#Hindenberger See

[nina-floret]

[bomberqueen17]

how the writing is going

Ok so. LOL. About the only thing I am effectively achieving this week *is* writing, and even that is not really..... I don't have a draft. But I have a whole bunch of sample snippets I've written to try and feel my way through the worldbuilding and discover the sorts of things the characters are likely to be preoccupied with, which is often how I figure out what a plot should be.

The next thing I thought about after dolphins was modes of transport besides sailing ships.

So this is a fairly high-tech society, but they do not have fossil fuels, and they don't have a large-scale power grid. I decided that for aesthetics, but as I'm unpicking my plot, I'm realizing that it makes sense. See, the main driver for all my plot devices is that there's a lot of sun activity-- sunspots, coronal mass ejections, magnetic field anomalies, that sort of shit. A power grid could not survive on a large scale. So all power generation is done in small, local installations-- some very local indeed, panels on rooftops, little waterwheels, tiny wind turbines. Industrial-scale power is generated in hydro plants and used right at the site for hydro-powered manufacturing-- much of it direct hydro-power, not converted to electricity. Just direct drive waterwheel shit. Because the sun can throw whatever shit it wants at the planet and your waterwheel won't notice or care.

That said. Communication over long ranges does pose a significant challenge. You're going to need line-of-sight semaphores and shit, which I had not worldbuilt in the earlier versions but absolutely could add in.

There should be trains, and I haven't really pondered those yet because I need to know more about my geography. Please, god, don't make me draw a map, but I'm gonna have to. Oh well.

But the other thing I thought of and got really excited about was

DIRIGIBLES

It's feasible with technology we currently have, and this is a thing that some large companies are pursuing, to make very large, hydrogen-filled, entirely solar-powered dirigibles for long-distance cargo transportation, faster than ships, the same speed as trucks/trains but more direct, slower than airplanes but INFINITELY lower carbon footprint. And hydrogen is outlawed by the FAA as a lifting gas, not because of the Hindenberg (which had many contributing factors) but because of a Congressional hearing which was presented by the helium lobby in the 20s. Hmmmmm.

A fascinating detail is that you could make a solar-powered lighter-than-air craft operate day and night seamlessly by having a power generation process where some of the day's collected solar energy directly powers the thing, and some of it goes toward... I forget the details but it powers a chemical reaction that, come nightfall, is simply set to reverse itself, which will then release most of the energy that it took to power the reaction in the first place, which you can now use to power your aircraft. Which is not a thing I knew about and I now have to research how that would work because, fascinating.

Anyway. In Fantasy World, there are totally dirigibles, and they're also probably operated by the Navy, and the water-ship sailors fucking hate them, LOL. This will be a wildly entertaining dynamic and I am rubbing my little paws together.

Also.

While feeling sort of brain-dead and stupid, I got a sheet of paper, went through a bunch of lists of historic names and lists of like, suggested baby names from various ethnicities, and I just made lists on this sheet of paper of men's names, women's names, arguably gender-neutral names, and then a huge pile of surnames, and then I sat down with a bullet-pointed list cribbed from the website of the museum of the USS Constitution of all the personnel that would be on a 44-gun frigate ca. 1812, and I first pondered each of the jobs, added some, took some away, came up with my own numbers of how many guys I needed, and then I just sat there and combined the first and last names in aesthetically pleasing ways to generate characters, lightly crossing out ones I'd used. (and sometimes googling them to make sure they're not somebody famous or something, which i always recommend with fictional character creation, especially if you're as oblivious as I am.)

I was unable to resist also coming up with some backstories-- siblings, little work histories, criminal pasts, notable traits, that sort of thing-- for many of the characters.

I did not make up names for every individual person on this ship, which I decided should have a crew of about 150-180, but I made up some names for every position, and considered age and gender as well for all of them.

I will not use many of the characters I've created this way, I'm sure, but the ones with interrelationships will totally somehow get used, and this way as I'm writing if I need a character I can find them already made, and if that person has a defined role, I already know which one and won't lose track of them.

This also got me to consider why people wind up in the jobs they do in this society, what drives them to seek out certain things, and that gave me a lot of background as to what's going on onshore.

I should try to find a list of a dirigible's crew and think about them, too, and build out the train people and routes and whatnot.

I also bought a used older edition on Thriftbooks of The Annapolis Book Of Seamanship and have been reading that with... more interest than I expected actually. I have the 1983 edition and it has a really moving little plea to let the women on your ship also learn to sail because it is foolish to relegate them to the kitchen when if only they were taught how it works, they could save you all in an emergency. LOL I wonder if that's worded differently in the updated new version or not.

[lonestarbattleship]

Titanic Model from Ghostbusters II

"In the 1989 sequel Ghostbusters II, a buildup of psychomagnotheric mood slime beneath the streets of New York turns the city into a melting pot of paranormal activity, manifesting a number of the film’s most spine-tingling visuals, among them the 'better late than never' arrival of the Titanic.

To make the scene a reality, modelmakers John Goodson and Jeff Olson constructed a Titanic miniature out of plywood and urethane that, while highly detailed, took some liberties compared to the wreckage.

In the November 1989 issue of Cinefex magazine, model shop supervisor at ILM Bill George would discuss these changes, among them the addition of skeletal smokestacks and director Ivan Reitman wanting the hole in the bow’s ship to appear larger, stating:

'We tried to be as accurate as we could using books, magazine articles, and videotape of the wreck, but we still had to make changes in two areas. One had to do with the fact that the smokestacks were torn off when the ship went down–but the ship without the smokestacks is less recognizable. So we built the smokestacks, making them very skeletal to kind of split the difference. The second change was because the director wanted the hole in the bow to be much larger than it actually was, and he also wanted the name on the ship moved so you could read it.'

Contrary to what’s seen in the film, the Titanic miniature was broken in half. However, it’s never shown, with George, again, citing that this decision came from Reitman, adding:

'Although it’s very difficult to tell in the angle it was filmed at, our model was broken in half because the real ship split into two sections when it went down. Early on, we were thinking that it would be great to have the bow section come up and then have the aft section follow. There were also thoughts of seeing the ship floating above the water or rising up out of the water. But the director wanted the audience to be able to see one shot and get the whole joke. He did not want a sequence or any lead-in shots.'

With pieces of the miniature being sold over the years, among them a recent Propstore auction containing the ship’s frontend closing at £10,000, much like the actual Titanic, Ghostbusters II’s take on the ocean liner is anything but still intact; however, for those who’d like to catch a glimpse of the scaled-down fabrication, the below image has been making the rounds.

While near complete, the miniature in the photo would see a handful of revisions before making its big screen debut, among them Reitman’s request to increase the damage seen on the bow.

Bow portion of the filming model. source

In addition to the Titanic, a couple of other ghostly ideas were tossed around for Ghostbusters II‘s 'Flip City' montage, with star and co-writer Harold Ramis saying:

'We considered several ideas. One had the Hindenberg arriving with flaming passengers getting off carrying luggage that was also on fire. Another featured a ghostly subway station with rotting commuters. That was the precursor to the ghost train that is now in the film. We also had a cemetery scene where the gravestones were taking off like rockets. Then the idea for the Titanic hit me one day and that seemed to offer the most powerful images.'”

- article from ghostbustersnews.com: link

source

[queermentaldisaster]

"All is Found," an OC drabble.

So cw for implied child neglect, and character death.

Characters in order of appearance: Koroleva Makarov, Linda Hindenberg, Gospozha Makarov.

All Russian in this is Google Translated, translations at the end.

Song and title from "All is Found" by Evan Rachel Wood.

Tags: @eiraeths @forestshadow-wolf

Drabble under the cut.

Koroleva clung to her mother's shirt, trying to block out the sounds of her father screaming. She felt her mother lay her down in her bed, and she immediately let out a small cry, reaching back for her mother. The older woman gently shushed her, covering her with a blanket and tucking her in. "Тише, моя маленькая принцесса. Все нормально. Мама здесь." She reassured, as she leaned down and pressed a kiss to Koroleva's head.

She grabbed her mother's hand as it was offered to her. "колыбельная?" She asked, her voice cracking.

Her mother smiled softly, and began singing, stroking her hair as she did so. "Там, где северный ветер встречается с морем, есть река, полная воспоминаний~"

Koroleva leaned into her mother's touch, listening closely. "Спи, моя дорогая, в целости и сохранности, ибо в этой реке можно найти все~ В ее водах глубоко и правдиво лежат ответы и путь для тебя~"

She looked up, seeing those brown eyes, so full of warmth and love. "Ныряйте глубоко в ее звук, но не слишком далеко, иначе вы утонете~ Да, она будет петь тем, кто услышит, и в ее песне струится вся магия~ Но сможете ли вы выдержать то, чего боитесь больше всего~? Сможешь ли ты принять то, что знает река~?"

Koroleva began drifting off, as the song came to a close. "Там, где северный ветер встречается с морем, есть мать, полная воспоминаний~ Приходи, моя дорогая, домой направляется~ Когда всё потеряно, тогда всё найдётся~"

Everything went black and blank as she heard the faint sound of the door opening.

Koroleva shot awake to the sound of her baby sister bawling. She pushed herself out of bed, hurrying to the kitchen and coming back with a bottle of formula. She lifted her sister out of the bassinet, her small body barely able to handle holding the little one. She hung her head, wishing her mama was here.

Translations: (1: Hush, my little princess. It's okay. Mama's here.) (2: lullaby?) (3: Where the north wind meets the sea, there's a river full of memory~) (4: Sleep, my darling, safe and sound, for in this river all is found~ In her waters, deep and true lie the answers and a path for you~) (5: Dive down deep into her sound but not too far or you'll be drowned~ Yes, she will sing to those who'll hear, and in her song, all magic flows~ But can you brave what you most fear~? Can you face what the river knows~?) (6: Where the north wind meets the sea there's a mother full of memory~ Come, my darling, homeward bound~ When all is lost, then all is found~)

[avrerrotheroachfan]

Add something, if you'd like

but who is you

is someone there

who

like the sound an owl makes or like the person

or an entity

the

help how do I unlargen the text

please I want it to be smallened again but it keeps growing

hellpll oh this is acceptable

I got greedy and thought it might go back to normal

I hate cursive it should be banned on a federal level

what now he's got a line what

what he's still lined

how long does this go on for what if I click it again I'm scared please tell me it's all going to be over soon

I GOT BULLET POINTED NOOOOOOO

this is the worst day ever

numbers now

sequential

ever increasing

just like time

or carrots in a hypothetical scenario where you had a lot of carrots and wanted to count them all

oh my god we're back

and better thab ever

1 WHAT oh I clickrd that myaelf it's not a real number

YOU'RE NOT A REAL LAWYER

what does the headopheons button do

tumber dot com

blur*

mountain**

uestion

how many things does the average person know but like if you counted EVERYTHING

not like including what they could know/figure out but what they know at that time so including like how many bees are in the world and the colour of the shirt some random kid who got stung by a bee in preschool was wearing that day

that fateful day...

I'm so tired jesse please let me sleep it's 6:41 in the am I got fishes to see people to be fishes to go seeple to tree fih fishes fish people I'M MEETING THE FISH PEOPLE

I put the soup on the moon. me. I acted alone. I acted with mallice. this is an admission of guilt admissible in court, however I contest any accusation of wrongdoing on my part as I was acting as a vigilante of sorts.

this is like the regular things but instead of in the outinsanity it's out the insilly website app

how do I wrap this up like a wrap (analogy)

analogy anemone alimony persephone one of these is NOT like the others

wedding what?? wait I'm getting married to the fish peoplr???? congrats wow such short notice

if the sky is blue because "science", then why am I so incomprehensible? chequemeat lentils!!

chalk on my habds!! (my impression of me if there were chalk on my habds in a hypithetical)

hypo, hypothermia, HIPPO

oh I want those guys again like the little tiny animal guys and then you put them in water and they grow and they're like bigger (but still small) squishy little animal guys

I had a sheep once but I don't know where he went :(

oh and the orbs but they're not as cool/animaly and they break more easily

my dog is snoring very loudly

what if my dog is secretly walter white from breaking bad oh that should have been my poll

woah what lage break nooo I've been seperated

continental drift is real :pensive:

I am rather weary, I must camp here for the night

sleeping accomodation emoji

IMPORTANT REMINDER: the hindenberg is NOT a pillow.

[repconnaerospace]

since i'm here and i'm thinking about it, here me out okay. i want arthur broken. i want the brotherhood decimated and him managing to survive, stuck in the commonwealth with everything he's been told his whole life is his birthright going down the like the hindenberg.

i want this, because i want to see if he will double down on the brotherhood's line of quasi-religious bullshit, or if he can still grow and change as a person, because despite, he's still a twenty-two year old kid. a kid that's been shoved into a position of power, yeah, and one with accomplishments under his belt, absolutely, but...still a kid.

[open-sketchbook]

okay fuckin' seriously here

the United States was not some exceptional stronghold of Nazi-Loving that suddenly switched teams over Pearl Harbour or whatever

The American Nazi movement was not large. It was a fringe movement of mostly recent German immigrants that got thoroughly embarrassed by antifascists. American racism (which, to be clear, was and is an enormous and mainstream political force) was largely ideologically incompatible with the Nazis; many dyed in the wool racists in the United States thought Hitler was nuts (in no small part because most of them were Anglo-Saxon supremacists still on the fence about German people being white).

Nazi Germany was not a well-liked state by pretty much anyone except, like, Austria. Not even the Italians really liked them, and they were allies. American media from the 1930s pretty consistently portrays the actual feelings most people had about Hitler and the Nazis; that they were warmongering maniacs and thank God there's an Atlantic in the way.

It always astonishes me that people lose their mind when they find out the Hindenberg had a big swastika on it and assume this means that Nazi Germany and the United States were super close allies right up until 1941. Like, the Soviets and United States weren't exactly friends during the Cold War, but Aerofloat planes with a big hammer and sickle on the side were landing every other day in JFK for decades flying the direct route from Moscow to New York.

President FDR's government fucking hated the Nazis; he was making preparations for war well before the actual declaration, and was material supporting Britain and the Soviets before the US joined formally. The Nazis were largely portrayed in American media as tyrants and bullies who exploited economic discontent to get people to sign away their rights and democracy, and while America could hardly be said to be friendly to Jewish people in the 1930s, what was happening in Germany was still not seen in a good light.

Another thing you need to understand is that the United States was not a monolith on racism inside the United States. Jim Crow was not a beloved institution for people who weren't white Southerners. Putting aside, you know, the minority populations of the US themselves, and the genuine anti-racist activists, it still wasn't exactly something people were proud of outside its strongholds. The 1920s and 1930s are pretty much the absolute height of mainstream popularity of scientific racism and the Confederate Lost Cause in the United States across the political spectrum... and the American laws that Nazi Germany tried to model theirs on were still seen by many Americans as a shameful and backward institution whose brutality was unbecoming of "civilized people".

You know that thing about the past being a foreign country? It's not a joke; when we look at the past, we have the same knee-jerk out-group response to reduce and compress the breath of experience and opinion into a singular narrative. This post is a prime example.

The reality is that the United States in 1936 had four and a half million Jewish people in it who weren't exactly fans of the Nazis. 2,800 Americans volunteered to fight against the fascists in Spain in the XV International Brigade. When war was declared, millions of Americans volunteered.

The main reluctance in the US to join the war wasn't that they loved the Nazis and wanted them to win, it was that the US was highly isolationist after joining the First World War, and the popular perception that they had only done so as a cash grab for the arms industry (the 1934 book Merchants of Death was quite influential and lead to the 1936 Nye Committee in Congress which resulted in a series of Neutrality acts). They didn't want to get involved in a war that they didn't see as affecting them. Which is why the US did join the war once it did affect them, what with Pearl Harbour getting attacked.

Now putting all that aside, Indiana Jones has a lot of reasons to fucking hate Nazis, even before we point out he's directed by Steven Spielberg; he's an academic and archaeologist, he's probably already lost acquaintances to the Nazis when they purged German academia of leftists and Jews, and he's watched German archaeology become mired in conspiracy theories about ice planets and ancient aryans. He's got plenty of reasons.

BUT EVEN BEYOND THAT, Indiana Jones is a throwback movie. George Lucas wanted to make a blockbuster version of a 1940s Republic movie serial, the episodic pulp adventure stories that would play chapter-by-chapter in theatres and were basically the Marvel movies of the day. Republic made action-packed stories, among which was one of the foundational touchstones for Indiana Jones' globetrotting, nazi-punching adventures.... SPY SMASHER!

>Watch trailer for Indiana Jones game >Think about how Indiana Jones really really hates nazis >Think about how Indiana Jones takes place in 1936 >Think about how America didn't join world war 2 until 1941 >Think about how nazi Germany got its ideas of racial hierarchy from the segregation in Jim Crow America >Think about how an upperclass white man in 1936 would actually be more likely to agree with nazi ideas, so there must be a specific reason why Indiana Jones hates nazis so much >Think about how Indiana Jones is a movie from 1981 >Think about how this was right after the Vietnam war, a war America lost real bad >Indiana Jones' anachronistic hatred of nazis is a form of WW2 nostalgia because Americans needed something to feel good about after losing real bad in Vietnam, and that was the only conflict in living history where Americans were the "good guys" >Think about how in current year, Indiana Jones hating nazis is positioned as "woke pandering"

[vickiabelson]

TODAY LIVE - SPECIAL TIME - 1 PM PT

With Greg L Mullavey Greg Mullavey!

Three years ago I was blessed to zoom with Greg Mullavey, whom I’ve adored for almost 50 years. A HUGE Mary Hartman Mary Hartman fan, I never missed an episode in the days before there were VCRs let alone DVRs. It took effort. MH, MH was sacrosanct. As was Fernwood Forever, led by Tom Hartman, aka Greg Mullavey. Last night, I got to see Greg live on stage for the first time, as Jules Feiffer, in The People VS Lenny Bruce, at the Garry Marshall Theatre, and then, at last, came face to face in the reals with this man and actor, I adore. Greg exceeded my expectations with both. 

A true thespian, Greg continues to grace stages from LA to Broadway, recently playing King Lear for the Frog and Peach Theatre Company, co-starring Off-Broadway with Marlo Thomas in Clever Little Lies, and Gaby Hoffman in the Last Seder. His Broadway credits include Rumors and Romantic Comedy. Greg’s appeared in over 100 theatrical productions across the country!

Prior to MH, Greg appeared on TV in everything from Ben Casey, to It Takes A Thief, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Marcus Welby to Mod Squad… and many after, including Centennial, Dynasty, Civil Wars ( a load of others), to recurring roles on Insight, Rituals, The Bold and The Beautiful to iCarly, where my kids loved him. His film work includes Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice,  The Birdmen, The Love Machine, The Disappearance of Flight 412, and The Hindenberg, to name but some. 

It’s Greg the human––with social conscience, grace, warmth, compassion, humor, and class, who shines through in life, and no doubt informs his formidable, and varied work. 

I’m so grateful to have another opportunity to chat… to get to know more about this very special, supremely talented man. And to pick his brain on how the hell he does it!

Greg Mullavey on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

SPECIAL TIME **Wednesday, 7/24/24, 1 pm PT, 4 pm ET**

Streaming Live on my Facebook

WednesDaily by Toni Vincent & @peter_and_paul_ Cartoons

[dr-whuwu]

Watching Glass Onion due to hanging out alone on New Year's Eve until 3am when I have to go to the airport so here's me livetweet of me thoughts:

10 minutes in and we already have a puzzle that's also a contraption and I am both a puzzle guy and a contraption guy very much so yes indeed so I'm big into that, not to MENTION this guy's mom is my favorite character. Hello Yo Yo Ma thank you for the information!!!

Would I watch a whole movie that was just them solving the box? Maybe.

Oh slay a Westing Game situation??

Why didn't they call Janelle Monáe what's her deal

Imagine playing amogus with Angela Lansbury and Stephen Sondheim

He has a funny little detective hat!

INBREATHIATE

I will not be surprised if Janelle Monáe's character ends up being ridiculously wealthy and out-of-touch and not a good person like the others BUT based on little-to-no knowledge about anything so far, I don't think she will kill Miles but I think she deserves to because she's hot and he's an annoying billionaire who sucks

Also I'm intrigued by the beatles references - Blackbird, Glass Onion

"Is that a motorcar" what year is this

"I'm gonna foil" what does that mean. First Outer, Inner Last??

Why is there a car. Gun in the pool?? Also Leslie Odom Jr. is exceedingly beautiful and additionally what is Peg's deal is she gay

You want to disrupt the system itself how about billionaires pay taxes

Peg looking at Andi I see you I know what you are

Yes love a little peek-out-from-behind-the-bush I love the bright colors I love the well-lit shots

"What was the motive" bro it's because you suck!

How long is this weekend HELLO HE SOLVED IT?? Bro way to ruin the game though

Who is Helen

Watermelon tourmaline apron

OhohohHOO Helen!

"Compelling" this man loves playin games he loves solving puzzles and he lives for the drama!!!

Mayhaps a training montage? Not quite a montage but ooooooh backstory

Steve Jobs shirt

"I'm very bad at dumb things. My Achilles Heel" ashdfksajkdf;ajwioe;f

IS THAT HOW ATTACHÉ IS PRONOUNCED

I can't remember if I saw a post with spoilers to this effect or if I'm just coming up with thoughts on my brain but atm my money's on a Murder on the Orient Express type deal where everyone independently did the same murder.

HA I knew she wasn't dead the bullet hit the glass!

Helen obviously knows Andi's handwriting because she's been thoroughly studying her journals

"Nobody tried to kill you, you vainglorious buffoon" seems particularly fitting after recent jet-location-reveal incidents

Oooh that was very Banquo of Helen to appear like that

Is she gonna. Blow them all up. Is she gonna explode them like the Hindenberg.

Ouch shattering glass and she's in sandals

We got a little foreshadowing as a treat when she smashed the box open at the start!

Turn up the harpsichord I can hear it fine but I think it there should be more

Anyway that was a slap, gonna go read what b*n sh*piro hated so much about it

EDIT: Btw is anyone going to explain why Blanc's husband calls him Blanc

[bitchesgetriches]

Dearest Bitches,

I signed up for an Ally high interest savings account (per your suggestion)! And now they keep raising the interest rate, like, every week. Latest email:

"Your Online Savings Account rate is increasing from 2.25% to 2.35% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) on all balance tiers. Your new APY goes into effect on 10/20/2022, and will appear in your account on 10/21/2022. As you’re no doubt aware, the economy is a hot topic at the moment. From prices at the gas tank, to everyday groceries, inflation is having a real effect on wallets everywhere. But on the bright side, our rates have reached a new high. So now’s a great time to build your savings habits and save more on every dollar."

Is this good?? It seems like it should be good but why is this happening. Surely they're not just raising interest to be nice. Can you please explain? Is this a scam?

XOXO

This is a bit of a complicated answer. So I'll try to simplify.

THIS IS A GOOD THING FOR YOU. It's not a scam, it's not just happening to you. It's happening to everyone. All HYSAs (high yield savings accounts) are raising their interest rates right now. This means your money is making MORE money by sitting in that savings account.

THIS IS A SIGN OF BAD THINGS FOR THE WIDER ECONOMY. Remember our advice on how to protect your money from inflation? Here, in case you missed it:

How To Protect Cash Savings During High Inflation 

The tl;dr is we were like "you could put it in a HYSA but interest rates are so low right now that that's not super effective." That was before inflation skyrocketed to its current levels.

See, when shit's going well in the economy, HYSA interest rates are low. They know things are stable. You have all the money in the world to spend on goods and services! They ain't trying to compete with the stock market, where they know you'll get much higher rates of return.

But right now, inflation is making all those goods and services more expensive. And the stock market has been doing its best impression of the Hindenberg. Plus, interest rates for loans are going up as the Fed (Federal Reserve, which is the governmental organization that controls how our money works) keeps raising them to try to slow inflation (I will NOT explain that logic here because I don't have nineteen hours). So things like mortgages just got wicked expensive.

All of this leads to HYSAs knowing that they are now our best bet for earning money on our money. So along with some external factors, this has caused them to raise their rates.

Again--great time to open a HYSA! Keep celebrating those increasing interest rates! But it's all happening because the economy's in the shitter. Hope that helps, baby!

From HYSAs to CDs, Here's How to Level Up Your Financial Savings 

[djpaige]

It's got me thinking though...

How would that feel IN UNIVERSE? If you lived in the world of the movie, you're just minding your own business one day, scrolling on your phone endlessly in quarantine, you haven't left the house in months because fucking Covid... and then the reports start rolling in. At first you think it's a prank. You maybe heard about it on Tumblr that that one rich fuck was renting the Mona Lisa, and everyone on your dashboard was upset about that (and rightly so) because why should he be allowed to do that? Why would the Louvre even let him? Rich people are awful and they can just do whatever they want. But then the next terrible thing happened and you forgot about it.

Until one day you see that stupid Supernatural meme. Castiel, tearfully smiling: "I love you". And you scroll down. Dean, stoic: "Miles Braun destroyed the original Mona Lisa". Instantly you're on Google. You have to verify this. There's no way that's true. But the first few results are from reputable news sources. Just little bites for now. "Billionaire's home burns, destroying the Mona Lisa. This is a developing story." Oh shit, for real? Everyone's scrambling. Everyone's hoping and praying that it's not true. Surely the Louvre wouldn't be that stupid? There's no way they gave him the real one? Surely they sent a copy? The Louvre is silent. You can practically feel the public statement being written. It's a day or two before they say anything, because surely they had to spend all that time getting the wording exactly right. And then yeah... it's true. They rented him the real Mona Lisa. And it's gone now. And oh god, the variety of opinions start flooding in. "Oh my god, he burnt the most famous painting in the world???" "It's just a painting, it's not sacred or anything." "HELLO? Why would the Louvre even give him that???" But one thing's for sure, everyone is talking about this.

More details start pouring out from this incident. His house blew up because he was fueling it like the Hindenburg?? And also he murdered someone? You just saw that news report earlier that day. That one business lady from the widely televised lawsuits a few months ago? She turned up dead? And now it turns out that Miles Braun The Billionaire murdered her??? But hey, it turns out that he also murdered that one godawful MRA dude who got banned from Twitch? Two murders and he burnt the most famous painting in the world? Holy shit, is this guy speedrunning The Worst Human Ever?

And it hurts for a long long while. You see the Mona Lisa in a movie from years ago, and it just punches you in the gut. Wow, that's gone now. You see it as a print on someone's tote bag. Went up like the fucking Hindenberg, oh god. You hear that song on the radio, because it's jumped to the top of the charts. I can't believe that idiot murdered two people and destroyed the most famous painting in the world. And there's this feeling of bargaining, of denial, of anger (I mean, pick a stage of grief, any stage), because it's like the end of an era. Last week you could have dreamed of going to France and seeing that painting. But this week? That's done now. Everyone who will ever see the Mona Lisa has already seen it now. No one new will ever get to lay eyes on the original painting. The world you live in now is one where that painting does not exist anymore. You almost want to believe the conspiracies that the Louvre just sent him a copy, because it's just so tragic to think that it's really gone. But it is. It's gone because of Miles Fucking Braun.

The thing is, lawsuits for billionaires end up being... predictable. The guy is so rich that he could totally buy his way into house arrest even though several witnesses have come forward with evidence of the murders. He should go away for life without parole, but this is the kind of thing that the ultra-rich get away with. Except that now... now it feels personal. He can't keep a lawyer. Keeps trying to hire them, but... dude, the Mona Lisa. Every lawyer he tries to hire comes up against the same thing: endless threats and criticism because seriously, you're defending the guy who burnt the goddamn Mona Lisa?? The court has a hell of a time trying to pick a jury, because nobody can be impartial in this one. And though really, of the crimes he's committed, the painting is the least of them. But it feels the most personal. And in the end, because of how gutted everyone is about that painting, Mona Lisa ensures that Miles Braun goes away for two murders, and that his stupid fuel source will never see the light of day. Miles Braun goes to prison. Cassandra Brand is remembered as the true genius behind Alpha. Her sister starts a foundation in her name. Not really a happy ending, but justice has been served.

---

And outside of the movie universe? When you're watching a movie about all of this, and you're left thinking at the end of it "Oh god, I really wish that wasn't the real Mona Lisa, isn't there some way that it could have been a fake so that it wasn't really burnt???"

That feeling is exactly why the plot works.

I've just about come to the conclusion that the reason a lot of analyses of Glass Onion are so desperate to invent a film where the painting that gets blown up in the final act is a fake is because they've internalised the idea that people who destroy art are Always Evil (No Exceptions), so their only options are a. to arrive at a reading of the film where Helen Brand is secretly the villain of the piece, or b. to construct a version of events where she never really destroys any art – and quite understandably, they opt for the second one!

Unfortunately, in constructing a scenario where Helen Brand never destroys any art, they're missing what the film is actually doing – namely, constructing a scenario in which it's morally justifiable to blow up the Mona Lisa.

[pruning-the-minds-garden]

NeuroPlex

On Tumblr as NeuroPlex

(AKA NeuralNets, NeuralNetsAndPrettyPatterns, NNPP, BimboVirus and others)

There are a number of accounts against him over the years, some of which have been retracted or disappeared due to harassment or fatigue on the part of the people who did the accusing. In one case I was aware of there was an accusation which was false(I won't include that one), but so far as I know that is not the norm. It might also not be the norm of people who interact with him that they wind up abused (he has his fair share of defenders, so I can only assume that his Yelp rating would be at least 3.5 stars on balance), so yeah if you join his server then maybe there's only a 5% chance you'll wind up being abused by him. But, y'know, that means Phi Delta's really a fine upstanding fraternity with no problems doesn't it? Anyway.

First, Strike Thanatos. This is an account from a person who was a mod on NNPPs Discord server and later left. There are accusations of abuse of power, witch hunts, and other forms of predatory and vindictive behavior in there. Go read it for yourself.

That leads us to (and is mentioned inside of)The Magenta Dream Domme Challenge. To say that this was a file with some problems is to say that the choice of gases used on the Hindenberg was somewhat hasty and ill thought-out. It's not that it wasn't effective for what it was; it's that it was designed in a predatory and unethical way. Given that NNPP has been doing this for years and this fits his general pattern and character of behavior, this isn't an accident. That people got as mad about it as they did - necessitating his making changes - is indicative of the fact that this wasn't a one-off thing. We all make mistakes. This wasn't a mistake. It was a failure, the product of a broken system of content creation (i.e. a fundamentally flawed creator).

Now, things did not end with Feather and Magenta Dream Domme and all that. I wish they did. This is also where it gets less sourced, but not because I don't have sources. If you choose not to believe me because I'm not linking them or they aren't talking, okay, but as I describe what happened I think you'll understand.

Since all that went down, NNPP has tried to pursue legal action against at least one member (or group of members acting collectively) of the community, disrupt their business, doxx them, and generally made a huge ass of himself (that last being my opinion) over being disinvited/banned from a hypnocon. Whenever I bring up his name at all, on any level, at least one and usually three of four people come forward to me privately with stories of abuse or mistreatment or consent violations and ask that I not share them for fear of reprisal. Now, I am 10,000% certain that if he himself walks into a room and starts talking then he will never hear those stories, but we all know why that is don't we? Like, don't we? It's not a mystery.

And, even saying all this, I don't think he's a mustache-twirling villain. He is not Emperor (Side note: The Emperor's actual first name is Sheev? Who wrote that?!?) Palpatine. Irresponsible? Yes, sometimes. A person who lets a little power go to his head? Yes. Someone who gets incredibly defensive when challenged on even the smallest thing? Yes. Those are not uncommon flaws, even taken together. However, when in combination and when combined with a position of power and authority, they can become incredibly toxic.

Is he a bad person? I don't know, I can't see into his heart. But, I do think he - and take it from someone who is going to therapy right now - could greatly benefit from some therapy, to talk through some things.

Finally, there's my personal stake in this. It is last because it is honestly the smallest and least important element in this, but I would be remiss to not include it because it establishes any personal bias I might have. This is a Tumblr messenger interaction between NNPP and I. I have since deleted the blog on which this interaction took place, so you will have to accept this copypasta for what it is.

Now, lets say that this was a case of bad timing. This long, annoying Tumblr chew-out of a conversation about nothing, which frustrated the hell out of me and soured any relationship that I might have ever had with him, came on a day that was otherwise (for personal reasons I won't disclose) one of the happiest and best of my life. Does that alter the lens through which I view everything else? Probably. Does that make me an unfit person to say these things? I don't think it does. I don't like him, but there are a lot of people I don't like who I nevertheless don't go out of my way to accuse of things. I boost the accusations of others because they are credible and important, not because I have a personal stake or animosity. But, I don't think it would be right to not mention my own personal animosity. So, here's the conversation in its entirety, presented behind a Read More for your sake (it's long and mostly pointless) -

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Primarily original MC content. Very few reblogs. Anonymous… Not following each other [Ed. note: Not following him now, though I was at the time this conversation happened.] 12/27/2017 neuralnetsandprettypatterns I scrolled through your page.  There are at least two obvious unattributed rips.  Why are you consistently hassling me for modified stuff?

pruningthemindsgarden Feel free to comment on those and I’ll fix them.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Yeah that doesn’t really answer the question though? Like why are you patrolling my stuff specifically?

neuralnetsandprettypatterns I’m interested in resolving that instead of just being a content cop and starting *more* fights

pruningthemindsgarden I’m not. If it seems like I am then that’s a coincidence. There are two pages that I DO specifically look for because they do basically 100% unattributed reposts of hypnokink artists, but you aren’t one of them.

pruningthemindsgarden when I see it I comment on it, because this is a niche community. Porn in general makes a whole lot more money and has a substantially larger audience than hypnosis/mind control porn.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Which pages?

pruningthemindsgarden hypno-control and tumbling4u2

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Well in st least two cases - Stephanie Michelle and Entranced - you criticized me for approved stuff.  And the stuff i do is all remixed - it’s regenerated images through a set of mods What about coverthypnotism

pruningthemindsgarden I don’t have any special knowledge about them. If they do that I simply haven’t noticed it. If it was approved, great :)

neuralnetsandprettypatterns But I’m telling you now

pruningthemindsgarden yep, you are

neuralnetsandprettypatterns And you aren’t looking which implies to me that you’re a bit selective

pruningthemindsgarden I can’t control the implications things you think I am or am not doing have in your mind.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns This is why people lose patience with hall monitors

pruningthemindsgarden that’s quite likely, yes

neuralnetsandprettypatterns When it’s pointed out that they’re being selective, they just presume speaking bureaucratically is a shield Are you British?

pruningthemindsgarden *laughs* you’re asking leading questions because you are mad and have already decided that you want to try to paint me a particular way. I can’t control what you want to see from my actions or not, and I’m not perfect, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t do the best I can to do the best I can. as far as not going through coverthypnotism’s page, I don’t routinely do that. I comment on things that cross my feed. I can tell you I’ll be on the lookout now that you’ve mentioned it, though.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns I’m really not mad - maybe more hard eye rolly?

pruningthemindsgarden sexy. :P (yes, that was a joke)

neuralnetsandprettypatterns I expect to have a certain number of haters.  I’m interested in resolving the underlying conflict.  It’s hard to do that when you’re speaking bureaucrat. I speak bureaucrat but it’s generally just a way to lie, so it doesn’t appeal as a method of conflict resolution.  It’s a language of power in courtrooms and HR departments, not conflict resolution.

pruningthemindsgarden you began this conversation in an adversarial mode.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns I ask if you’re British because you’re adopting idiosyncratic British expressions - which Americans do when they’re trying to sound frustratingly stuffy.  So I wondered.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Yup.  Because i think there’s an underlying animosity and if I just pointed out the inconsistency, I presumed it’d be a purely bureaucratic response - since you’ve already positioned yourself as a neutral arbitrer of rules.

pruningthemindsgarden Funny, no one told me I had positioned myself thusly.

pruningthemindsgarden and, if by not replying to comments meant to bait me is what you call bureaucratic, well, guilty as charged.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns No - that’s not what I mean.  I mean that you’re speaking bureaucratically - not based on what you ignore, but the words you’re saying. I could break it down line by line, but that’s besides the point.

pruningthemindsgarden fair enough

neuralnetsandprettypatterns I’m saying - if you have an underlying animosity, you can say it and maybe get it resolved.  If you say that this is a neutral exercise, you can and I can’t stop you, but I’m skeptical and your inner witness to your own performance is a bit skeptical too.

pruningthemindsgarden *laughs* don’t do that.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Thusly mode particular way quite simply substantially feel free Don’t do what?

pruningthemindsgarden making implicit statements about my feelings or what my subconscious thinks I am or am not doing.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Don’t know a thing about your subconscious.  I’m reading your words.

pruningthemindsgarden now, as for my feelings, well yes they are somewhat complicated. If anything that causes me to mostly avoid your stuff, though, because that complexity isn’t your fault, not really, and I prefer to avoid acting on confirmation bias.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns That above statement doesn’t say enough for me to decipher it *without* inference You told me to avoid inference so my only available answer is “come again?”

pruningthemindsgarden In short - your content bothers me sometimes, so I avoid it. The complexity is me trying to internally unpack why and when and what is the basis of that distaste.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Yeah that is odd, because honestly I do quite a bit to disentangle the questions of autonomy and choice that might trouble you - up to and including being the only person actively pushing back against the alt right infusion. I see that as a bit more important, which is why I police Nazis instead of copyright but everyone has the hill they’ll die on I guess?

pruningthemindsgarden I suppose most people do, though I do far more than comment on the things you post. It’d be best if you didn’t assume this was mine.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns I’m interested in the animosity - past the vagaries.

pruningthemindsgarden There isn’t animosity.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns “Complex feeling of distaste confirmation bias” So I’m interested in the cfodcb

pruningthemindsgarden yes, I did say those things. Those aren’t the same thing as animosity.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Np one’s just tough to type

pruningthemindsgarden well, they mean different things. My feelings largely stem from you use of (at least what I have perceived as) misogyny kink. Do I need to define that for you? It’s something I’ve talked about a few times but I don’t know how widely used or transparent it is.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns your feelings about that, based on your feed, are…ambivalent

pruningthemindsgarden yes, they are

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Like half the stuff you post is male dominant fem submissive brainwashing - but I think what you’re saying is that the stuff that plays with cultural tropes makes you feel conflicted Like housewifery and sandwich making Is that in the ballpark?

pruningthemindsgarden like I said, if you need me to define what I mean by that term I can.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns I’m actually curious, not arguing.  I’m trying to suss out what about me specifically inspires this reactive policing.  What it is that you’re reall trying to police.

pruningthemindsgarden but yes, things like that are at least sometimes in the ballpark. The part where it starts to bother me is not simply the idea of women in Stepford-esque roles. it’s when there is an implication that women in general should be in those roles. and no, I’m not “really” trying to police anything like I said, my reaction to that is to avoid most of your stuff

neuralnetsandprettypatterns I don’t see you policing the dozens of hardcore misogyny blogs though?

neuralnetsandprettypatterns I mean, you can again presume that you’re policing this content because of entirely neutral rules based systems.  That’s illusory, but I’m not going to separate anyone from their illusions.  My question is - is there anything that distinguishes my content from the swath of other content saying the same thing?  I’ve never seen you interact with your natural state for instance. I’d thought it apparent that i don’t believe that and find it thrillingly taboo because i exist in and support an environment that’s quite the opposite!

pruningthemindsgarden I don’t follow YNS, and have spoken against those ideas rather frequently in the past. and, yes, from talking to other people I do know that you do not really feel that way. Again, you are making a core assumption that I am going out of my way to “police” you. That’s simply not the case.

pruningthemindsgarden I saw something, I said something. That’s how it works with everyone.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Yes, I know, it’s entirely neutral.  A commitment to comity.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns You don’t follow me, I presume.  I am interested in ways that my content might be especially troubling.  But it’s just any misogyny - yeah sure - kinda boring but no problem.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns I felt there was a more interesting or nuanced bit in there.

pruningthemindsgarden sorry to bore you, I suppose 12/28/2017

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Unattributed http://pruningthemindsgarden.tumblr.com/post/169041643437/themistresslove-assnosis-is-real-just-try-to-not

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Unattributed http://pruningthemindsgarden.tumblr.com/post/169038957137/jukeboxemcsa-its-so-silly-that-when-most-people

pruningthemindsgarden the first is linked from Mistress LOVE’s Tumblr, so I don’t see your point.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns It’s an unattributed rip

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Unattributed http://pruningthemindsgarden.tumblr.com/post/169038806497/convoluted-moonscape-rae-being-naughty

pruningthemindsgarden and if you have a source for the second, I’ll amend my reblog. I did a quick Google search for it and couldn’t find anything other than reposts and aggregators.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Unattributed http://pruningthemindsgarden.tumblr.com/post/169037070332/hypsan-i-love-snapping-my-fingers-and-making-her Unattributed and offensively bad production value http://pruningthemindsgarden.tumblr.com/post/169027155402/themistresslove-the-bimbo-bubbles-in-your-mind

pruningthemindsgarden the third one doesn

pruningthemindsgarden the third one doesn’t have any meaningful Google hits for it. The source of the reblog itself might be able to give more insight, but I can’t find any.

pruningthemindsgarden the fourth is the same as the first.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Unattributed http://pruningthemindsgarden.tumblr.com/post/169017512012/jukeboxemcsa-complacent-the-word-rested-in If ripping content is bad who cares that you can’t find it

pruningthemindsgarden but, if you like and have sources for any of those, I’ll add them.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns All jukebox visuals are unattributed rips So…. if you can find the sources you police them but if you can’t you don’t?  Wut

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Ripped and unattributed http://pruningthemindsgarden.tumblr.com/post/169013773962/thesuccubuslair-no-reason-to-be-shy-ladies

pruningthemindsgarden because those are transformative. I objected to yours because you were taking hypno porn and making hypno porn of it. That’s not fair use. but as I also noted, if you have permission for that I’ll happily rescind my statement

neuralnetsandprettypatterns So someone slaps hypno captions on other porn and fair use Ripped http://pruningthemindsgarden.tumblr.com/post/169013479052/spiralstaring-thecrimsoncommander That’s not how fair use works

pruningthemindsgarden https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Gish_Gallop

neuralnetsandprettypatterns That’s you trying to neg someone’s blog cause it squicks you

pruningthemindsgarden no, it’s not.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns It’s obviously made up. No ones trying to overwhelm you.  *literally everything you reblog* is a rip Ok not literally but like almost everything.  Over half And this incredibly contrived distinction isn’t fooling anyone.  You’re just gunning for some blogs

neuralnetsandprettypatterns You could just as easily say that my substantial graphic modifications are “fair use” and jukebox unauthorized reproduction aren’t.

pruningthemindsgarden Yes, that you feel that way is abundantly clear.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Saying “abundantly” doesn’t intimidate anyone. Is there anyone - anywhere - who supports your extremely idiosyncratic fair use doctrine?

pruningthemindsgarden you think I was trying to intimidate you with that word choice? yes

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Please show me! I think you were trying to sound snooty because you do that. I am fascinated by the “reproduction must be across genre lines”

pruningthemindsgarden https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/four-factors/

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Fair use doctrine Yeah I’m familiar and that’s irrelevant.

pruningthemindsgarden that is a rephrasing of the market replacement element of fair use doctrine

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Bahahahaha That has never ever been used in a court ahahahhaha did you just read it on Wikipedia or are you a creative IPR lawyer Now I’ve gone from annoyed to actually impressed.  Like that’s never ever ever been used as such in a court but your ready citation of it is *kisses fingers chef style* You’re a trip Im impressed

pruningthemindsgarden I don’t see how that’s relevant.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns You don’t see why precedent in litigation is how IPR doctrine is generally fleshed out?

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Ok are you an IPR lawyer who is trolling or a smart kid looking at wikipedia bahahahaha

pruningthemindsgarden I’m neither.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns The way it actually works is that litigation matters a lot more than statues cause it’s super hard to craft statues that are actually consistent It’s amaze balls that you had a ready citation for the four factor test but that it was so wrong Are you just an IPR hobbyist? *statutes IPR would be impossible under a real Napoleanic system

neuralnetsandprettypatterns It’s a common law construct.  Either way, your devotion to playing a lawyer is awesome.  Is there anything i can do for you to credit it?  You’re the king of Internet Law and I wanna surrender

pruningthemindsgarden add a source citation, ideally a link to the material. for instance, the GIFs that started this conversation came from “Encore, Encore” by Daphne’s Fantasies. A link to that would help, I’m sure, directing people to that content if they are curious how to get it.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Can i give you a trophy too though? I think they came from primal Do u have a link?

pruningthemindsgarden no, just that’s fine. If they came from a different video then yeah a link to that is fine. https://www.clips4sale.com/studio/59203/17703302/Encore%2C+Encore%21+Part+1

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Wait Some of *their* content is ripped Ahahahhahahaa

neuralnetsandprettypatterns And they’re charging for it (which is really relevant in actual law, i dunno if it matters in cyber law)

pruningthemindsgarden they are the same studio as MC Theater, if that’s what you’re coinfused by.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Can you change your name to “the cyber police” No that’s not what I’m confused by

pruningthemindsgarden ah

neuralnetsandprettypatterns I mean there’s actual ripped content there

pruningthemindsgarden and no, I’d rather not

neuralnetsandprettypatterns Should i report it?  It might shut them down

pruningthemindsgarden I’m sure of you contact them about that, should you be concerned, you can resolve that.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns So… why do you talk like that?

pruningthemindsgarden the same reason you talk the way you do, I’m sure.

neuralnetsandprettypatterns uhhhh

[uefb]

New chapter of With its Head Under One Wing up today. Scroll down for Daily Prophet cover story (CW: hitler).

DAILY PROPHET COVER STORY - FEB 11, 1933

Article Text

POWER CHANGES HANDS IN MUGGLE GERMANY Ministry Advises a Watch and Wait Approach By Marjorie Jones (Berlin Office, Die Magishe Welt correspondent)

Adolf Hitler (Muggle - National Socialist Workers Party), was appointed Reich Chancellor of Muggle Germany this past week, January 30, by the president Paul von Hindenberg (Muggle - Independent Party). The day after saw thousands--including both Brown Coats and Steel Helmets--march in the streets in support of the Herr Hitler, who ushered in a wave of new cabinet appointees, all Nazis and Monarchists. The crowd and other politicians gave the new leader the Fascist Salute. Last night, February 10, he gave his first speech as chancellor in the Berlin Sportpalast.

Much like the local Muggles, many of whom voted for Hitler for Muggle president in late 1932, witches and wizards locally are split on Hitler's appointment. While Muggle trade unions and communists are already calling for the new government's destruction, the German Ministry has recommended wizards continue to lay low while the situation is assessed. However, some local wizarding families--who have asked to remain anaonymous--cite serious concerns about Hitler's Nazi ideology that have the potential to impact Muggle and Wizard alike, specifically--

Photo Caption

FEB 10. Berlin, Germany - Adolf Hitler addressed German Muggles yesterday. "The fundamentals of our life are founded on values which no one can take away from us [...]; they are founded on our own flesh and blood and willpower and in our soil." He additionally addressed poverty in--

REFERENCES & NOTES

Article inspired by and including content from this Jan 31 Daily Telegraph article on Hitler’s appointment

Hitler’s Feb 10 speech at the Berlin Sportpalast. Please mind yourself and your well-being if you choose to watch this speech. Hitler does not address the “Jewish Question” here, but it is thoroughly unsettling regardless. The photo for the cover story is from this speech. 

For more information on why Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor--6 years before war is declared--matters, please see my notes at the end of Chapter 8, or consider reading this academic chapter (which I have not yet read in full) here. You may also scroll down this page to see a list of events relevant to 1933. Things go downhill fast.

Though this will not be relevant until Part 2 (and it won’t be fully incorporated into the story), it is worth noting that parts of the world did react to the appointment. See links on 1933 American protests at Madison Square Garden in NYC (shortly after Dachau was opened) here and here (<--this is a GREAT read) and here. (Later, there would be a pro-Nazi rally there, in 1939.) Please be thoughtful when reading these links.

The Daily Prophet formatting is by MinaLima, of course, with edits by me, where I moved things around, added dates, added design, pulled symbols from their paper pages, etc. etc, though the whole text of the front page, obviously, is my creation. But MinaLima is INCREDIBLE and they must be acknowledged.

[warsofasoiaf]

Wow thanks for the in depth answer! I guess in theory they are same genus different species if that makes sense. If it's not too much trouble could you go into how it practiced? Because it seems that Communist states end up using nationalism to string up dictatorships and their allies like the Soviet Union and China did or it that too much of a simplification? And seriously thanks for responding this is much easier to understand then other times I tried to get my head around it.

Sure, let's put a cut up, because it's long and controversial, including discussing atrocities.

It's not hard to see similarities between fascism and communism in practice - they depended largely on a brutally authoritarian model and practiced widespread atrocities against designated undesirables and dissenters of all stripes. The problem is, that these verses have been sung by many singers, and not all of them were communist or fascist. Much of the same brutality seen in those systems were seen in non-specific military juntas, warlord states, and petty dictators like Saddam Hussein or Indonesian dictators Sukarno and Suharto. After all, plenty of policies toward minorities and dissidents in the Soviet Union were the same, even if larger in scale, to those practiced by Nicholas II, and brutality could easily be found in policy toward colonial peoples or Native Americans in systems described as liberal democracies. So we should always specify that those atrocities are not unique to these movements, and supremacist movements can and do exist in all stripes of political arrangement.

One of the more interesting and amusing differences is in how the governments came to power. While fascist governments typically extol national renewal through force and militarization, the leading fascist governments were appointed as head of state (Hitler by Hindenberg, Mussolini by Victor Emmanuel III, Tojo by Hirohito), and these three were largely appointed out of exasperation and hope that they could control the more extreme elements of their movement. Only Franco could have been said to have come to power via military force and even he lucked into it, largely because most of the other major military leaders died early in the war and Franco's early successes, and Franco largely neutered the fascist Falangist party into his own brutally authoritarian caudillo government. Communist governments, by contrast, posit themselves as mass movements of the proletariat but were typically fringe urban movements (peasant parties were frequently quite opposed even when they expressed similar ideas and concepts), very unpopular compared to less radical movements and had to seize power through creating crises and fighting a civil war - the Bolsheviks were much less popular than the Mensheviks despite their names, the Chinese Communists were initially outnumbered by Chiang's Nationalists and contributed very little to the war against the Japanese comparatively to make it easier to take over in the aftermath, Castro's movement was initially middle-class and outnumbered. It's not a straight be-all-and-end-all, but it is sort of funny.

One of the most important similarities between fascism and communism is the element of totalitarianism - the movement attempts to place itself as the core identity of its people and devotes considerable effort to strengthening this identity. In essence, that which is in the ideology is good, and outside it wicked, and so all must be within it. In fascism, as defined by Mussolini: "Everything within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state," meaning all people are members of the state and must only conceive of themselves in that fashion. All activity is for the state, all goals are for the state, and all people are rigidly defined, by class, by gender, and sorted accordingly. Fascism often rewarded loyalty and adherence materially - loyal fascists could receive confiscated property or high positions of power with large income. Conversely, non-fascists or those defined as not within the national community frequently had their property confiscated or placed under so much threat of attack that they frequently fled the country in fear for their lives, their abandoned property be snapped up by the fascist party and distributed to a loyal fascist.

In communism, one is strictly defined by class and theoretically equal (after the purging of those considered subhuman like the bourgeoise), but in practice, communism was usually wildly unequal (inequality in the Soviet Union was actually higher than inequality in the USA in 1950), placing party members into positions of power where they reaped considerable rewards while work weeks continued to lengthen and the fruits of labor were not enjoyed. In both of these systems, overt awarding for loyal behavior was the tool, it was meant to convey that advancement was only possible within the apparatus of the totalitarian state and party - all other considerations were secondary. This would attract the ambitious and create an unofficial network of informants who would hopefully inform of any disloyalty or dissent in hopes of a reward - the Gestapo and the Stasi were both infamous German secret police organizations who relied on a network of informants to create a climate of fear to repress dissent and prevent any identification outside the system, even if one was Nazi and the other was Communist. There were differences, largely depending on the definition of the desirable and the undesirable - one was typically viewed through national lenses and the other through the lens of relationship to the means of production. In practice, heads of state in both of those movements used those tools to identify enemies as "those who oppose me" to varying degrees of severity. In China, Cuba, and the Soviet Union, for example, homosexuality was criminalized despite sexual orientation having nothing to do with social class or relationship to the means of production; it was a tool to establish part of the totalitarian identity.

In matters of religion, communist societies largely denounced religion as a tool of oppression, while fascists had a larger range with religions, usually selectively using it if it could benefit such as a state church but harshly denouncing in other terms. For example, in Nazi Germany, there was an attempt to establish a Nazi Protestant church, but Himmler practiced an occult esoterica and both Joseph Goebbels and Martin Bormann were ardent atheists who believed religion should be stamped out as counter to their conception of the mythical Aryan. In many cases, civic fascist ritual was used as a religion, and open demonstrations of allegiance were strictly enforced, such as the Nazis mandating saluting the Honor Temples in Munich to enforce the fascist cult of martyrdom via public display. However, like everything, public civic display is not limited to just one ideology; people stand at attention and remain quiet during their national anthems, typically removing hats, which is definitely a public display of national support via ritual behavior.

While in practice communism professed to be an international ideology, in practice nationalism was used as a tool of unity and as a means of stamping out dissent and identification much the way other aspects of life were. Stalin's first position as Commissar of Nationalities saw him seeing separatist movements wishing to establish independent socialist states which he quashed with ruthless abandon, Lenin would incorporate those techniques against Ukraine, brutally suppressing Ukrainian sentiment and language in his attempts to seize as much grain as he could to address the food shortages in Russia. In fascist societies, nationalism was key to identity and members outside the nation were considered lesser - the Holocaust is the most stark and chilling example of this ideology in practice. Little else needs to be said - nationalism was intrinsic to both the theory and practice of fascism.

Economically speaking, fascism again maintained the totalitarian model and applied it to the economy. Corporatism was the driving model, all elements of the economy were organs of the state to be directed by the brain: the party head or those he appointed as subordinates. Economic advancement was done via loyalty and utility to the fascist state. Loyal companies in Nazi Germany were given lucrative contracts, disloyal ones were taxed on gross revenue to render them unprofitable, seized, and distributed to loyalists, hence fascist companies could either be privately-owned with state-directed output provided the owner was a loyal fascist (such as IG Farben) or state-owned via an appointed loyalist (such as Reischwerke Hermann Goring - the state-run industrial conglomerate operated by Goring). Private property was maintained depending on utility to the state as directed by the fascist apparatus. Corruption, as you might imagine, was rampant. High-ranking fascists, perhaps most notably Himmler but really all the Reichsleiter and Gauleiter, received extensive holdings to manage, which were parceled out to their own loyalists, to form an truly massive criminal empire. These were extensively embezzled from for their own private fortunes. Slave and prison labor was rampant, and even standard workers found little use in economic performance as consumer goods were rare and deemed unnecessary; promises were large but delivery scarce. In many ways, Nazi Germany's economic policy was most accurately described as a kleptocracy common to tinpot dictatorships: the money-making enterprises used to enrich key power brokers and keep the head of state in power. The Social Darwinist theory was on full display, individuals attempted to do things and the most successful would retroactively receive Hitler's approval, which in practice meant duplicated and wasted efforts and rampant corruption. It was hardly surprising that Nazi Germany was predominantly defined by economic failure at all points during its operation - only in the early years could anything have been said to have been successful, and this was largely due to Weimar ending the harsh Bruhning austerity measures before Hitler took over.

Communism, in practice, usually had a forcible confiscation policy in its earliest incarnations until it could establish itself, this was Lenin's "war communism" - largely a policy which legitimized the seizure of goods beyond a "bare minimum" - causing widespread shortages and large black markets but allowing the Red Army to continue the fight against the Whites, or Mao's policy of plunder and requisition to fight the Nationalists. Communism also typically relied heavily on compulsory labor from prisons, forcible confiscation of goods, and fixed prices (often these goods would be sold at market rate abroad, with the dictator pocketing the difference). Afterwards, the most powerful communist societies typically engaged in large-scale collectivization programs when they had the resources and capability to do so, typically to disastrous results. Peasants that owned their farms were typically not keen on surrendering their land and being placed under Communist management, usually violence would erupt between peasants and communists attempting collectivization, with the farms seized and turned over to collective management. In many ways, collectivization was also a totalitarian affair, communist parties in these efforts would turn poor peasants against the wealthier or more productive farms, weaponizing envy and stoking class divisions, and appealing to unemployed farmers whose farms had failed. Predictably, the loss of so much intellectual capital led to disastrous results - the collective farms produced far less output and required far more input. The Great Leap Forward was probably the most disastrous example of this, it ranks as the largest peacetime disaster in terms of raw deaths. Efficiency was disincentivized, as exceeding a quota simply meant a higher quota, with no reward. Even within the industrial sectors these problems persisted. Poor economic planning, promotion of loyalty over merit or intelligence, and absence of strong signaling left a glacial economy that in practice only produced strategic goods of worth: missiles, rocket engines, as opposed to products that were desirable or functional - unsurprising since so many engineers were forcibly shunted into military projects.

I've always found this example to be the most instructive: during the Khrushchev era, the Soviet Union experienced a great growth period, and both Soviet and Western leftist thinkers espoused it as the time that communism would surpass the antiquated capitalist models of the Western world., perhaps most famously illustrated by Francis Spufford's Red Plenty and the dialogues between Khrushchev and Kennedy. This growth did not last (not even until Brezhnev - the regression was still under Khrushchev), and in fact, was comparable to 1970's economic stagnation in Great Britain. Corruption was also rampant, both in black markets to cover numerous goods shortages and utilization of resources enabled by apparatchiks and party bosses

So as you can see, there are differences and lots of similarities in practice, but I'd go so far as to say that a lot of dictatorial models and authoritarian governments have similar actions so I think the similarity is due primarily to the actions of an authoritarian state on securing power - promoting loyalty to the head of state and ensuring no one can act as a threat, clamping down on disunity, establishing an enemy to focus the attention of the people through propaganda (even if you have to fabricate the "enemy" and their hostile intent), intentional impoverishment through policy to keep people from uniting against you. Otherwise, I'd say a lot of the other similarities revolve around the totalitarian mechanisms. I'd recommend The Dictator's Handbook to see how so many of these actions resound within dictatorial regimes, and how in practice many of these movements end up looking so similar when you stop listening to the rhetoric and start looking to the effects. And of course, this is just the bare bones basic stuff - I've barely touched on small countries like Cambodia

Hope you have a good one, James. Thanks for the question.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[mercury-waters]

i rarely engage w/ voting stuff on here, cuz i know that people disagree with me and i'll j get dogpiled, but this one i just feel like i have to.

i have worked on three INDEPENDENT grassroots campaigns - two election, one issue - and we won all three. They do work, actually, and can definitely overcome such limitations as internet connection. on the third campaign i worked on, in which everything was against us, we actually stood outside under tents in the rain and convinced residents to register to vote and mail-in their ballots on the spot.

it is absolutely true that either trump or biden will win the 2024 election. no argument there. but you are kidding yourself if you think that voting for Biden or any Democrat is keeping marginalized people safe. I've heard people say a lot that even though Biden does nothing for trans people that's "better" than Trump (Biden has actually eroded trans rights too, to say nothing for his fuckin atrocious immigration policy and racist policing policy), but that's really only a valid argument if you're looking at everything in a complete vacuum. In reality, Biden and the Democratic Party have at every moment emboldened the right wing – hell, they are the ones who elevated Trump in the media in 2016, hoping to get Hillary Clinton an easy competitor in the general election. If you really feel that you need to vote for Biden in order to sleep at night, I won't argue with you – but if you keep choosing the "lesser evil" every single time, things only get more and more evil.

An independent left-wing candidate is not going to win this election (unless like a mass movement erupted like, tomorrow, which would be pretty rad but unlikely). But we have to think about not just "this election" – the logic that keeps us trapped with two shitty political choices Every Single Damn Time is to just think about today. We need to fight for an independent left party that actually stands for real people, working-class and marginalized folks.

There are two good anti-war candidates on ballots this year; Jill Stein with the Green Party and Cornel West, an independent. Are they gonna win? No. But consider, if they BREAK RECORDS by getting, let's say, even 15% of a national vote – which would be the first time that happened in this century – that changes the situation dramatically. People start seeing the possibility of independent politics, that they aren't alone in the way they feel, and gears start to move to organize this energy. We can start to build something new.

You know how that doesn't happen? By voting for somebody you hate, to "stave off fascism". Every single fuckin election.

Here's a lesson about fascism. In 1932, there was an election for President in Germany, incumbent Paul von Hindenberg versus Adolf Hitler. Everybody supported voting for the lesser evil, and hey, it worked! Hindenburg won the election! Crisis averted!

Except it didn't. Hindenburg himself appointed Hitler as Chancellor shortly after. Guess what happens next.

If you really wanna vote for Biden, I'm not gonna be an asshole about it. But do not convince people that voting for a candidate who has politics they actually like doesn't do anything; it actually does. Don't convince people grassroots campaigns can't win, cuz they can. And for the love of god, don't tell people that voting for "the lesser evil" will stop the greater evil from gaining the upper hand, because historically speaking, that has never been true, and it sure as hell won't be this time.

I'm not gonna tell you how to vote, BUT...

Here are some truths about the upcoming United States election.

Either Trump or Biden will win.

Our political system is designed around ensuring that either the Democrat or the Republican win. There is no "but if everyone rallies around a third party candidate..." argument, because...

Grassroots campaigns can't work. There are areas of the country that don't have internet or television. Congress just allowed the Affordable Connectivity Program to lapse, denying internet to even more people. There is literally no way for some candidates to get their message to huge parts of the country.

The Republican and Democrat candidates are backed by huge donor machines that enable them to tour a campaign trail. Independent candidates do not have this luxury.

Our country still uses a First Past the Post (FPTP) voting system, which is specifically designed to support only two candidates.

Our country uses an electoral (all or none) system, which is why you hear that voting for a third party candidate "takes votes away" from one of the major party candidates. For example, if Trump gets 48,999 votes, Biden gets 50,000 votes, and a third party candidate gets one single vote, Biden takes all the electoral votes in the state. All of them.

I really hope you make your peace with this now. Please, vote how you want, but with one candidate saying he will essentially outlaw transgender people, I can't imagine NOT voting for the only other candidate who can possibly win. Right now the polls are 50/50, which is absolutely insane to me.

In my experience, it's usually younger people who talk about either voting their conscience, or not voting at all to "send a message." I assure you, not voting doesn't send a message to the candidate who loses. Your message is only received by the millions of Americans who will suffer as a result.

I don't want to argue. I have no desire to fight with anyone over this anymore. And if you want to ask me "so I have to choose between two killers?" as a gotcha, then I'm sorry to say... The answer is yes. Those are the choices we've been given. And because the United States is no longer a true democratic republic, there's not a whole lot we can do to change that right now.

[theliterarywolf]

I like the Steam Deck, purely because even when Valve fails, they still contribute something. Let me explain:

Most Valve products are known for being the most innovative/revolutionary games on the market For games, we have Half Life, Portal, HL: ALYX, etc

Their Steam store is something that countless other storefronts have tried (and failed) to emulate. There’s a reason why people prefer to have everything on the Steam launcher.

They helped produce the HTC Vive, which was (and by many still is) considered the de-facto best gaming VR headset and peripherals.

And yes, even the Steam Controller is kind of a failure, it still led to the creation of Steam’s controller support system, which allows for a universal button-binding API for both XBOX and PS controllers.

Even if the Deck is a financial failure, I can still see how it may contribute to handhelds as a whole, and possibly give competition to the Switch so they finally fix the fucking drift

I do kind of hope that Nintendo sees that 'hey, just because the Vita bombed like the Hindenberg, that doesn't mean that no other company can come around to jump on the 'complex handheld' market... Fix yo' shit.'

Like, I love Nintendo; I do. But God damn have some of their latest decisions and denials been bewildering.