#and that japan by no means has a monopoly on that

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Keir Starmer appoints Jeff Bezos as his “first buddy”

Picks and Shovels is a new, standalone technothriller starring Marty Hench, my two-fisted, hard-fighting, tech-scam-busting forensic accountant. You can pre-order it on my latest Kickstarter, which features a brilliant audiobook read by Wil Wheaton.

Turns out Donald Trump isn't the only world leader with a tech billionaire "first buddy" who gets to serve as an unaccountable, self-interested de facto business regulator. UK PM Keir Starmer has just handed the keys to the British economy over to Jeff Bezos.

Oh, not literally. But here's what's happened: the UK's Competitions and Markets Authority, an organisation charged with investigating and punishing tech monopolists (like Amazon) has just been turned over to Doug Gurr, the guy who used to run Amazon UK.

This is – incredibly – even worse than it sounds. Marcus Bokkerink, the outgoing head of the CMA, was amazing, and he had charge over the CMA's Digital Markets Unit, the largest, best-staffed technical body of any competition regulator, anywhere in the world. The DMU uses its investigatory powers to dig deep into complex monopolistic businesses like Amazon, and just last year, the DMU was given new enforcement powers that would let it custom-craft regulations to address tech monopolization (again, like Amazon's).

But it's even worse. The CMA and DMU are the headwaters of a global system of super-effective Big Tech regulation. The CMA's deeply investigated reports on tech monopolists are used as the basis for EU regulations and enforcement actions, and these actions are then re-run by other world governments, like South Korea and Japan:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/10/an-injury-to-one/#is-an-injury-to-all

The CMA is the global convener and ringleader in tech antitrust, in other words. Smaller and/or poorer countries that lack the resources to investigate and build a case against US Big Tech companies have been able to copy-paste the work of the CMA and hold these companies to account. The CMA invites (or used to invite) all of these competition regulators to its HQ in Canary Wharf for conferences where they plan global strategy against these monopolists:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cma-data-technology-and-analytics-conference-2022-registration-308678625077

Firing the guy who is making all this happening and replacing him with Amazon's UK boss is a breathtaking display of regulatory capture by Starmer, his business secretary Jonathan Reynolds, and his exchequer, Rachel Reeves.

But it gets even worse, because Amazon isn't just any tech monopolist. Amazon is a many-tentacled kraken built around an e-commerce empire. Antitrust regulators elsewhere have laid bare how Amazon uses that retail monopoly to take control over whole economies, while raising prices and crushing small businesses.

To understand Amazon's market power, first you have to understand "monopsonies" – markets dominated by buyers (monopolies are markets dominated by sellers – Amazon is both a monopolist and a monopsonist). Monopsonies are far more dangerous than monopolies, because they are easier to establish and easier to defend against competitors. Say a single retailer accounts for 30% of your sales: there isn't a business in the world that can survive an overnight 30% drop in sales, so that 30% market share might as well be 100%. Once your order is big enough that canceling it would bankrupt your supplier, you have near-total control over that supplier.

Amazon boasts about this. They call it "the flywheel": Amazon locks in shoppers (by getting them to prepay for a year's worth of shipping in advance, via Prime). The fact that a business can't sell to a large proportion of households if it's not on Amazon gives Amazon near-total power over that business. Amazon uses that power to demand discounts and charge junk fees to the businesses that rely on it. This allows it to lower prices, which brings in more customers, which means that even more businesses have to do business with Amazon to stay afloat:

https://vimeo.com/739486256/00a0a7379a

That's Amazon's version, anyway. In reality, it's a lot scuzzier. Amazon doesn't just demand deep discounts from its suppliers – it demand unsustainable discounts from them. For example, Amazon targeted small publishers with a program called the "Gazelle Project." Jeff Bezos told his negotiators to bring down these publishers "the way a cheetah would pursue a sickly gazelle":

https://archive.nytimes.com/bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/22/a-new-book-portrays-amazon-as-bully/

The idea was to get a bunch of cheap books for the Kindle to help it achieve critical mass, at the expense of driving these publishers out of business. They were a kind of disposable rocket stage for Amazon.

Deep discounts aren't the only way that Amazon feeds off its suppliers: it also lards junk-fee atop junk-fee. For every pound Amazon makes from its customers, it rakes in 45-51p in fees:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/29/aethelred-the-unready/#not-one-penny-for-tribute

Now, just like there's no business that can survive losing 30% of its sales overnight, there's also no business that can afford to hand 45-51% of its gross margin to a retailer. For businesses to survive at all on Amazon, they have to jack their prices up – way up. However, Amazon has an anticompetitive deal called "most favoured nation status" that forces suppliers to sell their goods on Amazon at the same price as they sell them elsewhere (even from their own stores). So when companies raise their prices in order to pay ransom to Amazon, they have to raise their prices everywhere. Far from being a force for low prices, Amazon makes prices go up everywhere, from the big Tesco's to the corner shop:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/25/greedflation/#commissar-bezos

Amazon makes so much money off of this scam that it doesn't have to pay anything to ship its own goods – the profits from overcharging merchants for "fulfillment by Amazon" pay for all the shipping, on everything Amazon sells:

https://cdn.ilsr.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/AmazonMonopolyTollbooth-2023.pdf

Amazon competes with its own sellers, but unlike those sellers, it doesn't have to pay a 45-51% rake – and it can make its competitor-customers cover the full cost of its own shipping! On top of that, Amazon maintains the pretense that its headquarters are in Luxembourg, the tax- and crime-haven, and pays a fraction of the taxes that British businesses pay to HMRC (and that's not counting the 45-51% tax they pay to Jeff Bezos's monoposony).

That's not the only way that Amazon unfairly competes with British businesses, though: Amazon uses its position as a middleman between buyers and sellers to identify the most successful products sold by its own customers. Then it copies those products and sells them below the original inventor's costs (because it gets free shipping, pays no tax, and doesn't have to pay its own junk fees), and drives those businesses into the ground. Even Jeff "Project Gazelle" Bezos seems to understand that this is a bad look, which is why he perjured himself to the American Congress when he was questioned under oath about it:

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-58961836

Amazon then places its knockoff products above the original goods on its search results page. Amazon makes $38b selling off placement on these search pages, and the top results for an Amazon search aren't the best matches for your query – they're the ones that pay the most. On average, Amazon's top result for a search is 29% more expensive than the best match on the site. On average, the top row of results is 25% more expensive than the best match on the site. On average, Amazon buries the best result for your search 17 places down the results page:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/03/subprime-attention-rent-crisis/#euthanize-rentiers

Amazon, in other words, acts like the business regulator for the economies it dominates. It decides what can be sold, and at what prices. It decides whose products come up when you search, and thus which businesses deserve to live and which ones deserve to die. An economy dominated by Amazon isn't a market economy – it's a planned economy, run by Party Secretary Bezos for the benefit of Amazon's shareholders.

Now, there is a role for a business regulator, because some businesses really don't deserve to live (because they sell harmful products, engage in deceptive practices, etc). The UK has a regulator that's in charge of this stuff: the Competition and Markets Authority, which is now going to be run by Jeff Bezos's hand-picked UK Amazon boss. That means that Amazon is now both the official and the unofficial central planner of the UK economy, with a free hand to raise prices, lower quality, and destroy British businesses, while hiding its profits in Luxemourg and starving the exchequer of taxes.

The "first buddy" role that Keir Starmer just handed over to Jeff Bezos is, in every way, more generous than the first buddy deal Trump gave Elon Musk.

Starmer's government claims they're doing this for "growth" but Amazon isn't a force for growth, it's force for extraction. It is a notorious underpayer of its labour force, a notorious tax-cheat, and a world-beating destroyer of local economies, local jobs, and local tax bases. Contrary to Amazon's own self-mythologizing, it doesn't deliver lower prices – it raises prices throughout the economy. It doesn't improve quality – this is a company whose algorithmic recommendation system failed to recognize that an "energy drink" was actually its own drivers' bottled piss, which it then promoted until it was the best-selling energy drink on the platform:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/20/release-energy/#the-bitterest-lemon

There's a reason that the UK, the EU, Japan and South Korea found it so easy to collaborate on antitrust cases against American companies: these are all countries whose competition law was rewritten by American technocrats during the Marshall Plan, modeled on the US's own laws. The bedrock of US competition law is 1890's Sherman Act, whose author, Senator John Sherman, declared that:

If we will not endure a King as a political power we should not endure a King over the production, transportation, and sale of the necessaries of life. If we would not submit to an emperor we should not submit to an autocrat of trade with power to prevent competition and to fix the price of any commodity.

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/20/we-should-not-endure-a-king/

Jeff Bezos is the autocrat of trade that John Sherman warned us about, 135 years ago. And Keir Starmer just abdicated in his favour.

Check out my Kickstarter to pre-order copies of my next novel, Picks and Shovels!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/22/autocrats-of-trade/#dingo-babysitter

Image: UK Parliament/Maria Unger (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Keir_Starmer_2024.jpg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

--

Steve Jurvetson (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jeff_Bezos%27_iconic_laugh.jpg

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

[mirrorball-leclerc]

track six - i can still make the whole place shimmer

series masterlist

JAPAN 2023

QATAR 2023

ines_alonso and charles_leclerc posted to close friends

so proud of you oscarpiastri, sucks that i can't be there with you the only way to celebrate a third championship and a maiden sprint win. this can only go wrong from here monopoly has been cancelled after someone nearly broke the table when he got beat

CHARLES' BIRTHDAY

ines_alonso and oscarpiastri posted new stories

he actually liked this cake, don't listen to whatever oscar has to say birthday boy 🥳🩷 an artist at work...i actually don't know what's she's trying to make

oscarpiastri and ines_alonso posted new stories

inés said we were on a time crunch, now i've lost her inside a flower shop and she's not answering her phone. send help. sos. birthday boy seems to have something devious planned second birthday cake was a success!!!

liked by charles_leclerc, isahernaez, pedri and others

ines_alonso feliz cumpleaños amorcito!! here's to spending more by your side (with osc of course) for many more years 🩷🎉

tagged: charles_leclerc

view all comments

charles_leclerc oh mon soleil, i might start crying again. please don't do this to me.

oscarpiastri you'll cry regardless charlie charles_leclerc stop being mean to me, it's my birthday oscarpiastri i got you a cake, that's enough user01 their love language is bullying each other

user02 had to sneak oscar in there somehow

user03 inés loves both her boys. i'm convinced she will never shut up about them user02 i fear you may be right bestie

oscarpiastri happy birthday booger 🧡

charles_leclerc thank you stinker ❤️ pedri i will never understand how this dynamic works arthur_leclerc mate it's been years and i still don't understand it. half the time i'm convinced they hate each other. oscarpiastri it's our love language arthur, leave us alone.

isahernaez feliz cumple charlie 🎉

charles_leclerc gracias isa 😊 user04 brother lost even his ex-girlfriend in the divorce to charles user05 not only is he not winning races but he's also not winning life, shit must suck for him. user06 he just became the only non redbull winner of the entire season, put some respect on his name louieee bitch won the race at the sacrifice of his own teammate, we'll put respect on his name when he fucking earns it. user07 besides this post is about charles, not his fucking whiny ass teammate

user08 i want to know what the product of that picture charles was taking in slide 2

user09 he's the embodiment of that proud boyfriend meme user10 he's just a silly little goofy guy

fernandoalo_oficial feliz cumpleaños to that french guy or whatever

charles_leclerc you sent me an entire paragraph telling me happy birthday this morning you're not fooling anyone fernandoalo_oficial that was supposed to be a secret tonto charles_leclerc oops

jensonbutton HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLES!! 🎉🎉 YOU'RE SO OLD NOW!!

charles_leclerc THANK YOU OLD MAN!! user11 the difference between fernando and jenson's comments is so fucking funny to me

maxverstappen1 drinks are on the birthday boy this weekend

charles_leclerc you people are animals when you drink. i should be getting free drinks not the other way around alex_albon well for my birthday i was forced to pay, so you should have to pay this weekend charles_leclerc this a hate crime against me

user12 i can't believe charles is 26, it feels like just yesterday he was starting out as a rookie at sauber

user13 STOP! YOU'RE MAKING ME FEEL OLD!! user12 your bio says you're 16? how the fuck does that make you feel old?? user13 IT JUST DOES OKAY?! DON'T QUESTION ME!

patriciooward FELIZ CUMPLE CABRON!!

charles_leclerc GRACIAS PATITO!! user14 i've seen enough scuderriaferrari get this guy into your car as carlos' replacement. he speaks spanish too user15 and charles actually likes this one

ximena.gomez feliz cumpleaños charlie!!

charles_leclerc gracias ximena! inés said to ask you about the thing ximena.gomez the answer is still no charles_leclerc one chance, just one chance that's all she asks

TEXAS 2023

liked by charles_leclerc, oscarpiastri, francesca.cgomes and others

ines_alonso there's no weekend like austin gp weekend (this message was paid for by daniel ricciardo) (p.s. please wear your fucking boots right. the jeans go on the outside not tucked inside the boots)

view all comments

francesca.cgomes you know what they say, save horse ride a cowgirl

ines_alonso yeehaw!! charles_leclerc please stop flirting with her oscarpiastri you're never beating the allegations ines_alonso WHAT ALLEGATIONS?? francesca.cgomes that the boys are a cover up for our super secret romance. ines_alonso oh that, no, that is true pierregasly STOP THIS MADNESS!!

user16 how i love women

charles_leclerc i feel like this is directed towards me...

ines_alonso that outfit is atrocious and i never want to be in your presence when you wear it. justice for andrea. charles_leclerc OSCAR SAID IT LOOKED GOOD! ines_alsonso OSCAR WEARS T-SHIRTS AND SHORTS AND CALLS IT A DAY, NEVER LISTEN TO HIM maxverstappen1 mate, i'm afraid oscar lied to you oscarpiastri i live to see him make an embarrassment of himself in public. charles_leclerc you're sleeping on the couch when we get home alex_albon that's an upgrade from when your drunk ass made him sleep on a piece of turf on your balcony last year landonorris why the fuck am i never invited to anything? first it was the group bowling and now this party? danielricciardo he-who-shall-not-be-named is your friend louieee because you're a snitch bitch that's why asshole logansargeant in their defense the party was before bowling and no one wants to party with peter pettigrew or lord voldemort user17 the harry potter references i'm dying

user18 so are we supposed to act like you didn't embarrass yourself in front of patrick dempsey?

ines_alonso if we could do that, that would be great thanks user18 oh girl, that's going to haunt you for the rest of your life.

danielricciardo thank you inés i'll be venmoing you $150 later today

ines_alonso pleasure doing business with you mr.ricciardo logansargeant he's actually paying you?? he told me i would get a shoutout on his .jpg account ines_alonso i'm his favorite logan, you should know this logansargeant doesn't mean i should like it

jensonbutton i had a blast this weekend, i enjoyed watching you lose your shit on danica patrick this weekend.

ines_alonso you're ass is such a shitstirrer, i'm telling my dad! jensonbutton he sent me an audio of him cackling for a straight 3 minutes. his ass enjoyed that too user18 this is my favorite daughter and step-father duo user19 jenson button is not a step father but the father that stepped UP

lilymhe the cutest cowgirl ever

ines_alonso oh stop it, i'm actually blushing oscarpiastri unfortunately she is actually blushing. charles is glaring at her from across the room lilymhe damn charles_leclerc i took your girl charles_leclerc fight me lily alex_albon come get your girlfriend she's being irrational again alex_albon mate, we are not having this debate ever again. they're in love, let them be. charles_leclerc you're literally no fucking help

user20 love how inés, kika, and lily flirt with each other to piss off the boys

user21 alex is just resigned to the fact that they do this, charles and pierre absolutely lose it every time, meanwhile oscar just lets them have fun to see charles lose it everytime. user22 inés and oscar live for tormenting charles and i love that user20 it's the difference between gen z's born in the 00's to the 90's is so noticeable between the three of them.

MEXICO 2023

BRAZIL 2023

liked by lilymhe, kellypiquet, patriciooward and others

ines_alonso a little photo dump for the girlies as we head into the final race of the triple header

tagged: charles_leclerc, fernandoalo_oficial, oscarpiastri, lewishamilton, maxverstappen1, danielricciardo, alex_albon, lilymhe

view all comments

patriciooward nano and honey make a reappearance!!

louieee she's kept them hidden from us for too long ines_alonoso they're camera shy

alex_albon i've missed my godchild nano!!

maxverstappen1 that's my godchild albon! ines_alonso ladies, please, you're both nano's god father alex_albon um, i'm more qualified to take nano if a 'tragic' accident were to happen to any of you maxverstappen1 i have two cats alex, you have a fucking farm, we are not doing this. ines_alonso i've made a horrible mistake

charles_leclerc where's the picture of my mexico podium??

oscarpiastri maybe win a race then she'll post you charles_leclerc you won a sprint! not an actual race! oscarpiastri I STILL WON!

arthur_leclerc i see there's no mention of me taking that 6th picture?? where is my credit alonso??

ines_alonso we bought you dinner and yet you still found a way to complain about taking one picture arthur_leclerc you try fourth-wheeling you, dumb, and dumber louieee it's dumb, dumber, and dumbest maxverstappen1 wait but who's who? oscarpiastri charles is clearly dumbest charles_leclerc this is why people think you hate me oscarpiastri haven't you heard, we're the second coming of seb and mark. multi-21 2.0 incoming alex_albon it was very clearly multi-21 (lovers edition) oscar user23 mark is probably shitting himself seeing this comment oscarpiastri i can confirm that

user24 just a pretty girl with her pretty boyfriends

user25 how to get inés alonso to blush 101 ines_alonso wrong! it's how to get three idiots to blush

kellypiquet i see the picture of the broken table didn't make it to the photo dump

ines_alonso we're never playing monopoly again maxverstappen1 if someone hadn't cheated the table would've never broke! georgerussell63 I DIDN'T CHEAT, YOU JUST SUCK! alex_albon YEAH, TELL HIM GEORGE! user26 i feel like we're missing some important lore here pierregasly post championship and sprint win monopoly is great, until someone (max) breaks the table patriciooward don't forget to specify that it's drunk monopoly alex_albon i feel like i would remember if you were there? patriciooward oh, i wasn't there in person but i was there via facetime. all of you were so fucked up that you don't even remember it

user27 i don't know what's more surprising max breaking a table, george cheating (allegedly) at monopoly, or all of them ending up so drunk they don't remember anything besides a broken table??

user28 definitely the broken table. user29 yeah, the drunkenness is expected from them so is george facing cheating allegations in monopoly.

fernandoalo_oficial i did not give my consent to having that picture posted

ines_alonso too bad old man. you snooze, you lose. user30 the world may be calm (not really) but you can count on inés and fernando always being their chaotic selves

logansargeant this is logan sargeant erasure

ines_alonso oh sorry, the whole world must know i bought you a single shot after your point in austin logansargeant well now i feel bad because it came at the expense of lewis... charles_leclerc what about me?! i'm the reason you got the point! logansargeant you said you wouldn't watch hamilton with me again... charles_leclerc fine, we can watch hamilton again logansargeant 😄😄 user31 a duo i didn't know i needed

danielricciardo is that the picture max and i took when you fell asleep?

ines_alonso yes, i'm never leaving my phone unattended with you two maxverstappen1 that's a consequence that comes with flying airmax, deal with it baby alonso louieee BABY ALONSO!!! ines_alonso oh no, that's going to stick isn't it?? estebanocon they've been calling you baby alonso behind your back for years. jensonbutton we've been calling you baby alonso since 2015 ines_alonso oh my god

lilymhe thank you for beautifully capturing my relationship with alex

ines_alonso you're welcome my love 🩷 alex_albon i'm right here lilymhe shhh alex, it's okay, you're my one and only (sometimes) alex_albon WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?! ines_alonso it means that whenever you piss her off she runs to me and kika francesca.cgomes it's true, we kick oscar and charles out of the apartment and force them to spend the night with pierre alex_albon STOP MAKING ME SEEM LIKE A BAD BOYFRIEND! ines_alonso you're a good boyfriend alex, we're just teasing. (got to get ahead of the media)

VEGAS 2023

liked by sabrinacarpenter, louieee, alex_albon and others

ines_alonso a week spent in los angeles and las vegas. met some new friends and hung out with some old friends

tagged: charles_leclerc, oscarpiastri, sabrinacarpenter, schecoperez, logansargeant, alex_albon, lilymhe, jensonbutton, joris__trouche

view all comments

maxverstappen1 where the fuck am i?

ines_alonso bitch, you won every race this season, let other people have a chance maxverstappen1 YOU HAVE CHECO ON HERE!! schecoperez me odias o qué? maxverstappen1 no, do not put words in my mouth checo!

user32 ariana (sabrina) what are you doing here?

user33 talk about an unexpected crossover user34 the most unexpected friendship to come out of the 2023 season

louieee ooh, we look so cute

ines_alonso yeah we do!! louieee 🩷🎀

charles_leclerc i'm still mad at you...

oscarpiastri maybe you shouldn't go around telling us to call you charles leclerc-verstappen maxverstappen1 well now i'm max leclerc-verstappen redbullracing max, we can't do this again, the rumors just stopped oscarpiastri i know where you live scuderiaferrari here we go again (the rumors never stopped) mclaren oscar, please refrain from threatening fellow drivers user35 they're just so tired of having to pr train oscar user36 we're talking about the kid who willingly admitted he pushed inés off the track when they were karting because they had a bet going on and he didn't want to lose

sabrinacarpenter it was a delight to meet you and sharles

ines_alonso enough to get a nonsense outro?? sabrinacarpenter woah, take me out on a date first ines_alonso name a time and place baby 😏 charles_leclerc i can fight... oscarpiastri i can laugh as you take charles down... sabrinacarpenter oscar's my favorite now charles_leclerc of course he is

jensonbutton WHERE DID YOU GET THAT PICTURE??

ines_alonso it's a screenshot from the sky sports broadcast. it's the face i make whenever i'm forced to work with that woman jensonbutton oh my god ines_alonso it's my favorite f1 meme now

charles_leclerc now that i'm no longer upset, you look beautiful ma belle 🩷

ines_alonso thank you bebe ❤️ user37 he's trying to get back in her good graces guys oscarpiastri ass kisser charles_leclerc YOU WON'T LET ME GET A DOG alex_albon jeez oscar, let the guy get a dog oscarpiastri HE'S THE ONE WHO SAID NO MORE PETS AFTER HONEY!

logansargeant LET'S GO!! I'M OUT OF THE TRENCHES!!

patriciooward FROM THE TRENCHES WE RISE!! user38 now this, this is my favorite duo inés alonso has given us

lilymhe i look great and alex is there

francesca.cgomes she's everything and he's just ken ines_alonso the realest comment here sabrinacarpenter girls who are everything and boyfriends who are just ken pierregasly our job is just car

joris__trouche he did not want to let go of mimi

ines_alonso he genuinely cried when we left charles_leclerc STOP EXPOSING ME!! oscarpiastri you called me sobbing because you were leaving mimi behind maxverstappen1 just get him a dog oscar oscarpiastri he dug his own grave max

user39 the random jenson meme is sending me

user40 the fact that both of them have pulled the same face while working with d*nica user41 they're further proving the buttlonso lovechild allegations because i feel like fernando has also pulled the same face. user39 oh my god you're so right

francesca.cgomes just a pretty girl living her best life

ines_alonso i'm blushing oscarpiastri can confirm she is blushing charles_leclerc i'm so done. user42 free my guy user42 not from the relationship but from his partners (inés) flirting with the girls (kika, lily, sabrina) user43 nah, my guy brought this onto himself by flirting with max verstappen at every single fucking opportunity liked by ines_alonso and oscarpiastri

¡taglist!

@minmira95 // @lesliiieeeee // @vroomvroommuppett // @prongsvault // @justtprachisblog // @scuderiadevils // @cataf1 // @chezmardybum // @formulaal // @lilsiz // @norstappenvibes // @ironspdy // @nikfigueiredo @hinamesgigantica // @niniluvsainz // @matchaverse // @fakeikeastore // @theseus-jpg // @six-call // @81folklore // @emppusofi // @luvsforme // @nichmeddar // @loloekie // @luvpedro // @donttouchthegnote // @nothaqks // @inferiusreggie // @mochimommy2002 // @rach3164 // @clove08 // @clove0 // @lillysbigwilly // @jenxjar // @blupblupfish // @thereadinggremlin05 // @meowiarty // @magical-spit // @camdensreg // @laneyspaulding19 // @ocyeanicc // @yelenasloverrrrr // @percervall // @blushmimi // @spilled-coffee-cup // @greantii // @ietss // @yeanoskrrt // @brakingboundaries

¡not taggable!

@ashlovestoread1411 // @books-thingys-andstuff // @ale-522 // @aandreea_2005 // @Katness1 // @mgmoore // @Scott-McCall-could-lift-mjolnir // @xxx-betty // @ririyulife // @landonorizzz // @moldyshorts1997 // @itstimeforutogo // @yar16 // @em-andemm // @killjoycra // @◇Heart- Trees◇ //@michelleyw81

¡leclerc-s speaks!

unfortunately with the current state of the us, this is my only escape. i don't know why it became so unhinged but i remember people joking about max and charles getting married and this is a fanfic so i thought, why the fuck not?? IT'S ALL JOKES PEOPLE!!

¡disclaimer!

this is in no way making assumptions about the people involved in this story, this is all fake. it is a fanfiction please don't take any of what is said seriously. this is all for entertainment purposes and as a creative outlet for me. enjoy!

[tokiro07]

Ichi the Witch ch.11 thoughts

[WitchCon 2024]

(Topics: praise - comedy, narrative progression, world building, thematic analysis - freedom vs. order, predictions)

Make 'Em Laugh

Y'know, for a chapter that was like...90% political dialogue and exposition, this still managed to end up being one of the funnier chapters so far: Desscaras' report being a comic book that makes her look like the hero and Shirabedonna just throwing it away, Ichi straight up leaving the Zoom call to get food, Togeice goofing up her dramatic entrance; and that's not even every funny bit from this chapter

Handled wrong, this could have come off as a super dry and meandering chapter, but for the sake of setting up the conflict of revealing Ichi's existence to the world, I think an in-depth analysis of both sides of the argument was necessary

Better to Ask Permission than Forgiveness

While I agree with Togeice that Shirabedonna's conclusions are being made on too few datapoints (one grateful village and three unusually quick hunts in only two weeks), I'm also inclined to agree with Shirabedonna that this is a tricky situation to maintain

The longer Mantinel tries to hide Ichi, the more contradictions and public distrust are bound to pile up. Coming up with excuses later to explain every little detail will just make discussing it more difficult, and Mantinel will only look more suspicious. On the other hand, coming clean now less than a month in should be fairly understandable given the implications of Ichi being a male Witch that acquired Uroro - some people will be mad, sure, but most people would probably be forgiving of the caution exercised

More than that, though, Mantinel's acquisition of the first male Witch would do wonders for their reputation, as that's a historic discovery. Even if he ends up being dangerous, the narrative wouldn't be too hard to spin in Mantinel's favor, as no one could have predicted how a male Witch would behave

The fun thing about this argument to me, though, is the acknowledgment of other Witch organizations

Frog in the Well

We haven't been shown a world map or anything yet, so we don't really have any sense of scale to this world, but I wouldn't have been too surprised either way if either Mantinel had a monopoly on Witch administration or if they were just one of many such organizations

The acknowledgment of an equivalent of Japan last week was a good clue that there was more to this world than...whatever this one country is called, but we still know nothing about this fantasy-Japan's society other than that they still have sashimi

Do they have their own Witches Association? Do they even have Magiks there in the first place, or are they endemic to the current focus country?

Black Clover kept expanding to reveal that other nations had different relationships with magic, while JJK revealed that Curses pretty much only exist in Japan for...some reason. I would imagine that this is more like the former, but the realization that one nation is hoarding the concept of magic would be pretty wild, wouldn't it?

Then there's the fact that ch.1 told us that there's only a 0.001% chance of a man being able to acquire magic even if he did have the capacity to pass a trial and physically handle casting spells. That seems like a low number, but...it's one in a thousand

For every thousand men, one of them has the capacity to acquire magic. Presumably this number is compounded by the ability to use it, since the narration said there were so many other factors that had to line up perfectly first, but that just means that the chances of finding another man with the potential to overcome those factors aren't actually all that slim

EDIT: It's been brought to my attention that I goofed the math and this is one in a hundred thousand, but my point stands! I thought it was going to be like one in a million or even a billion, and it ended up being a lot more generous than I anticipated! In our world, that would still be 40,000 men with the capacity for magic!

In other words, it's only a matter of time until another male Witch is found

From there, the method for cultivating male Witches will likely start to become more widespread, and eventually the proportion of female to male Witches should approach an equilibrium

That's probably looking too far ahead, though. That's the kind of thing that would probably take several generations to pass, so while we may have like...a dozen male Witches by the end, they probably won't be a normal part of Witch society until a far-flung epilogue

For now, I'd like to focus on the worldbuilding that we actually received this chapter: that Ichi's acquisition rate is ridiculous

Gotta Go Fast

Ichi has three Magiks under his belt in less than two weeks, and Shirabedonna tells us that one week is on the fast end for a hunt. That seems especially strange to me, since one of the first trials we're ever told of was only set for an hour, but I suppose that figure is based on the number of attempts and the prep-time? It's easy to assume "oh, they got it one," but this statement gives the impression that almost no one acquires a Magik on their first try

I do think it kind of skews our perceptions to tell us the upper and lower limits of one week and ten years without also giving us an average or at least a mean. All she says is "some take X amount of time," like that means anything statistically...

It also doesn't help that the first hunt we actually saw would have been over almost immediately had it not been for the circumstances: Desscaras immediately stabbed Uroro's heart, and only failed to pierce it because she was a woman. Now, Desscaras is likely an outlier herself because she's ostensibly the strongest living Witch, but sub-10 minutes is nowhere near a full week!

Again, it's entirely possible that the hunt for Uroro was on a constant timer since Mantinel first started trying, so that would be an extreme circumstance no matter what. I suppose in a sense that would mean Ichi has the record for clearing both the shortest and longest hunts?

But just being fast or lucky doesn't make Ichi an expert, and it's only a matter of time until he hits a wall where his unique perspective fails to compensate for his lack of experience in the field he's so suddenly found himself in

Rising to the Level of Your Incompetence

Togeice is being presented as morally incorrect here, with her talk of reforming Ichi into a "proper Witch" being accompanied by a vision of all of Ichi's best qualities being sanded down to a bland scholarly appearance, but that doesn't mean that she doesn't have a point

Ichi's lack of experience makes him something akin to an outsider artist, which is what allows him to discover unconventional methods within the field, but it also means that he's not familiar with the pitfalls of the profession. Ichi took Hisame's challenge in a different direction than what was intended by the rules; it worked out, but if Hisame hadn't been impressed with this loophole, then that gamble would've gotten everyone present killed. Since she expressed that she wanted to attack another village as a palette cleanser, it's entirely possible that she could have taken this approach as an insult and gone on an even worse rampage after the fact

In fact, Ichi going straight for attacking Hisame could have resulted in her not even bothering to issue her trial, which would have effectively made her invincible in the resulting combat encounter. Perhaps Magiks don't work that way and they have to share their trial in order to maintain their power, but there's no precedent for that yet, so Ichi's ignorant and rash behavior could have sabotaged the entire mission

There's also the possibility that Ichi will continue to acquire stronger and stronger spells that he's less and less equipped to control and will cause some kind of huge disaster. He already used Parthion to create an entire new ecosystem on Druid Mountain, which could well have untold consequences on the local wildlife and nearby settlements, so what's to stop him from naively trying to save a desert village with Poltata and just washing them all away?

Togeice's desire to force her vision of order onto Ichi is obviously wrong and potentially detrimental to Ichi's value, but she is right that he's not capable of wielding his powers effectively or responsibly. Even if Ichi is a perfectly moral and upstanding Witch, if his trump card will only result in him being rendered unconscious for three days, then he's only going to be a liability when the time comes to use it against a major threat

The goal then should be to cultivate Ichi's sense of freedom and experience using magic while also giving him a clear sense of the responsibility that he carries. Fortunately, he's already demonstrated the capacity for that with his strict adherence to Death for Death, but unless he can prove to Togeice that he already has the discipline she's looking for, she won't be able to trust such an unknown with her back

Fortunately, the upcoming challenge provides the perfect opportunity for Togeice to get to know Ichi

Just a Little Guy

It was pointed out to me by @wickedsick that because the mushroom Magik isn't a human-hater, it likely doesn't hold any ill intent towards humans and doesn't go out of his way to hurt them, and therefore shouldn't trigger Death for Death. This would likely prevent Ichi from harming it, and in turn give Togeice the opportunity to take the win

The way I see it, there's five ways that this could go

Ichi loses because the mushroom isn't hurting anyone and he can't bring himself to hunt it -> school arc, Ichi learns valuable lessons, though he doesn't fundamentally change the way that Togeice wants him to

Ichi is just hopelessly outclassed and decides he has plenty to learn from Togeice and Mantinel -> same outcome as above

The circumstances of Ichi's refusal to hunt the mushroom somehow prove to Togeice that he's already plenty disciplined -> she wins, but still lets him go free because she doesn't believe she has anything to teach him after all

The nature of the trial doesn't necessitate Death for Death, and Ichi wins solely through his specific skillset -> Togeice realizes that she was not equipped for this specific scenario and different approaches will always be necessary for different circumstances, so she drops her objection

Togeice accidentally goads the mushroom into triggering Death for Death and realizes that it was her irresponsibility that endangered people, not Ichi's -> same outcome as above

For sure, there are more nuanced outcomes available, but those seem like the most likely either for developing the themes of the story or driving the plot in a specific direction. I'm definitely open to whichever route Nishi chooses to take, as I think that the two broadest outcomes of Ichi going or not going to school both provide interesting opportunities for the story going forward. Whichever she chooses, I have faith in Nishi that it'll be a fun time

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

[racefortheironthrone]

Why do economists need to shut up about mercantilism, as you alluded to in your post about Louis XIV's chief ministers?

In part due to their supposed intellectual descent from Adam Smith and the other classical economists, contemporary economists are pretty uniformly hostile to mercantilism, seeing it as a wrong-headed political economy that held back human progress until it was replaced by that best of all ideas: capitalism.

As a student of economic history and the history of political economy, I find that economists generally have a pretty poor understanding of what mercantilists actually believed and what economic policies they actually supported. In reality, a lot of the things that economists see as key advances in the creation of capitalism - the invention of the joint-stock company, the creation of financial markets, etc. - were all accomplishments of mercantiism.

Rather than the crude stereotype of mercantilists as a bunch of monetary weirdos who thought the secret to prosperity was the hoarding of precious metals, mercantilists were actually lazer-focused on economic development. The whole business about trying to achieve a positive balance of trade and financial liquidity and restraining wages was all a means to an end of economic development. Trade surpluses could be invested in manufacturing and shipping, gold reserves played an important role in deepening capital pools and thus increasing levels of investment at lower interest rates that could support larger-scale and more capital intensive enterprises, and so forth.

Indeed, the arch-sin of mercantilism in the eyes of classical and contemporary economists, their interference in free trade through tariffs, monopolies, and other interventions, was all directed at the overriding economic goal of climbing the value-added ladder.

Thus, England (and later Britain) put a tariff on foreign textiles and an export tax on raw wool and forbade the emigration of skilled workers (while supporting the immigration of skilled workers to England) and other mercantilist policies to move up from being exporters of raw wool (which meant that most of the profits from the higher value-added part of the industry went to Burgundy) to being exporters of cheap wool cloth to being exporters of more advanced textiles. Hell, even Adam Smith saw the logic of the Navigation Acts!

And this is what brings me to the most devastating critique of the standard economist narrative about mercantilism: the majority of the countries that successfully industrialized did so using mercantilist principles rather than laissez-faire principles:

When England became the first industrial economy, it did so under strict protectionist policies and only converted to free trade once it had gained enough of a technological and economic advantage over its competitors that it didn't need protectionism any more.

When the United States industrialized in the 19th century and transformed itself into the largest economy in the world, it did so from behind high tariff walls.

When Germany made itself the leading industrial power on the Continent, it did so by rejecting English free trade economics and having the state invest heavily in coal, steel, and railroads. Free trade was only for within the Zollverein, not with the outside world.

And as Dani Rodrik, Ha-Joon Chang, and others have pointed out, you see the same thing with Japan, South Korea, China...everywhere you look, you see protectionism as the means of achieving economic development, and then free trade only working for already-developed economies.

[dertaglichedan]

China suspends rare earth exports, kneecapping US industry reliant on Beijing’s ‘monopoly’

China has stopped shipping some heavy rare earth metals and magnets critical to US production of everything from cell phones to fighter jets as Beijing’s trade war with Washington simmers, leaving American industry in a bind.

Effective April 3, China is no longer exporting seven heavy rare earth metals processed exclusively in the Asian power, as well as heavy rare earth magnets — of which about 90% of the world’s supply are also synthesized on Beijing’s territory.

The export halt applies to all countries, but access to elements like dysprosium and yttrium are critical to US industry — especially in the tech, electric vehicle, aircraft and defense sectors, according to Drew Horn, who served as the top US official on strategic minerals and energy supply chain development in President Trump’s first administration “Rare earths are in everything,” he told The Post Monday, singling out “the EV and auto space … [and] everything from cell phones, defense key components, [and] space travel.”

“China,” Horn added, “has essentially created an all-powerful monopoly with them.”

A mining machine is seen at the Bayan Obo mine containing rare earth minerals, in Inner Mongolia, China on July 16, 2011. REUTERS

Instead of only hiking the price US companies have to pay to sell goods inside China via tariffs, Beijing also appears to be using its export capability to move the needle against Washington.

“The Chinese have been threatening this because they do have that leverage to basically cut us off and cut the world off, which essentially cuts us off through all sorts of different means, and now they’re doing it,” said Horn, whose consulting firm GreenMet Advisory works to expand the US mining industry.

Beijing had previously threatened to stop shipping the rare earth elements during Trump’s first administration, with President Xi Jinping making a public visit to a magnet factory in Ganzhou during a time of tense US trade relations in 2019.

Nearly a decade earlier, in 2010, China did suspend the export of heavy rare earths to Japan during a territorial dispute.

[capicola323427]

Clip Studio Paint Asset Store's Color Sets, what the fuck.

Selling color sets on the Clip Studio Paint Asset Store will NEVER make sense to me.

For some background. I have used Clip Studio Paint EX for YEARS. I have never paid for it. I will continue pirating it, and you CANNOT stop me.

This is unironically me frfr whenever I see a new version of Clip Studio Paint EX has been released. Now, how I pirate Clip Studio Paint EX still allows me to use the Clip Studio Asset site. If you don't know, the Clip Studio Asset site allows you to download and buy assets and materials that are made by other people. You do this by paying real money for Clip Studio's monopoly money points (Clippy and Gold). In Japan, if I recall correctly, the Gold paid to the creator of an asset can be transferred back into real money at a 30% fee to Clip Studio and the remaining 70% goes back to the creator. The assets on the store can range from 3D models, static materials, tone sets, framing and layer templates, auto actions and most importantly... brushes.

Now, all of the previous is fine. I'm willing to happily shell out actual Gold/Clippy for those assets because I know it's genuinely a work of task-intensive art to create things like brushes, materials or 3D models. It's truly amazing and they deserve to be paid for their work especially if those things will be used in art. Especially brushes. Getting a really, and I mean really nice brush makes all the difference in your drawing process and the look of your art! It's a work of magic that they're able to emulate so many traditional mediums digitally. That is why I'm willing to pay for brushes and the like

"Oh, so what? The stuff before was just two-faced waxing of poetics and the only thing stopping you from pirating brushes and assets is the fact that you can't?"

No, no, no. Not even close. Even if I somehow found a way to break a firewall for find a vulnerability in the Clip Studio Asset Site that would allow me to pirate the brushes... I still wouldn't do it. It feels too close and too personal to do it, because each brush and asset maker is just an individual artist. They're not a multi-billion dollar company or anything like that. No, they're individuals single handedly making assets for the artistic and efficient betterment of themselves and others and that shit takes time, understanding, and talent. Have you ever taken a look at the process to make a brush? To fiddle with brush properties? That shit is a PAIN. Materials too, all of those materials you see like screen tones and regular image materials are hand drawn so to me, it just seems scummy to do.

COLORS ON THE OTHER HAND??? Fuuuuck that. Now what I will never understand and find completely batshit as a concept to me and will never pay for. It is the selling of color sets. In fact, dare I say, it's completely idiotic from both sides. To me, the mere idea of selling a set of colors makes no sense and feels like no matter what you're going to lose. There's no winning when it comes to selling color palettes like this unless you're doing it commercially like Pantone. (And even I find Pantone kind of dumb even though I recognize what makes it so commercially viable.) Selling color sets on paint will NEVER make sense to me because if you're an artist, and relatively graphic-design savvy you can easily pirate them. To me, and this is just my opinion, the selling of colors is some Mr. O'Hare type of shit. I believe you're not paying for the colors themselves but the convenience of having colors sorted, organized, and made into a color palette for your ease of access. I just cannot see picking colors as having the same level of task-based intensity as making a material or asset! Yes, color theory is hard, it is very hard to learn but I don't see it as task intensive or hard as making a material or brush.

[noodleblade]

Miscellaneous Tag Game (stolen title <3)

thank you bestie:3 @searchingfortheuniverse I'll be working on this while im on and off phone calls~

A band you don’t like that many others do: UM idk...my music taste is all over the place and I really only know the bands i think?? oh- maybe Mother Mother, only because I have not bothered to listen to their music past Junkrat hype videos and that's probably tainted my view a little. For better or for worse.

A childhood memory that you remember vividly: during a summer in greece, idk how, but I got roped into selling watermelons off the side of the road. I couldn't have been more than 6 or 7, but I remember I would put the watermelon in a plastic bag and the farmers thought it was really funny because that's such a...united states thing...to bag 1 whole watermelon in plastic. Anyways, they paid me in cucumber slices with salt.

Least favorite animal and why: HUH LEAST. I'm not a huge fan of like reptiles? Specifically those smaller than a bread box. Too fast, too squirm. Im worried I'll crush them in my hands. (im thinking of specifically florida geckos...idk they are cute but i freak out trying to hold them).

Hot fandom take: just because something is popular and fandom-wide accepted doesn't mean it is good. and not agreeing with it/wanting to engage in it doesn't mean you or your own opinions are bad. the monopoly on accepted 1 true canon is boring.

Do you wear any jewelry, if so, what’s your favorite piece: I try an rotate my jewelry around but I'm usually wearing a few rings, a necklace and a pair of earrings. My favorites are the rings. They are my mom's old ones and I typically wear the same two every day. One is a gold key of greece and the other is a thin black bar but the sides have really small thin heart cut outs.

A movie others liked but you didn’t: HMMMMM probably the new star wars trilogy. felt unnecessary and i just didn't like it? big shruggies

Three things you love about yourself: my writing- its something that I enjoy the most in the world and something that I can claim as mine. I also think I'm pretty funny in a sillay way which is poggers. I like my openness to trying things. Think that's helped make me more well-rounded. I hope so at least.

A place you hope to visit in the future and why: HMMMMM. I want to visit Japan again. For a new place, I want to go to South America. Peru maybe??? Mexico would also be nice. So that's what I'm gearing up towards next.

An actor that gets on your nerves and why: Uh Matt Smith? No reason behind this. but I see his block head and kind of just look away.

Things you’re excited for in the nearby future? I have a lot of little house projects I finally feel like tackling which is exciting. Ive lived in my house for almost 2.5 years and still havent felt like parts of it are complete yet.

Least favorite ship in a fandom you’re in: oof I lowkey kind of hate saying things I don't like on here. bad experiences in the past when people were upset I didn't like a thing they did and got mad at me. But uhhh not the biggest fan of most rodimus ships? but I think mega/rod is my least favorite of them. sorry!

What’s the most toxic fandom you’ve been in? hahaahahahhahahah can you believe Game of Thrones wasn't the most toxic???? it was jjba. I got put on a ban list which was kind of funny. I also got kind of show-ponyed in a toxic discord server for a while which has completely ruined me in the ability to act normal on discord outside of my irl friends. that account is deleted but the ao3 is still circling around.

List three things you find beautiful about life: Friends and family- sometimes I want to kill but I really do love them so so much. I like creating things and creating things with people. I also really like my area as far as nature goes. the beach to swamp ratio sings to me.

Any dreams for the future? I want to go on a really long hike. Maybe like a 2 day one? (< says the person that has gone on a max 2 hour hike before). Also just working on my original fiction again. I miss those fellas.

How are you really feeling today? Motivated!!!! Im a little groggy still, but I've been really excited about life and betterment lately so its overcoming my sleepy brain.

Tags: feel free to do or not: @honkytonka, @elmonstro, @huanted-dennys, @feral-birb-husband, @solarstormstuff @anyone else who wants to!! I'd be happy to read them:3

[skullzanta]

(Not Professionally Researched, Correct if Wrong) Copyright Law needs to be fought.

Okay, so: I have NO research on this, so bare in mind that I want to get out frustration and spread word of Copyright Law's Issues.

Firstly,

the Internet Archive is dying to Copyright. The burning of The Library of Alexandria is what a lot of people are calling it. I dont know for SURE that its unwinnable or winnable, but I do know that this is exclusively from companies abusing the laws they groomed into creation using lobbying. And supposedly, The US Government removed 1984 from The Internet Archive as well ages ago.

Secondly,

the advance of piracy sites, wether or not you agree to them or not, is a sign. Piracy is a situation of stealing media and granting it to others illegally. However, It is also true that legitimate means of observing things are infact, literally requiring piracy at times due to them being otherwise Lost Media, aka "Gone and unable to ever be experienced again"... This is a VERRRY big topic, bigger than one thread could discuss without being almost exclusively it, however I will summarize some of the issues Piracy has, both the issues it solves and the issues it causes.

1: It harms legitimate Sources of this stuff. While true that it is infact doing this, it is also true that people generally prefer a better platform, and consistently Piracy Platforms are only worse in ads, and that is slowly changing to be that the main sites are worse.

2: It inherently is illegal and should be avoided, however If official Companies are going to take advantage of monopolies and antagonize their audience, Piracy is a valid alternative. And, I'd vastly prefer legitimate sites, and most people would. But, name a site that hasn't gone to hell(not good like this hellsite) that is official.

3: Piracy brings people to danger by them risking doing something illegal to provide for others, Companies LOOVE to ruin the lives of piracy providers. This however is something people will fight for anyway despite the inevitability.

4: Companies are destroying their media because they want you to buy new things, and intentionally incorporate Planned Obsolescence, a very complicated and evil thing where to sum it up, companies make products DESIGNED to break after a short time, and prevent you from repairing it so you're forced to buy a whole new copy of that item. Food is an exception usually, but it is not untouched. Piracy helps with preserving this media and preventing these scummy tactics, because a copy not in control of a company is a copy that can be worked on, maintained, and repaired. This is better to have rights rather than pirate, but we don't have ANY rights that cover making that act doable by anyone without a lot of money and resources.

5: Fundamentally, Piracy is providing a better service in terms of usability and ease of access, which feeds into point 1 but on its own is also worth discussing, because without Piracy the only way for us to access anime in the US is VERY expensive shipping, going to japan directly, Crunchyroll/MAL, or piracy. And this applies to a LOT more media than you realize.

6: Piracy, while it should absolutely NOT be encouraged to be treated this way, provides competition for these Companies. You should NOT have pirates even as a competitor, but the fact they are is a bad sign. Companies currently are *Very* monopolized. They may seem to have competition, but the vast majority of companies are owned by other companies, which are owned by bigger companies, and usually down the chain, you realize all soda is made by 1 megacorporation and the competition is purely a facade for making loyalty to the brands.

And yes, This is a SUMMARY of this, it can go on for a LOOOT longer, each of these is packed with enough information to make a big post on its own, But... moving along.

Thirdly,

Copyright Law Supposedly was made the way it was purely due to lobbying. I do not believe lobbying should exist- Now- There SHOULD be an equivelant, but NOT a thing that allows companies to PAY for LEGAL CHANGES. It should be proven in court there is precedented need for the change and have jury decide in a randomized state to prevent sabotoge of jury. Maybe Im wrong and my suggestion is bad, or that there should be 0 equivelant, however I do know for a fact Lobbying is inherently bad in how it is designed currently. And it needs to be addressed.

Fourthly,

There is a movement that Youtuber "Ross Scott" is working alongside others to change EU Law. I know, I know, seems stupid to bring it up, but listen here: They are fighting to change precedent so as to bully companies in america to stop being predatory in their practices. This movement carries a LOT of risk, but if you are wanting to do ANYTHING about copyright, this is Step 1 of 12. You need only to look into the movement's efforts and see if you agree or disagree. If you want to help them? Do so, but if you do not, understand that them failing to remove any possibility of non-piracy means of preserving Games, just as removing the Internet Archive is removing means of preserving lost media of its own and preserving Historical Record.

Fithly and Lastly,

There is a fundamental truth that many of us ignore because its too big and distant to focus on, but as detailed in a previous post... There is a VERY Dangerous issue with how people functionally operate to create change: It is a proven fact that nomatter how abused, tortured, restricted, restrained, or maligned someone is, People will vastly prefer to maintain mundanity. And, this isn't just me saying "oh boo hoo people are lazy because they wanna live life"-No. I am saying DIRECTLY that if there isn't something explicitly In the Way of mundane life, people will NEVER EVER Fight for change or to even look into the possibility that it could. Thing is, if you don't inform people of how it will affect their lives, people will see "Oh no, Companies are evil Again", maybe they get mad, but almost never will they actually put time to researching it. They will just assume its another bad thing and move on, even if they get mad for a bit, the moment ANY tiny inch of progress is made, they relieved the stress "knowing" that the issue will be solved. That leads to every step being backstepped.

And, people doomscroll, but why? Its normalized for things to be bad right now, and it hurts them heavily, but they scroll because it gives them feelings and a sense of the world, it is NOT research, this is a warping view that corrupts your very idea of the world. This often makes them feel hopeless, helpless. This is a bad thing and it is incorrect. You are NOT helpless, You are NOT hopeless, nor is the world too fucked up to fix.

The world seems to be declining but it is not something unable to be stopped, nor do you need to become some kind of monster or lose the mundanity in your life to change things: All you need to do, is spread the word and do what I fail to do due to severe miseducation: Research this so that you can better explain to others what this will do, why it will hurt them, and what they can do. And I think we can do something, after all the US is supposedly a Democracy(Its actually A Republic) and if we make a big enough stink about it, like sending words of our support to the right places(Like the courts, presidency, our vote on that stuff, and companies) we can START change. We cannot let up however after we start to see it, we have to hold them to promises by actually continuing our support, they will ALWAYS start with a small but significant change, but not enough of one that will fix it, So we have to pressure them. You need not hold up protests or risk your life, merely consider... trying to spread this information and correcting incorrections, while also trying to simply write to the correct people. We have much to work on, but out of everything: this is where we need to start, because soon... we almost guarenteed will lose the very media we have to communicate with, and I hope to Gods that we are never forced into violence over it.

I do not know if this will ever spread, but if you want to spread this using a unified Tag, I'd say #CopyrightIsCarnage and #ResistCopyright would work well. And remember: Companies are NOT people, except legally, which they shouldn't be.

[soul-dwelling]

Best place to read the English translation of Soul Eater online? I’ve been warned that online translations are incomplete, out of order, or generally bad…

Short version before I rant:

If you're reading online, buy the Yen Press translations; if you have the money and want more accuracy and are fine not reading online and instead with a hard copy, I guess you have to buy the Square Enix "Perfect Edition" (although fuck Square for not having an ebook version); I'm not going to link to scanlations here.

Now, the long rant:

I'm not up for sharing scanlation sites and unofficial translations, even as I think they are necessary in manga distribution and discourse.

Nothing against scanlators, who do and have done important work, especially for works that never get licensed in other languages. But I tend to have more confidence in the translations coming from Square Enix working with Yen Press or other North American distributors, rather than fans who are not in communication with the original creators to make sure intended meaning is retained as closely as possible across different languages.

A scanlation gets you by in between the leak of a chapter in Japan and the official translation that comes out within a few days or at worst months; a scanlation is not a good substitute for an official translation.

(And that's not ignoring that some scanlations can get it more accurate than the official source, or that a scanlation works as an alternate translation that may bring out additional meaning that the official translation failed to.)

2. Get the Yen Press versions if you are reading online.

The best place for reading online is from the publishers themselves, such as the Yen Press translation that you can get from Yen Press as an ebook or on the Manga Up app.

(Granted, Manga Up does the stupid black censor bars: look, I rant against the shitty fanservice in Soul Eater, but blacking it out and acting like it's not there is also stupid.)

The problem is that the Yen Press translation feels outdated, not only due to the more recent translation by Square Enix (more on that in a moment), but because the Square Enix translation updates Crona's pronouns.

3. What the fuck is wrong with Square Enix?

And that leads to my rant:

I have not picked up the Square Enix "Perfect Edition." And I appreciate that they have updated art, updated translation, etc. But there is such an accessibility / price barrier there: it's probably going to be more than $300 to read the updated translation because it's only a hardcover edition, no ebook version available.

What kind of bullshit is this? I know buying the Yen Press versions as ebooks is also an investment, but at least I can have those as ebooks and not pay more than $300. With the "Perfect Edition," I now have to clear bookshelf space. I get it, it's a better print, it has the color artwork--that's all fine. But what if I don't want another physical book taking up space?

Maybe Square Enix will eventually release these in ebook format, or maybe I just haven't seen that announcement yet. But it is galling that the only way you can get the updated translation is by purchasing the hardcovers only.

Hey, Square Enix? People wouldn't be asking about online translations if you actually made the newly translated books available online and affordable (or even free temporarily on Manga Up--with the updated Crona pronouns and no stupid black bars) instead of charging an Elric limb for them. Viz may have too much of a monopoly on publishing, but they aren't charging this much. Yen Press has managed to make some simul-published chapters affordable as ebooks. Why is an updated translation of Soul Eater priced so high?

[bottlepiecemuses]

real world history ( stuff japan did during ww2

Here's a section of an article about Unit 731 that relates to MarutaUnit 731 started out as a research unit, investigating the effects of disease and injury on the fighting ability of an armed force. One element of the unit, called "Maruta," took this research a little further than the usual bounds of medical ethics by observing injuries and the course of disease on living patients.At first, these patients were volunteers from the ranks of the army, but as the experiments reached the limits of what could be non-invasively observed, and as the supply of volunteers dried up, the unit turned to the study of Chinese POWs and civilian prisoners.And as the concept of consent went out the window, so did the restraint of the researchers. It was around this time that Unit 731 began referring to confined research subjects as "logs," or "Maruta" in Japanese.Study methods in these experiments were barbaric.Vivisection, for example, is the practice of mutilating human bodies, without anesthesia, to study the operations of living systems. Thousands of men and women, mostly Chinese communist prisoners as well as children and elderly farmers, were infected with diseases such as cholera and the plague, then had their organs removed for examination before they died in order to study the effects of the disease without the decomposition that occurs after death.Subjects had limbs amputated and reattached to the other side of the body, while others had their limbs crushed or frozen, or had the circulation cut off to observe the progress of gangrene.Finally, when a prisoner's body was all used up, they would typically be shot or killed by lethal injection, though some may have been buried alive. None of the Chinese, Mongolian, Korean, or Russian prisoners assigned to Unit 731 survived their confinement.https://allthatsinteresting.com/unit-731

For those wondering about the Nanjing Massacre Museum:

You enter through a giant room with a reflection pool in the middle. The number 300,000 is reflected in the water which causes you to look up where it is illuminated on the ceiling. Often times numbers, when used in statistics and don't capture the true tragedy. You notice the stone walls are 15 feet high and covered from top to bottom with Chinese characters, 6 inch by 2 inch blocks, each a name of a victim. There are so many names that the average Chinese person can find someone with their name who died in Nanjing. I myself have a Chinese name （夏文轩) given to me by my teacher, very obscure, yet I found someone with it, further personalizing each victim to everyone who learns of this atrocity.  

You're led into a room full of binders, again stacked on shelves towering over you. Each binder contains pictures, registries, certificates, and anything else relating to the people that perished. Only a few are open for observation, but It might as well be a library with the sheer amount of records.

After this, one is able to proceed into a series of exhibits and has the freedom to move to different ones. One learns the true meaning of "Rape" in the "Rape of Nanjing", where women (and children) were kept in hospitals as sex slaves for the Japanese army. Accounts from comfort women being raped 40-50 times per day were common. Records detailing how Japanese soldiers would eventually lose interest because the women were "not tight" enough or not "pleasurable enough" due to the repeated violence. One soldier even noted how he became disgusted when it turned out a woman's vagina had festered due to disease and neglect.

One particular exhibit showed a board game soldiers would play to pass the time. It was marked with different spaces, each relating to an aspect of the conquest of Nanjing. Dice, cards, and pieces all moved around the game based on kills or prisoners taken. A dark monopoly if you will… just a game

Another exhibit showed a photo of a few Japanese soldiers holding a banner and a trophy next to a few dead bodies. It was an award ceremony to a soldier who killed the most civilians in one day, with just over 170 confirmed deaths. Samurai swords were used in place of rifles since it was a more "sporting" way to play this contest… just a game…

This is only some of what is shown in the museum, and only some of the history that took place and claimed the lives and spirits of some 300,000 people in Nanjing - in just six weeks.

[silverslipstream]

Happy WBW! What's the harshest part of your world? Be it a place, a law, something character-created or otherwise, what is just HARSH?

Happy Worldbuilding Wednesday Tori, thanks for the ask!

There a lot of things that are pretty harsh in White Sky. I mean, our solar system as a setting is pretty rough. The Moon is a borderline-police state stuffed with wealth disparity and an ongoing brushfire conflict between ELTO and various fringe groups, and that's just the domes. The helium-3 mining industry is a cutthroat corporate war between corporations, countries and the odd criminal syndicate, all in an environment that will kill an unprepared human in a couple of minutes flat. Mars is a sparsely populated, heavily controlled hellhole where the slightest inefficiency or failure is punishable by imprisonment or death, as well as the planet being freezing cold, inhospitable and covered in toxic soil. Even Earth is pretty rough: things may be gradually improving now, but there are still major wars, corporations rival governments and a lot of the world is ecologically devastated after a tumultuous mid-21st century.

ELTO themselves are pretty harsh as an organisation. They were originally formed as a sort of 'space United Nations' after a space-based war between the US and the former Soviet Union in the late 1990s/early 2000s. Initially, they were democratic and benevolent; however, more and more money started to be made in space development, and ELTO became a de facto 'first-world' club. Many developing nations are discouraged or outright restricted from space travel, while ELTO focuses their efforts on first-world nations like Japan, the EU and the United States. They've turned a blind eye to the imperialism of first-world nations (for example, the US/Mexico's current campaign to annex much of Central America, Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador in order to claim more arable land and equatorial launch sites, or the lunar disputed territory between Japan and India) while exploiting favourable third-world countries for their own gain. Since they hold a monopoly on space defense, travel and assets in the signatory nations', there's not many countries who can stand against them. As the crew of the Caroline soon discover, ELTO's near-limitless reach has plenty of downsides...

[crystalmaiden77real]

Every Fallacy Supporting Game Purism, All 11 of them:

Game Purism means permanently hating every adaptation and 99% of adaptational changes and characters just because of the initial feeling of “ different = bad “ and so even a potential flawlessly written adaptation would get hated for one difference.

Appeal to Authority, Appeal to Flattery, Appeal to Ignorance, Appeal to Pity, Because I Said So, The Perfect Solution Fallacy, Appeal to Novelty (in favor of only the games and its changes), Appeal to Minority, Appeal to Tradition, Confirmation Bias, Everything Except Most Things. That’s 11 fallacies.

How else can you disprove an opinion than by showing it’s only supported by a lot of fallacies? Taken from the Fallacy Fallacy description itself, “ if the only reason to accept a claim is a fallacious argument, accepting the claim anyway is unreasonable. “ And it’s very easy to claim that an opinion is based on facts and be wrong, for example you could claim French Fries are entirely healthy because of the fact that they’re made of potatoes but we all know they’re junk food that go with burgers and milkshakes.

There’s going to be another article containing even more fallacies. They use 19 fallacies after that when they’re arguing against people, and a few I’ve seen to justify an assumption that I think only game purists would use but I’m not sure, so it’ll be in another article with the rest, just to be fair to any game purists who don't waste time their time insulting and arguing with people who don't agree with them, any ones that are just polite instead of causing problems.

1: Appeal to Authority: They say Sonic Team and Sega of Japan should be adhered to at all times by Sonic and only the game purist who’s currently speaking is allowed to criticize them, because they made the Sonic games and have authority over them, therefore they must always know best.

  This ignores that not only has Sega of Japan made mistakes before but Sega of America’s CEO Tom Kalinske said Sonic should be a franchise instead of a tech demo so they’re the ones responsible for the franchise existing. The two Segas are the mother and father of Sonic. Sega of Japan’s the mother who wanted to terminate the pregnancy. And Izuika said he preferred Mario in an interview.

It ignores all of Sega of America’s help with the series like having the Genesis come with the first two Sonic games and doing a marketing campaign against Mario - both ideas that SoJ hated. The Japanese Mega Drive flopped from not doing that. “ Duh but Japan’s not its primary market “ not a gotcha when the Mega Drive flopping proves that Sega of Japan’s Japanese appealing policies aren’t profitable and trying to appeal to people who’d agree with them like game purists isn’t profitable.

When Sega of Japan tried to pander to Americans themselves we got Shadow the Hedgehog and Rise of Lyric, yes they were responsible for some of the latter game which is why it was like Jak and Daxter. Sega of America’s point was to appeal to Americans better because they’re from America.

  And then they stripped away their independence and then wondered why Sonic Boom failed. And it ignores all the money Sega of Japan made off of licensing Sonic out so much, when I thought they loved Sega of Japan, or do they just love Sonic Team, because they like the Sonic Channel comics they made too?

It’s proven that Sonic wouldn’t have made as much money to fall back on if SoA had no independence, for all we know after their consoles failed Sonic would be bankrupt if these adaptations didn’t exist.

  And Americans could’ve come up with Sonic because Sonic the Hedgehog’s full of Western influences. He only originated in Japan because it had a monopoly on 90s mainstream games, and in the 90s no game developers cared about story in their platformers. But game purists treat Sonic like an anime regardless and put the Japanese at the top of a hierarchy. They’re oddly silent on the fact that the creators of Sonic, Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima, like SatAM, the latter having a SatAM box set. And Yuji Naka spoke English so he did say Mobian in interviews.

  So what’s the point of being a purist if even the Japanese who made Sonic don’t agree with you? I said hierarchy earlier. Game purism’s all about believing that hierarchy’s good, but only the hierarchies they like, so anything that reinforces or bolsters them is good, and that the status quo’s perfect so anything breaking or adding to it must be bad, and they want Sega of Japan/Sonic Team to have had full domination over the series the whole time and for all time like a dictator.

Does that belief structure sound familiar? “ Hierarchy’s good, only the hierarchies I like, so anything that bolsters them is good, and we should have a strong authority rule. “

That’s fascism. You can mostly have non-fascist beliefs but the beliefs I outlined fall under that. Treating every continuity equally like it’s its own thing is equality.

2: Appeal to Flattery: “ Claiming that a certain conclusion reflects well on anyone who agrees with it or poorly on anyone who does not. “ If they didn’t believe that being a game purist reflected well on you they wouldn’t be game purists. That's why this is in THIS post. Game purists all claim that no true Sonic fan isn’t a game purist who can’t take criticism of the games.

The concept that other people can apply criticism out of love because they just want improvement is alien to them. Some of them must have abusive parents if they can’t conceive that you could insult something or someone without hating them.

3: Appeal to Ignorance: “ The claim that a statement must be true because it wasn’t proven false, or false because it wasn’t proven true, instead of admitting any uncertainty. “ This is them when they say something isn’t like the games because they assume it never will be because the games didn’t give them enough info on Sega’s image of its world and characters to know better. You could use this to say that the echidnas won’t be based on Aztecs after looking at the Sonic Adventures comic that came out long before SA1.

  Without knowing that was the plan for them in the games it would look like that comic got them wrong, but no one had any way of knowing Sega’s plan yet. They must have said before Unleashed that Game Sonic doesn’t love chili dogs like SatAM Sonic did first because the games didn’t prove that.

They also stan Lost World despite it having Tails be threatened with roboticization in the style of Underground and looking like he was briefly. So when the games do something identically it’s fine. Then how is an idea is bad just because it wasn’t in the games yet?

  STC had the Emeralds be something aliens used in space that happened to land on the planet. So at the time they would’ve said that’s not true because it didn’t happen in the games but Frontiers did that later. STC did the concept of Amy fighting with a weapon first. You could look at that back then and say Amy would never fight in the games because she hadn’t done it yet and so the idea sucks. Most people like ideas in fiction without caring about where they appeared first.

  Game purists have basically said, “ How do you know that they needed Sega of America to have Sonic succeed? “ despite in the same paragraph acknowledging that they told Sega of Japan not to have Madonna and a rock band for Sonic. They conveniently leave out that the reason Sonic 1 sold 15 million copies was because of the American CEO Tom Kalinske’s idea to package it with the Genesis, and just leave it at saying that Sonic 1 selling well is somehow proof that SoJ did enough to humor America.

  Meanwhile Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles bombed in Japan and it didn’t have the same marketing campaign as the West and they weren’t packaged with the Genesis. Yet they claim that because you can’t go to an alternate universe and see Sonic go the way of Alex Kidd because it was handled the way it was in more than just Japan, that “ absence of evidence is evidence of absence “ of Sega of America being necessary for Sonic to make it this long.

  Ignoring that Japan had the Genesis and 32X bomb which proves how bad the way Sega of Japan’s way of handling things is, the OVA not making it into a full anime, only the West getting a 3rd season of Sonic X, sales in Japan usually being worse even after you account for them having a third of the population of the US, the Sonic movies all flopping in Japan…

  The same logic for respecting Sega of Japan applies to Sega of America too. Their difference is nationality. Do they believe authority should be respected or not? The only thing game purists believe is that their personal preferences are the only ones that should be respected with fiction. These extremists are the result of anime fans getting into Sonic because they think of it as an anime and only emphasize it as a video game series to mask that because the games came from Japan first.

  Whose idea was it to have a separate Sega branch for America anyway-it was Sega of Japan’s idea because they’re the original branch to exist. I thought they thought Sega of Japan was always right. No they think they should’ve said, “ You can’t do that with our brand “ a lot more in the old days, they’re all in with the Brand Era of Sonic, which means they don’t even respect old Sega of Japan in practice and only claim to to have convincing arguments for why old adaptations should be 1 to 1.

   How many purists were introduced in the Brand Era? The era you start in can create a false impression of how a series is supposed to be. Maybe it’s only Sonic Team they respect. But Sonic Team was never in charge of what the story of Sonic would be, and they didn’t make Sonic the Hedgehog, Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima from SoJ and the American mother of Sonic who came up with Madonna did. The purists need to read a book called The Console Wars.

4: Appeal to Pity: “ Attempting to make someone feel sorry for either the arguer or the subject of the argument to convince people to believe the argument. “ One of their main arguments is you should feel sorry for Sega of Japan because other continuities have their own interpretations and new ideas, that they could’ve prevented but didn’t, because they’d disapprove of that and you should have empathy. But what about Sega of America’s feelings, why not feel sorry for people who get harassed for liking other continuities?

How about if the people responsible for the adaptational differences got harassed? They deserve empathy too! So only the Japanese and game purists deserve pity? Not the people who made the franchise a franchise, not writers who weren’t told enough stuff by Sega of Japan? And again Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima liked SatAM. Yet these purists would only see Appeal to Pity as manipulative if their opponents use it. “ Feel sorry for the board of directors of SoJ that fired the American CEO for having profitable ideas they hated. “

  Just because there’s a few people who like one work of fiction and harass people who don’t doesn’t prove that adaptational differences shouldn’t exist either, if the logic is fans of “ spinoffs “ don’t deserve happiness because there’s a few bad apples and some are tired of the games, that logic could be applied to, game purists don’t deserve what they want because there’s bad apples and they’re all tired of the other continuities.

Some adaptational differences shouldn’t have existed, because they’re bad. I think most are bad so far but I only listed those of the shows. Usually I prefer the spinoffs like the games. They wanna throw the baby out with the bathwater though.

5: Circular Reasoning: “ Such an argument can be simplified down to ” it’s true because it’s true.”  The basis behind all of the actual game purist beliefs. They’re like, “ Everything but the games are bad because the games are good because Sonic Team made them and so anything not made by Sonic Team is bad because the games are good! “ But they don’t hate the Mario movie for not being 1 to 1, and every other franchise they like that isn’t made by Sonic Team and is nothing like Sonic, and yet they still don’t know why people like adaptations.

  Ask how it could be possible for Sonic Team to be incapable of making mistakes and they’ll say “ Because the games are good. “ They’re like, “ Most people who like something besides the source material of Sonic or Castlevania or Pac Man hates the source material! “ Why? “ Because I think they do! If you criticize something, that means you hate it. “ How do they feel about Sonic 06? Well one of them literally said, “ I actually like the games, ALL OF THEM. “ What about Spinball for Game Gear? So they’re either liars or crazy.

  What they actually believe is just, “ It’s always bad for an adaptation to be different from what I’m used to in JUST the source material for the series I believe this about, because fiction should only be catered to me. “ If asked why, they could either be honest and say, “ Because I Said So! “ meaning because they’re selfish, or make up excuses that sound objective by being broad.

6: Because I Said So: “ A variant of Appeal to Authority, this fallacy is more formally known as Proof by Assertion. This fallacy posits that something is true or false, right or wrong, simply because the speaker says so, shutting down anyone who asks them why this is the case. “ It’s also their defense for Tails’ bragging in Lost World not meaning he was egotistical when Sonic’s bragging in IDW means he’s egotistical. The literal defense is, “ No he wasn’t, “ and then insults.

  That’s all. They’re like “ maybe he wasn’t! “ Well then maybe in other continuities Sonic wasn’t egotistical either! And I would try to explain why if I thought that. But any reasoning would still have it be a maybe. They talk about Tails as if they think he’s a real celebrity whose feelings are getting hurt by people criticizing him for cowering to Chaos 0, and so they must defend his honor and one criticism of him not being the badass he was in the Classics anymore is a blockable offense.

7: The Perfection Solution Fallacy: “Rejecting an idea because it doesn’t solve all addressed issues. “If we can’t fix it perfectly, we shouldn’t try at all.” “ They do this, they say the adaptations like IDW shouldn’t exist and wish they never existed, because even hiring new writers is probably not gonna make them good for them because their idea of good is just 1 to 1. Never mind the joy they brought others or money they made Sega, which morally means it’s a net positive that they exist. They only care about themselves.

  “ the Perfect Solution Fallacy is arguing that a course of action is no good because it is not perfect. “ Like saying that the making of all of the adaptations amounted to being no good because they’re not perfect to them. Because none of the adaptations live up to their imagined impossible scenario where they’re just like the games, they conclude that none of them can be good.

The fallacy being that of course an imagined scenario is idealized so that’s not fair to do a comparison on and makes it impossible to like any of them and takes a defeatist attitude to them that would’ve had Sega make far less money if they took it.

   So there’s a reason they didn’t let this get them down. “ Art subverting my expectations is always bad! “ Talk about missing the point of art. For millennia even back in ancient Greek statue sculpting the most beloved art has been the art that surprises the audience and innovates, while an artist that isn’t creative or admires the status quo will bore people.

8: “ Appeal to Novelty is a logical fallacy where someone claims that a proposal, idea, work, or trend is better or more accurate than what came before, solely because it is newer or more recent. “ Game purists even do this, as whenever confronted with inaccurate characterization in the games they deny it’s inaccurate at all, which has to be because of this fallacy that because it’s the newer characterization that means it’s accurate, because it was Sega of Japan updating them.

  THIS ignores that it’s still inaccurate to their bios. So if Knuckles in a new game became a fruit salesman and says he’s never guarded any Emerald, it’d be accurate? Amy being not Amy anymore would be defended as being an updating of her for sure. She was updated for modern times because feminists took issue with Amy Rose being a bad role model for girls. I don't miss her creeping Sonic out, because I care about Sonic. So I’m not saying it’s always bad to change a character.

But it’s not good JUST because it’s new and it is still not Amy. And no, updating her Generations bio didn't make this okay. That's revisionist history censorship that still doesn't change the fact that she wasn't always like this and it's never explained why she changed.

  They deny Tails being egotistical in Lost World with just “ No he wasn’t, “ even though his character bios debunk the idea that he should be bragging to himself. Sure, he bragged to Sonic about his biplane in SA1, which must be to make sure he stays proud of him, but he would never brag to himself as he’s trying to reprogram the roboticizer in a completely straight-faced way with nothing in his tone implying that he’s only kidding himself, no nervousness at all.

  And if you feel the need to insist that a character’s trait is just a façade it looks like you’re not comfortable with it regardless of whether you’re right or wrong. I said that about how Sonic’s too egotistical in the movies and the novels and picture books based on SatAM.

Their insistence that Sonic’s humble based on cherrypicked evidence like him looking bashful in a cutscene for a recent Classic Sonic game and one 3D Blast cutscene means they aren’t comfortable with him being cocky even in the games or else they’d say nothing of the sort and only compliment him acting arrogant.

  But being confident is one of his core traits from the start that got Sonic popular. Being bashful or even skeptical of praise is from insecurity, obviously out of character for Sonic who bragged his way through Forces. But because it’s new, they make too big a deal out of the Superstars out of character moment that make no sense for the guy who wags his finger in the Classic Era and looks confident on the title screens and boasts that he’s gonna crack this Eggman wide open.

 Their entire basis aside from Appeal to Authority for supporting this is it’s new and thus an update. Downgrades are also new! And yet they’ll never apply this logic to adaptational changes, because SoJ their lord and savior can’t downgrade.

So despite how their criticism of Flynn appeared to me at first, they aren’t against stanning of Flynn for being stanning, they’re against it because it’s worship of a different god than theirs. I never thought they’d fall under THIS fallacy because the stans of the newer continuities are the ones most guilty of this.

  But what else do you call them doing stuff like seeing Cream cower from Egg Pawns with Cheese for several seconds until Knuckles save her and not calling it out as disrespectful and out of character? They must not see it as Out of Character because it’s from Sonic Team, so it’s updating her, even though that same game had her fearlessly jump into a portal to go fight a mechanical montrosity.  The cowering has no place in even the game it was in. But apparently it’s fine because it happened after that!

  They also defend Knuckles not guarding the Emerald like he’s supposed to. I can defend it with the Ad Hoc that Tails made a subtle security system for the Master Emerald like an invisible force field around it or the island itself or a robot. That way Knuckles isn't risking anything so it doesn't insult his character. THEY say it’s offscreen Character Development that he wanted to explore and have fun and that because at the end of Heroes Rouge said the Emerald must be somewhere nearby because Knuckles is there it means Knuckles has the Emerald buried nearby any time he’s with the heroes.

  Never mind that it’s still careless because of the very strong possibility that whenever he goes with Sonic he’s gonna end up far away from wherever he buried it, so Knuckles doing that with the Emerald is still carelessly risking it getting stolen. Since Rouge figures out the Emerald might be relatively nearby because she saw him, he should know he’s putting it at risk by being off Angel Island because Eggman with the 300 IQ would figure out what she did just from seeing him.

  After Sonic 3 he would’ve learned not to stray from the Emerald. So saying it’s in-character because of Sonic 3 when the point of the game was he learned Eggman wouldn’t stay away from his Emerald would be like saying Amy again trying to beat up Sonic to get her to marry her would be in-character or Shadow wanting to destroy the world would always be in-character because of SA2. And yet nobody liked it with King Shadow, because he was regressing. So why is that only bad when the comics do it?

  If Sonic Team did it they’d only briefly insult it at best. Character Development is just a positive way of phrasing “ a character is Out of Character from how he was earlier for a reason “ and they do it without any evidence that his carelessness is good and thus not Character Derailment, and how is restating what other people say about Knuckles refuting their point? Game purists complain about Archie fans doing that when they say it wasn’t meant to be like the games because " that’s what I'm complaining about! "

  Archie fans are saying that in a nice way in the same sense that Transformers wasn’t meant to be like Sonic. I say that because a game purist likes Transformers One. Game purists are saying that the game characters now are off as if it's not bad as well.

The only reason you would say it’s a good thing that Knuckles was smacked by Amy in Generations as comedy relief and was carried away by Flickies as comedy relief when he was taken seriously in Sonic 3 aside from you hating Knuckles would be that it’s new by Sonic Team therefore good. How far does that go? Knuckles could beat up chao and they’d tell you to stop whining.

  Best case scenario they’d complain once but then stop minding, like how they were with the changes to cutscenes in Sonic X Shadow Generations. They sugarcoat Knuckles being off his island as Character Development when he wasn’t ever off it in Sonic 3. Because him being careless is fun to him so any game character doing anything he likes is good! So if he got a girlfriend in the games to kiss they’d like that, but only when it’s the games, not because they share in the happiness of any characters.

  But they rip apart the idea of Surge having any offscreen Character Development that would justify her being different than how she first started, because it was offscreen. They don’t whine about him still guarding it in the Sonic Frontiers short by the way. If it was a comic book not produced by Sonic Team they would, I know because they DO complain about Knuckles being glued to the Emerald in IDW. If the fanbase was just them, then Tails and Shadow wouldn’t have been playable in SA2.

  They were playable because fans complained about them not being playable in their original idea for SA2. It was just gonna have Eggman for the dark side. They won’t accept any explanation for Surge’s characterization that’s not explicitly shown. They insist she couldn’t have been told anything about Sonic’s adventures because it wasn’t shown.

  No one saw Professor Pickle inform the people who were scared of Dark Gaia’s monsters about Dark Gaia so they’ll know what the hell was going on, realistically, therefore they never thought about why the general public would know about Dark Gaia. This took me seconds, they would’ve figured this out if they weren’t in bad faith. Also the movie Tails spied on Sonic with technology from another freaking world somehow, at that point Starline could do the same thing for Sonic and Eggman and HE’D make sense as a stalker.

  Starline never saw Dark Gaia as far as we know therefore Surge couldn’t know about it, because offscreen stuff can’t be canon if it defends the comics, but saying offscreen Character Development actually justifies main characters getting brain transplants is fine by them, because it defends the games. That’s their entire thought process, never mind that the first makes sense and the latter doesn’t.

  They complain about the mindset Comics Good Games Bad but do the inverse just as mindlessly without seeing anything wrong with that because the games are better than the comics now. But IDW fans are like that because they think the comics are better than the games. What’s wrong with both mindsets is that everything should be treated equally, it’s immoral to be otherwise, and that means treating everything and everyone with equal scrutiny!

  But as the most extreme of them put it to excuse rudeness, “ Morality is fake, we made it up. “ Instead they insist that not every writer deserves as much scrutiny as Flynn and Evan. That is having Double Standards, and those who have it are usually called hypocrites, when it’s not literally that by definition, so that was usually what I meant in my article about how hypocrisy in game purists is rampant.

  I could go on and on. And I had to to prove my point because it’s so shocking that Appeal to Novelty would apply to them and not just their rivals. They defend Shadow’s official character bio now that says he has no love for humanity and acts like he’s still evil to avoid spoiling SA2 and won’t mention Black Doom created him, and then they wonder why he keeps getting mischaracterized as evil by Flynn. He’s also made like that by the writer of the Sonic and the Tales of novels.

  Multiple game purists have said Shadow has no love for humanity simply because his NEW character bio lies about the canon of the games. Why did he fight Solaris then?! Oh it was only for Maria all of a sudden? Sure there may have been room for interpretation, he never says it’s not only for Maria, but they never apply that leniency to Archie so why should I here?

Also the same game purists take it seriously that at the end of Shadow the Hedgehog he says, " Goodbye forever Shadow the Hedgehog, " and throws away Maria's photo and leaves the ARK even though you can't just get over PTSD. They take it seriously by thinking Sega's still going with the idea that he's not being a hero to take Maria's place anymore even though that game was unpopularly written. This is doublethink. Either he's not being a hero for Maria anymore or he IS! But they switch what they argue for depending on what lets them criticize an adaptation.

  Because it’s newer you also won’t see the normally traditionalist purists complain about the Chaotix having their personalities completely changed for no reason after Knuckles Chaotix in the games, how Vector was given a cool redesign for no reason, how they’re detectives now, and Charmy’s no longer 16. Instead they’ll give Archie shit for not portraying Charmy as childish because they were going with Sega’s old age for him.

  Never mind that nearly everyone finds Charmy annoying specifically because he’s a kid – as the same traits are present in characters they like that are older – so this was clearly a bad change. You also won’t see these normally traditionalist purists hating on the Modern redesigns of the Sonic characters, because they’re newer. Then by the same logic they should’ve preferred the Riders redesigns and been mad when the games after them didn’t keep using them.

  Being new isn’t bad, but not inherently good, so it’s a neutral that’s good in the absence of anything bad about it. In terms of a viewing experience for the first time it’s good because the point of experiencing a new story is to experience something new, so it needs enough bad to cancel that out. So no not all Archie fans are dominated by this fallacy.

With the game purists’ track record they would defend Tails not accompanying Sonic in the adventures anymore with this fallacy. But that’s all his character was when he first showed up!

  They never complained about Tails not fighting during the scene in Forces where everyone was fighting. But they freaked out at him not fighting in favor of carrying Belle towards a place to keep her safe. Even though keeping her safe was a good excuse morally, while he had no excuse for not fighting in the games.

But “ Sonic Team good comics bad beep boop anything new of theirs is justified. “ But they know it’d be stupid to say the same about �� Western writers. “ That’s why they frustrate me, how confusing it is that even someone smart in some situations can be wrong in others.

8: Appeal to Minority: " The inverse of Appeal to Popularity, which is the belief that something is true because most people believe it is. Appeal to Minority can be summed up as ” everyone says I am wrong, therefore I am right.” “ If they didn’t think this they wouldn’t still be game purists.

  They by definition hate every alternate continuity including the movies which means the entire fanbase would hate any one of them they saw but they repeatedly mention that they’re being corrected all the time and respond with shit like the literal quote, “ …because I’m literally always right and always winning! “

  Neither fallacy answers the question of whether it’s more moral and smart for Sega or a writer to go with what the majority want something that’s meant for entertainment of people and making a lot of money to be like even if it is inaccurate. You can only answer that question with your empathy and common sense because it could bomb financially from alienating the 99.9% or make more money than just okay if it does the alternative.

 “ The “silent majority” argument combines this with Begging the Question, since the lack of existence of popular support is held to show something is so popular nobody bothers to openly declare support for it rather than so unpopular nobody supports it. “

  Game purists think the ones who only like the games are the majority and therefore only game fans should be catered to because the games are the most famous property and those who like SatAM are an extreme minority – even the Nostalgia Critic loved it and he once thought Sonic could swim. Shows are easier for non-fans to get into and see all of them than potentially hard games, go figure.

  People voting with their wallets IS open support. Most people didn’t buy Lost World when it first came out, not even the PC and 3DS versions, but stans of the games would. That’s how I know game purists aren’t the silent majority. Despite their lying otherwise they aren’t purists because they like the games. Most people like the games but most people aren’t canon fascists.

You don’t even have to like the games to hate an adaptational difference in Sonic or even know about it being inaccurate because some differences are bad even in a vacuum. There are other reasons they have a mindset of conserving the status quo which is a conservative mindset... such as...

9: Appeal to Tradition: “ Claiming something is superior to something else because the first is older. “ There it is, the most important fallacy for them of them all! The games were thought up first, therefore they create rules that to them must be marched in lockstep with for all time without thinking first about the pros and cons of doing so!

  Even when the games themselves change the rules they’re still perfect and they just conveniently stop caring about said rules almost as if they never actually loved the rules in the first place! Why would anyone get mad that Green Hill takes up too much space on the Forces globe and is on a continent instead of South Island? We were always at war with Eastasia!

  They won’t complain about animals not popping out of badniks in everything because Heroes put an end to that for no reason. Who cares about Sonic’s identity right? I’d think they would more than anyone! So, if the games had Eggman stop being evil, they wouldn’t complain and would instead try to impose that on the comics? Do they stan for Sage because she’s a game character?

Well the most extreme purist I saw is a Frontiers stan but another purist hates it and her. So it’s about how extreme you are. The most radicalized of all are only really invested in their agenda. If you see a series screwing up the characterization or world and are only interested in pushing your agenda again about one hierarchy being better, you don't care about its characters and world. This applies to stans of ruined characterization in IDW too. I’m never unaware of when the fallacies apply to the other extreme.

  Sonic 1 might have not been the first Sonic property to come out. All I could get about when the Sonic 1 manga came out is that it came out in the same month of June as Sonic 1, but why would it come out the same day as it when it was meant to advertise it and day 1 sales are important?

And that manga had Sonic in a rock band as the lead singer in the first issue. Should I jokingly suggest that every continuity should do the same thing? But sure, the games were come up with first and they aren’t interested in Sonic enough to learn it came out before Sonic 1.

  Sonic being in a rock band was one of the earliest ideas in Sonic history to the point of getting rejected in the initial concept phase for Sonic games after being come up with by Yuji Naka. Ironically they did demonize the removal of that and talk like it was unnecessary to do so, notice that Americans removed that idea so clearly that’s why. It furthers their agenda to defend this band idea. So going by Appeal to Tradition why don’t they complain in every adaptation and new game that Sonic isn’t in a band?

   Why aren’t they singing the praises of Sonic Underground to high heaven at least for using the band concept in something copyrighted to Sega? Because they don’t like the band idea, they’re just saying whatever they could to try to get people to be game purists like evangelicals. It’s ironic that the most extreme purist is an atheist who dislikes Christianity then.

  I thought the Master Emerald embedding itself in Eggman in a movie was cool, even though it was already done by Master Overlord and done with a Chaos Emerald alone with Mammoth Mogul before. I like ideas being reused if they’re done well and are good enough.

With these people it’s never done well because Sonic Team didn’t make it. You should notice that this double standard is the only thing that's getting me riled up in this. Sonic’s not allowed to brag in the other continuities but he can brag in Colors, Forces and Heroes as obnoxiously as he wants. “ Best boss beating ever! “ Not really Sonic, that wasn’t a hard boss. But he’s only unlikable when he does it in the same tone the same way anywhere else.

  Or maybe it’s because he constantly smirks in an evil-looking way beyond the games while bragging. That draws a big spotlight onto what was always a problem. Is a character flaw a problem objectively? Character flaws are by definition going to be annoying. But Sonic wouldn’t have been cool if he never acted confident, and how can Sonic have a cool cocky attitude without bragging, which is silently what the finger wagging was?!

10: “ Confirmation Bias (also known as cherry-picking): Presenting or accepting only data that supports your predetermined position and ignoring data that damages your position. “ That’s almost any time they demonize other adaptations and worship every game even Lost World. That’s them insisting that Sonic is humble instead of confident based on cherrypicked data. They never admit anything good’s about Archie. They almost never admit any adaptational changes are good either.

11: Everything Except Most Things: “ A generalization with so many exceptions that what remains is less than impressive, if useful at all. “ They say without hard evidence that all of the adaptations have no respect for the source material and were made by people who hated it, because to them even one difference is usually unacceptable. NONE of them are anything like the games huh? (deep breath)

Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comics The Official Sonic Yearbooks Sonic Sunday Strips Sonic 1’s Promotional Comic Sonic Adventures Comic The UK Sonic Novels Sonic the Comic The Dash Spin Manga Sonic X Sonic X Comic Chao in Space Sonic Mania Adventures The choose-your-own-adventure books!

At least 13 adaptations off the top of my head in order from most to least like the games! How many people have corrected them on this?! Maybe none are exactly like the games but my point was they’re in a world like the games and are mostly like them, and look just like them to the average observer. Their assertion even excludes the Sonic Channel Comics where Sticks watched TV with Game Tails! Yet they insist they’re canon whenever the subject comes up.

 I left Sonic Mania Adventures for last because morons would insist that’s canon to the games for being mere Youtube short ads for the games instead of a real TV show when the games never confirm that they’re canon by referencing them, so there’s just as much proof Archie is canon as them or Dark Beginnings.

Sonic never canonically hangs out in a Chao Garden and with his preference for physical activity I’d never expect him to, so Chao in Space can’t be canon to the games. Why didn’t that ruin it for them?They turned their brain off to Sonic being out of character because of who made Chao in Space. Looks like their beliefs are even more specific. “ It’s bad for adaptations to break the rules when they’re not made by Sonic Team! “ Well that doesn’t look objective.

Sonic talks in the games so Sonic Mania Adventures isn’t canon, because nobody in it talks, and it’s never confirmed that they usually CAN. No game purist is generous enough to say “ it’s still like the games offscreen so it’s fine! “ about other things so why should I? So it’s no wonder I count those two shorts as separate canons.

[resonsibleeconomiceducation]

Corporate Concentration and Inflation: How Monopoly Power Drives Rising Prices

For decades, defenders of corporate power have insisted that inflation is merely a monetary phenomenon, ignoring the role that growing monopolies and corporate consolidation play in driving up prices. While economic elites point fingers at government spending and wages, they conveniently ignore the real culprits: the giant corporations that dominate entire industries and use their unchecked market power to squeeze consumers for every last dollar.

Robert Reich has called attention to this critical issue, exposing how corporate concentration allows companies to hike prices, not because of supply constraints or rising costs, but simply because they can. Rather than admit this reality, free-market ideologues rely on outdated economic models that fail to account for how real-world businesses operate.

It’s time to dismantle the myths and see the truth: corporate monopolies are fueling inflation, and antitrust action is needed to restore real competition.

The Real Causes of Inflation

Inflation is often misrepresented as a simple issue of money supply. Right-wing economists claim that rising prices are caused by “too much money chasing too few goods” or by excessive government spending. But these explanations fall apart under scrutiny.

First, blaming inflation on government spending ignores historical evidence. Countries with strong public investment—such as Germany and Japan—have frequently maintained low inflation rates. Meanwhile, the United States has experienced significant inflationary spikes even in times of fiscal restraint, such as during the oil shocks of the 1970s.

Second, blaming wage increases for inflation is nothing more than a corporate scare tactic designed to discourage workers from demanding fair pay. If higher wages caused inflation, then we would expect every country with high wages—such as Scandinavian nations—to suffer runaway price increases. Instead, the real pattern is clear: inflation spikes when corporations have unchecked power to raise prices.

When a handful of companies control entire industries, they can drive up prices at will. Consumers have no choice but to pay, not because of any real supply shortages, but because monopolists deliberately exploit their power.

How Corporate Monopolies Drive Inflation

Corporate apologists argue that monopolies don’t influence inflation because inflation is a "general phenomenon." But this argument ignores the fact that monopolies exist in every major sector of the economy, meaning their price hikes accumulate and spread across industries.

Let’s look at some key sectors:

Airlines: The U.S. airline industry has shrunk from 12 major carriers in 1980 to just four today. The result? Sky-high airfares, endless fees, and worsening service. With fewer competitors, airlines know they can squeeze passengers for more money without losing business.

Pharmaceuticals: In 1995, there were 60 major drug companies. By 2015, only 10 remained. With so little competition, drugmakers can charge whatever they want—even for lifesaving medications. The result? Insulin prices in the U.S. are many times higher than in Europe, where markets are more competitive.

Food & Groceries: A few massive conglomerates—Walmart, Kroger, and Albertsons—control 70% of grocery sales in major U.S. cities. Meatpacking is even worse, with just four companies controlling 85% of beef processing. This concentration lets them dictate prices, driving up the cost of basic goods.

Far from being a natural market outcome, these monopolies exist because of deliberate efforts to eliminate competition—whether through mergers, buyouts, or anti-competitive practices. When competition disappears, companies no longer need to worry about undercutting rivals. Instead, they collude—explicitly or implicitly—to raise prices and pad profits.

Debunking the Free Market Myths

Right-wing economists like to pretend that competition exists even in highly concentrated markets. They argue that even two or three firms can create “vigorous competition.” But in reality, monopolists often avoid price wars and instead engage in tacit collusion—raising prices in unison rather than undercutting each other.

Take the grocery industry. Some claim that because Walmart, Kroger, and Albertsons compete, there’s no real monopoly problem. But look closer: these corporations match each other’s price hikes, avoid local competition, and carve up regional markets to avoid true price wars. Their razor-thin official profit margins obscure the fact that they use market power to push costs onto suppliers, workers, and consumers.

Meanwhile, the corporate defenders argue that government regulation is to blame for market concentration. They claim that regulations “make it harder for small businesses to compete”, conveniently ignoring that deregulation has allowed the biggest firms to swallow up smaller competitors at unprecedented rates. In reality, large corporations love deregulation—because it helps them eliminate competition and tighten their grip on markets.

The Solution: Antitrust Action and Market Regulation

If corporate consolidation is driving inflation, the solution is clear: break up the monopolies.

The U.S. government has a long history of using antitrust laws to protect consumers from excessive market concentration. In the early 20th century, trust-busting efforts broke up monopolies in oil, railroads, and steel, fostering more competition and lower prices. More recently, lawsuits against Microsoft and AT&T have helped prevent total market dominance.

Yet today, regulators have abandoned their responsibility, allowing corporations to consolidate at alarming rates. Instead of enforcing competition laws, policymakers often cater to corporate lobbyists—weakening antitrust enforcement while allowing more mergers to go unchecked.

To fight inflation at its source, we need:

Aggressive Antitrust Action: Break up dominant firms that control critical sectors, from tech giants to pharmaceutical conglomerates.

Stronger Price Regulations: Prevent monopolies from gouging consumers in essential industries like healthcare, food, and housing.

Blocking Harmful Mergers: Stop corporate giants from further swallowing competitors and reducing market choice.

Rather than letting billion-dollar corporations dictate prices, the government should step in to restore competition and protect consumers.

Conclusion: Inflation Is a Monopoly Problem

The evidence is clear: Corporate power fuels inflation. While right-wing economists continue pushing outdated theories, the reality is that corporate concentration gives businesses the power to raise prices at will, forcing consumers to pay more for essential goods and services.

If we truly want to tackle inflation, we must stop blaming government spending and wages and start holding corporate monopolies accountable. The free market isn’t working—it’s time for the government to step in and restore competition.

Breaking up monopolies isn’t just about fairness. It’s about stopping inflation at its source.

original article

[xxdoubledaisyxx]

An evil system is one that goes from bad to worse twice in a row. Or more.

If your plans ever turn out that way, apply an ethical derivative from morality as applicable to the context of the Story.

Bread and wine is a man's flesh and blood. Only his flesh and blood.

Ink and paper is his heart and soul. His eternal life and power to be justified against any and all evil. By the natural course of events, I will become the most well-paid man in all of human record. The reason; there has always been a man who writes down what people want to read, and he is the most important and beloved to all. He typically gets paid the most, and as the government's foolish experiment proves, necessarily too.

Digitized information has not made written records less important by any means... written records are now most sacred, now that they have been liberated from the suffering of reality on civil trust maintained by the law.

Corruption cannot be tolerated by anyone of us, least of all the corrupt. Cut them down without mercy and know that the plight of everyman is your own.

I have a system of currency exchange that does not require elements of reality to function securely. Their's does require elements of reality to function securely, and now that they have betrayed that for an evil bitcoin scheme some ignorant buffoons thought they could scam people with under a false pretense of perverse Christianity begat in the vile darkness of government secrecy where currency is printed and maintained for a nation.

There is no doubt about who is guilty and thus the evil party threatening your life and causing your unhappiness. That most certainly is not what they what you to concern yourself with because it is what they have no defense or security to protect themselves with. Those bitcoin fools are not real. Their money is fake. It is not stained with the blood of warriors and citizens. Theirs is a monopoly game in imitation of Roman Catholicism.

As always, they think they are novel.

You people are out of your element to be trying to pull such an idiotic scheme on world stage with a power like the USA. You don't realize how hopelessly impotent you are in comparison to the power of myself and all humanity, which has paved the way to civilization and lawful society with blood, ashes, and gas.

Their money is not real, and the USA cannot allow itself to recognize an interest in it by allowing it to be traded on the stock market and exchange economy where real dollars are in circulation.

They are diluting the value of the dollar and taking the life and soul out of the American people, and the rest of the world by indirect extension of human history, and making life worse for no good reason at all. They are trying to scam you, and are using the USA government to do it. The government that nuked Japan to put an end to World War 2, and it worked.

For the last time.

Those buffoons will be forcibly removed from their places in "Life" like the buffoons they are.

Saddle up, and get ready to ride.

The time for a reckoning is upon us.

[laundrycolour]

SWITCH x Enomoto Megu (Nogizaka46's Art Direction, SWITCH Magazine; 20.06.2024)

How Nogizaka46's artwork is made

ART DIRECTOR: Enomoto Megu

Taking up the creative baton - art director Enomoto Megu talks about expressing Nogizaka46's “Novel way of looking at 'idols'”.

20.06.2024

Sony Music Solutions has been in charge of almost all of Nogizaka46's artwork since the group's inception. Enomoto Megu, an art director currently employed at the above-mentioned company, has been involved in Nogizaka46's artwork since her time as an assistant designer.

"At that time, I already had the impression that Nogizaka46 had established a tidy, elegant image of 'idols' that had been unprecedented until then, and in terms of their artwork as well, there were many conceptual pieces or works that put an emphasis on the artistic dimension of it all, too, and I've always thought that such a novel way of looking at 'idols' was fascinating.”

Taking up the creative baton, Enomoto was put in charge of the artwork for the 26th single, ‘Boku wa Boku wo Suki ni Naru’, released in 2021.

"For this song, Yamashita Mizuki-san - ace of the 3rd generation - was appointed as the center of the A-side for the first time, and I thought that this single would represent the beginning of a new era for Nogizaka46, so I approached this work with the theme of a ‘new dawn’. In fact, if you line up the five versions of the CD, from type-A to type-D, followed by the standard edition, you'll see the sky gradually changing from darkness to light, creating an image which also symbolizes the passage of time.”

All artwork that is used for the Sakamichi Series is selected by means of a competition.

"Every time, we'll suggest around five concepts. Once a concept has been selected, while taking the nature of it into account, we'll keep going by preparing the set, the costumes, choosing a photographer and so on. Given that the singles for the Sakamichi Series usually come in five different versions, we'll decide how to arrange the senbatsu members and work out what kind of picture each cover will paint. There are certain cases - such as the previously mentioned ‘Boku wa Boku wo Suki ni Naru’ - where ideas will come to mind precisely thanks to these multiple versions. I reckon that's one of the charms of the Sakamichi Series' artworks.”

She revealed that the covers for the 34th single, ‘Monopoly’, released last year, had a certain song as their inspiration.

"The staff told me 'This time, we want to create a strong song, something like 'Influencer'.' Since this song won the Grand Prix at the Japan Record Awards and is one of the group's representative songs - a classic, so to speak - I wanted to expand on that image and create a visual which would strongly highlight the tidy and elegant, fashionable and royal image of the group Nogizaka46. In order for people to grasp this worldview at a glance, we asked the choreographer to give the members meticulous instructions on their posing, while aiming for visuals that would make an impact, with a sense of dynamism, resembling a live performance, stirring up the audience from below. The matching two-piece sets were intentionally disjointed and distributed, too, in hopes of expressing a certain freshness that is somewhat discomforting. Moreover, the same costumes served as the inspiration for this single's logo, which was created by putting two fonts together. I feel like that gave the logo a simple, yet intriguing balance.”

[the logo in question. you can tell that two distinct fonts have been combined for the ‘nogizaka46’ logo.]

[in this cover, you can really see the mix-and-match of the two piece sets, case in point: sakutan's skirt and rentan’s blazer.]

The single that followed and the group's latest (at the time of the magazine’s publication, ‘Cheat Day’ & 'Hodoukyou' hadn't been announced), ‘Chance wa Byoudou’, was the last center song for Yamashita Mizuki, who graduated from the group in May of this year.

"Since the beginning, trains and train stations have often been key motifs in Nogizaka46's artwork - one such example being the group's third album, 'Umarete kara Hajimete Mita Yume' - and I've always wanted to use such motifs myself, one day. In addition, since this work marked Yamashita-san's departure, this artwork was centered around the story of Yamashita-san getting off the train - where she had spent time together with the members - at the next station and setting off on her new journey. We really fussed over the set, such as purposely fogging up some parts of the windowpane - because we wanted to give the train somewhat of a vintage feel - and so on. On a more personal note, the first work where I was entrusted the role of art director was Yamashita-san's first A-side center song, so I feel very moved to have been able to also bring her graduation single to life. Nowadays, what's mainstream is streaming, but, I feel like there is a certain charm that can only be conveyed through physical CDs, which you have in your possession. I'd be happy if, from now on too, I could keep creating artwork that allows people who are holding it in their hands to enjoy all sorts of discoveries.”

[artwork for ‘umarete kara hajimete mita yume’, with the train motif clearly featured.]

[front cover and back cover of ‘chance wa byoudou’, with yama getting off the train.]

___________________________________________

Enomoto Megu: Born in 1993, in Wakayama Prefecture. Joined Sony Music Solutions in 2019. Other artworks of Nogizaka46's - not mentioned in the interview itself - that she's contributed to include ‘Gomen ne fingers crossed’, ‘Suki to Iu no wa Rock da ze!’, the DVD/Blu-Ray covers for ‘Nogizaka46 Asuka Saito Graduation Concert’ and so on.

[suckitsurveys]

New tats in your near future? I just got one last month but I’m always planning more. I really want a Bob’s Burgers tattoo.

How about piercings or re-piercings? I’d get more ear holes.

Are there any rooms in your house that you don’t go into every day? The walk in closet in the hallway if that counts lol.

Who else do you know who has the same favorite color as you do? Yeah, I know a couple other people who love purple.

Have you ever had a tattoo covered up or added to? No.

Have you ever kissed someone who has previously kissed someone you hated? Uh, maybe?

Do you have any relatives with red hair? Uhhhhhh.

What is tomorrow’s weather forecasted to be like? 78F and rainy.

Have you ever known anyone who committed suicide? A friend of a friend.

What’s some of the worst pain you’ve ever felt? Losing my mom.

What’s your favorite kind of pasta? Gnocchi, or spaghetti with my the sauce my dad makes.

Would you rather a friend come over to your house or you go over there? I like doing either.

Have you ever had rabies? Nope.

Do you know anyone who ever had to get a rabies shot? I don’t think so.

Ever eaten deer? Duck? Squirrel? How about lamb? I’ve had all but squirrel.

What is your favorite parody movie? Wet Hot American Summer is considered a parody.

What is your least favorite ice cream flavor? Pistachio. I’m also not a huge fan of fruit-flavored ice cream.

Does your car have heated seats? Nope.

Have you ever been tempted to steal? Yes.

Would you rather travel to Ireland or Japan? Ireland.

Does tickling turn you on? ...it does.

If you could go over to someone’s house right now, whose and why? I mean, I’m content where I am right now, but I’d go see Sarah or Ellen if I could.

What is the age gap between you and your parents? My mom was 37 and my dad was 39 when they had me.

How many bathrooms does your house have? Is this enough? One and yes.

Have you ever video-chatted with someone you met online? Oh yes, tons of people.

Do you collect anything, or have you ever? I have an accidental Monopoly collection.

When was the last time you used Facebook? I’m currently talking to Mark on FB messenger.

How many siblings does your best friend have? Sarah and Ellen both have one older brother, Mark has a younger sister and an older brother, and Randal has a younger brother.

Have you ever dated someone who was emotionally or mentally unstable? Uh huh.

Be honest: are you clingy? I can be.

Have you ever had bronchitis? Yes.

Have you ever had a reptile for a pet? No.

Are you afraid of the dentist? I don’t like it.

Did you attend Sunday School as a child? Nope.

Who was the last person you cuddled with? My husband.

How would you feel if your significant other (or possible partner) told you they dislike having sex, but do so with you to make you happy, even though they personally think it’s a chore? I don’t know honestly.

Your boyfriend/girlfriend isn’t around but their phone is. Do you look through it? No.

Do you think you will be in a relationship 3 months from now? Yes.

Have you ever liked anyone that was in a relationship with someone else? Uh huh.

Do people ever compliment your eyes? Yes.

Have any of your exes ever given you roses? Yeah.

Do you think your last ex ever thinks about you? I really don’t care.

Would you rather have salad or french fries for a side dish? Fries.

Which one of your relationships was the shortest? Uhhhhh I don’t recall the lengths of time but I never made it to a year until Mark.

Which was the longest? 12 years and counting

Have any of your exes told you they regret breaking up with you? Nah.

Would you feel hurt if your last ex is in a relationship? No.

Are you going to be getting any new pets soon? I don’t think so.

Do you like BBQ sauce? Sure.

What do you like to do when you’re home alone? Listen to music and dance around the house honestly.

Should the guy always pay for the date? No.

What kind of music calms you down? Depends on my mood.

Do you know anyone who has autism? I do.

What is your favorite way to eat eggs? Hard boiled or deviled or in an omelet.

Do you like Frozen? I do.

Who is one of your heroes? Eh.

Do you enjoy hot chocolate? Yes.

Do you use Instagram often? Everyday.

If you got a kitten, what would you name it? I’d have to see it first.

Do you have a Pinterest account? I do but I don’t use it a lot.

Do you prefer a quiet or noisy environment? It would have to be the right level of noise. I can handle like, people talking or a concert or something but if there are too many different noises its a sensory overload and I lose my shit.

What is one question you don’t like being asked? I don’t like being asked about having children.

Who is someone you know who is talkative? A lot of people.

When was the last time you saw one of your uncles? I don’t have any living uncles.

Do you know anyone who plays the violin? I don’t think so.

Do your parents enjoy any of the things that you enjoy? Do you bond over these things? Yeah, my dad and I like similar music and movies and sports. We also have the same sense of humor.

Out of all your usernames for websites, which one is your favorite? Do you use it for more than one site? Almost all my handles are some form of suckitnerds.

Have you ever spent the whole day (or multiple days) just looking up one thing on the internet (e.g., videos of your favorite band, how-to videos, quizzes, etc.)? Yeah.

If someone told you that we live in a society that hates women, how would you respond? I mena, we do live in a society that hates women, so.

Can you remember the last thing you thought and subsequently thought, “wow, I really shouldn’t be thinking that”? Heheheheheheheheheheheheheeh.