#justice for tech 2023

[prototypelq]

Gaming awards are weird this year. We have TGA, which has never made sensible nominations, and has publicly offended both the game developers, and the audience, by cutting the award winner speeches early and exists only for the hype and ads money, and to contrast we have GDC, which, well, Games Developer Conference, that consists of developers, is supposed to have critical merit behind it.

Yet, TGA gives Alan Wake 2 the Best Direction, Best Story and Best Visuals, while GDC gives AW2 Best Visuals only, while best Narrative goes to BG3. Also Tears of the Kingdom somehow got best technology???

Obv, I am a biased AW2 fan, and awards are generally meaningless, the normal disclaimer when discussing these things, y'know. Still, to me this is like an inverse of what should have happened, cause it's weird for TGA to NOT go for the obvious trendy game BG3, and for the GDC to follow said popular trend.

I don't doubt BG3 is good, not at all. I just doubt a 100+++ hour game can tell the story with the same impact that the 20-30 smth hour one can. Also, the hundred-hours game is rpg, so you have multiple choices, which normally leads to content cuts of the consequences of said choices, cause they are just not viable, for developers OR for players. And again, AW2 is a linear story with fixed characters, plus they make heavy use of the extended lore of the remedyverse. And it's a story about stories inside a story. Written by a writer, about a writer and for writers. Again, I don't mean to down BG3 and Larian - they are a great studio, a dying breed these days in the industry, I just don't think you can meaningfully tell a story over such a long period of time, pacing exists the chat in these cases.

Also, I am just. What Technology is GDC referring to when they award Tears of the Kingdom??? Specifically technology, not design, design went to BG3 there is no question about that. Like??? Switch is a not a new platform, the hardware has been the same for...more than 7 years I think, at this point? What kind of technology are they talking about here?

update: looked it up and apparently the tech award goes to TOK for the multi-leveled seamless open world and physics engine, again, on a Switch hardware. Yeah, I get behind this choice now.

I am a bit mad now that the GDC Innovation award didn't go to Viewfinder. Like, that game is LITERAL innovation, no other game did something like Viewfinder before...

Another great reminder that everything is subjective, and awards especially.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Stellantis wants to make scabbing woke

I'm coming to Minneapolis! Oct 15: Presenting The Internet Con at Moon Palace Books. Oct 16: Keynoting the 26th ACM Conference On Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing.

I know, I know, it's weird when the worst people you know are right, even when they're right for the wrong reasons: like, the "Intelligence Community" is genuinely terrible, pharma companies are murderous crooks, and Big Tech really does have a dangerous grip on public debate. The swivel-eyed loons have a point, is what I'm saying:

https://locusmag.com/2023/05/commentary-cory-doctorow-the-swivel-eyed-loons-have-a-point/

When conspiratorialists and reactionaries holler about how the FBI are dirty-tricking creeps who are framing Trump, it's tempting to say, "well, if Trumpists hate the FBI, then I will love the FBI. Who cares about COINTELPRO and what they did to Martin Luther King?"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI%E2%80%93King_suicide_letter

It's a process called "schizmogenesis": forming new group identity beliefs based on saying the opposite of what your enemies say, and as tempting as that is, it's extraordinarily foolish and dangerous:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/12/18/schizmogenesis/

It means that canny reactionaries like Steve Bannon can trick you into taking any position merely by taking the opposite one. Bannon's followers are even more easily led, so it's easy for him to convince them that we have always been at war with Oceania. The right has created an entire mirror world of "I know you are but what am I?" politics.

Anti-vax co-opts "bodily autonomy." Climate denial becomes environmentalism ("wind turbines kill birds"). Transphobia becomes feminism ("keep women-only spaces for real women"). Support for strongmen becomes anti-imperialism ("don't feed the war machine in Ukraine"). These are the doppelgangers Naomi Klein warns us against:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/05/not-that-naomi/#if-the-naomi-be-klein-youre-doing-just-fine

The far right has even managed to co-opt anti-corporate rhetoric. Culture warriors rail against "woke capitalism," insisting that when big businesses take socially progressive positions, it's just empty "virtue signalling." And you know what? They've got a point. Partially.

As with all mirror-world politics, the anti-woke-capitalism shuck is designed to convince low-information right-wing pismires into buying "anti-woke pillows" and demanding the right to pay junk fees to "own the libs":

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/04/owning-the-libs/#swiper-no-swiping

But woke capitalism is bullshit. Corporations – profit-maximizing immortal transhuman colony organisms that view workers and customers as inconvenient gut-flora – do not care about social justice. They don't care about anything, except for minimizing compensation for workers while maximizing the risk those workers bear; and locking in and gouging customers for products that are as low-quality as can be profitably sold.

Take DEI, a favored target of the right. It's undoubtably true that diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives have made some inroads on correcting bias in hiring decisions, with the result that companies get better employees who would have been excluded without this explicit corrective.

However, corporations don't value DEI because they abhor their history of hiring bias. Instead, DEI is how corporate management demonstrates to workers that their grievances are best addressed by trusting corporate leadership to correct their error of their ways – and not by forming a union.

Before the passage of the National Labor Relations Act in 1935, corporations would create fake "Company Unions" whose leadership were beholden to the company executives. These were decoy unions: they looked and sounded like unions, but when they negotiated with management, they were actually working for the bosses, not the workers.

This is more mirror-world tactics. They're the labor equivalent of the "crisis pregnancy centers" that masquerade as abortion clinics in order to fool pregnant people and trap them with endless delays until it's too late to terminate their pregnancies. Company unions get workers to trust in negotiators who are secretly working for the bosses, who emerge from the bargaining table with one-sided, abusive contracts and insist that this is the best deal workers can hope for.

Company unions were outlawed 90 years ago, and for decades, labor had a seat at the table, with wages tracking productivity gains and workers getting protection for discrimination, unsafe labor conditions, and wage-theft. Then came the neoliberal turn, and 40 years of wage stagnation, increased inequality, and corporate rule.

Anything that can't go on forever will eventually stop. Finally, finally, we have reached a turning point in labor, with public approval for unions at levels not seen since the Carter administration and thousands of strikes and protests breaking out across the country:

https://striketracker.ilr.cornell.edu/

It's not just the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA, either. For the first time in history, the UAW is striking against all the major automakers, and they are winning:

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/10/striking-uaw-workers-win-key-battery-plant-concession-from-general-motors/

The automakers are getting desperate. Stellantis – Chrysler's latest alias, reflecting the company's absorbtion into corporate-human-centipede of global carmakers – has mobilized its DEI programs, trying to get marginalized people to believe that scabbing is a liberatory activity:

https://theintercept.com/2023/10/10/uaw-auto-strike-stellantis/

Stellantis calls each of its DEI silos a "Business Resource Group" (BRG): there's a "Working Parents Network," an "African Ancestry Network," "Asians Connected Together," a "DiverseAbilities Network," a "Gay & Lesbian Alliance" and more:

https://blog.stellantisnorthamerica.com/2021/07/20/business-resource-groups-drive-inclusion-and-diversity/

The corporate managers who lead these BRGs have established a scab rotation for each subgroup, calling on members to cross a UAW picket-line at a Michigan Parts Distribution Center run by Stellantis subsidiary Mopar:

Each BRG will pick a specific day of the week/weekend to volunteer as a team. Help continue to be the RESOURCE the BUSINESS can count on! Stellantis needs your help in running the Parts Distribution Centers (PDC) to ensure a steady supply of parts to our customers while negotiations continue. Working Parents Network has identified Friday, October 13 as WPN’s BRG Day at the PDCs!"

Now, these BRGs weren't invented by marginalized workers facing discrimination in the workplace. They come from literal union-busting playbooks produced by giant "union avoidance" firms that charge bosses millions for advice on skirting – or breaking – the law to keep workplace democracy at bay. All the biggest anti-union consultancies love BRGs, from Littler Mendelson to Jackson Lewis. IRI Strategies touts BRGs as a way to "union-proof" a business by absorbing workers' grievances in a decoy committee that will let them feel listened to.

BRGs, in other words, are the Crisis Pregnancy Centers of workplace discrimination. They're a Big Store Con, a company union dressed up as corporate social responsibility.

Now, let's not pretend that unions have a sterling record on race and gender issues. Giant labor organizations like the AFL had to be dragged into racial integration, and trade unions have sometimes been on the wrong side of anti-immigration panics:

https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1997/summer/american-labor-movement.html

But unions have also been the most reliable way for people of color and women to win better workplace treatment. The struggle for racial and gender justice was fought through labor organizing. Remember that MLK's "I've Been To the Mountaintop" speech was given in support of striking sanitation workers in Memphis:

https://www.afscme.org/about/history/mlk/mountaintop

Black organizers have always been militant labor organizers. Labor Day commemorates the victory of the long, hard-fought Pullman strike, where Black workers brought one of the most powerful companies in America to its knees:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pullman_Strike

And women have always fought for gender justice through the labor movement: the New York shirtwaist strike is the Ur-example, when women-led unions fought thugs and scabs on icy New York streets:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_shirtwaist_strike_of_1909

It's no surprise that labor activism, anti-racism and feminism go together. Since the earliest days, the labor justice struggle was also a social justice struggle. To learn more check out Kim Kelly's Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor:

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Fight-Like-Hell/Kim-Kelly/9781982171063

The most exploited, underpaid, and abused workers in America are also the most marginalized (duh).

From nurses:

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/kaiser-healthcare-union-says-week-long-strike-possible-early-next-month-2023-10-09/

To teachers:

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-04-18/l-a-teachers-win-21-wage-increase-in-new-lausd-contract

To Amazon warehouse workers:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Labor_Union

To publishing assistants:

https://apnews.com/article/harpercollins-union-strike-ends-0a94238718879066d9b21af6266be526

To baristas:

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/29/business/starbucks-union-wages/index.html

To fast-food workers:

https://www.ufcw.org/about/

The vanguard of today's labor surge is Black, brown, female and queer. Without a union, workers who face discrimination are on their own, hoping that their bosses will voluntarily do something about it. Black workers in Tesla's rabidly anti-union shops face vicious racism, from slurs to threats to violence. Without a union, they have to rely on the shifting whims of an Apartheid emerald mine space-Karen for relief, or hope for help from the NLRB or a class-action lawyer:

https://apnews.com/article/tesla-racism-black-lawsuit-class-action-21c88bddf60eca702560be58429495de

The far right isn't wrong when they holler that woke capitalism is bullshit. As with so many of their mirror-world causes, they've got a point, but only a limited one. The problem with woke capitalism is that it's no substitute for a union. The problem with relying on Business Resource Groups to fight racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia is that these struggles are all class struggles, and a BRG is never going to fight against the company that created it.

To understand how bankrupt woke capitalism is, conside this: Stellantis is calling on its "Working Parents Network" to scab this Friday. Stellantis is also being sanctioned by the Department Of Labor for discriminating against nursing mothers – the same "working parents" that the BRG is meant to protect:

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2023/02/08/investigation-finds-stellantis-violated-rights-of-nursing-mothers-at-sterling-heights-plant/

Woke capitalism is just another kind of "predatory inclusion," like Intuit's campaign defending its "Free File" tax-prep scam, where they're claiming that ending this ripoff is racist because it denies Black families the right to be tricked into paying for something they are entitled to get for free:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/27/predatory-inclusion/#equal-opportunity-scammers

When I learned about Intuit's wokewashing, I thought I'd found woke capitalism's rock bottom, but I was wrong. Stellantis's call for woke scabbing is a new low.

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/2023/10/11/equal-opportunity-class-war/#inclusive-scabbing

My next novel is The Lost Cause, a hopeful novel of the climate emergency. Amazon won't sell the audiobook, so I made my own and I'm pre-selling it on Kickstarter!

[abnerkrill]

Petition: establish AI regulations

EU people (but possible to sign from elsewhere in the world) please add your name to this petition for human-centric and culture-friendly AI regulation. Needs 47,000 more votes as of the time of posting. From the petition:

'Summary: In an open letter, the Authors' Rights Network (Netzwerk Autorenrechte) calls on the German government as well as the French and Italian leaders to reconsider their stance on the (non-)regulation of AI, to take a stand against the massive damaging effects of unregulated AI applications based on theft, to protect people and authors from data theft and disinformation and to reflect on values such as trust, democracy and justice.

++ Open letter on the subject of France, Germany's and Italy's position on the planned EU Artificial Intelligence Act ++

Dear Chancellor Olaf Scholz (Germany),

Dear Federal Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck,

Dear Federal Minister for Digital and Transport Volker Wissing,

Dear President Emmanuel Macron (France), 

Dear Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (Italy):

It is with great concern that we, the members of the Netzwerk Autorenrechte which represents authors and translators in the book sector from 15 organisations in the D-A-CH region, observe Germany's, Frances and Italy's new position on the AI Act proposal. This new position runs counter to the consensus previously reached by EU Member States on the legal regulation of AI, in particular with regard to transparency and liability obligations for developers of generative technology.

According to reports from Euractiv on 19 November 2023, Germany – under the lead of the Digital Ministry and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, and together with France and Italy – wants to push for "obligatory self-regulation" instead of legally binding regulation. There are no sanctions for saftey incidents such as copyright, authors’ rights and data protection violations, insufficient labeling, or circumventing ethical standards in the position of these three countries.

Reason

Dear Chancellor, dear Vice Chancellor, dear Federal Minister,

dear Mr President of France, dear Prime Minister of Italy:

We urge you to change your position, which currently favors supposed economic advantages to the detriment of sustainable legal rules. Your position sends a fatal signal to everyone in the cultural sectors and to all people in Europe: namely, that you're willing to protect the same tech companies that illegitimately make use of cultural works and citizens data for their own profits – rather than protecting the people whose work and private data have made these foundation models and generative applications possible in the first place.

The consequences of your position would be devastating. Generative technology is already threatening numerous jobs. We can already observe several harmful “business models” based on AI products and an increase in disinformation. It's been proven that generative AI uses unlawfully obtained works without the knowledge or consent of the works' authors. Without legal regulation, generative technologies will accelerate the theft of artistic work and data. They'll increase discrimination and the falsification of information, including damage to reputations. And they'll significantly contribute to climate change. The more legally deregulated generative products reach the market, the more irreparable the loss of trust in texts, images, and information will become for society as a whole.

We urge you to return to the values of trust, democracy, and justice. We're standing on the threshold of an evolution, of one of the most decisive moments in history. Will we regulate the machines that are using humans in order to replace them? Or will we choose the short-sighted ideology of money?

We trust you have the political resolve to do the right thing.

Berlin, 24 November 2023'

[bfpnola]

about the ongoing hunger strike to ensure that the historic anti-casteism bill passes in california ^^ wanna support?

if you’re on mobile, go to: https://tinyurl.com/Signsb403

other devices, like laptops: https://www.gov.ca.gov/contact/

—

sample email below from the mobile link, not my own writing:

Subject: Please Sign SB403 (Wahab) to End Caste Discrimination

I am writing to request the governor to sign the historic bill SB403 introduced by State Senator Aisha Wahab, which would end discrimination on the basis of caste. This bill aims to clarify existing California state law and make explicit that discrimination based on caste is illegal by adding caste to ancestry and defining caste in the Civil Rights Act, Fair Employment and Housing Act, and Education Code.

Caste systems are social stratification where each position is characterized by hereditary status, endogamy, and social exclusion. Caste discrimination manifests as workplace discrimination, housing discrimination, gender-based violence, and other physical and psychological forms of violence.

Caste discrimination occurs across industries, including technology, construction, restaurants, and domestic work. In these sectors, caste discrimination has included harassment, bias, wage theft, and even trafficking. Caste is today inextricably intertwined with existing legal protections in state and federal civil rights laws such that discrimination based on one’s caste is effectively discrimination based on the intersection of other protected identities. However, because of the grave discrimination caste-oppressed Californians face, these existing protections must be made explicit.

Caste is a workers rights issues, a women's rights issues, and racial justice issue. It is also a bill that has bipartisan support. That is why we are joined by Asian Law Caucus, Stop AAPI Hate, AAPI Equity Alliance, Tech Equity, Equality Labs, Alphabet Workers Union, Ambedkar Association of North America, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO, Californians for Caste Equity, Hindus for Caste Equity, Jakara Movement, South Asian Network, Sikh Coalition, and Sikh American Legal Defense Fund. Every major legal association is in support of caste equity and the lawfulness to make caste equity explicit. This includes the American Bar Association, South Asian Bar Association, National Asian American Pacific Bar Association, and Asian Law Caucus.

That is why we urge you to make history and sign his bill without hesitation. Justice delayed is justice denied. Let's ensure California opportunity for all by ensuring that ancestry and caste discrimination is explicitly prohibited and make history across the country.

Thank You,

[Name]

—

and if you don’t know what caste is? send in an ask @bfpnola or join our Discord server, link in bio, so we can answer you in real-time!

[neptunedivine]

astro observations pt. iv

✧ more saturn observations ✧

✧ Whenever Saturn moves into Aries, I feel like that’s going to be a “no bullshit” season. I’m not sure of the details but in theory, it sounds very blunt, upfront, and in your face. Whatever this karma is, you can’t ignore it.

✧ If the writers currently don’t get their well-deserved justice during this Saturn transit (which the more I think about would be very weird if they didn’t), I think the dust will finally settle—end-all-be-all— during the Gemini Saturn transit since Gemini rules over writing.

✧ Speaking of Gemini Saturn, I feel like the internet for politicians in the states is like the Wild West. I fully believe they have no clue what they’re doing. If they do lay down some form of structure (maybe restrictions but I’m not sure) during the Gemini Saturn transit would make sense.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LOOK INTO SATURN TRANSITS IF YOU WANT TO MAKE CAREER MOVES!!

✧ As a student in computer science, I saw so many people getting jobs in tech left and right, getting certificates, and going to boot camps and everything (made me feel like shit but I digress). Also, we all saw the major influx of influencers too. I highly recommend looking into what sign Saturn is transiting to help you in your dream career. It’s not like a boost overnight, but it is stable and if you work hard and stay disciplined, Saturn will reward you. The only warning is that you must do it the right way, I wouldn’t consider any shortcuts or cheating. ✧ Though a lot of people got jobs in tech in the last few years when Saturn was in Aquarius, a lot of people (mainly project managers) lost their jobs when Saturn moved into Pisces. I think this because PMs were the easy way in, it’s basically like being a general manager in tech, no programming or code is really involved in their role.

Here are some benefitted professions for the upcoming transits. Note: If something doesn’t align right now or doesn’t at all, these transits aren’t end-all-be-all! There are so many transits happening all the time that can be beneficial as well.

✧ Saturn in Pisces (March 2, 2023 - February 13, 2026) : for my creatives (especially my singers, musicians, actors, photographers, and visual artists), spiritual workers, mental health workers, etc. ✧ Saturn in Aries (February 14, 2026 - April 12, 2028) : for my entrepreneurs, models, athletes, trainers, any profession that requires physical activity and/or competition and challenges, etc. ✧ Saturn in Taurus (April 13, 2028 - May 30, 2030) : for my bakers, cooks, chefs, designers of all kinds, fashionistas, beauticians, and anything to do with beautifying, etc. ✧ Saturn in Gemini (June 1, 2030 - July 13, 2032) : for my bloggers, writers, teachers, journalists, anything to do with communication, media, language(s), etc.

that’s all for now. see you later!

[kybercrystals94]

Redolence

By KyberCrystals94

Find here on Ao3!

Whumptober 2023 | Day 1 | Alternative Prompt: Lab Rats

Bad Things Happen Bingo | Prompt: Homesickness

Rating:G

Words: 1,070

Summary: Omega and Echo have a conversation about their pasts.

Omega presses her face between Lula’s long ears and breathes deeply the scent of her brothers: stale sweat, blaster residue, motor oil, aftershave, regulation soap, and a few other things she can’t quite place. Lula is like a sponge, soaking up the redolence of the soldiers she lives with. While the stuffed tooka doesn’t smell pleasant , Lula smells of love and safety and comfort. Therefore, she smells wonderful, and Omega gives the creature an extra tight squeeze as she tries to hold in the tears that threaten to spill. She should be happy. She is happy. She is. She is.

“Omega, are you alright?”

Omega is surprised by the generic reg voice. She would have expected Hunter or Wrecker to check on her...maybe even Tech. Not Echo. He isn’t unkind, but he is distant, almost unsure of her. Like he doesn’t want to get attached. Omega understands, even though it makes her heart hurt a little.

“I’m fine,” Omega lies easily, lifting her face so that her voice isn’t muffled against Lula’s soft stuffing.

There is a pause, but Omega knows the cyborg clone hasn’t walked away. After an uncomfortable stretch of silence, Echo clears his throat. “Are you sure? Hunter – uh – sent me to check on you.”

Omega forces a smile and carefully blinks back the tears that have been forming before she pulls back the curtain, letting Lula topple from her arms. “I’m okay, Echo,” she assures him.

The shadows on Echo’s face in the warm glow of her strung lights accentuate his gaunt features, and Omega suppresses the shudder that reflexively comes. Nala Se had Omega study Echo’s medical files as part of her training. The horrors he suffered at the hands of the Techno Union still haunt Omega’s imagination, and the cool, professional terminology she poured over in the files did not do his tragedy justice. It must’ve been hard for him to join the Batch too, starting over after all he’d been through. She admires him endlessly for it, but she isn’t sure how she could ever tell him without also admitting to having read his files. Not that she’d had a choice, or was snooping, but...

Echo matches her striving grin with one of his own. “Alright. If you say so,” he says, shrugging one shoulder, telling her without telling her that he knows she’s lying.

He starts to turn away when Omega bites out, “Wait, Echo...”

“Yeah?” he asks, the familiar gruff of his voice catching on the edge of the word.

Omega swallows, hoping he isn’t annoyed with her indecisiveness. “I just...can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, kid,” he says, and leans his weight against the wall casually.

“When you first joined Clone Force 99, did you – or do you – ever feel...” Omega searches for the right word, pressing her lips together before saying in a whisper, “homesick? For what you had before?”

Echo looks startled by the question, his eyes widening a little. However, the expression is brief, and his face returns to his normal air in a blink. To Omega’s dismay, he answers her question with one of his own, “Do you feel homesick for Kamino?”

“Sometimes,” Omega admits, pinching one of Lula’s ears between her fingers, “but I don’t want to go back. I’m happy here, with all of you. But if I’m happy here, why do I miss what I don’t want?”

Echo’s face softens. “Because you miss what is familiar, even if it wasn’t better.”

“Is that bad?” Omega asks.

“Of course not,” Echo says, “I missed living with my reg brothers. It’s all I knew most of my life. Doesn’t mean I care about my enhanced brothers any less.” He rolls his eyes good naturedly at the terminology adopted from the Batch, and it makes Omega giggle.

“I guess you and me are kind of the same,” Omega says softly, wistfully. “Taken in by the Bad Batch when..." Echo visibly stiffens, and Omega clamps her mouth shut, now gripping Lula’s ear in a fist. She shouldn’t have said that. She knew the moment the words left her mouth. She and Echo are nothing alike. Not really. Not at all.

But they are. In some ways.

Right?

To her surprise, Echo leans forward, folding his arms and resting them on the floor of her gunner’s mount room. “Nala Se,” he says, his voice softer and gentler than she’s ever heard it, “she experimented on you, didn’t she.” Not a question.

Omega bites down on the inside of her cheek. She has never wanted to tell any of them about that. But Echo knows, because she told him in a roundabout way. In the medical wing, after his accident in the mess hall. He woke up in a panic, and she’d comforted him. I don’t like being hooked up to their machines either.

She didn’t think he’d remember that, but why wouldn’t he?

So, she nods a small, jerky affirmative.

“I don’t remember much about the Techno Union,” Echo says, his voice still low, almost a whisper. Like his words are just for her ears. “I mean...I know what they did. And I live with what they did everyday...but it’s what the Kaminoans did that I remember well. They had to see that I was fit for duty, and their tests...” Echo falters, his words dropping off in an expanse of hidden emotions. He blinks, looking a little lost.

She isn’t sure why she does it, but she reaches out and rests a hand on Echo’s face, her thumb brushing over the sharp edge of his cheekbone. “I know,” she whispers, because she does. She was Nala Se’s “assistant” from her earliest memories. She saw the tests firsthand. Experienced some of them herself.

“You shouldn’t though,” Echo says, “No kid should know that.”

“Maybe,” Omega shrugs, “But we’re safe from them now...the Kaminoans, I mean.”

Echo’s eyes find hers and he smiles sadly. “Yeah, we are.”

Omega’s touch lingers a moment longer before she pulls away and hugs Lula close to her chest. “I’m not homesick for the Kaminoans. I’m homesick for Kamino...for AZI and helping with the babies. I hope they’re alright.”

“I hope so too,” Echo says, and he gives her knee a squeeze with his flesh hand. “You’re a good kid, Omega. I’m glad the Batch found...both of us.”

Omega smiles at her brother who understands. “Me too.”

END

[doublesunsets]

echoes of a blast

Echo + The Bad Batch SFW Word Count: 2.2k

TBBAW 2023 @tbb-appreciation-week

DAY 2: ECHO

Touching Foreheads

"This wasn't supposed to happen."

Characters: Echo, Tech, feat. Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshair

Tags: Mental Health Issues, Intrusive Thoughts, Mention of death, Friendship, Discussion of insecurities, Feelings

Author's note: Just a little something-something exploring Echo's feelings after joining the team plus bonding with Tech. I wanted to try something, and I hope at least I did justice to Echo. Ah yes, some Fives fell out of my pocket, sorry 💜 -sunset

His scomp turned and whirred, but the door stayed closed. Echo looked at it, then at his arm, then back at the door, brows furrowed deeper than usual.

“Problem?” Hunter checked.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Echo grumbled. A sharp pain twisted inside his chest, but he discarded it. There wasn’t time now for that, he removed his arm from the slot, and introduced it again with the same result: nothing. “It should open.”

“Try turning it the other way,” Wrecker commented.

“Don’t be absurd, it doesn’t work like that,” came Tech’s clipped tone as he approached the door as well and connected his datapad to it.

“Have you tried turning it on and off again?”

“Crosshair, I swear—“

“Put it in rice?”

“It exists the possibility that your software is not compatible with the interface, maybe it is a more advanced program,” Tech muttered, disconnecting the datapad, apparently not obtaining any results either. “Maybe if I connect—“

“Put down that finger, are you calling me obsolete?”

“I was just suggesting—“

“What I would suggest is finding an alternative route, now. We cannot stay here.”

“You know how much it pains me to say this, but Hunter is right.”

“And why in Kamino name would it pain you to say that?”

“Well…”

“Guys,” Echo put himself between Hunter and Crosshair before they could start. Or continue. “Let’s go back to the last corridor, I saw another door there that should take us outside as well.”

A collective grunt was all the answer he got, which was good enough in his opinion right now. He pushed Tech’s hand away, who was trying to connect his datapad to his scomp, and headed back retracing his steps, hoping that the other exit worked.

It did work. But no plan B is perfect. The moment they went through the door, an alarm started blasting through the whole compound, completed with an extremely annoying fanfare of lights as well. Hunter swore like a commando, and Echo winced under his helmet. They ran faster towards the extraction point, but before they could reach the exterior wall, the stomps of metallic feet started to be heard above the alarm.

“Enemies inside the perimeter. Engage!”

“Roger, roger.”

In a matter of seconds, the whole team was surrounded by battle droids, blasters raised, and pointing at them. They had no other option but to stop their retreat, and find cover around the landing pad they were in.

“We have them! Captain, we have the intruders surrounded, awaiting orders.”

Echo didn’t like hiding, it was preferable to blast some droids, but he was down on firepower since… well. Since. 

Some movement at his right took him out of his thoughts. Crosshair was hiding by himself  behind a turret, and he saw him stuck his rifle out of his hiding spot, and shot. The alarm was disabled, silence falling immediately in the area they were. He noticed Echo watching and saluted him with two fingers smoothly.

“Hey, at least they turned off that kriffing noise!”

Hunter chuckled airily, looking above his crate to evaluate the situation. “Sure, it’s all looking bright right now.”

Echo looked around his crate as well. At least fifty B-1 battle droids stood in formation, cutting all possible retreat on that side. They were in a dead end, but at least the wall offered them a reprise, avoiding them to be surrounded by all sides.

The wall.

Echo looked again at the unmoving droids. They were waiting for orders, he had seen it before plenty of times, they never move until a superior arrives, and for some reason the droid in command had not arrived yet. Which meant they had an opportunity to put a plan in motion.

“Wrecker!” Echo shouted at the man two crates over. Tech, who was crouched next to him, looked up and Echo swore he could see the wheels turning behind his goggles. 

“What?”

“I have a plan,” Hunter and Crosshair didn’t react, but he knew they were listening as well. He tried not to smile at his own question. “Do you have any explosives?”

“Oh, yes!” Wrecker almost stood out from the excitement. “I thought you'd never ask!”

“Echo, you sure about this?” Hunter asked him. 

Was he? He was always sure about his plans, they were his pride and joy. Then again, he had been sure about being able to open that door when they planned today’s mission. That sharp pain again. He had been sure. In the same way that he had been sure that he was going to die that day. And before that, he had been sure that he would always be a 501st trooper. Or, at least, he had been sure that it would always be him by his side. It wasn’t him who answered.

“Yes, we are.” Tech sounded sure, as always. “We reviewed the schematics of the compound before the mission, and this wall is actually thin enough to open a hole through it with a controlled explosion.”

Tech looked at him, awaiting confirmation. “Ah, yes. They are distracted now, waiting orders. If we put the charges there, and there, it will open a path for us before they can even say roger once.”

The moment Hunter nodded, Wrecker uttered an excited yelp and started to prepare the explosives. When the charges were ready, they moved as one. The droids were expecting an escape attempt, but they simply switched to the other side of their hiding spots, to their utter bafflement. Before any of the clankers could react, the explosion wrought havoc among their formation, pushing most of them backward, towards the side of the building.

It wasn’t until they were back at the Marauder, and Tech was pushing the coordinates for the hyperspace jump, that they all released a collective breath they didn’t know they were holding. It wasn’t the closest call they had had since Echo joined the team, but it hadn’t been the smoothest either.

“I’m just saying, the hole didn’t need to be big enough for a bantha.” 

“Just because you are a skinny guy doesn’t mean the rest of us are. I think it was the perfect size!”

“It was a good job, Wrecker, don’t listen to him.”

“It was too big for you, as well. Too tall.”

“What does that mean now?”

Hunter left the cockpit grumbling after a snickering Crosshair, and Echo sagged into the copilot chair, exhausted. He was still uneasy, and while usually the banter amused him, it was making him strangely melancholic right now. The view of the blinding lights through the windows wasn’t working this time, either. He used to love it. Now it made him claustrophobic.

He sighed and turned the chair. Wrecker had gone away as well, and Tech was engrossed with his datapad. They had done a good job, the worries of the mission obviously forgotten, falling smoothly into their routine until the next call. He should be content that in the end they managed to get out, he knew that plans didn’t always work how you devised them, and being able to come with a new one was an even more valuable skill. Still.

It should have worked. He should have. He wasn’t supposed to–

“Problem?” Tech’s voice pushed him out of his stupor.

He looked up and saw Tech still crouched over his datapad, his body was slightly turned towards him though, and Echo took that as a sign that he didn’t hallucinate his voice.

“I find it strange, that we don’t do a debriefing session after the mission,” Echo half-lied.

“It would be redundant, there is no need for a debrief when there is no one to inform about the status of your mission.” Tech stopped talking abruptly, and put down his datapad. “Are you worried about what happened? Is this what it is about? Because I’ve explained to you that before, and I know that you are intelligent enough to not need to be explained things twice.”

Echo held back a sarcastic thank you, and decided to answer honestly. “I don’t know.”

“You don't… know?” Tech’s head turned fractionally to one side, which reminded Echo of a massiff.

“Yes, I don’t know. I do, but I don’t. I am upset. That door was supposed to open, so we could carry on with the mission. I am also intelligent enough to know that I shouldn’t be this upset about a detail going wrong.”

“I think that being upset is–”

“But what a detail! We almost die because my stupid arm didn’t want to collaborate. What’s the point of having all this if I can’t do the one thing I’m supposed to do. What’t the point of me here. You have your brain, and Hunter his senses, Wrecker his strength and determination, and I think Crosshair could kill some droids with just a nasty comment. Me? I am different now, sure, I wasn’t average before, but I am not special enough to be special, not normal enough to be normal. Not even–”

“Echo!”

Tech’s hand clutched his forearm, and Echo didn’t know what surprised him more, the shout of his name or the physical contact. His breath was laboured, and his hand gripped tightly his own knee. He couldn’t feel it, it was still weird.

He took a deep breath and let it out, slowly. Tech didn’t remove his hand, waiting. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“I know.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“I know that, too.”

Echo chuckled. “Is there something you don’t know?”

“Some. For example, I don’t know why you still think you are not good enough.” Tech removed his hand but kept facing him. “You have proved your skills numerous times.”

He knew that to be true, he really did. Tech was seldom wrong, as he often remarked, and besides that, objectively, he knew he was right as well. But still.

“Not to mention, the value of a man goes beyond their skills set. I am aware that this is a war and our capabilities determine the role we play in it, but I believe you are mixing up your value as a soldier and your value as a person.”

Echo felt his eyes go wide, a tremor through his spine as Tech’s words unlocked a pain inside his chest he didn’t know he had.

“I don’t think I’ve ever known how to differentiate those two things. Now it’s even harder.” He lifted his hand and tried to tousle his hair. Still weird. He focused pointedly on a spot above Tech’s left ear, took another deep breath, and let that sharp pain crawl out of his chest.

“I was prepared to die that day, from the moment I felt that blast I knew I was going to die. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad I am alive, even– Even after what I went through, I am thankful that I am alive, when so many others are not.” He sighed, looked out the window, in search of words that escaped him, but they were not among the stars. “But sometimes, I’m still in that moment. A part of me did die that day. The one that knew which one was his role in this galaxy. The one who knew where was his spot. The one that knew that he deserved it. Sometimes that blast still hits me out of nowhere, and for a moment it leaves me a bit woozy. Like coming out of a hyperspace jump without notice.”

Echo looked back at Tech, confusion painted on his face, and a small smile appeared on his face. “I’m sorry, I don’t make much sense.”

“No, no, you do. I–” Tech pursed his lips, seemingly searching for the right words. “I might not, and never would, know for what you are going through. But I know what it is, searching for your place in this galaxy. You are one of us now, Echo, and I know I don’t speak only for myself when I say that even if tomorrow none of your cybernetics work any more, you would still have a place on this ship.”

Echo smile grew. It wasn’t exactly that, but he couldn’t blame Tech, he could tell he was trying. It was close enough, though, and he appreciated the effort. He grabbed his neck and bumped his forehead against Tech’s, releasing him after it.

“What was that?” Those goggles made his eyes comically huge.

“Ah, yeah. Something I used to do with–” the name got stuck in his throat. Another time, then. “My best friend.”

Tech straighten momentarily, pushing his shoulders back and doing that massiff’s head tilt again, and Echo found himself chuckling this time.

“He saw it somewhere, used to say it was a warrior’s sign of respect. He was full of bantha shit, of course, but it was an easy way of reminding each other we were not alone, even in the middle of a battlefield.”

“He… was not exactly wrong. He wasn’t right either, mind you, but he wasn’t wrong.”

“Huh. Yeah, that sounds like him.” Echo stood up, clapped Tech’s shoulder and turned to leave the cockpit, but stopped. “Thank you, Tech,” he said without turning, and left.

Maybe none of this was supposed to happen, not this ship, not this team, not even himself, but he was here now. 

He wasn’t alone. 

He will be fine. 

They will be fine. 

Taglist: (I just realised that I should have asked if you want to be tagged in all works, or just smut, or whatever 😅, so taglist applies for ✨everything✨ unless anyone specify, OK? If you want to be added, just let me know.) Drink water.

@motte-the-goblin@fenharel-enaste@nahoney22@stunkbiggu@gt13tbbart@dangraccoon

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Weeks in Review (July 16-29, 2023)

Legendary announced a pair of Monsterverse comics during a panel at San Diego Comic Con. They've said nothing further since, and no one posted the panel online, so I have less to tell you than I'd like. Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted is the obligatory prequel comic for the film. From the pages they showed off, it looks like Zid has art duties again (well-deserved) and the monsters that Kong is fighting could be the "swamp kitt[ies]" cut from Godzilla vs. Kong. Release date is February 27. Monsterverse Declassified is going to spotlight some of the series' original monsters, with the previews showing Behemoth, Amhuluk, and Tiamat. (Supposedly Scylla, Doug, and the previously-unseen Abaddon will be in it too.)

Toho is finally letting Togen's 4K scans of some of its Godzilla films out of satellite TV jail as tie-ins to Godzilla Minus One. Godzilla (1954) and Mothra vs. Godzilla are coming to 4K Ultra HD on October 25, with Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster, Invasion of Astro-Monster, and Destroy All Monsters on November 22 and Godzilla vs. Hedorah and Godzilla vs. Biollante. Expect them to be as English-unfriendly as Toho's other releases - but a vague promise of "unused special effects footage", combined with some very crisp-looking photos in a recent book, means there's a chance the Frontier Missile sequence from Godzilla vs. The Thing will be included with Mothra vs. Godzilla. That'd be a godsend, considering how elusive an uncropped, uncut, high-quality version of the scene has proven to be.

These releases will easily be the best Mothra vs. Godzilla, Ghidorah, Astro-Monster, and Biollante have ever looked on home video. But with Togen shutting down, it's unclear when the rest of the pre-Shin films in the series will get upgrades. (It's also unclear when Toho will permit anyone outside Japan to use these versions for streaming or home video.) So this announcement feels bittersweet to me.

We have a release date for GAMERA -Rebirth- (September 7), a second trailer, and a reveal for the final monster: Viras! As @starestream pointed out, there's a lot of Legion in that design (along with Iris in Zigra). And as Maser Patrol pointed out, this is the same enemy kaiju lineup that Trendmasters chose for its toyline back in 1998. Poor Barugon, no one wants to taste the rainbow (and it probably hurts that he's so visually similar to Jiger too). To be honest, this trailer didn't do much for me; a bit too chaotic. Hopefully it'll be easier to tell what's happening in the show proper.

Bandai, of course, has readied Movie Monster Series figures of Viras, Zigra, and Guiron already. We're also getting a prequel manga set 100,000 years before the show.

Decades after his rampage through the Marvel Universe, Godzilla is barging into the world of DC (where he'll finally meet Batman). Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong is a seven-issue limited series launching October 17, written by Brian Buccellato (who also penned the short "Fight or Flight" comic that will be included in Legends of the Monsterverse: The Omnibus later this year) with art by Christian Duce. The inciting incident is a battle between the Justice League and the Legion of Doom, which tears a hole in reality to let the Monsterverse through.

I'll confess, I was more jazzed for last year's Power Rangers crossover, thanks to the tokusatsu link. This could just be more of Warner Bros. Discovery bashing its toys together. I'm most curious to see if the Legion of Doom makes a bid to conquer the Monsterverse, which with Godzilla and Kong out of the picture is far less prepared for them than the DC universe is for a couple of giant monsters. Superman beats them all, as Ken Yano once said.

Hiya is stepping further out of S.H.Monsterarts' shadow with a figure of the female MUTO, a character long neglected by toymakers. They showed her off at San Diego Comic Con. Playmates meanwhile releases an ad for Titan Tech Rodan - I'm glad they're not giving up on this delightful subline.

Summer Smash concludes IDW's middle-grade Monsters and Protectors storyline, which has spanned the entirety of their second go-round with Godzilla. You can tell it was supposed to be another miniseries; Godzilla, Jet Jaguar, and Mothra send Mecha-King Ghidorah and the Xiliens packing pretty quickly. Art's still great though.

Godzilla Rivals will persist into October with Vs. Mechagodzilla, the magnificent machine being the last of the Toho's Big Five to headline one of these comics. The intriguing logline:

IS YOUR CITY BESIEGED BY KAIJU? DO YOU LIE AWAKE AT NIGHT ANXIOUSLY LISTENING FOR THE MONSTER SIRENS? HAVE YOU HAD ALL YOU CAN TAKE OF GIANT LIZARDS, MOTHS, PTERODACTYLS, AND SHRIMP? THEN CALL TRACER TECH TODAY! OUR STATE-OF-THE-ART ANTI-KAIJU TECHNOLOGY HAS ALLOWED DOZENS OF CITIES AROUND THE WORLD TO FEND OFF THE THREAT OF MONSTER ATTACK. San Palomar, California. It’s a sleepy city with not much going on. That is, until Tracer Tech built their new corporate headquarters there, displacing lifelong citizens and forcing out local businesses. But what is the source of Tracer’s amazing, almost alien technology, and why has it put San Palomar in Godzilla’s sights? And what can a couple of local kids like Alex and Jaz do to protect their city when the King of the Monsters and its robot doppelgänger clash?

SRS Cinema has opened preorders for The Whale God, revealing this cover art by Bob Eggleton. Special features aren't anything spectacular (they're vaguely described, but I think a couple of essays are included, plus the obligatory trailers). Should be out by the end of the year.

The disc replacement program for Cleopatra Entertainment's misbegotten Shin Ultraman releases has resulted in an only marginally better product. The opening montage has subtitles now... but like the rest of the movie, they're just copied from the English dub. Dubtitles in 2023... and for a film that already has a perfectly good official English translation, no less. Oh, and they threw in some new visual glitches too. If your local library picks up a copy, I recommend telling them about the disc replacement program (as I've done), but don't give these clowns your money.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Intuit: “Our fraud fights racism”

Tonight (September 27), I'll be at Chevalier's Books in Los Angeles with Brian Merchant for a joint launch for my new book The Internet Con and his new book, Blood in the Machine. On October 2, I'll be in Boise to host an event with VE Schwab.

Today's key concept is "predatory inclusion": "a process wherein lenders and financial actors offer needed services to Black households but on exploitative terms that limit or eliminate their long-term benefits":

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2329496516686620

Perhaps you recall predatory inclusion from the Great Financial Crisis, when predatory subprime mortgages with deceptive teaser rates were foisted on Black homeowners (who were eligible for better mortgages), resulting in a wave of Black home theft in the foreclosure crisis:

https://prospect.org/justice/staggering-loss-black-wealth-due-subprime-scandal-continues-unabated/

Before these loans blew up, they were styled as a means of creating Black intergenerational wealth through housing speculation. They turned out to be a way to suck up Black families' savings before rendering them homeless and forcing them into houses owned by the Wall Street slumlords who bought all the housing stock the Great Financial Crisis put on the market:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/08/wall-street-landlords/#the-new-slumlords

That was just an update on an old con: the "home sale contract," invented by loan-sharks who capitalized on redlining to rip off Black families. Back when banks and the US government colluded to deny mortgages to Black households, sleazy lenders created the "contract loan," which worked like a mortgage, but if you were late on a single payment, the lender could seize and sell your home and not pay you a dime – even if the house was 99% paid for:

https://socialequity.duke.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Plunder-of-Black-Wealth-in-Chicago.pdf

Usurers and con-artists love to style themselves as anti-racists, seeking to "close the racial wealth gap." The payday lending industry – whose triple-digit interest rates trap poor people in revolving debt that they can never pay off – styles itself as a force for racial justice:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/01/29/planned-obsolescence/#academic-fraud

Payday lenders prey on poor people, and in America, "poor" is often a euphemism for "Black." Payday lenders disproportionately harm Black families:

https://ung.edu/student-money-management-center/money-minute/racial-wealth-gap-payday-loans.php

Payday lenders are just unlicensed banks, who deploy a layer of bullshit to claim that they don't have to play by the rules that bind the rest of the finance sector. This scam is so juicy that it spawned the fintech industry, in which a bunch of unregulated banks sprung up to claim that they were too "innovative" to be regulated:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/01/usury/#tech-exceptionalism

When you hear "Fintech," think "unlicensed bank." Fintech turned predatory inclusion into a booming business, recruiting Black spokespeople to claim that being the sucker at the table in the cryptocurrency casino was actually a form of racial justice:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/07/business/media/cryptocurrency-seeks-the-spotlight-with-spike-lees-help.html

But not all predatory inclusion is financial. Take Facebook Basics, Meta's "poor internet for poor people" program. Facebook partnered with telcos in the Global South to rig their internet access. These "zero rating" programs charged subscribers by the byte to reach any service except Facebook and its partners. Facebook claimed that this would "bridge the digital divide," by corralling "the next billion internet users" into using its services.

The fact that this would make "Facebook" synonymous with "the internet" was just an accidental, regrettable side-effect. Naturally, this was bullshit from top to bottom, and the countries where zero-rating was permitted ended up having more expensive wireless broadband than the countries that banned it:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/02/countries-zero-rating-have-more-expensive-wireless-broadband-countries-without-it

The predatory inclusion gambit is insultingly transparent, but that doesn't stop desperate scammers from trying it. The latest chancer is Intuit, who claim that the end of its decade-long, wildly profitable "free tax prep" scam is bad for Black people:

https://www.propublica.org/article/turbotax-intuit-black-taxpayers-irs-free-file-marketing

Some background. In nearly every rich country on Earth, the tax authorities send every taxpayer a pre-filled tax return, based on the information submitted by employers, banks, financial planners, etc. If that looks good to you, you just sign it and send it back. Otherwise, you can amend it, or just toss it in the trash and pay a tax-prep specialist to produce your own return.

But in America, taxpayers spend billions every year to send forms to the IRS that tell it things it already knows. To make this ripoff seem fair, the hyper-concentrated tax-prep industry, led by the Intuit, creators of Turbotax, pretended to create a program to provide free tax-prep to working people.

This program was called Free File, and it was a scam. The tax-prep cartel each took a different segment of Americans who were eligible for Freefile and then created an online house of mirrors that would trick those people into spending hours working on their tax-returns until they were hit with an error message falsely claiming they were ineligible for the free service and demanding hundreds of dollars to file their returns.

Intuit were world champions at this scam. They blocked their Freefile offering from search-engine crawlers and then bought ads that showed up when searchers typed "freefile" into the query box that led them to deceptively named programs that had "free" in their names but cost a fortune to use – more than you'd pay for a local CPA to file on your behalf.

The Attorneys General of nearly every US state and territory eventually sued Intuit over this, settling for $141m:

https://www.agturbotaxsettlement.com/Home/portalid/0

The FTC is still suing them over it:

https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/cases-proceedings/192-3119-intuit-inc-matter-turbotax

We have to rely on state AGs and the FTC to bring Intuit to justice because every Intuit user clicks through an agreement in which we permanently surrender our right to sue the company, no matter how many laws it breaks. For corporate criminals, binding arbitration waivers are the gift that keeps on giving:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/24/uber-for-arbitration/#nibbled-to-death-by-ducks

Even as the scam was running out, Intuit spent millions lobby-blitzing Congress, desperate for action that would let it continue to privately tax the nation for filling in forms that – once again – told the IRS things it already knew. They really love the idea of paying taxes on paying your taxes:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/20/turbotaxed/#counter-intuit

But they failed. The IRS has taken Freefile in-house, will send you a pre-completed tax return if you want it. This should be the end of the line for Intuit and other tax-prep profiteers:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/17/free-as-in-freefile/#tell-me-something-i-dont-know

Now we're at the end of the line for the scam, Intuit is playing the predatory inclusion card. They're conning Black newspapers like the Chicago Defender into running headlines like "IRS Free Tax Service Could Further Harm Blacks,"

https://defendernetwork.com/news/opinion/irs-free-tax-service-could-further-harm-blacks/

The only named source in that article? Intuit spokesperson Derrick Plummer. The article went out on the country's Black newswire Trice Edney, whose editor-in-chief did not respond to Propublica's Paul Kiel's questions.

Then Black Enterprise got in on the game, publishing "Critics Claim The IRS Free Tax Prep Service Could Hurt Black Americans." Once again, the only named source for the article was Plummer, who was "quoted at length." Black Enterprise declined to tell Kiel where that article came from:

https://www.blackenterprise.com/critics-claim-the-irs-free-tax-prep-service-could-hurt-black-americans/

For Intuit, placing op-eds is a tried-and-true tactic for laundering its ripoffs into respectability. Leaked internal Intuit memos detail the company's strategy of "pushing back through op-eds" to neutralize critics:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6483061-Intuit-TurboTax-2014-15-Encroachment-Strategy.html

Intuit spox Derrick Plummer did respond to Kiel's queries, denying that Intuit was paying for these op-eds, saying "with an idea as bad as the Direct File scheme we don’t have to pay anyone to talk about how terrible it is."

Meanwhile, ex-NAACP director (and No Labels co-chair) Benjamin Chavis has used his position atop the National Newspaper Publishers Association to publish op-eds against the IRS Direct File program, citing the Progressive Policy Institute, a pro-business thinktank that Intuit's internal documents describe as part of its "coalition":

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6483061-Intuit-TurboTax-2014-15-Encroachment-Strategy.html

Chavis's Chicago Tribune editorial claimed that Direct File could cause Black filers to miss out on tax-credits they are entitled to. This is a particularly ironic claim given Intuit's prominent role in sabotaging the Child Tax Credit, a program that lifted more Americans out of poverty than any other in history:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/29/three-times-is-enemy-action/#ctc

It's also an argument that can be found in Intuit's own anti-Direct File blog posts:

https://www.intuit.com/blog/innovative-thinking/taxpayer-empowerment/intuit-reinforces-its-commitment-to-fighting-for-taxpayers-rights/

The claim is that because the IRS disproportionately audits Black filers (this is true), they will screw them over in other ways. But Evelyn Smith, co-author of the study that documented the bias in auditing says this is bullshit:

https://siepr.stanford.edu/publications/working-paper/measuring-and-mitigating-racial-disparities-tax-audits

That's because these audits of Black households are triggered by the IRS's focus on Earned Income Tax Credits, a needlessly complicated program available to low-income (and hence disproportionately Black) workers. The paperwork burden that the IRS heaps on EITC recipients means that their returns contain errors that trigger audits.

As Smith told Propublica, "With free, assisted filing, we might expect EITC claimants to make fewer mistakes and face less intense audit scrutiny, which could help reduce disparities in audit rates between Black and non-Black taxpayers."

Meanwhile, the predatory inclusion talking points continue to proliferate. Nevada accountants and the state's former controller somehow coincidentally managed to publish op-eds with nearly identical wording. Phillip Austin, vice-chair of Arizon's East Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, claims that free IRS tax prep "would disproportionately hurt the Hispanic community." Austin declined to tell Propublica how he came to that conclusion.

Right-wing think-tanks are pumping out a torrent of anti-Direct File disinfo. This surely has nothing to do with the fact that, for example, Center Forward has HR Block's chief lobbyist on its board:

https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/4125481-direct-e-file-wont-make-filing-taxes-any-easier-but-it-could-make-things-worse/

The whole thing reeks of bullshit and desperation. That doesn't mean that it won't succeed in killing Direct File. If there's one thing America loves, it's letting businesses charge us a tax just for dealing with our own government, from paying our taxes to camping in our national parks:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/30/military-industrial-park-service/#booz-allen

Interestingly, there's a MAGA version of predatory inclusion, in which corporations convince low-information right-wingers that efforts to protect them from ripoffs are "woke." These campaigns are, incredibly, even stupider than the predatory inclusion tale.

For example, there's a well-coordianted campaign to block the junk fees that the credit card cartel extracts from merchants, who then pass those charges onto us. This campaign claims that killing junk fees is woke:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/04/owning-the-libs/#swiper-no-swiping

How does that work? Here's the logic: Target sells Pride merch. That makes them woke. Target processes a lot of credit-card transactions, so anything that reduces card-processing fees will help Target. Therefore, paying junk fees is a way to own the libs.

No, seriously.

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/2023/09/27/predatory-inclusion/#equal-opportunity-scammers

[talesfrommedinastation]

Hello from Medina Station!

Howdy, call me Dr. Meat Muffin.

I'm a busy program director and writer, with a Ph.D in science education. When I'm not writing passive aggressive emails and reviewing terrible papers, working, I like to write and draw.

------------------------

'Far Past the Ring' is my epic crossover of the world of The Expanse and Star Wars' The Bad Batch.

As of November 5th, 2023, the main story is complete. Side stories will be popping up, ranging from explicit smut pieces to simple conversations between characters. Some take place in the Star Wars universe, some in The Expanse, and some, well, in between.

Watch for them :)

Read on WattPad here

Read on AO3 here

Reddit AITA written by Sjael Drummer

Side Story: Good Enough

Side Story: Tenye Fo Me, Teki

Side Story: Mi Omega

Side Story: Kom Wanya Xom

As a science writer, I really wanted to explore the meeting of the two universes that seemed to respond to physics and biology in wildly different ways.

Additionally, I love The Expanse. Like, inhumanly so. And if you like Star Wars, I hope that this inspires you to watch this amazing show.

Finally, I also wanted to write a neurodivergent love story between an ASD individual and a neurotypical individual. I hope that I have done it justice.

--------------------

Some Guides to 'Far Past the Ring':

OC: Sjael Drummer, Ph.D

OC: Tanke Drummer, MD

OC: Timon Chapelle

Minor OCs

Art (there's a ton!)

Author's Note: The Indigenous Future

Author's Note: On Neurodiversity and Relationships

Author's Note: Space Living

Author’s Note: On Neurodiverse Parenting

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The TechiVerse!

If you like the concept of 'Into the Spiderverse', but are still heartbroken by the last finale of The Bad Batch, well, this one's for you!

Read it here on AO3

The OCs!

The non-canon Techs!

A collaborative project between multiple content creators (@wrenkenstein @moosethren @ilikemymendarkandfictional and @techs-stitches, plus yours truly. The characters used belong to their respective authors, all of whom are tagged here in this post)

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Doug Talks Star Wars

My neighbor is an irreverent Boomer from Lafayette, LA, with all sorts of ideas and thoughts regarding a galaxy far, far away. I've taken to texting him regarding animated Star Wars shows and man, his Southern sass is magical. Enjoy!

My redneck neighbor Doug's interpretations on various 'Bad Batch' characters

My redneck neighbor Doug's interpretations on various 'Bad Batch' characters: Side Character Edition!

My redneck neighbor Doug on ‘The Outpost’

My redneck neighbor Doug on 'Pabu'

My redneck neighbor Doug on 'Tipping Point'

My redneck neighbor Doug on 'The Solitary Clone'

My redneck neighbor Doug on why Tech is a Florida Man

My redneck neighbor Doug on Space Cajuns, aka Belters from The Expanse.

My redneck neighbor Doug reads my fanfiction

My redneck neighbor Doug wants to write my fanfiction

My redneck neighbor Doug wants to cheer me up with 'The Clone Wars'

My redneck neighbor Doug writes Star Wars smut/fluff

[journalsouppe]

APOLLO JUSTICE!!!!! AHHHHHH!!!! What i would literally give to have a true AA4 sequel. I wholeheartedly believe if Yamazaki's team could ignore aa4 canon to make 5 & 6 then Shu Takumi should absolutely be allowed to ignore any 5&6 canon to make an aa4 sequel. I'm dying out here pleaseeeeee

The Phoenix sticker is from Peachcott. The Klavier sticker is from Ayabit from the Turnabout Cinema zine. The Apollo and Trucy stickers are from astarsor.

Writing typed below!

rating: 9.8 played: Fa 2023 port: 3DS favorite? Y replayable: Y recommend? Y series: Ace Attorney

Comments

THE JUDGE PAINTING

apollo's such a dork <3

ooo i like the perceive function

i love the music

DONT SAY THAT TRUCY T_T

there's so much going on in this investigation

wow i love how uneasy i feel even after the trial ended

LMAO I FORGOT ABOUT THE PHOENIX SEX PHOTO

i dont think y'all want your panties back...

klav's a bill and ted fan i see lol

LOVE mr eldoon's design 10/10

klapollo meet cute moment LMAO

oops ^^; i accidentally wrote a 600 word essay about the first case

i like how apollo cried over trucy

IT'S JUSTICE TIME??? T^T

i like klavier's hands a normal amount

alita must have some dirty fucking feet

the animations are so smooth

apollo being jealous of klavier at the concert and thinking he's cool LMAO

apollo is WHIPPED

trucy is KILLING it in court, she really is nick's daughter

klavier's shoe print *skull emoji*

out of pocket shiny forehead comment LMAO

lamiroir has similar vocal tones as malon!

THE PENIS FIRE AND KLAV PUTTING IT OUT IN THE BKGD

the smile and hair twirl klavier LMAO

why am i doing this music recording thing T^T

i dont like looking at daryan T_T

letouse kazuma moment lmao

capcom loves the face down death with writing on the ground huh LMAO

wtf is the judge talking about

i love all these scientific tests with ema! :)

i love the snackoos SFX

klav does not miss an opportunity to take a short at apollo's big forehead LMAO

APOLLO YOU DUMBASS

faking blindness is crazy

I KNEW IT WOULD BE DARYAN'S VOICE

klav's office is so much more normal than edgeworth's

WAIT IS IT GRAMARYE AND NOT GRAYMAYRE??

THE ANIMALS??

i love apollo and lamiroir goofing on klav

similar tech opening to brc

WTF WAS THAT KRISTOPH JUMPSCARE T-T

LORD DADDY???

oh he's insufferable

HOLY SHIT THAT'S WHY VERA IS STARING AT KLAV??

"rip off" phoenix is so real for that

are they injecting magnifi with piss??

im curious why kristoph would do this to phoenix

he just left his daughter???

tf is going on

T^T THE KRISTOPH ZOOM IN

why does klav have that egg from dragon tales

apollo understands me with mascots

this is so gay omfg

daryan not liking trucy means he goes even more into the shit book than before

apollo the journaling king

the x-ray function is a really fun addition

BABY TRUCY

omg phoenix with out the ugly hd redraw

GUMSHOE

he said it!!! he said 'ace attorney' lmao

i love and hate that i have to present the journal page

why does the screen shake when mr misham speaks T_T

THAT SCAR IS FREAKY

siblings omgggg

Summary:

I love this game so much. I love it so much that I am heartbroken knowing that AA 5 & 6 butchers the story it setup and I'm considering not even playing them unless AA7 is announced. I love all the main characters so much, the whole story was so well built and I can def see the influence the story had on DGS. Apollo is such a good protagonist, he's relatable but also so unique. I love seeing his character progression in the game: a new attorney who is easily manipulated to a confident and determined attorney who trusts in his own judgement. I LOVED Klavier oh my god. I love how much he respects Apollo and although he doesn't hesitate to tease him, he doesn't bully or abuse Apollo in any way. They both have a mutual admiration and rivalry where they try to play as fairly as possible. Klav doesn't maliciously withhold or change evidence, but he does spend hours reviewing his arsenal and thinks of all the counter arguments the defense could bring up. I really like Apollo's ability, it continues the mystery and mysticism from the original trilogy but with new mechanics. I adore Trucy so much. She honestly might be my favorite AA character. She's determined, strong willed, and above all -- extremely silly. I couldn't of asked for a better character to be Phoenix's daughter. I also LOVE the sibling reveal at the end but gdi if only they actually figure it out T^T T^T. I think Apollo and Trucy's dynamic is probably my favorite Defense and assistant dynamic. This who game was so fun, I know 4-3 is not everyone's favorite and it is a little all over the place but I also enjoyed it and loved the premise. There's so much to say, I haven't even talked about Nick and Kris - what an incredible feud, what a genius development for Nick. I cannot recommend this game enough, I am so obsessed with it and cannot wait to make art <3 <3.

[cwseriesshowdown]

Round 1D: The Republic of Sarah vs Walker Independence

The Republic of Sarah: The bucolic tranquility of Greylock, N.H., is upended when a massive vein of coltan, an incredibly valuable mineral used in tech, is discovered under the town. Lydon Industries swoops in with plans to extract the mineral and wipe Greylock off the map. With her friends and family in danger of losing their homes, rebellious high school teacher Sarah Cooper vows to stop Lydon's bulldozers. Sarah enlists her friends in the fight, but there seems to be no way to stop the town's impending demise -- until Sarah proposes an oddly intriguing solution: Greylock could declare independence. If Sarah and her friends can convince the town to vote for independence, Greylock would gain international sovereignty and could protect its land for good. After a federal judge agrees that Greylock isn't -- and never was -- part of the United States, the town becomes a new nation. Now, Sarah and her allies must confront an even more daunting task and build a country from scratch.

Walker Independence: Set in the late 1800s, an origin story of the series "Walker," "Walker Independence" follows Abby Walker, an affluent and tough-minded Bostonian whose husband is murdered before her eyes while on their journey out West. Abby arrives in the town of Independence, Texas, where she encounters diverse and eclectic residents running from their pasts, chasing their dreams, and keeping their own secrets. Abby runs into Hoyt Rawlins, a slippery rogue, thief, and con artist with a dented heart of gold who quickly eyes Abby as a mark, until she turns the tables on him. In seeking justice for her husband, Abby and Hoyt soon find themselves precariously aligned, both seeking to uncover the truth about the identity of Abby's husband's killer, and vow to save Independence -- a frontier boomtown where nothing is what it seems.

[vashtijoy]

index of meta posts, part three

possibly this is getting out of hand?

Indexes: [one] [two] [third semester] [akechi's confidant].

out-of-universe meta discussion

On Akechi's bodycount and how to interpret canon. (posted 2023/04/22)

Is Akechi obvious, or is Joker an unreliable narrator? (posted 2023/02/19)

On the "perfect victim" myth, and how Akechi does not consider himself a victim. (posted 2023/02/16)

Akechi's resemblance to Light Yagami is totally superficial and is meant to mislead you. (posted 2022/12/11)

cute things

Akechi uses the full title of the Featherman show, like Futaba. (posted 2023/04/26)

Goro, please carry an umbrella, you're killing me. (posted 2023/04/24)

What would Akechi's love language be? (posted 2023/03/25)

"Honey, I'm home": intimacy chicken with Joker. (updated 2023/03/26)

P5A: Akechi looks like a crow and shoots directly at Joker's head—and Joker laughs. (posted 2023/02/25)

"the fish are beautiful": Joker's impromptu diversion at the aquarium. (posted 2023/01/20)

sad things

NPC cop to drunk NPC: "Akechi-kun, your family is probably worried about you." (posted 2023/03/30)

The toy shop at the end of "Proof of Justice" is in Kichijoji. (posted 2023/03/014/09)

P5A: Akechi looks like a crow and shoots directly at Joker's head—and Joker laughs. (posted 2023/04/26)

Anon comment on Akechi getting dragged into the "found family" trope by the ankles. (posted 2023/02/18)

yes, there is gay subtext in your innocent waifu simulator. (posted 2023/02/07)

little details

[twitter] Akechi's main outfit is his school uniform. (posted 2023/06/23)

How did Morgana see Dome Town? Also, the RL TV studio. (posted 2023/05/30)

Akechi and the evil wristwatch he wears only on his own time. (updated 2023/05/03)

When does Akechi start using Joker's given name? (posted 2023/03/26)

Followup ask: can we pin this down more precisely? (posted 2023/07/22)

@somethingpersonarelated reviews Akechi's outfits [tags are mine]. (posted 2023/04/25)

Akechi's school uniform doubles as his day job uniform. (posted 2023/04/29)

The toy shop at the end of "Proof of Justice" is in Kichijoji. (posted 2023/04/26)

The toy gun, Proof of Justice, was likely conceived to be Akechi's palace treasure. (posted 2023/04/09)

tech stuff

[twitter] Material from the betas. (posted 2024/01/23)

[twitter] Technical requirements for Akechi's third awakening. (posted 2023/09/01)

Character signature colours and Yoshizawa's phone. (posted 2023/08/15)

Akechi's "cute wink" cut-in, and his "evil wink" cut-in, and when they're used. nb this is wrong and needs updating (posted 2023/04/08)

fic excerpts

Goro and his mother: Akechi at six. (posted 2023/11/30)

Goro and his aunt: Akechi at nine. (posted 2023/03/27)

Postcanon HCs and Ren finding Akechi again. (posted 2023/1/15)

Goro and his uncle: Akechi at thirteen. (posted 2023/04/26)

How would I like Akechi's story to continue? (posted 2023/03/21)

Shido confronts Akechi about the Metaverse. (posted 2023/03/04)

12/24: deduce, panic, kill: P5 as a comedy text adventure. (posted 2023/02/03)

other characters

How would Akechi and Mishima get on? (posted 2024/01/18)

Is Joker from the city or the country? (posted 2024/01/17)

Shido's Palace: what do the posters say? (posted 2024/01/14)

Deleted scene: Haru's hangout at Crossroads. JULIAN AND ANGEL WARNING. (posted 2023/12/14)

The Monabus was registered in Tsukiji. (posted 2023/11/20)

Haru: "we'll just take him out again". (updated 2023/10/19)

9/3: the Featherman allude to Haru on TV. (posted 2023/05/13)

How do we know Joker's grey shirt is sleeveless? (posted 2023/04/26)

@nardaviel's excellent guest post about Joker. (posted 2023/03/28)

On forgiveness: Haru's approach to Akechi. needs updating, sigh, that one Mementos line has at least another reply from Makoto. (posted 2023/02/12)

It's Yusuke who steps forward to tell Shadow Shido he was the worst dad. (posted 2023/01/02)

lolarity

Incorrect Persona: "There was more than one lobster present at the birth of Jesus?" (posted 2023/12/25)

Miel et Crepes is (obviously) a pancake café. (updated 2023/05/28)

Would Futaba make Danganronpa jokes to Akechi? (posted 2023/05/15)

Akechi and the Russian takoyaki. (posted 2023/05/04)

Akechi allegedly smells like the sleazy Veteran Pick-Up Artist on Central Street. (posted 2023/04/30)

The other Goro Akechi (and the food blog). (posted 2023/01/22)

Akechi and Joker height truthing. (posted 2023/01/01)

Akechi, stop staring at Joker's bed. (posted 2022/12/27)

word of god references (other people's posts, etc)

from @starfirexuchiha: Some new Akechi trivia: What's in his attaché case? Akechi wears the argyle to copy Naoto. What's his apartment like? What bike does he ride? How is he with spicy food? Why and when does he eat with his right hand? Yes, Akechi awakened to both personas at the same time.

PQ2: rival characters have a greater presence when they're calm, and also Akechi probably painted the mural.

P5A: "for us, we know he's a detective."

P5A: why there is more Akechi.

"Maruki does not have concrete proof that Akechi is dead." (incidentally y'all, I would love a better source for this one.)

"Akechi's confidant is the key to the third semester". [JP]

[silurisanguine]

Adam Jensen's timeline (so far)

I've worked out dates and his respective age. Though some month dates are fuzzy I've assumed, unless specified, that an event happened at the beginning of the determined year and carried through the year. All the known dates are confirmed on the Wiki.

(conjecture is in blue, unknown specific dates suggested in green)

Might be useful for anyone writing! (just please credit me if you use this)

(Also note, if i find anything new i'll edit this list, so always check back occasionally to see if its been updated.)

1993 March 9th: Adam is born.

1998 5yrs old: Possible birth parents die in arson of lab

1998 - adopted by Jensen couple

2007? 14yrs old : high school captain of debate team.

2012 19yrs old : Possibly gains Associates degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Phoenix, Detroit at this time or within the next few years.

2014 21yrs old: joined the Detroit Police Department. Possible Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice from Phoenix University and Ferris College at this time or within next few years through remote study or part-time.

2017 23yrs Old: Meets Megan Reed for first time.

2018, 24yrs old : joined the Department's SWAT unit, ends up leading second unit, thanks to his skills.

2019 25yrs old : starts relationship with Megan Reed.

2023 30yrs old : breaks up with Megan but stays friend and co-owns their dog Kubrick.

2025 32yrd Old - Megan starts taking genetic samples from Adam. (How does she do this? Most likely scenario is she gets hair off a hairbrush of his. I doubt from the way they interact that they are 'friends with benefits'.)

2026 33yrs old : After 13 years, quits DPD and SWAT after Mexicotown massacre. It's painted as if he is fired.

2026 (6 months after quitting DPD) : Joins Sarif industries on behest of Megan, who, unknown to Adam, needs access to his DNA to continue her research.

2027 34yrs old (May) : Attack on Sarif headquarters the day Megan was to go to Washington to present her research on rejection free augmentation. Adam is nearly killed and saved with augmentations thanks to Sarif and a contract stating he could do this to Adam in such event.

2027 6 months later (October): Adam returns to work, 6 months early yet fully adapted to his augments already. (normally takes longer for that many.)

2027 (Just before flying to Hengsha he is diverted to another mission) : romantic fling with Lady Katrina Sutherland, who is almost as augmented as Adam is, after a horse riding accident. She dies saving his life.

2027: Events of Missing link, where he discovers the organisation The Juggernaut Collective and a figure known as Janus.

2027 (near end of year?): He finds Megan and her team after investigations lead him all over the world.

2027 (end of year, little ice in Arctic due to global warming, not summer time) : the Aug incident happens. He stops Darrow and destroys Panchaea, seemingly drowning in the aftermath.

2027 : A week after the Incident and collapse of Panchaea, the rescue effort is changed to recovery and two days later a secret military team combs over the wreckage, finding Jensen.

2028 - 35yrs old: Adam wakes from coma in facility 451 in Alaska. 'Told his Sentinel kept him alive'. Gaps in his memory plague him, and he escapes with the help of Francis and Stacks, another patient. Jenna Thorne is an illuminati agent posing as a gov agent.

2028/ 2029 35/36yrs old- (December into Jan possibly description) : Detroit - Adam works with Francis to help stop old Sarif tech being stolen by thieves working for the Illuminati. Involves TF29 and Juggernaut involvement. Stacks dies after having a flashback to the Incident.

2029 36yrs old - (January maybe) : Because of events, Adam agrees to join TF29 US branch. Also joins Juggernaut Collective secretly.

2029 -End of Febuary - Criminal Past mission reportedly happens in Arizona, where Jensen goes undercover in a top max prison to find Hector.

2029 March/April? - Jensen moves to Czechia - Prague (Praha), transfers to Prague branch of TF29 under Miller.

2029 April?- First mission for Prague TF29 in Dresden, prevents an augmented terrorist using children as soldiers.

2029 Late October? : - Jensen does the Dubai mission and then events happen in Prague.

2029 November? : (takes 2 days from Prague to the safe harbour convention in London) London apex centre, foils plot. Returns to Prague a week later.