#Flat Out Lies

[dibator]

Interview with talented Canadian author Karen Grose of The Dime Box and Flat Out Lies

Karen Grose is from Toronto, Canada. Her debut novel, The Dime Box, was selected by Amnesty International for its 2021 Book Club. Her second is Flat Out Lies, and All June Left Behind is coming Spring 2025. She has flash, poems, and short stories published by Roi Faineant Press, Paddler Press, Punk Noir Magazine, Epistemic Literary Magazine, Hooghly Review, Bunker Squirrel Magazine, and Superior…

[friedmagazinebouquet]

I keep forgetting that Jon is like, late 20s early 30s at most, until he does something just dumb enough to serve as a jarring reminder that this guy is actually wayyy younger than he pretends to be

[nenoname]

Details in Stan's letter that still haunt me

(how long will I continue thinking about a two page letter that's technically not even that long because Stan's handwriting is fricking large? .....you don't need to worry about that.)

The bro code only shows up in the Lost Journal pages, and to me Stan's message feels like it purposely echoes Ford's "miss you" in the college photo (and for some reason the message doesn't appear in the website version of the photo?) ....or alternatively Stan simply noticed how distressed Ford was about this entire thing and wanted to support him in a way so he can be sappy but without the kids knowing, or both!

Stan's claim about the Oregon lottery contradicts what the Lost Legends website said about Tate McGucket's ability to predict the winning numbers!! ...but also breaking into the Lottery HQ is definitely a very Stan thing to do and it's not the first time small gags have been retconned

Despite spending most of his letter nonchalantly destroying him, the taunt about ripping a dollar bill in half is the only part where Stan is directly responding to Bill. Maybe it's the two of them having similar ways of thinking but it's rather specific considering Bill taunts the reader about it...

And after Bill spends an entire book calling Ford Sixer despite normally using a pretty wide range of nicknames for him, Stan then spends his letter mainly referring to Ford as Sixer, even though post-Weirdmageddon he tends to use a mix of nicknames. And it's not like he'd gotten to see Bill himself for long, let alone see him steal that childhood nickname (that is only used twice in the actual show btw!). Did Ford tell him what happened or...?

With all this and the website's "still on your mind" message, what I'm getting at is my tinfoil hat theory of Stan somehow seeing some of the pages the irl readers saw, even when it should be personalised to the specific reader, and he's been lying about it for some reason. Considering that the book flat out doesn't make an attempt at convincing Soos, I find it a stretch that whatever Bill was telling Stan via the book was an attempt to convince him either.

Wouldn't be the first time Stan's skimmed through a book and lied about what it meant to him.

(...Now I kinda wanna see a story about the family reading their versions of the book and making fun of it while Stan is improvising every single one of his pages and blatantly ignoring Bill's attempts to mock and taunt him)

But also I'm fascinated by the letters that only showed up on the website (aka the Soos+Wendy+McGucket+Pacifica ones). I'm assuming that Mabel had stuck them on after Stan's letter... but they were basically eaten by the book itself because seeing Stan's letter kick-started Bill's breakdown which takes up the rest of the book

[reality-detective]

Meet the Masonic Bible of the past century, which claims that the Earth is a flat disk with hundreds of other continents:

➖ Point 1: The Earth is the entire universe. All other bodies-the sun, moon, and sky-are auxiliary artificial objects. (page 17)

➖ Point 2: The heavens consist of three parts: the atmosphere, the firmament, and the abode of the Gods and angels. The abode of the Gods and its attendants keep the celestial ocean from coming into contact with the firmament. (page 66)

➖ Point 3: There are 27 continents on earth. Until 1579, there was a strong alliance and trade between them. Subsequently, all mention of this was destroyed (page 79)

According to this Bible recognized as official in 1955, but later confiscated from all official sources - there is no way out into space, but there are vast territories unknown to our generation. 🤔

[2jam4u]

Also journie started kindergarten this week and I somehow managed to hold back the tears 🥹

[novelconcepts]

Just remember, kids: most of the time, stupid is how you feel, not who you are.

[quillkiller]

outtakes from my rita skeeter character study i did feverishly at 4am last night/this morning

[my-thoughts-and-junk]

i can't tell if i'm just not paying attention or if mouthwashing just doesn't make any sense

[crows-of-buckets]

Am I making shit up or did they call veilguard the "most romantic dragon age game" during marketing. Yeah all 18 minutes of romance you sure hit the nail on the head bioware

[alchemicourtesy]

my interp of hugo's personality is honestly probably different than the common fandom interpretation that already exists of him. at least i think it might be? i don't dislike it or anything i just have my own hcs and POV abt the characters

kay and anna mentioned tht at first his and varians dynamic is like lampwick and pinocchio so i interp it as hugo seeing himself as this big shot and always trying to like pal with varian and show him how cool he is rather than antagonize him or Tell him hes cool and varian genuinely thinks he is until the betrayal scene. because we r meant to believe that hugo and varian genuinely like and enjoy each other's company even despite hugo being not the most trustworthy guy and i just find it more believable for this to be the case if hugo isnt actively pushing everyone's buttons or bragging. just my onion

[meadowlarkx]

tar-míriel/uinen inspired by @swanmaids' amazing fic nothing beside remains 🌊✨

[pinacoladamatata]

combing over some of the chant, verse of silence specifically, and realizing most of the 'maker' lines can be spoken in iambic pentameter

[jesus-said-chill]

Ok I need to stay away from Reddit because people are so genuinely stupid over there agshhdh

[bedforddanes75]

just saw someone call astrology 'space racism' pls i cant do this

[thevioletcaptain]

@ anon there's a reason i've been trusted with information in the past and it's the same reason i cannot directly answer your messages -- but the scene being described did not exist

[beardedmrbean]

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson made a "mathematically absurd claim" about Black newborns in her dissenting opinion in the affirmative action decision, attorney Ted Frank wrote in a Wednesday Wall Street Journal op-ed. 

Jackson argued in her dissent that diversity "saves lives" and that it was essential for "marginalized communities."

"It saves lives. For marginalized communities in North Carolina, it is critically important that UNC and other area institutions produce highly educated professionals of color. Research shows that Black physicians are more likely to accurately assess Black patients’ pain tolerance and treat them accordingly (including, for example, prescribing them appropriate amounts of pain medication). For high-risk Black newborns, having a Black physician more than doubles the likelihood that the baby will live, and not die," she wrote.

Frank responded to the argument in his Journal opinion piece: "A moment’s thought should be enough to realize that this claim is wildly implausible. Imagine if 40% of black newborns died—thousands of dead infants every week. But even so, that’s a 60% survival rate, which is mathematically impossible to double. And the actual survival rate is over 99%." 

Frank, a senior attorney at Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute, filed an amicus brief in support of the petitioners in SFFA v. Harvard, according to the WSJ.

"How could Justice Jackson make such an innumerate mistake?" he wrote. 

Frank wrote that Jackson's claim came from a 2020 study, according to a footnote in the dissent, but added that the study didn't match Jackson's claim. 

"The study makes no such claims. It examines mortality rates in Florida newborns between 1992 and 2015 and shows a 0.13% to 0.2% improvement in survival rates for black newborns with black pediatricians (though no statistically significant improvement for black obstetricians)," he said. 

The Supreme Court rejected the use of race as a factor in college admissions at the end of June, citing a violation of the 14th amendment. 

In a 6-3 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion that, "A benefit to a student who overcame racial discrim­ination, for example, must be tied to that student’s courage and determination."

Frank said the study cited in Jackson's dissent was "flawed."

"So we have a Supreme Court justice parroting a mathematically absurd claim coming from an interested party’s mischaracterization of a flawed study. Her opinion then urges ‘all of us’ to 'do what evidence and experts tell us is required to level the playing field and march forward together.' Instead we should watch where we’re going," Frank continued. 

Wall Street Journal article here for ya if you don't like fox