#munk lectures

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Saturday linkdump, part the sixth

On September 12 at 7pm, I'll be at Toronto's Another Story Bookshop with my new book The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation.

On September 14, I'm hosting the EFF Awards in San Francisco.

I usually write this blog 5-6 days/week, but every now and again, I take a break, and when I do, I get massive link backlogs of stuff I want to write about, but lack the time to address in depth. When that happens, I turn my Saturday edition into a linkdump. Today, I present the sixth in the series – here's the other five:

https://pluralistic.net/tag/linkdump/

Why was I offline and away from my blog? I went to the dirt rave. Yes, I was one of the 70,000+ people stuck in the mud at this year's Burning Man, and when I emailed my editor at the New York Times to say I might be late on the op-ed I was working on, she asked me to write about what this year's mud crisis meant:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/06/opinion/burning-man-flood-playa-climate-change.html

tl;dr:

Bad weather is normal at Burning Man (it's a feature, not a bug);

Mostly burners leapt to the occasion, which is what people almost always do in disaster situations;

This is the second Burning Man heavy weather year in a row;

The climate emergency is tipping the Black Rock Desert from "extremely challenging" to "impossible";

This isn't the last event, place and tradition that will have to be radically reconsidered in light of the climate emergency;

But now I'm home, in my hammock, with all the laundry done – just in time to leave again. I'm about to head back to my hometown of Toronto for a book launch. The Internet Con, my latest nonfiction (from Verso Books) came out last week, and I'll be appearing at Another Story Bookshop on Tuesday:

https://anotherstory.ca/events/29283

Internet Con is a "Big Tech disassembly manual." It explains how Big Tech got so big (lax anti-monopoly enforcement, which led to regulatory capture, which let Big Tech abuse our privacy, labor rights, and consumer rights), and how we can use interoperability so it's no longer Too Big to Fail, nor Too Big to Jail:

https://www.versobooks.com/products/3035-the-internet-con

You can read a long excerpt from the book in Wired, which lays out some of the shovel-ready legislative, regulatory and technical proposals that are the book's main purpose:

https://www.wired.com/story/the-internet-con-cory-doctorow-book-excerpt/

You can also hear me read the whole introduction and first chapter of the audiobook on my podcast:

https://craphound.com/internetcon/2023/08/01/the-internet-con-how-to-seize-the-means-of-computation-audiobook-outtake/

That comes from the audiobook, a DRM-free, independent edition that I financed, produced and narrated myself. You can get the audiobook everywhere except Audible, Apple Books, and Audiobooks.com, all of which have mandatory DRM policies. You can also get it direct from me:

https://transactions.sendowl.com/products/78992826/DEA0CE12/purchase

The DRM-free ebook is available everywhere ebooks are sold (Kobo, Kindle, Nook, etc), as well as in my own DRM-free ebook store:

https://transactions.sendowl.com/products/78992801/9C4FC2B8/purchase

Verso's books are sold in bookstores around the world; you can support your local bookseller by buying it through Bookshop:

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-internet-con-how-to-seize-the-means-of-computation-cory-doctorow/18771891?ean=9781804291245

If you'd like a signed copy, there's stock at Book Soup:

https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245

Now, it was inevitable that I would do a book event for Internet Con in Toronto – I've never had a bad event there, and I love my hometown – but the timing of this event was driven by a non-book-related factor. Talking Heads is appearing together at TIFF, to support the re-release of Stop Making Sense, the greatest concert film in human history:

https://pluralistic.net/StopMakingSense

People often ask me what my favorite book is, and I always tell them that you should never trust people who have one favorite book, as it inevitably turns out to be The Bible, The Fountainhead, or Mein Kampf. But while I don't have a favorite book, I have a clear and unambiguous favorite band.

If I was forced to listen to no music other than Talking Heads for the rest of my life, I would be perfectly happy. Ecstatic, even. Throw in David Byrne, Tom Tom Club and Casual Gods and I probably wouldn't even notice anything missing.

There's a running joke among my Burning Man campmates that whenever I'm in charge of the music, I'm just shuffling Talking Heads rarities, and whenever someone puts on anything else, I demand to know which Talking Heads album it came from. Which is all to say: I have tickets for the Talking Heads event at TIFF and I could *not be more excited.*

Continuing on the Canadian theme, one of the annual highlights of Canadian media is the Massey Lectures, a series of public lectures given around the country and rebroadcast on CBC. These are always great, but recent years have been superb – Ron Deibert's 2020 series was unmissable:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/11/10/dark-matter/#citizenlab

This year's Masseys are shaping up to be the GOAT. They're presented by Astra Taylor, an activist rock-and-roller turned documentary filmmaker who is one of the founders of the Debt Collective, fighting for student debt cancellation. Everything Astra does is amazing and her profile on CBC Ideas gives some background on the role that unschooling played in making her the powerful activist she is today:

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/astra-taylor-interview-2023-massey-lecturer-1.6959320

There's no question that things are messed up right now, but Astra and people like her shine out like beacons of hope. 17 years ago, self-described "democracy nut" Tom Stites gave one of the seminal lectures on the role news media play in democracy:

http://citmedia.org/blog/2006/07/03/guest-posting-is-media-performance-democracys-critical-issue/

17 years later – and from his perch as editor at the essential International Consortium of Investigative Journalists – Stites presents us a long-overdue, extremely pertinent followup: "Building Civic Energy is the Goal, Not Saving Old News Business Models":

https://banyanproject.coop/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Hope-College-speech-for-Banyan-website-1.pdf

Stites's intervention is extremely timely, because policymakers all over the world have made the mistake of thinking that Big Tech is stealing the news media's content, which is absolutely untrue. It is good, actually, to index news stories and let people discuss, quote from and link to news stories. News you're not allowed to talk about isn't news, it's a secret.

But Big Tech is stealing from news. They're not stealing content – they're stealing money. The Google/Apple duopoly rakes 30% off every subscription payment collected in an app. The Google/Meta duopoly rakes 51% out of every ad-dollar (and maintain that death-grip through creepy, privacy-invading surveillance ads). Meta and Twitter hold social media subscribers hostage, forcing publishers to pay to reach their own subscribers.

We don't want the news to be Big Tech's partners – we need them to be Big Tech's watchdogs. "Link taxes" and other profit-sharing arrangements between the media and tech cut against the civic energy Stites wants to build.

(You can read more about this – along with policy prescriptions for halting Big Tech's rent-extraction from the news – in "Saving the News From Big Tech," my EFF white-paper:)

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/saving-news-big-tech

If your spirits are lifted by stories of principled activists achieving important – and improbable – victories, you could do worse than to attend the EFF Awards on in San Francisco Sept 14 (I'm the emcee). This year, we're honoring Alexandra Elbakyan for her founding of Sci-Hub, the Library Freedom Project and the Signal Foundation:

https://www.eff.org/awards/effawards/2023

In more activist news: Mozilla produced a startling and astoundingly good – if demoralizing – report on the state of digital privacy and security in the automotive sector:

https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/articles/its-official-cars-are-the-worst-product-category-we-have-ever-reviewed-for-privacy/

Entitled, "It’s Official: Cars Are the Worst Product Category We Have Ever Reviewed for Privacy," the report reveals just how absolutely terrible the automotive sector is when it comes to privacy practices, collecting (and selling) (and giving away) information about your sex life, your geneology, your genetic characteristics, and your smell (no, seriously).

Their recommendations for which new car you should buy boil down to "don't buy a new car." I have been urging consumer research groups to release a report like this for a decade. There are whole categories of gadgets – like, say, "smart speakers" – that are unsafe at any speed. At a certain point, reviewers need to have the guts to say that every manufacturer in an entire sector is a dumpster fire and they should all be dragged in front of a firing squad – or at least a Congressional committee.

Cars, after all, are nightmares of privacy invasion and rent-extraction, the source of autoenshittification on a massive scale, a mobile form of technofeudalism:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/24/rent-to-pwn/#kitt-is-a-demon

The fact that cars score so badly on privacy is especially ironic given the campaign Big Car waged against the 2020 Massachusetts Right to Repair ballot initiative, in which car manufacturers held themselves out as the defenders of driver privacy from unscrupulous third parties who couldn't be trusted to handle the vast troves of data your car collects with every hour that God sends:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/03/rip-david-graeber/#rolling-surveillance-platforms

This is a familiar refrain: monopolists often claim that any check on their absolute authority over their users will expose those users to privacy risks. Apple has run a global ad-campaign claiming this, and while Apple does prevent Facebook from spying on iPhone owners, they also secretly spy on those customers in exactly the same way that Facebook used to, and lie about it:

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

It turns out that giant companies just aren't good proxies for their customers' interests, and that the power they amass through monopolization shouldn't be counted on as a source of user safety. Monopolists won't reliably defend user privacy – that job belongs to democratically accountable regulators. That's an argument I developed in detail with Bennett Cyphers in our EFF white-paper "Privacy Without Monopoly":

https://www.eff.org/wp/interoperability-and-privacy

That is, rather than getting privacy by "voting with your wallet," you need to get it by voting with your ballot. "The market" is an election that you vote in with dollars, which means that the people with the most dollars always win. When there are zero cars on the market that are safe to drive, you can't vote with your wallet by buying a good one.

On a related subject, the DOJ Antitrust Division has brought the most important tech anti-monopoly case of the century, charging Google with monopolizing search:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/06/technology/modern-internet-first-monopoly-trial-us-google-dominance.html

Part of the DOJ case turns on the fact that Google goes to extraordinary lengths to keep you from every trying another search engine, paying out more than $45 billion every year to be the default search on every device, program and service you might use. In other words, Google spends entire Twitter's worth of dollars every year, lighting it on fire to keep you from finding out about rivals.

Google argues that this is fine, actually, because these are only defaults, and users can dig through their settings to change their search engine. Sure, Google – and the first 20 search results you serve are only defaults, and it wouldn't matter if you were ordered to put them ten screens down, because users could always scroll to see them.

But search defaults aren't the only way that Google locks in searchers – and then harms us by invading our privacy. Google's ubiquitous Chrome browser ties Google's search to Google's invasive, nonconsensual, total surveillance. Chrome turned 15 this year and Google made a huge PR splash out of the anniversary:

https://blog.google/products/chrome/google-chrome-new-features-redesign-2023/

But all that puffery conspicuously failed to mention that Google had quietly rolled out its long-discredited, new surveillance technology, FLOC, which it pretended to kill in 2021:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/22/ihor-kolomoisky/#not-that-competition

FLOC is back, rebranded as the Topics API: this is a system for spying on you so advertisers can target you. Google is spinning this as a privacy improvement because it might someday replace "third party cookies," one of the creepiest web surveillance systems.

But as Ron Amadeo writes for Ars Technica, Chrome is the last major browser to support third party cookies – both Safari and Firefox block them by default. So Google is basically saying, "We are going to improve your privacy by changing how we spy on you, even though all our competitors don't do this kind of spying at all":

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/09/googles-widely-opposed-ad-platform-the-privacy-sandbox-launches-in-chrome/

This kind of gaslighting, where Google pisses in all our mouths and tells us it's raining, is the hallmark of a decrepit, arrogant, crapulent monopolist that needs to be shattered in the courts. Kudos to the DoJ for doing the people's business here – and kudos to DoJ antitrust boss Jonathan Kanter for promising that he will not go into corporate law when he finishes his stint in government.

The DoJ isn't the only public agency that's serving the American people. The FCC just announced proceedings to force cybersecurity labels for "smart" devices:

https://www.fcc.gov/consumer-governmental-affairs/fcc-proposes-cybersecurity-labeling-program-smart-devices

This is long overdue, and it's a welcome action from the FCC, which was hamstrung for years because cowardly Democratic senators joined with homophobic, libelous Republicans in blocking confirmation hearings for the amazing Gigi Sohn:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/15/useful-idiotsuseful-idiots/#unrequited-love

After years of abuse, Sohn bowed out. Now, Anna Gomez has been confirmed to fill that fifth FCC chair, turning the FCC into a fully operational battle station:

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/senate-votes-approve-anna-gomez-5th-fcc-commissioner

The fact that there's all this great stuff going on in the administrative branch is easy to lose sight of amidst the circus of federal electoral politics, in which Donald Trump has retained his role as ringmaster and chief distractor.

Thankfully, we have expert Pantsless Emperor skewerers like Ruben Bolling around – his latest Tom the Dancing Bug revives his brilliant Calvin and Hobbes-inspired Trump gag:

https://boingboing.net/2023/09/06/tom-the-dancing-bug-a-calvinesque-and-hobbesian-look-at-taking-a-mug-shot.html

Well, that's me signing off for the weekend – I've got to pack for my flight to Toronto. If you're looking for more weekend fun, check out the trailer for Fractured Veil, the video game my old pal Chris DiBona has been working on for seven years and which is heading for Steam early access next month:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjNd3QQnENU

Just watch it. I mean. Wow.

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/2023/09/09/nein-nein/#everything-is-miscellaneous

Image: Roel Schroeven (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/roelschroeven/45413895

CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

[annachum]

Some Cats HCs

Munk is like one of those cats who frequently visits universities, theatres and museums. He's one of those cats whom the university students, professors and theatre and museum patrons often meet and say hello, and he may enjoy listening to lectures on biology and chemistry and such

Skimbleshanks' human literally works as a train driver for the Northern Express ( which goes between England and Scotland )

Tugger is one of those cats who frequents in jazz bars, rock concerts and LBGT rallies.

I think his human is a Black British dude who is the leader of a jazz band in London lol

Demeter and Bombalurina are amongst the cats who frequented in theatres and clubs. Bomba more on burlesque and cabaret, while Demeter more on drama theatre and opera

Gus is widely respected amongst the theatre cats in London. I mean, he's literally like a Charlie Chaplin of the cats, so even in his elderly years whenever he strolls by the younger theatre cats paid their tributes to him

Jennyanydots frequents in orphanages, old people's homes and schools. She becomes a darling of a certain Christian run old people's homes in London, mainly because she helps catch the rats of the old peoples' home

Jellylorum frequents in schools and art galleries

Victoria becomes a darling of the Royal Ballet Academy and her human is a famous ballet dancer/teacher of the Royal Ballet troupe.

Misto frequents in theatre colleges, circuses and magician clubs

Cassandra frequently visited the Egyptian exhibits across London. Her family immigrated from Cairo when she was a kitten, and later on she got a human who is an archeologist in the British Museum specializing in Egyptian history and artifacts

Bustopher Jones ( who is also the father of Alonzo and Misto ) was a stray cat in the past life. And then he was reborn as a well bred and well fed cat amongst the English aristocracy. He also regularly provides provisions of food for the Jellicles. Bustopher also frequents in horse races, the theatres and also sometimes snuck into the Parliament and patiently listening and observing the meetings ( I think his human is some Lord who is also a member of the Parliament )

The Jellicle kittens and young cats often hang around each other, often going to the ' youth frequented places ' like comic cons and sneaking into clubs ( and also keeping in mind of curfews, especially Munk is very particular about curfews )

Electra, Etcetera and Jemima also often hang around their big sister Victoria in their adventures together. They frequented parks and schools together, and they also became darlings of the Royal Opera Theatre

Basically the Jellicles often frequent in places they like and the humans are fairly aware of them yet didn't really think much of the details of the cats' stories and real names

Yet Amongst the pets of London, many knew and heard of the Jellicles, particularly Old Deuteronomy, who been through 9 lives and 9 wives and bears many children with the wives. Wherever Old D went he was paid tributes by the cats he meets

[millenari]

13 (the gold rush prequel) for the meme? 🥺

Number 13, the gold rush prequel! This one just kind of folows the story of Misto (and Victoria) joining the junkyard, and kind of follows up some of the claims Misto and Tugger made about their early friendship, as well as accidentally exploring a younger Munk's feelings about losing Macavity along the way

“I have to wait until I’m an adult to play with Misto?”

“No, Tugger,” Munk sighs forcefully, stopping to turn to the kitten. “Even when you’re an adult you won’t be able to just decide you’re entitled to other cats’ attention. Just because you want something doesn’t mean you get it; I don’t know how many times I have to explain this to you.”

Tugger frowns through this lecture, not looking moved. His dark glare flicks between Mistoffelees on Munk's hip and Munk himself before he says, “I wanna play with Misto.”

“Well, you can’t,” Munk responds.

Tugger’s lower lip juts out at this rejection, and then he takes a deep breath that Munk knows from experience doesn’t mean anything good. He opens his mouth to speak again, but--

“I wanna plaaaay with Mistoooooooo!” Tugger wails, tilting his head back to the stars. The cry starts out just regular old loud and annoying, but with a control Munk will reluctantly admit is impressive for Tugger’s age, steadily rises in pitch and volume until Mistoffelees is twisting against Munk’s shoulder, face screwing up as if the sound physically pains him.

“Tugger!” Munk barks, but his voice is nearly lost under the shrieking. He crouches low and grabs Tugger by the shoulder to shake him, but of course that does nothing to discourage him, and Tugger continues to wail. Mistoffelees lifts clawed hands to hover on either side of his head while Munk’s trying to get Tugger to knock it off, shoulders bunching up like he’s in actual pain, so Munk doesn’t think anything of it when he wiggles away and onto the concrete. If he could, Munk’d run away from this display too.

However he does think something of it when Mistoffelees doesn’t scurry off and instead ducks around Munk’s leg to place himself before Tugger, popping onto his tiptoes to plaster both of his hands over the shrieking kitten’s mouth.

“SHUT UP!” little Mistoffelees shouts in an appropriately little yell, shocking both Munk and Tugger to stillness and silence. Mouth finally shut, Tugger tilts his head back down to peer at Mistoffelees with wide eyes.

In the following silence, Mistoffelees retracts his paws to scratch behind his ear, and in the scant couple seconds it takes him to do that Tugger recovers entirely from his surprise and goes right back to grinning cheerfully. “Do you want to play Ball?” he actually has the nerve to ask.

[leslarmesdesmorts]

@danceofthedruid Jake to HyeJin

Jake avait ouvert son agence depuis quelques mois maintenant et cela fonctionne vraiment bien. Il avait eu de la chance, la plupart des célébrités avec qu'il travaillait précédemment l'avait suivis. Il fallait reconnaître qu'il leur avait offert sur un plateau un contrat que personne ne pouvait refuser. S'il avait bien appris quelque chose depuis qu'il était dans le métier de la gestion d'artiste est que plus la répartition des gains est élevé, le plus de célébrité sont intéresser. Si bien qu'il avait proposé un retour des gains de 90% pour l'artiste et 10% pour la compagnie. Cela lui réussissait plutôt bien.

Ces derniers mois, il avait ouvert une nouvelle section, après les acteurs et les groupes de kpop et MC, il avait décidé de gérer les influenceurs. Il cherchait encore par qui commencer. Beaucoup avaient essayé de contacter l'agence depuis l'annonce, mais comme à son habitude Jake voulait être prudent. Il ne voulait pas d'influenceur trop problématique, cela nuirait à l'image de marque ainsi que les autres artistes sous l'entreprise. Le destin avait fait bien les choses, car une vidéo d'une jeune femme faisant un Munk bang faisait fureur sur le net. Jake sortis de son bureau pour aller dans le bureau de ces chasseurs de têtes. Il ouvrit la porte du bureau et leur montra son écran de téléphone.

"- Vous me la trouvez immédiatement !" Ordonna-t-il. "Je vous ai envoyé le lien de la vidéo par email. Je veux qu'elle soit dans notre agence. Et faite tout pour qu'elle y soit." "- Bien Monsieur !" Dirent en cœur ces employées. "- N'oubliez pas par non plus de vous alimenter pendant cette course contre le temps."

Il fit un signe de la main à ces équipes avant de retourner à son bureau. Il lui fallait une personne comme elle ! Cette femme était le début de sa nouvelle branche. Jake remit son téléphone dans sa poche de costume un sourire sur les lèvres.

"- Monsieur, vous semblez bien heureux." Commenta RoWoon, son assistant et amis depuis toujours. "- RoWoon, pas monsieur." Grimaça-t-il. "- Jake, tu es sûre de pouvoir l'avoir ?" S'inquiéta-t-il. "Il semblerait que de nombreuses agences la veuille." "- Je ne m'en fais pas pour ça. Il y a toujours un moyen de convaincre les gens."

Il tapa gentiment l'épaule de son ami puis entra dans son bureau et reprit la lecture de ces documents. Il leva la tête alors que RoWoon était toujours devant lui.

"- Quoi ?" "- Tu es sûre de toi ?" "- Absolument, alors dès que tu as son numéro, tu reviens me voir."

RoWoon fit oui de la tête et sortie du bureau laissant Jake à sa paperasse.

[afairytalestray]

@storyweaverofgondor‘s Cats-pril day 29 - fouettés. I based this off my human uni AU short from Mildly Angsty May. Also on Ao3 here.

..

Most of the time, Misto preferred to practise ballet in the university’s studio. But sometimes, either when that studio was booked or Misto did not want to interact with other human beings, Tugger would come home to find all the furniture pushed against the wall, and Misto pulling off some complicated and cool move in the middle of the living room. Today, it seemed, was one of those days.

Tugger opened the door and nearly tripped over the coffee table, which had been shoved right over by the doorway. He seized the handle to steady himself, before he realised he’d need far more than a door to stay calm. Misto was dancing on their hardwood floor, doing a series of difficult-looking spins. Fouettés, Tugger knew they were called. He didn’t know a lot of the French ballet words, but fouettés held a special place in his heart – they were how he had met the glorious dancer who was now his boyfriend.

He had been in a foul mood that day. He was running late for a lecture that was on the 12th floor of a building with a single broken-down lift, and unaware that in this particularly nasty building, the 12th floor was actually below the 11th. So Tugger had barged along the corridor to his room, then tried to quietly slip in so the lecturer might not notice his lateness. To his surprise, he walked not into a lecture hall, but a dance studio. Much like now, his breath caught in his chest as he watched a young man dance. He spun, and somehow, impossibly, just kept on spinning. How he didn’t get dizzy and/or fall over, Tugger still wasn’t sure. He counted fifteen spins before the man stopped, and noticed that Tugger was there. Unable to speak, Tugger had just burst into a round of applause. The man had blushed and said it was nothing, and of course Tugger had to disagree. Tugger forgot about his lecture, they got to talking, discovered both of them were in the market for a roommate, and Tugger moved in the next weekend.

Tugger had fallen hard and fast for Misto, who was shy when you first met him, but when you got to know him was the most fun and amazing person you’d ever meet. Tugger had lamented being in love with his beautiful roommate who he had thought would never feel the same way many times to Munkustrap. But then Munk had visited and pulled his head out of his arse. With his brother’s encouragement, Tugger finally got up the nerve to tell Misto how he felt. To his surprise and delight, Misto liked him back, and they had been together ever since.

And it was thanks to stupidly-impressive fouettés! Tugger had never been particularly interested in ballet, but they were spectacular to watch, and Misto himself was so gorgeous and stunning that Tugger couldn’t help but let out a cheer from the doorway.

Misto managed a few more before needing to stop, turning to Tugger with a broad smile on his face.

“New record, babe?” Tugger asked with a grin.

“Twenty-four,” Misto answered, his breath just a bit heavy. Mind-bogglingly fantastic, he was. Twenty-four fouettés and barely tired.

“Yes!” he shouted back, scrambling round the coffee table and vaulting over the couch to gather Misto in his arms. “You’re goddamn spectacular, you are. Totally worth me nearly tripping over the coffee table!”

“Sorry,” Misto said, laughing slightly.

“Well, my life did flash before my eyes for a moment, but the sight of your beautiful face brought me back,” Tugger said dramatically.

“You’re terrible!” Misto snorted, running his hands through Tugger’s artfully messy hair.

“I’m a joy.”

Tugger leaned down to kiss his spectacular boyfriend. Yeah, he could handle the occasional surprise furniture reorganisation for this

[emmikay]

Mistoffelees: Hey, Munk. I just wanted you to know that there’s a lecture on astral projection next Friday.

Munkustrap: Oh, you won’t be at the Junkyard that day? Good to know, thanks.

Mistoffelees: No, I’ll be here. I just thought you should know that I’ll also be there.

[hysterical-cats]

5, 6, 7, and 10

5: Favorite romantic headcanon?

Deme, Bomba, and Munk like to take AT LEAST one night a week to stay in together (with Jemi/Silly) and just hang out.

6: Favorite platonic headcanon?

Bomba, Cass, and Alonzo are the talking shit trio but theyre also who you go to if you fucked up and don't want a lecture.

7: Favorite sibling headcanon?

Jellyorum and Asparagus Jr. as siblings is so sweet and good

10: AUs you like?

UMMM i dont have any aus myself but i LOVEEE ur regency au its sosososossososososo good. Been considering making some human designs for a few cats tho!!

[0zzysaurus]

I really loved your tags on that Alonzo GIFset, and I'd love to hear more of your headcanons about Macavity's hideout! :)

I'm actually in the midst of writing a massive outline for my fanfiction, so I'm going to give you what I have so far up to Part 4!!

Part 1:

Munkustrap and Macavity are currently involved in the first ever Jellicle Leader coalition. Macavity has been preaching and proselytising that Munkustrap isn't fit to lead and will destroy the tribe, and has convinced Old Deuteronomy to allow him to co-lead. He claims that the contorting of traditional Jellicle law will bring the wrath of the Everlasting Cat, though this is just fearmongering that he's using to try and persuade tribe members to put their faith in him as Leader. Munkustrap can see right through it, and knows Macavity is just bitter for not ever even being considered for Jellicle Leader, and is hungry for control and power. Coricopat advises him not to censor Macavity's preaching because it could convince more tribe members into thinking what Macavity is saying - that Munk has the potential to be tyranical if left to lead alone - could be true. Munk takes this advice, but does his best to assure those close to him that Macavity is talking out of his ass.

Meanwhile, Macavity has known since the beginning that the coalition is unstable and will most likely break down, so he's been establishing his own clan in Aldwych station. Any strays, or rehabilitated ferals are brought in and convinced to join through promises of shelter, food, leadership, and the protection of a tribe. Grizabella is Macavity's biological mother, but not Munkustrap or Tuggers. She personally believes Old D refused to consider him for leader because he is her son. She sympathises with Macavity and helps to establish and run the Aldwych Clan when he is away. As far as the other cats are aware, Grizabella simply abandoned the Jellicle Tribe.

The next Jellicle Ball will be Tugger's first, and he's due to perform his coming of age dance. While he is performing, Macavity begins to feel spiteful, and starts an argument with Munkustrap over how poorly Tugger has been trained. It escalates into a shouting match and eventually a physical fight - ultimately this is the final breakdown of the coalition. Tugger will blame himself for this split in the coming months. The coalition split causes a dramatic shift within the tribe itself. Sympathisers and followers of Macavity propose an exodus, and Mac encourages them - while Munkustrap maintains that no one should leave. Mac uses Munk's desperate feelings over this to further convince his followers that the Jellicle tribe is a cult, and they should go. Demeter and Rumpleteazer are both convinced to leave - Demeter being Mac's mate at the time, and Teazer being sympathetic to the idea of being an older sibling who has been neglected over the younger (Etcetera is her younger sister, and seems to get a lot more attention from Skimble than he gives to her. Clearly, Teazer is the most naive of the followers.)

Part 2:

Ultimately, Mac's followers leave and are surprised to find that they've been brought to a pre-established clan. They're brought to the main platform and sorted into toms and queens, that are then led to different sections of the station. Teazer and Demeter are brought to the harem, where both react with significant disgust and reject the proposal immediately. Bomba steps in to defend Demeter when Mac threatens her physically, and Macavity decides he'll leave them to talk - he expects Demeter and Rumpleteazer to comply by the time he gets back. Bomba reassures Demeter and says that she's safe - but Rumpleteazer refuses to stay, and leaves.

Unsure of where she should go, and being utterly lost in the tunnels, Teazer follows the sound of fighting and discovers a henchcat den where a gang of cats are harassing and bullying a smaller tom around her age. Still feeling heated from before, she doesn't stop to consider the danger and steps in to defend the tom. Her feisty nature and confidence actually works in intimidating the harassers, and they leave. She introduces herself, only to be completely rejected by the tom. She's surprised, calls him ungrateful - which she regrets later - and leaves. Teazer takes note of a map pinned on the wall that was once used by Underground workers to navigate maintenance tunnels. Now abandoned, the tunnels are now only home to the clan, and patrolling hench cats who are capturing and disposing of deserters. She takes note of where the den she just exited is before exploring. She ducks into a vent when she smells Macavity approaching down the hall.

Demeter explains to Bomba what happened at the tribe, and Bomba is equally as confused - not knowing that another tribe even existed in the area. She tells Demeter why the queens are here, and that Macavity has been trying to get kittens from them for months, only not to succeed. Either the queens simply are not getting pregnant, or those who do mysteriously disappear. Demeter is nervous, but is positive that her mate won't hurt her. The other queens give her unsure looks, but no one questions her.

Teazer hides in the vent until she is sure Macavity has left the hall, but as she's about to come out, she falls through a weak sheet of metal into another den. She lands right on a sleeping Alonzo - the Deputy of the henchcats, and almost has to fight for her life, until Alonzo realises that she's just a young moggie. He dismisses her, only to be met with fervent assurances that she can handle herself and could take him out if she really wanted to. Alonzo calls her reckless, and that her fighting skills are lacking. After some deliberation, he decides that he will train her as a henchcat. He lets her sleep the night in his den since it's late and curfew is already enacted.

Part 3:

The next morning, Demeter wakes up early to find Grizabella in the Queen's den - tidying an empty nest. Before she can say anything, the older cat slips away, and she falls back asleep - convinced it was a dream. Macavity makes an announcement on the intercom. He welcomes all new members, vaguely noting that those who have complied and remained have integrity and strength beyond their cowardly peers. Alonzo brings Rumpleteazer to the Morning role call, and when Macavity questions her presence, Alonzo simply assures him that she is his latest apprentice. Macavity scoffs at the idea, and tells Alonzo to return her to the harem when he finally gives up on her. The other henchcats laugh at this, but the tom from before stands nervously, watching her. She turns away from him and he leaves with a group of other cats. Teazer is about to follow them, but feels Alonzo's paw on her shoulder, and is reminded that she has training to do.

Demeter wakes up again and overhears Bomba and Cassandra talking with each other. Cassandra expresses concern for Demeter - that she has the "most potential" out of them all - presumably but not explicitly said to be the next to bear a litter. Demeter gets up and interjects with a morning greeting, and Cass slips away back to her nest. Bomba apologises on her behalf, explaining that she is a clairvoyant and can predict events, as well as read auras. Before she can explain more, Macavity enters the den and calls away one of the queens. She goes without objection, but looks back at Bomba with anxious eyes. Demeter asks what is going to happen to her, and Bomba reiterates that Macavity is trying to have as many kittens as he can - presumably to boost the clan's population as well as grow his bloodline. So far he hasn't been successful.

Meanwhile, at the Jellicle tribe, Munkustrap and Old Deuteronomy discuss the upheaval of their tribe. Munkustrap is concerned that the tribe will not be able to recover from this loss, and is quick to blame Coricopat for failing to advise him of this future. Old D firmly corrects him that it's not within Cori's powers to predict the future - and also reminds Munkustrap that the tribe - now more than ever - requires a strong, steadfast leader who can keep them together. Munk laments that he is not fit for this role, but Old Deuteronomy points out the cluster of cats in the clearing waiting for him to lead them. Old D also reminds him that he will not be around forever to lead the tribe, and that Munk must work with his advisers and community to restore order. Skimbleshanks is distraught at his daughter's absence, and begs Old Deuteronomy to bring her back. Old D explains that he can't force her to return, and she has to make her own way - but Skimble is adamant that she is in danger. Munkustrap assures him in confidence that he will do his best to bring her back for him.

Part 4:

Back at the Clan, Alonzo and Teazer have begun their training. Alonzo is quick to point out that Teazer is quick to enter fights that she may be unable to finish - and explains that not getting into fights at all should be a priority. Mediation bores her, and Teazer complains that there will surely be times that this decision is not within her hands - and that there will be times that she must fight. Alonzo agrees, and acknowledges her impatience, and they begin to practice defensive techniques. Teazer finds it difficult to defend against heavy blows, and is knocked on her ass a few times. Alonzo explains to her that she can't just stand there and take the hits when her body type isn't build for handling it. Instead he encourages her to use evasive tactics, noting that she was quick to slip out of his angry grip when they initially met. After practising this for a while, she becomes impatient again that she hasn't had the chance to deal any damage. Alonzo is about to lecture her on how wearing out an opponent with dodging could allow her to knock them down with weaker attacks - until the intercom blares, and Macavity calls all henchcats to his den. Alonzo postpones their training.

Macavity's den is like a large meeting room, with a side cupboard that contains his nest. In the meeting room, all the hench cats congregate. Beside him, the tom Teazer defended stands anxiously. The other hench cats he had left with prior also seem to be extremely nervous. Macavity is clearly holding back anger. Macavity begins lecturing the room that failure isn't something that can be brushed off as a simple mistake. It is an active threat upon the future of the clan and must be punished with significant force. Teazer is afraid, and whispers to Alonzo - asking what's going on. Alonzo explains that Macavity will often send cats out on missions for him - spying, reconnaissance, theft, etc. Anything that provides useful resources or information. Whenever a group fail to retrieve anything of worth - or worse, compromise his plans, Macavity becomes enraged, and often kills whoever is at fault. Teazer becomes terrified for the safety of the tom and asks Alonzo if he will be okay. He tells her that the cat is called Jerrie - and he usually takes the blame for anything that goes wrong in any expedition he goes out on. Teazer asks why, and Alonzo explains that Macavity - while seemingly not giving a single shit about the rest of their wellbeing, has allowed Jerrie to get away with allsorts - and hasn't killed him yet. Because of this, everyone pins their mistakes on him - knowing he won't be killed, and knowing it will save their own hides. He notes that the only downside is that public executions and beatings are, well... public, and they're all forced to witness it. He advises Teazer to think of a happy time in her life, close her eyes, and try her best not to listen too much.

Back in the Queen's den. Bomba and Demeter are talking about their childhood. Bomba tells her about life as a street cat, but explains that she hadn't always been alone. After the recession, her humans had abandoned her, and she ended up here - lured in with promises of somewhere safe to sleep. She'd been under Macavity's control ever since, and her scars are from fighting back against him. At this point, Mac has given up on her, but keeps her around as a bodyguard for the harem - acknowledging her strength. Bomba says she'd almost feel flattered if she didn't hate Mac's guts so much. Demeter tells her that she had always been part of the Jellicle tribe, and that her mother had passed away only recently. Macavity had been there for her after her mothers death, which led to them developing romantic feelings for each other. Bomba is surprised - claiming she'd never seen Mac express a genuine emotion in his life. At this point, the queen who had left before returns. Her fur is ruffled and she refuses to look any of the other queens in the eye. Cassandra approaches her at her nest, and holds her paws over her for a moment before shaking her head. Bomba dismisses herself from the conversation with Demeter and brings the queen water and food.

Once all the henchcats have finally filtered out from Macavity's den, Teazer waits at the doorway to try and catch Jerrie in a conversation, but the tom doesn't seem to be leaving. When she spies in through a crack in the door, she sees Macavity tending to the tom's wounds and fixing his fur. Jerrie doesn't recoil from the clan leader. Utterly confused - Teazer is about to enter again, but is distracted by Alonzo's voice calling to her from the hall. She quickly returns to his side and asks why Macavity is bothering with Jerrie at all. Alonzo expresses his own confusion. He tells her that Jerrie had been there the longest out of all of them, and has spent most of his life in the clan. He notes that the tom is good at what he does - exceedingly good. He's an excellent thief, and incredible escape artist, and one of the few cats in the clan who can actually read written English. Rumpleteazer suggests that this must be why Macavity doesn't kill him - but Alonzo rejects this, noting that Macavity has killed off much better spies and thieves than Jerrie for much smaller mistakes. Regardless, they head back to the henchcat den for food and a mental and physical rest.

After taking a short nap, Teazer wakes up to find the den mostly empty. She finds a catscratch note from Alonzo explaining that he'd gone out on an expedition and would be back after curfew. She sighs in frustration that they wouldn't be able to spend the afternoon training, and alerts the attention of Jerrie, who is quietly sifting through the pantry for something to eat. Teazer offers him the rest of her tin of tuna, and he shakes his head. Growing more frustrated, she yells at him that she isn't bad like the others, and that he needs to accept that she wants to be his friend. He expresses to her that he doesn't think she's a bad cat, but that he doesn't want her to be targeted for being an ally of his. She laughs, and assures him that she can take care of herself, explaining that Alonzo is training her. Jerrie laughs that Alonzo always picks the strangest cats to train, and the two of them share the remainder of the tin. Teazer apologises for her brash and rude behaviour when they first met, and Jerrie also apologises for being dismissive of her. Teazer also expresses guilt at abandoning Demeter in the harem and says she wants to visit her to ensure that she is safe. Jerrie agrees to escort her there once they have finished eating, as he is a regular visitor to the queens, and is one of the few toms that Macavity allows inside their den.

Part 5 and onwards of my outline will come at a later date!!

[per-the-jellicle-magician]

I'm not saying a lecture about energetic security is boring, but it kinda is, so I'm rewatching Cats Warsaw and making screenshots of every time Misto's using his magic and Munk every time somehow missing it completely

I'm in the middle of "Bustopher Jones", and it already happened like 8 times

[skimblyshanks]

Skimbleshanks for the character ask? If someone has already sent him, then Alonzo?

MMy boy,, my son,,,Aloonzooo

Ok so I have like, 3 different Alonzos (1998-inspired, US Revival-inspired, and now Madrid-inspired), but Revival-based Lonnie is nearest and dearest to my heart so this’ll be for him.

Something this character is truly proud of.

Now that he’s done it and survived, he’s got a lot of pride about actually getting to dig his claws into Macavity’s shoulders.

Who they want to please the most.

Munkustrap, all the way. He wouldn’t mind pleasing Old Deut too, but his main priority is making sure he’s on good terms with Munk.

Who depends on them.

George Pouncival, mostly. He adores Alonzo, and is the main person(cat? kitten? lmao) that’s actually putting all their faith in Alonzo’s paws.

What they would do if they had one month to live.

He’d either...

A.) go out working his arse off, proving his worth to Munk

or B.) give up on that, and start a bucket list speedrun with Plato and Cassandra as his backups to make sure he didn’t die before the deadline.

A cherished personal belonging.

The vicar had gone out and purchased a small coverlet when he noticed baby Munkustrap. Munk willingly gave it to Alonzo when he was born, and it has stayed in his den ever since.

Something they lost, but would love to have back.

Old Deuteronomy had given him a pet rock when he was little. He kept track of it for three months before he lost it in a rainstorm. It is his oldest shame, and he still checks the vicarage for his lost Mr Havard.

This character’s favorite character

In-Universe? Munkustrap for sure. but like characters that are just as much fictional to them as they are to us? Spot the dog, and he will gladly admit it.

What kind of car they would drive.

Well, there’s the car he’d like to drive and the car Munk and Deut would actually help him shill out for. He’d like a BMW, M4 if he could help it. He gets to drive a used Volkswagen Alltrack, at least until Munk can buy himself something new. At that point, Alonzo would get a well-used but well-maintained Ford Focus.

What calms them when they are upset.

Physical contact. He responds well to that physical pressure against his back or side.

How they deal with pain.

He tries (and fails) to bottle it up. Because it fails, he gets annoyed, faster to anger, and easier to distract.

This character’s favorite piece or pieces of clothing.

He’s got a collar from the Vicar’s wife. He doesn’t wear it, but he likes having it around.

How they sleep.

He sleeps curled loosely under his blanket when alone. When he’s with someone else, he’ll try to coax them under the blanket, but will press right up against and around them either way.

What kind of parent they would be.

I feel like he’s more likely to be the stricter parent, given that he had Munkustrap as his main guardian growing up. He’s probably also the kind of dad to worry if he’s doing it “right”. He probably won’t voice these concerns to anyone but Munk, Jelly, and maayybee Deut. That said, I think he’d still do pretty well for himself; he’s got a support network.

How they did in school

Pretty good! He wasn’t a straight-A student by far, but Munk wasn’t going to let him fail his classes.

What cologne or perfume they would use

He’s not too picky, but he usually goes for cinnamon or musk oil, scent-wise

Their sexuality

He’s still figuring it out

What they’d sing at karaoke

oh man I’m bad at this audhsidualwieug

Special talents they have

He’s very good at disarming people

When they feel safest

When Munkustrap is nearby

Household chore they hate the most

Oh, doing the laundry. First there’s a line a metre long for everyone else to do their laundry, then no one lets you know that the wash’s open until it’s almost midnight so you just shrug it off then next thing you know it’s been a month since you’ve washed your clothes and Munk is giving you a lecture.

Their fondest childhood memory

His first trip to The Junkyard. They had started out very early in the morning, and he was still a sleepyheaded little kitten, so he got to ride on Old Deut’s back most of the way there, while Munk trotted alongside and talked up jusst how awesome the Yard was. It was the best trip Alonzo had ever taken, and probably the closest he and Old D had ever been.

How they spend their money.

He’s always got a good £30 when he goes out, but since he lives with Deut and Munk’s family they’ve got a bit of a collection pot going. He’ll spend that £30 pretty quickly, mainly on coffee and trinkets/baubles for his friends, and go on debit if he anything else strikes his fancy. If he’s on grocery duty, he’s given the cash just before he heads out.

What kind of alcohol they drink

He doesn’t drink that often, but perhaps a glass of rosé here and there.

What they wish they could change about themselves

Alonzo’s main struggle (shown onstage) is in building his own identity beyond Munkustrap; he wants to be strong enough; brave enough to protect the tribe without running to Munk for help.

What other people wish they could change about them

Munk would like for him to understand priorities better. He shouldn’t be dropping other things he needs/wants to do because Munk mentioned the possibility of a plan. He’d also like him to pick up a better sense of self-confidence, both for himself and so he can better protect the tribe.

[mortimers-cross]

CATS 2019 Headcanons (9/?)

Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer got wind of the fact that Munk was finding a human family for Misto, and took matters into their own paws. 

They convinced the still-quite-young-and-gullible Mistoffelees to go on a late-night “adventure” with them, which turned out to be a burglary heist - on their former home, naturally. The little girls were at a friend’s home for the night, and the three felines had a grand old time tearing up the bedroom, though they avoided the rest of the house knowing the adults were at home. 

When it was time to leave, Jerrie and Teazer slipped out the window and closed the shutters behind them - “just as a bit of a joke,” as they later insisted. The window itself still being open, Misto should have been able to push his way through, but having no experience with houses he figured he was trapped. 

The girls found him hiding under their bedcovers the next morning, and assumed this was their new kitten, a surprise from their parents. Each parent, in turn, assumed the other had been the one to bring the kitten home. As for the state of the bedroom, the dog was blamed and the girls lectured about keeping their door shut. 

All in all, the situation has turned out all right. The family all adore Misto, and he’s learnt that the dog poses little threat and can be easily distracted merely by throwing something for him to chase. He’s also learnt the trick of escaping through the window any time he wants to have a break and visit his feline friends. 

Still, it’s left him with a deepseated distrust of Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer. 

[uppastthejelliclemoon]

Okay okay okay but imagine Tug doing something really really stupid and he almost gets hurt (or maybe he does) and Munk starts yelling at him and Tug gets mad and yells back about how Munk always lectures but never cares and Munk yells about how he lectures because he cares and he was so scared when Tug did the stupid thing and then he breaks down and Tug is shocked because Munk never let him see him cry like he had heard him in the night a few times as kids but Munk never broke down like this

“What the hell were you thinking?” Munkustrap shouted, turning to face his brother. Tugger simply looked back at him as he bandaged his leg. The maine coon had decided to go up against a large Peke who had insulted Bombalurina as the red queen was returning to the Junkyard, and he had gotten a rather nasty scratch out of the whole ordeal. He had walked back into the Junkyard, proud as anything, with his leg bleeding and nearly giving Munkustrap a heart attack. 

Tugger winced slightly as he tied off the bandage. “I was thinking that I wasn’t about to let any of our queens be insulted by a Peke, Munkustrap.” Munkustrap took a deep breath, trying to ignore the sting of pain that came from his younger brother using his full name. 

“You couldn’t have gotten anyone else to go with you? You should have at least taken Plato, or one of the other toms!” the silver tabby snapped, trying to control his voice as his volume rose. “What if you had gotten killed, Tugger? Do you even think before you go charging in headfirst into situations like these?” Tugger glared at his brother. “Sometimes I wonder where your head is at! You don’t think!”

“And all you do is lecture me!” Tugger exclaimed, and Munkustrap stepped back in surprise. “That’s all you do! I tried to protect Bomba, and now you’re making it seem like I did something wrong! You don’t care about me, you just care about making sure that there are no more screw-ups from our messed up family!”

“Goddamit, Tugger, I do care and I was fucking terrified!” Munkustrap shouted, his voice breaking. “I’m yelling at you because I care and I don’t want you to get yourself killed! I can’t lose my brother, Tugger!” Tugger stared at his brother in shock as Munkustrap tried to hold back his tears. Tugger hadn’t seen his brother cry in years. The last time he remembered Munkustrap crying was after their mother left when Macavity was still with them. Munkustrap hadn’t cried since that day. “You could have been killed by that Peke, and I never would have been able to handle it, knowing I could have been with you and I could have saved you.” Munkustrap sagged to the floor, squeezing his eyes shut as tears fell down onto his fur, his voice shaking as he cried, forcing words out between sobs. “You’re my little brother, Tugger. How can you say I don’t care?”

[storyweaverofgondor]

Random Cats plot bunny

I just had a random plot bunny where the kittens made one of those blow dart pipe things(I am not a hundred percent sure what their called) for when Munkustrap gets really extra tired and stressed. The first time they used it he was in the middle of an argument with Tugger. Tugger tried to lecture them because ‘drugging people without their consent is wrong’ but he also couldn’t stop laughing because there was a bright pink pom pom sticking out of his brother’s butt.

it lasted until Pouncival accidentally swallowed the dart and Munkustrap had to perform the Heimlich Maneuver. all the kittens were grounded indefinitely and Munk walked away touched by their concern and disturbed by their methods.

[prehistoricalcats]

Rumpleteazer asks: 1, 23, 27?

1. Who do they look up to?

Skimbleshanks, her dad. Adopted dad actually. He took her in after her bio parents died when she was six. She also looks up to Jenny and Bomba, who are sort of a mother-figure and big-sister-figure respectively

23. What do they want most in life?

She just wants to have fun, do mischief, and hang out with Mungo. And she's got all of that, so she's pretty dang content with her life at the moment.

27. Do they have any cool scar stories?

Welllll there's some scarring from the transition surgeries, but she doesn't personally consider that a "cool story." Mungo thinks it's neat though

She's also got a scar on her back that she doesn't like to talk about. She got it the day her bio parents died

She does like to tell anyone who will listen about the time she and Mungo had just gotten away clean from a job uhh "left work" and were cutting through a construction site on their way home, laughing and celebrating, walking side by side in the dark, when suddenly Teazer dropped out of sight

She'd managed to walk right into an open pit in the construction site. Thankfully it wasn't very deep. She twisted her ankle a bit and bashed her head on a toolbox, but was otherwise mostly unhurt. Mungo helped her climb out of the pit and hobble home, where Jelly put five stitches in her head and Munk lectured them both on taking better care of themselves ("Hypocrite" commented Teazer, rolling her eyes)

You can't really see the scar but she'll take your hand and put your fingers on the spot where you can feel the line of raised scar tissue where the gash had been

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday Kenneth Campbell Stott born 19 October 1954.

Born to David Stott, a teacher, who had previously been a priest, and Sicilian born lecturer Antonia Stott was educated at George Heriot's School. For three years in his youth he was a member of a band called Keyhole, members of which later went on to form the Bay City Rollers.

After attending Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London, Stott began working in the theatre for the Royal Shakespeare Company, but for some years his earnings from acting were minimal and he was forced to support himself by also working as a double glazing salesman. This is echoed in the character he plays in Takin' Over the Asylum.

Perhaps most famous for his role as Balin in The Hobbit films, Stott is also known for his starring role in the Scottish crime series Rebus as well as a host of other shows on TV. His first role on the small screen was in the 70's series Secret Army, he went on to be in The Singing Detective, London's Burning and Your Cheatin Heart in the 80's among other others, in the 90's we saw him in All Good Things, the aforementioned Takin' Over the Asylum and Silent Witness as well as the polisman investigating Ewan McGregor in the film Shallow Grave, he also joined up with two other actors from Trainspotting, Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle in Plunkett & Macleane on the big screen, and as another polisman in The Debt Collector with Billy Connolly and Annette Crosbie.

Into the 21st century Ken played DCI Red Metcalfe Red Metcalfe in the brilliant Messiah on TV then D.I. Pat Chappel in another excellent cop show, The Vice, then DI John Rebus in 10 episodes of Rebus.

The "noughties" saw no sign of Stott slowing down, with the three Hobbit movies and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian also among his work on the big screen.

More up to date Ken has been in the Missing playing the dark character Ian Garrett, War & Peace as Osip Alexeevich Bazdeev and as Erling Munk in Series 2 of the sci-fi psychological thriller show Fortitude.

Right up to date, Ken co-starred in The Mercy with Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz and we will next "see" him in the animation Strike.

As well as his film and TV work, Ken Stott also likes to tread the boards at various theatres over the British Isles, he was nominated for a 1997 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actor in a Play of 1996 for his performance in "ART", as well as doing voiceovers for fly on the wall documentaries like such as Trawlermen, following North Sea trawlers, and Send in the Dogs, following the work of UK Police Officers and their canine partners.

Stott has a grown up son, David, by his first marriage, which ended in divorce. He married his long time partner the artist Nina Gehl in 2016