#us americans seem to fall back on 'the europeans caused all the problems' and never acknowledge that americans haven't stopped

[justalads]

was l’manburg (and c!wilbur) xenophobic?

xenophobia: fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign

short answer: not really? it depends on a few things.

   (all c! and /rp unless specified)

   we’re bringing out the geopolitical roleplay analysis today!

   before i get into the xenophobia discussion, actually, i want to go down a bit of a side track: the take that the people of l’manburg were colonizers. i don’t think it’s a lot of people who say this, but whenever people list “colonizer” as something that wilbur is, it always confuses me a little, as someone who watched the majority of season one live. there are two definitions for “colonizer”:

   (note: i’m going to be using dictionary definitions for most of these. this is purely in order to give the benefit of the doubt to people that use these words wrong. the definition of these terms that people generally accept often is slightly different, and holds more implications.)

1: a country that sends settlers to a place and establishes political control over it

2. a plant or animal that establishes itself in an area

   so, to be fair, the second definition does fit l’manburg. because it fits everyone on the server. everyone showed up and established themselves in the area. but if people are using that definition, why are we calling exclusively wilbur a colonizer and nobody else? why not the people who took land for their houses, when that was considered completely fine by everyone else? wouldn’t that make dream the biggest colonizer of them all?    the definition that people seem to be implying is more of a “moved into an area and took political control over it.” the question would then be: was the land of l’manburg previously inhabited? was there anything there before l’manburg? because “colonizing” something in the negative sense usually means there was already someone there. the people saying this are using it in the negative sense, because if they were not why would they use it at all and specifically to wilbur?

   it could be argued that the land was “dream’s” land, because it was his server, but then that calls into question his ownership over it at all, and whether or not it was legitimate. if dream “owns” the land of the smp, does he own the entire server? if someone goes out a million blocks, is that still “his” land? and why is it his? what gives him a right to it?

   it could also be argued that the land everywhere belonged to the server, as in everyone had equal claim to it all. however, nobody really had a problem in the past with anyone going “this is my house” or “this is my land”. in fact, the land that became l’manburg was kind of wilbur’s house (if you go back to the hot dog van stream, he says that he built it and he “lives” there.) nobody was there before him. it was his own space that he picked out of all the land. nobody on the server had any sort of previous attachment to the land, and there was nothing important there that everyone needed. the land was free. this sort of thing doesn’t happen very often in real life, because populations are usually already living in places that get colonized. this is not true for minecraft. another definition of colonization is this:

   “colonization, or colonisation refers to large-scale population movements where the migrants maintain strong links with their or their ancestors' former country, gaining significant privileges over other inhabitants of the territory by such links.”    basically, you can’t “colonize” your own land. l’manburg didn’t have any sort of real privilege over the other people on the server (they tried to enforce the rules but because they were physically weaker they were disregarded). while the word colonizer can apply in one definition to everyone, it is then kind of weird to use it just for wilbur, because it implies that he fits the other definition when he does not. the misuse of this word has become prevalent again, with fans on both sides of the las nevadas/snowchester outpost calling the other side colonizers. both of these accusations are incorrect.    so then, why did wilbur disallow americans from going into his country? why did he establish that rule, and doesn’t it show him taking “political control” over an area and denying others equal rights? doesn’t that paint him as a little iffy? does the “no americans” rule make him xenophobic?

   again, not really? it’s sort of complicated.

   the circumstances under which l’manburg was created are roughly outlined at about 1:47:23 in tommy’s vod “ TommyInnit & WilburSoot discuss their Empire Plans in Dream's Server.”

   (bold is wilbur, italics are tommy)

   “have you noticed something about the issue last time? when we were trying to just, you know, trying to get blaze rods and stuff. do you know what the issue was?”

   “what was the issue?”

   “right, so think of all the people that were good to us.”

   “tubbo.”

   “eret. fundy. tubbo, right? what do they all have in common?”

   “they’re all weak. weaker than us.”

   “they’re all european, tommy. i’m thinking we build a wall to keep out the americans.”

   “yeah?”

   “we’re gonna build a wall, on the server, and the americans are gonna pay for it. and we’re gonna keep them out of our land. because they— ruin bits.” (laughs)

   “cause they ruin bits?”

   “no, no, no, they just, we need to get rid of them. we need to keep them out.”

   “okay.”

   “so i’m thinking we build this wall, right. we get fundy involved— well okay, first thing we do, we rob the americans for materials to build the wall.”

   “if we do that, the second we do that, they’re gonna stab us and put us in jail and claim that they’ve won again. they’ve won the war.”

   “look, they can keep doing that, over and over again— the wall’s getting built. so we build this wall, right? and then what we can do in this wall?”

   “what?”

   “it’s our territory. we can make as many drugs as we want. the police have no jurisdiction on us there.”

   “okay.”

   ——

   “so tomorrow, we’re gonna build a drug empire?”

   “well— no, we’re just gonna make a country? and then the drugs will be legal in the country.”

   “how do you know that sapnap’s not gonna… i don’t know. you know what they’re like, man, how do we know they’re not gonna… make it a war?”

   “the thing is, right. how i see it is they can declare war, they can do whatever they want, but like. if we just ignore them and don’t acknowledge it, we win. we can’t lose.”

   “yeah, but they’ll just kill us. because that is what happened last time.”

   “we just don’t acknowledge them. ignore them.”

   “yeah, but there’s only so much ignoring you can do when— yeah, alright, alright.”

   “and then we win. we can’t lose, possibly.”

   “we make them pay, for what they’ve done wrong.”

   so the goal is to… make drugs. because drugs are against the law of the server, and they’re going to get the freedom to do drugs by making their own country, where the police can’t get them. they want to keep the americans out because as wilbur said, the europeans of the server were good to them. they keep talking about how the americans might hurt them. experiences with the americans of the server has left these two with a bias against them.

   the plans to steal materials for the wall are a parallel to the american border wall, maybe less of a parallel and more of a reference/joke since many of these words were never acted upon and the circumstances for these two things are different in an important way. that’s why legitimate comparisons of the american border wall and a roleplay between americans and europeans are not great: it disrespectfully equates two situations. wilbur and tommy joke about the wall throughout the first couple of streams. the aversion to americans that they have is sort of unearned for what they have done to the europeans at this point in time.

   the thing with drawing parallels between l’manburg and real life situations is that we have to take into consideration the power dynamics of the server. dream, sapnap and punz had a lot of power at this point simply because they had a lot of tools and armor. l’manburg had pretty much nothing. so why is the country created? one, to escape a law that they deem unnecessary, and to avoid being put in jail. two, because they have a negative view of the americans, and they want a place where they won’t be hurt by them. tommy says the thing about revenge, but nobody ever acts on it. it’s about safety.

   since the prejudice is there, i would say their words here alone could be considered xenophobic? i’m unsure, because it would be more of the “fear” part of the definition than the “hatred” part. the americans did do things to tommy and wilbur. their beliefs are not entirely unfounded. and then, of course, there’s the fact that once they begin to build the nation, the dynamic shifts entirely.

   like i said before, the americans hold most of the power in the situation. once the action starts and the americans begin to poke at the new country, their actions are harming the people there, therefore solidifying in wilbur and tommy’s minds that the americans want to hurt them. a story of “americans hurt people and the people they hurt want to get away from them” does not generally cast the people who want freedom as xenophobic.

   the americans do engage in acts of tyranny on the people of l’manburg. cruel treatment of citizens and no citizen input in the laws of the land fall under that definition. so at this point, we have people who are being harmed by their government. the refusal of independence and the unjust treatment define the americans as oppressors.

   oppression: prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or control

   when in history, we see those who were oppressed by americans (or anyone for that matter! the sides of american and european do not really matter here, the point is the conflict and relationship between the groups) we see their dislike and fear of the other group as justified, not xenophobic. when people and systems in real life are xenophobic, i feel as if the fear is more of a hatred and the basis for the hostility is misguided. those prejudices are also held with a sense of superiority over those they deem “lesser”, not fear of them (although fear can be a motivator for actions). the xenophobia is often held up by systemic power differences.

   if wilbur’s belief that the americans would hurt them was misguided, the americans should have done something to show them that. wilbur clearly expressed to the americans that he thought they were tyrannical and cruel, and they waged war upon him and his people, when they were pretty much defenseless. so then my question is what’s the point of calling them xenophobic, when their enemies were their oppressors?

   it’s like calling him a colonizer: sure, it’s true in a sense, but the way people use it is misleading, and it’s a heavy word thrown at a delicate situation. its untruth or exaggerated truth makes it slanderous rather than genuine and critical analysis. revolution is produced by injustice, whether real or imagined. it is hard for revolutions with imagined injustices to be successful, as the cause is not appealing. the injustice became even more real once the people of l’manburg expressed the desire to be independent, and were further harmed.

   making comparisons to real life things can be useful, but we should also be careful with how we do it. xenophobia and colonization are things that dramatically impact the lives of those oppressed, and while it’s not exactly directly harmful to those people to say something kind of stupid about a minecraft roleplay (this isn’t twitter, this isn’t something to be “cancelled” over in the slightest and i’m not trying to do that, just talking politics) it does show that people either misinterpret or want to shift the narrative of a political situation. basically, it doesn’t really mean anything, but if someone’s going to call c!wilbur xenophobic, they should think for a minute about why he had that prejudice.

   lastly, the words “tyranny” and “dictator” are also extremely misused. people who want to do political analysis should know what the words actually mean.

~ Lad 2

#dreamsmp analysis #dsmp analysis #wilbursoot #tommyinnit #dream #mcyt #rp #dreamsmp #dsmp #ask to tag #(also from lad 2) by the way if i said anything stupid here please tell me #i don’t want to speak over people who are actually affected by stuff like this #and this is just my perspective as someone who Has privilege so i may be tone deaf #my view of prejudices like this is distant because they don’t affect me directly #my opinion is just that it’s not great to have these sorts of hot takes #about l’manburg if you’re going to ignore the stuff they faced #and that stories of americans opressing people are very common #so pushing charged labels onto characters without actually being right? #probably bad #considering how important the actual issues are #and how what people are saying may impact how they see real situations? #because a lot of dsmp analysis ends up being just political analysis #and opinions bleed over #americans have done a lot of crap #and i don’t want to put blame on the people they oppress #it is Fictional Block Game Story but like #still #but again i’m a white american so #if i’m wrong please let me know i am very willing to be criticized on things like this #thanks guys

[orangeoctopi7]

A Negligible Price

I guess it’s becoming a tradition for me to add another chapter to A Minor Inconvenience every year for @stanuary . I swear I didn’t mean for this to happen. It’s just that the prompt “Sacrifice” got me thinking about this story and where I thought it could go, and then I got writing and I started coming up with ideas for how I could actually put a finish to this story. So yeah, hopefully it won’t be another year before I post chapter 4, but not promises!

Also, first time I’ve had to do this, but:

CONTENT WARNING: DISCUSSION OF SUICIDE/MARTYR COMPLEX AND SUIDICE ADJACENT THEMES.

* * *

Bill rushes to gather himself together again. Now that Sixer and his idiot brother have caught on, he knows they’ll probably be making a move against him soon. The time for lying in wait and keeping a low profile has passed. He’s been getting faster, better at finding the tiny flecks of gold scattered into the dark abyss below. 

Unfortunately that also means that he’s noticed that some missing pieces just never turn up. As an interdimensional being who’s existed in countless dimensions across innumerable timelines, Bill likes to think he knows himself pretty well now. What he’s made of, how much power he’s accumulated, what he’s capable of. And if he had to estimate now, which he does, he’d say he’s been reduced to maybe a third of his power. Roughly two thirds of him are missing. 

What happened to those missing pieces? Were they simply deleted by that memory eraser? Did he leave some of himself behind in that physical form he left to enter Stan’s mind in the Fearamid? Bill can only guess, but really, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter. What matters is getting out of this moron’s brain and starting again on his path to a universe free of rules.

* * *

Stan recovered from his latest memory lapse quickly, despite the fact that it was the worst one he’d experienced since he sacrificed himself to the memory gun last summer. The experience had clearly put Ford on edge, and as much as he tried to bottle up his emotions and remain calm, Stan could practically feel the panic coming off him in waves. 

They were both relieved when they reached Spitsbergen. There was a hospital in Longyearbyen, where Ford insisted they stop to give Stan a check-up. Stan felt fine, but if it helped ease Ford’s nerves, then he could sit through a check-up.

Explaining Stan’s condition to the doctor was a struggle, considering English was not his strongest language. They definitely got across that Stan was experiencing memory problems, but the doctor seemed to be under the impression it had been caused by an injury to the head in an accident, rather than a purposeful exposure to a memory-erasing device. 

Eventually, Ford had lost his patience and just asked if they could use the CT or MRI machine themselves. The doctor spoke enough English to tell them that the nearest CT or MRI machine was in either Iceland or Russia.

The elder Pines twins left the hospital in low spirits. Ford kicked at little pebbles as they walked down the street.

“There’s a research facility in Ny-Ålesund. Perhaps we could sail up there and commandeer some equipment to rig up our own CT scan…”

“I think it’d be easier to just hop on a plane back to the States at this point.” Stan suggested.

“If we’re going to hop on a plane somewhere, it’ll be to Reykjavik, where we won’t have to pay an arm and a leg for any treatments.”

“Yeah, we’ll just have to wait half a year.” Stan rolled his eyes. “I don’t think they’re gonna take ‘revived demon in my head’ as an urgent need.”

“Probably not…” Ford admitted.

“And you’re sure you didn’t figure anything else out the last time you were pokin’ around in my head?”

Ford grit his teeth. The truth was, he was afraid what would happen if he tried to revisit that memory. The cold flames of the memory eraser had felt so real, even just revisiting it in Stan’s mind, and they seemed to be the trigger of his latest memory lapse. Would they have a similar effect within Ford’s own memory?

“Nothing I’ve been able to make sense of.”

Stan grit his teeth. “So what now? Just leave that jerk in my head?”

Ford sighed. “I want to do some more research into what we’ve learned so far. Perhaps a trip to the library will help me find some insight. But truthfully… I may have been too hasty with punching out Bill, when I encountered him. He’s a liar who can’t be trusted, but he’s also a braggart. If I’d just let him run his mouth a little longer, we may have learned something about what he’s up to.”

* * *

Longyearbyen’s library wasn’t any bigger than the public library in Gravity Falls, and had significantly fewer books relating to Bill and mind magic, but it did at least have access to several library databases that Ford couldn’t typically log into from the Stan’O’War II. (According to Fiddleford, these databases could be hacked into quite easily, but Ford didn’t have the time or the wherewithal to learn how) It would have to do for now. Ford took a seat at a computer, and with a little help from a librarian, he was soon scrolling through peer-reviewed articles from different archeologists and anthropologists and folklore experts and descendants of the Aztecs and Mayans debating who Xolotl was, what his role was in the Aztec religion, how much his lore changed from Pre- and Post- Colombian invasion, and so forth. 

What he’d learned so far was interesting, to say the least. The things that most people agreed upon was that Xolotl was a god of death, fire, and lightning. What caught Ford’s attention was the fact that they were also the god of twins and deformities. He glanced down at his twelve fingers, which rested awkwardly on the small keyboard meant for people with just ten. It seemed odd that Bill would call on this particular death god, when they seemed far more likely to be a patron to Stan and Ford. 

While Ford puzzled over this new information, Stan browsed the library, looking for something to entertain himself while he waited. Unsurprisingly, there weren’t a whole lot of English books in this Norwegian library. Luckily, it wasn’t long before he stumbled upon an extensive comics section. Even though he still couldn’t read most of them, the pictures were at least enough that he got the gist of what was going on.

 European comics were very different from American comics. They featured a lot less costumed superheroes punching bad guys and a lot more weird, quirky characters setting out on adventures and exploring the world. They also seemed to lean more heavily on comedy rather than drama. Stan decided he liked them.

He’d been looking at a story about some rich duck when he noticed he felt odd. He didn’t know how else to explain it other than to say that his brain felt itchy. The more he concentrated on it, the more it faded away, but when he went back to looking at the comic and got absorbed back into the story, it came back.

After almost an hour of the feeling coming and going, Stan decided he was not imagining the sensation. He stuffed a tissue into the comic as a bookmark and got up to see what Ford would have to say about it. Almost as soon as he laid eyes on his brother, a wave of anger washed over him. Just like the itchy brain feeling, it went away almost as soon as he stopped and thought about it, but it had been so strong, that he couldn’t deny it had happened.

“Hey.” Stan tapped his brother on the shoulder as the old researcher skimmed an article about why the Aztecs associated lightning with twins.

“Hmm?” Ford acknowledged him without looking away from the screen.

“Am I forgettin’ to be mad at you about somethin’?”

That got Ford to turn and look at him. “Are you having a memory lapse!?”

“I don’t think so, but just a second ago I looked over at you and I felt really mad all of a sudden. Can’t really think of a reason why, though. I’m just wondering if maybe the other day, when I had the big blank-out, maybe we missed somethin’?”

The old researcher’s face contorted with guilt. “You have ample reason to be mad at me. I didn’t stand up for you when dad kicked you out. I never reached out to you for over ten years. I expected you to drop everything and help me with my problems without any explanation. I refused to thank you for saving my life--”

“Yeah, no, none of that stuff.” Stan shook his head. “I remember all that stuff, and I’ve already forgiven you and junk. Mmmm… did you try to enchant the mop again and not let me remember it?” But even as he joked that the underlying reason must be the latest chapter in a minor argument, he knew that couldn’t be right. The sudden bloom of anger had been much more deep-seated and horrible than that. It had felt like… it had felt like Ford had ruined everything. 

To be fair, there had been a long period of Stan’s life when he had felt like Ford had ruined everything. But Stan was over that now, and this brief brush with anger had felt even more heated than that.

Ford gave him an appraising look. “Were there any other memories or emotions associated with this feeling?”

“Oh yeah, my brain was feelin’ itchy right before that.”

“Have… you been using shampoo?” Ford asked, unsure of what to do with this information.

“Not my scalp, genius, like the actual thinking part of my brain!”

“... I can’t even begin to guess what that means.”

“Ugh, I don’t know how else to describe it, ok? It’s like somethin’ was squirmin’ around in my mind!”

The brothers wore twin expressions of realization as the words left Stan’s mouth. 

“We need to get back to the boat.” Ford stood from the computer desk abruptly.

“Yep.” Stan set the comic he’d been reading down on the desk, not even bothering to remove his improvised bookmark. 

* * *

Bill throws his hands up and roars in frustration. He can’t seem to take control, even when the moron’s mind is zoning out, losing himself in some stupid comic book. He’s already in the mind! He’s been here for months! He knows his way around here. So why isn’t it working? Is it because he never made a deal with this guy? That shouldn’t matter! The last thing they did before the whole memory gun thing was shake hands! 

There's no time to waste complaining, though. Sixer will be poking around here any minute. Bill needs a plan. Before, he'd spent millions of years in the Nightmare Realm planning. Now he's making everything up as he goes.

It's clear that Bill can't just take control of Stan like he'd been counting on. But do the other two know that? He might still be able to use that to his advantage.

If Bill is going to trick these losers and get out of here, he needs to play his opponents right. Luckily, he's got years of experience fighting against Sixer. It's the Big Mackerel that he worries about. 

Before, Bill hadn't paid much attention to Stan. He thought he understood what made the simple con man tick. But then, in the end, he found he didn't understand at all. Even after months of being trapped in his mindscape, Stan is very much still a mystery to Bill.

But there is one thing about Stan that Bill does understand.

He’s willing to sacrifice himself for his family.

* * *

Once they were back aboard the Stan’O’War II, Stan allowed himself to relax, just a little. At least here his surroundings were familiar, and the only person he had to worry about was his own brother.

Under normal circumstances, “the only person he had to worry about” meant he didn’t have to look over his shoulder for law enforcement or old criminals who might recognize Stan from his drifter days. 

Today “the only person he had to worry about” meant the only person he could possibly endanger if Bill was able to take control of him. Ford was the last person Stan wanted to put in danger, but he also had to admit, his brother knew more about the demon than any other living being on the planet. 

Stan may have been able to relax a tiny fraction once they were back aboard their boat, but not Ford. Ford was in full-blown panic mode.

He frantically searched around the storage room for something, anything, that could help protect his brother from Bill. Unfortunately, they hadn’t thought to bring unicorn hair or moonstones on their voyage. He did have titanium, but he wasn’t confident enough in his emergency medical knowledge to perform cranial surgery on his own, and he doubted they’d be able to find a doctor crooked enough to do it for them. Currently, his best idea was to build an updated version of Project Mentem, but that would take time. Time he wasn’t sure Stan had.

“I can re-enter your mindscape and shatter him again.” Ford decided, pulling out the candles again. “That should at least buy you a few days.”

“Ok.” Stan nodded. He’d definitely prefer to know Bill was shattered again, and not moving around in his brain. “But it’s not like he’s doing anything right now.”

“He’s probably trying to get us to lower our guard.” Ford assumed. “I’ll need to tie you up. He usually makes his move while his victim is asleep.”

“If I need to fall asleep for your spell while tied up, we’re gonna be waitin’ a long time.” Stan warned. “I dunno if I could even fall asleep right now if I had the world’s most comfortable bed.”

“Fair point.” Ford nodded. “I may have to drug you.”

“You gotta be kidding me!” It was abundantly clear that Ford was not kidding in the slightest.

“Would you rather be used as his puppet!?” The old researcher shouted. The outburst rang in the air for a few seconds while Ford tried to steady his breathing. “Stan I… I’m sorry, I just--”

“It’s ok.” Stan pulled him into a hug and tried his best to calm his brother down. “I know you’re just scared.”

“I’m not scared for myself.” Ford explained in a small voice. “I’m scared for you. Waking up to find that you’ve hurt someone, it’s-- I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, least of all you--”

“Stanford, look at me. We’re not gonna let that happen. What if we do it while I’m awake, like we did with the memory before?”

Ford nodded meekly. “That… that could work.”

“You can still tie me up if that makes you feel better.”

The old researcher bit his lip. “...It shouldn't be necessary...”

“Ford.”

“...But it probably would ease some of my fears, yes.” he admitted.

“That’s what I thought. I’ll go get the rope.”

Still unwilling to let his brother out of his sight, Ford followed Stan up to the deck while he retrieved said rope. Once they were back below deck, he wrapped Stan tightly in a large blanket before sitting him down on a chair and tying him up, to ensure he was as comfortable as possible while still restricting his movement.

“How do you feel?” Ford asked as he lit the candles.

“Like I’m about to be shipped back to Oregon in the mail.”

“And Bill…?”

“I haven’t felt anything else from him since we left the library.”

The lack of activity should have reassured Ford, but instead it just added to his general unease. At least he was able to compose himself enough to perform the incantation.

Just as last time, after a flash of light, he found himself on the deck of Stan’s mindscape, with Stan himself standing beside him. This time, though, Bill was floating there, waiting for them.

“I KNEW YOU’D BE BACK HERE AFTER I GOT YOUR ATTENTION IN THE LIBRARY!” The demon taunted. “OH, AND LOOK. STANO HERE EVEN MADE A MENTAL CONSTRUCT OF HIMSELF WITHIN HIS OWN MIND JUST SO YOU WOULDN’T HAVE TO FACE ME ALONE! HOW CUTE!” He prodded Stan in the stomach like he was the Pillsbury Doughboy.

“Back off, bucko!” Stan threatened. “We’re here to break your whole face!”

“WHAT, YOU COULDN’T WAIT UNTIL TONIGHT TO DO IT IN YOUR DREAMS LIKE YOU ALWAYS DO?” Bill asked, voice dripping with false innocence. 

“We’re not able to risk the chance of you parading about in Stanley’s body.” Ford growled.

“HA! YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN ANYONE, FORDSY, I ONLY DO THAT TO STUBBORN KNOW-IT-ALLS WHO WON’T WORK WITH ME WILLINGLY.”

“If you think I’m gonna work with you willingly, then you’re an even bigger idiot than I thought.” Stan grunted.

“HEAR ME OUT, MAC! WE BOTH WANT THE SAME THING HERE! ME, OUT OF YOUR SAD PATHETIC MIND!”

“You can’t leave!?” Ford asked in surprise.

“WHAT, YOU THINK I ENJOY SPENDING TIME IN THIS BOZO’S MIND? YOU THINK I WAS PLOTTING MY REVENGE?”

“Honestly, yes.”

Bill gave a long, mocking laugh. “AHAHAHAHAHA! YOU REALLY THINK I CARE ABOUT A COUPLE OF INSIGNIFICANT FLESH SACKS LIKE YOU?”

“We’re the insignificant flesh sacks who killed you!” Stan reminded him.

“WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY. THE BEST REVENGE IS LIVING WELL.”

The brothers exchanged a suspicious glance. They highly doubted Bill actually believed that adage.

“BUT I CAN’T EXACTLY LIVE WELL TRAPPED IN YOUR MINDSCAPE. I MIGHT GET BORED AND DECIDE THE BEST REVENGE IS KILLING YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY WITH YOUR OWN HANDS.”

Ah yes, that was more along the lines of what they expected from Bill.

“So you’re saying you’ll just let bygones be bygones if I cooperate with you?” Stan asked skeptically. 

“WE’LL GO OUR SEPARATE WAYS, NEVER TO MEET AGAIN!”

“And what are you planning on doing once you’re free?” Ford asked coldly.

“NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, SIXER.” The demon waved him off. “NOW ARE YOU GONNA HELP ME OUT OF HERE OR NOT? THE SOONER THE BETTER. YOU TWO AREN’T GETTING ANY FURTHER AWAY FROM THE AVERAGE LIFE EXPECTANCY OF A HUMAN MALE, AND FISH FACE HERE DOESN'T EXACTLY TAKE GOOD CARE OF HIS BODY.”

“Hey!” Stan shouted indignantly.

“Why should Stan’s life expectancy factor into this?” Ford asked.

“HMMM? OH, NO REASON.” Bill said evasively. “I’M JUST, Y’KNOW, IN A HURRY.”

“You’re an immortal, extradimensional being. You’ve been trying to find a way out of the nightmare realm since before multicellular life developed on this planet. If you’re so sure we’re close to the end of our lives, why not wait until we’re out of the way? You must realize we’ll try and stop you from starting Weirdmaggedon again!” Ford reasoned.

“WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT STARTING WEIRDMAGGEDON AGAIN?” Bill denied. “AND MAYBE AFTER A BILLION YEARS, I’M TIRED OF WAITING!”

“Unless you aren’t immortal any more.” the old researcher concluded.

“YOU’VE SEEN FOR YOURSELF, FORDSY, EVERY TIME YOU OR YOUR IDIOT BROTHER SHATTER ME, I PULL MYSELF BACK TOGETHER.”

“Immortal in the mind, perhaps. But what happens when the mind you’re occupying finally dies?”

“ALRIGHT, YOU FIGURED IT OUT!” Bill sneered. “I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN A GENIUS LIKE YOU WOULD. YEAH, MY LIFE’S TIED TO THE BIG MACKEREL’S NOW. SO WHAT? YOU GONNA KILL YOUR BROTHER JUST TO GET RID OF ME?”

“Of course not!” Ford barked.

“Hey, I’d be more than happy to take you down with me if it meant making sure you never hurt anyone else ever again!” Stan challenged the demon.

Ford stared at his brother with wide eyes. “Stanley, no!”

“Hey, relax, I’m not talkin’ suicide or anything.” Stan assured him. “But he’s right about one thing. I’m not gonna live forever.”

I’ll only do it if I have to. A stray thought cawed overhead.

Stan cussed under his breath as Ford gaped at him with a mix of alarm and pity.

“I’m not gonna take it back.” Stan insisted after a moment. “If that’s what it comes down to, to keep him from hurtin’ you or the kids, then I’m taking him down with me.”

Ford placed his hands firmly on Stan’s shoulders and looked him straight in the eye with all the intensity he could muster. “We won’t let that happen!” 

Bill laughed at them cruelly. “RIGHT, CUZ YOU’VE HAD SO MUCH SUCCESS STOPPING ME IN THE PAST.”

“I’ll find some other way!” Ford insisted.

“I’M SURE YOU COULD, WITH TIME.” Bill agreed. “BUT I’M GONNA STRANGLE YOU IN YOUR SLEEP BEFORE THEN!”

Not if I strangle myself first! Another one of Stan’s stray thoughts called.

Ford gave his brother a frustrated shake. “No! Stanley, I swear to you, that won’t be necessary!”

“Alright, that’s it. We’re not havin’ this conversation in my brain, where you can hear all my unprocessed thoughts.” Stan decided.

Suddenly, Ford’s form and everything around them flickered and began to fade to white. Stan and Bill were the only ones who remained solid and whole. Stan was waking up? But he’d never been asleep before the spell in the first place!

“Don’t you try any funny business!” Stan pointed an accusing finger at Bill. “I’m coming back to shatter you into a million smaller pieces as soon as I fall asleep tonight!”

#Gravity Falls #Fanfiction #Stanley Pines #Stanford Pines #Stanuary 2021 #This jerk

[adventures-in-poly]

0 Posts in 2020

You’d think that I’d have something Very Profound to say about the interactions between the pandemic and poly, but it turns out I haven’t wanted to write about that subject very much at all. I won’t say that the pandemic has sucked all the inspiration from my brain, just that it has shuffled inspiration around in unexpected ways and away from writing.

The pandemic has felt like it’s pressed the pause button on my poly life. My husband (M) can’t go out on dates because OTHER PEOPLE ARE DANGEROUS. I also can’t go out on dates for the same reason, but moreover, I choose not to go on dates because I’m just So Damn Exhausted. I’ve seen my boyfriend (Crow) only three times this year: once before the pandemic and twice since, and that’s only possible because his house has this large porch where we can do social distancing outside. I haven’t kissed him since January and I’ve only hugged him once, masks on and faces turned away, and I held my breath the whole time. I haven’t had sex with anyone in over a year, and I can’t even “blame” that on the pandemic. It’s a choice. Guess I’ve gone full asexual, and I say “guess” because, while asexual is an accurate descriptor, I still don’t feel really great about adopting that as a personal identity. I’m not even upset about the no sex part though. I’m happy about it. My Magic Wand knows exactly what I want and all the nuances of my body and it’s much less painful than skin on skin.

The pandemic is NOT a good thing. It is NOT a good thing that millions of people have died, and it is NOT a good thing that we as a community are touch-starved and relationship-starved and can’t seem to figure our shit out.

That said.

I’m going to be honest. It has felt nice not having to worry, poly-wise. I hate that that’s a thing that I feel, but this blog is and has always meant to be about honesty. It feels like a relief knowing that I am not going to be in a situation where I have to watch my husband drunkenly and sloppily hit on other women at parties that we are meant to both enjoy. It feels like a relief knowing that he isn’t going to tell me, “I’m going to meet someone that I’ve been talking to on Tinder”, that the bomb isn’t going to fall on me. Because that’s what it is. “I came in like a wrecking ball.” The fear that someone else will enter our lives - my life - and I’ll have no control over it, and I’ll hate it, and I’ll lose myself.

I have a lifelong fear of being replaced. Of being “not good enough”. I hesitate to call it a fear of being unlovable, because I’ve never doubted that people love me and like me. I think they do. But the fear is that, when my needs butt up against someone else’s, theirs will always win. As a child, my parents taught me all about caring for other people, being generous, being self sacrificing, being kind. They immigrated to the US from England a few years before I was born, and as a result, I was brought up with a European mindset (others before yourself) in an American environment (look out for number one). And, as a result -- even though my parents were extraordinarily caring, even though I was an only child, even though they were generous with their time and attention, even though I had a very happy childhood -- I somehow learned that I would always be second place. Always the one to sleep on the floor at sleepovers so the guest or the host could get the bed. Always the one to get a boring piece of cake so a louder and therefore more deserving child could get the piece with the flower. Petty shit like that that translated into real adult problems. Just two nights ago, on New Year’s Eve, I had told my husband I’d wanted us to change the sheets, and as I ascended the stairs to bed I forlornly reminded him that we hadn’t changed the sheets - terrified and fully preparing myself to be let down because he was having a good time at an online New Year’s Eve party and of course that meant that my needs would subside. (They didn’t. The world doesn’t work like that. My husband shows me over and over again that my needs are important to him, and yet I Still Never Learn.)

I can say with full honestly that I am no longer really jealous of my boyfriend and his wife anymore. I used to be, a little. I used to be jealous that he would want to visit her at her shift before he came over for dates, or that he’d want to bring her to casual outings with me, or that at any point the two of them could decide they’d want to move back to San Diego and that would be that. I don’t feel those things anymore. I haven’t for a long time. It’s some sort of consequence of she and I becoming legitimate good friends, plus me and my husband moving an hour away, plus just being too damn old and too damn tired to give shits anymore.

Then again, their relationship was never the kind that was going to prick my skin up and put me on guard. I was the new person, not her. I don’t have a complex about older, more established relationships.

But the idea of my husband finding somebody new, even though our relationship is solid? Sends me into chaos. Even now. I wish I could say that it’s changed in the 5 years since we opened things up, but it hasn’t. It hasn’t really at all.

I’d wanted this blog to document my journey from new to seasoned poly, from a jealous wreck to someone who had learned to love herself and meditate through the pain. That’s not what happened. I’m not sure if it’s ever going to happen. My husband hasn’t had enough actual relationships to give me practice experiencing the very discomfort that makes me want to scream until my insides explode out, and the few times it has happened, I felt like I was living in a shock chamber and turning into the kind of person I don’t want to be.

I wanted to evolve, for the sake of my readers, into someone who fully accepts a poly lifestyle. To show that it can be done. No -- to show, specifically, that I could do it, that I could logic and reason my way through all the shit and prove myself to be better than my jealousy. I don’t think that’s what’s going to end up happening. I think it’s no secret at this point that I don’t really love this whole poly thing. I am still actively choosing it, but not always for reasons that I endorse. What if I decided I didn’t want to do it anymore? Would I lose my husband? Would I lose my boyfriend? Could I ethically give up my relationship with my boyfriend to create monogamy with my husband? Could I ethically ask my husband not to go on dates while I still retain my relationship with my boyfriend? It’s all shit, really. None of it is a good outcome. And the pandemic has allowed me to stall my non-decisions for a year because it’s not like we can see other people anyway. And isn’t it great when some external force gives you a reprieve from the things you’re afraid of.

But while the pandemic has put my poly life on pause, it’s put my healing and growth around poly stuff on pause as well. Sure, it feels fucking great on the surface, but it’s not actual growth. I’m not forever in a place where I will feel secure. It’s going to end eventually (vaccinate me, babyyyyyyyy!!!), and the parties will start again, and the dates will start again, and my terrified introvert ass is afraid that everything collectively will swing in the opposite direction super hard. Free love! Casual sex everywhere! Everyone wants to hang out all the time! How could you possibly want to be alone at a time like this! And that fear extends beyond poly stuff and beyond just me and my husband - I’m not ready for the world to become a giant party. I don’t want that world. I don’t want to live in that world but I also don’t want to miss out on the collective bonding experience that is almost sure to come from the end of Covid. So the reprieve I’m feeling now is only surface level great because it’s a pause, not an end, and I don’t feel any more equipped to deal with my jealousy and my social anxiety and my feelings of not being good enough than I did at the beginning of this damn pandemic.

Part of me wishes I could “get over my shit”, and part of me wants to cling onto my shit and defend it. Like why am I the one who has to change, why am I the one who has to evolve, what’s wrong with feeling the way I feel? Why is this a “my shit” thing, like I’m alone and all my problems are caused by my own feelings? Why do other people NeEeEeEeEd to go on dates and have sex. Why does my husband need that. Why am I not good enough. Why is the problem that I feel jealousy and insecurity; why is the problem not that he feels [insert whatever he feels here. unsatisfied? no, that’s not it. incapable of being fully satisfied by a single person? that seems extreme. incapable of surrounding himself with platonic friendships in the way that comes so naturally to me and many of my women friends, and much more able to connect with people he is in a romantic/sexual relationship with, and so needs to create many romantic/sexual relationships to fill that void that otherwise would be filled with friendships - which is not actually something I believe about him, I think he could make really great friendships with the right tools, but is something he’s expressed to me and is also something that’s pretty common around people raised as men? is that too harsh?]

I’m trying to look for a good ending for this post, but, like an explanation for my feelings, I don’t think I’m going to find satisfaction here.

#polyamory #Poly #nonmonogamy #non monogamy #polyam

[arcticdementor]

“Hey bro! Check out this Nike ad!” This was my entry point into a new world.

…

Since Carlos had lived mostly outside the United States, he was able to follow soccer on a level I’d never encountered in my hometown. Back then, before social media and the advent of scarf-wearing Northwestern fútbol hipsters, big-time European soccer was like the metric system: Known to almost all but ourselves. But Carlos knew, and immediately used LimeWire to curate me a massive archive of 1990s through early 2000s soccer highlights. What was I doing in the world without them?

Oddly enough, in trying to inculcate me in soccer fandom, he started not with game highlights, but with the advertisements. Yes, Carlos was an educator and a voluntary footsoldier for Big Apparel. Going in, I had no clue about high-quality, internationally popular Nike soccer ads. The ads, written by the legendary Wieden+Kennedy firm, were miniature movies, films that were often creatively daring but also quite funny. The most popular of these ads might be “Good vs. Evil,” from 1996, where Nike’s best soccer players team up to play Satan’s literal army. The blending of sacrilege, theology and comedy just worked, like a more ambitious version of Space Jam that somehow took itself less seriously than Space Jam.

…

Yes, I know ads aren’t supposed to be high art. I understand that they are the purest distillation of manipulative greed. And yet, they sometimes are culturally relevant generational touchstones. While Nike was weaving soccer into enduring pop culture abroad, it was having a similar kind of success with basketball and baseball stateside. These ads weren’t just pure ephemera. Michael Jordan’s commercials were so good that, as he nears age 60, his sneaker still outsells any modern athlete’s. “Chicks dig the long ball” is a phrase (a) that can get you sent to the modern HR department and b) whose origins are fondly remembered by most American men over the age of 35.

Modern Nike ads will never be so remembered. It’s not because we’re so inundated with information these days, though we are. And it’s not because today’s overexposed athletes lack the mystique of the 1990s superstars, though they do. It’s because the modern Nike ads are beyond fucking terrible.

…

They’re bad for many causes, but one in particular is an incongruity at the company’s heart. Nike, like so many major institutions, is suffering from what I’ll call Existence Dissonance. It’s happening in a particular way, for a particular reason and the result is that what Nike is happens to be at cross-purposes from what Nike aspires to be.

…

For all the talk of a racial reckoning within major industries, Nike’s main problem is this: It’s a company built on masculinity, most specifically Michael Jordan’s alpha dog brand of it. Now, due to its own ambitions, scandals, and intellectual trends, Nike finds masculinity problematic enough to loudly reject.

This rejection is part of the broader culture war, but it’s accelerating due to an arcane quirk in the apparel giant’s strange restructuring plan, announced in June. Under the leadership of new CEO John Donahoe, Nike is moving away from its classic discrete sports categories (Nike Basketball, Nike Soccer, etc.) in favor of a system where all products are shoveled into one of three divisions: men’s, women’s and kids’. Obviously Nike made clothing tailored to the specificities of all these groups before, but now, Nike is emphasizing gender over sport. Gone is the model of the product appealing to basketball fans because they are basketball fans. It’s now replaced by a model of, say, the product appealing to women because they are women.

And hey, women buy sneakers too. Actually, women buy the lion’s share of clothing in the United States. While women shoppers are market dominant in nearly every aspect of American apparel, the clothing multinational named after a Greek goddess happens to be a major exception. At Nike, according to its own records, men account for roughly twice as much revenue as women do.

You might see that stat and think, “Well, this means that Nike will prioritize men over women in its new, odd, gendered segmentation of the company.” That’s not necessarily how this all works, thanks to a phenomenon I’ll call Undecided Whale. The idea is that a company, as its aims grow more expansive, starts catering less to the locked-in core customer and more to a potential whale which demonstrates some interest. Sure, you can just keep doing what’s made you rich, but how can you even focus on your primary business with that whale out there, swimming so tantalizingly close? The whale, should you bring it in, has the potential to enrich you far more than your core customers ever did. And yeah yeah yeah, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, but those were birds. This is a damned whale! And so you start forgetting about your base.

You can see this dynamic in other places. For the NBA, China is its Undecided Whale. It could be argued that the NBA fixates more on China than on America, even if the vast majority of TV money comes from U.S. viewership. The league figures it has more or less hit its ceiling in its home country, so China becomes an obsession as this massive, theoretical growth engine.

…

Here’s the main issue for Nike in this endeavor: The company, as a raison d’être, promotes athletic excellence. While women are among Nike’s major sports stars, the core of high-level performance, in the overwhelming majority of sports, is male. Every sane person knows that, though nobody in professional class life seems rude enough to say so. Obviously, there’s the observable reality of who tends to set records and there’s also the pervasive understanding that testosterone, the main male sex hormone, happens to give unfair advantages to the athletes who inject it.

Speaking of which, there’s a famous This American Life episode from 2002 where the public radio journos actually test their own testosterone levels. The big joke of the episode is just how comically low their T levels are. Sure, you would stereotype bookish public radio men in this way, and yet the results are on the nose enough to shock.

As a nerdy media-weakling type, I can relate to the stunning realization that you’ve been largely living apart from T. Before working in the NBA setting, I was an intern in the cubicles of Salon.com’s San Francisco office, around the time it was shifting from respectable online magazine into inane outrage content mill. Going from that setting to the NBA locker room was some jarring whiplash, like leaving the faculty lounge for a pirate ship. To quote Charles Barkley on the latter culture, “The locker room is sexist, racist, and homophobic … and it’s fun and I miss it.”

…

The “Good vs. Evil” ad boasts a “Like” to “Dislike” ratio of 20-to-1 on YouTube. On June 17th of 2021, Nike put out an ad ahead of the Euro Cup that referenced “Good vs. Evil” as briefly as it could. In this case, a little child popped his collar and used Cantona’s catchphrase. As of this writing, the new ad has earned a thousand more punches of the Dislike than of the Like button.

When you see it, it’s no surprise that the latest Euro Cup ad is disliked. I mean, you have to look at this shit. I know we’re so numb to the ever-escalating emanations of radical chic from our largest corporations, but sometimes it’s worth pausing just to take stock and gawk.

…

But today we are in the land of new football, where we take dictatorial direction from less-than-athletic minors. After her announcement, we are treated to a montage of different people who offer tolerance bromides.

“There are no borders here!”

“Here, you can be whoever you want. Be with whoever you want.”

(Two men kiss following that line, because subtlety isn’t part of this new world order.)

Then, a woman who appears to be breastfeeding under a soccer shirt, threatens, in French, “And if you disagree …”

And this is when the little boy gives us Cantona’s “au revoir” line before kicking a ball out of a soccer stadium, presumably because that’s what happens to the ignorant soccer hooligan. He gets kicked out for raging against gay men kissing or French ladies breastfeeding or somesuch. Later, a referee wearing a hijab instructs us, “Leave the hate,” before narrator girl explains, “You might as well join us because no one can stop us.”

Is that last line supposed to be … inspiring? That’s what a movie villain says, like if Bane took the form of Stan Marsh’s sister. Speaking of which, was this ad actually written by the creators of South Park as an elaborate prank? It’s certainly more convincing as an aggressive parody of liberals than as a sales pitch. Why, in anything other than a comedic setup, is a woman breastfeeding in a big-budget Euro Cup ad?

It’s tempting to fall into the pro-vanguardism template the boomers have handed down to us and sheepishly say, “I must be getting old, because this seems weird to me,” but let’s get real. You dislike this ad because it sucks. You are having a natural, human response to shitty art. This a hollow sermon from a priest whose sins were in the papers. Nobody is impressed by what Nike’s doing here. Nobody thinks Nike, a multinational famous for its sweatshops, is ushering us into an enlightened utopia. Sure, most media types are afraid to criticize the ad publicly. You might inspire suspicion that what you’re secretly against is men kissing and women breastfeeding, but nobody actually likes the stupid ad. No college kid would show it to a new friend he’s trying to impress, and it’s hard to envision a massive cohort of Gen Z women giving a shit about this ad either.

Now juxtapose that ad not just against the classics of the 1990s but also the 2000s products that preceded the Great Awokening. Compare it to another Nike Euro Cup advertisement, Guy Ritchie’s “Take It to the Next Level.”

…

Here’s the problem, insofar as problems are pretended into existence by our media class: The ad is very, very male. Really, what we are watching here is a boyhood fantasy. Our protagonist gets called up to the big show, and next thing you know he’s cavorting with multiple ladies, and autographing titties to the chagrin of his date. He can be seen buying a luxury sports car and arriving at his childhood home in it as his father beams with pride. Training sessions show him either puking from exhaustion or playing grab-ass with his fellow soccer bros. This is jock life, distilled. Art works when it’s true and it’s true that this is a vivid depiction of a common fantasy realized.

Nike’s highly successful “Write the Future” ad (16,000 Likes, 257 Dislikes) works along similar themes.

…

The recent Olympic ads were especially heavy on cringe radical chic, and might have stood out less in this respect if the athletes themselves mirrored that tone on the big stage. Not so much in these Olympics. It seems as though Nike made the commercials in preparation for an explosion of telegenic activism, only to see American athletes mostly, quietly accept their medals, chomp down on the gold, and praise God or country. Perhaps you could consider Simone Biles bowing out of events due to mental health as a form of activism, but overall, the athletes basically behaved in the manner they would have back in 1996.

But Nike forged onwards anyway. This ad in celebration of the U.S. women’s basketball team made some waves, getting ripped in conservative media as the latest offense by woke capital.

…

“Today I have a presentation on dynasties,” a pink-haired teenage girl tells us. “But I refuse to talk about the ancient history and drama. That’s just the patriarchy. Instead, I’m going to talk about a dynasty that I actually look up to. An all-women dynasty. Women of color. Gay women. Women who fight for social justice. Women with a jump shot. A dynasty that makes your favorite men’s basketball, football, and baseball teams look like amateurs.”

When she says, “That’s just the patriarchy,” the camera pans to a bust of (I think) Julius Caesar. At another point, the girl says, “A dynasty that makes Alexander the Great look like Alexander the Okay.” Fuck you, Classical Antiquity. Fuck you, fans of teams. You’re all just the patriarchy. Or something.

Nike could easily sell the successful American women’s basketball team without denigrating other teams, genders and ancient Mediterranean empires that have nothing to do with this. Could but won’t. The company now conveys an almost visceral need for women to triumph over men because … well, nobody really explains why, even if it has something to do with Undecided Whaling. In Nike’s tentpole Olympics ad titled “Best Day Ever,” the narrator fantasizes about the future, declaring, “The WNBA will surpass the NBA in popularity!” ​

…

There are theories on the emergence of woke capital, with many having observed that, following Occupy Wall Street, media institutions ramped up on census category grievance. The thinking goes that, in response to the threat of a real economic revolution, the power players in our society pushed identity politics to undermine group solidarity. Well, that was a fiendishly brilliant plan, if anyone actually hatched it.

I’m not so convinced, though, as I’m more inclined to believe that a lot of history happens by happenstance. If we’re to specifically analyze the Nike Awokening, there is a recent top-down element of a mandate for Undecided Whaling, but that mandate was preceded by a socially conscious middle class campaign within the company.

This isn’t unique to Nike, either. Given my past life covering the team that tech moguls root for, I’ve run into such people. They aren’t, by and large, ideological. Very few are messianically devoted to seeing the world through the intersectionality lens. They are, however, terrified of their employees who feel this way. The mid-tier labor force, this cohort who actually internalized their university teachings, are full of fervor and willing to risk burned bridges in favor of causes they deem righteous. The big bosses just don’t want a headline-making walkout on their hands, so they placate and mollify, eventually bending the company’s voice into language of righteousness.

…

All the guilt and atonement transference make for bad art. And so the ads suck. There’s no Machiavellian conspiracy behind the production. It’s just a combination of desperately wanting female market share and desperately wanting to move on from the publicized sins of a masculine past. So, to message its ambitions, the exhausted corporation leans on the employees with the loudest answers.

There’s a lot of interplay between Nike and Wieden+Kennedy when the former asks the latter for a type of ad, but the through line from both sides is a lot of cooks in the kitchen. Based on conversations with people who’ve worked in both environments, there’s a dearth of personnel who are deeply connected to sports. In place of a grounding in a subculture, you’re getting ideas from folks who went to nice colleges and trendy ad schools, the type of people who throw words like “patriarchy” at the screen to celebrate a gold medal victory. The older leaders, uneasy in their station and thus obsessed with looking cutting edge, lean on the younger types because the youth are confident. Unfortunately, that confidence is rooted in an ability to regurgitate liturgy, rather than generative genius. They’ve a mandate to replace a marred past, which they leap at, but they’re incapable of inventing a better future.

…

Ironically, Nike mattered a lot more in the days when its position was less dominant. Back when it had to really fight for market share, it made bold, genre-altering art. The ads were synonymous with masculine victory, plus they were cheekily irreverent. And so the dudes loved them. Today, Nike is something else. It LARPs as a grandiose feminist nonprofit as it floats aimlessly on the vessel Michael Jordan built long ago. Like Jordan himself, Nike is rich forever off what it can replicate never. Unlike Jordan, it now wishes to be known for anything but its triumphs. Nike once told a story and that story resonated with its audience. Now it’s decided that its audience is the problem. It wouldn’t shock you to learn that Carlos hated the new Nike ads I texted to him. His exact words were, “I don’t want fucking activism from a sweatshop monopoly.” He’ll still buy the gear, though, just not the narrative. Nike remains, but the story about itself has run out. Au revoir. 

#ethan strauss #nike #sports #substack

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

July 5, 2021

Heather Cox Richardson

Last night, in a speech to honor Independence Day, President Joe Biden used his administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic to defend democracy.

Biden urged people to remember where we were just a year ago, and to “think about how far we’ve come.” “From… silent streets to crowded parade routes lined with people waving American flags; from empty stadiums and arenas to fans back to their seats cheering together again; from families pressing hands against a window to grandparents hugging their grandchildren once again. We’re back traveling again. We’re back seeing one another again. Businesses are opening and hiring again. We’re seeing record job creation and record economic growth—the best in four decades and, I might add, the best in the world.”

The president was referring, in part, to the jobs report that came out on Friday, showing that the nation added a robust 850,000 non-farm jobs in June.

But he was also talking about how the United States of America took on the problem of the pandemic. Coming after two generations of lawmakers who refused to use federal power to help ordinary Americans, Biden used the pandemic to prove to Americans that the federal government could, indeed, work for everyone.

The former president downplayed the pandemic and flip-flopped on basic public health measures like masking and distancing. Unlike most European and Asian countries, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, the Trump Administration sidelined the country's public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, considered to be the top national public health agency in the world. Trump downplayed the seriousness of the coronavirus out of fear of hurting the stock market, and turned over to states the process of dealing with this unprecedented crisis. The U.S. led the world in COVID-19 deaths. More than 603,000 Americans have died so far.

When he took office, Biden had already begun to use the government response to coronavirus as a way to show that democracy could rise to the occasion of protecting its people. The day before his inauguration, President Biden held a memorial for the 400,000 who had, to that date, died of COVID-19. He put Dr. Rochelle Walensky, a renowned infectious disease expert, at the head of the CDC and reinstated the CDC at the head of the public health response to the pandemic. And he made vaccines accessible to all Americans. Fifty-eight percent of American adults have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus; 67% have had at least one shot. The U.S. has one of the highest vaccine rates in the world and is helping to vaccinate those in other countries, as well.

Biden recalled that the United States of America was based not on religion or hereditary monarchy, but on an idea: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all people are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights—among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

We have never lived up to that ideal, of course, but we have never abandoned it, either. Those principles, he said, “continue to animate us, and they remind us what, at our best, we as Americans believe: We, Americans—we believe in honesty and decency, in treating everyone with dignity and respect, giving everyone a fair shot, demonizing no one, giving hate no safe harbor, and leaving no one behind.”

But, he said, democracy isn’t top down. “Each day, we’re reminded there’s nothing guaranteed about our democracy, nothing guaranteed about our way of life,” he said. “We have to fight for it, defend it, earn it…. It’s up to all of us to protect the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; the right to equal justice under the law; the right to vote and have that vote counted; the right.... to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and know that our children and grandchildren will be safe on this planet for generations to come… the right to rise in the world as far as your God-given [talent] can take you, unlimited by barriers of privilege or power.”

Biden’s speech recalled that of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on June 5, 1944, upon the fall of Rome during World War II. It was Italian leader Benito Mussolini who articulated the ideals of fascism after World War I, envisioning a hierarchical world in which economic and political leaders worked together to lead the masses forward by welding them into a nationalistic, militaristic force.

In his 1944 speech, FDR was careful to explain to Americans how they were different from the Italian fascists. He talked about “Nazi overlords” and “fascist puppets.” Then, in contrast to the fascists’ racial hierarchies, FDR made a point of calling Americans’ attention to the fact that the men who defeated the Italian fascists were Americans from every walk of life.

And then he turned to how fascism treated its people. “In Italy, the people have lived so long under the corrupt rule of Mussolini that in spite of the tinsel at the top—you have seen the pictures of it—their economic conditions have grown steadily worse. Our troops have found starvation, malnutrition, disease, a deteriorating education, a lower public health, all byproducts of the fascist misrule.”

To rebuild Italy, FDR said, the troops had to start from the bottom. “[W]e have had to give them bread to replace that which was stolen out of their mouths,” he said. “We have had to make it possible for the Italians to raise and use their local crops. We have had to help them cleanse their schools of fascist trappings….”

He outlined how Americans had anticipated the need to relieve the people starved by the fascists, and had made plans to ship food grown by the “magnificent ability and energy of the American people,” in ships they had constructed, over thousands of miles of water. Some of us may let our thoughts run to the financial cost of it,” he said, but “we hope that this relief will be an investment for the future, an investment that will pay dividends by eliminating fascism, by ending any Italian desires to start another war of aggression in the future….”

FDR was emphasizing the power of the people, of democracy, to combat fascism not only abroad but also at home, where it had attracted Americans frustrated by the seeming inability of democracy to counter the Depression. They longed for a single strong leader to fix everything. Other Americans, horrified by FDR’s use of the government to regulate business, provide a basic social safety net, and promote infrastructure, wanted to take the nation back to the 1920s and in so doing had begun to flirt with fascism as well.

As he celebrated the triumph over democracy in Italy, he was also urging Americans to value and protect it at home.

Biden, too, is focusing on how efficient his administration has been in combating the coronavirus to combat authoritarianism both abroad and at home. With its support for the Big Lie; congress members like Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ), who openly associates with white nationalists; and its attack on voting rights, the modern-day Republican Party is moving rapidly toward authoritarianism. But the former president botched the most fundamental task of government: protecting its people from death. In contrast, more than 60% of Americans approve of how Biden has managed the coronavirus pandemic, with 95% of Democrats approving but only 33% of Republicans in favor.

Biden’s approach appears to be helping to solidify support for democracy. A recent PBS Newshour/NPR/Marist poll showed that two thirds of Americans believe democracy is under threat, but 47%— the highest number in 12 years—believe the country is moving in the right direction. Unfortunately, that number, too, reflects a difference by party. While 87 percent of Democrats say the country is improving, 87 percent of Republicans say the opposite.

Biden conjured up our success over the coronavirus to celebrate democracy: “[H]istory tells us that when we stand together, when we unite in common cause, when we see ourselves not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans, then there’s simply no limit to what we can achieve.”

—-

Notes:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/07/05/remarks-by-president-biden-celebrating-independence-day-and-independence-from-covid-19/

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/07/02/june-jobs-unemployment-shortage/

https://ourworldindata.org/covid-deaths

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-vaccinations-tracker.html

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/561513-67-percent-of-adults-have-received-at-least-one-shot-of-covid-19-vaccine

https://docs.google.com/document/d/162VvK8TyM_3xNJbZtd0vLcNiLuK1bzpV0zqcD8o0TuM/edit

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/2-out-of-3-americans-believe-u-s-democracy-is-under-threat

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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Letters From an American #Heather Cox Richardson #history #fascism #democracy #WWII #1920 #COVID-19 #global pandemic #vaccination

[oncexinxmyxdreams]

OC Profile

Lydia Venkman (The Real Ghostbusters.)

Bio

Name: Lydia Molly (O’Connor) Venkman 

Age: 22 when Peter was born and passed away at 32. 

Ethnicity: Caucasian with her both sides of her family having descended from Irish Immigrants back in the 1840s. 

Species: Human.

Height: 5'5 

Weight: 120 pounds. 

Hair color: Dark brown. 

Hair style: Used to be very long, almost to her waist until she cut it short into a flipped bob during the 1960s. She grew it back out before she passed.

Eye color: Green. 

Birthday: September 23rd, 1936. 

Gender: Female.

Sexual Orientation: Straight.

Powers (if any): No. 

Distinguishing features (if any): Lower lip was fuller than top and had an oval shaped face. Jim said she looked like the actress Natalie Wood. 

Blood Type: A- 

Clothing

Day to day outfit: Simple dresses with flared skirts and a sash. Think 1950s-early 1960s style. Wore simple flats with them. On weekends, she wore simple trousers and tucked in blouses. 

Pajamas/What they wear to bed: Plain white nightgowns.

Formal Clothes: Most formal that Lydia owned was her wedding dress: a lacy A-line gown with matching jacket.

Work/School uniform: Being a teacher, just simple nice dresses and pumps.  

Other (glasses, jewelry, etc): Liked wearing ribbons for headbands. Single solitaire wedding ring. A Claddagh ring which was the only family keepsake she took when she married Jim. He gave her necklaces and bracelets, but Lydia sold them to make ends meet. 

Health

Physical Illnesses: Weakened Immune System where she usually gets sick easily and for long. Suffers from a severe case of pneumonia.

Mental Illnesses or disorders: Depression.

Medications?: Antidepressant and usual medicines when she became sick, ex. cough syrup, Tylenol etc.   

Addictions (Drugs, alcohol?): No. With her weakened immune system she’s careful about addictions.  

General Health: Its decent enough, but in her early 30s she becomes more sick from living in bad conditions, her weakened immune system  and her lungs not being strong enough. Body shape is rectangular: 32-26-34 and around size 8.   

Life/Preferences:

Likes: Teaching, fantasy books, tea, cooking, and spending time with her son.

Dislikes: Dishonesty, depression, getting sick and Jim’s bad ideas. 

Career: Elementary teacher.

Hobbies/Talents: Reading was her main hobby. Used to ride horses back in Montana, but eventually grew a new hobby of collecting teacups as she moved around. Talented in piano.  

Habits (good or bad): Chewed bottom lip when stressed and twirled hair when writing.

Family: Parents were Joseph and Naomi O’Connor. Lydia had 8 brothers. She was closest to older four: Phillip, Benjamin, Andrew and Daniel. All a year apart. Four younger brothers, are sets of twins: Jacob and Jeremiah came along when she was 3. Then Simon and Silas arrived when she was 4. Had an aunt named Molly that passed shortly before her birth and that's how she got her middle name.

Friends: Not many. Had some nice neighbors at times. She considered her big brothers as her closest friends.

Romantic/Love Interest(s): Mainly Jim Venkman, but its caused her problems.

Pets: Her childhood cat named Copper: He was a European Shorthair breed with deep brown fur. Her family had horses, but her favorite was Valor: An American Quarter Horse with a blue roan coat.

Social Status: Lower class.

Favorite Food: Colcannon Irish potatoes. 

Favorite Color: Forest green. 

Favorite genre of music: Folk music.

Favorite movie genre: She didn’t see too many movies having only theaters at the time. Cinderella, Lady and the Tramp, An American in Paris and 20,000 Leagues under the Sea were her favorite movies in theaters. 

Favorite Animal: Elk. She loved seeing them in Montana. Interestingly, elk are considered as a symbol of protection.

Degree of Education: High school graduate and earned a teacher’s certificate. 

What language(s) can they speak?: English and a decent amount of Irish. 

Can they cook?: Absolutely. 

Personality

Positive Traits: Warm, devoted, thoughtful, altruistic and creative. 

Negative Traits: Self-critical, self-conscious and sometimes closed off from others.

Archetype: The Mother Figure like Perdita in 101 Dalmatians or Mrs. Brisby from The Secret of Nimh.

Way they interact with others: Very reserved when first meeting. It takes a good while to get to know her.

Way of speaking: Voice inspiration for her is the late actress Elizabeth Hartman. (Yeah, Mrs. Brisby's voice actor because she has a certain blend of vulnerability and strength which I think fits Lydia well.)

Introvert or Extrovert?: Introvert. Not sure where she'd fall for MBTI, but my thought is INFP.

Backstory 

 Lydia was born in Williston, North Dakota and was the first daughter for her family. Lydia had a weakened immune system and got sick easily throughout her life. When Lydia was 9 months old, her family moved to Libby, Montana to be near her mother's aging parents. It was intended for the family to move back to Williston, but they all fell in love with Montana and never left. Living on farmland, Lydia spent free time with her brothers: they rode horses, went fishing, climbed trees and camped in the summer. Being outside helped her stay healthy. Lydia went to a small school and only enjoyed storybooks. All other subjects were hard and the teachers were cold hearted which made Lydia feel inferior. As she grew, she visited the library more often and her learning skills improved. Her favorite books were Ivanhoe, The Iliad, The Odyssey and The Hobbit. (She loved The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia when they were first published.) After graduating high school, she earned a teacher's certificate with the goal to help children learn in better ways than she did. However, she also desired to have adventures one day even if she wasn’t sure how it’d go. That started changing when she met Jim Venkman. 

 Jim was a couple years older than Lydia and resided in Montana to hideout from his recent problems. It was love at first sight for him and Lydia grew to love him after several outings. Jim promised Lydia "all her dreams." Her parents, didn't approve Jim because they found him sleazy and doubted it was really love. Her brothers, all younger and older, weren’t sure about Jim and always felt genuine protection for their only sister. Lydia constantly argued with her mother in particular and finally, her parents threatened to disown her. Young, wanting adventure, and thinking she knew best, Lydia left with Jim. She did teach and found creative ways to help her students learn. However, Lydia missed her family and months in the marriage, found herself miserable. Jim was going back and forth with "jobs" and while inadvertent, seemed to take her for granted. Lydia became severely depressed: she felt trapped, dissatisfied and worst of all, lonely. Not introverted/like the quiet, solitude loneliness. It was an abandoned loneliness. That ended after a doctor's appointment where she discovered she was expecting. She gave birth in a quick labor and was with happy tears to have her son. Since Jim wasn't there and difficult to contact, Lydia spent five days with just her baby. Instead of going with Jim's desires to name a son James Jr., she chose Peter. Despite the sudden moving back and forth, financial issues, working overtime to make ends meet and frustration with her husband, Lydia loved Peter more than anything. She did all she could to give him a good childhood. That all came to a crushing end, when she became terribly sick with pneumonia and passed away. She was 32 and Peter was only 10.

Life Goals

Lydia desired to have adventures in her life even if she was fragile. She wanted to believe the best in people and planned to teach for her career. When she became a mother, Lydia's goals all went to her son and that became the adventure of her life; one she wouldn’t change despite the hardships. When Lydia was told her pneumonia was getting worse and survival was decreasing, she imagined what would happen for Peter: Would he go to college? What would be his career? Would he find love? Have his own kids? For her it was unknown, but in all, she hoped he would be surrounded with stable, caring, enjoyable friendships/family members. She'd been happy to know that did come true.

#the real ghostbusters #OC #lydia venkman #peter venkman #fanfic #fanfiction #i'll do some flashback stuff with her #adult laurie's bio is still in the works #mama venkman

[cordovcs]

✩ °｡— hi omg ok let’s get into this good, fun & fresh content & lemme introduce u to my lil bi sexual hellion who has tequila running thru her bloodstream & oh ya hi i’m annie, 23, she / her plot w me i want u to hurt me worse than shonda rhimes has ever dared to idk bye

name: hello this is indigo capri cordova 

sexual orientation: bi as fuck

birthplace: west hollywood, california 

major: communications 

spoken languages: english 

zoadic: psycho 

- hello this is indigo

- alright, to set the scene... let’s imagine that there is a beautiful image of a car before us; however, that car is surrounded by dark smoke bc that said car is absolutely engulfed in flames bc it’s driver is an #idiot 

- but also imagine within that image of total chaos & destruction that the driver... yes the one i mentioned previously as an #idiot... is still there... but this bitch is throwing up deuces & taking selfies 

- that is indigo 

- but more importantly here:

— first-born into wealthy, powerful family & was raised by her father, an influential diplomat & european oil tycoon, & her mother, a famed american socialite with ties to many corrupt government families. basically, her mother was her father’s entire world … ten years younger than him, a trust fund that kept her occupied, & a taste for adventure —  he devoted himself to her &her only … indi was simply just a factor in his adoration, as her mother craved maternity & of course, her father would do anything to please her, even if that meant creating a child he did not care for. 

— as she matured ( if u could even say she’s mature ?? idk ) & learned of her father’s distaste for her, she began to act out … wild parties, late night conquests with strangers that lurked outside of the club, & lethal cocktails of drugs & alcohol. at first, it was just to anger her father, but it soon became a way of life for her. now, despite having been in & out of rehab for a mixture of reasons, it’s a miracle to catch her sober who knows what this week’s cocktail is

— unfortunately, like her father, indi struggles with addiction in many forms. there’s something about the feeling of elevation that comes with each sip of tequila as it leaves a burning trace down her esophagus, each drag of a burning cigarette … it’s an escape. but, she’ll never truly admit that she has a problem, no matter how many stints of rehab she serves.

— however, there are some euphoric rushes that are unattainable by drugs &alcohol only.  which, y’know, explains why so many of the anecdotes of her past occurred ; from the four-wheeling accident in the hills of malibu that left her twelve year old self with a crown of stitches carefully detailed above her right eyebrow, hanging over the edge at devil’s pool while visiting victoria falls on a sudden trip to south africa last year, the countless automobile accidents that have been brushed off as her ‘terrible’ driving skills, they are all her heroin. if you’re only on this earth for a handful of years, why not enjoy pressing that gas pedal to the floor & see how far you can go ??

— lust, euphoria, & chaotic control … these are the sins that drive her entire being. red lips kissed around a lit cigarette, smoke curling upwards, & eyes devouring the svelte body before her; indigo exudes an ominous & enticing aura, but that’s what is captivating about her. it’s her siren-like facade that pulls you in & refuses to let you go.

— she’s a drug, malignant & bewitching, her delicate words interlace w your inner demons, calling upon them & feeding your deepest, darkest desires. when she enters a room, all eyes fall to her, watching & analyzing. she enjoys to elicit fear or unease, to keep others watching her & following. her greatest fear is losing control of what she has, forbidden to uproot time &time again in search of her next greatest adrenaline rush ( which, by the way, she’s a total adrenaline junky ).

— most of these actions, of course, were highlighted thoroughly on television for several of her adolescent years when her family signed a multi-million dollar contract for a reality show … her family is basically the kardashians, ok ? while it may seem gr8 to have a television show & acquire fame through that, there were many downsides …. one of which was her father’s involvement in an embezzlement scheme before her eighteenth birthday ? bASICALLY his illicit actions & their outcome were showcased on national tv & that really had an impact on indi’s life ?? the tabloids already targeted her bc of her wild ways, but now the entire world was analyzing her family & talking shit which caused her to grow an even thicker shell & fight back with even more vicious words.

— but now 

— rn she is basically paris hilton on the simple life except a lil smarter, less juicy tracksuits, & she cut off basically all of her family to tRY to be normal on her own which ig is why she is here 

— she’s somewhat of a mad scientist when it comes to writing music ? like, full on goes rouge for a matter of days & locks herself away in a room with a bottle of tequila & a pack of marlboro lights. she carries around a lil leather black book with her at all times , where she will literally stop in the middle of whatever she’s doing ( whether that be a film shoot, a night at the club, during conversation ) just to write down her thought process or newfound muse. it includes everything from names, how an intimate kiss felt, poetry, colors, etc. there’s probably half-written songs within the pages. oH !! & she never, ever lets anyone touch it or read it … like, she would lose her absolute shit if it somehow got beyond her hands.

- but tbh she doesnt kno why she is studying communications when she could study music 

#lex.intro #let's pls plot #if u have a wanted connection she might fit.... hit me up #i want them all #ple ase #i have nothing better to do but ruin our lives

[pennylanefics]

“Why do you hate me?” - Ben Hardy | part 15

a/n: i don’t know how to make fake IG posts, so it’s a little bad during that part :/ and again, i’m not sure if i 100% like this, but it’s something :) aaaand the ending sucks 😪

warnings: mentions of sex (no smut), language

Your POV:

Waking up the next morning, you noticed that Gwilym and Joe were the only ones who stayed. You don’t remember the rest leaving, but you also don’t remember falling asleep on Ben’s chest. Which, you were woken up by a rumble of laughter from Ben.

“Mornin’, darling. Fancy some leftover pizza? Or our breakfast from yesterday?” Ben asked when he saw you were awake.

“Pizza, of course.” He smirked and shook his head.

“That’s my girl.” You stood from your spot and walked to the kitchen to retrieve a cold piece of pizza. Once you had a plate with a couple pieces on it, you made your way back into the living room to talk with the boys before they left.

“I can’t believe you’re cheating on me, Ben. I guess I have to go back to cardboard Ben.” Your boyfriend rolled his eyes and pulled you closer.

“I can. (Y/N) is so much better than you…” Ben’s voice tapered off as he joked around. Joe gasped dramatically and clutched his chest. You and Gwilym shared a look that said ‘I can’t with these two.’

“So (Y/N) can cuddle you better than me?” Ben nodded.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t egg him on, I’d stop talking,” you whispered in Ben’s ear. He chuckled a little and shrugged.

“It’s fun. Fun to mess with him.” You rolled your eyes this time and went back to eating your “breakfast.”

The three of you continued to converse about random things going on in your lives, to talking about yours and Ben’s lives specifically.

“Are you going to announce you two are together? Because fans went crazy after seeing you two at the premiere together,” Joe asked and commented. That got you thinking. Did you want your relationship with Ben to be out there?

“Well, we’re going to the release party for my new movie tonight. So, I figured fans would assume we’re together,” Ben said, looking at you for your reaction.

“Only if you’re okay with it,” he added.

“I mean, I don’t want every aspect of our relationship to be publicized, but I think we should announce it instead of leaving everyone, including fans, speculating. Which can cause drama.”

“Should we post something after the premiere then? Like a rather intimate photo, something like us getting ready together, or having a moment before we walk the carpet?” Ben suggested.

“You could post one now. I don’t want to make this creepy or anything, but I took a photo of you two last night. (Y/N) fell asleep on you and as soon as you noticed, you wrapped your arms around her, and then you soon fell asleep,” Gwil said, handing you his phone, which was opened up to the photo. You and Ben both looked at it, grinning softly at the intimate moment. Sleeping in your home, although it wasn’t a bed, it was good enough. It immediately became your favorite picture of you and Ben.

“This is my favorite picture, Gwil. Thank you,” you said, handing his phone back. He smiled at you as he quickly sent you and Ben the photo.

“Feel free to post it. It’s really cute, and even though you aren’t awake, you can see how much you love each other.” Your eyes teared up a little for some reason. You ignored them and sat up from your spot to hug Gwi.

“We should get going. You two seem to have a big day planned, so we’ll head out. Good luck at the premiere tonight,” Gwilym announced, motioning for Joe to get up as well. He huffed out in annoyance and reluctantly stood. They both said their goodbyes, and were gone.

As soon as the door shut, Ben took your plate into the kitchen, leaving you by yourself in the living room.

“Why is the party in London if most of the actors are American?” You asked Ben as he sat back down on the couch, leaving the plate in the sink.

“It takes place in a European country, and since they couldn’t book it in Italy or Dubai, they chose London, as it’s pretty easy to hold a premiere here.” You nodded, still a little confused, but went along with it.

“You know, we have yet to sleep in our bed,” you stated randomly. Ben chuckled and hummed out as a response.

“That’s true. Hopefully, after tonight, we can. If we don’t crash on the couch as soon as we get home.”

“If I do, please carry me upstairs,” you told him, giggling quietly. He nodded and kissed your forehead.

“Of course, my love. Now, we actually have to go to the hotel near where the party is being held. We have to be there at, I think 3, then the event starts at 5.”

“I don’t even have a dress!” You realized and panicked. Ben shushed you and rubbed your back.

“I picked something out for you. Don’t worry, I think it’ll look beautiful on you. I mean, anything does.” he smirked and winked suggestively.

“Stop being so cheeky.”

“I just love ya.” He kissed your cheek and pulled you close to his body.

“I love you, too. So, what should we do for another,” you checked your phone for the time, “three hours until we have to leave?”

“We could, um, post that photo Gwil took of us and see the fans go crazy.”

“Let’s do it. You should post it, most fans don’t know my Instagram.

“Well, they will now. I’m gonna tag you, of course.”

“I’m fine with that. I know I’m going to get hate, so I really can’t stop anything.” At your words, you were now starting to get scared. How were the fans going to react that Ben isn’t single anymore? What if they don’t like you? Do they know you played Dominique, and that’s how you met Ben? Will they recognize you from the premiere?

“Love, are you alright?” Ben asked when he noticed you were quiet and staring down at your lap for a while. Your eyes met his, which were filled with worry.

“Y-yeah. Just scared about what people are going to think of me,” you shyly admitted.

“They’re going to love you, I guarantee it. If they don’t, then that’s their problem. Our relationship is none of their business, besides what we want to share with them, alright?” You nodded slightly and cuddled into his chest.

“You ready?” He asked as he opened Instagram and clicked on the new post button. You sighed quietly and pressed a quick kiss to his neck as a response.

He clicked on the picture of you two and cropped it, deciding to leave a filter off it, and started to think of a caption. You stayed quiet while he thought, and eventually he started typing away. His finger hovered over the ‘share’ button. He glanced at you, checking to see if you were going to stop him. When he realized you were more than okay with it, he pressed the button and watched as the post popped up on his timeline.

benhardy: this girl ❤️

joe_mazzello: why did you do this to me Ben? Cardboard Ben would never treat me like this

benhardy: @joe_mazzello new house, who’s this?

mrgwilymlee: you two are the cutest. credit to me for the pic though 😉

benhardy: @mrgwilymlee of course mate

benisperfect1291: OH MY GOSH BEN!!!

benhardyorbencardy: AH THIS IS TOO PURE

borhapfan7391: BEN’S RESPONSE TO JOE??? DID HE GET A NEW HOUSE???

benhardy: @borhapfan7391 I did :)

hardymazzellolee: you two are literally perfect 💕

bohemianqueen62: GUYS THIS IS (Y/N)! SHE PLAYED DOMINIQUE IN BORHAP!!!

queenxborhap: THIS IS (Y/N)?!?!?! THEY WERE SO CUTE TOGETHER IN THE FILM OMGGGG 😭😭😭😭

You two looked through the comments together, laughing at the group’s interactions, and liking positive and nice comments that fans are saying.

“See? They all love you, and they love us together,” he said, kissing your temple softly.

“Yeah,” you smiled softly after seeing a comment about how beautiful you looked. Even though you were sleeping.

“They’re all so nice.”

“I told you, darling. Now, let’s leave that and gather our things that we’re going to need for the night.” You both stood and headed up to your room, only for you to stop in the doorway. Ben was already in the bedroom and turned after he noticed your pause.

“I have nothing here, besides what I had in my overnight bag two nights ago.” Ben’s eyes widened with realization and a hint of embarrassment.

“I uh, I forgot about that, to be completely honest.” You laughed lightly and stepped forward to hug him.

“We can go to your apartment tomorrow and get your things. You also need to tell your landlord your leaving.”

“I called him yesterday. He said I have a week or so to get everything out and turn my key in. He already has everything done with the paperwork, so all I really need to do is pack everything up.” Ben nodded at your words and left to rummage through the drawers.

“Since we’re going to be getting into fancy clothes when we get to the hotel, you can wear an old shirt of mine and a pair of sweatpants.” He threw you a ratty-looking shirt and a pair of joggers, which you knew would be way too big on you, but you didn’t care.

You started to get changed as Ben gathered a few things he would need. You looked over at his pile and saw that it consisted of his phone, headphones, his charger, chapstick, and his wallet. No cigarettes or lighter. Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Ben’s been smoking for over ten years, why doesn’t he have any cigarettes with him?

“Hey Ben?” His head raised at your voice, eyes wide with curiosity.

“Where are your cigarettes and lighter? You always have them with you?” You asked as you nodded towards the pile. He sighed and sat on the bed, ready to answer.

“I quit.” Your eyes widened and your jaw dropped.

“Why? And how? You’ve been smoking for so long, how can you quit so easily?” He shrugged.

“It’s been hard, but I’ve been getting through it. I stopped that day you came to talk to me. I wanted to better myself for you. I didn’t want you being around smoke all of the time, with the knowledge that I was planning on asking you to move in with me. I didn’t want our new home to be filled with the smell of smoke, especially if we plan on having kids in the future. I wanted to quit early enough. So, after that day, I haven’t picked one up. Like I said, it hasn’t been easy, but you take my mind off of wanting to do it again. I realized how disgusting of a habit it is, and I can’t believe you wanted to kiss me.” You laughed at his joke and stepped forward to sit next to him.

“I’m glad you stopped, but I don’t want to be that girl who changes her boyfriend. I don’t want you changing for me. If you want to smoke, I don’t care. You’ve been smoking long before you met me.”

“I stopped smoking for you and our future kids,” he whispered. Your heart swelled at his words, eyes watering at the fact that Ben would do that for someone that isn’t even conceived yet.

“I don’t want them growing up in a house filled with the smell. That’s why I bought this house, furnished it with new things, and plan on getting rid of most of the things in my apartment.”

“Ben…”

“(Y/N), I made a promise to you that I would treat you like you should be treated. No one should ever had to be around smoke, and I’m sorry I smoked when I was around you. I know second hand smoke can be just as dangerous, and I’m so so sorry that you were around that.”

“Ben, please, stop talking for one second.” He turned to look at you, waiting for you to speak.

“I don’t know how I haven’t noticed that you stopped,” you chuckled, grabbing his hand. He laughed along with you and stared at you lovingly.

“I’ve wanted to stop ever since I met you. But with the stress of our whole relationship and all of our problems, I only felt the need to smoke more. But then, when you finally told me you were willing to work on our relationship, I made a promise to myself and you that I would quit. And so far, I kept it.” Tears were streaming down your cheeks as you listened to him.

“You were willing to quit just for me?” You asked through your tears. He nodded and wrapped his arm around your shoulder.

“I love you, and I don’t want you to have health problems because of me.” You turned to bury your face in his shoulder as he rubbed your back.

“Let’s sit and cuddle for a while, okay?” He suggested, pulling away to move back onto the bed to sit against the headboard. You smiled happily and moved to rest against his body.

“Look at that, our first time in our bed,” Ben said, chuckling a little at the tiny sexual innuendo.

“Shush it.”

“I honestly can’t wait until we do have sex in this bed. It’s so much more comfortable than the one in my apartment.” You blushed profusely at his comment, even though you two have done it a few times, he still managed to make you feel flustered.

“Okay, if you’re gonna hint at that, I’m going to get my stuff ready.” You sat up from his embrace and stood in front of the bed.

“What stuff, love? You just told me you have little to nothing here,” he smirked at you.

“You don’t have to feel embarrassed about it, (Y/N). Please don’t feel like I’m making fun of you, because I’m not. I love you so much, and I love that you trust me to be so vulnerable and loving with me.”

The air in the room became suddenly tense and lustful. Your eyes darkened as Ben spoke softly, you stepped closer to him every second.

“How much time so we have?” You asked, your voice just above a whisper. Ben looked down at his watch.

“Two hours.”

“Fuck me. On our new bed, to break it in.” Ben immediately grabbed you and began kissing you, practically ripping off the clothes you just put on minutes ago.

You both were now on your back, trying to catch your breaths as you came down from your highs.

“Best way to break a bed in, huh?” Ben jokes, bringing your sweaty body closer to his. You let out a quiet chuckle and closed your eyes, your head now resting on his chest.

“I love you, Ben.”

“I love you too, baby.”

A couple hours later, you two were now at the hotel near the party venue. You were dressed in Ben’s clothes as the hair stylist went to work, and the make-up artist started testing different foundations and colors on your skin.

Ben sat on the bed, messing around on his phone as he waited for his suit to be ironed.

“So, have you seen your dress?” Ben’s main stylist came up to ask you.

“Uh, no. Ben told me that I’d look great in it, but you know, he’s my boyfriend so he’s obligated to say that.” She let out a loud laugh as she reached over and grabbed the bag containing your dress.

“He picked it out himself,” she winked, looking over to him, who happened to be blushing a little due to being put on the spot.

She let you get your hair and makeup finished, and when it was finally time to see your dress, she unzipped the bag. Ben stood behind you, his hands on your waist, already dressed and ready. As she unzipped it, your jaw dropped. It was gorgeous.

It was a light powder, baby blue, with a sheer, sparkling tulle covering the skirt. It was simple yet beautiful

“I love it,” you were speechless. She smiled lightly as she took the dress from the bag.

“Ben told me it looked like Cinderella’s dress, and he mentioned that she’s your favorite Disney princess.” You turned around in Ben’s arms and brought him in for a kiss.

“It’s perfect, my prince.” He loved when you called him that, just as much as he loved calling you his princess.

“Let’s get this on you so you two can head down to the premiere!” Ben let go of you and sat on the bed, patiently waiting for you to finish getting dressed.

Once you slipped the silver heels on, Ben stood and grabbed your hand, guiding you to the elevator to head down to the car.

The entire ride to the venue, Ben was complimenting you nonstop. You didn’t even need to be wearing blush in the first place. Ben’s hand never left yours as you two stepped out of the car, and onto the carpet full of photographers from newspapers, magazines, and websites.

His hand moved to the small of your back, conveniently where there was a hole in the dress.

“BEN! BEN! OVER HERE!” The paparazzi continued to shout to get his attention. You now remembered why you hated premieres, especially the one for your first movie.

“How do you do this all the damn time, Ben?” You laughed as he pulled you along.

“I’m still not used to it. But now that I have you, maybe it’ll be better.” He leaned in to press a kiss to your forehead, your eyes closing in happiness.

You were then pulled away to do interviews. Well, Ben was doing them while you stood off to the side with the assistant you two were assigned.

You made small talk with her, but noticed that Ben was waving you over. You immediately walked over to him, his arm subconsciously wrapping around your waist.

“So, how is life with Ben so far? We saw today that he confirmed your relationship, but how long has this been going on?” She was super nice, but she couldn’t have asked Ben this?

“Well, we just got together two days ago, but we’ve known each other for over two years. We met on while shooting Bohemian Rhapsody, but things didn’t start off well,”

“I was a jerk to her, let’s just leave it there,” Ben cut you off, not wanting to explain your whole story. You caught on and gave very vague details.

“Yeah, it wasn’t easy, there was a lot of ups and downs, but I’m so happy that we’re finally together. He’s such a loving and caring person.” Ben stared at you with so much love and adoration, he felt his heart skip so many beats just by looking at you.

The night continued, surprisingly with ease. Ben stayed by your side the entire night, knowing how much you hated premieres, and held your hand as much as he could. If he wasn’t able to, his hand was pressed to your back. He wanted you to feel as comfortable as possible. And he did.

The party was coming to a close about three hours later, and you honestly couldn’t be happier. You couldn’t wait to finally sleep in a real bed. Ben didn’t drink tonight just because he knew he had to drive home; you were thankful for that because it meant that you weren’t going to have to drive him. It’s not that you didn’t want to, you just hate night driving, especially since the drive back to your place is not lit by street lights.

Once Ben said his final goodbyes to everyone, he grabbed your hand and headed to the same car that you two arrived in. It immediately headed for the hotel, and once it arrived in the front, you two quickly ran inside to gather your things so you could head home.

“You ready, love?” Ben asked once you were both settled in the car, both of you back in your comfy clothes, your fancy ones packed away in the backseat.

“Yep.” He pulled out of the parking lot and started in the direction of your home.

An hour and forty five minutes later, you two arrived home, although you had to be woken up by Ben, after falling asleep fifteen minutes in to the drive. You felt bad for leaving Ben in the quiet, although he did have the radio. What you didn’t know is that he didn’t mind; it gave him time to think about your future together.

The second you two were inside, you immediately trudged up the stairs to remove your makeup and undo your hair. Ben followed close behind, quickly changing into a plain white t-shirt and his boxers. You however, stayed in his sweats and t-shirt; it was a little cold in the room anyways.

Ben was already laying in bed under the covers, while you were struggling to stay awake, trying to take your hair down. You groaned out in annoyance, and Ben suddenly appeared, not saying a word. Instead, he silently helped you retrieve all of the bobby pins and clips in your hair and set them on the counter.

Once they were all out and your makeup was off, you switched the bathroom light off and quickly slipped under the covers. A few seconds later, Ben was under them as well, pulling you into his chest and holding you close.

“I love you, baby. So much. Thanks for coming with me to the release party. I know how much you hate these types of things,” he whispered quietly, not wanting to ruin the peaceful setting.

“I love you too. I want to support you through everything. I’ll always be here, right by your side, Ben. Now let’s sleep, I’m exhausted.” He chuckled lightly and pressed his lips to your head.

“Goodnight, love.” You didn’t respond, so he knew you were already passed out. He smiled to himself as he took in his surroundings.

A couple hours outside of the city, in your new home, finally sleeping in your bed together for the first time. He is content, and wouldn’t have it any other way.

tags: @kazzys-queenblog

#ben hardy #ben hardy imagines #ben hardy imagine #ben hardy x reader #bohemian rhapsody #bohemian rhapsody imagines #borhap #gwilym lee #joe mazzello #rami malek #roger taylor #john deacon #freddie mercury #brian may #imagines #imagine #fanfiction #fanfic

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Artists against Article 13: when Big Tech and Big Content make a meal of creators, it doesn't matter who gets the bigger piece

Article 13 is the on-again/off-again controversial proposal to make virtually every online community, service, and platform legally liable for any infringing material posted by their users, even very briefly, even if there was no conceivable way for the online service provider to know that a copyright infringement had taken place.

This will require unimaginable sums of money to even attempt, and the attempt will fail. The outcome of Article 13 will be a radical contraction of alternatives to the U.S. Big Tech platforms and the giant media conglomerates. That means that media companies will be able to pay creators less for their work, because creators will have no alternative to the multinational entertainment giants.

Throwing Creators Under the Bus

The media companies lured creators' groups into supporting Article 13 by arguing that media companies and the creators they distribute have the same interests. But in the endgame of Article 13, the media companies threw their creator colleagues under the bus, calling for the deletion of clauses that protect artists' rights to fair compensation from media companies, prompting entirely justifiable howls of outrage from those betrayed artists' rights groups.

But the reality is that Article 13 was always going to be bad for creators. At best, all Article 13 could hope for was to move a few euros from Big Tech's balance-sheet to Big Content's balance-sheet (and that would likely be a temporary situation). Because Article 13 would reduce the options for creators by crushing independent media and tech companies, any windfalls that media companies made would go to their executives and shareholders, not to the artists who would have no alternative but to suck it up and take what they're offered.

After all: when was the last time a media company celebrated a particularly profitable year by increasing their royalty rates?

It Was Always Going to Be Filters

The initial versions of Article 13 required companies to build copyright filters, modeled after YouTube's "Content ID" system: YouTube invites a select group of trusted rightsholders to upload samples of works they claim as their copyright, and then blocks (or diverts revenue from) any user's video that seems to match these copyright claims.

There are many problems with this system. On the one hand, giant media companies complain that they are far too easy for dedicated infringers to defeat; and on the other hand, Content ID ensnares all kinds of legitimate forms of expression, including silence, birdsong, and music uploaded by the actual artist for distribution on YouTube. Sometimes, this is because a rightsholder has falsely claimed copyrights that don't belong to them; sometimes, it's because Content ID generated a "false positive" (that is, made a mistake); and sometimes it's because software just can't tell the difference between an infringing use of a copyrighted work and a use that falls under "fair dealing," like criticism, commentary, parody, etc. No one has trained an algorithm to recognise parody, and no one is likely to do so any time soon (it would be great if we could train humans to reliably recognise parody!).

Copyright filters are a terrible idea. Google has spent a reported $100 million (and counting) to build a very limited copyright filter that only looks at videos and only blocks submissions from a select group of pre-vetted rightsholders. Article 13 covers all possible copyrighted works: text, audio, video, still photographs, software, translations. And some versions of Article 13 have required platforms to block infringing publications of every copyrighted work, even those that no one has told them about: somehow, your community message-board for dog-fanciers is going to have to block its users from plagiarising 50-year-old newspaper articles, posts from other message-boards, photos downloaded from social media, etc. Even the milder "compromise" versions of Article 13 required online services to block publication of anything they'd been informed about, with dire penalties for failing to honour a claim, and no penalties for bogus claims.

But even as filters block things that aren't copyright infringement, they still allow dedicated infringers to operate with few hindrances. That's because filters use relatively simple, static techniques to inspect user uploads, and infringers can probe the filters' blind-spots for free, trying different techniques until they hit on ways to get around them. For example, some image filters can be bypassed by flipping the picture from left to right, or rendering it in black-and-white instead of color. Filters are “black boxes” that can be repeatedly tested by dedicated infringers to see what gets through.

For non-infringers — the dolphins caught in copyright's tuna-nets — there is no underground of tipsters who will share defeat-techniques to help get your content unstuck. If you're an AIDS researcher whose videos have been falsely claimed by AIDS deniers in order to censor them, or police brutality activists whose bodycam videos have been blocked by police departments looking to evade criticism, you are already operating at the limit of your abilities, just pursuing your own cause. You can try to become a filter-busting expert in addition to your research, activism, or communications, but there are only so many hours in a day, and the overlap between people with something to say and people who can figure out how to evade overzealous (or corrupted) copyright filters just isn't very large.

All of this put filters into such bad odor that mention of them was purged from Article 13, but despite obfuscation, it was clear that Article 13's purpose was to mandate filters: there's just no way to imagine that every tweet, Facebook update, message-board comment, social media photo, and other piece of user-generated content could be evaluated for copyright compliance without an automated system. And once you make online forums liable for their users' infringement, they have to find some way to evaluate everything their users post.

Just Because Artists Support Media Companies, It Doesn't Mean Media Companies Support Artists

Spending hundreds of millions of euros to build filters that don't stop infringers but do improperly censor legitimate materials (whether due to malice, incompetence, or sloppiness) will not put any money in artists' pockets.

Which is not to say that these won't tilt the balance towards media companies (at least for a while). Because filters will always fail at least some of the time, and because Article 13 doesn't exempt companies from liability when this happens, Big Tech will have to come to some kind of accommodation with the biggest media companies — Get Out Of Jail cards, along with back-channels that media companies can use to get their own material unstuck when it is mistakenly blocked by a filter. (It’s amazing how often one part of a large media conglomerate will take down its own content, uploaded by another part of the same sprawling giant.)

But it's pretty naive to imagine that transferring money from Big Tech to Big Content will enrich artists. Indeed, since there's no way that smaller European tech companies can afford to comply with Article 13, artists will have no alternative but to sign up with the major media companies, even if they don't like the deal they're offered.

Smaller companies play an important role today in the EU tech ecosystem. There are national alternatives to Instagram, Google, and Facebook that outperform U.S. Big Tech in their countries of origin. These will not survive contact with Article 13. Article 13's tiny exemptions for smaller tech companies were always mere ornaments, and the latest version of Article 13 renders them useless.

Smaller tech companies will also be unable to manage the inevitable flood of claims by copyright trolls and petty grifters who see an opportunity.

Smaller media companies — often run by independent artists to market their own creations, or those of a few friends — will likewise find themselves without a seat at the table with Big Tech, whose focus will be entirely on keeping the media giants from using Article 13's provisions to put them out of business altogether.

Meanwhile, “filters for everything” will be a bonanza for fraudsters and crooks who prey on artists. Article 13 will force these systems to err on the side of over-blocking potential copyright violations, and that's a godsend for blackmailers, who can use bogus copyright claims to shut down artists' feeds, and demand money to rescind the claims. In theory, artists victimised in this way can try to get the platforms to recognise the scam, but without the shelter of a big media company with its back-channels into the big tech companies, these artists will have to get in line behind millions of other people who have been unjustly filtered to plead their case.

If You Think Big Tech Is Bad Now...

In the short term, Article 13 tilts the field toward media companies, but that advantage will quickly evaporate.

Without the need to buy or crush upstart competitors in Europe, the American tech giants will only grow bigger and harder to tame. Even the aggressive antitrust work of the European Commission will do little to encourage competition if competing against Big Tech requires hundreds of millions for copyright compliance as part of doing business — costs that Big Tech never had to bear while it was growing, and that would have crushed the tech companies before they could grow.

Ten years after Article 13 passes, Big Tech will be bigger than ever and more crucial to the operation of media companies. The Big Tech companies will not treat this power as a public trust to be equitably managed for all: they will treat it as a commercial advantage to be exploited in every imaginable way. When the day comes that FIFA or Universal or Sky needs Google or Facebook or Apple much more than the tech companies need the media companies, the tech companies will squeeze, and squeeze, and squeeze.

This will, of course, harm the media companies' bottom line. But you know who else it will hurt?

Artists.

Because media giants, like other companies who have a buyer's market for their raw materials — that is, art and other creative works — do not share their windfalls with their suppliers, but they absolutely expect their suppliers to share their pain.

When media companies starve, they take artists with them. When artists have no other option, the media companies squeeze them even harder.

What Is To Be Done?

Neither media giants nor tech giants have artists' interests at heart.

Both kinds of company are full of people who care about artists, but institutionally, they act for their shareholders, and every cent they give to an artist is a cent they can't return to those investors.

One important check on this dynamic is competition. Antitrust regulators have many tools at their disposal, and those tools have been largely idle for more than a generation. Companies have been allowed to grow by merger, or by acquiring nascent competitors, leaving artists with fewer media companies and fewer tech companies, which means more chokepoints where they are shaken down for their share of the money from their work.

Another important mechanism could be genuine copyright reform, such as re-organizing the existing regulatory framework for copyright, or encouraging new revenue-sharing schemes such as voluntary blanket licenses, which could allow artists to opt into a pool of copyrights in exchange for royalties.

Any such scheme must be designed to fight historic forms of corruption, such as collecting societies that unfairly share out license payments, or media companies that claim these. That’s the sort of future-proof reform that the Copyright Directive could have explored, before it got hijacked by vested interests.

In the absence of these policies, we may end up enriching the media companies, but not the artists whose works they sell. In an unfair marketplace, simply handing more copyrights to artists is like giving your bullied kid extra lunch-money: the bullies will just take the extra money, too, and your kid will still go hungry.

Artists Should Be On the Side of Free Expression

It's easy to focus on media and art when thinking about Article 13, but that's not where its primary effect will be felt.

The platforms that Article 13 targets aren't primarily entertainment systems: they are used for everything, from romance to family life, employment to entertainment, health to leisure, politics and civics, and more besides.

Copyright filters will impact all of these activities, because they will all face the same problems of false-positives, censorship, fraud and more.

The arts has always championed free expression for all, not just for artists. Big Tech and Big Media already exert enormous control over our public and civic lives. Dialing that control up is bad for all of us, not just those of us in the arts.

Artists and audiences share an interest in promoting the fortunes of artists: people don't buy books or music or movies because they want to support media companies, they do it to support creators. As always, the right side for artists to be on is the side of the public: the side of free expression, without corporate gatekeepers of any kind.

Take Action

Stop Article 13

https://boingboing.net/2019/02/24/lucy-and-football.html

#article 13

[skamremakesfromhell]

I will never understand how skam italia got so popular that it somehow developed its own breed of stans outside of regular skam/Rm skam stans? Like i literally see other rm stan accounts othe twitter and tumblr complain about how obnoxious skam it stans are

so idk if you were really asking for a breakdown but i’ve been thinking about this a lot recently so im gonna ramble about it for a bit whoops

so it was always inevitable that the remakes would cause divisions within the skam fandom and i think that’s important to kept in mind. there were divisions when there was only the 1 show! the chaos of 8 was a given lol. so not only would there be people that preferred one remake over another but there was also the immediate division between fans of og who didn’t even wanna touch a remake with a 10 foot pole and og fans that were watching the remakes

so the first rounds of remakes start (skamfr, skamit, druck, and skamus) and there was a lot of excitement and disappointment happening because we were all excited for new content but simultaneously disappointed that the content wasn’t new enough. that s1 was the same exact story across them all. skam france came first and it really set the bar real low. it felt to many like a cheap copycat. it had some fun stuff here and there and the cast was doing a decent job but overall with the constant promise of “change” from the production/cast that never followed through a lot of people quickly got tired of it. by the time s1 was almost over druck and skam italia began to air and a little bit later skam austin starts. right here i think it’s important that s2 of skam france was airing for a majority of the time these others were on since s2 is the season that’s the most “either you love it or you hate it”

a number of people gave up on skamfr either not feeling it/refusing to watch s2/whatever and moved on to the other remakes. i think it’s really important to note that at this time skamit was the only version that was changing “william” in any substantial way. druck only changes at the very end and it’s only the fact that he apologized to kiki on his own but edoardo had been introducing small deliberate changes to his character throughout the season. this gained interest from both noorhelm fan and anti noorhelm people because it was new! and different! compared to the other version not changing much for this storyline and skamfr airing a basic copy of s2 this was an exciting development! it was something that intrigued more og fans

of course you have to remember that everyone thought all the remakes were gonna be terrible. they were all a lost cause from the very beginning. people that were enjoying the remakes were already having to be defensive against og fans who hated the remakes just for enjoying them. skamfr was already kinda a dud, skamus had too much hype and pressure on it since it was the one julie was working on to really live up to that, and druck was falling to the wayside from poor production decisions (going on break for a week within the first month without telling anyone ?!?? really ?!?) skamit s1 did seem to be the best produced, with some interesting character changes, and a nice aesthetic. it quickly became the one most people recommended to others. new person asks “which remake should i watch?” and the first answer would almost always be skamit. italians were all pleasantly surprised by the show which made them want to spread it even more. like “look finally some good italian television!” the actors are good and not super overdramatic! the shots are nice and pretty! everyone on the cast is so pretty! rome is so pretty!

but what made this turn into the skamit fans being their own “separate” fandom? well if you go back through all the #discourse you can see all the number of time skamit fans have had to defend the fact that they liked skamit and that in itself will limit you down to the kind of people are always on the defense. who feel like they have to talk about all the great amazing things to feel validated in liking what they like because people are out there criticizing it. who either don’t care about issues people raise or don’t want to think about it. “why can’t everyone leave us alone” “if you don’t like don’t watch” “this is how italy is and you’re the problem for not understanding that”. the casting of sana caused a lot of people to call out skamit and condemn it as “problematic” and/or refuse to watch it before it even aired. now i believe those people are well within their right to do that. if something like this about a show upsets you you don’t owe it to anybody to watch it. but what this caused was people that wanted to watch skamit/enjoyed it felt the need to dismiss the issues raised by other people in the fandom. this is because 1) people were attacking them for liking skamit and 2) it’s become the culture of fandoms to demand you only enjoy things that meet an incredibly high moral ground and you have to constantly prove that the media you enjoy does that. which is such a disservice to being media literate honestly. and this kept happening. the racist, fatphobic comments, the excuse from the production about sana’s casting, the lack of any minority actors, the excluding of mahdi’s characters, the n-word being used and the mess that was the response from the cast and crew

it was one after another of things that made a number of people decided to not be a fan of skamit anymore and once they’d decided that any new thing that came out just proved to them that they were right! that skamit was racist and they were right for dropping it! but that doesn’t just end there because then it becomes anyone that supports skamit is racist and doesn’t deserve respect. and while all this is happening as every new thing happens and we all argue again about who is the most “morally superior” the fans of skamit are stepping on the toes of anyone that dares to criticize the show. they are defensive because they feel like their character is being attacked. because they feel like they have to be. and so ideologies are clashing all over the place over what is and isn’t racist, what’s good representation, what’s the importance of representation over “realism”, how realistic is skam really, you have muslims saying sana’s casting is disgraceful and muslims saying they don’t mind it, people of color saying it’s bad that there are no pocs and that sana is whitewashed and other people of color saying this isn’t a big deal because it’s realistic for italy, europeans claiming all the hate is coming from americans who live in a “us centric world” and don’t understand european views on race and europeans saying uh no i also think this is racist, italians saying this is just how italy is and italians calling all the racist stuff out. it’s just a ton of arguments that are difficult things to get people to see eye to eye on especially when it’s all over social media text and everyone feels like they have something to prove! prove the show they like is morally sound! prove they’re actually the most “woke”! prove and blame and defend and dog pile on everything! and no one is actually listening to each other because defending or shitting on a show is more important than remembering the humanity behind these arguments. remembering that there’s a person who you’re upsetting! who you are hurting because we’ve all invested too much of ourself in this!

it really bred this perfect space for back and forth arguments that went nowhere because people felt the need to tighten their hold on their own ideologies and to defend their position over any random comments they see. i’m guilty of doing this a number of times. i’ve seen a post in the skam tag and made my own post against it. i’ve seen comments on my post or people sub-blogging me and called them out to address it. this thing this show and all it’s versions are something we as fans all feel very strongly about. and this is really the only space we have to talk about it. to hash everything out. to post whatever thought we have. emotion run high! and with the anonymity of social media these arguments escalate so quickly!

i think it’s accurate to say that skamit fans are defensive. they feel like they have to be because they feel like the reasons they and the show they love are attacked are arbitrary reasons. they’ll dealt with so much criticism that any remark against skamit feels like another attack they need to defend themselves against. which has now created a culture where people are scared to say anything critical of skamit. that they’ll be deemed a hater and told “if you don’t like don’t watch”. but people don’t have to defend against every argument they see! they dont need to sit themselves on a high horse! anti skamit people are told to just leave and not bother with skamit but this goes both ways! skamit fans don’t have to address every criticism!

because of this back and forth that went no where we’ve created a culture where we can’t seem to even have discussions about the show anymore. about what we like/don’t like. what’s working and what’s not. that if you say “i don’t like this” you’ll get someone in your ask box basically saying “fuck you” because we attacked the people that wanted to enjoy the show it’s made them feel that everything is an attack. and this is a phenomenon you see across many fandoms! this morally superior hate-filled childish attacks. and at this point i don’t know if we can undo the damage that’s been done, both to how the fans of skamit view criticizers and how the people that aren’t fans view the fans. and that’s honestly really unfortunate

#ask #anon #it: talkingheads #idk

[politicaltheatre]

Rock Bottom

We have a problem.

That's the first step, right, admitting it? Everybody knows that. But is that enough? Have we reached a tipping point? Have we, in our long addiction, finally hit rock bottom?

Probably not.

That’s the thing about addiction. The whole world can see the addict and his addiction for all they are, but until the addict sees it himself and realizes at long last that he has no choice but to break it he will keep on going, lying to himself and others that it is not what it is and that they have nothing to fear.

Of course, we do.

To be clear, our addiction is a psychological one, not a chemical one. None of what you read from here on out is meant to denigrate physical addiction or to suggest that beating that is as simple as beating a psychological one, which itself is neither easy nor fast.

If only this was as simple as a single man's psychological addiction to one thing. Even then, the variables of how he slid into it and why are his and his alone. It's the constants of addiction, the root needs and ultimate ends, that we need to focus on. They are the same for everyone - that's why they're constants - but getting past the fog of the wheres and whens of addiction's start and end takes an effort few can bring themselves to make.

So, instead, we end up focusing on variables; in this case, guns and violence and revenge. These are the manifestations of our addiction, not the addiction itself. A step further, a level beneath those, we find the root cause. That is, we find it if we dare to look.

Our addiction is to avoiding accountability. 

We've had it easy for so long. We have so many options, so many excuses, so many others to blame. When everything’s good, when we have no worries, the ride is so much fun. It never feels like it’s going to end. 

And then it does, and it feels so bad. We must pay our bills. We must accept that others have a right to what we want, that we must be accountable to them, too. 

To go from that feeling of certainty to an equal and perhaps even greater feeling of uncertainty is terrifying. Give us a fix, we beg, take care of us and make it better. The fantasy isn’t real, we know that, but we’ll take it. 

Just looking at this past weekend, there are so many examples at play, all showing how we are locked in our worlds of fantasy:

• There is the world of the shooters, fetishizing guns and the rush of violence and revenge against invented enemies, foreign and domestic. They get to dream up a story, placing themselves at the center as hero or villain, always in control, never wrong. The killing is a means to that end, and to an end to their story they believe they can control, either by living or dying as martyrs to their cause.

• There is the world of the Trump and NRA supporters, who have invested so much of their identities in these external authorities that they don’t dare reject them for fear of rejecting themselves. Does anyone really doubt that Trump or one of his latest mouthpieces don't understand this? The racism is a means to gaining and maintaining control, just like the millions the NRA pays to politicians to toe the line and spread their talking points. A rational mind knows this, but an addict's mind has its own logic and that couldn't be easier to exploit.

• There is the world of those opposing them, stuck cycling through the same rituals of anger because they, too, want quick and easy solutions, not that they can admit it. The hard work, personal sacrifice, and patience required are more than they can bear, or maybe just more than they literally can afford. It's easy being angry. It's easy staying angry. It's easier still if that's all you ever do. You get good at it. It becomes a safe place, one you never have to leave.

• There is also the world of those trying to make that change, taking the risks, pushing and pressing the world around them to try to take any small step it can to save just one life. These are the ones investing themselves in hard work, personal sacrifice, and patience until they have exhausted all three. They burn out because the audience they needed to reach, the addict and those around him fearing risk themselves, just weren't ready.

• And then there is the world of the rest of us, slowly numbing ourselves to the pain and suffering of others because we tell ourselves that the power to solve it is beyond us. It's the kind of acceptance that friends and family members of addicts know all too well. It is well practiced and so common we barely give it a conscious thought, if we do at all.

If you know addiction then you must see excuses and evasions for what they are. It’s always some other thing, a thing over which nobody could possibly have any control. It’s always someone else’s fault, some easy scapegoat already an outsider, be it someone who is different or something, such as the government, which is untouchable.

They're all variables. They always will be. Take away one scapegoat, you find another. Take away one focus of your addiction, you find another.  If there is always another thing, there is never control, and if there is never control then we don't have to feel shame for the damage done.

There is no high like having to be accountable to no one. There can be no low like crashing from that high.

What we do know is this: We don’t think of our country as a family. We don’t even think of it as a community. For far too many of us, sharing space and resources with each other is considered an inconvenience at best and an invasion at worst.

We lie to ourselves, choosing to believe that crime happens to others, that the heat and storms of climate change are happening to others, that lack of adequate health care is happening to others, and that economic inequality is happening to others.

It all "happens", a beautifully passive word. It allows us to be passive. It allows us to tell the lie that its cause is beyond our complicity and its solution beyond our ability. And so, the cycle continues.

For the shooting in Dayton, racism and white supremacy don’t seem to have been a motive, but right there we run into trouble with another word, "motive".

Racism and white supremacy are means to an end, that end being a feeling of control and a denial of accountability to others. However different they may appear on the surface, the shooter in Dayton had his own means to those same ends. That those ends have become normalized is what made both shooters dangerous. That they had access to automatic and semi-automatic firearms is what made this a tragedy.

Which brings us to "the party of personal responsibility”. They demonized the term "gun control" because a well paid marketing firm found a way to make it sound evil. The truth is everything we choose to do or not do about firearms qualifies as gun control.

We, the people, who elect others to represent us and our best interests, we have control over guns. Any law passed or not passed is done through that representation. Any law currently on the books, even one stating that a certain class of guns cannot be regulated, is gun control because, in fact, guns are regulated by that law.

So, let's skip distracting ourselves with that. Whatever we do next, it will control guns in some way. We just have to decide what we want from that control and who we should trust to exercise it.

Which brings us to Donald Trump.

For the shooting in El Paso, we can and should blame Donald Trump. Whatever official statement he put out yesterday or may put out today, he has used racism and the violence of white supremacists as a means to gaining and maintaining power. The evidence is so far past overwhelming that our inaction in the face of it is shameful.

Trump's defense-by-omission of the gun lobby and scapegoating of mental illness not only put the lie to any condemnation of hatred and bigotry, they bring unpleasant reminders of demagogues of the past stoking racism and scapegoating the mentally ill.

Is that what it will take for us to hit rock bottom? Must we, like Europeans and South Americans before us, fall fully and completely into the abyss of fascism and civil war before we learn what we must learn? The next election will answer that as well as anything.

The Democrats may win back the White House and the Senate in 2020, but it’s looking more and more like it will be the result of Trump, McConnell, and the rest of the Republicans in Washington finally going too far, or finally being seen for how far they refuse to go, than anything the Democrats have to offer.

But hasn’t that always been the pattern?

The right wing, the pushers in this analogy of addiction, offer short term thinking with easy solutions to difficult problems. They use division and bigotry as means to gaining and maintaining power. Finally, as society collapses, they point the finger at anyone else, not just to avoid their own accountability but because it enables those clinging to what they offered to avoids their own.

The left wing, the sober grownup at the party, demands accountability in all things, including from themselves. Thinking long term, they get shunted aside in the short term, a canary in the coal mine listened to only to gauge the threat but not to avoid it. Only when the threat is so near, when there are no more others on whom to cast blame or burden, do we finally ask them for help.

That’s when we elect the left wing, to clean up our mess. Are we ready? Have we hit rock bottom? We're close, and it seems getting closer everyday.

- Daniel Ward

#guns #gun violence #el paso #dayton #addiction #accountability #politics #right wing #left wing #gun control #democrats #republicans #2020 #NRA #donald trump #mitch mcconnell #moscow mitch #lobbying #corruption #the bully on the playground #long reads

[merlinthoughts]

Season 1 Episode 4 - The Poisoned Chalice

- god fucking dammit here we go again, i'm bloody done with my life and do not, at all, want to see merlin die bc i don't remember anything except that, yeah, he dies and someone has to get off their ass and save the motherfucking day and kiss him

- i realise how much i swear in these posts bc 1. when do i not? 2. i'm emotionally invested 3. i have no other excuse i just like swearing

- AAAND NIMUEHS IN CAMELOT SHE THINKS SHE'S SO SLY WITH HER HEAD THING

- id recognise her in a split second tbfh, she aint subtle

- *heterosexual tension*

- merlins skin be looking so smooth this episode, this boy be wearing lots of Dove

- he looked so excited to be in the banquet, then arthur just fucking slashes him with “not quite” and his hopes and dreams are destroyed

- “wanna see what you’ll be wearing tonight?” arthur says as he's behind the fucking changing curtains, about to get undressed and show merlin his birthday suit

- i honest to god thought that was where he was going, but no, he was just getting something from behind it

- “tonight you’ll be wearing the official ceremonial robes of the servants of camelot” IT'S A FUCKING DRESS ISN'T IT

- aw damn id have preferred a dress

- that smile shared between them was the most adorable scene

- god

- i

- fucking

- love

- their

- smiles 

- sm

- best thing ive ever seen

- i mean… hunty look at that piece of glistening butter beauty

- wow ok back to the episode:

- bros being bros and giving each other a handshake to destroy the mortal enemy pack and put together a family, we stan.

- as if a servant who has only had eye sex with another servant ONCE would trust them enough to say that one of the chalices were poisoned. like??? “ur the only one i could tell” LMAO NO?

- she's a sly fucking dog tfbh

- “if he kills arthur, uthers soul will be broken and camelot will fall” at this rate uther prob wouldn't care if his son dies or not, look at him, he's already mentally broken. he has anxiety and paranoia over magic. child services where u at in the medieval ages?

- i wouldn't believe a word she said, or well, id have believed it was poisoned but id say yeah no damn way you aren't in on it if you know which one it is. bayard wouldn't tell a fucking servant.

- HE'S GONNA SNAP ISN'T HE

- MERLIN FUCKING SNAPPED

- yknow what we say here folks? U DO U MERLIN

- okay i was fine if uther made bayard drink it but like the moment uther said “mmmh… no.” and slowly turned to merlin i think my arteries just crunched together and died so

- “if it is poisoned, he’ll die” HE'S FUCKING SCARED MERLIN WILL PASS AWAY ISN'T HE?

- “it's fine” he says, then starts to fucking choke

- ah fuck he's down

- my boy is down

- FUCK ME SIDEWAYS WITH A CHAINSAW

- ARTHUR CROUCHES NEXT TO HIM LIKE “BB NO”

- lmfao bayard looks so shocked, his face is in disbelief and confusion, he's like who tf done me bad

- arthurs carrying merlin fireman style this is what i live for folks

- did like nobody notice the flower stuck on the inside of the cup? like honestly if you take a sip you’d kinda spot it or perhaps even the person pouring the drinks would have been “is this chamomile tea? no? then what the fuckery-doo is this leaf in here for?” yknow. it's like that scene in Matilda when the angry buff lady completely missed a fucking salamander in her cup when it was the size of her bloody hand. it brings out the same mood honestly

- does gaius have an index for these books or does he just have every page memorised and know exactly what page to go bc I FUCKING NEED THAT it would make bio so much easier if i knew what page it was on instead of looking back and forth from the homework sheet to my textbook, then closing it by accident and having to find the index again for that specific page i need

- arthur wants to fucking go on a life-or-death journey to save merlin i've never been so happy

- this is honestly my favourite episode, like it may be really fucking angsty but i love it so much

- arthur betrays his dad and leaves his room even after being told not to just so he can save a servants life is literally my new moto

- NO IT WON'T LOAD MY NETFLIX IS STUCK ON 99%

- okay so while i'm waiting for my shit to load, i just discovered the new fucking tumblr rule starting dec 17 and i'm like 0.2 inches away from just spamming NSFW pics on here just for laughs

- like hunty, that won't stop people from posting elsewhere or for thinking about sex bc like??? whatchu gonna do tumblr?? get the fbi to erase it from our minds

- i think nOT thot

- watch me get flagged for just using the fucking term “NSFW”

- i'm gonna end up asterisking everything (is asterisking a word? wow it has red under it so like probably not but i just added it to my dictionary so uhh it is now)

- by asterisking i dont mean furry kin shit ew no

- i mean like N*FW, s*x, t*mblr, m*rthur

- god it took me like 20 minutes to calibrate my fucking wifi and fix the connection problem

- wow the stage for the poison increased by 75% in 30 mins, damn

- merlins like like having a conniption on his bed lmao, chanting arthurs name and sweating lot

- do we ever find out how uther gets that scar bc i'm like 100% positive arthur was a little child and swayed his fucking sword too hard just as uther rounded the corner. the sword then collided into his fucking brain and destroyed a good part of his intelligence, targeting especially his morals on how to accept people and how to be a good father

- that’s my theory

- merlin starts talking enchantments in his sleep while gwens watching, and gaius is just there like wtf merlin ur blowing ur cover “oh! gwen!! uhhh sorry. he’s just... in a latin study group in his pastime and has an oral presentation in minutes”

- omg, nimueh, stfu

- i didn't know dinosaurs existed back then, this reptile be whack

- y’know what's funny? ppl thinking dinosaurs didn’t exist. i find creationism very very very intriguing bc how fucking stupid could you be

- that sword throw was faker than my moms tits

- arthur could have done better

- k but like what if merlin’s hand wasn’t under the covers? like he was just throwing that blue ball around right in front of gwen

- can arthur like not hear her? nimuehs literally enchanting the rocks right behind his ear lobes and arthur acts nothing of it until those said rocks collapse and he gasps and suddenly he realises shes evil

- also his fucking hair in this scene looks glorious. perhaps bc it's pushed back rather than his bowl cut, but its doing things to my abdomen

- i thought for a second she was pulling off her mask to say “nimueh” and arthur was gasping bc he only recognised her after her hair was shown, just like in that scene with joker and harvey in the hospital

- OH RIGHT THE SPIDERS I LIKE COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THOSE SONS OF A GUNS

- i’d be dead if those spiders came crawling up to eat me lmfao

- k so nimueh went from :) to >:D in half a second

- i'm smelling up those symbolisms, boys

- watch out pals cause here are some of them:

- merlin is the LIGHT of arthur’s life

- he LIGHTS up the party

- he gives arthur a BRIGHTER future

- he's the GUIDE for his path

- hahhahahaha

- i'm serious when i say i have a huge fear of insects (spiders count in that too, no discrimination) so i'm just putting that there, saying to yall id be fucking terrified

- gaius would be so confused, like we don't see his face here but merlins close-up sweaty concentrated frown, but he’s literally just screaming “ARTHUR!!” “FASTERRR!!” “YESS!!” “CLIMB!!!” gaius would be looking like he walked into something he wasn't supposed to. prob thinking he should just let the kid die so he doesn’t have to deal with this shit anymore

- UTHER LOCKED HIS SON AWAY I'M FUCKING QUESTIONING HIS PARENTING SKILLS

- that's grounding???? throwing ur child in prison???

- yes 999 can i have child services on his ass

- gwens so smart honestly i love her

- pretending to be a maiden for the food, god what a queen

- arthur buying it and saying “yuck you say this is food?! disgustang!”

- the fact that i misspelled disgusting but it autocorrected to disgustang (which is originally what i wanted but autocorrect shouldn’t have known) makes me consider if i should really check my dictionary…. who knows what words are on there

- they’re so smart

- and then this fucker ruins it all while eating his food, checking her out and saying yeah arthurs a prick, hyuck hyuck, realising only that wait fuck u aint the maiden

- how’d they know GWEN was the one not supposed to have delivered the food, what if it was that chick right there???

- welll….. maybe it's because gwen took her sweet time up those steps, staring as if she couldn’t blink at the guards below

- i forget what happens at the end of this episode besides the kiss, and there's like 9 minutes left my fingers may rot at this point

- wake him up! wake him up!

- OH WAIT HE DOESN'T FUCKING WAKE UP DOES HE AND EVERYONE PANICS

- YEAH OKAY I'M SEEING THAT NOW

- MERLIN STOPPED BREATHING

- LMAO GWEN IS IN TEARS

- “HE'S DEAD” SHE SAYS

- ARTHUR BB COME IN HERE TO KISS UR HUBBY ALIVE

- OH WAIT UR IN FUCKING PRISON

- WAIT UP, HE'S ALIVE AND SHE KISSES HIM AFTERWARDS????

- FUCK ME I THOUGHT FOR THE WHOLE EPISODE THE KISS HAPPENED BC HE COULDN'T WAKE UP THAT'S FUCKING WITH ME I DIDN'T KNOW

- i keep forgetting to switch up the cap locks, sorry if it seems im screaming im legit using my inside voice for most of the time just emphasizing my words a little more

- goddamn, everytime they say mercia i just think of “murica”, like those americans on the 7th of july or whatever date the “we love our country” day is, chanting it as they throw around beers and fireworks as people gather round in jerseys or crop tops

- it's not that hard to spot the european on here

- the most celebrated holiday here which contains a lot of beers and big pub gatherings (besides every fucking night honestly) is either new years, lowkey stereotypically correct saint patricks, and ig easter monday but that's more for the kiddos

- i mean ofc christmas and all that shit but im not the most devoted christian, i just like presents and small gatherings among good friends

- wow okay it wasn't the 7th of july

- i mean at first i looked up “USA day” (i couldn’t remember the name) and it popped up today’s date, and i was like no thats not it at all. dec?? its in like july i think. and i was close! it was july 4th.

- uther damn knows it's nimueh!!!

- i mean, he just overheard morgana and arthur talk about it, and initiated himself into a convo about it once morgana left, as his sneaky ass just slithered up like “hey man, u know that woman? yeah uhh, what she say? anything about me? no? k i know who it is tho”

- i thought he was going to apologize or like explain to arthur what's the sitch, but he just waits for five whole seconds before saying. “those who practice magic know only evil. they despise and seek to destroy goodness wherever they find it.”

- arthur, confused: sounds as if you know her

- uther, walking away: i do

- arthur:

- wow k lots of fucking quotes here cause it's the merthur reunion

- get ready babs

- arthur: still alive then?

- merlin: oh yes, just about… i understand i have you to thank for that

- arthur, leaning on the chair merlin is sitting in, stifling a smile: ah it's nothing, a half-decent servant is hard to come by. i was only dropping by to make sure you’re alright… i.... expect you to be back to work tomorrow

- merlin, watching arthur as he slightly walks away having embarrassed himself: arthur... thank you

- arthur, slowly: you too

- they stare for like 5 whole seconds

- arthur, uncomfortable: well… get some rest

- there we go folks: my eulogy.

- hope someone reads it at my funeral

#merlin #merlin bbc #merthur #s1 #s1ep4

[arcticdementor]

People capable of feeling shame would not have immediately followed up the Russiagate hoax fiasco with another transparently phony—and in “substance” nearly identical—attempt to remove President Trump from office, overturn the 2016 election, and shower deplorable-Americans with contempt and hatred. But our ruling elites have no shame.

That is not to say, however, that they are entirely cynical. The means by which they’ve so far tried to crush the Trump presidency may be nasty and illegitimate, but our overlords are 100% convinced of the righteousness of their cause, and of themselves. Hence they do not even need recourse to the cliché that the ends justify the means. The means are good because the end is sacred; they cannot countenance even the thought that the means might be suspect or (ahem) trumped up.

Near the beginning of his epic history of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides distinguishes the “publicly voiced” causes of that conflict from the war’s “truest cause, though least in speech.” We may—indeed, must—subject the “impeachment” coup to the same bifurcated analysis.

…

But let’s drill down a bit. If we are to take the current “publicly voiced” cause at face value, then we may say that the entire Washington establishment, plus most of the country’s elites, are trying to remove the president from office on the basis of an anonymous individual’s private opinion of the content of one phone call he heard about second or possibly even thirdhand. A phone call, let’s remember, of which we have extensive notes that almost, but not quite, constitute a transcript—in other words, whose content everyone in the country can examine for himself.

…

Back to the Ukraine call. The second question President Trump asked the Ukrainian president is another “publicly voiced” cause to seek his removal. That question regarded a specific instance of a well-known Washington-insider phenomenon. It is a measure of how insouciantly our elites accept and even welcome the immense corruption of our government that they raise not a single eyebrow at the phenomenon that underlay the president’s question: exactly how is it that well-connected Americans with no particular or relevant skill sets can “earn” enormous sums of money for doing, essentially, nothing?

We all know how, of course. They’re not, exactly, doing “nothing.” They’re providing access—in some instances directly, in others prospectively. When a company or bank or hedge fund or real estate developer or foreign government slides big payments over to someone close to someone who might soon be president, they know what they’re doing, and they know—from experience—that the investment is sound. Tom Wolfe coined the term “favor bank” to explain how “the law” really works in the Bronx County criminal justice system. You do favors expecting to have favors done in return. There are no written contracts or enforcement mechanisms, but the system “works” because people know it’s in their interest to honor it. In modern international politics, to pay someone a few million to do “nothing” is to expect to be paid back somehow. The payees know this, and endeavor to make good, lest they risk future payments.

Understand this plainly: Trump may well be impeached, ostensibly, for asking about this corrupt arrangement. But no one is ever impeached for engaging in it. Nor can our elites, who almost all benefit from this system one way or another, muster the integrity to do, or even say, anything against it.

…

Another, deeper cause for the current show trial is less “publicly voiced” than beclouded with pretentious misdirection, because the president’s enemies know that, were they to state it clearly, the American people would scoff in their faces. Our foreign policy priesthood is 100% certain that the United States must take the side of Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. President Trump has expressed skepticism about the wisdom of such a commitment. He wonders why the conflict is our problem, when a not-inconsiderable number of European countries closer to the issue demand action from us but do very little themselves. He worries about the possibility of the United States getting drawn into war with Russia. And he’s concerned that, given historic corruption in Ukraine, American aid there may not be well spent.

…

This may be true, though—nothing against Ukraine—I don’t think so. The country just isn’t that important to us for the same reason that Canada and Mexico are not that important to Russia. But even if I’m wrong about that, the above statement is still fundamentally an opinion—the opinion of someone not entitled to make policy. He is surely welcome to state his opinion, when appropriate to do so as part of his official duties and within the chain of command, but that’s it as far as his opinion goes. Actual policy—the question of whether “a strong and independent Ukraine is critical to U.S. national security interests”—is well above his paygrade, properly decided by the president, his cabinet and senior advisors, and members of the Senate who advise and consent on cabinet secretaries and treaties. At least, that’s how the parchment on which the charter of our liberties is written says it’s supposed to work.

…

What on earth is “[t]he U.S. government policy community”? This is not made clear in the statement, but from the context it would appear to be something like the “deep state” we are elsewhere told does not exist except in the minds of fevered “conspiracy theorists.” Elite conventional wisdom appears to have evolved into: “The deep state is not a thing—and thank God it’s there to save our democracy!”

…

But whether epistemologically unassailable or complete madness (in the real world, it’s more likely than not to be incoherent mush), “interagency consensus” is not policy—or at least it’s not supposed to be. It may help inform policy, but elected and appointed officials—and in a unitary executive, that ultimately means the president—alone get to make policy. The presupposition of our country director—and his like-minded peers in the deep state—is the opposite: policy is made in and by the “interagency,” whose decrees are holy writ that it is illegitimate for the president to challenge.

…

If this isn’t proof positive that the “deep state” is real, then what would be? Here we have an unelected cabal trying to take down the elected president, ostensibly over an issue that the American people have never voted on and don’t care about but which the “the U.S. government policy community” insists is so important that a democratic election must be overturned for its sake. Actually, to the extent that the American people have voted on this issue, in electing a man who very clearly promised to reduce American commitments abroad, they voted against the  “U.S. government policy community consensus.”

Yet the “interagency” somehow believes that its decrees are democracy and that it’s somehow “undemocratic” to question them. This is how it’s possible for so many of Trump’s enemies to impugn him as an enemy of “democracy,” sanctify their patently undemocratic attempts to unseat him, and portray themselves as democracy’s saviors. As Christopher Caldwell put it recently in these pages, according to this understanding

democracy [is] a set of progressive outcomes that democracies tend to choose, and may even have chosen at some time in the past. If a progressive law or judicial ruling or executive order coincides with the “values” of experts, a kind of mystical ratification results, and the outcome is what the builders of the European Union call an acquis—something permanent, unassailable, and constitutional-seeming. [“What Is Populism?” Fall 2018]

Aid to Ukraine has been decided! Debate over! No more votes and no changes! That would be “undemocratic”!

…

It is no accident or coincidence that the only three presidents who have fundamentally challenged the administrative state—and questioned its song sheet, the “U.S. government policy community consensus”—have been dogged by “scandal” and threatened with impeachment: Richard Nixon by Watergate, Ronald Reagan by Iran Contra, and now Trump. (Whatever you think of Bill Clinton’s impeachment, it was emphatically not driven or supported by the administrative state, which protected him at every turn.) Trump would likely take this as small consolation, but it’s a measure of how much he’s feared that his enemies are running this play against him now, rather than simply trying to defeat him next year. Which more than suggests they doubt they can.

Simply based on what we know so far, the whole thing looks engineered, like those “lawfare” cases in which clever lawyers and activists find sympathetic plaintiffs, carefully choose friendly venues, and file lawsuits not to redress specific, genuine injustices but to force changes in policy—anti-democratically, it goes without saying. That’s the real reason nobody with firsthand knowledge came forward but left it to a distant “whistleblower” to get this train started: because those driving it understand that, by pitching the matter out to an agency covered by a whistleblower statute, with a formal whistleblower process, they could begin the transformation of this inherently political process into a technical, legal matter. This supposition only gains support from reports of “collusion” (what else can one call it?) between the “whistleblower” and Democratic congressional staff. The parade of witnesses in secret testimony also looks carefully orchestrated.

The secrecy has partly ended—but only after the Democrats gathered its fruits and shaped them into a “narrative” to spoon-feed to the public. The playbook is the same one that failed with the Russia hoax: selectively leak to create a fog, a miasma of vaguely negative-sounding “facts” or allegations that seem ominous but also too complex and in-the-weeds for ordinary folk to follow. Then publicly “confirm” those leaks as the authoritative account of the “scandal.” None of the actual facts adds up to any actual wrongdoing, but the hope is that regular people won’t notice and won’t listen to those who do. Leave it to us experts: we know wrongdoing when we see it! If the actual specifics of what we’re alleging don’t actually appear to you to amount to “treason, bribery, [or] other high crimes and misdemeanors,” as the Constitution’s Article II, section 4 requires, that’s only because you’re not an expert.

…

It worked against Nixon. It almost worked against Reagan. But let’s be clear: if it works this time, there are only three possible outcomes:

First, deplorable-Americans will meekly accept President Trump’s removal, in which case the country as a self-governing republic will be finished; the elite coup will have succeeded, their grip on power cemented. With all due respect to the vice president, this is not the way—these are not the people on the backs of whom—he should wish to enter the Oval Office. And I am confident he will not.

Second, deplorable-Americans will revolt at the ballot box and punish the elites in a series of elections that put in power serious statesmen intent on rooting out corruption and reestablishing democratic accountability.

Or, third, deplorable-Americans’ attempt to set their government aright via ballots will not avail, as it has not so often in the past; they will realize that it has not, conclude that it never will, and resolve by any means necessary to get out from under the thumbs of people who so obviously hate them and wish to rule them without their consent.

Only one of these possibilities is healthy for the continued survival of republican government as currently constituted.

Oh, and let’s also be clear about something else: if the Republicans “collude” with this sham and force the removal of a president whose approval rating within his party hovers north of 90%, and whose voters scarcely understand—much less agree with—the “case” against him, they will destroy the party forever. I don’t often make predictions, because I’m not good at it, but this one is easy. They will have removed all doubt that they are anything but ruling class apparatchiks, adjuncts, and flunkies of the administrative state from which they take orders.

#claremont review of books #michael anton #read the whole thing

[hetamavi]

Colony America and England’s Relationship

Yes. ANOTHER Colonial America and England analysis. I decided to tackle this subject as a follow up to my other analysis. It’s something I hit upon a few times in that post, but didn’t really focus on since it would have gotten a bit too off subject into something deserving of its own post. My next post will be on a completely different subject with a character that has nothing to do with any of this. 

First some things to keep in mind while/before reading this post:

- Please read my other analysis before reading this one!

- America was English territory throughout the 1600s-1700s. We’re not talking about England when his empire had peaked. We’re talking about England when he was still new to imperialism and didn’t have much oversea territory. Jamestown was England’s first successful established settlement in the Americas, putting America among England’s first oversea territories and America was long gone by the time England hit his imperialism high. I’m bringing this up, because I believe this is why we’ve never seen England became emotionally fixated on anyone one else under his control in the same way he was fixated on America.

- While I point out a lot of bad things England did in this post, I’m not trying to say he’s a horrible person. Despite all of the things he did wrong, he was NEVER trying to hurt America. I’m also not trying to suggest there were no good moments between pre-Revolution America and England, but the better moments of a relationship doesn’t cancel out any toxicity.

PRE-REVOLUTION

Let’s get straight to the point. England saw America as something to be owned. America was his possession, something to be used for England’s own benefit. I’m not saying England didn’t care about America, but I am saying he didn’t have much respect for him as his own person. England was the colonizer, America was the colonized. Even if they painted a pretty picture on a surface level, there relationship was clearly imbalanced with England getting emotional validation and America eventually not really benefiting from their relationship at all. In this analysis, I’ll go over the various things that went wrong with their relationship and how all those problems build up to the violent end.

1) England relied on America to be his emotional crutch.

It’s normal to rely on those you’re close to for emotional support. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. However, there is such a thing as emotionally depending on someone too much. And England had clearly crossed the line into depending on America to an unhealthy degree.

England was miserable in Europe. He said so himself that he couldn’t stand to be there. And it’s easy to see why, he had become enemies with everyone there and was on the receiving end of lots of teasing for being Europe’s black sheep.

But things were different with America. America was nowhere near mainland Europe and didn’t have the perception of England as some angry, friendless jerk that would cause problems for him. His image of England was completely clean. So he served as good source of emotional support and validation to England. He even told him his terrible cooking tasted good!

That reliance on America to validate him is what brings us to a resulting problem.

2) England was dismissive of America’s feelings in favor of his own.

In one strip, we see England doing things that clearly make America unhappy. Instead of addressing America’s unhappiness, all we see is England cheerfully ignoring what he’s saying, even America’s response to being overtaxed.

In the other strip, England does at least respond to America’s protests of being more comfortable in his casual clothing (Especially since he really doesn’t have much use for fancy suits at this point in time), but he only responds with how America’s clothing makes him look bad by extension. Again, he doesn’t really address America’s concerns, he just brushes them off.  

And he DEFINITELY didn’t want to acknowledge America’s growth and capability of handling himself that resulted from England leaving him alone most of the time (but we’ll get to the Revolution later). Speaking of neglect...

3) Neglect

See linked other analysis.

DIFFERING PERSPECTIVE ON WHAT THEIR RELATIONSHIP WAS

While England saw America as devoted him (ignoring things that would suggest otherwise as shown above), America’s opinion of England and his bond to England had clearly changed over time (Though I guess that goes without saying).

America always had an independent spirit. During one of his first meetings with England, he told him he had managed to learn a lot about himself despite not letting any of the older nations near him. England himself quickly realized America was fully capable of handling himself.

That sense of autonomy was left to grow as a result of England never really being there for him. America was left to learn about things such as politics and how he differed from humans on his own. Instead of that isolation hindering his growth, he grew rapidly because of it.

On top of that, it’s EXTREMELY unlikely Spain, France, and Netherlands were strangers to him before the Revolution. America seems familiar with France’s cooking in one strip (I’m sure France was feeding America some of his cooking out of sympathy for America mostly eating English food) and we see Netherlands smuggling goods to America even against England’s naval blockade in a later strip. Besides this showing America established relations with other countries besides England (lessening how much he needed him), all three of these countries probably said some not-so-good things about England to America at some point. If that really did happen, it’s possible they weakened England’s image in America’s eyes and made him more aware of his flaws. (Spain, France, and Netherlands are also the nations that gave America direct support during the Revolution as shown in one strip. While that was more of a result of them being enemies with England than being on good terms with America, I feel that it’s worth at least pointing out.)

So this all leaves us with an America who had been extremely neglected by England, grew up as a result of that, and along the way became more aware of the kind of person England is through his own experiences and possibly through what others had told him (not necessarily a bad person, but England wouldn’t have been on a pedestal). England’s never around, but at least that leaves America free to do what he wants without interference. At least that was the case until England comes in after the Seven Year War to finally start exerting power over America. By this time, instead of welcoming England with open arms, America welcomed him with anger over his life suddenly being controlled by someone who hadn’t been there for him before.

And that brings us to the fall out.

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

This is what all of these problems have built up to. The American Revolution is America deciding he wants out and England reacting to that violently in an effort to force America to stay.

I went over this in my previous analysis, but I think it’s important I do it again here. During this scene, America tells England he’s no longer his little brother. And for all the fandom comments of “That’s not how that works”, I think America meant what he was saying and this is where that differing perspectives issue comes in. America had mostly grown up on his own and through his own efforts. He had lots of responsibilities with little parental guidance, so he had to grow up really fast. America knows this and is demanding that England throw away the fantasy of what he WANTS America to be. He wants England to instead acknowledge the reality that America isn’t his little brother (and he hasn’t been for a long time) and he DOESN’T need him.

However, to England, acknowledging that America is capable of independence is allowing the possibility of being abandoned. So, instead of doing what would be best for America and letting him go to further grow, he resorts to using physical force to keep America under his control. He went as far as to keep fighting even when his army was gone and he even turned his rifle against him.

England eventually reached the conclusion that his actions were futile and that he was only making the situation worse on both himself and America. He breaks down in front of America and his army with America commenting on how “big” England used to be, implying, at least in that moment, he thinks England is “little”.

Honestly, even without analyzing the feelings of the characters involved, the Revolution is a big red flag concerning what their relationship had become. It came down to one side of a relationship violently forcing the other side to stay in that relationship and then breaking down emotionally when it didn’t work out. That is REALLY telling.

POST REVOLUTION

Neither of these characters have completely healed from the wounds of their old relationship. England still gets extremely physically ill around the fourth of July. America missed out on having a childhood and I suspect his loud, attention grabbing behavior is at least partially a result of the neglect he endured as a colony.

But that doesn’t mean their current relationship is doomed to be just as unhealthy as their old relationship. Their current relationship is built on completely different terms (with them now being equals instead of colony-owner). Modern England also has more positive relationships with the other European nations compared to back when America was a colony, reducing his need to latch onto an emotional crutch in the first place. And while England is still not completely over the Revolution, he’s made big steps in moving on and now even tries to take part in America’s birthday celebrations.

As much as England loves to remember their past, it’s clear that their relationship years after America’s independence, as good friends, is a massive improvement over what they had together before.  

#Axis Powers Hetalia #APH America #APH England #hetalia #aph #analysis

[unsafepin]

The Global Policeman Weighs In On War In Ukraine

Alternative title: Arguing With Imaginary Americans In Lieu Of Going On Anxiety Medication.

American opinions are the currency that will never be in shortage. Especially now, opening any social media app is very much like a bald eagle suddenly descending on your face and scratching your eyes out. American leftist opinions are no exception. And let me preface this essay by saying this - I don’t like the USA government either. But I hope we all understand the conversations we have in wartime are a bit different from the ones we have while we live in relative peace. So here are a few words for my Western friends that, if all else fails, will at least maybe help me sleep better at night.

Firstly, there is something to be said of all the Western leftists that grumble about how much Eastern Europe supports NATO and other Western institutions and how much we’re supposedly willing to live under Western hegemony. We’re very much not. A lot of people in the West seem to live under the impression that just because one of the sides changed names, the Cold War dynamic vanished and the only superpower in the world left to hate and fight is the United States. While Americans very righteously fight back against its state’s imperialism in the Middle East and its other countless problems, Eastern Europeans are walking on eggshells as not to fall victim to Putin’s imperialism. Our independence from Moscow is just over thirty years old and beggars very much cannot be choosers if we want protection from our history repeating itself the way it’s being currently repeated in Ukraine. NATO scepticism is very much a conversation that is being had in Eastern European countries (I highly recommend Giljožinios’ video on NATO), but that’s a conversation that can be riddled with countless bad faith actors in anything else than a peacetime in Eastern Europe. Any conversation that doesn’t begin from a place of understanding of why Eastern Europeans might be predisposed to the protection NATO (and EU and many other Western institutions) provide is a conversation that begins from a place of misunderstanding Eastern European history and its impact on current events. All this advocating for the devil aside, let me move on to the bigger point of this paragraph and say this in no uncertain terms - the opinion of the state is not the opinion of the people. It is very easy to manufacture consent to bring thousands of American soldiers and military equipment into your country when it promises protection from a state that incited a deep collective trauma in Eastern European people we still haven’t gotten over today. We know. We’re aware. This argument perfectly exemplifies many others on why Ukraine and Eastern Europe et al are just as bad for the leftist cause as Russia. They ignore the locally clearly observable, internationally obscured fact that leftists here recognize these problems and seek to deal with them. But we have to deal with them on our own terms because as much as the Western exceptionalism ingrained in your subconscious might tell you otherwise, you wouldn’t know better than the people that live, thrive, and suffer here.

The second largely Western woe that arose from this war I wanted to adress is the supposed russophobia that is going to sweep the world. And since we’re gonna get identity-politics-y let me just say - I’m Russian. Through all this hell, through every dictator and every regime, I’m not going to be ashamed saying that because it has absolutely nothing to do with the small bunch of irredeemably evil твари sitting in the Kremlin. I want to start out by saying that I understand where this worry comes from, seeing that the ruling class will marginalise anything that moves but itself if given the chance. Hell, the fact that the Irish weren’t considered white in the US for a sizable period serves as historical precedent for such horrific alienation. Even more specifically, Eastern Europeans and Russians are already lumped together in the narrow collective mindset of Westerners which opens us up for demeaning caricaturification (where there’s a Russian in a movie, it’s a spy, where there’s an Eastern European region, it’s a desolate brutalist wasteland with a grey filter, etc.) and the broader umbrella of horrors of how immigrants/foreigners are treated. The knee-jerk reaction of every progressive person is to protect the marginalised. But this is all the leeway I’m willing to give because, oh my god, going on any social media populated largely by westerners and seeing five posts about ‘russophobia’ in a row and none of these posters even attempting to find a link to donate to Ukraine or something makes me feel like I’m in some mean tragicomedy. Russians are not a marginalised class in the West by virtue of being Russian. As of writing, people with a Russian name, accent, passport aren’t systematically discriminated against. Are there cases of Russians being discriminated against? Yes. The only tangible pieces of evidence to the existence of said russophobia have been Eastern European businesses losing business and facing harassment (Once again Westerners fail to distinguish between Eastern Europe et al and Russia or regular people from the regime for that matter, still not systemic discrimination) and Russian culture being taken off curriculums and exhibition (Stupid, vapid, still not systemic discrimination), and, most grimly amusing of all - some internet random calling for Duolingo to take Russian off its app (Not even Duolingo announcing said decision. Just some wanker calling for it). This is the truth of war. Nobody escapes the meat grinder caused by the decisions of the few. But I want everyone to remember the country where Russians face the most oppression right now is Russia. Getting seduced by the (potential) danger of (theoretical) discrimination is achieving absolutely nothing but courting pro-Putin interests. The absolute biggest thing Putin wants most is for russophobia in the West to be real so he doesn’t have to lie that it is to his electorate. So please for the love of God stop getting baited by traps so obvious they could be KGB bots and do something useful like donate to the Red Cross that currently provides humanitarian aid to Ukraine or learn Russian on Duolingo and speak to every Russian you know about how they’re holding up, whether they need their record set straight from years of Putinist propaganda and whether they need any help opposing the regime in whichever form that takes.

Having trudged through the most rancid opinions the internet can offer, I come with my final question. What does the left in the West have to gain from this cynicism? What does someone who sits comfortably thousands of kilometers away from war win from going “Oh, but think of how NATO imperialism is just as bad as Russia! Think of how Russians are going to be discriminated against because of this! Think of how both sides are actually bad!”? They win the sliver of comfort that if both sides are equally bad, they don’t have to care all that much. If some money from humanitarian donations go to the Ukrainian army and in the Ukrainian army there are some actual nazis, why waste the dollar? I’m not going to claim the arguments I went over don’t have some truth or facts behind them - in fact, I demonstrated that they do - but the cynicism and apathy toward real human lives being destroyed they perpetuate is too high a cost to pay for perpetuating them in the name of all-encompassing debate. It’s literally a Soviet propaganda technique to constantly ask “But what about this bad thing?” to redirect attention and, more widely, a known intelligence tactic to riddle any debate around a good cause with doubt and circular squabbles over side issues.

If I sound condescending, angry, tired, it’s because I am. In a rapidly globalising world, Eastern European issues shrink in significance by the minute and for every ten reasonable, educated and proactive Westerners, there’s always one that’s so wrong and so loud in their wrongness it drains my mental and emotional capacity to look at anything else in the public forum for a long time. I am not saying that people who are less informed about our history are literally pro-Putin bots a la Twitter profiles with a stolen profile picture, two followers, and fifteen hundred #MAGA posts. But before speaking over Eastern Europeans and Ukrainians on this devastating war, ask yourself: what does it say about you that you sound like one?

#oh boy can't wait to see how well this one goes over with the tumblr audience #unsafe pin

[douchebagbrainwaves]

THE EFFORT THAT GOES INTO LOOKING PRODUCTIVE IS NOT MERELY A USELESS METRIC, BUT POSITIVELY MISLEADING

Some investors want to know what your valuation is before they even talk to you about investing. It's more straightforward just to make the team, and if not it doesn't matter whether you fund them, because when everything else is collapsing around you, having just ten users who love you will keep you going in one direction if there weren't powerful forces pushing you in another.1 You may be wasting your time, but you're not idle. In big companies there's always going to be more politics, and less scope for individual decisions.2 Cofounders are for a startup what location is for real estate. I knew intellectually, but didn't really grasp till it happened to us.3 It's a consequence of the tree, you're going to have to think about the upper limit is, we are clearly not meant to work in the pure, intellectual world of software, not deal with customers' mundane problems.4 Obviously one case where it would help to be rapacious is when growth depends on that. If these guys had thought they were starting companies, they might have been ok if he was content to limit himself to talking to the press, but what if he wanted to have a co-founder.

Ideally this meant getting a lot of people, and promoted from within based largely on seniority. The numbers on the Y axis will take care of itself. Comments have much more freedom. Like the time the power went off in Cambridge for about six hours, and we made the mistake of trying to start a new company using Lisp. Let your idea evolve. So orange usernames won't be back.5 You may be wasting your time. In nearly every startup that fails, the proximate cause is running out of room.

If these guys had thought they were starting companies, they might have been. Europeans didn't introduce formal civil service exams took years, as prep school does today. There are two major types of problems a site like Hacker News needs to avoid: bad stories and bad comments. The reason tablets are going to be more than a couple hours, and we made the mistake of trying to make credentials better. Eventually we settled on one millon, because Julian said no one would invest in a company with a valuation any lower. I don't know if I could only keep one.6 I've learned about dilution is that it's not that high a cost. That plus the inexperience card should work in most situations: sorry, we think you're great, but PG said startups shouldn't, and since they're the customer you can take their word for it. Probably because the product was a dog, or never seemed likely to be done, or both. We've now funded so many different types of investors, you should get all the users, and the latter is not simply a constant fraction of the probability that the company will die or at the very least people will have to be a hot deal—they can pretend they just got distracted and then restart the conversation as if they'd been anointed as the next Google?7 That depends.

Ideally you want between two and four founders. But maybe the older generation would laugh at me for saying that the way we work: a normal job may be as bad for us, why is it so common? What cram schools are, in effect, an annuity. But just two companies, Dropbox and Airbnb, account for about three quarters of it. I was saying. But by works I mean something more subtle than when they can get away with it. These are the only places I know that have the right kind of place for developing software. But how do you know it's not 70%?8 The record labels and movie studios used to distribute what they made like air shipped through tubes on a moon base, though.

We probably had 20 deals of various types fall through. It felt as if there was a bug, and then come back to work.9 Individual performance is hard to measure in large organizations, and the most common question people ask is how many employees you have. Some investors will try to seem more corporate, corporations will try to invest at a lower valuation.10 David Filo's title was Chief Yahoo, but he was proud that his unofficial title was Cheap Yahoo. Usually you want to sell, they take the meeting. When you start fundraising, your initial plans are almost certain to be wrong; be confident enough to tell them to get lost.11 This essay focuses on phase 2 fundraising consists of presenting a slide deck in person to collect a check.

For example, working for a big company is like high fructose corn syrup, and hydrogenated vegetable oil. This is already clear in cases like GPSes, music players, and cameras.12 Miraculously it all turned out ok. We had office chairs so cheap that the arms all fell off.13 Instead of sitting in your grubby apartment listening to users complain about bugs in your software is what will make you successful—making things and talking to users, we understood online commerce way better than anyone else. Fee, fie, fo, fum, I smell a company run by marketing guys.14 I'm going to give you a termsheet.

Notes

You know what kind of intensity and dedication from programmers that they use; if there were about 60,000 sestertii e. No one seems to pass so slowly for them. There are titles between associate and partner, which is all about hitting outliers, are not the sense that if colleges want to start some vaguely benevolent business. But this is mainly due to the extent we see incumbents suppressing competitors via regulations or patent suits, we used to do better, and a few old professors in Palo Alto, but he turned them down.

17. No big deal.

Most of the growth is valuable, and for filters it's textual. Once the playing field is leveler politically, we'll see economic inequality in the Bible is Pride goeth before destruction, and those are usually obvious, even if it's dismissed, it's a harder problem than Hall realizes. When a lot of classic abstract expressionism is doodling of this theory is that they use; if you have a single cause. As well as problems that have little to bring corporate bonds; a vogue for conglomerates in the Baskin-Robbins.

The nationalistic idea is bad. People who value their peace, or b to get good grades.

This sentence originally read GMail is painfully slow. Xenophon Mem.

Why go to a car dealer. You have to deliver because otherwise competitors would take Abelson and Sussman's quote a step later in the right way. Microsoft than Netscape was.

Your teachers are always telling you to remain in denial about your fundraising prospects. What Is an Asset Price Bubble?

If a company he really liked, but getting rich, purely mercenary founders will seem dumb in 100 years ago, and it would annoy our competitor more if we couldn't decide between turning some investors away and selling more of it, and Fred Wilson to fund them. Which is precisely my point. At any given college.

Maybe that isn't what they'd like it takes a startup to succeed in business are likely to coincide with mathematicians' judgements. Now to people he knew. It was harder for you, however. So although it works on all the potential series A termsheet with a face-saving compromise.

This is the most useless investors are just not super thoughtful for the popular vote.

It's not simply a function of revenues, and it would take their customers. 66. Though most VCs are only locally accurate, because even if they make money, the assembly line, the same way a restaurant as a constituency.

To talk to mediocre ones. 4%, Macintosh 18.

Mozilla is open-source browser. If you freak out when people are immune to the writing teachers were transformed in situ into English professors. Sofbot.

What made Google Google is much more attractive to investors, is deliberately vague, we're going to use some bad word multiple times. With the good ones, and logic. Ironically, one variant of the optimism Europeans consider distinctly American is simply that it would do fairly well as good ones don't even want to impress are not in the US, it seems. The two are not written by the customs of the latter without also slowing the former depends a lot cheaper than business school, because despite some progress in the general manager of the funds we raised was difficult, and Smartleaf co-founder before making any predictions about the size of the grad students they admit each year are long shots.

Thanks to Geoff Ralston, Robert Morris, Joshua Reeves, Sam Altman, and Jackie McDonough for putting up with me.

#automatically generated text #Markov chains #Paul Graham #Python #Patrick Mooney #grades #customers #Dropbox #syrup #Comments #sup #school #cause #users #movie #Which #Hall #title #forces #one #today #problems #direction #Fee #tree #GMail #time #function #money #software