, a browser plugin that notices if you’re looking at a book on Amazon and adds a “Reserve at your local library” button to the page, over the “Add to your cart” button.

https://www.libraryextension.com/

Library Extension is an example of adversarial interoperabitlity (or what we at EFF call “comcom,” short for “competitive compatibility”). That’s when someone adds features to an existing product or service without permission from the company that made it — like an ad-blocker that changes the websites you look at to make them better for you.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/10/adversarial-interoperability

Library Extension works as well as it does because books all share a common set of unique identifiers: the ISBN, which is easy to detect on a webpage and also easy to look up in a database of library books. Shared identifiers make cross-referencing easy.

[Image ID: The product listing and URL for an Amazon product page, with the ASINs highlighted in pink.]

As it happens, Amazon has assigned unique identifiers to virtually anything you might want to buy: the ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number). What if a co-op created a database that cross-referenced ASINs with other inventory numbers (like UPCs and SKUs)? We could offer inventory control system plug-ins to merchants that automatically listed their inventory in a central, co-operatively managed database of what was for sale, where.

Then, users who wanted to shop locally could install a Library Extension-like browser plugin that did a quick lookup whenever they browsed an Amazon product page, and, if the product was for sale locally, replace the “Add to Cart” button with a “Buy from local merchant” one, which would automatically process a payment to the local merchant using a payment method stored in your browser (no need to set up a separate account for every merchant).

Likewise, we could expand Library Extension to add a “Buy from bookshop.org” button to every book page, and a “Buy from libro,fm” button to every audiobook page.

In other words, we could turn Amazon into a dumb pipe: a commodity supplier of catalog pages, reviews and recommendations. The conversion of centralized services into dumb pipes is a time-honored tradition, as David Isenberg wrote in his classic 1998 ACM paper:

https://www.isen.com/papers/Dawnstupid.html

Now, could we do this? As a technical matter, sure. A lot would depend on adapting small businesses’ inventory control systems, but the vendors behind those systems would benefit from participating in those adaptations, as would their customers.

What about as a legal matter? Well, IANAL, but…

Your browser is yours. Adapting the web-pages you get served to suit your tastes is unambiguously lawful, as is providing the tools to do so. Hence the rise of ad-blockers, “the biggest boycott in world history”:

https://blogs.harvard.edu/doc/2015/09/28/beyond-ad-blocking-the-biggest-boycott-in-human-history/

The ASIN database is a collection of factual identifiers; the USA has (wisely) not adopted the Database Right that the EU got suckered into, so databases of factual identifiers are not copyrightable:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feist_Publications,_Inc.,_v._Rural_Telephone_Service_Co.

Amazon’s terms of service ban you from doing this kind of thing, but US federal judges are increasingly skeptical of attempts to block scraping public information through terms of service:

https://www.fenwick.com/insights/publications/hiq-labs-scrapes-by-again-the-ninth-circuit-reaffirms-that-data-scraping-does-not-violate-the-cfaa

Note that executing this plan won’t solve the Amazon problem, but it will solve an Amazon problem. It’s no substitute for other forms of antitrust enforcement (bans on self-preferencing, forced selloffs of anticompetitive acquisitions, merger scrutiny) but it is faster than those things, and will deliver immediate relief to shoppers and small businesses.

That’s the kind of “tech exceptionalism” I’m completely here for. The breakup of the Bell System took 69 years, all told. We don’t want to wait 69 years before we blunt Amazon’s monopoly power:

https://onezero.medium.com/jam-to-day-46b74d5b1da4

This is why Big Tech is the natural starting place for antitrust: because Big Tech is built atop general purpose computers that can be rendered interoperable, regulators seeking to limit Big Tech power have unique, powerful additions to their to toolkits.

I know that some of my comrades-in-arms are skeptical of Big Tech antitrust, correctly asserting that other monopolies (like telecoms and entertainment companies) are also corrupt monopolies in sore need of antitrust attention. I want to break those companies’ corporate power, too! In fact, my next book is all about limiting the power of tech and entertainment judges to screw creative workers:

http://www.beacon.org/Chokepoint-Capitalism-P1856.aspx

But the availability of cool, fast-acting interoperability remedies make Big Tech the natural place to start — the natural vanguard for the anti-monopoly fights we’ll have to bring to every sector, from cheerleading uniforms to beer, from finance to international shipping:

https://www.openmarketsinstitute.org/learn/monopoly-by-the-numbers

Taming Big Tech is where we start, not where we end. It’s the orchard with the most low-hanging fruit. Racking up victories against Big Tech will create the political will and the movement power to go after all those other monopolies:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/07/interoperability-fix-internet-not-tech-companies

Here’s the podcast episode: https://craphound.com/news/2022/07/31/view-a-sku-lets-make-amazon-into-a-dumb-pipe/

Here’s a direct link to the MP3 (hosting courtesy of the Internet Archive; they’ll host your stuff for free, forever):

https://archive.org/download/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_432/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_432_-_View_a_SKU.mp3

And here’s a link to my podcast feed: https://feeds.feedburner.com/doctorow_podcast

[Image ID: A modified Amazon product listing page; the buy with Amazon button and Prime logo have been replaced with a "Buy from DIY Center" button a 'Buy local' logo with an upside-down Amazon smile logo, and the 'In Stock' wordmark has been replaced with 'In stock at a local merchant: DIY Center.]

[mjpink1357]

Angry birds movie (Alternative with Weather) part 3

*Back in Diamond Island. At night on Weather's roof, she jumps off and swings off every tree branch and vines to the beach in a mysterious green cloak with a blue top and purple skirt*

Weather: *quietly* I can do this. I can do this. I-

*but the vine has snapped and made Weather fall as she’s still grabbing on the snapped vine*

Weather: *loud* I can't do this!!! AAAaaaaggghhhh!!!

*Weather splashed into a big puddle that's likely a pond on the beach while the Rick and Jack are on eye-sight duty on the big diamond rocks*

Rick: *suspicious* What was that?

Jack: I think it was our boss's daughter. Y'know that beautiful pink one who always tries to run off to the outside? Although she may be fussy about it but she's very strong and not bad at singing

Rick: Queen Lilly's not our boss. General Spear is our boss. Queen Lilly is our Queen! We follow her orders. And why would Weather be out here this late when the best guards could just bring her back into the castle?

Jack: Oh yeah. Sorry

Rick: Although I do agree that Weather is very strong like the king but she had a beautiful voice like her mother. Now stop asking questions and look out more while I go talk to Agatha

*Rick slides down the rock and brushes his head feathers with a hairbrush and walks down to the village in a flirty walk and left Jack alone*

Jack: *scoffs* Loverboy. I can do my job like any other bird can do- *excitedly distracted* Oh! Butterfly!

*Jack slides down the rock and chases the butterfly into the forest as Weather swam out of the puddle water and runs off to the deck, gets in the canoe and sails off into the ocean in the small canoe*

Weather: *excitedly quietly* I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm finally out. Finally out of the island! Now I'm only going around the ocean and then I'm going back home for Storm or mama will kill me

*as Weather continues paddling her boat, the wind pushes Weather away a bit from Diamond island*

Weather: Woah! Ok

*the wind then pushes Weather even further from Diamond island*

Weather: No! No! *paddles her canoe close to Diamond island*

*the wind turns into a storm and the storm pulls Weather and then zaps her which made her  feather glows and made her do a lightning explosion in the middle of the ocean and zapped Diamond island, Piggy island and Bird island. In the Eagle mountain on Bird island, a big blue eye brights open with a screech of an eagle then squints his eye closely with a scary view. The next morning, at the Bird island beach. Weather snores on her broken canoe covered in sand and seashells. Weather opens her eyes and groans weakly*

Weather: *groans weakly* Wha-what happened?

*Weather gasp and gets up as she remembers the storm last night*

Weather: *feared* the heck am I?

*Weather looks around and sees herself in a unknown beach*

Weather: *shocked* Oh...my... god... *worried* oh my god! Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god *curious* Wait. Where the actual heck am I when I'm not in Diamond Island?

*Weather sees a signs that says "Bird Island Beach"*

Weather: "Bird Island"? *sarcastic* Well, that's mature naming

*Weather puts puts on her cloak and hoodie then runs off in the bushes. In Bird village, Weather comes out of the bushes into the village*

Weather: Wow!

*The village is full of bird families and villagers and working birds and then a frightening poster of a wanted poster of Diamond birds*

Weather: What the...? *reading the poster* "Hunt one diamond bird rewarded only-" $250,000?! Geez that's a lot

*Weather sees a bird with blonde hair and runs to him as he is leaning against a pole to the early bird store*

Weather: Excuse me, sir. Why are Diamond birds wanted for the $250,000 reward?

Neiderflyer: Oh, those creatures are extremely dangerous with their hidious feathers and their horrible royalty to kill birds in Bird Island. Expecially their savage queens

Weather: They're dangerous?

Neiderflyer: Yes and they're very unloyal like their king 10 years ago

*Weather grabs on her fists angrily*

Weather: *angrily* What did you say?

Neiderflyer: I said they're unloyal their king before he died and I heard their princess is cruel, thoughtless and a useless little girl

*Weather's eyes glowed pink and her body was covered in pink lighting and blast her lightning at Neiderflyer with a mighty storm as the village sees and gasps*

Mime: Oh my gosh!

bird: What happened?

Bird 2: How did that hoodie pink bird do that?

Bird 3: She looks terrifying!

*in the villagers vision, Weather had sharp teeth with an evil look under half of the shadow of her hoodie as her wings has lightning like she's about to zap somebody*

hatchling: *crying* Mommy! *holds on to his mother*

mother bird: *feared* get that monster away from my son!

Weather: what?

*Weather takes the lightning off of her wings and sees the birds that are surrounding her terrified*

Weather: No no no no! y-you don't understand! I-I didn't mean for that to happen!

Neiderflyer: Yes you did!

Weather: Shut up!

Neiderflyer: see how mean she is?

Robin: *sarcastic* oh please. Don't be such a drama queen

*Judge Peckinpah comes out of his house covered in bubbles, wearing a shower cap and towel*

Judge Peckinpah: What in the heck is- *sees himself* Oh. uh, excuse me

*judge Peckinpah walks back into his house then comes out again but in a black robe on a taller bird with no bubbles and towel*

Judge Peckinpah: *walking out as taking the shower cap off* Now what in the heck is going on here? I just saw some pink lightning zapping Neiderflyer

Neiderflyer: yes. It was all her! *pointing at Weather*

Weather: don't you dare snitch on me!

Judge peckinpah: yeah, snitch. *turns to Weather* Now, I haven't seen you around here, missy *suspicious* What's your name?

Weather: *nervous* uh, Weather

Judge Peckinpah: *suspicious* and where did you come from?

Weather: *nervous* I'm-... from... theeeeee, other side of this island

Judge Peckinpah: Right. Clearly you're one of them birds who had unusual abilities, like speed or explosions or even scare the crap out of everybody with scary appearances for a big silent bird

Cyrus: *muffled and points his wing out* uh, don't mean "He's silent but deadly"? You know like ninjas and farts?-

Judge Peckinpah: *slaps Cyrus's wing* Shut up!

Cyrus: *muffled* Ow! sorry *puts his wing down rubbing it with his other wing*

Judge Peckinpah: anyways, miss Weather. Clearly I would've thrown you in prison but I'll send you somewhere worse than prison. Anger, Management class

Weather: are you flocking kidding me, right now?

Judge Peckinpah: you wish. Now everybody go home! there is nothing to worry about!

*Cyrus whispers to Judge Peckinpah*

Judge Peckinpah: Besides the case of anger of mister Red again

Birds: Aaw!

bird 2: Again!

Judge Peckinpah: yes, again!

*all the bird walks home then Weather climbs up a tree and swings on branches in parkour*

Judge Peckinpah: that is one odd girl

*Peckinpah sees a shiny pink feather on the ground from Weather and picks it up. He almost touched the feather with one finger from his other wing until a tiny pink ZAP! from the feather*

Judge Peckinpah: *intrigued* interesting

Cyrus: uh, sir? can we go to Red's case now?

Judge Peckinpah: *distracted* hmm? *awake* Oh! yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's go

*Judge Peckinpah puts the feather in his coat then Cyrus walks Judge Peckinpah their way to the Bird Court*

=================

Cast:

Princess Weather - Demi Lovato

Jack/Additional voices- Jordan Peele

Rick/Judge Peckinpah - Keegan Michael Key

Neiderflyer - Ian Hanlin

Robin - Ana Sani

Cyrus/mime bird - Tony Hale

Additional birds - Alex Bostein, Maya Rudolph, Danny McBride, Tom Kenny, Mjpink (Author)

Part 3 is finally here. Sorry I was away for a month. But I’m back and I added cast members of Angry Birds Summer Madness. I actually don’t know the cast of the additional voices besides Alex Borstein in the movie but I forgot who she voices, so I decided to make up my own additional voices for my version of the movie. See you next week.

[tanoraqui]

I need to share the dream I had last night (this morning. w/e) before I forget all of it. It was one of those dreams where I alternated between literally being the protagonist and watching it play out as, this time, a literal movie, which @vesperaevis, @hedgiwithapen and maybe @isi7140 were insistently showing me?

General plot was: modern world, there's some sort of human agency that fights & subdues supernatural threats; I (random innocent) stumbled into a big boss fight and got possessed by a superpowerful ancient spirit of darkness, and ended up using my new powers, stubborn determination and faith in universal personhood to bully both sides into being friends.

Details I remember:

Idk if the supernatural was openly known if if there was a standard 'masquerade

I think I was at the boss battle because I was trying to talk to a boy I had a crush on? who was part of this anti-monster agency, but I didn't know that? Maybe there was a masquerade. He was some sort of legacy kid in the agency; maybe instead of an official thing it was one of those "this family has hunted monsters for centuries" set-ups.

They had a big compound and cool weapons, etc. but a sense that they used to be better funded & staffed

Mostly human but 3(?) cat people, like, D&D-style cat people. I distinctly remember a wide banner movie poster showing 3 cat people on each side, which was thematic ofc. All the cat people were elite fighters, especially at martial arts (ft claws).

The Bad Guys included 3 key players:

- 1 short, fast, kinda goblin-y in appearance? dark blue skin? (my visual memory is of the dream is bad.) very vicious, vengeful, was maybe enacting a plan to destroy the world in that initial boss fight. most dangerous enemy (except ancient darkness spirit possessing me)

- 1 tall, reptilian and/or snake-like in the way the cat people were cat-like, 2nd most dangerous enemy in terms of power but less motivated to do mass murder about it; I distinctly remember thinking he looked exactly like someone out of another piece of media but I have NO idea what. Flat head, vivid yellow snake eyes.

- "Chrommaster", no I do not know why he had a name like a supervillain, maybe literally was a human who took up fucked up magic somehow? dressed all in black & dark colors in some sort of bulky tac gear, with a dark cloak or cape, but his eyes were constantly shifting oil-slick bright colors on account of the Fucked Up Magic he wielded. Which idk if I ever saw or knew the details of in the dream, but I'm gonna say he did weird shit with reality that made people look like they're been color-saturated or desaturated, as a side effect of killing them? 3rd most dangerous antagonist.

(Yes my character design for the villains FUCKED in this dream)

so, I got tangentially caught up in a boss battle with...all of the above? 2/3 of the above? and the ancient spirit of darkness, which was maybe possessing someone else at first or maybe embodied on its own, but got injured enough that it needed to possess someone, and went for the random civilian. It's definitely sentient, but I'm not sure how intelligent it was?

I think at first the "heroes" didn't know I was possessed? Or just didn't know what to do about it? It wasn't obvious or active at first, maybe not even to me; the Darkness was laying low, either naturally because it was injured or deliberately trying to hide.

"the void" might be a more accurate monkier - it could, and with it I could, consume people in kinda slimy shadows which either transported them to the darkness realm (where they'd slowly dissolve) or just consumed/dissolved them right there, body and soul. Antithetical to matter & existence.

But it didn't actively want to kill anyone/destroy everything. It enjoyed it, but it was also happy to just hang out in my head I think? The Darkness wasn't really characterized

There was some sort of time limit wherein we could separate it from my soul but after (?? let's say 1 week) we'd become inexorably linked forever

Interactions & plot go here? I think my dream skimmed this part of the plot, as my waking mind always does in story-building

An obvious solution would be to kill me to re-release the Darkness so the Heroes(TM) could contain it somehow, as maybe they'd been trying to do in the boss battle

Or imprison me directly, forevermore

Or some sort of way to separate me from the Darkness, but probably with high risk of killing me in the process?

OR just let me keep hanging out with it forever bc it's a cool friend in my head who only periodically fills me with a desire to destroy all life and/or physical matter...

At least 1 fight with, idk, 1 of the main bad guys here, who wasn't in the earlier boss fight or who evaded capture in it? (Goblin-y Bad Guy did get captured I think). I display consume-people-with-void powers? Introduction to the concept of the special jail for supernatural entities?

(the above 1-4 bullet points are 99% awake!me right now extrapolating what would be narratively necessary)

1 of the cat-people with the Heroes, EITHER her whole family was killed by the Darkness and she refuses to accept any option that leaves it remotely intact (as others on this side start to shift to "maybe this girl can just keep the Darkness and it'll be okay?", OR her whole family was killed by the #1 Gobliny Bad Guy but she believes so firmly that the Darkness is Dangerous that she's willing to work with him anyway...

As the deadline for splitting me from the Darkness forever nears (at which point I'd be able to access more of its powers, or it would despite this frail mortal vessel, or something?), she goes to the Monster Jail and stages a mass breakout in order to recruit them to fight to contain/destroy the Darkness, ie, me

We (me + other people in the agency?) are too late to stop her. There's not much fighting bc I scare (most of) the major threats away by threatening to Envoid them, while desperately hiding the fact that I can't actually do that on command and also I don't want to, bc I don't want to kill anyone

I deliver to everyone else - human and human-aligned heroes(tm), supernatural murderers, supernatural non-murderhobos who have been locked up under false premises just bc they're scary and maybe slipped up and ate human brains 1 time, etc - a BOMBASS lecture that starts with something like, "How many of you have heard of a being called Lucifer Morningstar" and then I proceed to tell the story of the fall of Lucifer.

It's dramatic. It's compelling. I am working ALL my storytelling and middle school summer theater camp chops, and the audience is ENTHRALLED - or at least, buying the act that I'll feed them all to the Darkness if they don't pay attention. Which achieves the same thing!

(Because this is a dream, the large atrium of the jail in which this is taking place is visually reminiscent of a standard high school/rec center multi-purpose room)

(in one of the 'watching a movie with my friends' parts, they were talking about a uquiz or tumblr poll about the best dramatic line of the movie, and there was an implication that when I gave this speech, I was making NEW lines, like, rewriting a pre-established script like some sort of isekai protagonist? this element wasn't otherwise present in the dream, but I did feel smug to deliver my own original badass speech)

I conclude with clarifying that the entity possessing me/of which I am in possession is not Lucifer, but it could be, or might as well be? (I think the internal logic of the speech fell apart here, but to be fair, even in-dream I was mostly desperately playing for time and attention).

Then I invite everyone and anyone - spread word, tell friends and enemies - to come to the anti-supernatural agency compound to move in if they need a home/have a big potluck/peace treaty negotiation/idk exactly. The timing of this coincides, naturally, with the deadline for separating the Darkness from me, so if anyone's gonna attack, it'll be then, too.

Idk what the people running the agency thought of this. I did NOT consult them in advance.

The day of: first a couple minor supernatural people show up, the sort who just wanna live in peace, maybe were neutral parties already? Then other minor randos, some from jail, some bc word did spread. Idk why so many are willing to trust this offer - maybe something I did during the bulk of the plot which the dream skipped over? I think the humans have been pretty free with the "this person isn't human and should be locked up" over the years, but maybe there's better ones, idk. Most "monsters" don't support the ones who want to end the world/kill all humans/etc. There starts to be a crowd.

Snakey villain, #2 danger, shows up relatively early and reveals that mostly he just wants to be left in peace, and if he can have that WITHOUT killing all humans first, he's fine! Let's give this a shot, as overseen by the nice young woman melded with the void!

Chrommaster tries to break in I think? Idk if he's here to kill me or just to steal stuff or what

We def had some sort of sensors/perimeter alarms/idk looking out for the particularly Big Bads, so I greeted both of the above personally. There's an alert for the Goblin but it's a false alarm? But we're pretty sure - and as an outside view, I'm VERY sure - he will show up to try to kill me and take the Darkness for himself?

AND THEN

IN THE DREAM

IT SHIFTED BACK TO ME WATCHING WITH MY FRIENDS BUT WE WERE TALKING INSTEAD OF WATCHING VERY HARD, AND THEN I WOKE UP.

[themsource]

Misery

I was kind of shy sharing my OC Misery but I feel that I want to now. He's pictured above with my insert OC Oreo that I've had since childhood. Oh, what to say about Misery? You've probably noticed that he looks like Sans from Undertale or better yet an Alternate Universe version. Well he looks and sounds like Sans for a reason.

If interested the explanation on him is below the cut.

Getting a bit personal Sans is a big comfort character of mine. I enjoy pairing him up with everybody from other characters to inserts, etc. I like Sans so much I can't help wanting him to be loved and get it where it's available no matter the ship or pairing. (Kinda, haven't been sold on Soriel, I really enjoy them being best buds though and I don't really want to ruin that) And yes, that means even having him share in my suffering and pain too as a kindred soul and comfort blanket.

That's where Misery comes in.

He assumes the form of Sans for the explict purpose of torturing me emotionally and easily getting me to lower my guard and get behind my defenses. He also represents how toxic and damaging the fandom (The English side - in general) has become to me, but how I can never quit it because I love it too much. Misery's name is exactly who he is. Whenever I get too happy or peaceful he rears his ugly head to stir up trouble and to *Feed*. He drinks determination and confidence out of me which in turn stains his teeth black as a sign of contamination. Coincidently his goal on making me miserable is his own form of love too.

Misery is literally the poster child of awful relationships.

Some facts I've come up with for him is the fact he's affixed to my soul so he can't be killed unless I am. He can be subdued, beaten back by others and myself in very rare moments of strength but he always comes right back. Like an addiction. Misery is addicted to my suffering and going too long without can push him to unbearable levels. (I won't clarify what that exactly means for me) He can enlarge in size, change form, travel and create my nightmares, everything and anything to damage me he's capable of doing.

His coloration is because he's mossy, covered head to toe in the stuff like a bodysuit while wearing frayed black billowy pants. You can't see it in the images provided but he does have a white handprint sprayed out in the middle of his ribs revealing white ivory bone. This is the sign of our connection. (It's my/Oreo's handprint) He uses sickly yellow energy for 'magic' similar to the color of his eyes which are stars, stars to lord over me the hope I crave but denying me it.

There was an OC 'brother' I made for him in the form of Papyrus called Bitterness to represent all the darkness and hatred inside of me but I never got around to creating him. Every time I tried I felt sick and Misery metaphorically raised his head again lol

I've been writing this simply because I wanted to share him and maybe lower the weight he has piled on my shoulders from the fear that no one cares or is interested in my stuff. (Which logically I know isn't true but since when does the heart and mind ever line up properly lol)

Um, bit of an adult topic. His love does show in physical ways (horrible awful addictive ways) which means he does 'do the do' in my mind. But not in normal ways. Try to picture Ero Guro artist Takato Yamamoto's work combined with 1982s John Carpenter's The Thing (Yes the monster's assimilation - it's not pretty at all). This is a unity of pain and pleasure to the Nth degree like the Cenobite's like to talk about lol I have reasons for why I picture this type of thing but I don't feel comfortable publicly disclosing that sorry.

Anyways, I think that's about it! If there's more I remember or if someone ever asks me questions I'll come back and edit/add it in just as I will on Deviantart where I've cross posted this.

If you read this thank you. I hope it was interesting in a way.

-M

[toxicpineapple]

Out on a limb (4578 words) by ToxicPineapple Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Amami Rantaro/Momota Kaito, Momota Kaito/Oma Kokichi, Amami Rantaro & Oma Kokichi Characters: Momota Kaito, Amami Rantaro, Oma Kokichi Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Ultimate Hunt, Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, injuries, Life or Death Situations, Implied Character Death, First Meetings, Implied Relationships, Trust Issues, Trust, Hopeful Ending Series: Part 2 of Amamota Week 2022 Summary:

He’s intimately familiar to Kaito already despite the fact that they’ve never met before. Of course he would be, when Kaito has seen that face on every wanted poster around the city. All of the sixteen Ultimates meant to embark on the Gofer vessel are wanted, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s equal demand. A couple of them have managed to worm their way onto the Ultimate Despair’s shit list.

There are only two that are so notable, in fact. One, of course, is Kokichi, whose cunning and wit have eluded the Remnants of Despair for quite some time, but the other is the Ultimate Survivor, the former heir to the multi-billion dollar estate of the diseased Amami Ichirou. Kaito knows little of what the remnants talk about, but he knows that they all consider it an extra level of challenge, targeting someone called the “Ultimate Survivor”.

And of course, all of this is relevant because the boy who tumbles out of the trees can be none other than Amami Rantaro himself.

---

While being chased by the Ultimate Hunt, Kaito and Kokichi meet an unexpected saviour.

---

Amamota week day two: Kindness/Suspicion

[axvoter]

Blatantly Partisan Party Review XXX (federal 2022): United Australia Party

Running where: All states and territories for the Senate (in the NT below the line only), and many divisions in the House of Representatives

Prior reviews (mostly as the Palmer United Party): federal 2013, VIC 2014, federal 2016, VIC 2018 (Bobby Singh, Palmer United independent), federal 2019

What I said before: “Palmer and Friends live in an alternate reality.”

What I think this year: If Palmer and Friends lived in an alternate reality in 2019, hoo boy they’ve transcended to an even more demented sphere this year. Clive’s busy asserting—utterly falsely—that his party is the continuation of the United Australia Party of 1931–45. He’s also so historically illiterate that he has claimed Billy Hughes as a UAP prime minister (Hughes was a UAP member but it was not one of the three parties he represented as PM). But the misrepresentations of history are mainly an annoyance to political historians like me. The substance of the party’s demands are where we should be looking, because it’s dangerous, goofy stuff.

Clive Palmer has now combined his angry self-interested mining populist energies with the climate-denialist, anti-vax, covid-conspiracist cult ravings of horse-paste enthusiast Craig Kelly, who is now the party leader. Kelly is currently the Member for Hughes, where he was re-elected for the Liberal Party in 2019 because Scott Morrison intervened to ensure Kelly was not challenged for preselection. Onya Scott, look at where that got us, you flog.

Google the UAP and you get both an ad for the party website with the slogan “take our country back”, then another hit for the same website but with the slogan “freedom forever”. On the website itself—once your eyes adjust after being blinded with so much bright yellow you think you accidentally loaded JB Hi-Fi’s website—the slogan is “save Australia”. This party is now a grievance machine of very angry cranks who think something has been stolen from them; it’s rooted in the conspiracy theorist thought patterns that convince people who are generally pretty comfortable that they are in fact the great victims of the world. It’s where you want to be main character of history and the smartest person in the room spotting unseen connections.

UAP’s policies are pure undistilled racist populism. They demand unworkable low-interest home loan laws, improper superannuation fund restrictions (no international investment, which is an important part of a diversified portfolio), even more unworkable and dangerous foreign policies shot through with xenophobia (particularly Sinophobia), and mineral policies that basically just serve to enlarge Clive’s bank balance.

As for the event of the moment, the pandemic, UAP’s attitude is simply this: do nothing. No restrictions, ever, no matter how medically necessary. Oh and they are very keen for you to be able to have ready access to “alternative” treatments that at best do fuck-all and at worst are much more likely to kill you than covid is. If you’ve seen the party’s posters around, or the signage used by the many covid cookers who’ve leapt aboard Palmer’s wagon, you know that they want FREEDOM FREEDOM FREEDOM. You can read this as FREEDOM (to get covid) FREEDOM (to die from not being vaccinated) FREEDOM (to burn the planet). Just a bunch of incredible plonkers.

My recommendation: Give the United Australia Party a weak or no preference.

Website: https://www.unitedaustraliaparty.org.au/

[fangirlinglikeabus]

been having wifi problems lately and limited access to tumblr so here’s me vomiting all my notes on the shadow of weng-chiang into one post. for posterity.

...they could have parked right next to another car if they wanted to swap vehicles, or they could have run off into the darkness. Why didn’t they?’ ‘And where did they go?’ The Doctor strolled around in a small circle, peering alternately at the ground and the sky. ‘Hyperspace?’ He stopped and shot her a look. ‘That wasn’t very funny.’

don't listen to him, romana. i thought it was funny

***

The Doctor and Romana sat in a small coffee shop, with K9 out of the way under the table.

question: how did they sneak k-9 in in the first place

***

The Doctor shook his head. ‘I can’t hear a thing. Probably a mimes’ convention.’

not to be mean but this does feel too try hard in trying to get the fourth dr's voice

***

A woman in a plain red skirt and top followed him.

i'm sorry, but i refuse to believe romana's worn anything plain in her life

***

so many good things in the arrest scene...'we're just sort of passing through shanghai, in a very temporal sense'...romana's amusement at giving her full name...'it was as if she were going along purely as a favour' when romana is led off

***

was that a chinese eating dogs joke from the doctor? I Don’t Like That

***

She shook her head; there was plenty of time for life later. After her debt was repaid.

bet you anything this lady's gonna die at some point

***

'Why don’t we try making short hops in the TARDIS – spatial only. Then perhaps we can triangulate a source for this.’ The Doctor thought about that, then shook his head. ‘No, I have a better idea; we’ll make a few short spatial hops in the TARDIS and try to triangulate the source of this.’ Romana gave him a bland look. ‘I refuse to let you bait me like that,’ she muttered under her breath.

sjdfbdsjfbsjfbsjfsbhjs

***

She had always been rather highly strung, but he didn’t mind since she was an excellent cook.

this does NOT endear me to li

***

They would travel again, he was sure, once this business was finished. Then he would never be apart from her again. Every time they parted, he was secretly terrified that he would lose her, and so he went on the more dangerous trips himself. He didn’t fear death half as much as he feared loss.

oh these guys are definitely going to die part 2

***

kwok and hsien-ko are like evil nick and nora charles/william powell and myrna loy according to li. obsessed with that comparison?

***

The car turned and the grey rock of a quarry stretched out below them. The Doctor perked up. ‘A quarry! How very interesting!’ He paused. ‘It looks a lot like Skaro, actually. Or the land outside the Capitol...’

quarry jokes my beloved

***

one of the other characters has very rapidly developed a crush on romana...cheers bro i'll drink to that

***

Besides, I don’t think Hsien-Ko’s that keen on killing, which makes a nice change. I wish I could say the same about her man.’ ‘Typical male?’ she asked archly. ‘I don’t know. Anyway, after Xanxia, then Vivien Fay...It must be something to do with political correctness.’ ‘Political correctness?’ ‘Hmm. It’s a general feeling that discrimination is all right so long as it’s done by groups who were discriminated against earlier.’ ‘I see; tit for tat. Very childish.’

i. do not like this conversation. and it feels so contrived to link female villains back to political correctness in this conversation anyway??

***

could've done without the implication that romana got groped

***

According to K9’s internal chronometer, and cross-referencing with past data, the Doctor and Romana would be locked up by now, and would doubtless soon call for his assistance.

lmao he knows them so well

***

K9 knew that the Doctor wouldn’t appreciate his killing these men, so he restrained himself to a stun level as usual, and started firing.

loving the implication that if it weren't for the doctor k-9 would be a killing machine

***

She had met the original at home on Gallifrey, where it had become quite a celebrity

vital k9 lore just dropped

***

K9 had been slowly climbing the steps to the South Gate of Heaven for several hours.

lmao i'd forgotten about him in all the action. you go little buddy!!

***

i do like li and woo seeing each other and li realising that he knows this guy. li's death scene in general i was unexpectedly invested in?

***

actually quite liked the end of that one! i don't think david a mccintee is the strongest of dw writers (sometimes he states character emotions rather bluntly in a way that doesn't work for me) but it had some compelling action, i (mostly) liked the dr/romana/k9 interactions, it's always nice when romana i crops up in the eu because she does so comparatively rarely, and if nothing else it felt like more of an EFFORT was made with the chinese characters than in the story it's a sequel of (even if, again, we all could have done without that eating dogs joke)