#The Films of David Lean Ranked by How Gay they Are | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cwnerd12 · 5 years

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“Bills to Pay” David and Jack lay tightly cuddled together on David’s narrow bunk. morning light barely shines thought a small window. There’s an urgent knock at the door, and David sort of stirs. There’s a second, louder knock. David shakes Jack’s shoulder and mumbles, “You get it.” Jack groans and slowly moves to get out of bed. There’s a third knock, this time pounding, and Jack opens the door, “What?” Michelle stands on the other side, harried from just getting out of bed herself, “We need you to deal with something!”

David, hastily dressed and hobbling on a pair of crutches, hurries down a hallway with Jack and Michelle. Outside, a group of immaculately-dressed Ammonian soldiers confronts Shay, Abby, Asher, and Joel, all of home have clearly just been roused from sleep. The Ammonian leader, “I have direct orders from King Warner to search the AFG camp for contraband.” Shay, “That’s not gonna happen!” Leader, “I am authorized to use force, if necessary.” David hurries up as quickly as he can, “Hold on, hold on! Nobody’s using force, okay?!” Shay, “I can use force right back, though, right?” David, “Not right now!” Frustrated, he turns back to the leader, “You said Warner gave you orders?” Leader, “Yes.” David, “Okay, well, nothing’s gonna happen until I talk to Warner.” Leader, “I have orders!” David, “Your orders can wait!” Shay, “Does this mean I can use force?!” David looking warily from the leader to Shay, “If they try anything, yes.” Shay smiles smugly at the leader. David, “But not until they try anything! I’m gonna talk to Warner.”

Silas, Helen, and Seth sit in the back seat of an SUV. Silas puts his arm around Seth’s shoulder, “All right, puppy, you’ve gotta take it easy when we get home, but you’re gonna be okay.” Seth: “I know. This has happened before.” Driver: “There’s protesters at the palace, sir, should I take the back way?” Silas growls, “Oh for fuck’s sake!” Helen: “Silas! Not in front of Seth!” Silas rolls his eyes, “I’m sorry. Seth, don’t talk like you dad.” Driver: “Should I take the back way, sir?” Silas, “Yes, take the back way.” Seth: “Are you gonna shoot these protesters?” Helen: “What?!” Silas, “Not unless they shoot first.”

Angry anti-war protest. Protesters shake signs and scream at riot police surrounding the palace. Amal walks around the edges of the scene, taking in all the chaos. He calmly walks down the streets of Shiloh, while police officers club protesters over the head. He goes into a coffee shop. He walks up to a table where two young men sit, and sits down without saying hello. One of the men, Dylan, the smaller and more nervous of the two, says, “You Amal?” Amal only smiles coyly, and says nothing. Dylan, in a quiet, breathy voice, “The attack on the music festival… I saw the footage, and…. I have always wanted to do something like that.” Amal, “Slaughter hundreds of innocent people?” Dylan smiles darkly, “Yeah.” Amal, “Why aren’t you in the army?” Dylan, “I hate Silas.” Amal, “Why don’t you join David Shepherd?” Dylan rolls his eyes, “Shepherd’s the only one who shoots anyone. All the AFG’s done is hide. I want action.” Amal looks over at the second guy, “Do you feel the same way?” The second guy, Jake, nervously glances at Amal, “I used to be in the AFG. I was in a church in Nob when we were attacked by the army. It was chaos. We didn’t get orders, we didn’t fight, we were just told to run. Now Shepherd and his friends are all safe in Ammon, and what the fuck are the rest of us doing? I want to see Silas taken down, but Shepherd’s not gonna do it.” Amal smiles, “I think you’ll find a home among the Amalekites.”

David and Jack stand in a hallway, waiting for Warner. Jack, “Why now?” David, “Fuck if I know.” Jack, “Something’s changed. This is on purpose.” David, “You think I don’t know that?” The door at the end of the hallway opens, and Warner enters. David does his best to stand up respectfully, “Hello, sir, there seems to have been some kind of misunderstanding-” Warner cuts him off, “There was no misunderstanding, General.” He opens the door to a conference room, “There are things I need to discuss with you.” Inside, David awkwardly flops into a seat. Warner, “What happened to your leg?” David, “Tried to save someone at Fistopia.” Jack, “That’s not why we’re here. Why is our camp suddenly being raided?” Warner, “It’s not a raid. Ammonian soldiers regularly have their barracks searched for contraband.” David, “This isn’t part of what we agreed to. You said the AFG would be allowed to conduct its own affairs.” Warner, “I’ve been misled.” David, “What? How?” Warner, “You’ve lied to me about the nature of your relationship with Prince Jack.” David tried not to look at Jack, “I haven’t said any lies. I’m actually really bad at lying.” Jack chimes in, “He is. He really is.” Warner pushes a tablet across the table to David, “Please explain this.” David picks up the tablet and looks at it. His face quickly contorts from horror to humiliation, to fury. Jack just tries not to laugh. David, “Th- this was filmed without our consent!” Jack, “Yeah, that would be l’Hôtel des Peuples in Ashdod. Shoulda figured our rooms were bugged.” Warner, “How long have you been engaged in homosexual activity?” Jack, “Do you want my full history? It’s a doozy.” David, “Where did this leak?! I didn’t even know this existed!” Warner, “Have you two engaged in homosexual activity since entering Ammon?” David, “That’s none of your business!” Jack, wise-ass, “What the fuck do you think, Warner?” Warner, “Homosexuality is illegal here.” Jack, “So is murder, but we were given special permission to execute Douglas Ericson, so I’d assume if we can break one of the ten commandments, some other light sinning would be okay.” Warner, “That was an act of war granted to the Army of Free Gilboa!” Jack, sighing impatiently, “So what the fuck does all this mean, Warner? You knew I’m gay. We’ve never said anything, but it’s kind of been an accepted fact that David and I are a couple. We have a lot of queer people in our ranks and in our leadership, yet you still let us in. So let’s not pretend you aren’t willing to overlook a few things if it means in the end, you get what you want.” Warner, “I have other people willing to help me.” Jack makes a face, “Oh, God, is my Uncle William behind this? He is, isn’t he?” David, panicked, “I’m wounded! You can’t kick s out if I’m wounded!” Warner, “The AFG is welcome to stay in Ammon for as long as it needs, however, its members will be expected to adhere to Ammon’s law.” David, “Your soldiers can’t just up and raid our camp whenever you feel like it.” Warner, “I can’t allow anything that might lead to the moral degradation of my forces.” Jack, “If your troops are being morally degraded, that’s your problem, not ours.” David thinks for a moment, “How about a voluntary turn-in?” Jack looks over at him, “What?” David, “We’ll follow your rules, but we won’t let you subjugate us. The AFG will maintain its own authority.” Warner, “I’ll agree to that on the grounds that all of Ammon’s other laws will be abided by, especially by you two.” David, “What do you mean?” Warner, “Strictly no homosexual activity.” David and Jack exchange looks. David, “Jack is one of my leaders, I have to be able to talk to him.” Warner, “You can talk. You just can’t touch each other.” Jack, “That’s bullshit.” Warner, “It’s the law every citizen of Ammon is expected to abide by.” Jack looks at David helplessly. David thinks for a long moment, “All right.” Jack, “Seriously?” Warner, “Then we're in agreement.” David, “Just one thing?” Warner, “What?” David, “Are you in contact with William or Andrew Cross?” Warner, “It’s of no concern to you.” David, “It is of great concern to me, if William and Andrew are the ones leaking compromising videos of me and Jack.” Warner, “I don’t know where the video came from. You’ll have to ask Gerald.” (he copies Silas’s insistence of pronouncing it wrong). David, “Are you talking to William Cross or not?” Warner, “I’m not at liberty to say.” David, “So you are.” Warner, “If you want to know my business, then I should have a right to know yours. I suggest you keep in line, or else I’ll have to start monitoring the AFG’s electronics.”

David and Jack exit into the hallway, Warner behind them. Warner, “We had a good talk. Hopefully we can come to a better understanding in the future.” David, politely as he can, “I’m sure we will. Goodbye, sir.” Warner nods to them and heads off. Once the door closes behind him, Jack turns to David, “What the FUCK?!” David, “Look, we need to get out of here, anyway, this at least gets him off our back for a little bit.” Jack, “Among other things. How are you actually going to get people to agree to a voluntary turn-in?” David, “We can set up a tent where people can turn shit in anonymously.” Jack, “This is more than just porn and weed, this includes condoms, birth control, hormones for our trans soldiers! People are going to have to take the pride patches off of their jackets! Asher could get locked up for saying shalom aleichem to the wrong person!” David impatiently, “And that’s why we’re going to be careful! I never meant to stay here this long, anyway! We should have started making an exit strategy a long time ago!” Jack sighs and leans against the wall. He looks up at a camera above them. He says to David, “Warner’s gonna have his goons breathing down our necks 24 hours a day.” David, sighing, “I know, but…. We’ve had to sneak around before. As I remember, that actually made things pretty hot.” Jack, “We weren’t under surveillance, then. You know you can’t sleep without me.” David, “I’ll get us out of here as soon as I can, all right? Even if I have to hobble out.” Jack shakes his head, “All right.” David, “Get a meeting together. We’ll figure everything out.”

Frank and Reinhardt march down a hallway towards a meeting in Silas’s office. Frank, “Do you have and idea what kind of mood he’s in?” Reinhardt, “Apoplectic. A video with the prince and Shepherd leaked, and Silas is blaming Warner for it. He’s ready for war with Ammon, he just needs to scream about it, first.” Frank, “So I take it he’s shown no interest in our target.” Reinhardt, “Nope. Our allies are going to have to take care of them. You sent them what they need, right?” Frank, “Yes.” They reach the door, and Reinhardt opens it, “Good.” Inside the room, Silas screams, “You and Gerald are doing this to disgrace me, well fuck you!” They go inside, and Reinhardt closes the door.

In a meeting room, David and Jack meet with the rest of the AFG leadership, “I’ll be the first to admit that this plan sucks, but it’s the best we can do.” Monique, “I’m not giving up my hormones.” David, “You don’t have to-” Michelle interrupts, “Give them to me. Doctors are allowed to prescribe hormones for certain medical problems, our doctors can carry them and hand them out safely.” David, “We need to get out of here as soon as we can, preferably before either Warner or Silas declares war.” Shay, “We can get over the border, but what are we going to do once we’re there?” David, “We need to focus on the Amalekites. They’re not going to stop killing innocent people.” Shay, “We still don’t have any intel-” Abby interrupts, “Yes, we do. A few days ago, I got sent a thumb drive from someone within Gilboa, who I don’t know if we can really trust.” David, “Who?” Abby: “My dad.” A small grin appears on Shay’s face, “Your dad is Franklin Hatch, right?” Abby, unhappy, “Yep.” Shay: “He was my superior officer before I joined the rebellion. He’s very loyal to the people of Gilboa, and to the Gilboan army. He always said his loyalty to was to the people, anyway. If he thinks that Silas is doing something that hurts the people, I think he’d do the right thing.” Abby, angry and sarcastic, “Yeah, well, he made me marry an abusive asshole and said that it was my duty to Gilboa, when really, he didn’t like the fact that his little girl was a lesbian!” Shay, somewhat stunned, “I’m sorry, I… he was always good to me.” Abby: “Yeah, well, you were never in charge of giving him grandkids, were you?” David: “Abby, do you need a minute?” Abby, flustered, “No, I- I’m fine, I,” she takes a deep angry breath, “You know what, I think I am going to take a minute. I fucking hate my father, but have no reason to believe this is false intel. So I don’t know what the fuck is going on. So, if you’ll excuse me.” She stands up, and leaves. Michelle stands up, “I’m gonna go with her.” She leaves.

Abby paces in a small room. Michelle enters. Without saying anything Abby goes up to her, and Michelle hugs her. Abby cries into Michelle’s shoulder, “That fucking asshole!” Michelle: “Hey, I know a thing or two about having a shit father. You aren’t alone.” She kisses Abby’s cheek.

Back in the conference room, everyone continues taking. David: “Does it say anything about Amal? We need to figure out who he is.” Asher, “He’s finding people online, that much is clear, but how he’s convincing his followers to blow themselves up, I don’t know. And as for who he is, we don’t know.” Shay: “According to satellite images that I’ve gotta from Ammon, there’s a compound not very far from here. We’d need to verify a few thing, but I’m willing to bet that’s probably where they prepared for the attack.” David, cautious, “Can we take it over?” Shay: “Like an attack?” David: “We’ve been doing nothing for too long! We need a victory with all of us, as an army. Because we have to move on from here. We have to start doing what we set out to do.” Shay: “We set out to overthrow Silas.” David: “And if we’re seen defending Gilboa by fighting the Amalekites while Silas does nothing, that’s two victories for us.” Jack: “Is this intel even reliable?” Shay, cautiously, “I don’t think General Hatch would send us bad intel. He’s honest. I can send out a couple of Queens to scope the compound out, but we can’t just do a one-and-done attack and scurry back to Ammon. This has to be the start of an offensive, and that’s gonna take some planning.” David: “That’s good! That’s exactly what we need to be doing! It’s what we probably should have been doing all along! We can start with this attack on the compound, and go from there, all the way to Shiloh.” Jack: “You can’t just plot a campaign like you can plot a book. Shit happens, plans need to be flexible.” David: “Yeah, I think I’ve fucking learned that by now! But this is a place to start, and finding a place to start is always the hardest part.” Shay: “I say let’s do this. I’m ready to start kicking some real ass.”

Amal leads Dylan and Jake into a small, abandoned warehouse, “Welcome to church.” Jake and Dylan look around: a few members are there. Amal goes up to a rack of assault rifles, and picks one up. Dylan looks at the gun with love and longing. He reaches for it, but Amal pulls it away, “Not yet. You have to earn the right to touch one of these.” Jake: “So what exactly is your plan? Are you just going to keep killing people?” Amal puts the gun back on the rack and smiles, “I’m glad you asked. I’ve listened to the reports on the attacks, using words like, evil, and crazy, which I find terribly amusing. My philosophy is simple: society is sick. Eventually, society will fall apart. King Silas is currently waging two wars, and that doesn’t even include what David Shepherd is doing. Silas and Shepherd will fight each other until nothing is left. No kings, no government, no rules. Only the truly superior will survive this war. Those who recognized that society was falling apart, and not only prepared for it, but hastened it. Every bombing the Amalekites carry out is an act of great mercy, you see, putting a sick and dying way of life out of its misery.” Dylan: “I’m in. I want to be a part of the next mission.” Amal: “Earn it, first.” Jake: “I dunno, man, this all still feels pretty crazy.” Amal: “What made you join Shepherd and the AFG?” Jake: “I want to see Silas overthrown.” Amal: “No. Tell me the real reason you joined.” Jake: “What?” Amal: “Were you truly ideologically driven when you left the comforts of home and took up the life of a revolutionary? Or was the harsh life of a man at war somehow better than the slow misery of staying at home?” Jake shrugs, “I ran the cash register at a gas station. It paid the bills.” Amal laughs, “It paid the bills. Were you happy, paying your bills? Your bills were paid, and what did they get you? A life that you were willing to leave behind.” Jake: “I wanted to be a part of something big. Something important. I thought Shepherd was gonna change the world, but, he hasn’t done anything.” Amal: “Here’s your chance. Do something.” Jake, “All right. I’m in.” Amal smiles, “When society falls, and the Amalekites re-build, you will no longer have to worry about paying your fucking bills.”

In a tent, Ammonian soldiers stand on one side of a table, while AFG soldiers stand on the other side. In the middle of the table is a modest pile of contraband, mostly in the form of gay muscle mags and bright, sparkly sex toys. The AFG soldiers all smirk and stifle laughter. An Ammonian soldier opens a trash bag with a flourish and begins pushing stuff in. Another soldier picks up a giant, bright green dildo. A camera flashes, and an AFG soldier laughs as he snaps a picture. Sheepishly, the Ammonian soldier stuffs it into the bag while the other AFG soldiers laugh.

In a conference room, Shay draws on a map while David looks on. She marks a spot on the border, “This is a spot that’s not being covered by either Ammon or Gilboa. We can go through here, and from there, go to the Amalekite compound, which is here.” She marks another x. She takes some photos out of a folder, “This is the compound. There’s maybe ten people there. Based on what I saw at Fistopia, and what Isaiah’s told me about their bombs, I don’t really think the Amalekites are really big on training, but they could also be recruiting ex-soldiers, so we shouldn’t assume anything. That being said, if there’s only ten people, We can blast a hole in one of the walls, enter the building, and make quick work of everyone inside.” David thinks for a moment, “So once we take this compound out, what are we going to do with it? It’s tempting to make the compound into some kind of HQ, but I’m sure that an attack will only send more Amalekites, and probably some Gilboans.” Shay: “There’s a mountain range nearby with a network of caves. It’d be a good place to set up a stronghold.” David, “We stay there long enough for the Gilboan army to come, but once they come, we leave. It shows we’re not interested in fighting the army, just those who are hurting Gilboa. We find a way to make it clear that we were the ones who defeated the Amalekites, but then did the right thing. There’s got to be information we can find there, clues about who these people are. We can show people what we find, and ask for help finding more about the Amalekites. Where are we going to go when we get out of the mountains?” Shay: “Iggy has another place in northern Carmel, it’d be a good place to head towards. It’s well-protected just like his ranch was.” David nods, “Yeah, this is the right thing to be doing.” He moves to stand up, but winces in pain from his leg, and sits back down. He looks at Shay, “I want to make you my lieutenant general.” Shay’s eyes widen in surprise, “What?” David: “Ever since people started calling me General, I’ve sort of been thinking about AFG ranks and whatnot, and… You knew when to say no to me. I want you to keep saying no to me. I need someone to tell me when I’m doing something stupid. I want you to be second-in-command. If something happens to me, you’ll take over leadership of the AFG.” Shay, still in disbelief, “Is Jack okay with this?” David: “He’ll be in charge of things politically, but when it comes to military leadership, he agrees with me in thinking that you’re the right one. He thinks you’ll do a much better job of saying no to me than he ever could.” Shay: “Will you actually listen to me when I tell you not to do something stupid?” David: “I will. I’m still making a lot of this shit up as I go along, but I realize that I need to be a leader, not just a hero. This felt like the right place to start.” Shay smiles, grateful, “Thank you, David. This is a real honor. I promise you, I won’t let you down.” David smiles back at her, “I trust you.”

Later, Michelle waits outside of the conference room. Shay opens the door and leaves, David hobbles behind her and struggles with the door. Michelle holds it open for him. David, “Thanks, Michelle.” Michelle, “Hey, Can I talk to you?” David: “Yeah, sure,” he leans against a wall, and Michelle closes the conference room door. David, “How’s Abby, by the way?” Michelle: “She’s fine, she was just taken by surprise, that’s all.” David: “So what did you want to talk about?” Michelle shifts uncomfortably, “Uh, well, its kind of related to Abby. What’s that word you keep using instead of bisexual?” David: “Ryototsukai?” Michelle: “Ryo-to-” David, helping her along, “-tsukai.” Michelle: “Ryototsukai.” David: “That’s it. What’s it got to do with anything?” Michelle stares awkwardly at David, “Did Jack not say anything to you?” David: “About what?” Michelle, “Uh, well, Abby and I kind of might be in a relationship.” David: “Kind of?” Michelle: “Okay, we are in a relationship. I told Jack, and I thought for sure he’d tell you.” David: “He didn’t! I’m glad I heard it from you! Congratulations!” Michelle: “Yeah, well, does this mean I’m bisexual?” David: “This is why I fucking hate labels! People always ask, do you like girls? Do you like guys? I dunno, people are hot, and I just like them! And then you meet someone and you fall in love, does this change who you are? No, it makes you in love! It’s all bullshit!” Michelle: “You’re supposed to be making this easier for me.” David: “It’s not easy! Blowing up a fucking Goliath was easier than trying to explain to my brothers that settling down with a girl doesn’t make me straight, and settling down with a guy doesn’t make me gay!” Michelle: “So in the future, should I just do like you and just tell people I’m ryototsukai?” David: “I never say that I’m rytototsukai, I just say that I don’t like labels, but ryototsukai is the closest thing I have to one that fits.” Michelle: “So what should I tell people?” David: “Whatever the fuck you want. People always want to know what you are, but you don’t owe that to anyone. You don’t have to tell them anything. All your relationship with Abby makes you is in love with Abby.” Michelle smiles a little bit, “Thanks, David.”

Reinhardt, looking flustered and tired, goes towards Silas’s office. He knocks on the door. Silas, “Come in.” Reinhardt enters, “You called for me?” Silas glances up from some papers he’s reviewing, “Sit.” Reinhardt sits down, “Is there anything you want, sir?” Silas puts his papers down, and then looks at Reinhardt, “Have any of your fellow officers been doubting me?” Reinhardt, "Doubting you?” Silas, “I see how they all look at me.” Reinhardt, “Look at you how.” Silas gestures towards him, “Like that! Like you’re talking to a dementia patient!” Reinhardt does his best to rid his face of any expression, “You’ll have to forgive me, sir. It’s been a long day, and I have a splitting headache.” Silas, “Peppermint oil.” Reinhardt, “I’m sorry?” Silas, “Put peppermint oil on your forehead and temples. I dunno how it works, but it gets rid of damn near every headache. For a little while, at least.” Reinhardt, “I’ll have to try that.” Silas, “Thomasina usually carries a bottle with her, ask her about it.” Reinhardt, “I will.” Silas nods, thinking for a moment, and then says, “I need my officers to believe in me. I can’t allow any room for doubt and hesitation.” Reinhardt, “I know I can’t speak for everyone, but I put all of my faith in you, my king. I haven’t heard a word of doubt or dissent from anyone, I swear to you.” Silas eyes him uneasily, and then says, “All right, then,” he pauses for a moment, still uneasy, “How’s your boy?” Reinhardt, “Matthew?” Silas, “Yes, him.” Reinhardt gives a tired smile, “He’s wonderful. I leave for work, and by the time I get home, he’s bigger. He’s healthy, growing, learning. Everything I could hope for.” Silas smiles sadly, “Enjoy this time. It doesn’t last long at all. Killed to me to have to be away from Jack and Michelle when they were that age.” Reinhardt, “I try to appreciate every moment of it.” Silas smiles at him again, nostalgic. His expression changes, and he grows more serious, “When we attack Ammon, I want to find Shepherd as quickly as possible and take him out. I want his location confirmed.” Reinhardt, “That may be difficult to do. He’s likely changed his location several times since fleeing into Ammon, and he’s likely to change again.” Silas: “Well, find him, then!” Reinhardt, slyly, “If Shepherd makes it back into Gilboa, we’ll need to redouble our intelligence efforts. Activity among those calling themselves Amalekites will surely go up, it would be wise to brace for more possible attacks.” Silas, “You do whatever the fuck you need to do, Caesar, as long as it leads you to Shepherd.” Reinhardt, “Of course, your majesty. I’ll have General Hatch put in charge of it.”

Jack follows David as he hobbles towards his officer’s quarters. Davis fumbles with his keys and tries to open the door. Down at the other end of the hallway, a guard yells, “You two aren’t to be alone together!” Jack, “I have to get my shit!” Guard, “Leave the door open!” David opens the door, “Come on, Jack.” He goes in and pulls himself up onto his bed. Jack sits down next to him, a space in between them. He looks down the hallway at the guard keeping an eye on them, “So, what? You just going to stand there and listen to us talk about all the gay shit we do together?” The guard pretends not to hear. Jack, “I bet you'd like that. Perv.” David, exasperated, “Jack!” Jack, still yelling at the guard, “Yeah, I know you're gonna go home and spend all night jerkin’ it to our tape, aren’t you?” David, blushing furiously, "Jack, shut up!” Jack looks back at him, “It’s a hot tape, babe.” David, “We were being monitored the whole time we were there.” Jack, “Hey, at least we’re not furries. Someone seriously trying to embarrass us could have done a lot worse. Now the whole world knows you’ve got a big dick.” David, still embarrassed, “It's not that, it’s…” he thinks for a moment, “After the tank, suddenly, everyone wanted to know every single little thing about me, and people were analyzing every little thing I said and did, scrutinizing everyone I was seen with, digging up every single aspect of my life that they could, it was all surreal and disorienting and just fucking strange, and everyone was convinced that I was in a relationship with Michelle and they started projecting all this shit onto it, and I felt like I had to consider every little fucking thing I did, and then… you. It was secret, and private, and I didn’t have to perform any of it. I could just be myself again. And, honestly, it was pretty exciting. Suddenly complete strangers knew everything about me, but, I could keep the biggest, best thing in my life all to myself. I like having you all to myself.” Jack sighs, “David, before you came along, my honest-to-God best case scenario was dying heroically in battle. It was the only way I could imagine ever actually imagine my dad showing pride in me. I was such an asshole to you at first because, not only did you save my life when I wanted to die, you had to go and be so fucking handsome, and have everyone love you, and then be everywhere everywhere. I couldn’t stop thinking about you, and I knew I could never have you. So imagine my elation when I kiss you, and you kiss me back. I grew up feeling ashamed of my feelings for boys. I thought there was something wrong with me, and it could never be fixed. Now, I’m dating the hottest guy in Gilboa. Everyone wants you, but I’m the one who gets a piece. So you can’t really blame me if I want to have a parade through downtown Shiloh, shouting David loves me, and yes, the dick is just as good as you’ve imagined.” David blushing, “Please don’t say that.” Jack, “You’re right, it’s even better.” David sighs and looks longingly at Jack, "Do you have a place to sleep?” Jack, "Michelle said I can share her tent. Abby’s not happy about it, though.” David, "Why?" Jack, “She and Michelle are a couple now." David, “Oh my god, it's spreading." Jack laughs, "I know! I just hope I can be there when Dad finds out." They both laugh, and then sit silent for a moment. Jack, “You can't sleep without me. How are you gonna get through tonight?” David, “I dunno. I guess I'll find a way.”

In the dining room, waiters serve Helen, Seth, and Rose. A waiter leans in to ask Rose, “Will His Majesty be joining you this evening?” Rose, “Oh, I don’t know-” she’s interrupted by Seth crying out, “Dad!” Silas comes in without saying anything, and sits down. Rose, to the waiter, “I guess he will be, then.” A waiter serves a plate to Silas. Helen says to Seth, “Be sure you eat everything, okay? It’s important you get all your nutrition.” Seth, “I will, I will,” he looks over at Silas, “What have you been doing today, Dad?” Silas, “A lot of things. I’ve had to make some very important decisions. I’m afraid I may have no choice but to go to war with Ammon again.” Seth, “You’re already at war with Gath.” Silas, “I can carry on two wars.” Rose drinks deeply from her wine. Seth, confused, “What about David Shepherd? And those guys that attacked that music festival?” Silas, “I have a question for you, Seth.” Helen, “Silas, this really isn’t the right time.” Seth, “What?” Silas, "Seth, what would you do if, as king, your top men started to turn on you?” Helen, “This really isn’t the right time!” Silas: “It’s never the wrong time to start preparing Seth for his future, and if you disapprove of it, you can leave the two of us in peace!” Helen maintains her composure, but backs down. Silas: “Tell me, Seth, what would you do?” Seth, confused, “I… don’t understand. Turn on you, like, how? And who, exactly?” Silas: “Say, an officer in your army questioned your judgement as king. Said you were making the wrong decision.” Seth: “I don’t know… Try listening to him, a little bit, at least. Maybe he has a point.” Silas: “But what if you know for sure that he’s wrong?” Seth: “Then… make him follow orders? Because a king has absolutely authority?” Silas smiles, “That’s a very wise decision.” Seth: “But I’d still listen to him. I don’t think someone would say no to a king unless they were sure of something. Or totally crazy.” Silas leans in and speaks in a low voice: “The first rule of being king, never undermine your own authority. Your officers and the army serve you. They must respect your decision, and never doubt your wisdom.” Seth: “But what if you are making a bad decision?” Silas: “Only bad kings make bad decisions.”

Amal stands in front of a large TV screen, a group of followers behind him. On the screen is a view of a fancy hotel in downtown Shiloh. Amal: “There’s a huge number of diplomats and government officials staying in this hotel, trying to sort out who’s doing what in Silas’s war.” Outside the hotel, an Amalekite dressed in white approaches the front. Amal, smiling cruelly: “Watch what happens.” On the TV screen, the Amalekite goes into the hotel. A few seconds later, the windows flash and explode. People begin to rush out of the hotel. Situated on the roof of the building across the street, three Amalekites point their guns. Amal raises his hand, “Wait just a second.” More people stream out into the street, and first responders arrive. Amal: “Now.” The gunmen open fire on the people below. In the palace, an aide rushes the dining room, “Sir, there’s been another attack!” Silas rises to his feet while Seth looks on, confused and scared. Silas, “God fucking damnit! I want Shepherd’s HEAD!” At the army base, Joel goes up to David’s room, “There’s been another attack!” David, horrified and dismayed, “What? Where?” Joel: “A bomb went off in the Belle Visage Hotel in Shiloh.” David: “Can we send anyone to help?” Joel: “I don’t think so.” In his warehouse, Amal turns to his followers, “Shepherd has never had the balls to do the right thing! You all have the chance to leave behind your boring lives, your shit jobs, your quiet desperation, and do the right thing, as one of the Amalekites!” Dylan throws his hands up, “Fuck yeah!” The other followers clap and cheer. Amal smiles at them beatifically. (“Personal Jesus” Mindless Self Indulgence)

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webittech · 6 years

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How Cambridge Analytica's Facebook focusing on demonstrate truly worked The analyst who constructed the model cases it wasn't exceptionally exact on an individual level.

The analyst whose work is at the focal point of the commotion over Cambridge Analytica's Facebook information investigation and political publicizing has uncovered that his strategy worked much like the one Netflix uses to prescribe films.

In an email to me, Cambridge University researcher Aleksandr Kogan clarified how his factual model prepared Facebook information for Cambridge Analytica. He guarantees it works about and also more customary voter-focusing on techniques in light of socioeconomics like race, age, and sexual orientation.

On the off chance that affirmed, Kogan's record would mean the computerized demonstrating Cambridge Analytica utilized was not really the virtual gem ball a couple have guaranteed. However the numbers Kogan gives additionally indicate what is—and isn't—really conceivable by consolidating individual information with machine learning for political closures.

As to key open concern, however, Kogan's numbers propose that data on clients' identities or "psychographics" was only an unobtrusive piece of how the model focused on nationals. It was anything but an identity demonstrate entirely, but instead one that came down socioeconomics, social impacts, identity, and everything else into a major related bump. This splash up-all-the-relationship and-call-it-identity approach appears to have made a profitable crusade instrument, regardless of whether the item being sold wasn't exactly as it was charged.

The guarantee of identity focusing on

In the wake of the disclosures that Trump crusade advisors Cambridge Analytica utilized information from 50 million Facebook clients to target computerized political publicizing amid the 2016 US presidential decision, Facebook has lost billions in securities exchange esteem, governments on the two sides of the Atlantic have opened examinations, and a beginning social development is approaching clients to #DeleteFacebook.

Be that as it may, a key inquiry has stayed unanswered: Was Cambridge Analytica extremely ready to adequately target crusade messages to nationals in view of their identity attributes—or even their "internal devils," as an organization informant affirmed?

On the off chance that anybody would comprehend what Cambridge Analytica did with its enormous trove of Facebook information, it would be Aleksandr Kogan and Joseph Chancellor. It was their startup, Global Science Research, that gathered profile data from 270,000 Facebook clients and a huge number of their companions utilizing an identity test application called "thisisyourdigitallife."

Some portion of my own exploration centers around understanding machine learning techniques, and my imminent book talks about how advanced firms utilize proposal models to assemble groups of onlookers. I suspected about how Kogan and Chancellor's model functioned.

So I messaged Kogan to inquire. Kogan is as yet an analyst at Cambridge University; his teammate Chancellor currently works at Facebook. In an exceptional show of scholarly politeness, Kogan replied.

His reaction requires some unloading, and some foundation.

From the Netflix Prize to "psychometrics"

In 2006, when it was as yet a DVD-via mail organization, Netflix offered a reward of $1 million to any individual who built up a superior method to make forecasts about clients' motion picture rankings than the organization as of now had. An unexpected best contender was a free programming engineer utilizing the pen name Funk, whose fundamental approach was eventually fused into all the best groups' entrances. Funk adjusted a method called "solitary esteem deterioration," consolidating clients' appraisals of films into a progression of elements or parts—basically an arrangement of induced classes, positioned by significance. As Funk clarified in a blog entry,

"In this way, for example, a classification may speak to activity films, with motion pictures with a great deal of activity at the best, and moderate motion pictures at the base, and correspondingly clients who like activity motion pictures at the best, and the individuals who lean toward moderate motion pictures at the base."

Components are counterfeit classifications, which are not generally like the sort of classifications people would think of. The most critical factor in Funk's initial Netflix demonstrate was characterized by clients who adored movies like "Pearl Harbor" and "The Wedding Planner" while additionally loathing motion pictures like "Lost in Translation" or "Interminable Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." His model indicated how machine learning can discover relationships among gatherings of individuals, and gatherings of films, that people themselves could never spot.

Funk's general approach utilized the 50 or 100 most vital components for the two clients and films to make an average speculate how every client would rate each motion picture. This strategy, regularly called dimensionality diminishment or lattice factorization, was not new. Political science specialists had demonstrated that comparable methods utilizing move call vote information could anticipate the votes of individuals from Congress with 90 percent exactness. In brain science the "Huge Five" model had likewise been utilized to foresee conduct by bunching together identity addresses that had a tendency to be addressed comparatively.

In any case, Funk's model was a major propel: It enabled the system to function admirably with tremendous informational indexes, even those with heaps of missing information—like the Netflix dataset, where a run of the mill client evaluated just couple of dozen movies out of the thousands in the organization's library. Over 10 years after the Netflix Prize challenge finished, SVD-based techniques, or related models for certain information, are as yet the device of decision for some, sites to anticipate what clients will read, watch, or purchase.

These models can foresee different things, as well.

Facebook knows whether you are a Republican

In 2013, Cambridge University specialists Michal Kosinski, David Stillwell and Thore Graepel distributed an article on the prescient intensity of Facebook information, utilizing data accumulated through an online identity test. Their underlying examination was almost indistinguishable to that utilized on the Netflix Prize, utilizing SVD to classify the two clients and things they "enjoyed" into the main 100 variables.

The paper demonstrated that a factor show made with clients' Facebook "likes" alone was 95 percent precise at recognizing highly contrasting respondents, 93 percent exact at recognizing men from ladies, and 88 percent exact at recognizing individuals who distinguished as gay men from men who distinguished as straight. It could even effectively recognize Republicans from Democrats 85 percent of the time. It was likewise valuable, however not as precise, for foreseeing clients' scores on the "Enormous Five" identity test.

There was open objection accordingly; inside weeks Facebook had made clients' preferences private as a matter of course.

Kogan and Chancellor, additionally Cambridge University specialists at the time, were beginning to utilize Facebook information for decision focusing as a feature of a coordinated effort with Cambridge Analytica's parent firm SCL. Kogan welcomed Kosinski and Stillwell to join his venture, however it didn't work out. Kosinski supposedly speculated Kogan and Chancellor may have figured out the Facebook "likes" demonstrate for Cambridge Analytica. Kogan denied this, saying his undertaking "assembled every one of our models utilizing our own information, gathered utilizing our own particular programming."

What did Kogan and Chancellor really do?

As I took after the advancements in the story, it turned out to be clear Kogan and Chancellor had to be sure gathered their very own lot information through the thisisyourdigitallife application. They absolutely could have assembled a prescient SVD demonstrate like that included in Kosinski and Stillwell's distributed research.

So I messaged Kogan to inquire as to whether that was what he had done. To some degree shockingly, he composed back.

"We didn't precisely utilize SVD," he composed, taking note of that SVD can battle when a few clients have some more "preferences" than others. Rather, Kogan clarified, "The system was something we really created ourselves … It's not something that is in the general population area." Without going into points of interest, Kogan portrayed their strategy as "a multi-step co-event approach."

Notwithstanding, his message went ahead to affirm that his approach was in reality like SVD or other framework factorization strategies, as in the Netflix Prize rivalry, and the Kosinki-Stillwell-Graepel Facebook show. Dimensionality lessening of Facebook information was the center of his model.

How exact would it say it was?

Kogan proposed the correct model utilized didn't make a difference much, however—what makes a difference was the exactness of its expectations. As indicated by Kogan, the "connection amongst's anticipated and genuine scores … was around [30 percent] for all the identity measurements." By examination, a man's past Big Five scores are around 70 to 80 percent exact in foreseeing their scores when they retake the test.

Kogan's exactness claims can't be autonomously checked, obviously. Furthermore, anybody amidst such a prominent outrage may have motivating force to downplay his or her commitment. In his appearance on CNN, Kogan disclosed to an undeniably wary Anderson Cooper that the models had really not worked exceptionally well.

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