#less than 24 hours after publishing the first one
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It's all fake, anyway
Oh, my. The last two or three video snippets in Marina del Rey. The revolt. The pearl-clutching. The hate.
Again, you know nothing, Jon Snow. It's all about the medium being the message, again: carefully calibrated snippets of information, destined to a captive, deeply divided and (how can I put that without sounding offending, I wonder) unexperimented (yes, that's decent enough) audience.
During the last 24 hours, we've got the Marina del Rey gin promo & MPC teambuilding (hardly an orgy, btw) and C's MUA (or is it hairdresser? irrelevant) hinting on Instagram about a photoshoot at a gin distillery in a #beautifullocation, somewhere on Earth, presumably in Scotland - given her last IG follow. No further details, of course. Very probably a (late-) latergram, too, when she finally got the green light to publish it. Implying nothing, but leaving a boulevard bandwidth for people to infer whatever suits their own narrative. Expect FMN news soon? I highly doubt that and stand corrected: the last photoshoot (with McSideburns, in London) was on May 3rd, when she needed to somehow show the world the Two of Them were continents apart. Identical modus operandi. And always, always via tertiary players.
As for the Marina del Rey teambuilding, if you think that is 'S living his life' you are: a) living in a remote mountain/island area or under a rock; b) an impenitent Mordorian with an agenda to boot or c) incredibly incompetent with the way of the world (or at least, that world). Allow me to translate?
It is alcohol promo, duckies, disguised as teambuilding. The intended message is aimed at a younger, non-OL related audience (as I already warned you) and it roughly goes like this:
'we are a fun loving, no nonsense, start-up business in the spirits industry. Because we don't have a huge advertising budget, we're testing the waters with a cheap, reality-TV snippet to better evaluate the number of social media clicks and new followers and help gauge & calibrate the next step'.
Was it poorly executed? Yeah, you could say that, but then what to do, in a very restrictive, highly regulated tobacco & spirits advertising market, hum? Is it my cup of tea? I don't drink, therefore this type of message touches one ball without really moving the other.
Yes. Start-up business: if we take into account the COVID logistic delay, I believe we're still in that three-years frame. And this detail is essential in order to put context around a very forgettable snippet. Selling a brand-new, more democratic product. Selling it clumsily, in an effort to build relevance, because even bad advertising is, ultimately, good advertising. But make no mistake: it's nothing more than that and it is all they can do, in the current context.
This brings to mind another aspect of the charade, namely the fact that after the Remarkable Week-end (and with the exception of some carefully scripted 'slips'), released and available information progressively became (at least) two-tiered.
First tier: information carefully calibrated for immediate release and general consumption, primarily but not exclusively by the fandom. This includes: spirits shilling, innuendos galore, look-here-not-there latergrams. It also entails less direct interaction with the fans on socials and delegating the media management to secondary players (often called to the rescue, too).
Second tier: public information with a limited availability (you have to take the plunge and pay), for sleuths able and willing to go the extra mile. They paint a very different landscape. And draw two copycat timelines of people who are investing, buying and selling property and overall branching out of their primary source of income with a plan.
I am not a photo sleuth. But with a little bit of time on my hands, I am a decent paperwork analyst. Accounting is not my forte, but legal and business is. I saw what I needed to see and it holds.
So before you start screeching (bad idea, right?), remember this (credit given to @dillon7fan, thanks):
Not really: it is doctored make believe. Bless your heart, honest guy.
Next stop, Tehran. Yes, you read that correctly.
This evening or tomorrow, at the latest. Because context is everything and this fandom severely fails at this.
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by Rachel O'Donoghue
On March 6, the United Nations warned that a current conflict that has already killed and displaced millions of people risks triggering “the world’s worst hunger crisis.”
Some of the statement’s key points include:
“A staggering 14 million children are in desperate need of lifesaving assistance”
“Millions of lives and the peace and stability of an entire region are at stake”
“Across the war-torn country, 18 million people are acutely food insecure and five million now face starvation”
“Restricted in their movements by ongoing violence and interference from warring parties and severely underfunded, humanitarian aid workers can barely help those in need”
“Humanitarian assistance was further disrupted after the authorities revoked permits for cross-border truck convoys”
Less than 24 hours later on March 7, the United Nations issued another warning:
“The situation is appalling. Every minute, every hour, it is getting worse”
“In the north, one in six children under the age of two is acutely malnourished…”
“We need to flood the market… with humanitarian goods as well as re-energize the private sector so commercial goods can enter to meet the need of civilians…”
“At the same time, humanitarian supplies via air or sea are ‘not a substitute for what we need to see arrive on land…’”
The first statement was about Sudan, a country that has been racked by a conflict that erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023.
According to the International Rescue Committee (IRC), which placed Sudan at the top of its Emergency Watchlist last year, nearly 6 million people have been displaced, and more than half the population (24.8 million people) needs humanitarian aid, with 17.7 million people facing crisis-level or worse food insecurity.
The IRC has also stated that amid mass displacement and reports of mass killings, humanitarian access has been severely curtailed.
The second statement was about Gaza and the ongoing aid delivery problems that have affected the Strip as Israel battles Hamas to protect its citizens from harm.
As the United Nations makes clear in its statements, both Sudan and Gaza are facing a humanitarian catastrophe. However, the war in Sudan is impacting a much larger number of people and has gone on for much longer.
One might think that media organizations would think both crises were worthy of attention. After all, the UN statements were published mere hours apart and warned of similarly dire situations.
Alas, not so.
The Guardian and The New York Times, for example, both included details of the UN’s statement about Gaza in their coverage of what was variously described as a “humanitarian disaster” affecting millions of “besieged Palestinians.”
Likewise, both publications covered in depth the March 5 UN statement — signed by several UN rapporteurs — which, among other grotesque and unfounded allegations, accused Israel of “intentionally starving the Palestinian people in Gaza…”
Yet, neither outlet dedicated any coverage to the UN’s statement about Sudan — not a single paragraph was printed about an impending catastrophe that would amount to “the world’s worst hunger crisis.”
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By Miles Parks
NPR
June 7, 2023
Why are Republicans abandoning one of the best tools the government has to catch voter fraud? That simple question is the focus of a new NPR investigation, published Sunday.
The tool is the Electronic Registration Information Center, better known as ERIC. It was created almost a decade ago as a way for states to share government data, in an effort to keep their voter rolls up to date. It allows election officials better insight into when their voters move and die and the rare times when they vote twice in different states, which is illegal.
"The little secret is that maybe more than 10 years ago, if somebody voted in Ohio, in Florida, in Arizona and Texas, you would have never known," Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, said in an interview with NPR in February. "With ERIC, we can compare our voter rolls to those states."
Eight Republican states have now pulled out of ERIC, including many with voting officials who are on the record as praising the partnership as recently as a few months ago. Ohio pulled out a month after LaRose spoke to NPR.
J. Christian Adams, a conservative elections attorney, has long been a critic of how ERIC operates. But he told NPR: "It's this crazy zeal to get out of ERIC ... that is going to cause voter fraud to flourish."
So what happened? Here are five takeaways from NPR's investigation:
1. A far-right website kicked things off
The story starts in January 2022, when a far-right website called the Gateway Pundit, which has pushed conspiracy theories in the past, began writing about ERIC. Up until then, the partnership was considered a quiet bipartisan success story, with member states that spanned the political spectrum.
NPR's investigations team analyzed hundreds of thousands of social media posts on a handful of social media sites frequented by election deniers. We found the Gateway Pundit's coverage started the far right's fixation on the program:
See Chart.
Roughly a week after the first Gateway Pundit article, Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin, a Republican, announced his state would become the first to pull out of ERIC, citing "concerns raised by citizens, government watchdog organizations and media reports."
2. Local "election integrity" groups are a political force
NPR found that while Ardoin did not make a big public show out of pulling out of ERIC, he did bring the announcement to maybe the only constituents at that time who would even care: a local group of conservative activists gathered in Houma, La.
The crowd, assembled for an "election integrity town hall," applauded for 15 seconds when Ardoin announced he was pulling the state out of ERIC. The event was publicized less than 24 hours before Ardoin's office released its statement on ERIC.
NPR's investigation also found these sorts of community election integrity groups to be critical in the effort to discredit ERIC across the country.
A group called Protect Your Vote Florida published a page on its website called "How to Influence Florida Legislators to Suspend Contract with ERIC!"
"The STRATEGY is to run a campaign directed at key Florida legislators," the group wrote in the post, which included a list of the state's lawmakers and contact information. "Hand delivered letters, emails, phone calls, and social media activity will all be utilized to maximize impact."
Emails acquired by NPR through public records requests showed election officials began to field questions from voters and state lawmakers shortly after these calls went out.
3. A Trump ally has coordinated an election denial machine
Cleta Mitchell is known by many for working with former President Donald Trump to try to overturn the 2020 election. The attorney was on the infamous call where Trump asked Georgia election officials to "find votes."
In the time since, she's been building an election denial infrastructure.
Her podcast, "Who's Counting," has become a central hub for stolen election narratives, and she's also started a coalition of grassroots groups across the country called the Election Integrity Network.
NPR's investigation found Mitchell to be a ringleader of sorts for the effort to dismantle ERIC.
She even hosted a secret ERIC summit with red state lawmakers last summer, according to documents shared with NPR by a nonprofit watchdog group called Documented.
Secretaries of state from the first five states to withdraw from ERIC attended the event, according to one attendee.
See chart.
4. Republican primaries are a driving force behind the ERIC exodus
In Louisiana, when Ardoin made the decision to leave ERIC, he was gearing up to run for reelection in a state Trump won by almost 20 percentage points. He was facing numerous challenges on his right. And ERIC was becoming a priority for Republican voters.
"We started hearing it on the campaign trail," added Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen in an interview with NPR.
Allen ran for his office last year, and shortly after the Gateway Pundit published its first article, he made a campaign promise to pull out of ERIC if he won. This January, he followed through, and Alabama became the second state to withdraw.
Secretaries of state in Missouri, West Virginia and Ohio — all states that have pulled out — have announced campaigns for higher office next year, or are expected to run.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis is a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. DeSantis appointed Cord Byrd as his secretary of state last year, and the state's stance on ERIC shifted almost immediately.
NPR's investigation found that before he was secretary, Byrd regularly joined election integrity calls hosted by Mitchell.
5. ERIC withdrawals will make for "dirtier voter rolls" and an emboldened far right
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, put it simply in an interview with NPR: The states that have left ERIC "indirectly said, 'We're going to have dirtier voter rolls.' "
Brianna Lennon, a Democrat who oversees voting in Boone County, Mo., told NPR that will surely be the case in her county.
Before Missouri joined ERIC, the elections office relied on returned mail to find out if a voter moved to another state.
"That's what we'll have to go back to using," she said.
Election experts say less accurate voter rolls have a direct impact on voters, from longer lines at precincts to mail ballots and information getting sent to the wrong places.
Lennon told NPR she's worried about what the ERIC saga means for the 2024 election cycle. She had gotten a sense recently that community election integrity groups were gaining more traction in her state, but she says the secretary of state's decision was the first major policy decision she's seen that lined up so directly with their goals.
"I'm sure there are going to be ripples that come from this particular move and I'm not exactly sure what the end will be," she said. "I don't think this is an isolated thing."
Read or listen to the full investigation here.
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[ 📹 The residents of Przemysl, Poland put to rest Damian Sobol, a Polish citizen and one of the foreign aid workers killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting a convoy of humanitarian aid trucks leaving a warehouse in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing 7 aid workers, including Sobol, as well as citizens of Australia, the UK, Palestine, and a dual citizen of American-Canadian heritage.]
🇮🇱⚔️🇺🇳🇵🇸 🚨
ISRAELI OCCUPATION FORCES TURN 2023 INTO DEADLIEST YEAR FOR AID WORKERS IN THE LAST 30 YEARS
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) murdered more aid workers in 2023 than were killed in the rest of the world combined for each of the last 30 years, that's according to an article published by Turkish news outlet Anadolu News Agency.
According to Anadolu, as a result of the the current round of Zionist aggression, beginning with Hamas's attack on Israeli military checkpoints and colonial settlements just outside the Gaza Strip, on October 7th, 2023, no less than 203 aid workers have been killed in occupation strikes.
Of those killed, 161 aid workers were martyred by the Israeli occupation army in just the last four months of 2023, while another 53 aid workers have been wounded in occupation strikes.
The data was originally investigated and published by the Aid Worker Security Database (AWSD).
According to the AWSD report, just since January of 2024, at least 42 aid workers have been killed, while another 24 others were wounded in Israeli attacks.
On Tuesday, a series of precisely targeted Israeli airstrikes hit a convoy of armored vehicles belonging to the aid organization the World Central Kitchen (WCK).
The convoy had just finished delivering food aid and were in the process of leaving an aid distribution warehouse in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, when an Israeli drone bombed each of the three vehicles in the convoy independently, resulting in the deaths of 7 WCK aid workers, including nationals of Palestine, Australia, the UK, Poland and a dual American-Canadian citizen.
Numerous countries have since condemned the latest Zionist atrocity, including the Israeli entity's closest ally, the United States, as well as Canada, Australia and several others, while Poland and Germany both demanded an explanation for the deadly attack.
By some accounts, the strike was intended to frighten foreign aid workers into suspending their operations in the Gaza Strip, exacerbating Gaza's severe famine conditions, which is rapidly spreading from the north of Gaza, into central Gaza, while even the south of the Palestinian enclave remains highly food insecure.
The strikes quickly achieved "Israel's" goal, with the WCK, along with several other aid organizations, including Anera, another aid organization responsible for delivering upwards of a hundred fifty thousand meals for Palestinians everyday, which also suspended their operations in Gaza for the time being.
In response to the attacks, the United Nations temporarily suspended nighttime operations in Gaza for at least 48 hours following the atrocity.
The Zionist entity, for its part, apologized for the massacre of the 7 foreign aid workers, claiming the strikes were caused by a "misidentification," resulting from "a war in very complex conditions," according to the Israeli army's Chief of General Staff, Herzi Halevi, who issued the apology.
Responding to intense international outcry over the slaughter of the aid workers, the IOF disciplined the brigade responsible for the "misidentification," sacking two Commanders, including the Commander of the Nahal Brigade, as well as another Commander within the same brigade.
As far as this reporter can investigate, this is the first major sacking of an Israeli officer since at least December 2023.
That's when a Commander with the 51st Battalion of the Golani Brigade was sacked after he "endangered fighters" under his command by disobeying direct orders to avoid entering buildings during "Israel's" assault on the Al-Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, where intense fighting took place against elite units with the Al-Qassam Brigades in early December.
Despite the latest Israeli war crime, the United States, led by the Neoconservative Biden administration, announced that it would not be changing any of its policies with regards to the Israeli entity, refusing to cut off munitions supplies and other military aid, choosing instead to let "Israel" investigate the incident itself.
As a result of "Israel's" Special Genocide Operation in the Gaza Strip, the death toll among the Palestinian population of Gaza has risen in excess of 33'037 Palestinians martyred, with over 14'000 children murdered and over 9'200 women killed, while another 75'668 Palestinians have been wounded since the start of the current round of Zionist aggression, beginning on October 7th, 2023.
#source1
#source2
#source3
#graphicsource
#videosource
@WorkerSolidarityNews
#gaza#gaza strip#gaza news#gaza genocide#genocide#genocide in gaza#war in gaza#israeli genocide#genocide of palestinians#israeli war crimes#war crimes#crimes against humanity#israeli crimes against humanity#israel#israel news#palestine#palestine news#palestinians#israel palestine conflict#war#politics#news#geopolitics#world news#global news#international news#breaking news#current events#united states#poland
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Do you have any writing tips for beginners?
Asolutally!
Don't make it good. Write, get the idea out. No one gives a darn about which words you use, just the feelings and pictures they get out of them. They remember what you tell the, not how you tell them it.
Follow your flow. If the character wants to do something, let them. This is how you keep them in character. If it goes against what you wanted/needed, then find a way to slowly redirect them back where you need them. Don't drag them there, make them think it was their idea.
If you get stuck, change something about what's happening. Change the weather, the narrator, the scene. Make a loud noise startle someone. Break up the silence with something to make the characters start responding again.
Plan what you want to happen if it's a long story, but don't expect to follow it precisely. Again, the characters have their own minds and may act differently than you expected. That said, make sure to hit your key points somehow, even if it takes a while and some work to make them hit them. this is how you tell an actual story, not just ramble.
For short stories, don't plan. Planning makes you feel like you've already written it. Just sit down and spill the vibes. Rambling is Very Good here.
Edit after at least 24 hours. It looks newer and you are more likely to notice the mistakes. Do two edits though, so you catch the ones you missed the first time.
Don't publish until 24 hours have passed. You'll experience less regret. If it's still good after the 24 hour test, then it's good, not just the euphoria of finishing a project.
Don't be afraid to double check word meanings, even if you've been using the words for forever. Sometimes having the definition makes all the difference when deciding if it's the right word to explain what you're hearing/seeing in your head.
Use. Paragraph. Breaks. New character speaking/acting = new paragraph. New subject matter being discussed = new paragraph. Don't worry if your paragraph is only a sentence. Or a few words. Or one word. Just make sure it's easy to tell who's doing what and when.
If it's fanfiction, don't worry too much about describing well known locations/items/people. Your readers know what these familiar places/items/characters look like, so describing might just bore them. If it's new stuff, or if you changed something about the person/object/location (e.g. damage, decoration, notable features that impact the plot or which the characters notice) then DO mention it, but otherwise, don't worry about describing the familiar too much. Unless you enjoy describing things and setting the scene! Then just have fun, but be conscious to not be a Tolkien and take forever to get past the descriptions and into the story; you might lose your audience that way!
Have fun! If you don't like writing it, don't write it. It ain't worth it.
Length doesn't matter. 500 words is good. 10,000 words is good. Any words is good. Just write. Don't look at the word count or page count (turn it off if you can).
Don't let anyone tell you what you should write, and let no one steal the joy of hyperfixating when you want to. Write for yourself first and foremost!
Hope this helps!
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Dissonance - Chapter 24: Mark of Greed
Beel and Satan had bolted from the room immediately after realizing Mammon’s intentions, but both knew that they’d never catch him. The second born was the fastest, after all, and he had a head start. The Avatar of Greed had probably fled the moment all the attention had shifted to Zeke. Lucifer had declined to give chase, opting instead to furiously call and message Mammon forbidding him from leaking the information, not for any amount of money. Those calls and messages were ignored, not that anyone was surprised. It didn’t take a genius to understand very quickly that there was no way to stop what had been set into motion.
Zeke felt that familiar pit form in his stomach. There was no other choice than to reveal himself publicly. He could at the very least take control of the situation. If they were quick enough, they could even prevent Mammon from profiting from the situation. Mustering his resolve, Zeke decided he would figure out how to punish the greedy demon later, for now he squared his shoulders and set about directing the rest of his demons.
Lucifer was tasked with contacting Lord Diavolo and arranging the public announcement about Zeke’s authorship of The Cohen Files. They decided that Zeke would do an interview for RAD’s newspaper in addition to a Devildom-wide broadcast naming him as the realm-spanning, award-winning celebrated author E. J. Novak. Lord Diavolo was still worried about security concerns, but seemed tentatively positive about the situation overall, hoping that the popularity of Zeke’s books would boost support for the exchange program.
Asmo had immediately set about fussing over his appearance, loudly bemoaning the dark circles that Zeke always seemed to have around his eyes. Thankfully the beautiful demon had all the best skin care products and make-up a person, demon or human, could ask for so it wasn’t long before Zeke no longer looked like he hadn’t been skipping sleep for days on end. He had to change into his school uniform, even though it was decided that none of the House of Lamentation residents would be attending classes that day.
While Asmo would make sure that Zeke looked his best at his first public appearance - he’d have his picture taken for the newspaper - Levi was tasked with monitoring the online reactions to the announcement. The otaku was more than happy to jump at the opportunity to be helpful to one of his idols. Satan was quick to begin contacting his many associates to arrange good publicity and support for E. J. Novak.
On the other side of things, Zeke contacted his publicist and made arrangements for the reveal to the human world as well. He knew if his identity leaked in the Devildom it would inevitably reach the other realms as well. He had never wanted to go public with this information, but now that it was unavoidable he wanted to control the narrative - he didn’t know what tabloids might try to dig up about his life if left to their own speculations. It was better for his publisher to make an official announcement and reveal on his own terms, or as much as they could be his terms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Less than an hour after Mammon had vanished, Zeke sat in front of a camera with an apparently very influential demon who happened to be the president of RAD’s newspaper club. The uneasy feeling had never left him, but he smiled for the camera and answered the questions that had been approved beforehand smoothly while Lord Diavolo, Barbatos, and Lucifer watched out of frame. Mephistopheles kept to the script and managed to hide his contempt until the cameras stopped rolling.
As soon as the interview was over, the demon in question let his expression sour as he got up and praised Lord Diavolo’s handling of this matter - even though he really didn’t know the situation and it was all done under Zeke’s direction - before leaving abruptly to work on writing up an accompanying article for the live interview they had just conducted.
Lucifer instructed him to go home, it was clear that he had things to discuss with Lord Diavolo and Barbatos, things that were deemed not for his ears. Zeke didn’t really have a problem with that. They had done all he had asked so far. If there was more they wished to do in regards to the situation that was fine. They’d fill him in on anything that was important for him to know later. He trusted Lucifer to handle it from here.
Beel and Belphie were waiting outside the room, ready to serve as his escorts, but so was Asmo. The fifth born excitedly shoved his D.D.D. in Zeke’s face to show him that the video interview was already blowing up even though it had only just aired. Zeke pulled his constantly vibrating D.D.D from his pocket - Levi was barraging him with messages about how cool he had looked on T.V. Levi and the rest of the brothers, minus Mammon, had been left at the House of Lamentation to watch the interview from home.
For his part, Zeke still felt like the tension was wound tight inside his gut, the exhaustion from his insomnia had taken a backseat to the adrenaline of the situation fueling him to sort out the mess that his own carelessness had caused. He should never have left his laptop just sitting open with the upcoming novel pulled up. It wasn’t even as if one of the brothers barging into his room unannounced was uncommon even while he was in there. Maybe if it had only been Satan this wouldn’t have been so bad, he could trust Satan not to lose his head over it. The problem was it wasn’t just Satan.
Acknowledging his own part in this situation did little to cool the anger he felt burning towards a certain white-haired demon. Yes, he had slipped up, but if Mammon’s greed weren’t so all-encompassing that he’d sell him out for some lousy grim they could have kept the secret contained to the House of Lamentation. A part of him knew it wasn’t entirely Mammon’s fault. The brothers were ruled by their respective sins. Some had better control of theirs than others. Mammon seemed to have the least amount of restraint with his sin, except maybe Lucifer, since the eldest didn’t seem to think his Pride needed to be kept in check. Zeke had his own opinions about that, given the demon’s Pride had more than once caused him to butt heads with him.
Still, succumbing to his sin wasn’t going to fly as an excuse to go unpunished, not this time. Zeke had no idea what Lucifer planned to do to Mammon as punishment for this whole incident, but he wasn’t going to let the greed demon off the hook with only Lucifer’s retribution. No, Mammon needed to be made to understand exactly how furious Zeke was right now.
Speak of the devil. Zeke accepted the call and pressed his D.D.D. to his ear.
“Mammon.” His tone was flat, not really expressing the depth of his fury. He was far too good at hiding his emotions.
“Oi! Human! Why’d ya go and do that?! This guy was willing to pay mad grim for ya real name! Now that everybody knows he - ”
“Mammon.” That rage seeped into his voice, just a little, and the demon cut himself off mid-sentence.
“O-oi! No need to sound upset! We can still make loads of grim! Think of all the cash people will pay for public appearances and autographs!” Mammon sounded desperate, and very concerned. Good.
“Mammon this is an order. Return to the House of Lamentation immediately.” Zeke felt the familiar heat and tingle race across his tongue and down his throat as the infernal magic pulled harshly at his pact with the Avatar of Greed. He hung up the call without waiting for further reply. Mammon would have no choice but to obey.
The twins flanked him as he began walking, heading home so that he could intercept his recently acquired troublemaker of a demon. Zeke didn’t catch the look the two youngest exchanged, nor did he realize that his lavender irises were rimmed with a burning gold as he clung to the magic that bound Mammon to him, relishing in the crackle of the energy surrounding him. Asmo trailed slightly behind, typing furiously on his phone, almost giddy as he realized there was about to be one hell of a show at Mammon’s expense.
They arrived before the second born. That was fine with Zeke. He stood in the entrance hall facing the front door, arms folded across his chest as he waited for his demon. The brothers had all crowded in the nearest doorway to watch. Asmo and Levi both had their phones ready to begin recording so that they could document whatever was about to befall their older brother.
It was not a long wait. Mammon nearly slammed open the front door in his haste, obviously having sprinted home at Zeke’s command. The demon skidded to a stop, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.
“Ya gotta lot o’ nerve ordering the Great Mammon, human!” Did he really think he could save face or talk back to him right now?
“Down.” Zeke was not in the mood to deal with this particular demon’s bluster or bravado. Mammon dropped to his hands and knees before him. He didn’t realize the purple of his eyes had been swallowed up by a glowing gold as he pulled even harder on his pact with the Avatar of Greed. What he did notice was that the pact mark on his right shoulder itched and tingled, just shy of painful.
The other demons noticed that the mark was faintly glowing, but none moved to stop him. Most of them seemed to be enjoying themselves. Satan was the only one present without a pact with him, but the demon was practically vibrating in place. Zeke imagined he was feeding off of his rage.
“O-oi! What’s the big idea?!” Mammon seemed to finally realize the gravity of the trouble he was in, because he was sweating now.
Zeke’s calm facade finally began to crack, his lips twisted into a scowl, brow furrowing as he glared down at the demon practically prostrated before him.
“The big idea is that you have irrevocably destroyed my privacy with your petty and short-sighted greed. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!” Zeke’s voice raised slightly at the end, already knowing that Mammon had no idea what he’d done wrong, because he could only see the profit and not the consequences. He wasn’t sure if that made it better or worse. The rage and magic pulsed in his chest. “I can never just be me from here on out. Everything I do or say will be linked to E. J. Novak, it can affect every aspect of my life. If I make a mistake it can give people cause to stop buying my books and anything that is connected to my books, fans and media will pick apart every aspect of my life, they’ll hound me for interviews, for autographs, fan mail, the potential for harassment from obsessive fans because the reality of Ezekiel Jada Pendergast does not live up to their fantasies about E. J. Novak!”
At last Mammon seemed to understand, at least a little, because his face twisted in guilt as he realized just how badly he had screwed up. The demon tried to lift himself up, but Zeke unfolded his arms and the next thing he knew his boot was on Mammon’s head, pushing the demon all the way down to the floor. He was surprised that he could even force him down physically.
“Do you even care what your greed just cost me?” Zeke felt more than saw the way Mammon flinched, the demon almost cowering in the face of his anger.
“’M sorry!” It was Zeke’s turn to flinch, Mammon sounded on the brink of tears. He lifted his foot off the demon and took a step back, breathing a little ragged as he tried to pull all that anger back in, there was a reason he kept his emotions buried. They hurt people. Mammon didn’t even try to raise his head or look up. “I didn’t think it would be a big deal. I didn’t want to cause ya trouble, I swear! ‘M so sorry.”
Zeke could feel the rage slowly draining out of him. He was still angry, still upset, but he couldn’t direct that fury at Mammon when the demon was so utterly pathetic in that moment. What kind of terrible person was he that he could reduce an Avatar of Sin to an apologetic mess?
“Go to your room.” Zeke let the magic he had been holding fizzle out, his eyes returning to normal and the burn of the infernal magic fading from his shoulder. “Lucifer will deal with you later.”
Mammon bolted up the stairs to obey that last command. The other demons present, minus Beel, snickered at the second born’s expense, clearly enjoying how thoroughly reprimanded their greedy older brother had been. A new surge of anger flared in his chest as he pulled at the infernal magic in two other marks.
“Leviathan. Asmodeus. You will delete those videos. I will not have either of you publicly disgracing your brother.” No matter how angry he was at Mammon in the moment, he cared about him as much as his brothers. He wouldn’t allow one of the Seven Rulers of Hell be humiliated for all to watch.
All that done, he sulked off to his room and slammed the door behind him.
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EDIT 7/10/2023: Wow, in less than 24 hours I already got the 5 slots filled! Thank you to everyone and my apologies to those who didn't manage to have a slot in time. There's always a next time! As soon as the replies become ready I upload them but there's no deadline. Stay tuned!
---
Original post 6/10/2023:
Hello, everyone, hoping that this start of Autumn is being good for you!
I've been a little busy dealing with mental health and quotidian stuff but over two thirds of the next part of the comic of Soul(mate)s of Light has been already developed. Thank you for your patience once again, expect its upload in the near future once it's ready to show.
In order to maintain the focus on the comic strips creation I'm re-opening the Ask box for a very short time once again. This post will be updated as soon the inbox gets closed.
After validating the questions of 5 different users made that include at least one to AU characters I'll temporarily close the Ask box once more. First come, first served. So if you were saving questions in the meantime, hurry up and ask them now while slots are available!
BEFORE SENDING AN ASK:
Last time in August when I was checking the pending messages and validating the questions that were suitable for replies I’ve observed a few things that I want to bring out some attention, as well reminding about a few factors:
There were users not respecting the “Maximum three character-directed questions per user” rule. Please consider there are other people that send questions and it’s not fair for them to have to wait longer because somebody made more asks.
For a better management of posts, I also want to ask to please make those three questions in a single post whenever it’s possible instead of sending them separately.
If someone sends me more than 3 character-directed questions per wave of replies, I’ll either only respond to the three first questions and suppress the others, or select the best 3 questions of that message.
Please don’t ask the characters questions about crossovers with IRL IPs unrelated with Pokémon. It’s 99% certain I won’t answer them. I reinforce that I reserve the right to not reply to questions that I find them inadequate to my AU standards or for other reasons not listed in the rules.
Although I don’t forbid questions done to characters that aren’t part of the main/secondary cast of the AU story, please consider that questions made to characters outside that circle are subjected to be unanswered if I conclude that replying them doesn’t bring anything relevant either to the readers or to the AU itself.
If the Ask Button isn’t available it’s because I’m not accepting character-directed asks at the moment. Do not use this thread to send character-directed asks. Please wait for a reopening and save your questions for next time! 😊
Author-directed questions are quicker to be replied than character-directed ones (especially if there's no character-directed ask included in the entire message). If I see it helps to speed up the inbox cleanup I can consider giving priority to answer this type of questions.
A reminder about the original rules to also be considered
Be polite, don't use foul language/swearing.
SFW asks, only! NSFW asks will never be replied.
Gore scenarios are very unlikely to be replied or if it involves a trigger subject that requires a real graphical depicting as well.
I reserve the right to not reply to a character ask if I find it inappropriate or for any other reason not mentioned here.
Maximum three character-directed questions per user. If author-directed questions are included alongside with character-directed questions, please don’t surpass 3 character questions and 2 author questions (making it a total of 5 questions per user).
Due to my personal life and the development of a new comic, replies to the asks won’t have a fixated deadline to be developed and published. Please be patient!
If I find the asks to be suitable for replying I might take some time to draw the character answers since it's something I have to do in parallel with ongoing projects like AU comics or illustrations (and there's my personal life to consider as well, of course!).
The more questions in the same ask message I receive, the more time I'll need to draw them as well since I have to submit every answer on the same post!
I give priority to draw answers for the asks I receive first in my inbox. Asks sent after someone has done it first will be in the drawing queue.
While I don't discard the possibility of drawing replies to questions directed to characters that don't have much relevance to the AU I can consider to do them if I conclude it's doable. However, I recommend that the questions are done for characters that are more prominent to the story.
I highly advice that the questions are asked in English, although I understand questions done in Portuguese or Spanish without having to use automatic translators for other languages.
Thank you in advance!
#pokemon au asks#pokemon asks#satogou au asks#Soulmates of Light#pokemon au#anipoke au#pokemon journeys au#satogou au#satogou au character directed asks#anipoke au asks#harukadrawsthings asks#soul(mate)s of light asks#soul(mate)s of light character directed asks#Soul(mate)s of Light#Ash Ketchum#satoshi#goh#gou#go#trainer goh#pokemon goh#destiny#satogouchild#chloe cerise#koharu#abra#pikachu#eevee#hope#satogou
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STWG Daily Drabble 2/16/24
Prompt: napping
this very nearly gets spicy but Eddie is just an eepy guy, anyway warning for a glimpse of daddy and breeding kink
“Where is she?” Eddie says, bursting through the door like a madman, crouching down with arms outstretched for his mini-me.
“‘Hi sweetheart, I can’t believe I’ve been gone for a week, I missed you so much,’” Steve mutters from the couch. He pushes his book aside and sends Eddie his best attempt at a withering glare over his glasses, but that look lost all its heat in ‘86 when Steve used it enough to last a lifetime, dragging Eddie’s ass through physical therapy.
Eddie’s smile warms as he drops down on the couch next to his heart, pulling him into the embrace they’ve both been missing like a lost limb.
“Hi sweetheart,” he says, pushing Steve’s bangs away from his forehead so he can leave a kiss right between his eyes. “I can’t believe I’ve been gone for a week. I missed you so much.” He says it so earnestly, it hurts, and Steve melts into him, holding on to Eddie like a lifeline.
“She’s napping,” Steve whispers from the space he’s built himself in the crook of Eddie’s neck, his home. “Just went down, so, we’ve got a couple hours.”
“Oh? And was there potentially something you wanted to do with that time?”
Steve blushes, and Eddie is hit with the thought that it is really such a treat that after years of fighting and recovery, fighting again, but this time just to find a place in the world, and now a 3 year old who has made all the pain worth it in the end, Steve still gets a little shy asking for what he wants.
“I just thought, well maybe if we try really hard… I know we never got it to stick, but I think we could try again.”
Eddie can feel his grin bordering on manic. “Oh, sweetheart. You want to be good for me? Let daddy make you feel good and fill you up, see if we can’t put a baby in you this time?”
“Yes! Please, daddy, can we?”
“Well since you asked so nicely, baby.”
Eddie stands without releasing his hold on Steve’s waist. Steve has to jump up a bit to wrap his legs around Eddie’s waist, nearly knocking his forehead into Eddie’s nose in the process, but for all the awkward limbs and narrowly avoided bloody noses, they’re laughing through it all the same, just happy to be back in each other's arms.
In their bedroom, thankfully soundproofed so they don’t wake the child, Eddie drops Steve onto the mattress with a heavy thud. He takes his time crawling up his partner’s picturesque physique, softened by fatherhood, but no less beautiful, lavishing attention at every spot of soft skin he can get his mouth on.
Until he reaches his neck and slows down to kiss and nip, leaving marks much lighter than they once used to claim each other with. Steve is a teacher now, and Eddie couldn’t be more proud, if only a little disappointed that he has to make sure any marks he leaves are coverable by his shirt or at least concealer now. It’s in the warmth and safety of Steve’s pulse, thrumming hard in his neck, that the exhaustion of the day hits Eddie all at once. He’s been traveling home from meetings with his publishing company, followed by two days of panels at San Diego Comic-Con since late last night, catching a red eye in the hopes of making it home for breakfast with Little One, just to stumble into his flight having been detoured, a four hour layover and a connecting flight nearly doubling his travel time.
“Eddie?” Steve asks softly. Eddie doesn’t stir, just huffs soft breaths into his skin.
Steve smiles fondly, wills his boner to calm the fuck down and pulls the blankets up around them. A nap it is, then.
Later, when Little One has decided sleep is for the weak, she’ll run into their bedroom, screaming in excitement at Eddie’s return. Steve will watch in loving exasperation as Eddie scoops her up and returns her excitement tenfold, before going to make second breakfast for his little hobbit, since he missed the first.
#steddie#stranger things#eddie munson#steve harrington#stwgdailyprompt#dad stuff in this one gang#they are dads#but also daddy stuff#i couldn’t help myself sorry#eddie turned a tastefully edited version of the upside down stuff into a campaign#he did not expect it to get so popular and now he has a team of lawyers fighting with the government over the specifics of his NDA
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I was tagged by @medusapelagia, thx love ❤️
January
My year truly started with a bang. I published the first chapter of Hic sunt dracones on January 16th, and was immediately blown away by the wave of positive feedback. I was still very new to the fandom, had just gotten back into writing after a 15yr break, and had never dreamed of this sort of reaction. I didn't know it then, of course, but HSD would go on to become my fic of the year and probably the one I'm best known for. 🐉❤️
February
Didn’t publish anything new, but continued working on my WIPs and signed up for the @steddiebang
March
Finished Someone who cares and got a bunch of lovely comments. I had been writing it since October 2022, publishing it since early December. The first-ever fic I finished, the first I ever shared publicly, the one that rekindled my passion for writing, and still one I'm immensely proud of. 👪❤️
Started working on my BB fic (You got me) in the palm of your hand
April
Published See you in a crown, which got over 700 hits in the first 24 hours. Feral bathroom mirror sex with added tiara really seemed to do it for a lot of ppl. 🤣💕
May
Didn’t publish anything new, but was hella busy with my WIPs.
June
Published Someone like you, a bonus chapter to Someone who cares.
Also trembled my way through the BB claims weekend and ended up with not one, but two lovely artists, @xgumiho and @peachypurr. 💕
July
Finished Hic sunt dracones (on the day of the big AO3 blackout no less), cried over the lovely comments and the fucking FANART
Wrote my first microfic for the @steddiemicrofic challenge, found it sooo hard. 🤣
Started writing Just add water and Possession
August
Published Just add water, which was such a feel-good fic for me. I loved writing it, it always put me in a good mood. 🧜♂️❤️
September
Published the first chapter of Possession 🦇
Also wrote three Microfics for the “charm” prompt ✨️
October:
Published (You got me) in the palm of your hand throughout the month. The feedback was lovely, and so many ppl told me how they remembered me from the claims sheets! 🔮
Finished Just add water. Was honestly sad to let it go, even though I only worked on it for a little more than 2 months.
November:
Continued working on Possession
Also wrote a lot for the @steddieholidaydrabbles and developed the first ideas for a longer fic and art project based on Blast to the past/The kings's gift together with @house-of-the-moving-image
December
Published Let me be good to you, a sequel to See you in a crown
Published the holiday drabbles, which was such fun! ❄️❤️ Ended up with exactly 50 published works for 2023, wow!!
Next year:
I'll Finish Possession some time in March or April if everything goes according to plan
I've got two fics for the ST Reverse Big Bang coming up in March, which are keeping me very busy rn
Turn Blast to the Past into a chaptered fic and art project, together with @house-of-the-moving-image
I'll also probably hit 1k followers on tumblr early this year and have something special planned, so stay tuned! 🥰
No pressure tags: @penny00dreadful, @rainbow-nerdss, @sourw0lfs, @wynnyfryd, @aidaronan
#steddie#steve x eddie#steve harrington x eddie munson#steddie brainrot#steddie fanfic#fanfiction writer#fanfiction#fanfic#my writing#my year in fanfic
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One bar in
@theestallion
"Hiss" sent Nicki Minaj into a 72-hourlong spiral.
My latest column for
@theGrio
One bar in Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘Hiss’ sent Nicki Minaj into a 72-hourlong online spiral
OPINION: Nicki’s response track was less than mid, and the internet is still clowning her for it.
Monique Judge
Jan 29, 2024
OPINION: Nicki’s response track was less than mid, and the internet is still clowning her for it.
Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
When Megan Thee Stallion dropped her diss track “Hiss” at midnight on Friday, Nicki Minaj responded on Twitter (we still not calling it X, so cry somewhere else, Apartheid Clyde) within 22 minutes, and at the time I published my first column about it, she was still going. That was at least 12 hours after the song dropped, but less than 24 hours.
I make a note of the timestamps because Nicki Minaj continued to rant and rave about Megan Thee Stallion for 72 hours with almost no breaks.
She alternated between raging on Twitter and aimlessly rambling on Instagram Live and during some of those moments, she teased tidbits of the supposed hot diss track she had been holding in the vault for some time, but what she proffered in those moments was akin to Dr. Seuss rhymes about Megan having big feet, as I wrote about before.
She made several disgusting comments about Megan’s mother being dead, which led to people commenting on the fact that Minaj has also lost a parent; her father was killed in a hit-and-run accident on Long Island in 2021, and people who were defending Megan didn’t hesitate to make jokes about that.
The entire time Minaj was ranting, people kept calling for her to release her diss track. She is, after all, the self-proclaimed “Queen of Rap.” Surely she had some hot heat in the chamber for Meg, right?
Y’all, I’m here to tell you that she in fact did not have hot heat in the chamber for Meg.
As I type this, she’s still ranting on Twitter, but just 22 minutes before her online spiral reached the 72-hour mark — at midnight last night, she released the track “Big Foot,” and the internet collectively groaned with displeasure at the mid-ness of it all.
ok might need a class action lawsuit on behalf of everyone who stayed up for this track because um— Desus MF Nice💯 (@desusnice) January 29, 2024
Not a single woman in the game will fear her again it’s like we saw behind the Wizard of Gag City’s curtain— Ira (@iramadisonthree) January 29, 2024
This going down as one of those legendarily hilarious nights of all time on this site— CHOCKYNILK (@Ofcoursehedoes) January 29, 2024
She cannot be serious. 3 days of spiraling online only to release this hot garbage? This diss is basically just her tweets. Where are the bars, schemes, punchlines? I see why she couldn’t spar with Lil’Kim and Remy because this is embarrassing. #BIGFOOT— Jordan Sumbu (@JordanSumbu) January 29, 2024
“Big Foot” is basically a regurgitation of all the aimless rambling she did on IG Live and Twitter, thrown against a beat someone created on a Casio keyboard.
That’s probably because she couldn’t get anyone to let her use a track to diss Megan on.
She mailed in 76 General Mills Box Tops and got that beat in return— Richard LaMarkus Bailey (@RichardBComedy) January 29, 2024
Audio mesothelioma— Silky (@TheSilkiest) January 29, 2024
She initially said she had a track from Lil Ju, but when she asked if she could use it, she was told “no,” and Lil Ju himself put a tweet out that seemed to vaguely reference his stance on the matter.
Ju Ju has done a lot of work with Megan and produced some of her hottest tracks, so it’s understandable that he would stand with the artist who is actively putting money in his pocket.
The lyrics were very simple and unoriginal. There was nothing compelling in the rap and there was no rhyme scheme. She simply said “foot” a bunch of times and “Megan” and that was the extent of it. There was a bar in there about Pardi and Trey Songz and Tory Lanez, but the entire song sounded like someone who didn’t really put a lot of thought into what they wanted to say before they said it.
The “Mine Name Is Peaches” rap from “Coming to America” was better than this.
youtube
At the end, she goes into a 90-second slurred spoken word rant, and I…
Nicki acted like she had all this smoke for Megan, and in the end, it was imaginary smoke. It was steam and not even a big rush of steam like from a caboose or something. It was that little hiss of steam that came out of your iron when you put water in it before adding that crease to your khakis.
This was her beefs with Remy Ma and Lil Kimall over again. She didn’t have a real answer for them either, and it makes me wonder where is the fabled Nicki that everyone says has a wicked pen game?
Where is the Nicki who allegedly wrote the verse on “Monster” that made us all say that was her song and not Kanye’s?
my hot ticket still that the monster verse ain't even that good, y'all just got thrown off by the different voices https://t.co/ck8eJtGhwk— Jin Jerrelle (@RobLives4Love) January 29, 2024
She claims to have four more songs to release, but if they are anything like this one, she should probably keep them to herself.
Never in my life did I think I would see another rapper kill their career in real time over the internet, yet, here we are.
When it happened with Kanye, it was easy to say that we all expected it at some point. He had been spiraling for a long time, and his behavior was getting more and more erratic as time went on. His ex-wife talked about it on her show, and far be it for me to side with Kim Kardashian on anything, but the one thing we agree on is the fact that Kanye was not well, and it did not seem to be getting any better.
I’m going to be honest and say that I stopped being a Nicki Minaj fan a long time ago.
I hate bullies, and her behavior toward up-and-coming young Black women rappers was reminiscent of someone who was trying to assert their dominance on a cell block or a schoolyard. It was borne of insecurity and intimidation, and it manifested itself in ugly ways that we all saw play out on the internet.
That’s the thing about social media. It has given us a peek at what our favorite celebrities are like when their handlers aren’t around and they are allowed to post whatever they are thinking in the moment unchecked.
Even if they delete the things they said, the internet is forever (word to Cardi B), and someone will have a screenshot or a download of the video even if said celebrity has since tried to erase it from our memories.
Nicki is particularly nasty to the new school of rap girlies, and she adds an extra layer of ick to it by weaponizing her fanbase against them as well as anyone else who dares to say anything critical about her on the internet.
This is a fact that everyone acknowledges, and it has made her less likable over the years.
St. Ives Apricot Scrub. Use to be that girl until we found out how awful she really was. https://t.co/UhPcaAasAo— S. (@sinsandsunsets) January 28, 2024
As this played out over the weekend, I couldn’t help but repeatedly ask where were her people. Does she have a team? How are they letting her spiral openly like this on the internet without stopping her?
She exists in a vacuum where her every thought is bounced through the echo chamber of her rabid fans who affirm and agree with everything she says.
When she makes wild allegations about her popularity and success on the charts, she only uses tweets from fan accounts who say favorable things about her.
She seems to be lacking in self-awareness, and she spent a lot of time this weekend blaming Megan for the fact that she wasn’t able to use the track she wanted to use for her diss record.
She claims Megan and Roc Nation are conspiring to block her from success because Megan is afraid of her, and the funniest part about all of that is Megan dropped that track Friday night and dipped.
Ah. So this is about access to Jay and Bey? Is that what this is all about? Please…I cannot understand why a generational icon is willingly crashing out like this. https://t.co/Np5OsTJHuf— Gerrick Kennedy (@GerrickKennedy) January 29, 2024
This obsession over the idea of forces trying to “replace her”…pure paranoia. Nicki broke a glass ceiling. Of course new generations of women would thrive and be inspired by her. No one denies that. This idea that no one other than her can have success at any time is clear.— Gerrick Kennedy (@GerrickKennedy) January 29, 2024
Competition is one thing. Nicki’s fixation on supremacy has turned her into a parody. A fan base that takes critique or anything that’s not blind praise as hate so they pounce and attack, encouraged by her. Increasingly uninspired music. Unhinged behavior. We’ve seen this before.— Gerrick Kennedy (@GerrickKennedy) January 29, 2024
If we making it strictly about the music; Nicki lost. Bad. But the way she’s carried online? That’s a real loss of dignity here. I do worry about what happens once she realizes those of us outside her echo chamber aren’t clapping for her.— Gerrick Kennedy (@GerrickKennedy) January 29, 2024
We haven’t heard a peep from Megan since. The only tweets and posts from her were posts to amplify her song “Hiss,” and honestly she didn’t even need to do that because Nicki Minaj was Megan’s one-woman PR team the entire weekend the way she kept Megan’s name in her mouth.
It’s a sad state of affairs and an unfortunate thing to watch, but it’s also an example of how some people live in a constant state of lack and believe that a win for someone else means a loss for them.
The world doesn’t work like that.
In this world, there was room for a Megan and a Nicki, but sadly, Nicki couldn’t see that, so through her words and actions, she has made it entirely Megan’s world at this point.
Do we have a new “Queen of Rap”? Possibly.
I can’t see any way for Nicki to redeem herself after this. She has come completely undone and unraveled in front of the entire world.
Let’s pray that she gets back on her good foot, cause this ain’t it.
Monique Judge is a storyteller, content creator and writer living in Los Angeles. She is a word nerd who is a fan of the Oxford comma, spends way too much time on Twitter, and has more graphic t-shirts than you. Follow her on Twitter @thejournalista or check her out at moniquejudge.com.
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Sent from my iPhone
#Youtube#❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️#This whole case had me changing my opinions and views(at least for the moment)#celebrating the police and the system#being xenophobic towards Canadian people#posting stories with reader plus white celebrities with fluffy or smutty material#nearly being racist towards black men#saying that some of them nigcels deserved to be another hashtag#and backing the death penalty.#megan thee stallion#i’m not sad for her#i’m outraged#i’m just glad she’s in a better place now#those people can speak for themselves they know who they are#and they can go straight to hell#they will pay for their crimes#for sucking that abusers meat#Instagram#As always a loud and sincere fuck you to everyone who has doubted her and supported that Canadian cuntery who must not be named#She went through unnecessary trauma for two years#That’s unforgivable#Next level fuckery#That that type of ish that would lead to an episode of snapped or deadly women#once again#🖕🏿daystar Peterson#annnnn boom#just like that#may all who come against black women rot#Don’t fuck with black women#If you can’t love them then at least don’t harm them
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⚠️Manga spoilers ahead⚠️
I love that the anime decided to show Koko less snarky and sweeter when talking with Inupi (kudos to Natsuki Hanae, Koko’s seiyuu, and the anime directors of course) especially since we manga readers now have context about their relationship.
While reading the manga while it was published weekly, Wakui on one hand probably wanted to make the readers understand there was something going on with InuKoko, hinting about their infamous “promise”, making Inupi ask Koko twice in less than 24 hours (in universe) what Koko wanted to do and getting twice the same answer: “I’m sticking with you”.
On the other, he probably didn’t want to show too much, letting thing ambiguous. After all, at this point in the story, people really have no reason to be super connected to Koko and Inupi, they’re just the “mini bosses” and antagonists of this arc and besides the more gentle interactions between each other and maybe Inupi’s consideration of Chifuyu’s strengh (showing he respects him as an opponent) we don’t really see the real them and their positive sides; sure after the episode we have some more context on Inupi’s past, his desire to recreate the BLACK DRAGON, but we still don’t know why. Because he was promised the leadership before going to reform school when the previous gen was destroyed? We learn later that’s not exactly the case, reasons are deeper.
This arc is a prelude to their second and more emotionally intense flashback that we will see in Tenjiku. The incredible thing about Inupi and Koko is that, while they’re not the protagonist, they acquire importance in time, but their subplot, while tangles in the main plot through Inupi’s bonds to the first generation of BLACK DRAGON, is just theirs.
The “resolution” (which is really the first step to rebuild their relationship, but at still they got that and, considering how badly many characters have been treated in the last arc, in retrospective, is way more than I could have expected) is in the last arc of the manga and, considering how I dislike the reset that, if we consider the final timeline, undoes all the character development we have, giving us people we don’t know nothing about, it’s still a kind of satisfying resolution, if we consider the TL we follow in the past and the characters we know.
Sure, I still believe Wakui could have being bolder about their relationship, which is heavy implied to be romantic other than very tormented (and that’s why it’s interesting), but probably given the mainstream success of the manga, that wasn’t possible in order not to make people lose their shit (and Kodansha its money ofc)
But back to the anime depiction, now manga readers know and care for Koko and Inupi, know their past, why the acted the way they did, and why they had those façades in the BD arc.
It’s a good directing decision to let us see better and sooner their gentler side when they interact with each other, especially Koko’s (his little run to reach Inupi is so cute💛)
Both these characters have been deeply misunderstood while the manga was published and they still are, but with the whole context, I see things are slowly getting better. That said, everyone is entitled to their opinions, many things are still ambiguous but other things have been clarified.
#tokyo revengers#inui seishu#kokonoi hajime#kokonui#inukoko#kokoinu#inui x koko#inupi x koko#tokyorev meta#tokyorev spoilers#tokyorev anime spoilers#zae talks about tr#zaenaris
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GJ and ZZH Updates — January 8-14
<<< previous week || all posts || following week >>>
This is part of a weekly series collecting updates from and relating to Gong Jun and Zhang Zhehan.
This post is not wholly comprehensive and is intended as an overview, links provided lead to further details. Dates are in accordance with China Standard Time, the organization is chronological. My own biases on some things are reflected here. Anything I include that is not concretely known is indicated as such, and you’re welcome to do your own research and draw your own conclusions as you see fit. Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or additions. :)
[Glossary of names and terms]
[Masterlist of my posts about the situation with Zhang Zhehan]
01-08
→ Colgate posted photos of fans next to their cutout of Gong Jun, with an equal amount of both solo fans and CP fans shown (including a CPF with “junzhe” written in large letters on her bag.)
01-09
→ MARRSGREEN posted a promotional video spoken by Gong Jun.
→ Legend of AnLe passed government review with 39 episodes, which got on hotsearch. It can be expected to air soon!
→ Colgate posted photos showing public displays of their ad featuring Gong Jun.
→ 361° posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.
01-10
→ New regulations on AI generated images went into effect in China, requiring users to clearly watermark things like deepfakes and AI art to make it clear that that’s what they are. Unfortunately given that the Instagram is a) on an international platform and b) already criminal activity in the first place, this likely won’t help us here.
→ Calendars with white haired photos that the brand gave as gifts with purchases of over 850 RMB were shipped. On them, Wednesday was abbreviated as “WEN” and the dates were organized into rows of ten rather than weeks. 🤡 [photo] This resulted in infighting between whalers on Weibo about a (better quality) fan-made calendar which was given away for free by lottery, with some fans attacking it as “competition” against the official one despite it only being given away after sales had closed. Members of the scam ring were involved in instigating this.
→ The China Police official Weibo posted a promotional picture of Gong Jun, among a number of other celebrities, paying tribute to the third People's Police Festival. Gong Jun reposted this with the added caption: “The home that some people can’t stay in is the place you want to return to but are unable to. Ahead is difficult and dangerous, keeping the people behind you. Thank you for confronting danger! January 10th is the third #People’s Police Festival#, join me in paying tribute to the People’s Police!”
→ 361° posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun. (1129 kadian)
→ An article about the recent songs was published on Medium, giving an objective summary about the rapid rising and falling on music charts and addressing the concerns about whether Zhang Zhehan is involved. This is an article that was previously published on What’s On Weibo on 01-02 but taken down less than 24 hours later; it now includes more detailed research and overall has a more skeptical air to it. (Thank you for your work Ms. Chu, it’s very appreciated 🙏)
→ The Instagram posted ten travel photos.
Fan Observation: The last one seems to be an attempt to imitate the photo Gong Jun posted on 12-17 of the person in a hoodie taking a photo.
→ Hogan tweeted three photos from Gong Jun’s Wonderland photoshoot highlighting their shoes.
→ Charlotte Tilbury posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.
01-11
→ Colgate posted a promotional video spoken by Gong Jun.
→ Gong Jun posted eight travel photos from Yunnan and a photo from the filming of Fox Spirit Matchmaker to his personal Weibo. Caption: “Some remaining film fragments” An hour later he also posted seven of these plus an additional one to Xiao Hong Shu, caption: “Shock! Didn’t realize, there was still stock!” and four plus another additional one to Instagram, caption: “😏”
→ #GongJun trended on Twitter.
→ 2022 satellite non-prime TV rankings were released, with Gong Jun’s shows Dream Garden and Begin Again in the two highest spots respectively.
→ Honor posted a promotional video spoken by Gong Jun.
→ QuelleVous made a post linking Da Xiong (Gong Jun’s manager)’s current Weibo marketing account, where she has been leaking industry information in the same manner as on her previous account since 2022-04-06. These leaks include information about Gong Jun and Fox Spirit Matchmaker, and at the time of this post her most recent post was only a few hours ago.
01-12
→ Esquire posted a teaser video featuring Gong Jun for their January issue. (1129 kadian) Caption: Before the lens focuses he was already ready What about you?” A few seconds of behind the scenes footage from this was leaked a couple days earlier, I will not be linking it.
→ The Instagram posted six more travel photos.
→ The clothing brand A BIG THANKS posted photos of Gong Jun wearing their coat.
01-13
→ Esquire posted the double covers for their issue featuring Gong Jun. (1129 kadian) Caption: “Only those who have really traveled far will be grateful for every inch of land and their own feet. Compared with the past, @ Gong Jun Simon cares more about the future.” This was reposted by Gong Jun’s studio with the added caption, “The ripples are quiet, reflecting the willful reflection. Boss @ Gong Jun Simon releases inspiration in the camera, and everything can be traced.” It was also reposted by Hogan. (1129)
Half an hour later, Esquire also posted another teaser video. Caption: “‘I hope everyone can see a different side of me’, @ Gong Jun Simon has said this sentence many times, and he has done it.”
→ Colgate posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.
→ Gong Jun’s studio posted a video (flashing lights cw) of behind the scenes footage from the photoshoot. Caption: “The snapshots float, and move willfully. Boss @ Gong Jun Simon encounters the true self and enjoys every moment of freedom.” BGM is Como tu by Cannabeats, Zona Infame, and Klibre.
→ Esquire posted eight photos from their photoshoot with Gong Jun. Caption: “For @ Gong Jun Simon, growth is about seeing the gap between reality and ideal, and then working hard to close it.”
→ Gong Jun posted both of the Esquire covers and four of the photos. Caption: “This is the first time I’ve tried a long curly hairstyle, hope you like it, thanks to @ Esquire” Esquire reposted this with the added caption, “Happy cooperation! ❤️❤️❤️ Looking forward to unlocking more new looks with Esquire in the future [3 shiba inu emojis]” Gong Jun also posted the photos to his Xiao Hong Shu, caption: “Anyway I think It looks pretty good! 😛” and as two posts [here] and [here] to his Instagram, captions: “😜😜😜” and “Wuhu, looks good”
→ Hogan posted six of the Esquire photos highlighting their shoes.
→ The Instagram posted a clip of the third song.
→ Gong Jun’s studio posted twelve behind the scenes photos from the shoot. Caption: “Boss @ Gong Jun Simon’s filming break is broadcasting 📸” They commented on the post, “Make up a colour” with a full colour photo of one of the photos rendered in monochrome in the main post.
→ Gong Jun’s studio posted a douyin of more behind the scenes footage. Caption: “Today's ‘set diary’! Capturing the willful and comfortable boss @ Gong Jun Simon under the camera” The BGM is a slowed reverb remix of the Ian Asher mashup of One Kiss by Dua Lipa and I Was Never There by The Weeknd (this took me so long to find, please listen ot it.)
→ Gong Jun was seen doing a photoshoot at Universal Studios Beijing, where he also watched the parade they were holding.
→ The Muses account (associated with Xie Yihua) posted an official statement discouraging fans from using the previous tactics to inflate sales activity, claiming that they had never encouraged this. (Bullshit.) They also made a post announcing the title Deep Blue Man for the album these songs will be compiled in.
Fan Observation: Zhang Zhehan has always previously been associated with light blue. Them explicitly using dark blue is likely another intended smear, as the colour is associated with Kuomintang political party.
→ 361° posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.
01-14
→ #TheRealZhangZhehan trended on Twitter, staying there for over twelve hours.
→ The third song was released on YouTube and later Apple Music and Spotify.
Fan Observation: It was noticed that comments from some familiar names (whalers) were made on the video six hours before it was posted. This can be done by initially posting the video privately and giving people the link, which results in the view and comment counts reflecting the actions by those with the link so it looks like the video is more immediately popular than it truly is once it’s made public. It’s therefore highly suspected that whalers were given the link specifically with this aim.
→ #GongJun trended on Twitter.
→ Esquire posted a video featuring Gong Jun. (1129 kadian) [subbed video] Caption: “Looking back on 2022, @ Gong Jun Simon said: ‘You can only make the best choice at the moment. Now that the choice is over, the rest will be handed over[.] Let time prove it, there is no regret, everything is good.’”
→ 361° posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun. (1129 kadian)
→ MUJOSH posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun. (1129 kadian) They later posted a behind the scenes video. (flashing lights cw)
→ QuelleVous made a post revealing which of Xie Yihua’s people is the one behind the Muses account (Zhao Yao).* A few hours later the account made a post saying it would no longer be active in order to “give Zhehan more focus.”
*When I’ve included stuff about this account in the past, I believe I’ve usually just referred to it as Xie Yihua. I apologize for the mistake.
→ Kangshifu posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.
→ Gong Jun posted nine photos from visiting Universal Studios Beijing the previous day. Caption: “Played all day hahahahahahahaha [three husky emojis]” This was reposted by MUJOSH highlighting their glasses. He also posted the photos to his Xiao Hong Shu, caption: “Happy New Year 🐼” and his Instagram, caption: “wuhu～”
→ An interview with BRTV that Gong Jun did for their Spring Festival Gala was released. [subbed video]
→ Gong Jun’s studio posted nine more photos from Universal Studios Beijing, these all of Gong Jun in Harry Potter robes. Caption: “Boss @ Gong Jun Simon's surprise trip, a day immersed in adventure and ‘wow’!” This was again reposted by MUJOSH.
→ 361° posted two photo ads featuring Gong Jun.
→ Esquire posted the article of their interview with Gong Jun. [partial translation]
→ CAPA updated their website, now including a list of their main leaders and subcommittees (aka a step towards more transparency.) It’s possible that this was something they were ordered to do rather than something they did voluntarily, but at this time that is only speculation.
Addition 01-16: Chinese film report posted a video of Gong Jun writing a blessing for the new year. [written translation]
Additional Reading:
→ Flora’s daily news
<<< previous week || all posts || following week >>>
This post was last edited 2023-01-16.
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F1 fans devastated as Fernando Alonso's rumoured girlfriend Taylor Swift is linked with Matty Healy
Devastated Formula One fans react after it emerges Fernando Alonso's rumoured girlfriend Taylor Swift 'is madly in love' with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy: 'He must be so so sad'
By Ollie Lewis For Daily Mail Australia
Published: 12:50 BST, 4 May 2023 | Updated: 12:50 BST, 4 May 2023
Devastated Fernando Alonso fans have taken to Twitter after his rumoured girlfriend Taylor Swift was linked with English musician Matty Healy.
This week, rumours were rife that the Formula One star was the American singer's new beau after she split up with long-term partner Joe Alwyn. The Spaniard did little to dispel the rumours and played along, much to the delight of fans on social media.
He posted a TikTok of himself listening to her music and avoided questions about their rumoured relationship, while Sky F1 pundits eagerly dropped Swift-related puns throughout their coverage of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
However, any hope of seeing Swift in the Aston Martin garage this season have been quashed after reports emerged claiming that the 33-year-old is set to go public with Healy, frontman of The 1975.
Unsurprisingly, fans of the 41-year-old have not taken the news well, and posted their disappointment on Twitter.
Devastated Formula One fans have reacted to the latest development in Taylor Swift's love life
Swift is reportedly 'madly in love' with musician Matty Healy (L) after rumours linked her with F1 veteran Fernando Alonso (R)
'Taylor Swift and Matty Healy are dating???' one fan posted. 'Fernando Alonso must be so sad...'
Another said: 'Wait wait... Taylor Swift and Matty Healy are dating? Wasn't there rumours about Taylor and Fernando Alonso just less than 24 hours ago' alongside a crying emoji.
A third fan posted: 'I JUST FELL ON MY KNEES.'
'I refuse and I refuse to allow and accept Taylor Swift dating anyone other than Fernando Alonso,' a fourth fan said.
Healy is not the first Brit to date Swift, with the American pop star also enjoying romances with Harry Styles, Tom Hiddleston and Calvin Harris.
Swift is said to be 'madly in love' with Healy - who is the son of Loose Women star Denise Welch and Benidorm actor, Tim Healy.
An insider told The Sun: 'She and Matty are madly in love.
'It's super-early days, but it feels right. They first dated, very briefly, almost ten years ago but timings just didn’t work out.'
The source went on to insist that there was no crossover in Swift's love life, despite news of her split from Joe emerging last month, insisting that the pair actually broke up in February.
Swift is currently in the middle of the US leg of her The Eras Tour while The 1975 are on their At Their Very Best concert tour, but the source insisted they have kept in constant communication by texting and Face Timing.
The source added: 'As two international megastars, they understand the pressures of one another’s jobs better than anyone, and are incredibly supportive of their respective careers.
'They are both massively proud and excited about this relationship and, unlike Taylor’s last one — which was very much kept out of the spotlight, deliberately — she wants to ‘own’ this romance, and not hide it away.
'Taylor just wants to live her life, and be happy. She’s told pals Matty is flying to Nashville over the weekend to support her on the next leg of her tour.'
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F1 fans react after Fernando Alonso's rumoured girlfriend Taylor Swift is linked with Matty Healy
via Formula One | Mail Online https://www.dailymail.co.uk?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
#F1#F1 fans devastated as Fernando Alonso's rumoured girlfriend Taylor Swift is linked with Matty Healy#Formula 1
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I’ve recently managed to get a copy (by which I mean, someone who isn’t me did a bunch of work to get it and all I did was be lucky enough to have it sent to me) of this radio interview that Daniel Kitson did in November 2002, on a show called Unbranded. It was hosted by Ian Collins, on the radio station talkSPORT.
Late 2002 is an interesting point in the Kitson canon, and one from which I don’t have a huge amount of recordings, so it’s nice to have this one to round out that period. If I look at the massive spreadsheet that I obviously have in which I document the data about all the Kitson recordings in my collection, sorted by date, there’s not a lot around that time. The only other things from the second half of 2002 are the Phoenix Nights episodes, and of course that’s not really late 2002 Kitson, as those dates are when they aired, far later than when they were recorded. Though their airing dates being shortly before this radio interview is a bit of interesting context, as they do come up.
Late 2002 is interesting because it’s just after he won the Perrier Award, and just after season two of Phoenix Nights aired, and the combination of those two things seems to be pretty much what created Daniel Kitson’s anti-publicity thing that would come to define his career. Before those two things, Daniel Kitson was on a relatively normal career track. He took a tiny role in a shit movie that came out in 2001, after studying drama in university – the move of someone who trying to build up a profile to lead to a proper acting career. Which would also explain the Phoenix Nights role and the episode of That Peter Kay Thing. He even agreed to have his 1999 Edinburgh run filmed for a documentary. Until 2002, he was doing things that were quite consistent with things people do when they don’t actively object to their showbiz career being tarnished by publicity.
I’ve said before that he might have had an entirely different career if Peter Kay had been less of a dick in 2002, because Phoenix Nights was what really put him off the idea of mainstream success. However, I think it’s a bit more than that. He might have had an entirely different career if Peter Kay and Noel Faulkner had been less dickish, and if Adam Hills, rather than being nominated three times with no wins, had won the Perrier Award in 2002.
There’s an article here, oddly published on the same day as that Ian Collins radio interview, that explains in one spot some things I’d heard him explain a little at a time on other occasions.
Kitson was 24. He’d only been out of college four years. It was too soon. “If he gets it in his first year, he really will just implode,” one of his peers told me on the night before the award. And then, this year, he was nominated again. “I can’t see how he’s going to handle it if he wins,” another comedian said, five hours before Kitson actually picked up the gong. Everyone laughed when, for his acceptance speech, he read out a letter explaining why he wasn’t there that night. If only they knew.
“I wrote the speech because I didn’t want to go and get the award,” Kitson, now 25, explains. “I didn’t want anything to do with it. I said at the start of the festival to my agent, Hannah Chambers: ‘I’d quite like to be ruled out of it.’ And she said: ‘You can’t.’ Why not? ‘Because I’ve got a new dress, and if you say you don’t want to be considered, then everyone will see it as a publicity stunt.’
“In retrospect, that would have been the best thing. The whole process is innately dividing. I’ve met people who I couldn’t speak to because they thought they should have been nominated. These are, if not my friends, then my workmates, and now it’s really awkward.”
So, okay, maybe he'd have had a different career if Peter Kay had been less of a dick and Noel Faulkner had not satisfied the public's demand for horrible bullying crowd work and Hannah Chambers had not bought a dress for the Perrier Award ceremony. To be fair to her, I can't imagine she could have guessed how much he meant it when he said he didn't want to be considered. If I heard a comedian next year who was in contention for the Edinburgh Award withdrawing their name from contention, I would also assume it was a publicity stunt. Usually, it's a publicity stunt. I wonder how many years Daniel Kitson had to double down on his commitment to avoid mainstream success before it became clear that he meant it.
Anyway. The point is that late 2002 - just after season 2 of Phoenix Nights aired and he won the Perrier, before he had implement his "no mainstream success allowed rule" but after the instigating factors of the rule had occurred and he was mad about them - is an interesting point in his career that I mostly know about through stories he's told on stage years later, and a few articles. Not a lot of recordings from that actual time. Aside from this radio interview that I've recently gotten to hear for the first time.
Okay - so first of all, if you do listen to that without a lot of context about Daniel Kitson, I should let everyone know that he is currently touring a show that is written to apologize for the kind of dick he was in 2002. He does not stand by that time that he called that guy's wife a fat whore in 2002, and we cannot hold people to everything they said in 2002. It's... not something that sounds great, the little bit at the beginning of that radio recording. But it is quite interesting to listen to right after seeing his current show, Collaborator (started as First Thing). Which handles, among many other topics, his guilt at having once been exactly that type of comedian (I mean, he's still a comedian who will call his audience a bunch of cunts, but with a fair bit more awareness of how much context and irony can make any insult acceptable that it did not sound like he had back then).
His Collaborator/First Thing show also discusses how much it annoys him when people refer to certain things as "classic Kitson", as it's a reductive way to describe his work. Which is fair enough, wanting the things he worked hard on to stand on their own merits rather than getting branded as "just that thing he does".
However. I find this radio interview both interesting and hilarious because it could not possibly be more classic Kitson. If I had to describe the archetypal ideal of Daniel Kitson circa 2002, I would describe:
Starting off by complaining that it was annoying to win the Perrier Award because it meant he had to go to a ceremony that was a hassle to get to
Saying he didn't want that award yet won it over people who did, initially with the abandon of a man who did not seem aware of how arrogant that made him sound, then sort of trying to mitigate the arrogance but in a way that didn't really quite work
Saying he was up for doing criticism of an important political/global issue, but then not actually doing it
Requesting permission to swear on a commercial radio station where he had to know that you can't do that but felt the need to ask anyway, because no non-swear words were strong enough to describe his dislike for winning a major award
Arriving mid-asthma attack and breaking into a coughing fit while recording live
Swearing anyway, after being told he's not allowed to do that
Getting wildly offended at the suggestion that he might be anything like Bernard Manning, even though at the time he was rather defining himself by offensive material
When asked whether he likes any mainstream comedians, not being able to think of any
"If you're going to have principles about stuff, you have to live on your own in a room, and not talk to anyone you hate ever." - what a Classic Kitson quote
Tell a fairly indiscreet story with another swear word, after being told he can't do that
Talk a bunch of shit about Phoenix Nights, and about any of his own fans who like him because of that show
Use the word "gay" as an insult, entirely ironically, but still in a way that makes me cringe a bit and glad that he has, since then, acknowledged even with irony, that that kind of language isn't as acceptable as he once thought
Explain, with not enough irony on the word, his desire to not be ushered toward the "mainstream"
Slag off (as they say in Britain, that's one of the main British phrases that I wish I could get away with using as a North American, I love the specific thing it conveys for which we don't quite have an equivalent here, the closest would be "talk shit about" but that's not quite the same) Bruce Dessau
Explain his refusal to put anything positive about himself on his posters
Call himself "contrary" with, again, not enough irony on that word
Treat a tired question ("What can't you joke about?", tired even by 2002) with the contempt it deserved
Talk a bit about how cool performing in Australia is
This is the one thing on that list that isn't an example of exactly what I'd have expected from 2002-era Kitson, though it also didn't shock me - call Johnny Vegas the best comedian currently working on the circuit
At the end, apologize for not being a good enough interviewee
It's good stuff, I really enjoyed listening to it. I had suspected for a while, by the way, that Daniel Kitson had some sort of specific grudge against Bruce Dessau, going even beyond his general grudge against all comedy writers. Based mainly on a few Beyond the Joke articles that are caveated with explanations that they had previously contained more stuff about Daniel Kitson, but Kitson himself had requested that be taken out. There's also this article, about some Kitson footage that I and a helpful accomplice (by which I mean, the other guy did all the work) tried to find, but we were told that after that article was written, that footage was locked down tighter at Kitson's request (by the way, the comedy club discussed in that article, that films its acts, is what Kitson was talking about in that radio interview when he said he'd done some stuff in Paris in an English-language club, the article even mentioned that his filmed run there was from 2002). I'm making a couple of leaps of logic here, when I say that I suspect that request was made because that article was written, which combines with those other caveated articles to suggest that Daniel Kitson reads (or at least, for a time around 2014, used to read) Bruce Dessau's work and the moment he saw his own name would immediately shut that shit down.
Anyway. It was a fun thing to listen to. Classic Kitson, all around. Good piece of history to slot into an era when primary-source artifacts are a bit thin on the ground.
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i first read close to the chest in high school, when i was about the same age as yahaba. id barely thought about kyouhaba as a ship before, or even the characters themselves much; im not sure why i decided to click on that link back in the day but im so, so glad that i did. i was so blown away by your fic that, to this day, i feel comfortable calling it my favorite fanfic out of any that ive read, in the haikyuu fandom and outside of it. i've probably read it a dozen times now, most recently in the past 24 hours. it's the fic that made me start noticing background characters more, start to extrapolate vivid lives for them the way you did for yahaba, and it's something i love doing to this day, even in my own (often unfinished and unpublished, but not always) fics. your storytelling was so convincing that i forget most of it isn't literal, canon material. this morning, after blasting through a reread, i realized that since the last time id read it you'd published a companion fic, and i nearly screamed in excitement. i just finished reading, and it's so, so incredible, as good or better than the original. if the first fic caught me at a time where i was a high schooler muddling through the social minefield of being queer, this one caught me at a time where im coming to terms with being less neurotypical than previously planned. im feeling so much for kyoutani right now; youve made me love him so, so much more when i already fell in love with him back in high school alongside yahaba. from the bottom of my heart, thank you. these two fics mean so much to me, and i just had to let you know. i'll be perusing your profile for more fics now, which i cant believe ive never done ❤️❤️❤️❤️
This is one of the most touching asks I've ever gotten, thank you so much!!! I'm so glad my work was meaningful to you! Honestly, writing those fics really helped me work through a lot of my stuff in the same order. I wrote CttC well after I had come out, but when I was in my first serious relationship and working to set up my life as a Totally Out lesbian. I wrote the Kyoutani piece years later, when I started coming more and more to terms with my own neurodivergency and stop trying to play it down in my own head. They're probably the most personal stories I've ever written and can imagine ever writing, so the fact that other people respond to them just makes me feel so many things.
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What is one weird thing that you're proud of? And what is the story around it?
I once harassed the shit out of Starz Entertainment on facebook for publishing a highly misleading ad that preys on dark patterns and sending glorified cyberbullies to try to abuse me off of facebook.
I got 3 of their social media goons to ragequit. I won't post a screenshot of the first ad, primarily because I don't have one. Suffice it to say that it was very obviously a screengrab from the show "Outlander" and had a 10 minute "timer" (read: gif) that warned that, at the end of the "timer" a special deal for 6 months of a huge discount on their streaming site would expire.
I decided to test this by sitting and watching the timer to see it expire. As was totally unsurprising, it was definitely just a gif meant to get reaction-clicks, more traffic to their site and algorithm, and potentially prey on someone with a gambling addiction (like my grandmother) or other compulsion-causing condition to unwittingly throw their money at the ad to make it stop counting down. This is a real anxiety many gamblers and neurodivergent people have, and I have seen quite a few people with autism and/or ADHD and/or a slew of other conditions reveal that those kinds of malicious ads have indeed gotten them to part with some of their money just so they would make the timer go away.
Now, I decided to make this known to Starz by commenting under the ad itself where thousands of other people had also commented. To wit, I simply explained the sheer number of manipulative tactics they were using with this particular banner ad and how, upon reading their subscription TOS and the real terms for the discount (which wasn't fake), I also elaborated that the special discount lasted for several more MONTHS. Not just 10 minutes on facebook.
So I got mouthy. I didn't say anything directly defamatory or even intentionally insulting; I just wrote a small thesis paper on how their ad was the perfect example of Corporate Manipulative Tactics That Are Bad. The comment was 100% intended for anyone who really wasn't sure if the 10 minute timer ad was legit or not, and I would've rather had people know than remain ignorant before signing on with Starz since they're willing to lie 6 months down to 10 minutes.
I mean, I understand haggling, but come on.
Anyway, I post my response, and immediately I get a funny feeling. Mostly because within minutes, I receive a reply under what I wrote from a very generic (but real) person on facebook who forgot to lock their FB account and I could see in their "about me" section that they worked for Starz. This person called me stupid, that I was full of shit, that I was pathetic, that nobody cared what I had to say etc. etc. I only replied by using their replies and facebook's own algorithm and to continue my little TED talk about dark patterns using this person's attempts at cyberbullying as my soapbox. I stayed at the top of the comments section for a few days thanks to that.
Finally, someone shows up in my DMs. Calling me all manner of things, but pretty much the most boilerplate "I'm A Middle Aged Ad Exec And This Sounds Mean To Me So It Should Work On You" insults and harassment.
For the record, do not attempt to do this unless you have a lot of energy and a very open schedule, because I come from the era where 4chan was tricking kids into mixing bleach and ammonia to make "crystals", but really getting them hospitalized or buried for phosphene/mustard gas poisoning. "Goncharov" is a cute troll, but it's just that. Cute.
So Ad Troll #1 has to close down their FB account after I doxxed them when they told me to literally kill myself.
Less than 24 hours later, in comes some other person who totally isn't Starz affiliated ( /s ) to continue the same line of attempted verbal abuse. I mean, I find cold reading at a magic show boring, but they weren't even trying that. It was just schoolyard insults, again. I replied by mentioning she had the countenance about her that reminded me of a weather balloon full of Botox and tanning lotion had crash-landed on a topographical map of the Rocky Mountains. She stopped harassing me, closed her FB account, and disappeared after her nephew started pissing himself in the comments and saying "This is why nobody talks to you at Thanksgiving, Carol."
Third one? It gets fun. That's when I just started posting screengrabs of what these advertisers/social media whatevers were saying to me in FB chat, and I just began posting every screenshot directly as a reply to the very Starz ad they decided to behead me over. Tagging Starz's real company and corporate offices very. single. time. Probably well over 50 times, while continuing to give a long explanation about target manipulation and the tricks they use in Las Vegas casinos. I lived in Vegas for about 10 years or so and both my mom and dad worked within the contract and legal departments of MGM.
Suddenly, Troll #3 just disappears. Mid-insult. Curious that my wireless might've been acting up, I refreshed my facebook page just to make sure the game was still on.
The manipulative ad with the fake countdown timer had disappeared, and was replaced by this:
What a coincidence.
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