#how to create and event on facebook

[winndycakes]

Winndy Rambles And Gushes About Chuck Tingle

Wanted to ramble a little about one of my favorite authors, creators and overall just super rad people; Chuck Tingle.

Like many people, when I first heard of Chuck, I took him as some sort of meme. A troll, a joke, someone not to be taken seriously. After all, the majority of his works are "silly short erotica stories around dinosaurs, cryptids and even living concepts and items". How COULD this be serious? It's a question I asked before, years ago, and one that many still do to this day.

One holiday season, a friend had made a post on FaceBook saying "first five people to comment I'll gift you a book". So I did. The book I got was a physical copy of the "Space Raptor Butt Invasion Trilogy" by Chuck Tingle. Since I had a book of Tingle's now, I really had no excuse to not read it for myself.

Erotica normally isn't my thing (I'm pretty ace and grey aro too), but very quickly, I was charmed by the prose. As you read Chuck's stories, there's a fact that becomes very apparent. Chuck Tingle is a great writer, a really great writer. How he writes, how the words flow together, one sentence going into the next. The characters, the plot, the little bits of lore, dialogue and all he puts in... You quickly begin to see; this is NOT a joke.

It is not a meme. He is not trolling you. It is art. Passionate, sincere, genuine art. And it's beautiful. The more you read, the more definitive it gets.

I will admit, I have read aloud many a Tingler for friends and others in Discord servers, both to share my joy of Tingle with others, but also, it is fun to look at how different his works are. It's fine to laugh along with them even.

The moment that really was like... angels singing, light shining down and there's bishi sparkles and a heavenly soft pink background appearing for me though was the summer Chuck Tingle released on of his first full novella's; "Trans Wizard Harriet Porber and the Bad Boy Parasaurolophus". Like many, I was crushed and gutted at JKR's extreme turn to committing to transphobia (and of course the hindsight of realizing... the HP books and universe were not as kind and welcoming as I remembered growing up). So when Chuck Tingle (in one weekend mind you) came out with a 50k novel affirming trans people and their belonging in not just queer spaces, but being on this Earth, as fellow human beings, it was... affirming. It was the welcoming feeling I had gotten with the original HP books all those years ago, but it was real. (Also please read both Trans Wizard Harriet Porber books. They're delightful, fun and the magic system Tingle creates is so, so cool and interesting).

The next thing that got me just mega hype for Tingle was his first foray into horror; "Straight". "Straight" is Tingle's answer to the ever popular trope and genre of zombies and the apocalypse that comes with them, and what a fun turn of tables he takes on them. Zombies in the Tingleverse are not undead beings, they're not humans afflicted by a virus, instead a strange cosmic event happens once a year, when one night, all cishet people on Earth get this animalistic, violent urge to brutally harm and even kill all queer people. I won't get too spoilery about it but it is a very fun romp, and as someone who has been fatigued by zombies, it is a welcome new perspective.

Not long after this, Chuck came out with two full, traditionally published horror novels; "Camp Damascus" and "Bury Your Gays". Both are very different experiences in horror, both a joyful celebration of being queer and your authentic self even in the face of those looking to silence you, permanently if they must. I had the pleasure of meeting Chuck (twice!) while he was on tour for both of these books, getting my copies signed (along with my copies of the Trans Wizard duology and my beloved copy of the Space Raptor trilogy) and was able to tell Tingle myself just how important he is to someone like me; another queer autistic creator. (I was also one of the few people to win the little mini games he gave, twice, but that's a different story).

Ultimately that is what I am trying to get at. Growing up, and even for all of my 20s, there wasn't really someone like Tingle. Someone unabashedly authentic, themselves, queer, open and imo most importantly, joyously so. One is often told "just be yourself" but that can be hard to do when it seems like the world is against you for one reason or another.

Seeing a creator like Chuck shows how important it is to have such a presence in the world, and I was glad I got to tell him myself. I've had a lot of hardships in life, a lot of losses, a lot of grief, but someone like Chuck is there to tell you to keep trotting and remind you; Love Is Real.

And that's truly the ending message:

Love Is Real.

[labelleizzy]

Reposting from Morgana Alba on Facebook.

It's a reality check for white US Americans that there's WORK involved in emigration or asylum.

One comment on the original post was, "we're not leaving, my husband would never, he's too attached to his family" and the reply "if that's so, you could be the point person looking after /helping manage things for someone else who's got to flee.

Another point: the assumption that folks have $$ wherewithal and physical health enough to do the process as described. I understand that's not true for all of us, but there's a few items in this list that are good for anyone to try and accomplish:

Get a passport

Get all your important documents in a safe, grabbable space

Set up power of attorney for legal matters (your home, your pets if you have to leave them behind, etc)

Research and network for a possible safe landing person or location.

Otherwise, read the list, have a good think about what might apply to your situation, and start doing your research.

....

Morgana Alba:

You need to have a plan - Actually, you need 3.

(TL/DR - get a passport, a foreign one if you qualify, and start with anything in plan B to take actionable steps today to set yourself up for success)

Just in case you should ever need to uproot your life and move out of a country, for any reason, nothing in particular: you should have 3 plans. Not options. Not ideas. Plans. And I realize not everyone as raised like I was so I’m going to tell you how to make them. (And Step 1 is to have a passport. Do that immediately)

First of all, to be a plan it needs a clear objective, identified required steps, and a trigger point. A trigger point is the deciding factor or event that will automatically activate that plan. You must decide what your lines in the sand are in advance. Historic events rarely feel historic when you’re in them and if you don’t decide what you will not accommodate before you’re in it, incrementalism will paralyze you.

For the best coverage, start with plan C and work backwards.

*****

Plan A: Leaving under the best possible circumstances.

This is where a lot of you get stuck. Leaving under the best possible circumstances is a privilege but it’s not the only way out. This takes a lot of time and research and honestly you should have started this plan a year ago if it was what you wanted. To leave via plan A you should:

1. Research what countries you can live in long term and make a living in. This could mean countries you could transfer to with your current employer, countries that are expat friendly, or countries where you qualify for a work visa. If you have living grandparents or aunts that are citizens of and living in a foreign country you may even qualify for a foreign passport. Start that process now.

2. Start learning the language

3. Apply for jobs in that country

4. Find temporary or long term housing

5. Once you have residency and financial support/employment you can sell anything you aren’t moving and leave.

Trigger point for plan A is typically finding employment for most people.

*****

Plan B: Creating the flexibility for short or long term, potentially temporary, absence

This plan is about restructuring your life so that you could leave quickly even if you don’t have the security of Plan A.

1. Determine where you could go, short term. With a U.S. passport you could stay in most countries up to 3 months as a tourist but wouldn’t be allowed to work locally. Call up friends who live abroad and see who would be ok with a long visit if need be.

2. Start selling things you don’t necessarily love. Do a clothing and items purge. If you do have to leave without plan A there may not be the time for storage and sales so start reducing possessions now while you have the time to be mindful.

3. If you own a place, consider getting a roommate or having family move in so that you may not necessarily have to sell if you have to leave. Having someone else to look after the place and the added financial cushion of rent takes a lot of the pressure off during the departure. You’d have someone back home to ship or store your stuff or sell your car if you aren’t returning but you don’t have to make that call at the time.

4. Plan your financial support. Build up savings as you sell things. Look up what jobs will qualify for a digital nomad visa in the countries you’re considering visiting friends in, and very seriously start applying for remote work that fits those restrictions. Open a non-US based bank account to hold your savings. Get a credit card for this and only this. Stick it in the back of your wallet and forget about it.

5. Hoard Medication. Build up a 3-6 month supply of any required daily medications so that you have a cushion to hold you over between leaving and finding new medical care.

6. Digitize all your vital docs, including deeds and medical files. Store them in the cloud and email them to a friend who lives abroad

7. Have a plan for pets. With plan B you may be leaving them behind if you don’t know how long you’ll be gone or where you might settle. Talk to friends and family now about who would be willing to take them in in this situation.

Plan B is about giving you the most flexibility and options. You make big changes now so that you can be prepared to react to changes around you down the road. Trigger Point for plan B is often unique to the individual and involves law changes like access to medical support or the safety of their finances/job/marriage.

*****

Plan C: Run.

This plan is a last resort. It’s easier and less scary than most people think. But you absolutely need to be ready, and you need to know, firmly, what your trigger point is. This plan is for leaving in an emergency, potentially under scrutiny and persecution, with absolutely no plan to return. You should do as much of Plan B as you can, but you can still do plan C without that prep.

1. Have a go-bag. Your go bag is a waterproof, fireproof, personal-item sized piece of luggage that lives pre-packed with your vital documents (passport, medical records, SSN card, birth certificate, marriage certificate, name change docs, any extra photo IDs etc), your medications, around $1000 in non-sequential twenties, your emergency CC, addresses, phone numbers, and info written down for who you could go visit, proof of ownership docs for your house and/or car, and a single change of utilitarian clothing. Keep a pair of sturdy boots next to it if they don’t fit in it.

2. Pack your carry on. In this bag pack your jewelry, photo albums, grandma’s ashes, etc: whatever bits of precious you couldn’t possibly abandon. You need to make those decisions now, not in the moment. This suitcase must meet the SMALLEST restrictions on carryons for international flights (often smaller than what we’re used to in the U.S., typically 22" x 14" x 9") fill any extra space with toiletries or clothing as they reduce suspicion, but don’t prioritize packing clothing or comfort items. You can get that wherever you’re going.

3. These bags live packed in a safe place near the back door of your house; or in your car.

4. Decide where to run to and have a conversation about cover. In this scenario, if your trigger point is a certain executive order, your goal is to get to airport before enforcement goes into place. You need to know where you’re going and “why” your ticket is last minute in advance. Call up whoever is the safe person you’re running to and build the story. “Someone died suddenly” is a good one. This person needs to be ok with you showing up with 0 warning, and automatically going to the cover story if they one-day randomly get a call from a customs agent asking them to confirm why you’re traveling. If you have kids, have go bags for them as well, and only tell them the cover story.

5. Plan for your pet. Once you decide where you will run to look up what you would need to bring your pet and have those things ready to go (carrier, shot record, etc). Also plan for a situation where you have to leave your pet behind. Discuss with friends and family and get a commitment on who would take then in

6. Have a point person that is remaining behind that you trust to handle your affairs. If you have to run with no notice like this, you need someone here to sell your car, ship any possessions you need, cancel your lease, etc. Find your person and have the conversation about that now.

7. If you need to run you grab your go bags and maybe your pet carrier and you get on a plane. Use your normal bank accounts if you can, and your cash and emergency credit card if you can’t. Buy the ticket online if possible. If it has to be in person look for a visible minority ticket agent and if you’re questioned about the last-minute travel lean on the “my mother just died while visiting my aunt in France (or wherever you’re running). I have to go, I’m so distraught, taking my emotional support cat and kid cause idk when I’ll be back, there’s just so much to figure out. My Aunt has dementia. I have to get there before she does something crazy”

8. Try not to worry about what comes next. Humans have cut and run for thousands of years. You can do it. Immediate defense of life comes first. Everything else can be figured out after you’re safe. Don’t let worry over the logistics keep you in a dangerous situation.

Those are three plans you should have. But keep in mind there’s a lot of middle ground. Do as much of B as you can, and if you have to leave without a job, you can figure it out there. The place you run to doesn’t have to be where you’ll settle. You’l have more time to plan after you’re safe.

Americans have this warped idea of immigration. We believe other countries are as insanely draconian about it as we are but that’s not the case. Do your research. Make your plans. And don’t let fear of the unknown or a lack of planning keep you in danger. You can always just pack your bags and get on a plane to a friend’s place or a Sikh temple, and figure the rest of it out when you get there.

But definitely get your passport

[itgetsbetter]

I grew up in Dublin, Ohio in the 1980s.

If you weren’t there, let me paint you a picture. It was quiet, conservative and isolating, especially if you were a closeted gay teenager. Back then, you didn’t need to come out to be labeled. People decided for you. And once they did, you had two options: shrink or suffer.

I tried both.

Recently, I received a message from someone I went to high school with. He wrote:

“I read your coming out story on Facebook and was struck by the similarity of our experiences at Dublin in the '80s and '90s. I was called a f*g on a nearly daily basis... I never used the bathroom for fear of harassment… I also know that I kept others who were perceived as or were gay at arm’s length for fear of association and further bullying… I regret that we lived in a time and existed in a place that prevented us from finding community with each other.”

That message wrecked me. Even though we were walking the same hallways, enduring the same cruelty and doing the same emotional math every day to survive, we didn’t find each other. We didn’t know we could.

The cost of community felt too high, so we settled for isolation.

That’s the great irony of so many queer people’s early lives. Our stories are eerily similar, yet we often live them apart. But I also believe that’s where our strength lies.

Once you’ve known what it feels like to be alone, you never want anyone else to feel that way again.

You understand how vital community is — not just for survival, but for joy, for truth, for becoming who you were always meant to be. Loneliness is a brutal teacher. It convinces you connection is dangerous, that being seen will cost you everything. But here’s the truth: someone almost always understands.

I didn’t realize that until I was an adult and free to move about the world. I found community in my 20s. For the first time in my life, I felt seen and safe. I realized I wasn’t broken.

I had simply been alone in a place that didn’t yet know how to hold space for people like me.

Today, I have the honor of leading It Gets Better, a nonprofit dedicated to uplifting, empowering and connecting LGBTQ+ youth around the globe. We help to ensure that young people don’t have to wait until adulthood to find belonging.

We meet them where they are, be it online, at Pride events or at a school in a Columbus suburb. Our message is clear. They are not alone, and they never will be.

It Gets Better shouldn’t need to exist. No one should have to rely on a nonprofit to feel safe being who they are. And yet, many LGBTQ+ youth are fighting silent battles in hostile environments.

Some argue that recent legislation targeting LGBTQ+ identities — book bans, bathroom bills, restrictions on curriculum — is about protecting children. But what it does is isolate them. It legislates loneliness. It tells young queer people that they are unwelcome.

We can’t let that happen.

We owe it to today’s LGBTQ+ youth to create the kind of world we didn’t have — a world where community isn’t something you stumble into years later, but something that finds you early, holds you close and tells you there is nothing wrong with who you are.

To the classmate who reached out: thank you. I see you. We both deserved better. And to the young people out there feeling like no one understands: You are not invisible. We see you.

We are you.

And we’re here, waiting to welcome you home.

A message from Brian Wenke, our Executive Director at It Gets Better, for the Columbus Dispatch.

[penultimate-step]

Lately, I've been thinking about the effect of real-world time on perception of media. Or, wait, let me start from the beginning.

When I was 11, I read the book Ender's Game for some school assignment or another. I don't remember ever considering Ender a relatable character, but certainly my understanding of the events was shaped by being of an age to see the protagonist not so much as a young child but as someone of my peer group, someone who could have been slotted amongst my classmates without anybody batting an eye.

Over a decade later, I read the sequel, Speaker for the Dead; it takes place many years later, when Ender is in his thirties, and my feelings about the in-universe time skip were undeniably shaped by the real life time gap between my reading of the novels. Reading the first book back then and then the second book now created a feeling where it's almost like, I'm browsing the facebook page of someone I had known in middle school but lost contact with, checking up on how they're doing today. The real-time factor caused me to perceive it less like a timeskip, and more like a reunion - the feelings were closer to "oh wow, that's my boy! I haven't seen him in years! Wonder what he's up to?" Which in turn gave me a better position to appreciate the parts of the narrative about him struggling to find a place in his adulthood than I would have been had I perceived it more strictly as a quick skip from 11 to 20 to 36.

While musing about this, I considered a VN I played a few years back, which took place over three in-game days - except at the end of one in-game day, the game would lock you out from progressing for 24 hours real time. So that as the in-game investigator protagonist was ruminating on the information that had been discovered that day, the player would be forced to do the same. In this example, by forcing the player to experience the same timeframe as the in-game characters, the sense of it being an in-depth and extensive investigation increases, even though without the forced pauses the game would be short enough to blow through in a handful of hours real-time.

Which brings to mind how time effects things in long-running serial works. It's well known that an audience which watches an episode or reads a chapter week by week has a very different experience than one binging through whole seasons or volumes at a time, but I wonder if the real time relative to the in-universe time makes that effect stand out more? Fight scenes, for instance, have been known to take up several chapters in certain manga or webnovels. What does it do to the reader's perception, if from their point a view a fight takes a whole month, while for the characters they read about it's only been a couple hours? Readers might feel that the situation is more stressful, since the pressure of the fight has been ongoing for a long time for them, while in-universe it was a rough afternoon but no more than that. Contrastingly, when a series skips ahead or otherwise has long periods of time for characters that feel short for readers, it can feel like no time has passed and everything is still the same, unless the author really stresses the differences in world-state that occurred offscreen. Because the reader hasn't changed at all.

No conclusion here exactly, I just think it's interesting how often an audience's response to a work, the emotions felt, are more closely tied to their real-life timescale, something almost completely out of the author's control, as opposed to in-universe time, which can be intentionally shifted or played with for the sake of the narrative.

[obscurevideogames]

Tumblr’s Core Prodct Stratgy

Here at Tumblr, we’ve been working hard on trying to keep our sinking ship afloat for as long as possible. This means desperately trying to copy every new fly-by-night social media app that some multi-billionaire sh*t out during their daily Peloton routine. What follows is the strategy we're using to accomplish the goal of user growth. If you find the things we say here worrisome, please understand that is our exact intention. You've outgrown our target demographic. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

The Diagnosis

It's lookin' pretty bad y'all!

After somehow losing hundreds of thousands of users during the great pr0n purge of 2018, we started to wonder if anything could be done to get back to where we were. We even brought in a management consultant who charged us a ridiculous amount of money. It would make you sick if you knew how much, but we got a few nice meals out of it at least. Anyhow, we handed this guy the app, and HE HAD NO IDEA HOW TO USE IT! It was f*cking hilarious! But suddenly it all clicked -- our users are a bunch of stupid idiots who can't even do basic arithmetic. I mean, they spend all day looking at their phones, so what do you expect?

Tumblr’s best feature is its unique content and vibrant communities. But who cares, right? We're just as happy getting traffic from people sh*t-posting memes, vague-booking, giving out-of-context hot takes to news events, and spewing whatever random thought is in their head at the moment. Plus that stuff doesn't p*ss off Apple.

To keep this thing going we need new people. And by "people" we mean teenagers, like we used to have back in the good ol' days. Unfortunately we're all in our 40s now, so we have no idea what they want. But teenagers are so cool! Imagine if they talked to us like we're one of them? We're getting hard just thinking about it.

Our Guidng Principls

To make Tumblr cool again, we must address these huge glaring issues.

People can look at a blog without logging in. How is that fair to all the poor schlubs who had to fill out forms to get an account? Also we haven't figured out a way to force ads onto the personalized pages yet. But we swear that's not the main reason.

People can see content they are looking for or linked to. People can keep up with blogs they follow. But the problem with this is, people don't know what they want. We know what they want! We're smart. We wrote this damn site, remember?

Promote posts that incite pointless conversations. Posts that are guaranteed to bait every troll into responding. Isn't that why all your Magat relatives love Facebook so much? We can do that!

P*ss off your content creators in every way possible (see #2).

Create algorithms that throw an unending barrage of irrelevant content in your face. Have you seen Instagram lately? We could do that so easy!!!

The app is slow. The website is slow. Obviously this is because of GIFs. Facebook and Instagram don't allow them, so why should we?

Conclusion

Our mission changes on a day-to-day basis. Right now we're super jealous of all the attention that new Threads thing is getting. We're still not sure what it is, but we're gonna download it after work.

[pequenhy8scherikblog]

Welcome!

It is that time of the year when we start to wonder about this fandom. What are they doing? Are there new fics? Is there someone still active in there? Are people still writing prompts?

To be honest, we don’t even have half of the answers. But what we know is that it’s time for us to get ready to create, enjoy and celebrate the love we have for these two old mutants because…

Cherik Week 2025 is coming soon!

Some of us know that this year, Team Cherik has decided to take a well deserved break. However, this doesn’t mean that we’ll stop and forget about this cherished tradition of giving an entire week to our favorite mutants: Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr.

That’s why, a little group of fans (with Team Cherik’s blessing), has decided to take the lead this year. We are trying to make this with enough time so everyone involved in this community can have all the time and inspiration needed to leave heart and soul in each and every single one of their creations.

And just highlighting that, even if you can’t actively participate, you can always support all those writers, artists, friends, mutant brothers and sisters, by liking, commenting and sharing their works.

We all know how important it is for us to receive that feedback and we’d love to keep this lovely community as supportive as always.

FAQ

When will it begin?

This event, as every year, will be in the first week of JUNE, from the 2nd to the 8th.

Who can participate?

Cherik lovers from around the world. Any language is welcome, and anyone can participate.

Which content is accepted?

* Fanart (Any kind; sketches, line art, digital, traditional, and so on.)

* Mini-comic (Drawn or edited panels)

* Drabbles (Short work of fiction under 100 words)

* Ficlets (Short work of fiction under 1,000 words)

* Poems

* Fanfiction (Any lenght)

* Edits (Moodboards, subtitled images, and so on.)

* Photo Novels.

* Story ideas.

* Fanvids

* Playlists

* Cosplay

Can I share it anywhere I want?

You can! Just use the tag #CherikWeek2025 in the platform of your choice. Still, we are encouraging you to post your works on AO3, since we want Cherik to stay in the top 100 of all time works.

Can I use AI?

No <3

I can’t make it all the way :c

Don’t worry! Every work is valuable, so even if you can post just one work, we’ll give it all our support.

Which are the prompts?

Day 1: Telepathic Bond/Reincarnation.

Day 2: Time travel/Reunion.

Day 3: Mutation Kink/ Marriage.

Day 4: Omegaverse/Medieval.

Day 5: Red Thread/Hanahaki.

Day 6: Parents/Teachers.

Day 7: Free.

Help, I don’t know what to write/draw!

Don’t worry, our next step is giving you some boosts with our Vault of Ideas!

RULES

There will be two prompts each day, you can choose one of them or both for inspiration to create cherik content. Remember, you can only post the prompt on their assigned date.

Post your work in your preferred platform (Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, AO3, Evernote, or any other). Once posted, you can share it with the tag “#Cherikweek2025”. Please remember to use our hashtag, so we can find and share your works.

If you post your work on AO3, make sure to add it to our collection here: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Cherik_Week_2025

IMPORTANT

Make sure to post and share your content on its corresponding day, and to always use our hashtag.

Remember that if you don’t, we can’t keep proper track of all your works.

If we don’t share your content, please let us know through DM on this blog, adding the link to your work. This way, we can share it for everyone to see and enjoy!

[nasa]

Space Craft! Make NASA-Inspired Creations for World Embroidery Day

It’s time to get crafty with some needle and thread. At NASA, we hope to inspire art of all kinds. To highlight #WorldEmbroideryDay on July 30, we want to know: does our imagery inspire you? Show us your art and we may feature it on social media.

How?

Search for a NASA image that inspires you. Here are a few places to get you started: Hubble, James Webb Space Telescope, Ocean Color, Landsat and Earth Observatory

Create. Over the years, we've seen a growing number of embroidered pieces that showcase our organization's research, especially with needlepoint.

Share your creation, along with the image it was inspired by, on social media using the hashtag #NASAEmbroidery. We will share selected pieces on July 30 for World Embroidery Day

Why?

NASA imagery has many functions. From studying distant galaxies to tracking ocean health, our scientists use these images to not only monitor our home planet, but better understand life beyond our solar system.

Embroidery is an ancient craft that has experienced a revival over the years. It involves decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn.  Have you recently taken up embroidery? What images are you inspired by? We’d love to see it.

Image Resources for #NASAEmbroidery Inspiration

NASA Images 

Hubble Image Gallery

NASA’s Ocean Color Image Gallery

James Webb Space Telescope

Landsat Image Gallery

Create and Share Your #NASAEmbroidery

Take a picture of your piece and upload it to Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr or Facebook. Make sure you use the hashtag #NASAEmbroidery so we know that you are taking part in the event and make sure that your privacy permissions allow us to view your post.

If the piece catches our eye, we may share your work on NASA’s main social media accounts as well as theme-related ones. We may also feature your art in a NASA Flickr gallery and our Tumblr pages. We’ll contact you directly to grant us permission to feature your work. You can follow @NASA on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for embroidery creations, which will be featured from July 30-Aug. 1

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Apple to EU: “Go fuck yourself”

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

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/06/spoil-the-bunch/#dma

There's a strain of anti-anti-monopolist that insists that they're not pro-monopoly – they're just realists who understand that global gigacorporations are too big to fail, too big to jail, and that governments can't hope to rein them in. Trying to regulate a tech giant, they say, is like trying to regulate the weather.

This ploy is cousins with Jay Rosen's idea of "savvying," defined as: "dismissing valid questions with the insider's, 'and this surprises you?'"

https://twitter.com/jayrosen_nyu/status/344825874362810369?lang=en

In both cases, an apologist for corruption masquerades as a pragmatist who understands the ways of the world, unlike you, a pathetic dreamer who foolishly hopes for a better world. In both cases, the apologist provides cover for corruption, painting it as an inevitability, not a choice. "Don't hate the player. Hate the game."

The reason this foolish nonsense flies is that we are living in an age of rampant corruption and utter impunity. Companies really do get away with both literal and figurative murder. Governments really do ignore horrible crimes by the rich and powerful, and fumble what rare, few enforcement efforts they assay.

Take the GDPR, Europe's landmark privacy law. The GDPR establishes strict limitations of data-collection and processing, and provides for brutal penalties for companies that violate its rules. The immediate impact of the GDPR was a mass-extinction event for Europe's data-brokerages and surveillance advertising companies, all of which were in obvious violation of the GDPR's rules.

But there was a curious pattern to GDPR enforcement: while smaller, EU-based companies were swiftly shuttered by its provisions, the US-based giants that conduct the most brazen, wide-ranging, illegal surveillance escaped unscathed for years and years, continuing to spy on Europeans.

One (erroneous) way to look at this is as a "compliance moat" story. In that story, GDPR requires a bunch of expensive systems that only gigantic companies like Facebook and Google can afford. These compliance costs are a "capital moat" – a way to exclude smaller companies from functioning in the market. Thus, the GDPR acted as an anticompetitive wrecking ball, clearing the field for the largest companies, who get to operate without having to contend with smaller companies nipping at their heels:

https://www.techdirt.com/2019/06/27/another-report-shows-gdpr-benefited-google-facebook-hurt-everyone-else/

This is wrong.

Oh, compliance moats are definitely real – think of the calls for AI companies to license their training data. AI companies can easily do this – they'll just buy training data from giant media companies – the very same companies that hope to use models to replace creative workers with algorithms. Create a new copyright over training data won't eliminate AI – it'll just confine AI to the largest, best capitalized companies, who will gladly provide tools to corporations hoping to fire their workforces:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/09/ai-monkeys-paw/#bullied-schoolkids

But just because some regulations can be compliance moats, that doesn't mean that all regulations are compliance moats. And just because some regulations are vigorously applied to small companies while leaving larger firms unscathed, it doesn't follow that the regulation in question is a compliance moat.

A harder look at what happened with the GDPR reveals a completely different dynamic at work. The reason the GDPR vaporized small surveillance companies and left the big companies untouched had nothing to do with compliance costs. The Big Tech companies don't comply with the GDPR – they just get away with violating the GDPR.

How do they get away with it? They fly Irish flags of convenience. Decades ago, Ireland started dabbling with offering tax-havens to the wealthy and mobile – they invented the duty-free store:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duty-free_shop#1947%E2%80%931990:_duty_free_establishment

Capturing pennies from the wealthy by helping them avoid fortunes they owed in taxes elsewhere was terribly seductive. In the years that followed, Ireland began aggressively courting the wealthy on an industrial scale, offering corporations the chance to duck their obligations to their host countries by flying an Irish flag of convenience.

There are other countries who've tried this gambit – the "treasure islands" of the Caribbean, the English channel, and elsewhere – but Ireland is part of the EU. In the global competition to help the rich to get richer, Ireland had a killer advantage: access to the EU, the common market, and 500m affluent potential customers. The Caymans can hide your money for you, and there's a few super-luxe stores and art-galleries in George Town where you can spend it, but it's no Champs Elysees or Ku-Damm.

But when you're competing with other countries for the pennies of trillion-dollar tax-dodgers, any wins can be turned into a loss in an instant. After all, any corporation that is footloose enough to establish a Potemkin Headquarters in Dublin and fly the trídhathach can easily up sticks and open another Big Store HQ in some other haven that offers it a sweeter deal.

This has created a global race to the bottom among tax-havens to also serve as regulatory havens – and there's a made-in-the-EU version that sees Ireland, Malta, Cyprus and sometimes the Netherlands competing to see who can offer the most impunity for the worst crimes to the most awful corporations in the world.

And that's why Google and Facebook haven't been extinguished by the GDPR while their rivals were. It's not compliance moats – it's impunity. Once a corporation attains a certain scale, it has the excess capital to spend on phony relocations that let it hop from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, chasing the loosest slots on the strip. Ireland is a made town, where the cops are all on the take, and two thirds of the data commissioner's rulings are eventually overturned by the federal court:

https://www.iccl.ie/digital-data/iccl-2023-gdpr-report/

This is a problem among many federations, not just the EU. The US has its onshore-offshore tax- and regulation-havens (Delaware, South Dakota, Texas, etc), and so does Canada (Alberta), and some Swiss cantons are, frankly, batshit:

https://lenews.ch/2017/11/25/swiss-fact-some-swiss-women-had-to-wait-until-1991-to-vote/

None of this is to condemn federations outright. Federations are (potentially) good! But federalism has a vulnerability: the autonomy of the federated states means that they can be played against each other by national or transnational entities, like corporations. This doesn't mean that it's impossible to regulate powerful entities within a federation – but it means that federal regulation needs to account for the risk of jurisdiction-shopping.

Enter the Digital Markets Act, a new Big Tech specific law that, among other things, bans monopoly app stores and payment processing, through which companies like Apple and Google have levied a 30% tax on the entire app market, while arrogating to themselves the right to decide which software their customers may run on their own devices:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/07/curatorial-vig/#app-tax

Apple has responded to this regulation with a gesture of contempt so naked and broad that it beggars belief. As Proton describes, Apple's DMA plan is the very definition of malicious compliance:

https://proton.me/blog/apple-dma-compliance-plan-trap

Recall that the DMA is intended to curtail monopoly software distribution through app stores and mobile platforms' insistence on using their payment processors, whose fees are sky-high. The law is intended to extinguish developer agreements that ban software creators from informing customers that they can get a better deal by initiating payments elsewhere, or by getting a service through the web instead of via an app.

In response, Apple, has instituted a junk fee it calls the "Core Technology Fee": EUR0.50/install for every installation over 1m. As Proton writes, as apps grow more popular, using third-party payment systems will grow less attractive. Apple has offered discounts on its eye-watering payment processing fees to a mere 20% for the first payment and 13% for renewals. Compare this with the normal – and far, far too high – payment processing fees the rest of the industry charges, which run 2-5%. On top of all this, Apple has lied about these new discounted rates, hiding a 3% "processing" fee in its headline figures.

As Proton explains, paying 17% fees and EUR0.50 for each subscriber's renewal makes most software businesses into money-losers. The only way to keep them afloat is to use Apple's old, default payment system. That choice is made more attractive by Apple's inclusion of a "scare screen" that warns you that demons will rend your soul for all eternity if you try to use an alternative payment scheme.

Apple defends this scare screen by saying that it will protect users from the intrinsic unreliability of third-party processors, but as Proton points out, there are plenty of giant corporations who get to use their own payment processors with their iOS apps, because Apple decided they were too big to fuck with. Somehow, Apple can let its customers spend money Uber, McDonald's, Airbnb, Doordash and Amazon without terrorizing them about existential security risks – but not mom-and-pop software vendors or publishers who don't want to hand 30% of their income over to a three-trillion-dollar company.

Apple has also reserved the right to cancel any alternative app store and nuke it from Apple customers' devices without warning, reason or liability. Those app stores also have to post a one-million euro line of credit in order to be considered for iOS. Given these terms, it's obvious that no one is going to offer a third-party app store for iOS and if they did, no one would list their apps in it.

The fuckery goes on and on. If an app developer opts into third-party payments, they can't use Apple's payment processing too – so any users who are scared off by the scare screen have no way to pay the app's creators. And once an app creator opts into third party payments, they can never go back – the decision is permanent.

Apple also reserves the right to change all of these policies later, for the worse ("I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it further" -D. Vader). They have warned developers that they might change the API for reporting external sales and revoke developers' right to use alternative app stores at its discretion, with no penalties if that screws the developer.

Apple's contempt extends beyond app marketplaces. The DMA also obliges Apple to open its platform to third party browsers and browser engines. Every browser on iOS is actually just Safari wrapped in a cosmetic skin, because Apple bans third-party browser-engines:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/13/kitbashed/#app-store-tax

But, as Mozilla puts it, Apple's plan for this is "as painful as possible":

https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/26/24052067/mozilla-apple-ios-browser-rules-firefox

For one thing, Apple will only allow European customers to run alternative browser engines. That means that Firefox will have to "build and maintain two separate browser implementations — a burden Apple themselves will not have to bear."

(One wonders how Apple will treat Americans living in the EU, whose Apple accounts still have US billing addresses – these people will still be entitled to the browser choice that Apple is grudgingly extending to Europeans.)

All of this sends a strong signal that Apple is planning to run the same playbook with the DMA that Google and Facebook used on the GDPR: ignore the law, use lawyerly bullshit to chaff regulators, and hope that European federalism has sufficiently deep cracks that it can hide in them when the enforcers come to call.

But Apple is about to get a nasty shock. For one thing, the DMA allows wronged parties to start their search for justice in the European federal court system – bypassing the Irish regulators and courts. For another, there is a global movement to check corporate power, and because the tech companies do the same kinds of fuckery in every territory, regulators are able to collaborate across borders to take them down.

Take Apple's app store monopoly. The best reference on this is the report published by the UK Competition and Markets Authority's Digital Markets Unit:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63f61bc0d3bf7f62e8c34a02/Mobile_Ecosystems_Final_Report_amended_2.pdf

The devastating case that the DMU report was key to crafting the DMA – but it also inspired a US law aimed at forcing app markets open:

https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/2710

And a Japanese enforcement action:

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Japan-to-crack-down-on-Apple-and-Google-app-store-monopolies

And action in South Korea:

https://www.reuters.com/technology/skorea-considers-505-mln-fine-against-google-apple-over-app-market-practices-2023-10-06/

These enforcers gather for annual meetings – I spoke at one in London, convened by the Competition and Markets Authority – where they compare notes, form coalitions, and plan strategy:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cma-data-technology-and-analytics-conference-2022-registration-308678625077

This is where the savvying breaks down. Yes, Apple is big enough to run circles around Japan, or South Korea, or the UK. But when those countries join forces with the EU, the USA and other countries that are fed up to the eyeballs with Apple's bullshit, the company is in serious danger.

It's true that Apple has convinced a bunch of its customers that buying a phone from a multi-trillion-dollar corporation makes you a member of an oppressed religious minority:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/12/youre-holding-it-wrong/#if-dishwashers-were-iphones

Some of those self-avowed members of the "Cult of Mac" are willing to take the company's pronouncements at face value and will dutifully repeat Apple's claims to be "protecting" its customers. But even that credulity has its breaking point – Apple can only poison the well so many times before people stop drinking from it. Remember when the company announced a miraculous reversal to its war on right to repair, later revealed to be a bald-faced lie?

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/22/vin-locking/#thought-differently

Or when Apple claimed to be protecting phone users' privacy, which was also a lie?

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

The savvy will see Apple lying (again) and say, "this surprises you?" No, it doesn't surprise me, but it pisses me off – and I'm not the only one, and Apple's insulting lies are getting less effective by the day.

Image: Alex Popovkin, Bahia, Brazil from Brazil (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Annelid_worm,_Atlantic_forest,_northern_littoral_of_Bahia,_Brazil_%2816107326533%29.jpg

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

--

Hubertl (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2015-03-04_Elstar_%28apple%29_starting_putrefying_IMG_9761_bis_9772.jpg

CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

[sayitaliano]

Sanremo 2025 - the post!

Hello everyone!

Here you’ll find this year’s Sanremo’s stuff and news (I’ll be updating this post through all the week). The Festival will start on Tuesday February 11th at 8:30 pm, and end on Saturday February 15th, when the final will be broadcasted.

/ Official website / you can find loads of videos and interviews here + the latest news. You can already find the presentation videos of the songs made by the artists.

Rai’s website dedicated section (here) | youtube playlist | spotify playlist

TikTok official channel: @/sanremorai; @/sanremoesc Instagram official: @/sanremorai Twitter official: @/SanremoRAI; @/SanremoESC Facebook: festivaldisanremo Youtube: @/rai (to check also the latest interviews)

Each night from February 8th to February 15th, before the start of Sanremo at around 8:25 PM (GMT+1), on Raiuno will be broadcasted the usual PRIMAFESTIVAL. The hosts are: Bianca Guaccero, Gabriele Corsi e Mariasole Pollio (tv hosts, actors/actresses -Gabriele is the Eurovision's host as well iykyk) (you can rewatch it on raiplay)

There’s gonna be the usual DOPOFESTIVAL, with Alessandro Cattelan (tv host, veejay) starting right after the end of each Sanremo’s night (11th-15th Feb.) on Raiuno. Some of the guests are: Selvaggia Lucarelli, Anna Dello Russo and Street Clerks.

As every year, on the Sunday after Sanremo's final (Feb. 16th 2025 this year) DOMENICA IN hosted by Mara Venier will take place in Sanremo: all the singers will get to perform their song once again and answer a few questions. It'll be broadcasted on Raiuno starting from 2:00 PM (GMT+1). At around 8:35PM (GMT+1) always on Raiuno, DIETROFESTIVAL will show an hour of behind the scenes from Sanremo's competition.

CasaSanremo- A website about Sanremo and all the artists who will take part, with more infos and interviews (also Italian places and food specialties will be shown). Follow them also on their Social Media Channels, usually they make live video/interviews/shows on FB for example.

On Sorrisi&Canzoni you will find also other infos about Sanremo and every lyrics’s explanation (ofc ask me if you need a translation)

"Il Podcast di Sorrisi a Sanremo" - the famous media outlet will host daily starting at 7 PM (GMT+1) from February 11th to February 15th on RealTime TV a podcast about Sanremo with Rettore, Coma_cose, Francesca Michielin and Alessandro Amoroso as guests, sharing infos and special bts of the competition. The hosts are Lodovica Comello (radio/tv host, singer, actress...), Tommaso Cassissa (actor, youtuber...) and the director of Sorrisi Aldo Vitali.

The # on this blog is #sanremo 2025, #sanremo, #sanremo2025 you can black any of these (the first one in particular) if you want.

To watch it live:

Raiuno -> just click on the second video on the left, or here, to open the Raiuno streaming immediately (I added the whole Rai channels things in case you had troubles connecting directly and wanted to try from there). RAI’s geoblock is usually removed for Sanremo’s week, no need to create accounts or whatsoever to enjoy Sanremo online!! Remember you can rewatch the whole event and each performance on Raiplay few minutes after it has happened and for the whole week too (after the end of Sanremo, there will be only 1mins vids of each performance avaiable).

You can also follow the whole competition on Radio2.

FESTIVAL LIS - songs and whole exhibition explained in signs language

FANTASANREMO - this year as well you can play while enjoying your Sanremo! How does it work? Every person “buys” 5 artisti and marks one of them as a captain. As in the last years, artists will have to do or say something while on stage to help you gain points (and also classification will have a say). Subscriptions open on December 27th 2024. It seems there are some new features in the game too.

I’ll try to write down some more infos/links through the week.

——-

HOST & GUESTS & Other stuff

This years’ host will still be Carlo Conti (who choose the songs taking part into this Sanremo), a TV and radio host/deejay. He already hosted for 3 years (2015-2017). He will be accompanied by a different co-host each night (check the schedule below). Together with them, as usual, during each night there will be different guests. Some will be announced only right before the start of the evening so keep an eye on the schedule.

There won't just be the competition inside the Ariston: the Suzuki Stage will be held in Sanremo's piazza Colombo and every night there will be live performances (they may show something during Sanremo as well). Mattia Stanga and Jody Cecchetto (tv/radio hosts) will be the hosts, while the performers will be: Raf (Feb.11th), BigMama (Feb.12th), Ermal Meta (Feb.13th), Benji & Fede (Feb.14th), Tedua (Feb.15th).

How it works:

There will be 29* singers in the ARTISTI (artists) section. There will be again 2 sections: BIG/CAMPIONI (already known artists) and NUOVE PROPOSTE (youngs). 29 artists of the BIG section were chosen by Carlo Conti, while the 4 of the NUOVE PROPOSTE are the finalists of Sanremo Giovani (held in December 2024). The winner of the BIGs competition will represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest (May 13-17th 2025, in Switzerland): if he/she/they won’t accept, the choice will be another artist, usually the 2nd classified or the next (the first one accepting).

-> *Originally there were 30 BIG but Emis Killa withdrew since he's being investigated

This year we’re gonna listen to the 29 BIGs' songs on the first night and get a top 5 rank at the end. On the 2nd night we’ll get to listen to the 4 NUOVE PROPOSTE's songs. The two with the most votes will perform again in the final on day 3: on that same night we'll find out the winner of the category. On day 2 and 3, we'll also listen again to 14/15 BIGs' songs and get another top 5 rank. People at home can vote for both sections. On the 4th night there will be the usual “covers” night: the BIGs can choose any song published until December 2024, national or international, and will be accompanied by another artist. From this year, artists can also decide if to duet with another Sanremo's contestant. We'll get the winner of the covers' night but the rank will be a separate rank from the one of the real competition. People at home can vote for both sections again. On day 5, all the BIGs will perform again. At the beginning of the night we'll get the general top 5 rank of the past days, and at the end of the night we'll get the positions from 29th up to 6th. The first 5 will be not in order. Another vote will take place after which we'll find out the first 5 positions order and Sanremo's winner.

Day 1 - co-hosts: Antonella Clerici (tv host, former Sanremo host), Gerry Scotti (tv host, deejay) Prob. guests: Lorenzo Jovanotti, Noa and Mira Awad (singers), Gimbo Tamberi (athlethics) We’ll listen to all the 29 songs (in order of performance: Gaia; Francesco Gabbani; Rkomi; Noemi; Irama; Coma_Cose; Simone Cristicchi; Marcella Bella; Achille Lauro; Giorgia; Willie Peyote; Rose VIllain; Olly; Elodie; Shablo Guè Joshua Tormento; Massimo Ranieri; Tony Effe; Serena Brancale; Brunori Sas; Modà; Clara; Lucio Corsi; Fedez; Bresh; Sarah Toscano; Joan Thiele; Rocco Hunt; Francesca Michielin; The Kolors).

Top5 rank (casual order) : Brunori Sas, Giorgia, Lucio Corsi, Simone Cristicchi, Achille Lauro

Day 2 - co-hosts: Bianca Balti (model), Cristiano Malgioglio (singer, host, producer, songwriter), Nino Frassica (tv host, actor) Prob. guests: Damiano David (singer, former Maneskin's singer), "Follemente" movie's cast (actors: Edoardo Leo, Pilar Fogliati, Emanuela Fanelli, Maria Chiara Giannetta, Claudia Pandolfi, Vittoria Puccini, Marco Giallini, Maurizio Lastrico, Rocco Papaleo, Claudio Santamaria); "Champagne" tv serie cast (actors: Alessandro Gervasi, Francesco Del Gaudio); "Belcanto" tv serie cast (actors: Vittoria Puccini, Giacomo Giorgio, Carmine Recano); Carolina Kostner (ice skater) for the Winter Olympic Games 2026 in Italy The 4 NUOVE PROPOSTE will compete (in order: Alex Wyse VS Vale LP e Lil Jolie; Maria Tomba VS Settembre). The 2 NUOVE PROPOSTE FINALISTS are: Alex Wyse, Settembre We’ll listen to 15 BIG (in order of appearance: 4 nuove proposte; Damiano David sings Lucio Dalla; Rocco Hunt, Elodie, Lucio Corsi, The Kolors, Serena Brancale, Fedez, Francesca Michielin, Simone Cristicchi, Marcella Bella, Bresh, Achille Lauro, Giorgia, Rkomi, Rose VIllain, Willie Peyote)

Top 5 rank (casual order): Giorgia, Simone Cristicchi, Fedez, Achille Lauro, Lucio Corsi

Day 3 - co-hosts: Miriam Leone (actress), Elettra Lamborghini (singer, tv host), Katia Follesa (comedian, tv host) Prob. guests: Duran Duran, "Mare Fuori 5" tv serie's cast (actors), Iva Zanicchi, Edoardo Bennato (singers), Compagnia del Teatro Patologico (theatre and mental health), Simone Parodi (kid who knows everything about Sanremo), Victoria De Angelis (Maneskin's bassist) The remaining 14 BIG (in order of appearance: Bennato; Clara, Brunori Sas, Sarah Toscano, Massimo Ranieri, Joan Thiele, Shablo, Noemi, Olly, Coma_Cose, Modà, Tony Effe, Irama, Francesco Gabbani, Gaia; finale nuove proposte)

The NUOVE PROPOSTE WINNER is: SETTEMBRE!

Top 5 rank (casual order): Coma_Cose, Brunori Sas, Irama, Olly, Francesco Gabbani

Day 4 - co-hosts: Mahmood (singer), Geppi Cucciari (tv host, comedian, actress) Prob. guests: Paolo Kessisoglu (from Luca & Paolo, comedians/actors) and his daughter, Roberto Benigni (actor) The 29 BIGs Covers’ list (in order of appearance):

- Rose Villain con Chiello - “Fiori rosa, fiori di pesco” (Lucio Battisti) - Modà con Francesco Renga - “Angelo” (Francesco Renga) - Clara con Il Volo - "The sound of silence" (Simon and Garfunkel) - Tony Effe con Noemi - “Tutto il resto è noia” (Franco Califano) - Francesca Michielin con Rkomi - “La nuova stella di Broadway” (Cesare Cremonini)  - Lucio Corsi con Topo Gigio - “Nel blu dipinto di blu” (Domenico Modugno) - Serena Brancale con Alessandra Amoroso - “If I Ain’t Got You” (Alicia Keys) - Irama con Arisa - "Say something, i'm giving up on you" (Christina Aguilera) - Gaia con Toquinho - “La voglia, la pazzia” (Ornella Vanoni)  - The Kolors con Sal Da Vinci - “Rossetto e caffè” (Sal Da Vinci) - Marcella Bella con i Twin Violins - “L'emozione non ha voce” (Adriano Celentano) - Rocco Hunt con Clementino - “Yes, I Know My Way” (Pino Daniele)  - Francesco Gabbani con Tricarico - "Io sono Francesco" (Tricarico) - Giorgia con Annalisa - “Skyfall” (Adele)      - Simone Cristicchi con Amara - “La cura” (Franco Battiato) - Sarah Toscano con Ofenbach - “Overdrive” - Coma_Cose con Johnson Righeira - “L'estate sta finendo” (Righeira) - Joan Thiele con Frah Quintale - “Che cosa c'è” (Gino Paoli) - Olly con Goran Bregovic e la Wedding & Funeral Band - “Il pescatore” (Fabrizio De André) - Achille Lauro con Elodie - "A mano a mano" (Riccardo Cocciante) e “Folle città” (Loredana Bertè) - Massimo Ranieri con i Neri per caso - “Quando” (Pino Daniele) - Willie Peyote con Tiromancino (Federico Zampaglione) e Ditonellapiaga - “Un tempo piccolo” (Franco Califano) - Brunori Sas con Dimartino e Riccardo Sinigallia - “L'anno che verrà” (Lucio Dalla) - Fedez con Marco Masini - “Bella stronza” (Marco Masini)  - Bresh con Cristiano De André - “Crêuza de mä” (Fabrizio De André)  - Shablo feat. Guè, Joshua e Tormento con Neffa - Mix di “Amor de mi vida” (Sottotono) e “Aspettando il sole” (Neffa)

[original songs here]

Covers' rank:

Day 5 - co-hosts: Alessandro Cattelan (tv host, veejay), Alessia Marcuzzi (tv host, actress, model) Prob. guests: Vanessa Scalera (actress), Antonello Venditti (singer), Edoardo Bove (soccer player who suffered from heart failure during a match), Alberto Angela (tv host), Gabry Ponte (dj), Planet Funk (dance/electronic), Mahmood (singer) All the 29 BIGs will perform their songs (in order of appearance: Gabry Ponte with Sanremo's jingle; Francesca Michielin, Willie Peyote, Marcella Bella, Bresh, Modà, Rose Villain, Tony Effe, Clara, Serena Brancale, Brunori Sas, Francesco Gabbani, Noemi, Rocco Hunt, The Kolors, Olly, Achille Lauro, Coma_cose, Giorgia, Simone Cristicchi, Elodie, Lucio Corsi, Irama, Fedez, Shablo, Joan Thiele, Massimo Ranieri, Gaia, Rkomi, Sarah Toscano) and after midnight (prob. more like 1:30-2:30 am or later) we’ll know the competition’s final standings. The winner will go to the #ESC2025.

And the winner is: OLLY!

Final standing: 1. Olly 2. Lucio Corsi 3. Brunori Sas 4. Fedez 5. Simone Cristicchi 6. Giorgia 7. Achille Lauro 8. Francesco Gabbani 9. Irama 10. Coma_Cose 11. Bresh 12. Elodie 13. Noemi 14. The Kolors 15. Rocco Hunt 16. Willie Peyote 17. Sarah Toscano 18. Shablo ft. Guè Joshua Tormento 19. Rose Villain 20. Joan Thiele 21. Francesca Michielin 22. Modà 23. Massimo Ranieri 24. Serena Brancale 25. Tony Effe 26. Gaia 27. Clara 28. Rkomi 29. Marcella Bella

Olly refused to go to the ESC so LUCIO CORSI will take part at the ESC 2025!

Other Awards: - Premio della critica “Mia Martini” : Lucio Corsi - Premio della sala stampa “Lucio Dalla” : Simone Cristicchi - Premio miglior testo “Sergio Bardotti” : Brunori Sas - Premio miglior composizione musicale “Giancarlo Bigazzi” : Simone Cristicchi - Premio alla carriera: Iva Zanicchi - Premio alla carriera: Antonello Venditti - Premio Lunezia per Sanremo 2025: Simone Cristicchi - Premio Tim - La forza delle connessioni: Giorgia

————————

BIGs (+ lyrics):

Achille Lauro - Incoscienti giovani

Bresh - La tana del granchio

Brunori Sas - L'albero delle noci

Clara - Febbre

Coma_Cose - Cuoricini

Elodie - Dimenticarsi alle 7

Fedez - Battito

Francesca Michielin - Fango in paradiso

Francesco Gabbani - Viva la vita

Gaia - Chiamo io chiami tu

Giorgia - La cura per me

Irama - Lentamente

Joan Thiele - Eco

Lucio Corsi - Volevo essere un duro

Marcella Bella - Pelle diamante

Massimo Ranieri - Tra le mani un cuore

Modà - Non ti dimentico

Noemi - Se ti innamori muori

Olly - Balorda nostalgia

Rkomi - Il ritmo delle cose

Rocco Hunt - Mille volte ancora

Rose Villain - Fuorilegge

Sarah Toscano - Amarcord

Serena Brancale - Anema e core

Shablo con Guè, Joshua e Tormento - La mia parola

Simone Cristicchi - Quando sarai piccola

The Kolors - Tu con chi fai l'amore

Tony Effe - Damme 'na mano

Willie Peyote - Grazie ma non grazie

NUOVE PROPOSTE:

Alex Wyse - Rockstar

Maria Tomba - Goodbye (voglio good vibes)

Settembre - Vertebre

Vale LP e Lil Jolie - Dimmi tu quando sei pronto a fare l'amore

[more infos on the lyrics as on December 2024]

[all the lyrics can be found on this page]

(will edit with more updates, corrections and links as we get closer to the event)

[felassan]

Game Informer:

"Cover Reveal – Dragon Age: The Veilguard by Wesley LeBlanc on Jun 09, 2024 at 02:00 PM This month, Dragon Age: The Veilguard (you read that right – Dreadwolf is no more) graces the cover of Game Informer. After years developing Baldur's Gate and its sequel early in its history, BioWare struck out to create its own fantasy RPG. That series began with Dragon Age: Origins in 2009. It was followed up with Dragon Age II in 2011, and then Dragon Age: Inquisition in 2014. While the Dragon Age series' history has its ups and downs, fans have been patiently waiting for BioWare to return to the franchise, and 2024 is finally the year.  We visited BioWare's Edmonton, Canada, office for an exclusive look at Dragon Age: The Veilguard, including a look at its character creator, its prologue and opening missions, and more. We also spoke to many of the game's leads about the name change, the series' shift to real-time action combat, the various companions (and the relationships you can forge with them), and The Veilguard's hub location. You can learn about the titular Veilguard, Solas' role in the game, and so much more in our 12-page cover story for Dragon Age: The Veilguard."

"But there are plenty of other excellent reads within this issue of Game Informer! Some of us flew to Los Angeles, California, to attend Summer Game Fest and the not-E3 weekend's various other events to check out new games, interview developers, and more. Our previews section is jam-packed with new details about upcoming releases we can't wait for.  Brian Shea flew to Warsaw, Poland, to check out two upcoming releases – Frostpunk 2 and The Alters – and he came away excited about both. Jon Woodey went hands-on with Final Fantasy XIV's upcoming Dawntrail expansion (and spoke to director Naoki Yoshida, too), and as someone with 8,000 hours in the game, his words are the ones you'll want to read.  On the freelance front, Charlie Wacholz writes about how last year's Dave The Diver is one of the best game representations of the rewards and struggles of working in the food and beverage industry, and Grant Stoner spoke with Sony and Microsoft about the development of process and history of the companies' Adaptive and Access controllers. And for a lil' terror this summer, Ashley Bardhan spoke to several horror game developers about why the alluring town known as Silent Hill is a crucial location to Konami's horror masterpiece.  As always, you'll find an editor's note from editor-in-chief Matt Miller, reviews from various freelancers and staff editors, a Top 5 list (hint hint: dragons), and more. Here's a closer look at the cover:"

"Not a print subscriber yet but want this issue? Well, you're in luck! Subscribing today – or within the next few days – will net you a print copy of this issue! You can join the ranks of the Game Informer print subscribers through our new standalone print subscription! Just head here to sign up for either one or two years at a fraction of the cost of buying the issues individually! You can even gift a print subscription to your favorite gamer! SUBSCRIBE TO THE PRINT MAGAZINE You can also try to nab a Game Informer Gold version of the issue. Limited to a numbered print run per issue, this premium version of Game Informer isn't available for sale. To learn about places where you might be able to get a copy, check out our official Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, BlueSky, and Threads accounts and stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks. Click here to read more about Game Informer Gold. Print subscribers can expect their issues to arrive in the coming weeks. The digital edition launches June 18 for PC/Mac, iOS, and Google Play. Individual print copies will be available for purchase in the coming weeks at GameStop."

[source] <- they explain at the link how to read this issue.

aaah they have had a look at the character creator!!! I can't wait for this coverage.

[invisibleicewands]

Michael Sheen’s extraordinary gesture as he pays off debts of hundreds of people

He plays an angel on screen and he has proven he is an angel in real life by undertaking an extraordinary gesture. In an unprecedented move the actor has used his own money to write off personal debts of hundreds of people in South Wales

It’s been confirmed that Michael, who famously plays angel Aziraphale in Good Omens, has brought light and relief to many families struggling with debt with this wonderful act of benevolence.

The move was not publicly announced by the Port Talbot star, but was uncovered by fans who spotted posts on Facebook in local community groups from a television production company called Full Fat TV.

The posts read: ‘Actor Michael Sheen has been campaigning for a fairer credit system for years and in an extraordinary gesture, he has used his own money to write off personal debts for hundreds of people in South Wales. If you have received a letter from a company called Ten Acquisitions the good news is that Michael has paid off some of your debt and he’d love to hear from you. The details of how to get in touch with him are in the letter.’

Intrigued by the posts which appealed to those who had received letters from a company called Ten Acquisitions confirming that Michael had paid off debts, one fan took to X to ask him directly if the posts were true.

Fans wondered if it was somebody using his name as a scam, but the actor in replies on his X account confirmed the posts were neither clickbait nor a scam.

He wrote: ‘It’s not clickbait. I want to clarify, because we want people to get in touch.’

The campaigning Welshman, a long time advocate for a fairer credit system, has teamed up with the production company to film a documentary about the plight of those struggling due to unfair financing.

On Monday, Michael appeared in Parliament where he joined calls for a fair banking act to tackle the credit crisis affecting people and businesses.

In 2022-2023, more than 9 million were declined for credit, with millions relying on pay-day-lenders and buy-now-pay-later schemes with high interest rates. At its worst, lack of access to affordable credit means hundreds of thousands of people find themselves turning to loan sharks, while viable businesses remain stuck, unable to develop and create jobs. Campaigners are calling for a Fair Banking Act to help ensure that everyone can access essential financial services and support.

Speaking at the event in Parliament on Monday, Michael said: “Anyone can find themselves in a place where they need credit to make ends meet or to get through a difficult time. The lack of affordable credit for people on lower incomes is harming individuals and families, but also businesses and communities. Whole regions are seeing their growth held back. We can’t keep waiting and hoping that things will get better. We need something to change now. The Fair Banking Act could be the thing which really makes the difference”.

"We can’t keep waiting and hoping that things will get better. We need something to change now."@michaelsheen has joined calls for a #FairBankingAct to tackle credit crisis affecting people and businesses.

[admiral-mason]

Ultra-Impact Part 3

Idea based on @valeriele3's Live Stream post.

Forgot to mention this in the last posts (I've edited in though), but reader is Gender Neutral (GN)

Warning: Violence and gore. Also Hakita saying things that he likely has never said.

0-2 0-3 << YOU ARE HERE 0-4

PRELUDE /// THIRD WEIGHT OF TWO WORLDS

TWO WORLDS ARE BINDED THROUGH A SINGULAR SCREEN.

A complete and utter destruction of the senses.

This is the best way to describe the current event: V1 blasting the absolute hell out of the 3AM Among Us Potion Knights of Favonius with his arsenal. Peeking from behind a rock at a distance, you watched V1 blast a swordsman Knight in the face with its shotgun before parrying an arrow from another and shooting him with the revolver.

It then proceeded to ground slam into a small group of them before knuckleblasting them, leaving nothing behind but guts and blood puddles on the floor (and you wincing silently). Then, Amber manages to land an arrow on V1; unfortunately, it harmlessly bounces right off and V1 turns its camera-like head right at her and swaps to its Sawn-On shotgun. As you slowly looked away, flesh squelching and bone breaking accompanied the outrider's screeching screams of agony.

In the head of the battle, you attempted to gather your thoughts and deal with the pain in the right arm thanks to Amber's arrow. Is this how it felt to witness Ultrakill in real life? You never expected weapons such as the Knuckleblaster and shotgun to create ear-piercing noise that no Earth weapon matched.

You also noticed how V1 never used any explosive damage; not even projectile boosts, despite its ease of accomplishment. In fact, its current actions force the Knights to focus on it and not you. Perhaps Teyvat sent it here to guard you in this Impostor SAGAU world. Your arrow pain dwindled quicker than normal too; probably another random little power gimmick.

However, your time to dwell on such thoughts ran out when noises best described in the onomatopoeia "BRRRRRRRTTT" followed by the sounds of penetrated flesh resounded in the air. Peeking over your rock, you witnessed V1 blast the last of the Knights including Kaeya with its nailgun.

Looking at the carnage V1 left in its wake, you noticed something bizarre.

Instead of laying limp, the blood and flesh of the dead knights began fading away into glowing red dust.

Much of [streaming platform] buffered and suffered an outage for a good couple of hours, with the cause of the sudden shutdown leaving even the site's administrators and management team fumbling in confusion.

Coincidentally, many users reported that their instances of the game Ultrakill suddenly crashed and refused to boot up afterward despite their computer and Steam page acting normally. Hakita put out an official statement regarding the matter:

"Okay, I will be real. I can't do anything to the game on my end either. I can't edit it, open any files, get assets, hell even all of my videos on my YouTube channel are missing without reason. So for now, all we have access to is this Discord server."

(Some people thought that he did this after a petition to reconstruct V2 exceeded twice its supporters)

A few people watching your stream coincidentally noted that it suddenly ended without explanation before [streaming platform] died.

The combination of these events spurred mass panic on the internet; Videos theorizing that some foreign nation or 'master hacker' committed a cyber attack to steal valuable information ran rampant on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, you name it. Meanwhile, users on [streaming platform] took to platforms such as Reddit and Discord to share their perspectives on what happened, with a select few even touting that God had shut the sites down as a warning to humanity's current sins.

Thankfully, the anomalous instances reverted and disappeared in a few hours, except for your account on [streaming platform]. Instead of displaying your past streams, it simply displayed a single live stream:

THE FIRE IS LIT.

It bore a thumbnail shot of what appeared to be somewhere in Genshin, looking at a small camp with a tent, a campfire, and a pot boiling over said campfire. The chat slowly started with one or two messages before rapidly exploding with "what is this" or "what happened" responses or something along those lines. Then, two familiar figures showed up on-screen:

It was you and V1, and the latter carried you in a bridal style.

Of all the things you expected to do in life, having V1 bridal-style carrying you wasn't on the list. After it killed all the Knights of Favonius, it took your right arm and inspected the area injured by the arrow before swiftly pulling it out much to your discomfort.

After you gritted your teeth and grimaced in response to the sudden pain, V1 made a small dent in one of its arms allowing its blood to flow onto your wound. Miraculously, the blood let the injured area grow back and your pain rapidly dissipated leaving you both amazed and bewildered.

During this time, you noted how V1 managed to fit its three left arms all placed on its side; a sort of circular device connecting the arms to the torso allowed them to cycle between one another.

V1 then let you go and handed you a revolver; specifically, the regular Sharpshooter revolver. "For me?" You asked the supreme machine, pointing to yourself as you did so. It simply nodded in response and gestured for you to take it. You did and put the electric gun in your right pants pocket, hoping no misfires occur.

Once that happened, V1 suddenly scooped you into its arms before dash-jumping away with you deeper into the forest. Oddly enough, the smell of a soup or stew grew ever stronger the more distance you two covered in the woods. After a couple of minutes, V1 put you down at your destination.

The robot brought you to a campsite with an open campfire and a pot over said fire. It's safe to assume that the pot contained the soup or stew that currently emanates the smell. A crude tent seemingly stolen from an adventurer stood behind the fire.

The last noteworthy object in the area caught your attention: a black-and-white splotched Terminal. Located right next to the tent, the terminal displayed your Twitch chat on the left side and its main screen on the right. Once you stood in front of it, it printed out:

"GREETINGS, GODFATHER. PLEASE TAKE SOME TIME TO INTERACT WITH YOUR FOLLOWERS IN THE OTHER WORLD."

A camera then revealed itself above the screen and you knew what you had to do. Stepping in front of the camera, you waved. "Hello? Chat can you see me??"

And then, the floodgates busted wide open.

Adm!ra1-M4son: Oh my god GUYS OUR BOY'S ALIVE

johnifer: Holy shizzle drizzle crick crack he's fucking alive

valeriele3 donated $5.00: "Oh my god! Are you okay??"

"Yeah- I'm fine. Thanks for the donation by the way even if I have no idea how to use it right now..."

V1 then proceeded to make itself known as well. Moving you a bit to the side, it waved both of its hands seemingly eager to introduce you to your fans. The chat went wild again.

hiraya: omg is that V1??

LiNk29: Nah man bro got isekaid with the gopro...

BeeseChurger: SOMEONE SEND THIS TO HAKITA RIGHT THE FUCK NOW

Yuormethor: On it chief.

Simply put, this strange terminal allowed you to see your Twitch followers again, which was nice. V1 then left its spot in front of the terminal and checked on the pot. Sure enough, when you moved on over to it, there was a soup with radishes and tomatoes as its main ingredients. V1 likely got them from theft, but you didn't care- food is food after all.

The robot used a ladle in the pot to scoop some stew into a wooden bowl, which it then handed to you along with a spoon. Taking in its aroma, smells of radishes, tomatoes, and some mint filled your nose and you slowly took a small sip.

(A/N: Guess the soup.)

The soup's taste bore both a tart and sweet flavor, with a little bit of refreshment with some added mint. As you savor your first meal in Teyvat, your chat watches you do so.

kpfjillion: give me that fucking soup

XxcSHARPxX: Give this man peace for the Impostor SAGAU shit he's gonna come across lmfao

hiraya: he'll be fine! I'm sure of it.

After the fifth sip, you heard mechanical footsteps behind you before they stopped. You turned around and saw a familiar adversary V1 fought, and the two of you stared into each other's gaze.

"Well, nice to meet you in person, godfather."

V2.

Taglist: @valeriele3, @bunniotomia, @feetusdeletussthenyeetus

[ellethespaceunicorn]

Lessons From a Social Media Break

I know I told y’all I would be making this post about a million years ago, but life got in the way (as it so often does). I wanted to explain why I’ve been mostly absent for the last seven months.

[And before you even ask, NO, I am not pregnant. I actually had an endometrial ablation in March 2024 that eradicated my periods and was the best decision I ever made in my life (apart from meeting my Wifey).]

Putting this under a cut because it got a bit long.

Now, I don’t know how the rest of you may handle your Neurodivergence / AuDHD / Bipolar / Depression / Anxiety, but when I’m overwhelmed with all of these things at the same time, I tend to shut down. So, around October 2024, I hit a wall, and I shut down slightly. And then in November, the voters of America let me down and chose to elect a brainless, fascist, racist, transphobic felon and sexual predator as their leader.

I really started to give up hope around this time and stopped being social almost completely. That included online and real-life scenarios. At this time, I deleted my Facebook, my Twitter, and my Instagram. I spent most of my time playing video games (Skyrim, The Witcher, Minecraft, The Sims 4) and being in a world of my own creation.

Spending most of my time playing and learning how to create CC for The Sims 4 [where I am currently working on making Sims based on a fic by @blackwood4stucky because as soon as I heard/read the synopsis, I knew I must have the characters to play with 🔥], and working on my mental health.

Also, I owe a debt of gratitude to @peyton-warren for being one of the best friends I have ever had. I love you, babygirl! Thank you for letting me vent, whine, fall apart, and bounce ideas off of you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I also started Zepbound (tirzepatide) and have lost over 30 lbs. I'm letting my hair grow out, and my trichotillomania (compulsive hair-pulling) has been under control for some time now. I have made great strides in therapy, and even though some days are hard, I still strive to make the best of what life hands me (lemons, etc).

With that said, I miss writing. It's such a very important piece of my life. I've been writing stories for over 30 years, and I refuse to just lose that passion. I hope to update my stories soon. Including The Howling in Claw Creek Forest, Daddy Knows Best, the Sweet Redemption saga [it has its own masterlist now!], and finishing my 1K follower event Sweet Treats, and other WIPs that are begging for attention.

I also miss my Tumblr and all the friends I have met along the way. Y’all don't even understand the complexity of what a safe space Tumblr is for me (for the most part). I can be myself without worry of being called weird or whatever. I mean, I am weird, but that's beside the point.

Anyway, this post is fucking long as shit so I'm gonna shut the fuck up and go reply to my notifications.

Thanks for coming to my Elle™️ Talk!

[milfstalin]

Hey, I saw your post, and I just so happen to be looking for advice on how to organize. I would greatly appreciate any assistance you can provide!

hi. well that was sort of a trick post in that your circumstances are going to affect your choices very much ! down to class position & location i would say. also i am writing this assuming that you have no experience at all & are also a communist / dialectical materialist.

the communist movement in the us is very fractured right now, as well as a low level of class consciousness (due to imperialism & de-industrialization) that is easily redirected towards rightwing organizing because of settlerism & white supremacy and likely you are going to find more non-communists (anarchists, radlibs, etc) than communists around in your area - do not take this as being impossible to work with them, and especially if you do not know any other communists in your area then you will be alone otherwise.

my experience is mostly related to student activism starting from college and precisely, single-issue activism related to the pro-palestine movement & lgbt+ rights organizing, but i would say that the most important first step is to take stock of your material conditions.

what progressive groups currently exist in your area? student groups like ydsa at a local university? branches and chapters of cpusa or psl? a food not bombs group? horizontalist mutual aid groups? dsa chapters? bds or jvp? tenants unions and trade unions? what concrete goals have they accomplished? which ones are viable for you to show up and contribute towards? for example if you are a studnet it will be naturally easier for you to get into student organizations. if you are a service worker then chat with other service workers in your workplace and get a read of the situation. are there local protests going on? reformist efforts or dual power building? etc. try contacting them. ask what they are all about and how you can contribute.

most likely, there will be public events to try and entice the masses to join up for protests & rallies. check local facebook, instagram, reddit, other social medias.

the first goal here is to find a low-barrier entry point to get experience with any type of organizing in the first place, essentially to get your feet wet, whether with horizontalists or with big tent groups or full-fledged democratic centralists- inevitably, you will experience positive and negative sides of each organizational style; what is important is learning by doing- iterate on your past efforts, and dont repeat techniques that lead to disaster. it is learning by doing.

the second goal is to build up a local network of people you know and can trust in the local scene so to speak, finding potentially other communists too. odds are that you will have to deal with a deluge of non-communists in general, but you can also demonstrate communist organizational techniques and educate other organizers by practice- the most convincing way is to demonstrate the correctness of your theory by actually doing it and actually winning so to speak.

the third goal is more my read on the circumstances - we must prioritize education on the class struggle and creating new communists requires talking to non-communists. the first two goals will lead to this naturally. but talking is not enough, demonstration is also required.

but the hardest part is the first step, actually making contact with people, then the rest will follow naturally in my opinion. anyways good luck out there, it is tough, but i believe in you!!!

[no2da]

i feel like vaguely talking about building community is not helpful at all but like concrete steps on how to do that. im not american and neither do have any significant following so i expect my contribution to be not helpful.

choose one cause, like. feminism, environment, anti-racism, idk. look up organisations or groups that work for that cause, like my body my choice, fridays for future, extinction rebellion, food not bombs, pantifa, free palestine, etc etc, see if they have a local chapter in your city or a city near you, mail them, go to their meetings. if theres nothing, get creative with google, facebook and insta and search for independent local groups. queer centres, refugee help centres, squats. these sort of depend on social media presence so you should be able to find something after a while. mail or dm them, show up to their events and meet ups. check black boards at community centers, at schools and universitys, librarys etc. get AGGRESSIVELY involved. turn your anger into action. you only need like 3 people, design freeware, a room to meet (can literally be your own living/bed room, or fucking zoom) and a little bit of local clout (see above) and you can mobilize people to do protests, readings, info tables or other types of actions. be persistent. do not allow yourself and your new comrades to get tired. consistently do something for key days, like international womens day, trans day of remembrence, or something. after two or three years, your community will have grown, you will notice that you in fact make a difference. there are people depending on you and you are depending on these people. even if you are socially awkward i promise

edit: if there is nothing in your city: start it yourself. grab a friend. create a facebook and insta page, make a post what your group is about and then. plan your first meetup. start with casual shit. monthly feminist brunch at the local cafe. monthly queer chat at the library. aggressively advertise. properly tag your city and your causes. do not be afraid to put up flyers/posters in public that you print at home. i am sure after a while someone will show up. involve them.

[royal-hair]

DENMARK - Poul Nejlund & Søren Hedegaard & Dennis Knudsen

Let's start with Poul Nejlund, owner of the Jean-Leonard (just like Marie-Antoinette's hairdresser) hair salon for 60 years, and who has been Queen Margrethe's hairdresser for more than 40 years (he's 82 years old and still working with Margrethe!), work that granted him the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog.

Poul has given a few interviews over the years, and according to him, the first time Margrethe sat on his chair, the appointment was made for a lady-in-wating but she was the one who appeared. That was in the early 80s and from that moment, he has been Margrethe's only hairdresser. Even thought she went to his hair salon that first time, he usually goes to Fredensborg Palace to work.

Being Margrethe's only hairdresser means that his hands are behind every single tiara hairstyle we've seen on her, during galas, weddings, state visits and whatever you can think about.

While with Mathilde we saw that she knows what style she wants when sitting in Fréderic's chair, Margrethe is the exact opposite.

"The Queen and I never actually talk about hairstyles or agree on anything in advance. When it comes to hair and hairstyles, the Queen gives me complete freedom and never interferes. However, I am not supposed to try anything with color, extra hair extensions or other things"

That's so Daisy. Her being the creative soul she is, it's normal that she gives that freedom to her hairdresser to create. And by the way, we do know that Poul doesn't need to use extensions in Margrethe's updos as she still keeps her hair pretty long.

And while Poul has done Mary's hair occasionally, she had her own hairdresser during her time as Crown Princess: Søren Hedegaard. He stepped down just as she became Queen in 2024.

Søren's case is special among the hairdressers I'm writing about, because he worked 23 years fo Mary and has given a lot of interviews (like a lot), but everything he says is about himself. I translated at least 20 interviews and nothing, not a single thing about Mary apart from what we do know, that he started working with her in 2001 and left with Margrethe's abdication, over and over again. I was starting to get somewhat frustrated when I found an interesting quote in 2005:

"I’m not allowed to talk …"

It's been a long time, that quote is from the first years of Mary as a royal, but with how hard it's being finding insight or behind the scenes secrets with her, I'm pretty inclined to think that he really isn't allowed to talk.

That being said, I just want to mention that Kasper Astrup has stepped into the role of Mary's regular hairdresser. It's still early to find an interview or a journalist piece on him, because he's been just a year in the position.

I don't want this Mary's hairdresser piece to end on a low note, so here's a video of Søren and Poul in an event doing a workshop of how they work:

And lastly, Marie's hairdresser: Dennis Knudsen.

He worked with Marie for 13 years. He also did not talk much about his work with Marie, but we do know that he was let go as a colaborator in 2023 after he was convicted for endangerment and reckless driving. Now he's living in Thailand and obviously not styling Marie. This also coincides with Marie's lack of official events as a danish princess, so I couldn't find if she has a new regular hairdresser or just one on occasion for the official events she attends.

Denmark was a weird case on this Royal Hairdressers series I'm doing, because we're so used to have more info on them and all that, that I thought that I would find as much info than with the other countries I've done, but apart from Margrethe, we don't know much about the others. Just the royals public events are a testament of their work.

Sources: x x x x x x x