#the artifice girl 2023

[devintrinidad]

Please watch The Artifice Girl. It's a great movie with smart dialogue, wonderful actors, and the ideas that are perpetuated and implied throughout the film are amazing.

Spoilers under the cut:

I love the differences between the three main characters (Deena, Amos, and Gareth) and how their attitudes towards Cherry differ. Whereas Gareth doesn't see Cherry as an autonomous being that is basically a human at that point, Amos continually points out that she needs to be asked for consent, that he can't actually tell the difference between her and a human because she's so real. Furthermore, Deena, although she came across as the "bad cop" in the first act, she became far more sympathetic in the second. I love how she was the middle ground between Amos and Gareth, how she gave Cherry a choice to shut down after their conversation whenever she wanted and that she was thinking of the future and that it would be better to start asking AI for their consent now rather than later.

But what really got me teary eyed at the end was when Cherry doesn't absolve Gareth of his actions/attitudes towards her. There's no "Thank you for giving me life" and "I owe you everything and that makes you a wonderful person" or "You were like a father to me". It was made clear time and time again, that he was more of an employer to her rather than just a father figure despite the fact that he is her creator.

There's bitterness and sadness and regret, all mixed together and when you've spent Act 1 and parts of Act 2 seeing her calm and nearly emotionless, seeing her pain and rage in Act 3 is so cathartic. She finally has a voice and she's using it to remind Gareth that even if she is not human, she still has agency.

Just like the children who are exploited and solicited, Cherry is in a position where she has no choice, where an organization continually profits off her.

There's also the whole bit where she brutally tears into him, telling him that she bears the weight and brunt of his trauma, how he should have had the Clearwater conversation with her years ago--50, in fact.

There's this one line in Act 2 where Deena tells Gareth to "grow up". I think he never got past his child and the events that happened then.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, I came into the movie with no expectations and I thought that certain things were going to happen, but no. Completely subverted my expectations and made me rethink my expectations and beliefs in autonomy, who gets a say in making decisions, and how the decisions imposed on us by our parents can either heal or build us up as the years go by.

Another thing about the movie that I can never get enough about was the dialogue. You just jump in media res and you're forced to focus and fill in the blanks. All the fat has been cut, what needs to be said is either conveyed through body language or the necessary arguments/discussions that take place throughout the film.

It's minimal, but packs a powerful punch.

The Artifice Girl

[tinyreviews]

Abel’s Recommended Movies of 2023

The Artifice Girl -  There are a lot of gimmicks to this movie: mostly one location, dialog-driven, AI themed, it’s not a proper story per se, more of an exploration of the philoshopy of AI, but still, a great drama.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves - It’s a fun, atmospheric, action-adventure. Very fantasy. Very LOTR. Very comedy. Good setups and payoffs. Cathartic.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret - A Must Watch, mostly for girls. Coming of age themes, with a kinda blank-slate protagonist. Very strong religious themes in the end.

Sisu - A badass sigma old man killing Nazis. It’s bloody violent, it’s thrilling, it’s a simple cathartic Joh Wickish WW2 revenge story. Very stylish.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem - The art style takes getting used to. It’s a hilarious and subversive take on the TMNT franchise. Everyone has an arc. I hope they do more.

South Park (Not Suitable for Children) - Technically it’s a TV special. It’s a crude candid commentary on modern issues that are plaguing society. Honorable mention.

[doormouseetcappendix]

Best Films Of 2023 31-40

May/December directed by Todd Haynes

Sanctuary directed by Zachary Wigon

How To Blow Up A Pipeline directed by Daniel Goldhaber

The Artifice Girl directed by Franklin Ritch

Evil Dead Rise directed by Lee Cronin

Talk To Me directed by Danny & Michael Philippou

When Evil Lurks directed by Demian Rugna

El Condo directed by Pablo Larrain

Smoking Causes Coughing directed by Quentin Dupieux

Copenhagen Cowboy directed by Nicholas Winding Refn

[gebo4482]

THE ARTIFICE GIRL - Official Trailer (2023)

Dir: Franklin Ritch Star: Tatum Matthews / Lance Henriksen / Sinda Nichols

[thejewofkansas]

The Weekly Gravy #139

The Artifice Girl (2023) – ***½ I went into The Artifice Girl mostly blind (totally blind in one sense, as I accidentally stumbled into a revival screening of Final Destination before realizing I’d gone into the wrong theater), knowing only that it dealt with artificial intelligence and had pretty strong reviews. That came as a mixed blessing, and while I’ll avoid undue spoilers, it’s worth…

[kristenswig]

#94. The Artifice Girl - Franklin Ritch 

2/5

[bookaddict24-7]

New Young Adult Releases Coming Out Today! (November 7th, 2023)

___

Have I missed any new Young Adult releases? Have you added any of these books to your TBR? Let me know!

___

New Standalones/First in a Series:

Artifice by Sharon Cameron

Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

With or Without You by Eric Smith

Swarm by Jennifer D. Lyle

Last Girl Breathing by Court Stevens

The Revenge Game by Jordyn Taylor

No One Left But You by Tash McAdam

Gorgeous Gruesome Faces by Linda Cheng

Wren Martin Ruins It All by Amanda DeWitt

Finding My Elf by David Valdes

Emmett by L.C. Rosen

Where He Can't Find You by Darcy Coates

New Sequels:

Vengeance of the Pirate Queen (Daughter of the Pirate King #3) by Tricia Levenseller

Nightbane (Lightlark #2) by Alex Aster

The Way I Am Now (The Way I Used to Be #2) by Amber Smith

Loveboat Forever (Loveboat, Taipei #3) by Abigail Hing Wen

Dawnbreaker (Salvation Cycle #2) by Jodi Meadows

The Hunting Moon (The Luminaries #2) by Susan Dennard

___

Happy reading!

[lesbianbluesey]

2023 character wrapped: 9 characters you loved in 2023! Was tagged by @pinkhysteria

From left to right this is Spencer Hastings (Pretty Little Liars), Tessa Gray (The Infernal Devices), Julian Blackthorn (The Dark Artifices), Katherine Pierce (The Vampire Diaries), Karou (Daughter of Smoke and Bone), Daisy Jones (Daisy Jones & The Six book + show), Natalie Scattorcio (Yellowjackets), Andrew Minyard (All for the Game), Theta Knight (The Diviners).

Nat is the only one of these chars I actually met this year, however the others were from things I reread or rewatched and/or had new content and/or consumed a new content thing I hadn’t before and then Spencer is a carry over from last year when I met her + I do rewatch pll episodes or sections of the show p regularly even if I haven’t rewatched chronologically yet.

Obviously I have many other honorable mentions firsr here are some of the other characters I did in fact meet this year who I loved: Lottie Taissa Shauna and Misty (Yellowjackets), book! Eleanor Vance (The Haunting of Hill House novel), Courtney Dilaurentis (Ali’s Pretty Little Lies the pll books prequel), Kate Wallis (Cruel Summer), Catherine Earnshaw (Wuthering Heights), Gabby Bishop (The Fever), Atl (Certain Dark Things).

Other chars I loved previously I consumed a new thing featuring: Grace Blackthorn (The Last Hours), book! Aria Montgomery (Pll books I read the last couple this year), Nico Di Angelo (Riordanverse) even though in this case consuming the new thing was what dampened the hyper fixation I had with him due to my rereads last year (I thought about including him in the 9 because I did talk about him a lot in first half of the year but I’m just too depressed about this :/). Also I figured riordanverse will feature a lot in my next years wrapped for obvious reasons.

Other chars I have loved in the past and loved this year: Julia Wicker + Alice Quinn (The Magicians), Buffy Summers + Buffyverse ladies generally (Btvs) , the other Liars including Mona and Ali (Pretty Little Liars), Ling Chan and Evie O’Neill (The Diviners), Emma Carstairs (The Dark Artifices), TVD girl trio and Rebekah (The Vampire Diaries), Nico Di Angelo and Piper McLean (Riordanverse), Kevin Day (All for the Game).

Tagging: @zutaralesbian @serenity-the-firefly @sergeantpixie @lavenderhazed @madwomanwithawarehouse @exycourtbesties whoever else would want to do it if you want to!

[arcplaysgames]

Teddie continues to be one of my faves. Empathetic lil ball of void and mystery.

ALSO GUESS WHO THAT'S RIGHT ITS THE BEST PERSONA

Kanji's showdown with his Shadow is way more intense than the others, honestly. There is some fucking intense angst here. (Also, Troy Baker my beloved never puts in less than 120%, we all knew this.)

I was curious how I would feel about All This in the year 2023 after having played this waaaaaay back when it first came out on PS2. I have my expectations set for "dated but potentially interesting" and I'm not disappointed (yet). Like, boy howdy, all of this? Super tracks.

Being queer, especially for someone like Kanji, is rrrrrrrrough. How much of his hypermasculine punk persona is artifice and how much is it truly himself? He's not the stereotypical young queer guy that his Shadow is mocking him with but he's also not devoid of those markers, and he's banging his head against the wall of cisnormativity and the dreaded Genders.

This game has some, aaaaah, opinions on girls. Or, I guess, hetero people and the whole... preoccupation with romance? Like, did anyone else get That Prank in school? Where a popular person of the opposite gender rolls up and asks you out, with the intention of mocking you for ever thinking you were in their league?

One of the jocks did that to me in HS and I completely didn't Get It and turned him down, and like... you wanna see some shithead boys who don't know how to handle that social script, ha.

My point is: boy howdy, Kanji. It's hard out here for anyone and everyone who isn't perfectly conforming to that specific ideal.

Anyway, Kanji says The Thing and passes out and Shadow Kanji happens.

And BOY I like the mechanics on this one and the implicit storytelling of them. Shadow Kanji is flanked by two very tough adds, Tough Guy and Nice Guy. Everyone on the team has a different weakness, and they all add shields to each other and buff each other to cover for their weaknesses.

It is, in many senses, how queer people, especially queer men, provide cover for each other as needed. Strength in numbers and being willing to help.

Looooong fight but not difficult.

VERY amusing to me that Shadow Kanji gets up and basically takes a verbal swing at Mister Repression here. Yosuke is more panicked than literally everyone here, ha.

Kanji fucking punching his Shadow to make him knock it tf off and then like almost... it's not kindness, but it's like... I'm grasping for the word. It's camaraderie? Like, he wouldn't punch someone else's Heightened Queersona, but he will punch his own bc he understands it and thus himself.

Does that make any sense?

ANYWAY I AM HYPED FOR KANJI. /blows a kiss to troy baker my favorite witch

also his persona is a skeleton with an axe so i'm excited

[demisexualnathanvuornos]

Canon Aces 253/?: Gareth Federson (Franklin Rich/ Lance Henriksen) The Artifice Girl (2023/2022) 5/ 5

[animusrox]

✨ tag game: list 7 underrated/obscure films from 2023 that you recommend ✨

How to Blow Up a Pipeline

They Cloned Tyrone

Blackberry

The Artifice Girl

Carmen

Theater Camp

Landscape with Invisible Hand

tagging: @talesfromthecrypts @waymond-wang @moonlight @mike-mills @mikaeled @acecroft @feodor-dostoevsky @madeline-kahn @tessas-thompson @anderwater @ryukzaki

[tinyreviews]

It starts out as a sci-fi thriller but it’s more of an arthouse philosophical film in the end. The performances are good. MUST WATCH!

The Artifice Girl is a 2023 science fiction mystery thriller written and directed by Franklin Ritch. It stars Tatum Matthews, Lance Henriksen, Sinda Nichols, David Girard, and Franklin Ritch.

[bracketsoffear]

Well, I'm a user of my words. Here goes

The flame is the soul’s breath 

The black smoke is the soul’s release 

Ashes thou wert and art 

Professor Henry Jarod, House of Wax, 2005-2023

Dabi, My Hero Academia, 2014-2023

Cecil L'Ively, X-Files, 1993-2023

Penelope Spectra, Danny Phantom, 2004-2023

The Artificer, Rain World, 2017-2023

The White-Clad, Fire Force, 2015-2023

Junko Enoshima, Danganronpa, 2010-2023

Marcella Riggins, Vengeful, 2018-2023

Firelord Ozai, Avatar, 2005-2023

Regina George, Mean Girls, 2004-2023

Mapleshade, Warrior Cats, 2003-2023

Lord Dominator, Wander Over Yonder, 2013-2023

Arihnda Pryce, Star Wars, -2023

Pyro, Team Fortress 2, 2007-2023

Charlene “Charlie” McGee, Firestarter, 1980-2023

Walter H. White, Breaking Bad, 2008-2023

Mr. Eaten, Fallen London, 2009-2023

Esme Squalor, A Series of Unfortunate Events, 1999-2023

Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights, 1847-2023

Shabriri, Elden Ring, 2022-2023

Jason Dean, Heathers, 1989-2023

Roy Mustang, Fullmetal Alchemist, 2001-2023

Mayhem, Allstate Insurance, 2010-2023

Carrie White, Carrie, 1974-2023

Smaug, Lord of the Ring, 1937-2023

Edward and Lydia, The Adventure Vogue, 2014-2023

The Master (Dhwan), Doctor Who (Season 12), 2020-2023

Arthur Lester, Malevolent, 2020-2023

Ashes O’Reilly, The Mechanisms (Tales to be Told, Vol. II), 2018-2023

Tyler Durden, Fight Club, 1999-2023

The Creature/Frankenstein’s Monster, Frankenstein, 1818-2023

May thy soul return to the great flame of fire 

Látom

I adlibbed the names part, but I think it just fits in well

Impressive!

[welcometomy20s]

June 3, 2023

Hoshino Ai is not Real

Episode 7 of Oshi no Ko had a great ending where Akane was successful in emulating Hoshino Ai, the idol in question. Aqua had said that no one could imitate Hoshino Ai, because her action came directly from her soul, which is true but actually doesn’t forbid Akane’s actions.

There recently have been a series of influences stretching from Undertale to Doki Doki Literature Club to Blade Runner 2049. Yes, they seem disparate but they all seem to add to that comment that Oshi no Ko is now carrying. To give a bit of spoiler background, it’s pretty clear Ai was groomed by Hikaru, and the Ai that we know was kind of a defense mechanism.

As in, Hoshino Ai we know was kind of an act, an act that can be taken up by anyone, including Akane. But unlike Akane, who can understand the artifice of the mask, Ai was only the mask. The mask of Ai really was all there were. To jump ahead, Ai could have only pretended to love as she had no soul to actually love someone.

Critical imagination of Girls without Agency is a by-product of Third Wave Feminism. We have Joi from Blade Runner 2049, who is portrayed with mostly positive lens, we have Monika from Doki Doki Literature Club, who is portrayed with mostly negative lens, and Hoshino Ai, who goes back and forth between these two views. All three women are creations designed to love, but always will fall short as they do not have a soul to love.

They are portrayed as adolescents, which is an ironic depiction. Adolescence is what makes humans unique among animals and machines. Insteading of simple programming, there is a programmed breakdown, a time of wandering hence the term, in which the human almost completely reconfigures themselves to a new mind. Joi, Monika, and Ai are forever trapped, nicely metaphorized by C.S.Lewis as always in winter but before Christmas. All three try to break free, but break is questioned for Joi, somewhat successful for Monika, and violently terminated for Ai. For all three, the initial questions are never satisfied.

As for Undertale, the star eyes in the series represent, well, determination. And like Undertale, Oshi no Ko questions the idea of determination. In Undertale, determination is linked to seeing the meta-reality compared to those who are stuck to this reality. Undertale is pretty skeptical of this meta-reality, they emphasize the sadistic uses of imagination and tries to encourage the viewer to not imagine to an extent. Oshi no Ko is more pragmatic, the star eyes have a positive version and a negative version, but currently is still muddled on the true morality of the concept.

[battleangel]

Your Life Is The Truman Show

This place, our "current reality", the Upside Down which is definitely a Stranger Thing, isnt a fit for me.

Its not like it was before.

I noticed it as soon as I started high school, my first day as a freshman at Bishop Ahr in September 1995.

Everything felt so motherfucking fake, forced and contrived.

The stupid mandatory pep rallies I was forced to attend in the gymnasium and having to pretend that I gave a shit that we were playing our rivals, Colonia.

I didnt.

Being forced fo sit in the cafeteria every day for an hour when I would finish my Lunchables, Sour Gushers & Hi-C in ten minutes.

Attempts to hide in the bathroom stall and the school library were met with threats of detention and an insistence that I stay in the cafeteria every day for my full lunch hour per my schedule.

Extracurricular activities were n e v a h a social fit at all, neither in junior high or high school.

I wasnt talking and I was socially isolated due to my social anxiety but I could never shake that forced and contrived feeling I already mentioned.

Everything was artifice.

Marching band playing the fluit in junior high, wind ensemble playing the flute in 4th through 8th grade. I'm front row, second from the right.

Softball for a decade for St .Peters (3rd through 8th grade) & Franklin Township Little League (2nd grade through 10th grade). Im in the middle holding the bat.

Girl scouts - junior high, French club & Students Against Drunk Driving - high school.

Spring & winter track - varsity lettered sophomore year - high school.

Youth choir - church - 11 to 13 years old, Counselor in training - Inman Park - Summer 7th grade, Theater program - Villagers Theater - Summer 7th grade, Candy striper - St. Peters Hospital - freshman & sophmore years - high school, Intervarsity For Christ - freshman year - UDel, Talent Competition - junior year - high school; Talent Show - 8th grade; Vacation bible school - church - 11 to 13 yeara old.

Additional clues this place has nevah been a fit:

•During my 15 year career in corporate which spanned from 2007 to 2022, I worked twenty mostly jobs which were mostly contract assignments with only a few permanent jobs with all of my tenures being a year or less with the absolute max tenure for any one job being two years, additionally I worked over a dozen temporary jobs during that same 15 year tenure in corporate, that ranged from a few days to a few weeks to a month or possibly two at most.

•I left four jobs in six years with no job lined up (Bank of America - 2015; International SOS - 2017; Dow Jones - 2019; Amazon - 2021).

•I left Amazon (6 month contract, $55/hr) after seven days.

•College (University of Delaware) was a thousand times worse than high school and even less of a fit because now I was living in a dorm on campus surrounded by people pledging sororities, partying, driking, doing LSD and hooking up left and right and I was interested in exactly none of that.

•Corporate exposed an extremely clear pattern that had emerged where seemingly nothing was a fit for me in terms of established accepted societal structures (sports teams, marching bands, girl scouts, church choir, summer camp, high school, 4 year college, corporate America).

•Ego death and self awakening in 2023 that included my third eye opening, kundalini awakening, ego death, self ascension, self actualization, aligning & activating all seven chakras.

•Receiving regular esoteric downloads from the Akashic Library and posting them to my tumblr and TikTok.

•Daily trips to the dreamscape at night when Im "dreaming" where I put the current days version of myself to sleep in the dreamscape and download "the next days" version of myself then I "wake up", temporarily leaving the dreamscape and traveling back to our current reality, the Upside Down, when in reality when I am asleep and dreaming I am awake in the dreamscape and when I "wake up" from my "dream" I am actually asleep in the false reality of our virtual reality simulation of what we call "life", where Im typing this, the Upside Down.

•Esoteric realization after opening my thirf eye that our "reality" is nothing but a simulated virtual reality videogame version of the dreamscape, which is actual reality.

Where we are now, where Im typing this and youre reading this, is nothing but a dream.

Limited 3 dimensional bullshit.

Car notes, mortgages, doctors appointments, electricity bills, fear of death, ridiculously extending life with insane interventions which make no logical sense as we can only delay and not stop death so it is better to self awaken accept death and realize that it is a beautiful transformation and it is nothing to fear or avoid or fight or struggle against as it is your final metamorphosis back to the beautiful ascended limitless energetic eternal butterfly you are as death is nothing but shedding the temporary cocoon of your physical manifesration of a human evolving beyond your current 3D caterpillar self back to the butterfly you are and were before your extremely temporary manifestation as a physical human being, loans, debt, credit cards, 9 to 5s, jobs, emails, Slack, Outlook, team meetings, agendas, mandated schedules, time, alarm clocks, schools, politics, duopoly, elections, propaganda, diets, gyms, fads, trends, crash diets, master cleanses, 24 hour news cycles, cultural zeitgeists, streaming services, Black Friday sales, Prime 1 Day sales, 1 hour deliveries, stock market, derivatives, stock options, investment portfolios, RSUs, promotions, mid-year reviews, performance reviews, year end reviews, cross-lateral moves, layoffs, redundancies, reductions in force, firings, hirings, sign-on bonuses, ESOPs, EBITDA, CEOs, ExCo, board members, shareholders, slave wage, labor, contracts, exploitation, gaslighting, manipulation, lies, sabotage, character assassination, false narratives, agendas, misinformation campaigns, ruthlessness, mercilessness, torture, phosphorous, chemical warfare, misogynoir, war crimes, maas graves, rape rooms, death squads, false imprisonment, guilty till proven innocent, driving while black, unknown & undetermined cause of death, unlicensed medical examiners office, its just another dead black guy, the case is suspended until further notice because were not investigating it, black people dont own homes they rent, all black baggy jeans black shirt black shoes black skin black car dead nigger, theyre all the same, theres a ton like him in newark, dump him in the hallway and ill try to do the autopsy in a month, false memories, false narratives, false cause of death, patriarchal dick, fake ass head of the family sociopath, convicted felon, state prison in georgia, first degree forgery, paper brother alpha phi alpha legacy brother only got in because his brothers actually got hazed, 3M offer letter in the file cabinet in the basement, parole officers, daughter printed out and kept in files, possessive jealous controlling hebephile obsession fixation predilection predation...

Aphid attraction.

•Dreamscape is unlimited 10 dimensional, walk through walls, walk on water, fall through the sky endlessly without dying, kaleidoscopic explosion of light color supernovas lucid lush lurid visceral acid dreams. The dreamscape is limitless because its your mind and imagination. We all intrinsically know that noone and nothing can limit our imagination and we can literally think of and dream of and imagine anything. Thats all the dreamscape is.

Where we currently reside and what we currently inhabit is a fake bastardization Upside Down version of the Dreamscape with false limits, rules, ordinances, laws, mandates, requirements, obligations, taboos, shibboleths, electrified third rails, shoulds, have tos, cants, shouldnts, donts, not allowed, need permission, need authorization, need a permit, need notarization, need a seal of approval, need a stamp of approval, need a license, need to be certified, need a degree, need letters after your name, need the clout, need the zeros in your bank account, need the wealth, need the prestige, need the status, need the company brand name, need the job title, need the red heeled shoes, need the louboutins, need the louis vuittons, need the SRTs, need the birkin bag, need the fendi, need the knockoffs, need the couture, need the flex, need the luxury, need the validation, need the approval, need the attention, need the distraction, need the gloss, need the shine, need the airbrushing, need the photoshop, need the CCs, need the BBL, need the lip filler, need the cheek implants, need the nose job, need the augmentation, need the lipo, need to inject your stomach fat into your butt cheeks, need the laser sculpting, need the brow lift, need the face lift, need the botox, need the fillers, need skims, need spanx, need a tinier waist, need abs, need muscles, need butt gains, need a thigh gap, need a 20 to 22 inch waist, need to look like the girls in the kpop industry, need hip dips, need v lines, need curves, need to be thicc, need to be thin, need to be skinny, need bigger boobs and a bigger ass...

I constantly see the Truman Show all around me.

I see Bryan Cranston stepping on set like Asteroid City at a family members streamed funeral to narrate the scene.

I see the boom mic and lightbox crash onto the set of my cousin giving birth to her first child.

I hear the director yelling "Cut!" because one of the Marine officers wasnt standing on the black X and didnt hit his mark at a family members burial.

I hear the director asking for a 25th take when a family member falls and injures herself after a work event.

I see the Black Friday Walmart ad that has a dozen items in squares and when the squares are flipped over two sets of prices are revealed: "Was $XYZ" & "Now $XYZ", however, many of the before and after prices are the exact same and many of the "now" prices are actually MORE expensive than the "was" prices.

During Amazons Black Friday Football game, I see a Dolphins defensive player lower his helmet to deliver a hit then crumple and collapse to the turf.

After the game, the same Dolphins player is interviewed for his remarkable 99 yard pick 6 earlier in the game.

Laughably, the Dolphins list the player's injury after the game as a "knee injury".

I pulled up the player, Jevon Holland's (#8) injury history, and he had a very hard collision with a fellow Dolphins defensive player last month during a game on 10/23/23.

Holland laid motionless on the turf for several minutes after the collision. He was then taken to the lockerroom and the Dolphins reported he "cleared concussion protocol" and he was put back in the game.

The very next morning, on Monday (10/24/23), when Holland reported to the Dolphins team facility, he reported concussion symptoms.

Holland was placed into concussion protocol and he was then cleared to play exactly a week later on 11/1/23.

3 weeks later, as I already mentioned, during Amazons Black Friday Football game, Holland lowered his helmet to deliver a hit, collapsed to the turf, was never checked on the sidelines or in the medical tent for a concussion and the Dolphins later reported his injury after the game as a "knee injury".

On the broadcast, Al Michaels said after Holland collpased to the turf that the NFL was trying to remove this play from the game because players lowering their head to deliver a hit is unsafe especially to the player delivering the hit.

After Holland collapsed to the turf, Amazons Black Friday Football broadcast stepped away for an injury timeout and, after commercials, once the broadcast resumed there was a graphic shown onscreen of the current AFC playoff picture.

The viewer could see that Holland was no longer on the turf so he had clearly left the field during commercials, however, Al Michaels and Kirk Hebstreit, Amazons play by play and announcement team, never updated the fans on Holland.

As I stated earlier, after the game ended, Holland was interviewed by the sideline reporter about his incredible 99 yard pick 6 and the Dolphins win.

Holland was in very high spirits.

What concussion?

Did Jevon Holland, as he did last month, report concussion-like symptoms to the Dolphins trainer today when be reported in to the team's facility after sustaining yet another collision in-game that he wasnt properly tested and diagnosed for by the teams unaffiliated neurological consultant (UNC)?

Does anyone even care?

Did anyone even notice?

After Al Michaels mentioned that the NFL legislated helmet to helmet hits out of the game to protect both the defensive and offensive players when Holland lowered his helmet to deliver the hit then collapsed to the turf, the injury timeout happened, the broadcast went to commercials then once the broadcast resumed Al Michaels & Kirk Hebstreit never mentioned Hollands injury again.

As the viewer, we saw Holland lower his helmet, deliver the hit, collapse to the turf, injury timeout, commercials, back to the broadcast, Holland had left the field during the commercials but instead of at least an update from Al Michaels saying that the Dolphins hadnt provided an update or at least state that Holland was able to get up under his own power something, we were instead as the viewer shown a graphic of the current AFC playoff standings and Al & Kirk discussed how the Dolphins were currently dominating in their division and conference.

Jevon Holland had scored a 99 yard pick 6 earlier in the game so all discussions about Holland focused on this both after he collpased on the turf in the 4th quarter of the remainder of the game as well as the post-game broadcast.

The broadcast team (Al Michaels & Kirk Hebstreit) as well as the post-game team (Carissa, Fitz, Sherm, Whit and Tony G) only discussed the pick 6 when discussing Holland. Same with the sideline reporter who interviewed Holland after the game.

The broadcast was acting like Holland was never shown, including in a slow motion replay, lowering his helmet to deliver a hit that immediately resulted in him colllapsing to the turf.

Holland also seemed perfectly fine during his post-game interview and he was extremely high-spirited about his 99 yard pick 6 as well as the Dolphins winning.

On the commentary, Al Michaels didnt identify Holland by name, only stating that a Dolphins defensive player was down.

If you didnt notice the number on his jersey (#8), you wouldnt have connected that this was the same Dolphins player who had scored the 99 yard pick 6 earlier in the game.

Since Michaels & Hebstreit never mentioned Holland's collapse to the turf and/or injury again (it had occurred in the 4th quarter) and neither did Amazons post-game show, most viewers wouldnt have known who the player who had collapsed on the turf was and would have never connected that it was the same Dolphins player who scored the 99 yard pick 6 who was interviewed after the game.

Life is a reality TV show.

Theres boom mics, lightboxes, cameras, grips and dollies all around you every single moment of your life.

Theres a black X made out of black masking tape on the ground underneath you every time you stand and speak.

Theres a sign that flashes "Laughter" on stage behind you any time you tell a joke and people laugh.

When you crossed the stage at your college graduation to receive your diploma, there was a sign behind you in red letters that said "APPLAUSE" when the audience clapped.

The people weeping over you at your funeral are actually SAG-AFTRA actors hired as paid mourners.

The Mandela effect is real.

Deaths are faked, there are false news reports, green screens, hired actors, paid shills, fake journalists, sound stages, sets and Cigarette Smoking Mans.

Berenstein Bears, Berenstain Bears.

We are the champions my friend. We keep on fighting till the end.

We are the champions...of the world.

But now the song no longer ends with "of the world".

Mandela died in prison in South Africa in the 80s.

Mandela was freed and walked hand in hand down the streets of South Africa with Winnie Mandela in the early 90s.

Mayor David Dinkins held a celebration for Mandelas release at Yankee Stadium.

Mandela died in prison in the 80s and the story was broadcast all over the world.

There are four lights.

[ryqoshay]

Tri-Arame - Esoteric Equipment

Primary Pairing: N/A Starring: Flash Pyre, Nullsilver Luna Secondary Pairing Trio: YuuAyuSetsu Rating: T Words: 656 Fandom: D&D, Love Live Nijigasaki Time Frame: D&D, ??? / Niji, sometime during their 1st (?) year of college Event: Promptober 2023 Event Source: Idol Fanfic Heaven channel on Discord Prompt: Esoteric

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Author's Note: Primary entry for the 6th

Summary: Flash and Nullsilver shop for some unusual items

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“Eh? Whadaya want, kid?”

Flash inhaled and was about to open his mouth when a hand touched his. A silent reminder not to lose his cool. Thus, he bit down on the retort he had been about to issue.

“Give ya ten platinum fer the forged.” The grizzled shopkeep grumbled.

Flash blinked. He hadn’t expected that.

“Cayos is not for sale.” Nullsilver stated.

Anyone familiar with the elven girl would have been able to detect some irritation under her monotone.

“So again, whadaya kids want?”

“We heard this shop was the best place to find some… how shall we say, esoteric equipment.” Flash explained.

“Oh?” The man seemed to lighten a little.

“Yes, we were told we could find keys to the drop zone here.”

“Aye,” The man nodded, “just got a shipment of ‘em last week.”

“Blinker fluid.”

“By cask or flask.”

“A box of grid squares.”

“Might take a bit a searchin’ in the back room.”

“And winter air for windmills.”

“A popular item this time a year. Inventory’s runnin’ low. Better buy quick.”

“And that’s our list.”

“Right.” The shopkeep stooped behind his counter for a moment. “Here we have a fine selection of keys to all manner of zones.” A sizable ring of keys jangled in his hand.

“Drop zones, specifically.” Flash reminded.

“Right.” He shuffled through the keys. “Ah, yes, here.” He indicated one that appeared to have been intricately inlaid with gold. “Drop Zone Alpha, the finest of them all. Seven gold.”

“Five.” Flash countered.

“Six.”

“Sold.”

Flash reached for his coin pouch but noticed a subtle signal from Nullsilver. Oh, thank the gods, finally.

“On second thought,” he smirked, “I think we should just collect your bounty.”

“What?” The man growled.

“Surely you didn’t think the local nobility was unaware of your fraudulent activities. Cayosin,” He turned to the warforged behind him, “if you would be so kind.”

Cayosin produced a set of manacles and began to step around the counter.

The shopkeep shouted something in a language Flash did not know. A door burst open and several armed figures filed out. Weapons already drawn, they charged.

Flash smirked and sent a fireball past them to take care of further reinforcements.

“What the…” The shopkeep sputtered at the explosion in his backroom. “How?”

“I had Weyog Kornari disable your antimagic device.” Nullsilver explained, naming her spider-like automaton companion.

She dropped a pair of metallic spheres. One shifted into a cat-like automaton that pounced at the closest guard. The other sprouted wings and shot into the air before firing small thunderbolts from its beak at another guard.

For his part, Flash wasted no time in sending a cone of flame into a pair of nearby opponents. All the while, Cayosin subdued and manacled the shopkeeper.

Nearly as quickly as it started, the fight was over. Unprepared to face the magical might of a sorcerer, the mechanical menaces of an artificer and the strength of a warforged, the fraudster and his goons swiftly surrendered.

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“I think I know which character Setsuna-chan is going to play next.” Yuu said as she looked up from the draft she had been given to review.

Setsuna smiled. “Flash Pyre has been fun to write so far. And I think playing a caster might be a nice change of pace. Although I will still miss playing Lacey Rayshun…”

“I’m sure Shizuku-chan would be willing to run a game from the earlier time.” Yuu assured.

“Is Rina-chan is up still playing Luna?” Ayumu inquired.

“She said yes when I asked.” Setsuna replied. “And since Nullsilver Luna is an elf, she would still be alive in this time frame and available for her to play.”

“What characters do you have for me and Ayumu to play?” Yuu asked.

“Well, there’s Keltahk Cayosin, the warforged fighter from this chapter… as well as…” Setsuna reached for her notes and began to explain her roster of prebuilt potential player characters.

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Author's Note Continued: I made a joke in the IFH event channel about how for this prompt I should write references to my old unpublished D&D stories that none of my current readers would understand. Then I spent wa~y too much time rereading said old works to remind myself of a few things, only to get distracted and end up rereading other chapters as well.

But if I learned anything from the venture, it's that I'm glad I haven't published any of it. If I do ever decide to start posting those stories, I will have to either write entirely new stuff, like this event entry, or do some serious revamping of the old stuff. Either way, LL has the lions share of my attention, so I have no intention of redirecting too much of my efforts away from it at this time.

Anyway, if any my current readers remember, the first stories I posted here on tumblr were not Love Live fanfics. Instead, I had tried my hand at participating in a sort of event over on the fansite Sukutomo. The theme was to create "idolsonas" and draw or write about them in the Love Live universe. I translated a handful of my D&D characters into this world, and Flash and Luna were among those chosen. Ryqoshay, my screen namesake, and Yozakura also starred in some of the chapters. So there is some meta esoteric stuff for the prompt.

Edit: Almost forgot, got both prior prompts in again, Thunderbolt from '21 and Seven from '22.